Getting Into The Groove

Here's an update on where I'm at right now with the horses that I have in full-training:

Paesano:
We had a buyer from Portland come out on Friday to take a look at him and she absolutely loved him (who wouldn't?). So, the buyer will be doing a pre-purchase vet exam on Wednesday, and if he checks out (should be no problem) then he should be sold!! If Paesano is sold, we'll then begin looking for a new horse for his owner, Virginia Rhoads.

Vienna:
Vienna is the 5 year old, owned by Deb Reinhart, that I've been riding for about 2 weeks now. Vienna is starting to understand more what her job is and one of those is not trying to buck me off. Actually, the bucking is not a big thing, as she only does it occasionally in the canter departs; and only when she is not confident in what her body is doing. The last two rides with her I've really gotten some consistent quality trot and canter work with her. When she is "on" it is quite remarkable. I'll try to get a short video posted of us together as she is a remarkable horse to watch.

We'll be debuting her at the Donida Farm show July 25-27. Our first objective is to have a clean, error free test and from there work on qualifying for the Regional Championships.

We will also be riding in the Heinrik Johansen clinic, at River Run Ranch, July 3rd. I'll post pictures and videos from that.


Falcon:
Falcon is a 6 year old who I have been working with for the past 2 weeks. He is owned by Alana Danna. Previously Falcon had been "roughed" up by a previous trainer and was sorely lacking in self-confidence. Over the past two weeks Falcon has turned into a completely new horse.
Previously, he would spook and bolt at anything. Now, through just simple, positive training, I have him working confidently and smoothly in the outdoor arena with no spooks.
I've also gotten Alana to do the same with him.
Falcon is a talented mover, so it will be interesting to see what he can do over the next 6-8 weeks.
This horse has (and will continue to be) been a very rewarding experience.


Other than that, I have another 4 horses that I work with part time and/or a couple of times a week with riding them and instructing their owners on them.

I have a couple of more prospects in the works that I'll be trying out next weekend.

Thanks for the support!

ITU World Championship (Race Day)

Today was an interesting day to say the least.

The day started off with no problems. However, Dave and Cedric's wave started at 8:55 when the race started at 6:30. During that time the wind kicked up a lot causing huge swells in the bay. Halfway through the race, the race organizers cancelled the swim for the remaining athletes. About 600 did the swim and 1000 didn't swim. Dave and Cedric were about 2-3 minutes from getting into the water when the word came out.

So, it turned into a 3K run instead of the swim and then the 40K bike and 10K run. I have no idea right now what they are going to do for the overall rankings.

Cedric came off the first run in the front group with Dave about 30 seconds behind. During the bike Cedric stayed in the top 5 of his division through the first 3 laps. On the 4th lap, Cedric had a minor bike crash (no injuries) and then while trying to catch up got caught in one of the big bike packs (there were so many it wasn't funny) and got a stop and go drafting penalty, where he lost another 45 seconds or so. Dave rode very strong throughout without the aid of any draft back coming in about 2 minutes behind the leaders.

On the run, Cedric started off about 8th and Dave in the 20's.

In the run, both Dave and Cedric ran strong with Cedric finishing 13th in the age group and Dave 33rd. Overall, I'm very happy with their races.

ITU World Age Group Championship

Today I drove up to Vancouver, BC with my athletes, Dave and Cedric, for the ITU World Championships. They will be racing in the age group race.

The race is on Saturday. Today we did a short run and a short swim. Dave and Cedric were indoctrinated to Pacific Northwest weather as it has been raining consistently since we crossed the boarder into Canada. This is no big deal, but the water temperature will be the issue, as right now the water temperature is around 55 degrees. There is talk of cutting the swim short, but nothing official yet.

So it may be a wet weekend for all.

Finally An Update

For all of you dedicated followers of the blog, I think that's three of you, here's an update.

I am training out of two barns River Run Ranch and Simpatico Stables. There's a short blurb about me in the news section on the Simpatico website. The pictures I posted are of River Run Ranch which is probably the nicest facility I have worked at.

I am pleased with where things are at right now. Yesterday, Deb Reinhart hired me to train her exceptionally talented 5 year old mare, Vienna at River Run. I rode Vienna last week and it was like riding on clouds. I am extremely excited about this and showing her as well.

