Hi all! As you know, I don't update this blog anymore - I'd moved over to one at Blogspot - but I'm moving again, this time to two different places. Starting for this week at the USEF National Championships at Gladstone, NJ, I'll be blogging for the Chronicle of the Horse. You can read that blog by clicking here.

After Gladstone I'll also be blogging for the UK-based website HorseHero.com. I don't yet have a direct link for that blog, but I'll update here again when I do.

Thanks for tuning in!

Well friends, I've made up my mind: I'm moving over to blogspot. I will still be around in equestrian, but livejournal's ads and limited design options just bug me. I think blogspot's layouts look crisper and cleaner, and so off I go. Please feel free to follow me over to http://laurensprieser.blogspot.com. And if anyone wants to syndicate that for LJ-friends' lists, please feel free (but spell my last name right, wouldja? ;))

At some point yesterday afternoon, the heater that heats every room on the farm - my apartment, tack room, feed room, etc - died. It is about 40* in my apartment. Every faucet in the place is dripping so the pipes don't freeze. And I get the pleasure of paying for an emergency call for a technician to kick the damn thing around.

This is my cranky face.

In happy news, a little story: about 6 months ago, Billy was just feeling low. Bloodwork revealed nothing. He was eating great, in beautiful shape, just not his normal perky self. On a whim, I did a hair mineral analysis, and after recieving the results, I started him on a custom supplement blend. The analysis looks at the levels of specific metabolic minerals, but more particularly looks at the ratios between them. The supplement arrived about 4  months ago, and in the first six weeks nothing really exciting happened.

Suddenly, after about 6 weeks of the supplement, Billy bloomed. He gained weight. He GLOWED. He was bright eyed and bushy tailed, high energy without being loopy. It was incredibly, incredibly impressive. So I had analyses done on Tres, Ella and Cleo; Midge will get done in another month or two, as I just made a big feed change for him about a month ago and I wanted that to settle for a while. Their supplements arrived in the mail yesterday. I'll report back in 6 weeks!

Oy vey, even the quiet weeks are nutty.

The weather is making a lot of my students back off from riding - indoor arenas are a rarity around here, so most of my trailer-ins aren't doing any riding when it's this cold (teens and 20s; the low tonight is 9! brr!). And yet I'm still running around with my hair on fire. My apartment truly looks like a bomb went off in it - papers here, there, everywhere; all of these coupons saved up for various things that I just need to then go out and USE; all these articles and things I want to put in picture frames and post in our tackroom. Gah.

Scotty was here on Tuesday, and was his usual positive, lovely self. The theme for my guys is to identify the difference between "I can't" and "I won't," and know that all of the horses, even Midge (who says "I won't" at LEAST once a ride, jackass) are eager-to-please and are rarely disobedient for disobedience's sake. Ella's problem has always been that she tries too hard, beyond her physical capabilities, and so I have to be constantly on my own case about making sure I keep the more advanced work short and high quality, and to identify when she's struggling what the source is - fatigue, mental or physical, or disobedience. It's rarely the latter!

They all went super though. Ella has made HUGE strides in the last few days in the tempi changes, being much more adjustable and not so tight about them. Midge is just freaking awesome, really advancing in his ability to collect with relaxation and suppleness instead of just tightening up all three inches of his back to bring his hind legs under. Scott made my day by telling me there's no reason Midge shouldn't be getting 75%s at Third Level when I get the relaxation (and only 71%s when I don't). :) Nothing like high expectations!

Lately, I swear there's been something in the water - everyone's going bonkers. Cleo's been spending an alarming amount of time in her stall doing Airs Above Ground, and is SO tight under saddle in the beginning she's hard to influence. I can't for the life of me figure out why! Midge is always a spooky orange PITA, but lately he's been even fresher. Even little Tres, my mom's Most Perfect Spanish Horse, has decided that headbutting Kelly, my working student, is a good idea. Bad pony!

