- I pretty much packed everything I own into my truck and horse trailer and am (more or less) ready to hit the road in the AM! Every year I seem to pack more and more stuff to take with me, especially now with the bigger trailer I have no reason to hold back. Why take only one shirt when you can take 5? Why only 5 t-shirts when you can add 5 tank tops? Why only 1 saddle pad when you can take one each horse for every day of the week? Why shop in CA (obviously they don't have stores) when you can buy every food item you'll ever need up here and tote it down with you?
- I'm not feeling super confident pre-trip, Monkey now has a bunch of small bumps on his back under the saddle pad, which started about a week ago after the last injury-fiasco (I won't get started on that one). As if I needed more stress, he also had a swollen right hind leg yesterday. So I called my vet on his cell phone (it felt like Groundhog's Day, after last weekend's injury-fiasco and the same frantic vet-phone-call), and blurted out, "he's trying to drive me insane!!" Thankfully he was sound and the bumps don't look to be a big problem. So I diligently wrapped the right hind to keep the swelling down for overnight.
- So this morning, I notice he scraped up his left hind. I swear, he hears "Burbank" and starts banging himself against the wall trying to create some sort of injury.
- Majek and Bolero are luckily in one piece, however, both were spooky goof-balls all weekend. I think they are picking up on my higher-than-normal stress levels and finding monsters in every corner. Look!! A hose! Look!! A piece of paper! Look!! A cat!! Look! The chair in the corner that's been there for the past several years!! Naturally this isn't helping my stress levels any.
- On the plus side Mom has been keeping on eye on the weather for our trip down. After all, it is hugely important to check the weather forecast every 15 minutes, just in case it has drastically changed and huge amounts of snow are going to be dumping in Winnemucca. But just because it didn't change 15 minutes ago doesn't mean we shouldn't check it again in 15 minutes! Why wait until the afternoon before you leave? That's silly, we should stress about it for days beforehand! Mind you, this is the same person who asked me TWO WEEKS ago if I had checked the driving conditions for my trip yet.
- So we're planning on leaving tomorrow AM, probably between 6 and 7am. That should put us in Burbank at LAEC between 10 and 11pm. Then the REAL fun begins (or that's what I'm telling myself)...
Sunday, March 27, 2011
All packed!!
Friday, March 25, 2011
Getting ready to leave for CA!!
I'm in the process of packing for my drive to Southern California...normally I would say "sunny" So Cal, but since it hasn't been, I'm a bit more reserved in my enthusiasm. I have two big shows lined up, the Festival of the Horse CDI in Burbank April 1-3, then onto Northern California for the Golden State Dressage Festival CDI in Rancho Murieta April 7-10. Both shows promise to be super-competitive and intense, if not sunny.
This trip will also be the maiden voyage for the new (bigger) horse trailer, irony of ironies I now have a 5 horse and am selling the 3 horse, but I'm only taking 3 horses to these two shows. Go figure. At least it'll look bigger and fancier! Plus I have more storage room for all my stuff, so I can now bring everything I own.
Escorial (aka Monkey) will be showing in the (intimidating) CDI short-tour classes, which are extra-competitive this year as a result of the Pan-Am games at the end of the year. Should be great fun! I finally got my freestyle nailed down, which will be helpful, considering I've never ridden one in competition before. Oh well, I guess it'll be one big experiment.
Charismatique will be showing in the Open show in PSG and the Developing Horse tests and young horse Bolero (at his first ever show, do I make great decisions or what??) will be showing Training level. All in all it should be an awesome couple of weeks.
Now all I need is that famous California SUN!! (Can you tell I'm getting sick of winter??)
This trip will also be the maiden voyage for the new (bigger) horse trailer, irony of ironies I now have a 5 horse and am selling the 3 horse, but I'm only taking 3 horses to these two shows. Go figure. At least it'll look bigger and fancier! Plus I have more storage room for all my stuff, so I can now bring everything I own.
Escorial (aka Monkey) will be showing in the (intimidating) CDI short-tour classes, which are extra-competitive this year as a result of the Pan-Am games at the end of the year. Should be great fun! I finally got my freestyle nailed down, which will be helpful, considering I've never ridden one in competition before. Oh well, I guess it'll be one big experiment.
Charismatique will be showing in the Open show in PSG and the Developing Horse tests and young horse Bolero (at his first ever show, do I make great decisions or what??) will be showing Training level. All in all it should be an awesome couple of weeks.
Now all I need is that famous California SUN!! (Can you tell I'm getting sick of winter??)
