Changes

I've been thinking about the direction I want to go with my riding for a while now.  And I've made the decision to make the switch to dressage.  Now don't get me wrong I love to jump.  And I don't plan on giving up jumping entirely.  But I do think it's the right choice for me competitively.  I fine when I'm at home, I can jump anything Bonnie tells me to, might not look pretty the first time, but I can do it.  But at shows, my nerves just get the better of me.  I'm finally able to admit that doing this competitively is just not really doing me or the horses any good.  So I'm sticking to the sandbox.

Really it just makes sense for me to take advantage of the horse I have to ride now.  Yes Bugs is a great jumper.  But he is a phenomenal dressage horse.  So why not try for my bronze medal with him? 

No, not this kind of bronze medal

Through USDF you can earn your bronze, silver and gold medals with qualifying scores at certain levels.  For the bronze medal you have to get two qualifying scores (60% or higher) at first, second and third level.  The scores have to be earned at two different shows and under two different judges.

First level is really not out of reach for me.  Let's look at the tests and what each one introduces

First level test 1

• 10m half circle at trot-got it, school them often
• 15m circle at canter-got it, again, we school that often
• lengthening of stride in trot and canter-Bugsy's got this down pat, in fact he often does them without being asked.  might need to work on the brakes at the end of the lengthening though

First level test 2

• leg yield-we rock the leg yield

First level test 3

• 10m circle at trot-done
• change of lead through trot-done
• counter canter-done

A little work on lengthening and other than that there's nothing in first level that I don't feel comfortable with.  And I've got all winter to work on it.  So right now the plan is to ride first level at my first show in March.  And since it's a two day show and I can ride three tests each day, why not try second level as well.  Challenge myself over the winter.  And challenge it will be.  Well challenge for me, not for Bugsy though.

Second level test 1

• collected trot
• collected canter
• 10m circle at canter
• medium gaits
• shoulder in
• simple change of lead
• rein back

Second level test 2

• travers
• turn on the haunches

Second level test 3

• renvers

Well, I can do a decent turn on the haunches, and a good rein back.  I can sometimes get a decent shoulder in.  OK looks like I've got some work this winter.

So in typical Bonnie fashion we got right to work this weekend.  Bugsy has been getting turned out at night with Kaye and even though he had been in Friday night I took a calculated risk and got on without lunging him first.  And he didn't try to dump me, alright this is starting out promising.   Let him warm up long and low, really stretching that neck out.  By the way, so glad the stretchy circle in first level still has a coefficient of 2, Bugs kicks ass on the stretchy circle.  then we started to collect and work on some 10m circles, changing directions every so often and really working on keeping his head and not losing the bend on the transition.  Then she had me try a collected trot.  I've never done a collected trot on any horse.  We didn't quite have it exactly, certainly not show ring ready.  But for my first time it wasn't a half bad attempt.  I could feel him start to bring his hindquarters up underneath himself to get the collection.  So that was pretty cool.  Then Bonnie took pity on my poor out of breath self and allowed me a brief walk break before we started on the canter work.  And this is where she really challenged me.  The 10m trot circle exercise?  Yeah we were to do that.  At the canter.  It was hard, I will admit that, only having like two strides to come down to the trot and then pick up the other canter lead before changing directions.  But after a few times I started to get it.  Again it wasn't perfect, but it was a start.  I'd like to think that Bugsy was enjoying himself as much as I was learning new things.  

All in all I'm really excited to show dressage this year.  I mean who wouldn't be excited to show of this fancy thing?

Read more...

The Spotted Wonder

This weekend things FINALLY came together and I was able to make it out to the barn on Saturday morning.  And as soon as I got there I was sent out to purchase a tow chain as the trusty tractor decided to be not so trusty and break down.  Well, the search for a heavy duty tow chain was not fruitful, so an hour later I headed back to the barn to ride.

I started out with Bugsy.  I'll be honest, I was expecting to have a rather, uh, explosive pony under me.  But I was pleasantly surprised.  I did put him on the lunge line with side reins before I got on.  Let him play and get rid of the bucks that way.  Then when I got on, I had a very well mannered pony who was eager to get to work.  After having the last month off, I think he was very happy to be ridden again.  He gave me some beautiful trot work, and I was really able to push him forward into a very impulsive trot.  Then Bonnie had us work on some halt-back up-canter transitions.  At first, I wasn't being aggresive enough in my canter departs and so Bugsy was taking a few steps at the walk before cantering, rather than immediately cantering.  After a few tries, we started to get it.  Well I started to get it.  I'm really getting excited to show Bugsy this year, especially as we start adding these more difficult dressage movements.

Then it was time to tack up the Spotted Wonder.  He's starting to shed out, so I'm hopeful that maybe sometime soon I'll get him looking somewhat clean enough to take pictures.  I'm beginning to think I need to give him a little more credit.  He might not be as slow as I first thought.  Mentally at least, in terms of his actual speed when riding, well that's still s-l-o-o-o-o-w.  I got on and went right work on bending.  Lots of circles of varying sizes in both directions.  Mystic actually is starting to remember what I want from him.  He was bending through the entire length of his body and really trying not to drop the inside shoulder.  After about fifteen minutes we moved on to the trot and after a few circles he remember that he had to keep doing the same thing at the trot that he had been doing at the walk.

