I'm Back!

I'm really sorry it's been forever, (almost 6 months I think?) A lot has happened and I've finally got an updated browser at work that allows me to update blogger! So the biggest news is that I've moved in with my boyfriend! Our place is about 20 min from the city in a near by resort town. The town only has about 5000 people in the winter, but almost triples in size once the spring hits.

G is amazing. Caring, loving, understanding of my RA and of the side effects that come with it. We've managed to merge two lives into one without any drama or issues what so ever. I never knew how easy a relationship could be until I met him. Not that every day is perfect, we have our bumps in the road, but loving him is easy.

On the horse side, I've been riding a couple of times each month on good old Lucy, G has even gone and ridden her! He's really good with the horses but a bit nervous in the saddle. Lucy kept sneaking looks at me while he walked and jogged her around. She wasn't real impressed to have a new beginner but she was very good for him. He's never ridden much but he's really looking forward to going to some shows this summer.

We're going to hit a couple of small shows that Lucy's young lesser is more than happy to let me ride her in a couple of Sr classes so I get to go to some of the shows.

Chilly is still working out for her new family although it kills me to watch them ride her. But I knew going into it she was going to be sold, and that I couldn't afford her. I just wish they could have sold her a little bit further away.

I promise that I will update more frequently in the future! First show is on July 4th

2 shows in as many weeks!

And  I was exhausted which is why I`m just getting to writing this now.  Oh and my computer that got fixed wasn't really fixed which means I'm going to have to look at getting a computer sooner rather than later.

So riding Chilly in the bosal is going well, at our last show last weekend we even did trail in it which although our pattern kinda sucked (pattern was way too tight and the poles set way too close together) she was much happier doing all of the obsticals and we even got to within a foot of hooking up the gate to close it.

Our show on PEI went really well, we won high point green horse for both days but didn't get the award due to us not being members of the club (only a ribbon so it wasn't like we missed out on a blanket or anything).  She was really good in all of her classes, and if we missed out on a first place ribbon it was usually my fault!  (not setting her up right, not doing a straight line, you know important stuff when doing patterns).

We ended up going into the showmanship stake class, I wasn't real sure if we should but thought, hey its something we've been working on all winter.  So the pattern was trot to the middle of the pen, walk a small circle to the left, jog a square to the left, jog to the judge 1 and 1/2 turns then set up for inspection.  Once completed 1/2 turn, back 4 steps 1/2 turn walk away.  The bad part was that there were no cones, just the judge and an empty arena.

And we rocked it!  We could have been smoother, but I was so happy with our 4th ever showmanship pattern at a show.  And out of 6 horses we came in 3rd!  The two girls that beat us drill showmanship all the time and are all of 15 and skinny well dressed girls.  We did however manage to beat everyone else who all show AQHA (and usually win there).

I had to laugh though, after our green pattern the next class (in which I screwed up by trotting a crooked line) the judge came up to me and pointed out that I needed to have my right hand further down the lead shank, because I was sliding it up and down which is frowned upon.  She said (and I quote!) "your mare is broke enough you don't need to hold on that close to her face now".  I smiled and nodded but almost laughed and told her we had just finished our 5th ever showmanship class!

Anyways I'm working on trusting Chilly more with more slack in the shank and its coming.  Our next show at the end of the month will have 5 showmanship classes spread over the two days (more showmanship than riding actually) so its something I`m really going to work on.

Our next show was a crap show, the judge hadn`t judged in over 20 years so we just went for the experience.  We should have won showmanship but didn`t, and we broke in the pleasure class, but won it.

However it was a good learning experience for Chilly she had a hard morning, after each class she couldn't understand why she couldn't go to a stall to relax, and had to stay outside standing around.  By the afternoon she was more than willing to stand next to the older horses with a foot resting and almost half asleep.  (Don`t worry we did go to the trailer several times for breaks and water but between classes she need to learn to wait)

And I finally showed her english!  Only our 3rd time in the english saddle, she couldn't have cared less but there was no way I was getting a real trot out of her.  She`s proven that she can do the all-around when pressed but shes no english horse.

Its funny though, although she reminds me all the time of her mom Lucy, riding her english is when I really feel it.  So much like her mom, I have to remind myself that its not Lucy. 

Now that was a clinic!

And boy am I paying for it today!  Our rides on Saturday were tough.  He kept us at a walk and jog all of the lesson and I think both I and the girl I was riding with were happy with that.  (She was riding a 4 year old paint that she's shown a bit walk/trot but hasn't loped a bunch at shows with).

We spent most of our am lesson flexing the horses though their neck and bodies and really trying to get them to move their ribcage around the bend of the circle.  Chilly was decent going to the right but kept falling into the circle going to the left.  We used circles of various sizes to work on getting them listening to us and our legs.  Chilly fought me a lot.  There was a lot going on, she was dead in heat, and we were throwing her into a strange situation and asking her to work though it.  She dealt with it, but it was a stressful first ride.

