Buggers!

Well, it's been a busy few weeks.  Between work and finishing up my studying for the PHR exam, I haven't had a lot of free time.  Of course I still manage to make it out to the barn on Saturday mornings.  Since South Farm I've had some good rides on Naughtie, going to the combined test really did her a ton of good.  And then 3 Saturdays ago (June 11th) I got the chance to ride Bugsy again.

Bonnie had let Astrid ride him a few times and so she was riding in a lesson with Naughtie and I.  And when it came time to jump, Astrid decided that she didn't want to jump.  So Bonnie asked if I wanted to take him over a few fences.  Now I haven't been on Bugsy at all since like August.  But I was game to try him.  Astrid and I switched horses and she took Naughtie in to put away while I got used to Bugs again with a few circles.  Then we headed to the jump and it was so much fun!  It wasn't that big of a fence, only a baby oxer, maybe about 2 feet.  We jumped that a few times and then Bonnie bumped the back rail up a bit.  We didn't do much jumping that day, but it did remind me how much fun Bugsy is and what a blast it is to ride him.

Then I got to thinking.  I wasn't planning to ride in the Boyd Martin clinic this year.  I just couldn't justify spending the money.  But now after riding Bugs, I was itching to go.  So I got in touch with Therese from White North Stables and asked if it would be possible to ride just on Wednesday for cross country.  She said yes and so Bugsy and I will be strutting our stuff for Boyd!

As usual with me, I did take a step back when I rode Bugsy the next week.  I was getting him rushing into his fences and it was just bad in general.  So we scaled things back and went back to jumping cross bars.  We really concentrated on just taking my two point and keeping my legs light and not rushing.  And I got him back to a nice sane jump.  Unfortunately, ending a lesson with cross bars just a week and a half before I'm entered to ride Novice with Boyd is not really all that confidence inspiring.

So fast forward to this weekend.  I was determined to do better.  It ended up being a nice day at the barn, quiet, none of the kids ended up coming out.  So for a while it was just Bonnie and I, then Katie showed up after a while.  I tacked up Bugs and we headed out to the arena for a last lesson before the clinic.  And guess what?  Going back to cross bars the week before was exactly what I needed.  Bugs was listening to me, and I wasn't rushing him into the fences.  We worked up to an oxer that was just shy of 3'.  And then Bonnie added a 2nd fence as a one stride, set at just about 3'.  My first ever combination with Bugsy!  And we nailed it!  We ended the lesson with some canter work, which wasn't the best.  Bugs really needs the half halt before the canter and I was struggling with that a little.  Once again I've just gotten very complacent riding Kaye.  She knows what I want and just does it, regardless of what I'm doing.  Bugsy not so much.  He knows what I want, but he won't do it unless I ask for it right.  But overall, the lesson was great and I was feeling very well prepared for the clinic.

Then on Sunday I was able to get another ride.  So nice, it's been months since I've gotten to ride twice in the same week.  We warmed up on the flat first, including a bit of canter and well, the half halt lesson sank in and my departs were much, much better!  Then Bonnie had us start jumping.  We started out over the same oxer from the day before, novice height the first time.  Boyd won't start us out over little stuff, so need to at home.  The first fence wasn't perfect, but it was much better than I normally do over my first fence so I was pleased with that.  After we jumped the oxer a couple of times Bonnie decided to get creative.  She dragged over the piece of indoor/outdoor carpet and made a "coffin" with it.  She set it up one stride after the oxer and put a ground line to help Bugsy see it.  First time through the combination he did jump it.  Tried going through again and he figured out he could just canter over it.  Put a raised pole over the middle, and he still cantered over it.  So then Bonnie dragged another set of standards over and set up a 3' vertical one stride after the coffin.  Bugsy still just canter the coffin and then jumped the fence.  We tried to get him to actually jump it a couple more times, but no luck.  So we took a bit of a walk break and Bonnie set up a vertical over the carpet.  The last challenge of the day was 3' oxer, one stride to 3' vertical, one stride to 3' vertical.  First time doing a triple with Bugsy.  But Bugsy is awesome.  All I had to do was set him up and ride him to the first fence and then let him do his thing through the combination.  It was great!  Doing that with Bugsy was really just proving to myself how far I've come in my riding in the last couple of years.  It wasn't all that long ago that I was afraid to jump Bugs at all.  Let alone through a novice triple combination.  It was a great way to leave off before the clinic, I feel so ready to go and show Boyd what we can do!

Bugsy trying on his new ECOGOLD xc pad

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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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T minus 9 days!

In ten days I'll be in Kentucky.  Cannot wait!  With the Ecogold gig, I'm even more excited than usual for Rolex.

Anyways, I had a good day at the barn Saturday.  We had some manual labor to start off the day.  The gate between Twinkie and Naughtie's stalls needed to be rehung, which ended up being much more of a process than we first imagined.  And then we had to rehang Buster's door.  Anyone up for Buster burgers at Rolex?  Finally I got to hop on Fanny for a bit and get her ready for the kids to ride.  Changed things up a bit with her this weekend.  I put a flash on her bridle, she has a tendency to gag on the bit when you try to take any contact with her mouth, so we thought that would help.  Lunged her in it a bit first, just to make sure she wouldn't flip out.  Of course, being Fanny she could have cared less about it.  So I hopped on and started to warm up on the flat.  After about 15 minutes or so Bonnie came out and we started jumping.  We started with a 21ft in and out, which normally would be a one stride, but for Fanny was a short two stride.  Jumped that several times and then Bonnie had a third fence to the exercise.  Little Fanny was having a blast.  And finally I got pictures of me riding Fanny like I promised.

After I finished with Fanny and handed her off to Victoria, I headed inside to start getting Nuaghtie ready to ride.  We started with only a low crossbar and then slowly raised the height and eventually added a second crossbar as a one stride in and out.  Naughtie was such a good girl, jumped through everything perfectly.  Then Bonnie finally set the second fence as a 2'9" vertical.  And I had my usual issues and stopped the first time through.  Damn it!  Deep breath, turn around, and go again.  This time Bonnie tagged Naughtie with the whip before the first fence.  Man did she fly!  Scared the crap out of me since I wasn't expecting it.  The kids measured after we finished.  Apparently Naughtie landed about 10 feet after the fence, that's how big she jumped it.  We went through the combination a couple more times.  And while Naughtie didn't jump quite as big again she still made a big effort, she was not about to risk getting hit by Bonnie again!

Unfortunately this meant that I didn't have time to get on Miss at all before I had to leave for work.  :(  She's not happy with me I know, I'm seriously going to have to make up for that this weekend.  Which will be the last one at home before we go to Rolex!  WooHoo!!!  Cannot Wait!

