Beefheart 3/5/2005- 10/11/2014

What we have once enjoyed deeply, we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us. - Helen Keller

Sucking It Up Show

Make sure to check out L's 1,000th post giveaway over at Viva Carlos! 

I took Beefs to another show on Saturday. You know those mornings before your show and things just seem to be a bit off? Nothing runs smoothly? Yeah, I was having one of those mornings. Nothing went seriously wrong, but everything just felt not quite right. I have a bad ear infection, it hurt like hell, and I was tired and grumpy. Not the best way to start a show day.

I got to the show about half an hour later than I wanted to, which I figured wasn't a big deal because Beefheart really only needs about a twenty minute warm up. More than anything, he needs a few minutes to settle down from being hauled since it always seems to get him amped up. I threw Beefs in his stall with a flake of hay to eat for a couple of minutes while I unloaded my things from the trailer. MB was a life saver and parked the pick up and trailer for me and then came back to help me finish tacking up (she's the best).

I climbed on Beefs and go "Ooohhhh, you have a hump in your back!" as we started to walk off to the arena. At this point I was questioning my 'we only need a twenty minute warm up' theory. When we got to the warm up arena he was a little tense, unfocused, and looking at everything. He relaxed fairly quick, but had a ton of energy. What I liked was that the energy translated into his movement and not into bad behavior. JL came to warm us up and it went fairly well. It's always nice to have your trainer there trying to keep you from riding like a dumb ass!

Our first test was training level test 3 and it started out fairly smooth. Then I asked for the right lead canter and Beefs picked up the left. I asked again. Left lead. I asked again. Left lead. We got it on the fourth try. What the hell?!!! I may be far from a Grand Prix rider, but I've also ridden my entire life. I don't miss leads. Like ever. Especially not at shows. Especially not on a horse that isn't super green. It wasn't Beefs fault, it was mine. I totally threw him off balance. I asked in all the wrong ways. The rest of the test went fairly well, other than Beefheart letting out one of his girly whinnies every thirty seconds, but I was pretty much screwed after that. 

Missing the lead messed up my score on two movements and hurt some of our collective marks. We ended up getting a 62.3 and third place out of five. The winner scored a 65 something, so at least we didn't just flat out get our asses handed to us. I was still pretty pissed at myself though.

Our first level test 1 was a little better. Beefheart only whinnied a couple of times and the test went pretty smooth with the exception that he picked up the right lead when I asked for the left. At least we got it on the second try this time. His trot lengthenings were far from spectacular, but that's normal. His canter lengthenings seemed pretty good, so I guess at least he can do some form of a lengthening decently. There was a lot wrong, but there were also a lot of good parts.

We ended up with a 62.something and won the class out of two people. This judge was pretty tough and highest score at first was a 64 (I think we had the second highest score out of all of the first level classes). I'm not going to complain. I don't mind a tough judge as long as they are consistently tough and this one was. MB picked my test up for me since the show office was taking forever to get the scores out. I'm looking forward to reading the comments. Maybe.

Like JL told me; if you're above a 60%, it wasn't bad. I think he's right.

The good part about this show is that I learned that even if Beefheart is fresh and energetic, he can still function. In fact, he moves and performs better in a lot of ways. He's not going to kill me. I was very proud of him. 

They say the good dressage horses are a little hot. I agree. The dull horses just don't have the expression that the hot horses do. Beefs isn't a naturally big moving horse. We need all of the help that we can get in that department. 

The fact that I missed some leads frazzled me a bit. I'm hoping that it was just from my balance being off due to the ear infection. Or that I was just having an EXTREMELY off day. We'll see. We have another schooling show next weekend and then a recognized show the weekend after that. Basically, I have just under two weeks to get myself together.

Because Fast is Awesome

I had a show this morning and then we had the two fillies running this afternoon. Between all of that and a nasty ear infection, I'm exhausted. So, just a quick post for now.

Colinda Dawn

The fiancé and I knew Colinda Dawn had talent. Her first race she had run green and got a little tired. Not what we were hoping, but not the end of the world either. Today, she ran a lot more like we believed she could. You can watch the replay here (race 5 MSW at ABQ on 10/4). 

At this point, I figured if she didn't make a mistake, she was gone (she's on the lead).

Pulling away.

Gone.

She went 57.21 for five furlongs (the track is fast, but that's still smokin' for a two year old) and won by 10 1/4 lengths!

It was Breast Cancer Awareness day at the track, so she got a pink blanket. We never use this type on the horses, but it's still nice to win it :)

I'm also really proud of the other filly we had in the race! Five furlongs is shorter than what Insightful Lady needs, but she still ran fourth with odds of 30-1. It was the first time we've run her since we've had her in training and she improved significantly from her first race. I'm looking forward to running her again!

Beefs was really good at the show, but more on that later.

A good day in Hellbuequerque? It does happen occasionally.

A Work in Progress's Confessions of the Worst Dressage Queen Ever

A great idea from A Work in Progress. My fiancé always says I'm a not a dressage queen, but I'm definitely a dressage princess. So, while I have my dressage queen tendencies, here are the reasons I'm not on the throne:

I am absolutely and completely a totally unorganized mess. My tack is rarely clean, my boots only polished for special occasions, and all of my equipment is randomly shoved into a few tupperwares. I'm always the jack ass that sends in my show entries at the very last minute (or even late). Inevitibaly, I end up scrounging at the last minute to find my binder (which is actually organized) with my registration papers and memberships. The same goes for my show clothes. In short, I never have my shit together.

