Spring?!

It looks like spring has sprung in Ohio, for the most part at least. I'm sure we'll get some more crappy weather, because it's Ohio. But for now, I have six weeks to get my horse back in shape before he goes into training. That does not sound like much time at all, especially with how busy I've been lately. At least it's staying light longer. I see lots of lunging in side reins in our future...he can get in shape without me bouncing around on his back while *I* get in shape.

It looks like our first show of the year will be a CT at South Farm at the end of May. Hopefully BBN...I don't really want to ride an intro test again if I can help it!

The boys survived the winter, although they probably feel very neglected since they haven't been ridden. I'm trying to figure out how to get Jodi back in shape at the same time, since I don't have much time. We might try some ponying.

The goal for the summer is

May 29th/30th - CT at South Farm, BBN?
May 31 - Stone Gate hunter pace

June 20 - Grand River mini trial - BBN hopefully

July 18 - South Farm mini trial - BBN
July 25 - Bath Pony Club mini trial?

August 1 - Grand River mini trial?
Agust 22 - Bath Pony Club mini trial - BBN?

And then in September, hopefully either the starter division at South Farm or Stone Gate, or moving up to BN at one of the mini trials. That's IF all goes according to plan, which it never does!

Hopefully I'll have some updates in the adventures of restarting Luke coming up soon :) Our first ride was pretty interesting, he decided steering was optional, but we fixed that pretty quick.

Cannot wait for the month of May! :)

2010 Goals

Dare I even try to plan? Things never seem to go as planned, but I'll give it a very preliminary shot. This week, the barn owners are out of town, so I've been doing stalls...of course, it's the week that has a high of 14 degrees...yuck. So sick of winter!

Let's see...I'm thinking riding is not going to be happening much until February or March. Until then, I'm going to try to ride other horses as much as I can. Anyway...

I'd love to be able to keep Luke barefoot when we pick up our training schedule...I don't know if that will happen or not...whatever is best for him is what he'll get.

My only goal for March is to get Luke going solidly again, picking up where we left off, and getting him back in shape. I'd love to try to get to the dressage schooling show at Chagrin, but it probably won't happen, and I'm okay with that. It's more important to me to get him back in shape and progressing in his training.

In April, I'd love to put him in at least part training. I'm setting money aside, but whenever I try to budget, things tend to come up. Again, I'd love to get him to a schooling show, but no set goal.

May...I want to have him solid on both canter leads, and I want to go to a hunter pace with him. I also want to ride him at least 4x a week...that's going to be my goal.

In June, I'd like to do the Grand River Hunt mini trial. Only if he's ready for BBN though...I can't do intro again, I'd rather save my money. So mini trial-ing might get pushed to July.

July - I think it'd be super fun to do South Farm's mini camp...I was going to go last year, but things came up. If not that, I'd like to do a couple days of lessons back to back. I'd also love to go to the South Farm and Bath Pony Club mini trials.

August - I'd like to do Grand River Hunt and Bath Pony Club. It would be AMAZING to move up to BN, but I don't know that we'll be ready...it's a wait and see thing I guess.

September - South Farm mini trial, and hunter pacing...my favorite part of fall.

October - I'd like to do the rest of the hunter pace series, it'll just depend I guess. Hopefully I'll have a truck and trailer, and this will be possible.

Then, winter starts to come again. Hopefully Luke will be at a barn with an indoor and our training will continue to progress. I hope so!

Really though...I'm happy with however 2010 turns out. I have a great trainer who understands Luke and I and our limitations, and I feel good about this year. Any time I get to spend with Luke and Jodi is good time. If something happens and we don't go to a single show, I'll still be proud to own him!

Barefoot and Sound!

Knock on wood, I now have two barefoot horses, both being totally sound! Luke was due for a trim yesterday, and I just had the farrier keep his shoes off, because I haven't been riding, and probably won't be riding anywhere but the sand arena for a while. I had to leave before he was done, so I didn't get to see how Luke moved out, but my dad said when he put Luke out in the pasture, he immediately ran off to be with his buddies. Crossing my fingers that he isn't ouchy on it - I'd LOVE to have a barefoot Luke. I'm thinking about experimenting in the spring/early summer with putting him on a biotin supplement and seeing if that keeps his feet hard and able to be barefoot - I do do a lot of trail riding, but at the same time, he's always been fine barefoot in back.

