Horses are a weird sometimes

 

Wait, did I say sometimes? I meant all the time.

So, to no ones great suprize I did not ride over the weekend. I was all ready to go, trailer hooked up and all, but then decided I wanted to stay home to clean.

There must be something wrong with me. Because not only did I make that decision, but I did clean, and I was happy with the decision later.

But really, it needed to be done or else it would bother me all day that I could be home making my house look pretty.

 

But why, you ask, are horses weird? Because the last couple of mornings, of my two mares, one has been running around like an idiot and putting herself in harms way by slipping and sliding and the other has been very careful and stoic about the mud.

But its the 10 year old QUARTER HORSE (who is generally very calm and level headed) who is running around like a chicken with its head cut off, and my almost 2 year old HALF ARAB filly who is trying to be careful in the mud and not being overly ranbuncous (not a clue how to spell that word!).

I tell ya, horse are strange!

I think Georgie might be in a growth spurt, she LOVES to have her neck scratched right now. So much so that she will stop eating her grain to put her head in the right spot while I scratch her! Lucy never really went through itchy periods while growing up.

 

I’ve got a great video to share next time!

I can’t believe I haven’t ridden in two months

And I am too tired to be overly upset by that fact. While I can deffinatly say that these last two months have been because of stress, I just realized that I have not ridden consistently (or blogged consistantly) since last August/September when my dad first missed his mortgage payments. One might ask what that has to do with me. Well, in addition to living with my father (although the property I live on is not mortgaged) I also take care of all of his personal finances. So to say that I have been stressed out this last year since we have been unable to make our mortgage payments, would be a wee bit of an under statement.

 

BUT I WILL RIDE! Atually I was supposed to ride today, but I ended up going over to pull a permit instead ( yippy!) and then had to track down the inspector to get him to sign off on it.

So I guess I will ride tomorrow.  And then again on Sunday, hopefully.

If I can just get myself to start going out riding for a couple weeks I will get back into the swing of things. Although all things said and done I would have an easier time motivating myself to ride if I didn’t have to bribe my horse to come out of her pasture (or to just come near me).

I am up and down about taking her to a ride, but then haven’t I EVERY year for the past three years? Well I guess we will see. I might suprise myself.

One thing is for sure, Lucy is more then capable of earning her keep by being ridden out on the trail and its about time she learned that!

 

Since this blog is called Lulabelles Managerie next time around I will post pictures of our little bantoms, our polish roosters and my new cockatiel.

A change of pace

 

Sort of. Horses have been very much so on the back burner lately. Or possibly they have been taken off the stove altogether. I desperatly want to be doing stuff with them, but just don’t have the time/energy/motivation. I really wanted to get Lucy pulling this fall. I really really want to drive her. I think she would enjoy the training. I think she would enjoy driving. I also think that I won’t be getting her driving because I don’t seem capable of following through on anything anymore.

The really annoying thing, is that horses have not been pushed aside for some other really big importaint/fun/exciting/life changing/has to be done kind of thing. Its just because my stress level has reached a point where I am always tired and often on the verge of tears. Some days it nearly impossible to get the energy just to do my normal everyday work.

Add on top of that my incredible desire to do a bunch of work around the house, both inside and out, in the garden, at the hay barn and tack room and in the pasture as well as work on the horse trailer, but I never have the energy to do any of it. It makes everything very overwhelming and frustrating.

Loren’s work schedule has been increased so that he generally gets to work at 10am and works 6 days a week (sometimes 5 and sometimes 7), which makes doing anything at home with the horses very hard. I’m so tired from being stressed out that I never seem to get enough sleep, so I sleep in. And when I do get up I generally have housework I have to do. I don’t know how women who work full time keep their houses clean.

 

Anyway, the point of this post was to point out something that I realised the other day. While I truely love making plans and schedules for my horses, I really think they are not helpful, to a point of being unhelpful actually. When I was younger I never did that kind of stuff. I trained two driving horses and finished Lucy into a nice trail horse without a plan, without a detailed schedule for training and without keeping track of every training session or writing down progress. I just went out everyday and trained them. Because I wanted to. Because other then school work (and that was very flexible) I had very little I had to do or think about.

I think I would be better off just taking my horses out when I can schedule in the time, and just brushing them until I decide what the hell I want to do with them.

I think about my horses all the time. I think about what I want to do with them, I think about what they should be learning and what I would like to do with them.

Now I need to go do something with them.

Equine Articles

 

 

Couple years ago when I was cleaning up I had to come to a decision on all my old Dressage Today and Practical Horseman magazines. In the end I decided to cut out the articles I wanted and throw then rest away. So a couple weeks ago I thought it would be nice to have them all on my computer and since my sister had just gotten a new scanner, I “borrowed” it and got to work. I scanned in all (or very close to all) the articles, uploaded them to google docs and have now put the links in my blog!

I thought about doing a post for each one , with keywords so that you can search them, but now I am just way to tired of the whole thing to do any more!

Well, enjoy!

 

3 steps to shoulder-in

“Improve your horse’s straightness, suppleness and balance with this essential exercise from FEI rider Todd Flettrich”

4 Stages to Halt

“FEI trainer Volker Brommann Explains how good halts develop from a foundation of trust, understanding and patients”

6 Steps to Half Pass

“ A British Olympian gives you his Strategies fro building power and expression in this lateral movement”

9 Techniques to improve the halt

“ FEI trainer Volker Brommann explains how to develop the halt through the training levels and gives tips on how to improve the movement and correct common problems”

10 Training concepts from Kyra Kirklund

“Kyra Kirklund takes horses and riders in and out of their comfort zones to improve their riding”

10 Training tips from Conrad Schumacher

“ Instructor Spotlight: This popular teacher educated U.S riders at nationwide clinics last year”

12 Tips on Throughness

“ Instructor Spotlight: International Academy head, Ralph-Michael Rash, teaches the basics and more at a USDF trainer’s conference”

16 Training solutions from Michael Klimke

“ An advocate of classical dressage principles offers theory and hands on help”

2003 Dressage Tests

“ They’re meant to be friendlier to horses and more challenging to riders. A leading competitor, trainer, coach and test-writer explains what that means for you and your horse”

A horses Dominate Eye

“ Instructor Spotlight: Cindy Sydnor explains how a horse’s dominant eye can affect his training”

A soft swining back naturally

“ You might not get it with long and low or round and deep, says this top competitor. Here’s why not and what she finds does work!”

