Busy Week!

I'll actually start with the end of last week.  I went and watched the Pony Club/Horsemasters XC Clinic at Hillcrest Farms.  It was fun, and the instructor was good.  I found myself wanting to do it again, too.  I turned in my paperwork to join the group, so hopefully Jay and I will be able to take advantage of some great training opportunities!  

Sunday Jay and I met Gabby and Skate at Tanglewood for a trail ride.  We discussed doing the Yadkin Valley Hounds Hunter Pace, but I'll say we both decided it might be best to start with something a little more tame, especially with all of the recent rain.  I was taking a horse who had just had two weeks off and a feed increase, too!  When I was tacking Jay up, he started pawing.  He normally does not do that.  He will paw sometimes when he is impatient, usually at feeding time or in the trailer when we pull back in at home, but not tacking up like that.  I will admit that I did get a little nervous at that point.

We mounted up and headed out and put Jay in the lead.  We even did some trotting through the woods.  I could feel Jay sucking back at times, but I just added a little leg and he went on.  We had a nice, pleasant, leisurely ride.  It is true that he did eyeball all of the logs, though!  It was so good for me to be out front on Jay like that, and now I know that he is as good as always even with two weeks off and a feed increase!  Both horses did very well, and Skate handled the mud and muck like a pro, too!

Yesterday I took Jay out to another place that has a great deal.  For $50 you can become a "member" and ride there 4 times a month. The facility is fabulous:  a huge ring with beautiful jumps, a new wooden round pen, and a large dressage arena that is in the final stages of completion.  There are also beautiful trails out along the Yadkin River that even go out to some vineyards.  I was told you could ride out at least three hours one way.

It was much more windy yesterday afternoon than I expected, and by the time I was tacked up to ride it was feeding time...and the owner was feeding the pasture horses near the ring.  Jay was again not bothered in the least, and was even in what I will now call "away mode" since he doesn't just do it at shows!  What a nice ride!  I even cantered quite a bit, and I am definitely feeling better about it.  I couldn't have found a better horse, that is for sure.

I am also happy to report that Jay is already starting to pick up some weight.  He goes to the vet tomorrow, and I will still talk to her about it and probably run blood work and do a fecal, but I am relieved to know we are headed in the right direction.  Thursday the farrier comes out, and I am planning to put hind shoes on Jay.  He is doing OK with only front shoes, but since we are starting to do more riding, and more variety, I think he will do better to add hind shoes too.  He also makes it clear that he doesn't like to walk on gravel, smart boy, he pulls over to the side to get onto the grass (which was a big no-no at that fancy barn yesterday!)

Our busy week continues Friday when I am taking Jay over to Rocking B for a saddle fitting.  Deuce is coming along for the ride, too.  His new Mom will be meeting us there.  I have found Deuce a wonderful home as a companion to an Appaloosa mare.  His new owner doesn't have children, so her animals are her children.  She does dog rescue, and has also rescued some horses in the past.  I certainly got a glowing report when I called her vet for a referral!  Her 20 something year old TB passed away last fall, and her App is not happy being there all alone.  The woman has a back injury that prevents her from riding, but she likes having the horses.  So all in all, I think it will be the perfect situation for Deuce, and he will have a forever home there.  She keeps all of her horses for life,  but is willing to give me first refusal just in case something changes in the future.  I will miss Deuce, I have had him for three years now, but I think it is the best decision for a number of reasons. I just hope Jay will adjust happily to being in the pasture alone, but having other horses nearby.  

Skate and Jay have an adventure

Not that big of an adventure, but big enough for me! Christie and I met up at Tanglewood Park this past Sunday for a trail ride. There was a Yadkin Valley Hounds Hunter Pace going on the same day that we grappled with going....but I wimped out. Those rides can be tough! Since Skate and I haven't been off the farm for trailriding, I needed to start low-key to see how he would be.

He did NOT like trailering alone and hated getting off the trailer in a new place all alone even less. The screaming began : ) Luckily, even though he screams a lot, he doesn't really do anything else other than get tense. He still listens and stands still for me to tack up. Once I hopped on, he was fine.

Jay was the trusty lead horse for this trip...I figured he's the eventer, he can lead us across mud and muck, right? Yep...he handled that well and Skate was just fine, too. Now, stumps and logs, on the other hand, were apparently not Jay's favorite. He gave every one a hairy eyeball, which I think just meant he really wanted to jump them! Overall, it was a highly successful ride. Everyone was sane and well-behaved, with only one spook at the Pirahna Frog jumping into the river. No biggie.

Here are the trusty steeds:

Mooooooo!

