Spring is Finally Here .... Supposedly

Last week it was evident that was spring was on it's ways with many days in the 60s and even 70s. Sunday was the first official day of spring and the weather has gone down hill from there. They are talking about possible snow tomorrow, though hopefully it will really be all rain.

My last lesson on Satin went well though she did have a hard time with her lead change in the one direction. I had one a gift certificate for chiropractic which happened to be with my regular vet so he came out last week. It was quite interesting as I had never seen anything like it before. He did say though that all her problems were on her right side, which I expected because when I bend her on the ground she has a harder time in that direction. When I told R this she said that could be the reason for her lead change issues. I have my next lesson tomorrow so we will see if things have improved.

My last lesson on Try was great. The lesson before we had a few stopping/stubborness issues but R helped me work through it and I finally figured him out on that stuff at least. So, my last lesson went much better. We had none of that stopping stuff. He did think about it once or twice but he was able to stop it before it started. R had us canter with the reins hooked over the horn which was interesting. She wanted me to trust him more and not go to use my hands so much, but rather to rely more on seat and legs. Since I have only ridden the horse about 5 times it was hard for me to resist picking up the reins to fix him as I do not know him well enough for that kind of trust yet, but he is a good boy and has no where to go in that indoor.

Anyway only had time for a quick update. I have to get back to interning so I can get to the barn soon.

Product Review: Equi-Jewel

Over the end of the fall and into the winter I had noticed Satin had begun to drop some weight. She is older (22 now) so this is to be expected. We began giving her extra hay, which did produce a hay belly, but did not do anything for the fact that she looked a bit ribby or that her top line wasnt as nice as it had been all summer (which was not from lack of work because she was one of the few horses in New Jersey without an indoor who kept in shape all winter). We separated her from her paddock mate at feed time. Even thought they both ate the same amount of grain her paddockmate ate it faster and would chase Satin off the end of her grain. We also tried increasing her grain from half a scoop of pellet and half a scoop of sweet feed to a full scoop of pellet and half a scoop of sweet feed. I gave this a few weeks to kick in and it still showed no real signs of improvement. I also was very on top of her blanketing this winter. I always am, but this winter I was even more diligent with checking temperatures and rotating her to the appropriate level blanket as she has a sheet, medium, and heavy weight. I did not want her wasting any excess fat on keeping warm.

When these previous efforts proved to not be successful I went to my trainer and asked her advice. When I first moved Satin to her current residence two years ago she was underweight due to issues with graining at my previous farm that lead to my move. We upped her grain and I put her on fat cat for two months and it did the trick, so I asked my trainer about various options.

She suggested Equi-Jewel. It is a rice bran pellet containing 20% fat. She feeds it to a few of her horses and they love it and it works well. She gave Satin a handful to try and she almost ate her fingers she loved it so much. As you all know I take my trainer's word as Gospel so the next day Satin started on Equi-Jewel. As usual R was right. Not only did Satin love it and gobble it up, but she I noticed a difference within two weeks. She has now been on it for six weeks and is looking better and better. She no longer looks ribby and her top line is improving as well.

I highly recommend this product. Right now Satin is getting twice a day, but once she builds up a little more she will be dropped down the once a day and then her grain will eventually be decreased to its original ration. But, anyone with older horses, hard keepers, or any other weight issues should definitely give it a try. It is only about $30 for a grain sized bag of it which lasted me about six weeks.

I know, I know, I'm a slacker

I feel like these days I am constantly apologizing for the fact that I have been such a slacker on this blog. Things are just SOOOOOOOO busy for my this year, especially this semester, with it being the end of college. I feel like I have no time for anything. There are just not enough hours in my day. So to avoid constantly apologizing I will just say now, the updates will come as often as possible which will likely be not too often, but I will try my best to post at least 2 or 3 times a month.

