Photo Update

As promised, here are some of the video stills and photos from this past week at the barn. Sorry, they aren't stellar quality :(

I'm interested to see how he jumps when the fences get to be something larger than just a big canter stride, but I'm a little afraid to over face him! Past experience with Emmy and Johnny tells me that it's a very easy mistake to make and a much more difficult mistake to correct!

Sleepy after his ride!

Peace.Love.Ponies.

Show schedule update and a ride on Johnny

Getting ready to maybe take Cool to LEC this Sunday to do some low schooling jumpers (by "low" I mean LOW...like maybe cross-rails at the maximum! lol)

He has been SO good lately...I don't know what's wrong with him! Hopefully he's finally just growing up and becoming a big horse and not a baby anymore.

I have been flatting him lately in his waterford D-ring and a running martingale. I came across the combination just as a test and I really like him in it! I also have switched from a crop to a dressage whip (also something that I came across just by chance) and it's been a really good combination!

I've mainly just been working on riding him forward at the trot and canter and getting correct leads. We did a few simple lead changes the other night and jumped a crossrail. He was really good! I haven't really started much lateral work with him, but I think its about time to start thinking about it. I did start to get a little stretch in the trot, which is super good for him! His neck was so upside down when we first got him that it's been an accomplishment just to get him to carry his neck level around the arena. I have been encouraging him to relax and go long and low before asking for any collection.

Unfortunately, I have also been getting some fill in his hind legs the day after rides, which is baffling me a little. It's all just stocked up fluid (I think at least...) nothing seems to be warm or injured and it goes down with turnout. Most of this week I have kept bandages on his hind legs and ridden with polos on behind. With the stable bandages, his legs stay tight. Last night, however, I left them off after I just hacked him w/t/c and today he was a little stocky again. His legs aren't HUGE, but they aren't normal either. He's never stocked up before...even on the rainy summer days at home when he stayed in his stall for 3 or 4 days straight. I'm not really sure what to make of it...I'm really not working him that hard! I did however, notice him fall out behind/trip behind a few times this week (on different occasions/days). Could there be something brewing in his hind legs? I really hope not.

I took some videos of him but I have yet to upload them. I'll try to do it this weekend! They aren't very good, since there was no one around to take them and I just set the camera up on a barrel in the arena.

I also put together a schedule of some of the upcoming shows. Obviously, we are not going to all of these, but here is the list none-the-less

NOVEMBER

18 - Lake Erie College ICTA Schooling Show (Jumpers) – Painesville, OH

DECEMBER

            1 – South Farm Jumper Show – Middlefield, OH

9 – Blue Lakes Farm Pleasure Show – Newbury, OH

            22-23 – Chagrin Valley Farms Hunter/Jumper Schooling Show – Chagrin Falls, OH

JANUARY

            5 – South Farm Jumper Show – Middlefield, OH

            6 – Andrews Osborne Academy Hunter Schooling Show – Mentor, OH

20 – Blue Lakes Farm Pleasure Show – Newbury, OH

            26-27 – Chagrin Valley Farms Hunter/Jumper Schooling Show – Chagrin Falls, OH

 I also rode Johnny today!! I miss him so much and still don't know what to do about it. I actually cried on drive to see him, pathetic I know, but it's true. He still has his right lead canter!!! He's so out of shape and started off really stiff, but I put him on a loose rein and made him trot really forward and he felt better.
 He nickered though when I came in the barn and said hi to him and he was relishing all of the grooming that I did with him, especially when I brushed him in his favorite place under his chin! He seemed really happy to be ridden again since he's been sitting basically since June. Oh why can't I just have a money tree that grows in my backyard? Or to win the lottery? Is that too much to ask?

Peace.Love.Ponies.

Cool's second horse show!

We had quite the late night yesterday at the horse show but it was definitely worth it! Cool hacked around a little and jumped a few small jumps. He was super good about getting on and off the trailer (something he can be really bad about) and settled in fairly well at the horse show. BF walked him around the warm up and the show ring when we first got there to calm him down and it really seemed to help. By the time I went to get on him he was pretty quiet as far as not spooking at anything, not that he's really spooky anyway. He was a little "bucky" at first but nothing bad...just dropping his head and hunching his back. Here are some photos of him!

Cool jumping his first fence with a person on his back!

I was so proud of him!

