Not your average OTTB given another chance at a new life and a mostly average busy Mom who never gave up on her dream to ride again. An unlikely pair at an unlikely time, learning to event and loving life!
Friday, January 14, 2011
I am sad to say...
I am sad to say that it has been a week and a half since I have had an official ride. So tomorrow is the day. The temps are going to be in the thirties and I cannot pass up this opportunity. Today was nice enough to ride but my husband came home for the first time in a week and is leaving again in the a.m. so I thought I really needed to spend a few hours with him instead of ride. Some times juggling it all seems impossible. But a few friends and I all commited to show together at CAF in April so that is something exciting to work toward. In the words of my friend, it helps the winter funk to fade a bit. The funk is fading ladies!!!
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Goals for 2011
I have been trying to get to this post for a while now. Well since the last week in Dec. pretty much. Goal #1 stop procrastinating about setting goals...hehe. I think I have put it off mostly because it is hard to get a good idea how the year is going to go when I get to ride once a week on a good week. I know we will have lost almost all fitness (in him. I am keeping up with working out.). And I know we will spend a good amount of time reviewing. So my goals may be vague but at least they are in writing.
Get back to regular riding when the temps stay near 30. Regular riding will be a minimum of 3x's a week.
Work toward being ready for our first show in April. At starter which involves learning BN test A
That also includes getting consistent leads.
If I am not riding a show once a month then I will volunteer to gain experience.
Lessons once a month. (I wish it was more but financally that is all I can do)
Trail ride 2x's a month.
Attend event camp.
Attend clinic with Becky Holder.
End the year at Beginner Novice.
Enjoy every single moment I get to spend on the back of my horse, goals met or not!
Writing it down makes it more real and exciting so I am glad I did!
Get back to regular riding when the temps stay near 30. Regular riding will be a minimum of 3x's a week.
Work toward being ready for our first show in April. At starter which involves learning BN test A
That also includes getting consistent leads.
If I am not riding a show once a month then I will volunteer to gain experience.
Lessons once a month. (I wish it was more but financally that is all I can do)
Trail ride 2x's a month.
Attend event camp.
Attend clinic with Becky Holder.
End the year at Beginner Novice.
Enjoy every single moment I get to spend on the back of my horse, goals met or not!
Writing it down makes it more real and exciting so I am glad I did!
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Where do you get your motivation?
I am struggling to find the motivation to get out there in the cold to ride. I have been ok up until this point but I have struggled since I got back from our trip. I am hoping it is just a phase. We got a good 5 inches of snow today. I left the horses out most of the day. I brought them in about an hour or two earlier than normal. They had gotten snowed on all day and were kind of wet and had some ice on them. I decided to put Steadys cooler on him to help hold in some heat. Then standing there talking to him I couldn't help myself but to jump on and take a trip around the property. I am glad I did though Steady is probably the most uncomfortable horse to ever get on bareback so there is very little relaxation for me cause I am getting a spine wedgie the entire time. I think next time I will choose Moonlight. He is a round boy and he is gaited so even easier. I can't say Steady was real thrilled but I did manage to get a couple pictures. Once back in his stall I took off the cooler and fed everybody their dinner. Then got back inside where it is warm.
Thats my pretty boy
He was not at all thrilled that I kept walking away but then kept telling him not to move.
"Uh Ma I am not really getting the point here. Are we walking or not?"
Belated Christmas present.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Well there goes my saddle.
I should have never written it down that I was going to get a new saddle this year. I should have known better. So instead of getting a nice new leather saddle I will be getting I shiny used steele transmission!!! Yay! I am so excited. Ok Ok I will lay off the sarcasm but ooff it has been a rough week. I am sparing the details for you and so I don't have to relive the situation. I am just grateful to be home and will soon be the owner of a car that actually runs. My transmission is gone in my Mercury Mountaineer and will be replaced this week. It happens to be in Detroit, MI 400 miles from me but once it is running again we will be off to pick it up. We are crossing our fingers it makes the drive home and then be taken to the car dealership where we will be terribly upside down in our loan and trading it in for a shiny used, new to me, "Bubba truck". Yes I am excited and slightly embarassed that I will be driving around a truck fit for a good 'ole boy. It only makes sense for me to get something that I can tow my horses around in without dropping the transmission on the side of the road. It will be a 4wd, diesel, quad cab of some variety. My top choice is a Ford f250 or f350. Next would be dodge, gmc then Chevy. Do any of you have one you just love or that you would never buy. The years and mileage will vary depending on price and dealer but under $20,000. So though I would much rather not be trading in my car upside down and putting in a transmission I cannot complain. I am very blessed to have the life I have and a few bumps in the road are to be expected.
So next time you see me don't mistake me for you 3rd cousin Bubba the country boy cause I will be sportin' something a little like this.
So next time you see me don't mistake me for you 3rd cousin Bubba the country boy cause I will be sportin' something a little like this.
What not to wear!
Have you seen the show? I have before though it has been years. I remember it including humiliating scenes of women in the middle of department stores having their "mom jeans" ripped from their behinds. Though I would hate for that to be me it was quite entertaining. This is the horse girl episode of that show. "What not to wear while doing chores, in the middle of winter when you have to trudge through melted snow and mud to get to the water trough, edition!"
