Today was pretty quiet on my part. I took Bailey and Bella for a walk around the property, just letting them relax. It was Bella's first day back into work, since they got their feet done yesterday. The farrier actually did wind up calling me and rescheduling. Apparently he tried to leave me a voicemail...I'm skeptical.
Anyways, Bella had pulled a shoe and broke her foot up a bit, despite my best efforts to keep it in tact. So when they went to trim it for the shoe, it got a little short and ouchy. So I gave her yesterday off again, and just planned on walking her today. I let her trot around a bit, and found that she was feeling pretty good. Hopefully tomorrow we can do a full work out! It's been too long. I miss my girl.
Then in the afternoon, Amanda came over and took a lesson on Patrick. We did some different lines and jumps, and even raised a few of them up. They both looked fantastic, and I was really pleased. Patrick was jumping great, and Amanda is really learning how to ride him well. They even did a line to the coop! One time, Patrick hit the pallet and it had a square rail on top. The next time she brought him around to it, he jumped the thing like it was four feet tall and totally launched Amanda. Thankfully, she stuck like glue and brought him around again. After that, he decided it wasn't out to eat him alive, and they jumped down the line beautifully. I don't want her to go to school! She does such a great job with him.
Anywho, I'm buying tickets for the WEG tomorrow!! Yayyyy! Now I just have to inform my new boss that I already need a week off...eek. Any tips? Haha.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Thursday, August 5, 2010
What did we do before internet?
So my internet is back. Yay! I'm typing from the comfort of my bed. Well, at least I would be comfortable if Patrick hadn't busted my butt yesterday.
Yes, I decided to pick a little fight with him yesterday while I hacked him. Amanda had jumped him Tuesday afternoon, and he was very well behaved, but he was fighting her contact a little bit. I decided this was a developed bad habit (it's started since I've begun putting less experienced riders on him) and that I was going to work on it Wednesday when I rode him.
Well, he decided that he wanted a say in it, and he always gets rotten when that happens. It's been a while since we had a battle of wills, and this time, he got a good hit in. At the canter, he started acting stupid, so I brought him down to a halt, and asked him to back up. Instead, he went up on his back legs, and dropped to the ground. It's not even like he reared and lost his balance. He deliberately just fell over. Thankfully, since it was deliberate, there was enough momentum to throw me free of the saddle, so all I wound up with was a headache, a buttache, and a squashed foot (which only happened because when he went to stand up, he stepped on it). Anyways, when we landed, I managed to hold onto the rein that was against the ground, so he couldn't immediately get up. I made him lay there until I felt like he had 'thought about what he did' (which really translates into 'I couldn't move yet and I didn't want him getting up until I could get out of his way').
Ah, the joys of training babies. Needless to say, after that I grabbed my dressage whip and my 'no nonsense' attitude and made him canter around until I felt like I had his attention. We were not happy with one another at the end of the day, but at least he finished on a good note. This 'rearing as an escape from doing the right thing' has just got to stop, but for some reason, he only does it with me. Of course.
Anyways, what with a sore butt and all (I legit thought I broke my foot and tailbone) I just lunged Patrick and Bailey today. Naturally, Patrick was a total superstar on the lunge. We did transitions at all paces, and he was super stretched out through his topline, and was almost floating around me. Go figure. I think it made me even more mad at him. Bailey, as usual, putzed along at the world's slowest trot and did a couple of walk/trot transitions.
Now, after consuming yet more Advil, I'm going to curl up with a movie and not think about horses for a while.
Oh, but I did get the job! I start August 16th. I'm pretty excited to be making money and working again. I think it's really going to work out well for me!
Yes, I decided to pick a little fight with him yesterday while I hacked him. Amanda had jumped him Tuesday afternoon, and he was very well behaved, but he was fighting her contact a little bit. I decided this was a developed bad habit (it's started since I've begun putting less experienced riders on him) and that I was going to work on it Wednesday when I rode him.
