Haven of horses

*I promise that this entire post isn't negative.

So here I am in Albuquerque. Again. Life has been crazy busy since we've arrived. I've kept up with reading my Feedly, but haven't had time to comment on posts much. Hopefully, things will level out here soon and I can be more involved with the blogging world.

I'll try to keep this update as short as possible. Let's see, where to start....

The Downs at Hellbuquerque 

Zorro hates it here too.

I feel no need to sugarcoat my feelings towards this place, so I'll just be blunt. I freaking hate almost every minute I'm at the track. Don't get me wrong, I obviously love the horses and I love racing. That doesn't mean that I have to love this track too. I spend most of my mornings pissed off, exhausted, and partially depressed. There are some very good people here that I do really like and they help make it better. It's still a long ways from good though. By the end of the morning I just want to get the hell out of there and to my saving grace: the dressage horses. I guess that's one good thing about despising being at the track so much, my motivation to go ride has increased exponentially.

Speaking of which:

Beefheart

I had a great, and much needed, lesson on him Saturday with JL, my trainer. We went to a schooling show on Sunday (there isn't a recognized show here until mid October). Beefs was AWESOME! We did very well in our classes, but that wasn't that big of a deal. What I was most happy about was how well behaved he was! Seriously, he was better at the show than he is at home. The arena itself wasn't scary, but there is a soccer field next to it, a raised trail on one end (which includes horses trotting by, people walking with dogs or strollers, runners, etc.) with a gate so anyone could come off of the trail right next to the arena, and the drunk guys running around on their horses (one of which that fell off and his horse got loose and ran into the warm-up arena). There were also two little kids that decided to race each other right next to the show arena, which fortunately didn't happen during my ride. Then there was the ignorant jack ass that enjoys trotting up your horses ass and about running into you any chance he got. Anyway, Beefs never spooked and he kept his focus better than he ever has before. I thought I hadn't taken him to a show in three years, but it has actually been almost four. This was only his third show, so it's not like he has ever been a seasoned veteran. He pretty much acted like one though. This makes me so happy because I want him to be my niece's show horse when she gets a little older. I think with a couple more years experience, he will be an awesome first dressage horse for her!

Watching the videos, I'm not happy with my riding. At all. I will just have to keep trying, work harder. The judge did tell me later on that we beat a really nice (more talented) horse because our test was so smooth and accurate. At least I did that much right.

His training level score was high enough to win High Point. He got a new bridle for it!

The first level score about shocked the hell out of me.

Barstow

This mare has so much potential! She's smart, athletic, and beautiful. Barstow only ran three weeks ago, so she is still a little racey, but she doesn't forget what she learns. I think she really enjoys the more laid back, slower-paced atmosphere. The hardest part is going to be not getting attached to her.

Winndelynn (sorryI forgot/haven't been able to get pics yet)

I was feeling bad about not getting much done with Indy this summer (I wasn't very comfortabcomfortablee riding her at the track), but I think the time for her to mature mentally and physically was a good thing. Indy fell while she was on the walker the spring of her three year old year and my previously gorgeous moving filly just wasn't quite right after. She wasn't lame, just didn't have much flexibility in her neck or freedom in her shoulders. I had L, the best I've ever worked with, adjust her and do laser therapy this spring. Indy was much better after and I think fixing her before she had the break made her much better. She is moving gorgeous and is a lot more mature, not over reactive or spooky like before. Suddenly, all of my dreams for her don't seem hopeless anymore. My trainer's wife, MB, asked why I didn't do the four year old classes with her this year. That was something that I had originally wanted to aim for, I really don't think she could have handled the pressure though. We're going to see how she does these next few weeks and then decide if it's worth trying to show the five year old young horse classes. The fact that JL and MB even think that she might have the talent to be competitive makes me feel a whole lot better. 

*After the show on Sunday JL told me we really need to focus on Indy while I'm here. He knows how much I love Beefs, but he made a very good point. While Beefs is a nice horse, it's going to be hard for him to compete against huge moving warmbloods at bigger shows in areas with tougher competition. JL isn't putting Beefs down or anything, just being honest. He's right and I really do need to make her my biggest priority.

Gunner

Love my Gunner!

