Day 2

Yesterday was jump school day.

We love jump school days. Hehe. It was a gorgeous day too, warm but not too warm, and it cooled off quickly by the time I was turning River back out a little after 7. He was quite giraffe-y and looky at the beginning but chilled out eventually and we put in some nice work over two baby cross-rails. Set up some cavaletti too, but they were too close for anything but walk (I'm still figuring out his stride) and I was too lazy we didn't have time to get off and change them.

I do believe he may learn to be a jumper despite me--it's adorable to watch him already start to prick his ears and lock on as we come onto the line for the baby rails. Right now it's leg, leg, leg to keep him from slowing down and walking over, but he never ever stops. Just very slow and very careful to organize all the legs before we jump over the thing. ;P

I on the other hand am obviously weak in my position and was kind of flailing all over the place. More two-point drill for me. I'm also going to watch a lesson with another instructor tomorrow--she is a hunters and jumpers instructor and we'll see how it turns out, if it's good I will try to start riding with her occasionally.

Overall a good day and we had fun. :)

Hot Mess

Yesterday we rode.

In the interests of time, I decided to do a more dressage-y school ride. Creature thought we should explore the open gate instead (I told him otherwise).

We did lots of walk serpentines to try to warm up; he was wiggly wiggly and either overreacting or underreacting to every little cue. Eventually got up to some fairly nice and balanced trot circles tracking right, but he fell apart when we went left. Sort of got it back together so that at least he wasn't throwing tantrums and wasn't quite as much a giraffe (I do believe left is his worse direction and I'm afraid I don't help that much) and called that good for a break. The very good thing is that he wasn't tripping over himself. He'd had his trim a week ago and was still a little sore (hate 8-week trim cycles), so he had front boots on and it made a difference. Very good because I don't like to die falling off tripping horses.

Did some more trot circles to the left, trying to get him on a decent bend instead of drifting all over Timbuktu. Again, we got better but not yet what I would like to see--I know he can do better. Took another break and then decided to work canter right. He ignored cues for some time and then threw his head down, got corrected, took a giant spooky leap sideways and up, came down and tried to bolt. Fortunately I had the sense by then to yell at him and he listened and stopped. Got the trot sort of back together again, tried again and no jumps but neither would he really think about anything except running into it. Got a bigger circle (2/3 of the arena type circle) and finally he agreed to put in three or four strides. We did that twice and then I called it good. I know he can canter beautifully under saddle on the lunge, so I suspect it's a conglomeration of balance and mental issues causing his problems right now.

He was super sweaty afterwards so he got a nice shower and time under the fans before he went back out. Hard work figuring all this mess out.

We're Back, Hello Hello

Proof that he's alive

Huh well then that was a bit longer absence than expected.

Contrary to what may be popular opinion, the Creature is still here and quite alive and we found a splendid part-board place for him that I am quite tickled with. He's maintaining weight beautifully, his feet are much better (even though our new farrier is not so good as our old one), and I am even getting back into riding lessons periodically. Some dressage work is doing us both good, and he's popping over baby cross-rails like no big deal. We've been on a few little trail rides and we even gave my best friend her first unofficial riding lesson.

I'm having a tough semester for reasons that shall be elaborated on later perhaps. For right now I'll just say I'm not currently teaching and that was not my first choice. But it gives me more time for Monster. I don't know how long we'll be here, but it is a good place for him and I'm trying to enjoy it while we've got it.

As part of trying to hold my mental and emotional game together (lack of outside structure + incredibly unstable future plans = highly stressed me), I'm throwing some more jumping and dressage practice in. Much as I do enjoy dressage, I'm no good at doing it independently yet, and jumping will always be my first love. I know enough dressage to mostly hold us together at the moment, so I think it's time to diversify and experiment. And as part of trying to remain accountable to myself (ha ha), I'm going to try to post on our rides, even just a little blurb. So here's to returning to blogging (maybe)!

Happy 2015!

From sunnier days...our hunter pace :)

Happy 2015 everyone!

