Just an Update

Hellooo...

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

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

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

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

Until later,

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 ;)

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.

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... :)

Post #193

Hello, all!

I ended up not riding in the parade on Saturday...Considering how Daisy wasn't completely fine with the last parade, my mom and I didn't have good "feelings" about this one, as it would be a much longer, larger parade, so I opted not to ride in it...turned out that it was fun, anyway, and I was glad I was there to help out.

Our club still attended the parade, and it was a good thing! Without us, there would, again, be NO horses! What a shame! :-P

I arrived and promptly started braiding tails with ribbon; I did one pony, and then another club member wanted it, too...then I did 2 or 3 forelocks. I'd just like to say, I LOVE our club; the majority of the members....well, actually, all of them, are younger then me, some a lot younger, but it's so fun that way. I never had younger siblings or younger relatives living near me, so it's kinda fun to hang out with the "little" kids. :)

The parade finally started, after getting everyone mounted on ponies and moved out of the way as our club's three trailers were taken away to the place where the parade would end, to pick us up.

We did a lot of waiting in the beginning because traffic was still going on down one side of the street, so we had some waiting to do to get onto Main street. One of our club members was riding Maggie, a Standardbred that Jean recently rescued. Maggie looks awesome now, and was a former Mennonite buggy horse, so she really shouldn't have been nervous at all, but her rider was a little nervous, so I stood with them for awhile...by the time we got going, Maggie was fine. She's a beautiful girl now....maybe one of these days I"ll so before and after pictures of when Jean got her; she's awesome now!

Once we got going, Scout, the pony I rode in a show in May, started getting a little excited, so I lead him and rider for a little bit...then they went alone again, then he got super excited as we passed by a mini-stage playing music, so Jean and I both held him...it's so...sad and annoying. We passed that stage playing music, and the music was loud and jumpy; no wonder Scout was nervous! I wish they'd have turned it down...

The rest of the parade was uneventful; I saw some friends of mine, and it was fun listening to the crowd "oooh and ahh" over the ponies; two of our ponies, Mouse (far left pony in the middle picture) and Biscuit (last little buckskin pony in the last picture) are small and ADORABLE, and you could people all of the place saying "Oh, look at the horsies! Look at the little ones!" :-). At the end of the parade we passed a McDonalds, and we joked that we should ride through the drive through...maybe if I ride next year, I will :-P.

For those who are interested in the horses, left to right in the middle picture are Mouse, Phoenix, and Mari (Samaria is her full name, I think)...Last picture left to right (that you can see; the three ponies) are Bella, Biscuit, and Scout.

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The GREAT news is, I got a natural trimmer!!!!! I'm SUPER excited! I found the name and number for one "through the grapevine" and made and appointment for yesterday afternoon...it was awesome! (did I already say that?) I'm completely thrilled. If you've read my blog from the beginning, you'll know that since I got Daisy I've had problems with her hooves; bruising, getting cut, her being lame, having to soak her hoof, not riding for a week or two at a time, etc. Last year, I had her shod. To put it plainly, it was horrible. She reared, she wouldn't stand still, she obviously hated it, and though I didn't admit it mostly because I thought there was no choice but to shoe her, I dreaded the farrier coming. I read The Soul of a Horse: Life Lessons from the Herd by Joe Camp (gifted to me by my awesome uncle :)) and was completely convinced. Shoeing is terrible.

What I realized yesterday was that the natural trimming gives the horse's hoof actual shape. Normally, the hoof is trimmed so that it's flat the way it would be if it had a shoe on. That's fine, if there's a shoe (which are bad anyway), but if they're just flat and there's no shoe, the parts of the hoof that are NEVER supposed to touch the ground do and that's what causes the horse to go lame and people to say that the horse needs shoes. I found it completely incredible yesterday to watch and listen to the trimmer as he explained the way the hoof should be shaped, and how many problems he's solved with his natural trimming. Horses that were lamanitic so bad that they would be put down were saved because of his trim. The trimmer studied in Canada with Lisa Huhn for awhile, and he said at the end of his studying he had to dissect 16 horse hooves. He said that it was terrible what he saw; the coffin bone in hooves of horses that had shoes was completely deformed and twisted because the shoes were SO bad.

