A great start to the jumper season:D

I can't even put into words how glad I am that I put Bella in the jumpers at this show. It's definitely where both of us belong these days.

So at about 10pm last night, I discovered that they switched the days. Adults and jumpers were Saturday, and juniors were Sunday. Go figure. So I had to rush to my dad and inform him that Bella was going today, instead of the Green Bean (as Patrick is now being affectionately referred to as). Thankfully I jumped Bella a little bit yesterday, so she was prepared.

So this year I opted to stick her in the 3'0" division, because two years ago the footing was terrible and I just didn't want to stress her legs out that much. Now I regret it, because not only were the jumps not set to height (2'6" at the very most, and I think that's being generous), but they also fixed their footing up decently. Oh well, there's still the July show!

Anyways, I started her off easy in the first class, which was a power and speed. I've never pushed her in any of the classes, always preferring a comfortable and confident ride over a ribbon, but at the 3'6", there were always enough *cough cough* bad riders that we usually did really well. Perks of going to local shows. Anywho, I let her get comfy with the jumps and the ring in the first class, and we wound up 5th out of a good handful of people, probably about 20.

So the next class was a speed round, and I figured what the heck? The jumps were so little that I could jump them from a standstill. So I gave Bells some slack and let her do her thing, without doing the stupid turns that some of the little kids did (I wanted to maintain some dignity!). She was sooo excited! She tore through that course and left a stride out of every line, taking some insanely huge distances without my permission. We wound up 4th in that class:D

The last one was a timed first jump-off, and I decided I wanted to let her go quick in the jump off, but since they didnt have a TA in the first round, I was going to back her off a little bit and ride her like I would have to if they fences were bigger. She had the best round yet, mostly because I finally relaxed and started thinking instead of being nervous. We made the jump-off, and she hunkered down and booked it, taking us to 3rd place. She got better and better each time!

I'm just really glad that we've fixed some of the training bumps that came around in the last few years. She's really turning into a solid little horse. My sister took photos and video. I'll load them up as soon as she emails them to me!

The Green Bean goes tomorrow at 7:30am sharp:D

Such a successful day:D

So let's see...

Today I jumped both Bella and Patrick, and both of them were stellar! Bella was actually much better than I thought, considering I didn't lower the fences, so she warmed up over 3'0" and 3'3". Awesome:D I've decided we're doing the jumpers this weekend. Screw equitation! I'm done with that political nonsense (unless of course one of the shows doesn't have jumpers, which happens frequently. Then I guess I have no options). However, I'm only putting her in the 3'0" instead of our usual 3'6". The footing there is terrible, and the course designs always look like they came out of the imagination of a chimpanzee. No need to get cocky on my part!

I set up another little ground pole grid off the right lead for Patrick today. When I jumped him last weekend, it was all off the left lead because I didn't have enough poles for another line. However, I moved some stuff around this morning and made up another line for him. I left everything at his finishing 2'0" height, one line had a little oxer, the other had a vertical. The new line had the poles set at 3m instead of 2.80m, but I left the one stride to the jump at 6m. This forced him to open his stride a little bit coming into the jump, but encouraged him to rock back a little since it put him in a little closer than the other line. It was a little confusing for him at first. He opened his stride right up when I asked him to, but it took one kind of messy attempt before he figured out how to respond to my lifting half halt in front of the jump. Then it went great! We did each lead 4 or 5 times, and he's so fun to jump! It's this nice, smooth little glide over the fences:D Hooray Patty!

Bailey finally had no hives today! They started going down yesterday afternoon (of course, right after I called the vet) so I didn't give her the medicine, hoping they were going away on their own. And they did! So today I threw her in a chambon and surcingle and lunged her for about 10 minutes. Hopefully tomorrow the hive situation stays static and I can ride her again. I'm thinking some trot poles to play with?

Once all of that was said and done, Dad hooked up his truck to the trailer and I loaded up Scooter, my rock solid champion worth his weight in gold, through Patrick in next to him and closed the trailer up. Now, this was the first time Patrick had been closed in there since I bought him almost 4 years ago. He handled like a true rockstar, and we proceeded to drive him and Scoots around for about 15 minutes before returning home. He continued to wait patiently while we opened the trailer, and stood like an angel until I slowly backed him out. At one point, he put a hind foot off the ramp, wiggled it around in the air for a minute, then calmly relocated it back on the ramp, straightened out, and continued on his way. What a gentleman! I'm so glad he handled himself, and I can't wait to see how he does in schooling tomorrow morning! Hopefully someone notices him, but I'm not getting my hopes up. Not many people go to the schooling at these things. Oh well. I'm actually starting to think it might be worth the money to take him to Culpeper this summer and do the little lvl 0 and 1 jumper classes, just to get him some more exposure. He's just so damn cute!

