The Polka Dot Periodical

Show time!

2012-02-17T10:02:00.000-08:00

The trailer is packed, now I'm just counting the hours until we can hit the road!

Pongo schooled well last night. The arena was a downright mad house with 6 horses, one of which was having a jump lesson. GREAT practice for the warm up ring, meaning, it forced me to figure out how to focus him and get quality work amidst mayhem. His trot work is really coming along. We're still in a slightly funky spot training wise. I know he will jump around well this weekend, but I'm not sure what's going to happen in the dressage. His trot is getting fannnncy, but with it is coming more tantrums as he figures out how to control his body. I get it, it's hard work. He's started trantering around evading the gait when he gets flustered. So I'm faced with lackluster, unfancy trot, or fancy trot, risking tranter. Dillemmas!

Ann rode him this morning (so that I could just get him in the trailer and on the road this afternoon/evening after work) and said he was good. She had some ideas regarding the tranter, so we'll see tomorrow what she suggests. I just want to improve on the forward for our test, that's my goal. Steady and forward.

The good news is we dont ride until 11:37am on Saturday. At Twin he was SO cold backed, behind the leg and tense since we rode in the freezing morning at 8:00am. I think I'm going to lunge him in vienna reins early morning to take the edge off and tire him out just a little.

So here goes nothing! Wish us luck! Baby's first BN horse trials here we come!

** And yes I have TWO videographer/photographer/fantastic favorite friends in tow, so you'll get to see all the action on Monday!

Really good gifts...

2012-02-16T11:10:00.001-08:00

Spoiled rotten…I couldn’t tell you I had a hot date for Valentines then not spill the deets, right? Mister went all out, a stunning floral arrangement, a box of hand selected specialty chocolates, a sweet as sugar card, a delish dinner out at a romantic little restaurant. It was just one of many special, sweet, wonderful memories we’ve been able to share together recently and I could not feel more blessed. He’s a true gift. God is so good and gracious, I can’t wait to see what He has in store for us in the future.

As for the Pong, his Valentine’s Day involved being neglected by his mother and a visit from the chiropractor. I was pleased as punch to hear a glowing report from the doctor! He said Pongo feels much improved and looks great. I rode him last night and the adjustment made a world of difference. He was so loose and floaty. The resistance in his atlas was gone, his shoulders and back felt significantly more free. Just in time for the show! We worked on tempo and cadence last night. Developing a more expressive trot and bouncier canter. He kept his power trot under control and was far more responsive to my outside rein half halts. About 30 minutes in we started having tantrums about the trot. He was tired. He trantered around like a ding-dong, only giving me a handful of true trot steps. We called it a day after he gave me a few good moments. And we'll try again tonight.

I spent the remainder of my evening packing up my clothes for the weekend. It’s amazing how many outfits/options a horse trials requires! Here’s where I netted out:

Dressage: Black show coat, white button up shirt, stock tie, stock pin, white breeches

Show Jumping: Olive show coat, lavender button up shirt with matching rat catcher, stock pin, beige breeches

Cross Country: Navy Under Armor shirt (if cold), white and navy striped polo (if warm), beige breeches, safety vest

And then there’s Pongo’s wardrobe:

Black dressage pad, white show jump pad, navy cross country pad, burgundy cooler, navy light blanket, navy medium blanket

Phew! I’m thinking I need to upgrade my Denali (Yukon) to a Suburban to haul all of our junk!!!

Happy Valentines Day!

2012-02-14T13:03:00.000-08:00

Clearly happy to not be celebrating SAD (Singleness Awareness Day).

But moreover...

Profoundly grateful to Lord for carefully renewing and repairing my heart so that I can now fully comprehend and receive the Love He has for me and in turn, extend that same love to the precious individuals He has entrusted me with in my life to serve through Love. Ridiculous excited to see what the new (wonderful, sweet, kind, handsome, intelligent, adorable, okIwillstopnow) Mister has up his sleeve tonight and even though I wont have time to ride Pongo, fully intend to go give big spotty a sugary smooch and his grain bucket after work today. Then, it's down to business tomorrow as we countdown the last 3 days before our first horse trials!

1 John

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.

This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.

We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

Pump You Up

2012-02-12T07:26:00.000-08:00

Feeling like some kind of extreme body builder today. My shoulders, calves and lower back are screaming at me. As a rider though I love this, especially the day after an amazing jump lesson, because it means my position was rock solid yesterday!

I've been making a serious effort and perfect position whilst jumping the Pong. The boy is BIG and pretty much thinks 2'9" is way to pedestrian for him, so he jumps about 4 feet over pretty much everything.

Clearly have not put those extra holes in my stirrups like I've been meaning too. That will give me a better base of support and allow me to release better (although I know my releases are pretty consistent, this jump I think he was getting frisky, LOL).

It was one of those lessons where you have some brilliant moments and some where you nearly fall off from laughing so hard that you didnt just fall off. It was an extra exciting sesh because as per usual, Ann upped the ante since we have a show next week AND my fantastic and adorbs new Mister Friend was there too, meeting Pongo for the first time and watching the circus that was this lesson.

We schooled more angles and did a couple of wicked hard exercises using a two verticals, about 2'6" each (one with a liverpool under it, one that was an airy gate). I learned that my horse can jump from the canter virtually parallel to a jump. This kid loves his puzzles and jumping.

We switched him into a kimberwick and that has made a world of difference as I now have steering and brakes (it's the little things, right?!). The course got up to roughly 2'9", maybe one of the oxers was a smidge bigger. I was delighted with him, he just feels like such a big boy now. I can quietly canter him up to pretty much anything and know we're going to get to the other side, no drama, all power.

He never fails to remind me though that he is a greenie beanie though as he took some good, hard looks at a couple of the more interesting fences. Always going, I never worry about him stopping, but definitely requires me to sit DEEP to every single fence and wait with my upper body. The biggest YIKES was a bending 3 stride line. We do single fences well, REALLY well. Lines and related distance we're still learning about. Pong gets in the line beautifully, but is still green on his footwork inside the line which makes getting OUT somewhat hysterical at times.

All in all, we're so ready for next weekend and I cannot wait! The Mister Friend passed the pony test with flying colors (which I had no doubt about, he's as big of an animal lover as I am), and even said he had the best time with us....yayyyyyyy!

Today I'm gonna get back to the dressaging and pack the trailer for the show! Lots to do!

A cute pic from my friend Lauren of Pongo this morning...presh!

I love this face so much it hurts!

A letter...

2012-02-10T11:03:00.000-08:00

Hey guys,

It's Pongo.

I am writing to bring to light a grave situation that is occurring in my life. I need your support.

I am delighted to inform you that I have learned how to lengthen in the trot. No, not just trotting fast, but really lifting my shoulders like a Spanish Riding School Master and cranking through with my well defined, spotted hindquarters. To boot, I can also lengthen my trot in ALL of my lateral movements.

I find myself more or less unstoppable, literally. I'm amazing.

Unfortunately, the women who taught me this amazing new skill, bringing my full potential to life, are now punishing me for my extreme talent just a mere few days later!

It seems they do not want me to perform my beautiful lengthened trot all the time, for the entire ride. They yank and pull on me and squeeze my kidneys to death with their super strong inner thighs trying to stifle my brilliance.

This must stop.

You cant contain me.

I was born for this trot!

Today I know they were texting back in forth about me, calling me bossy and bullish! The nerve!

Please support me, leave comments and tell my mom that my Power Trot is special and I should be allowed to show it off all the time.

Thank you,

Pongo.

Ugly, ugly

2012-02-09T08:42:00.000-08:00

It gets ugly before it gets pretty.

I'm not riding consistently so it's unfair for me to expect consistency out of my horse.

We're a little bit of a hot mess right now.

And he's REALLY fit.

I didnt get out of bed at 5:30 to ride so that means he wont get ridden until Saturday unless I pay my trainer to do it.

There are not enough hours in my day.

But, I'm doing what I can, when I can and that's what matters.

Just a few more ;)

2012-02-08T15:01:00.000-08:00

Swoon...

Hey Girl...

2012-02-08T09:01:00.000-08:00

You're Welcome.

Ugly Mondays

2012-02-07T11:47:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was officially the world’s longest Monday. The kind of Monday where you look up at the clock and SWEAR it must be 3pm, and it’s only 9am. The kind where you come in at 7:30am to work, don’t take lunch and crawl out of the office on your hands and knees at 5pm. The kind of Monday where you go to ride, hoping it will make everything better and you get off your horse feeling like you’re a sweaty mess, feeling like you’ve been mauled by a bear.

I was so excited to go ride Pongo whom I had been told by my trainer was fab-u-lous over the weekend. I’d jumped him on Friday and he was a total packer. I cant believe he’s only 5 1/2. We leaped around a little grid and a few single fences set at about 2 ‘3” ft and he was a champ. Ann bumped the fences up 2 holes to bring them to about 2’9”. He was SO GAME. We had a couple rails as he tried to figure out how to pick his little tosies up a bit higher. It’s comical because in general he over jumps everything anyways, so I’m not quite certain why he was crashing over the jumps when we raised them…babies…go figure…He never once questioned the fences though…he.just.went.

#awesome

Fast forward to Monday…not #awesome. I flatted him out and he was a monster pony. We’ve recently taught him how to lengthen in the trot and canter. Like really lengthen where he stretches through his body and lifts his shoulders. It’s wicked cool, he totally gets it. And now that is all he wants to do. Lengthen. All the time. No matter what we’re doing. He can apparently lengthen in his leg yields, and shoulder in, and haunches in…It beyond annoying. He was barreling around with me like a freight train. We had some serious discussions about his tempo and some big tantrums (him and me). We got pretty much nowhere. I decided to focus on ONE thing. Leg yielding in the correct tempo off of my left leg. Once I got like 5 steps of it, we quit. I think this is one of those “it’s going to get uglier before it gets pretty kind of things”. And that’s ok. But, I just have to mentally prep myself for the ugly. I hate the ugly. I don’t have TIME for the ugly, I have a horse show in 2 weeks! Hopefully tonight’s ride goes better!

All was not lost though after a long work day and horrendous ride on my monster baby horse, my delightful Mr. Friend came over with his adorbs doggie and we had a fantastic night in. A veritable dog pile on the couch with three snuggly puppies, us and The Voice (best show ever, you need to watch it).

I’ll take the world’s longest Monday anyyyyy day if it ends like that.

Thank You

2012-02-02T14:19:00.000-08:00

...and you take a moment to pause and smile

because everything is turning out so much better than you expected...

and you try to pray and talk to God about it,

but all you can seem to manage to say is
"thank you"...

and you know that's enough...

and He's smiling right back at ya.

A Major Award!

2012-02-01T14:47:00.000-08:00

Thank you very much to Sarah! of Eventing in Color for awarding the Liebster Blog Award to The Polka Dot Periodical - it absolutely made my day! Sarah and I share a common love for unusually colored critters as well as eventing. She always leaves the most encouraging comments on my blog and for that, I heart her!

Official Rules of the Liebster Blog Award:

Copy and paste the award on this blog.
Link back to the blogger who gave you the award.
Pick your 5 favorite blogs with less than 200 followers, and leave a comment on their blog to let them know they have received the award.
Hope that the 5 blogs chosen will keep spreading the love and pass it on to 5 more blogs.

Liebster means "dearest" in German. And presumably this blog award originated there.

Here are my 5 favorite blogs with less than 200 followers (in no particular order). PS- this was the HARDEST thing to choose just 5, I love SO MANY great blogs! Please check out the "Blogs I Follow" listings on the right hand side of the page to get connected with even more WONDERFUL blogs written by incredible storytellers!

SprinklerBandit: Meet Aimee and Izzy. She is also sharp, funny, introspective and works for a cool eventing trainer. Her mare is a whole 'lotta woman to deal with sometimes, but Aimee always believes in her and herself, finding new ways to psych herself up when the going gets sticky :)

Tucker the Wunderkind: Bloggy friend AND real life friend, Marissa is a lawyer by day and a Hunter Princess by night...late at night...because she's super dedicated to her amazing horse Tucker and does whatever it takes to get that ride in after work. Marissa's writing style is sleek and smart. Tucker writes letters to his followers from time to time as well...always amusing.

Process of Learning: Ashley...college rivals (GO DAWGS)...but I still dig her and her blog. A wonderful encourager in my life - she was right.there for me when I went through a rough patch and I'm so endeared to her! Ashley owns a GORGEOUS mare, Ella, who is like 2 seconds away from giving birth to a foal which makes for a seriously exciting blog. We cant wait for the baby to arrive! There's also a few other fun characters in the mix like Grey Mare and Poppy...their barn is poppin!

Project Runaway: A spin off blog from my favorite Blogger over at Eventing-A-Gogo. Andrea and the Runaway are a hoot. Andrea's writing style and honesty are refreshing. She's a wonderful storyteller and in her life, there is NEVER a dull moment. She's getting a very special new horse, Sophie...head over to the blog to learn all about it!

Dapple of my Eye: Rachel and Granite rock. He's a WB gelding, she's a young professional. I love blogs where the author can commiserate with me about how freaking hard it is to be in your 20's/30's juggling a career, a dog, a boyfriend and a YOUNG HORSE. Rachel makes it all seem easy, she is a zen-master at horse/work/love/balance, her stories crack me up and her horse is beyond gorgeous.

Game On!

2012-01-30T09:10:00.000-08:00

Ready, set, ENTER!

The check is literally in the mail, it’s official. Our first event will be Ram Tap Horse Trials over Presidents Day weekend. After looking over the show calendar it came down to a now or August decision. I wanted to debut him in April at Twin Rivers but they don’t have BN (LAME), then the next show is a one-day event at Twin (which we’ll still do, but I don’t want to overwhelm him with that as his first event), then the next HT (Woodside) conflicts with my sister’s wedding. Then nothing June/July, then Woodside again in August.

I feel really good about my decision. Initially my plan was to enter at Intro level, but I just couldn’t stomach it. I cant go Intro, it’s a pride thing, haha…I knew that by the end of the weekend I’d be happy we jumped all the 6 inch high rail road ties and trotted through the water like champions, sure, but I knew I probably not feel ACCOMPLISHED. My horse is MORE than capable of jumping XC. Granted we’ve only schooled XC one time, but he was GAME ON. He likes XC and is only as unsure as I make him about any given jump, so we’re starting at BN! My sister once told me that on any given course 70% of it should feel doable and 30% should scare the you-know-what out you…ahem…I mean….challenge you. I had so.much.fun taking him out on course at Twin a few weeks ago. He felt as confident and rideable as any other horse I’ve sat on. I know him and trust him. I learned that if his shoulders are square to the fence, we’re going over!

I think by going BN, 70% or more will feel totally doable and getting him over the 1-2 jumps that are a little lookier will be the challenge part. We got this! I’m hoping for the very best and ok if he has a baby pony meltdown too…just as long as we learn and have fun.

The other cool thing is that it’s a holiday weekend (meaning we have Monday off to school more XC in the AM then head home at a reasonable hour) AND the show is a Sat/Sun show! Meaning, I don’t have to take any time off of work. Depending on when we ride, I can leave home Saturday AM early if I needed to (although we’ll probably still jaunt down there Friday afternoon, after work). Horray for events that do the Sat/Sunday format, it makes a WORLD of difference for those of us who have to work full-time to afford this amazing hobby that cost $1000 a pop for one of these show weekends!

This past weekend was delightful with Pongo. He ‘snuck out of the house’ on Friday night and was exhausted from his adventures come Saturday’s dressage lesson. Since his lateral suppleness is coming along SO WELL, we worked on lengthening at the trot and canter. He was a rock star.

Ann had us ride lots of shoulder-in/shoulder out, on the circle, long side and across the diagonal. Then we worked shoulder in to lengthening using the whip on his shoulder to give him a little tap-tap here and there to teach him how to reach. He totally started to understand and we got some pretty cute action out of him! In the canter we went down the 1/4 line, leg yielded to the the rail (in the canter), lengthened for a few strides, then leg yielded away from the wall to come back to the collected canter...HARD, but effective. Sunday we did a quickie dressage school, his buns were sore (flinching when I curried him) from the day before so we took it easy. Good pony!

Best Text Ever...

2012-01-28T08:39:00.000-08:00

Once again I didnt make it to the barn to ride on Wednesday (just grained) or Thursday (grained and hand walked), I had an early morning meeting on Friday plus a wretched cold and plans Friday night that well, just required me to smell like a fancy lady not a muck bucket...so I asked Ann to ride Pongo on Friday. She of course happily obliged (have I mentioned lately how much I l-o-v-e this trainer?!).

The day waned on and literally just as I wonder how their little ride went, I get this text:

WOW! Pongo was very responsive to the leg right from the start. Way better bending! Good Work! And the submission was also better!

YAYAYAYAYAYYYYY! Dressage boot camp worked! This is really meaningful because I've poured every ounce of what I've learned over the past 20 years of doin' this thing into him. So to hear he's going even better, that's a huge compliment. I wonder how awesome he'd be if I rode him more than 3-4 days a week?!?! LOL! I've been hounding him about bend and moving through the small of his back right behind the saddle. I've SHUT DOWN the baby temper tantrums for the first time ever and we're finally starting to get some legit lateral suppleness out of quite possibly one of the world's least pliable 5 year old horses. He's just one, huge, rigid mass of hefty, appaloosa muscle. My method has been get in, get out - none of my rides are comprised of more than 20 - 25 minutes of real work. Once he gets the concept, we're done. Ask, get, reward.

We have a jumping lesson today, going to try a new bit...get a little more control of the big fella so I dont get dragged around quite so much by my spotty boy. But first, hiking with the talls (our besties Rachel and her great danes Milo and Fred) and smalls (me, Nut nut and Lou-bug) at Brushy Peak!

Update 12:25pm...Got another text this morning...this time from my friend Marissa...who said she found my horse, out of his paddock, at 6am this morning, wandering the farm. He had taken every halter off their hooks and scattered them about on the ground. On my way now to give him a talk about sneaking out of the house at night to party. He's officially grounded. Haha.

A Letter...

2012-01-27T09:38:00.000-08:00

Dear Miscreant Who Stole My Winter Blanket Out of the Tack Room:

Your morals are non-existant and your wild distrust of karma - especially that of the pony kind - is mindboggling.

I'm disheartened by your disregard for others personal property and seeing as no horse at our barn is wearing the nice Weathabeeta Heavy Turnout you ganked from me one week ago, am left wondering where you took it?

I called the used tack store and let them know to keep an eye out in case you try to sell it. Which I cant imagine seeing as it was a stinky, muddy, wet heap of nasty the night you snatched it from me.

What is wrong with you!? Why would you take what is not yours? Why would you think it's ok for your horse to be warm and for my to freeze his spotty rear end off because of your inconsideration?

I loathe that you roam about my barn and I dont know who you are, it makes me question people and the place in general. I was optimistic thinking maybe you grabbed it by mistake, or saw how dirty it was and were doing a good deed, like washing it (notachance,haha), but now...notsomuch.

Stealing = wrong. Your momma shoulda taught you better, Sticky Fingers.

Nicku and Pongo

Faith Evidenced 1.25.12

2012-01-26T08:50:00.000-08:00

A lovely women’s pastor whom I absolutely admire encouraged us one day to keep a “Faith Evidenced” journal. Basically this is a log where you jot down whenever you see God’s hand at work in your life.

