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Under Construction: CT to Tevis

53K views 773 replies 25 participants last post by  Brighteyes 
#1 ·
“I tell people I'm too stupid to know what's impossible. I have ridiculously large dreams, and half the time, they come true.”
--Debi Thomas



I'm always wanted to start a HF journal, but lacked an interesting subject or journey which merited recording. I still lack an interesting subject or journey which merits recording, but I'm starting a HF journal anyway. In an effort to have this make slight sense, I will set a premise for my writings, starting with my dream.

My dream is somewhat large, but they don't call 'em dreams for nothing. The thing I love about mine is that, despite its largeness, it is certainly not impossible. I even go as far as to say it isn't even implausible...Though when I take that liberty, people give me that smile that says, "This kid is gonna be disappointed sooner or later." This dream is to complete one of the big, famous 100 mile endurance runs --preferable the Tevis-- on my mare. Such an endeavor would be accepted with a nod if my mare were an endurance bred Arabian, but she's a few miles shy.


My mare is a four-year-old spotted saddle horse (SSH) -- in simple terms, a spotted Tennessee Walker. She was registered under the name "Flash of Lightening" (spelled incorrectly on her papers), but her former owner simply called her "Baby Girl". She came with a halter with a name tag on it, so I have neglected to change her name. Those tags were just too fancy.

Silly filly seems to think she's an Arab though. (A sign?) She spooks at shadows, leaves, small horses, tarps, black mats, flags, and threatening trees. She hates to stand still. She has a lot of heart, loves to run, and enjoys the trail. She's just as smart as an Arab and highly trainable.

Also, she gives fabulous nose kisses. If nose kisses win races, we got this.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lengthy premise now aside, I can inform you of our current situation.

As of now, Baby Girl and I are in training for competitive trail (CT). CT is a stepping stone; the rung in the ladder before you step up to endurance. We will hang around CT until we start winning and are prepared and knowledgeable enough for endurance. This may take two years or more.

At this stage in our training, we have logged only one CT ride, in which we claimed a horsemanship score of 95 and a horse score of 88. These scores will have to come up in the future. Our goal for the year is 94+ on both cards.

This time of year is our off season. Our first rides will probably occur in the mid to late spring. Therefore, part one of the journal has begun: "Conditioning"
 
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#2 ·
1/1/11 -- Rainy Day

From Sunday to Thursday, Baby Girl and I had worked hard and made incredible progress. She quickly mastered standing still to mount and ground tying, and I must say I was very impressed with myself and my horse. When I first met her, mounting actually scared me. The moment the reins were put over her head, she pranced and struggled. She backed away, swung her butt to the side, walked off... All the tricks in the book. It got no better once you were seated in the saddle. She continued to try to run off or back rapidly. She did this every time I requested she stand still, and we occasionally struggled so badly she would rear up.

It took us only two days to fix this "hopeless" situation (the rest of the week was merely perfecting it), proving that Baby Girl was not and is not a disobedient horse, but spoiled and hyper.

During this week we also did a lot of trail rides, usually going three to eight miles a day at mostly a walk. Baby Girl is currently very out of shape and seemed to have "forgotten" some of her saddle training. It came back to her quickly, however. By Wednesday, we were riding trail bareback and in a halter. Good horse.


Now that you (I enjoy breaking the fourth wall) have been filled in regarding out first week together (it was a pivotal week and I felt that a short summary had to be placed in this journal), I can move on to current affairs:

Currently, it is raining hard outside. I checked the forecast and it is suppose to clear up by tomorrow, leaving us with party cloudy skies and a very wet, nasty Sunday. I have decided on a little arena work: ground poles, circles, bending... Probably a little work on side passing and neck reining as well. We will leave trails for another day.
 
#3 ·
1/2/11 -- I Lied

The arena work I said I was going to do... I lied. :oops: Well, I just sorta-kinda decided to do something more fun. Everything dried up more quickly than expected and the trails were ready for new hoof prints. Also, my former trainer, Megan, was in town. That calls for fun.