That's really all that's new here. School is kicking my butt. I think I've sat on my horse once in the past two weeks, and I've been horrible about getting out there. The barn owner told me the other day that Luke's been disruptive lately, and I think he's just bored - he's used to having a job. So I'm going to make an effort to spend more time with him, and see if that helps. I can't ride unless it's light outside, and that doesn't happen much while I'm out there. Can't wait til the time change. Already.

Jodi's good, maybe a little skinny, but it could just be my imagination. I added weight builder to his smartpak for the winter, so we'll see how he does on that. I might have to add some senior feed, or up his grain. They're both getting safe choice, which I've heard good and bad about, but it seems to be working out well.

I think that's all...hopefully I'll have a riding update eventually...wishful thinking probably!

Stupid Time Change...

I haven't gotten to ride much at all lately because of the time change. The way my schedule is, I'm never out there during the day except on weekends. I'm going to try to ride tomorrow before it gets dark.

That being said, on Sunday, Jen and I took Joey & Luke to Brecksville to go trail riding. It was awesome. I love my horse! He was such a good boy, even though he'd only been ridden once in the week before. He hopped on the trailer, unloaded, and stood tied to the trailer like a good boy! I wasn't taking chances though...brought the clip with me, but I don't think he pulled back at all, the rope stayed the same length. Awesome!

He didn't want to stand still when I was trying to put my gloves on, but once we were moving, he was settled. He crossed water (okay, so he wasn't so sure about the first one, but after that we were fine), and walked across scary bridges all by himself. He's so different than the horse I brought home three years ago...I love him. We trotted and cantered a lot, and for the first time in three years, my little racehorse ran out of gas! I've never seen him so tired...I thought I killed him! He was having a blast though, and still wanted to canter even when he was tired. I didn't get cold until the last part, when we were walking to cool them out. Man it got cold! We tossed some sheets on the boys, and loaded them up to go home. Stopped at Wendy's on the way home with the truck and trailer...I don't think a cheeseburger has ever tasted so good! I'm sore too...I didn't think I would be, but it was kind of extreme trail riding, and I haven't ridden as much lately. Then I ran (or shuffled) two miles today. I have GOT to get back in shape!

It was so nice to take them out last weekend though...might be the last time for the year, so I'm glad it was a good experience for everyone!

2'6!

I'm just full of updates lately. Ha.

I took advantage of the nice weather today, and went out to the barn to ride Luke. Jen came with me, yay! :) Tacking him up, he was the quietest he's been since I moved 3 months ago. I love those clips, they gave me back my horse. OR it's all psychological, and is having a placebo effect on me. Entirely possible, but either way, I'll take it. I can now turn my back without having to worry about my horse breaking something, or himself.

I had planned on doing lots of flatwork, but I also wanted to jump. We finally have both leads installed for the most part...yay! Although, irony which is not lost on me: it's taken 3 years to get to a pretty consistent right lead, and today, I had no left lead...it just wasn't. there. Eek! Once we started jumping, he found it though.

I think his canter actually improved after we did some fences, and Jen agreed with me. I think my problem is that I get really tense and then stiffen up, which speeds up his canter, and it's an ugly cycle. However...give me a big long flat stretch, and I'll canter or hand gallop up in 2 point all day...so it's not a fear issue, it's just some other weird issue. But when you throw some jumps in there, I think it gives me something to focus on, and I can actually RIDE. Or maybe Luke just likes jumping and was rewarding me with a cute canter.

We started with a 21" vertical, which was the biggest thing we've jumped since the barrels last month. He popped over that like it was no biggie, so I had her raise it to 2'. We cantered over that without rushing, but he kept ticking it with a back hoof. I had her raise it to 2'3" and same thing...ticking with a back hoof, but no rushing. If it was wood poles, they wouldn't even fall, but it was just enough to knock the pvc down. So I started thinking "maybe this horse doesn't have the potential I thought he did, maybe he won't be anything more than a 2' horse!" which would have been totally fine, but a huge let down.

So I asked her to raise it to 2'6", and said if he was good, we'd call it a day after that. It was amazing. That's the highest I've ever jumped him, and he felt WONDERFUL. 5 months ago, we were terrified of 2' stuff. He wasn't rushy to the jump at all, and the best part? I could feel it....I was actually counting strides in my head, and I was right. Yay! He was actually completely straight to it too...with the little stuff he wiggles quite a bit, which is frustrating. But today? He was point and shoot from the minute I started jumping. And the 2'6" one is the only one he didn't hit. He actually put in some effort and cleared it with plenty of room to spare! Jen said he had a good 6" of clearance, but it didn't FEEL like he was jumping 3'...but what do I know??

