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. :)

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!

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. :)

River Says Hai

This is how a horse is supposed to be caught! ;)



Not much exciting going on at the moment. River Man came down a little lame on Friday so has been enjoying his time off. Seems to be getting better; I think it's perhaps a stone bruise or maybe a little abscess since it does seem to be in his foot. Though from the video (taken this afternoon) you'd never know it!



He will get probably the rest of the week till Friday off, and then we'll start some long slow trail rides and see how he does. At the moment it's hard to tell whether he looks lame"ish" in the round pen because he is lame, or because he's so unbalanced on the teeny-tiny 10-meter circles he insists on trotting (pony would be a pro at the "join-up" thing). We'll see.

2014: Year of the Horse!

I think it's pretty cool that River's and my first full calendar year together is the Chinese Year of the Horse! :)

from Pinterest

For this year's riding, I have one major goal:

 

Have riding be a low-pressure (generally) activity: make it about having fun and learning something, and giving River the best activities/rides I can

If that sounds like we won't be going to shows or really working on anything, have no fear: There are big changes in the works that should lead to us actually attending some events, taking semi-regular lessons, and improving our horsemanship greatly this year! (Stay tuned!)

Teaser pic! :)

But I don't do well under pressure, and therefore neither do my horses. River especially will get very stubborn and resistant if you put a lot of pressure on him and don't respect what he wants to do of a given moment. So my focus needs to be on having fun and learning, for both of us. And that's what it's gonna be! Horses aren't my job at this time, and they're too expensive and time-consuming for me not to (usually) enjoy myself and my Buddy. :)


Happy 2014, everybody! We'll be back tomorrow (hopefully) with (hopefully) exciting updates! :)

Those Goals

The other afternoon I went down to the local TSC (all we've got for feed store, but better than nothing right?!) to get River some thrush medicine--he had a very minor case going on and making him ouchy. It's much better now! Anyway, while buying many things I didn't initially intend to (oops, lol), I met some folks I used to ride with at the old barn. And that made me lonely for Coach, and for my old riding buddies; even if they weren't my level, they were someone to ride with. And that almost made me sad, so I came up with some goals instead to distract myself. Besides, it's getting toward winter and we need something to keep us going. Winter here is theoretically much easier than in Michigan, but really it sucks because nobody in my immediate area has nice indoor arenas, so you have to ride in the frigidness. Well, nobody has them except the really-expensive-barn-folks, which we are decidedly not.

Anyhow, without further ado, the goals:

Both of Us Goals:

• One or two lessons with Coach over Thanksgiving and/or Christmas breaks (depending on how River's goals go...)
• Dressage video lesson sometime this winter??
• Increase fitness
• Regular riding schedule

River Goals:

• School walk/halt/backing transitions till they're soft and easy(ish)
• Hill work, trot/canter sets, and general conditioning work
• School walk/trot transitions 
• Stretches and massage regularly--loosen up that back and hind end!

Me Goals:

• Finish out the 2-Point Challenge this month!
• No-Stirrup November next month?? (eeks...can't believe I'm actually thinking about that...)
• Figure out just how River likes his feet trimmed so they continue to improve
• Strength training and stretches/yoga--alternate days so I'm doing something 5-6 days a week

We'll see how all that goes, especially my fitness--it's one thing for me to work on getting my pony fit, quite another to commit to my own torture. Haha. And if I can really find the time, especially after the time change!

Always Learning

Had someone comment on my Facebook today saying I needed to get a school horse so their daughter could take lessons from me...aww. I feel the love! :)


Really though, I have this conundrum these days. I am at the point where I could give lessons to beginners--and when they got too close to my level for my comfort, I could happily hand them off to Coach!

But I really don't feel like I could or should, even if I had the horse to do it (River would be great for intermediate and up, but he's got too much "go" for beginners in my opinion). It doesn't matter that I've ridden for close to eight years regularly, ten off and on. It doesn't matter that I've ridden a great many of the problem ponies in the book, more or less successfully, English and Western, sale horses, school horses, and privately owned horses. And all this is not because I have yet to show or compete. I'm of the opinion that competitions only demonstrate a tiny part of what you might be.

It's because I still have so much to learn. SO much. I feel like I'm just scratching the tip of the iceberg that is horses, and I love it, but the thing is, I'll always have so much to learn! I love that, it's one of my favorite things about training (anything, but at the moment horses)--you never, ever quit learning, or at least you shouldn't. But it doesn't make me feel qualified to "teach" anything!

So I responded to the comment saying that said daughter should "come and meet" River anyways. ;) She could sit on him anyway...that's enough to get the Horse Bug going if it's in there! Which is always my goal for us humanoids! :) 

7 Habits

http://watapama.wordpress.com/2013/01/20/the-ten-habits-of-highly-effective-dressage-riders/

It says dressage riders, but I think it applies to everyone. Some thoughts for life in general, too. ;)

Help, It Was a Wonderful Day!

