Golden

Yesterday would have been the perfect show day, if it had been 15* cooler. Showing in 90* weather isn't fun. 

Wasn't nearly as scary hauling this as I had thought.

We took the horses up late Friday night and arrived at the Lake Oswego Hunt Club around 8ish.  It was still in the 80s and muggy but the arena was open so we decided to school.  The horses had hauled well (and I didn't crash the gooseneck!) and were all a little excited to be there.  We had the arena to ourselves and hacked around before popping over everything.  We got the horses tucked into their stalls and headed out to find our hotel and get dinner.

Saturday morning we got up at 6 to go feed then went back to the hotel to eat our breakfast and finish getting ready.  We made it back to the Hunt Club around 8am and the two girls doing the x-rail and 2ft started to get ready.  The show was supposed to start at 9 (but of course started at 9:30) and the arena was open for schooling but was incredibly crowded.  I had the girls use the sand arena to warm up and then we waited for the trot-a-pole classes to finish so they could ride.

Mae and Zoe and Miriam and Hunter

Mae and Zoe did pretty well, minus Mae not hearing that the judge called for a two point in their flat class and doing half a lap still posting.  Zoe did her normal hesitate and look at every jump in their first round but they pulled a 3rd out of about 8.  They did better in their second class and got 2nd.  Their 2' classes didn't go quite as well, Zoe was tired and hot and behind Mae's leg but they still came home with ribbons.  I'm so happy that Zoe has found a person and she and Mae seem to be a good the team.

Zoe was rocking a serious mohawk.  Must remember to braid her hair down!

After Mae and Miriam were done the other girl from the barn had her 2'6" classes.  I couldn't be there to coach her much as I had to get Buddy ready for my medal classes.  Mae went on a milkshake run and I gulped mine down during our warm up.  Buddy was pretty forward and excited and I was trying not to get in his mouth too much.  My plan for the first medal class was to add in the lines, as that was what we had done the night before but Buddy was actually getting the big boy strides. 

Our OHJA mini medal went ok, but not as polished as I would have hoped for. I couldn't make my mind up until half way down the lines if I was going to add or not so some of our distance were a little wonky.  The judge called all six of us back for "test" consisting of a few questions.  As this was my first time being called back for a work off I was somewhat disappointed. She asked for three types of martingales and then told me my standing was on backwards.  Apparently the buckle on the neck strap is supposed to go on the left and mine was on the right.  I've had that martingale for 13yrs and have never once been told that.  Oh well.  She also asked what type of bit I had (broken snaffle pelham).  We placed third, which I was very happy with considering our ride was somewhat erratic. 

The second medal I did was a memorial class for the former H/J trainer at this facility who died of breast cancer.  They have 3 medals, a 2'3", a 2'6" hunter, and 2'9" jumper, and all the proceeds from the classes go to the Portland Providence Cancer Center.  Every year in September they have a finals where the winners from the 2'6" and the 2'9" compete against each other in a work off for a custom County saddle. I felt that our ride was better than our first but we still placed 3rd out of 6.  I'm just hoping that the 3rd will give us enough points to qualify for the final in September.  I've ridden in a County and loved it but didn't have $4700 to spend on one.

We had just enough time between my medals and my jumper classes to gulp down some water, learn my courses, and switch bridles back to the figure 8.  By this point in the day (close to 5pm) the grass was super slick and I was very glad to have my studs.  Two horses had fallen down and many others had slipped.  Our first round was a speed class and went well.  Because of the footing and heat I didn't make the turns super tight and didn't push Buddy as much as I could have.  Again we ended up 3rd.  My friend was holding all my ribbons for me and was awash in yellow/gold. 

Buddy lost his engine waiting for our second jumper round.  We had some ugly distances and pulled two rails but he tried his heart out.  There was never a thought of him stopping or refusing which I am eternally grateful for.  As much as I love and trust Phoenix, I know if I had gotten him to those distances he would have stopped on me.  Our last round was better, no super ugly distances, but he did slip going around a turn.  His hind end went out and I was flung forward onto his neck but he pulled him self together and we kept going.  We did pull a rail in the jump off and ended up getting 5th for both of the rounds.

