Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Lesson with Misty

Misty came out to check up on us and just give us some help in general. When she pulled up, I was leading Sam out the aisle to the cross ties. He spotted a (gasp!) horse-eating feed bag out by the tables and made faces at it, but must have smelled the left over grain becuase it didn't take long to get over his worry. Of course, Sammie being who he is, he picked the bag up in his teeth and shook it around at the horse in the stall nearest us, who about had an aneurysm. Silly pony.

After we tacked up and got to the arena, Misty hopped on him to warm him up and see how he was doing. Last time she was out, maybe three weeks ago, he was bulging out around the corners and lugging on the bit- pretty much being a booger in general. Today he was much better. She walked, trotted, and cantered him both directions and showed me how to keep him light in the bridle. He has a nasty habit of leaning into the bit-probably just his race training resurfacing, but annoying nonetheless. He felt so good today. Now I have a meter to judge our work by.

Misty also helped me with my seat. I ride in half seat just out of habit and get really tense when I'm focusing on something, which somehow makes my leg slide back. It's not pretty to watch, nor is it especially functional, so she told me to push my legs forward, like I was trying to get a chair seat. I'm not, of course, but becuase my legs are back so often, it will balance me out. She does actually recommend having my legs pretty forward when we jump and when he gets strong, which makes sense, I guess, becuase that means I won't fall over if he refuses a fence or stops suddenly. man, I am so glad to get her help- heaven knows I need it!

After that, I went to the round pen to work without stirrups. I was really tense and bouncy at the trot, which only annoyed Sammie and frustrated me, so we kept it to a walk today. Either way, it was good practice and made for a nice cool down. One of the girls I ride with was cooling her horse down too, so we went for a short trail ride and were done for the day.

We made a lot of progress today overall. Hooray!

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

I got new boots!

Just thought you should know. Devon-Aires, too.

Groundwork, groundwork, and more groundwork.

The boy was an absolute booger today when I tried to longe him. Ear pinning, kicking out, you name it. So needless to say, I can't let that sort of thing slide. A pop on the butt for each kick and an upward transition for each dirty look put him right in a few minutes, but after that display, I really wasn't in the mood to ride.

I brought out my dressage whip and worked on some shoulder in voltes, a la Sustainable Dressage (http://www.sustainabledressage.com/rollkur/shoulder-in_volte.php), simply becuase it's a good exercise and it gets him to loosen up a little. Then we worked on turns on the forehand and yielding the hindquarters. We got pretty good at those-he'll turn if I point the whip at the top of his rump. (I tried to pick a place that wouldn't really interfere with riding.) We tried to work on turns on the haunches, but he wasn't quite as good with those. Eventually I got a few decent turns out of him, gave him a cookie, and turned him out in the grassy round pen while I got a snack and talked with one of the other boarders.

We did ride some today. The bulk of it was flatwork and working on my overall position, but we did do some low crossrails at the end. He has such a cute jump on him and he really stretches over even the little jumps...oh, and we cantered!!!! No freak outs today, hallelujah! I can't wait until the two of us are ready to do some bigger fences, but before any of that happens, I need get back into lessons and have the vet confirm that his knees are closed. I'm so paranoid about that...which is why we stick to little bitty stuff. He's almost five, but still, rather safe than sorry.

Anyways, overall today went very well despite its not so hot start.

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Not to steal FHOTD's thunder, but....

I was trolling around the internet and I sumbled upon these lovely classifieds. The ones from Craigslist are, well, let's just say I didn't know there was such a thing as an Ouater Horse.

http://daytona.craigslist.org/grd/970345604.html

And then we have this. I highly doubt two twin, backyard bred paint horses are worth eight grand, but at least the seller knows how to spell.

http://ocala.craigslist.org/grd/968675454.html

Here's the last one. The sidereins make me cringe.

http://horsetopia.horse-for-sale.org/classifieds/ad349277

Free longeing clip

Here's a clip of him free longeing. Sorry for the low qualtiy- it's hard to longe and hold a camera at the same time. You can see he kind of hollows out sometimes. Meh. I'm debating whether I should start working him in side reins or maybe a chambon. Misty used to ride him in draw reins,but I don't really feel comfortable using those. Anyways, as you can see, he has a big trot.

Friday, December 26, 2008

Pictures!

Here are some pictures from Christmas Eve when I turned him out in the round pen. He was feeling really frisky and just kind of frolicked around on his own. He didn't look "ouchy", so I think I might ride later today. My dad took the last picture.

Making faces at the camera.
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He's on the wrong lead here, but since he was just playing, it's no big deal. He was on his not-so-hot side anyways.
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Here's a cruddy picture of his trot. Not sure why his ears are back.
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Glamor shot!That thing over in the corner is his halter, by the way.
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Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Sammie's pedicure

So I had the farrier out today to check out Sammie's hooves. Hoo boy, what an experience. Whoever shod him last time was either completely uneducated or trying to ruin him. Sam had two mismatched aluminum racing shoes (I can't believe I didn't notice:( ), there was an eight degree difference in the angle of his heels, and he had the beginnings of abscesses in his right front under the shoe. The old farrier had also taken a chunk out of his hoof wall and didn't put on the clinch things right, or even file them. No wonder the boy was sore. He must have felt like he was wearing a sneaker on one foot and high heels on the other.

