Meeting and beating expectations

Lucas was a super star this weekend!

3rd in Halter Geldings out of 19

!!!!!1st in Over 18 Western Showmanship out of 17!!!!!

3rd in Over 18 English Showmanship out of 7

6th in the Sr HUS out of 18

and

2nd in the HUS $250 added stake class!

and one more but you have to read until the end

I was sick as a dog with nerves all day on Saturday. Lucas was very good in halter and got beat by some nice younger horses.

We nailed our showmanship pattern (I will do a break down post of all of the pattern classes later on this week) I was waiting in the line up and I kept seeing all the horses that were the toughest competition for us getting called out before me (they placed from 6th to first) and then they were down to first and I had a moment where I looked around and realised that maybe we did win, and then they announced our name! I was just about crying when I left the ring but it was fantastic feeling. The judge stopped me as I was walking out and told me that I had an excellent pattern.

English showmanship was OK, I wasn't as crisp in the pattern, and the horse in front of me had a huge poop right where Lucas needed to pivot, and he wouldn't step in it. So we had a sloppy pivot and set up but we got lucky with a 3rd.

And then came the class that I was dreading. The Over 18 HUS class. If you remember from last year this is the class that Lucas almost bucked me off in, and we didn't get all three gait's in. I used the animal communicators chant that apparently Lucas wanted me to use. (We are winners and we will win this class!) Don't laugh because it worked! We had a fobble with our left lead (as expected because we were having problems with it at home) but recovered well. We got cut off so bad we had to break gait to avoid being hit, and we recovered and kept showing. I was so happy with how he went that the 6th place was icing on the cake. We delt with my biggest fears and kept right on going!

So then we went into the stake. Our first direction was good but we didn't have a great transition into the left canter lead but we did get it! But the second direction was perfect. We had a good walk, then his canter to the right was the best it has ever been in a class, forward, easy, and relaxed. We had a great transition into a trot, and I just dropped the reins and let him trot! I was so happy with that last canter I figured that it was worth the shot to push the envelope! My friend was watching in the stands and she said that the judge didn't take his eyes off of us for an entire circuit of the ring.

It was the best class I have ever had on Lucas.

I guess it really proved to me that if I trust him (and we have our little pep talk while walking the first direction!) He will put his heart into the class. So we got 2nd, and got beat by a fantastic horse with a great rider so I was happy with that.

And then today we did the Over 18 Horsemanship class! We kinda went into it only half way, I wanted to do a pattern class in my western saddle before I did one in my english saddle. I put his twisted wire on a friends western bridle and we rode in D's training saddle, my showmanship jacket, and my everyday jeans. Oh and my helmet.

We had a very good pattern, spot on for our transitions but our canter (well, lope) wasn't as balanced as I would have liked. And we got 3rd!!! That was my first equation type class in over 5 years!

I'll go over my patterns latter this week for all of you. I did wear my proper approved helmet in all of my classes except for showmanship and halter and it didn't seem to matter. Lucas was happy and relaxed for the entire show although he wished that I had brought more treats.

After all of the nerves and worry I'm so glad that we had a good show, Lucas and I have come a long way in a year and only have more good things to look forward to!

EHV-1

So if your head has been burried under a rock for the past 2 weeks there has been a huge out-break of the EHV-1 virus. Most of the affected horses were from the Western side of N.A. A great article on how its really hurting the people and the industy

http://blogs.equisearch.com/horsetalk/2011/05/19/ehv-1-outbreak-inside-report-from-an-affected-barn/

Thankfully Nova Scotia has not yet had any reported cases, or any of the neboring states, or provinces. However in April of 2005 less than an hour from my home there were 3 confirmed cases that were put down at the Truro racetrack. Although very scary for all local horse owners at the time, track officals, owners and trainers did the right thing and cancled races, kept horses at home and strangers out of barns and disinfected everything.

Hopefully in the new outbreak the owners and trainers of the infected horses will do the same.

Packing, Packing and more packing

Well I finally have most of Lucas' stuff cleaned and packed up. Ive got my own luggage to pack, as well as my camping gear (I'm only camping in the back of the 4 horse trailer so I wont be wet or cold!)