I have discovered that posting the trot on him is nearly impossible right now.  He's just too much work to keep going, let alone get a good trot out of when posting.  I really need to be able to sit down and push my seat and back into him to get a nice forward trot.  Of course the spurs also help with that as well.  I noticed that he was starting to become a lot more steady in the bridle.  He's not fussing with the bit as much or playing around with his head anymore.  He's still green so I'm not asking him for a lot in terms of a frame.  I keep contact with his mouth, but he's perfectly fine with going somewhat in front of the vertical at this stage in his training.  Plenty of time to ask him to come back and accept more contact in the future.

Next weekend I think I'll try him over fences for the first time.  I know he can be a rather enthusiastic jumper, so we'll see how that goes.  Mystic could turn out to be a fun eventing prospect this summer.  Maybe cross country will teach him to actually move.  Or I might just exhaust myself trying to get him to make time.  In the meantime, I think I'll stop at Luster's on Friday.  Seems like it's time for Mystic to get his own bridle and stop sharing Airy's.

Read more...

A Long Overdue Update

Winter has definitely settled in for western PA.  While we haven't yet had a bad winter, it has gotten cold and it's dark so early.  Unfortunately my time with the ponies has suffered because of it.  I just can't quite bear that much riding in the cold, especially since they all tend to feel pretty good in this weather.  Luckily over the past month or so I have gotten some good rides in.  And added some new ponies to the string.

The week between Christmas and New Year's saw me at the barn pretty often.  The nice thing about working for Pitt is we do shut down for winter recess that week.  So I was able to get out almost every day.  I had several very productive dressage rides on Bugsy.  Slowly but surely we are mastering this whole dressage thing.  And it's making more and more excited for show season to start.  I also had a ride or two on Kaye, which was a nice change.  Although it was very apparent that only the kids had been riding her for a while.  She was very stiff and all strung out.  And she was rather resistant to changing that at first.  But we did a lot of circles where I just dropped my outside rein and made her work entirely off the inside aids.  It worked, but she needs some occasional tune up after the kids.

Buggers got a sweet new pair of kicks, so he got a couple of days off.

Bugsy enjoying his pedicure

I love when Matt is home to shoe the horses.  First he does a hot shoeing, which I just like the fit of the shoes so much better.  And then second, he takes the time to do the job right.  Not that our other farrier isn't great too, Matt just really takes the time.  I tacked up Bugs when he first got there so he could watch him go.  See Bugsy has one front leg that is just a hair longer than the other, so if you trim his hooves identically then his stride is just the tiniest bit uneven.  But Matt watched me work him a bit and then pulled the old shoes and started trimming.  Then I worked him a bit more before the new shoes went on so Matt could evaluate his movement again.  Bugs felt great with the new trim!

Since Bugs got a mini vacation, it gave me some time to ride my own pony.  X was thrilled when I put him back to work.  And I mean work.  Ari's been riding him a lot lately.  And she does do a great job with him, but I've noticed he's been really resistant with his head when changing directions and I'm not entirely pleased with his canter.  So he got tacked up in the western saddle with draw reins and went back to school.  It was an enlightening experience for him.  Everytime I would ask him to change directions he would stick his head up in the air and to the outside.  And everytime he did that I would drop my outside rein and turn him in a small circle, making him bend and give in the head.  With some encouragement from the big boy spurs when necessary.  Eventually he figured it out.

Tired pony after school :)

Towards the end of the week Bonnie added a couple new horses to my string.  I got on Buddy for the first time.  And I have to say, he's a pretty cool little horse under saddle.  He hasn't really done any work at all in a couple of years, and that was evident in how quickly he tired.  But damn if hasn't forgotten a thing.  Typical arab he had to think about it the first time, but then once he got through that first time, it was like 'oh I remember how to do this.'  Of course I did feel like I was practically on the ground.  Slender, 14 hand Buddy is quite a change from rolly polly 16 hand Bugsy! First ride we didn't do too much, just some walk/trot, mainly so I could get used to him.  The second ride we did a little more.  We incorporated a lot of trot work and some cantering.  Again, he tired easily since he's so out of shape but he was a really good boy for it all.

Buddy after our first ride

And then the second new horse added to my string was Mystic.  You might remember Mystic from when Katie was riding him last year.  Well, he's kinda had a break for a while since Katie left the barn in August.  And actually a break was probably the best thing for him.  I tacked him up and lunged him a bit the first day before hoping on.  While he was very wild and full of go on the lunge, as soon as I got on him he turned into western pleasure pony.  Personally, I'd much rather ride a forward horse then one you have to make go all the time.  Did have to get after him with the whip a few times just to get him to move on, and then he was a little better.  The worst part though, was that he goes very much off the outside rein and hardly at all responds to the inside leg.  He really just wants to go around very stiffly, with little to no bend and just drop his inside should and fall around the turn.  Not acceptable!  That first day I just did a lot of circles with him, asking for the bend, making him do it right and hold that shoulder up.  Lots of changes in directions and I started to get him moving off my leg by asking him to spiral in and out of the circle.  Second ride on Mystic was much improved.  While he isn't the brightest bulb in the barn, Mystic can figure things out.  Something from our ride the day before must have stuck because he was a little more responsive.  Of course that also might have had something to do with the spurs I rode in.  :)  It was a lot of the same stuff from the first ride, lots of circles and changes in direction.  And I started to include some baby leg yields.  Anything really to get him moving off my inside leg and carrying himself properly off the inside aids rather than the outside aids that had been favored by his previous rider.  And he is actually learning and starting to change the way he carries himself.  I just foresee lots and lots and lots of circles in his future. 

