Mud and Random Update

Planned to have a lesson over break.

Not sure it's going to happen. Maayyybeee by the end of the week.

SO. MUCH. MUD. Argh! It got so bad on the "aisle" between the paddocks that they hauled in a whole bunch of gravel and wood chips and now even those are getting sucked down into the miry depths in the worst parts. It's so slippery I'm not even trail riding because if River were to spook I'm not sure he'd be able to stay on all fours.

Nasty. Hopefully it gets sunny now like it's supposed to!

Fortunately (knock on wood) even with three white socks River has yet to get any scratches or other fungusy stuff. I keep him cleaned off as best I can, and he doesn't like to walk or stand in mud, so I'm sure that helps--but still. His shoulder guard should be coming soon (had to mail order it, sigh), so I'm continuing to Show-Sheen the life out of him in hopes that might help the rubs some. At least they don't seem to get any worse once the hair is gone...I guess that's good?!

Christmas we got money (yay money!) so he's getting the shoulder guard, a breastplate, new girth, and a bareback pad!! Well I guess most of that benefits me more than him (lol) but he did get peppermints on Christmas Eve and Christmas day. I also replaced the snap that broke on his turnout sheet, good grief snaps are easier than buckles. I'm in love! If I'm lucky, all our loot might show up by lesson time!

Hopefully we'll have a fun lesson update soon! In the meantime, boring posts! :)

2013: Year In Review

Wellll everyone else is doing it so I will too :)

River is starting his hill-work-on-the-lunge regime as of today. He was agreeable but decided that hill work is tiring, thank you very much!

Also, I found that our local Ace Hardware store just started carrying Tribute feed! YEAH!! Finally something decent quality with low NSC and high(er) fat (right now I'm transitioning him to their Kalm-N-Ez, so it's not super high fat, but still about twice as much as he was getting), and it's no more expensive than plain whole oats! Thanks Saiph and Jen for your positive comments on this feed so I can be excited! :) 

ANYWAY on to the Year-In-Review!

Started off 2013 at my second barn in Tennessee, riding with Coach. I had Rhapsody and Brandi as unofficial project horses. Brandi struggled with working in the arena (I later decided it was probably a saddle fit issue), and Rhapsody learned to be catchable (at least by me). Fringe (my 2012 project horse) regressed and I fell off during a lesson on her.

Adorable baby face

I didn't post about this on the blog, but in late February Coach moved out of the barn and stopped giving lessons there. I was on my own--a little nervous, a little excited!

In March I "inherited" Coach's project, Surge, as my own third project horse. I learned to listen to horses, especially Rhapsody, who wouldn't take anything else! Rhapsody really started bonding to me, and we figured out the stretchy trot! I rode her bareback in a halter, and though she didn't like the halter idea, she did very well.

In April, I started having issues with Surge (still not sure what was at the root of those, wish I'd been able to figure them out). Fringe sold to a new home. I experienced a rearing horse for the first time, and decided I'd rather not experience it again! 

May, things started changing. I left that barn and started looking for my own horse, all in one fell swoop! I looked at horses...and more horses...and...

In June I finally found a horse I thought might work!
Coach liked him!
And River came home! 

First full day back: Needs to learn manners, anyone?!

The shot that sold me on him...

I debated whether to take him barefoot or not (and got many good opinions). Decided to try it, got a very sore pony, and went on vacation for two weeks while he healed and toughened up. Came back and he was overall better!


July and August: River got an abscess, but it blew out eventually and he felt much better. So did I, when he could go out on pasture again and I didn't have to feed him twice a day! River started putting weight on and feeling better yet. We tried a new trimmer (who I "fired" later because he couldn't come out often enough). I rode at last! We went on our first trail ride and River rocked it. 

Need to see this view more often!

September and October were more trail rides, and I tried riding bareback. I started working with some Arab babies at a boarding school. Sadly the colts have not been gelded yet so I haven't been back...the agreement was that they would geld the studs in return for my work with them. Came up with some goals for River and I.

November and December we struggled with Daylight Savings Time, and I started auditing lessons at a nearby dressage barn. River had his first big spook, and I almost fell off, but didn't quite. Then there were finals, and now it is break! And here we are!

In all our derpy donkey greatness...

