Area VI Adult Camp - So Cal Style

You remember how fun summer camp used to be?  Hanging out with old friends, making new ones and in general just having a blast?  Back in the beginning of August I got the chance to reclaim that simple joy at the Area VI Adult Riders Camp and I have to say that camp is even better in the grown up version. 

Though they’ve had them before in northern California, this was the first year for southern Californians to enjoy this educational and social experience close to home.  Held at beautiful Shepherd Ranch, we were given the option of either roughing it by camping on the property or staying at one of the local hotels.  Since I’m trying to squeeze as much out of my horse money as possible, Carolyn Bahr and I opted to camp out.  Surprisingly, even thought Shepherd doesn’t have the luxury of showers, we weren’t alone.  Of course, our little pup tent hardly compared to the “Teton Suite” next to us – a ginormous three room tent with pink shag carpet and blow up hot pink chairs on the screened in “veranda” – but it was (almost) enough to keep out the unexpected rain shower we got on Friday night. 

Wheee! Me & Reese. 

Considering this month’s heat wave, the weather was amazing for all three days of riding.  Each rider got the chance to work with both Bunny Sexton and Val Owen throughout the weekend, depending on the schedule.  (Click here to find out more about these wonderful riders/teachers.)  Friday was dressage day, Saturday was stadium-jumping day and Sunday we all hit the cross-country field.  Personally, the biggest lesson I learned was that both Reese and I need to up our games, pushing ourselves harder to be the best we can.  (Ironically, I’m going through some of those same issues in my non-horse life so it was inspiring to see how upping your game can pay off, at least on horseback.)  It was amazing to feel and see the difference in both horse and rider when you’re challenged in such a supportive environment. 

Of course, it wasn’t all just about being a serious student.  We had a lot of fun playing silly games on Friday night and were treated to an entertaining and yet useful talk on Saturday by a sports psychologist.  The food all weekend was simply amazing, and it was great sharing a few adult beverages with your fellow riders at the end of the day, exchanging tips, advice, and a few entertaining stories.  There was even swimming with your horse in the lake because, as our friend Darla Opava said, what’s camp without going swimming? 

It was my first foray into the Adult Rider program and I’d encourage everyone, no matter what Area you’re in, to check it out.  The driving idea behind the program is to encourage adult amateurs at all levels of riding to come out and have fun.  They also have fundraisers and encourage more adult team competition and lots of great educational opportunities for adult riders like clinics and the upcoming Worth The Trust Educational Scholarship.  Considering the discounts you get for Adult Rider activities, the $25 membership dues seems a steal at twice the price.  You can also find them on Facebook!

 

Big, huge thanks to Dawn Robbins, the Area VI Adult Rider coordinator, for organizing this great weekend and Suz Roehl for her role in arranging camp and taking amazing pictures from the weekend. And of course Bunny Sexton, for hosting the weekend at Shepherd Ranch.   Oh, and an extra huge thanks to our trainer, Susan Friend, who chauffeured us back and forth while the BWT is on the mend!

Show Jump Day at Shepherd Ranch

Finally, the last day of our show at Shepherd Ranch.  The first thing that greeted us was the spectacular prank that someone (who shall remain nameless except I think they spelled Pepperwood out in the prank) pulled on the Mill Creek gang.  All their tack trunks were placed in a very festive pile in the middle of the barn aisle.  It was pretty funny, actually.  Too bad that most of the riders, including their trainer Joe, came down with what we’ve now dubbed The Mill Creek Crud.  Food poisoning, flu bug, or nefarious activity?  Hmmm.  I’m in the clear since all of Joe’s kids already handily beat me in our class.   Or am I?  :)

As with all shows, the big boys – Nahmi and Susan riding training – went at the a** crack of dawn while the rest of us went at the end of the day, right when the sun had melted both horse and rider into submission.  I’m looking forward to both Susan and Nahmi’s move up to Preliminary in the very near future, but dread the thought of how early we’ll have to be at the show for that!  My only hope is that Carolyn and I will continue to move up the ranks (and seriously folks, I can’t really move DOWN the ranks, can I?) so we can close the gap between the rounds to something short of mind-numbingly long. 

Simon ended up taking a rail, but Sparky – as usual – tied himself up in knots to keep mummy in the clear.  It may have been the masterful job that Carolyn did hand-walking Sparky around, lecturing him on distances and speed before his go, who can say for sure. 

And then came the wait.  Yee gods, it seemed like forever.  Let me insert right here before I forget a big thank you to all the folks who kept the show running fairly smooth all weekend long.  The crew at Shepherd Ranch did a great job of keeping it together when all of us competitors were losing it.  An event like this requires an immense amount of volunteers so be sure to at least try to volunteer at the next event you compete in. 

Finally, Carolyn was at bat.  After a looooonnnnnngggg walk warm up (note to self: have someone go down and check where the show stands before getting on the horse, no matter how the math works out) they got their shot in the arena.  Other than one fence that seemed to take Junior by surprise, it was an excellent effort. 