A Well Trained Horse Begins With The Rider

“ At a Kentucky Symposium, German trainer Conrad Schumacher explains how rider education is the beginning of correctly training the horse”

Begin Half Pass

Breaking through your can't barrier

“ Reprogram your subconscious mind with positive self-talk to reach your potential”

Build a Stronger Bridge

“ Olympian Sue Blinks discusses developing your horse’s topline so it serves as a suspension bridge of musculature, making self-carriage possible”

Building a Sound Horse

“ Top German rider Heike Kemmer shows how to create balance from the beginning of your horse’s development and keep it through Grand Prix”

Building Power in Relaxation

“ A top German professional explains how to make  your horse active and cadenced without losing relaxation”

Canter Departs

“ There is absolutely no reason for me to see how you ask for the canter, says Lendon Gray. Here she explains the invisible aids (and the trick to applying them) that produce a responsive, balanced transition”

Canter Departs and Sitting the Canter

Canter Transitions

Canter without Bouncing

Check your Connection

“ A California based trainer, coach and judge explains this commonly confused concept and gives  you exercises to improve it”

Classical Lessons

“ Instructor Spotlight: Inspiration comes to New Mexico via the Spanish Riding School”

Classical Versus Modern

“ Four representatives of the traditional school – German horsemen Klaus Balkenhol, Hannes Muller, Martin Plewa and Dr. Gerd Heuschmann – team up to explain why, in the end, there’s only one way to train a horse”

Collection just happens

“ Dutch Olympian Tineke Bartels discusses the skills needed to achieve the ultimate goal for your dressage horse”

Coping with Fear

“ In this excerpt from her new book, It’s Not Just About the Ribbons, the international dressage rider and coach – and savvy self help guru- tackles head on what may be the most universal of rider problems”

Create Balance Between the Aids

“ A student of German Olympian Nicole Uphoff explains this foundation concept”

Develop Straightness and Ambidexterity

“ Respected author, clinician and judge Charles de Kunffy helps riders interpret some of the basic directives of the dressage training”

Develop your Dressage Leg

“ An FEI judge explains proper leg placement to achieve maximum effectiveness”

Developing good hands

“ In a new book, this German instructor shares his knowledge of how and why a rider must acquire good hands”

Dressage: A Guideline for Riders and Judges

“In this exclusive excerpt, this respected FEI judge describes the principles of training to riders then explains how the movements should be scored from a judge’s point of view”

Establishing Equestrian Ideals

“ A respected clinician, author and instructor gives a guideline to develop excellence in horsemanship”

Exercises That Do the Training For You

“International dressage judge and trainer Lilo Fore gives an overview of her easy,progressive gymnastics program to supple, strengthen and tune any horse – a program she presented in a recent seminar at Lendon Gray’s stable”

Exercises to Learn the Aids

“World Cup finalist George Williams gives you nine exercises to become more effective with the application and timing of your aids”

Exercises to Learn the Aids Part 2

“Understand the three ways that a horse’s hind legs work”

Forward, Deep and Round

“ Sjef Janssen, trainer of Olympic gold medalist Anky van Grunsven, explains the controversial riding forward and downward and why he doesn’t want to train differently”

Forward Not Fast

“Teaching a horse to go forward is the founding of correct dressage training"

From the Ground Up (Training Successful Event Horses)

“Training successful event horses – such as 2001 Fair Hill CCI*** winner The Native – begins in the round pen, says this Olympic gold medalist”

German Training System

“ You don’t speak German? Thats OK. Stephen Kiesewetter is translating teh German training system for North Americans”

Get Him Off Your Hands, Part 1

Get Him Off Your Hands,Part 2

Global Dressage Forum 2001

Global Dressage Forum 2003

Gymnasticize Your Horse Part 1

“Your Horse is an athlete, says this top California rider. In this new series, she’ll show you how to treat him that way”

Gymnastisize your Horse Part 2

Gymnasticize Your Horse Part3

Gymnasticize Your Horse Part 4

Heaviness a Vicious Cycle Your Can Break, Part 1

“ This leading trainer’s simple exercises will help you create a positive hand to mouth connection and a freer moving, straighter more balanced horse”

Heaviness a Vicious Cycle You Can Break, Part 2

Heaviness a Vicous Cycle you can Break,Part 3

Heaviness A Vicious Cycle You Can Break Part 4

Horsemanship: a Comprehensive book on training the horse and its rider

“ This equestrian classic is a reissue of the out of print English edition of Von der Koppel bis zur Kapriole, a 1941 German text that covers training the horse and rider from teh beginning through haute ecole”

How the Horses Back Works

“ An equine physiotherapist and a veterinarian discuss anatomic knowledge and current biomechanical concepts involving deep and round”

Improve with In Hand Work

“ An FEI “I” judge and retired head trainer of France’s Cadre Noir explains how and why to begin schooling on the ground”

Improve your dressage seat, out of the arena

Impulsion Versus Speed

“ The top finisher in the US show jumping selection trails for the World Equestrian Games explains what both qualities are and why you need more of one (impulsion) and less of the other (speed)”

In Front of the Verticale

“Bert Rutten clarifies a ruling principle that has, in practice, become fuzzy: Riding in front of the vertical. He explains why its important and how to do it”

Isabells System Unveiled

“ Riders learn the nuances of German Olympian Isabell Werth’s Training methods at the USDF National Dressage Symposium”

Learn Balance and Self Awareness: The Alexander Technique

“ Apply proven principles to your dressage riding to develop efficient body movement”

Lessons in Longeing

“ An examiner for the USDF Instructor Certification Program explains longeing techniques and gives corrections to training problems”

Lightness from the Start

“ Sweden’s 1998 World Cup Champion Louise Nathhorst shares two exercises to help you develop a light and elastic horse”

Listening to Your Horse

Make Your Intentions Clear

“ Helene Asmis Clifford teaches riders about their responsibility to understand the principle of clarity of intent”

Making 3 Star Horses on a 4 Year Plan

“ Going Advanced by age seven? Two time Olympic three Day gold medalist Phillip Dutton explains the program that makes such progress possible for the right horse”

Mental Gymnastics

“ This chartered psychologist explains how to improve your riding by developing a crucial aid – your mind”

Mental Gymnastics part 2

Mind, Body and Spirit: A Gymnastic Riding System

“ Excerpts from international dressage trainer/competitor Betsy Steiner’s new book”

Mind, Body and Spirit: A Gymnatic Riding System Part 2

Moving the Horse Off Your Leg

Neck Control

“ Conrad Schumacher’s student explains his system for positioning your horse’s neck, allowing you to channel his energy for better overall control”

Position is Everything

“ Instructor Spotlight: stresses that balanced rider’s core must stay centered”

Posting Trot

“ International dressage expert Lilo Fore offers a from the ground up (really!) short course to get you posting in harmony with your horse”

Preperation Builds a Partnership

“An FEI rider talks about communicating with your horse through half halts”

Refusals and Runouts

Reward Often and Keep your Horse Attentive

“ Author, judge and clinician Charles de Kunffy explains why these two elements are important in training”