Well, he decided that he wanted a say in it, and he always gets rotten when that happens. It's been a while since we had a battle of wills, and this time, he got a good hit in. At the canter, he started acting stupid, so I brought him down to a halt, and asked him to back up. Instead, he went up on his back legs, and dropped to the ground. It's not even like he reared and lost his balance. He deliberately just fell over. Thankfully, since it was deliberate, there was enough momentum to throw me free of the saddle, so all I wound up with was a headache, a buttache, and a squashed foot (which only happened because when he went to stand up, he stepped on it). Anyways, when we landed, I managed to hold onto the rein that was against the ground, so he couldn't immediately get up. I made him lay there until I felt like he had 'thought about what he did' (which really translates into 'I couldn't move yet and I didn't want him getting up until I could get out of his way').
Ah, the joys of training babies. Needless to say, after that I grabbed my dressage whip and my 'no nonsense' attitude and made him canter around until I felt like I had his attention. We were not happy with one another at the end of the day, but at least he finished on a good note. This 'rearing as an escape from doing the right thing' has just got to stop, but for some reason, he only does it with me. Of course.
Anyways, what with a sore butt and all (I legit thought I broke my foot and tailbone) I just lunged Patrick and Bailey today. Naturally, Patrick was a total superstar on the lunge. We did transitions at all paces, and he was super stretched out through his topline, and was almost floating around me. Go figure. I think it made me even more mad at him. Bailey, as usual, putzed along at the world's slowest trot and did a couple of walk/trot transitions.
Now, after consuming yet more Advil, I'm going to curl up with a movie and not think about horses for a while.
Oh, but I did get the job! I start August 16th. I'm pretty excited to be making money and working again. I think it's really going to work out well for me!
Monday, August 2, 2010
AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!
Sorry I haven't updated recently.
My dad was gardening, and he cut the tv/internet cable. So here I am, sitting in the grocery store Starbucks, typing away on my Netbook. Pretty awesome, right? Well, at least the coffee is good!
So the farrier saved me the trouble of firing him. He didn't even show up for our 9am appointment this morning. Not even so much as a phone call. Now, I know I'm not a big name in the area, but I know enough people. And none of them will be recommended his name! I was at least hoping to get the horses all in a rideable/comfortable state so that I had some time to find a new guy. Now I have barefoot horses with busted up walls, and Bella is wearing three shoes and has about 3 inches of overgrowth on her toes. I'm pissed. FUMING.
Before I found this guy, she had gone 9 weeks without having her feet done. They looked infinitely better than they do now, at just 6 weeks! AHHHHH!!!! I'm going crazy.
Anyways, on a brighter note, things have somewhat picked up with Patrick. A woman came out to try him yesterday, and he was really good. She's interested in leasing him and taking lessons from me (Shhh...don't tell anyone!) and it would put some money in my pocket while I continue to try to sell him. Then, this morning a woman emailed me about him, saying that she's looking for a horse for her 16 year old daughter. Hopefully they come try him as well. The woman that came yesterday has two more horses to try before she makes a decision, but from the sounds of it, he's her best option.
The woman from the farm I applied at emailed me to offer me the job. I'm not quite as excited about it as I was, because she keeps changing the parameters on me. First it was weekdays, no riding. Then it was the occasional weekend. Then it turned into riding upwards of 5 horses a day. Then it turned into, "Don't horseshow too much and leave me high and dry". Ummm, lady...you said you were flexible. That's why I applied! Now all of a sudden, I'm not sure I'll have time for my own horses! And again, AHHHHH!
Hopefully it just all falls into place...riiiiiiight. 'Cuz that always happens.
On another note, it looks like 5 & Dime Acres will be expanding. My boyfriend Nathan and I are looking into buying a foreclosed farmette about 20 minutes from my parents' place. It's got a super cute 1900's farmhouse on it, a huge storage barn, and a bank barn with three run-in stalls; all on 5+ acres. I'm super excited. We might put in a contract on it on Wednesday, if all goes well! It needs a ton of work done on the inside, but the previous owners restored all the tough, expensive stuff. Now it just needs to be classied up. Nathan and I are both 'do it yourself' kind of people, so it's really the perfect place for us. I'll try to get some pictures, because it looks like a jungle right now, haha!
