Variations on a Half Pass

As I write this, I see snow outside my window. I don’t like this time of year, and not just because of the cold. I refer to winter as ‘purgatory,’ because most of my usual training help has headed south.  I spend 3 months wondering if I’m developing my horses correctly, or if I’m off on a garden path.  Because let’s face it, the worst place to see what a horse looks like is from his back. And ‘feel’ is a tricky thing – often, what I think things should feel like is pretty far removed from what they actually feel like, but that’s a topic for another blog.

This year, purgatory has been delayed a bit. In the last 2 weeks, I’ve been in front of 2 trainers that I highly respect, and I went down to the FEI Trainer’s Conference to watch for 2 days. The problem, of course, is I been exposed to a snapshot of 3 different trainer’s systems. I now have the job of analyzing that info, and seeing where and how it integrates into my system.   I have pages of notes to read, a bunch of video to watch, and a bunch of ideas to percolate in my mind.

A quick aside – yes, correct training is correct training. But just as different versions of Christianity are all built on the same fundamental beliefs that center on Jesus and afterlife, and all read the same book, each denomination has a slightly different flavor. I’m not here to start a holy war. In my opinion, as long as all paths lead to heaven (or, in our case, a relaxed, happy, balanced, obedient horse), who am I to criticize.

As I started to look at the info by topic, I realized I had a nice progression of half pass work. Venus and Secret’s winter training goals both include improving their half passes, so timing was perfect. Half pass training lends itself easily to a large variety of exercises, and the following three conveniently showed up at just the right time to address the ideas that were bubbling up.

So, the exercises, and what they improve in a horse-

Leg yield to the wall, half pass in a little, leg yield to the wall, half pass in, with no change in the neck position.

Catherine Haddad gave me this exercise for Venus, who tends to like to power along so much she loses suppleness in her back.

I played with this for a few days, and found it did improve Venus’ back. Additionally, focusing on keeping Venus’ neck in the same position, she started to stretch her outside shoulder out towards the wall more, which helped improve her shoulder freedom. Then I tried it on Secret, and instead of loosening her shoulders, it provided her with a wonderful escape route – if she pushed her shoulder a bit too much, aka popped her shoulder, she could get to the destination without lowering her hip.

That Saturday, Secret was scheduled to go in front of Gigi Nutter, who gave us the following pattern:

Same pattern as above, but straighten the neck in the leg yield, and re-position it for the half pass.

The purpose of this variation is to improve the acceptance of the outside rein in the half pass, and therefore helping the shoulders “stand up.”

I played with this exercise for both mares, and liked the control I had, but feel like, even though neither mare loses tempo significantly in the half pass, they could both use more “bounce” when they go sideways.  I know this is very common, but the best horses don’t lose energy or cadence when going sideways. As I was pondering which of the many half pass variations would help, I went down to FL to audit Stephen Clark at the FEI Trainer’s Conference. He had a rider demonstrate the following exercise:  

On a diagonal, looking at destination letter between the horse’s ears, ride forward, then ride half pass, then forward. Always keep the neck and shoulders on the diagonal line.

Stephen Clark used this exercise in the FEI Conference to improve expression and keep the same quality of trot in the half pass. The super-fancy-genetically-gifted-for-dressage horse went from quite nice to really impressive, so I was curious what it would do for my mounts.

I plugged it into the mare’s half pass plans, and for Secret, it made a really smooth, fluid, this-sideways-stuff-is-easy-peazy half pass.  For Venus, her natural tendency of make-big-steps got channeled into make-big-sideways-steps.

Just like a musician’s variations-on-a-theme exercise, I have variations-on-a-half pass to fill my days in wintery purgatory.

The Short and Long Story of Dressage at Devon

Devon is over, and I can see my desk again, so it’s time for a recap, while I’m still basking in show afterglow, or is that the cold medicine? I’m not sure.