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Back in Action!

It was a long week for me last week.  Our office finally moved upstairs to the third floor.  And although the new office space is nice and new, the actual move was horrendous.  Add in the fact that I have come down with a bad cold, well I was pretty miserable.  I did actually consider staying home from the barn Saturday morning, but well I just can't stay away.  I rolled up to the barn about 9:00, just as Bonnie was finishing up with feeding.  Someone was possibly coming to look at Naughtie, so I pulled her out of her stall to clean her up a bit.  Katie had given her a bath a couple days before, so she was relatively clean, she just needed a bit of grooming.  Well no one showed up to look at her so Bonnie had me tack up and ride with Rachel.  What a great ride we had.  She actually hasn't been ridden since sometime last fall, but Bonnie was the last one on her so really couldn't tell that she had so much time off.  Naughtie was ready to get back to work and happily moved out into a forward, marching walk once I was in the saddle.  She was soft in my hands and very responsive to my legs.  After lots of circles of various sizes at the walk, we moved into an impulsive trot.  A little warm up at the trot and it was time to shorten our stirrups to jump.  Bonnie had set up a low cross bar in the center of the arena and we popped over that several times before she had us jump another cross bar that was set up to the right at a slight angle.  The trick though was to trot through the other jump standards only making the right turn about a stride before the fence.  We did that a bit and then Bonnie added another fence in front of the first fence in the center of the ring as a one stride combination.  We jumped that a few times and then jumped the first fence and turned to jump the angled fence.  First time through doing that wasn't very pretty.  I actually didn't make the angled fence as I was waiting too long to turn Naughtie.  Thankfully she is very athletic and managed to jump over the center fence even though she wasn't at all straight for it.  It took us a couple of tries but we managed to get the idea.  Then Bonnie added a third fence to the middle so that we had a bounce to a one stride.  Jumped that a few times and then Bonnie set up another angled fence on the left side of the center line.  This one she put back a bit further, giving us a little more room to make the turn after the bounce.  Then we started alternating, first jump the bounces turn to the left then loop around and jump the bounces and turn to the right.  Finally we ended on a small course; straight through the center, bounces to the left, bounces to the right and finally finish through the middle.  It was a fun lesson, and even though we only jumped small fences it was something new to Naughtie.

After I finished with Naughtie, I gave her a quick bath and then tacked up Fanny-girl.  Fanny was a super little pony.  headed right to work on the rail with minimal screwing around.  I did have to get after her a bit once when she kept giving the roundbale the stink eye.  After that she was as good as gold.  We warmed up at the walk and trot and then Bonnie had us go down on the circle and try the canter on both leads.  The goal was to try and slow her canter down to an acceptable western pleasure pace.  Much easier on the right lead than the left.  But the left is her harder side as she does have a bit of a stifle issue there.  we don't usually canter her too much on the left lead, definitely not as comfortable for her as the right lead.  Then it was time to jump.  We started out over the single fence in the center and then added the second fence to make the one stride in and out.  And then finally we added the two angled fences.  Fanny was having so much fun!  She's really enjoying herself with getting to play with the big kids.  And she much happier then when the little kids get on for their lessons.

Ari had tacked up His Poniness for a lesson and she rode him on the flat in the same group as Fanny and I.  She's doing a really good job with him.  He's looking very happy with her riding, the same cannot be said for some who have been on him in the past, so that's important to me.  And she's having fun.  At first they were going to have a lunge lesson, but then Ari just sort of worked into the group and rode him on the rail.  But she still worked on things like riding without stirrups and posting without stirrups.  Heather came to pick Ari up before she had a chance to put X away.  And so rather than immediately untack him I decided to hop up for a little.  We didn't do too much, just trotted a little bit and then picked up the canter.  He's still tossing his head at the canter which I don't like, but overall he wasn't too bad considering he really hasn't be worked other than on the lunge in a while.  I had planned to ride him a little longer, but then Miss decided to escape from her stall and come running out to the arena.  I guess she had enough of waiting around for me to get to her and  took things into her own, well hooves.  So I put X away and tacked up the Moose.

Miss just got some flatwork, a lot of walk and flexing and then some trot work too.  By that point I didn't really have time for too much else.  But Miss was breathing a little heavy, kinda rumbly, so it was probably a good things that we didn't do too much.  She gave me some good moments at the trot though.  And then we just had some fun walking around and playing a bit.

Good day at the barn, although I think I overdid it a bit seeing as I was coming down with a cold.  So I was pretty miserable at work that evening.  At least I only had to work till 10:00 rather than midnight.  I'm taking Wednesday off for my appointment with Dr. Connelly, but that's not till the afternoon so I should get a chance to go ride in the morning.

Still have some super secret Rolex news to share soon.  And another post that I'm really not looking forward to writing.  I seem to be doing too many of these suddenly...

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Buggers!

So Jamie the blacksmith was out this week and Bonnie decided to try one of her unusual shoeing ideas.  See Bugsy has never moved quite right, not off or lame necessarily, just not quite right.  And he always pulls his right front shoe.  Well Tiffany has been riding him a bit and Bonnie been watching him move.  And he moves much better without the right front shoe.  So maybe he has one leg just a bit shorter than the other. We had Jamie trim his right front just a bit shorter to see if we're right.

Saturday was chaotic as usual at the barn.  Rachel got there early, so we tacked up Naughtie for a lunge lesson. I lunged Rachel first and then we swapped places.  Then Rachel tacked up Kaye and I tacked up Buggers!  Bonnie wanted to take a look at how he was moving since it had been two days since he was shod.  We started out just walking on a nice loose rein.  Eventually Bonnie had us pick up the trot, still on a long, loose rein.  Bugs felt good!  And it felt good to ride him again, been a very long time.  So after we had trotted around for a while, Bonnie tells me to shorten my stirrups and hop over the crossbar.  Well, it's Bugs and he does get a bit exuberant when jumping at home, so I wasn't so sure about it.  But Bonnie wouldn't let me say no.  So with a little trepidation we dropped the whip and headed towards the fence.  And Bugs was such a good boy!  He just popped over it nice and easily, landed in an easy canter but quickly came back to the trot for me.  We jumped the cross rail a few more times and then Bonnie turned it into a low vertical.  He did get a little stronger coming down to the fence.  But still very manageable.  After jumping that a few times, Bonnie raised the vertical.  And that's when Bugs really started to have fun.  He really started to get strong going into the fence, and instead of just holding him and going with him, I got scared and defensive.  But we jumped it a few times, and as I relaxed and actually rode the horse instead of just sitting there, things got better.  We called it quits after that, it had only been two days since Bugsy's feet were done and we didn't want to push it too much.  Astrid measured the fence after we finished.  We had been jumping 2'7" which is my personal best with Buggers.  So that was pretty cool.

