No I Haven't Died...

Although it might have seemed that way.  I'll be honest this summer has been kinda rough for me in ways.  I'm just very, very burned out working the two jobs and I find myself lacking in motivation to do much of anything.  On my days off I have to force myself to do things, otherwise I would just spend the time in bed.  So my horsey activities have been pretty limited this summer.

I did make it to one schooling show in July.  A hunter/jumper show at that.  Kaye and I did both the jumper division and hunter division at 2'6".  Originally I had planned to do 2'9" or 3' but Kaye wasn't feeling herself the week before the show so we scaled back a little.  Kaye was pumped to be at a show again and it made for an interesting warm up for the jumper division.  She had a little more go than I wanted on the wet grass and so we did have some time penalties.  But we both still had fun. 

After a break for an hour or so we headed over to the hunter ring for the Intermediate Hunter.  Kaye was a rockstar for her first time in the hunter ring, taking home a first and second over fences and a third in the flat class.  Good enough to give us Reserve Champion for the division!

In other news, Bonnie added a new horse to my string a few weeks ago. Bonnie had started riding Bully very lightly, just tack walking really.  But the one week when she had Sarah tack her up, Bully just had a fit about the bridle.  Well she had been going in a rubber eggbutt snaffle, and I think the bit was just too much for her mouth.  She's a pretty delicate horse, and I think that thick of a bit was uncomfortable for her.  So I cleaned up Bonnie's old jumping hack and tacked up Bully with that.  She was an angel in it!  Took a few minutes to get the steering but then she was great. Walked and trotted and even popped over a few crossrails.  First time jumping in maybe five or six years and she just hopped over the fence like she's been doing it everyday.

So the next week I tacked Bully up again with the jumping hack and we had a second jump school. Started with a single vertical at about beginner novice height.  No problem for Bully.  We jumped that a few times and then Bonnie set up a second vertical.  Went through the double with no problems a few times with no problems and Bonnie added a third vertical.  That's when we had a bit of trouble.  My fault entirely.  I didn't get us in right, or with enough impulsion and we took down the first fence and then Bully got her self tangled up in the pole. She tried to keep going but it just wasn't meant to be, she started going down to her knees and I had nowhere to go but over her head.  Luckily she was already on her knees and low to the ground so I didn't have far to fall, but I did manage to get a brush burn above my tank top from her mane on the way.  We both got to our feet and other then a little superficial scrap on her left knee we were both ok.  Bully was her sweet self, no grudges against me for not giving her the best round.  We walked a bit to calm down and then tried again.  Bully never even thought about stopping, which I totally wouldn't have blamed her after the last time, she just jumped through the triple perfectly.  What a great horse!  At that point we decided to call it quits for the day.  We were both getting tired and it was a good point to end on. 

Other than that, Bugs and I have had some good rides this summer.  including a jump school in which he was trying his best to jump me out of the tack.  He didn't succeed in his plan though!  I've got some plans for Bugs this year.  More on that soon.  Gotta talk it over with Bonnie since she has the final say so. 

Can't have a post without a cute Bugsy photo.

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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!

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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.

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South Farm or how Naughtie Earned Rockstar Status

Memorial Day weekend officially marked the start of the Windhurst Event Team's show season.  We had three horses and four riders entered at the South Farm Combined Test on Saturday, May 28th.  Of course we had a tiny bit of a problem.  Three horses and only a two horse trailer, you do the math.  So Friday night, Bonnie hauled Kaye and Naughtie over and then we took Mystic Saturday morning.

So first thing Saturday morning when we got there, the kids and I fed and watered the two mares while Katie got Mystic ready to ride.  After the marsies finished eating we gave Kaye a bath and the kids got her tacked up for me.  I started to warm Kaye up a bit for Victoria.  She was rather, um, excited to be back at South Farm.  So I worked her down for a while and then got Victoria up.  While I was riding Kaye, Ethan and Astrid were kind enough to bathe Naughtie for me, so I could get started tacking her up.  Since it was Naughtie's first show, and I wasn't sure what she was going to do, I figured it would be a good idea to lunge her in the indoor a bit.

Astrid and I took Naughtie over to the indoor and started her on the lunge line.  She was a little perky for all of about 2 laps and then settled right into the routine.  I lunged her about 25 laps each direction, just in case. And then I got on.  She was as god as gold.  We walked some small circles around the indoor and she just relaxed and walked.  It was almost time for Victoria to ride her dressage and since Naughtie was being so good, I figured we could head over to the dressage ring and watch.  Well, just as we were leaving the indoor, some birds flew out the door right above us.  Naughtie spooked a bit, and by spook I mean she trotted off about 4 or 5 strides.  Then she realized it was nothing and settled back into a walk.  Good girl!

So we headed over to the dressage ring and got there in time to watch both of Victoria's tests.  And she rocked them!  She had very nice, relaxed rides.  Really proud of how well she did.  After that we had a bit of time before the rest of us rode.  So the marsies got to chill in their stalls for a bit and get some water.  And I was able to change into my show clothes. Naughtie and I hung out in the barn for a bit and then we headed back over to the dressage rings.  Ethan, Katie and I all rode our test right around the same time, so I was able to watch their tests.  Naughtie was a rockstar for dressage really.  The first test we rode was USDF Intro B for the very green division.  She was a little fast in her trot work.  But that was my fault, so I can't really be mad at her for it.  Our figures we good and symmetrical, our transitions accurate.  Really I couldn't have asked for a better first test from her.  We had a few minutes then to pull off the running martingale and take a few canter departs and then it was back in the ring for USEA Beginner Novice Test A for the baby beginner novice division.  The trot work was much better and the canter work was pretty good.  Our second canter depart was a little ah, explosive.  But again, entirely my fault.  I was asking for way too much for the depart.  After the depart though she settled into a nice forward canter. And we finished up with a fairly nice test.

