Crazy Busy!

Wow, I haven't updated lately, really. I've been so busy, I don't even know where to start! From last Saturday (the 16th) to this past Saturday, I took care of the barn so Mandi could go away. I knew it would be hard work, but I had no idea how much, I guess. I cleaned over 100 stalls last week, crazy! So, by the time I got done with everything, I didn't usually have much motivation to ride. I did ride a few times though.

Molly and I took a trail ride on Monday, and had a really nice time. Found a couple little logs to jump in the woods and had a nice gallop in a field...just what I needed. Luke was a good boy too.

On Thursday, Molly and I set up some jumps. As we were getting ready to tack up, some people drama happened, and I wasn't feeling much like riding. Molly convinced me too, and I ended up having a great ride. Luke jumped everything I pointed him at! We had one run out, cantering a 2'3" vertical...I think he does best if we trot towards it, and I sit and wait, letting him decide if he should canter. He picked up a canter 2 or 3 strides out, and jumped it beautifully...it was the best feeling in the world! Aside from that, we cantered little cross rails, jumped a couple of 2' verticals, and ended with a 2' oxer...it was crazy fun!

All in all, Luke has been a really good boy! I can't wait to get my new saddle at the end of the month, I hope we both like it! We are headed to South Farm on June 7th, hopefully with new saddle in tow, and Luke behaving like a good boy! I think we're just going to do the crossrails in schooling jumpers, and not do a dressage test. He gets so uptight, that we don't usually have good tests. We'll see how it goes...I might be able to sign up there for one. If not, there's always next time. I think this summer will be full of fun stuff!

In which Luke gets his butt kicked....

Ay yi yi.

Pony has my number. I discovered this on Tuesday night after a lesson that left me in tears. Granted, I was tired, which is never a good thing when combined with stress.

I've been trying really hard to make Luke use himself lately and go on the bit - at least I think I have. My trainer told me Tuesday night that I was still letting him go around la di da with his head in the air, doing a giraffe impression. Ouch. Okay, so we need to improve. We're getting a mirror in the indoor soon - Yay! She also slammed me about my position which seemed to be worse than usual on Tuesday...apparently my horse and I have the same tendency to hollow out our backs....

So, we moved on to canter work - note that this was supposed to be a jumping lesson, because we've been drilling flatwork lately. We'd planned on warming up and doing just a few minutes of flatwork, and going straight to jumping. Good plan...until...

I could. not. get. the. right. lead. It wasn't there....zip. zilch. nada. I mean, sometimes it takes me a couple of tries...but Tuesday night? After 10 wrong leads in a row, there were tears in my eyes. I know that I don't always ask the best, but I also know that Luke knows better.

So my trainer hopped on to see if it was me or him. Much to my surprise, it was him. He was giving her as much crap as he gave me. She would set him up perfectly, and bam. He'd take OFF with his head in the air on the wrong lead. She wanted to get the lead 3 times in a row, and then move on to jumping as a reward for him. He was such a brat...he'd do it perfectly twice, and then the third time, he'd pull out a wrong lead- run away type thing. She got mad. Not abusive, but she raised her voice with him, and stopped him quickly when he'd start off on the wrong lead. A couple steps of backing and then a trot to canter transition. Hmm.....after he realized that she was raising her voice, and not letting him canter on the wrong lead, he was perfect. They did a small course, and then she passed him back to me.

We decided that I wouldn't even try to canter, I'd just trot the jumps and if he landed on the right lead, keep it. He landed on the right lead every single time. So we ended up cantering some little crossrails.

So I learned a very important lesson - hey, that's what I pay her for! I learned that I can't be as nice to him as I have been lately...there's a difference between being nice and letting him get away with murder. I'm not doing him any favors by letting him grow up to be a spoiled brat.

I rode last night and he was on his best behavior - We got the right lead four out of four times, and blew it on the fifth. After two wrong lead takeoffs, I growled at him, and BAM! Right lead...like magic!

Amazing.... :)

Show Anxiety Sucks....

