Pasture Board & Our Latest Lesson

(Above picture by Jenny)

Daisy left Jenny's last week Wednesday to move to Jean's for about 6 weeks. For various reasons... bigger indoor, more friends, more kids to ride Daisy while on vacation, ... etc.

I've chosen to put her on 24/7 pasture board because it's cheaper, and because less people will have to handle her while I'm away (the last few times I went on vacation ended in injuries... and I'm not even exaggerating). Daisy's a jerk. I know that. And as it so often happens, she's not around me; she knows better, but I cannot be there all the time to keep her in line, and so of course she takes advantage of that. 

During the day, she's out with another mare (actually, the only other mare on the premises out of 13 horses). At night, she's alone in her run-in.

She seems pretty content.

It's about ten feet deep.

We got a ton of snow on Saturday, pretty much out of the blue, and it was incredibly windy. Stalled horses stayed in. Daisy's roughed it in her shed. :)

Nom, nom. haha

I rode her english on Thursday and did some jumping, about 2'. She was very good, but I think it was hard on her... that or she slipped while out playing in her pasture, because Friday her back was a little sore towards the back. I rode her lightly Friday and Saturday, and she had Sunday off. Today I had a lesson with Anne!

I love lessons. They're just fun. We worked more on bending Daisy and asking her to bring her head down in the bend to encourage her to step through. We did some spiraling exercises in both directions to get her to be more accepting of the outside rein, and did walk-trot and trot-walk transitions. She's improving immensely. We did some jumping at the end, working on having her jump centered and without rushing. Anne set up guide poles to the left of jumps, and that helped a lot. She said she jumps better than I give her credit for. *smiles*. 

This said, I'm going on vacation tomorrow (to Florida!) for a week. Why must this lesson be so great, knowing I have a whole week of no Daisy ahead? ;) 

Stay warm wherever you are.

First Show on Laddie!

Yesterday I had my first show on Ladd.
I rode him 3 times last week, all in my own wintec, and he was pretty good with it, and with the riding. Friday we had a club mounted meeting in prep for the show, and suddenly Ladd pulled some funny stunts...Like bucking when a horse passed at the canter...! What's up with that?! He wasn't doing that the other days!

Ladd is an OTTB. Having been a racehorse, it seems he had his ear twitched at least once or twice...and so is incredibly head-shy normally. On a small horse, this isn't such a big deal, but on Ladd...well, if he doesn't want you to touch his ears, chances are you won't get to. So he had some burrs in his forelock from probably July. I had to get those out for the show! Luckily I'm not short. I rubbed baby oil in with one hand, and then standing on tip-toes I reached up and slowly but surely got those nasty burrs out (all the while he acted like I was pulling teeth or something!). Of course, once they were out, his forelock was a greasy mess. Somehow, he seemed to admit defeat at that point, and obligingly put his head down to get his forelock braided...a miracle. :)

We unloaded rather badly at the show grounds...Bubba and Ladd were together on Jean's two-horse trailer, and when Bubba was taken off to get tacked, I wasn't ready to take Ladd off yet. Of course, once Bubba got off, Ladd immediately strained against the trailer ties to get out...on with the lead, off came the butt-strap, and he shot out of the end of the trailer. oops.
There are cows across the street of these showgrounds. Of course they fascinated him :P. I got on him and lowered my stirrups a hole, to get more leg around him, at least until I knew he wouldn't do something silly. I took him in the arena (alone) to warm up. He was just fine going left, and then had to spook at everything going right. Figures. :P The advertisements on the sides of the ring and some paint stripes threw him off.

Time came for first class, English Pleasure. I thought before I came that, if Ladd held it together, we could be in the ribbons. I think he would have been first class, but that at one point he broke to a trot from the canter, and I asked for it again right away, and he got it, but while moving back to the rail he did a flying change. I had to go back to the trot and pick it up again, and by that time it was a pretty noticeable break of stride, and so we didn't ribbon in pleasure. That was ok-I was happy that he held it together as well as he did.