Later I ended up getting on Twinkie, first time anyone has been on her in probably a year or so.  So was cool as could be though.  I started to lunge her only because she hadn't been turned out in a while.  She quickly let me know it wasn't necessary, so I just climbed on.  Ari was taking a lesson on Fanny at the time and Katie was walking Tru under saddle, so Twinkie had plenty of company, which she really enjoyed.  She settled right into a good walk, no funny business or anything.  After a while I asked for a trot.  She was a little foot sore (she really needs a trim) but she was still very good for me.  The only problem was every time she passed Tru she wanted to walk because he was walking!  I was pleased with her though, for not having done any work under saddle in months she did really well.

After I finished up with Twinkie, the barn was getting quiet.  Most of the kids had left, we were just waiting for Astrid and Victoria to be picked up.  So I decided to pull Bugs out of his stall again and practice braiding the way I learned from the Phillip Dutton Camp Videos.

Patiently waiting for me to finish

The braids

Buggers looking very handsome

Practicing for jog ups

Begging for treats

Bugs says "If your not going to give me more peppermints, I'll just eat your hair instead."

We had talked last week about having a bonfire this weekend since Morgan would be up from Tennessee.  Unfortunately her Mom wouldn't drive her down to the barn (they were with family up in the Meadville area)  So the bonfire was cancelled.  But Astrid and Victoria ended up inviting Bonnie and I for dinner and a movie. So after we finished with the horses I headed home for a quick shower and then back to the barn to pick up Bonnie.  We made a quick stop at the AT&T store in Cranberry to get the wireless card for Bonnie's laptop and then it was time for dinner.  Astrid's dad cooked some pork and brats on the charcoal grill (Yummy!) Dinner was very good.  And the meal was fun and entertaining with the von Rintelen's.  After dinner Bonnie, Astrid, Victoria, Henry and I all headed downstairs to watch Flicka 2.  Good movie, fairly predictable as most horsey movies seem to be.  But we all enjoyed it.

Sunday I was back at the barn.  Cleaned X's stall first thing.  And then picked Miss and Twinkie.  And then I tacked Twinkie up.  She was a little tired and a little foot sore, but she still went right to work for me.  I warmed her up on a nice long rein, not asking for much.  After a while we trotted through the cavalettis Bonnie had set up for us.  She looked at them the first time through and slowed to a walk but she didn't hesitate at all.  Next time she just trotted right through like a pro.  After trotting the cavalettis a few times, Bonnie put a small cross bar.  Twinkie did stop in front of it but then she jumped from there.  I think the stop was probably more my fault than hers.  We jumped the crossbar a few times before calling it quits with her.  You could tell she was tired.  But I'm really very pleased with how she went this weekend.  Can't wait to get on her next week after she gets her feet done.

One of Bonnie's newer students came out in the afternoon for a lesson.  After I helped Denise tack up Kaye, I got Bugsy ready and rode with her.  All we did was lots of walking and trotting on the buckle, but man did he feel great!  He was very happy, and had a nice long stride.  He just really felt very good.

Bonnie's off Tuesday night, so I'll be able to get some weekday riding in this week.  And then Wednesday is Maeve's party at Ethan's house.

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One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

Well as good as last weekend had been, this weekend was decidedly less so. Stopped out to the barn Friday after work. Astrid and Ethan were still there bathing Jade. I spent some time with my ponies, cleaned Kaye's stall and gave her a good grooming.

Saturday morning I was back to the barn early. Tacked Bugs up for Bonnie to ride, but then before she could get on him the kids all started showing up. I lunged Rachel on Naughtie and then the two of us had a jumping lesson. I don't know what happened, but I just fell apart. I couldn't get things together. So we were back to jumping crossbars. That just sucked! And I felt bad for Kaye, I know she was looking forward to jumping big fences again. She did however get a nice bath. So Marsie is all sparkling clean. Which she quite enjoyed, she's smart enough to know that when she starts getting baths it's almost show season. I then started to fix the front pasture fence so we could begin turning horses out, but I only got about halfway around before I had to leave.

Sunday I was back out fairly early. Bonnie gave me a lunge lesson on Naughtie which was badly needed. I haven't had one in a while and I know my position was suffering. And I did ok until after we cantered the second direction Bonnie asked me to post without stirrups. I don't know what it was but something made my knee start to hurt like you wouldn't believe. I guess that means it's time to call Dr. Yakish for an appointment. Maybe time to try another Cortisone injection. We'll have to see.

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Brief Winter Thaw

So we had a brief winter thaw, which was kinda nice. I at least was able to get some riding in. Gotta say going three weeks without riding just kills me! I started riding Miss a little bit again. She is just doing so well. Since Christmas really she has just improved dramatically. She's putting on weight (she should be considering that she's getting like 6 big cans of grain a day), her hips don't stick out so much anymore, her ribs are actually covered and she's starting to pick up those muscles across her back. And the biggest thing is she's Miss again. She's acting like herself, she's perked up and enjoying life again. We turn her out with Kaye and Naughtie and she just runs circles around them. I rode her again on Saturday. Jumped her a little bit and even tried to canter her. That part wasn't so great, but that was my fault. I've always had a hard time cantering Miss.

Rode Naughtie on Saturday as well. Tammy was going to ride her, and Bonnie had me get on first to warm her up while Tammy was working with her friend that came with her. Well Naughtie was feeling good. Had a nice little spook right off the bat where she tried to bolt and was doing some airs above the ground. She was getting very pissy with my leg, and not wanting to bend or flex. Tammy decided she was just going to ride Kaye, that she wasn't quite up to dealing with Naughtie's shenanigans. So I ended up jumping her a bit with Tammy. She was being a complete retard. Bolting after the fence and stupid stuff like that. Then Cosimo decided he wanted to be part of the jump. I yelled at him and of course he didn't move, so I just aimed her at the fence anyway. Well he got scared when we were in mid-air and took off. Spooked Naughtie and she landed bucking and tried to bolt. The good thing about all this is that I am getting a very secure seat. I even lost my stirrup when she did that, but I just sat up and didn't even let her bother me at all. My position never changed. Pretty cool.

