Saddle Shopping for Broke People...

...turns into me dropping a few $$$ on a used Circuit I found on my local tack swap FB page. It's a 17.5" medium tree - not sure of model. It's in great condition and is much nicer than my old one (not saying much there). The leather is nice and sticky and the seat looks comfy. I'm very excited to try it out in my next lesson. I will be asking to borrow some leathers though because my current ones are so so SO old and I'm afraid they'll break.

I have no media from my first few lessons of April, but I do have a little vid from Tuesday the 12th of Wolf and I going through a little three stride. This lesson and the one before it I worked on a couple of small courses of about six jumps. Wolf was amazing in that he let me do whatever and still jumped each jump willingly.

Had a lesson this past Saturday and rode Moose, a huge chestnut gelding. He was good until we went to canter and he just wouldn't. In fact he would halt almost every time I asked for it. M got on and had the same trouble, but finally did get a lap or two out of him. I got back on and tried again and worked on canter transitions the rest of the lesson. Eventually we were able to do a couple of flying changes and called it good so that Zoe could start her lesson. As I've now come to expect, she was unbelievable. She is now trotting and steering by herself (in her fourth lesson). No media because my phone died :(

Lessons 3/26 and 4/2

I rode Junior again last Saturday, March 26. We finally were able to ride outside! I really do prefer outside to inside. Up here in the Northeast we are stuck in indoors for several months, so any chance to ride outside is a bonus! We warmed up with some trot poles; again I sat down and asked for a leg yield over the the rail, but failed every time. I'm sure it's all me. We come out of the poles, I sit, use outside rein and inside leg, but not enough. I don't think I'm strong enough yet. Plus Junior likes to root and pull so my leg yield ends up being just me trying to pull his head up and push his body over while he trots quickly and I bounce there on top of him. I don't have any video of that portion of the lesson, unfortunately. But Almost-Fiance did get the canter poles and 'jumping' recorded so I will post that.

Junior's canter is quite nice. He gets into a steady rhythm and I'm able to stand off his back and let him keep a good pace.

Canter poles were fine:

'

Next we did some baby jumping for this big baby (me). The first two times through I completely dropped him and he stopped. I'm definitely not going to post that. He wasn't dirty about it, just responded to my lack of direction. I let myself tense up and freeze - my leg came off, eyes looked down and I gave up. There's my jumping fear for you. Third time around we caught the jump fine. We continued around on a big circle, catching the jump each time in both directions. Even though I'm barely jumping, what maybe 14"?, it still feels amazing to be back doing what I love.

tiny baby jump

And I'll say, even though Junior 'stopped' I didn't feel nearly as afraid as when I was jumping Vinny.

Zoe also had a lesson and did fabulously as usual: 

yeah i know i cut her head off.

This past Saturday morning I was supposed to have another lesson on Junior, but alas he was feeling mighty stubborn, so it turned into more of a training ride. The old man would not stay at a trot more than a few steps. I tried big spurs, little spurs, small squeeze with my calf, kicking, smacking his flank with my hand, a crop, kissing sounds, clucking etc. Even M got on and while she was a bit more successful than me, still couldn't really get him to go all the way around the ring. After twenty minutes of fighting with me, we finally did a few laps and circles at the trot in each direction and that's about all we had time for. M didn't charge me thankfully. It only occurred to me later when I got home that maybe I should have tried picking up the canter to see if that would wake him up a little and then come down to the trot. Oh well. No media - nothing really to see anyway.

Next lesson is on Wednesday, First group lesson in years. M said it would be fun so I thought I would try it out. Not usually a huge fan but hoping that maybe I'll get to know other riders this way. (I'm awkward and horrible at making friends). 

Zoe Rides 3/19

I know I mentioned in a previous post that my step-daughter, Zoe, is just learning to ride. Here's a little update on her. She had her second lesson, ever, on the 19th and boy did she amaze me!

Zoe on Rosie, and me on Brielle. The mares were not pleased by this photo op. 

M had her on the longe line for only a few minutes before she set her loose around the ring. She is already starting to master posting and sitting trot, and changing gaits from walk, to trot to walk, to halt, etc. I'm sure you can tell how proud I am of my girl!

Lesson 3/15

A wee bit late on this post I know.