All I can say is, PLEASE, read up about the natural trimming and try to find a trimmer near you; it's not simply having a horse go 'barefoot'. If you go barefoot but still have a farrier trim their hooves, they are still in pain because the hooves are trimmed wrong. Check it out, it's a fascinating subject, actually.

I mentioned to the trimmer that I have Daisy on Smarthoof, a hoof supplement, and he said right away that the supplement was a waste of time. He explained that there are so many excess ingredients in supplements that it really just makes a horse more anxious than need be, and it ends up not using half of the supplement. He said he switched his horses to just plain rolled oats and black oil sunflower seeds and that the sunflower seeds make the horse's coat shiny and give the hooves all the "supplement" they need, naturally. I'm SO going to try that! He also said that sweet feed, which I feed Daisy, is actually too sugary, and just increases the chance of thrush in a horse. I'm almost disappointed with myself for not having questioned feed and supplements before; it all makes so much sense. Really makes me motivated to question everything. Just because the majority of people do something and don't want to hear otherwise, does not mean that it's right.

Daisy evidently LOVED the trimmer; he patted her and even gave her a hug in the beginning, and was one of the few people to ignore her angry ears in the beginning. She seemed to like him from the start, and was so still and quiet, we barely held the lead; sometimes it felt like we could have dropped it right there on the driveway and she would have stood still. It was awesome.

The natural trimmer is holding a seminar in our area soon, and I'm hoping to go; I'm completely intrigued. Makes me want to go into natural horse care when I'm older! That would be a cool job!

Alrighty, sorry this was so long! Hope it gave you something to think about...

Two Years of Joy and Learning

(Blue sky pics by me, middle pic by my Mom)

Two years ago today, I purchased my first horse, and you readers have followed me along almost as long, reading along as I experience the joy of owning her.

Daisy was not the perfect horse, to say the least. She still isn't. But I've learned so much. She's made me laugh so many times, been a comfort even more often, and is just always there to hang around with. I've decided that she's really just shy outwardly; she does love to be loved on. Her pinned ears show a nasty personality, but once you get past her head and scratch a little behind her ears, she's perfect.

As mentioned above, I've learned a ton. When I bought Daisy, I don't know how I did it. I knew nothing, zip, zero, zilch, about buying a horse. I went and "looked" at her without knowing what I was looking for. I wanted a horse I could ride. I still wonder what I was thinking...the first time I tried her out, she reared. And she wouldn't trot without crow-hopping. But I tried her out again. And bought her. Why? As I said in a post before, I had grown use to riding a horse (see here) that was challenging, and Daisy seemed to fit the part (*Understatement*). I fell in love with her personality pretty quickly; the way she pinned her ears like a monster, but how well-behaved she became after just a week of steady riding and reprimand. I've learned so much about the daily care of a horse that even riding lessons for 8 years can't teach you. How to deworm a horse, schedule farrier and vet appointments, deal with the drama of both, feeding schedules, providing hay, soaking a hoof in salt, etc (I have memories of all of these, some of which would have made me cry at the time, but at this point, I can only laugh at them, as it should be :)). There is a never-ending list of things to be done when you have a horse. I'm striving to make Daisy's life the best that I can, the best that I know how. I've learned that you can't set a person's opinion too highly, that you need to question it and find out things for yourself sometimes. That even though someone may tell you how to do something, and they always seem to know best, that there come times when you need to take matters in your own hands.

I've had a blast riding Daisy. She has those quirky days where I wonder again why I bought her in the first place, what I saw in her, when she is being so bad that certain day. But other days she impresses me and surprises me so much with her talent, that I wonder how anyone could have wanted to give her up. Sometimes I feel both in the same day.

She's also an awesome form of therapy. Bad day? Ride. Angry? Clean the stall like and lug hay bales to get that extra energy out (I must say that after owning her, I've gotten pretty strong). Sad? Give her a big huge hug :-P(for a horse that acts like she's mad all the time, she's a big sucker for hugs). Riding her is an endless learning process for both of us...from galloping her bareback for the first time and learning to balance while getting her to stop (haha, she loves to gallop), to teaching her to side pass, to, just today, getting her to finally do a right-lead canter. It's taught me to not always look to the biggest goal, but set little goals, and in that way, feel a big reward whenever that small goal is reached.