Wow what a weekend! Saturday morning I went kayaking for 3hrs to start my day. I am trying to find something to do for upper body strength and I think I found it.

After kayaking I call Jim to see if they are still working cows that day. He says they are getting ready to head over and for me to go get my horse and come on! So I run home change, go hook up the horse trailer, load all my stuff, and get Andy. As we were walking to the trailer I feel Andy pause and I realize I have never hauled this horse or seen him hauled. He came in a 24' stock trailer and that is a lot different than the 2 horse that I am getting ready to put him in. He wasn't having it. He was nervous and then hard headed and didn't want to get in. It only took about 5 minutes and he jumped in but wasn't comfortable. So another 5 minutes of in and out and he was much better. I can't wait until I can afford my own trailer!!

We pull into the farm and park. I get my sweaty hairy horse off the trailer to see their sleek(under the lights), sparkly clean, pleasure looking horses. I think "oh great, now here come me and my shaggy sweaty dirty pony!". They were all really nice but they all knew each other. I got tacked up before anyone else and was standing by the arena waiting for everyone when I heard them yelling for me. Andy and I walked over to find they were having trouble getting the cows in the arena. They told me to ride out and bring the cows up along the fence and into the arena. I opened my mouth to tell them that I had NEVER been around cows before but they were all fussing about who messed up. So by now Andy has seen the cows and is like a border collie on a herd of sheep. He is FOCUSED!! I hop on and we go jogging down this pasture to collect the 15 or so cows.

Cow lesson #1: Cows are dumb! They don't move unless you make a LOT of noise or literally push them with your horse.

We get them all into the arena except for one that broke of and bolted at the last second. Andy saw her before I did and jumped sideways to get in front of her. I stuck it but was surprised and just how QUICK my little guy is. We chased her down to the bottom and then tried to drive her back up towards the arena. She wasn't having it and jumped a fence and ran into the woods. Thankfully she was in another pasture.

The arena is divided in half with coral panels so you can ride and warm up on one side and the cows are on the other. You always split it so the cows can't get THAT far from you and you can have other riders working horses away from the cows so they don't get worked up.

We are pretty warm from chasing those cows so we work on loping. Loping is REALLY important in cow work. It gets them forward, takes the edge off, and gets them balanced and ready for work. You want to stop hard and move their shoulders to change direction. We worked for a hard 20minutes and Andy was nice and warm. He was being really good and really focused on what I was asking him to do....then we rode into the side with the cows.

Within the walk from the side without the cows to the corner where we would be working turn back Andy was SOAKED. He was so worked up. He was hot and impatient and over excited. He would paw and shake. I couldn't believe that he was HOT. He has been mellow and calm the entire time I have owned him. I was so happy. We would spin and spin and then stand. It was hard to help with the cows but we did our best.

When it was our turn we went in a little too excited the first time. We pulled our cow but did push him out far enough and he was able to dive around us. Andy was fighting me and when I would ask him for speed he would get more upset and it just wasn't pretty. After this round we went to the other side and loped another 10min. I loped him until he was REALLY hunting for that whoa. Then I loped some more. When we went back to the cow side he was much better. We worked the outer turn back and got 3-4 more tries and the cows. All in all it was a GREAT day and I learned so much.

I learned that Andy and I have some stuff to work on.

I learned that Andy sucks back when he gets excited and that is where our issues were coming from. He couldn't get forward to execute the moves I wanted.

I learned that he has a MUCH bigger motor than I could have ever expected and we will be riding much harder from here on out.

I learned that 4hrs in the saddle hurts me more than my horse. He could have kept going.

I learned that no matter how pissed, upset, and excited that horse gets.....he wont' hurt me. He never ONCE moved my seat. He danced, pawed, kicked out once or twice, shook his head, tried to bite a cow that wouldn't move, shook, etc Never once did he move my seat. He was rock solid.

I learned that when you feel less because other people have prettier, cleaner, shinier horses and then you hear the stories about them bucking, or see they can't get their horse to move the way they want, or are asking horses to do things they weren't made for.....you can relax and pat your shaggy, dirty cow pony and grin on the inside. It may not look the best but dammit....we get the job done!

We have a lot to work on before the end of the month. They are having a team penning. I may not show but we are going to go there and work on quiet and controlled around cows.



Sorry to go on and on but I wanted to give as many details as I could since I don't have pictures.