I went out today at about 2:00, dressed fashionably in blue floral patterned rubber rain boots with my breeches tucked in. I feel mildly ridiculous just wearing breeches with paddock boots, so I was a little embarrassed when Megan pulled up.

She decided to ride Firefly, my horsie worse enemy. This was probably a good thing for Fly, who hates everyone but Megan. I rode Baby Girl. We went off on a five mile trail ride. We trotted a good bit and even cantered, which was great for Baby Girl.

Upon arriving back, we decided to mess around in the arena. (Does this count as "arena work"?) The head trainer, Ashley, being done with her lessons, joined us in rounding up miniature ponies on horseback and driving them into the holding pen. Baby Girl displayed a lack of cow sense (pony sense?), but enjoyed galloping after the ponies nevertheless.

I attempted to get Baby Girl to jump a small cross rail (about six inches high), but she kept dodging to the side or stopping before the jump. Understandably, she was confused. I am inexperienced in jumping, so I allowed Megan to ride her. Megan got her over the cross rail a few times and allowed her to quit at that. It had been a hard day for her.

To perfect my jumping, I rode Firefly over a few jumps. My jumping is frightful. I need lessons.

Overall, it was a good way to start out the new year.
 
#4 ·
1/8/11 -- The Week's Work

This week was pretty uneventful, though not devoid of milestones. My trainer got Baby Girl to jump over a tiny cross rail and says she's a natural. Baby Girl and I went on a trail ride alone with ZER0 jigging, which makes me think she's starting to trust me more and allowing herself to be assured that the gremlins will not eat her if she's out alone. She has been ridden every other day. I would prefer every day, but something always gets in the way.

Today was a good one for me. Baby Girl's right knee was a little swollen --not enough to make her lame or even uncomfortable--, so she was allowed a day off. I instead rode Firefly, my least favorite horse. I jumped her over cross rails ranging from eight inches to a foot in height. She refused several times, but I turned her around and kicked her over. Once she realized who the boss was, she gave me no trouble. Afterwards, we went on a nice, relaxing trail ride. Upon arriving home, though, the trainer and I chased chickens for half an hour, trying to put them up for the night. I wanted to let them stay out and be eaten by owls after the first 15 minutes of chasing, but we came to the conclusion that we would be killed by the BO, and that was not worth it.


Tomorrow, Baby Girl and her brother Rocky will be leaving the farm for a few days to visit their former owner. Ill weather is coming Sunday night and there aren't enough stalls at the barn to keep them warm and dry.
 
#5 ·
Bad Weather Ahead and a Bareback Ride -- 1/8/11

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, Baby Girl and her brother are going to stay with their former owner due to ill weather. It's suppose to hit in about an hour; we expect power outages, freezing rain, and ice storms. Baby Girl is in a stall currently with a heat lamp, her blanket, and lots of good hay.

I didn't allow her to go on vacation without some work beforehand. I went out today around noon, clipped some reins to a halter, and set off bareback. I didn't even take off her blanket it was so cold. We had a long ride and it was good exercise, but we ran into some issues. Her pacing was terrible today... Until we get that fixed, no more halter. She has also had a relapse of barn sourness and jigging. The jigging doesn't present itself when we are riding in a group, but is back with vengeance when we are alone. Non-existent readers, have you any tips on stopping the jigging?
 
#6 ·
1/10/11 -- Ice/Snow Day

The snow hit middle Georgia hard last night. Schools all over the state are closed, bridges are down, and trees have fallen across the roads. Pines weighed with ice are leaning at incredible angles, looking as if they are going to snap at any moment. The entire landscape is a mix of bright white snow and yellow-brown slush. It is about 30 degrees and not suppose to get any warmer.

