Just an Update

Hellooo...

I didn't get to go to the schooling yesterday. I would have been able to, but there was no one to trailer me :-/. My friend who trailered me last time had an appointment and wasn't going, and Jean's trailer was full, so no schooling for me :(. I do get to go to camp though...hopefully it'll be as fun as a schooling or two ;)

I went instead to my friend's county fair horse show today! :) That's her above, on Abel. They did a great job! I love going to shows of all kinds, of course.

Daisy has been a good girl...I rode her on the usual 5.2 mile block on...Tuesday I think, and towards the end we came down a street, a downhill and we came up to road construction...The road is bendy, and before we came around the corner I heard it already, and thought "Uh oh..." and tried to think of other ways to get home...but there was really no way except to go the 4+ miles back again...so I forged on. :P Turned out to be two bulldozers and a roller. Of course, first we had to pass the parked-with-engine-running truck with the flashing lights on top....it was all very fishy, you see. ;) Daisy was a good girl, though. She was nervous, I could tell, but she kept her cool and kept walking, one ear on the machinery and one on me. :)
It is tempting to get a horse like Ladd, (ok...Ladd. Just Ladd. Not a horse like him. HIM), but then I realize that he would never keep cool in a situation like that :P and I'm happy to have Daisy-Mae. :)

And so...Daisy and I await camp in 3 days :) (...and Daisy's birthday one week from today)

Until later,

Lots of Things in the Future!

Not much has been going on...I visited my friend Wednesday and Thursday, and Thursday I watched her riding lesson and took a ride with her, she on Abel and I on a horse named Willie. It was fun :) I made the video up there (dressage stuff first, then jumping pics and video toward the end).

Daisy went to Jean's yesterday morning in preparation for my horse show tomorrow. I rode her there yesterday and jumped in the ring and she was really good :). She had trouble at first sticking her nose in the air so she could rush the jumps, but I worked with it and got her to do it "on the bit" with her head low and not rushing...so that was good :) Today I have a mounted meeting on her at 2.
I also rode Ladd. Jean's been riding him a lot more now and he was incredible when I rode him yesterday...she's using a martingale on him and I've never ridden one, and initially wasn't impressed, but it did seem to help.
Other big news...I'm tentatively planning on doing my first event ever (!!), probably intro-level :P, at the very end of August! :D Should be pretty awesome...hope I learn a lot before then though.
And on Monday I'm giving a beginner lesson on Daisy...and Tuesday Jean is tentatively planning on going swimming in the lake, me on Daisy and her on Bubba. I hope it works out! Neither have ever gone swimming from what we know...I predict that Daisy will refuse to go in at first, but with persistence, she'll do it. (I hope so anyway!)

Until later,

P.S. I will not be doing a Sunday Stills tomorrow.

Sunday Stills: Frame It

This challenge was a fun one. The job was to frame something with something else. An example given was to frame the moon with tree branches.

I chose to frame my latest "ride", my trainer's 17hh Thoroughbred gelding, Ladd. He's a handsome man :) So sweet.

I'm not too happy with these first two shots...it was so bright out when I took the pictures that his face was dark and the sky was perfect...so editing sort of compromised it. But the sky still looks a bit pale...but oh well.

The second two shots are better (I think).
Ladd, framed by the sky.

Check out some more framed shots at Sunday Stills!