Next class was English Equitation-Equitation judges the rider, not the horse (which is judged in Pleasure). We had to do an extended trot in that class, and after my work on extensions at camp, I could tell that he was truly extending and not merely speeding up. I think at the end the judge even complimented us on our extension :)
The pattern for equitation was really nice: Canter the length of the ring in a straight line and do as many lead changes as possible, simple or flying. I tried to avoid getting in on either end of the line, but of course this particular judge started from the middle and picked me to go first.
That's my face when she said "You're right in the middle. Thanks for volunteering to go first!".
Oh dear :P

I chose to do simple changes with Ladd because I know he speeds up during flying ones and I wanted get at least three changes in. I did a few strides of canter, right to a stop, and then the new canter lead from a standstill, four times. He was so so good! :)
And...we got a first :)

By the time Hunter Hack came along we got in and it was pouring. Ladd jumped fine (they're tiny jumps) and it was decent, but we were all soaked at the end and the ring was slippery...so we opted to go home. That was fine with me-I would have only taken him in the western classes, riding English, to school him anyway. Ladd and I got first in Hunter Hack as well! :)

In other news, I got Daisy's new snaffle and love it. More on that another time. :)
All photos by my mom :)
Until then,

A Bit About Camp & List

Camp was really fun! It's good to be back though.
I had a really really super duper great instructor. I'm gonna miss her.

I worked Daisy with a Kimberwicke until Thursday. We worked on direct transitions Monday morning and they went well. Tuesday we did about 40 minutes without stirrups, and it helped SO MUCH. First we did stretches and things to loosen up our muscles and be more relaxed in the saddle, then we worked on walk/trot/canter a bit without stirrups and focused a lot on body position. It was really helpful, and my stirrups went down two holes; felt good. :) Probably should have done that earlier. Tuesday we worked a little on getting horses to track up, and Daisy actually tracked up! I was really proud, but it gets better. :D

We went to horse pond on Wednesday morning and untacked to swim. Daisy went in without too much fuss. It went down gradually with an area where you were able to stand (the horse could) with a radius of about 6 feet before it dropped off. Daisy splashed through all content and then suddenly she was swimming. She was surprised! She turned around in the water and went back to where she could stand. I made her go out again and she turned back again. On the third try, I was persistent and got her to swim her way for real across the pond. It was a really short swim-about 15 seconds-but I was still so proud that she did it! I don't think she really enjoyed it, but she did it for me and I was happy :). My good girl!

Wednesday evening we jumped cross country. Daisy didn't refuse the first jump, but all the ones after that she did. They weren't dramatic refusals; I think with a lot more leg I could have avoided them, but the jumps would have been messy. She would go to a jump with a really good canter, and then just before she'd falter and die out and stop. She'd stand and look for a minute, and then going back and trying again she'd go over fine. Once we did the entire course at the end there were no problems. My instructor said that she thinks Daisy's a good jumper, she just needs more miles and experience because she loses her confidence and sort of second guesses whether she can make it over by the time she gets there; not so much a fear issue. I was still happy with the ride; she jumped well when she did jump, and she got to gallop a bit and she really needed that :P

I had already said that I wished I could try Daisy in a snaffle, and so on Thursday morning my instructor got me a loose ring, double jointed (aka french link) snaffle bit for her. Daisy LOVED IT. I'm so so happy with that, and am definitely getting one soon. (SOON). She stopped pretty easily; she got strong a couple times, but had trouble grasping the bit I think like she normally does to ignore me, so I think for now loose ring is definitely the way to go (perhaps...one day...bitless. ;)). We worked on extending and collecting strides. It went so well! I got a lot of tips. Once we'd worked on both, we did a cool little exercise. We trotted through two poles that were pretty spaced apart and counted how many strides we got in in between. Then we'd extend the horses trot and go over again. If we got one less stride (or more) we'd successfully extended! We did the same for collection. I thought it was a cool way to check ourselves. I was really happy with how Daisy rode over all in the snaffle.

That afternoon we rode again in pony club games--mostly walking or trotting races. They were fun! Our team won :). The best race involved walking your horse down the ring and stopping at the end, dismounting, and getting down on your hands and knees. There were three bowls, and you had to bend down and pick up a marshmallow in your mouth in one bowl, dip it in maple syrup in the second bowl, and dip in rice krispy cereal in the third bowl. You were of course forced to finish running back with rice krispies and syrup running up your nose :D lol!

