On the road again...

So my last ride on Smokey was amazing. John (Smokey's owner's husband, who also took me hunting) took me out on the foundation (4000 acres of riding land -- sand trails etc) for an awesome hack with some random hunt fences thrown in :)

Well I'm now in Pittsburgh... Staying @ an amazing B&B (http://www.sunandcricket.com/index.html) -- if you're ever in the area, esp if you have a horse w/ you, I highly recommend it!!!! Sienna loaded brilliantly, had a minor meltdown on the trailer (lathered herself up etc) but then trailered the rest of the way well. Spun herself when we got here, but again settled reasonably well. She seriously stressed me out by not drinking *anything* all day, but was good overnight. The people here are amazing -- let me turn Si out in a paddock where she could see their horses till she chilled, checked on her *way* after I had gone to bed (which I hadn't asked for, they just popped in while I was feeding in the morning to let me know how much she had drank then), etc etc. Super nice and helpful people. The house has a cottage feel to it. With nick-nacks everywhere, wooden floors/beams/etc, and tons of videos. They do have satellite tv and internet though so a good combo of rustic and modern.

Ok have to run, time to reload Sienna. More later :)

Talley-ho!

So today I went fox-hunting for the first time (think old-british photographs). I've wanted to go for quite some time, but more for the experience than cause I really thought I'd enjoy it. Well omg I had SO much fun!!!! Wow. STILL grinning :) It was, admittedly, nowhere near the adrenaline rush of XC, but it was just fun. Everybody was plesant and welcoming, an awesome ride, and time just flew.



When I mentioned my concern about the actual "hunting" aspect of it, I was told not to worry because "the fox is way too smart to be caught by a pack of loud dogs." hahaha and sure enough, the fox survived the encounter -- although admittedly probably wasn't very happy about the whole experience, but he's still alive and well :)

How often have you been ready to go in the show ring in the middle of August, sweltering in your jacket and wondering whoever thought long, black sleeves were a good idea for a summer sport? Well of course we all know the tradition dated to hunting in England where warmth was likely a good thing... Today was the first time ever I've looked at my show jacket on a day where I had to wear it and thought "this isn't nearly warm enough!" hahaha fortunately for me, Lin, who owns Smokey, kindly lent me her warm hunt coat, so it was all good.

Well I have to admit the tradition and pagentry of the whole event appealed to me -- even if I did have to tie a stock tie stupidly early this morning *g* The colours and history... It was probably a pointless sport even a few hundred years ago (hunting in the King's forrest in England) but much of the tradition has lasted. The master we were following is 82 yrs old. I will be THRILLED if I'm going that strong at that age! Galloping and jumping in the woods. Wow. The huntsman, who does this full time as a profession, is responsible for training the dogs, managing them on the hunt, caring for them, and I think (but I could be wrong here) breeding them as well. This particular huntsman is the third generation to do so for this hunt, and his neice and (I want to say granddaughter, but that might not be right -- def some of the 3rd generation below) were both whips -- taking care of preparing the next two generations. Whips basically help corral the hounds and make sure they don't stray tooooooo far off course. Was quite the sight to see one at one point sitting alone probably a mile away, across a pond and up a hill, inbetween two trees, intent on the scene in front. A Roman sentry on guard... Or maybe just a rider watching a hound in the distance -- but my imagination is more fun :)

Oh more on the imagination gone wild -- the hounds rushing through the brush was a total horror-movie moment! Where the "creature" is approaching and all you can hear is the brush rustling and you can see the leaves move, but no sign of an actual being...

So some of the things I learned today:
- the dogs are not dogs, they are hounds. Fortunately I was warned about this *before* I went so no social blunders there.
- never pass the master. hahaha this one I actually knew about and was the primary reason I was concerned about hunting Zel :)
- Under no circumstances allow your horse to kick a hound (dogs are fair game, but don't kick the hounds :)
- It's also bad to allow your horse to kick another horse.
- Kicking a person is also frowned upon, but really they should be able to get out of the way. But don't kick a hound >;-P