A lot of ways, I feel like I'm starting all over again. I feel like I got to June, bought River, and stalled in my riding. I don't know what to do for goals for this spring; I don't even know where to head River (post in the works about why). But I know I'm one blessed girl to have this Beastie and I'm going to enjoy every minute of it! :)

Saturday Snaps: Poor Coach

Just back. Awesome donkey face.

 

Saturday I was dying to ride so we went on a little bareback ride around the top of the pastures and back through the woods. Solo, as usual, and a storm blowing in (it actually rained a little while we were out). 

And a horse just back from six weeks off. Yeah, I know, recipe for disaster....BUT he only had one spook, just as we were starting! Besides that he was alert but very good--I remembered to talk to him the whole way and it really seems to help. 

Also his feet! They are sooo much better and he is learning to pick them up and maneuver around and over things in the trail instead of just shuffling/plowing straight through! I probably will still get him snap tested for Lyme when the vet's out next, but yay! 

Poor Coach heard of this escapade via Facebook and promptly informed me I should not be trail riding solo (she is literally worse than my mother when it comes to safety). Well, I know I shouldn't, but if I only rode or trail rode when other people were around, I'd never ride, ever. I've literally only been able to ride once with other people in the over-six-months I've been here. Dangerous, perhaps...but I carry my phone and my family knows to come looking for me if I don't show up on time. Besides, everything involving a horse is dangerous. ;)

And maybe if I do enough frightening things on my own, she'll be persuaded to start her own place where she can personally rein me in... ;)

We're BAAAACK!!

And here is a super awkward selfie (aren't all selfies awkward?) to prove it!

River says, My person is totally insane!

Two exams, one massive video project (not involving the pony, much to his relief I'm sure), two papers, and one easy final later, the tests are dead and I am still alive! I really wondered sometimes if I'd get through this semester, but I did, and so I have proved that what doesn't kill you does indeed make you stronger...or at least, you can survive much more than you thought possible!

Haven't gone riding yet, booo, but spending quality time with the pony during the light part of the day is exciting enough! Maybe we'll try out the footing in the arena on Sunday...hoping for a lesson with Coach after Christmas, so I need to find somewhere with decent footing that doesn't have horses in it for us to ride in!

River's got some blanket rubs going on, poor boy, but it's going to be warm for a while so he's going naked while we grow his hair back. Not too surprised since he had the liner (which isn't smooth-nylon-lined) on for close to 2 weeks straight. Anyways that is most all the excitement for now. Hopefully more later! :)

'Bye

Finals are coming...

So I want to go hide:

Forgive the spelling...

But that don't work too well, sadly.

So instead I'm saying goodbye, for a while, we will be back the end of next week. River is fine, happy, healthy, all good. Me...well that's debatable....lol. Everything will be better when we come back!

:)

5-Day Challenge: Day 5

Yeah, finally made it!! ;)

If that's not EPIC, I don't know what is!

21. Favorite classes to watch

Cross-country!!! It's terrifying and epic and amazing and I just love love love love it! Any jumping class really, though I prefer watching derbies, they're more fun than the "ordinary" show-jumping or hunters. I want to learn more about dressage because I think it would be fascinating to watch if I actually knew something about it! I guess fox-hunting doesn't count as a "class" but that's definitely something I'd like to do someday!

22. What’s in your cooler at horse shows?

I haven't shown yet, but I can tell you right now what will be in it: Raisins, whatever easy-to-eat fruit I can find, granola bars, PB&J sandwich, lots and lots of water and electrolyte fizzy-pills! I tend to "bonk" quickly, don't eat a lot when I'm out and then regret it when the dizziness hits and my blood sugar crashes, so on-the-go sugars and complex carbs are what keep me going.

23. One thing about showing (or riding in general) you wish you could change?

Well of course there is always the $$$. But for myself, I wish we had more small schooling shows close by. We have the one place I mentioned in my last challenge post, and besides that pretty much you have to go to Atlanta or Knoxville area to show much of anywhere. Either of those are at least a 2-hour drive, which I know isn't bad compared to a lot of people, but when you don't have a trailer (or money! lol) it makes things tough.

24. Your ringside crew

Probably Coach if she could make it and wasn't showing at the same time, and my family would come and watch and cheer for me although I don't know how much actual "crew" help they'd be able to give! ;)  At least they could stuff food down my throat!