We did it twice, and then Jen hopped on and trotted him a little. She said he felt better than ever, but he's a HARD horse to ride. Which made me feel good kind of...I just thought I sucked at riding him! She loved riding him though, and I do too. He makes me WORK for everything, but I appreciate it that much more. Then we cooled him off. I was so proud! He has really grown up under saddle in the past 3 months. I can't wait to see what he's like next year! I'm hoping to put him in training in the spring...we'd be unstoppable! After today, I definitely think we'll be able to do baby beginner novice next summer :) :) :)

Congress & Luke update

I went to QH Congress on Wednesday and then back on Saturday. Fun fun! I spent way too much money, but really, I didn't get anything fun...new sheets for the boys (okay, they're pink plaid, so kind of fun!), dewormer, vetrolin shine, 2 clips (www.theclip.info), lead ropes to go in them, and a couple things for my mom and dad to give me for Christmas. My feet are tired from walking and my arms are sore from carrying bags!

And it's been entirely too long since I've ridden my pony. Since my lesson last Saturday to be exact. It's gotten to the point where he's been such a jerk on the ground, I haven't wanted to deal with tacking him up. And I know that he won't get better unless I work on it. But I'm scared to discipline him for fidgeting in the ties, because then he pulls back and breaks his halter. So I bought two clips and hooked them up last night. And decided that now that I have that taken care of, and he won't get hurt if he pulls back, we're going to work on respect.

My parents came out to take fall pictures, and Luke was fidgety brushing him off, fidgety tacking up, and tried to drag me outside. So I popped him with the crop, and after he got over the initial scare, he behaved himself. And we managed some very nice pictures.

I went back out last night after all my homework was done (yuck!) and played with them. Got Jodi out and detangled his tail...I have no idea where he finds the burr bushes, but his tail was one big mat. We were able to get it out, sacrificing only a few hairs in the process. Then I put him back and went to get Luke. I told him that he couldn't be pushy. Not like he heard me :) I put him in the ties with the clip, and just messed around with him. At one point, I went out to turn the arena light on because I was going to ride (I couldn't get it turned on..boo), and he must have pulled back while I was gone. The clips did their job, and I came back to one calm pony, still attached but with slightly longer ropes. So I tightened them back up, and made him stand some more. He stood while I organized my locker, mixed up new moisturizer, swept the aisle, checked his bucket, etc. He was standing pretty calmly by the end. When he started dancing, I got after him, and after trying to pull back a little, he realized he had nothing to pull against and gave up. Yay! I am FAR from trusting him, but this is a BIG step in the right direction...last night, I enjoyed my horse again. For the first time in a while.

I'm going out tonight, to hopefully ride while the weather is nice and it's light out!

Lesson!

After cancelling last night's lesson due to rain, I rescheduled for today at 12.

Luke let me catch him right away in the pasture, but was a pain to tack up. Seriously, I'm never motivated to ride him anymore and it's because I'm sick of dealing with his crap on the ground. I've tried everything. He pulled back and snapped a cross tie snap in half. In half. The metal literally snapped. I give up. Oy.

He was hyped up when I got on...it was all I could do to get him to stand while I got on, and then we had crazy hyper walk on speed. He settled though, eventually. And focused, sort of. The arena was kind of muddy, but oh well. I do miss having an indoor, but I'll live :) Luke was actually more focused than he's been sometimes. I was keeping my back really tense today...I don't know if that's a new thing, or if it explains my back pain.

We trotted, and worked on keeping him focused and off the forehand, and using his butt. It's hard too because he doesn't respond to my leg. I'm going to start carrying a crop and insist on crisper transitions...he needs to go when I say, not when he feels like it. Then we moved on to canter...I don't know what my deal is with cantering, but I feel so insecure anymore. Started on the left lead, and it was okay..he broke to a trot a couple times, but I think he just needs more strength. And to actually ride the canter and not just sit there. He got all his leads correct today, which makes me really happy. Yay! I think it was a me issue, not a him issue. Either way, I'm glad it seems to be fixed! I'm not sure how much I'll get to ride this winter, but I'll at least try to as much as I can. I want to keep him moving forward. Then in the spring, lesson/training package, and hopefully truck and trailer by February ish.

We jumped a little crossrail too, and Luke was fine. I love my new standards...way better than buckets, especially since the poles are pvc..they don't fall off of the standards quite as easily.

I'm glad I got a lesson in...maybe not as productive as if I'd been riding more frequently, but at least it pushed me in the right direction. If I get a truck and trailer, I'll try to find an indoor to go to once every week or something like that. I'm proud of Luke..I just wish I could ride him as well as he deserves. Maybe someday!

