MIA

Yep, that's been me...may still be me for a whiles. Just not much going on. 'Course it doesn't help that I'm ridiculously unmotivated to ride when I've been teaching all day. Got to come up with a way to fix that...someday, someday!

The River has been fat and sassy this winter until he pulled something in the horrific mudpit pasture last week and blew up his right hind fetlock like a grapefruit. I think it's because he heard me say something about possibly being motivated to ride again. All The Tortures later, it's looking and feeling better, but far from 100% yet. I'm hoping to get his feet trimmed at least a bit today anyways because they really can't stand to be pushed off another week, so we will see how patient our dear trimmer can be. Poor thing, Riv already rather tries her patience I think. Mr. Fidget is not always the epitome of "good for the farrier"--at least he's not mean about it?

Anyway so the injury means no hunter pace to open up the spring in two weeks (boo) and iffy on our next ACTHA ride, which we had scheduled for the end of April. We'll just have to see how the leg heals. I don't want to take him on the trails till he's well rehabbed, just because there's such a chance of tweaking something again if he's not 100% back...we'll see.

Oh and I have a job now, so we know where we're moving! Northeast TN, maybe 45 minutes to an hour outside of Knoxville. Not very far from where we are now, so that will be super convenient as far as the move's concerned. So far, finding a place for Riv reasonably nearby is being the most challenging part, but we have till late June to find it, so I'm not too worried.

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. :)

Food, Nom Nom

Drizzly gray day and what is better to talk about than FOOD?!

Horse food that is.

Riv has been eating basically the same thing every day for almost a year now:

• About 20 pounds of locally grown hay (sometimes better quality, sometimes not so great, but usually not too bad)
• About 3 pounds Tribute Calm-N-EZ (low non-structural carbs, high fat, no corn, no molasses)
• Anywhere from a cup and a half to half a cup (depending on the time of year) stabilized rice bran
• Anywhere from half a scoop to a scoop and a half (again, depending on time of year) beet pulp, soaked up in warm water of course.

With adapting the rice bran/beet pulp depending on what he needed (less in the summer, more in the winter), he's been gaining and then keeping weight quite well and I have been very, very pleased. This is a horse that was on 5 pounds of high-cal sweet feed twice a day when I got him (in very light work), so we've come a long way!

We found a new trimmer recently and so far I'm quite happy with her work, though of course we'll have to see how it goes long-term. Anyhow we were discussing food. She recommended switching his supplemental forage from beet pulp to some kind of an alfalfa mix, saying that she had seen repeated issues with beet pulp making shelly, chippy bare feet.

I've never heard of such a thing. She thinks it's that all U.S. beet pulp is genetically modified--I would lean toward the idea that it would be because all beet pulp has a fair amount of sugar, even if it doesn't have molasses added--but either way I am curious. I know SO many people who feed beet pulp quite successfully and obviously it hasn't been a terrible thing for us, but alfalfa blend would have less sugar and overall higher calories.

Any thoughts? I am leery of changing feed in late November, but I am curious!

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. :)

In Which We Try Out Suggestions

Yesterday I wasn't sure whether I was going to ride or not, but turns out I was, so yay. This week is midterms but I had already fried my brain studying so didn't feel bad about taking the evening off. ;)

Brought him in and tacked up, chatted with a girl I hadn't met before and her sweet 20-year-old horse, then went in the covered since it was getting dusky. Dropped my stirrups and spent about 15 minutes just at the walk, warming up. Still sore from my tiny bit of trot no-stirrups on Sunday, so wasn't doing that yet! Lots of leg yields, which he picked up on super fast as long as I also opened my outside hip to give him somewhere to go, haha. He still doesn't get the idea 100% but it was very passable. We started off just yielding back to the rail from a couple feet off, then gradually increased the distance; eventually we were even able to leg yield toward the quarter line from the rail! Yay us! Haha. Also someone had set up a mini-circle-of-death ground pole exercise so we walked over that, did lots of circles and figure 8's. Then we moved up to the trot. I didn't ask for a lot, kept a loose rein, let him cruise and try to find his balance while I worked on mine. Trotted about 5 minutes in each direction, with a long walk break in between. Halted and asked for a turn on the forehand in the scary corner, he did good for not really understanding it under saddle yet. After our second trot I half-halted hard and what do you know, he came right down into walk in 2-3 strides! GOOD BOY!! Walked out a bit, half-halted hard again and just barely picked up the reins, and (with a bit of repetition) he actually stopped!

