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)!

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?

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!

Waiting

...on pictures, that is!

I am about ready to just give you all a very wordy run-down of the whole thing, with gratuitous cute Monster-in-the-Pasture pictures, before I forget it all!

Sigh...

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! 

Good Rides, New Things, Question

We haven't been riding as much as I'd like (do we ever?) but our rides have been great!

We've been out in the fields, trotting in the fields with no runaway nonsense, on trail rides, and in the arena. River's trot-walk transitions are doing much better and he's beginning to learn walk-halt properly (right now we do a lot of circling!). Canter is still a work in progress--his canter is sooo lovely but he doesn't have the strength to carry himself properly in it for very long, so we don't do a lot of it. He played lesson horse when my grandparents and brother came out to see him--and decided he doesn't like that at. all. ;) He was good though!

Sunday we put him over his first tiny baby crossrail under saddle! He's been over them in the round pen before, but not with me aboard. He was an absolute champ, very brave on the approach, trotted right up and over it, no big deal at all.

The grass sugar has been doing a bit of a number on his feet. :( They're not bad--he's fine in the arena or on softer surfaces--but he is a bit more ouchy than he was during the winter. I may need to get him boots for summertime; we'll see. However, he is gaining lots of weight and otherwise looking fantabulous, so I'm not complaining!

And, finally got a decent sweat mark on him and my saddle apparently bridges on the middle sides. It's not making him sore but still. :( Boo. I'm thinking a shimmed pad may be the way to go since he's still gaining weight and also since I don't have the money for a new saddle right now! Any suggestions? What have you used and like/don't like?

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!

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.

Crazy

Crazy crazy week! I rode a grand total of once this week, went out to see the Buddy every night though. His back seems a bit sore so perhaps it's just as well I didn't ride too much. I'm worried the saddle might be making him sore but it's not like he's being ridden a whole lot, so perhaps it's just that he's missing his massages or maybe he tweaked it in the pasture...guess we'll see.

Anyway, rundown of the Week in Horses, bullet-point form (more to come later, I hope!):

• Sunday: Went and did an eval visit on three new project babies (YAY Arab babies!) that I've taken on as a volunteer job
• Monday: Fed pony, not much else as I had an evening appointment. Sent off my Christmas wish list to whoever-wants-to-buy-me-stuff. :D
• Tuesday: Fed pony again, again not much else because of evening appointment.
• Wednesday: Lunged to try out a new riding spot, and rode in the arena. Discovered the footing in said arena is now nearly irreparably nasty. So much for that.
• Thursday: River and I had our film debut!...or something. Groundwork video project begins (more on that later). We discovered River is not the most photogenic beast when it comes to standing still for the video camera, haha. 
• Today: Fed, not much else--another evening appointment!

Did my two-point on Wednesday, obviously no other day though. Next week I definitely don't plan on having one supervisor in the hospital, interviews coming up in my other job, and two presentations--so it should be a bit calmer and hopefully more productive on the horse front!

Owies

So yesterday I went out and got River, brought him in. Thought about lungeing some, doing some groundwork. As I was bringing him in I noticed he seemed just a little bit--not 100%. He wasn't lame or anything, but it looked like he wasn't stretching out and marching along quite as he usually does.

In the barn, I shortly discovered what it was: A nice scrapy cut on the inside right hock. Ugh. It had swollen a bit but not badly, so I sprayed it with disinfectant stuff and gave him his yums and the day off.

Back out today, I thought I would ride a little bit, just walk, get my baseline for the October 2-Point Challenge. Umm, nope. Cut was looking okay, starting to scab over a bit, but the inside of the hock was still all swollen up like nobody's business and it obviously hurt, because he wouldn't let me touch it without kicking up. Sigh...cold hosed (much to his distaste) and went back and forth about leaving him in vs. turning him out, eventually turned out because I can't see it doing him any good to stay inside; the pasture's dry and Mr. Donkey the Troublemaker has an abscessed foot and is in a separate paddock.

Poor buddy. Will ice it tomorrow and see if it's looking any better; if not I might call and talk to the vet...if it's just a cut there's not much they can do as long as it's not infected, I just hope he didn't hurt some ligament or tendon in there...

First Bareback Ride...

Sunday evening. :) Went something like this...

Friend: Want to go trail riding with me?
Me: ARE YOU KIDDING ME I NEVER GET TO RIDE WITH ANYONE!!!  Yes.
Me: [takes River to barn] Now buddy we are going for a little ride before we eat.
River: Urhm, I don't think you asked me about this.
Me: Bridle, saddle pad...saddle? Um, ah, saddle? I don't know...want to ride bareback...don't have tights...jeans rub saddle...Bareback. With a saddle pad because your back is still all spiny!
River: Yes, I keep it that way so you don't ride on it--what are you doing?!
Me: Laying across your back to see if you're going to freak out. Now calm down.
River: WHAT are you doing.
Me: Bridle!
River: I'M A GIRAFFE!! Oh never mind.
[bridle goes on. We walk outside.]
Me: Now let's see if I can get onnnn [enter 5'3" me trying to scramble aboard 16 hh pony from a very short mounting block: reason 101 to train your horse to stand still for mounting...] There we go.
River: Um what is this?! Who are you?! What are we doing?? I-am-going-to-walk-very-fast-somewhere-surely-that-will-FIX IT!!
 Me: La la la you aren't too bad to ride bareback.
*Meets friend, who is walking*
Friend: So Chico has a stone bruise, won't be able to ride.
River: I TOLD you this was a bad idea!

