Horse Of Course

Happy birthday!

2012-02-01T01:00:00.000+01:00

...to MEEEEEEE, happy birthday to MEEEEE.....

Awwwww.
Thank you guys, how did you guess??

Now, the last years I have only wished for some small things as birthday gifts.
A couple of Grand Prix-horses.
An indoor arena.
Some millions to go with it.

No luck so far.
Last year I just thought the postman got lost, but as he finds the way with all the bills I have to face up to the bitter truth I guess.

I have to wish for something smaller.

A new car.

Want to join us on a winter ride?

2012-01-14T22:24:00.001+01:00

I got inspired by Mugwumps "BraCam" and thought that I could try and make a video of Fame and me hacking out today.
I decided on the easy option though and just hold the phone in my hand while riding.
So do you wanna come with us?

Unfortunately hard wind and milder temperatures have made the trees lose all the snow, we don't have much snow and we did not see much of the sunshine today either...but never mind, it was nice weather for a ride!

You'll just have to take it as is :-) ...no such fancies as music and headings, the post as editor is vacant at the moment.
So please join Fame and me hacking out today!
Here we are heading down towards the creek:

Horses are by nature afraid of ice, just as they are on any insecure footing like bogs etc.
It's logical - a horse in the wild that gets stuck or hurt the legs by all likelihood ends up dead.
Two years ago, a rider from one of the other stables rode out on the ice on a lake at wintertime.
The ice couldn't bear the weight, and the horse tragically ended up dead.

So you have to build confidence with them over time, and on this day we had weak ice which is the worst.
Fame was a good girl though, and we found a way over.
Had to keep both hands on the reins going down to the water though.

Looking back on the water, I saw something floating? Oh no, my glove....
Not exactly the right time for a bath. What to do?
I just had to turn Fame, and see if I could get hold of it.
It floated merrily downstream, but luckily ended up on one of the icy part in the middle, and I managed to fish it up with the dressage whip. Yes!
And up on the other side...with a soaking wet glove. Nice.
Couldn't keep it on, and couldn't put it in the pocket either.
I finally decided to hang it as a tree decoration until our return.

So my next project was to try and video at canter.
Bear in mind that I was riding bareback, and my horse is an agile spooker.
So, halfway down the video you hear me squeak almost falling off as she spooks over a small darkish pine tree, silly girl.
I apologize for the video quality as the wind made a lot of noise and the camera man did some shaky footing.
Fame was actually a good girl and kept a nice controlled canter apart from the spooking. I believe she was a bit puzzled about what I was doing though.

We continued up, and did some more canter intervals at a higher speed, and this time I decided to be a bit more sensible and keep both hands on the reins and my concentration on the horse.
As usual I jumped off at the top, and walked beside her on the way down.
When I hack out I normally ride her bitless, either on a sidepull or as here on a hackamore.
I have exchanged the chin chain with a leather strap though, it is a softer solution which works fine.

Finally found a stone and was able to get on Fame again so I did not have to splash through the creek by foot.
Found the glove as well.
It was frozen stiff, but I managed somehow to get it into the pocket of my jacket for the last part of the ride home.

Thanks for joining us!

Winter....wonderful!

2012-01-11T22:39:00.000+01:00

Wonderful weather on Sunday, riding home from a training session

We are in the middle of January, and the best part of the winter lies ahead.
It took me some years, but I actually do like the winter!
I would be happy to shorten it though, to exchange November (when we often have sleet, rain, fog and darkness) and January (when it often is very cold AND dark) against two more months of summer.
That would be perfect!

The creek is still open

But from now on the temperature normally is stable below freezing point, and we normally have snow.
The days are getting longer, and in February we can get some marvellous days with azur blue skies and glistening snow.
I love, love, love a beautiful scenery and we get some amazing winter landscapes if the weather is right.
And I love the snow as it brightens everything up, and is super to ride on!
(Yes, it is cold and unpractical too, layers of clothes and a cold and icy car and icy ground and snow shovelling and whatnot, but the winter comes every year so it's better to enjoy it, right?)

I love the colours of winter too, the subtle hues of blue and grey, the instensity of the sprakling white.
Up here in the north the colour of the sunshine is much more white than further south.
A winter day with full sunshine is sprakling like a gem. It is so light your eyes hurt.

We had a wonderful day today, with a clear sky and full sunshine.
I had to drive home early, and remembered that I have a video function on my cell phone. So I took a video driving through the valley, and I was hoping to be able to upload it here.
No such luck, unfortunately.
(It is in MPEG-4 formate, I thought that would be OK? Suggestions anyone?)

...but the days are short :-(

Keep warm, and enjoy your winter everyone!

Merry Christmas

2011-12-17T20:21:00.004+01:00

After an unusually mild autumn, we have finally got some snow and the world is much brighter.
(How do you cope, all you guys out there in milder climates with just rain and darkness???)

It has been nice to have some milder temperatures - last winter was tough - but it is so dark without the snow that I feel my energy level gets affected.

Last weekend I had a lovely ride with my daughter.

The last one together with our horses.

My daughter is not well, but her health is improving andshe has started school again this autumn after two years absence.

Unfortunately this drains her for energy, and after contemplating the matterfor a long time we decided to sell her pony.

Charlie left us last weekend to a very nice familywith a 13 yo daughter.

We will miss him very much, but I believe it was the right decision.
We still have got Fame to share.

I just hope it works out because in my daughter's eyes, Fame is my horse - eventhough I actually bought Fame for her once upon a time.
My daughter has had her own pony since she was seven, and that is close to tenyears.
No wonder it feels strange being without.

The autumn has been hectic, and I just haven't hadthe energy to keep the blogging up to date.

Fame and me have been training a lot though.
Those of you that has been following the blog know that I have been struggelingwith tenseness in Fame.

Even if it is less now than it was a year ago, it hascrept up from time to time - as usual (aarrgggh) much caused by me.

It is so easy to tense up when your horse also istense.

Anyway, I feel that we have managed to solve much of it lately, and that is sonice because then you can proceed with everything else.
Duh.

Still some mountains to climb...

I wish all of you a marvellous Christmas, and allthe best for the New Year!

Vacation's over!

2011-09-13T22:54:00.000+02:00

I was about to say that the summer here is too short to spend in front of the computer.
Well, now we are writing September, and the summer never came.
So I can't really blame it on the weather, can I?

We have had a very unstable summer and autumn this far.
It seems as if it's been raining every day.
Not quite true, but the fact is that Oslo in the beginning of September reached the average yearly downpour, with three months left to go.
And I was hoping for a nice autumn as the summer weather was wet...

Have been spending time with the horses though, even if they have been on summer vacation. This year we had them down at a friend's place where they also had a riding arena, about an hour's drive from home.
They had five weeks off, but I rode Fame in average three times a week, so it was not quite the lazy days as we have had earlier.
For which I am thankful.
Having vacation, without riding and a lot of time on your hands to have the Winnie-the-Pooh way of thinking on "time for a smackerel" is not healthy for your body.

One of the nice days this summer.
Fame can splash around forever.

I just love the way the sun lightens up the bottom of the creek,
it is like rays of gold down there.

..and it is grass here too, see?
We can both eat and have a bath! At the same time!

End of August. We have more water and
the path on the left hand side is flooded.
Fame still thinks bathing is a super idea.
I get dizzy watching the fast swirl of water around us.
In September the water level has
increased even more and we cannot cross at all.

Where has the grass gone?

How long time does it take to learn how to ride, I wonder?
I have been trying for the last 42 years, and I am not quite sure weather I have another 42 coming up.
I have to speed up the learning process a bit, I guess.
(Not easy if you are a middle aged, office working person. )

But - the main thing is to have FUN, right?
And it has been quite fun lately.

I have had two super training weekends, one with Andrew Murphy, international instructor and member of TTT together with Stephen Clark, Arthur Kottas, Charles de Kunffy - all real heavyweighters in classical dressage.
It was two very, very good sessions, and something that I feel really boosted my riding.

A week later it was time for our monthly training with Jimmi Sørensen, our Danish trainer.
Fame worked very well. I am so happy that Jimmi is coming over once a month as I feel much is happening every time, and he puts us on the right track for the work ahead.

A pause and some pep-talk with Jimmi.

I decided not to put on shoes on Fame after her summer vacation, and see how she does.
She has good hooves, and so far it has been no problem. (I kept her unshod until she was four.)
I have to take more consideration on where and how I ride though, and the plans to start some X-country competitions this autumn had to be abandoned.
That is a small sacrifice if she benefits from it in the long run.
And I love the soft sound of an unshod horse.

We fortunately have some nice paths that also suits an unshod horse, and last weekend we had a very nice hack, Fame and me.
And - wow! it did not rain!

Hope you all have had a nice summer, and hopefully with some better weather than here.

See? Nice and soft for small hooves...
A canter?

My thoughts

2011-07-22T23:45:00.001+02:00

go to the innocent victims and their families.

Hilltops and views

2011-06-19T22:06:00.003+02:00

One of the most wonderful ways to waken up is by the sound of a bumblebee and the curtains softly moving in the summer breeze.
Summer time is lovely.

Even if there has not been much happening here, I have been working hard on my riding.
I find that riding often feels like climbing stairs, or hilltops.
You work, and you work and not much happens.
Until one day you're reaching the hilltop, and suddenly you can see the view.

I feel that we are at a shift now, Fame and me.
We're not at the hilltop yet, but I can feel we are approaching.

I have struggled with my seat and position for so long.
Problem is that when you've used your body in a certain way over time it is really tough to get rid of your bad habits. They are good old friends with your body, and your body moves quite contrary to what you are planning yourself.
Very irritating.
Anyway, as you know we had a training weekend with Wiola and Kari from Aspire Equestrian Riding Academy.
I got some very good input, and an extensive written feedback as homework too. I felt it helped a lot both in January and now in May.

In addition to the weekly training we have the Danish trainer Jimmi T Sørensen coming over once a month.
I am very grateful for this because he both put us on track, as well as pushes us a bit further in the training.
I thought we had a good session last time, but this time it was even better!
- I rode Fame in a double bridle in training for the first time, she was a gem.
- And we managed tempi changes in every third stride on the diagonal. (for those of you that are not into dressage: flying changes in every third stride on a straight line)
I am proud as a peacock!

Woot-woot!
(you have to bear with me here, because I will probably not land on Planet Earth until next week)

Best horse there is!

Summer!

2011-06-03T19:55:00.001+02:00

As some may have noticed there has not been much activity here lately.
Summer came...
And after a looong winter (as I am sure you can understand) staying outside has been much more tempting than sitting in front of the computer!

Today we had +28C/82F, and what could one do after a day at work?
Go bathing with the horses of course!

My daughter even took on a swim suit.
I kept my riding breeches on, but rode without shoes. No sense in keeping them on, as they get soaking wet anyway!

Fame did not see the point in standing still at all.

All the plants have been growing like crazy lately.
Unfortunately, also the nettles....they are reaching toe height!

----------------------------

A JOURNEY FROM SPRING TO SUMMER

I have some pictures to share from the last month, so here they are.

We start end of April:

The first flowers has come.

I just love that intense, blue colour.

The melting snow feeds all the waterways.

-----

Beginning of May:

I had a lovely ride with my daughter.

Riding in a carpet of spring flowers:

------

Mid May:

Above: a grey day, but I just love those cloud formations over the mountains.

Above: Ferns starting to come up. Looks like an alien invasion!

Fame is contemplating the fields turning green. Pasture time soon?

-----

We also once again had a visit from Wiola and Kari from Aspire Equestrian Riding Academy.

Another super training weekend - thanks guys!

My daughter has a friend visiting, and they are making Texmex for tonight, so I had some minutes over.

Can't sit here. I think I will chill with a beer in the sun.

It's not only me...

2011-04-18T22:43:00.001+02:00

....who loves spring!

Still some snow left in shady places

These last days Fame has been bursting with energy.

I took her out on a bareback hack on Saturday. Not such a good idea.
Starting out, everything was spooky.

Favourite spooky place #1,
no matter how many times we have passed here...

We zigzagged our way between this and that, didn’t really matter whether it was a stone, some remaining snow heaps or what-not.
I gave up to get any reason in it and concentrated on my balance training...

Favourite spooky place #2, slightly less bad than #1

So I decided we needed to get rid of some surplus energy, and put her to work.
We kept a fresh tempo of trot and canter, steadily climbing upwards on the gravel roads.

We got to a long straight part, still with a steady climb.
I thought she was sufficiently tired and let her go some.

Oops. Bad idea.

She grabbed the opportunity and took off, throwing in some happy bucks too.
Speed was high and the gravel road looked hard.

With a sidepull and riding bareback, this was not a good idea…
I growled NO, tried to get her head up, kicked her forward and managed to hang on.

Phiew.

Walking back, it is allowed to eat some.
After searching for grass in vain, the only option left was pine needles...

...yum, yum. Maybe?

Sunday, we started at a training show jumping arrangement.
Having had a serious workout the day before, I thought perhaps that she would be a bit more sensible. (At least I had a saddle and a bridle on, haha.)

Have to cross the creek first, belly high today

Time to canter now?

It was about half an hour’s ride to the arena, and I could feel I had the same energy bomb as the day before.
Starting the warm-up, she was spooking at everything. After some work she was concentrating a bit more, but still a lot of energy.
When our time came to ride the course, she enthusiastically threw herself at everything in our way. In turbo speed.

As it was a training arrangement, we could take the course once again.
Did not improve much.
Fame was enjoying herself though.
I was somewhere in between laughing and pulling my hair.
Then we rode home, zigzagging again.

*sigh*

I will take her on a 4-5 hrs trail ride during Easter.
Maybe I manage to get her tired?

King of Hunt LOVES spring

On the watch

Up all night takes its toll

Hunting season has started, and the going is good.

We get new presents on our doorstep every day...

I just love spring

2011-04-14T21:08:00.000+02:00

Before riding Fame, I had a coffe with newly baked apple pie that my daughter had made on the entrance stairs, basking in the sun.
Afterwards I feel asleep in the sun for half an hour.