Baby Girl, baby brother Rocky, Jackpot, and miss Missy are all safe from the elements. The two mares are in stalls with plenty of hay and bedding, and the two geldings switch out stall time; one stays in the loafing shed outside while the other is in a shall, then they switch out every few hours.

I went to visit and care for the earlier today. I cleaned stalls, fed carrots, and gave more hay. All was well.

At the home farm, the other horses where at pasture. In this weather?! They had blankets on, but it was freezing rain and icing over. I would rather have them in stalls, but what ever. My horse is warm and taken care of, so my duty to horsekind is done for today.


I'll post pictures of snow day 2011 soon~
 
#7 ·
I'm subscribing...I'm also a competitive trail rider, and getting my horse in shape for summer as well! If you're curious, my journal is "I pay my psychiatrists with feed and hay". Anyway....good start on your journal so far! I'm so bad about keeping mine up to date...and horrible at riding more than once a week too, now that it's winter in Maine!! It sounds like you're making a lot of progress, so good work! 100 miles is a lofty goal, but even if you don't make it to 100 with this mare, you at least will be making plenty of progress with her and in the end will have accomplished something to be proud of, I'm sure. I've seen almost any breed excel at CTRs with the proper conditioning, endurance it's a little less common =P My mare is a quarab so she's half of what you'd expect, but very heavy built and a panter. I don't expect to reach 100 with her or to do endurance but if I can get her through some 60/80 mile CTRs I'll be happy.

Jigging: When she's jigging try to keep half-halting, and relax immediately when the jigging stops. She'll figure out that she gets her head when she relaxes. It might take some time, but I think it will help. Also, be careful that you're not tensing up and leaning forward, because this encourages jigging, and therefore she might get confused as to what you want. Make sure you're sitting back and deep like you would at the walk on any old lazy school horse....don't anticipate her acting up. Good luck! Can't wait to read your progress!
 
#8 ·
Amlalriiee --


Yes! Another CT rider! I thought I was alone in these forums for a while. Tons of formal English riders, a couple trail riders, and very few competitive distance. I'm very lucky I'm in the South; it's riding weather all year round! As long as it isn't raining, it's fit to ride. Speaking of Maine, if you ride NATRC, you're in my same region. Most of the rides are in either Alabama or the Carolinas. Woah. That's a lot of driving. :shock:

Yep! If I don't make 100 miles, I'll still have made 50s... If I don't make 50s, I'll still be on the top of CT, etc. There's no way to lose and tons to gain. As gone as I can look back on my horse in the earlier days and see she's a better animal now than back then, I might as well have won a 100 miler. :D

Jigging... The anticipation of misbehavior is probably what's getting me. When I anticipate, I lean forwards, get nervous, etc. Next ride, halt halt and calm myself!
 
#9 ·
No, I ride ECTRA, most competitive rides for us are in Vermont but plenty of rides in Maine and NH as well. I may see you at Tevis someday! You know I AM jealous of the year-round good riding, BUT I love snow too, so I'm torn. We got a foot and a half today and it's still snowing...it's crazy but I love it...aside from the drive home today!

Don't worry...I think most of us CT/endurance riders tend to ride very forward. It's part of what makes us fit for the sport is that we want to GO GO GO. But yes, make sure that when you DON'T want to GO GO GO that you're not asking for it =P Just sit back, take a deep breath, and RELAX.
 
#10 ·
1/15/11 -- Groundwork/I Ache All Over.

It's been five days since my last post. This isn't due my me not feeling like posting, but nothing happened for several days. Only now have I accumulated enough of the week's events to make a sizeable entry.


Yesterday, Baby Girl was still at her former owner's barn. The weather had cleared up beautifully, so I headed over. I took off her blanket, groomed her up, picked feet, and took a few conformation photos. We than proceeded out into the yard for a little groundwork. We started with the basics of sidepassing, and reviewed turning on the haunches and forehand. She did well and received a couple good rubs on the butt for her obedience.

