The Lesson Update

My lesson went  both better and worse than I thought it would.  Let's start with my mount. He is an adorable, though slightly grumpy, aged TB gelding named Leo.  He enjoys treats and cuddling, but does not really like the whole grooming thing. Eh, a lot of TB's are sensitive and crabby about grooming.

Leo isn't the most forward horse I've ever ridden, but he's not a child's walk/trot pony either.  He's somewhere in the middle.  His gaits are wayyyy different than my precious OTTB princess that I've been riding for the last five years.  Leo's gaits are big and bouncy, whereas Seneca's are flatter, and smaller.   There are about six other riders in my group, which had me slightly anxious. Traffic jams, and constantly having to watch out for said traffic is one of the reasons I've been drawn to eventing.  But we managed to get around the flatwork without getting either run over or in anyone's way.

And here is where I ran in to trouble, not navigating around the other riders, but apparently having ridden my forward OTTB mare for the last five years made me a better rider for her, but not necessarily for other horses.  I rode Seneca a lot by feel.  I could feel when I was on the wrong diagonal or wrong lead. I never had to look, which is the way it's supposed to be.

But when riding a new horse whose gaits feel all strange and funky to me I made mistakes on both diagonals and the leads. I also felt like my position was all crap when I asked for the canter. So something to work on.

More Liebster Award:  Okay so here are my 11 random facts.

1.) I love to cook and make up new recipes.
2.) I love to garden
3.) I have a fear of heights
4.) I am a good speller, but terrible at math
5.) I am definitely a MAC/Apple person
6.) Sinead Halpin is my favorite 4* eventer
7.) I sometimes believe I was an Irish horse breeder in another life.
8.) I love all forms of potatoes
9.) I look better as a redhead
10.)  I am definitely a mare person
11.) I've been married for 16 years!

I'm now off to select my Liebster Awardees.  Keep it between the flags everyone. 

Liebster Award

A few days ago a wonderful, and unknown to me at the time person nominated my little blog for a Liebster award.  Along with the nomination I have to answer a few random questions, and then nominate 11 other blogs for people that have less than 200 followers.  So on to the first part.

Thank you Hawk from over at the Forging Fiction eventing blog. Check her out right here: http://nolongerfiction.blogspot.com

Here are the questions and answers to the 11 questions I was given.


What is your favorite childhood memory?  Spending two weeks with my grandparents at their summer place in Maryland.

If you could have a super power, what would it be? Wow, this is a tough one. I think either flight, or healing others.

You have one wish - what would you do with it?  To have the life I've always dreamed of.

What is your favorite color? Grey, I know weird, but true.

What are you most passionate about right now? Taking as much stress out of my life as possible.

You win the lottery. What is the first thing you buy? Land in North Carolina to build my dream farm.

What is something that intimidates you?  Jumping

What is a quote that best describes you? There were two roads that diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by.

If you had a week off from work, what would you do? RIDE!

If you could travel anywhere, where would you go? Ireland

What is the most dangerous/daring activity you have ever partaken in? Volunteering to serve in a combat zone, twice. 

Okay this is just part of the award nomination events. I'll post the 11 random facts some time this weekend.  Keep it between the flags everyone. 

Pictures Present and Past

S I got off of work a little early(I'm in the middle of transitioning to the new job and can manipulate my day a little) so I made a stop at the feed store to get feed and some fly protection couture for my two four foots.

When I arrived home I found my two four foots covorting around the pastures like freaks with their tails on fire. I thought it was the noise from the neighbor mowing next door that set them off. But no it was just Seneca was feeling particularly good and wanted to play. The past several months I haven't often seen her wanting to play which is a good barometer for how she's feeling.

While it hurt to watch the hitch in her stride when she came back own to the walk for short periods it lifted my heart to see her happy and playing halter tag, and whose the fastest horse with Cowboy. Although she doesn't win the fastest horse races any more.  I once looked up Seneca's racing information to see what her speed index number was.  The speed index is how the JC and other racing organizations calculates how fast a horse really is. The closer a horse's number is to a hundred the faster they are.  For example Zenyatta the famous racing mare's speed index number is 127, blazing by the JC standards, AP Indy is rated as 126, and my own girl was rated as an 83, so her speed was respectable.  These days though she's content to let Cowboy think he's faster.

I was digging through some photos and thought I'd show two contrasting photos. The first shows what we were doing last year, the second is this years activity.

