I got to ride!

Finally after way too long I got back into the saddle today.  It was a bit weird and good all at the same time.  On Oscar I could just relax and enjoy the ride and not have to worry about what was going on around the ring.  They were putting a new roof on part of the barn today, and Oscar was interested, but not scared.  It was so nice to not have to worry about everything.

We did lots of jogging and walking, and a bit of cantering both ways but that wasn't very good.  He is very deep hocked, and if he goes too slow it can be more like riding a Po-go stick rather than a horse. C told me that it will get better the more we get to know each other.  He was SO smooth at the jog though!  He made me realize that maybe I'm not such a bad rider, but that Lucas was just too much for me. 

The hips are not too bad but I think I'm going to enjoy the opportunity to have a nap!

Oscar

Nervous, Scared, and Excited

Well my lesson on Lucy got canceled.... kind of.... Lucy got tangled in a fence last summer, and has been mostly sound on light work.  C and D were hoping that with shoes (she had been barefoot) she would improve enough for me to ride her regularly  (The injury was to the coronet band, and is currently growing out though the hoof).  Although the farrier thinks that they shoes will help with the weakness where the injury is, he needed to fix a couple of mild issues at the same time, so Lucy is on a bit of vacation until she adjusts to the changes.

However one of the kids is lending me her horse Oscar so I will get to ride after all!

And there is a possibility that if I like him, and he likes me that I will be able to lease him for the winter!  His owner is going to Newfoundland for university and her parents have approached me about leasing him while she is gone.  He is a 12 year old AQHA with a western pleasure background.  Several owners and trainers tried to get him 'perfect' for AQHA western pleasure but he isn't built correctly enough for what they wanted to do. However he has a wicked flying lead change, excels at patterns, and knows trail.  He would be fun to play with for the winter so cross your fingers it works out.

I'm a little nervous as he will only be the second horse that I've ridden since I bought Lucas, but I'm looking foreword to a much smoother ride.  And a bit worried about my joints, but I have 2 full days to recover.

Rain!

Finally we got a bit of rain today.  Not enough, but it should hopefully keep every plant from dieing on us.  Thankfully most farmers got an excellent first cut of hay, but now while last year they were on there 2nd cut of silage most don't dare cut another crop until there is some water in the ground.

The doctor gave me a steroid shot on Monday in hopes that it would calm down the inflammation a bit until the IV drugs fully kick in.  All it seemed to do was make my arm sore!  Cross your fingers, I booked a 'mini' lesson on Saturday (a lesson until the pain gets to bad basically) with Lucy that I'm looking foreword to.  Its been a couple of months since I've been on a horse, I need a fix!

I went out to the beach on Saturday and spent the night at the cottage, and my Dad took me and my Mom out on his new boat in the AM.  Its about 12 feet long, and the waves were big, so we were only out for about 15 min.  I don't think that boating is something that will take the place of horses any time soon!!

I went out to a local show on the weekend that all the kids from the barn were going to.  "I" took Lucas so I got to see him again.  It was nice, he did remember me and seemed happy to see me.  (he nickered and pricked his ears when I said "hi buddy" like I used to when I saw him when I would first get to the barn).  The coach has figured out all of his buttons but "I" is still working on them.  She had an ok showmanship pattern but you could just about see Lucas shrug his shoulders half way though the pattern with a look that said "if you aren't going to ask for a pivot correctly, I'm just going to turn a circle!".

Her equation pattern was rough but she got it done, and he is NOT an easy pattern horse.  She was doing great in her second riding class, until she got too close to the rail (which Lucas hates) and he slightly spooked into the inside of the ring, she lost her balance and came off.  Lucas tried to get underneath her but she was too far gone but he stopped and waited for her to get up.  "I" was bruised, but ok, and was looking foreword to the next show.  (Kids are invincible!)

Fingers are better

I'm trying to stay off the computer as much as possible at home, but the fingers are feeling a bit better today.  Got a doctors appointment for Monday am to hopefully/not hopefully get steroids.  I love the fact that they make me feel 'normal' but I hate what they do to me.   Last time I was on them for an extended period of time I ended up having to sleep on an air bed as they do something screwy with the muscles in my back :(

There is a fun show on Saturday that Im going to go to for a couple of hours to watch, and hopefully take pictures.

PS if any of you have an Iphone, or an Ipod.. get the game My Horse... it is very addictive!!

'frozen' fingers

I hate RA. Woke up and was unable to move my left hand fingers. Still waiting to hear back from doctor. Fingers movable by 11 am but in no shape to work so another day of missed work. Attaching Picture of hand, lumps are swelling between the joints, fingers are as straight as they go...

Grooming

So for my second summer of College and the first year after I got out, I groomed hunters and show jumpers for a couple of farms in Ont.  It was a lot of hard work but I got so many opportunity that I otherwise wouldn't have been able to afford.  So this is going to be a pictures post with some details and then I hope to share some stories about the people I worked for and met.  I figured that with the Olympics coming up, and with the sale of Lucas it would be good to focus on that part of my life for a while.


So for my first real 'away' job I moved to Kingridge stables in King City, Ont.  This was the "North" operation.  They had a "South" location in Ocala.  I couldn't belive the size, and the look of the place.  There were over 30 box stalls and we had run in sheds/open barns for another 10 horses.  Most of the horses here were the top level show jumpers and hunters along with a dozen or so young horses that needed miles and the shows that were only about 20 min away.  We also had 3 horses used for fox hunting but they also did double duty in the show ring if the actual owner of the place had time to go to a show.  I mostly rode those horses, as they didn't require much jumping work (at this point the highest I had jumped was 2'6", these horses were the first I ever rode that knew how to do a 'real' lead change!), but lots of good correct miles. 

I left when the summer was over, we seemed to attract a large number of girls who only wanted to 'look' like they were working,  and who never had to work to provide for themselves.  I once took a hammer out and fixed a fence and gave every single one of the girls a heart attack thinking that they might have to fix the next one.  The head property guy told the guys that "shes too good for here", and his reference did help when I applied for Halton Place next summer.

Main barn from driveway/horse loading area

Allie Cat, still competing when I was there

Money Talks, a wonderful old stud that I got to lunge and tack. 

Horse Radish, one of the fox hunters I got to ride on a regular basis, in the indoor (the panels of the roof that are white/clear actually open up so that there is no roof on the indoor)

Kingridge main barn from the entrance drive way.  

Sophie

This is my best friends filly, who is out of one of the first horses I trained.  She is a 1/2 sister to Chilly (same sire) and has both the studs, and Chilly's friendly personality.  (not that the mare isn't friendly, but Sophie reminds me much more of her father!)  We think she is going to be a very light bay or even a dun, her face is sheading out chestunt almost, but her legs and mane are black.