Tuesday and Wednesday Rides

Sorry for the lack of pictures, I rode alone on Tuesday and yesterday everyone was riding so there wasn't anyone to take pics. I have thought about getting one of those deer/wildlife cameras that are motion activated. It would take my pic when I rode by......lol

Tuesday:
This was our first ride on his new shoes! He was FRISKY. It was warm and the air was thick and humid but the breeze was cool and crisp. Perfect colic weather if you ask me! He wanted to PLAY. He was good during warm up but once I picked up my reins he wanted to go. We did lots and lots and lots and lots of trotting. I wanted to work on me some so we did some trotting without stirrups. He wasn't too thrilled about the stirrups banging around on his sides but he held it together.

When we picked up the lope is when he decided it was his turn to play. I could feel him trying to twist up his back and I knew he wanted to jump around. I didn't let him so he rocked back at was slapping his front legs on the ground. He never broke gait or really moved my seat so I let him. I was laughing!

He was still really up when it was time to cool down and he decided he didn't want to be on the rail so we had to have a LONG discussion about staying in between my aids and how much work it would be for him to leave me. I would put him on the rail and when he would veer off he was gently reminded with an inside leg. If he ignored it or overreacted and picked up a trot then we would spin, back up, sidepass, etc quickly and then get back on the rail with loose reins. He got the message pretty quickly but wasn't happy about it.

It was a good ride though. I learned how much I could get after him and what he did when he was really pissed.

The farrier commented Monday that he didn't have much growth on his hind feet and didn't take anything off. I'm wondering if he wasn't a hair bit sore and now that he has shoes he is more himself.

Wednesday:
I was so happy to get to ride. It had rained a good amount all day but it was clear and thankfully the arena dries up REALLY fast. I was riding Andy and I had one of my teenagers on Tulsa. Andy was much better about staying with me and not being such an idiot. He and I really got a good workout. Tuesday's ride was more about trotting and staying with me. Wednesday's ride was about rating the lope. When he should speed up, when he shouldn't, and staying at the speed I choose on loose reins.

Once he was doing really good and was super focused I started having him lope near things. We would take a circle off the rail and go near a barrel or pole. He wasn't too thrilled about this at first. He wasn't spooky but he would throw his shoulders ALL over the place. It was kind of funny. Its amazing how agile he is.

Then we started working Tulsa. Tulsa is a trail horse and only a trail horse so we put him on Andy's butt and were playing follow the leader in the arena. Then we took it outside. Andy was sweaty but still not that tired apparently. He still wanted to play and work. He was pretending to see things go booger at. He doesn't spook but he'll jerk his head and shoulders without coming off track. Its funny. He would almost warn me. He would get tight and look in the direction and then jerk a little. What a goober!

I'm really thinking that I was a bad mom for not having shoes on his back feet. I think he is feeling a lot better. Hopefully his new diet will encourage some new hoof growth.

A new starting point

I was SO worried that the rain was going to ruin everything today...but it held off!!! Thank goodness. I really needed a lesson.

Pro's general attitude was clear when he swished his tail after I asked him to pick up his feet before I tacked him up. Gayle had pointed out awhile ago that it was a sign of disrespect, so I whacked him for it and he was mortified. However, Gayle fed him her apple core when she got there just before I got on, and I think that helped his mood.

As soon as I asked him to walk off, he threw up his head and it was like he was saying, "I'M GOING TO SPOOK AT THE POLES WAY DOWN THERE, JUST YOU WAIT, ONCE I GET DOWN THERE I'M GOING TO BE SCARED OF THEM." Gayle said absolutely not, of course, and I took my inside rein OUT and moved him in a small circle off my outside leg until he relaxed. Gayle made it clear that when I get on, every step belongs to me. There are no wasted steps in this arena. There will not be a single step looking like a giraffe. Once this was clear to him, we worked on unkinking his neck. Establishing/dictating rhythm with my seatbones, pointing my steatbones straight down, letting my shoulderblades melt down my back. So the purpose of my inside rein is threefold: (1) passive/giving, (2) opening to the inside to get him to unkink, and (3) STRONG pull to the inside to get him to HEY, PAY ATTENTION.

Today when I opened it, he remembered what he was supposed to do, and he started chewing and stretching. I know this is going to sound awful, but I admitted to Gayle that it was actually hard to say "good boy" when I was supposed to praise him because I am not much liking him these days. :( So I let Gayle say a lot of the "good boy" and I stuck to rubbing his neck with my inside hand when he released. He had a minor spook at a bird that flew by, and Gayle reminded me that I MUST give toward him and use my leg to get him out of the spook, rather than pull back. Well I'd been told this all my life, but she finally explained why. When a horse spooks, they suck/pull back. If we pull back, it's like we're validating the spook. By kicking them on, we're countering their pulling back and saying no, it's not okay to spook. Finally, an explanation!

