CP Goes Cross Country

I took CP to the Horse Park yesterday for his first ever cross country schooling. I was originally going to borrow a trailer, take CP and JR, and have Tor ride JR for the afternoon. Unfortunately, Tor had a family thing she had to go to. When Marissa offered to not only let me borrow her trailer, but also to go with me, I readily agreed. For some reason I had it in my head that she and Tucker had been cross country schooling a few times in the past. Turns out I was way wrong about that, but the day ended up being even more fun that I could have anticipated!

It rained for most of the week and yesterday looked to be no exception. As Mike and I pulled up the farm driveway, the skies darkened and thunder rumbled in the distance. It was pouring when I went to get CP out of the field and I actually called Marissa to see if she wanted to cancel. With a go-for-it attitude that I admire, she decided to come down and see what we could accomplish. As it turns out, the rain stopped long before we got to the Horse Park and we actually rode under blue skies for part of the afternoon.

CP had had a few days off and I tacked up and mounted quickly, the idea being to get the fall-off-the-pony part of the day over with before Tucker was even tacked up. I needn't have worried because CP was on his very best behavior. The fact that we were in a totally new place didn't faze him and he didn't seem to notice that there was chaos all around. Good boy.

Erin was working the dressage show, but she was kind enough to lend Marissa her crash vest. Mike came along as our un-mounted ground person and awesome-tastic photographer. Jen, who had a booth at the show and wanted to see CP perform, also tagged along with her camera.

My goals for the day were to get CP in the water complex, up a bank, and over one or two small (pre-starter) obstacles.

We started the day at the water complex. CP had never seen anything of the sort and he was not convinced that he wanted to go in it, even after Tucker waltzed in and splashed around, demonstrating how much fun the whole experience was. Mike caught the moment when CP went in on video.

Once CP was in the water, he acted like it was the most natural think in the world. He splashed around, walked around the island, and willingly picked up the trot. Marissa and I wound up trotting laps around the island with two very happy horses. We were both grinning ear to ear.

"Best carousel ever! Put in more quarters!"

We got some very funny looks from the experienced eventers who were coming down the hill behind us.

Next we tried to get the jumping part of our day started. I picked a small, innocent looking a-frame type jump and aimed the pony at it. I was shocked when he flat out refused to do it. I circled, lined him up again, and booted him over. He leaped straight up in the air and over-jumped. This I expected. What I didn't expect was that he was going to completely forget about his back legs and get tangled in the jump. He nearly fell on his face and I got vaulted onto his lack-of-a-neck, losing my stirrup in the process. The pony panicked and skittered forward and I really thought I was going to eat dirt. Somehow, miraculously, I managed to stay on. Better yet, Mike caught the whole thing in pictures.

This is when I really questioned my judgement. Was I rushing CP? The pony has only been in training for 90 days (not even). He'd never seen anything like this. Would it prove to be too much? Was I making a big mistake?

After the initial near-crash, CP was understandably reluctant to go over the jump again, but we practiced until he went over without panicking. 

Then we walked over to the rest of the course. Thankfully, the next several jumps went much more smoothly. We even hopped up a bank out of the smaller water complex. Although, I'll admit I got left behind on that one. I had seen Tucker hop up like it was no big deal, and simply forgot that I was on a horse three and a half hands shorter than Marissa's.

Before long, I found myself getting my confidence in the pony back. He had gotten over his initial scare and seemed to really be getting into the jumping thing. 

Next thing I knew, I was going, "This jump is only three inches taller than that one. Well... this one's only a bit bigger than the one we just did. Hey, I bet he could jump that too!" 

And that's how the 13.2hh pony wound up doing beginner novice jumps. I was 100% blown away. Talk about a brave, honest, and willing pony! He really might have a future as an event horse. Granted, he made some green horse mistakes. He over jumped a lot of the obstacles and his timing wasn't perfect, but he's got a lot of natural ability and generally good form. Plus he really learned how to tuck his knees up by the end of the day. We had some refusals, but I guarantee they were all rider error and none of them were the least bit dirty. 

I don't know about Marissa, but I had a grand old time jumping and jumping and jumping all afternoon. Both the pony and I were exhausted by the time the day was through. We ended on a good note and I felt good about our progress.

We spent some time catching up with Erin, eating the horse park food, getting my back adjusted, and meeting a friend of Mike's before heading home. All in all, I'd call it a productive afternoon.

Baldpate with Emily

I joined Emily at Baldpate Mountain for a trail ride this morning. We were originally supposed to go to Hawk Mountain, two hours away, with Pekoe and Chotori, but it appparently doesn't open to horseback riding until next weekend. I also wound up riding Tryssta because there's a potential buyer who is taking her on a hunter pace tomorrow.

It was a lovely ride. Tryssta was on her best behavior, as always, and I just enjoyed myself. It was really really hot and Emily has been away for two weeks so we took it easy, but the horses got a good work out anyway, with a good bit of trotting and lots of hills. The footing wasn't ideal because it's been raining for days on end, but we made do... and Pekoe was just plain adorable.

We were out for about two and a half hours, riding all the way from Washington's Crossing to the top of Baldpate and back. Nothing terribly exciting happened and I got some nice photos. We've agreed to try to make this a regular thing. It's a good change of pace for me.

Ozzy Photos

Way too busy to post a real entry, but I wanted to share some Ozzy photos. One of my former SRF volunteers came to visit yesterday with her daughter, who apparently really missed Ozzy. She wound up riding JR and may be coming back for lessons (which would be awesome). While I had Ozzy in, I trimmed his beard, neatened his mane and tail, and actually gave him a bridle path (I had actually let it grow all the way out to mane-length). I thought E might get a kick out of watching him run around so I turned him loose in the ring for a few minutes to snap some photos. It was hot and muggy so we kept it short, but he's always up for showing off :)

Glass Memorial/Lick Ridge Ride

Last week I came home at the end of a long day to a Facebook message from Cate saying, "What are you doing this weekend? Want to ride 50 miles?"
I replied, "Count me in."