Mystic waaaay over jumping the baby crossrail with Katie

Even here you can see he's not really bending

I'm really starting to get excited about the new year.  I've got a lot of horses to work with, and I'm planning to show as much as possible with Bugsy.  2012 is looking very good!

Read more...

Jumping Ponies!

Yes that's right I jumped for the first time since Erie!  Woohoo!!!  We'll get to the details in just a minute.

As you can probably tell by the lack of updates, this holiday season has been a little on the rough side for me.  It's been really hard on me realizing that my brother's not here this year.  Not to mention the insane amount of hours I'm working each week between the two jobs.  So sorry for the lack of updates.

So let's jump into what is sure to be a massive post here.  Well several weeks ago, we had a big milestone where the Boy and the ponies met for the first time.  That meeting went pretty well I think.  The Boy is still not real sure about horses, but he's trying.  So that gets him a ton of bonus points right there.

As far as the riding goes, I've really been focusing on my dressage lately.  Actually since Erie basically.  But it's paying off.  I switched to the big boys spurs for Bugsy a couple weeks ago and it's really made a difference.  Of course Bugs isn't so thrilled with the switch but he's moving off my leg a lot easier and our laterals are so much better!  We've been working on adding movements to our repertoire.  Or well I have as Bugsy already has them down pat.  We've gotten some pretty decent shoulder ins, and a couple of passable half passes.  I've started working on the extended trot and dabbled with haunches in.  I'm still struggling on the haunches in, but we'll get there.  I've also had some really good dressage rides on Airy.  I was really pleased with the good shoulder ins and half passes I got from her.  She's not nearly as well trained on them as Bugsy, and actually Bonnie hasn't done any of that with her in a long time.  So it was pretty impressive how well we did.

And then the week before Thanksgiving I jumped again!  Astrid decided she was ready to jump a little and so we all moved a couple sets of standards into the arena.  After some dressage with Bugs I decided to tack up Airy in my jumping saddle and I'd join the kids in their lesson.  Well after I blew all the dust off my saddle and got Airy tacked up we headed out to join Carlee, Ari and Astrid.  I'll admit after so much time spent in the dressage saddle being back in the jumping one felt a little weird.  We warmed up on the flat first and then Bonnie had us all head towards a small cross bar.  Airy was not exactly impressed with it.  But she hopped over.  Then the next time around, just as we lined up for the fence she tried to take off, gave a little buck and next thing I knew I was eating dirt.  Silly mare.  Got back in the saddle and we did it again, this time I was prepared for anything she might so.  We ended up jumping a few low fences, but called it quits after not too long.  She didn't try bucking again, but she did give me some pretty wild rides over some of the fences.

After we all finished jumping the kids all took their turns cantering and then Bonnie asked if I wanted to take Kaye over some fences!  Like I would say no to that.  And that's when I realized that the last time I even sat on Kaye was at South Farm in early June!  Crazy to think it had been so long.  So Carlee and I switched horses and Bonnie put the fences up a bit.  Nothing to drastic, just beginner novice height or so.  Kaye had a blast jumping the (slightly) bigger fences!  We had three fences set up, one in the center and then one off to either side at a slight angle.  We jumped them all going both directions, then I decided to do a little course.  Started out over the center fence, off to the one on the left, half circle to the other and then back over the center.  Turned around at the other end of the arena and did the whole thing in the opposite direction.  Toward the end Kaye was really getting in to jump off mode!  I let her keep going in a (controlled) canter, but she was cutting her corners to shave time and everything.  The one fence she cut so close my leg actually brushed the standard.  But she was having fun and I was having just as much fun with her.  I'm really enjoying the opportunity to learn from Bugsy and work with the all the other horses.  But I do miss riding Kaye and just getting to have fun!

Thanksgiving weekend I had a wild ride on Buggers.  Bonnie and Astrid were heading down to Maryland to pick up Buddy and Little Cuddles.  I headed out to the barn in the morning and tacked up to ride with Ari, Maggie and Tricia.  I made my first mistake by forgetting to lunge Bugs before I got on.  We warmed up beautifully at the walk, moved forward into a nice trot and then started with some pretty good laterals.  We had a couple great leg yields and then a very nice shoulder in.  Then coming out of that Bugsy spotted the super scary, horse eating...orange cone laying on it's side.  And he took off bucking.  Really Buggers?  The orange comes that have been in the arena for years?  The orange cones that you have jumped over, ridden around and played with?  So when he finally settled down I hopped off and hooked him up to the lunge line.  Lunged the pony for about 10 minutes or so and then hopped back on.  Ahh, so much better now!  He settled down and worked really well for me, even though he was very confused when I tried to show the two point position to Maggie.  He could not figure out why I was doing that in the wrong saddle!  So things went smoothly until we got to the canter.  I picked up the canter and first asked for a lot of canter-halt-reverse-canter transitions.  Canter a circle, halt, reverse, canter two circles.  Then maybe half a circle.  And so forth.  Then I asked him to do a three loop serpentine of the arena with a simple change for every loop and then do a three loop serpentine back in a counter canter.  Halt at the gate, turn on the haunches and do the same thing off the other lead.  First time down and back was great.  Then on the second time as we were completing the third loop down he tripped.  And came up bucking.  And I'm talking big, snap his back type bucks.  I sat up, dug my back into him, dug my spurs into him (and remember I was wearing the big boy spurs, so he felt them!) and made him move forward.  Once he stopped bucking we finished the exercise and then I made him to it again.  He was a sweaty Bugsy afterwards!  Oh well, I think I made my point.  Hopefully. 

