I am finally back after being down with the flu since Sunday night.  I am super tired but I DO feel human again.  I'm teaching a lesson after school today but have canceled taking my students to the show tomorrow.  I don't think I can bear even thinking of being on my feet for that long!

POM  POM NEWS:    After a few months at Hillside Haven, she has braved crossing the small creek in her pasture!  I'm hoping this will aid in a less traumatic experience in creek-crossing when I'm ON her!  We'll see...

I read the following on eventingnation.com today:

"Congratulations to Shaun White for destroying the competition last night and taking home Gold for the USA.  Watching Shaun win reminded me that the complete domination he has shown for so many years in snowboarding is nearly impossible in eventing.  When Shaun shows up at a competition, everyone else knows they are going to lose, even to Shaun's b-game.   But in eventing, the horse component adds a much higher element of risk.  When I say risk, I mean statistical deviation of results due to chance (think luck).  The point is that horses get abcesses, they get hot nails, they strain tendons, sometimes they don't feel like jumping, sometimes they jump one inch lower than they need to, sometimes they get startled by the crowd, top owners decide they can't afford a horse any more, etc.  None of these things happen completely randomly, but they are much more out of a rider's control than say training 8 hours a day to deliver a perfect half-pipe round.  For Shaun White, he has incredible talent and when he mixes that talent with hard work he is a sure bet to win.  To rephrase my point, one of the most frustrating things about riding for me is that while there is a strong correlation between hard work and achievement, this correlation is lower than most other sports."

my thoughts exactly...

Hub's dressage lesson:
http://vimeo.com/9553776

Pom Pom's first day:
http://vimeo.com/9553689

Well, I didn't win the photo caption contest.  The only consolation was that my favorite entry, beside my own, won.  Well done, Robert.  I'll keep trying!  Here's this week's:
http://www.barnmice.com/forum/topics/photo-caption-contest-week-37?commentId=1773158%3AComment%3A200829&xg_source=msg_com_forum

On a happier note, Hub and I BOTH lessoned with Amy this weekend!  FUN!  I had a jump lesson with Stacy and Taco and Hub had his second dressage lesson on River.  It was very cute, on the way home he said, "I'm so glad you made me have another dressage lesson instead of a jump lesson like I wanted.  I wasn't doing things quite right and she clarified everything I was questioning."  Oh, Hub.  Such a sweetheart.

Flo and I worked on having a rounder, more submissive connection between fences. We also focused on adjustability by sending her forward and bringing her back a few times between fences.  We did the 5 stride line  in 6 strides and FINALLY found the right balance, power and distance to the longish two stride after several tries.  Flo was a bit fussy like last week but like Amy said, "If this as bad as it gets, I'll take it."  I focused on thinking more like my dressage ride by sitting up taller and working on the  QUALITY of  her canter.

I admitted to Amy that I hadn't ridden since my last lesson but quickly added that I did WATCH a lot of riding and it really helped.  I watched this video below of the 2009 British Open and looked for and noticed things that we've been talking aobut in my lessons,  namely: establishing a balanced,  powerful canter that doesn't have to be fast, landing and rebalancing and maintaining a connection between fences.  http://horseandcountry.tv/episode/british-open-2009-2nd-competition

What do you notice?  What can you take away and apply to your riding? 
BTW: I really liked the way Ellen Whitaker rides.  She is very quiet in the sadde.

Adios, I'm off to watch the 3rd competition of the British Open and day dream about my first CLEAR stadium round of the show season :) 

I'm reading the book Country Life Diary by Josh Pons.  Its a three year diary of a third generation  thoroughbred breeder.  Good stuff!  Heart wrenching and often poetic. I keep the book in my car and read it when I'm waiting before and after my allergy shots.  It's hard to put down!  
Check out the farm's website.  It even gives you the diary entry from the book that corresponds with the current date!
http://www.countrylifefarm.com/Diary/diaryMain.cfm 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnE-q5rOEKQ&feature=player_embedded

Technically you can't in eventing (you're eliminated), but it's a good principal.  So dust off your pom pom and get a leg up!

Check out this Photo Caption Contest!

I had too much fun this morning laughing at my own entries :)
http://www.barnmice.com/forum/topics/photo-caption-contest-week-36?commentId=1773158%3AComment%3A198278

“I was born with this chronic, incurable, hopeless disease called horse-aholicness, and it’s even gotten worse over the years!” ~ Ronald Zabala-Goetschel (rides Che Mr. Wiseguy for Ecuador)

Love this and will buy it if I go clear at Training this year :)
http://www.animalstowear.com/Catalog_i11248390.html?catId=365973

I just read this article about Buck Davidson who was voted The Chronicle of the Horse's Eventing Horseman of the Year:  http://www.chronofhorse.com/article/chronicles-eventing-horseman-year-buck-davidson

This is what his father, Bruce (eventing legend), had to say about his son, “He’s accurate. He’s got a great eye and a good sense of balance, so he puts horses in a spot where they can jump clean and confidently. When one has that ability, horses tend to like you and go well for you because they know you’re helping them. I think the one thing Buck has way over me and most people is that he rides better in competition than any other time. We all like to think of ourselves as good competitors, but he’s truly a great competitor. He thrives under pressure.”

Wow.  What great things to have said about you!  I'm going to pretend that someone said that about me, and try to live up to it!  Jane Savioe (one of my heroes) says that you need to maintain positive self-talk in order to be successful.  Instead of saying, "I'm horrible at competitions. I get so nervous,"  you train your subconscience to be confident by saying, "I thrive under pressure.  Believe it or not, I'm BETTER at competitions!" 

Let's pretend right now!  You insert YOUR name like I did...

“She’s accurate. She’s got a great eye and a good sense of balance, so she puts horses in a spot where they can jump clean and confidently. When one has that ability, horses tend to like you and go well for you because they know you’re helping them. I think the one thing MEGAN has way over me and most people is that she rides better in competition than any other time. We all like to think of ourselves as good competitors, but she’s truly a great competitor. She thrives under pressure.”

Yeah, I like that!  I rock!

http://vimeo.com/9299119