Appaloosa Dressage

2nd Ride In A Row

2012-01-31T10:02:00.001-08:00

I got home from work to find Annie riding Spots around the arena! He was being very good. She said she lunged him about 20 minutes and got on and he was being great. They trotted for me and he acted like he hadn't had a break at all. Pics will come tonight!

Whew, One Long Lunge

2012-01-29T16:52:00.000-08:00

Annie was reporting insubordination on Spots part so today I went out to help her. I tacked him up and put side-reins on him, then lunged him. And lunged him. Both directions. I would ask him to halt and Annie would act like she was getting on. If he acting spooky or unsure, we lunged some more. He cantered both directions, but mostly trotted. Finally we cooled down with a lot of walk. Annie offered to get on again. He stood like a gentleman. She rode him in a circle still on the lunge. He seemed fine. She pulled the side-reins off the saddle and rode him, still on the lunge, for quite a while, walking and halting, moving him in and out on the circle with her legs. He started licking and chewing right away. By the time we put him away, I had lunged him about 2 hours and she'd ridden him around 30 minutes. WHAT a work-out. I think it was good for him though. He was still offering to trot by the end, we did not completely wear him out. He did enough walking that all his sweat was dried by the time we put him away so I didn't have to worry about him getting cold. The craziest thing was that he seemed taller than I remembered so after we worked him we stood him on concrete and measured him. And squared him again and measured him again. He kept coming out to 15.3H! Which means he's grown about 1 1/2 inches since last summer! He might make 16H yet. Annie is supposed to come work him again tomorrow, so I hope she is able to. I think if she can work him again while he's tired from today his brain might click back into gear and they'll be able to make progress again.

So Happy To See Mud!

2012-01-25T11:18:00.000-08:00

The horrible icy-snow has melted (mostly) and the ground is mud! It's pretty depressing when that is an improvement! SOO looking forward to being able to ride or at least pay someone to ride my horse! Spots actually kept his weight this winter, maybe that means he's done being a bottomless pit of a horse. He is very excited to get back to work. We have many plans for him.

If you want to do something really depressing, add up all the money you've spent on your horse. Spots, who I bred myself and therefore he was "free", has to-date cost me $7642. Give or take a few hundred because I estimated hay usage when he was little. His current market value? Let's just say not $7642. So, my breed-to-sell idea didn't work out like planned. The stallion died, the market dropped (plummeted), and he had an expensive birth. Live and learn and make better choices next time.

My next-time-better-choice has been decided...I think. No more breeding, probably (hopefully) no more buying-to-train-my-way. I'm going to save up and buy exactly what I want. Something already trained, hopefully even already shown. I want to be able to just enjoy riding and showing and hopefully winning. I've really enjoyed training and raising and all that goes with it, but I'm a mom now. I'm not going to do anymore starting. And why buy something to raise and train if you're going to hire it done anyway? So I'm going to get something done already. Hopefully by the time I'm ready to buy the market won't have recovered too much to make the price way beyond what I can afford.

Till that day, Spots is going to enjoy all the training and shows he can handle. We have a show schedule started on his Shutterfly site; SpotMeSomeColor We won't be hitting all of those, but that is what there is locally. There are about 4 more we'll probably hit that aren't listed with dates online yet, so they'll be added later.

Wish us luck and come watch if you can!

First Outing Of 2012

2012-01-12T09:22:00.000-08:00

Last night, Annie hauled Spots to a nearby arena for a group riding lesson. It was his first time there and his first time out since the Jim Brigg's Clinic. Annie acquired an adorable 2 horse straight load with a tack room earlier in the day and Spots has never used a straight load, so their training began with getting him in. He wasn't too bad, about 20 minutes or so.

I didn't get to go watch, so no pictures, but she reported that at the arena he acted like it was probably the first time he'd been anywhere and she mostly lunged him in the middle of the arena all evening. She said he was full of it, bucking and putting on a show on the line. He was quite distracted by the other horses and how fast they were going. We expected that. He'll be calm and his normal self there in no time. They plan to attend regularly I think. It's very close to my place and low-key so she can work with him however she needs.

Another day, another ride!

2012-01-09T10:28:00.000-08:00

Annie worked everyone at my house yesterday. She lunged and Spots, lunged, worked and sat on Britches, then took Marigold and Toby for a ride around the block.

Annie lunged Spots for about 10 minutes on side-reins and he was ready to ride. She rode him in the arena and worked on connected inside leg to outside rein and did lots of circles. They focused on listening. She said he did really well and definitely worked his brain!

Britches she worked on the ground a long time, including lunging and long-lining with help from Michelle, then sat on him and went around the round-pen for about 15 minutes at the end of the session. He is being naughty about being caught out of his paddock, but they'll get that sharp again. Today, it is freezing, so it's a good thing she got out yesterday! I can't wait for consistent, warmer weather!

Unseasonably Warm

2012-01-05T09:02:00.000-08:00

Spots got worked yesterday, Annie said he was a bouncy helium balloon, but after long lunge session on side-reins he found his brain and they ended on a good note. She got on and rode him in the round-pen and he was fine at the end. Hopefully her "real-job" hours will allow her to get over to work him more often. It will help as the days get longer also. I can't wait to get him back to "ridable" status!

Back In The Saddle

2011-12-27T09:27:00.000-08:00

Annie had a good session with Spots and rode him a little at the end. She reported he was bouncy on the ground, but happy to have her attention and was eager to have her aboard again. She said he clearly wanted to go explore the fields and get back to work doing interesting things again.

In addition to work Spots, Annie is going to continue the training on Britches, a small Appy gelding staying at my house and owned by a family member. He had 30 days with a pro trainer so he very green. Both are planned to attend the Chief Joe next summer so they need to be very trail-savvy. Annie will have plenty of training to do!

I'm looking forward to seeing Spots in the show ring this spring/summer and then wow them on the Ride!

Back to work!

2011-12-20T08:16:00.000-08:00

Spots had 4 ribs out, his hip out, and his poll out so he had a bad headache. He is all fixed up now and Annie will ride him today for the first time since he put himself out of whack, which was about 6 weeks ago. He has NOT enjoyed his "break", he much prefers being fussed over every day.

Yey For The Accupressurist!

2011-12-19T14:10:00.000-08:00

Spots got his back worked on today. He was biting Annie's foot when she tried to put any right leg on him which is definitely not normal. So he's been waiting about 2 months to have his people-mommy find money to get him seen. Today was the day! Stephanie said he had FOUR ribs out, his hip out, and a headache. So he's all fixed up now and Annie will return him to work tomorrow! We will be back in the show-ring and attending trail rides as soon as things start in the Spring, so they have some work to do! I'm very excited to see how it goes!

Where Did We Go?

2011-12-12T10:44:00.000-08:00

We will soon return to regular posting. Spots has been on rest with a rib out and the accupressurist is scheduled to come fix that Monday. Other than that, we are behind on posts because my mother-in-law died in a crazy horse-related accident which really threw the whole family for a loop. She was leading her little gelding and he apparently spooked at a dog and pulled back, the reins she was leading him from broke and she fell backwards and hit her head on a rock and was gone, just like that.

Spots will return under-saddle next month and will be on trail-rides and in the show-ring in the spring and summer, ending the summer with his debut on the Chief Joe with his rider, Annie, aboard. Should be lots of fun and tons of great pictures.

I am now working full-time, so I won't be able to photograph every session, but I will try to get picture updates as much as I can. Stick with us, we'll have a great Appy journey in 2012.

Weather Change and Upcoming Clinic

2011-10-05T19:35:00.000-07:00

Spots has had two injuries in the last few weeks, neither serious and both unrelated, but he hasn't gotten to be ridden much. He did great on his last ride Monday. Sunday he will be in a lesson with Annie aboard at a clinic with Jim Briggs. Should be exciting. I won't get to take him to see the arena ahead of time, so I plan to haul in early and let him see everything before the lesson. Hopefully that will be enough to have him focused and calm. I will take pictures and video, so that will be online next week! I'm very excited to see him debut in the Dressage community here.

My First Ride!

2011-09-09T23:54:00.000-07:00

I rode Spots all by myself today! I tacked him up and got on, no warming up by Annie or pony-rides. He was good! We walked, trotted, walked over some poles, and CANTERED! He is FAST. But he has a great stop and it wasn't unsettling at all. He is learning to stretch down and go on the bit on cue. I worked on leg-aids and he seemed to improve even in just the one session.

We rode out in the field with Michelle on Dan, an Arab gelding a friend owns. Dan was screaming for Michelle's mare, but Spots was not bothered at all and we just walked around nicely in the field. I was very proud of him.

He thinks he is SO grown up. It is really amazing to be riding my "baby" horse! He is such a good boy.

Spots Photo Shoot/Desensitization

2011-09-08T00:01:00.000-07:00

Annie brought over a big black cape and wore a floaty dress to ride Spots in today. He pretty much didn't care about any of it. We got some awesome pictures! After their session I got on and walked him a bit and jogged him in half the arena. He was good, though tired by the time I got on because it was really hot today. Pretty soon I'll be able to actually ride him myself!

WALLA WALLA COUNTY FAIR!!! September 3/4, 2011

2011-09-06T14:03:00.000-07:00

Annie decided we should go to the fair with the herd and post enter. We planned Michelle on Lucy doing the two walk/trots in English Saturday and Western Sunday, Spots and Annie the same, and me and Marigold the same, then Annie on Marigold in English Color, and Annie on Justin in a few classes both days. Things didn't work quite like that. Marigold ended up having sore feet on the rocks in the arena and we scratched her canter class Saturday and didn't bother to bring her Sunday. Spots had withers too sore to do English so he just watched Saturday and only competed Sunday.

SATURDAY: English

Saturday I got up early and cleaned out the Featherlite which we were lucky enough to borrow. We got everything packed in and loaded the horses. Spots hesitated, but got in with a couple pats on the rump. Marigold got in with a stern word and Lucy took the longest, but still was in in just a few minutes.

We were parked in the gravel pit lot which is the farthest horse parking from the arena. So, we tacked everyone up and walked them over to the check-in area and just hung out till time to go in. Annie didn't have a kimberwick for Justin and was riding him in Spots' D-ring for her first class or two. I told her she looked like she had roped a wild mustang, thrown a saddle on it and gone in the class. A friend loaned her a kimberwick for her last couple classes and they looked much more sane.

By the end of the day Michelle had two ribbons and I had two ribbons. Justin didn't feel like ribbons on Saturday. We packed up, headed home and I went to bed early. Michelle and Annie headed back to the rodeo.

SUNDAY: Western

Sunday, Norman and Des joined us and we headed back in. Marigold stayed home because of her sore feet and Spots missed her, but we told him to make friends with Lucy. I pinned numbers on saddle pads, registered the horses and signed everyone in, then left them to warm up and my little family and I headed off to scout the fair. I was quite disappointed that everything was closed as I had hoped to do our family stuff before the show started. We walked through the small animal barns and Desmond was fascinated by the fluffy bunnies, boking hens, honking geese, giant pigs, sheep, goats.

We went back to check on things at the show. Annie reported the Spots had bucked while being lunged and she had lunged him out well. Her groom for the day held him while Annie worked Justin in prep for her classes on him. Nik the groom hopped on him and sat on him for a long time while they watched the show until his classes.

Norman and Des and I headed back to the fair and walked through the pavillion and got Desmond cotton candy. We headed back to the show so I could take video and pictures of Annie's Justin classes. Norman and Des sat in the shade in the grass by the barns while I stood on the bleachers to photograph.

Justin looked much better Western, still not thrilled about being shown, but a bit more with the program. Annie and her pairs partner got 5th out of 9 in Western Pairs. Finally the event I'd been waiting for; the Walk/Jog's! Michelle on Lucy and Annie on Spots entered at the trot and I video-ed and took pictures. In Walk/Trot 11 & Over Annie and Spots got 2nd out of 4, and in the Walk/Trot Green Horse Michelle and Lucy got 2nd out of 3.

We were thrilled with how well everyone behaved and we were happy everyone got to win a ribbon. We consider it a very successful first time at the fair for Michelle and I. Annie decided once again that Justin was tired of being a rail show horse and swore not to bring him next year. We'll see if she keeps her resolve, lol!

Night Ride

2011-09-06T13:19:00.000-07:00

Sunday, August 28th, Annie and I decided to take Spots out of the arena for the first time at my house. We rode over to my grandma's house through the alfalfa field. We rode up the gravel road and cantered from the house to the road where we encountered a tiny chestnut mini pulling a cart. We jumped off our horses both of whom were wide-eyed and concerned. Spots' curiosity soon took over his fear and he crept up and started sniffing. He sniffed the cart, the shafts, then the mini. He sniffed the mini's nose and after several seconds, the mini reared, struck, and squealed! I laughed hysterically! After a few minutes, Spots and the mini were friends and the mini and his driver continued on their way down the road.

Spots and Marigold and Annie and I headed back towards my place, cantering the gravel lane. We walked around the side of the field and met up with Michelle on Lucy. Together we trotted around the entire field together, giggling on our happy horses. Michelle headed back to the arena, but Annie and I decided to make another lap. It was nearly dark and dry lightning was flashing in the sky. We took off trotting and on the orchard side bumped our horses up into a canter. We cantered the back side of the field, in the pitch dark, with lightning flashing in the sky. It was tremendous!

Spots New Games

2011-08-29T14:28:00.000-07:00

Annie has been playing with Spots in everything. She has been patterning him on barrels at the walk to help him learn to turn off her legs and neck-rein. This last week we added a "jump"; a pole on the ground between jump standards that we raised to one side in the cup for a couple days and finally to a full X. He had a learning curve at how to pick up his feet, then started getting into it and hopping over.

Marigold will lope up and will only trot over, she will NOT jump it. I'm not sure if it's because she doesn't think it's high enough to be worth her time or if she doesn't like to jump. Some day when they're in better condition we'll raise it to a bar and higher to see if she'll jump it. But we're a ways from that.

In addition to barrel patterns and baby jumps, Spot's is working on learning to canter around the end of the arena. It is harder to balance going around a curve, but he is gaining the strength and getting close to being able to canter the whole arena. Annie is also working on getting both leads at the right time. He struggles with his left lead.

Spots First Show!

2011-08-29T13:48:00.000-07:00

We decided to take Spots and Marigold to the last show in the Hot August Nights series. I rode Marigold English, Michelle rode her Western and did Showmanship with her, and Annie would do Showmanship with Spots. A couple days before the show, Annie decided to take Spots in the Western Walk/Jog and just school him if he couldn't handle the class.

Annie coached us Sunday and Wednesday and Thursday was the show. It is an evening show, so we cleaned them up and backed the trucks in the afternoon. We made it with plenty of time to get registered and ready. I sat in the stands to watch Showmanship. The 18 & Over Showmanship had 4 horses init. They all did pretty well, no one bombed. They all stood nicely in line-up, I was pretty impressed with Spots; it's hard for babies to hold still! Then they placed the class; Spot's and Annie got 2nd place and Marigold and Michelle got 3rd! I was shocked! When they came out of the arena I greeted them with pictures and congrats!

In the riding classes our biggest problem was the fact Marigold is out of shape and kept breaking gait when she was loping. She also wasn't always taking the correct lead. We had decided before hand to focus on staying in lope and not on the lead. We did pretty well for our first time out. Marigold and I placed 3/4 in English walk/trot, 4/4 in English Pl., and didn't place in our last huge class. Michelle and Marigold got 5/6 in Western pl. walk/jog, 4/4 wes. pl. and their Eq. class has 16 horses in it, so they didn't place in that one. Annie on Spots in Western Pleasure Walk/Jog 18 & Over got 4/6! I was amazed and impressed! We were SO pleased with Spot's first show! There will definitely be many more to come!

Middle of August Update

2011-08-29T13:23:00.000-07:00

Once Annie could Ride with a friend, we started pairing Spots up with Marigold. Michelle and I took turns on Marigold and Annie coached us from Spots back. Spots was being so good, Annie decided to try letting him open up and see if he'd canter, since he wouldn't in the round-pen when she tried before. She had us stand at the gate end of the arena, then took him to the far end. She began trotting, and let him go and encouraged him with her voice. It took a couple times down the side, but finally he took a canter step! We cheered him on. The next time he took 3 canter steps. By the end of the session he was cantering nearly the whole side!

Beginning of August Update

2011-08-29T13:14:00.000-07:00

Okay, overview of August:
While I was working as crew on the Chief Joseph Trail Ride in Montana, Annie got in a few rides on Spots. They rode in the round-pen and worked on haunch turns and side-passing, rode out of the round-pen and opened and closed the gate themselves, and rode in the small arena. Another day, she got on him bareback! He appeared to be over the "scary leg" issue as he let her belly up and hook her knee over to get on!

When I returned, they began riding in the big arena that is full-size Dressage arena size. They walked and jogged on the rail, then practiced turning round a burning barrel. He acted like he did that every day of his life. They has done the first try riding with another horse while I was gone, and Spots had not been sure about that plan. We did a session with me lunging Spots and Annie riding Marigold around to get him used to her being ridden without the complication of a rider on him at the same time.

At first he was highly suspicious when she came near, but he quickly got over it when Annie scratched his head from Marigold's back. Within minutes we was letting Mari trot up to him, side-pass to his side and have Annie lean over and scratch him. So, it appeared "Scary ridden horse" issue was resolved! This is exciting as it opens up so many more opportunities for him!
My desk-top crashed so I don't have access to the pictures of this week.

Spot's THIRD Ride!

2011-07-21T21:30:00.000-07:00

Annie came and rode Spot, she walked and trotted a ton in the round-pen. She asked for canter, but he couldn't quite get it in the round-pen; too small. He tried a couple times. At the end of the ride they rode out of the round-pen into the small arena and rode around a bit. He was super chill. Before she got on, she was leaning on him getting ready to mount and a helicopter went by low overhead. He didn't even flinch!

In addition to trotting and the usually walk/turn/stop/back, they worked on turn on the haunch, turn on the forehand, and side-pass....he was getting it! I couldn't believe it, I was very impressed. She said by the end of the ride he definitely knew what he was supposed to do depending on where she bumped him with her leg. I'm very excited. I can't wait to ride him myself!

Our immediate future plans are to take him to Walla Walla County Fair and do halter and showmanship, and sign up for two green-horse classes that we can scratch if he's not ready. I'm excited about that. Especially about not having to be the one showing, I love to groom, but I'm SUCH a nervous shower!

Spotless Can Jog/Trot!!

2011-07-14T17:52:00.000-07:00

Annie put another GREAT ride on Spotless Monday! She did about 15 minutes of ground-work, then I held him for her to get on. They walked around a while, then she asked him to jog and he took right off in a lovely jog. She said he has pretty nice transitions. She said he has a really smooth jog, also. He was really chill and relaxed and seemed to enjoy the attention. He turns his head all the way around and sniffs her a lot. If he's not sure what she's doing he sniffs her knee until he's satisfied.

Ground-Driving, Oh How We Love Thee

2011-07-14T17:33:00.000-07:00

About a month ago, we decided to work on Spotless listening to the bit better. Michelle accepted the mission. She did several sessions of ground-driving in the round-pen and walking on the side-reins. One evening she decided to show him off. it was quite impressive! We also went on a walk to grandma's and walked him on the road. He wasn't phased by the cars at all! The next day or so, we went all the way around the block with me riding Marigold. It went great; neither spooked at anything! Very encouraging!

My Little Foal is Growing Up!

2011-07-14T17:27:00.000-07:00

Great news; I found someone to ride Spotless and he LOVES her! The first day she worked him on the ground for 30-45 minutes, then was able to get on and she rode for at least 30 minutes at the walk. They halted, turned, and even backed a couple steps. He even let her get down without any issues.

