I cannot believe it’s already been a week. This week promises to be even more exciting!
Monday
I had the morning shift today! Surprisingly, it wasn’t very hard to get up in the morning. I did all of Harmony’s chores, as well as my partner’s horse’s chores, then went home around 10 AM. That was when I woke up last week on Monday, so I was more productive today because I didn’t have to stop my homework for a few hours in the afternoon to take care of the horses.
Tuesday
Harmony’s back was still a little sore today, so she got another day of rest. The WITees on the other hand, were as busy as ever. We started as normal with chores and lessons. Because I wasn’t tacking up, riding, and untacking Harmony, I was able to watch most of the lessons, despite the very rainy weather. There is a Tiki hut being built so we can watch lessons out of the sun, rain, or any other Florida weather. They were building the floor today, so we couldn’t use it.
Today, Lendon and one of the participants gave a lecture on longeing. This was a very interactive lecture, where we were asked to call out the answers if we knew them. Most of the questions where fairly simple, like what do you need to longe, where should you longe and where should you not longe, how and where to attach the longe line, desirable and undesirable qualities in a longe line, and why we longe. Lendon also talked to us about how to start teaching a horse to longe. The lecture concluded with a lesson on how to roll and hang halters and lead ropes.
For fitness today, we did core again. Because of the weather, we decided to do this in the aisle, which led to a lot of snorts and confused looks from the horses. This also led to several sore forearms from planking on the concrete floor.
Wednesday
Harmony was feeling better today, so my trainer got on her for a tune up. She said that Harmony was not listening to my leg the way she should, and that I was hanging on the inside rein, making her crooked. My trainer also said that Harmony felt like she wasn’t super sore, which was a huge relief. She had been feeling better from the ground, but I was a little hesitant to ride her and make it worse.
Our lecture today was part one of a series that the WITees do every year. It is about the mental side of dressage, and how it impacts your performance. Because I did this series last year, Lendon was supposed to give me some reading to work on instead, but she forgot it at home, so I used that hour to sit with Harmony and study for the next test.
For fitness, we did a new set of yoga. This new one was more focused on our whole body, instead of just hips and hamstrings. It was also longer than the last one, which I liked.
Thursday
Today was day one of the Adequan Global Dressage Festival week one. Because of COVID-19, spectators were not allowed, but there was a live broadcast of the CDI arena. Our amazing barn manager was able to set up a TV in the “patio” of the barn and connect to a laptop to stream the show. We were all popping in and out to watch the show throughout the day. I enjoyed the Open Grand Prix competition, which happened to coincide with the free time between lessons and the lecture.
For my lesson today, we focused on forward and back in the canter and more halfpasses, as well as a few changes. I was still a little skeptical about her back, so we didn’t push it, but she is definitely feeling much better.
Fitness today was legs, and a long stretch. We found the WIT supply of fitness bands earlier in the week, so we used those for some of the exercises instead of polo wraps.
We had our lecture today through video chat. It was about journaling. The woman who lectured us had donated some really nice journals to the WITees. It was a very interesting lecture, she told us many stories about how journaling has helped her riding.
Friday
We started the day with a lecture and demo about longeing the rider, and some stretches and ways to warm up ourselves. She used two WITees and their ponies to help her demonstrate how longeing can help with position and riding. She had them each do a few stretches before getting on, then some exercises to help with mobility in the saddle, at both walk and trot, and how that improved their seat. Lendon also added a story about how she spent almost every day, at 6:30 AM, for seven months before the olympics on the longe line to improve her seat. We had our weekly quiz on the training manual/two minds book immediately after the lecture.
After the quiz was hacking time. Six WITees and their horses/ponies, including myself and Harmony, went on a hack down one of the roads that borders Roseview. It was nice to see some of the neighboring farms and the various animals, including donkeys, a cow, and a few minis. Along both sides of the road was a steep bank that led into a shallow stream about 4-5 feet lower than the road. A large, very noisy trailer drove quickly past our group, spooking Harmony. She jumped into the stream, quickly realized that she was hoof-deep in water, and jumped back out. (She is fine, just a bit muddy) I didn’t actually realized we had jumped into the water until we were out, but the other WITees in our group were quite concerned, so we turned around. Harmony knew that she had given us a little fright, so she was super quiet on the way back to the barn.
We got back, and after turning out the horses, the WITees all teamed up to rake the arena track, a chore we all do together every Friday. It takes about fifteen minutes to complete, as we are mostly raking the commonly used lines, like the track and corners.
Next was fitness, which was rather short today, just a quick circuit of arms. Because of the early fitness and lecture, chores were our last thing today, and we started at 2:30. During chores, we had a horse escape from their paddock, and then not want to go back in to the barn. Other than that, chores went by fast, and we left early, around 3:30.
I was also on night check tonight, with one other WITee. At WIT, everyone is assigned night check once a week to do with a partner, and every 5th Monday.
Saturday
Our lesson today was great! We did a lot of work on canter-walks, and developing our pirouette canter to improve the transition. This was very hard, and really had me be exact with my aids so she didn’t break to trot, she really sat and made a smooth transition. We got a few nice ones, and I was super proud of her.
Our lecture today was with a former WITee, all about her life and her journey through dressage, from WIT, to Germany, to some top dressage and sales barns, to her current position as assistant trainer to a top US rider. It was so interesting to learn about all of the different experiences she has had, especially when she talked about the differences between the US and Germany.
Fitness today was a short jog down the road. There is a riding/walking trail on the opposite side of the canal from Roseview, which we jogged. It was nice to run on grass, but we kept a careful eye on the canal in case of alligators.
Sunday
Today, we had a great lesson. We worked on a lot, but specifically multiple flying changes on a line, walk-canters from the Junior Individual test, halfpasses, and canter centerlines.
Our lecture today was watching the CDI Grand Prix Freestyles on the live broadcast from Global. Last year, the freestyles were always my favorite class, and I am so glad we can watch it again this year. It is always so cool to see such amazing riding, especially with great music to enhance the horse.
Fitness today was an arms/core circuit, involving a lot of push-ups and planks. Most of us weren’t able to hold a plank for long by the end.
I am so tired. Thankfully, tomorrow I can sleep in, and be ready for next week, including another schooling show, lectures with some of the top US team members, our first field trip, guest fitness instructors, and more former WITee lecturers.
Can’t wait!
Leah Drew 