River and I celebrated in our typical boring way--we did some groundwork New Year's Eve Day and then ate our suppers and went to sleep. ;)

This year hasn't been much exciting in the horse department, at least not as far as huge progress or breakthroughs made. But we moved to a new barn we love, we rode a lot more than last year, and we've found a discipline we love and plan to continue riding and competing in. I think those are pretty big things!

Looking forward, this year is going to be a year of big changes. I'm beginning my student teaching semester in two weeks and then graduating college in May, and who knows where we'll be going after that. Of course I have every plan to keep River around, but at the same time I know there's no guarantee. There will be new barns to find, new experiences to have, new friends to make, and new problems to work out; I know that much.


So our goal for this year is to keep riding as long as possible and to have fun in the process. To take one day at a time and live each one to the fullest. :)

Short Version

We finished our second ACTHA ride on October 26, and placed SECOND in our division!!! And that after a ride that I was 90% sure we weren't even going to place in! He tried hard but it was a tricky course...well, apparently it was tricky for other teams too! :D

We finished our first hunter pace (minus the jumps) last weekend, November 2, and placed fifth! Just because of time; we were one second behind our friend, so no big deal. He was a champ at "chaperoning" our less-experienced friend (S and a borrowed horse) and I am super proud of him.

Now we are planning nothing for 2-3 months, because November is his hardest month to keep weight on, December is my hardest month to stick with a schedule, and January I begin student teaching and probably will have next to no time. Hopefully in late January or February we'll be able to get back on a routine to gear up for springtime events.

Maybe I will get some pictures of the rides up one of these days. :)

Rides

Going to try and post maybe once a week these days??

Last week we did actually ride three times! Trail on Sunday, bareback field jaunt Tuesday, and a walk-trot-canter "let's-actually-do-something-productive" ride Thursday.

I knew Sunday would be fun when he started spooking at the bushes walking up to the barn from the pasture. Tacked up, put on his boots, and headed out through the field behind the house. Saw many scary things including a water tub, the mounting block, and the volunteer girls moving a jump. Had to dismount and lead him through the gate up to the gallop hill because he would. not. go. Ugh. Once we got out there he decided it was time to go back home but I got a little firmer with him and he headed up. Once he got moving I was able to get him into a trot and we trotted up and walked down three times before his brain kind of returned. Second time down he started blowing out and relaxing a lot, so we went up one more time and then headed into the woods to do the highest completed trail. Came down the really steep slippery "Man from Snowy River Hill"--fortunately it wasn't muddy--and he was a trooper! He was lathered by the time we got to the back of the fields, though, and breathing hard (for no particular reason other than nerves, I think). Paused and stood and waited for the BO to finish mowing the field. He waited very patiently, blew out a lot and relaxed. Then we headed back to the barn. Perhaps not a relaxing ride, but I felt good that we'd worked through it!

Tuesday he was relaxed and I was fried mentally, so I just threw on the fitted pad, slipped on bareback, and we went out and played in the jump field and the hay field. Chatted with a friend who was leaving for grad school on Thursday, briefly disagreed over whether we should walk or trot round the hay field, and settled for a nice brisk walk around. Perhaps nothing major, but the occasional bareback ride--even just at a walk--does wonders for my seat, so I like to keep it up.

Thursday I wanted to ride him barefoot so he got some stimulation on the tootsies. So we saddled up and went to the grassy spot and did a basic walk-trot-canter circles ride. Nothing special except that I discovered that wonder of wonders, when I get my act together and RIDE, he goes pretty well! Amazing. Even our left-lead canter was good! He will fix my weak canter riding yet--I can't hold his mouth or he will haul on my arms till they come off, so it's a good incentive, ha.

Overall a good week! Then I got sick on Friday. Boo. So I really don't know what's going down this week. We will see!

Radio Silence

Oh yes I have a blog...maybe should write on it!

School started, that's my excuse.

Been actually riding a fair bit though! About twice a week which yes I know it's not that often but comparatively that's pretty good. Ha. This week I think I might hit my three-times-a-week goal, though.