For those results-oriented folk, here’s the short version:

• Wednesday I rode Capitano, Shelley’s super 5-year-old German riding pony, to an 8^th in Suitability and a score of 71.4% for 6^th place in Materiale.
• Also Wednesday Aneesa competed Ming, her 5-year-old mare, and brought home 5^th in Amateur Handler.
• Thursday Secret earned a 62.071% in 4^-1 on wet footing (NOT her thing, by the way) for 8^th out of 12.
• Friday Secret earned a 65.357% in 4^-1 again for 8^th, this time out of 17.  Both classes were won with a 68.xxx%.
• I needed to do a last-minute horse switch for quadrille, and managed to stay in line and stay on top in the Dixon both Friday night and Saturday mid day.
• Sunday Paige and Slingshot brought home red in Jr Dressage Seat Equitation with a 70.0% 

Now, of course, there’s always more to the story, and in this case, it involves lots and lots of snot. I felt a little funky on Monday, and I chalked it up to allergies. Tuesday the same. Wednesday I woke up with my throat on fire, my sinuses filled with battery acid, a serious case of vertigo and a runny nose. I employed chemical warfare – pretty much every cold medicine we had in the house. In this slightly-drug-induced state, I put a foot in the stirrup of a 5-year-old in what is, let’s face it, a pretty lousy show environment.

Devon show grounds is in the middle of a neighborhood. It is small, and cramped, with very limited warm up. That warm up is crammed with youngsters in hand, FEI horses, and 8-20 other horses that will be in the Materiale and Suitability classes. Most of those horses are young, and September in PA can offer some crisp nights. I’ve had some rather exciting rides in the Dixon and seen some downright dramatic ones. I’ve only been riding Capi since May, and although he has always proven to be trustworthy, it is Devon, so who knows.

Then, as we are tacking up, I couldn’t find Capi’s girth. I borrowed Secret’s girth, but Capi has a young-horse chest, and Secret is built like a tank, so her contour girth was right up against his elbows, with the buckles almost over the saddle pad.  He held his back tighter than normal in his first ride and didn’t do his normal nose-blowing, but if that’s my only complaint on a 5-year-old at Devon, we are doing very, very well. 

As I said, Capi was perfect. When he got cut off in warm up, he came right back to me. When the bigger horses were thundering around him in the ring, he was cool. I’d feel him get a bit tight, so I’d hug him with my legs a bit more, and he’d take a breath and go forward like the good boy that he is.  He was so obedient and steady that I had two people ask if he was for sale before we even got back to the barn. Nope, not this boy—he and his human, Shelley, have a long, exciting career ahead. 

In the afternoon we had some tough time crunches. Capi and I were in the gold ring just before Aneesa and Ming were due in the Dixon. Immediately after Aneesa’s mounted class she was scheduled in Amateur Handler. So the whirlwind went like this – hop off Capi, go cheer Aneesa on, then while Aneesa changed clothes, Sue, Ashley, and I toweled off Ming’s sweat marks and shined her socks. Then Aneesa grabbed the reins for a sprint to the ring and a sprint around the triangle.  It was worth the hustle, as Aneesa left the ring with a big pink ribbon.

Aneesa took the 5-year-olds home, and I stuck around to school Secret and Sling, who was my mount for the DVCTA Quad Squad, under the lights. Secret handled the lights like a pro. I gave her a full workout, as being an Arab with only one class per day on Thursday and Friday, I wasn’t worried about her bottoming out. 

Sling, on the other hand, didn’t seem like himself. He was tender across his back, and he was really, really needy–not his normal Dennis-the-Menace personality. I wasn’t sure if it was just the small stalls and the stress of Devon or something else, so I decided to climb on and see. He started out fine under saddle, blowing his nose and relaxing. But when I asked for the canter, he wanted to hop in place. When I asked for more forward, he started swapping leads behind.  Once back in the stall, he parked out quite elaborately and peed a very small amount of cloudy, dark urine. I called the vet, took him home, and started him on SMZ for a suspected bladder infection.

