So I saw this recipe on Facebook for a superhealthy cookie with mashed
bananas as the base and I made them (substituting the raisins—blech!—with dried
sour cherries—yum!). But they were…not that great. However, I really liked the
concept, which results in a treat that’s as much a “bar” (as my kids call them)
as a cookie, and I was determined to make them to the whole family’s liking. So
I fiddled around and came up with this version that has been deemed Very Good,
and my teenage daughter walked out the door this morning to catch the bus with
one in her hand—and mouth. This cookie has no dairy, so technically it’s vegan. There’s also no gluten, so
technically it’s gluten free,
too! And the only fat is the good stuff in peanuts and coconut. Feel free to
doctor it up to your own liking. We also decided the cookies are best stored in
the fridge. Banana, Peanut, Chocolate, Coconut Super Cookie! Ingredients:
3 mashed bananas
1/3 cup applesauce
2 cups oats
¼ cup coconut milk
1 cup chocolate chips
½ cup coconut
½ cup salted peanuts (or, if unsalted, it needs a bit o’ salt)
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup dried sour cherries (optional)
Directions:
Mix it all up well.
Spoon the dough onto a greased cookie tray (I greased mine with coconut oil
spray).
Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.
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"The optimist
already sees the scar over the wound; the pessimist still sees the wound
underneath the scar."
I´ve just found these amazing tips from Carl Hester - 35 top tips on everything dressage - from finding the right horse, to training and stable management techniques:
1 Dressage is not just for competition. It is gymnastics for horses and all horses can benefit from it, as they are more likely to stay sound with a long, stretchy neck, soft body and easy movement.
3 When a horse is tired, he’ll try to stretch down. Let him do it for a while as it’s something you want to encourage. To stretch your horse, lengthen the rein, lower your hand and massage his mouth with the bit by gently squeezing and releasing each rein. Stretch him regularly throughout your training sessions to relax him and reduce the risk of tension.
4 In canter always ride forward – imagine there’s a big jump at the end of the long side that you’re going to take on!
5 Dressage is about repetition, repeating exercises over and over again until it becomes part of the horse’s way of going. It takes dedication, but is simply about producing a well-schooled horse – something we’d all like to have!
6 Even if your thing is dressage, mix your horse’s schooling up with hacking and jumping as it will keep him relaxed and interested.
7 Always compete at the level below the one you are working on at home, so that you are able to cope at the competition where there are many more distractions.
8 Mirrors are a huge help in training as they enable you to see what your horse is doing – for example, how do you know whether he is straight without being able to see him?
9 Working-in is one of the most important aspects of dressage. You want your horse to be long, round and stretching before you start more taxing work, to get the muscles in front of and behind the saddle soft and working – gymnasts don’t hop straight onto the top bar! Ideally, walk for 10 minutes to start with, but if your horse is fresh, it is best to trot on to settle him down.
10 Your horse must work in front of the leg. This means that he should move forward of his own accord and not expect you to keep motivating him – for example, if you ask for canter, he must learn to stay in canter without any leg pressure, until you tell him otherwise.
11 If your horse is not responsive to your leg, ask for halt and with a loose rein, give him sharp quick taps with your leg until he moves forward – it doesn’t matter what pace he goes into, just let him move forward.
12 Create a work station on your yard, where everything to do with work happens – for example, tacking up and washing off – and keep his stable for relaxation only. Then your horse knows he can totally relax when he’s in his stable and won’t be expected to work.
13 If your horse is too sensitive to the leg, work on lots of downward transitions.
14 Lots of transitions between canter and trot will help to improve the trot by getting him to carry more weight on his back end.
15 To maintain balance while you’re working your horse, use lots of half-halts. Think about using one before you ask your horse to do anything.
16 Give your horse sugar during training sessions as a reward and to help him mouth the bit, which will encourage him to salivate and make him lighter in the hand.
17 Riding your horse ‘on and back’ involves asking him for a few lengthened strides before asking him to come back to his working pace, then repeating it several times. This will help you to get him to carry his head and neck, and achieve self-carriage.
18 When doing tempi changes – a series of flying changes – with more advanced horses, we ride along the wall of the arena to help keep the horse straight.
