Training and Adventures - Weekend of 2/20/10

Hi readers! This past training weekend was far different from any other we have had so far. It was fun, and we got very dirty! Friday was usual training - Running, conditioning, stretching, freestyle, and compulsory work. We got Pally out to find that he was going to be the farthest thing from naughty, or stiff, or tired, or slow. He was SOOOOO good! Pally was light and floaty under saddle, and he gave us the greatest compulsory canter. I love vaulting on Pally, we just have one conflict - my height vs. his height/ the handles.... Blah..... I canter on the ground just barely enough to get a jump, and where I ideally want to reach is just out of range... I'm drinking lots of milk, maybe a half more inch will get me there! Ok now, back to this weekend.....


So as I said, Friday was normal training, good hard work, but we get to Saturday and it's a whole different story - we went on a team adventure, a real adventure. Due to the USEF High Performance Camp being at the Frankel's on Saturday, we couldn't be in our club house, or use the arena. Really, there was no where for us to train, so, we all piled into my mom's truck and drove to Hallmark Park for out first adventure - a 3 mile cross country run. Devon and Mary finished in 27 minuets, while Karly, Nicole, and I (Mari went on a bike ride while we ran because of her ankle.) finished in 29. For 3.1 miles, that's not bad! The whole time I was looking down at animal tracks, and grabbing twigs and tall grass along the way. I like to do funny things like that when I run :-P We saw some jack rabbits, but nothing else. It was a good run.


After the run we piled back into the truck and drove to the Santa Cruz mountains where we went on a hike to a "secret" cave entrance where Devon took us spelunking, or "cave diving," in Hell Hole (also called the Face's Cave). Let me tell you, it was very intense. We had to fit through little holes and spaces, up and down, and squeeze through the treacherous "birth canal." Ok, so it wasn't treacherous, but Devon admitted that he was a little scared and that his butt must have grown a little since college. Sorry Devon, I just had to say that! It was easier for me to go through all of the little spaces but I thought that I was going to die at one point when I couldn't reach any of the hand or foot holds climbing up a rock, and not just any rock, but the side of a wet, muddy rock, with 50 foot holes on either side and a little rope to hold onto.... I was sincerely scared! Without Devon and Nicole I would not have made it out. FINALLY, we emerged into the sunlight, caked with mud and sopping with wet, muddy sloshed clothing, after 2 hours in the cave and hiked back to the truck, drove to lunch, and drove back to Woodside.

The USEF Camp was over by the time we got back to the Frankel's so we stretch and did some compulsory work for a couple hours. Nicole and I drove the truck back to my house (over Hwy 17 for the 4th time in a day) and slept like rocks! We awoke Sunday morning and drove the truck over to a real day of practice in Woodside, though we had to endure hours of indoor compulsory work due to the rain. In the evening we were able to get the horse out, thank God the rain stopped! And after that, we concluded the clinic with freestyle run throughs. Few! Long weekend, as you can see!

Sun and Vaulting

O my gosh, thank you God for a beautiful, warm, sunny week! I'm able to go outside without a snow or rain suit on (we don't get snow, but it does get cold and icy...) and do something rather than slosh around in puddles and watch all of the sand in the arena flow as a river into the road. Yay! This time, I'm going to tell you a little more about my individual vaulting -

I'm training a new horse, my mom's horse, Bosco Allegro, for vaulting. He is learning very fast. So far, I can do anything I want at the walk, a bunch of moves and all of the compulsories at the trot, along with mount, and a few moves at the canter. I love his canter, it has a very flowing rhythm! I can't wait 'til I can canter my whole freestyle on him. I'm hoping he'll be ready for Ca. Gold at the Garrods Spring Fest. That would be nice... In the mean time, I'm getting Buddy back in vaulting shape. He takes a little more work than the other horses, actually, a lot. Buddy gets fat just looking at the hay barn!

A day of training with my horses usually includes hand walking or riding them up El Solyo (a very large hill just down the road) to warm up and strengthen their hind ends, then I ride Buddy and Handsome to warm them up, mom longes Bosco, and THEN, we vault on one horse after the other. My mom makes all of this happen. She does so much for me and the horses - longing, coaching, all kinds of things! I love her. My mom is a brilliant horse person - she has had horses for her whole life. Thank you mom for all you are doing for me, and what have already done!

Since we didn't have a team clinic this week, I was really able to focus on all of my training with Bosco, Handsome (my other vaulting horse), Buddy, and my individual vaulting. Riding Okie, too! I've been getting in some really good workouts and real time to isolate my freestyle and drill it to music. You must know about my vaulting, that my arm movements are never the same - I let the music influence them so that I can dance during my freestyle. I can't wait to compete/ perform my freestyle this year. It's going to be fun! I really would like to do some performances at big horse shows.......! It would be so so so much fun!

Well, that's it for this time. I've got a team clinic this weekend (Thurs, Fri, Sat, Sun) so i'll be writing soon again!

Training Weekend 2/5/10

Training week of 2/5/10 - This weekend's training was good, hard work, exploding with artistry, emotion, and sweat. It was very productive, and fun. This weekend, we definitely pin pointed the performance aspect and the little things that we really need to focus on, like hand holds, foot placements, etc... Lot's of little exact things... On Saturday, we sat down for hours, and HOURS talking and focusing on the freestyle, move by move. Refining, editing, cutting, and redoing our "old freestyle" into the real thing that is going to make you shiver. The same process on Sunday, except the sky was blue and we took a lot of it to the horse. I'm feeling very successful after that horse practice, and I'm sure the whole team is as well. Thank you to the Palmer's for letting us use their wonderful gym on our rainy Saturday! It really helped us out!

I think that the audience will enjoy our freestyle, and possibly even find the beautiful story within. It's so interesting to make up a freestyle with this team. The funny things we do, say, and act out... It's so fun. The whole process of going through the year and editing, practicing and performing the freestyle is great. I love it, and I always will! I can't wait until Garrods... and everything else ahead this year!

I am feeling very good about my vaulting this year. Probably more than last year. I keep excelling - reaching my higher goals, like flexibility, stamina, and strength (I've just about gotten that perfectly perfect needle on my right as well as my left getting close!). The same is happening with the rest of the team. We are all becoming stronger, more flexible, and can run a lot farther that we could when we started! And, the best part is, we all seem to have a lot of fun when we workout and train for those long, long clinic days! This weekend was a good example.

Now, the most important part of this weekend our horse, Palatine. He was such a good boy. He carried us very well. Palatine definitely felt better than he did during our last training weekend. He's all recovered from his shots and has a, clean, fixed up, happy mouth! "Pally" has his little ups and downs every now and again, but doesn't every horse? He's such a cool horse because he is aware of his job, and he knows what he needs to do. When he has a tough time, you can tell that he is trying really hard to push through it. Pally has an amazing mind set. I love him!