I rode Junior this time and really liked him. He seemed to be the perfect school horse, in my opinion. A tall bay gelding, with typical school horse quirks. He liked to pull blankets and halters off of their hooks, and avoid being bridled. But then again he was so sweet that I really didn't mind.

He didn't take a whole lot of leg but did need some guiding through my outside aids to avoid bulging shoulders in both directions. We had a nice relaxing warm up of working walk and trot, then M sent us through some trot poles where we then did a leg yield over to the rail at the sitting trot in each direction. It felt just okay. I need lots of work on my sitting trot. I felt as if I was bouncing all over the place and tended to brace a little more than I would like.

Junior is an interesting ride when asked to do downward transitions. He likes to pull and will literally throw his head down and trot as fast as he can while I try to get his head up. Kinda funny. M said he wouldn't do that so much if he had a regular rider. I'm sure she's right. Other than that I really enjoyed him. We moved up into his very (to me) up and down canter. M said our pace was good, but man did I feel like we weren't going anywhere. We did some circles so that I could really feel how to correct his bulging and then hit the quarter line into three canter poles. Each time felt pretty good and I was able to work on myself a lot - like counting strides and keeping my shoulders back.

Eventually we added a little jump into our circle at the canter and again I was able to work on seeing the distance by counting down from three and five. I felt great on Junior and was really able to trust him. That's something I had been missing for over two years - being able to have some sort of trust that my mount is going to get me over the fence. I was able to take a deep breath and not totally freak out that I would botch the distance and end up on his neck, or worse. What a relief.

After a few jumps in each direction we called it good. I can't express enough how wonderful it feels to be jumping a trust worthy horse.

Goals 2016

This post is a little late, yes, but I'm doing it anyway.

Fitness Goals:

• continue to work out at least five days per week - right now I do a combo of HIIT, walking, yoga, and riding 
• bust out 25 'real' push ups - current total: 10 
• climb up to Heubline Tower without stopping - did this twice last year, I know it can be done! (the first part is about 1/2 mile up hill)

• do yoga 2x per week - this will hopefully translate wonderfully into my riding 
• find new hiking spots with hills - change it up! 
• continue to track and log my calories every day - I use My Fitness Pal for this - love it

Riding Goals: 

• ride at least once per week 
• work out a deal to have one lesson and one hack per week by end of year - $ permitting
• get through a lesson without any breaks - doesn't count if I need water or horse needs it
• work on closing hip angle over fences - I know that Alyssa and Niamh have had issues with this and apparently it's a flexibility issue (hoping yoga will help) 
• if riding goal #2 works out, do lots of no-stirrup work and two point - and participate in 2pointober and No Stirrup November!
• get over fear of jumping - maybe a riding (sports) psychology book will help? Feel free to recommend one.

Tonight:

New Trainer=Better Lessons

At the suggestion of a riding acquaintance, I decided to email a place that I knew of about 10 minutes from my house. Friends board their horses at the cheaper facility across the street from the barn they take lessons at. (What a good idea - gotta keep that in mind whenever we are able to purchase a horse)

Something must have clicked in my head because I chose to be very upfront and firm with my email; letting my future trainer know exactly what I was looking for and especially about wanting help in getting over my fear of jumping.

A few days later I got a call from the BO and we spoke for a few minutes about the three trainers they have and what times would work best for me. We arranged a lesson and it was really a great one. I even posted on my FB that it was the best lesson I'd had in the four years I've been back to riding.

                                           Here's a pic pulled from Google of new facility. 

New trainer, M, set me up on Anton - a bay gelding (wish I had a pic) of, I'm assuming here, some WB descent. He was awesome. Forward, and willing, and sensitive to the aids. We worked on some bending, collection and extension at the trot and canter, busted out a clean change through the diagonal, and hit some trot and canter poles.

I surprised myself by being able to clearly count out the distance on the canter poles. I thought my eye was shot for sure, but I guess that's not the case! Yay.

Finally we jumped a tiny Xrail back and forth, stopping straight. He was perfect, seemed to enjoy it, was forward, and didn't scare me at all. Winning!

We had a few laps of cool down while watching another rider jump her huge WB around some tiny jumps (she never called where she was going so that was interesting) and untacked and groomed.