19 With a horse who is trained to do collected canter, you want to aim for a speed where someone can walk alongside you.
20 Use leg-yield in canter to make your horse more aware of your legs.
21 To help you maintain the rhythm while riding, keep a song in your head and sing it to yourself while you ride.
22 Get someone to video you riding so you can see what’s working and where things are going wrong. Sometimes it’s more beneficial than having someone on the floor telling you what you’re doing wrong.
23 A good trot is all about suspension. When our horses are strong enough, we teach passage and use it to get suspension in the trot. We rise while doing this exercise, as it makes it easier for the horse and encourages lift. From passage, we take the trot forward until he realises that he needs to keep the suspension that he had in passage. If he loses the suspension, we halt, ask for passage and then try it again until he maintains the suspension in trot.
24 As a test of your training technique, go into rising trot and drop your reins. Your horse should stretch down, but if he sticks his head up, something needs adjusting in your training.
25 Never tell your horse off when teaching him flying changes, just keep repeating them until he gets it right, or he’ll start to get nervous and tense about doing them.
26 If you can’t halt square on the centre line, it’s your fault! It requires training, so to make sure you can do this, teach your horse that he must always stand square, even for mounting and dismounting. To teach your horse to stand square, ask for it along the side of the school. Trot, ask for a few steps of walk, then step forward into halt. He must step forward to halt, not back to halt.
27 Hacking up hills will help with fitness and muscle development.
28 In walk, try not to interfere too much and remember that during a test, a long walk on a free rein is not a time for a break! It requires as much attention and concentration as the other movements.
29 Don’t rush your schooling and ask for too much, too soon. It’s important that your horse is strong enough to be able to do what you’re asking him to do, or he could suffer injury. It normally takes four to five years to get to Grand Prix level, without any problems along the way, as it takes that long for the horse to become strong enough to perform the movements required at that level. If you have any setbacks, it can take longer and often does.
30When you stop and salute the judge at a competition, remember to smile!?
31 Get to a show in plenty of time and hack your horse around the showground on a loose rein, so he has time to get used to his surroundings before he is expected to concentrate.
32 Plenty of turnout allows your horse time to relax and he’ll be more relaxed during his training.
33 At competitions, wear clothes and tack that you and your horse are used to and comfortable in. Suddenly using different equipment on competition day can affect your performance. If you have special show boots and tack, have a few dress rehearsals at home just before the show date.
34 The key to training horses is patience and consistency – you will get there!
35 If possible, recreate the type of arena you’ll be riding your test in at the competition and have a practice in it. For example, check what size the arena will be and measure one out the same size at home to practise the test in, or if you usually work in a school, but the competition is on grass, practise riding the test on grass.
By Arthur Kottas-Heldenberg with Hilary Moore
Hebert
Former chief rider at the Spanish Riding School of Vienna, Arthur
Kottas-Heldenberg, explains unmounted dressage training.
Of the many ways to work your horse in-hand for dressage training, all of
them have the goal of exercising your dressage horse without weight in the
saddle. While many people are familiar with this type of work for teaching
piaffe, it can be used from the beginning of a dressage horse’s training and is
a great way to warm up for your ride. When I was working at the Spanish Riding
School, we did not have mounted warm-up space to use ahead of presentations so
we used in-hand exercises. In this article, I will explain how to use proper
equipment and training approaches that are level-appropriate for your horse. As
a result, you will be able to properly develop collection and an uphill balance
in your horse. Introducing In-Hand Equipment No matter how advanced your
horse is, the following steps will walk you through correct in-hand work. Begin
by wrapping your horse’s tail so you will be able to touch his whole
hindquarters with the whip during work. Put the saddle or bridle on in the same
order you tack up for mounted work.
If you are beginning with the saddle, place a well-fitting surcingle around
it after you have placed the pad and saddle on your horse’s back and attached
the girth. You will know the surcingle is a good fit when you are able to
tighten it enough that it does not slip during work. If you only use a saddle,
the side reins you will be using might move during work or be incorrectly placed
on the girth. The key to an appropriate surcingle is that there are enough rings
for attaching side reins at varying and appropriate heights. The side reins can
attach to the bit or the cavesson, depending on your preference and your horse’s
reaction to the varying contact.
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Use your horse’s snaffle bridle so you have use of the bit. Over that, put on
a well-fitting longeing cavesson. Make sure to remove the noseband of the bridle
so that it does not get in the way or pinch the horse on the chance that it
comes into contact with the cavesson during work.