For the first time since the autumn, I rode without my long johns.

The outdoor arena has dried up.

It is light until 8 pm.

We can keep the entrance door open, and the sun shines into our living room too.

King of Hunt brings a Mouse Present. Luckily he loudly calls out a successful hunt, so we can close the door in time...

I just love spring.

Stockholm - once again

2011-04-11T22:06:00.001+02:00

Old Town

Fortunately this time it was lovely spring weather, and no snow storm!

Stockholm is a beautiful town in spring and summer.
The city is built on several islands and the water combined with the old buildings create many scenic views.

Fishing with the Royal Castle in the background

The Royal Castle

The Royal Opera

Old Town

Gamla Stan, the Old Town, is the oldest part of Stockholm, and it is so nice just to stroll around there.
To sit down and relax over a cup of coffee when you need to rest your feet.

Not even wide enough for a horse!

The lovely spring weather makes people crowd
on all outdoor cafees with a place in the sun

An old telephone booth

And horses!

Bye for now!

Spring

2011-04-06T21:49:00.001+02:00

Today we had lovely spring weather, +15 C/59F, and sun when I came home from work.
Marvellous!
Fame had been worked by Pernille, who rides her twice a week - but I took her out for a spring cleaning.
She is shedding like anything, and I had a long overdue trimming appointment with her mane.

I attacked the jungle, but had to get the help of a knife on the mane.
We were both too impatient, lol!
So, here she is, with a new spring hair cut.
The angle of the photo is a bit awkward, but I guess you can see and admire this marvellous hair do. We are only lacking some pink bows.

Our riding arenas are now not longer having a snow surface, but has changed to a nice mud layer.
I hope for more sunny spring days with high temperatures, so they dry up quickly!
In the meantime, I am very grateful to have access to indoor riding arenas.

We had a very nice traning weekend with Jimmi, our Danish trainer.
The flying changes are coming along nicely, and he asked us to make two on the diagonal.
We had never tried that before and of course I completely tensed up, making a mess of it all.
So that's our homework until next time.

He also said it is time to start to make Fame accustomed to a double bridle.

Very exciting!

A fortnight ago you could barely see the roofs of the trailers.
We are getting there!

Here is my summer vacation 2010. Plus.
Beautiful, don't you think?
I am ridiculously proud as this is my first very own trailer.
So now it is easier to get to trainings and shows.

+14 C, and close to a bath

2011-03-28T22:53:00.001+02:00

Finally spring has arrived here as well.
Last week we had temperatures well above zero, with a top record on Wednesday of 14 C/57F.
Wonderful!
A week ago I decided it was time for my annual spring project - digging out the terrace:

My helper the Sofa Princess, who is in heat and sensually rolls around in the snow, something she never would do normally!

OK. let's go find the terrace, it should be buried here somewhere

Oh yeah, here it is.

Halfway. Very packed snow, so it was hard work!

Ready - finally!

A week ago, we still had a lot of snow left

But the lovely temperature during the week has really made some difference.
Like I almost got stuck with my car trying to get home on Monday...

Anyway, the weekend came, with some lovely weather on Sunday.
I took Fame out on an early bareback ride as I was to attend a clinic later that day.
The nights are still cold, so when we reached the creek there was a layer of ice on both sides - not strong enough to carry the horse, but thick enough to be unpleasant.
Fame was a real star and just walked through it on both sides. Good girl!

Snow in the forest...

I was not so lucky further on in the forest.
At one place a brook had changed path and started to flow on the path we were travelling instead.
We almost managed to cross it, but on the last part there was a thick layer of ice which did not carry our weight, and we kind of got stuck. Fame tried to save herself by heaving herself into the snow, but got stuck there too.
She kept calm though, I jumped off her and we somehow managed to turn and get out of it.

Now, with this fresh in mind, we were to get home over the creek again.
With the ice.
She stands still, thinks a bit, and then takes a LARGE jump straight over the ice into the middle. Got me totally unawares (yes, I know, should have anticipated it!!) and as I had no saddle I ended up sitting on her neck instead of her back.
The water is cold now.
I guess it was the thought of just how cold it was that somehow made me able to cling on and wriggle back in place while Fame was steaming energetically through the water towards home. I kind of got my balance back before the jump up on the other side.
Phiew.

On the way back we saw a little Bambi.
I just love how close you get to the animals while on horseback.

Finally Home!
...and as you see she has regained weight after the colic.Hahem.

I was lucky to get to join my daughter for a ride on Sunday!
Not as much sun as on Saturday, but a lovely spring ride.

Riding out

Feeding place for the moose. I guess they need something to eat too. Perhaps.

The race horses overtook us

Bye, bye

Lovely ice formations on the mountain sides

On our way home

This weekend Jimmi is returning for a weekend training, I am looking forward to that.
Siri took some pics from the jumping last time - so here you see, the overaged geriatric dressage rider and her eager mount.
Yeah, yeah - small jumps, but now we are getting back on track:
From next week we will have weekly training!

Thoughts

2011-03-12T22:50:00.001+01:00

There has been an interesting discussion going on, starting with Laura's post Trust over at Equestrian Ink, and followed by Kates post Sometimes you feel like a nut at A year with horses.
It's about how we interact with our horses.

In a way the discussion itself makes me smile, because communication is not easy - whether it is between humans or horses. There are many similarities, are there not? It is much about interpretation, and trying to understand.

It also made me think about how much the horseworld has changed.
In the old days, as nowadays in some parts of the world, your income might have been depending on your horse.
Or even your life.

Since the de-horsing of the farms in the 50'ies, we now mainly use horses for pleasure.
That arises some other thoughts about the horses we have around us.
What is fair?
What can I ask from my horse?

All herd-bound animals - be it humans, antelopes or horses, must have a set of rules to interact safely with each other.
I guess we all can agree that we need a set of basic rules for our horses, to be able to handle them safely.
But after that, the use and our opinions of how to handle the horse might differ.

Us horse people can be very conservative.
Most of us live by old traditions, and when we do things, we do them in a specific way because that is what we learnt once upon a time.
As an example, look at how we build and work our barns.
Compare it to how cows are kept. During the last 20 years a large degree of automation has taken place. Now cows even have robots to milk them. Fully automised feeding, based on chip marking. Each cow gets the amount it should.
One can ask if this is all good, but at least the farmer is not as bound to be home for milking or feeding as in the old days.
But when it comes to horses?
We still muck out in wheel-barrows.

Now I am going to reveal something very controversial.
I use treats when training.
Shhhh.
Never mind that dog trainers, dolphin trainers and I guess every animal trainer in the world now uses it, in the horse world it is still a bad word.
And I wonder why?

Please allow me to ponder a bit more on this.
We are much coloured from old traditions.
These traditions were mainly made by men, where (sorry guys) the macho-factor sometimes comes into handling of horses.
Be firm. And if the horse doesn't want to, make him. By force, if necessary.
So, it is more accepted to hit the horse than to give him a treat.
Isn't that strange?

Now, on the other hand, I believe most horses (like children) test you out from time to time. Some in a subtle way, some more flagrant.
The more experienced you are with horses, the more you are able to read them.
And you can by reading the horse often avoid that tricky situations arise. Both you and the horse can relax more.
You can allow to give and take a bit more, and listen to each other. But keep the borders firm.

I do not have a bad conscience to make my horses work.
It's their job.
The horses that don't have a job don't live here anymore, most of them.
Where are the farm horses?
Where are the army horses?
I also have to work, to keep my horses and to get food on the table.
So my horses have to work too.

I keep horses for pleasure. I am not in a hurry, because I don't base my income on them.
I work with the horses I have chosen myself, and I chose them much on a sound mind and body.
So I guess my horselife is pretty much uncomplicated.
But I also see that it limits my experience, even if I have been around horses for a long time.

On the other hand, I know that there are other people out there that have their income based on horses.
The trainers often get the horses other people can't train.
I can see that their situation, and their experiences, might differ from mine.
If your safety is on the line, how do you react?
Does an unsafe horse have much of a future?

What is abuse?
I suppose we all can agree on beating up the horse is abuse.
But what about the more subtle things?
Keeping a horse stabled 24/7?
Putting on three rugs?
Only doing indoor arena work?
Is that OK?

Many people have sighed for the 'good old days' and regretted the 'passing of the horse,' but today, when only those who like horses own them, it is a far better time for horses.
~C.W. Anderson

Update

2011-03-06T00:17:00.003+01:00

Life has been quite busy lately, so not much activity on the blog for a while.

I have been to Gothenburg Horse Show with my daughter.
We had a lovely trip, and I also had the possibility to meet two childhood friends. One of them I had not seen or had contact with for 40 years. A funny feeling, meeting now and I still see the little girl in the woman sitting opposite me.

I was not happy watching the dressage.
Too many short necks, unsettled mouths and trailing hindlegs.
How Adelinde Cornelissen could get 82% when her horse was working behind the vertical large parts of the program beats me.

The best part was actually Angelica Augustsson, the Swedish 23 yo girl who won the World Cup qualifier in jumping.
She was in tears at the prize ceremony, and I believe everyone who was there saw the birth of a new star in the jumping circuit. She was very close to win the Gothenburg Trophy (1.50 class) the previous day, finishing second, so it was not just a lucky ride.
The roof almost lifted off the building when she won.
It was very popular with a Swedish victory, as you can imagine!

At home we had some lovely weather today!
Lots of snow still, but wonderful sunshine.
In a way it is the best part of the year - we have the plum part of winter left, and all of spring and summer.
It is a bit like a Friday afternoon, when you get home from work and have the whole weekend in front of you, but on a larger scale!

What is really irritating is the moose.
My friend Anne is back in Norway for a short visit, and we took the horses out for a ride on Wednesday evening.
It turned out to be more of a moose safari than a quite hack, and as the moose was standing on every path (and refusing to move, two even moving towards us) we planned to take.
Even on the path leading home.
We ended up going over the creek at a different site than we normally do, which included very high ice edges down to the water, a drop down and a jump up in the dark.
My brave girl took it without problems, with me hanging on, frantically grabbing the mane as I once again rode bareback.
My daughter's pony thought it all too scary, so we ended on separate sides...
I could not go back, because the drop on my side was too high and the bottom of the creek was made of large stones, which made it an uneven surface to land on.
So we had to split, meeting again at the proper bridge a bit further down.
I really want the snow to melt away now, so the moose can get lost somewhere up in the mountains again.

The blue colour of the sky is incredible!

Jimmi is here for the weekend, and we had dressage training yesterday, and jumping today and tomorrow.
Fame really loves to jump, and was very "enthusiastic" today. If you get my meaning.
Poor thing, we have to jump more often!
Our normal trainer has been away for a while as she has had a baby, and I am far too lazy to get the jumps out just for me.
Hopefully that will change as our trainer now is back in action from next week on.

Passing the creek on our way to the jumping - on the normal place this time!

Stuck in Stockholm

2011-02-12T21:16:00.000+01:00

This week I was travelling to Stockholm to attend a seminar, and decided to take a day off and bring my daughter with me.
We had a lovely trip and enjoyed a bit of spring feeling as there was not much snow left, and lovely weather with sun as well.

Just strolling around, enjoying a coffee and some good food, and some shopping as well.

Until Thursday, the day to travel home again.
Heavy snowing, and wind.
Our flight was to leave at 6.30 pm. We had to wait an hour at the gate, and after boarding another 1.5 hour in the plane. It was total chaos, and it ended with that we couldn't take off at all but had to stay in Stockholm over night.
SAS servicedesk just gave up, and couldn't help at all - not with hotell room (Stockholm was at this time completely booked full) nor with a return flight.
Luckily my company uses American Express travel agency - and they arranged both (you rock, guys!)

Trying to return the next day, the situation was not better.
Still heavy snowing and wind. No busses is in operation at all in Stockholm.
The express train to the airport was running but delayed.
We were wondering if our plane would leave, but the gate opened on time.
It was a bus transfer to the aircraft, but on arrival the stairs were not there to board the plane. Just a rickety one that the crew had used to get onboard.

After waiting for a while in the bus, the captain comes jogging over to the bus and says we were waiting for a normal set of stairs as well as a truck to move the plain as he was afraid it would not be possible after the passengers were onboard.
We got the same captain as the day before - and he was the best.

He kept us informed the day before, and did a wonderful job on Friday too.

The stairs never showed up, so in the end the captain (again jogging over to the bus) said the he had taken the decision that we could board so we wouldn't have to wait in the bus any longer, but asked us please to walk up one by one as it was on his responsibility.
We all entered.
De-iceing of the plane.
And then the truck was to move it.
Nothing happens.
Another truck.
Nothing happens. The plane doesn't move.
In the end, we start to wonder if we all have to get off the plane again.
Or if we will get back to Oslo at all?
After an hour, they get hold of a 4wheel drive truck, and finally something happens.
So, close to 24 hours after when we should have been at home, we finally get there.
Finally.

At home it had been snowing heavily too, but I woke up today to a wonderful morning with a clear blue sky and a winter wonderland again.
Letting the horses out in the morning, they all found a sunny spot to enjoy the morning.

I took Fame out on a hack.
For the first part there were just two horses that had walked the path before us, so it was still a bit of heavy work as the snow was deep.

Such a beautiful day!

It was cold today, I guess around -10C/14F, but the funny thing is that after the very cold spell we have had, it doesn't feel that cold anymore.
Later in the evening I took the car to get some groceries, and then it was -18C/0F.
Guess it isn't spring just yet.

We had a wonderful canter in the snow up here (pic below):

And finally, returning home.
Fame was happy, albeit a bit too happy as I ended up hanging by a knee trying to pass a wood cutter.
A 180 degree turn in the air when riding bareback can be a bit tough to handle, even if she gives me good training, lol!

Happy birthday to me

2011-02-01T22:45:00.000+01:00

Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been.
- Mark Twain

(Thank you, thank you! How did you guess?
It's getting late now, and I am still waiting for the delivery of the indoor arena, the two GP-horses and the cottage in Provence.
Did the postman get lost on his way, do you think? This year too???)