Needless to say, I am stoked about this facility and trainer. She really pushed me and seemed to know what she was talking about. She didn't let me take long breaks and called out my little bad habits as they came up. Loved it.

Next lesson was wonderful as well. I was put up on Brielle, a dark bay mare - pretty sure she was some TB or TBx.

She took a lot more leg than Anton and tended to bulge her shoulders out in both directions. My aids really had to be spot on to get her to bend in our trot circles. We eventually got a few good ones.

                                                     Am I pitching forward, errrr?

 We worked on some trot poles, where she loved to die out and stumble, and then went up to the canter.

                                                                      Sit, Kaysee, Sit!

M had us do some lengthening on the long sides and then collect for some bendy circles. This went much better than the trot ones in my opinion. Finally we went through canter poles and again, she loved to die out. I had a hard time keeping leg on in my half seat. Guess I need to really work on my legs.

                                                           Heading into some poles.

Tuesday is my next lesson! Maybe I can drag Almost-Fiance out to take vids again.

                                         

                                     

  I'll leave you with this baby-meets-horse cuteness.

Some Okay Lessons

About 1.5 months ago (when Whitney, our daughter, turned 9mo) I decided that I desperately needed to get back into the saddle. I was in quite a rush apparently, and didn't really research facilities like I normally would. I chose the first one that I could think of that was within a few miles of my house.
(For anyone wondering what happened to the old facility I was at, it was bought out by a woman that does Vaulting)

I called the instructor up and we arranged a lesson for a few days later. The facility was nice - a traditional red and white wooden barn with an indoor in the center. I couldn't see much of the outside since it was dark out, but I know there was a big outdoor and another barn up a small hill.


Here's a pic from Google Images. Hopefully that's legal.

She put me up on a little red QH mare that was quite sassy on the ground but okay once in the saddle. Gem was a typical QH, probably had been started western and just doing up down English lessons now. She dove into the center often and took actual kicking in order to move her body laterally. But she was cute and didn't say no to anything I pointed her at.

That's right, this instructor had me jumping little crossrails and 2' verticals on the first day, even though I had told her about my jumping fear (thanks to Vinny). I didn't feel especially proud, since I just sort of sat there and let her do whatever. I quickly realized that she liked the long spot, so I began to ride her right up to the base of the fence. Also I was figuring, if I had some speed and made my intent clear, she wouldn't stop. Mind you - instructor told me that she wasn't going to stop - this 'fear' was all in my head.

Instructor said, hey we're not doing jumpers here, just relax and slow down. So I did. And Gem was fine. She was relaxed and kept a good but slow pace. The rest of the lesson went okay but I wasn't super impressed with the instructor. She seemed more geared towards working with kids. She liked me to stay on the rail (yes in the dreaded rail ditch) and kind of just watched as I went around, without saying much. I tend to like an instructor to pick at me and really make me work so as you can probably tell - this facility and instructor didn't work out for me.

I still took two more lessons with her before deciding that I would find a new place.

My step daughter, Zoe did end up taking her first lesson at this facility and blew me away with her natural skill. A working student led her around as she got the hang of posting the trot - on her first day! Maybe I will post a vid. Have to make sure it's okay with her dad.

Unfortunately, I don't have anyone to take pics/vids of my riding. Sorry everyone! Maybe on Saturday the Almost-fiance will be able to take some.

All About Marla

I wanted a Boxer for years, as they're good with kids, sweet, smart, fun, and in my opinion, so, SO cute. Finally, after searching for breeders, we found one just over an hour away from us with a litter of puppies around seven weeks old. That weekend, Almost Fiance and I headed on up to the breeder's home where we met a litter of adorable brindle Boxers. We spent a good 45 minutes or so talking to the breeder, playing with the pups and meeting the parents.

Man oh man it was a tough decision, but in the end we settled on a playful and sweet little gal. Her name came to me on the ride home and Almost-Fiance agreed right away. One of our favorite books is "Fight Club" that's how the name Marla came about. 

Now she is full grown at a whopping 44 lbs with her collar on and will be two in June. I can hardly believe it. It feels as if we just got her the other day. She is sweet, silly and wonderful with all of our kids. I will forever refer to her as my first baby. 

Where Have You Been?

I didn't know if I should continue to write in this blog. I didn't know if anyone would still read it after my two year hiatus, if anyone still cared. But I've decided that the purpose of this blog was never to appeal to anyone but myself. So I'm starting again fresh(ish).

