Hooray — Haynet’s blog of the day!

02 Monday Jan 2012

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What a nice way to start the new year — getting selected as blog of the day at Haynet, where “Social Blogging for the Equine & Country Life World” reigns supreme.

Haynet is the UK’s #1 equine blogging network.  This blog joined the roster less than three weeks ago, and what fun it has been.  It’s the perfect place to meet new people, discover new blogs and share ideas.

Sam Hobden founded Haynet after blogging about life with her handsome Belgian Warmblood and, in the process, catching what she calls the “blog bug.”  She envisioned Haynet as a welcoming place for established blogs such as this one, as well as a place where new bloggers could “set up shop” and feel at home.

It’s been wonderful to get a perspective from “across the pond,” and I’m glad that Sam feels the same, as she set up a category on Haynet especially for those of us who spell “behavior” without a “u.”  You’ll find this blog there, along with many others, under the heading “All Things American Equestrian Blogs.”

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A new & another year

02 Monday Jan 2012

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As we welcome another year, I wanted to re-read this poem myself and share it with you.  Entitled “When I am an Old Horsewoman,” it was written by Patty Barnhart and originally published in The Arabian Horse World Magazine, twenty years ago.

When I am an old horsewoman

I shall wear turquoise and diamonds

And a straw hat that doesn’t suit me

And I shall spend my social security on

white wine and carrots,

And sit in my alleyway of my barn

And listen to my horses breathe.

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365

31 Saturday Dec 2011

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I have a dear friend who has a wonderful saying:

“If you write a page a day, at the end of the year, you’ll have a book.”

I literally followed his advice a few years ago, and wrote one.  I followed others’ advice and after several re-writes, I put it under the bed to incubate.  It occurs to me that I should dig it out and see how it reads.  Maybe when I’m snowed in this winter, if winter ever comes to Connecticut again.

But my friend’s advice pertains just as well to horses as it does to books.  Every time you ride, if you work on your position, improve your feel and strive to be the best trainer you can be, it doesn’t matter on any given day if you think you’ve made progress, or made enough progress.  By the end of a year, you’ll have accomplished something both you and your horse can be proud of.

Core

30 Friday Dec 2011

Posted by in Equitation, Language

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If you’re one of this blog’s dedicated readers, you may be wondering how I can talk about the rider’s seat (which I have for the last couple of days) without talking about the rider’s “core.”

Well, I can’t.  

There is a current vogue to focus on “core strength” and how important it is. And while I agree that the core is important, I’m not sure that strength is the most important part of it, and I’m not even sure that I agree with most people about where the core actually is.

Some people consider the core to be the “abdomen,” with evidence of core strength in “six-pack abs.”  These are often the same people who believe, as Robert Dover does, that one should ride from half-halt to half-halt and they’re so busy half-halting with their cores that their abdomens seldom come out of contraction.  To my distaste, they will sometimes tell you to “go ahead, poke my stomach,” which makes me question their equestrian tact.

I don’t consider the core to be the basic abdominal muscles — the transversus abdominis, the rectus abdominis, the internal obliques and the external obliques — and I consider balance to be as important to good riding as core strength.  The core strength that is necessary is the core strength required to maintain the rider’s balance regardless of the horse’s motion. And while this often involves quite a lot of muscle strength, it lies behind the abdomen, in the iliopsoas  (if you’re going to share that aloud, remember the “p” is silent).

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Exercises for the seat

29 Thursday Dec 2011

Posted by in Equitation

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There are two places in the world where you can best develop your seat.  One is on the lunge line and one is in your car.  Depending on your lifestyle and inclination, you may prefer one to the other.  But it’s best if you can manage both.

Erster Oberbereiter Zrust on Favory Ancona 1, 1940

On the lunge line:  This is the site of the sine qua non of seat development. One of the “old chestnuts“ of riding lore is that students at the Spanish Riding School spend three years on the lunge, riding without stirrups, before they are allowed to ride the way we blithely permit inattentive six year olds to.

If we’re serious about our riding, even if we’re not as serious as the Austrians in the hats, we’ll still want to get on the lunge line from time to time. Because riding on the lunge without stirrups and reins is simply the best way to find out what your seat is doing, and improve it.  There’s nothing better for learning how to sit deep in the saddle, discovering how it feels to have even seat bones in the saddle, trusting your seat so your arms and legs can move independently, and eventually, showing off.

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The seat

28 Wednesday Dec 2011

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Flying the bi-plane by the seat of his pants

Before airplanes had instrument control panels, pilots flew “by the seat of their pants.” Guided by feel, they based their information on what they felt, literally, through the seat of their pants.

Riders do the same thing.  They just don’t wear pants.  And when they use their seats, it’s less to receive information than it is to transmit it.

Everyone knows how important it is to have a seat.  We refer to a “good seat” when we compliment a rider’s ability, regardless of their discipline.  For dressage riders and western riders, who spend more time on (or in) the saddle than above it, the seat becomes the main tool for communicating with the horse.  The seat is nearly as important for hunter riders, show jumpers and eventers, as demonstrated by the fact that when they’re out of the saddle, we say they’re riding in their half-seats.

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Dinner roll

26 Monday Dec 2011

Posted by in Horse Care

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The 33-year old horse who boards with us is quite the character.  And my Yankee-Irish horse whispering boyfriend has become even more attached to him since I broke my back, and he single-handedly assumed all the barn chores.  (I’m better now, but I still can’t lift a water bucket, much less a muck bucket).

Like any good horseman, my boyfriend has a very good eye.  He observes. And he files those observations away for future reference.

Like me, he thinks that horses understand what we say.  Not just our intent and our thoughts, but our words as well.

Recently, he observed our 33-year old retiree having a bit more difficulty getting up after rolling in the paddock.  We discussed the matter, and our decision to call the horse’s owner to discuss our concerns, all within earshot of the horses in turnout.

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War horse – fact and fiction

23 Friday Dec 2011

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Some years ago, I spent Christmas with my sister in her flat in London.  I wish I were there now, not just because it’s a beautiful place to be at Christmastime, but because if I were there, I could go to the National Army Museum and see the exhibit entitled War Horse – Fact and Fiction.

Instead, since I’m stuck here in the States, as is my sister, I’ll have to see Spielberg’s movie instead.  When I do, I’m bringing a box of tissues because just watching the trailer makes me cry.  

If you can’t make it to the National Army Museum War Horse exhibit in Chelsea (it runs until August), you should make it to the website.   There is much to see to interest the mind and stir the heart.

Unloading horses, Boulogne, c. 1915

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