So it's been a good couple of weeks with the ponies.  Lots of other stuff happening on the non-pony front.  But I think I'll save that for a separate post.

Read more...

NWPAHA Summer Classic Dressage Show

Yup that's right, Bugsy and I went over to the dark side and went to a dressage show.  And I loved it!

Our win at Erie means we are halfway qualified for the 2012 AECs and I want to go.  Bugsy will probably be my best bet to do well there.  And let's face it, although Bugs is nowhere near ready to retire, he is getting older and realistically, he can't keep doing this forever.  So this is it, this is my chance.  And I know the lower levels at the AECs are extremely competitive.  It's not like the upper levels where you can usually bank on moving up a few placings if you jump clean.  At beginner novice you have to have a good dressage score.  And although Bugs and I can muddle through the dressage well enough for here at home, I want to be good.  So I need ring experience, and lots of it.  Luckily last weekend I had a dressage show practically right in my backyard.

Saturday morning, Courtney and I loaded up Kiwi and Bugs for the short drive to Harlansburg for the Open Dressage Show that is held in conjunction with the NWPAHA Summer Classic Arabian Show.  Being so close, Courtney thought it would be a good opportunity for Kiwi to get her feet wet.  And of course we had all our minions along, Astrid, Victoria, and Ari.

First up was Training Test 2, Bugsy warmed up great, he was listening and soft and really just working well for me.  I ended up not needing much warm up at all on him.  We just did some trot work and then our canter departs.  So then I just kept him walking to keep his muscles loose and warm.  Of course when we headed into the ring for the test I got nervous.  And as a result the first half of our test was a little bit tense.  But as we moved through the test I relaxed and things got a lot better!  And apparently the judge didn't see the tension because I walked away with a 73.214!  In a recognized dressage show!  I was shocked.

Then it was back to the trailer and Bugsy got to chill and eat hay for a couple hours before we headed back to the ring for Training Test 1.  Again Bugs warmed up great.  And then this time when we headed into the ring I wasn't nervous at all.  It was a much better test right from the start.  Bugsy was supple and tracking up, working off his hocks.  He felt great in the canter work and he gave me this great long and low stretchy circle.  To me this test felt 100% better.  Enough so that I got the high score of the day with an even 75.000!  So pleased and proud of my Buggers!

Look at that stretch!

And then it was a break for a couple more hours till we rode our last test.  I'll be honest.  By the time we headed over to the ring for Training Test 3 I was tired.  And so was Bugsy.  Dressage is hard work!  We kept the warm up very short.  Just a little bit of trot work and then a quick canter depart on each lead.  Even so we were both tired when we headed into the ring and it showed.  Plus this was the one test I never had a chance to ride at home in it's entirety.  We still had a fairly decent test.  Just not as great as the first two.  We still came away with a 62.400 and lots of things to work on for the next time.

At the end of the day we went home with blue ribbons for Training Tests 1 and 2 and a red for Training Test 3.  Pretty good accomplishment for my first recognized dressage show.  So now we are thinking about heading to Chagrin on October 15th for the NODA Schooling Show.  And we might tackle First Level Test 1.  Stay tuned!

Read more...

EHSC Photo Overload

Guess what came in the mail yesterday.  The amazing pics Brant Gamma took of Buggers and I at EHSC!  Woot!  Here are some of my favorites.

Read more...

Erie Hunt and Saddle Club HT

Ok, finally getting around to blogging about my time at Erie Hunt and Saddle Club.  I had Friday before the event off.  So time to get Bugsy all squeaky clean and that last ride in.  Bonnie actually got on Bugsy and rode him first, so that was a nice treat.  I always enjoy riding after she's been on to tune things up.  Bugs got a thorough scrubbing as did my tack and he was tucked in for a good night's sleep.

Saturday morning I was at the barn e.a.r.l.y.  My ride time was at 9:12 but we had to feed and load up with enough time for me to get dressed and tacked up and plenty of warm up time at the show grounds.  Plus Bonnie wanted to work Bugs a bit before we left.  He goes better the second ride usually.  Made it to the barn in time to watch Bonnie ride, always educational.  The kids all slowly started arriving and we managed to get on the road only slightly behind schedule.  Pulled into the show grounds with about an hour till my ride time.  Perfect.  I got myself dressed while my superb grooming team took care of Bugsy for me.

Soon enough I was in the saddle and heading down to the dressage ring. Bugs warmed up great.  He was in the bridle just where we wanted him.  He was tracking up nicely.  All in all he looked exactly like a beginner  novice horse should.  We did our walk, trot and canter warm up, then just walked some small circles until it was our ride time.  As soon as Bugsy hit the dressage ring he suddenly remembered that he was a big bad intermediate horse.  And he went like an intermediate horse.  Oh well, he was a little more up in the bridle than we would have liked for beginner novice, but he was listening to me, and we rode a pretty good test.  So I figured we would either end up about mid pack or at the bottom of the division, depending on what the judge liked.  I practically had a heart attack when scores were posted and Bugsy and I were tied for 3rd!  I was shocked, I never expected to do that well.

I actually look like I know what I'm doing!

We had a couple of hours till it was time to jump, so Bugs was untacked and got to chill on the trailer with a hay bag, and we headed out to walk the cross country course.  It was a nice, straight forward course, actually the exact same course I jumped with Kaye 2 years prior.  Bonnie and I worked out how to ride the course, especially the water, and then we headed over to stadium.  Once again the stadium course was straight forward, no confusing turns or anything like that.