Training weekend

2011-01-30T22:40:00.006+01:00

Wiola with Fame and me

We have had a lovely training weekend with Wiola and Kari from Aspire Equestrian Riding Academy.
Wiola is a BHS Intermediate teacher, I suppose many of you know her already from her blog, Riding Instructor's Diary.
Kari is a human chiropractor, and together they had set up a very interesting schedule for the weekend.

In advance each rider sent in a form about themselves and their horse, what their plans were, and what they wanted help with.
We started out with filmed assessment sessions on Friday evening, followed by some pizza and going through the videos, planning the training ahead.

On Saturday the riders had a filmed riding session with Wiola and also a session with Kari where each rider's specific problems were addressed.
Again, a round-up in the afternoon, watching the videos and commenting.
Another short session with Kari on Sunday morning, followed by a private riding session with Wiola.

I have always been struggling with my seat and position, and been very envious of all those riders that just "sit there".
Some of my problems I have managed to solve, and some of them I still struggle with, after 40 years.
Very irritating.
Your bad habits kind of become good friends with your body over time. (Can't really remember inviting them?) Or rather like house occupants.
I needed some help to evict them.
In my form I had asked for help with my shoulders, as I round them.
I also feel that I lack strength in my core muscles.

Berit on Charlie, who found a new friend in Wiola

I got some very good help from Kari with some exercises both to correct my shoulders (NOT by pushing my breast forward as that creates tension, did you hear that all riding teachers out there?) and to strengthen my abdominal muscles. Kari told me I had rather strong abdominal muscles, which really made my day, wohooo!...but of course they can get stronger. And the stronger they get, the better I will ride.

Wiola in action

So with all those new tips, I set out for my riding lesson.

It was very interesting, and I had several aha-moments in the interaction between me and Fame.

It was hard to keep my new body posture all the time, but now I felt I had the correct tools to adjust my body properly.

And we discovered a hole in the flexing of Fame which was a highlight for me, and something I believe will be a great help in my riding. Thanks Wiola!

The perception of a riding instructor might vary from rider to rider, but the ultimate proof lies with the horse. Horses don't lie.

It was so good to see the response of the horses during this weekend, as everyone was working better.

Barbara and Mazda

Barbara bought her horse Mazda this autumn.
Mazda is a former riding school horse imported from one of the Baltic countries, with unknown history.
She has some issues, and has an inverted shape of her body with a large belly and a weak back.

She either likes to work with a too high head position, or ducking behind the vertical.
Wiola did some very nice work with her on Saturday, and on Sunday Barbara did the best work ever on her horse. Mazda was relaxed, and much of the time she worked with a correct contact and position.

Wiola is working on flexion with Hjalmar and Tarzan

My favourite rascal Tarzan was also participating, with his owner Hjalmar.
I should not say "rascal" anymore, because Tarzan has produced some very nice dressage work together with Hjalmar the last year. After getting some extra help with a softer contact and improving the balance, the work was better than ever.
Hjalmar had the best comment of the day when Tarzan started to work those hindlegs: "Hey, there's something back there"...we all cracked with laughter!

Apart from the training, we had a very good time with interesting discussions and a lot of laughs.
We rounded up on Sunday in the club house with some food and discussions, and there was a strong wish for a repeat session end of May/beginning of June.
When I drove Kari and Wiola back to the airport, I believe they were happy but quite exhausted both of them!

I have made two new friends for real, not just blog friends, for which I am very happy!
Thanks once again Kari and Wiola for a wonderful weekend training!

Too much entertainment

2011-01-24T22:39:00.000+01:00

Sunshine!

Fame is recovering well, even if she is a slimmer version of her old self.

I have been walking my large dog the last week, not without extra entertainment.

The first walk of the day has been in the morning before I drive to work, around 6.30 am.
At that time the horses still have not had their morning meal, so I have to move around quitely and lead my horse out from the stable in the dark.
Outside it is also completetly dark.
Coming out of the stable door on Wednesday morning, I walk out first, then my horse.
When I turn around to close the door after us Fame goes bananas at my side, stepping into the steel wheelbarrows standing at the side and turning them all over.
I can assure you all of the horses in the stable were now wide awake.
Turns out we had stepped into a party of two moose, standing right outside the door, munching away on the hay.
Party-party!
Scared by the noise from the wheelbarrows they fled by jumping in and out of the outdoors arenas, only to stop a bit further away and look at us.
*sigh*
I checked Fame over, but it seemed as if it had been more noise than anything that had hurt her, so we started our walk. In the opposite direction from the uninvited guests.
Suddenly she freezes again.
Turns out that there is a third moose, perched up on the snow heap at the short side of the arena, eating on the hedge there.
Ok, not that direction either...

On Thursday, I was to ride Charlie, my daughter's pony, and I had this super idea.
I could warm up Charlie on a short hack while ponying Fame.
They are good friends, so it should be ok, even if we had not tried it before.
I decided that maybe it was a good idea to put a saddle on, something I have scarcely done the last couple of months.
The halter rope would be too short, so I had to take the longe line - a nuisance really as it was far too long and I had to have several extra loops that I needed to keep un-entangled from the reins.
Anyway, after some initial confusion we straighten everybody out of the tangle and off we went.
Everything went just fine the first 10 minutes.
It was nice outside, not too cold and a beautiful full moon.
But.
I suppose you can guess what happened?
Suddenly a large, dark shadow materialised from the trees at the side of the path.
A moose, turning and walking towards us. Quite close too.
Oops.
Charlie has a slightly more sceptic view on mooses than Fame. He believes it is a good idea to walk home if one meets a moose. One cannot be too sure what happens.
So I just had to keep him under control, because if he turned I would entangle myself and Fame on the small path as the snow was quite deep beside it.
I steadied Charlie and started to tell the moose off in my deepest voice. Didn't mince my words either.
At least he stopped.
I tried to bark like a dog.
No reaction.
Barked like a larger dog.
The moose started to eat from the bushes, apparently enjoying the situation....hmm, wonder what she will try next???
Aaargh.
I could not turn, because then Charlie would have his suspisions confirmed, and also probably stress when turning. We just had to stand our ground.
I worked my mind hard to come up with some new interesting, scary sound to try out when the moose tires and turns around, leisurely walking off along the path. Not far though.
Time for a organised retreat.
Not much space to turn around, and neither of the horses really wanted to leave the path as the snow beside it was deep, but after some pushing we manage to start on the way back - even with the right horse in the lead - hooray!
Charlie behaved well, some jogging to start with but he calmed down pretty quickly.

My parents were here this weekend, and they told a story about a 10 yo in Sweden, when walking home from school suddenly met a pack of wolves.
They did not walk away, and he was very brave. He did not run, but picked up his cell phone and played some heavy rock, which did the trick!
I believe I have to download some music that creates an impact...any ideas?

On Sunday we had a lovely day, and I almost felt a tast of spring.
Lovely, lovely sunshine - and you could actually feel some warmth.
I rode Fame on a short and calm hack for the first time since she was sick, and we just had to stop to take a sun bath.
For the first time since autumn I rode without a jacket, only two pullovers.
Large improvements to -20C.

King of hunt is spending most of his time outdoors again

Colic

2011-01-18T23:09:00.001+01:00

My horse is very dear to me, so the last days I have been in agony.

When I came home on Tuesday afternoon, Fame did not finish her hay. Instead she lied down.
Oh no.
I phoned my vet, and said that we might have a colic on our hands, and asked him to be prepared.
I walked her but she was not well and had a slight temperature, so I asked the vet to come.
He diagnosed a constipation (blockage? what is it called in English?).
After treatment she recovered well during the night, and as I was working from home the next day I could keep her under observation.
Everything was fine until 7 pm. When I came out to check on her she was lying down again.
Another visit by the vet.
Again she responed well on the treatment.
Loose manure, no temperature.
When I walked her on Thursday evening she was alert and hungry.
Went to work on Friday (of course a yearly large conference for the entire company), and got a call from the stable. She was lying down again.
Phone call to my vet - he told us to drive her down to the veterinary hospital.
The blockage/constipation was tough, and they said that the situation was depending on how she responded on the treatment, and asked me if they should phone me if it was necessary to do a surgical operation during the night.
I did not sleep much.
When I finally got a call the next morning with the reassuring message that the constipation had dissolved during the night, I could finally breathe again. She is a fit and healthy horse, and I have been very grateful for that because I believe it has helped her in the situation.
We could drive her home again Monday evening.
My well muscled 8 yo now looks like a gangly 3 yo instead, poor thing.
She was so happy to come home, and I was just as happy to get her back.
She is on a strict feeding regime for another fortnight, and I have to walk her three times a day, so it's early mornings for a period.

It has been more colics than usual this year, and they have had busy times at both of the veterinarian hopitals in Oslo.
It is probably due to the severe cold, as the horses drink less. At the same time more and more feed with haylage instead of hay, and it freezes in low temperature which also probably adds to the problem.
Here (as in most places) the horses has to do with snow instead of water while they are out during daytime as the water freezes.
That situation is of course not optimal, but not new - and has earlier not caused more problems with colic during winter time than during summer time.
Living up north for sure doesn't make things easier.

Moose safari

2011-01-08T13:05:00.003+01:00

After two months with very low temperatures and not much snow, the situation has changed and we have been getting much snow but higher temperatures.
And when we get much snow, the animals get problems to move higher up in the mountains, so they move down to the bottom of the valley where we ride.

It was a lovely day yesterday with trees heavily laden with the new snow, and both sun and some fog which made a wonderful scenery.
As I got home from work a bit early, I decided to take Fame out for a hack.

I took her out from her food, so a bit on our way she tried to grab some branches sticking out from the snow.
When I told her "no" we suddenly had some commotion from the forest just in front of us.
Turned out to be three moose that had been standing watching us, without us noticing.

Luckily they turned around and ran off away from us.
Problem is that when we get much snow, the moose too wants to follow the paths or the roads as the going is easier, and then it can be a bit tricky sometimes.

Fame luckily doesn't worry much about moose, she is quite used to them.
She is curious though, and often sniffs the ground in their tracks, sometimes also wanting to follow their tracks.

She had a lot of excess energy after two days off, one of them unplanned - so we aired the system with some fresh canter for quite a while, uphill.
She has had some extra forage due to the cold, and it makes her more on her toes.

Even if she had had a real good workout, she was still full of energy on the way back with tendencies to some jogging which I don't like.
I had to turn her energy into some work instead, and that was why I did not see the fourth moose until we were just beside him.
He was lying down in the snow just beside our path - I would say only some 5-7 m off.
Anyway, we pranced on, he just moved some ears and past him we were.

Horses, not moose!

Moose are large animals, but I am not very worried about the moose when we ride out.

I have had many close encounters over the years, and no bad experiences so far. (But I do know of incidents where my fellow riders have been chased.)

When I do worry though is when I am out driving.

I see them by the road almost every day driving through the valley. If you get them in front of the car, the car hits the legs and you get the body straight up on your wind screen.

People here are killed in moose accidents every year.

My friend Anne, who is studying in Germany has gone English.

She bought a new horse a couple of months ago.

Check out her blog!

An exciting start of the new year

2011-01-04T21:39:00.005+01:00

If one munches on branches, one might get a surprise....

My friend Anne who lives in Germany was home for the holidays, and we had a very nice trail ride together on Saturday with the horses.

The horses enjoyed themselves, and we too.

The weather was lovely, finally the cold has lost some of its grip.

Just a few degrees below zero, and sun in addition - lovely!

The very nice thing about the blogosphere is the possibility to make new friends.
I love to read about all my equestrian blogfriend's experiences and stories, but now I am very excited because we are taking this one step further:

Wiola from Riding Instructor's Diary is coming over to us to throw a weekend training together with her collegue Kari, who is a chiropractor.
They have set up a very interesting training schedule where Wiola and Kari will work close together to assess each rider's problems:

Nordmarka RSK invites to a training weekend with

ASPIRE EQUESTRIAN RIDING ACADEMY
28-30 January, Sørkedalen

”The horse mirrors the rider’s movements”

Most horse riders know what their own personal difficulties are, but many do not understand why - and therefore feel like they are constantly struggling to correct it.

Biomechanical restrictions can easily cause some of the problems encountered by horse riders daily, such as a weak seat, inconsistent rein contact, locked hips, tilting the upper body and/or legs forwards, and collapsing through the waist.

If your horse is crooked, lacks impulsion, is tense or is going against the aids, the cause might lie with you as the rider.
Would you like to improve yourself?

The training will be a great help to get more insight in your own riding, where you will get help to address the problem that really affects your further development – how your own body influences your horse’s movements.

Schedule:

Friday evening Jan 28:
Presentation and planning.
Riding in groups of 4, lenght 30 min, assessing riders.
We sit together afterwards and share some pizza and look into each rider’s goals, issues and problems. Discuss what comes up, and plan the training for the rest of the weekend so each rider gets a tailor made program to address his/her issues.

Saturday Jan 29:
AM: Riding 45 min session, two riders pr session. Part of the session will be filmed.
Lunch: Looking at the videos, and discuss what each rider needs to work with.
PM: Each rider gets ca 30 min session with chiro Kari, with exercises that will address what needs to be worked on based on the riding sessions and the discussions during lunch.

Sunday Jan 30:
Each rider gets ca 30 min session with chiro Kari before the riding sessions start.
Riding sessions 30 min, alone.
We meet and sum up the training. Feedback and help to plan further training.

Instructors:

Wiola Grabowska BHS Intermediate Teacher, founder of av Aspire Equestrian Riding Academy

Kari Duglebby DC BSc Hons Chiro, Chiropractor and rider

Both come from UK, and are a part of the team in Aspire Equestrian Riding Academy, who work with a holistic approach to horse and rider.

Wiola and Kari will work close together to tailor the instruction and treatment to each participant’s needs.
Read more about them on:
www.aspire-equestrian.com

I am really excited about this!

We had maximised the number of participants to eight, and it took half an hour after I annonced the training until it was fully booked!