Yesterday I found myself struggling over a certain situation I’m facing with a ‘certain person’ (whom I know is wildly unaware of the fun, albeit somewhat stressful ride they’re taking me on). I himmed and hawed over how my Monday went, as well as my Tuesday, and Tuesday night and now Wednesday.

With perfect timing, one of my very best girlfriends called me as if on cue mid-day yesterday. She told me a story about how over the weekend she’d given her certain situation with her ‘certain person’ fully to God (again), and how He’d almost immediately given her an answer to prayer as a result - to a degree that was almost comical, akin to giving a puppy dog a treat for sitting when told. Good girl.

After I hung up the phone with her, I handed my own situation/expectations with my ‘certain person’ back to God (again) and went about the rest of my Wednesday. That evening I went to dinner with a new friend. She is a perfectly darling, fun, smart and beautiful girl who popped into my life very unexpectedly right before the holidays. She confided in me that she’d been praying for good girlfriends, bonus if they were in her same stage of life (single), to pal around with and was happy we’d met up that night! As I dropped her off at home I was struck by the absolute grace in a realization God gave me.

I’ve been obsessing over my own issues and irritated with God’s timing (what is happening vs. what is not happening), but I was once again reminded that I am basing my assumptions about what I feel should be happening on some very limited information. God didn’t want me spending time last night with the ‘certain person’ I had handed over to Him earlier in the day, He knew, that last night, He was going to use me instead to answer someone else’s prayer that I obviously was not privy to. That Wednesday night wasn’t going to be about me and what I think I need, but how He can use me to fulfill a promise to another one of his precious children. I was exactly where He wanted me to be with exactly who He wanted me to be. Faith Evidenced.

I am on His time line, He is not on mine. I am His servant, to be used for His good purposes. Sometimes it’s about me, sometimes it’s not – and for good reason! I feel blessed that he allowed me to see how His plan for my Wednesday served someone else (and me too, I had a great time and am loving getting to know my new friend!)

So, as luck would have it, I actually woke up this morning to a message from my ‘certain person’…a biscuit for good behavior perhaps? I don't know, but I'm thankful for Him and His mysterious (wayyy better than my) perfect plans :)

Seeing Sunrises...

2012-01-24T09:15:00.000-08:00

There’s precious little to report out on regarding my spotty boy as my visits to him have been erratic.

I caught rides on Thursday morning (early!), Friday evening (late!) and very briefly on Saturday. We had torrential rains Friday night and Pongo was majorly on edge when I came to the barn Saturday. He was cold backed and girthy. He let me get on, but felt like a stick of dynamite about to explode. We worked through about 15 minutes of stretchy trot and he felt miserable, inattentive, cold and unfocused. So I called it a day and put him away. I came back later with my family and we grained him. He seemed in better spirits. I’ve experienced this issue with him on a couple of occasions. I don’t think he sleeps well when it rains. Something about it agitates him. He feels kind of like a kid in desperate need of a nappy nap. It’s best to just put him away on these days or groom him or just hang out with him sans riding. The rain is supposed to stop today, so hopefully he’ll be back to his normal, happy self tonight or tomorrow at the latest.

Sunday's sesh was scrapped since I went to the 49ers/Giants game (fun!), another day off! This week my *plan* was to ride Monday night, this morning (5:30am baby), Friday morning (you guessed it, 5:30am) and then Saturday/Sunday. Hoping to squeeze in a lesson on Sunday afternoon if Ann is around. I’m still feeling super stretched and frazzled in general. I have such competing agendas for what I AM doing, SHOULD be doing, HAVE to be doing, GET to be doing and WANT to be doing with my days and my life. I rest in knowing God knows what it is he has planned for me, that His intention is not for me to live in a state of disarray or void of my passions. I just have to see how he chooses to unfold his plan for my life. I’d tell you how I think it should unfold …but let’s just see what God does here…

I made it out Monday night and had a fantastic go. Pongo was so bendy and flexible. His range of motion is really improving with all of the bending work I’ve been hounding him with. I have been doing NOTHING but transitions, leg yields, half pass and haunches in – especially doing all of these moves while spiraling in and out of a 20 m circle. He’s getting it, I’m getting it…success.

I personally am sick of all of this tedious dressage work, so today we jumped (yes, at dark-o-clock). I know, I know, jumping alone, yada yada, but the guys were there, just a few feet away cleaning stalls. I had faith that if I ate it they’d scrape me up with their muck forks and carry me out in their softly padded, albeit stinky wheelbarrow ;)

There was a little fence set on the center line in the covered arena so I made it a cross rail with a placing pole 9 feet in front and another placing pole 9 feet behind it to test his footwork. I think Pongo was still half asleep when we approached it the first time as he tried to stop at the base, but kickkickkick and he popped over, tossing his head in defiance on the back side like “Duh, I WAS going to jump it MOM…geeeeez!”. From there we worked on a quiet approach, straight landing and then a 10 m circle re-establishing a good canter before coming around again. We jumped it both directions a few times, then I popped it up to a little vertical. The first couple he was not so clever with his feet/distance, but after he nailed it off both leads we called it a day. Good boy.

Once again I was reminded just how awesome it is to start my day with my horse. I feel centered and happy, energized and less stressed. I know I get to leave work today and not rush around trying to care for my 3 fur kids but can instead jaunt home, walk my doggies and just hang out/see what the evening brings. Bliss!

Wake Up Call

2012-01-20T10:45:00.000-08:00

What were you doing at 5:30am yesterday morning?

I found myself at the barn!

I went to bed Wednesday night in a most unpleasant mood. Stressed about work, discouraged about a personal situation, feeling inadequete that I wasnt handling all of my responsibilities well...sort of that "If you do a million things at once, you wont do any of them with excellence"...and I seriously dig excellence ;)

I was upset that I hadnt gotten my horse out for a real ride in 3 days and Thursday wasnt looking good either...I felt doomed to sit in my less than sunny mood. However, I woke up at 5:30am Thursday morning with an inexpicable surge of energy and the first thing that came to mind was, I have time to go ride before work (inspired by Eva)

I sprung out of bed and jetted to the barn. It was dead quiet, the sky was warming up slowly, a watercolor of pinks and oranges dotted with the twinkling lights of the city stretched out ahead. I love this place. Tucked in the hills, it's away from the world, but a 10 minute drive to Safeway and downtown. Pongo was great undersaddle, we worked on bending using a trick from our friend Suzie (and old trainer Don Sachey) - pretending my horse is a unicorn and what not ;)

Back home by 7:15 and at the office, refreshed and rebooted by 8:30. It's amazing what a little pony time will do for ya!

Riding = FAIL

2012-01-18T20:41:00.000-08:00

Haven't ridden my horse since SUNDAY. Yes, tomorrow it will be Thursday.

After navigating the unemployment superhighway this summer for 6 weeks too many this past summer I am profoundly grateful to not only be employed, but employed to a degree that I can afford to have my spotted beast to boot. Lucky and blessed...but also stressed, I cant get everything done these days.

Monday I prioritized seeing my girlfriends over riding. I went out and said hi to the Pong, turned him out for 30 minutes, then free lunged him and gave him grain. I also unloaded the car from the weekend, chucking everything haphazardly into the dressing room of my trailer to deal with at a later date when it wasnt 35 degrees out and pitch black. It was pretty good QT with the oh so important 4 legged man in my life.

Tuesday, not a chance of getting out to the barn. I prioritized a church event that in hind sight, I should have probably skipped.

Tonight, well it was just a LONG day at the office 7:30am to 6:00pm. I went to the barn after work, lunged briefly, fed grain and snuggled with Pongo a bit while he slurped and munched. Tomorrow night bible study starts, so again, no pony time. Friday will be the first day back in the tack. Saturday and Sunday it's looking good that I'll ride both days and hopefully reclaim a bit of my peace of mind.

It's just plain hard working and owning a horse. I'm thankful I have a blogging community that can empathize with me and make me feel like less of a horrendous horse owner. I cant imagine giving up my passion for my job, CLEARLY, but these are the days I wish I could do my passion AS my job...Perhaps someday, enshallah (as my Persian dad would say...God willing!)

Combined Test Recap!

2012-01-16T10:01:00.000-08:00

For some reason I’m finding it difficult to chronicle the events of this weekend, but I think that’s because I am so bummed that it’s all over. I’m still on cloud 9, proud of my horse for all the good work that was accomplished.

We started out the trip early Saturday morning with two cheeky, fresh horses who were less than keen about loading in a trailer in the pitch black. As we were trucking down the 101 towards Paso Robles I’m white knuckled traveling down a precarious stretch with a speed limit of 65 and two narrow lanes with ominous concrete dividers inches from the wheels of the rig. I see a flash of white in my side mirror as we’re rolling down the road and realize that Epic (my friend’s horse) has OPENED the side door of the trailer from the inside. These doors are about 4 ½ feet high, they’re escape hatches for when you load the horses in (it’s a straight load trailer). I put on my hazards and prayed that the big doof wouldn’t jump out onto the highway before I could pull over. We scrambled out of the car at the first shoulder we could find, LOCKED the escape doors up from the outside and off we went.

But wait, there’s more!

About 50 miles away from the show grounds I noticed we were at ¼ of a tank so I started to keep on the lookout for a gas station…looking…looking…looooooking…not a single one in sight. The gauge dwindled down, the low fuel light popped on and my car chirped that we needed to fill up and FAST. Ever run out of gas on the highway with a two horse trailer??? No? Neither had I, until this weekend. I couldn’t believe it when my truck just ground to a halt. 16 years of driving and I’ve NEVER had this happen to me. Fortunately we were about 5 miles from the show grounds, so our friends were able to drive out a gas can and fill us up with enough to get us to the Chevron…at the next exit…about a mile away, haha…and yes, I bought MY OWN gas can to keep in the trailer from here on out. Lesson learned.

Let’s recap the goal for the weekend: TO NOT FALL OFF.

I know, it sounds trite, simple even…how hard can it be to not fall off??? Well on a green, humongous, wicked strong baby horse going XC schooling with his amateur owner for the first time, on his first overnight trip, to his first show…let’s just say there were a lot of variables I had no control over making the likelihood of me getting up close and personal with the ground a rather plausible, albeit unpleasant, possibility.

After the crazy trailer ride, we arrived at the show, settled in and schooled cross country with Ann. It was a blast. Pongo was wide-eyed and fresh, he never really settled down, but he did get more focused on his job as the lesson wore on and was easier to deal with. He jumped every single thing we presented to him which included logs (big and small), ditches, coups, chicken feeders, a roll top, a box and a house-ditch-house combination! We had two slo-mo run outs. One was totally my fault. We came up to a Novice box, big and bright green. He started to drift right and…I did nothing. So off to the right he casually went. We came around again, I kept his shoulders straight and wouldn’t you know, up and over he went, no drama. We had a similar incident at a tiny chicken coup, just a drifting issue again.

I couldn’t have been more proud of him on the whole though. He was a star. It’s been a long time since I’ve schooled XC and a very very long time since I’ve schooled a greenie. I was delighted at how he clicked along the course jumping Intro, BN and a few Novice level jumps like it was nothing! I have to remember to keep my shoulders and his shoulders square to the fences and ride with power and he goes right over, no problem, every time. I like Ann’s approach, we really never jumped the same thing more than 2 times. She rewards the horse for doing a good job by not making them do the question again and again. That gave us a lot of variety in the fences we tackled in a fairly short period of time.

Overnight Sunday the valley had a big freeze and when I reached the barn at 6am it was a chilly 25 degrees out. I tried to clean my tack but all my supplied were frozen and anything I tried to apply would freeze on contact, haha...oh well! By the time I hit the dressage ring at 8:30am, it was maybe 32 degrees out. Pongo was stiff, fresh and over excited. We worked figure 8 patterns to get him bendy and attentive, but I couldn’t get him through and really listening. If I wanted to have steering, it meant I sacrificed the forward. If I wanted forward…you guessed it…no steering. He went in the ring and put in a decent test considering the circumstances. He was a good boy. The effort put us in 6^th place.

We headed into stadium a few minutes later after a quick tack change. The warm up jumps were all natural in color so Ann dumped her bright maroon jacket on the top of the oxer to add a little interest. Pongo was stumped and tried to stop at the base, fortunately it was such a small jump I just sat back and kicked, jumping it from the halt. It was just the disruption we needed though because the jumps in the ring were a bit lookie. He cruised around the course like an old pro, only hesitating at one little oxer before hopping over. It was a clean round!

We ended up 6^th in the combined test and yes, we clearly achieved our goal for the weekend and so much more. I couldnt have asked for a better horse or a better outcome. He likes his job as an eventer!

I cant express what a feeling of total accomplishment it was to attack the XC course and our first combined test. You all know that I’ve had my little spotty since he was 1 year old and it’s been a journey filled with so many ups and downs. To get to take him out and ride him on the XC course and feel his confidence in himself and in me, was so rewarding. I've always believed in him and our ability to do this. It’s fun getting on a trained horse and kicking butt, I enjoyed those days many years ago on my precious upper level mount, Navy. However, it’s nothing short of amazing and beautiful to see the baby horse I raised and trained from scratch turn into a truly custom ride that I couldn’t put a price tag on. That dimensionality is precisely why I love this sport…I cant wait to get to our first event!

No Words...

2012-01-15T20:04:00.000-08:00

This weekend was everything I had hoped and then some...It's hard at this moment to really put into words how proud I am of my spotty boy. His tenacity, his talent, his brain, his determination, his courage, his spirit. I havent had that much fun riding in a long time. More to come on how the weekend went once I'm caught up on some sleep and my aching muscles stop screaming at me from head to toe.

But here's a little video of my cross country machine to tide you over until tomorrow =)

Dressagin!

2012-01-10T06:36:00.000-08:00

Another video! This is from our flat lesson. We're working on getting Pongo to use his hind end in the canter and in his transitions. It's good for me to see my hands here, he's really suckering me into holding him with my inside rein. It was better earlier in the lesson, but this is at the very end so we're both EXHAUSTED! What's encouraging to me though is that even though we're tired, we still look decent! Yay!

I am so excited for the show, it's almost here! Tonight I want to start getting my clothes together. I am not quite sure what I want to wear. I think I want one outfit that transitions dressage to show jumping. I am not sure if people will be wearing show clothes or just tidy schooling clothes (like a polo tucked into breeches).

I have an ADORBS olivey hunt coat that goes with a pretty lavender ratcatcher that I wear with tan britches to show jump in from time to time, or I could just go with a classic black coat, white ratcatcher and beige breeches (SO BORING). Decisions decisions!

Jumping Videos!

2012-01-08T17:36:00.000-08:00

Jumping around with Ann and Pongo...getting ready for the big show next weekend :)))

A grid inspired by the Buck Davidson clinic last weekend (no we didnt ride, but our friends did)

Jumping a little skinny wall...no problemo!

I notice a couple things as I watch these. I need to get my stirrups a hole higher to give me a better base of support and I need to shorten up my reins. He doesnt feel long when I'm on him, but he clearly gets long and spread out. He's got more compression in there than he is letting on. Aside from that though I couldnt have been more pleased. He was willing, attentive and scopey :) I think if I get my position in check, it will undoubtedly help his balance and form.

A Different Angle

2012-01-03T17:28:00.000-08:00

Let me preface this by saying that the lesson ended before I could get video…but I really wanted to…but I will try to on Thursday when I have another…please still love us and our blog J

I am sounding like a broken record but once again, my baby horse amazed me last night with his mad jumping skills. I mean, he figures things out with a quickness and LOVES to solve the puzzles we present him. Last night we tackled starting flying changes, jumping at an angle and jumping on a circle. The jumps were little (~2’3”) and the questions were technical. We’re finding though, this is where Pongo shines. He loves questions that make him think. He stays so steady and balanced up to the base of the jump it’s almost silly how little work I have to do to set him up. If I have the right canter, in the right balance a few strides out, he’s figuring out how to take care of the rest. It’s pretty dang cool.

After the fences we need A LOT of work though. Mr. Fancypants gets so excited about how fabulous he was over the jump that he falls on the forehand and gets very strong. I am hoping we get to do a bit more coursework in our next lesson so that we can iron some of this out. When he’s on his haunches, collected and light, he’s a breeze to manuever. When he gets strong, I am out.of.luck. He just overpowers me {5 foot 2 girl vs. 16.2+ hand horse = I lose}. He’s not bucking, or taking off, or dangerous…just discombobulated and inattentive because he’s so proud of himself. I don’t want to grab his face or overcorrect him after he’s done EXACTLY what I asked him to do in front of and over the jump, see where it gets complicated. Praise him for being AWESOME, but then immediately discipline him for being a ding-dong…it’s a fine line, right?

I walked away from the lesson feeling on top of the world. My horse was so clever and cute. I feel like I am riding really thoughtfully and well. Even more so, I feel grateful to have a wonderful trainer that challenges both of us, but keeps us safe at the same time. I feel my confidence growing and my horse’s too and that is a direct result of trusting the person instructing us. I feel like she really thinks about what we need to get to the next level. Last night was a perfect example. Ann explained that to help us prep for our first XC schooling, it’s important that Pongo is confident taking off in front of a jump from a variety of angles and spots. As such, we worked a circle exercise and jumps on an angle to help him figure out that even if the approach is wonky, or the question is tough – like a corner jump for example – the principles are still the same, as is his job. She explained that if we can teach him now {read: early on} to stay straight, confident and come to the base on any line, we’ll set ourselves up for success.

New Year...New Adventures

2012-01-02T10:17:00.000-08:00

2012 started off with a bang. Cant complain one bit about the fun day that was had yesterday. 2012 also marked the end of my patience with one, large, spotted, stubborn young horse though. As we were plowing around the arena yesterday attempting to do dressage (ps - on a horse who by all accounts should have been exhausted by the previous day's activities outside) I just lost it a bit. I am not EVER rough with my horse. I do not ascribe to pushing my horse around...unless he's being an obstinate child.

I found myself yesterday (as I had in the last couple of dressage schoolings) with no-nil-zilch-zero half halts or full halts for that matter without a major tantrum. I immediate think 'oh no! something must be bugging him.' So I check myself, check how I am asking for such difficult requests and proceed. I receive the same no.thank.you.very.much.mother response. I think somewhere along the way my gigantic fur-kid got the idea that he was the boss-man. Allowed to pick and choose what he would obey and proceed accordingly.

Not.so.much.anymore.

I was not asking for anything difficult, I was not asking incorrectly, I was not clunky or unrefined in my request. I deserved a better response than what I was getting. After a discussion, things got much better. I hate hate hate disciplining my horse, I really do. But he was for sure testing me and pushing me around. I felt like if I didnt nip it in the bud and assert a little dominance, I was going to find myself in big trouble down the road.

The terrible 5's. One day you're on top of the world, the next you cant do a downward transition to the walk without a hissy fit.

On the upside...I dominated something else unexpected yesterday as well...Mousetrap. Remember that game kids? Well, nothing like a little impromptu Mousetrap victory at the end of the day to perk a girl back up.

Also on the upside, being close friends with professional photographers. Next year's Christmas card...CHECK! In going to help my bud Rachel Carey shoot a family portrait sesh, I scored some free head shots. They turned out uber cute.

2011 In Review

2011-12-30T13:00:00.000-08:00

From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the Lord's name is to be praised.

