Time for a Break.. kinda!

Bold and I did great at the show- 2 thirds and a great XC school.

However... For various reasons I am considering a break from riding- it's not fun as it used to be, and I need some time to get all my school stuff in order... I'm also house/catsitting and don't have time/gas/energy to drive farther to the barn. Plus, with Bold being sold, I don't have a "goal" to focus on, which makes it hard to motivate myself! But it was nice to close up on such a good note at the show! It was really a blast, and I'm planning to volunteer at the horse trials this year again,
In other news- I freeze branded a cow the other day! And next week I'm doing my AI certification class :) Very excited about getting the hands on experience and exploring other aspects of vet-med. I'm also trying to meet with my internship advisor to get the paperwork for my racetrack internship ready. It should be an exciting summer!

So so busy!

I went on a cross country adventure a couple weeks ago and haven't ridden since. I have tests and papers this week and a show this weekend! Anddddddddddddddddddddd
Bold is for sale!
He really is a superstar. Even his "bad" days aren't that bad. I mean, I'm taking 2 weeks off before the first show of the season, that I'm trying to sell him at. Obviously I trust him. And I'm a giant wuss.
That's all for now! More details on all of the above in the nearish future!

April 4-8th, Mister Manners

I went home a bit early last week, so I had a ride on Wednesday (trail ride with Michelle!) and also Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Wow!
Friday I was supposed to meet Michelle and Amanda for another trail ride when I finished work, but I got sidetracked (looked at a house with a coworker) so I was a bit late. Since Bold had been racing on a certain part of the field, I decided to take him out in the field alone. We trotted a bit at first, he's really good most of the time by himself. He wasn't such a fan of walking up and down the "mean hill", especially after he figured out it was because he was naughty. At one point we were backing down or going sideways down the hill... Oh Bold. We finished up on a good note, and I saw his owners when we got back to the barn, so he got to show off. They seemed really happy with how he looked, and I think he's a million times better. So proud of all our hard work paying off!
Saturday I got out to the barn and snagged Melissa and her Morgan Max for a trail ride! We wandered all over the place while it was misting, and Bold seems to like having Max around. He tries to bury his face in Max's butt when he's being a chicken, so they must like each other :) We got back from the trail ride and I took Bold into the indoor for a few minutes. He must be enjoying the trail rides, because he was definitely feeling good. Very willing, but also very forward. Super fun.
Sunday I went out after Easter Brunch and went on a trail ride with Cappie and Sky. Bold definitely thought he should be racing when he got head to head with them, so he got to watch while they did all the fun cross country jumps. He was feeling pretty sorry for himself. We took turns cantering a loop while the other two stood still- a really good exercise to work on riding towards and away from a group. Bold liked to rush back, and my face definitely connected with his neck a few times when I had to explain that is NOT OKAY. He also tried to run after them up a hill. He's like a little kid- he misbehaves, I get his attention (sometimes by yelling, I admit) then explain that's not OK, and he throws a tantrum. Then he gets sulky. Honestly Horse, you're supposed to have MANNERS after everything you've done this far! We also worked on the flat seperately in a group. He was grouchy, but not horrid by any means. He's not bad about leaving the group, he just really wants to get back to them when we turn around.

Overall, my adventures working on manners outside are... a work in progress. There are definitely issues, but nothing dangerous. I could do anything with him, it's just drawing lines to make sure he's listening to me instead of having all sorts of fun on his own. Cantering in a group will take a bit- he COULD, but I'd rather get him trotting nicely with others. I like Bold because he's a challenge, but I know how to deal with everything he throws at me, and what he's doing is just RUDE not scary. We'll see how the next few rides go... hopefully we got through some stuff with the daily trail riding. I have more work to do for the riding outdoors part of the schooling show than for the dressage part!