Somebody today told me that hunting was all about relationships, and I found that an interesting concept. There is the relationship between the huntsman and the individual hound; between the huntsman and the pack of hounds; between hound and hound; between the huntsman and the whips and the masters; between the master and the field (there were 3 masters and fields at this hunt); between the rider and their horse; between the horse and horse; between horse and hound; and of course, between all of the above and the fox! hahaha

There were just over 60 people in the hunt today. Apparently that's big for a Monday -- sort of wonder how nobody has to work, but hey more power to them :) Everybody there fell into one of two categories: those who ride to hunt or those who hunt to ride. I would def be in the hunt to ride category -- go out cause it's a fun ride, but if the horses weren't involved there'd be absolutely no point. And it was pretty easy to guess by looking around who was in each category *g*

Possibly the most impressive moment was the complete and instant silence when the hounds lost the scent. That much more intense for the cacophony of sound that preceded it. And followed it :)

Ok well I think that's enough of a novel for now :) Only one pic, just before we headed out, here: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=5610916&id=823765365

Better to be a smart-ass than a dumb-ass!

Ok so there were a ton of brilliantly coloured birds around today -- mostly cardinals and blue jays. Was amazing to watch. Didn't have a good enough zoom on my camera for good pics though :( A shame cause it was pretty incredible.

So had a run-in w/ a real smart-ass today. His name is Higgins, and he's a mini-donkey who lives w/ Smokey. Well Higgins does NOT like it that I take Smokey away. Usually he tries to get in my way while I go to get Smokey and then haunts the gate till we get back (Smokey, otoh, couldn't care less about Higgins -- poor guy). Anyways -- Higgins today instead of following along behind, ran ahead and stood in front of the gate. hahaha perfect solution. Can't open the gate to take Smokey out w/ him there or he'll leave too and he simply wasn't about to move. Would've been quite the entertaining standoff if not for the fact that Smokey is higher in the pecking order and shoved poor Higgins out of the way! hahaha

So on a completely unrelated note -- typed this as part of a very silly waste of time on Facebook, but I'd be interested in hearing other people's take on it, so figured I'd repost it here... Really should refine it before reposting, but that's just not going to happen. Feel free to skip this paragraph if you just want horses! hahaha still with me? Ok -- here goes . . . I firmly believe that Facebook and other social networking sites are significantly changing our culture. Everybody growing up with them, becomes part of a "small-town" mentality -- regardless of where they actually live. Just think of it: the small town, where the news of Joe and Suzy breaking up flies around the town in seconds; where the kid you went to kindergarten with will be at your university graduation; where if you're having a bad day, lots of people will know -- and more will try to help... The kind of town that is thought of a cliche now, that all us worldly people are so far beyond, has gone virtual. People I went to kindergarten with -- and haven't seen in decades -- will send a smile if I'm having a tough day. I know which of my highschool "gang" married their highschool bf/gf -- and was happy to see it, even though I haven't seen any of them in person since senior year. Friends from a trip to Australia years ago, remain friends in ways that snail-mail could never allow. N, well, you get the gist :) Thoughts? Wow that one was long. hahaha

And back to the horses -- the key to riding Si is simple -- exhaustion. hahaha poor girl. Apparently running around as though she were being chased by demons for an hour two days in a row leads to a fairly tired pony. She was quite willing to walk today and let me work on stretching and bending *yawn* rather than just running around in circles :) So basically I have to hack her for miles and miles and miles until her maturity matches her fitness. Once the world's not quite so exciting, she just might be a very kewl horse! Sorry Mary -- looks like I have another one who'll do dressage much better after her gallop sets! hahaha

Ok off to feed the critters. I do love the country at night -- but I have to admit, reading a crime novel right before going out to feed is not the *best* idea in the world. At least not if you have a reasonably vivid imagination. Guess how I learned that lesson *sheepish grin*

Jumping fun :)

THE most amazing day today :) Jump school w/ Smokey who did a serious jumper course AND kept up w/ the big kids! Including fun games like a fan, a sweedish oxer to a skinny (think one barrel wide) on a bending line, a triple (his first ever -- AND he did it w/ NO extra strides -- a serious accomplishment!), a corner, a liverpool, and a whole bunch of random jumps.