25. Best prizes

Who doesn't want a neck ribbon?? Or a cooler...I think we should give saddles as prizes more often for big shows, like the Western guys do! Seriously, I'd be happy with any kind of a prize! Though I have often thought that if I ever won Rolex (not going to happen, but a girl can dream!) the watch would be getting sold as soon as I got home, and I'd get a saddle with the money! ;)

All the ribbons...

5-Day Challenge: Day 4

So yes, I fail at writing every day. Oh well! :)

16. One thing you’d like to change about your horse.

I wish I could re-make all his joints. It kills me to know that he's only 8 but he already has arthritic changes here and there. The racing's a big part of what gave him such a great mind, but at the same time it broke up his body. I know it could be so much worse and I should be grateful that he's still fully rideable at all three gaits, that he gallops around in his pasture and will probably be sound for the low-level stuff I want to do, but just redoing them would be the best...then we'd be able to take over the world. ;)

17. Your horse’s future.

I hope he'll be with me forever. He'll jump and do low-level dressage until that's too much, and then we'll do gentle trails. Finally when he's totally retired, he'll go in the pasture with the babies I'll have, or the rescues I've brought in, and keep them company and in line. ;) That said, there's always a possibility I'll have to move somewhere he can't go, and in that case I hope to find him a home with some kid that will love on him for the rest of his life.

18. Your worst show ever.

Well seeing as I've never shown....haha....

Droool......[from the KY horse park website]

19. Favorite horse show venues.

For local, I love this little place right down the road from us. They have several arenas, a little XC course, and are just a friendly, down-to-earth barn.

For anywhere, I would love to show at the Kentucky Horse Park! Gorgeous and I would love to ride the same ground that the "Greats" ride!

20. Your show daily routine.

Well I don't know about show routine, but I'm pretty sure if Coach and I went together (which I hope to, for my first one out anyways, though we'll see), it would consist of being up early, getting all the ponies looking something better than wild mustangs (oh yeah, one is a [not-so] wild mustang, never mind...), obsessing over not forgetting anything (both the Coach and I are obsessively organized mostly because we both forget ALL THE THINGS!!), trying not to beat ourselves up for not beating everyone at our first show out in a year-plus, hopefully remembering our courses and tests, and (for me) keeping obsessive tabs on everything I own so that Coach doesn't play some cruel practical joke on me (the stories she has told, I'm half scared to go to a show with her!). It would be an adventure, to put it simply! 

5-Day Challenge: Day 3

Random: I don't think I said that I found one of my old riding buddies from last year--she and her horse have moved to a barn on the way over to River's!! SO excited! Haha! Besides now I have an excuse to stop there sometime and meet the folks there.. ;) I don't think I'd ever move River there--they have very little turnout and the place isn't the best kept-up outside--but never hurts to make friends. Besides, I'm never saying never! ;)

On to the challenge! I can't believe I'm actually posting every day so far!

11. Critique your horse’s conformation.

Taking confo pictures when you're alone is v.e.r.y. h.a.r.d., so here is his sale picture!

I am not all that great at conformation so feel free to chime in and say what you see!

His back is a bit long, not too bad for a Thoroughbred though. He could be more uphill, though he's not terrible; his shoulder and neck look heavier than his hind end. Hind end is a bit weak.
His shoulder is pretty good, a bit straight but not bad. As far as neck and whatnot, I am clueless on that so have nothing to say--lol!

His legs are okay, he tends to toe out all around though a good trim job usually evens him out pretty well. He paddles a bit up front and his hind legs are a bit cow-hocked, not terrible though. He's been pin-fired on both sides of both fronts, and has an old sequestrum (fully healed) on the left front. Pasterns might be a teeny bit long, but are well sloped. He has a good depth of girth and wide ribs. His feet are (FINALLY!!!) really amazing, especially for a Thoroughbred. Did I mention he was crunching over big gravel like no big deal the other day?? And his head is adorable! :)

And I want those adorable dapples back! Where'd they go?! I also want His Fatness back, though I'm sure he would say that if I'd feed him 5 lb. of food twice a day, he'd fatten up just fine...

Trail ears!!