Now it was our turn, the first show jump round Reese and I have ever done.  Would I be as slow as the day before?  By God, not if I had anything to say about it!  And considering my performance the day before, I probably don’t have as much say about it as I think I do… I have to confess to getting a little bit impatient for our round, which probably was for the best.  By the time I got in the arena I didn’t care what happened, I just wanted to be done.  After a tiny little spook at the crowd, I kicked Reese up into a canter and we were in 3^rd gear (for better or worse) the rest of the way.  After a gasp (or laugh if you’re Nahmi) inducing leap over the same fence the Junior was shocked at, we had a relatively good run for a double clear round.  Take that little children who have yet to experience puberty!  I leapt over um… one kid who was sick as a dog to raise my standings.  Doesn’t feel as satisfying when I put it that way…

The show was a terrific experience for one and all, showing us what we need to work on while letting us bask in the glow of our successes for an hour or two at least. 

Next:  The Wofford Experience!

Shepherd Ranch Horse Trials Part 3: Reese's "Top Gear" is Apparently 2nd...

... ok, to be fair that's probably more about his Mummy being a chicken s@#t - could we have gone slower without going backwards???

Warning – spoiler alert!  All 4 ponies were cross country superstars today, gaining no jump faults and a few time faults spread amongst a few of us.  So very, very proud especially of Nahmi to run two nearly back to back training courses on both of her boys and do them like a champ (wheezing and all). 

Nahmi was up first on Simon, who like a grey ghost was a bit hard to follow in the early morning fog.  They energetically attacked each fence, getting lots of hoots and hollers from Bill and Maureen who came up to watch as a pre-wine tasting warm up.  It was awesome to see them finish the course.  From where I was standing I couldn’t see it, but I can only imagine the beaming smile on Nahmi’s face. 

After Susan turned in her second great ride of the day, it was Nahmi’s turn again, this time on Sparky.  Like an old pro, he just slipped back in to his job like he’s been doing this every weekend while Nahmi wasn’t looking.  Nahmi did have the cruel revelation that she is indeed NOT a 12-year-old little girl and had to pull up for a moment to get her air, but all around it was another super effort.  Again, pretty sure that her grin was from ear to ear when all was said and done.

There was a long, LONG break in the day until we baby eventers got our turn on the course.  Barn mate Lena went first and put in a respectable round with that was terrific save for one unfortunate course error near the end. 

Carolyn and Junior came out of the start box looking bold and confident.  Watching from the warm up arena, they were an inspiring sight as they smoothly sailed over every fence. 

Reese and I... Wow, were we slow.  Ouch.  Still, we got over everything and that’s what was important, right?  

Special thanks to Shepherd Ranch for putting on such a great course at every level.  Although to the pros, the intro course SEEMED small, to me and the other 9 little girls on ponies, our “table” seemed like the real deal.  Ok, maybe it was only me, but still…. And a BIG THANK YOU to the volunteers - no event could go on without you!

Can’t wait for the next one… hoping our horses feel the same. 

Our reward... turned sideways! Thanks Bill & Mo!

Tomorrow, show jump.  Fingers crossed everyone is sound and willing. 

Shepherd Ranch - LIVE!

Coming your way soon, on a screen near you - live on tape - Shepherd Ranch June 2011.  The videos of Training Level, Beginner Novice, and Intro Beginner Novice of our eTwisters are now available for viewing.  Check us out!

Shepherd Ranch Horse Trials Part 2: Dressage is hard

No one took pics of dressage so I just threw this in.  Isn't Sparky cute?

 So we all survived the first day of the show (the second day at Shepherd for us since we got here on Thursday and took the practice dressage test) and like any show there have been a lot of up and downs.  First up was Nahmi on Simon, who turned in such a great performance that someone asked how much she’s willing to sell him for.  And still she ended up with a less than stellar score.  Watching the test now on tape and it still looks great to me.  I didn’t get to see much as I was warming up but what I saw was awesome. 

Then it was me on Reese.  Ok, since no one else said it, I thought we did awesome.  Apparently I’m a fan club of one. :D Watching it now on video… nope, still think it was our best test yet.  Thank you Susan, for all your help getting us there.  I had a couple of light bulb moments in the warm up that I felt like I really learned something at a show other than dealing with the splashback effect from the porto-potties (beware of the blue sanitizer while wearing tan pants, that’s all I’m saying…).  And we were rewarded for our efforts with… yep, a less than stellar score.  Oh well, it’s all about the educational experience, right?  (In hindsight, I confess I felt like in the intro to beginner novice division, the judge should just be happy I achieved the right gait at the right time.  Apparently the judge was holding us to a bit higher standard – hence the reason I got my ass handed to me by a bunch of kids on ponies!)

Next came Nahmi again on Sparky.  OMG Sparky is so adorable with his floppy ears!!  Beautiful test, a lengthening to die for and…. Another lower than expected score.  Bummer.