We went for a little short ride anyway, up our conditioning hill. No pictures--sadness. But it was fun, and he was great!

Best Kind of Medicine

 .....as we all know, is pony medicine!

I suppose I probably shouldn't go on a rant here about how much I don't like school at the moment. Fall is finally here and I have been looking outside at things like this:

Through my window, it's sunny and blue sky!

But instead of going out and riding all day, my life has been 16 credits of class time, 15-16 hours of work, and 25 hours of field experience. Want to know what that looks like? This:

Books. Papers. No pony. Ugh.

 However fortunately my pony needs to eat! And even more fortunately I have a wonderfully supportive family that understands my immediate need to rush out to the barn when I get out of class/work/etc. every day around 5! So this week we have actually gotten two, count them, TWO rides in. Plus groundwork and lots of eating.

Sunday we went on a trail ride, all by our two selves. I tried to take a picture beforehand but this is what I got:

Whatz that mom, feeeed meeeee

Eventually he did stand still and look sufficiently decent, so here you have it, the OTTB: The Ultimate Crossover Vehicle!

We rock the mismatch trail horse/hunter pony look.

Except said "hunter pony" needs to be a wee bit fatter to really fit in in the hunter ring...however I'm personally quite happy with his weight and for the sake of his joints don't want him too fat!

Today we did hill trot sets! Not too many as the poor lad is quite out of shape (not even going to mention his rider), but we enjoyed ourselves and proved that until the sun starts going down really early, we can indeed still ride during the daylight. Woo! River is really a trooper about going out by himself--so proud of him. Rather proud of both of us at the moment, actually. ;)

Got an exciting (horsey) opportunity coming up on Sunday, so may or may not end up actually riding my buddy. Maybe we'll ride tomorrow, though; and you can be sure I'll be getting my River therapy every day, one way or the other!

Schedules

Hah, my schedule is I.n.s.a.n.e. And I had just got a lovely schedule figured out for River--school Friday, trail ride and/or break Saturday, school Sunday, lunge/groundwork Monday, break Tuesday, trail Wednesday, massage/break Thursday--and then my field experience (where we go out in classrooms and practice our teaching) got switched around and I have no free Friday afternoon now until 4 or 5, at least until early November. UGH. So I have to rethink the whole River-schedule thing. I think we'll go and ride in the dark sometimes :P

Thursday was massage day. River really got into it and I got some really good releases out of my work on his shoulder/neck/face area. He is learning how to stretch into the massage and get himself an even better release--really fun to watch. Smart little cookie. ;) The unfortunate thing was that I spent so much time on his front half that I didn't really get to spend a lot of time on that all-important back half. I will have to start giving him mini-massages on that neck/shoulder area more often--he had a lot of tight spots.

Friday I did homework so just worked on some sidepass/Sideways Game on the ground (he did really well for his first time ever, caught on quickly), and today it rained and the neighbors were shooting so I didn't really want to wander up by their place to get to the trails. :-/ So River just got his yums and turned back out. He is continuing to gain weight slowly but surely (!!!) and is really looking good. Shed out all his sunbleached hair and is looking super shiny and handsome. Even some faint dapples showing up! ;) Need to get some new pictures so we can compare!

Bye Bye Facebook

Hello horses!

I disabled my Facebook today.  Yeah yeah I know, who does THAT these days?! But I just have to have more time and I knew it was sucking out my time, so you do what you gotta do.

River had visitors today--a couple of friends. The wife is a vet tech/massage therapist and the husband a barefoot trimmer/saddle fitter. Because they are amazingly awesome they gave River a once-over for free!! :) So he has nicely trimmed footsies that I didn't have to trim (woo!) and I have more stretches and exercises to do for his hind end. The only downside was that I didn't have my saddle out because we had the back of the car filled up with a dog crate, so I didn't get a free saddle fitting. :( However I did get lots of tips. So all good!

This afternoon we went for our first solo trail ride! River was a trouper--probably would've been even better except that I decided to do some trotting and that hyped him up and he started spooking at things. Lol. So we just walked after that. His feet did really well...he's still a bit ouchy on the big 1" gravels, but the little stuff he's fine with. Our ride today was around the edges of the pastures on the grass, just in case his feet were a bit sore from his trim, but I didn't notice any difference. Yay!

We are going to be riding mostly solo from now on I guess--the Brother has school so that is that. I have my phone and my phone arm strap, so unless something truly awful happens I should be okay. Looking forward to riding more! :)

Groundwork and Allergies

River apparently has an allergy to his fly spray. :( I was using the Pyrhana stuff and noticed that his skin was starting to scab and peel randomly at his elbows. Tried putting MTG on it and no improvement. In fact it got worse and started spreading to his neck/chest area too. I looked it up and found that scabby, peeling skin (if it's not rain rot) is often a symptom of fly spray allergies. So I rinsed him off thoroughly and stopped the fly spray, and what do you know?! Two days later he is nearly 100% in the skin department.

The flies are still AWFUL though, so any suggestions on fly sprays for a moderately sensitive-skinned horse are welcome! I'd get him a sheet, but I'm pretty sure he would destroy it in the woods, and being in during the day isn't an option as I can only go out once a day. I know the spray doesn't work all day, but it helps me feel a bit better at least!

We've been doing groundwork only because of said awful flies and lack of fly spray--my idea of fun is not being on a horse that's getting bitten by a horsefly. But on the ground The Buddy is fantastic. :) He loves loves lungeing. Weird but true. I think he just likes moving forward, period! I need to get some poles and start lungeing him over poles and doing some more advanced/creative groundwork; he's definitely ready for it.