Falling Behind

Time to play catch up!

In the last few weeks, I have become comfortable at the canter, yay!  Eclipse and I are a great team, and we zoom around the arena and over the jumps.  Today we practiced an equitation test before jumping.  Everything felt great, so I think my balance and timing are getting to where they need to be.  I may compete in a local show in early October :)

In other news, I have started working with Bourbon. My initial impression of him was incorrect.  He's a sweet horse, but he doesn't trust new people immediately.  My first day with him was last Tuesday.  Basically I'm grooming him and doing ground work with him for now.  He has a large crack in his left front, and what looks like white line disease all the way around, and is very tender-footed on hard surfaces.  It will probably be months before he will be ridable.  In the meantime, I have time to really get to know him.  He's a very sensitive and reactive horse.  I've heard that he's a dream and a nightmare (wants to please/REACTS before thinking).  We're going on short walks down the road every day to see the sights.  I've also started some of the Parelli games with him - it can't hurt to improve his manners when we have a sea of no riding time in front of us.  His rain rot is nearly gone and I'm considering talking to his owner about buying a pair of boots and a hoof supplement for him.  

Bourbon face

And, finally, the hubs and I are attending a local distance riding clinic this weekend in Ocala.  We're leaving the kids with their grandparents and camping up there for the weekend.  Should be fun!

Third lesson this week

Yep, I'm going a little crazy this week.  And I'm blaming it on the hubby, who said that he wanted to watch me ride this weekend.  Of course, on our way to the lesson, he was called in so I set up another lesson for tomorrow.  I'm a glutton.

Yesterday's lesson was at 11:30.  I got to ride Eclipse again, this time getting him ready by myself while Marie was wrapping up the lesson before mine.  I even got to put stirrups on and I didn't put them on backwards (phew - it's been a while!).  Yesterday was about trying to keep him in a frame while we were traveling around the arena.  For anyone who doesn't know, keeping a horse going at a consistent speed and with the same headset can be tough. We worked on that without obstacles, then with poles, then with jumps.  I jumped my first triple, and Marie said we looked great.  It felt right, so maybe she wasn't just being nice.  We also worked on some cantering, no lunge line.  It was inconsistent and I think I've figured out what the problem is - after the lesson was over, of course.  I'm so focused on 'scooping' with my outside leg that I'm doing nothing with the inside leg. If I squeeze with the inside leg, move the outside leg back and 'scoop' I bet I'll get the canter more consistently. 

I've also been trying to figure out where my fear of speed on a horse came from.  It wasn't something that I had before I got Karma.  I've narrowed it down to one of the folks that I took a few lessons from.  This was right after I got Karma, and the first thing this woman wanted me to learn was how to sit her trot.  Karma was green and half Standardbred and I'm not sure there's a person anywhere who could sit that trot - it was HUGE and extremely fast.  This woman would insist that we use her western saddle which was too big for me, so I had no security. Anyways, in the round pen she would lunge Karma and I would attempt to keep some contact with the saddle - and it was a disaster every time. She even had me grab the saddle horn and try to pull myself into the saddle.  It just wasn't happening.  So, knowing that I had no control of myself at the trot made me terrified every time Karma even thought about a faster walk.  I took a few lessons from this lady but I wasn't getting anywhere, so I stopped.  It's crazy to think that someone who was supposed to be teaching me to ride would make me afraid of my own horse, but that's exactly what happened.  If you're taking lessons but don't seem to be progressing - it isn't you.  Find a new instructor.

Catching up

So it was only a training show, and I didn't compete, but it was still a lot of fun.  Marie told me a few weeks ago that there was a show coming up and I was ready, if I wanted to compete.  Unfortunately, with A/C repair bills and school shopping this month, I knew I wasn't going to have the funds available.  I asked if she would mind if I tag along anyway and she said I was more than welcome.  So on Saturday at 7 am, I filled the truck up and headed out to Plant City.  The show was held on a beautiful little horse farm.  When I got there, the two girls riding Eclipse were tacking him up and making him pretty, so I sat and watched while chatting with Marie's mom.  Eclipse was being ridden by a very young girl in dressage and a college student over cross-rails.  When he went into the dressage ring, he stretched out right in front of the judges and peed.  The judge was fine with them re-entering the ring and starting over, but it basically removed M from the judging - she was heartbroken. Luckily, the judge didn't disqualify them and M ended up with a ribbon anyway. 

