RtR

RtR

Friday, July 25, 2014

Horses Gone Crazy

I've been a little short on time the last few days and probably will be until next Tuesday. I'm trying to keep up with everyone's blogs, but will definitely get all caught up mid next week. I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Loving on Gigantor and wishing I owned her so that I could throw my dressage tack on her. Just out of curiosity.

Beefheart decided he was all of the sudden barn sour yesterday and tried to run sideways to the path back to our barn. When I got after him, he figured hopping up and down might help him get his way. We worked through it and I didn't lose my temper, so that was good. Then on the way back to our barn I made him weave through other barns, taking a different path than normal back. He was prancing, but not getting stupid until we turned the corner to go home. At which point he decided to spook at absolutely nothing, grab his ass while we were on concrete, slipped, and then bolted. I got him pulled up fairly quick (knowing how to gallop race horses comes in handy off of the track too) and he continued to act like a dumb ass. We made it back to the barn. I was seething mad, he thought he was done.

I knew if I kept riding we were going to have a full out war, my limit had been reached. I told the fiancé to get on him. It seemed like the best option to keep the ride from ending on a bad note. I also wanted to see if he would try it with the fiancé or if it was just me. Beefs tried it. I felt better that he wasn't just being rotten with me. The fiancé was actually very patient with him and just made him go back out on the grassy area to keep working until Beefs finally gave it up. It all worked out.

On another note, fiancé brag:

He is a very good rider, but has never had any formal education. Everything he knows about dressage, he has learned from watching me ride during lessons and clinics. So yes, he could use some refinement, but I think he does really damn well. For Beefs to be this good after getting so pissed off is pretty impressive. The bad part is that I didn't get the figure eights with the perfectly balanced counter canter on video. Yes, that one did hurt the old pride a little. Especially when the Fiancé asked what is so impressive about it. Hmph. 

I gave Beefs the day off today and rode Gunner instead. I figured it would be nice to have a fun, peaceful ride on Gunner after Beefs having a rough few days. I figured wrong. Gun was just as pissy as Beefs and worse going back to the barn. In all fairness, we gave him some time off after he fell and he's only been ridden once since then. It had just finished raining. He's fresh. I think he may have pulled something in his shoulder when he fell because he just didn't feel quite right on it. We also rode right after the races which still and probably always will get him a little amped (I'd never attempt ponying races on him in the afternoons). I'm not sure that warrants him loping sideways and hopping around with his head straight up in the air all the way back to the barn though. My friend that I was riding with started laughing and told Gunner that he was supposed to be the steady Eddie of the group. I laughed a little too and asked her if there was something in the air or if I just had a talent for turning my horses into psychotic idiots this week. There's nothing better than having a layed back friend to help keep the mood light when your horse decides to act like an asshole. Anyway, we made it back alive.

We have three horses in tomorrow. Sunday, we have to get things ready for the horses that are shipping to Albuquerque on Monday and the one shipping to Boise on Tuesday. I might survive the next few days since the fiancé is doing all of the hauling. I feel sorry for him. Of course he gets several days of only having to take care of one horse, while I stay here with eleven or twelve, depending on how many go to The Downs at Hellbuquerque this week. So, I guess it all kind of evens out. Pray for me...

Monday, July 21, 2014

Getting the most out of a bad ride

Beefs just wasn't into getting ridden tonight. Honestly, the ride was pretty damn bad. When I think about it, we've gone about a month straight with really good work and he was about due to have a bad day. So instead of getting upset or down about it, I'm going to focus on what I learned.

There were good moments. Not many, but some is better than none.

1. If he doesn't seem quite like his normal self, adjust. I knew it wasn't going to go well from the second I led him out of his stall. From the beginning I should have just gone for an easy laid back ride instead of trying to force what I had planned. It wasn't the day to try for perfection. I knew better, but ignored my instincts.

2. I kept my patience and didn't let him talk me into a fight. Because of this, the ride may have been
ugly, but Beefs finished with his brain still in tact and I'm not going to have to go back and fix it tomorrow. I need to remember that one bad day isn't worth loosing my normally willing and happy horse over.



3. He was pissed off, tense, disconnected, and pretty much just in a bad mood. But then, so was I. I need to clear my head of everything else before I ride. If I can't, then it is probably better to just skip riding him that day. Beefs is smart and extremely sensitive. He's not going to miss the fact that I was in a crappy mood (I'm blaming it on the fact that it was so hot and miserable today).


His REALLY pissed off moment. Pretty, no?