Again focus on getting/keeping/regaining the correct canter... And since 3/4 of the course was related distances, doing the above pretty much instantly. And Mr. Smokey now understands the "go" aid, which makes riding him a whole lot more fun :)

Sienna was also a superstar. Jogged in-hand w/ her over some baby-fences and she either stepped over them not caring in the least or cleared them by a solid 3'. hahaha can't wait to jump her for real! Hopefully if the weather holds the free-jump ring will have good footing and we can @ least see if she's got any natural talent :) What I was far more impressed by was that it was almost dark, cold, windy, and she was alone -- yet she never had a meltdown. This is significant progress :)

Ok well I'm zonked and must sleep. Still pretty happy from today's adventures though :)

How to ride XC: "go that way, fast, and jump anything that gets in the way"

So my new favourite three words: "bring your vest" -- hahaha because this translates to "we're doing XC today" wooohooo!!!

Best. XC. School. Ever. Literally. And given the oh hundreds of XC lessons I've had in the last 20 years or so, that's saying something.



So the whole "speed/balance/impulsion" thing got applied -- but the diff is, I could actually do it *g* And I realize that this is mostly due to the hours of drilling dressage and stadium in the ring, but still -- it was the most amazing feeling. Gallop forward, flat, fast (well fast is relative... Smokey learned to gallop today *g* hahaha that was cute; Si goes faster when I'm trying to go slowly! :)... Then sit up, tuck hocks under, bring front end up, see spot, jump fence, repeat *g*



Yeah nothing new, but my position felt significantly more solid, so that was a good confidence boost. AND sure enough being able to *ride* the gallop made getting the right spot almost idiot proof. hahaha sad though cause of course I've always thought that's exactly what I *was* doing. I *know* you have to balance the gallop before the fence. So what was the difference? The amount of compression. WAY more than I've ever done in the past. But what a great feeling when it worked. Wow.



And the difference in the riding of the girl I was with was incredible to watch. Went from scary and somewhat out of control, to almost text-book perfect in about an hour. Brilliant. With almost the exact same revelation -- the balance and compression is a LOT more than she's done in the past. And, of course, this comes entirely from the leg... I had very little weight in my hands at any point.

Also got to jump my "2nd ever XC school" horse (Smokey obviously, Si's still @ w/t phase of life!) in and out of the water. Superstar :) Also up and down the bank, over a ditch, and up/down steps. He had no concerns about any of it.

Sooooooo much fun. Si went hacking again -- which was also good -- but I gotta admit I'm still way high from the XC school :)

Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amatures built the ark; professionals built the Titanic.

Amazing day today :)

So lets start w/ Smokey... Jump school... And I have to admit he totally and completely suckered me. Beyond suckered me actually. Usually I can tell when a horse is trying to get the better of me, but no, I freely admit I was completely oblivious here...

hahahha so what happened? Well his owner doesn't jump, so everything's new to him, so I've only been jumping him over very little fences (E height or so). And honestly, I figured that was about all he had. He's incredibly honest, but we *barely* clear them, and while he's got good form, I was not convinced there was much there.

Uh huh. Well today I was riding w/ a girl who was making a sales vid for her horse (who's ready to upgrade to T) -- so the fences were quite a bit bigger than we usually do (she got up to almost 4')... I was fully expecting them to be dropped for us, but no. When it was my turn it was just my turn (well all except the 4' one -- it got significantly lowered :)... Ummmm ok... hahaha well sure enuff the little goofball can JUMP! hahaha and *barely* clears every one. What it comes down to is he's smart and lazy. So he expends the bare minimum of effort req'd to get over each fence. But some of those fences were a decent size, including one wicked skinny brush oxer -- wasn't the biggest, but was a whole lot more technical than anything he's seen and still reasonably sized -- enough that on other days we were always told to skip it, and he stalled before it but still made it over.



hahaha so of course now I'm wondering just how high he *can* jump A couple pics here if you're interested: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=188218&l=192be&id=823765365