Around 1:30, it was time to start warming Eclipse up for the jumping.  When K took him to the warm-up jump, he refused.  I looked at Marie's mom and asked if she'd ever seen him refuse before.  Nope - odd.  When I turned back they were approaching the jump again - and he refused again!  Holy crap, what is going on?!  K got him over the jump a few times and then it was her turn in the ring.  Eclipse was ok over the first two fences, then he ducked around the third.  He refused the same fence four times, so Marie went into the ring and helped K get through the course.  It turns out that Eclipse is fine with you dropping all contact over fences at home - but he will not jump anywhere else unless the rider lifts his head and keeps contact through the jump. So, K was pretty disappointed.  I don't blame her, but I doubt this will happen again now that Marie has his number. 

Monday's lesson:  Was all about my leg.  Marie really wanted me to get it right, and keep it there.  It was so much more difficult than I thought.  My left leg is worse than my right, so I've been stretching it, but not enough.  And the leaning HAS GOT TO STOP.  It doesn't help that it feels like I'm vertical when I'm actually leaning forward.  Ugh.  After that, we did a few laps riding around the arena in two-point.  Then Marie wanted to try the canter again.  She said I'm past ready for it, if we can get over my nervousness.  This time, I was to stay in two-point throughout the canter - and I did so much better.  I didn't feel off-balance even a bit.  It was fantastic.  So, Marie said that I'll learn to two-point the canter, then sit - opposite from everyone else on the planet.  Hey, I never claimed to be normal.

Wednesday's lesson:  We started out with the usual, walking for a lap or two, then starting the rising trot.  We wove, did circles, trotted poles. Then Marie taught me how to collect and extend the trot.  We would collect on the short sides, and see how extended I could get the trot to be by the time we got to the end of the long side.  After a while, we did a few different jump courses, with me trying to keep the canter after the double - poor Eclipse didn't realize that I was actually serious about cantering this time, lol.  In his defense, I have a very hard time collecting myself after the first jump and it probably feels like I've completely abandoned all semblance of riding.  He would take a few strides in canter, then pop back down to a fast trot.  We'll get it.  Then we walked over to a large field and Marie had me trot two laps around it.  She wanted me to start getting used to moving at speed in the open while watching the footing for my horse.  Hopefully this is in preparation for a lease with Eclipse.  When we were done, out of curiosity, I asked Marie what level I'm riding at.  She said that as soon as I get comfortable with the canter, I'll be intermediate.  Excellent. 

On to more distancy-riding talk.  There is a club called the South Eastern Distance Riders Association (SEDRA) that is holding a clinic at the end of next month.  It's an Introduction to Competitive Distance Riding clinic.  The hubby and I will be attending. The kids will be staying with the grandparents, and we will be camping out.  Through their website, I found out that there's a lady in the next town that is willing to mentor the newbies in the area.  We will be meeting up at the clinic. A whole weekend of horses - it's going to be heaven.

In the meantime, I'm torturing myself looking at horse ads on dreamhorse.com and other websites.  It turns out that Doll is a kicker, so that's a no-go. I'm also considering having a trainer evaluate Bourbon to tell me if he's actually ok for me to ride.  We'll see.

Insert clever title here

This last week has been so incredibly busy, with trying to get the kids ready for school (started yesterday) and with my Statistics class (kicking my butt!), that I haven't had time to do anything horse-related until yesterday.   I had a lesson scheduled for 10:30, but Marie called me when I was pulling in - the arena was a sloppy mess.  We didn't want to risk it, so we chatted for a bit.  Marie will start teaching at a local college later this week and when that starts, she'll have less time for lessons.  This is going to help her out a lot - right now, when it rains, she basically gets no income for the day.  In Florida, it rains nearly every day during the summer.  I asked if she would need to drop any of her students after her job starts and she said she might have to let a few go that will likely have scheduling issues, but basically she just won't be able to take on any more than she has right now. Then she said she will probably have a hard time keeping her horses ridden so we might be able to work out a half-lease with Eclipse!   I have a total horse-crush on Eclipse.  Considering that my ultimate goal is endurance, I asked how he is on the trails and she said he's great - I figured he would be, he's just that kind of horse. 

Then we started talking about the schooling show this Saturday in Plant City.  I know I'm being ridiculous - I'm not even entered - but I am excited to be included in this little venture.  The plan is to meet Marie up there and help out/hang out/learn something during the day.  She has 5 or 6 students going, should be a fun-filled day.  She also mentioned that if I wear my breeches, I may be able to ride Eclipse in between classes - she's totally spoiling me. 

In the end, we bathed Bounce and Marie lunged Charmont (her big flea-bitten grey gelding) and we agreed to try for 10 o'clock this morning. 