Spotless Has A Spot

2011-07-02T14:20:00.000-07:00

Spotless needs a new barn name; he developed a SPOT on his right shoulder. I found someone to put rides on him, but we're having trouble coordinating. He got one ride on. He is nervous about the getting on, but then is fine. Once Anthony was on, he was great. Walked, halted, turned, and backed even. Even stood nice for him to get down. We just have to get past how scary it is for someone to swing their leg on.

Both Spotless and Marigold are doing well just on pasture, which I am NOT taking for granted. I am enjoying scrubbing buckets knowing I don't have to buy hay all summer. We'll buy our winter hay after the ride, so they are being pretty cheap right now.

No More Appys For Me =(

2011-05-25T13:57:00.000-07:00

Spotless is coming along great in training and is growing into a lovely young gelding. I decided to make a big decision and I gave Spotless to my best friend Michelle as an early birthday present. She is living with us and so Spotless is staying here, but she is taking care of him and paying for his feed and doing his training herself. She has never owned her own horse before but has lots of experience with them. I am here to help her out if she needs it, but she is getting to be a good horse-trainer.

We are getting to borrow a round-pen which is amazing! Michelle has been teaching him to ground-drive in the round-pen with the side-reins and long-lines so that he knows how to steer before she tries to ride him again. He's made leaps and bounds in that.

On Mother's Day, Michelle put a ride on him and he does best with contact on the reins and then leg contact to urge him forward if he gets confused. He did really well. They went about 10 or 15 minutes doing walk/halt/walk transitions. Then she got on him again about 3 days later and he got flustered and she ended up coming off and it shook her, so she decided to do more ground-work to get her confidence back up. I suggested attacking the issue he has with not wanting to listen to the bit or stop well to the reins, so she's been focusing on that. I am really impressed with their progress.

I had not been able to take him out of the arena much since I always had Dazzle getting my main attention, so Michelle has been working with him taking him on walks. The first day we walked over to my grandma's house he was terrified of the cows and screamed at Marigold who we left in the arena the whole time. Michelle had to lunge him in the yard and keep refusing him to get him to pay her any attention. Yesterday was our 4th walk I think, and he is still nervous of the cows, but she didn't have to lunge him at all. He just eyed them well as they walked by the pasture. She put side-reins on him to help get him accustomed to the bit since he hates it and also because he likes to pop his head up and go into zoned-out-appy-mode. I wouldn't have though of that, but it worked really well. Our goal was to make it to the road on the other side of the property and let him see cars going by.

She let him stand and watch cars from about 20 feet from the road for awhile, then we walked up and he stood next to the road for a few cars, then she walked down the road a ways and back and let cars pass by. He didn't spook at all and didn't care at all. I was really impressed with him. I've never walked him on the road before and he acted like it was nothing. Michelle was very heartened by it and I got some video of him walking down the road with a car going by.

After our successful car walk we came back home and he wasn't even sweaty, so she put him in the round-pen to show me how their ground-driving was coming. She had made some good choices in how to do it that I hadn't thought of when I'd done it before and I really didn't have many pointers. Just to use a driving whip to tell him forward when he "stalls" and not to slap the reins as the go-forward cue since you need to be able to have contact on the reins like you would when riding him. She can have him halt/walk/trot and even turn left/right. He stops and thinks about the turning, then does it. It was really neat to watch. She's getting it to go way better than how I was doing it. She has the side-reins on him, which I didn't think of, and it helps keep him from putting his head up and twisting himself up in the lines. She also has the lines attached to the top rings of the surcingle instead of the side rings and then they don't get stuck on his butt when he turns.

2011, You Crept Up So Fast!

2011-01-03T10:31:00.000-08:00

2010 was quite the eventful year! Dazzle went into training with Melissa Matiko and she sold to the most AWESOME home. Spotless was started by a local trainer, but then sat all summer when I couldn't find an exercise rider. I had a BABY! I bought a kid's horse. I rode the kid's horse and regained my confidence that had disappeared by not riding for about 10 months. I missed the ride. I met Andrea and Aaron and Izak and Meredith; the wonderful family free-leasing Marigold. I attended NO shows as a rider, but two as a cheerleader!

What does 2011 hold in store for me? I don't know, but I have hopes! My plans are:
Spotless will go back into training with a friend and get broke-broke, as we put it.
Marigold and I will take Western Pleasure lessons and attend some schooling shows together.
Marigold and Meredith will attend a show or two together and be absolutely adorable!
Spotless and the trainer will attend some shows and bring the legacy of his wonderful sire to a happy end.
Spotless might be sold.
I might free-lease a broke-broke horse to have a 2nd riding mount.
I hope to attend the CJTR as a cook-crew member and get to see Dazzle in action there with her new owner.
My mother-in-law will take lessons on Marigold. (she will be a busy girl this year if everything goes as planned, lol)

I don't know how much will get to happen, but I hope I get to do everything I have planned.
Part of it depends on finding trainers that I'm comfortable with and that click with my horses and finances, part depends on finding a job and part depends on finding a baby-sitter, lol.

Melissa Matiko, my friend, riding companion, coach, and trainer of the past few years has graduated Uni and gone home to Canada. We miss her already! The hope is that she will come back to clinic here in the future and we plan to visit her this coming summer at her home. My project this spring will be finding more riding friends I guess, as it's not near as much fun to ride alone!

Spotless Is Home

2010-06-30T09:59:00.000-07:00

I brought Spotless home the week after Desmond was born. He had a bad stone bruise and the fact that it wouldn't stop raining kept it from healing. I put a boot on him and that horrible green medicine that stains everything. It finally stopped raining and within two days he was completely sound. However, he'd spent about 6 weeks laid up with the bum hoof.

I hired a lady to continue his riding since Melissa is so busy I see her for about 10 minutes once a week. I hauled him to a mutual friends house because she owns a round-pen. The lady, Ahni, round-penned him a bit and then got on. He took off. No bucking, no wringing tail or angry ears, just running. She got him stopped and as soon as she let his head go straight to took off again. We were shocked since he'd NEVER done that at the trainers. By the end of the session they were walk/halt/walk with no taking off, but it was sure unsettling those first few seconds.

Ahni had to be gone for 2 weeks, but as soon as she returns she'll be working with him consistently. I'm going to lunge him everyday for a few days before she returns and hopefully he'll be himself again. Melissa and I put our heads together trying to figure out what could be his deal and our only guess is that since he was off a bit at the trainers the last few weeks the trainer was trying to get forward and he couldn't really give it. So perhaps he is just giving that forward now and he thinks that's what he's supposed to do; run run run. He seemed confused that she didn't want him to run.

Ahni wasn't worried and Spotless didn't look scared or mean, just confused, so I think they'll be going along great within just a few rides. I think she gets back this coming weekend, so hopefully I'll have more to report soon.

Triumphant Return

2010-05-28T20:56:00.000-07:00

Spotless is home! I picked him up this afternoon, we got his feet trimmed and he's now eating dinner in my newly re-fenced paddock! He's grown, I'm going to have to measure him again. He needs a little weight and he has a stone bruise in his right front, but he should be good to ride again in 3 or 4 weeks, as soon as the stone bruise is gone. The trainer said he never tried to buck/rear/bolt and was a good boy. So, now we just have to get brave and ride him when his foot is healed.

Update on Spotless

2010-05-08T19:18:00.000-07:00

I talked to the trainer today and he said Spotless is doing great. No bucking/rearing/bolting, nothing naughty at any point. He said he's a bit lazy in the round-pen and when he ponied him down to the big arena a couple blocks from their place and ponied him in there, he was FAST and easily kept up with his speed horse that he was riding. He said he seemed to enjoy opening up in there. So, he's definitely his race-horse daddy's son! I like the lazy most the time part though, sounds like my kind of horse! He said the only annoying thing he does he push his nose down into the bit. If that's the worst thing he does, I think we're good.

So, when he gets home I'm going to de-worm him again, get his feet done by the normal farrier, have his teeth checked (since he's 3), have the accupressurist check him over, and put him on grass pasture to make sure he is fat to be schooled by Melissa. Hopefully he'll be back in time to get registered for the Dressage show the 12th of June. That's the only local one so I really wanted him in it. He'll be doing Intro B most likely. MAYBE Training II, but not likely with only a couple weeks of riding before hand. We'll see. I miss him, I'm looking forward to having him back. I'm excited to get to ride him before he sells. I bred him and trained him all myself before sending him to the trainer, so it's exciting to see it come to completion in a broke horse!

Better A Late Post Than Never!

2010-04-30T10:56:00.000-07:00

Dazzle was a shining star for Karol and her friends! We took pictures and Melissa rode her in the arena at Red Barn to show them what she could do Dressage-wise and then they loaded her into a shiny trailer and headed off! They made it home safe to Northern WA the next day.

Everyone keeps asking me if I'm sad, which of course I am because she's an AWESOME horse, but I can't begrudge her the new wonderful home she's won herself. Karol is going to spoil her completely! Turn out in a pasture, all new blankets and equipment; she's going to be in horsey heaven with her.

So, Dazzle has gone to a better place (really!) and Spotless should be home from training in a week or so and then Melissa will be riding him till he sells.

In baby-news, Desmond hadn't budged and wasn't a good candidate to manually turn him into a good birthing position so yesterday I went in for a c-section. In the pre-op room my Dr. did a last ultrasound and he had turned himself around! So I got to come home! So no baby yet, but I am starting to have little painless contractions and they haven't quit, so hopefully within the next few days I'll have a baby!

I've decided the best way to encourage a baby to come is to ignore him, so Melissa and I are going to look at a Paint gelding for me tonight at the fair-grounds. Should be fun, he sounds perfect, so hopefully he's as nice as he looks in his pictures. If we love him tonight we might get to bring him home on trial for a few days which would be really nice.

If the Paint gelding doesn't work out and Spotless sells, a friend I ran into Wednesday night offered to half-lease a gelding she has to me to share. So it looks like I won't have to be horse-less long, whether I own one or lease one I'll get to be riding somehow.

Dazzle Visits Red Barn

2010-04-13T15:39:00.000-07:00

I braved driving the stupid-truck-I-hate and took Dazzle to Red Barn so Melissa could ride her in between classes. She hasn't been there in about 3 months and it was really windy. She wanted to jig at first and just stare at the horses in the pastures, but after 2 or 3 minutes she settled right down and got to work. Melissa was giggling with joy at her reachy trot and quite pleased with her canter work which was probably the best we've ever gotten from her. She actually called it "uphill"!!! It was lovely to watch. Not rushy, not on the forehand, controlled, it was awesome. In a 20 meter circle her head popped up about 3 times, meaning, she was starting to get consistent! She was on the bit most the time, listening to Melissa's leg and letting her keep her in or out as the circle needed. She got the correct lead both directions with no extra effort on Melissa's part. AND she wasn't even sweating by the end of it. She looked relaxed, thoughtful; not annoyed, no grimacing or swishy tail. Not spooky, even in the wind. I wish I'd taken video! I plan to take her back tomorrow, so I'll take my camera if that works out. Melissa hadn't ridden her since my last post, so it'd been a while.

She's also shed out most the way, no more wooly-mammoth hair. She's gained weight in the last couple weeks; before her girth went to 3 holes each side and today it was nice and snug on 2! So, she's looking good and seems to feel good. I'm so glad! She should show off nicely on Saturday.

1st Ride Back and Sales News

2010-04-02T09:56:00.001-07:00

Melissa finally had a chance to put a ride on Dazzle. Her class schedule is crazy this quarter; really heavy classes with literally 5 or 6 hours of homework some evenings. So, Dazzle ended up with 3 weeks off other than a couple lungings from me that were short the first week Melissa was gone. We spent about 15 minutes grooming because she is shedding like CRAZY! I have a fly sheet on her as they help them shed out but it also makes it so they can't rub the hair off on the ground, so she had hair just sitting on her. It's sure fun to pull piles of hair off of them, see the clouds of white fluff. She LOVED it, it must have been itchy. She looks kind of purple now with her winter coat almost gone. It really makes her red mane and tail stand out.

Melissa lunged her and she was awesome! She didn't even have a bounce into the canter transition to show she'd been off work for 3 weeks. She got right down to business and was her lazy self. haha. Melisa had to push her to canter at first, even though she'd been in her paddock for 3 weeks. I love this horse.

She got on and did walk/trot only because they were sprinkling the field and flooding half my arena so she had to lunge and ride in the small section with rocks in it and didn't want to canter her in that. She did great under-saddle too, no silliness, just happy to be working and getting attention.

On the lunge-line she was even starting to LIFT her BACK through transitions! That is something we've been working towards for months. It's starting to click I think! She's much more forward now, so now they're focusing on getting more reach from behind. That's the trickiest because you don't want more speed, just more push.

In other news, the lady that is coming to see Dazzle on the 17th plans to bring her trailer and take Daz home with her! I'm excited about this home because it sounds like exactly what I wanted for her; she'd get to continue in her Dressage and finish her COA and she'd get to continue trail-riding and finish her Distance ROM. It sounds like a potential forever home with someone that would be a good match for Dazzle. So, I'm praying nothing changes in the next two weeks because horse-selling is so traumatic. It's hard to put a life you're worked so hard for and are attached to in someone else's hands!

Spotless Training Update!

2010-03-30T16:33:00.000-07:00

I just got to chat with Spotless' trainer! He only has 12 sessions/rides on him so far because he's been busy with his other job. I think the first 3 sessions were ground-work. He said he's been good; no bucking or naughty stuff at all. He said so far Spotless is taking everything in stride and being a good boy. He said they've walked and trotted under-saddle and should canter for the first time this weekend. They're currently working on giving nicely to the bit. He seems pleased with how things are going. I get to watch this weekend if the weather is nice, it's been raining so far this week. So, hopefully I'll get to see them canter!

Training Update!

2010-03-15T17:56:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I got the report that Spotless got his very first ride on him! AJ got on him bareback, then put the saddle on him and AJ's wife lunged them a bit, then he rode him by himself. She said he thought about nothing more than nothing, but overall just looked confused but willing. So that is promising! Yey! With the way the weather was I think he only got about 4 sessions maybe this week, so that means he should get close to 25 rides in his month of training! Woo!

Finally happened!

2010-03-07T08:52:00.001-08:00

The sun is here! And because the sun is here, I was able to take Spotless to the trainer! So, he is off the market for at least a month while he gets started under saddle! I'm so excited!

Windy Day Ride

2010-03-02T19:20:00.001-08:00

Today I went with Melissa to watch her work her QH filly and then we headed to my house to work Dazzle. The sun was almost down and it was trying to rain. She was in quite the mood! It was windy on top of that, so maybe that's what was up. Melissa lunged her and all through both sides every few trot-canter transitions she was go like a fire-cracker for a few strides just full of spunk. She was listening otherwise, it was very silly.

Melissa got on and rode trot and canter and pronounced it a good ride. She didn't do any of the silliness under-saddle, she never does. Her trot is getting consistently forward and on the bit. Her canter transitions are getting sharp and they are working on being on the bit in the canter now. She's trying to get her to reach from behind more. That's their new project. It looks like the weather will be more cooperative now, so she should get lots of work in before the first show. Melissa is going to be at a clinic the weekend of the first Dressage shows, so our first one will be the last weekend of April now. That just gives her more time to have them awesome!

Spotless goes to the trainer Friday! I'm so excited! I can't wait to see him under-saddle! Wish him luck!

Quite the Adventure

2010-03-02T19:07:00.000-08:00

Sunday was the new Appy regional club's playday at a local arena. They had an awesome extreme trail course set up to play on. I took Dazzle for Trudy to ride and Spotless for me to walk through. I want to trailer him a few times before he goes to the trainer. So we got Dazzle ready to go and I turned Spotless out to run before we went since he hadn't gotten worked last week. When I went to catch him, he just ran. He only grazed while I turned him out and then wouldn't let me catch him. Melissa finally caught him and he was all sweaty by then.

We got to the arena, a whopping mile down the road or so from my house, and Spotless was drenched in sweat. This is why I wanted to take him somewhere before he goes to the trainer, lol. So, Trudy took Dazzle in and started walking her through the obstacles. I walked Spotless through them. He had giant eyes and was jittery, but amazing went through almost everything first try. Over bridges, through the tarp tunnel, etc. He was nervous about the mud pile to walk over and wouldn't walk in the water box. AJ, the man who's going to train him, took him and ponied him around and then got him to go through the water box. By the time I put him up he was doing everything. Even big swinging hanging bags that other horses were freaking at. I tied him on the side of the arena for the rest of the time and he watched everyone. Overall, I was really pleased with how well he did. He tried everything even though he was scared and wasn't dangerous.

Dazzle and Trudy did great. Trudy was really nervous so she walked Dazzle around a long time. Finally she mounted up and walked through everything but the water box. Trudy got down and Melissa got on and walked her through everything again for me to tape and then got her to go through the water box, which is apparently much scarier than the puddles we played in last week or the chest deep water she plunged right into on the Trail Ride last year. Melissa got her to walk through the water box several times and she calmed right down about it. Nothing else really concerned her at all.

It was really neat and I really wish I could have been able to ride it myself! I really felt I was missing out! Hopefully we'll get some similar playdays next winter or something when I can ride again.

Videos of Dazzle and Spotless are now up on Youtube.com!

2010's First Trail Ride and A Great Schooling Sessions For Trot

2010-02-28T10:10:00.000-08:00

Friday before last we loaded up Sparkles and Dazzle and Ted and headed to Bennington Lake. Ted rode Dazzle and Melissa rode Sparkles and I walked and video-ed parts of the expedition. Sparkles was a bit of a pill, but Melissa was trying to push her buttons so she could work through any attitude issues. Dazzle was awesome! The only time she got nervous was when Sparkles was being silly. She happily walked out away from Sparkles and didn't try to look back. Ted doesn't know how to ride and Dazzle took good care of him. They walked through several big scary puddles, up and down steep muddy trails and even got yelled at by pretty girls in the parking, lol. I was very pleased. If that was her "hot" and fresh she is going to be a trail-dead-head this year. Which is GOOD. Trail horses need to be relaxed and enjoying the scenery.

Yesterday, Melissa rode lunged and rode Dazzle and I video-ed. The ground was dry-ish from a horrible wind storm the last couple days and it was beautiful out! She rode her at the trot and got some of the most amazing trot she's ever gotten from Dazzle. And for the whole ride after warming up, not just a few strides. She was pushing form behind, reaching with her hind-end, extending in the front, she was on the bit almost 100% of the time. She would get super scores on a trot like that into or training, I think it could even be a 1st level trot. When we have that at the canter she'll be able to get awesome scores training and be ready to move on to the shortening and lengthening of stride for 1st level. If the weather stays nice that will be soon. Melissa will work her several days a week and they'll be able to make fast progress. It's hard when you have a snag a ride here and there when it's not a windstorm or pouring rain. Yey for spring weather, lol.

The 3 videos are on Youtube.com!

Nice Spotless Session

2010-02-18T23:08:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday I lunged Spotless because it was sunny, even though it was muddy. He was awesome! He was listening, we actually got to focus on transitions, and he looked great! After a lunge session we went for a walk and he was very good, didn't try to climb on me for safety at all. We encountered a scary puddle and it took me about 10 or 15 minutes to convince him it wasn't going to drown him and then he walked back and forth over it with me several times. We went down the lane and saw the scary neighbors and he watched them, but still listened when I stopped and started and back, etc. He was paying attention to me.

Melissa came and rode Dazzle after I worked Spotless. It was muddy so she was being careful, but she behaved nicely, just no swinging movement like we've been able to get on dryer days. I got some video of her lunging. I haven't put it up yet though.

The big news that day was I talked to the trainer that Spotless (and Mister and Britches are supposed to go to) is going to and he is all set up to go. He is going as soon as the weather permits, hopefully the beginning of March. Then Melissa will continue him Dressage and his first show will be the 17th of April if he's done at the trainer by then. Yey! I'm excited!