That's all for now! 

Peace.Love.Ponies.

Getting Ready

Well, it's been raining all week and today is the day! I got a chance to finally turn Cool out yesterday for the afternoon before it started raining again, so hopefully he won't be a total looney toon. I tried to clean him up last night the best I could but it's far too cold outside to actually bathe him so he's going to need a really good grooming before we leave tonight. I cant stand taking horses anywhere out in public when they don't look their absolute best! My biggest dilemma is: what on earth do I do with his mane?!?

His mane is suppeerrr long and gorgeous and BF refuses to let me cut if off (I don't really want to anyway because its just so pretty) but it's pretty...non fashionable for a hunter ring. Not that he's showing tonight or anything, but I also don't want him to look like a black sheep. One of my friends suggested just putting it in a bunch of long braids but would that look even worse then letting it be long? Any suggestions?

BF is going to be taking pictures tonight...I will post them this weekend!

Peace.Love.Ponies.

Going Schooling

Of course it's been raining all week, which has given me basically zero opportunity to ride either Cool or Emmy this week.

I lunged Cool over a jump Monday after school and he was pretty good...very fresh and light on his hind legs (lol) but he actually picked up his feet to jump!

This Friday, my friend C and I are taking Cool and her 4 year old Canadian sport horse George to a local hunter/jumper barn to school. They are having a schooling show there this weekend so the course is open to school Friday evening. Cool probably wont be jumping much, but it will be good for him to get out and about! My boyfriend is going to come too and take some photos and videos! I would really love to take Emmy there but I think that Cool will have a meltdown if she leaves him alone in the barn. Oh the tragedies of having only two horses!

We will see how it goes...its super windy and POURING rain out right now so Cool is going to be REALLY fresh on Friday!

Peace.Love.Ponies.

A Photo Update

So I started riding Cool english the other day because I finally went out and bought an english saddle that fits him. He seems to really like it and so far he's been smart enough to differentiate between trotting and jogging with the different tack. We jumped him a little bit too over a TEENY cross-rail. He didn't really "jump" it per say, but he did go over it every time and he never stopped!

Not that I think he's going to be a hunter or a jumper, but hey, its fun to do something different every now and then!

Coolio in his new english saddle! Yeah...bf looks like a hillbilly, but whatever. LOL

Peace.Love.Ponies.

Some Video Updates

Good news! Johnny is being awesome and Emmy was sound yesterday! She only took one lame step the whole time I rode her! Woo hoooo!! I think I will continue to pack her foot and wrap it...it seems to be helping!

Tuesday night my friend M and I took some video of Johnny. He's coming along! Here are some of the stills, I'll post the video below:

And here is the video link:

Yay for Johnny! I've got some more good pictures that we took (sale photos) of him and then a couple of Emmy. I will add them later though!

Peace.Love.Ponies.

Checking In

Summer is finally winding down for me and I have to admit that I am SO EXCITED to get back to school, especially to move the horses back to Maplebrook :) I've been so busy with work and taking care of the kids (aka Emmy and Johnny) at home that I've barely had time to blog anything.

Last weekend was the Brecksville Kiwanis Horse Show. Emmy and Johnny both showed and my friend Heather showed Emmy. Neither of the horses had a particularly spectacular day...I think Emmy got a 5th in Equitation and other than that we all ended up ribbon-less. Johnny was a very good boy in both his 2ft schooling hunter class and his two flat classes...we almost held our right lead the entire time! He only broke once in the far corner and I fixed it before anyone noticed. I also showed him in Hunter In Hand for the first time ever. Neither him nor I has ever done it before, so what a learning experience that was! We made some minor mistakes (such as turning the wrong way to trot for the judge) but over all he stood there like a rock and set up when I asked! When the judge came over to inspect him he asked me if Johnny was a Trakehner!! I had to try really hard not to laugh when I told him no, he's a Standardbred. I bet that judge didn't feel very smart after that...LOL.

This week the horses have had off. The vet came Monday to draw coggins for school and to re-check Emmy's leg. The diagnosis now is a deep DEEP tissue bruise that she keeps agitating. The vet said to keep it bandaged in the stall and maybe turn her out with boots on so that she stops hitting it. I've been trying to keep it wrapped as much as I can when she's just standing around, but with the heat and humidity lately she's starting to get some scratches/mud fever gunk on her legs. The past two days she has gone wrap-less to let her leg's breath since I've been treating the fungus and we haven't had any massive blow ups in her legs, so that's a good thing!