12. Horse’s favorite riding exercise.
Trail rides! Especially when he can trot/canter. He loves loves loves it but we haven't done a whole lot
because of his feet. One of these days we'll get back with it! I'm also hoping that he'll enjoy jumping, but we'll see...

I hatez bathz...

13. Favorite spa day products.
River abhors baths and being wet in general, so I haven't given him any--a rinse down when it's hot but otherwise not much. His "spa" days are typically just a really good brushing and a massage. He does love his massages!

14. Three best things about your horse.
1. His brain! He has such a solid, thoughtful mind and has only given me one big spook so far--usually he just crouches, stops and stares, or takes a few sideways steps. When he does stop and give something the hairy eyeball, I can usually just sit there and wait till he's ready, and in a minute or two he will start taking steps towards it on his own, pausing every few steps to make sure it's not going to eat him, till he can put his nose on it. Then he's fine. I still ride super defensively whenever he sees something and tenses up, but one of these days he'll persuade me he's not a freaking-out kind of horse!

2. His "try." He tries so hard to be good, which sometimes works against us because he gets so anxious when he's not sure what to do or what's going on. But as long as I can be patient and gently direct him in whatever we're doing, he usually will "get it" and then he will do his absolute best to do it again whenever he thinks I want it!

3. His overall unflappability--I can tie him in the aisle with his dinner (always with baling twine, so if he pulls back he won't break anything) and go feed other horses, rake the aisle, take down spiderwebs, have other horses walk behind him, the cats can be rubbing around his legs and trucks driving by outside, and he won't freak or kick or bite.


15. Favorite picture of your horse.

Handsome man

Five Day Challenge: Day 2

6. Favorite equestrian book and movie

Loved Marguerite Henry growing up, especially King of the Wind! Haven't read it for a long time though.

Not much a movie person, not even sure I've watched any real equestrian movies.

7. Most common riding misconception
Random one I've been running into lately: "YOU?! ride/work with horses/have been a camp wrangler/own a horse?!" Mostly because I'm small, I think (I'm about 5'3 and 100 lb on a good day). People seem astonished that I'm not a 6' cowgirl with spurs and a ten-gallon hat. Really amusing!

8. 2 riding strengths and 1 riding weakness
Strength #1: I'm usually pretty patient. Especially when it doesn't involve my horse. Ha! But really, I can work through just about anything with someone else's baby. With mine...I'm still pretty good, I don't usually get mad or blow up at him or around him, but I do get impatient a whole lot faster. I'm working on it as he lets me know pronto when I'm behaving inappropriately!

Strength #2: I love the babies! I guess this is a strength...haha...dunno whether I'm extremely very good with them, but I do love 'em.

Weakness: Motivation. In everything. Haha. I struggle hugely with self-motivation; even telling someone else that I'm going to do something is very little motivation for me if I wake up and decide I don't want to. It's definitely my biggest weakness and something I am always trying to figure out a way to overcome!

9. Least favorite thing about horses/riding
Finances, for sure, and the time. Especially being in college, finding the money and the time to take care of a horse is not easy, especially not when your family's already on one income. I'm very grateful for my grandparents' generosity that allowed me to take lessons and now to have a horse! I'm also grateful for my three part-time jobs, but man it makes it hard to find time to ride...

10. What do you feed your horse?
AM:
-2-3 flakes hay, plus pasture

Yumm, fooodsss...

PM: (need to get weight for his foods)
-1 1/2 scoop beet pulp
- Full scoop plain oats
- 2 cups rice bran
- About 1/4 cup oil
- 2-3 flakes hay, and pasture

Still tweaking this for winter...really trying to keep him on a low-NSC diet for his feet and his ulcer-prone-ness, but it's hard to find a low-starch, low-sugar feed sold nearby!

Late to the Party: 5 Day Challenge - Day 1

Bit late to this, but not much to write about, besides that River continues to eat massive amounts of food, so I need to write about something, and Tracy's questionnaire looked fun!
 

1. Most influential person on your riding

That would be a tie between my first trainer, D., and my current Coach (who I haven't seen since August-ish, got to fix that soon!). D gave me my start, taking me from a rank 10-year-old who "knew" everything and couldn't do a thing, and coaching me up to riding the more reliable babies (at about 12-13), riding other people's horses, and hopping over little cavaletti. Coach took me from a scared and tense early college student who hadn't ridden in two years, was afraid of any jump over a 12" crossrail, and got popped off when my horse kicked out, to a quite "sticky" rider jumping 2'6 confidently, and riding almost-completely-green off-track babies. Though I don't agree with everything either of them did or do, I love them both!