Ride Into An Outline

“ Dressage Expert Lilo Fore Explains what it means, why it’s important and how to achieve it”

Ride the Perfect Walk Pirouette

“Give this underrated movement a the attention it deserves with a three step plan from Pan Am Games medalist and judge Donna Richardson”

Ride the Test Right, Part 1

“ Respected competitor, trainer and coach Kathy Connelly shares her strategies and insights for riding First Level, Test 4, Movement by movement”

Ride teh Test Right, Part 2

Ride with Precision

“Focus on improving your dressage skills with this top rider’s four exercises”

Riding Lessons German Style

“ Hoping to strengthen her dressage, an American event rider braves the “German System” at the International Academy for Equestrian Studies”

Round and Relax

“When you learn to speak your horse’s language, says this four time Olympian, you can talk to him about moving his body differently”

Round Pen Dressage

“ Top dressage riders are using round pens and long lines to relax and train their horses. 1988 Olympian and USET dressage chef Jessica Ransehousen explains why and gives tip for trying it yourself”

Round your Eventer

Sitting Trot

Sit Without Stirrups

Shoulder in and Shoulder Fore

“ This excerpt from the German National Federations Advanced Techniques Of Dressage teaches you how to use the shoulder fore as a prerequisite to shoulder in”

Seat and Position Primer

“ 2001 World Cup winner Ulla Salzgeber shares her thoughts about the seat and discusses how it affects the riders influence on the horse”

Schooling Notebook: The ZigZag

“ Make your horse more supply and loose with this leg-yield exercise from Jane Savoie”

Slow and Steady (longeing)

“ There are times when slow works and times when it doesn’t”

Slow Down and Think

“ Instructor Spotlight: Riders push old habits aside to improve”

Smaller Steps for Greater Balance

“ Olympian Kyra Kirklund demonstrates a simple solution to common balance problems with horses at any level”

Speed Control

“ Through one of their students, Sjef Janssen and Anky van Grunsven share a key to their success – Training a horse to go forward and come back without losing impulsion or submission”

Stabilize your Dressage Seat

“ In her new book, a popular internationsal clinician and author gives her innovative approach for developing an independent seat”

Stretch over the Topline

Stretch Through the Topline

Stretched, secure, supple sittting

“ And relaxed as a limp thread is how you’ll feel after doing Lendons Grays’s fun calisthenics on the longe”

Suppling Through the Levels

“ A top Canadian Trainer explains how varying the exercises in your daily routine helps your horse move smoothly through his training education”

Take Control on Cross Country

Teaching with Analogies

“ Instructor Spotlight: using visual imagery, Felicitas con Neumann-Cosel teaches complex training concepts to her dressage students”

Teach your Horse to be Active and Soft

“ Instructor Spotlight: Dr. Cesar Parra explains the dressage concepts of riding forward through the neck and allowing everything to happen together”

The Art of Test Design

“ Learn how the test writing committee develops tests that encourage the classical development and gymnastic training of the horse”

The Effects of the Aids

“ Olympian Steffen Peters urges riders to fine-tune their aids and have high expectations to increase the horses mental understanding”

The Essential shoulder in

“ A Dutch Olympian shows you how to develop maximum expression in this essential movement that teaches flexibility and obedience”

The Living Dynamics of Pirouette

“ WEG contender Betsy Steiner goes beyond technique and explains how to balance and refine your aids so that every stride of this upper level movement fires off”

The Scientific Exploration of the Half Halt

“ A visit with Dr. Hilary Clayton at the McPhail Equine Performance Center offers evidence about the execution and timing of the Half Half”

The Simplicity of Dressage

“ In their new book, Johann Hinnemann and Coby van Baalen discuss the German training scale – six concepts that are the basis for a horse’s entire training. In the preface, van Baalen says, “this book is about the simplicity of dressage, not because dressage is so simple to do, but because all dressage theory always comes down to the same basic priniples.” This excerpt comes from Champter 6: Impulsion”

The Walk, the Most Difficult Gait

‘ A top German judge discusses the nuances of the walk and what judges are looking for”

Timing of the Aids

“ Gymnastics from the Baron Hans von Blixen- Finecke”

Training of the Rider

“ The teaching of dressage requires well educated trainers, well prepared horse and the methodical development of riders”

Training the Horses mind

“ From training piaffe in hand to developing a better seat, Lisa Wilcox and Ernst Hoyos give a rare look into their daily training routine”

Trot, canter,  trot transitions on a circle

“ Build a solid foundation for your dressage horse with this exercise from Pam Goodrich”

Trouble sitting the trot? Equilates to the rescue!

“ This top trainers ten minute daily program will improve everything about your seat and aids, including your ability to sit”

Turn on the Forehand

“ Upper level rider and coach Tuny Page explains how this sometimes controversial exercise can be a useful introduction to lateral work”

Turn on the Forehand on a Circle

“ Improve coordination of your aids as well as your horse’s obedience, quickness and straightness with Jayne Ayers”

What made a terrific lesson

You can strengthen your base

“ Simple on the flat and over fences exercises that will strengthen your lower leg and deepen your seat”

One proud mom!

 

I’m so proud of my girls right now! Well, my boys too but not nearly as much.

Yesterday was trimming day. Always fun. Lucy used to have major issues with getting her hooves trimmed so trimming day has always been held in high regard as to behavior.

Although the reason I am proud of Georgie is more significant, Lucy’s is sort of a longer standing proud.

 

I guess I better just tell the story huh?

 

So Loren and I took our ducklings home yesterday, and since I needed to help him get things set up, I just tied Lucy up and left her with Luke (my trimmer). To most people that doesn’t seem like a lot, but Lucy has been through a lot with trimmers and being able to just leave her there with him and for her to hold still and be (pretty darn near) perfect is a major accomplishment! I even commented to Luke that I don’t know when she turned into my dependable horse. When did she go from being my nervous, skinny little mare, to my sturdy, dependable trail horse (odd how her qualities are also used on trucks!)?

Lucy is really a wonderful horse, and somewhere in the last couple of months I have truly come to see that. Odd since I haven’t been riding much, or really spending much time with her at all.

 

Now there’s Georgie. I could not be more proud or happy with her at this moment! I was horrible in that I did not spend nearly as much time working her her feet since her last trimming (which was only about a week after brining her home, and not a real fun experience for any of us). In this last week I did do some work with her back hooves until she got the point that I wanted her to pick them up, but I didn’t hold them much wanting to take it slow. Apparently Georgie doesn’t really need to be taken slow.

Luke was able to pick up and work with both front hooves for an extended amount of time (she would only let him have them for about 15 seconds), she let him put them forward on the hoof stand (although she looked horrified about it) and she let him pick up and trim her hind feet despite not having them picked up yet.