Friday was so bittersweet.
We worked on flying lead changes (again in the snaffle). We each asked for the changes over a center pole, working on changing our horse's bend as we went. Daisy made me proud! Better even then some camp horses, she changed both her front and back leads in both directions. :) After we went successfully a few times changing over the pole, our instructor had us aim to the side of the pole, still changing in the middle but not over it. Daisy did it! :D I'm SO happy! I can't wait to play around with that tactic more and be able to get a real cue for it. yey! :D And then she got this shot:


Your thoughts?
I think she looks relaxed and in about as much as a frame as I've ever had her in! Her head is down perfectly and she's truly on the bit, and she's almost tracking up! I think I had her tracking up but she was relaxing so much she was getting dull :P. I think she looks really great! I'm a little leaning forward...but otherwise... :)

Sooo....I need to take note of a few things to remember to work on them in winter:

1. Get a snaffle, lose ring, preferably double jointed (don't wait until winter)
2. Get a dressage whip, and use it to "tickle" Daisy back just below her stifle to get her to engage her hindquarters more. The more she engages, the stronger the muscles, the easier it will be.
3. When extending a gait, widen the hands and run the bit, half halting but squeezing and driving forward with your seat at the same time. Work in the ring extending on long sides and collecting on short sides.
4. Squeeze with legs on the inside of a bend to get her to engage
5. Keep hands higher up to encourage Daisy not to be so much on the forehand, but keep in the inside hand just slightly lower and give small tugs to get her to bend.
6. Work on flying changes, really exaggerating body posture and how it changes when leads change.
   

Can't wait for winter and that arena. :)
Possibly more pictures to come, and more news on Lopez, the camp gelding I used in jump lessons :)

Jumping Bubba Fair 2010 Video

I personally really love this video. I originally had "Superman" by Five for Fighting playing, but it made me too sad listening and watching :( Now looking back, I realize maybe I should have chosen a song that doesn't sing about beer...whoops. :P I can't figure out the way to use iTunes music in videos like this (made on Windows Movie Maker) so my song choices are very limited :-/

Anyway, watching makes me realize there's a good chance that that's the last time Bubba will have jumped a course like that, being judged (and 3 times at that)...*sniff* He was soo good. What a good boy he is. He's super-duper.
Anyway, enjoy.

Magazine Recommendations Anyone?

Any magazine recommendations for riders out there? I currently get EQUUS and had been getting Young Rider but I'm not going to renew...I'm looking at Horse & Rider, and Practical Horseman...any suggestions? Which is 'better' (and what do you ride to effect that opinion; English or Western?)?

Thanks very much :),

County Fair Week Daily Overview

Fair week is over...it was jam-packed. I'm going to attempt to summarize the main points of each day.

Tuesday: English Day (on Bubba)
I was in the senior division for the first time this year. In past years, there was always this one girl who won every single class, it seemed, with ease, and I was sort of jealous of her...or impressed...or felt she was arrogant...etc. She "graduated". This year, I was her. Bubba and I took blue in all the flat classes...no kidding. Class after class after class Bubba and I got the blues....I was tempted to go into a class and do everything wrong (wrong diagonals and ask for counter-canter ;)) so someone else could win for once. I felt bad! Bubba was amazing as he generally is. I rode him in a Kimberwick...and my arms were saved. Thank God.
We moved on to jump classes. Turned out max height for seniors is 3 feet. I've barely jumped 2. Jean coached me over the jumps in the schooling before the classes, and he jumped everything, including the "scary, big oxer"... (we all got cheers after getting over the oxer :P). I was pretty nervous...just ask Bethany, my friend who came to visit ;) I did the two jump classes, hunter over fences and hunt seat equitation, and got 2nd out of 3 in both classes. The other two riders were very good, too...competition was close. Looking back, I guess it's pretty cool that I got 2nd because I always thought my jump equitation was really bad. :P I was invited back for the judge's invitational jump class. Bubba was tired by then (an ex-event horse in semi-retirement; he's not used to jumping so much) and he knocked two jumps I think...so we got last place, but that was ok. I was still immensely proud of him; and proud that I actually got over those jumps---3 feet! It was incredible to jump them. Bubba was sooooo good. We received Senior Divison English Day High Point. :) We qualified for state in quite a few events....we are considering going.

