Today's ride highlights

Latest confo shot

Update

Took Bunny to her first AQHA show last month. Here are some photos:

Patti and Tara fixing my sad, sad braid job.


Warming up.


And then one of our flat classes.
I am so proud of her. She is coming along beautifully. We took a second in our 2'3 hack class and a fifth in our under saddle class, so I was thrilled hahah.

Yesterday, we went to a Rocking Horse 3-Phase just to get our feet wet, and to try to boost her confidence. A few weeks ago, she took a fence funny and scared the tar out of herself (and dumped me on my head.) I have it on video- I think my fall was kind of hilarious, but she was understandably freaked out. A few strides out, I had seen a long spot coming so I asked her to move up a bit. Didn't have enough step to fix it, so I asked for the long spot and, unfortunately, jumped ahead a bit. She took a really weird chip and I guess I must have thrown her off balance because she stopped halfway over (I think she hit the pole?), I ended up on her neck, and she ran backwards because, of course, having someone on your neck is weird.



So she was a little worried. I took a couple of weeks off of jumping outside of lessons and just worked on flatting. Anyways, the 3-Phase. I just took her to school and take her somewhere new. The first few warmup fences were a little sketchy- she was rushing and just generally having a hard time. After a few times through, with me just grabbing mane and staying off her back, she relaxed and we had a really nice schooling session. It was so nice to have all that room- I got some lovely shoulder in down the fence line and actually had enough space to work on lengthening her stride! Hahaha. Rode her all over the property- seriously, all over. Didn't have a single bobble or spook, and when Maddie's horse took an hour to load, she just sat quietly in the trailer and munched hay. (Our trailer is an, er, interesting setup so she had to be loaded first.)

Anyways, here is some horribly outdated lesson footage from October. Our little ring, between the gross footing and teenyness, is difficult to school any jumping in, so I do believe we were just working on fitting 3 and 4 strides down the vertical line and not throwing myself over crossrails because Xs happen to be my arch nemesis and I just can't seem to time myself.

Wow

So I have been busy out of my mind. Everything is coming together all at once, and it is kind of overwhelming. I am volunteering at an equine-assisted therapy place as an exercise rider, working a dressage queen's pony, and working off lessons from Patti. Patti has put me on the fast track for the ECQHA shows almost faster than I have had time to adjust. Which I love! Oh, and I am 4H president. Yeah... hahaha.

Anyways, in terms of training, Patti has hooked me up. I cannot believe how generous she is. I would probably jump off a cliff for this woman. She has me with a very good showmanship competitor, who is showing me the ropes. Let's just say it took me twenty minutes just to kind of master the "presenting the horse to the judge" step thing. It is not my first calling, but I am going to give it a whirl and see if we can't look respectable for November.

Bunny isn't immune, either. She is being tortured for all of fifteen minutes a day on the various maneuvers. We can set up pretty well. I consider that a huge success.

I feel like this is all some sort of cosmic alignment going on here. The dressage queen wants to take me to watch her lessons with Susanne Benne and maybe let me groom for her shows, Patti is going to whip me into shape, and then today I was given two show coats- nice ones!- because they were too big for Maddie. Whattheheck, universe?

I mean, it's just funny. Patti is working out a schedule and everything. I wish I had my camera so I could show you how everything is going along. It is crazy, hahaha. I mean, I guess this is normal involved- competitor routine, but I haven't ever competed that seriously so it is all rather foreign.

Whatever, it is awesome. It is seriously like everything got dumped in my lap right when I needed it.

Doings.

Patti helped me the other day, and my leg is magically beautiful and my canter seat is stock-still. Although our newest assignment is more gymnastics. Bunny and I have horrible timing, and that is the best way to fix it, I s'pose. I'm fine with that.

Last night, my crash test dummy, aka Maddie, took her out to the field to school over the fences. Both did beautifully, although now I know what to look for- she gets strong during lines more than before or after them, and she absolutely does love jumping. Her little ears are pricked so forward they might snap off. We just have to put that enthusiasm to good use.


In other news, I am working at Whispering Meadows Ranch, an equine therapy facility. I am so excited- I get three horses to exercise, one of whom is an ex hunter and has the most athletic trot I have ever sat on.

The worst timing.

So I have been in class and am only able to ride four times a week or so. Don't usually go out Mondays, but I had to give Maddie a ride to her lesson so I figured I'd check mare over.

And I pulled her out of the field.

And she her eye was swollen. Excellent.

There was a small fleck on her cornea, and Karen said to rinse it with saline and see if it went away. It didn't. Actually, it looked almost like a convex blob... great.

So it's a corneal abrasion, or an abscess, or something lovely like that. The vet was on an emergency call and could not make it tonight, so she will be out first thing in the morning. I am sweating blood. We put some triple antibiotic ointment on it after rinsing it in saline, and then gave her bute and put her in her flymask... ugh. Why do horses pick the most inopportune times to hurt themselves??

As for me, I am gonna be at the barn at six thirty tomorrow morning to check on her before school. My brothers are gonna hate me.

Oh, the drama.

Trainer wars, two engagements, and uproar over the resident wild child buying a four year old. This week has been a bit exciting. Hopefully, said wild child will calm. down. now that she has baby, but I'm not putting any money on it.

Worked some gymnastics the other day.



Look how eager she is. That's the look of eagles right there.



Warming up. Her trot just keeps coming along. Sadly, our canter has, yet again, degenerated into a train wreck. So much for that.

The gymnastic in question. Looks fazed, doesn't she?



Little vertical. Weird spot, again, so ultra chicken wings.



Leaning over her right shoulder. Man, I always do that, and I'm not sure why. *Sigh.*



And that's it for our super-awesome schooling. I'm taking off one stirrup at a time for a little while. Like, one day remove the left, one day remove the right, in hopes of fixing my knee-grippage.

Well.

Today wasn't epic failure, thank goodness. We set up the teeeny tiiiny gymnastic line to see how she'd do. I jump so infrequently because I'm paranoid about her joints, so we have developed the dreaded "OMG JUMPING!" syndrome. *sigh* But at any rate, she settled in to her hum-de-dum self. I was very surprised at how well she took the gymnastics. It was just crossrail-1-vertical-1-teeny oxer, so it wasn't huge and terrifying, but still. It was my first time through a gymnastic since, what, March? and that was on Berks, so I was a tad nervous. As usual, she packed me through it like a champ.