Also at River Run, I am working with a 5 year old Andalusian/Quarter Horse cross, named Jobim. Jobim has the attitude of a 5 year old kid and is very pleasing to work with. Occasionally, I will be working with Claudius who is a 13 year old Dutch Warmblood who is schooling I2 and Grand Prix. Last week I was playing around with 3 and 2 tempi changes and that definitely brought a smile to my face working on those!

At Simpatico next week, I'll begin working full-time with Paesano a 10 year old Hanoverian/Thoroughbred gelding. I began riding him last week for a couple days last week. Paesano is a fun horse to ride with a fantastic personality. He is currently showing 2nd level and I will be working on schooling him at 3rd level here shortly. He is currently for sale ($25,000) if you're interested click here and/or contact me.

There are two other horses I will be starting next week, Sabu and Falcon. I have ridden Sabu (Oldenberg) twice already and will be schooling him (2nd and 3rd level) for his owner Sharron Himmell until she recovers from a hamstring injury. Sabu has great gaits and it will be fun to train him.

Falcon I have not ridden yet, but will post updates later.

The past few days I have received a bunch of inquiries about lessons, so things are starting to get busy!

Thanks for reading!

The Drive Out

The drive from Boulder to Kirkland was absolutely uneventful-thank god.

Having driven through Wyoming too many times, I went through Montana instead which I have previously done before.

The only highlights of the 23.5 hour trip were driving past the south, middle and north forks of the Crazy Woman River. I think a few ex-girlfriends hung out there from time to time.

The other was passing through Clinton, MT and seeing a billboard for the "Testicle Festival". On the sign there is a bull standing up on its hind legs and covering its genitalia. Apparently, this is a pretty big thing (pun intended). http://www.testyfesty.com/

I spent the night in Bozeman the first night, and then made it into Kirkland early Friday evening.
I really thought I was screwed when I hit the Seattle traffic at 5pm, but it turned out to be fine. This will probably be the only time I say that about Seattle traffic.

The weather the first 4 days was fantastic with temperatures in the upper 80's. It felt like I had never left Boulder. However, I woke up this morning to rain falling. Man, I'm going to have to get used to that!

Last Couple of Weeks in Boulder

The last couple of weeks were a complete whirlwind trying to say goodbye to everyone, get packed, and get my athletes set up. There were times when I didn't know what day of the week it was or what I had done the previous day.

It was bittersweet to say goodbye to my friends and to leave Boulder. I felt like a housewife with planning a lot of lunch, coffee, and dinner dates. I don't think I've ever been so social in a such a short period of time.

I feel very fortunate to have such a great group of friends, especially when I moved to Boulder 11 years ago I didn't know anyone, nor for awhile an ex wasn't too keen on having friends (that's another story).

The going away party was a lot of fun and sad too. The house was pretty packed most of the night and concluded with a Rock Band. Dorky as that is, a fun time was had by all. Probably not as much when I was signing though.

The Writing Is On the Wall

One of the more interesting parts of making this comeback is making the change over to being a horseman from being an athlete. Over the last 6-8 weeks I am feeling more like a horseman and less of an athlete.

I'm not training like a used to and I know/have felt that I am not in great shape now (I know relative to other athletes). However, it came to a head on a bike ride yesterday.

I rode with a few of my athletes and I was completely humbled. We rode for 2:45 with most of it easy and on the flats/small rollers. On the short uphills, I got blown off the back without my guys riding hard.

We rode for 35 miles and then finished the ride up Flagstaff Mountain. Flagstaff is one of the famous hills in Boulder. You can ride all the way to the top or go about 3/4 of the way to the Ampitheater. I chose the later and I am glad I did. It's roughly 4.5 miles long and you gain ~2000ft elevation (click here for a map). Flagstaff will always hurt no matter what shape you're in. If you're in shape the pain is only over a shorter period of time.

I felt awful and got destroyed by my athletes. The steep sections (10-15%) I could barely get my legs over each stroke. I did get through it and felt good afterwards, but my god, I realized I am no longer an athlete, but a horseman. Still it was fun to hit up Flagstaff one more time before I leave.

And you know what, I am perfectly fine with that. Actually, really happy to be a horseman once again.

I did the double ride yesterday in that I rode a bike and then a horse. Now that should be a sport!