looks like i get my indian summer after all

The weather is glorious and I have a cold. Not awful enough to spend the day in bed but bad enough to put the damper on my enthusiasm to do things.

The weather last week was terrible and since HiT was here I had to trail ride in the pouring rain a couple times. HiT has gone home, I got her owner out on some confidence building rides, got the mare much fitter and got her trailer loading nicely. Then I got paid, overall it was very good. I had some interesting conversations with the owner about horses and training since I am not a fan of most natural horsemanship gimmicks.She was surprised that I could start a young horse in a safe and compassionate way without following any natural horsemanship gurus. To be honest good horse trainers have been around for centuries and most of the techniques these people are selling have been in use for generations.

I've decided not to compete again this year, since I am not entirely sure of how I will be feeling and would hate to pay a lot and then not feel comfortable jumping. I am going to put the money towards lessons instead. Will try and get some jumping lessons in soon before I switch to flatwork in a couple weeks. Joy will definitely benefit from lots of dressage and lunging so I am not feeling at all restricted.  Took Joy out on a fast ride last night since whenever I rode her last week it was as a guide for HiT's owner and we had to mostly walk, it was good for Joy to stretch out over the hills and be able to enjoy some speed. The weather is supposed to be glorious for a bit so I plan on taking her to the river one more time before Fall kicks in again.

Sadie has been having some peeing issues, think she might have a slight UTI, so I've been dosing her with apple cider vinegar and yogurt, which must be terrible because the poor dog won't touch it without a generous amount of cat food mixed in. It seems to be helping. She has been getting large amounts of people food recently due to our roommate's toddler and it seems to be adversely affecting her, she is also all dandruffy and itchy.

Had Joe take some belly pics last night, I think I just look a little chubby instead of preggo.

baby belly at 14 weeks

stupid grin, lol

so going to ride, do a little lunging, deburr ponehs again (dunno where they are finding the beastly things), and clean bunny cages.

More horse trial stuff

Today was great!

This morning I picked up my friend to head back to Cobblestone, Joy was a pain to load again which is so disappointing because I really felt like we were over that, she was sooooooooooo good for awhile. My friend had stadium today and I had the option to ride stadium or try schooling cross country again. I decided to school, and I am so glad I did! I started at the beginning of the course and jumped the first two fences, she felt really good so I took her through and jumped the first 7.

Next we went by the scary water and watched another horse jump in and out for a bit and then I asked her to step in, she got all tense and I must work on not looking down at the scary thing. It was weird water being in a shaded hollow, not at all straightforward. But she walked in with some encouragement and in no time was trotting through comfortably. I went back to the trailer and got some water since it was another scorching day. She still felt good so I went to the startbox and counted down and did the whole course, Joy was fantastic! It was a perfect ride. Forward and energetic without being being tense or out of control. We had a nice canter throughout and she was looking for the jumps and enthusiastic about going over them.

I could have ridden stadium but instead schooled over the practice fences in the warmup and called it a day, we ended on a good note and both had a great time. I really enjoyed hanging out with eventing friends, everyone was so nice. I am definitely hooked!

Cobblestone horse trial update

So, we did it!

Trailered out to friend's barn last night and schooled a little over their x-country course, Joy was terrible, just fizzy, spooky and unfocused, she eventually settled down and was ok but still very looky. I gave her a bath and put her in a pen at the barn for the night. Stayed over at my friend's place, which was fun, she is my eventing fairy godmother and has been amazingly supportive, helpful and kind.

Joy was a pain to load this morning, doing the setting back refusing to go in thing, very frustrating since she had been loading so nicely. But we really haven't trailered much recently so need to work on it again. She got to hang with her boyfriend Baxter (my friend's tall, dark and handsome TB) they are cute together.

My friend dressed me all spiffy for dressage, and made Joy look pretty, I guess even if mare-mare is being a tweak she can look cute!  Joy did better then I expected in dressage for how excited she was, I remembered my test and she listened fairly well, got mostly 5s and a few 6s. Judge said in the comments we are a nice pair but she needs to be more submissive to the bit and relaxed, which is what we have been working on, nice to know I am on the right track. Joy has been schooling really nicely at home so I hope next show she will be a little more relaxed and responsive. Joe surprised me and showed up right before I went in the ring, which was nice and I got some good pictures.