Before too much longer, the kids were tacking Bugs up again (in my snazzy new Ecogold pad) and we headed over to stadium warm up.  Bugsy warmed up great for me, although he was a little insulted by the small jumps.  We watched a couple of rounds and then it was our turn.  He was perfect in stadium, until the last fence.

As we were jumping the last fence we had a slight, uh, equipment malfunction.  My right stirrup slide off of the stirrup bar, and that threw me off balance just enough that I lost my other stirrup.  Well, then the banging stirrup spooked Bugs and he took off around the ring.  We did about 5 laps or so of the ring at a gallop before he jumped an oxer backwards and that's when I went off.   I just couldn't stick on anymore.  Luckily I was ok.  A lot sore, and a little shaken up, but ok.  Bugs stopped as soon as I went off and so the kids were able to grab him and take him back to the trailer.  Honestly at that point I wasn't sure I was up to finishing the show.  Luckily we had crossed the finish flags (several times) and so we were not penalized for the fall.  The kids took care of Bugs for me, hosed him off and then tacked him back up for cross country.  I got a drink, calmed down a bit, and manned up to get back on.

Warm up was a little rough.  Bugsy was being good, but I was still very nervous.  But the good news is even though I felt like I was going to be sick, I was staying with Bugs perfectly, even when he started leaving out strides before the fences.  Tammy coated my saddle in Saddle-Tite.  And then my support crew headed out to find a spot on course and I just had a few minutes left.  The starter called for my time, and we were off.

I was super nervous the first few fences.  And I kept Bugsy fairly slow.  And then after fence 3, my stupid pinny got caught around the whip I had under my saddle, so that slowed things up a bit.  We trotted the up bank at 4 and then down into the woods.  Then coming back up out of the woods Bugs picked up and easy canter, and suddenly I remembered how fun this was.  I rode my entire course in two-point, which actually Bugsy liked a lot better, sitting the canter/gallop on him is just asking for a little too much at this level.  He was such a good boy for me!  Even did the water like a champ!  The water was just an unflagged pass through for beginner novice, about 5 strides or so after a log.  Originally the plan was to go around the water rather than risk a stop, as we all know water is not Bugsy's favorite thing.  But after seeing the course Bonnie told me to take him through it, since it wasn't flagged, even if he did stop we wouldn't be penalized.  About 3 strides out from the log he saw the water and sucked back a little, but I growled at him and he said ok!  Jumped the log and then he did drop back to a trot before the water, but he trotted through with no hesitation and then picked up the canter again afterwards.  We finished the course with big smiles and 9 seconds under optimum time.

 
My support crew took Bugs for a well deserved shower, after he got lots of treats of course.  And I got a well deserved gatorade and a seat.  It wasn't too much longer till we heard the announcement that scores had been posted for my division.  If I was shocked to be tied for 3rd after dressage, just imagine my shock when I saw that I had won!  The first and second place horses had some problems in stadium and so I was tied for 1st after that.  Everyone else already knew it, and actually I'm glad Bonnie didn't tell me.  Would have made me a lot more nervous for cross country.  Both the other girl and I ran clean on cross country but I was closest to optimum time and so I won.  1st place out of 19 in the division, including some professionals, feels pretty darn good!

Read more...

I'm still alive, really!

I will get that Rolex post done on here I promise!  In the meantime, catch up on what I had to say over on the Ecogold blog.

Dressage

Cross Country

Show Jumping

Post Rolex Thoughts

Unfortunately I had to go back to work right away on Monday after Rolex.  And it has been crazy.  The last week of open enrollment is always a busy time for us and this was no exception.  Plus, Walmart apparently decided that since I needed Saturday and Sunday off I need to work the other five days of the week.  Luckily that meant I got Saturday off again so I could spend all day with the ponies.

Got to the barn early on Saturday and the kids started tacking up horses first thing.  Henry tacked up my Fanny-girl and I hopped on her first.  Man she is really enjoying the little bit of riding I've done with her.  Anyway, we warmed up on the flat and then started jumping over a crossbar.  Bonnie added a second crossbar as a two stride and then after a few times she turned the second fence into a vertical at about 2'.  Jumped that a few times and then the first fence was turned into a 2'4" vertical.  Fanny was a rock star as usual and just enjoying life jumping the slightly bigger fences.  And that brought Bonnie and I to the idea of taking her in the 2' walk/trot division at South Farm.  So it looks like Fanny and I will be heading that way.

After Fanny, Victoria brought Kaye out for me and I got a short ride on her.  I'm totally doing this backwards going from the smallest horse to the largest in my riding! lol  Kaye was great warming up on the flat.  A little resistant to the bit at first but that passed quickly.  And really it's just been the kids and Katie riding her lately so it's kind of to be expected.  We had a good warm up and then jumped through the combination several times, which for Kaye was a one stride rather than a two strider.  Didn't really take the fences up much but it felt great to be jumping Kaye at all.  I really haven't gotten the chance to ride her much lately.

Then Kaye and Fanny were turned over to the kids and I decided to play with Orphan Annie for a bit.  Bonnie and I found a new bit for the pony while we were in Kentucky.  It's a double jointed D ring with a medium port.  The idea is that she won't be able to get her tongue over the bit.  So I tied her in her stall with the new bit and just let her stand for a while.  She was pretty good with it.  Surprised me actually.  After I let her get used to it, I started grooming her and then tacked her up to lunge a bit.  She tried her best to get her tongue over the bit, but the pony was not successful.  So I'm calling it a win for the new bit.