Eek, time for an update!

Wow, I can't believe I haven't updated in so long! Not too too much has happened though.

Luke stayed with Gwen the week after the mini trial. He was a good boy up there. I got to go up and ride on Tuesday night, where he did his first gymnastics. He wasn't a big fan, but I think they were a little big for him. We did a single cross rail and ended with that.

When I went up on Saturday, Luke was really good! We made the gymnastics smaller, and did a cross rail with five trotting poles before it. The first time through that one, Luke launched at the beginning of the trot poles and landed after the jump. Apparently he forgot how to trot jumps. Second time through, he did a good job though. Then we moved on to the gymnastics. The smaller ones were much easier.

I decided to try jumping him over some plastic barrels because he was being so good. I figured he'd rush it really badly, but he didn't at all! Trotted it really cute, and didn't even look at it! He seems to settle down more over larger jumps, which is weird.

I brought him back home on the 20th, and didn't do much with him for a week. He got new shoes on Thursday, and then he just didn't do much until this past week. On Thursday I went out and rode, and was really happy with him. I didn't think he would be very good since he'd been off for so long. He was great though. I just walked and trotted...I don't want to work on his canter until I'm in a lesson, because I'm not good at him. I rode again yesterday, and he was a little testy. I hung out with Molly today and got to ride Atticus, and then she came over and rode Luke. He proved that he could canter on both correct leads and jump all cute like. I hope she can come ride him more...and I just need to learn to ride better. Hopefully soon...I want to be better!

Mini Trial Update

Luke is SUCH a good boy! We went out schooling with Molly on Saturday, and he warmed up perfectly, even with horses coming at him from all directions. He took a few of the first little jumps like they were 5' tall, and didn't understand the lack of enthusiasm displayed by the other horses. Typical Luke. So we walked over a few, and trotted a few, and ended on a good note. I'm very happy with him. Then he stood tied to the trailer for a long time, and didn't do anything bad. He saw his first horse and buggy on Saturday and his eyes were saucer sized. I got a cute picture of the "buggy" face...I'll upload pictures later.

Sunday we headed out and got to South Farm around 11? I didn't ride until 2:30 so it was really nice to have some time to warm up. We got our packets, I found my camera that I left behind on Saturday, and checked out the tack trailer. I didn't even buy anything! So I'm going to put $10 in a Congress fund, along with $40 from my paycheck. I really want to have some money to spend at Congress this year!

I tacked Luke up and headed over to warm up for dressage. I was able to walk him around the farm on a loose rein, but once we got to the warm up area and started trotting, he got a little quick and panicky. A trainer kindly helped us warm up, and that helped. We did lots of transitions and figure 8's, and he got his brain back. I headed into my test feeling nervous, but more prepared than usual. We did our courtesy lap, and he didn't spook at the flowers or the trailer. He came down centerline nice and straight, and stopped completely for the halt. Good boy! We had a few sticky moments in our test - he cantered a few strides of the trot circle, was a little counterbent in a couple spots, and I overshot center line. Bad me! I know better!

I threw him back on the trailer with some hay so I could relax a little bit. I walked around, watched a little stadium, and then tacked him back up for stadium and xc. I was literally three feet away from him, he was tied to the trailer, and he pulled back. Broke the snap on the lead rope in half, and proceeded to run around the farm - he ran a good 1/4 mile down a stretch, and back up, and then made a big circle around me and let me catch him. I was not a happy camper. I threatened to sell him to the Amish to be a buggy horse. Maybe he was just warming himself up for XC. I finished tacking him up quickly, and hopped on to go warm up for the other phases. He got me so flustered I forgot my gloves. Ouch!

He took the first couple warm up fences as flyers, so we walked a few, and then trotted a few. I remembered to go through the start flags this year! He didn't look at anything on course and hopped right over it all. We trotted and cantered the course - he was a little wigglier than I would have liked, but not too badly. And he didn't knock anything down! I decided NOT to get off, so we walked around for a while, and then headed over to XC warm up. I opted not to jump anything except one little vertical. We trotted out of the start box, I asked him to walk the first jump, and then we alternated between walking and trotting the rest of the jumps. Again, he rocked it...he didn't look at ANYTHING out there. I came across the finish line exhausted, but so proud of him!

