Ground Driving, A Ladd Update, and Expanding Our Horizons

Sunday evening I ground drove Daisy for the first time in at least a month and a half. I wasn't sure what to expect, but. . . she was excellent! She was completely responsive to my voice commands, which is interesting because I don't really use them while riding (at least not the forward commands; I do use woah). I really want to get a cart and hook her up, but I'm leery. . . I was hoping I could find a cart in the area that I could borrow just for the first time to see if she could even handle it, but I didn't have any luck. So if I do it, it would require driving an hour or so away to pick up a ~$500 cart, in the hopes that Daisy even takes to it. So at this point, I haven't done anything more than think about it.

Monday morning finally left time for me to ride Ladd. He was full of it, as seen when he came cantering up to me full speed in the pasture and almost plowed me over. He had canter on the brain the whole time we were in the arena; I was trying to ride my PC dressage test with him, but the trot circles were turning into fights to see who would win; me at keeping him at a trot, or him at winning a canter. He was lathered up and sweaty after a half hour, and I took him out on the trail. He was surprisingly well behaved. I admit I'm a little anxious about riding him outside because when we canter, I always have the feeling that I'm on the edge of losing control, and I hate that thought. Not so on Monday; he was right in my hands the whole time, energetic, but disciplined. 

This is him and I before our ride:

Tuesday morning I took Daisy out for a ride Western. We headed out on a road we generally ride on, but we didn't turn back where we normally do. She was getting bored and lazy with the roads we always ride on, so we carefully crossed a busy road onto a new road. As I expected, she instantly perked up and was curious about her surroundings again. Love that!

The last time she was trimmed, I fear she was trimmed too short (in fact, I know; her sole was visibly too low to the ground) and as a result, she's been sensitive on stones. This aggravates me, because trimmed correctly, I know she (and all horses) can be sound, but being an advocate for barefootedness is not easy when my own horse isn't sound. I've been using her easyboot gloves for every single ride, which solves the issue and she's fine that way, but I still wish she could just go bare. 

Ah well. Onwards and upwards,

Oh Hey There . . .

Just a short post. Lots has been going on that I could post about, but... no one really cares anywayyy sooo. 

I went riding with Jenny's other boarders yesterday. We went on a dead-end road first and galloped the horses full out. So fun! Daisy really enjoyed it. (so did I).

Afterward, we rode up to my house so I could show them the barn.

I was supposed to have another lesson last Tuesday but it was only like 5 degrees out so we canceled. I'm probably going to have a lesson this coming Monday instead.

Daisy moves to Jean's on Wednesday.

Daisy's going to stay at Jean's for 6 weeks, all on 24/7 outside board...with a pasture buddy! She's had neither for at least 5 years. I'm actually pretty excited about it. *Crossing fingers* that she's nice to Dixie.

I leave for a trip to FL on Tuesday in a week, and Jean's lessons students will ride Daisy while I'm gone.

Christmas, Hay Net, and Barn Tour

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas! Daisy did. She had a nice salad of apples and carrots (like every other Christmas...) and a little bag of skittles (no, I do not feed my horse skittles on a daily basis, just her birthday and Christmas). She happens to love skittles. :)

I had an excellent Christmas as well. The biggest (and only) horse gift was the harness my parents got me for Daisy! A friend of mine is going to show me how to harness her on Tuesday...but that's for later.

When Daisy is kept at home, she is given a flake of hay about every couple hours. This is for a few reasons. Partially to give her something to look forward to and do while I'm not home and she's alone in her pasture (and to keep her from eating other such things like...manure...trees...dirt...etc). We also do this because it's better for horses to eat continually (or at least in small meals like that) throughout the day because it mimics how they eat in the wild. When Daisy goes to board, however, she's given 3-4 flakes at 6am when she's brought to her pasture, I imagine she's done within the hour, and that leaves her with nothing to do the rest of the day, as well as cold, when it's winter. Similarly, at night she's given 3 flakes that she quickly eats, leaving no entertainment or heat for the remaining 12 hours. 