Finally sized him to the EasyBoot Gloves and they came and they fit and they're great!! Especially since back at the start of the summer my "supervising farrier" encouraged me to trim hoofers way too much and he got sore. :( :( He's much better now but I'm still not happy such a thing even happened. Back to what we were doing before (which, though it didn't look so pretty, kept him quite sound!). In the meantime boots are great. Needed them for trails anyways.

Lots of trail rides, did one arena ride and he was greatly displeased ha. Pony gets spoiled by trails. If only the farm's bush-hogging machine wasn't broken, we'd do "arena" work in the fields--so much more fun. But it is broken and so all the grass is about knee-high and you can't see a thing as far as footing. There is one space probably will use--yesterday just went out for a little bareback ride though. Super nice, chill evening. :)

Planning for another ACTHA ride on October 26, maybe sooner if I can find a buddy to go somewhere else with!

Short Rides and Boot Problems

Lots of little rides lately. Trying to get into a routine I can hold when school starts, and not doing badly so far. Unfortunately Riv's Bestest Buddy is up at the barn for a while (hopefully he's not leaving!) and so my own dear Beastie is very anxious to get back to the barn. Overall he is being good though.

Yesterday he was feisty and wanting to trot-trot-trot (well canter would have been ideal, but mean mom said no), but none of the hills and fields we usually work on have been mowed recently, so we trotted round and round and round and round the outside of the outdoor arena till he was tired of it. Had the additional benefit of going past the Monster Hideout (brushy scary area beside the arena) many times, so hopefully he will be less spooky of that now. We'll see.

Today was a much more productive ride. We went to another smaller grassy area beside the covered arena and worked on spirals in and out at trot, and a little bit on transitions within trot. Of course we don't have a proper extended or collected trot yet, so pretty much it was just working on speeding up or slowing down when I asked. He was very good, though he leaned on my hands a bit. I am thinking the leaning is his way of trying to avoid working, since it only comes out when I ask him to actually do something. Ha. But besides that he was very good and listening well most of the time. Yay boy!

I am trying to get him fitted for boots, so we can hit more technical trails without running so much of a risk of bruising his feet. Yesterday our EasyBoot Glove fit kit came and so today I duly tried them on. Only to find that they were way too narrow, all of them. What?!?! Well I came home and discovered I had ordered the regular fit kit instead of the wide. Grrrrr...oh well. So now the wide is ordered, the regular is going in the mail tomorrow, and hopefully one of them will fit!

New Leaf

The bestest ears

So I have written and rewritten this post maybe half a dozen times and the long and short of it is this:

Nobody wants to hear me try to explain my brain, and

I already know what I'm thinking, so...

Riv and I are officially turning over a new leaf, and going full-time into (competitive) trail and (not-so-competitive) dressage. With maybe a little up-to-25-mile LD endurance stuff thrown in if we can find a friend who does that.

Because:

• We knew from the beginning Riv has some arthritic changes. Why push it?
• I'm somewhat more aware of the importance of living staying mostly in one piece being safe and so jumping is not so much a Big Thing, though I still enjoy it and we will practice little stuff.
• Eventing is just not going to be our thing, for a lot of reasons, and that is the main reason I started and continued jumping, so why go there if we're not going there?
• COLORS. I CAN BUY BRIGHT COLORED STUFF AHHHHHH!!!
• Lower stress (for me anyway it's lower stress)
• Not-boring for our ADD selves ;)
• Riv loves trails.
• I love trails. Whether on horseback or on foot, or any other way.
• Dressage is good for us.
• Did I mention we love trails? And exploring new places? YES.

And anyway, why not?!

Especially when your grandparents have offered to buy you a new saddle (!!!!) for a graduation present! Which is good because current one feels like I'm going to be permanently maimed after an hour's ride (I didn't ride for a week after our 6-mile ride!).

Any suggestions in that area?

Proud

You know what makes a girl (this girl, anyway) very, very happy and very, very proud?

