Friday, February 26, 2010
Horse Sledding Pics
So in a few of my recent posts I have mentioned my new found favorite winter sport...horse sledding. So I added below a few pictures of myself and some friends sledding. The horse is the Stbd gelding I refer to as boyfriend and the rider my friend H.
More Snow Pics
During the snow storm we had a couple of weeks ago, I was of course out at the farm with my trusty camera and captured some great shots so figured I would share some.
My Beautiful Girl
Miss Tia
Mr. Bob
Play nice boys
Hotty...handsome boy
Fred ... such a cute old man
Click romping through the snow
Sky running through the snow
Toro loves playing in the snow
Mister Indy
Oscar
The girls playing in the snow
Smokey Jones
Hez Monster
Lexie Lu enjoying the snow
The Lovely Miss Patty
Thursday, February 25, 2010
More Snow!
Okay so let's back track to last week. Last Friday and Saturday I went to Delaware to visit my friend KT. We had a good time and it was great to catch up. So as a result, the pony got two more days off.
On Sunday I just walked and trotted bareback around the farm in the few decent paths I could find. Then Sunday night I attended the SPHO awards banquet. We had a great time! They changed the venue this year to the track which was very fitting. The room was bigger and the food was better. We had a gift auction which I help my friend with every year. I won a back on track therapeautic sheet which everyone wanted to steal from me. It fits Satin perfectly and will be great especailly after barrel racing. I also won a gift certificate toward a website starter package so hopefully I will soon have my own website for Shutter Savvy Images!!! There was a live auction for a $500 gift certificate for Patty Hogan's vet services which brought in $1200 to be put toward sending 5 of our members and their horses to the World Equestrian Games in Kentucky. I hope to be at the games myself with my friend who is going. It will be an awesome experience and I want to photograph and write all about it. Anyway my friend H who owns the horse I affectionately refer to as boyfriend was the star of the awards night bringing home over 15 prizes including High Point Standardbred. Last year my friend L won every award so this year it was H's turn. Our friend from Maine who has the Standardbred Excellence blog came down for the awards and we all went out to dinner the night before. It was nice to see her. We all had a great night celebrating friend's accomplishments and dancing the night away.
L slept over afterwards and came to my one class of the day with me as it is a big lecture hall. Then we went to the farm and rode with K. There was a path cleared in the grass field that was good enough to get some riding in, so we were able to walk, trot, and canter for a little bit. Tuesday it rained all day long so I didn't get out to the farm at all.
Yesterday though I was finally able to get to R's for my lesson. Satin was hyper from lack of work and was running and bucking in her field. Then she practically ran me to the trailer. So I had a feeling I was in for an interesting lesson. We started off with some work jogging and trying to get her head lower. Then we did work getting a really extended trot. It took some work from both of us to get her to the point R wanted. Her little legs don't like trotting that fast haha. Afterwards we did some canter work. Her transitions were a bit slow and rammy compared to how perfect they had been, but that is due to lack fo real work. Her canter was also fast so we spent a good portion of the lesson working on different ways to slow it down and keep it there and by the end she was doing better. She was definitely in one of her fighting moods though, not wanting to slow down. We ended with some backing through a L and sidepassing as well as quarter turns which she did nicely.
Today it is snowing AGAIN. The only good thing is I was able to stay home from school :) So plan to spend the day relaxing and getting some research done. I am hoping for a day off tomorrow too. My weekend upstate of course got canceled again, aiming for 2nd weekend in March
On Sunday I just walked and trotted bareback around the farm in the few decent paths I could find. Then Sunday night I attended the SPHO awards banquet. We had a great time! They changed the venue this year to the track which was very fitting. The room was bigger and the food was better. We had a gift auction which I help my friend with every year. I won a back on track therapeautic sheet which everyone wanted to steal from me. It fits Satin perfectly and will be great especailly after barrel racing. I also won a gift certificate toward a website starter package so hopefully I will soon have my own website for Shutter Savvy Images!!! There was a live auction for a $500 gift certificate for Patty Hogan's vet services which brought in $1200 to be put toward sending 5 of our members and their horses to the World Equestrian Games in Kentucky. I hope to be at the games myself with my friend who is going. It will be an awesome experience and I want to photograph and write all about it. Anyway my friend H who owns the horse I affectionately refer to as boyfriend was the star of the awards night bringing home over 15 prizes including High Point Standardbred. Last year my friend L won every award so this year it was H's turn. Our friend from Maine who has the Standardbred Excellence blog came down for the awards and we all went out to dinner the night before. It was nice to see her. We all had a great night celebrating friend's accomplishments and dancing the night away.
L slept over afterwards and came to my one class of the day with me as it is a big lecture hall. Then we went to the farm and rode with K. There was a path cleared in the grass field that was good enough to get some riding in, so we were able to walk, trot, and canter for a little bit. Tuesday it rained all day long so I didn't get out to the farm at all.
Yesterday though I was finally able to get to R's for my lesson. Satin was hyper from lack of work and was running and bucking in her field. Then she practically ran me to the trailer. So I had a feeling I was in for an interesting lesson. We started off with some work jogging and trying to get her head lower. Then we did work getting a really extended trot. It took some work from both of us to get her to the point R wanted. Her little legs don't like trotting that fast haha. Afterwards we did some canter work. Her transitions were a bit slow and rammy compared to how perfect they had been, but that is due to lack fo real work. Her canter was also fast so we spent a good portion of the lesson working on different ways to slow it down and keep it there and by the end she was doing better. She was definitely in one of her fighting moods though, not wanting to slow down. We ended with some backing through a L and sidepassing as well as quarter turns which she did nicely.
Today it is snowing AGAIN. The only good thing is I was able to stay home from school :) So plan to spend the day relaxing and getting some research done. I am hoping for a day off tomorrow too. My weekend upstate of course got canceled again, aiming for 2nd weekend in March
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Super Busy = Super Slacker Blogger
I'm so sorry that I have been a horrible slacker these past two weeks, but I have been crazy busy! So this will be a long one to get you guys updated.
Okay so we last left off with me waiting for the snow to hit which it did leaving us over a foot by Saturday night. That means I did not get out of my house until Sunday morning, which I was very unhappy about, but I had a good sunday to make up for it. I started off by going to my friend H's farm to visit her and horse who I refer to as boyfriend because of his handsomeness and the fact that we are in love lol. Anyway so we decided to go horse sledding. She put his driving breast collar on him and we attached long lines to it. We then sat in the sled and held onto the lines letting him pull us. It took some figuring out but once we got it down we had a BLAST. In the beginning bf was not a fan of the lines as they rubbed on his butt and legs at times. Once he got used to it he settled down and was an all star. The snow was deep causing the sled to get stuck at first. We figured the key was two people and once we wore a track down we did pretty good. We had a lot of fun and a lot of laughs. Then I went off to my farm and of course had to try it with Sat. Before that though we went on a walking snow trail and the woods were just gorgeous. I wish I had my camera. Then we came back and tried the sledding. We used lunge lines instead of long lines and I attached them to the buckles on my girth of my western saddle and put her breast collar on to prevent saddle slippage. She was a ROCKSTAR. I had my friend E walk behind us holding the lines rubbing them against her and what not and she didn't even flinch. She just looked at us like 'is there a reason you guys are annoying me with these big long lines or what?' We found a plowed path in the back and walk, trot, cantered pulling the sled and had tons of fun. Then that evening I finally saw the movie I was dying to see with L.
