The week at Denny Emerson's went by way too fast! It was great fun and both Lucy and Duke were fabulous. Denny was very impressed with Lucy's jumping. I had only jumped her on a hunter pace and in one stadium jumping lesson before going to Denny's. While at Denny's, she jumped around stadium courses set at BN and N height, and we had a great xc school where she did such things as jump up a bank, take one stride, and jump out over a hanging log. We did another bank that involved jumping up a bank, take one stride, go off the bank. We cantered a jump into water and did a novice-sized ditch without blinking. And Andy with Duke jumped *everything* Lucy jumped, without exception. I think I have a few more grey hairs, but they jumped great. Denny has a great rapport with kids...I think Andy has a new idol. :-)
On the final day, Andy jumped his most difficult stadium course he's ever tried, in terms of height, length, and difficulty. And he nailed it on the first try. Denny was so proud of him, Denny brought other students out to the ring to show them the course Andy jumped. :-)
Dressage is still very much a work in progress. I know what we need to work on, and we'll get there, but it's not going to be a quick fix.
We ended the week with both Andy and myself riding in the same BN division of a schooling event at GMHA. Thank goodness for Nancy coming to watch/help! It is hard to keep both myself and my child on track for these things! Despite a challenging dressage warmup, Lucy ended up tied for 4th out of 13 in our division after dressage. If she can pull that off with the state of our current dressage, it gives me great hope for what can potentially happen. Andy was 5 points behind us with Duke. The grasshopper isn't overtaking the mother just yet!
Both horses jumped clean. I was tied for 3rd going into the faux xc, and lost the tie breaker because I was *1 second* faster than the person I was tied with. Bummer. I call it faux xc because it was xc type jumps moved into a limited area of all weather footing....after the deluge of rain, the actual xc course was in no shape to support the event running without incurring significant damage.
And my pony, Suzi Q, came in 3rd with her rider! I was very proud of them, because they have had a tough week coming into this event, and to put all of their baggage behind them and start fresh with the event was a significant accomplishment.
Andy & I rode in the same lessons at Tamarack, so I have no pictures from there. Pictures are up from the event, however.
I've been procrastinating about unpacking...I have a truck & trailer crammed both crammed to the rafters with soaking wet camping and riding equipment. Time to get moving on that, though!
Lisa Cook <Coo...@hotmail.com> wrote: > The week at Denny Emerson's went by way too fast! It was great fun > and both Lucy and Duke were fabulous. Denny was very impressed with > Lucy's jumping. I had only jumped her on a hunter pace and in one
My memory may be faulty here but i thought the owner of Lucy's sire was coached by Denny when she was competing him. ???
> stadium jumping lesson before going to Denny's. While at Denny's, she > jumped around stadium courses set at BN and N height, and we had a > great xc school where she did such things as jump up a bank, take one > stride, and jump out over a hanging log. We did another bank that > involved jumping up a bank, take one stride, go off the bank. We > cantered a jump into water and did a novice-sized ditch without > blinking. And Andy with Duke jumped *everything* Lucy jumped, > without exception. I think I have a few more grey hairs, but they > jumped great. Denny has a great rapport with kids...I think Andy has > a new idol. :-)
That's an idol worth looking up to!
Is Andy rediscovering his interest in horses?
> On the final day, Andy jumped his most difficult stadium course he's > ever tried, in terms of height, length, and difficulty. And he nailed > it on the first try. Denny was so proud of him, Denny brought other > students out to the ring to show them the course Andy jumped. :-)
Too cool!
<snip>
> Andy & I rode in the same lessons at Tamarack, so I have no pictures > from there. Pictures are up from the event, however.
The horse is cute and it is uncanny how much Andy's position resembles yours. I like his look of concentration and focus. If he stays interested he could be a force in a couple of years.
> I've been procrastinating about unpacking...I have a truck & trailer > crammed both crammed to the rafters with soaking wet camping and > riding equipment. Time to get moving on that, though!
Yuck. My sympathies. it's bad enough unpacking from a competition w/o dealing with wet and muddy stuff.
I am thoroughly enjoying watching Lucy being well-ridden. Standing around, she is an attractive, long-backed, short-legged, cute thing. I think she looks like a nice field hunter type - solid and tough.