This. [can't insert the picture because they won't let me!]

And this.

Long-time readers, recognize that face?

Yep, that's my Rhapsody girl! (Click here for all the stories...)

(And yes, I have been sleuthing the interwebs ever since I left that barn to try and figure out what became of her...)

Going off the bright new halter and the girl-riding-who-I-never-met, I'm guessing that's her new owner.

I'm going to go with that anyway.

Because if any of my ponies can sell on to a teenage girl who needs a friend and if they will let her play around in a halter bareback, then I'm very, very happy and proud!

The Ride! (At last!)

[We're going to pretend this isn't three weeks after the fact...]

Don't know where the pro pictures are, but my friend put hers on Facebook so I stole them (with permission) and here you are! The long-awaited ACTHA run-down! It is also super long so cheers to you if you read the whole thing!

Briefing started at 9 so I got there at 8:30 to sign in and get my number. There were a ton of trailers; I really think we had more people from off-site come than folks from the barn! It was impressive! I walked up, got my number, chatted with folks, ran back to the car (planning to pull River into a stall) and promptly discovered both barns were full of off-site horses. Well then. At least his pasture was close. So I went up for pre-ride briefing!

That went uneventfully and in the process my friend S (who used to board with us at the old barn, and moved to our current barn shortly after we did) showed up! So now we had riding buddies I (and River) knew! We ran back down to the barn afterward. S, since her parents came along to "crew" for her, already had a tacked-up and groomed horse; I ran out, caught River, and brought him in with 15 minutes to groom and tack up and be up at the start point. Eeeks. But he was clean, so it didn't take long, and soon we were on our way up to the XC field, where we were starting!

S on the paint, me on the ginormous bay creature (as always ;)

I found S and her parents (who took all these pictures, btw; they're pretty awesome!) at the XC field and then we stood around and tried to figure out where to leave from and who else we were riding with (we left in groups of about 5). River was astonishingly gentlemanly all through this; his field was totally different with dozens of trucks and trailers, new horses, people all over the place--and to top it off I was asking him to stand semi-still! Really he was a gem. He got ancy at times and we would walk around in little loops and figure-eights and then he'd stand quietly and watch the world. Such a good boy!

We are the best at looking awkward...but look how quiet!

Finally a couple other folks came up and we wandered around together looking for where to start. I must add here that the rest of the trail was very well-marked; it was just the start point that was difficult! Anyway finally we found it and were ready to go! We stood and chatted and got to know each other a little. The other two people riding with S and I were a husband-and-wife team and they both had Rocky Mountain horses! (Saiph, I thought of you! Those horses were gorgeous, and so well-mannered!) Super nice folks and nice horses. We really had good riding buddies.

Me on far left, then S and Chico, then our two other riding buddies

Finally they put up the "start" sign (which apparently had blown off) and let us go, and River and I took the lead heading out since we were the only ones who'd been that way before! He wasn't too sure about that at first, but settled in fairly soon.

We wound out through the woods, through a pretty tight brushy trail, and into a big partly-overgrown meadow on the neighbor's property. None of us had been out here before and River was a bit nervous, so part way out our friends took the lead. They apologized in advance in case their horses were too fast...

But not to worry! River proved he can keep up with any gaited horse! (Goose. I always knew he walked fast, but really?!)

We circled the whole new field and came back onto our property. Then we went up the hill and came to our first obstacle!

I should clarify first that ACTHA (American Competitive Trail Horse Association) rides are six miles long, with at least six timed obstacles. Both you and the horse start with 10 points at each obstacle (for a possible total of 20 points per obstacle) and then points are deducted if you don't meet the predetermined criteria. Ideally, of course, you keep your 20 points, and gain more if you do really well! I really like this system because even a green horse can do well if he/she has a good rider, and a green rider can do well with a good horse, since you and the horse are judged separately. In addition, you have a trot-out at the end to check lameness and general attitude (not a full vetting, but still).