We did some REALLY neat walk-halt-walk transitions that I didn't even know we were capable of. Just playing around, I closed my hip motion and he halted. Okay, I was only looking for a half halt but still good! From there, we talked about the halt as just an energy pause, not an energy stop. And Gayle said just to relax my hips. So I halted, waited, and relaxed my hips. Pro walked off!!!! No push from my hips, no give of my hands, NO leg. I just "breathed through my pelvis", my hips relaxed, and he walked off. I did it a few more times, and it was cooler each time. I told Gayle that I KNOW this horse has talent in him if he can be that responsive to the seat without any leg or hand - she agreed! She pointed out that he loses the bend when I go from halt to walk, and that I need to be attentive to that.

Finally, on to the trot! Posting up and over the saddle, landing lightly, closing my outside rein softly in a gentle half-halt every time I came down from the post. Using my inside rein to "follow my hand" with his nose, and getting him to unkink. Gayle then explained that with Pro, everything is slow. Slow, slow, slow. Chasing him forward is a BIG no-no, probably his biggest no-no, because he runs himself out of balance, panics, and then gets mad and blames us...evolving into a fight. It's counter-intuitive, but submission and proper balance MUST come before forward with Pro, she said. And as we worked on unkinking him at the trot, I was slowly able to add more impulsion in line with how balanced he was, and he was fine. But she said to never, never add the "go" before he was balanced.

When he was giving all he had, Gayle had me end it before he got too fatigued by carrying himself properly and fell into unbalance again. We stretched out at the walk and she showed me how to tell if his back is up - his belly tucks up, his butt tucks under, he stops rooting at the rein, he reaches on the end of the rein, etc. After I got off she showed me how to "bounce" the spot on his neck, plus she unkinked his trochanter joint - it was loose on the left and tight on his right. He liked it!!

So as for diet, in addition to adding more hay, Gayle told me to take him off the rice bran and the BOSS, and add in a better source of "cool" calories like Ultimate Finish or Envision. His weight is better, but still not perfect yet. She also told me to forget the past few months and think of today as our new starting point. The good news is that we started today's lesson like when she first met us...but we ended it MUCH farther along than the end of the first lesson we had with her. So he's going to re-gain progress quickly since it's a "no excuses, you KNOW what these rein aids mean!" type deal. He just needs to rebuild that strength and be strongly reminded of what the rein aids mean...but not fully re-taught.

Skate's gonna try XC!

Yep - I signed us up for a local Pony Club/Horsemasters XC clinic. They said I was welcome to sit there and observe if I felt the need....in other words, its ok if I'm a total pansy.

I decided I'd better try on the old close contact saddle and at least trot over some crossrails in preparation - so that's what we did last night! I could tell Skate was a little confused by my position in the cc saddle. There's no way to ride as tactfully as you can in a dressage saddle due to the need to keep your legs a little tighter over fences and your seat out of the saddle more. It was funny, I had a lot more trouble getting him to stay in the canter w/out using my seat! That's the only thing that works...more leg just gets him pissy and can sometimes cause him to break to a trot. Plus, I've been working SO hard on staying centered that I fear that this might get me back into my hunter perch tendencies.

He's a good pony over fences...easy to trot up to them b/c you know he's going over. Sometimes he can get a little exhuberant afterwards, but I'd attribute that to lack of practice. I set up a tiny little crossrail and just trotted back and forth over it until we cantered away quietly. Maybe tomorrow I'll set up a little 2 fence gymnastic so I can work on my position.

I also forced him to walk through the pond at the end of the ring in anticipation of water complexes. He always puts up a little fight when i ask him to do this...by fight I mean that he tiptoes right on the edge of the puddle until I can get him off balance enough to sorta stumble into it! Once he realizes its not a bottomless pit and gets tons of praise, he'll slosh right through it.

Anyway, it was fun to try something new with Skate. I'm really excited about being out on a XC course; even if I only manage to trot a couple eensy jumps - its more than I've done thus far in my riding career : )

Off topic - I am a little concerned with Skate's recent weight loss. We noticed his ribs were showing a couple weeks ago...about a month after switching him to straight alfalfa pellets, along with his vit/min/jt supplement. Of course, it also coincided with a significant change in how much he was getting worked and his turnout situation, which went from the small winter paddock with constant hay to the huge hilly pasture with moderate amt of grass. His bloodwork looks ok...so it's not likely to be something serious. I'm going to have the vet do a fecal count to make sure he's not wormy...and I've put him on 2 cups of rice bran/day. Hopefully we can get him back into shape.

Baby Sliders!

I know it isn't the best picture but these are the sliders that my wonderful farrier made for Andy. They will help him use his hindend more and also protect his joints. The toe is rolled so that it doesn't jam into the ground, the shoe covers his heels so that they don't get sore from sliding. and the nail heads are sunken so there is nothing that grabs.