Monday we decided to sled again and also tried it with K's pony Smokey who was equally as behaved. Tuesday we rode bareback in the ring and had a barn sleepover since we were expected to have heavy snow Wednesday and we knew we would all have snow days. So me, K, E, and our other friend C along with my barn manager and her two younger children as well as our race friend DN had a fun filled evening of eating and watching movies. The next morning we woke up to 8 inches on the ground and sleet coming down, but horses still had to go out. So off we went to turn the ponies out in the lovely weather. E went home sick at like 8 am and C went home at noon before the weather got to bad. At around 3 or 4 when the sleet finally turned back to snow as promised K and I broke out the sled and the ponies. We sledded all around the farm in the dense blizzard with k's little brother and another friend KA. It was a complete white out. We could not even see in front of us when riding because the snow was hitting us in the face, but we had fun. I spent the night again as the weather was bad. My school of course only gave us a delayed opening the next day, but I took the day off as the roads were very icy from the snow, sleet and hail, snow combination. Thursday morning we now had to dig out the paddock gates and tredge through over two feet of snow and ice to get the ponies out which was of course tons of fun. We tried to keep them in the deep snow to avoid them slipping on ice which they of course did not want to do and the frisky ones made it even more fun.
I was glad to be at the farm during the storm though as it relieved me from being bored at home. Plus we lost power in my house Wednesday night until Thursday afternoon which equals no heat among other things. The benefit of all the snow was great snow pics which I will try and post soon. Thursday we let the ponies be and just hung out in the house watching movies and what not in between barn work. Friday we again gave the ponies off.
Saturday I woke up early and went with my friend to her house to feed her 2 ponies as she had slept over the night before. We then rode her soon to be 4 year old filly out in the snow. It was her first time out in snow especially snow that deep, well riding at least, and she was a trooper. We just trotted her around a little as we had to get to my friend H's farm again for more horse sledding. Me and H wanted to get pics this time. We got some awesome ones which I will try and post as well. We didn't sled as much this time since we only had one path plowed enough that wasn't icy. Everything else was too deep. Then H and her friend S cantered bf in the snow. By the time they stopped her was exhausted. We even got H's trainer, a former olympian, in the sled. Then my friend and I were off to my farm. The usual gang (K, L, and E) were out as well and we all rode out in the snow. After watching H canter around and getting some great shots of it I wanted to as well. I got my friend who we will call KC up on Patty and off we went. We rode around in one of the paddocks but not for very long. Me and K were the only ones to canter as L cantered in a part that was slippery from us trotting in it and Lexie fell. Both were okay though. After a fun horse filled day KC and I went out for a while and I spent the night at her house.
Sunday the pony got the day off and I went to a movie with C and E. Monday I rode in the deep snow again for a bit and Tuesday she got off again since our riding choices were either deep snow or ice. Yesterday we walked and trotted bareback and today we just walked and stretched her legs. I am sick of the snow already and would like to see what the arena looks like again so we can really ride. I was supposed to have a lesson in R's indoor Wednesday but her driveway was way to icy and snow filled to get the trailer in. They say possibly more snow Sunday or Tuesday and I definitely hope NOT!
Anyway in other news I have been busy with school and last weekend as you saw very busy as well. This weekend I am visiting my friend tomorrow to Saturday and Sunday night have the SPHO banquet. I also am moving forward with my photo work and started Shutter Savvy Images. I am donating a session to the banquet auction and hope to get some jobs. Fingers crossed! I also finished my other article for Hoofbeats which prints in August!
Okay so we last left off with me waiting for the snow to hit which it did leaving us over a foot by Saturday night. That means I did not get out of my house until Sunday morning, which I was very unhappy about, but I had a good sunday to make up for it. I started off by going to my friend H's farm to visit her and horse who I refer to as boyfriend because of his handsomeness and the fact that we are in love lol. Anyway so we decided to go horse sledding. She put his driving breast collar on him and we attached long lines to it. We then sat in the sled and held onto the lines letting him pull us. It took some figuring out but once we got it down we had a BLAST. In the beginning bf was not a fan of the lines as they rubbed on his butt and legs at times. Once he got used to it he settled down and was an all star. The snow was deep causing the sled to get stuck at first. We figured the key was two people and once we wore a track down we did pretty good. We had a lot of fun and a lot of laughs. Then I went off to my farm and of course had to try it with Sat. Before that though we went on a walking snow trail and the woods were just gorgeous. I wish I had my camera. Then we came back and tried the sledding. We used lunge lines instead of long lines and I attached them to the buckles on my girth of my western saddle and put her breast collar on to prevent saddle slippage. She was a ROCKSTAR. I had my friend E walk behind us holding the lines rubbing them against her and what not and she didn't even flinch. She just looked at us like 'is there a reason you guys are annoying me with these big long lines or what?' We found a plowed path in the back and walk, trot, cantered pulling the sled and had tons of fun. Then that evening I finally saw the movie I was dying to see with L.
Monday we decided to sled again and also tried it with K's pony Smokey who was equally as behaved. Tuesday we rode bareback in the ring and had a barn sleepover since we were expected to have heavy snow Wednesday and we knew we would all have snow days. So me, K, E, and our other friend C along with my barn manager and her two younger children as well as our race friend DN had a fun filled evening of eating and watching movies. The next morning we woke up to 8 inches on the ground and sleet coming down, but horses still had to go out. So off we went to turn the ponies out in the lovely weather. E went home sick at like 8 am and C went home at noon before the weather got to bad. At around 3 or 4 when the sleet finally turned back to snow as promised K and I broke out the sled and the ponies. We sledded all around the farm in the dense blizzard with k's little brother and another friend KA. It was a complete white out. We could not even see in front of us when riding because the snow was hitting us in the face, but we had fun. I spent the night again as the weather was bad. My school of course only gave us a delayed opening the next day, but I took the day off as the roads were very icy from the snow, sleet and hail, snow combination. Thursday morning we now had to dig out the paddock gates and tredge through over two feet of snow and ice to get the ponies out which was of course tons of fun. We tried to keep them in the deep snow to avoid them slipping on ice which they of course did not want to do and the frisky ones made it even more fun.
I was glad to be at the farm during the storm though as it relieved me from being bored at home. Plus we lost power in my house Wednesday night until Thursday afternoon which equals no heat among other things. The benefit of all the snow was great snow pics which I will try and post soon. Thursday we let the ponies be and just hung out in the house watching movies and what not in between barn work. Friday we again gave the ponies off.