Anyway our first obstacle was a sort of "keyhole" obstacle where we went off-trail and maneuvered around a circular set of logs in the woods, keeping the logs on our right side and avoiding little holes and whatnot that had been pre-marked. I'm really not sure what "official" obstacle it was based on, haha, but it was a fun and easy starter obstacle. River did fantastic as always (fortunately he is used to me asking him to do stupid things like wander off trail) and we got both 10's. :)

Cute Monster to break up huge text block!

We went on and wound our way across the mountain. River was completely barefoot for this expedition--a move I wasn't 100% sure of the wisdom of, but since I hadn't had a chance to buy him boots beforehand, I really didn't have a choice. Surprisingly, his feet did really well. The only time he struggled was when we were crossing creeks (more on that later) and he couldn't see the gravelly/shale bottom. Otherwise, he picked his footing carefully and had very few stumbles and "ouchy" moments. I still plan on getting him front boots, but overall I was greatly impressed with his progress.

There was one super-steep and slippery stretch where I dismounted and led him. I was glad I did because he was sliding pretty badly and I wouldn't have felt safe on top. As it was he was very decent and careful about it and we made it to the bottom just fine. He learned to tuck his feet under and did a pretty good trail-horse impersonation though! I was super proud of him on this event because not once did he rush downhill on the forehand! He always tried hard to tuck his haunches, get his hind legs under him, and balance himself! GOOD BOY!!

After our first loop across the mountain we reached our second obstacle!  This one was a drag obstacle of a big pipe we had to drag from one jump standard to another. It was also the one I was most uncertain of because we have never dragged anything, ever. I figured it would be good if I just stayed on. ;)

The first rider in our group (wife of the Rocky Mountain Horse couple) did fine. Her horse was really amazing, as was she--you could tell they'd practiced a lot and had a wonderful connection! Really a beautiful pair. The second Rocky Mountain though, was quite unsure from the beginning--she wasn't sure about the pipe, wasn't sure about the jump standard--he managed to get her up to it and to start dragging the pipe, but then she glanced sideways and saw the pipe FOLLOWING her and that was the end of that! ;)

S and Chico had a similar go of it and then it was my turn. River had been very restless so we'd been doing loops in the field waiting. He went straight up to the jump standard and stood for me to get the rope. I started to drag it one-handed but then realized, (a) it was way heavier than it looked; and (b) Riv has to have that direct rein. He does not neck-rein at all. So I had to put my drag hand on the reins. He flinched just a little when that caused the rope to brush his hindquarters, but I talked him through and he kept going straight to the next jump standard, and stood for me to hook up the rope!

 SO SO SO PROUD!!!!!! I praised him up and down and told him he was THE MOST WONDERFUL horse in the world!! (because, isn't he?!) And as a bonus we got 20+ points for that obstacle. :)

Another totally random picture of The Most Wonderful Horse

Then we went back across the mountain. This was the lower part of the mountain, though (one of these days I need to get more pics of the mountain trails!), so it was much less rocky and easier riding. Part way across we had a sidepass obstacle. We had to ride up, pick up a basket of "eggs" from a barrel, and sidepass across a pole to put them on another barrel. Yeah. No. Riv does not sidepass. At all. So we got the eggs, tried to get a step or two sideways (he tried hard!) and then just rode to the other barrel and put them down. :) Four points for that obstacle! You get four points if you enter and exit through the appropriate cones and at least try, so we tried. :)

Then we stopped because S's horse had lost a boot so she had to put it back on. That accomplished, she tried to get back on, but her (rather roundish, hehe) horse had a slippery saddle that almost came all the way off. So after much fussing with that (and another group catching up!) I dismounted and helped fix her saddle with a tighter cinch, and then got back on (from the ground, which is impressive when you're just over 5 foot and your horse is 16hh) and we continued. One of our friends' horse had gotten a huge rock stuck in her shoe anyway, so the break was good.

We kept going and came down and across the far pastures toward our next obstacle--the dreaded COWS!