After I got off of him today, I told MB that it really annoys me that Gunner has probably only had about ten dressage rides since last year (he was ponying at the track), has about 1/20 of the training that Beefs does, hasn't been ridden in almost two months, and he still goes better than Beefs. Talk about being happy, yet wanting to cry at the same time. Gunner is more like a warmblood than a thoroughbred. He has a ton of natural talent with big movement and suspension. Dressage just comes naturally to him. He's not nearly as intelligent as Beefs though. Gunner is as sweet as can be, but in all honesty, he isn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed. That doesn't mean that I don't still obsolutely love him. The fact that I could just jump on and go after he hasn't been ridden in that long makes him worth his weight in gold.

Other than the track, I'm really happy right now. I've been out to JL and MB's every day since I've been here. I've ridden every day except two. One day it was raining and the other was the day after the show. I'd gotten so sun burnt at the show that I was really sick that night and totally drained the  next day. I still went out to see the horses. I enjoy everything about being out there. Four horses to ride on top of working my ass off at the track might kill me. At least I'll die happy. Their barn is my safe haven while I'm surrounded by Hell.

Judge not...

I've always said that you can learn something from anyone when it comes to riding (or horsemanship in general), whether it is what to do or what not to do. I didn't truly understand the depth of it until I became older and matured a little. The truth is, from my teens to my mid-twenties I had the mentality that I was right and the majority of people were wrong (obviously there were still a lot of trainers and clinicians that I had a lot of respect for). I was cocky and arrogant. Riding came so easily to me that I had no tolerance for people who just couldn't figure it out. I was told how talented I was quite often and I believed it. The things they were doing wrong would seriously annoy the hell out of me. I'd wonder how they could try and fail so miserably over and over again without giving up. Why did they keep going?

Then life happened. I got older. I hurt my neck. The work at the racetrack started to take a toll. I began to hurt everywhere and was completely drained. Constantly. Riding was no longer so easy for me. I almost gave up, thinking that I will never be as good as I should be. For about three years, I got very little accomplished when it came to riding and that frustrated me even more. There were a few spurts where I would be all into it and then I just wouldn't be anymore. The frustration was an evil voice nagging that I just couldn't do it, I would never be any good. I should just throw in the towel.

I began to have a new respect for the people that I could never understand before. In the time I was having my little pity party, they advanced. Some more than others, but they all improved. I didn't. What didn't come naturally was made up for with determination, education, and consistency. I began to understand that talent was nothing without the attributes that these people possessed. They had heart. Excuses didn't come out of their mouths. These riders kept at it for all of the right reasons: the love and challenge of the sport. At the end of the day, that trumps everything.

Over time, the riders that I was so busy being annoyed at in my youth became my inspiration. If they could do it, then I could too by following their example. Riding isn't as easy for me anymore, but that doesn't mean I can't get where I want to go. Even if I fail, at least I won't look back and have regrets. It won't be because I gave up.

With that revelation, I see and hear the younger me all over the place through other people. Do this, do that people! Why can't you do this or that? Here, I will write a post on a blog or some social media site to complain about how ridiculous and annoying it is when someone doesn't/can't do this or that. Or I'll just talk very loudly about the mistakes that so many riders make hoping you will overhear and get it. Maybe if I rant and rave enough it will get through your thick skull. Ugh! This drives me crazy, that drives me crazy.

My question is: Why? Why do we even care (with the exception of someone doing something so detrimental that it's bordering on abuse)? How is it that we find someone else's mistakes so offensive? What entitles us to suddenly become a person's instructor or judge so easily? Does how someone else rides affect our own riding? No, so what's the problem? Wouldn't our time be better spent worrying about our own education towards advancement?

Now, I realize in the horse world that there are wars between people. Jealousy, fights, rivalry, etc. contribute to the nasty comments and judging. I'm not talking about those situations. What I'm referring to is when we get so upset over a person's riding when they have never done anything to us or we don't even know them. What is it that we truly find so intolerable? Why do we feel the need to profess our own expertise so badly?

I can see a professional having the right to express their opinion, but the truly good ones don't usually concern themselves with someone's skills unless they are paid to. They don't feel a need to prove their expertise or put others below them. They are where they are and they are confident in that.

Food for thought.