We lost a ribbon somewhere along the way.

All in all, I'm very happy with how the show went.  Buddy held himself together even though it was miserably hot and the footing was questionable.  He tries his little heart out and I couldn't ask for more!

The Week in Review

Not much has happened since the show two weeks ago.  It's been raining and cold until today and I've lacked motivation to do too much.  Buddy's gotten some needed down time, with both Amy and I doing light hacks during the past week. 

I did have a lesson today and we worked on gymnastics.  We started by cantering some single fences, getting warmed up, then moved on to a canter in bounce.  Jen had us start with a conservative 9ft bounce but then moved it out.  We kept adding fences as we went so by the end we had four fences in a row, with a bounce in between each.

 They weren't high, maybe 2ft, but we were working on nailing the first fence then just supporting him down the line.  It was fairly easy to find a nice rhythm coming in, but I had trouble doing nothing as the line approached.  You would think that it would be so easy to sit there and let them go, but nope, hardest thing ever!  I screwed him up royally once, but slipped him the reins and legged him through it.  We only did about 45mins as it was hard for Bud to stay packaged through the line.  I think we are going to start making gymnastics a bigger part of our lessons, especially if we want to show in the jumpers and do combinations.

On Wednesday Jen and I set up a mini jump chute in the indoor for Zoe and Leo to work through.  We want to see how high each could do without a rider and how they handled the fences.  Surprisingly Leo was better about his pace and rhythm through the chute and did 3' without too much problem.


He was very proud of himself

Zoe was being very lazy and would canter up to the fence then loose steam about a stride away.  She'd pop over them from almost a stand still, but made it over every time.  She's adorable and way more huntery than Leo was.  I think we got her up to 3'3"ish.  I'm having dreams of making her my 3' hunter again.  I rode her today after Buddy since her two leases are both busy and couldn't get out for a couple days.  She was great.  The jumps had been reset from my lesson and were 2'-2'6".  She was game for everything and even got the correct strides in the line instead of the pony strides!  

Little Miss Diva only wanted to do it off the right, even though it was set to go off the left.

Like She Never Left

Zoe's eye looked fine yesterday; you  almost couldn't tell she had stitches. 

Still slightly swollen above the eye.  She gets another day of bute for that.

I lunged her a bit before getting on as it was really windy and I figured she'd be a little high after no work for 6 weeks. She felt great!  She was a little forward and didn't want to pay attention to me but settled to work once I made her.  I took her over a cross rail and it was like she had jumped it yesterday.  No problems!  I decided to be brave and took her over an 18" vertical with new, bright flowers in the flower box.  She did give it a little look, and jumped it big but there was no hesitation and she was good on the off side.  I quit with that since she was so good and she's out of shape.

We did just the vertical, not the oxer.

Today the two new girls on the college team came out and tried her.  Both loved her and rode her well, so I think they'll each half lease her and ride 2-3 days a week.  I know Zoe's owner will be happy about that.

 

Not to be out done, Buddy somehow scraped up his face in his stall.  I washed it off and put some ointment on it.  Amy flatted him today and said he felt fine so hopefully the shoes did the trick.  We are also trying to figure out what classes each of us will do in a show on the 18th.  Amy really wants to do the jumpers, but she hasn't been schooling him 2'6" which is the lowest jumper class they offer.  Right now she's entered in the 2' hunters and Jen told her if she can prove herself in lessons this week she'll let her switch.  I'm for sure going to do the 2'6" eq and mini medal and depending on what Amy does maybe a 2'6" jumper class.  Each of us will do 2 or 3 classes so poor pony won't be too exhausted by the end of the day.

 

Silly boy

Aren't Days Off Supposed to be Relaxing?!

Friday was my day off from work, and the plan was to have a relaxing day at the barn with a lesson and then going up to get Zoe.  I did go and get Zoe but neither the relaxing nor the lesson happened. 