Anyways, have a great week everyone, just in case my internet doesn't come back in the near future!
My dad was gardening, and he cut the tv/internet cable. So here I am, sitting in the grocery store Starbucks, typing away on my Netbook. Pretty awesome, right? Well, at least the coffee is good!
So the farrier saved me the trouble of firing him. He didn't even show up for our 9am appointment this morning. Not even so much as a phone call. Now, I know I'm not a big name in the area, but I know enough people. And none of them will be recommended his name! I was at least hoping to get the horses all in a rideable/comfortable state so that I had some time to find a new guy. Now I have barefoot horses with busted up walls, and Bella is wearing three shoes and has about 3 inches of overgrowth on her toes. I'm pissed. FUMING.
Before I found this guy, she had gone 9 weeks without having her feet done. They looked infinitely better than they do now, at just 6 weeks! AHHHHH!!!! I'm going crazy.
Anyways, on a brighter note, things have somewhat picked up with Patrick. A woman came out to try him yesterday, and he was really good. She's interested in leasing him and taking lessons from me (Shhh...don't tell anyone!) and it would put some money in my pocket while I continue to try to sell him. Then, this morning a woman emailed me about him, saying that she's looking for a horse for her 16 year old daughter. Hopefully they come try him as well. The woman that came yesterday has two more horses to try before she makes a decision, but from the sounds of it, he's her best option.
The woman from the farm I applied at emailed me to offer me the job. I'm not quite as excited about it as I was, because she keeps changing the parameters on me. First it was weekdays, no riding. Then it was the occasional weekend. Then it turned into riding upwards of 5 horses a day. Then it turned into, "Don't horseshow too much and leave me high and dry". Ummm, lady...you said you were flexible. That's why I applied! Now all of a sudden, I'm not sure I'll have time for my own horses! And again, AHHHHH!
Hopefully it just all falls into place...riiiiiiight. 'Cuz that always happens.
On another note, it looks like 5 & Dime Acres will be expanding. My boyfriend Nathan and I are looking into buying a foreclosed farmette about 20 minutes from my parents' place. It's got a super cute 1900's farmhouse on it, a huge storage barn, and a bank barn with three run-in stalls; all on 5+ acres. I'm super excited. We might put in a contract on it on Wednesday, if all goes well! It needs a ton of work done on the inside, but the previous owners restored all the tough, expensive stuff. Now it just needs to be classied up. Nathan and I are both 'do it yourself' kind of people, so it's really the perfect place for us. I'll try to get some pictures, because it looks like a jungle right now, haha!
Anyways, have a great week everyone, just in case my internet doesn't come back in the near future!
Thursday, July 29, 2010
I bet the WEG isn't happy...
There's still a mess of availability left. I don't think any hotels are sold out yet! I got the e-mail from the USEF trying to promote the events, but my aunt who lives in Richmond (about 45 minutes from Lexington) said that because of the World Cup the games won't be nearly as big as the WEG was hoping. I suppose that's good for me! For 2 (cheap) tickets to all of the Jumper events, it's $1,006.00. Holy Robin eggs, Batman. I think I need to talk to my dad again...Parking at the Horse Park is $100 a day! It's crazy. Slap a horse on it, and quadruple the price.
Anyways, I have a busy weekend coming up. Tomorrow afternoon I'm making the trek east to visit my grandmother. She had surgery to remove a cancerous lesion from her colon last week. She recovered amazingly well, and already made herself a hair appointment two days after being released from the hospital. I hope I'm that resilient at 80 something!
Then on Saturday I have to school up Patrick really well in the morning, because a woman is coming to try him Sunday afternoon. I'm not thrilled about this. She's only interested in leasing him, and I think she's one of those women who thinks they're better than they are, so that automatically means they need a green bean to train. She was very proud of her 22 years of riding experience, and made it a point to mention she owned her own horse at one point, from the ages of 15 to 21. Ummm...I wanted to ask her if she'd noticed Patrick's age. I mean, yes...he's honest, quiet, willing, and generally a super little guy. But a 30 year old doctor who has been taking 1 lesson a week since she got her doctorate? I don't think she's going to like him, but that's fine. I don't really want the hassle of dealing with a lease anyways. I'd much rather just sell the little fella'.