It was standing between a mud puddle and a pony with a gruby little muzzle that it occured to me maybe white pants were not the best choice in clothing to fill the water trough. Then I started to sypathize with my DH that has repeatedly begged me to "please stop wearing your nice cloths to the barn". Poor guy he just can't win.
It was standing between a mud puddle and a pony with a gruby little muzzle that it occured to me maybe white pants were not the best choice in clothing to fill the water trough. Then I started to sypathize with my DH that has repeatedly begged me to "please stop wearing your nice cloths to the barn". Poor guy he just can't win.
Then Snappy decides to take a taste of my boot.
I came away with mud splatered up my legs but otherwise unscathed.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Grumbling: BEWARE!!
Ok I have two posts I have been wanting to get to so what better time than when you are on a 5 hour drive. Bear with me I am going to do a bit of grumbling in this post but the next is much more light hearted. This is about my lesson on Monday and a few saddle fitting woes.
I usually love my lessons and look forward to them. I was eager to get to a lesson and after so many raving comments from the clinic I may have needed to be brought down a notch or two. I left the clinic feeling so positive about our progress. After a terrible month weather wise for riding and getting to ride all of about 7 times I guess I should have expected it. Then again after our second ride last week I thought it all would be a bit more fresh in his mind and our lesson would go well. And for some reason Steady is always on his best behaviour at the barn I trailer to for lessons. To the point that he does so well it is hard to work out some of the kinks we have at home when he is not on his best behaviour. So I guess that could be a good thing that he did act up some. But I am about to unroll all of my excuses as to why he could have been acting funny. Unfortunately I think the biggest problem is a new discovery. I think he might have soreness issues with his right hock :(. Now I did just notice it that day but I think that because of his HIGH pain tolerence he has successfully hidden it until now. One reason I believed it showed itself is because of the incredibly deep footing in their indoor area. I think he was really struggling in that footing. I mean we didn't work more than we usually do but he was really sweating and it was hard to get him moving. Second reason I think I have not seen it until now is because he is terribly out of shape from the lack of riding this past month. Then the cold probably caused some stiffness. So up until now I have been incredibly thankful for my 100% sound horse and my bubble was burst a bit that he is not 100%. I mean it is not like after racing for 8 years realistically would have no effects on his soundness so I guess I should be too surprised but when are we expecting our horses to be in pain. Though we all know owning horses in nothing if it isn't unpredictable.
So that is that. I left a bit discouraged over that. Then I had revalation when exercise after exercise I was clearly the problem in not being able to perform them. One problem is my fitness level. I feel like even when can figure out the correct aides I too weak to cleanly apply them. This alone is discouraging because I have focused so heavily on my not only weightloss but also my fitness and am still so far from acceptable. I am incapable of sitting the trot well for even 20 meters. With visible space between me and the saddle so clearly I am not using my leg correctly. I realized I rely on my hands WAY too much for balance...ew. I was pinching with my knees when asking for the canter and in turn loosing my stirrups. I lean forwad and close my hips which directly effects all of the afore mentioned issues. I "ride with my hands in my lap". I am dragging him with the inside rein...gosh. I have been wanting to really focus on my position and I can say one of my complaints from going to this particular trainer was that she never has spent much time on my position. Well I guess I can't complain now cause she picked me apart. Not that she wasn't right on EVERY SINGLE point because she was. I could feel it. Now I don't believe I ride that terrible all the time but some of those issues are long standing habits that will be hard for me to over come. Kind of like the feet too far forward having to be fixed by tying my stirrups to the girth. Pretty soon my whole body will by tied to something. She said I need to spend some time on the lunge line so I can work on my position. OK now who in the world am I going to get to lunge for me?? Maybe I should make a list of the things that are right with my position. That would be a shorter list. Ok pitty party over.
I think her point not focusing on me and my position because she was more focused on Steady and getting rid of some of the track issues. So I guess the good news is that we are far enough along that we are able to even focus on these things. That alone is progress it just didnt feel that way when I was so inundated with my faults. So my number 1 realization from Monday is that I am the problem in Steady's progress and that makes me kind of sad:( The other #1 realizations I had from Monday (ok it doesn't make much sense to have 2 #1's but they are both very important) is NO MORE EXCUSES!!! No more excuses to get out and ride, like "yuck, it is 15 degrees out I can't ride", or "I am tired" or "I don't have time" but mostly "it's toooo stinking cold". I should ride more even if it is just to build up his strength. Amanda (trainer) told me it would be more effective to gallop him if I can't get out much. I can say I have never taken him out and galloped him. It kind of scares the poopoo out of me to gallop my good ole racer. Not that he has ever given me a reason to think he would act like he was going for the win but it still makes me nervous.
