We've all seen the "I don't want to adult" memes. Today I need one that says "I don't want to people. Don't make me people. " Am I the only one out there that had days that they don't want to even be a part of the human race? I pretty much just hate all man kind right now. Except you guys of course! Sorry I'm just coming on here to vent really. But people just suck sometimes. And sometimes it seems to just all hit you at once how much they really do.
On a less depressing note. Monica, B, Steady , another friend, her horse and I along with our bribed little jump crew are going to jump school in trainers indoor tomorrow. Win! Send us all the happs trailering vibes for B please!
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, June 19, 2015
Moving on.
Moving on from my last self deprecating post. And on to the next self deprecating post about something new. This happens to actually have some thing to do with riding. Well at least attempting to ride. That brings us to my lesson on Wednesday. E and I took a group lesson together. How rad is that, that my daughter is at a place that we can feasibly share a lesson? It's kind of a cool place to be. Anyways. Something happened in my brain at some point. Or should I say some thing failed to happen in my brain. We were told to go through a simple grid. We have done this a Milian and one times. And it all fell to crap. Over and over just running, plowing through this grid. So ground poles were placed and at some point my horse just jumped the ground poles set 9 feet after the jump with the jump. That is some spread. I was at a loss.
My instructor said "can I get on so I can figure out what he is doing?" I think I was off before she finished her sentence. She got on and fixed what I was doing and then let me back on. I rarely see some one else ride my horse and while I'm probably very strange I stand there watching thinking, "is my horse really that sexy?" He really is a sight to watch. I got back on and she reminded me how one is to ride through a grid and whaddaya know it was lovely. Though it was frustrating when I screwed it up she helped me figure out how to fix it and reminded me how to ride. Man I'm out of practice.
E and Lily had a great lesson too. They are doing great and having a blast. They put together a full course. And though she wouldn't admit it I'm sure it felt good to watch mom screw things up and get told what to do.
All three of us are going to a combined test next Saturday. I was thinking it may have been 2013 the last time I have shown. Holy crap! I told you I was out of practice. I think I am most excited and terrified to see my youngest and the cutest little gray pony ever do their green as grass CT. If I am not vomiting or peeing on myself with nerves I will video it for all to see. I don't really get show nerves when I show other that the excited butterfly ones. But when my kids are showing I have uncontrollable nervous break downs. I have never been able to even hold a video camera during their ride. It is all I can do to not pass out. It is really bad. Maybe one of these days I will figure out how to deal with it better. Cause it is bad.
My instructor said "can I get on so I can figure out what he is doing?" I think I was off before she finished her sentence. She got on and fixed what I was doing and then let me back on. I rarely see some one else ride my horse and while I'm probably very strange I stand there watching thinking, "is my horse really that sexy?" He really is a sight to watch. I got back on and she reminded me how one is to ride through a grid and whaddaya know it was lovely. Though it was frustrating when I screwed it up she helped me figure out how to fix it and reminded me how to ride. Man I'm out of practice.
E and Lily had a great lesson too. They are doing great and having a blast. They put together a full course. And though she wouldn't admit it I'm sure it felt good to watch mom screw things up and get told what to do.
All three of us are going to a combined test next Saturday. I was thinking it may have been 2013 the last time I have shown. Holy crap! I told you I was out of practice. I think I am most excited and terrified to see my youngest and the cutest little gray pony ever do their green as grass CT. If I am not vomiting or peeing on myself with nerves I will video it for all to see. I don't really get show nerves when I show other that the excited butterfly ones. But when my kids are showing I have uncontrollable nervous break downs. I have never been able to even hold a video camera during their ride. It is all I can do to not pass out. It is really bad. Maybe one of these days I will figure out how to deal with it better. Cause it is bad.
