Back to work!

Ah, vacation, I miss you! But more often than not, I was ready to come back and ride!

So today was my first day putting my nose back to the grindstone. Let me tell you, one week off and I was DEAD by noon!

Despite the heat, humidity, and stagnant air, I had a fairly good, productive day. I fixed my jumps up (most had been knocked over) and set a few new things. I relocated my single vertical so I can jump it off the other lead, and set up some more canter poles at 2.60, which is .20 meters shorter than Patrick is used to. I figured I should start challenging him again. Onward!

Everyone got a good, solid flat today, and I thought I was going to die. Side cramps combined with heat exhaustion is not a fun mix! Even my legs were all loosey goosey, not cool guys! Thankfully, my horses picked up the slack. Patrick was super about the shortened canter poles, and figured them out pretty quickly, provided I could keep my leg on long enough to find him a distance.

Bella was her usual self, calm, quiet, and fairly laid-back. She's so difficult to ride when you're out of shape because she's just so round. I'm going to be sore tomorrow, you can count on it!

Bailey did a lot of walk work today. She's finally beginning to learn that leg pressure doesn't always mean 'go forward', and by the time she was tired and less 'jumpy', she was starting to show the hint of a bend around my leg. I even trotted her over some ground poles and a little 1ft jump! She clacked her feet against them more often than not, but she didn't mind going over them, even when they're painted neon orange and black. I hope that's a good sign!

Anyways, this is all in preparation for this coming weekend. There's another show at my old farm, and I plan to bring all three of my training horses there. Bailey will go to school on Saturday morning, and Bella and Patrick will show on Sunday in the jumpers. I'm going to take Patrick in the 2'0" stuff (and maybe a 2'6" if he's stupendous!) and Bella will move back into the 3'6" stuff, provided all goes well this week. I finally got ah hold of my trainer while I was in North Carolina. He's going to try to come up this week to help me school my two jumping horses, and he's going to ride Bailey. I have a fear that she'll become a one person horse, because she's so leery about strangers. So I decided I needed someone as good as, or better, than me to hop up on her. Hopefully he keeps his word and comes out. I could use the tune up.

Also, tomorrow afternoon I'm going to call this farm looking for a barn manager. I'm not sure if I'm interested; there's little information provided in the ad. However, I figured it can't hurt to inquire about their facility, and maybe I'll get lucky and it will sound promising! I hope it's a low key H/J facility that does some local 'A' rated stuff, that way I can get my horses out to the shows without taking time off from work. If it's too time consuming or not a competitive barn, I think I'll have to pass on it. It would have to be really good to get me away from my own training program.

And lastly, Patrick is officially listed on Dreamhorse.com as 'for sale':( I'll be so sad to see him go, but I know he needs someone who can really appreciate what they have in him. He's listed at $8,000, which is a bit more than I expect to get for him right now, but if I've learned anything about selling horses online, it's ask for a lot more than you expect to get. Plus, I did a search on horses in the area, and judging by what I saw, it's really not that far out there. Go figure. Hopefully a girl can get lucky!

Oh! And Bailey started trailer training today! She walked right in and ate her lunch:) Yay!

There are some perks to the heat

It was only supposed to be 94 today, but the humidity had it feeling like the triple digits again. Talk about miserable! However, the extreme heat combined with the drought Maryland has found itself in has done wonders for the ugly weeds that my dad never gets around to 'whacking'. They're drying up and dying quick! Granted, this makes things really ugly...but at least they're dead!

I think I accomplished a lot today. I started out later than I wanted to, but I just couldn't get myself out of bed. So when I finally got started, it was already hot and muggy out. I hacked Bella around really quick again. She was less than enthused, and much prefers sitting in front of her fan looking like a surfer dude. But she was well behaved (mostly because I think she wanted to be done quick!).

Then I went around and set the fences smallish, about 2'9", and decided that I should jump Patrick around one good, solid time before I leave on vacation. I tacked up and warmed up as quickly as possible, saving energy for the jumps, and started popping over some fences. He didn't even bat an eye at the larger vertical and oxer I set, and hopped right over my log jump and liverpool from every which direction and angle. It was such a great feeling! I even sat there like a mannequin and let him lope up to the jumps entirely by himself. No matter the distance, he willing found a way to the other side. This is perfect. It's just what I need to advertise him as a kid's horse. So just for the sake of throwing something from left field, I showed him the little 3'0" coop, and geared him up to canter to it. He. could. have. cared. less. Jumped right over it (he did overjump that one a little) three or four times, and I practically sang his praises up until he was back in his stall. Holy cow! Not bad for a $500 horse!