We didn't get to ride much this weekend. It rained all day Saturday and then Sunday we rode a few minutes to show a potential client we knew what we were doing. The rest of Sunday was getting a new horse settled in and doing anti-mud chores. YUK.

This weekend there is a team penning at a local place that I would like to start going to work cows but I have kayaking lessons Saturday morning so I don't think I'm going to take Andy. Just go watch and socialize.

Anyone who is familiar with AQHA lines will be interested to know that the new horse I was getting settled it is an own son of Zips Hot Chocolate. He is Appendix bred and a 3'6" hunter. He is going in the consignment paddock and will start work this week. He is going to be so much FUN to mess with.

Sorry for the short post. Hopefully I will get to try out the new sliders tonight and get some pictures. Its going to start raining again Wednesday. :(

The ring was ridable! :-o

I was sort of figuring that the weather this week would force me to keep Kate's vow of not riding until Gayle had time to give one of us a lesson. But I'm going to be horseless for a week because of a trip for work next week and the ring was in great shape last night and the rain had stopped... So I rode!

He started out being an idiot. He over-reacted to every little cue. A soft box with my inside leg resulted in jigging and/or his haunches spinning out. So I put him on a circle and spiraled in and out a couple times. What I noticed was that he was much less freakish when he was on the small circle, but freaked out at about 15m+ or when doing the turn on the haunches. So I put him on a bigger circle and checked his bending. The goober was totally locked up in his head/neck - asking him to yield to the inside rein got a set jaw and a "no way". So I'd ask, tell, make him yield to the inside rein. If he didn't soften on the first two his head got pulled to the inside until he relaxed. After about 10 minutes of this in each direction he was starting to soften and reach down and chew some. Ok, it was more an angry gnashing of teeth, but his jaw was moving! I let him trot a little and also asked him to go by the bunny tree. If he freaked out about the tree we did the inside-rein softening on a tiny circle until he'd walk past the tree without coming above the bit before going back to the 20m circle/figure 8/whatever. At the end I did some work asking him to lift his back from my leg or the whip and he was back to his previously normal, happy self.

After the ride was over I rubbed his neck/poll some because Kate noticed it's looked funny and he dropped his nose to the dirt and just stood there looking like he was in horsey-heaven. I don't think it's entirely a physical problem (more likely his mental problems aggravated a physical problem) but it never hurts to have a professional check so Kate's going to get Gayle to see what she thinks when they have their lesson next week.

Shedding season!

Well, it's official. Everything I own is now completely covered in white hair! Ah, the joys of paint horses.

I got out to the barn last Thursday (? my days are all mixed up) in the hopes of riding before the rain started, but sadly as soon as I had hauled the tack outside, it began pouring. So I splashed out to the field, gave Tango a cuddle, and informed him that he was saved by the bell. I finally got back out to the barn on Monday, and again yesterday.

Monday's ride began well, but about halfway through, Tango's owner came outside and we chatted for several minutes. When I finally picked up the reins again, Tango was of the opinion that his services were no longer required... so he gave me the most head-tossiest, driftiest, choppiest bad-horse trot he could muster. I basically just kept him moving on a 20m circle until I got at least 2 full laps of non-jerk-trot, and called it a night. Ugh.

Things went much better during our ride yesterday. We warmed up at walk and trot on a nice long rein, just to get the motor running and calm him down. If he's not well warmed up, he tends to want to jig at the walk at even the slightest hint of an aid, and his trot is a mess. Fortunately we shook most of that over-responsiveness off in our warm-up. Next, I put him over 3 parallel ground poles at the walk and trot, with the poles forming one long side of an ellipse-shaped figure. He really gave me some nice trot work with this exercise -- he was paying much more attention to his own balance, and he really stretched forward into contact for the first time in weeks. That was a HUGE deal -- he has a tendency to avoid stretching and instead overflex a few vertebrae back from his poll. Someone taught him how to get away with a false frame, and it was great to really feel him stretch forward. I have also begun working square turns into our rides -- Tango is still trying to get the hang of it, but it is beginning to help lighten his front end. All in all, a nice ride.

Still noticing problems with our suppling -- the usual stiffness to the right, and "overflexing" to the left. I think my next few rides will involve a good, long, exhausting work-out under saddle in the round pen. No room to drift, fewer ways to evade... just circle after circle after circle to get him stronger and more supple on both sides. I'm sure Tango won't be nearly as excited about it as me :-D

Naughty pony

I'm still trying to fit in a lesson with Gayle. The alternative is driving Pro over to I-85 and letting him loose on the highway. He is a bad boy.

