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...