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Feeling like an ass
So my career path has been on hold for months now waiting on the State Medical Board of Ohio to issue me my license to massage. I don't do waiting, well. This means lack of income which means lack of bank to support any competitions to advance ridiculous adult, childlike dreams. I mean today my husband unknowingly and non-purposefully made me feel like a complete ass. I have been writing checks left and right for my silly little obsession lately. There is 150 bales of hay, an early farrier visit because Steady's feet were disintegrating, Rolex purchases, feed, lessons, kids Pony Club camp and let's not even mention that trailer. The amount of money is mind boggling. Since when did mine and my children's hobby become the black hole for my families finances. I have had this thought in the back of my mind lately. And while I was thinking silently how I needed to send in my 2 daughters final camp payment (totally $700) and our show entries of at least $150 if we only each did a CT. My husband tells me of his disappointment that he was out bid on ebay on the golf driver he has been wanting. And that he refuses to pay more than $100. At that moment I felt about an inch tall. I didn't say a word and he had no idea what was on my mind. This man provides us with every single thing we have ever asked for yet he cannot bring himself to buy a new driver for a whopping $300 and opts to search for a good deal on an older used driver. Golf is really the only thing he has any interest in doing as far as a hobby that could cost money goes. Yet he rarely actually does get out on a course and uses 15 year old clubs and a driver he absolutely hates. I have not a whole lot else to say other than I feel like a selfish asshole right now yet I don't know how to change it.
Monday, June 15, 2015
Product reviews and beach broncs
These are actually two non horse items that I am reviewing but they are both items that are handy and any horse or outdoorsy person would/could use. First the FlipBelt.
I first saw this on my facebook feed. I have been trying to figure out a way to conveniently carry my phone without it being obviously noticeable, annoying or chance of dropping it forever. I've tried, putting it in my boot. Which actually stretched my one boot out. Fail. Tried holders but always too noticeably annoying. I've tried pockets and though some of my breeches have pockets most don't and if they are where normal pockets it always slips out. Fail. This product was not designed for riding but other athletic activities such as running. I have trail ridden many hours. Ridden dressage, jumped, XC schooled in it. All without so much as even noticing it. It is definitely piece of equipment I use every ride. I am able to have my phone on me at all times. Which most importantly is safety. I have been caught once with an injured rider and no phone. Never again. And for the less important but still a perk is that you can have quick access for photos and videos. While yes it is probably just a new age fanny pack it is definitely an upgrade on the 80's trend. Your important items are at hand yet kept snug to your body so they are virtually unnoticeable. And we all know how eventers love their colors they have a ton of color options.
Next item I love is the Eno Hammock.
Again COLORS. Not the reason I love it but options are never terrible. I picked this bad boy up at Rolex a couple years back for the Husband for Father's Day. The thing is rad. It has been pretty much everywhere. Horseshows, the beach, the back yard. The weight limit is for ours is for 2 most reasonably sized adults. You can hang it from literally anything! I've hung it in my horse trailer, from trees, from my truck bed. It is super light so easy to transport with you everywhere but super durable and made out of parachute material. With the suspension straps and carabineer hooks you can take this ANYWHERE to sleep or just take a nap. We love this thing and I see a second one in our future to take to the beach for our late night fishing trips across the street. One for my husband and I and one the girls can sleep in. So much easier to strap your ENO to a couple trees then carry and set up a tent. They make it wide enough that with the excess material you can wrap it around yourself and make a little bug proof cocoon. It may come across as pricey but the number of uses the thing has I don't regret paying the price for it. A cot or any other type of hammock is going to cost that or more and be way less functional.
From the queen of functionality(self appointed obviously) you don't get more functional than these two items.
In horse news. It's been hot as shit here. I've been riding a moderate amount. E and I went on a long trail ride yesterday. A make your ass so sore, it is more comfortable to ride home in two point trail ride. We explored another new trail and it was really nice. Some spots seemed like you were in the deep jungle and others open prairies and then you are on the beach. So we found a really open sandy beach and had the bright idea of cantering on the beach. We took like two strides, the haflinger started broncing and Steady felt like he thought that looked like loads of fun. So our picturesque cantering down the beach was a big fail. It would be a good meme. Like those that go around about- this is how I think I look riding, how my mom thinks I look, how my trainer thinks I look etc. I want to imagine the on lookers on their boats were all, "wow look at those beautiful horses and amazing riders running down the beach" It was probably more like, "OH my gawd look at those two nut balls...do you think they are going to die? Should we just call careflight now?" In my head I am going to believe we looked like this.