I did try to give him the benefit of the doubt today but he was having a totally immature meltdown by the bunny tree and being a moron. He was starting to throw hissy fits and rather than get into a fight I couldn't win, I moved back down by the pond end of the arena and just worked him on a 20m circle for the rest of the ride. At that point, I didn't care if his back was up right then, or if he was being rolkured, or pseudo-rolkured, all I cared was that his head was DOWN. He was totally giving me the equine middle finger by throwing his head in the air so I figured submission took priority over correctness, at least for today's ride.

Luckily, my plan worked! I fully admit that for a good five minutes, I just CRANKED his head down and let him freak out and get mad. I wasn't expecting him to have a mental turn-around and join in on my original plans for a good ride. All I cared about at that point was that the silly crap stopped and that he submitted psychologically.

But then that little mental switch went off and it's like he said ohhh, okay, I'm not going to win today. I felt him relax, and then from there I was able to bump him up, send him forward, and work on rhythm. We worked on turning off the outside aids and getting him to stretch over his back at the trot - lots of chewing. He felt good by the end of the ride! But goodness, what a baaaaad boy...

Two Parts!

Part 1: The Show

My plans to take Jay to the show almost got derailed before they started. I took Jay Friday for a lesson and a "makeover," and when I got him there I realized he was missing a shoe and was a little off. I put a call in to my farrier who is wonderful and said he could come out Saturday morning, and proceeded with Jay's beauty treatment.

When I pulled Jay out Saturday morning he was definitely sore and pointing his foot. I didn't think it was looking good for him going to the show. As soon as he got his shoe on, though, he jogged out sound, and we were still able to make it to the show in time for Ellen's first ride. It was really nice to meet Ellen and Skate, and they did a wonderful job, especially with such a hectic start!

Before lunch I rode Jay over to a corner of the cross country field to ride for a bit. I love this horse, he goes into "show mode" and is easier to ride at a show than at home! Wonderful! I could feel him perk up when he saw the cross country jumps. Its not time for that yet, Jay!

Jay still doesn't like a crowded warm-up, but this time did go smoother than last. There was only one instance when two horses were coming at us at the same time, and rather than letting me have the rail one rider cut to the outside so that they were passing on each side of us. Jay grunted and jumped sideways. He just doesn't like other horses coming at him, poor guy. I can't say that I blame him, and I can't foresee wanting to be out there in the mix jumping the fences during a schooling break. Even if I end up doing some hunter shows like this over fences, I would prefer to stick to the warm-up area (which I am hoping wouldn't be as wild...it hasn't been at this show and most others I have been to in the past), and then go in for the jumping round without schooling the horse over them first, like it is done in eventing. I have also decided that I DEFINITELY want to get back into the dressage ring, too.

After the schooling break, I found out my class had been canceled because I was the only entry! Oh well. So Ellen, you didn't miss much! I took Jay back out to the cross country field and rode some more. It was a fun day even though it was long, and Jay was a super star!

I hope to have the video ready to go soon. The software that came with the camera is not very good, and it is hard to use, so John and I need to get it converted to a format that is compatible with Windows Movie Maker, which should be much more user friendly.

Part 2: The Trail

Sunday I took Jay for another trail ride with my friend who has the older QH, expecting another easy, low pressure trail ride. Ha Ha. This time her granddaughter couldn't come, and there were three other riders. We took a different route, and came upon a small, pretty, grassy field that in the past would have been calling my name for a good gallop. Well, we walked along it and back into the woods.

At the next nice grassy field, my friend told me the other riders were going to go faster...just as they were taking off! Thanks for the warning people! My heart jumped into my throat, and my friend said "Just turn him in a circle if you don't want to do that." Good advice. Well, with only one horse walking and three cantering, Jay wanted to go, too! Jay and I ended up cantering in a circle there near my friend. I must say I was thankful for the time I have been spending at the Y, because I think that in the not very distant past I would have just crumbled and popped off. I felt stronger and MUCH more in control of my body, and even though my adrenaline level was off the chart it ended up being a rather nice canter under the circumstances! The other riders cantered back and rejoined us at the walk. Jay was still a little "up," so I trotted on ahead of them to the end of the field rather than try to hold Jay back and make him more unhappy.

When I spotted the next field through the trees, I knew what was coming. I was nervous! This time, though, my friend asked the others to go a little further over from us before they took off, and I was able to take Jay out behind them at a trot. Jay is such a GOOD boy! I was just concerned about how he would react if I cued him for the canter, just because of recent past experiences and because three other horses were taking off in front of us. Would Jay take off with me? I must admit that I was wondering when, or if, cantering through a field would be fun again.