But under saddle, she grows legs, and becomes tall and elegant. Until now, I have only watched her on the longe line, and on the longe her movement was, and is, quite average. She does, of course, have moments when she's at play where she floats a bit. But over all, she just kinda pounds around.
She always felt like a better mover than that. But it's a whole 'nuther thing to watch it. :)
svleop...@earthlink.net (Sue Leopold) wrote: > Lucy is adorable. What a beautiful little horse and such a clever > jumper. Her turnout is spectacular.
Lisa's horses are always beautifully turned out. :)
Lucy and Duke were sporting not just red, white and blue button braids. They also had shooting stars across their ample butts. And they held up through the torrential downpours. :)
Lisa didn't go into detail about her dressage. Lucy unglued in the warmup area, getting stuck in place and looking like she might just throw herself to the ground if pressured. But she settled down and was going quite nicely by the time she was scheduled to do her test. Lisa was on deck, waiting for the final salute of the horse and rider before her, when the heavens opened up. We had thunder and lightening and whipping winds, and buckets of rain coming down in sheets. And they told everyone to take cover.
So Lucy got rushed back to the trailer, where she stood for twenty minutes or so. Lisa was positively drowned, but still managed to find a clean, dry saddle pad for her horse. And back they went, for a two- minute warm-up, before rushing straight in for their test.
It was not a good test, but considering the circumstances, it was lovely. :) I have it on video, much to Lisa's dismay. I consider it to be the "before" shot. ;)
> It was not a good test, but considering the circumstances, it was > lovely. :) I have it on video, much to Lisa's dismay. I consider it > to be the "before" shot. ;)
> Nancy
I believe in karma, to a degree. And placing 4th after dressage with the test we did yesterday was a gift from the dressage gods to make up for some test I've done in the past whose score left me shaking my head and wondering what the judge could have been thinking by giving us a score that was far worse than I thought I deserved.
I would kind of like to see the video, in a morbid, can't-look-away- from-the-car-wreck kind of way. Got a link you could e-mail? :-)
Andy is picking up interest in riding again, which really started when he began to ride Linus some. He loved Linus. Duke is the Plan B we put into effect when Linus died. As Denny put it: Duke is not going to Andy's Rolex dream horse, but not everyone needs a Rolex horse, and for Andy's current stage of riding, Duke is perfect. He's a very good, steady boy who always finds his way safely to the other side of the jumps and I feel very fortunate to be able to 1/2 lease him for Andy this year.
It was a lot of fun riding & camping with Andy this week. :-)
Trailer is CLEANED OUT! I pulled everything out of the dressing room and even vacuumed the floor. All the camping stuff that was packed up at 5 am yesterday while soaking wet has been dried in the sun, sorted, and packed away. I've done 4 loads of horse laundry so far with about 4 more people loads to go. Every leather item that was brought on the trip has been cleaned and conditioned. It's a job, for sure. I now need a vacation to recover from my vacation!
> The week at Denny Emerson's went by way too fast! It was great fun > and both Lucy and Duke were fabulous. Denny was very impressed with > Lucy's jumping. I had only jumped her on a hunter pace and in one > stadium jumping lesson before going to Denny's. While at Denny's, she > jumped around stadium courses set at BN and N height, and we had a > great xc school where she did such things as jump up a bank, take one > stride, and jump out over a hanging log. We did another bank that > involved jumping up a bank, take one stride, go off the bank. We > cantered a jump into water and did a novice-sized ditch without > blinking. And Andy with Duke jumped *everything* Lucy jumped, > without exception. I think I have a few more grey hairs, but they > jumped great. Denny has a great rapport with kids...I think Andy has > a new idol. :-)
> On the final day, Andy jumped his most difficult stadium course he's > ever tried, in terms of height, length, and difficulty. And he nailed > it on the first try. Denny was so proud of him, Denny brought other > students out to the ring to show them the course Andy jumped. :-)
> Dressage is still very much a work in progress. I know what we need > to work on, and we'll get there, but it's not going to be a quick fix.
