Welcome, 2016!

Happy New Year everyone!  I hope you all had a fabulous holiday season; I had a great one and spent a lot of time playing board games with my brothers.  Now that the holidays are over and a new year has begun,  my brief hiatus from riding and blogging should be over, so I can start getting back on track.  Last year brought so many changes and new experiences, and I hope 2016 does as well!

In January of 2015,  I was offered a working student position Laura Hermanson, a professional dressage rider who specializes in riding and training mules.  She is the first person to ever ride a mule in the US Dressage Finals, which she did in 2014.  Before riding with her, I didn't know much about mules at all.

Myself and one of Laura's mules, Moxie.

I also didn't know much about riding and training.  At the beginning of last year, I was still very much a beginner.  I was still piecing together the most basic elements of riding, and my riding and handling style were uncoordinated.  I'm still not completely fluid in my aids, but training with Laura has opened a completely new dimension to riding: communication and training.  With her,  I learned how to better communicate and build a relationship with a horse, and how to better understand the nuances of a horse's behavior.  I learned that horses are aware of the subtle, almost imperceptible changes in our bodies and energy,  and was taught how to channel that energy and how to move my body in ways that influence the horses.  Furthermore, I learned how to teach and train a horse.  Before this year,  I was a rider who would simply hop on and go.  This year, I learned how to work with a horse on the ground to teach them and to set them up for success under saddle.  By lungeing a horse before riding, one can watch how the horse moves and ask them to become round.  Then, when I finally mounted, the horse would already be warmed up and would have already stretched and become round.

May 2015–I'll get another to compare later on!

In addition to learning so much, I have also experienced many new things.  In March, I rode a donkey named Buddy, which was an interesting experience.  Donkeys are kind, gentle creatures,  but they also do not like to work harder than necessary, so many do not go faster than a jog.

In April, I rode a mule in a western trail clinic(part 2).  Before then, I had only ridden western a handful of times, and riding a mule was a completely new experience.  I learned so much in that clinic.   I continued riding western over the summer.

Finally, in October I rode a mule named Ruby in western pleasure and trail at my first show.  By then, my aids were a bit more refined, and I had learned to move a horse more with my legs and less with my hands.  The show was an extraordinary experience.

This year, I hope to continue refining and honing my skills.  In the spring, I want to ride in a few hunter classes at another mule show, so I'll be working on no-stirrup work to gain a more solid position.  I hope this new year brings many more experiences and successes for myself and all my readers!

Golden State Mule Show, my First Show!

My first show ever, at the Sugarland Horse Park in Woodland, was an absolutely phenomenal! I had a great experience and successfully showcased all my skills, everything I have been working on this past year, and my love of riding, which was exactly what Laura and I desired that I should do.  Although I was the only person riding in the walk/jog class, and there were no other youth in my classes, it was still an amazing experience, and Laura thinks that I rode well.

Saturday: Western Pleasure Walk/Jog

 My first class, the 16th of the day, wasn't until late Saturday morning, and I only had one class a day, so I didn't have a stressful show weekend.  Before my class, I watched the cutting and cow working, which I really enjoyed.  There were several champion cutting mules there that have done well against horses, just like Laura's mules do well against horses in dressage.  Dyna's half brother was even competing there.  Ruby's owner, Casie, rode Ruby as cutback, someone who diverts the cow back to the person competing if the cow gets too far away, in the cutting classes to warm her up for me.  Shortly after the cutting began, my parents arrived, and not long after that, it was time to get Ruby ready for my class.  I tacked her up in the saddle I would be using, got dressed in jeans, a show shirt, my helmet, and a western belt buckle, the mounted and waited near the gate for my class to begin.  Laura and I discussed what I would do, and I watched the Bridled, Green, Amateur, and Donkey pleasure classes.  The time ticked closer to the moment I would enter a show ring for the first time, and though I wasn't extremely nervous, I was a bit tense.

I was so tense and concentrated so hard that I forgot to smile until near the end.

 Finally, it was time for me to enter the ring.  I squeezed Ruby into the jog and began tracking to the left in the arena.  She started out a bit fast, but after passing the gate or the first time, we both relaxed more.  After I had jogged around twice, the announcer asked for the walk.  I sat deeply in the saddle and complied, making a smooth downward transition.  Before long, I was asked to reverse, which was easily done, then jog around once more before halting and backing several steps.  She nearly broke gait after reversing and jogging, but I kept her going.  Finally, I lined up before the judge.  Everyone was happy with how I had done!

My first blue!

 The show ran late that night, until well after dark.  I enjoyed watching the other cow working classes, some of which were like a combination of cow working and trail.  While I don't remember what that was called, it looked like a lot of fun. The last class was the cow sorting, also an exciting class.