I had done a light hack with Buddy Thursday afternoon and he felt fine but when I got on to warm up on Friday, he felt stiff and just so slightly off. I double checked his feet and no rocks so we continued with our warm up.  When Jen got there I had her watch us and she confirmed what I thought; that he wasn't quite right.

 It's been hot and dry here, which is great since we can get the horses out on pasture almost 6 weeks earlier than normal.  But the downside is that the ground/arena is harder and dryer than normal and it's making Buddy foot sore.  Normally he's barefoot Oct-June, and gets front shoes in the summer.  Unfortunately he got his feet done two weeks ago and our farrier lives in central Oregon, 3 hours away.  I called as soon as I got off, hoping Steve would be in our area within a week and as luck would have it he was 10 minutes away and had time to do Bud.  Jen had me get him drilled and tapped for studs this year, since we're jumping higher and plan to do a show or two on grass this summer.  Now Bud will get a couple days rest and we'll see how the new kicks work.

I was too lazy to clean out his hoof, but you get the idea

After Bud was done getting shod, I went up to get Zoe.  She nicked at me when I went to her paddock at her owner's house and jumped right in the trailer.  I felt her moving around a bunch as we were on the way back and thought that I probably should have given her a hay bag in the trailer.  Both Phoenix and Buddy haul great, with or without food or another horse and I forget that not all ponies are so good.  When we got back to the barn, Zoe had managed to untie herself and whacked her head in the trailer. She had a half inch cut right below her eye that was pretty deep.  Connie, Jen and I debated about calling the vet, but we worried about keeping it clean, so we did.  Our regular vet was over an hour away but his associate was 5 minutes down the road.  She said the cut wasn't as bad as it looked, and with a little happy drugs and 1 stitch Zoe should be good as new. I have some antibiotic ointment to put on it and Zoe will get some bute thru the weekend. 

After all the excitement yesterday I'm hoping the rest of the weekend goes a lot smoother!

Little Miss Zoe is coming back!

I'm more excited about her coming back than I thought I would be, but I've missed the little mare.  We've gotten a big influx of college girls (and 1 guy!) at the barn and are short horses. Jen, Connie and I were talking about how to make things work, and it was said that Zoe shouldn't have gone back to her owner's in Febuary. The lightbulb then went off and we talked about bringing her back to be a lesson/lease horse for the college kids.

I've know that her owner's husband has been really sick and I was sure Deb hasn't done anything with Zoe.  I emailed her this morning asking what her thoughts were, and she confired that Zoe's only been ridden twice sine Feb. But she's more than happy to have her come back and be used.  We're working out the details, but I'll probably go pick her up this weekend

Missed this bitchy little thing!

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Brrrr!

It's been freezing here for the past week.  Like the lows in the 20s and the highs in the 30s.  Over the weekend it didn't get above freezing either day.  Way to cold for me to ride!  I turned the ponies out in the indoor so they could at least move around a bit but couldn't convince myself to do much more. 

Monday I lunged both Bud and Zoe, and while Buddy was very good Zoe was very naughty. She took off bucking and spinning and ended up yanking the line out of my hand.  She ran around the arena then took of down the barn aisle before going into an empty stall.  Needless to say, she went back out and worked her little tail off!

Tonight one of the other girls had set up a couple cavalettis and I added a low wide oxer, about 2'3" by 3'.  Buddy was cranky during our flat work but once we started jumping he was great.  I think I'm going to have to work him a bit in the draw reins again to remind him that my left rein isn't evil.  He wants to brace and fight it no matter what.  I have a lesson with Jen next week so hopefully we can get some help. 

The first time over the oxer, I felt him really reach. He wasn't expecting how wide it was (compared to what we normally jump).  The next time thru he sat back on his haunches and powered over it.  Bud tends to have a flat jump; he's never been super scopey but our recent gymnastic work has gotten him to starting rounding over the fences more.  I had the oxer set up on a right to left diagonal (his harder way to get the flying change) and every time he landed on the left lead!  That's pretty rare for us.

