So it was great to have a few days off of school, especially because once I return today it starts the last 2 weeks of the semester which are always hell basically. But, anyway I tookd advantage of my vacation to get some extra riding time in of course. Unfortunately the weather wasn't the best except for yesterday, but thats alright.
Wednesday was rainy and gross, but K and I rode Sat and her paddock pal Jewel bareback around the farm. On Thanksgiving my barn manager D organized a Thanksgiving morning trail ride and last minute was unable to go since she did not have anyone to watch her toddler. The rest of us went however with her daughter K and myself leading as our horses like to be first. We were with some girls and horses that do not usually go on trails so we kept at walk trot and had to deal with a lot of nervousness. We did have a few incidents with one girl falling off as her horse decided to go bucking up hill and another friend's horse who is usually great on trails took off to catch up with my horse and K's horse who are much faster walkers and the horse behind her following suit. Long story short it wasn't one of our best trails, but when we came home K and I let our horses blow off some steam around the back of the farm.
On Friday I ran a few errands and went to visit my friend R's Standardbred Larry at his new home. I used to ride Larry and showed him once or twice and now that he is at a barn with a real ring and indoor we are getting him back into riding again. I got him and he was great. We walked and trotted for about ten minutes as he is out of shape and hasn't been ridden in a while, but he was very good and he gave me his nice almost jog. His trot can go so nice and slow especially for most Standardbreds I have seen. Then I hacked Satin around the farm a little since again it was a gross day.
Saturday my friend Kt came over for a western lesson. She has ridden english forever and has started riding on her school's western team and doing well. I had her on Sat and gave her a little western pleasure lesson. They both did great though I was surprised Satin was in pleasure mode since we haven't worked on it in while. Yesterday was absolutely gorgeous! It was the perfect trail day but I had no one to trail ride with. So I hacked around the farm for a bit and then decided to go out on a short little trail by myself. It was only about ten minutes of the closer paths, but Sat was very good for her first time out alone and we had a nice ride.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
Banquet and Hunter Pace
So I had a very busy and fun filled weekend. On Friday I had the CJHA banquet where myself and most of my horsey friends received our year end awards for the CJHA horse show series. I was 4th in Adult Amateur Western. All the girls from the barn came home with trophies too. I am on the board of this organization and the banquet is always great. It is nice to see everyone outside the barn and half the time you don't recognize them all dressed up. We had a lot of fun dancing the night away and celebrating a successful horse show season.
Saturday my friend L and I went out on a short trail ride to prepare for the hunter pace we were going on the next day. It was quite eventful for a short hack complete with quads and dirt bikes, L's horse being uncharacteristically spooky, and L's horse also being unusually full of energy which she displayed in a series of bucks during a short hand gallop. We went on a trail ride because L's mare had not been on one since the summer and Satin had not been out in about month either and L wanted to get her mare out before our hunter pace. Well as you can see it was a good thing we did.
So yesterday we went on the Turkey Trot which is an 8 mile hunter pace with L obviously being my partner. We had an absolute BLAST! We were apparantly one of the only teams not to get lost according to what we heard from people who were working the ride and running into quite a few teams that had been turned around. We thought that it was the fastest time wins so we were quite proud of ourselves when we passed a few teams on the trail. Turns out we were wrong. We came in 23 minutes faster than the optimal time LOL! We didn't care though. We just went to have fun and we did. L's mare did take off once or twice, but we got it under control. Satin thought she was a cross country pony hand galloping through a series of logs which she jumped like they were 3 feet tall haha, gota love my lil super mare. Today of course she got the day off to rest up from yesterday's big adventure. As you can see she is back to tip top condition, even with her mother being distracted and forgetting to put her splint boots on for the hunter pace yesterday :)
Saturday my friend L and I went out on a short trail ride to prepare for the hunter pace we were going on the next day. It was quite eventful for a short hack complete with quads and dirt bikes, L's horse being uncharacteristically spooky, and L's horse also being unusually full of energy which she displayed in a series of bucks during a short hand gallop. We went on a trail ride because L's mare had not been on one since the summer and Satin had not been out in about month either and L wanted to get her mare out before our hunter pace. Well as you can see it was a good thing we did.
So yesterday we went on the Turkey Trot which is an 8 mile hunter pace with L obviously being my partner. We had an absolute BLAST! We were apparantly one of the only teams not to get lost according to what we heard from people who were working the ride and running into quite a few teams that had been turned around. We thought that it was the fastest time wins so we were quite proud of ourselves when we passed a few teams on the trail. Turns out we were wrong. We came in 23 minutes faster than the optimal time LOL! We didn't care though. We just went to have fun and we did. L's mare did take off once or twice, but we got it under control. Satin thought she was a cross country pony hand galloping through a series of logs which she jumped like they were 3 feet tall haha, gota love my lil super mare. Today of course she got the day off to rest up from yesterday's big adventure. As you can see she is back to tip top condition, even with her mother being distracted and forgetting to put her splint boots on for the hunter pace yesterday :)
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Back From Mass.