Truly, she was a really good girl. She did finally get tired having her feet messed with and started refusing to let him pick them up, but really, I think she did amazing otherwise. I can only imagine what I will be able to do with her once I start working with her more.

I still stand by my earlier statement that she is going to be a jumper. I think its only a matter of time before she jumps out of their current paddock, as its fences are lower then my pasture (no horse is jumping that fence!). So she used to just jump down the wall in my paddock, well yesterday when she was throwing a fit because Lucy was out getting her feet trimmed, she jumped up the 3 foot wall! She only just made it, but keep in mind that she wall is at the very least, as high as her shoulder when she is standing below it. One of these days I will get a video of her jumping the wall, although I truly hope she does not try jumping up it again.

 

I still haven’t quite figured her out yet. I really get the impression she is not the kind of horse that bonds with one person and will only do certain things for that person. Lucy was kinda like that, she would let me do whatever with her but other people were often not allowed near her unless she knew them. Now of course Lucy is pretty easy going and more then willing to let new people come up and and touch her and play with her (and ride her too!). Georgie on the other hand, seems like if she understands what you want, and its clear that your going to make her do it, she is going to do it weather she knows you or not. And it really seems like she will do just about anything you ask of her as long as you give her time to understand.

I feel like I got over a bit of a hurdle with her yesterday and deffinatly feel closer with her now. Even though she always lets me pet her and handle her, she was emotionally distant or maybe I just didn’t know how to read her. Now I feel like I can read her look better.

Now I can’t wait to start working with her more! The last couple of weekends I have been mostly cleaning house, but this weekend I am riding my wonderful mare and working with my amazing filly!

 

 

 

I’ll try to get some updated pictures of her for the blog.

I have not fallen off the face of the earth

 

But I kinda feel like I have! Or at least the normal me.

 

Things have been hectic and rough. Really rough. Not for me, but for my dad which might as well be me for how much it affects me. In fact it stresses me out more. I don’t let issues in my life affect me too much, but when its someone else’s problems that I need to handle, its much more stressful.

 

I’m also stressed wanting to do things in my life that I used to do and am finding that I just don’t have the time or energy for those anymore. I am having a very hard time handling this as well.

 

I’m very, very frustrated with my horses, or I was anyway. Now I just don’t have the energy to do anything with them.

Lucy first:

I really wanted to start doing some flatwork with her and work towards some eventing. I was determined that I would be able to do training with Lucy out on the trail, with enough determination I could do it, I was sure. Except I have very little drive to actually do it.

Then I realized that I hate shows and that all I would be working towards with eventing. My problem is that I want to wow everyone with my amazing little horse. I want to take the horse world by storm with my amazing skills with my little grade horse. I think to big and always fall short of my hopes. My life would be a hell of a lot easier if I just aspired to lower aims. I don’t seem capable of looking low and therein is the problem of my doing anything for any length of time.

Well anyway, back to my mare. I have been riding out of the trail with her every once in a while and have been enjoying that. I am pretty sure I want to get her ready for the Fireworks endurance ride so I can get that first endurance ride out of the way and see how Lucy handles it.

My other plan is to get her driving, eventually.

 

Georgie is a whole nother kettle of tea! First off, she is by far smarter then Kezi, and that scares the daylights out of me! I am so worried of messing up with her that I am too scared to do anything with her. Well that and I don’t have the time to work with her (bad, bad me!!). Some moments she is an excitable Arab that doesn’t think, just moves. And other moments she is a thinking, calculating Morgan, that knows exactly what I want, and then decides if she wants to do it.

She has surprised me in two different instances lately. First, one day when I had her tied up and was working with her hooves, she got her lead rope caught over the top of her head. I have seen well grown, fully trained horse flip out over such instances. Georgie just tensed and waited while I fixed her.

Also, my future endurance horse is…. a jumper! In my paddock I have a small stall area that is raised up. On two sides the walls are about 4 feet high with a 2X6 about 4 inches off the ground (there were planks all the way up to make it enclosed but Lucy popped them all out with her big fat butt!). Georgie thinks that jumping down this is a funer way to get to the other side of the paddock, despite the fact that its also on a hill once she lands. Lucy could never navigate that without hurting herself, and she certainly wouldn’t do it unless she felt that was the only way to get away from something scary.

Georgie is smart, calculating and very sure of herself. Like I said, I am scared shitless that I am going to mess up with her. I think she has limitless potential for whatever she puts her mind too. I’m trying to keep things simple with her right now, teaching her to pick up her feet and go for walks with me and bond with me. But even those easy things will encounter other issues and I am scared of approaching it the wrong way.

Other then that I adore my filly!

 

 

 

On a non-horsey side note, I got truly drunk for the first time ever a couple of weeks ago ( I have been pleasantly tipsy before) and lets just say I will NEVER do that again AND I will NEVER DRINK VODKA AND POMAGRANITE MIXED TOGETHER AGAIN.

Ever.

 

Ever.

 

Ever.

 

Again.

 

Got it?

 

Good!

Lucy growing up

 

I got stuck waiting for a washer and dyer the other day, I got bored and so decided to make a photo slideshow of Lucy in the past ten years.

Yes, everything in my life revolves around my horses!

 

 

Anyway, she is going to be ten this fall! WOW! I’ve had her since she was 5 months old! I don’t have any from that age since I didn’t have a digital camera at the time, but I have some from every year starting at one.

 

I need to remember to take lots of pictures of Georgie as she too will grow up quick!

 

crochet fly masks

 

 

So this is something I have been working on since late last summer. On several rides Lucy was just having major problems with flys, so I decided I better make some fly masks for her. And since I crochet I didn’t see any reason to buy them. But as I thought about regular fly masks, I realized I didn’t like them. One of Lucy’s biggest problems in flys on her nose, which traditional crochet fly masks don’t do anything for, and other are ugly mesh.

So I decided to make something that would take care of her whole face. And look kinda cool at the same time.

 

Now, yesterday was supposed to be the first test run, however I had forgotten to add something at the bottom to secure it with, so weather they work or not is still up in the air, and I will kinda need a ride with flys’ (its been too cold lately for them).

Weather or not I managed to make them cool looking or not, is really a matter of opinion. I am unsure as of yet, part of me thinks they look pretty cool, and part of me thinks they are uber dorky and feels I should not submit my horse to that kink of embarssement! I tried to style them after old horse armor, but some how the look isn’t quite the same in baby blue crochet!

 

So without further ado, my crochet fly masks (a work in progress!):

 

 

 

This one did not come out nearly as well, its too narrow. I think I will add a border.

 

 

Now I plan to add tassles, at least on the nose, if not above the eyes too.

 

* Oh and the very pissy look on Lucy’s face is not because she doesn’t like the fly masks, but rather because she was trying to eat while I was taking the pictures.