(not my best equitation moment but it was fun.)

(Seneca enjoying her retirement)

Where Hunters Live

I finally got out to the hunter barn to audit with the trainer I've been talking to. The first appointment I decided to reschedule due to A.) the trainer was going to be in Lexington, VA at a big horse show and wouldn't therefore be teaching, having handed the lessons over to the assistant trainer, and B.) An ugly tropical storm was making the weather very tricky to drive in.

But last Friday the weather cooperated and I drove the 20 or 30 minutes to the new barn. I love that it has an indoor, that right off the bat is a plus in my book. I still had some apprehension though because in my experience hunter barns are dens of materialism, fake pleasantry, and massive games of one-up-manship. This barn, however, so far is different.  Most of the people who will be riding in my class are middle aged women, school teachers, stay-at-home moms, friendly sorts. There are a couple of teenaged girls in the class but they also seemed well grounded and less inclined to the hunter princess cliche.

The trainer, K., seems knowledgeable and has the kind of ethics that put the horse's wellbeing first. She is also a very big fan of OTTBs, which is another plus in this barn's favor.

I will say after having watched the lesson group that I will be weaving in to tomorrow that I am at the high end of the skill level of the class. I'm not saying I'm the best rider of the group, but maybe my eventing background where you do certain things to get the right response in dressage and jumping have put me far ahead of the rest of my classmates. For example K., told one of the teenage girls who is also at the higher end of the skill scale how to get the horse she was riding to bend in to the corners. This for me is second nature because as eventers we need all the points in dressage that we can get, and making our  horses bendy in the corners is one of those ways to get extra points.

The only thing that I wanted to really do when I was watching the flat part of the lesson was to tell almost every one of the riders to get their horses going more forward at the trot.  I could feel my leg muscles twitching in response to the lazy trotting of all the horses who  all seemed to be wearing a very smug expression on their faces.  I don't  know yet what horse I will be riding, but I can assure you that horse will be moving out at all three gaits.

I'll report back after my lesson tomorrow. Until then keep it between the flags everyone.

When Eventers Go Behind Enemy Lines

In the last couple of weeks I've done a lot of things, and lots have happened, good, and bad.  Lets start with the bad.  Again with my no patience thing I set up an appointment to go try what looked on paper and the video as a really nice trail/low level eventer in a nice mellow AQHA mare package.  Now remember I said I wanted something safe, sound and honest, plus quiet.

And the mare was all those things with one little thing that I couldn't wrap myself around. I had never met the equine equivalent to a zombie until meeting that AQHA mare.  She had zero personality.  And while she was a great trail horse, her lumber gaits, and hard mouth made her unsuitable for anything but walk-trot lessons for children.  At the end of the test ride I tried to give her a peppermint and she didn't refuse so much as just stand there unresponsive. It was very strange. Needless to say she did not come home with me.

The good.  I plotted what to do next.  In my area of Virginia there are very few eventing barns, and even less that have lesson horses to do said eventing. So what's an eventer to do? Most would take dressage lessons until they found their equine soul mate. Not so with me. Dressage is lovely, and I actually enjoy it, but I know where I really need work is jumping.  So this Friday I have an appointment to audit lessons with a h/j trainer thats about 20 minutes from my house.

A long, long time ago I was a hunter rider. Then I came over to the dark side and never wanted to leave, but with no eventing barns within a reasonable distance I decided to go back behind the enemy lines and venture over to hunter land once more.  I am bitter sweet about it. I want to ride and jump, work on my equitation, possibly even show. But I'm not looking forward to the other aspects of hunter world that made it easy to leave the first time.  First I will not do a flat class, period. My life is not worth getting side swiped by an eight year old.  Second I want functional whether it's pretty or not, if it gets me safely where I want to go fine, but I am not doing the pretty perch thing that  I have been training myself out of for the last ten years.

What am I hoping for in this sojourn in to hunter land? Confidence.  I lost it somewhere on the last two green horses I had. And the last time I cantered the High Queen to a fence was last June, and that was a baby table jump and we had just flown up a bank and I just let her continue on in a good rythym to the bench. It wasn't exactly planned because usually at a canter she hits race horse mode four strides from the fence.  This I wonder if I think back on it might have been caused by whatever hidden issues she has that also cause the lameness.