I'm back! I was up in Mass. at Equine Affaire this weekend and had a great time. There were lots of good buys and some great clinics. Satin got a new cooler and few other things. We got to enjoy clinics by John Lyons, Ken McNabb, and many other great clinicians. We also got to see the Versatile Horse and Rider competition which was pretty interesting. I would love to enter something like that. It is like a trail class, but with even more intense obstacles. The obstacles included various jumps, a tunnel, sidepassing while carrying stuff, rollbacks, spins, walking into a kiddie pool filled with leaves, backing over a bridge, ground tying, etc.
Yesterday I got to ride my pony after four days of missed riding from the rain and being away. She felt good just a little stiff from time off and bad weather. We did some work with our bridge at home going backwards, forwards, and sideways over it and had no issues though our bridge is flat while the bridge in Mass. and the one they use at breed shows is raised. We also did some of the sidepass excercises they had to do and jumped a small crossrail. We also cantered over some ground poles which she tends to do rush into and swap leads over, but after a few times over she settled down and did them correctly.
This weekend we have a big hunter pace so I Friday to get year end awards from horse shows this year
Yesterday I got to ride my pony after four days of missed riding from the rain and being away. She felt good just a little stiff from time off and bad weather. We did some work with our bridge at home going backwards, forwards, and sideways over it and had no issues though our bridge is flat while the bridge in Mass. and the one they use at breed shows is raised. We also did some of the sidepass excercises they had to do and jumped a small crossrail. We also cantered over some ground poles which she tends to do rush into and swap leads over, but after a few times over she settled down and did them correctly.
This weekend we have a big hunter pace so I Friday to get year end awards from horse shows this year
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Pony is Finally Healed
So I don't know what Miss Satin did when she cut her leg, but her leg was still swollen for a couple days after. I kept up my regimen of walking her, cleaning the wound, buting her when needed, etc. On Saturday there was still fluid in the ankle. My barn manager suggested adding cold hosing and wrapping to my regimen. So I walked her for 15 minutes, cold hosed for 10, then we put on a furazone sweat wrap for 24 hours. When the wrap was removed the swelling was gone and she was sound though a bit stiff from almost a week off. The swelling has not come back and she has stayed sound (knock on wood). Yesterday I just walk - trotted her for twenty minutes to stretch her legs. Today I kept it easy too not wanting to stress her. I walk - trotted her for about 15-20 minutes and cantered once each direction. She felt good so that puts me at ease.
This weekend I am going to Equine Affaire in Massachusetts with some friends, so I am definitely looking forward to that. Will let you all know how it goes!
This weekend I am going to Equine Affaire in Massachusetts with some friends, so I am definitely looking forward to that. Will let you all know how it goes!
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Slacking Again ....
Sorry guys, I know I have been quite the slacker with posting lately. I have just been super busy with school, the pony, and freelance work, etc.
Ok so let's start with the most important topic the pony. Well yesterday the princess pony cut her leg. I don't know how she did it, it happened in the field at some point yesterday. Anyway the cut was not deep at all it was just long and the leg was swollen. So of course she was off and quite stiff since it is the leg she already has a touch of arthritis in because of an old injury. After walking, cold hosing, betadine, furazone, and a little bute she was much better today. The swelling is gone and she was running around her field bucking like a bronco. I rode her, but we kept it at 20 minutes or walk, trot to help circulation flow, unstick her, etc.
On Tuesday we went barrel racing. Now that we figured out the key to her turns I was looking forward to trying it out. My friend K rode her in the barrels as well since at the last minute she was unable to bring her pony. She ended up getting a better time than me at a 19.2. I got a 19.7, but I also slowed her down more than necessary to ensure tight turns since the last few times her turns were half the ring. Anyway I also rode my dash the opposite direction that I usually do, to the right rather than the left. Her turn was good and we got an 8.7. Our poles ended up being our best event of the night. We had our fastest run yet with a 25.9!!! Unfortunately we knocked our last pole which gave us a 5 second penalty. Obviously I was disappointed at the knock but I was absolutely thrilled with our time. We used to get 30s then the last couple weeks we had been getting 27s so a 25.9 was awesome not just for us but in general!
Last Friday we went team penning with our dream team partner who I call Sunshine but also known as our barn owner D. Anyway we had pretty good runs. Two in the 30s and a 23 then one we didn't get the cow because he was a little butt but then we almost got him and I admit it was my fault he got away. But that's okay we still had a good night. I did one run with our friend DNs friend J and we were set up for a perfect run. They called our cow and all the other cows ran left but ours stayed right in the middle. We began to run him down and he cut left and no matter how many times we got him and began to run him he would get away at the last second. He was a nasty little bugger. He wasn't afraid of the horses. Satin bit him and he just tried to kick her. Then my partner's horse almost jumped on him and he didn't give a second glance. It was the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen. But like my other friend DR said we took one for the team because now no one else would have that cow.