As for me, well, my brothers had the camera, so I can't be too sure, but I felt pretty good. I just have have have to think to push my leg forward in the air and fold down instead of out. I never used to have this problem, but we had a few fences where I felt really spot-on and good. I think it's a matter of consistency.

I guess what I need to do is just start incorporating two or three little fences into our riding every day, that way it isn't a super-awesome-fun big deal.

Anyways, we finished off with a good gallop. She looves to gallop, the little booger, but then again, what horse doesn't? We have a quarter mile grassy stretch that is absolutely perfect, and I can usually tell a difference the next day because her back feels looser. I imagine the gallop is just so nice and extended that it gives them a good stretch or something.

At any rate, there is the summary of today's doings.

I love my horse.

I know, what an original sentiment! The dear pony was so tolerant of my rustiness today. And man, was it bad. It's amazing what a ten-day hiatus can do to your riding. Not to mention pathetic. My lower legs were nasty, to the point that I just dropped my stirrups and then eventually took off the saddle altogether.

And of course, Bunny was perfect, aside from a spook-snort-spin at a horse in a sheet. She really is terrified of horses in sheets. It's hilarious. We got over it once she realized it was just Sis, a mare in her herd. Still, it was a near-death experience.

No, I am just glad she is tolerant. It's days like these that I don't feel worthy of riding, when I feel like a mushy mess and she takes care of me when she has every right to dump me on my butt. We rode with Paige for a bit. She's switched to Bridget Imparato, and it's amazing how her riding has improved. As soon as my unemployed arse finds a job, I will probably alternate between her, Patti, and maybe Sandra Vaughn. She took Chagall, the horse who would refuse a crossrail and gave the barn trainer a concussion, over a 2'9 course without blinking. It's impressive.

Anyways, I ramble, and have almost nothing interesting to say. The Silver Sands photographer still hasn't uploaded the BTB photos, so whatever. Maybe tomorrow will be better.

Back from hiatus

Came back from North Carolina today- we left in the oh-so-civilized pre-dawn hours and got home at two. I booked it out to the barn to greet the poneh.

She was being obnoxious when I got her out of the field, so I put her in the round pen for a few minutes and longed her, just to see what I had to work with. She looked perfectly sound and was exuberant enough to throw some snorts and happy bucks.

And then I took her out to hose her.

And her hock was huge.

And I just about had a panic attack while I dialed the barn manager.

Her right hind leg, from gaskin to midway down her cannon, was ballooned up, and at the large hock joint, she had a scrape.

I have learned not to ignore small injuries. (Oh thanks, Berky ;)) My paranoid mommy senses were in overdrive, thinking "SEPTIC SEPTIC SEPTIC AAAAAAAGHHHH!" Karen didn't pick up, so I called the vet and left a message with the answering service, grabbed a bandage and a thin gel ice pack, and wrapped her up. Took temperatures, poked, prodded, and hosed until the vet called back.

Texted Dr. Merrick photos, and, of course, she said she probably just smacked it. (Sure enough, the swelling moved around her leg. Just the fluids settling from gravity.) Give her bute, ice it, and then wrap it with SSD, and she'd be fine.

Two hours later, it was half its previous size.

Gotta love false alarms.

Oh, the pain.

So I gave up and decided to tie my stirrups to the girth, and tied they shall stay. Yes, it is kind of cheating, but hopefully a few weeks schooling with them like that will create muscle memory or something. I opted for a few loops of yarn, that way I have to at least be aware of where my leg is, or else they will break. *Sigh* back to kindergarten :)

At any rate, I definitely felt some pain. I am so used to gripping with my upper thigh that this was NOT pleasant. At any rate, hopefully I'll see some improvement when coupled with the daily no-stirrups.



Now I just need to cram a crop behind my elbows and I'll be set! :P I have have HAVE to remember to open up my shoulders. My whole upper body collapses in on itself, and it's just bad.



Here I am jumping up her neck! Yay!! Ugh. But I figured I'd take a baseline now and compare it down the road. Actually, I wanted to *jump-jump* a little today to work on my position, hence the rolled out groundlines. As you can see, she TOTALLY took it seriously.



Again with the collapsed shoulders. Oh, well. It will all come with time, patience, and possibly duct tape, I figure.

I PROMISE I will have pictures eventually.

That said, gave the baby yesterday off for being such a good girl, and had her have a massage with Pat. Went back to business as usual today.

Set up two canter poles down the long side, spaced two strides apart. My evil(!) plan here is to teach her that obstacles are a heads-up kind of thing. Started by walking her over the pole and halting her with two feet on either side. If she walked too far forward, we backed up until our front feet were on one side and our back feet were on the other. Then she got wither scritchies and walked to the second pole. Wash, rinse, repeat.

After a few reps, started trotting them. First time, same halt-over-pole deal. Second time, we trotted through, third time, halted, trotted second pole, and halted. Basically variations on either rein, but using the pole as an external half-halt.

Progressed to canter. And of course, we had the looope. Since we had an extra gear to fiddle with, (lope and canter-canter), we started by halting square over the pole, doing a walk- lope, and then loping through the second. The next time through, we cantered through both poles. Walk break, wither scritchies, and then we worked on extending and compressing our strides.

We actually fit four lope strides between the canter poles, which kind of scares me a little. We attempted taking it as a one-stride a couple times as well, which was not particularly comfortable. Two for working canter and three for looope seemed to be the magic number. Of course, we had variations to continue in the pole-as-a-heads-up tangent, but you get the idea. Hopefully, our courses will be smoother if we work on this a little bit.

No plans for jumping this week, unless hell freezes over or we are magically awesome and whisked to some fanceh show.Totally random, but Friday is my birthday, and we are either going to Princess Place (not what you think it is) or farting around an informal local hunter pace, trailer registration permitting. Gotta love being a horse person. You know it's sad when tins of SWAT and the prospect of strenuous activity in formal clothes make you giddy.

Show, part deux

I ended up sleeping through my alarm, which made things a little interesting. Ended up forgoing braiding because I would miss my first class if I attempted.

Our first class wasn't so hot, just because our warm up lasted all of two seconds. We didn't have any major issues- she was speedy in the canter, which was enough to knock us out of placings. Much of it was my fault, since I'm sure I was collapsing my upper body.

Second class (Modified Hunter U/S) was much better, but very large. She behaved herself even when we got boxed in against the rail.

Lastly, Working HUS was awesome. Huge class, yet again, but we nailed everything and finished third. I'm so proud of my little mare. Photos to come eventually.