Friday we are going to play with cows again and I'm hoping that it warms up so I won't freeze to death waiting for our turn.

Back to Work

I got back from San Diego on Saturday and went immediately to the barn.  To be fair it's on my way home and I only live 8mins from the barn.  I checked on all the ponies and gave all 3 treats.  Sunday I free lunged Zoe and planned to do a light hack with Bud. 

Jen was giving lessons and I rode around the other girls.  They were doing a a little course and she told me to join in.  We only worked on a couple fences, as I didn't want to interrupt the lessons and since Bud hadn't been ridden in a week.  We did a single diagonal fence, right to left, then a fairly snug rollback to a single on the outside going downhill.  I was holding Buddy a bit too much to the first fence, trying to keep him packed so we could make the turn and Jen got after me about it.  Once I let go and moved him up a bit it flowed much better and we were able to get a better turn. I think my biggest goal right now should be to stop picking at my horse and learn to ride the more forward pace.

Monday I was motivated after work so I rode both Zoe and Bud.  I haven't ridden Z in almost 3 wks, so I lunged her before getting on.  She was surprisingly good, both on the lunge and under saddle.  She had a couple little fits where she would put her head down and shake it while doing a mini crow hop, but after the first time I was prepared and it amused me more than annoyed.  We just worked on going forward and being straight at the canter and didn't do a whole lot since she's been out of work. 

I put the western saddle on Bud and channeled my inner reiner.  We worked on transitions and his stops.  There is something so fun about cantering down the long side as fast as you can and then sitting deep and saying whoa and having them stop.  Buddy doesn't have a sliding stop, but  he can stop pretty quick when he wants to.  We also did some lead changes and I rode most of the time with only one hand (a big step for me). 

Yesterday I gave Bud the day off and rode Zoe again, with the plan to pop her over a couple fences.  She warmed up well, and didn't have any tantrums.  I had just started going back and forth over a cross rail when I head a loud pop coming from the field behind the barn.  It's goose hunting season and there was someone shooting in the far field. I rode for another few minutes, but every time I heard a shot go off it freaked me out till I finally quit.  Zoe couldn't have cared less, but I had the willies.  The few jumps we did were good and I got a nice lead change out of her so at least we ended on a good note.

Don't text and drive

Ground drive, that is.  Corie has suggested ground driving both Zoe and Buddy to work on suppleness instead of lunging with side reins.  I took Bud out last night and let's just say I don't think he's ever been driven.  We walked around the arena like drunken sailors (which is somewhat normal for him). We mostly worked at the walk trying to stay straight and did lot of changes of directions.  I did work him in a circle both directions at the trot and he stayed soft in the bridle.

Tonight was Zoe's turn.  She obviously has been driven.  It was so much easier to get her to change directions and to steer.  She offered to both trot and canter on her own, so I worked her on a circle both ways and was even able to change directions thru the trot.  She worked really well being driven.  I was walking her around the arena to cool off and was answering a text when we passed the opening to the barn.  She darted to the right and took off down the aisle.  Luckily I stopped her, and no one was in the aisle.  We backed out and did a little more work to remind her that I'm in control.



Zoe says "It's dinner time, let me in!"

Naughty, naughty mare

On Tuesday Zoe bit me.  And not just a nip or something somewhat innocent, it was a deliberate strike.  I had be petting her, with her head hanging out of the stall door.  I turned away to answer a question another boarder asked and Zoe reached out and grabbed my shoulder.  I immediately turned back to smack her, but she moved to the back of her stall.  I had been planning on riding her, but I thought she needed immediate work so I grabbed my lunge line and took her out in the rain.  I worked her butt for a good half hour, until she was nice and tired.  Then I made her stand in a cooler in the cross ties while everyone else was fed their dinner. 

