So, you can probably imagine how happy I was after cross-country. So proud of my boy. It wasn't perfectly ridden and I know that I didn't "ride every jump" and a handful of the jumps were probably just luck, but that's when having a great partner under you comes in handy! So, we floated back to the barn on cloud nine, Hick really didn't even break a sweat except for under his saddle and was hardly out of breath. Gave him a rinse, took off his boots, and unscrewed his studs, and threw him some more of the icky hay. Then Laura and I were off to check the standings, look at pictures, and eat lunch!
Went to the show office to see what was posted. We were in first after dressage!! By ALMOST four points. That's a pretty decent spread. So, things just seemed to be getting better and better. Wasn't sure if our little deal at the water was going to be counted as a refusal, later found out that your horse CAN stop without it being a refusal, only a refusal if he moves backwards. So, clear round= first have dressage and xc. Yay! I called Martha and was all happy and said, "We're in first after dressage!" And she said, "Well, yeah! That's what I expected! I told you that." Then Laura and I went to eat lunch at good old "Crackle" Barrel. Came back, looked at pictures, then she had to leave. Loved on my pony, fed him dinner, walked stadium course, let him graze. Mom and I decided to order pizza for dinner. We picked it up on the way back to the hotel and I was passed out asleep before we even got pick up the pizza. It is a LOT of work and there is A LOT to do at a horse show. Not only do you have to take care of yourself, but you have to take care of your horse and it all just is very tiring. I don't know how I would have made it through the weekend without my mom and Laura.
Sunday I wasn't supposed to do my stadium for a while, so we slept in til about 7:30 and got to the barn at 8. Breakfast time for a pony. Put his stall guard up and go in to pick his stall. I'm in the middle of cleaning it when I look over at Hick. He is coiled back on his haunches holding his front feet in the air Lippizan style. I said, "Hickory! Noooooooooo!" But it was too late. "See ya!" he said and leaped, in slow motion, over the top of his stall guard and out of his stall. The grass IS greener on the other side. He took about two strides and started grazing. He wasn't trying to run away or be ornery, he just really wanted that grass, it was tempting him. Took him for a ride. Came back. Got dressed. Got him dressed. Headed out to stadium. I was pleased with our warm up but it wasn't as spectacuar as our xc warm up. Did some flying changes and rollback turns in warm up as this stadium course was very twisty turny. Jump 1 was an oxer (they weren't messing around), it went well, on to the left was Jump 2 painted like a watermelon, it went well. Jump 3 was blue, it went well. Then there was a tight rollback right hand turn to Jump 4. It took a stride or two for that to click in my brain and then a stride or 2 more to it to click in Hick's brain so we had to hightail it to Jump 4 to make up lost time on that turn. Jump 4 went well, then it was a bending line to 5 that was difficult and we almost didn't make. Sort of a rollback turn to 6A and 6B that went well. Left hand turn to 7 which had funky painted rails, sort of optical illusion-y. But it went fine. U turn to 8 that went well then around to 9 which we took a rail on. Not really sure why. But i was bummed. And then 10 was the last jump and it was fine.
So, we ended up 2nd and got a pretty red ribbon and some horse shampoo!
Friday, August 13, 2010
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Penny Oaks Horse Trials
Penny Oaks was a great adventure. First time taking my horse somewhere all by myself and being completely responsible and in charge. It. was. fun. I packed up his water buckets and feed buckets, bucket hangers, saddles, bridles, saddle pads, girths, whips, my helmet and gloves, his jumping boots, studs and stud kit, hick's shampoo, grooming things, braiding kit, fly spray, his grain, bales of hay, filled his hay net, loaded all of it and him up in Amy's trailer alongside her big black Percheron cross Cally (we had Cally-horse and Callie-person all weekend) and off we went! But not before we realized that Hickory's Indiana Health Certificate was MIA. Had to run over to the vet's office to get a copy, and THEN we were on our way!
It was not a very bad drive at all to the Hoosier Park. When we arrived we unloaded and made our sweet ponies comfy and set off to walk our cross-country course. By the end of the course, I was nearly in tears. We hadn't gone xc in over a year and goodness knows the last time we had a clear xc round. This course looked HARD. And unfair! Usually on a Novice course you'll have your Novice max height jumps and then also some jumps below the max height, say BN level. Nuh uh! Not here! These suckers were massive! And if they weren't massive they were tricksy! It was very Training Level-similar. Multiple bending lines, one bending line was a three stride, had a ditch four stride to a table, a table seven stride to a bank tight turn three stride to a log, a two stride with two angled barns... You've got to be kidding me, was all I kept thinking. I got really angry lol, at the course. And I think Amy thought I was crazy. But it was definitely way better for me to be pissed and ride the course mad like I wanted to kill it than be intimidated by it. Amy kept saying, "Just think how awesome it will feel when you finish THIS COURSE, what an accomplishment!" And I was thinking, "This course is going to kick my ass." So, we walked it a second time and made a game plan for each jump. We also stood next to some of the real Training Level jumps which made ours seem smaller and by the end I was feeling a little better about it all.
My mommy was sitting outside Hickory's stall waiting for me when we got back to the barn! We tacked up and took Hick and Cally for a walk and to see the dressage arenas. Hick was excited, but good. Then it was bath time!!! Have to love having a gray horse. There were several bathing stations but really nowhere to tie your horse. So I looked at mom and said, "Do you want hold or do you want to bathe?" as Hickory dragged me across the parking lot to a patch of grass he spotted. She wanted to hold. Seriously? Oook. It was an interesting bath. I'm really not sure how clean my horse actually got. I'm thinking not very! haha. Hickory dragged mom around and mom jerked on him and he was completely unresponsive and she laughed and laughed and I stood there with the hose and my shampoo a little disgruntled but ended up laughing some, too. I gave Hick a look and his look back said, "WHAT! I'm hungry! And I want to go dooo something!" Took him out for a graze, fed him dinner (half of what he normally gets) and tucked him in! And then we went to McDonalds. Yum.