Chompy chompy mouth (ignore my staring at the ground!)

2. Piece of tack you’d love to splurge on

Custom saddle would of course be awesome! In fact I'd like two--one jump saddle and one dressage saddle! But barring that, I'd like to find a bit that River actually likes. I don't know if such a thing exists, and I'm sure a lot of it is just him being anxious and figuring out his mouth and the idea of contact or the lack thereof, but it would be awesome to find one he didn't feel the need to gape his mouth with.

3. Top 5 riding playlist

I hardly listen to music at all, which is weird because I used to listen, play, and practice a ton, like an hour a day (okay, whatever, it's a lot for me!) before I was in high school, and I performed quite a lot for churches and Christmas programs and whatnot in the area. High school killed my music, which I regret, but I haven't found the time to pick it up again. I enjoy music, sometimes I listen to it when I'm studying and often when I'm driving, but not when I'm riding or hiking. I get distracted too easily...sometime I'd like to try it though, see if it could help me relax and not over-think everything! 

Happy horse is happy.

4. Most important aspect of your barn?

The pasture is really pretty good for this area, we have good pastures and they're actually rotated frequently (unlike most places in the area that just throw two dozen horses on a dozen acres and expect to have it be okay...). But I think the thing I like the most is the people. We're a small barn, about ten families and seventeen horses, and everybody kind of looks out for everybody else. Nobody has an entitlement complex and it's just a really nice, down-to-earth group of people that love horses. This is so huge for me because at my previous barn it ended up being so much just about the money--not so much the folks who were boarding there, but the management. Horses suffer when that happens. Here, River may still struggle with his weight when there's not foot-high grass 24/7, and it's a drive over and back every day, but I know he's happy and that everyone will be super accommodating if he's sick or injured, and that's what matters.

5. Three winter riding goals

1. Gentle, regular hill work with River, starting as soon as I finish finals and get onto Christmas break, to get him back into shape.
2. Start River over baby jumps to see how he likes it and how he does
3. Lots of no-stirrup and two-point to strengthen my position and get my legs where they're supposed to be

New Clothes!

So, a week or so ago (or I guess it was almost two weeks, good grief the time flies), we had an early cold snap, with rain and nastiness.

River got to come into the barn and roll in his shavings...

Yes, that's a bar of saddle soap sitting on the ledge...

He was happy for the first night, not so happy for the second. Fortunately it was only two nights and two days of really cold and rain; after that it was cold but no rain, so I let him out.

But that and his iffy condition--he was looking great coming through October, but he's lost some weight since the winter started--caused me to go a'blanket shopping.

And they finally came Saturday!! (when it was almost 60, of course...) So I gleefully waltzed out to the barn today, when I actually had time, to try them on. And take them off again because it was too warm to leave them on.

He got a light sheet and a warm liner, so I can layer him up if he needs it, and because I got a fantastic deal on the liner, so I couldn't pass it up. ;) So photo spam! Sorry for the less-than-amazing pictures...

Hallo, I am Mr. Model Horse. Are we done yet? (Yes he looks like an overgrown pony with that mane, but eh I don't care at the moment...)

For realz Mom, where's my carrotz?

I will put on my pretty face so maybe this will be over sooner...

MOM STOP IT ALREADY!! (you can't see but he's starting his head bobbing/weaving that almost never shows up now, just because he's bored and anticipating his treats)

Need to loosen the belly straps a bit on the turnout, besides that they fit pretty good. I'm glad I read the reviews that said they run large, because I ordered a whole size down for him and I wouldn't want them any bigger! Happy so far, they are Defender brand which I haven't seen used before, but seem to be pretty good quality, especially for the price. I will do a review when I've had the chance to see how they fare in the pasture. If he can keep them in one piece for a reasonable time out there, and they don't rub too badly, I will be impressed...his buddies play hard!

Had to throw hay to the pasture horses tonight, so looped his lead over my shoulders and he followed me out, waited while I grabbed a new bale, and munched hay while I tossed it to the other horses. How I got such an amazingly-minded Beastie is quite beyond me. :)