Both of Emmy and Johnny's feet look like crap right now. I'm waiting for the farrier to come next week and give them a good overhaul. I think that the combination of hot, humid and yet hard ground is not doing them any favors. This is going to be an expensive month!


In OTHER news, Johnny is now officially for sale. I put him up yesterday and have already gotten a call from someone who is interested! Everyone freaked out when I told people he was for sale, but in all reality, this was always the plan for him! Get him ride-able and going well and then send him on to do his job for someone and make them happy. As much as I absolutely adore him, he's far too old (17) and not quite athletic enough for me to keep as a serious competition horse, but he's PERFECT for a novice child or adult rider looking to jump 2'-2'3". He's capable of going much higher, but I feel that once he gets over 2'6" it might be hard to keep him sound just because of his age. He is for sale for $800 obo. Spread the word!!

Here are some photos from the Breckville Show:

In hand...the judge asking if Johnny was a Trakehner (while pointing to his brand)

Hacking

Next weekend is the last SCSHA show! Year end awards! Keep your fingers crossed for w/t hightpoint!

Peace.Love.Ponies.

CVPHA Horse Show

We did it!!! Johnny and I had a wonderful time at the horse show! Friday I hauled him down to spend the night with the barn I work for because they had an extra stall (I was originally planning on just hauling in Saturday morning) Friday night I schooled him in the show ring and he was a PSYCHO...his trot was great but the second I asked him for canter it was like the Kentucky Derby had let loose! He was running around like an idiot, careening around turns and over jumping everything so much that he was literally jumping me off his back (which, let me tell you, doesn't happen very often with how flat he jumps) I took him back to the barn feeling deflated...how were we going to show if he was like this? I planned on an early lunge and a hack the next morning.

Saturday morning D and I got to the show around 6:30 a.m. and Johnny was on the lunge line by 6:45. He was still snorting and looking all around him...complete A.D.D. He couldn't focus to save his life! I tried to get him to canter on the lunge and maybe get some bucks out, but instead his head just went straight up in the air and he went into his crazy running STB trot which I hate so much. I think the entire time he cantered maybe 5 strides total both directions. "This is going to be a disaster" I told D.

A little later in the afternoon when the schooling ring was a little quiet I tacked him up and D set some fences for me. He started off crazy AGAIN...his canter was quick and unbalanced and he was trying to just grab the bit and go. I had D set a cross rail, a vertical and an oxer across the ring. Starting off over the cross rail, he was dragging me and jumping long, dragging me then chipping, dragging me, dragging me, dragging me. I suddenly remembered last year how, at this show, he had stopped at every single jump in the show ring and never even made it around the course. I remembered K's words when we schooled him again after our disastrous rounds: "Stop getting in his way...you're pissing him off and making him nervous. He's not like Emmy, he doesn't want you there with him, holding on to his mouth, micro-managing his every step. He wants you to just sit still and steer with your legs."

I thought of that as he dragged me towards a tiny cross-rail in the schooling area and literally jumped three feet over it. At the top of the ring, I stopped and thought about what K would have told me, to just sit back and let go. The next time around, I did just that. He ran again at the cross rail, but I didn't correct him. On the other side he landed with better balance and a rounder back. We trotted like that a few more times before I we finally jumped, landed and I felt him take a deep breath on the back side as if to say "Thank you! I can do it if you'll just let me." After that it all started to fall into place. I forgot about all of the AA circuit trainers and clients from work who were sitting along the rail watching me ride him, I forgot about the show ring which had been making butterflies churn in my stomach all morning, I forgot about the other horses in the ring that were worth 5 and 6 figures, who did perfect flying changes and jumped like little freaks. For a little while it was just me and my horse and a fence. I sat in the saddle, felt the rhythm and rode it. He was jumping beautifully now, quiet and round and balanced. We schooled the vertical and the oxer off both leads and the distances where suddenly all there. We went back to the barn being a team again.

When it was time to show, D and I talked strategy. After our schooling session earlier, we decided that he only needed a few jumps to be ready for the ring. We jumped a vertical and an oxer off both leads and then went to the ring.