The next morning it was time to enact our well thought out plan. My ride time was not until 11:00 am. We were at the barn at 8. Gave Hickory his breakfast and cleaned out his stall while mom went to buy him a stall guard so he would be a little happier being able to stick his head out of his stall. While she was gone I went to walk my cross-country course for a third and final time. Preparation, preparation, preparation! It was pretty early and I was the only one out on the course. So I talked outloud to myself and walked with my arms in front of my pretending like I was holding my reins and did the entire course just like I planned on riding it, imagining every half halt and sparkplug and leading rein! I was ready to kick the course in the teeth! But dressage first! Back to the barn, tacked up, and took mister man out for a walk/trot to see what I had that morning. A little ball of fire! He was so happy to get out of his stall. Rode over to a small field next to the dressage warm up and basically rode through my dressage warm-up with my emphasis on his relaxation and acceptance than accuracy or looking good. I was pretty happy after about 20 minutes so we headed back to the barn. Popped him back in the stall but left his saddle on. He seemed to like his new stall guard, but was maybe plotting escape? Made my mom sit in front of the stall with a whip to shoo him back just in case! Braided up his new super short mane. Changed into my show clothes and hopped back on. He was sooooo much calmer this second time out. So calm and good. We had a GREAT dressage warm up and I was extra pleased about how well he was paying attenttion to me considering how crowded and busy the warm up area was.
My test went about like this. Down centerline he got a little strung out, and we have some straight line issues, track left FELT a little lurchy, I was still nervous. First trot circle at E--the first half he sped up the tempo and that's when my brain finally started working and I started riding. Half halted and rounded him up and got a good steady rhythm and swing trot going. Down centerline the second time was good, right turn at C was much better than the left, 20m circle at B was great. Our downward transition at A was better than it has been, still a hair late but got good marks on it. Very big free walk down the diagonal, he stretched about 50% of the time and wanted to look around the other 50%. Medium walk was a success with no jigging! ALMOST hopped into his trot early without me asking but I caught him with my seat and we had a nice, round transition at C. Canter transition was great, our circle was good, and our downward was Greeeat. And the same in the opposite direction, no lead issues. Down the centerline and a nice square halt! I was soo happy! Gave him lots of lovin! It just felt like a good test!
And I forgot to mention that before dressage LAURA arrived!!
So, back in the stall for Hick. Took all those yucky, girly braids out. XC time was upon us and XC time means stud time. Whipped out my stud kit and succesfully got my studs in all by myself! Geared Hick up in his xc boots and fly spray. Geared me up. Sprayed down saddle and boots with sticky spray. Put my pinny on over my vest. Crescent noseband? Check. Excited pony? Check check check! Hopped on and off we went!
Hick was soooooo excited when we got to XC warm up. He had an extra spring in his step and his eyes were wide open and his ears were forward. But he was suuuch a good boy and was listening sooo well. We have a little deal, that if he listens to me then I WILL let him go fast and run like a little heathen at some point on course. So, he was upholding his end of the deal. We had a fantastic warm up. My big focus was making sure he was in front of my leg and man was he ever! It felt great! And with the crescent his canter was very much uphill. And he was jumping like a super horse! And Amy was a great warm-up coach!
I kept him outside the start box until about 10 seconds to go. He was too excited to make stand still. When the countdown hit zero we rocketed out of the box. It initially had been my plan to give him a reminder pop with my whip before at least the first jump. But he was soo forward and a little bit too hot for that I decided as we approached fence 1 (a big log). I settled for a little spur sparkplug instead as he tried to change up his canter a little on me on the approach. Up and over! Let him gallop out to the second fence, a rolltop that was no trouble. Fence 3 was a brush that was also no trouble. Couldn't see fence 4 from 3 as you had a fairly sharp left handed turn to it. It was an open oxer which we had never before attempted so Hick gave it a funny look and I sat back and clucked to him and he was like "not really sure what this is but I guess I'm jumping it!" Nice gallop stretch and a sharp left to fence 5, an optical illusion-y type of jump. Another funny look from Hick but I was prepared to ride this one strong and we had no trouble. Another gallop stretch to a cabin, which we've had past trouble with. Lowered his shoulders a bit to look at it and I did use my whip on this one for the first time and he said, "Well hell ok I'm going!!!" Another gallop stretch through some woods, into an opening up and down a very steep little hill and towards the into the water jump. Hick slammed on the brakes but then kept moving, though a little bit sideways, broke to a funky trot and I spurred him over. Came to a halt one stride later at the water, gave it a funny look and walked in. The fence judge said, "What a good boy!!!" And I laughed. We walked through the water, trotted out, and trotted over our out jump. The next question was the ditch to the table. Jumped the ditch without hesitation but decided to kick his feet up at it afterwards. Got pretty crooked, but quickly straightened out for the table. Onto the BIG table, I'm not sure how I rode that table, it terrified me. But we ended up on the other side of it without a hitch. up the bank and tight turn to the log, no problem. Galloping stretch, let Hick roll. Brought him back a little ways before the red barn combination. Rode him HARD to that one. Whip before jump one, whip in the air over jump one, whip inbetween 1 and 2, up and over 2 with a lot of relief!. Galloping on, into a new field, around the edge of it to the three stride bending line. Got a nice stadium arena canter, took my time and got us lined up nicely where I wanted us. Up and over 1 nice gentle, calm, bending line to 2. One jump left. Galloping on. Collecting and super engaging hind end for the last jump, a very upright log on a hill. Up and over! Woohoo!!! Clean round!!!!!!!!!
It was not a very bad drive at all to the Hoosier Park. When we arrived we unloaded and made our sweet ponies comfy and set off to walk our cross-country course. By the end of the course, I was nearly in tears. We hadn't gone xc in over a year and goodness knows the last time we had a clear xc round. This course looked HARD. And unfair! Usually on a Novice course you'll have your Novice max height jumps and then also some jumps below the max height, say BN level. Nuh uh! Not here! These suckers were massive! And if they weren't massive they were tricksy! It was very Training Level-similar. Multiple bending lines, one bending line was a three stride, had a ditch four stride to a table, a table seven stride to a bank tight turn three stride to a log, a two stride with two angled barns... You've got to be kidding me, was all I kept thinking. I got really angry lol, at the course. And I think Amy thought I was crazy. But it was definitely way better for me to be pissed and ride the course mad like I wanted to kill it than be intimidated by it. Amy kept saying, "Just think how awesome it will feel when you finish THIS COURSE, what an accomplishment!" And I was thinking, "This course is going to kick my ass." So, we walked it a second time and made a game plan for each jump. We also stood next to some of the real Training Level jumps which made ours seem smaller and by the end I was feeling a little better about it all.