Miss Dixie in her stall begging for treats.

It was a perfect morning for riding.  A little breeze, enough fluffy clouds to block the sun a bit and the humidity was lower than usual.  I got to ride Eclipse (yay!).  After our warm-up, we began the lesson with me trying to back Eclipse around a bend made with poles.  Let's just say that when he hit the poles, Eclipse was convinced that he could not do anymore backing in that spot.  So, we went in the open and worked on it.  It was tougher than I thought - I wasn't giving clear signals I guess.  I was leaning back but not enough and Eclipse has a tough mouth (he is a lesson horse after all) and I had to pull much harder than I liked.  All this and giving a cue to move over with my leg - and he was definitely rusty assuming he has ever had to do this before.  After we got some nice backs with turns, we went onto more fun stuff.  Today was mostly focusing on controlling my position and using better/more consistent leg aids while keeping the horse trotting through tight turns.  Phew, it was a little tough.  Marie set up some barrels to ride between, then put three poles splaying out from one of the barrels.  I was supposed to trot between the barrels, then curve and trot the poles and back through the barrels.  Slowing Eclipse down while still trotting and watching where we were going (not where we are!) and not leaning, whew.  It was ugly at first, but we got the hang of it.  Then Marie set up some jumps.  Jumping is ridiculously fun when you're riding a good horse.  Posting trot around the arena, two-point over the jumps, and do the barrels again when we came to them. 

Barrel obstacle on the far left

 

On our first round, we did barrels first, circling right around the arena.  On the first jump, I didn't lean forward enough on my two-point - and when Eclipse's butt went up over the jump, the saddle hit me in the butt and almost threw me over his right shoulder.  A year ago, this would have scared me, but not today.  I pressed on and we completed the course.  We did several rounds, and on the last round, Eclipse broke into a canter after the last jump.  No worries, just sit and ask for a trot.  Wow - I have only cantered a few times but again, no fear even with an unexpected canter.  I may be getting slightly comfortable with my mad riding skillz.  Well, at least while riding a fairly predictable and ridiculously calm horse in an arena.  I'll probably never be one of those people that loves to ride the fire-breathing dragon horses, but that's ok with me. 

 

So, onto the plans.  There is supposed to be a network of trails across the street (south) from the stables - but it appears to be very overgrown.  If I lease Eclipse, we will be exploring this area for sure.  To the west of the stables is a golf course/private housing development thing.  They appear to have a nice network of golf cart trails but supposedly do not allow horses.  To the east is a fairly busy road of which there are parts with no shoulders, just ditches.  Google maps show some trails or possibly dirt roads to the north, that we should be able to get to if I take this road.  Hmm, I may have to scout all this out via vehicles and feet. 



Today's Lesson

But first, more from last Saturday.  Saturday afternoon, after studying for hours and hours (statistics, ugh!!!) I decided to text Marie and see if she was at the stables.  She didn't answer but I figured she was in the middle of a lesson and I went down there anyway.  When I arrived, I saw Eclipse being ridden around the ring - I was right, I thought with satisfaction.  Parked the car and got out and didn't see Marie in her usual spot on the gazebo by the arena.  She wasn't in the arena either.  Odd, but her truck was there so I asked the stable owner, who was watching the girl and Eclipse zoom around.  He tells me that Marie's in Pennsylvania all weekend.  Hmm, guess the barn owner and Marie have something worked out, so I feel dumb because she's not there and leave :)

But, I'm not going home without horse time so I head over to see Bourbon.  He's out in the pasture with his buddies, and of course he's standing as far away from the gate as possible. When I got close, he stopped grazing and starting walking towards me - then he seemed to recognize me and turn away!  Great.  I wasn't going to chase him so I walked toward his shoulder and he let me catch him. Half way through the pasture, he let's out his 'where are my friends' whinny - that's right, we were still in the pasture.  Bourbon, I promise I'm not a horse thief.  I decided to groom him real quick before anything else, so we walked over to his stall.  C has one of those Aussie tie-rings, so I put the lead rope through and turned around to get the brush bucket.  That's when Bourbon decided to not only pull back but to rear up while doing it. The rest of the grooming was uneventful and we walked to the round pen.  He had clearly been desensitized to a rope and stick, so we worked on walk/trot and changing direction.  He has never really been taught to stay out of someone's space - actually, I guess you could just generalize and say that he's never been taught to give to pressure.  His butt kept getting closer and closer when he was going around.  He didn't feel the need to get out of my space when I asked, while lunging or leading.  When he was going nicely, I put him back out. 