Then, ALSO on Saturday is my good friend Britteny's college graduation party. Something tells me I might be feeling a little ill come Sunday...
But hopefully the fact that I'm forcing myself to wake up early Sunday and go to Swan Lake will deter too much drinking. Swan Lake is a show grounds/riding stable about 45 minutes from my house. They host one "AA" show a year, a myriad of "B" shows, and a mess of small schooling shows each year. I competed there once on Quinn eons ago, but I thought I might drive up and observe their "B" show this weekend. If all goes well, they have another one mid-August that I might bring Bella to. It's close enough that I wouldn't need a stall, and I think their "B" circuit shows are fairly inexpensive...which, of course, is relative.
Anywho, my sister rode Patrick today. He was a little turtle and poked around all lazy-like with her. He's so good. The best $500 ever spent, I think.
Bailey was a little bit of a spitfire, but she was still trying to behave herself amongst all the fussing. She's such a little filly, always letting me know what her opinion is, though trying to please me at the same time. There were a few really incredible moments, and I just can't get over how much power she has. I can't wait until she's fully grown!
Bella, of course, is taking all this week off until that good-for-nothing blacksmith comes back and tacks some decent shoes on her feet. I still spew steam out of my ears whenever I look at her feet. Again, I will be collecting phone numbers over the next six weeks...I'm back on the farrier prowl yet again.
When will it end?
Anyways, I have a busy weekend coming up. Tomorrow afternoon I'm making the trek east to visit my grandmother. She had surgery to remove a cancerous lesion from her colon last week. She recovered amazingly well, and already made herself a hair appointment two days after being released from the hospital. I hope I'm that resilient at 80 something!
Then on Saturday I have to school up Patrick really well in the morning, because a woman is coming to try him Sunday afternoon. I'm not thrilled about this. She's only interested in leasing him, and I think she's one of those women who thinks they're better than they are, so that automatically means they need a green bean to train. She was very proud of her 22 years of riding experience, and made it a point to mention she owned her own horse at one point, from the ages of 15 to 21. Ummm...I wanted to ask her if she'd noticed Patrick's age. I mean, yes...he's honest, quiet, willing, and generally a super little guy. But a 30 year old doctor who has been taking 1 lesson a week since she got her doctorate? I don't think she's going to like him, but that's fine. I don't really want the hassle of dealing with a lease anyways. I'd much rather just sell the little fella'.
Then, ALSO on Saturday is my good friend Britteny's college graduation party. Something tells me I might be feeling a little ill come Sunday...
But hopefully the fact that I'm forcing myself to wake up early Sunday and go to Swan Lake will deter too much drinking. Swan Lake is a show grounds/riding stable about 45 minutes from my house. They host one "AA" show a year, a myriad of "B" shows, and a mess of small schooling shows each year. I competed there once on Quinn eons ago, but I thought I might drive up and observe their "B" show this weekend. If all goes well, they have another one mid-August that I might bring Bella to. It's close enough that I wouldn't need a stall, and I think their "B" circuit shows are fairly inexpensive...which, of course, is relative.
Anywho, my sister rode Patrick today. He was a little turtle and poked around all lazy-like with her. He's so good. The best $500 ever spent, I think.
Bailey was a little bit of a spitfire, but she was still trying to behave herself amongst all the fussing. She's such a little filly, always letting me know what her opinion is, though trying to please me at the same time. There were a few really incredible moments, and I just can't get over how much power she has. I can't wait until she's fully grown!
Bella, of course, is taking all this week off until that good-for-nothing blacksmith comes back and tacks some decent shoes on her feet. I still spew steam out of my ears whenever I look at her feet. Again, I will be collecting phone numbers over the next six weeks...I'm back on the farrier prowl yet again.
When will it end?
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Grrr...
So, I've been meaning to rant about this for a while now, and I'm just now getting around to it.