> We ended the week with both Andy and myself riding in the same BN > division of a schooling event at GMHA. Thank goodness for Nancy > coming to watch/help! It is hard to keep both myself and my child on > track for these things! Despite a challenging dressage warmup, Lucy > ended up tied for 4th out of 13 in our division after dressage. If > she can pull that off with the state of our current dressage, it gives > me great hope for what can potentially happen. Andy was 5 points > behind us with Duke. The grasshopper isn't overtaking the mother just > yet!
> Both horses jumped clean. I was tied for 3rd going into the faux xc, > and lost the tie breaker because I was *1 second* faster than the > person I was tied with. Bummer. I call it faux xc because it was xc > type jumps moved into a limited area of all weather footing....after > the deluge of rain, the actual xc course was in no shape to support > the event running without incurring significant damage.
> And my pony, Suzi Q, came in 3rd with her rider! I was very proud of > them, because they have had a tough week coming into this event, and > to put all of their baggage behind them and start fresh with the event > was a significant accomplishment.
> Andy & I rode in the same lessons at Tamarack, so I have no pictures > from there. Pictures are up from the event, however.
> I've been procrastinating about unpacking...I have a truck & trailer > crammed both crammed to the rafters with soaking wet camping and > riding equipment. Time to get moving on that, though!
> Lisa Cook > Brookline, NH
Man, the four of you look great!!!!! I'm just in awe!!!!!
Denny has long been someone I admire....I'm envious of your time with him! (though, it WOULD be fun to go take a lesson with him on Mach, in western tack of course!!).
Lisa Cook <Coo...@hotmail.com> wrote: > I would kind of like to see the video, in a morbid, can't-look-away- > from-the-car-wreck kind of way. Got a link you could e-mail? :-)
Nope, but I could try to email it. :)
> Andy is picking up interest in riding again, which really started when > he began to ride Linus some. He loved Linus. Duke is the Plan B we > put into effect when Linus died. As Denny put it: Duke is not going > to Andy's Rolex dream horse, but not everyone needs a Rolex horse, and > for Andy's current stage of riding, Duke is perfect. He's a very > good, steady boy who always finds his way safely to the other side of > the jumps and I feel very fortunate to be able to 1/2 lease him for > Andy this year. > It was a lot of fun riding & camping with Andy this week. :-)
Andy is amazing. Here he is at an event, twelve years old, drenched to the skin. And he's completely calm, endlessly polite, and does a heck of a job to boot. I've never had so many thank you's for doing so little.
> Trailer is CLEANED OUT! I pulled everything out of the dressing room > and even vacuumed the floor. All the camping stuff that was packed up > at 5 am yesterday while soaking wet has been dried in the sun, sorted, > and packed away. I've done 4 loads of horse laundry so far with about > 4 more people loads to go. Every leather item that was brought on the > trip has been cleaned and conditioned. It's a job, for sure. I now > need a vacation to recover from my vacation!
Heh. I guess I should unpack the two or three things I left rotting in my car. :)
> Lisa Cook <Coo...@hotmail.com> wrote: > > I would kind of like to see the video, in a morbid, can't-look-away- > > from-the-car-wreck kind of way. Got a link you could e-mail? :-)
> Nope, but I could try to email it. :)
> > Andy is picking up interest in riding again, which really started when > > he began to ride Linus some. He loved Linus. Duke is the Plan B we > > put into effect when Linus died. As Denny put it: Duke is not going > > to Andy's Rolex dream horse, but not everyone needs a Rolex horse, and > > for Andy's current stage of riding, Duke is perfect. He's a very > > good, steady boy who always finds his way safely to the other side of > > the jumps and I feel very fortunate to be able to 1/2 lease him for > > Andy this year. > > It was a lot of fun riding & camping with Andy this week. :-)
> Andy is amazing. Here he is at an event, twelve years old, drenched > to the skin. And he's completely calm, endlessly polite, and does a > heck of a job to boot. I've never had so many thank you's for doing > so little.
> > Trailer is CLEANED OUT! I pulled everything out of the dressing room > > and even vacuumed the floor. All the camping stuff that was packed up > > at 5 am yesterday while soaking wet has been dried in the sun, sorted, > > and packed away. I've done 4 loads of horse laundry so far with about > > 4 more people loads to go. Every leather item that was brought on the > > trip has been cleaned and conditioned. It's a job, for sure. I now > > need a vacation to recover from my vacation!