The Glass Memorial/Lick Ridge is a CTR in central Pennsylvania, in a part of the country  I've actually never ridden in before. It's a two day ride, featuring 25 mile CTR's and 12.5 mile CDR's both days. There is also a two-day 50 mile option, which is what Cate signed me up for with Poe. I had only ridden Poe once, and for only half an hour, and I haven't done a 50 miler since July when I rode Rayzer in Vermont, but I figured, "Why the heck not?"

It was only when I Googled directions that I realized that ride camp was four hours west of me. Oops. I was originally planning on leaving around 5pm, at the end of my crazy Friday. Only my day didn't end until 6:30pm, at which point I decided I might as well wait the hour for Mike to get home so I could say goodbye to him for the weekend (it's the first time we've spent a night apart since the hurricane in August and I've gotten quite attached to him). Then I decided I might as well wait for the Philly rush hour traffic to die down. It was 8:30pm by the time I finally left the house. The good news is that there were no cars on the road and I absolutely flew all the way out there. It was a long, but pretty straight forward drive.

Ride camp was up a long gravel driveway off of a dirt road off of another dirt road in the middle of nowhere. I forget how... uncivilized? redneck? secluded?... that part of PA is until I'm there. It really is the wilderness out there. I had been told that coming up the hill in the dark would not be a good idea, even without a horse trailer, and I found myself following trail markers for the last bit of the drive. Thankfully, Cate had told me exactly where they were parked and I found her trailer immediately, even without Spot's butt being visible.

It was 12:30am when I parked my car. I basically stumbled out of the front door and into the back and went straight to sleep. I will say that sleeping in my car was much more doable as a one-man gig, but I still wouldn't call it comfortable. The main things I remember from the night are hearing a train in the valley and dogs barking deep in the woods. I slept surprisingly well and woke up to Cate tapping on my car window.

The horses were already vetted in and I just guzzled some coffee before tacking up. We taped Easy Boots onto Poe's hind feet and I started the day in the same saddle I rode Spot in at Chesapeake.

We were the first group out, and before I knew it we were hitting the trail. I had missed the ride briefing, but I sort of know the drill and I'd be riding with Cate the whole weekend so I didn't really need to know what was going on.

The first loop went quickly and smoothly and I got a good feel for what the ride would be.

There were some gorgeous views and beautiful rolling fields, full of tall grass. There were also many, many creek crossings. I was surprised at how technical and difficult the ride was. After rides in Vermont, Virginia, and Maine, I forget that Pennsylvania also has real mountains. There were a LOT of hills, and many of them were either rocky or slick with leaves. We definitely had to pay attention and there was a good bit of walking down steep inclines. The trails were interesting, gorgeous, and well-marked. It was a beautiful and fun ride that I would definitely do again.

Poe was rip-roaring fit (he may be doing the OD 100 in three weeks), but we had to wait up for Spot on a few occasions. It was my first time competing on an Arabian and I will say that I'm seeing why people pick them as endurance horses. Powering up those hills with Poe was an incredible feeling. Talk about a cool horse!

I did swap saddles at the first hold. The one I was riding in was comfortable for me, but wasn't sitting right on Poe. He wasn't bothered by it (yet) but I could see it shifting around on his back. I swapped to the harder saddle that fit him better. I had to adjust the stirrups a bit to relieve pressure on my bad ankle, but we rode very happily in the changed tack for the rest of the 50.

By the end of the second loop, the day was getting hot. We had let the front runners, those riding pass/fail to meet FEI qualifications, go. We rode most of the day with Emily on Sage and Sylvia on her very cool and talented mare. It made for good company and I was reminded why I love endurance riders so much.

We did have a handful of... erm... exciting... moments out there.

The first was when we were stopped at a water trough at the top of a short stretch of paved road on trail. We heard a motorcycle rumbling down the hill, engine gurgling without baffles. I don't think it would have been a big deal. Poe isn't normally bothered by traffic or motorcycles, but as the man came creeping up behind the horses around a blind turn, Spot shied sideways and bumped into Poe. Poe flew sideways and kicked out with both back feet, front shoes sliding on the slick pavement. I grabbed a braid in one hand while pulling him around with the other. The only saving grace was that the hind boots helped Poe regain some traction. I think if he'd had shoes all around, he would have gone down on the pavement with me. That would have spelled disaster.

"I don't think that guy has the faintest idea of how close those feet just came to his head," Sylvia commented after everything was under control.

Our other scary moment was going down one of the leaf covered hills I mentioned earlier. Poe stepped on a large stick and it popped up underneath him, catching in his girth and whacking him on the belly and legs. We slid several feet with the stick waving around underneath us. Poor Poe just raised his head, eyes bugging out, and waited for it to end. Thankfully the stick came free on its own and Poe was unhurt. What a good boy!

I was glad to see the final water stop on the second loop, where volunteers handed out apples, carrots, and Gatorade. From there it was just over a mile up the driveway to the end of the first day. Poe cooled off, pulsed down, trotted out, and had a good roll. We put the horses away for the day and I went down to finally eat some real food.

At the end of the day, I finally realized how long 50 miles actually is. We were only halfway done and I was having a hard time picturing doing it all again the next day. How did I used to do this on a regular basis? Endurance riders are nuts, man!

I spent most of the afternoon lounging around base camp, scratching Cate's dogs, and stretching sore muscles. And then I slept in Cate's trailer and woke up feeling refreshed.We were starting even earlier the second morning (we were out the starting line at 6:45am) and it was like I'd caught my second wind.

After the first day, I was a bit disappointed that CTR, unlike endurance, just keeps repeating the same section of trail over and over until the miles are complete, but on the second day I was grateful for familiar landmarks that told me exactly how far we had left to go.

