Highlands Ranch Halloween

Last year in the USA, Nic took Ethan trick or treating in our old neighborhood. They had a fun time and came back with a decent amount of treats afterwards, I stayed home and handed out a few treats to some neighborhood kids.

This year myself and my friend took the boys around our new neighborhood. We expected a little more, but "Whoa" what an experience.

You know those movies, where in the USA there are kids all over the street, the houses are spooked, lit, pumpkined and blinged? Well thats here, the sun went down and the kids came out. The adults set up mini street parties with Chilli and Beer and there was enough Candy flowing to power a nuclear facility.

Well, of course the boys had a ball, the neighbors are so happy and friendly and we enjoyed seeing all the kids having fun and dressed up.

Just as quickly as it all started, it was over. One and a half hours of kids everywhere and then the neighborhood went respectfully quiet, no teens, no noise, just back to quiet suburbia.

What an experience, crazy, very american, but kind of sweet and lovely too.

Happy Halloween Y'all!

lientje schueler- dressage post, sorry!

I spent a day last week spectating a Lientje clinic at the barn. I say barn but its a little too fancy and beautiful to just refer to it as a barn really! I had a funny conversation with friends of ours the other week, we had all gone into the mountains for a trail ride. Our friends Rick and Sally hadn't ridden before so it was fun to be able to to take them somewhere safe and Ethan also got his first trail ride off the lead rein, anyway I digress. I was telling them all about the wonderful barn, people and horses that are there. The great owners, trainers, riders and the gorgeous dressage horses. I chatted about some of my favorite characters like Biente, Pensamento, Elisa and Piero etc. Nic piped up with a comment which was something like... "Of course, they all have fancy pretentious names, they couldn't just be called Bob, Spotty and Star could they!"

Now, back to the clinic. Some of the information from Lientje to the riders in the clinic is simply not relevant. Im just not good enough to use that information in my own riding, but its amazing to see the transformation in the horses as she uses small tips to help the pairings along their path. However, I did manage to snatch a few little gems during the session. The usual rule applies, FORWARD. Then when you think you have enough, a little more usually! I also picked up a great tip for a inside flexion  and some tips on contact and seat that I run through in my head during the lesson. At some point I would love to get a space on Lientjes clinic, Its myself I need to get over and not worry about the fact she's an immensely talented

rider and Im such a Novice still. She genuinely doesn't care what level you are and is not in the least judgmental.

This week has been ups and downs of riding, generally I feel like Ive really stepped up with my ability and understanding of contact, bend and roundness which is amazing. I also am getting the opportunity to ride bigger moving horses which sometimes goes well, and other times is a little hairy ha ha!

Dressage truly is a love and hate thing, but I do love the bling!

Dressage Speedhump... or is it?

So the last few weeks have been challenging in my path towards my dressage goals. We have begun the task of pulling apart each section of my riding to better improve me in the long term.

I remember starting off with Jules a few years ago and wanting to get it all right. Of course, this was an impossible task to ask of myself and Jules. It takes time to develop any form of balance or seat needed to begin the intricate parts of dressage and all I wanted to do was to be able to canter with our zooming diagonally off the rail.

A few years on and much has changed, I am a rider now, or thereabouts anyway. Enough so to look like I nearly have a clue.

But....

Now we begin the task of improving my seat, being able to sit the trot properly and use seats, legs and hands all independently.

In doing so we have managed to fit in a few lunge lessons, these are incredibly helpful in improving my seat and I feel like i need about a hundred more. I have a tendency to use my thighs to keep me on, which in turn actually lifts me out of the saddle, so my seat mantra right now is, thighs off, flatten back and really allow my hips to move with the horses back legs.

The other part, that is my current weeks struggle, is the outside rein. I think its a typical issue that many riders use too much inside rein. From the mouth of Sara, is the mantra "your inside rein will not save you". If I feel the horse drifting to the outside I have a tendency to use too much inside rein which instantly affects the whole balance and picture. This week I had to let go of that rein totally and just use my outside aids. We had a few hairy moments but I started to get a feel of what I need to do by the end of the lesson.

Before this week I felt like I was starting to get the horse to work on the bit correctly, but the feel of true engagement over a false outline is very different and has not only a huge affect on the overall picture but on the horses mental and physical health too. The feeling of the horse taking the contact our and forward and lifting over their back as opposed to the tight neck and body when they are just holding themselves in.