I've seen a glimpse of the show world, as well. When I bought Daisy, I didn't plan on showing, and didn't really want to. Then I did the county fair. She was amazing, and I had a ton of fun. After going to some local shows last fall, I had a reality check. I learned that Daisy did amazing at the county fair because the competition wasn't tough...so that was little let down. I've seen that Daisy isn't one of those slow stepping western pleasure horses, but she's also not a quick-like-a-bullet barrel racing horse, either. And I'm glad. Western pleasure horses? Pretty, but slow. oh so slow. I'm not sure I'd like that. Barrel racing horses? Fast. Very fast. but also hard to handle and pretty dangerous at times. Trail class stars like Daisy? Great. Because even though she's not top of the class in barrel racing or Western pleasure, she's great where, for me, it counts. I know I can ride her down a trail and not have to fear her spooking at something, and if she does, I know she's a sensible horse, and gets over it fast. We can ride on the road with cars and trucks speeding by, and she won't bat an eyelash.

For me, she's perfect. For others she may be too hard to handle, or not showy enough, or she may not have the greatest conformation, but for me, she's amazing. She's my dream come true. She's wonderful. I can't stress that enough. So maybe she's got her problems, but don't we all?

So in all, if I could redo the last two years, and buy her all over again, I'd do it again. It was so worth it. It's all a learning experience, with ups and downs, but so worth it.

Thank you, God, for blessing me with my Daisy-Mae. It was all in His plan.

Happy Anniversary, Daisy-Mae. To us. * insert sound of glasses containing apple juice clinking* (because Daisy likes apples and it looks likes champagne.)

Have a great Friday, everyone!

Spring Time, Spring Shots

For most horse owners, the arrival of springtime means the arrival of the veterinarian: the need to update vaccinations has come. No different here.
I had been using a very nice vet the last two spring times I was faced with, and I liked her...she was always very reasonable with price, and so patient with Daisy. (See last year's visit here.) Unfortunately, she wasn't willing to drive all the way out to our house this year, so Daisy took at little trip to Jean's farm. Jean gave her an "8-way" shot on Tuesday that covered a ton of stuff including Tetanus, and she didn't use the head stabilizer thing!(see the link from before to hear about that again). Daisy was really distracted because she knew I had treats in my sweater pocket, so Jean tapped her on the neck a few times, and one time she was tapping, she put the needle in. Daisy was like "oh, treats, yum" one minute and the next "Holy cow what was that?!" lol. But she just put her head up, and Jean screwed the vial of stuff in (The needle is separate; once you get it in, you attach the vial to it) and squirted it in. "Painless"! :)
Well, the next day was not painless. See Daisy's face below:

She looks a little strange...yeah...that was after. She was super sore from the shot, as normal, but extra sore this year. She didn't move her neck as normal; she moved it as little as possible, and was just depressed and just not as happy. The vet came to give her the rabies shot and take blood for her coggins, and I warned her that she was still sore. The vet went to pet her on the neck, and Daisy put her head up and was shaking so hard, she was so scared she'd get hurt again, my poor baby! <:-/ The vet put the little headgear thing on (as a precaution) and Daisy practically fell asleep in the aisle. Once she put the needle in for the rabies, Daisy barely flinched, and she moved backwards a little with the blood draw, but I just tightened the stabilizer, and she calmed down again. All good! Today we had an AMAZING day, she wasn't feeling bad anymore. More on today later on...Saturday or Sunday. I can't wait to tell you all about today! Just waiting for some extra pictures to add with the post... Tomorrow is Daisy and my 2 YEAR anniversary!!!!!!!

Until then,

Daisy's Home!

Hello!
Daisy's home again! Jean trailered her home yesterday. Daisy was fine for the trailer, as always...when I first got her she didn't like trailers and was bad for loading, but now she's fine. She just missed her buddies for a little while and looked kinda confused. She whinnyed a lot, like in the video above. But now she's fine; I knew she would be, she just had to get used to the place again.

I do have a new blog, http://lifeoutsidethebarn.blogspot.com. I haven't posted anything major on it, but that is where I will be sharing about my trip to Germany, as well as an update on the chicks, who moved into the big coop yesterday! :D Video will be up soon.

Until next time,

Saturday Game Show

READ THE POST BELOW THIS ONE FIRST IF YOU HAVEN'T YET!

These pictures were taken yesterday by my mom at the horse show. You can see more at her blog at http://cdgagudl.blogspot.com.