My friends and sponsors at Uckele Equine Nutrition are having a "sale" on shipping, 50% off. I've used nothing but Uckele supplements on my horses for years, and they're all fabulous; the company also has kickass good customer service. The discount code for 50% off shipping: UBOP09. Expires 2/28/09. I'm a particularly big fan of Cocosoya, their fat supplement, and GUT, their antacid/ulcer treatment. With show season coming up, I get a bunch of the GUT tubes and give everyone some half an hour before they get on the trailer to go ANYWHERE. Works a treat.

First: for any of my local readership (or any of you from faraway lands who care about what we're up to on the farm), allow me to announce the Sprieser Sporthorse blog. Expect announcements of upcoming events, clinic reports, and results from my clients and students on the show and event circuits. I'm not a paid member, so I can't make an LJ feed, but if anyone out there wants it to stream to their LJ friends' page, I'll make it work.

Second: Ella made SUPER pirouettes and half-steps yesterday, and Midgey knocked my SOCKS off by making three SUPER SUPER changes on the diagonal! Yaaaay chestnut horses!

When a new horse comes in training to me, 99% of the time it either needs new equipment, or I end up changing it. Mostly there's a saddle fit issue - there is ALMOST ALWAYS a saddle fit issue. Part of that I think is that horses grow and change, but people keep the same tack. But there's also a general misunderstanding about saddle fit, which is one of the reasons I adore Colleen so much - her incessant quest to educate the masses.

So when that new horse comes, saddle is issue number 1. I've got so many different shapes of horse just in our contingent that I've almost always got something that at least comes close. I've got ProLite pads in flat, front riser and rear riser, so as long as the saddle gets good wither and stirrup bar clearance, I can adjust the balance as needed. And as horses tend to put on muscle and condition pretty fast in training, I may end up changing the configuration a few times as they grow and change shape.

Next issue is the bridle itself, one that gets overlooked a lot. Lots of people - myself included - are quick to just put on a normal cavesson, usually with a flash, because those are the easiest to find at the store. I like to play with my options - what does the horse like? Does he open his mouth straight, or does he cross his jaw? Does he dink around with the bit, or does he clamp on it, a little too steady and quiet in the mouth? I'll experiment with and without a flash, or making the noseband looser and the flash tighter (not TIGHT, just relatively tightER than the noseband). If they prefer the flash to the noseband, I'll try a drop noseband; I've found it especially helpful for horses who screw around with the bit, or who have "busy" tongues. Cleo is one of those. For the horse who gets a little dead in the mouth, like Ella, they often go best with no flash at all.

Last, there's the bit. If I'm working with a youngster, or a horse whose history I don't know, I pretty much always go to some variation on a theme of KK-style loose ring, the one with the "lozenge" in the center. Some people love the plastic bits; I'm not such a fan, plus the lozenge in the center of the plastic bit rotates, making it illegal for use in competition. If they're strong, I might upgrade to a french link. If they're REALLY strong (MIDGE YOU ORANGE DOOFUS), I'll try a Boucher. There are two curves, basically - a downward curve for horse comfort, and an upward one for rider's ability to be quietly effective. Wherever those two meet, that's the bit I choose - it'd be nice to have everything go great in the KK, but when that's not possible, I'd rather upgrade the bit and be quiet and tactful than stay in the "nicer" bit and be a bully with my hand.

I also give a lot of thought to the mouthpiece of the bit. If a horse is a little backed off, and doesn't like to take the bit, I'll put them in an eggbutt. I find that it stablizes the bit more than a loose ring, which can be more inviting for the horse who doesn't want to go to the bridle. They're also good for horses with sensitive skin around the mouths - I've had a few get little irritations just from the movement of the loose ring.

And that's how we do it! It takes some time, and a collection of equipment lying around (I have a bit box, everything I'll ever want in all sorts of sizes!), but if I can get the tack just-so, it makes my job a lot easier. And it can address issues too - if there's no veterinary issue, and I'm confident in my approach, I look to the tack, and changing things around gives not only an opportunity for the horse to play with different combinations, but to confirm that I'm using the right one.