I don't care about bloodlines.  Honestly, I just ride them. Someone else can worry about the latest and greatest breeding. My only concern is the dressage, which means training. That's what is important to me. If I like a horse, I like the horse, and I would never discount one just because of their bloodlines/breed.

I'm no longer impressed by what other people have when it comes to dressage. I don't care what they have accomplished or if they own all the coolest tack or the biggest breeding farm in the area. If they're jerks, I don't need to have anything to do with them. In short, I don't really give a damn if I fit in or not. I also don't care if I impress them. I'm not doing this to become a prototype. Honestly, not caring has enabled me to fit in better than trying to pull off the dressage queen act would.

I also don't clip ears and noses. I started dressage with a very traditional trainer and we not only didn't clip the ears and noses, but weren't allowed to. It just kind of stuck.

I probably come across as not taking showing seriously. I laugh, I joke around. There is no reason I can think of that we can't smile and say good morning to other competitors. I have fun. I'm more relaxed and ride better at shows for the most part. It's where I'm the happiest and I'm not going to kill that by being nervous and uptight the whole time. Having this attitude about showing has taken time and I'm just happy to feel so comfortable out there. Just because this is a disciplined and traditional sport doesn't mean it can't be fun. It's not that I don't take showing seriously, it's that I'm lucky to be able to and I'm going to enjoy it as much as I can.

I might have subtle bling on my browband, but I don't want much more shiny crap than that on my horses. I will admit that I'm loving the more adventurous colors of coats that people are starting to wear. I also like that shorter coats are in. It's a real bitch when you are sitting on your damn coat and miserable just because of tradition.

I'm not going to sit there and have a conversation about how bad someone rides or their horse's slack of talent. They are out there trying and shouldn't be put down for doing so. So, unless the person in question is just a completely ignorant ass, and probably even if they are, I'm not going to get in on some catty commentary. This isn't highschool and I don't need to act like a teenager.

I always ride in tall boots and breeches, but I still never really look put together. I don't always tuck my shirt in and I often forget a belt. I always end up covered in dirt and don't really care if I don't look perfect for every day riding.

                               

I hate my horses being in stalls. I would rather they be happy, stay more fit, and be calmer due to being out in a pasture or at least a run. The more they can be a horse, the better.

My horses are not my babies. I did not give birth to them and my favorite thing about them is that they are horses, not people. So why would I want to humanize them? Since they aren't my babies, I don't baby them. That doesn't mean that they don't get treated well. Just because I love them doesn't mean they aren't going to get into trouble if they are walking all over me or take a chunk out of my arm. I think that they enjoy a few minutes of hand grazing just as much as they do treats and it doesn't create bad habits. 

*I don't care if other people call their horses their "babies", it just makes me cringe when someone refers to my relationship with mine that way.

I guess that's about it. :)

Wherein Beefs sort-of jumps (w/ video)

Okay, so it was barely a jump. Just a tiny crossrail. Whatever.

*sorry the video is so blurry, I forgot to tell the fiancé which camera app to use.

I've been wanting to take a jumping lesson on Beefs. However, I also haven't jumped anything of any significant height in about six years or more and that was on a horse that did everything for me as long as I stayed out of his way. So, I figured I should probably make sure we could at least handle the very basics. I wanted to work on keeping a good rhythm, staying straight, and attempting to find a somewhat respectable distance.

My boss in Ocala made us canter ground poles constantly. If we couldn't get a good distance or be able to change leads over a ground pole, then we weren't going to jump. So Beefs and I cantered ground poles the other day and worked on picking the lead I wanted up over them. He figured it out really quick. No big deal, but I think that it was good to start out with.

Beefs went really well today and the fiancé asked if I was going to at least jump something. I trotted Beefs over the crossrail a couple of times and he stayed straight, didn't even think about refusing, and half stepped/hopped over it. It was boring to him after the second time.

I picked up the canter and went over it again. Since I haven't jumped in so long, I just kept my leg on and pretty much stayed out of his way. He's smart and can figure it out on his own (it cracked me up that he switched leads over it the first time due to our ground pole work). Me messing with him probably would have been more detrimental than beneficial. 

I was really happy with Beefs. He kept a good rhythm before and after the sort-of jump, stayed straight, and stayed focused on me. We only cantered it three times and he got better every time. I quit after that. The only time he's ever even come close to jumping was when I trotted him over a crossrail a few times years ago. He was so wiggly at that time that it wasn't all that much fun. I figured three good quality trips over a crossrail was a good start. Yeah... I'm not the best about getting into a hurry.

I do wish that I hadn't sold all of my jumping tack now, the dressage saddle doesn't exactly put me in the most comfortable position to jump hop in.

Yes, I realize that this isn't a big deal at all, but I still had so much fun doing it. I was so relaxed and happy the entire time. It was nice to have a ride like that.

Indy and I didn't exactly have a great ride today. It all started when I was lungeing her and the foal in the field tore ass through the trees next to the arena. She was pretty much lit after that.

Not exactly what I was hoping for, but it still could have been worse.

Indy didn't do anything really bad when I rode her, she was just extremely pissed the whole time. She was very fussy in the bridle. I didn't canter her because I could just feel that she wanted to blow. I'm glad I didn't because after I untacked her, she had a pinch from the girth. No wonder she was pissed! I felt so bad, but I'm also really proud of her for not planting my ass which that going on. Poor girl!