My Trip to Hell

Yes, I'm being extremely overdramatic. I hauled horses down to Albuquerque on Wednesday. I haven't pulled a trailer a whole lot in my life and this was actually only the second time I have pulled ours. It's quite a bit longer/heavier than the trailers I've pulled before. So a seven hour drive, by myself (at least my horse shoer was following me if I got a flat or broke down), with a full load (five horses) did stress me out a bit. It probably shouldn't and an empty trailer wouldn't bother me, but the thought of something possibly happening with horses in the trailer, especially when three of them aren't mine, makes me paranoid. I ended up making it with no problems and even made really good time.

Proof that the truck and trailer survived

Three of the horses were going to my trainer's and the other two were going to the track. The racehorses were in the back, so I dropped them off first. I told security that I had two to drop off and gave them the health, piroplasmosis, and coggins. Then headed to the barn. Not two seconds after we unloaded the second horse security came flying up. The lady asked me how many I was dropping off and I told her two. She asked if I had all of the paper work for the three on the trailer, so I told her I had health, coggins, and a brand inspection, but no piro.

Obviously not the security there, but you get the idea

Why no piro?
Because they aren't staying at the track and they didn't need them.

You have to have a piro on all of them because how do we know that they aren't infected?
Because I try not to make it a habit of hauling diseased horses, especially with healthy ones.

Who owns these horses?
I stole them off of the side of the road. *Okay, I didn't say that even though it was the first response that popped into my head. I just told her I owned the three on the trailer because I do own two and she wouldn't gave been smart enough to understand the situation with B if I had explained it.

Where are they going?
 To a farm.

Well, you can't have them back here.
Well, I'm just getting ready to pull out now. They aren't staying.

Well, they can't be back here.
Well, they are back here and the sooner you get off my ass, the sooner I can leave.

You better dig up all of the paper work you can find because they are going to want to see it at the gates before you leave.
Or what? If I don't, they won't let me take the horses that you're saying can't be here out? Not to mention, every guard there saw me pull up with a full load of horses and not one of them mentioned pulling in to drop a couple off would be a problem. This is security's mistake, not mine and it's not my problem (I was starting to get REALLY pissed at this point).

That finally shut her up. She mumbled something again about my paper work and took off. Heifer was on a power trip!

I went to the gate and the supervisor there at least had a brain. She said just don't do it again. I told her that if I'd known I couldn't, I wouldn't have, but no one sitting there told me. She left it alone.

And here is a list of why the whole sitiation was stupid (I do like my lists):

A) A piro is good for two years. TWO YEARS! Just a guess, but I'd say any horse on the backside could have gotten infected in that time. If they're so worried about it spreading, why is the expiration on the tests so damn long?

B) If they had told me that all of the horses had to have piros when I was at the gates, I would have just unloaded the two in the parking lot and led them in. If the other horses on the trailer had been infected, there wouldn't have been any different eventual outcome.

C) Two people checked me in and there were like five other security guards standing right next to the trailer. Not one of them noticed that I had five horses instead of two. I told them I had two to unload, I didn't say that I only had two on the trailer. They come after me like I'm trying to be sneaky and just abducted their first born child or something, when they're the ones that screwed up.

D) How do they know that horses that came in on vans weren't in contact with an infected horse that is going to a different area? You only need a piro for Albuquerque, most tracks don't require them anymore. What I'm saying is that they can't regulate every horse in the country.

E) If the trailers/vans can't pull into the backside to unload and a horse gets loose in the parking lot and runs out onto Louisleazyanna (Louisiana, busy street), causing a wreck, who is going to be held liable? Just a guess, but I'm pretty sure it'd be the track.

Anyway (sorry to go off), I hauled Indy, Beefs, and B out to my trainer's. My shoer rode with me to help me unload them and I bitched and moaned about how freaking stupid and ridiculous EVERYTHING at that track is. Poor guy.

Sanctuary aka trainer's farm

I got to my trainer's and was just so relieved to be back out there that I took a deep breath and temporarily forgot about the track. Yep, that is definitely my happy place in Hellbuquerque. The three horses settled in, I enjoyed talking to JL and MB (trainer and his wife). I didn't want to leave.

I spent the next morning at the track trying to get organized. This included finding a walker to rent (apparently no one has any or they are too lazy to set them up) and trying to get people's horses out of our stalls. Then I suddenly realized that the fiancé sent me so that he didn't have to deal with all of the typical shit that is involved with getting settled in Albuquerque. Outsmarted again.

Letting Princess graze while we're still somewhere that has grass. Yes, I'm wearing yoga pants. I've declared these last few days here as casual dress days.