Let's just hope that the temperature keeps a bit over what we have seen here lately; we have had the coldest November and December here in the last 100 years!

And here, Wiola and Kari, is the venue.
Not very grand, and looks quite deep frozen, right?
Don't dispair.
You'll get a warm welcome even if the temperature is low!

Happy New Year

2010-12-31T19:01:00.000+01:00

My parent's house

On December 22 we left for Sweden to visit my parents, and to celebrate Christmas together with them and my brother and sister's families.
Lots of people in a small house with children everywhere and a lot of laughter and good food...we had a wonderful Christmas!
Thanks Mum and Dad!

This winter has broken all low temperature records, but it is so very beautiful outside - like a winter fairy tale.
So in spite of the cold, we enjoy being outdoors.

We took out two cats with us to Sweden.
King of Hunt is not affected by low temperatures, even if he spends more time in the sofa corner than normal.
But our little Sofa Princess is...well, a sofa princess. She does not get much coat to isolate from low temperatures, so we decided to take her for a short walk:

...inside my daughter's jacket.
At least she got to see something different!

A new year is on our doorstep.
It will bring new possibilities for us all.

May the new year come with many happy horse-y moments, wonderful rides and may it keep you safe and sound.

All the best!

As one who grew up in Sweden during the 70's I cannot help myself from adding a New Year's greeting from ABBA - Happy New Year!

A Merry Christmas

2010-12-23T17:08:00.003+01:00

To all my friends around the world -
I wish you a peaceful Christmas, with time to relax together with family, friends and horses.

White Christmas with problems

2010-12-21T09:07:00.000+01:00

Central Europe is paralyzed by large amounts of snow.

In Belgium they haven’t seen snowing like this since 1945 (in the Ardennes Offensive, “Battle of the Bulge”, the temperature in January -45 gave large problems)

Many are spending their third night in a row at Brussels airport.
The airport has run out of de-icing fluid as the trucks can’t get through due to bad road conditions.

Heathrow, Schiphol and Frankfurt are affected too, where many of the long distance flights take off.

Weather like this is always bad, but my thoughts go to them that are longing to see their near and dear ones for Christmas and can't get home.
I hope the snowing subsides, so the airports can resume their normal activity again.

Someone has to take care of things?!

2010-12-18T11:01:00.002+01:00

I do believe that any horse needs variation in work, but youngsters in particular.

I have been hacking out with Fame ever since she was started under rider.
In the beginning I walked part of the way, to save her back.
Sometimes we got to some scary stuff.
Most of the time, she crossed by herself after searching for crocodiles without finding any.
Once in a while I had to help her by getting off and walking over the scary stuff beside her.
"See? No crocodiles."
When safe over she got a pat and a snack.

Now I have a very reliable trail horse that handles everything from water to mud and moose.
So I relax when we are out.
Let my mind wander.

And Fame crosses whatever is in front of her nose.

Thing is, I don't pay attention.

So she has to remind me.
Whenever we have crossed something scary, she goes in slow-motion mode.
"Hey, you, upstairs - you've forgotten something!
And if I am still lost in my own little world, she stops.
"Uh, what?" I suddenly get aware that something is happening here.
"Oh".
Snack time.

Then we carry on.

Somebody has to take care of things.
Mind the traditions, like.

I have got some in one of the pockets, somewhere...

---

You might also be interested in: What's in it for me?

Correct?....or not?

2010-12-13T22:55:00.013+01:00

The debate around dressage lately is good, but sometimes also a bit black and white. Or blurred.

We get a lopsided view if the discussion only relates to the position of the horse's head - which is one part of the picture, but not the whole.
We also have to discuss how the horse is using his entire body, and in particulary his back and hind legs.

The position of the head should be a consequence of educational level and correct training.

If you look at the correct body posture and neck position of a young horse, and compare it to that of a Grand Prix horse, it differs quite a lot.

Jan Brink/Björsells Briar

Within the training, you might also need to position the horse's head and neck differently.
To loosen up the back you often work the horse in a lower outline in the beginning and end of a training session.
It is also important that you vary the form throughout the training.
The horse's individual preference and body conformation also comes into play; a horse that wants to work deep often tends to be on the forehand and needs some more "up" work, and a horse who wants to work high often gets tense and needs some deeper work to loosen up.

A correctly educated dressage horse will get stronger over the years, and will be able to collect more.
The forward energy that the young horse shows will become more expressive as the older horse develops collection and "schwung".
Collection in a dressage context means stronger in the hindlegs which again creates more upwards movements and posture - including a higher neck and head position.
This is not something you can achieve with your hands, it is something the horse offers when he is getting stronger.

During the time it takes to educate the horse, we will experience periods where the horse is not working correctly.
All of us are working towards an ideal; a soft and agile horse, strong and straight - but sadly we will not get it from day one!
The horse needs to learn how to balance the rider, and the work towards the ideal is not always that easy.
A horse that works with the head behind the vertical is not working correct, but a horse that works with the head in front of the vertical, or aligned with it, does not necessarily work correct either.
(And by the way - behind the vertical does not equal rollkur. Rollkur is an extreme, forced position of the head. Behind the vertical can happen due to a number of reasons, and is an overall indicator of incorrect work.)

I managed to lure my daughter the Photographer out to take some pictures of Fame and me, to get some illustrations from a normal rider's daily struggles.
I will use our shortcomings to show what I mean, because this is definetely work in progress.
Please chime in with your thoughts and comments, if you want to - I am happy to get some feedback and discussion here, whether you agree with me or not.
I will present the photos first, without any comments.
Look at them, and compare your own thoughts with mine at the end.

Picture 1

Picture 2

Picture 3

Picture 4

Picture 5

-------------------------
What are your thoughts?

Here are mine:

Picture 1: Position of the neck and head is correct, isn't it?
But what about hind leg activity?
My horse happily plods along here, if allowed, saving her energy for another day.
As you can see, she is not tracking up - so this is not good enough. We are starting to work here, and I have to get her back and hind legs into action. We need some more energy!

Picture 2: Time to start with some canter work.
We are not working correct here either.
I am asking for some more activity, and Fame gets a bit strong and is pushing into the sidepull, closing the angle under her chin and coming slightly behind the vertical.
Her strong contact is a result of having slightly too much weight on the forehand.
I try to fix my body position so she is not pulling me out of balance, while I soften slightly in the contact to avoid her taking too much weight there. Then we start with some transistions within the gait to improve balance and get the hind legs working better.
A more correct form would show a more open angle under her throat/chin, more like an inverted U instead of a V, and a more even curve from the poll to the top of the neck.
When it gets better I'll get a feeling that the poll is rising up, and the contact in my hands softens. What I am looking for is a more uphill canter, without her losing the activity or tensing up in the neck.

Picture 3. Compare the trot here with the trot in picture 1.
She is a bit open in form, but as you can see there is much more activity in her body.
See how the legs are moving compared to pic 1.

Picture 4. I am trying to get her to work in a slightly rounder form here, while keeping the activity. She gets a bit strong, and pushes into the sidepull again. I am trying to fix my position (a bit more difficult when riding without a saddle) and balance her through a halfhalt.

Picture 5: Better!
Far from perfect, but she is working actively in a rounder form and with a nice contact in my hands.
Now we can get some work done.
We still need to work more on building strength so Fame can carry herself in a more collected form.
It takes time as she often gets a bit tense, too high in form and tightening in the back - which is not correct.
The blame is above the saddle for sure, but we are working on it.
Transistions, shoulder-in and half-pass are good tools to use..

Picture 6

And - picture 6:

Half-pass. They are finally starting to come along, yippeeee!

We have also played around with flying changes lately.

It seems as if she understands the aids a bit more so we are starting to place them also on straight lines, unrelated to changes in direction.
It is faaar from perfect, but great fun!

-----

You might also be interested in: The crooked horse and The wiggly horse

(It was good to get the photos as I can see that the cheekpieces are getting too close to her eyes when riding. I have changed the browband.)

Winter frozeness

2010-12-07T22:51:00.010+01:00

November this year has been the coldest ever measured in the Oslo area.

We have had steady temperatures around -20C (-4F) which is not out of the ordinary in January, but rare in November.

It is cold, but beautiful.

I just love the winter stillness, and the crisp beauty of the frozen landscape.

But riding is cold!

I put on layers of clothes and end up like a Michelin figure, with matching ability to move.
When the cold closes in in the evenings, we often get a cold fog that burns down the chest when the breathing gets deeper.
But I am not complaining - last November it rained every day.
This is much better!

Still, it brings some inconveniences.
We use wood shavings as bedding for the horses.
When the temperature goes down to what we are having now, it freezes in the container.
You have to use an axe to get it loose. And it's dark inside the container too.
It is tough work I can tell you - and I only have one or two horses to supply - poor Helene who works at the stable has 15 horses, and a string of race horses to exercise too.
The racing season is still going on for another fortnight.
Imagine those poor jockeys, in thin racing clothes and no fat on their bodies either - riding in this cold.
Frrrrrrr.

This weekend my daughter and I took a trip to Örebro in the middle of Sweden.
Last year we had a weekend there right before Christmas due to a meeting.
We enjoyed it very much, and my daughter suggested that we should take a trip this year as well.
It is a 4.5 hrs drive from Oslo.
We started out Thursday evening and spent the night with my sister who lives on the way, 3hrs drive from us .

Örebro is a cute little town.

There are several pedestrian streets in the centre, and waterways surrounding the old medival castle.

Last year we were at the castle as they arranged mystery dinners there Saturday evenings before Christmas.

The play was based in local history and some of the persons had existed in real life a century ago.

It gave quite an atmosphere to be seated in the banquet hall, and we all had to participate to guess who the murder was.

My Sleuth of a daughter managed to make a correct guess too.

(can't say the same about me)

Örebro Castle

They even have horses here!

An old part of the town is named Wadköping, and before Christmas they arrange a Christmas market with sales stalls.

Wadköping

There is also a shop of the old fashioned type.
Not much room, but very cute!

The old shop

They even had Christmas posters of the old type, several with horses too.
We had to buy one of course!

"Tomten" tends to the creatures on the farm.

At home, even King of Hunt stays indoors.
Then it must be cold...
I give the horses more food - I want to see some extra kilos on their bodies now in the period ahead. Fat isolates nicely in low temperatures, and the horses burn more calories just to keep warm too.
We keep the fire up in the hearth, and the horses get an extra day off in between.
Our instructors won't come due to the temperatures!

Contrasts

2010-11-26T17:45:00.001+01:00

Saturday this week

Saturday last week

Returning home from sunny Florida I was met with winter.

We had a beautiful flight over a winter landscape when returning to Oslo, with the evening sun setting and coloring the mountains in light pink hues.

And I was happy to come home.

This morning it was -18C/ 0F.

I was slightly less happy to be home.

Watch out

2010-11-02T18:36:00.000+01:00

....over there guys, because on Thursday I am leaving for Orlando, US!

It will be the first time for me to visit USA, so it will be exciting.

I am to attend a symposium related to the project I was working with in Paris, but will have a couple of days to have a look around too.

(Any suggestions?)

The weather at home is not much to be happy about.

We have changed from summer time to winter time, so now it's dark when I come home from work and it's been raining too.

*sigh*

Weather forecast for tomorrow at home is:

but, in Orlando it's:

I can live with that.

Autumn

2010-10-21T07:52:00.001+02:00

I am looking at my pictures in previous blog posts, and it seems so long ago...

Fame isn't quite that keen on taking a bath now.

The temperature drops below freezing point during the nights.

"You're sure? We are to cross? Just let me take a drink first....and maybe we should just turn around while we are at it?"

Nope.

It was two beautiful autumn days this weekend.

During the week too, but then I was sitting at the office, longing to get out and once I got home the sun was too low.

So I was a happy girl to get sunshine during the weekend too!

We had a lovely bareback hack, Fame and me, all by ourselves taking one of the roads that climbs up one of the mountain sides.

It was late afternoon, and the higher we got the more sunshine we had.

What are you doing up there?

Unfortunately much of the view over the valley on the way up is blocked by trees, but on some points there's a clearance. When you get up far enough you can see all the way down to the sea.

(My cell phone does not do justice to what we saw)

There is even a small resting place at one clearing for those who walk up by their own legs and don't cheat, like me.

Once up at the top I jumped off Fame, and walked beside her the way down though.

She wasn't all that happy with the servings. Where's the lush grass?

Autumn is a beautiful period of the year.
All those wonderful colours, and the blue sky.

Last weekend, we were on Labour Camp.
Our Danish trainer Jimmi was here, and we had training sessions Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
I am afraid I am unable to share any pictures from the training session as my photographer refuses to accompany me to the indoor arena (*sigh*)

We had a dressage session on Friday.
Much of the tension that we struggled with a couple of months ago has been solved, and it's been so fun to work lately.
But if you solve one problem, it's time to take care of the next one!
We have to continue to work to improve Fame's strength, through more collected work.
I feel that the trot work has gotten better (which we struggled with earlier, hooray!) but that the canter needs more work. Half-pass in trot has improved, in canter we still struggle.
We played around a bit with some flying changes, and I need her up in form to improve them.
Jimmi was satisfied with the work though, and I was very happy with my horse.

On Saturday and Sunday we played show jumpers.
I find it great fun, and so does my horse - but unfortunately we don't get any regular training.
She was such a good girl though, enthusiastically attacking anything in front of her, and doing a good job of it too (in spite of the dimwit on top of her).
All in all it was a good weekend, with a lot of fun!

A kisss, anyone?

Childishly fun

2010-09-27T22:24:00.000+02:00

I am 47.
I have been riding for 41 years.
And I still think it is superduperMEGA-FUN!
After returning home from the project in France, I am so happy to be back with the horses, and I get really disappointed if I miss out riding one day.
(OK,OK, when it was raining cats and dogs the other day, we took a day off)
Isn't it amazing?
I mean, after over 40 years. That it still makes you as excited as a 10 yo with pink brushes and a new riding helmet, waiting for the the riding school lesson to start, and hoping, hoping to get the favourite horse.
Except I get my favourite every time.
*smirk*
Fame is so fun to work with these days.
I am just like a 10 year-old.

