Spreading Christmas Cheer

On Sunday the 4H group in our barn took some horses over to the Oregon Veterans Home for Christmas caroling.  The Veterans Home is a skilled nursing center about twenty minutes from the barn that is for vets, their spouses, or parents of servicemen killed in action. While most of the residents are older, there were a few around my age that had sever physical, mental, and/or emotional disabilities.

Christmas Peebs 2.0

I had orginally said I'd go to help, and wasn't planning on taking Peebs.  But Sunday morning one of the 4H'ers decided not to take her horse so there was an empty spot in the trailer.  I figured why not, and did a quick sock wash and muzzle clip on Peebs.  We then proceeded to deck the ponies out in more Christmas finery, including bows in their mane and tail, garland around their necks, and glitter on the butts. All of us wore Santa hats.

This guy kept saying Peebs was a pretty boy.

All the horses unloaded fine and we proceeded to walk around the parking lot while residents came out. One of the 4H'ers brother had his phone plugged into a portable speaker and was playing Christmas carols.   Another brother was passing out Christmas cards from the group.  There were probably 15-20 vets that came out to see the horses and a bunch of family and friends joined in.  It was 28* so they didn't stay out too long, and most had blankets wrapped around them.

Meeting Chris

I was shocked at how good all the horses were.  Most were in wheelchairs or had walkers and none of the horses cared.  Some wanted to pet the ponies, and all were agreeable.  There was one guy, Chris, who probably isn't much older than me, who is wheelchair bound and has difficulties talking and moving his hands.  But he absolutely loved the horses.  He kept grabbing their halters or necks and hugging and kissing them.  His mom tried to take him inside when he started shivering but he wouldn't let her so an aide brought him a blanket.  He asked if we had brushes so he could brush them and all of us were so upset that we didn't. We promised him that we'd come back in a few months when it was warmer so he could brush them.  He kept telling us to make sure to take pictures.  I was battling tears the whole time.

Kisses for Chris

We then took the ponies for a walk around the campus so residents that weren't able to come outside could see them from their rooms or windows.  Peebs saw a monster in the fog and decided that going around one of the building was not happening so we had to turn back.  He was completely fine otherwise.

Right before the attack of the fog monster

I am so glad I decided to take Peebs.  It was such an amazing thing to see how happy the horses made the vets and just how good Peebs was about everything.  I'll definitely be taking him back when the club goes again in a few months.

Peebs kept trying to put his head in this guy's lap

Good Ol' 4H Fair (Or Damn Horse Show Drama)

Spent the last three days helping the girls from our barn at 4H Fair.  I'm pretty sure I'm more tired than they are.  At least they didn't have to deal with the dreaded horse show moms and associated drama.  I spent most of the time helping one girl in particular (A, aged 12) as her 4H leader (L) can't stand her or her grandmother (K, who is a wonderfully sweet and kind woman) and couldn't be bothered to do more than grunt at A.

K and A live about a mile from our barn, and haul in/use our lesson horses for lessons.  K just wants to trail ride and have fun, but A is 12 and fearless.  She's been taking weekly lessons from Jen and does wonderful.  She has an adorable Welsh pony, Owen, and does a little bit of everything with him.  This is her first year in 4H.

The 4H club at our barn was started last year by L,a boarder who now has 3 horses for her and her daughter. They mostly ride western, with some "English" thrown in. They were in a different club, but L felt like her daughter wasn't getting enough attention and started her own.  L can be your typical show mom; rude, insensitive, and insisting that her way is the best and her daughter is always right.  For the most part I tend to ignore L and let most of what she says roll off my back. 

L has been going through a divorce for the past six months, and her priorities have majorly shifted.  She started cancelling 4H meetings/rides to go hang out at the bars and meet guys. Her daughter stopped riding for a few moths and you could tell that both of them had lost the will for 4H.  But the show must go on and they pulled it together for fair.

Since L can't stand K (I'm not sure why, except jealousy that K has $$ while L doesn't) she told me that I was in charge of K and A for fair.  Fine by me as I get along really well with both of them.  A has some issues, but as long as you focus her and give her something to do she's a great kid.  Very smart, very intuitive and a great rider.  They got blues in showmanship, trail, and English eq with a red in western eq.

 A was pretty upset about the red and was crying. Her grandmother and I got her calmed down and while she was untacking her pony L walks up and starts in about what she did wrong.  A had very obviously been crying, puffy/red eyes, runny nose, and here's her "leader" verbally beating up on her.  It took everything I had to not loose it at L.  After she walked away, A lost it again and we had to calm her down.

