Goals for 2012

A lot has happened in 2011. Some of it good, some of it bad. Its been a year full of self discovery, worry and hope all wrapped up into one year. So looking back on 2011:


Goals for 2011:

1) If we get to shows this summer I want to enter the ring as confident and as happy as I entered the show ring at the last show! None of this worrying about what everyone is thinking about, no one else's opinions matter EXCEPT the judge!

I'm not sure how well I did on this one! The first couple of shows I did ok (except for almost worrying myself sick at the first one and even that turned out ok) I kind of fell apart a bit in the middle and ended up having a great final show except for the fact that I cried my eyes out at the thought that it may be my last show with Lucas.


2) To win a showmanship class at an open show. Lucas is broke enough and talented enough, its just me holding him back! There is lots of local competition so it should be tough enough to keep me working all year.

We did this! In fact we managed to only get second twice, both times to very competent show women (that took lessons from me at one point or another!). If I could get the same commitment to my riding that I give to showmanship we would be unbeatable.

3) Hope that the RA stops progressing and that the new drugs continue to improve my symptoms.

So far so good. I haven't felt this good in years.

4) Go for a ride 'outside' of the ring this summer. Maybe just a walk on the lawn with the kids, but we both (me and Lucas that is) need to get more comfortable without fences all around us.

I did do this at a show, there were no warm up arenas so we warmed up without a fence. Not really the same thing but with some confidence issues this summer that was all that we did.

5) To put Lucas back into a 'normal' snaffle at some point this year. No twisted wires, no curbs, no ports. This will be a challenge but its time for us to try it, if we ever want to try dressage it is the one thing that we NEED to do.

Fail. But something that I am working on this week. See below for the follow up goal!

6) Either teach Lucas to ground drive, or refresh his memory. Its possible that he was ground driven before, but I think that's something that were going to start working on soon.

Done, but something that we will continue to work on this winter when it is too cold to ride. It was good for both of us to work on something outside of our comfort zone.

Considering that I gave up on goals sometime back in August we didn't do too badly. I had a very good ride on Lucas today, a confidence building ride for sure. I rode him in a bit very similar to the bit I show him in and managed to stay out of his mouth. It's different and good all at the same time. I mostly worked on keeping us both busy and not so much on what either one of us was doing.

So goals for 2012

1) To loose the weight that has been holding back my riding. Now that my joints are better, becoming a fitter rider will only help my balance and skill on a horse.

2) To stop listening to the voice in my head telling me that I'm not good enough, that Lucas is going to spook, that I'm going to fall off... any and all of it must stop!

3) To give up my crutch of a bit, the twisted wire. I'm a good enough rider, and Lucas is broke enough that we really don't need it.

4) To ride in a pattern class at every show (as long as it doesn't require dropping your irons, and if the English one does than I have to show horsemanship)

5) To trust in Lucas so that he can trust in me. I can do it at a show, its time to do it at home.

6) To do a trail class with Lucas (with me in the saddle) although I will be ok if we do not complete every obstacle.

7) To apply for my AQHA Amateur card. Its been more than 5 years since I last accepted money to show/train a horse or judge a show. I need to accept that an Amateur is what I am now and it is ok to compete at that level!

And as you can tell, the plan is for 2012 to include Lucas. My friend and I have been talking a bunch since he's come home and what my ambitions used to be, before I got sick. If you had given me Lucas 7 years ago I would have been over the moon. He was what I wanted, an English horse to show HUS, showmanship and halter with.

Safety first

Well Lucas is finaly home! Hes got thrush in all four feet and a couple of hock sores along with his cough but other than that hes fine. I was going to go ride but no one was around so I stayed on the ground and gave him a hair cut, cleaned up his feet, and put his tail up in a bag. I also turned him out in the indoor for some fun time and he had a good run while I took a picture or two. He seems to like being home, and I have to admit I have missed having him home. He is such an affectionate horse and likes to cuddle and pretend to 'kiss'.

A good one gone,

My first 4-h leader's (M) mother died today. She was 101, and until this summer lived at home on her farm that she and her husband built together. M retired from the vet practice that she bought from my Grandfather about 15 years ago now and she has always been a positive and encouraging force in my 'horse life'. She vetted my first horse, encouraged me when I thought nothing else could go right at horse shows, and taught me to barrel race. M and her mother are the longest established breeders of AQHA horses in the maritimes, started shorting after Marie started work as a veterinarian.