Anyway, so first I will give the updates everyone wants most...the Satin ones! As I mentioned last time our ring is now usable (yay!!), so we have gotten back to our regular routine. About two weeks ago we were even able to get out on a trail ride, which was awesome. Can't wait for another one! Anyway we have been continuing with our lessons as we have all winter and have actually been able to do our homework. Lately we have been working a lot on flying lead changes. Satin already knows them as a reining horse but has gotten a bit lazy with them lately so we are working on cleaning them up and making them happen when I want instead of when she wants, as well as, fixing my equitation and ques during the changes as I tend to get in her way. We actually have a lesson later today, so looking forward to that.

In other news, I have not yet gotten back on Hottie for numerous reasons, none really having to do with him though and do hope to get him back to work soon. My new project horse, Try, that I introduced last week is doing well. I have had a few lessons on him and we are devloping a friendship and getting the hang of each other. He is a sweet horse but has some sensitivities due to mistakes and issues left over from his previous trainer. Anything that reminds him of his past work leads him to basically shut down, so we are slowly startng to figure each other out and things are going well.

School is good but busy. I like my internship, though the other intern and I often find ourselves sitting in the office with nothing to do as our supervisor is always so busy. When we do have work to do though it is interesting and good experience. Freelancing is going well and I have a few articles waiting for my attention, that I plan to begin work on next week while I am on spring break. Photography has been a bit dormant. I have had print orders from previous shoots, but haven't had any requests for shoots due to the cold weather and dead everything not providing good backgrounds. I expect now as the weather starts to turn that will change as I had several people inquire about spring photoshoots last fall.

Spring is in the Air

Spring is finally coming! Today temperatures reached 60! It is going to be chilly tomorrow, but the rest of the week is going to be in the 60s! Yay! It was so nice to ride in just a tshirt and sweatshirt and one pair of pants. We did unfortunately have tornado force winds which were not very fun, but can't complain.

Our ring finally thawed out last week and has been useable which has been awesome. I had a lesson last week and we did work on lead changes. It started out a little rough, but ended great. It is good timing for the ring to be back in action since I have bending homework to do.

In other news, a new project pony has just entered my life. A fellow photographer I know through horsey friends has a 7 year old Grulla QH gelding that has been in training with my trainer, the wonderful R, all winter. She plans to bring him home in May and asked if I would ride him a few times a week when she does. Apparently she had a riding accident a few years ago and since then just does mainly walk only rides. From what I hear my trainer has completely turned this horse around from when he first came. I am not surprised in the least as she is awesome. Anyway, I went on Saturday for a test ride on him. I watched R ride him first and she put him through his paces, explained his quirks to me, and told me how to cue him. Then I got on and rode him for about half an hour. It was very windy out so the indoor was making lots of scary noises. He was a bit looky and snorty with one or two little spooks but nothing major. All in all it went pretty well. As the ride went on and I got more used to him it only got better.

My trainer was very happy with how it went. She said that was him on a bad day so that on a normal/good day I should have no problems at all. She thought we got along very well and that he liked me and I handled him well. She also asked me if I wanted to come once a week and have a lesson on him, which of course I said yes to. He is a nice horse and I think I will have fun with him.

Favorite Racehorses

Well apparently this is my week of favorite videos. Here are my two favorite racehorses.

This first video is of Ruffian, the greatest filly to ever run a race.



The second is of Secretariat in the Belmont, his greatest victory.

Stacy Westfall

As all of you know from reading this I am a huge fan of Stacy Westfall and she was the one who inspired me to start doing bareback and bridleless with Satin. I don't know any horse people that don't know who she is and I think every single horse person has seen the run that made her famous. But, for those of you who are not horse people, it is a MUST see. So check it out below:



I have met Stacy in person and she is an absolute doll. She was so nice to me and every fan who approached her. She took the time to answer everyone's questions and sign posters and other products. Today I finally saw the video of her freestyle at WEG with her newest superstar stallion.



Just wanted to share a great rider and fantastic horsewoman with you all. Hope you are all as inspired as I was!

Sorry!

