. Of course, It's disappointing, but I am biel

So I went and  rode Kerm a few more times, and as beautiful a creature as he is, and as much as I want it to work out, I had  to walk away. Sometimes riding and  training styles are just not compatible, no matter the effort, talent, or perseverance of the parties involved . At the end  of the day, if I can walk away from something saying :" I LEARNED from this" and of course, everyone is happy and the experience left no hard feelings then that is the most important thing to me. And  that's what happened. Of course I am  disappointed, but I am a firm believer that If you do things the right way, with a smiling face, and are helpful and cheerful, The right opportunity will find you. It's always happened to me in the past, and I never usually have to wait that long. 

But, just for fun, here are some photos :)

   

    

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I have also just started training a really lovely friesian x holsteiner mare who has had some training in the past, but very inconsistent and probably less than 60 rides total if you gather all the sporadic fits and spats together. . She is 7 or 8 years old,  HOLY dOOdLE IS SHE AWESOME! (sorry guys/gals My laptop is on it's way out and the "d" key broke about a year or so ago so I have to always find a "d"  somewhere on line, copy it, and then press "ctrl 'v'" to paste it every time I need it. If I need an upper case "d" I either don't do one or I go try to find one somewhere to copy and off I go, lol. It's a decent system, as in, It has a 50% success rate. Half the time I get so frustrated I end up calling the person I am trying to email or message  which is SO. MUCH. EASIE

R.  (And I lived through the most impressive technological revolution this world will ever see!

Back to this mare. Cute as a pig in sh....wamp water. Her ability to reach with her shoulders and remain in balance is incredible. Even on the longe, she is so balanced, like when you hold a dressage whip on the palm of your hand trying to find it's balance point, her unless she is running over tempo because she's still getting used to a rider on her back, is so clear and easy, she always puts herself in that correct balance. It;s very rare to see a green broke horse, or any horse, have such a naturally balanced movement and be able to maintain it within transitions. She seeks the contact so I just let her be as round or as high or as low as she wants for how, as long as she is not in my face, or too low or too round. She gives me a lot of very nice contact. She is really cool. If I had the money, I would buy her in a heartbeat. But I am having fun so I hope she stays for a while, LOL.

 did I mention she was awesome? cuz she is. Seriously freakin' awesome.

Seriously.

So I was all ready and paid to take Lerm to the Touch of Class show at Thunderbird this past weekend, but of course, someone threw a  wrench and I had to scratch because I separated my shoulder. On the bright side, I got to groom for a wonderful group of people, and I had a nice time anyways. Turns out, the last time I separated my right shoulder which was in 2009, coming off Pia Fortmuller's young horse (who is now at GP, yay!) it should have been surgically repaired, because it healed separated, and scar tissue has been holding it stable, but it's been chronically separated for the past 6 years. So, I have a choice to make, can I get the surgery now and take the 6 months to recover or manage the pain with injections until after the next Pan Am Games (our goal) .

It's always something, right?

So I have organized a really nice clinic with my coach, Leslie Reid, to come up to teach at the very beautiful Sun Meadows Equestrian Centre at the end of August. I can't wait! Her eye is so amazing, and her teaching is second to none. It's going to be wonderful - I arranged for a mobile tack store to be there on site, as well as we are having a used tack swap, a BBQ dinner, and then a potluck lunch.

Instead of me taking up two lesson spots, I will do one lesson on the first day, and then just a quick 15-minute in hand demo with me in the saddle and Leslie on the ground.

So, this is my very first ride, in a half a foot of water, in the pouring rain. (I didn't realize my right rein was all jammed up as I normally don't hold my reins like I do here, but the owner asked me to so I obliged, which is why the contact was so unsteady - I couldn't figure it out for a while.)

So this horse is very large, very long both in front and behind the saddle, and is a wiggly worm. It is going to take a long time for me to get to know him and to connect all his body parts into one cohesive unit, but boy, is this a nice horse. and what a mind!

Thanks guys, comment away!
Jamie

New Adventures of Old-er Jamie

Well, you can beat e'm down, but you can't keep down for ever! Is that a saying? I feel like that's a saying. Some of you are shaking your heads. Ok, well, maybe it isn't. "Anything's a possibility." as my best friend's almost-husband always says. It's my new favourite and least favourite saying. It inspires hope, but at the same time, a bit of despair. Chew on it for a few minutes. I'll come back to you.

Anyways, You're probably wondering where I went since my last post. There were a lot of changes in my life since then, some good, some not so wonderful. All of them have led me to where I am now, and I am happy so that is all that counts right? RIGHT?? The wonderful mare I had in training for sale, which I wish I could have purchased for my own, sold a couple months ago and is now being owned and loved by an AA who will give her a nice quiet home. I wish them all the best! It's the greatest feeling, as a trainer, knowing that you took a horse who was so offended by the bridle, and the aids, that no one wanted to ride them, let alone an AA go anywhere near writing a cheque for them, to having someone be able to hop on, and do 2nd level movements in a nice soft connection with bend and contact and be able to test out the gears.


So anyways, without further ado, I present my newest ride, a coming 6 year old, 17.1 hh branded Andalusian gelding by Competitor (Kianto). His name is Corazone de Leone. He is owned by Tisha Rowe of Barnhartvale, Kamloops, B.C who has done all of his training, and continues to do so until I find a rental suite closer to her facility. I have so far only ridden him twice, and he has just a lovely temperament. Tisha has done an incredible job with him so far. He is a very large, long horse with a massive neck, and as I am smaller, It will take some time for us to get coordinated with each other and synch our timing and strength to the fine-tuned level it needs to be. I am bringing him to school to Thunderbird Equestrian Center for Touch of Class Dressage Show next weekend and have started to arrange plans for July and August to take him down to Leslie's for one weekend each month for a few days of lessons with fellow dressage rider and friend Brittany Moore. Short term goal? Become a partnership. Long term goal? Debut at 3rd this fall, then PSG next spring.  For now, here are a few shots of where we started at! Enjoy :)

So, after 18 years of riding, 3 open back surgeries, 36 epidural spinal blocks, 9 MRIs, 2 bilateral full-level lumbar rhizotomies (32 injections each) and 1 passion for horses, the only phrase that comes to mind? "Anything's a possibility!"