No I Didn't Fall Off the Edge of the Planet

Okay maybe I fell off the edge of the earth for a little while but I finally found my way back. And it's finally, officially, weatherly SPRING! There are flowers and warm days, green grass and enough hair shedding off my horse to make a winter coat for a bald Shetland pony!  Yeah there is some rain in there and mud but I'm so happy to finally be rid of winter that I just don't care.

So what's been going on at the farm since my last post in February? Tons! Firstly I wasn't able to go volunteer at the Carolina International this year.  I was set to go and then Superhubs got diagnosed with a pretty big hernia which scrapped my plans of leaving him to take care of the farm and our menagerie of animals.  It was during this time of forced inactivity that Superhubs decided that what the farm really needed was ducks. Excuse me? Now I had talked about wanting ducks and a pair of swans, I have a desperate need for a pair of swans. But I meant for the next farm that we will have when I retire from the Navy in four or so years and we decamp the farm permanently to North Carolina. So when he brought getting some ducks to raise in to the conversation I was a little thrown.  But I realized that Superhubs needed a project to focus on so that his impending surgery didn't take up all his mental space.

I did a ton of research, looked around at various places and finally decided to purchase six Blue Swedish ducklings from a reputable farm.  They were delivered via the US Postal System (who knew you could get ducks in the mail?!) about a week after the ducklings hatched and are currently living in a repurposed water trough in our garage.

They are adorable, fun and like horses messy. But they will lay eggs we can eat and they in turn will help keep the mosquito and fly population in check. Which are all good things. Just before the ducklings were delivered Superhubs had his surgery and everything looks good for a full recovery.
During Superhubs recovery and learning the ins and outs of duck care I used the greenhouse Superhubs bought me to plant lots of vegetables for this year, tend the yard, get farrier visits done for all the horses which is now even more complicated because Fox has a separate farrier to tend to his special needs.

Yeah I have a special needs pony.  The Farrier Fairy K. was reluctant to do the first set of shoes Fox would have since I had his front shoes pulled a year and a half ago. It wasn't FFK isn't a fantastic farrier, she is but Fox has really thin hoof wall and she recommended an excellent guy who take great care of my precious pony. Who now has shoes all the way around! Not that I didn't like his Easy Boots but I love not having to put them on every time I want to ride.

Riding wise I've been kind of hit or miss.  I was able to take Fox on a trail ride at the farm just down the road for which Fox was good and bad.  He was great walking down there and even passed the 3 three super scary mini horses (Seneca would have left for home at the point, she doesn't do ponies) and hung out happily while I waited for A. to tack up Charm.  Oh did I forget to mention that Charm moved just down the road from me in March and is now a happy pony at his new residence?  But for the actual trail ride Fox was less than stellar.  I don't know why but he just became a complete hairy pig on the trail.  He didn't want to walk in the back, he jigged, he spooked, even hopped up on his back feet once.  BAD PONY!

But as soon as we got back to my friend's farm yard he was completely content to hang and look around.  He was especially in love with the chestnut miniature horse. I was wary of letting him approach their pasture due to Seneca's previous tantrums but he really enjoyed them and spent several minutes watching them and touching noses with the chestnut.

Last weekend was truly the beginning of spring for me.  We weren't ready to compete at the local horse trial so I decided to lend my skills as a jump judge and spent an awesome day jump judging on XC at the ditch complex.  I got to watch lots of do's and don't's for ditches and lots of nice horses and ponies flashing by in the Novice, BN and Intro sections.  I later went home mowed the pastures and road my own pony who was pretty perfect.

That Sunday I spent a good portion of the day shopping at the local tack store with my friend A. who is transitioning from Hunter Princess to Eventer Chick. So we spent a happy afternoon cruising the tack shop and trying on protective vests.

What's up next? I've a lesson scheduled in a couple of weeks with my coach K. and then there is a XC schooling day in our future at the farm that does the local HT.  They completely revamped their entire XC course with new and improved jumps everywhere.  This will be A's first time schooling XC and Fox's first real schooling so it should be fun. 