My mommy was sitting outside Hickory's stall waiting for me when we got back to the barn! We tacked up and took Hick and Cally for a walk and to see the dressage arenas. Hick was excited, but good. Then it was bath time!!! Have to love having a gray horse. There were several bathing stations but really nowhere to tie your horse. So I looked at mom and said, "Do you want hold or do you want to bathe?" as Hickory dragged me across the parking lot to a patch of grass he spotted. She wanted to hold. Seriously? Oook. It was an interesting bath. I'm really not sure how clean my horse actually got. I'm thinking not very! haha. Hickory dragged mom around and mom jerked on him and he was completely unresponsive and she laughed and laughed and I stood there with the hose and my shampoo a little disgruntled but ended up laughing some, too. I gave Hick a look and his look back said, "WHAT! I'm hungry! And I want to go dooo something!" Took him out for a graze, fed him dinner (half of what he normally gets) and tucked him in! And then we went to McDonalds. Yum.
The next morning it was time to enact our well thought out plan. My ride time was not until 11:00 am. We were at the barn at 8. Gave Hickory his breakfast and cleaned out his stall while mom went to buy him a stall guard so he would be a little happier being able to stick his head out of his stall. While she was gone I went to walk my cross-country course for a third and final time. Preparation, preparation, preparation! It was pretty early and I was the only one out on the course. So I talked outloud to myself and walked with my arms in front of my pretending like I was holding my reins and did the entire course just like I planned on riding it, imagining every half halt and sparkplug and leading rein! I was ready to kick the course in the teeth! But dressage first! Back to the barn, tacked up, and took mister man out for a walk/trot to see what I had that morning. A little ball of fire! He was so happy to get out of his stall. Rode over to a small field next to the dressage warm up and basically rode through my dressage warm-up with my emphasis on his relaxation and acceptance than accuracy or looking good. I was pretty happy after about 20 minutes so we headed back to the barn. Popped him back in the stall but left his saddle on. He seemed to like his new stall guard, but was maybe plotting escape? Made my mom sit in front of the stall with a whip to shoo him back just in case! Braided up his new super short mane. Changed into my show clothes and hopped back on. He was sooooo much calmer this second time out. So calm and good. We had a GREAT dressage warm up and I was extra pleased about how well he was paying attenttion to me considering how crowded and busy the warm up area was.
My test went about like this. Down centerline he got a little strung out, and we have some straight line issues, track left FELT a little lurchy, I was still nervous. First trot circle at E--the first half he sped up the tempo and that's when my brain finally started working and I started riding. Half halted and rounded him up and got a good steady rhythm and swing trot going. Down centerline the second time was good, right turn at C was much better than the left, 20m circle at B was great. Our downward transition at A was better than it has been, still a hair late but got good marks on it. Very big free walk down the diagonal, he stretched about 50% of the time and wanted to look around the other 50%. Medium walk was a success with no jigging! ALMOST hopped into his trot early without me asking but I caught him with my seat and we had a nice, round transition at C. Canter transition was great, our circle was good, and our downward was Greeeat. And the same in the opposite direction, no lead issues. Down the centerline and a nice square halt! I was soo happy! Gave him lots of lovin! It just felt like a good test!
And I forgot to mention that before dressage LAURA arrived!!
So, back in the stall for Hick. Took all those yucky, girly braids out. XC time was upon us and XC time means stud time. Whipped out my stud kit and succesfully got my studs in all by myself! Geared Hick up in his xc boots and fly spray. Geared me up. Sprayed down saddle and boots with sticky spray. Put my pinny on over my vest. Crescent noseband? Check. Excited pony? Check check check! Hopped on and off we went!
Hick was soooooo excited when we got to XC warm up. He had an extra spring in his step and his eyes were wide open and his ears were forward. But he was suuuch a good boy and was listening sooo well. We have a little deal, that if he listens to me then I WILL let him go fast and run like a little heathen at some point on course. So, he was upholding his end of the deal. We had a fantastic warm up. My big focus was making sure he was in front of my leg and man was he ever! It felt great! And with the crescent his canter was very much uphill. And he was jumping like a super horse! And Amy was a great warm-up coach!
I kept him outside the start box until about 10 seconds to go. He was too excited to make stand still. When the countdown hit zero we rocketed out of the box. It initially had been my plan to give him a reminder pop with my whip before at least the first jump. But he was soo forward and a little bit too hot for that I decided as we approached fence 1 (a big log). I settled for a little spur sparkplug instead as he tried to change up his canter a little on me on the approach. Up and over! Let him gallop out to the second fence, a rolltop that was no trouble. Fence 3 was a brush that was also no trouble. Couldn't see fence 4 from 3 as you had a fairly sharp left handed turn to it. It was an open oxer which we had never before attempted so Hick gave it a funny look and I sat back and clucked to him and he was like "not really sure what this is but I guess I'm jumping it!" Nice gallop stretch and a sharp left to fence 5, an optical illusion-y type of jump. Another funny look from Hick but I was prepared to ride this one strong and we had no trouble. Another gallop stretch to a cabin, which we've had past trouble with. Lowered his shoulders a bit to look at it and I did use my whip on this one for the first time and he said, "Well hell ok I'm going!!!" Another gallop stretch through some woods, into an opening up and down a very steep little hill and towards the into the water jump. Hick slammed on the brakes but then kept moving, though a little bit sideways, broke to a funky trot and I spurred him over. Came to a halt one stride later at the water, gave it a funny look and walked in. The fence judge said, "What a good boy!!!" And I laughed. We walked through the water, trotted out, and trotted over our out jump. The next question was the ditch to the table. Jumped the ditch without hesitation but decided to kick his feet up at it afterwards. Got pretty crooked, but quickly straightened out for the table. Onto the BIG table, I'm not sure how I rode that table, it terrified me. But we ended up on the other side of it without a hitch. up the bank and tight turn to the log, no problem. Galloping stretch, let Hick roll. Brought him back a little ways before the red barn combination. Rode him HARD to that one. Whip before jump one, whip in the air over jump one, whip inbetween 1 and 2, up and over 2 with a lot of relief!. Galloping on, into a new field, around the edge of it to the three stride bending line. Got a nice stadium arena canter, took my time and got us lined up nicely where I wanted us. Up and over 1 nice gentle, calm, bending line to 2. One jump left. Galloping on. Collecting and super engaging hind end for the last jump, a very upright log on a hill. Up and over! Woohoo!!! Clean round!!!!!!!!!
