Hello All -
I don't have a lot of time so I have to make this short (somehow I've said that before...) Anyway, this week has been a frustrating one for those of us who want to ride.. It's about 90 degrees and the humidity makes you wet with sweat the second you walk out the door... if it's not hot, it's raining, and then the bugs are so awful you must trot to get through the woods these days.
So, it hasn't been a good riding week. It is unfortunate b/c Sky has new shoes this week and I am anxious to try them out.. we broke down on the shoes (fronts only b/c it's so freaking expensive!!!) for two reasons... 1 - so she can stop getting all those bruises and walk comfortably on the dirt roads and 2 - to give her some time to actually grow some foot.
She was shockingly good for Bethany about the nailing.. barely blinked. I was surprised b/c she's never had shoes and I insisted that she would throw a fit... but just like Sky, she took it in stride and trusted those around her... I love her so.
I'm off to a Blackwater meeting in a bit - have to feed early in order to go... oh, I'm sitting out here at Lisa's.. dogsitting, catsitting, fishsitting, horsesitting, house and barn sitting... ha! Seriously it's been fun and quiet - for the most part. There is a nameless boarder who is driving me absolutely batty, though. She is an older lady and has some medical problems that keep her from being entirely mobile, but I do not take that as an excuse to be mean to people... all week she's stopped into the barn and isn't happy if her horse is out or if she's in... wants to continually feed her hay that she doesn't eat and insists that something is 'amiss' at the barn b/c there are "leg problems"... GRRR - as if it's LISA's fault that Onyx has a broken foot or whatever or that Willow's leg blows up and that she will never be entirely normal again.. that Sky got a random abcess...that her horse rammed herself into the roundpen.... yeah - that sounds like a conspericy to me! I am not one who hides my feelings well and if you want to know what I think just have a look at my face.. I stayed quiet, though. This person went as far as to yell at me in the barn for trying to help her the other day and that was it for me! I've been leaving when I know she'll come or hide in the house when she's here... the woman just chaps my ass!
And this is my thought about that. Horses are livestock - they are an animal whose history has been to serve man. They hold a true and honest place in American history and are a noble animal who carries pride with value and purpose... If a person wants a lawn ornament so badly, I personally think they should leave horses alone, and certainly NEVER BREED MORE HORSES, and then go buy a freaking plastic flamingo!
Anyway, I am going to get ready to go to my Blackwater meeting where we'll all talk over each other, complain about bugs and weather, plan rides that will get cancelled, and then I'll get home late. Fun Fun.. At least I made whoopie pies this time!
Good Night.
C
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Monday, July 20, 2009
One good ride after another...
Hi All -
As I could only hope, I have not written lately b/c I've been busy riding!
After the show last weekend, I decided immediately that I was going to hang up the show shirt for a while and concentrate on doing some casual, easy, stress-free trail rides!
Luckily right after that choice, an opportunity came up for my go with Hannah on a ride... we voted on going to Maudslay state park in MA... I tried to look up information about it but could only come up with a small website without a lot of information - so I was going blind...but very excited to go in a state park as I can log double hours for my Ride America, and I am closing in on my 500 hour mark.
So I make sure I am all packed and ready and Hannah was right on time. Sky self-loaded perfectly into her two horse step up and got along charmingly with Jim, her Appy/TB cross...
We made it down there to meet up with Denise (with Dublin, the huge, red horse) and Cathy (who I hadn't met before)... Sky was super alert when we first got them off the trailer which was odd for her - not acting badly, just head up and ears and eyes straining to find anything she could possibly be scared of... so a little Clinton Anderson-esk lunging before hand with many changes of direction got her focused on the fact that I was still a part of her world... then we were ready to ride.
She did great on the trails - slightly ouchy on the dirt road at the beginning - but otherwise perfect. We crossed beautiful stone bridges, and rode beside blooming flower bushes, and rode along a river with lovely white boats floating here and there... it was a perfect day - no bugs and a slight breeze and lots of blue sky...
We made a two and half hour trek, miadering through the park - a place no one could get lost... after the ride, we hung out and chatted and found ourselves lazy and happy under a big tree while we watched the horses take afternoon naps while tied to the trailers..
Hannah and I chatted non-stop on the way home and I was so happy to get to know her better... it was kind of her to bring me along.
