Bromance

Peebs is a gay male cougar.  Is there a term for that?  He's not a sugar daddy, but something like that. He's always been friendly towards other horses, even when they beat the crap out him in the pasture. But we had a new horse move in at the start of September that he absolutely LOVES.

Rogue is a 3yr old palomino warmblood stallion, and the calmest, quietest 3yr and stallion I've seen.  He rarely makes a peep in his stall, doesn't act his age or studdish when out, and overall seems like an awesome boy.  He and Peebs live on opposite barn aisles, but we have to walk past Rogue's stall to get to the wash rack.  Every time we do this happens:

Can't pull them apart

Rogue got turned out in the indoor arena during my lesson on Tuesday, and the sliding door was open between the outdoor and the indoor.  Rogue came and hung out at the gate and called to Peebs a couple times, the first time I've heard him call during his stay here.  Peebs would slow way down and bulge sideways whenever we passed the gate to indoor and very obviously wanted to go hang out with his boytoy.  Ahh, young love!

Horses I'd Steal

I'm joining in on the $900 FB Pony's blog hop on horses I'd steal. There's two in the barn is take in a heartbeat.

She's also the best a trail riding.  I've had horses spook, spin and crash into us and mare don't care.

First is my BO's mare Tia. Holsteiner/TB cross, 17 hands and 18yrs old but one of the funniest horses in the barn, she's now semiretired. But she's still that awesome push button Hunter and I've been know to pull her out every couple months for funsies. What's not to love about a awesome rocking horse canter, auto lead changes, and a horse that will jump anything no matter how badly you screw up the distance?!?

The other horse is Yorke, an Oldenburg stallion. He's shown at 4th level dressage, and schooled higher. He was in the barn a few years ago and just moved back a couple weeks ago. He's the quietest stud ever. I've seen his owner ride him bareback with just a halter and lead rope with other horses and he never batted an eye. I think it would be a blast to ride him just to play around with all his buttons. 

Skeptical of paparazzi

My not so secret plan is to breed Tia and Yorke. He's a bit smaller and more refined than Tia, which I like. They both have amazing temperaments, are super quiet, and beautiful movers. And, more than likely, I'd get a dark baby with minimal white. The only problem? Tia's 18 and we were told that she's had fertility issues. If I had the $$$ I'd do embryo transfer, if the vet though it was possible. Alas, I have yet to find my money tree so my theoretical baby will have to stay a dream. 

25 Things You Don't Know About Me

I'm stealing L's post and jumping on the 25 Things You Don't Know About Me bandwagon.

I'm happiest when...I have nothing to do, a good book to read, and the sound of rain outside.

.... Especially If... I'm curled up in bed under the covers with my cats sleeping next to me.

I've always wanted to... Go to Spruce Meadows and ride into the International Ring under the clock tower.

My family and I... are very close.  My mom is my best friend

I was a terrible...friend to my non horse friends.  I don't keep in contact with anyone from high school, or college, that aren't horse people.  I'm that classic introvert crazy horse girl.

My first job was...at Border's Books and Music.  They usually didn't hire high school kids because of curfew issues and the fact that no one under 18 could sell Playboy or Hustler but my mom worked there and told convinced the manager to hire me at 17. I worked the register at Christmas, trained to be a barista, worked midnight Harry Potter release parties.

I could probably eat....cheese forever.  If I became lactose intolerant I would die.  Cheddar 4 lyfe!

I stole....a packing tape dispenser from my last job.  I borrowed it to pack up some things to ship out and completely forgot it was in my car.  Oops.

I was born on the same day as....Barbra Streisand

My all time favorite move is.....that's a hard one.  As a kid I watched Lady and the Tramp till I wore out the VHS.  As a teen, I loved Dirty Dancing.  As an adult, I don't know.

I do a pretty mean....guacamole.  We had six avocado trees on our property growing up and I used to make great guacamole.

I'm still mad.... I spent six years at a job that was a mental and emotional hell.

I met my SO at... No SO for me. I'm asexual and still figuring out my romantic identity.  I don't need a SO but I'm open to meeting that person.

I always knew I wanted...a horse.

I'm not afraid to... admit when I'm wrong.  I've learned the hard way that honesty is best and that so many things can be fixed when you admit you fucked up.

I make the best...chicken tortilla soup.  Mmmmmm.......

I have almost no...tolerance for stupidity or rude people.  I tend to shut down and ignore, unless I'm backed into a corner then all hell breaks loose.

I always cry... I'm upset, especially if I haven't eaten and my blood sugar is low.  Hangry is me.

I'm (now) a... lab animal technician but I think most people don't understand my job and don't agree with what I do.

I spent 6 months... playing the piano, 4 months doing ballet and my parent's didn't think I'd stick with horses for more than 6 months.  Going on 23yrs now...

I wish my folks... didn't live so far away.

At five I was deeply in love with...Tramp, from Lady and the Tramp. 

I believe if everyone... lived by the golden rule the world would be a better place.

I can't stand...tomatoes.  They have no place in sandwiches and burgers.  So gross.

Whenever a Harry Potter movie is on I'll always watch.

Up and Down

Besides the barn drama going down (barn meeting this afternoon should be interesting!), my rides over the past couple weeks have either been great or drama central.

