Decade in Photos

Thanks to May As Well Event for the bloghop! I know I'm a little late to the party, but hopefully I'll be able to catch up on blogging soon.

2010

When 2010 started, I had Phoenix and I believe we showed once before he came up lame.  We spent most of the summer trying to figure out what was wrong before he was diagnosed with side bone in his right front.  I made the decision to retire him at 15. I had started riding my former BO's gelding Buddy and once I started horse shopping she offered him to me. I bought him in the fall and spent the fall and winter playing around with him.

2011

In February Phoenix moved out of the barn and into my trainer's pasture to be a buddy to her retired mare and he fully embraced the retired life.  I continued to DO ALL THE THINGS with Buddy.  We jumped and showed in both the hunter and jumper rings, took western lessons, chased cows, and went on trail rides.

2012

Phoenix moved back to the barn, came out of retirement, and was leased by A who was in 4H and wanted to learn how to jump. Buddy and I continued to play with all the disciplines.


2013

At 17, Buddy started to show his age and while we kept showing in the spring and summer, in the fall I made the decision that he probably needed to step down and not jump 2'6" plus anymore. He did help me qualify for my first medal finals, and because horses, the only time in the 7yrs I knew him he was went lame three weeks before hand. I borrowed the wondermare Tia and while having rider error in our over fences round, had a blast. Phoenix continued to pack A around and she took him to her first show over fences. In the fall my former BO found an add for a 5yr old OTTB mare four hours away from us and convinced me to take her sight unseen after her owners agreed to give her away. In all honesty, I didn't really want McKenna, but agreed.

2014

Buddy sold very quickly once I listed him, and for more money that I was asking, totally spoiling me for selling horses. Phoenix came up lame and my vet told me in no uncertain terms that at 19 it was time to retire him for good. McKenna got all my time and attention that summer/fall and while I felt like we were stuck we did actually make progress. She turned out to be much greener than I thought when I got her and I spent much of my time learning how to sit her spooks/spins/bolts/rears.

2015

I came to the realization that I didn't actually like riding McKenna, and put her up for sale. We then have some fantastic lessons, including jumping 3' in a gymnastic. I got a new job, which was the exact same position as my old one, just at a different university. That alleviated a ton of stress and combined with actually feeling like I was making progress with McKenna, I reconsidered selling her. Phoenix colicked badly in November and I made the decision to put him down. It was very clear there was nothing the vets could do, and while it was the toughest decision I've ever made, it was also the easiest. McKenna moved to her new family (which is the barn Peebs is currently boarded at) a couple days after Christmas, and for the first time in 10 years I was horseless.

2016

Three weeks later I bought Peebs. I knew from the first ride was was supposed to be mine; he felt like home. There was some definite "get to know you" issues but once we figured things out I started having a ton of fun with him.  In our first show together, after having him for three months and not showing in almost two years, we won division champion. We continued to show that summer and Peebs proved what a rock star he is. I also bit the bullet and ordered my custom saddle since finding a used one to fit him and me was proving to be impossible.

2017

 
 
 Peebs continued to be awesome and I really started to trust him. We continued showing and having fun.  I decided to do a breed lease on wonder mare Tia but unfortunately she lost the pregnancy and was given very slim odds of being able to get pregnant again.  In the fall a fellow boarder at the barn offered me her homebred warmblood filly.  I initially said no, then went to see her, and after talking my mom into helping me pay for her I agreed to buy Cinder.  She came home in December. Also that fall a new trainer moved into the barn and started causing drama and issues that I tried my best to ignore.

2018

Barn drama got way worse in January and in early February I gave my 30 days notice. It killed me to leave the barn I had been at for 11 yrs and the owners who I considered my second family. But it turned out to be a blessing and, for the first time in eleven years, I could focus solely on my horses. Cinder turned 1 and we did all the baby things. Peebs was still a rock star and won division champion in the hunters, and reserve champion in the equitation at the first show I went to completely on my own. We ended the year by being series champion in our hunter division for our local schooling show series.  We also were second reserve champion in the hunters, and fifth in the eq for our state wide show association. 