Saturday I woke up early and went with my friend to her house to feed her 2 ponies as she had slept over the night before. We then rode her soon to be 4 year old filly out in the snow. It was her first time out in snow especially snow that deep, well riding at least, and she was a trooper. We just trotted her around a little as we had to get to my friend H's farm again for more horse sledding. Me and H wanted to get pics this time. We got some awesome ones which I will try and post as well. We didn't sled as much this time since we only had one path plowed enough that wasn't icy. Everything else was too deep. Then H and her friend S cantered bf in the snow. By the time they stopped her was exhausted. We even got H's trainer, a former olympian, in the sled. Then my friend and I were off to my farm. The usual gang (K, L, and E) were out as well and we all rode out in the snow. After watching H canter around and getting some great shots of it I wanted to as well. I got my friend who we will call KC up on Patty and off we went. We rode around in one of the paddocks but not for very long. Me and K were the only ones to canter as L cantered in a part that was slippery from us trotting in it and Lexie fell. Both were okay though. After a fun horse filled day KC and I went out for a while and I spent the night at her house.
Sunday the pony got the day off and I went to a movie with C and E. Monday I rode in the deep snow again for a bit and Tuesday she got off again since our riding choices were either deep snow or ice. Yesterday we walked and trotted bareback and today we just walked and stretched her legs. I am sick of the snow already and would like to see what the arena looks like again so we can really ride. I was supposed to have a lesson in R's indoor Wednesday but her driveway was way to icy and snow filled to get the trailer in. They say possibly more snow Sunday or Tuesday and I definitely hope NOT!
Anyway in other news I have been busy with school and last weekend as you saw very busy as well. This weekend I am visiting my friend tomorrow to Saturday and Sunday night have the SPHO banquet. I also am moving forward with my photo work and started Shutter Savvy Images. I am donating a session to the banquet auction and hope to get some jobs. Fingers crossed! I also finished my other article for Hoofbeats which prints in August!
Friday, February 5, 2010
I HATE snow!
Sorry I have been slacking a bit this week in my posting. But don't worry I am going to give you guys a full update. First of all I am sitting home right now hiding from the snow. Not sure if it has actually started yet but it will be starting any second and supposed to go all the way until tomorrow afternoon some time. Hopefully it won't go on too long because I would like to go play in the snow with my pony and do not want to be stuck in the house all day long. Snow ruin everything, but thats besides the point.
Anyway, lets see. Well last Friday and Saturday I was not able to ride due to the horribly cold temps. It was in the twenties both days. Low twenties. Yuck! I slept over at Ks house Saturday night during which we got about an inch of snow. K as you all may remember is my barn manager's daughter and therefore lives on the farm property. So Sunday morning after a big breakfast we headed out and rode bareback. Just a 20 minute hack around the ring; walk, trot, canter. Then Monday it was time to get back to work before our lesson Wednesday. We worked on lead changes which were a little lazy (she kept forgetting the back). But we kept working at it and ended with some nice clean changes. I think she was just a bit stiff from the cold and having a few days off. We also worked on how many times we could switch leads across the ring. It went a little better than last time, but still not awesome.
Tuesday we worked on collected and extended trot which again was awesome. She transitioned from one to the other with just my seat and legs no rein neccessary. The canter changes from collected to extended were not as easy. She was very frisky and head strong wanting to run not lope never mind collected canter. But I got in the end though I had to fight for it a little. Then again we did the leads across the ring which improved a little more but not the best. We also did quarter turns at the walk, jog, and lope. She did pretty good and her halts were nice. She did not swing her butt out, which made me happy. Her sidepass was also very nice.
Wednesday we had a lesson with our fabulous trainer R. We did things a little differently working on getting better turns for games like barrels and poles instead of working on things that would come into play in western pleasure, trail, or reining. It was a nice change of pace and a much needed aid. Satin turns well but tends to have this one step around the barrel where she gets "stuck". R as always knew exactly what the cause was and had the fix. It was really a result of my focus. My eye went down impeding forward motion and killing the turn. We had to retrain me out of my bad habit and in turn re train her. First we jogged serpentines through a set of 3 cones. Then we began loping and turning around the last cone and loping back as if we were doing barrel dash. Except unlike barrel dash there was a cone as I said and this cone was in a very small space between a jump and the wall of the indoor. So it was a very tight turn we had to make. Though as always with R accomplishing this harder task makes the real thing easier. Plus in poles we would be turning around something thinner than a cone and would want it to be as tight as if it was in the little space between jump and wall. It took a few tries but in time we were able to get some nice turns that R and I were both very happy with from Satin and I. Our homework was to go home and practice the turns around the actual barrel using my improved focus and body position. She instructed me to start slow at the lope before than try it faster if she does well. She said practice with one barrel than make it 2 than when she masters that go to 3.
Yesterday the ring was too hard by the time I got out to do much so I just walk, jogged her bareback. That was fine because she definitely had a hard workout the day before. Today the ring was nice and I wanted to get a good ride in before the snow came and took away riding days. So I put on her games bridles and decided to go do our homework. We started with some turns around the barrel at the trot to warm up. Then we did some slow ones at the lope in both directions and we got some really nice turns. I was really happy with her and myself. The old girl was feeling frisky though. On the way home from one of the slow ones she threw a few happy bucks. D actually rode Jewel with us and we convinced one of the boarders B to climb aboard the wonderful Patty. When they stepped out of the ring to wait for me to take a walk on the trails I decided to do one fast one since her slow tunrs had been so nice. She jumped into her left lead so I said okay I guess we will do it to the left even though her turns are better to the right. She blasted off bucking all the way to the barrel! I sat back, let her get a few out of her system, then tried to pull her head up. I was not able to do so until we reached the barrel which was a few bronco imitations late LOL!So of course I had to do it again. This time we did a fast one to the right and she was perfect. She went for it, total blast off. Her turn was beautiful and smooth right into her run for home. Then we went on a short walking trail with D and B so we had a fun riding day which may have to last us a few days.
So anyway hopefully I will get in some riding in the snow this weekend. Sunday I think I am going to go visit my friend H at her farm. She has a sled she is very excited to hook up to her horse who I call Boyfriend and invited me over to play LOL!
In other news school is going well. Six classes is not killing me as much as I thought (knock on wood). My photography is also getting ready to take off or I hope so at least. I am donating a photo shoot to the SPHO banquet so I needed a name which with some help I finally decided is going to be Shutter Savvy Images. I am pretty excited at the prospect. I will keep you guys updated!
Anyway, lets see. Well last Friday and Saturday I was not able to ride due to the horribly cold temps. It was in the twenties both days. Low twenties. Yuck! I slept over at Ks house Saturday night during which we got about an inch of snow. K as you all may remember is my barn manager's daughter and therefore lives on the farm property. So Sunday morning after a big breakfast we headed out and rode bareback. Just a 20 minute hack around the ring; walk, trot, canter. Then Monday it was time to get back to work before our lesson Wednesday. We worked on lead changes which were a little lazy (she kept forgetting the back). But we kept working at it and ended with some nice clean changes. I think she was just a bit stiff from the cold and having a few days off. We also worked on how many times we could switch leads across the ring. It went a little better than last time, but still not awesome.
Tuesday we worked on collected and extended trot which again was awesome. She transitioned from one to the other with just my seat and legs no rein neccessary. The canter changes from collected to extended were not as easy. She was very frisky and head strong wanting to run not lope never mind collected canter. But I got in the end though I had to fight for it a little. Then again we did the leads across the ring which improved a little more but not the best. We also did quarter turns at the walk, jog, and lope. She did pretty good and her halts were nice. She did not swing her butt out, which made me happy. Her sidepass was also very nice.