We rode with John on his appy, Scorch on the second day. John had an MP3 player with him and we spent much of the day trotting to Celtic music. It was definitely a mood lifter. The three horses seemed to hit it off instantly. Poe spent most of the day leading. He had the most energy left and set a good pace for the others to follow. Scorch took some time in the lead as well and we finished by following Spot in to base camp. He was tired by then and needed to slow down a bit to start getting his pulse down.

That day, the adventure belonged to John. He got off of Scorch for a moment, just down the hill from my motorcycle spot, and when he went to mount back up, Scorch decided he was out of there and galloped straight up the hill with John only halfway in the saddle. Very impressively, John managed to scramble the rest of the way onto his horse and pull him up before he charged over the rest of us. Wow. Talk about your quick reflexes! I really thought the horse was coming up the hill alone.

Thankfully, the rest of our ride was pretty uneventful.

The second day got hotter faster than the first day and management waived the no-crew rule, allowing volunteers to help cool horses in between and after loops. It's a good thing because Spot really needed help cooling all that big appy body. Also thankfully, the fire dept. came and bailed us out when the main water pump on the property stopped working. They trucked loads and loads of water to the ride and really saved the day. Ride maintenance held a 50/50 raffle to benefit the firehouse as a thank you.

Both of Cate's horses cooled down and pulsed well. Poe came down to 48bpm while Spot came all the way down to 44. Poe gave me a beautiful final trot out and I didn't even get laughed at for my trot circles this time. Haha. Before I knew it, the hands on was over and we had completed. 50 miles? No big thing.

Unfortunately, Scorch got pulled for lameness at the end. We suspect he pulled a muscle in the process of bolting up the hill with half a rider and that the wait at the end of the ride caused him to cramp up. Damn :(

Cate had to be at the airport by 6pm so she was out of there in record time. I've never seen a horse camp come down so quickly. I myself was in a hurry to get back to Mike and didn't feel like waiting a few hours for awards so I left before finding out results, but I heard that Poe and I finished third, right behind Cate and Spot.

The ride home went even faster than the drive out. I showered (and believe me, I needed it), had a whiskey/ginger ale, and passed out. The next day, I was back in the saddle. I have definitely missed competing and need to find a way to do it more often.

Herbie and Piggly

Herbie has really taken a liking to Piggly and plays with her to the point of exhaustion. I'm not  a pig expert, but Piggly seems to initiate just as much as Herbie does. This week, they walked up to the barn together and both laid down to nap when they were done. The downside is I'm not sure this is helping Herbie understand dog body language. *facedesk*

JR Photo Update

And now pictures of C actually IN her lesson with JR. The more I work with this pony, the more I think he'd be a good addition... permanently. More details on that if they become relevant.

C got this super cute photo of JR at the end of the day. I love it.

CP Photo Update

Christine came out for her lesson on Wednesday and was nice enough to take pictures of me working with CP. The pony has gotten just plain bored with cross rails, so we graduated to our first vertical. It was only 1'6", but enough to make him think and pick up his feet. Other than that, we've been working on developing a much nicer trot and lengthening and shortening our strides therein. He's also finally starting to use himself correctly at the canter. His canter was nice to begin with so I'm excited to see where it'll be in another month. Enough talk, have some photos!

I'd say that's an improvement! 

Riding Tryssta

It was pouring for most of the day yesterday. Mike was off of work so he ran around and did some errands while I helped with 17 surgeries at the clinic. Afterwards, he went to the barn with me so he could meet Emily's horses and see me ride Tryssta. The rain let up as we were driving to the barn and the sun peeked out as I saddled up. Mike wound up getting some photos of me riding the mare, which is nice because I wasn't expecting to get any! Now I need to get him out for updated shots of CP.

A Week in Horses

Soooo much to update on! I'll try to tackle this chronologically and cut out the boring parts. Haha.

Last Tuesday, I was on my way to the barn when Tor called to ask if I still wanted her to come down. I had actually completely forgotten that I had asked her to ride CP again, but was glad she reminded me. It had been drizzling on and off all afternoon, but we didn't let that stop us.

Tor went on to have a great ride on CP. He trotted nicely in a frame and she had some moments of really excellent collection. He gave her a canter without any antics and they were doing so well together that I even had her hop him over a cross rail a few times. He was perfect and I was thrilled.

We decided to reward ourselves by having a fun ride with JR... bareback. I hopped on him first and he took it all in stride. I suspect he's seen a lot of this over the years. He's actually pretty comfortable without a saddle on.  Maybe I'll get ballsy and jump him that way before the end of June.

When Tor's turn to get on JR came around, she totally miscalculated her swing to get on him. I think he's so much lower to the ground than Cola that she just didn't have enough upper body leverage to get onto his back. Instead, she landed sort of splattered against his side with her arms splayed around his neck. Of course, I didn't help matters by shouting things like, "C'mon, Tor! He's only fourteen hands! Get on him! What's wrong with you?" She was cracking up as she slid back to the ground. JR didn't even move a foot. He just sort of flicked an ear and looked bored. Poor guy. He's a saint.

I was pretty upset that we didn't get any of our shenanigans on camera, but the weather really wasn't cooperating and the photos would have been gray at best.

On Wednesday, Christine was supposed to come down for her lesson, but she forgot her wallet in Dev's car and didn't have her license or gas money. Instead, I drove up north to help Tor with some saddle fitting questions. C decided to join us at the barn for the afternoon.

After Herbie was done making friends with the other farm dogs and I got to use the facilities (THANK GOD!!!) we wandered up to Cola's paddock. Tor has been riding Cola for years now, but he only became hers a couple months ago. Already, she has made many improvements to his level of care, etc. His feet an body condition are both improving and she is actually mindful of things like saddle fit and hay quality.

Cola is one of those shark finned thoroughbreds. He's at a decent weight, but his withers are very high and pronounced. Unfortunately, the saddle Tor had picked out was not a great fit. It wasn't terrible and we thought it might be worth it since it was only $50 and could be padded accordingly. That opinion changed after we rode in it though! Talk about a hard, stiff saddle with an unforgiving tree. My legs and crotch were KILLING me after just a short ride.