I know it seems all I have been doing is apologizing lately, but things have just been so busy that my blogging had to go on the back burner.

Anyway, to sum it up winter SUCKS! There has been nothing but a continuous onslaught of snow and ice. It's snowing right now as I write this actually. This means riding has been limited. Thank God for my lessons and the use of my trainer's indoor. When at home I have basically been riding through and playing in the snow or sledding. Last week we had some rain and it cleared off part of the ring so we have been able to ride in a small portion in the middle which was nice.

While Satin has been getting some work, Hottie has not. I can't get on him and ride him through the snow like I can with old reliable. I hope to get him back to work soon though.

Also this month the wondermare celebrated her 22nd birthday. Though she still thinks she is about 3 or 4. LOL

School is back in session and I started my new internship so between that and the horse, etc I have been busy busy, but I promise to try to be more diligent on here!

Winter Has Arrived

So winter is here and has definitely made an entrance. It's been in the low thirties during the day and low twenties at night this whole week and let's not forget the brutally cold winds. Honestly, it wouldn't be that bad without the wind. Of course with wnter comes the depression at the thought of cold weather riding and chores. But, as always the Showtime Stables crew is bundling up and braving the elements like all other true horse people. With no indoor winter riding is tough, but we make it work. It has put a damper on things though.

The days I have my late classes it is hard to get riding in as by the time I get there it is not only dark but frozen. It gets really hard to motivate to ride and sometimes I can't because it's just to cold and the ground is hard. The old mare deserves an easy winter though so its okay.

We had a great lesson with R last week. Thank God for her indoor! We did more cavaletti work and it went well for the most part. I took Satin to a local farm that is having an indoorn winter fun show series last weekend. We had fun albeit the cold, but Satin was a bit lazy. I knew she wouldn't run full out in the indoor. I don't know why but I could just tell this about her.

Satin is easy to ride and handle in any weather. Hotty, on the other hand, being the typical sensitive, nervous Thoroughbred is not. I don't ride him on very windy days, even when its not freezing. So the freezing temps and wind alone put us out of commission all of last week. The beginning of last week though he gave me a difficult time at the end of our ride. Then the next two days he gave me a hard time coming in from the field. He would plant his feet and refuse to go forward no matter what I did. It took me forever to coax him in a few steps at a time. When I got him the first day I discovered her was very stiff in the hocks and short stepping in the front, so this issue put us off too, but was resolved in a few days. The second day I had to use bribery to lure him in. He has been better coming up, at feeding time at least. Though the wind and cold has made him frisky and he spent part of the walk in flying sideways and backwards earlier this week at feed time. We are in for a warmer weekend so I hope to get him back on track before a very cold week next week.

In other news we are nearing the end of a semester, a joyous and painful time. I am happy for it to be almost over, but with the end comes lots of work between final papers, projects, and exams. I am forging my way through a little at a time, but wont be free until my last exam which is of course the day before Christmas Eve.

Hotty Update

Okay, so a while back I wrote about Hotty, my friend's OTTB I had been riding. Well I have more bragging to do. He has just been doing AWESOME! He gets better and better every week.

He has become even more of a pleasure pony than when I last wrote. His jog is amazing. It just gets better every ride. I now have him neck reining like a champ. When his ADD isnt acting up and he concentrates on me he moves completely off my seat which makes neck reining a breeze. I have him figure eighting and serpentining all around on a loose rein at the jog. We haven't been doing much canter work lately because I have been focusing on developing his jog and neck reining, but I plan to get back to it soon.

He has also become a wonder trail horse, meaning trail obstacles. I started each obstacle on the ground with some treats and he took to them right away. He works the mailbox like a champ. Once he found out there were treats hidden there he decided he loved it. LOL I also have him walking calmly and willingly over the bridge, our bridge being a flat piece of plywood. He will even back over it and stand on it. We have also practiced knocking a pole down off 2 barrels and walking over it, which he was completely unfazed by. Most recently we began working with picking up a jacket off one standard and moving it to another. I started practice on this on a breezy day taking off my jacket which I flapped all over his neck and head without so much as a flinch. Then put it on the jump, picked it up, moved it, etc, no issue at all! Afterwards I even put it over his face when on the ground and he didnt care. We also began practicing the rope gate on the ground which didnt faze him at all.