The others were taken last Sunday at the open show during the trail class. Photos by Jean's sister...I LOVE the picture of us going over the jump. :)

Yesterday I was surprised and happy to see my old riding teacher, Dana, at the show with her daughter Amberlea who was showing and her husband and new baby, Chase. I took lessons at Dana's for 8 years starting when I was 4 years old and the first pony I rode there and the pony I started lessons on (and rode for years--not regularly, but probably once a year minimum) was Sunshine aka, Sunny. And GUESS WHO WAS AT THE SHOW!? Sunny!!! He's now being ridden by Amber, who is 5, and Amber rode him in the walk/trot division yesterday. She was great! It was so cute to see her bouncin' up and down to Sunny's choppy little trot, and she maneuvered the courses really well. So cute to watch. I will always remember those years riding at Dana's and remember Sunny. He's a wonderful little pony.

Lydia (who rides with me, from and older post, owns Stewy) came as well! I don't have a picture of her (:-/) but thanks for coming, that was really nice of you!

They have "lead line" classes for kids who don't know how to ride. They just sit on the horse and hold the reins while another person leads the horse around the course. One of our 4H group members did lead line on Bella and Jean led her around the course. She didn't want to do lead line when she came because we didn't know that she'd be able to do it, so when we asked if she wanted to she said "no". However, we got her to do it and she ended up getting Grand Champion in the lead linedivision! Imagine the surprise--Mrs. I-don't-want-to got a trophy! She ended up loving it and she was very happy with her trophy (Jeez, I should do lead line!). Jean's son, Levi, came toward the end of the show and I ended up doing lead line with him! He doesn't really ride and only likes western, so he wanted to ride Daisy. The stirrups didn't even fit him (he's 7) but he rode anyway, and I ran him and Daisy around the pole bending course (we didn't go off course :-P). My running paid off--Levi got 5th place! A ribbon! YEY for him! :) It was really fun and when asked if he wanted to do lead line on Daisy or Bella next year he said "Daisy" in a "duh"sorta way. :) Yey! Daisy's such a sweet girl. She may not be a fast barrel racer (Something I have come to terms with during the show yesterday--I realized, I mean) and she may not be a western pleasure horse, but she's all-around wonderful. She seems so mean on the ground, but really, she loves attention. You should have seen her a few days ago at the barn--she had I think 5 or 6 people and kids around her, petting her, and she was really quiet. Good girl.

Anyway, I'll try to post on Tuesday...I've got interesting news! But it'll have to wait. :)

Saturday Game Show

Sooo, the show yesterday was fun...it started with keyhole. We didn't do so well in that because Daisy wouldn't turn fast enough...once I'm at Jean's again with her this winter we're going to work on Daisy using her hind end more because she uses her front legs more...anyway, the competition was crazy there. Most horses were flipping out when they got in the ring and they were insanely fast through the courses...I knew we wouldn't really win, but we had fun anyway! Cloverleaf went ok, but it wasn't that great...for the Can race (first video) we got 4th place because a lot of people passed the cans and didn't knock them down and you weren't allowed to go back...we got 4th place! I'd say 10 people total were entered in my division, so that was pretty good. Then we did ribbon race (2nd video). I was paired up with a girl named Jamie who was borrowing someone's horse for the show. She had never ridden the horse...it went well, as you can see! I think that was one of the most fun runs. We got 2nd place! Most people went SOO fast their ribbons broke or they let go or they didn't finish through the cones...we were good, though! The last class (no video) was command class. It was combined with walk/trot, junior, and senior classes, so I think there were MINIMUM of 20 horses in the ring. Daisy and I got down the the last 2! But then someone called out a complaint about counter cantering or something, and the announced went into a spiel about how all day people had complained and that the show as volunteer based and that they should try to plan a show so in the middle of the class they stopped the whole show they were so mad. Both Daisy and I and the other pair we were against got 1st place (tied) so I got a blue ribbon...that was nice to see because there were SOO many people in the ring and last weekend when we did command we only to 6th...it was great! AND the ribbons (4th, 2nd, and 1st) added up to Red, White, and Blue! :-P...

I'll post more pictures this afternoon when I get them from Jean's mom.....but right now this is an overview...Stay tuned for more!

9:43 AM

Happy Birthday, Daisy-Mae!