At the next field everyone walked...there was a ditch in the middle of it. Then we crossed a road into another field. This time we all needed to stay along the edge, so I bit the bullet and took Jay out behind the others at a trot. When he smoothly and politely broke into a canter, I just eased into two point, planted my hands on his neck, and vibrated the reins just a bit to rate him. Yippee, it WAS fun! *BIG grin*

The next field we came to was a bit down hill, and I still just didn't trust MYSELF. The three others took off cantering all over that field, but Jay was happy to stay at a walk with my friend. That was a good experience, too. We don't always have to GO just because others are!

So overall it was a fun ride and a GOOD experience with a breakthrough for me! Jay is so good, and so well behaved. Most of the ride I had him on the buckle. We crossed three streams. When the other riders stopped to let their horses have a "snack," Jay stood quietly on the buckle resting a hind foot. (I am just not used to stopping on a trail ride to let my horse graze for a "treat," no matter how appreciative I am of him carrying me on the ride!)

It was a GOOD weekend!!!

Show time!

Skate was wonderful (I love that little horse!) - a little tense and spent some time calling out (he loves little ponies - esp. gray ones), but overall, he was very easy to deal with. He stayed tied to the trailer munching hay most of the day with no problems. He loaded absolutely wonderfully; I don't even have to line him up to the ramp - just sorta aim him in the general direction and he follows. I have never had a horse that loaded that well, so this is such a treat.

Our first test (Intro B) was a little hectic. The judge got there 30 min late after getting lost, so my ride time was pushed back. I was getting saddled up 30 min prior to my new ride time and heard "dressage riders, we are back on schedule. Please show up at your originally scheduled ride time." What? Ridiculous...so I trotted him down to the ring with NO warmup and did my test. Scored a whopping 54 and won a blue ribbon! The overall comment was that I could pull it all together by riding him into the contact. Sorta tough when he's stargazing. He definitely did a nice llama impression! I'll leave out the drama on that description - since there really was none.

This is what Skate thinks of his ribbon:
Second test - TL1- I warmed up in a quiet spot on the XC course (he canters quietly in a big field - I think he WILL make a good eventing pony!). I thought he seemed much less tense and was fairly supple, although still mostly above the bit. The test went rather well, but I only scored a 50 on that one. I got a lot of "above the bit" - that may have been on every single movement. One comment was actually "very lazy" on his freewalk. Ha. Still managed a fifth place out of about 10 or so, as all the scores were low. I was very happy with Skate, though, as he was relaxed and easy to ride. Less stargazing, but still not at all round and on the bit.

So, overall, I'm really excited at how fun the day was and I'm ready to do more little schooling shows. I need to work on riding him the same at shows as I do at home...I know I could have used more bend throughout my tests to help with the stargazing.

I got to meet Christie and her hubby and lovely horse, Jay . They were nice enough to video my tests - so that will be coming soon for everyone to view! The sucky thing was that I had to leave before she got to ride...the crew I drove in with was ready to go after a long day and I was trailering one of their horses, so off we went. Jay and Christie looked good in the warmup, though, so I hope they did as well in their class.

Back from the flu...

Word to the wise - never say you're "too busy" to get the flu shot. :P The hour it takes to get it will save you TONS of time later on. I'm finally starting to feel better after, although it should take another week to get my full strength back.

I tried something new today in honor of the good weather...I hooked up my iPod! I know, shocking! I NEVER thought I'd ride with music with Pro since I always want to be aware, but it worked out well. I only put one earbud in so I could still keep tabs on the outside world. I think the music helped me to relax and get in that mindset of "alright Pro, however long it takes to get down to business is your problem, not mine". Pro is definitely not a horse when you can ride if you only have 30 minutes because if stuff goes down, you HAVE to stay on until the argument is resolved and you can come out on top. So when he started to act a bit fussy today I just focused on taking a deep breath in, letting it out slowly, and just focusing on keeping my demands consistent and pushing him through.

He started off wanting to gawk at the bunny tree but I pushed him through and kept my lower legs off. I also worked hard today on keeping my hip flexors OPEN. I had a "duh!" moment last week while sick as I was contemplating my riding progress...yes, I'd been keeping my lower legs off, but I hadn't been keeping my hip angles open! Tilting forward was just giving him what he wants. So I lifted my legs off his sides and then streeetched up to open those flexors (ow). I did lots of "follow my inside rein" to remind him that he's NOT allowed to just fake neck flexion, but that he's really supposed to come through his back. And I think we got it! We also worked a lot on cliff-halting, in which you halt and just push "pause" on the energy remote instead of "stop". So that you feel like you're standing just at the edge of a cliff, balancing, until you walk on.