Very interesting ride over the weekend

 

I am having a really hard time figuring Lucy out. We went for a longish (probably a bit over 5 miles) ride considering she hasn’t been out much this last month.

 

I think Lucy has given up fighting me and just goes along with what I want. Its very strange and I really can’t figure it out.

 

She was her normal slow self going down our hill, I hate walking her down it as I know she dislikes it and I don’t think it is good for her to be walking downhill that much without a good warm up. But my trailer is still wired for the other truck so I rode from home.

Going up the other side of the valley was pretty normal, except that I really wanted Lucy to walk in the middle of the road now that she has boots. But she is just so used to walking on the side that she kept fighting me. Or her back feet were still hurting on the rocks.

 

So now on to the strange part. I rode down White House Canyon, which is a flat, chalky road. When I asked her to trot, she stayed trotting. She only tried to break to the walk, once or twice, and didn’t even try that hard.

So have I just pushed her so many times that she is done fighting me about? Now I kinda feel bad, even though this is what I wanted.

The only problem I had was that her trot was agonizingly slow, espeshally for her. I had a hard time posting to it and staying balanced.

I also trotted her up a good section of my road (which can be rather steep at times) and she did really good and just powered up it. No breathing problems or anything.

Strange.

So for now the plan is to ride every weekend (possible both days sometimes depending on what my rides are like) and ride as often as possible at home during the week working on flatwork kind of stuff.

Right now I am mostly working on half halts  and transitions. And a little bit of lateral work. I like to do turns on the hunches and forehand. Not so much as a dressage movement as much as teaching her to move her body in different ways. She understands what I want, but her head goes up like a giraffe whenever ask her to do either one. So I am working on her softening and listening to me more.

 

I still haven’t gotten to play with Georgie much yet. My sister and I took her and Ollie out to eat grass on Sunday and that was fun. I always pet and scratch her when I feed, which she seem to enjoy. If I take her out without Ollie though, she is just herd bound. Which of course means I need to do it as much as possible so she learns to see me as another of the herd.

 

Hopefully more updates on her soon!

What I learned on our Hesperia Adventure (or Georgie is home!!)

 

First of all, YES! Georgie is in fact home and healthy and happy!!

 

But what I learned in the process:

 

Haulers are rather expensive:

Initially I had planned on having her hauled home. I didn’t really want to make that trip in my truck, or make that trip again period  (5 is pretty damn boring). But it turns out that hauling a filly in a box stall costs between $450 and $550. Um, for five hundred miles, and an eight hundred dollar horse, thats just too much.

So plan B. My dad (suprising) offered to drive me down to get her in his truck. WOW. Wasn’t expecting that! He didn’t want me driving my truck all that way with the steering not being right (the steering has never been right since I started driving that truck but apperent its only now a problem).

Friends can’t always come through in times of need:

Not friends won’t, just that they can’t always. My first choice of trailers to borrow (I’ll explain why not my trailer in a minute) was a co-worker of Lorens, but turns out the door on his trailer doesn’t always stay on, not so good for a long trip. My second choice (who has lent me her trailer before) was uncomforitable lending out her trailer when it wasn’t insured. I can understand, losing ones trailer would be a big deal. My third (who I just happened to run into in town and remembered that I had hauled for her before) co-owns her trailer with someone I don’t know and didn’t really want to ask if it would be ok. Really? Who co-owns a horse trailer?

I really need to rewire my trailer, and apperently my truck too:

So the reason that I couldn’t just take my dads truck and my trailer is because the trailer isn’t wired for his truck. Let me side track for a minute and explain this: When I first got my trailer it was like any other, it had its little end thingy and I had an adaptor for my truck and one for my dads truck. Then one day, I um, well, ahem kinda hooked up my trailer but, cough cough, didn’t hook up the electical. Um yeah. It drug on the ground for about 5 miles and totally stripped the end bare. Just wires left. Sigh. Yeah, my bad. So when my dad rewired it, for whatever reason that is beyond me ( but made perfect sense at the time) we rewired the connector straight into the adaptor, so only my truck (and other trucks with the same kind of hookup) would be able to haul my trailer. Yeah, bad idea!

So we finally just decided to see what we could do about hooking my trailer to his truck. Everything worked except the tail/running lights. So in theory we could drive down in one day and back the next thereby not needing the tail lights. Really glad we bypassed that option.

So on Wednesday (the day before we were supposed to go get her) my dad and I started work on the trailer. We succeeded in going from turn signals and brake lights working, to nothing working. Great. So in the end we left it till the next day, rewired the connector to my dads truck and left in the afternoon.

 

Bring along cash for an emergency, and you will be faced with one:

So arriving at our hotel (we got there too late to load and Loren wanted a good nights sleep anyway, and as it turned out, yet another thing that is a really good thing we didn’t do!) we found that the engine was leaking water all over the place. Not one for dramatics, I said lets go to bed and deal with it in the morning, not really anything to be done now. Plus I was very tired and had already slept a bit in the car. Last time I dealt with radiator problems I cracked several heads on my car, for those like me with little car knowlage, this means that you just killed your engine that that your vehicle aint goin nowwhere for a while!

Anyway, next day after a hardy Denny’s breakfast (you can always count on Denny’s!) because I believe that any problem should always be dealt with with food in your stomache, we went off in search of a car repair shop. Luckly the one we found was very helpful, figured out what was wrong pretty quick (long dead water pump) and fixed it by early afternoon. Which was the time I had planned on being home at. Oh well at least we got home!!

 

I bought a wonderful horse:

Well of course I did!! Silly me! But really, she did great! Her breeder thought it would be best if we pushed from behind to help her figure out her way in (my trailer is a step up). I really have to admit, despite being facing with a small dark trailer, and having a rope around her butt pushing her in, she tried really hard to figure out what we wanted and never freaked out. It didn’t take us very long to get her in and then she just stood there next to me, nervous but calm. Wow, is this really an Arab? She rode perfect the whole way, she didn’t even freak out when we left the farm and all her friends.

Horses from the desert take some adjusting in the mountains:

The poor thing had a hard time figuring out how to walk up and hill, with uneven terrain to boot!