~Psalm 113:3

January

Rehab, rehab and more rehab. After pulling a butt muscle in November, Pongo spent most of the winter hand walking. I took a lesson on my friend’s horse Capri and vowed my next horse should be 15.3 hands or smaller like she is, much more manageable. I got mad because someone stole some of my stuff at the barn. I relished in having a little more freedom since riding wasn’t consuming all my free time and started planning for my 30^th birthday party! I made a list of Resolute-Nots to ring in the new year.

Verse of the Month: So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while. ~1 Peter 1:6

February

Pongo’s old pasture got demolished, meaning no more freedom for my boy. At the same time prices got way jacked up at my barn and I knew I would probably have to move from the one place on earth I’ve ever felt truly at home. I realized it had been 6 months since the great dumping of 2010 by my ex, and reflected on how my life had really turned around for me. Pongo started tack walking and was an angel! February 10^th I ride my horse (at the walk), for the first time since November. I then freak out and think I gave him too much ACE only to realize cc’s and milliliters are the exact same measurement. DOH. I get majorly bucked off in the ring, brace for Snowpacolypse, it never arrives, but we suffer through some seriously freezing days here in Northern CA.

Verse of the month: Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think ~Ephesians 3:20

March

ultraspective photoshoot

I continue to enjoy my free time without a lot of riding, ponder buying an older, more established (read: TRAINED) horse and my precious Grandmother passes away. The month is a blur and my horse is in full-training after bucking me off the month prior. I’m ambivalent about riding all together, but remember to never make decisions out of desperation. I got GREAT news at the end of the month that was was ok to trot with Pongo and I began to really appreciate the little things in life a bit more. We took some GORGEOUS pictures.

Verse of the month: Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love him. ~ 1 Corinthians 2:9

April

Got to CANTER for the first time since November! We said goodbye very unexpectedly to my friend’s horse Nater, who died in pasture out of nowhere. I again think of selling Pongo to buy something more trained, wishing I could just RIDE and enjoy horses. Pongo is spooky and flighty and I’m scared of him. I decide to back off and focus just on Dressage and trail riding and try to make this whole thing fun again. I change his diet to try to abate some of his crazy energy and I start barn shopping, deciding he needs to live in pasture and chill the heck out. My sister gets engaged to her long time bf Daniel! My friends and I caravan to good ol' Fresno, CA to see my favorite inspirational speaker, Beth Moore - my heart is healing up stronger than before and I'm grateful for such beautiful friends and *new* family members as a result of the engagement news!

My family plus Dan and Alex!

Verse of the month: Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise ~ Hebrews 10:23

May

I decide to move barns AND start house hunting for a larger place closer to my friends and church in Livermore. I turn into a legit cowgirl, buy my first pair of cowboy boots and turn 30 all in the same month. I meet one of my favorite singers ever (Francesca Battistelli) and spend the day mini-golfing and go-carting with her and her band. I don’t think I actually rode my horse this month at all – we worked with a western trainer on ground work instead and made HUGE strides in our confidence. I am on Cloud 9, life is so incredible and I am so blessed beyond what I deserve. God is really working wonders in my life, I feel loved and surrounded by fantastic people.

30th Birthday Collage!

Verse of the month: For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow. ~ Matthew 6:32

June

My girlfriends and I meet the hot military cowboys and get in free at the local rodeo as a result and all seems right in the world. Pongo turns 5 years old! I move! And get laid off from my job the day after I move in (thank.you.very.much). Pongo gets more time off after getting a chunk of his nose bit out and earns the nickname “Snagglemuzzle”. I finally get back in the saddle…a western one that is! I audit a Palm Partnership Training Clinic at our barn and meet the incredible Lynn Palm. Sweet Emmett Stallings passes away from cancer leaving behind a wife and adorable small child - their story changed me.

Verse of the month: Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness! ~Pslam 150:2

July

Tucker the Wunderkind

I struggle through my last few weeks at my old job. I have an offer from a new company already so it’s all ok though. God is closing doors, but swift to open new ones. Loving the extra time with my horse as a result of being out of the workforce for a minute. I find a beautiful new barn near my new house and decide to move Pongo ASAP. I go visit Marissa and Tucker as well as get to meet my friend's brand new baby. We throw a big engagement party for my sister and go wedding dress shopping at Kleinfeld. I'm reminded constantly of God's love and favor through the blessings in my life, but more so by seeing him bless others so abundantly.

Verse of the month: Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. ~ James 1:17

August

Kate and Alexis

I return to my senses and eventing. I had my first lesson over fences with Pongo and our new trainer Ann Byron at our new barn. It is AMAZING. I cant believe I’m jumping my horse and am thankful for how quickly he rebounded from his major injury last year. Pongo goes out into a new, big pasture and promptly has a ridiculous allergic reaction on his legs. BOO. My Mom comes to visit (yay!) and she videos our jumping lesson! I finally get to see my boy jump with ME on him. Pongo jumps his first skinny jump! I run the Giants 5K race with my friends in about 30 minutes. Fitness win! I ask Santa for a dressage saddle. Kate and Alexis get married, I miss my old DK barn friends a lot.

Verse of the month: Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. ~ Hebrews 12:1

September

My heartgroup (7 of the 9)

I am blessed to start my wonderful new job. It affirms that God has everything in my life under control and He is working every single situation for my good. Pongo and I jump the scary, giant boxes, I don’t die. Ann uses her belt as a flash in my lesson. We clinic with Jane Weatherwax. It’s awesome and she’s uber complimentary of Pongo and of my riding skills! WINNING! My friends and I decide to FAST from talking about boys, haha…it works wonders. Pongo bashes his left hind splint bone in pasture and earns himself a private paddock and 6 weeks off. BOO! My heart group and I celebrate one year together! So thankful for these 8 women in my life, they're are such an encouragement and gift.

Verse of the month: You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast because he trusts in you. ~ Isaiah 26:3

October

Gogo passes away, our hearts break for sweet Andrea, my favorite blog begins to come to a close. Pongo gets the ‘all-clear’ to go back to work. Had a total faith crisis, but learned a tremendously valuable lesson about my solidity of my faith (or lack there of at the time). Rebound stronger and better - more steadfast and assured that God has good plans for my life and deserves to be put first regardless of how I am FEELING in a given moment or season of my life. This is positively life changing for me.

Verse of the month: Therefore as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, long suffering, bearing with one another and forgiving one another...but above all these things, put on LOVE which is the bond of perfection. ~ Colossians 3:12

November

Fun in FL!

I almost kill myself by spilling horse tranquilizer all over my hand in front of a very hot guy. FAIL. I go on vacation to FL and have a blast with some old friends as my friend Erin got married on the beach. Pongo is in limited W/T/C work, just trying to get back to full work. Pongo colics on Thanksgiving so I spend $340 on a vet bill instead of the Black Friday flat screen TV I was planning to buy. On the plus side, I am only 30 minutes late for Thanksgiving dinner at the Aldorf's home, so I didnt miss a thing, praise God!

Verse of the month: For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and of a sound mind. ~ 2 Tim 1:7

December

BACK.IN.BUSINESS! Pongo is in full work including jumping again and is doing stellar. It's been 13 months since his accident. I'm ridiculously joy-filled and content in all areas of my life - personal, professional and pony. I'm happy I didnt decide to sell my horse because he's turning out to be everything I could ask for and then some. I body clip Pongo with industrial cattle shearers - he turns into a dragon under saddle as a result. I buy a new dressage saddle - SWOON! We go on a fun trail ride with some friends and Pong leads the whole way like a perfect gentleman. I get to ride Tucker and visit with my favorite Jersey girl Marissa. We go to a really nice steakhouse in breeches, smelling like horses. HA! I enter Pongo into his first show of 2012 and put together our show calendar for the year…we ask the universe to be kind to us and expect nothing but amazing blessings and favor in 2013! Life is really wonderful and I am so thankful for everything 2011 taught me and challenged me with, I've fully accepted what it took from me and look forward to what 2012 is poised to offer up. It was a great year.

Trail Master

Naked!

Verse of the month: Blessed is she who believed that the Lord would fulfill His promises to her! ~ Luke 1:45

And finally my last two verses of the YEAR...that sum it all up...

Pslam 119:71

It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees.

Ephesians 5:8,14

For you were once darkness, but now you are light...awake you who sleep. Arise from the dead and Christ will give you light.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Boing!

2011-12-28T10:05:00.000-08:00

$173 hard earned dollars later + $129 for hotel = we’re entered into our first show of 2012!

Sign, sealed, committed and {soon to be} delivered. I am giddy with excitement. Yes, it’s just a cross country schooling day and a combined test schooling show, but it’s my first chance to take my little kidlet away from home overnight and show off his skills {or stuff him awkwardly over obstacles trying not fall off…we’ll see what happens…}.

The weekend will start off innocently enough with our first ever cross country schooling together. I've clearly done my share of XC and he's done a little bit too {with Alexis} - now we'll put all that together! I figure if we can make it through the schooling on Saturday, we will be able to hop over the jumps in the arena the following day without much trauma, I mean drama, eh, no I do mean trauma, haha. I've entered him at Intro Level. We will do BN test A {yawn} and then jump a course of jumps 2'3" to 2'7" {ACK!}. If he's good, I can post-enter him into the BN jumping round, or just call it a success and be done...we'll just have to wait and see how he is and how we feel.

I am beyond encouraged after our jumping lesson yesterday. It’s the first one we’ve had since September and he picked up right where he left off. We practiced bending lines and he was a super star. Granted, he was hot as Hades {note to self: TRACE CLIP next year, not full body clip}. My mouth is still agape with how attentive he is before the jumps. He is coming up nicely to the base and when I feel a funny distance, all I have to do is close my leg and sit up, and wouldn’t-cha-know, he WAITS. It’s incredible. He was so point and shoot. I made a few little gaffs, but he forgave me quicker than I forgave myself. I got ahead of him twice and I.JUST.HATE.DOING.THAT. It’s my most unsafe, ugly habit and I fear that if I do that too many times, he'll lose confidence in me and begin stopping. Our trainer Ann was uber-supportive and patient, cutting us both some slack given all the time off we've had. I appreciate how encouraging she is.

The best part of the ride most certainly was {once again} how game he was. When presented with a new challenge, he takes a nano-second to scope it out, then POW! attacks it! It’s a seriously fun attitude. He is up for anything and just wants to boingJUMPPPPboingboingboing! I am praying this translates outside the ring for him in schooling. Fingers crossed.

All in all…couldn’t be more pleased with him. I woke up so sore today from our lesson, but I take that as a good sign. My burning shoulders tell me that I was SITTING UP and holding myself which is a great thing. But, I do wish the Advil would kick in here so I could turn my head without wincing.

Your Christmas Funny...

2011-12-25T09:32:00.000-08:00

Opening presents, eating way too much, appreciating the wonderful family and friends in my life and celebrating the birth of my Savior today. Merry Christmas from TPDP! Here's a little Christmas gift funny for all of you!

Merry Christmas Eve!

2011-12-24T09:31:00.000-08:00

With a ton of random thoughts and topics swirling through my head, I find it almost impossible to decide where to take this post today. I suppose I will go with the horse stuff, since I suspect that's why most of you are here anyways!

Yesterday brought with it lots of fun and good news. I love that life has allowed me to live all over the US and as such, make friends in lots of places. It's always a delight when I get to see these friends, even if it is just a once or twice a year event...it's even better when those friends have HORSES and even BETTER when they let me ride their horses!

As many of you know, Marissa and I became 'bloggy-friends' a couple of years ago. We've developed a fun friendship and I always carve out time when I am in NJ to go see her and her lovely horse Tucker. This trip she told me to bring my riding gear...whoo hoo! After reading and hearing all about Tucker, I was ecstatic to get to sit on him. I know Marissa is like me and very few other people have ever sat on any of my horses, I am beyond protective of who I let ride Pongo, so I recognized what a compliment it was to be allowed to mount Tucker.

I have to extend the compliment back to Marissa and say WOW, she has a really nice horse. He is smooth and supple, light and forward. I played around for just a little while, but enjoyed every minute. Not to sound cheesy, but it brought her stories to life for me a bit. I could feel what she feels when she rides him and it all made a little more sense. Tucker is night and day different from Pongo. He's of course much taller and longer, but he's also far more flexible and lean. He doesnt feel big when you sit on him and ride because he's so light to the touch. In contrast, Pong is a tank with thick muscling and a powerhouse hind end. You feel his heft as you go 'round. Tucker is gummy worm flexible, soft and straight with a limber and supple front end. Two totally different rides.

To finish up I bumbled over a couple x-rails with him. "Ummmm...HEY LADY" says Tucker..."I know what to do, settle down up there." I rode him to the jumps like a baby horse, deep seat, (too strong) leg. I think he took off at least one trot step early every time, completely confused at why I was riding him that way, haha, sorry Tucks, my horse is a greenie-weenie, you are clearly not....He was a perfect gentleman about it all and took care of me. What a good boy.

Marissa and I finished up our time over a very nice dinner at a chic steakhouse (yes, in our breeches, smelling like horse) and caught up on life outside of horses, planning her visit to CA in 2012 so she can ride Pongo and our 2013 Gucci Masters trip. A perfect start to my time on the east coast and a continuation of the wonderful holiday season and life season I am finding myself blessed to be in...

Merry merry Christmas from The Polka Dot Periodical!

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6

Let there be lights!

2011-12-22T10:24:00.000-08:00

Just part of the Deacon's amazing holiday scene!

I had to PEEL myself off my horse last night. I didn’t want to stop riding.

Let’s back up, first I snuck out of work 45 minutes early (don’t worry kids, I’d put in an 8 hour day) because I just.couldnt.wait to ride my horse. I miss him, I love that he’s back to full work, I am enamored with my new saddle. Bliss!

He was warm and happy in his blankie. I gave him a quick grooming because, there’s not much to groom these days now that he’s nakie. I gave him a nice, long warm up at the walk and off we went. Same subject as Monday, lightness and self carriage. He remembered it well and we had the BEST ride. It was amazing to feel him come up over his back and use his big, powerful neck muscles to properly hold himself in a pretty and soft frame. I only rode for about 30 minutes because I had a holiday party to get to (YES this was like my 15^th one in as many days) and he was being so good and getting the concept so well and TRYING so hard I wanted to give him the satisfaction of knowing he did the job and could then be finished.

Yesterday I also scheduled our first jumping lesson since September! It’s slated for next Tuesday. I think I’m ever so slightly more excited about that than Christmas. I am out of my mind excited for our XC schooling on the 14^th of January and am cursing my budget that I cant participate in the full weekend which includes a combined test followed by another day of schooling – just don’t have that extra $500 laying about at the moment, haha! But I’ll take one day of schooling the spotty and getting back out on course after a couple of years away.

Me, Renee and Christy in front of Deacon Dave's

I leave you with a couple of fun pictures of Deacon Dave’s, the place I jetted off to after the barn last night. The ladies in my pics (plus the 10+ other fab people we also had with us) are the reason I’ve been so busy this season, but I love them like crazy and couldn’t be more thankful for their friendship, laughter, love and encouragement. As much as I love my horse, I love my friends just as much and couldn’t imagine missing a single holiday event if they’re gonna be there!

Deacon Dave is a Livermore resident who creates a Christmas extravaganza in his front yard and home every year…over 300,000 Christmas lights, year-round planning, construction of the ‘display’ starts at LABOR DAY, they have their own POWER LINE to light the house, the line is sometimes over an hour to get into the display, they’ve had 52 proposals there since it started and they hide 7 Mickey Mouse figurines throughout the scene. It’s like nothing you’ve ever seen before and it’s our Livermore Christmas tradition. I absolutely love my town!

Me and Rachel, warm and fuzzy...

We make scarves look GOOD ;)

Lightness

2011-12-20T12:38:00.000-08:00

Lighter, lighter, lighter…My new dressage saddle has admittedly turned me into a bit of a DQ. Pongo is back in full work, sound and regaining his condition day by day. I’m thoroughly enjoying just riding him and doing whatever I feel like – unbound by intervals and stop watch alarms. With that said, I am also amping up the expectations for Pongo’s work again now that he's all better. I was lax with him on self carriage and engagement when he first was coming back because I felt he was at a disadvantage fitness-wise and it wasn’t fair to ask him to track up and forward. Now, he’s more fit and is dumping his 400 pound head into my hands and it’s just not ok. So we’re back on the topic of lightness and engagement from behind. I have my own methods of achieving this and took into account a wonderful post from my favorite bloggers over at We Are Flying Solo quoting Buck Davidson (swooooon) “Make a goal for the day and when you achieve it, be done.”

My goal last night was to have him in self carriage. I’m not talking some crazy second level frame or self carriage plus complex lateral movements. Just walk, trot, cater on straight lines and 20m circles without me having to have a death grip on the reins. I feel like now that other people are sitting on him, like Shannon and Ann, I want them to feel how much work I've put into this horse. I've been at this sport for 20 years and as such, my self-imposed expectation is that my own personal young horse should track around in a correct Training Level frame and be light and easy to ride for goodness sake!

It was surprisingly simpler than I thought to achieve. He felt great after our jump school the day before - loose and limber. I started at the walk and asked him to move his haunches right and left on a circle, warming up his back and hocks. We then moved into the trot and I asked for varying speeds- forward and back, establishing my half halt. The I worked on the circle moving his haunches at the trot and asking for lightness in the bridle through quick, strong half halts with my body and a little bit with my outside rein when I felt him start to dip on the forehand. In the beginning I was half halting every 3-4 strides, then he started to get the picture. I kept my inside rein light and bendy, just asking to see a little bit of his inside eye to make sure he was not overbent. I recall Alexis talking to me about being black and white with the youngsters, no gray areas. Bend means bend, half halt means half halt...be clear not vague with my aids so he understands easily what I am asking for. Easier said than done - I tend to err on the subtle end of the spectrum and consequently get blown off quite often..."I cant hearrrrrrrr you mommmmmm!"...

We worked on his better side first (the right side), then took a walk break and went left. Left meant more resistance and ridiculous head/poll twisting as he objected to my seemingly simple demand…sorry pony, maybe next month mommy can afford the chiropractor and work some of this out for you…he eventually acquiesced and we called it a day. All in all, a great ride! Today he’ll get the day off, possibly tomorrow too unfortunately as I have a myriad of last little Christmas party commitments to show my face at. Then it’s off to the east coast for a few days with family and friends for the holiday!

Wheeeeeeeeee!

2011-12-19T08:58:00.000-08:00

Don't let my mom give you a haircut!

To follow up our stellar trail ride on Saturday, I decided to spend Sunday body clipping. Fortunately I have a pair of industrial strength clippers from Whal – let’s just say there is a picture of a COW and a SHEEP on the box. These things are relentless. They don’t do the prettiest shave – although that could be the barber, not just the clippers – but they can clip a 16.2 hand fuzzball in under an hour. Cant beat that. I initially wanted to just do a little trace clip or something not-so-nakey. But, my huge clippers are not terribly nimble leaving me with little choice other than to take it all off. My small clippers completely crapped out meaning Pongo has a shaved body and a furry lion head and fuzzy lion legs. It’s actually kind of cute. Afterwards, I tacked him up and hopped on determined to jump a little and see how he felt. We took one lap around the arena and I promptly hopped OFF. He was trying so hard not to explode on me. He was thinking loud enough for me to hear him “I reallllyyyyy don’t want to make you fall off but I.NEED.TO.BUCK!”. I slid off of him and turned him out (tack and all) in the round pen. He proceeded to run and buck for about 15 minutes straight. Kind of like his friend Tucker….I finally stopped him, afraid he was going to have a heart attack from exerting himself to that degree.