Enter hockey hay net! I first saw this idea a (long while) back on Laughing Orca Ranch's blog post. I decided to try it myself this year. I ordered the hockey netting online, and when it arrived, I cut it into pieces and tied up the sides of two of them. Today we went and got screw eyes and carabiner clips and hung it on the stall!
It wasn't actually that easy. The walls are oak and I had no drill so I had to use a nail, then remove it, then screw in a screw eye, lose the nail in the stall, find the nail in the stall, attempt to make another hole, lose the nail again, find the nail again so Daisy wouldn't wake up with a puncture wound, finish making the hole, screw the screw eye in, have it break in half half way into screwing it in (yes...I couldn't find the perfect screw eyes at walmart), be forced to make another hole, almost lose the nail again, and screw in the last screw eye.

Needless to say, if you do this yourself...it probably won't be that frustrating. :)

But it's finished! And stuffed with Daisy's dinner hay.

It looked very small hung on the wall, and I was a little worried it wasn't big enough, but it stretched perfectly and held all her hay. If I ever need more, I can just put a flake or two on the ground anyway, and I'm sure she'll survive ;) For now I only have one in her stall, I have to figure out a way to make it possible for her to have one outside.
I brought her in for a test run.
This is a dark video, but...here it is:

On Saturday when I rode shortly, I took Daisy out bareback and bitless on the trail in the snow, had a wonderful time, and then took her in for a little Christmas barrel racing...she slipped going around one barrel and her hind end went down; for a second, I thought she'd completely go down. She didn't, and she trotted out fine on the lunge and didn't seem hurt, but I called it a day anyway. Today when I brought her in, I trotted her out again..she seemed totally fine. I didn't ride today anyway though.
Tuesday Daisy goes to Jean's...and Wednesday... !! We're doing our first ever clinic! It's with the mounted police officer who hosted the trail trial we did in September. It's going to be all about bombproofing and sensory training your horse...pretty exciting!
That said, did I mention I love being at Jenny's? I love the use of the ring, and the trails, and the cleanliness and how small it is; just me, two other boarders, and her horses. It's very homey. :) So I took an impromptu tour on tape today...I didn't mean to, but I wanted to see if my camera flash would turn on if I taped (it didn't). So anyway I decided to upload the tour anyway. The dark opening behind Daisy is the entry to the arena. Lydia said it well when she said it's like a 'farmette'...has a little bit of everything. :) Here it is:

And so I leave you until later, bloggers :),

Dragging a Groundpole...& All That Other Stuff

I can't remember exactly, either Monday or Tuesday of this week was "drag a ground pole" day. Daisy was just fine with it, and so I declared Wednesday to be "lets drag a barrel day"...and, basically told myself that if she took to the barrel without too much trouble, then I would go on with the training with the end goal being her pulling a cart. You can see how that all went in this video:

I didn't start with leading her and dragging it. I got right up on her back. She was fine with it until it ended up next to her (the "Ahh!" moment) and then she was a little wigged out, so at that point I got off and dragged it while leading her(cropped it out because of time constraints). Then I got back on her and kept going. I know it looks like she's power walking, trying to get away with it...she's not really. While I was riding her, it felt totally normal, like she was focused on the barrel and knew it was there, but wasn't really worried about it all that much, even when it dragged over loud stones. Also, when she trots, it's because I asked her ;) She's a horse with a naturally active walk; that's something I love, because I've always been one who can't stand lazy walking horses. I personally think she did really well with the barrel...she's a horse that doesn't spook and totally lose it. She spooks in stages that you can see coming; it's easy to prevent them, or at least see them coming, and it's easy to talk her off the ledge. She's sensible, and she doesn't get so caught up in spooking that she doesn't listen. I'm so proud of my mare :)

Do any of your horses poop in their water troughs? 

Well. I think Daisy was trying to get back at me for the work I've been making her do. She pooped in her trough. Two days in a row. I got to empty it, scrub it, and refill it, two days in a row. I moved it a foot sideways the second time it happened, and spent the lesson that day getting all her bucks and energy out roundpenning. Not sure if it's connected, but her trough has stayed clean since then xD. 

Friday and Saturday I rode her outside for the first time since I came to Jenny's. We rode out in the snow (about 1/2 a foot) and walked/trotted/cantered...she was having a blast, and so was I. I feel like the ground driving and ground work is forcing her to track up more...because she felt like she was tracking up the whole time we rode outside. She tried to buck out of sheer joy a few times... ;)

So. I'm a little torn, but I've decided I'll ask for a harness for Christmas...and I've been checking out simple EZ entry carts on ebay...you just never know ;)

Until next time,

I'm Back...

