Ontario County Fair: English Day, July 24th

After deliberation, I've decided to make posts for each individual day of fair. . . that way, it's less work for me, less reading at once for you, and. . . etc.

The first day of fair was English day. I only decided to take Daisy a couple days before. I've received a lot of criticism lately about how Daisy and I look english (awkwardly paired), so first I thought I wouldn't bother, but then I did anyway. The fact is, I'm borderline too big for her. . . in an English saddle. Put me in a dressage saddle or western saddle with long stirrups, and somehow it looks fine. 

Daisy was lovely for English day. We ribboned mostly in the top 5. We didn't have many firsts and seconds, but we did decently well and I was pleasantly surprised with how the day panned out. 

Our best class, as usual, was trail class. The fact is, we win first 99% of the time ;), thanks to the work I put in with Daisy teaching her to sidepass over a ground pole. 

The jump course for the seniors was 3' max. . . which is too high for Daisy and I. I asked to be allowed to do the junior course (2'6") exhibition style, with no ribbons, just for fun, and we were allowed to. The course was perfect and Daisy was really lovely. She's turned into a steady jumper, which is so surprising compared to how she used to be. She has gotten soo much better at not rushing between jumps and just popping over them as-is. Unfortunately, we have a limited number of jump pictures. . . In fact, the photo below is basically 'it'.

Trust me, she sticks her ears forward once she's mid-air and looks much happier ;).
Overall, I was very pleased with the way the day went, and we did walk away with two blues. A good start to the long week ahead. . . 

P.S. I should probably include this in the Thursday post. . . however, I think containing my excitement for that long could be detrimental. Therefore, with great pleasure I present to you the official Daisy Mobile of Red Gate Ranch: 

My dad broke the news to me on Thursday that we could begin trailer shopping. Yesterday, we took a road trip and signed the papers for this baby. A complete tour will be provided once we bring it home sometime this week. I am SO. THRILLED. :) 

First Trail Trial, Sunday September 26th

I rode in my first trail trial a week ago Sunday with Daisy.  

We arrived and Daisy seemed her usual self in a strange place-absolutely fine. I tacked up in the Abetta endurance saddle that Jean's sister Jenny owned (yes. past tense. guess who owns it now x) ) and booted and bridled Daisy up. (Booted referring to her blue leg boots; I chose not to use her easyboots). We headed over to the start of the ride, and I was first for the first obstacle--up and down two moguls. What are moguls? I didn't know. Turns out they're hills that are very steep going up and down. I've gone down a lot of steep hills, but none quite that steep. Luckily, it wasn't long. Daisy walked confidently to the top of each one, stopped for a moment to look, and then continued on with a squeeze. I thought we should get full credit...is it so wrong that she paused to look? It was maybe a 3 second standstill at the top before she kept going on. A perfect score for all the obstacles was a 10. We received an 8.8. I guess that's not too bad (We didn't learn scores until the end).

We rode on a bit, and then hit the second obstacle, titled Fall Fiesta. The juniors simply had to walk over a tarp, which was held down by ground poles on the edges. Daisy was a little sticky...She walked up, and didn't want to go, but I squeezed her and talked to her and she went pretty quickly-maybe 6 seconds before she walked on. She went over the tarp, didn't jump it ;), but walked quickly and picked her hooves up high. We received a 4.0 score.

In between the second and third obstacle disaster struck. I chose to ride Daisy western, partially because I wanted to be able to use the western curb. I thought if something happened, I'd be able to stop her in it for sure. Ironic how things worked out. We started up the end of a field that was on angle-a hill-at a trot. We then picked up a canter, and after a bit, Jean let us go for a full gallop. The decision was made quickly, and I said right away "uh oh, this may not be good". It wasn't. As soon as Bubba took off in a full gallop in the front, Daisy was as gone-r. She galloped, truly galloped, not just fast cantered. She outran Bubba, at his top speed, in seconds. She was flying past him and as I felt her speed up, I said it again "uh oh"...apparently Jean said "Is that a good uh-oh?" but I don't remember that. The answer was the fact that Daisy blew past everyone. I very quickly attempted a one rein stop. I literally dropped on and put two hands on the other and pulled, trying to spin her around. All that accomplished was to turn her in the direction of the barn and trailers. I'm sure any horse person can guess that that's not good. :P She went flying back down the field. It's not incredibly steep, luckily. She was far from everyone before I finally got her to a stop. I was so mad. As she galloped, I thought "Crap, she's not gonna stop." and then "Should I bail?". I didn't. I had to walk her all the way back up the field. After that, someone grabbed a stick off a tree for me, to make up for the crop I'd forgotten. Freaking curb bit. A snaffle would have been better!

