Wow, I've had the busiest two days and the week is just starting! Got thrown right back into the mix after a FANTASTIC four days in Birmingham, AL with my best friend and her beautiful dressage horse. I was blessed to get to ride him while I was there and since he's so similar to Pop, I felt like I hardly missed a beat the whole vacation! So I came home and we have had a very busy two days with gallops, cross-country schools, and 11 horses to ride/work with each day. It's been pure bliss, though. I love staying busy and having long days. And lucky for me, I have understanding friends and an understanding boyfriend that don't mind hanging out well after normal dinner hours. :)
Poppers is doing well. We had a jump school yesterday with C. I didn't feel particularly confident afterwards...we had several really rough fences and I was having a hard time (despite my determination) getting him to stay straight and not jump to the left. We're still having trouble with right turns as well (he likes to be bent right so if I don't use BOTH reins to turn we just go right with the front end and the hind end doesn't come with). I did try to ride a bit more positively to the fences and not lose my leg about three strides out while I panic because I don't see a distance. He did save my butt several times (God Bless him for that!). We are going cross-country schooling Friday or Saturday so I'm hoping it'll all come together when we're out of the ring.
Our flat lesson today was very tough and we had some REALLY good moments. We worked on straightness in his body and lots of leg yields to keep his haunches where they're supposed to be. Leg yields might be my nemesis forever. I twist my body, I twist my arms, I break my wrists. I lost his hindend, I have too much inside bend...the list goes on and on. I tried to stay straight and push him over evenly but I'm not sure I accomplished that. He was a lot better to the left (thanks to C's schooling while I was in Bham). I was having trouble getting him to truly let go in his jaw and back in the left lead canter...but after realizing my elbows were locked, I relaxed and got the most perfect, beautiful, light and balanced canter in the world for about 10 meters of a 20 meter circle. Yay, big pat! Good boy! Then C, ever the optimist, asked us to go down the long side and I lost the canter when I failed to keep his haunches straight and they went left and the canter became choppy again. That's okay, though! I felt how it's supposed to feel when it's perfect and now I will be striving for that every ride! And his trotwork after the canter is always so, so much better. It'll be important to remember that when we are warming up for our dressage test at Full Gallop! I'm so excited and nervous about it...but we gotta start somewhere, right?
:) All the other ponies are doing great. They're all so much fun in their own ways. Devon is settling in well and his sweet nature has made him pretty impossible to not love. We're excited about the fall season starting soon and getting on the road again.
'Til next time!
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Friday, August 5, 2011
Catching up...
There are about ten really good blog posts in my head right now and I can't seem to access any of them when I actually have a chance to write. So here are some mumblings from the past little bit...
Pop is doing really well, he got shod on Monday and had a day off after, and then after packing his feet that night he flatted on Wednesday and we had a jump school yesterday. It wasn't the best jump school we've had, partly because of my indecision and partly because I think he was a little rusty. He came out of it with a little pulse in both front feet so I packed them again and just trotted him today. He was really good and we worked hard in the field with S and Noah. I packed him again tonight just to be sure. His feet aren't hot, they just have a pretty decent pulse and the hoof packing usually takes care of that. So we'll probably flat tomorrow. He's such a good boy :)
We have a new tenant in the barn, which is always exciting but especially so when it's a horse of this caliber. Devon (better known to the public as Coal Creek) got here yesterday and we are excited to have him. He won Fair Hill several years ago with Amy Tryon and is a very, very cool little horse.
Miss Mazzie had her first ride today since arriving at our barn at the beginning of summer. She was excellent and we walked and trotted in the paddock with no problems. She is a bit timid to step out and really trot forward (would rather go up and down) but seems very willing to learn. She was calm and all of the lunging we've done has really paid off. I'm excited to keep working with her! She is going through a bit of a growth spurt and today measured right at 15.3hh.
I got the priviledge of jumping Flaggles through a grid this morning. I've been REALLY blessed to have a lot of extra saddle time lately on some really cool horses. In addition to Flag I've gotten to jump Allegra and a really nice hunter, Roc. It's a blast trying to figure each horse out and learn how to ride them best. It's also great getting more experience jumping, because every fence I jump can help me learn to ride Pop better. Flag was great today, he is a very round and scopey jumper and really gives you a feeling of confidence. We did a placing pole to a cross-rail to a placing pole to a vertical to a cross-rail two strides to a decent sized oxer, and our last trip through felt really good and straight and connected. He's a blast!