My lease with Vinny ended abruptly and happily a few months after my last blog post. We went to finals together and won Reserve Champion, we even did a small cross-rails class at a local non rated show, and it went ok. He didn't refuse and just sort of carried me over everything. We added in one line but won the class. Not much to brag about since the only competition was myself.

Getting him over those cross rails gave me a little hope that we could make that kind of progress at home. We did not progress. I became more unhappy as did he I'm sure.
I'm quite positive now that he had back issues that prevented him from wanting to jump. At first I thought he just needed training rides but in my heart I think I knew something was up. He is now happily living with a woman who's mainly focused on dressage.

As for my personal life, I'll save the gory details and skip ahead to the happily ever after:

After two years of more downs than ups, I've settled down with my almost-fiancé, my three almost-step children, our first baby together and of course the puppy. Yes a big change! But definitely the best one.

There's the last few years wrapped up in a nice little post. Next will be some current riding updates and maybe a product review. Oh and perhaps I will recall how to post pictures from my phone. That would help.

Oh, and thanks to anyone who is still willing to read this.

Need Serious Help

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before. But unfortunately, Vinny is a dirty stopper. He is my first ever experience dealing with this. Any and all advice, help, words of encouragement are welcome. 

Here's what happens:

Vinny and I are trotting or cantering actively towards a small jump. Vinny starts to slow down and I can feel him already refusing. I can then use spur or crop to urge him over the fence. If he flat out WILL NOT go over, I circle tightly around and make him walk over it. 

Not a huge deal right? 

Try this scenario out: 

Vinny and I are trotting or cantering towards a small jump. We get right to the spot where he should take off. He lifts off like he is going over, then suddenly plants himself and I either land on his neck or go sailing over his shoulder. 

In my last lesson, he refused in this way four times. I landed on his neck all four times and ended up having to dismount off of his neck once. In the end, I cried and refused to take him over another jump. 

My trainer thinks that I do not close my leg enough and am not aggressive enough. I think I am. 

After a while of this happening all the time, my mind can no longer handle it. I just don't know what to do. I want to jump so badly. But I'm scared now. I tried to share my feelings with trainer but I'm not sure he understands. He didn't offer much of a solution other than, 'next time I'll throw one of the kids on him first to get him going over everything and then you can get on.' 

Yes Vin does this with the kids too but they don't seem to mind like I do. 

That takes even more of a toll on my mind. It may seem childish of me or whatever but that makes me feel like crud. I want to fix it myself. I want to be capable. And if anyone's going to help me, I want a trainer who can actually get on him and feel what I'm feeling. Not a kid just because that kid is fearless. Does this make sense? 

Anywho. I'm at my wits end with this horse. I can't afford any other arrangement. And I don't want to give up either. What do I do?!?! 

Someone help. Please. 

:( 

enjoying bran mash quite thoroughly. 

Yes Ma'am

Wednesday I went up to the barn right after work to ride. We worked on exactly the things I said I would for once.

The quick walk-trot transitions worked wonders for Vinny. He was extremely responsive to my commands and was a lot less lazy than normal. I felt like by the time we did just a few of these, he was really saying ‘yes ma’am’ to my cues.

I took full advantage of this and made him leg yield on the long sides of the ring and really overly bent him around my leg on a big sitting trot circle. We also threw in a few laps of long-low trot in between these exercises.

At S’s suggestion, I begrudgingly dropped my stirrups for a few laps of sitting trot and canter. No—I was bad and didn’t do any posting trot. My legs hurt!

Next we worked on not breaking at the canter. We will be working on those transitions at the canter next time we have a day together. I would like to do walk-canter-walk-trot-canter-trot-canter-walk etc --- you get the idea. I gotta get this pony listening to me! If we break at the canter at our show in a couple weeks I’m going to be very upset. MUST WIN!

 

Finally I watched M jump Little D around while Vinny and I cooled down. They make quite the team and are very enjoyable to watch.

Tonight I am going up there to drop off the dreaded board check and chit chat a little bit. No ride. But tomorrow.... I think we're having round two of my lesson.

Can’t wait for finals! Just TWO weeks away!!!

Offish

Yep. I am going to CHSA Finals! YAYYYYY!