I first saw this on my facebook feed. I have been trying to figure out a way to conveniently carry my phone without it being obviously noticeable, annoying or chance of dropping it forever. I've tried, putting it in my boot. Which actually stretched my one boot out. Fail. Tried holders but always too noticeably annoying. I've tried pockets and though some of my breeches have pockets most don't and if they are where normal pockets it always slips out. Fail. This product was not designed for riding but other athletic activities such as running. I have trail ridden many hours. Ridden dressage, jumped, XC schooled in it. All without so much as even noticing it. It is definitely piece of equipment I use every ride. I am able to have my phone on me at all times. Which most importantly is safety. I have been caught once with an injured rider and no phone. Never again. And for the less important but still a perk is that you can have quick access for photos and videos. While yes it is probably just a new age fanny pack it is definitely an upgrade on the 80's trend. Your important items are at hand yet kept snug to your body so they are virtually unnoticeable. And we all know how eventers love their colors they have a ton of color options.
Next item I love is the Eno Hammock.
Again COLORS. Not the reason I love it but options are never terrible. I picked this bad boy up at Rolex a couple years back for the Husband for Father's Day. The thing is rad. It has been pretty much everywhere. Horseshows, the beach, the back yard. The weight limit is for ours is for 2 most reasonably sized adults. You can hang it from literally anything! I've hung it in my horse trailer, from trees, from my truck bed. It is super light so easy to transport with you everywhere but super durable and made out of parachute material. With the suspension straps and carabineer hooks you can take this ANYWHERE to sleep or just take a nap. We love this thing and I see a second one in our future to take to the beach for our late night fishing trips across the street. One for my husband and I and one the girls can sleep in. So much easier to strap your ENO to a couple trees then carry and set up a tent. They make it wide enough that with the excess material you can wrap it around yourself and make a little bug proof cocoon. It may come across as pricey but the number of uses the thing has I don't regret paying the price for it. A cot or any other type of hammock is going to cost that or more and be way less functional.
From the queen of functionality(self appointed obviously) you don't get more functional than these two items.
In horse news. It's been hot as shit here. I've been riding a moderate amount. E and I went on a long trail ride yesterday. A make your ass so sore, it is more comfortable to ride home in two point trail ride. We explored another new trail and it was really nice. Some spots seemed like you were in the deep jungle and others open prairies and then you are on the beach. So we found a really open sandy beach and had the bright idea of cantering on the beach. We took like two strides, the haflinger started broncing and Steady felt like he thought that looked like loads of fun. So our picturesque cantering down the beach was a big fail. It would be a good meme. Like those that go around about- this is how I think I look riding, how my mom thinks I look, how my trainer thinks I look etc. I want to imagine the on lookers on their boats were all, "wow look at those beautiful horses and amazing riders running down the beach" It was probably more like, "OH my gawd look at those two nut balls...do you think they are going to die? Should we just call careflight now?" In my head I am going to believe we looked like this.
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| This is exactly what we looked like. (In my head) |
Thursday, June 11, 2015
Livin' on Love
Horses. They don't need much. Just a little love. That's it. Well, and an endless bank account. But that's it. Oh yeah and hundred and hundreds of hours of your life. Ok maybe a little more than just love but that's a cute sentiment.
First off EF you blogger. Why you delete my post? I wrote a bunch of crap about how I am a low maintenance horse keeper and blah blah but now it's gone and I am not writing it again. Basically I am writing about how our last place was crappy but we made do and my horses were happy and healthy and that is all that matters to me. But that moving to our new place was a huge upgrade that I am not hating. This is what happens when knowledgeable, experienced horse people build a barn. They think of EVERYTHING.
They think of power.
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| Safely conduit covered plugs install above each stall. They think of storage. |
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| For all the things we need to hang. Because horse people love hangy things. |
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| For all the food and such. |
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| For all the saddles. 3 horses 9 saddles? Seems about right. We do have portable racks just in case though. |
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| Shelves for all the things. Because if you own horses you WILL accumulate a bunch of useful and useless things that you will need to put on a shelf. |
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| For all the hay. Enough storage for 400 bales of hay. Oh how happy the Haflinger would be if we filled the barn with 400 bales of hay. |
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| Tool storage. A place to hang the many tools it take to keep a farm in ship shape. They think of LIGHTS |
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| And they didn't hold back with the lights. There are florescent lights in the isle. There are regular light bulb lights in the aisle |
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| Lights outside the barn. One of these on either end of the barn. You can probably see us glowing from the space station. Protected by a metal cover. You can see an example of them in the picture of the feed room. |
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| Lights in the round pen. It's safe to say you will never be short on light around this place. Though most of the lighting in the house is crap but who cares about that anyways. They had their priorities in order. They thought about the Aisle way |
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| It only makes sense if you own horses to have an aisle big enough to pull truck fully loaded down with hay in it comfortably or even a hay wagon. |
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| Rubber mats down the entire aisle They thought of Warmth |
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Completely insulated ceiling. The barn is easily 15 degrees warmer than outside in the winter.
