...And a month goes by...

Well, I didn't realize I had not written in a while!

    So this time of year for me is pretty slow. Mostly schooling as much as possible before snow flies. Sadly, in Maine it is going to be fairly soon. 

     Since the SP clinic, I had a really good group dressage lesson on Ryn in the beginning of November. We worked on her getting to come "through" with my seat and legs and not to be so "handsie". Which I tend to do. It's not like I am tugging on the poor horses mouth all the time, or at all. It's just I tend to go to my hands 1st. She was super at the end. It is really good, because she almost never has sweat on her neck/chest. She always is sweaty under her belly. I guess that is a good sign that she is actually using her self.

    On the 13th of November I had two dressage lessons Mary (Gunzel) O'Rourke @ Sawyer Equestrian Center in Newport, Maine. Duellsa and Ryn were really spastic, not sure why. Ryn's lesson was 1st. She was really rushing and not listening in the beginning, but after some lateral work she settled in. We actually worked lateral movements. I had just been working on leg yields &  half pass at home. Mary had me work on some shoulder in and haunches in movements. She was surprisingly good! I know she knows it, I just didn't think she was strong enough to do it "right". Her issue is too much neck bend. Which is obviously due to my lack of not wanting to give the contact when I have the horse in front of my leg. We'll work on it :)

     Duellsa was next. She was, well, probably the worst she has ever been. Walk/ Trot she was great, but at the canter she was leaning on me and dragging me around. She had her head down with such force that it was almost impossible to get her off the contact. (Atleast a little) She is fantastic on the lunge line, so Mary had me lunge her. That helped. Then I hopped on her while Mary was lunging me. SO much better. Every horse has their bad days, I totally accept that, as long as I learn how to fix it. So if I am at a event I can fix her. So sometimes I don't mind my horse misbehaving at a clinic, then you always learn something one way or another!

YAY, Figure trophy!
3rd time!!

    MeCTA BANQUET!!! On the 19th was the banquet for the Maine Combined Training Association. It 1st started out as a meeting, talking about where MeCTA is going and such. They had a really interesting  guest speaker this year. His name is Doug Hannum he is a Holistic Equine Professional. He goes any where and everywhere with the U.S. teams. He recently went to the Pan Ams with the teams. Then......came the awards!

Everyone did so great this year. Keiko ended the year with 1st for the Beginner Novice JR division!!! Also out of a BIG surprise she got the MeCTA Figure trophy award for the lowest scoring rider at Snowfields HTS under 21. I am so proud of her <3 . Our event team, Wingin' It event team, got 2nd for the year! Our team members are; Grace Davis ( Her Blog )  Jessica Flynn ( Her Blog  ) Ellie Demmons ( Her Blog ) and myself. 

Wingin' It event team! -Ellie :(
(Three phase photography)

       Last but certainly not least, Audrey Jump lessons! On the 25th I had two jump lessons with Audrey Bean! My 1st lesson was on Duellsa. Now this time, she was FAR from misbehaving. She was REALLY good. We did some canter poles in the beginning to get her thinking, then we moved to her course work. She only did her head flip thing once! She jumped a skinny with no issues, and a pretty high and wide oxer for her. I am not totally worried about height with her, I am worried about her balance and skill over jumps. Her canter still need some work, but it is 80% better then it was even a month ago! She just learns so fast it blows my mind ;). My next lesson was with Dixie. Yes, Dixie <3 It was a group lesson with Amanda Snow and Chelsie Oldfield. It went great! Dixie is jumping 1,000% better. We did mostly course work. we didn't jump as high as Duellsa's lesson, but still high enough for Dixie. She felt like she was "popping" every jump, but really she was just jumping nicer! I think that pony was the happiest pony in the whole world that night. I am so glad to be able to ride my DixieMuffin pony <3.  

I think that is about it. Cross all your possible limbs on the 9th for me! I have my H-B retest with Sarah Adams! :)

Out!

-Ashley Shaffer