 

Hello, bloggers.

I was never really gone...just not at all motivated to post. Not for lack of things to post about, because I had a lot of stuff I wanted to post over the last month.

Here's a short overview (that really doesn't do it any justice).

I've been riding basically only bareback or with my new Abetta endurance saddle (see above) which Jean's sister sold to me for a very very generous price (Thank you!!). I love it! It's very light; I think Daisy enjoys it as well.

I've simply been enjoying Daisy, and getting back to basics. This month included a lot of work on stopping in the snaffle bridle. I regret not doing the schooling in the snaffle; she would have been fine. She's excellent in it now. I've been trying very hard to use all my aids when I ask for the stop, and my hands and reins as a last resort. She's doing well.

I've been trail riding often as well, and have taken her just in a halter and reins numerous times. She's been not quite as good as in the snaffle, but very close. One day I meant to only trail ride, so we went without a bit, and I ended up out on the road anyway because the trail was too wet. Once I got out there, I realized I only had a halter and reins. I took the chance anyway, and she was just fine, even on the road, cantering toward home, I had her stop right there. I've been riding carefully lately to make sure everything we do is a result of me asking her for it, not simply her guessing correctly what I want. Normally, in places where we canter, Daisy knows it and I just let her choose when we start cantering and that's all there is to it.  Now, I make sure she's at a very nice, controlled walk or trot and not anticipating the canter, before I ask for it. I've successfully gotten her to walk very calm in areas where before all she'd do was jig.

Daisy's hooves have held up excellently. This was our first full season on the 'natural' barefoot trim...if I wasn't 100% convinced before, then I'm 200% convinced now. She doesn't even avoid stones now; the majority of the time she'll walk/trot/canter over gravel without a flinch. Her hooves are never bruised (except a tiny spot that we found when she was trimmed yesterday from her bars being quite long) and she's a happy camper. I use her easyboots when time allows; she loves those as well. She seems to walk extra hard on the gravel those days, just to prove how awesome they are. 

I love my mare. She makes my life complete. I can't imagine what I'd do without her. She's my go-to whenever I need a picker-upper...and she always succeeds in making my day. Some rides start out sour, but at the end of it, I look at the little things we've accomplished that day and I'm always immensely proud.

I've ridden over 60 horses in my almost 12 years of riding. There are very few moments where I am afraid on a horse. I realize however that one fear I do have, and admit to, is my fear of being run away with. I'm not sure why it's such a fear of mine. The last time it truly happened (at the trail trial, on Daisy), I wasn't really scared while she was really running; simply angry that she wasn't listening. So I guess a better way to phrase it is, a fear of being out of control. I know they're big animals and I have a lot of healthy respect, and I never let them get away with things. But if they truly want to do something, they will succeed. I feel almost constricted when I ride Ladd or Bubba, because they are truly very strong, and I feel like I lose control with each passing moment at a canter (mostly only out on the trail). I hate that feeling. I know deep down if they took off, it wouldn't be that bad, they'd eventually stop, and I can always one-rein stop. But it still scares me.
I've resolved to fix this fear, at least on Daisy. I'm going to practice letting her go all-out, and then get her back to a stop. I tried it a little today...such a silly fear. She was going full-speed, and I had her to a walk in 10 seconds, tops. It all depends on the day, though.

 My oldest brother and I shared a trail ride together at Jean's. It was a lot of fun :)

 And last Saturday I had the pleasure of visiting my friend who lives about an hour away and I went riding with her, on a delightful draft-cross named Allie. :)

 

First Trail Trial, Sunday September 26th

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  

Our score was a 9.1 on this one.

 

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

 Next one was called "Showtime".

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I'm Still Alive...

 So I'm trying this new blogger post thing right now...so far unimpressed. Only upload one pic at a time now?! They should at least allow the "Ctrl" option so you can choose a lot at once...but anyway.

I haven't posted in a bit, school has been keeping my incredibly busy. I also don't feel very motivated due to the fact that I never get comments anymore...I'm doing this for myself now, I guess. I happen to know that people still read, and if you wouldn't mind commenting once in a while, that'd be great. No need to linger in the shadows.

