Not much to update. I gave him the day off today since it's raining and chilly and I felt more like making a quilt than driving in the rain. I LOVE LOVE LOVE having the CHOICE of whether or not I will ride on any given day. That is the most wonderful freedom of owning a horse. I can ride whenever and however I want. I don't have to ask anyone's permission. It's pretty sweet. And speaking of owning a horse, his PAPERS finally came back and I'm officially his owner! It says so right on his registration papers!
I did go out yesterday and lunge him. My back was/is still not so well so I opted for a lunging session instead of riding. I let him out in the turn-out first (sadly not much grass there, but he seemed to enjoy the sunshine) while I cleaned his stall. He's still scraping his left hock pretty bad. I can only assume it's on the stall floor. I've been trying to deepen his stall in the middle where it seems he lays down, but it doesn't seem to stick. That area isn't usually messy so I don't think the stall cleaner is taking too much bedding out of that area. I wonder if he digs there and moves the bedding around? I don't know what else it could be. I think about getting a stall matt sometimes, but the cost is pretty substantial and I just don't know if I can swing that. And I don't know if it's worth it for a skinned hock that doesn't seem to bother him. I keep putting ointment on it.
Anyway, back to the workout. He started out pretty fresh as always but when he quit that crap and started really working he was great! He's been responding extremely well to the verbal commands, especially TROT and CANTER. I had him going back and forth from trot to canter and back for a bit all the while he was in proper frame (in just a snaffle bridle, no side reins or anything) so I think our work under saddle is improving how he moves on the lunge, too. I think he needs to build some more strength at the canter so he has the power to go slower and his transitions under saddle to the lope can be really good or not good at all so working those without my dumb ass on top of him is better for him. He was "with me" so well that I cooled him out (he actually worked up a sweat in the 50 degree weather) by lunging him at the walk for a good while. That was really nice. He was relaxed and listening to me. Two other horses were being lunged at the same time and he was nice and relaxed even though the other two were bucking and tearing around. I spent years having the craziest horse in the ring (silly Arabs in shows full of kid-broke QH's) and it's really nice to now have the calmest one in the ring sometimes!
BTW - sometimes I feel like I write things that I've already written in other posts. I swear I'm not crazy, it's just that I free-write and I have excellent WPM so I can actually type almost as fast as I can think. So forgive me if I sound like a broken record, I really don't mean to! :)
Sadly my 5 day weekend is over and I have to go back to work tomorrow.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Dead Batteries, Murphy's Law, and Ouch
If you can't spend Thanksgiving with your family, spend it with your horse. I expected the barn to be a lonely place today on Thanksgiving, but there were a few fun people out. I discovered that the digital camera I got for Christmas last year does NOT have a video clip time limit like my last camera so tried an experiment today. It looked like I could do about 15 minutes. I set up the tripod in the corner of the stall so I could try to catch how I deal with him moving his butt into the corner and how naughty he has been with bridling lately. I did have to ask him to move over right after I turned the camera on, but when I got the saddle he moved to the corner. I had to put the saddle down and move him. When it was time for the bridle he (because my life is like Murphy's Law) dropped his head down and let me put it on without any fuss at all. Even held it still while I did the throat latch and straightened his forelock. It was a nice change.
Of course when I got home and uploaded the video to my computer I discovered that I only got about 5 minutes of film. I couldn't figure out why at first but then I tried the camera and it was blinking low battery so It must be that. It's the only thing I don't like about that camera is that it will not give you an indication of how much battery you have until it's almost gone.
Anyway. He was good. I lunged and then rode him. Most of his lope was really good, but he 's still requiring a lot of leg aids to stay upright. That's probably the most normal thing in the world, but because I spent so much time with the horse you couldn't touch with your legs I'm not used to even using those aids. I still think he's a bit of an eight-legged moose compared to every other horse I've ever ridden. I've never had a horse that would misstep as much as he does. Hopefully that will come with more and more hours in the saddle. He's gained some weight which I like. He wasn't necessarily underweight when I bought him, but because he's so TB his croup was pretty flat. It's filling out now. Even KAT noticed during our last lesson that he looks a little thicker. I've been keeping him blanketed so he's only fuzzy on his legs and his neck. It was about 50 degrees out so after I cooled him out I rode him out into the field. He's getting better at neck reining when he wants to be. I have less control of him one handed so if he doesn't just accept the cues I have to resort back to direct rein. I'm still in a snaffle with him, but KAT is going to introduce him to a shanked bit during his Christmas tune-up. When he seems to be amenable to the neck reining he does really well so I know he can do it.
So halfway through the ride my lower back started to hurt. I have a history with that so I'm not too worried about it but it got worse and now I'm in a fair amount of pain and am having some difficulty moving around, bending, etc. We'll see how it is, but I doubt I'll be able to ride tomorrow.
