These are a few of my favourite things...

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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

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

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.

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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!

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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

.

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

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

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

Just how stupid can you get???

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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!

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"