> Heh. I guess I should unpack the two or three things I left rotting > in my car. :)
> Nancy
That all sounds like quite the accomplishment on many levels for all concerned. The photos are beautiful. Lucy is very cute and I love her coloring. You all look so crisp and clean. Great job. As always your position is flawless. I would love to be able to ride like you.
On Jul 5, 9:32 pm, Judie <judie.m.stan...@gmail.com> wrote:
> That all sounds like quite the accomplishment on many levels for all > concerned. The photos are beautiful. Lucy is very cute and I love her > coloring. You all look so crisp and clean. Great job. As always your > position is flawless. I would love to be able to ride like you.
> Judie
Thanks to you, and everyone else, for the nice comments about my riding. When I showed up at my college hunt seat equitation program after 4 years of being a dressage working student throughout high school, I'm sure I was the despair of my college coach. She's the one who installed the hunt seat equitation into me, and it has kinda stuck with me to some degree all this time since then. I do still have a tendency to do the hunter lean-on-the-neck thing if I'm not careful, which isn't the best habit to have in eventing...
Any similarities between Andy's position & mine is either
a. strictly coincidental b. unconscious mimicking on Andy's part c. the result of the fact that we ride with the same instructors
Even when he was 6 years old and learning how to post, he wouldn't let me help him. It killed me to do it, but I had to pay someone to teach him the same things I was easily capable of doing, but it just created way too much conflict between us when I tried to teach him. We are making progress: Andy has allowed me to help him warm up at the last 2 events he's ridden in. :-)
> On Jul 5, 9:32 pm, Judie <judie.m.stan...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > That all sounds like quite the accomplishment on many levels for all > > concerned. The photos are beautiful. Lucy is very cute and I love her > > coloring. You all look so crisp and clean. Great job. As always your > > position is flawless. I would love to be able to ride like you.
> > Judie
> Thanks to you, and everyone else, for the nice comments about my > riding. When I showed up at my college hunt seat equitation program > after 4 years of being a dressage working student throughout high > school, I'm sure I was the despair of my college coach. She's the one > who installed the hunt seat equitation into me, and it has kinda stuck > with me to some degree all this time since then. I do still have a > tendency to do the hunter lean-on-the-neck thing if I'm not careful, > which isn't the best habit to have in eventing...
> Any similarities between Andy's position & mine is either
> a. strictly coincidental > b. unconscious mimicking on Andy's part > c. the result of the fact that we ride with the same instructors
> Even when he was 6 years old and learning how to post, he wouldn't let > me help him. It killed me to do it, but I had to pay someone to teach > him the same things I was easily capable of doing, but it just created > way too much conflict between us when I tried to teach him. We are > making progress: Andy has allowed me to help him warm up at the last > 2 events he's ridden in. :-)
> Lisa Cook > Brookline, NH
Lisa-
Katie is 15, and it has taken her awhile to accept that Mommy CAN be a good person <grin>. I suppose we were the same way towards our moms...
On Sun, 5 Jul 2009 09:29:50 -0700 (PDT), Lisa Cook
<Coo...@hotmail.com> wrote: >The week at Denny Emerson's went by way too fast! It was great fun >and both Lucy and Duke were fabulous. Denny was very impressed with >Lucy's jumping. I had only jumped her on a hunter pace and in one >stadium jumping lesson before going to Denny's. While at Denny's, she >jumped around stadium courses set at BN and N height, and we had a >great xc school where she did such things as jump up a bank, take one >stride, and jump out over a hanging log. We did another bank that >involved jumping up a bank, take one stride, go off the bank. We >cantered a jump into water and did a novice-sized ditch without >blinking. And Andy with Duke jumped *everything* Lucy jumped, >without exception. I think I have a few more grey hairs, but they >jumped great. Denny has a great rapport with kids...I think Andy has >a new idol. :-) >snip
Great report and great pictures. I love the zoom in feature. I zoomed all over--loved getting a real close up of faces etc. Laurel
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