When I work in-hand, I carry two whips that are an appropriate length for
this type of training—one is stiffer and the other is softer. Before you know
which in-hand whip you will need, you have to test to see which the horse
prefers.
As you progress in your in-hand work, if your horse has an overreaction and
seems unsure about coming under with his hind, consider your whip aid. Some
horses react better when you touch them with the whip over the croup or on the
hock, but you have to figure out where they prefer to be touched. Always look
for the point on your horse to touch that makes him think, forward and come
under. Introducing In-Hand Work With a pocket of sugar, a pair
of riding gloves and a longe line, you are ready to work in the arena. Begin by
attaching the side reins from the surcingle to the bit rings. Make sure that
their placement is parallel to the ground so they do not pull down on your
horse. Instead, their height and length should encourage him to be on the bit.
Remember that the goal is to build correct neck muscle, and we cannot do this
without correct side-rein placement. Make sure the side reins are an even height
and length on both sides before beginning so that when you hold your horse’s
head with his poll at the highest point and his face on the vertical, your side
reins offer a steady, unrestricting connection.
It is also worth pointing out that a more advanced horse will carry more
weight behind, which will make him go up in the wither. We want to account for
that by choosing a slightly higher surcingle ring to attach the side reins
to.
The horse should not get excited when he is doing in-hand work. Our primary
goal is that he is relaxed in his work. It is also our job to remember that we
get to choose our horse. He does not get to choose his owner/trainer/discipline.
As a result, we have the responsibility of checking in and confirming that we
are making fair requests of our horses when pushing them to do something new.
If, at any point, they get excited, reassure them with a pat or
sugar. Exercise One—Forward and Backward: The first thing
I do when introducing in-hand work is to invite the horse to pick his legs up
and achieve a square halt and rein-back correctly. As you are doing this
exercise, make sure to watch your whole horse. If you stand too close, you are
at risk of getting in his line of travel and you can’t see what he is doing with
his body language. If you are too far away, you cannot use your aids
effectively. Have the horse between your left hand and right whip on the left
rein. 1. Touch your horse’s inside hind leg, just above the hock with your
in-hand whip to ask that leg to come under. Cluck to reinforce the aid. 2.
When he steps under with that leg, stop your whip aid and reward him. 3. Ask
your horse to step forward and under with his legs until you have achieved a
square halt. 4. With a soft half halt on the longe line, ask your horse to
rein-back. Make sure he steps back in diagonal pairs. If your horse does not
step back with diagonal pairs, repeat the rein-back until it is
correct. 5. If he needs a stronger aid for the rein-back, touch his shoulder
with the whip to show him you want him to step away from the aid (as he did in
steps one and two). 6. Touch his inside hind leg with the whip, asking him to
step under again. 7. Touch his outside hind leg above the hock to ask that
leg to step under. 8. Repeat the square halt and rein-back again. This
rein-back exercise is helpful in teaching your horse to move from his
hindquarters, through his body and onto the
bit. Exercise Two—Turn On the Forehand: Now you can
practice something a bit more advanced. The turn on the forehand is a great next
step because it teaches your horse to stretch by asking him to step his
hind legs in a semi-circle around his stationary inside fore while the outside
fore moves forward only slightly. It encourages your horse to bend opposite his
direction of movement. 1. Off the rail, stand to the side of your horse
near his head. 2. With your whip, touch your horse on his haunches to ask him
to move away from the aid.
With this movement, you should achieve an easy turn on the forehand. This
type of lateral stretching is helpful for warming up your horse as well as
relaxing him and building his muscles. Remember that dressage exercises the
whole body, so make sure to do the turn on the forehand on the other rein.
Everything has to be done as if you are playing, and you must always check that
your horse is relaxed and happy in his work, not nervously moving away from your
every move. Advancing the Work As your horse develops in his
training, you are ready to start half-steps. Exercise
Three—Half-Steps: Using the same equipment as you did in the
previous exercises, follow these steps to introduce half-steps to your
horse: 1. Confirm that you can move him forward with a cluck and whip
tap. 2. Ask your horse to move straight and forward with diagonal pairs (the
two-beat trot rhythm) as you continue next to him. 3. With your whip, ask
your horse to step under with his inside hind as you asked before with a touch
on the hind. When you have achieved a few half-steps, stop your whip cue.
