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.

Lesson 1/11/11

Hello all! 

I had a lesson today...first one since camp in August ;)

I've decided to aim to take a lesson every two weeks...it went well! I'm using a new instructor...she was much more positive than my old one. I won't say more on that topic.

We worked a lot on having Daisy bend and supple, and transitions from walk to trot to walk to get her energy up, and direction changes across the ring. I thought it was a pretty good productive lesson (spurs next time!) but then I saw the videos...she looks lovely! ;)

I know the beginning she's pooping. Figures; how awkward ;) 

But otherwise....  hint: 1:10 is particularly awesome ;) I'm very happy how it went.

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.

Lesson on Ladd, Game Show, and Jumping

I had my lesson with Karin on Ladd Friday. That was...just as insane as my other lessons with Karin. It's sort of hard to describe :P but I'll try my best.
We started out just working on circles, getting him to bend and getting me to sit up straighter. Height apparently hinders sitting up straight; apparently I have a turtle back :P. I think I knew that already.
We worked on circles at a trot first, then moved to a canter, and it actually went really well. I thought the lesson would revolve around Ladd and how to ride him better...but in the first half of the lesson I had the thought "Wait...I'm riding Ladd!" because he was so good, we were focusing so much on me and how I was riding, I sort of forgot who I was on. :)
Jean warned me the other day about taking breaks. She said that, though Bubba is known for doing better if you ride him, then walk him a bit, give him a break, and then keep going, Ladd is the complete opposite. He's bad after breaks.
Understatement.
He was really really good the first half. Then I got tired cantering (my biceps are not used to that work at all :-/), and Karin let us walk and rest. We went back to "riding" riding, and whoa...it was insane. We were cantering, my arms were SCREAMING. She was talking about riding "up" not "rocking" with his canter, not letting my mid-body move, just letting my hips move, and hugging him more with my ankles and legs to quiet my body and allow him to canter more forward and "springy" like for jumping...It went ok at first. But then...I don't know. The entire time we were cantering I was conscious that I was breathing in gasping breaths through my mouth, because I was working hard...but at some point it just went downhill. His break made him even stronger yet (such an event horse :P) and we were doing a canter in a small circle, and he just went faster...and faster....and faster. And Karin was telling me "slow your body and he'll slow down, just make your body quiet" and telling me all this other junk, but...I was gasping for breath. I could not stop him. I was trying so hard and he was going faster and faster and I'm GASPING for air, saying incoherent things as I gasp for breath, things such as "crap...Karin...dying....can't breathe...can't breathe...my arms....can't stop....gasp gasp gasp...air...karin....help" etc. Seriously, you can laugh. Of course looking back my pathetic-ness is hilarious, but that point...holy canoli, I seriously truly believed I was going to die...like, just bail and fall on the ground and pass out. And of course she's telling me what to do and I'm not listening to a word and there comes the inevitable "good, that's better! Good" and I'm like "Lady, I have not listened to a word you're saying, I'm just trying to survive the next time around this canter circle, but I'm glad I'm apparently improving". I'm not really sure how, but I guess I did manage to slow my body, because I did get him to a walk again...Karin was like "Melissa! I thought you were stronger than that!" (sheepish grin...or grimace....). In the end, I walked him out while Karin set up a crossrail for Oliver's lesson coming up...or so I thought. I'm all relaxed, cooling out, breathing through my nose again, and she says "Ok, pick him up to a trot again and take him over the crossrail".
She just had to be kidding me.
I'm thinking along the lines of: if he's strong on the flat, I do NOT want to experience a jump on him quite yet.
I was like "Yeah I talked to Jean. She was like 'I will be seriously jealous if you're the first to jump him' ". Karin was like "Oh it's fine, just take him over."
Oky-dokey then.
He was great jumping. He stayed to a trot. He didn't rush the fence, and he cantered after but came back down fairly easily. We jumped it four times (!) ( ;) :P) and I'm still alive to tell the tail. It was a tiny jump, but he rounded really nicely over it :) Good boy.
So it ended on a good note. Of course, I was sore, Sore, SORE the next morning...my left calf still hurts to the touch, and I have a blister all up the middle part of my right hand ring finger :P. And my shoulders killed (it's seriously so hard to keep them rolled back :-/ )
I'm going to ride him again tomorrow and Thursday.....my official last exam was today and I'm free!!

