Updates: Satin

First and foremost is of course my wonderful mare, Satin. She is still as feisty and young at heart as ever. We are a little more than half way through our show season now and she has been perfect. At our last show, which was last weekend she ran 3 absolutely perfect patterns. Her barrel turns couldn't have been tighter or smoother, her poles run was just about flawless, and her rollback in keyhole was right out of her reining horse days. The only thing that could have made it better was if she gave it a little more speed. She ran, but not as fast as she could, but I was still very happy with her. Other than our usual show series we have also done a gymkhana at a local fair and team penning.

We have also begun expanding our repertoire to (drum roll, please) ...... English. Yes, you heard me right! As you all know I have ridden english a few times on my horse and friends' horses. I even took an English lesson back in the fall, but between lack of tack and a fall over a jump, Satin and I took a bit of a hiatus from our english riding. I decided to give it a second try though and approached my trainer with the idea of an english pleasure lesson. Well that one english pleasure lesson has become a series of English lessons. My trainer has this very subtle way of getting me to do these things LOL. At the end of my lesson she will say something like "Next week when we jump, we will try this." etc. I think she is also secretly turning my pony into a hunter as she has not been slow enough for english pleasure these days LOL.

So far, so good though! Our last two lessons, Satin has been perfect and I have been trying my best to keep up with her :). My eq over fences needs work, but we are both still green to this whole English / jumping thing and with R's help we will be pros in no time. In our last lesson we jumped a mini course including a roll top and a hay bale jump. I'm quite proud of my little barrel pony.

In other Satin news, we moved to a new barn in mid-July. For reasons that are just way too much to get into we moved to the barn right next door. All of our friends moved with us though, and everyone at the new barn is very nice. We love it so far.

At the time of the move, because things were not crazy enough, Satin got a swollen leg. She has had this one or twice before but it did not respond to my usual treatment of hosing, walking, and wrapping. It started on a lesson day so I took to her R for evaluation. We walked and trotted her for a bit, cold hosed the leg, and R did a standing wrap. She also had not been finishing all of her grain for 2 or 3 days before this. She never spiked a fever but her temp fluctuated from low normal to high normal to mid range, etc. After 2 days with no change in swelling R suggested a vet visit. R is not one to sound the alarm unnecessarily so I did as suggested.

The vet tested her for lymes and suggested a hosing, furazone leg sweat, walking, and bute regimen. She also started her on doxy, an antibiotic for tick related diseases. Within two days, the leg swelling was down and once she was settled in her eating returned to normal, as well. The lymes test came back negative but she remained on the doxy for 10 days anyway. Whatever it was it seemed we caught it quickly and she is now back to her normal healthy self.

Some recent photos:

I'm Alive, I Swear!

I'm still alive, I swear! This summer has been extremely busy for me and unfortunately my blog was one of the casualties of that. I have been on overload between riding four different horses in four different locations, horse showing, pre-grad school stuff, photography, and something resembling a social life.

BUT, as you can see, I am coming back with a vengeance. I redesigned the entire blog from top to bottom, starting with a new name. College Cowgirl was no longer appropriate as I am now a proud college grad, so the blog was in need of a new name. I figured Live to Ride (which is already my blogger user name) was an appropriate title to sum things up. Yes, I am going back to school as I pursue my Masters, but I am also beginning my journey in the "real world". Riding will always be a part of that. Even though my career may not always be horse related, horses and riding will be always what I live for.

Along with the new title, I figured the blog could use a new look. So, I gave it a total makeover, including new photos on my sidebar.

I will also be adding some new posts to update you on my summer. I figured the easiest way is to break it up into separate posts for each of the 4 horses I am consistently working with, but I will sum this one up with general updates on me.