Anyways, as previously mentioned, the girl I was riding w/ was making a sales vid -- so May was there filming. And when they were done, May filmed my last couple rounds (she also took the still FB pics earlier in the ride). Always good to see video of your ride; you can learn from video of your ride. Right, what I didn't expect was to watch the video WITH Denny. That is an entirely different experience *g* hahaha yup, when I went over to do late night I brought my little flash drive up to get the pics from May, but she didn't have the vid on her computer... No no, it's hooked up to the tv and ready to go... From Denny "You really should watch this. Would you like some wine?" hahaha n all I could think was 'uh oh, am I going to need it?' :) But no it was good. Intense, but good :) Went over what was good, not so good, and what was greatly improved from previous but still in need of work... Since this was the first I'd heard of anything improving that part of things was nice *g* N of course Denny's really sharp so between me being a smart ass and him flipping between being a serious coach and joking around it was somewhat entertaining. Way more useful than the "watch the vid @ home alone" in that when I do that, I can only see what I *know* I do wrong. Watching w/ your coach you can see the things you don't know about and also get the more objective view that can also see the good.

And then there was Miss Sienna. W/ her, at the end of a *very* long session I got told "It started out really bad, and ended up really good. You did your job." And theoretically if I do it again tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow we'll slowly get somewhere. Teaching her to both lunge and longline... She's *really* not into the whole lunging thing, but was remarkably tolerant about longlining. The catch is that I have never longlined b4 (have asked several of my coaches to teach me and always get "oh sure, no problem" but never any follow through... And yes I know it's not rocket science, but I'd still rather learn to do it right!) Whereas here, on a horse who doesn't know how to do it I get to learn. Green on green. We all know where that leads! hahaha Classic eh? So given that it was her first time ever doing it, and I have NO experience, Denny was the one steering...

So for the curious -- intro to long-lining. Pretty much exactly what you'd expect.

Step 1 -- lunge till horse chills. Change direction and repeat process.
Step 2 -- move around till horse is ok w/ you being diagonally behind her.
Step 3 -- tie stirrups to girth, run lungeline on offside through stirrup w/ "driver" behind horse and slightly offside. Person two has a leadline on the nearside at the bit. Driver walks behind horse to nearside and lets horse get used to feel of lungeline around hocks etc...
Step 4 -- 2nd lungeline on nearside, through stirrup to driver.
Step 5 -- 2nd person leads horse around w/ driver following.
Step 6 -- Driver takes over commands w/ 2nd person just as backup.
Step 7 -- 2nd person detaches leadline and gets out of the way.
Step 8 -- Driver now under control.

It was a complete non-issue for Sienna. She was a little puzzled at times, but not particularly stressed about it. And after *this* game, I finally got to get on. (it's been like a week :) Got told "treat her like she's two and you've *just* backed her". So that's the route we're taking, and I suspect it's exactly the right way to go. Take longer and tons of patience, but I think I'll have a much more confident horse in the end. Did a lot of walking around, changing direction, etc etc. There was none of the "won't go right" (I wasn't allowed to get back on till we could lunge w/o any sign of that -- hence the wk off... And Denny was standing where he would be if he were lunging, still holding the lunge whip "just in case" -- but wasn't necessary). Lots of greenbean steering (wide opening rein etc) and since she's uber-sensitive to the leg, I was mostly just trying to get her used to it being there. But in general I was really happy w/ her. Once the longlinging is a little more established, Denny wants me to longline her all around the xc course and across the bridge to where Smokey lives... hahaha could be entertaining. But she's been totally kewl w/ everything like that I've tried w/ her in hand (up and down banks, over the ditch, etc etc) so I don't expect an issue.

The one thing I was both happy and a *little* concerned about is that she is ridiculously fit! Smokey gets ridden 5-6 days/wk, and I still have to give him extended breaks after most courses to get his breath. Sienna has lived in a field the last year, galloped around like an idiot for half an hour (literally) and it took less than a minute for her pulse and respiration rate to go back to resting. Absolutely insane. Sweats up a fair amount, but her breathing and heartbeat show no signs of stress. N while this will prob be a huge advantage once I can actually ride her, right now it's really making things a whole lot more difficult since the "tire them out" theory of horse training really can't be applied! hahaha Gotta love TBs!

Life is crazy but fun :)

So it's been a while :) hahaha I finally get internet at home and promptly stop working. Classic eh? But I *am* caught up on my work, so that's a good start.