After that who knows.  My work schedule is going to get crazy but I'm hoping to get to a horse trial of some flavor some time this summer/fall.  But that's if Fox can give me a publically acceptable canter which he hasn't done yet.  So we'll see.  Until then keep it between the flags everyone!

 

Birthday Wishes and Traveling with a Hunter Princess

It is an unwritten rule at my house that we never, ever celebrate my birthday on the actual day. We just don't. Inevitably my actual birthday will be an awful compilation of work stress, a crappy boss and some mix of karma and the evil powers that be. It ends up being the worst day of the year. So a long time ago I just refused to acknowledge the day and we celebrate my birthday on the weekend before or the weekend after.

This year was no exception. Mother Nature decided to give us a break last weekend and came up with two very nice days with warm, DRY! weather. Saturday was mostly spent getting all my horses feet trimmed by K. the Farrier Fairy.  We discussed the necessity of shoes for Fox this year and basically gossiped for an hour and a half. Then my friend A. came out and we played with our ponies a bit. But really we were both just amping up for Sunday.  When myself, A. and one of my other friends K. found out it would be 65 degrees on Sunday a call to ride together was made. This was my birthday wish to ride my horse with my friends.

So Sunday rolled up and right after I fed the horses I started prepping to get everything ready to go. I had packed my tack the day before so that was done, as well as stuffing two hay bags for Fox and Charm. So really I just needed to double check things and start scraping the mud off Fox for while he's blanketed 24/7 he still manages to pile ten pounds of mud on to himself from the knees down.  It was super warm so I left his blanket off and only made sure he was clean and swapped his regular field halter for his fancy leather one with this name engraved on it.

A. arrives and we start getting Charm ready to go. This is where the differences between me (Eventer Chick) and A. (Hunter Princess/George Morris worshipper) really come in to play.  I threw my pony on the trailer after he was clean and his hooves were picked out. A. groomed Charm, oiled his hooves, wrapped his legs with a complicated polo pony style wrap, then threw on his matching cooler. Then we loaded him in the trailer. I only go all out with full "Here to Impress" gear when we're hauling to a show, even then if its a local show I really don't do much beyond make sure my pony is super clean and his tack is good to go. So A.'s full out Princess Up threw me for a little loop.

We did have a fabulous time over at the barn where my friend K. boards her draft cross mare Birdie.  A lovely arena with real footing. No mud or slick spots to worry about. There were even jumps to jump! After going though our warm up routine that infuses lots of bending I rolled in to our new fitness regime that requires ten walk to trot to walk transitions in each direction.  Then it was time for a little jumping. Just baby fences at barely a foot.  But Fox put in good efforts, never refused, though he paused a few times to look at things.  He even cantered off after a couple of the fences which made me happy.  And I worked on not looking at the fences but rather just waiting and feeling my pony getting ready to jump.

I did discover something about Fox that really hadn't ever come up before.  He absolutely does not like horses coming towards him head on. A. and I were cooling our two boys off, walking together and every time a horse came at us from the opposite direction Fox tried to glue himself to Charm. Good to know for the future.

So what's up for us next? Well not a whole lot. The weather is still ugly and work hasn't gotten any happier or easier so we will work when we can on strengthening Fox's butt. There is a bit of happy news though. Last year I was a spectator at the Carolina International CIC.  This year I will be a VOLUNTEER! Woo Hoo!  Four days of nothing but eventing, eventing, eventing! Bring it on and keep it between the flags everyone!

It's the Knowing and the Learning

This is the time of year that I truly hate the most. It's grey, wet, muddy, cold and dark. The inevitable happens.  I don't get off work at a decent hour so I can't get home with enough daylight to ride during the week so I make hopeful plans for the weekend. Which is when Mother Nature laughs at me and rains buckets.  I can deal with riding in the cold but I won't risk my horse's life or my own riding on slick, muddy ground.

So what's a horse crazy girl to do? Find the nearest indoor. And boy did I find one.  It's not super close, about an hour from me. But I had a week's vacation coming and I was able to take Fox over twice during that week. I wanted to get a handle on this cantering issue that Fox and I were having. The last time I asked him to canter was way back in October when K. was giving me a lesson before Kelly's Ford.  It did not go well that day.