After I finished with Naughtie I had to head home. The ICHA banquet was that night and I had to be at Nikki's a 4:20 so we could all ride together. Kelly was meeting us there also and we were all riding together in her Blazer, plus picking up Nikki's other friend Monique. Well of course nothing can ever be easy and we had some adventures just getting there. Nikki got confused about where we were picking up Monique. We ended up getting on 60 and had to do an illegal u-turn. It was fun adventures though. The banquet was fun. It was nice to see everyone. Nikki didn't end up doing enough Inter-County shows to really win anything this year. She did win the Adult Western Seat Equitation and was Reserve in the Arabian Western Pleasure. Looks like I'll be joining ICHA this year. Tom wants to see Dalal's name up there in High Point Awards.

Sunday of course I was back out to the barn. Rachel came out in the morning and I had a lesson on Miss with her and Kaye. I really am so pleased with how she's doing. Bonnie set up some cavalettis for us. They were too short for Miss! She even spread them out a bit and they were still too short. But because of Kaye we couldn't spread them anymore. We did the cavalettis for a bit and then Bonnie set up a cross-bar for us. Miss was really using herself over the fences, rounding through her back and using her head and neck. Finally the last fence Bonnie added a back rail to make it into an oxer. Miss just felt amazing over it! So proud of her!

Taryn came out later in the afternoon and we had a lesson on Bugs and Naughtie. Naughtie was much better than she had been the day before, not nearly so worked up. We did a bit of jumping. And I took her through two bounces for the first time. Pretty sure that was the first time she's ever done bounces. She wasn't real sure about it and she kept sneaking in a tiny extra stride, but she didn't hesitate and she jumped. So we were pretty pleased with her there.

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So this is Christmas, and what have you done? Another year older, a new one just begun...

Christmas is in four days!! I am so not ready!!! But only two more days of work (yay!) And Blair will be home in two days!!!!!! Can't wait!!!!

Anyway, made it out to the barn Friday after work. Bonnie was just heading up to the house, but Taryn was out in the ring on Bugsy, along wiht Katie on Naughtie and Astrid was on Kaye. But Astrid had said I could have Kaye and she'd get on Fanny bareback. So I quickly changed into riding clothes and put my saddle on Kaye and we headed out to the arena. Taryn was actually pretty much finished with Bugs, so she headed inside soon after I got there, but Katie stayed out and was still working Naughtie some. Kaye gave me a really good ride, she was on the bit and working up in a pretty decent frame without even trying. I was pretty pleased with that. We worked on some laterals, leg yields and shoulder ins. Plus we did the shoulder in, 10 meter circle, haunches in exercise a few times. Then I asked her for some canter work. I have to say, I really regret teaching her to do flying changes. I was trying to do the three loop serpentine of the arena with the middle loop at a counter canter. Well she kept trying to change on me. I was really getting mad at her!! Other than that we had a really good ride though.

Saturday morning I was looking forward to getting out to the barn to ride. But when I woke up I was in a winter wonderland! It snowed overnight. Goody. Roads were terrible in New Brighton, I didn't even try to get anywhere. It was almost 2:00 by the time the got my roads cleared. By that time I didn't think there was any point to me going out to the barn. I figured Bonnie would be heading up to the house soon. Plus it wouldn't give me much time before I'd have to come home and get ready for the holiday party. So I just stayed home until I went to Astrid's at 6:00 for the party.

We had a pretty good time. Everyone was there except for Taryn. She was worried about the roads since her car doesn't handle the snow too well. But there was lots of good food and the kids all had fun with the gift exchange. And then we sat down to watch the cheesy Zac Efron horse movie. Great movie to mock. But Astrid's DVD player isn't working right and so we got about halfway into the movie and then it froze. We didn't even get to the good mocking parts. Well Astrid wanted to try again. And the remote for the DVD player doesn't work, so you couldn't fast forward to the part it had stopped at. So we watched the whole first half again. And then it stopped at the same part. By that time it was after 9:00 and I was ready to head home. It was still snowing a little bit and I wanted to get home before the roads got too bad. So everyone pretty much headed out at that time.

Luckily by Sunday morning it had stopped snowing and the roads were fine so I was able to make it out to the barn. Bonnie and I worked on some stalls and then Taryn came out. So she and I had a dressage lesson on Bugs and Kaye. Worked on some leg yeilds first and then moved on to half-passes. Which both of us pretty much sucked at. Bonnie had us do this half-pass exercise. We only used half the arena, so the quarterline was out centerline. We turned down the centerline and half-passed left to the rail and then half-pass right to the other rail, then half-pass left back to the other rail and then half-pass right to the centerline. It was so hard! Neither of us did it real great, but it's something to work on. We gave the horses a break then and let them stretch for a few minutes. Then we did some canter work. First Bonnie had us do simple changes through the walk both ways. And then the counter-canter serpentine. Kaye was wanting to change her leads, but I was able to keep her from doing it. So that was an improvement. Then Bonnie had us canter a 20 meter circle on the correct lead, halt at the gate, counter-canter a 20 meter circle, halt at the gate and then canter another circle on the correct lead. Kaye is so used to doing things for the little kids that when I asked for the counter-canter she just ignored me and picked up the correct lead. It was like she was saying "Jen that's wrong, but don't worry I'll fix it for you" So I brought her back to a stop and asked for the counter-canter again. That time she picked it up. Good lesson, lots of new things to work on. I'm really having a lot of fun trying out some new dressage things with Kaye this winter. And I think she's actually enjoying herself too. As much as she likes the kids, I think she gets a little bored. And so she likes learning some more advanced things, even if it is dressage.

The new Winter/Spring USEA Omnibus is out. And so I started thinking about eventing this summer. I really wnat to get out as much as I can possibly afford. And I talked to Bonnie about horses to event. Don't get me wrong, I love my horse dearly and I'd love to be able to event him. And someday I will hopefully. But right now, he's still green over fences and he tends to get very exurberant. And that scares me a little bit. He really needs Bonnie to take him out a few times to get some experience. But I can't afford to pay for that and still be able to event myself. So X will not be my event horse this year. Now, Kaye, again I love her dearly. I'm having so much fun doing upper level dressage with her. And I love to jump her at home and in stadium. I just really don't feel like another wild cross country ride liek we had at Erie. So she's out. So then I thought what about Naughtie? It weird because I feel just as comfortable jumping her as I do Kaye and Miss. And I know Naughtie is pretty calm, so I think she'll be a good, solid horse for me to event. So I talked to Bonnie about it and she thought it sounded good, so Naughtie and I will be headed out this summer. I'd like, if I can afford it, to do about 1 HT a month. Lost Hounds in June, South Farm the beginning of July, possibly Gemwood the end of July, EHSC in August and then South Farm in September. I'd like to start in May at Greater Dayton but I'm not too fond of the officials there and I don't think I'd get a fair shot, so it's not really worth spending the money. So hopefully it will work out. If I get the new job I applied for I should be able to event with the pay increase. So fingers crossed.