The next obstacle was a back-up station, L-shaped. Daisy was still completely tense once we got there, and so was I, so the obstacle that we normally can pull off blind folded ended badly. She was totally riled up, and trying as per her usual to pretend she knew what I wanted without listening to what I wanted. It ended up involving sidepassing over the back-up pole...yes, Daisy, very impressive, but no. Needless to say we got a 3.5 on that one.

The next obstacle was found in the midst of the woods. There was a metal garbage can hung between two trees, and you had to walk up and (as a junior) hit the can with your hand. I walked Daisy up to it, and hit it gently first, and when she handled it ok, I hit it harder so that it was louder. I'm not really sure why we only got a 3.5 on that one...were you supposed to hit it very loudly? I don't know. I thought I did well. Oh well.

The next obstacle was the one in the first picture up there (all the pictures are by Raspberry Hollow Photos...I don't own them...hence watermark). That's not a rider from our group...I simply wanted a picture of that obstacle to explain it. You simply  had to walk your horse around that group of "animals".  I really want to know how trail trials get judged. As far as I could tell, Daisy didn't even bat an eye around the animals, and we got a 9.

 The next obstacle was "it's a drag". That's our group of riders up there.

 You  had to pick up a jolly ball on a string from one can and circle another can with it dragging behind the horse. I'd never done something like that, but considering it simply slid along the grass and wasn't noisy, it may just be coincidence that Daisy didn't spook :P

  

Our score was a 9.1 on this one.

 

This next obstacle shows Oliver on Scout. You had to ride up to this funky looking "stand" with a crate of corn and pick up a corn w/ husk and carry it to a barrel. Honestly, I don't think Daisy would have been bad, but that the corn husks made noise when I picked one up, and it startled her a little. We got one though, but I was forced to sort of toss it on the barrel...probably not good :P We got a 6.2

 Next one was called "Showtime".

It featured a curtain. The curtain was a big piece of carpet hung on a board between two trees, high up, and it simply had slits drawn through it. At first glance, it looks solid. We had 1 1/2 minutes to complete the obstacle. Daisy didn't want to go through at first, but in the end I held aside some of it and she walked through. We got a 3.0.

Ironically, the hardest obstacle was the gate obstacle. I know, I know, it's just a gate. Yeah. That's what I thought.
It was one of those gates where, if you leg go, it swings back right away. You were supposed to take the loop holding it closed off the fence post, open it, go through, and loop it closed behind you. There were 17 juniors. I was the only one to complete it. Out of 100 riders, only 16 finished it. It wasn't possible to get partial credit. We did it and got our only perfect 10 ;)

The last obstacle was simply a ditch you had to go over. It was the easiest ditch to ride over I've ever seen...very wide, and grassy at the bottom, so it was barely considered a ditch :P We got an 8.9.

Scores were calculated. We were incredibly close to a 4th, but I think mostly due to our disastrous back-up station deal after Daisy's little run-off (little=understatement), we were left in 5th (which out of 17 juniors for our first time is awesome :) ). Another girl in our club got 6th, I got 5th with a score of 66.4 (1st place was 75.7), and Oliver beat me by 1 point and got 4th :) It was so fun! And I got one of those great, 'big' ribbons...not the wimpy ones from county fair ;) That adds up my total number of "big" ribbons to two. Blue and pink :)

Since the trail trial, I've taken Daisy only english and in the snaffle. We're working a lot on stopping. The whole situation has really hit home about how much work we need on it. Daisy is incredibly stubborn...but we're working on picking up the correct canter lead, no matter which one I ask for, doing about 5 strides, and then going to a stop. She needs to be reprimanded often. Someone pulled over the other day and was like "are you training your horse"....haha...my answer "Well..sort of...no...you know, just the usual reprimand. I suppose I'm constantly training" haha. I was really proud of her at the trail trial. She can be so nasty, but I love how when she's bridled up, she's the sweetest thing. We had another little girl come over to pet her afterward, and she stood totally still and let the girl pet her all over the face and neck. She's a good girl, deep down.