My horses' feet look TERRIBLE. I'm really upset about their condition. I understand that it's summer, and the flies and stomping cause them to break up. I get that. Soooo the least of my problems right now.
Bella's feet look like they haven't been done for 12 weeks. The worst part? I noticed that they looked this way after 3 and a half weeks. They've never grown this fast, even when she went 8 weeks without getting new shoes. Now, her shoes are twisting, the nails are all popping, and her toes are so long that I feel like a horrible mom. I'm about ready to grab some nail cutters and pull them all myself, except I fear her toes are so long that that will only make the situation worse. Everyone else's feet are in various stages of crappiness as well.
I think I'm going to bring up my issues with the farrier (if he shows up) and give him this chance to redeem himself, and get a few more numbers in the following six weeks. I paid attention to some of my friends' horse's feet at the show this weekend, and I think I'll go for recommendations this time, instead of the equine newspaper. I HATE farriers!!!
On a better note, my dad and I are taking a trip to Lexington in October to go watch the show jumping finals at the WEG. I'm pretty excited, even though tickets are soooo expensive! For two 'best available' tickets to the three finals (team, individual, and top four jump off) it was almost $700! That's crazy. I could go compete there for less! Thankfully, I have a lot of family in the area so we're hopefully going to have a place to stay.
I went and rode for my (hopefully) future boss yesterday afternoon. I thought it went terrible; she trains her horses much different than the way I'm accustomed to riding. It will be a serious adjustment, and one that I'm nervous to make. However, she seemed pretty pleased with the whole thing, and said she has a really good feeling about me. I hope that means I have the job, because I could really use the money! As my last 'hoorah', I think I might head up to Saugerties next weekend and hang out with some friends, my trainer being one of them.
I feel like such a jerk, because Amanda is so excited to take a lesson with Manuel, and he just keeps flaking out. I'm beyond caring about it for my own sake, I mean, my horse maxes out at 3'6", and this weekend I think we proved we don't need any outside assistance with that height. But for him to skip out on Amanda is really crushing for me. I know what it's like to want an opportunity like that, and I really hope I can give it to her at some point. She's still coming out to ride Patrick quite frequently, and I'm excited that she still enjoys him. She does a really fantastic job with him. Bailey has also been doing really quite super.
Anyways, I think some woman is coming out to see Patrick this Sunday. She just wants to lease him, and I don't think that she'll be interested, but oh well. Maybe she knows a friend of a friend...it's always worth the free advertisement, I suppose...
My horses' feet look TERRIBLE. I'm really upset about their condition. I understand that it's summer, and the flies and stomping cause them to break up. I get that. Soooo the least of my problems right now.
Bella's feet look like they haven't been done for 12 weeks. The worst part? I noticed that they looked this way after 3 and a half weeks. They've never grown this fast, even when she went 8 weeks without getting new shoes. Now, her shoes are twisting, the nails are all popping, and her toes are so long that I feel like a horrible mom. I'm about ready to grab some nail cutters and pull them all myself, except I fear her toes are so long that that will only make the situation worse. Everyone else's feet are in various stages of crappiness as well.
I think I'm going to bring up my issues with the farrier (if he shows up) and give him this chance to redeem himself, and get a few more numbers in the following six weeks. I paid attention to some of my friends' horse's feet at the show this weekend, and I think I'll go for recommendations this time, instead of the equine newspaper. I HATE farriers!!!
On a better note, my dad and I are taking a trip to Lexington in October to go watch the show jumping finals at the WEG. I'm pretty excited, even though tickets are soooo expensive! For two 'best available' tickets to the three finals (team, individual, and top four jump off) it was almost $700! That's crazy. I could go compete there for less! Thankfully, I have a lot of family in the area so we're hopefully going to have a place to stay.
I went and rode for my (hopefully) future boss yesterday afternoon. I thought it went terrible; she trains her horses much different than the way I'm accustomed to riding. It will be a serious adjustment, and one that I'm nervous to make. However, she seemed pretty pleased with the whole thing, and said she has a really good feeling about me. I hope that means I have the job, because I could really use the money! As my last 'hoorah', I think I might head up to Saugerties next weekend and hang out with some friends, my trainer being one of them.