So onto my pony, who is just absolutely amazing and such a great ride compared :P (I do really like riding Ladd....Daisy's just simple(r) all the time :P)

We went to an evening game show with our 4H club on Saturday, but had a practice mounted meeting the night before. We practiced games, and pick-up race, where you race down the end of the ring, pick up another rider, and race back. I practiced with Sara from our club (You don't know our club so I don't have to specify which sara; there are 3 :P). She sat behind Daisy's western saddle and rode around walk and trot...I told her she couldn't leave without trying a canter "Fine...ONE STRIDE" (easier said than done, haha :P) We went into the canter, and ended up doing it way more than one stride :P Daisy was really awesome for it. She wasn't phased at all :)

Game show went well...Didn't end until just before midnight (starting at 5) and that was with one event scratched, but Daisy was good. We actually placed (!!!) 5th in Keyhole which was a big deal because we NEVER place, and we didn't even get last place! (I think there were 10 people in the division). We didn't place in poles (pictures below). We were doing really well, but she was so into gamer-mode, she turned and skipped the second pole of the weave...so we had to go back and do it (that's why she's on such an angle below) and lost time.
We did quadrangle barrels and she was AWESOME. I really think we should have placed; she had neat, tight turns, and a lot of speed...cloverleaf was our last event and I didn't push her, we didn't place; no surprise. It was a lot of fun though :) and I really think the vinegar is making a difference.

Then yesterday I jumped her in Jean's arena...stadium jumps on her are really disappointing...she definitely jumps XC way better....simply because the she takes the jumps seriously. She just blows off stadium :P So there's the video below....I know I really shouldn't two point so much...or at all...it's just so habit, and I need more time jumping to force myself not to do it.

Also, does anyone have any experience clicker training horses? It looks like fun; just want some input.

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.

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.

First Ever Cross Country Schooling!

Guess what I did today! OH YEAH!

I went to my first schooling (hence title)!!! It was SUPER SUPER fun! The best way to spend Columbus Day off of school EVER! Daisy was incredible....really, really great. We went in a group of 3 riders, Oliver (Jean's son) on Phoenix, another girl named Katie on her quarter horse, and I led by Karin (from 3 posts ago). Daisy refused 3 times total, in 1 1/2 hours...once, at the second jump, a stone jump with a piece of wood over the stones...it was big, and funky looking, so she tried to refuse, than at the last minute popped over it, anyway...she got a small cut on her hind left leg, but was otherwise unharmed...after that, she did actually jump the jump :P :). I learned that Daisy tries to shoot off to the left of jumps...so I had to use a lot of left leg and right rein... The other time she refused, it was pretty much my fault because I wasn't focused enough and I didn't set her up well, so I made it too easy for her to refuse, and she did...we tried it again and she was fine. The course had a series o f small jumps with a bigger jump next to it...we ended up doing the bigger jump almost each time because Karin thinks Daisy jumps better if the jump is bigger, otherwise she doesn't try as hard to get over and jumps flat...as promised, I got a TON of footage of the course! I think I have every jump on tape, and every refusal, and each time I re-did it...at the end of the course the schooling, we each jumped the course individually...it was CRAZY! Daisy was SO strong; I've watched Jean jump courses for a few years now; this time I was the one out there! :P Funny feeling...but SO FUN! Your adrenaline starts flowing and it's incredible to be out there following the course...I think it was 14 or 15 jumps. The video above is of the (I THINK) biggest jump...it was just over the top of a hill. When I did the course, Daisy got a ton of energy going up the hill because over it you were heading back toward the trailers, and she jumped fast, than took off, as she does frequently these days.
Karin tried to tell me later on that she took off because her hooves were sore and horses ran thinking it would help their hooves...whatever. Anywhooo...
I turned the corner after that jump at a gallop, tried turning, didn't really get anywhere, tried pulling back to stop, didn't help, and than Karin was calling out that I should raise my hands...I was like, "WHAT?!". I'm always told to keep my hands down; put them UP?! I did it, though, and Daisy slowed right down... :P
I turned back around to the jump I passed, and finished the course...it was incredible. I had no idea it was so stinkin' fun! AND Daisy was GOOD at it! You should see her; she tucks her legs right up and launches over...and those jumps were BIG for our standards!