And I just need to be more patient. It's not going to happen overnight. Maybe not even in 3 years. I need to figure out how to get over my anxiety and nerves, and give him a fair ride. I'm not sure which one of us starts the cycle of tenseness, but it doesn't go away. He's the most sensitive horse I've ever ridden, by far. I need to start taking him places, and just letting him chill. It'd be easier if I had a trailer. So I guess my goal for this year is to take him to as many places as I can. If we ride, great, if not, that's okay too. I need to have more patience, and maybe readjust my goals. They were originally baby beginner novice, which wouldn't be a problem for his skill level I don't think. It will just depend on if I can get him to go places without a meltdown.

In fairness to him, I didn't prepare as well as I should have for this last show. Since it was at home, I figured he'd be great. And I had a wonderful ride on him the day before, so I thought - "Yay! We CAN do this!" The big brown horse proved me wrong :) When I saw how hyped up he was, I should have taken him somewhere and just let him canter it out. But I wasn't sure where to do it...the round pen was flooded, horses were in the pastures, and the outdoor looked pretty muddy as well. Indoor was used for the show. But now I know for next time :) Even if there's a show at home, I need to set him up for success by letting him get all his running and bucking out BEFORE I get on and tense up.

Anyway...back to the recap. We got on, we walked, we trotted. Trotting was like riding a giraffe, but he settled a little. Since it was just a schooling show, I should have said heck with it and ridden him in the running martingale, but I was *trying* to practice for real shows. But we went in to our walk/trot Eq. class, and managed a 1st place. Mostly because I was riding against little little kids who didn't know their diagonals. So I felt really bad. But then in the next class we got 4th out of 4 because he was head up, cantering, etc. Completely inconsistent. So I redeemed myself, and didn't have to feel bad anymore :)

I put him back in his stall for a while, and thought maybe he'd chill. When I got back on a couple of hours later, he seemed a bit more relaxed. But wasn't really. When we did Intro A, he tried to trot out of the arena. Came down centerline sideways and wouldn't stop, etc. I'm sure it was entertaining for everyone watching. Intro B wasn't a whole lot better. Both tests were videotaped, I can't wait to watch those...not. But...whatever. I need to just chill with him. I went back out that night and rode him and he was great. Rode both tests and he was 100 times better. Ugh.

I don't know what to do anymore :( I wish I could fix me, because I'm sure that's the problem. We have the hunter pace on the 25th, and I'm nervous already. But I need to go into it with the attitude that he will be okay. We CAN do this. I just wish he had the rider/owner that he deserves...I feel like all his talent is going to waste!

Dressage Fun! :)

I decided to really work on Luke's flatwork, and try riding in my dressage saddle to see if I'm more comfortable cantering. I don't know why I don't ride in that saddle more often...I'm definitely going to now!

Molly & I decided to work on the Intro & Beginner Novice dressage tests, which I got laminated the other day. Yay! :)

We started with a warmup, and Luke felt better right from the start. Maybe this saddle puts me in a more effective and correct position. Hmm. He was accepting contact well at the walk and trot, and was doing some great shoulder out. He's starting to understand shoulder in a little bit more as well.

Then we rode Intro A & Intro B. Luke decided that he was going to be prissy and NOT walk or trot through the puddles from the dripping rain in the indoor. Ugh...circles were not very good, since the puddle was right in our way. Intro B was a little better, but not much. The rail work and diagonals weren't too bad though.

I did a few canter transitions, and I felt much more relaxed. It was great to see him slow down and accept contact....amazing what a difference it makes when I'm not cranking on his mouth from being tense and scared! He picked up the correct lead both times in each direction, and then it was onto Beginner Novice Test A. It was the first canter dressage test I've ever ridden! It wasn't perfect, probably couldn't even be considered good, but it was decent, especially for our first try. We still had the circling problem cuz of the puddles, and he did two flying lead changes during the right canter circle. I didn't steer well enough, and he thought that I was asking for a figure 8. But once he was back on the circle, he switched onto the correct lead. Good boy!

After the test, I asked for a right lead canter transition, just so we could do a circle on the right lead without swapping leads. Once he did that, we cooled out and were done. It was a really successful ride I think!

The barn is having a schooling show on the 2nd of May, I'm so excited! I'm going to half dress up - Breeches, Tall Boots, and a polo with my show helmet. I'll braid Luke (I think, anyway...I'll try!). I'm going to try to get Beginner Novice A well enough to ride it, and I'm going to ride Intro A & B. I'm also going to do the Intro jumping class - up to 18". I'm trying to decide if I want to try a walk/trot equitation class...it will depend on how many other people are in it...Why press our luck. Maybe I'll show Jodi just for fun..there's an idea!!