 

Lucy has rules about new horses and her respect for me as herd leader stops once the halter is off:

I brought Georgie and Ollie up to the pasture on Saturday morning after they had all eaten their grain. Lucy and Huck hadn’t even noticed that I had a new horse and that Ollie had been in another paddock all night. Lucy came down to inspect the new inmate, sniffing her and deciding her plan of action. As soon as I took the halter off though Lucy bit her and kicked her, and then chased her off up the hill. No more then I expected really. But Georgie did not learn her lesson quickly. She kept trying to come down the hill to the hay piles (at which Huck and Ollie were peacefully eating). So Lucy decided she needed to really instill fear of God (in this case Lucy) into Georgie. So commenced the chase around the pasture, and remember that my pasture is very large, very hilly and has lots and lots of trees, both upright and on the ground. In fear of my new filly’s life I decided to follow them to keep Lucy from hurting her. At which point I learned:

That Ollie is a truely sweet horse:

Lucy corned Georgie in the far corner of the pasture, then chased her behind one of our water tanks. At which point I felt that Lucy had her pinned in a bad spot and talked with Lucy about it. No really, I just sat petting Lucy’s head and talking to her about it. Then I went over and pet Georgies head and stood with her knowing that Lucy would not charge Georgie with me there. Lucy finally left (glaring at Georgie every couples feet) and I decided to move Georgie from behind the tank. So I turned Ollie (who was standing behind her) around and pushed him out. He ran off around the side of the tank and started to run down the hill, but then stopped, turned around and run up to Georgie and sniffed her nose. After that he stayed with her the rest of the day. It was pretty darn cute that he stayed with her! Although considering all the care Lucy and Huck showed for him the night before when I took him out to put him with Georgie I can kinda understand him sticking with the filly!

 

 

That I have really wonderful and awesome boyfriend:

And that I cannot say enough! I probably didn’t mention that I cannot drive a cluch, and that my fathers truck is in fact a cluch. So Loren drove the whole way, and put up with me telling him how to drive (even though he has in fact trailered before ) and learning to back up a trailer. He  is wonderful!!

 

 

Ok, enough talk! Pictures of Georgie!!!

 

One of those silly little things we ponder in life

 

So this morning I was laying in bed listening to the rain, commending myself for having the fore site to put Lucy’s blanket on the night before, before it started raining (rather then waiting to see when it would start raining the next day, and inevitable it would start raining before I got a chance to get the blanket on her resulting in a cold, wet idiot of a horse that jumps a mile if you try to touch her) when I starting pondering blankets and horses.

I usually am pretty good about putting Lucy’s blanket on before it starts raining, as long as my father has warned me about the inpending rain as I never bother to check the forecast, if I am curious, I merely ask him, otherwise he will generally tell me.

So do you think that somewhere in the dark recesses of our horses minds (pushing aside the parts that think about hay, grain, whinnying at friends and how much being ridden sucks I am not sure how much is left) they relize that when we put the blanket on them that isn’t going to start raining?

Although there are times when I leave putting the blanket on till the last minute or am not prepared for the rain, for the most part her blanket does go on pre-rain. And there have only been a few instances where I put the blanket on and it didn’t rain. If it fact Lucy is aware that it will start raining after the blanket is put on she must have been very confused those times!

I KNOW my horse wants her blanket on when its raining, why she runs around like an idiot when I try to do so is beyond me, but I know beyond a doubt that Lucy is cursing my very name every second when she is in the rain without her blanket. I think that is why she is hard to blanket once the rain starts, she is just so pissed off at me that I didn’t get it on in time that she feels its ok to make my life hell because  I DIDN’T BLANKET HER BEFORE IT STARTED RAINING.

Lucy takes her personal comforts very seriously. VERY seriously. I (and even more so, Loren) make fun of her to no end because we know how seriously she takes her comforts.

 

But I still have to wonder if she sees me coming with the blanket and thinks to herself: “Ah crap its going to rain!”. Although probably Lucy blames the bad weather on me. It really wouldn’t suprize me in the the least, I do believe she blames all her other woes (and I am sure that is a very long list) on me.

 

Now do I wonder if Huck and Ollie realize its going to rain when Lucy gets her blanket on? Ollie, no. Ollie’s brain is mostly used for wondering why nobody loves him, why Lucy gets to wear a blanket (and what he might do to get such special treatment), divising tactics to make sure his head gets into the bucket first (he isn’t so good at that) and planning his next escape from the pasture (which is the only intelligent thing he ever does).

Huck, I am absolutly certain KNOWS EVERYTHING. I have no doubt that he knows every little thing that is going on at our house from how many eggs the chickens laid that day to when its that time of the month for me. If Huck could talk he could explain every one of the worlds problems, how they came to be and how to fix them. But he wouldn’t because its too much of a bother. Huck is not a horse, I think he may have an alien experiment gone very wrong, or perhaps very right, I’m not quite sure!

 

 

Anyway, thats what I was pondering today!

Just a bit out of it

 

Eek! Haven’t updated in a while! Not a huge amount to tell.

I haven’t been riding much, just too tired. I stopped riding Fadzki, I just wasn’t enjoying him that much.

Haven’t ridden Lucy in a while, but I am trying to get back on schedule.

Right now I am trying to figure out how to get my filly from Hesperia to home. Its harder then it sounds.

 

I told Loren that we could no longer stay up every night playing wow. Apperently I was very loud about this (I would chalk that up to sleep deprivation and moodiness from having not ridden in a while) because Loren refered to it as “yelling” and took me very seriously.

 

I got the flu last Friday and therefore missed a beautiful weekend to ride. It sucked.

 

So hopefully better news (or any news!) soon.

Ah, wait….

 

…. this isn’t what was supposed to happen, was it?

 

I decided to start riding Fadzki (who has really great endurance potential) I wanted to ride a horse that was eager to be out on the trail moving out and going for long rides.

Why? Because Lucy does not like moving out a lot on the trail and going for longer rides.

So I put out the word that I might be looking to ride with another endurance rider and found Daniela, and of course Fadzki.

So what is the problem? Um, this horse moves out less then Lucy! Ok so I have only ridden him twice out on the trail, both times by myself (its weird riding a horse that you don’t know out on the trail by yourself, with Lucy its like going out for a hike with a friend). But really, this horse is driving me up the wall! I have a hard time getting him to move out and his gaits are appalingly slow! I miss my big strided QH.

According to Daniela he will move out more with other horses, well so does Lucy, thats not the point!

Of course this is a really wonderful learning oppertunity, I will be riding with Daniela who has been riding endurance for several years, and her mentor Dom who is a great endurance rider. So even if Fadzki is a bit slow and annoying (I will try not to go into how annoying I find it that I have to control exactly where he puts his feet because he is a scatterbrain), I will get a lot out of the deal.

 

I WILL go for a ride this weekend! Even if Daniela has to cancel because of the rain and I have to ride Lucy bareback. I will ride!!!!

Uhggg!

 

Can I say it again? Uhhhhggg!

I am so tired. PCA had a fundraiser dinner on Saturday night and I ended up sick enough to not be able to eat and drink properly, but not sick enough to be able to miss it. It would have been a major issue had I missed it anyway.

Uhhhggg!