We headed back to the stalls, and Naughtie got a chance to drink and chill in her stall for a bit before it was time to jump.  Victoria and Ethan were up first for jumping.  And well it was eventful.  Ethan was up first in the cross rail division.  And he had a nice round, Kaye was listening and just trotting around like she usually does with the kids.  Then it was Victoria's turn, and well, she did the same thing she has a tendency to do at home.  She grabbed with her legs and did nothing to slow Kaye down.  And so Kaye went faster and faster and faster.  And Victoria got scared and bailed.  Right into the wooden fence around the ring.  She was ok luckily, scraped up and bruised a bit, but mostly ok.  So I borrowed Ethan's helmet and got on Kaye to settle her down.  Lots of walking and s-l-o-o-o-o-w sitting trot around the warm up.  Finally Bonnie and Victoria come back (with my helmet, so I could see!) and since Victoria wasn't going to ride her second Bonnie suggested I take her in and do a schooling round at the 2 foot height.  Which actually really exciting me since I had the chance to take Bonnie up on a challenge. 

The stadium course was a very twisty, turning course.  And there was this one section between fences 7 and 8.  Sarah intended for it to ridden with a large looping circle around to 8 like so:

Well you know Bonnie, why take a longer route when you can go shorter?  And so her challenge was to ride a direct line between the two fences:

While I wasn't quite sure I'd be able to do it on Naughtie, I knew on Kaye I'd have no trouble.

Kaye was her usual awesome self for me in the ring, and so Ethan felt ready to try his 2 foot round.  And Kaye was great for him.  He jumped everything well and then after he crossed the finish he leaned forward to pat her, and accidentally kicked her.  So Kaye took off a bit and Ethan bailed in pretty much the same spot.  So Kaye was in the doghouse, and Sarah was none to happy. 

Well by this time I needed to get Naughtie ready to go, ran back to the barn, threw her bridle back on and we made our way to the jumping ring.  She warmed up great, and soon we were ready to head into the ring.  She was Awesome!  She jumped everything for me.  At first she was a little confused by all the colored jumps and everything being crammed in the ring, but she listened well.  We finished the very green division with a double clear round to land us in 2nd place.   A couple minutes to rest and it was time for a return trip.  Unfortunately I let her get a little flat coming into the first fence and we pulled a rail, but with no other mistakes it was enough to keep us in 4th place.  Not too shabby for her first show. 

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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.

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Midweek Riding Interlude

Wednesday I had the day off for yet another appointment with Dr. Connelly (more on that later)  So of course I took advantage of the time off to head out to the barn in the morning.  I got there early and helped Bonnie finish feeding, then we headed out to breakfast before getting sawdust.  The sawmill was very slow that morning so we ended up waiting quite a while to get loaded up.  After making it back to the barn, we brought Bugs in and then turned Cuddles out.  While Bonnie unloaded the sawdust, I tacked up Kaye for a lesson.

Our warm-up was great.  Both Kaye and I were relaxed and she was easily coming back into the bridle for me (WIN!)  It was lovely and soft and not at all tense.  Now if I can just continue with that.  then it was time to shorten the stirrups and jump!  Started out over just a single crossbar and it was, well not great.  As usual we didn't have enough impulsion going into the fence and so it was pretty bad.  Ok, Jen, let's get this together and do it right.  While things did get better it still wasn't great.  I wasn't really getting myself out of the saddle enough and I have a tendency to ride with my reins too long and then my hands end up in my lap, and well it's just all bad.  Things improved a bit, enough at least that Bonnie gave us a second fence as a one stride in and out.  Still though was not getting myself in a good position.  Time to fix that, so the reins were tied in a knot and we jumped with no hands.  Amazing, suddenly my position was 100x better!  Still though I felt like I wasn't quite getting up out of the saddle enough.  So I gave in and hiked my stirrups up another hole.  This is 4 holes shorter than my dressage length!  I think Bonnie would like me to go even shorter but I just can't with my knee,  even this short was putting a lot more pressure on it.  But I was jumping better with the shorter stirrups.  So I guess that means I'm going to have to suck it up and shorten them.  I think I'm going to start warming up in my jumping length from now on though.  Usually I start out with the longer, dressage length stirrups.  Maybe it will help if I just start with them short.  Meh, we'll see.  By the time we finished riding I realized it was going on 2:00 and I needed to book it home and get ready for my doctor's appointment. 

After getting the quickest shower known to man, I did actually make it to my doctor's appointment on time.  Pretty much the same old same old.  Mom went with me, and she helped me to explain to him that things are not getting better.  And that I'm not going to keep spending money to come in and for him to tell me that he still doesn't know what's wrong.  He did give me a new medication to try.  And he gave me enough samples to last a month.  So the plan is to try it for a few weeks and then give him a call and we'll discuss how it's working.  And go from there.  If it seems to be working he'll get me a prescription and I'll get that filled.  If not, well then I guess we'll try something else.  We'll see at that time. 