Our showmanship workout on Sunday killed my knees so I took yesterday off of riding/working to save some life in them for the weekend. Im packing some more tonight, then off to ride tomorrow. My friend who owns S (and had knee surgery about 2 months ago) has put on about 3 rides on her 3yo and has decided that shes going to the show too! Im excited as we really support each other when we show.

And before we all kinda freak out at the 3yo with 3 rides... the mare was ridden up until the surgery and showed some last summer, and shes only doing one pleasure class and halter. More to say that she is going than anything else!

A good ride outside!

No video or pictures! We finally got a break from the rain yesterday and even got a few periods of sun today. My best friend came up to ride her mare (S) that is up here for breeding, and the Lady and I all went out and rode in the outdoor. He was so happy to be outside again! (and I was too!) We had good transitions in all directions except for his last trot to canter (to the left, surprise!) So I'm trying to stretch out my back and hips tonight trying to keep myself from sitting twisted.

My friend was very happy with how he looked, she thought he looked better than when he was showing last year which is a big complement from her. She is my best friend and she tells you like it is! If she says its good, its good, and shes not afraid to tell you when it looks like crap.

I rode him in my English saddle (Yeah me!!) and our show bit which he hasn't had in all year. He went good in it but tends to get a little behind the bridle if I don't drive him forward enough. However in a tough situation he will listen to it better than just the twisted wire so it will do for the first show.

So were on the countdown now to the show, Lucas gets new shoes tomorrow, and we leave for the show on Friday morning. I just need to finish packing Lucas show bags and boxes and my own suitcase, I got all the tack cleaned last night. Gaaaa! Why is the first show always so stressful!

Iv night

We did the showmanship clinic/judging clinic last night. Lucas and I were demo horses, which worked out great as I had a bit of a showmanship lesson in the process so that was good. I managed to get both Lucas and S. lunged before all of the kids got there.

S is very upright in the front, in fact one foot is clubed, and the other is almost. She grew way too fast when she was a baby and we think that contibuted to that fact. Its amazing on how well she can lope, but her jog just isn't good enough anymore, she is pain free but its not nice to watch her jog. About 2 years ago she had some shoeing issues with a farrier who didnt pay enough attention to her angles of her feet. She was off for about a year but with corrective shoeing she is rideable again. Both the vets, farrier and chyropractor have aproved her for breeding so hopefully my friend can get a baby out of her 'lifetime' horse. S has a ton of AQHA points, and even earned 2.5 open trail AQHA points last summer at her 'comback' show.

So I might go ride S tomorrow night and just lunge Lucas, depending on the weather. It finaly stopped raining her for the first time in almost 2 weeks so cross your fingers that the outdoor ring and turnout areas can dry out!

Tired out!

Road again today and had a very good ride. We did some transition work walk/trot/halt work along with some slow trot, working trot work to keep it interesting. Good canter work to the right as well.

Some more issues with the left lead canter, but we got it figured out in the end and had a great upward and downward transitions. If I do a step or two of hip in with my right leg, keeping my left leg off entirely (in fact right now to keep it off, im pushing it forward and off his belly entirely while I ask.) lift with my left hand, then 'kiss' he will step off very into a great canter. I just need to stay out of his way!

The next week will be busy! A local 4-H club is coming to practice judging tomorrow night so I have to get to the barn to lunge Lucas before they all get there! (Its still raining here and he will need some time out of his stall!) I get my IV on Tuesday night, and Lucas is getting his mane done at some point this week. (he needs to get drudged to have his mane pulled so it needs to get done this week). AND my friends mare is in the barn to get bred to the stud! So when I have a few minutes ill have to lunge her too!

Dear Facebook

I do not want to be friends with Cleve Wells. Please stop suggesting that we should become friends. I am concerned however, with the amount of friends we have in common though!

Lucas was much better yesterday, I rode with Slave child, and the Lady who owns the horse that D got hurt on. D came out and helped us all for a bit and we all had a good ride even with 3 horses in our small indoor. Its good that they are finally remembering that working in a group isn't that exciting or bad, because they will have to deal with it at the shows.

I litterly lunged the crap out of Lucas, we figured with all of the mud even if he is going out hes not doing much running or playing. And with the Lady's colt being lunged in the other end of the ring, they both feed of each others energy and tired themselves out even quicker!