As soon as we walked into the show ring I knew the first trip was going to be a schooling round for him. Trotting down the quarter line, he shied away from a 4 stride with yellow flowers and then spooked again at a jump with red ones. we got our canter at the top of the ring and cantered maybe 5 strides before he spooked at the slanted roll top on the diagonal line and then weaved like a drunken sailor to the single on the quarter line coming home. If he could talk, he would have been saying "I can't do this! I can't do this!" and for a second I thought he wasn't going to. I remembered last year again, and how I had left my stick at the in gate with D, thinking that carrying it would just light him up. "If he refuses," I thought suddenly "I'll have no way to punish him." At the last second I closed my leg hard and clucked. He sailed over the jump and we were off! Our first trip was a lot of repeats of that same scenario, but he jumped every jump! When we came out of the ring, D suggested that I try to canter the entire second trip. "He seems less spooky out of the canter" she observed. I thanked her for her opinion and told her that I would try.

Our second trip was SO GOOD! (Alright, well, good is a relative term...in reality it was terrible but for Johnny it was AMAZING so that's all that matters! He cantered almost the entire thing, made the numbers in the lines and even landed his leads! I couldn't have been happier! Of course, we still broke gait a few times and therefore there was no way we would be in the ribbons at a show like this, but it didn't matter! My $80 entry fees were totally worth it!

Here are some video stills and professional pictures from the show. All rights for the professional photos belong to Anne Gittins and I claim no right to them. They are her rightful property. No copyright infringement is intended.

He spooked at the shadow on this jump and over jumped it by like 2 feet!

Good boy!

Video link coming soon!

Peace.Love.Ponies.

Over, Under or Through

Here are some photos of Johnny jumping the other day!

He's looking pretty good I think!

Saturday I am taking John over to the CVPHA Horse Show...I'm soooo nervous! Today I schooled him over fences for the last time before the show (tomorrow I think I'm going to lunge him in the side reins a bit) I made the fences a little bigger, the oxers wider (toe to toe), and put "scary" things on and underneath them (such as logs, saddle blankets, coolers, stall guards, etc.) Last year at this show, Johnny was SO preoccupied by the people watching and all of the activity going on (its an outdoor show) that we didn't make it around a single course. This year, I wanted him better prepped, so I put out the things that I knew he hated to jump (coolers and saddle blankets) and made him jump them all. We had one stop the first time to a jump with a yellow western saddle blanket draped over it where he did a drive by. Luckily I had my stick with me and so I swatted him good right on the flank, walked him a few strides back away from the fence and as soon as I turned him around he took off and LEAPED over the jump. He jumped everything after that but he was definitely in a bit of "jumper mode" for the rest of the ride. It's alright with me though...my only goal for this weekend is to get around the course! A trainer of mine once said that you're only job sometimes is just to get the job done...whether you go over, under or through the fence, you MUST get to the other side. That's my philosophy for this weekend! WISH US LUCK!

Peace.Love.Ponies.

Three, Two, One...JUMP!

This is a SUPER short update because it's late and I'm tired, but I just wanted to let everyone know that Johnny did something fantastic tonight...

HE JUMPED 2'9"!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was working him over some low fences to practice striding (riding the lines in the forward numbers and then in the add) and I also had a single set at 2'3" in prep for the upcoming CVPHA Horse Show next weekend. Johnny was jumping pretty well, so I put the 2'3" fence up to 2'6" just for fun...he jumped THAT so well that I though "hmmm...why not try?" and put the jump up to 2'9."

The first time to it I totally missed on the distance, but Johnny jumped anyway and snapped his feet up without even so much as tapping the rail. After that we jumped 2 more times with the correct distances. He was literally jumping me out of the tack he was jumping so well! wootttt!!

Peace.Love.Ponies.

A Long Week...and a LONG Post!

(This is a SUPER long post...but bear with me...it's a good one)

I started back up at work this week and it's been an overall long week. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my job, but there is no real easy way to ease back into the hype of a national level hunter show barn...it's like a river, you just have to jump back in and hope that the current doesn't sweep you away!