Today is Miss Daisy-Mae's 10th Birthday!! Daisy was born on August 19th, 1998 (apparently, although that is late in the year for a foal to be born). Happy Birthday, little mare! May this next year go well, and may you have an even MORE awesome hat next year!

Doesn't she look stunning in her hat? I thought so. :)

Showing and All the Rest-AKA, Longest Post EVER

Sooo, I'm sorry it has taken me two days to update you, but as you watch the slide show, you will realize it was a BIG job to make it, as I got pictures from myself, from Jean, from Jean's mother, and from my mom. Thank you to all the people contributing pictures, I appreciate it!

So last week staying at Jean's started with the Stuart Horse Trials in Victor, New York, which Jean rode in. It was a BIG deal to ride in, and it was pretty cool to watch. It was a big eventing competition-in eventing you ride in three different parts: cross country jumping (jumps on a big course made of "natural" materials (trees, wood, indestructible fences), stadium jumping (jumps in an arena made of stands and poles that are more destructible and yeah....) and dressage, which is just a complicated riding on the flat (without jumping). Congratulations to Jean, she got SECOND! Bubba was just pretty much awesome, and it was all cool...

On Sunday we went to the game show, which I wrote about, so just look at pictures and that's all I have to say about that...

Monday was an open show, which I have no pictures of right now, and I rode Bubba in the morning. I rode him in an English Pleasure class, which is where you ride through your gaits and they focus on how the horse carries itself. Unfortunately, I was a little more in the mind frame that it would be easy, a piece of cake, so I didn't focus as much as I should have. When we went to go from a canter to a trot and then a walk again, he wouldn't stop cantering, he more like started galloping, and I was so shocked I didn't try hard enough to stop him, and they dismissed me from the ring ("Rider number 50, you are excused"). Well, that was disappointing. I entered the next class, English Equitation (same as English Pleasure, except they judge the rider's form) in walk/trot instead of walk/trot/canter, and we did better. That afternoon I rode Daisy in a trail class. There was a bridge that I had to walk her over, poles, a mailbox to ride to, open, and take out a paper and show it to the judge, a rain slicker to pick up and put down, a box to do a 360 in, and a part to back in. Daisy (in my opinion) did very well, but we only got 7th. That was ok, though, because the class itself was fun, and it didn't really matter to me how we placed. That night we did Western Pleasure and Western Equitation (like the English versions) and we placed 2nd in both...out of 4 riders ;-). Then we went home, late at night.

On Tuesday I rode only Bubba. I rode him in the same classes as the day before, and I got FIRST PLACE in the class I had been sent out of the day before! I was really focused on not letting him get away with me, and it payed off. We got third in Equitation because he was harder to stop the canter again toward the end, so I just stopped him messily, and that cost the ribbon, but the way I look at it, at least I got him to stop! That afternoon we did a command class, and we got third place.

On Wednesday, which there are pictures for in the slide, I rode Daisy. It was all just mounted games (relay races) and it was a lot of fun, a very laid back day. I don't feel like listing what we placed and what the games were, it's too much work ;-).

On Thursday was Western day. I rode Daisy. We got only 2nd in Western Pleasure and Western Equitation (out of only two riders, me and Daisy and a girl named Sam and her own horse, name which I have forgotten) because BOTH TIMES Daisy picked up the left lead when we were supposed to do right...she was having an off day, but it wasn't too bad, so I'm not mad at her (:-P) because otherwise she felt wonderful. We got first place in command class, though! For once her quick, even if they are a little messy, transitions came in handy, lol. We did a trail class again that afternoon, and she got 2nd with me, which is great.

