First Show on Laddie!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Headstalls, Lunging, & All That Jazz

Lots of fun stuff goin' on!...Basically.
Sunday I rode the 5.2 block again, but Daisy seemed tired. She picked up a trot and canter when I asked, but she didn't seem into it. So Monday I just went over our trail once, Tuesday it rained, Wednesday I rode Bubba. I rode him western for the first time. Andd...drumroll...I'm riding him in the Memorial Day Parade in our town with our club! And possibly the 4th of July parade as well then. I'm very excited :)
So Wednesday I didn't ride Daisy because I was with Bubba, ended up lunging Daisy on our lawn. Today, I barely rode, due to my exciting fun awesome new western show headstall. :) It arrived today. I got it at Horseloverz.com for just $24.50! I used the curb bit with it...and really like how Daisy rode in it. I know two years ago when I got the curb and used it she rode better in it than the Tom Thumb for awhile, but eventually started ignoring it...I think I'll definitely show western in it this year, and perhaps ride in it outside of shows, too, since I don't really ride western often anyway...it would just require switching out headstalls each time :-/ We'll see. In any case, I love it and can't wait to show in it (along with my new split reins to replace my broken old ones).

Got me some leather cleaning sponges ;) and so I cleaned up my three (!) headstalls today :).

My english one definitely needed it. It's so much more supple now. Western saddle is next on the agenda.

And apples. I know, I know...I'm weird for posting them. I just..felt like it. I keep getting apples from my school lunch when there's nothing else I feel like eating (but I spend money for more~set price) and they're accumulating. My lucky horse ;)

And what else? Jenny moves in this weekend...with her horses. I'm so excited. Once the horses are there, Daisy will be thrilled to head out to her house often, and so will I. It's a great deal.

OH! I lunged Daisy again tonight. I put her english saddle on and used twine to make my own version of side reins. A friend of mine started using side reins on her mare lunging, and ended up switching to twine because she felt it worked better. I don't have side reins, so I'm making do with twine. My friend's mare has improved tremendously, and I'm hoping it will do Daisy some good. I'm thinking, once Jenny gets her arena cleared out and new sand put in, I might leave my lung line and whip up there and "side rein" lunge Daisy when I go up. It's a little hard on our uneven lawn. I'm not sure what to make of it tonight...Daisy seemed bordering on confused and/or/idk uncomfortable...Not sure what to make of it. She came down on the bit, and had a few licking & chewing moments, and did step through a little more with it, but...Idk...she wasn't thrilled. I think she was confused...the more I do it, the more it will click? We'll see.
Sunday the 30th is our first show (since the game show was canceled). It's a pleasure show, and I'm riding all day. With the new headstall and trying out the curb again...I'm feeling a lot better about Western. And I really am physicked to see how Daisy does this year in an english show ring. She's improved tremendously this winter-I hope it shows. Then the 31st is the parade with Bubba.

Until my next post,

New Saddle Pictures

Here are the promised pics of Daisy and I and the new saddle I bought...I got a pad from Jean that fits...thank goodness...I like it, I think it looks good on Daisy...so yea, there you go. :)

9:41 AM

WINTEC 500!

What could possibly be in this box? Hmmm....fragile....saddle...nope, haven't got a clue.

Just kidding. At approximately 1:47 PM on August the 20th a lone UPS truck drove up a certain driveway in New York State. Nonchalantly, the drive of the truck got out and heaved a large box (pictured above) onto the step of the house on this certain driveway in New York State. He then got back into his truck and pulled away. As soon as the truck was out of sight, and excited person ran out the door, dragged the box inside the house on the certain driveway, and shouted with glee!

Yes, I couldn't help myself, I had to do it in story form. OK, so on Saturday, August 16 my Mom, Gudl, ordered my first English saddle for me, the saddle I have been wanting and entering contests for since before I even had Daisy. Yes, this saddle is the amazing Wintec 500 with CAIR panels and an easy change gullet system, seat size 16.5 in. So today it arrived in the mail. Here is the inside of the box:

I bought my saddle off Ebay.com, it was sold by a horse supply company through Ebay, and it was a great deal. Normally the saddle itself costs $499.99. I got this AMAZING deal--I got the saddle (NEW!) WITH a Wintec elastic girth. And---

Wintec synthetic stirrup leathers.

And a wintec saddle cover.

And the Wintec Easy Change Gullet system (you can use this system in this saddle to adjust and change the size of the saddle to fit any horse).

Here is all the loot. Isn't the saddle beautiful?!? I got the pad from a friend of mine...

Unfortunately, the pad is too small, but that's ok...I can get another. :)

I'd ridden in this saddle before, so I knew it was good. I know it is synthetic, but that's partially why I wanted it-my other saddle is leather, but I wanted one I could ride in rain with, and just because it still is very pretty. I already took it apart and adjusted the gullet to fit Daisy, and bought stirrups, and took it out "for a spin"...pictures later, maybe...I just need a new saddle pad and a breast plate and an English bridle now...but seeing as I 'm out of money, that stuff will have to wait for Christmas (well, except for the pad :-P)
Altogether it cost just $499.99, a great deal, with free shipping. Isn't it gorgeous! I'll have to start riding and learning English now!!! :)

Birthday Today...

Well....today was my Birthday, in case you didn't see it on other blogs(Thanks you, everyone who did Birthday posts for me! That was very nice of you. ;-)) and I got some great gifts. First off, from my parents I got money towards a saddle I want. I would love to have a Wintec 500 English saddle with CAIR air panels and the adjustable gullet system in size 16.5 medium tree(I just thought I'd say all the facts about it). You can see a picture and learn more about it here, if you care....probably don't, but whatever. :-P

My cousin, Anika, also got me a very pretty stable blanket for showing...I mentioned it once through comments, but I'm planning on showing Miss Daisy-Mae next summer at our county fair, and maybe the state fair, plus other shows from a saddle club near us, in Western Pleasure, maybe English Pleasure, and Barrel Racing...that's all I'm planning on so far...maybe a halter class....but anyway, I can use this blanket on Daisy after I've given her a bath-it's light, so it's not hot, but it will keep her clean for showing in case she rolls or gets dusty.

I'm going to show Daisy in barrel racing, like I said, and I'm REALLY excited. I've only shown a miniature pony before and I loved it, but I'm not very knowledgeable about showing in Western pleasure or English pleasure...or barrel racing. I'll learn, though. Daisy did it with her old owner and was apparently really good at it, so I'm excited to see how it goes. When I ride her I can already see the potential...Man, I'm so excited. :)

The last picture is of a sign Anika made for my Birthday. I have one that says Miss Daisy and one that says Daisy...the Daisy one hangs in my locker at school, and the Miss Daisy(as you can see) is hanging above Daisy's stall door now. I really like it because the whole time I've wanted a sign for her, but I thought it'd be silly to get one because there's really no ideal place to hang it, and she's the only horse...but this one is perfect. I love it...anyway, I had a good Birthday....

Have a good rest of the week! It could be awhile until I'm posting...Maybe Thursday, or Friday.....or Saturday.....oh, whatever, bye!
:-)

Oh, btw, I just put that picture of Genevieve in because I thought it looked cute...cozy....