Back out to the barn in the morning.  And it's going to be a busy day.  I'd like to ride Naughtie again.  And Fanny.  And I have to ride Miss.  I can't take it if she gives me the stink eye again!  Hopefully Astrid will be there and I can get her to take some pictures.  I'd really like to have some of me riding, especially Miss.  But I kinda want some Fanny pictures too.  LOL should be funny at any rate. 

Getting close to announcing my Rolex news.  Stay tuned for that!

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Catching Up

Alright, I know.  It's been crazy and I haven't had a chance to catch up on the barn/riding activities.  So that means this is gonna be a long one!  lol

Going back 3 (!) weekends ago, I had a great ride on Miss.  I started tacking her up when Rachel headed out to the arena.  That meant they were just starting jumping when Miss and I made our way out there.  So I did have a somewhat distracted Miss, but we handled it pretty well.  She's still not bending really great, somewhat stiff, so i know that's something we need to work on, but other than that she continues to amaze me.  She was forward and willing.  When I asked for the trot, she easily moved into a swinging trot.  And she was moving very straight, woohoo!  So we warmed up at the walk and trot while Rachel finished her lesson.  We did a lot of transitions, changes in direction and laterals.  And then it was time to jump.  I was actually riding in my Collegiate saddle so it would be easier on me to jump this time around.  I hiked up my stirrups while Bonnie lowered the fence back down and we were ready to go.  We got to jump a small vertical this time.  And Miss loved it.  First time through was pretty crappy on my part (as usual) but Miss was a rock star.  She's using herself so well over fences and she's just loving it.  We jumped that about half a dozen times or so and Bonnie bumped the fence up.  Which of course made Miss even more excited.  After jumping that several times, Bonnie bumped it up again.  But unfortunately I had one of my moments and we had a stop.  Rather than risk hurting Miss, we just dropped the fence back down and finished with that a few times.  After we finished Sarah measured the fence and we had been jumping 2'8" so just over beginner novice height.  Woohoo!  So pleased with my baby girl!  Of course by the time I took care of Miss and put her away I pretty much had to leave to get ready for work, so I didn't get any other riding in that day.

The following Friday I had off work for Spring Break, so of course that meant I headed out to the barn.  the plan was to clean some stalls, but mother nature had other ideas.  Between the snow and the rain, everything was pretty much mud behind the barn.  It was so bad trying to get the wheelbarrows through the mud to dump them.  So Kaye's stall got cleaned and then I gave up on stalls.  That's ok though, cause it was time for Spa Day.  Since Kaye was already in the cross ties I started with her.  She got a thorough grooming and then I pulled the clippers out and she got her bridle path clipped and all her whiskers trimmed as well.  That darned mare knows that it's getting close to show season and she's getting excited for it.

While I was working on Kaye, I was interrupted by a phone call from Sandy and I figured that since her ponies were going home in a week I better start to clean them up a bit.  So I pulled Buddy's blanket off, and first we headed out to the arena to exercise a bit on the lunge line.  I let him work off a bit of energy and then brought him back in the barn and started giving him a good grooming.  Which involved using all of my Cowboy Magic to untangle his mane.  GRRRR!  A while later he was groomed, clipped, braided and re-blanketed and back in his stall.

Finally I got to pull Miss out and give her a serious grooming.  It's been a while since she's had pre-show season day like this and she was loving every minute of it.  Started off with some serious time with the curry comb, and the hair was a flyin'!  So glad to see that, as she has been one of the last horses to shed the past few years.  Then she got her bridle path clipped and her whiskers trimmed.  And then finally I got out the pulling comb to work on her mane.  It still needs pulled some more to look respectable, but it's a start at least.  

Got to love how white that sock stays

Saturday, well that's when everything with Tru started, so it wasn't really a good day.  I did get a good lesson on Kaye though.  We had some great moments on the flat and some pretty good fences as well.

And then finally this brings me to this past weekend.  I took the day off on Friday so that we could head down to Frederick, MD in the morning and take Cuddles and Buddy home.  I got to the barn early so I could grain and water before Bonnie got home from work.  She stopped to pick up Astrid and then the trailer from Tammy's so it was about 8:30 by the time they got there.  Astrid and I groom the two ponies a bit while Bonnie was haying everyone and then we hosed their legs clean and loaded them in the trailer.  It ended up being around 10 by the time we left, a little later than I would have liked but not too bad.  Bonnie drove until we got our toll ticket on the turnpike and then we switched drivers so she could sleep a bit.  It was a gorgeous day for a drive.  We had the windows down and my iPod was plugged in the radio.  We stopped at Somerset for lunch, and of course I had to get Chloe lunch too.  lol  Finally we stopped at Hagerstown for fuel and bonnie took over the driving duties, which was fine with me.  I don't particularly want to drive the back roads to Sandy's place.  It was about 3 when we pulled into Sandy's.  After getting the ponies settled in their stalls we had a nice (brief) visit with Sandy before we piled back in the truck and headed home.  Bonnie drove for a bit in Maryland and then turned driving back over to me as she started getting tired again and I drove the bulk of the trip home.  We stopped on the turnpike for fuel and dinner and ended up making it home about 9:00.  Of course by the time we took care of the horses and I drove home it was after 11:00.  Oh and to make it even better.  When I went to get in my car, my right front tire was low, like majorly low.  Stopped at Kwik Fill and put air in it, and at that time I found the huge nail in the tire.  