Hitting the Road

   Currently, I am on my way to my very first show.  It is strange that for me the show seemed an eternity away while I prepared for it, like something that would happen in the vague future.  Only now, I as am making the final preparations, does it hit me that this is really happening.  I will arrive at the grounds the day before the show, which begins on Saturday the 16th.

 Wednesday, I did my last training preparations.  Before I practiced any obstacle, I warmed up on my own, riding along the rail and maintaining an even, regular jog.  I practiced turning around as I would in a pleasure class, making a wide tear drop shape at the walk, and later the jog. I even jogged a clover leaf through the box.  Through all this, I did well.

 Finally, I practiced the rope gate for the first time, which turned out to no trouble at all since I relaxed and went through it one step at a time, pausing to breathe and think between each step.  First I had to line up parallel to the gate and put the reins in my right hand, as I would be opening a left handed gate.  I grabbed the rope in my left hand, paused, then back Ruby a couple steps.  Then I pushed her shoulders over so she was perpendicular to the gate.  After waiting a couple of seconds, I pushed her shockers over again, waited, then backed up and put the rope back in place.  It was simple, really.  The only problem I had was the Ruby began to anticipate; she's a champion trail mule, and has won at the Extreme Trail Challenges–the ones where people ride across rugged terrain and through water and such.  Needless to say, she knows her job.  It's just up to me to take my time.  As long as I do so, it should go well.  I don't expect it to be a breeze, but I'm confident and prepared.

I leave Friday morning; I'm so excited.  If you are friends with me on Facebook, you may pictures be posted over the weekend(I have to conserve my phone battery, so we'll see), and if you are not you are always welcome to friend me; just click the Facebook icon on the left-hand margin of this page, and go ahead and add me.  Otherwise, you can see them next week when I update my blog.

Preparations Continue

 I rode Ruby two other times last week.  The second time, I rode her out of the arena and in an empty pasture while warming up, with Laura, who was on BB, following me.  I took up and down several steep hills, and circled around trees and rocks, trying to use as little aids as possible to turn her.  Before heading back to the arena, I worked on riding her on a perfect square.  It was difficult, and I kept letting her dive in on accident, causing the corners to become round rather than the sharp, 90 degree turns I desired.  I also overused my hands.  After riding it a few times in each direction, I got pretty good corners, though it still needed some work.

 In the arena, I once again worked on riding into the box.  This time I added a second element: a turn on the haunches to the left while inside the box.  The trick with this is to work it slowly, one step at the time, but the first several times I didn't block her with my inside leg in time,  causing the turn to become uncontrolled.  After a few times, I relaxed and successfully asked her to turn slowly.

 Next, I needed to jog out of the box.  This required me to be quick with my aids.  I had to first ask softly, and if she only walked, I had to immediately back it up with a kick.  If I was too slow, she would walk a few strides, which is undesirable.  I squeezed lightly.  She began to walk off, so I backed it up with a kick.  It was a bit to strong, because she ended up loping instead, which was not completely bad excuse it at least meant that she was listening.  However, she continued to be super responsive extremely responsive to me leg aids.  Even when I squeezed lightly to sake her to exit the box, she loped off.

 A couple tries later, I managed to slow her down, halting at a white ground pole several strides away from the box.  I was going to learn how to side-pass, a movement that is often required in a trail class. I walked Ruby over the pole, halting when I was directly over the pole.  Side-passing takes concentration, coordination, and skill.  Like the turn on the haunches, it is best done one step at a time.  I had to just barely lift my inside leg off Ruby's side, poising it near her side in case I had to block her from going too fast.  Furthermore, I had to keep my hands ready to stop her from stepping forward.  I side-passed to the left.  The first few times were fiascos–I failed to block her with my inside leg and my hands.  Consequently, she rushed to the side, becoming crooked and knocking the pole with her hoof, then surged forward a couple steps.  It took many tries, but finally I was able to push her sideways, step by step, without hitting the pole a single time.

 Friday,  I rode her for the third time.  This time, I worked on turning and on riding over the walkovers, a series of four poles that the horse walks over in a trail course.  I rode an exercise in which I would go over the walkovers, turn around a cone to the right, go back over them, turn left around a different cone, then repeat.  It was quite similar to an exercise I have done on Lucky before.

Such a good girl on Friday.