Daisy and I have two events this upcoming weekend. Our last game show of the year is Saturday, and our first ever Trail Trial is on Sunday, to benefit Happiness House. Our club's ride time is around 10 o'clock. We'll also be there all day to run concessions and food...should be fun!

In an effort to prepare for the ride, I set up a vine obstacle like I once saw Lisa from Laughing Orca Ranch do. Daisy was definitely skeptical about it...after a few days of working on it, she went through relatively easily. I both walked her through and rode her.

I got Daisy's snaffle a few weeks ago. It's a loose ring double joined snaffle. I honestly have only ridden in it about 5 times because I've been riding more western to prepare for this coming weekend, which I'm riding all western. The few times I took her out in it went well though. There were one or two times where she tried to take off, but I simply pulled her in a circle and stopped her. The last couple days I've been working on her stop more. Going away from home, she can be going at a good canter, and with me simply sitting back and saying "whoa" she'll go to a dead stop from a canter. Unfortunately, going toward home she's not this good. Not at all. So I've been working with her on it, as well as asking her for different leads from a standstill like I did with Ladd at the show. She's good. :)

Lastly...I made the sweatshirt above on zazzle.com. You like it? :) I love it.

I also want to, at this point, reiterate how important it is to ride with a helmet for all you riders out there who think you're above it. A couple weeks ago, Jean's sister-in-law was on a horse simply walking without a helmet, and she blacked out, fell off, and fell on her head. She now can no longer be left alone at home and isn't herself at all. A week later, Jean was out with a woman on a trail ride, the woman on Bubba, and Bubba tripped, somersaulted, and the women came off. She was out for 3 mintues, and now has "paralysis" (sort of) in her right hand and it doesn't function correctly anymore. Granted, she had a helmet, and this all happened, but...if she hadn't had the helmet, more than just her spine could have been hurt. I know when I go to the game show Saturday everyone besides me who's over 15 and no longer legally needs to wear a helmet won't be wearing one because it looks stupid. 

You know what else looks stupid? Brain injury for not wearing one. So invest in a helmet people.

I've only had time to post today because I'm home from school with a bad cold.
Until I find time to post again,

Swimming & Trailing & (Upcoming) Showing

Hellloooo blogger world!
I went swimming with Daisy in the lake again today! We dodged the paparazzi this time and headed to a privately owned beach. (We will not be making front cover of the paper this time. (Did I ever share that article? See here. The comments are pretty ridiculous there too :P) It's been in the high 80's, low 90's since Monday....so it was necessary. Bubba [The Great] went in just fine like last time :) and Daisy reluctantly followed suit. Twice, I took her deep enough so that she had to truly swim...the second time, we swam a good bit out from land before turning around. It was CRAZY! It sounds silly, but it felt like what I imagine it would feel to ride a seahorse (if I was small enough to do so :P). She was plunging through the water, up and down and up and down...the first time, I was caught off guard. I grabbed her mane and just hung on, trying not to slide of the side....so funny! I wanted to get her out a 3rd time to get it on video, but Daisy was adamant and refused to do it....Pictures to come.

I also received permission this week to ride on our one neighbor's property. I went there yesterday for a walking trailride (it was so hot out, but I really wanted to explore) in the cool woods and I'm thrilled with the land! There are a lot of nice wooded trails, and a meadow for nice gallops. Best of all, the start of the trails is very close to our house...just a short distance down the road.

And last but not least...there is a show September 12th. I will be riding in it. And I will not be riding Daisy. And I will not be riding Bubba....I'm taking...LADD! :D
Should be tons of fun...like, really fun. We're already tentatively talking about him being my county fair English mount next year....we shall see. :)

Random Ramblings

I don't have anything new to report, but I feel like posting...