Her Mother was the group Grandmother. There were always cookies ready to be eaten and an ear for anything that might need to be talked about. Although she had 8 grand kids and 10 great-grand kids of her own she cared for a lot more than that.

When I would travel with my Dad on his rounds to breed cattle I would always ask to stop at her place for some cookies.

I spent the last two days at C and D's place looking after the farm and the animals (16 horses, 3 cats and 2 dogs). Lucas should be home tonight and I hope to go and ride him tomorrow afternoon.

A good ride and an eye opener

So I went and rode Lucas today. It was good and bad. Good because we had a 'stuck' free ride, and a good one where we worked together and had some fun. Its been a while and I realize now after working with the green horses at the 'home' barn how well trained he is, and how nice that can be! I've really missed his canter, although Lucy's jog was a lot easier to sit to!

It was bad however because the 'mild cough' that I was told about seems to be something more sinister. He's occasionally had a runny nose at odd times at home and at shows, and has always dunked his hay but now he has a nasty cough every once and a while. Hes not horrible, about 25% not right, and he is being treated for it, but I'm very glad he's coming home to our better ventilated barn. The old trainers place is nice for people (insulated and they use a lawn blower to 'sweep') but its not very horse health friendly.

The old boss did have some good hints about what to do and what to avoid, and like Mugs, http://mugwumpchronicles.blogspot.com/recommended that I not ride him in a nose band or ride in a very loose one. They've tried several different bridles with him and its not so much the bit, but how tight the nose band is, and how tight the curb is (if they ride him with one).

He also suggested that we mix the bits up, something different every couple of days to keep him from anticipating, and that Lucas needs a different program every ride. I just can't get on, do a little walk a little trot. I will need to keep his brain active and his body busy to keep him from getting stuck.

So we'll see how things go. He has a couple of weeks left on his meds, but the barn manager thought that a change in scenery (ie a barn with better ventilation, and more time outside in fresh air, along with better hay) he should be back to 100% in a week or two. Unofficially he's off the market for a couple of months although an old friend wants to come look at him, however any of that will wait till hes feeling better.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Its done

Lucas is coming home next week. I'm off to the old bosses place where he is kept, on Monday for a 'kick my ass' riding lesson on him, and then D and C are picking him up on Wednesday on there way home from the USA. They are taking there ZMGB stud colt to the US to be trained/marketed for a couple of months and can pick Lucas up in NB on the way back.

My parents have really surprised me this week, they are not really supportive of my 'horse addiction'. They have only seen Lucas twice the entire time that I have owned him and have never seen me ride him. However this week when we had to make a decision on what to do, they told me to bring him home so that at least I could go and ride him.

I got myself some brand new sneakers yesterday for Christmas to help with my fitness goals. My parents though that my broken down 3 yo sneakers were more of the cause of my ankle pain than the arthritis.

Well Im off to the family supper tonight at my aunts home, than my cousin and his family, and my brother and his girlfriend are coming over tomorrow night for Christmas supper at home. Hopefully I'll have pictures from our ride on Monday. Have a safe and Merry Christmas everyone!

Now What

Well we decided to back out of the deal to sell Lucas. The final offer was so low it was an insult to Lucas. Although Me and Lucas weren't always a great mix over the past year, he is still an extremely talented and quality horse, there was no way to even think about replacing him with something of equal quality in a western version with what we were offered.

In truth I'm not that upset.

So things are up in the air in the moment. I'm off to have a ride on him on Monday with the old boss and talk about options.

Meds are working.... kind of....

Winter is not the best time for me. I can never get warm (especially my feet, they are always cold). I deal with extra layers and heating pads, and heated seats and steering wheels, all of which help. Im sure there are a lot of us dealing with cold and joint pain even if you don't have RA!

Several RA blogers have made today a day to share pictures of our hands. "Like the eyes being the window to the soul, in the case of RA, the hands are the window to the bigger picture" http://thrivewithra.wordpress.com/2011/12/16/raising-my-hand-for-ra-awareness/ I couldn't really get a good shot of my hands, the drift of my fingers isn't that significant thankfully, and my veins in my hands have stayed looking normal thanks to the willingness of my nurses to use veins in my arms.