Jumping lesson yesterday as a blast -- stadium was brilliant "speed, balance, impulsion" hahaha -- difference being it's actually starting to work... Then XC. Woohoo! We really didn't do anything all that exciting but it was just fun to be out of the ring... N Smokey horse has no concerns about ditches, banks or water s that's always good.



Ok so this is very short -- too much else to do right now. More later :) Maybe :)

Cya!

Short n sweet

Jump school today. Woohoo! And for one who's been riding only babies, and speedy babies at that, it was quite the culture shock! hahaha Smokey is a pretty cute jumper but @ every fence I have NO faith we're actually going. He's entirely honest, we just generally have no pace @ all... Attack mode is def a foreign concept for this horse... hahaha going to take me a bit to get the hang of reving him up! But soon, I hope, things'll be going well!

Speed, balance, impulsion. Sound familiar? But the challenge was the opposite of everything I'm used to riding. hahaha but that's ok :)



Smokey

So I finally put some pics up hahaha http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=181973&l=2b796&id=823765365 for the curious :) Haven't had time to take many farm pics yet, but there's a few from around home and both Si and Smokey...

Yikes, gotta run!

Some creatures have the capacity to fill a space we never knew was empty.

So subject line doesn't really have anything to do w/ anything -- I just saw it and was in a sappy mood so figured I'd use it :) Besides I have a new horse -- that applies right? Actually, it does -- I've been SO happy since she came (was that REALLY only yesterday???) -- didn't really get that anything was missing till then... Still riding tons - it's all the same right? Wrong. >;-P There ya go, I learned something today.

Sienna the wonder-horse (ummmm yeah that'd be the new CTBM hahaha :) has been banished to indoors until such time as the farrier deigns to arrive :( Boo. Her feet are in *really* dodgy condition -- for those who know Sugar, WORSE than hers used to be! Believe-it-or-not... But I guess that's what happens when you don't see a farrier for well over a year *sigh*

I'm still soooooo excited though. hehehe oh and I totally got yelled at about rhythm again. Sheesh. Evidently I'm kewl w/ letting the horse set the rhythm -- which was absolutely FINE on Miss Zel who had just about txt-book perfect rhythm *g* hahaha however evidently it doesn't work so well on other horses. On Smokey (borrowed horse -- wanna guess what colour he is??? Comeon... Yup -- you guessed it! Paint! hahaha Seriously -- I have NO idea where the name came from, but to each their own...) -- anyways back to my story -- on Smokey the snapped command "rhythm" means GET MOVING. On Sienna it means SLOW DOWN. hahaha N there I am just happily going along w/ whatever they give me. N Smokey goes slower n slower n slower until we'd be hardpressed to catch the average turtle (gives new meaning to Mary's verb "turtling" hahaha)... While Si gets going so fast I can't even post anymore! hahaha Ah well -- will def be an interesting comparison riding the two of them together!

WAAAYYY too excited to sit and type a blog entry!

So my news of the day -- I bought a horse!!!!!! OMG. That I saw for the first time yesterday. I'm still a little stunned. But I just adored her. It was like when I got on Zel the first time. Of all the horses I've ever ridden, she's only the 4th I've ever felt that for. N I've recently realized, they've ALL been chestnut mares. hmmmm maybe there's something in that :) Esp for a girl who claims not to like chestnuts (black or blood-bay is def where the kewl kids hang out :)hahaha This one is full TB, off the track. Beyond green. *Some* attitude *g* All she knows is GO and GO FAST. But reasonably chilled about unmounted life (although that may change w/ FOOD -- she's sooooo skinny). She's tiny -- 15.1ish. But still growing, so that's good. One of these days I'll have time to look up her ancestry -- apparently she's reasonably well bred.


Trial ride :)

I'm so excited :)

I also rode my "borrow" horse for the first time today. I haven't worked that hard on a horse . . . ever? hahaha maybe as a little kid on a school-pony, but that'd be the last time :) Beyond lazy. But actually has very decent movement and an awesome jump. So he'll get me fit and let me play around a bit -- and his owners are about the nicest people I've ever met so that helps. All he's ever done is hunt (think following the fox in the field, not outside-diagonal-outside-diagonal :) -- but he's brave outside so xc should be a blast.