Sunday, February 13, 2011
For sale: 2006 Sundowner 3H gooseneck, 7'6" tall
Beautiful 2006 Sundowner 727 3 horse gooseneck trailer for sale. Extra tall (7'6"), extra large dressing room. Walk-thru door from dressing room to horse area, drop down windows on head, escape door. Stainless steel nose wrap. Collapsable rear tack with saddle rack (which can also be put in dressing room). Tires in good shape, brand new spare. Ball bearings have been repacked yearly. $15k. Only selling because I bought a bigger one!! Email for more information and pictures!
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Jan Brink clinic notes
Last weekend I audited a clinic with one of the world's top dressage riders and trainers: Jan Brink from Sweden. The clinic was held at KGF Equestrian Center in Kirkland, Washington, and hosted by Steinberg-Bryant Dressage. One of Jan's big themes throughout the weekend was adjustability in the horses. Interestingly, he thought that 35 years ago the emphasis in dressage was on big, ground covering gaits, but he feels that now it is much more important to be able to vary the gaits smoothly and quickly. He further discussed what he called the three "control points":
1) The Track--the rider needs to be able to control the relative alignment of the horse's front legs and hind legs
2) The Rhythm--the rider needs to be able to speed up or slow down the horse's rhythm while maintaining the same stride length
3) The Strides--the rider needs to be able to ride longer strides or shorter strides while maintaining the same rhythm
Jan feels that riders should not wait too long to start varying the strides with young horses, even three and four year old horses. With the very young horse, riding longer and shorter strides has nothing to with collection but it is in the direction of collection. In fact, with the young horse it is helpful to think to ride longer strides, but then back to the normal stride as the young horse is not strong enough to really do shorter strides. He also had the riders ride a 20m circle in the canter with longer strides, then riding a smaller circle (15 or 12m) when riding coming back to the normal stride length which encourages the horse to come back.
Adjusting control point #2 is a little more confusing (at least for me!). Jan used the analogy of a basketball player dribbling a basketball. The ball can be dribbled quicker or slower without making it move more forward. This ability to change the rhythm but keep the stride length the same is very helpful when teaching flying changes, as the horses need to "bounce" more off the ground in a quicker beat to get the change. He had several of the riders just ride on a 20 meter circle, find a baseline rhythm in the canter for instance, and then practice just changing the rhythm to quicker or slower steps.
To really test control point #1, Jan had the riders ride often on the centerline. With the young horses it is enough just to try to ride straight down the centerline! On the older horses the riders could ride shoulder-in or travers on the center line to really test their ability to control the shoulders and haunches.
As the work became more advanced Jan would have the riders combining the three control points and emphasizing different elements, depending on the strengths and weaknesses of the horse and rider. For instance, in training the pirouettes, Jan would have the riders ride travers in the canter on a 15 meter circle. Within that movement, the riders were to quicken the horse's rhythm. When the riders had a good feeling, they could then change to riding a 12m circle, or 10m circle or down to a 6m circle, but always the rider needs to stay disciplined about the circle line. It was a good "bodybuilding" exercise and an excellent exercise to train the horse to balance and wait during the pirouette canter.
Jan was great at explaining both the more general issues, and then applying these general points to the individual horse/rider combination to help improve specific aspects of their performance. All in all, a very good clinic!
1) The Track--the rider needs to be able to control the relative alignment of the horse's front legs and hind legs
2) The Rhythm--the rider needs to be able to speed up or slow down the horse's rhythm while maintaining the same stride length
3) The Strides--the rider needs to be able to ride longer strides or shorter strides while maintaining the same rhythm
Jan feels that riders should not wait too long to start varying the strides with young horses, even three and four year old horses. With the very young horse, riding longer and shorter strides has nothing to with collection but it is in the direction of collection. In fact, with the young horse it is helpful to think to ride longer strides, but then back to the normal stride as the young horse is not strong enough to really do shorter strides. He also had the riders ride a 20m circle in the canter with longer strides, then riding a smaller circle (15 or 12m) when riding coming back to the normal stride length which encourages the horse to come back.
Adjusting control point #2 is a little more confusing (at least for me!). Jan used the analogy of a basketball player dribbling a basketball. The ball can be dribbled quicker or slower without making it move more forward. This ability to change the rhythm but keep the stride length the same is very helpful when teaching flying changes, as the horses need to "bounce" more off the ground in a quicker beat to get the change. He had several of the riders just ride on a 20 meter circle, find a baseline rhythm in the canter for instance, and then practice just changing the rhythm to quicker or slower steps.