2019

Cinder got to start show season off in 2019 in halter and showmanship. We won the halter for her first blue ribbon. Peebs and I dabbled in hunter and jumpers where we had some great rounds, and some not so great rounds where I forgot how to ride. The ponies moved to A's house for summer camp while I helped take care of the barn while A was away on an internship. I love TCF and was very sad that they only have one stall available for fall/winter.  Cinder stayed while Peebs moved back to GS.  Having the ponies at two different barns has been a challenge, but I'm learning to roll with it. Once another stall opens up at TCF Peebs will move back.
 
 

Bel Joer Blog Hop: If Your Horse Were a Drink

It took me a bit to think of what Peebs would be for the Bel Joer hop.  My past ponies were easy, but Peebs not so much.

Phoenix would have been a nice wine; one that gets better with age. I'm not a huge wine connoisseur but he reminds me of a Mexican wine that I absolutely love.  Its a grenache, a pink wine.  I wasn't expecting to like it but it really grew on me and is now my fave. It's a bit fruity, which Phoenix was as well. When I first got him, he was in love with another gelding at the barn and the two of them were inseparable.  

He could definitely rock the pink

Buddy was, of course, a Budweiser.  He's your all America, basic been there, done that, do anything horse.  I mean his show name was play on Budweiser.  One Bud Wiser... 

McKenna is shots of Fireball. Their website states "If you haven't tried it yet, just imagine what it feels like to stand face-to-face with a fire-breathing dragon who just ate a whisky barrel full of spicy cinnamon." Only try riding that.  She was an explosive powder keg of energy that if you weren't careful, like the shots, would leave you on your ass on the ground wondering how you got there.

Peebs, I think, is vodka. He's pretty unassuming, but can pack a punch.  He also mixes well with other horses, and you can dress him up, like mixing cocktails. I'm a big fan of cocktails and mixed drinks, but I can't handle cheap vodka.  It knocks me out like nothing else.  Top shelf vodka I'm good with, just like Peebs on his good days.  When he's up and spooky he's like cheap booze in that he can rattle me pretty good. But when he's on his game, he's smooth and perfect like nothing else.

2014 Goals

Hahahahaha.  When I started 2014 I had the plan to do quarterly goals.  That obviously fell by the wayside as I took my blogging break.  These were my goals from the first quarter of the year:


Buddy:

Work back to the 2'9"-3' and maybe show at that height.  Done!

• Done, but not in the first quarter.  We showed in the 2'9"-3' jumpers in May and managed to eek out a 6th place year end award in the Low AA jumpers.  Ironically, getting a year end award wasn't on my yearly goal list because I knew I would be selling Buddy.

Work on his manners. Meh.

• Once I started riding him more regularly than his lease girls, that got better.  Not perfect, but ok.

My big goal for him for the year was to sell him to the perfect home, which happened and for more $$$ than I was asking! I follow his lease girl on Instagram and she's got some adorably cute pics of them that make me tear up.

McKenna:

Work her (lunge or ride) at least 5 days/week. Kinda

• Didn't happen till this summer, after I sold Bud and she became my primary pony.  And once it started getting cold this fall/winter I wussed out.  But it's on the list for next year!

Refine our canter transitions and develop a balanced canter. In progress!

• We had some of the best transitions and nicest canter yet in our lesson on Sunday, so there's hope!

Continue working over little jumps and cavaletti.  Free jump her again with more height/spread to see how she does Done!

Phoenix:
Keep him as sound as possible and to continue to pack Anna around. Major Fail

• Obviously it wasn't anything I could control, but the old man had to be retired in April/May.  He came up lamer than his normal, and after injecting to see if it would help his side bone my vet flat out told me it was time for him to be done. And a bout of cellulitis in September didn't help anything either. But he was running around in turnout a few days ago like a crazy pony (actually out ran and played McKenna) so at least he still feels young at heart!

2014 Year End Awards

With our one and only show at 3' ever Buddy and I managed to snag a 6th place year end in the 3' Low AA Jumpers.  And even better is that we weren't dead last in the division, we beat someone else! This is my first year end award since high school, and damn it I'm going to be so proud of that green ribbon!