I cooled him out, untacked him, put my stuff away, and loaded him on the trailer with some nice hay. I went over to check my scores, which still weren't up. We waited around for a while - my division was of course the last one posted. I went up to look at our results and did a double, maybe triple take. I asked them "are you sure?!" Luke and I came in 2nd place! We finished on our dressage score of 34.0, which is our best score by about 10 points. Even with our mistakes, the test must have looked better than it felt. The comments were helpful - the judge really liked him, said he was a nice mover, and said she liked what a patient rider I was for him. He went clean on XC and Stadium, so we finished on our 34! Good boy Luke! We were only out of first place by 2 points, but I couldn't be happier with the pretty red ribbon. It was such a great day - the ribbon was just icing on the cake! We made it back home and unloaded, fed him dinner, and turned him out. And then I went home and crashed.

Other than the broken lead rope and escape, it was a great weekend. That's the next thing I need to tackle - get him to stand tied again. I'm not sure if it's possible. Always something to work on!

Lightbulbs! And mini trials!

First off, I got my ride times for the mini trial this weekend. I have nice late times, which is nice...I'm used to getting up at 5 a.m.! I ride Dressage at 2:36, Stadium at 4:30 and XC at 5:30 - woohoo! :)

On Tuesday, I had the best ride on Luke I've possibly ever had. It was incredible...he was reaching for the bit (his new happy mouth), was transitioning without fussing at all, actually bending around my leg instead of blowing me off...it was so nice! I paid for it yesterday though, my wrist was killing me. So I bought a separate brace to ride in and last night it didn't hurt so bad.

I had an awesome lesson last night! I rode in my dressage bridle and saddle to get myself acclimated to it again. I lengthened my stirrups a hole, which helped, and we got some very nice work. I think if he goes like this at South Farm, we have a pretty good chance of doing well. I've been cautioned to not panic if my warmup doesn't go well at first - just keep riding him through it until I get the bend and stretch I'm looking for. I think we'll be okay - we get to go schooling on Saturday, which I'm really excited about - Luke hasn't jumped any XC stuff except for little logs since last fall...oh dang! But 12" won't be too bad.

I can't believe it's so soon - I haven't started packing ANYTHING yet. Or given him a bath...it's too hard to do one handed... *sigh*... :) Maybe I'll just rub him down with baby wipes...he smells disgusting from his fly spray anyway! Molly is coming over tomorrow night and we're going to pack all of my stuff up into her car, and then off we go on Saturday morning. Wish us luck! I can't wait to see Gwen, Lis, and Jen too...we're having a mini exracers picnic...yay!

You take one step forward and two steps back...

It feels like it anyway!

I had a great lesson on Monday...actually they've all been great lately. Unfortunately, I can't achieve that same greatness when I ride by myself. It sure doesn't feel like it anyway. We just walked and trotted on Monday, but we worked on turns, centerlines, halts...everything I'd need for my test. It went pretty well. Then I took him out in the big pasture and we worked on me keeping his attention and getting actual work in large spaces.

Tuesday, I was all excited to ride, and thought it was going to be the best ride ever. He started out by breaking his halter...which was kind of my fault, I know that I shouldn't cross tie him until we figure this out, but I was in a hurry. I put a rope halter on him and got him to stand semi still while I finished tacking up. The ride went downhill from there. Nothing went right...he wanted to hollow out his back and be an ostrich. The only plus I can think of is that he got his leads. It just spiraled downward though, and I ended the ride in tears. I was freaking out, thinking we were never going to get better, and I was ready to sell him to someone more experienced.

On Wednesday, I woke up feelingi less frustrated. I sent in my mini trial entry and decided to look at it as a learning experience. I went out and played with the boys, but gave Luke a day off from riding. I went to the doctor and discovered I have tendonitis in my wrist, and I have to wear a brace all the time. I'm going to have to buy another one to ride in - I don't want to get this one all dirty.

Last night I went out and got Luke out of the pasture, and tied him with a trailer tie while I tacked him up. He stood relatively still, a little dancing, but no halter breaking. I took him out in the ring, and rode for about 5 minutes before I realized that the bugs were REALLY bothering him. So I took him back inside and used MORE fly spray. I think that did the trick, because he was a little less fussy. I should have put his ear net on though, he was still a little upset. The work we got wasn't nearly as good as my lesson, but it wasn't terrible either. There were a few moments of genuine correct work, and some almost there moments. He was pulling through my halts coming down center line, so we did lots of transitions. I have to go to IN this weekend, so Luke will get three days off...hopefully he won't be a wild man on Monday.

South Farm is in 9 days...yikes!

Woohoo!

It's so exciting to watch Luke improve! (And me!)