Best part...I got a Cosequin hat at Stuart Horse Trials a couple years ago but have since had it abducted, sort of...my prize with my ribbon was a new one. :P :)

Daisy and I will probably be doing a cross country schooling next week Monday, the same one we did last year. Hope it works out :)

Nothin' Much

Hello, bloggers!
I'm all for quick posts lately... :P

Daisy got her rabies shot and her blood drawn for coggins yesterday...and was ridden by another student, who really enjoyed her :)

Today we had our first club mounted meeting of the year. She felt a little funny....stiff...but I blamed it on her neck, which was really sore from the rabies shot (she cowered in the corner of her stall; shook each time my hand got near her neck. Poor baby!) She felt decent at the walk and trot. Go to canter, and she really felt strange...She didn't want to collect, or go on the bit...and she had moments where I felt like I had no hind legs under me...like she was changing leads in her hinds. One time it was obvious enough that Jean said "Wow, she looks really off" and suggested I rest her so I did...we didn't really canter after that. We did some barrel patterns, but Daisy and I just trotted. At the end, I took the ring to myself and did an easy canter around and she seemed ok again...so I'm not sure what that was all about. Maybe she's still recovering from the swelling?

I ride her one more time at Jean's tomorrow and then she comes home. Jean had a new water crossing put in, and I want to try to cross it before I head home :). Should be fun...it's big enough that Daisy won't have the option to jump it...so that'll be interesting. Maybe I can film it-we'll see :)

And that's the video of her rolling like a pig. ;) She really dirtied up her fly mask. I thought it'd be fun to add.

Otherwise...I have nothing to report, but that our first game show is May 8th! Time to pull out the western tack... :)

Super Sunday.... :D

I had an absolutely wonderful Sunday, pretty much, so I just had to share about it.
Daisy was trailered to board at Jean's on Thursday afternoon. I rode on Thursday and Friday, Saturday I didn't make it to the barn, and then I went today after church.

I ordered the above cooler from horseloverz.com (AWESOME site; lots and lots of sales alllll the time) for $34 about a week ago, and it finally arrived Saturday and I tried it out today...I apologize for the picture quality, I took it with my phone. :) It looks sorta silly like that, but it's contoured and I'm glad I have it, because Daisy sweats a ton in winter, and it helps to get the sweat off. They didn't have it in red, so I had to settle for blue. :)

I got to the barn, unblanketed her, tried the cooler on, and then finished grooming and got on to ride. Daisy was very agreeable during grooming already; she leaned into the brush like she was loving it and she wasn't really girth-y today during saddling, either.

I headed out to the arena and was alone for the first half hour. I got on, and warmed up slowly, first walking and having her get on the bit at the walk, then slowly the trot. With the new Kimberwicke, she's on the bit a LOT more often, but she's not necessarily stepping through, which stinks...I'm hoping to take dressage lesson soon to see what I can do about that. I got her going and some nice trots in both directions while on the bit the majority of the time, and practiced getting nice round circles. Then I got a nice trot on a small circle going left, and asked for her left lead. She got it and after a little bit actually got on the bit for one of the first times cantering; yey! It didn't last for long periods, she'd get on the bit only for a few strides at a time, but it's improvement! I had her collecting her canter, and then I changed directions and trotted, then cantered right. She's generally really speedy going right because no matter what, it's still not her favorite side. I was really happy today, though, because she collected herself at the right lead much better then usual.

After that, I kinda made up a dressage test for myself :P and ran through it, changing directions and diagonals and canter leads and circling and even tried a free walk and such...she was sooo good!