And then came that ray of sunshine, miracle of miracles, Junior.  Junior, who spent the night apparently tearing up his stall and was a bit of a crazed maniac during the day showed up at the show ring ready to show his stuff.  After an accidentally long warm up, Junior was STELLAR!!  And by that I mean freakin’ amazing.  Beyond just the “no bucks, no running backwards, no balking” relatively low bar – it really was awesome!  And the score… well, it kind of reflected it.  She beat me anyway.  :)

At the end of the day, we all walked our cross-country courses and are looking forward to/terrified of tomorrow.  Gad, when did INTRO to beginner novice get so BIG?  It’ll be fun… and if I keep telling myself that, will it make it true?  You’ll find out tomorrow.

Shepherd Ranch Horse Trials - Part 1

Finally, after all these years of riding together, Carolyn, Nahmi and I are getting to do our first show with everyone on board their horses.  Miracle of miracles (knocking on wood here) all four boys – Simon, Sparky, Reese and Junior – are sound, we’re sound (of body anyway), and ready to have a really great weekend. 

Getting up at obnoxious o’clock in the morning after a late night finishing up some work I’d been putting off (shocking!) should have been tough, but I think I was so excited that getting up early was easy.  And that’s without coffee!  (‘cause I wasn’t up early enough to actually make some and Starbucks has not succumbed to my brilliant idea that they deliver at 5:30 am :D)

Loading was great with everyone – including the sometimes sticky Junior – just marching right on.  Could it be that the babies are growing up?  With a little bit of teamwork we left Goldspirit Farm and were on the road by 6:28, two minutes ahead of schedule. 

Susan’s trailer arrived at Shepherd Ranch slightly ahead of Nahmi and me because – be prepared to be shocked – they had to stop to go to the bathroom and Nahmi and I didn’t!  I know that only people who have gone to shows with us before will get that, but usually Nahmi and I have the smallest bladders of the gang.  The one stop combined with the bigger truck and possibly heavier foot J got them there in time to stake out the best parking spot and find our stalls before our arrival.  After that, we moved together with the precision of a Swiss watch to get the stall guards up, waters filled and ponies fed. 

Ahhh, time to relax… for about two minutes.  Isn’t that the way horse shows always go?   We should have had hours to go tack shopping and unwind but before you knew it, it was time to get ready for the practice test we all signed up for. 

The practice dressage got off to a bit of an exciting start as Junior bolted on the lunge line, slipped, fell and skidded around the arena on his ass.  The cool part is that he got his brain back in gear and Carolyn rode a very respectable test with no bucks, running backwards or balking.  Simon and Reese put in respectable tests as well, and everyone got some good coaching from the judge.  If you have the opportunity to do a practice test the day before, I highly recommend it.  Seasoned vet that he is, Sparky got to sit this out and relax in his stall.   

Tomorrow – the real thing!

Schooling Day at Shepherd Ranch

All the cool kids from Sapphire Eventing went up to Shepherd Ranch yesterday to school the cross country fences as a prep for the upcoming show.  It took 3 trailers (and a little bit of persuasion to get Junior into one) but the group got there in time for what felt like the highest temps of the hottest day of the year.  Still, everyone had loads of fun.  Sherry, LOVE the Aloha pad - I'm voting that as the official barn show pad!

A big "thank you" to Dusti for catering the schooling and taking one for the team when someone left the door open and killed her SUV battery.  Sherry came to the rescue by being one who actually KNEW how to use jumper cables.

Important to note: Barkley cannot be trusted loose on his own.  His spirit of adventure caused him to go missing twice.  At least he didn't eat a tent...

In the first group, Gordo and Michelle E. look good and on their way to a great partnership. Tina & Destino are getting more and more professional - like, been there, done that.  Chris and Prince had some tough rides, but both preserved (my money is always on Chris).  Our adopted German exchange-working student Isa had perhaps the most interesting ride on Vinnie, who returned to his racehorse roots after having not one, but two pasture horses gallop at/past him.  Fortunately she met the challenge with a smile and laugh!

While waiting for their turn, Junior and Poppy amused themselves by taking turns splashing in the water bucket, forcing Sherry to refill it at least four times before it was their turn at cross-country. 

(Is anyone else seeing a pattern here?  Seems like Sherry was doing all the work!  ha ha)

In the second group, Michelle E. was up again, this time on Junior who was a super star!  The new place, the loose horses and of course, being well-hydrated brought him out a little wound up, but from the very first log he jumped you'd have thought he'd done this a hundred times before.  His mummy was very proud!  Michelle C & Jack put on their big girl pants and showed their stuff by going over some Novice jumps with ease.  Each time Sherry & Poppy go out, they just keep getting better and better - it's so exciting to see the baby of the group grow up!  (and Poppy too - ha ha).  Have to say that with Isa giving Louie just a brief warm-up, Madison and Louie were just adorable.  They are turning out to be quite the young event team!

(Evidence that Marla was not there -- no G&T, all business that day!)

click here for more pics