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The End of an Era

So I made an offer on the house last week. Spent two hours over at Northwood's offices Wednesday night filling out the gazillion forms that it involved. Seller was supposed to give us an answer on Thursday. I'm on edge all day waiting to hear, finally Lynn calls me at like 8:00. Apparently the seller (who like almost 60) was working as an extra on the new Denzel Washington movie in Pittsburgh all day and wasn't able to give her an answer. So it's another day of playing the waiting game. Finally Lynn calls Friday evening. Of course it's bad news. Apparently, he was contacted by one of the people who couldn't get financing two months ago. They are still interested in buying the house. And so he's going to give them another month or so to come up with the money. He basically told Lynn that he didn't want to pay her commission so he wouldn't even consider any offers she brought him. Well thanks Asshole!

So I was supposed to do something with Mattykins Friday night, but honestly by that time I didn't really feel like going out at all. So I went up to Mom's and we watched some TV for a while. Saturday morning I was out to the barn early. Took a lesson on Naughtie before the kids all rode. Bonnie had me tack her up with the draw reins and I rode in my little spurs. She was pretty good, Taryn had been riding her a bit and you could tell. She wasn't quite as stiff bending and her sides were better. Then Rachel and I took lunge lessons on X. It was a short day at the barn, I had to get out early so I could make it home in time to get ready to go to Pegasus. It was the last weekend for the downtown location and so Mattykins and I had made plans to go.

Luckily we stayed away from any and all deer on the way into the city. Joni and her friend Jamie ended up going with us and we met Crystal and her boyfriend Antonio there. It was a good time. We found out Pegasus wasn't completely closing, just the downtown location. Thursday and Friday nights at the Eagle will be 18 and over Pegasus nights. But it just won't be the same. We danced the night away and closed down the place at 2:00. It was fun to be there again and see some of the regulars from before. Plus a lot of new, different people. And it was just a lot of fun to go dancing again. It's been so long since I've been able to do that, I really missed it.

Sunday morning I slept in a little bit and then headed out to the barn. Bonnie and I got some stalls done and then I tacked up Kaye for a dressage lesson. I had a really good ride, worked on my laterals. I'm finally really getting the hang of the half-pass. We worked some more on doing a shoulder in to a small circle and then haunches in. I still have some trouble with the haunches in. For some reason I just can't get the correct feel for it. But I'm getting better. I had to laugh though, next summer I'll be the only beginner novice rider warming up for dressage with upper level movements!

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There is no secret so close as that between a rider and his horse -Robert Smith Surtees

Thanksgiving weekend was nice, very relaxing which is something that I don’t get all that often. Tom and Maryann had gone to New York so I was feeding his ponies Wednesday evening through Friday evening. They are super easy to care for of course. Thanksgiving itself really ended up being a lazy day. I got up and fed at Tom’s in the morning and then I came home, put the PJ’s back on and crawled in bed with Squalor. It was great. Squalie-cat loved it as well. As soon as a laid down again he was immediately on my shoulder, almost like he was trying to keep me in bed. Anyway I ended up not getting up again until it was time to get ready to go to Aunt Sandy’s.

Dinner was small this year. Todd, Kris and the girls were at her family’s for dinner and Daddy had to work. But the food was delicious as always. And then Sheri and Joe stopped by after dinner. I did have to get up and leave to go feed at Tom’s. But I had filled water and laid out hay in the morning so I only had to dump grain in the stalls and bring the ponies inside. Didn’t take very long at all. Then when I got back to Aunt Sandy’s Todd and crew had arrived. And Todd had found a job for me to apply for. It’s at Heritage Valley, it’s an HR Consultant job. The primary location is at the HR Offices in Moon Twp, but some travel would be required to the two hospitals. And the best part is that it would be a pretty significant pay increase. Even just the starting rate is about $7 an hour more than I make now. And hopefully with my experience I would start somewhere in the middle. The mid point of the salary range is about double what I make now. Plus it would almost be like even more of a raise since I wouldn’t be spending $92 a month to park, and I wouldn’t be spending as much in gas. Moon Twp is a lot closer than Oakland, plus not nearly as much of a hassle to get there. Aunt Sandy of course is helping me out and got Dr. Yakish to give me a reference. And she talked to the COO of the hospital to put in a good word for me. And Aunt Sandy knows the CEO of the hospital. So fingers crossed. I’m hoping Aunt Sandy’s help will at least get me the interview and then I just need to dazzle them and get the job.

Friday morning I had to feed both at Tom’s and Bonnie’s. Got all the ponies fed and then started cleaning some stalls while I waited for Bonnie, Astrid and Ethan. We got a lot done that day. I picked horsechild’s stall and then the kids and I cleaned the four stallions. Buster and Mystic weren’t too bad. And Ethan and Astrid had cleaned M-N-M on Wednesday, so he only needed picked out. Spot of course, was the worst. It took all afternoon to dig it out and clean it. But it was nice to get that side cleaned. Now we just need to get some of the empty stalls over there cleaned out so the outside horses can come in. Before we left Astrid and I took turns lunging on X. He’s such a good boy on the lunge line. Astrid though, I couldn’t believe that she shortened the stirrups on my saddle to ride. She’s taller than me, if anything she should have to lengthen them! Feed Tom’s horses on my way home and then I quickly got cleaned up and over to Aunt Sandy’s for leftovers. Watched the Pitt-WVU game, which was enough to drive me to drink. Don’t really want to talk about it.

Saturday I slept in a bit and didn’t make it to the barn until later. Rode on the lunge first with Astrid on Naughtie. Astrid’s trying, I know she is, but she has that horse so dead sided. And not bending at all. I would end up pounding my inside leg on her just to get her to move over, only she would just speed up. She has no concept now of independent leg. So that means she’s going to be getting lots of lessons with spurs and draw reins. I did have to laugh because once I put Astrid on her, she didn’t dare cut her circle short. Not because Astrid was keeping her out, but because she knew she wasn’t allowed to do that with me. Then I rode X with the group. Rachel rode Airy, Astrid on Kaye and Katie on Naughtie. We did the cavaletti’s with them, but bowed out of the jumping. Now quite ready to jump my own beastie yet, he tends to get a little too exuberant over fences, especially when he hasn’t jumped in a while. After the kids finished jumping I did some canter work with him. He started out being a jerk. But we did the exercise where we canter a circle, stop at the wall, turn on the haunches and canter the other direction. Rinse and repeat. After we did that a few times he was cantering very nicely.