After fooling around with the pony for a bit it was time to ride.  Tacked Naughtie up to ride with Katie and Mystic.  She warmed up beautifully on the flat and then it was time to start jumping.  Bonnie started us over just a single fence, a large cross bar.  And then she added another fence to make it a one stride.  And slowly Bonnie increased the fence height till we were eventually jumping 3'4"  And Naughtie was a rockstar!  I'm also coming to a big realization about my riding.  Quite frankly I suck!  No really, I'm learning that I've just let Kaye do so much of the work and been a passenger with her.  And I can't do that with Naughtie.  I have to work hard to ride her correctly.  And let me tell you it is hard work.  And I am sore every time I get off that mare.  But it's also humbling and very rewarding.  And I'm learning a lot.  Even more so than when I ride Kaye.  Yeah I might get to jump bigger stuff, but it's all Kaye, not me. 

Joni, Matty and I at 5801

The week in between barn trips was, well, typically boring.  I worked, worked and worked some more.  But I did meet up with Matty and crew in Pittsburgh at 5801 on the 13th to celebrate his birthday in style!  lol.

On the 14th, we decided to clear the jumps out of the arena so that we could work on some dressage.  I was up first on my Fanny-girl.  We ran through the new USDF Intro test B.  And Fanny strutted her dressage stuff!  Gotta love that pony.  Put her in a dressage ring and she just gets herself in a pretty little frame and moves right on.  You can barely even notice her off on that stifle at all.  So Fanny and I ran through the B test a few times and then I turned her over to Victoria.  Time to tack Naughtie up, with draw reins today.  After warming up, we started out by riding Intro test B.  Naughtie hasn't ridden a dressage test in a couple years.  And well, I'm just going to say that didn't count as she was ridden very well then.  But she was a superstar.  Worked in a nice, level appropriate frame and everything.  Next up was Beginner Novice test B (I refuse to ride test A)  And once again Naughtie rocked it.  She was relaxed and gave me just the nicest canter work.  So proud of my big girl.

And finally that takes us to this weekend.  Again we decided to work on dressage first.  And I was up first on Fanny-girl.  We ran through both the USDF Intro test B and test C.  Even adding in the canter work Fanny was such a good girl for me.  Handed her off to Victoria and then went to get Naughtie ready.  While I was getting her ready, which took a while as she had a new (to her at least) bridle and new reins that needed to be fitted, the kids finished up with dressage tests and Victoria started moving jump standards into the four corners of the ring so we could have a little mini combined test.  By the time I got out to the arena, the jumps were set up and Naughtie definitely noticed them.  She thought it was time to jump.  And she was not too happy when she realized that it was dressage time first.  She was a bit heavy and strong in the bridle, but not too bad overall.  We ran through both Intro test B and C and she gave me some really nice movements.  Then a quick swap of the draw reins for her running martingale and it was time to jump.  I took over over the cross bars first and then we just hung out for a while waiting for Ethan and Henry to ride their dressage tests.

The jumps were then all turned into verticals at about 2'6".  Bonnie decided that I better get on Fanny and take her around the first time over the bigger fences.  And man did Fanny have fun!  She was getting some serious air over those things!  Back on Naughtie and we got our turn over the course.  Bonnie's directions were pretty much just pick a course of 8 or 10 fences.  So I figured I would ride both straight lines and then both diagonal lines. Naughtie was tearing up that course.  She was seriously just trucking around and launching herself over it all.  I'm thinking the 2' divisions at South Farm are going to be a piece of cake for her.

Read more...

This and That...

I know, I know.  I've been terribly lax about updating.  What can I say, I've been busy.  Between working both jobs, NaNoWriMo writing and trying to squeeze in time with the ponies, well there's just not enough hours in the day.

Anyway, I had a good jumping lesson on Kaye a couple weeks ago.  Bonnie had these triples set up across the diagonals, kind of like an x in the middle of the arena.  That was pretty cool, Kaye and I actually didn't have any bad fences to start out with.  Unfortunately we were riding with Katie and Mystic, and since Mystic is still pretty green, we were only jumping baby cross bars.  That sucked, would have been a lot more fun to jump slightly bigger fences.

Then last week I didn't get to ride Kaye since all the kids ride her.  But I did tack up Miss in the dressage saddle and took her out for some walking work.  Miss has been chowing down on her grain the last few weeks, so unusual for her.  So now that she putting some weight on, we need to get her to build up her muscles as well.  I tried something a little different with her before our ride.  I gave her a squirt of Albuteral before we headed out to the arena.  And man did that make a difference.  Her breathing was a little bit rumbly but she never coughed and she didn't start wheezing.  And Miss loved it.  We did a lot of walking on a loose rein, bending circles and all that.  Then I would pick up the reins and collect her into a dressage frame for some leg yields and half passes and such.  Then back to a loose rein for a bit and then some more collected work.  All in all I rode her for about 45 minutes, and she was doing great.  Ari and Sara both took lunge lessons on my pony.  Ari has decided that she loves lunging on my horse.  So she rode him a bit and then Sara took a turn.  She wasn't sure about him at first, she hasn't been on anyone but Fanny since coming to Bonnie's, and he is a bit bigger.  But after she took a couple of laps on him, she started to relax and then enjoy it a little more.  After Sara finished I had Victoria lunge me a couple of times so Sara could see what she should be doing on the lunge, how to relax and sit the trot without a death grip on the saddle.