At the beginning of the ride, I had difficulty making tight turns, and used my hands way too much.  Once of my problems is that I don't turn my shoulders nearly enough while turning, especially to the left.  The walkovers, however, went well almost from the beginning.  Ruby bumped them the first few times through, but when I actually put my hand forward, allowing her to stretch, she walked over them nicely.  Midway through the lesson, I really concentrated on preparing ahead of time for the turns, making them much more tightly.  I did the same exercise at the jog,  but still walked over the walkovers.  I struggled with turning left tightly in the jog, had difficulty slowing the walk enough; Ruby bumped the poles with her legs as a result.

I then tried another exercise.  The walkovers were situated near the rail, so I headed over them, jogged off, and continued along the rail right after, tracking left.   When I was across from the box, which was not far from the walkovers, I turned left, entered it, then halted.  Next, I trotted out of it, turn right immediately, and circled to the right around the cone.  I jogged toward the walkovers(which were ahead of and to the left of the box), slowed to the walk, and walked over them.  I went a little too far out of the box before halting one time, but the exercise otherwise went well.

 Now, the only obstacle I haven't tried is the rope gate.  It's still a work in progress, and I have a lot to learn, but I'm starting to feel more confident in my trail abilities.  I am better at turning Ruby than I was the first time.  I need to focus on taking my time more when doing the obstacles though.  The show is on the 17th and 18th, so I have a couple more weeks.  I'll be entering a couple walk-jog classes: pleasure and trail.  I feel pretty confident about the pleasure class.  As long as I prepare during the transitions the same way I do with Lucky, and keep my split reins even, which I've had a problem with; I'm a rein leaker, I should do well.  Regardless of that, this show is about having a fun, successful first show experience.  A successful experience doesn't necessarily mean one where I place in the ribbons(although I would like to as I am a very competitive person).  Mostly,  I want to ride the way I am learning and not throw everything I learned out the window while I'm there.  I'm looking forward to it!

Oak Star Ranch Mule and Donkey Derby

 Last weekend, from the 17th to 19th, was the Oak Star Ranch Mule and Donkey Derby, which Laura has been planning and preparing for these past few months. As the name suggests, it was a show specifically for mules and donkeys. Never before have I ever seen so many mules and donkeys in one place. There were at least 30 altogether, I think.

 The first day of the show was the gymkhana and packing day. There were several different classes, including a donkey class. There were various different events, including pole bending, single stake(the horse and rider go to the pole, turning around and heading back the starting line), speed ball(they go to a gone, drop a golf ball in it, and run back), speed barrels(similar to pole bending except three barrels set further apart than pole bending poles), and keyhole(riders have to enter a small circle marked by flour, turn around without crossing the line, and head back). All these events are timed, and the fastest pair wins. I was one of the timers for these events.

 They are really exciting to watch! There were two sisters that were really good, winning or placing in most of the gymkhanas. They literally galloped their mules through each event, finishing most in around ten seconds, at least five seconds faster than most, depending on the event. During the speed ball event, they didn't even to stop to drop the golf in the cone. They just slowed down enough to drop it in and not next to the cone. The donkey classes were hilarious! Donkeys are often stubborn and a little lazy, not wanting to work so hard. Many of them didn't go faster than the walk or a slow jog. It was funny!

None of the pictures turned out too well. Here are a couple dressage pictures.
The jumping one didn't turn out.

 In the late afternoon was the packing competition. Mules are often used for packing because they are smart and surefooted. In fact, the nearby Yosemite National Park has a pack station, which is where Laura worked and first became interested in mules. The object of the packing competition is to correctly tie the packs on the mule faster than anyone else. It was really interesting because I have never seen this before. In another of the packing competitions, the each competitors had to actually load their mule, tie the packs one, and mount their horse, leading the mule to then end of the arena and back. I timed these events too, and really enjoyed watching them.

 The next day was all the English events. There was dressage, followed by hunters and jumpers, ending with the flat classes(English pleasure and equitation). Some of the rides from the clinic were riding in the dressage classes. One of the mules I really like was Señor Grande, a 17 hand mule. He was really consistent in the contact, not once coming off the bit, and he had big movements because of his size.

 I also enjoyed watching the hunters and jumpers. There were so many hunter classes at different fence sizes, with the final hunter class of the day being a 2' 6" class. Some of those mules were really good jumpers and tucked their knees nicely over the fences. I helped fix the fences if needed and timed the jumper classes. The most exciting jumper class to watch was the Gambler's Choice class. In this event, the rider has to jump as many fences as possible within 45 seconds. Each jump is worth a certain amount of points, depending on the difficulty of the jump, and each jump can only be jumped twice. The time goes by quickly, but the riders found creative ways to jump as many fences as possible. It is a really exciting competition to watch!

 The final classes were hunter hack, English pleasure, and equitation. Even the donkeys has their own flat class. Sunday was all the western classes, but I did not get to watch those. It was a very busy yet exciting weekend!