L couldn't be bothered to congratulate A on her blues, and actually slept through one or two of A's classes. Since there were only 2 girls from our club competing at fair (Anna didn't take Phoenix since she didn't feel ready) it wasn't that hard to watch both of them go.  L was incredibly rude and tended to ignore both K and A for most of the 3 days, unless they could do something for her.  K had brought her very nice motor home to use as a base, cooked breakfast, lunch, and a dinner for everyone, and bought snacks and drinks.  I never heard a "thank you", or "can I help with anything" from L.

I've reached my limit with L and told K and A that I will help fix things for next year as L told me that she needs to find a way to "get rid of K and A".  Unfortunately there isn't another 4H group close by, so that leaves me the choice of trying to perform a coup and take over the group or start my own.  My barn owner and K support my decision either way. L normally helps with chores to offset her board but has (shockingly) been slacking lately and pissed off the BO.  I'm going to let everything sit for a while then decide what to do. 

Why do horses involve so much drama?!

Warning: Long Ranting Post

Anna had a 4H pre fair show this weekend, and it wasn't pretty.  Friday they had another lesson with Jen and it ended great!  They were able to do a line at 2', trotting in and trotting out with any drama.  I had high hopes for Saturday.

I had to hold Buddy for the farrier Saturday morning and I missed Anna's showmanship class. I heard they did well and they got a red.  Anna had a big break before her English eq class while the other two girls from our club did their western eq.  When Anna got on to warm up she was nervous but did ok.  I had her run through the pattern a couple times.  It was pretty easy, posting trot on a straight line, a sitting trot circle, a right lead canter circle, then posting trot with a halt and back. Somehow in the two minutes it took to do the pattern she freaked herself out.  She kept saying she couldn't do it (even though she just did) and was almost shaking.  She asked if I could lead her around. I told her no; if I had to lead her around like a beginner I wasn't going to let her show.  She got over it and we headed out to the ring.

They had to do rail work (walk trot canter each way) before they did their pattern  Anna's rail worked look fine.  Phoenix was a little disjointed and slow but looked fine.  Anna was first to do the pattern and didn't canter in the pattern.  After she said he felt high.  I told her that he looked like half asleep.  At that point she said she didn't want to do hunter hack, even if it meant that she couldn't show over fences at fair.

The other girl from our club convinced Anna to do hunter hack with her.  They had a quick warm up, with a 4 stride cross rail line set up.   Anna and Phoenix were great!  Trotted over both with no fuss or any problems.  Anna was hunched and obviously nervous but I told her as they walked past that Phoenix was the only horse out of the 6 that didn't refuse the jumps. She seemed happy and I figured everything would be ok.

Again, they had to do rail work before jumping. She was fine till the judge asked for a hand gallop.  She freaked and brought him back to trot and refused to even do a regular canter.  She lined up to go last over fences and that wasn't a good idea.  By the time she went she was picking on Phoenix, causing him to fidget and not stand still. They trotted around to the line and about 10 strides out Anna locked up and pulled Phoenix to stop.  She was shaking her head and backing him as I motioned to her to circle around and come back.  She looked at the judge then walked back to the line up.  I was livid.

Once she came out of the ring I told her to get off and proceeded to tear into her a bit.  I asked if she knew what she had just taught Phoenix.  She said no, and I told her that it not acceptable to take a horse up the jump then back them away from it and not jump it.  That it taugh them its ok not to jump.  Obviously I know that in some circumstances it ok, but I had to get through to Anna that it wasn't.  I told her that she was completely fine in warm up, and that I was disappointed in her for not even trying.

I felt bad after for getting on Anna, but I feel like we've been coddling her and Phoenix has been great since he bucked her off. It's hard to know when to support them and when to push. When we got back to the barn she looked like she had cried a bit and asked when she should ride and jump again and I told her Monday so we'll see what happens.  Her mom and I talked today and she agreed with me about trying to push her.  Her mom doesn't know what happened either but wants her to push through. 

4H Fair

Sunday thru today was our county's 4H Horse Fair.  The three girls from our barn did awesome!  They had showmanship and trail on Monday, western eq yesterday, and English eq and dressage today.

Anna (the girl leasing Phoenix) earned a red in both showmanship and trail.  She forgot part of her pattern in showmanship, and unfortunately was 10pts from qualifying for state fair.  The judge also noted on her score sheet that Phoenix was too thin.  To me, he needs muscling but is an ok weight.  Except for last summer when he was on pasture 24/7 and hadn't been ridden in 6 months, he's always been on the lean side.  The judge is a QH halter horse breeder, so I'm trying to not take too much offense at her comments.