Smart Hands

Yesterday was such a beautiful spring day! I went out for a trail ride with Michelle, and we were out for an hour and a half. We worked on trotting, then walking again. We had ridden a bit in the outdoor and they both seemed pretty laid back, and Bold seemed to like Calvin (Michelle's horse) so we were out in the field most of the time.
It went really well- we went around the field twice, and the first time, we decided to trot up a hill going towards home. It was fine- Bold decided to canter, and I actually said "I'm going to circle... Wait, no." Apparently I've gotten a bit braver- I stuck it out to the top of the hill and then walked him.
The second time, we had a really nice trot around the back corner/side of the field, so we figured we would just trot up that hill again, then walk home... Uhh, maybe there's a reason people always say to walk home? Bold gets just a bit barn sour...
We started trotting, which Bold took as canter time, and he was trying to get Calvin to race him, so when Calvin wanted to keep up (about half a stride after Bold went into a canter) Bold thought that was great. So we took off galloping. The little chubby horse can move pretty fast! I was kinda impressed, although also pretty grouchy at the rudeness.
My immediate reaction to the "racing surge" Bold does is to clamp on with my legs and hands. If anyone has tried this, it's not effective. Unless you consider getting the horse to tense up and go faster to be effective, which I don't. Bold speeds off for long enough that I have time to think(also, he's kinda fat so I know he'll have to slow down eventually, so I'm not as panicky) and I realized that I need to actually ride. Sit up more, relax my legs, and STOP HANGING with my hands! Because let's be honest, if I really was only able to stay on my horse by having a death grip on the reins, I would either (a) be a flag or (b) be better off falling.
So I started releasing between half halts. In Bold's little race mode, half halt and release looks a lot like jabbing him in the face with the bit. Which is a really uncomfortable mode for both of us. But way more effective at stopping him. My hands are getting smarter guys.

Also, if anyone was curious- Chubby Morgan horse gallop is really uncomfortable when the horse is grouchy about being slowed down.


The "smart hands" idea was the theme for my trail ride- if I hang, Bold speeds up. If I release, he slows down. Kinda.
Michelle and I had a blast hacking around the farm, and it was a really good ride overall. Michelle and Calvin were the PERFECT pair to go outside with! It was SO MUCH FUN! Bold tried to munch on Calvin's shoulder and Michelle and Calvin had the same reaction, just very calmly "no". Loved it!
Now I'm off to watch a microbiology lecture before lab... I was training cows this morning, so I smell like cow poop. Seriously, this is why I love being an Animal Science major.

3/30-4/1 How did I get so busy?

I know I said the next post was going to be about sheep lab, but I haven't had the time or motivation yet! I went to my parents on Friday and stayed through Monday morning because my sister had her state gymnastics meet. She was a superstar and won everything but vault. And most of it by a pretty significant margin. So proud!
I did ride this weekend as well! Friday was a kinda lazy ride- Bold and I rode outside with Jessi and Kelso, but weren't super productive. Then I wandered to the indoor where somebody was jumping, so Bold and I decided to pop over a jump, just one. Which became three. Oops, guess I'm just lovin' the jumping these days.
Saturday I had a really nice dressage ride, despite a disagreement about the whip at the canter, which ended with Bold's head to the wall. We did go outside after, and he was just all fired up. I'm not sure we walked straight for more than 2 steps the entire time. Oh horses. I need to start doing trot sets in the fields!
Sunday I had a jump lesson- We did circle/oval jumps and it went really well. Bold's getting in better shape which keeps him more balanced over the fences. He hasn't been sore for a while now, and I think it has a lot to do with keeping him balanced, and keeping an eye on how much I've been working him. He's so good over fences that I don't need to do too much with it yet.
I have videos from Sunday that I will put up soon, but right now I need to type up some test corrections, finish Microbiology lectures, and write out a notecard for my Animal Science exam. Oh, and decide what dressage tests to do for the schooling show at the end of April!

Running.... Way. Too. Much.

So the other day, I decided I should start running. This was about the time I was sitting in my friend's room pretending to study chemistry while actually eating her food. Umm.... Opposite of running. I told her she should run with me (as we wandered around late at night searching for an open Starbucks- the internet had lied to us!) and, shockingly, she agreed. It has become my job to motivate us to get outside to begin running, and her job to keep me from running back to my semi-warm room every time there's a strong blustery wind that makes me cold. Apparently my spiderweb tights do not have windblocking abilities. Who would have thought?
So we started running last week, the same day as the aforementioned Chemistry exam. I think my running is about on par with my exam performance right now... It's rough, to say the least. I've started to hope that everyone else does even worse so the curve is low enough that I do well. Welcome to college.
Anyways, I originally began running back and forth to Bold's paddock. I'll run ahead of him, and he'll trot after me. I think he's letting me win so he gets treats. It still counts though.
I did run 2 miles today though, so maybe I'll legitimately beat him soon? I can always hope.
Anyways- time for bed! Have to get up tomorrow morning and renew my passport!! Then go running. We're running to Chilly Billy's... Somewhat counterproductive maybe....