In the afternoon I was really tired from trying to keep her going and focused on me during the morning ride.  We did the same warm up exercises, building on what we did in the AM then adding to it. About 30 min into the ride I was tired out.  J (the clinician) got on Chilly and flexed her while the other rider did some loping.  After a bit of that J took Chilly out and did a lot of pushing her foreword (an issue that we've had) and changing directions and bend about every 6-10 jog strides.  We noticed at this point that because he took charge of the situation and wasn't giving her time to think or worry Chilly stopped pushing against the bit, and fighting his hands as he guided her around.  After a bit of that J pushed her foreword into a long trot until she finally broke into a lope, and he loped her around for a couple of trips around the arena.  He was impressed with how willing she was for a stranger to push her out of her comfort zone, and with the fact that she stopped pushing against the bit told him it was a habit more than a pain issue.

We did a bit of a showmanship lesson that evening.  He thought that Chilly was very good, and that I 'knew what I was doing'.  He had some very good pointers about new styles, and how judges are asking to have the movements separate instead of flowing together without much of a separation of the elements.  Now the judges want to see you completely finish a movement before moving to the next.  It was also good because I think that Chilly is so far behind but with a group of some decent horses her setup was just as quick, her backups as straight and her trot off's just as correct as everyone else's.  Her pivot still needs a guiding hand but J thought it wouldn't be long before I wouldn't need to remind her much at all.  Even now I might poke her twice in the shoulder for a 360 where two months ago I had to push her around.

For the next mornings ride we tried a few different things.  I used a side rein for 5 minutes to get her to flex to the right (about the same amount of bend as on a 20m circle).  She could only fight against her self this way, and other than pushing against it for a moment or two, she quickly figured out how to give to the pressure and then stood quietly waiting for us to come and unhook it.  I don't normally like to do this anymore but the rubber donut of the side rein gave more than just tying a rein.  And she had a bit of a block bending and giving to the rein that direction, and then fighting against us when we forced the issue.

Anyways we also tried a very long running martingale which also helped me 'set a barrier' so that her head could not go too high.  Other than one or two moments (both of which included things going on outside of the ring that she wanted to gawk at) she really didn't need it much at all.  She really gave to my leg and inside rein when we did our bending circle work, and I was even able to use a little inside leg to outside rein to ask her to roll her head down a little. 

Then J let the other girl lope a little then turned to me and told me to try it.  I was scared and nervous but I cowgirled up and tried it anyways.  We went large to the right and I should have stayed on a circle as she would lope the long sides then break to a trot when she got to the corner, its easier at the stage she is at to either got straight or turn a circle but not do both.  I lost a bit of my balance but Chilly was a good girl like her mom and quit loping right away.

Going to the left we stayed on a circle which helped.  We only got about 3/4 of a circle loping but we did manage to lope both directions!

In the afternoon I knew I would be loping lots so I took some drugs to help with the pain and the RA brain and got myself ready.  Her jog work was so much better in the afternoon!  She's so hard to keep going that my legs were really starting to feel the burn but we kept working and she was moving around my legs and around the arena like a broke horse!  (All at a walk and jog of course).  Then J stepped up and wanted me to lope again.  I stayed on the circle for both directions this time and that was a better idea.  I also remembered to get into my 'trainer seat' sitting very deep on my jeans pocket, shoulders rounded a little, hands out in front (open but ready to gather reins or throw them away).  I was much more prepared this time, but was having a hard time getting her into the lope (kicking and kissing for all I was worth but she was as tired as I was) At that point J kinda took the options out of my control.  He stepped into the center of my circle and pretended he had a lung whip and the like the lungline horse Chilly is she stepped up into a lope.  It felt fast and I worried about staying on but we did it.  J told me I just have to do it.  That the only way the two of us were going to get better at cantering is to do lots of it.  I have a month, as we're taking another clinic with him on the first weekend in May so I told him we'd be able to do a bunch of circles at that point!  To end the lesson we worked on turns on the haunches and forehand (mentally hard but not on their bodies).

It was scary and this weekend defently pushed some limits that I thought I had but I went from dreading my lesson on Sunday morning to being excited that afternoon at all the riding we were going to have to do to get ready for next month. One of the girls got some of the first lopes on video and I'm trying to find out if she kept them or not.  If she still has them I'll try and get some posted.

And Lucy had her baby on Thursday night!  A large colt

Chilly update!

And of course she's coming along really well.  D is taking his time with her but is now cantering around the ring and circles as well.  She's come along really well with the bit, which has made all of us happy.  She still occasional pushes against it but it mostly seems to be out of occasional bouts of frustration now rather than a pain issue. 

Everyone thinks that she is so much like her mother Lucy its funny.  We would often try to teach Lucy something for 20 minutes and then get two good steps and have to stop as she was tired and frustrated.  The next day she would have figured it what we wanted and would do it perfectly.  Chilly is much the same way.  She doesn't have the muscle memory or the strength of body yet to be like Lucy and do it perfect the next day, but D has recognized that he can only teach her so much and then she needs the mental break to figure it out.  Right now hes riding her about 4 times a week which is keeping her interested and happy.