Champ has been an angel this week, I rode him in the paddock yesterday by himself and he was a little nappy about leaving the barn and walking up the little hill (groan so hard for a fat butt to do hillwork!) but he was obedient and calm and that's about all I can ask for. He's such a good boy, he always puts a smile on my face. I really love working with the babies, they are so rewarding and it's so much fun to learn about them, their learning styles, and watching them improve and watching the lightbulbs go off in their heads. He's been such an easy boy to start and work with, he is an absolute joy.
We have 11 horses in training right now, which is the most we've had since I started working here. It's very, very busy (especially with the heat and rushing to get done before it gets unbearable) but it's a good busy, and we're gearing up for Full Gallop in a few weeks. Monkee, Guppy, Ardy, Poppers, Benny and Devon are on target to go. I am trying so hard to get my show clothes purchased before then...i just need a pair of non-white breeches and a show coat right now, I think....I have show shirts, white breeches, and my boots just came home yesterday with their new zippers :) They fit pretty darn well and I can't wait to break them in!
That's about all the big news I can think of! Except the fact I get to visit my dear friend Katie (www.jrsrenaissance.blogspot.com) in a week and ride her beautiful and fancy fancy fancy TB gelding, Jay-R. I can't wait!!
Love,
Ry
Pop is doing really well, he got shod on Monday and had a day off after, and then after packing his feet that night he flatted on Wednesday and we had a jump school yesterday. It wasn't the best jump school we've had, partly because of my indecision and partly because I think he was a little rusty. He came out of it with a little pulse in both front feet so I packed them again and just trotted him today. He was really good and we worked hard in the field with S and Noah. I packed him again tonight just to be sure. His feet aren't hot, they just have a pretty decent pulse and the hoof packing usually takes care of that. So we'll probably flat tomorrow. He's such a good boy :)
We have a new tenant in the barn, which is always exciting but especially so when it's a horse of this caliber. Devon (better known to the public as Coal Creek) got here yesterday and we are excited to have him. He won Fair Hill several years ago with Amy Tryon and is a very, very cool little horse.
Miss Mazzie had her first ride today since arriving at our barn at the beginning of summer. She was excellent and we walked and trotted in the paddock with no problems. She is a bit timid to step out and really trot forward (would rather go up and down) but seems very willing to learn. She was calm and all of the lunging we've done has really paid off. I'm excited to keep working with her! She is going through a bit of a growth spurt and today measured right at 15.3hh.
I got the priviledge of jumping Flaggles through a grid this morning. I've been REALLY blessed to have a lot of extra saddle time lately on some really cool horses. In addition to Flag I've gotten to jump Allegra and a really nice hunter, Roc. It's a blast trying to figure each horse out and learn how to ride them best. It's also great getting more experience jumping, because every fence I jump can help me learn to ride Pop better. Flag was great today, he is a very round and scopey jumper and really gives you a feeling of confidence. We did a placing pole to a cross-rail to a placing pole to a vertical to a cross-rail two strides to a decent sized oxer, and our last trip through felt really good and straight and connected. He's a blast!
Champ has been an angel this week, I rode him in the paddock yesterday by himself and he was a little nappy about leaving the barn and walking up the little hill (groan so hard for a fat butt to do hillwork!) but he was obedient and calm and that's about all I can ask for. He's such a good boy, he always puts a smile on my face. I really love working with the babies, they are so rewarding and it's so much fun to learn about them, their learning styles, and watching them improve and watching the lightbulbs go off in their heads. He's been such an easy boy to start and work with, he is an absolute joy.
We have 11 horses in training right now, which is the most we've had since I started working here. It's very, very busy (especially with the heat and rushing to get done before it gets unbearable) but it's a good busy, and we're gearing up for Full Gallop in a few weeks. Monkee, Guppy, Ardy, Poppers, Benny and Devon are on target to go. I am trying so hard to get my show clothes purchased before then...i just need a pair of non-white breeches and a show coat right now, I think....I have show shirts, white breeches, and my boots just came home yesterday with their new zippers :) They fit pretty darn well and I can't wait to break them in!
That's about all the big news I can think of! Except the fact I get to visit my dear friend Katie (www.jrsrenaissance.blogspot.com) in a week and ride her beautiful and fancy fancy fancy TB gelding, Jay-R. I can't wait!!