Big pats and praises, took him in for his grain. Blankets tonight--it's chilly a couple days now. Popping back up into the above-freezing-nights zone on Friday, though.

Maybe ride today, not sure, I'll be in schools all day and usually come back exhausted from that, then I have a ton of tests to grade and my fall semester schedule to plan, so we might have today be our lunge day. Friday he gets his shots and check-up, so no ride then. :)

Obligatory Weekly Post, and Question

Lol, my posting schedule has gone to nothing. Exhausted, good grief. And camera still dead, have been running around like a crazy person and haven't stuffed batteries in it. So boring post, no pictures.

Rode three times this last week, plus today, which is something of a world record I think, especially given how crazy my schedule was. River is really doing well all things considered. It's been so very very nice (60s and 70s! The grass is trying to grow!!), and we're still half-heartedly planning on the hunter pace at the end of March, so we've been spending quite a bit of time cooling out on the trails/fields, and Friday we went for quite a long trail ride all by ourselves, exploring. His tripping on the trail is all but gone, as long as I don't let him literally drag his nose in the dirt, and he's getting the hang of picking the easiest way around obstacles. Such a good boy!

Arena work is so-so, some days really good and some days not so good. I am really struggling with working on getting him off the forehand and using himself. Have talked to Coach and she recommended transitions and backing--well, we can do trot-walk transitions pretty well (most of the time), but walk-halt are very very iffy unless I run him into a wall, and backing is nonexistent at the moment. I'm not pushing it because practicing anything slower than trot-walk makes him worse; he gets even heavier and tries to grab the bit. It's okay to do once or twice in a session, but otherwise not. Any other suggestions? I'm planning on making/getting him a Pessoa-type system to lunge in as soon as I get the time, not sure whether it will help this problem but can't hurt. Also looking around for a chiro in the area to see if that would help, see if he has any pain that would be making it worse. . . In the meantime happy for ideas. :)

He has also learned how to drink from the hose, it's hilarious! :D

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!

In Which We Have Valentines' Day and Yada Yada

I have no pony pictures, because my camera battery died on Thursday taking pictures of this:

My house. Almost 10" of snow!!

It was gorgeous! I took way too many pictures. ;)

Magical.

River got a peppermint on Friday for Valentines', of course he is my Valentine for sure. :) Besides that not much been going on. He had almost all last week off and I am not doing that again unless we have to--he is going stir crazy! He still tries to be good, he's not at all dangerous, but the difference between River-in-regular-work and River-on-vacation is definitely THERE. And I think I prefer the exercised version of my pony. He gets spooky instead of hot, and that drives me crazy.

So we are starting back to work tomorrow. Not anything strenuous, of course--just continuing to build his endurance level slowly but surely, and continuing to work on baby stuff. I am hoping to post more (my posting record this month has been terrible!) but we'll see!

Oh and Hillary is having an awesome giveaway! Go check it out!

Back in the Saddle

...and no time for blogging!

They don't joke about this intensive practicum semester being hard for nothing--so much reading, so many lesson plans, and field experience is deadly to my sanity! Haha!

Really it's going good, last week was rough but those happen. I'm riding though! Only a couple times last week but comparatively that is fantastic! And we started out with another good ride today too!

River has been great, we are mostly doing walk/trot although I do lunge him at the canter in the round pen. Our covered arena (the only arena with good footing at the moment) is a bit small, plenty big enough to canter if your horse is well balanced--but the River man is not. He's getting better, but not there yet!

His transitions are coming along; if I am very careful to be fluid and flexible and move with him all the time, he has nice (albeit a bit slow) downward transitions. If (like today) I'm thinking of other things, he doesn't get the seat cues and then he leans on my hands awfully. It lets me know how I'm doing, for sure! Today we did more straight trot work to figure out where his "tired point" is, but Friday we worked on walk/trot transitions every time we circled the arena and he was really good. Letting a lap or two go by before I asked for a transition again seemed to let him be okay with practicing without drilling. We also did some hill work today out in the big hilly field and he was good, if a bit "up."

I was gushing about his marvelousness to Coach today and she decided she wanted one like him. ;) Well perhaps I'm a little biased, but I've got to say I adore this horse like nothing else! He is so good and tries so hard, it is really amazing.

And if you have finished this random epistle so far, I have news! Our first event is scheduled for March 30! We will be doing the walk/trot division of our farm's hunter pace. :) Maybe with Coach! I'm excited! :D

Who Needs a Superbowl When You Have an OTTB?

River in the snow we had last week!