I thought about posting pictures of Daisy and I at fair..buuuut...I'm just going to post one. I posted a lot of photos on my facebook and I don't feel it's necessary to post them here too. I am under the impression that people don't care that much.
This one is of Daisy and I during the reining pattern...I'm thinking of actually teaching her to do good rollbacks and spins this winter. May be fun! If I recall correctly, her mom went to state for reining quite a few times...maybe she has it in her ;)

Notice me, the loser, was so worried about the pattern and such that I forgot to pull the chaps down for that class :P

I did a spider weave pattern with her mane that day ("spider weave pattern"...is there a real official name for it? :P), used 57 rubber bands (one more then 2009 :P) and got a lot of compliments...and a lot of kids stopping and pointing "LOOK AT THAT HORSE'S HAIR!" like they thought it came that way. So cute :) It actually lay flat this year. Loved it.

Other news...I've been looking into Tipperary jump vests, but they were all super expensive ($150-$200). I put an ad on craigslist in the "items wanted" section for a vest for up to $80 or cheaper. I received the phone number of a lady 20 minutes away who has a used clothing and tack shop (equestrian clothing) and had a few vests. I went yesterday (she's only open 4 days a month... :P) and she had two vests available: a flexrider one (which looks dorky, but I would have taken it if I had to) and a tipperary that just came in the day before. The tipperary fit! And, as a bonus, it's red with black trim! Red is our club color, and one of the combos I thought of doing for cross country *some day*, and it's sort of ironic that the trim is black because Jean always does XC in black and red..pretty cool. :) I love it.

Otherwise, camp is one week from today (!!!) and I might be doing a schooling with Jean on Wednesday! (!!!!!!!!!!!!!) :)
I'm pretty excited. Daisy's such a good girl :))
I've been using the boots...without the power straps. (I put them on, but the boots were pretty much impossible to get on with the power straps, and even WORSE to get off...I felt like I was gonna pull her hoof off altogether!) I did 2 pretty serious road rides with them, and I love them. Daisy loves them too. She steps much more confidently, and she feels better too...like she uses her body more. Pretty neat.

The horse flies are back again (started on the 1st of August. You think they understand calenders?). I always say they come in August, and here they are. They are vicious beyond belief...I put Daisy's fly sheet on, but they are relentless on her exposed neck. The only good thing is that they are super easy to kill. :P

I received my school schedule in the mail. *Shudder*.... as of tomorrow...one month left. That's a lot though! A WHOLE MONTH! :)...but yeah. It's goin' down soon.
ANNDDD! I registered to do a trail trial in our area (Like ACTHA but not) and I'm looking into doing a hunterpace in September too. I'm happy not eventing as long as I still get to play around cross country. I don't need stadium and dressage :P Not now, anyway. :)

And so...3 days to schooling, hopefully....7 to camp.

Until my next post,

Mostly Jumping Ladd

I rode Ladd again today...and jumped. Again, my arms stink :P
Just keep ridin', just keep ridin'....and hopefully my arm strength will catch up :P
The jumping was ok...as my arms got tired, it got bad :-/...but this video is decent ;) :P Thanks for filming, Mom!

I also rode Daisy bareback on the trail today...and took her out in the woods (off the trail), picking small trees that were down, maybe down but not flat on the ground (so they were off the ground a bit and taller) and jumping them. She liked it :)

Tomorrow's schedule includes Ladd, Bubba, and Daisy :) Life is good.

Anyone here mix their own natural fly spray? I'm currently using black tea, tea tree oil, and ACV, because that's what I have at home...but I think I'm going to order essential citronella oil and lemongrass oil soon...

I Just Love Her...

Nothing much new to report but that Daisy is still steadily improving/healing. The swelling is basically gone; now she just rides like a pony with a one week break. I know, most ponies are fine after one week off... not Daisy. She behaves relatively well, but is just really energetic and active...we went on a small trail ride with Jean's two sons today, and Daisy was a bit ahead of both with her active walk...I have trouble keeping her at a LAZY walk! Haha. We rode in a big clearing where a bulldozer was running. It spooked her a little at first (just tried to spin (slowly) and back away, but with the other ponies going she went) but then she got pretty used to it. There's a log jump in the clearing; not big, but big enough to force her to truly jump, and we went over it a few times. She felt INCREDIBLE. It was like a mini-high that I felt like at the cross country schooling in October. When a jump is big enough to challenge her so she picks up her hooves for real and rounds over it, she feels sooo good. I knew in the midst of her silliness there was a reason I loved her! :) She's the bestest, despite her frequent shenanigans. ;) Of course, as soon as she got out, she took a nice roll and ruined the good grooming I have her...*sigh*. I filmed it...may put in on at some point ;)

And these fine young ladies should be our neighbors in a few weeks (*fingers crossed*)
Jordan to the left, Jayda to the right. Jean's sister, Jenny, is closing on a house (hopefully this week) that is on a street next to ours, for me about a 10-15 minute horse ride over. AND! They have an indoor!!!

