*Head Desk*

I am at a loss. I truly am.

I was undeterred by the brisk and dreary weather and arrived at the barn to work P. Our ride on Friday left a lot to be desired. We keep having bad ride after bad ride after bad ride... I can't even believe how much we've regressed since summer.

P was possibly the easiest horse I have ever started under saddle in my life, especially considering my lack of facilities (an enclosed ring, good footing, level ground, etc.). While she has always been emotional and a little hot by nature, she took riding in stride. She was lazy but willing and practically unflappable. Over the summer I had her cantering in the "ring," correct leads and all. I even had her trotting over some cavallettis and teeny tiny cross rails.

Last November, we were to have our first show under saddle-- a little dressage schooling show. A couple weeks before the show, her behavior started to change a bit. She became more forward and a touch spooky, but she was still her rideable self. I started receiving a bit of resistance from her regarding bending and circles, especially to the left. I just attributed all of this to the change in the weather and to her muscling changing as she became more fit. Nothing usual for a young horse. She was still generally agreeable under saddle.

We did not actually get to "show" at our schooling show. When we arrived, P just lost her mind. She was practically unaware of my presence and hell bent on throwing a tantrum. Now this wasn't P's first show-- I showed her a total of 4 times in hand previously. But it had been awhile since she had been off the farm, and she does have a tendency to panic when she arrives at a new place. This is something that I've been trying to work on more, but it's incredibly hard without a trailer. She was pretty well behaved and level headed at her last show, so I figured she had matured beyond he worst of it.

Hindsight is always 20/20. I really should have scoped out the show ground's facilities better before attending. The classes were not to be held in the indoor as I had believed. Instead they were in an outdoor dressage arena with only a low white chain as a boundary (this I should have assumed, but you know, they had such a nice indoor I figured they'd use that). Plus, the schooling area offered was not enclosed. I walked P around and around the schooling area, but she was boarderline uncontrollable and nothing would relax her. There were too many folks riding to longe her safely. I finally threw a leg up over her, hoping she'd settle once we got to work. I quickly realized there was NO brain between her ears-- I was getting no response when I asked for anything. And a crowded show ground was not the place to have come to Jesus discussion with P. Fearing it would turn disatrous if I pressed forward, I quickly dismounted and was trying to figure out what my next plan of attack would be. I was NOT going to let her get out of this, and I still had 40 minutes before my ride time. We could work through this somehow if I could just decide what would be the best plan of action.

Well the judge's assistant decided my plan of action for me-- she informed me that several riders in front of me had scratched and I was up next. Uh... try to ride a test on a green horse who was in the middle of a panic attack? I don't think so. So unfortunately, I had to scratch as well. But the HECK if I was letting P go home without doing anything. I wanted some sort of productive experience to come out of this show.

I asked the assistant if I could go longe P in the indoor. She said the indoor was off-limits, but I was welcome to use the round pen. Perfect!

Once we started longing in the round pen, P regained her composure. She longed so nicely both directions that I decided, well, I might as well hop on her. And we had a great ride, W/T/C and all. She came out of the round pen like a normal horse and not the fire-breathing dragon of earlier. We watched a little of the show, then headed home. All in all, I thought it was a good learning experience for both of us and a positive experience for her.

However, I don't think P and I have had a truly good ride since the show. We lost a bunch of riding time due to the shorter days, the weather, and the holidays. But everytime I've brought her out since, she's been spooky and explosive in the ring. She's fine when we ride right around the barn, but that's area is so small that we're limited to what we can accomplish. She was going perfectly well in the ring over the summer, I don't understand what happened.

Today was a perfect example of her erradic, explosive tendencies that she has developed lately. Since she has been so distractable and spooky and she is indeed rattling my confidence slightly, I decided today maybe I should longe first today. I hate to become dependant on longing before riding, but if it will help, I'm not going to refuse it.

