Okay, I'm overdue for an update. Sorry!

There has been a lot going on lately. UK's been pretty good. I've been alternating between english and western (mostly for my own comfort). After forcing him to work hard in the round pen a couple weeks ago he's been pretty much back to his normal self and less of a rebellious teenager.

The biggest change has been in what bit I use when I ride him over fences. Normally I rode him in the same bit that I flatted him in: a full cheek three piece snaffle with a copper roller. Last week I decided to see how he'd be in my full cheek slow twist snaffle, as when he'd get excited or fresh I felt like he was able to ignore the bit. Boy! What a difference! I swear that a full cheek slow twist snaffle is the ultimate bit for any downhill horse. It's got just the right amount of twist to get their attention and be able to stop them.

The first time I rode him in the slow twist he was shocked. He'd gotten strong after jumping a vertical and tried to pull and demand that I let him do what I want. I closed my legs and my hand and he went "OMG WHAT WAS THAT?!?!" and slowed down and went back into a frame. I actually felt a bit bad for him as he was that surprised. But I wasn't about to go back to less bit as this bit really kept him from trying to sneak sideways.

I jumped him again today, in the slow twist, and he was fantastic!!! I'd flatted him the night before and he'd been a bit off (I found out that he'd had a rough night) so I wasn't going to demand too much from him. I let him know from the get-go that if he was good then we'd be done quickly.

I've been setting up a pole 9feet in front of our verticals to help him not try to always take the "big one". The bounce poles have really been making him think, and he's starting to understand what I'm trying to teach him. He only messed up once, getting distracted and then doing an "oh crap" jump when he realized there was a bounce pole he had to navigate. He jumped from the pole and over the vertical and cleared both, good thing I'm in better shape or I wouldn't have been able to keep up with him! I let him know it was okay and then picked up the canter again and went right back to it, he got it right that time. We finished with jumping an oxer a few times and making him wait, rather then take the big one again. His biggest problem is he knows he can jump the smaller jumps with very little effort and tries to be lazy and take the long distances in order to jump the jumps sooner.

What I realized tonight was how happy he got after jumping something successfully. I'd tell him he was a good boy after landing and he'd be all happy and energetic, wanting to keep going and jump more rather then take a break and walk. He wasn't jigging or anything, but I could feel how ready he was. Really made me proud at how far he has come.

We were only in the ring for maybe 15 minutes tonight, there was no point in making him do more when he kept learning and doing what I asked. We went for a walk outside the ring and then he got to chill and graze for a bit before I put him back in his paddock with LD.

If he could perform at a show like he did in the ring tonight, we could have won every green hunter class I could ride him in.... He was that good. I love that I don't have to fight him or have a lot of contact to get my message through (that was Tess, she always thought she knew better). I have soft hands, and I prefer light contact in the reins at all times, as I prefer to use my legs more then anything. It is so nice to have a horse that is willing to respect that.

Well, let's see what tomorrow brings.... (hopefully I'll be able to take him over some XC jumps before winter!)

Millbrook Horse Trials 2011

Saturday I met with my sister-in-law and we hopped in my car and drove out to Millbrook, NY to watch the crosscountry portion of the Millbrook Horse Trials. I'd made the decision to go when I found out that Peter Atkins was bringing Henny down and competing in the Intermediate division. Millbrook is less then an hour away from my house. 


Amy and I had a blast! It was fantastic to be around so many horse people. All the volunteers (especially the little girls running the raffle tent) were friendly and helpful. It was cloudy and breezy and bug free, you really couldn't ask for better weather. 


It was awesome to watch so many top quality horses and their riders negotiate the XC course. Having Boyd Martin, Phillip Dutton, Karen O'Connor, Leslie Law, Doug Payne, Peter Atkins, Buck Davidson and other professional riders so close was a great learning experience. 


Below is a small selection of the photos I took. Over all I took almost 1200 photos. Unfortunately my camera just wasn't powerful enough to get the shots I was trying to get. 

"Millbrook Horse Trials 2011"

(Here's the link to my album)

I also took some video:

There is more video on my youtube channel. 

