Introducing HoofPrints Photography!

So I've decided to finally get serious about trying to turn my love of equine photography into something that I can attempt to make some money from.  Now I know that I'm never going to be able to quit my job and do this full time, but I have fun with it and if I can make a little money on the side then great.

Saturday morning I took the camera with me out to the barn to shoot the Windhurst Event Team practice.  Tiffany was there and rode Bugs with Rachel and Airy.  They both had great jump schools.  Bugs in particular was so in his element.  He was so excited to be jumping big fences.  And speaking of jumping big fences, Rachel jumped her first 4' fence!  Woohoo!  Go Rachel!

After Rachel and Tiffany finished their lessons it was time for the younger kids to ride.  And both Ari and Astrid had personal bests when they jumped 3'.  So proud of both of them.

I had a quick lunge lesson on my horse, in which he just keeps getting better and better.  I love my pony!

Sunday I got up early and headed out to South Farm for the day.  They were holding their first Mini Trial that day and I decided it would be fun to go and practice my photography.  I got there in time to watch stadium for the training division before I headed out to the cross country course.

After the training division finished stadium I headed out to the cross country course to get a good spot before they began running horses.  After taking a look at the training course map I decided that the water would be the best place to hang out.  From there I could see four jumps plus the up and down banks in and out of the water.  As I headed down to claim my spot, I found out I wasn't the only one who thought that was the place to be.  I got to hang out with Melinda from Squibbs Photography, the official photographer for the Mini Trial. 

I stayed down at the water for the novice division as well.  They only had a pass through the water, so it's wasn't as exciting as the banks, but there was a jump right after the water and I could get a good shot of the jump before the water as well.  

After novice finished I decided to scope out a new spot.  Beginner novice only had the water pass through option and so unless they took the optional fence, I wouldn't get any jumping shots.  So I packed up and made my way over to the bank complex.  I was able to get a good spot up on top where I could actually see almost every fence on course for beginner novice and starter/very green.  Pretty cool.  I only ended up stay for about half of the 2 foot rides.  By that point it was getting late and I was pooped from standing in the sun all day.  But I had a great time, Sarah and her crew there always put on great events.  I love going there to ride, or just watch.  And I can't wait to go back in October for the last combined test to polish off my jumping before the Boyd Clinic.

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Lunge Lesson Magic

Bonnie had Tuesday night off from work, which ended up working out well for me.  Meant I could stop out and ride after work.  Yippee!  When I got to the barn, Tammy was there with two of the girls she's been teaching.  They were riding Kaye on the lunge already, which was kind of disappointing.  Meant I couldn't jump her.  And Tiff had been out to ride that morning, so I couldn't ride Bugs either.  Oh well, good excuse for a lunge lesson on my pony.  So I tacked up the Pon-Pon and we headed out to the arena for 45 minutes of torture from Bonnie.  :)

It's amazing how well X is going on the lunge line after just a few lessons the past couple of weeks.  His canter work on the lunge is incredible!  His hocks are underneath him and he's together and very uphill in his canter.  And this was with no contact at all!  So proud of my boy.  And he really likes the lunge lessons.  I mean don't get me wrong he'd still prefer to be in his stall eating, but if he has to go to work, lunge lessons aren't so bad.

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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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South Farm and the 4th of July Holiday

There's not too much that's better than a long holiday weekend.  I have to say I was really looking forward to the 4th of July weekend.  Ron was kind enough to let us out early on Friday at 3:30, so I enjoyed getting out then.  Of course I used my extra time to head out to the barn.  Astrid was there and Carlee and Colleen came soon afterwards for Carlee's lesson.  While Carlee was riding I tacked up Kaye for a jumping lesson.

Once again I am reminded how freakin awesome Kaye is.  After we had warmed up, we started jumping the single vertical that was set at about 2'7"  Jumped that once or twice and it was time to knot my reins and jump with no hands.  Been a while since Bonnie has had me do this particular exercise, but man does it really just fix my position so quickly.  So we jumped that several more times and then I got my reins back and was told to head to the triple bounce.  And instead of collecting Kaye to it, I ran her into and we stopped.  Completely my fault.  Tried again, but now I was a little afraid and so we had another stop.  So we went back to the single fence and jumped that a few times to get a nice jump, while Bonnie took down the first fence in the triple.  Then we turned for the bounces again.  Although Kaye was slow and I was holding her back through it, we jumped the bounces.  Second time through was much better once I realized that there was nothing to be afraid of.  So we jumped just the two fences a few times and then Bonnie put the first one up again.  Although our first trip through wasn't pretty, we did.  Jumped the triple a few more time, getting better each time, before we called it quits for the night. 

