Racing to Ride

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

The Unknown

I entered a schooling show which I may or may not be able to attend. Going to a show, especially just a schooling show should be an easy thing to plan and do. For people with a normal life. Mine, most definitely, is not.

So here's why:

We have an Idaho bred filly that we are aiming towards the Idaho Cup Juvenile in August. I think it's $35,000 or $40,000 guaranteed and the filly has shown a ton of talent. So it's worth going.

Problem #1- There may or may not be trials, depending on how many entries they get. The trials are (obviously in Idaho) on the same day as the show.

Problem #2- Boise enters three days before the actual show. The closing day and last day they will refund your entries (they won't refund them for any reason whatsoever after that) is two days before we will know whether or not the filly has to run in Boise. Okay, so the entries were only $75 and donating them to the show series wouldn't be that big of a deal. However, I could buy another couple of bonnets with that. Or a new pair of riding gloves. Or the sun protection shirt I've been wanting. Or a saddle pad. You get my point.

The fiancé will take the filly to Boise, so even if he does have to take her, I can possibly still show. This brings more challenges though.

Problem #3- If he takes her, he will use the Ford F350 (diesel) and the three horse trailer that his dad left here a few days ago when he hauled horses over from Idaho. That leaves me with the GMC 2500 (gas) to pull the big ass five horse trailer. I freaking HATE pulling the trailer with that pick-up. I will do it if it means I can show, but I'm not excited about the idea.

Problem #4- There is a race here for Gigantor that day too. If the racing secretary doesn't write an extra before we enter for that, then she will most likely be in. The fiancé said we could have our groom run her, and he's perfectly capable to do so, but I think that at least one of us should be there when she runs. We are very hands on with our horses, meaning we don't just bark orders at our groom and then sit up in the grandstands then come down to the paddock when the horse comes up for the race. We put a ton of work in ourselves on race days. Our owners know this, it's part of the reason they hired us, and they're going to expect us to be there.

Problem #5- We just got three more horses in. If the filly goes, that leaves our groom with fifteen horses to take care of. That's a lot of work for our groom and I feel bad doing that to them.

Problem #6- The track here is talking about changing the rules here so that if you haul a horse out of the backside, you can't bring them back for 48 hours. It's a one day show. *They think this will prevent people from hauling horses out to get shockwaved. Really? With all the shit that goes on on the backside, that they do absolutely nothing about, and THIS is their biggest priority? I don't care if they try to stop it, but good freaking luck. This new rule won't accomplish anything. They're already checking tattoos to see what is coming and going. I'm pretty sure that my 9 year old OTTB who hasn't worked or run in almost five years isn't going to get hauled out, shockwaved, and then run a few days later. I already cancelled my lesson this week because I wasn't sure what was going to happen. Ugh! All of these new rules are about as worthless as tits on a boar!

Anyway....

So basically, we have to hope that the trials don't go. Yeah, there's a problem with that too though. The fiancé wants to be there at least four days before the race. They enter three days before. Yep, I'm probably screwed.

Okay, so entering the show was probably a really stupid idea. It's just that I haven't been able to go for one for so long and Beefs could REALLY use the experience. Plus, it's not like I just spent $300 on entries for a recognized show. Whatever, it's a step towards the right direction. Hopefully, Everything works out and I get to go.

Do you see why it is so difficult to plan a show schedule though? Yeah, I got waaayyyy too ambitious with the one I came up with for my time in Denver. Dumb ass.

*Sorry, I got giph happy. Again.

Terrific Score Tuesday #3

IRH Elite Riding Helmet

Original price: $220.95

Sale price: $149.99

Savings: $70.96

http://www.doversaddlery.com/irh-elite-riding-helmet/p/Z1-3661A/

Whether you are looking for a new schooling or show helmet, or even just a back up, this is a great buy!

Monday, July 7, 2014

RtR Blog Hop: The Support Group

No matter what discipline we ride, we are all connected by our love of horses. Whether this love started at a young age or later in life there were probably people behind you, supporting your passion. Maybe they were morally supportive or financially backing you. So, in honor of them:

What person/people are you most grateful to for helping your riding career and why?