Tomorrow, Melissa and I are going to haul Dazzle and Sparkles to Bennington Lake and Ted is going to ride the 2nd horse and I'm going to walk and video tape. Should be fun. I'm looking forward to getting out in nature. Hopefully it's dry and sunny for us and not freezing!

Selling Horses, Buying Horses

2010-02-14T15:50:00.000-08:00

Getting horses sold can be a pain. First, getting the horse fit, groomed, presentable, etc is a job in itself; time consuming and requiring skill. Then you have to get nice photos and video, crop and resize the photos for the internet and tastefully edit the video and post it online. At least we don't have to bother with mailing VHS or DVD's anymore! THEN you have to spend the horse and cash to get ads on the top classifieds sites, possibly your breed's journal, maybe the local papers, craigslist, flyers at local barns, etc. It's a job! Next if you get interested parties you have to either ride or hire someone else to ride each horse for the prospective buyers. It is work.

Buying horses is perhaps more emotionally draining and still a lot of work. First you have to decide exactly what you want. Then you have to determine your budget; don't forget gas to view horses far away, vet checks, registration transfers, paying for a trainer's opinion or possibly to have them ride the horse for you. It's always a good idea to take along a horsey friend to help you make sure you don't get barn blind and buy something not suited to your needs. It might take over a year to find the right horse. It's a long journey and can be very frustrating. It's hard to remember not to give up and just buy something quickly to get it over with.

I am not horse-shopping YET, but I have been browsing to determine how much I need in my budget to buy what I want and whether I am going to have any luck finding what I need nearby. Just that has been tiresome and I haven't left home.

For my horse-selling, I have spent hours posting ads, updating them, taking and editing pictures, taking and editing video and posting it online. I am helping Trudy sell her 3 horses also, so that's FIVE horses I am advertising. It is work, for sure.

Yesterday I took video of Mister and a few stills, and lunged Spotless for video lunging and running free. I did that all by myself. If you've never taken video and lunged at the same time then you won't appreciate the juggling that requires. It came out surprisingly well.

Spotless, Dazzle, and Mister will be getting the most attention this coming week as an interested party from Idaho is going to come see them next weekend. She is looking for an Eventing prospect. I will be interested to see what she thinks of them, both as Event prospects and in general. I don't know much about Eventing, so I'm not sure how to evaluate them as prospects. I hope it will be a learning experience for me, even if she doesn't find her next competition horse here.

Awesome Ride For Sparkles!

2010-02-12T17:10:00.001-08:00

Melissa had Wednesday to ride since this is a long weekend and she's gone home for it. So, of course it rains! Before the rain she got a ride in on Sparkles and I handled Spotless and had time to lunge him all of 5 minutes before it starting raining.

Spotless was himself again, no bouncy baby or being stupid at the trailer. I brushed him, left him tied a while, then lunged him on side-reins. He was darling again. He just has to remind me he's a baby sometimes, lol. I'm working on getting his appt. with the trainer scheduled. I really look forward to seeing him under-saddle. He looks great on the lunge with side-reins and the dressage saddle on.

Sparkles had a great ride with Melissa. I had her out and tacked up when Melissa got here from class. She trotted, CANTERED, and trotted, CANTERED the other way, then walked her out. She was way tired even though it wasn't really a long ride. She is just that out of shape. They all are, haha.

She This was the first ride where Melissa cantered Sparkles and I expected it to be a disaster. Formerly, she has been known to take the wrong lead and ignore the transition. But, with Melissa aboard she took the correct lead every time, right when she asked, and stayed it in till she asked for trot. It's not finished for sure, but it was a great start! She will definitely be training level ready soon. Very promising ride. It was quite encouraging. She is actually stretching down after being on the bit, starting to engage her top-line instead of giving a false head-set, etc.

We Saw The Sun!

2010-02-09T20:08:00.000-08:00

I pulled out Spotless who was COATED in mud. He acted all spooky which is totally unlike him. I did some moving his shoulder and making him back up and then tied up him and started brushing him. The dirt came off in clouds. So nasty. Melissa arrived and took Dazzle to the arena (I had already tacked her up for her) and Spotless spazzed. I had him half brushed, but being I'm pregnant I wasn't going to stick close if he was being stupid. He pulled on his rope a bit, but I had it tied to twine so he couldn't break the lead-rope (try this trick, it's awesome!). I told him he got to be alone if he was going to act like that and I went to the arena to watch Melissa ride. He whinnied a little and pulled his rope more and tried to be a drama king. After a few minutes he settled down and stood quite until I was done photographing Melissa and Dazzle. I finished brushing him, took his tail out the bag (and forgot to put it back in when I put him away), AND I tackled his mane! He had that long gorgeous mane but he had ripped a lot of it and it was FULL of mud. I brushed it best I could, cut about 6 inches off, then sprayed it with water (which he stood tied for like nothing), and then brushed it to the wrong side. I cut it to it's about 5 inches long, then brushed it back onto the right side. He looks all grown up now! I saddled him up, but on a bridle, side-reins, and lunge line and took him to the arena. I asked him to move out and he...took off down the arena. He ran the length twice before letting Ashley catch him (I wasn't gonna chase a bratty baby pregnant). He didn't try it again, but he fought the bit and look atrocious. Once he settled down and trotted nice and stopped fighting the bit he looked adorable! He looks like a TB. He looks like a horse now! Unfortunately, the camera didn't want to take a picture by then, so the ones I have to post are adjusted from very dark and don't look good. We'll try again another day. This was his worst work session in probably a year. I hope he's got it out of his system! I'm hoping for nice weather like today for awhile so I can get him worked everyday and then he'll be himself again. I want him an angel for AJ to get under-saddle.

Melissa worked Sparkles after Dazzle and she was like a different horse from the last session! She was forward! Melissa didn't have to spend the whole session driving her forward like last time so she could concentrate more on her roundness. Sparkles looked relaxed, she had floppy ears, a soft eye; it was amazing! A very promising ride for sure. It was dark by then, so no pictures, but next ride I will try to get some.

Dazzle had an AMAZING day! She was stiff at first, going like a horse with peg-legs, but after about 2 minutes she relaxed, started using her back and rear and looked SO good. She was reaching from behind, tracking up at the walk, etc. She did canter both directions and Dazzle was forward enough without rushing that Melissa could ask her to go on the bit. It was probably the prettiest canter I've seen from Dazzle. Melissa said there is a show in March we could hit if I wanted. That's how good she did. Instead of waiting till the April show, hit one in March because, basically, Dazzle is ahead of schedule in her progress.

So, it sounds like the plan is to hit the March show doing 2 Training tests, not sure if she's going to try a 1st level yet. Probably not yet. A couple Training tests would be a nice start to the season. Maybe she will sell at the show, you never know. I can't imagine how awesome she'll look in another month. If the weather holds and Melissa is able to ride her several times a week, she'll be pretty much solid Training level by then and they'll be able to start seriously preparing for showing First!

Finally Some Dry Ground!

2010-02-09T19:58:00.000-08:00

Melissa has been waiting for footing to ride here. It's been a rainy foggy week. Feb. 8th finally allowed for riding! Of course as soon as we headed out to pull out a horse, the guy that rents the hay field next to the arena came out to plow with a tractor. It was really loud. Then, the neighbor's big hairy white dogs came over and were wandering back and forth by the arena. Daz didn't seem to upset by the tractor; she sees them all the time every year, but the white dogs were really distracting and she really wanted to stare at them.

Trudy had taken a lesson on Dazzle on Friday and Melissa had done an intense lunging session beforehand, but she had enough of a break not to be sore last night. She was not a happy camper though. She didn't want to bend, didn't want to flex, and generally looked unhappy and stiff.

She did a little canter, but Dazzle preferred to look like a llama, so she focused on getting bend in the trot.

Last, she worked on Halt, on the bit. She was being really stubborn about that. A few sessions ago they had to work on halt, no backing up. She didn't pull that at all, but she sure didn't want to halt on the bit.

It wasn't a great ride, but I just remember how far she has come. And, a bad session means progress is around the corner.

Finally, VIDEOS!!!

2010-01-27T17:27:00.001-08:00

Okay, go to YouTube.com and search "Dazzle Me Again" and you will several videos of Dazzle! I finally got a program that allows me to use the files on my video camera and it converts them and puts them on YouTube for me, it's awesome! I just have Dressage on there so far, gonna have to get someone who rides Western to ride for a video to show her Western Pl. I will post when that happens and let you know!

Another bit of news is that it looks like we found someone we trust to get Spotless going with a few rides and to send Britches and Mister to for a month each! So, as soon as there is decent footing consistently they will be going to the trainers! WOOOO! Then, Melissa will school them Dressage and they will each do at least one Dressage class and then be officially up for sale. If they don't sell with just the Dressage showing they will attend the Ride (not Spotless) and be sold there. If he doesn't sell, Spotless will show and get his Dressage COA which should sell him no problem. All their prices will go up with the training and showing, so if you're interested in any of them, let me know now!

Sparkles - accomplished Distance horse (no recorded miles unfortunately, but has done the Chief Joe every year since she turned 4), 15.3H, 2002 mare I think, done parades, cows, playdays, and now schooling Dressage. I believe they want $3000 and that will go up after she cleans up at the Dressage shows with her beautiful gaits!

Mister - coming 4 yr old, bay with a rump blanket gelding, about 15.2H, currently has 3 rides on him and a bunch of ground work. $2000 as is, or will go to trainer and show and do the ride and his price will probably double.

Britches - coming 4 yr old, very foundation gelding, was started showmanship and did show it once (won his class), but has sat for a couple years now. Rump blanket, about 14.2H or so and should end up stocky enough to carry a large adult. $1500 now, or will go to trainer, show Dressage and attend ride and his price will double at least.

Spotless - coming 3 yr old, normal papers, but not a lot of color right now, almost 15.2H already! Half TB and bred for Dressage and circuit showing. TONS of ground-work done, ready to start under saddle. $1800 now, or at least $2500 after he starts the show season. If he earns his COA in Dressage and is schooling First Level his price will be at least $3500 or more. LOTS of promise, VERY sensible, SUPER smart, but in a good way, and retains training like I've never seen before.

Dazzle - coming 5 yr old, rump blanket, you guys know all about her! $4000 now, or $6500 at least by the end of the summer after finishing her Dressage COA, getting solid 1st Level and completing another 100 miles by attending the Chief Joseph Ride again. She would probably sell on the ride if she goes.

Life Changes

2010-01-25T14:47:00.001-08:00

I came to the realization the other day that I'm not going to be able to afford to send Spotless to a trainer AND support a baby. So, he is up for sale. I'm going to get him started walk/trot/canter and hopefully that will get him sold. He is a sweetheart and trains EASY easy. He's going to be an awesome show horse, at least for local level if he doesn't cut it higher. I'm currently listing him at $1800 and I'll bump it up when he's going under saddle nicely. $2000 or more depending on how he looks.

Then, the other day I started to realize that along with tightened finances I'm not going to have time and energy to ride and show like I have in the past. Which means Dazzle will not get to earn all the awards and things she has the potential to. I never keep a horse I can't bring to potential, I just can't bring myself to hold a horse back. So, I've made the difficult decision to put her up for sale also. I'm asking $4000 for her.

Dazzle did SO well this weekend at the lesson with Patricia, and then for an 11 yr old that came to see her, that if she doesn't sell before the show season starts I will finish her COA by hiring Melissa to do it and then raise her price mid-summer. List her at about $6500 or so. If Spotless hasn't sold I'll have her ride him in at least one show and depending on how well he does, bump his price up too.

Wish me luck! I don't plan to rush, I want to make sure they both find the perfect match for them.

Faith, Ashley's mare that I technically own, is also up for a new home, but I already have a list of people interested. Ashley is just too busy with school to keep up her riding and I realize I won't be able to afford more than one horse now, let alone 3. So, the plan is we find a new home for Faith, sell Spotless and Dazzle, and then buy an already shown horse that Ashley can use for 4H and I can show in the local stuff and just have fun on. Something that has already earned what they need to so I could never show and it wouldn't hurt their value and I could leave them sitting for 2 months and just get on and go. However, Dazzle still fills that bill; Melissa rode her for the first ride in 2 months last week and she was an angel. A little lazy maybe, lol. She is such an awesome horse, I will really miss her.

FINALLY some decent weather!!!

2010-01-25T14:41:00.000-08:00

There was finally decent weather a few days so Melissa got a chance to ride Dazzle. They had their best ride ever! Then I paid for Melissa to get a lesson from Patricia on Dazzle on Saturday and it went really well. I videoed it and I'm working on getting that onto YouTube, edited of course because you can't put a 45 minute video on there.

I took Spotless out and reviewed all his training. I lunged him with a bit and side-reins and saddle and he was awesome. I had Ashley hang in the stirrups and stand on a bucket next to him. He is so ready to get going. I'm working on finding someone to start him by the hour because I don't think he'll need a whole month and I'll be able to hire Melissa to ride him.

Melissa got a ride in on Sparkles, also. They started out looking horrible and by the end of the ride looked pretty decent! I took some pictures. She is going to come along quickly if the weather stays nice enough for her to ride regularly here. Look at the difference between the first shot here and the second; that is only about 15 or 20 minutes of riding in between. Melissa is a miracle worker!!!

The Five Horses We Meet In Life

2009-12-24T12:58:00.000-08:00

"The Five Horses We Meet in Life"
This is an email that's been getting forwarded around and I thought I would join in answering.

1. The Intro Horse.
We each came into horses in our own way, but it was always with a horse leading us. This might have been a friend’s first pony, or perhaps it was a draft horse on a farm you once visited It might have been a real-life meeting, or an imaginary one.

I really don't remember NOT liking horses, but according to my parents when my dad rented a pony for my 4th birthday party I wouldn't stop talking about having my own. I just remember being annoyed that the lady leading me didn't let me gallop and jump the logs in our big back yard. I was the birthday girl after all!

2. The Experimental Horse
Once you had crossed the line between “Darn, they’re big!” and “Wow! Can I try that?” you found yourself face-to-face with the horse that would suffer through your early attempts at figuring out the whole horse experience … wherever this horse came from, he probably didn’t benefit from the encounter as much as you did.

This is probably the lesson horse I rode most of my career at Royce Stables in Walla Walla, WA. He was a hardship registered Pinto gelding that was on his 3rd or 4th career teaching Dressage. When I started taking lessons on him he was at least 18 as far as anyone could remember and by the time he passed away a couple winters ago he must have been at least 30 and some counts put him at 33 yrs old. He was sway-back, stubborn, slow, heavy on your hands and dead to the leg and I loved him! He was a pro at putting up with little kids and their lunge-line lessons.

3. The Connected Horse
The first horses we meet don’t really connect with us, nor do we with them. Those are experiences in survival and tests of endurance. The Connected Horse is the first horse you truly bond with. This is the horse that sounds a chord that lives so deep in you that you might never have heard it otherwise.

I would say this is Cas, Spotless's dad. TB OTTB, treated like trash after his decent career and came to me skin and bones. He was AMAZING! I had no idea what I was doing taking care of a stallion and he was one of the easiest horses to keep and handle I've ever had. You could canter on a loose rein through the fields with a mare in heat. He was my dream horse. He passed away only 6 months after I got him, which was decades too soon. His front ankles both broke, just like the famous racing filly that died last year. The vet had never seen anything like it. They said it must have been an old racing injury or caused by injections or something. He was an awesome horse and his son sure has his loving, sensible temperament.

4. The Challenger
Into each horseperson’s life, a little challenge must fall. You’ll have read that one final training book, bought yourself a clicker and heading rope, and there you’ll stand, arms crossed, assessing the situation as if you actually knew what the situation was. It might be difficult to believe, as you are flying down the aisleway on the losing end of a braided cotton line, but you actually need this horse in your life.

I think several horses have been this one for me.

Lady Ghirardelli (Delli), my first horse. 14.3 H, 11 yrs old, Appy/Arab/Hackney mutt mare. She would buck me off and go cantering away. She escaped from her stall the first night and sent us running across the fields in the dark to find her. By the time I sold her she was going Intro Level and was so well-behaved she went on to be a successful 4H show pony.

KT Copper War Rebel, my first ground-up horse. 15.2H, AQHA gelding, bought him as a yearling. He was an easy start as a late 2 yr old, but got more challenging as the years went by. I sold him at 4 yrs old when he made it clear he was NOT going to be a ring show horse, nor was he a fan of Dressage. He went on to be a competitive Barrel horse from what I hear.

Amigo Flame, favorite horse so far. 13.1H, 1/4 Shetland, 3/4 Arab pony. Bought him as a barely handleable 3 yr old stud prospect, got him gelded (when I got him home in the day light it was apparent ALL 4 feet turn out!). I had a great time teaching him. By the time I sold him only 8 months later he was a kid's show-pony. AWESOME little man. If you see him up for sale, SNATCH him up! He stormed the trails like an endurance horse, shined in the show-ring, and took everything in stride. He was a great all-arounder prospect and is now started in jumping by the current owners. He is the one I've sold that I would take back in a heart-beat.

5. Your Deepest Heart
There will come a time when you will look at yourself with a cold, appraising eye, and you’ll have to be honest about your continued ability to deal with The Challenger and other difficult horses. At that point, you’ll seek out the horse that will be your soul mate forever… You’ll have bought him the most comfortable, best fitting equipment… Maybe you’ll still go to shows and ride – brilliantly or barely – in the Alzheimer’s class. Maybe you’ll just stay home. Whatever you do, one day you’ll realize that after all the money you spent on animal communicators and trainers, you only had to stop and listen and you would have clearly heard your horse’s thoughts and desires.

This may be Dazzle, but maybe not. If not, I certainly haven't found it yet. I have a feeling Dazzle will be my forever packer. She is mellow and sensible and I could see being happy with her forever. She is up for anything and will happily change disciplines everyday.

Trudy's Horses...Want to Buy An Appy?

2009-12-13T11:48:00.000-08:00

-Want To Buy An Appy?-
Trudy and Melissa had a discussion about how Trudy's horses were doing in training. She suggested they consider selling them in the Spring because they aren't really suited for what Trudy wants to do.

Trudy has had her mare since the horse was 3 and they've been through a lot, but a lot of it was bad. Trudy wants to do really all around riding; Dressage, maybe some jumping, lots of trail-riding in the mountains, parades, team-penning and sorting, pack little kids at family gatherings, etc. Just, anything and everything that strikes her fancy, like I do with Dazzle. Her mare is an awesome horse; long legged, sweepy stride, beautiful rare Appy color. But, she doesn't have the temperament to sit in a pasture all winter while there is 5 feet of snow at Trudy's house and she gets really hot and hyper at the gaming days. She needs a job big time; 6 days a week, hard work, lots of challenges, and she'll go really far. She is built to do Dressage, hunt seat, Jumping, play in Western pleasure for the show-ring, do trail class. She is good on the trails, but really her pasterns are too long for endurance riding that is timed. She does fantastic on the Chief Joe because it's all walking and she has the stamina to go all day. But she wouldn't hold up to cantering over that rough terrain. So, She will be Training or 1st Level Dressage and starting Jumping by the Ride this year and will attend the ride with the goal of selling her at the end. So, if any of you are looking for a sport horse like this, keep an eye out for her on the ride or email for Trudy's info. Her bloodlines are on Allbreedpedigree.com, A Lucky Kiss. She is 15.3H and 7 in the Spring I believe. They paid $2500 for her I think as a VERY green 3 yr old. She is the marble colored mare on Melissa's training blog.

Horse #2 is Mister Lucky Again Jr, 4 in the spring and about 15.2H I think. He is bay with a rump blanket; very flashy. Melissa and I started his ground work and did a couple rides on him in the fall and now she has been doing more ground work with him. He is a half-brother to Sparkles, the above mare. He looks like a circuit horse; hunt seat/western pl/Dressage. He only has a few rides right now, but will be ridden most days after about March and will attend the ride probably as a rental horse to be sold at the end. He is way cute, but not for a beginner. His personality is not puppy-dog. He needs a competent human that knows how to discipline and he will excel. They paid $2500 for him about a year ago as a barely halter broke coming 3 yr old.