Crescent Noseband and NAJYRC
The next day was jump lesson day and trial run for new piece of equipment #892: The Crescent or Combination Noseband. It's hard to describe, so if you are curious about what it looks like, I would google it. But it is made for horses who cross their jaw and pull down or forwards. It's not to be used with a bit that acts on the poll as that combination would be very severe. How exactly it accomplishes what it is mean to accomplish, I cannot tell you. BUT IT WORKS!!!! I've been riding in it ever since and it is great. It's so much easier for me to keep his head up. And the combination of it with keeping my hands pretty light and still and using them minimally for slowing down and turning has yielded a great result!
Thursday was the first day of competition for the North American Junior and Young Rider Championships at the KHP. Lauren was competing so the whole family was in Lexington, meaning I got to be in charge!! Haha. Or at least take care of the dogs and the chickens. But, Martha also volunteered me to be 'Bit Check' for the dressage on Thursday morning. Dressage started at 7. I needed to be there by 6:45. In Lexington. From Louisville. Could not go night before because I had to let the dogs and the chickens out in the morning. So, wonderful wonderful Rachel and I were up several HOURS before the crack of dawn tending to the animals and trucking it across Kentucky to make it to the horse park. Thankfully, it ended up being a nice, overcast day. I stuck my fingers in a lot of very expensive horses mouths and watched some great dressage and got a free hat out of the deal! It was cool, but I was SOO exhausted by the time we got back to the farm I literally could not hold my own head up.
Thursday was the first day of competition for the North American Junior and Young Rider Championships at the KHP. Lauren was competing so the whole family was in Lexington, meaning I got to be in charge!! Haha. Or at least take care of the dogs and the chickens. But, Martha also volunteered me to be 'Bit Check' for the dressage on Thursday morning. Dressage started at 7. I needed to be there by 6:45. In Lexington. From Louisville. Could not go night before because I had to let the dogs and the chickens out in the morning. So, wonderful wonderful Rachel and I were up several HOURS before the crack of dawn tending to the animals and trucking it across Kentucky to make it to the horse park. Thankfully, it ended up being a nice, overcast day. I stuck my fingers in a lot of very expensive horses mouths and watched some great dressage and got a free hat out of the deal! It was cool, but I was SOO exhausted by the time we got back to the farm I literally could not hold my own head up.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Alex Gurding lesson
No day off for Hickory last Monday. Usually the horses get Monday off after they are at a show over the weekend, but, as Hickory did nothing but stand in his stall on Sunday... German dressage man Alex Gurding was back for the week to do follow up lessons and coach Lauren before NAJYRC (North American Junior and Young Rider Championships). He came in late Sunday night when dieke, lauren, and i were sitting in the living room--someone knocked on the door at like 11:30 and we were like hmm strange.. and then I remembered, 'it's the german guy!' He's very nice.
So, anyway, Monday I had an Alex dressage lesson! I was kind of nervous to ride for him. I used one of Pat's dressage saddles which I was trying out, but it sort of threw me up in the canter I felt like. So, we started out with a lot of walking and he asked me what our main problems come from. I told him that when Hickory gets really excited or tired he gets over-light on the bit and curls in his neck. There was a lot of 'ok, bring him rounder, bring him rounder.' We did some trotting and hit a problem area-- walk to trot transitions Hickory does not stay 'through' during the upward, his nose kind of pokes out in the air for a stride or two. So we did lots and lots and lots of walk to trot and trot to walk transitions, being sure to wiggle the bit around in the bit around before and during the upward to keep him very round and connected through the transition. I was really glad we worked on this, because I felt like it was one of those things that I had never really payed a lot of attention to or focused on, I knew his head was a little unsteady through our transitions but it always came back in a stride or two, but I feel like it has really made a difference in our overall performance. And I feel the need to mention that our downward transitions seriously were amazing in that lesson. So we're doing trot work and Alex keeps saying things like, "You are riding this horse with your hands like he is a light-mouthed Thoroughbred! Why do you do this? Communicate with your hands! Be more busy with your hands! Use those wire like things called reins they are for communication!! I do not see this horse curling or being too light, in fact I think he is being the opposite of light!" Because in my last few dressage lessons I've been supposed to be not using my hands, Alex!!!!!!!
We did some leg yielding and Hick was fantastic. A little canter work. And worked on getting the good swing-trot that you want for dressage via the leg yield and walk-trot transitions. I was really glad I ended up doing the lesson. It turned out much better than I had thought--there was lots of 'Ah, yes, this is nice, this is nice. Excellent, excellent!'
After my lesson Martha and I were talking about how it went and I was telling her I felt dumb for saying Hick gets overlight and then he didn't and Alex kept talking about how he was a big draft horse, he is not light! And Martha said how she wished Alex could have seen him when he first got here and how he was behaving at the show the past weekend. She said she almost said, 'Well, you should have seen this horse when he first came, how over-light he was,' but that she just decided to not say anything because he wouldn't have believed her haha, thanks martha.
More to come: Crescent Noseband, Penny Oaks, and more!
So, anyway, Monday I had an Alex dressage lesson! I was kind of nervous to ride for him. I used one of Pat's dressage saddles which I was trying out, but it sort of threw me up in the canter I felt like. So, we started out with a lot of walking and he asked me what our main problems come from. I told him that when Hickory gets really excited or tired he gets over-light on the bit and curls in his neck. There was a lot of 'ok, bring him rounder, bring him rounder.' We did some trotting and hit a problem area-- walk to trot transitions Hickory does not stay 'through' during the upward, his nose kind of pokes out in the air for a stride or two. So we did lots and lots and lots of walk to trot and trot to walk transitions, being sure to wiggle the bit around in the bit around before and during the upward to keep him very round and connected through the transition. I was really glad we worked on this, because I felt like it was one of those things that I had never really payed a lot of attention to or focused on, I knew his head was a little unsteady through our transitions but it always came back in a stride or two, but I feel like it has really made a difference in our overall performance. And I feel the need to mention that our downward transitions seriously were amazing in that lesson. So we're doing trot work and Alex keeps saying things like, "You are riding this horse with your hands like he is a light-mouthed Thoroughbred! Why do you do this? Communicate with your hands! Be more busy with your hands! Use those wire like things called reins they are for communication!! I do not see this horse curling or being too light, in fact I think he is being the opposite of light!" Because in my last few dressage lessons I've been supposed to be not using my hands, Alex!!!!!!!
We did some leg yielding and Hick was fantastic. A little canter work. And worked on getting the good swing-trot that you want for dressage via the leg yield and walk-trot transitions. I was really glad I ended up doing the lesson. It turned out much better than I had thought--there was lots of 'Ah, yes, this is nice, this is nice. Excellent, excellent!'