Wednesday we had a lesson with our fabulous trainer R. We did things a little differently working on getting better turns for games like barrels and poles instead of working on things that would come into play in western pleasure, trail, or reining. It was a nice change of pace and a much needed aid. Satin turns well but tends to have this one step around the barrel where she gets "stuck". R as always knew exactly what the cause was and had the fix. It was really a result of my focus. My eye went down impeding forward motion and killing the turn. We had to retrain me out of my bad habit and in turn re train her. First we jogged serpentines through a set of 3 cones. Then we began loping and turning around the last cone and loping back as if we were doing barrel dash. Except unlike barrel dash there was a cone as I said and this cone was in a very small space between a jump and the wall of the indoor. So it was a very tight turn we had to make. Though as always with R accomplishing this harder task makes the real thing easier. Plus in poles we would be turning around something thinner than a cone and would want it to be as tight as if it was in the little space between jump and wall. It took a few tries but in time we were able to get some nice turns that R and I were both very happy with from Satin and I. Our homework was to go home and practice the turns around the actual barrel using my improved focus and body position. She instructed me to start slow at the lope before than try it faster if she does well. She said practice with one barrel than make it 2 than when she masters that go to 3.
Yesterday the ring was too hard by the time I got out to do much so I just walk, jogged her bareback. That was fine because she definitely had a hard workout the day before. Today the ring was nice and I wanted to get a good ride in before the snow came and took away riding days. So I put on her games bridles and decided to go do our homework. We started with some turns around the barrel at the trot to warm up. Then we did some slow ones at the lope in both directions and we got some really nice turns. I was really happy with her and myself. The old girl was feeling frisky though. On the way home from one of the slow ones she threw a few happy bucks. D actually rode Jewel with us and we convinced one of the boarders B to climb aboard the wonderful Patty. When they stepped out of the ring to wait for me to take a walk on the trails I decided to do one fast one since her slow tunrs had been so nice. She jumped into her left lead so I said okay I guess we will do it to the left even though her turns are better to the right. She blasted off bucking all the way to the barrel! I sat back, let her get a few out of her system, then tried to pull her head up. I was not able to do so until we reached the barrel which was a few bronco imitations late LOL!So of course I had to do it again. This time we did a fast one to the right and she was perfect. She went for it, total blast off. Her turn was beautiful and smooth right into her run for home. Then we went on a short walking trail with D and B so we had a fun riding day which may have to last us a few days.
So anyway hopefully I will get in some riding in the snow this weekend. Sunday I think I am going to go visit my friend H at her farm. She has a sled she is very excited to hook up to her horse who I call Boyfriend and invited me over to play LOL!
In other news school is going well. Six classes is not killing me as much as I thought (knock on wood). My photography is also getting ready to take off or I hope so at least. I am donating a photo shoot to the SPHO banquet so I needed a name which with some help I finally decided is going to be Shutter Savvy Images. I am pretty excited at the prospect. I will keep you guys updated!
Friday, January 29, 2010
The Cold is back with a vengence!
The bitter cold is back and I hate it! It was in the low twenties today and is expected to the same tomorrow and let's not even talk about the wind, ugh! I was unable to ride today because of the bitter temps and they are predicting the same for tomorrow, which leaves weekend riding out of the picture most likely. Sunday is supposed to be about thirty, but still pretty cold so who knows, fingers crossed it will be enough to keep the ground unfrozen and not be too harsh on my pony's lung for a workout.
Anyway I have been riding throughout the week when the temps were better. Monday was 58 but it rained most of the day. All of a sudden at 2 the clouds parted and the sun came shining through so of course I ran out to the farm. We just had a fun ride, hacking around the farm, enjoying the warmer temps. After the weekend off and a rain storm Satin was quite full of herself so I let her run it out a little which made us both happy.
Tuesday is my late day at school so I did not arrive at the farm until after 5 and had to get home since my aunt was visiting. So I decided to just ride bareback. I was joined by my friend K and her friend KB who is a beginner but has enjoyed learning. We just walk, trot, cantered and then did some bridleless work at the walk and the trot. We are gearing up for the JHR 2nd annual open house where we will give another bridleless demonstration as we did last year and this time will be bareback as well.
Wednesday we went back to work in preparation for next weeks lesson. R gave us some homework so we got down to it. Our warm up went beautifully as did her counter canter. It was very calm and collected just as we practiced with R. Then we worked on going across the ring and seeing how many times we could change leads as we did in our lesson and R said to practice. It went pretty well though I think could be better. Satin was getting restless and tired from the work we had been doing before. It was also nearing feeding time so she was trying to rush and be done.
Thursday night we did our usual warm up than worked on collecting and extending the trot and canter. She was awesome! She collected her trot with hardly any rein aid. All I had to do was tighten my seat and leg and she would automatically come down to the collected trot. As soon as relaxed my seat she extended again. Then we again worked on getting as many leads as we can across the short end of our ring. It went about the same as the day before maybe a bit better. Hopefully we will get some riding in before our lesson to get them a bit sharper.
In other news I am in week two of the semester and all is well so far. Still trying to get back in school mode though, but I like my classes for the most part.
Anyway I have been riding throughout the week when the temps were better. Monday was 58 but it rained most of the day. All of a sudden at 2 the clouds parted and the sun came shining through so of course I ran out to the farm. We just had a fun ride, hacking around the farm, enjoying the warmer temps. After the weekend off and a rain storm Satin was quite full of herself so I let her run it out a little which made us both happy.
Tuesday is my late day at school so I did not arrive at the farm until after 5 and had to get home since my aunt was visiting. So I decided to just ride bareback. I was joined by my friend K and her friend KB who is a beginner but has enjoyed learning. We just walk, trot, cantered and then did some bridleless work at the walk and the trot. We are gearing up for the JHR 2nd annual open house where we will give another bridleless demonstration as we did last year and this time will be bareback as well.
Wednesday we went back to work in preparation for next weeks lesson. R gave us some homework so we got down to it. Our warm up went beautifully as did her counter canter. It was very calm and collected just as we practiced with R. Then we worked on going across the ring and seeing how many times we could change leads as we did in our lesson and R said to practice. It went pretty well though I think could be better. Satin was getting restless and tired from the work we had been doing before. It was also nearing feeding time so she was trying to rush and be done.
Thursday night we did our usual warm up than worked on collecting and extending the trot and canter. She was awesome! She collected her trot with hardly any rein aid. All I had to do was tighten my seat and leg and she would automatically come down to the collected trot. As soon as relaxed my seat she extended again. Then we again worked on getting as many leads as we can across the short end of our ring. It went about the same as the day before maybe a bit better. Hopefully we will get some riding in before our lesson to get them a bit sharper.