This, of course, did not bode well for the Quad Sqad performance, scheduled for Friday night and Saturday mid-day. On my way home I called a student who has a smallish, red, Arab-Warmblood PSG/Intermediare 1 horse named Fox, and asked her if I could borrow him. I can’t thank her enough, and I am really quite humbled that she trusted me enough that she didn’t bat and eye.  She said “sure, when do you need him?” Then I broke the news to the Quad Squad Director, Anne Miller, that I was going to be riding a different horse—one that had never met the other horses in the group, or been to Devon, or ridden to music, or even done quadrille. I assured her Fox would be fine (as I crossed my fingers behind my back).

Thursday I woke up feeling decidedly not well. I took a handful of cold medicine to control the symptoms. Linda, who lives close to the show grounds, did the morning feeding, so rode a couple of horses before heading to Devon and watched the drizzle and wait for our 7:03 ride time.  Secret hates wet footing, so Linda and I alternated wandering through the shops and hoping the weather would break and the footing would miraculously dry out. 

While Linda and I were killing time, Secret, who didn’t care for only one evening class a day, was trying to tunnel her way to the show ring. So we tacked her up in the afternoon and did 20 minutes of light work to prevent further barn destruction.   

By 6 p.m. the rain had ended, and Secret warmed up like the seasoned show horse that she is. Then we went in.

My internal dialog went something like this:

Holy crap, I’m headed down the centerline in the Dixon Oval at Dressage at Devon!! HOLY CRAP!! Ok, get it together, what is our plan – canter, ok, canter. I’m cantering in the Dixon!!!  – organized, brain, organized…BUT I’M IN THE DIXON!!!...work your plan Ange….work it IN THE DIXON!!

Then we passed the judge’s box at E and the decorative corn stalks rustled. Secret spooked and shot forward. That was just enough to get my brain back into riding mode. I half halted, laughing at the silly little Arab mare, and headed around as the whistle blew.

The trot work went as I had planned it, nicely up in the shoulders and correct in the shoulder ins. Overall the footing was pretty good, except for the corners. I could feel Secret getting tighter and tighter every time we went into a corner.  In the canter, where she pushes off more with her hind legs, it got worse. I’d give my reins forward a little but she’d hold herself. She did everything I asked, just a bit tighter and more held than I would have liked to show the judges. But I could feel the tension building.

Then we hit the final extended canter, and she was, well, exuberant.  If I can hold the tempo in her exuberant moments, the judge’s comments are usually something like “bold” or “confident.”  If we don’t stay together, the comments aren’t so positive.  This was not one of our together moments. She did come back to me in the corner, though, and ended with a polite halt at x.

Then the crowd applauded. Seriously, it surprised me a bit. (Who watches dressage??) The Quad Squad riders had came out to support me, as well as many of my friends and students. That was pretty dang cool.

The ride scored better than I expected, at a 62.071%, with the winning ride being a 68.071%. One of the judge’s commented on Secret’s connection in the trot, which made me feel quite good.  I have focused a lot of training time teaching the spunky Frie-Rab to take an honest connection and not pose in her neck, particularly in the trot work.

Then it was Fox’s turn for the Quad rehearsal under the lights in the Dixon. He warmed up outside of the ring like a pro. Then we headed into the Dixon. He was like – Whoa, that’s a big ring, big lights, big music, gotta stop and take a look at that….then he’d gallop forward to catch the others, then he’d back off again. Once we hit C and headed into the dressage ring, though, I could almost feel him go “oh, dressage arena, letters, got it.”  He locked into my seat and handled all of the scary moves in the pattern, including cantering head-on towards another horse, as if he’d done it for weeks in rehearsal.

By Friday the cold medicine was controlling the plague symptoms better, but I still knew exactly when the meds wore off.  Linda again fed for me so I could sleep in a little. I taught a couple of lessons, then headed over. 