Good Weather=Good Mood

We have had AMAZING weather the last two days. Yesterday it was high 80's, today, 80's. It feels WONDERFUL; like summer. Daisy's still shedding out her coat so I don't think she fully appreciated the warmth :P but that's ok.
Riding her has been ok...today's ride started out pretty not good :P. We turned left off our driveway (not right towards the minis, the way Daisy likes) and we rode a bit and then, Daisy strategically placed herself between two houses with neighbors in the yard to throw a "temper tantrum". Her form of a tantrum consists of just ignoring me, out of the blue. She isn't jumpy or pushy; she simply refuses to listen. She stops, and won't do anything-back up, walk forward, trot, side-pass, etc-except turn around. So I smacked her once with the end of the rein and used my stern voice, but it got me no where so I got off her back and made her trot up the street next to me until we were a distance from the neighbors who were blatently staring and using us as entertainment. Once I was far enough away, I mounted, and gave her a good smack with the reins and I gave my typical manly "GET!" growl and she went (relucantly). In exchange, I promised a trip to the minis tomorrow :P (turns out I probably won't have the opportunity to ride tomorrow anyway...sorry Dais' :P). After that, our ride was actually pretty darn good. She was dull until we got out on the big open rode and then she was great. One time she had a right-lead canter hissy fit, but she got over it pretty good with me reminding her who was in charge (*ahem*) and that was all. One rode back (as mentioned two posts ago) is about a 1/4 mile and we gallop it and Daisy has the annoying habit of trying to gallop and jigging in place as soon as we turn onto the road. It's not dangerous or really bad, just annoying. Today, I expected her to do that, but she was AMAZING. I got her on the bit and we walked a little bit until I finally gave her a soft signal to canter and she sprang walk-canter into it perfectly and was really good. I was in two-point (which I stink at, so I do it whenever I get the chance) and about half-way along the road I realized she was sort of not controled anymore; going a little too fast (Before I was so astounded with her good behavior I was basking in it and forgot to think about speed :P). I tried half halting, but then just told her "woa" and she brought herself right back down to an acceptable canter. :) YEY!

And going up the BIG hill home she was amazing :)

Afterward, I went to Jean's planning on riding Bubba, but ended up riding Paulie, a new horse, because Bubba refused to be caught...
Paulie was born at Jean's farm out of a rescue mare 2 1/2 years ago. He's since been with a new owner and is incredibly well trained. Jean wants to buy him back and has him on trial. It didn't occur to me until after that I rode a STUD, that was only TWO AND A HALF! He was so great. I always sorta thought only really good or really insane riders rode stallions, but he was so good. He was a little nippy on the ground, but otherwise, SO well behaved. He can walk/trot/canter, turn on the hindquarts/forhand, sidepass, back up, etc, already. That's me on him in the second picture :P
He's being gelded on the 29th, and Jean offered for me to be there along with a small group of kids from the trade school. She said it would be interesting for me to see him gelded, especially since I'm interested in vet school.

So my question is, has anyone ever witnessed a stallion being gelded? :P Is it worth seeing? Is it interesting? Should I see it? What stood out to you most?
If you haven't, would you want to see it?
Just wondered, thought it was interesting.

Also, on a sort of off-topic note, out of Listerine and apple cider vinegar/tea tree oil mix, which do you prefer for daily thrush prevention? I can't decide; Lately I've used Listerine.

Happy Easter, Everyone! May you celebrate your risen Savior! :)
And eat chocolate. It's required. :)

Goodbye, Bella...

She was one of Jean's lesson horses...the best of them all. Jean often says she needs "another Bella" because Bella was the best of all the horses...one in a million.
She was euthanized this morning after getting sick and going down hill very quickly yesterday...she was in her thirties. She will be thoroughly missed by all of the Yautzy Road Yahoos...
To see more posts that involve Bella, check here.
http://ridingdaisy.blogspot.com/2009/08/we-have-another-show.html
http://ridingdaisy.blogspot.com/2009/08/county-fair-friday-gymkhana.html
http://ridingdaisy.blogspot.com/2008/12/daisys-away-again.html

Sunday Stills Challenge: The BEST challenge of all; Horses (HAPPY THANKSGIVING!)

I've been gone for a few weeks from Sunday Stills, but just reading this week's challenge, I know I needed to post; no way out of it. I've decided to make this into my "Thanksgiving" subject for the year...

I started loving horses as soon as I could express that I did. My loving parents signed me up for weekly riding lessons (or, for the first year, "pony rides) when I was four years old. I rode at that same barn for a total of eight years before moving on a to a half-lease with my cousin's horse, then my own horse. I've ridden many different horses over the years, and recently sat down and wrote them all down. I've ridden (though some are excluded on this first picture) 55 horses.

Horses have taught me so much. It's so cool to get on a horse and ride them and try to figure them out; they are all so different, the same thing doesn't make them all "tick". They all have different personalities, like people do, and all have things they love, hate, fear, and are good at.