Wednesday: Mounted Games Day (teams) on Daisy
Not much to say...our team wasn't that fast but Daisy made up for the other member's and we placed in 1st and 2nd a few times. She was funny; we always ran last in the relay races, and as soon as the first horse left, Daisy couldn't stand still, moving all over the place. I had to turn and face the fence to keep her from taking off.

The loudspeaker had problems all week...making crackling noises for no reason. It didn't bother Bubba, so it didn't occur to me that it would bother Daisy. Learned the hard way that it did :P I lead her through the barn aisle one of the first times that I went out to the practice arena, and it crackled behind me, and another club member was swinging a rope behind Daisy...this all unbeknownst to me. All I know is, Daisy shot forward behind me, and ran me over. I fell, and Daisy stepped on my ankle, stopped, with me pulling my boot out from under her. My ankle swelled up and hurt. It's still swollen today, but at least it's not painful. Later that day, Daisy walked through the same aisle, and put her head up just as we passed under our club banner hanging from the ceiling...I looked back, saw her ear touch it, and instantly she tensed up...and I knew it was only a matter of seconds before she exploded. Explode she did, forward, luckily not on top of me that time. She was alright, too.

Thursday: Western Day on Daisy
Western day started out with Daisy in a pretty frustrating frame of mind. First class, after showmanship, equitation, got us a 2nd but I didn't feel we deserved it. I guess I deserved it as a rider, but Daisy was being dumb. She was spooky for no reason, her trot was too quick, she was ignoring me...it was the worst she ever was in the show ring. Needless to say, I was annoyed. I took her to the warm up ring after that class and worked her. 8 steps forward, 5 steps back, literally, to get her mind on me. Then the same at the trot and canter. I did that in both directions...and after all that good mind work, she was focused back on me and she shined the rest of the day. :) Each year there's a reining pattern, but I've never done it because I didn't want to memorize it, and I thought I couldn't do it. I wasn't going to do it this year, but...I sort of accidentally memorized it by watching all the other seniors go. By the time they were at the second to last, I changed my mind, bridled, and went out. I had the whole pattern right...except part of it. You had to do circles, and after two circles in each direction you would do 4 small, tiny ones (like pivots) in a row. I accidentally did 5 once :-/ and so we were DQed for being off pattern :( She was so good otherwise! I was actually surprised how good her roll-backs were. I'm definitely doing it next year :).
Daisy and I always shine in trail classes. I worked hard one winter teaching her to sidepass over a groundpole, something that all the horses seem to balk at, and since she knows that, we generally have trail in the bag. We went out as the first seniors to do the trail, and we seriously breezed through...walk over bridge, trot poles, sidepass over a pole to a mailbox, get mail, put back, sidepass back over, pick up a slicker from a pole and move to another pole, go through a "bent" back up station, canter a crossrail...it just went perfectly. We got first :)
There's also a class called versatility. You go out, starting in English tack and clothes, do an English flat class, and then you have 2 minutes to switch clothes and tack. "Pit crews", including 2 people, are at the edge of the ring to help, one to tack and re-tack the horse, the other to help the rider change. Once they change to western, you ride a western flat class and run a cloverleaf pattern. There were 10 people in our class this year. Last year Daisy and I had 2nd. This year, we got 1st :), and a nice plaque. And we got Senior Division High Point for the day again :)

Friday: Gymkhana Day on Daisy
The day started off with Daisy stepping off the trailer with an injury. It seems Laredo the Evil (who kicks and bites other horses a lot) snapped at Daisy on the trailer...

It was a surface wound. I washed it out (to Daisy's dismay) and tried to put ointment on it, but it was too wet to stay on...so I let it just stay. It dried into a scab now, with hay unfortunately stuck in it because Daisy was eating :P. I'm curious...will it scar? Horses grow white fur in when their hair gets rubbed out...with this get white skin? ;) haha.