Now, for my opinion of the day, I'm really starting to dislike Dover Saddlery. I guess they're okay for little things if you have a store location nearby, but these days I'm ordering everything from SmartPak. Their shipping is cheaper, their generic brands are cheaper and they have a wider variety of them, and even their catalogs are nicer to flip through. Just my little soapbox:D Plus, they have Antares...*drool.

So here's my weird picture of the day. Anybody know what could make a black pony's buttcheek bleach out randomly?

Babies are so destructive!

Today, while sweatscraping Patrick off after his rinse, he tore down my dry erase board, tried sweeping the aisle with a push broom, and kinked the hose. He's such a character, but I can't chastise him for it because making harmless mischief is when he gets that happy little glint in his eye. I really love this little horse. I hope he finds a good home with some little girl that will play with him. Yesterday, he pulled the hose out of his water trough and squirted Scooter and Bailey with it. Who wouldn't laugh at that?!

Speaking of Patrick, he's been so phenomenal lately. Absolutely no issues with his leads (which means I finally feel comfortable advertising him as for sale!). He's super stretchy at the trot, and actually starting to understand how to collect and extend. Sometimes, though, I worry that I'm pushing him to be a little too forward. He doesn't have the natural ability to jump big fences, and he's too small for a big adult. I have to remind myself that I don't need a 3'0" jumping horse that flats like a Grand Prix stallion. I need a 3'0" jumping horse that flats for someone capable of maxing out on that height! Eek. It's hard to get myself into that mindset, so occasionally I slop it up a bit, and he actually did settle right into a putzy little trot. So hopefully my fears are unfounded.

Anyways, once again I showed him the trailer. Today he walked right up there, knowing that he was going to get a little lunch inside. I know a lot of people aren't big fans of using bribery as a training technique, but I think when it's applied properly, and with direction and discipline, it's very useful and rewarding. Hell, these days even dietitians say you have to eat that one sweet treat every once in a while or you fall off the wagon! So tomorrow I'm going to load Scoots up with him and take him for a ride around town.

I have nothing to say about Bella. She was amazing. After a three day break, she came back ready to focus. I worked her really good on the flat, starting with a lot of big stretchy trot work. Then I collected her up and did a lot of bending around the jumps, eventually working into a super collected canter, with some lead changes and transitions. Then I interspersed some extended canters into that and finished with a beautiful square halt. Ah, sometimes I just love that mare! I only wish she had the ability to jump bigger fences! Then I'd be in the money!

Poor Bailey still has hives. They started to go away, then came back in full force and haven't started to recede since this afternoon.

 You can see the texture of her coat in the photo. Poor lumpy baby. She seems so unenthusiastic. So I cold hosed her entire body, which she appreciated (while spooking at the noteboard Patrick dislodged previously). I finally caved and called the vet as well. I'm not one to overreact about hives, or usually medicate them. I feel like most horses get so used to dex that after a substantial time on it, everything gives them hives. So he said to try giving her some banamine if they aren't reduced by tonight, and if that doesn't work, I can run out to the office and get something different to try. You know what they say about the best laid plans...So yet again, she had a day off.

Anywho, does anybody know of a good way to market equine products online? My mom makes just about anything you can think of for horses: saddle pads/covers/carry bags, bridle bags, garment bags, trunk covers, polos, wraps, etc. and I'm trying to figure out the best way to get word out to the public. Any ideas?

One of our barn cats, Cloud, making himself comfortable...or maybe not.

I've been a little lazy

So yesterday Bella had off and remained outside all afternoon with Quinn and Fiesta, but for some reason she didn't feel like lounging. Ignoring her leg wraps and day of rest, she continually ran around her field, bucking and carrying on like a two year old. It was a little annoying, but if that's what she felt like doing in her free time, hey, have at it, I suppose.