But Superhubs and Cowboy were coming with us as babysitters (as I had no idea how Fox would react to being alone in the indoor) so I figured if I got hurt at least he would be there to dial 911. As you, my dear readers, might know from previous posts Kelly's Ford was an absolute disaster.  Fox had major sensory overload and completely melted down. So taking him new places I'm now a little more careful.

We arrived at this crazy expensive barn, all their run-in sheds were brick! Each of the shed row style stalls had its own attached paddock and tack room.  But the indoor made me want to move in permanently. It was climate controlled, as in it stays a cozy 56 degrees no matter what the temp outside is. BLISS! It just goes to show you what the right insulation can do for you.

After tacking up Superhubs and I headed in to the arena where Fox was huffing and a little anxious. Understandable since I hadn't taken him anywhere in months.  I led him around for a few laps until his head lowered and he wasn't sounding like he was about to hyperventilate. He finally stood still for me mount up and we were off.  We practiced our dressage spirals of death, some walk trot transitions and then it was time to canter. I admit it I was nervous. I did not want to get bucked off.  But I shouldn't have worried.  I couldn't even get Fox to canter.  He'd trot like a harness racer but I could not get an upward transition. I even tried poles on the ground and giving him a good whack on the butt with my jumping bat.  Nope. No canter.  I finally got off and lunged him where I was able to get him cantering both ways.

But this made me curious.  Did he have a physical issue that was causing him pain or was I just being too soft? Later that week I took Fox back to the indoor but had K. meet us and climb aboard the Wonder Pony for the first time.  K. is skilled AND brave. Which was just what I felt Fox and I both needed.  This is where the knowing comes in.  K. gave Fox a good work out and while she had a bit easier time getting Fox in to a canter it was still a bit of battle to do it. She told me what I really needed to know.  Fox has a weak hind end, particularly on the right side which makes it hard for him to maintain a canter.  She gave me some homework to do with him and that is what we'll be working on when we can. Freaking ugly weather!

And the learning? Fox was nervous when we first went to the indoor.  New, strange place. So I walked him so he could look at things and do something normal and routine.  This is why Kelly's Ford went so badly for us.  I failed Fox. I failed because I didn't take him down early that morning and walk him around so he could see everything and know that it was okay.  Instead I tacked him up then flung him in to the crazy warm-up area, which was right next to the XC warm-up area and the show jumping arena.  I never gave him a chance to really look around when it was less chaotic and stressful so I got the Pony from Hell when it was time to warm-up.  This is not a mistake I ever want to repeat.  Not only was it an expensive mistake but it was stressful all the way round and just made Fox and I unhappy on all fronts.

So lesson learned, better management at over-night shows is definitely needed.

Something else that I learned?  You can totally pimp your horse's blanket with zip ties! Fox's medium weight blanket is a 3600 denier Centaur.  Which has a place to buckle on a sold separately neck cover.  I got the blanket for a steal on Tack of the Day, but the matching neck cover was way to expensive to buy outright.  So I borrowed the Amigo Bravo L/M neck cover from his other blanket.  But the buckle system was different on both so they couldn't be attached directly.  Just apply some zip ties and voila! Cozy clothing for your horse without spending extra money on a second neck cover!

Keep it between the flags everyone!

 

Prince Charming Comes to Midnight Hill and the Blanket Rant

                                                           (Commanding Charm)
                                                      
I cannot believe I haven't posted anything since the end of October! Bad blogger, bad! Unfortunately there just hasn't been anything really news worthy until just this past week.  I've probably been able to swing a leg over Fox a total of three times in the last two months.  The same old story, weather, work, energy, DAYLIGHT!  I freaking hate this time of year because I can never get home with enough daylight left to actually ride my horse.  But enough of that rant when there are sooo many others to expound on.