Eventually Oliver (Jean's son) and Sarah (a 4H-er) came in on their ponies, and I rode with them a bit, got off to do some groundwork, and ended up quitting that and just walking around with Daisy following me. Generally, if I walk around without holding Daisy, she doesn't follow me. Even if we've just done a join-up, she'll only follow me for a little while before stopping or heading for the gate. Today, I did NO join up and she followed me everywhere! I used a lot of body language and had her pivoting on the ground just by stepping toward her, and turned circles and walked one direction, walked another, and she always followed! At the end, I walked toward the door, but stopped in the middle of the ring, said "whoa" and she stopped, too! If I'd been her I woulda kept goin' for the door :P.

So I had a wonderful ride :)

Just wanted to ask, does anyone know of specific problems a horse could have in a leg that's NOT hoof related that could throw off their leads (like Daisy's right lead) or make them stumble a bit while turning? I just know that if I take a dressage lesson, the trainer will jam on me that Daisy's hooves are making her "off" when she makes a tight turn to the right, but that can't be possible because her hooves are wonderful right now; no bruising whatsoever. She's had that funny stumbling turn problem since last winter at least, which is why I know the trainer will bring it up. Daisy's canter to the right is also "funny"; to me it just seems speedy, but another rider told me that she looks like she's throwing her front right out really far, like it looks stiff, when she canters on it. Frankly, it ticks me off that said trainer right away assumes it's her hooves simply because she's barefoot, because it could equally be any other part of her leg/body. Can she just have some sort of leg abnormality? I have no idea what it would be...this is probably silly, but could she have a shorter right leg or something? :P Or is it beginning arthritis (She's only 11, though)? Should I try joint supplement?

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On another note, I dissected a horse leg at a vet clinic yesterday (Saturday)! It was quite an experience, but very very cool...sad, but cool. I learned a lot about the leg, and it was really interesting to see everything underneath the skin and hair :P. Some say that's gross; to a point, it is, but I thought it was a great learning experience that isn't offered often and I'm glad I went.

September 12th Daytime Game Show

Hello!

Unfortunately, I don't have pictures of the game show today yet...I should have some next week.
I got to the barn just after 7:30 this morning, groomed Daisy so she was nice and clean, put on her SMB3 boots. I loaded her in the trailer, in the middle stall of the part that requires backing in the trailer...she was great! We recently took out a wall in the trailer, so it was sooo much easier to back her in. I didn't have my camera with me (I also forgot money and food this morning...yeah, school is making me lose it :P) , otherwise I would have shown you how adorable Daisy was with two "boyfriends", Scout and Phoenix, next to her :P. The got along great; when we were at the show grounds and about to unload, Daisy started eating dangling pieces of hay out of the boy's mouths! LOL so cute! She seemed to think they were hay nets :).

I tacked up, warmed up, and started out...for the first time this season, we got through a flour-pattern keyhole without being disqualified! YEY! And our time was decent!

Daisy was pretty great in all the classes...we weren't really more then about 3 or 4 seconds off at the most from the person who got the majority of the winning times...we got 4th out of 5 most of the time, although once we got 1st in Straight Line because people knocked barrels (Daisy nicked practically EVERY barrel, it was pure chance that they didn't fall over)...The best part of the time was the Mystery Event, which turned out to be ribbon race...Last year, I did ribbon race around this time with a girl named Jamie, who borrowed a friend's horse for the event as her's was out of commission...Coincidentally, the girl who actually owns the horse from last year, asked me to go with her today because she didn't have a partner...so for her turn, I was her partner, and we did well, it was fun. Then for my turn, Jean was my partner, and for her's, I was her partner. I wish I could have taped us. We had a BLAST.

Whoops, gotta back up a little...Jean decided to retire Bubba from eventing this year after his jumping became considerably worse then usual, and she's realized he's outgrown eventing. He's now a pleasure horse that she's going to use for advanced lessons, and for open shows. Jean decided to take back what she always said about never riding Bubba western, and is now riding him western sometimes, neck reining. He's picking up on it fast, through a lot of leg yielding, and Jean decided yesterday to bring him to the game show today, riding English.