Deciding she needed a little exercise, I looked for a lunge line. I couldn't find a lunge line, so I tied two lead ropes together, creating a redneck lunge line about 12 feet in length. After a sort deliberation --the Horse Forum certainly wouldn't approve of my creativity--, I began lunging. After convincing my spoiled horse to get the hell away from me and trot AROUND, not OVER, the handler, we worked both sides at a walk and trot for 15 minutes.

After a cool down and brushing, we transported Baby Girl back to my home barn and turned her out. It was about 5:30 in the afternoon; almost dark.

The day after --today-- I went out about 1:00 in the afternoon. Baby Girl and I enjoyed a simple, uneventful (jig-less) trail ride with a new student, who was my age. I'm excited to have someone my age around the barn -- everyone is either very much younger or older.

After, I decided to ride my arch nemesis, Firefly. We did some jumps at a trot -- little crossrails and such. All was well. 20 minutes into my jumping fun time, I was cantering away from a jump and turned squarely towards the next one. When turning, one puts weight in the outside stirrup... I must have over done it, because my stirrup leather snapped. Mid-air, I managed to inform my friend matter-of-factly, "My stirrup just broke", before tumbling to the ground and landing hard on my right hip.

I thought I broke it for a minute. I have NEVER fallen that hard. I lay helpless on my side, frantically shooting off I'm-okay-really-s. I couldn't walk, so I lay across my friend's horse's saddle, holding on the girth and allowing my legs to dangle off the other side.

Currently, I am sitting in bed. My hip, as well as most of my body, hurts like crazy. I believe I may have pinched a nerve. If I'm better by tomorrow, I'm going trail riding.
 
#11 ·
OUCH! Glad you had no jigging on the ride you did get on your girl for :) Of course it may have simply been because somebody else was with you, but it's still good.
 
#12 ·
1/16/11 -- I STILL Ache All Over, and Am Doing Little to Help the Fact

^^

Very likely. She doesn't realize that I can protect her from the forest dragons, I guess. She is very reluctant to go places without her friends.


_________________


Woke up today feeling like a train hit me. I was so sore I wouldn't move my neck or walk without significant discomfort. I was also troubled by the fact my injured right leg was much weaker than my left and I had an odd pins and needles feeling in my thigh. Pinched nerve indeed.

So what did I do, in my bruised and broken state? I headed to the barn around lunch time and begged the BO to let me ride my horse. Of course, I got a no from both the BO and head trainer, who said I must be both hardy, confident, and damn stupid if I wanted to ride again.

So, I spent two hours on groundwork and beginner jumping lessons. I put Baby Girl on a lunge line (they said I couldn't ride; didn't say a thing about lunging) and once she was settled into a steady gait, asked her to jump a six inch cross rail. She baulked initially. I twirled my rope until she at least stepped over it.

During our next attempt, she slowed down, unsure, but semi-crow hopped over it. Stop, pet, repeat three more times. By the forth time, she was jumping somewhat smoothly and really seemed to enjoy it.

We switched directions and repeated until she was jumping decently from that side as well.

Not 20 minutes in, she started showing signs of exhaustion. We stopped jumping for the day, rested for 10 minutes, and got a couple sips of water. It was a hot day for January.

Afterwards, we continued groundwork. She quickly conquered all our trail class obstacles --a shaky bridge, a pedestal (which she got all four feet on), a tarp, among others. We also worked on sidepassing, turns on the forehand, and turns on the haunches.

Finally finished, I was also convinced by the head trainer to help her pick the pony paddock and assist her in setting up a new jumping course.

After the day's work, my back and hip threatened to give out. My toes went numb at one point, and the benign pins and needles tinging in my thigh transformed into a painful burning. I had overworked myself, definitely.

Now at home, I am still exhausted. The burning has ceased, replaced again with the pins and needles. Maybe I should see a doctor... Anyway, tomorrow I hope I am fit for a trail ride. A little riding will probably be less of a strain than all the stuff I did today.
 