Gymkhana day wasn't as good as past years. We did get some great advice though from one of the people timing. This guy watched a few runs, and then as I came in for one he stopped me. He said that he was watching and that Daisy is really responsive to me, but that I move my hands around to much and so make her worked up. He said if I hold them completely still and give short, small tugs just as we get in the pocket of a barrel, our runs would be smoother...I put that to the test Friday and Saturday. It definitely helped a lot! Daisy's turns around barrels were much tighter and smoother. Daisy gave me trouble the whole day with taking the bridle on and off because it touched her fat swollen lip.
We had done costume on Thursday as biker chicks. I joked that Daisy took her Harley out to a bar that night and got in a bar fight, hence swollen lip. ;)

Friday ended with me getting the Overall Senior Division High Point trophy. I got it for junior last year. It means we accumulated the most points for the week (points are accumulated based on placings in class...the better placing, the more points). I'm so proud of Daisy-Mae! :) We were also published in the paper again on Friday, with the same article. :)

I also got to ride a draft on Friday...eek! It was comparable to the lake swim-SO. FUN. It was "bareback", but with harness everywhere...I got her to canter a few times, but I was swinging my legs out and hitting her in the side just like a little kid trying to get the lazy lesson pony to trot. So funny! They are SO SMOOTH and very light in the hands-I was surprised!

Saturday: Open Game Show on Daisy
This game show was fun, as it is each year. They do some really unique patterns, which is nice, and sit-a-buck (we got 3rd this year). Daisy actually got 1st once, in Quadrangle barrels! I was SO proud! ;) Her turns remained tight and quick. The rider teacher that I had from the time that I was 4 'till I was 12 was there, her daughter showing the pony I started out on way back then. It was pretty cool to see the little pony going. :) I did pick-up race on Daisy with Sara, from our club. I also did pick-up, as the pick-up person, with a friend of mine and her draft mare(that I rode Friday). Pick up requires one person to ride down to the end of the ring and let another person waiting at the end swing up behind them in the saddle, and then race back riding double. It was a riot doing it with the draft! We actually placed 5th out of 9, too :) Daisy was a really good girl as the pick-up pony, too.
I did ribbon race, too, with three different partners (racing around the ring to the timer holding a ribbon between two horses; not letting it break or fall). I did it paired with Lydia (on Stewy), and my friend and her draft, and Jean on Bubba. Going with the draft was funny; I put Daisy next to it, and Daisy sort of turned her head away standing there like "Oh man...I'm not even gonna look." :P Daisy ran the fastest I think she's ever ran with me on her when we did ribbon with Bubba and Jean...she was HAUL.ING. Crazy!
It was a really fun open show...definitely the best of the year. :)

Daisy got today off. She's exhausted.
I'm going to put together a video of Bubba and I jumping...and maybe post some pics from the other days. There are so many!

Just Gotta Love Her

Some things about Daisy bother me, but...there is a bond between us that cannot be broken. I love that girl so much.
That said, I digress.

Jenny and her three mares moved into the nighborhood, and Daisy and I visited on Monday. Daisy was shocked to see them, and they were shocked to see her. I'm excited for all the things their living so close has brought for us; someone to ride with, ponies for Daisy to visit with, an indoor, etc etc. :)

Today Jean picked up Daisy...two hours late. That's never happened before :P but it turned out ok so that's good...by the time she came it was almost 9:30 and pitch dark out. My brother sat in the bed of his truck waiting for her with me (at the end of the driveway...as usual) and Daisy stuck her nose over, breathing in deep, looking around. I sat on her for a bit in the dark, with just a halter and lead...she was quiet. Same interested, not worried behavior as usual. In the dark...it was cool. What a sweet pony I have. I really do. :) <3 Lovvveee her. So...Mounted meeting with the 4H club Friday, possibly riding Saturday (depending on how energetic she is Friday), pleasure show Sunday, and parade on Bubba Monday. I'm super excited for the show...should be good. I need to do a refresher on side passing over a pole, and then we should be all set. We're showing in a borrowed leopard print pad from Jenny for western ;) with my new brown show shirt (I have 5 western show shirts now. I feel rich ;) and the new bridle. Funnn! English we have a new, stark white pad, and new paddock boots and chaps. Tall boots don't appeal to me...I feel like I don't have enough movement in my heel and leg with them...so I got new black half chaps to save just for shows with my new black paddock boots and those are my "tall boots" :P. That's it for now....my knee has been strangely swollen, again, since Monday...I'm icing it currently. :P These pictures were all taken tonight...I stuck the macro flower shot (of chives) in there for fun; it's pretty cool lookin'.