#TBT Freeman Farms May 2014

During my blogging break this year Buddy and I went to two local schooling shows.  The first of them was the May Freeman Farms show.  We went to the same show last year, but this year it was just me showing.  No organizing everything, no having to share my horse, no worrying about anyone else....it was very nice!  Unfortunately, like last year we had the same weather.  Pouring down rain, cool and windy.  Not very fun show weather.

 Because of said weather no pics or video was taken. This was from a lesson the week before the show.

We had decided to move up a division at this show, doing the 2'9-3' Low Child/AA jumpers.  We had three rounds, a power and speed and two jump off rounds.  I don't remember much about the courses, except there was one pretty funky bending line from an outside oxer to a diagonal vertical.  We were lucky that we got there early to school and did that line a few times because it was hard.  You had to go straight after the oxer for 2-3 strides, then almost make a 90 degree turn to the second fence.  If you tried to soften the turn, you ended up falling way in on the landing and running into another fence.   I remember that my mantra was "Go Deep!" for that line.

FF show May 2013.  It looked just like this, only the jumps were bigger

While Buddy is normally a horse that doesn't care about ridding in the rain, he took exception that day.  In two of the rounds to get to the first fence you had to canter headfirst into the rain and wind.  He was not a happy pony about that!  I had to circle in front of the timers and beat him with my stick to get him forward.  If he could have cantered backwards, he would have. In another round my reins were so wet I couldn't hold onto them in a turn and we had to circle while I got them back.  We didn't place super great, but if I remember we didn't have rails down (maybe one), we were just slower than everyone else (and the whole circling thing didn't help) but we came home with some satin. I was still super happy with how we did.  His first time showing that big, my first time in 5yrs, and miserable weather, not a recipe for for a good horse show.

What We've Been Up To

So I haven't blogged in over 7 months.  Oops.  Last winter was way overwhelming, between work, managing the barn while my BOs were gone, seasonal depression, trying to work my horses, and just life in general. I just had to shut down for a while.  The barn situation has vastly improved; my BO stopped the lesson/college program we had so now I don't have to run herd on 10 immature college girls.  My trainer is still coming out and doing lessons, but just for boarders and very select leasees. Work is slowly getting better, as of Oct 1st I got a promotion and the coworker I can't stand is leaving at the end of the month. 

But they make everything better

The biggest thing to happen during our hiatus was I sold Buddy.  We had been schooling 3' at home, and even showed in the .95m jumpers at one show in the spring, but it was too much for him.  Between the college girls riding him and me, he was working 5-6 days a week, but was getting tired and cranky at the bigger heights.  Discussing my long term goals with my trainer (show at 3', start doing some rated shows again, maybe the 3' jumper classic they added to the last A show of the season here in Oregon) we  both thought it would just be too much for Bud. He's 18, but has lots of life left in the lower divisions.  And I have McKenna, who is young and should be more than capable of doing the 3' jumpers.

Bud and his leasee won their first eventing derby at intro.

I had listed Bud on a local FB page and DreamHorse, and had some hits.  We were going to a show, hauling up and schooling Friday and showing Saturday and I had two people lined up to try him at schooling.  Two other people came up to me at schooling asking about him.  Both women trying him were looking for lesson horses, one for her friend outside Seattle and one in Portland.  Both loved him.  The Portland one asked for a trial, and mentioned that I was going to have a bidding war over him since everyone seemed to love him.  Then the Seattle lady came to me with a checkbook out and asked how much I wanted for a deposit.  She had loved him and called her friend and they wanted to buy him on the spot.  I was completely surprised and shocked.  They wrote up a contract, and after our classes on Saturday I dropped him off at the friend's farm where he stayed for a few days before going up to Seattle.  They also payed me more than what I was asking.  It was very surreal, and considering it was my first time selling a horse it went way faster and easier than I ever thought.  I've done some FB/Instagram/YouTube stalking and Buddy has been leased to a young teenager who adores him and is showing him in the 2'6" jumpers. 

Morning I sold him, my last pic of him.

