Venture a terre

Translation: belly to the ground (at very great speed).

Which is what I imagined the horse that caused this havoc did after jumping through the rail and running down the hill to plow through a chain link fence. Fortunately, and this is why I believe the escaped equine had his belly pretty damn close to the ground, he missed the strands of barbed wire stretched above the fence. 

It was an obsolutely crazy morning at the track. First I look over at the barn across the road from us and this girl's pony-horse goes to hogging it. I'm not even over-exaggerating when I say that I have seen very few horses buck that hard without a flank strap on. It could have cleared a four foot fence while bucking, if that makes sense. The girl actually stayed with him for a more than a respectable amount of time, but did eventually come off. In all honesty I wish I could have filmed it. Not because the girl came off or I find it funny, but so you guys could see exactly how hard this horse was gettin' at it. 

It kind of looked like this only his head was lower, between his legs, and his back was arched more. He was also higher off of the ground.

The girl wasn't seriously injured, but they called the ambulance to come and look at her. Now, this is the point where everything goes to shit. I guess I should explain that most places don't close the track as long as there is an ambulance on the grounds. If the ambulance leaves then people don't head to the track because they know it is going to be a long time before the track opens again. At the Downs at Hellbuquerque they close the track if the ambulance isn't literally parked on it. When the ambulance came for the girl, it was only parked about fifty yards from the racetrack and they closed it. So what happens? Everyone still heads up on their horses, figuring that the track will open soon because the ambulance is so close. This puts a lot of extremely high strung horses, that are not used to standing around waiting to train, all in the area that the ambulance has to drive through to get back on the track. Obviously, this is a wreck waiting to happen.

Not one minute after the ambulance left the barn and they announced the track back open, they announced the track was closed again. I'm not sure exactly what happened, but the guy got slammed hard into the pavement and was hurt really bad. The ambulance was there with him for at least forty-five minutes before they finally took him to the hospital. Apparently, the guy wasn't licensed and they were trying to avoid taking him to the hospital unless absolutely necessary. Yeah, that's just completely messed up if it's true. Things tend to get exaggerated around the track, but it was pretty obvious that he needed to go and they sure took there sweet ass time getting him loaded up and on his way.

A little later, I heard a lot of screaming, a loud crash, and horses scattering everywhere on the pavement. That resulted from the picture above. It was seriously a crazy day!

I need to get out of here venture a terre before this place kills me!

Anyway, quick (sane) horses update:

Indy

She just keeps getting better and better. I'm honestly shocked at the difference between two weeks ago and now. It's like night and day. I want to be realistic with my goals for her, but she is definitely making me want to aim higher every ride. Each time I saddle indy up she acts more mature, feels stronger, and works better. I know we will eventually hit that point where we plateau for awhile, so I'm going to enjoy every minute of this while it lasts.

Beefheart

I gave him a week off after the last show because he seemed like he needed a break. The first day back Beefs seemed sour and bored as hell with the dressage work. Okay, new game plan. I took him out and just walked and trotted him outside of the arena (it's a fairly large area). I went a couple of times around in each gait, not asking him for anything, just keeping my legs on and a steady contact. What he did with his body from there was up to him. He relaxed, started using his back, and giving me quality and it was all his own idea. We finished with that, Beefs seeming pretty happy. I did the same thing the next day, but added a few of laps of canter in two point each way. He freaking loved that! I'm not saying he can jump, but his canter is a jumper's dream. I had fun, he had fun. Honestly, I'd forgotten how nice it is to get off of a horses back and let them move *shame*. Tomorrow we will do that around the jumping arena and pop over a couple of cross rails just for the hell of it. I might even schedule a jumping lesson this week if JL is okay with it. I've been putting too much pressure on Beefs  with the dressage work and it's not fair to him. Just because we have shows coming up doesn't mean that I all of the sudden need to become a hard ass. I'd rather have him happy and get my ass kicked, than have him dread every time he gets ridden. Maybe it will hurt us in the show ring, but it's just as likely that changing things up will help. Either way, my horse's happiness comes first.

Gunner 

Mostly, I'm just having fun on him. I'm glad to have Gunner to ride because it's not the end of the world if he doesn't go perfect. I can really focus on improving my position and straightness. He is fun to ride, safe. Though, he did about go nuts over the foal in the pasture the other day. Gunner wasn't scared or anything, more like infatuated. I thought he was going to run over to the fence to get closer to it no matter how much I objected.