The Best Word to Use is "Frisky"

And by frisky I mean Daisy's behavior.
I'm sorry I haven't posted...Daisy came home Tuesday a week ago...I was hoping I could ride a lot everyday when she came home...but that hasn't been the case. I've still ridden at least every other day, but...each day I don't get to ride (because of sickness...horsebowl competition...rain...birthday...) she's really really...somethin'...the next day. I rode her down to visit the minis at the end of the street on Wednesday, and she could hardly contain herself...she refused to walk (she did that annoying horse thing "Mom, LOOK, I'm WALKING! Feel it?! I'm going slow!" when in reality she's TROTTING so slow it's almost like walking! Of course.
The trimmer came on Monday.
No thrush. (YEY!)
No laminitis (YEY!)
.... But she has bruising. Her heels in the back were bruised red. It looked painful. The trimmer trimmed 'em up so that the area the bruised area was supporting is now spread out over a larger area...he said it's probably because Daisy's hooves are soft (we've been getting a ton of rain) (oh, excuse me...a ton for US. Don't worry, Mrs. Mom, I know it could be worse ;)) and they bruised out on the road. He is going to start selling easyboots (he'll be an...idk...registered easycare provider or something) and recommended I get some when he does for times like this...and I think I will. In the meantime, I'm riding her on the actual flat pavement (as she prefers.. :P) to keep her out of pain until the mud goes away and her hooves harden. I will be adding pea stone gravel to her pasture for her hooves! I'm pretty excited...I learned that because of taxes, the town provides it for free... ;) YEY! That's good news...so as soon as the mud clears up and we can level the ground a bit, we'll put some down in Daisy's high-traffic areas.

The weather, besides rain, has been (had been..until today) soooo nice. We had about a week of weather in the 50's and 60's...just beautiful. Today it was about 26...and only in the teens tonight. Daisy started shedding, so she's got her blanket on tonight... and her heated bucket plugged in again...

Yesterday was my birthday...and I got two more western show shirts, and the belt and buckle above...I've always wanted a nice buckle! I love it :) Lydia also got me some blue riding gloves for cross country (and barrel racing) :)

I rode Daisy today...it was FREEZING! Of course, normally I wouldn't find 25 cold, but after a week of 60's...it sure was a pain. She needed to be ridden SO bad, though. When she's not ridden, she's sorta reckless, dangerous, and stupid on the ground. She's more aggressive and more of a jerk than usual...I can handle the usual. But when it gets the way she was today, I know I've gotta crack down on her.
We went English... (The first picture is taken of our shadow goin' western on Tuesday :)). I rode pretty far with her. She was soooo silly. We trotted and cantered basically the entire ride...I have no idea how long we went... She had the energy. We had some pretty scary stuff pass us...at one point we were cantering along a rode we go on a lot, and out of no where a border collie comes at us from a house; I had no idea they had a dog. Border collies are into herding, right?...anyway, that's what i thought, so I got Daisy to a walk and stood as a car passed us. The dog seemed to have electric fence, so it didn't come after us. Daisy was so good! Another time, a car with trailer like this came by...There are two things that actually worry Daisy on the road. Motorcycles going fast, or revving their engines, and cars with those trailers. It came up fast behind us (not speeding, just coming around a turn without much warning) and I turned, saw it, and got her over to the far side and kept a strong leg on her...she tensed up as it went by and her head shot up but she didn't move! I love my pony... she's such a good girl...when I'm on her back, anyway ;), on the ground is another story. At one road that we always canter/gallop (about a 1/4 mile, slight uphill) Daisy cantered and ended up galloping...I very rarely feel her truly gallop. Generally it's just a really fast, powerful canter. But she got so into it today, she went faster and faster and then was galloping...she stopped pretty well, though.

The last picture is of her today...taken with my phone. That was after our ride, I shut her in her stall with the cooler on. :)

Tomorrow I ride Daisy and I go to Jean's to ride Bubba...I'm trying to get one ride on him a week while I'm not at the barn, so that I'm ready for county fair with him this week...the Bubba Chubbs... :)

OH! Need to add for memory sake, I rode Jean's new event horse, a big 17hh thoroughbred named Ladd, a couple weeks ago...he was INCREDIBLE. I mean, amazing! He was pretty jumpy at first, but once I got him on the bit, he automatically engaged and his back lifted and he felt amazing. I LOVED him! I'm SO excited for Jean's show season; I can't wait to follow them along. Ladd is awesome already! :D

So Much For Claiming I Post Weekly....