I'm excited :) There's even going to be someone there with a really nice camera to take pictures that they'll sell as a 4-H fundraiser...I'll probably end up buying all mine!

I have a lesson tonight...hopefully it will go as well as my last ride did!!

Frustrating...

It's so frustrating to feel like I'm not getting any better as a rider.

Luke is coming along so well....he's willing, he's smart, he's sweet, with a great personality...I couldn't ask for more. But he is a horse, not a human, or a mind reader.

I ended up putting his running martingale back on last week. I don't think it's really doing anything, because he doesn't put his head up much. But my trainer calls it my "placebo". I guess I feel more secure with it on, and am more relaxed, I'm not sure why. So the goal is to use it for a month, and then take it off.

His walk and trot are really really nice. Reaching into the bridle, staying fairly rhythmic. He can do shoulder out, and shoulder in is a work in progress. His halts are starting to become square, and we are starting to work on circles a lot. A lot a lot! They have much room for improvement. I'd be embarrassed to ride a dressage test right now, even an intro one!

We've jumped a couple of times, and it's going great. I don't have huge position flaws anymore...I think my leg slips back a tad sometimes, but I keep my heels down and don't catch him in the mouth. I don't think my equitation is the prettiest, but it's effective, and safe. We've been doing baby stuff mostly, and Luke is smart. He also has a limit...if he feels we've jumped too much (In fairness to him, last Saturday was kind of excessive...my sister was trying to get pictures, and I jumped quite a bit), he'll run out. Only if we jump the same thing multiple times though...he seems okay when it's a variety. On Monday, Molly and I jumped a crossrail...we broke out real standards and wood poles this time, and it was fun. He was really good, and we were feeling brave and moved it up to a "huge" vertical. We measured later and it was only like 2' or 2'3"...so much for that, haha. Luke looked a little hesitant and slammed on the brakes halfheartedly. Kind of a run-out, kind of a stop. He did this twice, and slammed his knee on the standard the second time. After that, he popped over it very smartly. We ended on a good note, and got lots of treats.

Cantering is rough right now. I'm not scared to canter out in the open and I do okay cantering to jumps..but cantering in the indoor has become a huge deal to me, I hate it. I forget to breathe, and tense up, and it's not good. We need lots of work on it.

But he is coming along, and I'm happy with him...he amazes me every day, usually in a good way! :)

Updates!

Oh man...I have so much stuff, I don't even know where to start. So it'll probably be a long, boring entry!

Let's see...last Sunday we went on a trail ride, which is becoming a weekly Sunday occurence. I was supposed to be the responsible adult and say that we should stay inside because it was gonna rain on and off all day, but when Molly said "Look Kim! No clouds!", I couldn't resist...so across the street we went. We meandered over to the trails, and about twenty minutes in, the skies opened up. Sprinkles at first, but it didn't take long before it was flat out pouring. So off we went back home at a good clip. Both the boys were excited to get back to the barn, and were looking at us like "My human is an idiot". So we threw coolers on them, put them in their stalls, ran to Speedway for hot chocolate, and then turned the heat in the lounge way up until we were [mostly] dry. Man it was fun doing chores in wet jeans...not!

Then Monday, he got his teeth done. I feel awful. I knew that they needed done, but they were reallly bad...he actually had cuts on both sides of his mouth. :( Poor baby! So he got a couple days off, and then back to work we went, with much improvement. I had a lesson this past week, and he was wonderful. Lots of trotting and cantering on the bit, and he gave me correct leads, and *sort of* had collected transitions. Progress takes time, I keep telling myself. I should probably not let him gallop around so much on trails...he tends to forget what a slow canter is, and gets heavy on the forehand.