Not Mr Nice Guy at all

2010-09-19T18:18:00.001+02:00

Today's juicy piece....

I have to share something I read on Claire's blog (thanks Claire!)

Sjef Janssen, the controversial trainer and husband to Anki van Grunsveen, has been sued in civil court regarding a horse sale, and found guilty:

"...because he [Janssen] had been unable to find a buyer at the price plaintiffs were asking, he would forgo his commission if plaintiffs accepted the $312,000 offer"

"Plaintiffs subsequently learned, without disclosure from defendant, that the buyer had actually paid defendant $480,000"
Read more

Oh-la-la Janssen.

Somehow this doesn't surprise me.

Congratulations

2010-09-18T22:34:00.001+02:00

...to Anna and Fame who won Spiller's Cup today!
Anna is 16 and is riding Fame twice a week.
Spiller's Cup consists of two shows where one is show jumping and the other is dressage.
(Such a nice idea to have a cup that combines both, don't you think?)

I was cheering them on from the side of the arena with a nasty cold *croak, croak*
and was of course childishly proud of them both.

Paris, London...and finally, HOME!!!

2010-09-09T22:47:00.003+02:00

My daughter on Charlie

After finishing the project in France, I just needed a breather from computers.
Kind of took a while.
Being outside with the horses is still very much more tempting than sitting inside, so I guess my blogging will be a bit sporadic until the weather gets worse, lol!

So what's happened?
We finished the project in France end of July.
To try and compensate for the fact that I was sitting still all day into the evening, and then topped it up with a three course dinner (I suppose you can guess the result) my collegue Louise from UK and I started walking to the office, something that took beween 45 mns to an hour, one way.
It was uphill on the way home, so a pit-stop for a beer was needed (we did walk, didn't we???)
On our way we saw many things:

The French school children take the "pedibus" and walk to school.
This is a collection point (isn't it cute!)

In absence of Dupond and Dupont you can always call the Brunos

French real estate agents have a completely different approach to marketing than their Norwegian collegues....

On the last day, the whole project team was invited to dinner on one of the river Seine boats.
It was the perfect wrap-up as we went past all of Paris' monuments while the night closed in, enjoying a nice dinner and the company of each other for the last time.

Pont Alexandre III

Passing Notre-Dame

Yes, it is amazing. And the very image of Paris.

Paris is a wonderful city.
I hardly got home to unpack my things when my daughter suggested we should go on a trip to London.
So we did, for four days! It was so nice, she is 15 now - and we had such a good time.

She is an avid Agatha Christie fan, so we just had to go and see "The Mousetrap", the theatre show that has been running continously since 1952, written by Christie.
It was very good, both fun and with a good portion of suspense.
In the end, we had to give a solemn vow not to tell our friends who the murderer was. So, sorry guys!

My daughter in action

Kensington Palace (where princess Diana lived)

It is not only Peter Pan who lives in Kensington Gardens.
I believe Hansel and Gretel lives here too.

Seven Dials

Neal's Yard

Shop in Covent Garden

London is such a charming city, and I would love to make a reapeat trip next summer.
We had a relaxing stay; took two guided tours (London Tower and Jack the Ripper Walk) and apart from that just did some exploring, and enjoyed some nice food in London's many restaurants.
We spent some hours at Foyle's, the reknown book shop, and bought a book each.
That was all our shopping...

But the very best thing?
And the very best place to be?

Home.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

2010-07-04T22:55:00.000+02:00

Hey guys, where are you?
All dressed up and ready to party....

Me, me, me FIRST!!!! Yeeah!!!!
The girl is MINE!
Charlie is the first to arrive and is so happy to see Fame again....

...but not for long.
One girl on three boys can be difficult to divide.
And in the background the Boss (26) is slowly approaching.
Make Way, there.

Guess where the girl is.

Girls Smell Nice.

Now the girl is MINE!
Nessprinten is guarding Fame jealously. Too close and there's trouble.
Poor Charlie, he had looked forward to some scratching.

Before getting to the pasture, we took a detour.
No summer without a Beach Trip.
It was warm today, 26 centigrades, and I almost did not manage to get Fame out of the water.
She just loves a bath on a warm day. Me too.

To a girl, wearing correct shoes on every occation is Very Important.
(Trust me, I am spending half my life in Paris at the moment.
In France they take shoes AND beach life very seriously)

Savvy???

The summer in Scandinavia is not long, and it is so beautiful right now.
Those long, light summer nights.

And all those lovely wild flowers!
(Yes, they are very nice, says Fame.
Crunch, crunch)

Who needs Paris?

A whole summer of Grass Party. How much better can it get???
(OK. Will miss the beach.)
Fame says
"Have a Nice Summer Everyone"

Summer

2010-06-26T22:55:00.000+02:00

Not much activity here these days, I am afraid.

Work, travel and good weather is keeping me away from the computer....but a small update?

One of the very best things in my horse-year is to let the horses out on summer pasture.

It feels so good to know that they for the upcoming weeks can eat all their heart desires of grass, romp around with the rest of the gang, and just be a Horse.

On Friday we let Charlie loose.

Fame should have joined him but had somehow got a cut on the inside of her right hock, so she is on antibiotics and has to wait for a few days.

Charlie is thoroughly checked.

Aaah. You're you the same guy that was here last year?

Charlie prefers grazing to socializing.

OK guys, let's start walking!

Nessprinten (at the back) is still at 26 yo the Boss.

Me and Fame took a small walk to get the swelling down.

We splashed around in the creek (wonderful on a warm day), did some grassing on the way and fought flies and mosquitos.

We even saw a moose. Not so usual during summer time.

It was a male, his antlers had begun to grow. They lose them when winter comes, and for each year the antlers get bigger, to all hunter's delight.

It is so lovely outside now, all that lush green.

Fame's best friend, Fire-Bell, became a Mum this weekend.

Here the foal, Fire-Fly, is out for the very first time:

Isn't it amazing that they can manage to balance on those long, thin legs?

I have planned for a long time to write a post about turning/bending aids, but there has simply not been enough time. It will come though, and I would be happy for any contributions or comments on this. So think about it!

I wish you all a very good summer!

Siri/Zan-Day and Hjalmar/Tarzan

Reckless riding

2010-06-03T08:30:00.004+02:00

In my late teens, I vowed together with my best friends that we would never be square, boring adults.
Volvo, kids, the whole package. It sounded so absolutely Not Fun.
We would stay young.
I even remember something about wearing skin skirts (this was in the beginning of the happy 80ies) but at 47 with sagging knees and cellulites I don't find it such a good idea as I thought at the age of 18.

But maybe my 18 yo self would have approved of me Monday.

I have missed riding Fame being away so much, and as she had her vaccine she had the weekend off from work.
(Grumble, grumble)
This week I would stay at home though.
When Monday came I had planned to do some dressage training, but the weather had been lovely lately and the outdoor arenas were dry and very dusty, and it was warm.
Hmmm.

Instead I found my hackamore, jumped on bareback and headed out in the forest.
The evening was lovely, and Fame kept tossing her head and jogging.
Had I been a horse I would have been tossing my head too.
We felt GOOOD.

After splashing around a bit in the creek, we settled for the long and winding gravel road up the slopes of Grøttum, several kilometers steadily climb up one of the mountains.

Sometimes I get these wonderful moments of togetherness with my horse, and this was one of those occations.
I was just so very happy to be on my horse again, enjoying the scenery and the wonderful summer evening, and I could feel that my horse was just as happy as me.
I guess we both felt a little bit crazy.

And when we came to the start of the slope, I just gave her the reins, and let her go.
She started out in a normal canter, but soon the joy of being alive, feeling powerful and strong, made her take off.
And here I was, a middle-aged, grey-haired (un)responsible Mum clinging on my horse bareback and going at full speed so fast that it made my eyes water, and I had this itsybitsy feeling in my stomach about "will she stop?".
And it was wonderful.

And of course she stopped.
She's a dressage horse, isn't she?
We just forget ourselves sometimes.

(To be frank, even dressage horses get tired after running at full tilt uphill for a long period of time. Hahem.)

Paris

2010-05-22T22:13:00.003+02:00

Paris.
The city of all cities.
And my place to work for most of the week until mid of July.

I have found the most wonderful place to stay.
Our office in Paris is located northwest of the city center, in Nanterre. (Some 15 minutes with the metro.)
Last week I stayed in a hotel in Nanterre which was not the most charming experience.
Heavy traffic outside the window, and a vintage wall-to-wall carpet.

As a result my collegue Louise from UK and myself surfed the net and found this wonderful little place.
Les jardines de Camille.
It is situated between Paris and Nanterre, in Suresnes.

It is a lovely restaurant and a chambres d'hôtes, i.e the propriator has some rooms for rent.
So Louise and me got fresh, newly decorated rooms (without a wall to wall carpet) with exit to a small terrace.
And the best, the view:

You can see the Eiffel Tower much clearer in reality, my cellphone does not make justice to the view.

Here you can see La Défense, Paris new business area.
And the food.....*sigh*

Duck carpaccio.
Heaven.

View from the window.

And eating the breakfast in the morning sun; coffee and fresh baked croissants, and the Eiffel Tower just ahead of me.
(Might even be worth being away from home for a while?)

On Thursday we went downtown Paris for a dinner,everyone in the project.
The trees were full of lovely blue flowers. Amazing.

We went to Graindorge, a small Belgian restaurant not far from the Arc de Triomphe.

Again, wonderful food.

And I brought something home:

I thought it would be hectic to take on this project, and it has been, perhaps even more than I thought.

It is very interesting though.

Well at home, we arranged a dressage show today.

I had to work at the arrangement, so no start for me.
But Anna, who is a year older than my daughter and rides Fame twice a week started Fame and won her class.

So did my daughter and Charlie.

So I was both a proud Mum and a proud horse owner today!

Anna and Fame

These are a few of my favourite things...

2010-05-15T23:31:00.003+02:00

To bury my head in the fur of a sleeping cat.
Feel the amazing softness, and the clean, warm fragance of cat.
Hear the purr.

To hack out with my daughter.
Share a laugh, often about our funny horses.
Canter alongside each other, and feel the togetherness both of us, and our horses.
Enjoy the nature, and the beauty in small and large things.

My horse.
Her eyes.
Her soft nicker.

To sit on the entrance stairs with a cup of coffee, enjoying the last rays of sun and the fresh air after spending the day in the office.
Small things.
Important things.

How about you?

Hannover

2010-05-01T12:09:00.007+02:00

Coming down to Hannover, Germany I was met with sun and summer temperatures.
We had some lovely flowers right outside the hotel.

As we were sitting indoors working long days, I started the mornings with a walk in the small park just outside the hotel.
There was a flock of rabbits living there, and they were all out having their breakfast when I was having my morning walk.
I just love watching those white tails bobbing away when they were keeping a safe distance to me.
There were some very cute youngsters among them too.

One of the evenings I met my friend Anne, who is living in Hannover.
We had a dinner outside in the lovely warm evning, and talked mostly horse - I had a very good time!
In Germany it is Spargelzeit now, aspargus season, something that I took advantage of:

Thursday evening all participants in the project team were transported by bus to a small village outside Hannover.
We were invited into an old restaurant ( building dated 1606) to a medival dinner.

After a short intro from our host, the first meal was served:

The potatoes were just poured out on the middle of the table from some large baskets carried around, lol!
Kind of a rustic way to serve...but as you see all was in the same setting; we had a wooden plate, a knife and a wood spoon.
So it was just to dig in.
Potatoes were served with sour cream and bacon in bowls to be shared with people around you.

We had some very nice meat further on, and our large beer mugs were never empty.
Some of the guys volunteered to get some extra liquor, also served in a rather rustic way:

The atmosphere was rather high after a while, and as there were many nationalities we ended up singing songs from every country.
The buss took the still singing, rowdy crowd home at about 11.30 pm.
Needless to say some were a wee bit tired the day after.
(I was VERY happy I stayed with the beer).

Rounding off this week I was in for a pleasant suprise.
We are to split into two groups after the initial weeks.
One group is to work in Hannover, and the other (where I belong) is to work in......

PARIS!
I was sooo disappointed!
Not.
*tapdances*

Ash st(r)uck

2010-04-22T23:04:00.010+02:00

Last week I was in Northern Norway when the volcano Eyjafjallajökul started messing about.
To make a long story short, the trip home that normally would have taken a couple of hours took two days.
And I was lucky compared to many others.
I am sharing some of the pictures from the train ride home, day two.
We are in between Trondheim and Hamar, mid part of Norway.

Not the best quality I am afraid, taken with a cell phone out of a train window!

I love the majestic, serene beauty of the mountains.
They don't care about harsh weather, about man's struggle, life and death.
Timelessness.

----
Coming home, I was met with another bout of snow (melting away during the day).
But the day after - my favourite spring sign: The return of the wild geese.
I just love that sight and sound!
Welcome back! How wonderful that you made it!
They are happily cheering each other on: Not far now! Keep the formation!

---
The weekend before last, I had another lovely ride with my daughter.
We packed food for the horses, and started out in lovely spring weather.

Happy Norwegian Cowboy #1 (undercover dressage lady on secret mission)

Happy Norwegian Cowboy #2.
Not chasing cows, but a place to eat!

Fame is fascinated by the sight and sound of the small waterfall.
We rode to our favourite place place to stop, and the horses were very happy for that.
They know the way, and they know what's up when we arrive...

Lunch time!
My daughter is Purchase Manager, I am the Bank and Horse Manager.
She happily purchases away whatever they have got.
Today's catch is waffles, carrot cake and chocolate cake.
Health food for hungry cowboys.
(Bank got busted.)

Down to the leftovers.

This lovely place is under siege from hungry people wandering around in the area.
We are in between skiiers and bikers though, so today it was a peaceful place.
When everything is eaten up, it is time to leave.