I do have a lot more footage and Jean is going to send me pictures...sooo, hopefully (next weekend, maybe?) I can put together a video with pics and filming and music...
For now, you'll have to be happy with this... :)
First rider is Oliver, second is another girl we went with, third is me...and I have a video of the second time I jumped this jump, and Daisy didn't spook at all, so it was even better... :)

I've Been Jumping...

Sooo...I had my first jump lesson today, with Karin, the trainer I used in late winter this year... It was, to say the least, interesting.

First off, not sure if I TOTALLY have advertised this, but since July I've had Daisy trimmed with a natural trimmer. I'm LOVING the entire natural trimming process, and Daisy *seemed* and felt, like she was doing really well with it. This week Monday, the trimmer came again, and it turns out Daisy is foundering *very*, very slightly in all 4 feet. She has a small orange tinge on one part of the white-line of her hoof. The trimmer said that since she's on so little grass to begin with, she'd be fine, and just keep an eye on it and if it got worse to take her off grass altogether. He also noticed that she has very slight thrush in her right hooves; it's not advanced, but it's there. As he advised, I'm spraying Daisy's hooves daily now with a mixture of tea tree oil and organic apple cider vineger, which is supposed to help. Sounds like an odd mixture, but (this is a little silly) I have personal experience with organic apple cider vinegar killing off warts, so I think it will work.

Anyway, with all the things I've read about shoeing and farrier's trimming vs. natural trimming, I don't think I could EVER go back to shoeing, lets put that straight. Besides the fact that Daisy nearly killed the farrier multiple times (through excessive rearing during shoeing), shoeing is just wrong. Read up on it, there is a WEALTH of knowledge out there about natural trimming, and it's amazing.

Karin started out the lesson asking me to trot, and change directions at the trot, and asked me why I put galloping boots on Daisy's legs. I said I did because she tends to hit her legs together when I ride, and she responded "So to protect her, right?" and I said yes. Then she asked why I wear half-chaps, and the answer was for protection. So than she asked me why I could go around expecting my horse to work for me while she is in constant pain because she doesn't have shoes on. She wondered how I could possibly put my horse through so much pain when she obviously shouldn't be barefoot and favors her right side.
Those words stung. Bad. I'm a teenager, alright? Not to make excuses, but I'm still young and have experience, but not THAT much, and I try really hard to do the best I can for Daisy. I honestly believed (AND STILL DO) that shoes are WRONG. So Karin berated me for quite a while, which was horrible. Worse than anything, because she's older than me (duh). She has an amazing reputation as being a great riding instructor. She's had years of knowledge. Somehow, I knew that whatever I said, she'd counter, and I wouldn't be able to convince her. It's something that she just wouldn't understand, I know it. So I kept my mouth shut, in a kind of silent disagreement. I didn't agree with anything she said. In all honestly, I felt like crap. It stunk having to listen to her talk, and not figure out HOW to make her understand!
Finally, she seemed to realize I wasn't agreeing with what she said, and she said that in the end it was my choice what I did with my horse, but that I should know that Daisy was in pain and "off" to her right.
We started working for real, which was slightly awkward because I was now very aware of how Daisy's trot would die when we'd turn to change direction at the trot and change when on the right diagonal. She had me work on two-point, which I STINK at because I rarely do it at home as I ride western and rarely english, and just don't do two-point (standing in the stirrups, heels dropped down, leaning almost horizontal over the horse's back and shoulders). We trotted around, and she worked on improving my two-point.
Then she set up this course:
All the cavalettis were at full height. (lines start out magenta, than black, then (although it's hard to tell) maroon.) I would start out the course at a right lead canter, and after the first cavaletti, switch to left lead. I got lost the first two times, as I apparently have a terrible sense of direction...Daisy was, as usual, flat over the jumps in the beginning, but when she got into it and knocked a pole, she started picking up her feet more, and jumping better. At this point, however, Daisy has to go faster to jump better; eventually she was fast cantering, almost galloping, around the ring for the jumps, popping over each one...unfortunately, again no video, just my little diagram... :-/...
I felt pretty dumb jumping...I felt like Daisy was out of control galloping, and though she felt like she was jumping rounded and not flat, her speed was embaressing (I thought). Plus I felt like I was jumping badly. I saw a video of us jumping that Jean took on her phone, however, and we didn't look too bad! In fact...we looked GOOD! Creepy, huh?!

