Catching Up with William

I adore this horse. He's such a sassy redhead! He's constantly testing the boundaries but once you explain them (in very clear black and white) he settles in well.

He's figured out that cookies come from the barn

He's been spending a ton of time tied to the Patience Tree. He's got a very nasty habit of pulling so he gets to stand there and figured out patience while I read my book. My dressage coach suggested tying him at least 6-7' up the tree because it's nearly impossible for him to get enough leverage to pull. It seems to be working. Last time I tied him up, he just cocked a foot and proceeded to have a nap.

The Patience Tree

We've had our first ride together. He was so good. It took about 15 minutes to get him to chill out at the mounting block. He was very determined that kicking out frantically would get the devil device away from him. But after some discussion (read:beating) he figured out that kicking out at me is completely unacceptable.

Note my face

That's my "5 year old, got a cookie" face

After a few minutes in the round pen I was feeling confident enough to move him to the very large outdoor. He was a really good boy. We walked, trotted and cantered as if he's always been a quiet sporthorse. There was basically no giraffing, he picks up both leads rather easily, he comes back the moment you think about stopping and he didn't care that my 911 Buddy was sitting on Dee in the middle of the ring. His steering is non existent, but I can teach that!

<3

He's had the last two weeks off because we pulled his racing plates and are transitioning him to barefoot. He was slightly tender for a couple days but seems to be doing well now so tomorrow we are going to free jump him!

Cows are skerry!

It could have gone horribly wrong, buying a baby racehorse sight unseen, from another province, but so far, he's just fun. And cute. And I still get to ride while Dee is off at her health vacation.

Look at that ear fluff. He's the cutest

Busy Pony-Filled Long Weekend

So Friday saw the mare getting her feetsies done.  We had to put new shoes on the front since we wore the toes right down.  First thing my farrier said was "Well you've sure been riding".  As much as resets are much easier (her feet are crazy round and huge, so it takes a ton of manipulation to fit her shoes) I love her new shoes.  She's in a different shoe now, with clips that are much more forward.  My farrier would have liked to put her in a toe clip but he didn't have any shoes big enough so she got the fancy German shoes.  Hopefully we can get at least one reset out of them!

I wish I got pedicures this regularly

Saturday, Isabel and Erin came and picked me up and we were off to Blackfoot Grazing Reserve for the first big trail ride of the year.  Erin hasn't been out on an actual trail ride since she came off a year ago and broke her back so she was justifiably nervous.  But Spider was fabulous and we went on to have a lovely ride were we did a bunch of trotting and cantering.  We ended up going just over 10 miles in 2 hours.  So a little slower my normal pace but still quite a good clip.  It was so nice to actually get to ride with other people.  I've been hacking out by myself too much!

On Sunday we went cross country schooling again, this time with our coach.  Once again the mare was fabulous.  We had a few bobbles, but for the most part she was forward, brave and willing.  Even after our big hack the day before she showed zero signs of being tired.  We worked our way through pretty much every complex at Beaumont, including banks, ditches and the water.  We're back there next weekend for a derby so it was nice to have a chance to school beforehand.  

Isabel and Martini, Shelby and Sailor, Erin and Spider and Melinda and Ducky

I really need to work on not having a moment of hesitation.  All it takes is a split second and the mare will take advantage of it.  She's more than capable of jumping everything I point her at and I need to ride her like she's going to jump it or die rather than giving her the opportunity to make her own decision.  Especially since her decisions can include rearing and spinning.  Not fun :( I also need to remember to bring my corks.  We had a couple of slips that shook the mare up a little.  I have the holes drilled in so I can use them (when I don't forget my kit in the car).  

Straightness is also a new goal, especially on the banks.  She seems to have developed a wiggle and a preference for angles.  I need to be a better driver so that I don't set her up for a run-out, not after all our work to kill the run-out.  

All things considered for her second time on a cross-country course I was super impressed.  She's gong to make an eventer yet!

My favourite view.

Monday I had the osteopath out since her back has been bugging her quite a bit.  I've been putting her Back on Track sheet on every chance I get but she obviously needs some help.  I was running behind so they got started without me (he works with my mom so zero trust issues here).  They found quite a bit in her back related to that awful hematoma she had in March.  Also found some new stress in her jaw.  I hoped up on her to take her through her paces and see and even after two days of hard riding she WAS NOT TIRED.  She was spooky, reactive and just generally up.  I'd been on for 5-10 min and she took a misstep and was 3 legged lame.  I guess it's better for it to happen when the osteopath is there but I wish it hadn't happened at all.  Seems like she twisted her knee quite good.  After taking the stress out of she was no longer dead lame but she was short on it.  He figured it could take a few days for the tissue to recover.  Thankfully she gets Tuesdays off while I go to yoga anyways.  Fingers crossed!

Mom hopped up to she what she could feel

Overall it was a great weekend.  It was also my last free weekend until August so I managed to devour 5 books, hang out with the non-horsey bestie, and play the dog out completely.

Being a barn dog is sooo exhausting

Jump All The Things!

As mentioned earlier I took the mare cross country schooling this weekend.  It was her first time out and our coach could not make it.  Since our first event is in under a month I figured that it was imperative to get out ad find out how she was going to do.  So we loaded up and headed out to Minds Eye Ranch (about 1.5 hrs north) since our local course didn't open until Sunday.

It was not an ideal day weather wise.  It was overcast and windy as we tacked up and then because it's Alberta and MOTHER Nature likes to laugh at us it started to snow as we were warming up.  So we were all a little wet and a whole lot of cold.

Eventers do it in the snow!

Despite the weather she was a rockstar!  Considering we have had major problems with run-outs this winter I was a little apprehensive but my goal was to make it fun and be successful to build our confidence.  We had  few stops that were more a stutter than stop.  I've been working so hard on interrupting the run-out that sometimes we just peter out of energy.  So we backed up a few strides and she always went on the second go and then we didn't have anymore trouble with that fence.  All of our issues seemed to be at the little fences.  The few bigger ones we jumped were problem free.  Perhaps she's just a snob about little fences.

We schooled the ditch, with only minimal pony-club kicking necessary and went up and down the banks without a fuss. We jumped all the Pre-Entry fences and about half of the Entry fences and I called it a day since she blew my expectations out of the water.

We are heading to Beaumont this weekend with our coach this weekend to school again.  I hope that I can successfully school all the Entry fences and perhaps some of the Pre-Training fences since I would ideally like to do Entry at our first event.

Aurora's First Ride

One of the girls from work has an 8 year old daughter who desperately wanted to ride a horse and it finally worked out for her to come out and hop on the mare.

Considering the mare had a meltdown over walking through the water the day before I didn't have much hope of getting past leading her around at the walk.  The mare continues to surprise me because she was a complete saint.  She took great care of Aurora.  By the end of the ride Aurora was riding solo, no lunge line, complete with walk, stop and solid left and right turns.  She was also starting to get the hang of posting trot on the lunge line.

I couldn't have been more proud of the mare!  She did a very quiet jog and anytime Aurora got off balance she came right back to a walk.  She was actually a little lazy (that never happens!) so Aurora had to pony club kick her to get her to walk.

After she took cookies like a complete lady and stood like a statue for Aurora to brush her.  Good Mare!

I think the affection is mutual.