Bye for now!
Fame and Charlie are happily walking along towards home.

---
During the upcoming three months I will work in Germany three days a week due to a large project.
It will be hard work, but interesting too.
Might be less time for blogging though.
We'll see.

Easter sun

2010-04-08T21:34:00.010+02:00

And finally, on Easter Day the sun took mercy on us frozen Polar people, and showed herself.
Wonderful.

I took a trail ride with my daughter's pony Charlie in the morning.
The gravel roads are just perfect now, soft and inviting.
He needs some power work to increase strength, so we took intervals of collected canter on our way upwards.
Collected canter, followed by a short stretch of extended canter to flush that lactid acid away from the muscles, and then a walk until the breathing is normal again.
New interval.

When going downhill, we trained on stretching out in the walk.
Hard work thought Charlie, who tried to solve the equation with jogging instead.
Without success.

At the edge of the road the water from the melting snow has created snake patterns.

A stretch through the forest again.
Once the snow has melted away we will get some wonderful spring flowers here.
Charlie still would like to jog:
"We're on our way home now...please?"
Nope. No jogging.

When coming home both Charlie and Fame got their lunch in the sun.
I love to let their coats finally get some sun and air after using rugs through the winter.

Guess who else enjoyed her lunch?
First time sitting out in the sun this year.
Ah. I have waited for this sunny day the entire Easter. I am so happy it finally arrived!

After lunch it is time for horse #2.
Fame got kicked in her left front leg on Thursday and is on antibiotics, so we're just out walking to get the swelling down. Luckily it was at the upper, muscular part.

She loves to stop and have a look around.

One has to enjoy the view.
But hey, what's this??

Oh. Some green stuff!
(Well. Green? But one cannot be too choosy)

Snow is no hindrance.
Notice the elegant way we are resting the front leg here.

And one final look at the view before returning home.
Thanks for accompanying us!

HAPPY EASTER

2010-04-03T22:59:00.008+02:00

I wish you all a Happy Easter!

This year it seems as if we better enjoy it inside, as outside it is rain, sleet and snow.

Of course, to us daunting Horsepeople that doesn't matter much.

Out and about in all types of weather, we are.

As they say here in Norway; "There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing".

Hmpff.

I believe I have had my share of snow now.

I want to curl up in a sunny corner and feel the warmth of sun in my face, to feel that spring finally has arrived.

It is spring enough to have the stable yard turned into a mud bath though.

Muckboots are just one of the best inventions ever!

Comes highly recommended

The arenas are no better, so I have been up early to be able to ride in the indoor arena nearby.

The weather forecast says it will be some sun tomorrow.

I am crossing my fingers.

In the meantime, it is salmon for dinner. Yummy!

Enjoy your Easter!

Friday's entertainment

2010-03-26T22:24:00.002+01:00

If the screen is black, just click on the play button.

Just how stupid can you get???

------

Here we are at in between.

In between winter and spring.

This is what the riding arena looks like

*sigh*

Not much sensible work to be done there...

And this is what my car looked like when I got out to drive to work the other day.

Arrghhhh.

Last weekend, we went trail riding again, me and Fame.

It IS nice that spring is approaching, but ridewise it is a mess.

Can't work in the arenas, and on the trail the snow is getting what we call "rotten", it doesn't carry the weight of the horses at all times.
So we hump around, not nice at all.

Roads are better.

Coming down to the creek, Fame was thirsty.

So she decided that she wanted to drink - with her front legs down in the water, and her hind legs still on the thick ice edge at the brink.

And I was sitting bareback.

I guess you can get the picture.

A nice, fine slide straight down into the water...

....but I managed to hang on!

When my daughter was 5-6 yrs old, the Shetlands pony she was riding did the same thing.

Unfortunately she DID take the slide, straight into the water, and it was at this time of the year too.

She has always been very fond of taking a bath, but even to her it was a weee bit cold.

Poor thing!

Clinic with Kyra - Back to basics!

2010-03-22T21:46:00.013+01:00

A couple of weeks ago I was at a clinic with Kyra Kyrklund.

I know some of you have been waiting to get some information about this, so here are my notes.

(With emphasis on NOTES.)

Lousy pictures, I know - but better than nothing?

And as always, it's back to basics.

A short introduction of Kyra from her home page:

Few riders in the world have managed to train and successfully compete so many different horses in international Grand Prix dressage.

Kyra is a fundamentalist and believes strongly that the quality of the paces reflect the basic training. Every horse that comes for training is evaluated along the same lines - is it forward, is it straight and is it submissive in a relaxed way.
Every pace, every movement depends on the quality of the foregoing exercises.
The riders, even international Grand Prix riders, are evaluated for their effect on the horse and their correct way of sitting and influencing the horse.

"How can you describe the taste of strawberry jam to someone who has never tasted it?"
That is how Kyra describes the difficulty of communicating the feel you need when riding.
She stated in her introduction that she often let her pupils ride one of her own horses, to "taste the jam", or she herself mounts her pupil's horse to let her pupil sit up afterwards and get a taste of the right feel.

The trainer has to assess his pupil, and start to work on one of the things that needs improvement. If it doesn't work, leave it be for a while and work on something else instead. She said that often when a trainer gets frustrated it is because they don't change the approach on how to work with things:
"You need different tools to change things. Do not be frustrated if things doesn't work out , just try to use a different tool instead. Riding is matter of balance and coordination both from the rider and the horse."
She also stated that her best pupils were the adventurous ones - the ones ready to try new things out.

Two lovely pony riders enters the arena.
Kyra watches them for a while, and then starts to work with them.

One rider is sway in the back, and that makes her seat weak. The horse pulls his rider slightly forward, out of center.
The rider has not total control - who leads who?
"Sometimes the horse takes over, and then the rider loses her balance. When the horse puts weight in the reins the rider is easily placed forwards."
Kyra states that the rider is not to be strong, just to be steady and counteract until the horse relaxes.
"The rider needs to sit in center - like on a balancing pole.
If the rider is not placed steadily in center, the horse's hind legs might work behind him instead of under."

How should the rider to be able to sit steady and to counteract the pull from the horse?

Not by pulling back on the reins, but by using the body:

Keep the elbows at your sides.

Have someone standing on the ground beside you, and to keep a flat hand against your elbow. Press the elbow against the hand, and feel what happens in the abdomen. You should feel stronger in the body instead of being stiff and hard in the hand.

Your body should be like a frame in where the horse should work - the more educated and fitter the horse, the tighter the frame.

"If the horse gets strong in one rein, imagine your helper at your elbow and use your body to keep the frame. As soon as the horse gives, relax yourself.

Sit deep, but imagine it's the earth gravity that draws you there, not active muscle power."

Balance your weight on the triangle of the seatbones and the pubic bone.
Hip joint absorbes the movement.

Feel the horse in your elbows.

The more speed the more difficult the exercise will be. If you cannot do something slow, you won't be able to do it fast.

"When riding forwards, you can either choose to change rythm, or change stride length."

The rider has to decide what she wants.

To be able to do passage, you have to be able to ride the small and quick steps.

The more control you have of the horse's strides, the better control you have over the horse's body and mind.

"Somewhere you'll find the ideal working rhythm for each horse, but you have to be able to ride variations."

Check your position.

Ride slow, check the rhythm.
Change to a quicker rhythm, but the horse should not run faster. Check that you are not getting strong in your hands.

Transistion to longer steps, but keep the same rhythm this time.
Do not let the horse get long and strong! Keep the horse supple, keep your position. Short steps again, without shortening the neck! Some more leg, keep the contact and rhythm and engage the horse and see if you can get him up in the neck. The horse is not allowed to run faster!

One of the riders had trouble with her pony that weighted his left shoulder, and avoided contact on right rein.

She tried to solve the problem by flexing the horse to the left, something that Kyra explained would not help the problem. "The problem is not in the mouth but in the body."

Kyra wanted her to imagine a ring around the neck:
"Imagine that you are to slow the horse down with the neck ring, keep the ring still but sit against the horse - and let the horse carry himself."

When asked, the rider admitted that she had 90 % of her concentration on the horse's head, and 10% on his body.
Kyra: "You must ride his entire body, not only concentrate on his head or mouth. When he gets strong, imagine that you slow him down with the neck ring."

"As soon as your horse is doing something you are changing your goal as you concentrate on your horse's head. Remember that your horse works in a correct outline only when he's working correct in his body."

Concentrate on equal weight in the ring.

The difficult side is the side avoiding contact!
Left rein means go left, right rein means go right, ride the body instead!
Do not shorten your left rein, use your legs instead!
Concentrate on the ring!

Your horse tries to run away from the problem, but in a tug contest you need two participants.

If he tries to weigh down his left shoulder or if your horse tries to run away, slow down with both hands.

Check that you have equal weight in both hands!

The two pony riders had their ponies working very nicely in the end, and were exchanged with two horses where the riders were using double bridles.

One of them had a problem as the horse was going too deep.

"If your horse gets too deep, a common fault is that the rider raises her hands.

The curb lowers the horse's head, and the bradoon raises it - so when the horse lowers his head the curb automatically influences more.

You must learn to know the difference between the curb and the bradoon when riding, and how they influence the horse.

You cannot lift the horse through the bit, you must ride them up."

Kyra then asked them to change the way they held the reins; the curb rein going in on lower part of the hand and the bradoon on top of the hand to make it easier to separate the effect of the two bits.

She then asked them to imagine that the horse's body was like a ball.
The riders body must act like dribbling/bouncing the ball, where the rider's body increases or decreases motion.
Small, fast dribbles or long high ones.
"You need to pump air into the horse with your legs. You cannot pump it by squeezing.
Somewhere the ball has its highest point, and somewhere its lowest. You can sit behind the movement, or in front of it. You can also sit off center left or right - and your horse will act accordingly! Your anus ring should be in center" (sorry guys, a bit blunt but I am just quoting here, lol!)
If you tense up in your bum, you will not sit deep into the saddle.
Keep your neck ring centered, and use your lower leg to pump up the ball, and increase the amount of energy.

Imagine that the neck ring will move faster, because the desired activity is in the horse's back - not in his legs.
Imagine that you have a spring between your knees, they also have to play with creating energy into the ball.

If the horse takes control and speeds up, make a transition to walk.

The horse has to take full responsibility for his self-carriage.

The horse has to carry the rider, not the other way around!

If your horse wants to run away, imagine that you have to keep his front legs under you.

If you cannot change your horse's way of moving in trot at a circle - long strides and short strides as well as his form; long neck and high neck - how are you to handle the more advanced movements?

----

Far too soon the clinic ended.

Dear Santa.
Next year I would like to have a training session with Kyra, please?

You can add it to my list together with the indoor arena, the two GP-horses and the money to go with it.

I'll be good.

(At least MOST of the time.)

Kind regards,

"Hopeful"

Where are we?

2010-03-16T19:34:00.009+01:00

Spring is finally here.

The sun is once again giving us some warmth during daytime and the snow is decreasing, even if the temperature still drops quite low during night time.

It is daylight outside when I leave and come home from work. Marvellous!

A little more than a year has passed since I started the English part of my blogging life.

When looking back, I must confess that the last year has been a year where our progress in the dressage work has taken longer time than I had planned.
I suppose that comes down to me being an impatient person with a vivid interest of dressage, but sadly not with an ability to match my hopes.

Oh well, that’s the disadvantage of being an optimist.

So where are we, and what do we need to work on?

The last period I have been concentrating on getting Fame to relax and to stay supple.

She easily tenses up, and sometimes she also braces against the bit.

A large portion of the problem here has been me.
As always *sigh*

It is so easy to tense up as a rider when your horse is tense.

The task has been to keep my hands and arms flexible and soft, but to be stronger in my seat and mid section of the body.

Getting middle aged for sure doesn’t help.

I could very much need some extra training to strengthen my absent abdominal muscles, but I know that will stay on the to-do-list for a new and better life.

In this present one I have more than enough to keep family, work and horses afloat.

I need to keep working on strong body, soft hands.

I feel that I have had some aha-moments, and that I have a clearer perception of where I need to go.

Unfortunately that doesn’t equal getting there!

To help myself to improve my seat I will continue to ride bareback.

It is a very good help to get you balanced and centered, and also to get a better feel for your horse's movements.

I also have to focus on having Fame in front of the aids at all times, with an improved hind leg activity and contact to the bit.

I have to be clearer in what response I can accept, or not.

The demands on hind leg activity will be larger in the work to come.

We need to get there, but without any fuzz.
Pushing limits, but also making sure that she has the necessary strength and understands what I want.
Keeping her supple through the exercises, combined with a good contact and rythm are the main parameters.

In spite of all this, I can see that both Fame and I are stronger than we were a year ago.

We can keep the up-tempo work for a longer time without the need for the breaks that we needed a year ago.

As long as she is relaxed, the canter work is going well.

Extensions, collections, counter-canter.

As opposed to the situation a year ago, she is obedient and keeps her balance in the transitions.

If she is tense, she sometimes changes behind when I ask her to collect.
Again, I need to keep her supple at all times.

Shoulder-in works tolerably ok in all three gaits.
Still needs more work, but she is more stable and balanced than she was a year ago.
Sometimes we get the right floating feeling, but it is not consistent.

We have started with half-pass trot and canter, but they need more work.

We need to improve the trot work.

She gets too open in her form in the extensions, and we need in general to play around more with collection/extensions to improve elasticity.

I found out the hard way in the dressage show that we need to work on extended walk too.
Fame is talented with a good walk, but I normally walk her either with loose reins, or at a working walk, so again, my fault.
We should be able to get some extra points here with some more training.
Walk pirouettes need improvement too.

We have also been working quite a lot on the very important work with straightening, mainly with the help of counter shoulder-ins along the long sides of the arena (trot and canter), but also with counter-canter.
She is not stiff, more the flexible type who easily pops out here and there....

I very much miss mirrors when I ride. My perception of where she is (and where I am) is not necessarily where we are!

We have taken a good step forward compared with the situation in October, I know that.