All the stalls are floor to ceiling solid wood. There will be NO draft for you my spoiled ponies.
They thought of ventilation
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| Two huge doors on each end facing the direction that the wind blows 90% of the time. In the summer the barn is 15 degrees cooler than outside. They thought about Fat ponies |
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| Electrical outlets and a water spigot. |
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| They have this fabulous dry lot for those of us that don't have the self control we need. It's ok chubby ponies I can relate. |
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| They have this amazing shelter because even chubby ponies need shelter. A Nelson automatic waterer(love that thing), Lights(of course). A gate big enough to fit the tractor for easy clean up. If they can't be pigs they may as well be comfortable. |
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| Rando photo of the coolest cat around. Garfield. They thought of comfort |
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| The stalls are all roughly 12x12 Rubber matted, lighted, insulated, plugs. What more could you want. |
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| Walls and gates they can put their heads over. Does wonders for bordom |
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They thought of beauty. Stained wooden stalls. It's just perty |
They thought of putting kids on ponies in stalls...oh wait, no, that wasn't them.
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
The makings of a great weekend.
I had a couple rides during the week. They were fine. Worked on getting a little lateral movement back into our lives. I am trying to remind my body how to ride in a dressage saddle. I do love me a forward flap jumping saddle. And each ride I am reminded how ridiculously out of shape I am. It is sad. It is coming back bit by bit but damn 7 months out of the saddle takes it's toll. Especially when you are fat and old. While there is nothing I can do about he latter I need to do something about the former. Weight Watcher my long lost friend, we meet again.
The pictures aren't great but they are all I have to offer. Blurry screenshots. I am not sure what age it is when you become capable of video tapings something without it looking like a level 10 earthquake but I can assure you that it is not 12!
Our focus in our flat rides is withers up, poll up which sometimes leads to a little inconsistency in the contact but nothing terrible just what we work on. He has improved tremendously with how compact he is. He lifts his back and really steps under now very consistently. It isn't something I have to ride every stride to keep it, its just his way of going now.
On to our weekend. Saturday house/farm responsibilities took up much of the day. The girls had been bugging me all day to go out on a trail ride. Finally about 5 pm we finished one last project and we went to explore some trails we hadn't been on yet. I am sorry if you get sick of hearing how incredible it is to live with over 30 miles of trails right outside your door but it just blows my mind daily. While we have been out there several times we have only really been out a few miles one direction. So we decided to do a little exploring that day. We found more beautifully groomed trails than we had time to venture down.
We got a bit carried away and while the plan was to be back home by 6:50 to watch history be made we didn't make it. So we missed the Belmont. But the fact that I got to see him run the first leg of the TC live from the rail in Kentucky I guess its ok. And I was riding. I actually didn't feel like it dampened the excitement of it. I mean not much can take away from how incredible that horse was!
(Intermission: the life of keeping horses at home. Sitting writing on your computer and hear a storm blow in, run out in rain to put horses in their stalls. So now I am a bit wet and disheveled but the horses are tucked into their stalls with some hay just before the storm hits.)
Where was I? Oh yes the trail ride was amazing. We got home ate dinner then decided to walk to the beach to spend the evening. We brought all the supplies for fishing, a campfire, possibly a bit of drinking, roasting marshmallows and our super amazing portable hammock. (I should review some time cause I love that thing.) Hanging out with the family, drinking, fishing, making sand castles, roasting marshmallows, and looking at the bazillion stars with my babies in the hammock. Perfect. Night. We finally made the hike back home at about 1 am.
Sunday afternoon we were set to go XC schooling. The kids had a lesson with Pony Club and I scheduled a lesson right after. The itty bitty kid and the insanely adorable gray pony focused on how to ride a dressage test. E and the Haffy took a XC lesson and spent much of the time dissecting having a good ride with a jump just before the water, 3 strides to a jump in the water 2 strides to an up bank out. It is indescribable feeling watching your kid start to learn the technicalities of this sport. This mean their fundamentals are strong enough now that they get to start progressing and getting down the nitty gritty. I don't know I guess I just never thought about the solely basics focused phase ending. I mean I makes sense that was going to but we have been at it for so many years and then all the sudden there they are doing real stuff. She's not a baby anymore and neither is her pony. It was all about being able to read your horses ride and make adjustments as the water and jumps changed their momentum. The instructor made them focus on how many strides they were getting. And teaching them that they need to start taking mental notes so that when they walk their courses for an event they can have a good idea how their horse is going to ride a certain fence and then play it out in their heads.