 

Vinny and I will be leaving bright and earlyAug 23^rd to go compete. I am so overly excited. It should be quite the event. Big tents and vendors, beautifully braided beasts, and me in the winners circle! Hahaha, I hope that is the case at least.

 

Have I really not posted about any of our rides since last Friday? Holy heck.

 

Saturday Vinny got his feeties done. He really has been quite the brat during his pedicures. Here are some blurry pics

 

After that I watched D (the other trainer at the barn) teach some lessons. Once S got back with E who had just competed in a show, the three of us went to get lunch, and then headed right back to the show so that S could coach one of the gals in her Children’s Hunter/Marshall and Sterling classes. I spent a few hours at that show and then headed on home.

 

Sunday I got to ride Vinny later on in the afternoon. He was just okay. Very lazy. I jumped him over a tiny gate jump, and through a one-stride cross rail line. It really seems like he is starting to require more and more leg.

 

Yesterday was my lesson. We warmed up on our own and then S had us practice keeping our canter straight as sometimes Vinny tries to over-bend on the long sides of the arena. In between talking to S, D, and M by the in gate, we began jumping a small vertical. Vinny really makes me laugh too much. We would be trotting up to it, nice and active, with intent, and he would take a second look at it and jump it huge! I mean, come on now, this thing is not even two feet high, and literally just a brown cavaletti, and you jump it like it’s going to eat you, Vinny! Lol seriously I love this horse.

The main things we worked on with this little fence were: getting the correct distance at the canter into the fence, and continuing with straightness after the fence on the correct lead. Apparently we were drifting a little after the fence, so this took several tries to get straight. It is really hard when I *think* I’m straight, but then I hear from the gallery that I am drifting over as if I’m leg yielding him. Boo.

After some more talking and laughing, S had us go through a grid set up in the middle of the ring. The grid consisted of three bounce cross rails to a one stride cross rail.

 

S warned me before hand that I would need a lot of leg. This warning did not click.

 

Vinny refused to go down the grid several times. Finally we halfheartedly made it down once. I felt as if I was being tossed all over the place. We eventually did make down decently, I suppose. It’s hard to remain off his back and steady while still urging him along with a lot of leg. Any tips?

 

S is having us do another lesson on Saturday with more grid work. The last time I did a grid was several years ago, and on Homey. With Homey I literally could just sit there in a light half seat and let him go through it. Vinny is sooo much different than him. So lazy. But I think we’ll get it eventually. Grid work sure is a lot of fun though!

 

Tonight we will be working on lateral movement, no stirrup work, and quick changes of transition. M and I were discussing this yesterday. She said she had been working on a pattern like such: trot six steps, walk one, trot six, walk one, etc to get her horse really listening to leg cues. Sounds good to me!

About to cause probs 

This is what he thinks of the farrier 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hopeful

 

I had my second lesson last night instead of Wednesday due to some scheduling complications between K and I. Vinny was pretty good. Pretty dang good. The only thing I was not happy with was his lack of sensitivity to my lateral aids. He was not really having it last night. Grr. Other than that we had a few good crossrail lines. I still feel like I am jumping way ahead. I guess I still expect a bigger effort over each fence? I don’t know.

 

All I can think of is more work without stirrups. Ughhhh L

 

As promised, S and I discussed the possibility of going to CHSA Finals in a few weeks. Basically, the way it works, is that you earn points each year in whatever division(s) you choose, the points add up and by the time finals come around, if you’ve earned the required amount of points, you are automatically qualified. Now, there are 17 horses that made it. Of that 17, a few are horses that I saw on the list only used the division as a warm up for jumping, so they won’t be entering finals. There must be at least 10 horses entered in the division for the big prizes to apply, and a minimum of five for the class to run at all.

 

With that said, S will be checking the roster to see if I should even enter. And then from there, if he says yes, then if I will even do well against the horses already going. They do call-backs at this show. So the judge runs the class and the top 10 are called back for another round and then the prizes are issued.

 

I was right when I said that S will most likely want to enter Vinny in the Color Breeds if I do the Pleasures. YES! Split the costs between the two of us?! I think yeah. Duh.

 

That should bring my total to about $100. Pretty doable I would think.

 

Hopefully S texts me and says YES we can go!