He showmanship is coming along too.  She wants to make me happy but is a bit confused about why we need to do this in hand stuff!  I added some poles the other night to trot though and over and she found that very entertaining so we'll keep at that as well.

Oscar is doing well, its a shame that his lope is so bad and rough, its really not helping either of us to practice it.  C is letting me ride her App in lessons for the next week or two until D thinks Chilly and I are ready for each other.  Hopefully we can fix my bad habits that Oscar had firmly implanted in my hip bones.  I'm locking my hips in an attempt to cushion the impact from Oscars lope but now its effecting my ride on other horses.  I have a yoga ball to do stretches with but its something I have to work on. Anyone have any ideas to help?  Stupid RA isn't helping much either.

Lucy is almost ready to burst with a baby #2 but she was much more interested in getting brushed than having her picture taken.  I did get some current pictures of Chilly, apparently all I had do to get her to stand still was to throw a rope over her neck and tell her to "whoa" who knew?

Final show prep with Lucy,

So I managed to get a quick ride in on Saturday with Lucy, not a whole lot done but working around the poles set outside.  On Tuesday when I went out after work she had thrown a shoe and was dead lame.  *sigh*.  Thankfully the farrier was only a couple of hours away, and was able to come the next day on his way home.

We had a little ride last night more just to get us both back in the saddle then we had a real workout tonight.  I also got to the chiropractor on Wednesday and my hip was out of place.  Suddenly I can sit square in the saddle again!  So Lucy and I are both ready for the show now.  Our ride tonight was awesome, I'm so happy with where she is at right now.

Although I'm really sad that next week is our last show together (for now) I am excited to start riding Oscar again and pushing my limits a little more.  And D and I will start Chilly with me to *hopefully* have me riding her by January.  I'm also hopeful that I'll get to ride Rusty maybe a couple of times this winter as well.  Good things to focus on and to keep me from being too sad about Lucy.  I mean its not like she's sold or moving away!  Shes just having a baby :)

Long weekend is over

Had a great weekend at the barn.  Paisley's mother Reba is doing much better today and they were able to turn her out with her old turnout buddies from last fall.  She's still out of sorts, but she is eating and drinking much better and no longer going frantic.

I rode on Saturday and Sunday and has some very good rides.  Rode most of Sunday one handed in the new show bridle and Lucy went great.  We need to work some more on body controle this week and then have a lesson next Saturday with D to work on our patterns.

I did some showmanship this morning in the show halter, and we ran though our pattern a couple of times.  Lucy is doing awesome, she's planting her foot in the pivot, her set up is quick and she's really trying.  I don't think showmanship is her most favorite thing to do, but she does like to learn new things so its a good challenge for her.

For those who asked, Lucy is bred to a son of Zippos Mr Goodbar, out of a 100 AQHA point earning mare.  The stud was sent to a trainer in the states as a 2yo but the trainer basically screwed off and didn't do anything with him.  So when he came back after 5 months he could only walk, jog, lope.  Considering that he went to the trainers broke to drive, and had been wearing the saddle for a month, the trainer in the USA did nothing.  Unfortunately the AQHA shows around here barley have enough horses for the winner to earn a point (which was the reason they sent him to the USA in the first place) so they don't know at this point if it is worth trying to get him to a show or wait for his babies. 

And.....

Lucy is pregnant!    She'll be due in late April, which means that our show season should be fine and it will be nice and warm by the time the baby gets here.  I'm so excited!

Chilly, Lucy's 2 year old is starting her under saddle training and is really coming along.  She's been lunging with the saddle and bridle on and will be ground driving in the next week or two.  She's already taller than her mother!

We had a nice ride today even after almost a week off.  With the IV last week for me, and Lucy getting new shoes on all 4 feet we just mostly worked on showmanship.  We had a nice ride though, had some awesome transitions to the lope and down from the lope going to the right and I'm so happy about that.  We'll have to start working on patterns this week and work on getting our transitions right at the cone.

We also did some showmanship, which was also good.

AND thanks to my weight loss I fit into my chaps!

The only bad news of the entire week is that C and D lost a foal yesterday.  Paisley had a small hernia that was fixed at the local vet college.  She came home and seemed ok, but started getting restless, and not herself last weekend.  C and D took her back to the college, and the vets tried there best but she went septic on Thursday and they put her down on Friday AM. Her poor mama is so distraught and upset, that even the sedative the vets sent her home with isn't working.  If you can spare some thoughts and prayers, Reba needs some for the weekend.

"God said, "I need somebody willing to sit up all night with a newborn colt. And watch it die. Then dry his eyes and say, 'Maybe next year.'"
   -  Paul Harvey

The circle of life and death, farming ain't for the faint of heart.