Linda and I decided against an afternoon ride on Saturday, in case Secret was tired, and instead opted for a longer warm up.  Which had a potential time crunch, since Quadrille was scheduled at 7:05 and Secret was due in the Gold ring at 8:45. Linda and Fox’s owner were both available to play groom for me, and I’ve had crazier schedules at shows, so I wasn’t super worried. Keyed up maybe, but not worried.

The quadrille performance went better than Thursday’s rehearsal. Fox only backed off a couple of times, and with Emily’s 23-year-old horse showing off his levade at regular intervals, I doubt anyone noticed Fox much.

Once we got back to the barn, with so many awesome people there to help me, I had plenty of time. Enough time to fidget and fuss, which is my normal pre-warm-up routine.

Once I got my foot in the stirrup, I was fine. I went into warm-up with two plans – ride the rhythm more clearly in the canter, particularly in the changes, and not hang with my right hand, which is my “OMG this is IMPORTANT to me” default behavior, which had showed up in Thursday’s ride.

Right away in warm up Secret told me that she didn’t appreciate my right rein from night before. I spent my first couple of warm up sets (I generally warm Secret up with short work sets and lots of walk breaks, to get the buttons I need working while preserving relaxation and gas tank for the show ring) asking for better right side suppleness.  At one break, I walked over to Cara, who was my eyes on the ground (thank you again, Cara), and said I felt the stiffness on the right, but worried if I addressed it too much in warm up I’d lose the relaxation and thoroughness. It seemed to me that I could eat some points for the right bend in a few places, but I didn’t want to sacrifice Secret’s highlight, which is the fluidness of her overall pattern.

So I spent the remaining warm up sets focusing on uphill balance and forward-and-back adjustability.  Cara announced “that’s your show trot” moments before the ring steward flagged me over.

This time I kept my head in the game, kept my right arm from clamping, and kept my seat moving. Secret was right with me, every step of the way.  It was fun. I smiled like a fool, not because I was at Dressage at Devon, but because my girl was so on my seat it was like she was reading my mind.  Everything went pretty much as I’d planned it, except the right-to-left change, where I need to change at C then immediately begin a 20-M circle. When I cued the change, I turned my shoulders toward the circle point, but my hips didn’t swing as much, so Secret had an unbalanced moment. Otherwise, it was the ride I wanted to show the judges.

After the final halt, I leaned forward and scratched Secret, and the crowd applauded again.  The crowd was a group of my students, my fellow quad squad members, and friends from the Arab circuit. Earlier that day, I’d watched other riders graciously wave to their support teams, or point at their horses, you know, nice, classy responses. Did I do that? No, I blushed the bright-red color that us red-heads are uniquely capable of, and then buried my head in Secret’s neck.  So much for class. 

 

Did Secret and I pin? Seriously, folks, this isn’t Disney. She was a good girl, and showed herself well, but those horses were really, really fancy. She showed the judges what she is, an obedient, well-balanced, good girl. That is all I can ask.  Since I didn’t expect her to ribbon, we weren’t disappointed. That she showed herself so well, that was my goal, and I am thrilled at how well she scored.  Plus one judge gave us an 8 on harmony. In my way of thinking, I can’t do better than that.

Saturday the quad performed again, and by then Fox had it all sorted out. He was the super boy. Only a horse with a really wonderful mind would let me throw him into this totally nutty situation and trust me to get him through it. What a special horse.

Saturday afternoon I took Secret and Fox home, and by then Sling’s antibiotics were working. His back was much less tender. Paige rode him at home, and he was confidently cantering around in his normal way. So she gave him a bath and we decided to take him to Devon on Sunday.