Saturday morning I picked up Astrid early, we headed out to the barn to feed and then we all piled into the truck to head to South Farm.  Bonnie and I had volunteered to jump judge for Sarah, and we figured it was a good opportunity for the kids to learn.  So Astrid, Rachel and Katie all decided to go with us, and of course Chloe tagged along too.  Made it to South Farm just in time for the jump judge briefing.  The TD was Cindy DePorter from North Carolina.  Super nice lady, very knowledgeable and very entertaining in her briefing.  Once the briefing was finished, we all grabbed lunch and headed out to our fence.  We were at fence number eleven on the prelim course.  It was a corner with a sharks tooth option.  And yes it was the infamous Rob corner, the one that you jump between the 3rd and 4th board.  We saw quite a bit of bad riding at the corner,  several kinda scary jumps and a few refusals.  And then there were several riders who never even made it to the 11th fence.

After the prelim division finished up we headed back to fence number one for the training division.  It was an easy, inviting log.  So we didn't really see any problems there, some bad riding of course though.  I did manage to get some good pictures from both the first fence and the last fence.  For novice we stayed with fence number one, although we did have to move to a different part of the cross country course.  Another easy, inviting log, but man was there some bad riding!  Including a very ugly, scary jump from a well known local trainer.  Then to finish up the day, we headed over to fence number three for beginner novice and starter.  Both of the fences were little coops, very easy for beginner novice.  Altogether it was a fun day.  But even though all I did was sit outside all day, I was beat by the time we got home.  I helped Bonnie feed the ponies and then I headed for home and my bed.

Sunday morning I was up early and out to the barn.  Mom was having the whole family over for a picnic at dinner, so I wanted to get my riding time in the morning.  Started out the day with some stall work.  Got Annie and Jade both cleaned while they were outside.  Then got X, Kaye, Bugs, and Cuddles done as well.  After we finished up with stalls, Bonnie had me tack my pony up for a lunge lesson.  She let me keep my stirrups for the whole lesson, but that was the only way she went easy on me!  X and I both had to work a lot.  We did a lot of posting trot and then quite a bit of canter work each direction as well.  By the time we finished poor X was lathered!  But he got a good bath which he enjoyed, and then he had his nice clean stall to go lay down in.  We grained the ponies and then headed home.

Mom's picnic was nice, always good to see the family.  Would have been nice if my brother and his family could have been there.  But Todd had to work, the hospital recognized Monday as the holiday, and Kris took the girls to one of her sisters.  It was still a nice evening with the rest of the family.  Jeffery was even able to make it down from Pittsburgh for a bit.

Monday, I had the day off, so of course I was out to the barn.  Ari, Victoria and Katie were all there as well. So we got quite a bit done.  I picked all the stalls I had cleaned the day before and then cleaned Fanny's stall as well.  The kids got Twinkie done and Katie worked on some of her stalls.  Bonnie gave me another lunge lesson on X.  Poor pony I think he was horrified when I tacked him up again.  But he's going very well right now.  He actually had a really nice canter on no contact at all.  So as much as he doesn't like the work, it's been very good to him.  I did feel bad though, pony was pooped!

Ari and Victoria tacked up Kaye for lunge lessons and I headed out to the hay field with my trusty steed Edgar.

I brought in the last ten bales for Bonnie.  I did pretty well, didn't have any problems until i was bringing in the last bale.  It was a heavy one and as I was coming up the hill, the front end of the tractor was off the ground!  So I was trying to use the brake pedals to steer, that didn't work out too well.  And then I lost the bale off the back of the tractor.  Of course it landed on it's end.  I use the fork on the tractor to tip it over on it's side.  And then I watch as the bale goes rolling back down into the field.  So I turn the tractor around and go back for it.  I was a little more careful and managed to get it up the hill on the second try.  I was glad that was the last one though.

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Back Home and Another Horse Show

I was feeling pretty guilty about not having seen my pony in weeks.  And not having ridden him since Memorial Day (although I doubt he was upset about that part)  So I decided to stay home from the Westmoreland Horseman's Association Show.  Friday night I headed out to the barn after work.  I was planning to clean X's stall and maybe a few others, but I couldn't find either of the wheelbarrows.  And since I wasn't about to drag buckets out to the manure pile, that just didn't happen.  Instead, the little dirtball got scrubbed clean and then tacked up to ride.  I didn't do too much with him, just a little bit of walking, and just picked up both canter leads.  But I did do a lot of walking.  And focused on getting him to relax and put his head down.  And more importantly keep his head down on the the downward transitions.  Which we were actually pretty successful on.  So yay!

Saturday morning I had to feed at Tom's before heading out to my barn.  Started working on cleaning stall first thing.  And then when Rachel came we tacked up Naughtie for a lunge lesson.  Rachel was up first and then I got my turn.  And actually I had a really good lesson.  I was relaxed and going with the horse.  I hardly ever had to hold on.  And I wasn't grabbing her with my legs, which was very evident in the relaxed and happy horse I had under me.  So that was great.  Astrid actually ended up lunging me while Rachel went and tacked up Kaye to jump a bit. 