I don't know if I mentioned this before, but while River is very good on the ground, and mannerly under saddle (i.e., he doesn't tend to bolt, buck, rear, or otherwise be totally obnoxious), he is VERY GREEN under saddle. He has three gaits (mostly) but that's about all. ;) I discovered that he's had groundwork but very little actual riding since he came off the track, which explains a lot. He doesn't understand lateral work very well, or that he has variations in speed and tempo within a gait, or that when I go into two-point it doesn't mean that he has to win a race, or even (usually) that he can truly back up under saddle. His downwards transitions are rough and often include a lot of circling when he gets his freight-train mindset on (he doesn't run off, he just keeps going!), and he doesn't understand bending, stretching, or using his body much under saddle at all.

I finally got my mind wrapped around the concept that nothing but time and miles is going to fix any of those issues! And some good lessons, of course, but Coach is in New York right now and anyway is not keen on tackling issues that I have tackled myself before (love her!). So now I am officially motivated to go ride the Beastie. I know, I know, it took long enough!

So today I went and rode. Much to River's chagrin, because I gave him some hay while I tacked up before the ride instead of grain (he'd been munching in the pasture, but I thought maybe it would keep him busy...it didn't). So by the time we got into the arena he was quite put out, tossing his head and being quite feisty. He spooked at the chickens, spooked at the gates, spooked at the barrels outside and spooked at I don't know what else. Fortunately his spooks are not frightening, lol. But with a lot of walking all over the place--big circles, little circles, half circles, straight lines, figure-eights, ground poles, etc.--he calmed down very nicely and we ended up doing some trot both ways in addition to all our walking. I focused on engaging my core, stretching up, breathing (always my nemesis when I'm trying to focus!), and pointing my body and energy the way I wanted to go, with very nice results, I'd say. We even had a couple half-decent halts. Afterward, he got his grain and was very calm and relaxed going out to his pasture. Score!

Now I'm more motivated than before. ;) Lunge tomorrow, rest Tuesday, and another ride Wednesday!

Snow!

It actually snowed!

It's been cold enough for snow this winter (plenty cold enough), but today was the first day we actually got any!

Out my window:

Shop, and our monstrous wood pile

You can tell we don't have a whole lot, maybe a little over an inch, but the roads are slick as anything and we live at the top of a massive hill, so I didn't get out to the barn. :( I think this is the first day I haven't been out to River since...before Christmas sometime? I don't remember. Somewhat traumatic but he should be fine. Supposed to get sunny and somewhat warmer tomorrow, so I should be out then!

A Picture and A Ride!

That handsome bay gentleman with the chompy mouth? Look familiar?

It's River! :D

SO excited!! I still can't find an actual racing picture, but this is good enough! :)

Just a heads up, if you want nice track photos of East Coast tracks, Nikki Sherman is the place to go to! I've found all my race photos on her site, for Rhapsody, Paradox, and now River! She also has some pictures of QH racing and harness racing in case you're into that kind of thing.

It was crazy warm today (got up to 60!) so of course I had to try to ride! He was great but started flipping his head part way through, so we just walked and trotted a tiny bit, and then lunged in the round pen at all three gaits. I suspect that his ear mites/ticks/whatever-creepy-crawlies are back. We treated him for them about a month ago, and in my crazy researching at the time I learned that mites can lay eggs that hatch in about a month, so we'll re-treat with the stuff the vet recommended tomorrow, and hopefully he'll be A-OK again.

Met another person at the barn, which was exciting! Lol, folks here are pretty mind-their-own-business kinds of people, which is fine with me, but it doesn't lead to a lot of friends made quickly. It doesn't help that when people ask "So what do you do?" my answer is pretty much, "Um, well, we walk...and trot...sometimes we canter--and regret it immediately, and don't do it again for a week..."

Haha. In touch with Coach about the canter--he has a lovely free-lunge canter, but under saddle he dives down and powers along on the forehand--and she suggested some round pen work to help him learn to carry himself properly without me on board first. So along with the hill work, integrating that.

Going to freeze ourselves solid again the first part of this week; I keep hoping that each single-digit low will be the last one! :-/

Defender 1680D High Neck Turnout Sheet Review

So back in the beginning of December River got a new blanket. It was Defender brand--a brand I'd never heard of--and thus I promised a review when I learned how they'd wear! So, I bring you:

Defender 1680D High Neck Turnout Sheet Review!

 

How it looked when I got it!