After my lesson Martha and I were talking about how it went and I was telling her I felt dumb for saying Hick gets overlight and then he didn't and Alex kept talking about how he was a big draft horse, he is not light! And Martha said how she wished Alex could have seen him when he first got here and how he was behaving at the show the past weekend. She said she almost said, 'Well, you should have seen this horse when he first came, how over-light he was,' but that she just decided to not say anything because he wouldn't have believed her haha, thanks martha.
More to come: Crescent Noseband, Penny Oaks, and more!
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Gemwood & Pony Camp
Pony Camp!!!!! The week following Stone Place was Eventing/Pony Camp. Lauren L. and I had five little girls and their ponies to entertain for the week. They were darling and had so much fun. They had a jump lesson every day and we went on several "trail rides" down to the house and back (this entailed us going for a hike on foot beside them). They were big into silly bands and I got a princess/fairy wand silly band out of the deal.
The Tuesday after Stone Place, I did the group jump lesson. Neither myself or the other two riders had really jumped our horses since Martha had been gone and back. Therefore it was the jump lesson from hell. Refusals, crashing jumps, run outs... I was pleased at the end of the lesson to have only taken down one pole and one standard, haha. To add to it, Hickory had worn himself out that day galloping around his field and whinnying for Mr. Incredible, his pasturemate, who was being used in camp. So even though it was fairly cool out, he was preetty winded. We had a real skinny in our course, which was fun and Hick was realy cute at.
Wednesday we had a dressage lesson and practiced riding my test. Takeaway points were lengthen reins slightly after trot to walk downward transition to have a better medium walk, and bring him more round before canter departs. And stop forgetting my test. Well, actually, to learn my test.
Thursday I dressaged again, just practicing.
Friday we loaded up and headed out to Gemwood Horse Trials in Fairborn, OH. We had tent stabling, which I think actually turned out to be pretty nice--we had a GREAT breeze. Hickory was a little fireball Saturday when I got him out for dressage warm-up. Martha said, "Wow. Well, this is a completely different horse than at home." I had a difficult time getting him to relax and stop curling and move nicely in our warm up. And he really is like two different horses at home and at a show. to the point where you can't really ride him the same way. To the dressage test. It wasn't fantastic. It wasn't terrible, but I left the arena dissapointed. It was worse than our test last weekend at Stone Place. Not the winning ride we were expecting. It ended up being a 38, with most of the comments being about straightness and bend and line. The judge's final comments were "Good start, headed in the right direction." Martha was happy, she said this was a difficult judge who was hard to get good comments out of. So, that was so-so. I think I was in 8th place-ish after dressage. Then there was the stud fiasco. We needed to put in studs for stadium as it was in grass. Could not get my studs in. Hot. Working bent over with big Hickory's feet. Not happy. Had to get help. Ohh.. I wasn't using a T-tap to tap out my threads before I put my studs in. Oops. And then stadium was basically a disaster. He was behind my leg and jumping wickedly huge and cracking his back and I fell after the last jump. Should have recognized the behind my leg issue in the warm up. Was trying to ride him up and to my hand in the ring but didn't have any hand with the hackamore to ride him to. Hackamore tossed. Good at home, wrong for shows. Had a fun rest of the weekend, though. Saturday was Dieke's birthday so we all went out to eat. And everyone else had great rides.
Our improvement plan: Toss the hackamore. Feed at shows half the grain he normally gets. Take him out for a ride before dressage warm-up.
The Tuesday after Stone Place, I did the group jump lesson. Neither myself or the other two riders had really jumped our horses since Martha had been gone and back. Therefore it was the jump lesson from hell. Refusals, crashing jumps, run outs... I was pleased at the end of the lesson to have only taken down one pole and one standard, haha. To add to it, Hickory had worn himself out that day galloping around his field and whinnying for Mr. Incredible, his pasturemate, who was being used in camp. So even though it was fairly cool out, he was preetty winded. We had a real skinny in our course, which was fun and Hick was realy cute at.
Wednesday we had a dressage lesson and practiced riding my test. Takeaway points were lengthen reins slightly after trot to walk downward transition to have a better medium walk, and bring him more round before canter departs. And stop forgetting my test. Well, actually, to learn my test.
Thursday I dressaged again, just practicing.
Friday we loaded up and headed out to Gemwood Horse Trials in Fairborn, OH. We had tent stabling, which I think actually turned out to be pretty nice--we had a GREAT breeze. Hickory was a little fireball Saturday when I got him out for dressage warm-up. Martha said, "Wow. Well, this is a completely different horse than at home." I had a difficult time getting him to relax and stop curling and move nicely in our warm up. And he really is like two different horses at home and at a show. to the point where you can't really ride him the same way. To the dressage test. It wasn't fantastic. It wasn't terrible, but I left the arena dissapointed. It was worse than our test last weekend at Stone Place. Not the winning ride we were expecting. It ended up being a 38, with most of the comments being about straightness and bend and line. The judge's final comments were "Good start, headed in the right direction." Martha was happy, she said this was a difficult judge who was hard to get good comments out of. So, that was so-so. I think I was in 8th place-ish after dressage. Then there was the stud fiasco. We needed to put in studs for stadium as it was in grass. Could not get my studs in. Hot. Working bent over with big Hickory's feet. Not happy. Had to get help. Ohh.. I wasn't using a T-tap to tap out my threads before I put my studs in. Oops. And then stadium was basically a disaster. He was behind my leg and jumping wickedly huge and cracking his back and I fell after the last jump. Should have recognized the behind my leg issue in the warm up. Was trying to ride him up and to my hand in the ring but didn't have any hand with the hackamore to ride him to. Hackamore tossed. Good at home, wrong for shows. Had a fun rest of the weekend, though. Saturday was Dieke's birthday so we all went out to eat. And everyone else had great rides.
Our improvement plan: Toss the hackamore. Feed at shows half the grain he normally gets. Take him out for a ride before dressage warm-up.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Stone Place
Saturday was boot shopping day! Lauren K. and I left for The Hitching Post in Middletown around 10 on The Great Boot Hunt. It turned out not to be that 'great' of a boot hunt as it took a grand total of about 20 minutes. But I settled on the Mountain Horse Venice Field Boot. I've always had mountain horse boots in the past, just not tall boots. So, they are ordering them for me tomorrow. hopefully they will be here by Wednesday... giving me not very long to break them in before Gemwood this coming weekend............ :-/ but.. ya gotta do what ya gotta do!