Sunday Paige and Sling warmed up well, then went into the Dressage Seat Equitation class. She had a bit of bad luck in the class – she didn’t hear the judge call for the left lead canter, then when she saw the other riders cantering, she (in her words) “kicked and hoped.”  Sling took the right lead, then they corrected it. She had a good ride, but that mistake took her to the red ribbon. Regardless, I was crazy proud, watching a rider I had started on the lunge line at 8, and a horse I had backed, go in and show such quality work in such a stressful environment.

So, the long story turned out really long. This year’s Dressage at Devon will definitely go down as my favorite year yet.

Videos of Devon

Yes, it was a blast. I have a full report ALMOST ready, but in the mean time, here's video of Secret and my Friday ride: Secret, 4-1 at Dressage at Devon Friday, 9/26/14



Also, Fox and I were in the quadrille, it's on this page, Scroll down to Friday, then scroll right to Special Exhibition.


I will get the full report up this weekend. I have time to put the finishing touches on it Saturday. 

Secret and I at Dressage at Devon

This is Tuesday of Dressage at Devon week, and this year I am riding in the Performance Division. I get to make this journey on Secret, who I totally love showing, and I am stupid excited. 

I’m not a stranger to Dressage at Devon, but for those who are not familiar with this show, it is actually 3 shows in one- a Dressage Sport Horse Breed Show, a USEF/USDF Dressage show at 4^th level, and a CDI.

Tuesday through Thursday is a Dressage Sport Horse Breed Show, my normal stomping ground at DAD.  Tuesday through Thursday is full of babies, youngsters, broodmares, and stallions shown in hand on the triangle.  There are also some mounted group classes. In addition to Mares under Saddle and Stallions under Saddle, the youngsters get a spin around in groups divided by age or gender, depending, in Matriale and Suitability to be a Dressage horse. Suitability is ranked by gaits, where Materiale conformation is also considered.

In order to get into the Breed Show, all you have to do is send in your money and have the guts to canter in a group on a young horse. I’ve done this on many, many horses. I have had horses and students in the Breed show for the last 10 years, and had the opportunity to play coach to students in the CDI a couple of times. But I haven’t had a trip down the DAD centerline.

Going down the centerline, well, that takes a little bit more. First you have to send your money along with a score you earned at the level. Then, once the closing date has passed, the show management ranks all of the scores and decides how much time they want to allow for each class--PSG, GP, Young Riders, 4^th level, etc. Then they start from the top of each class rank list and when they run out of ride slots, everyone below that line gets their entry money refunded.

As a trainer and coach, I try very hard to keep goals appropriate to the horse and rider pair. This helps keep excitement up and disappointment low.  For example, when a student asked about moving from the schooling shows to the USDF/USEF shows on her 23-year-old Mr. Reliable, I advised her to go for a Schooling Show year-end award, as at his age, his gaits won’t compete with the fancy, young Hilltop horses out there.

With this in mind, let’s be clear, taking Secret, a half-Arabian half-Friesian, to the most competitive show in our area, wasn’t what I would consider “appropriate competition.” This is no slight on Secret. She is, hands down, the best competition horse I have ever had. She may not be the fanciest mover I have taken down the centerline, but she is the most rideable by far.  She gives 100% every minute in the show ring.  Because of this, I can show the judges a really balanced, accurate interpretation of the tests. Yes, they can ding her on elasticity, particularly in the medium and extended gaits, but the non-brilliance moves, the ones that show submission and trainability, she’s a pretty consistent 7 or higher.  But as she is not a warmblood, what most people will be riding this week, she is a bit of an apple in a pile of oranges.

Sport Horse Nationals is all Arabians and Half-Arabians, so that is appropriate competition for Secret, i.e. a whole bushel of apples. She did extremely well there last year.  Sport Horse Nationals rotates coasts, so this year the original plan was for Linda to take up the reins at recognized shows and start earning scores to her bronze medal.  But then she and her husband decided to sell their house and build a new one.  To me, as trainer and friend, watching the stress this was putting on Linda, I didn’t think it was a good idea for her to make her hobby into additional stress. So, to prevent that, I asked if I could try for DAD on Secret. Mind you, we hadn’t even been down the centerline recognized at 4^th level.