In other news I am in week two of the semester and all is well so far. Still trying to get back in school mode though, but I like my classes for the most part.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Back from Maryland
Okay so as always I had a great weekend in Maryland at the expo. I went with my friends L and S. My good friend J who as you may remember gifted me with my wonderful mare met us up there with a friend of hers. We arrived Friday night and just spent the evening catching up with J and relaxing at the hotel. Saturday we hit the expo all day. I was a little dissappointed in the shopping selection as it there was less vendors and less products than in past years which I am sure must be due to the bad economic times. We all also shopped much less than in past years. I bought a water bucket for the shows which was on sale for a great prices, some cheapo half chaps for my few ventures into english riding (and hopefully some ventures into dressage...more on that later)m soem smaller clippers, and a t shirt. The clinics on the other hand I found to be much better than in past years. They had some new clinicians and some different topics covered. I watched s few english clinics since that is what my friend L rides and I must say I even learned a lot in those that can be applied to my own riding. Today we stayed at the expo until around 3 then headed home.
Our jockey/racehorse trainer friend Doug was involved in a demo with Steuart Pittman, an eventer, but he did it on Thursday before we arrived. Though we did get to see one of Doug's horses who he recently retired from the track in many demos with Pittman about turning retired TB racers into eventers. We even for to see him free jumped which is something I have never gotten to see in person before and was pretty cool. It turns out Doug's brother was also at the eventer giving a speech on sponsorship. It also turns out his brother is the owner of a big tack shop that I had first come in contact with at Equine Affaire and sponsors many big name riders.
So overall we had a fun weekend, but I of course missed my pony. Going to these expos and watching other people ride always make me want to ride even more. Plus L and I learned a few things we want to try at home one our mares. Tomorrow is supposed to rain, but the afternoon is supposed to clear up and be 55 degrees! So I am very much looking forward to that and hoping weather predictions are correct as far as drying up by the time I get out of school to ride. (knock on wood)
Anyway I will quickly catch you up on the riding I did before leaving for the expo. Tuesday Sat and I had a good schooling session. Her jog and lope were good and we did more shoulder in and out. We also worked on quarter turns which she did pretty nicely. Then since she was being a very good girl and I could tell she wanted to go I took out the barrel and let her run a few dashes which she very much enjoyed. Then K wanted to get on and do a few since she had not run a barrel in a while and her pony Smokey had been lame for the past 2 weeks so she was just walking him bareback. So we switched and I walked and lightly trotted on the finally recovered Smokey while K did a few dashes on Sat which she did nicely. She also did some awesome practically sitting down reining stops when K asked her to halt after some runs. She also did a couple of nice spins after being keyed up from the barrel.
Wednesday we had a jam packed lesson with R that was great as usual. We worked on extending and collecting the trot and canter as we have done in the past. We also worked on quarter turns at the walk, trot, and canter setting up a bit of a pattern. While doing the quarter turn pattern we worked on halts since Satin tended to swing her butt out instead of stop squarely because she was prepared to spin as soon as she was asked to halt. As I always this say this mare is too smart sometimes! She always anticipates and memorizes every pattern after one or two times doing it. Then we began to add 180s into the pattern. Her quarter turns were great and her 180s were pretty good as always better to the one side than to the other. We are definitely seeing improvement. We then worked on lead changes starting with simple then on to flying as is our usual routine now since the simple seem to be a good warm up for Satin for the flying. We had to do them a few times though since she swapped the front but not the back a few times or anticipated/rushed the lead change cutting the circle too early. It took a few minutes of working on it and trying a few times but we eventually completed the beautiful changes she is known for. After that we worked on counter canter something we had not worked on in a long time in or our of lessons though I had done it once or twice the week prior. She picked it up easily both ways and held it nicely as long as I asked and around the turns. I was very pleased since the last time I had done it at home it had taken a try or two to pick iy up and she tried to swap once or twice in the one direction. R wanted me to work on collecting it and having less of a head tilt to the outside on Satin's part. So we did each direction a second time and got it a nice more collected counter canter. I also let go of her head since I tend to hold it to the outside to keep the bend and prevent her from trying to switch on the turns. On the left lead counter canter she held it the whole time and even had her head tipped to the inside for most of it. On the right lead counter canter she again held it the whole time but had her head slightly tipped outside on her own though she did straighten it here and there. We also worked on an excercise where we go down the middle of the arena from one end to the other on the right lead for a few strides then the left or vice versa; order wasn't important. We had done this excercise in previous lessons except she had us go down one side of the ring and see how many times we could do each lead, get a stride or two of the right lead then left then right then left etc. This is something R suggested practicing at home seeing how many times we could do each lead or how many transitions from walk to trot to canter or trot to walk etc. She wants us to be able to get three changes down the arena by our next lesson, so we better get practicing since R has a small indoor. This excercise required sharp transitions and quick responses from my marem but I have full faith in us. We ended with some sidepass practice which went beautifully though R said all the excercises we had done in our lesson set her up to be ready to sidepass. So as you can see R packs a lot into a lesson!
I also consulted with R on the upcoming show season since CJHA is now adding games back to the prize list. There will be barrels, poles, and keyhole. As you all know my mare and I love games so I wanted to both at least on some shows, money permitting. So I asked R what she thought since I see some horses Satin's age and a year or two younger retired or semi-retired, so I sometimes wonder if I do too much with her. But, she is extremely fit, loves everything she does, and wants and loves having a job. She has not shown any signs of being overworked. R agreed that there is absolutely no physical reason why she could not do both divisions on the same day since the four pleasure classes are not tiring for her and there ate only 3 games classes plus she will have 2-3 hours in between. She said physically there is nothing to worry about, the problem is if she can mentally handle getting into pleasure mode after running barrels in the morning in the same exact ring. It will either be good and tire her out before pleasure or the opposite and get her hyped. She suggested trying it the first show and seeing what happens. So that is what I plan to do. I also as I have mentioned want to go to QH show and they are offering walk jog pleasure and walk jog horsemanship this year so I am thinking of showing in it or hoping to.
So Thursday I decided to take it easy on Satin since she had quite the workout the day before and just walk, trot, cantered lightly bareback. We finished up with some bridleless work at the walk just doing circles and figure eights and such. I want to get her ultra responsive to bridleless at each gait so of course the walk is the place to start.
Anyway thats it for now as far as riding. I also started classes on Tuesday. I have a jam packed semester with six classes. My three journalism classes seem interesting and fun as does my creative writing non fiction class. My religion class seems like it will be okay and I can tell I will hate physics but at least it is the last science class I will ever have to take!
Our jockey/racehorse trainer friend Doug was involved in a demo with Steuart Pittman, an eventer, but he did it on Thursday before we arrived. Though we did get to see one of Doug's horses who he recently retired from the track in many demos with Pittman about turning retired TB racers into eventers. We even for to see him free jumped which is something I have never gotten to see in person before and was pretty cool. It turns out Doug's brother was also at the eventer giving a speech on sponsorship. It also turns out his brother is the owner of a big tack shop that I had first come in contact with at Equine Affaire and sponsors many big name riders.