So Saturday morning I had to first wait around until Smallwood's opened at 9:00 to have my tire fixed.  I was there early so I was the first one in.  And luckily they were able to patch my tire.  Which is good, I would have been pissed if I had to replace it.  That tire is only 2 months old!  It was going on 10:00 by the time I finally made it out to the barn.  We were running low on hay so first order of the day was to move some hay down from the upper building.  Since we didn't have Jim to put it in the hay loft we just put some in the barn.  X lucked out as Bonnie wanted to put a bale down by the arena doors, but she needed someone in that stall who wouldn't balloon out eating hay nonstop.  So Repo got moved and X went into that stall.

He's in heaven with the new arrangement.  So after we finished with the hay it was time to tack Kaye up.  I got on first to work out her spookiness.  And man was she feeling GOOD!  lol  As I was walking to loosen her up, we had to spook at the doors, all of them, every time we went past.  We had to spook at the very scary hay bales sitting at the far end of the arena.  Oh my god, how could I possibly expect her to work in such scary conditions.  Eventually I just pushed her into a trot, getting to work usually settles her down.  It was successful for the most part, Kaye moved into a forward, swinging trot.  She was relaxing and on the bit. We did some trot work, throwing in some laterals every so often and then asked for the canter.  As usual, she did pick her head up a bit at the canter, but she came back down on the bit when I asked, so I was pleased with that.  And she did a couple of really nice, responsive simple lead changes.  Then it was time to jump.  Bonnie had me shorten my stirrups even more than normal.  Usually I dressage with my stirrups on the 9th hole (give or take a hole depending on the horse) then for jumping I shorten them 3 half holes.  Bonnie had me shorten them 2 more half holes.  That's a big difference for me, a big difference for my knee really.  At that point I could definitely tell it was time for another cortisone shot.  Guess I better call Dr. Yakish.  

So stirrups shortened I was ready to go.  Bonnie had set up a smallish oxer for us (2'6"-ish)  And I was all over the place.  It was bad.  I was leaning on her neck, pinching with my knees so my lower leg was swinging waaay back, and then grabbing with my legs for balance so Kaye was taking off after the fence.  Time to try fixing this.  Reins tied in a knot and next time we go with no hands.  I'll admit it took me a couple of fences to get comfortable jumping with no hands again, I'm so rusty at jumping now, going so long without any lessons is not what I need at all.  After several times with no hands, I did get better with my upper body position, and my lower leg wasn't swinging quite so much.  So progress was made, not as much as I would like though.  I really need to step up here if I'm going to go training at South Farm in May.

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Pony Profiles: Special K, Part 1

When Maura started riding Miss I needed a new mount.  In came Kaye.  Kaye had been in our barn for a while at this point.  She had been competed through prelim previously and then came to us after an injury.  Kaye had a couple foals for Bonnie, and her last foal (Twinkie) had been pretty hard on her.  After we weaned Twinks, Kaye was sort of a mess, she had no muscle, needed weight, the whole nine yards.  So Bonnie had us start riding her a bit to try and build up her muscle.  At first it was...interesting.  I can remember one ride where Kaye literally tried to lay down with me on her back.  She just stopped in the arena and started to go down.  But even as she was learning to be a riding horse again, and a beginners horse at that, she always had that same 'mom' trait that Miss has.  She wants to take care of her rider.  And speaking as someone who has been plagued with confidence issues my entire life, this was so important to me.  Even when we were still figuring things out, keeping me safe was always her first priority.

The spring of 2003 another girl and I were sharing Kaye.  She took her to the first event in Maryland in March (I think)  Kaye was a mess that weekend.  We discovered that picky eater Kaye would not eat when away from home.  The same grain that we gave her Friday evening was still in her bucket Sunday morning.  She was also shedding her winter coat in the worst possible way.  She had huge splotches of missing hair.  She looked terrible.  We also discovered her inability to trailer without horses on both sides of her that weekend.  The show grounds did not have any stabling on grounds.  So we were stabled at a fairgrounds/racetrack about 30 minutes away.  The HT was set up to have all 3 phases of training and prelim run on Saturday and then beginner novice and novice on Sunday.  So Sunday morning we left Vinnie and Airy at the fairgrounds since they had both run the day before, and only took Kaye and Winston to the show.  We were being nice and gave Kaye the bigger first stall in the trailer.  Well she threw a fit not have another horse on both sides.  We could feel her kicking the trailer the whole way there.  When we got to the show, we had to remove the partition before we could unload her.  She had managed to give herself multiple cuts and scrapes in the trailer, all superficial luckily.  So we couldn't leave her on the trailer by herself, so I was hand walking her around the show grounds while Maura was riding Winston.