#13 ·
1/17/11 -- Rainy Monday

I woke up at 10:00 am today (I didn't have school on account of Martin Luther King Day), saw it was raining outside, and went right back to sleep. And hour and a half later, I received a text from my BO.

"All 8 horses out by road. GATE LEFT OPENED."


:?


I called her and pleaded ("At least nothing died..."), so I got away with a ten dollar salary docking.


At least since it's raining I'll have a day to rest my leg, which feels no better than it did yesterday. It's suppose to rain tomorrow as well, so I may not get a lot of riding in until Wednesday.
 
#14 ·
11/19/11 -- Back to Work

Today was a pretty boring day. This morning the sky was blanketed with gray, but it cleared up to a beautiful, cloudless blue by the time school got out. I rushed immediately to the barn and got Baby Girl from the pasture.

Since she hadn't been ridden in three days, I decided to start out her work week lightly with an hour and a half long trail ride at a walk only. She was a good pony and didn't jig a step. She was also a little sweaty after the ride; humidity, perhaps. This short, slow ride was also good for my hip. The pain is still there, but isn't as severe as yesterday or the day before.

I rode in a Western saddle (on the account of my stirrups still being broken), which was really weird for me. Western saddles are just so... big. They are comfy though, in a bulky, secure type of way.

I tried to jump my friend's horse over cross rails, but couldn't get into two point quite yet (or post, for that matter) without my hip complaining.

In other news, my trainer is coming back from Atlanta on Friday so I can have a real jumping lesson. I am learning to jump right now as a time killer... I don't like to ride without a competitive aim on the side of CTRs. I'm hoping to one day find a saddle seat instructor, but learning to jump for now won't hurt and earns me some respect and experience in the "real deal" competitive world.
 
#15 ·
1/21/11 -- Disappointed in Myself, But I Have An Awesome Horse

I'm very disappointed in myself. My jumping lesson was today and I felt like I didn't accomplish anything. I rode two horses in that hour long lesson, Cody and Firefly. First was Firefly, whom I have mentioned many times on this forum and a handful in my journal. I got on, trotted, and I felt like a noob. My trainer hold me to put my heels down... I haven't been told that in what feels like years. Among other complaints, I post off my toes, lean forward, don't release right over fences, and have lost my half seat canter. That canter... Ugh. I CAN canter that horse --I can canter most any horse--, but half seat isn't my friend, and neither are short reins and the horse diving into the bridle and throwing off my already tedious sense of balance. My actual jumping was okay, but lack luster, in my opinion.

Just to add to my emotional distress, I left the God damned stall door opened AGAIN and two horses got out and were galloping free across the pasture.


So, I was basically having an very off day. I was so angry that I couldn't do what I knew I could do I almost started crying. Angry at myself... Not my horse or instructor... I just hate myself today for not being my best.


I mean, the 11-year-old in the lesson before my did better! I'm the jealous type, I will admit. Everyone at the barn, even the head trainer, is competition. Silly, right? I just can't help it...


In other news, I rode Baby Girl before this lesson, so I guess I have her my best. We went on an exercise trail run for about an hour. We walked about 50% of the time, gaited 25%, and cantered 25%. (I know, too much cantering.) She is finally hitting her proper gait, I think. Every so often, I could convince her to get in a couple paces of a proper rack. It felt great.

I'm beginning to like her a lot. We're starting to get to know each other better and come to a more complete understanding. She's a good girl and very smart.

At the end of the day, the BO gave me a sign up sheet for the "Equine Communication Challenge" in Edington, Georgia, and said she would trailer my horse and I down there, along with her horse Amber and the head trainer's horse Cody. I'm not sure what it's about --some Parelli thing, I assume--, but it has obstacles and $100 cash prizes for first, so why the heck not?
 