Yeah. I'm psyched. :D

The Horse Taught Me Another Lesson...

I have way too much fun with Picnik. Isn't that about the cheesiest picture ever? :P And I love Daisy's expression.

I have quite the story to tell.
I'll start with before my ride. I groomed and tacked up Daisy and as I was picking out her left hind, I picked it up and within a few seconds she very persistently pulled it out of my grasp. Generally she tries, but I just hang on. That wasn't at all possible this time, she grabbed it from me. I took it up again and finished my work but she wasn't too happy; she still tried, though kinder, to pull the hoof from me. I took her out and went trail riding (it was supposed to be my warm up). She wasn't lame or anything, and rode well. At one point however, I we were riding through the woods (off the regular trail) and I was leaning forward to avoid branches. She shot forward suddenly like something hit her back leg, and once we got on the regular trail, I looked at it from on top of her and she had it cocked like she was resting it (only the toe touching the ground). I got off, keeping her reins looped over her neck and told her to "whoa" to ground-tie, which is something she normally does fine, and as soon as I got back to her leg she started walking. "Oh, yeah, very funny Daisy, come here!...Daisy....Daisy?"
Yeah. You guessed it. The more I tried to stealthily sneak up on her to grab the rein, the more aware she was that she was loose and i was trying to catch her. The walk toward home became a trot, the trot the canter, and my stealthy walk became a tripping, sliding (Note to self: Need new paddock boots with grip) running-jog as I tried to keep up. It was sorta pointless to chase her because OBVIOUSLY I couldn't outrun her so I couldn't catch her. But was I just supposed to say "Adios, meet ya at home" and let her take off and just follow far behind at a walk? That'd be stupid too. So I jogged. Soon she cantered around a corner and I only saw a few flashes of red on her saddle pad as we neared a big hill that went down. I was worried about that hill. I was praying "LORD, PLEASE let her walk down the thing!". I know horses, like us, are self-preserving, but you know...I had my doubts. Who knows what that new taste of freedom would make her do?! Luckily, I turned the corner and found that just before the top she went to a walk and slowly picked her way down the steep hill. And then there's me, huffing and puffing (NO KIDDING. I could barely breathe, my throat was so dry and scratchy) and now praying "LORD, PLEASE, please, PLEASE let her stop at the bottom of the hill and graze!"...Yeah. That didn't happen. I thought for an instant it did because at the bottom Daisy lingered for a second. But then I heard the telltale "clop-clop" of her trotting over the bride we have over our stream and I knew I was done for. Then I hear my mom "Why is she loose?! Daisy!" and other random stuff. Poor mother, out walking the dog, and here comes Daisy, with me running behind her shouting pointless words like "Don't you DARE gallop on the sloppy mud, young lady! Nooo! DAISY!".
It was actually quite humorous. I knew it wasn't that dangerous so i allowed myself to laugh as I ran. I finally ran the last stretch (which, by the way, I am not a runner at all so this romp through the woods left me gasping and I could barely breathe) and found Daisy calmly waiting to get in the barn gate. Ha. Nice try.

I got a drink, which at first I couldn't swallow because I couldn't breathe :P and then I got back on and made her ride the trail again to teach her a lesson. Needless to say, I didn't end up doing any road riding after our "warm up". (Haha.)
I learned never to assume she'll ground-tie each and every time. :P

Through all this, Daisy was not lame. I can say that. Perhaps she was very very very slightly lame in a way that I didn't notice, but noticeably she wasn't lame, and I did pay attention just before she took off because I thought she hurt herself.