The rest of the girls did pretty well- our barn finished third overall, not that any of us were paying too much attention to the points board. We lost to Brass Head and Will o' Wisp, just like every year, hahaha.

Show, part one.

Heat index of 111 here in the Sunshine State! Woohoo! Hahahaha.

Anyways, last night's schooling was AWESOME. We had all our changes and made it over the skeery fences with our dignity intact, had the lovely slow canter. Figured I'd fill you in on that first off.

Turnout was lighter than last year- usually they have to set up temporary stalls, and even then there isn't enough room. Maybe it was just to hot? I don't know.

At any rate, we reserved in our Green Horse division, pinning first in our under saddle class. What a good baby :) Tomorrow we have a slew of flat classes- no jumping. I'm sooo tired of jumping, hahaha. It has never been my strong point.

So I also need to come out extra early to braid. I was skimping and banded her mane, but I mean, what else do I have going on? I may as well have her looking presentable. She has been so well behaved- I really can't get over it.

Mass confusion and widespread panic

Bunny does not care for buzzing objects with sharp metallic teeth droning around her ears. I learned that today. Now, she'll tolerate having her bridle path done, and her muzzle. She'll even sit still while I rub the (turned off) clippers all over her ears. But as soon as those babies come on, she hits the ceiling. Joyous. I refuse to twitch her over this- I'd rather do it the long way and have a few ear fuzzies than a traumatized horse. So la-di-da, another object on our list.

In other news, well, I guess some things just take a little time to sink in, for both of us. She turned off a dime today. We were regular OUTSIDE REIN MACHINES! Even in the canter. What was *not* so much fun was when Troy the Lawn Flunkie turned the new sprinklers on by mistake and I had to cling to a bolting baby who was certain we were in the middle of the apocalypse, what with the water and the spraying and the tch-tch-tch noises and.... things. Awesome.

Also. My equitation. Dear GOD, my equitation! (The lament heard to the heavens.) Hrrrrrrrg, I don't know what to do. I don't. I can ride around without stirrups for-ev-er and look great (thanks Denna), but as soon as I pick them up I just fall apart. It's ridiculous. Shouldn't it be the other way around?? And it's especially great when Allanah is shooting me disapproving glances the whole time. (Not maliciously, I imagine. More like, dear sweet God.)
Yay for trainer rivalry.

So I need to:
-Fix my lower back
-Relax my ankles
-Turn my knee out a little
-Figure out where the angle gremlins have taken my elbows
-Lift my chest.

Whoo. Better get cracking, huh? Again, the show is peachy. I'm not worried about it. I'm worried about my long-term riding abilities and developing my horse. Hrm, boot camp for me.

The inevitable lesson DOOOOOOM

Or maybe not doom. That just makes it sound more dramatic.

Sooo we have our latest evaluation: poneh and I are having technical difficulties with our turns. We are introducing her (or maybe just teaching her my way- I'm sure she already knows) to the lovely turn off outside aids concept. Part of it is entirely my fault- I tend to open my rein rather than taking it straight back, which just confuses everything. I think that will help us soo much with our courses.

Also, because pony thinks she's hot stuff (hahaha), and I curl up into the fetal position and pray for the best, we are working transitions in between fences and halting/backing up/etc. so I'll SIT UP FOR CHRISSAKES, ELIZABETH. Hrrgh, it's the blasted lower back of mine- yoga, my friends. Must.man.up. and go to yoga. I honestly have no idea that it *wiggles* as much as it does. THE WIGGLE. It's like a disease, I tell you. *Le sigh.* But I did finally master the lifting-the-chest thing, which will help. I just have to *feel* it, and then I can replicate it in the future. I'm glad I have a Nazi trainer. It makes life so much easier.

Man, this is all so stream-of-consciousness.

Anyways, hmm. She's a smart little booger, as I have said. When I was trying to do a circle on the outside aids only, she kept swapping leads. She's nice and smooth, I will give her that, but uh, I think she was confused. Maybe a little ouchy somewhere too- she's been worked hard lately. Gonna give her a hardcore massage-liniment-clip-sparkle spa day tomorrow after I ride. I'd like to just let her be a pony, but since I have the show looming in my face and I went for a hack the other day, I should probably school some flatwork- just stretchy stuff and turning, I think.

Six months from now, we'll be rockin' the AQHA circuit (if I can get a job to pay for this endeavor.) Just gotta keep telling myself that.

Ok, so here's our new list:

-Fix my retarded position, from locked ankles to pinching knees to crooked seat to THE WIGGLE to hunchy two point. Whoo, one thing at a time, and lots of bareback and no-stirrups in our future. I imagine once I'm balanced, she'll be much better.

Thank GOD I have nice hands- they're my pride, hahaha.

-Start more hardcore outside rein work. (That sounds painful.) I just mean inside leg/outside rein to save our poor little outside shoulder.

-Make our work interesting. She could care less about little crossrails and the low verticals that make up most of our fence work. But guess what? She's only four. So that's as high as we're getting (nyah-nyah-nyah-nyah :)) until her back is closed. In the meantime, once we're balanced, we're gonna do broken-lines and rollbacks over groundpoles and practice leads and do canter-halt-canter transitions and whatever else it takes to get us ready for big stuff.


As for the show, we're going to stick with our Green classes and our two foot. I'm with Patti on this- she said she doesn't care if we trot a fence or two in the long stirrup class- it's not about the ribbon, it's about learning. She also said we should enter one flat class from every division, right up to the big scary fancy hunters, just to get used to the environment and the competition. I like this idea. I can flip my number up if I need to. BTB isn't rated- it's where everyone locally, from the AQHA to RMI to PSJ to the lower-level HITS stuff comes to cool off and have a good time for a cheap trophy. Just have fun and try to learn, I figure :)

Impulsion vs. Tension

Hrm, not sure where I'm going with this but just wanted to point out that there is a difference between a horse carrying itself with impulsion and a horse who is carrying itself with tension. I guess I was just thinking about this because Bunny was having some patented snot moments where she just wanted to drop her shoulder and run toward the fence, and then she had some nice moments when she relaxed and swung out. Her speed stayed the same, but her stride changed.

Anyways.

All I can think of is transitions transitions and more transitions. If we don't go in the field tomorrow, we'll either school outside or on the dirt road so we can focus on rhythm without too much turning. I have been reading reading reading, and as I suspected, everything comes from wet saddle blankets and downward transitions. Now I just have to get it so she will come back to me without throwing her head around. I use such a light contact (usually), but when she runs through my hands she has consequences, namely a firmer contact on one rein ;) Of course, being the little horse that she is, she anticipates it when she runs through my hands, so she throws her head AND runs. I can and do ride her almost entirely off my seat in our flatwork, but man, the little snot anticipates EVERYTHING, and usually bracing and resistance is involved.