But I have a mountain to climb. Just when I feel like I am gaining ground, I slip back down to a different ledge that I didn't even know existed. At best it is frustrating and demoralizing but the feeling when its going right is worth it all. Thank you to my ever patient instructor/s and the horses that are teaching me.

Signing off this week as Dressage Diva... well a girl can dream can't she? xoxo

Gymkhana

This past weekend I helped with a small Gymkhana at the riding school. I love helping out with the kids and seeing them get to spend a few hours with the horses there.

For most of them it's the first chance they get to spend more than 30/ 45 minutes on a horse, they go into an arena alone and have nerves and slightly excited horses to deal with.

Its fun to watch them do everything from barrels, to flags and more. The kids did so well, they mostly kept at walk or trot with the odd canter too. The instructors made sure they thought about their horses and what the consequences of different choices could be.

There are also a few older girls there who raced in the games with their own horses, quite a stark contrast to the riding school kids- there were some pretty crazy and hairy moments!

I know Western staff and particularly barrel racing stuff just isn't my thing. I always worry about the horses and the big bits and spurs don't help. Of course, I realise people do that in dressage too but usually you stick with snaffle bits and a dressage whip until you are ready for the next bit of kit. Some of the Western riders seem to go long shanks and big spurs straight off.

Anyhow, life clicks on here. We have given the garage a huge tidy out, so that we could fit both of Nics cars in there for the winter. He has Chuck (Camaro), so called after Chuck Norris because he is badass and white. He has also kept Jason the Jeep (named by Ethan - think chainsaw massacre, he has a jason metal decal on the back tailgate). The garage is now finally neat and tidy which is a huge relief, I can't stand the mess that was in there!

My riding is still limited as my knee is still fixing after a fall off a young horse. Its been about six weeks now, but still isn't right, lateral motion is the killer but day by day it is getting better. I am hopefully seeing a chiro this week which I hope will help.

Finally, with the colder weather comes the dry air, static is building up and my hands are dry and sore. Colorado is pretty unforgiving with winter and static hair and sore hands are just the norm!

Anyhoooo, before I bore you any more, I will say Farewell- speak soon!

xoxo

Hello Fall

There is a definite chill to the air when each morning, and fall has swiftly arrived here in Colorado. We have had an incredibly busy few weeks so I wanted to pop them on here for your perusal!

The Patio has continued to demand a big chunk of our time, it is done now (phew) and I will post photos etc tomorrow.

In other news I have started as a working student at least one day a week with my fantastic dressage instructor. She trains out of two gorgeous barns so we will flit between the two.  The main barn purely dressage and have boarding horses and Sales Horses. There are some brilliant Amateur and Professional Riders here and horses that are upto GP level. Some of the sales (and boarders) horses are imported from Europe so its always interesting to watch them progress. The second barn is a gorgeous Hunter Jumper Facility and again, has some incredibly talented and gorgeous horses and riders.  Both barns are very friendly and run professionally and by some great people. The job is mostly, grooming, tacking, untacking and sometimes warming up/ cooling down the safer horses too. I learn a huge amount from my trainer and love working around these amazing horses. Im never going to be able to afford horses like these myself so its a great way of getting a fix!

Nic has also got a new car, much to my initial disagreement. We knew he would need one at some point but he kinda snuck this past me sooner rather than later. It is however gorgeous and Nic loves it.  We went to a few dealerships looking at options and the Corvette was the best deal and by far the nicest in our price range. He has, much to his discomfort, allowed me to drive it once. It is stupidly fast but easy to drive. It was odd driving a manual car in the US though, I kept looking for the gear shift on the wrong side!

We have had a visitor from the UK for the weekend and through this week (a work friend of Nics) and have done some incredible fall drives and hikes. This really is the most stunning time of year in Colorado and is cool enough to be able to take the dogs with us to most places. We hit Garden of the Gods and Guanella Pass over the weekend and got some amazing photos and had an absolute ball.

We have a few weeks that are pretty full of work/ school stuff etc so don't expect any exciting updates. Anyway, all is well with us and the woofs, off to volunteer at Ethans school in a mo!

Garden of the Gods

Hiking path Garden of the Gods

Love!

Guanella Pass

Guanella Pass/ Geneva Pass Rd