Towards the end, Daisy started to refuse the oxer (two cavalettis side-by-side) and after MUCH smacking with the crop to no avail, Karin got out the lunge whip. That was kinda freaky, because I KNEW she'd hit Daisy, but I wasn't sure how Daisy would react...Daisy shot forward when the whip hit her legs, but she wasn't hard to balance on, and we went over the oxer. Karin had to smack her with the whip 2 more times as she tried to refuse, before we ended with her going over without needing the whip.

Karin still tried to drill the shoe deal into my head again as we finished up...I just sat silent again.

She did give me some pretty cool info on Daisy's past owners, however...Apparently, Daisy used to be really bad at shows because she'd whinny and scream to the mare she was stabled with over the ring fence (I'm assuming her mother)...Ironic, considering other horses mean NOTHING, zip, zero, zilch to Daisy now; they can't motivate her, they don't comfort her, she doesn't feed off them, NOTHING. :P

Sooo, in all, it was worth the money, cool lesson...besides the terrible shoe-talk part. I need to honestly look into Old Mac's G2's...I'm NOT shoeing! NO WAY. Just need to get down and get those boots!

On Monday, I'm riding Daisy in a cross-country jump schooling with Oliver and Phoenix and Karin...Yeah...I'm crazy....we'll see how it goes. I'll try REALLY hard to get some video! :)

LONG Time No Post!

Hello, People! I'm very very sorry I haven't posted...I have SO much to say, but I really just didn't feel like writing it all...a shame, really, because I'm going to write it now...

So...where do I begin? I'm sticking with just Daisy stuff and may be updating people at my other blog, so at least I don't have that much to say regarding Daisy.

Last time I posted it was our anniversary...since then, we've been riding only English or bareback (withthe bareback pad and without) through the woods. I did ride a I think 5 mile block around some different roads awhile back, which was cool...it was about an hour ride, but it was a "big deal" for me...it seems a lot longer. And it's HILLY! We passed some horses along the way that Daisy so kindly whinnied to, and continued along. The first BIG thing I have to say is that Daisy can do a right lead canter now! I KNOW, right?! RIGHT lead! It's a miracle! Back in January I posted (sorry the writing is hard to read, I still had the old template) about taking a lesson with Karin and trying to get Daisy to pick up her right lead. She had me trying to force Daisy to pick up her right lead, but she wouldn't do it. In February, I started trying myself to get Daisy to do right lead. I'd side pass her to the right, and make her "launch" into a canter from that position, because it sets the horse up for the canter stride. I'd learned that way back when I took regular lessons with my first riding teacher. Daisy didn't really do the right lead, even when I did that in the ring. I'd started doing it on the road, as I mentioned here. I took Daisy to a mounted 4H meeting at the end of April at Jean's house, at the same time that she got her shots, and WOW I need to tell you, she did AMAZING! I easily got her to right-lead canter in a circle, around and around. Sometimes, if I'm lucky, she'll pick her right-lead up by choice! Even if she doesn't, though, I can get her to do it so easily...hopefully, when we got to the pleasure show on May 31st we'll be good with our leads! :D The game show we went to, by the way, was great. I still didn't (and don't) have a western saddle, so we rode English, but Daisy and I both had a ball; we did a ton of barrel racing, and Daisy is amazing at keyhole! She shoots down through the barrels, gets barely inside, flips around and shoots back out; very impressive. Can't wait to do a game show with her! :D