Then we had a blackwater ride on Sunday, which Betsy picked us up for... Inever stop laughing at Sky when she does her speed-walking trek from the barn onto Betsy's trailer! I swear, I could let her out of her stall and she'd head straight on next to Harvey... I'm not sure if it's Harvey or his hay that she likes more - despite the large haybag full infront of her, she insists on pushing poor Harvey over to steal his! It's funny considering she doesn't push ANYONE around.
We rode at Profile Falls - another perfect day and perfect ride... down the long, straight carraige road and wandered off onto wooded trails and open fields (which haven't been mowed and are like an all you can eat buffet to the horses, at mouth height!!!) We saw lots of wild brown eyed susans and took lots of photos --- including photos of others taking photos! It was funny!
The best was as we were riding back to the trailers on the long road, Sky decided more than once to turn her butt around and go the other way! I'm not sure if her homing device was broken or if she was just up for a longer ride, but she had no qualms about hoofing it away from the whole crew of horses and foraging her own path... i nearly cried I laughed so hard at her!
We had a good lunch back at the trailers... at the picnic tables by the river... the Mix's, Betsy and I are way ahead of the group in planning an overnight excursion at the end of the month.... I'm fired up for some more good rides and am glad to be taking a break from the constant worries about slow canters and correct headsets... although we did get a great lope behind a trotting Kosh and Hannah in a long stretch by the river... funny how that happens!
It looks like I will be putting shoes - fronts to start - on Sky by the end of the week. The farrier looked at her today and shaped her up and she has too many bruises for me to ignore any longer... if I'm going to be doing the riding I don't want to have to worry about her.
So, I will keep you posted on the goings-on. I'm watching Lisa's house next week while they are away and taking care of all the animals - then LRSS 3 isn't too far off. Hopefully Amanda and I will be doing Riverfare's know and go clinic on the 1st... Karl did tell me to include it in my b'day present....
Take care, all,
C
As I could only hope, I have not written lately b/c I've been busy riding!
After the show last weekend, I decided immediately that I was going to hang up the show shirt for a while and concentrate on doing some casual, easy, stress-free trail rides!
Luckily right after that choice, an opportunity came up for my go with Hannah on a ride... we voted on going to Maudslay state park in MA... I tried to look up information about it but could only come up with a small website without a lot of information - so I was going blind...but very excited to go in a state park as I can log double hours for my Ride America, and I am closing in on my 500 hour mark.
So I make sure I am all packed and ready and Hannah was right on time. Sky self-loaded perfectly into her two horse step up and got along charmingly with Jim, her Appy/TB cross...
We made it down there to meet up with Denise (with Dublin, the huge, red horse) and Cathy (who I hadn't met before)... Sky was super alert when we first got them off the trailer which was odd for her - not acting badly, just head up and ears and eyes straining to find anything she could possibly be scared of... so a little Clinton Anderson-esk lunging before hand with many changes of direction got her focused on the fact that I was still a part of her world... then we were ready to ride.
She did great on the trails - slightly ouchy on the dirt road at the beginning - but otherwise perfect. We crossed beautiful stone bridges, and rode beside blooming flower bushes, and rode along a river with lovely white boats floating here and there... it was a perfect day - no bugs and a slight breeze and lots of blue sky...
We made a two and half hour trek, miadering through the park - a place no one could get lost... after the ride, we hung out and chatted and found ourselves lazy and happy under a big tree while we watched the horses take afternoon naps while tied to the trailers..
Hannah and I chatted non-stop on the way home and I was so happy to get to know her better... it was kind of her to bring me along.
Then we had a blackwater ride on Sunday, which Betsy picked us up for... Inever stop laughing at Sky when she does her speed-walking trek from the barn onto Betsy's trailer! I swear, I could let her out of her stall and she'd head straight on next to Harvey... I'm not sure if it's Harvey or his hay that she likes more - despite the large haybag full infront of her, she insists on pushing poor Harvey over to steal his! It's funny considering she doesn't push ANYONE around.
We rode at Profile Falls - another perfect day and perfect ride... down the long, straight carraige road and wandered off onto wooded trails and open fields (which haven't been mowed and are like an all you can eat buffet to the horses, at mouth height!!!) We saw lots of wild brown eyed susans and took lots of photos --- including photos of others taking photos! It was funny!
The best was as we were riding back to the trailers on the long road, Sky decided more than once to turn her butt around and go the other way! I'm not sure if her homing device was broken or if she was just up for a longer ride, but she had no qualms about hoofing it away from the whole crew of horses and foraging her own path... i nearly cried I laughed so hard at her!