So overall we had a fun weekend, but I of course missed my pony. Going to these expos and watching other people ride always make me want to ride even more. Plus L and I learned a few things we want to try at home one our mares. Tomorrow is supposed to rain, but the afternoon is supposed to clear up and be 55 degrees! So I am very much looking forward to that and hoping weather predictions are correct as far as drying up by the time I get out of school to ride. (knock on wood)
Anyway I will quickly catch you up on the riding I did before leaving for the expo. Tuesday Sat and I had a good schooling session. Her jog and lope were good and we did more shoulder in and out. We also worked on quarter turns which she did pretty nicely. Then since she was being a very good girl and I could tell she wanted to go I took out the barrel and let her run a few dashes which she very much enjoyed. Then K wanted to get on and do a few since she had not run a barrel in a while and her pony Smokey had been lame for the past 2 weeks so she was just walking him bareback. So we switched and I walked and lightly trotted on the finally recovered Smokey while K did a few dashes on Sat which she did nicely. She also did some awesome practically sitting down reining stops when K asked her to halt after some runs. She also did a couple of nice spins after being keyed up from the barrel.
Wednesday we had a jam packed lesson with R that was great as usual. We worked on extending and collecting the trot and canter as we have done in the past. We also worked on quarter turns at the walk, trot, and canter setting up a bit of a pattern. While doing the quarter turn pattern we worked on halts since Satin tended to swing her butt out instead of stop squarely because she was prepared to spin as soon as she was asked to halt. As I always this say this mare is too smart sometimes! She always anticipates and memorizes every pattern after one or two times doing it. Then we began to add 180s into the pattern. Her quarter turns were great and her 180s were pretty good as always better to the one side than to the other. We are definitely seeing improvement. We then worked on lead changes starting with simple then on to flying as is our usual routine now since the simple seem to be a good warm up for Satin for the flying. We had to do them a few times though since she swapped the front but not the back a few times or anticipated/rushed the lead change cutting the circle too early. It took a few minutes of working on it and trying a few times but we eventually completed the beautiful changes she is known for. After that we worked on counter canter something we had not worked on in a long time in or our of lessons though I had done it once or twice the week prior. She picked it up easily both ways and held it nicely as long as I asked and around the turns. I was very pleased since the last time I had done it at home it had taken a try or two to pick iy up and she tried to swap once or twice in the one direction. R wanted me to work on collecting it and having less of a head tilt to the outside on Satin's part. So we did each direction a second time and got it a nice more collected counter canter. I also let go of her head since I tend to hold it to the outside to keep the bend and prevent her from trying to switch on the turns. On the left lead counter canter she held it the whole time and even had her head tipped to the inside for most of it. On the right lead counter canter she again held it the whole time but had her head slightly tipped outside on her own though she did straighten it here and there. We also worked on an excercise where we go down the middle of the arena from one end to the other on the right lead for a few strides then the left or vice versa; order wasn't important. We had done this excercise in previous lessons except she had us go down one side of the ring and see how many times we could do each lead, get a stride or two of the right lead then left then right then left etc. This is something R suggested practicing at home seeing how many times we could do each lead or how many transitions from walk to trot to canter or trot to walk etc. She wants us to be able to get three changes down the arena by our next lesson, so we better get practicing since R has a small indoor. This excercise required sharp transitions and quick responses from my marem but I have full faith in us. We ended with some sidepass practice which went beautifully though R said all the excercises we had done in our lesson set her up to be ready to sidepass. So as you can see R packs a lot into a lesson!
I also consulted with R on the upcoming show season since CJHA is now adding games back to the prize list. There will be barrels, poles, and keyhole. As you all know my mare and I love games so I wanted to both at least on some shows, money permitting. So I asked R what she thought since I see some horses Satin's age and a year or two younger retired or semi-retired, so I sometimes wonder if I do too much with her. But, she is extremely fit, loves everything she does, and wants and loves having a job. She has not shown any signs of being overworked. R agreed that there is absolutely no physical reason why she could not do both divisions on the same day since the four pleasure classes are not tiring for her and there ate only 3 games classes plus she will have 2-3 hours in between. She said physically there is nothing to worry about, the problem is if she can mentally handle getting into pleasure mode after running barrels in the morning in the same exact ring. It will either be good and tire her out before pleasure or the opposite and get her hyped. She suggested trying it the first show and seeing what happens. So that is what I plan to do. I also as I have mentioned want to go to QH show and they are offering walk jog pleasure and walk jog horsemanship this year so I am thinking of showing in it or hoping to.
So Thursday I decided to take it easy on Satin since she had quite the workout the day before and just walk, trot, cantered lightly bareback. We finished up with some bridleless work at the walk just doing circles and figure eights and such. I want to get her ultra responsive to bridleless at each gait so of course the walk is the place to start.
Anyway thats it for now as far as riding. I also started classes on Tuesday. I have a jam packed semester with six classes. My three journalism classes seem interesting and fun as does my creative writing non fiction class. My religion class seems like it will be okay and I can tell I will hate physics but at least it is the last science class I will ever have to take!
Monday, January 18, 2010
Winter Break is Coming to an End :(
Unfortunately today was my last day of winter break and tomorrow spring semester starts and I am back to classes, studying, and homework. I am definitely not looking forward to it, but who ever really does.
Anyway so first of all I will of course give the riding update. Friday as I already informed you guys was Satin's 21st birthday. It was also a gorgeous day in the high 40s so we went for a trail ride. We were joined of course by K but her trail mount was unusual, well for her. She rode my friend L's standardbred mare Lexie since her usual trail mount, her gelding Smokey, has been lame for the past week. Her mother's horse Jewel has not been ridden in a month and the other mare she sometimes rides was going out on trial the next day. So L offered Lexie who has proven to be a reliable trail mount since L was not riding that day. We went on a nice little hack for about forty minutes.
Saturday was another gorgeous day reaching about 50 degrees. Since we did not have anyone to join us on a trail ride we rode at home around the paddocks and the grass field. She was good as always as we trotted and cantered around. Then I let her do the barrel a few times. I was just going to have her do it slow, but Satin had other ideas. The first time she went to the barrel slowly, but it was blast off on the way home, to the point where I almost thought I wasn't going to be able to turn or stop her before we hit the fence! LOL! We did it a few more times and she was raring to go, blast off every time. Then I let her do a very short sprint across the grass ring to where L was waiting and she was going full steam ahead! That's my girl 21 going on 3, haha!
Yesterday rained, plus Satin deserved a day off so I did not ride. Today was another gorgeous 50 degree day, so after some shopping with L we hit the barn. Satin was prancing and dancing when I took her out of the field so I expected a hyper schooling session. If not for the fact that we have a lesson this week and need some schooling work I would have let her play in the back again. As I began to warm her up Satin proved my expectations wrong, she was ready to get down to work. We started with our usual posting trot warm up with shoulder in and shoulder out. Her jog and lope were beautiful and then we worked on counter canter. It took a few tries to get her to pick it up in both directions. We have not done it in a while so she is out of practice, but was still able to hold around turns in both directions. Then we did some quarter turns and then 180s which are getting a little better. We finished off with some sidepassing which was a bit lazy but correct.