That video I took today isn't very interesting but now that I know I can take long clips with the camera I can start to record some riding to show you.
Of course when I got home and uploaded the video to my computer I discovered that I only got about 5 minutes of film. I couldn't figure out why at first but then I tried the camera and it was blinking low battery so It must be that. It's the only thing I don't like about that camera is that it will not give you an indication of how much battery you have until it's almost gone.
Anyway. He was good. I lunged and then rode him. Most of his lope was really good, but he 's still requiring a lot of leg aids to stay upright. That's probably the most normal thing in the world, but because I spent so much time with the horse you couldn't touch with your legs I'm not used to even using those aids. I still think he's a bit of an eight-legged moose compared to every other horse I've ever ridden. I've never had a horse that would misstep as much as he does. Hopefully that will come with more and more hours in the saddle. He's gained some weight which I like. He wasn't necessarily underweight when I bought him, but because he's so TB his croup was pretty flat. It's filling out now. Even KAT noticed during our last lesson that he looks a little thicker. I've been keeping him blanketed so he's only fuzzy on his legs and his neck. It was about 50 degrees out so after I cooled him out I rode him out into the field. He's getting better at neck reining when he wants to be. I have less control of him one handed so if he doesn't just accept the cues I have to resort back to direct rein. I'm still in a snaffle with him, but KAT is going to introduce him to a shanked bit during his Christmas tune-up. When he seems to be amenable to the neck reining he does really well so I know he can do it.
So halfway through the ride my lower back started to hurt. I have a history with that so I'm not too worried about it but it got worse and now I'm in a fair amount of pain and am having some difficulty moving around, bending, etc. We'll see how it is, but I doubt I'll be able to ride tomorrow.
That video I took today isn't very interesting but now that I know I can take long clips with the camera I can start to record some riding to show you.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
"A Retrospective: Banee, Dino, Lark, and Sonny" or "Thankful"
When I was 13 I was extremely lucky. Though my family could not afford to have a horse and couldn't really even afford lessons, I was still lucky. A wonderful woman let me ride and show her horses in exchange for stall cleaning, lamb feeding, docking lamb tails, (eeew, I know) and various other chores around the farm. There were 11 horses on the place when I started riding there and sadly most of them have crossed the rainbow bridge. Most were lost because of age, some because of unfortunate circumstances. Of the four horses I came to know best, only one is still walking this earth. I will share a little about the four of them in this blog entry.
My first mount was Royal Blazer, an early 20's flea-bitten 14.2 (barely) Arab gelding. He was named Dino by his previous owner; in honor of Dean Martin. He was one of those horses that you want a barn full of if you do ANYTHING with kids . He was broke to death and bombproof. You could do anything to him/at him/around him/on him. I did my first few shows with him and he took good care of me. Our first class in our first show was Open English Equitation. There were 5 riders. We came in 5th. I will never forget that "Oh when the Yanks played the Stars and Stripes On Iwo Jima High" was playing during my pattern and I was so terrified to be showing. After I got the first class out of the way I realized it wasn't much different than riding at home: someone says walk, you walk. Someone says canter, you canter. Our next class was English Pleasure and we came in 1st. We also showed in the Costume Class that day and won 1st. He was a great horse. At the age of 24 he was humanely euthanized after a very seriously broken leg that had very little hope of recovery. Here are a few pics of him. Try not to judge my riding in any of these pictures, I've had a lot of good training in the last few years!
My next horse was Banee. Banee is a gorgeous pure white 14.2 7/8ths Arab mare. She came to the farm during my first few years of riding. I showed her the first summer after I stopped showing Dino, and then she was my last show horse from that farm. She is 29 (my age) and is still so beautiful in my eyes. She was a handful. She'd been highly trained in everything from barrels to dressage. She could collect any gait down to doing in nearly in place and would hand gallop with the slightest cue. She would jump anything you pointed her at. She has the softest nicker I've ever heard. You can see by the pictures that she didn't have the best conformation, but was extremely athletic. In the one picture I'm washing her rear because she ALWAYS got diarrea on the way to shows. You'd think she'd be fine on a 6 mile ride, but no. I learned after a while to at least wrap her (oddly short) tail so I just had to clean her butt and legs. I remember being mad someone took a picture of this, but now it's just another funny memory of Banee. I remember the day we discovered she'd been a game horse. We were supposed to jog around some jump standards (the kind that are just like poles), changing our diagonals. When it was my turn I asked her for a trot and she took off running and weaving her way through that pattern like she'd done it a million times. "I told you to TROT!" "I din't do ANYTHING! I didn't even steer that. That was all HER!" So many things she could do. She was a hoot at shows. Would act like a crazy horse. We had multiple judges ask us if she had been trained saddle-seat. Who knows. Sound like a perfect horse? Weeeeellll, she would refuse to walk when she was excited. Not so good for pleasure classes. She would rather trot in place than actually break down to a walk. She was so super sensitive that she gave me the bad habbit of riding with my legs stuck out to the sides. She took the slightest pressure as a cue to do something BIG. How many flying lead changes can a horse do in a straight line? How long is the line? Our last 4-H show we came away with Champion Sr. Showman, Champion Sr. English, Reserve Champion Sr. Western, and Reserve Champion Sr. Game Horse. We didn't HAVE an OVERALL highpoint for that show, but I got the first slot for the State Horse Show, so I was highpoint. We never got to show the State Show. It was an expensive trip and the show was after school started and I had to go off to college.