Love,
Ry
Thursday, July 28, 2011
A Day in the Life
When I first took this job I had no idea why C wanted me to move down here a month prior to my starting date to “learn the job”. I thought it was going to be pretty simple and easy to learn…boy, was I in for a surprise. A full year later, I’m still learning and it seems like there is literally a never-ending supply of work. It amazes me how many things there are to do and how there’s no way to ever be completely finished with the work. Some days we get more done than others…other days we struggle to just get the basics done (horses ridden, cleaned up, and fed). When C is out of town there’s hardly a chance to sit down, but I can’t complain, because being busy is fantastic. I just thought I’d take a chance to really sit down and think about all the things me and my fellow employees do and think about on a daily basis.
We have ten horses in the barn right now that need to be worked 6 days a week. There is one other boarded horse who is semi-retired and basically all we do with her is feed her, bathe her several times a week, and turn out/bring in. For all 11 horses, we are responsible for keeping them clean and clipped at all times. This is ears, bridlepaths, muzzles, fetlocks, white socks, tails, and chin hairs. Manes must be pulled regularly as well. Fungus is a problem throughout the summer and winter and we must keep infected areas clipped, dry and treated. They literally must look show ready all the time. This is a little easier in the summer because we have the liberty of bathing, but even in the winter it’s important. We usually have the competition horses clipped in the winter and they all get daily “shines” with Vetrolin water. As far as bathing, we alternate between Pine-Sol (excellent for fungus and smells good too), Cowboy Magic Rosemary Shampoo, Ivory Soap, and Vetrolin. We also use Vinegar Rinses once a week. Sheaths get cleaned about every 4 months, and I like to get everyone done at once.
On any given day a horse may be flatted, jumped, trotted or longed in the Pessoa
rig. We usually jump school about once a week and trot 1-2 times a week. We save the Pessoa for the winter for the most part, when the ring is frozen and our only option is longing in the paddocks. The Pessoa is excellent for building muscle, stretching backs, and teaching a horse to figure out where his feet are without the added weight and unbalance of a rider.
My daily routine (which changes, well, daily) looks a little like this:
7:00 a.m.-Drop feed, bring horses inside
7:15 a.m.-Turn out daytime horses, start getting first horse ready to be ridden
7:30 a.m.-C or one of us gets on first horse
8-12: horses get ridden, and I usually try to get one horse bathed while I get the next horse tacked up
12-1:30 p.m.: Lunch break. On busy days I won’t take lunch but will instead get another horse ridden or bathed, or run errands to the bank/feed store/etc
1:30-2:45 p.m.: Get remaining horses bathed, put away saddle pads/boots/supplies. Boys clean tack. Clip horses up when necessary, rinse out wash stall, do laundry, give medications
2:45-3 p.m.: Make feed. Boys clean stalls and top off water and hay.
3-3:30 pm: Tidy up loose ends and put finishing touches on the barn (sweep, clean tack room, etc)
3:30 p.m.: Feed.
Naturally things don’t always go according to plan. There are always loose shoes, farrier visits (we have three different farriers who shoe for us), vet visits (we use two vets, one who comes to the farm and one who we have to ship to), chiropractor visits (we use two different chiropractors), and product reps (I love when they come to visit! New products are exciting!). We also tend to use the afternoons for a lot of therapy. We use the magnetic blanket, the Equissage, and the laser predominantly. Of course we would use the afternoon and any spare moments to ice horses, cold hose, soak a sore foot, wrap feet, wrap legs, treat cuts/wounds, or do massages and stretches on some of the horses.
Then there’s buckets and feed tubs which need to be cleaned daily (or every other day). Brushes to wash. Fly sheets/fly masks need to be either rinsed or washed daily. Boots need to be hosed and hung to dry after the morning. Feed room needs to be dusted and organized, feed to be unloaded. The tack room is always a disaster and we try to sweep it daily and organize the stack of papers that are always on the desk. Then we have to order supplies/supplements/shavings/hay. Meds need to be re-stocked continuously. Trailer needs to be clean and organized and show-ready always. We have three tack trunks that need to remain cleaned, organized and ready to go.
At night, we feed and start turning out. Bandages coming off of horses need to be re-rolled and stored. Several of the horses wear bell boots. The horses who stay inside need to be hayed and watered.
I’m sure I left stuff out. The boys for example do a lot of mowing, weed-wacking, dragging the ring, moving jumps around, cleaning the cobwebs, scrubbing the stall walls, changing light bulbs, etc etc etc. It never ends.
But I love it. I get worn down sometimes and often just want to have an inside job with normal hours. But then I remember how much this job fulfills me and how ecstatic I am at the end of every day. I relish it. And every day is different, so it doesn’t leave much time to get bored.