The other good.  I finally got new orders to a new command in my area, and its looking like it won't interfere too much with my riding, and I'll have all my weekend and afternoons free. YEAH! Soooo happy about that.

The last bitter sweet comment. Today I was moving my much loved Pessoa saddle from the horse trailer where it had been living to the house so I could take out Seneca's narrow plate, and put in the medium one. This was sad because it meant I really had come to terms with retiring my beautiful drama queen.  As I was carrying the saddle to the backdoor that faces the back pasture Seneca called out to me in her deep, soft voice.  It was as if she thought I was going to take her for a ride.  I wanted to cry, but sucked it up and went in to the house. I still ache and feel like I let her down somehow in not finding the cause of her issues. So on Thursday while I have the day off I plan on giving her a spa day, a bath, beautification, the works.  Just because I can't ride her doesn't mean she can't still look like my princess.

Keep it between the flags everyone.

Patience is a Gift

And I don't have it. Patience I mean. In some areas yes, but when it comes to shopping, or wanting things, I have no patience. I want what I want and I want it right NOW. My husband is the same way. We often end up giving each other small goofy gifts at Christmas because we've already given each other really big gifts throughout the year. As evidenced by the new lawn tractor he just bought me out of the blue. Damn that man, he's one upped me right before his birthday.

One year I got a new puppy, a horse trailer and a four wheeler all within a six month span. I can't even recall what I got for Christmas that year. So here is my dilema. I want to be able to ride with my husband, which means getting another trail horse. But every time I do the cyber horse stalking thing I want something tall, able to jump, and do trails.  In my heart I'm still looking for that low level event horse even though my head says stop.  I could get a trail horse, but I guarantee that I'd be trying to teach it to jump within a month.

But if I wait, if I save up my pennies(a lot of them) I could get something really great. So what's my dream, that I'm trying to learn the patience enough to wait for?  I love all things Irish. Super hubs swears I was an Irish potatoe/horse farmer in a past life. I want an Irish Draught.  I want something built for sport, but not bred to race. I want something safe, sound and honest that doesn't even know the meaning of the word buck, bolt, or rear. But Irish Draughts are not cheap. Even the not so well bred ones are pretty expensive.

But I've learned if you want something bad enough you can find a way. I want. So here's to the Irish Draught Dream fund! Love all around and keep it between the flags, wether they be Irish, American, or Eventing!

The Every Day Sweetness

So today is bitter sweet for me. I finally got my head and heart to agree and said out loud, that I was retiring Seneca to non-riding horse status. I didn't want to but I wasn't sure what another vet visit would accomplish except more vet visits that may or may not get to the bottom of Seneca's lameness issue.  So she is now officially and ornament/babysitter/grooming therapy horse. 

Meaning when I feel like talking to a great listener I go out and groom her, or rub her, or love on her like do every time I go out to feed her. I pour her feed in to her pan, give Cowboy his so he will stop circling like a shark, then come back to her, give her a hug, rub her neck, scratch her withers, then give her ears a last rub before leaving her to eat in peace. She'll have a home with me until it's time to let go, but now her only job is to listen to me whine about work and look pretty.

And she does, look pretty I mean.  It strikes me at the oddest moments that she is one of the most beautiful horses I've ever owned. She may be just a bay with a bit of white, but her classice thoroughbred head, and long graceful neck strke me to the heart.  Like when I came home from work the other night and couldn't see my two four foots hanging out under the trees so I went to the fence and called them.  Seneca came out from around the corner of the view blocking shed and just looking at her profile trimmed in moonlight. My heart lifted just looking at her.

So what does that mean for me? New event horse? Well, yes but not anytime soon. I really need a packer and they are way out of my price range right now. And I'm not ready to try my hand with another OTTB just yet. Sooooo Cowboy is it. He does have all the makings of a good event horse, and as much as I hate the thought of starting another greenie he's what I have.  I will be looking for an uncomplicated trail horse so super hubs and I can continue to ride togther.

Which brings me around to the job issue. So I'm not going to Japan, or Italy, or anywhere far away. And the ship I thought I might get assigned to thankfully was given to someone else. I am going to a unit right around here and it's deployment schedule which I don't know yet hopefully won't be taking me anywhere this summer or fall. Because the plan is for me to take lessons on Cowboy so he and I can get comfortable with each other and maybe event him at Starter level events in the fall.

So that is where I am right now.  Keep it between the flags everyone...