This past Saturday, I got to take a dressage lesson on Kaye.  Which is fine with me, I really want to focus on dressage this winter.  We got some good canter moments, plus some really good leg yields.  So I was really pleased with that.  After I rode Kaye, I tacked up Miss again and took her out for some more walking work. Once again I gave her some Albuteral before we rode, and she was great.   She's really enjoying getting back into some work.  I don't know if we'll ever be able to do anything more with her than just walking.  But even if that's all she can do, I'm fine with that.  At least she's still here with us.  And still happy.  And happy ponies make me happy.  So I'll take it!

Good news is this is a short work week.  At least at Pitt.  Of course I'll still be working at Wal-Mart all weekend.  But I'm off on Thanksgiving so I can head out to the barn in the morning.  And I don't work till 6:00 PM on black friday, so unless Mom drags me out shopping, I'll be at the barn then too.

Miss, still bright eyed and ready to go after our ride.

Read more...

South Farm Part 3

And we returned to South Farm for the 3rd Combined Test weekend. And it was a busy weekend for us. Friday after work I headed straight to the barn and Bonnie and I loaded Pele up in the trailer and took off for South Farm. Unfortunately by the time Dr. Maro finished up with Tru and Fanny it was a little after 7 by the time we actually left. Which means we didn't get to South Farm until like 9:30. Searched around for our stall, finally found it and unloaded Pele. Well the stall didn't have an actual door on it, only a stall guard. Which would have been fine if it wasn't set at TB/dumbblood height. So as soon as I turned my back to get him water, he just put his head down and slipped underneath it. We improvised and used a piece of fencing to lock him in. It was after 10 when we finally got him all settled and were able to head home. Which put us home after midnight. I didn't get home till 1 and had to be back at the barn to leave by 6:30. All that means Jennifer didn't get much sleep. But that's ok since I wasn't riding Saturday.

We did manage to make it out of the barn on time and we got to South Farm about 9:00. I fed Pele and then went to pick up packets for the kids. Then we started to get Fanny ready for the two Intro dressage tests that Astrid was going to ride in.  The two of them had a couple of nice tests, Astrid just rushes things a bit, like her halt.  But it was much better in the second test.

After she was finished Fanny got a nice bath and she was able to hang out in trailer and keep Kaye company.  We had some time to just hang out and watch some of the other horses go until it was time for Henry to ride.  I have to say I am so proud of Henry this weekend.  He did so well at his first show, he was nice and relaxed, rode a great test with Fanny.  And such a ham!  I love his very dramatic salute to the judge.

Fanny then got to go hang out in Pele's stall while we got him ready for Bonnie to ride.  Bonnie and Astrid both headed down to the dressage ring together as they were both riding in the Very Green and Baby Beginner Novice divisions.  Astrid had two nice tests again.  She really is improving every time.  And Pele, well he was a little snot for his walk/trot test.  But he was like a different horse for the canter test.  He and Bonnie had a very nice test especially considering that was only his second show ever. 

Henry's stadium was next.  He had a very relaxed round, just trotted around.  Fanny pretty much just stepped over everything, she decided it wasn't worth it to jump.  But Henry just went with the horse and had fun.  A big difference between all the other kids who were yanking and jerking on their horses.  And it paid off when Henry won his division!  I was so proud of him.  And he was so excited to get that blue ribbon.

Bonnie and Astrid then had their stadium for the 2 foot divisions.  Pele was super excited to finally get in the ring and jump, he had been watching the other horses jump all day.  He was a good boy for Bonnie, unfortunately they did have a rail at the first fence in the second round, but otherwise he was very good.  Astrid of course had two clean rounds with Kaye.  And Kaye of course was looking for the fences to go up.  Astrid ended up winning both the divisions.  And Bonnie was second.  She would have won the Baby Beginner Novice if it hadn't been for that rail.  Oh well, still really good for his first show.

Katie and Kaye then went in for Beginner Novice.  Unfortunately I had taken Pele back to untack and put away so I ended missing both her dressage and stadium.
Sunday morning it was back to South Farm.  Tricia and Pele were going in both the Intro and Very Green divisions.  Rachel was riding Kaye in Beginner Novice and I was taking her in Novice again. 

Tricia was up first and of course it had to rain when she was riding dressage.  Unfortunately someone decided to turn out a horse just as she was riding down the centerline.  And Pele saw it take off around the pasture.  And he had to spin around to look at it.  But Tricia recovered nicely and had a pretty decent test considering.  Her second test was really good, apparently Pele just needs the first one to screw around.  Once again when it was time to jump, Pele was all ready.  He jumped everything really well for Tricia, no dirty stops and not too much over-jumping either. 

Rachel was next for dressage, and other than almost going into the ring with her running martingale on, she had a great test.  What a difference when you learn the correct test!  We then asked if I could ride my dressage early, rather than having to ride after Rachel had jumped.  Luckily there were some scratches so we were able to sneak in.  Kaye was awesome for me.  Right were I wanted her, not too much above the bit.  Every time I just feel my dressage has improved. 

Kaye then got her boots on and it was time for Rachel to jump.  They went double clear, Rachel didn't waste anytime trotting this time.  Although the way Kaye was going I don't know that she could have trotted.  Kaye was definitely strong for her.  Probably going to have to bump her up to a slow twist if Rachel moves up anymore.  Once Rachel was finished I was able to hop up and warm up for my stadium.  Pretty much the same course as last week only this time we had a 1 stride combination rather than a 2 stride.  Eh, no big deal, still easier than what we school at home.  Even though I didn't really feel like it at the time, I realized now that I was a little nervous about going Novice last week.  Not this time.  Stadium was so much fun.  And Kaye was a Rockstar!  She was bold and forward, but at the same time I still had control.  She was listening to me and I was able to take all the shortcuts in there.  Which no one else was doing.  It's hard to say who had more fun.