Fortunately Riv has been around the cows quite a lot but for some reason these were still a bit spooky. Perhaps it was because they were in a panel that jutted out from the main fence. Perhaps it was the roping dummy-cow that was next to the fence. I don't know. Anyway we waited and went last...

Forgive my obvious distraction--he was being very restless!
Also. My stirrups are too short. No wonder my knees hurt!

He wasn't very sure but after stopping a couple times and getting scratched and encouraged, he marched right by and was very brave!

Eighteen points for us there! We took the lead again heading down to the first (un-judged) creek crossing. It was actually pretty deep--close to his belly if not up to it--and moving a little swiftly. Not dangerous, but not an easy crossing. We tried to lead across the water but Riv was having no part of that! He made a good try and then S and Chico led us across--with a lead, he went quite cheerfully and seemed to "get" what water crossing meant. :) We went across the lesson horse pasture and across the road (no problems there) and into the pastures across the street. By now I could tell he was getting a little tired, but he still marched along cheerfully and I took every opportunity to let him munch a little or drink. He still refuses to drink on-trail, but he nibbled on grass quite frequently, so that at least was good.

We did the second creek crossing just fine, but with a little stumble in the middle that splashed the photographer! Oops! Haha! Seventeen points for that--not quite sure of why the lower marks but oh well. I was proud of him seeing as it was only his second creek crossing and this time through he really "attacked" the water! He saw it and wanted at it! Good boy! :)

Up and through a bunch of fields, munching on the tall grass, under the telephone wires we went. Nice footing and hilly but not too steep riding. We were making good time, putting some space between us and the people behind us, and also keeping an eye on the clouds as it was starting to look like rain. We came down to our last obstacle--a jump. A hay-bale jump, to be precise. Which means, a jump with width. I've trotted River over little X's without any big deal, but never over anything with width!

We took it second to last and it was a mess. Ha! But we went over! He trotted up, tried to slip out to the left, and I corrected. So then he broke to a walk, which I was fine with--I expected him just to step over. Unfortunately he did not just step over--he LAUNCHED himself and besides having a little bit of a forward seat I was totally unprepared! So we were a disaster over that, haha, but we did go over and I was quite proud of his try and told him so. We only got 5 points on that and I felt it was a little mis-judged--he only got two points which he would've gotten for a run out as long as we exited through the cones. But oh well. It was amusing and nobody was hurt! :)

Then back across the road! After we convinced our friends that the big rock wasn't going to eat them. ;)

Riv is unconcerned by rocks. ;)

And home! And we placed 5th in our division which I say is extraordinarily Great! I have never been so proud of a pink ribbon! :D

We were invited to ride in another ACTHA event today but had to say no because Riv developed a bit of hoof cracks a couple weeks after the ride. Unrelated to the ride but still don't want to stress the footsies. But we definitely want to try again! With more practice, this time! :) I think we just may have found our niche!

Coming up: Things I would do differently next time!

We Are Hooked!

So yesterday River and I went to an ACTHA (American Competitive Trail Horse Association) Competitive Trail Challenge hosted by our barn!

...and this happened:

5th in our division in our first "real-life horse" competition ever (for both of us individually and together), with no coaching and not much exposure to the obstacles ever! I am SO PROUD of my boy!

...and I think I'm hooked! And Riv came cheerfully up to meet me in the pasture today, so he must not think it's too bad either. ;)

More details coming! I'm hoping for pictures from my friend's parents and from the ride photographer before too long. :)

Update in Bullet Points

• I have the best trimmer. Just sayin'. Wish he lived closer so he could do Riv's feet all the time! 

• Summertime barefoot on grass pastures is ROUGH. Especially when you have a mildly sugar-sensitive Beast.

But it's pretty!

• Summertime throwing shoes because of the mud is rougher. (Therefore why my horse is still barefoot.)

• It's SO. hot. Ugh. However, the pony doesn't mind, so I guess I just have to jump in and ride.

• Riv understands transitions now! At least the general concept...now to refine...

• Feeling the need of a lesson at last. I'm quite sure I've gained at least 10,000 bad habits over the last year.