 

Somehow I managed to get put in charge of yet another fundraiser event, I swear I am going to leave the organization, but I can never quite bring myself to do it. Now I am stuck with planning this trail ride since I am doing it to get one horse person in perticular there (who is my friend) and because no one else in the organization is capable of putting together a trail ride like this. And of course after that we will be having our hike-a-thon again, and since I planned it last year, I guess I will have to do it this year too. What I really want is to go back to what I did in the begining, just being the secratery really.

 

Uhhhgg!

 

So I am only just now getting back to my normal sleep and self. My sickness has gotten better (thank goodness!) but I still have a sore throat. See I got this sore throat on I think Friday morning. It was really bad and it hurt to swallow. But it got better throughout the day. But on Saturday it got much worse and I was unable to swallow any food or water without great pain. I did eat, but not nearly enough. On Sunday I went through the day in a haze, not just because I was tired but also because my sore throat still hurt and I still couldn’t eat without pain. On Monday it was the worst. Even without eating anything I was in pain, it was horrible. It even woke me up in the middle of the night the pain was so bad. But apperently once its that bad it gets better because it felt much better yesterday and today. It no longer hurts to swallow, but I still have a sore throat and cough.

 

Uhhhggg!

But then I have had a cold for the last month and a half so its not much of a change.

 

Uhhhggg!!

 

So because of this event I haven’t ridden  Lucy in two weeks. Last week because I was too busy (although I did ride Fadzki, but that just made me want to ride Lucy even more) and this week because I haven’t had the energy to get up in the morning to ride.

 

Uhhhggg!

 

 

Well anyway, hopefully I’ll get back to my normal schedule soon and be riding Lucy in the mornings again.

Crazy week, and Hurrah for Spring!

 

I love spring, I just wish I had more time to enjoy it! Although part of what is making me so busy is horses, so I shouldn’t complain too much, but I still will!

Lucy is doing really, really well! I rode a couple more times on my trail at home doing flatwork last weekend and was very happy with her. Then I rode with my friend Ellie in Portola Valley. We rode up from the bottom of the mountain up to the top and had lunch at a resturant up there. Lu was a bit confused when I left her tied up with Firefly (and really cute little Morgan that I have ridden in the past), but she kept herself busy by staring ademendly at the firehouse close by. She kept up with Firefly really well (and she is in very good shape) and she floated when we trotted.

When I got back to town I unloaded her at my sisters and took her for a walk up and down the street. I would love to be driving her this summer so I need to get her used to town. My sister brought all the kids out with us and walked behind, which Lucy didn’t mind at all. She was very cool and composed about the whole walk.

On Saturday I rode with another endurance rider who’s horse I am going to be riding over the next year or so. She rode the horse I will be riding and I rode Lucy. Lucy was an angel and behaved herself really well, which was good because Fadzki did not! We decided it was him having not been out for a while and being out with a new horse, and a mare at that.

Daniella was very impressed with Lucy as a trail horse, and love hearing about how precieve Lucy, since I get very caught up in how I think she should behave and whatnot. I’m glad that I have brought her along nicely, espeshally now that I will have another baby around soon.

 

Today I rode Fadzki by myself at Daniella’s, first in the arena and then on the trail (her rode leads up to a really nice park for conditioning). He is still very tenative of me, and soooo slow! But I think that is because he doesn’t know me yet. Daniella wants him ridden on contact so that is taking some getting used to. I am suddenly really aware of Lucy’s smooth, flowing walk now! Or at least my body is! His walk is very rough and slow, and Daniella rides in a freeform which was a much wider twist then I am used to. So my body may be a bit beat up until it gets used to things. It certainly feels wasted today! But then I am REALLY busy right now.

Anyway, I am going to ride Lu tomorrow morning so I can enjoy a nice smooth pace before riding Fadzki again on Sunday.

 

I am really really busy right now because I got put in charge of a fundraiser dinner for PCA, AGAIN!! I am so tired of being put in charge of these things. And the really annoying thing is that I have agreed to put together a benefit trail ride later this year. Grrrr! But at least for  that I have friends that I know I can help from, and mostly I will be inviting my horse friends.

So right now I am really stressed and tired and can’t wait for Sunday, hopefully Fadzki will be easy to ride with the other horses and relaxing. After I get back from riding I am taking a nap. Seriously!

 

 

Well then, thats my very long update! Its getting close to the time for Georgie to be coming home and I am getting excited and a little worried about how I am going to fit everything in.

I don’t feel any older, just more tired

 

So yep, I had a birthday. Good old 21. I went to work, got yelled at, made macaroni for dinner and watched Lord Of The Rings. Very exciting.

But really, these days, getting older just feels like a farce. Like I am supposed to be older and wiser and more in control of my life. But it seems like every time I get close to being in control and happy, it all goes down the drain again.

 

I wish I had more to say on this subject, but oh well! I’ll be back with my weekend ride info!

 

 

Oh and as far as feeling tired, I HATE DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME!!

Whoah Nelly!

 

So I rode bareback yesterday. Yeah. Its hard to walk straight today. Initially I was thinking I would try to ride bareback twice a week to improve my sit trot and balance. But in consideration for my bum and Lucy’s back, I’m thinking once a week tops and maybe just without stirrups at first!

I did however get to ride all the way to the end of the trail. The flat spot out there is bigger and flatter then I remember. I think I might be able to use it!

I meant to trot and canter Lucy bareback but she didn’t want to canter. I think it was because I wasn’t well balanced. We did however trot for a really long time (she was happy to keep going and going) and I got to a chance to work on speeding her up and slowing her down through my seat.

 

I really wanted to ride this morning before the rain. But we stayed up till 2am last night and I just could not get out of bed. I slept waaayyy in! I really need to get proper amounts of sleep if I am going to ride on a regular basis. And Lucy really needs it. She generally is waiting at the gate when I go to feed in the morning, then while I am getting their grain she runs half way back up the pasture. When I bring the grain in she come charging back down the pasture to the spot where the big bucket is. Well this morning I was apperently taking too long because she came charging back down the hill, and straight at me! I actually had to jump out of the way!

Lucy is usually much better at respecting my space then that! I was too suprised to punish her and probably couldn’t in the mud anyway. But she deffinatly needs to get out and be worked more!

 

Hopefully going to go for a trail ride this weekend.

Lucy’s first horse show

 

This is from about two years ago, Lucy’s very first horse show. She was just getting sick at this time, it was about a month or so before she got rally sick and lost weight. But at this time she had very little energy, and my vet told me to “feed her more grain”. Ummm, not thats not the problem!

 

Anyway, I got lots of great photos from my old trainers husband who does professional photography.

This is what Loren took during dressage:

Warm up, way hunching here!

She’s um, pooing here! Not sure how putting my hands up in the air is helping!

I am unsure if we are walking or trotting here!

And cross county from the professional photographer:

Yep, Lucy isn’t into jumping over anything she can trot over!

Horrible position here!