As previously mentioned I was accepted to grad school starting in the fall (YAY!). I will be attending the same University I attended for undergrad, which will remain nameless (sorry guys :) ). I will be pursuing a Masters in Communication, which I figured would nicely compliment my Bachelor's in Journalism and aid me in a career in the field of Public Relations or something along those lines. I still want to write and photograph of course and will continue to do so on a freelance basis and / or combine it with my newly learned Communications skills.

Speaking of writing and photography, I have been a bit of a slacker in the writing department. I have only written one freelance piece all summer, though I do have a second assignment waiting for me if I could ever find a break in my crazy schedule. On the photography front I have been quite active. I received a new camera for my graduation gift so I am not shooting with a Canon EOS 60D and I LOVE it! I redid my website with some new pictures. Check it out!

Some photos taken on my new camera:

Other Updates

Last week H and I took JB aka BF to a new horse show over an hour away. It was basically all QHs and Paints. We were fourth in hand, but he got 1st in the hunter in hand. He and H placed well in several large classes. He and I went in 2 pleasure classes and though we didn't place I was very proud of him. He went the slowest he has ever gone in a horseshow. We didn't expect to place though as all the competition were really intense pleasure horses.

H even showed him western in the amateur classes for the first time and they did pretty well. I gave her some western lessons during the week. Our friend J and her new mare Coco joined us and got great ribbons for their first show together, even some blues! Our other friend JL came along as well, so did our friend M and her daughter and their horses. We had a lot of fun.

In other news, I graduated last week and have been seeing my friends as they finished school. I have also been doing a lot of photography lately, shooting around the barn and went to watch and shoot R at two shows, etc.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Things have been super busy in the last two weeks between graduation, family events, and horse stuff. I will give you the reader's digest version of updates.

We will start of course with Satin. As usual she has been wonderful. She is in great shape and weight and looks like a million bucks. We had a lesson last week in which we worked on stretchy trot and canter. We asked both mares to stretch their necks and backs out, getting their necks long and low. We did this because R and I discussed dressage earlier in the week and Satin's dislike of stretching her neck out. R decided we would work on it in the lesson as it would be good for both Satin and L's mare Lexie. Well Lexie took to it right away and got it quickly. Satin was another story.

As I figured would happen she was not at all interested in this idea. It was one of her weaknesses when we did western pleasure. We tried three different methods going over half hour before we finally saw some progress. R said you have to be both patient and stubborn. Well let me tell you my mare can be extremely stubborn when she wants to be. She takes after her mother (aka me) LOL. But, finally we found something that worked by basically putting steady pressure and an inside bend so to release tension she had to drop her head. Once she got the idea she did very well. She even did it at the lope nicely too.

So because of my busy week I did not ride her for two days after the lesson, but when I rode her again on the following Saturday she got the long and low stretchy trot right away. Thankfully my mare is extremely smart because after that lesson I was sore, so going through that process again would have been difficult. Then when Lisa and I went on a trail yesterday she was stretching out on her own at the canter. Now we have to work on getting it in the hackamore.

Now for the Try update. I have moved up my rides on Try to twice a week now that it is almost time for him to go home. We lesson one day and have a supervised ride with R the other. She usually rides his fieldmate Taz with us and let's me do my own thing, but gives me some guidance and suggestions.

In our lesson two weeks ago we rode bareback. Try had thrown a shoe so we were only riding him lightly in the indoor. It was fun. He had the nice flat bareback and comfortable gaits perfect for a bareback horse. He did well in our other rides with R following that as well. We are making progress and getting very used to each other.

Last Weeks Lessons

Last Tuesday I had another lesson on Try outside. It went well for the most part. We did more work on getting him to put his down and round up his back which he did nicely. We also did more work on transitions which are coming along nicely as well.