"I swear I know how to sit the canter!" I shouted as I rode by.
Tor replied, "Yeah, I was hoping you wouldn't comment on the fact that I was standing in the stirrups the whole time I was riding!"

Tor rode Cola first and I was really impressed with how much she has done with him. He's not much to look at conformationally, but she really has him carrying himself correctly and he has surprisingly nice gaits. When I got on him, I was pleased to find myself on a horse who is actually responsive to leg and soft into the contact. He did do this annoying head flingy thing, but I suspect that's because it was a muggy day in the swamp and the bugs were out in force. I walk, trot, cantered in both directions and Tor told me to pop over the cross rail in the middle of the ring, so I did that too. Cola was very forward and honest. I wasn't worried about him for a second. Good boy! Definitely a horse I'd ride again.

Cola is all about safety.

Thursday wound up being my crazy day last week. I got up at 6:30am when Mike left for work, thinking that I'd get some stuff done online before my day started, only to have Erin call me at seven. Jabby had colicked and she was supposed to be qualifying at the track with one of the horses at her new job (!) The vet had been out already and Jabby seemed to be out of the woods, but he was still groggy and tied away from his food. Could I come untie him and double check that he was ok? Of course.

Well, that turned out to be quite the adventure! What should have been a 45 minute round trip (including the actual horse care aspect) turned into nearly an hour one way. As if rush hour traffic wasn't bad enough, I hit three or four different detours and lots of construction-related traffic. It's a good thing I used to ride Ozzy down all the back roads down there because it would have taken me even longer if I didn't know the short cuts I know. Thankfully, Jabby was fine and it wasn't long before I was headed home. This time, I was stuck in Philly-bound traffic.

As I sat stopped on the on ramp to my next highway, I glanced in my rear view mirror just in time to see a woman in a white Chevy Cobalt texting and coming up behind me at 70mph. She looked up at the last second and locked up all four tires trying to stop. Smoke flew in every direction and screeching filled the air as she lost control of the vehicle and came sliding at me. Herbie even looked over the back seat to see what the fuss was about.
"Please stop, please stop, please stop," I thought quietly.
Thankfully, the car in front of me saw what was happening and jumped into the shoulder, giving me enough room to inch forward. She missed me by a foot. Phew! That would have RUINED my day.

After several hours of surgery in the clinic, I came out for my 2pm lesson. Christine had already stopped by and was staying to watch the lesson before riding herself.

This time, my client rode JR. She got to meet him before she went on vacation two weeks ago, but I wasn't sure at the time if he'd be quiet enough for her. He had proven himself, however, and I was excited for her to try him. The lesson went swimmingly. JR really took care of my student and his canter is much easier to sit (and maintain) than Art's. She was really able to get the hang of the rhythm and work on her posture. She has been working on her two point over ground poles for a few rides now. Toward the end of her lesson, I set up the world's tiniest cross rail and had her trot over it a handful of times. That's right, my timid adult beginner is going to learn to jump in the near future! Both she and JR did phenomenally. I was very proud.

After the lesson, C and I got Art and Ozzy from their paddock. C tacked Art up and I decided to take Ozzy bareback. That turned out to be more work than I anticipated, but it was worth it in the end.

I wish there was a way for me to explain to Ozzy in plain English that all I want to do with him any more are fun things that he enjoys. He got so stressed out at the beginning of our trail ride that I really thought about putting him back out and just going on foot. He was spooking, rushing, and spinning around. At one point, he actually threatened to rear. I wound up dismounting and hand walking him around the back of the property while Christine rode Art. I was beyond agitated with him, which probably didn't help.

Once we got to the big back field, I sent C off to trot around for a while. Then I switched Ozzy's reins over to act as a lead rope and lunged him right there in the field to get the wonkiness out. He started off sassy, but he calmed down after a little bit and I let him just graze while I coached C. 

Then I thought to myself, "Well, if you're calm enough to graze, you're calm enough for me to sit on you." Using the absolute last of my energy, I swung back onto him. As soon as my butt hit his back, he started to prance and act up, but I gave him his usual, "Put your head down," cue and he went back to grazing. Suddenly, it was like everything clicked and the old Ozzy was back. He snatched at some long grass before calmly meandering after C and Art on a loose rein. We racked around a bit before picking up a nice easy trot. By the end of the ride, we were cantering through the field bareback just like old times. We rode back to the barn without any more antics. Sheesh!

And then I somehow mustered up enough energy to ride CP. I'm glad I did because it turned out to be a very nice ride. I really need to get some new photos/video of me flatting him because his training is really coming along in leaps and bounds. It doesn't look like the weather/Mike's schedule are ever going to cooperate though.

He's getting better with his knees.

On Friday, my four year old lesson student came back for another ride. JR had shown himself to be a totally trustworthy pony and he is definitely more her size than Ozzy. I decided to use him for her lesson. She retained a shocking amount of knowledge and was extremely excited to be back on a  horse. JR turned out to be a total babysitter and she was actually able to steer and stop all on her own. The pony definitely waited for my cue before moving forward with her and kept his eyes and ears on me the whole time while he plodded carefully around the ring. I was never more than an arm's length away from his head. I think V is going to be ready to trot very soon, which I think is exciting and terrifying all at the same time. JR is brilliant on a lunge line so I know he'll be good, but still. Being responsible for other people's kids scares me. Haha. 

I really need to find a way to hold on to this pony. I don't think another pony who is big enough for adults, small enough for kids, quiet enough for beginners, and knowledgeable enough for advanced riders, that jumps, trail rides, and stays fat on grass, is going to come around for free with a 'fall back plan' any time soon. If I had my own farm, I'd find a leaser or two for him and call it a day. For now, I need to be mindful of my finances though. Time will tell. 