Tomorrow we will do some more schooling in preparation for what I am sure will be a great lesson with R on Wednesday. Also as previously stated I start classes tomorrow as well. Of course I have to start classes on my longest day, four in a row, ughhhh. Well at least riding to look forward to after and the Maryland Horse Expo this weekend :)
Anyway so first of all I will of course give the riding update. Friday as I already informed you guys was Satin's 21st birthday. It was also a gorgeous day in the high 40s so we went for a trail ride. We were joined of course by K but her trail mount was unusual, well for her. She rode my friend L's standardbred mare Lexie since her usual trail mount, her gelding Smokey, has been lame for the past week. Her mother's horse Jewel has not been ridden in a month and the other mare she sometimes rides was going out on trial the next day. So L offered Lexie who has proven to be a reliable trail mount since L was not riding that day. We went on a nice little hack for about forty minutes.
Saturday was another gorgeous day reaching about 50 degrees. Since we did not have anyone to join us on a trail ride we rode at home around the paddocks and the grass field. She was good as always as we trotted and cantered around. Then I let her do the barrel a few times. I was just going to have her do it slow, but Satin had other ideas. The first time she went to the barrel slowly, but it was blast off on the way home, to the point where I almost thought I wasn't going to be able to turn or stop her before we hit the fence! LOL! We did it a few more times and she was raring to go, blast off every time. Then I let her do a very short sprint across the grass ring to where L was waiting and she was going full steam ahead! That's my girl 21 going on 3, haha!
Yesterday rained, plus Satin deserved a day off so I did not ride. Today was another gorgeous 50 degree day, so after some shopping with L we hit the barn. Satin was prancing and dancing when I took her out of the field so I expected a hyper schooling session. If not for the fact that we have a lesson this week and need some schooling work I would have let her play in the back again. As I began to warm her up Satin proved my expectations wrong, she was ready to get down to work. We started with our usual posting trot warm up with shoulder in and shoulder out. Her jog and lope were beautiful and then we worked on counter canter. It took a few tries to get her to pick it up in both directions. We have not done it in a while so she is out of practice, but was still able to hold around turns in both directions. Then we did some quarter turns and then 180s which are getting a little better. We finished off with some sidepassing which was a bit lazy but correct.
Tomorrow we will do some more schooling in preparation for what I am sure will be a great lesson with R on Wednesday. Also as previously stated I start classes tomorrow as well. Of course I have to start classes on my longest day, four in a row, ughhhh. Well at least riding to look forward to after and the Maryland Horse Expo this weekend :)
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Loving this Forty Degree Weather!
This week has been in the high 30s and low 40s and it will continue to climb into the mid to upper 40s through the weekend. This is like it being in the 70s compared to the 20 degree weather we had the previous two weeks. The ring footing has gone back to perfect so my riding has gone back to its usual mode. Satin and I are both very happy about that. My mare enjoys having a job and does not like being pent up.
So Tuesday we had a good schooling session. We did some shoulder in and shoulder out excercises like we did in our last lesson and then some jog and lope which were very nice. Afterwards we worked on our quarter turns and I let her get a little hand gallop in as I could feel she was ready to blow. After I rode Sat, I rode Hezzie, a friend's Kentucky Mountain Walking Horse. We just rode around bareback at a walk and trot since he has had some time off. Then afterwards I jumped on my friend L's Standardbred mare Lexie for some more bareback walk trot since by then the ring was getting a little crunchy. Let me tell you who needs a thigh master with that mare around. Sit to her trot bareback a couple times a week and my legs will be rock hard!
Yesterday Satin and I had another good schooling session. Again we did the shoulder in and out and her jog and lope were very nice. But again I felt she was tensed and ready to go though she listened very well. So as a reward I let her get a little gallop out of her system. And let me tell you she was ready to go! Then we popped over a small cross rail a few times. The first time she soared over it like it was 3 feet tall and then took off a little afterwards. After about three or four tries we had her going over it in a normal fashion. Then we did some more quarter turns as we are trying to sharpen our spins. Before I rode Sat I rode Hezzie again bareback while K rode Patty and then we switched. We did walk, trot, and canter with both ands they were both very good. They are the 2 most comfortable horses to ride bareback. Hex being gaited has a nice smooth trot and though Patty is a QH she has the most comfortable trot ever! She can be at the most extended trot ever and you still don't have to post. Its awesome!
Anyway Satin's 21st birthday is tomorrow so will write more on that then!
So Tuesday we had a good schooling session. We did some shoulder in and shoulder out excercises like we did in our last lesson and then some jog and lope which were very nice. Afterwards we worked on our quarter turns and I let her get a little hand gallop in as I could feel she was ready to blow. After I rode Sat, I rode Hezzie, a friend's Kentucky Mountain Walking Horse. We just rode around bareback at a walk and trot since he has had some time off. Then afterwards I jumped on my friend L's Standardbred mare Lexie for some more bareback walk trot since by then the ring was getting a little crunchy. Let me tell you who needs a thigh master with that mare around. Sit to her trot bareback a couple times a week and my legs will be rock hard!
Yesterday Satin and I had another good schooling session. Again we did the shoulder in and out and her jog and lope were very nice. But again I felt she was tensed and ready to go though she listened very well. So as a reward I let her get a little gallop out of her system. And let me tell you she was ready to go! Then we popped over a small cross rail a few times. The first time she soared over it like it was 3 feet tall and then took off a little afterwards. After about three or four tries we had her going over it in a normal fashion. Then we did some more quarter turns as we are trying to sharpen our spins. Before I rode Sat I rode Hezzie again bareback while K rode Patty and then we switched. We did walk, trot, and canter with both ands they were both very good. They are the 2 most comfortable horses to ride bareback. Hex being gaited has a nice smooth trot and though Patty is a QH she has the most comfortable trot ever! She can be at the most extended trot ever and you still don't have to post. Its awesome!
Anyway Satin's 21st birthday is tomorrow so will write more on that then!
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Rider's Bucket List
So a few months back Horse Illustrated, one of my favorite equestrian magazines, featured what they called the "Rider's Bucket List". Basically this is the equestrian version of the typical bucket list. A list of things every equestrian should do and experience before they kick the bucket.
The list Horse Illustrated published was as follows:
1 Gallop on the beach. (done, though I would like to do it on my mare)
2 Win a blue ribbon, even if it’s for the egg and spoon race! (done)
3 Enjoy an evening of equestrian theater, from major touring productions such as Cavalia to local performance troupes. (done though there are others I want to see)
4 Try your hand at cattle work. Find out what it means when they say a horse is “cowy.” (if team penning counts then I have done this too)
5 Jump! From crossrails to cross-country obstacles, experience the thrill of soaring over fences. (done, though I would eventually like to try bigger stuff)
6 Fall off and get right back on again. Conquering fear is empowering. (done many times)
7 See the majestic white Lipizzan stallions at the Spanish Riding School in Vienna.
(would love to do)
8 Come to a sliding stop on a well-trained reining horse. (also would love to do since the old mare doesn't slide anymore)