And we finally figured out what was going on with out left lead canter! When I ask him to canter my outside leg goes back and my inside leg cues him to take the canter (and not just only push his hip to the inside, as my outside leg is asking). Turns out that because my left leg is stronger (the inside leg) Lucas is taking the cue to take his hip to the outside of the circle which causes me either to get the wrong lead, or for him to be out of whack with his body. So D had me go one handed again in the canter to figure out what my legs were doing and to get off his face and steer with my legs.

We are so not ready to show

Let alone in 2 weeks! I worked Lucas under saddle last night for the first time in a while and he was a tool. There is really no other way to put it. He forgot how to turn, how to stop, what he was supposed do with that thing in his mouth, and worst of all he was rooting and pulling on the reins. That has always been a big no-no and he knows it. So we got some bucks and spins and transitions into the canter that I didn't want. We got some good trot (forward flowing and balanced) at the end but he was so silly about the first 20 min I was still disappointed with the ride. I even tied him around last night after I got off, trying to get him to stop bracing against the bit.

Tonight he got WORKED on the lunge line in side reins, then just the one rein on the side that he was bracing on. He was still fighting it but at least he was only fighting himself and not my hands. I also sweated his neck tonight for the first time ever, and he did not know what to expect about that.

We have a show in 2 weeks, I know that if I trust him when we walk into that show ring it will be ok, but pulling shit like that that he did the other night makes me loose confidence. He's 10 shouldn't he be broke by now?

And you know what, tonight Lucas nickered for his carrots. He doesn't do it often, hes not a very vocal horse at all, but its so cute when he does it, I think he surprises himself some nights when he does it!

In other news my RA specialist has me using a Nedi-pot to flush out my sinus in hopes of trying to get rid of the infection. As much as I dislike using it, it does seem to be working, fingers crossed that it will finally be the end of it.

Back to normal

D is home! Still has a full arm cast for another couple of days, then they will downgrade him to a smaller cast, and a sling so that he can start moving his elbow again. He was coaching lessons again last night, and helped with the watering (holding the hose in his good hand) He was tired out yesterday when I stopped into the house to see him, but extremely happy to be home.

I remembered why I retired on Sunday, I went in to help and lost my temper a couple of times with the horses when they did stupid stuff. I ended up yelling at Lucas for being pushy, and he got scared of me :( (I can be very force full) I ended up getting close enough to him to talk to him and give him a pet, then I left him alone so I could settle down. When I put his blanket on later he was ok, but I still felt bad.

Last night I went out and made up to him, a good brushing, a couple of apples, and some fun in the indoor. He seemed completely happy again so I guess he didn't take me yelling at him to heart. I'm going to bed early tonight, so I skipped going to the barn. The bump on his leg was just about gone yesterday. C hadn't noticed it all week so it might just be that I am an obsessive horse owner! And hes never been off on it... Hopefully if he gets outside tomorrow Ill ride him again tomorrow night.

My BF is bringing out her 9yo mare (the one I started years ago!) to breed to C and D's 3yo stud. I'm really excited for her :)

I thought I retired???

So a full day at the barn with our slave child, she stayed the night at the farm with her mom and started chores at 6:30 am this morning! By the time I showed up at 8:30 (normally the horses are fed at 7 on weekdays and 8 on weekends) She had everyone fed, turned out and most of the stalls done!

Good news is that D did finally get his surgery on Friday afternoon, and is expected to make a full and complete recovery! It will be a long summer for him, not being able to ride until it heals but we'll put him into the bar-tender position for the summer shows!

On another front.... Last Thursday we lost (as in they left) a horse that was in training. The horse was on a mini-vacation (for the past 2 weeks, would have made up for that later in the month) from an abscess but its still money out the door. On the one hand its one less stall to clean, and one less horse to turnout but...

Today one of the kids (well shes 17) announced that she might take her horse home tomorrow because D wouldn't be there to ride it. No notice to C or D, just a casual mention that he might be going home. I managed to convince her that she shouldn't leave without talking to C or D and that waiting one or two days would not be unreasonable. C is still able to ride, and D can still give her lessons... I guess her and her family was thinking that it might be less work, Im thinking that its just going to be less money for C and D when they come home. D often does lessons instead of training sessions but I think this girl just wanted to show up at the show and have it all done, and now D cant do it so shes going home.