After boot shopping we went down the street to this GREAT little local restaurant called The Cottage. If you are ever in Middletown and need somewhere to eat lunch, look this place up, it's fantastic. I'm definitely going back to eat there next time I'm in the neighborhood.
I rode Hickory dressage when we got back... trying to practice/memorize our test for the next day (today). It was the worst ride ever. We hadn't practiced riding a test in SO long. And then I started to get really confused about the lesson I had had with Lauren and the extent of the not using my hands rule.. and i couldn't get him to pay attention, and I couldn't get him to trot in a straight line down the sides of the ring and our corners were teeeeerrible and it was just a mess. And then I tried to change my stirrup length but in my stupid saddle when you try to do that while you're sitting in the saddle the stirrups always end up popping off. And so I'm hot and frustrated and my stirrup leather pops off. And of course you can't get it back in. So I just quit. And then I was supposed to do a trot set on Ghost but it started storming. So I did the barn instead.
But I had a great surprise when I got a text from Jason (my friend who went to Kenya/London with me) who was in the LaGrange area playing softball. Ended up at a cool place on the river for dinner.
And as a result got home way too late and had to get up waaayy to early to do the barn in time to leave for Stone Place at 8:30. Gave Hickory a bath and popped him in the trailer with Lilly. John drove the two horses, myself, and Lauren K. over to Stone Place (a little less than 15 miles down 42). Martha rode Lilly and Laura's filly Izzie in the Starter mini trial division. They won 1st and 2nd! I got on an hour before my ride (maybe a little early?) to warm up. It was super hot. I warmed up myself. I tried to be very thorough but at the same time not pick a fight with Hick or get myself frustrated. And for those two reasons, I'm glad I took so much time to warm up, because I felt like I had time and wasn't rushed. Our test went well. (Minus the part where I forgot what came next... definitely did not spend enough time learning this test, oops) I think I rode my test a little passively--as a result of how Hickory has behaved in dressage previously (can't do much with him because he will get too excited or too forward and then will curl up and everything falls apart). But all in all it was a decent test. Nothing BAD happened, none of the old BAD mistakes/habits showed up, and I think that is a great place to start. It could have been more spectacular, I coud have definitely ridden much more actively and given it a much better ride, but it was a good place to start and I was happy with it and so was Martha. The judge stopped me and talked to me before my test, she is a fellow Percheron/TB owner/rider and we bonded a little before I rode, lol. And her comments to me afterwards were that I could develop my trot a little more--make it more "passage-y" because she said she thought he looked like he was capable of it, and also to get the canter more uphill, more up in the shoulders. So, good comments! But these were just verbal comments, I haven't actually gotten my test paper back yet, I will have to run back over there one day and get it, so I dont' even know what my score was.
The end.
After boot shopping we went down the street to this GREAT little local restaurant called The Cottage. If you are ever in Middletown and need somewhere to eat lunch, look this place up, it's fantastic. I'm definitely going back to eat there next time I'm in the neighborhood.
I rode Hickory dressage when we got back... trying to practice/memorize our test for the next day (today). It was the worst ride ever. We hadn't practiced riding a test in SO long. And then I started to get really confused about the lesson I had had with Lauren and the extent of the not using my hands rule.. and i couldn't get him to pay attention, and I couldn't get him to trot in a straight line down the sides of the ring and our corners were teeeeerrible and it was just a mess. And then I tried to change my stirrup length but in my stupid saddle when you try to do that while you're sitting in the saddle the stirrups always end up popping off. And so I'm hot and frustrated and my stirrup leather pops off. And of course you can't get it back in. So I just quit. And then I was supposed to do a trot set on Ghost but it started storming. So I did the barn instead.
But I had a great surprise when I got a text from Jason (my friend who went to Kenya/London with me) who was in the LaGrange area playing softball. Ended up at a cool place on the river for dinner.
And as a result got home way too late and had to get up waaayy to early to do the barn in time to leave for Stone Place at 8:30. Gave Hickory a bath and popped him in the trailer with Lilly. John drove the two horses, myself, and Lauren K. over to Stone Place (a little less than 15 miles down 42). Martha rode Lilly and Laura's filly Izzie in the Starter mini trial division. They won 1st and 2nd! I got on an hour before my ride (maybe a little early?) to warm up. It was super hot. I warmed up myself. I tried to be very thorough but at the same time not pick a fight with Hick or get myself frustrated. And for those two reasons, I'm glad I took so much time to warm up, because I felt like I had time and wasn't rushed. Our test went well. (Minus the part where I forgot what came next... definitely did not spend enough time learning this test, oops) I think I rode my test a little passively--as a result of how Hickory has behaved in dressage previously (can't do much with him because he will get too excited or too forward and then will curl up and everything falls apart). But all in all it was a decent test. Nothing BAD happened, none of the old BAD mistakes/habits showed up, and I think that is a great place to start. It could have been more spectacular, I coud have definitely ridden much more actively and given it a much better ride, but it was a good place to start and I was happy with it and so was Martha. The judge stopped me and talked to me before my test, she is a fellow Percheron/TB owner/rider and we bonded a little before I rode, lol. And her comments to me afterwards were that I could develop my trot a little more--make it more "passage-y" because she said she thought he looked like he was capable of it, and also to get the canter more uphill, more up in the shoulders. So, good comments! But these were just verbal comments, I haven't actually gotten my test paper back yet, I will have to run back over there one day and get it, so I dont' even know what my score was.
The end.
Friday, July 16, 2010
XC Bit Search/You Are Not Allowed to Use Your Reins!/Used Boots Anyone?
Alrighty, going to start making a habit of making more frequent entries.