It was pretty hot out that day, probably around 80 degrees. Well Try decided he was hot and tired near the end of our lesson and ended it early by laying down (yes, I did say laying down). We were jogging along the rail working on our slow jog with a low head set and he broke to the walk but kept his head head very low. I tried to bump him back up into the jog, but next thing I knew were on the ground. He did not give any of the typical signs of laying down, like pawing, etc. We were jogging then we were walking and then we were on the ground. Luckily he did so slowly and easily not just plopping and even more luckily he did not roll. I jumped off of him as soon as he did it and got him up. R thinks part of the reason he didn't roll right off was because it was a bit up hill on one side where he laid down. She thinks he just got tired and overheated. His owner was there and she said he had done that before as a baby. We untacked him and hosed him off and he was fine.

Satin was wonderful in her lesson and kept all 4 feet on the ground. We were in the indoor unfortunately because it rained all day. We did some intense pattern work. She set up 3 poles in one corner of the arena and we trotted and cantered them, which was fine. She set up 3 more poles opposite them in almost a circle, so going through them in a circle was a bit of a challenge. For my pattern I started in the middle cantering to the left went on the rail over the poles doing the full circle which would switch me to right lead. I went half way around on the right lead then had to turn and do a flying lead change over a pole set up on one end. So, this put me on left lead and I had to go over the circle of poles the opposite way, which was a bit awkward because you had to switch leads as you got over the first set so you would be on right lead for the following set. Then I cantered out of that to the middle, halted and backed up. The pattern was a bit tricky in spots, but she did it very well and all in the hackamore.

May Show

I have been swamped with the end of the semester aka end of college so am a little behind on my updates. Last time we left off it was shortly before the May horse show, so that is where I will pick up.

This was the first time Satin was showing in the hackamore and she LOVES it. She was awesome. We had a fabulous barrel run, all her turns were perfect. They made the pattern much smaller by having a much shorter run home so we got a 17! We had a great poles run except she cut the last turn a little tight as she tends to do and we took out the last pole, so we got a 26 plus 5. Keyhole was interesting. I took her into the warm up ring to practice roll backs and wanted to start with the staircase excercise Renee taught us as usual, but she was so hyped up she started hopping and doing intense roll backs instantly. We got in the ring and she was good to go, took off like a nut. She was so excited that when she got through the keyhole she got a little lost and didnt know where she wanted to go. I planned to roll back left, but instead she dove left then right so I had to pull her around right to get her back in action which cost us a little time. It happens though so what can you do. I was still very happy with her overall performance and like her in the hackamore.

My handsome JB aka BF was a rockstar! He was 2nd on model geldings again and 4th in open model again too. More importantly, we were grand champion in beginner western!!!! The division was much smaller this time, but JB was also much better since the lesson, though he did not got as slow at the show as he did in the lesson, but we are getting there. We won the horsemanship class and command and were 2nd in horsemanship and trail, though trail still needs a lot of work. I was quite proud of him. We are going to another western show this weekend where he will be doing halter, showmanship for the first time and pleasure. His owner H will even be making her western debut on him so it should be fun.

Two More Great Lessons!

I had two more great back to back lessons this week. First on Tuesday I had my weekly lesson on Try. We rode outside for the first time since I started riding him, as when I first started it was still cold and then it happened to be bad weather lesson days once spring hit. He was very excited at this prospect, as well as, the fact we were sharing our lesson with R's boarder M and her horse Lance. We did more transition work and he is getting much better especially on his upward transitions to the canter. He is also able to hold his canter much longer. We did some more work on getting him round and on the bit.

We finished with pattern work. We did two figure eights, the first at the jog, the second at the lope with simple changes and finishing with a halt and back. His jog figure eights were perfect. He was a little slow on his transitions into the canter for the second figure eight, but once he picked it up did it well. The last few attempts were a little harder as he started getting lazy, plus I think had to poop but just wouldnt of course. It was hot and he hadn't been out in the sand for a while so I can't blame him for tiring out. So it was a bit of struggle getting the canter transitions at that point, but we finished up with a decent one.

His owner plans for him to go home in the end of May, so our lesson time is almost up. While I am feeling much more confident about riding him after much guidance from R, it will be strange doing it on my own. His owner said if I felt I needed more time that was fine by her. I told her we can discuss it with R as she would know best if we were good to go or not.