But before I go off on a tangent about blankets here's what's happening at the farm.  We have a new resident! Charm, aka Commanding Charm is an OTTB gelding that belongs to a friend of mine.  I met A. through COTH (thank you COTH!) about two years ago.  I had been cruising the boards and seen a post about an injury to a rider. I began to read but the event was so horrific I didn't get past the details.  A few weeks after reading the post I went to a dressage clinic around the corner from my house where my then friend, now coach K. was riding her young horse.  There were a few other people there and one happened to be this nice girl with an obviously injured hand.  We started talking and I suddenly realized THIS was the poster from COTH!  We've been fast friends ever since, sharing details about our various horse related injures, woes, work lives, and rants about significant others.

A. has had a rough couple of years.  She's a registered nurse but with her hand injury she wasn't able to do patient care and had to look for other work. Which she did but the stress of rehabbing her injury, the medical bills and mounting horse related bills became a lot to handle. She was on the verge of losing Charm.  A. created a temporary plan to relieve some of the financial stress that would allow her to keep Charm but it was not an ideal situation and eventually barn drama and other things forced A. to start looking for a way to move Charm until he could go back to his original boarding situation now that A.'s job issues have cleared up.  I wasn't able to take Charm in the beginning just too many other things going on but I offered up my farm as a temporary solution for the gelding before he moved literally walking distance down the road from me to his original boarding barn which A. and Charm both loved.

Superhubs and I arrived at the farm to pick up Charm where he literally leaped on to the trailer in his effort to make his desire to leave a stressful situation known. He traveled well and arrived at my farm around midday on Saturday where he easily settled in to the main pasture.  I had moved Seneca and Cowboy to the side pasture and left Fox in the back pasture because Fox would the next day become Charm's new pasture buddy.

Although Fox seemed less than enthusiastic about that.  He sniffed Charm over the gate once then went back to hanging out on the fence line that he shared with Seneca because he loooooves her the mostest.  The next day A. and I put Fox and Charm together.  They sniffed, they decided who was in charge (Fox) and then ran up and down the fence for a few minutes gorgeous tails flung to the wind before settling down to eat on the round bale.  There has been thankfully very little drama and everything looks like it will go well until Charm moves down the road in the beginning of February when his stall opens up.

The blanket rant.  I am very picky about my blankets, I'm picky because my horses are those rare combination of pasture terrorists and rollers that seem to destroy their blankets on a weekly basis.  Which has me stopping in regularly at the local blanket repair shop and cruising for bargains and deals on suitable blankets.  Which is difficult because again I'm pretty picky and my horses are pretty spectacular at destroying their expensive clothes.

Two years ago Rambo's Amigo line started making a fabulous blanket that I have every intention of having one for each of my equines.  It is the Amigo Bravo 12 Lite/Med weight blanket.  Basically it's a 1200 denier, 100 gram weight blanket that is hard wearing and so far only Fox has managed to damage his.  Somehow he wriggled his around enough that when he threw an outrageously massive buck upon being turned out he managed to tear off both chest straps, one of the belly straps and mangled one of the metal buckles beyond repair.  Thankfully my super blanket repair shop was able to replace all the mangled buckle and the straps. 

But while Fox's Lite/Med was being repaired I need to do the blanket-go-round to make sure everyone had something to wear when the inevitable nasty weather hit.  Which meant Seneca's own Amigo Bravo L/M went to Fox, she got put in her medium on the really bad days but Cowboy was unfortunately out of clothes that fit him.  Off to the tack store I went to get some sort of sheet that I could toss over Seneca's old Amigo stable blanket which would make a great temporary fix for him.

They didn't have any of the Amigo L/M's and I didn't have to extra cash to shell out for a real Rambo and I really dislike the buckle system on the Weatherbeeta's.  See, very picky.  So I shifted through the selections.  Anything less than a 1000 denier is an automatic no.  I'm not spending good money on something that is just going to get wrecked in less than a week. I wanted something that hopefully had a neck cover.  Which is when I happened upon a brand I wasn't personally familiar with but had good qualities on paper.  It was  a Shires Equestrian Storm Breaker 1200 denier, waterproof, windproof and had an integrated but not removable neck cover.  The buckle system was eh, it had straps, and clips on the chest, t-buckles on the belly.  But I was a little desperate as we were due for some really bad weather. This is what Cowboy ended up wearing.