May 2003 was my turn to show Kaye.  And I made my recognized horse trial debut at Mayfest Horse Trails.   It was such a great experience for me.  Maura was running Vinnie in the training 3 day, so we were there on Tuesday I think.  Lots of time to get used to the show grounds and relax and everything.  I really feel so lucky that my first experience eventing was at the Kentucky Horse Park, it's such a gorgeous facility.  In between Maura's jog ups and other seminars I had a chance to do a lot of riding before the show started.  We hauled over to Masterson one day where I was able to school some cross country fences.  And I got several dressage rides in the rings at the Park.  I also got to hack Kaye around the Park in the evenings.  To this day I still count those hacks as some of the best rides of my life.  Just Kaye and I by ourselves, wandering along the roads and tracks course.  Finally Saturday rolled around and it was time to compete.  Our dressage test was pretty 'eh' all around.  I was way too tense and that translated to Kaye.  We did stadium in the afternoon.  And I got to ride in the Rolex arena!  Still one of the coolest things I've gotten to do.  At the time, they only used that ring for Rolex and Mayfest.  I was riding in the same ring that just a month previously hosted riders such as Pippa Funnell, Buck Davidson, Karen and David O'Connor, William Fox-Pitt, Kim Severson.  It was inspiring.  Of course, Kaye could have cared less about any of that.  All she knew was it was time to jump.  And apparently Kaye was missing her days as a prelim horse because she was adding imaginary rails to the fences and way overjumping everything.  But we had a double clear round.  Sunday morning was cross country day.  And unfortunately it had started to rain.  So I was a little nervous about running cross country in the rain as Kaye was not drilled for studs.  We still ran cross country, but I took my time and we had major time penalties.  But we jumped cleanly and Kaye took good care of me.  So in my book, it was a success!

We didn't do any other horse trials that year, my finances weren't quite up to it as I was a poor college student at the time.  But we practiced a lot through the rest of the summer and over the winter.  And in early spring we were ready to have at it again.  We started off the year in March at Middletown Horse Trials in Maryland.  They didn't have a beginner novice division so we were attempting novice for the first time.  Dressage was pretty 'eh' as usual.  And Kaye was pretty pumped for stadium.  But we had a good round, double clear.  Thank you rockstar mare!  The next day we headed out for cross country.  It was sort of a miserable day, very cold and windy.  And I'll admit I was a little bit nervous about running novice cross country.  Unfortunately we had a stop at the first fence.  Completely my fault.  Kaye is awesome and amazing but even she can't jump a fence sideways.  Circled around and did it right the second time.  After about the fifth fence, I realized 'hey this is pretty fun' and started to really ride.  By the time we crossed the finish line I had a huge grin on my face, and I think we only had a few time penalties.

We had a second outing that spring at Winona Horse Trials in May at the beginner novice level.  Finally we actually had a halfway decent dressage ride!  I had found what works for me.  Get on and walk for like an hour before I even start to warm up.  I had enough time with just me and Kaye that I could relax and get focused to ride.  We had a double clear stadium.  And the second day, we were ready to take on the cross country course.  We picked up a nice easy canter out of the start box and never looked back.  Actually, at the end of the course we had to circle before the last fence for almost a minute so we finished close to optimum time.  Kaye has no problems making beginner novice time!

Unfortunately that spring was the year I graduated from college.  And immediately after graduation I started working two jobs which meant I had no time to ride at all.  I don't even think I saw the barn at all that summer.  One of the other kids started riding Kaye a bit, took her to a couple of training level events.  Then in the fall, I quit one of the jobs after I started full time at the other and finally I had more time to ride.  I continued to ride Kaye throughout the winter and the next summer.  About that same time is when Maura started to ride Kaye to event her at the upper levels.  They did their first prelim event at Winona and then the following weekend Kaye and I did the USPC Dressage Rally at Grandhaven.

Towards the end of summer and into the winter, Maura started riding Kaye more and more.  And so that meant I lost the ride on her.  But I got the chance to start riding a lot of different horses so I'm not going to complain.  Besides we all know that wasn't the end of my riding Kaye.

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Guess Who's Going Training At South Farm...

My personal goal has been to go Training at South Farm in May.  But it hadn't really been discussed with Bonnie yet, so of course it was kinda all up in the air.  Not anymore!

Kaye was feeling pretty good on Saturday, the weather was getting a bit warmer and she had been cooped up all week.  Katie got the first ride on her since I had to go pick up feed at Agway.   And Kaye was going her best to spook at everything.  She was jumping the patch of snow that had blown in the doors, she was spooking at every noise.  In other words, feeling good and expressing it the only way she knew how.  After Katie rode, I got to hop up and make sure Kaye was settled before any of the kids got on her.  Once I got on though, Kaye realized it was time to settle down and get to work.  We went through the spooking stuff last winter, and she's come to realize that I don't put up with that anymore.  Even though Katie had warmed Kaye up already, I still started her out with a good bit of walk work.  The free walk has a coefficient of 2 in all the dressage tests, so really you can't spend too much time working on the walk.  Especially with Kaye, who doesn't have a real great walk to begin with.  Plus I wanted to make sure that I had her attention on me and not everything else.  Then when Bonnie rejoined us in the arena, we picked up the trot.  I've really been working on keeping myself relaxed.  As soon as I get any bit of tension in myself, I get tense all over and Kaye picks up on that.  Then she gets tense and starts resisting.  And actually my last two rides were pretty good with that.  She was pretty good both at the trot and canter, soft and responsive to my aids.  Then it was time to jump a bit.  We just worked over a baby fence, since this was my first jump school since October.  As usual my first fence wasn't all that great, but it actually wasn't as bad as usual.  And my second fence was pretty darn good!  Biggest thing was that I just wasn't getting my timing right.  So the reins were tied in a knot and I started jumping with no hands.  Fixed that problem!