We even trotted for five minutes! I was out of breath after that ;) but at least I got him to stretch down and over his back and step big. All in all, I was pretty pleased with our comeback ride, and it feels good to return to the blog again.

As requested......cutting kids

These pictures are from Wednesday's ride. I didn't get to ride last night before the rain hit. I have decided not to show this weekend. I don't think Andy is in good enough shape and from looking at these pictures he isn't using his hind end as much as he needs to. A lot of that has to do with footing and the fact that he doesn't have sliders on. He will be getting them in the next week or so though. Then we can really "lay 11s".

We did a lot of work on collection that night. He wasn't so sure what I wanted at first but after a few times doing the drill he was really using his back and hind end more and coming up into my bridle instead of leaning.

Tracking her and getting ready to cut her off.

We had a small conversation last night about which side of the poles to pass. LOL

Multiple Updates on Christie and Jay

This is a multi-faceted update! First, Jay and I had a great lesson last Wednesday (3-11-09). We had a lot of variety! After warming up at the trot, we did trot poles with a cavalletti at the end. After we did the poles/cavalletti a few times, she had me trot a little cross rail, but for the first time we didn't have a placement pole. It doesn't take much to increase my anxiety these days, but it went fine. Then we worked on the canter...a lot. I have finally realized that it is not so much the canter that is worrying me (only occasionally if it gets too fast), but the transition from trot to canter. I think it is because that is where my past problems with other horses have happened, whether it be a bolt or a buck. I am not worried about Jay bucking, because he has NEVER given ANY indication that he would even think about doing that, but sometimes during upward transitions he gives me a little more impulsion than I expect and it worries me some. Last week she had me actually grab some mane going into the transition. Jay raises his head right now as we transition, and if I am holding mane it will help me not brace against him and create tension for us to feed off of as we keep cantering. We had some pretty decent transitions after that.

Yesterday I had another lesson. Lately I have been feeling that Jay is not responding to my leg very well, and has not had good impulsion at the trot. I have even been tempted to carry a whip, and mentioned it to my instructor, but she didn't think we needed it. I am wondering now if it was just that she didn't think we were ready for it! During our trot warm-up yesterday she asked me how I felt about a crop/whip, and we both agreed that it was time. As soon as I had the dressage whip, Jay responded better without me even having to use it. Smart boy!

We started out yesterday the same as last week: trot warm-up, trot poles/cavalletti, small cross rail. Then she she said we were going to work on cantering, but just as quickly changed her mind. Uh-oh. Somehow I knew even before the lesson started that the vertical that was set up in the ring was coming, and when she didn't start moving anything around after saying she had changed her mind...well, I was glad that I had actually already started psyching myself up for it! I do have to say that everything came together well, and it felt good! Jay seemed to step it up and take it more seriously, and I think I got myself together because I was afraid about what would happen if I didn't! So I guess we both took it more seriously! We did it three times. I was very happy (as was my instructor), so we stopped for the day on that good note.

I do have to admit that I am actually frustrated with myself, though, after seeing the video from yesterday. I have really lost riding skill. I guess it is not surprising after 11+ years of not being well and everything that goes with that, including the loss of conditioning and weight gain. I realize now that I really was over-estimating my skill level, so I guess it is no wonder that I ended up with confidence issues!

I would REALLY have hated to see myself even a couple of months ago, though, even more so than now! I didn't want to mention what else I have been up to until I actually knew I was going to see some results, but I AM seeing some results, so I will share. My husband and I joined the YMCA on December 31st. We have changed our eating habits, too. Including riding, I am working out at least 5 to 6 times a week. Even when the weather has been too bad to ride, I have been going to the gym. I have been doing a lot of spinning because I can do it with my ankle limitations and I enjoy it, but DH and I have also been doing a variety of other things, too. I am very happy that I can tell that my stamina and endurance has really improved. My first lessons with Jay back in December I could barely manage to trot around the ring more than once before I was exhausted, and a couple of times we pretty much had to stop after 30 minutes because I was worn out. Last week we went for a full hour, with only short breaks. I have lost almost 25 pounds! Right now we are participating in a program called "Y-Weigh" which is like their version of The Biggest Loser. As part of that program we plan to participate in a 5K on May 2nd.

As much as I have been enjoying my lessons, I have been missing doing dressage work, and have started checking into some options for dressage instructors, with the intention of still working with this H/J trainer/friend some too. After seeing myself, I know I really want and need to get my finesse and tact back. However, now I am wondering if I should stick with just her for a little while longer, until my fitness, weight, and ability improve some more. Opinions?