Sunday of course I was back out at the barn. Bonnie and I got a lot done. Twinkie, X, Bugs, Cuddles, Miss and Kaye’s stalls all got cleaned. Heather brought Ari and Elaina out, along with their friends, another Elaina and Jenna. The kids all rode Fanny and then Ari and Jenna went to go interview Lisa Culver for their Girl Scout project. After they finished there, Heather dropped the two of them off to help clean stalls. It was nice to have their help with things like getting sawdust and whatnot. Anyway Bonnie and I were just starting to feed when Taryn and her Mom showed up. So Bonnie finished feeding and Taryn and I rode. Taryn got Bugs, who was not all that happy to have been ignored for a few days. And I rode Naughtie. I wanted to spend some time with her in draw reins and with spurs. She really needed the work on bending and lightening her sides. After we worked on the flat for a while I popped her over a few jumps. First cross-bar she just tried to stop at it. After that I really got after her going down to the fence. Of course though I ended up having to turn the fence intoa small oxer before she's even bother to jump it. Silly TBs have to make everything so difficult.

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It's Rolex Time!

Last weekend before Rolex! Can you tell I'm excited? And I'm not even riding. Anyways, Saturday was the usual busy day at the barn. The kids were all out, including Rachael and Kelsey. First thing on the agenda was lunge lessons. Astrid and I took turns on Naughtie while Rachael and Kelsey lunged on Airy. Astrid went first and when it was time for her to do the sitting trot she had to pull the stirrups off the saddle because they hurt her legs. So when it was my turn Bonnie wouldn't even let me put the stirrups back on the saddle. No I can get on my little 15.3 hand horse bareback, but getting on 16.2 Naughtie? Not so much. Once I finally managed to climb on her back I had a good lunge lesson. Which I really needed. Actually I need lots of lunge lessons right now.

I rode X a bit on Saturday as well. We did some cavalettis and he was a jerk. He liked not doing anything all winter and he's not exactly thrilled with the idea of going back to work now. I did manage to talk him out of his bad behavior and spooks. He really wanted to though. His leg is doing much better now. He's just getting the proud flesh medication on it every couple days and it's healing very well. The really exciting thing was that Saturday was warm enough for a bath! After I rode I gave X the first of many baths he will need to be clean. He's not all the way there yet, but he doesn't smell anymore.

Sunday was spent playing musical horses and moving stall assignments around. We turned M-N-M out and started on his stall. Unfortunately we haven't been able to get him out to do his stall the last time the spreader was on that side. And so between that and the leaking waterer, it was a bad one. But we got that stall done and moved M across the aisle and then Spot went into M's old stall.

After the stalls were finished I tacked X up for Katie and I to have a lunge lesson. My pony is such a good lunge horse! He just goes out and trots around as long as you want him to. He's so nice and soft on the lunge line and easy to side on. I love my pony! Of course he wasn't quite so happy when Katie got on him. First Katie looks like a giant on him. She's like 5'10" or so I think. Quite a bit taller than me. She doesn't realize it, but when she rides she grabs with her leg. Tru is just so used to it he doesn't do anything, although he is really dead sided from her. X didn't do anything bad, but your could tell he wasn't happy. The ears were back and his tail was swishing. Not that Katie got it. I told Bonnie we need to put her on something that will bolt if she grabs like that.

I'm off work Thursday and Friday this week for Rolex! We're not leaving until like 7 Thursday night, but I decided to take off anyway. That way I can go out and ride during the day and help Bonnie get the barn in order. And then it will be off for three days in Kentucky. I've got the camera all ready, extra memory cards and an extra battery. So I'll be good to go. I'll try to post pictures each night once we get back to the hotel so check my PhotoBucket page. Plus I'll probably be Twittering from my cell during the day. I think Friday morning we're going to try to get up early and go watch the morning works at Keeneland. That will be fun, I've never been to a racetrack before. So the next time you hear from me I'll be at Rolex!

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Why do I have to have an accident prone horse?

So last Sunday I noticed that X had a cut on the outside of his right foreleg. Not too big a deal, didn't seem to hurt him or anything. So I cleaned it up and put some Vaseline on it. Friday I got out of work early and I headed out to the barn. Cleaned his stall and then brought him out to the cross ties to tack up. I'm grooming him and his leg is swollen a little. Cut doesn't look any different from last week but he has some heat and swelling at the site. I jog him up and down the aisle a few times, he isn't off at all so I figure I'm still going to ride him. I finish grooming him, tack him up and slather Vaseline over his leg to keep the arena sand out of it. We go out and I put him on the lunge line first. He really hasn't been ridden much, plus then I can see if he's off at all. Nope he's perfectly fine, takes off cantering, bucking, jumping, the whole bit. I let him work some of his energy off and then hop on him. Suddenly, we're dead lame. I don't think so dude. I make him work through it and after a few minutes he realizes that the lameness trick isn't going to work and he starts working. Now though he decides that it's necessary to spook at everything! I really just don't feel like dealing with it. I get off and he goes back on the lunge line. It doesn't take too long for him to give in. Really he's lazy and knows that I'll just keep making him go until he settles. I get back on and he's a good boy now. Bonnie comes down to the barn after a while and she sets up some cavalettis for us. First few times through it was like he'd forgotten what they were, but after a while he was going through perfectly. Pretty good ride considering he hasn't done anything in months!

Saturday I was going to take a lunge lesson on X but for once the kids all showed up early. Ended up riding Naughtie in a lesson with Kelsey/Kaye, Rachel/Miss and Katie/Tru. Of course Katie takes five times longer to take up so by the time the rest of us are ready to start jumping she's just getting to the arena. And then she's constantly in the way. Like common courtesy would be to give the rail to the horses that are working. Not Katie, everyone else has to work around her. We worked through the cavalettis and then onto a cross-bar. As usual Bonnie raised the fence until we were jumping a 3'4" oxer. Then she decided to have us work on some bounces. Lowered the jump back to a cross-bar and we started over just one. Then she added a second fence. I had some trouble with Naughtie which I know was all my fault. We had a couple of stops and so that was it. I didn't want to start any bad habits. I ended up getting on Kaye to jump the three bounces. After I took Kaye through I couple times I got back on Naughtie and did the single fence again, just to end on a good note.