Friday was THE MOST AWESOME DAY EVER! Although between the games I had such a bad eye (it happened on Wednesday, too...my eye must have reacted to something in the air and it burned horribly and watered) I still had fun, and just wore sunglasses a lot. First of all, Daisy is THE MOST AWESOME HORSE I COULD EVER WISH FOR! I had heard that Daisy had done VERY well in western games (barrels and poles) but I didn't know for myself. Well, I rode her in pole bending, and got a 2 second less time then Sam riding her grampa's experienced gaming horse, Joker! Daisy just whipped around everything like she'd been doing it and practicing forever, when in reality, I've NEVER done poles, and she hasn't done them in about 2 years! We won first place in pole bending! We also won first in stake-n-barrel. In that game there are two barrels, standing across from each other about 20 feet, one is empty, open can with a stake in it, one is a closed, regular barrel. You have to run in, grab the stake, figure eight around the second barrel, drop the stake back in the first barrel, and run for the finish. Daisy did great AGAIN! We got second in keyhole, with a time of I think 11 seconds (slow time, I guess). Keyhole is just where you run through the start cones and ahead on the ground is drawn a keyhole shape like on a door handle, and you have to run in, turn around without leaving the white lines of the hole, and run back...All in all, the day was totally fun, and Daisy seemed to like it, too. She was soooo sweet-waiting for the races she stood like she was asleep, but the minute I put her out there by the cones and asked her to gallop, she took off. She listened so well to me, and all I can say is, "Thank you, God, for giving me such an awesome horse!".

Well, I won't bore you anymore. I'm sorry this post was so incredibly long, I can't help it! I hope you enjoy the pictures!

5:49 PM

Evaluation Day

Hey! Evaluations were on Wednesday, and first off, they went very well. You may have seen some of these pictures on my Mom's blog, but I'm showing them anyway, in case you haven't.

My cousin, Anika, and I went to Jean, my 4H leader's house, on Wednesday morning. We cleaned the stalls (along with the other 4H-ers, Oliver and Jessie, and her sister). I rode Daisy around and barrel raced her a little, which was fun and I think she'll do very well with that once we get back into it a little, and then we worked a little on sitting trot and cantering. Then I tacked up and rode Bubba, Anika rode Daisy, Oliver rode his own, sweet little Morgan pony mare, Bella, and Jessie's sister rode another mare there, and we all went for a trail ride. Bubba was pretty good, except when we had to ride toward the back of the line of riders, then he started to get pushy, but it was alright. I rode him a little in the indoor, and he was great. Normally he's very strong and it's hard to get a good handle on him, but Wednesday he rode very well. We untacked, and Anika and I gave Daisy a bath, and all the horses got baths. Ate lunch, cleaned tack, got ready for the evaluations. We trailered Bella and Daisy there first, all tacked up, and when we got there Jessie rode Bella and I rode Daisy first. I got evaluated by a very nice young women who was quite kind, even though Daisy's trot to canter transitions were VERY sloppy, and my hands were "flamboyant" when they should have been lower to Daisy's neck. We passed though. We had to walk, trot, canter, halt, and back up for the judge, and then answer questions like how to pass around a horse in certain type quarters, and how to behave around a horse.

Then we brought Daisy back while Anika stayed with Bella and we switched for Bubba. Tacked him up, brought him there, and I rode him. I did (sadly, lol) better on him then on Daisy, but I credit it to the fact that he's a bit better trained (ok, a lot better trained) on leads and transitions, and complicated stuff like that. It felt wonderful to ride him and I think I rode him the best ever that night. Oliver, Jean's son, rode Bella for his evaluation (he and Jessie got evaluated for just walk/trot) and then they trailered home. It was a fun night.

Daisy came home yesterday morning, and Anika and I slept in the barn last night...except for a certain horse waking me this morning ;-) the night went well. :)

Tomorrow Anika and I are going to visit my brother, Markus, and his "family" and animals, so I'll be back Sunday night.

3:35 PM

Remember you can ALWAYS press the + and - signs to speed up and slow down the slide. The captions aren't anything special this time, so that's why I allowed myself to add the song, which kind of covers up the captions.

Daisy's Mini Vacation

So, yesterday afternoon Daisy got picked up and taken to my 4H leader, Jean's, house. She was in the trailer for about an hour and a half as we had to make multiple stops before we got home. She did awesome! She went right on the trailer with me, and she got off good, too! She would stop and whinny at all our stops, which included a bank, the 4H office, tractor supply and blockbuster. It was so cute! Here you see some pics of her on the trailer and at Jean's.

I rode her while Jean rode Bubba on a 4 1/2 mile block in the rain yesterday. Today I rode her for about an hour in the indoor arena that was just built, and around 40 minutes on the trail. In the arena I did some barrel racing, and first she was slow and lazy, but I got the crop and smacked her a few times ;-) and she did much better! She's quick and she turned really nice around the barrels! Tomorrow are the evaluations, so I'll probably post tomorrow or Thursday and let you know how they went.