I had another lesson on Tuesday. He was actually not herdbound at all, which led me to believe that he was fixed. Yay! But not...yesterday he charged my sister to try to get into his stall, and knocked her over. I wish I would have been there, but maybe it's best I wasn't. He'd have been in BIG trouble. But anyway...back to the lesson!

We walked a little to warm up, then moved into trotting. Luke immediately felt steadier than last month. He was stretching down some even. He's still not collected, but he's more relaxed, and moving like he's going somewhere. Next step is to get him off of my hands...he can carry his own darn self!

My circles still aren't really all that round...I need to seriously work on that. They are improving some though. At least we don't have the giraffe look going anymore! We did some serpentines, which were far better than they used to be! And my canter work...the right lead is falling into place! Yay! He picked it up 5 out of 6 times in a row, and the mess up was my fault. He started to rush the trot, and I got flustered, and off we went on the wrong lead. Towards the end of my lesson when we cantered again, he was tired, and so was I, and we had a little trouble getting it, but nothing like usual...it's all starting to come together!

We did a little jump, just 12" or so. He's unimpressed. He refuses to trot over it...he prefers to trot THROUGH it...so I'm going to have to find some wood poles to mix in too. Cantering it though, he made it over every time...knocked it down a few times though. Oh well...we're learning.

We're going to South Farm next month, I can't wait! I'm just going to do intro I think, but I can't wait to see if my dressage has improved! I'll be bummed if it doesn't, because he FEELS so much better! And as far as jumping...I just wanna make it around the course without knocking anything over! There's always next year to move up a level! Then Grand River's Hunter Pace is the next weekend...yay!

This world's gone crazy.....

Or Luke's world has at least! This past month has been a whirlwind for him (and me!) He moved to a new barn, got his feet screwed up, promptly got them fixed, and turned into a monster, all in the same month.

Okay so he's not really a monster, he's just acting like he could be! He's gotten crazy herdbound, and is in love with a little buckskin mare. Agh...I hate herdboundness! He's been screaming and prancing when I separate them for a few weeks now, but yesterday was the worst. He reared up in hand, reared up in the cross ties, broke his halter, and ran around inside the barn like a maniac. I took him out and lunged him, and even while trotting in a circle, he was screaming his head off. He wasn't even much more manageable after I lunged him. Tonight, I'm going to suck it up and ride, because right now, I have more control when I'm on his back then I do from on the ground.

I'm instituting some tough love though...if he tries to get in front of me, he backs up. If he screams, he gets snapped at, and he has to work. If he prances, I make him work. If he invades my space, he gets smacked on the neck. I'm also lucky that my barn is so small, but with so many pastures. There are 6 horses and 4 pastures, which is reaaallly nice. So today Luke and Jodi are out by themselves in a pasture. He can still see the mare I think, and I'm hoping he doesn't run the fence. He'll deal though. He needs to learn to respect me again. I have a lesson tomorrow, hopefully it will go well.

No more lameness, yay!

Luke got his feet trimmed last Thursday. I let the new barn's farrier trim him, which I shouldn't have done. He came up LAME. I called my old farrier and he came out today and put pads and front shoes on. $$$, but it was a lesson learned. Luke walked off mostly sound. He's still a smidge off, but we think in a couple of days, he'll be good as new.

So I haven't gotten to ride since my lesson last Tuesday. It's driving me crazy, because I want to work on what I learned! Hopefully he'll be sound enough tomorrow evening that I can ride for a little bit.

I'm glad he's starting to feel better, because he needs a serious refresher course in mannners. I know he's been ouchy, but it's no excuse for some of the crap he's been pulling. Dragging my sister around when she leads him, trying to kick me when I pick up his feet, etc. He's fallen in love with a little mare he's turned out with, and she's in heat, so they've been screaming for each other. It's making me CRAZY.

I think some of the herdboundness is from recently moving...he's feeling insecure maybe? At first, when I took Jodi away, Luke would throw himself around his stall screaming for him. He's been better about that lately though, but he still doesn't like being taken away from the mare. He's getting better though, so hopefully once I get him back into serious work, it'll be okay.

I think that's all the news I have!

Lesson!

The rain held off, and I got to have my lesson, so I was a very happy girl!

I got a call on Monday from the new barn owner, telling me that my horse was very smart. Never a good thing to hear. He figured out how to escape from the one pasture. There's a 4 foot "gate" that's just one strand of un-electrified tape - the only part of the pasture that's not electric. I was worried about him figuring it out. So until they figure out what to do to make it more secure, he and Jodi moved to another pasture. I actually like this one better. It has a couple of big trees for shade, not that my horses will use them, and it's connected to the paddock where the other horses go at night, so there's 2 run in sheds.