I claim on my facebook that I update my blog weekly...but it's been a week and three days since I last posted...*sigh* :P

We were really hit with a snowstorm the Friday (the day after) I last posted...I think it was the most snow I've ever seen at once in my life...over two feet of heavy snow everywhere. It snowed over the course of three days and left everything looking like this: (The view of our driveway)

Doesn't it look like Narnia? ;)

I have a three strand fence...Can't you tell?
We get as much snow as we do because we're outside of town in the "mountains". At the barn where Daisy is, there wasn't nearly as much snow...although some areas were pretty bad because of drifting. I had a snowday on Friday.

I used to post pictures of my barn cats all the time...so I figured I'd put some updated ones up.
My baby boy, Groenemeyer.

And Miss Genevieve.

Snow above the barn roof...

And the barn altogether. Because of all the snow we got, Daisy didn't come home...She'll come home as soon as the property is good enough to walk on :P. In town the snow is melting and it's muddy, but it's melting slowly at our house. I'll definitely need to put a new bottom line on the fence at some point... :-/

This is sorta backwards timewise, but just before the storm I went trail riding and got this shadow shot :)

Then last Friday I went with Lydia (Click here to see her blog) to the farm she boards her quarter horse at to see a newborn foal and watch Lydia ride...here is Momma mare, "Queen Jean"...I love this photo:

And then Momma and baby, yet to be named.

My computer died, as I said, I got my dad's "old" (2 year old) laptop to replace it...I'm still working out kinks. I need to set up allll my old iTunes playlists, I have to figure out how to connect my FLIP video player to the laptop without having the laptop shut off because of it, and how to download an MP3 without having the laptop shut down...as well as figure out how to get my pictures back and be able to put together the video of Lydia riding on Friday...*ugh*...this is all so complicated. Luckily my older brothers are skilled in the PC area. :) Thanks, guys!

Sooo, on to riding. I've still been riding. Last week on Tuesday I did a little jumping, then on Wednesday I rode for an hour and 15 minutes, doing a lot of jumping, and I jumped bareback Thursday. My course was SMALL. A ground pole, a raised ground pole (cavalletti), a vertical...I have no idea how high...2 feet? A crossrail, less then 2 feet, and that was it...The Tuesday Daisy's jumping was bad. She only got through the vertical once without knocking it...she also mysteriously started coughing on Tuesday so I didn't jump much because after a few times she had a mega coughing fit so I stopped. Wednesday was great. She jumped really really well, she ended up rushing towards the end, but generally she was good and she jumped (at least the "big" vertical) round and she didn't knock it often. She was such a good girl. :) Thursday I didn't have much time and ended up going bareback and ultimately jumping...which was crazy because you can imagine my form bareback... ;)

Friday I didn't go to the barn, and yesterday I rode Daisy and Bubba. I rode Daisy first and because I skipped one. day. she had a fit and wouldn't listen at all the first ten minutes... I eventually got the dressage crop/whip/whatever and knocked some sense into her, made her sidepass the length of the arena; that got her attention. After that she was an angel, of course. :P
Riding Bubba was amazing yesterday...I'm riding him again in Fair, as aforementioned...I would post a pic. of him but seeing as how I lost them all I'll post links to two posts involving him:
http://cdgagudl.blogspot.com/2008/07/congratulations-jean.html <- Stuart Horse Trials 2008, when Jean and Bubba had 2nd place in the Novice Division. Bubba was an INCREDIBLE event horse. The best. (from my Mom's blog)
http://ridingdaisy.blogspot.com/2009/07/sundays-horse-show.html <- Umm...Last, I believe, event of Bubba's career, July 2009.

Soo I rode him yesterday and worked on the free walk...and moved on to a free sorta trot, and then canter (although that was not with a loose rein). He was awesome! Best ride ever on him.

Today I rode him and Daisy again. I rode him first and was exhausted as usual at the end, but it was a good ride, too. We worked on bending.