I feel like such a jerk, because Amanda is so excited to take a lesson with Manuel, and he just keeps flaking out. I'm beyond caring about it for my own sake, I mean, my horse maxes out at 3'6", and this weekend I think we proved we don't need any outside assistance with that height. But for him to skip out on Amanda is really crushing for me. I know what it's like to want an opportunity like that, and I really hope I can give it to her at some point. She's still coming out to ride Patrick quite frequently, and I'm excited that she still enjoys him. She does a really fantastic job with him. Bailey has also been doing really quite super.
Anyways, I think some woman is coming out to see Patrick this Sunday. She just wants to lease him, and I don't think that she'll be interested, but oh well. Maybe she knows a friend of a friend...it's always worth the free advertisement, I suppose...
Monday, July 26, 2010
Just a few of those pictures I promised
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Ah, what a day!
I don't think I could have asked for a better day. Well, okay, it could have been about 15 degrees cooler, but we can't have everything, right?
The morning started out pretty well. The jumper ring actually started fairly close to the designated time, and I was pretty pleased with that. We all know that horse show motto, 'hurry up and wait'. Thankfully, I had very little hurry or wait today.
The show grounds were pretty dead yesterday, so I was excited to see that there were quite a few more trailers. There's really no point in trying to school your young horse when no one shows up to make things interesting! So before I knew it, I had Patrick out of the trailer (and Bella stood perfectly after I took her friend out of the trailer!) and getting tacked up. Before anything could go right, he decided to throw out his (only) curveball of the day. While buckling his noseband, he reared up, flipped over, and smacked right into someone's mini-van, all totally out of the blue. After he righted himself, he quite literally stood there and looked at me like nothing was wrong. It was really rather strange, because when he wants to act up, he acts up. It's never just a rear and then nothing...beats me. Thankfully, horse, humans, and mini-van all came out of the encounter in tact. I mounted from the ground, afraid he was going to do something stupid, so I didn't want anyone else nearby. However, he stood perfectly and walked like a gentleman right down into the schooling ring. Talk about an odd start to the day!
He jigged around the schooling area a little bit, but overall he was quite controlled. I jumped a little cross rail a few times (the schooling area at this farm is dreaful...) and just went into the ring for our first trip. There were so many people in the warm-up and so little space, I just decided winging it in the ring alone was better than having someone land on him because they couldn't call their jump.
In our first course, he pittered out on the first fence. It was a little single oxer, and quite honestly, I don't think he knew we were in the ring to jump. He was too busy staring at everything outside the arena to even notice the jump. I gave him a little smack behind the saddle to say, 'hey dude, there's a jump here and we're doing business now', then rubbed his neck, talked to him a little, and started again. This time there was no questions asked. He popped right on over it and continued right on his merry way. There were a lot of wobbles, weaves, and funny distances where we pittered out and jumped like a deer, but we made it around the whole course!
The second course was absolutely fantastic. He got a little rushy into the triple line and pulled the first rail, but I could have cared less about that! The third trip was even better, only he got a little too honest, and started getting a little gung-ho. Twice, I did a straight-line halt, backed up a few steps, and then continued. I wasn't out for ribbons, and I wanted a confident ride with no fighting. It did the trick, and I think he was super pleased with himself. I know all the girls from the farm were happy for him! Everybody was really proud, especially my sister and I. My old boss even came out to see him go!
I do have to say, having my very good friend and old college roommate there to hand me a gatorade after each trip was a God-send. It was a blistering, stagnant 95 degrees in the sun, alllllll day:(
After I watched Amanda do two of her trips in the 3'0" jumpers, I pulled Bella out and started getting her ready for the 3'6" schooling jumpers. Of course, Patrick did not like being alone, broke his halter, dented the roof of the trailer twice with his head, and scuffed up his face. Finally, my dad just had to give up on his ideas of seeing me ride Bella, and stand in there with him. I hope he's sore tomorrow. Those dents certainly looked like they hurt, and I have very little sympathy. I know what he's going to be practicing this week...