By that point my shoulder was starting to throb a bit, so I went in the tack room to take a look at it.  She managed to break the skin in a couple spots while biting thru a long sleeved t-shirt, sweatshirt, and vest. It was already starting to bruise and had swollen up.  Unfortunately I like to sleep on my side so I didn't get much sleep Tuesday night. Wednesday I was pretty sore, but made it into work where a couple of my coworkers turned green when they saw it.

Wednesday morning
 

It doesn't hurt anymore, unless I bang my arm into something.  The bruising on the top of my arm is already going away and all the swellings gone.  Today Zoe got her feet done, and after warning my farrier I put a stud chain on her.  She was very well behaved.  Buddy also got his feet done and I had his shoes pulled for the winter. I'm giving him today off to get used to being barefoot then will take him out for an easy hack tomorrow.

Switching it up

Yesterday I had Corie, another boarder at the barn, ride and jump Zoe.  Since I'm the only one whose ever jumped her I wanted to see her go and see how she does with someone else.  Corie's a really nice quiet rider who worked as an assistant trainer at one of the big hunter/jumper barns in Portland for a couple years.

I gave Corie a brief rundown on what I've been working on with Zoe, and left them alone to warm up.  After they warmed up, Corie and I talked about what Z still needs to work on; going forward at the canter and improving her bend and flexion. 

I set some fences up at 2'-2'3" and let Corie work on whatever she wanted to.  They did some single fences then went down the outside line and the bending line.  Corie let Zoe figure out most of and tried to stay out her way and it was great to watch!  Zoe looked so nice and steady.  I put a couple of the fences up to 2'6" and except for once when they got too deep Zoe jumped each one very nicely.  Corie really liked her, and said she thinks Zoe could go up to 3'!  I'm hoping Corie will be willing to ride her a couple more times.

Look at those knees!!

I love Zoe's expression!

Being a bad blogger

Not much has happened this week.  Had a couple ok rides on Bud.  I worked him in the draw reins again on Wednesday and he was better.  Still not great, and still resistant to the left but I was able to see some improvement. By the end of our ride I was able to drop the draw reins and he would carry himself at the trot nicely both directions. 

Tuesday I had my last field ride with Zoe.  There were some x-rails set out that we worked over, and I ended up giving Anna and Phoenix a little lesson.  I've been pleasantly surprised with how sound Phoenix has been and he looked great working out on the grass. 

Yesterday it started raining, so we brought all the ponies in for the winter.  Luckily I only had to do a half day at work, so I was able to make it out to the barn by 1 to bring them in.  Phoenix and Zoe were utterly offended at being out in the rain.  Both of the trotted up to the gate to come in and Zoe was nickering the whole time.  Buddy could have cared less and seemed offended that he was left in.  I put coolers on all of them for a couple hours and gave each a pile of hay.  We got a new load of timothy this week, and it's super rich.  I'm slowly starting to wean them on it so hopefully no one gets colicky! 

Once I had their coolers on, I realized that I have bought the boys matching black ones with blue trim.  Wasn't my intention and I'm slightly embarrassed. 

Buddy

Phoenix....he makes the 10x14 stall look tiny

Winning!

A couple weeks ago a won a contest on Facebook with ThinLine. I had submitted a photo of Bud and I jumping with our Trifecta half pad. We were picked for Ride of the Month, and won any saddle pad of our choice!  I of course picked the most expensive pad they had, the Sheepskin Comfort half pad.  I got it this weekend, and Zoe got to be the test pony. 



It's a little big but looks super fancy

 





It felt great!  I really like the look and feel of sheepskin, and the ThinLine material really helps to absorb the shock.  Yesterday we just did some flat work.  We did some leg yields and worked on her flying changes.  They are definetly getting better!  Today we jumped and she was great!  I used bigger spurs than I normally do because I could only find one of mine.  She was really in front of my leg and willing to move forward.  We schooled a couple 2'6" fences and she felt really good.  She even jumped one of them pretty big and jumped me out of the tack a bit!

On Saturday I jumped Bud.  We did a nice and easy flat warm-up and I tried not to pick fights with him.  We just cantered all the fences, trying to have a nice rhythm and flow.  Some of the fences were 2'9" and he jumped them with no problem!  We only schooled everything once or twice, and since he was being good I decided to quit while we were ahead.