It's pretty freaking nice and so far Cowboy hasn't managed to tear it or damage it in any way other than a healthy dose of mud. It does run a bit big.  All the Amigos I can do a round robin with and they fit Seneca (75-78ish) Cowboy (75) and Fox (72) but I don't see Fox wearing this one ever. Which means at some point closer to spring and HOPEFULLY! warmer weather I'll have to find Fox his own sheet.  He's sporting a trace clip right now but I'm toying with the idea of trying my first body clip in the spring. 

 

A Small Bright Spot

After slogging through most of a week at work and still feeling awful about our horrific outing at Kelly's Ford the weekend prior I did my usual stop at the mailbox before turning on to my driveway.  Inside was a manilla envelope from Kelly's Ford.  My first thought and I admit uncharitable thought, was that it was a bill for not taking all the shavings out of Fox's temporary stall.  At which point I was thinking they could stick it.

Instead I opened up the envelope to find 2 fourth place team ribbons.  I burst out laughing so hard that Superhubs poked his head in from the livingroom. These could not possible be ours. You don't get ribbons when there is an alphabet next to where your super low score should be.

But apparently and unbeknownst to me when I entered at KF I was automatically put on a team and even though I retired, the rest of my teammates did fairly well and we placed 4th!  Which entitles my crazy donkey in a red thoroughbred's disguise to legitamate ribbons!

So a little bit of a bright spot in an otherwise bleak weekend.  Keep it between the flags everyone, you might get stealth ribbons!

Kelly's Ford Strikes Again or Fox Finds His Inner Crazy

I'm pretty sure that I don't ever want to go to Kelly's Ford again. Don't get me wrong it's a beautiful venue, a lovely slightly rolling XC course, stabling on-site, food on-site but for me Kelly's Ford will always make me feel sad and disappointed.

It all started with an email.  Thursday morning as I was enjoying breakfast with my house guests (Superhubs Dad and Brother came to visit) I received an email from Kelly's Ford reminding everyone that the Intro Division would be doing USDF Intro Test C. This is where I start to panic.  Fox and I have cantered yes, was it pretty? Nope.  Was it presentable to the public? Ermm no.  Would I even be able to get him to canter starting it on a circle? I doubted it.  But we had a lesson that day with our new coach K. and this was one of the things we wanted to work on.  Our canter departs were super ugly.

Later that day I loaded the wonder pony and we trekked the hour west to our coach's training barn where she had a lovely dressage arena with footing and a covered arena for inclement weather.  The first part of the lesson went great. I actually got Fox on the bit for the first time and working through his back. The second half went not so wonderful.  Our first attempts at cantering were....hmmm explosive.  There was bucking, yanking and several attempts to take off with me. Bad pony.

After a couple of less explosive attempts we let the matter rest and practiced the test.  It wasn't fantastic. At this point I was really wondering if I should just stay home.  I should have listened to that inner voice but no. Like an idiot I ignored my inner sanity.

The next day was departure day. Was I packed ? Not quite and I had an errand to run in town as well as the Farrier Fairy coming to do Seneca and Cowboy's hooves.  Needless to say I left way later than I would have liked, got stuck in awful traffic no less than three times but finally made it to Kelly's Ford around 8pm.  A friend helped me get Fox settled and he commenced to munching hay while my friend and I walked over to the pub on KF's property for dinner. 

The next morning dawned clear and I went about feeding Fox, cleaning his stall, and checking in with the coordinators before begining to walk my XC course.  Everything on course looked doable until I got to the first jump after the water crossing.  Jump number 9 was a big black bench that just intimidated the hell out of me.  That was until I saw the stadium course.  Mind you we are in the 18 inch Intro Division but the course remained the same for all the levels.  It was a twisty turny course that was basically two figure eights entwined.  Which included at fence 2 an option to do what was a triple for the higher levels but surely would be an oxer for us or you could jump the up-bank, jump the vertical and then jump down the bank again.  I was thinking the oxer option but that wasn't the scariest thing on course.