We had a good lunch back at the trailers... at the picnic tables by the river... the Mix's, Betsy and I are way ahead of the group in planning an overnight excursion at the end of the month.... I'm fired up for some more good rides and am glad to be taking a break from the constant worries about slow canters and correct headsets... although we did get a great lope behind a trotting Kosh and Hannah in a long stretch by the river... funny how that happens!
It looks like I will be putting shoes - fronts to start - on Sky by the end of the week. The farrier looked at her today and shaped her up and she has too many bruises for me to ignore any longer... if I'm going to be doing the riding I don't want to have to worry about her.
So, I will keep you posted on the goings-on. I'm watching Lisa's house next week while they are away and taking care of all the animals - then LRSS 3 isn't too far off. Hopefully Amanda and I will be doing Riverfare's know and go clinic on the 1st... Karl did tell me to include it in my b'day present....
Take care, all,
C
Monday, July 13, 2009
Experience is a good thing...
Sunday, I used up all my birthday money to go to a show - could've done a couple of other things but I liked the idea of getting some more time in the ring and I had been invited to trek down to Oak Rise with Ashleigh and Amanda, so I bit the bullet of $12 a class and went.
I was excited to be going back and doing the w/t/c classes and I mentally prepped for it to be a long day. When we got there, I started to think that the economy was picking up, considering that the place was packed! There were trailers bumper to bumper taking up the whole place! We got scrunched between "Mack Hill Riding Acadamy" and another kid-oriented barn with an array of activity...
Sky did relatively well - much better feeling than last weekend at LRSS... at least I "felt" like I wasn't about to reach moc-ten at the lope but I think that had a lot to do with the work Lisa helped me with on Saturday.... so, we get into the Eq. class and it was 7 ppl, including Ashleigh and Tom (who showed with Lisa last year) - Tom and I were the only Western-ers... I was pretty excited to get the correct leads out of Sky and only be lapping Tom... at least being with a lot of English riders I didn't feel like I was riding a race horse when everyone else had an old farm-plug! We wound up placing 4th of 7... better than I figured.. the judge told me I corrected her too much... oh well.
So I worked hard to stop messing wtih her face and slow her down with my body and in Pleasure we managed 3 of 7 - the best we did all day! Not enough for a PAC point but good, just the same. I felt badly for Ashleigh b/c she got two 6ths but I thought she did well!
Then we waited - and waited - and waited... UHGGG - By the time that we got on for Disp. Rail etc. I was baked from the beating sun and so tired I had to muster the energy just to get back on! It was three classes in a row - Adult Disp. Rail - Western Pleasure & Open Pleasure horse 15 and under... it was a rough three classes - we placed 4 of 6 - 2 of 2 and 2 of 3... Not particularly good but overall for the lateness of the day, I thought we got around pretty well. The judge was picking on us quite a bit - he kept talking about how he's a blah, blah, blah western judge and he told me to change my bit and was picky about how my reins were held... by the fourth time he picked at me, I was done.. I wanted out of that ring BAD - I appreciated the feedback, but enough already! I was happy to go home.. especially after I heard I got 4 of 6 in Trail! WHAT?! We had done great in trail and I couldn't believe 3 ppl did better than me! That is the worst I've done in trail in a long time w/o seriously messing up...
Anyway, I didn't stick around (or, really, make A&A stick around) to collect my 4th place day end that I assumed I would get... I took my experience and got out of dodge.
Once home I was SOOOO tired... I got a little sun and a lot of experience... glad to get them both but I think I am done showing for a little bit - I am highly interested in some easy trail rides and some relaxing days hanging out... today I started tying my BIG quilt together and reading a book (that is until I got the call to get hay in but that is a summer-time necessity)...
Thanks to those who helped me prepare for the show, get to the show, and survive the trama that is the show... thanks to John, who I got to see there... nice to see you and am glad you are doing well. I will be sure to let you know how things are going.
Talk to you soon, guys... I am hoping to snag a spot in Hannah's trailer on Friday for a jaunt and hopefully will go with Betsy to Profile Falls Sunday.
C
I was excited to be going back and doing the w/t/c classes and I mentally prepped for it to be a long day. When we got there, I started to think that the economy was picking up, considering that the place was packed! There were trailers bumper to bumper taking up the whole place! We got scrunched between "Mack Hill Riding Acadamy" and another kid-oriented barn with an array of activity...