(Up next- Sheep lab in the Beef Barn? I'll try to take some pictures again....)

3/23-3/25 Trails and Jumps!

3/23- Bold and I went out on a trail ride with Melissa and her Morgan Max. We went for about 2 hours and Bold was sweating up a storm... He didn't get that he needed to be relaxed to help with that... Oh well. It was fun, but I could tell Bold wasn't feeling great. He did fine though!
3/24- Since Bold had a tough day on Friday, I took it a bit easy on Saturday. We did some dressage work then ran to the far end of the field and walked back a few times since Bold tends to get a bit barn sour and likes to rush home.
3/25- FABULOUS jump lesson with Jenny. She also had apparel- but I needed a S/XS, so I'll wait for her next order!!! So excited! For jumping- we ended up doing a course- it was oxer around to diagonal vertical, to the bending line (crossrail to vertical) around to the corner.

Bold was fabulous- Jenny and I were both extremely happy- we ended in half the time because everything we jumped went so well, so I took Bold out for a walk around the field. He was pretty good- but had one bolting-spook incident that "popped" my elbow, so I was a bit sore for a while. Ugh horses! I couldn't even be upset with him because he was overall so great. He jumped everything sooooo nicely and even when he was nervous in the field he walked on politely.
Bold has had a few problems with being sore while jumping, but I think the fact that he's fit enough to be doing an appropriate level of work and I'm being very careful with what he's doing and monitoring him carefully, and he's doing extremely well.

No Perfect Horse...

While at Otter, I had to remind myself that no horse is perfect, and I actually do need to ride when I'm riding. I got a big reminder of this today as well, when I tried to take Bold out with a couple other horses for the first time this year...
I don't know if it's because he's in better shape now, or if it's because he's been stuck in the arena all winter, but Bold has been quite full of himself when he's around other horses. Even in the arena, if someone passes me too closely, Bold thinks that means we should chase them. Umm no. He's been good lately though, and usually doesn't break from the gait I had him in.
So today, we decided to go outside with a couple of other riders/horses, including Jessi and Kelso. We walked around the small field once, and that was fine. Bold was a little fresh, and wanted to trot ahead, but as long as I kept a loose rein, he stayed fairly relaxed in the trot.
Then we decided to trot. Bold loved the idea. He did O.K. for the first 3/4 lap, then he thought we were racing Kelso. Umm what gave you that idea Bold? So he tried to canter, and Kelso thought it was also a good idea- I brought Bold back into the trot and Jessi got Kelso into a trot-speed canter.... Close enough. Kelso was pretty good overall, but definitely had some spring freshness. Bold was just certain everything was a race... he got more "amp-y" when I tried to hold him back, and was more relaxed but still broke to the canter on a looser rein. We haven't found a happy medium quite yet...
BUT, while I was definitely tense, I could bring Bold into a small circle and have him slow down. He wasn't happy, but he did it. Which made me feel like I can deal with whatever he was going to do. After making him walk for a minute while the other horses trotted a bit, we headed back to the barn. Bold thought we should trot back. Sideways. Umm, probably not my first plan.
We made it back to the barn without anything crazy happening, and I rode Bold for a few minutes in the indoor. It was so warm that I couldn't do much because he got SO sweaty. Oh well.
While we were outside, I was working on not pushing so much against the stirrup with my lower leg. Lena pointed this out to me, and told me that it was a way of bracing against the horse, which obviously isn't going to help with being less tense!

Maybe I should spend more time riding and less time decorating my horsey...