Hey, I've been on Match.com for about 6 months: why haven't I found a tall, stunningly good looking smart guy with a kiwi accent?

(probably has something to do with the fact that I look nothing like the tall, stunningly good looking and smart Courtney King, huh? phooey.)

Can any of you graphics wizes (how do you spell the plural of "wiz?") make this into a black logo on a white background? I have sucky graphix skillz.

http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2738741020103699624ojuReB

Thanks in advance!

EDIT: Thanks guys!

This is the year.

This is the year that I break into the big time, with talented horses who love their jobs and do them right. This is the year that I knock socks off, surpass expectations, and rock out. This is the year I prove I deserve that spot on the list with the Big Dogs, and I do it with fairness and compassion and empathy for my horses and clients, every day.

This year, I will work my ass off, lose sleep, fret, cry, give blood and sweat and tears and just when I think it's all going to Hell in a handbasket give that one last push to make it all come together. This year I will suprise myself. This year my students are going to accomplish things they've only dreamed about. This year my horses are going to be fitter and stronger and lighter and happier than they've ever been before.

This is the turning point, the beginning of the rest of it all, the place it all began. And I'm going to blow the other years out of the water.

2009? Bring it.

I've got a light day, it being Christmas Eve and all, so I'm puttering around in my apartment, doing research on a new designer for spriesersporthorse.com (taking recommendations, by the by), and I hear a sudden banging around in the barn. It sounds like pawing, but violent, and I run downstairs, fearing someone's gotten badly cast.

Grab a coat, find my slippers, streak into the barn aisle. Stop, listen. It's on my left. It's Midge.

He's pulled down his Jolly Ball, which I'd strung from the rafters.

And he's trying. to. kill. it.

He's everywhere. Left, right, dodge, weave. Everytime he gets it into a corner, he paws paws paws until it goes flying between his hind legs and it's off to the races again. Every now and then he grabs it in his teeth, by the handle, and WHIPS it into the air, bouncing off the stall walls, sending everyone ELSE in the barn flying into the air.

I crack up, and he sees me and stops. I loiter around for a while to try and get a video on my phone, but he's apparently got some stagefright, because I've been back upstairs now for only a few minutes and the barn is all a-clanging again.

May your days be merry and bright, and may all your Orange Dutch Horses be goofy!

Ella made 5 twos yesterday! YAAAY!

And Cleo made a REALLY good passage-piaffe-passage transition with nice rhythm and a good neck and everything! YAAAAY!

And Midge... didn't eat me! YAAAAY!

(hey, can't win 'em all.)

Now that I have BRAND NEW BIG ARSE SHELVING UNITS!!!! yay!, I'm trying to cut down on the clutter, and so I've got a bunch of tack and apparel for sale. Shipping on all items is $9.80*, and is flat-rate USPS. *that's an edit, I screwed up; they've raised the postage :(

( Check it out! )

So! Lendon. Lendon was awesome, all of the great things we love about her: clear, creative, firm but positive. I rode Ella with her first on Saturday, and she was a superstar - we focused on the canter, something Ella is less naturally talented for, but something that I understand much better, and we worked on the changes and the throughness, and on the pirouettes, which I haven't really gotten going on yet fearing it was too early. Lendon abolished that thought very quickly, and the end result was some really good efforts on Ella's part - no miracles yet but some dang good trying.

Cleo went next and was a bit of an ass - we cleaned the arena windows and they left some big streaks, which she thought were terrifying (dork). Lendon got on my case big time about the outside rein and my tendency to hold, and encouraged me to be a little more "playful" in my contact, especially on a big strong girl who'd rather I held her up. We worked on pirouettes too, which I've been neglecting, and made a little piaffe-passage, but at that point she was pretty tired. She encouraged me to keep her forward in the piaffe, and to not be afraid to demand a response NOW to my passage aid, something Scott is on me about as well.