#16 ·
1/22/11 -- "Dressage"

Very short post today. I went out briefly to visit and rode for about 20 minutes, bareback, just to stretch her out. Walking around is boring, so we worked on lateral movements. Successful leg yield! :D Very simple and easy little exercise, but I'm very happy. When I got her, she was trained like most gaited horses I've met; seat cues and reins only, no leg unless you're requesting a speed up. After almost a month, she's finally gotten that leg doesn't mean go faster, but move over. Next, I'm going to try to teach her shoulder in. I feel like a dressage queen, ha ha!
 
#17 ·
1/23/11 -- Pacey Pony is Pacey... Inflexible Pony is Inflexible..

Today I told myself very firmly, "I will not ride today." I haven't had a weekend off for four weeks. I turned off my 10:00 alarm in favor of sleep. At about 11:30, I awoke again and got some breakfast, still steadfast in my decision not to ride. My phone started ringing in the next room (playing my theme song, "Dog Days are Over"). I answered and spoke to my grandmother. She offered to take me to the farm so I could ride. I declined. "Well, if you change your mind, call me back," she said.

I wandered over to the window and pulled back the curtains. The sky was huge and blue and alluring... I called my grandmother back and told her I wanted to ride.

I have no will power. :lol:


Anyway, I arrived at the farm about 2:00 and got Baby Girl from the pasture. The question was, to saddle or not to saddle? I was feeling bareback, so no saddle.

We went to the round pen and did a little walk-gait session. My grandmother filmed us so I could see her gaiting... Pacey, pacey, pacey! Grr...

The trainer arrived and I was kicked out of the round pen, so I went to walk around in the field in front of the barn. Remembering yesterday's "dressage", I decided to pretend to a do a pattern. My poor pony is terrible inflexible... She wouldn't bend properly around turns, and her turns were terrible in general. She rushed, dropped her shoulder, and all the other things that don't make good turns. Her circles were equally bad; she couldn't bend her body in an arc to save her spotted hide.

So, we worked on turns and circles for a while. Eventually, she at least did the "pattern" at a walk, quietly and without rushing. I've learned with her to ask nicely, ask for little, and reward generously, so we went on a trail after that to mentally cool down. Being a trail horse, turning properly and flexing to any degree is mentally straining.

While on this ride, she was still hyper and jiggy, as usual. She had been hyper all that day. After a few calm steps, I decided to heck with it, let's do some stupid stuff. So I took up on my reins, grabbed some mane, pointed her down the trail, and let her gallop.

I'd never galloped bareback before, so it was very exciting. She kept on running and I was afraid to stop her, because she would hit that crazy pace and bounce me off before returning to a walk. It seemed like half of forever before I got the nerve to try and slow her down.

I remained mounted through deceleration. We returned to the barn with minimal jigging.
 
#18 ·
1/24/11 -- Pacey Pony Trots Briefly

My hip was bothering me again today, so I decided that riding wasn't the best idea. I set up four ground poles about a human stride apart each and lunged Baby Girl over them. As I had hoped, this broke up her pace and she started to trot. Any gait other than a pace is appreciated and desired. We attempted a short cross rail after walking and trotting the ground poles, which she hopped over no problem. Once I'm feeling better, I may jump her once or twice under saddle.
 
#19 ·
1/26/11 -- Windy Day Thoughts

The wind is gusting terribly and the ground is still spotted with puddles and muddy from the recent rainstorms. These factors, combined with the chilliness of the air and the amount of homework I have to complete, have turned me off from riding today.

Baby Girl's pacing has recently become so annoying to me that I have put forth all the effort I can to fix it. It seems that my best attempts currently aren't good enough. I simply am not knowledgeable or experienced enough to make her gait. A long running thread I posted on this forum has yielded a promising solution: send her to a trainer. She has never gotten any professional training and has probably step paced her whole life. Her recent turn to hard pacing was probably prompted by being re-conditioned; pacing is easier for tired ponies.