 

:D

 

Tonight I am off to go to Six Flags with a group of friends. I love me some roller coasters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHSA Finals? Maybe?

Okay okay, I know I just posted about how broke-ski I am, but can I just compete in one more show this year? I mean really. It’s finals. State finals. I’m thinking maybe I can scrounge up the money to compete in our division; I just found out that English Pleasure made it into the show. Vinny and I are third in the state so we definitely have all of our qualifications.

 

The show is Aug 23-25^th and this morning I received the invitation/prize list via email. As you know, I said a few weeks ago that I would not be competing any more this year at all. ehhhhhh as a truly competitive person, as soon as I saw that our division had made it and that I was still at the top of the state for qualifications, my brain started crunching numbers.

 

Maybeeee I can squeeze this one into the budget.

 

Tonight I have another lesson, yeehaw! So I will be talking to S about my options for the show. What I’m hoping is that S will want to have Vinny go in the Color Breed Pleasure classes (he is first in the state) with A, therefore S and I would be splitting any costs besides the actual class fees. That means fuel, braiding, office fees, parking fees etc would be split between the two of us.

 

I am probably the most impatient person on the planet. I can’t wait for 1700 to hit so that I can high-tail it up to the barn and talk to S to get a plan in motion. Either way I have that Friday, the 23^rd off so I will at least be able to watch everyone else.

 

Woohoo super excited for my fellow barn mates to compete even if I don’t!

 

Now I shall spend the rest of the afternoon daydreaming about fancy ribbons, embroidered coolers and garment bags, and my boy all fancy and braided up.

 

 

 

Moolah. Cheese. Dough. Bucks

Or, per Tyga, huneds. Yes, money. We all need cash flow. Nothing brings ya down quite like money; Or lack there of I should say. Living expenses are expensive, cars are money blowers, and horses…well horses…are the ever-cashsucking hobby.

 

I guess I really should have gone to college. Errr, completed college haha. But even then it doesn’t seem to help anyone at all. It just creates more loan to pay off, unless your parents are loaded and paid cash up front for your schooling. I feel that I make pretty decent money for my lack of education. I really do. But the time has come, and I think I’ve mentioned this before, I am looking for a third job.

 

I already have an office job, the barn job – which really only pulls a few bucks – and now it’s time to search for a weekend morning job. I’m not completely upset about this. I feel that it will help me get through my work week here at the office a little quicker. Here’s to hoping I can find something I enjoy! I am considering everything from serving at a restaurant to working at the local U-pick.

 

Any ideas? Please feel free to comment below. 

Back to Normalcy/An Unravelling

After the most stressful, hurtul, eye-opening day at work that I’ve ever had, ever, I scooted my butt pretty much straight up to the barn (of course talked to bestie for a moment first). At this point I would say I was feeling numb to the whole situation and just wanted to be with my horse.

 

S was still teaching one of the girls, so I got to take my time getting Vinny ready for our lesson. I brushed and curried him to perfection and sprayed him with a little show sheen just for the heck of it. He really is so handsome.

 

KR was in the ring with Roxy during this time working on their jumping. I was quite impressed with her. She went from never seeing a jump to jumping small lines in a very short amount of time. What a good girl.

 

Vinny and I took our time warming up. We did a lot of trotting and changes of direction. He still acts up sometimes in the walk to trot transition but definitely not as bad as before.

 

I did think that S was going to go pretty hard on me since I hadn’t had a lesson in 3 weeks, but he didn’t! We just did our warm up and in that S seemed to be concentrating on my upper body position most of the time.

 

One of the barn moms showed up to chat so the three of us took a good 20 minute break to talk and catch up. I had a lot to talk about with S since learning some exciting news that is in the process of coming together…. I’ll get to that hopefully in the next couple of weeks. ;) :P :O

 

Finally, we got to jump a small crossrail line. Vinny was so very good. The only thing we really need to concentrate on is keeping him balanced through the turn after the last fence. He tends to throw his inside shoulder in quite a bit to the point where I have to really squeeze and almost leg yield him over. Any tips for this?

 

I would say the only bad part of the night was that I lost an ear pom!!! Boo. L

 

It appears that I will be having another lesson on Wednesday to make up for last week. I am hoping it goes just as well as last night.