I had a fantastic flat on Patrick. He was totally stellar, and I'm starting to really increase my opinion of him. He's really starting to push from behind, and threw out some insane extended trots down the long sides, really reaching into the contact. I honestly never suspected he'd be anything more than a little kids backyard horse, but my efforts to make him into something fancier are really paying off. I saw some pictures my mom took of him on the flat, and he's actually quite cute! I'll have to get my hands on them to put up here. Anyways, I was super pleased with him, and made a huge fuss over him afterward, which he reveled in.

This weekend there's another county show at the barn I used to ride with. Saturday is the junior day, while Sunday is the adult and jumper day. I'm planning on bringing Patrick over early Saturday morning for the 7:30 schooling. He hasn't been off the farm before, so I'm starting to really put the pressure on myself to expose him to different things to get him sold. I figured a local schooling show session would be perfect for a place to start. So I guess I should probably teach him how to trailer, right? Haha, he hasn't been on one since he was 6 months old, and that was the only time. I opened it up yesterday after our ride and planned on showing it to him again. He put his front feet on the ramp, but was content to just stand there until I shook a bucket of grain in his face. Then we walked right up, stood on it rather calmly to eat his little lunch, then backed off smoothly and went out to his field. I plan on doing that again a few times, and then putting Scooter on there with him if need be. I knew I kept that little brat around for a reason!

Bailey was a little fiery yesterday, and by that I mean she did her super slow clunky warmblood wanna-be gallop instead of her putzy little trot for one lap, then settled into her usual self. I cantered her a little more than normal, continually pushing her just a little bit harder, but I kept it short. She had a minor case of hives when I tacked her up, but it got worse as the day wore on. I didn't have anything to treat it, so I just left her be so I could see if it got worse. This morning most of them were gone except the ones by her face and neck, which kind of worried me, but I'm not one to overreact about vet situations, so I'm just keeping an eye on it.

Of course, today was supposed to be Bella's day back, and it's been raining all day. Since I'm not a grand prix rider in Florida or trying to sell a high a/o horse, I feel absolutely no need to ride in the rain (I say that with only a small amount of resentment!). So the training horses are inside, while the retirees mow my lawn in a nice sprinkle and I've been exceedingly lazy all day long, but I'm certainly not complaining!

So, about that horse show...

I wish I could put into words how much I hate local shows. The judges don't have to be certified, so it's pretty ridiculous when it comes time to hand out ribbons. It was...interesting. But alas, I wasn't there for ribbons, I was there to get Bella show mileage to prepare for the jumper classes this summer. And needless to say, we accomplished that.

Naturally, when it came time for my division to start, it clouded over and started thundering. So we did the flat class as quickly as possible (Bella has NO concept of how to ride a flat class...) and started our jumping rounds. There were 9 of us, and as soon as the first girl went in the ring, it started raining and storming full out. Now, the arena is on top of a hill. The tallest thing in the area. Awesome, right? Thankfully, my horses live outside most of the time, so Bella didn't mind the rain or the storming, but she was VERY pumped to be in a new environment and had been very puffed up and jumpy all afternoon. We were the last to go and it was pouring with lightning all around. I looked at the in-gate lady and told her, "We're doing this jumper style." I went in the ring before the previous girl had finished her last jump and started my course. Once Bella lined up with the first fence, I felt her kick into 'jumper gear' and open her stride up, and I just let her. She tore around that little course like a champ! I figured, since the judge didn't like me anyways, I may as well let my horse jump the way she likes to jump. It's not like I actually cared about placing, I just wanted my horse to see some different rings and courses. I hope the judge thought I was being disrespectful. She was very rude. (When it started raining, she looked at the in-gate lady and asked, "Doesn't this thing have a bigger roof, or something?" in reference to the little judge's booth this farm had. Psch. Suck it up.) So I was pleased, and I think we're actually going to do the jumper classes next weekend. She was honest to a fault, and actually excited to be doing her job, so I may as well let her do what she enjoys, instead of fighting with her to go around like an eq. horse.

After our first jumping round, they canceled the rest of the show. So I was home a lot earlier than I thought. Bella was still super keyed up when I tried to give her a Vetrolin rub-down. She was alert and prancey and stupid the whole time. I seriously considered getting back on her and taking her for a gallop in the open field next to my house. Instead, I griped and groaned at her, wrapped her legs, gave her some bute, and threw her in her field to run around like an idiot.

She gets today and tomorrow off, then it's back to preparing for this weekend. The babies get back to a somewhat normal routine tomorrow. Today is 'lounge and do nothing' day for me:D Boy do I love Mondays.