Spring Break Riding Fun

I'll add pictures when I can! :)
So, instead of going somewhere warm and lovely for spring break, I hopped over to Wisconsin and decided to spend a week at Otter Creek Farm. I had a very nice jumping lesson on Bold on Sunday before I left with Jenny- we worked on not "jumping ahead", I have a tendency to try to start jumping the jumps before Bold actually leaves the ground...Which does NOT keep me out of his way! Jenny had me jump with my eyes closed so I couldn't anticipate the jump. So glad I have such a trustworthy horse to ride!!
Anyways, we got out to Otter fairly late on Sunday- I watched Jenny teach all day, and by the time we got there, I was ready for sleep! Carly was also out for the week, which was super fun.
Monday
Carly was going to be doing twice a day rides with her mare to get over a rough patch, so first thing in the morning, I watched her lesson. It was pretty fun to watch- they had a bunch of poles randomly thrown around on the ground, and Carly rode over them in different patterns, turning sharply to keep her mare focused and slow, weaving between the poles, and all sorts of crazy things! Carly was riding really well, and her mare loves to jump, so it helped her focus and kept her happy with the work.
Emily, the working student out at Otter, had spring break this week as well, so the three of us were out there together, plotting away! Emily and I rode together on Monday, and (I think) we ended up riding up and down the long driveway towards the house and cross country fields before and after the ride. I rode Moe, who, as always, was a total rockstar. We worked on shoulder in to haunches-in, then getting three changes on the diagonal. SO much work! Moe likes to rush off after he changes one direction(I think right to left leads), so I really had to keep it together! It was fun though!
Tuesday
Tuesday was a busy day- there were lessons, and the vet came out. Someone else was riding Moe, so I rode Jenny's mom's dressage horse Ymer. Ymer is a sweetheart with amazing training, and is a complete blast to ride. He knows everything, but still makes me work just a little bit for it. Jenny was busy, so her mom was helping me with Ymer. We did some trot work- shoulder-in and haunches-in, which I'm finally maybe sorta kinda getting the hang of! Lena (Jenny's mom) fixed my leg position a bit, and then told me instead of using constant pressure for leg-yielding etc, to just kick once or twice and then let him be. Oh, well that's a lot less work. So then we moved into some canter work... Apparently on high level horses, if they're fairly straight and you put your leg on, they switch leads instead of move over. Ooopsy. I did get some nice changes though! Once Lena told me to bend Ymer a lot more to get the canter moving laterally, we got some nice half-pass. I think. Anyways- the ride was a bit shorter since Ymer needed to get his vet work done, but I still learned a lot!
Later that night, we free-jumped some of the horses. It's really fun to see the horses that love to jump just playing with it!
We all went out for dinner that night, and Emily slept over- although it's a little less exciting sleepover when almost nobody makes it through even one movie! We all were tired! Still, it was very fun.
Wednesday
Wednesday morning, Carly jumped her mare. She rode really well- her horse was a bit wary of the bigger jumps at first, after having some time off jumping, but Carly stuck with her and got her through everything after a few tries! She had one jump where the mare got "wiggly" before the jump, and Carly got her over the jump beautifully. They both seemed to gain confidence then, and seemed to be working together really well.
The vet came out to float the last training horse's teeth, and I helped pull her mane while she was drugged. I watched the vet as well as I could, then she offered to let me try out the power-floater she was using. She handed it to me, and I did one of the front teeth. So cool to get that experience!
We took the horses out for a trail ride that day- Moe loved it, and thought we should run the entire time... Umm hello Moe, we are with a group, and you're kinda out of shape, and you are an unclipped black horse on the first hot day. What part of that says run around like crazy? Anyways, it was fun, and Carly and I got the chance to ride one of the training horses who is for sale that day. He's a really sweet horse, but a bit sensitive. I took him out for a walk outside after, his first time out for the year. It was uneventful, and we figured that if I (the biggest chicken ever) feels comfortable taking him out, he's probably pretty good.
We swept out the concrete show barn to help get it ready for Lena and Mark to put the new mats in! I think they got most of them in, and Lena asked if I would ride Ymer again, since she was tired from moving the mats. Absolutely I would! Carly rode Palladin- one of the younger dressage horses, and we had fun riding together. I did some flying lead changes again- I managed to start getting five on the diagonal! Woohoo!
Carly and I clipped Moe that night- full body, and he looked quite dashing with a "M" on one hind leg and a "shooting heart" on the other. Or so WE thought!!
Thursday
Thursday was our last day there, and I rode Moe outside with Emily in the morning while Carly had a jump lesson. We ended up playing in the water jump, and Moe and I wandered around the cross country course a bit, looking at the jumps. Great end to the week! We put the horses away, and then Carly learned how to back the truck up to hook it up to the trailer. Jenny asked me if I wanted to drive back and learn to pull the trailer... I wasn't sure at first, but I did it! I drove the entire way back, and it went great! I did well with stopping smoothly, and even avoided hitting deer- always a plus. Carly said I could trailer her horse to shows for her, so I guess she thought it went pretty well too :)
We got home, and I decided to ride Bold. I had a really nice ride, and decided to take him out to walk around the field. Well, walking around was boring, so I decided to trot. And THAT went so well, I just HAD to canter. He didn't peek at anything, and even got a bit lazy in the canter- just the feel I like! That's about as brave as I get, so I was pretty proud, and very happy with Bold.
Friday
I decided Bold deserved a day off, so I rode a couple of my friends' horses while they're gone for the week. The horses are both thoroughbred-draft crosses, and just some of the nicest horses to be found. They're half siblings, and have SUPER solid minds, and are pretty athletic as well. I lucked out on getting to ride them, and, while they're both somewhat green(started less than a year ago), I had nice rides on both.