When I got back in the car, I asked C if he's ever pulled back or reared up before.  Not in a long time, she said.  Another hmm.  Pretty sure I asked if he had any quirks or bad habits.  How long's a long time? 

So, I've been contemplating.  Bourbon is (slightly) disrespectful when you're barely asking anything of him - what happens when you turn up the pressure?  I thought on it until this morning.

My lesson was scheduled at 10. I rode Dixie again, and she was wonderful.  After warming up, we did a schooling level dressage test, then an equitation test.  I was doing alright until Marie asked me to trot around without stirrups, first sitting then posting.  I was sliding all over the place on the turns, and would have to point my toes down and grab with my calf.  It was messy.  Marie said I was looking alright, but I fessed up.  It's something we're going to have to work on for sure.  Then she said I could have my stirrups back and gave me a course to cover, in two-point.  For anyone who doesn't know, riding in two-point really works those back muscles.  I think I did the course twice. The first was very sloppy, the second was better because I had a better leg position.  After the course, Marie sent me off at a trot when poor Dixie just quit.  No amount of squeezing was getting her back into a trot - really, my legs were screaming by the time Marie asked me to walk her to the gate for a drink.  Marie rinsed her legs and belly with water and we tried again, but it was just too hot and humid and Dixie was too pooped to go on.  We got her un-tacked and walked her into the barn for a cool bath.  So, I told Marie about coming out on Saturday and found out that she had never given Jim (stable owner) permission to let anyone ride her horses while she was gone.  To say she was livid is an understatement. She asked if I was sure a few times and now I wished that I'd looked closer on Saturday, but I didn't. That being said, Eclipse is pretty easy to spot because he's got a golden-brown color to his coat instead of the usual red-brown.  At this point, I'm hoping I was mistaken and the barn owner is not a raging d-bag. 

And I asked her about her opinion of Bourbon. She doesn't think it's a good idea, basically the same reasons I was thinking.  Bourbon needs a full training tune-up, not just attention.  And I'm definitely not comfortable riding with a twisted wire snaffle.  I realize they have their place, but I've never used one and would be afraid I'd unintentionally hurt him.  So, she suggested I wait until she's able to contact Doll's owner (the little QH mare).  She enjoys attention, and I really liked her.  Crossing fingers. 

Bourbon

Thursday, my hubby called me up and told me that one of the ladies he works with would love to have me help out with her horse.  When I spoke with her, I realized that actually what she wants is someone to get her horse ready to ride again.  I asked her lots of questions about his behavior and went out to meet him today.

Bourbon is a 5-year-old Quarter horse that hasn't been regularly ridden in a few months.  For personal reasons, he hasn't been ridden by his owner in two years.  The backstory: C had a good friend that had once been a rodeo queen.  That woman decided that she wanted to get a young horse to train in reining and cutting for her daughter - and C should get one so that the lady could train one for her.  Six months later, that lady sold her horse and C had to remove Bourbon from her property.  She was now completely on her own with a yearling. 

That being said, she seems to have done a pretty good job with him.  He was sent off for training as a 2.5 year old and had been long-lined before that point.  He bucked her off once when throwing a fit due to buddy-sourness.  He seems to have ok ground manners but she said he's very spooky, especially with plastic bags and tarps.  She said he's very athletic with a killer spin - sounds like fun. 

After introducing myself, we took him to the round pen.  I free-lunged him and he was ok until asked to change directions.  He tried to blow past me, and when I said you WILL turn, he pinned his ears and cut to the inside.  He didn't threaten to run me down, but he knew he wasn't supposed to cut into my space.  He did this several times and when I got a nice change of direction, I asked him to stop.  He stopped and when I took a few steps back, he decided to keep walking, lol.  So, we did it all again.  After a few times, he stopped and looked at me when asked.  Then, I went and got the horse-eating plastic bag from the car.  I wanted to see how bad he spooked, since C seemed to be worried about that the most.  I shook it around him and he was definitely worried but didn't respond explosively.  I ended up sticking it in my back pocket and walking over to talk to C again.  A few minutes later, I had a very large and very curious equine trying to sniff my butt.  So, there is hope for the plastic bag.  C told me that at one time they'd tied plastic bags to the saddle in an effort to desensitize him - he ran himself for 30 minutes, so it may take a good while to cure his phobia.