Appy #3 isn't in training with Melissa yet. His name is Powder My Britches and he is foundation bred. He is small, I think about 14.2 and he is 4 in the Spring also I believe. He is chestnut with a rump blanket. His dad was a tank, so they expect he will really chunk out. He was in training as a yearling with a lady that worked on halter breaking and lunging and showmanship and they won a showmanship class at a local show. However, since then they have none NOTHING with him, so Melissa will be starting him over again in March or April. He has old bloodlines, mostly endurance as far as I can tell, so he should make an awesome mountain trail horse. He will be attending the ride to sell at the end also. They have probably $3000 in him by now with the training and boarding.

Trudy and my father-in-law will be entertaining offers over $2000 for each at the end of the trail ride.

Winter Wonderland...When I was 10 maybe

2009-12-13T11:31:00.000-08:00

So, yesterday we woke up to snow. And it snowed most of yesterday AND last night. It is SO cold. It has been near 10 degrees for the last two weeks so I haven't been able to work my two kids. They are feeling quite neglected. I got to work them once last week and they were both skittish, but well behaved.

Spotless does really well moving his rump and forehand from just a finger movement and his haunch turns for showmanship are coming along great. Now to get him to "set". That is the one that is going to be really hard with him. He hates standing square. We starting doing the squeezing exercise and he was picking that up really fast. Backing is going great, after the one horrible day and the next day where Melissa spent 10 minutes with him. She's a miracle worker.

Dazzle did MUCH better moving her rump and shoulders on cue with urgency. I didn't even have to touch her with the stick. After that review I introduced the baby roll-backs on the lead-rope and she was starting to watch my body to know when I was going to request a turn. She actually did two real roll-backs where she jumped her front end 180 degrees and kept moving. She also was halting on the circle on cue calmly and without walking out of the halt. Spotless is still working on that one.

My plan for Spotless is to have so much ground work on him that I will be able to pay for one or two months of training to get him going under saddle and get him sold next Spring or Summer. If the trainer doesn't have to waste time doing ground-work they should be able to move along quickly with his work ethic and temperament.

We found a girl at the barn that Melissa boards at that does jumping and is willing to try giving jumping lessons to Melissa. The plan is that she will take lessons on Sparkles for Trudy and on Dazzle for me. So, both will be properly started to jump by Spring. That will start after she gets back from Canada after Christmas break. So, I will pay for her to take jumping lessons from the lady at the barn and Dressage from Patricia and then her shows in the spring and summer. Then I will be able to start riding her again mid to late summer. In July she will go on the Trail Ride again and either Trudy will ride her or she will be rented out.

How Goes The Groundwork?

2009-11-19T11:25:00.000-08:00

Whatever your preference of trainers and styles, no one with any horse experience can deny that groundwork is invaluable. Melissa and I have joined Giddyup.com and have been renting Clinton Anderson's groundwork DVD's. The exercises seem really simple, but it's amazing the reactions you get from your horses. They teach the horses really simple things; move away from my intense energy, move out of my space, move when I tell you, stand still when I tell you, and most of all: PAY attention to MEEE. All stuff you think you're teaching them all the way along. This stuff makes SO much sense to the horses. Some of them were NOT pleased about the new clear expectations, but they got over it pretty quick.

Some of it is desensitization, another thing that is great for horses. I tried his tying methods and it's been awesome. My horses weren't bad about pulling back to begin with, but it was awesome to try everything I could think of to try to make them pull back. The most surprising thing to me was that my riding horse Dazzle had more hot buttons than Spotless the baby! I never did find anything that phased him much. I ran at him screaming flinging a bag on a whip. He looked at me like I was retarded, licked his lips, and came towards me for a hug.

In 3 sessions he now has a respectable turn on the haunch, a near flawless back, both beside and in front of me, no longer tries to drag me on the lunge line (I had been having to lunge him on a stud chain or with a bit before).

One of the things Clinton advocates is rope halters. I hate messing with them, I love my pretty pink halter I can quickly slip over Dazzle's ears and off we go. But, I dug out a skinny rope halter for the exercises. He says it makes it easier and faster. It sure did! I no longer have to use a chain when working Spotless, he doesn't try to drag me off. It's not just that is hurts enough he doesn't pull that hard, he is actually starting to leave slack in the rope. He doesn't want to hit that halter at all. I'm very hopeful that by next spring Spotless and I will be able to show in Showmanship and look like we know what we're doing. I'm going to start hunting for a Showmanship teacher so I know exactly what I'm supposed to be doing.

Dazzle was easy to do the despooking with the string on the stick and rope. She only tried to move like, once. That was it. Didn't try to run around me or anything. She's pretty sensible about that. Plus, doesn't have much go. Spotless I had to start with low intensity, but after about 10 minutes he was good. Now he's great. He has more go though, being half TB. The worst one I've worked with is FAITH! Ashley's kid's horse. She was AWFUL. Reared several times, possibly tried to bite me once. She is VERY high reaction and still needs lots of work. But she is getting better.

Yesterday Spotless did so well with all the Clinton Anderson stuff I had him drag a tire. He did awesome. He started spooking when it followed him at the trot so I tugged the rope and got him to halt. Then he walked, stopped, walked stopped and realized it was stopping whenever he did and calmed right down. Even when he was scared he wasn't trying to take off, he just canter really slow around me on a loose rope! Then we switched directions and he was the same calm that way. Then the tire hit something and started to bounce in the air. It started spinning in the air and flew through his paddock fence and back out. It spun and wound the rope up against Spotless' butt. I told him to HO and he did. I unclipped the rope from him and realized that the rope had twisted up into his tail bag. He stood perfectly still and let me untangle it. I was really glad I had done work before attaching the tire with pulling the rope tight around his rear, letting it get up under his tail, etc. and making sure if he was scared he would let me stop him to "save" him. I would NOT do this with Faith at this point. Faith was watching the whole thing and FREAKING out in her paddock. She was snorting and prancing with her tail flagged. Spotless was really relaxed. After I took the tire off his surcingle I walked him around and he was quite relaxed, not upset from the experience at all. It is promising that he will be able to pull a cart later on.

If you have a horse that is pushy or disrespectful on the ground OR undersaddle, get your hands on the Gaining Respect and Control on the ground DVD's. They rock. You don't have to have anything fancy or a round-pen to do them. I have a flat spot in front of the tackroom where we do them and a cheap rope halter and a lead rope to do it with. I don't even have the tie-ring for the tying stuff, I have a horse trailer that is a rock hooked to a truck and I just put the end of the leadrope through the tied ring twice so it can be pulled out like the ring. I don't even use a 14 ft leadrope. I have one, but I am not coordinated enough not to get tangled up in it, lol.

A Hitch In The Plans

2009-11-12T10:28:00.000-08:00

So, the plan was that when Melissa moved her horses here this weekend she would then trade training on Dazzle for her board. Then her BO at the fancy barn decided to let her stay in the pastures there all winter. Not a deal to pass up; indoor arena, hot water wash racks, etc. So, she is staying there. Which means no trade for training. We worked out an agreement for me to groom and coach for her and we'll trade those hours for training. Definitely not ideal, but hopefully it'll work out for enough hours to get Dazzle ready to show in the spring. We only need those 15.5 pts to get her Dressage COA and that's my goal for her this year.

Dazzle had her first ride in a month. Melissa just got on and didn't lunge. She was awesome. Not even hyper, much to Melissa's disappointment. They cantered and everything and was great. Not a good ride for her, but she behaved. So, after a month of sitting in her paddock she was ridden walk/trot/canter and didn't do anything naughty. That is very encouraging to me that she will be a great family horse eventually. I was afraid she would be awful. Maybe spooky, bolt, buck at every cue she didn't like. But, she did none of that. She gave one half-hearted kick out at a smack from the crop when she ignored leg and that was it.

Dazzle is done venturing into Western Pleasure for now. They are going to do just Dressage and focus on Training Level with eyes towards First. Should be fun. I just hope enough time can be devoted to her to get her where she should be for the show season.

Big News For Melissa

2009-09-23T11:59:00.000-07:00

Melissa got her invitation to the Octoberfest Dressage Championships this week. We are so excited for her! The weekend of the 17th will be stressful and amazing. Her first championship, first big Dressage show, but she will have me there to groom and possibly Trudy also.

The weekend of the 3rd we plan to head west to visit Gatsby, the father of our future children as Melissa calls him. Check out his website and join in the drooling;
www.foxdalefarm.us

Wish Melissa luck and pray for her and whatever else might send good vibes!

PSA: Keeping Weight, Gaining Weight

2009-09-23T11:37:00.000-07:00

First, a great post on getting weight on older horses, or ANY horses for that matter;
http://www.fuglyblog.com/2009/best-of-fhotd-old-does-not-equal-skinny-2

A lot of people don't seem to know the basics.

1. Blanket. If it's cold and your horse is shivering, it's losing all those valuable calories to keep warm. I let my horses grow a winter coat, THEN blanket them so they have all the protection they can get. I don't blanket till I catch them shivering. If your horse is skinny, blanket and keep blanketing. It helps a LOT. It can be the difference between losing and gaining.

2. De-worm. Consult a vet for the right rotation for your area if you want to be perfect, but a simple rotation of ivermectin every 2 months and pyrantel in the spring after the thaw and in the fall after the freeze has been working great for me. If you aren't de-worming you are feeding worms instead of your horse.

3. Teeth. Often bad teeth will be the biggest culprit in an old horse. However, it's no excuse for a skinny horse. Thunder had NO chewing teeth and was jiggly. However, it can be very painful to have sharp teeth cutting off your tongue, and the pain can make weight gain harder. Get teeth done first thing if your horse sticks his tongue out a lot, drops food, won't take a bit in conjunction to weight loss, or is old and you doubt it's been done. I have my accupressurist check all my horses whenever she is here to see who needs work. But if you aren't sure, it can't hurt to get it done.

4. Pain. If your horse is hurting somewhere, they will often lose weight just dealing with the pain. Get the vet out and figure out the problem. If it's not something fixable, this could mean it's time to say goodbye.

5. Stress. I had a mare in quarantine who lost a TON of weight in one WEEK because she didn't like being alone. She literally spent ALL day running back and forth in the pasture screaming her head off. As soon as I was able to put her in a paddock near other horses she gained her weight right back.

6. Bullying. If you have more than one horse in a pen, it's quite possible that the skinny horse is being shunned from the food pile. Find a way to keep the skinny horse separate. A little paddock, feeding in a stall, whatever you need to do.

7. Food. What are you feeding? Make sure it's high quality and enough for your horse's work load. If you are riding hard every day your horse is going to eat a lot more than your kid-broke horse that only gets ridden when your relatives come over a couple times a year. When I am riding my Appaloosa every day she eats about 6 flakes of nice alfalfa a day. And she's only 15.2H.

8. No teeth? No problem. Thunder lived on Senior Equine and grass hay pellets. Soaked it in warm water and he slurped it right up. If your horse is having trouble chewing hay or you just don't want them burning calories chewing, soak them some orchard grass pellets. Feed AS MUCH AS THEY'LL EAT! People have a hard time doing that, but DO it and the horse will gain weight.

9. Do it BEFORE it's cold. Get them up to weight BEFORE fall. It's WAY harder to put weight on in the snow. It's a lot easier to KEEP it on.

10. Call the Vet. When all else fails to put weight on OR you have reason to suspect something internal (like a history of being hard to keep), call the vet and have blood work done and whatever else the vet things might give a clue as to the weight loss. Equine Metabolic Syndrome and Cushings both mess with the way a horse gains weight, and both can be managed with a diet and sometimes specially designed supplements.

There is NO reason your horse should be skinny. Whether they are 13 or 33, you can get weight on them and keep it there! Your horse will thank you.

Shorter Days Ahead

2009-09-17T12:32:00.000-07:00

Our show weekend before last went alright; Dazzle behaved for the most part and was MUCH better than the last time we showed there in '07. We got EVERY right lead canter! I was amazed. We looked nice in our show clothes. It was the first time I used my show saddle for Western. We placed a few times in Halter and our Showmanship wasn't bad for just starting to learn it and Dazzle thinking it is way too much work. No hi-points for us, but we had made much improvement from last time, so I was happy. I brought home a pile of ribbons, a few default, but not all be any means.

Last weekend, Melissa did a Dressage show to see if she could get another score over 60% to qualify for the Championship show in October. She wasn't planning on it, but I got an email about it and told her to go for it. So, with 5 rides in she went in front of Diane Royce in Intro B. They got a 70.5% and took Intro B hi-point AND show hi-point. She was thrilled with the awards, but knew it wasn't their best ride. Everyone kept reminding her that she couldn't have expected more from her mare after a week of riding. She hadn't been worked since June. So, considering that they did amazing. We had to leave here at 5 AM to get there with time for her to warm up as they got the FIRST ride of the day. We (Ashley, me and Melissa) got there first and so she had time to walk Bayberry around and see everything and warm up leisurely before going in. I took pictures of the ride and then we watched a few more rides, got her score, and went to late breakfast. Then we came back and dozed for a couple hours waiting for the Intro A and B to be done so she could see if she got a ribbon. She got a beautiful blue ribbon and then since she was high score for the class, she got a bag of horse cookies and a hoof pick. We packed up and headed home. She only found out yesterday that she won overall hi-point too.

I found out a few weeks ago that I'm pregnant, so I will not be showing anymore until next summer. I'm going to keep doing the Western pleasure lessons with Ashley for 4H and do some adult lessons with the same instructor. Melissa will be back for the school year in October and will be trading training on Dazzle for board for her two mares. She will then show Dazzle for me when the show season starts again next spring and try to finish her Dressage COA and possibly get some points towards some other COA's as well. She may just end up concentrating on Dressage and get a Superior in that. We'll see. She has quite a line-up planned for the year. She'll have her own two, my one, two of Trudy's for training, AND possibly one or two more for training. Only one of the bunch isn't started. So, most of it will be under-saddle training. I'm excited to have her work all winter with Dazzle. Should be awesome results.

My baby is due May 6 or 7 going by the LMP. We'll know by ultrasound probably on the 12th of Oct. Hopefully this kid likes horses. I'm already working on getting him/her a pony. = )

Short but Sweet Ride

2009-09-03T18:07:00.000-07:00

I put my show saddle on Dazzle to make sure it would fit nicely. Looks like it will. I think I'm going to go wool pad, gel pad, pink wool show pad and it should look nice and be comfortable. I'm hoping the pink covers the wool entirely.

We practiced showmanship with a chain for the first time. She did a lot better today, but still far from flawless. We practiced again after riding. She is paying attention better, but she still is very easily distracted which of course makes it hard to cue her without talking which is kind of how showmanship works. Hopefully she will be focused at the show. HA HA.

I rode her once around the arena canter; half left lead and then switched and did half right lead. We jogged. We opened and closed the gate twice, we weaved the standards and walked over the poles. We jogged a little in the field and walked through the neighbor's yard and she didn't spook at a fluttering plastic bag. We got the mail and walked up the lane. She started at her reflection in the window of my car and I tossed the mail on it and she didn't spook. Then we went back to the trailer and untacked. She seemed a little disappointed at the short ride. It was only 18 minutes. She didn't even sweat. That was the plan after our work out yesterday though. Tomorrow I will ride her in the morning, then bath time and banding! AND the obligatory trip to Boarder Town for show stuff. This time I need a stud chain, fly spray, and perhaps gold glitter for halter class. Ooh, and detangler.

Dressage Horse In Disguise

2009-09-02T14:15:00.000-07:00

Since Ashley joined 4H and I get to take the lessons with her, we have been focusing on that. Yes, Dazzle and I have been learning *GASP*...Western Pleasure.

First, I was shocked to learn how similar to Dressage it is. Dazzle doesn't seem confused in the least and since it's what she's bred for I figured it won't hurt to let her do what she's made for and shine.

Ashley is making progress with connecting with Faith, her new TB, but she has a lot of tension to overcome. She is used to slow, old horses, not forward TB's. They'll get there. They will make their show debut next Spring.

Sunday, Dazzle and I will debut our new Western Pleasure skills at the Umatilla Sage Riders Arena Late Summer Schooling Show in Hermiston, OR. Should be fun! If I can keep my nerves controlled and Dazzle can keep on task, we should do okay!

Ted should be there to take pictures, so I should have photos to share! Ashley is going to be grooming for us, which is awesome; she is a great groom!

Training-wise, our walk/job is fairly acceptable, our lope is non-existent and our canter is getting there. She likes to veer off the rail, jumping into the gait, and get too fast. I have three more days. We'll be great. lol!

Dazzle's Article in Rangerbred News!

2009-08-20T16:34:00.000-07:00

Dazzle and I did great at our show in June so Debbie North, the lady that runs the Open Show Point program for the Colorado Rangerbred Assc. asked me to write up a piece for the journal. I did, and Lolly that does the magazine put it in! It's kind of exciting! It can be found in the Sept/Oct. 2009, Sept 1st~issue 2009-5, on page 16, AND below!

http://i26.tinypic.com/2h38tx0.jpg

Catch Up - Hot Summer

2009-08-16T18:23:00.000-07:00

7-27-09
Haven't ridden much since returning from the ride since it's been so hot! Dazzle and I and Ashley and Gypsy did a lesson together at her 4H meeting. It went well. Learned a lot. Apparently, Western pl. is a LOT more like Dressage than I thought. That's always a pleasant surprise.

8-3-09
My friend Jessica took me to meet a friend of hers that wanted to find a home for a few horses and I took Ashley along to give her an experience judging horses. That was on Sunday, the 2nd. She had an old Appy/Arab type mare that has had a stroke and isn't safe to really "ride" anymore. A near-foundering grey pony, only 10 yrs old. And...Sally. A possibly Appendix mare with no papers, about 20 yrs old, done lots of showing and 4H. I did a test ride...Ashley did a test ride...and Gypsy was up for a new home. We were in love.

Monday we trailered over for 4H to find out Debbie was away and no one had called us. We talked to her daughter awhile, then headed home. Not a big deal at all, it was hot! We just put them away and called it a good experience practicing trailering. lol.

Tuesday I had a very interested girl for Gypsy. She emailed me about where she'd keep her, what she wanted to use her for, etc. She sounded perfect! If she didn't work out I had 2 other people really interested in her.

Wednesday the girl and her mom came to try her out. Ashley rode her before they arrived and then showed them what she could do. I reiterated to mom that the reason she was available was that she had arthritis and just wasn't up to the work-load Ashley was going to have with 4H and showing and trail rides and schooling. Gypsy was ready to be a weekend-rider's buddy for easy rides. The girl rode her awhile and was hooked.

We signed the paperwork on her and I handed over the papers and called Andy to work something out for trailering her.

Thursday, Ashley and I loaded Gypsy up and Andy came and trailered us into Pendleton to the new home. Her new owner is a 15 yr old girl who needs a confidence builder that doesn't need lots of maintenance. The facility looked great and the owner seemed knowledgeable. Should be a great match.

Friday, we drove Dazzle out to try saddles Amy was wanting to sell, as well as ride the mare again, Sally. We decided to just bring her home with us.

Monday, Ashley did her next 4H meeting (last Monday) on Sally the new mare. I just watched. They did great.

We've only gotten to ride a couple times since then, but things are going great. She is very alert and curious, but not too spooky. Very TB, we have decided to just call her TB since she has no papers anyway. Ashley has decided to call her Faith as her barn name and "Simple Twist Of Fate" for her show name. She came up with it all on her own and I think they are perfect. We totally didn't go to see this horse thinking we'd get her, it was just for something fun to do. Ashley is SO happy. Sally AKA Faith, is 15.2H and an easy keeper. She is very docile but has lots of go in a controlled way. She has been shown a lot, so should be able to teach Ashley a LOT. She makes her use all her tools and learn more. To top it off, she is PRETTY, SO pretty.