My first mount was Royal Blazer, an early 20's flea-bitten 14.2 (barely) Arab gelding. He was named Dino by his previous owner; in honor of Dean Martin. He was one of those horses that you want a barn full of if you do ANYTHING with kids . He was broke to death and bombproof. You could do anything to him/at him/around him/on him. I did my first few shows with him and he took good care of me. Our first class in our first show was Open English Equitation. There were 5 riders. We came in 5th. I will never forget that "Oh when the Yanks played the Stars and Stripes On Iwo Jima High" was playing during my pattern and I was so terrified to be showing. After I got the first class out of the way I realized it wasn't much different than riding at home: someone says walk, you walk. Someone says canter, you canter. Our next class was English Pleasure and we came in 1st. We also showed in the Costume Class that day and won 1st. He was a great horse. At the age of 24 he was humanely euthanized after a very seriously broken leg that had very little hope of recovery. Here are a few pics of him. Try not to judge my riding in any of these pictures, I've had a lot of good training in the last few years!
My next horse was Banee. Banee is a gorgeous pure white 14.2 7/8ths Arab mare. She came to the farm during my first few years of riding. I showed her the first summer after I stopped showing Dino, and then she was my last show horse from that farm. She is 29 (my age) and is still so beautiful in my eyes. She was a handful. She'd been highly trained in everything from barrels to dressage. She could collect any gait down to doing in nearly in place and would hand gallop with the slightest cue. She would jump anything you pointed her at. She has the softest nicker I've ever heard. You can see by the pictures that she didn't have the best conformation, but was extremely athletic. In the one picture I'm washing her rear because she ALWAYS got diarrea on the way to shows. You'd think she'd be fine on a 6 mile ride, but no. I learned after a while to at least wrap her (oddly short) tail so I just had to clean her butt and legs. I remember being mad someone took a picture of this, but now it's just another funny memory of Banee. I remember the day we discovered she'd been a game horse. We were supposed to jog around some jump standards (the kind that are just like poles), changing our diagonals. When it was my turn I asked her for a trot and she took off running and weaving her way through that pattern like she'd done it a million times. "I told you to TROT!" "I din't do ANYTHING! I didn't even steer that. That was all HER!" So many things she could do. She was a hoot at shows. Would act like a crazy horse. We had multiple judges ask us if she had been trained saddle-seat. Who knows. Sound like a perfect horse? Weeeeellll, she would refuse to walk when she was excited. Not so good for pleasure classes. She would rather trot in place than actually break down to a walk. She was so super sensitive that she gave me the bad habbit of riding with my legs stuck out to the sides. She took the slightest pressure as a cue to do something BIG. How many flying lead changes can a horse do in a straight line? How long is the line? Our last 4-H show we came away with Champion Sr. Showman, Champion Sr. English, Reserve Champion Sr. Western, and Reserve Champion Sr. Game Horse. We didn't HAVE an OVERALL highpoint for that show, but I got the first slot for the State Horse Show, so I was highpoint. We never got to show the State Show. It was an expensive trip and the show was after school started and I had to go off to college.
Oh, and YES, my hat IS on backwards in that one. It was right after Versatility class (also explains the kinky forelock) and I think my Dad put the hat on my head for me and I trusted he'd put in on the right way. I didn't realize until I took if off after the class (and this picture) that it was backwards. Nice outfit, too, huh? Who doesn't love metallic purple plaid? Shut up, my mom made that... well, my mom made it with gold lame piping and gold buttons, but I ripped it apart, took the piping out and made a different tie based off of what I saw in the Hobby Horse catalog. I was pretty well dressed considering most people at the show didn't have pants long enough to tuck into their boots..... Sorry, snarky tangent... THAT would be a funny blog entry: my bad show outfits of the 90's......