On Friday, I rode for a while before I did chores. Molly and I put up a little crossrail, which we flipped to a vertical later. Luke has figured out that the PVC poles don't really hurt, and that he doesn't have to put forth any effort on little fences. So he halfheartedly trotted/hopped over them, taking them down with us several times. Next time I'm breaking out the wood poles, and leaving his splint boots off, I think. He is actually a really cute jumper when we canter to the jumps, or when they are wood poles. Otherwise, he thinks it isn't worth his time. Molly and I traded and I got to ride Atticus for a little bit...I hope Luke grows up to be like him! He's so even and doesn't speed up like Luke does.

On Saturday, Jodi's old mom came out to visit. It was super fun for her to see him, and it made me feel really good that she kept saying how good he looked. We gave her son a pony ride, and then took a bunch of pictures. I had to do a double take when I logged onto facebook and saw Jodi as her profile picture. He's famous! :) He's such a good soul...even when he's a jerk about stuff. But he'll be 25 on the 30th, so basically, he gets to do whatever he wants :)

Yesterday, we rode in the outdoor, and had fun. Both of the boys were WOUND though...maybe it was the weather? They both pretended that they didn't know how to canter on the correct lead, and were both pulling so hard that it was next to impossible to sit down and canter. I finally gave up, gave him his head, and let him blow off some steam. Once we got that out of the way, it was a good time. I'm so glad I'm riding more, and seeing the boys more.

I was told last night that I need to get some new pictures of Luke, so I'll try to do that in the next week. I took a cute picture on my phone last night of Luke with his head over the stall door, standing by his new stall sign. I'll try to upload it.

Whew! That was loooong!

The Best Trail Ride!

I'm a little late updating from it, but I had a great trail ride with Molly on Sunday.

She was on Brandy, and I was on Luke. We decided to check out the trails across the street. I was nervous to cross the street and walk through the allotment, but Luke is totally traffic safe, and only got a little tense when he heard dogs barking behind a wood fence and couldn't SEE them.

We crossed another street, and turned onto the dirt path, and off we went. We had a nice canter through a field to start off with, and then went up a hill into the woods. It was gorgeous back there. I am so excited...the trails are AMAZING, and are there any time I want to go! Much better than just riding around the farm, which is fun too. There are some steep hills, but it will be great to do trot sets and get Luke in shape. We cantered up hillls and then walked back down them, looped around, galloped along the edge of a cornfield, walked around some more hoping we weren't lost, and then wound our way out of the woods, going back the way we came. I was glad for my helmet, cuz I got whacked on a few branches, but no biggie.

We walked around in the outdoor for a bit, and then decided to hit the back pasture to go canter in since it was empty for the afternoon. Luke couldn't figure out how to go down hills faster than a walk, and basically slid down a couple before figuring it out. We cantered laps up in two point, and then I let him gallop a bit. It was an awesome feeling, and he was totally manageable. The only thing that threw me was that I forgot that they're trained to gallop by balancing on their riders. So I was up in two point, and he stretched down and started pulling. I almost slid down his neck! But I got my balance back, and we had a blast. It was a wonderful horsey day!

I am getting so so excited for summer! We're building more jumps, and putting cross country jumps up, and now that I know about the trails...this place just keeps getting better and better! I am so in love with it there...and the boys seem thrilled too! I need to take some new pictures...oops :)

Tomorrow is the tack swap, which I'm going to head to for an hour or so before I go babysit for Caroline. Then I'm gonna hang with her until it's time to go feed horses, then I'll go back over and Mandi and I are going to finish making stall signs. yay! :)

Jodi got a nosebleed the other night, poor guy. He seems fine now though, so I dont know what's up. I guess he's just trying to take years off my life. First his eye, then this...I can't take much more!

We have Flying Changes!

So I got spoiled this week, and had 2 lessons - One on Tuesday and then one on Wednesday.

Tuesday's lesson was...interesting. We started on the lunge without reins, and maybe I got too relaxed because I just couldn't get it together after that. I can't support him at all at the posting trot - I lock my hands by the pommel, and I can't keep my leg under me very well.

So my trainer ended up riding him for a while, and he looked so pretty! He's growing up!

Wednesday we tried a different saddle, and I think I kept my leg under myself a bit better. We worked on a couple of jumps on the diagonal. Started with little crossrails that he could trot over, and then moved up to bigger crossrails that he still trotted over, and then made a 12" vertical. By the end, we were able to canter to the jump and way from it, doing figure 8's across the two jumps. We managed a few circuits before I got dizzy and almost passed out..oops. I n eed to learn to not hold my breath, but I don't really think that was totally it. I thought the passing out thing was better but maybe not.