The first pony I ever rode was named Sunshine, or "Sunny". I went on to ride 2 other horses with that name...but anyway. I'm not sure what breed Sunshine was, but he was a great pony...I rode him for a long time. When I was older, and barely fit on him, I'd get on him again...he was a blast. What a good boy. The next four pictures are of him...the first one is me on him, the *FIRST TIME* I was ever on a horse at all. Ohhh, joy. :)

As soon as I learned to control Sunny myself, I moved on to Dusty. He was a real horse, I'm guessing quarter horse, and an old boy, but very good. My parents threw a party at the riding barn for me when I turned five, and I felt really special; all my friends were led around on the ponies; *I* got to ride all by myself on the big horse. :)

I even sat on a police officer's horse one night in the city...One career I'm interested in (to the dismay of my friends and family, who think it's dangerous :P (It is)) is mounted police work...but we'll see. However, at least I can say I've been on a mounted officer's horse, right?

Next pony I rode was named Oreo. Apparently, he was a real brat, but I don't remember him very well.

Now. Until Patchy and Daisy came along, this next horse was my favorite. Dancer, a snowflake Appaloosa. He was so much fun; well behaved, and great at games. I had a blast whenever I rode him.

My Aunt Daniela had a horse named Gitano when she lived in Germany...soo, when I visited, I got to ride. He was HUGE, as most horses in Germany are. But very cool. Germans feed their horses stale bread, something I give my horse, too. It's second nature; growing up, people in Germany pretty much always have a bag in the pantry for the stale bread for the horses. It's funny when I tell riders in the US that; they give me the funniest looks :P. Daisy loves stale bread, as long as it's not white bread. :P :)

The next horse is named Little Girl, born and raised at the barn I took lessons at. She was eventually sold...I liked her. I remember my first reaction after getting on her was "Wow, she's sensitive!"...But I grew to like her.

Now, the next pony. How can I explain him? Patchy was a really green pony, but my riding instructor had me ride him. I ended up spending many lessons simply working on stopping with him, and argued with him quite a bit...I learned loads from working with him. I don't care what you think, you can learn the most from problem horses. Patchy was...one of a kind. I loved him to bits, but I knew I'd outgrow him so I'd never buy him. As I've said before, he was what motivated me to buy Daisy; I got on her to test ride, and found a personality much like Patchy's, and wanted her. I'm not completely sure what's happened to Patchy, now...I'm hoping to find out.

Our family moved out to the country in 2005, at which time I made myself known to neighbors with miniature horses, and ended up spending a lot of time with the minis, who I was allowed to visit whenever I wanted. Below are two pictures of Reba (and I)...I can only look back and laugh; love my pants! :P

And, almost exactly a year before I bought Daisy, I got to know another family with minis, and went on a horse show, showing Doc (aka, "Top of the Hill Drop of Medicine"). I look like a little cowboy.

This is just a portion of all the horses I've ridden...and I could have gone on and on. In any case, this year my "thanks" subject goes a few ways. Thank you to my parents for fostering my love at an early age and allowing me to ride. Thanks to my riding instructor, who taught me SO much over the years. Thank you to each and every equine I've ridden; each one has taught me something new. And thank you to my dear friends who've allowed me, over the years, to ride their horses and teach me. Horses are a big part of my life. I love them so much.

This concludes my long Sunday Stills post.

I hope you all (ERR, all that live in the US and celebrate Thanksgiving!) have a Happy Thanksgiving, eat lots of food, and get tons of rest! :) Thanksgiving's one of my favorite holidays, right up there with Christmas. :)

*Note*: photos came from different sources, generally my mom. I'm not sure if this really counts as a Sunday Still because *I* didn't take the photos, but it is Sunday (err...Saturday) and they are Stills...soo...Also, I had to take pictures of paper copy's of pictures, which is why some are blurry :P.

Sunday Stills Challenge: Photoshop

Sorry I'm so late! I realize probably not many people will check my blog now..if at all...but it COMPLETELY fled my mind this morning that I had Sunday Stills to post! And considering I spent time making 4 photoshopped photos! :P

I don't own any sort of photoshop software...I know...*GASP!*
I use picnik.com...my computer is *painfully* slow, but I get through it...I took all but the last picture of Daisy and I...that was taken by my cousin Anika on the day that I bought Daisy, 2 1/2 years ago.