The second lesson was not my usual Wednesday lesson on my lovely mare, but a first ever western lesson for my handsome BF, aka JB. After the last horseshow H suggested bringing him down to R so she could give me some help. As usual R worked her magic and he was awesome, a total rockstar! She had me do transition work going into 3 steps jog then walk then 2 steps jog again to help slow him down. We started in a small circle then serpentined across the ring, then did a small square, before worked the entire ring trying to keep the jog. She showed me the best place to put my hands and way to ask him to drop his head and slow. Of course it worked fabulously. By the end he was jogging slower then even I thought he could and with his head nice and low! I was so proud! We did a little work on backing up which helped and turns on the haunches. We also practiced the horsemanship pattern from the last show, since the judge this Sunday is a freak about perfect patterns.

After the lesson I am feeling much more confident for the upcoming show this Sunday. I am going to ride him again later today to remind him. Hopefully over the summer we can get in another lesson or two with R to help move him along even more. She liked him and thought he definitely had the ability for it.

I will of course also be showing the princess pony, aka Satin, in speed on Sunday. She has been loving th hackamore and I think it will be just what we need to step up our game for Sunday. I will let you guys know how it goes!

Beach Ride!

I promised about a week ago that I was going to post about my beach ride and it slipped my mind so I will make up for it now.

Anyway so about two weeks ago, I went riding on the beach with a great group of friends and it was AMAZING. We went to Island Beach State Park which is open to horse back riders during the off season October 1 to April 30. This is something I have always wanted to do and my friends and I say every year we are going to book it and it never happens.

My friend H mentioned to me after the horse show that she was going riding on the beach with some of our mutual STB friends the following week. I of course said, "What?! I can't believe you are going without me!". Her response was that she had heard someone backed out and would tell our mutual friend who set it up I was interested. Well the next day our friend called me and said the spot was mine.

H, who as you all know is the owner of the wonderful JB aka BF, was nice enough to give Satin and I a ride. My friend K joined us to play the roll of photographer and off we went. It was about 60 degrees and just perfect weather for a beach ride. The night before it has stormed like crazy (really monsooned might be a more accurate description) so the water was loud with the waves crashing. This made the horses (all beach newbies, except Satin who hadn't been to the beach in 10+ years) a little nervous about the water. I got Sat pretty close but not really in. I think if the others had been a bit braver she would have done it but she was feeding off the herd. That was okay though, we will try again next time.

Anyway, we had an absolute blast! We had 6 miles of rideable beach and a great group willing to do it all. We did lots of trotting and cantering and had some great runs down the shore line. The pictures came out awesome! K is like my photography apprentice. (I will post some of them when I get home as I am posting from my interning office right now) We rode for about 2 and half hours. Thankfully my mare is in awesome shape and used to sand from our very sandy ring. Though, I am sure she was quite tired once she settled in on the trailer. Afterwards we had a little tailgating party in the parking lot with tons of food and drinks. We couldn't have asked for a better group or a better day and are looking to do it again in October.

2 Great Lessons!

I had two back to back and very good lessons this week. As you all know by now I absolutely love my trainer, the fabulous R. She has taught me so much and every time I am at her farm I learn so much. She knows about basically everything horse related, its amazing.

Anyway, so on Tuesday I had a lesson on Try. We are pretty used to each other now, so each lesson we get better and better. On Tuesday we did a lot of work with transitions going from trot to canter, canter to trot, trot to jog, jog to trot, to walk, etc. We also worked on trot / canter with his head down, framed up, using his back. He did very well. Then at the end we did some work on roll backs. It went along with our transition work: cantering down stopping, turning on the haunches, canter again, repeat. It was basically a slow version of a rollback as he is still green and working up to it. At the end we did some faster ones with him hand galloping, doing an almost sliding stop, and roll back. He was awesome! I told R I want him to be a reining horse. LOL