If you read all of that, kudos to you. *wink* By the way, had another stellar ride on Pop today and did a bit of canter (he felt stronger in the trot). The long and slow warm-up really helped him again and his canter was just dreamy. It was one of those rides where I literally didn’t want to stop..I just wanted to keep riding and keep riding forever. I had one of those canters where you feel like you could just go do a bunch of one-tempis and not miss a beat. Granted I refrained from one-tempis (haha) but that feeling can’t be beat.
Lizzie had an amazing dressage test today and I can’t wait for her cross-country. She is undoubtedly one of the hardest working, most dedicated and most talented young riders in this country. I’m so excited for her to show the world what she can do!
God Bless and stay cool!
-Ry
PS: Champers had his first endeavour outside of the round pen tonight! He was very good and walked/trotted around the paddock. Love the little man!
We have ten horses in the barn right now that need to be worked 6 days a week. There is one other boarded horse who is semi-retired and basically all we do with her is feed her, bathe her several times a week, and turn out/bring in. For all 11 horses, we are responsible for keeping them clean and clipped at all times. This is ears, bridlepaths, muzzles, fetlocks, white socks, tails, and chin hairs. Manes must be pulled regularly as well. Fungus is a problem throughout the summer and winter and we must keep infected areas clipped, dry and treated. They literally must look show ready all the time. This is a little easier in the summer because we have the liberty of bathing, but even in the winter it’s important. We usually have the competition horses clipped in the winter and they all get daily “shines” with Vetrolin water. As far as bathing, we alternate between Pine-Sol (excellent for fungus and smells good too), Cowboy Magic Rosemary Shampoo, Ivory Soap, and Vetrolin. We also use Vinegar Rinses once a week. Sheaths get cleaned about every 4 months, and I like to get everyone done at once.
On any given day a horse may be flatted, jumped, trotted or longed in the Pessoa
rig. We usually jump school about once a week and trot 1-2 times a week. We save the Pessoa for the winter for the most part, when the ring is frozen and our only option is longing in the paddocks. The Pessoa is excellent for building muscle, stretching backs, and teaching a horse to figure out where his feet are without the added weight and unbalance of a rider.
My daily routine (which changes, well, daily) looks a little like this:
7:00 a.m.-Drop feed, bring horses inside
7:15 a.m.-Turn out daytime horses, start getting first horse ready to be ridden
7:30 a.m.-C or one of us gets on first horse
8-12: horses get ridden, and I usually try to get one horse bathed while I get the next horse tacked up
12-1:30 p.m.: Lunch break. On busy days I won’t take lunch but will instead get another horse ridden or bathed, or run errands to the bank/feed store/etc
1:30-2:45 p.m.: Get remaining horses bathed, put away saddle pads/boots/supplies. Boys clean tack. Clip horses up when necessary, rinse out wash stall, do laundry, give medications
2:45-3 p.m.: Make feed. Boys clean stalls and top off water and hay.
3-3:30 pm: Tidy up loose ends and put finishing touches on the barn (sweep, clean tack room, etc)
3:30 p.m.: Feed.
Naturally things don’t always go according to plan. There are always loose shoes, farrier visits (we have three different farriers who shoe for us), vet visits (we use two vets, one who comes to the farm and one who we have to ship to), chiropractor visits (we use two different chiropractors), and product reps (I love when they come to visit! New products are exciting!). We also tend to use the afternoons for a lot of therapy. We use the magnetic blanket, the Equissage, and the laser predominantly. Of course we would use the afternoon and any spare moments to ice horses, cold hose, soak a sore foot, wrap feet, wrap legs, treat cuts/wounds, or do massages and stretches on some of the horses.
Then there’s buckets and feed tubs which need to be cleaned daily (or every other day). Brushes to wash. Fly sheets/fly masks need to be either rinsed or washed daily. Boots need to be hosed and hung to dry after the morning. Feed room needs to be dusted and organized, feed to be unloaded. The tack room is always a disaster and we try to sweep it daily and organize the stack of papers that are always on the desk. Then we have to order supplies/supplements/shavings/hay. Meds need to be re-stocked continuously. Trailer needs to be clean and organized and show-ready always. We have three tack trunks that need to remain cleaned, organized and ready to go.
At night, we feed and start turning out. Bandages coming off of horses need to be re-rolled and stored. Several of the horses wear bell boots. The horses who stay inside need to be hayed and watered.
I’m sure I left stuff out. The boys for example do a lot of mowing, weed-wacking, dragging the ring, moving jumps around, cleaning the cobwebs, scrubbing the stall walls, changing light bulbs, etc etc etc. It never ends.