Their trail class was actually pretty nice for Phoenix.  He was one of the few horses to walk right over the bridge.  Anna was able to open the rope gate, but wasn't able to get Phoenix to turn and back to close it.  They also had trot poles to do, and they were set too close for long legged Phoenix, so he jumped a couple.  Whoops!

I was happily surprised when they earned a blue in western eq!  While Phoenix didn't exactly jog or lope, they had a nicely done pattern and unlike a lot of the kids, were able to get the correct leads.

Crappy cell phone pic

Today in English, Anna nailed their pattern (which involved counter canter, which they practiced for the first time yesterday) and were called back to the premier class. They were given another pattern and about 2 minutes to learn it.  This time they had counter canter and hand gallop. Anna was pretty nervous, but held it together and earned a medallion! They ended the day by doing Intro Test A and she got a 68.6% and another medallion!  I looked over the comments on their tests, and they earned a lot of 6s and 7s, with one 8.  They got points for having a nice steady rhythm and were called a well matched pair.  I'm so proud of both of them!

Weekend Fun

When I went out to the barn last night, one of the western trainers that comes out, Sandy, was there doing lessons.  Connie was going to ride, but had to go out of town for work, and by the time she got back she was too tired so I took her lesson. She started out by asking me what I and Buddy had done, and what I wanted to work on.  I told her that Bud had been a western horse, but I has having problems slowing his canter down and riding one handed. 

She had me start out by really exaggerating moving my hips to Bud's walk rhythm.  He didn't had a great rhythm to start, but after a few minutes we had a nice rolling forward walk.  Sandy also had me work on using my seat to turn and stop.  We did some nice walk/halt transitions where Buddy was really sitting back on his hind end. 

In the trot, she had me start two handed and we worked mostly on my equitation...trying to keep my legs forward, with my heels down and toes turned out and sitting very deep, on the pockets of my jeans.  It felt so weird!  Again, we worked on trot/walk and trot/halt transitions using my seat.  Once we were warmed up, she had me go one handed, then do more transitions. My balance was defiantly off with my right arm down by my side.  Our transitions were not nearly as nice one handed, but they got better as I figured out my new balance points.

I went back to two hands for the canter.  It was ugly.  Sandy had to keep that deep seat with my legs forward.  It felt like I was water skiing. I was to keep my legs off him, and only give a slight squeeze as I half halted him to keep him going.  Buddy was pretty strung out and unbalanced, and I really wanted to pick up my reins and balance him off the bit but Sandy kept telling me to leave my reins long and just keep half halting him.  By the end he was starting to get it, but it was really hard.  We definitely need to work on that.

Today at the barn, Anna rode Phoenix western for her 4H lesson.  I only saw the very end, but they looked good.  Phoenix seemed fine having a shanked bit in his mouth, but was a little confused when Anna tried to neck rein. 

Anna is also working with a mini that's at the barn, Rosy.  She's been ground driving her and today a friend of Connie's brought a cart over for Anna to try.  Rosy did great!  She hasn't been driven in over 9yrs, and after a little attitude at first, she acted like she's done it yesterday.  A few of us got to practice driving, and it was SO.MUCH.FUN!

Gymnastics and Dressage

I let Buddy have a couple easy days, after our jump school on Wednesday.  Yesterday one of the other girls at the barn and I set up a small gymnastic; a few trot poles, to a bounce, to a one stride.  We started with just the poles to an x-rail bounce to another x.  After we each did it a few times, we added the last one as a vertical.

Bud didn't have a problem with the gymnast, and I tried to work on holding my position and keeping my eyes up.  The other mare ran out at the one stride so we shortened the distance.  It made it fine for her, but then it was a little short for Bud.  Oh well.  At that point Buddy had gotten tired, and wasn't jumping the first fence, making it hard to work thru the gymnastic.  I smacked him behind my leg with my crop, and while he jumped the first fence, I wasn't able to grab the reins back so we did the line with only one hand.  It was fun!  I did feel my position slip forward though, so more work is needed!

Today I helped the 4H girls run through their dressage tests for fair. One of the girls is doing Training Test 3 and the other two are doing Intro A.  I ended up reading both tests a few times while the girls worked through them.  After I hopped on Bud bareback and did both tests.  The Intro test was our warm up, and it went well. 