Sunday I chose Ella over Cleo, which I regretted, because Ella was SUPER SUPER SUPER again - we made more pirouette work, but also focused a bit on the trot, which is my kryptonite. I've been trying to make little uber-half halts that are basically two piaffe steps and out to get a little bit of a more lively connection in the back, but it hasn't been working well lately. Lendon encouraged me to think more about small trot, not slow in rhythm or big in cadence, just smaller trot, like a schooling trot, and it was GREAT - probably the biggest lightbulb for me of the clinic.

I then rode Midge in the afternoon, who's been a superstar up until about a week ago when he turned into a big strong orange Dutch gorilla, but Lendon liked all the exercises I was using to keep him from locking up, and scared me appropriately about getting his neck too collapsable. We played with the changes, which were super one way and a little less stellar the other way, but is pretty normal, talked about the walk and ways to keep it supple (big, easy turns on the forehand and haunches are what I've been doing, and she agreed), and played with his adjustability in the trot half-pass, as the canter half-pass is still a bit of a hail-mary yet.

All in all I was REALLY pleased with the clinic, and with my rides. Lendon differs from Pam in two big ways - Lendon wants her riders to really sit, whereas Pam sometimes uses a lighter seat to great effect, but this makes sense to me; the other is in the using bend to get throughness versus using straightness to get throughness, which is a little harder for me to wrap my head around, but I'm getting there.

The BEST part of the whole clinic for me was getting told on several occasions that I was sitting well AND that I was riding well AND that I should keep up the good work. I think I'd better retire right now, because it ain't gonna get any better than that!

As always, Lendon focused  not on the "stuff" but on the basics, the adjustability, the throughness and relaxation, the quality of the fundamental work. She has a wonderful term she likes called sponginess, the ability to squish a horse or stretch him and to ride all of his parts seperately, something I'm passionate about, just apparently not passionate enough! It's funny, but I feel like everything we worked on was stuff I'm already crazy about, just not crazy enough about, that I can even be bolder and more demanding of things like looseness and sensitivity and self carriage. She also reminded me of something from our very first lesson years ago that I recall as clearly as if it was yesterday, but that no one can ever put into practice enough - it ok to make mistakes, hundreds of them, just not the same one twice. She encouraged me to be bold and take risks and let the horses make boo-boos so that I could tactfully correct them and show them the better way.

A friend of my mom's took some photos, which I'll hopefully have soon. Yay!

The world's quickest update: Lendon was FABULOUS, great group of horses, nobody cried, Ella is amazing, Cleo and Midge are no slouch either. Hoorah!

Back to the clinic, then to take Lendon to the airport, and then to BED!

My new working student starts Saturday and I am SO FREAKING EXCITED. I've been staying on top of all the barn stuff, but you should see the state of my apartment! Yuck!

Moreover, I was out of town all day Monday giving a clinic in Chicago (which went GREAT - so much fun, great group of riders, and ZOMG PIZZA!!!), so I missed my normal catch-up-on-stuff day, so I retured from Chicago to an empty fridge and a dusty floor. Ick.

But it's all staying together, and the horses are all in great shape. There's going to be a 30* temperature drop between 6 pm last night and noon today, which is not terribly amusing, not to mention the fun fun fun upcoming sleeting rainstorm. Goodie.

The most chaotic part of this week is getting ready for our Lendon Gray clinic this weekend - a lot of cleaning and dusting and reorganizing and bathing horses and bla dee blah. And I have to figure out where Reagan airport is. But the horses are great, and I'm amused by getting cute panicked emails from the clinic participants about "Will Lendon care what I'm wearing?" (no), or "OMG is she going to yell at me?" (possibly).

You know what bums me out? None of my local grocery stores carry sugar-free, fat-free Jello pudding in Pistachio flavor anymore. I can buy 12 boxes from amazon.com, which seems silly. I just want one!