So, of course, we do the exact opposite. I guess until she settles down and realizes that we do things on my terms, it will just be something we work around. In the meantime, she is definitely coming along. It's just irritating, I guess.

See, this is my competition at BTB. Not expecting to place above her, but I at least want to be noticed (and not because my horse is flying around like a maniac, hahaha.)



Now how the heck do you compete with that?? I guess, again, it comes down to impulsion and developing suspension in the trot, and control in the canter. The horse in the video is the same age as Bunny, but I have no idea what background it has. Especially cause my pony's only been under saddle for a year, max, according to Yet. So I think we're doing pretty well- Bunny is a lovely flat mover, but we're still dragging our toes in the dirt.

Anyways.

This is our canter on our bad side. Note the driving seat going on here. I have to pushpushpush her in her rhythm, hahaha. In the second trip down the long side, you can see my more passive seat. I am carrying a whole bunch of tension in my arms- I need to fix that, because even my passive seat is pump-y.





And this is our trotwork. Now that she's carrying her head well, I need to let go and quit trying to funnel her down. Remind me, because I forget how stiff wide hands make me.



And this is our hallelujah trot. This makes me feel like we have hope, hahahaha. And man, for a tubby barely-15.2 baby, she looks tall and skinneh. Wut.

Battle of the Barns.

The anticipation is KILLING me here. KILLING me. So we have nine days left before the three-day show madness. Whew.

Here's my list of things to do:
-Braid her mane down so it will lay flat for the show, versus her signature mohawk.
-Buy a new pair of show breeches.
-Make the trailer sparkly clean since Jax is gonna ride with us.
-Finish tailoring my jacket, because it has been laying across my sewing table with the sleeves half-attached waiting for me for two weeks.

Riding wise:
-Perfect our walk to canter transitions. We can get them, and they are SO much better as a whole, but BTB has some serious competition.

-Fix our flying changes. Yes, we can do them; no, they aren't always pretty. I just have to remember to keep my shoulders square, otherwise we'll botch it EVERY time. Her cadence is lovely, and she doesn't flop around at all when she does them. Yet and Kate did a great job training her :)It's more me than the horse.

-Run through a "scary" course a few times. With our limited jumping, I want to be SURE we won't have any mishaps.

On another note, Patti wants us to start in Green Horse 18" and then do the HUS and *maybe* Open Hunter if all goes well. I feel pretty good, given we jumped four 2'6 fences in our largely 2'-2'3 course yesterday. That's as high as we plan on going until she's five, and we won't be doing that again any time soon. She has such a bouncy jump over the "big" stuff- she REALLY uses herself. Our first few times over the 2'6 ers were interesting. I have been tortured enough that I don't hit her in the mouth or lose my leg, but my upper body got... creative... hahaha. We'd get a long spot coming in, which, go figure, messed up the distances for the whole line and resulted in chippy awesomeness. The long spots are easy to deal with- it's the chips that get me, because she snaps her back so hard and jumps over her knees. (See last jumping photos, hahahaha.)

But it all comes with the territory. She loves jumping, and usually I roll my eyes at statements like this, but I really think she enjoys it. It has to be more interesting than drilling flatwork. Trail work is her favorite, without a doubt, but this probably takes second.

Oh yeah, I was saying something. Uhm.

Duh, leads.

I have some freaky lead anxiety. Maybe just because Berky was always a PITA to get to swap and it always killed our classes. I think tomorrow I'm going to take her out to the XC/big jump field, set everything to poles, and just work patterns and getting our swaps consistently in a more open area. Our little arena has room for about ten strides before you hit a corner, and it makes turning slightly ADHD four year olds difficult.

I mean, it's ridiculous. A fixed wrong lead is better than a chip, so I *should* be freaking out about chips. But I mean, chips last a split second. A bad lead takes at least three seconds of sheer terror and angst to fix, and then by that time you're all worked up and YOU DROP YOUR INSIDE SHOULDER AND HOLY CRAP YOU GOT THE WRONG LEAD AGAIN AND OH NO THAT WAS OUR LINE WE JUST WENT PAST. (Story of my Berky-showing career, hahahaha.)

So really, again, it's all for my comfort rather than her inability. Come on, we got our leads yesterday even when the big fences made her a little looky, so we should be just fine. Whew, hahaha.

Man, I miss my big boy so much. I know I should just get over it, but man. Battle of the Barns was my first show with him, and I can't help but associate it with him. Hrrgh, I wish he was still here :/

Very nice ride today. Sacrificed my equitation today in the name of getting her attention, and while it wasn't pretty, it was functional. For example, she's sneaky- we'll be riding down the long side closest to the mare pasture, and I'll see her ear slooowly rotate toward the field.. and next second, her nose tilts just a fraction of an inch outwards... and the little booger is ogling them out the corner of her eye. If I'm not paying attention, I can lose her focus so quickly, and without even noticing because, again, she's subtly naughty. (Or just normal ADD baby.)

We had a lovely square halt, despite the fact I was adjusting my reins.


Keeping her occupied with the cavaletti. (Holy hock action, Batman!)


I feel like a raptor when I canter. Although my seat is 10000x better. You just can't tell because I'm standing in my stirrups, hahaha. Really, even though she's all kinds of strung out, I'm glad that she isn't fighting my hand. (Or lack thereof.) That's really why I'm posting this.


Left lead is better too. You can definitely tell this is the side she's overdeveloped on.



Extending that trot. Man, we were all but floating. (Yep, definitely a training ride. Lack of elbows, hahahaa.) This trot is made of blood, sweat, and tears, my friend. Blood, sweat, and tears.



Lastly, long and low canter on the buckle. Whew.



So the name of the game today was transitions. Transitions transitions transitions.

She KNOWS her walk to canter depart. Knows it BAM. But, she was blowing me off in an ugly way. I'd sit back and cue and she'd just run into it. So unfortunately, it was crop time. I hate getting aggressive, but it only took one good crack behind my leg before she started behaving herself.

Anyways, it's too late at night for me to say much else.

Today's schooling photospam

First time cantering her over a fence outdoors. Man, this is ugly hahaha.
"Oh, a jump!"


lol deep spot. She was either going to take the long spot waaaay out, or chip. We chipped.