That day I also rode Tryssta again. The mare was already in when I arrived at the barn in the afternoon and I had her ready to go in record time. This time, I had absolutely no issues keeping her moving forward. I think she might have just felt crappy the first time I went to ride her. We had a lovely ride with lots of trotting and a long warm up/cool down. We even rode around the property a little bit. I am absolutely loving the farm Emily has her horses at. It is beautiful, peaceful, and drama free. Everyone I have met has been polite and friendly, and there is a distinct lack of bustling activity. It's definitely my zen place for the next two weeks.

Sadly, my ride with CP on Friday wasn't nearly so full of zen. I got on the pony and he immediately threatened to explode like old times. I kept him from actually getting his feet off the ground, but I could feel the tension in his entire body. When I finally did get him unstuck, he took a few strides then kicked out. He didn't buck, but the thought was definitely there. I dismounted, had a come-to-Jesus moment and got back on board. Suddenly, the pony had a  much better attitude. He was all 'yes ma'am!' and we went on to have a very long and productive ride. We schooled dressage, jumped around, and finished up with a trail ride all around the property. At one point in the woods, Herbie rustled a deer out of the bushes. I could hear it coming crashing toward us, but didn't have enough time to do anything about it. I braced for the worst, but when the deer popped out so close that I could count its whiskers, CP barely flicked an ear. Good pony! He's definitely not SPOOKY. That's for sure.

I am a little concerned about CP's seeming regression. Like I said, I can diffuse his energy so he doesn't ACTUALLY explode, but I think a new rider would be in trouble. I do think he's cold backed, which doesn't help his situation, but I'm having the chiro look at him later this week to make sure it's not something more severe than that.

And last, but not least on the list was Traz. He and his rider came back for a lesson on Saturday morning. Apparently she'd ridden him once during the week and it hadn't gone smoothly. Traz had been very distracted, looking out the arena doors and refusing to hold still. Additionally, she was 20 minutes late for her lesson because he had refused to load in the trailer. Dun dun dun...

Traz was definitely feeling frisky on Saturday. I was happy to finally see him play up a little because it ave me a chance to show his rider how to deal with him when he's not being perfect. He was definitely distracted and we did a lot of focusing exercises at the walk before we did anything else. At one point, we were working on getting a relaxed trot when he broke into a canter. He didn't bolt, he just sort of rolled through his upward transition and got really heavy on the forehand. I could see his rider's entire body language change as the panic set in, and I had a hard time getting her to listen long enough to regain control of the situation. I spent the majority of the rest of the lesson trying to coach her through handling that potential 'bolt'. She was very unnerved by the whole thing, but I think the exercises we did gave her the confidence to keep working through the issue. She said she felt better and more in control by the end of the lesson. They also managed to finish on a good note. She got Traz to do this absolutely gorgeous and together trot that I really didn't think we'd get on a day when the horse's brain was not 100% there.

I gave her the following homework for the week:

"-Long warm up, lots of walking. Work on getting him forward and relaxed. If he's not focusing on you, ask for some inside bend on the corners by half halting your inside rein.

-Once he does that, practice asking him to whoa and bend left/right. Keep doing this periodically until he bends both ways without moving his feet.

-If that goes well, trot for a little bit. Just as for ten or twelve strides and aim for that nice relaxed trot. If he gets hot, work on walking again.

-Practice your one rein stop at the trot.

-Halt and ask for a flex with steady pressure on the both reins. Repeat until he's being good about it.

-If he does THAT, ask for the flex at the walk. Remember, forward first, flex second.

-Break it up with more trotting.

-If he's being good about the bending left/right, ask him to move off your leg by brushing his side with your heel. 

-The second he gives you that nice trot you got at the end of the lesson today, quit. End on a good note.

The most important things on that list are keep him forward and relax, and make him hold still when you ask. If you don't accomplish anything else (and I think you will!) don't worry about it.

No cantering. No stressing. Don't worry if he looks around as long as he keeps moving forward. 

Sit UP, not forward at the trot. Most importantly, don't hold a grudge. 

You've got great equitation and a natural feel for your horse. You've learned a lot already. I promise it will come together with time."

But Traz wasn't done for  the day. He got tired of standing tied in the barn and just very calmly broke his breakaway halter. I watched him do it and he wasn't panicked or alarmed at all. He just slowly pulled harder and harder until it gave. Someone's getting a lesson in nylon next week :)

I finished up the session by resolving his trailer loading issue and sending him home in a jiffy. 

Next time we'll start with ten minutes of lunging and ten minutes of me riding before his rider gets on board. It's very cool to watch the two of them learn together, but they definitely need supervision for now.

Anyway, have some random horse photos from the week (none of which were taken by me):

Jersey Fresh

I have so so so much to update on (and no time to do it in). Instead I'll do a photo dump of Jersey Fresh this year. Sadly, everyone seemed to be busy on Saturday for the cross country. I had a lesson at 10am, but Tor did come down to join me for a piece of the afternoon action.

We arrived at the horse park during an intermission to find everyone's dogs running loose in the water complex. Two barefoot, grinning girls approached me and asked if my dog could please come play in the water too. I wasn't sure how Herbie would handle a crowd of hundreds of people and a dozen loose dogs, but  I let her off leash and tested her recall. She seemed obedient enough so I tossed the leash back on shore and told her, "Ok." She gave me this completely starry eyed stare as if to say, "REALLY? I can... go...?" I told her, "Ok," again and, with a wag of her entire body, she was gone. She was on her absolute best behavior, socializing with all kinds of dogs, and carefully running AROUND rather than over small children. She befriended a boxer puppy and the two of them played quite a hearty game of chase. Herbie was all wags and wiggles and flapping tongue as she splashed through the water complex and jumped off of banks and onto coops. She was absolutely thrilled and I'm glad I decided to bring her with me. I would have felt really guilty if I'd showed up to all this fun without my own dog in tow. Aww.