TODAY, we rode around the field, then schooled in the arena. I used the saddle I have on trial from Amy. It went well, I think I'm going to have to buy it. My Fabtron is just NOT fitting Dazzle right now.

The other interesting thing that happened was that Maddy rode Dazzle on Wednesday in the kid-size saddle I'm buying from Amy. It fits Maddy perfectly. Dazzle was really good other than kicking at Moonshine and freaking us all out. Maddy did great and we all stayed calm so she didn't get upset. She walked and trotted again before she got down, so I think we avoided any horse-fear.

Tomorrow is the next 4H meeting. Ashley wants me to ride again. haha. I will, should be fun. I'm so excited because Jessica went to the Hermiston auction today and got me new reins for just $10. Right in my price-range.

The 2009 Chief Joseph Trail Ride

2009-07-28T13:04:00.000-07:00

Saturday

We were to meet at 6 AM at Shaw Truckworks, Andy's truck shop. We got there pretty close, then had to wait for the late people to show up. It was at least 7 AM by the time we left. We met up with my grandparents and their friends on the edge of town and caravaned to Idaho where we picked up a couple more trucks. We got to Montana and the first camp after 11 hours of driving. We stopped and watered and walked horses 3 times during the trip. At the first stop, we discovered that somehow Toby and Sparkles had switched places. Dazzle was in the front minding her own business.

We got to the camp which was on a river. We tied the horses to the picket-line and relaxed. We missed the brand inspector and check-in as we got there late. We packed into a couple pick-ups and went into Darby for dinner. We took over a little restaurant and filled them up so they closed for the evening. It was fun.

The trip wasn't too bad, especially getting to ride most of it with Melissa and Ted and Norman in Andy's pick up. The horses did fine, even Dazzle who had never trailered more than an hour away before.

Sunday
We made breakfast for ourselves and Melissa and I crawled onto Dazzle and Sparkles bareback with no helmets and flip-flops to go check in with the brand-inspector. Trudy led Toby. We discussed how we were totally breaking all our own rules. We made it through camp to the inspectors and slid down. Dazzle checked in easily since I already had her brand inspection down before we left down. Toby had to get a temporary inspection there and Sparkles already has her permanent from the first time she did the ride.

We checked in and got t-shirts and pins and teased by the guy checking people in. He has been on the ride for years.

After we were all checked in, Melissa helped set up camp and get things ready for dinner. Trudy and I needed to get the horses ridden so they wouldn't be sitting a whole day after trailering 11 hours and before riding a long ways Monday. Melissa was able to come at the last minute. We tacked up Western and headed down the road we had gotten to camp on. It was a long dirt and gravel road. The horses were a little nervous, but relaxed pretty quickly. We reached the end of the road and turned up a new road that wound up the mountain. We trotted and then I let Dazzle canter and Toby and Sparkles followed. We cantered a few minutes and Trudy had a great time. We could see the camp down below, it was really neat. By the time we got back to camp we had been riding about 2 hrs. I burned my nose and Melissa got sore knees from riding in a western saddle. But it was fun.

Back at camp, we rode through all the camp sites and got down to the river. We rode through the sandy beach into the river. It is solid rocks. They all went right into the water. Dazzle went in up to her knees and had a wonderful time splashing the other horses.

Later, we changed into swimsuits and headed down to the river. Melissa observed that you can tell all the equestrians because we all have brown arms and faces and the rest of our bodies are pasty-white. lol.

Dinner was the first meal the crew was responsible for cooking for camp. We got to meet the crew. I already knew most of them from previous years. Big John, Little John, Marcia, Diane, Ervin, Jessica, AJ, Charlene, Laurel, Ted, and Melissa. Charlene was the lady that came to study under Norman from Ohio. She was awesome; always cheery and hard-working, not a complaint all week. We found out at the end of the week she was really sick, but didn't want to give up and go home. They hope to hire her next year. Laurel had been with the crew in past years, but somehow I hadn't met her before. She is awesome. She lives in southern Oregon and currently manages a horse ranch. Trudy and I are going to go see her at the end of the month when we head down to watch the Appy show at Bresda Ranch.

Monday
Rode out with the journal photographer, Tafra. She rode Toby. Trudy rode with a scout since she is a Jr. Scout. They were a little nervous on the road we had to ride out of camp, yes the SAME road we rode on the day before. Once we got into woodsy areas they were fine. We stopped a few times as a whole group for potty breaks and took turns holding the horses. Lunch break, more potty breaks. The whole ride was pretty easy terrain-wise. We had to ride along a river a long time at the end, then through town. My butt hurt so bad I was about ready to cry. My knees were sore. Riding down the main street was fun. Every sort of scary truck and bike and trailer were going by us and Dazzle didn't bat an eye. She is used to all that. I guess she would be good for parades!

Back at camp I was exhausted. It was about 15 miles. I spent the evening trying to find someone to ride Dazzle for Tuesday. It was supposed to be 25 miles and I knew if I did that, I wouldn't be able to ride the next day. I managed to get Kevin and Tafra to agree to the challenge.

Tuesday
I helped feed, tacked up my horse in her pink gear, because all my gear is pink, and sent Tafra on her way. As the horses were leaving, one of the horses reared up, the rider pulled back and the horse flipped over on top of him. Kevin and some other important figures took him to the hospital. The horse was fine. BUT, it meant he had to trade with Tafra later than expected. They were supposed to trade at noon. They ended up trading about 2 pm. Really, it was probably more even that way. He came into camp to report much teasing over the pink gear, lol. But, he said she was good. Jumped the ditches, but other than that. I was very proud of her. That day ended up being 31 miles! I cooled her slowly and blanketed her.

Wednesday
Sparkles and Toby seemed very sore, so Trudy didn't send them out to ride. I tacked Dazzle up in my Dressage gear and she was fine. No one would be riding with us since Toby wasn't going and Tafra had been going to ride him. We headed out. I rode with Mrs. Bobbitt a bit, but Dazzle didn't want to go the same speed the whole day, so we migrated over the group at her leisure as she walked faster and slow and fast and slow. I was pleased when she crashed through muddy spots and went unhesitating over ditches. Went in my Indian Bozal, she was okay. I didn't make her walk a certain speed though. Another 15 mile day about. When I got back we massaged Dazzle and put liniment on her and her cooler until she dried. She didn't act uncomfortable at all.

Thursday
Trudy and Sparkles headed out together, but Toby stayed in camp again so he could for sure go out Friday. Dazzle and I went Dressage again and figured out a better way to attach the saddle bags. You can wedge them under the back of the saddle and they won't rub because the English pad is under them. Worked a lot better than having them in front, but I didn't drink as much because it was harder to get the bottle out with it in the back. Rode by myself until after lunch when I teamed up with the Bobbitts again. At lunch I asked a lady to hold Dazzle so I could take a potty break and when I got back she told me that Dazzle had called for me when I got out of site. Dazzle is never affectionate so that is a real change for her. Apparently she IS kind of attached to me. = )

The afternoon found the most BEAUTIFUL flowers along the trail in the woods. It was like a fairy land. Nice trails through the trees. it was so pretty. Towards the end of the ride I got sick of arguing with Dazzle over her speed because she wouldn't listen in the bosal and my arms were getting tired of pulling her to a walk all the time. I switched back into my bit and she was instantly well behaved again. It turned out we were almost back in camp by that time, but I guess it doesn't matter because at least she had to behave. We walked through a wide creek to get to camp. She went in like it was nothing. I walked around camp, then went back and she didn't want to leave camp so we had some spinning and asking, spinning and asking until she would leave camp. When she did, we went back to camp for rub down and liniment.

Friday
Melissa got to ride on Friday. It was supposed to be a 2 hr ride. There was a lot of stop and go. It turned out people were watering their horses in places and they weren't supposed to be because it was a short ride and the land owner didn't want us using the water. So because of that it turned out to be a FOUR hour ride. Melissa rode Toby in my Dressage saddle and I rode in my Fabtron. We got to go up the side of the mountain and look down on the battle field. It felt like a long ride since I was so tired from the whole week.

When we got back we rested a little, then went to the museum. We looked at the exhibits and then headed back to camp. At dinner we found out the final count of the miles for the week was 92.2! Now when I look at Dazzle online it says her mileage for the Chief Joseph Trail Ride. Pretty cool!

Saturday
Saturday we had to wait for everyone else to leave, then we loaded a donated horse into the trailer with ours and headed back to Idaho. We dropped off the gelding that was donated to the Nez Perce Foundation and trooped the rest of the way home. We were SO tired, but it was fun and by the end of the week we were almost used to the early mornings and sore limbs.

Yey! Dazzle Is Now Pointed!

2009-07-17T23:52:00.000-07:00

I just check the Appaloosa.com website and they updated the points finally; when you go to Show and go to Search Lifetime Points, and put in Dazzle Me again....she has 4.5 points in Dressage!!!!! I was only expecting 2 as I didn't think they'd count Trail. Only 15.5 more points till our COA, lol. I'm so proud of us!

Big Day Tomorrow - Big Week Ahead

2009-07-17T23:23:00.000-07:00

We have everything packed, all the tack in the trailer, shipping boots and halters set out for in the morning. Sparkles and Toby are in the back paddock to leave from here in the morning. We get up early and are to meet at the Shop and leave at 6 AM. My grandparents and their best friends are going as Non-Riders in their RV. They are going to follow us all to the first camp which is in Darby, Montana. The refrigerator truck, the U-Haul, the live-in Featherlite, and the stock trailer are all going from here. Our horses are riding in the stock trailer, then during the week it will be the trash trailer for the camp. At the end of the week they will dump the trash and we'll take the horses home. The Featherlite is going to be our RV for the week. We are sleeping on the converted couch, in-laws are on the bed, and Melissa and Ted and whomever else are sleeping in the horse part and tents. They took out the dividers so there is lots of room. It's exciting to see all our tack in the tack room of the trailer!

I am SO excited, but also nervous about riding so much every day. I hope Dazzle handles it well and enjoys it. I hope I'm not miserable all week, lol. I look forward to all the people and hanging out and drinking and talking and laughing over everything. I am not very social at home (too busy with horse) so the Ride is our main outlet for friends during the year. Hopefully I will return with pictures and stories!

Short and Sweet

2009-07-17T23:17:00.000-07:00

Thursday I decided to be smart and ride BEFORE it was hotter than the sun in the yard. I caught Daz with her bridle, brushed her back off (which she stood on the porch of the tack room for), then led her to the arena. I led her to a chair, stood on it, then walked her up next to it. She actually stood beside it and didn't turn to face me. She suddenly seems WAY taller then she is. I put a leg over and boosted up, reminding myself how I'm always telling Dazzle to "just get up there". Dazzle stood stalk still.

We walked around the arena and I felt fine so I asked for a jog. We jogged around a bit. She has too much withers, lol. Her back is kind of spiny. I would have cantered but I decided I would regret it. So, we left the arena and just walked around the property a bit; behind the shed, up the drive way, down the drive way, up to the neighbor's house. Then I had a conversation while sitting on her, we went up the steep hill between the his driveway and mine, and then back to the tack room.

It was a nice ride. Last time I rode her bareback I felt really insecure and could barely relax at a walk. I couldn't jog at all. I used to race and jump bareback, all over the property and the neighborhood orchards. I wish I was still that secure. Maybe we'll get back three, I would love to be able t show in Bareback class.

More Than One Way To Skin A Cat (Or Ride Dressage)

2009-07-16T09:44:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, Wednesday, I baby-sat the neighbors a few hours in the afternoon. Ashley had Tori over and she looked nice with her hair red and a haircut. She is such a pretty young lady. Maddy was upset as she didn't want to stay with me for whatever reason, and Nick seemed a bit uncomfortable around me, probably because he doesn't stay with me much. Ashley hadn't been granted permission to ride. So, I decided I was tired of sitting around and handed her the video camera and we headed down to the horses.

I tacked up Dazzle and it was HOT. I was dripping all over. I settled all the kids in the corner of the arena and mounted up. We walked a little, trotted some circled, cantered both directions, including an attempt at leg-yield at the canter, trotted more, walked on the long-rein, then I got down and put Maddy up for a picture. She was wearing her helmet but in flip-flops. Ashley had video-ed me, so after taking a few shot of Maddy I helped her down and got back on, informing them we were almost done as it was SO HOT. We did everything again for stills and then I rode up to them and I felt like I was about to throw up it was so hot. "You're gonna have to lead her for me", I told Ashley and got down and handed her the reins. I untacked her and hosed her down, then hosed her chest off more once the wanter got nice and cold. She didn't complain.

She was SO good. I haven't been able to watch the video yet as the computer refused to play it, but there are some nice stills. I still can't turn by toes in while posting or putting weight in the stirrups, but my heels are down and my legs are passive.

I was reading Dressage posts on the COTH forums and someone was complaining of the same problem I have; can't turn the toes in because of leg conformation, and someone finally said that riders with much more serious physical problems ride higher levels than us at the Para-Olympics, so we should quite complaining and just figure out a different way to ride to make it work. That person is right. There has to be a ton of people out there with injuries and not perfect conformation riding at higher levels. Toes out is not the most serious crime against Dressage and definitely easier to work around than a bad hip or one arm. It goes with the I was reading a couple months ago; I just have to find a different way to ride that suits my body, doesn't injure me or hurt, and gets the job done. These last few rides have been wonderful. I feel like we're on to something promising. I hope Melissa sees the same as it's been feeling. I am afraid it's just my imagination or something, lol.

The Arab Kicks In

2009-07-16T09:36:00.001-07:00

Tuesday, Ashley was finally able to ride and I had stolen Michelle. We all tacked up and headed into the field. Dan was spooky right off. He stood better for Michelle to get on, then shied going through the arena opening into the field. He wouldn't go into the grassy lane first and eyed everything down the lane to Grandma's. We went around the edge of the field and he was pretty good, then spooked himself walking over a sprinkler pipe. We went to the edge of the field by the road and Michelle walked him over the pipe several times until he did it without acting terrified. Then we went to go around the block. He spooked at everything. Michelle finally decided it wasn't the evening to work on this as she didn't have enough time so we went back and rode home. It took an hour to do all that, so it wasn't a short ride even though we didn't go far.

Ashley and Gypsy didn't have a completely smooth go of it either. Gypsy doesn't like standing very long for mounting. Ashley was taking too long to get on (by her standards) and took off. I had to catch her on Dazzle. I told Ashley she had to make it a swift, smooth movement and just get up there. She was really frustrated by this time as they'd already spent 10 minutes arguing over standing still, but she didn't complain, she just got up there, Gypsy starting to walk off and I told her to discipline her for it. She made her stop and got her foot in the stirrup and all was okay. They did well the rest of the ride. When we got to the gate next to Grandma's Gypsy remembered the training from the session they had a while back and stood next to it while Ashley pushed and pulled the gate. I was quite impressed she had retained it that well. Quite promising.

Dazzle was good the whole time. We were western and she likes that. I let Ashley ride in my Dressage saddle, so that was she and Gypsy's first trip out of the arena in a snaffle and Dressage saddle.

Michelle and Dan and Around the Block

2009-07-16T09:31:00.000-07:00

Sunday Michelle came over to ride Dan for the first time since his arrival here. We tacked up and he managed not to freak and try to kill himself being tied. We mounted up and headed into the field. Dan was being pretty good, so we headed to Grandma's house. We walked through the field there and along the side of the road so we could see cars. There weren't any. Michelle said she had been told Dan had never been around cars before, so that's what we were trying to train on. I told her the sure-fire method of getting cars; step a hoof on the asphalt. Sure enough, his hoof touched the road and suddenly there were 3 cars from either direction coming down the road. We waited for them to go by. Dan did nothing. I told her they usually don't care unless some idiot honks his horn and, cue idiot, some guy in a van honked all the way past us. We headed around the block the busy way. Dan was great. A giant horse trailer went past and lots of cars. He only shied at a person, an address marker, and mail boxes. He didn't do anything dangerous, mostly just wanted to get a good look at things.

I Made Ashley Cry

2009-07-09T22:32:00.000-07:00

Today, Michelle was out to ride with us again (she is not able to ride Dan till Sunday per Wrenn's instructions) and Ashley and I were excited to have a group. I videoed some and took some low-pixel stills.

First, Maddy had a little lesson on Gypsy in the Dressage saddle. Ashley led her around. I just watched and didn't hold on to her this time. She did really well. They ever trotted and I didn't jog along side holding her pant leg. I videoed part of that. She probably rode 15 minutes.

Next, Michelle videoed and I gave Ashley a lesson...or a yelling-at, whichever. This was the first time I had Ashley ride Dressage on Gypsy without warming her up for her first...and it was obvious. She couldn't get her to go on the bit. She was getting frustrated. She was about to cry. She tried to get down. I told her to stay there and just do what I said, I told her what to do to get her to flex and respond. She did was I said; hip-release basically, and magically there was a difference. She gets frustrated and stops using all the parts of her body and makes it worse. There is so much you have to keep track of when riding; legs, hips, arms, elbows, shoulders, wrists, hands, head, it's hard!

She finally got it worked out and they had some nice circles and she relaxed enough to canter left a circle or two. Next, Michelle got on and enjoyed a big horse for once (her parent's horse is 14.2H) and a big walk. She got her on the bit quite a bit and pronounced her a very fun horse. We got her to canter a little even though was nervous to try.

Ashley gave Gypsy a bath and I tacked up Dazzle and warmed her up at the canter. She was being amazing; both leads, no wrong leads, I did all three circles to the right, trotting in between so she had to pick up the right lead every time, then to the left just cantering the whole way. I was able to ride with some weight in my heels and my legs quite. I held my whip and I only needed to use it a couple times. She is starting to understand! It's so liberating not to be struggling to kick her to keep going! She stayed in the canter until I asked for the trot. Super!!!! Maybe we'll actually get to work on being on the bit in the canter soon.

Next, Michelle rode Dazzle while I worked with Dan on stopping and backing with his handler more sharply. He seems to be a fast learner. Then, I yelled Intro B for Michelle to ride as she's never actually gotten to ride a test in a show before and it's been years since she got to practice one. She liked that, they were a little all over the place, but it was better than the first time I rode through it this last Spring.

Last, Ashley got on Dazzle and I gave her a fairly hard-core yelling-at, I mean lesson. She has a hard time remembering to steer with her legs and not her hands. It's hard to steer, control speed, and keep a horse on the bit at the same time. I haven't required too much from her up to now, but she's old enough and has enough ability that I can ask more from her. So, we were working on canter and she was getting frustrated with me requiring transitions in a certain place, with Dazzle dumping her hip in/out, etc. Finally, I wanted her to canter the whole arena and not let her drop to a trot at the ends. She keeps trying to ride the corners like corners instead of like half a 20 m circle. She keeps letting her trot so it's to the point I'm sitting in my lawn chair yelling across the arena, "Whack her NOW, NOW, don't let her trot!" and she starts screaming back at me, "I CAN'T!" lol, and starts crying. Finally she adds that her ribs hurt, which she should have said before as I understand ribs hurting, she means her side aches and I get that sometimes too, but I Can't isn't going to cut it. So I had her walk the arena and cool her down for a bit. She probably rode half an hour and was doing great even though she was frustrated a lot of the time. It's good for her, she isn't used to working when she rides and now that's she is past a kid's horse she gets to learn to use all the stuff I've been preaching at her since she was 7.

She is thinking maybe she wants to show Dazzle next year, so that would be a blast. We could share her like we did Thunder. If I get Ashley a membership with ApHC and CRHA she could help get the points needed to get Dazzle her COAs and ROMs if she placed well enough. She seemed to recover from crying just fine and we plan to ride again tomorrow after the farrier does their feet. Dazzle is getting shoes since she has to have them for the Ride and Gypsy is getting a much needed trim. Hopefully she is less trippy after that.