So, let me tell you my agenda. Today I went to a horse show without riding Daisy, but I'll tell you about that in a minute. On Friday I'm leaving school a little early and Jean is kindly going to trailer Daisy down to just outside of Buffalo, New York (About a 1 1/2 hour drive)(Along with another horse to drop off for training) to her Dad's farm. He has a tack shop there, and we will spend time trying on western saddles for Daisy, as I can't just trust that a saddle off the Internet will fit her. I'm REALLY excited because I miss riding Western! It sounds crazy, but I haven't sat in a western saddle since last fall, at our last game show!!! That's MONTHS ago! Daisy was also kept in Jean's dad's herd for some time, so it'll be cool to see the place. :) Then we'll drive back and I'm pretty sure we'll keep her at Jean's house for the weekend. On Memorial day, Monday, May 25th, our 4H club is riding in a parade! That's going to be really cool, too. We're going to a parade in a small town near us, it's a quiet parade so it'll be good for our first time. We'll probably have 6-7 riders on horseback, and the rest of our club walking and holding a banner with our club name. (We are the Yautzy Road Yahoos... :-P) We're all wearing red, and riding with red saddle pads (red is officially our club color). It's going to be SO cool! I've wanted to do a parade with Daisy for awhile because I'm sure she'll do great. I love riding horses in situations where it could potentially be stressful, but we can work through it. I love the feeling of, in a way, "training" a horse to be "bomb-proof"...does that make sense? Like, the more experience, the better. :)
Then I will either trailer Daisy home for the week, or board her at Jean's (not decided yet)...We'll go to a pleasure show on Sunday, May 31st, probably riding western pleasure, and rackin' up points in Command class, which we rock at :P (and Trail class!!!!!!!)

Today I went to a horse show riding Scout, the new lesson pony Jean bought a few months ago. Remember him? He was a sick pony when she got him. Now he's a show pony! I could have ridden Daisy in the show, but I just didn't want to trailer her, and I didn't have a saddle, and we have the parade next week anyway. So I wasn't going to go at all, until Jean offered Scout this week. He's never been shown anywhere so Jean said it'd be good to have an experienced rider (verses one of the beginner lesson students). I rode Scout in a mounted meeting yesterday for the first time, and today in the show! It was a games show. He was GREAT! Jean recently purchased an 8 horse trailer, so we trailered 5 horses to the show, with one of our club members bringing another, and we all wore red and had a great time...Oliver got in a little accident with Bonita (who he's been riding and doing AMAZING with) so he ended up riding Bella once...Scout and I did keyhole as our first class(his first ever class) and we rode walk/trot (he's canter is minimal; he wasn't really ever taught to canter). We one first place! :D He was very good at the show, just excited in the beginning, and then he calmed down. Then we did pole bending, but he did two strides of canter (got a little too into it :-P) and we were disqualified. That's ok, though, we still got good pictures :-P. Unfortunately, the rest of the show ended up canceled because of severe thunder showers (I know, it looks so nice and sunny in the pictures! Hard to imagine that it started pouring :-/)

So that was today's experience...even though we only did two classes, it was a lot of fun; just riding around the grounds with the rest of the YRYs is always fun :). It was our first show as a group, and it was great! Can't wait for more! (We have mounted meetings weekly now; I'll probably "bum" a horse off people at Jean's barn for them, though, because I'm not trailering Daisy each week!)