Eventually the announcers called for everyone to get out of the water and leash their dogs. The final round for the day was about to begin. Tor and I grabbed tasty horse show food before coming back to watch a handful of horses go through the water complex and over the John Deere log jump. Sadly, Tor had to get back to work so we couldn't stay long. O well. Next year.

On Sunday, Mike and I went back to meet up with Erin. There was a promise of jousting and I was excited to photograph something new. Unfortunately, it was just  a jousting demonstration... and the world's shortest one at that. It was supposed to start at 1pm. We arrived at 1:06 and missed the whole thing.

We did run into a handful of people I know before meeting up with Erin, Lynn, and Rachel. We stayed for a round of stadium jumping and I took lots and lots of photos (most of which I'm not even bothering to spam you with because they're redundant.) Phillip Dutton won on a super sexy horse. I was also impressed with a few of the other horses, including Buck Davidson's mount. I knew better than to take my camera off of Laine Ashker and was right... Anthony Patch slid to a nasty refusal at the jump right next to me. She stayed on, but their round was definitely marred.

In the meantime, Mike was busy looking at jump construction for  ideas. I think he took even more photos than I did. Haha.

So anyway... have a photo dump from Jersey Fresh.

Kittens Again

This was supposed to be my wordless Wednesday post, but the day got away from me.

I'd turn the sound down on the video so you don't have to hear me rambling or Gossip Girl in the background. I turned around the other day to find Herbie resting her chin on the floor while a kitten batted her ear around like a cat toy. Also, footage of kittens playing (I finally figured out how to put multiple clips together on youtube!!!)

And have two random snapshots of kittens as well.

They're going to the clinic with me today for shots and the second spay. I don't know if they're coming home with me afterwards or not. They're very cute, but I'm kittened out. If the shelter is willing to take them already, I'll gladly let them go.

Monday Monday

Yesterday was another long, productive day.

For reasons unknown to me, Antonio does not appear to be coming back to Carolyn's. He's a nice guy and was always very helpful so I'll miss having him around. The good news is this means I can pick up more hours at the clinic. I'll be working there on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. Hooray!

We had a dog come in to the clinic yesterday. You can imagine that this doesn't happen very often in a cat practice. Animal Control picked her up in Montgomery, which is definitely not an area that you associate with stray animals. It's a very ritzy neighborhood. As far as anyone can tell, someone tossed her out on route 206 and left her. She is by far the saddest dog I've ever seen. In fact, she was so bad that I didn't even have the heart to take before pictures. The poor thing has terrible allergies, and without proper treatment, her skin got infected. Half of her hair fell out and her skin was covered in bumps, scabs, and open sores. Her paws were swollen and her claws were over grown. What was left of her hair was matted and filthy. There wasn't really enough of her left to tell what kind of dog she was, but she's little and HAD long hair at one point. She's about 7 years old and, surprisingly, at a pretty good weight.

I opened the carrier and the poor thing walked right out, wagging what was left of her tail. She walked over and buried her head in my arms. After all she's been through, she was still happy to have human contact. That's the thing that breaks my heart about dogs. Even when people abuse and neglect them, they keep this hope that deep down, people are good. I definitely could not work around this sort of thing on any kind of regular basis.

We started off by taking the little dog outside so she could take care of business. She walked on the leash like a pro and went potty as soon as she hit the grass.

We spent the next hour or so getting her cleaned up. We wore rubber gloves and tried not to notice the awful odor that came off the poor dog. It was like something off of Animal Cops. She howled in pain when we shaved around the most tender areas, but never once tried to bite. When we'd pause to give her a break, she'd try to lick us. Worst of all, her body language suggested that she's used to being groomed.

There's a part of me that really hopes this was some old lady's lap dog and that the owner just died. Maybe the owners have been throwing food over the fence and she only got this bad because she USED to be on meds, but they stopped when her owner passed. It would be much easier to accept that something horrible happened to this dog's owner than to see, once again, that people could be so horrible to such a sweet soul.

When all the hair was gone and the claws were trimmed, we moved the dog to the sink for a medicated bath. She was positively delighted. The scrubbing must have felt so good on all her itchy spots and she wriggled and wagged and leaned into the soaping. She'd been through hell and she was just happy to finally get a good scratch. Awww...

The dog will be on antibiotics for the next week. She will get regular medicated baths until her skin heals and her hair grows back. The best news is that someone heard about her and fell for her personality and has already agreed to give her a home. Hopefully she'll get to go to a vet and get bloodwork done so they can better address her underlying issues.  With any luck, this poor dog will have many happy, pampered years ahead of her. I can hope, anyway.

Thankfully, my entire day wasn't full of heart break. I went out yesterday afternoon to ride Emily's mare, Tryssta. Emily is going on vacation for two weeks and needs someone to exercise her horse while she's away. Tryssta is for sale and riding her will give me a better idea of who I can potentially hook her up with.

The mare is an excellent trail horse, but is also well schooled in dressage. She has impeccable manners and stunning good looks. Her pedigree is apparently very impressive (although I'll admit that I don't follow Arabian bloodlines). She has many endurance miles under her belt, but it appears she is not cut out for endurance after all. She would be much happier as a school horse or a trail horse or a dressage horse.

I tacked the mare up and led her out to the ring, which had two other riders in it. It was my first time in recent memory riding with other people in the ring. I am always riding alone. It was a strange experience for me.

"Feel free to yell at me about my ring etiquette," I called out as I mounted up, but it turns out we all did just fine.

Tryssta is by far the nicest horse I've ridden in a while. She is soft and supple and so so trustworthy. Her gaits are naturally amazing and she has been taught to carry herself properly. She is extremely responsive to hand, leg, and seat aids. If anything, she's a little pluggy... but I think that would just make her amazing for a beginner rider or a timid person. She has kid-safe written all over her.