Stop Doing Circles! And other exciting things

Back at school- wrapping up the week before Spring break! Finished my midterms for the week on Wednesday, and then headed out to the equine center at the University to ride for a bit- while the equine center is primarily a veterinary hospital, they do keep a few horses for the animal science, vet students, and other miscellaneous purposes. So I'll go out when I have time and lesson with the trainer out there once in a while, or just ride "P". P is a gelding, and he's not green in the sense that he's been under saddle for quite a while, but he is pretty green in the connection, and he really struggles with that. Plus, he's pretty smart, and knows which way the door is, so he can not only try to head to that end of the arena, but he tricks me into tensing against him. Funny story guys- I'm not physically stronger than a horse.
Anyways, I went out Wednesday and rode with the trainer and another lady who organizes things out there, and they're trotting around on their mares with pretty frames, while P and I are in some sort of trot-halt-neck-twisting limbo... well that's awkward. So P and I are trying to get into  some work, and I keep getting stuck on a 20 meter circle, trying to get it "good enough" so I can move on to something else. Oh lordy, getting a little over focused.
By this time, the trainer had basically finished her ride and was watching me, and told me to go down the long side, and try for a medium trot, then on the next long side, do a ten meter circle halfway down. Basically, she wanted me to GET OFF OF THE CIRCLE and actually DO something. I get so focused on making a perfect circle with a perfect horse, that I get tense and it ends up being counter-productive. Oopsies.
So, new goal, along with going forward more- get away from circles! I really like circles. Like, all of the time. Seriously, whenever I feel insecure while I'm riding, I do a circle to figure out what's going on. Which isn't all bad, but sometimes you just have to ride in a straight line... Or so they tell me.

Just Bold being cute... breaking up a long blog

In Other News
I got a couple of exciting emails this week-
1. I was accepted to a missions trip to Nicaragua this summer. I'm going with my mom and brother, and a group from my church. The actual mission is through ORPHANetwork, and we're working with an orphanage there for a week at the beginning of August! Super exciting, and I'm looking forward to going. I'll be setting up a trip sponsorship type site, if you're interested in helping me out that way- Otherwise just praying and hoping that everything works out for me is appreciated SO MUCH :)
This will be my second mission trip like this- the last time I went down to Reynosa Mexico, where we were partnered with a church.
2. I've been working on getting an internship for the summer, and I started emailing everyone I could find emails for at a racetrack/casino, and got some directions on who to contact, and found someone who was SUPER helpful, and forwarded my email and followed up with me. Just really helped me out and made sure I got to the right people. Anyways, she ended up giving me some veterinarians' contact information, and once I emailed them, I found a practice that seemed genuinely excited for me to follow them around this summer!! So I've got my internship for this year, and even made sure it would work to get credits. Yay!


ALSO  if there is anything in particular I should go into more detail about, or anything that isn't super clear, or you just feel like commenting- please comment! :)
Now it's time for me to bag up my dirty clothes and get ready for spring break!!

Riderideride, studystudystudy!