Pay attention that he is trying to carry extra weight on his
hindquarters. Once you have developed half-steps, you are ready to start
thinking about piaffe with your horse. It is the most collected exercise in
dressage, so sometimes introducing the work from the ground is easier than under
saddle. This is an exciting time in your horse’s training, as he will completely
change in balance and strength from this collection—from his withers to his hips
to his hind legs. Exercise Four—Piaffe: To prepare for piaffe, ask
your horse to walk into a square halt, with his nose in front of the vertical.
Remember that the side reins should not be pulling your horse down. When you
first start this exercise, it is important to allow him to move forward when he
is learning piaffe.
To begin, start from the halt and follow these steps: 1. Ask for walk on a
straight line. 2. Shorten his steps by softly touching his croup with the
whip (to cue his whole hindquarters) and adding a cluck. 3. Piaffe starts in
diagonal steps and the hind should come up only one hoof in height. He should
stay uphill. 4. If he is lazy, ask for more forward. 5. If he does not
take weight back, insert your rein-back exercise and then move forward to piaffe
again. 6. When he responds correctly, praise your horse for a job well
done.
Just play when you are doing these exercises and don’t be afraid to combine
your rein-back exercise with your forward and back exercise to take a break from
the more collected work. What is important is that you remember to take a break,
because a horse cannot concentrate for too long. This variety will keep him
motivated in his work. As he develops skill and collection, only then can you
work the piaffe without moving forward, so he performs the movement in
place.
In-hand work builds the muscles because it is like bodybuilding, so repeat
the exercises on the other rein. The Double Longe When you and your horse are comfortable
with in-hand work, you can have two people work together with the double longe.
The first person’s entire job is to watch and control the amount of forward
movement with a lead line attached to the cavesson. She stays at the horse’s
head during in-hand work.
The second person’s job is to continue with the other elements described in
this article’s in-hand exercises, but with two lines connected to the cavesson
and running through the surcingle instead of the single line connected only to
the horse’s head. This second person is the one who can tap with the whip and
cluck to ask for collection while holding the double-longe lines. Again, this
second person’s whip and voice aids ask the horse to collect or “come from
behind.” The person does this by standing a safe distance from the horse, near
his hind, to tap with the long whip on the hindquarters.
When you have the double lines, the surcingle should have rings toward the
top so that when he is ready and more uphill, your horse can have a higher
topline. You know he is ready (in this stage of bodybuilding) when you can ask
for piaffe and the degree of collection needed for Prix St. Georges.
When you are comfortable with the double longe, you can ask your horse to
perform all of the exercises you did on the single line: ask for straight,
forward, back and collected. Don’t forget to reward your horse with a piece of
sugar—it is always important to keep him as your friend.
When you are ready to develop your horse’s piaffe in the double longe, the
first person asks for the forward movement. The second person, holding the two
reins and the whip, asks for walk and then collects the horse into piaffe. As
you develop this, you can continue asking your horse to move closer to piaffe in
place.
During the piaffe exercise, the first person must remember to watch that the
topline stays correct while this is happening. The key is for the handlers to
communicate to each other. Correct the topline by making sure the horse does not
hang on the side reins. Gently bring the horse up with an upward aid of the lead
line.
Once a horse is comfortable with the double longe, the first person can
remove the lead line and step away. At that point, the second person can connect
the lines to the snaffle bit to facilitate increased communication. He can then
stand as the second person and ask for the same collection and piaffe with his
whip and voice aids. Always praise a horse when it is a job well done. Remember
to stay quiet, so there is respect but not fear. The Mounted Translation Once your horse is under saddle,
you can ride shorten and lengthen the walk steps, making sure that the highest
point of the poll is right behind your horse’s ears. Play around by riding
forward and back. We have to see that our horse learns to carry the
weight. Exercise Five—Collect Under Saddle: Thanks to the
in-hand work you have done, you can have a groundperson help you collect under
saddle using the whip and voice aids. 1. The groundperson asks for piaffe
forward, while the rider sits quietly. 2. The rider has a light rein
contact. 3. Walk out of the piaffe.
Always avoid fear in your horse. The work in-hand will allow him to sit
behind and go up in front, helping the shoulder to improve. Now you are
dancing!
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Aristotle
said that leadership needed ethos (character), logos (thought) and pathos
(compassion). Where are you strongest here? What might you strengthen?