In other news I went upstate to J's last weekend. They had a clinician coming to her neighbor's farm and she invited me to come ride Flo in one of the spots she had reserved. Saturday I just watched the clinic and Sarah who rides Flo for Jill did the clinic. I did ride Max around for a while though and did some ring work with him. I spent Saturday night visiting my friend's that go to college up there for Halloween. Then Sunday it was my turn to ride. Flo was very good though a bit quick at the canter. I got some good tips and overall it was a good experience (though I still think my trainer R could teach circles around this guy :) ).
School has been busy, busy. I had midterms and papers and all kinds of fun stuff keeping me up to all hours. I took my last midterm today thank God.
I also had two freelance projects I was working on. Both were due last weekend. One was an article about trail riding in Allaire for the Paint Horse Journal and the other was about the SPHO-NJ and the race world supporting them for Hoofbeats. Fingers crossed the Hoofbeats editor likes it and decides to publish it. They were both really fun to work on. As I told you I enjoyed riding in Allaire. As far as the Hoofbeats article I learned some things and talked to some interesting people. I got to talk to Dr. Patty Hogan one of the leading equine surgeons on the phone and she had some great things to say. She gave me phenomenal quotes and I would love to get to do an article just on her. Scratch that she needs her own book!
Ok so let's start with the most important topic the pony. Well yesterday the princess pony cut her leg. I don't know how she did it, it happened in the field at some point yesterday. Anyway the cut was not deep at all it was just long and the leg was swollen. So of course she was off and quite stiff since it is the leg she already has a touch of arthritis in because of an old injury. After walking, cold hosing, betadine, furazone, and a little bute she was much better today. The swelling is gone and she was running around her field bucking like a bronco. I rode her, but we kept it at 20 minutes or walk, trot to help circulation flow, unstick her, etc.
On Tuesday we went barrel racing. Now that we figured out the key to her turns I was looking forward to trying it out. My friend K rode her in the barrels as well since at the last minute she was unable to bring her pony. She ended up getting a better time than me at a 19.2. I got a 19.7, but I also slowed her down more than necessary to ensure tight turns since the last few times her turns were half the ring. Anyway I also rode my dash the opposite direction that I usually do, to the right rather than the left. Her turn was good and we got an 8.7. Our poles ended up being our best event of the night. We had our fastest run yet with a 25.9!!! Unfortunately we knocked our last pole which gave us a 5 second penalty. Obviously I was disappointed at the knock but I was absolutely thrilled with our time. We used to get 30s then the last couple weeks we had been getting 27s so a 25.9 was awesome not just for us but in general!
Last Friday we went team penning with our dream team partner who I call Sunshine but also known as our barn owner D. Anyway we had pretty good runs. Two in the 30s and a 23 then one we didn't get the cow because he was a little butt but then we almost got him and I admit it was my fault he got away. But that's okay we still had a good night. I did one run with our friend DNs friend J and we were set up for a perfect run. They called our cow and all the other cows ran left but ours stayed right in the middle. We began to run him down and he cut left and no matter how many times we got him and began to run him he would get away at the last second. He was a nasty little bugger. He wasn't afraid of the horses. Satin bit him and he just tried to kick her. Then my partner's horse almost jumped on him and he didn't give a second glance. It was the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen. But like my other friend DR said we took one for the team because now no one else would have that cow.
In other news I went upstate to J's last weekend. They had a clinician coming to her neighbor's farm and she invited me to come ride Flo in one of the spots she had reserved. Saturday I just watched the clinic and Sarah who rides Flo for Jill did the clinic. I did ride Max around for a while though and did some ring work with him. I spent Saturday night visiting my friend's that go to college up there for Halloween. Then Sunday it was my turn to ride. Flo was very good though a bit quick at the canter. I got some good tips and overall it was a good experience (though I still think my trainer R could teach circles around this guy :) ).
School has been busy, busy. I had midterms and papers and all kinds of fun stuff keeping me up to all hours. I took my last midterm today thank God.
I also had two freelance projects I was working on. Both were due last weekend. One was an article about trail riding in Allaire for the Paint Horse Journal and the other was about the SPHO-NJ and the race world supporting them for Hoofbeats. Fingers crossed the Hoofbeats editor likes it and decides to publish it. They were both really fun to work on. As I told you I enjoyed riding in Allaire. As far as the Hoofbeats article I learned some things and talked to some interesting people. I got to talk to Dr. Patty Hogan one of the leading equine surgeons on the phone and she had some great things to say. She gave me phenomenal quotes and I would love to get to do an article just on her. Scratch that she needs her own book!
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