As far as the other ponies, Phoenix has been officially retired.  His side bone on his right front started making itself know again and despite injecting it he was still off. My vet was out a few weeks after we injected and asked about him and flat told me it was time to retire him.  So he's been hanging out all summer getting fat and sassy.  I took him to a friend's who has five acres and a run in to live with a couple of my BO's retired horses but Phoenix bullied them too much and had to come back to the barn.  Which was a good thing; two weeks after coming back he developed cellulitis in his left hind.  He was lamer than I've ever seen, his leg swelled up at least twice it's normal size, couldn't move his hock at all, and almost fell down multiple times.  I was convinced he wasn't going to make it. But five days of twice daily penicillin shots and bute and he was back to normal. 

Day 2 of cellulitis

McKenna has continued her progress, but it still squarley in the baby stage.  She's matured and isn't nearly as ADD as she once was. She's trotting very nicely (most of the time) but our canter still leaves a lot to be desired.  We have started jumping some small crossrails and verticals, just trotting, and she's loving it.  Hasn't looked or cared at anything I've put in front of her, including a brick wall plank and the flower boxes.  Our biggest issue is that she's very smart and tend to get bored and naughty so I have to keep switching things up and changing our ride every time so she doesn't get used to a routine.

I'm going to try and get back into the swing of blogging.  I've started a blog for McKenna but haven't decided if I'll use it or use this one. 

What 3 Week Break?

Adding to my dreary mood the weather over the past month has been nasty.  We got 17in of snow, and since my truck is still not fixed, I got snowed in for 3 days because my car couldn't make it out of the driveway.  After that we've gotten a few inches of rain and some strong winds, not very nice riding weather.  But now that I'm getting back into a more manageable routine and being able/wanting to ride my horses the weather has decided to cooperate. 

Buddy's lessee this term Maddie made it out and did a quick snow ride

It was warm and sunny yesterday, and since I haven't jumped Buddy in three weeks since the clinic, I set some fences out.  Just 4, an x to warm up with, two diagonal verticals and an outside square oxer.  He had been strong, forward, and opinionated during our flat ride on Friday, and I figured he was bored and wanted something more to do. 

He was awesome jumping!  Not too strong, but forward and willing to go wherever I pointed.  We schooled some bending lines and once I remembered to not open my left rein we nailed everything.  We had been doing the outside oxer bending right to a diagonal but I couldn't get him to land on the right lead. My friend then yelled at me to not use that left rein and, like magic, we were able to land on the right lead and go to the second fence.  I just need someone to follow me around all the time telling me to not open the left rein.

John Turner Clinic - Day 2

It seemed like we rode longer on day two than day one.  My group was right after the lunch break and all of us had gotten on about 10 minutes early to start warming up.  John came out and started talking to us and giving us exercises to do during warm up so I think we did get an extra bit of time.  He didn't have us do a lot of trot work, mostly walking with turns on the haunches and forehand and sidepassing.  We went almost straight into canter work, doing walk-canter-walk transitions then doing canter-halts. 

Moving right along John had us start jumping with a skinny brick wall set along the outside, with no standards.  The first time through Buddy veered left two strides out and we had to come again but we got the standards put up.  Not a problem then.  A few others had runouts as well, so we went back and forth over the wall a few times. 

The other fences were set up along the center line in a zig zag pattern.  John had us do a bunch of different bending lines, starting with some longer ones and ending with an incredibly short one. I got yelled at for using too much left rein and not enough right rein.  At one point as I went around all John was saying was "No left rein, no left rein!". 

Then we switched up the lines and did a short, hard line bending to left he turned to me and said "You can open your left rein here, but only here".  The line started off a short right hand turn from a skinny bending left in 4 to an oxer.  The first time I did it we totally missed the turn, but then so did almost everyone else.  Second time, we got the turn but Buddy was pretty tired and we pulled up at the oxer.  You can hear on the video John saying he was ok with that, then he had the oxer put down to a vertical and we got it (mom missed getting that on camera).

I never realized that I'm a lot stronger with my left rein before.  Buddy's gotten most of this week off, his lease girl did a flat hack with him today, but when I ride this weekend I want to set poles and practice the same lines, not using my left rein. John was a great clinician and I'm hoping they'll have him back down because I would love to ride with him again.