Sky did relatively well - much better feeling than last weekend at LRSS... at least I "felt" like I wasn't about to reach moc-ten at the lope but I think that had a lot to do with the work Lisa helped me with on Saturday.... so, we get into the Eq. class and it was 7 ppl, including Ashleigh and Tom (who showed with Lisa last year) - Tom and I were the only Western-ers... I was pretty excited to get the correct leads out of Sky and only be lapping Tom... at least being with a lot of English riders I didn't feel like I was riding a race horse when everyone else had an old farm-plug! We wound up placing 4th of 7... better than I figured.. the judge told me I corrected her too much... oh well.
So I worked hard to stop messing wtih her face and slow her down with my body and in Pleasure we managed 3 of 7 - the best we did all day! Not enough for a PAC point but good, just the same. I felt badly for Ashleigh b/c she got two 6ths but I thought she did well!
Then we waited - and waited - and waited... UHGGG - By the time that we got on for Disp. Rail etc. I was baked from the beating sun and so tired I had to muster the energy just to get back on! It was three classes in a row - Adult Disp. Rail - Western Pleasure & Open Pleasure horse 15 and under... it was a rough three classes - we placed 4 of 6 - 2 of 2 and 2 of 3... Not particularly good but overall for the lateness of the day, I thought we got around pretty well. The judge was picking on us quite a bit - he kept talking about how he's a blah, blah, blah western judge and he told me to change my bit and was picky about how my reins were held... by the fourth time he picked at me, I was done.. I wanted out of that ring BAD - I appreciated the feedback, but enough already! I was happy to go home.. especially after I heard I got 4 of 6 in Trail! WHAT?! We had done great in trail and I couldn't believe 3 ppl did better than me! That is the worst I've done in trail in a long time w/o seriously messing up...
Anyway, I didn't stick around (or, really, make A&A stick around) to collect my 4th place day end that I assumed I would get... I took my experience and got out of dodge.
Once home I was SOOOO tired... I got a little sun and a lot of experience... glad to get them both but I think I am done showing for a little bit - I am highly interested in some easy trail rides and some relaxing days hanging out... today I started tying my BIG quilt together and reading a book (that is until I got the call to get hay in but that is a summer-time necessity)...
Thanks to those who helped me prepare for the show, get to the show, and survive the trama that is the show... thanks to John, who I got to see there... nice to see you and am glad you are doing well. I will be sure to let you know how things are going.
Talk to you soon, guys... I am hoping to snag a spot in Hannah's trailer on Friday for a jaunt and hopefully will go with Betsy to Profile Falls Sunday.
C
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Great Expectations
So we finally got to show on Sunday. It was a perfect day - sunny (shocker of all shockers, huh?) and slightly breezy as to keep the bazillions of bugs away.
I was pretty nervous considering there hasn't been a lot of time given all the rain and the condition of Sky's feet, which are soft and saseptable to new problems and still relatively short. But I was ready to give it a go and she was pretty clean too.
Showmanship turned out to the be one of the highlights of my day - it's a wonder considering that I had fought against it for so long that I would actually enjoy it. There were 11 ppl in the class and we placed 6th under one judge, and 3rd under another. Not too bad.
By the time we were riding, I was pretty frustrated - only b/c Sky fought me at the lope all over, not being used to working so hard. She either would try to break or run a buck-ninety around the ring. The pattern was difficult - trotting a circle, then loping a circle, then changing leads and loping the other way at a lope again. After a lot of practice and frustration, we did do a great pattern - or at least one that didn't break gait or get the wrong lead - we went to rail work. On the rail I managed to get nearly all the way around the ring before realizing we were one the wrong lead! CRAP! So, there went that class - 5 of 5.
Pleasure didn't go much better considering we were circling everyone and not doing it in a very pretty manner. Lisa rode her in between classes and although she looked better for her, it didn't exactly translate over. At this point, knowing the day was shot, I tried my best to keep my chin up and do my personal best. Discipline rail was a mess - being asked to counter-canter when you are still working on the right leads to start with is rough! Then Senior Horse Pleasure came and I did manage to get a decent lope at the very end, which I was proud of, and we placed 4 of 5 under one judge - a serious victory given the way we were doing.