I chose this blanket because:

• It was cheap! I think I paid around $70-$80 dollars for it on State Line Tack! I didn't know how much abuse River would put into it and didn't want to buy an expensive blanket only to have him destroy it in a few weeks.
• It was one of only a few 1680-denier turnout sheets I could find. With a horse on 24/7 turnout, toughness is important!
• It has shoulder gussets and is nylon lined to help reduce rubbing
• Has all the other important things: clips to attach a hood if needed, belly straps, leg straps, removable tail flap, open front snap closure, and a fleece wither.
• I liked the idea of the higher neck to help keep River dry.
• The color contrast was nice ;)

So River's been wearing it most of the time (usually with a liner) for going on two months now, and this is what I think so far:

• Great: The material and seams are holding up GREAT. I wasn't sure what to expect for the price, but it doesn't have so much as a scratch, even with the transition between barns and the Mighty Evil Donkey at River's last barn.
• Good: It fits big, but isn't really a high-neck--more of what I've seen called a "Euro cut," with extra drop on the sides and a higher neck. I like this, but some people might not. I ordered down a size for River and am happy with the fit.
• Also Good: It's super waterproof! We'll have to see how it does with re-waterproofing, though...
• Bad: The snaps and hardware don't seem to be the best quality. I replaced the top front snap within a week. The other hardware is holding up so far, though. 

Overall: 4/5 stars
 
Overall I'm happy with this blanket--for the price, I really don't think it can be beaten. Depending on how it re-waterproofs, though, I might choose a different option for the midweight I hope to get him for next winter (these cold snaps have me a bit worried!). And if you don't like to replace snaps, you won't want it. But, if you're looking for a cheap blanket with good coverage and a tough exterior, you might want to look into this blanket!

How it looks now!

[Somewhat] Wordless Wednesday

Zzzzzz......

Well she's early today...

I guess I could be bothered to take a few steps...

FEEDZ MEEE NOOWW I WILL DIEEE

Chilly day (I want to move to Florida!), but he was toasty warm in the sun. Trail walk, because I left my saddle at home and didn't have the guts to jump on bareback. It barely touched freezing anyway, so we weren't going to do anything amazing. Nice relaxed afternoon.

Game Plan

So much lined up I don't know where to start, lol!

School is crazy this semester--we are heading into intensive practicum time so lots of reading and lots of field experience--but fortunately still pony time too!


River is having some issues with the new barn building itself. It's rather small compared to our old building (low ceilings, narrower aisles, and smaller stalls) and as he's a big horse, and rather claustrophobic, and prone to being a [big] fire-breathing dragon when he gets claustrophobic, that poses some problems. We had a Very Bad Night trying to feed him Monday evening, but nobody was physically hurt and now that's been temporarily resolved by feeding him outside--he can eat in the dark, and I can mostly groom him and switch blankets in the dark, so no biggy really. I plan to reintroduce the inside of the barn slowly and hopefully he'll learn to see it as a good place and be okay in there.


We have a game plan now, though! It goes somewhat as follows (my game plans are very flexible):

1. Hill work 2-3 days a week on the lunge or under saddle

Right outside the back gate to River's pasture!

You can't see it as well in this pic, but this is an awesome pasture for hill work--some gentle slopes and some steeper ones, plenty of room to adjust and play with. I noticed improvement in River's way of going and ability to do more balanced transitions even with the intermittent hill work we did at the old barn, so I hope that with regular work on the hills he'll get even better!

2. Ride Sunday-Wednesday-Friday at least. 

I would love to ride more, and maybe we will (we have an arena with lights now, after all!), but those three days are definites. Saturday and Tuesday are River's days off from formal exercise/riding, but we might go on a quick bareback trail ride or something on Saturday also, if it's a nice day and we're in the mood. We're not going to do anything fantastical yet, just work on rhythm and relaxation in our forward gait (probably start with trot), and my position. River is great at moving forward, but he doesn't "get" rhythm or relaxation and has had very little serious under-saddle work from what I've learned, so we need to start with baby stuff. :)

3. Stretches, Massage, & Foot Upkeep

Just continuing to try to keep him at the best he can be. :)

4. First schooling show this spring/summer?

Our new barn doesn't have their event schedule up yet, but I'm eagerly awaiting it to see what we might be able to go for. Planning to do some little flat classes and maybe a w/t hunter hack class for his first show experience, depending on what he's ready for. I'll have to see how his under-saddle work is coming before I can set any goals for end-of-year, but we'll see!


And for me:

1. Work out routine every other day--I have a good one I've figured out, just need to stick to it!
2. Stretch routine every day I don't work out
3. Walking/running/hiking would be great, just can't figure out where to put it in......

So that's our game plan as of now--hopefully it won't have to change drastically this year! 