I'm not sure how long she would have to stay at the trainer's. I have no experience with normal pace breaking time frame. Once she gets gaiting semi-constantly, I can probably maintain it and keep her in the habit with help from my gait savvy BO (who unfortunately can't re-train my horse either; her horse is trotty, not pacey, so she doesn't know what to do. But she can still stay on the ground and tell me how we're looking). I'm going to take a shot in the dark and say Baby Girl may be away for a month.

Vivache recommended me a trainer in Virginia, which is about a nine hour drive. I plan on calling in the next few days to see if he can do anything for me. Meanwhile, I shall continue to consider the problem and all its possible solutions, though I'm leaning more and more towards letting the professionals handle it.
 
#20 ·
1/27/11 -- Bareback Trail Day

Today was easy and uneventful. I rode about two hours on the trail, bareback at a walk, with two other people. Very, very relaxing. But, since I couldn't walk a trail for too long without messing with something, I worked on getting Baby Girl "on the bit" -- or, technically, accepting bit contact and giving slightly at the pole. She didn't like it too much, but got use to it quickly. We did for for a couple minutes at the time. Once she accepted it and flexed her pole, I let her have her head back for a mile or two. I figured this would help her round her back up and possibly help the pacing.

Speaking of pacing, my mom still approves of sending her off to training. I haven't yet gotten her to call the trainer, but I'm working on it.

Speaking of working, I'm going to have a lot of that to do. The trainer wants me to go to a show with her in April and enter Baby Girl in a western pleasure class, if they'll permit gaited horses. Obviously, I don't expect to place. I just want to look good from the stands, ribbon or no ribbon. The experience will also be a plus for us both.
 
#21 ·
1/28/11 -- Bareback by FORCE

I'm going completely soft on my horse. She hasn't had a serious work day in half of forever. One of the students had to borrow my saddle, so I was stuck bareback again. We walked and (attempted to) gait around the arena for an hour. I jumped her once, and though it was more of a trot over (the crossrail was tiny), she went over. I'm was happy with that. Afterwards she got lots of cookies and went back to pasture. Spoiled mare.
 
#22 ·
1/29/11 -- Long Trail

Bareback again today, just because. I checked her back and she wasn't sore from the past two days without a saddle, so I figured another day would hurt as long as I stayed balanced. I've never had trouble with over riding bareback, but I'm paranoid.

It was a simple little training day. We walked probably 12 miles over various terrains, from Georgia pines to thick hardwood forest to grassy terraces and opened fields. The sky was a clear, pale blue and it was warm for the first time in an eternity -- almost 70 degrees. After so many hours of riding, we were both tired as could be by the end of the day.

Tomorrow, the head trainer, my former trainer, and I are going to Atlanta to check out a POA. We're in need of new lesson horses. This little guy is suppose to be a good flatwork pony and jump a little. Just what we need. I can't wait to ride him.
 
#23 ·
1/30/11 -- Trip Canceled

Little to report today. My trip to Atlanta to see that POA was cancelled for unknown reasons. I just received a text message that read, "You can sleep in because we're not going to Atlanta". Grrr...


So, I did indeed sleep in. I'm taking a break from riding today. Baby Girl deserves it. She's been very good this week. I probably won't be able to ride again until Tuesday due to rain.
 
#24 ·
2/1/11 -- A Month Together

Wow... I can't believe I've had my horse for a month! Time has flown in a way -- the days have run together into one long trail ride--, but yet I feel as if I'm know Baby Girl forever. I can't imagine life without her anymore.


This month has been one of laying a foundation for advancing our training together. I wrote a series of goals on a scrap of notebook paper at the beginning of this year. There we a total of twelve 2011 goals. So far, we have accomplished:

-- Standing to mount and ground tying.

-- Beginning lateral movements. We can leg yield! In the beginning, Baby Girl didn't even know what leg meant, aside from "Yee-yaw! Let's run!" She can side pass on the ground as well and ALMOST under saddle.