*If you've done all of it on your own, you deserve some serious credit. Please feel free to share your story :)

My family
I was fortunate enough to be born into a horse loving family on my dad's side. My mom loves horses, but is really the only one on her side of the family.

I was a strange looking child.

I literally grew up on a horse's back. I was showing from the time I was two and doing play days and rodeos at the age of four. My mom taught me to ride. My dad taught me that not getting back on after getting planted wasn't an option. Both of them were always very supportive. When I wanted to ride, they saddled my horse and I rode. If I wanted to go to a show or rodeo, they took me.

We didn't have a lot of money, but I always had nice horses and good tack. It didn't matter if I wanted to be a rodeo queen, show AQHA, or ride jumpers, they gave everything they could so that I was able to follow my dreams.

I come from a family of rodeo queens....

Mom and dad didn't freak out over me giving up a full-ride scholarship because I wanted to ride. When I did my working student program back east, they sent me money to live on. They bought me show clothes and tack. Both if them have been there every step of my riding career. I am beyond fortunate to have had their love and support.

Dad helping me clean stalls in Denver

My grandmother, great-grandmother, great-aunts, and aunt were always there supporting me too. They came to so many shows! Not to mention, they captured a large part of my growing up on horses in photographs. My aunt also helped coach me at these events. You know, because sometimes kids aren't the best at listening to their parents.

Dad and my aunt hanging out at a dressage thing.

My brother tolerated the time we spent with the horses and never got jealous. He only got me bucked off a couple of times ;) I have the most amazing brother though. Even if he didn't always agree with my decisions to put riding horses above all else, he never turned his back on me. He was always still there when I needed him.

My sister, though there were times she wanted to choke me when we were really young, was always proud of my riding. She passed away when I was sixteen, but I know she would have wanted me to do whatever it was that made me happy. Bailey was never one to think that you should follow the path that society expects of you. I guess we were a lot alike in the fact that we were hardheaded and going to do whatever we wanted with our lives no matter what other people think. When I get burnt out and frustrated, I know that she wouldn't want me to give up. In fact, she probably would have chewed my ass for even thinking about it. So, I don't give up.

Bre, Me, Megan, and Tash.

There are so many people out there that have helped me with riding throughout my life. Amazing people! Trainers, bosses, my fiancé, and friends. I have some of the most amazing friends that have encouraged me. No matter if I was in Canada or what state I was living in, they were always there for me. When I come home, they not only listen to my horse ramblings, but are actually interested in them. I am incredibly blessed to have so many wonderful people supporting my horse habits! Thank you to all of you!

Jill and her son at the races. We've been friends since I was ten and she was eleven. Her dad let me show one of his horses when I was about twelve.

Aly and I at a dressage show. Not just one of my best friends, but also my best horse friend :)

Megan and I have been friends for thirty years, since I was born and she was six months old. Her and her son came to see me and watch my mom's horse show.

P.S. I thought this would be a good time to do this blog hop with the #rideabovehate movement going on right now. It seems that if people can see not only how much the rider puts into this sport, but also what those who support them do/give up, it will make them think twice about saying things to hurt someone. If another rider made fun of my horse, clothes, or tack, I didn't want to tell my parents because it hurt them too. The people with a tendency to be jack asses realizing the toll that equestrian sports can put on an entire family/group couldn't be a bad thing.

get the InLinkz code

Sunday, July 6, 2014

Beefs in a bonnet (product review)

My USG bonnet finally came yesterday. I originally wanted it in brown and light blue. I was reading articles on what colors are good on certain colors of horses and one of them said yellow actually looks good on bays. At first this sounded weird to me, but the more I thought about it, the more I liked it (I have a thing for yellow, even my engagement ring is a canary diamond). Of course, I didn't want the whole bonnet to be yellow. I ordered the brown with yellow(corn) trim.

He was not being very good about me getting a picture of it.

The corn is actually more of a cream color, but it looks really pretty on him. There is also supposed to be grey in there somewhere, but nothing on the bonnet looks even remotely grey. The braided cord looks gold.