So I went to the barn yesterday around 7, my lesson was at 7:30. It was just about dinner time, so I put Jodi in his stall to eat, and stuck Luke in the cross ties to tack up. He definitely had ants in his pants. He did NOT want to stand still at all. He only let me pick his front two hooves, and then when I went to pick up one back leg, I think he kicked out, or stomped, and his knee caught my thumb. I heard a pop and had to literally go sit down because I almost passed out. I saw stars...that was the worst pain I've had in a long time. It's still really sore today too. So I didn't pick out his back feet. I threw his saddle on, and waited for my new trainer. When she got there, Luke decided he'd never seen a bridle in his life...throwing his head up, backing up, etc. I figured it was gonna be a horrific lesson.

Once we got out to the arena though, Luke was all business. He's such a good horse. He screamed for Jodi a few times while we were warming up, but once he realized that no one was answering him, he was fine.

We did a long walk warm up with lots of serpentines, circles, figure 8's and changes of direction thrown in. I'm really guilty of just walking aimlessly on the rail to warm up, so it was a good change. I'm really going to work on that. Then we moved to the trot, focusing on pushing him from behind instead of letting him flop around on the forehand. When he was working correctly from behind, he found the bit and was reaching for contact. I could definitely feel him improving from the beginning of the lesson to the end. It was really hot, and I hadn't had dinner, and forgot to bring a water bottle, so true to form, I almost passed out two or three times. I'll be better prepared next time. So we just did a little bit of canter so she could see him go. His left lead felt really nice...he was actually slowing down instead of running around with his head in the air. She told me to pretend my left arm was broken so I wasn't hanging on the inside rein, and voila: less tense rider, less tense horse. The right lead took a few tries to get, but she just had me bring him back to a trot quietly. She said there's no point in teaching him bad transitions, which is all jerking him to a trot will do. She said when I ask him to slow down, not to pull on him with both hands, but to just use my outside rein. Lo and behold, he started slowing down enough that I could sit his trot and ask for the correct lead. He gave it to me that time. We did a few circles on each lead, and then called it a day. I'm really proud of Luke.

I feel like we got a ton out of the lesson, and my only regret is that I won't be able to take them more frequently. I'm gonna shoot for every other week, since I probably will have to stop for the winter.

I can't wait to go ride Luke and keep practicing this stuff!! I'm loving the new barn. Kind of lonely sometimes since I'm the only one riding, and the oldest and only one my age, but it's nice at the same time. My barn time is always relaxing, which I need. And the short drive rocks!

This post is already long, but here are my August goals:

1) Have one more lesson this month.
2) Have a consistent right lead at the end of the month.
3) Ride 4 times a week
4) Work on pushing him from behind
5) Be less tense
6) Have FUN with him!

New Home

The boys are all settled in their new home. They go out by themselves in a huge grassy pasture, and both seem very excited to have it all to themselves. Sometimes they'll come to the gate when they see me coming, but usually they stay out grazing.

Melissa rode Jodi yesterday, but I left my girth at home so I didn't ride Luke. I brought him in and groomed him and fly sprayed him, and then put him back out to graze. I don't think he minded. I'm going out to ride tonight, and I will hopefully have a good ride. I lost my lunge line though, so it could be an interesting ride...

I'll try to get some pictures tonight...it's been too long since I've taken new pictures!

Nothing much new here...

I haven't been updating, because I haven't really been riding much. I need to kick myself into gear though...I probably won't be competing Luke until September, but still.

I'm moving the boys next month...I'm really sad to leave where I'm at now...I love everyone there so much, and I'm going to miss a lot of things, but I found a place right by my house that's super cheap. I love feeding the horses, but with school starting soon, I won't be able to do it, and I can't afford to stay there without feeding. This new place is nothing spectacular, but they have nice pastures, nice stalls, a (small) outdoor, and I'm allowed to ride in the pastures. It's close enough to home that I can run out and do blanket changes and stuff, so that should work out.

Molly rode Luke on Saturday, and said that he got his leads right away. Maybe it's just me that can't get them. I need to work on them. He needs his feet done soon though. She said she jumped him, and he was okay going up to them, but he wanted to run away after them. So she worked on slowing him down, and it sounded like she was successful. I'm making my dad build me some standards so I can still jump at the new place. I need to get back into riding shape first though!