This morning I was up at 4:00am to head over Chagrin for the horse show. We've had 10 horses gone all week, but yesterday we shipped out 8 more ponies to add to those ten which were already at the show and so an extra hand was needed! Last year, I spent the entire summer on the road grooming, but this year I've stayed behind to help out at home. There are pros and cons to all of this really, I LOVE having set hours to my work day at home, and I get to ride more, but I really also love the atmosphere of horse shows! I love watching everyone, I love getting the horses ready, I love setting fences and polishing boots...when people ask me why on earth I would want to be a show groom (its so much work!) I tell them that a) it pays well, b) I get to meet all sorts of amazing people and professionals in the industry and c) I just really love horse shows! Most of the time it doesn't feel like a job!

Today was just a tiring end to a long week. By the days end, I had cleaned 22 stalls, groomed/unwrapped 17 horses, ridden two ponies, set feed and fed dinner. Whew! The stalls was what really got me, I don't mind cleaning them at all, but at Chagrin, the manure pit is allllllll the way outside the other end of the barn (and it's a BIG barn) The worst part (and the most time consuming) was just walking there! Not to mention the fact that it was POURING rain and horribly windy (up to 70 mile and hour gusts at times!) Chagrin is usually all indoors (like I said, its a MASSIVE facility) but for the rated shows the fill up the indoor warm up and arena with stalls and show in three big outdoor rings, which are fabulous on a nice sunny spring day. Unfortunately, today was not that day. The show rings themselves weren't too bad, but the hunter warm up ring was under water and we almost scratched all of our entries until we got clearance to school with the jumpers. The jumper warm up is on higher ground and isn't nearly as wet. Because of the winds though, the entire show became a little bit about "survival of the fittest" or in other terms, who can get around the jumps without their horse freaking out as the flower boxes blow over. All of the pony classes got canceled and moved to tomorrow. As wise decision really...our ponies are great but we really didn't want any of our short stirrup riders dying!

In other news, Emmy and Johnny have both been really good this week! Johnny was HORRIBLE the first time I rode him after we got home from school and I layed into him pretty bad. It wasn't even that he was bad to be ridden...he was just FREAKING out about everything (not in a scared way...in an I-don't-want-to-leave-my-friends kind of way). I brought him in from the pasture to ride him and he was screaming his head off and trying to spin around in the cross ties (to go where, I don't know...) I don't mind him whinnying and I tried to be nice at first and soothe his frazzled nerves, but the situation eventually went from ruffled feathers to down right rude and dangerous. When I went to lay his baby pad on his back he REARED in the cross ties while whinnying to Emmy (who wasn't helping because she was whinnying back) and then tried to spin in circles again. When he couldn't because of the cross ties, he reared again! WHAT THE HECK? He's never EVER been like this before! I barely got him saddled before he CHARGED out of the barn, nearly knocking me down, and then I had to practically do a running mount onto his back because he was rearing at the mounting block. I took him on trail and thought that he might calm down once he was away from everyone, and he did stop whinnying, but he was jigging something awful so I let him trot almost immediately and before I knew it we were full out running down the back drive. I let him do it, thinking that we would run once and be done, but nooooo way....I held on while that horse for half an hour back and forth until he was quiet, brought him back to the barn dripping with sweat, only to have him start the same stuff once we were back by the other horses. Trying to hose him off was a nightmare...he was trampling me and spinning in circles some more. He was completely ignoring me...he could have cared less that I was mad at him. I finally just gave up and took him for a walk out on the trails. When we got into the field behind the woods he practically ripped the lead rope out of my hand diving for grass. I yanked his head back up, shanked him and backed him up and then made him stand until I let him go, and then I just sat down and cried.

I've got all the patience in the world for horses...I'm never mean or aggressive unless I have to be, but never in all my 12 years of riding have I ever felt as frustrated and angry as I was that night. I cried until Johnny was dry and the sky was turning dark, then I took him back to the barn, fed him a cookie and groomed him until his coat was glossy, told him he was rotten, but apologized anyway for being mad at him, put him away and went home, deflated, dejected and in a terrible mood. What do I do? Make both of our lives easier and just not ride him when the other horses are out? What is that teaching him though? That he can get away with being bad, right? But trying to work him when he's in a tizzy gets us no where either...what a double edged sword this one is, huh?