I shared some of my better shots with Eventing Nation and John has used a couple for today's Millbrook showjumping recap entry. I'm a huge fan of EN and can't help but be tickled pink that my photo is gracing their blog. ^_^

Here's hoping that next year I'll be lucky enough to be competing in the beginner novice with UK! It's a big dream, but it is a dream that was made all the more tempting by walking the course once all the advanced riders were done. 

At least I know I won't have any problems with the show jumping, as that's my thing.... hehe! 

Somebody has a taste for speed...

Nom-ing and looking noble.

I've been working UK pretty consistently this past week. Riding either early or late to escape the heat. I was at the barn a lot in order to cover for Sally who owns the barn. Her sister lost her battle to breast cancer and Sally had her wake and funeral to deal with. 

Wednesday I had a bunch of my fellow boarders helping out, and we all decided to ride before it got too hot. I decided to be lazy and tacked UK up western as it was too hot to wear half chaps. Jean was borrowing my saddle so she could jump Maggie over some small crossrails. We were having a great ride when all of a sudden, a loud noise made us all jump. UK spooked, but stood his ground when I asked him to. Maggie however spun and dumped Jean. The noise was a tree falling in the woods beyond the ring. 

Right before the tree fell.

 Jean was all right and got Maggie settled eventually. As UK seemed to be none the worse for wear I put him back to work. Just for laughs I decided to see how UK would be a turning around a barrel. He did pretty well at the trot, but really couldn't grasp the concept. Then I let him gallop. This is the first time since he had the Lyme disease that he's had enough energy to try.

Boy did he light up like a little kid at Christmas! At first he was reluctant, then I felt him tense up and then release. He's pretty fast! And he is quick to respond too! Right about the time UK and I were having the most fun, he tripped and I realized that I forgot to put on his bell boots... Oops!

Thursday I rode him english and put him back to regular work. He was pretty good, but was having a heart attack about a small pile of dirt just outside of the ring that wasn't there the day before. I got him to work past it, but his spookiness combined with a bit of an attitude was wearing me out. We'd been jumping a bit, including over a jump with planks that UK was hating. The last time over, UK spooked in mid-air, dropped his left shoulder and went sideways. I landed on my hip, and then got back on UK and made him do everything again.

Friday I decided that it was time for UK to go back to boot camp. We did some lunging work, and when he still decided not to respect me we moved to the round pen. Eventually he gave in and admitted that maybe he should listen to me. We wrapped up by going for a nice long hand walk to cool him off.

He got to chill in his pen for a bit and then I let the barn girls practice their braiding skills on him. He was nice and patient, even dozing off for a bit.

Barn girls practicing their braiding skills on UK.

I later hopped on him bareback to do some show and tell. The barn girls wanted some pointers, and I was planning on teaching them how to do an emergency dismount. After wowing the girls with my amazing thighs and my bareback posting ability I taught them how to do an emergency dismount.

UK's had the last two days off, as I was in Millbrook yesterday and had stuff to do around the house today. I'll cover Millbrook in a second post!

Wooo! Crossrails! Woo!

Ok, maybe that was a little bit sarcastic... hehe.

Yesterday, I tacked UK up and hacked him out to the back field, accompanied by Jean on Maggie. I wanted to see how UK would be to ride around such a large and open space. He tried turning around a couple times, but then gave in when I insisted that we keep moving forward.

Five jumps are scattered around the field, four of them crossrails and one small vertical. By small I mean only a foot high, baby jumps. Overall UK was pretty good, and jumped everything. After jumping the first few crossrails, he just started trotting over them and got a bit sloppy.

I learned one very important thing however, we need more bit if we're going to ride out in the field again! As he started to enjoy cantering around, he didn't want to slow down or brake to the trot and even got a bit mad when I asked him to halt. Yup, my three piece snaffle with the copper roller is great for flat work but not so great for getting an excited UK to pay attention. I plan on using my full cheek slow twist next time we go out to the field.