 

Back to the job. I’m not quite sure how I feel about working here any more. Basically I’ve learned the hard way that no one is trustworthy, and I really cannot be the kind, loving person that I try to be if I want to survive here. After three years here, it seems that I am the only one who hasn’t been putting up a façade on the job. What a shame. I guess that is life? Or does such a job of honesty and kindness exsist?

 

I am trying my best to pray a lot, concentrate on people that I love and love me, and the things that make me truly happy (Vinny) during this time of heart-searching. Any love, kind thoughts and prayers would be appreciated.  

 

Not Down with the Sickness

The sickness is gone! Yipee! After a grueling week of stomach issues, all is finally well with both me and Vinny. YES!

I did get a ride in on Friday and frankly I think it helped me get better. I like to think that I was able to sweat out some of the nastiness. I rode for about a half hour, just worked mainly on our normal things, and then popped him over a cross rail a couple times. He’s such a good boy .

Saturday I woke up feeling great. I showed up in the AM for my shift at the barn, but apparently I got the shift wrong and was supposed to be there for the PM feed. Ah, oh well, no biggie. Went home for a couple hours, then met a couple girls back out there to go on a trail ride.

Now if you’ve read my previous posts about Vinny and trails, you know he’s super out there. Of course as soon as I talk up my boy to the gals, he’s a brat. I’m pretty sure it was only because we were with two others. Other than that I’m not sure why he would act up like he did. Any ideas?

He took off with me at least five times and was tossing his head pretty much the whole time. My fingers were on fire at the end of the ride. It was not fun, and quite the disappointment.

When we got back home I cantered him around the outdoor a few laps trying to get the sassiness out. But, as suspected, as soon as we were home he was back to normal. Ughh.

I went back home for a little and then back out at 1630 to do the feed with one of the barn moms, AW.

I must say I just love this ‘job’. All it is is feeding, watering, sweeping, mixing grain for the next AM etc, but I get such satisfaction out of it and am never bored. Now if only they paid like my office job!

Sunday was breakfast with some friends, got Mitzy washed, made chili and chilled out with the bestie for a little.

Tonight hopefully is lesson night, I believe I’m going on three weeks without instruction.. ahh!!! Must fix sloppiness now!

 

Of course now I have mucho blog posts to catch up on, since I was out of commish all last week. Can't wait to read them all!

Quickly

Vinny is finally well. Que big sigh of relief. I was able to ride yesterday for a short while. We didn’t concentrate on anything new. The ride was really just an exercise ride. We walked, trotted, cantered each way in a total of 20-25 minutes. Both of us need to get back into a solid work schedule asap. The start of that shall be tonight. S is finally feeling better so I will have a lesson, finally.

In other news, I have been NQR since Monday. Something is off and I’m not sure what but it’s making me kind of sick. Big boo. I am back at work today – just trying to get through it so I can go up to the barn and home to relax.  

30 Day Horse Challenge - Day 11

Find a Horse Online that You Would Like to Buy

I don’t really have time to do this, so I will just describe what I would like. I would like a young OTTB already started and doing well over fences with some dressage knowledge. He must have great form over fences and want to jump. I would like this gelding to be good on trails, have nice feet and legs as well as a wonderful mind. I would love for him to have a fun personality and be an easy keeper. So pretty much everyone’s dream horse – haha. I’m not picky on color – but would prefer no gray.

Probably something like this, but a different color :P

NOW. If I didn’t have to work, I would probably just go up to Boston or over to PA and pick my own TB straight of the track and restart him myself. But, alas, I must work the regular eight to fiver and have steady income to even afford my lease. Ah, life is.

Hive Trouble

Got a text from A this morning saying Vinny's tummy is much better BUT...his hives are worse. Check out this pic:

I didn't bother to rotate this one. This is his barrel on his right side. The left is the same. :( Seriously this must stop soon.

Today we are trying giving him a little soaked hay to see how he does with it; Then if he reacts okay to that we'll give him some Dex tomorrow.

Last night I went back up and walked him for a good hour. It wasn't too boring because A, he is always trying to play with me, and B, there were others riding in there while I was walking.

Tonight shall be the same routine, hand walking, hosing, grooming etc. Maybe some treats and lots of hugs and kisses. I feel soooo bad for him. His luck will hopefully turn soon.