The lady who's horse D was riding when he got hurt called on Friday to tell us she was coming to ride her horse today. It wasn't the horses fault at all, but she wanted a couple of people around just in case. (she was also there when it happened) So I lunged him on Friday and did some showmanship with him, just to get some kinks worked out. I then did showmanship with the kids, then home. This morning I brushed both studs (a yearling goodbar colt and our 3 yo radical hour colt) and lunged the 3yo stud. We worked the halter horse, and lunged the appaloosa filly with a saddle on. Then we had all 3 of the younger kids riding, and the Lady rode while the kids did showmanship.

I thought I retired from all of this? I do miss it a bit, but Im exhausted!!!

Poor Lucas is having the Week off, although he got a good bush, did showmanship and we played in the indoor last night too. Hopefully riding again on Monday, and figure out whats going on with his left lead canter when I can have some eyes on the ground!

Another night of chores

Thank god our 12 slave girl (just kidding! but she does work very hard!) Shes been getting off the bus at the farm and usually has most of the barn done by the time I get there. I help her feed, water and bring the horses in and then we both go home exhausted. If it wasn't for her I would be in over my head.

We have 19 horses in stalls and 3 living in a run in shed so its been a busy week, thankfully we finlay got a load of shavings today as we wouldn't had enough to do stalls tomorrow.

Lucas' leg is ok, I kept his kicking chain off him last night and the bump was down slightly (the padded part rests on the area where the bump was). Hes out all day in nice weather, and less likely to kick when he has a full day outside.

Well D is still hurt, and not fixed,

But we have the chores figured out, C is driving back and forth to the hospital and home and doing AM chores and her own job before driving to the city to visit and wait with D. They are hoping that his surgery will be tomorrow. C's bother and sister-in-law came up tonight and put round bales in for the outside horses (they have a farm about 2 km away). C S-I-L said that the a lot is going to rest on the surgery and the surgeon, cross your fingers for him. He will survive, but the mobility of his arm may be affected.

In other news Lucas is ok, the small swelling is still there (and it is just a bog spavin, its just a bit larger than his other ones) I wrapped his legs then took him outside to lunge him in the outside ring where the footing is better and he bucked and ran and played on the lunge line and trotted out extremely sound! It didn't get any bigger and stayed cool... so Im not that worried about it. I'll work him lightly on the lunge when I get a chance this week, and we'll see what he's like on the weekend when C is around.

D got hurt.

Every things been in an uproar the past two days. D was riding a 3yo colt yesterday afternoon and the colt tripped. Somehow in the process (weather he hit the ground or fell into the wall or smacked his elbow on one of the support beams..) D cracked his elbow into 3 pieces. I went to the barn last night and helped the kids that were still there do chorse. D had lessons that night and when C had to rush him to the hospital, the kids pitched in and started night feed. They took him to a city hospital today to do surgery on it.

Tonight I went out to find one kid there working her ass off, and another kid finishing up with her horse. I started helping doing feed, thinking that the kid with her horse was going to help as well, nope, she even kicked her horse outside so that we had to go and get him again 20 min later! So me and a 12 yo finished chores for the night, a couple who's daughter is leasing a horse there (and are old friends) showed up shortly after we finished feeding and helped us bring horses in.

The worst part is that there were supposed be 2 male adults doing the feeding or at least helping us. Neither bothered to show up. Makes me worried about whats going to happen tomorrow morning.................. What if C cant make it back to the barn? Will those idiots finally show up?


I did have time to ride last night in my English saddle which needs to go into the wider gullet AGAIN! I had an ok ride, but his canter to the left was crappy. Tonight I went out and he had popped a squashy swelling about an inch long on his right hind leg so something was going on the other night... the footing in the indoor is as hard as rock...

Lucas Pictures

So its still an overcast kind of day here so I ended up doing the pictures inside. So here they are:
A forum that I belong to is having a photo horse show and Im going to put Lucas' picture in for conformation, although him being a QH might hurt him :P It is a hunter/jumper forum.




I like this one the best:

And Lucas' favorite shot for me to take of him, head and ears!!