help me help you

I'm writing this while waiting for riders to come through the water and, depending on their division, jump the fence afterward.  The walkie-talkie lets me know when a rider is headed my way.  Behind me a brook runs.  The air is dense with mosquitos and I am coated in chemicals I'd rather not think about.  Since it's a schooling show, I have my rubber boats on and have led two eliminated elementary riders through my obsticle.  You might wonder why on earth I would want to spend my time fending off bugs and carefully watching a fence.  It's two fold.  One, watching people jump is very educational.  You can see what works and what doesn't.  You can learn to see and hear a good canter as well as a distance.  I have, for the most part, learned to see trouble from further out than the rider probably notices (I have also been that rider, taken by surprise, on several occasions).  I also sit here because someone has and will sit here and elsewhere for me.

Several course walkers have thanked me for volunteering.  My response is, "you're welcome," but, inside my head there exists a shpeal.

Please, walking rider, volunteer so there is someone sitting out there when I go out.  If you do, thank you.  If you haven't yet, what is holding you up?  I've boarded at two different barns that hold events and have watched them scramble for judges.  I've judged three or four fences at a time.  This leads me to believe there are many riders out there that have not spent their day sitting, watching, waiting, and taking the brunt of rider frustrations.  What are you waiting for?

I ask you, people who thank me, thank me by scheduling in not only those competitions you plan to ride in, but those you plan to volunteer at.  If your horse goes lame and you have to scratch, go anyway.  Professionals, i know you can't always volunteer, send your non-competing clients in for you.  It is important to keep your profession going.  I know there are professionals that do this.  

Organizers need you.  They need you not just to jump judge, but to scribe, ring steward, and run for rails.  They may even need you to help set up the day before (before 3, of course).  So, get out there.  The jumps don't set themselves and the scores can't be posted online if no one is out there judging.

Forgetting How Green Green Is

Yesterday, I took my green OTTB to Denny's to get my first hop-n-plop lesson with him.  I had previously hopped him over a xrail, both in hand and under saddle, and he had visited Denny's, in hand, once before.  Recently, I've been toying with the idea of cantering as I has assumed walk/trot was going well enough, so I focused more work on longeing with side reins to get the canter.  Yes, this horse is quite green.  He was purchased from a trainer at Suffolk as a two-year old and I turned him out for a year or so because his sheer size (16.2h at purchase) and awkward movement on anything but a straight line suggested waiting out the overgrown puppy stage was beneficial to all involved.  And it did, he grew into his legs as a four year old.  But, still...

Green.

He has hacked out some and had negotiated the fake ditch as well as the real water at Huntington, so he is at least willing to give various things a go.  So off to Denny's we went.

Longed, mounted, and started walking around.  Everything was going fairly well for a first excursion until the horse we were riding with started cantering.  Enter ants-in-pants horse.  Also, I did not quite realize how powerful, short backed 17h of horse could feel when balled up.  Back to longeing.  Denny, being put-in-the-time-with-young-horses guy he is, sent the other horse around our longe circle, keeping him far enough away to be safe and had him keep coming close enough to be part of desensitizing Salt.

This is when I realized I was spoiled by the first OTTB I pulled from the track myself, Suki.  She never cared about horses running behind her or around her.  We were over taken on our first XC course and while I saw my life flash before my eyes, she saw no reason to hurry.  I was spoiled.

Green is green.

So, I got back on after Denny returned from taking the other horse on a XC school (reasons I love riding with him: I can trust he won't push for my youngsters to go into an unsafe situation).  Salt was pretty good, reasonable about the next horse to join us.  On the other hand, I do not need to treat my youngsters like they are made of glass.  This is usually around where I start riding badly.  Much like throwing myself up my horse's neck is not an effective driving aid, curling up into semi-fetal position on my horse does not make them more comfortable.  Riding like they know a little more than they do seems to encourage much more confidence... Just do it.

Even still, I forgot how green green is.  He was wiggly.  He is not steady.  At one point turning right because very difficult.  Then, not leaving the ring became difficult.  Funny thing, he definitely chose the "gate area" which is further from the trailer as the gate and acted as though leaving the ring closer to the trailer was not an option since we had not traversed there.  It was like an invisible fence (Denny's ring is not enclosed).  

Our homework:  find a steady eddy to hack a lot with to avoid Salt getting a bit nappy about the ring.

Which means finding a good rider to hack my other horse with me (or taking Denny up on his generous offer to let me tag along on trail rides at Tamarack).

Why?

Because green may be very green... But Suki is finally moving into more of a chartreuse hue.

What color is a well broke horse anyway?  What gradient are we on?