Then is was Mama's turn! I wish I had photographic documentation but I just don't. Steady was his insanely bold self as always. He eats XC alive. Our struggle is once he goes over a jump he sees it as a course and is off and looking for his next fence. I was riding in a new bit and pretty much could have had more brakes if I was riding with a halter and lead rope. It took me forever to stop him after every jump. He was just enthusiastic but not being an asshole. It was my first time with this trainer and I think she thought we were more timid than we are because she was taking it easy on us. Nothing really over BN. Finally we got to the Training Trekehener and I asked if we could please jump it. She was surprised and was like, "oh yeah, sure! You guys can do that?" LOL I love me a trekehener I really do and we have schooled prelim stuff. Big jumps don't intimidate me when I am on Steady. If he is listening to me then I will do anything. Unfortunately he does not always listen to me and that is when my confidence starts to wane. He was actually listening to me out there so I was game for it all. We did the training ditch, we did the water/bank exercise with a jump in front of water 3 strides a jump in the water 2 strides and the up bank out. It was all a blast. I did a LOT of sitting the hell back and half halting the shit out of him but I really needed a different bit, it was not effective. He is just incredibly fun to ride XC because of his "I attack any jump I see" attitude. There is nothing like it!
The pictures aren't great but they are all I have to offer. Blurry screenshots. I am not sure what age it is when you become capable of video tapings something without it looking like a level 10 earthquake but I can assure you that it is not 12!
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| Our walk |
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| a bit of canter |
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| le trot |
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| more trot |
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| I just like this shot |
On to our weekend. Saturday house/farm responsibilities took up much of the day. The girls had been bugging me all day to go out on a trail ride. Finally about 5 pm we finished one last project and we went to explore some trails we hadn't been on yet. I am sorry if you get sick of hearing how incredible it is to live with over 30 miles of trails right outside your door but it just blows my mind daily. While we have been out there several times we have only really been out a few miles one direction. So we decided to do a little exploring that day. We found more beautifully groomed trails than we had time to venture down.
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| World's best riding buddies! |
We got a bit carried away and while the plan was to be back home by 6:50 to watch history be made we didn't make it. So we missed the Belmont. But the fact that I got to see him run the first leg of the TC live from the rail in Kentucky I guess its ok. And I was riding. I actually didn't feel like it dampened the excitement of it. I mean not much can take away from how incredible that horse was!
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| I snapped this from the rail at the Derby. Anyone recognize the horse in the center? |
(Intermission: the life of keeping horses at home. Sitting writing on your computer and hear a storm blow in, run out in rain to put horses in their stalls. So now I am a bit wet and disheveled but the horses are tucked into their stalls with some hay just before the storm hits.)
Where was I? Oh yes the trail ride was amazing. We got home ate dinner then decided to walk to the beach to spend the evening. We brought all the supplies for fishing, a campfire, possibly a bit of drinking, roasting marshmallows and our super amazing portable hammock. (I should review some time cause I love that thing.) Hanging out with the family, drinking, fishing, making sand castles, roasting marshmallows, and looking at the bazillion stars with my babies in the hammock. Perfect. Night. We finally made the hike back home at about 1 am.
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| The view from my hammock. |
Sunday afternoon we were set to go XC schooling. The kids had a lesson with Pony Club and I scheduled a lesson right after. The itty bitty kid and the insanely adorable gray pony focused on how to ride a dressage test. E and the Haffy took a XC lesson and spent much of the time dissecting having a good ride with a jump just before the water, 3 strides to a jump in the water 2 strides to an up bank out. It is indescribable feeling watching your kid start to learn the technicalities of this sport. This mean their fundamentals are strong enough now that they get to start progressing and getting down the nitty gritty. I don't know I guess I just never thought about the solely basics focused phase ending. I mean I makes sense that was going to but we have been at it for so many years and then all the sudden there they are doing real stuff. She's not a baby anymore and neither is her pony. It was all about being able to read your horses ride and make adjustments as the water and jumps changed their momentum. The instructor made them focus on how many strides they were getting. And teaching them that they need to start taking mental notes so that when they walk their courses for an event they can have a good idea how their horse is going to ride a certain fence and then play it out in their heads.