After downing two bottles of water, I decided Bailey was so good yesterday (and hates the heat as much as I do) that she could afford a day off. I'll hack her/lunge her good tomorrow, and then they all have their week of rest while I'm at the beach:)

Since I didn't feel like going inside, despite the extreme temperature, I decided to oil and clean all of my tack (Bella promptly tried to EAT my Antares, leaving lovely tooth indentations). It hadn't been done in ages, and since I can't afford new stuff, I figured I should probably do something about that. Then, to top off my day of productivity, I rounded up some more 'Oops!' paint (bright yellow) and painted some more. I now have two navy/yellow poles, two yellow standards, and two navy standards. Now I just have to find my rusty red and my mint green paint, and decide what to do next! Needless to say, my place gets slightly classier every day!

How are you all dealing with the heat??

I'm finally getting somewhere!

I love those landmark days where you finally feel like you've had a break through. This one doesn't really feel like something I accomplished, but I was thrilled either way!

Bailey is starting to learn how to give to the contact! I think it's more the lunging in side reins combined with her natural build and ability, but it was still phenomenal! She's learned that when there's contact in her mouth, she just has to stretch her neck down and bring her nose in to relieve the pressure. As soon as she did this, I immediately rewarded her with a slackened inside rein and sent her forward into the contact. There were a few times it was nearly perfect. I've never had a horse with so much power in her hind end. It's a truly incredible feeling, just at the trot! When she moved forward and really stretched her back, her hind end was bouncing me up out of the saddle. Now I have to be careful because she actually clipped her front heel. I assume it's because she's still a little 'butt high' and can't get her shoulder out of the way yet, so I think a pair of bell boots are in order. Thankfully, I have an extra pair lying around somewhere. After about 25 minutes of really great trot work, I let her end on that stellar note.

Other than that, it was a calm day. I had a late night in Gettysburg last night, so I didn't much feel like putting a lot of effort into my work. As if my horses knew this, they were all super and required very little work today. Even Bella felt great and really put her mind into getting in and getting done. She's been so light and forward since she got her feet done. I'm really thrilled that things are going well for her again. My vet warned me about the farrier and said he's not very reliable, but as long as my horse is going better than ever, I can deal with a few quirks. I just hope that's all they are.

Becca rode Patrick again, and as usual, he was super. I don't think you could find a better kid's horse than this little guy. My friend Britteny, who has ridden and jumped him a few times, knows a trainer that may be interested (did I already tell you that? I think I did...). I hope something comes of it, because I know she has a lot of young riders that would really just love him to death. Otherwise, he's going to the July show and hopefully attracting some attention. This means I really need to get going with his jumping when I get back from the beach on the 17th. He may be trotting his courses ;)

I'm also hoping to be heading to Culpeper for two weeks in August. Entries aren't due until the end of July, so I have some time to think about it. I did the calculations, and if I show in three classes a week, it works out to be about $382 a week. That doesn't include a hotel, but I'm thinking I could just put a blow up mattress in the dressing room of my trailer and camp out. I'd only be there three days each week, and it would still beat the week Morgan and I slept in the back of her mom's Tahoe the whole show week...oh, yes. We know how to horse show on a budget. Anyways, I'd be doing the lvl 3 or it's equivalent, which is non-nominated, so I really don't think that's a lot of money for an A show. Hopefully I'll have someone to come with me, at least to act as jump crew, but if not, it'll still be a good experience for Bella either way.

Anyways, Patrick jumps tomorrow. Hopefully all goes well! I'm thinking about throwing a baby liverpool into the mix...could be interesting!

Here's those pictures I promised

I have sun poisoning on my legs. Complete with blisters. Ew. I look like a leper. Thank you horsehows!

Anywho, I just returned from my old boss's. He might have a horse for me to show in July. Granted, I hate this horse, but hey...it's exposure. So here are a few choice gems from this afternoon...

 Bella, looking gorgeous, as always:D

TaDa! 2'9", not perfect, but close enough for me! Look at that even take-off with his hind end:D My little boy is growing up!

And his first jump without ground poles and his first time over this particular jump.

And this last little gem is our usual 'cool down' trot lap, but he was wayyy too excited to merely pitter around...as you can see.

Two updates in one

So yesterday I did a quick ride on Bella, who was a little spitfire, while I waited for my friend to come over.