Today though I made a bit of a great discovery... for the first time in 6 years I can feel and see my knuckle on my right hand more than I can feel swelling. It doesn't look like much in the picture but compare it to the one following it of my left fist and you'll see what I mean:

Right hand in a fist, see the knuckles!!



Left hand in a fist, more swelling, than normal knuckles.

The Waiting Game.

Vet appointment is booked for Lucas early next week, cross your fingers all goes well and he'll be off to his new home before the New Year.

Still working with the Project Pony Max, who is doing very well with the saddling, and is just about ready to start driving next week. Hottie banged her leg up outside so she's getting a bit of a break while Max stays in more consistent work for another week or two.

I got to ride Lucy again last night and had some fun while getting her to lighten up her shoulders and front end. We are both horridly out of shape but we are setting some fitness and eating goals for me (and for Lucy) which should help both of us out over the next month or two.

Part way though the ride C remarked that I had now been riding Lucy longer than I had ridden Lucas for any one stretch last summer/spring. I guess that Lucy is just fun, and I can ask her to do stuff without having to worry about her reaction. We are still mostly just walk/trot with a little lope (well more like a canter) thrown in but that's something that will come with time. Its also SO nice to have a nice jog! Lucas trot wasn't bad but I don't hurt all over the next day when I ride Lucy.

Mixed Feelings x2

We are waiting for Lucas to pass a vet check.


In Project Pony news, Max got the saddle on for the first time today! Hes been wearing saddle pads and towels in the cross ties, so today after I lunged him for a bit I D to come out and toss a saddle on as I thought he was ready. So D came out, put the saddle on, tightened the girth up just enough to keep it in place and we went for a walk. He was fine. One of the kids came in to lunge her horse (only the second time he's been worked with another horse in the ring) and he was much more interested in her mare than the thing on his back.

So we banged on the saddle, made the training rings make noise, rubbed him all over, and bounced the stirrups on his side and then let him out on the lunge line where he walked around 5 or 6 times while being extremely board. The real bucks will come when he starts cantering and trotting and the saddle makes noise but he took it so well today it shouldn't be a problem. We're right on schedule to have him driving just before Christmas so he can have some time off to digest stuff.

I also took Hottie out and lunged her. Shes about 16.2hh right now at almost 3 and all western. She even bucks in slow motion which is really funny considering her size. She got to be a pasture pony as a 2 yo as she was growing too big to fast to even think about working her. (She got saddled and lunged as a 2 year old, and trailered to shows as a yearling but no riding) So she's on the hit list to get started come Jan when she'll be 3. Im not sure what we will end up doing with her, my guess would be that we'll put a light start on her then let her finish growing. Her legs are good, but with that much growth as a 2 yo its best to go short, sweet, and slow! Ill try to take my camera out tomorrow and take pictures.

Saddles and why I'm always fighting with them

Along with all of my other issues that I have, my right hip is set higher than my left. It usually means that Im riding with stirrups that are different lengths, or Im slightly off center. It almost always shows up in the horses I ride sooner rather than latter. When you now combine that with my right ankle only working at 50% my right side is always at a disadvantage. Most of the time I muddle though it, but I have a HUGE problem with some saddles. Unfortunately I found another when I rode on the weekend. Im ok, and I have an appointment with the chiropractor next week to fix it but its not exactly fun right now! I did manage a short little ride again last night, but it was a good confidence booster which I needed. So back to my saddle issues:

Ten years ago I had my first run-in with a saddle that did NOT fit me. It was a lovely semi-custom Antares saddles that was made for the pro rider I was working for. Now Im sure all of you are thinking, well its semi-custom of course it wouldn't fit her! Nope I rode in all of his saddles (in the end I ended up riding in his stirrup length because it worked!) and this was the only one that bothered me. It was so bad I had to leave work the next day, crawl into the truck and drive around town until I found a chiropractor that could fit me in.

I've ridden mostly in Collegiate close contacts and German made saddles since then (Passier and Stubbens) and haven't had a problem until Sunday. I rode in C's cattle penning saddle (think almost a barrel saddle). Ive ridden almost exclusively in Billy Cooks', Hubbard's, and Wengers and I've never had one bother me. But it does give me something to think about when I do go to buy another western saddle, I really need to go with a pleasure seat, and I should seriously try to ride in it before I buy.

I think alot of it has to do with the restriction of my hips and could be why I'm always happier in a flatter seat on a saddle...