As for the saddle issues we tried on a few used saddles on. There was a nice keifer that fit well for him and I but I realized that instead of spending a few hundred here and there to patch up our saddling issues that I would rather spend a bit more and get something new that I could be way more picky about the way it fits him and me and also I can pick style, color and all that less important stuff that with a used you will take any look if it actually fits. So I am planning to spend under $1,500 so not high end but my trainer is confident that we can find what I need. She actually is having a custom one made for their tack store from HDR I believe. It is a black eventerish type look with lots of added features. I don't have the exact details but she knows Steady better than anyone besides me so I trust her judgement. It is coming in at the end of January so I am planning to deal with my saddle until then.
If you made through all that then thanks for caring enough to listen to my whine. Any feedback or tips on how to help correct some of my many issues are welcome.
I usually love my lessons and look forward to them. I was eager to get to a lesson and after so many raving comments from the clinic I may have needed to be brought down a notch or two. I left the clinic feeling so positive about our progress. After a terrible month weather wise for riding and getting to ride all of about 7 times I guess I should have expected it. Then again after our second ride last week I thought it all would be a bit more fresh in his mind and our lesson would go well. And for some reason Steady is always on his best behaviour at the barn I trailer to for lessons. To the point that he does so well it is hard to work out some of the kinks we have at home when he is not on his best behaviour. So I guess that could be a good thing that he did act up some. But I am about to unroll all of my excuses as to why he could have been acting funny. Unfortunately I think the biggest problem is a new discovery. I think he might have soreness issues with his right hock :(. Now I did just notice it that day but I think that because of his HIGH pain tolerence he has successfully hidden it until now. One reason I believed it showed itself is because of the incredibly deep footing in their indoor area. I think he was really struggling in that footing. I mean we didn't work more than we usually do but he was really sweating and it was hard to get him moving. Second reason I think I have not seen it until now is because he is terribly out of shape from the lack of riding this past month. Then the cold probably caused some stiffness. So up until now I have been incredibly thankful for my 100% sound horse and my bubble was burst a bit that he is not 100%. I mean it is not like after racing for 8 years realistically would have no effects on his soundness so I guess I should be too surprised but when are we expecting our horses to be in pain. Though we all know owning horses in nothing if it isn't unpredictable.
So that is that. I left a bit discouraged over that. Then I had revalation when exercise after exercise I was clearly the problem in not being able to perform them. One problem is my fitness level. I feel like even when can figure out the correct aides I too weak to cleanly apply them. This alone is discouraging because I have focused so heavily on my not only weightloss but also my fitness and am still so far from acceptable. I am incapable of sitting the trot well for even 20 meters. With visible space between me and the saddle so clearly I am not using my leg correctly. I realized I rely on my hands WAY too much for balance...ew. I was pinching with my knees when asking for the canter and in turn loosing my stirrups. I lean forwad and close my hips which directly effects all of the afore mentioned issues. I "ride with my hands in my lap". I am dragging him with the inside rein...gosh. I have been wanting to really focus on my position and I can say one of my complaints from going to this particular trainer was that she never has spent much time on my position. Well I guess I can't complain now cause she picked me apart. Not that she wasn't right on EVERY SINGLE point because she was. I could feel it. Now I don't believe I ride that terrible all the time but some of those issues are long standing habits that will be hard for me to over come. Kind of like the feet too far forward having to be fixed by tying my stirrups to the girth. Pretty soon my whole body will by tied to something. She said I need to spend some time on the lunge line so I can work on my position. OK now who in the world am I going to get to lunge for me?? Maybe I should make a list of the things that are right with my position. That would be a shorter list. Ok pitty party over.
I think her point not focusing on me and my position because she was more focused on Steady and getting rid of some of the track issues. So I guess the good news is that we are far enough along that we are able to even focus on these things. That alone is progress it just didnt feel that way when I was so inundated with my faults. So my number 1 realization from Monday is that I am the problem in Steady's progress and that makes me kind of sad:( The other #1 realizations I had from Monday (ok it doesn't make much sense to have 2 #1's but they are both very important) is NO MORE EXCUSES!!! No more excuses to get out and ride, like "yuck, it is 15 degrees out I can't ride", or "I am tired" or "I don't have time" but mostly "it's toooo stinking cold". I should ride more even if it is just to build up his strength. Amanda (trainer) told me it would be more effective to gallop him if I can't get out much. I can say I have never taken him out and galloped him. It kind of scares the poopoo out of me to gallop my good ole racer. Not that he has ever given me a reason to think he would act like he was going for the win but it still makes me nervous.
As for the saddle issues we tried on a few used saddles on. There was a nice keifer that fit well for him and I but I realized that instead of spending a few hundred here and there to patch up our saddling issues that I would rather spend a bit more and get something new that I could be way more picky about the way it fits him and me and also I can pick style, color and all that less important stuff that with a used you will take any look if it actually fits. So I am planning to spend under $1,500 so not high end but my trainer is confident that we can find what I need. She actually is having a custom one made for their tack store from HDR I believe. It is a black eventerish type look with lots of added features. I don't have the exact details but she knows Steady better than anyone besides me so I trust her judgement. It is coming in at the end of January so I am planning to deal with my saddle until then.
If you made through all that then thanks for caring enough to listen to my whine. Any feedback or tips on how to help correct some of my many issues are welcome.
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