I have a problem. I feel fine in the warm up ring and do ok with her at home, but being in the ring with others who are experienced on experienced horses, I get physched out and compare too much. I feel like Sky is a lunatic b/c she isn't nearly as slow as the other horses and we are not as collected. This feeling makes me upset b/c I don't understand how, after all the work we've done, we do not measure up against these others. I do feel that this summer stinks b/c of all the rain and I haven't ridden NEARLY as much as I have wanted to, but I also don't think that is an excuse.
Trail was a decent experience. Adult Trail we did well - probably b/c we got one part of the course correct where others did the wrong thing and that is only b/c Lisa asked the judges... someone was a little ticked until she found out that they didn't take off for doing it the way EVERYONE did it and not the correct way. But I managed to get 1st under one judge nad 3rd under another, so that was good - it was trotting poles, sidepassing and a mailbox, lope into a box, spin, lope after the box, go to a bridge, walk over, and back. The second time we were on the incorrect lead (it was an "incorrect" one they asked for) so we placed last again. I was happy to do well in SOMETHING though!
Anyway, I suppose I have to learn to expect to do good for myself, and not good against others. I have come to expect to do well with Sky and this is a learning year, so I have to learn to back away from that. I know it should be enough to do better than last time and improve, it's just hard to do that and have it still not be enough!
I am working on that with K too... we are working on things and spending more time together... I am standing up for myself and expecting to get out what I put in. I guess that is all anyone can ask for in life.
C
PS - I might go to Oak Rise Sunday if $$$ works out.... I was offered a ride from some Blackwater folks.
I was pretty nervous considering there hasn't been a lot of time given all the rain and the condition of Sky's feet, which are soft and saseptable to new problems and still relatively short. But I was ready to give it a go and she was pretty clean too.
Showmanship turned out to the be one of the highlights of my day - it's a wonder considering that I had fought against it for so long that I would actually enjoy it. There were 11 ppl in the class and we placed 6th under one judge, and 3rd under another. Not too bad.
By the time we were riding, I was pretty frustrated - only b/c Sky fought me at the lope all over, not being used to working so hard. She either would try to break or run a buck-ninety around the ring. The pattern was difficult - trotting a circle, then loping a circle, then changing leads and loping the other way at a lope again. After a lot of practice and frustration, we did do a great pattern - or at least one that didn't break gait or get the wrong lead - we went to rail work. On the rail I managed to get nearly all the way around the ring before realizing we were one the wrong lead! CRAP! So, there went that class - 5 of 5.
Pleasure didn't go much better considering we were circling everyone and not doing it in a very pretty manner. Lisa rode her in between classes and although she looked better for her, it didn't exactly translate over. At this point, knowing the day was shot, I tried my best to keep my chin up and do my personal best. Discipline rail was a mess - being asked to counter-canter when you are still working on the right leads to start with is rough! Then Senior Horse Pleasure came and I did manage to get a decent lope at the very end, which I was proud of, and we placed 4 of 5 under one judge - a serious victory given the way we were doing.
I have a problem. I feel fine in the warm up ring and do ok with her at home, but being in the ring with others who are experienced on experienced horses, I get physched out and compare too much. I feel like Sky is a lunatic b/c she isn't nearly as slow as the other horses and we are not as collected. This feeling makes me upset b/c I don't understand how, after all the work we've done, we do not measure up against these others. I do feel that this summer stinks b/c of all the rain and I haven't ridden NEARLY as much as I have wanted to, but I also don't think that is an excuse.
Trail was a decent experience. Adult Trail we did well - probably b/c we got one part of the course correct where others did the wrong thing and that is only b/c Lisa asked the judges... someone was a little ticked until she found out that they didn't take off for doing it the way EVERYONE did it and not the correct way. But I managed to get 1st under one judge nad 3rd under another, so that was good - it was trotting poles, sidepassing and a mailbox, lope into a box, spin, lope after the box, go to a bridge, walk over, and back. The second time we were on the incorrect lead (it was an "incorrect" one they asked for) so we placed last again. I was happy to do well in SOMETHING though!
Anyway, I suppose I have to learn to expect to do good for myself, and not good against others. I have come to expect to do well with Sky and this is a learning year, so I have to learn to back away from that. I know it should be enough to do better than last time and improve, it's just hard to do that and have it still not be enough!
I am working on that with K too... we are working on things and spending more time together... I am standing up for myself and expecting to get out what I put in. I guess that is all anyone can ask for in life.
C
PS - I might go to Oak Rise Sunday if $$$ works out.... I was offered a ride from some Blackwater folks.
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