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!
The tales of an adult ammy hunter/jumper rider and her ponies
Monday, January 13, 2014
Saturday, January 11, 2014
Blog Hop: Show Me Your Barn
I've been at my barn for 7yrs now, and I can't imagine being anywhere else!
View of the Barn:
I don't have a pic of the front part of the barn. We have three parts of the barn, the old barn (original barn on the property built 40+ years ago and added onto), the upper aisle (3 10x20 stalls, 6 10x12 stalls, tack room, wash rack, hay and grain storage) and the lower aisle ( 10 10x14 stalls, groom stall, two tack rooms, grain storage, leather shop, and apartment). The indoor arena separates the upper and lower aisle, with the old barn being off the west side of the indoor. The outdoor arena is on the east side of the barn.
Horses Living Space:
My ponies live in the lower aisle now, but before 2010 Phoenix lived on the upper aisle. All the lower aisle stalls have custom made v-shaped gates, except for Buddy. His gate rusted off the hinge and had to be replaced with a regular gate. All the horses have boxes in front of their stall provide by my BOs. I usually keep grooming supplies, treats, and wraps in mine.
In the summer all of the horses get turned out 24/7 on pasture. Most are out in groups of 2-3, but we have a couple larger fields that can have 4-5.
View of the Tack Room:
View of Where We Ride:
My Favorite Features:
I do think my favorite thing about the barn is my barn owners. They are family to me, and without them I wouldn't have Buddy or McKenna or be able to afford three horses.
View of the Barn:
I don't have a pic of the front part of the barn. We have three parts of the barn, the old barn (original barn on the property built 40+ years ago and added onto), the upper aisle (3 10x20 stalls, 6 10x12 stalls, tack room, wash rack, hay and grain storage) and the lower aisle ( 10 10x14 stalls, groom stall, two tack rooms, grain storage, leather shop, and apartment). The indoor arena separates the upper and lower aisle, with the old barn being off the west side of the indoor. The outdoor arena is on the east side of the barn.
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| Looking towards the barn from the fields. The lower aisle is closest to us, and the old barn is the shorter part on the left. |
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| The lower aisle was added to the barn in 2010. This was mid construction. Sliding door opens into the indoor. |
My ponies live in the lower aisle now, but before 2010 Phoenix lived on the upper aisle. All the lower aisle stalls have custom made v-shaped gates, except for Buddy. His gate rusted off the hinge and had to be replaced with a regular gate. All the horses have boxes in front of their stall provide by my BOs. I usually keep grooming supplies, treats, and wraps in mine.
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| Buddy and Phoenix are next to each other, McKenna is a few stalls down. |
View of the Tack Room:
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| The lower aisle tack room. Mostly the English riders. The second tack room on the lower side is for the BOs and the upper aisle tack room is for the western riders. My western saddle does live in the lower tack room. My trunk is the big wooded one in the corner. |
View of Where We Ride:
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| The outdoor from the parking lot |
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| McKenna in the indoor, looking towards the upper aisle |
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| Summer grass field! |
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| Being able to gallop up the hill on the grass! |
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| The fact that the ponies can be ponies and live outside in groups for at least part of the year. |
Friday, January 10, 2014
Mini Me
The more I work with McKenna, the more I'm convinced she's going to turn into Phoenix's mini me. She's chill and relaxed (minus the baby brain moments), wants to please, has similar conformation and movement. They are both built up hill, have big shoulders and relatively short backs. For her height McKenna has a slightly longer back the Phoenix. She's about 15.2 hands now and wears a 75 blanket while Phoenix is 17 hands and wears a 78.
As much as I love Buddy and am so thankful for everything he's taught me, he will never be Phoenix. The old man was/is my dream horse; light, forward, big strided, able to turn on a dime, with one of the best canters I've ever ridden. McKenna has the light and forward down, and while we're still in the legs-flailing-everywhere stage of canter work I can tell it's going to be very similar to Phoenix's. They both tend to have a more up and down stride than super long/forward but I hope that once McKenna relaxes and finds her balance she'll get a little longer stride.
My friend Corie got on McKenna last night at the end of our ride, the first time someone else has gotten on her since I've had her. I of course forgot to take pics/video. It was good to see her go and see how some of the stunts she pulls look like from the ground. She was very well behaved for Corie, they just walk trotted, but did a couple head flips where she pop up her front end and then tried to pretend she can't steer. Corie rode her well and said that she loves her and thinks she's going to be an awesome horse. While Corie's never ridden Phoenix she agreed with me that they are very similar in their way of going. I really, really hope McKenna turns out like the old man; it will be like having a piece of him back.
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| I think this is my favorite pic of Phoenix. My former friend holding him as I walked a course in 2009. |
As much as I love Buddy and am so thankful for everything he's taught me, he will never be Phoenix. The old man was/is my dream horse; light, forward, big strided, able to turn on a dime, with one of the best canters I've ever ridden. McKenna has the light and forward down, and while we're still in the legs-flailing-everywhere stage of canter work I can tell it's going to be very similar to Phoenix's. They both tend to have a more up and down stride than super long/forward but I hope that once McKenna relaxes and finds her balance she'll get a little longer stride.