Pretty sure he's fatter yet now...

• Competitive trail ride or no competitive trail ride? Guess it depends on whether I'm going to Missouri for two weeks to be a substitute horse director for a summer camp there... (eeeekks!)

• Field rides/trot sets are the bestest ever. At least according to River.

• Someday I will get my horse a UV fly sheet so his lovely summer coat stays lovely and stops bleaching. Someday when I don't have at least four $150-$200 things I need to buy much more for him...

• Still trying to find a schedule as far as riding that we can stick to. Another reason for a lesson...

Happy One Year! (& photo dump)

One year ago today, I drove down to Georgia to pick up a certain big bay gelding! Happy Anniversary River! 

We've come a long way, and we have a long way yet to go, but it's been a wild and crazy and wonderful ride...I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story. :)

He led (or didn't lead) like he needed a stud chain!

Distracted distracted distracted

So stiff and ouchy

Started coming to me in the pasture

Loves his trail rides :)

His ground manners are perfect now!

Just because he's adorable

Long way to go, but better!

He even gives pony rides to grandmas :)

And very-stiff-and-nervous younger brothers ;) 

I don't have pictures, but when he gets in the mood he's also a huge snuggle buddy. :) Where from here? Who knows! But we're going to have fun no matter where or what it is! 

Can You Help?

We just got a message from our lovely barn manager. You can read it here.

The gist of it is that the property owners have received an offer to develop the farm into a subdivision. Though they do not want to sell, they need to if they're ever going to be able to retire. Our barn manager and her husband (she's the daughter of the owners) are trying to raise the money to counteroffer and buy the farm themselves. They are proposing creating a "a non-profit that serves the community and beyond as a place of healing and rejuvenation for mind, body, and spirit." Besides horses, it would possibly involve equine and non-equine therapy programs, cabins, and a larger CSA operation.

This has been the most wonderful place for River and I to be, and we would be SO sad to have it go! Though we've been invited back to our previous barn with no strings attached, it would not be the same. Do you know of anyone (or might you be someone) who could help out?  Contact Tara at 423-488-3993 or tara@hiddenhillsfarm.com if you can!

Still Here, Official Hiatus

So I discover that if I'm not riding, I have time for blogging. If I'm riding, no blog time! ;)

We are still alive and River is making great progress. He has figured out his stretchy trot (love it when that happens) and figuring that out has seemed to make a big difference with his trot/walk transitions--they're much much better now! One of these days perhaps we'll even get a walk/halt transition, who knows?!

He's also putting on some weight, which is very exciting! On Friday they go out to the "real" grass pastures, so hopefully that goes well.

However, since I'd rather be riding than sitting here typing on the computer, I'm taking an official blog hiatus for a while. I'll still be posting now and again but not holding myself to any notions of posting regularly. Hopefully we'll come back with even more progress to report! Happy Spring!

Back At It

Well since the dear Beastie broke my reins last time we rode, and my local stores don't have any English anything, we were stuck waiting and doing groundwork (he learned to walk over the bridge this week, good boy!) till the ones I ordered could get here. They finally did today! Yay! So we had a quick ride.

He was very very good actually, super stretchy stretchy even at the trot--which he's never done before. Good boy! Now hopefully he doesn't get "stuck" down there because he still doesn't really understand how to pick himself up, so while long and low is definitely a good stretch exercise for him, I don't want to spend the whole riding time just doing that. Nevertheless he was super good and transitioning up and down with barely a thought and a half-halt from my seat, so we cut it short and gave him lots of pets and goodies and his grain.

It probably helped that I felt like I was actually riding somewhat effectively for once--I'm always better after a break it seems!

I also ordered a new helmet and I'm super happy with it so far, so one of these days I'll do a review. :) Good weekend all!

Face-plant!

Friday we were going to have a nice bareback trail ride and try out our new bareback pad, that I got over Christmas and haven't tried out since. I even figured out how to attach the camera to the pad, and took some nice pretty ear pictures to show you, like this:

and this...