Other way. Man, my form has gotten so "pose-y." But whatever, ya know. I'll fix it eventually. I sat back way early, too. Weeeird, I usually don't do that. Also, my bob sticks out of my helmet awkwardly, hahaha.





Requisite under-the-jump shot.


One day, I will have something constructive to say. But not today. Just more pictures, and blabbering :)

I call it "guerrilla hunter"

Allanah and I were discussing my ultra-defensive equitation. We have dubbed it "guerrilla hunters." That's probably not a good thing, hahaha.

So I introduced Bunny to draw reins yesterday, for just a few minutes.* Mostly to get her used to them, should I ever need them.
Here is what we got.


It just reminds me that, when I restrict with my hand, I need to add leg. The rein is loose, but I imagine it was still restrictive enough to prompt her to go BTV. I like everything else about this picture, however. (Her round, supporting back, active hock, free shoulder.... my eq isn't crap ;P)



This is our more working outline, minus the draw rein. (Excuse the fact that these are all in the same area of the ring ;) I put my camera on the rail and ride while it films.)



Bunny fit. She has mare moments. (No draw rein. Just plain snaffle.)




And this is my favorite.

*Disclaimer- I have worked in draw reins before, and ALWAYS use a snaffle rein. I don't pull into an outline: I fix them at a certain length and use them only as a reminder.

Aw, I found pictures of the Berkmeister :)

After our classes in the February schooling show. That's Claire next to me- she's seriously pushing 5'11. (And God only knows why I wore my blue shirt lol.



When we all rode to Wayne's to hear the holistic vet lecture. I'm to the far right.






His first day back in work when he made himself sore half the winter from playing in the field. You can see my super-special hunch :)



Learning to jump the ex-jumper. One of our first jumping lessons- really, the first time he was strong enough to work that hard. I still don't understand how someone could have starved the poor boy :/

lololol, it's so embarassing to watch that video, but it's ok. I'm just glad I still have it. I miss my big boy, but what can I say? I guess life just works out funny sometimes.

Another lesson, further jabbering

So we're familiar with Bunny's overbending through her neck habit, and with my extreme crookedness. And this is how we are trying to fix it- having her move off my outside aids to straighten her and give her the muscle to balance. This forces me to release my deathgrip on my inside rein (Patti makes me drop it entirely when it gets too bad O.o), and ride square to her shoulders. We aren't looking for bend, to clarify: we want her outside shoulder taking as much weight as her inside shoulder. We'll fix our bend when she can balance her weight (and when I fix my riding... lol)

Inside leg to outside rein, in short, minus the bend.

(and yeah, I am posting super high trying to get lazy pony to move out, hahahaha)

Another thing Patti pointed out: when Bunny drifts, I compensate with my whole body: I lock my whole leg- thigh, knee, calf, heel, into her and rotate my seat to push her over. BUT I am not keeping myself centered- I am collapsing whichever side I'm not aiding with.



Ta-da! This is during our outside-rein turn thing. Whoah, the crooked!



I feel like a lot of this stems from my general hunchiness, as seen in the one above. (Also, darn it my hands are in my crotch. Hrrgh.) I am definitely over developed in my right side as well, so it might be time to start going to yoga with Paige. She's been trying to get me to come, but I've never really given it thought. I'll have to ask her when she's going next. ANNNYWAYS.

Ok, so another homework assignment. We are supposed to work off the rail (not that we ride in the arena that much anyways.) Bunny drops her outside shoulder through the turns and dives to the rail, so I've got to work on riding without that safety net. (This is also why much of our ride looked like this:)




AAAAAAAAAAAAAH! I'm gonna end up on bad_riding, haha.

But there you go, my incessant rambling for the day. Quite exciting. Hopefully, I can get some canter work ( I swear, we canter! hahahaha) on the camera. I hate to canter in the dressage arena because the footing is super gnarly, so inevitably it's never on camera. Maybe I'll set the camera up elsewhere today.

HEY GUIZE

I GOT A TRUCK. HECK YEAH. MY CAMERA IS BROKEN OTHERWISE I'D BE POSTIN' PICTURES.

Yep, an '02 Chevy Silverado, Z1500. It's champagne, and has a turbosuperchargerthingamabob so I can pull a huge trailer. I shall call it Moose, and it shall be my Moose. Now I just need to practice backing it up... hmmm.

Also, had a good ride. Again. This seems to be a recurring theme, hahaha. I have video from my video camera. I just need to upload it.

Yay for jumping!

Ok, two things:
First, the local bridle club has AQHA sanctioned shows. Guess who's competing next season? Moi? Really? :D
Second: Awesome schooling the past few days.

Went to the field and jumped a few lines. Her canter has come so friggin far- it's so comfy now, and I'm not flopping. We set up a 2ft line seven strides apart, and practiced riding it as a six, seven, and eight. And got BEAUTIFUL distances. Perfect every time. We had issues pushing for the six, but she must be remembering her Western youth because I could collect her to the eight soo easily. I really, really wish I had footage.

We did have our first refusal. We have a panel that is yellow on one side, blue on the other. For whatever reason, she was NOT feelin' the yellow side. Nothing dirty, just an, "Uhm, no." She got over it the second time, and then we jumped it every way physically possible, even off a gentle angle, so I think that is settled.

Then, today we had a quickie ride since it looked like it was about to pour. I took off my stirrups, and man, I'm thanking Patti for our two-point torture because I'm so stable in the tack. A squirrel skittered up a tree and sent her into a snorting, kicking-out ORBIT, and I kept my seat :) I've found she spooks at noises much more frequently than scary objects. Interesting to remember.

Anyways, since I was sans spurs, I was expecting today to be pokey pokey pokey trot the whole time. Not so. She was just such a good girl- we got the long, sweepy trot that I've been trying to push her into right off the bat, and she was reaching for the bit and rounding out. It's like riding a cruiser, haha. And I can ride her on a total drape and bring her to a dead halt off my seat. Whew, that's an awesome development. Our backing needs work, but hey, it's like I've had a finished horse lately. I'm not complaining.

Lastly, our "other" canter developments. Whattheheck is up with my seat. I had a beautiful seat without stirrups, and even two-pointed n/s in the canter like Denna used to make us do. But as soon as I picked them up, whabam! Pumping with my upper body. I brace all through my legs, and I just can't seem to fix it. It makes me want to just lose the stirrups permanently, haha.

Stuff.