9:32 PM

A Glorious Saturday

So, I did another slide show. They are just much easier for me to upload pics too, and I don't think they use up my space for pics on blogger...so you'll have to live with the slides. If you have problems with the slide, please let me know.

On Saturday-yesterday- I cleaned my tack, as you can see, because on Tuesday I have evaluations. I'm not sure if I've explained evals on my blog yet, so I will. Tomorrow (Monday) Daisy is getting picked up by trailer by my 4H leader. I will ride her at my leader's house (she just got an indoor arena!!!) and Daisy will spend the night. On Tuesday I will ride both Bubba and Daisy at my leader's house, and Daisy will spend a night. On Wendesday Daisy and Bubba, plus another horse, Bella, who other members of the club are being evaluated on, will be trailered to our county fairgrounds. I will ride Bubba and then Daisy in front of a judge, who will have me do walk/trot/canter and ask me questions about horsecare, etc. At the end, the judge(s) will tell me what level I can show at: walk/trot or walk/trot/canter...Daisy will spend Wednesday night at my leader's, and on Thursday she comes home again. ANYWAY, I cleaned my tack to make sure it still looks clean. I'm glad I did because now it looks really nice.

Then I rode. I rode with just the bareback pad because my girth and breast collar, the things that keep the saddle on the horse, were in the wash. Lately I have been riding a 3 1/2 mile block around our house on the road. There are a lot of hills, so it feels like it's longer. I took some pictures, and on the first "hill" picture, if you look to the right, you can see the "intersection" I talked about in the pic beforehand.

On the last hill going down to our road there is a boat. The first time I road by it last Wednesday, Daisy was afraid of it, and I had to ride her by it a few times until she got used to it. Now she's fine with it. The view is gorgeous riding around there, and it really makes me appreciate the beauty of God's creation. I'm so thankful for my wonderful life--I'm SO happy. I really can't complain about anything-and I know that's rare...of course, I'm still a (choke, gasp) "Kid", but...

When I got back, Daisy was really sweaty and tired because on the last hill home we galloped the whole thing and it was a big hill. I hosed her off, and that's why she's so dark colored in the second to last picture. Hope this wasn't too long, and that you enjoy the pics!

10:04 PM

Back to Riding!

So, on Monday we called the farrier and left two messages, one from my mom, one from me, asking (again) if he could come out and shoe Daisy. He called back, and he said he'd come the next day! He came, and checked out her hooves and said her front hoof was still very tender, but he'd shoe her anyway. SO, I had him make Daisy shoes for all four feed, and pads for her front. She has the pads so that she can walk on stones and such without getting bruised again. She also got borium on, which is a type of metal that's kind of rough on the shoe, so she doesn't slip when she walks. First he had to take a little while to 'customize', I guess, Daisy's shoes, and then we went into the barn to put them on, because it was raining. Daisy did just fine on her back hoofs-he aligned the shoes and nailed them in and then filed off the nails when they came out the sides (second picture). Of course, she couldn't let herself get the reputation of being a perfect horse, so she decided it would be acceptable to rear, oh, say, 3 times when he got to the front feet. It was scary-she almost touched the ceiling at one point, and the farrier would have to jump out of the way. The farrier took the halter and chain lead at one point, adjusted the chain, and gave Daisy a hard tug and a little speech about safety....it didn't work for long. She reared another two times, and that's when he suggested hay. Of course, Daisy being a sucker for food, stood very nice and still on the last shoe and chomped away...the little brat! She also had silicone sprayed under the pad on the front feet so that she has more cushioning...the pictures are labeled. The pic of her hoof that's not labeled is her back hoof. Well, after money spent, and shoes, pads, borium, and silicone, I can ride again! I took Daisy for a quick ride today because I actually went and rode Bubba after school today (I took the bus to my 4H leader's house) and it was great! Daisy's hooves sound nice on pavement ;-).

The last pictures are just some I took of Daisy tonight and the sky. Doesn't Daisy look great!? Don't ask what's up with the lead rope-I kind of just threw it on, it's actually just a rope...She's so slick and shiny.

Anyway, thanks for all the thoughts and helpful tips throughout Daisy's little hoof 'ordeal'! My school ends next Wednesday...finals this week and next, and then I might post more often! (or less often ;-)) Bye!

9:17 PM