Speed Racer

Had a lesson with Buddy yesterday morning, the first lesson on him in 2 months, I think?  I had been trying to get one in sooner, but my availability never meshed with my trainer's.  Since we haven't been jumping much lately (the last time I jumped him was on New Year's Day) I was bit worried how we would do.  With our clinic next weekend I been feeling like we aren't prepared.

 

Our lesson was first thing in the morning and usually Buddy can be crabby when I pull him away from his breakfast. I shouldn't have worried he was excited and forward, ready to go.  We worked on transitions and at one point I asked for a trot from the halt and he lifted into a beautiful round, soft canter.  Trainer said to just go with it as it was one of the nicest transitions she's seen him do. Even our trot warm up fences were good.  He was jumping them nicely and cantering away quietly.  Normally he either just trots the fence without jumping, or kinda hurls himself over.

 

Oregon State, fight fight fight!

We moved on to figure 8ing a couple diagonal fences and while he was forward and going, he was pretty stiff to the right. Had to do a few circles in front of the right-to-left fence to get him thinking right bend before jumping it. Once he was bending I could see our distance and the fence flowed easily.

 

Turning into speed racer here.

From there we added an outside line, a five going uphill. I tend to have to ride him more forward to these lines since he looses impulsion going up the hi. Not today!  I just had to make sure he was bending right and soft and it worked.  The third time thru, for whatever reason, he decided to turn into speed racer and completely blew through my hands.  Got way deep to the first fence, pulling the rail, and galloped down the line.  Also got way deep to the second fence, pulling not just the rail but one of the standards down too.  Trainer rolled out the ground lines in an attempt to back him off the fences and we tried again.  He learned his lesson and when I half halted he waited and did the line like a normal horse.

RIP Zipper

We finished off doing some rollback turns over the diagonal fences and an outside Swedish oxer.  Buddy was still going strong and I was starting to pick at him a bit so we worked on being soft and riding the forward pace.  It was such a change from how he normally is that it threw me a bit, but I liked it. 

About halfway thru the lesson I felt a pop on my calf then started hearing a flapping noise.  During a walk break I looked down and saw that my left boot (the one that lost it's zipper tab this summer) had split and my boot was wide open.  The only thing holding it on was the tab on the top.  Trainer asked if I wanted to stop but I said no, it would be a good calf exercise to try and hold it on!  Now I just have to decide if spending $100 on a new zipper for an 8yr old boot that only cost $200 to begin with is worth it or if I should just get new boots. 

Planning Ahead

I've started getting some fun stuff scheduled on the calendar for me and the ponies.  Next weekend, the 25-26 I have the John Turner clinic.  Ride times were sent out this morning and thankfully I ride midday.  I'm hauling Buddy back and forth each day so I'm super happy that I don't have to get up at the crack of dawn to drive down for an early ride.  I will got early to watch the group before so I can get an idea of what I'll be doing.

I sent in my yearly registration for OHJA and registered both Buddy and McKenna. I have no idea how this show season will go, but it's only $5/horse to register them so why not? I would love at least have McKenna go to a show and do flat classes by summer. I need to see if as a rider I can cross enter trot-a-pole and the 2'6"-3' jumpers.....

I also asked for and was approved for a few days off work to go down to my parent's in San Diego and take a road trip to watch the Thermal Million.  I'm already planning to ask for time off next year to go to the FEI World Cup Finals in Vegas!

2014 Goals-Quarterly Edition

Right now, I'm going to set Quarterly Goals, instead of Yearly Goals.  Since I'm not 100% sure McKenna will be the jumper I want and Buddy's longevity with me is up in the air, I don't want to commit to year long goals.  We'll reevaluate after March and go from there.

Buddy:

Work back to the 2'9"-3' and maybe show at that height.

• There's only 1 jumper show on the calendar so far in February but I'm hoping to make it.

Work on his manners.

• His lease girls have let him get away with a lot, (yanking the reins out of your hands, being pushier when he doesn't want to do something, not standing still after you get on) and manners like that are unacceptable.  I'm going to have to get after the girls too.