 

Oh my goodness! Is that a real jump!? Or at least two legs of the ground at once!

OOO! Hay! Can I eat it mom?

Just had to show off my pretty braid

OMG a tiny fence! What on earth am I going to do!? Ok not sure what is with the terrified look on my face I have jumped that bigger jump next to our little puny jump a ton of times.

Still with the terrified look! But Lucy is as cool as a cucumber!

Love this picture! We look nice and together here.

This one is pretty cool too!

Umm, not only did I get left behind here, but I look like a beanpole!

I really like this picture, minus the RV in the backround.

Love that reach! Just wish she would actually jump!

I think this is funny!

 

Whoah!  A real jump!

Another pretty tail picture! And I think  this is a really interesting angle.

She just looks so pretty here!

Wow! Big trot!

Love, love, love this picture! I was soooo thrilled with her after our cross country course! She LOVED it!

 

Well that was our first show! We won 3rd in Cross Country which suprised my old trainer (she hasn’t worked with Lucy much)

Some thoughts on Lucy’s training

 

So, I haven’t been riding, due to one night over the weekend when Loren and I stayed up all night. It generally takes me a week or so to recover, provided I get normal sleep the whole time.

So getting up early to ride has been out, actually just getting up on time has been hard!

 

But I have been doing some thinking about Lucy’s training, eventing and endurance wise. And I have been reading some dressage articles (a few years ago when I was still getting dressage today, I went through all my old magazines and cut out all the interesting articles and put them into one big binder, its really handy!).

Conclusion number 1:

Lucy may not have been getting enough calories for the kind of work I was asking of her last Summer. Lucy only gets large amounts of grain in the winter to keep her weight up. I only feed more grain if I think her weight isn’t right. Maybe she won’t expend the energy out on the trail if she feels she doesn’t have the reserves to handle it. Maybe I am giving my horse too much credit! But I think I might continue giving her grain this Spring/Summer and see how she does.

Conclusion number 2:

If I am riding Lucy at home during the week, working on dressage training, then perhaps if I take her on a long trail ride once a week and do lots of trot/canter work, she might not hate trail work so much.

Conclusion number 3:

We are going to Shine and Shine Only in April! That will give us enough time to get her in shape (she should be fine for a 25 miler without a huge amount of conditioning) and should give Georgie enough time to settle in first. Then I can see if Lucy enjoys the competition enough to work through her not liking the conditioning aspect. I was pretty sure I would take her to one. If not Shine and Shine Only, then Fireworks.

Now I really need to ride! Yesterday was my birthday, and it was upsetting to not get to ride! So I am deffiantly going for a good ride this weekend and then get back to riding during the week next week.

Crazy ride!

 

It started out all normal and fun, and turned out very crazy and not so fun!

 

So I did a lot of trot/canter transistions, Lucy seems to really like moving out more. I am still having problems with my stirrup strap twisting at the canter, can’t figure that out! Lucy’s canter is so big and fast! I am hoping lots of trot/canter transitions will slow it down and collect it a bit.

She was so excited to canter that she picked up the canter on her own just before I was going to ask, very strange for Lucy!

 

Then further down the trail I got off to clear branches (its a bit beyond her to hold still for me while I am on her back right now).

And….

 

Its started dripping on us! Grrr it had been so pretty and nice out! So I threw my sweatshirt over my saddle to keep it from getting too wet while I continued clearing.

 

Then….

 

Boom!!! Huge long clap of thunder that scared the living daylights out of Lucy and I. Eli was the only one not scared! Lucy spooked and got all bug eyed, and for some reason the thunder made me really nervous (no idea why!).

So (leading a rather antsy Lucy) we heading home.

 

It started raining harder. So out of concern for my saddle I mounted back up.

 

Then….

 

It started hailing. And I am not talking little tiny friendly sized hail, no I’m talking decent sized pieces of ice.

Hitting my arms and Lucy’s neck.

My arms got rather red and sore.

 

The only good thing is that it was warm for hail so I wasn’t too cold despite the fact that my sweatshirt was under my bum!

 

Yep, crazy ride!

Frustrated, but riding

 

So I am finally riding on a regular basis again! But I am very frustrated!

 

First, my total awesome discovery!

Lucy gets bored on the trail and needs more to do and think about.

Obviously this is something that should have occurred to me before, and in a way it did. I was aware that Lucy was getting bored riding on the same trail all the time, but it hadn’t occurred to me that the reason she doesn’t like trail riding as much is because there is very little to do.

Anyway, this gives me a great opportunity to start her driving and get back into eventing. IF I had an arena that is. Yep, that's the rub!

 

This week I have ridden three times and am having fun working on transition and whatnot out on the trail, but every time I think how much better we could be doing in an arena. I do have a couple options open to me:

- Convince my dad to clear an arena, we have two spots that might work but would require cleaning, tractor work and tree falling.

- Trailer out to a friends house a couple times a week. I have two barns close by that have arenas. One is about 15 minutes away, I used to board there but had some issues with the owner. We are still friends and get along and she is ok with me using the arena. The other place is about 30 minutes away. I board here on and off and am very good friends with the owner, but she drives me crazy! He arena is waayyy nicer, but the weather at her place can be a lot worse then the other. I also owe her money, so I am hesitant to ask her any favors.

 

So one way or another I am going to work in an arena or whatever I can find! Even if I end up boarding again for a while, THAT would get my dad going on putting in an arena!

 

So my rides! They were fun! Mostly I am concentrating on using my seat to influence Lucy’s speed and gait. She is pretty good, but not consistent. Some times she will transition down from a walk to a halt just from my seat, no reins, other times I have to give her lots of reminders. I am also working on walk/trot transitions and trot speed. Her trot is very fast and strung out right now so I prefer to not sit trot, plus my body is a bit out of practice in that area! Hehe! This morning we did some  trot/canter transitions, its been a while since I asked her to canter out other a long stretch, rather then just a stride or two. She seemed to really like it! I love when she has energy!My canter aids suck, so our transitions are horrible! But its something to be worked on!

Considering how much time she has had off lately, I think she is doing quite well!  I on the other hand need to get in shape and work on my position badly!

So far we are staying together and somewhat in rhythm about 50 to 60% of the time. Quite often, especially during transitions and the trot, I kinda fall apart and loose contact and are whole rhythm is thrown off. BUT I am not doing so bad regaining the rhythm and balance. And hey, its kinda hard to keep a good rhythm and balance when going up and down hills and dodging branches!

I have been working on retraining her the leg yield aids, but she is very antsy. I think I will do some groundwork with her on that to help her remember.

 

So far my plan for trail riding is to go on a real trail ride (where we don’t work on transitions or anything) once a week with someone else whenever possible. And in new places whenever possible. That way when I do take her out for solo trail rides, it won’t seem quite so boring. Hopefully.