I am able to handle her tenseness better, i. e. work through it and get her supple.
What we need now is more consistency in the work, to get her straighter and thus achieving more throughness in the work.
Sometimes we get there, and it’s such a wonderful feeling.

I want more!

Isn't a sleeping cat the cutest thing in the world?

Thanks again to my daughter for all the pics.

Award, Shows and some more

2010-03-03T19:55:00.018+01:00

Life has been busy lately, so time for an update!

Merrie at The Equestrian Vagabond, and Wolfie at the blog What was I thinking have both been so kind as to award me Beautiful Blogger Award.

Thank you guys!

This means that you should hear 7 things about me, and that I am to tag 15 (!) new bloggers.

Now, with 15 new bloggers, every blogger around the world soon will be at the recieveing end of this award.

I am giving this award to all the blogs on my bloglist on the right hand side on my blog.
These are all blogs that I enjoy, and regularily drop by. Check them out!

As to hear 7 things about me, I am not sure whether to bore you all with that.

I bore myself even to try and write it down, so I will tell you what I've been up to lately instead, because it has been a lot of fun stuff!

First, I was at a Kyra Kyrklund clinic Wednesday two weeks ago.

Kyra Kyrklund is not only one of the best dressage riders in the world, she is also one of the best trainers. And a very sympathetic person too.

I will try to blog separately about the clinic, but her main message was "back to basics".

She had a clinic with two pony riders, and two adult riders.
She only made small adjustments on the position of the riders, but the result was profound.
What I would not give to be able to train for her!

*sigh*

We had a superdupernice dinner afterwards, with a lot of tapas and some wine and beer.

What a marvellous thing it is to share nice food with horse-y friends!

I was really pampered that week because on Friday it was time again.

We took the four hour drive to watch the World Cup in dressage and show jumping in Gothenburg.

On Friday we had a nice dinner at an Italian restaurant, four of us.

On Saturday I took a trip into the city of Gothenburg together with one of my friends.

She needed new shoes.

We did not find any shoes, but we found a bookshop and a chocolate shop.

And I did not go empty-handed from either. Hahem.

Then it was time for showjumping and dressage.

I must say that the dressage was spoiled for me due to the fact that the first three first placed were Anky van Grunsveen, Adelinde Cornelissen and Patrik Kittel.

All rollkur-riders.

It was a large hair in the soup.
Kind of a wig, actually.

At the side of the arena is a very large exhibition hall, full of whatever horse products your heart desires.
As the arena is crowded in between classes, the best time to shop is when one class is running in the arena.
I sacrificed the end of the show jumping class to buy some presents to my daughter.

Wanna have a VERY expensive riding helmet that makes you look like a fly?

Everything your heart desires...from wagons to gloves.

On Sunday I had a lunch together with one of my childhood friends who is living in the Gothenburg area.
We met each other over lunch last year too, and at that time we had not met in 20 years.
We had such a nice lunch once again, and decided that she would come and visit me for a weekend end of April.

Back home.
Last Sunday, Fame and I started our first dressage show this year.

I braided her before leaving home to ride down to the indoor arena, so she got a hunch that something was brewing.
Entering the warm up, I felt Fame grew several centimeters; “All light on me, please”!
She really likes to show herself off, lol! I just have to laugh at her.

Annie, my instructor, was there to help us in the warm-up, which felt luxurious and was a good help. Fame felt good, responsive and concentrated on the work.
Then it was time to enter the arena.
We entered, and down at the spooky short side, the judge and the scriber were sitting at a table.
Uh-uh.
Suddenly the party princess turns into a statue instead.
To make a long story short, we did not have one normal passing of that short side during the entire program.
*sigh*

I tried to make the best out of a tricky situation, and after finishing the program rode my horse home.
When removing the tack I got an sms on the cell phone from Helene, telling me that I was on a shared second place, with only one rider left to go.
I stared at the message, not quite believing my eyes. What???
I realized I just had to leave the tack as it were, and get into the car to be able to get there in time to the price ceremony.
We ended on a shared 3^rd place, which was both very surprising and fun.

This week I have been out travelling with my work again, this time in Northern Norway.

Bodø, Rognan and Tromsø - all above the Polar circle.

It was foul weather before we arrived, and the airport in Bodø had been closed down for 2 or 3 days.

We had a two hours drive from the airport to Rognan, luckily in nice weather both on our way to and from.
But in the meantime - lots of snow. We could not see our car in the morning.

I enclose some pics from Rognan.

It is a beautiful landscape, don't you think?

At last I would like to welcome Rachel and HorseAndPony as new followers!

Thwarted plans

2010-02-23T17:49:00.000+01:00

I should never have cleared that terrace from snow.

During the week the temperature started to drop again, and we were down to the -20C/-4F again.
Then the snow came.

At Thursday evening, when I was to have my first training for Jimmi, it was windy and snowing.
Jimmi arrived late from Denmark, so I did not have my training until 10.20 pm.
As the stable closes at 11 pm, we just had to have the session at home in the outside arena. Jimmi was stoically shouting in the wind, slowly covering up in snow.
I was frantically trying to hear what he said.
My hearing has not improved over the years. Hahem.
Still he was happy with the progress from last time, which was nice to hear.

I was to have two more trainings, on Saturday and Sunday.
I had even booked my daughter as a photographer, so I would be able to illustrate this blog post with some pictures.
It is not easy to photograph oneself when training, and as there have been many photos of surroundings on trail with parts of a horse head, or some ears in the foreground, I guess a change would be welcome.
I was really looking forward to the training.

But I had not calculated with the weather.

During Friday both the wind and the snowing increased.
When I woke up on Saturday morning, it was as close to a snow storm as you will get in the lowlands here. Nothing like in the mountains, but strong wind and heavy snowfall.
And in addition -12C/10F.

I called Jimmi as I had a hunch that he would prefer to have the training indoors that day.
Funny enough, he thought that would be a good idea.
(And that is how you cannot see any photos of Fame and me doing upper level dressage. It would, of course, otherwise be filled with piaffes and canter pirouettes left and right.)

I wrapped myself and Fame up in layers, and started the ride of half an hour to the indoor arena.
The wind and the snow were beating against my face, and I drew the scarf even tighter up towards my eyes, bending my head against the snow so the rim of the helmet took off for most of it.
Fame heroically trudged on through the snow and the wind.
When we reached the forest, it took off for some of the wind and it was a bit easier to see where we were going.

I had calculated a bit extra time to get all the layers off once we got to the indoor arena, and to get Fame accustomed to the arena again.
When we got inside and reached her spooky corner at the short side (where I cunningly had planned to undress), the wind and the snow were beating against the wall that was partly covered with some plastic, creating an eerie sound.
My horse immediately turned into an antelope again.
All her suspicions were confirmed.
That corner had bogey men inside the walls.
*sigh*

I started to warm up, and even if Fame relaxed better on the circle around Jimmi at the other side of the arena, she was still somewhat tense.
I guess Jimmi could see the little black cloud hanging over my head.

So we marched over to the scary corner and played Ghostbusters until Fame finally relaxed and accepted that the tigers in the wall would not attack.
Which took most of the training session.
*sigh*

When I woke on Sunday, the weather had calmed down.
Then I got a phone from my friend who told me that they would be keeping the show jumps standing in the arena that day.
I was not happy to hear that.

Dressage riding in between jumps is not the same as having the arena to work in.

*sigh*
I conferred with the rider I was to share my training session with, and we concluded with “if you can’t beat them, join them” and put on the jumping saddles instead.

Now, Jimmi is every bit as good a trainer in show jumping as in dressage, if not even better.
But when we came down to the arena and told Jimmi we could just as well jump, he was a bit befuddled and said that we could work a bit at the circle and casually asked at the same time if we had jumped anything before?
I believe he was a bit worried about middle-aged dressage ladies etc – you get the picture. ..
I could fall off in the middle of a tiny jump and due to brittle bones have multiple fractures in arms and legs and such.
And the blingbling on Fame’s brow band could get dusty.
Now I have to admit I have not been doing much show jumping the last year as my trainer got pregnant, and I have no ambition in SJ except to have some fun, but we do pop a jump from time to time.
I have even done a bit cross country training, also just for fun.

So Jimmi started out very cautiously, with a super low X-pole jump.
When he saw that we managed to hang on, he gradually included more jumps and also raised them somewhat off the ground.
My horse loves to jump, and got going with great enthusiasm.
And I must say I find it fun as a change to the dressage work too.

In the end Jimmi had a big grin on.
He told me he had been impressed with me twice that weekend; first time with the sandwich I had brought him on Saturday (at which time he was ravenous, so that doesn’t count much), and second time with the show jumping (in which his expectations where close to zero).
Thanks mate.
What about the dressage?????

I have to get home and have a pep talk with Fame about that piaffe.

Could you spell that? P-i-a-f-f-e?? Must be some foreign language....

A treat of a day

2010-02-16T23:44:00.004+01:00

What a treat of a day - just look at this weather!

The days are getting longer, and the sun has started to warm some again.

Such a wonderful feeling.

I got so inspired when I woke on Saturday this weekend that I promised my daughter I would clean the terrace from snow.

That was before I had a closer look at it.

I was knee-deep in snow, and I only had one large shovel.

Well, a promise is a promise.

I guess some sweat and exercise won't do any harm...

Sweating. Sweating.

Hm. I can't use up all hours of sun on snow shovelling, must get time for a ride too.

Hi. What are you doing? Is it warm in the sun?

Sniff, not very. I'll stay inside for another week or two.

King of Hunt has another approach to winter and snow.

He watches, very interested, but from the Outside.
Matcho Cats with an image don't sit in windows.

One can miss out on Something. A mouse or two perhaps.

But the icing of the cake this wonderful day was a trail ride with my daughter.

We set out, all four of us, eager to enjoy the beautiful weather.

When passing the Icelandic horses at our neighbour stable I missed a real camera. My cell phone is not doing justice to how the horses contrasted against the horizon, and the intensity of the blue sky.

After having some trot and canter intervals we let the horses walk for a while.

Good boy, Charlie!

Even if you can feel a slight warmth in the sun, it is still low.

Don Quixote and Sancho Panza?

After another long nice canter up the hill, we took a stop and relaxed a bit in the sun before taking on the last part.

Fame loves to get the opportunity to admire the surroundings. She is just one very curious horse.

Finally we turned home again.

When the sun sets, the air gets chilly almost immediately.

I love the look of the snow now when the days are getting slightly warmer. It gets kind of sugary and glossy on the surface.

Thanks for accompanying us!

Finally Friday

2010-02-12T21:30:00.010+01:00

Friday is the best day of the week.

An evening to relax. The horses often get free this evening too.

On Thursday we had a show-jumping training session.

Every time I jump I remember why I stick to dressage.

Carrying all those jumps in and off the arena is hard work.

Can't understand why people go to training studios and pay a lot for it too. They could help me out for free instead. Carrying jumps, mucking out...getting fresh air too!

But on the other hand, I suppose I only benefit from it myself.

I have spent the evening browsing Amazon for some new horse books.
I got inspired by Di to re-read my Mark Rashid books, they are so good.

So Trudi, I am finally ready to order some of the books on your list!

I will definitely order Anja Beran, and Paul Belasik. I would have liked his book "Dressage for the 21st century" too, but it was only available as second hand at a stiff price. I will add the book by Kathleen Lindley that Di wrote about too.

My favourite book about riding is Mary Wanless: Ride with your mind - Masterclasses.

I bought that book on a visit to London some 15 years ago.

I remember coming back to the hotel room with that book, and a couple of others. I was just planning to quickly leaf through the books before going out again, but already when starting on the foreword that book hooked me.
I believe her descriptions of the interaction between horse and rider are very good, and I keep returning to it.

At Easter one of her instructors, Elaine Butler, will visit Norway and I am seriously contemplating on participating. We'll see.

What are your favourite horse books?

Lots of fun stuff in my horse life coming up!

Next weekend it will be Jimmi-training again.

The week after Kyra Kyrklund will throw a clinic at Arctic Equestrian Games, an hour's drive from Oslo.
We are going there a bunch of us, and having dinner afterwards (like last year).

And on the Friday we will drive to Sweden to watch Gothenburg Horse Show - again a bunch of us. It will be great fun, and I am really looking forward to it.

Fame has been such a treat to ride lately, and after all the antelope sessions this autumn it really makes me happy.

Last Saturday I took a trailride with Hjalmar and Tarzan.

Coming down to the creek the ice edges at the shores were quite high, especially on the other side.

Where the edges were low, we also had a flake of thinner ice reaching out into the water so I thought that would be difficult to pass.

Horses don't like ice. Any surface that feels a bit insecure is scary.
I guess I would feel the same if I was a prey animal that had to rely on my feet and legs to stay alive.

We had to try where the edge cut off clean, but that was quite a high jump straight up out of the water.

Without hesitating, Fame jumped up on to the ice, throwing me slightly off balance in the process as I was riding bareback and it was limited place to land; we had to turn sharply after the jump.
Good girl!

Further on at one of the smaller roads, Hjalmar and Tarzan trotted while Fame and I had a collected canter side-by-side with them.

Fame was quite relaxed and it did not seem as if it was too hard work for her. She kept it for quite a while, without any encouragement from me.
I was very, very thrilled about this as we were struggling with the collected canter before Christmas.
She sometimes changed behind when collecting, so I have tried to slowly build strength, not asking for too much and not for too long.

Seems as if she has gotten stronger! Yippeee!

When I left my old company, I got a gift card.

I have been saving it, thinking of what I was going to buy.

And last week I purchased.....ta-da!

An espresso machine!

I am becoming a coffee-holic.

Of first degree.

Mmmmmm.....can you feel the smell?