McKenna:

Work her (lunge or ride) at least 5 days/week.

• She's so high energy that she needs to get out more than I'm currently working her.

Refine our canter transitions and develop a balanced canter.

• I know the balanced canter part will take longer than 3 months, but we got to start somewhere

Continue working over little jumps and cavaletti.  Free jump her again with more height/spread to see how she does.

Phoenix (the only one with early goals):
Keep him as sound as possible and to continue to pack Anna around.

New Year's Rides

I had to work on New Year's Day, but manged to get out early and go for a ride on Buddy.  He's been lazy on the flat, not wanting to engage, ignoring me, and just plodding around.  I switched him to the pelham for a little wake up, and while it was great for our flat work it was too much brakes over fences.  He was listening to me and moving out well during warm up, felt really nice.  But once we started jumping any time I held even the tiniest bit he would back way off and get pissy.  I guess we'll jump in the slow twist and flat in the pelham.  Isn't it usually the other way around; jump in the bigger bit and flat in the milder one?  Once again Buddy proves he's an odd one.









What is with my eq??!!

We worked on having a rhythm and going to the fences, trying to have soft, soft, soft hands and impulsion.  He got tired which I was expecting since he hasn't jumped this much in a month or so.  We did manage to do the 3ft fence a few times and I was pretty happy with our ride.

I finally got back on Miss McKenna after 2 weeks, oops.  I've been lunging the snot out of her and we had a low key ride on Thursday.  She was understandably up and excited, so we did lots of circling and transitions.  Friday she was much better and we had moments of soft, round trotting.  Cantering is still a bit wild, she has a hard time balancing and swings her head up and down.  She's getting it and at times I felt like I could soften and relax instead of trying to hold her together.

She did try to take off with me once (we have stalls that back up to the indoor and a horse kicked the wall as we went past) and using the reins to stop in those situations only makes it worse with her.  Head shoots straight up, hind end drops, and she leaps forward.  But a strong "Whoa!" and she'll halt completely.  I know it's not the normal H/J thing, but I really do love the horses with a western background that stop like that off voice commands.  Pretty sure all my ponies from here on out will learn this.

Christmas Catch Up

I have been such a bad blogger!! The week before Christmas was super busy at work, then I left for five days to visit family, then had to immediately jump back into work. And my phone didn't want to play nice with out hotel's wifi so I couldn't update on the road.

Right before I left I got my Blogger Gift Exchange from Amber at TB adventures. It was awesome to get the package and rip into it. I had asked for anything pink for Miss McKenna, and we got a new pink brush, pink vet wrap, the trial pack of show sheen, and a bunch of horse treats. Thanks Amber, Jetta, and Misty!!

For Christmas I didn't get too much horsey stuff, other than the money to pay for the John Turner clinic next month. All of my families animals (my three ponies, my two cats, and my parent's dog and cat) gave me a new iPhone cover with horses on it.  I found at 25lb bag of carrots at the grocery store so the ponies are getting a holiday treat!

Since I've been so busy I haven't done much with McKenna and Buddy.  I did manage to sneak in a couple rides on Bud, and had a little jump school in which he was great.  We only worked over a vertical and oxer a few times each but he pretty much nailed it so I didn't push it. McKenna's been getting lunged and I did light ride yesterday.  My trainer was giving a lesson to a couple pony kids and basically told me to hop on McKenna and just work her around the ponies.  We did a little walk/trot and mostly just hung out in the center of the ring while they played Simon Says.  McKenna held it together pretty well, considering the girls were excited and lacked some steering skills.  At one point Jen was standing right next to us and started clapping her hand to help one of the girls who was having trouble getting her pony to trot.  McKenna jumped back and snorted at the clapping, but calmed down and was ok when Jen walked around us clapping.  I'm hoping to have more time to work her this week.

Life

Why does life get in the way of everything? I've been so overwhelmed for the past week it's ridiculous. Except for a snowy trail ride (my first ride in the snow!) I haven't been able to ride in over two weeks.  Come hell or high water I'm riding both Bud and McKenna today!