I am so proud of the progress he has been making so quickly. I just grow more attached to him by the day. He is so smart, talented, and willing.

Catch up

Okay so now I will try to sum the past 6 weeks up for you.

Let's start with the most important topic...Satin. Okay so since we last spoke we had our last horse show which went pretty well. Her barrel run wasn't her best but she woke up for the last two events and we ended up reserve for the show and for the year. Our banquet is tomorrow where we will receive our trophies.

About two weeks ago i broke down and decided to have an english lesson with some encouragement from R. The monday before the lesson I had my jumper friend S give me some pointers. I switched Sat from a snaffle to pelham to help with the getting too strong problem and she was better. We did some nice lines, jumped our first oxer, jumped hay bales, and did some jumper turns and rollbacks plus a mini course. My lesson with R went the total opposite. I went in too confident and determined to impress R. Well to make a long story short I had several refusals and I say I because it was me not Satin. Once she had gotten a few stops she just kept going with it. Then we had one jump I went over without her. All in all it was just bad. R was her usual wonderful, patient self doing her best to help me through. That Saturday K and I had planned a Halloween show at our farm which would benefit my cousin's cancer fund. There was a Gambler's Choice class and I planned to ride in it. R suggested I jump her very lightly Friday to get my confidence back. I enlisted S's help again and we just jumped a simple line I was confident on. I had one stop but got it together and ended well. The day of the show I pulled Sat out to find her shoulder was a bit blown up. She was sound but S suggested not jumping her or using her for the speed that day and I agreed. I decided Sat's jumping career was ending before it started. That week had just been too much jumping for her, much more than she was used to and the inflamation was due to the fact she was using muscles she didnt normally use, but she is going to be 22 years old and I don't feel the need to push her into something she doesnt need to do. I will still learn and I will still jump her on occassion just for fun.

Anyway the horse show went very well. All our planning had paid off and it was a very successful day. We raised almost $900! I won the in hand class with JB aka boyfriend. We are currently 3 for 3 in in hand wins. A kid from my old barn named Shyanne rode Sat in 2 gait pleasure and took a 5th having to ride the class with no stirrups because she can't reach mine. Sat and I took a 4th in the 3 gait pleasure. The two jumping classes went very well with my friend winnning Gambler's Choice on a 25 year old semi retired Qh! I pulled my adopted child and Satin's pasture mate Jewel out for the speed. The mare is quite the bullet even for being extremely out of shape. She bolted into the arena and was so excited I couldnt bring her back quick enough so our first barrel turn was wide but we fixed it in the end though took 4th because of it. We were ready for the dash and took first in that. We then teamed up with my barnmates K, E, and L for the relay in which we took 2nd. In the command it came down to K and I and Satin humbled me when I got a bit cocky saying I could counter canter all day long after which she promptly changed herself to the correct lead getting us 2nd in that class. Our final class was ride a buck in which we took 5th. My little cousin rode her in the costume class dressed in pink breast cancer stuff as the breast cancer awareness team as that was what we were raising money for. We are going to do another charity show in the spring as everyone had such a good time.

We just had another lesson with the wonderful R yesterday which went very well. Satin's changes were flawless and we did a difficult but very good cavaletti excercise.

In other news, school as been hectic with papers, exams, scheduling next semester, etc. I got a great schedule though and the next thing is looking into grad schools and the GREs.

I had a big photo job a few weeks ago for a local barn. I did 45 minute sessions for 20 boarders. The shoot took the whole weekend and was a lot of fun and a big success all around. I am still editing the over 3000 pictures I took but the customers were very happy and want to do it again in the spring!