Barstow

I swear this mare thinks that I signed some contract with a 'you break it, you buy it' clause. First she banged up her right hind, then it was her left. Her feet got a little sore after she was shod. Now, some type of bug bit her and she is swollen up from it. This wouldn't be a big deal except for the fact that the bite is right where the girth goes and Barstow literally looks like she has the biggest pinch from a girth ever. It covers the whole underside of her girth area. I love this mare, but it's a little hard to sell her if I can't ride her. The worst part is that she made it through her entire racing career without any scars or bumps. She was literally flawless. I guess I should be glad that none of the injuries were serious and she isn't lame. I'm seriously going to start wrapping her in styrofoam, bubble wrap, and anything else that can protect her. Not to mention bug repellant of every kind. Why horse? Why?!!!

*Sorry about the lack of pictures, the fiance hasn't been able to come out to the barn with me lately. 

100th Post Giveaway C4 Belt Winner

Thank you to everyone who entered the contest and for all of the kind comments for reaching my 100th post!


a Rafflecopter giveaway
Congratulations to Sarah at Eventing in Color! I hope you enjoy your new belt from C4 Belts!  I'll send you an email today with all of the information I need :)

I will survive

The purpose of human life is to serve, and to show compassion and the will to help others. 

Albert Schweitzer

Or at least I keep telling myself that. Sometimes I'm not sure whether or not I can make it through the next few weeks here in good old Hellbuquerque. The area around the track feels like one giant death trap between the way people drive and all of the druggies about. Not to mention, there's enough less than intelligent people around to give a girl a nervous breakdown (seriously, my left eye has been going into twitching fits since I've been here, which is just disturbing). I was done with this place before I got here and I'm now so far beyond that point, I don't even think there are words to describe how I feel. 

It's possible that the area of Albuquerque that I spend most of my time in (there really are good parts of this city) is just so different from home that it's a culture shock. I'm not the type to get homesick, but this place is enough to make me miss that clean and safe feeling that Idaho gives people (for the most part). I think I can recall a total of about three times that a stranger came up and asked me for money in Idaho and they usually needed it for gas which was what they were really using it for. Here, it happens almost daily, sometimes two or three times. Usually some tweaker comes up saying they need money for the bus and you still see them at the same bus stop four hours later. The only thing that has changed is that they aren't shaking as much. Don't get me wrong, I'm a softie and it's very hard for me to say no to people. If it's someone that seems at least remotely sober and I don't feel like I'm getting fed a complete line of bullshit, I will give them some money. I'll put gas in someone's car if they ask or buy them something to eat and drink. However, I have a very difficult time contributing to someone so I can support a drug habit that will kill them and there aren't many people around here that are down and out just because of bad luck alone. My favorite part is when they get all pissed off at me for not giving them a hand out. Or when I'm sitting in my vehicle and they come up and knock on my window, insisting that I roll it down and won't go away. Or when I don't even want to walk into a business because I can see them just waiting for me to get out of my truck. Yep, I miss Idaho or pretty much any place I've ever been other than here.

The absolute worst part, is that I pretty much hate them. That's not me, I don't just hate people that I don't even know. Helping people makes me happy, I usually want to do what I can for them. When did I become so judgemental and lose my compassion? I've had people help me so much throughout my life, I should want to give back. These people have been written off as lost causes, which most probably are, and I despise them for it. They're beyond help, so now they're  just an inconvenience? That's just so wrong and yet I can't help but feel the way I do.

So maybe I'm proving myself to be quite the whining bitch as I sit here well fed, with a safe and warm place to sleep, typing this on my iPad while there are people that not only have nothing, but no one in their life. Maybe I'm insane for even letting the situation in this city bother me. One way or another, it does bother me though. I'm just not sure whether it's on a personal level or a moral one.

 

Improving Indy

*I didn't have anyone around to take pictures of my lesson, so you get pics of JL riding her. Of course no one was there to document it when she is going better than she ever has. You'll just have to trust me ;)

I mentioned about having JL get on Indy last week. In short, the ride started off pretty rocky. Indy was resistant and I watched, slightly humiliated, by how big of a witch she can be when she wants to. That's what trainer rides are there for though. JL patiently kept asking her and disciplined her when she needed it. He was insistent and he kept with her until she gave it up and expected her to go correctly, not just tolerating getting her around there (like I have a tendency to do). The corrections came from him doing what he needed to get her stepping underneath herself with impulsion in the hind end. Watching JL's responses to all of her antics gave me a lot of tools to use and a better idea of what I should be expecting from her. By the end of the ride she was beginning to understand, gave up fighting, and started to go really well!

    You can see that she wasn't quite where we wanted in the pictures, but she is starting to get there.

He has me putting draw reins on her, which I am not normally a big fan of. However, I trust him and we aren't using them to force the frame. They are there for those moments when she does grab the bit and pulls up while blindly drifting in the opposite direction that you want with her nose pointed to the sky or starts flipping her head, or does anything else to cause me to lose control. They're a back up when nothing else is working and I think I might die.