4. It doesn't matter that we both looked like crap out there. The ride ended better than it started. Other than one tense moment where he started to get behind my leg and just a little too light for comfort in the front end, he really didn't do anything bad. He was grumpy enough and is more than capable to plant my ass if he wanted. He didn't. Beefs really is kind and tries hard. He doesn't have to go perfect every time.

He's still my rockstar!

It's possible that I may have learned more about myself and Beefs from the ride tonight than I have from the last month of good rides. In a strange way, I might be more proud of how we managed today than I am when things are going well. There is a bright side to everything and tomorrow is another day.

Dressage Anywhere




 A few months ago, Aoife told me about dressageanywhere.com (thank you, Aoife!). It's this great site where you can pay a fee to enter a class, film your test, and submit it to be judged. They offer awards such as rosettes and even a little bit of money for 1st through 3rd place (how many placings they pay depends on the size of the class). Awards aside, the idea of having your test judged, by a recognized judge, without ever having to leave your property is very appealing to me. It's a way to show within your comfort zone and it's inexpensive. What's not to like?



Most of the classes are the British Dressage tests. Their system is a little confusing at first, but the tests look a lot more fun than the USDF tests. You have to buy the tests, they keep them a lot better guarded than USDF does. I bought mine through dressagediagrams.com and paid £2 (about $3.50 USD) per test for the downloadable version. If you don't want to pay that much, they will mail you the tests for a significant amount less. 

When you enter the competition, you will have an option to pick the level you want to show. From there they give you an option of a couple of different tests to ride. The prices of the classes range from £11-£18 (about $18-$31 USD). You can do training classes too. They even offer Jim Boyle's ex-racehorse competitions! Along with that they have Pony Club dressage and RDA (Riding for the Disabled) competitions with online qualifiers and championships. On top of everything, there are musical freestyle competitions. Seriously, was this not a completely genius idea?


The site also allows you to do a Team Challenge also. You need at least three team members. The team can consist of as many riders as you want, but they only use the three highest scores. If anyone would be interested in joining me on a team, please let me know :) *hmm-hmm....Aoife.....since you brought this great website to my attention.

I'm going to try and get a dressage arena set up this week so my friend and I can enter a competition or two. Entries close the last day of each month, so I will do a review and post my results as soon as they are up! So excited!







Friday, July 18, 2014

VCMBH: Stalker

Honestly, there aren't any bloggers out there that I wouldn't want to meet. Only picking five isn't easy to do and I'm sure I'll think of more after I post this. Obviously, I would love to meet the equestrian blogging gurus like Viva Carlos, She Moved to Texas, The Sprinkler Bandit, Poor Woman Showing, Fly On Over, The$900facebookpony, Cob Jockey, etc. (I'm sure I missed a bunch of those too). I think they have all been mentioned quite a bit, so I'm going to try to go with some different blogs.

*Sorry if my explanations are short, it's been a crazy couple of days. Between the stress and craziness, my brain isn't functioning the best. Also, I'm trying to keep up with everyone's blogs, and will hopefully get completely caught up this weekend.

1. Mostly Harmless- I love reading about her and her OTTB Fawkes. Plus she is in the same area that I spend my summers.

2. Riding Rainbow- Jess comes across as honest and knowledgeable. From what I've read of her blog, I would respect her opinions and thoughts when it comes to horses.

3. No Hour Wasted- After reading her post on William Steinkraus, I really think her and I would agree on a lot of things when it comes to riding.

4. Pampered Ponies- I don't think I even need to put an explanation here because, honestly, who doesn't want to meet Aoife? She's awesome!

5. Peace&Carrots-I've started following Kate's blog fairly recently and really enjoy reading it. She also gives you the feeling that she really cares about what other bloggers out there have to say in her comments.
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Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Face Plant

The fiancé took Gunner up to the track first yesterday to see how the footing was. I don't think this was how he intended to find out......

So humiliated.
It's not funny.
Mud mask.

Gunner stumbled and went down. Both him and the fiancé are okay. They came back and here's how the conversation went. 

Me: What happened?! Oh, poor Gunner!!!!!
*After I finally notice that the fiancé is covered in mud too and glaring at me.
Me: Are you okay?
Him: Yeah.
Me: Unable to maintain the urge to laugh any longer, I try to keep it to a minimum. And only partially fail.

Cleaning off Gunner and my tack brought the laughing to an end though. 



Cleaning my saddle was a real pain in the ass.


The SO wouldn't have been very happy if I had started taking pictures of his mud-covered self, but the jeans should give you an idea of what he looked like.