Last Wednesday I took a ride in the frozen, snow covered fields with a couple other boarders. It was in the mid twenties and I couldn't feel my nose, ears, or toes by the end of the ride but it was awesome.   We just walked around for about a half hour, and it was magical.  Like something out of a movie. 

What was once our summer gallop track between the pastures

That beautiful sunset wasn't heating anything up

It finally started thawing Friday and warmed up enough to start working the horses again.  I lunged both Buddy and McKenna and they were wild.  I had to work over the weekend and was only able to lung both of them Saturday and Sunday.  My plan was to ride at least one of the them yesterday, but my barn owners are gone, so between chores and helping with the 4H ride I lost all my time and motivation to ride. But tonight's the night, especially since I have a lesson on McKenna tomorrow!

The Plan

For the short term, the plan with Buddy is to work him up to 3ft during Dec/Jan.  His lease girls are gone starting next week, and then he'll only have one half lease from January-March.  After that things get a bit hazy, as I'm assuming his other half lease will want to lease again when she comes back from studying abroad.  If not then our time line gets moved up.

For Christmas my dad is paying for me to ride in a John Turner clinic at the end of January.  I sent in my registration form this week, and while I really, really wanted to check the box on the 2'9"-3' section I signed up for the 2'6".  It's a two day clinic and don't know if Bud will be ready for two days of 2hr rides at that height by then.  Which leads to the long term plans....

I want to move up to the 3' jumpers this year with him. But he's going to be 18, and while he doesn't have any soundness/joint problems I don't want to break him.  I have McKenna, who in theory should be more than able to do the 3' (not this coming show season, but 2015?).  Long term I can not afford 3 ponies and Phoenix is my forever horse.  So my long term plan for Bud is to put him up for sale sometime in the spring/summer.  I think he'd be an awesome first horse, for either a little kid or an ammy looking to do the 2'-2'3".  No one ever believes he's 17 and he's got years left in him at the lower heights if he's taken care of.  It will kill me to see him leave so I'm going to be super picky about where he goes and a good home is much more important to me than his price. But that's a bridge we'll cross when we get there.

Adjustments

Both Buddy and McKenna were out of whack and needed adjustments when the chiropractor came yesterday. We started with Bud and the first thing she said was how good his top line is looking.  I had been thinking he was a bit thin, you can see a hint of ribs, but she said he looked fantastic. We talked as she worked on him about how he's been and what my plans for him are (which will be another post soon). He was dropped left in the hip and pretty out in his poll, but a few days of easy walk trot and he'll be better than ever. 

Tina had me take McKenna out and lunge her before working on her so she could see her move. Said she's pretty balanced and put together well. I told her about the bracing in the canter and she said that McKenna's neck was out, but that's a typical OTTB thing.

McKenna was very well behaved for her adjustment and took it like a champ. Tina kept saying how nice she was, and that she's got a good brain. She know my BO, and that our barn has a way of finding nice horses cheap/free, and complimented us on finding McKenna. McKenna will also get a few days of light work, then we'll start lunging in Vienna reins, something that Tina suggested. 

Expect the Unexpected

It's been cold, cold, cold but sunny for the past few days so on Friday when I finally had time to ride McKenna I had to take advantage.  We lunged in the indoor then tacked up with the western saddle and headed outside.  She was pretty good walking around the upper half of the outdoor, a little up, but I figured it had been 5 days since she'd been ridden so it was expected.  When I decided to open up our circles and move towards the lower half of the arena all hell brook loose.  Apparently there is something incredibly scary in the bushes along the fence and we had some fun rearing/spinning/jumping backwards moments.  I got her calmed down and moved back to the other half when she started it again. 

I decided to not take any chances and went back inside and lunged again.  She really didn't run around a lot so I got back on.  She was still up, but settled into trot work nicely.  Unfortunately right when I wanted to start some canter work a bunch of people showed up, making a ton of noise, and that fried baby's brain.  She forgot how to canter to the left and was hoppy and cranky going right.  We worked through it but it was definitely not our best work.