Now back to ribbon race. Jean and I got in the ring, me on the outside, and we were off; holy cow. We were insane. Bubba and Daisy were galloping full speed, no stopping them, it was INCREDIBLE! SOOO fun! First time, we got around in 12 seconds something....second time, Bubba was so "jacked up" that he was hard to steer, so he started to run from Daisy, and before I could catch up, the ribbon broke...but it was still fun. Daisy really liked it; I could tell. :)

So the show was worth it...next up, Hunterpace and pleasure show on Jan. :)

Hmmmm...Just Some Stuff

Hello!

I've officially started school again, so I probably won't be posting as often, as I'll be busy with school work :-/

Daisy was trailered to Jean's house yesterday because of a pretty busy two weeks that I have ahead of me. Today, the Yautzy Road Yahoos had a pre-game show mounted meeting (yey!). We worked on pattern's in Jean's arena; lots of fun. Saturday (tomorrow), we have an all-day game show. It's one of the best of the year; unlike the evening game show from a few weeks ago, this one is the best. It has a TON of events; keyhole, cloverleaf, pole bending, straight line, Texas T, ribbon race, can race, etc, etc, etc...very fun. :)

Saturday in a week (the 19th) is a special day; Jean and I are going to our *first* hunter pace! Neither of us have ever gone, so for the first time, she's taking just me :)...though we did invite our vet, who also events...we'll see. Next year we'll add a few club members. It's a 6 mile ride with optional jumps up to 2'6". I'm so excited! We're going to use red saddle pads, shirts, etc, and head out...yey! Daisy isn't the greatest at jumping (understatement), but it will still be fun.

I rode Daisy bareback alone through the woods yesterday at Jean's house...we jumped a log jump a few times; it's not super big, but it is a jump. She felt AWESOME! She has a tendency to either run-out on a jump at the last minute, or jump very flat. She did neither! She went over the jump really well; it really feels like you're soaring, especially bareback. :P

For your enjoyment, I've attached two pictures of us jumping in a trail class...last fall, then this spring :P

*Snort* in the second one, I'm just sitting there, doing nothing....looks quite funny.

The mounted meeting today was a BLAST!
I got on Daisy, western, and found right away that she was SUPER hyper...I wasn't sure why; I had ridden her the day before, so it was kinda weird...I jumped her out back on the trail a little again, galloped a stretch...and she was still "bouncing off the walls" when we got in the arena. The meeting was fun; just 7 of us on horseback, not too crowded, and we did some pleasure-stuff, then mounted games. Daisy was a ROCKET. SUPER DUPER fast. She was a crazy cantering, flying lead changing, hot barrel racer....crazy. While we'd wait to go again, I started sitting Indian-style on the saddle...something we've all taken to doing when we're riding, especially waiting for classes at shows...at some point, I ended up standing up straight on Daisy's rump! I should get a picture...it's SO funny. I drop the reins, and she stands fine as always, and I stand up slow on her back. Then I sat on her rump and slid back and forth; she just turned her head with a look on her face that clearly said "You're insane, I knew it" but she didn't move.

Later on, everyone was practicing for pick-up race, where one rider stands at the end of the arena, and a mounted rider rides up to the other one, swings them on the horse's back, and they race double back to the finish...the kids in our club only trot home, but it's still fun...I'd never done it with Daisy because I didn't think she'd stand it. I decided to try. I sat back behind the saddle, on the rump, and leaning forward, walked around, then trotted, then cantered around; she didn't bat an eye. Her ears were pinned, but they are 90% of the time, so that doesn't mean anything...she couldn't care less. I had Oliver go to the end of the ring, and I rode over, picked him up, and we walked and trotted double; Daisy didn't care.
Looks like I can enter a pick-up race with her, after all!

I went to feed Daisy after the meeting and was surprised to find Daisy's breakfast grain still in the scoop...uh oh. :P Jean mixed up one container with another and Daisy got I think 1 1/2-2 quarts of sweet feed! AHH! She's on almost no sweet feed right now; mainly crimped oats and sunflower seeds...so no wonder she was so hyper! :P Evidentally, she was fine, though, because she still handled riding double and me standing on her!