So then we did our first 4^th level ride, and it scored surprisingly well. We had a submit-able score for Dressage at Devon. Then Secret continued to earn good marks at 4^th level in the next 4 shows. I began to wonder if maybe, just maybe, this little powerhouse of try-to-hard could actually get into the big show.

So I sent in the entry.  Once the closing date passed, I started furiously checking my e-mail box. This year it was 10 excruciating days between the closing date and when the welcome e-mail came out. I almost wore out the e-mail button on my phone.

Then it came.

Holy cow, I’m headed down the centerline.

People keep asking me if I’m nervous. The answer is no, I’m really not. I’m really, really excited. I didn’t really expect Secret to get in, so I do not expect this wonderful, all-heart Half-Arab to pull a ribbon against the fancy horses. To me, getting in was winning. My goal is to help Secret stay calm under the lights and excitement, since, let’s face it, Dressage at Devon is a zoo of a horse show. I was much more nervous last year at Sport Horse Nationals, as apples-to-apples, I knew I was riding one of the best in the country, and it would all come down to how well the test was presented.  But at Dressage at Devon, against the oranges, I want to show them the apple of my eye, and I get to do that regardless of the placings.

Rough drafts

The blog has been silent for some time, and I have had much chiding from friends about it. My apologies. I understand the importance of breakfast entertainment—which I guess goes two ways, as the smell of toast accompanies my writing.  I have many half-written posts that I just haven’t had a chance to sit down and finish.  In an attempt to justify my lack of posting, here’s a teaser of the half-finished writings, and also a quick summary of the many months:

I suffered another whiplash injury over the winter, resulting in 3x a week visits to physical therapy for 3 months. This is when I got behind in my computer work, as the necessary PT took a big chunk of time. But in that time, I learned a ton about supporting muscles and compensatory injuries. Ironically, I also got a horse in training around then that needs the same sort of training plan. Applying a PT approach to this guy’s training has really helped him. The good news is he can’t read, so he won’t mind that this blog is still a rough draft.

I taught 3 theory classes over the winter addressing the emotional side of our sport. The one on rider frustration was very well attended, and is half-finished blog post as well.  

I have a Public Service Announcement post about lug nuts, along with photos. The short version for now -- check the lug nuts on your tires regularly. Yes, I do have photos to accompany this post.

We lost one of our long-time boarders in Aug. Losing a horse is hard for everyone – the owner, fellow boarders, and the stable managers. The story from Doug and my perspective is coming, but frankly, this one has been a bit hard to finish. Probably because it is still a bit fresh.

I have a mostly-finished post about, as a professional, balancing my personal education/competition goals with the goals of SFD and my clients. I may leave this one on the unfinished pile until I can figure out how to say what I want to say without coming off as “poor Ange,” since that isn’t how I feel at all. Finding the balance is tough, but that’s all part of it.

I have a compilation-of-lesson-notes kind of blog about how it takes a village to raise a dressage horse, or, in this case, a dressage trainer. Every time I go to wrap this up, I have some other insight from some amazing lesson. I think I may just need to publish this and accept that (hopefully) these insights never end.

I have a blog I mostly wrote in the spring, after helping the pony clubbers get ready for dressage rally, entitled “stages of on the bit.”  This post is nearly done, but I need to go over it again to make sure I haven’t oversimplified the most misunderstood stage of a dressage horse’s education.

I also have a blog about judging. I’m off to the USEF Judge’s Clinic at HITS on the Hudson this weekend, so I am reluctant to post this one until I see how this weekend effects what I want to say.

Then, of course, there’s the big news – Secret and I made the cut to ride in the Fourth Level class at Dressage at Devon. I have an outline of my excitement, my thoughts, and how truly special this horse is.  Somehow, I think this blog may be up soon, as this is fun stuff to write about.