9 Take a lesson with your equestrian idol, _________ (you fill in the blank.)
(definitely on my list and mine would be Stacy Westfall or Lynn Palm)
10 Nurse a horse through a crisis and back to full health. (haven't done yet, but I'm sure I will eventually)
11 Experience the smooth ride of a gaited horse. (done)
12 Watch the horses come through the Head of the Lake on cross-country day at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event. (again would love to do)
13 Have the courage to do the right thing for your horse, even when it’s not easy. (have done and will continue to do)
14 Attend the Kentucky Derby dressed to the nines—including hat! (done but would love to do again)
15 Tackle a trail accessible only by horseback and enjoy the view. (love doing this)
16 Take your dream vacation on horseback. (also on my must do list)
17 Master the sitting trot. (done--> part of the job of a western pleasure rider)
18 Ride a fine-tuned horse in your discipline of choice, be it dressage schoolmaster or barrel champ. (well this goes back to ride a fine tuned reining horse for me but a master barrel horse is on the list too)
19 Watch polo. Even better, try your hand at it! (watched a demo once but would love to watch/try the real thing)
20 Feed, muck, groom, ride. Repeat daily. (lol done)
21 Wake up to a whinny every morning. (would love to some day)
22 Fly down the track on a Thoroughbred. (definitely something to experience)
23 Meet one of your favorite famous horses in person. (def on my list = Rachel Alexandra, Zenyatta, and Stacy Westfall's mare Roxy)
24 Ride bareback, bridleless ... or both! (done! though definitely want to continue)
25 Share a bond with your horse that’s deeper than words.
(done :) )
So as you can see I have already accomplished many of the things on this list (which can be found at http://www.horsechannel.com/horse-community/riders-bucket-list.aspx) But I definitely think the things on here are things every equestrian should experience at least once in their lives. There are also a few things I have not yet done that I would like to add.
26. Watch the birth of a foal in person (maybe even get to assist)
27. Go to Montana and spend time on a real working cattle farm.
28. Learn to drive a horse in a Meadowbrook or some kind of cart.
29. Sit in the sulky and experience a real racing trot or pace.
30. Breed my mare (not Satin since she is beyond breeding years) and raise and train the foal myself.
31. Compete at a Quarter Horse show on Satin (hopefully this year)
32. Compete in a reining class (preferably on Sat & maybe at QH this year)
33. Take reining lessons
34. Ride a Grand Prix dressage horse and learn how to really make them work
35. Own a race horse
36. See Stacy Westfall perform bareback and bridleless in person
37. Go to the World Equestrian Games, Breeder's Cup, and Saratoga
38. Go back to Kentucky to go to the Kentucky Horse Park, Racing/Derby Hall of Fame, visit some of the big breeding farms like Claiborne, etc.
39. Compete in an endurance race or better yet one of Craig Cameron's Extreme Cowboy Races
40. Go swimming on my mare (done before on other horses)
41. Get up at dawn, jump on my horse, and hit the trails.
42. Attend the equestrian portion of the Olympics
43. Spend a week on the farm of a famous equestrian like Lynn Palm or Stacy Westfall.
44. Watch morning workouts at Churchill Downs or Belmont before one of the Triple Crown Races.
45. Attend Quarter Horse Congress
So these are some things that I as an equestrian would like to experience before I "kick the bucket" in addition to the things Horse Illustrated suggested. I better get to work! I would love to hear from fellow equestrians about what is on your Equestrian Bucket List.
The list Horse Illustrated published was as follows:
1 Gallop on the beach. (done, though I would like to do it on my mare)
2 Win a blue ribbon, even if it’s for the egg and spoon race! (done)
3 Enjoy an evening of equestrian theater, from major touring productions such as Cavalia to local performance troupes. (done though there are others I want to see)
4 Try your hand at cattle work. Find out what it means when they say a horse is “cowy.” (if team penning counts then I have done this too)
5 Jump! From crossrails to cross-country obstacles, experience the thrill of soaring over fences. (done, though I would eventually like to try bigger stuff)
6 Fall off and get right back on again. Conquering fear is empowering. (done many times)
7 See the majestic white Lipizzan stallions at the Spanish Riding School in Vienna.
(would love to do)
8 Come to a sliding stop on a well-trained reining horse. (also would love to do since the old mare doesn't slide anymore)
9 Take a lesson with your equestrian idol, _________ (you fill in the blank.)
(definitely on my list and mine would be Stacy Westfall or Lynn Palm)
10 Nurse a horse through a crisis and back to full health. (haven't done yet, but I'm sure I will eventually)
11 Experience the smooth ride of a gaited horse. (done)
12 Watch the horses come through the Head of the Lake on cross-country day at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event. (again would love to do)
13 Have the courage to do the right thing for your horse, even when it’s not easy. (have done and will continue to do)
14 Attend the Kentucky Derby dressed to the nines—including hat! (done but would love to do again)
15 Tackle a trail accessible only by horseback and enjoy the view. (love doing this)
16 Take your dream vacation on horseback. (also on my must do list)
17 Master the sitting trot. (done--> part of the job of a western pleasure rider)
18 Ride a fine-tuned horse in your discipline of choice, be it dressage schoolmaster or barrel champ. (well this goes back to ride a fine tuned reining horse for me but a master barrel horse is on the list too)
19 Watch polo. Even better, try your hand at it! (watched a demo once but would love to watch/try the real thing)
20 Feed, muck, groom, ride. Repeat daily. (lol done)
21 Wake up to a whinny every morning. (would love to some day)
22 Fly down the track on a Thoroughbred. (definitely something to experience)
23 Meet one of your favorite famous horses in person. (def on my list = Rachel Alexandra, Zenyatta, and Stacy Westfall's mare Roxy)
24 Ride bareback, bridleless ... or both! (done! though definitely want to continue)
25 Share a bond with your horse that’s deeper than words.
(done :) )
So as you can see I have already accomplished many of the things on this list (which can be found at http://www.horsechannel.com/horse-community/riders-bucket-list.aspx) But I definitely think the things on here are things every equestrian should experience at least once in their lives. There are also a few things I have not yet done that I would like to add.
26. Watch the birth of a foal in person (maybe even get to assist)
27. Go to Montana and spend time on a real working cattle farm.
28. Learn to drive a horse in a Meadowbrook or some kind of cart.
29. Sit in the sulky and experience a real racing trot or pace.
30. Breed my mare (not Satin since she is beyond breeding years) and raise and train the foal myself.
31. Compete at a Quarter Horse show on Satin (hopefully this year)
32. Compete in a reining class (preferably on Sat & maybe at QH this year)
33. Take reining lessons
34. Ride a Grand Prix dressage horse and learn how to really make them work
35. Own a race horse
36. See Stacy Westfall perform bareback and bridleless in person
37. Go to the World Equestrian Games, Breeder's Cup, and Saratoga
38. Go back to Kentucky to go to the Kentucky Horse Park, Racing/Derby Hall of Fame, visit some of the big breeding farms like Claiborne, etc.
39. Compete in an endurance race or better yet one of Craig Cameron's Extreme Cowboy Races
40. Go swimming on my mare (done before on other horses)
41. Get up at dawn, jump on my horse, and hit the trails.
42. Attend the equestrian portion of the Olympics
43. Spend a week on the farm of a famous equestrian like Lynn Palm or Stacy Westfall.
44. Watch morning workouts at Churchill Downs or Belmont before one of the Triple Crown Races.
45. Attend Quarter Horse Congress
So these are some things that I as an equestrian would like to experience before I "kick the bucket" in addition to the things Horse Illustrated suggested. I better get to work! I would love to hear from fellow equestrians about what is on your Equestrian Bucket List.
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