Okay, so this is the rewrite, because my first try was pretty jumbled...
So Friday, I was out riding, and a younger rider at Bold's barn, a very nice and quite talented dressage rider who also rides with my trainer and has a superstar sassy pony, was out, so I asked her to help me with Bold. We ended up trading horses, and while watching her, I told her "That's what I want him to look like when I ride!!" so she helped me figure out how to get a little closer-
She worked on getting him to accept the connection better, by asking him to give (more with my outside rein) then releasing. Alright, I know I've heard this before, but it's like I just CAN'T REMEMBER! I know that I definitely have a tendency to just hang onto the horses mouths, which they don't usually like and really doesn't help with connection issues... Oopsy.
Anyways, so more explanations of the same idea, and totally 100% correct. Also, her pony was fun to sit on :)
I think right now, having someone standing there making sure I'm releasing helps a lot.
Saturday we started to work on the same stuff until....... dun-duh-duh-DUNH....
... I jumped! We started off at crossrails and I eventually put it up to a small vertical, and obviously Bold was fine- he tried to get lazy and would hit rails just enough so they didn't fall, but still, not something I want him to start. As long as I kept him working he was good, and I'm planning to jump again soon! Maybe not in a dressage saddle next time though. I was working on making sure I release over the jump.
Newest(slash re-newing) exercise/explanation/reminder to self-
Jockey Stirrups- flip stirrups over saddle, lift your feet back in, and trot around in a two point type position (you'll need a dressage whip on most horses) until you fall on your butt. seriously. It helps with quads(and I think glutes, otherwise I've been doing this wrong again) but you need a trustworthy horse!! Laurie and Dori suggested this- Dori says to just roll your stirrups, but Laurie said to flip them. And both of them said they would jump in that length when they did it. (I'm not there yet, suprise)

Sunday- no riding! I worked the morning shift and decided I needed to study for my exam tomorrow, so I took a dinner shift as well, and just studied between and after. Microbiology is tough! Hopefully my sectioned, color-coded flashcards help ;)

Visiting the Dairy Barns...

This morning, I had an Animal Science lab in the Dairy Barn... I even took pictures for proof! We didn't actually do much (I'm sure that's coming soon though...) but we did look around and judge a few cows on conformation, and worked on ID'ing different dairy cow tools and looking at mastitis milk tests... Here's some pics! I had more, but, shockingly, cows are not extremely photogenic...

We talked about why some of these cows look thin (this pic doesn't show it perfectly) Apparently it's because most of their energy goes to milk production.

These were the first time pregnant moms.

Our professor discussing conformation...

If you look near the back of the barrel on this cow, you can see that circular disc thing? That opens up so you can reach into the cows rumen and harvest rumen fluid. It's pretty cool- The cow can do whatever, have babies, produce milk, etc.

Okay, that's all the cow pictures! Hopefully back to horses soon....

Slushy Yuckyness Outside! Eww.

So, from the title of this post, you can probably guess I am not a huge fan of the melted snow cone version of my campus...

I'm thinking warm thoughts... Like this picture taken last summer by a fabulous friend of mine while I rode my trainer's superstar horse. All around good times there!

Since I'm sitting around inside, back at school, trying to avoid Microbiology and Chemistry, I figure I might as well research some new exercises for riding... to Google!
I started by looking up exercises for riding... Specifically- helping with the connection.
This is not an extremely easy search. I think some of these sites want me to breath with my horse and pet him. Different meaning of connection...
And I decided to pass on Wikipedia and WikiHow... at least for now.
Okay, so I need to work on my google skills. Maybe I'll try side reins when I'm lunging in warm-up to see if it makes any difference, or just to see what I can see.
Clicking around though, I found a lot of suggestions for transitions. So, next ride, transition work it is! If I ever make it on Bold- I'm guessing he's gone from bright chestnut to a lovely clumpy brown by now.
Keep warm and safe in the snow!

Dressage Pyramid

So, Bold, real Dressage, and I seem to have some disagreements on what the proper dressage pyramid is.

This is Bold's pyramid...

(Borrowed from http://nanrawlins.com/)

This is my pyramid....

(Borrowed from http://www4.ncsu.edu/~masupple/hillbilly/dressage.html, a super funny site)

The real Dressage pyramid. Or rather, the more widely used one.

Obviously, I am not excelling in any of these pyramids. Oops...

Last day of My little break!

So, I obviously have been riding a LOT more than usual lately- seeing how I don't normally have a car at school! But with the parents coming back tomorrow from Hawaii, and having labs and tests tomorrow, today might be my last day to ride during the week! Which might be a good thing......

I went out to ride today with Amanda and her mare (and adorable new puppy!!) which was super fun, butttt wasn't actually a super ride. Bold was just a little too "pull-y" in the contact- just a bit more ahead of the vertical than I would have liked... Amanda and I talked about it and she said he looked like he wasn't quite submitting entirely to the contact. Which I totally agreed with. We were talking a bit more, and she said one of the things Jenny has had her do is really push on the longsides, then collect as much as possible on the short side. We tried that for a while, and he never got quite where I wanted him... Super bummer, but it happens! He was doing his leg-yields better- I told Jenny he had forgot them in my lesson the other day, so she got on and did a few and basically told me "They're still there" aka it's all me right now! he was still a bit twisty through the top of his neck, but hopefully a few days off will get both of us ready to work harder!
The theme for the day seemed to be aaaaaaaaaaaaaalmost... but not quite. At least we're getting closer! I have to remind myself that we haven't been working on this stuff for all that long and it's going to take time for both of us to build some muscles back up.