Rode Daisy...due to time limit I didn't ride long, and I worked on some side pass and pivot groundwork, as well. :)

Jean pointed out that the more I ride on the bit with Daisy, the easier it will be to teach her free walk...I totally didn't think of that. Sometimes I need obvious help ;)

It's been in the 30's the last two days, which is nice...Daisy is no longer blanketed :)

Annddd the thrush is coming back in Daisy's hinds full-force because of the warmth...I'm going to buy what Michaela suggested, the Mustad Thrush Buster... :)

That's it for now...sorry for the sudden long post! ;)

Foaming: Myth or Truth?

I've been told a few times that a horse foams at the mouth when the rider has soft hands and the horse is relaxed...question is, is this true? Do any of you out there know (have proof?)? I just wondered...Daisy's been foaming a lot lately, particularly today when we worked on flying lead changes...at one point, so much foam was dripping from her mouth that it flew up and hit her in the face :P.

I'm using a stainless steel bit in the photos above (Doesn't copper make horses foam? B/c I use a copper Tom Thumb for western or a copper curb and Daisy never foamed).
Just a question for thought... :)

County Fair: Thursday; Western Day

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Western day was GREAT! I didn't think we'd do as well as we did. I had a bit of time in the beginning of the day, so I did a kinda 'spider web" pattern with Daisy's mane. (More pictures on my mom's blog, http://cdgagudl.blogspot.) I love how it turned out!

We went in the classes feelin' pretty good...Showmanship kinda messed me up because we entered the ring one at a time, which was weird, so I didn't do well...I think I got 4th, I don't really remember.

I don't remember what we actually placed in classes, but we must have done well. Daisy got her leads right the ENTIRE day! She was awesome.

One of the best parts of the day was when we lined up to speak with the judge after one of the first classes. The judge went to the first person and informed her she had had a wrong lead. She got to me and simply said "You were fine", then moved on to the other 3 people. Each person she said either "You had a wrong lead" or "You didn't canter well". But with me I was just fine. :) I got first in that class! It was a great feeling, but I could so sympathize with the other people; I was in that situation last year!

Trail class was GREAT, we got 1st place as expected! We side passed over a pole (OH YEAH!) which is something I had worked on with Daisy first with groundwork and then on her back last winter. I think I was the only one who could side pass. Then she barely hesitated going over the bridge, backed in a crooked back-up station, went to a mailbox, trotted over poles, etc. She was great; that's the class we really shine in :).

At the end of the day I did a Versatility class! In the class, you started out riding English and did a flat work English class. Then all the riders in the ring (7 maybe?...8?) went to the edge of the arena to meet their "pit crews" and changed into western clothes and western tack and did a western flat class and a timed barrel pattern. I luckily got some AWESOME fringed half chaps just the day before (first picture) so I only switched regular half chaps on my breeches to fringed and pulled off my English show coat to show my western shirt. I had one of my 4H member's Dad on my pit crew, and I grabbed Lydia last minute and she very willingly helped me out, too (THANK YOU, Lydia! :D). It was SO fun! Once everyone started changing, people always cheered really loud when another rider finished and mounted again...the first rider to get re-mounted finished in about 60 seconds! Daisy had been getting more and more edgy and excited as the day wore on; our cantering wasn't as good because she only wanted to run fast, so she was in the perfect mood for a barrel pattern. We did it (FAST :D) and in the end, we got 2nd place in the class!!!! It was SO much fun; really worth it.

My Mom took the first two pictures, the second picture is of my trainer, Jean, and I...I lived in her house for the week, too...she's great, many thanks to her! :)

The 3rd, 4th, and 5th pictures are by Lydia! OH! I forgot to mention that class. There's a class called Western Riding where you go through a pattern where you weave cones at a canter, serpentine cones at a canter, and back up. It's SO fun! Last year I loved the class even though I think I only got last place; it's just fun! This year Daisy did FLYING CHANGES throughout it! :D It took her awhile each time we changed directions for her to realize she had to change leads, but she pretty much got it; it's a great class. So Lydia's pictures are of that class :).

The last pic is by Jean's mom, who took pictures EVERY DAY all week long! She's great; our club is soooo lucky to have her! Anyway, it's from the Sunday game show before the fair; it was a sit-a-buck class, bareback :). I love the photo, and how Daisy's really stepping under!

That's about it!

Until later,