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
Of blood and floods and everything in between.
Thank you for your replies to my last post and for your suggestions. I can assure you I won't be heading to hunter/jumper land...lol. Been there, done that for about 10 years. Over it. Not to say I wouldn't go to a little local show that offered those type classes because I most likely will do some of that this summer because that seems to be all the shows that are around here. But after showing on a hunter circuit for a decade the idea of becoming a serious competitor in that discipline has no draw to me. After writing the post I realized I miss worded my feelings. I am NOT bored with eventing it is the dressage phase that bores me. The reason this is significant is because I have pretty strong feelings about over jumping so I do not jump often. Which leaves us to going around in circles a lot. I am also in a completely new phase of training and I need to find my way around. While the struggles of bringing along a difficult green horse can be a long rough road I knew the next step. I never actually contemplated getting to the end of that road. Not at all saying that we don't have a hell of a lot to learn to go farther. NOT at all. But the super duper green phase is pretty much over. NOw what we should really be doing is going out and competing and getting show miles in horse trials and racking up some serious competition experience. Problem? I am not in that phase right now. I am not in a place where campaigning a super cool horse is on my priority list. So I feel a little stuck. Not sure where to go. Need to place a wanted ad. ISO incredible rider with a bunch of money wanting to compete someone else's horse. But has to be local and able to share the ride with me.
Now that would be the ideal situation. Anyways enough rambling.
Saturday was an interesting day. Some good stuff, some bad stuff and some crazy ass weather. First with the bad.
The Bad
1. If you didn't read about it on "Chasing the Dream" you really need to read her account of it. She does a much better job than I could. After that I felt a lot like just calling it a day and heading back home the all of a 3 min. Drive from her house that it is. Blood and bone and dangling skin is NEVER the way anyone's day should start. But I had agreed to meet another friend and they were already on their way. AND my daughter was incredibly excited to go XC schooling and I would feel like a complete ass disappointing her. Even though I knew she would completely understand. We decided to head out and not stand up my friend and her grandson.
2. The weather was batshit crazy. As we were loading up the trailer at the house in the blazing sun it started POURING. Pouring and blazing sunshine. I felt like I was in Florida. The only place I have ever been that it can do both those things at the same time. Apparently it can do that in Ohio too. 2 seconds before loading my horse he got soaked then rolled in the mud. Real cool asshole, reeeal cool.
3. We got to Twin Towers we got tacked up and made our way out. About 3 second after we got out on the back of the course the wind picked up and started blowing like crazy and it got really, really dark. We high tailed it BACK to the trailers. It started raining before we made it back then the horses started FREAKING out so we all jumped off and literally ran on foot, horses in hand back. Thankfully they have a barn there that we took shelter in the isle way because the heavens opened up! Listen to that rain! The other two in the video were our friends we met up with.
After about 10 minutes it did stop. So we remounted and tried again.
4. When we were nearly finished and we had been out for about an hour, someone looked around and said, "those clouds looked really dark". Oh shit here we go again. So we once again made our way back. This time it wasn't quite so dramatic because we did notice earlier than the last time but we did make haste. Because we wanted to get untacked and on the road before it hit. We had a race to untack and load then headed out. We weren't on the road for more than 2 minutes before I had this feeling we were driving directly into a tornado. We had a tornado locally like the day before that threw several vehicles and that is all that was going through my head. Branches were flying across the road, I could barely see and the wind was so strong it was rocking the trailer. I was watching for funnel clouds, wondering what I would even do if I saw one. This lasted for about half the trip and then as quickly as it came it was gone. I was stressed driving in it, thinking, "what the hell am I doing?" I am not easily stressed AT ALL so for me to be stressed you know it had to have been wicked.
5. As soon as I parked the trailer in our driveway it started raining and blowing again. So we unloaded in the rain, put the horses in their stalls and took cover in the house. I was DONE for the day!
The Good
With the way the day started I was not feeling like doing a whole lot. I wasn't sure my nerves could handle it if my horse got too amped up as he often does on XC. Then being responsible for another life I figured I'd be doing good if I could keep my horse level headed and calm for the entirety of the ride and make sure my daughter had a successful XC school. Then that would be enough accomplished for the day. Being a child's mother and coach is a unique experience that not too many people can handle. That could be a post of it's own on how one goes about that but I couldn't emotionally be Mom, Coach and horse trainer on this day so I chose the first two and kept the last one very low key. I figured it was still an invaluable lesson for Steady to go around a XC course like it was just a hack.