FEI bans Rollkur

2010-02-09T20:32:00.011+01:00

From FEI's news centre:

"Following constructive debate at the FEI round-table conference at the IOC Headquarters in Lausanne today (9 February), the consensus of the group was that any head and neck position of the horse achieved through aggressive force is not acceptable. The group redefined hyperflexion/Rollkur as flexion of the horse’s neck achieved through aggressive force, which is therefore unacceptable. The technique known as Low, Deep and Round (LDR), which achieves flexion without undue force, is acceptable.
The group unanimously agreed that any form of aggressive riding must be sanctioned. The FEI will establish a working group, headed by Dressage Committee Chair Frank Kemperman, to expand the current guidelines for stewards to facilitate the implementation of this policy. The group agreed that no changes are required to the current FEI Rules.
The FEI Management is currently studying a range of additional measures, including the use of closed circuit television for warm-up arenas at selected shows.
The group also emphasised that the main responsibility for the welfare of the horse rests with the rider.
The FEI President HRH Princess Haya accepted a petition of 41,000 signatories against Rollkur presented by Dr Gerd Heuschman."

http://www.fei.org/Media/News_Centre/News/Pages/summ.aspx?newsName=news-RoundTable-9Feb10.aspx

----------------------------

At last.

I suppose we all have to see how "aggressive force" and LDR are defined, but it is a step in the right direction.
Maybe I am the eternal optimist, but I choose to believe that times are a-changin'.

A victory to the massive uproar and all the petitions against rollkur the last months.

Video surveillance at the warm up pen? I like that.
The rider won't be able to solve the problem with a tense horse through rollkur anymore.
And if the horse is tense, the show results will be affected - which again might alter people's perspective...

All changes starts somewhere. The wind is turning, guys.

Unbottle the champagne in honour of our horses tonight.

Thank you, Dr. Heuschmann.

Thank you, Mr Balkenhol, and all the others who signed that letter to FEI.

Thank you, all of you who have done your best to make your voice heard - all for the good of our horses.

(And thanks for the link, Wolfie!)

Now we just have to make sure that FEI upholds its own regulations.

NO ROLLKUR

2010-02-08T22:23:00.004+01:00

I am following the appeal of my fellow bloggers:

Billie over at camera-obscura has posted the logo and text, and invited us to do the same in solidarity with Dr. Heuschmann and his message at the meeting on Feb. 9th.
Please consider adding your voice to this important debate, and add logo and text to your blog as well.

"The FEI is holding a closed-door round table meeting on Feb. 9th to discuss the training method known as rollkur, or hyperflexion, which involves pulling and holding the horse's muzzle to his chest. This practice is known to have many negative effects on the horse, both physically and psychologically. Gerd Heuschmann, the lone voice for the horse at this meeting, has my support and appreciation as he presents his case "for the good of the horse" along with petitions and letters saying NO TO ROLLKUR.

Please take a moment today and again tomorrow to think positively about the outcome of this meeting. It will make a difference. "

Today's musings

2010-02-07T21:20:00.012+01:00

Grey Horse Matters has an interesting post today about the different personalities our horses have, and how important it is to adapt to their behaviour and thus get the best out of the partnership.

That made me think of something I have been musing about for a while.

When I think back on the horses that have meant most to me - they are very much alike.

How come?

Is it because I perfer one type of horse, or is it because they are affected by me?

My favourite ones have been sensible but sensitive. Brave but also spooky. Energetic. Intelligent.
Oh, what wonderful animals they are. Or were.

And I subconsiously mixed them, and used the wrong name sometimes. At least with my two favourite geldings. With Fame it is a bit different as she is another gender, but in personality she is very much the same.

My favourites have all been brown with white markings, so when I see a brown horse with white markings, my heart beats a little faster. You can have your greys and blacks – to me a brown horse with white markings is the most beautiful horse in the world!

I know of many horse owners that when they are to buy a new horse, they look for one that hasn't got the weaknesses of the previous one.

And sometimes they take the good qualities of the previous one for granted, and forget to check that out in the potential new one...

How about your horse(s)?

What type do you prefer?

Has it to do with what previous type of horse you have had?

How do you think you affect yours?

It was a wonderful winter day today.

For the first time, you could feel some warmth in the sun.

I removed the rugs on both horses, and stood for quite a while enjoyoing the sun while scratching Fame's butt.

We felt gooood both of us.

A little bit to the left, please!

An impressive list

2010-02-06T09:26:00.013+01:00

Klaus Balkenhol's Letter to the FEI re. the February 9th Meeting

Originally Sent Feb. 3 2010

Translated from German

Federation Equestre International
Avenue Rumine 37
CH – 1005 Lausanne Rosendahl
SWITZERLAND

February 3, 2010

Dear Sirs and Madames:

We submit herewith some comments concerning your upcoming roundtable discussion, scheduled for February 9th, at which you will be establishing a final plan for the handling of the topic of Rollkur/Hyperflexion.

Those of us who have signed this letter wish to point out sharply that new or amended rules with regard to the accepted classical precepts of riding, which are contained in the guidelines written down in your Handbook, are absolutely superfluous and therefore unnecessary. These precepts, which the FEI has up until now felt obliged to uphold, are already fully developed, tried and tested! They are already recognized world-wide as authoritative, and as fair to the horse. Based on centuries of experience, they offer a stable and secure foundation even for today’s riding.

No changes may be made that constitute a burden to the well-being of the horse, either physically or mentally. If you accept riding in hyperflexion as a permissible training method, you legitimize aggressive riding. We protest against that in the strongest possible terms!

As horse people, we expect the FEI to maintain their regulations unaltered , which have until now been valid, resting as they do upon the classical precepts of riding – for the good of the horses and the continued good repute of international equestrian sport.

The undersigned support this statement:

Klaus Balkenhol (Olympic medalist)

(Joined by, in alphabetical order)
- Laura Bechtolsheimer (British Record Holder, 3. Europameisterschaften 2009)
- Wilfried Bechtolsheimer (Trainer)
- Ingrid Klimke (Olympic medalist)
- Ruth Klimke (Vice President of the German Riders Union)
- Beezie Madden (Olympic medalist)
- John Madden (Trainer)
- Debbie McDonald (Olympic Bronze medalist)
- Susanne Miesner (Trainer)
- George Morris (Chef d’equipe USEF show jumping team, Olympic silver medalist)
- Martin Plewa (former German national Three-Day Event trainer, Director of the Riding and Driving School of Westfalia)
- Michael Putz (Trainer and judge)
- Klaus-Martin Rath (Trainer, member of the Dressage Committee of the German Olympic
Committee)
- Matthias Alexander Rath (German Meister 2009)
- Hinrich Romeike (Olympic medalist)
- Hubertus Schmidt (Olympic medalist)
- Günter Seidel (Olympic bronze medalist)
- Christine Stückelberger (Olympiic medalist)
- Paul Stecken (Trainer)
- Hans Günter Winkler (Olympic medalist)
- Harry Boldt, Dressur. Doppel-Olympiasieger, früherer Bundestrainer Dressur, GBR
- Beatrice Büchler-Keller, Swiss, FEI O-Richter
- Nadine Capellmann, Dressur, Olympiasiegrin
- Carsten Huck, Springen, Olympia Bronze-Gewinner
- Michael Klimke, Deuscther Meister, Dressur
- Ann Kathrinne Linsenhoff, Olympiasiegerin, WElt- und Europameisterin, Mitglied im FN-Präsidium
- Michael Robert, Olympia-Gewinner Bronze, Trainer

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You rule, guys!

Thanks to Kim at Enlightened horsemanship for sharing the letter.
(Addendum: Kim has also supplied a list of the people participating in the meeting. Send a mail! Mail-list can be found here)

3-4 years ago, Klaus Balkenhol and Gerd Heuschmann had a tour around Europe together, and I was fortunate enought to attend, both in Norway and half a year later in Sweden.
Mr Heuschmann first had a post about what biomechanically happens in the horse with correct and uncorrect riding. Much of that was later published in his book "Tug of war".
After that Mr Balkenhol had some training sessions, and what a sympathetic and skilled trainer he is.
It was a treat to watch.

What makes me happy about this name list is that it brings some dressage heavy-weighters into the discussion.
From the defenders of rollkur there has been some sneering about what knowledge level the opponents have. It won't be easy to sneer now.

What did Martin Luther King say?
"...not so much for the evil deeds of the wicked people, but for the silence of the good"?

I am so happy for this.

Make your voice heard

2010-02-02T21:31:00.007+01:00

FEI will meet again on February the 9th.

I am forwarding the appeal from my fellow bloggers; Di at Le Puy, and jme at Glenshee Equestrian Centre.

Please make your voices heard and sign the petitions from Gerd Heuschmann and Philippe Karl!

On Feb.9th, the FEI will hold a closed door, no press allowed meeting to discuss Rollkur for the fifth time.

The list of invitees is long but only one man has spoken up loudly agaisnt rollkur again and again and refused to be silenced is invited. That one man, Dr. Heuschmann will stand quite alone in a room dominated by interests that have nothing to do with the good of the horse. Please show him and the FEI that his fight, our fight has not been in vain and that there are thousands upon thousands of horse lovers who stand with him.

A petition is live on his publisher's website.

"YOU can HELP Dr. Heuschmann put an end to rollkur on Feb. 9th at the next FEI meeting by signing your name to to a list he will take with him. Every voice is needed, it is time to step up and be counted for the good of our horses. Go to www.wu-wei-verlag.com and click "Officials! Stop Hyperflexion!". If you want to help Dr. Heuschmann prevail, end rollkur and horse suffering please share this message with everyone you know, use your Facebook page, twitter, blogs, phone. Together lets make a difference.

SIGN PETITION HERE

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Dear Madam, dear Sir,

On 9 February 2010, more than 20 experts will attend an FEI meeting in Switzerland to discuss once again whether the so-called hyperflexion (“Rollkur”) is an adequate method of training a horse. In order to support the opponents of this method and offer them further arguments, a petition has been initiated at www.no-rollkur.com. We’d like to invite you to support this action against hyperflexion – time is short!

You were so kind as to sign our own petition calling for reforms of the FN rules, which was initiated in May 2009. This obviously bore fruit: The German FN eventually invited Philippe Karl for a meeting in Warendorf, Germany. They now have to find an appropriate date. We will of course keep you informed about the outcome of this meeting.

Thank you very much again for your support!

Cordially,

Philippe Karl & his team

The petition reads:

"The signatories to this petition ask the FEI to oppose the training method of the“Rollkur”/Hyperflexion clearly and resolutely. The FEI rules are to be adapted correspondingly to ensure that in future the use of the method of the “Rollkur”/Hyperflexion will be regarded as a violation of these rules."

to add your name, please visit:

www.no-rollkur.com

The character of a horse, part two

2010-01-28T22:42:00.005+01:00

I would like to continue this discussion guys, thanks for participating!

Today’s question:

Do we have different character traits depending on what horse rase we are looking at?

Compare a thoroughbred with a pony.

Are there differences?

How much comes from handling, and how much comes from the breed?

Some pony breeds (Shetland, New Forest and the Swedish Gotlandruss being three examples) have roamed about in the wild, and have had to mend for themselves up to rather recently.

They are often both very food motivated and easily kept, as scarcity of food has been a strong selector in survival.

They are smart - as in testing things out.

If you have an escape artist in the yard, who would that be?

The smart and the sturdy ones survived. The others did not.

Ponies can be challenging to handle.

In my experience, they often test people out, and are very good at it too.

Let me give you two bright examples:

This is Maigutten.

He is one of the riding school horses at the stable.

I suspect his owner gave him to the riding school because she found him difficult to handle.
What breed he is I do not know, but that there is some native pony of some sort in the mix I do not doubt when looking at him.

Now, Maigutten won’t take a “No” for a No unless he has tested it out.

Guess who's got an extra chain on the door to his box/stall?

In spite of this, Maigutten often escapes.

He is a good dressage pony, and a very good jumper. With an experienced rider.

And for the rest?....He reads the rider in exactly 15 sec, and then either refuses to go, or starts doing funny exercises.

The entrance to the arena has to be closed to keep him in.

Is he a butthead?
Yes, definitely. But a smart and talented butthead.

My other example is the Shetlands pony May-Lis, now diseased, but used for pony riding in the riding school 15 years ago.

If the parents that were leading the child were used to horses, she was good as gold.

If the parents were not used to horses (quick assertion) she snapped at them, which made the parent let go of the rein.

Then she ran over to the nearest turf of grass, and turned her butt to the approaching parent and kicked loose at them when they came close enough.

Terrified child screaming, of course.

These are two horror examples, but I am sure that you guys can find similar (but perhaps less extreme) examples, at least of riding school horses that are used to quickly assess people and adjust their behavior accordingly.

My daughter's first pony was a cross Shetlandspony-Gotlandsruss, Felix.

I could tell you some stories about him too.

But he behaved *most* of the time, and was much loved.

All horses differ between people, but I do believe ponies make more out of it than other breeds.

Some people blame it on the fact that they are mostly handled by children.

Perhaps.

To a degree.

But is that the only explanation?

Another example: The Norwegian Fjord.

I would say that what we have here is a Pony In Disguise.

I am sure that anyone that has had anything to do with a Fjord will agree with me when I say that they are wilful, sturdy, food loving and smart. I have never seen a skinny Fjord.

And they walk all over you if you let them.

Again, tough conditions and survival of the fittest.

But they are normally not handled by children, so I'd say we are speaking genetics here.

In my opinion you will find more "personalities" with native breeds than you will find in Warmbloods (or thoroughbreds) where many of the survival instincts are bred away.

But they might have other issues.

Our neighbour who runs the yard is a racehorse trainer, so we have thoroughbreds in the stable too.

My husband has had many of them up through the years as he litterally was bred into the sport. Below you see Fair Flair.

Have you seen the panic button on a Thoroughbred?

I hope you haven't, because it is not funny.

They just lock out the world and RUN.

A couple of years ago one of them (not one of ours, TG) got scared and galloped full speed (with rider) along a road for 9 km (5.6 miles), and litterally run its hoof off. Box rest for half a year. Unfortunately never recovered after that either.

The young rider got out of it unharmed, but that was only luck.

I have never seen that happen with a pony.

So what do you think?
Does breed count?
Can we say that a breed has certain traits?
And if so, in what way?

(and thanks to my daughter for the first and last picture)