But when Luke didn't land on the right lead, he would do a flying change and fix it himself. Mandi told me that if we were brave, we could just do jumpers, but I don't think I'm quite that brave. I'll stick to mini trials, and HOPEFULLY be able to move up to Baby Beginner Novice by the end of summer.

Now...he just needs to learn to canter better, so he can learn to counter canter, so we can put a cue on that flying change. *sigh*... One step at a time!

In other news, I rode in the outdoor yesterday and he was pretty good. We got some nice canter work in both directions, which was nice, and it was beautiful out!

Spring is in the air!

Yikes, I haven't updated in a while. I've been meaning to keep up with this better, but I forget about it sometimes.

Spring is coming, and it can't get here soon enough. The only thing I'm worried about is getting too hot while doing chores this summer and passing out, but I haven't passed out recently so I should be okay.

Jodi had a swollen shut eye on Thursday, and I was pretty worried. We put compresses on it through out the day, and some clear eyes in it when it opened up. We were planning on calling the vet Friday morning, but his eye was about 70% open in the morning, and by afternoon, it was at 95%. Maybe he just got some hay in it? He's fine now, which is a huge relief.

The vet came out yesterday to do spring shots. I'm doing my own this year, but I did have her pull a coggins on Luke. She checked both boys, and Jodi doesn't need his teeth done, but Luke does. So that will be next Monday. Maybe that's why he's getting so skinny. I hope so. He gets a bale of hay a day, and six pounds of grain, plus some grass outside. If he doesn't pick back up in the next month, I'm going to look into cool cals or something like that. I'm going to stop and get some corn oil tonight I think.

He's been going really really well though. He never spooks, which makes him so nice to ride because you don't have to worry. One of the younger girls at the barn has been riding him now and then for me, and she took him on two trail rides this week. She said that he was even good when he was cantering behind another horse, and he didn't try to speed up or catch up. I'm so proud of my boy. We have a lesson tonight, I can't wait!

I'm hoping to have a massage therapist or chiropractor out for him in the next couple months. He's sound, and doesn't seem sore, but I'm wondering if that would loosen him up. We're still having trouble with the right lead. More likely, I've just built up some mental block against it, because he's fine on the lunge line.

Anyway...that's what's new here!

Update Time!

Wow, it's been a little while since I've updated! It's just been cold and yucky and I haven't been too motivated to ride. I had a lesson last week, and then didn't ride at all after that, and then had another lesson on Tuesday.

Lesson #1 was not my best ride ever. I was stressed out and frustrated about other things and I think that tension was carrying over to Luke. Plus, I just couldn't get my position right. Poor Luke. He really was trying hard to please me and do what he thought I wanted him to. He's such a sweetheart. He's still a little head shy which makes me really sad...I want to know what they did to him to make him that way. He's improved SO much since coming to the new barn though.

On Thursday I hopped on Jodi bareback for a little bit. I love that old man, he's such a sweetheart. We mostly just walked with a little bit of trot. On Sunday when I was bringing horses in, he was going nuts out in the pasture. Full out galloping...I didn't know he could still move that fast. He stretched his neck out and got low to the ground and everything. Melissa got some great pictures that I'll try to get uploaded. He paid for it though, I think, cuz he was off last night. Not bad, just pretty stiff. So Melissa walked him around for a while when I was riding Luke.

Lesson #2(Last night) was 100% better than last week'sl. I had a better mindset going in, and I was really focused. I also rode him in his new bit, a KK ultra, and I think it's really going to work out well. We did some trotting, and he's really starting to accept contact nicely, it feels great. We also started a little bit of shoulder-out at the walk, and he's doing much better than I thought he would. It also really seemed to help him stretch out. I got some great canter work on his left lead, and his right lead is improving. He picks it up correctly every time on the lunge line, so I guess I'm just not asking right. We're getting better though.

I am so happy with the barn...everything is better than I thought it would be, everyone is super friendly, I'm so glad to be getting back into regular lessons, and it's awesome to see the horses more. I can't wait until nice weather where I can ride outside, go trail riding, and start to think about summer shows. It will be great!