1. What we did do. I jumped a little BN coop and some ditches and that is about it. The idea with both were that, "you can do this AND still be chill before, during and after." Mission accomplished.
2. The kid and the Haffy. Lily has really come out this year and been a solid citizen. I am quite proud. And any antics she has pulled(the occasional bucking/bolting fit or green jumping issues) my daughter has proven she is able to deal with and work through with grace. And I couldn't ask for more than that. The Haffy is willing and brave. She tackles pretty much everything. She is a push ride and it has been good for the kid to learn how to ride that because last year she rode Penny who is the opposite. She drags you to a fence. While Lily is happy to jump anything you point her at but she needs help having the momentum to make it a nice jump. I watched as the kid accomplished something I have been trying to teach her for a while now. It is not really a teachable trait. I mean you can tell someone but it is such a feeling aspect of riding that until they figure it out there is not much anyone can do to really get it though to someone. They were having a particular difficult time with a Novice size Coop. It was a tough little jump because the line upon landing was angled and straight ahead was a tree line. After they struggled with a run out to each side I realized how it rode and could see exactly what the problem was. If you looked at the "way out" upon landing it was to the right which then pretty much opened the door to run out and that was what kept happening. I explained to her that she need to ride the jump as if she was going to ride straight into the bushes. I assured her that she would have plenty of time to turn upon landing but that the jump had to be ridden into the bushes. Pony already knew the way "out" so she would need to ride extra solid and straight and not let her slip out through that shoulder. And then I watched as a real rider was being born. On approach pony backed off a bit and I see her start to wiggle. E felt it and rode the shit out of that jump. She got a warning smack to go on then a little wiggle to the right at the base pony got a "oh no you're not" smack on the shoulder. All at the precise second that it needed to happen. Now that "feel" ladies and gentlemen must be learned through lots of practice and cannot be taught in a book or explained. She got it. She finally got it! As I explained to her. I could care less that that jump was not perfect she rode it exactly the way she should have without anyone having to tell her how it should be done. And THAT is riding. And she proved to that pony that even when she is unclear of the right answer that she can trust her rider to give her the right answer. Day made!
3. And lastly my goal with Steady was accomplished. He stayed quiet and relaxed the entire time. Not needing to anticipate what he should be doing. And though the day wasn't all sunshine and roses we did find a few bright spots.
Now that would be the ideal situation. Anyways enough rambling.
Saturday was an interesting day. Some good stuff, some bad stuff and some crazy ass weather. First with the bad.
The Bad
1. If you didn't read about it on "Chasing the Dream" you really need to read her account of it. She does a much better job than I could. After that I felt a lot like just calling it a day and heading back home the all of a 3 min. Drive from her house that it is. Blood and bone and dangling skin is NEVER the way anyone's day should start. But I had agreed to meet another friend and they were already on their way. AND my daughter was incredibly excited to go XC schooling and I would feel like a complete ass disappointing her. Even though I knew she would completely understand. We decided to head out and not stand up my friend and her grandson.
2. The weather was batshit crazy. As we were loading up the trailer at the house in the blazing sun it started POURING. Pouring and blazing sunshine. I felt like I was in Florida. The only place I have ever been that it can do both those things at the same time. Apparently it can do that in Ohio too. 2 seconds before loading my horse he got soaked then rolled in the mud. Real cool asshole, reeeal cool.
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| A nice solid coating on all sides. |
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| I guess the muddy dude had an itch. |
3. We got to Twin Towers we got tacked up and made our way out. About 3 second after we got out on the back of the course the wind picked up and started blowing like crazy and it got really, really dark. We high tailed it BACK to the trailers. It started raining before we made it back then the horses started FREAKING out so we all jumped off and literally ran on foot, horses in hand back. Thankfully they have a barn there that we took shelter in the isle way because the heavens opened up! Listen to that rain! The other two in the video were our friends we met up with.
After about 10 minutes it did stop. So we remounted and tried again.