I'm so proud of my pony...she may not be purebred, or super impressive at shows, but she's so agreeable...she has the perfect balance of patience, spunk, and brains :P. I couldn't ask for a better horse. :)

Saturday, August 15th, Evening Game Show

Daisy and I went to another game show (Gymkhana) on Saturday evening! We had a BLAST. It was an evening game show, started at 5 pm...we finished I think around 9:30 or 10pm. It's been really hot here this week, so it was nice that it was a little later in the afternoon when it was starting to cool down. Daisy was great; better even than at fair, I think. We didn't actually win any great ribbons (so much so that I didn't bother to pick up the ones I did win :-P) but we had so much fun, and that's what counts. She was SO fast; watch that gallop back on the video up there! What a little race pony I have :-P. She LOVES the games; she really does. Unfortunately, I didn't have it filmed, but our cloverleaf pattern was great this time; normally we aren't that great at clover, Daisy doesn't seem to like it, and we end up doing the majority of it at a trot. Not so on Saturday! She kept up a good canter the whole way, a fast one, and even did lead changes. When we turned to race home, she went ALL OUT. She was hauling like crazy; I don't think she's ever galloped like that before! :-P

Be sure to watch her lead changes in the video up there, on our first line weaving :)...and I thought she'd never do that!

Let's Get it Started

Tomorrow I leave to start staying at Jean's house...Sunday is our first open game show of the week...it's a small show, but this year our club will most likely double the size of the show...we'll see how it goes.

I rode Daisy today, did some barrel racing, and she seemed awesome...Hope it lasts.

Monday we don't have a show, but our club will spend the day decorating our stalls (last year's are above in the picture) at the fair. Tuesday the county fair begins. Tomorrow is practically the start of the wonderful, fun havoc. :)

I'll try to update you while I'm "away" but I won't promise anything...probably just words, no pictures, if anything.

Until my next post,

I Love Summer

Guess where I went today?!? Buffalo, New York, to Jean's Dad's house! This time, I took the trip without Daisy .

Jean offered for me to come along late last night, and I accepted, seeing as how it's summer and it's nice to get "out and about". We drove down with her two kids, 4H members, and another member, "S".

The reason for the trip was to pick up Jan from the Equine Correctional Facility :-P back in May when I went down. Once we got there, Jan's owner rode Jan, and I did, as well. Prior to the little training experience Jan had there, Jan had a terrible problem rearing.(Jan is the chestnut, starting in the 3rd picture) He wasn't ridden often, and was never properly trained, so he had quite some trouble listening. He got away with being naughty too many times; it was time to crack down on him. He's definitely improved since being in training; he was pretty much a pleasure to ride, although I was cautious not to ask too much of him. In a few weeks, after our County Fair, Jean hopes that I will ride Jan a few times a week to keep him in shape, along with her sister, so that he'll be kept in "check" and soon sold. I rode him and he did pretty well; it's strange riding another horse. It makes me realize how much I know Daisy. Having ridden her for 2 1/4 years now, I can anticipate practically her every move; I can tell if she's in a good mood and will be a nice, willing ride, or when she's in a bad mood and will be kinda awful, or when she's just having a day where she pretends she's never been ridden and acts like she doesn't understand me. I can tell if I'm approaching something that will potentially spook her, and I know her quirks and how to make her listen. It's strange riding another horse, like Jan, that has a bad reputation. That's all I could go on with him; I didn't know how he preferred the reins were held, how fast he liked to go, how much he could handle before he'd "flip". In all, he was just hard to read. I guess that's what's interesting; riding a horse I don't know makes me really in-tune to what's going on with him, verses riding Daisy I know her well enough that things are more automatic.

I'm riding Jan in the 6th picture; it was hard to get pictures in the ring. The first picture is just of a pretty horse at the farm...

Anyway, we loaded Jan up and drove home, stopping and turning around once because of a forgotten saddle, stopping for ice cream, and stopping for drinks.

"S" and I saddled up for a ride; she road Mouse, a lesson pony that's she's leasing, and I rode Sissy, a pretty mare that Jan's owner also owns. She's in the 2nd picture. She's much better behaved than Jan.