I got back on him and we went right to work. We popped over a few cross rails and a little vertical. He was angelic. It’s so much fun being able to just get on and jump my horse. I remember so clearly when I could barely steer him at the canter…he’s growing up so fast. All in all I was so impressed by my little man this weekend. He’s turning out to be the horse I always hoped he’d be. Fun on the trail, talented on the flat and easy peasy over fences. We’re just having a good time, kinda like our friends at Flying Solo...And as such we offer up the same plea to the universe they recently did, because I think Team Solo said it best...

Dear Universe, please do not take my enthusiasm as an invitation to smite me. Your lessons in humility, pain tolerance, and patience have been well-learned, I promise. Please please please let ~~Encore~~ Pongo just be a happy, healthy horse who gets to go have fun with me and run and jump things. It makes him happy and it makes me happy and there's really no harm in that. Thank you.

Happy Trails

2011-12-17T13:29:00.000-08:00

Hope you had as good of a Saturday morning as we did!

Trail riding around Sycamore Grove Park with our friends Shannon and Claire. No better way to start my weekend then goofing around in my western saddle on my spotted boy :)

Antithetical

2011-12-15T16:30:00.000-08:00

First and foremost thank you for the helpful holiday hints – sounds like I need to say no to some social invites and prioritize my horse…but instead, I am just begging my friends and trainer to ride him and eating a detrimental amount of Christmas cookies. I've also somehow managed to injure a tendon in my leg (woke up this morning in killer pain and it's still hurting) although I havent done anything remotely athletic since ummm...Sunday? So, it's clearly best if I stick to activities such as unwrapping presents and dunking carbs in copious amounts of dip until my leg heals up vs. ride and risk further injury, right?

All in all I have found my Christmas season to be full of antitheticals (big word of the day, it means opposites) which are keeping every day interesting …

Exhausted, but ridiculous full of energy
Sick with a cold that wont quit, but WELL in my soul
Excited to compete in 2012, but jazzed to go on a lazy trail ride on Saturday
Sad to be far away from family, but excited to be home in a week
Busy at work, but liking my new job so so so much
Surrounded by people facing significant hardship and trials, but personally in a purely peaceful place
Constantly encouraging others but not the one needing the encouragement constantly
Serving others, but also accepting service from others (specifically the service of others willing to ride Pongo and let my dogs out to go potty when I leave home for hours on end)

I have Pongo all squared away for the week which is a huge relief. My friend Shannon rode him yesterday. I held my breath as I got her call to tell me how it went.

“He’s a really good boy!”

HALLELUJAH! I mean, I know he’s 99.9999% of the time a perfect gent, but there’s that .00001% where he can be a real you know what and I’m always nervous. She said she liked him because her two horses are very sensitive types. Pongo, clearly, is the polar opposite of that. He is sensitive in his own way I suppose, he does need a very tactful ride. He requires a quiet hand, soft leg and strong seat. But is he hot and flighty, jumping at the slightest touch? No way. Ann is getting him out today and Shannon will mount up again on Friday. Saturday is trail ride day…I can hardly wait.

As for the social life, it’s burgeoning with fun activities. While Monday’s SOLD Project Fundraiser sent me home with a cute, red/white houndstooth cap and a bevy of “Drama Queen” branded bath essentials (ironic given my recent post on drama), last night’s white elephant party netted a bright purple coffee tumbler complete with a blinged out mirror attached to it – oh yeah, and a date for Saturday night with a cute boy…now, that’s my kind of holiday party ;)

Hack-Some-More!

2011-12-12T10:17:00.001-08:00

After a harrowing Friday afternoon of bloodshed from Pongo slicing his tongue open, the remainder of the weekend proved quite uneventful. I ended up riding him in a hackamore since the cut in his mouth is deep and looks rather painful…no sense putting a bit in his mouth. Come to find out, he goes quite lovely in a hackamore! Who knew? We had a couple of nice flat work schoolings followed by a little trail ride yesterday afternoon. I think I’m going to keep him in the hackamore this week at least – that is, when I have time to ride. I have something going on every single night this week after work…and next week too. I have no idea when I will get to ride my horse during the week. I am hoping to get some help from a friend who also rides at my barn, otherwise I am not quite sure how it’s all going to work out. I LOVE the holiday season and all the parties and nights out, but it’s wreaking havoc on keeping my horse in work. I am going to have to get creative with my efforts for the next 3 weeks. I am determined to start jumping again in January, but he needs to keep working so his fitness allows for that. Any hints or tips for how you’re managing getting your horses out over the holidays?

It's Offish!

2011-12-09T17:19:00.000-08:00

I own a new Custom Saddlery Dressage Saddle! Yay! Check is cashed! I had a dream last night that the seller decided NOT to sell the saddle anymore, I panicked and wrapped up the sale pronto this morning.

Excellent way to start the weekend I think...especially after getting a call from my trainer that started with "...dont worry, he's going to be ok, but..."

Turns out Pongo managed to cut his tongue pretty bad today, it was a gusher so I hear. Ok, stop laughing...no, seriously...come on...

Apparently he was bleeding profusely and had a huge gash on the underside of his tongue. After a quick call to the vet who said just flush it with saline for a few days (they cant/dont suture tongues up I guess) my trainer put a hackamore on him and rode him anyways - once the bleeding subsided. Haha...I kind of love that. Hopefully that'll teach him he cant get out of work by bleeding...just kidding...kind of.

Once again I believe my horse is firmly confirming a prophecy from God that I will most assuredly be having triplet boys someday when I get pregnant. What other fathomable explanation could there be for such rowdy, rambunctious, accident prone fur-children?

Have a happy, injury free weekend!

Commit Me

2011-12-07T11:30:00.000-08:00

I received an email last night that made my heart do flip flops! It was from trainer and talked all about 2012 schooling and show plans. For the first time in over 3 years I am GIDDY with excitement because I actually have a horse that can compete and IMHO is ridiculous competitive to boot.

There is SO MUCH fun stuff happening this year. I love that our trainer is all about schoolings and going to all the different venues we have at our disposal in a 3 hour radius. So without further ado, and at the risk of now setting the karmic stars in motion for my horse to have some random issue that derails everything (as luck tends to have it the SECOND you commit to show plans something inevitably goes awry), here is our initial 2012 plan through August.

January

XC schooling at Twin Rivers
Feb
XC schooling at RamTap
Mar
Twin Rivers Hunter Pace and potential XC schooling weekend at Twin or RamTap

April
Twin Rivers Horse Trials
May
XC Schooling at Woodside
1 day Horse Trials at Twin Rivers
June
XC schooling at Woodside
August
Woodside Horse Trials

See that, THREE horse trials!!!! ACKKKKKK! I am sick excited over getting my little man out to show. Now, the caveat is weather. So far, we’re having a very dry fall/winter. We need that to continue in order for me to get him out schooling enough so that we can do our first event in April. Weather gods be kind to us please. There is now so.much.to.do!

I have to get him jumping again (end of this month) and get us registered with all the various organizations as needed…I am planning to compete him unregistered at BN I think, unless he turns out to be a XC rockstar and I can kick him around Novice at which point I’ll register him. We will just have to play that by ear. I need to find someone to buy me a Two-Point Pro Air Vest as well ;) Such cool technology, it’s silly not to get my hands on one for safety reasons. I also need a new dressage coat and to fix my tall boots and, and, and…

Our last couple of rides have been great. He continues to flourish and float in his new saddle. He's been quiet and lovely to ride. His condition is slowly improving, his fitness leaves much to be desired, but we’re getting there. I think in 2 weeks I should be ready for a dressage lesson, then hopefully can sneak in a jump lesson before I leave for the East Coast for the holidays (depending on what my trainer is doing for the holidays). Praying for health and safety as we embark on what will hopefully be a successful and FUN first year out for Pongo and first year back showing in several years for me!

Hey Big Head

2011-12-06T08:44:00.001-08:00

My horse has a big, fat, heavy head. He likes to think that if I could just *help* him a little bit that we'd be all good. He’s not “heavy in the hand” per se, just a little dumpy on the forehand sometimes which is being grossly exaggerated by his belief that he is very out of shape from his recent hiatus from real work. See, the thing is though, I’m not really buying it. As such, I’ve been working quite a bit on moving him out forward and bringing him back within the trot and canter coupled with quick, to the point half halts. Get in-get out. No hanging from me or him. It seems to be paying off as last night he was much lighter in his front end. Additionally, in my new saddle I am understanding the concept of using my thigh block as leverage is finally applicable. I can push my thigh forward into the block to get a deeper seat and in doing so, actually have to use less brute strength to achieve a more effective, better half halt. Trainers have been trying to teach me this concept forever, but in ill fitting tack I could never understand what they meant or wanted me to do. I’ve been sick with a nasty cold this week so the ride was short and sweet. However, I was pleased as punch with the progress we’re making back to full work. I’ve stopped timing my rides and just do a nice long walk warm up followed by short little trot and canter sessions until he or I get tired, then we call it a day. He’s been on his best behavior not so much a sideways glance let alone spook or buck. So proud of my little guy! We’re for sure going to get back to jumping in January J

Drama Free

2011-12-05T10:41:00.000-08:00

With the glut of flux and change in my life as of the past year plus I’ve found myself with a alarmingly low tolerance these days for drama. The following has next to nothing to do with horses, a little detour as I take all the gunk in my head and dump it out to process - if you've been reading this blog for any length of time you know you get lots ponies and a healthy dose of spirituality from time to time...so strap yourself in.

Drama with myself and others just hasn’t been sitting well with my lately, but I believe it’s because God’s been teaching me to live outside of that spirit of fear I’ve had my feet so firmly planted upon and to instead live out of a spirit of love.

I’m not trying to be callous, it’s just I am quicker to let go of things that just are not working anymore and that are distracting my focus off of God’s good plan for my life. Getting out to the barn every day, not working…so I’m not stressing over it. I am getting there when I can and enjoying every moment, living present in the moments that I have with Pongo. Guy I’m dating turns out to be a bit of a jerk face, that’s not working either for me so, see ya buddy... (PS - this one is HUGE for me, seeing as I have an unshakable proclivity for seeking approval from jerk faces).

I'm learning drama is a direct result of fear and living in fear is disobedience to God. I had no idea what was coming my way when I wrote my last post about being given 2 Tim 1:7, the events of this past weekend are almost comical when I look at how foreshadowed it all was. In the midst of it, I take a moment to look the enemy square in the eye and say “get OFF my promised land”, then I return my gaze UP to tell God, I will not live in a spirit of fear, but instead of peace, love and sound mind. I'm gonna pass the tests set out by God and stomp all over the snares thrown in there by the enemy and be all the better for it.

Hoping on His good promises - rattled but not derailed. Progress :)

Pony Pony Pony

2011-12-02T08:38:00.000-08:00

I'm almost afraid to post publicly how much fun I am having with my horse these days in fear that something will inevitably go awry, but here goes nothing. As great as it is to have a winning streak, where everything is fine and your training along as per usual, there is something equally sweet about returning to work after time off. The tentative first steps and rides as you pray your horse doesnt completely fall apart as you up the intensity. The relief that washes over when you have sound ride after sound ride.

The past 24 hours hours God has been speaking to me pretty pointedly about fear and controlling my mind. After riding high following a few awesome days in a row (you know, where all the karmic stars align and nothing is really going terribly awry in life) I was definitely given a verse last night. 2 Tim 1:7 "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, of love and of a sound mind."...I get the creepy crawlies when I 'get' a verse, especially when life is coasting, because it usually means I am being prepped to NEED said verse in the near future (on occasion instead it just means I'm supposed to share said verse, but that is rare as the only reason He gives me verses, haha). Funny enough less than an hour after receiving the verse and chewing on it's meaning a bit in bible study I got my first opportunity to put it to use. I found myself quickly and unexpectedly rapt in fear and anxiety over something I discovered a short while later - I made the decision to use the verse I'd been given and got a pretty good night's sleep. Woke up this morning, leveraged the verse again to set my mind straight and been repeating it over and over all morning. And yes, even got to share it with TWO friends before 9am who reached out for prayer for issues they're facing. Amazing stuff. Love how God ANTICIPATES our needs and equips us ahead of time.

Ok, back to Pongo and how good he's been, don't get me wrong, we're still not doing anything exciting - just 15 minutes walk, 5 minutes trot, 5 minutes walk, 5 minutes trot/canter, 10 minutes walk on a loose rein - but Pong feels really stellar. He's still absolutely loving his new saddle, as am I. I still adore that I am in the correct the position all the time with minimal effort on my part. Last night at the end of the 2nd trot sesh he was clearly a bit tired. I think we will stick with this program a couple more days until his fitness catches up a little more.

I chickened out and just lunged him quickly on Wednesday - it felt like the roof of the arena might just lift right off. I didnt want to go flying through the air if my rehabbing horse decided to spook. However, last night I braved the still whipping wind and Pongo was cool as a cucumber. Go figure. The most exciting part of our ride was almost getting pooped on by a pigeon.

Today I will hopefully find out if the consigner of the saddle I want accepts my offer. It's priced at $1800, I offered $1600. We'll see. I also have a $300 credit at the tack store. Which means, if the offer is accepted I will have gotten a perfectly broken in $4000 saddle for $1300+tax. SWEET!

In closing, if you're in need of a sound mind, check out the following video from my fave teacher, Beth Moore...she teaches on 2 Tim 1:7...worth a watch :)

http://www.lightsource.com/ministry/wednesdays-with-beth/claiming-your-right-to-a-sound-mind-208411.html

Saddle Love

2011-11-28T16:54:00.000-08:00

I am IN LOVE. With a saddle that is. I have been searching high and low for a new (to me) dressage saddle. My old dressage saddle was in fact my younger, taller, thinner sister’s saddle from High School. I had been making do (let’s not even discuss how AWFUL and INEFFECTIVE my position was in it - it’s a wonder my horse could understand 1/100 of what I was asking of him) for the past 4 years of riding until that saddle flat out no longer fit my horse. Her horses were much narrower than Pongo has turned out to be and as of a few months ago his withers were being smashed by it, not ok clearly…hence desperate need for a new saddle.

I exhausted my brand spanking new saddle fund on a beautiful Antares jump saddle about 3 years ago. A decision I will never regret. That saddle is incredible…I feel like I could jump 6 feet in it…but I wont, because I am chicken.

Saddle prices these days are astronomical. I recall as a kid being able to get the topoftheline saddle for around $2000. Forget it, that wont even get you a mid tier used one these days. Most new dressage saddles are hitting $4000+. OUCH!

However, I recently dropped a few items off at our local used tack store and came across a beautiful Custom Saddlery Revolution saddle. Brand new it starts at $3750. This baby (very gently used) was priced at $1800. WOW. I sat into the deep seat and fell in major like (I mean, let’s not get ahead of ourselves here). Major problem though, my horse was off and I was only tack walking so no sense in bringing this lovely piece of tack home to try on my over sized My Little Pony. Fast forward one month, my horse is back in business and I am back at the used tack store. Joy of joys, the saddle was STILL THERE! I snatched it up on trial and took it for a test ride last night.

Non-horse people I am going to lose you right about…NOW…horse people, you will understand this perfectly. This saddle reminded how FUN riding is again. I was in the correct position for the first time in literally years. I was in the correct position for the first time EVER on Pongo (mind you he’s been undersaddle now 2+ years). I could feel every inch of my horse, my leg hung right and snug against his side. His stride just opened up like magic as he floated under me, I’ve never felt him go like this before! I sat the trot and was able to sit really still and quiet and move my hips with the motion for the first time ever on him. He was putty in my hands. And that’s when I knew I was in love.

Sounds like a magic saddle, right? I thought so too! I am ecstatic to jet out of work today and go take another ride in it. Here’s the description of it:

All over soft, supple solid buffalo leather giving an instant broken-in-feeling

■Double latex foam knee pads provide gentle
   guidance for the leg assuring the proper
   position
■ The deep soft seat combined with the french
   style double layer foam pads provides a most
   secure and precise riding position
■ The shape of the tree is extremely beneficial
   in damping the bounce for a smooth ride
■ The single flap design eliminates weight and
   bulk giving tremendous feel of your horse.
   Optional sweat flap available
■ Anatomically correct wood spring tree which
   distributes pressure evenly on the horses back
■ A slightly higher seat in the center, gives your
   seat bones less weight to carry which allows
   you to feel your horses back without discomfort
■ 100% Natural imported wool flocked panels

As for our current routine...it's simple, I am just bringing him back to full work slowly over the course of the next month. Right now we're doing 15 minutes walk, 5 minutes trot/canter work, 5 minutes walk, 5 minutes trot/canter work, 10 minutes walk cool down/hack. No real rhyme or reason to it, just easing back in.

Too Much Turkey, Pongo?

2011-11-27T08:39:00.000-08:00

It's the call you dont want to get for a myriad of reasons...but one that is especially inconvenient on a holiday. Remember exactly one year ago to the day I got a similar awful call that something was awry with my fur-kid. Today's call was a bit different, but equally scary.

"Your horse is colicking, you better come out quick..."

I was just finishing getting ready for Thanksgiving dinner...hair was curled, makeup on, cute tall boots in place when I had to throw off my festive attire for grungy barn clothes and UGG boots flying out of my house in what must have been record time.

I didnt wait to see what was going on, I just called the vet. The answering service told me the on-call doctor would be there in 30-40 minutes. It was so sad to see my spotted kid so uncomfortable. As I tried to coax him along at the walk he would stop every few steps, try to poop and bite his right flank as if to say "heeerrrrreeeeeee...that's where it hurts mom".

The vet arrived and gave him a full work up. We determined that it was not a severe colic, most likely a gas bubble that would resolve itself. His road apples looked normal and as he moved around and got more attention from us, seemed to return to his normal, happy personality. We loaded him up with Banamine and I did about an hour of 5 minutes lunge at the trot, 15 minutes walk, repeat.

I tucked him back in an managed to only be an hour late for Thanksgiving dinner. It helps to have Thanksgiving at your pastor's house, you know that an army of hungry Christians are praying for your furry four legged's speedy recovery so dinner can get started.

After dinner I went back out to walk/trot/fuss over the spotty one and he seemed much better. I collapsed in bed at 11:30, passing on my original Black Friday shopping plans with my girlfriends...especially seeing as my Black Friday money went to a $340 gas bubble in my horse's intestines.

Thankful for good friends who pray for my horse and pray for me when things get scary. Thankful for a vet who was there in a flash to help us on a holiday no less. Thankful the colic was very mild.

The rest of this holiday weekend has been wildly uneventful...decorating the new house, making enchiladas from scratch with my lovely roomie, time with friends, movie nights by the fire and sparkling Christmas tree with my handsome and hysterical mister friend, oh and trotting and cantering my horse for the first time in 2 months yesterday (the vet blessed my abbreviated rehab plan of 8 weeks back to work instead of the 12 I was originally planning saying that the horse needs to move more and regain some condition). Does reality really have to kick back in tomorrow????

Happy...

2011-11-17T10:54:00.000-08:00

Just feeling grateful these days...things have finally calmed down. My personal and professional life have embraced a predictable (albeit time pressed) rhythm and the daily disasters have seemingly quieted. It's all I've wanted since probably July. A little peace and predictability. How long will it last, probably not long, it never does. But while I've got it, I'm determined to be present in it and enjoy it.