But I love it. I get worn down sometimes and often just want to have an inside job with normal hours. But then I remember how much this job fulfills me and how ecstatic I am at the end of every day. I relish it. And every day is different, so it doesn’t leave much time to get bored.
If you read all of that, kudos to you. *wink* By the way, had another stellar ride on Pop today and did a bit of canter (he felt stronger in the trot). The long and slow warm-up really helped him again and his canter was just dreamy. It was one of those rides where I literally didn’t want to stop..I just wanted to keep riding and keep riding forever. I had one of those canters where you feel like you could just go do a bunch of one-tempis and not miss a beat. Granted I refrained from one-tempis (haha) but that feeling can’t be beat.
Lizzie had an amazing dressage test today and I can’t wait for her cross-country. She is undoubtedly one of the hardest working, most dedicated and most talented young riders in this country. I’m so excited for her to show the world what she can do!
God Bless and stay cool!
-Ry
PS: Champers had his first endeavour outside of the round pen tonight! He was very good and walked/trotted around the paddock. Love the little man!
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Poppers Back to Work
Poppers is slowly coming back from his mystery injury that more than likely occurred in the paddock as he was rolling...after several days of lasering, cleaning, hand walking, and cold-hosing, he was finally jogging about 95% sound on Monday, so I got the go-ahead to get on him yesterday. He felt really good, if slightly unwilling to really engage that left hind. We just did about 10 minutes of walking to start, getting him nice and deep and through, doing some little leg yields to straighten him and get him even on both reins. Then we did 7 minutes of consistent trotting, long and low. Changes of direction, big circles, leg yields. I was grinning like a kid in a candy store afterwards because he felt so GOOD. The extra walk work really helped loosen him up and get him to let go in his back, and the trot work was so fluid and forward and lovely afterwards! It felt so great to be back on him and he seemed happy to go back to work.
Today we did basically the same routine, 10 minutes of walk and 10 minutes of trot...he felt a little more unwilling to push off that left hind but after several minutes of long/low work he felt better. I'm hoping tomorrow will be a bigger improvement. Again, he was lovely to ride and made me smile from ear to ear. He's just so fun. He is due to be shod early next week which will more than likely mean a few extra days off, so I'm not in any hurry to get him back into regular work right now..we'll just take it slow and work on basic stuff that has a tendency to trip me up (forward, straight, through). If he felt good enough to canter tomorrow I might celebrate with a flute of bubbly :D Cross your fingers.
The Bossman is away for a few days coaching at Young Riders (go Lizzie!!) so we're getting the opportunity to ride all the horses in the barn this week. We have 10 horses total in training right now so the workload is definitely high but we love every second. It's good to be busy, although with this heat wave continuing on its merry way we're definitely trying to get everyone worked by 11-11:30 a.m. It makes it more difficult to get Champ ridden because I have to do him close to nightfall, and my evenings have been booked lately. I did ride him last night and he was PERFECT, w/t/c and halting both directions with no fuss. He's about ready to venture out into the great unknown (aka the paddock) hopefully this week.
Stay cool and hydrated! God Bless!
-Ry
Today we did basically the same routine, 10 minutes of walk and 10 minutes of trot...he felt a little more unwilling to push off that left hind but after several minutes of long/low work he felt better. I'm hoping tomorrow will be a bigger improvement. Again, he was lovely to ride and made me smile from ear to ear. He's just so fun. He is due to be shod early next week which will more than likely mean a few extra days off, so I'm not in any hurry to get him back into regular work right now..we'll just take it slow and work on basic stuff that has a tendency to trip me up (forward, straight, through). If he felt good enough to canter tomorrow I might celebrate with a flute of bubbly :D Cross your fingers.
The Bossman is away for a few days coaching at Young Riders (go Lizzie!!) so we're getting the opportunity to ride all the horses in the barn this week. We have 10 horses total in training right now so the workload is definitely high but we love every second. It's good to be busy, although with this heat wave continuing on its merry way we're definitely trying to get everyone worked by 11-11:30 a.m. It makes it more difficult to get Champ ridden because I have to do him close to nightfall, and my evenings have been booked lately. I did ride him last night and he was PERFECT, w/t/c and halting both directions with no fuss. He's about ready to venture out into the great unknown (aka the paddock) hopefully this week.
Stay cool and hydrated! God Bless!