To really test control point #1, Jan had the riders ride often on the centerline. With the young horses it is enough just to try to ride straight down the centerline! On the older horses the riders could ride shoulder-in or travers on the center line to really test their ability to control the shoulders and haunches.
As the work became more advanced Jan would have the riders combining the three control points and emphasizing different elements, depending on the strengths and weaknesses of the horse and rider. For instance, in training the pirouettes, Jan would have the riders ride travers in the canter on a 15 meter circle. Within that movement, the riders were to quicken the horse's rhythm. When the riders had a good feeling, they could then change to riding a 12m circle, or 10m circle or down to a 6m circle, but always the rider needs to stay disciplined about the circle line. It was a good "bodybuilding" exercise and an excellent exercise to train the horse to balance and wait during the pirouette canter.
Jan was great at explaining both the more general issues, and then applying these general points to the individual horse/rider combination to help improve specific aspects of their performance. All in all, a very good clinic!
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Talented young dressage horse for sale!!
I recently updated my website with an impressive and talented dressage horse for sale. He is a 2006 Dutch warmblood gelding by Farrington out of a Welt Hit II/Jazz mare. He's over 17 hands, and with his huge scopy gaits and fantastic uphill canter, definitely a horse that will make the judges take notice!
Visit my website http://www.heather-oleson.com/ for more information and a video of this talented horse!
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Region 6 Youth Camp 2011!!
Mark your calendars for the 2011 Region 6 Youth Camp, to be held July 5th-8th (Tues-Fri) at DevonWood Equestrian Centre in Sherwood, Oregon. Last year almost 50 kids from all over our Region traveled to attend the first ever Youth Camp. Six local dressage professionals, all former participants at the NAJYRC, donated lessons and travel time to be a part of this unique opportunity. We also had lectures on various horse and dressage-related topics, including a demonstration on the FEI jog and a round-table discussion with all the instructors on their Jr/YR experiences. All proceeds from the camp went directly into the Region 6 Advanced Young Rider fund, which helps offset expenses for our Jr/YR team to travel to NAJYRC.
Last year's camp was an unbelievable experience, and everyone is excited for next year!! Stay tuned for more details!
Last year's camp was an unbelievable experience, and everyone is excited for next year!! Stay tuned for more details!
Tentative 2011 Show Schedule
Hi all!
Hope the holidays are treating everyone well! The horses and students are all going very well, I've been very pleased with everyone's progress. The weather turned to winter rather quickly here in Boise, even before December 1st we had a snowstorm which dropped between 6-8 inches here in the valley!
But, it is never too soon to start thinking about next year. Here is my tentative 2011 show schedule:
March 31-April 3: Festival of the Horse CDI***, Burbank, CA
April 7-10: Golden State Dressage Festival CDI ***, Rancho Murieta, CA
April 23-24: Les Bois Spring Spectacular (schooling show), Eagle, ID
May 7-8: Idaho Dressage Festival, Nampa, ID
May 28-29: Spokane Spring Dressage Show, Spokane, WA
June 16-19: Golden State Dressage Classic CDI*, Rancho Murieta, CA (maybe??)
July 22-24: Dressage at DevonWood, Sherwood, OR
August 13-14: Boise River Dressage, Eagle, ID
September 22-15: USDF Region 6 Championships, Nampa, ID
This schedule is subject to change. My team is looking forward to a fantastically fun and exciting show year next year!! Now if we can just get through the winter...
Hope the holidays are treating everyone well! The horses and students are all going very well, I've been very pleased with everyone's progress. The weather turned to winter rather quickly here in Boise, even before December 1st we had a snowstorm which dropped between 6-8 inches here in the valley!
But, it is never too soon to start thinking about next year. Here is my tentative 2011 show schedule:
March 31-April 3: Festival of the Horse CDI***, Burbank, CA
April 7-10: Golden State Dressage Festival CDI ***, Rancho Murieta, CA
April 23-24: Les Bois Spring Spectacular (schooling show), Eagle, ID
May 7-8: Idaho Dressage Festival, Nampa, ID
May 28-29: Spokane Spring Dressage Show, Spokane, WA
June 16-19: Golden State Dressage Classic CDI*, Rancho Murieta, CA (maybe??)
July 22-24: Dressage at DevonWood, Sherwood, OR
August 13-14: Boise River Dressage, Eagle, ID
September 22-15: USDF Region 6 Championships, Nampa, ID
This schedule is subject to change. My team is looking forward to a fantastically fun and exciting show year next year!! Now if we can just get through the winter...
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