Pongo is being a total gentleman under saddle. I've been giving him just 0.5cc's ACE before each ride (orally). No spooks or freak outs. I have to ride him with a whip to get him to move out. He's stiff as a 32 year old school horse. I think we need to get trotting soon, I'm worried he's losing too much condition. Regardless it just feels good to put a saddle on him and be on him, knowing we'll be back at it in no time.

I wanna be sedated...

2011-11-13T09:28:00.000-08:00

Go figure, this would ONLY happen to me. Picture this...a stunningly beautiful fall day. I woke up in the morning, popped a delicious dinner in the crock pot for my dinner party later in the evening, stored my summer pjs and tucked my winter ones in the drawer, turned on the heat for the first time of the season and brewed mulling spices on the stove, giving the house a delicious holiday scent. I bundle up to go to the barn in my Goode Rider down vest and jean breeches, with a hunky new mister friend by my side no less (no, you dont get a link to him)

We arrive at the farm and go to get my fuzzy pony, snug as a bug in his waterproof turnout sheet. Armed with my ACE, I sneak around to squirt 1cc of liquid gold into the furball's mouth before putting on his halter. I am distracted by the conversation I am having and dont quite get the syringe all the way into pony's mouth. This results in about .75CC's drenching my right hand...

UGH.

Ok, no big deal...he's been better than good every single ride so I'm not too concerned that he didnt ingest enough sedative. I rinse off my hand for good measure. As I groom, with the help of my surprisingly horse handy sidekick, I realize my right hand is disconcertingly numb where the ACE had spilled. As we tack up, the numbness is creeping up my arm.

UH OH.

I mean, does this stuff work if it's absorbed through the skin vs. directly into the muscle or injected into the blood stream???...The answer, for those of you curious is, yes.

This doesnt stop me from chatting away and getting on my horse. Feeling woozier by the minute. Appropriately, the thought swirling through my head is...this guy's is NEVER going to come to the barn again! Secondarily I think, hopefully he saw me put the keys on my tailgate so he can start the car and take me to the hospital when I pass out cold in about 3...2...1...

Just kidding, I dont really pass out.

I take a lap outside in the chilly air and start to feel better. A few minutes later, feel more or less completely fine. I surmise that I am not going to need an ambulance for taking a veritable bath in large animal tranquilizer and the rest of the excursion to the barn goes off without hitch. Later that evening amongst friends, including said boy, I spill my story. He looks at me, head tilted, laughing and says something to the effect of "Wow, people pay big money to get those kinds of drugs, I had no idea, you seemed totally normal." Thanks bud. Haha.

Random things that only seem to happen in my life, go figure :)

Rock and Roll!

2011-10-31T13:26:00.000-07:00

We got a clean bill of health today! Yay!

Unfortunately that doesnt quite mean business as usual. Our vet prescribed a 3 month gradual return to full work. I am willing to commit to month 1 of walk work undersaddle (yes, drugs were also procured today to ensure he minds his manners), but once trot and canter are back in the picture for my own well being we're going to need to think about how we move ahead so I dont get tossed!

At any rate, he's sound both directions on soft and hard ground. All I could ask for really...well, except that I REALLY wished he'd gotten his large paddock privileges back, but alas, he needs to stay in his 40x40 a bit longer. Hopefully by December he can go back out with his buddy in his big house.

I am headed out of town on vacation to the FL Keys for the rest of the week so the tack walking will commence next week. Starting at 20 minutes, working our way up to 45-60 minutes. I cant wait to get back on my horse. Gonna oil my western saddle up...yee-haw.

Buck

2011-10-30T09:12:00.000-07:00

No, not Buck Davidson although I do have a not-so-secret crush on the guy.and wish he'd come to CA more often (read:EVER) and compete so I could oogle his horses and riding.

I am referring today to trainer Buck Brannaman. Several non-horsey friends told me about his Sundance documentary, Buck, and asked me if I knew him personally (nope). They raved about the movie and said I had to see it. Seeing as my plans took a 180 last night and I found myself unexpectedly bumming at home in my jammies with the dogs instead of out on the town at one of my fave restaurants I figured why not see if I could get my hands on it.

I found the movie on On Demand and settled in, not sure of what to expect. All in all, it was great. Buck is a natural horseman and ascribes to many of the same techniques and philosophies as the trainer at the western barn we boarded at a few months ago. I loved watching him work the horses and the people. There were many "Buck-isms", he's a wise, no-nonsense soul. My favorite quote of the movie was:

The horse is a mirror to your soul. Sometimes you might not like what you see. Sometimes you will.

So many good insights. I immediately looked up his clinic schedule and shook my head at the 6-weeks I just wasted aimlessly hand walking my horse instead of working him in hand and improving our communication on the ground. Today will be different. 99% of people do not have a real relationship with their horse. That might sound harsh, but when you catch a glimpse of real respect and subtle communication and willingness and dignity between a horse and his rider or trainer looks like, you realize it adds up to one very rare thing. I'm not there yet with my horse, but we're working on it using these natural horseman principles. I have to remind myself in the routine of the sport...get him out, brush him, school him, feed him, tuck him in, that there is simply so much more available to us as far as our true connection and partnership with our horses goes. We spend so much money on jump lessons and dressage lessons, but I will boldly propose that saving some of that money and taking a clinic with people like Lynn and Cyril Palm or Buck Brannaman is of equal, if not greater importance to learn the real nuances of communication, training and riding.

Of Maids and My Little Ponies

2011-10-24T12:51:00.000-07:00

Random musings as we enter into our last week of hand walking.

As part of my big move to my new house and procurement of a positively lovely person to share said new home with I found myself pondering the idea of a housekeeper. Not every single week, but what about twice a month? Someone to do the real dirty work of scrubbing showers, baseboards, blinds and my fridge...making sure my cabinetry got a dollop of Old English to keep it snazzy looking (who DOES that?)

Bottom line, at the end of a 40 50 hour work week the absolute last thing I want to do is spend my weekend scrubbing toilets and vacuuming up copious amounts of Jack Russell hair.

Enter Irma.

She's cleaned my neighbor's house for 11 years at a price that cant be beat. Hired! Nothing delights me more now than trotting downstairs every other Saturday morning to a sparkling clean kitchen to brew a cup of coffee and know that I dont have to clean the place. I'm a neat freak, Irma rocks my socks off. She even folds all the toilet paper rolls in my bathrooms into those perfect little triangles, like a hotel...easily impressed much?

What does hiring a housekeeper ultimately mean...more poneeeeeee time! Saturday morning after not cleaning my house, I hung out with my horse who I've decided is more or less a gigantic, living, breathing MLP I played with as a little girl on Saturday mornings. I pet him, brush him, braid his tail, paint his hooves, brush him some more, feed him treats, adjust his clothing, walk him around, tell him how wonderful and perfect he is...then I put him away and go play with something else...

I think Pong and I are both quite accustomed to our little routine now, I can only imagine how things will shake up next week once we're given the all clear to get back in the saddle. Honestly, our relationship is kind of weird right now. He dances around when he sees my car pull up, but I know the sole purpose for his excitement is the fact that once I am done fussing over him, he gets his grain. I wish he loved me for me but let's not project too many human affections, hopes and dreams upon him. He's bored and at the moment and what I really have to offer when I show up is food and food alone these days... I get it, I'm ok with it :)

I also made a decision today to postpone the trip up to the big vet hospital for his recheck on Halloween. I simply dont have the $1000 to spend on that visit in good conscious. I am also wildly uneasy with leaving him up there in a box stall the night before his appointment. I know I wont sleep a wink, worried he'll cast himself and do damage. Also, with the holidays are rapidly approaching I'd like to have a little dinero in the bank account to spoil my loved ones a bit after constantly spoiling my fur-kid month after month.

So, this means I'm going to have our regular, awesome vet come re-check him next week and if WHEN he xrays clean on his angry splint bone I'm just going to get him back into work. I will get her POV on his feet and his hocks as well, and if we need to do something further we will talk about that.

I'm headed out of town for a wedding the first week in November (yay for destination weddings in sunny places) so I will start him back under saddle on November 7th. Figure I've waited this long, what's another 2 weeks? If I start him back any sooner than I have to pay my trainer to sit and tack walk him while I am away...eh, we'll just keep hand walking thankyouverymuch.

Sound good to everyone? We're all in agreement? Speak up now........ Good!

It's Just Money...

2011-10-13T11:12:00.000-07:00

This past weekend at a show a friend said "if you're ok with putting $1000 cash in the toilet every month and flushing, then you can happily own an equine." That's the truth if I ever heard it. He was clearly just being funny, and in defense of riders everywhere I will say that I have plenty of friends who have fancy car payments and designer label shopping vices, or a penchant for travel, or fine dining that cost as much if not more than my pony does month to month...at the end of the day it's just a choice of how we each decide to spend our discretionary income, right?

I try to budget as best I can...as my father can attest to, budgeting has never ever been my forte...something unexpected always seems to happy to me...and I'm not just talking about when Tory Burch shoes go on sale (yes, I work across the street from the mall...who's idea was that?). I had budgeted this month for a $400 vet bill. I received the bill last night and nearly choked when I saw $596! Good grief. Granted it was a teeth floating (necessary) followed by the splint x-ray, also neccessary. I had no clue when I had his teeth done, that the following week we'd be dealing with a second vet visit, this time for a splint. Otherwise, I'd have waited on the teeth...he now has perfectly floated chops and no bit in his mouth...I'm sure he's happy that he can properly chew his 3 measly flakes of hay every day though.

As I sat and worked on the budget for November I allocated another $500 for his follow up visit. This one will be nearly if not as expensive as the last as I am taking him to our local vet hospital for an extensive work up on Halloween. While we recheck the splint to make sure it's all healed up I also want to check on his hock that is supposedly fused, while he was feeling better on it up until he got his splint, he still was not 100% IMO. I figured that I might as well take him to the hospital for a full tune up of sorts to make sure everything is feeling as good as it can feel before putting him back to work. Since I have no vacation/personal time yet at my new job I have to take him to the hospital on a Sunday and pick him up Monday after I get off of work.

After that, I am praying, hoping, chanting, wishing that we can just smooth sail for a bit. How about just shots, teeth and feet for a little while, no more major issues? That'd be great thankssomuch :)

I was beyond inspired watching the Woodside International 3-Day Event last weekend and am hell bent on getting this horse out there at Novice for the May Woodside show. He is infinitely cuter than the majority of lower level horses I saw in the field, and I am itching to get in the start box. It's been almost three years since my last horse trials and that is entirely too long! My goal is to hit up Rolex in April with some friends (you know who you are, so let's get crack-a-lackin' on our trip plans girls!) and then be ridiculously inspired to one month later debut my little superstar.

A little encouragement...

2011-10-12T20:16:00.000-07:00

I have nothing terribly productive to proclaim today, all is quiet and good on the home front...but one of my other fave bloggers does have some good things to say...check out Wylie Eventing...a great, inspirational post about what can happen in the span of 12 months.

http://www.wylie-eventing.com/2011/10/difference-year-makes.html

Love.

2011-10-11T08:26:00.000-07:00

http://eventing-a-gogo.blogspot.com/

For the brokenhearted...

2011-10-10T16:50:00.000-07:00

My heart just aches today...for several circumstances in my own life, but mainly for a circumstance in the life of a sweet girl and her horse. I'm sure many of you know Andrea and Gogo, but for anyone who doesn't I implore you to head over to their blog and keep them in your thoughts or prayers, whatever so moves you. As a community I want to surround her with love and support.

The older you get, the more you realize how temporary and fleeting most things in our earthly life really are. Someone you love might leave you, a job might lay you off, a friend might choose to betray you...you might experience these things once in a lifetime, or you might have them snowball you all at once in the span of a year.

For those of us who love animals we have one more loss we voluntarily sign up for (time and time again, unfailingly)...the difficult loss of our animal companions. There’s never an easy way to say goodbye to them and it’s ok that the void in our life is unable to be filled by another in quite the same way, after all, that’s how we know we loved them well.

When something’s not going right I feel like most people like to blow smoke and tell you that it’s part of a bigger plan or that they had a similar experience and it turned out in a certain positive way. While all these things are well and good, and there is certainly a time and a place for that encouragement, I like to also give credence to the friends and support systems that just mourn with you and say, this is not fair and I’m so sorry for what you’re facing, I acknowledge to you that this is really hard. These types of friends won’t rush you through the hurting, they don’t make it about them, but instead sit there with you for a minute and just be there for you.

We’re here for you Andrea, this sucks, but we’re all here mourning, pressing on and digging deep with you. You are loving your mare so well right now, which isn’t a surprise, because you always have and always will....and so will we.

Unfit Mother?

2011-10-06T09:18:00.000-07:00

After a wonderfully dry summer, we've found ourselves in the midst of a very rainy week. I like it, not to sound too emo, but it matches my mood as of late seamlessly.

As the rain poured down Monday night I fretted over whether Pongo was being smart and standing in his shelter or not. Stuck at work until well past 8pm, exhausted and generally feeling down about some things I couldnt muster the energy to make it out to the barn. Tuesday morning I bolted out the door before the had even given a hint of thought about rising to go put on Pongo's new rain sheet before the next round of storms blew through, feeling terrible about having left him to fend for himself the night prior. Negligent mother.

When I came back Tuesday night, the guilt lifted entirely as I saw that my horse was literally one of 3 horses even wearing a rain sheet out of a barn of probably 50+ heads. Who's negligent now? Warm and dry, happy and furry I was greeted with nuzzles and bright, batting eyelashes...the usual flirting, so that I would hurry up and get the grain already!

I ascribe to a general philosophy about my animals that keeps me relatively sane amidst the insanity of being outnumbered 12 legs to 2...your life could be much worse! While I feel sorry for my two doggies who have to hang in their crates all day while I go to work, life could be worse...you could be in the pound, or in a cardboard box, or getting tormented by a toddler pulling your tail and ears or trying to ride you, or who knows what. Instead, you're cozy, well fed, laying on a Snoozie and chewing on a bone for a few hours out of your day. Same goes for my horse...you're in a giant paddock, with perfectly trimmed feet, yummy hay, fresh water and shelter...you'll probably be ok if it rains...just sayin...

Sometimes I have to take the pressure off to be a perfectly fit mother, I can't do it all and at the end of the day my critters have it pretty good. I do the best I can...I may not get the blanket on in time for the first round of the storm, but I will get up at 5:45a to make sure you don't get soaked the second go around :) Please love me anyways.

New Paddock

2011-10-02T08:18:00.000-07:00

Stall 1, Pongo 0 {November 2010}
Pasture 1, Pongo 0 {September 2011}

What does one do when your horse cant keep it together in a stall or a pasture...you put them in a paddock. You might recall that we tried this during his rehab from his accident in 2010, and it did not go well. While he looked calm and happy go lucky in his paddock, he was a rodeo horse under saddle. So why do I think it will be different this time...well, I guess I dont know with 100% certainty that it will be, but I'm willing to give it another try. This new paddock is a little larger than his last one and if all else fails, I will put him on the turnout schedule since this barn is infinitely more affordable than the last one where we tried paddock living.

So far he seems happy and comfy in his new surroundings. I am excited because there is a very large shelter with 4 walls so he can get out of the elements when he wants, but the shelter has raised boards every couple of feet all the way up the wall so that he can push off of them if he inevitably decides to cast himself...a favorite Pongo pastime.

The only negative to the space it appears to be the water trough situation. I could SMELL the trough from a couple of feet away...not good. The previous residents of this paddock are two of the farm owner's horses that she's trying to give away. Apparently no one was concerned about cleaning the trough because it smelled like something had crawled in there and died. I was absolutely not about to let my horse drink out of it, which means I got to get up close and personal with the trough. I emptied the entire thing and let it refill with fresh water. I really wanted to scrub it out with bleach and brush, but didnt have the supplies on hand. I cant begin to express how gross it was, let's just say I had to hose myself off afterwards and I'm pretty sure I ruined my tennis shoes.

In light of that, I popped online to see how to keep the tank clean without dumping the whole thing out every week {in CA we're on wells at most farms and need to conserve water}. I found a company that sells a tablet that you can drop into the trough to keep it algae free. It's safe for horses and doesnt make the water taste funny {although, it couldnt possibly make it taste any worse than the tubba of black algae death did in the first place}. So I bought a $10 trial pack of 5 tabs {enough for about a month}. Cant wait to give it a try. I've almost always had auto-waterers...the one trough style waterer we dealt with before was scrubbed daily and topped off with a hose as part of the guys cleaning the stalls, so it never got gross.

Fingers crossed this living situation, I am optimistic that it will be just right for us as we navigate the last 4 weeks of the great splint layup of 2011 and get back on track for the great year of eventing in 2012!

Slacker

2011-09-29T08:38:00.000-07:00

Totally slacking on the blogging, but not without good reason. Had some big {very good} life changes recently that have been time consuming. Thankfully, all is calm and quiet in the horse world. Pongo is enjoying his time off and behaving extremely well. I think it is a combination of starving him slightly (not really, but I did cut his hay by a flake) and the ridiculously hot weather we’re still enjoying here. He’s been agreeable to the hanging out in a paddock, 15 minutes of hand walking followed by a half portion of his favorite grain and SmartPak.

Last night I found out one of our favorite vet tech’s horses passed away a couple of weeks ago. My heart broke for her. She was trying to do the right thing by him and let him live in a nice, new, big pasture. Then he colicked in the night way out in the field and no one found him until morning. Isnt that the pits? We try so hard to protect our horse and do what’s best for them and then it backfires. I was reminded of almost one year ago when in an effort to avoid injury in a wet, slippery, slopey pasture I moved Pongo into a big, dry stall for the winter…he casts himself the first week inside and almost breaks his pelvis and is off for 6 months. Last month, I move him to a huge, wonderful pasture and he has an terrible allergic reaction and then busts his splint bone somehow, off for 6 weeks plus 6 weeks of rehab back to full work. My horse cant live in pasture or in a stall, so then where am I supposed to put him exactly?

That’s my frustration right now. He’s in a 40x40 paddock right now and hasn’t done anything ridiculous to himself {yet} so my thought is keep him in there. However, there is not really any shelter in this space. There is half of a big tree in one corner of the paddock, this works ok for some relief from the sun right now, but once it starts to rain, he’s going to be drenched I think. I know horses LOVE to stand in the rain anyways {meaning if you have a covered area, they choose to stand in the storm 9 times out of 10 regardless}, so I am not terribly worried, but still…is the tree sufficient? I worry…clearly.

At the end of the day though, I am reminded how lucky I am just to have him here. Have one really good scare with your horse and you’ll know what I mean. Last year I thought he was a goner when he got hurt. I really don’t care if I could never ride him again as long as he was just comfortable, happy and here with me. So I’m not stressing about this little bit of time off, or the rehab that follows (we’re going to experiment with long lining, so get ready for that adventure). I miss riding him, but am profoundly grateful to see his spotted face, breathe in his horsy smell and snuggle in his furry neck every day. That’s what matters. I just wish it wasn’t so darn difficult to keep them safe and sound {literally!}.

Boooooring!

2011-09-20T19:56:00.000-07:00

Well friends, not much to report here...I suppose this is a good thing. 1 down, 41 more to go...days of hand walking that is.

My goal is to come up with some creative things to do with the blog while we're on a little riding hiatus. I know the time will fly by, but I want to give you something! I mean, what else will you do at work while you're bored?

Benched....

2011-09-19T20:53:00.000-07:00

6 little letters, one useless skinny bone and 6 weeks on the bench...let's spell it out together...