Let's start with this past Monday. Martha and over the half the barn has spent the last few days (monday-friday) at Come Again Farm's Eventing Camp in Indiana. But before Martha left on Monday, we took a little trip over to Flying Cross bright and early. The goal of the trnip was to find out if the fantastic hackamore would double as equipment for both stadium AND cross country. Sadly, it was nixed in the first few minutes of the ride. Another of Martha's students, Irene, who was schooling with us that morning offered her gag for us to try, so we went on with that. Thinking back, I am SO PROUD of how brave Hickory has been cross-country schooling, and I hope that it's the reflection of a good, trusting partnership. We schooled several Training level obstacles. We did one bank, but left it at that as he takes banks like a champ. And if your horse doesn't have problems with banks, it's best to not overschool them to save their joints. We did get to do the Sunken Road, though! A Sunken Road is like an inverted bank.... With a bank you jump up onto a higher level, take a few strides and then jump back down. With a sunken road you jump down into a lower level, take a few strides, and then jump back up and out. Hickory jumped down and jumped out like he'd done it a million times before! I was really proud of him. And as I am more or less a new learner at the proper way to jump off a bank... must remember: let your reins gradually get longer as you approach the drop (gotta trust your horse to stay straight, hard to do) and keep your hands low as you jump off! We went on to the training level one stride logs in the woods that I mentioned in a previous post. Our first run through was succesful but pretty sticky inbetween jumps. The second go around I just did a poor job of riding the correct line and we zoomed on by the second part. And this next part is strange, because I don't remember Hickory being at all overly worked up or nervous or hot to my leg. But we came back around and I stopped him in front of the second jump, I had my reins in one hand and was sort of talking to Martha about what had happened, not paying complete attention. I tapped him on the shoulder with my crop (crop on the shoulder is discipline for a run out, crop on the butt is discipline for a refusal), and a tap was all it was. And seconds later we were airborn over the jump. Completely not expecting that reaction from him, I'm surprised I stayed on. Martha said, "it wasn't your intention to jump that from a standstill was it?" and I was like "noooo!" and she said "I didn't think so." We checked out the water complex which was this time full with water. It was fun, we jumped off a little bank into the water and up a little bank out of the water. We also got to jump a jump where you landed in the water and jump a jump where you take off in the water and land out of it. The gag stopped working about 30 minutes into the ride, though, and at this point Hickory was super curled up and I was having an awful time of steering/stopping. So, the search for a cross-country bit continues.
Tuesday was a rainy day. I hit the barn in my rainboots and rainjacket bright and early. But I was a free lady after that, as everyone was gone to Camp. So I hit the road and headed into Louisville to run some errands and have some appointments. I had lunch with the lovely Megan Reid. My mom was also in town for a meeting, so we had dinner in LaGrange. I was a little miffed at this, because she said she would be in town and could take me out to dinner--I was thinking.. the Summit, Brownsboro Rd. area... nope. LaGrange. The choice was between Ponderosa and Waffle House. LaGrange's finest. And when can you ever pass up a Waffle House waffle? Never. Thanks mommy!
Wednesday morning I had a lesson with Lauren, Martha's daughter. Lauren is a great teacher, I came to find. She got on Hickory to warm him up and get a feel for him. And thinking about it, now, I don't know how anyone ever teaches anyone anything about their horse without first riding it themselves. The take-away lesson for the day was You Cannot Ride This Horse With Your Reins. And Carry Your Hands! There is no fidgeting in Hickory's mouth. He does not accept contact very well. You have to carry your hands yourself and keep them very steady--they are his constant. The hands. don't. move. Except a little tiny wiggle to get a little inside bend and a one-two-three half-halt on the outside rein for a downward transition. I worked on riding him TO my hand with my leg and especially my seat. It was all about the seat. You hear the phrase "Ride him to your hand" thrown around and your like oh yeah yeah, ride him to your hand. But when you actually DO ride your horse TO your hand with your seat, it's like 'ooohhhhhh, ride him TO your hand.' It's a really neat feeling to have your horse a little out of frame and keeping your hands and fingers motionless and constant, and push with your seat to have your horse meet your hands and come back into frame. It's a much better feeling than working his head back down with the reins. We also worked on transitioning back and forth between a BIG trot and a swing-trot using only a change in posting or a change in body position at the sitting trot, no reins or even leg. It was so cool how responsive and in-tune to my body he is. Lauren noticed also that he has a tendency to lean a little on my left rein, especially in the left direction, so we worked on that, taking away that left rein. Also cool body movement stuff. At the canter we would come down the long side and do sort of a mini/shallow serpentine or a "loop" down the long side, but keeping the same bend throughout. We accomplished this using no change in leg and no change in rein. I moved him off the rail and then back onto the rail at the canter with a fair amount of precision using just my seat. So, it was a very information-packed lesson, but incredibly helpful, and hopefully I'll get to take some more lessons from Lauren before the summer's over.
Later on Wednesday, the blacksmith, Daniel gave Hickory new feet! He complimented Rex's previous shoeing job a great deal. Daniel tells pretty good stories, so it's always a nice break in the day to have to catch and hold horses for him. I helped set jumps for Lauren while she schooled her horse she has been trying to qualify for Rolex with, Baaba Creek, over some cross-country stuff. This was actually the first time I'd had a chance to watch her ride him all summer and it was really fun to see. And I stopped and thought to myself. How lucky am I that I am here runnin around helping in a training session for an about four star horse and rider? Really lucky, really cool.
Yesterday was Thursday, nothing horsey occured. Lived in the basement and worked on my med school application all day.
Today was a busy day though! Barns in the morning, then whipped out the ol' tall show boots to try to break in (yes, finally Diane). It was awful. I hate those boots. With a passion. I know they aren't broken down all the way, but I think they are at least a half a size too big. I could not ride in them. It was hot nand one of those days and I had a coming apart and ended up calling my mom crying. Tomorrow is new boot shopping day. I just want a pair or soft, flexible zip up the back boots. If anyone even has a used pair they are looking to sell, let me know--I wear a 6.5 to a 7. I rode Denira for Pat, today. Love that horse. And I love these County saddles that everyone up here owns. They are so comfortable and make you feel soo secure in the saddle. Anyway, we did a 20 minute trot set and man. Twenty minutes of trotting on a big, strong horse like that-- is a workout!!! When I was done with her, I went down to the small barn and fed the horses and tacked up Ghost. We went for a hack and I think we both had a good amount of fun. He has so much personality and really enjoys being ridden. Again, another County saddle. After our ride, I finished up the barn. Lauren K. is staying the weekend this weekend and Martha got home from camp this afternoon so we had a big dinner outside on the patio. Lots of yummy fresh grilled veggies from the garden, steak, Corona, and good stories.