He was disrespectful one other time.  I wanted to pick up his left front foot in order to check out a crack.  When I approached, he walked off.  So, I came at his shoulder again, very non-threatening, and he turned his butt to me.  I went to grab the dressage whip and approached again, non-threatening, at the shoulder, slow, no staring and this time he stopped and let me pick up his foot.  He held it up for me while I tried to dig the sand out and look at the crack. It doesn't appear to go through the hoof wall but I will have to research what can be done for that. 

We went to turn him back out in the pasture and C went to show me where the tack was.  She explained that she hasn't cleaned or oiled anything in a while so I told her I'd take her bridle and at least get that oiled.  When I got to the car, I realized that the bit is a thin, twisted wire snaffle.  Yikes.  I'm going to have to find out why she's using such a severe bit.  I have a thick snaffle here that belongs to Judy (oops).  I may have to ask her if she can find my D-ring at the barn in CA.

In short, I have a horse to play with when I'm not studying, or cleaning, or cooking, or being a mom, or at my riding lessons.  I'm not sure where this will go, but I'm willing to try.  I may even be able to help C get back in the saddle again.

A good day

My father has been my kid-sitter when I go riding.  Last night when I called him up to ask him to watch the kids today, he asked if he could come along.  Hell yeah, I said.  My dad basically grew up on the back of a horse.  He and his father went out and rode everyday tending (someone else's) cattle.  They also participated in local shows.  My dad has tons of horse (and cow and grandfather) stories and I used to love to hear them. 

So, today, I picked up my dad at 12:30 to head out to the stables.  I got the kids set up on the gazebo with the iPad and my laptop, and we went to meet Marie.  We bathed her sorrel gelding - she wasn't kidding, he has some serious nastiness going on. 

Poor guy.  He has spots up his neck, face, ears, and flanks too, but his chest is the worst.  He has rubbed his mane and half of his tail out.  We washed Bounce (love his name) with a medicated shampoo. 

I'z so pitifulz. I can haz more treatz?

 

We squeegeed him off and walked him around until he dried, then Marie put some medicine on all of his boo-boos.  Poor Bounce is California-bred, and lived in Arizona most of his life...and he seems to be allergic to Florida.  With treatment, he's getting better- hopefully enough to stay with Marie here in FL.  When he was done, he got put back in his stall - which he hated.  He's used to being out on pasture, but Marie's hoping that keeping him out of the rain will help his skin. 

 

Then it was stand around and wait for the vet time.  So, we scritched horses and swept the barn isle.  Marie had an older lady show up that wanted to talk lessons (she had talked to her earlier in the day, but the lady had said that it was too long of a drive...then she drove) for her grand-daughters.  We met the owner of the stables.  And I met an adorable QH (I believe) mare.  She was standing in her stall with her muzzle in the grain bucket - waiting for dinner.  So, I started rubbing and scratching.  She wanted her ears rubbed, so we did a lot of that.  Then Marie walked over and said since she's been at Schalamar Creek (1.5 years) the owner of this horse had not come to the stables once.  She lives 4 days a week in her stall, 3 days on pasture and has her feet trimmed a few times a year - that's it.  There could be a number of reasons for this situation but it made me sad for this mare.  There are horses that don't really care for people but this little mare enjoyed the attention. So...I did something a bit foolish.  I asked Marie to try to get in touch with the owner to ask if I could groom and work with the horse - as long as she's sound and sane.  We'll see if anything comes of it. 

 

And...we're still waiting for the vet to show up to do Confetti's teeth (love his name too!).  So, Marie asks me if I want to take Eclipse for a spin.  I told her I didn't have my helmet because I wasn't planning on riding - so she let me borrow one of hers.  Yay! 

 

Eclipse was a total mud-ball today - there were even chunks stuck in his mane.  It took me quite a while to get him groomed.  Finally, we were ready.  I haven't ridden Eclipse in a couple of weeks (have ridden Dixie the last two lessons), so I was excited - I just really like this horse.  The stirrups were a bit too short, but it was hot, so I dealt with it.  My dad took a couple of pictures with my phone from across the arena, so forgive the blurriness.

 

Not too shabby. 

 

Leaning?  Check *sigh*

 

 

And finally, the cheese shot.

 



 

 

I kept it short - it was incredibly hot and there was no shade in the arena.  Besides that, Charmont was flipping his lid that his bestie was missing.  He was actually doing sliding stops up to the fence.  Eclipse couldn't have cared less.  I stopped and got everyone a zebra cone on the way home - the kids were fabulous.  They even admitted that riding looked like fun, and K wanted to pet Eclipse's nose afterwards.  Yep, it was a good day.