So, in the words of Willie Nelson, “you were always on my mind,” and I will, I will, I will get some of these unfinished works posted soon. I will.

Young trainer, young horses

Last  weekend, we had our first schooling show of the season. Maddy was not present -- not because she does not support our shows, but becasue I sent her down to Hassler Dressage to audit the USEF Young Horse Training Session. Below are some clips from her notes.

June 28-29, 2014

After two days of watching some amazing young horses, I had pages of notes but I was able to narrow down the information to about a page. Although the clinic was focused on the young horse , the information can be applied to any horse to help a more through, supple and obedient horse.

-     Your aids are a conversation with the horse- sometimes you whisper and sometimes you have to yell, but you should never just sit there.  You are the horse’s inspiration.

-     Be clear and be precise. You are the horses only coach.

-      Always ask questions- does the horse need more suppleness? More engagement?

-      Don’t just visit exercises . Make sure the horse understands what you are asking. Especially once a horse has gotten a concept. For example, the horse must first learn the concept of shoulder in and then you need to define it and make it crisp. Details are very important but don’t punish the horse when not satisfied, just ask again.

-     Horses don’t just have three gaits, they have six. Know the horse in each gait. Does the horse need more bend in trot left vs. right? Does he/she need more straightness in canter right vs. left? ETC. Need to understand the horse beneath you.

-     Tempo work should be ridden through the whole body.  And there should  be forward thoughts but not fast. The hindlegs need to help move through a supple back but  don’t forget about the shoulders and topline. The topline should stay supple so the power can come through. Horses use their neck for what the back should be doing.

-     Bringing the horse back in tempo work should be creating energy not stopping it. If the horse has good forward energy use lines to harness it ( like corners) . Subtle tempo changes help the suppleness.

-     EVERY transition should be CRISP. Be  like a spark plug. The horse should always be thinking “What does my rider want from me next?”  the first steps is when the dance begins. Don’t just let the horse slide through the movements. Ask them to step, and each foot fall is a step.

-    Halts are transitions for balance.

My choice to send Maddy to Hasslers instead of being at our schooling show was clearly the right one. I'm pretty happy with the results of Maddy's weekend. Her training horses have looked great this week.  

All Grown Up

Venus turns 12 this year, and I realized I haven’t posted a word about her quite some time. Why you ask? Because, frankly, she has become known around the barn as the good girl, and let’s face it, consistency doesn’t lend itself to good storytelling. 

Venus schooling in winter 2011

When I bought Venus, back when she was an awkward coming-three-year-old, SFD hadn’t opened. I was still freelance teaching and training, and wanted a young, hot, fancy horse to develop and compete. I really enjoy riding hot horses—for my tastes, the quick responsiveness that comes with it is worth the potential tension.  She is Dutch and thoroughbred, and a red mare, so I thought for sure she would fit that bill perfectly.  Her sire’s sire is Roemer, a sire known for stamping his offspring with rideablilty, which I thought would be a nice balance for the thoroughbred heat. 

As a youngster, she was indeed a hot, responsive, could-get-

tense mare. She showed well, earning a paycheck from the Jumper Futurity for her scores in the 4-year-old FEI division and a red ribbon at Dressage at Devon as a 6-year-old. 

Venus in the Think Pink ride at DAD, 2012

As she has matured, her initial heat has mellowed to a very ridable response level.  In 2011, Scott and I developed a plan to teach her to manage her emotions, which worked really, really well. So well, in fact, that in 2012 she and I were included in the quadrille at Dressage at Devon. She was super. The whole process of going to practices and learning to deal with flags, music, horses headed straight towards her and horses tail-gaiting her helped seal the lessons she had learned the previous year. She became so good in a group that this summer we were asked to ride lead in the First Level Quadrille at the DVCTA USEF Show at Radnor Hunt.  She has become a reliable mount.