We had a long, fun trailride. After discovering how buggy the woods were, we stayed on the edges of the alfalfa fields. Mouse was never taught to canter, but we got him (accidentally) to a canter 3 times! :D

Afterward, we gave Bubba a bath for a show he has Saturday morning.

I had a fun day; I love that summer allows flexibility in schedule; I'm free to do *anything*.

Hope you enjoy your summer, too!

Slideshow

Hello, again! Here are the pictures I *promised*.


The first...30??? or so pictures are from the parade. Then there are 2 pictures from a show that I went to with Jean and Bubba, then some random pictures. I went on an Equine Careers Camp with 4H and we went to a Standard bred breeding farm, a vet clinic, an Arabian training stable, and 2 other farms...so those are pictures. I forgot to include pictures of the show, but my pictures of the show are limited, so I may put some up separate in a little while.

Sorry it's so long.... :)
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By the way, I'm not sure how many of you know, but I have another blog, if you're interested.

http://lifeoutsidethebarn.blogspot.com

Camp Experiance as of Today

Sooooo, I figured I'd update you.

Jean rode in the Stuart Horse Trials in Victor, New York, this past Thursday and Friday. That's really cool, because only "top-notch" riders get to go, and she got to go( for the third time!). It runs every year. It's just eventing-Dressage, Cross Country jumping, and Stadium jumping. She won SECOND PLACE!!!!! The horse that beat her had cost $100,000, so figures, right? ;-) Pictures on my mom's blog, http://cdgagudl.blogspot.com.

Yesterday we went to the fairgrounds for an open show (not hosted by 4H, though). It was pretty much just games and barrels. I was going to ride in them all-Sit-a-Buck, Flying W, Texas T, Pole Bending, Cloverleaf barrels, Keyhole barrel.... The first thing was Sit-a-Buck, where you ride bareback and supposedly sit on a dollar bill, but we just used papers. You have to ride around and do walk, trot, and canter and not lose the bill. I got 2nd place!!!

Then I did pole bending, which was with a saddle. You have a row of poles (I'm not sure how many...10?) and you have to run straight down past them, weave through them back down, weave back up, and then run straight to the finish line. It went ok, except that Daisy was getting really excited and ended up skipping one pole, so we had to go back, and so we got 4th place. Then it POURED AND POURED AND POURED rain, and Daisy was miserable (she was dripping wet...she was such a little trooper) and so we went home, because of thunder and lightening, so we didn't get to finish the race.

Later we went back and set up our stalls for the fair, and we made an awesome sign with our club name for over the stalls...I'll post pictures probably early next week...

That's it for now! Today we have another open show, hosted by 4H, and I'm riding in it...doing a commands class, where you ride and have a matter of moments to switch to the gait which a caller yells out...fun, fun, fun!!

8:01 AM

Riding Bubba

Just a quick post so it doesn't look like I've quit blogging:

On Saturday I had a 4H meeting at my leader's house, and I got to ride her horse, Fat Chance, "Bubba", for the first time! He's an English Thoroughbred, who's 23 (or 22) years old. He's 16hh (one hand is 4 inches), which is really tall compared to Daisy's 14.2 hands! I'm going to be showing him in some walk/trot, maybe walk/trot/canter English classes at our county fair this summer. He was A LOT more challenging to ride then Daisy, but it was really cool/interesting to ride a horse like him. When you ride Daisy it's all on a loose rein with pretty much no contact, but with Bubba you ride with 'contact' (light pressure) on the bit at all times. It made my hands hurt! But it was really cool. I worked on circling him perfectly, so that he was aligned correctly, so that none of his body was off or into the circle. It may sound easy, but it's hard! The pictures of me and him were taken by my leader, btw! The third picture down is one with 'flaws', that I should look at and see what I'm doing wrong...I'm no expert, but I see that he isn't stepping under himself quite right, and his head is high like he's fighting the bit. Feel free to tell me more of what I'm doing wrong! Constructive criticism is good! :D

Hope you all had a good weekend!

9:42 PM