The next day the weather-man was calling for storms. The rain held off all day, but by the time I got home from work, the dark clouds were gathering and thunder was starting to rumble off in the distance. M was in the barn mixing feed for dinner and I told her to hold Johnny's because we had some unfinished business. I brushed him down as quick as I could, wrapped his legs and put on his surcingle. We went up to the top part of the field where the ground is flattest and the footing is the best. The air was thick and heavy with the approaching rain but I Johnny and I had to work this out. He took off trotting before I even had my lunge line organize. After a few warm up laps in each direction, I stopped him, attached his side reins and sent him off again. I've always kept his side reins pretty loose to avoid making him feel trapped (I knew a girl who put side reins on her horse for the first time and didn't adjust them properly. Her horse hit the end of them, freaked out, reared and flipped over into the arena wall (which was cinder block) hit his head and was instantly neurological. He lived for three days.) since working on the contact is still fairly new to him. For the first time ever, he got mad when he felt the side reins, he took off bucking and leaping for a lap before stretching into them. We lunged both directions for almost 30 minutes (wayyy longer then I ever do) until the first streaks of lightning shot across the sky. When he wanted to stop I drove him on...it was essentially round-penning on a lunge line. When I dropped the line he turned to face me, ears pricked, nostrils blowing.

He's been a perfect angel ever since.

The next day I rode him again and this time set up a jump to work some more of his energy out and to let him do something he really enjoys. The second he saw it he wanted to charge at it, but I made him wait when he wanted to go long the first time. I set the warm up fence as a small cross rail, but finally got off and made it a vertical, probably around 2'3". He jumped it perfect every time! (See my previous post titled "When In Doubt") It seems that our problems are behind us for the moment. I gave him yesterday off and the rain has unfortunately kept up all day today, so he might be super fresh tomorrow...we will see!

Yesterday I did the same exercise with Emmy. She was also raring to go and was FLYING over the jumps! I love riding her because she and I have had so much time to build a relationship that we are just so in tune with one another...I can get whatever distance I want on that horse; short, long, perfect...whatever I tell her she will do. It's such an amazing feeling! The thing people have trouble with on her, is the fact that you HAVE to tell her where the distance is, otherwise she makes up her own (especially when she's fresh like she was yesterday) and it's not always very pretty. I'm sure that, if she were jumping loose without a rider, her distance would look beautiful and her form would be perfect no matter where she chose to leave the ground from, but it's us riders that screw her up. We make our horses jobs harder!

Tomorrow is Mother's Day and I've got the day off work...but not really. Lol. I still have to get up and change my horses blankets before they go out in the morning, then come back later and clean stalls and hopefully take Johnny for a hack if it's not too muddy? For now though, it's time for bed!

Peace.Love.Ponies.

South Farm Photos

As promised, here are some photos from the South Farm show. Unfortunately, I only have dressage pictures because C had to go get her horse ready during my Stadium round :(

Peace.Love.Ponies.

Horse Show Videos!

Here are a couple videos from the hunter schooling show E and I attended at Chagrin Valley Farms!

This is one of Johnny's trips in the 2ft hunters. He was such a good boy! This is the first time we've completed a "real" hunter course with flowers, bushes, boxes and gates :) He didn't look at anything and we even cantered two consecutive lines, although his jump on the out of the first outside line is pretty wonky...he was cross-cantering though so that would be why it got so ugly! We (unbelievable) got 8th out of 10 horses...I have NO idea how that happened since we technically broke gait and trotted, but it was a schooling show and we weren't the only ones who trotted fences so maybe he just trotted them better? lol I have no idea!



This next video is E and my lovely 23 year old hunter mare Emmy (reg. USHJA as "In Vogue") in their Adult Equitation class. They got 2nd with this round and were Reserve Champion of the day :))



Peace.Love.Ponies.

Horse Show!

Emmy and Johnny went to Chagrin Valley Farms today to show in their hunter schooling show. E showed Emmy in the Adults and I put Johnny in just two over fences classes of the Limit Rider (not that I'm really a limit rider...but its a schooling show so no one really minds a green horse in there). After a shaky warm up, E and Emmy went into their classes. Emmy pulled a 5th in her warm up...which was really quite the warm up o.0 and after some tears at the outgate and words of encouragement at the ingate, E went back into the ring strong and layed down two more really nice trips of Emmy. Chagrin added Equitation over fences to their prize list for almost every division, (which is really awesome!) so E went in that too. Emmy was super fantastic that they had a good round with just one minor late lead change behind. When the results came back Emmy was 3rd in her first trip, 2nd in the second trip and second in the Equitation. All week E and I have been working on flatting and I told E ahead of time that Emmy would win the hack if she let her and rode her right. It must have completely come together because lo and behold, the did win the hack and were 2nd in Eq. on the flat, making Emmy the Reserve Champion in her division!!