So after we finished jumping, I was walking the marsie around and Bonnie asked what level I was going to do this year.  I was honest with her, told her that I wanted to move up to training this year.  That for me, I'd probably go Novice at the first combined test, but then move up to Training at the next one.  And Bonnie agreed with me!  In fact she thinks that I should just do two divisions at the first CT, Novice first then Training after.  She pointed out that I thought the Novice jumps were small, and after school some Training level fences with Boyd in the fall I am ready.  And the CTs are a good place for me to move up.  They have pretty easy courses, nothing harder than what we jump at home, so I can do it no problem.

So Kaye and I will be tackling Training this spring!  I can't wait for show season to start!

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2011 Show Schedule

Well one of my goals for January and February was to start looking at a show schedule.  Of course this is all going to be very tentative yet, as three of the four horses I haven't even sat on since fall.  Also assuming I have the money for all this.  And Bonnie is willing to haul us.  And let me show her horse.  And Tammy lets me show her horse.  But fingers crossed that all goes well, this is what I'm hoping for.

• May 7, 2011 South Farm Combined Test
• Fashion Statement, very green
• May 8, 2011 South Farm Combined Test
• Special K, novice
• Special K, training
• May 22, 2011 South Farm Combined Test
• Special K, training
• May 28-29, 2011 Red, White and Blue Show
• SA Dalal, western pleasure
• June 4, 2011 South Farm Combined Test
• Fashion Statement, baby beginner novice
• June 5, 2011 South Farm Combined Test
• Special K, training
• June 10-12, 2011 ICHA Double Points Show
• SA Dalal, western pleasure
• June 17-19, 2011 Inter-State Triple Points Show
• SA Dalal, western pleasure
• June 24-16, 2011 WHA Show
• SA Dalal, western pleasure
• July 17, 2011 South Farm Farm mini Trial
• Color Me Mellow, intro dressage
• July 31, 2011 Grand River Mini Trial
• Fashion Statement, baby beginner novice
• August 5-7, 2011 Catt County Show
• SA Dalal, western pleasure
• September 2-4, 2011 MEHA Show
• SA Dalal, western pleasure
• Color Me Mellow, intro dressage
• Bugsy, liberty
• September 11, 2011 South Farm Mini Trial
• Fashion Statement, beginner novice
• September 16-18, 2011 Randolph Classic Charity Show
• SA Dalal, western pleasure
• Bugsy, liberty
• September 25, 2011 Basset Highlands Mini Trial
• Fashion Statement, beginner novice
• October 1, 2011 South Farm Combined Test
• Special K, training

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Back in the Saddle

Well I finally made it back to the barn two weeks ago.  And I actually got a ride on Kaye!  Amazing.  Bonnie gave me a short flatwork lesson in which it was painfully obvious that I cannot go that long without a lesson.  My leg was horrible, I was tense, Kaye was tense.  All around it was not pretty!  But regardless it felt so good to ride her again.  I also had a another good ride on Miss.  She is definitely perking up and feeling good.  The snow falling off the roof of the arena gave her just the excuse she needed to give a little spook.  She humped her back, and bounced her hind legs in a little baby buck before breaking into a canter.  I couldn't help but laugh at her, which made it a little hard to bring her back to the walk.  I was just so happy that she was feeling good enough to even try to buck.  Of course, being Miss, she really has no idea how to buck, but the thought was still there.

Unfortunately the next weekend it got very cold again, so that meant no barn.  Boo!  But I understand why Bonnie doesn't want to open the place up in that weather.  I was able to get out again this past weekend though. I tacked Miss up first and took her out for a walk.  So was feeling good again.  And she is looking great!  She's putting weight on, her ribs are completely covered.  But I think I'm going to have to talk to Dr. Maro about getting some more albuterol for her.  We're pretty much out of it now, and it really has helped her breathing.  Then I got to hop on Kaye for a short lesson too.  And this one went much better than the one two weeks before.   I was much more relaxed and so she was much more relaxed.  And we had some really good moments at the trot and canter.  Really looking forward to riding more and getting ready for show season.

I talked to Bonnie about getting Twinkie's feet done so that I can start riding her again.  Ari and I were talking a couple weeks ago and she mentioned that she would try riding Twinkie again after I had a little more.  Twinkie really is a sweet horse, she doesn't do anything, but she's still just green.  She doesn't really know what leg means yet, so she's a wiggle-worm all over the place.  But she doesn't have a mean bone in her body.   She'd never even dream of bucking or anything.  I can get on her cold even when she hasn't been ridden in months, even if she hasn't be turned out in a while.  She's just so laid back and calm.  I'll lunge her more out of habit than any real need to do so.  So I've got a call into Jamie, just waiting to hear back from him.  X needs his shoes pulled and trimmed, and then Twinks can get done at the same time.  I was thinking that maybe I would take Twinkie to a combined test or something at South Farm this spring, she how she would do in the very green division.  Or maybe if we get her cantering I'll take her in baby beginner novice or even beginner novice.  So we'll see.

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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.

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Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da...