A First For Spotless

2009-07-09T22:20:00.000-07:00

Michelle came over to ride with Ashley and I on Wednesday the 8th. With her there to spot, I tacked up Dazzle western, but a chain on Spotless' halter and...ponied him for the first time. Dazzle hasn't really ponied before (other then Thunder once to cool him down after a trail-ride for a circle or two) and Spotless has never ponied in any form. I had the chain on because he tends to like to try to drag you across the arena when lunging. With the chain he behaves really well.

I got on, Ashley handed me the lead-rope and we went several circles getting Spotless used to staying with his head at my knee and not getting ahead or behind us. That went well, so we jogged and he did that fine, though he thought it was way too slow. We went both directions and he was so super I decided to try canter. We took a nice lope, probably the slowest lope-iest lope Dazzle has ever done and Spotless...trotted to keep up, lol. After I finally stopped laughing over that I called it good and we put him away. WHAT a good boy. While we were standing before I got down I leaned off Dazzle onto his back and he didn't care at all.

Next, Ashley tacked up Gypsy and I got on for about 15 minute and warmed her up. She was WAY better than the last time we worked Dressage. I worked her to the right which is her harder side, then was sore from her and had Ashley get on. I yelled instructions from a lawn chair, Michelle watched from the small arena where she was walking Dan around. He refuses to stand tied to the trailer; he breaks his twine and runs to Mister's paddock.

Ashley did really well, got her on the bit a lot more consistently. So, I told her to canter. It was her left so should be easier. I warned her not to get scared because her gait is so much bigger and to remember she cantered her western so she can do it English. She got the canter without TOO much jarring trot before hand and I was very proud of her. She did a couple circles and then walked her around to cool her down.

Next, we tacked up Dazzle in the Dressage saddle and I warmed her up, then Michelle rode her and then Ashley rode her. Michelle enjoyed how easily she goes on the bit. Ashley cantered her for the first time ever. They did great. I'm secretly hoping she will comfortable enough to show her next summer.

Dan Meets The Group

2009-07-09T22:13:00.000-07:00

Dan is a 14.3H Arab gelding owned by Wrenn, my new boarder. Michelle is training him Dressage to show for his owner. He is going to board here and Michelle and I can school together; very exciting!

Tuesday the 7th Wrenn and Michelle came over to see how Dan was settling in. He ran right up to them from the paddock but told them he had made awesome new friends. They brought him out to walk him around and brush him. Michelle lunged him off his lead-rope with a bag-on-a-stick.

Wrenn has a nice gel-seat western saddle for trail-riding and she let me try it on Dazzle. It feels a lot different from mine, but it's not bad. I might get to take it on the ride. That would be neat. I figure if I use a different saddle every day I won't get as sore. I rode a few minutes in that saddle, then Michelle spotted for me and I worked Spotless.

I groomed Spotless, then put my spare Dressage saddle on him. It was his first time in a Dressage saddle. It didn't fit too bad. He couldn't have cared less when I tossed it on and cinched it up. I lunged him with it on and stirrups banging. Then I put on side-reins and lunged him some more. He was great. I can't wait till he's three!

Adventure's In The Woods on the 4th of July

2009-07-07T15:50:00.000-07:00

For the 4th we trailered up to Trudy's place. We loaded up and her and Andy's horse and continued on up to the Litt Creek trail. We headed to the trail head which had the scariest foot-wide patch of mud at the bottom. It was either go through the mud or jump a ditch with pokey sticks. We all at to get down and lead across. Toby (formerly Turbo) went across without too much trouble. Trudy got Sparkles across, Ashley convinced Gypsy across...and then there was Dazzle and me. She would NOT cross. I got back on and tried to get her across mounted. She reared, I spun her in circles, asked again, etc. Finally, Andy came back to help me. I got back down and broke a branch off a limb on the ground. Andy held her lead-rope (which is why you bring them with you when you trail ride) and I whacked her across the butt with the branch until she got annoyed enough she jumped the mud. Such a drama queen.

We headed up the trail. I was told it was not a drop-off trail, nothing too challenging. Yeah right! There was a lot of it where I prayed we would die. Straight down that you'd never survive falling. Every time there was mud we had to leap it, of course, and she would then spaz and try to fall off the cliff. We me it all the way to top alive. We let the horses rest for a long time, then headed over to where there was water. Dazzle wouldn't drink a drop. Gypsy and Toby tanked up, Sparkles took one sip and dazzle ripped pieces of bark off the trough.

It took 3 hours up the mountain and only 1 down. "Down" was less scary for the most part since we'd already survived "up" and since it was steep it was a little easier to keep them walking versus trotting/cantering. This is one of the situations where they really reveal that they're animals and have no sense about things. They don't consider tumbling off the mountain. They would tear up the trail if allowed, even though they would probably end up rolling 2000 ft down the mountainside. Scared the crap out of me.

So, we all made it alive. No one coliced; we did a good job cooling them down. Even Gypsy at 24 with 1 eye and not a lot of trail experience made it the whole way. She was a little stiff right after, but was herself after a night.

Why do I do this when it terrifies me and I spend the whole time asking myself what I was thinking? I guess because riding it what I do to challenge myself mentally, physically, etc. And, if I don't want to get stuck in a nice little circle-the-arena routine, I have to force myself to do what scares me and live through it. Someday, when Dazzle is all trail-savvy and no longer tries to kill us, when we can actually get a certain cow in the right place in the right order, when little kids do lead-line on her and she wins them a bit ribbon, I will be happy I spent so much of our training terrified, frustrated, dripping with sweat, confused, exhausted, and determined to do it again tomorrow.

Dazzle Mentioned In CRHA Journal

2009-06-30T10:09:00.000-07:00

Dazzle and I are the only members of the Colorado Ranger Horse Assn. in Oregon. We are also the only ones doing Dressage through their Open Show Point Program. In the journal, Rangerbred News, the manager of the Open Show Point Program gave a shout-out to a few of the people in the program. This is a photo of the little mention. It is in the July/August, 2009 issue.

Calf-Sorting 2.0

2009-06-29T17:41:00.000-07:00

Saturday I took Ashley to the Wagon Wheelers arena for calf-sorting practice. They were supposed to have practice for a couple hours, then jack-pot sorting, but there were a bunch of events this weekend and so the turnout for the sorting was small so they just did the practice. It was my first time driving the truck we bought and using the trailer that is now MINE. It is the truck that was my brother-in-law's and the trailer that was my mother-in-law's. We made it there fine, safe and in one piece. We tacked up the horses and loaded them up. When we arrived we just pulled them out and tied them up. We chatted with Don Johnson and signed up for the sorting. Then we put on our bridles and rode around in the arena, walk/trot/canter. Ashley was scared to canter at first but I told her she had too and she did great.

Then, the man running the sorting let us go in with the cows and walk around in them since we are new to calf-sorting. Ashley got the hang of steering back and forth in the cows. Gypsy is a cow horse so she knew what she was doing, but Ashley had never done any cow work before. Dazzle was much calmer than last time.

Trudy and Andy arrived and Don sent them to get one of his horses for Trudy to ride. She returned with Handy, an Appy that looks like a bulldog on dachshund legs. He is a trail horse first and apparently also a cow horse. I don't think he's ever competed, but he knows what he's supposed to do. We talked and walked around in the waiting arena.

Then the sorting started and since there weren't many people there we got to go in for four runs. I ran with a lady that I had taken a college class from a few years ago twice and then twice with a girl named Kelsie that shows barrel racing with her paint mare, Patches. She is another advocate of doing everything you can in a snaffle. Her horse rides in lime green and it looks good on them. We had a great time and even had a run with only 2 cows out of order.

Michelle rode her mom's horse over from their house as it's only a block away and we talked and rode in the arena together a bit between my runs. Then she headed home, she wasn't able to do the calf-sorting this time. I'm hoping she'll get to next time.

Our last run was good and I felt like I didn't fight with Dazzle much; she was starting to figure out the game and was letting me direct her instead of arguing with me. I did had to borrow spurs from Kelsie because I ended up without mine. They were much bigger than mine, but she didn't act any different for them. I think I'm going to have to get actual western spurs to do the western stuff with, lol. My English spurs may just not be cutting it for cows.

It's really challenging and I felt tempted to decide not to do cows anymore, but after thinking about it, I decided that maybe that means I need to keep doing it because it's a challenge. Then we had our last run where it felt more like we were working as a team and that was encouraging. My secret dream is to have her doing well in totally different categories and Dressage-Calf-Sorting would definitely count!

Ashley did great, didn't complain the whole day, even though it took her two hours of figure 8's and circles to get Gypsy to stand still. Gypsy had a ball and was quiet excited. We will definitely be going again.

The New Girl Gets a Name!

2009-06-29T17:29:00.000-07:00

Tuesday was a happy and sad day. Wednesday was all happy! We put Ashley horse in western tack and I tacked up Dazzle and we rode through the field to Grandma's where we stopped to say hi, then rode around the block. Ashley horse cantered down the lane next to Dazzle fast! Ashley was surprised; Thunder was never that fast. I deemed her the "Mare with a mission"; she walks so fast! She left Dazzle in the dust. By the end of the ride Ashley had declared her horse better than mine in that she is taller (15.3H to Daz's 15.2H), has longer mane and tail, AND walks faster. lol.

Thursday, we put a snaffle bit on the new horse and my extra dressage saddle. I showed Ashley how I get a horse used to giving to the pressure put on the bit. The horse picked it up quickly. Then I got on and rode her a bit. She is way heavier in your hands than Dazzle, but was quickly picking up the idea of giving to the bit and going on the bit when asked. I walked and trotted her in a circle. Next, Ashley got on and I took pictures and yelled pointers. They did well, and Ashley was encouraged that her new mare would be able to do Dressage. I was impressed; I lunged her both ways and on her blind side I used voice commands and she was great!

Friday, Ashley decided on a name for her new horse; Gypsy! I think it fits and we've both been able to remember it, so it looks like it's the right name. We had decided my extra Dressage saddle was too narrow for Gypsy so we put my Wintec on her and it looked like a better fit. I got on and walked and trotted and tried her with a crop to reinforce my leg. She was fine with it, even on her blind side. I went around the arena twice as she seemed nervous at the far end. Then I cantered her both directions. She felt like she wasn't sure what to do once in the canter, but she was better than I expected. I could steer, she knew the aid for the transition. She will progress quickly I think. She is still too much at the canter for Ashley to handle practicing Dressage, but they did great walk/trot working on the circle. They are at the bobbing stage of going on the bit. She is a very bright horse and I think she will be ready for intro level in no time.

The End and The Beginning

2009-06-24T09:39:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a sad and happy day. First, my old gelding Thunder (show name, Stealin' Your Thunder) went down hill last week and I made the hard decision to put him down. Thunder was between 28 and 33 (Ashley and I always called him 33 as it was cooler) and had been with me since 2005 except for two breaks where he lived with other families teaching kids to ride. Thunder taught me to jump, drive a cart, and take care of old horses. He taught Ashley to canter, ride bareback, and won her a Reserve Hi-Point 11-17 with the CEA for the Umatilla Sage Raders show series in 2007. He neck-reined for western and adored pole-bending and barrel racing. He also did quadrille practice, I took Dressage lessons on him and showed him Hunt Seat. He was also one of the best trail horses I ever met. He taught multiple children to ride. Ashley's sister, Maddy, took several lessons on him and did her first solo ride on him only weeks ago. I always knew he would never be a pasture pet, he would be galloping one day and just gone the next. I just didn't know how right I would be. Thunder did a difficult trail ride just a couple weeks ago. He was star, did better than our younger horses. Then, last week, he stopped eating all his food and was dehydrated. I moved him to a different paddock and he ate a little more, but not with his usual appetite. He spent all his time standing in the shade under his tree and no longer nickered to me when he heard me at the house. He was always the one to yell the loudest that he wanted food. He didn't run around anymore, didn't glare at the other horses not to eat his mush. He barely moved around and looked very stiff. He looked "tucked" up by his hips and started dragging his back toes. This all happened within days. Dr. Adams said he probably had kidney failure and definitely had something neurological going on since he was dragging his back feet. She said he wasn't even pasture safe because of that. She said it was definitely time to let him go. Ashley and her mother and I were there when he went. He made it very easy on us. He laid down spine-up. Like he was sleeping, his head resting on the ground. I was shocked, usually horses lay on their side and look dead. We hugged him and cried and said goodbye.

Then, I sent Ashley home for a couple hours and went into high-gear. Ashley knew we were doing a small celebration of her birthday as it was this last weekend while she was out of town. I had made cupcakes. What she didn't know was that I had gotten her her OWN horse. I went and picked up the horse and then positioned the trailer so I could tie the horse behind it and you couldn't see it unless you were in the field. I tied a purple ribbon on her halter. Grandma brought me icing and ice cream. I iced the cupcakes and got everything ready. Everyone arrived and we ate cupcakes and ice cream. I asked her what her birthday wish was after we sang. "My own horse, of course!" she said, everyone laughed. I have her a riding helmet and a pair of breeches. Her mom had told her I had a gift for her, so she thought this was it. Then, I told her she should take everyone down to see Dazzle since that is who she would be riding now. She had family there that didn't know Dazzle, so she thought that was a good idea and everyone trooped down to the paddocks. As we went by the paddocks they asked who owned each horse and Ashley was telling them, "That's Trudy's horse", and "That's Bethany's horse." As they crowded around Dazzle's paddock, I pulled the new horse from behind the trailer and walked up behind the group. I yelled, "Ashley!". She turned around. As she did I said, "And this is YOUR horse." She started screaming, Oh MyGod, Oh My god! and crying. She ran up and threw her arms around the mare's neck crying and still saying "I can't believe it", etc. It was awesome. Her parent's were crying and my grandma was crying. I teared up too, it was perfect. The mare stood there, totally stoic about the crying teenager on her neck. The most amazing part is that his mare is blind in one eye. Wasn't spooked in the least.

Ashley walked the mare around a bit and I told her about it. She is a 24 yr old reg. Appy mare. She is even chestnut. Ashley has always wanted a chestnut mare and had recently decided she wanted an Appy. She is thrilled. She gave her a bath and detangled her mane and tail. Then I took some pictures of them walking in the arena. A couple hours later the mare's former owner dropped by and signed the sales agreement and gave us her papers. She gave us her email so we can send pictures and updates. Ashley was happy she got to meet her horse's previous owner.

Next, Ashley put her horse in the paddock that had been Thunder's and showed her around. Then she had to go through the paper work with me. She is going to work off board to have her at my house and have me supply hay for her. She was still not sure it wasn't a dream when she went home last night. She is supposed to ride her today for the first time, so hopefully that all goes well.

Dressage Show Results!

2009-06-14T10:50:00.000-07:00

My nerves about did me in yesterday, I was starting to get dizzy waiting for my last class. The first class was crazy. It was Trail class and I've done it at schooling shows before, it's always drawn out and pinned to the fence to memorize before you go in. So I get there, find the paper...and it's a LONG dressage test with like, 13 movement directions. I had 10 minutes to try to memorize the thing. It wasn't drawn out, so I looked at an arena picture to get bearings for the test. All of us were freaking out about how we were going to remember this thing. Finally someone thought to ask if we could have a reader since in lower levels of Dressage you can. Thankfully, we could have it read. Melissa read for me. We made it through! I forgot where I was supposed to halt at the end and whether I was supposed to get there walking or trotting. Otherwise, we made it okay. Dazzle would stand next to the mounting block for me to get on so I got on without it. I got marked down for that. If I do it again next year, I'll know more what I'm supposed to do and we'll do better.

My first class was Intro B, a walk/trot. I was shaking, but we headed in. I made a mistake heading into my first 20 meter circle; I tried to start it at S! I realized I was in the wrong place and straightened out so it looked like I just faded off the wall a few steps and no one knew what had happened until I told them, haha. I was focusing on having a steady trot rhythm instead of going forward which wouldn't have stayed steady. I felt pretty good about that test, though I felt pretty silly about trying to start my circle at S.

I stayed on my horse and watched the other riders until my last test. I did a few transitions to warm up and headed in. That was when I felt I might faint, I felt light-headed. I had made sure I ate breakfast or it would have been worse.

We started out fine. I had a moment where I thought I forgot a trot diagonal, then remembered there are none in Training 1. We made it through our canter left. We had good geometry. We headed into canter right, and that end of the arena was deep and wet. I asked and she took canter. I look down and she looked on the wrong lead and felt like it with how frantic her gait felt. I dropped to trot for two strides and asked again. We got the correct lead and finished the test. We got out of the arena and Melissa told me I had been on the right lead the whole time! So again, my biggest error in the test was ME not Dazzle. I didn't really care though, I was just happy to be done.

Melissa came up with the scores for my first two tests, she was freaking out. I got a 75.8% on Trail and a 4th place ribbon, and 69.5% on Intro B with a 2nd place ribbon...I had lost to HER; she and Bayberry got a 79%!!!!! That score won her the Hi-Point for the day and she won a beautiful Dressage saddle pad with BMDCTA embroidered on it on one side and a rider on a dressage horse on the other. She was thrilled. She said when she saw the score she crumpled onto the ground and cried. She worked SOOO hard for that score. When she told me my scores I started to cry too. I was just hoping optimistically for a 65%. When my Training 1 test score came in, I was a little disappointed it was a 57.4%, but that was 2nd place out of 4, so it was just a harder test. They score harder every step up, so a ride worth a 69 at intro is only a 57 at training. I beat older ladies, so I feel good about it. I lost the first place to Annie, a friend who was riding her huge Appy/TB gelding. She about fainted when I told her she'd won because she had accidentally done a late canter/trot transition.

So, I ended up with 2 2nds and a 4th for the day, and and least two scores that will count for ACAAP and CRBA points. I don't know if they'll accept the Trail score. I got all the paperwork ready to send in and so tomorrow I will be able to drop it in the mail.

Norman video-taped our Intro B's and my Training class and Ted took over 1200 pictures with the digital camera. I will have pictures up and video as soon as I can.

We were both thrilled with how many people showed up to support us, at least 75% of the crowd was my family and friends. Thank you guys! It was awesome to have someone cheering us on, I've never gotten to have people at shows like that. I appreciate it and I can't wait to see what we can do next year!

This is the only show planned for this year, so now we start work for next year. I'm hoping money and the help of someone to groom will allow me to show more next year. The plan is to do a Training test and a First level test, but if we aren't quite to showing 1st level we'll do more than 1 of the training tests. Melissa is hoping to show 2nd level next year as her big goal. Everyone at the show banned her from showing Intro ever again, lol. Both Rae and Trish were there cheering us on and they were thrilled with our results. Patrica especially knows how far Dazzle and I have come and was beaming after our tests. We couldn't have made it this far without her.

I told Melissa that next year I'll put her down as my coach since I didn't make a fool of us this year, lol. Hopefully we can make great progress again this year to surprise ourselves at next years show.

Big Day!

2009-06-13T07:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I rode in the morning in my arena. She was perfect! I only rode like 15 minutes since she was good. Then, Ashley and I bathed Dazzle, cleaned tack, braided Dazzle, got all my stuff ready, then helped Melissa get ready.

It's not 7:12 AM. I fed everyone at 6:20, then got dressed in my comfy clothes and washed dishes to keep my mind distracted. I'm eating even though I'm not hungry because otherwise I get shaky and that's never helpful at a show. Lots of family and friends are supposed to be coming to watch which is awesome, I hope they all show up, but also adds to the nerve-wracking-ness of the day.

I just hope we get through the tests without spooking, bucking, forgetting the pattern, taking the wrong gait or lead, or generally making a fool of us. We'll see.

FINALLY, A Good Ride!

2009-06-10T21:24:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I rode in the morning. She was AWFUL. She kept trying to jog no matter what I did, took the wrong lead at canter, etc. I had to spin her around, make her move off my leg, it was a disaster. I couldn't get the feeling I had before trying to get my legs to relax. I was starting to feel like I shouldn't even bother with Dressage and should just do western, but that feels like giving up or cheating.

Today we trailered Dazzle to the Ranch and I rode in the indoor arena with Melissa coaching. It was amazing. We got an awesome canter, worked on trotting center-lines, walking on two diagonals. She was super. I think she likes the super footing in there. It's SO nice. It was a perfect ride. I only ended up riding like 20 minutes because she was so good. If we can do that at the show we'll have nothing to worry about. It was just what I needed. I was starting to get discouraged after our messy ride yesterday.

Mister, Mister

2009-06-10T21:12:00.000-07:00

Mister is a 3 yr old gelding that my mother in law bought last year as a two year old. I convinced her not to try to start him as a two yr old. Melissa and I have been working on him this spring. We sent Sparkles back to Trudy's house and brought Mister here. Melissa did some ground work with him and he magical stopped jumping around, walking over the top of you and rearing. She did round-penning with him at the ranch with help from Ali. THey spent 2 and half hours on him and he FINALLY turned his head in and quit bucking and kicking at them.

Melissa and I took him back Friday and took turns round-penning him. I rode him about ten minutes after doing all my "scary stuff" to him.

So, I rode him again a few days ago here in the arena. I lunged him, then Melissa lunged him, both with side reins on the bit but the lunge line on the halter. Then I got on and rode a little. He wasn't doing ANYTHING, so I had her take the lead line off. We rode walk circle-eights trying to get him to walk when I squeezed. I had to wallop and wallop to get any movements, haha. He was halting from my seat with no rein by the time I finished riding. It was about 20 minutes probably.

Melissa rode him yesterday. She didn't lunge and just got on. They walked circle eights and then he didn't want to go. He bucked! She said she was expecting it, but she still ended up on his neck. He was unphased. She didn't let him get away with it; she got back in the saddle and made him walk. He didn't try it again. So, he HAS got some spunk in him still, but he'll figure out it's easier to do what we ask soon enough, lol.

Practicing, Practicing

2009-06-09T19:16:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I rode with Melissa watching. I worked a lot on trotting trying to stay straight so Daz would be straight and not wobbly. We worked on the walk and a little canter. We worked a lot on trying to figure out what to do with my leg to make it lay comfortably, but correctly on Dazzle's side. It's a project as it seems I'm fighting my leg conformation every step of the way. We tried lengthening the stirrups which seemed to help. I tried to really relax my leg and not grab at her side. It is difficult. I'm so used to trying to keep her walking by squeezing all the time and I have to quit that and get her to where she'll stay at the speed requested until I ask for a change WITHOUT me bumping all the time.

Today, I rode early. She was a mess. She kept trying to job or trot at the walk. Ignoring me when I asked her to walk when we were going at a faster gait. She wouldn't stay in the canter or take the transition well. I got a couple decent circles and gave up. We did a bunch of walk/trot and walk/halt transitions trying to keep her from jogging all the time. It was frustrating. We did a bunch of work on the two diagonals on the long rein. If we screw up canter we could at least rock at walk. lol.

Sunday's Coaching session

2009-06-07T20:12:00.000-07:00

Today I spent an hour practicing test movements and actually ran through both of them with Melissa coaching from the side lines. Intro B wasn't horrible. She said to make sure I don't speed up on the diagonals and to look at my circles more, not ride so straight. I'm always riding too straight, forget to look around the circles. Then we worked on the canter. My training 1 was way better than last year, but she took the wrong lead to the right first try and I had to do a circle and try again. It wasn't too bad other wise, so we practiced canter some more. I worked without spurs and with a whip the first run-throughs, then without anything during the practice of the individual movements. If I remember to keep my legs relaxed and not grab her sides then I can use my leg to keep her forward. It's a trick to do everything at once, I feel lucky to have Melissa here to watch so I know what I need to work on. Otherwise we'll never get very far. If she behaves and I can remember the tests and keep coordinated then we'll do okay. The hardest part will be not letting her break gait, up OR down, during the tests. The two things I'm mainly worried about are getting the correct lead canters for the Training test and then the two diagonal-long-rein walk in the intro. That thing is HARD. You have to go on long rein from the corner to x bent one way, then get to x, switch corners you're aiming for and switch bend. All on the long rein with a nice walk. It's not easy. If Dazzle took her leads better and kept cantering better then training would be easier than the intro.

Trubo's Big Day

2009-06-07T11:46:00.000-07:00

Friday I got up worried as I found Turbo's paddock empty. I called Andy and learned that they had taken Turbo home because he and Sparkles were going to be in the Weston parade. I was a little concerned because I wasn't sure Turbo was quite Andy-proofed, but I had confidence that Turbo would be a good boy if Andy made him behave. I reminded Andy that if Turbo was stubborn or scared to pull him nose around and make him do little circles. Turbo HATES this and will always behave if circles are the other choice.

Saturday, Andy came over and informed us that Turbo was "a jewel". He was the steady-eddy for the other horses. The only thing he was concerned about was when the motorcycles in front of them started revving their engines and doing wheelies and stuff. And it must not have been much since Andy could handle it fine. AND to top it off, they did the parade in a...wait for it...SNAFFLE. Take that all you old cowboys who told Trudy he had to be ridden in a gag-barrel-racing-shanked-piece of equipment. Andy said he even neck-reined fine. In the snaffle. And Andy doesn't do leg-aides, so that means he was only neck-reining. AWESOME. We are SOOO proud of him. Andy could even see the difference in how confident and comfortable Turbo is now, quite the difference from the scared, confused gelding they first brought home.

They didn't go to the judging unfortunately, but they got a participation ribbon for showing up. They were there as part of the re-enactment group, "Guns and Roses". Trudy wore a corset top and skirt and a gun on her hip. They had a ball. It's so nice to hear that a horse you have been training is working out for their owners. That is another horse whose life is better from having been here with me. Thank you Michelle for all the hours you put on him! He owes you!

Friday Training

2009-06-07T11:35:00.000-07:00

(Spotless playing with his Jolly ball recently)

I worked Spotless in the round-pen at the ranch where Melissa boards. I did everything I could think of. We did bag-on-stick, grain bag in the air, surcingle, side-reins on the surcingle, saddle, side-rein hooked to the cinch. He round-penned a lot better than he lunges. His cues were sharp. Walk/trot/canter no problem. He even turns in when asked to switch, not out to the wall. We wore the bit and let me bit him up no issues. Before I put the saddle on I had him stand next to the mounting block and I danced and wiggled and acted scary. Then I pushed on his back. I laid on his back. Nothing. He would have let me throw my leg over and just head off. He is going to be so easy to ride when he's old enough. He just turned two on the 26th so he's not going to get to be ridden till probably next Spring, but he's going to be ready when the time comes. After that, he went into the barn and got put in the cross ties and got hosed down. He did good for his first time. I tied him out with Dazzle after that to dry in the sun.

Mister went into the round-pen next. He had been watching from the larger riding round-pen. When he saw me take his halter off the fence he CANTERED over to be caught. SUCH a different boy from when he got here. It's hard to believe there was a time he was hard to catch. I round penned him a bit, then Melissa did a bit, she had worked with him before and wanted to make sure he was being submissive and behaved before I took over with the "scary stuff". He tossed his head, looked out, and kicked at her a couple times, but she kept making him run when he was naughty and eventually he started looking at her more respectfully and listening better. FINALLY, he stopped and followed her around the pen which she said she'd never been able to get him to do before, so it was definitely a victory. She had worked him twice before and he has gone from a naughty, on the verge of dangerous, obnoxious, colt to a friendly, handleable gelding.

After the round-penning I did all my scary stuff and after his work-out none of it phased him. NONE of it. He'd never done any of it before and he still was not scared of it. The round-penning for respect had apparently done the trick. I put on the side-reins and surcingle and he handled that great, then the saddle and side-reins, did that great. Finally, I was out of anything to do but get on. Melissa came in and held the lead-rope and I laid on him and wiggled and talked and then swung a leg over. I rocked and wiggled and whooped. He dropped his head and seemed relieved I was JUST sitting there; no scary bags or running around or anything. We walked around the pen with Melissa leading. I rocked and rubbed my legs on him. Nothing scared him. He wouldn't walk off my leg. But, he didn't spook from my trying to get him to. I had done yielding to the bit exercises on the ground and he gave to the big both sides. He kind of steers. So, not bad for the first ride.

Next time, I will try to get him walking when I squeeze my legs and steering a little. I was thinking about it afterwards and Mister is the 6th horse that I have been the first person on. Kind of cool.

Trail Ride

2009-06-07T11:31:00.000-07:00

Last week we did a trail ride to Bennington Lake. We took Melissa and Bayberry, me and Dazzle, and Michelle and Turbo. We met Michelle and tacked up and headed out. We went around the lake, which included walking in the few inches of water in the reservoir, then down onto a path that goes past a field and into the trees. Then Melissa took Bayberry back to the trailer to work on her mane and Michelle and I went around again doing most of it cantering. We had a blast. Before heading off, Melissa canter Bayberry a little and she was a angel. Didn't try to race at all! Michelle and I cantered single file down the bunny trails and took turns leading. Michelle said she was able to neck-rein with just a touch of direct now and then in the snaffle. That is SUCH a success. We are so proud of him!

Tuesday and Wednesday Sessions

2009-06-03T15:06:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Melissa coached me for an hour. It went by fast! She did really well for no Dressage practice in over a month. We did a lot of trot trying to get more forward. We did canter. Her up and down transitions from Canter need work so we did a lot of that. She didn't want to take the canter to the right and actually threw a big buck, but she got over it. I tried without my little spurs and she liked that better, but it was a lot harder to get forward. So, I am going to have to figure out how to get her to go forward without them so I don't NEED them. I don't want to HAVE to have them to get forward. I could try the crop again, but it usually makes me lose focus to try to add that to the mix. Our circles are much rounder and the trot is getting there. If I look where I'm going and not at her head it helps a bunch, lol.

This morning I got up at 7 AM and rode for 20 minutes. We did trot and she kept tipping her butt to the inside. We worked on our forward. Then we did a little canter. She was good overall so I called it a day. We are going trail riding later so I didn't want to wear her out. If we can do our best in the show we'll be fine. I'm just worried she'll fall apart or I'll fall apart and it'll be a mess.

Turbo's Story

2009-05-31T22:18:00.000-07:00

Turbo is my new project. Trudy and Andy got him to replace their giant gelding that died last summer. Stretch, the horse that died, was a rescue and his internal organs were just too damaged. He had a heart attack and died in the night. Turbo came to them from a lady that got divorced and couldn't keep him. She did Parelli with him. SOoo, basically he was a 7 yr old that was terrified of any movement made by a human, lunging, brushes, and didn't know how to stop or steer or that legs have "aides".

They rode him at a play-day and it was quite evident he had no clue what to do. He didn't buck or rear or anything, but was just frustrated and confused. They were told to put a bigger bit on him. The horse doesn't neck-rein, yet they need a BIGGER curb bit? Didn't make sense to me. I had them bring him to my house for a few months. We rode him in a snaffle and dressage saddle in the arena. He was definitely very green, but not mean. After Melissa went home for the summer, I had to work him by myself. I went back to basics. I put a snaffle on him and from the GROUND, asked him to give to each side to the bit in combination with pressure on his side where a leg would go. I did that for about ten minutes, then walked him in the arena doing it more walk/halt. We worked on his whip fear. I got on. He did NOT stand at all. He would just leave. I got on and walked/half-halt to walk and back again until he was sharp at it. We walk/trotted. He is easy. We backed. Harder, but he didn't blow up. Just moved his head a bit trying to figure out what to do.

I rode him a couple times, then my friend Michelle came over. She needed a good confidence boost, so I put her on him and she walked him around, then trotted. Then cantered! He won't take his left lead, but he doesn't run through the fence. He actually doesn't go very fast. He can be hard to stop just because he can't quite coordinate his feet well enough. Just takes him more room.

So, now she's put several around the block rides, and a couple trail rides on him. She's in love with him and he adores her. In a few short months and really not that very many rides he has gone from shying when you go to brush him or move hair from your face to falling asleep while being groomed. He hasn't pulled back since he got here, and he had at Trudy's when she first brought him home. You no longer have to go looking for him in the paddock, he'll come to the gate when you call.

The crowning achievement was last weekend at the calf-sorting. Trudy rode him. He plunged right into the cows, no spooking. He took care of her and steered and stopped and everything. She was about in tears she was so happy.

All the people she was talking to told her she just needed a gag-bit meant for barrel racing. Well, after rides with me and Michelle, she is happily riding him in a snaffle. A bigger bit does NOT replace proper training!

Lastly, we are now working on neck-reining. Since he is going to be Andy's horse he needs to go easily just neck-reining. He is steerable, but doesn't have the refinement I want to see before I send him home. Hopefully in the next couple weeks we'll get there and then he'll go home to Andy and Trudy. I'm so proud of him. He has come SO far.

Stormy's Session

2009-05-31T22:08:00.000-07:00

It's been a few weeks now, but I worked Stormy the crazy filly one afternoon last month I think. I spent 2 1/2 hours with her. We went through all the ground stuff; lunging, scary bag on a stick, rope tossed over her, etc. I was able to put a bridle on and off her doing it in steps. I did rope in the mouth instead of a bit and after that she took the bit easier. It took a while and lots of patient persistence, but I was able to get the bridle and bit on and off without unbuckling it and putting it on like a halter. I tacked her up and did scary stirrups and and everything else I could think of. She's not scared of any of that. She hates the bridle, but isn't actually scared of it. Nanci showed up, so I had her hold Stormy and I stood in the stirrups, laid on her back, then sat on her and had Nanci walk us about 6 steps. I called it good and got off and she didn't even spook about that. I untacked and brushed again and then brought out an extension cord and desensitized her to it. I used the plastic bag and made scary clipper noises and rubbed it all over her. Then I got the clippers and rubbed her shoulder with the, and trimmed her bridle path. I held them in front of her so she could see them in hopes of doing her muzzle and she reared and struck. Of course. When I got her calmed down I held up the clippers off and she reared and struck. After a couple times I caught what her "tells" were and started disciplining her at the first signs she was thinking about rearing/striking. It worked. I was able to get her to sniff the clippers. I felt harsh, but I'm NOT going to stand for being struck at. That is WAY too deadly.

A few days later Melissa took her to the stables and worked her in the round-pen and said she had no issues, so it must have made a difference. Monty hasn't done anything with her since and the session proved to me AGAIN that she is really to aggressive for me. I don't know how to handle it correctly and safely AND I don't want to die. Especially not by the hooves of that psycho horse. I've worked her several times, she has all the "scary stuff" down. She's NOT scared. She's just scared of PEOPLE and wants to kill them. I can't fix that, I'm not agile enough to dodge hooves nor strong enough to wrestle her around when she gets violent. I don't know any other way of handling something like that, so I'm obviously NOT the one who should be training her. Being nice and trying to do bonding things hasn't made her less violently aggressive. She needs a real trainer at this point. Hopefully by the fall Monty can afford that for her.

The Canceled Show

2009-05-31T22:05:00.000-07:00

So, the show that we were practicing intently for was canceled. I was so disappointed I couldn't bring myself to post for a while. Then I got busy. So, now I have no excuse and show be posting regularly again.

Our new show is in 2 weeks and it will most likely be the only show for the season. It is an actually Dressage show, so I am appropriately horribly nervous.

Dazzle and I have been doing a lot of riding, but not Dressage practice. We have done several trail rides, practiced in her bitless bridle that I plan to use on her on the Trail Ride in July, the big Chief Joseph ride. We did a calf-sorting last weekend. So, good stuff, but not technically Dressage practice. So, for the next two weeks, that's ALL we're going to do. I have the arenas mowed and re-lettered and we're ready to go.

Short and Sweet

2009-04-15T16:59:00.000-07:00

I took a couple days off because I am afraid part of why we had trouble last ride was that my legs were too sore and weren't doing what I thought I was telling them to do.

So, today I took out my mom-in-law's two horses and brushed them, cute bridle paths and sprayed their mane/tail. They seemed to like the attention. I put my three out to run in the arena in the meantime. After I finished with Turbo and Sparkles I brushed Thunder and put him back in his pen. I caught Dazzle, clipped her bridle path and chin whiskers with clippers, then caught Spotless. I clipped his bridle path and whiskers, then gave him a much needed bath. It was his first bath of the new year. And he looked like it. I let him dry in the sun while I did a ride on Dazzle.

I got on and track left to we were looking right. Whe was only too happy to trot so I went ahead and posted trot. Close to C I gave the reins a little and asked with my leg and seat position for canter. She cantered. We did a circle. On the correct RIGHT lead. We trotted after one circle and did it again in two other places. Then we changed rein and did it going left. I made sure I wasn't getting in her way. I looked up where we were going, didn't worry about her being on the bit, just focused on turning my body where I wanted to go. She did try to cut in a little, but not too bad. And she took the correct lead, EVERY time. she was even fairly light on the aids. She tried to canter a couple times when I hadn't asked. I had a whip, but never used it. We did about 3 circles of canter each direction, some trot diagonals, a free-walk diagonal. I just tried to stay out of her way.

Usually, I do the circle I want to canter at the trot first. I make sure she is balanced. I bend her to the inside, push her out so she doesn't cut in, ask for the canter. ANd she throws a fit and often takes the wrong lead. So, I wanted to test my theory I just tend to get in the way. She apparently I was right. She did great western when I wasn't in her mouth at all, and then today when I had contact, but wasn't trying to do anything in her mouth to cue her, so now I just have to figure out how to ask her to be on the bit but not get in her way at the same time. That's all...

So, we only rode about 10 minutes, but I got exactly what I was looking for, so I rewarded her with quitting. And a bath. Both she and Spotless are now clean, with tail bags, fly-masks, and fly-sheets. I really needed a good ride. The last one was so discouraging. Today I was sorting through pictures that had never gotten put in the right files on the computer and I look really un-impressive. They were from last fall. My leg is too far forward and for the life of me I can't fix that, OR my toes being too far out. It's the way my legs and feet are made. I fight against it every time I ride trying to sit properly. It makes me wonder if maybe I should let someone else do Dressage on her and just do Western on her. But I love Dressage, so that really isn't the perfect solution even if I could find someone to do Dressage on her.

Dressage Day - First Time Through Tests

2009-04-12T10:32:00.000-07:00

I printed out the two tests I'm going to show at the end of the month; Intro B and Training 1. I searched and searched and found the directives. I printed out arena diagrams and drew out the patterns to help me visualize them and memorise them. I read them over several times and then went out to school them as best I could remember. I knew the movements if not in the right order for both tests.

I got Dazzle, tacked up and hopped on. No spurs today, just a Dressage whip. Friday we rode with no spurs western and she was awesome. We walked around the rail, trotted, did some walk/trot/walk transitions trying to stay on the bit the whole time. She has a tendency to look shocked even though I've warned her with leg, seat, and rein aids before the change in gait. We got some calm transitions so we started the test. Intro B was first. We entered at A nicely, but she didn't want to halt at X so our down transition looked a bit violent. She then lurched her front end to one side instead of stopping straight and tried to walk off when I saluted. We trotted off pretty well. Tracked left. Did our circle at E. I was impressed with out geometry on the trot circles. Our diagnoal wasn't bad. Pretty straight, if not a steady rhythym. Our long-rein free-walk on two diagonals was really wobbly and she wanted to slow way down. We'll have to work on that one. Our halt at the end was straighter, but she still thought it was stupid to stop in the middle of the arena and she didn't want to halt on the bit.

Then we tried Training 1. We made it through the first trot circle then got to the part where you take up the canter in the corner. She took the RIGHT lead instead of the left. We tried again. She did it again. I gave up the pattern for a moment and rode her down to the center circle. She took the correct lead that time. We went back to trot and headed down the wall to try it again in the corner. She took th wrong lead again. I was getting frustrated, especially after how awesome she did the day before, so I trotted the circle at A until she felt straight and I could get the correct lead, then rode her to B and did our canter circle. She did the same thing on the 2nd canter circle. I was really discouraged, so I took her to the other end of the arena and made her work on the bit trot-canter-trot-canter until she did canter circles on the correct lead, both directions, on the bit. She did it fine there, so she must not like the something about the footing or something at the A circle. My arena is the corner of an alfalfa field and not level, so it's very possible it throws her off. Plus, my legs are pretty sore from riding so much this week after a month off. So I decided that maybe my muscles aren't doing what I'm telling them to and not cueing her like I think I am. So, it was very disappointing after the awesome western session yesterday. We'll get there, but I feel like I suck right now!

Western At An Arena

2009-04-12T10:12:00.000-07:00

(Turbo at the outdoor tying station near the round-pens)

My two friends that have been boarding at my house moved their horses to a boarding barn across the highway that has a giant outdoor arena, an indoor/heated/sandy-footing arena, two round-pens, a hot walker, and a warm-water boath station. So, Friday they spent the morning moving all their tack from my tack-room and their horses to the new barn. In the afternoon, they came back and picked up me and Dazzle to come see the new digs.

Dazzle was upset that she couldn't see her friends and screamed like an idiot. I put her in the roundpen and she was happy there as she could see her buddies. I round-penned her a little. She was quite distracted, but walk/trot/cantered both ways. Ali and Melissa had round-penned Bayberry and Flash also, and then put them on the hot-walker. Bayberry went on first. She is an ex-racer so we guess she probably had been on one before. She put her head down and plodded along like nothing. Then, Ali added Flash. He tried walking on it backwards. Then he figure it out and followed Bayberry. Last, I added Dazzle. She waited until the rope pulled her, then trotted and stopped. Pull-trot-stop-pull-trot-stop. She finally figured out if she just walked out it didn't pull on her. Then she figured out if you stop and mule-stance against the rope the whole hot-walker stops moving. I yelled at her to walk and she gave me a You're-No-Fun look and started walking again.

After the hot-walker lesson Ali and Melissa hosed off their horses and tied them to dry in the sun. I tacked up Dazzle back at the trailer where my stuff was and she was not pleased to be out of sight from Turbo, Bayberry and Flash. She screamed, dug in the gravel, and finally reared. I yelled at her to knock it off. When I had her tacked up I had a moment of fear where I considered asking Ali to get on first, then decided she'd be fine once she saw her friends.

I lead her to where the others were tied up and she settled right down. I put on the bridle and my helmet and got on. She stood just fine. We went to the gate of the outdoor arena and opened it. The noise of the noble paneling scared her at first, but I assured her it was just a gate and we were able to finish opening it. Once in the arena she was great. I had a curb bit with a jointed mouthpiece and a fairly short shank. She had never been in one before. I was able to ride on a loose rein just fine. We jogged, whoa'd, turned on the haunch and forehand, jog-cantered, canter-whoa'd, everything I could think of. She took the correct lead even on the rail all but one time. She took her RIGHT lead when I asked for the LEFT. That never happens. We only rode about 15 minutes, but she was really good and it was hot and we were both sweaty, so I called it good. We opened and close the gate again going out and I took her back and untacked. She was again unhappy to be on the wrong side of the barn.

I took her inside the barn to the wash stall. She stepped in, heard the drain gurgle and backed out. She refused to go back in. The stall is plenty big enough to walk in, turn around to face out, and be put on the cross-ties, but she'd have nothing to do with that. So, I hosed the side she had half-way in and then that distracted her enough when I asked her to turn so I could do the other side she walked right in. I just held her as I figured being in the stall was progress and she's never been in cross-ties before. We'll try that again next time. After that she stood in the sun with Turbo and Flash while I took pictures of Melissa riding Bayberry. She was dry within half and hour and ready to go home.

It was a great ride and made me think that maybe by the end of the summer we might actually be able to compete in open schooling shows and have a shot at placing in western. Very encouraging.

Show Plans For Summer

2009-04-07T14:06:00.001-07:00

I did a schooling show last Sunday on my old gelding, Thunder. My husband drove me and kept track of our places. Afterwards he announced I am not allowed to show open shows anymore unless I think I can beat the trainers/stuck up rich girls. I can only show Dressage. So, he told me I am to start taking lessons again and I can do two shows this summer. Then next year I show all I want, hit everything if I want, after this year of taking lessons often. So, the two shows I'm going to do are the two that are in town. Both are schooling shows. Nothing high-pressure. I'm going to do Intro B, Training 1, and Dressage Trail at both. Should be interesting and a learning experience. Last year she did one of the shows but I didn't ride her, Melissa did. They did an Intro class. So, we'll see how I do on her this year. I'm really nervous about it, but I'm sure we'll through it. If we make enough progress, I might hit an open show or two later in the summer. But I won't waste the money on it unless we're doing well enough I might place well. We'll get there eventually.

Other than those two shows, we're going to get conditioning for the Chief Joseph Trail Ride. I have paid my head fee and just have to get the balance paid off now. One of my friends is borrowing my father-in-law's gelding to ride it since he always works it anyway. So, Trudy on Sparkles, me on Dazzle and Alison on Turbo. Should be a blast. Melissa is going to work it with the rest of the crew. The ride is 5 days, about 20 miles a day. Not a race, but you still have to be in decent shape as does your horse. Dazzle will be earning mileage towards her Distance ROM with ApHC and hours for the Saddle Log program through ApHC. It will take four years to get her ROM in Distance. It's exciting to finally be starting on it. So, the beginning of our summer will involve hours of riding to get conditioned for that.

What are your plans for the summer? Anything exciting?

First Day Neck-Reining

2009-04-07T13:55:00.000-07:00

I have practiced neck-reining in the snaffle a little every once in a while, using lots of leg aids to teach her to neck-rein. She was getting it. Today, I decided to try the curb for the very first time. Next summer when we show she will be 5 so she'll have to be able to use a curb for western. This summer we aren't going to show much, so it's a good time to teach it as there's no pressure.

So, today I tacked up western, fitted the curb bit and we headed out to the arena. She turned easily and stopped nice. Backed beautifully. Better turn on the fore-hand and haunch then two-handed with a snaffle. We worked on walk/jog and then jog/canter and then walk/canter. She took the right lead almost everytime, to the point I forgot she had a bad side. She tried to dive in some, but I was able to push her out with my inside leg. We got so light she was getting hyper. Walk/canter/ho. Canter/ho/turn on the haunch. Jog/walk/ho/back. She was getting really light. It was a lot of fun. Then we practiced side-passing over a pole for trail class. I'm going to work on that one. Find the balance for leg and hands since I haven't done it one handed before. She is really good at opening the gate. She almost does it all by herself.

Since we were learning new things I only worked for for about half an hour again. She seems happy to be the center of attention again. I hosed her shoulder and back, sprayed some of the winter dried-on mud off, and put on her fly-sheet and put her in the arena. She is living in there untill there is a dry paddock availble. She is SO happy to be wearing a fly-sheet and getting pampered again. Yesterday I had brushed really well, then hosed her off and put her fly-sheet on for the first time this year. She was hardly shedding today. That is promising. I hope she gets naked for summer quickly!

First Spring Ride

2009-04-07T13:48:00.000-07:00

I rode Dressage yesterday for my first ride on Dazzle in over a month. First she got time to run in the arena, then I lunged her both directions and she was lazy. No bucking or anything. I tacked up and hopped on. We walked and trotted around the arena. She was good. We worked on trot/canter transitions. So took the wrong lead a couple times, but not too bad. She is way wobbly and rushed both directions at the canter, but that is to be expected after a break. It was pretty warm, over 60 degrees, which is the hottest it's been yet this year. Dazzle and I were both sweating, so I kept it short. Half an hour all together. She is trying more then before. She isn't throwing her butt in and out when I ask for the canter and I'm able to use my inside leg at the canter to keep her out on the circle. She likes to dive in when cantering to the right. Then to cool down we practiced leg-yield from quarterline to fence and fence to quarterline. She seems more responsive to my aids then before. This is good, just means I have to work harder on giving lighter and lighter aids.

Always Get Back On

2009-04-07T13:23:00.000-07:00

January 28th I got a day nice enough to ride between snow flurries and rain. I tacked up western for a change and headed off in the field. Today was different for two reasons; I didn't have anyone with me, just my cell phone, and I didn't lunge first. We just headed out.

We walked and jogged to the far end of the field and I put us on a circle in the corner of the field to practice trot/canter transitions. She got mad and stopped, went up a little. I pulled her head to the side to short circuit her attempt at rearing and then kicked her forward to get the canter that had made her mad in the first place. She cantered. She tossed her head a few times, but didn't try anything naughty again. We trotted down the side of the field and did another circle about halfway down the length of the field. We trotted, cantered, trotted and as I asked for the canter again she started bouncing around and by the time I realized what was going on I was way off to the left and she was still bouncing and going forward. Crap. I grabbed for mane and ripped some out as I fell, I landed still holding the reins. She looked like she knew she'd messed up. Somehow my glasses broke in the fall. The right stem was barely connected. I bounced back up in the saddle and we went forward again. We trotted and then I asked for the canter and she started bouncing again. I short circuited her by pulling her head to the side, then kicked her forward into the canter. We trotted, cantered, trotted, did figure 8's with trot in the middle, and more circles of transitions. There were no more naughty moments.

I'm sure lots of people experience this all the time, but I make it a point not to ride naughty horses. Dazzle is usually good, but I pretty much always lunge unless I have been riding everyday. When she tosses her head or does anything that could knock me off balance I slow her down to a speed I can control better. At my riding lessons last winter I learned that I have successfully taught her to be naughty when she's tired or bored as I will let her slow down. I had never fallen off Dazzle before. She is usually pretty good. The big thing is that I have never fallen off and hopped back on with no worries and just determination in mind. I wasn't scared at all. We were just going to do what I asked. I wasn't angry, I wasn't shaky, no tears were rolling down my cheeks. I wasn't concerned about falling off again. I was ready for her. And it went well. I rode again the next day with a friend and she was just as respectful with no issues at all. We did the exact same pattern. Out to the far end for a circle, to the middle of the side for circles. She was a good girl.

So, I seem to have earned the respect from her that Melissa already had. It was very liberating. That's the best way I can describe it. I wasn't scared of her anymore. I feel like I can get so much further with her now that I'm not scared. I don't know what changed. Nothing that I can think of. I ALWAYS get back on when I fall off. But usually I'm weak and shaky and I will be scared the next several times I ride. It seems like that is over.

Welcome to 2009

2009-01-20T18:06:00.000-08:00

2009 is here, along with new year's resolutions and adjusting to life's unpredictable obstacles.

Melissa and I had planned to ride Dazzle and Bayberry all spring with the goal of the Spokane USDF shows in late spring and summer. Last week we were told that the arena those shows are held out was destroyed by the snow. The arena collapsed from the weight of the snow on the roof. SO, we are going to adjust our goals. We have agreed to ride my mother-in-law's two Appys and might take them to some shows. Dazzle and Bayberry will attend the Dressage shows nearby, all schooling-shows. We'll hit tricities and Boardman, rack up some Dressage show experience. Dazzle and I will be able to earn CEA points at some and Colorado Rangerbred points at all of them. It'll be cheaper than Spokane, so we'll be able to take more horses and/or attend more shows. It will be less pressure, but it's still disappointing.

I haven't posted in a while as we got over 2 ft of snow which brought all horse activities to a halt. It was so cold outside that feeding was miserable and I would feel sick from breathing the air just for the that length of time. I decided if I couldn't handle it, I wasn't going to ask my horse to WORK in it, so she got over a month off.

Last Saturday was the first playday since the snow, so we squished four horses into Monty's trailer (usually we take two in it), and trucked over to the fairgrounds. I lunged Dazzle, she didn't buck, but cantered a lot. Then I tacked her up and headed in. She was...an ANGEL. Never naughty, didn't run away with me, toss her head, buck, NOTHING. She LOVES the gaming. She tries to canter the poles (all on the same lead of course), and she has the relay race about down to where she doesn't need me. I could have put a 10 yr old on her and they'd have been safe. I am so happy with her. A month off and she's better than ever. AND she's turning 4 this spring, that's when they're supposed to go crazy! This time last year she WAS a bit crazy, and I usually had Melissa ride her. I'm hoping this means she will have an easy 4 yr old year. It would be fun to go bring home some ribbons again. I missed showing last year.

So, we are off to a good start in 2009. I'm SO tired of snow and mud and grateful we have not had flooding here. I'm looking forward to warmer weather and shows! Haven't schooled Dressage yet this year, but I'm excited about taking lessons again soon.

Today's Lesson With Pat Prince

2008-11-18T23:00:00.000-08:00

Our lesson was AWESOME! Dazzle had a lot of energy, but wasn't too naughty. I'm getting a lot better and riding through her head-snaking and using the whip and driving her forward when she does that instead of freezing up and pulling her back, which was rewarding her.

We worked on our trot, keeping her on a circle which means pushing her in or out with my leg depending on which side of the circle we're on. She likes to aim for the trailer. haha.

Then, we worked on our upward transitions, which she was wanting to toss her head about because she'd rather NOT transition up, thank you.

Lastly, we worked on our leg-yields, which are not too bad, if I do say so. She needs more forward in them (you don't say?!), she would prefer to just go side-passing to the wall. So what we did was leg-yield a little, then trot forward to the wall in front of us and walk. It only took maybe 2 or three times of that and when we tried a normal leg yield she had WAY more forward and didn't try to just dive to the wall.

Pat said she had a hard time believing this was the same horse she met only 3 lessons ago. She said that Dazzle was showing us how smart she is and how much potential she has. She learns SO fast. So, we are once again, very much encouraged and had a nice time.

One of the big things for me is that when she does something naughty I discipline (drive forward with leg and whip, say, Uh Uh, whatever I need to do) and we're done. Before, I was arguing with her for 10 minutes and still wasn't sure I had won. She is SO much easier to deal with.

Since Pat had me use the whip more deliberately, it actually MEANS something now instead of being a nagging pest to her. My leg works, my whip is not a forward, pick up your hind end, aid. It's amasing. She listens to my legs for helping support her turn in the arena, move in or out of the circle, flex at the poll, bend on the circle, etc. It's...liberating.

I was so afraid that I was being mean or abusing her if I used the whip too much that I had made it so I had to whip and whip and whip or spur and kick, etc. WAY too much for any reaction. 2 lessons and 2 schooling sessions of at-walk-whip-means-trot and at-trot-whip-means-trot-FAST and using legs only once before the whip and she is no longer ignoring me. I don't have to use either much and when I do, it's one squeeze, firm tap, etc. I only had to be "mean" 4 days and now she understands what I want and is wanting to "play the game" as Patricia puts it. Instead of fighting me she is trying to understand. I'm not annoying anymore and now she's willing to play.

I won't be able to have another lesson for probably 2 weeks, so we'll see if we can keep progressing schooling alone!

Trail Riding Day

2008-11-17T18:16:00.000-08:00

Sunday we hauled out to my in-laws place and then drove up to the national forest land and rode up a wide gravel road for an hour. We rode an hour in and then about 45 out. It was a great ride. My in-laws rode with us, and one of Melissa's friends joined us on Thunder, my old gelding. Melissa ponied Thunder off of Bayberry and he was an angel, trying his best not to scare his rider. Bayberry acted liked she ponied horses all the time, even though it was her first time. Dazzle had a great time and trotted and galloped, and had a bunch of fun. She would drop back, then manuever to the front, then wait for the others. Then, she'd trot race Sparkles or Turbo, my in-law's Appy's. By the time we got back they were all sweaty but still walking out fast. They were all relaxed and alert, not upset or prancy. Melissa was really happy with Bayberry as she afraid she would take some work to be a trail mount, but it looks like she'll be just fine.

So, today, Monday, we gave them the day off since they'd had 4 days of work. Tomorrow, we have lessons with Patricia Prince again. Melissa leaves for Thanksgiving later this week, so we probably won't have another lesson for almost two weeks.

Tricities Instructor

2008-11-17T18:10:00.000-08:00

Saturday we hauled in to Red Barn again and had lessons with Rae Lamming from Tricities. I was a little terrified as the ladies from the barn were telling us she was more serious in her lessons and opinionated. At my lesson however, she was great, very nice, and not scary at all. She was very encouraging. She told me not to let Dazzle get choppy and fast with her front legs. She said I need to lean a little more FOWARD in my posting! She said Dazzle should grow another inch or two and that she is currently a down-hill horse that moves uphill. I was THRILLED. She really liked her and thought she was really cute. She also said she was swinging her back by the end of the lesson! Yey! Melissa enjoyed her lesson too, everyone said how wonderful Bayberry looked.

This week I will try to get my lesson videos on Youtube. I don't know if I'll be able to put the whole lesson up, as each is 45 minutes long. I'm hoping so though, because it will be like providing training videos. Wish me luck! If you know how to do videos that long, let me know!

Got Forward?

2008-11-16T10:16:00.000-08:00

Friday evening's lesson with Patricia went awesome! It took place at Red Barn, a boarding barn about 10 or 15 minutes from my house. Melissa and I drove in and took back to back lessons. She went first. Bayberry was good, they looked great as always. Pat had Dazzle and I work on forward again, this time she was SO much better! We actually got to graduate to working on something else! She had us work on leg yield on our down times. She did good. I love this new instructor! We are so encouraged after a session with her.

Sunday At The Fairgrounds

2008-11-09T20:57:00.001-08:00

We were late AGAIN, but at least we got there. Ashley got to come. She's my 13 yr old neighbor that I let ride my old guy. She seemed to have fun, though she said he was a poop. That's normal for him though.

So, there were a LOT more people at the meeting, which is good for the horses. We do wish they would teach all the kids the rules of riding in an arena. They run all over like cats. Dazzle spazzed a little at first, but calmed down after a few laps of trot.

We worked on our forward (and not running into, or being run into, by the kids on their horses). They had a little cross rail up and I let her trot over it. She doesn't over jump it like it's 3 feet tall; she just put it in her trot step. It was awesome. After we were kicked out at 3 PM we rode in the outdoor to cool down. Melissa got on Dazzle for a few minutes and said she could already tell a difference in Dazzle's forward and her response to the whip. yey! We have another lesson on Friday. Hopefully it doesn't rain because this time it will be in an outdoor, uncovered arena at a private boarding barn. We have all week to do our "homework". Hopefully we'll get some dry weather so we can get some good sessions in this week.

Kick In The Butt

2008-11-08T22:52:00.000-08:00

Another part of what our new instructor gave me for homework was to instill a work ethic into Dazzle. When she said it I thought, "Yeah, Dazzle and ME". I can be SO lazy. So Work Ethic is the name of the year, I'm guessing, for Dazzle and me. It doesn't help that the weather is changing and we had our first lightning/thunder storm this evening. Melissa and I have new, refreshed goals now, so we will be refocused and ready to work through the nasty winter weather.

Melissa's lesson, which I shall mention even though her horse is a TB and not an Appy, also went great. Our instructor called her mare, Bayberry, her "Grand Prix" horse. Melissa couldn't have been happier. She also said Dazzle had the "movement" to make it at Training Level in the USDF shows. Later, Melissa and I laughed over the fact I was as tickled over Training Level as she was with Grand Prix.

So, at least so far I'm doing better on riding everyday it isn't raining than I am on walking on the treadmill or outside for my exercising plan. Oh, tomorrow starts another week...