When the crazy, runaway horse that couldn't be caught by me, by Coach, or by anyone else...











...that wouldn't let me get close enough to even rub her on the shoulder with my hand, let alone a rope or halter...

...that gave me this face whenever I approached her (even with treats), tried to bite me, almost ran me over, and several times nearly kicked my face:

THIS HORSE sees me trekking the half-mile to her pasture, pricks up her ears, and when I call her name, starts walking through the mud (she hates the mud!) to come meet me at the gate, get her treats, and shove her nose in the halter!

You guys who own your own horses are lucky. I've always ridden lesson horses, or someone else's horse.  Most of them have been an awful lot better trained than Rhapsody. But I've never, ever, ever had a horse that did this for me.

Help me, I'm in love. With a goofy, skitzy, spooky, green-as-grass Arab mare that I really couldn't afford to take care of even if I were crazy enough to buy her. Help! :)

Inspiration on a Rainy Day

...is these girls!  If you're not following them on Facebook, you should be! They're pretty much awesome.  :)

Someday I'm going to quit teaching for a while just to do something like they're doing (only, of course, much lower-profile!).  Just because I want to more than almost anything else in the world.

Yes, this is what I do when it's sleety rain outside and has been raining non-stop the last week.  However, tomorrow it looks like this!

Guess who's going riding?!?!?!

Goals for Winter 2012-13

So everyone knows that wintertime is pretty much training time, unless you live in a super-horsey area where they have fun shows all through the winter.  And we don't live in such a place.  Well there is one barn that keeps saying they're going to have a winter schooling show series, but so far they've canceled it two months in a row.  That doesn't make us happy.  But...anyway. 

Wintertime is schooling time.  Therefore I am coming up with some goals for this winter's schooling, for myself and for the ponies.  Everybody says good goals are SMART--Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-centered--well I don't know as all of these are SMART, but for me to set any goals is pretty exciting!

For Mwah:

• School verticals to 2' or higher
• Work on oxers
• Strengthen my position and leg
• Transitioning in and out of two-point on the flat
• More stirrupless and bareback work, especially at trot and with just one stirrup

Fringe (mostly mounted work):

• Work bareback all three gaits
• Do trail rides at least a couple times a month
• Jump crossrails and verticals to 18" at trot and canter
• Work on getting her slightly quicker off the leg
• Desensitizing to crop

Rhapsody:
Groundwork:

• Get a breakaway catch halter on her  done!
• Catching work--catch, treats/petting/grooming, release
• Learn all 7 Parelli games
• Further desensitization

Mounted work:

• Walk/trot patterns
• Loose-rein work
• One-rein stop at walk
• Half-halts at walk/trot/canter
• Canter work on the rail

Brandi:
Groundwork:

• Learn all 7 Parelli games
• Stand nicely for mounting, both from block and from ground
• Cross-tie well and calmly
• Thorough desensitization program

Mounted work:

• Walk/trot patterns
• Loose-rein work
• One-rein stop at halt and walk
• Sustained canter on the rail

Should keep me busy enough I think.  Plus exercising my favorite Miss Lass whenever requested. :)  Does anybody else have goals for this winter's schooling?...or summer's schooling if you live in the southern half of the world?

Riding Again

Since we had some torrential rain Monday and Tuesday (especially Monday), went over yesterday to ride instead.  Then discovered that the farrier and the chiropractor had been out and therefore nearly all the rideable horses on the place were in some degree of rest for the next few days.  However since my latest riding buddy wasn't there, I rode her horse Tanner, and we worked on flatwork and a bit of ground poles since the grass was still slippery and Tanner had a scraped-up hock that was making him a little bit sore.  

The better part of the half hour we spent actually riding was transitions--trot-canter, jog-canter, and (we tried anyway) walk-canter.  I came awfully close to getting a walk-canter transition a couple of times, but not quite.  Then after the transition is always interesting since Tanner likes to throw his head around and jerk on the reins and speed up like a wild thing once he gets going!  Haha at least he doesn't buck or really run off...and when I could finally get my position and leg corrected, he did better. 

I've let my leg (and upper body) slide/tip forward lately and even sometimes start gripping with my knees and taking my calves off.  Bad me, bad bad.  I'm going to try a new saddle next time, the one I rode in yesterday is far from comfortable and squinches me everywhere I should be touching something.  Ha.  But really it is mostly my fault and I need to focus on fixing it soon before I start causing more problems for my horses. 

A quick ride and then we took care of Tanner's leg and turned him back out.  And I leave you with this picture until next time... I officially love this picture!  I think I need to blow it up big and stick it somewhere I'll see it every day!