Finally after we finished Kaye was able to go back to the trailer and get a well deserved bath.  As I was walking her around to dry, Bonnie came out to give me the good news.  We won the dressage!  Kaye won dressage!  Incredible, and since we jumped clean we won the division.  That felt so good.  To win not just because someone else had rails, but because we actually had the best test.  And Kaye is so not a dressage horse.  Our dressage score still wasn't all that great, but I'll take it.

Read more...

South Farm Redux

Well Memorial Day weekend was a busy one for me. Luckily Friday afternoon we did get out of work early (Yay!) and so I was able to make it out to the barn by 4:30. Colleen and Carlee were there for a lesson, so I helped Carlee get Fanny ready and then watched her ride. And then Bonnie had me tack up Kaye for a short jump school. We just jumped through the quad a couple of times as crossbars before calling it a night. We wanted to take it easy on her, plus we had Saturday to raise the fence height.

I was at the barn early Saturday, we only had a few hours there since we had to leave by noon to get ready for Kezia's wedding. Rachel was there first and she had a great jumping lesson with Kaye. And then a quick tack change and I was on. Jumped through the quad about 3 times as crossbars and then Bonnie started turning them into verticals. She started with the last one and then each time I jumped through she added another vertical. Then we jumped the offset oxer a couple of times and the helicopter. Very good jump school for me. All the fences were set right about 2'11" exactly what I would be jumping at South Farm. Actually probably a bit higher than South Farm. So really good ride, very pleased with it going into the show. Henry and Astrid rode Fanny and Mickey while Ari and I took a quad ride back to the pasture to take down some fence. And then finally Ari had a ride on Fanny before we settled the horses in for the day and went to get ready.

Kezia's wedding was beautiful. The service was held in the Wurtemburg United Methodist Church in Ellwood City. Key made a gorgeous bride.


Sunday morning found us on the road to South Farm again. Since we were only taking Kaye, Bonnie decided to load Pele up as well. That way he could keep Kaye company plus Bonnie could ride him around the grounds. I don't think Pele has been off the farm in a very long time, so it was the perfect opportunity to get him used to it before he needed to show next weekend. We got to South Farm and saw that Rachel and her Dad had beaten us there. While Katie and Bonnie checked on the horses, I headed inside to pick up packets and turn in entries for next week. When Bonnie joined me a few minutes later we ended up running into both Rob and Desiree so that was pretty cool to catch up with them.

We headed back to the truck where Katie had tacked up Kaye and gotten dressed. We finished getting the horses ready and then Bonnie got on Kaye while Katie hoped on Pele to head down to the ring. Bonnie worked Kaye a bit before the two of them switched horses. Katie finished warming up Kaye and then it was time to head into the dressage ring. The two of them had a nice test except for where Katie got a little too eager for the circles and had an error of test. Of well -2 for that. So a quick rider change and Rachel was in the saddle. Unfortunately Rachel memorized the old Beginner Novice B test and so she was thoroughly confused in the ring. Jennifer Patton, the judge, was super nice though and gave me a copy of the test so that I could read it to Rachel. She still ended up with 2 errors of test but she had a nice ride, and Jennifer complimented me on the pair when I returned her test. Another rider change and Katie was back in the saddle to do her jumping round. She ended up having a double clear round, but instead of trotting like Bonnie told her too, she sort of ran Kaye of her feet. All in all though, Katie had a good day, it was enough to put her in 4th place.

After Katie finished her jumping round, I was finally able to get on my horse and warm up for our dressage test. We had a really good warm up. And then I hoped off her to give Kaye a bit of a break. When I got back on just before my test I couldn't quite get back the same feeling I'd had before. But I was still much more relaxed in the dressage ring than I usually am. And Bonnie said that my test was even better than the last time, so I'll take it. Plus Kaye didn't completely jig through her free walk! Jennifer's comment was actually 'relaxed, but needs to show more stretch' instead of 'jigging' The dressage was good enough to put us in second place with a score of 37.4. I'll definitely take that! After I finished my test, Rachel got back on to do her jumping round. She and Kaye had a very nice, controlled ride. They left all the fences up, but did have a handful of time penalties from trotting a little more than they should have. Still even with the time penalties and the 2 errors in dressage, Rachel finished the day in 4th place. Not too shabby.

After Rachel finished, she and Bonnie took Kaye back for a quick hosing off while I walked my stadium course. The course was pretty easy compared to what Bonnie has been having us jump at home. The fences were all a tad under 2'11" and there was only one combination on the course a two stride vertical to oxer near the end. Bonnie brought my horse back to me and I quickly warmed her up over a few fences. We only jumped the crossbar twice before moving on the vertical. Jumped that a handful of times and then turned to the oxer. The first time we jumped the oxer Kaye tripped a bit on the landing. Man did she not make that mistake again. She jumped even bigger so she could not even land in the same spot. So we finished our warm up and headed into the ring for the Novice stadium. Kaye and I both had a blast! She was pretty strong in the ring once she saw the bigger fences, but I was able to keep her from getting too fast. She was jumping big, but man was it fun. We had a double clear round, and since the horse in front of us had a rail in stadium it moved up up to first place! My first blue ribbon at Novice! Woohoo!

Love the big grin I'm sporting!

Read more...