We start off with this ex-standardbred racehorse that I met during a 4H Equine Careers Camp in June named Snickers...he's here to show his support for breast cancer victims... :)

And this is my chicken, Bibbi...she is not generally that orange, but I played with saturation on this one...

My barn cat, Gronemeyer...first I played around with the saturation on the photo, than I used the black & white brush to make everything but him black and white...I was going to leave out the green altogether, but then I figured it looked kinda cool...so voila.

And, Daisy-Mae and I April 17, 2007...I used the "cinema scope" tool on this, than changed to black and white, than added words and the "museum" frame...

Check out Sunday Stills for more!

Before Daisy's Time: My First Show

Back in the day when caveman roamed the Earth, and dinosaurs weren't extinct yet, I had my first horse show.

Well, at least I made the first sentence interesting, right? Right.

A year and a half before I found Daisy, I made friends with the owners of three miniature ponies down the street from our house. I used to go to their house a few times a week and take care of the ponies. It was pretty cool, because I went over there whenever I wanted, and played with the minis. It was like having my own horses. That next spring, one of the girl's on my brother's swim team invited me to show one of her miniature horses (not the ones on my street). It was a blast. The night before I had a crash course on showmanship, halter classes, and obstacle, and early the next morning we were off. I think I borrowed all the clothes I wore, haha, and the horse, but I had a ball!

One class was obstacle. You had to lead your horse over poles, have him turn on the forehand in a hula-hoop, walk over a tarp, etc. We got fourth place.

I remember being SO nervous for showmanship. I went in as the first person, which meant in the line-up I was last to see the judge. We had to walk forward, stand for inspection with the judge, do a 180 degree turn, and trot back. I don't remember the fine details, but I know I had a hard time when standing for inspection because Doc, the pony I showed, didn't want to stand still. I felt like a failure because he kept prancing around, and not squaring up...but we ended up with 2nd place out of 10 people. I was SO proud. I've been told that the judge admired that I kept trying even when he was a jerk...I don't know if that's true, but it made me happy!

The last pictures are of Doc showing with his owner. :)

A year later, I bought Daisy.

I value all the experiences I've had before I had Daisy; everything I did with horses, big and small, taught me something. I give credit to the minis this year when I had 1st place showmanship at the county fair; it's nice that I had already had that experience. :)

We Have Another Show!

Daisy and I went to a horse show about an hour away with Jean on Sunday and participated in English and Western combined pleasure/equitation, etc, classes. We got 2nd place in Pleasure! :D Out of a lot of people, so that was cool...and 3rd in command...we had to leave early, unfortunately, because of thunderstorms, so we didn't get to the barrel racing :-/...BUT I have another show on Saturday evening! I'm going to ride both Daisy and Sissy in the show so that should be fun! Plus, I'll still be in the same division, just ride twice each time, so I'll be beating "myself" on the different horses :-P

These videos show first the 8 horse trailer our club uses (the most we've used it for is 7 at a time) and the second is Daisy and I running Texas T in July at a show...we're kinda slow there...It annoys Daisy that she can't do Texas T without my help :P.

Talk to You All Later!

Hello, Ladies and Gentlemen! :D

I just wanted to let you all know, I probably won't be posting for a little while. I'm going on a trip. I'll post pictures when I'm back!

The first pictures are just a couple of Daisy recently...she's staying at Jean's while I'm gone. The horse that's not Daisy is Jean's new horse, Scout. He will be a lesson horse. He is so sweet!!! He's pretty cool...he had never had his feet done, been vaccinated, probably never been wormed...but he looked awesome! His hooves look great for never having been done, he had good teeth (according to the dentist who came) and...well he did have worms. But still, he's a great example that horses when left on their own (kinda) will survive. He was kept in an area with rough land (hooves) and was pretty much wild...but well trained. He was a daddy quite a few times, too. He's SO sweet, though! Apparently he was great to ride, too. He seems like he would be.


Talk to you all when I'm back! :D