After Rachel rode Kaye, then Astrid had a short lesson on her.  And then finally I rode with Rachel and Airy.  We had a good jump school, jumping the single vertical and then the bounce.  All the fences were right around 2'9"-2'11"  God it felt good to jump Kaye again.  I haven't been on her since the last South Farm Combined Test, and it was good to get back in the saddle.  We had a good jump school.  None of my usual mental issues came through.  Although I still keep having that crappy first fence and it's driving my crazy!

Saturday night it was back out to Tom's to feed.  And of course I run into problems.  Bring the three horses in to feed.  And the new boy's eye is completely swollen shut and really weepy.  Great!  So I call to see what he wants me to do.  He calls Nikki who says to wash is out with saline solution and that Maryann has some for her contacts.  Walk down the hill to the house, get the saline.  Walk back up the hill to the barn and squirt some in his eye.  Decide to keep the two boys in for the night, so I tuck them in with some hay and say goodnight.

Sunday morning, the boy is looking somewhat better.  Eye is not quite as swollen, he can actually open it a little.  So I rinse it out again and kick the two of them out for the day. About 9:00 Maryann and I head up to Crook Creek to meet Tom and see the last day of the show.  We made it just before Tom headed into the ring for the Open Western Pleasure.  Dalal was a complete shit and did not want to listen to anything.  And so they ended up in 5th place ahead of Emily and Tony.  Which really didn't make any sense because Emily had a pretty decent ride.  The only horse they really should have beat was the quarter horse that was two beating.   I really have no clue what this judge was looking at.  Tom headed back in the ring a few classes later for the Jack Benny.  He had a fairly decent ride, and he ended up winning the class and beating Tina!

And then it was right back into the ring for the Open Western Pleasure Championship.  Dalal was again a little snot and he gave Tom a pretty tough ride, leaving them in 5th place.

After that we had enough of a break to take Dalal back, untack him and hose him off.  I'm sure he appreciated it.  Then he chilled in front of his fan while we watched a couple of classes.  It wasn't too much longer though before it was time for me to get dressed and Dalal back under saddle.  There were quite a few scratched classes.  I don't think too many people were up to showing in the heat.  Anyway, we didn't do much in the way of warm up, jogged a bit and picked up each lead.  And then we just hung out in some shade.  Dalal was pretty good for the little warm up we did.  However he turned into a little shit as soon as we went in the ring.  Would not keep his head still, did not want to walk at all.  I was lucky to keep him together as much as I did.  Needless to say I wasn't exactly happy with him.  Unfortunately the championship class didn't go much better.

See what I mean, he would not put his head down

I do think this one's cute.  If only he didn't have the jackass ears

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Inter-State Triple Points Show

So the past weekend found me in Randolph, Ohio at the Inter-State Triple Points Show.  Dalal's first class wasn't until Friday afternoon and it was the Jack Benny, so I decided that it wasn't worth it for me to take the day off work.  I did talk to Carol about leaving an hour early, so I could make it out for the evening class.  As it turned out though, there were some scratched classes so we weren't sure I would make it in time.  And Nikki ended up riding Dalal against Kelly and Lark.

Saturday was HOT!  We didn't have any classes in the morning, but a bunch of C&G kids were showing halter.  And one little girl took Image in Pony Halter, Jr. Exhibitor.

Dalal and I didn't have to be ready until late in the afternoon session.  So that was kind of a nice relaxing morning.  Unfortunately that means that it was HOT when we rode.  Up first was the Ladies Western Pleasure and I was going up against Nikki on Lark.  It was kinda interesting once I got into the ring.  Because although you could hear Terry everywhere else on the show grounds, once you were in the ring, you couldn't hear anything!  So I was pretty much just guessing what gait they were asking for, and looking around to see what everyone else was doing.  I figured the judge couldn't penalize us if we all were loping when he wanted a walk.  Loudspeaker problems aside, I had a really good ride.  And the judge agreed with me when he pinned us first!  Woohoo!  And I beat Nikki, only like the 3rd time Dalal's ever beat her.  Of course I'm sure the outcome would have been different if she had been riding her own horse, but I'll still take my victory.  LOL.  We then had a break for one class before it was time to head back into the ring for the Open Western Pleasure.  Dalal and I had another great ride, unfortunately the judge liked the saddlebred better and we were second.  Still very respectable.  Tom was up next in the evening session with Men's Western Pleasure, which he won.  then just a few classes later was the Open Western Pleasure Championship.  It was a close class until Lynn's horse took a disliking to the mud puddle on the rail.  And so Tom came home with the Championship ribbon. 