-- Bareback the trails. I use to afraid she would pitch a hissy fit, as she did at random times, and I would come off. No more hissy fits now, so she's bareback approved.

Three out of twelve, in the first month of the year! Doing good. :D


This month of February, we hope to accomplish these two goals:

-- Compete in a small show. On the 19th, we'll hopefully be going to a trail obstacle challenge. And possible even compete in a gaited pleasure class at my friend's show in April.

-- Collect her canter.

-- Neck rein at a walk.

My on going goal is to get her to stop pacing. I want this done by at least the end of 2011.



The first ride of the new month will hopefully occur tomorrow, if it doesn't rain. Fingers crossed!
 
#25 ·
2/2/11 -- The SECRET and Smokey

We got a break in the rain today, but only today. The rain is suppose to continue tomorrow and into Saturday. Since this will be my only ride this week, I did a lot of stuff.

We leaped right into this month's goals. I changed her bit from an argentine to a D-ring snaffle... Or actually, I changed her whole bridle, being that I was borrowing the bit and didn't want to unsew stuff. It was her baby brother's, but he isn't ridden much and doesn't use the bridle often.

We went out onto the trails, walking and flat walking to get use to the bit. We hit a running walk a few times for a few strides unhill. After a good warm up, we galloped. I attempted to collect her, and we almost ended up with a three beat canter. Mostly, we went along at a hand gallop, which is an improvement over the bat-outa-hell gallops she usually does.

Afterwards, she was extremely excitable and wanted to jig back to the barn. To be expected. After a few minutes of this, I got very frustrated. I don't remember my thought process, but I decided to back her up very slowly and calmly. It was a MIRACLE. After a few steps back, she started relaxing. We proceeded home the rest of the way at a quiet walk.

However, we didn't stop our lesson at home. We cantered a single lap around the round pen (we previously couldn't do this; she refused to canter in the round pen) and even jumped a small cross rail (after several refusals).

We proceeded to the big paddock next to work on obstacles (which she does best when tired). She refused to step on the pedestal mounted (she would do it on the ground), so I sat while my friend tried to pull her up there. After many refusals, we got two feet. She stood quietly. I allowed her to back off and do it again. The third time she put her feet on the pedestal without my friend's ground assistance. Victory!


I also met the head trainer's horses. Being that I mention her a lot, I might as well name her. She is known as Ashley, and she is rapidly becoming a great friend of mine.

She has two at her house: Smokey and Star. Star is a appendix and a Western pleasure showstopper. The horse can trot so slow it's like walking. I rode her bareback and in a halter for a few minutes and really, really liked her.

But I liked Smokey even more. Ashley hates Smokey; she thinks he's ugly and annoying and looks too much like a racking horse. I happen to like racking horses, so I'm okay with that. He is an appy cross, and is some kind of heavily grayed out strawberry roan/varnish appy. We has a heck of a sway back and an awkward head. He's more than twenty years old. For some reason, I felt a strange pull towards him. She says I can ride him whenever I want. I have faraway dreams of making him into an English walk/trot/canter horse... Very faraway dreams.
 
#26 ·
2/3/11 -- Communication Challenge

Today we officially submitted our entry forms to the Equine Communication Challenge. The competition will take place on February 19th. The challenge is a series of obstacles one must take their horse through. The horse must show no fear, be willing, and the handler must not use excessive force or encouragement to get their horse over, around, and through the various obstacles. The horse has to go quietly with the handler and act like it's no big deal. The horse also has to do basic stuff like sidepass, turn on hauches and forehand, etc.

Baby Girl and I will be doing two classes: in hand and novice undersaddle. I'm sure we'll rock the in hand. I'm a little worried about the undersaddle. We practice on our obstacles at home and she did incredible, as usual. She's very good at that kind of stuff.

I'm very excited. This will be Baby Girl and I's second competition, and our first as an official horse-and-owner pair. I hope all goes well.
 
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