We started off with a long warm up and I mostly just stayed out of her way. We rode big circles and figure eights at the walk and trot and just sort of lazily made our way around the ring. Eventually, Emily hopped on so I could see how she rides and what she expects of the mare (way more than what I was asking). I've gotten so used to riding greenies and horses who have been mis-trained or bullied that it's habit for me to ride very light and forgiving. The idea of a horse being able to consistently carry itself in a correct frame, with all lateral work already installed, is mind blowing to me.

"Don't get me wrong. I'd much rather you under ride her than bully her, " Emily assured me.

I got back on and upped my game. Tryssta responded immediately and Emily cheered, "There you go! That's it right there!" For the rest of the ride we actually WORKED. It'll be nice to ride something that allows me to work on my riding for a change. I get to ride a horse that I don't need to TRAIN or IMPROVE. What will I do with myself??? (Seriously... I need to start making some serious cash so I can go back to taking lessons.)

When I was done riding, another rider took her for a spin. As far as I can tell, he's the barn owner's husband. He's a solid enough rider, but he still considers himself a beginner. He is completely fearless and it works well for the horses he rides. They'll do things like cross creeks or go past scary objects because it doesn't occur to HIM that they might spook or refuse. It was a lot of fun watching him ride. Tryssta proved that she's worth her weight in gold by totally humoring him. They even cantered! What a good girl. Happy as a clam with her ears up and her tail streaming behind her. It was a mood lifter for sure.

So I'll be riding her four times a week until Emily gets home. If I get lucky, maybe I'll even get some pictures of me on her. :)

It was drizzling when I left Emily's and raining by the time I got back to Carolyn's. I made the afternoon a lunging day in the indoor for the ponies. CP is going to need a grazing muzzle if he keeps gaining weight and JR is starting to fill out really nicely. CP's workout was uneventful. Lunging is a regular part of his work routine and he's got it down to an art by now.

It was definitely time to start working on JR's upside down neck. I introduced him to the side reins very slowly, in case he'd never been worked in them before. He picked up on the concept right away and I had him in the nicest hunter frame by the end of our session. He actually looked flashy. I took it easy on him because he REALLY doesn't have the muscle to do it for extended periods of time, but it's a start and he seemed to enjoy himself in the process.

I also have two other clients lined up for the next week, but I'll wait to work with them to reveal more about that...

S Hack

I don't know why I keep buying endurance gear for a horse who will probably never compete in endurance again, but I do. This week, I finally caved and bought him an S-Hack. I've ridden a few horses in them now and like them much better than the regular hackamore. You get all the control and benefits of a regular hackamore, plus it stays away from your horse's mouth entirely. PLUS it's biothane/neoprene/stainless steel so I can just hose it off with the rest of my bridle without worrying about dust or mold. Hair and sweat? No problem. The sweet colors were an added bonus of course.

I put the hack on the bridle for the first time today. Ozzy seemed perfectly happy with it, but I decided to err on the side of caution and do our first ride in the ring. It went smoothly, as expected. We even wound up jumping around in it. We just did an itty bitty cross rail. It wasn't pretty (Ozzy is all about rushing up to a jump and LEAPING over it) but at least he didn't refuse. Haha. It was definitely much better than our last ride.

In any case, have photos of Ozzy sporting his new gear.

Sunday Snaps

Point and shoot pics of kittens.

Snuggle

The kittens have been hanging out behind the couch. In the year and a half we've had Herbie, she has NEVER gone back there. Last night, we couldn't figure out where the dog disappeared to... you guessed it.

This is why I hate flash photography. LOL. Kittens love to sit on shoulders. 

Finally caught Herbie trying to nurse the kittens. Cute, no?

Kitten Spam

Waiting for the sun to come out so I can get better photos of the kittens, but I took some snaps in the backyard. Herbie continues to mother them. They climb all over her, attack her paws, tail, and face, and snuggle up to her to nap. She spends hours laying on the living room floor just watching them. Both kittens are eating wet cat food and drinking water. My only complaint is that I forgot how much kitten poop stinks. I cleaned the litter box COMPLETELY four times yesterday and it wasn't enough. Haha.

Donkeys

I have always loved donkeys. They fascinate me and their ears are AWESOME. They are definitely on my to-own list for the future. Mike's mom has a friend who breeds mini-donks. We went to visit on Thanksgiving and I was beyond excited. The friend offered to sell me one for a discounted price. I told Mike's mom that if I was meant to have a donkey, I would find a donkey.

Well, Carolyn texted me the other day to say she'd found me a pair of miniature donkeys. They're available for adoption through Helping Hearts Equine Rescue. Their names are Sam and Grayson and they're a father-son pair. The contract says they have to stay together, which I think is great. I'd probably rename them Stompy and Bruno, but that's beside the point.

After I got done working at McSNIP on Thursday, we found out that the donkeys were down at Yardville to get gelded. We took a drive down to meet them. They were in a trailer out back and they were VERY sweet. Awww! Fat, good feet, and perfectly happy to hang out together in the trailer.

I don't really need a donkey (or two!) for anything, but they are really, really cute and they are looking for a good home. There's a one year trial period during which I can return them if need be. I would teach them to do tricks and maybe even drive a a pair. Can you imagine the photos I would get??? But seriously, I don't know that I really want to add two more animals to my list. At what point do I become a hoarder?

In any case, I filled out an adoption application for shits and giggles. There's someone else already interested in them and I'm hoping that person will take them and they'll live happily ever after. The adoption fee for the pair is $425... just FYI.

Regardless... have some snapshots of two homeless donkeys:

5 Horse Day

I think I can officially say that I'm getting back into the swing of this horse thing. My day yesterday featured five horses in a row. It's like being back at the rescue... only not miserable.


I started off by going to Jen's to work with Romeo. Herbie was so excited to see her pig that she didn't even say hi to the guys that were doing the landscaping and painting the house. Talk about a dog on a mission! As for the landscaping guys... they got to watch Sunraider barge right over top of my and let himself loose on the lawn. It was the rudest thing I've ever seen him do and I do believe I called him a dirty name for it. I put the two year old in the barn and marched back outside, where Sunraider greeted me with perky ears and bright eyes. "What? I didn't do anything bad." I threw him back in his field and went back to work.