Once she got there, we tacked up Patrick and Bailey for a little ride. We started out walking them in the hill field again so that they could warm up a little and she could get used to Patrick. Nothing special.

Then we hacked them around the ring a bit, and I must say, Patrick was a total angel for her. I was so pleased with him! He picked up his leads and everything. Bailey was super as well, being her usual little self. Then we finished up by walking them around the property again, this time Bailey was on the buckle the whole time, even when we had to walk up near the road. She's such a good girl!

Then today I had my mom and sister come out for more photo ops when I decided to push the jumps on Patrick a little higher today. I also put flower boxes in front of both jumps, which really confused him. The first and second time through, I don't think he realized he was supposed to jump over them, and saw it more as a barrier. He wasn't afraid of it, just confused. So I took him back and walked him over it (it was THAT small), and after that he had no issues with it or the other jump he hadn't seen yet. After a couple of times through both lines, I had them put up another hole in the cinderblocks, which made each jump about 2'9" or so. He whacked both jumps pretty good the first time through, not realizing that this time he actually had to rock back and use his hind end. But after hitting them once, he figured it out and actually jumped really nicely! I even pointed him to my little log jump, which was also about 2'9" and had no ground poles leading up to it. He didn't even bat an eye, and hopped right over it. Cool. Pictures coming.

Bella flatted like a superstar, and Becca got some awesome shots of her. They're coming, too, as soon as she loads them to Facebook and I can steal them.

Bailey was her usual self, only she's realizing she's a mare, which basically means now every time I tap her with a whip, she does this little half-kick/buck/squeal thing. It's purely entertaining, and not meant to dislodge me, but interesting to note none-the-less. I figured she couldn't be perfect all the time. That'd be too easy!

Anywho, I gotta run a saddle over to my old racehorse boss. I'll load those pictures as soon as I get a chance!

Quiet days

The last couple of days have been fairly quiet around here. Monday everyone had off and took a nice long day out in the field while I recuperated from the weekend's hot, sweaty horse show.

On Tuesday, Bella had yet another day off, so the only responsibilities I had were to the babies. My little sister finally decided to make some time in her schedule to hop up on a horse, and I handed Patrick's reins over to her while I tacked up Bailey. I was reluctant to let her on him, because he's just turned into such a fun little horse to ride, but it needs to be done if I'm ever going to sell him. As some of you may know, I was a little worried that I'm making Patrick into 'too much horse' for the quality of rider he's likely to go to, but he proved my worries wrong. He was a total doll for my sister, and it provided Bailey with a buddy for some new adventures.

First, we took them out into the field and trotted them up the hill a few times. It was the first time Bailey had done this, and she handled it like she was a 30 year old school pony.

Then we took them into the ring and gave them both a good hack. Patrick slowed his trot right down for Becca, and once she figured out how to balance her body correctly, he even picked up his leads for her. It was nice to have another horse in the ring, because it gave me the opportunity to teach Bailey that it isn't follow the leader, and allowed her to experience being ridden head-on at another horse. All valuable lessons for a show horse, as most of you know!

After the sweat session, we decided to take them for a little walk around the property; something neither one of them have ever done. However, Patrick boldly lead the way around the perimeter of our 15 acres, and Bailey calmly tagged along right behind him, occasionally trotting to catch up if she stopped to sniff something for too long. It was actually pretty cute, and I'm glad they both behaved so well!

Yesterday, I finally put Bella back into work after a three day vacation. Usually she's much better after a break, but she was just kind of a pain yesterday. Her A.D.D. had her all over the place, but it wasn't altogether entirely unsuccessful. I just kind of dealt with it. Her feet are getting so long and nasty that I'm keeping it easy until the new farrier comes on Monday. I finally got someone to return my phone call, after weeks of struggling to get someone out here.

Patrick was a bit of a lazy bum yesterday. One ride with my sister and he decides he's done working hard! It took some convincing to get him moving, even with spurs (mind you, I'm against flatting horses in spurs, but for now, they just work=/).

I lunged Bailey in side reins and introduced her to the cavesson, which took some convincing to get on her head. After that, she went right into her lofty, slow warmblood gaits. Not exactly what I had in mind! She really needs to learn how to stretch her shoulders. I think it's part of her growing process still, but I don't want her to get in the habit of falling short with her reach.

Today I'm holding off on riding because a friend of mine from school is coming to join me. I've decided Patrick is not only the safest option for her, but probably the smartest as well. Not only can Bailey get another opportunity to ride outside of the arena, but Patrick gets some exposure and another different rider. We'll see how it goes!