Anyways, Bella had three amazing rounds. Several times, I made a poor judgement call, and she helped me out enormously. Our first and third trips were nearly flawless as far as my personal expectations go, and I was thrilled to bring home a blue ribbon and a red ribbon:) And this, ladies and gentlemen, is the reason I just can't sell her!
All in all, it was a really great day. There are pictures (and hopefully videos!) coming! Stephanie took some really great shots, and my sister got some, too:)
How was everyone's weekend?
The morning started out pretty well. The jumper ring actually started fairly close to the designated time, and I was pretty pleased with that. We all know that horse show motto, 'hurry up and wait'. Thankfully, I had very little hurry or wait today.
The show grounds were pretty dead yesterday, so I was excited to see that there were quite a few more trailers. There's really no point in trying to school your young horse when no one shows up to make things interesting! So before I knew it, I had Patrick out of the trailer (and Bella stood perfectly after I took her friend out of the trailer!) and getting tacked up. Before anything could go right, he decided to throw out his (only) curveball of the day. While buckling his noseband, he reared up, flipped over, and smacked right into someone's mini-van, all totally out of the blue. After he righted himself, he quite literally stood there and looked at me like nothing was wrong. It was really rather strange, because when he wants to act up, he acts up. It's never just a rear and then nothing...beats me. Thankfully, horse, humans, and mini-van all came out of the encounter in tact. I mounted from the ground, afraid he was going to do something stupid, so I didn't want anyone else nearby. However, he stood perfectly and walked like a gentleman right down into the schooling ring. Talk about an odd start to the day!
He jigged around the schooling area a little bit, but overall he was quite controlled. I jumped a little cross rail a few times (the schooling area at this farm is dreaful...) and just went into the ring for our first trip. There were so many people in the warm-up and so little space, I just decided winging it in the ring alone was better than having someone land on him because they couldn't call their jump.
In our first course, he pittered out on the first fence. It was a little single oxer, and quite honestly, I don't think he knew we were in the ring to jump. He was too busy staring at everything outside the arena to even notice the jump. I gave him a little smack behind the saddle to say, 'hey dude, there's a jump here and we're doing business now', then rubbed his neck, talked to him a little, and started again. This time there was no questions asked. He popped right on over it and continued right on his merry way. There were a lot of wobbles, weaves, and funny distances where we pittered out and jumped like a deer, but we made it around the whole course!
The second course was absolutely fantastic. He got a little rushy into the triple line and pulled the first rail, but I could have cared less about that! The third trip was even better, only he got a little too honest, and started getting a little gung-ho. Twice, I did a straight-line halt, backed up a few steps, and then continued. I wasn't out for ribbons, and I wanted a confident ride with no fighting. It did the trick, and I think he was super pleased with himself. I know all the girls from the farm were happy for him! Everybody was really proud, especially my sister and I. My old boss even came out to see him go!
I do have to say, having my very good friend and old college roommate there to hand me a gatorade after each trip was a God-send. It was a blistering, stagnant 95 degrees in the sun, alllllll day:(
After I watched Amanda do two of her trips in the 3'0" jumpers, I pulled Bella out and started getting her ready for the 3'6" schooling jumpers. Of course, Patrick did not like being alone, broke his halter, dented the roof of the trailer twice with his head, and scuffed up his face. Finally, my dad just had to give up on his ideas of seeing me ride Bella, and stand in there with him. I hope he's sore tomorrow. Those dents certainly looked like they hurt, and I have very little sympathy. I know what he's going to be practicing this week...
Anyways, Bella had three amazing rounds. Several times, I made a poor judgement call, and she helped me out enormously. Our first and third trips were nearly flawless as far as my personal expectations go, and I was thrilled to bring home a blue ribbon and a red ribbon:) And this, ladies and gentlemen, is the reason I just can't sell her!
All in all, it was a really great day. There are pictures (and hopefully videos!) coming! Stephanie took some really great shots, and my sister got some, too:)
How was everyone's weekend?
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