Just a quick update on things.  Saturday I was out to the barn in the morning.  It was our barn Halloween Party, which all the kids were excited about.  Got there early and started feeding the horses before Bonnie was down.  Bonnie came down soon after that, and it wasn't too much longer before Tiffany arrive as well.  Once the horses had enough time to digest breakfast, Tiffany and I tacked up Bugs and Kaye for a lesson.  Started out warming up on the flat, where Kaye proceeded to spook at the scary arena door.  Every single time we rode past it.  Yet another thing I don't like about winter, the return of spooky mare. Never mind the fact that she has been in that arena a million times.  And she's 20 years old!  There's no excuse for the spooking anymore!  At least once we started working the spooking pretty much stopped.  For the most part.  After we warmed up Bonnie had us pop over the in and out.  It was set up just as low cross bars, four strides apart.  After we jumped through that a few times she took a page from Boyd Martin's book and had up shorten up to get five strides.  Tried that a few times, rather unsuccessfully on my part, Kaye doesn't really do that whole shortening thing.  Then Bonnie turned the cross bars into a couple of verticals and we jumped through again, this time asking for the longer stride and getting three strides between the fences.  Much easier for Kaye to lengthen her stride!  Then we practiced doing short jumper course turns.  So we rode through the combination and then staying in the canter had to make as tight of a turn as we could and go back over the combination in the other direction.  Yeah Tiff and I pretty much both failed at this, mainly because neither of us could land on the correct lead and so then we would have to stop and switch to make the turn.  Finally I started just looking for the lead Kaye was landing on and then turning in that direction, rather than trying to ask for the lead on landing.  Much easier that way.

In other news, I've gone in for yet more testing in the quest for a diagnosis for my stomach problems.  I've now had another colonoscopy, and now a Hida Scan, in which they test my gallbladder function.  And still no answers.  Of course!  Seriously I'm just so fed up with this.  Just give me a freakin' diagnosis already!  That's all I want!  Tell me what's wrong and then give me something to treat it.  So now the next step is a capsule endoscopy.  I go in for that on December 3rd.  Hopefully that will tell them something!

Other than that, work has been the usual.  I feel so overwhelmed with things there.  I don't feel as though I'm getting any help with the enrollments.  And it's just so frustrating.  On the other hand I'm actually really enjoying my job at Wal-Mart.  I mean it's easy work, and I get to talk to lots of people.  So that's pretty cool.  Most everyone I work with is really nice and I really do enjoy the job.

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Boyd Martin Clinic

So the Boyd Martin clinic was amazing.  Really that's all I can say about it.  He is wonderful to clinic with.  Such enthusiasm (and in drizzling rain!) and he is able to explain and describe things in a way you can really understand.

So we left the barn about 6 am and it took us about 2 hours to get to White North Stables.  It's located in Chagrin Falls, OH which is just beautiful horse country.  The barn itself was a beautiful old barn.  Downside of that was the indoor was pretty tiny.  So that meant we were jumping in the outdoor ring.  And it was raining.  Oh well, a little rain isn't going to get in the way of me enjoying my ride with Boyd.  Tiffany and Bugsy were up first in the training/prelim group.  And unfortunately I didn't get to see much of their lesson at all.  Rachel and I were in the group right after, so we had to head up to the trailer to get ready.  Kaye was ready to go!  She would barely stand still to let me tack her up.  Anyway we finally got tacked up and headed down the driveway to the riding ring.  Kaye and I walked some circles outside the ring to warm up while Tiff's group was finishing up.  Finally it was our turn!

After we had all introduced ourselves, Boyd sent us out onto the rail to warm up at a trot.  After a few big trot circles he asked us to trot as slowly as we could, almost but not quite walking.  And then back to a forward working trot.  Then we were given the cue to canter.  At the canter we worked on both lengthening the stride and then shortening it.  Then we got to start jumping.  We started over two low (like 1'-1'6") verticals, set an easy 3 strides apart.  We trotted through them a couple of times and then we cantered through.  The first time at the canter he asked for 3 forward canter strides.  Then we had to come through again only putting in 4 balanced, shortened strides.  That was hard for Kaye.  First of all, small fences, yeah she's not a fan.  And we all know Kaye would much rather take a long distance than a short one.  She's very hard to shorten up once she starts jumping.  I think we might have gotten the 4 strides once.  Maybe.  Oh well.  Then we moved on to a low 1 stride combination, then go down and make a big roll back turn to a gate and then a right turn back through the 1 stride, stopping before the oxer that was five strides after the combination.  Kaye was not too happy to be stopped before the jump.  But we turned in the air nicely over the gate.  So that was cool.  We did another little mini course with the gate and the oxer to the one stride and then around to the two little mini verticals.  The final thing we worked on was the two corners.  First we jumped the one and then did half a figure eight back to jump the second one.  Where I proceeded to have two stops.  All my fault I know.  Finally I came around and jumped it and then we looped around and jumped the two corners together.  Which Kaye and I did perfectly.  So that was a good note to end on.

After we took care of the ponies, we headed inside the barn to get something to eat.  That was pretty cool, we all got to sit around and talk with Boyd.  And then after warming up a bit we headed back down to the ring to watch the rest of the lessons.  Tiffany was getting a migraine and so Bonnie took her and Billy over to South Farm to stable the horses.  Astrid, Rachel and I stayed back to watch the afternoon sessions.  It was really cool to get to stand in the ring and listen to everything Boyd was saying.  So worth standing in the rain for hours :)  For the last lesson of the day we headed back to the barn to watch some dressage rides in the indoor.  Sarah from South Farm had brought over her chestnut horse, Gorta Glen, to ride in a group with a couple other ladies.  Sarah was really the only dressage rider in the group.  She looked great with Glen.  After the last lesson finished we headed over to South Farm to feed ponies and tuck them in for the night.