Saturday I got to the barn right before a lesson was going to start and asked if it was ok if I took McKenna out during their ride.  I was hoping having another horse show her the outdoor wasn't scary would calm her down.  Nope, not even close.  Back to the rearing/spinning fun. I got off of her and ended up just hand walking her around the scary half of the arena during the whole lesson. Luckily the lesson horse, Tia, didn't care at all and barely glanced at McKenna freaking out.

I mentioned to Jen during the lesson that I was planning on jumping Buddy that day, the first time I've jumped him in a month and she asked if I wanted a lesson.  So I hurriedly put McKenna away and got Buddy ready.  I had put Bud's BoT sheet on when I had gotten to the barn and I think that helped as he was pretty loose and forward during our flat work. Usually when it's in the 30-40s he's slow and cranky to get going. 

We worked on getting Bud in front of my leg, while still packaging him and not letting him get fast and flat.  We did a line that was a forward three or a waiting four going back and forth between the two strides. He wanted the three and every time we had to wait he would fling his head and try to snatch the reins from me.  I think his leasers have let him get away with a lot, so we had a little discussion about it.  He gave in, but I could feel that he was pissed.

We then did a twisty, turny jumper course with some tight rollbacks and angled fences.  Again the point was to having him moving forward but packaged.  He was awesome and listening really well.  We were able to do all the inside turns and fit through a couple tight holes between fences.  He even got every lead over the fence or gave me a clean lead change.  I was so happy when we were done!

Intros

So before I jump in and start listing my goals for 2012, I think a little background on myself and Buddy is in order. 

  Here he is as a yearling.  He's so awkward its cute!

I bough Buddy in August 2010, after riding him for a few months.  My TB Phoenix had developed ringbone in his right front, and after taking him to a lameness expert, I decided to semi-retire him.  He was sound for walk/trot work, but I still wanted to jump and show, so I began the search for a new project.

 During the months when we tried to rehab Phoenix I had been riding Buddy.  He was owned by my barn owner, Connie, who had bought him as a head horse for team roping a few years earlier.  She has a strong dressage background, and had ridden Buddy both western and english with dressage basics.  Another boarder at the barn had also been ridding Buddy, and had started him over fences just for fun.  He loved it!  When I started with Buddy, he hadn't jumped in a year, and I hadn't for about 4 months.  We were both rusty, but he was a great confidence boost for me.

August 2010 schooling show

I had asked Connie if I could take Buddy to a little hunter schooling show right before I started my horse search. We did the 2' long stirrup division, and came home with three blues and a second!  It was a very small show, but I couldn't have been happier of Buddy!  Due to finances, my budget for a new horse was quite low, and I was looking at a lot of young, green horses.  None of the really stood out. 

Connie texted me one day, asking if she made me a deal, if I would want Buddy.  I immediately answered "YES!!"  I know she could have gotten three times what I paid for him, if she has listed him. She had always said that he was the one horse she would never sell; she has quite a few.  He's as bombproof as a horse can be, quiet on the ground and undersaddle, no vices, and can jump a course one day then go move cows the next. I must have asked her a thousand times if she was sure she wanted to sell him to me.  She kept saying yes, and that if I ever had to sell him, she will take him back.

Since then, Buddy and I have been figuring each other out.  I'm having to adapt to a horse who has mostly western training, and he's having to get used to my hunter-jumper ways.  We've done a couple little jumper shows, coming home with blues at each, as well as taking a few western lessons including one on cows.  This year, I really want to buckle down and focus on our work over fences and be more comfortable doing bigger fences.  Hopefully, depending on money, I want to be able to do 2'6" at an A rated show this summer.

I know, I know....Helmet!

New Beginnings

One of my New Year's resolutions is to be more consistent in my riding, and to have definite goals and plans to achieve said goals.  So, I thought I'd start a blog. 

Phoenix and I in 2005

Now for introductions. I'm Molly, a 20something college graduate, with an animal science degree that I'm not really using.  I've been ridng since I was seven.  I did a year of western, before switching to hunter/jumpers.  I've owened three horses throughout my riding career, and leased a few others.  I currently have two, my older retired Thoroughbred jumper Phoenix, and Buddy, an registered solid bred Paint ex-rope horse turned all around pony.

Buddy and I Feb 2011