Sorry this was so long and overdue...I've probably lost my readers by now. :)

Lesson Numero Dos

Is that how you say "number" in Spanish? I wouldn't know, I take French...anyway.

I had my second lesson today! And the last one until March because Karin is going to Florida all of February to event...she does every year, I guess. Anyway, we did only flat work (no jumping) and it was soooo amazing.

She had me circling Daisy at a posting trot, and she had me put my inside hand down and behind my knee, so my arm was pretty much straight at my side holding the rein. Then I squeezed that rein over and over as I rode, while squeezing my legs alternately and just keeping my outside rein still (and holding it strong). Normally Daisy rides strung out, and as I've said, without using her hind end and stepping under herself. Quite a few times while I did that exercise, though, I could feel Daisy really pick herself up and step under herself, while holding her head down and her neck arched, and it was the most wonderful feeling ever. Everyone describes it this way, but it's so true: it was like air. It felt like she was just lightly trotting over clouds, just like the the way you'd think it feels to ride those big dressage horses that skip and hold their legs up really high. Daisy was AWESOME. She did it a ton at the beginning of the lesson. She didn't do as well clockwise as she did counterclockwise, but she was still good. However, I REALLY need to exercise my fingers! They ached like crazy after squeezing my fingers over and over on the rein! But it was great. Daisy's so good. At the end she was covered in sweat after trotting non-stop for almost an hour, and after just a minute or two of walking, we went to cantering and she still did it. She's stubborn at times, but she's a good girl.
At the end her whole face was wet with sweat and her neck, and she was exhausted, but it was good for her. And I feel it know-I'm tired, too! :)

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Next news:
We're ordering our chicks soon! My dad and I went through different breeds, and we decided on I think 9 different breeds, and we'll get 2 of each...they include:
New Hampshire Red
Buff Orphington
Silver-Laced Wyandottes
Black/Gold Sex links
Ameraucanas
Rhode Island Red
Delaware
Barred Plymouth Rock
and I'm forgetting one but I can't remember which one...I also really wanted a White Faced Black Spanish but they aren't available right now...we also wanted a Bantam of some kind but they're all straight runs and we only want pullets...sooo...we'll be getting them in February at some point...I'm so super excited!! :D I'm really glad we're getting them earlier then last time, because they'll lay earlier...and this time I actually know more about Chicken breeds so it's more exciting... :)
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Kacy has alsooooo bestowed me with 3 awards....but I'm a lazy bum so I'm not going to show them or pass them on...actually, I'm on lazy b/c of midterms to study for...otherwise I'd make a bigger deal out of them, but I will put them on the side of the blog with the other awards eventually...
But she also tagged me to post five of my "addictions"...I don't think I'm realllly addicted to anything, but here I go ;-).

1. Blogging, Internet, facebook, blogging. lol.
   
2. Jelly Bellys. OK they are SO expensive ($6.99 a pound!) but I LOVE sour Jelly bellys! They are AMAZING. I just splurged last week and bought some...so yeah...
3. Daisy...barn cats...etc...I could spend HOURS (and I have lately) at the barn doing pretty much nothing. I love it.
4. Reading, LOVE reading, my favorite series EVER is Harry Potter. I've read the series twice. sooo good.
5. Music...Switchfoot and TobyMac are my favs right now...
   