Hrm, nothing much interesting to say today. Rode Mare through a de-spook course: we set up a pole between blue folding chairs and put cones all around it, set up another "fence" surrounded by empty trash bags and cardboard Capri Sun boxes, one with two neon buckets and polo wraps wound around the standards, and had a super spoooky tarp to walk over. Mostly, it was for Chagall, Paige's warmblood who will spook at anything, but hey, it was fun to put Bunny through her paces as well. She only cared about the tarp- she was a little leery of the grey crinkly monster thing.

We had to ride in the dressage arena (20x40m) and by the time we were warmed up, four other preteen riders had joined us. It got to the point that I had to be mean and remind everyone about left shoulder to left shoulder, as one little girl consistently rode too close and Bunny nearly took a chunk out of her leg. So schooling wasn't very productive.

We HAVE had an epiphany with our canter work, however. I got the niiicest, slowest, roundest canter when we went out to the dirt road to finish schooling. I really think the long stretches help her focus- there's nowhere to go but forward, and she's always so much perkier and attentive when I have her out. Now if only we could take that to schooling on site... hmmmm.... haha. Spurs have helped too- I no longer have to wale on her to get her to move, and my position is a lot more consistent.

Lastly, we are having issues with impulsion. Although she is much more prompt off my leg, she just isn't feelin' the whole long strided hunter thing. We can get a nice jog (haha), and though she carries herself with her back up and all, it's just not even remotely sufficient. But whatever- she's four and spoils me to death with her good behavior :)

Visit to the new barn.

Today we had a trail ride. A looong trail ride, to Twin Gaits to let Bunny sniff around. Here she is at the water bucket, looking very embarassed to have been caught on camera all sweaty.

Maddie and her schoolmaster Jacks are on my left. Hard to believe the little squirt is as tall as I am now (or would be if she were standing straight.) Darn. I babysat her, haha.

100th Post!!

So this is my 100th post, I guess. Hooray?

Anyways, all I can think is that I win some, I lose some. I had a lovely ride the past two days, just doing some conditioning work down the dirt road. Lemme think. Monday, I started in the arena and worked over a crossrail with a placing pole one stride out on either side. We had lead issues-this time to the right- which just tells me that my position was wonky. Don't have any footage.

Yesterday, we did our legit "long-distance" (hahahaha) riding. We went out with Paige and Maddie, and trotted down the road until the dead end. We would have gone farther, but Maddie was having an Eclipse party and had to get home. Either way, it was nice. My little quarter horse kept the big spooky thoroughbred calm, and gave the snotty Welsh pony something to pin his ears at. I was rather proud, haha.

It was nice to just maintain a forward working pace for an extended period of time, without worrying about patterns or bend. She really seems to enjoy getting out- I might take her on the trail Berky and I used to poke around on and see how she does. Hopefully, she'll be game for crossing the water. Then I might head down to the new barn and take her in the back field- it's nice. I dropped her coggins off and signed a waiver, and now I'm allowed to take her around the property (as long as there are no loose horses). I figure it would be nice to let her sniff around before I take her down there.

Mrrmf. There's a reason why I'm not in EQ classes any more.

So I have footage of the horrific driving seat. Horrific. And then some very unexciting video of Bunny relaxing over the ground poles. Hey, at least she doesn't jump them any more.

The gnarly canter.



Pole work. (Any yes, I know I change my diagonals a million times- I'm trying to feel which leg strides over the pole first, and keeping the same diagonal is kind of cheating, or at least it feels like it to me.)




Also, she grew. My baby has grown an INCH since I bought her, and her butt has probably gotten an inch higher as well.

Taken today.

Woohoo! Improvement.

I love those aha! moments when everything just comes together. Today was one of those days. I don't even know what changed everything- all my eq problems just poofed away. (Maybe it was listening to Patti's prescribed 20mins/two point every day... haha)

I started off with the two-point to loosen her back and get my legs functional, and spent probably 13 mins/walk, 6/trot, and a few laps of canter. And bingo- my seat was great. None of the annoying pumping that I'd developed. And that made a world of difference to the rest of my ride- now that my position was functional, I could ask her to come up off the forehand and maneuver her around without her overbending to the inside.

We jumped a small line as well-an eighteen inch line set three strides apart. Basically, I wanted her to l-i-s-t-e-n to where I wanted her to put her feet, and learn that such small fences don't require a herculean effort. So I'd trot her into it. Halt her on landing, and trot her out. Then I'd canter her through it, have her halt at the fence, turn on the haunch, and trot in/canter out the other way. We probably did this five or six times each way. She still weaves horribly between fences, but now she's not panicking into her lines and I've had an opportunity to fix my position. I actually am back to my steady self (jeez, I'd hope, over such teeeeeny jumps lol), which makes me a lot happier. We improved together- once I had her cadenced between fences, our crazy long spots fixed themselves (like when she was taking a flying leap over the cavaletti with Patti the other day, lol.)

Also, we worked figure eights over a ground pole. God only knows why she's so worried about ground poles, but she is. It's quite funny- she'll jump that like it's going to eat her, and will glance off the side if I don't keep her straight. After some OHMYGOD it's just lying there... all inert and scaaarryy... we got it down and I could start working on what *I* needed to work on: asking her to step over the pole with a specific foot. Like, I'd come into the approach and decide I wanted her right foreleg to go over first. Then, I'd extend her trot or shorten it until I could get whatever leg I wanted consistently. We worked it at the canter a few times, too, and tried a change over it, but she didn't seem to understand what I wanted. We got our changes on the flat, however. She's such a compliant horse- I just have to position her so she can do it naturally.

Hrmm, what else do I have to say? Well, I've found the balance between our hunter under saddle stuff versus functional schooling. I think the key is to start her off long, and then bring her into some lax dressage figures and keep her on the bit, and then push her into her HUS frame toward the end when her muscles need a rest. Just magically, she gave to my leg pressure and started rounding up through her back, which usually doesn't happen without her long and low or after a lot of transitions. We schooled with a working attitude for a while, including over the trot poles and coming into the little vertical line, and then we schooled our hunter under saddle stuff when she felt ready to relax.

Her quality of movement has improved 100%- being in front of the leg seems to do that sometimes ;), and I unearthed her Western training entirely by accident. She lopes. She lopes! Lol. I half-halted a little to hard in our canter and we got a lope. It was.. different. I could feel the three beats and the whole rolling thing, but it was just weird. And she was back on her hocks, so yeah... not sure what to make of that just yet.