What a good girl!

Zoe was great today!  We got a 1st, two 4ths, and a 5th. She had a nice rhythm, got almost all of her leads, and was complimented by many people too!  Yay mare!

When I got to the show this morning, I was the first one there so I wasn't sure where I needed to park.  I left Zoe in the trailer while I went to the office to ask.  When I came back, my trailer was rocking side to side and Zoe was throwing a major tantrum.  Apparently she doesn't like be hauled by herself.  Once I re-parked and unloaded her, I  notice a big scrape on her head.  I checked the inside of the trailer, but couldn't figure out what she hit her head on.  She mostly just scraped of the hair, but right under where the browband would go there was a tiny little cut that was oozing blood.  The barn owner's were nice enough to let me use their washrack and clean it up.

Don't believe that innocent face.  She can throw a mean tantrum.

Despite her knock to the head, she warmed up really well. We had about a half hour to school in the ring before the show started.  There were a lot of flowers, shrubs, and bushes by the fences that I made sure to let her look at.  She didn't seem to care at that time.  We didn't do a big warm up, just a little walk, trot, canter, and I popped her over a couple fences.

We had a couple hours to wait till my classes went, so I got off and we hung around watching and talking to Deb, her owner.  The barn owner came by to check how her cut was doing and said he had seen us warm up and said she was very cute and liked how chill she was waiting to go.  He was so nice!

I got on about 15 mins before my first round and took her for a couple times around their grass ring to warm her up again.  In our first round she looked hard at some new flowers that had been added to one of the jumps and cut way in to the right.  I could see that we would be getting a very awkward, off center distance so I circled her and came back to it.  The second time around I used a lot of right leg to keep her centered.  She still looked, but went over.

Our second round was much better; no looking or trying to fall in.  I did get her pretty deep to one fence and she ended up knocking it.  Our third round was perfect!  Nailed every lead, had a nice steady rhythm and got good distances to each fence.  Unfortunately she tired out for our fourth and final round and decided that trotting a couple fences would be easier than cantering.  I also had a brain fart and forgot to collect her to the first fence so about two strides out I realized it was going to be really short.  Oops! 

I am so pleased with how she did!  She felt really good and each of the little bobbles we had were minor and mostly rider error.  There was a pro photographer there, so hopefully we can have some nice pics in a couple days.  Since this was probably our last show of the season I'm glad we ended on a great note!

Not pictured the bag of treats we got for getting first.

It's a go!

I hadn't heard from Rick all day, so as soon as I got out to the barn I grabbed Zoe out of the pasture and saw that she had 2 shoes!  Yay! 

Seriously...the only thing I would change about this mare is her feet.



I tacked her up and we headed out to the sand arena to see how she felt.  The arena had been watered, and there was a couple little puddles left so I made her walk thru even though she tried her best to wiggle out of it.  We went back and forth a few times before she gave up and went through them nicely.  I picked up the trot and she felt fine.  We worked on transitions again and some spiraling in and out on circles.  She was little fussy, but not bad.  I'll take her out to the field tomorrow for a little jump session before the show.

Up in the Air

I'm supposed to take Zoe to a little hunter show on Saturday, so of course she pulled her shoe today.  I rode her Monday, just worked on transitions and going forward.  Someone had set up a couple sets of trot poles so we worked over those.  At first she was pretty confused about where to put her feet and kept trying to either jump them or canter over them. I channeled what we worked on in our lesson last week; keeping my hand up and having a nice steady rhythm.  She finally figured it out and after a couple nice times thru I let her quit.

There's a farrier who supposed to come out tomorrow (not my normal guy) and Rick's going to ask if he can put the shoe back on.  If he can, and she feels good we'll go on Saturday.

Wiggle Worm

I had a lesson on Zoe tonight, and she was a total wiggle worm.  I pulled her out right at dinner time and she was pacing back in forth in the cross ties while we were tacking up.  She was pretty forward in our warm up, and kept trying to pop her shoulders both directions.