...and this! Can you tell I was having fun with ear pictures?? ;)

Pony has crazy mane.

He was being pretty feisty and full of himself, but not too bad, so we kept on into the woods. Then I had to get off in the woods to adjust the bareback pad (which will need some serious renovations before it's really usable, it slips awfully. Not impressed so far), and get back on. Getting back on a 16+ hh dinosaur when you're only 5'3 on a good day is not fun. I vaulted up on my stomach, got half over--and he started moving off. Except then he decided he didn't like this awkward weight on his back and started trotting...then he started cantering...then I decided that despite my distaste for bailing, I was going to come off sooner or later and I'd better get off before he started bucking or tripped or was otherwise stupid. So I bailed. :( And face-planted into the dirt, haha it was not the most graceful dismount!

Then my dearly helpful horse decided he'd had enough of me and marched off down the trail on his own. I got up (after making sure I was all in one piece) and followed but he broke into a trot and disappeared. So I had a nice walk through the woods practicing my tracking skills till I finally got down to his pasture and met the volunteer kids getting ready to feed--they saw him over by his buddies' fence before I did, and caught him for me, while kindly making sure I was okay.

Update as of yesterday's lunge is that the pony is much sounder than the person, haha. He is perfectly fine, while I am sore from my torso all the way down my right leg. We would ride today anyway except that he broke my only pair of reins, so I'm stuck unless I want to go all ghetto and get some rope reins from TSC to use while my order from Smartpak or Dover comes through (which I might just do, we are not against being ghetto over here, haha)!

Because I really still want to get some canter video!!

All in all, a good reminder not to do stupid things even when it is my horse. I get lazy and this is what happens. Now the pony is going to get boot camp when it comes to mounting, and maybe we'll have a lesson to help instill the stop button. He has a perfectly fine gas pedal (sometimes too fine), it's the brakes we struggle with!

Can-TER!

So Thursday we cantered in the arena, on purpose and for a reasonable time, for the first time!

River was feeling good and I had set myself a goal to canter in the arena before spring break was out, so I asked for it and he happily (and reasonably smoothly) popped up into his amazing "third gear."

No seriously, it is probably the most amazing canter I've ever ridden. He has a massive stride and it's just unreal. I just want to ride it again and again and again! The one small detail is that I'm apparently unable to sit it to save my life; I have to two-point or half-seat. Haha! I'm hoping to get some video on Sunday so I can figure out exactly why (maybe also a lesson soon); all I can say right now is that I'm apparently totally out of sync with whatever's going on in his hind end because it just springs me right up out of the saddle. Ha. Hopefully we'll figure out why fairly soon! In the meantime, two-point it is.

We didn't do a lot at a time; I let him tell me when he wanted to transition down and we did. Very nice ride though and I can't wait to feel it again! It's addictive! ;)

Stay tuned for what happened today! Hint: It involves getting up close and personal with some good old Southern red clay dirt...but no one's hurt!

Wearing Myself Out

I rode, now I am exhausted. Haha. It's what happens when you actually try to ride properly!

I'm feeling like I'm making some progress though, I'm really trying to start from the ground up and get good habits to start with. Working on my more dressage-type seat since it's a bit more effective (for me) and keeps me more balanced in case of pony shenanigans. Plus River deals with being on the forehand enough already, he doesn't need my perchy hunter-seat up over his withers yet. Today he had a pretty good trip and I hardly got unbalanced at all, so that made me feel good. I really need to "hold his hand" all the time or he can't figure out where to put himself under saddle.

We rode quite a lot, he was very good even though the horses just next door were galloping around like mad and the BO's little girl was jumping back and forth in the aisle making squealy noises and there was an accident up the road and we could hear all the sirens going up there. Very looky but good, really no spooks at all. I was proud of him! We had some very nice trot-walk transitions too actually, he was listening to my half-halts off my seat and not running into my hands.

Finished off with a nice trail ride/hill work up to the top of the big huge "gallop hill" and back. Gotta get that hind end of his muscled up!