Lessons, Dressage Clinic, and a whole lot of work

Last Thursday I had a lesson where we worked on keeping my aids ready to leap into action when needed. The best way for me to explain this is to use the example of Bold "spooking" to the inside in corners(not a leaping spook, more like a general "pop the ribcage in and stick his nose in the air"). So when Bold starts causing an issue in a corner, when I approach that corner, my spur is sitting there, just barely touching his side- enough so we both know it's there, but not enough to make him move away. but if he does try to come in, my leg doesn't go with him, so he pushes into the spur, which makes him move back out. So I'm working on doing that, but with every aid. We're still working on relaxed forearms/elbows following his mouth, so I'm imagining a cone my hands are going into. The first little bit has almost no resistance, but as he pulls more, it gets tougher to pull, until the point where my hands stop completely. It's a LOT of thinking- and I tend to over do it.
So then Friday I was in classes from 8:30 until 1:10- way too much learning! Although Thursday I did work on nutrition, which is interesting to me. When I finished class, I drove out to the barn and loaded up horses with Maura (none for me though!) and headed to the dressage clinic. We got there and got the horses settled in, and spent the night just hanging out with all the riders and the clinician. It was a really fun group of people, and this is the second time I've watched this clinician, and I can't wait to ride with him. He's very good at explaining what he wants the rider and horse to be doing, and how to get there. I was asking my trainer about him since she works with him quite often, and his next clinic in the area was full last fall! No chance I'm getting into that, and very little chance my college-student-rider budget has room for clinics right now! Maybe in a few months........
So what did he work on? Well, when I watched, he talked a lot about balance, forwardness, and using your aids. He would ask the rider "how much forward do you need?" or "How much do you need to half-halt?" or "What is a half-halt?" to get them really thinking. The answer to the first two was "until its enough (basically until the horse was finding his own balance) and I can't quite remember his exact answer to the last one, but I was discussing this with an instructor a couple weeks back, and she said "a half-halt is a rebalance. If you are on a giant Belgian that's running down the long side, what would you do? Circle. In that instance, that circle is a half-halt, because it's making your horse rebalance." And, to my mind, the clinician was saying the same idea. He seemed to be saying a lot of things my trainer has been saying, which I felt was a good sign!
Alright, I'll try to wrap this up quick- I went out to ride Bold today, after starting work at 7am and getting done at 730pm, with only a couple hours off in between lunch and dinner. He was very good- we did get into it a bit about one of the corners, but I brought him back to the walk and just went through it a few times. He started to get anxious and upset in the corner when he thought he would get in trouble, so I had to get him to calm down to be productive. I did some jockey stirrups- flip my stirrups over the saddle and trot around in them... shaky legs now! Then, at the end, I tried riding on the bit with my eyes closed. So much easier- I could feel where he was wiggling or pulling so much easier, but I probably should have taken the jumps down first.... oops! But I'm going to try the no eyes riding again soon :)

Bold tried to come in the tack room to help me find treats!

Wow, that was a long post. I'll finish the Bold story later. I get busy!

Bold

(Sorry for the bad picture!)

This is Bold- He's a Morgan gelding in his early teens. I've adored him for a few years, basically ever since we met, and just last summer/spring got the chance to start riding him. He had a tendon injury, and took a year off, and I was riding at a hunter barn for a year and a half or so after losing my confidence(and with that, a lot of my willingness to ride anything that wasn't 150% bombproof) during a really rough competition season. Bold showed up at the barn Sierra and Sterling are at, and I was thrilled. I rode him a bit over the summer- maybe once a week or every other. I wasn't at a point then where I was comfortable riding him- he felt unbalanced when I was on, and his personality seems spooky- you can sort of see that from the photo above. But when he moved to the barn Polo is at, I wasn't sure I'd be able to ride him anymore, and started to regret not taking advantage of it before.
Okay- time's up for me! Homework calls- I need to get my chem homework done and watch my Microbiology lectures tonight so I can be a clinic tagalong with Maura and Jessi and Jenny this weekend!