Luckily, the farrier we use is excellent, and fixed Sammie up in no time. He will be a little awkward for a few days because of the new angles, but otherwise he should be much more comfortable. When we brought him home a few weeks ago, he looked like he toed out in front. Amazing what a new trim can do, huh? He's nice and square now. We hadn't had him reshod since we brought him home because we haven't had him that long, but I'm really glad he went lame when he did. I'm probably not going to be able to get out to the barn over the next few days, so by the time I do, he should be healed up. I longed him at the trot for one lap just to see how he was moving, and he actually looked better than he did yesterday. Then again, his muscles will probably have to adjust, so who knows. Either way, I'm glad we got him shoed when we did.

Monday, December 22, 2008

Mystery lameness

I rode for probably an hour and a half today, pre-clinic, until the resident trainer at the stable pointed out Sammie was gimpy. In my defense, it was only a slight bob at the trot that occurred every few strides. Like, he'd be fine for five or six trot strides and then he'd limp a just slightly. It took her a while to notice it , and we weren't entirely sure about it until we trotted him in hand a few times.

So what on earth could be causing it? It's minor, almost unnoticeable, but it's there. I pick out his hooves, he doesn't have thrush, and he doesn't have any injuries from the track. His right front heel is a little low, but he was off in his left. So weird. Needless to say, we are calling the farrier tomorrow to check him out. He's due for a new pair of shoes anyways. If that doesn't resolve it, hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to the vet we go.

God. I feel really guilty for riding him today. We did walk-trot, and I considered cantering, but we were schooling with nine other riders. He did do really well with his transitions- we extended and collected (well, collected as much as a pair of greenies can) in both gaits and he came right back to me from a huge extended trot. I, on the other hand, need more work. I'll have to post pictures of his working trot. It's friggin huge. Like warmblood size. I can't sit it for crap, needless to say, which probably has loads to do with our cantering issues. I mean, if you think about it, an unbalanced rider makes for an unbalanced horse, so I think I will hold off until I can really keep my butt in the saddle. I shortened my stirrups from flatwork length to my usual jumping length too. My trainer noticed me reaching for my stirrups occasionally and decided we should sacrifice the pretty dressage leg in favor of a more stable jumping leg while we work on our sitting trot. I guess it makes sense, but I feel like a jockey lol.

Anyways, that's really all I have to add,

Liz

Sunday, December 21, 2008

The Grand Bolt

So tomorrow Sammie and I are riding in a clinic/camp thing. He gets a wee bit excited (read: takes off) at the canter when we ride with other horses in the ring. This, needless to say, is quite a dilemma.

I guess I should go ahead and tell you about our various mishaps. Usually I can nail him before it gets too bad, but last week I wasn't quite so lucky. Most of the ride we were working on transitions and little bitty fences. (Like 18" max. I don't want my boy to need hock injections at six!)

He was listening well for the most part, so I decided to ask for the canter. It's always been a rough patch just because he's a greenie, but I didn't expect any major disasters. We got maybe four strides of nice, balanced canter and then it went to the dogs. He fought me into a flat-out gallop and ignored my aids, so I grabbed mane, sat deep, and did my best reining impersonation. It was almost pleasant until we hit a cavaletti. We flew over that four inch pole like it was a four foot oxer. It must have slowed him down because I was able to bring him back to me. I can tell you what, there are few things more comforting in that sort of situation than the feeling of your horse shifting down a gear. His flat, unbalanced canter had never been so welcome. We did a circle and then went down to a walk while we caught our breath. Did I mention the equine photographer was out? Oh, yes, and he had gotten quite an eyeful.

The barn manager, Karen, and her daughter, Brittany walked over to the arena fence looking guiltily amused. Brittany, a very experienced teenage rider, offered to hop on him for a second. Brittany mounted up, trotted around, and asked for a canter. Sammie threw the biggest rodeo-style buck I have ever seen-his hind legs were nearly straight up in the air. He NEVER does that. EVER...and the photographer got several pictures of it. I'll have to post them. Brittany kept him moving and brought him into the middle. She turned him in a tight circle and pop, pop, popped his little butt with my dressage whip until he decided to behave. Needless to say, he didn't pull anything for the rest of the day.

Sammie's tried running off with me once after that, but I turned him into a tight circle and made him work. I don't know if he'll pull it again, but if he does, I really don't want it to be at the clinic. I'm not nervous about the bolts themselves- my seat is good and I can usually ride them out or just flat out prevent them-I'm more worried about further public embarassment.

I thought I'd share that with you just for the heck of it. I'll try to get a vid tomorrow and will definitely tell you guys how it goes.

Liz

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Drumroll, please.

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Who could that charming young horse be? His name is Sammie, my new event partner in training. Even though he is off the track, you'd never know it. He had two starts, but as soon as he was out the gate, he would drag his jockey to the outside of the pack and just canter along merrily, or so the story goes. Needless to say, his racing career was short lived.

His previous owner, Misty (You'll probably hear a lot about her. She's great.), picked him up at an auction in Kentucky and ponied problem horses off the track with him for a while. She brought him back to Florida about two years ago and retrained him as a saddle horse. I picked him up in November, and here we are.

We are both pretty green. I know, I know...Green on green gets black and blue. I have been riding for three years now, but mostly just hacking around on my chubby cow of a Paint mare, who I sold in August. Anyways. Sammie is fearless and disturbingly intelligent. We are still adjusting to each other, which makes for some interesting situations, but there is no rush. I'm planning on focusing on dressage until he turns five in April, just to improve communication.

Here's a picture of his cute lil' jump. He wasn't jumped often, just because of his age, but you can see he's a natural. (That's one of Misty's pictures.)

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Well, that's all I have to say for now.

Liz