So today I was determined to get a lunge lesson on my horse, we both really need it. I go to groom him and his leg is swollen again. And joy, it's infected. But it's still not bothering him at all, so hopefully it will clear up soon. I had a great lunge lesson. X was really working well and moving great. The leg didn't bother him at all. He figured out that it's not worth it to try and pull the lame horse routine.

Picked out his stall after we rode. I love the Best Cob bedding and how easy it is to clean. Plus it's keeping X clean. But now he has to find something to do since he can't get himself all dirty. And this is what he did. I could really kill him sometimes. Makes me glad I hadn't planned to do any recognized shows with him this summer.

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3'4" Baby!

The bridle I bought Naughtie arrived from Ebay this week. Really nice black leather, no identifying marks as far as brand but a decent bridle for the $17 I paid. So Naughtie has her own bridle now, she doesn't have to share with Miss or Kaye. I also decided that I'm going to show her in pink this summer. I've always wanted to put a horse in pink, but I feel bad doing that to my gelding. And Naughtie actually looks very pretty in a pale pink. I picked up a pink pad from Luster's Friday night. And I found pink laces to go on my black Tipperary vest. I also bid on a pair of pink rubber reins on Ebay, they should be arriving any day I think. Bonnie hates the pink, but oh well I think it's pretty!

The plan is to go to the South Farm Combined Test on May 2nd. I'm going to take Miss beginner novice. Which means we NEED to work on the canter. If she's allowed Astrid is going to take Kaye in either intro or very green, which ever she feels comfortable. If Toni doesn't let Astrid ride I think I might see if I can take Naughtie as well in beginner novice. And then the plan will be to go to the South Farm Horse Trial Fourth of July weekend. Ideally I'd like to take Miss, but we're still waiting to see how she does once the weather gets warmer. If her breathing isn't good again this year, I'll try Naughtie there. I don't think she'll have any problems going beginner novice.

I left work an hour early Friday. I needed to go to the bank before they closed plus I wanted to go ride. Put Naughtie's new pink pad on her, and she looked fabulous! Anyways we warmed up on the flat and then Bonnie had us go over the cross bar. Just from the one jumping lesson the week before she was already jumping better. We did that a few times to warm up and then we jumped the oxer. I'll try and describe how the two fences were set up. They were both in the middle of the arena, about half a dozen strides apart. The one was the cross bar and the other was an oxer. I jumped the cross bar going towards the end of the arena and then did a figure 8 and cut in the middle to jump the oxer going towards the other end of the arena. Bonnie then added a bark rail to turn the cross bar into another oxer and we just kept jumping the both of them on a figure 8. Anyway I lost count of how many times we jumped. By the end of the lesson both oxers were about 2'8" with a 3' spread. Not to shabby. Naughtie was really jumping well. Looks like the plan is going to be lots of gymnastics with her and lots of big, wide oxers.

Saturday morning we had all the kids out. Rachel came out and brought a friend Julia. I rode Naughtie in a group lesson with Rachel/Miss, Julia/Fanny and Astrid/Kaye. The same two jumps we did Friday night only they were both little cross bars. Jumped one individually a few times and then did both cross bars in a row. Jumped that a few times and then Bonnie set up a third cross bar as an in and out. We did single fence followed by in and out. We each jumped that three times and then reversed so it was in and out followed by single fence. Julia had to bow out after that because Bonnie turned the second fence in the in and out into an oxer. Fanny just can't jump that much anymore, even though she really was having some fun. I went through first. And let me tell you it wasn't very pretty. Bonnie always tells us to come back to the trot so I was trying to get Naughtie to trot after the single fence and I didn't get the trot until like a stride before the double. So we just didn't have the impulsion to get through it well. She kinda climbed over the oxer. Now Bonnie tells me that I can canter the exercise. So much easier the next time through. After Rachel and I both did the exercise a few times Bonnie turned the first fence of the double into an oxer. Again the first time through wasn't the best. I really needed to push Naughtie in between but we got better. Eventually Bonnie turned the single fence into an oxer and raised the in and out a bit. I went through that a few times and then called it quits. Naughtie was getting tired and I just can't carry her through that kind of stuff. She's really not all that fit yet. Astrid got on her then and rode a bit. She jumped her over a few cross bars. But Astrid was afraid she was going to do something and was grabbing the mare with her legs. So of course Naughtie says "ok let's go." And Astrid got scared. I think they'll be a good match after Naugtie has settled in a little more and Astrid gets over her fears.

I went back and measured the fences later that night and it turns out the in and out oxers were 3'4"!! Woohoo Baby! Bonnie laughs at me because I always want to go and measure how high I jumped. But I'm just curious to know what we did. Plus I have to be able to document it on here. It pretty amazing. Usually I'm ok jumping single big fences. Or small combinations. But I freak out about jumping big combinations, and by big I mean anything over 2'. Even with Miss I freak out about that. But with Naughtie I never even thought about it. I just jumped.

Sunday I was out to the barn again. I had to strip out X's stall and put three new bags of bedding in it. It's little expensive to use the Best Cob stuff, but it's really working quite well for him. And now he's going out in the arena at night with his mares, he's not in his stall as much. We got Jade's old stall cleaned and moved Buster in there. And then cleaned Buster's stall to move Mystic. And now Mystic's stall needs to dry. It's like soup in there. He somehow managed to overfill his waterer big time. And it leaked everywhere! Once that dries some so we can strip it out, we'll move M & M in there so we can open his stall out into the pasture and let the outside horses use it for water.

Tammy and Tammy came out for another lesson. I was planning to just work Naughtie on the flat. She needs a bit of a refresher about things like moving off my legs and all that. We did a lot of work on a smaller circle, really making her get her hindquarters underneath her and come down onto the bit. And we got a lovely canter in each direction. She picked up the canter right away, and lightened up on her her forehand beautifully. She's really making progress just in the last week. Since we've been jumping the last two days I was just going to end there. But Tammy wanted to jump a little and Bonnie said it was ok, so we did a few cross bars. Nothing too big. Although towards the end Bonnie did put up a little oxer (about 2'4") I have to say Repo was so cute when he jumped. He hasn't jumped an oxer in probably a year and a half or so. Actually he hasn't done much jumping at all lately. He cleared the jump by a good foot. Really good weekend all around. I'll get in my lesson Friday night this week, I had wanted to start riding another night during the week. But that's not going to happen since Michael decided he wanted to alternate work schedules. Would have been nice if I'd been asked what I want to do. Monday was the first day I had to work the 8:30 - 5:00 shift. I left at 6:45 in the morning and didn't get home until 7:10. By then I don't have energy to do anything, let alone ride a horse. This sucks!

