Another major milestone passed!

UK jumped his first real course earlier this evening! It's the first time he's had more then a line to do in one go.
We had an outside line, two jumps on separate diagonal lines, and a jump on the other outside line with the plank rails he hated so much that he refused to jump them if they were more then six inches off the ground until now.

We did a couple of different courses and didn't have any major problems. He even did a bending line! All of the jumps were 2'3" or 2'6" and he jumped them all like they were no big deal. I also didn't do much more then set the pace and let him figure out the rest on his own. That's when he really impressed me! He never took the big one!!!! He waited and balanced himself with no cue from me!!! I am so proud!

He's still a little bit wiggly down the lines, but otherwise he's improved by miles these last couple of months. I can angle the jump and he doesn't care. Our only problems stemmed from landing on the wrong lead and not wanting to slow down to do a simple change because he was so excited about jumping. Which means I need to start teaching him flying changes.... argh. I hate flying changes.

Tomorrow I'm hoping to get him out in the back field to jump the jumps out there. I need to where the spurs for that though, which means I need new spur straps. I broke the buckle on one this afternoon.

Oh and we're doing a hunter pace weekend after next! No turning back now! I'm nervous and excited and totally over-thinking it. But we'll be fine, we're going with Jean on Maggie and Gail on Bubba. A bomb could go off next to Bubba and he wouldn't care.

Okay, need some sleep! Toodles!

Trail Ride Tuesday

So I got to go trail riding on Tuesday (it's been raining ever since). I brought my sister-in-law along and let her ride Jet who belongs to a friend of mine. A bomb could go off next to Jet and he wouldn't care. My friend does cowboy mounted shooting on him.

Anyhoo, UK is green as all heck when it comes to trail riding. He gets bored and starts being an asshole, and so I need the other horse with us to just ignore his antics. My SIL had her hip broken two years ago by a nasty horse and is still recovering, so I wanted this to be a positive experience for her.

UK and Jet say hi.

I tacked up western, put on my big spurs and used a jury rigged tie down made out of a rope halter, some snaps and a leather strap on UK (my real tie down is being repaired as a dog ate part of it). We put on high visability vests as it's hunting season and hit the trail.

Amy enjoying herself.

My barn is smack dab in the middle of a huge wildlife management area. So just and 1/8 mile down from our driveway is the main trail head. UK was an ass a few times, but when Jet didn't react and I used my spurs he gave in a little. Once we were a mile or two away from home he stopped thinking about being a brat and started to enjoy being were we were.

We had a blast. The weather was beautiful and no one else was out, so we had the trails to ourselves. UK was a rockstar by the end, even leading through the water on the way back (he hates getting his pretty little toes wet).

The overlook at the dam.

I can't wait to get out again once it stops raining and dries up a bit. We're going to be attempting his first hunter pace next month. I am equal parts excited and scared.

Well we haven't floated away yet.

The lack of updates is due mostly to the weeks of rain we've been getting. We're stuck in a constant state of muddy despair. So much for fall being crisp and clear...

UK got ridden twice last week, and it was bootcamp due to him pulling some attitude while trying to go on a trailride. I'll just suffice it to say that what should have been a 40 minute ride was forced to be over 2 hours. He wasn't scared, he was just being a rebellious ass.

Oh and then thanks to the mud he pulled a front shoe again, but I'm not going to bother to call the farrier out till things dry up a bit. He's got an easy boot on the foot for the moment, so he'll be fine.

It's cold, wet and grey out almost constantly. UK is snug in his shed with a turnout sheet on, as he started to loose weight again due to his wussy nature and the cold nights. For a horse born in upstate NY he sure doesn't handle cold weather well!