So fast forward a few hours after graining. I went outside with Daisy at her stall and grabbed a flake of hay to throw in the paddock for her. Normally she comes trotting up to get it. This time she only went within view of me and stood pawing the ground, refusing to move. After a little bit of coaxing, she walked forward, but after maybe ten steps, just before an uphill to get to the hay, she stopped and pawed again and then looked at me all miserable.
So I assumed colic. However, she finally got up to the hay and she ate it; normally she doesn't eat when she's colicy. So I took her out of the paddock to either walk her or check her leg, and I watched her walk. She clearly favored her right hind (OPPOSITE leg she pulled out of my hand while grooming); landed toe-first when she walked, rested it when she stopped, etc. And she walked with a low head carriage; sign of lamness in a hind.

I ran my hands all over the leg but I didn't feel any real HEAT heat (just warmth). There was one spot on her hock that seemed a little bit extra warm, and below her fetlock but I still wouldn't say the spots were hot. So I cold-hosed the leg in case in was her leg and then I put her back in the stall with hay. I looked stuff up on google and from her symptoms, I think it's an abscess. I called Jean and talked to her about it, then called my trimmer. He said it sounds like either an abscess or just a stone bruise and I should call him tomorrow and if it's still bad he'll come look at it. Tomorrow Daisy gets trailered to Jean's. I'm going on a trip on Thursday and Daisy's staying there. I already have two riders lined up to ride Daisy a couple times while I'm gone :) So I hope she stays sound/gets sound.

I'm not too worried. I was so relieved that it wasn't colic (her frequent colic behavior (in spring and summer) scares me. I hate it when she gets that way. This way, yes I know she's in pain, but it's not gonna kill her.

It's a Mountain...

Last weekend, I was riding Daisy in a 'valley'. Yesterday, a mountain again. Go figure.

I took her in the arena and worked on getting her on the bit at a trot and canter; she did really well! At the end, I *actually* got her on the bit for a canter around a complete side of the ring, so I let her finish with that for ring work. I took her out and headed out into one of the (snow covered) alfalfa fields and rode all the way around it (it's a big field). I cantered a good portion of it, and actually galloped for the first time in awhile. I gave Daisy her head and she ate it up; she had a ball. She was thrilled to be outside again, cantering and galloping, and so was I. It was pretty uneventful; we passed by a man-eating-extra-large-dead-weed without dying, so that was good...

In all, I have renewed faith in my horse that she does have a heart and isn't a complete idiot every day. I really do love her ;)

The pics are from my phone while out riding today...sorry the first one is so bright. It was so sunny out there, I couldn't properly see the screen on the phone, so I adjusted brightness a few times and just guess ;)

January 6th Video Update (Tuesday

I didn't get around to uploading this until now...I'm apologize for my absence of posts.... :P
Sorry the video's a little long...

Hmmmm...Just Some Stuff

Hello!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Horse Blogger's Meme

So we all love horses. First of all give us the name, age, gender, breed, height and markings of one of your horses. This can be a horse you ride, a horse you own or one you owned.

Name: Miss Daisy-Mae (Daisy)
Age: (On August 19) 11
Gender: Mare
Breed: Quarter horse/thoroughbred cross
Height: 14.2 hands
Markings: Socks on hinds and sock on left front, and crooked blaze w/ snip...her blaze looks like a penguin :-P

We need a visual of that horse. How about a picture standing still and a little description or story to go with it.

This is Daisy on her first day at our farm...or, rather, the first day our farm ever had a horse :-P. Originally, her fence had metal T-posts, but after a week they were replaced with wood posts, and part of her pasture was sectioned off for grazing. The picture above is her in the place where now there are two grass pens...every year she was fine int he pens, but this year she's been colicky each time she went in them...so now I can't let her graze there anymore and I have empty pens sitting there :-/

Now that we have seen a pic how about one of clip clop being ridden. Tell us about the picture.

I look so young in this picture! The first summer I had Daisy I didn't show, so I just had her as a fun backyard trail horse. I rarely do the above anymore; ride in shorts, bareback. I only ride bareback a lot in the winter; summer she's too sweaty. The first summer, I'd ride her in the morning or afternoon, and then in the evening, around 7, after dinner, I'd hop on her bareback and go for our "after-dinner ride" down the driveway...


Show us a head shot and a short story of a time with your horse. Doesn't have to be related to the picture.