Let's start with this past Monday. Martha and over the half the barn has spent the last few days (monday-friday) at Come Again Farm's Eventing Camp in Indiana. But before Martha left on Monday, we took a little trip over to Flying Cross bright and early. The goal of the trnip was to find out if the fantastic hackamore would double as equipment for both stadium AND cross country. Sadly, it was nixed in the first few minutes of the ride. Another of Martha's students, Irene, who was schooling with us that morning offered her gag for us to try, so we went on with that. Thinking back, I am SO PROUD of how brave Hickory has been cross-country schooling, and I hope that it's the reflection of a good, trusting partnership. We schooled several Training level obstacles. We did one bank, but left it at that as he takes banks like a champ. And if your horse doesn't have problems with banks, it's best to not overschool them to save their joints. We did get to do the Sunken Road, though! A Sunken Road is like an inverted bank.... With a bank you jump up onto a higher level, take a few strides and then jump back down. With a sunken road you jump down into a lower level, take a few strides, and then jump back up and out. Hickory jumped down and jumped out like he'd done it a million times before! I was really proud of him. And as I am more or less a new learner at the proper way to jump off a bank... must remember: let your reins gradually get longer as you approach the drop (gotta trust your horse to stay straight, hard to do) and keep your hands low as you jump off! We went on to the training level one stride logs in the woods that I mentioned in a previous post. Our first run through was succesful but pretty sticky inbetween jumps. The second go around I just did a poor job of riding the correct line and we zoomed on by the second part. And this next part is strange, because I don't remember Hickory being at all overly worked up or nervous or hot to my leg. But we came back around and I stopped him in front of the second jump, I had my reins in one hand and was sort of talking to Martha about what had happened, not paying complete attention. I tapped him on the shoulder with my crop (crop on the shoulder is discipline for a run out, crop on the butt is discipline for a refusal), and a tap was all it was. And seconds later we were airborn over the jump. Completely not expecting that reaction from him, I'm surprised I stayed on. Martha said, "it wasn't your intention to jump that from a standstill was it?" and I was like "noooo!" and she said "I didn't think so." We checked out the water complex which was this time full with water. It was fun, we jumped off a little bank into the water and up a little bank out of the water. We also got to jump a jump where you landed in the water and jump a jump where you take off in the water and land out of it. The gag stopped working about 30 minutes into the ride, though, and at this point Hickory was super curled up and I was having an awful time of steering/stopping. So, the search for a cross-country bit continues.
Tuesday was a rainy day. I hit the barn in my rainboots and rainjacket bright and early. But I was a free lady after that, as everyone was gone to Camp. So I hit the road and headed into Louisville to run some errands and have some appointments. I had lunch with the lovely Megan Reid. My mom was also in town for a meeting, so we had dinner in LaGrange. I was a little miffed at this, because she said she would be in town and could take me out to dinner--I was thinking.. the Summit, Brownsboro Rd. area... nope. LaGrange. The choice was between Ponderosa and Waffle House. LaGrange's finest. And when can you ever pass up a Waffle House waffle? Never. Thanks mommy!
Wednesday morning I had a lesson with Lauren, Martha's daughter. Lauren is a great teacher, I came to find. She got on Hickory to warm him up and get a feel for him. And thinking about it, now, I don't know how anyone ever teaches anyone anything about their horse without first riding it themselves. The take-away lesson for the day was You Cannot Ride This Horse With Your Reins. And Carry Your Hands! There is no fidgeting in Hickory's mouth. He does not accept contact very well. You have to carry your hands yourself and keep them very steady--they are his constant. The hands. don't. move. Except a little tiny wiggle to get a little inside bend and a one-two-three half-halt on the outside rein for a downward transition. I worked on riding him TO my hand with my leg and especially my seat. It was all about the seat. You hear the phrase "Ride him to your hand" thrown around and your like oh yeah yeah, ride him to your hand. But when you actually DO ride your horse TO your hand with your seat, it's like 'ooohhhhhh, ride him TO your hand.' It's a really neat feeling to have your horse a little out of frame and keeping your hands and fingers motionless and constant, and push with your seat to have your horse meet your hands and come back into frame. It's a much better feeling than working his head back down with the reins. We also worked on transitioning back and forth between a BIG trot and a swing-trot using only a change in posting or a change in body position at the sitting trot, no reins or even leg. It was so cool how responsive and in-tune to my body he is. Lauren noticed also that he has a tendency to lean a little on my left rein, especially in the left direction, so we worked on that, taking away that left rein. Also cool body movement stuff. At the canter we would come down the long side and do sort of a mini/shallow serpentine or a "loop" down the long side, but keeping the same bend throughout. We accomplished this using no change in leg and no change in rein. I moved him off the rail and then back onto the rail at the canter with a fair amount of precision using just my seat. So, it was a very information-packed lesson, but incredibly helpful, and hopefully I'll get to take some more lessons from Lauren before the summer's over.
Later on Wednesday, the blacksmith, Daniel gave Hickory new feet! He complimented Rex's previous shoeing job a great deal. Daniel tells pretty good stories, so it's always a nice break in the day to have to catch and hold horses for him. I helped set jumps for Lauren while she schooled her horse she has been trying to qualify for Rolex with, Baaba Creek, over some cross-country stuff. This was actually the first time I'd had a chance to watch her ride him all summer and it was really fun to see. And I stopped and thought to myself. How lucky am I that I am here runnin around helping in a training session for an about four star horse and rider? Really lucky, really cool.
Yesterday was Thursday, nothing horsey occured. Lived in the basement and worked on my med school application all day.
Today was a busy day though! Barns in the morning, then whipped out the ol' tall show boots to try to break in (yes, finally Diane). It was awful. I hate those boots. With a passion. I know they aren't broken down all the way, but I think they are at least a half a size too big. I could not ride in them. It was hot nand one of those days and I had a coming apart and ended up calling my mom crying. Tomorrow is new boot shopping day. I just want a pair or soft, flexible zip up the back boots. If anyone even has a used pair they are looking to sell, let me know--I wear a 6.5 to a 7. I rode Denira for Pat, today. Love that horse. And I love these County saddles that everyone up here owns. They are so comfortable and make you feel soo secure in the saddle. Anyway, we did a 20 minute trot set and man. Twenty minutes of trotting on a big, strong horse like that-- is a workout!!! When I was done with her, I went down to the small barn and fed the horses and tacked up Ghost. We went for a hack and I think we both had a good amount of fun. He has so much personality and really enjoys being ridden. Again, another County saddle. After our ride, I finished up the barn. Lauren K. is staying the weekend this weekend and Martha got home from camp this afternoon so we had a big dinner outside on the patio. Lots of yummy fresh grilled veggies from the garden, steak, Corona, and good stories.
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