Next came Meadow Sweet Lark. Lark was probably 15 hands, I don't remember. She was a 3/4 arab, 1/4 Quarter Horse. I had to EARN the right to ride her. Both from my instructor AND from Lark. She was smart and didn't tolerate beginners. She was afraid of EVERYTHING.... at HOME. At shows she would fall asleep. At home: head straight up in the air, prancing sideways "OMG a HOSE!!! OMG my STALL!" OMG a TREE!" "Everything is going to EAT ME!!!!" At a show: head hanging, lip flopping, "Zzzzzzzzzz." "Go forward? Do I have to? can't I just yawwwwwn stay right here?" She was the most talented of the bunch. Sadly after one summer full of blue ribbons and tropies she had to be retired. On our first ride the next spring she was lame at the trot. It was like her back feet were taking tiny steps, not at all her usual gait. We called the vet and it was concluded that she must have slipped during the winter and pulled all the tendons in her croup. It's what happens when horses back feet go out from under them sideways. Ouch. She was sound for hacks around the farm and for ponying little kids, but no more showing. I finished my High School years with Banee.
I was given the chance to spend one more summer at the farm before I went off to grad school. In my dumber days I had attempted to show The Prodigal Son, an unmarked bay Arab gelding in showmanship. I thought he would do fine ... he did it fine at home, after all. He walked all over me at the show to the point of almost being dangerous and spent the rest of the day jogging in the trailer. Wasn't a good day. He is STILL (knock on wood) the only horse to ever really buck me off....in the middle of the hay field and then take off for home...without me. Some girl leased him for a summer that next year and took him to one show. He did fine aside from cantering on the wrong lead the whole time. He was completely well behaved. So I decided to make him my summer project that year after he'd had a few years off. He ended up being a very good boy. Cari, my long time show partner came down for the show so we took both Banee and Sonny. The judge that day was "totally blind" or at least I have my mom in the background of the video saying so, so we didn't do very well ribbon wise, but I thought his behavior was a tremendous victory. We switched horses for the western classes and Cari ended up with 1st on him in "Bridle Path" Western Pleasure.
So there's my fab four from my younger days. None of them were perfect, none of them were "mine" but I am very thankful for all the lessons they taught me. I am thankful my dear Banee is still with us. She's fat and happy and is spoiled rotten.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Patterns? With HIM? NOW?
Had a pretty good lesson tonight. He hadn't been worked since Sunday so he was a bit fresh, but he lunged it out pretty quickly. He's coming into frame faster and faster now so I'm encouraged that he's "getting it." There was even a moment that KAT said "Wow! He is going to be cuuuuuute in Hunter Under Saddle!" Of course I thought to myself...but I wanted a western pleasure horse :( BUT I am certainly okay with doing HUS as our first goal and then moving on from there. I KNOW he can do the WP it'll just take him longer to get a lope down. His jog is getting better and better. Actually everything is SO much improved. He's still a little clumsy but I'm getting better at checking him and correcting him before he gets too tangled up in his moose legs.
We ended the lesson with a simple pattern that we've done before...it's actually the ONLY pattern I've done on him so far. It's blatantly clear that he is NOT pattern-ready, which is expected. He may NEVER be an equitation horse...or he might be a fabulous one, either way he'll still be okay.
He was doing super well until I stopped him and had to wait for the other two riders to do their patterns he wouldn't frame up and was sticking his nose up in the air...
The pattern: Three cones. Start at A. Jog to B. Lope Right Lead in circle back to B. Jog to C. Stop. Back.
We ended the lesson with a simple pattern that we've done before...it's actually the ONLY pattern I've done on him so far. It's blatantly clear that he is NOT pattern-ready, which is expected. He may NEVER be an equitation horse...or he might be a fabulous one, either way he'll still be okay.
He was doing super well until I stopped him and had to wait for the other two riders to do their patterns he wouldn't frame up and was sticking his nose up in the air...
The pattern: Three cones. Start at A. Jog to B. Lope Right Lead in circle back to B. Jog to C. Stop. Back.
Our FIRST attempt tonight: Our path is in blue...note the "bonus" gait.
Our Second attempt:
Our last attempt:
And it was probably not that round in reality, but it went something like that.
Much improvement, certainly, but yeeesh. Times like this I REALLY miss my Banee. She could do anything when she wanted to. I didn't realize at the time how good she was at quick transitions. Sometimes she was TOO quick, but so much fun to ride. Imagine ME doing a series of two stride flying lead changes. That horse was such fun. And at 29 she's STILL fun. I rode her this summer and she was just as wonderful. Out of shape, of course, so we didn't do anything fancy, but when I asked her for a canter it was like riding a carousel horse. What a girl!
Maybe I'll write more about her tomorrow.
Back to my Jr. He spent lots of time with the lunge line clenched in his teeth so I couldn't try the suggestion/comment about feeding him more of it. He's got his jaw clenched so tight I couldn't get any more in there. Hopefully like his "OVER" verbal command he'll eventually get the "LET GO" verbal and I won't have to pinch his lip until he lets go. He's a REALLY smart horse...perhaps too smart. :)
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