Settling In

Long post, but lots of pictures!

River's continuing to settle in just fine. Yesterday went to feed him, he wouldn't get a drink, but brought him in and after a mild fit about the calves he settled to eating. Hope his shoulder guard gets here soon; the rubs aren't getting worse per say, but they are expanding despite my daily efforts to prevent it, and I don't want to have a hairless horse! :(

Then we went out and walked around and took some pictures: they aren't splendid but they get the idea across!

Inside the boarders' barn. River doesn't have a private stall but they are available if we need them.

From the door to the boarders' barn: looking toward the covered arena

Inside the covered!

Jump field (currently being grazed)

Other jump field and "track" outdoor arena

Stalls by the covered arena, and a chicken!

It was very cold and frosty!

River exploring the covered arena

River was very alert and nervous and had a bit of the fire-breathing-dragon side out, but listened well. We went in the covered arena (only place that didn't have frozen footing!) and did a bit of groundwork, since no one else was riding, just turns on the forehand and hindquarters, and backing up. That really helped him focus and relax, and I took him back out.

Today I went out to get him (he still comes when I call!) and was thrilled to find out that someone had given my horse all his brain back! He was completely calm and relaxed and his normal self again. I was impressed--only been three days!

I fed him outside and he was very good, despite kids screaming in the background, and a little friend who joined us...

Look closely--see anything unusual?

We had a chicken clean-up crew! River was not phased at all.

 He did inform me, however, that I need to start feeding him on a tarp:

Expressing his displeasure that there was some sand that had gotten in his food...

Looking down toward the barns from the back corner of his field

Looking into his field

 

Barns and arena from the back side

Normally I would say we'd be riding by the first part of the week, but it's supposed to get freezing cold (FOUR degrees by Monday night, not counting wind chill--we're all going to die! That's the coldest it's been in seven years down here!), so I don't plan on riding till Wednesday at least, unless I slip in a quick jaunt tomorrow.

We Moved!!

Yep, to start off the new year, we moved barns today!

Stolen from their website, which I would give you but I don't want random creepers stalking me...lol!

The new place has a small XC course, a covered arena with footing, two outside jump arenas, a grass dressage arena, a round pen, a little outside "track," miles of trails, and lots of hay! Plus it's only 3.5 miles from my house, and even closer to school! SO excited! I've been on the list for it since I got River in June; finally a spot opened up on the first of the year, and I was blessed enough to actually have the money to afford it!! :D

So I got over to our old barn early today to get River. It's really a mixed bag of emotions, because I will miss the people at our old barn so much. It was so small and friendly and you knew everybody. At the new barn there are probably 40-odd boarder horses, plus the lesson horses, so you're not going to be good friends with everyone. But I left on good terms with everyone at our old place, so that is a good feeling. :)

River spent a lot of time doing this as we were waiting for the trailer:

MOOOM I WANTZ TREATZ

Nomnomnom extra hay!!

He got on with just a tiny bit of coaxing, rode well, was reluctant to get off as it's a step-down trailer but did get off eventually. Was very nervous but very good! Turned him out and it seems his pasture buddies are a pretty relaxed bunch--so nice. Saw a couple half-hearted kicks but that was about all. :)

The most terrifying thing about the new place, as far as River is concerned, is the calves.

I don't care for most cows, but calves are cute!

The new place is more of a "farm" atmosphere in addition to a boarding barn, and they have maybe half a dozen calves, plus four smaller ones that live in two stalls in the barn--two of which, may I add, set up a terrific racket whenever they hear or see people. I'm pretty sure River's never seen any kind of cow and the calves freaked him out, lol. He saw them through his stall window and then couldn't do much but just stand and stare at them and be so tense he was practically shaking for minutes on end! Poor fellow.

Eventually he did calm down enough to turn his back on the horse-eating calves, eat his supper (with frequent glances over his shoulder to make sure those calves weren't going to get him), and then go out and hand-graze some--we met one of my old instructors and chatted with her, did a tiny bit of groundwork, ate grass (well River ate grass), and then I turned him back out to eat from his piles and piles of hay.

Told him that all horses should be used to cows (he hasn't even met the chickens yet!), and all the activity and unusual things here would be good for his brain. I'm not sure he agrees... ;)

So we'll be able to ride in almost all weather now, and we have plenty of jumps to play with when we choose to start that, as well as plenty of flatwork opportunities! I'm going to give River several days to settle in and then we'll hopefully start riding! In the meantime I'll see if I can get my own pictures to share with you all! :)

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... ;)