Romeo is really starting to get the hang of this ground driving thing. He no longer has a problem with me standing behind him and we did enough trot work for him to break a sweat. He really seems to enjoy learning and I think he's about two sessions away from me throwing a leg over his back. Good boy.


Next, it was my turn to break a sweat. The morning had started off damp and cool, but as I drove back to Carolyn's, the sun suddenly burst through the clouds and the temperatures climbed into the 80's. 


I was originally going to make it a lunging day (god knows JR could use it) but I couldn't resist the beautiful weather and wound up riding BOTH ponies. 


CP had rolled in something gross and stunk to high heaven. I would have given him a bath even if we DIDN'T work hard. 


He was really excited to be in the ring with the jumps, and while he was behaving himself, I didn't want to get him into the habit of anticipating. Instead, we worked on some of our dressage until his trot was soft and relaxed and he stopped looking at the jumps. Only then did we approach the cross rail. We trotted in and he landed o so softly and trotted away. Good boy! We cantered the rail a couple times in each direction and called it a day. Good pony.


JR was a joy, as usual. We started by warming up at the walk, trot, and canter, then schooled the cross rail and vertical a few times. By then he had already worked up a sweat and we went out to the front field to work on that frame of his. He's such a willing and honest pony and he picked up on what I wanted right away. Unfortunately, he just doesn't have the muscling to hold it for more than a few strides at a time. It's going to be a while. 


Just as I finished putting the ponies away, my 4 o'clock client pulled up the driveway. Traz's owner had brought him back for a lesson with me. 


Traz seemed happy to be back and unloaded happily at the barn. We had him tacked up in minutes and his owner climbed on board. I was pleased with her equitation. She warned me that she's a timid rider and I told her to just relax. 


It became clear right away that Traz hasn't been taught to stand still. That's pretty high on my list of pet peeves and we started by addressing it right away. Within a few tries, he really started to get the idea of 'park'. His owner was THRILLED. 


I also showed her how to ask him to soften his poll, just at the halt. It wasn't long before she figured out how to ask and he gave her exactly what she wanted. By the end of the lesson, he was even walking a few strides at a time in a nice frame. Good boy. 


Before long, we moved into the trot. We spent the majority of the lesson working on the quality of the trot. Traz's rider is used to a much smaller, shorter trot and it took some convincing to get her to relax with his natural stride. I explained to her that 'forward is always the answer' and touched on the difference between true collection and just slowing down, which creates a mincy stride that I HATE and which is unnatural for the horse.


Once Traz's rider relaxed, we started working on introducing bend in the corners, another concept that the poor horse has never been introduced to. When I rode him, he was totally dead to the leg and stiff through the neck. Thanks to the exercises I taught his owner at the beginning of the lesson, he started to get the idea and soften. A couple of times, he even offered to bring his head down and flex through the poll just the tiniest  bit. 


At one point in the lesson, Traz and his rider had a real ah ha! moment. Everything came together. Without his head tied to his chest, Traz was able to listen for subtle hints like half halts. He softened his poll, relaxed his stride, and actually engaged his hindquarters. His back lifted and his rider grinned. The entire quality of his trot had changed.


"Feel that? That's you putting your horse together." I praised her. It only lasted a few strides, but it was exactly the confidence boost she needed. Hooray!


We also worked on the canter for a tiny little bit. Sitting quiet combined with half halting in the corners really made Traz relax. He pulled out that gorgeous canter that I got out of him when I rode him. His rider beamed. Reportedly, he's never cantered that nicely for her ever.


The lesson ended on a good note and his rider was surprised at how tired she was, even without doing any jumping.
"That's how you know you're doing it right," I told her.
I gave her homework to work on between now and our next lesson. I told her to ride the walk until the walk is perfect, then trot, to trot until the trot comes together and only then canter, canter until the canter comes together then QUIT. I told her I don't want her jumping, even cross rails, until all of that comes as second nature. 
"Jump cross rails until cross rails are boring. Jump verticals until verticals are boring. Jump courses until courses are boring, then raise them. I want you and Traz to be RELAXED through everything."


Traz's owner and her dad were delighted at the end of the lesson. His rider says I restored her faith in her horse and that she feels better about him than she has in a long time. 
She emailed me last night:
"Thank you again for a great lesson and having me realize that it's not my horse that's just acting stupid.  I was just telling my dad I wish I could work with you everyday!!  Hope to see you soon! Next week! "


Traz, for his part, didn't want to leave. He hesitated getting on the trailer and neighed the entire way down the driveway. It's too bad he can't come live with me. I think it would do him a world of good.

Traz

And after all that, I still had the time to pamper Ozzy. I had seen him galloping back and forth in his pasture all afternoon and figured he wouldn't want to be caught, but as soon as he saw me heading toward the indoor, he came running up to the gate and stared eagerly at me. He practically threw his head in the halter. 


I wound up taking advantage of the warm weather to give him a nice, long bath to really get the dead hair off. He seemed to really enjoy himself and stood ground tied with one foot cocked the entire time. After he was bathed, I spent some time hand grazing him while he started to dry. 


I thought I might do some free lunging with him in the outdoor. As many of you know, he has a thing about jumping. I wanted to see how he'd react to the addition of the new jump standards, but I had no interest in being on his back for the experience. 


As soon as I turned Ozzy loose, I realized what a frisky mood he was in. He was charging around the ring, rearing, striking, and flinging his head around. I ran back to my car for my camera, but he was over the worst of it by the time I returned. Damn. I would love to get a picture of him with his leg over his head sometime. I took photos anyway. I am pleased to report that he seems to have gotten over whatever physical thing was bothering him and is looking more like himself. I guess all I had to do was worry. Maybe the same will go for his attitude. I can hope... right?


Anyway, enough rambling, on to the part you're all here for... pictures!

Kitten Videos