S-P-L-I-N-T

In a the way only one of my horses could, Pongo managed to have an allergic reaction to pasture and bash his splint bone all in the same 24 hour period it seems. Once I got the swelling down on his LH leg with the Surpass cream I was finally able to see a suspicious lump. Xray confirmed the splint situation. And it clearly hurts him because he's lame-o on that leg.

So now what? 6-8 weeks of stall rest, hand walking and full time standing wraps. He did a good job banging himself up with this one. Then a slow-ish return to work (meaning I will go as slow with him as I can without putting myself in harms way...so 2-4 weeks to bring him back to full work and unabashed use of ACE for every ride).

Meaning...we have a VERY boring three months ahead of us...and then he'll be fine...until he's not again...ok, that's my very very very bad attitude coming through, but I plan to sit in my pity party for just a bit longer before snapping out of it...hopefully by morning.

I'm a little bit in the WHY stage at the moment. Not because I want to ride oh so bad, or because we were jumping so well, or because frankly of anything having to do with me, but because it just seems so unfair to him. He hated his last lay up which literally just ended 5 months ago. And here he is cooped up again heading into winter. I feel bad for him and for his body and mind that was just coming back into condition.

Up, down, up, down...these animals sure know how to pull your heart around...just want my horse to be happy, pain free and enjoying life, you know?

Help or Hype?

2011-09-18T20:33:00.000-07:00

Good news first, the leg is looking better. Not 100% yet, but the Surpass did it's job pretty well. Still some ushy-gushy stuff in there that I can feel. Still having the vet out tomorrow. Praying for an infection that we can treat easily. Fingers crossed.

Now, the real question...Vetericyn...help or hype? Read a lot of reviews and read the back of the bottle. Soooo it's pretty much all water and .04% some weird sciency sounding stuff. After washing and drying the angry leg, I sprayed Vetericyn liberally. I planned to ride him later on and see the preliminary results (if any), but was knocked out in bed today with a wicked cold. It was all I could do to just go to the pet store to get the spray and do what I needed to do to apply it on his leg.

Out of sheer curiosity I also dabbed a little Vetericyn on a small malady I had. Well, it's not just water. I felt first hand the circulation improving around the little wound. I could feel a pulse almost in the area where I applied it. Hmmmm...so something in that bottle does well,...something!

Heading to bed early tonight in hopes of kicking this cold to the curb sooner rather than later. I had to miss free field level tickets to the 49er's game and a fun night out after because of this bug! You're going down, cold!

Mystery Filling

2011-09-18T07:46:00.000-07:00

No, not like the good mystery filling you'd find in a delicious donut, or other tasty delight...the kind of mystery filling in a leg that leaves you scratching your head and praying that nothing serious is going on below the surface.

Here's what transpired this week...

Sunday - Turned out into the big pasture
Monday - I didnt go to the barn
Tuesday - Both hind legs swollen HUGE, sweat wrap with Silver Sulfadiazine...assume it's an allergic reaction to something in the field. Kept inside over night
Wednesday - RH back to normal, YAY! LH slightly better, but still swollen. Notice some superficial abrasions on the interior of the leg. Re-sweat the LH, standing bandage on the RH with no sweat.
Thursday - RH still looks good. LH swelling localized to a six inch area on the inside of the leg where some of the abrasions are. Decide to ride lightly to see if that helps at all, he feels sound and good. Swelling goes down a little. I ice him for 20 and re-wrap him.
Friday - LH still swollen, ride a little and he's a bit gimpy behind now. Ice again. Call vet who says to let him hang out and she will come on Monday and tells me to stop any treatment by Sunday as far as wraps/bute go so she can get a clean look at him
Saturday - Ice him and remember I have some Surpass cream. Put some on in the AM. Come back in the PM and swelling looks a tiny bit better. Reapply Surpass in the PM. Wanted to go buy Vetricyn but the rest of my day/life got in the way and it just didnt happen.
Sunday - going to go buy some Vetricyn first thing this morning. Hear it's a miracle worker for infections/abrasions. Planning to apply Vetricyn, discontinue the Surpass and wrapping and just let the skin get some air

Weird right? I mean, my gut says that this is just a little infection from the abrasions and that whatever he got into he was allergic to. Worst case I suppose is he did something to some soft tissue or even a splint. It's the lame after being ridden part that is concerning me. But the fact that I cant get the swelling out of there is making me think it's more like an infection. I dont know. We will find out more tomorrow I suppose! He has no temp and the leg is warm, but not blazing hot. It's like I've tried 10 different things, primarily because I just am surprised every day that what I tried the day before didnt work! Oh Pongo!

Pasture 1, Pongo 0

2011-09-13T17:17:00.000-07:00

I got a chuckle today out of Sprinkler Bandit's blog post today because I find myself about to write about the exact same topic.

Today Pongo had tree trunks for hind legs. From his hock to his hoof his leg was puffed up like an overinflated balloon. The irony of this is that I noticed this right.after.my.vet.left.the.property.

ARGH!

My vet had come out to float his teeth and pull a stubborn baby tooth. I had missed the appointment due to another commitment so when I arrived, Pongo had already been put back in his pasture and she was packing up. I said hi, then skipped over to Pongo's paddock to say hello before leaving the barn.

That's when I saw his legs. I knew with a fair degree of certainty that the culprit was something out in the pasture. He's clearly allergic. The first time he went out, he blew up in a crazy case of scratches. Now, scratches plus swelling. Not good. My mind was racing..."why hadnt the vet seen this?", "if she had seen this why didnt she ask me about it?"....I immediately called the answering service and was {fortunately} quickly connected to the vet. She had apparently noticed the swelling but chalked it up to scratches and assumed I knew about it. Since I love my vet, all was quickly forgiven. She said to sweat wrap the legs and recheck in the AM.

This would work fantastic except that I had slim pickings as far as sweat wrap materials go. I had a negligible amount of silver sulfadiazine cream and zero cling wrap...but I'm resourceful and made quite possibly the most ghetto-swhetto wrap ever.

First, I squeezed the near empty tube of cream as if my life depended on it, then I proceeded to cut the tube open with scissors and scoop out the remaining drops of precious goodness. Ghetto. Then I rummaged in the trash for something plastic wrap-esque. A carrot bag and plastic 7-11 bag. That'll do, right? Perfect...ly ghetto. Standing wraps...yup, of course those are always clean and in my tack trunk...except for today, when I realized I only have front wraps, that were ridiculously short for his giant stems. I used them anyways. Ghetto.

He's all tucked into a stall and I'm praying he minds his manners until morning and doesn't cast himself in ecstasy over having shavings and a room to himself for the first time in months. Oh yeah, and that his legs are normal sized once I remove the too-short wraps and peel off the carrot/convenience store bags.

GROSS

2011-09-12T12:20:00.000-07:00

Horse moms live in a state of constant paranoia...does that leg look a little puffy? Did he just take a bad step? Is he acting strange? The list goes on and on. Sunday I went to go see the po-neh and open the gate to freedom for his 3 days of pasture living {we're rotating pasture time with 2 other paddocks of horses so he goes out every 6 days for 3 days}.

As I opened the gate his roommate marched on out into the field...Pongo I am sure smirked contentedly as he munched on lunch, which he now had all to himself. I stood next to him having one of those ridiculous horse-girl moments, breathing in his scent, checking his legs, admiring his beauty, petting his neck then stopping cold. I felt a small bump, a little larger than a pencil eraser. As I moved his hair to get a closer look I stared in horror which looked tumor-esque. His black skin raised and stretched uncomfortably over the mass. No. No. No. I worry about this all the time because he is a black & pink skinned horse. He wears a thick fly sheet 24/7 to protect him from the sun's rays. Panic. Panic. Panic.

I knew the vet was coming on Tuesday to float his teeth so I took a deep breath and decided not to worry until she looked at it and told me what it could be. I turned to leave the pasture when something in me decided to turn back, and then squeeze the mass.

To my horror and relief it popped right open. I will spare you the nasty details of what came out of it, suffice to say it was a surprising amount of goop {sorry weak stomached people}. My diagnosis, infected fly bite. Yuck. I have never seen that before and hope to never see it again. Never a dull moment, always something new and exciting. Yay horses.

Confirmation...

2011-09-11T08:49:00.000-07:00

Here we are at 5 years old...4 years together...hopefully many, many, many more years to go. I feel like a proud mother, believing my horse is the cutest, smartest and most honest that I've ever been privileged to call my own. That our partnership is a good one and my hard work the past three years under saddle bringing him along has been well spent.

So yesterday as I prepared for our first dressage clinic with a real dressage instructor and judge, Jane Weatherwax, I was nervous. No, he's not a fancy warmblood, or a jaw dropping FEI prospect. But in my mind, he is well built and correctly trained thus far. He is no slouch and I am sure he's at the cusp of a great eventing career.

Riders at the lower levels of eventing know that while it's not over until it's over...generally speaking placing often rests on dressage score. It's imperative to put in a great test to finish in the top placing as most people can stuff their horses over the under 3 foot fences in show jumping and cross country. With all that in mind I was anxious to get some feedback on how my horse is coming along in his flatwork.

In the sweltering heat (90+) we showed off our walk, trot and canter. Nothing fancy, nothing more than 20 meter circles, diagonal lines and long sides. The net result was as follows, my two favorite comments of the day:

Jane: "I like him"
Me: "Yeah, he is pretty cute."
Jane: "No, he's not cute, he's NICE. Cute is what you call a horse that you can't figure out something good to say about. He looks good, especially for 5."

Me: "Thank you so much, that was a great ride!"
Jane: "You did great. You're a good rider, nice feel and really balanced. I mean it, I dont BS about this stuff or say it if I dont mean it."
Me: "Haha, well then EXTRA thank you's! I appreciate that!"

She also noted that he is not near done growing and to keep working him over his back to build up his topline. We worked on using my leg to 'thump' his side vs. digging my heel up and in. We also worked on not letting him hang on the right rein by vibrating it and letting go, so he can't grab on to it. The big ah-ha was his trot to canter transition. I have been slowing the trot, collecting him up into a little package, then cantering. Jane encouraged me to canter from a forward trot, without all that prep. He needs to be up in front and trucking along behind, then canter. She reminded me that he needs to march in the free walk and medium walk, not shuffle along. Finally she had me use my knee {pressed into the saddle} to catch his right shoulder going out to the left when we're making left turns or on left circles when he tries to pop out.

The little tweaks she made to our routine really made Pongo happy. Thump vs. dig, vibrate vs. hold-hold-hold, and forward trot into the canter transition. Good stuff. She reminded me that he is only 5, and as such needs frequent breaks in his work to regroup mentally and that he doesnt need to be going around in an elevated, collected frame. I need to focus on working him up over the back, developing swinging gaits so that he's got the muscles in all the right places in his topline to carry himself in a more advanced frame. We have a little ways to go with his neck and lower back.

She will be back in November and you bet we're going to ride with her again! I appreciate how positive she was, I left feeling good about my horse and the work we've done together. She didnt upheave our whole way of going, just a few tips and tweaks that made a big difference. That in my mind makes for a great clinic!

The Real Dressage Queens of Livermore

2011-09-09T13:28:00.000-07:00

No, not really, but I am psyching myself up for my first real dressage clinic in who knows how long. I havent even taken a dressage lesson since July {simply having too much fun jumping} and tomorrow we're clinicing with a well know trainer and judge.

Our new barn is interesting because we have DQ's, hunters and eventers all under one roof. It's fun to experience all 3 disciplines every day, seeing what we do and do not have in common. The resident dressage trainer has a legit FEI horse and it's amazing to watch what they can do...I probably couldnt even make that horse canter, he's got so many bells and whistles!

Since jumping always helps loosen Pongo up for his flat work, I took a lesson this morning. We worked on balance and turning. Since we worked with a little height and width on Tuesday, today we navigated poles and cross rails. I love how our new trainer clearly puts so much thought into what we do and designs exercises to help us even if it means moving half the jumps around the ring.

We worked an exercise that she called a 4-leaf clover {I think} over ground poles...it looked like this {please excuse the terrible drawing...}

This would be done all on the left lead canter. Through the turns I had to make sure I was wrapping his body around my left leg, stepping into my left stirrup, keeping my outside aids strong and looking where I wanted to go. When he really 'got it' he was stepping around the circles and up into my outside aids, keeping the same tempo he had in the circle, before-over-after the pole. It's harder than it looks! Then we went right {his better direction}.

His reward for doing it correctly was getting to quit, take a walk break and usually move onto to something else. To the left we had to stay on the exercise for probably 5 times around before he got it perfect. To the right, we just went 2 times around. Then we moved onto some fences, incorporating 10m circles in between. I am working on requiring lightness in his front end, so that he can't pull me up out of the tack the stride before and the stride after the jump by dumping his big, fat head into the bridle, but instead staying up in the poll. I appreciate schooling all of this in a snaffle vs. bitting up. I think it'd be easy to put a bigger bit on him to get leverage and do it that way, but I like how sensitive he's getting in the gentler bit just through some strong half halts...showing that through proper training we can achieve the desired balance. I find that once he understands what I am asking and why, even he agrees it's easier. He's smart like that. It's not to say that I think I can gallop XC in a snaffle if he's excited, he's just way too big and strong, but I like addressing these issues in the ring with a snaffle...we'll just have to see how it all translates once we're outside jumping. But net, net is...he's getting it!

Jumper on Friday...DQ on Saturday...tomorrow we'll see what the dressage clinician says about our spotty friend!

Big Boxes...

2011-09-06T12:29:00.000-07:00

Do one thing a day that scares you...CHECK.

After an abysmal lesson on Saturday where I looked more than a little out of control on my fussy horse I can safely say we redeemed ourselves this morning with a fantastic jumping lesson and a huge personal accomplishment for us as a pair.

In our jumping arena there are two big box jumps. About 2'6" high*, 2' wide and 1' deep. You can put them side by side for an impressive solid fence, or break them up and use them as solid skinny fences. I ride past them every day and think to myself...someday I am going to jump those on Pongo, when I can do that, I will know that we've "made it" to the big leagues. Well, apparently our trainer felt like today was that day.

WHAT?

She was right! We started our lesson over two little lines. A four stride cross rail to vertical and then a one stride cross rail to a vertical. He was a gem. From there we jumped a little liverpool jump {baby's first liverpool}, he leaped pretty high and wide over it, but went without any hesitation. Then we trotted our infamous stone wall a couple of times, no problems.

So this is the point where I would have called it a day. A few good lines, a scary new jump {liverpool} and a solid effort at a solid fence {stone wall}. However, I am getting to know my trainer better and know she never shorts me on time in a lesson, so although we'd navigated several different questions at that point, she'd only taught me for about 20 minutes ;)

Henceforth, the giant boxes. Now, the progression makes perfect sense. We had easily cleared a 2'6" fence in the line, so the height was not a problem. We had effortlessly jumped a solid wall, also not a problem. So logically, jumping a little bigger solid box should just be the practical next step up. Yet, here I am literally shaking in my boots {wimp}.

We picked up our trot, trotted our stone wall and then came around and trotted towards the big boxes. I was most definitely not breathing as we made our approach....he wasn't overly bold, but wasn't sucking back either...up and over he went...No big deal.

Phew! It was so much fun. I was so happy to have him just cruise over it like it was just any old fence. Brave boy. We didn't do it again, but instead headed outside and played around with some banks and small jumps on the cross country course to end on a fun note.

I am loving these lessons. I still expect Pongo to act like a baby over the jumps, like he might not go, like he might get wise one of these days and call us out on our crazy ideas to jump walls, boxes and logs. But, he's really just getting more and more confident, clever and self sufficient. I think having a healthy respect for your horse over fences is very important, to NEVER assume they're just going to go. You have to ride every fence. However, it's more than time to really give him credit. I feel like I have been waiting for him to prove something to me so that I can really trust him. Today I realized he has done nothing but prove lesson after lesson how trustworthy, honest and game he is for the challenges we're putting in front of him. He's turning out to be pretty awesome and ridiculously fun to boot. Today's lesson just made me feel a little extra lucky to have him :)

*My trainer says they are 2'6"...I think they look larger like 2'9"...but we'll go ahead and call it 2'6" since I don't want to look like a geek busting out my tape measure. We made it over in one piece and that's what matters, haha!

McGuyver?

2011-09-03T18:20:00.000-07:00

What do you get when...

Your horse breaks his figure 8 bridle

And you're on a serious budget

And your horse chiro tells you that your horse needs his teeth done - BAD - and you just HAD THEM DONE five months ago

And you're horse is very large and strong

And you are very small and should work out more than you do

And you decide to take a jumping lesson in your dressage bridle/bit sans a flash

And work on related distances...

And your trainer has to resort to using her own belt as a flash to keep your horse from opening his mouth...

HAHAHAHAHAHA!

You get a very funny lesson and a serious full body workout.

I am going to go buy a new bridle tomorrow...and eat ramen for the rest of the month...ok, not really, but I don't want to have to get the rep of being the crazy eventer girl who's horse's mouth is tied shut with an adorable black belt with silver clinchers...that's just tacky ;)

No more boys...

2011-09-01T09:17:00.000-07:00

Ok, well that was dramatic, but last night two of my closest friends and I decided to not talk about boys for an entire week. We've gotten so boy crazy with the men in our lives and the ones we wish were in our lives and the ones we would do anything to have get the heck OUT of our lives that we rarely talk about much else. Every gab sesh feels more like a therapy session with one of us offering counsel for the other. I am actually incredibly excited to see what God chooses to do with our relationships this week {with one another and with our significant others/crushes/exes etc.}. We want to honor the Lord with our conversations and friendships and we've been cruising down a slippery slope, the conversation stops now. And this means ALL boy talk, not just with one another but with everyone!

As far as Pongo goes, well, he's awesome. I've been logging 4-5 days a week under saddle and he's been a gem. We're schooling our half halts like crazy. We have a dressage clinic with "I" judge Jane Weatherwax on the 10th and I dont want to be hauling on his mouth to try to get him to come back to me if we work through any lengthened or medium gaits. I am debating whether to take him to a schooling show at Woodside Horse Park on the 11th for jumping. I would enter him in the 2ft classes, just to get him out, away from home and jumping but I am not sure we're ready. I think we'd be just fine, but I wonder if doing it the day after the clinic would be too much...bad timing I feel like? Stay tuned. I think I will make my decision after our jump lesson on Saturday.

A Weekend Without Horses

2011-08-29T17:32:00.000-07:00

Guilty as charged and I feel like a bad horse mom. However, my horse felt fantastic after 2 full days off so I am thinking he didn't miss me too much over the weekend. Today as we warmed up, he was so sound...are you ever amazed when your horse just feels so soft and even and light underneath you. No quirks, no stiffness, no tension...it's like you're floating across the ground...the best feeling ever...

But I digress, I want to talk running today, not riding!

This weekend my friends and I headed to beautiful San Francisco to run in the Giants 5K. As a group, this is our second race together and I dare say that running is kind of fun. The adventure started Friday night as I left the car show I was volunteering at (& narrowly avoided a run-in with my ex on the streets of Downtown Pleasanton) and headed to my friend Jenn's house to carpool with everyone.

We ventured to the Giants game that night and carbo-loaded for our big race (aka ate lots of fried and breaded things and used the race as an excuse). After a restless night's sleep we hopped on the Muni bus (I love the city but loathe public transportation...personal space and stranger danger issues) and headed for the starting line. I took off with the pack a little exhausted from the night before and perhaps not quite as prepared as I would have liked to have been for the event.