Two weeks ago we had a great lesson with TS, our chiro and dressage instructor. We worked and the same thing my trainer has us working on, getting him rounder, deeper, and in front of my leg, as well as slowing the transitions. TS kept telling me to firm my fists to pulse the bit in his mouth and I liked how it worked. Something about that phrase makes more sense to me than "keep your fingers closed". TS also tightened my curb chain a few links more than I normally do, and told me to be more assertive with my curb rein. 

Pics from a trainer ride a couple weeks ago

The next day we had a jumping lesson that was not nearly as good. I think a large part of it was that we were both tired from the day before, and pushing each other's buttons a bit. We warmed up trotting fences ok but once trainer said to canter I got nervous and picked at Peebs who got pissed and fast. We had a couple awful canter fences before going back to flat work to chill both of us out. We tried trotting fences again and while it was ok, we were both pretty tense. 

Last week our lesson was much better, but we stuck to trotting the single fences, and just cantering down the line. For some reason trotting in and cantering out of a line is fine, but catering single fences is terrifying. We managed to put a trot course together and I was super happy with how good we both were. 

Monday I pulled on my big girl breeches and not only jumped on my own, but cantered single fences! The first few were awful; I pulled, he got fast, we got shitty distances. We had a couple little arguments but I survived, and we worked through it. We ended by cantering the vertical above off a long approach and both times it felt nice.

Pulled on my big girl breeches and cantered a single fence, on a long approach, and didn't die #maybethereshopeformeyet #goodboypeebers

A video posted by Molly Basney (@mollybasney) on Sep 19, 2016 at 5:10pm PDT

 I figure for now we're going to have crappy, ugly distances and that's ok and we'll survive. Once I get the fear out of the way, and actually ride my horse, things are so much better. 

Shooting the Messenger

MAJOR BARN DRAMA AHEAD:  FEEL FREE TO SKIP THIS POST.  I HAD TO WRITE ABOUT IT TO FEEL BETTER

My BO had one of her horses put down today.  Kue was a 25yr old mare that my BO has had since she was 2.  She was supposed to be my BO's dressage horse, but a big pelvic injury at 3 ended that.  Because of the injury she has had lots of back/hind end problem and has started having trouble getting up and down. Last winter she really struggled with keeping weight on.  BO decided that she didn't want Kue to try and go through another winter.  The vet agreed, and they set a date.

I sent out a barn wide text, minus my BO, on Sunday telling everyone not to go to the barn this morning.  And to not bother the BO, to come to me or another boarder with any issues.  My BO is not touchy feely, and would much rather be left alone than deal with people's condolences.  And she knew some people probably wouldn't agree with  her decision. We only have 8 boarders, so it's not a huge group.  And of course a couple freaked out. 

Even though BO has been talking about this for months, they didn't know she had actually set a date. One went to our BO and the other turned on me.  After the first went to the BO I sent a somewhat snarky text basically stating not to do that. The second boarder, SH, accused me of telling her what to feel and that just because she doesn't own the horse doesn't mean she doesn't love her.  I have no idea how she got that out of my text, and I tried to explain that via text back to her.  Yesterday afternoon she cornered me at the barn and lit into me how she loves the horse, and it's wrong of me to tell her not to, and that this is a small barn and we're a family and family doesn't do that, and on and on.  I tried to explain to her that I only wanted people to not talk about it with BO, not that SH couldn't have feelings for Kue.  She didn't hear me and went off again and it eventually ended with us screaming at each other before I walked away.

I tossed and turned all night, pissed because I tried to do something nice to help BO and it blew up in my face.  I posted the above this morning on Facebook because I was mad and sleep deprived and it really touched me.  Not only because of this whole thing, but also issues at work.  SH sent me a text telling me to stop playing immature games and how it was rude and not honoring Kue's memory.  She told me not to be petty and to stop being pissed.  Ironically, everything she accused me of doing.  I told her this, and she went off again. I haven't said anything else, and at this point I don't know what TO say. I hope that once SH recovers from her grief she'll be able to see my side of this.  But right now, I really don't want to be at the barn. I haven't said a word of this to BO, and hoping SH doesn't.  This is exactly the last thing she needs to deal with.

It's Here

My saddle finally came Thursday night, after my lesson of course. I was only able to squeeze in a ten minute ride Friday before heading out to a birthday party but I could feel a huge difference. I can sit  down, I can two point and balance, and it seems to put my leg in the perfect place. It felt like I was being hugged by a soft, squishy leather cloud!

Sunday I was able to get in a longer ride. Our flat work felt very nice; I was able to balance myself better which in turn helped Peebs balance himself. We picked up a few fences and even when we got an iffy distance I felt secure. I've never ridden in a saddle with short flaps before and it makes a huge difference. This was seriously the best purchase ever. 

Added bonus: The leathers I got from L match perfectly!

The only downsides are that I had to use a girth two sizes larger, and it wants to slide back a bit. I doubt my 46" County Logic girth will fit again, but I'm hoping that once the billets stretch I can use a 48". The 50" is a little too big but there's no way the 48" fits right now. So we're currently rocking a fleece girth till I can sell the 46" and find a 48".  I've also ordered a hunter breastplate with a standing attachment since my trainer suggested he go in a standing.