Johnny went next and after a super quick warm up in the show ring we went into our 2' class. Johnny was such a good boy in the first trip...he jumped everything and kept going forward...this is the first time we've ever gotten around a REAL course with flowers, bushes and boxes without stopping. I let him choose his gait and he often close to canter down the lines. For our second trip, I kept him cantering and we cantered the diagonal line followed by the outside line. Wouldn't you know that he actually GOT A RIBBON?? We got 8th out of 10 horses!!! Over all it was a super awesome show!

Peace.Love.Ponies.

Johnny goes to College

Today was Johnny's dressage lesson at school! After my Hunter class, I went back to the barn and got him all ready to go. A had so kindly agreed to haul him the 15 minutes to the LEC barn and so we loaded up and headed off. John was such a champ, well...he's always a champ really. One of the best traveler's I've ever dealt with. No matter what kind of trailer, he just kind of looks at it, signs "Ok" and lumbers on. He doesn't rock or paw in the trailer, he just stands quietly until we get where we are going and he can lumber back off the trailer. He must have been tired today because he practically fell asleep in the wash stall at the school barn. A helped me saddle him up and we headed to the outdoor arena where B, our trainer (and local judge) was waiting. The dressage ring was set up and Johnny took a good sniff at it when we first got to the ring. He smelled it, licked it and bit it before deciding that it was a perfectly acceptable piece of equipment. From that point on he never looked at it again. We warmed up slowly under B's watchful eye and she watched as we trotted around on a lose rein before she started to work with me. She immediately saw Johnny's left stifle weakness and classified his A.D.D-ness as an actual evasion to using his right side, which is something that I never thought about before. He really does only counter-bend to the right....B suggests lots of slow trot work to make him really flex his joints while keeping him straight and relaxed so that he strengthens his stifles and hocks while letting go with his top line. I told her that we've been working on some gymnastics jumping which seems to be helping stretch his top line. She agreed that gymnastics, slow trotting and hill work would be the fastest things to help him improve. "He's a really big sweet heart" B commented. "He wants really badly to do what you want...he's just not always sure what that is and when it gets hard he wants to try twenty other options, but he never get frazzled or mad, just unsure. You probably wouldn't get great dressage scores for movement...not yet at least, but you would get high marks for submission." Although Johnny isn't the typical warmblood dressage horse that B is used to, she did admit that he looked nothing like a Standardbred and that he was very cute with a great personality. I ended our lesson with a little left and right lead canter work. John cantered both leads like a pro! After the lesson, I called my old trainer K because I was a little confused about where to go with Johnny's training from here. B suggested slow work, but in my Hunter class M always tells us that the horse must go forward before it can balance back. K suggested a four day rotational training schedule including both aspects: A day for slow work, lateral work, forward work and jumping followed by a day off. This sounds like a reasonable rotation schedule to me. I may update it a little when we get home and can do some hacking and hill work. I will probably add back in the 1/2 hour hacks after each ride that Jimmy Wofford suggests for conditioning horses.

This Saturday we are heading to Chagrin Valley Farms for a hunter/jumper schooling show. I don't plan on showing, probably just schooling the course in the morning. If he is really good I might put him in the 18" hunters because the jumpers only go down to 2'6," which by the way, did I mention that Johnny jumped 2'6" last night!?! Go him!! Tomorrow he gets a day off to de-stress!

Peace.Love.Ponies.

So Busy!

So I finally found my camera (yay!) Sorry for the lack of updates...I've been so busy lately with this being the last week of school and finals coming up next week. I'm on overload with homework, projects and tests...not to mention packing up myself and my horses to go home! I've got a to-do list a page and a half long...gaahhhh!