Luckily our first ride on Tuesday wasn't until 11:15, so we didn't have to leave quite so early in the morning.  We made it out of the barn by 8:00 and so we were at South Farm about 9:30.  While everyone else was unloading the quad and helping Tiffany hook up the trailer, I headed into the barn to give the ponies their breakfast.  Kaye had managed to eat her grain at some point during the night, and Bugsy sort of picked at his.    They all were enjoying the hay though.  Once everyone was grained, we climbed on the quad and headed out to the cross country course to watch the first lesson.  Tiff was able to watch a little bit, but then she had to head back to the barn to get Bugsy ready to go.  Tiffany and Bugs were the stars of their group.  They both just went out and did everything without any problems.  I especially give Tiff a lot of credit because she was jumping some things that she had never seen before.  Like the coffin complex, and the double banks.  Everyone was very much impressed with how well he had gone.

After Tiffany's group finished, it was lunch time and time for Rachel and I to get ready.  Since Kaye had been blanketed all night, she didn't need much grooming, just a quick brushing.  I got her tacked up and then got myself dressed.  I figured we would have time to walk down to the cross country course and start warming up.  But after we walked around the building, we saw that the car had already left.  So Rachel and I booked it to the start.  There were three of us in the group this time.  And we started by just trotting on a nice big circle. Of course Kaye didn't want to trot, she wanted to gallop.  I had just gotten her back to the trot when Boyd asked for the canter.  And Kaye was off to the races again.  I decided to keep her on a small circle to try and  get her to relax and slow down.  Well Boyd wants us on a large circle and he wants us to go into a light seat (aka two point)  Yeah, not exactly helping my case to get Kaye to stop trying to race.  So I kinda just pretended I didn't hear that part.  Then he had us pop over a little beginner novice coop from the trot.  Of course Kaye has to try racing away afterwards, but as soon as I started to turn her she slowed right down and came back to the trot.  We jumped the baby coop a couple of times and then Boyd had us move up to the novice coop.  Slightly bigger jump, so Kaye was a little bit happier with it.

So we jumped the novice coop a couple of times off of each lead and then Boyd had us loop around and jump the hanging log.

Yup that would be a training fence I'm jumping.  Pretty cool huh?  And then we looped around and jump another training fence.  Luckily with all the turns and loops, Kaye was staying pretty manageable.  After that Boyd had us put a little course together.  We started over the coop, galloped across to the novice house, then a right turn to the training rolltop, another right turn to a novice rolltop, another right turn to a training coop in the tree line and then finally gallop back to the training log. 

Well Kaye was really enjoying those galloping lanes.  After the second rolltop I couldn't even get her to turn or anything, we ended up galloping past the jump and had to loop back around to jump it.  She definitely hasn't forgotten about landing in a flat out gallop!  LOL  After we all did that , we headed over to the bank complex. 

Boyd had us start banks by just stepping up and down a tiny little baby bank.  Then we moved to trotting up the beginner novice bank.

After we trotted up the bank a few times, Boyd asked us to turn around and trot to the down bank, and then walk the last two strides and walk off it.  I won't lie, I was terrified at this point.  See I had fallen off X at a down bank while schooling at Jackie's about 4 years ago.  Completely my own fault, because I want to lean forward and go into my two point.  And so I tumbled off his shoulder and unfortunately I got tangled up in his legs and he stepped on my calf.  Luckily I wasn't seriously hurt, only bruised, although I did have to use crutches and stay off the leg for a week or so.  But ever since then I have been scared of down banks.  And I hadn't jumped one since then.  So yeah I was shaking a bit for this.  But Kaye was awesome and she walked right down the bank for me!

Wohoo!  I love my mare!  After we jumped the beginner novice down bank a couple of times, Boyd had us go around and do the novice banks, which was a bank up, one stride and then a bank down.  ran through that a few times and then on to the training banks.  We only did the training banks up, which was fine with me, not sure I would have been comfortable doing the down banks.  The training banks are a double bank up and then we looped around and did the novice up and down banks.

And so we finished up at the bank complex.  Time for the water!  First we just walked through.  Then Boyd had us step up the one novice bank and then we turned around, stepped down that bank and up the opposite one.  So we did that back and forth a couple of times.  And then we were to jump down into the water and then out over the opposite bank and then jump the coop that was a dozen or so strides away.

Well we did the banks just fine, but complete fail at the coop.  I did exactly what I do at home, I got scared for some reason and pulled Kaye off to the right.  Not just once but three times.  Finally the other girl had to give me a lead over it.  Just pisses me off cause it makes Kaye look bad, which I hate especially cause I know it's me.  Anyway, after that embarrassing moment we looped back to the water and jumped the training bank down into the water.

Then we ended the cross country lesson with another little course.  We started out with a log and then the first coop, gallop over to the house, and then right turn to the rolltop, loop around to the novice banks, left turn to the second rolltop and then left down to the water, training bank into the water, novice bank out and then finish with the coop.  Kaye and I did great until we got to the freaking coop.  Again we kept having run-outs to the right. Which I know is my fault, I've created a habit because I do that all the time when I'm not sure about a fence and so Kaye was taking advantage of me.  Like I said before it just pisses me off, not the way I wanted to end my lesson.

All in all though the clinic was amazing.  It was incredible to get to ride with Boyd, I really did learn a lot from him.  And I'm so excited to go back next year.  Hopefully with a lot more confidence and so I just go out and wow him with my skills.  

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