4. When we were nearly finished and we had been out for about an hour, someone looked around and said, "those clouds looked really dark". Oh shit here we go again. So we once again made our way back. This time it wasn't quite so dramatic because we did notice earlier than the last time but we did make haste. Because we wanted to get untacked and on the road before it hit. We had a race to untack and load then headed out. We weren't on the road for more than 2 minutes before I had this feeling we were driving directly into a tornado. We had a tornado locally like the day before that threw several vehicles and that is all that was going through my head. Branches were flying across the road, I could barely see and the wind was so strong it was rocking the trailer. I was watching for funnel clouds, wondering what I would even do if I saw one. This lasted for about half the trip and then as quickly as it came it was gone. I was stressed driving in it, thinking, "what the hell am I doing?" I am not easily stressed AT ALL so for me to be stressed you know it had to have been wicked.
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| That feeling that you are driving directly into death. |
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| See? Who needs to see when driving a huge ass trailer? |
5. As soon as I parked the trailer in our driveway it started raining and blowing again. So we unloaded in the rain, put the horses in their stalls and took cover in the house. I was DONE for the day!
The Good
With the way the day started I was not feeling like doing a whole lot. I wasn't sure my nerves could handle it if my horse got too amped up as he often does on XC. Then being responsible for another life I figured I'd be doing good if I could keep my horse level headed and calm for the entirety of the ride and make sure my daughter had a successful XC school. Then that would be enough accomplished for the day. Being a child's mother and coach is a unique experience that not too many people can handle. That could be a post of it's own on how one goes about that but I couldn't emotionally be Mom, Coach and horse trainer on this day so I chose the first two and kept the last one very low key. I figured it was still an invaluable lesson for Steady to go around a XC course like it was just a hack.
1. What we did do. I jumped a little BN coop and some ditches and that is about it. The idea with both were that, "you can do this AND still be chill before, during and after." Mission accomplished.
2. The kid and the Haffy. Lily has really come out this year and been a solid citizen. I am quite proud. And any antics she has pulled(the occasional bucking/bolting fit or green jumping issues) my daughter has proven she is able to deal with and work through with grace. And I couldn't ask for more than that. The Haffy is willing and brave. She tackles pretty much everything. She is a push ride and it has been good for the kid to learn how to ride that because last year she rode Penny who is the opposite. She drags you to a fence. While Lily is happy to jump anything you point her at but she needs help having the momentum to make it a nice jump. I watched as the kid accomplished something I have been trying to teach her for a while now. It is not really a teachable trait. I mean you can tell someone but it is such a feeling aspect of riding that until they figure it out there is not much anyone can do to really get it though to someone. They were having a particular difficult time with a Novice size Coop. It was a tough little jump because the line upon landing was angled and straight ahead was a tree line. After they struggled with a run out to each side I realized how it rode and could see exactly what the problem was. If you looked at the "way out" upon landing it was to the right which then pretty much opened the door to run out and that was what kept happening. I explained to her that she need to ride the jump as if she was going to ride straight into the bushes. I assured her that she would have plenty of time to turn upon landing but that the jump had to be ridden into the bushes. Pony already knew the way "out" so she would need to ride extra solid and straight and not let her slip out through that shoulder. And then I watched as a real rider was being born. On approach pony backed off a bit and I see her start to wiggle. E felt it and rode the shit out of that jump. She got a warning smack to go on then a little wiggle to the right at the base pony got a "oh no you're not" smack on the shoulder. All at the precise second that it needed to happen. Now that "feel" ladies and gentlemen must be learned through lots of practice and cannot be taught in a book or explained. She got it. She finally got it! As I explained to her. I could care less that that jump was not perfect she rode it exactly the way she should have without anyone having to tell her how it should be done. And THAT is riding. And she proved to that pony that even when she is unclear of the right answer that she can trust her rider to give her the right answer. Day made!
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| It is an indescribably feeling watching your child be awesome. |
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| Be still my heart |
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| Her leg is ridiculously solid. It NEVER moves! I am working on teaching her how to close her hip angle a bit but that is one down side of your mother being your coach. You are overly cautious of neck climbing and teach her a very defensive jump position. No Mama wants to watch as their child lawn darts their head into a solid object. But she is NOT a hunter but an eventer so it works. |
3. And lastly my goal with Steady was accomplished. He stayed quiet and relaxed the entire time. Not needing to anticipate what he should be doing. And though the day wasn't all sunshine and roses we did find a few bright spots.
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| Speaking of spots this pony's dapples are ridiculous! |
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