Sisyphus

I hadn't realized how long it has been since my last blog post-I could have sworn I had posted something over the fall before I fell off the radar, apparently though this was not the case. For that I apologize. The past year and a half have made me feel like Sisyphus-I roll my rock almost to the top of the hill and then bamm, we crash back down to the bottom.

Here is the 30 second recap of last summer-fall: Bastian steadily improved, but not enough to get anywhere near respectable enough scores at the one and only show we made it to (WPDA Summer Sizzler in August). He simply was not fit enough to pull off Second level or our Para-test (Equivalent to Third Level). It was disappointing and frustrating to say the least. In September we got to ride in a clinic with Debbie Rodriguez, hosted by Uphill Dressage. The clinic was awesome and we learned a lot to say the least.

Look how cute he is! We still need more uphill and power from behind in our canter, but he is well on his way!

Fall-Winter Recap: We kept applying the concepts we learned at the clinic and I rode in lessons whenever my meager budget allowed it. Then on November 11th, Bastian decided the door, wheelbarrow, the arena dirt, the air, ???????? was scary. Long story short, I ended up on the arena floor with a fractured hip. For those of you keeping record, that is a total of 8 broken bones, 6 of which have been horse related, 2 of which are specifically attributed to my lovely Bastian. The silver lining? I didn't need surgery and by the week of December 22nd, I was back in the saddle.

Bastian's text messages to me the next day.....

Slowly, but surely, (mostly slowly) we have been rebuilding our muscles (my core strength is gone! :( )and our confidence. The weather has been a royal pain in the butt, along with a busy work schedule so I have only been making it out twice a week, three times if I was lucky, to work Bastian. But as of this week, that's all starting to change! Tomorrow's forecast is a high of 39 and the rest of the week is in the 40s. I am super stoked! And don't tell Bastian because I don't want him to be disappointed, but he might even get to be naked this week....shhhhhhhhh! I don't want to jinx it.

While there has been absolutely no progress on the Bastian fitness, conquering-Second-Level-moving -up-to-Third front. There have been some major changes going on. Some good, some sad. In February we moved to a new boarding facility. Bastian loves it there!

He has a huge, lovely stall and their indoor is filled with huge, lovely mirrors.

He has settled in very nicely. Perhaps the coolest part is that the barn is a mere 10 minutes from my house. I used to drive almost an hour! I love having the extra time to spend with Bastian and we've been spending it by bonding a bit more as I pick out his stall or just stand with him while he eats his hay and talk to him. I didn't get to fit enough of that in when he was at Kens- I was on such a time schedule with having to drive out there, chase him around his pasture, then drive back home that I was definitely shaving off the excess and didn't spend nearly enough time just being with my handsome man. And did you see, he gets a stall guard. Being the social butterfly that he is he loves this! And I have to admit that its pretty cool when I walk down the aisle and I see him poke his devilishly handsome face out his door.

The downside to all of this? I can't ride with Tawny anymore. She was doing such a superb job with Bastian and I and I definitely miss that. At the moment we're flying completely solo, which is kinda alright since I don't even feel like I'm to a baseline where we are fit enough to participate in lessons, but I miss her insight and her understanding of how Bastian and I operate, thankfully (hopefully!) I can still have her coach at shows over the summer. Right now in our lightened work-load state, I have to give total props to Tawny for teaching Bastian how to properly perform a rein back. He does it so amazingly well, I'm really looking forward to going to a show because I feel like it is going to be one of our strongest points in our test.

So here's to warmer temps, no freezing rain, and no more injuries. Hello 2015!

Slow & Steady Progress

Well, it seems (knock on wood) that Bastian is back to living up to his Luck Dragon legacy. Things are definitely on the upswing for us. In the past month we've managed to get the majority of his strength back and with all of his parts and pieces feeling 100% he has been giving it 150% in his workouts and all of our hard work is starting to pay off.

We had fun playing hunter horse at the Up & Over show at the Buckeye Horse Park in June, where Bastian strutted his Thoroughbred stuff and earned the Champion Ribbon for the Thoroughbred Not to Jump Division. Since then we've honed in on our weaknesses within the tests and on our basic weaknesses and just schooled, schooled, schooled.

Our biggest 'basic' weakness is straightness. Tawny has me focusing on keeping his shoulders and hips aligned and keeping the correct bend in the rib cage every step of the way and it has truly started to pay off. I am actually feel when he's out of alignment now-not something I could really do before, but all this work has started to make me much more aware of it. So everything we do has to be done straight. Bastian has started to pick up on it to and he has slowly started to correct himself, it's more difficult so if I'm not on the ball then it's usually his left hips that come 'in.'

Our weaknesses in the test are the mediums, extensions and the walk pirouettes. We are making solid progress on our mediums however and we'll just pretend that we're making progress on our extensions...lol. I think that particular movement is just difficult for him physically, his stride is naturally a bit more huntery-daisy-cuttery than dressagey, so taking bigger strides and reaching through his shoulders has been a challenge for him. On Friday when I rode, every medium we did felt amazing! I have no idea what they looked like, but he was rocked back on his hocks, he kept his poll steady, he was lifting his shoulder and he was straight. Again, I've gotta give Tawny most of the credit on this one as she has been super focused on that area since I put him back into training with her. Here is a lovely picture of him working to 'extend' those lovely front legs!

Our walk pirouettes on the other hand, well, they aren't small circles anymore! I'm hoping that instead of the 5's I scored before that I can at least bump those up to a 6s. Bit by bit we're getting better and he's been trying his little dragony heart out, making every ride fantastic. In August we're headed to the WPDA Summer Sizzler where we'll be riding our Grade IV Team and Individual tests. I'm excited to see the progress we've made since last year when we scored a 59%.....

Also on the Schedule is a trip to New Alexandra, PA where Bastian and I have signed up to ride in a Symposium with Debbie Rodriguez. I'm totally stoked about going! So although we really aren't competing this year, we are making a ton of educational progress so that we do finally make it to some shows in 2015 we are gonna be ready to rock it.

Finally, an interesting story about Bastian's Neue Schule Bit. I switched him to the Tranz Training Lozenge a few months ago and had noticed a difference in the feel of his mouth. He was softer and there was less movement through his poll, and well he's always been slobbery so not really a big change there. For the hunter show, wanting to 'fit in' aesthetically, I switched to one of my old bits for Bastian, a straightforward French link D-Ring. He was not a happy camper when we schooled in it for 30 minutes, he just wouldn't soften and kept bracing against it. So, long story short, I decided to forego 'fitting in' and switched back to our Neue Schule bit for the rest of the show. In the past I had always switched out bits without there being a noticeable difference in his acceptance of what bit I used. Bastian has become quite communicative in this past year and I tell you what, the more I learn the language the more we continue to improve. If you've been on the fence about trying out a new bit for you horse, I highly recommend the Neue Schule line, they are fantastic. There aren't many North American retailers, but Hastilow Competition Saddlery carries the full line, click here to check them out!