The quality is pretty good. There are a few flaws in the crocheting, but I'm not surprised since it was only $21 and am not going to get worked up over it. I love the Lycra ears. It is a little big on him and I will definitely order a cob size for him next time. I don't particularly love how far it goes back onto their necks. Oh well. Beefs still looks really cute in the bonnet and it isn't horrifically big.

Such a suck-up.

Since Gunner had a bigger head, of course I had to try it on him.

I'm so fancy....

Being as he looked this handsome and the bugs are getting even worse, I just HAD to put it on him to pony in today. The fiancé said I could put it on Gunner when I ride him, but no way in hell was Gunner going to wear it when he took him. Men. A guy saw Gunner in the bonnet and said "I like his beanie!"

So Beefs gets a bonnet and Gunner gets a beanie. Whatever works. Beefs was happy that his mane and forelock were no longer attacking his ears and Gunner was happy to have the bugs kept away. Yep, I definitely need to order more colors. Then maybe a fancier one in a different brand to show in :)

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

VCMBH: Interested Parties

I'm seriously thankful to Viva Carlos for doing these awesome blog hops! They're always interesting and fun. I love reading the different answers/stories to her questions from other bloggers.

So L asks what it was that made us interested in buying our horse in the first place. I figured Beefs would be the best one to write about since I had trained Winn before I got him and bred Indy.

Because he makes me smile :)

Sometime in the summer of 2008, my fiancé (then boyfriend), had gotten a call from owners saying they were sending him a horse. We went fishing with some friends that day and when we arrived back at the barn, one of the cutest little horses I had seen was waiting in a stall. I asked Ty what his name was. Beefheart. Say what?!!! What an awful name for such a cute horse!

A few days later, I was watching Beefs on the track. He was a nice (not extraordinary) mover, uphill and balanced. Too bad he wasn't taller. I figured he could make a really nice youth/smaller adult horse one day.

Fast forward to 2009. Long story short, Beefs had two horrible races, a win, and then another horrible race. As a racehorse he was one dimensional, meaning that if he didn't get the lead he ran like crap. The owners wanted to find him a new home.

I knew he might be hard to sell because he wasn't very big and was a little long in the pasterns. My friend looked at him and wasn't interested. I jokingly told Ty that maybe I should buy him for a dressage horse. Nah, he's too short for me. Ty said that he wasn't and that I needed to get over the height thing. The more I thought about it, the more it seemed worth a try. He was extremely athletic and smart. I didn't have a dressage horse of my own at the time. Why not? Sure, I'll take him. Always the voice of reason, Ty asked me if maybe I thought I should ride him first. Oh yeah, that might be a good idea.

I threw dressage tack on him and trotted him along with one of the racehorses Ty was jogging, thinking I was going to be pissed if I got run off with on the track in a dressage saddle. Beefs was actually really soft in the mouth, almost too soft. He wasn't spooky and was steerable. Good enough. Not for Ty. Why don't you ride him in the rodeo arena (that is connected to the track). Um, okay. He was really good, but the whole circle concept was pretty new to him. He would trot half of a perfect circle and then drift towards the track for the other half. By the end he had figured it out. To top it off, he didn't spook at the flags and banners flapping in the wind or any of the other scary looking things in the arena. Okay, sold. Ty traded out what the owners owed for training for Beefs. Best. Gift. EVER!

I'll never regret buying him. I bought him with the intention of selling him down the road, but I'll never be able to do it. He will be with me or someone in my family (I want my niece to be able to learn on him and show him) for the rest of his life. I couldn't have found a more perfect imperfect horse.

1.	Viva Carlos	8.	Equestrian Journey
2.	Cash's Stepping Up	9.	Pampered Ponies
3.	Forging Fiction	10.	Roosa's Horsey Life
4.	Dressage Pony	11.	Thee Ashke
5.	Project Gingersnap	12.	Jump Pretty
6.	Nanakorobi yaoki	13.	Poor Woman Showing
7.	No Hour Wasted