I guess this really isn’t too surprising. Horses, like people, go through different stages of emotional development. Usually around 5 or 6 the horses are going through the equivalent of adolescence. They begin to develop confidence and challenge their place in the herd, which can make for some interesting training sessions. Somewhere between 6 and 8 they settle into their mature personalities—which is why most of us pros advise our students to not buy a horse younger than 6.  Around that time, Venus became much more tolerant and much less hot. 

Venus at NEDA 

She has not become dull, by any standard. She is such a good girl, and she has developed a patient, schoolmaster personality. If the aid is correct, she happily does what she is supposed to do. If the aid is incorrect, she tends to ignore it, or just sorta respond.  Over the winter, a student was struggling with shoulder in, so I put her Venus for a ride. When the student set it up with too much inside rein, Venus just went down the long side with her neck over to the right. When my student figured out the use of the seat and outside rein to set up the shoulder in, Venus not only gave her shoulder in, she lifted her shoulders, changed her carriage, and added suspension to her step. It was like Venus was saying to my student “look, when you do it that way, you get all of this too!” Venus was practically cheering her student on.

Venus, with Nicole up.

She has become such a good girl that last fall, when I decided I really should learn to jump with more skill than just grabbing mane and hanging on, Venus became my ride for our weekly jumping lessons. It became clear that Venus really enjoyed jumping, and when my Dr. suggested that I give it up (some old gymnastics injuries in my neck), I passed the jumping reins to Nicole. Nicole is a much more skilled jumper, and Venus has flowered under her training.

She is such a good girl that when a couple of students with young horses were looking for a calm horse to join them on a paper chase last fall, Venus and I came along to play babysitter.  She has not only become a dressage schoolmistress, she has become a solid-citizen all-around horse. 

Venus competing at her first "A" hunter show

But, like most things, this comes with a negative side. Since she is such a good girl, I really don’t get to ride her that much these days. Over the winter, she was busy teaching a few choice students how to put a horse on the bit correctly and how to ride correct lateral work. Nicole jumps her.  Maddy, my assistant, earned some much-needed show miles on Venus this spring. 

As Venus has grown up, so has my business. Unfortunately, in recent years, her competitive ring time has been limited by client demands. Each year I have started with the determination to get Venus out and do what I bought her for – show. And each year one of my client’s horses begins to take off.   Competing on a client’s horse not only makes my client happy, it lets me use my show budget to do exciting things like buy a tractor for my growing business.

Which brings up that negative side again. I am a professional dressage rider who likes hot, spicy horses. And my mare has evolved into a wonderful good girl that anyone can ride. She clearly doesn’t need a professional to ride her any more. Plus she seems to really like teaching, loves to jump, and is great on a trail ride. My growing business could really use a bigger trailer, a better drag for the arena, and a replacement for the purchase-really-used Toro that we use to muck the barn—the list keeps getting longer. So I have decided it is time to sell her. 

Venus, just turned 3. She was all legs and booty

Venus now, the pretty girl. 

This process of letting go of the tailcoat dreams I bought along with my awkward red filly (I NEVER dreamed she would grow up to be a beauty queen, I just liked the way she used her hips) has been very, very hard.  But Venus is so much happier teaching and jumping than being asked to work harder and dig deeper every day, as is the life of an FEI horse, that the decision has been made for me.  Some of the horses I ride really enjoy the harder work. Secret thrives on canter pirouettes, and Sling thinks half steps are so much fun that he offers them whenever I say “good boy.”  Venus does all of this work, but when she has more variety in her life, she is more fresh each day. So in addition to not needing a professional to ride her, I think she’d prefer to not have to deal with my professional goals and professional intensity every day.

 I half-heartedly put her on a few sales sites last spring, but didn’t really promote her much. But now, with the business growing again, it is time to let my good girl go become a cherished teacher for a new owner that will love what she has grown up to become.