It’s such an interesting time in our lives with COVID. I feel like I’ve lost track of things—time, the days—everything seems to blend together and maybe that’s why I haven’t done an update in so long. With that being said, it’s also been a super nice time personally. Though I wasn’t able to teach for a while, I just rode all my horse and really worked on the basics. It’s amazing how, when you have the time, it’s easy it is to actually make your horses better and a little more true in the way they go.
I was able to get some help from Katie and Henri Prudent starting the first of May. I also took some cross-country clinics with Phillip, who had really good exercises for my horses. Basically, we worked on serpentine lines and angles, focusing on riding inside leg to outside rein to make the distance work. Funny enough, I had some days with Katie working on the same idea but she had me ride one-handed on flat, inside leg to outside, shoulder in then out, haunches in then out in the trot and canter, both directions. What a great exercise to remind me to ride off my leg and not my hand. The one-handed exercise really allows you to put the bit in the corners of the horse’s mouth and ride from the leg through the hands to corners of the mouth so horse comes over their back, up in the shoulders and down to the bit.
I was able to get some help from Katie and Henri Prudent starting the first of May. I also took some cross-country clinics with Phillip, who had really good exercises for my horses. Basically, we worked on serpentine lines and angles, focusing on riding inside leg to outside rein to make the distance work. Funny enough, I had some days with Katie working on the same idea but she had me ride one-handed on flat, inside leg to outside, shoulder in then out, haunches in then out in the trot and canter, both directions. What a great exercise to remind me to ride off my leg and not my hand. The one-handed exercise really allows you to put the bit in the corners of the horse’s mouth and ride from the leg through the hands to corners of the mouth so horse comes over their back, up in the shoulders and down to the bit.
| I got to put into practice what I’d learned for first time showing at Culpepper for two weeks in July. Rem, Gino and Storm had been practicing being able to canter into that balance I's been working on, and I even got to win the meter-20 class on Rem. That set me up for the second Maryland Horse Trials with Gino and Storm in Novice. They were both great! Gino was second, and Storm was awesome but unfortunately I never showed him fourth jump off a turn and missed it. Always remember to show your horse the jumps! I’m hoping we’ll show this week at Culpepper and event again in September. Back in June we did run our horse trials. It was a bit different than normal but ended up to be a nice thing to do for Area 2 and all the competitors got in and out safely. Trav and Graham Schick and Tom made sure all the courses were set and tracks and fields mowed, and Christy made sure everything was organized. It was a bit quiet because normally we’re a family-run show but my parents stayed home and so the feeling was a little different. They love to see everyone, cook dinner and help out and it just wasn’t the same without them. Because of all the rules and regulations necessary due to COVID, we had to be super careful running the horse trials but we’re so lucky in a lot of ways because we’re pretty isolated here at Surefire. Make sure you’re careful because the pandemic’s a real thing! |   Storm and Gino at Maryland, Janet Gallay photos |
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