Most Insane Ride Ever

However, just because it was insane, doesn't mean it was bad. ;-).
Long post comin' up here. Get ready.
So. I've been trying to get Daisy to step under herself, and to do that, I was doing a TON of circle work, running the bit to get Daisy to drop her head, and when she did, squeezing to try and get her to move her legs under herself. Yesterday I had my first lesson with Jean's (expensive) (But very good) trainer, Karin...She actually owns Bubba, Jean is just free leasing him until the day he dies...but anyway, she came to give me a lesson. I tacked up and got on and we started with just trotting over some cavalettis, pictured below.The pole on the cavaletti is actually screwed in, so you can turn it over and over and over to different heights. They're practical, and I like them. They don't go higher then about 1 1/2 feet...anyway, she had me trotting over them for a little while, raising them higher and higher. Then she set up a course like below(like my diagram?;-)):

First there was a cavaletti, stood up to full height, then a pole on the ground, then two cavalettis right next to each other, with a ground pole laying on them and onto the ground...it was quite strange. Anyway, we went over it. The idea was to get Daisy to really pay attention and be forced to use her back legs, because she had to jump, collect herself, and jump again really fast. She felt crazy. She was using huge jumps and she would canter over, and then there wasn't much room left on that end of the ring you came out at, so I had to get her down to a trot and turn her. I think Karin thought I was a litttttleee weird for owning such an unbalanced horse...well, not unbalanced, just not-fluid...fluid movement, you know? Anyway, then we went to just walking circles and she assessed the Daisy. The whole time I was riding the way Jean rides Bubba; working to get her to keep her front legs in, not stepping far with them, and pulling in her back legs. Karin however, said that I should be riding her sitting far back in the saddle, instead of on her withers, which off-balances her. It was so true! The minute I sat back farther, she put her neck down nice and far, and stepped out with her front legs, which (I know now) is what she should have been doing. So I need to remember to sit back farther and give her a little more room to stretch.

Then came the actual insane part. Karin set up the three cavalettis at the end of the ring, turned so that you would ride through them while turning at the end of the ring. It looked like this (roughly):
When a horse canters (three-beat gait) they always have one front leg pulling out farther then the other, depending on the direction they're going. If they're going left, the left leg goes out, and if they go right, its the right leg. These are called leads. They do this so that they can turn...its like the inside leg has to go farther to get around the bend. Every horse prefers one lead over another; it's like being right or left handed. Daisy is left "handed". She would MUCH rather do the left lead instead of the right, and when we ride on the road, she always picks up her left lead on straight-aways. During the lesson, no matter what, she tried SO hard to canter left lead, no matter what directions we went in. Karin had me canter her over the cavalettis in the right direction, trying to "force" her into the right lead. WELL. Daisy did not like that. You'd think she'd just give in, since it stresses her body doing left lead when she should do right. No way. She doesn't think like that. She would refuse the jump, veer off to the left when she got there, run around them, etc. One time she veered off and almost ran into Jean and a tractor. Another time she was inches away from running over Karin (at which point I was really afraid she'd get mad and quit on me...but she just kept saying "It's alright, just try again."). So Karin gave me a long crop and she stood at the first cavaletti (right lead) with a long longe whip. When I rode Daisy by, she snapped it so that Daisy wouldn't run off. It worked. Daisy *flailed* over the jumps...it was very very rough, and I almost fell off a few times, and she was DRENCHED in sweat... But we did it. The point was to get her to get used to using her left lead canter, and not just using it on the ground, but having to push herself with it, and build up back leg muscle. Then we did it on the left lead, and there she was much better but still kinda bad because she was racing through. But it was better. We ended with one straight line of cavalettis, which she was fine at.

I almost fell off a few times, and I thought Daisy was gonna quit on me (lol) but I'm glad I did it. Even though it was hard, I learned a lot, and I think Daisy liked it. Apparently, if we do it more, she won't be that bad of a jumper (Karin says)...She was taught by Karin when she was owned by her old owner (the one before Jean) and she was doing pretty well, apparently. Anyway, now we have something (FUN!) to work on!

If I hadn't had that lesson, I would have kept doing incorrect circles, convinced that I couldn't jump until I got it right. Now, to get it "right" I need to jump! Even little cavalettis are fun. :)

Alright, sorry this was so long, I'll leave you alone for awhile. :)