We had a big break between dressage and cross country so I got watch a lot and to help my friend, and Joy got some downtime, I am glad she ties well and doesn't mind being alone with her hay. My sweet friends bought me a fabulous embroidered saddle pad for cross country, it is purple with Joy's show name and it looks so great!

Cross country was a blast, she did awesome on most of the course. I missed the course walk the day before so just did a short one before dressage. I had one refusal at the second fence but she popped right over on the second try. We got through the rest really nicely, she needed lots of encouragement but was having fun. We had issues at the water jump, at the beginner novice level we just had to go though the water but she flat out refused so we got dismissed off the course, I was super bummed since I only had two jumps to go before we would have finished our first ever course.

So going to school cross country again tomorrow and school stadium, should be low pressure and fun.

going to pick black berries now :)

Eventing University was a complete success!

Joy was perfectly wonderful. We tried cross country and stadium for the first time, got some great dressage tips and hung out with some really nice people, especially the owner of Joy's new boyfriend, Baxter (she likes them tall, dark and handsome!) I am officially in love with eventing and I love being able to take my horse to new places and enjoy her.

On Sunday it was cold and windy, spitting snow in the early morning. We had Cross Country first which I was unsure about simply because I haven't done it but I decided to have a positive attitude and try my best. I shouldn't have worried! Joy was perfectly happy and we jumped a lot of great obstacles. It was a mixed group so we started out slow, the instructor Amy was super nice and encouraging. After some little logs we tried a ditch, bigger logs, a coop, a bench thingy and big jumps. We did most of the Beginner Novice jumps on the course and a few Novice ones. Most of the big stuff was around three feet tall and fairly wide and Joy was perfect. We had one refusal at the tire jump but she popped over it second try,and we jumped a lot of stuff. I need to work on keeping my shoulders back and collecting her before the jump so she has support to get over it.

Stadium was with the same instructor after a long break (I ate lunch and talked, Joy got to flirt with her new boyfriend) I haven't jumped courses in years so it was good practice for me to try and remember everything, we started over some little cross rails and progressed to a small course with one in and out and an oxer. We worked on staying balanced and relaxed with our rhythm (hard! she likes to speed) and me keeping a good position, I think if I had a jumping saddle it will help me keep the leg back but right now I just want one saddle that fits perfect, don't care what it is!

Dressage was good, there were only three of us and my friend (riding Joy's boyfriend) left after her horse came up lame :( So we worked on relaxation, rhythm  and balance.I wish I had dressage early in the day since that is a true portrait of how Joy is on a daily basis and not when she is kinda sleepy and mellow. But I still feel we got some good feed back on the areas we need to work on and I got some really nice connection with her, she looks like a totally different horse when she relaxes her neck down, We got some really nice basic exercises to work on balance and connection so that was super!.
 

Everyone was super friendly and nice, so different then the dressage show we went to last year! I got lots of nice compliments on Joy, on what a cute little jumper she is and how much personality she has. The jumping instructor was very encouraging of us sticking with the eventing and remarked on what a strong bond we have and how much Joy trusts me.

I am glad Joe didn't come with me, he would have been freezing cold and bored, not to mention worried about some of the jumps we did, I think he might like it if we played "my little pony" instead and I just brushed them a lot although he is very supportive and happy I am having fun, he just worries about me getting hurt. There was a professional photographer there so hopefully will be some good pictures soon, although I reckon I will look like a super dork in all of them.

All in all a wonderful experience and I am very happy to have gone, now I just need to get a job so we have some extra money this summer I can do more events :) The day after I was so sore, actually still am in spots, especially my inner thighs, abs and shoulders. Definitely going to keep up doing Pilates and start doing the evil that is Yoga.

I just got done riding and I wanted to write this before I forget.

We had a fairly productive ride but with a major battle. She seems to like her new saddle and was excellent for tacking up (generally she wiggles a lot and acts girthy) so that was a big win. We went up the road on a long rein and went to the left and up the big hill, it is a dirt road without much traffic, we did a big canter up the hill and stretchy walk down the other side. On the way back up the long side of the hill I asked for a little leg yield to the left and she just shut down, first bracing off my leg and the when I pushed her she started doing the really annoying spinning, almost rearing, backing thing she does when she is pissy. I don't know if she is sore on the side or it is just harder for her. After a couple tries I ended up getting off and asking from the ground, mounted up and she did a really nice one to the right but was still being pissy to the left, I got a couple good steps and called it good.