Daisy LOVES to beg for treats...she can be food aggressive, but when out of her stall in cross ties she behaves for treats. She's not all "up in your face" pushy for treats. She stands there, stretches her neck out but doesn't move, puts her eyebrows up REALLy high, wiggles her lip, and waits for the treat. She tries to make herself look really cute. But she doesn't push you around; if she did, I'd NEVER hand-feed her, because that just BUGS me.


Horse have any bad habits?

There are miniature ponies that live down our street. Daisy knows that. So she's always trying to get down to see them. This year, my last ride before she got picked up for fair, I tried to ride her left off our driveway onto the road(the ponies are to the right). She told me she didn't want to, but she stepped out. But just a few houses down, she stopped. She does that sometimes; she'll go from walking along to just stopping and not budging. No matter what. Normally, I give her a smack, and eventually make her go foreword; I don't let her just turn around. But where we were stopped that day we happened to be in front of a house with kids playing in the front yard, and they were watching me and Daisy. So I feebly tried to give her a smack, but I didn't want the kids to think I was being mean to her (they were little; wouldn't understand) so I let her turn around and trot past our driveway and go down the road until we reached the minis. Then she gets all offended if you don't let her go right over to see them. So Miss Daisy forced me to get off and walk her back and forth in front of the property, to show her she couldn't go there until I said ok. We went off past the place and did some canter work farther down, and then I let her turn around and visit. The kick? Once she gets there, all excited, she just smells their noses once, then stands there and stares into the distance like they aren't there...I'm like, wow. ANYWAY, the pony she's visiting with above is Jax, the stallion she has a mini-crush on :-P.

A picture of your horse in action (ridden or not)

Daisy and I at county fair this year; one of her wild starts for barrel racing :-P.

Five things your horse likes

1. Being ridden. I keep her alone at home, and if I don't ride her for a day she's sad. I know it. She has her ears pinned 99% of the time when I'm on the ground, but on her back, just walking or trotting along the trail or road, they're never pinned. She's happy.
2. Treats. Apples, carrots, stale bread, sugar cubes, peppermints, skittles, horse treats, animal crackers, etc.
3.Barrel racing. Besides just trail riding (Where she snorts a TON in happiness at the start of the ride) she loves to barrel race. She may have her ears pinned the entire time, but that doesn't mean much; she obviously likes it :-P.
4. Galloping. I always let her go on pretty long gallops on the shoulder of the road and she LIVES for it; she knows it's coming. Her daddy was a thoroughbred; she's definitely got it in her. I haven't galloped her for real in a few days, and today she was really fidgety. I was wondering why, and then it occurred to me that I hadn't galloped her. :)
5.Having her face brushed. I really itch her face with a soft curry, and then brush off the loose hair, and she LOVES it.
Five things your horse dislikes
1.You brushing her chest. BIG no-no. She does NOT like that.
2. Spraying water under her tail. She doesn't always put up a fit, but sometimes she'll kinda curl her hind end in and act offended.(I guess I don't blame her)
3. Other horses near her. She will pin her ears and though she's never done it, I wouldn't be surprised if she kicked them.
4. Tennis rackets. At fair this year, we had to use one, and I thought she'd be fine with it; normally with stuff if she smells it and you let her see it and you talk to her you can talk her through being afraid. NOT with the racket. She was nervous of it the entire time :-/
5. Motorcycles. Those things are SCARY! She's pretty good about them passing her on the road as long as the engine isn't really loud, but she half-reared at the last parade and got really scared because bikers revved their engines. Dumb biker people :-(.

Random picture of your horse and the story behind it.

I got my hair cut about a month ago and I really liked it...so my mom did a photo shoot with me and Daisy and I didn't wear a helmet *gasp*...but she stood SO still when I sat on her like that. A lot of times at shows when I'm waiting for a class (in Western) I sit Indian style on her with my legs crossed over the horn :)

A picture of when you first got your horse.

Not sure if you can tell in the picture, but I have tears of joy on my face because just literally 5 seconds before my mom said the words "Should I write the check?" and I knew Daisy was mine. *Sniff*

Give your horse a kiss and tag a few friends

(the first week that I had her)

If you read this post and you have/had a horse/lease a horse/ride a horse, whatever, feel free to consider yourself tagged and do the Meme! Just let me know you did it so I can read it! And get ready; you need a wide variety of pictures! :)

I got this meme from Sydney at http://bitlesshorse.blogspot.com .