Sunday morning we only had one class, Arabian Western Pleasure Championship.  Tom let me have the ride, mainly I think because he didn't want to have to get dressed in show clothes in the hot weather.  I had a good ride in the Championship class, bringing home the Championship ribbon.  But it was somewhat disappointing as Kelly and Lark were the only other pair in the class.  No other western Arabs at the show!  But we still had a good round and so I was pleased with that, regardless of what competition we had.

All in all it was a good weekend.  And the best part was getting home by 1 on Sunday!

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ICHA Double Points Show

So this weekend it was over to Canfield again for the ICHA Show.  Tom wasn't getting into town until the evening so I volunteered to take Dalal in the Arabian classes on Friday so he could qualify for the championship.  Astrid ended up coming with me to groom and generally keep me company that first day.   I wasn't scheduled to ride until class 21, so I figured I had until about 1:00 or so.  Well as I was helping Kim and Rita get Cinco ready for his halter class, Tina came up to me and asked me to show Sally in her Morgan Halter class.  Tina had sprained her ankle the other day and although it was feeling ok, she didn't want to push it by running on it.  I warned her that I hadn't shown halter in like 10 years, and even then it was Arabs not Morgan, but she was fine with that, she just wanted Sally to get in the ring.  So we got Sally all cleaned up and then I had to run down to the ring to make it in time for my class.  I let Daphne go in ahead of me so I could at least watch what she did and get an idea of what was going on.  Sally and I ended up 3rd out of 3 in class.  Which I guess isn't too bad considering I really had no clue what I was doing.  And Tina was just happy that Sally got her card punched for the halter class.

So then it was time to get Dalal out and start getting him ready.  A quick hose off and he was ready to tack up.  And that was the time I was really missing Tom being there.  His new show saddle is HEAVY!  Astrid was helping Tina get Sally ready so I didn't even have her assistance.  But after some work I did manage to get the saddle up and Dalal bridled with the snaffle bit.  I still had quite a bit of time before my class so I decided to just hop on in my jeans, get a feel for what kind of horse I had under me, especially since no one had ridden him since the last show three weeks prior.  Dalal was a good boy though, settle right down into the work.  I jogged and loped him a bit before heading back to the motor home to get myself dressed and ready to show.  Astrid helped me out down at the show ring and got us all presentable before we went into our class.

First up was Reg. Arabian Western Pleasure-Amateur.   And we had a good ride.  Ended up second behind a woman I had never seen at the local shows before, but she had a nice chestnut gelding.  But I was pleased with how my ride went, especially considering that Dalal has just been hanging out in the pasture for the past 3 weeks.  After the class Dalal got a nice hosing off and some hay to munch on in his stall.

Astrid and I helped out Kim and Rita and Tina get their horses ready for the afternoon.  And before too long Tom and Maryann made it out.  And they actually made it in time to see the second class.  We returned to the ring in the evening session for the Arabian Western Pleasure-Open.  We had an okay class, but a couple of bobbles kept us out of the top placings.  We ended up finishing 5th out of 6.

Unfortunately on Saturday I had to leave for a couple hours to go to Megan's bridal shower.  So I ended up missing Tom's Men's Western Pleasure class.  However I did hear the results immediately as we had a little bet going for who got to ride in the Open class that night.  Tom and Dalal had a nice first place finish in their class.  Which means that I will have my work cut out for me in the evening session and my Ladies to Ride class.  I was able to get away with sneaking out of the bridal shower early and made it back to Canfield in plenty of time for my evening class.  Tom was actually first up with the Jack Benny class, in which he did manage to beat Tina.  And then I got on and two classes later headed into the ring for the Ladies Western Pleasure.  I had a good ride in a very tough class with several professional trainers.  And in the end I came out with the red ribbon.  Very respectable considering my competition.  And well, a bet is a bet and Tom did have the better placing.  So we swapped places again and he took Dalal back for the Open Western Pleasure.  The two of them had a very good class and came out the winners.  Good day overall for us.

Sunday morning we were able to take it easy, no classes until after the lunch break.  I was up first with the Arabian Western Pleasure Championship.  We had an ok ride, a few minor mistakes, mainly because Dalal was a bit tired and sore at that point.  Tom's new saddle does not fit quite right with the neoprene pad, something we need to fix before the next show.  And since it was a tough class, those mistakes cost us: 4th out of 5 in the class.  Unfortunately Tom didn't fair any better in the Open championship.  4th place ribbons for both the championship classes. Oh well, we'll just have to redeem ourselves next week at Randolph!

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South Farm Part 3

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Boyd Martin

Boyd Martin is coming to South Farm for a clinic in July. It's $350 to ride with him. Some how I will come up with the money. I need to ride with Boyd!

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South Farm Redux

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

Love the big grin I'm sporting!

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