Yesterday, I had my bi-weekly lesson on Satin, along with our friend L and her mare Lexie, our lesson partners. Now I have to give the back story to what we worked on in this particular lesson. When running in speed events I have been using the regular tom thumb I use for everything else. I have noticed when looking at show pictures whenever I ask her to turn or slow down she open her mouth in a way that looks like I am really pulling on her which I am definitely not. R figured it had to do with the way the bit breaks, and that it might be pushing into the top of her mouth. This made sense to me, so I did a little further investigation. I talked to some barrel people I know and found none of them use this bit for speed. One of them even told me its one of the worst bit options for a speed horse. I asked around and got several suggestions then went back to R. She dug through her supplies and found two western bits she thought were worth trying. One had a similar mouth piece to the tom thumb but a different shank and the other was not a broken bit it was one piece, but jointed with a roller. Then I mentioned that my friend J who gave me the wonderful Satin used to ride her in a hackamore, which is what I used when I first got her. R's response was "Well then let's try that too". A little more digging produced a hackamore, the perfect size for my little mare. R instructed me to go home and do a little speed work with these at home and let her know what I thought worked best.

Well that was late Saturday and Sunday I went on a beach ride (which I will write about later) so Monday Satin got off, which left me Tuesday for bit trial. So I had R's 2 bits, plus my friend K's barrel bit, and the hackamore to try. I warmed up and did a barrel dash and keyhole run in the hackamore with my friend K observing. Then I went through each of the other three bits doing the same. Keyhole, on the rollback, is where she does it the mouth opening the most, so it was my best tell. Out of all the options the hackamore was the best. No mouth opening at all.

So yesterday I went to the lesson with the hackamore to learn the best way to use it. Satin loves it! She was awesome! She was nice and forward and raring to go. We did a lot of transition work especially canter to halt to canter and jog to halt to jog. R was trying to help us get used to the hackamore and figure out the best way to use it. Afterwards we did some pattern work involving serpentines, a roll back, and backing up. She was so hyper so the beginning was a bit sloppy. BUT, I intended to just to simple changes through the halt and after we did the pattern once she was do flying changes at each spot where I planned to simple and doing them perfectly. She was even doing them on a straight line without being asked just cnatering down the ring to do a rollback. We both have to get a little more used to the hackamore, but it is definitely our new favorite toy. R thinks she will be quite speedy wearing that at the next show. I am looking forward to it!

1st Show Results!

Sunday as I said in earlier posts was our first show of the season and it was fabulous!

Of course, I must start with my wonderful little mare, Satin. We did the speed and she was AMAZING. She was so on! We went into the ring and she was hopping up and down like 3-year-old, raring to go. I love seeing my "senior" mare excited and wanting to run. She ran all of her patterns perfectly and got great times, plus I was even holding her a bit because it was muddy in the arena. I couldn't have been any happier with her. We were reserve champions, 2nd in all of our classes. K and Satin's paddock mate, Jewel were grand. Jewel is faster than Satin, so a loss to them is basically a win to me.

Now onto the handsome JB, aka boyfriend. JB, who as you all know is a Standardbred, took 2nd in a class of 5 in model geldings and 4th in a class of 8 in open model. His stunning good looks paying off as usual. In his first ever western pleasure show, with only 5 western rides under his belt, we took 5th in the beginner horsemanship our of 11 and 2nd in the command class out of 10! We did not pin in pleasure as he was a bit fast or trail since he decided the board was still a little too scary. He was very hyper that day. His owner had ridden a few classes on him and he gave him quite a warm up and he was still raring to go. I was still very happy with him and quite proud, especially for his western show. We are going to keep working at it and I have no doubts he will be racking up even more ribbons as the show season continues. My friend H, who owns him, as offered to bring him down to R so I can take a lesson with her and get her help. We are also looking into more show options for him. :)

Here are some pictures from the show: