Of chickens and vegetables...

Winter is nearly upon us, and my sidesaddle desperately needs a repack - and I'm still trying to talk somebody into doing it for me! So I'm going to digress today, as I have been putting the veggie patch to bed. Plus I lust after the set-up over at Too Many Tomatoes :)

I have 6 beds that are 1 metre by 5 meters. 4 are laid out radiating off the central statue (making a big X) and then 2 on each side. I also have two large beds either side of the shed. One is my asparagus bed (to the right of the shed) and the other (to the left of the shed) is going to have globe artichokes.

On the other side of the hedge is the chicken run, the pond and it will also be the orchard and has the larger veggie beds and my berry house. I decided to let the chickens free range as their run gets so muddy in winter. This is how they repaid me... this USED to be the winter veggies - silverbeet, cauliflower, kale, cabbages, broccoli and pumpkin...

The culprits!

We will eventually put a chicken proof fence around the outside of the bed to stop them getting in. Since they have trashed it anyway I am letting them scratch everything up, as they do a fantastic job of turning the soil over. They are like little rotary hoes.

Hubby built me a berry house last summer, so at least they can't get in there. 

The fruit trees are coming in July and I am planning on planting them into large 4WD tyres. It gets quite wet out here because of the pond, and I want to raise the trees up a bit. Plus we can run the irrigation on top of the tyres, and hopefully hubby won't run it over when he mows... :)

Show Report

Well I will admit to my reservations at 6.30am, wandering out to the paddock in the dark (and freezing cold!) trying to distinguish Molly from Jasmine with no torch when they are both the same size with the same blaze. I ended up counting white socks in the muted moonlight to make sure I had the right horse! lol

And dispite the apprehension I had, that there might be a bit of a fuss, the show organisers, judges and competitors were lovely. I had heaps of hands to hold Molly while I got my apron organised and people were just so supportive and interested. Not at all what I expected from the serious DQs and the registered judges (who can be terribly harsh in their judging).

I didn't warm in for long, my saddle is seriously sliding to the left now, the panel looks quite deflated, and I didn't want to risk going too far over. So we did about 15 mins w/t/c and then chilled out waiting our turn. 

Molly put in an average performance, probably much the same as how we go at home. However she was obedient and is actually starting to listen to me now, so I was thrilled with both tests and finished up with a big smile on my face. It just "feels" so much better sidesaddle!

We came away middle of the field in both classes (6th & 7th out of 15) and scored 60% and 62%.

Her trot is still tense & rushy and our canter departs were muddled and need to be a lot snappier. So we have heaps to work on at home through winter and there is scope for us to make some big improvements.

Can I call myself a SSDQ now? :)

I did it.

I stuck my entry into the mailbox :)

We will be doing level 1, tests 2 and 5.

The good news is that neither test has that horrid 20m stretchy posting trot circle. The bad news is the weather has completely packed up here, it is wet and miserable, and I can't ride. So I'm not sure how we will go with no work! I can't use my neighbour's arena when it is wet and the grass in the paddock is too slippery. I'm going to have a go at lunging Molly in the driveway...

Do I or don't I...?

Coming up at the end of the month is a local dressage day. I have spoken to the organiser and she is happy for me to ride sidesaddle based on my para-classification. So IF I enter it would be our "official" level 1 sidesaddle debut.

But I don't know if I want to do it now... I have a major case of cold feet. I know people will stare at us and I just don't feel good enough. On the other hand winter is fast approaching and this could be our last show of the season. Plus numbers at this time of the year are much lower, so it would be a much quieter/less pressure debut than if I wait until Spring.

Hmmm.... I have to send off my entry this week if I am going... so do I or don't I...?

2 days of classical dressage aside :)

Well I have had two days of classical dressage aside and I am exhausted but happy :)

We have a trainer that comes down here every 6 to 8 weeks and she does 3 days of lessons. I had emailed beforehand and asked if I could ride sidesaddle and she was willing to give it a go. This trainer had spent some years in Europe with Egon von Neindorff  (now deceased) and also clinics with Philippe Karl when he is in Australia. I had devoured PK's book "Twisted Truths" but lack the practical knowledge to apply it. I had also struggled to find a local trainer who used classical principles, let alone knew who PK was... *sigh* then I found this trainer by chance  :) There is also a good dose of Baucher flexions thrown in, with work in hand to mobilise the jaw before we even move off.

Day 1 we spent mostly in walk, using flexion and counter-flexion to work on straightness (our nemesis at the moment) and also really trying to get Molly to relax, do little walk/trot and getting her to extend her neck. I was so conscious of trying to keep my weight to the right that I think I overdid it and started hitching my left hip. By the time I got home I had quite a nagging tightness/pain in the small of my back on the left side.

Day 2 started off with a bang, literally unfortunately. Just as I was walking Molly to the mounting block a child on a small motor cross bike appeared and proceeded to zoom in and out of the trees alongside the arena. If there is one thing in this world that Molly is terrified of, it is kids on small motorbikes! She leapt into the air and was a quivering mess, with diarrohea... :(

It took for 15 minutes to calm her down enough to get on. I explained to the trainer and said we would just have to see how it went, as I suspected I would have to bail before Molly hit the eject button. Fortunately the kid didn't last long and zoomed off 10 minutes into my lesson, but it took at least another 20 to get her adrenaline down. I was disappointed, but these things happen. We did get some nice trot work at times, and just at the end she had a brief look at our canter, so it wasn't a total waste of time. We obviously have HEAPS to learn and improve upon. I really like this approach, although it is slower it just feels right for us. It is quiet but insistent and doesn't compromise my joints by expecting me to enter into a tug of war with Molly.

One other thing I really like about this trainer is at the end of the clinic she gave me a homework sheet, with notes she wrote up for us to work on and gave us both short and long term goals to work on until we see her again.

So I will certainly be back when she is next down, and she said that she is looking forward to seeing us again. I guess a mad sidesaddle DQ livens things up a bit! lol

Who stole Autumn?

Autumn is normally our best growing period. Sure the mornings are cool and it gets darker quicker, but we usually have good daytime temperatures and enough occassional rain to get all the paddocks to leap into action. Given we have droughts over summer we really need our autumn growth to see us through winter. 

So who stole autumn? We seem to have gone from summer straight into winter. We have had quite a bit of rain and low, low temperatures. We had a southerly this week right off the Antarctic and it started snowing further south already!

The sun is out today but it is suppose to turn southerly again next week. There is a tiny bit of new growth in the paddocks, about 1 inch or so, in the 2 paddocks I reseeded. Fingers crossed May picks up a wee bit. On the plus side I turned our lucerne (alfalfa) paddock into baleage this year, so that will see the girls through the worse of winter, it is smelling divine already.

On the horsey front I have a new mare here for awhile. She belongs to a friend and is wintering here, and I can ride her too. She has been a pasture ornament for a some time, so I need to get her going. I am thinking of selling Molly, so need to decide what I am doing there :(

And I may have *accidentally* acquired another sidesaddle. I don't get that for a few more weeks, so hopefully my next post will be a horsey/sidesaddle update :)

"Loose lips sink ships"

Keeps those lips zipped ladies... we don't want any sidesaddle wisdom slipping out inadvertently.

Has a friend of acquaintance expressed an interest in trying sidesaddle? Then shake your head, say sorry you can't help.

Is a fellow sidesaddle rider searching for a piece of equipment or dress? Do you know an internet site or source where she may purchase what she is missing? Shhhuushhhh... keep that information under your hat.

See that beginner over there, the one struggling with her position? Let's just walk away, we couldn't possibly offer some useful pointers that will help her become a more secure rider.

Knowledge must be suppressed, we cannot allow the free exchange of information that may lead to more proficient riders or *horror* our numbers may increase. Let's remain silent and let sidesaddle keep its dignity as it slips beneth the waves to join the Titanic...

___________________________________________________________

This blog post has been dedicated to the "NEA".

I had never heard of the "NEA" until a couple of days ago, when I received an email on their behalf. This email accused me of theft of their images and implicity threathened a lawsuit. 

Apparently one of the images I have used originated from their website. Given the image is not watermarked, copyrighted, nor does it have any identifying features, I'm not sure how I was suppose to know that? I found it on a forum that was discussing how to make a linen habit and numerous photos of Edwardian habits were shown. I thought I was discussing a dress pattern but apparently I am undermining the very fabric of society...

I was then further lambasted as being one of a group of sidesaddle bloggers stealing information and the "Tips of the Month" from their website and using my blog to disemminate that information and (here's the kicker) assisting and offering hints to other sidesaddle riders! 

As I have already stated, I only heard about the NEA a couple of days ago. I have also reviewed their website and then flicked through my old posts, and I fail to see where I have been stealing information and tips wholesale from them. I always thought you needed a strong factual foundation for any lawsuit, perhaps this is not the case in the American legal system? 

I also fail to see the harm or damage caused - what pecuniary loss have they suffered at my hands?

I must truly be some evil mastermind, plotting to spread the sidesaddle word without the authorisation of the NEA...