I might get to go to Bath Pony Club's mini trial on August 23rd...if not, South Farm on September 13th! :)

Updates!

Let's see...I got to ride both boys last night, which was awesome.

Jodi...Jodi, Jodi, Jodi :) Melissa and I had to go to the back pasture to get Jodi and Luke in, and being lazy, I thought it would be a good idea to hope on Jodi and let him carry me back to the barn. Probably wouldn't have been a bad idea if I'd bothered to tie the lead rope to the other side of his halter to make reins. He got confused when I asked him to turn, and somehow I slid off even though he wasn't really moving. Fall one. So I had Melissa boost me back up..but she was laughing, and somehow she threw me up even though Jodi was walking away. Fall two...I hit the ground in the same position, almost the same spot. Jodi just stood there. Third time was a charm though, and we safely made it back to the barn...it was a piece of cake once I had "reins". So I'm sore today even though I thought I wouldn't be.

I think his supplement is starting to work already. He was full of energy yesterday, and didn't seem nearly as stiff. I actually got to canter him undersaddle! It was the most cantering he's done in years, and it was all I could do to make him stop to cool out. He was charging around like a wild man.

Luke was pretty hyped up too. He wasn't bad, but he made it clear that he wanted to go. We did lots of walk and trot, and I could tell he was starting to anticipate the canter, so I made him do trot/walk transitions for a while. When I finally asked him to canter, I asked for the right lead, which he gave me, but he LAUNCHED into it. Once I got over the initial shock (and laughter), I let him hand gallop for a little bit and made him canter nicely. Second time, he picked up the wrong lead, but when I stopped and asked again, he got it right. Still wanted to go go go though. I switched to the left, and he gave me the wrong lead, did a flying change, and then did another change back onto the wrong lead. So I regrouped and asked again and he gave it to me. I think he's starting to get more balanced, because he's been better about leads lately. After I was done, Molly hopped on him and rode for a while. He definitely had lots of energy left. He was spooking at stupid stuff, but she just laughed about it. He got his leads for her, and she cantered him for a good long time.

It was so cool to see someone else ride him...he looked amazing. He's starting to accept contact more. Now instead of getting offended and tossing his head around, he'll settle down and reach into it. I don't think I need spurs anymore either. He was moving off of my leg pretty well yesterday. I think the grass and the alfalfa hay are giving him loads of energy. He's starting to pick weight up though, and he's looking nice. Except for the sun bleached look, but that's okay.

It was an awesome horsey day yesterday...so good to see Jodi acting young again!

Nothing new here...

I haven't updated because nothing has been going on. I'm still crazy busy, and super stressed all the time, and feeling like a failure quite often. Let's see...I think Luke's been ridden twice in the last week.

Thursday I lunged him in side reins and then got on him. He was really really good, and picked up the right lead on his first try. Then threw a hissy fit and gave me crap about his left lead. Seriously? But we finally got it, and then Jen got on and rode him around a little.

Yesterday, Molly rode him. She said he was really good and picked up his leads, and then she took him on a trail ride. So I'm sure he had fun. He loves her, and she loves him, so it's perfect.

I have a lesson tonight, hopefully he'll be a good boy. I'm going to lunge him in side reins first...it gets him in the right mindset to work. I'll update after my lesson if there's anything worth reporting.

Ay yi yi

Can there please be more hours in the day? I don't have time to do anything that I want to do. I feel like I'm slacking in all areas of my life - friends feel like I'm ditching them constantly, but it's not like I'm doing it to go ride, because ponees are feeling neglected too. Luke was a jerk on the ground last week, and he's always perfect.

Anyway, I'm not sure if anyone reads this even, but it's good for me to keep track of my progress. I have GOT to start riding him more. I do better during the school year when I don't have to work 40 hours a week.

Molly is gonna start riding him once a week for me, which is super exciting. So hopefully I'll be able to ride him at least three times a week and lunge him once. That would be 5 days. I gotta get moving though....Grand River is in less than a month. Yikes!

So my goal for schedules for next week will be:

Monday: Molly ride Luke.

Tuesday: My turn! Hopefully work on flatwork and a little bit of jumping if he's doing well.

Wednesday: Lunge in Side Reins

Thursday: Day off for Luke

Friday: Outside riding - flat work and jumping

Saturday: More dressage

Sunday: Day off

So hopefully we'll finally start getting somewhere. We're doing very green at Grand River. *sigh*...it would be Baby Beginner Novice if I could just get that right lead. Oh well...one step at a time!