Running in a race kinda feels like going cross country....almost. I love entering/committing to it and preparing, I like the challenge and dynamics of the race, hating life about half way through and wondering why I signed up when I could be sleeping in like the rest of the world, secretly scared I will have to stop and walk (a race no-no for me...it's only 3.2 miles for crying out loud).

I didn't come in last (phew!), walked just for a minute to tie my shoe and fuss with my iPod and was actually kind of proud of my results...which were as follows:

Overall:	1415 out of 3482
Women:	697 out of 2139
F 30-34:	140 out of 425

Finish Time:	34:36 Pace: 11:08

End of race photo with the girls...and Lou-seal

Christmas in August

2011-08-26T11:21:00.000-07:00

Yup, it's August and I am already thinking about Christmas...why? Because I am in desperate need for a new dressage saddle. Desperate!

I can see how a non-horse person might not understand this plight, but we've been making do with my sister's old custom made dressage saddle for three years now. My sister is 5'6" and slender with long legs...I am 5'2.125" {yes that extra quarter inch is very important} with short legs and curvy frame...needless to say this saddle never fit me well, but it did fit my horse up until now. Now it doesn't fit Pongo either :( With too narrow of a tree, we're out of options as far as fit goes. As Pongo has grown up, he's also grown out quite a bit too. I wouldnt consider him a tremendously wide horse, but he's wider than the gullet of this saddle can accommodate.

I've been trying to flat in my amazing Antares cross country saddle, but I cant sit tall and stretch my leg down in it the way I need to. Pongo gets beyond fussy when I try to sit the trot in the saddle, and I cant say that I blame him! It's not meant for sitting trot and I grip him all weird trying to get centered and my seat deep enough to have effective half halts. Today as we were working on canter serpentines I found myself tipping this way and that, fighting my saddle and gravity...I hate that feeling.

I've scoped out two saddles that I really like and the reason I am thinking about Christmas now is because both would have a long lead time for delivery.

The first one is an Ideal saddle called the Vivienne. I rode in my friend's and it was amazing. Her's fit Pongo well and I felt like I needed another inch in the seat and it would fit me like a glove too. A local dressage trainer sells them, so it's just a matter of heading up to Sacramento to pay him a visit.

My dream saddle however is the Devoucoux Makila. A french made saddle with a mono-flap design {my favorite}. These come up on the used saddle sites quite often. I test rode on a few months ago from our local consignment store, but the price tag was more than I could afford for the saddle...so I bought my awesome western saddle instead...haha...

Off to write a letter to Santa I suppose :)

Video Time!

2011-08-19T14:03:00.000-07:00

Footage from our lesson this morning...Not much to say here except that yes, it's as fun as it looks :)

BIG thanks to my mom for taking such great video footage, it was hard to choose what to post!

A little grid to an oxer...

Baby's first SKINNY!

It Keeps Getting Better!

2011-08-18T09:23:00.000-07:00

Last year I wondered if my horse liked to jump...I was on the fence (pun intended) as to whether he was going to go the distance as a jumping horse...while he jumped most everything put in front of him, at times he didnt seem so sure of himself which made me question whether he was really having fun with it.

I can safely say there is no doubt in my mind that he loves it now. As I said before I think he just needed a minute to grow up and get a bit more balanced, because once again we had another fantastic jumping lesson yesterday! We started off with a grid. We trotted in over a crossrail and cantered away over a raised cavaletti set one stride after. Then we put up a second crossrail, then a one stride. So in total once it was built all the way out, it was a bounce, one stride to a one stride. He rocked the grid no problem...decidedly too cocky. We worked his rhythm before the fence (collected, quiet trot) and in the line I made sure to sit up (vs fold over dramatically thus encouraging his display of speed and aerodynamics). After the last jump I alternated between transitions from canter to walk on a straight line and 10 meter circles in the collected canter.

From there we added in 3 single fences to make a course, a left turn to a vertical, another left around to a stone wall and an oxer off the right. We jumped them in the canter with two placing poles in front of each effort (the first pole set 9 feet from the base of the jump, the next one set out 9 more feet from the first pole). The poles were designed to make him pay attention to his footwork before the fence. In addition, they really helped me to feel the correct distance and remind me to just sit up and support him. Once he bounded over the first pole my job was to stay strong through my leg and core while keeping him straight to the center of the fence, but otherwise staying completely out of his way so he could navigate the obstacle and make his own decisions at the base undisturbed by me.

Net net, it panned out great. We jumped the grid to the 3 fences twice and he was perfect. I was pretty proud of myself too for staying "in my place" and out of his way. It seemed to work well, he's making clever decisions and sees the distances really accurately. For the first time in a long time I feel really secure jumping. My last couple of mounts have always had quirks or stopping issues or other idiosyncrasies that scared me a little when I went around. On Pongo, even though he is the greenest of them all by a long shot, I feel like we're gonna be ok. So far, he just goes and jumps...hopefully we can keep that momentum.

Once again I felt that the exercises were all very thoughtfully designed to set us up for success. The grid gave him lots to mull over and helped him think about what his feet were doing. The single fences with the poles helped me as much as they helped him by reminding me at what point I need to have him prepared in the correct balance, straightness and quality canter so that I can get out of his way and let him figure out the fence in front of us. Nothing good ever happens if you're still fussing with your horse 2 strides in front of an obstacle, right?! He needs to concentrate at that point and not hear all the noise from his rider trying to fix things she should have fixed 10 strides ago :)

So, we're doing it again tomorrow to show mom who will hopefully be coming to watch our lesson and video a course or two for you all!

He's Out!

2011-08-17T07:25:00.000-07:00

...and now he's back in! After a whopping 3 days in his new pasture I've decided to close the gate to freedom and keep my horse in his {very large} paddock. Why? Because I came out to the farm yesterday to find a wild case of scratches on his back legs and right front leg. In 20 years of riding I've actually never dealt with scratches first hand {just lucky I guess}. However, I know what they look like and luckily have some stuff I'm hoping treat them {time will tell}. Apparently {according to barn sources}, there is a plant out there that the ponies are allergic to...say what? It's pretty common for this to happen at this farm and many horses have this allergy to it...including mine? Alrighty. I have an appointment on the books for Thursday with Dr. W {heaven forbid I go a month without a vet bill}, we'll see what she says. In the meantime I am washing his legs with Malaseb shampoo and slathering on Silver Sulfadiazine cream. I was considering some benadryl too...just to see if that helps if it really is an allergic reaction?

Under saddle he was awesome yesterday. Our new trainer friend Ann rode him for me on Monday {family in town} and she clearly worked A LOT on bending because he was like a wet noodle when I rode him the following day. I did only 20 minutes of ring work then took him out to the little trail trials course and jumped a log and went up and down some banks. I feel like it's a little bit of a dream come true these days...I just hop on my horse, have great rides where I jump fun little stuff like it ain't no thang.

I have a lesson today and then another one on Friday {packing 'em in before work starts back up again in September}. I'm hoping to post video of the lesson on Friday so get excited! In the interim, anyone have any home remedies/cures for scratches?

Happy Place

2011-08-11T07:45:00.000-07:00

I feel like my blog has thrived a bit on the downside of horse ownership - injuries, illness, set back, moves and other general maladies. It's a pleasant change of pace to have so much good stuff to report on as it relates to my horse!

Yesterday we took our second jumping lesson at the new barn. I inadvertently had given Pongo oh, about 4 days off by accident due to him pulling a shoe off earlier in the week so I arrived extra early to give him time to warm up and get his stupid stuff out of the way. It took a good 30 minutes to get him to focus and stop bouncing around my aides like a pin ball. But once he warmed up and expended a little of his silly energy, he got right down to business.

We started the lesson with trot poles again, just back and forth a few times. Then a small one-stride-ish grid consisting of a placing pole, cross rail, placing pole, cross rail followed by another pole. He blasted through the grid like it was nobody's business as if to say...gimme something more interesting girls. We worked the line a couple more times incorporating some trot walk trot transitions before and after the fence to steady the tempo in the line.

From there we worked a tiny four stride line...we started by trotting in over a little cross rail, then making a 10m circle after the first jump then continuing on to the second little vertical. Again, clearly ain't no thang for Pongo, he could have cared less and bounded calmly up over the fences.

Course time! We put it all together and added in a little {plastic} stone wall and a little cross rail bounce. She laid out the course and inserted a few places for me to throw in a circle to help him stay busy and balanced. I was {of course} having palpitations over the stone wall. We've never jumped that big {ahem...2 foot 3 inches, haha} and we've never jumped anything solid {yeah, yeah, it was polymer not flagstone, but still! I didnt want to get up close and personal with it either way}.

Let's just fast forward to the good part....we did the whole course twice and he was absolutely perfect. Yup. That's it. Stone wall, he did not bat an eyelash at it. He just went without hesitation. The 4 stride line, he trotted in and cantered out in exactly four quiet strides.

It's funny because I've only jumped him 2 other times before these most recent lessons and both of those times he wasnt nearly as easy to take around. I think something has clicked. I mean, he looked easy enough for Alexis to ride when he would jump him {very bold, willing, athletic}, but when I had attempted it in my lessons before he still felt so green. So what changed? I think a couple of things. First off, since we did all that natural horsemanship work at our last barn I am not scared of him anymore which makes me a more effective and confident rider vs. a nervous nellie. I know I am in the drivers seat and he's listening to me...not a ticking time bomb waiting for an excuse to blow. Second, I think he's growing into his body and has much much better balance and self carriage which is clearly giving him confidence in himself. He's strong, yet not tossing around his body weight anymore. He's not unsure at the base of anything because I think he gets it that {at least at this height of fence} he can fly over the obstacle without much effort. In general on the flat he's more steady and straight - really tracking between my hand and leg aides evenly so there's no wiggling in front of the jump. Third, I think the time spent with Alexis just learning to jump was invaluable for him. He had the basics in there, it was just a matter of growing up a bit and processing them I think.

Whatever it is, I want to keep this good mojo going! My plan is to take 2 lessons next week {Monday and Friday}. We have family in town on Friday so I want to make sure we put on a good show, hence the extra schooling on Monday.

No shoe

2011-08-09T11:08:00.001-07:00

No shoe, no ride, no blog post...hopefully will get it put on today at some point so I can ride him before our lesson tomorrow morning. *Fingers Crossed!*

Jump Around...

2011-08-05T12:46:00.000-07:00

I just got home from the barn and wow...nothing makes me happier than a good ride on my horse.

It's been a busy week these first few days at our new farm. It took a full 3 days to settle in for Pongo. Days one and two were tense and edgy as he scouted out his new surroundings. By Thursday I felt like for the first time since his injury that I had my horse back. It was a little emotional. It's been a roller coaster bringing him back to work. Lots of ups, downs, falling off, getting back on, temper tantrums (his and mine), moving barns (twice), fear and rebuilt trust. He was so good on Thursday that I decided to put together some poles and a little cross rail up towards the end of our sesh. He navigated the poles with ease and popped over the cross rail in the trot like it was nothing. I had such a balanced canter that dayI wound up cantering him back and forth over the jump a few times before calling it a day. He schooled it like an old pro. I worked on keeping my position, not getting ahead of him and supporting him with my leg. He seemed pretty proud of himself, I was beaming.

I ran into the eventing trainer in the barn and told her of our successful ride. I asked if she wanted to help us play over some fences Friday morning and of course, she was game. Instantly the nerves set in, I had scheduled our first jumping lesson since last November. EEEK. Some of you may remember how that November 2010 lesson was our first and last jumping lesson because he injured himself later that same day when he cast himself in his stall. Would I be able to replicate Thursday's ride again on Friday with this new trainer, or was that awesome ride a total fluke???

When I arrived at the barn this morning the butterflies were alive and well in my stomach. All the variables were swirling around in my head from my confidence issues, to knowing my young horse hasn't done a ton of work over fences, to trusting a new trainer. But what I was confident in is I could clearly articulate the goal of the session, building his confidence and mine over poles and small fences. The trainer was very understanding and I felt like going into the lesson we were 100% on the same page.

We started over a series of several trot poles. We worked on a balanced, quiet approach starting with some transitions from trot to walk to trot before and after the series of poles. This helped to get Pongo attentive to my aids and balance from back to front - eventually we didn't have to do the full transition, but I was able to just do a half-halt and achieve the balance when his rhythm quickened a bit.

From there we picked up the canter and worked over a series of 4 canter poles on a straight line. Before and after the poles we worked the canter on a circle to engage his inside hind leg, pushing him up into my outside rein. He was stellar, balanced and listening. I was geniunely surprised by how hard he was trying. He had that "rocking horse" canter that just rolled along, light and soft over his back.

After playing with the poles she set up two trot poles then a cross rail. He could have cared less. He plodded through like a mule. Then we added another trot pole followed by another cross rail...ahhhh...now we perk up a bit. The first time through he was a little unsure of the second fence, but with just a little leg cruised through the exercise. The second time through, he stayed steady through the poles, then popped over the first cross rail, then he powered over the second cross rail with ease. What I really liked was that she reminded me throughout the lesson to tell him through pats and scratches what a good boy he was being. Sometimes I get so in the zone I forget to tell him he's been good! It was fun to give him a little love here and there when he got it right.

Total success. He was so proud of himself, I was so proud of him. He was quiet, willing and happy. You know, all I want is a good horse that clicks around a course with confidence. I don't care how long it takes to get there as long as he and I feel secure and sure of ourselves every step of the way. I appreciate very much how conservative the trainer was and how she really listened to my concerns that we take it easy. The progression of the lesson gave me confidence in her which in turn translated into relaxation in my riding which in turn led to a very happy young horse who felt good about his job. I think it's not that I'm scared of my horse, but I have a healthy respect that he's green and I've got a little bit of an anxious side when it comes to jumping (even though I love to do it). So, knowing that we were able to progress logically and slowly today to achieve the goal really made me happy. I cant wait to do it all over again next week!

Watch this....

2011-08-01T18:52:00.000-07:00

I want to share with you all about our move to our new barn today, but I came across this video today on another blog and I think it's more important than my silly move-in story...if it gets just one person who doesnt wear a helmet, or one person who sometimes wears a helmet, or a person who wears a helmet without a chin strap to wear a full, certified helmet every ride, then I feel like I've done something useful with this blog.

This is a video by FEI rider Courtney King Dye...she chose to ride a horse without a helmet, a horse that in her own words "...has never done anything naughty remotely."...well the day she came off was no exception, her horse was cantering down the long side and simply tripped over his own feet and fell down, he never did anything naughty. She hit her head and as many of you know it's been a long 16 month road to recovery.

"Learn to expect the unexpected, safety has nothing to do with level of skill." ~ Courtney King Dye

Watch her video HERE.

Need another reason to wear your helmet meet Kristin Webber...her horse also tripped and fell during a schooling ride, she hit her head and passed away. On her memorial page is a picture of her with my retired upper level horse, Navy (he's the big gray guy with the two ladies). She used to be a trainer at my barn in GA.

Wear your helmet every horse, every ride. Coming from a western barn where very few riders wear their helemts to a dressage barn where again...wearing your helmet might mess up your uptight bun or whatever, I just dont get it. This CAN happen to you...I'm annoyed with the degree of casualness about the issue at some facilities. Let's do something about it and set a good example!

"Everyone is an example for someone..." ~ Courtney Dye King

Feelin' Free

2011-07-29T09:09:00.000-07:00

I have so much swirling around in my head right now it's exhausting...but the dominant feeling is one of total freedom. God's closed some doors (again) and in their place opened new, better, different, challenging ones (again). In the midst of the ruckus of a life going at 100mph He gives me rest and constant reminders of the blessings and provision only He can be so faithfully counted on to provide.

What I find interesting are the pieces God moves around are not the pieces that define me, those He leaves well alone and for that I am grateful. Him, family, church, friends, community and love, He lets these be and provides in ample amounts and reminds me that is where my passion and focus should take up residence and settle in.

It's been nice to find myself with a bit more time to spend with Pongo this summer. He's come so far since a few months ago where I was quite honestly scared of him. He's settled back into his normal, happy self. Young horses are so funny because they're constantly changing as they try to figure out who they want to be when they grow up. I haven't blogged about our last few rides because for once, nothing particularly eventful has transpired. I've been stepping up the intensity of his flatwork bit by bit and seeing how he feels. On the whole, he's doing really well. I think his left hock is still bugging him, which in turn bugs me. I feel like we might need to have the vet out and I suspect we may need to inject it. I'm waiting though and playing around with his warm up to see if I can work him through some of his stiffness. It seems to be working. I think once he's at his new barn and has a bigger pasture with some incline to it, that will help things a bit too.

I am beyond excited for our lesson with Alexis on Sunday, it's going to be a hot one...but worth it. I am curious to see how Pongo does away from home, at his old home. Full update on Monday! Happy weekend!

Booked!

2011-07-24T08:41:00.000-07:00

...a lesson that is! I am finally returning to the land of training my horse. After an extended hiatus as a paddock ornament/western trail horse/round pen aficionado I have decided to get going once again with my rather homely looking appaloosa. The once muscular, shiny, perfectly coiffed beast has given way to a slighter built {I'm having a touch of trouble keeping weight on him these days}, shaggy, non-pulled mane ragamuffin.

It's time to shape up. First order of business...scheduling a LESSON. Fortunately Alexis has put his calendar online {tres convenient} and so I was able to select a time slot from the comfort of my home office. We're all signed up for next Sunday at 11:45...I cant wait. No, I'm not thrilled about paying the $35 haul in fee on top of my lesson fee, but honestly with the barn move happening I'm not sure how often I will be able to zip over to Denville-Kanani anyways after 8/1 - not more than once a month max, if that unfortunately and I really want to get a ride in with my favorite trainer on the planet. My current barn is a 10-minute jaunt from Alexis....the new barn, more like 40 minutes {not terrible, but means it'll consume most of a day to get loaded, haul, ready, ride, socialize, haul back and unload}.

So does this mean we'll be showing this fall...I hope so! I'd like to get him back in the dressage ring sooner rather than later. I'd also like to resume some basic {read: small} jump training with him with the trainer at our new farm. I am not sure if we'll show over fences, we might, but I want to be able to hack him over a small course for fun in a lesson once a week. He's old enough and *I think* done growing {I suspect we're entering the 'filling out' stage'}, I'm not as concerned about him joints and bones as I was last year when he was 4 and clearly still sprouting up and out in every direction.

I was uncharacteristically exhausted yesterday after a morning of bridesmaid dress trying on and shopping in general with my little sister so I didnt make it out to the barn. However, I fully intend to spend my afternoon there today and spruce up my little ragamuffin pony and take him out for a spin.

Winning!

2011-07-23T15:21:00.000-07:00

Two big changes happening in t-minus one week...all very good changes though.

One stays a secret until it happens, the other I will gladly speak up about because it directly involves Pongo. He's moving barns! We got a delightful call from the owner of the barn I fell in love with last week. She has plenty of room for my boy and a couple of different pasture/paddock options to pick from to boot! I couldnt be happier. I loved this facility, the owner was so sweet and talked to me over an hour about the place and it's cheaper than where we're at now because she doesn't charge for trailer parking {meaning board will be $325!}. What a huge answer to prayer and a huge convenience to have my fur-kid ten short minutes from my house.

