Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Pics from the National

Here are a few pics of me with Larry and Jb from the National






National Standardbred Show and latest lesson

So last weekend was the National Standardbred Show at the Horsepark which is one of my favorite shows to attend each year even though I own a Quarter Horse! LOL I am friends with many of the organizers and competitors so I help with the setup, the show itself, and the clean up and usually end up showing something in between.

I showed my friend H's horse Jb (who I often refer to as boyfriend and have mentioned here before) in the halter classes. He looked absolutely stunning in my western show halter. He could have passed for a QH. We won the geldings in hand class! They then take the top two of each in hand class and they go on to the championship class where they choose a grand and reserve champion. We ended up reserve! H and I were super excited! The horse that got grand was a very nice looking stallion so there was no shame coming reserve to him.

I rode my friend R's horse Larry in the western walk jog and western walk jog pattern classes. He was much better then last time we competed at this show but we did not pin in our first class as something outside the ring caught his eye and caused him to go along sideways half the class. He truly surprised me in the pattern class though. We had a pattern that was more difficult in previous years at this show but something that would be typical at the schooling show or breed show. He did it very well and then the judge had us go on the rail and do rail work which again is typical for a horsemanship class but no judge had ever asked that of us at that show. The kicker was she had us do it with no stirrups! Larry was really good though and actually stayed in his jog the entire time and was very cooperative. We ended up pinning 4th out of about 11.

The rest of my friends all did well and the show ran very smoothly. There was a great turn out and it really showed the versatility of the breed.

Last week I had a fabulous lesson as always. R really made both L and I and our horses work. We did work on very collected jog and extended trot. Sat was great she had the slowest roundest jog she has ever done. We did the same at the canter. We worked on extending the canter strictly using our seat and collecting the canter through the seat and legs and holding her there with that rather than my hands. She was absolutely AWESOME. Her collected canter was so so collected she was basically cantering in place and when I sat back she came up and really worked off her butt, she was a small step away from piaffe. Dressage may be her next calling! R was very happy with us both as well. We then did work on flying changes which after a little warm up finished off flawlessly. We also did some sidepass work which she did nicely.

Tonight we are going barrel racing for my last night of summer

Monday, August 16, 2010

I'm Alive I Swear!

Okay, so I have been slacking worse then ever, but I swear it's with good reason. I have just been so incredibly busy this summer it's ridiculous! I am hardly ever home and when I am home it's basically just to sleep.

I will catch you up with the condensed version. My pony has been great for the most part. We had a little issue around the middle of July where her back left leg swelled up like a balloon to about twice normal size. I cold hosed and walked her for a two days basically and the swelling went down. We also did sweat wraps and poultice. She was never lame on it which was good, but still had me worried. We have had some awesome lessons and are having another one this week. Our last show wasn't great though. We both had an off day. She wasn't running the way she usually runs speed wise or otherwise. Our barrel run was not good. Her turns were sloppy and we touched every barrel though luckily we didn't knock any over. Our poles run was actually pretty good but we knocked the last pole. Our keyhole turn was good but she didnt run her fastest.

As far as interning it went really well. My editor let me do a little bit of everything, writing, pics, layout, editing, etc. I realy liked it and now its over but she is keeping me on as a free lancer. Yay! My Paint Journal and Hoofbeats articles came out and I got paid for the Hoofbeats one! My photo business is also doing pretty well. I did the dressage show shoot which lead to one of the riders or really two hiring me privately. I have also gotten print orders from CJHA and Curry.

That's basically been my life lately other than spending a week in Vegas with my family out there which was a lot of fun. I promise to try and be better about my posting from now on.