Anyways, I had a lovely day. Got our tickets for the Alltech World Equestrian Games (saying I'm psyched doesn't begin to describe it), went out to lunch, and then got to have pony time. Chagall is back to complete soundness again- our resident fanceh A-hunter is back in business after he made himself sore giving Allanah a concussion. Paige was a little leery to ride him, but he did just fine.

New barn soon.

Our destination: Twin Gaits
Look how fanceh!














So I guess I'm going to be moving to a new barn in the next few weeks. A few reasons:

a.) They are paving our dirt road. I really don't want my horse breathing those fumes. Also, our farm maintenance (another reason) has recently gotten pretty shoddy. I don't want her to break an ill-maintained gate and get hit by a car.

b.) Our new barn owner is a complete a**hole. He drinks our drinks from the fridge, orders ALL of the boarders around like lackeys, and invests as little time and money into the barn as is possible. He builds big bonfires and burns tires. It's ridiculous.

c.) Arena maintenance. Said new owner refuses to put anything into our arena. Like fixing the harrow so it can be dragged. My horse nearly faceplanted today, and her stifle slipped. Not riding in the main arena ever. again. The footing is horrible, and it floods every time it rains.

d.) Pasture conditions. Our drainage is terrible. Fencing is safe, grass is high-quality, but when it rains, we have several inches of standing water.

e.) Ridiculous new rules. I can honestly understand having certain rules for safety, but not being allowed to take our horses in grassy areas because he wants to have a nice lawn? Really? Maybe we wouldn't have to ride in the grass if our arena wasn't constantly flooding. It's not like our barn is super nice, either. We are a back-home eventing barn. We're kind of the redneck joke barn at all the nice shows. Our riders are great (well, our competitive ones), but none of us are rich.

f.) And one more new owner thing. He has no sense. None whatsoever. He has left the pasture gates open six or seven times since he took over, and all the horses have gone all over the property. And then it's up to the boarders to make a mad dash for the gate to keep them out of the street, grab leadropes and longe whips, and start trying to corral them to safety while he sits around playing with his backhoe.

So I might be a little prejudiced against the barn owner. But it's a matter of safety. Paige is moving as well, and Katie may too since her father and the owner had a huge fall out the other day.

I am going to miss Millennium. I have all but lived there for six years. It's where I grew up- I know every knot in the pasture fencing, every bump in the driveway. But when it comes to safety, I don't have a choice. I'm going to miss the social aspect so much. As annoying as the perpetual drama is, it keeps things interesting. And everyone has known everyone since we were little. God, Wendy (Sarah's mom) taught me to ride. She still seems to think of me as the chubby little girl with the paint pony. And I babysat Maddie when she was little (I'm six years older than her.) I remember when Claire *wasn't* six feet tall, lol.

But whatever, you know? Sometimes you just have to move forward. And it's not like Twin Gaits is that far away (actually, it's five miles down the dirt road, but set back.) It will be a better move all around, financially (it's a better value and tendon injuries cost a LOT of moolah), it's safer, it's more professional. All the riders are dressage re-riders, with one hell-for-leather eventer. There's even a professional dressage trainer campaigning a PMU horse at fourth level. It's awesome.

Lesson

I like it that my new trainer is a total and complete Nazi. It's exactly what I need.

Anyways. Our prescription for this week is grids, grids, grids. She wants Bunny in cavaletti/groundpole grids for the first few days this week, and then add crossrails and a low vertical at our last two schools. Part of it's my fault- I seem to have lost ALL my jumping ability lately... I end up releasing with my whole upper body, instead of with my arms. Patti asked me if I even remembered what a crest release was (uh oh.) So it's super fun time to tune the both of us up. Bunny takes really WEIRD distances to everything, so hopefully the grids will help her think about her feet a little bit (and her weird timing is part of what is throwing me off, I think. I'm paranoid about hitting her in the mouth, and so, whereas I usually use a short release because I *was* balanced in the tack with Berky, I'm giving this weird huge floppy thing. )

Oh, green horses. She's just the best baby ever, I'm pretty sure. I really love this little mare.

Anyways, we also had lead trouble, out of the blue. I think she just got frazzled and started flailing around and doing whatever when she knew she had messed up. I mean, it's not like I get angry or upset, but she can kind of sense that it wasn't right, and so she hurries hurries hurries to try to do what I wanted. And that never works quite right.

Also, she was super behind my leg the whole time, and Patti wants us in the loooong under saddle trot. We haven't mastered the scwung consistently, but it's coming. But I kind of used up all my energy getting her into that swinging, rhythmic trot, so when it was time to canter, I was probably more floppy than ideal.

And you know what? All this is fine. She's a baby, and Rome wasn't built in a day. She's so smart and so willing, and I'd rather not spoil that or drill it out of her.

What got me angry:
Two of or other riders (what's more, both aren't very capable themselves. They have no conception of *feel*) were shit talking me, my horse, and my trainer. I mean, whatthehell? So apparently they know more about my greeny than I do, all of a sudden, and all about how my trainer doesn't know what she's talking about, and how my horse is just lazy. (Which, ok, she's lazy, but I have a good feel of her and KNOW she was frustrated, not being bad.)

What makes it worse is that they were doing this right in front of my very good friend, Paige, and just expecting her to go along with it. Really? Really? Paige told them to knock it off, but still. What was going through their heads? This isn't the way our stable operates. We aren't a bunch of hens who get together and pick at whoever isn't around. That sort of behavior is immature and ridiculous.

I mean, I'm going to let it go simply because I wasn't there and it's only word of mouth-Paige told me- and I'd rather not come off some blustering idiot. I've already had a run-in with one of the girls (sorry, but you CANNOT repeatedly try to implicate me in YOUR OWN mistakes, and then call your father crying so he can come and yell at me. I don't play that game. I'm not catty, and I fight my own battles with as much dignity as I can.) and I'd just as soon not stir that up again. Her dad already has it in for me. However, if she screws up again, I'm not going to sit and take it. She's just being immature. As for the other girl, well, she's young. And I'd like her to know better, given I help her out *all the time* and have never, ever given her any reason to behave that way. She rides a push-button horse who will tolerate her yanking on him, because that's her conception of "training,"and I wouldn't let her near my horse's mouth with a carrot. But I guess it all comes with practice.

/end rant.

I love how I just wrote half a post about little girl drama.