-Ry
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Poppin' in the Dressage Arena
Today me and Poppers had a lesson in the dressage arena to familiarize us with it before Sunday. I hadn't really ridden in one since....probably 2006, the last time I evented. It's funny how small and cramped you feel when you're in there, and how quickly the letters come up. You really have to visualize your movements before you do them and plan ahead. I anticipate the movement terribly and usually will do a transition before the letter, so I really tried to focus on being correct in that aspect. Pop has more of an opportunity to get behind my leg in a smaller ring, so it's very important to keep reminding him to go forward. C really had me work on my arms and hands today...I definitely have a tendancy to break my wrists and end up with them in my lap, elbows locked, with too long of reins. Which of course leads to Poppers bracing and shortening his stride. When I shorten my reins, focus on elasticizing (word?) my elbows, and putting my hands out in front of me with thumbs on top, it's almost funny how quickly he softens his neck and is willing to go more forward towards my hands. These are just little things I need to continually remind myself of! That and not leaning in the direction he is drifting from. For example, when we come down the longside tracking right, his haunches would prefer to go right and his shoulders left...so I sit off to the left in a subconcious effort to "convince" him to put his haunches in line. Naturally that just makes him more crooked and my aids ineffective, so I have to really focus on putting my weight back in my inside stirrup and riding him straight.
Our left lead canter is my biggest concern for this weekend....I have a hard time keeping him through and forward to the left because he likes to get crooked in his body and lock on the right (outside) rein. Also in the walk it'll be important to keep him marching but not let him jig or get tight.
We have our last jump school tomorrow and I hope it goes well :) I'm more than a little nervous about the stadium but I'm sure we'll be fine.
He's such a good man :) I'm so lucky to have him! Now if we can just beat the heat the rest of this week! It's been brutal..95 by 10 am every day this week!
Stay cool! God Bless!
-Ry
Our left lead canter is my biggest concern for this weekend....I have a hard time keeping him through and forward to the left because he likes to get crooked in his body and lock on the right (outside) rein. Also in the walk it'll be important to keep him marching but not let him jig or get tight.
We have our last jump school tomorrow and I hope it goes well :) I'm more than a little nervous about the stadium but I'm sure we'll be fine.
He's such a good man :) I'm so lucky to have him! Now if we can just beat the heat the rest of this week! It's been brutal..95 by 10 am every day this week!
Stay cool! God Bless!
-Ry
Friday, July 15, 2011
A Jumping Lesson on Videos
I wish I had more time to write about the lesson and everything I learned...but I don't. So here's a brief synopsis and I'll try to elaborate later :)
Warming up:
Cross-rail...he is supposed to trot to this nice and forward and jump it out of stride. He prefers to put in a canter stride but as long as he lands going somewhere, it's not a big deal. Granted, when you land and do nothing (as I am doing here) then you get scolded!
Other direction:
Over a little bounce to a vertical:
Vertical to bounce, took my leg off because I couldn't find my spot. I have to continually just ride forward and not worry about the spot, because the second I start taking back, he'll hold.
Same fences, second time through:
This was the best course we did, I think...except for that last fence, the skinny. I definitely missed my first turn to it because I didn't have him up in front of me...
So then we came around and practiced that turn:
All in all it was a good lesson and I think we made some positive steps :) We entered a Novice CT for next weekend, which I'm both excited and nervous about! And yes, I know my hair looks incredibly sloppy, I get a massive migraine when I put it up in my helmet in this heat. Lame excuse, I know...I'm working on it ;)
God Bless!
-Ry
Warming up:
Cross-rail...he is supposed to trot to this nice and forward and jump it out of stride. He prefers to put in a canter stride but as long as he lands going somewhere, it's not a big deal. Granted, when you land and do nothing (as I am doing here) then you get scolded!
Other direction:
Over a little bounce to a vertical:
Vertical to bounce, took my leg off because I couldn't find my spot. I have to continually just ride forward and not worry about the spot, because the second I start taking back, he'll hold.
Same fences, second time through:
This was the best course we did, I think...except for that last fence, the skinny. I definitely missed my first turn to it because I didn't have him up in front of me...
So then we came around and practiced that turn:
All in all it was a good lesson and I think we made some positive steps :) We entered a Novice CT for next weekend, which I'm both excited and nervous about! And yes, I know my hair looks incredibly sloppy, I get a massive migraine when I put it up in my helmet in this heat. Lame excuse, I know...I'm working on it ;)
God Bless!
-Ry
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Poppers instead of Fireworks
Letting the video speak for itself because I'm headed back to bed...still trying to get rid of this fever so I can be ready to go to NYC on Thursday!
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