No, no that was undeniably fence 4.  It was a hill, oh yes my little eventers, a hill in the show jumping arena with a vertical at the crest. Which was included on every single course for all divisions.  Seriously? For the Intro and Starter Divisions?

But alas all my anxiety about the big bench on XC and the hill on the stadium course were unfounded because we weren't even going to get that far.  After walking the courses a few times I went back to stabling, moved all my tack/gear up to the barn next to Fox's stall then grabbed my camera and went to take photos of a couple of friends who were also riding that day.  But time flew and soon it was time to go back to stabling to get ready for dressage.

I changed in to my show clothes, dawning the lovely coat I hadn't ever gotten a chance to wear with the High Queen and then went to sit in stabling until it was time to tack up.  I had to admit my pony looked lovely all braided and clean.  I'd never braided him before and hadn't really intended to for the Intro division but I figured why not?  Then it was time to tack up.  At this point I had no hint whatsoever what was in store for me.  Fox was his usual mellow self and when I threw a leg over in the barn and headed out I was optomistic. And that is pretty much the last happy moment we had.

It could have been the sheer amount of horses moving about in the dressage warm-up. It could have been the XC/SJ warm-up right next door with its speeding horses. It could have been his routine being messed up. It could have been half a dozen things.  But the moment Fox saw the dressage warm-up he lost his marbles and never got them back.

He was tense, nervous and didn't know what to do with himself.  He yanked at the bit even when my hands were soft and loose, he jigged, he sidled, he spun, he shied, he tried to take off with me a couple of times.  In other words Psycho Pony made an appearance.  I was totally taken aback because other than a moment or two once in a long while he'd never been this upset ever.

But instead of withdrawing I had to make sure I felt the full brunt of shame and embarassment. We tried to do the dressage test but it was ugly. He yanked and was generally disobedient the whole time.  I didn't dare canter for fear he'd really run off with me.  I think in the back of my head I thought if I could get through the test and get him jumping a little that he would settle down. But three quarters of the way through the test I decided enough was enough and I retired.  I made it back to the dressage warm-up and finally after another five minutes got Fox to pause long enough for me to dismount.

Walking him back wasn't much better. He jigged, yanked and basically acted like a deranged donkey the whole way.  Until we got back to his stall where he promptly settled down again.  I think I hated him just a little right then.  I untacked him, hosed off all his flop sweat, threw his cooler on him and released him in to his stall. Where he promptly rolled four times before getting up and coming over to me where he put his head against my chest in contrition.  I sighed, hugged him and told him it wasn't his fault then proceeded to pack up to go home.

It was the worst weekend I'd had in a long while and I'm still not really recovered. I still feel sad, depressed and overall unhappy. Not at Fox he just had a bad day. But at myself. I knew when I saw that the test for Intro was the C test that I should have scratched but no like an obstinate child I had to keep shoving forward. I don't know what's next for us except a lot of lessons with K. and maybe have her do some training rides on Fox to smooth out his understanding of the canter.  There is a last HT the weekend before Thanksgiving in November. Do I want to go? I don't even know at this point. I'm sad and tired and discouraged.  So I'm leaving any further plans in the back of my head to be looked at once I've worked myself out of this funk.

Keep it between the flags everyone.

The OMG! Moments

Everytime I sit down on Fox's back I am more impressed with him and grow infinitely more in love with him. This past Saturday after a particularly hellish week at work I loaded up my favorite fuzzy, red pony and trekked the hour to a small CT put on by one of our local Pony Clubs.  Gods bless them for putting together a lovely event that I don't have to get up at the butt crack of dawn to get to.

They also allowed for this go round of the CT (that had one earlier in the summer as well) competitors to enter two different divisions if they chose. I entered Fox and I in the 18 inch Grasshopper division and the 2ft Kangaroo division.  I hadn't been able to ride since the previous weekend (I truly do hate my job if for nothing else than jacking my schedule so badly I can only ride on weekends) so I was going more for the miles that Fox would gain than actually trying to be competitive.  Fox however had other plans.