We started jumping over a couple x's, working on me riding her from my leg/seat to my hands and keeping her straight.  Jen had me go deep and a really leg yield her off my left leg to try and straighten her out. Zoe wanted to go any direction except forward. It felt like anytime I touched her with my right leg she would just blow out my left aids and go sideways. We probably did that x a dozen time before we finally got it. 

After a walk break, we went back to the x but added a vertical 8 strides away.  The first time she was a little confused about going to the second fence, and we got an awkward half stride where she had to launch over the second fence.  The second time thru was better; I just have to remember to immediately pick her up on the landing side of the first fence and ride her forward to the second.  We did the line a couple times before moving on to another line. 

I had to ride her pretty forward to the first fence.  Again she was wiggly to the first fence and I had to keep my seat on her to help keep her straight. She jumped the first fence pretty big (for her) and I had to scramble to put her back together for the second fence.  We got a short 7 but the next time thru was much better and we got the correct 6 strides. Once I remember to package her and ride her forward she really starts to open up and feels much nicer.

We'll keep working on putting line together since that seems to be her weak spot.  I've decided to take her to a little hunter show next Saturday, probably our last for the season.  We'll do the 2' long stirrup again.  I was given a video camera that needs a new battery, so hopefully I'll get one before the show!

Easy week

All the ponies have had it easy this week.  Bud and Zoe got their feet done yesterday, and boy did they need it!  In the past week or so, Buddy's fee have exploded and I'm actually surprised he kept his shoes on.  Zoe weren't as bad, but when she gets long her feet look almost foundered.  I talked to my farrier about it and he said she has basically two clubbed feet up front.  As of yet they haven't caused her any problems, but I do wonder if in the long term they will.

I jumped Zoe today and she was great.  I switched her bit, from a plain loose ring snaffle to a D-ring french link.  She some times will shake her head and grab the bit  for a stride or two in the snaffle, so I wanted to see how she'd do with the french link.  So far so good!  She didn't try to grab it at all, and I seemed to have a little better control of her shoulders with it.  We worked on going forward to the jumps today and we added two 2'6" fences in.  She jumped everything well, moving forward when I asked so I called it good while we were ahead. 

Easy Week

The ponies have had a pretty easy week.  There's a 17yr old FFA girl from L.A. whose been coming out the the barn the past week to learn about horses and an actual farm.  She said there is only handful of FFA kids in L.A., and no real farms down there and she wants to learn as much as she can.  She's the niece of a friend of Jen's, so Jen has been bringing her out and giving her lessons on Buddy. 

Kylie's had a little bit of riding experience, but so far she's doing really well. She's got him cantering, but they still need to work a bit on steering.  Today she and I took Bud and Zoe out for a long trail ride thru the grass seed fields.  I haven't ridden Zoe since the show, but she was great on the trail.  At one point, we went past an old run down house and barn that's been taken over by blackberries and Buddy refused to go forward.  He's been past the house many times, but today I had to grab his reins and pony him off of Zoe till we got past it.  Then he was fine and went wherever Kylie wanted.  Silly boy!

We've also been repainting some of the jumps.  We've got some of the 4H girls to help, so it's been going pretty fast.  Kylie is a bit of an artists, so she's going to paint some flowers and vines on one of our plank jumps.  Hopefully she'll finish that tomorrow!

What we've done so far!  I really like the red and black standards.

Not our day

So before we even left for the show yesterday morning things started going wrong.  My truck overheated at 5am as I was hooking up the trailer.  It was in for an oil change 3wks ago, and I had driven it Thrus and Fri without any problems.  So after a frantic phone call to Jen, I woke up Rick and pleaded to use his truck. Understand that this truck is Rick's baby.  Connie doesn't even get to drive it that often.  I have driven it once before, but had never hauled with it.Rick's truck is 2009 1-ton dually....which compared to my half ton pickup is a whole lot bigger! 