My plan is to move him next weekend on Saturday or Sunday. I am not sure whether my current barn will require me to give the 30 days notice - meaning that I will effectively owe them 3 weeks of board even though we wont live there. But that's ok if they do. It's only a couple hundred bucks - not ideal to be giving it up, but worth securing our spot at the new farm. He will live in a very large paddock with 2-3 other geldings. Their paddock opens out into a huge pasture when the weather is nice {which is most of the year}. Lucky Pongo.

And the winner is...

2011-07-21T07:08:00.000-07:00

Barn D!

Yesterday I checked out 3 new barns for the Pong. The first two were deep in wine country. The surrounding areas were beautiful, I could completely imagine myself driving through the vineyards after work to go see my main fur-squeeze. However, the facilities themselves were a little bit light on the free play space. With only being at the barn 4 days a week Pongo needs a BIG paddock with room to play or just flat out pasture. Barns C and L simply didnt have it.

Barn D was my dream barn. As I drove up I saw acres of pasture, large paddocks, a great covered ring, huge outdoor jump ring and lots of space to putter around and hack. I got an un-official tour from the resident dressage trainer and caught wind that a local eventing trainer I know is planning to bring her business over to the farm as well. Meaning more than anything - there are competent people to ride my horse in the event I need some help :)

Here's the catch though, I have not been able to connect with the owner of the barn. I left her an email and voicemail yesterday and another email today just saying I took a little tour and would love to know if they have availability.

Great facility, meets all my wish list need to haves and nice to haves! And in the budget 100%. Swoon! Hopefully they have room at the inn for us, or at least a short waiting list! Here's a little pic of the outdoor ring, you can see the pretty, rolling hills surrounding the farm and all the pasture fence lines.

Updates!

2011-07-20T13:47:00.000-07:00

So much to say and so little motivation :)

I still dont have all the pictures from my travels, so I appreciate your patience as I pester the dickens out of my friends and family to PLEASE upload the images. Hint hint ;) That'll teach me not to bring my own camera! Ha!

At any rate, in the land of Pong things have been great. I've had 3 good rides on him since I returned home from my trip. I've cranked up the intensity a bit because I've decided it's finally time to get back to business. Dont get me wrong, I NEEDED the break from the lessons and shows and pressure. We both needed it and it was so much fun. But, now I'm bored, my horse is lazy and at times, blowing off my aids completely because I've been so lackadaisical with him. Not a big deal, just a signal that vacation time is over.

Additionally, I am barn shopping...again. I LOVE my current farm...LOVE. But it's far from my new house (about 25-30 minutes). Life's gone and changed up again and it looks like come September I may be commuting again so I need to close up any inefficiencies in my day - spending an hour a day driving to and from to my horse is too much of a time suck along with the 2 gallons of gas {in my oh-so fuel inefficient SUV} it takes to get there and back.

Fortunately I have wonderful friends that have helped me make the decision to only ride 4 days a week. I compared notes with some other "working {horse} moms" and most of them are spending 3-4 days {2 of which are weeknights, 2 are weekend days} with their horse. I feel much less guilty now. I almost feel like Pongo gets too fit when ridden 6 days a week, so I think 4 days with me, or 3 days with me and one day with a friend I am attempting to woo to ride him once a week, would be a perfect arrangement.

For reference, our current farm is 13.4 miles from home and a 25 minute drive. We have 3 new farms under consideration:

Barn C
6.5 miles from home ~ 15 minute drive
Owned by a family who goes to my church, offers 24x64 large paddocks for $325. Hack track through vineyards around the property, 2 round pens, large 70x200 covered arena, outdoor arena with all-weather footing, lights and full jump course.

Barn L
7.4 miles from home ~ 16 minute drive
40 acres with barns, paddocks with shelters, pasture, arenas—outdoor and covered, round pen
Price TBD? Looking at it today!

Barn D
4.8 miles ~ 10 minute drive
Large indoor and 2 outdoor rings, huge barn, turnouts
Price, trail access and availability of paddocks/pasture unknown. Looking at it today!

Must haves:
Pasture board or large paddock or ample {6hr+/day} turnout
Covered arena with good footing
Access to trails
$450 or less/month

Nice to haves:
Trainer on premises
Outdoor ring
Round pen
Jumps

Wish me luck!

Preview Post

2011-07-17T07:29:00.000-07:00

...sitting in the Continental lounge waiting for my flight back to CA. Back to my regularly scheduled life. Part of me is ready to go home, mainly because I miss my boys and can't wait to spend the night in my own bed. But a larger portion of me is wishing the week away didnt have to come to an end. A benefit of having lived all over the US is you have friends wherever you go, the drawback is it means some of the people you love the most you only see a few times per year and the visits are never ever long enough...

So, what'd I do this trip...here's a sneak peek...pictures will be posted in a day or two!

Met my new baby bestie, Avery Reese Knox and spent five relaxing, wonderful days with my best friend {Avery's mommy} Alexis. While the baby had a little something to do with our agenda, more accurately complete lack there of, it was precious time to just be together, watch unhealthy amounts of Bravo/Real Housewives, eat smores and marvel over little Aves.

Tuesday brought with it excellent news about a new development that I hope to share with you all very soon.

Spent an evening with an old friend catching up at my favorite Northern VA restaurant...trying to convince him to follow his dreams, quit his job and move to the beach for a few months {preferably a beach in CA}...life's too short not to if you can.

Headed up to NJ to "Bastani-land" aka my parent's house. This part of the trip was far too short and interrupted by a full day's work on Thursday {wasnt allowed to take the whole week off}, but it was good none the less to steal away precious moments with my Grandpa {whom I havent seen since my Grandma's funeral} and my Grandma from Iran {who I only see maybe once every other year} and the rest of the fam.

Thursday night took me 40 minutes south to visit Marissa, Tucker and Julie! Horse fix, check!

Friday the family went to Kleinfeld in NYC to "say yes to the dress". My sister found a gorgeous gown in record time. Easily the most beautiful bride in the salon. We jetted over to the Plaza hotel to celebrate over afternoon tea, something I've never done. It was delish and the perfect way to cap off a wildly swanky day.

Saturday brought with it more hang out time with the family at the house and a much needed pool/sun sesh. Getting a little more accustomed to my hysterical two new little brothers - my sister's fiance and his brother. Not used to getting squirted with water guns and dodging footballs being lobbed at my head at top speed. That evening my parents hosted a beautiful engagement party for the happy couple. More friends and family, more laughs, more schenanigans.

I peeled myself out of bed this morning said goodbye to those who were up...slim pickins, as the majority of the revelers were still snoozing...and headed off to the airport....

Family, friends, laughs, rest...remembering that despite what anyone else might say you're loved and accepted. Taking away the lesson that for all the people who may choose not to have you in their life, dont ever discredit the ones who do choose to have you in theirs. Some might call the occasional thanks but no thanks rejection, I choose call it the blessing of "quality control" these days ;) Happy Sunday!

PDP On Location...

2011-07-15T05:21:00.000-07:00

Can you guess which blogger I visited yesterday? Here are a few clues...

This blogger boards at a gorgeous farm on the East Coast...the property boasts massive turnouts and an indoor arena that measures 110x300...that's BIG y'all!

INFAMOUS profile shot of her beautiful gelding highlighting his most distinguishable feature

What you cant see is that her horse is hanging out in a huge mowed field...yet he chooses to stand in the thicket of thistles nearly as tall as he is, hiding from us.

The stall door of this blogger's other gorgeous horse that looks kinda like an oreo cookie...Julie...

So...who did I go visit?!

*Facebook friends you cant play if you saw my status update yesterday :)

Now what?

2011-07-08T07:16:00.000-07:00

I know, light on the Pongo posts...why you ask? Because I have been moving, it's been over 100 degrees every day for the past week, I'm getting ready for a week of vacation and navigating a few other unforseen life events! Generally speaking Pongo is great! Roasting in the weather, but arent we all? The only time I've had to ride is mid-afternoon and I just cant bring myself to do it. I've had commitments every night for the past well...as long as I can remember. The good news is the house is really coming along and I love every inch of it. I love living virtually next door to one of my very best friends and 5 or 10 minutes max away from everyone else I adore to boot!

Yesterday I was finally able to go see the pony at a reasonably cool hour of the day and he was fab-u-lous. After 2 days off I expected to have my hands full, but instead I was able to tack up, hop on {sans lunging} and tromp all over the property on a loose rein while on the phone with my parents to boot! He spooked a teeny tiny bit here and there, I just let him handle his business and we carried on with our hack. After a quick spin in the ring I called it a day.

I will say with all of our low-key work he's harder to put together these days. Some of it is his fitness level. Some of it is his left hock, which I think bugs him a bit. Some of it is due to the heat. I am hoping to get a lesson with Alexis next month once my checkbook recovers from my moving/new house expenses. I couldnt be more delighted that my once goofy baby horse is now fairly reliable on the trail. It's a great feeling! But, I'd like to get us back in fighting shape to be competitive in the show ring at some point. We've got a little work to do there!

Lamenesses

2011-07-06T08:20:00.000-07:00

No, for once NOT one of my horses! But, I want to open the discussion up to when do you call the vet, how do you know you have a good vet and how do you know what to do to get your horse well?

I've encountered a lot of lame horses lately, friends, blogs I follow, and everyone has a different approach. The net net of it is, I clearly take a more conservative route than others when it comes to injuries. But what makes one route more right than another?

Yesterday at the barn a fellow boarder presented me with her horse who had firm swelling and a slight bow to his lower tendon area on a front leg. The leg was hot, but it was 100 degrees out so all his legs were hot. He was very lame. After looking him over she decided to bute him and watch it. Hmmm...I know from experience that it was too swollen for an ultrasound, but something about just buting and putting him back didnt sit well with me. But then again, I like to call the Pongo medical dream team together if he looks at me funny from across the farm :)

Or, for another friend, when do you do the long HARD work of properly rehabbing a torn suspensory ligament vs. calling it a day and throwing your horse in pasture to hope they work it all out on their own and not end up more injured?

I'm not saying there is a right answer to any of it...it just perplexes me. Horses are so fragile and when they get really injured the very tedious, careful, slow going road to recovery is difficult at best, downright dangerous at worst and ultimately results in the horse coming back to work in some capacity only some of the time. It's hard to read blogs and hear stories from friends about their injured horses, makes me sad. Then reading everyone's different approaches to care, metrics for success/improvement, etc. is interesting as well...there's just no science to it, or is there?

Moving Day(s)

2011-06-29T10:14:00.000-07:00

It's moving day{s}!

Today the packers are coming to pack the house, tomorrow the movers are coming to move us on over to Livermore to our new place!

Wish me luck with the moving, there's a lot to do! Fortunately, there is a long weekend ahead and lots of friends and loved ones stepping up to help a sista out! I officially got the keys to my new place and took a load of things over last night. I cant wait to live in this house, it's fantastic! No more sharing walls with neighbors, a new kitchen, a legit master suite and a real backyard...a little slice of heaven in the country. God is so generous!

Pongo is doing well, the vet came out yesterday - and as I suspected she would - clipped off the dangling tag of skin left from his little injury. She glued him back together and put a make-shift band-aid on the site to hold some antibiotic ointment on the wound. I'm planning to go check on him later today, but he's taking a back seat this week due to the move unfortunately. His timing was quite good as far as needing and subsequently getting a few days of rest, good pony for not making me feel guilty for neglecting to ride you!

Between the dogs' annual check up/shots and Pongo's debacle it was a $600 in vet bills kinda day! Yikes! My sweet Peanut had his first "Senior" blood panel pulled at his check up. This panel looks at this kidneys and other organs functions to make sure his body is holding up. Little man is turning 8 this year and definitely slowing down just a little {translation: in Jack Russell terms this means he has the energy level of a normal dog now instead of 12 Energizer Bunnies on crack}. As I asked a million questions about older dog care, my vet chuckled and said we've got a long way to go before this fur-ball will be considered geriatric and to enjoy a more mellow fellow for a few more years. The paranoid supplementer in me probed about Cosequin and Adequan and Platinum Performance for him. The always practical vet said to just stick with the good food he's getting and take him for more walks so he doesnt look quite so much like an over-inflated football...Point taken Dr. Krome :)

Snaggle-Muzzle

2011-06-28T07:33:00.000-07:00

...and we're taking a week off for an injured nose. It never fails to amaze me how every single month there is a vet bill for something. I now have a permanent line item in my budget {$200} for VET. April brought with it a lameness re-check as we returned to full work after the great casting of 2010. May was routine shots. June ushers in a maimed muzzle. Marissa, can I get an "amen"?

I didnt notice anything out of the ordinary at first blush on Monday afternoon. My typical once-over as I approach my horse every day is focused primarily on checking all four extremeties for infirmaries like swelling, cuts, etc. I didnt notice the muzzle injury until I had him out of his paddock. He stood, completely refusing to move, after I took him through the paddock gate as if to say "WAIIIIT...look at me, something is wrong with me!". As I urged him on I saw it, a thumb-tip sized flap of skin hanging precariously from his face. I rushed over to look at it...ugh...gross...it had clearly happened hours ago. There was no blood, just a dirt and various nastiness caked around it.

I marched him over to the wash rack to take a better look. It didnt look infected, just painful. I cold hosed it {and got a full body shower} to loosen the crust around it and in it then gave him 1cc of Ace because he was not about to let me clean it out. I was able to get a little betadine in there, after rinsing it out I gave it a quick spray of Vetricin and called my vet. We concluded it was likely not a life-threatening, let's do an after hours expensive visit to treat it. So, she is coming out today to assess the wound. I suspect she's going to need to cut off the flap that's hanging. I feel terrible for Pongo, it's not going to feel good for a while. It's in an odd place because it's just going to be impossible to keep clean. He has his nose on the ground all day sniffing, eating...I have no idea how to really care for the injury other than to try to get it as clean as I can once, maybe twice a day. Faces have many blood vessels so I'm sure it will heal very fast, my concern is I don't want him to have "snaggle-muzzle" with some gross flap of random, mangled skin for the rest of his life. Especially since he has such a pretty face!

The next question is who did this to him? Well...at the end of the day, I really don't know. He shares 3 fence lines with other random horses. It could be one of many little pony friends. He did get a new roommate over the weekend and she's beat him up a little bit here and there, just a few scrapes and nicks, but I cant definitively say it was her either. One of those mysteries we'll never solve probably. I texted his roomie's owner since she is a friend of mine and she told me that she'd seen the injury earlier that morning. While I was happy to have a timeline of how old the wound might be, I was bummed that after seeing my horse hurt she didnt alert me or the barn owner. Hopefully things go down differently next time there's an injury in the barn yard. In the interim Miss M and I plan to keep a close eye on Pongo and his new roommate to see if the current living situation is going to work out or not. If I had to put my money down on what happened, my guess is that the horses were playing with fly masks and he got chomped. Stuff happens, I'm not too concerned about the whole ordeal, just want to make sure everyone is in the right paddock for their personality and getting along.

Not to be overshadowed by a random injury I would also like to alert the presses that we went on a real trail ride and lived to tell the tale! My lesson over the weekend consisted of Miss M and I tacking up and heading out back to conquer {part} of our barn's 800 acres of open space. Funny thing is, there is nothing to really say about it other than he was calm and cool. We walked and trotted around behind Miss M as she and her horse Nick led the way. We spent some time practicing going up and down steep hills {at the walk} which literally made my heart leap into my throat as we scooted calmly down some crazy declines. The western saddle helped immensely as my trusty trail mount navigated the terrain. We stayed out all of 45 minutes which was plenty of time in my book! I can't wait to get out there again as soon as possible...hopefully we can book another trail lesson this weekend if the muzzle is healed up a bit.

Fine Tuning

2011-06-23T19:09:00.000-07:00

The weather is finally cooling off here in the Bay Area. The stagnant heat is giving way to comfortably warm air with a slight breeze. Everyone relaxes a bit as we settle into what we believe the ideal summer day should feel like against our skin.

The horses approach their jobs with a more agreeable demeanor as we swing heavy equipment on their backs and get ready for a ride. A far cry from the cantankerous "you want me to carry you AND that heavy saddle for how long?" look received earlier in the week from my spotted friend when the temps soared close to 100 degrees.

I almost cancelled my lesson last night in fear of the uncomfortable temps, but as 4:30 rolled around I was pleased to see the indicator in my car read 85 degrees. Perfect riding weather for the covered arena where the wind wafts through.

Pongo put up far less protest to our hulking western saddle, standing relatively still for the first time ever. A pleasant surprise. My shoulders are screaming at me these days from lifting this heavy rig up onto his 16.2 hand frame.

We marched into the ring and Miss M led us through a series of stretching exercises to warm up MY body. Imagine that? I warm up Pongo everyday, but never think about moving my own limbs around to prepare for the work. He was a little squirrely at first, cinchy through his sides when I'd move my legs coupled with a nervous glean to his eye. He got over himself quickly though and we spent the remainder of the lesson on simple equitation principles, mostly at the trot. Bottom line, I am all over the place in my western tack. It's a completely different set-up than my familiar english duds (but did I mention how pretty my saddle is...oh yeah, that's right, I did two posts on it)! I feel like my aides are not nearly as clear because my balance is not firmly established yet in the western tack. As a result, my horse is fairly unclear as to what I want from him about 75% of the ride. I chalk of the 25% where he gets it to sheer luck :)

I feel confident though that with practice, the lines of communication will become clearer, less fuzzy. It's going to take some time I suspect. Ultimately, the point of the western saddle is to be more secure outside, so I'm not too concerned about how my flatwork goes in it. However, the perfectionist in my wants my horse - and myself for that matter - to be competitive and correct no matter what clothes we're wearing...so we're gonna just keep practicing!

After the lesson Pongo and I ventured out on the trail to tackle the back gate again (note that this back gate leads out to 800 acres of hilly trails I am determined to ride on for hours before summer's end). He was reliably sensible and soft all the way from the ring to the gate (about a half mile to a mile distance I would guess). Feeling bold, I actually did some trot work out in the back field and then pushed him up into a slow canter going away from the barn towards the gate. He felt like a good 'ole trail horse! He loped along contentedly and halted the second I asked. He walked casually back to the barn without incident and we called it a day.

Patience and repetition...such simple principles but taking the time to go back to the basics and patiently reinforce what is acceptable behavior is building a fine level of confidence for both me and Pongo. It's funny because I've been just doing the same (somewhat boring) things day after day for the last month. I remember starting back at square one a few weeks ago wondering, "when will I get to just RIDE my horse again"...well, here we are...it didn't take as long as I thought. I'm beyond pleased with the progress.

I am hoping to schedule a ride with Alexis in the not too distant future now that we're back on track work-wise! I miss my trainer like crazy and want to show him the progress we've made!

Winning!

The Blog Guidebook

2011-06-22T11:51:00.000-07:00

I found this new site, it's pretty cool...called The Blog Guidebook!

The Blog Guidebook is the vision of two friends who want to see the blogging community grow in friendship, creativity and beauty. Creating a blog whose format is pretty, attractive and a little bit girly. They wanted to make it easy for you to find answers to those basic blogging questions, when you just need that little bit of extra help.

That's really what blogging is all about, right?!

Established in 2010, The Blog Guidebook encompasses all bloggers, be they crafty, creative, cooks, bakers, teens, moms, dads, children in need, pet lovers, home-stylers, antiquers, flea marketers, homeschoolers, doctors, lawyers, in any country, and on and on. You name it, you can blog it. And they want to read it! We've created over one hundred categories just for you to find the blogs you've been looking for.