The good news is that Johnny has been REALLY good lately! (*knock on wood*) Today we worked over fences a bit and at the end I put the jumps up to 2'6" and Johnny SAILED over it! E said he looked really great! I wish I would have had my camera then :( I'm really excited because 2'6" didn't feel like it was an effort for him, so maybe he does have the scope for 3ft? I hope so...it would be really fun to do the Prix de Villes next year! He rounded his back over 2'6" which is more than he does usually. I've been doing what K calls the "Geoff Teal release" which is a super over exaggerated crest release. I know it's a little unorthodox, but I've seen it work WONDERS on some of K and J's horses...one of which was the National Children's Hunter Champion at Harrisburg last year...clearly it does something good for the horse if you can keep your body position proper and just release your arms. It seems to be working for Johnny (who used to get hit in the face a lot when he first learned to jump...not by me, but by a previous rider) because the other night we were playing around over a cross rail and he rounded over that too!

Tomorrow is my last day of riding classes at school, save for my dressage final. I am hauling Johnny in to ride him in my dressage class (Hunter class probably isn't the best place for him right now...lol) and hopefully improve his gaits a bit. Our trainer is a very good local judge, so I can't wait to hear what she has to say about him...lol. I told her Monday that she wasn't allowed to laugh!

I'll let you know how it goes.

Peace.Love.Ponies.

An Apology

So I have to admit that the reason I haven't updated is because I seemed to have misplace (not LOST...just misplaced...lol) my digital camera, meaning that I have no new videos or photos to update with, which is SUCH a bummer because Johnny and Emmy were so amazingly good today in our over-fences schooling. E and I kept the jumps low, just some cross rails, but Johnny was landing his right lead EVERY time he needed too, even when we did a tight roll back and jumped a little off the diagonal. He feels so much more comfortable on it now! We even cantered a small cross rail off the right lead. It wasn't super pretty, but he got over it safely and continued to land in right lead canter on the back side. Over all, he was quiet before and after the jumps, bouncy and comfortable in his canter and he held a really great pace the whole time, plus we landed ALL of our leads, which is definitely the biggest accomplishment for the day.

Sunday, my best friend C and I went conditioning down at a park near my barn up here. Both Johnny and Abbie were very good, although Johnny and I did have a little debacle over a water crossing. It's not that he doesn't like water, he LOVES water, he just hates the step down into the creek and freaks out when he has to make that step. I have to admit that I layed into him pretty hard, which I'm not super proud of, but he deserved it (rearing and spinning is NOT okay with me...I don't care what he's got to do...plus it was like a 6 inch step down....) and after 15 minutes I finally got him in. Of course, he splashed around like a little freak and had the time of his life once he was in. We crossed two more creeks after that without a problem and today I found him drinking out of the pond in the pasture with Emmy and Romeo. Hopefully our water problem is solved?

I wish I could find my camera because I would post all of the pictures I took last Thursday down at Equine Affaire. My dad and I drove down for the day and had a blast watching clinics and SHOPPING. Two pictures of Johnny, one of just his face and one of me riding him, were on display at the SPHO Ohio booth, so that was really exciting to see! I ordered an SPHO polo shirt which should be coming in the mail soon! I can't wait to wear it and show my support for the organization...I love my Standie :) We also watched two Linda Allen clinics, one which focused on schooling the novice or green  horse over fences. I got some really great exercises for Johnny out of and I took pictures of all the jumps set up and videos of the riders riding through them...if only I could find my camera! I did make some very nice purchases though. A new dressage bit for Johnny, nice Roma brand open front and ankle jumping boots (with fuzzy insides!), a new leather stable halter to replace his nasty blue nylon one (I really hate nylon halters...I'm just a traditional freak lol), new black polo wraps, a new helmet for me (finally one that fits my head!) and some new riding gloves, since my old ones ALSO seemed to walk off...what is it with me and losing things? Overall it was a super awesome trip!

In other news, I'm working on getting Johnny hauled over to school either tomorrow or next week so that I can ride him in my dressage class. Our trainer is a local professional who is also a judge and I would love to hear what she has to say about him. Unfortunately, the girl who is going to trailer him told me today that she might be having truck problems, so tomorrow might turn into next week. Either way, I just really want a dressage lesson on him!

I'm going to go scope around for my camera some more...hopefully I will find it :( Keep your fingers crossed.

Peace.Love.Ponies.

Just a Picture Update

A quick update with a few pictures that my friend sent me from last weekend's horse show.


The first two pictures are of Johnny and I in the jumpers and the rest of the pictures (the chestnut horse) are of me and the school horse I showed :)

Peace.Love.Ponies.