Easter next week, so Sunday will be a short day at the barn. But it means dinner at Aunt Sandy's, yay! And only two more weeks till Rolex, can't wait!

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First Ride on Naughtie in Almost 2 Years

I took the day off from work on Friday to take Buddy and Little Cuddles back home to Sandy's in Maryland. I am so thankful they are gone but man could I have done without the "excitement" of the trip. Apparently on Thursday when Bonnie was going up her driveway she hit one of the massive holes and the Y pipe on her tailpipe came loose. So before we leave Friday morning she wires the tailpipes to the bumper. We load the horses up and head out, picking up Astrid in Zelie. We're driving down, make it all the way down the turnpike to Breezewood ok. Get off there and get on 70. All the sudden I hear the tailpipe dragging on the ground. We pull over, re-wire the tailpipe to the bumper and start out again. We get to Hagarstown and Bonnie decides she needs coffee so we stop at a McDonald's. Her and Astrid head inside and I get laughed at by some guy in an SUV as he watches me first fix the tailpipe again and then reattached the side view mirror with duct tape. We make it down to Sandy's ok, get the horses settles in their stalls and everything. We decide to just pull the tailpipe off the truck cause it's coming loose again. So we get on the road every thing's going well and then we hear something dragging. Pull over thinking it's the other tailpipe. Look at the back of the truck, nope the tailpipe is secured still. Nothing else is dragging on the truck, nothing on the trailer. Can't figure out what it is. Then I look behind us. The muffler is laying on the side of the road. We keep going and manage to get home without losing anymore of the exhaust system. Take the trailer over to Tammy's. Try to park it in front of her barn and suddenly we can't go in reverse. Chris had to come out and use his tractor to pull the truck and trailer to where we could park it. We did make it back to the barn (barely) So we made it home, with one tailpipe in the back of the truck, the other one wired to the bumper, the muffler on the side of I-70 in MD and no reverse in the truck, but we made it home.

Saturday I decided to go antiquing with my parents and aunt and uncle. Fun day shopping, but it was long, with LOTS of walking. And we took a uh, interesting scenic route home. The GPS had us on this road that for about an hour we saw nothing but farmland (pretty) and some redneck homes (not so pretty) No gas stations, restaurants, nothing. It was pretty bad.

Sunday I finally got to ride. Tammy and Tammy hauled Repo and Sugar over to ride. Bonnie had me tack up Naughtie to ride with them. She was so good. She really has relaxed right back into the barn. Astrid and Katie both rode her a little on Saturday, Astrid on the lunge line. I guess she was a little bit nervous at first and that's why Katie got on. Anyway, she was good for me, settled, we got to work right away. It's pretty obvious that she's hasn't done anything lately. She very unfit. She was also a little on the skinny side when we picked her up although she's already gaining weight. Anyway I rode her on the flat for a bit and then Bonnie set up a cross bar for Tammy and I to jump. We did that a few times and then raised it a bit. Jumped that a few times and turned it into a vertical. Eventually Bonnie turned it into an oxer. I later measured it at 2'8". Naughtie was so good, I was really pleased for our first ride in almost 2 years.

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Naughtie is home

X is seriously in the doghouse after Saturday. Vicky tacked him up to take a lunge lesson, she's been riding him on the lunge for the past few weeks so this was nothing new. Well Katie was out wetting down the arena, it was starting to get too dusty, especially for Miss. So we're lunging, Vicky's doing pretty well. Then Katie goes and stretches the hose across the arena and then walks it back on itself. It's new hose, still wants to roll up and the hose twists up on itself. Katie gives it a good hard yank to unkink, RIGHT in front of my horse. X of course looked at and went "OH MY GOD! It's going to EAT me!" And jumped straight up in the air. Apparently he's been watching Bugsy, because he then snapped his back and turned it into a nice buck. Vicky got very defensive, hunched her shoulders, leaned forward and drew her knees up. So of course she went flying. Luckily for her, the new arena footing is still pretty clean and it's softer. Vicky was ok, and eventually I was able to get her up and back on the horse. We walked around a little bit and then she went out on a trail ride on Fanny with Henry and Katie. X got a saddle change and me on him for about an hour. We walked and walked and walked. I made him walk over the scary hose and onto the scary wet sand and past the scary windows. And then I made him stand quietly. He hates that part. Now that's it's getting warmer he needs to go back to work. He has gotten much too lazy this winter and thinks he can get away with whatever he wants.

Luckily I had a good ride on Miss in the afternoon to make up for my bad pony. I rode with Astrid and Kaye, Bonnie set up a small crossbar after three trot poles for us. I have to say I really hate jumping that mare over small fences. She has so much jump, she doesn't really know what to do with herself over a little fence. Plus she knows she can just step over them so she get easily distracted. But we jumped the little crossbar a few times and then Bonnie made it a slightly bigger little crossbar and we did that a few times. Then Bonnie added a pole behind to turn it into an oxer (about 2'3") Now we're talking. Miss is so much easier to ride over the bigger fences. And she really enjoys it, you can feel the change in her. Her ears are up and her eyes are bright and she just wants to go. We jumped that maybe 4 or 5 times, really working on keeping my leg on her and anchoring my weight in my heels. Then Bonnie added the blue barrel under the jump, didn't change the height at all, just filled it in a little. That's when Astrid bowed out of the lesson. She does really good and then some days her nerves just get the better of her. We jumped the barrel a few time and then Bonnie raised the back bar up a few inches (2'6") Miss really had fun with that. She is so amazing over fences, she just snaps her knees right up to her chin and she's 4 feet off the ground without even trying. So good lesson, Miss and I both had fun, and I was pleased with the progress we made on my position.

Sunday, no barn as I had agreed to help Aunt Sandy at A Chocolate Sunday. Sara was supposed to be helping as well, but she had a baton competition so she didn't go. My mom ended up coming to help in her place. We got put at a table handing out this Dagoba Organic Chocolate stuff. It was annoying because everyone was asking us about the stuff and we had no clue what it was. Plus it was all these weird flavors, like lavender, seeds (with Hemp!), roseberry, and super fruits. But Aunt Sandy asked me to help out and since she doesn't ask for things all that often I feel like I have too. At least I got some good chocolate out of it, including Rosalinds.

While I was at the country club pushing organic chocolate bars, Bonnie and Jim were driving up to New York to pick up Naughtie. Almost 2 years ago Margaret, Bugsy's former owner, had taken Naughtie to sell. Well she didn't sell and Margaret isn't really teaching now so Naughtie came home to us. She knew were she was right away and I'd like to think that she remembered me. Anyway can't wait to ride her again next week.

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