After JL rode her, I had two good rides on Indy in a row. Yeah, that's never happened before and I always dreaded riding her after the "good one". The first one she tried me, but I did what JL did with her and she gave up the fight pretty quickly. The second ride, there was even less resistance. We were actually working together and she was trying harder to understand what I wanted rather than spending all of her effort trying to avoid what I was asking (she definitely gets the fight from her dam, Winnetou's goal in life was to please his rider). I figured I better take a lesson on her while things were good.

I didn't lunge her. After his ride on her, JL said that my time would be better spent doing the ground excercises that he showed me with her. Fine with me, I absolutely hate lunging even if it does have it's uses. I did the ground work and got on. Indy walked off immediately and on the bit when I asked her to. Considering that she used to walk off half-assed in every direction but forward, this is a big deal. I won't go into every detail of the lesson, but here is what we focused on:

1. Creating impulsion in the hind end with my leg while keeping a good rhythm rather than me using it to send her running forward on her forehand. 

2. Bending around my inside leg and getting her to step under more with her inside hind.

3. Keeping her in a slight shoulder-fore for straightness.

4. Not letting my hands move and asking more with my leg when she gets fussy and resistant.

5. Keeping her stepping under herself and not coming above the bit in the halt.

6. Leg yielding back and forth between the quarter line and the rail.

7. Leg yielding from a 15-20 meter circle.

8. Slight lengthenings in the trot, focusing on keeping the rhythm while lengthening and coming back(Indy actually does this better than Beefheart).

9. JL and I also talked about knowing how far to push and when to stop so that she doesn't get sour. This shouldn't be a problem since I'm more likely to not push enough.

JL said that Indy is becoming much more balanced (we actually did some pretty good serpentines where she didn't fall out or start fussing when I changed the bend) and that he liked that she showed more suspension when we asked for the trot lengthenings. He seemed pleased with her and I was ecstatic! I finally feel like we are getting somewhere instead of just getting around. I'm spending more time worrying about the actual training than wondering if today will be the day that she kills me. Finally, a relationship is building and we are starting to trust each other. Indy is starting to focus more, not gawking at everything in sight (she still looks some, but is a lot less reactive). The improvement in the last week alone has been pretty remarkable! I am truly beginning to enjoy riding her!

100th Blog Post Giveaway

It's been just over a year since I started this blog. The original plan was to get to my 100th post by my one year mark, but life happened. I was fairly close, so whatever. One way or another I've made it this far.

This isn't a huge accomplishment in the whole scheme of things, but after a rocky start and wondering if anyone would ever want to read what I had to say, I'm pretty happy to be where I'm at. I want to thank everyone that reads this and that has been so supportive. I've made friends, found other equestrians that I can completely relate to, and immensely enjoyed reading about and learning from so many other riders out there. In all honesty, I don't have that many friends at the track that are too excited about me torturing them with my dressage stories. Having the equestrian blogger world to talk to and read about has been absolutely amazing! The blog has been good for me. Riding makes me want to write more and writing makes me want to ride more. Reading all of your posts has given me inspiration and ambition. So THANK YOU!

Okay. Now that I've made you suffer through all of the cheesy sentiment, it's about damn time I did a giveaway! I know there are a lot of equestrian belts out there right now, but a person can never have too many. Right?

So....

I'm giving away a C4 Belt!

If you haven't heard of or seen C4 belts, they are made from thermoplastic elastomer (TPE). TPE is both soft and tough, providing fit, comfort, and longevity. They are waterproof and won't stretch or tear like leather belts, along with being easy to clean. The belts and buckles (nickel-free btw) are interchangeable. With all of the different color combinations to choose from expressing your individual style is easy to do. C4 belts are also easy to clean. To top everything off, C4 donates 10% of the purchase price to one of four causes: The Boys and Girls Club of America, the Captain Planet Foundation, the Human Rights Campaign, or the Best Friends Animal Society. You get to choose. Did I mention that they offer a lifetime warranty? They are perfect for equestrians!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

To enter, visit C4's website here and comment below on which buckle/belt combination you would order along with what cause you would want C4 to donate to and why. Don't worry, you are allowed to change your mind if you win. Commenting is the only required entry, but I put optional entries in if you want more chances. Please make sure to let Rafflecopter know if you comment on this post. The contest starts tonight and goes through midnight on Friday, the 19th.

They have something for everyone.

Wild:

 

 

Conservative:

Or in between:

 

They also have skinny belts:

*yeah, I may have become slightly obsessed with all of the different color options....