I rode her in the field a bit and she was being really wound up and hot, did a lot of circles at the trot and asked her to soften to the inside and stretch and got some nicer ones. Then we went in to the arena and schooled over the cavalettis which I had tricked out into scary looking jumps (blankets over them, buckets in front, ect.) to my surprise she was excellent even though she was keyed up. We jumped them a couple times then we walked up the road the other way to cool out, did a little leg yielding and she was better, less resistant. I am not going to try and"fix" anything, because that doesn't work for her, what works is improving her obedience, submission to the bit and continuing to ask her in non confrontational way, forcing or dwelling on it won't help. But I will note it as a weak spot and continue improving on it. In most ways I am glad she is my horse, sometimes she is a pain though.

Joy is not an easy horse, she may look sweet and she is very affectionate for a mare but she has a stubborn streak a mile long, generally she is really good but when I engage that stubbornness watch out! The key is not to engage it, sometimes it is really annoying when she decides she has forgotten completely how to back (has happened twice) and we have to have an argument over it, she is getting better and more relaxed so I think there is hope.

Joy's Coggins came today! and the ride times should be posted tomorrow. So we should be moving forward. Now I am just worried she will hurt herself or come up lame or something, she rarely gets injured but it always seems to happen right before an event. So I submit this prayer.

Dear Horse Gods,
Please keep Joy healthy, happy and sound for our eventing clinic.
Thank you,
love Ruth

Since today is a terribly rainy day I am so very pleased I went riding yesterday.

Snow is not off yet but we have been having slightly warmer weather resulting in some bare ground and much less snow (wheeeeeeeeeeee!)

Joy did well yesterday, She is shedding so had some nice brushing first with a curry comb, which made her very happy, I wish I had the camera with me as the faces she made when I hit the itchy spots were too funny! We went on the two mile loop, I let her stretch out and wander at first then hit some good jumps, cantered a few hills and when she got hot we worked on transitions. She has come a long way, I don't think she will ever be a calm beginner type horse but she is much more self disciplined now. I have been thinking a lot about the process of training a young horse, I really enjoy starting horses and if I could figure out how to have a real career doing that I would be very happy. So many people rush the horse and leave huge gaps in training, then the horse can never be a true partner because they simply don't understand their job.

So yesterday there was a fallen tree I have been wanting to jump but haven't because I wasn't sure if it was safe, the snow was off and it was good so I put her in a large canter circle and she popped over it happily. There are so many advantages to letting a horse mature and gain confidence rather then pushing them to fast, she feels confident jumping and I have built that confidence by putting her in good situations where she can be safe and have fun, now she trusts me and herself.

On the way home she got hot, I let her gallop up some hills and she had a great time and got herself worked up, Joy is not the type of horse where you can run them to burn of steam. When she was younger and I would free lunge her sometimes she would get her "canter button" stuck and would run around and around till I managed to get the lunge on her and force her to walk and trot. What works well for relaxing her is walking, leg yields and transitions. When she is over sensitive she spooks at everything so slow relaxing work is the way to go. I am wondering how she will do at cross country this summer but I guess we will figure it out when we get to that.

I really think horses are intelligent and the best way to train is to put them in situations where they see the benefit in doing what you ask. Joy is never going to be an easy horse, she is smart and independent, which is a blessing and a curse. I don't think most horses are trying to be bad I think they don't understand whats being asked and many "bad" horses have a low frustration point. They would get more confidence from trail riding and from being ridden as one rides a green horse, with patience, kindness and understanding.
Please set them up to succeed.

Fall Riding.
We just got back from a great trail ride, nearly four hours. Mainly walking but we cantered up some good hills. I took Joy into the woods and popped over a couple logs while my friends waited, she is getting so bold over jumps (as long as they look like logs, painted stuff freaks her out, gotta work on that)

Also need to work on her not booking it when the horse in front of us takes off at a gallop, and better stopping in that situation.

So glad the weather is nice right now, I am not ready for winter to be upon us.