Once we switched trucks and loaded up, we were only a half hour later getting started.  The drive up was nerve wracking since I was worried about wrecking the dually.  I must say, it's a dream to haul with.  So much smoother and powerful than my truck.

Never get between a man and his truck

Once we got to the show, things started ok.  I got on Zoe to school her first while Nik got on Buddy.  Both warmed up well, with only one spook from Zoe when one of the jump crew lifted a brush box above his head to move right as we walked past. We did a few circles in the now scary corner and she got over it. I hopped on Bud a did about 10mins of warm up with him, jumping a few things just to get a feel of how he'd do.  He was excited, but good. Nik's classes went first, and while they were small she did awesome!  She got a first in her walk trot class, and a first and second in her trot-a-pole.  Ended up walk trot champion! 

It was probably 10am when I went in with Zoe and it was close to 90*.  She was so tired and we couldn't seem to find a rhythm.  About half way thru the course she stalled out going past the gate and we couldn't come to a decision about a distance to the next fence.  She stopped and almost ran into the standard.  I was up on her neck, trying to get back in the tack when she went sideways trying to make it over.  I did a slow roll over her neck and landed in the dirt on my shoulder.  I'm fine, and got up right away.  Zoe looked at me and seemed like she was upset.  I told her it was my fault and we walked out.  In our next round, she really backed off that same fence, so I went to my crop and smacked her about 3 strides out.  After that she was much better.  Our last two rounds were ok; she was still pretty slow and tired.  We didn't place but I was happy with how we ended.

After a quick break to put Zoe away, grab a quick lunch consisting of beef jerky and a milkshake, and get Buddy ready, I went back to the ring.  By this point it was closer to 100* and I was pretty much done.  Feeling like puking is not how you want to go into the ring.  The first round with Buddy started with a short approach to a vertical on a short diagonal that Buddy knocked.  I don't think he realized we were jumping it to about a stride away.  He landed strong and we had a bending line to a single outside fence that was all brush boxes and flowers.  I couldn't see the distance and we ended up having a refusal but at least this time I stayed on!  We came back and got over it ok.  In the next round we had a stop there too.  I was just too tired and was getting psyched out.  Luckily in our last round, and eq class, we didn't have to jump the flowers.  It was decent round and somehow I ended up third.  I was just so happy to be done I didn't care.

So it wasn't our day, but at least we made it thru!  I am happy with how Zoe recovered.  Her owner came to watch and said she looks great, and wants me to keep showing her.  I know my problems with Bud were my fault, and as much as I want to beat myself up over it, it only hits 100* once or twice a year.  I think if it hadn't had been as hot, and if I hadn't spent the morning freaking out about the truck swap I would have been in a much better head space.  I am proud that I made it thru the day without crying or puking!

Good news!

I took Phoenix in to see Dr. Ben today, and after looking at his leg Ben agreed with me saying it could be fractured and that we needed x-rays.  Luckily Phoenix was cooperative and we didn't have to sedate him.  Ben took 3 views, and they showed nothing, no fractures or chips.  There is still some soft tissue swelling and Ben gave me Surpass cream to put on it once a day.  We also got the ok to do some walking under saddle and we'll see how he's doing after a week.

I had a lesson tonight on Zoe, and little mare was awesome!  We warmed up in the sand arena, them moved to the grass to jump.  They were harvesting the grass seed field directly behind the grass arena but Zoe didn't care at all.  After a couple warm up fences, Jen had us start working a little hunter course.  I really need to make sure to keep my inside leg on and push her out thru the turns.  She really likes to drop her inside shoulder. 

We ended by schooling a bending line, her first.  I had to really drive her to the first fence and ask for a lead change over it which didn't go so well.  We schooled the change a couple times but Zoe was getting tired and once we got it we quit.  We ended up doing the line on the wrong lead, but it was nicely balanced and we got a decent distance to the second fence.  What I love most about Zoe is even when she doesn't know exactly what I want, she tries so hard.  She also seemed pretty proud of herself too!