So, I'm back in Denver for a few days and am going to enjoy the time I have left here before my return to Hell.

*I probably won't have time to post much for the next week, but I'll try to keep up with as many of your blogs as I can.

Also, check out the giveaways that Equestrian Trend and The Cob Jockey are doing. Two awesome blogs!

Refinement

I really believe that so much of riding is about the details. I'm not a perfectionist in every day life, but when it comes to dressage I'm a bit of a freak about everything being as close to perfect as possible. Yes, I realize I will never be perfect in the saddle, but there's no reason not to try for it. So, here is everything I see wrong with my riding and how Beefs is going. If you see something I don't in this boring as hell video, please feel free to tell me :)

1. I am still sitting off to the left and it's making my entire left leg pretty much useless.

2. I'm way too tight in my back and shoulders, which is probably part of why I'm sitting so damn crooked. I'm carrying one shoulder higher than the other. In all fairness, I hurt like hell and this was with a painkiller and four ibuprofen. Beefs isn't very big and he's hard for me to ride. I don't have this problem as bad on bigger horses. Ugh! Sit straight and relax, heifer!

3. Why the hell am I looking at my horse's head? Look up, damn it!

4. Beefs needs to stay more forward and through in the canter. I'm not going to be too hard on myself with this because the footing out there is pretty crappy and I'm not all that excited about sending him really forward while I have to keep an eye out for rocks/holes on uneven ground. There were parts of the canter work that were still really good and I was actually moderately pleased with the counter canter. It's far from perfect, but then he's far from a second level horse still. We'll get the canter work better when we're on better footing in Albuquerque.

5. The canter transition to the left was over dramatic and ugly. I didn't set him up enough for it.

6. I need to keep my fingers closed better and not let the reins slide through or get too long.

7. I'm still occasionally breaking my wrists, though this has gotten better.

So those are the main issues I see. I'm not trying to just focus on the negative. Beefs has been back to his normal, sweet self lately. He's getting better and I'm so proud of him. Riding him helps my balance and keeps me quiet since he responds to every tiny movement. He will make me a better rider in the long run. I realize we're probably never going to score eights as far as movement goes, but I'll take brains and athleticism over huge movement any day. It's so fun learning from Beefs and teaching him at the same time. I think, all in all, I'm very lucky to have him.

Anyone have any tips or advice?

So excited!

I was asking one of our friends (he's kind of like a surrogate father to the fiancé and I) at the track if he knew of any horses for sale for a friend that's looking. He told me about a gelding, that I really like, then came back the next day and said he wants to sell his mare. I told him that I would come get some pics and video of her. I did that today and asked what he would do if my friend wasn't interested and she didn't get sold. He said he really wanted to get her sold, but would board her in Phoenix until he got back from vacation if he needed to. Throughout the conversation, he decided that he would send her to my trainer's in Albuquerque for me to ride and see what we could get done with her in the dressage arena. He knows how bad I don't want to go to the Downs at Hellbuquerque and figured it would be healthier for me to have a project. Ride my misery away and such instead of moping around. I agree with him. Three horses to ride will keep me out of trouble and plenty busy. Having his horse will ensure that I don't get in a rut and hide from the world. I'm not going to let him spend the money on his horse to just sit there, so it gives me more motivation to get off of my ass and get my horses ridden. I'm not getting paid for this and I don't want any commission if she sells. I'm just looking forward to the challenge of it. I love retraining OTTBs. So if my friend that might be interested ends up with her, great! If not, I have something to look forward to. It's a win/win situation either way :)

*No, this isn't a for sale post, I'm just excited about her. The for sale post will come a) if my friend doesn't buy her and b) once I've been able to ride her.

Anyway, meet 'B':

Her owner/trainer bought B last winter. I didn't know he had bought her. I was up on the rail watching horses go and was immediately drawn to her. B just stood out, the way she carried herself and moved. She screamed dressage to me. Then I saw his saddle towel on her and questioned (okay, interrogated) him the first chance I got. I've liked her from the first time I saw her and I am not normally a chestnut mare fan. For me to even notice B, she REALLY had to have a commanding presence.

I can't wait to get to Albuquerque (who would have thought those words would ever come out of my mouth) and start riding her! Having her, Beefs, and Indy at my trainer's is going to make being there soooo much better!