Sarah's Denna Video

Sarah Felman made a video dedicated to Denna. More videos of FPF's little world can be viewed on her channel (EQlokidreamer)/ her "A Cause I'm A Pothole Productions" Facebook page. (The name is from the Geico commercial.. it's kind of an around the barn joke :P)

Cantering and my awkward position.

I seem to be in a permanent somewhat almost half-seat. I need to learn to sit up. This explains so much.









And there, you can see our difficulty. Although, she is looking much better since I've been letting her sort her own balance out. WAAAY on the forehand, but I think she needs a lot of transition work before I can expect her to legitimately collect (or even be on the bit...) She is lacking in booty muscle, anyway, as she *is* just a baby. (The best baby ever :D)

She's so friggin smart. It is just blowing me away. Man, she comes across so easy-going, but the better I get to know her, the more surprised I am. And bless her heart, poor girl gets so worked up when we mess up, and she tries to fix it and just falls all over herself. I am having to learn not to push her- she does better when I introduce her to something and then let her sort it out. But when she sorts it out, you can see the lightbulb. Like, in our trot-halts. Just a few, and now I say "and whoa" and she comes to a screeching halt, square and as on the bit as we can ask for right now.

On my side, I am so irritated about my position. Grr! I still have "the hunch." Oh, the hunch! The bane of my equitation classes! Mreh, I need to shove a crop down my shirt and take some dressage lessons. Also, I've started collapsing my entire right side (My mum, of all people, noticed that today.) Hrm. Stuff to work on, I guess.

Oh yeah, and we were doing long serpentines (like five down the long side), and I noticed. Mare doesn't like to go straight (even after I fixed my Pisa-esque tilt). I add leg, and she moves her barrel and goes crooked. You can literally feel her barrel shift from one side to another. I guess it's good that she's responsive, but it makes life difficult. It also explains why, when we leg yield, I have to reaaaally focus or she'll lead with her shoulder. Hrm. Circles are in order.

That said, GOALS:

*Sit UP!
*Fix knee wonkiness
*Circlescirclescircles
*Work outside arena so she doesn't anticipate
*Improve engagement in upward transitions.

Day off.

I love my little horse. She's so sharp- she's started anticipating even after one repitition, so she keeps me on my toes trying to keep her on her toes. Yesterday, we did serpentines on a loose rein. I have to work on riding off my seat, and since she's on a loose rein while she finds her balance, it's an even bargain. (Sorry, it's 12 AM and I'm a little loopy. Ignore incoherence.)

Anyways, I feel like my equitation has improved, at least at the canter. When I give her a loop in the rein, I can sit deeper and focus on my position, since she calms down considerably and will listen to my seat aids. She even lifted her back up really nicely- I can "collect" her off my lower body through corners... it's really neat to feel her back come up and start reaching, even though she's still long and low.

Here are some trot pictures. I don't have any decent stills from cantering. I seemed to pick places my camera was angled away from.

At the beginning: you can see she is a little strung out and not really "with it."


After painstaking trot-halt/serpentines:


Yay, engagement! It still weirds me out for her to carry herself that low. I'm so used to being "on the bit" traditionally, but as long as she's supple and active, I'm not horribly worried. I do ask her to lift up when we do circles and through turns, as when she is that low, we really can't bend.

And, not sure why my cropping isn't working. Dumb photobucket :/

New trainer, as in I'm learning all my stock horse's fun little buttons.

So I'm riding with Patti Conte now, a local hunter trainer with thirty years of experience under her belt. I've known her from here and there-she is campaigning a 17.2 gray TB.. kinda hard to miss-, and looked at one of her horses a while back- a gorgeous little black TB mare, who was a little more horse than I wanted.

And boy, for someone as exuberant and goofy as she seems when she ISN'T teaching, she can really put a whoopin' on her students. I do believe she told me something like, "I am going to smash you up into little tiny pieces and put you back together again. Now get those shoulders back!" or something to that effect. Which is perfect- just what I need. Another trainer to really get after me.

And with a veteran hunter, comes all sorts of fun little tricks. Buttons I didn't know my four year old baby even had... like a spur stop. WTF. That explains so much. She kind of left it up to me whether I wanted to use it or not, which I can understand as it *is* kind of controversial. I don't know. It's handy to have in the tool kit, for sure, and it's definitely a good safety thing. I just have to wonder who broke my little mare like that? Yett is an eventer. Hmm. Will the wonders never cease??

Apparently, she also knows that a kiss means "Lope. NOW." We were going through all her little buttons and tricks, and so Patti had me ask her for a slow canter from a halt. And yep, a kiss and she was off. That isn't to say we don't have stuff to work on, though. The little booger is so smart that she started anticipating transitions AFTER OUR FIRST TIME AROUND. What a snot *eyeroll.* Lol, at least she's willing.

Clucks to trot, not so much. We have to work on that. Also, she will throw her shoulder out and drift wherever she pleases if I let her. I have to remember my outside aids when she does that, which is so friggin' hard all of a sudden. Mreh. Time and practice. I think she just knows what she can get away with, haha. Like how my rubber reins get slippery, and she knows she doesn't have to halt if she conveniently pulls down when I say,"Whoa." So we are going to ride with gloves, like non-hooligans.

So I have a fun little repertoire of things to work on this week. She is brilliant with her frame- I tend to keep her flexed a tad to the inside, but when I let go, she will level herself out and swing. It's lovely, and I had been messing with it with a bad habit... hrm. Also, my freakish lower leg: since doing all manner of crap without stirrups for twenty minutes a day isn't helping (although I will say I am in fabulous shape, haha), she prescribed half-seat. Every ride. The whole ride, if I can keep her going well. It will reward her back, encourage me to keep my hands even, and force me to quit rotating my leg, which is just habit, I guess, since I *can* fix it when I really concentrate. I'm glad I don't have shows coming up, at least not for a few weeks.. man, the calendar is filling up, haha.

Canterbury :D/ new trainer

Ok, so Saturday, I had a show at Canterbury. We entered in the Hunter Under Saddle, Hunter Pleasure, Equitation, and then the crossrails (hahaha).

I have photos, but first I have to whine a little. Florida is so miserably hot. Gainesville, Florida, under a covered arena, at midday, is akin to riding in the Sahara. The heat just *sits* on you. Thankfully, jackets were waived.

Katie, Sarah, Paige, and I all went together to compete, although Paige scratched her classes and decided to school. Katie showed the 3' jumpers, Sarah did uh, Children/Adults hunters? Or something? Haha, can't quite remember. Either way, we all had a lot of fun.

And here are the goods.

I love this one.