One of these days I'll have some taking pictures while I ride, UK is quite the hotshot these days. ^_^

Freaky Friday

The view from UK: Jean on Candy.

Today dawned overcast and smelling like rain. Normally Fridays at the barn are fairly quiet, but today we had three barn girls. So I helped them feed and tried to keep them out of trouble.

Jean and I were planning on going on a trail ride with Stef for 10am. I decided to take UK, Jean took Candy (a very opinionated paint mare) and Stef was taking Jett (a QH gelding with a been there, done that attitude). We had a pretty good ride! UK and I went farther then we'd ever gone before. I think it was at least 5 miles round trip. Over bridges, through water and up (and down) rocky hills.

After we got back and put the horses away, I grabbed the barn girls and the golf cart. We had a mission to put the jumps back up in the back field, as it had just been mowed. I have to say that I felt 16 again driving the golf cart through the woods with three chattering tweens riding along.

After a through checking of the field for holes, we proceeded to set up the jumps. I then took on the monumental task of teaching the girls how to count strides. Needless to say, when I asked them how many 3ft steps to take for a 6 stride line and one of them answered "10" I wondered about the future generation.

The best part of the afternoon was when we were done with the jumps. Stef and Jean had walked up, and rode back with us. So six of us in the golf cart, laughing and trying not to fall out. The poor golf cart needed to be pushed up one hill, but we all arrived safely at the barn in the end. It was a lovely bit of happiness amid all the craziness that's been going on lately. (I refuse to discuss barn drama on my blog)

Tomorrow I plan on jumping UK, hopefully. We'll see!

My ankle needed a break, so I walked the last bit home. Torn ankles suck.

Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Heat, Trail rides and torrential rain.

Oh yeah baby, gotta love the crazy New England weather! There was a rumor that a tornado touched down in the middle of the state, but I don't know if that's true.

Anyhoo! The heat this past week was killer. It reached 100 degrees one of the days, and the humidity never let up. I rode UK bareback on Tuesday, as it was too hot for a saddle. I didn't get to ride him again till Saturday morning because of the heat.

Friday night my phone starts buzzing that I have a text message:

Jean: trail ride in the morning


Me: Not if it's this hot. UK's a mess just being in the paddock


Jean: 730 am


Me (my phone didn't get me the new text till 11pm): Just got your text with the time. I'll try to make it. Just got home.


Jean: Call me in the am. let me know.


Me: Ok

So I am not a morning person, never have been. I think God thought it would be decidedly funny to make me a horse person who's not a morning person and allergic to horses, hay, mold, grass, dust, pollen, etc. I bet every time I get a rash from touching my horse he/she falls out of his/her chair laughing.

Anyhoo, I called Jean in the morning and we both dragged our sorry selves to the barn. We were tacked up by 8:30am and heading out. UK was a nice mis-mash of western and english tack. My western pad again, western bridle, rope halter with leadrope attached, ear net, english saddle and english breastplate and a borrowed pair of bell boots. Jean was taking Rebel this time.

Now then, I had a theory that the reason UK tries to turn around is because walking gives him too much time to think. So the plan was to trot a lot and maybe canter.

I really think us horse people should know better by now... plans never work. Plans are made to be ruined....

The bugs were horrendous! The sky was cloudy and it was humid with almost no breeze. After trotting for awhile I looked at Jean and we both agreed to canter. We cantered, and cantered, and cantered. Uphill, downhill, through the woods and past water. It was wicked. Jean and I just going down the trail, laughing and joking around. We eventually walked and let our poor ponies cool down. Our calm was short lived however as the bugs then swarmed us again. A good chunk of our ride home had to be trotted, in order to try to keep the bugs at bay.

UK lead through the water on the way home again. Jean said I should trot it, and I told her no, he'd jump it. She laughed at me and I reminded her that I want him to be an eventer, he needs to go through water, not over it!

UK got a nice long hose down when we got back to the barn. I'd ridden with super long stirrups again, and my ankle was pissed at me for doing that. Next time I need to ride with normal length stirrups if I want to be able to walk the next day.