Just Keep Going Forward

I know I haven't introduced all the horses yet, but I was riding Bold, my dressage horsey, today, and kept working on getting him forward. I definitely think it helps a lot- I just need to figure out the reins business. And the shoulders.... We've got work to do, but definitely progressing.
I got on Polo for the first time in about a month and he was super- lovely manners, and very relaxed. I tried to set up scary jumps, but we were over everything on the first try. He did get the wiggles a bit before our first skinny, but if that's the worst, I'm thrilled! He was leaping into his canter departs- very cute. and entirely unphased by the hammering and drilling in the corner. Absolute superstar.
Jessi happened to be out riding when I was on Polo, so I got on Kelso. He's super forward thinking, but tends to be heavy in the reins. Once I pushed him forward and just held with the contact, he became more balanced and round. He's a bit different from Bold in that he gets HEAVIER when I half halt and release a lot, whereas Bold will get lighter. It was a great opportunity to get a feel of a very different horse. And Kelso was a great teacher!

The Little Pony Who Could

About two and a half or three years ago, a family from my old Dressage Barn moved their pony to the barn I was at then (and back at now). They didn't think the barn was the right fit, and the trainer wasn't a good match with the pony. Prince Polo Pony is a very small (either 10hh or 12hh, I can't keep it straight) white, light boned pony. We don't know his exact breeding but Jessi and I decided today that he's mostly unicorn, with a little Connemara mixed in. Seriously, he's not just a cute little pony. Take a look!

Prince Polo and me by a jump I set up for him today.

Don't worry, more pictures later!

When Polo and I first met, he was a pretty big chicken... He had some bad experiences and had gone from being a sassy little jumper, to lacking all confidence. I tried to trot over ground poles the first day, and he made it quite clear that was not an option. He was very spooky, and hadn't cantered under saddle for quite some time. So, we took it slow and steady. Started at the basics and worked our way up. Made some mistakes, and learned a lot. We now jump barrels, skinnies, and canter around like nobody's business. One of my favorite horses just because he's taught me so much and I've seen him come so amazingly far.

(Photo Credit: Jessi Dery)

About The Horses- Part 1

Here are the first couple of horses I ride (by ride I obviously mean "chase around excessively large pastures with a halter"). These guys live at my friend's house- it's a little barn, and they just have three horses there right now, in addition to the chickens and Scraggles the cat.

(Scraggles isn't its real name. It's Bailey.)

Sterling

Age: ?? Good question- mid to late teens.

Breed: Another good question...

Enjoys: Long strolls in the snow - note the word stroll.

Naps

Treats

New riders that don't boss him at all!

I love that I can go out by myself and just hack around the pasture and down the road with Sterling! He's a solid citizen. He's no supermodel, but he'll trek around like a star!

He is obviously thrilled. You can tell because... he just is. Also, I do not normally ride in these sorts of saddles. More on that later.

Sierra

Age: 7 or so

Breed: Arab

Enjoys: Being sassy, and getting groomed.

Lady Jane

She just sits around and looks nice. She had some pretty bad lameness issues, so her owners just let her enjoy hanging out with everyone else.

So that's Barn #1! I don't make it out there all that often, there isn't an indoor, and I'm a total wimp!

Hello? Is this thing on?

Just got the blog set up... I figure it will at least be an entertaining distraction, and maybe help me remember that I do ride horses during those long school weeks! I think this is working right- I couldn't figure out how to set up that Pinterest site, so this is my alternative.
I am a first year college student, but technically I'm a sophomore. So when I got to school this past fall and saw I could graduate in 3 years with a normal schedule, I decided I should. Gotta save the money for Vet school! Then I decided to tack on a communications minor, and I'm busier than ever. Today, I left my parents' house (I'm staying for a week or so) at 6:30am and finished class early- at 8:25pm... It had been a long day, and I decided to visit the horsey-more on that later- so, a bus and drive later, I decided to ride a bit. I'm a bit of a slow rider, so I decided my new goal is to get comfortable enough with "more engine" from the horse that someone actually needs to tell me to slow down. Funny enough, it helped. I know, shocking that my past 7 or so instructors were actually right. ;)
Time to study! 8:30AM exam tomorrow, then taking the rest of the day to ride. I'll try to post some photos of the various horses soon.