The day dawned drizzly but cleared by the time I had to load up and we made decent enough time that I was able to stop for gas and breakfast. Which was a good thing since I left all my carefully packed horse event snacks sitting on the kitchen counter.  I really am losing my mind.  Our first dressage foray for the day was frought with lovely work from my pony and excitment from a loose horse. 

I was awaiting my turn near the dressage arena when the clarion calls of loose horse, loose horse! rang out.  Said horse comes flying up, rounds the arena, jumps in to the arena with the still going dressage competitor in it then comes barreling at myself and Fox.  I tried to get out of the way while Fox is making very definite, friendly murmurs in his chest.  Seriously? You're going to be buddy buddy with a horse who at this point might mow us down? But we evaded the other horse and he went around us and found his owner who also happened to be my old coach.

Fox being Fox didn't let that little escapade rattle him and we put in a good test to score a 33.  Fox got a break at the trailer while I went to walk the twisty stadium course.  These were the same jumps used last time just in a new pattern but it had been a couple of months since Fox had seen them sooo Momma packed her jumping bat.  We got in a good warm-up and Fox made a small effort to actually jump the fences rather than trot them.

Our course went fantastic! He didn't looky-loo, he didn't pause to decide whether he really wanted to jump the fences, he even cantered off after quite a few of them. I was soo extremely proud of him at that moment.   Then we went on and did our second dressage section which I thought had gone better than the first but we got a 34 and several remarks on the test of "slow".  Alrighty then Momma is going to test out the brand new spurs we just bought. 

Then the second jump course.  This did not go as well as the first round.  I think for a couple of reasons.  A, by this point Fox was just a little tired and B, half the course consisted of oxers.  I'm not talking one or two. I'm talking at least five or six of the ten fences were oxers.  A fence that unfortunately Fox had never seen before.  My only thought when I got ready to go in to the ring and saw all those gleaming width fences was CRAP!  But my pony showed me his true heart and bottomless grit. 

When I had read or heard about horses people called real "try-ers" I never really got what they meant until we entered the arena that day. Fox, caught completely off guard by these strange fences, really, really tried.  He approached each one with enthusiasm, he took hold of the bit a few strides out, pulled me to the fence and really tried to read the question being asked.  He did remarkably well for a horse that had never jumped an oxer before.  We had two small bobbles.  He just barely ticked the rail on fence number five and one side fell out of its cup and then on the last fence he had what would technically be a stop but after a milisecond of thinking it over threw himself over it(leaving the rails up) and nearly unseating me on the other side.  But I managed to stick like glue, stay on, right myself and pump my fist in the air and yell (embarassingly) VICTORIOUS! Yeah I'm that dork.

I waited around until my group's scores were totalled so I could get my dressage tests, Fox happily hung at the trailer pretending to be a plow horse (LOVE HIM!) and then I picked up the pretty ribbons that went with our tests.  In our grasshopper division we got 3rd! Soo proud of that, it was a large section and I was really happy with the effort we put in.  In our kangaroo 2ft section we faired less well and got 4th out of 4.  I think if we hadn't pulled the rail or had the stop we would have placed at least second.  And I know, I know I shouldn't care about the placings but that little hunter princess girl inside still likes taking home the blue and red ribbons. 

Overall though...sooo much love for my pony! He really did try and gave me what he had to give.  The CT also showed me where we need to work so that we can be really polished and ready for our end of the season event at Kelly's Ford.   We definitely need to practice some oxers at home so that Fox can read the question in a less stressful environment and really understand what I'm asking.  And I desperately want to be able to canter all the fences.  We are so close, we just need a little more practice and Mom needs to get her big girl pants in gear and just CANTER ON!  I will also be taking a lesson the Thursday prior to Kellys Ford with my friend who is well on her way to being an Intermediate level rider.

I'm also going to try and do a session with a saddle fitter. I want to make absolutely certain that I'm riding Fox in something that keeps him happy and as much as I love my Pessoa I am not totally certain that it fits him that well. I want what we all want, for my horse to be happy and sound.

So here's to keeping a happy horse between the flags!