I rode UK bareback Sunday night again, and I plan on riding him tomorrow. It's been raining the last two days. The cooler weather is nice, but I'm getting sick of being soaked...

Adventure!

Saturday I went out on a trail ride without UK, instead riding his pasture mate, Rebel. Rebel's a nice little chestnut AQHA gelding who has a wonderful unflappable attitude. The goal was to accompany my friend Jean while she tries to get her mare, Maggie, to cross water.

We put UK's rope halter on under Maggie's bridle and clipped a long cotton lead rope to it to have ready to pony her with in case of trouble. Maggie is smart and had been pretty brave so far, so we weren't expecting too much trouble.

It was a bit hot out so I left my gloves at the barn as I was riding Rebel western. Didn't think much of it, silly me. Horses didn't care about the tractor tedding a field full of hay, and everything seemed to be going well. We got to the river crossing and Rebel decided to be reluctant which didn't help Maggie. She ended up being scared and tried to turn around in a spot too tight to do that. Jean ended up falling off, getting a horn in the side in the process. Everyone was ok though, Maggie just having scraped some hair off a stifle.

We decided to try a different plan of attack and headed for a water crossing that was shallower and with less of a bank leading to it. We could come back and try the river another time.

Maggie didn't want to do that either, but we had better footing and this time I had the lead rope to pull her along. That's where me not wearing my gloves comes in.... I got some killer rope burn when Maggie panicked about getting her feet wet. I didn't let go however, and she soon followed us pretty calmly. We rode farther up the trail till she had forgotten about the water and then turned around and headed home.

This time she tried to jump the water and ran up poor Rebel's butt. That wouldn't do, so we made her cross the water a couple more times till she walked through it calmly without leaping or charging.

Pleased, we headed home. Jean and I chatting and the horses walking happily. I always tell my students that no matter how relaxed they are or how much they trust their horse they should always be prepared by having their weight in their stirrups and being balanced in their seat. I practice what I preach, and a good thing too! I clapped my hand against my thigh and Rebel jumped out of his skin, making Maggie do the same. Jean and I laughed at the silly horses.

Chuck came out that evening and put shoes on UK.

So this afternoon Jean texts me that she wants to trail ride again, and I agree to come up to the barn and go with her. This time I tack up UK, borrowing Rebel's western saddle to make my life easier (too hot for half chaps!). We both make sure to have halters on under our bridles and I clip the long lead rope to the saddle.

UK's great about going down the driveway, and has no problem with the assholes who fly past us in their cars, never bothering to slow down. His first fearful bit was about a root that resembled a snake that we needed to step over. He'd get real close and then chicken out. So Maggie then lead and he followed her over it. She spooked at a bird and he stayed calm which made her feel better.

Eventually he got nervous and tried to turn around. Jean ended up having to pony us behind her, as UK would go forward when ever she'd pull him along. When he was feeling brave he'd want to be in front but have to settle for being alongside Maggie. When Maggie got scared, UK would be brave and visa versa. When he'd get scared he'd drop back and hide his head behind Maggie, it was pretty funny.

Then we got to the little water crossing. Maggie and UK both had a heart attack. Jean and I decided one of us would have to get off, and she was nice enough to volunteer (her horse is shorter). She lead UK and I pulled Maggie behind us by leading her with her reins. Jean got back on and we rode farther up, UK occasionally needing to be ponied when he got scared.

We turned around once they both were behaving well and headed back for the water. UK didn't like it but he responded when I told him to lead across as Maggie was scared again. Without needing to be led, UK stepped slowly and carefully through the water, and Maggie followed!

We're both pretty proud of our ponies! We may be a bit crazy to take two green horses trail riding but it worked in the end! UK and Maggie seem to balance each other pretty well, as they're both scared of different things. UK actually led the rest of the way home once we got towards the end of the trail.

I'll probably give him tomorrow off it's too hot and then work him in the ring on Tuesday. If it's not too hot I'll ride him in the ring tomorrow. He got a whole week off, so he'll be fine. We only walked today, as we wanted them to just relax.

Oh, I didn't forget my gloves today! ^_~