We had a little trouble with the Training test.  The one loops confused Buddy at first, but after schooling them a few times I think we got 'em.  In the change of rein at the canter, Bud wanted to do flying change, instead of trotting at x.  He flipped his head when I got after him.  In our focus on our flying changes Buddy has really started to anticipate the change, so I'm going to have to work on schooling the simple changes/trot transitions on the diagonal.   I am happy that we were able to run the Training test bareback and have it be more than halfway decent!

Catching Up on the Other Ponies

So this blog is about my adventures with Buddy, but I have to give some updates on Zoe and Phoenix.  Phoenix is being leased by girl for 4H, and they had their first show this weekend.  She showed him in trail, showmanship, and English Eq.  Phoenix has never shown in trail or showmanship before, but I have schooled some of the show trail obstacles with him. 

Trail went pretty well. Anna was very nervous (it was her first show ever) but Phoenix could have cared less.  He was a little hesitant about crossing the bridge, and didn't want to stand next to the gate so Anna could open it, but he had no problem walking and trotting over poles!  Considering the first time they practiced showmanship was 15mins before their class, they did very good.  They got reds in both

English Eq was their best!  They just did walk/trot, and they nailed it.  The judge did tell Anna that she has to work on her sitting trot, but considering Phoenix is so bouncy she did well, and they got a blue!  I'm so proud of both of them!

Zoe is doing awesome as well.  I've been jumping her about once a week, over some bigger x's and some 2ft verticals.  She seems to take it all in stride, and other than being a little wiggly she feels like she's been jumping for years! I took a lesson on her a couple weeks ago and here's the video.  This was our 4th or 5th time cantering a line.





As for Bud, he's had an easy week after the clinic last Sunday.  I'm going to jump him today and we'll have a lesson Wed or Thursday, then next Sunday we're going to a little hunter show.  I'm still on the fence (no pun intended!) about what classes to do.  I really want to do 2'6",  but I'm not quite sure if we are ready.  





A few good rides

I didn't do much with the ponies this week.  It snowed (like 5inches!!!!) Wed/Thurs and I wasn't motivated enough to ride after dealing with having to make it into work both days.  I rode Bud on Friday and boy was he lazy!  He had a week off because of his eye, but it looks perfectly fine now!  The cavalettis were set up in the arena and I thought popping him over those would perk him up.  It didn't.  We hacked around for about 20 mins and called it a day.

I lunged both Phoenix and Zoe on Friday.  Zoe had a fit about being in side reins, but she got over it.  Watching her move is interesting.  She likes to throw her hip in and crossfire behind while cantering. It's a pleasure horse thing; cocking their hips in helps them slow down and get that herky-jerky lope.  Zoe has it, but hopefully we'll work that out of her.

Saturday the 4H girl rode Phoenix.  She's still trying to decide if she wants to lease him; she'll ride him a few more times this week and make a decision.  There were some trot poles and a tiny tiny x-rail set up and she took him over the poles.  He plodded over them without a problem!  I asked if she wanted to take him over the x, and she said she was too nervous so I hopped on him and did it.  He was perfect!  Trotted up to it quietly, and cantered away nicely.  It was his first jump in close to 2yrs. 

Today I rode Bud and Zoe.  I put Bud back in the German martingale and he had a lot more pep than he did on Friday!  We had a nice forward ride with some really good trot-canter-trot transitions.  We also did some nice counter canter and a flying change each direction. 

Such a cute pony!

With Zoe, I worked on getting her to go forward, and started asking for some bending.  She's not too happy with me having contact with her mouth; she's used to having a loose rein even going English. For her canter, I'm trying to keep my hands up and encourage her to drive from behind.  If I let her, she tends to 4 beat in the canter, and it feels like her hind end isn't connected to her front.  I had a couple good strides of canter today where she felt connected.  Since she's out of shape I'm only asking for a few strides at a time.

Coming Home

Phoenix is coming back to the barn tomorrow!!  There's a 4H group that rides out of our barn.  One of the girls, Anna, is leasing a 20something year old TB whose owner is currently in Kentucky doing an internship. The owner has been trying to micromanage her horse while she's away, and has made it very difficult for anyone to help Anna.  The 4H leaders talked to me and asked if I would be willing to bring Phoenix back for Anna.  So as long as Anna's parents are ok with leasing Phoenix instead of Freeway, he'll come back to be a walk/trot 4H pony!  I'm so excited to have him back!  He is my heart horse, and while Buddy is a better match for me, Phoenix will always be my baby.

Love my old man!