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| M and P in turnout together. She tried to kick him. |
My friend Corie got on McKenna last night at the end of our ride, the first time someone else has gotten on her since I've had her. I of course forgot to take pics/video. It was good to see her go and see how some of the stunts she pulls look like from the ground. She was very well behaved for Corie, they just walk trotted, but did a couple head flips where she pop up her front end and then tried to pretend she can't steer. Corie rode her well and said that she loves her and thinks she's going to be an awesome horse. While Corie's never ridden Phoenix she agreed with me that they are very similar in their way of going. I really, really hope McKenna turns out like the old man; it will be like having a piece of him back.
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
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.
McKenna:
Work her (lunge or ride) at least 5 days/week.
Phoenix (the only one with early goals):
Keep him as sound as possible and to continue to pack Anna around.
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.
- 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.
- I know the balanced canter part will take longer than 3 months, but we got to start somewhere
Phoenix (the only one with early goals):
Keep him as sound as possible and to continue to pack Anna around.
Sunday, January 5, 2014
Mental Game
The weather for the past few weeks has been great for this time of year in Oregon. Usually by the time I get off work and do chores its starting to get dark. We have some lights along our outdoor, and I don't worry about working Buddy as it gets dark, but I've been doing McKenna inside. She's too ADD and I don't trust her enough to work her outside in the dark.
I got out to the barn midday on Saturday and it was bright and sunny, if a bit cold. Two other people were working inside so I made the decision to ride McKenna outside. I put her on the lunge to let her blow off steam and to let her take a look at the sheep that are now in the field across the street. She ran, bucked, jumped, spun, ran more, snorted, reared, and ran some more. I let her be an idiot till she started dropping her head and paying attention to me. We walked around the ring in hand to let her see everything and catch her breath before I got on.
She was still pretty keyed up and pretty tense under saddle. We worked at the walk trying to get her relaxed, doing lots of circles, bending, and baby leg yields. My friend came out with her mare, spooking McKenna and we started our relation work all over again. Some of the sheep moved closer to us and McKenna decided to become a statue and wouldn't move towards them. Luckily my friend's mare didn't care and walked along side of us to show McKenna the sheep aren't scary. We went back to circles and loops at that end of the arena till she relaxed again.
I got out to the barn midday on Saturday and it was bright and sunny, if a bit cold. Two other people were working inside so I made the decision to ride McKenna outside. I put her on the lunge to let her blow off steam and to let her take a look at the sheep that are now in the field across the street. She ran, bucked, jumped, spun, ran more, snorted, reared, and ran some more. I let her be an idiot till she started dropping her head and paying attention to me. We walked around the ring in hand to let her see everything and catch her breath before I got on.
She was still pretty keyed up and pretty tense under saddle. We worked at the walk trying to get her relaxed, doing lots of circles, bending, and baby leg yields. My friend came out with her mare, spooking McKenna and we started our relation work all over again. Some of the sheep moved closer to us and McKenna decided to become a statue and wouldn't move towards them. Luckily my friend's mare didn't care and walked along side of us to show McKenna the sheep aren't scary. We went back to circles and loops at that end of the arena till she relaxed again.
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| Poor tired baby after our ride |
We had been working almost 30 minutes at the walk at this point. I decided that getting a nice, relaxed, soft walk out of McKenna was all I wanted. Once she gave that to me for one lap around the arena each direction I called it a day. I figured we had won a huge mental battle, considering what a maniac she was when we started. I'd rather her get a positive experience in the outdoor arena then try to work and set her off. With babies the mental wins are just as important as the physical ones.
Saturday, January 4, 2014
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.
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.
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| What is with my eq??!! |
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.
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
2013 Goals
Our goals for 2013 were as follows:
Keep showing at 2'6", preferably in the jumpers and eq, and hopefully move up to the 2'9".
Keep showing at 2'6", preferably in the jumpers and eq, and hopefully move up to the 2'9".
- Partial success. We did the 2'6" all year, in the jumpers and eq but didn't make the move to 2'9". We schooled 2'9" (and I jumped Tia 3'3"), but we haven't done that for a few months. I also found out that even though we only did 2 shows in the jumpers, we ended up 8th place for the year in the OHJA .75m beginning jumper regional division against horses that competed at both schooling and A shows. Unfortunately OHJA only gives year end ribbons to 6th...grrr!
- I was hoping to qualify for the OHJA Mini Medal finals, but we only got 8 out the needed 10 points. But we did qualify and compete at the Lake Oswego Hunt Nancy Wild Medal Finals!! And even with a major rider brain fart we came home with a 4th on the flat and a 6th over fences.
- Total fail
- Feb 1: Ranch sorting
May 10: Mini XC school at Inavale
July 21: Trail and river ride in the mountains
July 27: Cutting horse clinic - Win!
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