We get down to the ring and I ask P to walk off to the left. She bursts off at an erradic gallop like she's being attacked. Now I have NEVER done as much as even raise the whip at her. I don't know where or why she has suddenly developed this mentality. It's only when we're in the ring. She's an angel when we longe behind the barn.

I ask her for a walk, no response, I ask again and tug on the longe line, no response. Meanwhile, she's galloping around me on the world's tiniest circle like a panicked fool. I finally have to practically sit on the longe line to get her back down to a walk. She walks, still looking crazed. I praise her copiously for walking. She walks one or two strides then breaks back into a canter. This time, she comes back down to a walk more quickly. I praise her when she's walking and ask her to continue. She walks a few strides, then breaks into a nervous trot. I ask her to walk again... blah blah blah. It probably took over 20 turns before I could get her to walk one complete turn without breaking into a trot or canter.

Once she was walking semi-relaxed, I asked for a trot. I get erradic gallop again. Sigh. I ask her to trot. My request was greated with squealing and kicking in at me. I verbally reprimand her with a growl an "eh eh eh" and send her forward. She takes off bucking and galloping. Then, she FALLS. Not flat on her side, her hind end just slipped out from under her mid-buck. Oh don't worry, she got right up and continued bucking and galloping. She was fine (although I did give her a gram of bute afterwards).

Eventually, she relaxed at the trot. We did several W/T transitions, which she did well. I decided then I might as well actually ASK for a canter, since that's what she obviously wanted to do.

I asked, I got a slightly less crazed gallop. She also kept cross firing and swapping between her left and right lead. We went through the same old battle until she cantered semi-collectedly on her correct lead. We did a few T/C transitions, then switched directions.

Believe it or not, she was perfect longing to the right. Absolutely perfect. It was like night and day difference. Relaxed, correct lead at the canter, everything. I was even able to grab my camera out of my pocket and get a few shots of her. And for the first time EVER, I actually got a fairly good shot of her trotting.

Ignore the glowing eyes from the flash. It really wasn't as dark out as the picture makes it seem. It was just really overcast.

After we W/T/C on the longe line to the right, I decided I still had enough daylight to hop on her. Since she had gotten herself so worked up earlier, I wanted to keep it easy. We walked a little, then trotted both directions on a very large circle around the jump standards in the center of the ring. She was full of piss and vinegar, tail swishing the whole time. She'd speed up to a trot that would put Hambiltonian himself to shame every time we were heading towards the barn, and she was completely ignoring my half halts until we'd start heading away from the barn. She behaved, but she was tense and distracted. The longer we trotted, the more pissy she got. She was also ignoring any lateral cues from my leg. I asked for some W/T transitions to try to soften her a little, and it did help some. I felt like we ended working on as positive of a note as possible considering the situation. Our walk back to the barn on a loose rein was the best part of our entire ride.

I am just so freaking frustrated right now. I don't know what is up with her. I poked and proded her meticulously after our ride and could not find any soreness. She's moving plenty sound. Her diet hasn't changed. Her tack fits. But it seems like every ride goes like this anymore. What happened to my lovely filly from the summer??? Why does she suddenly act like she's an abuse case on the longe line when in the ring? Why has she developed a flat out dangerous spook? I've never had a young horse's attitude change this much without something glaringly physical, which I cannot find on her. She is definitely more resistant to the left, but I'm not sure if it's pain or just her weaker side.

I do think I'm going to have the vet go over her with a fine tooth comb now. I might call the chiropractor, too. We can't keep going like this.

Oh, and the lovely child came in with a ripped blanket today, too. Just to add insult to injury.


It's repairable, that is, if I had someone who could repair blankets...

Terrible, horse-related dreams...

I don't dream a whole lot and I rarely remember my dreams. But I had such a disturbing dream about B last night that I have to share it and get it out of my system.

*Begin dream sequence*

The dream was set at my barn, although in true dream fashion, the place looked absolutely nothing like my barn. It was a farm high atop a hill with a two stall, shedrow style barn and a dirt paddock attached to the front.

I arrive at the barn to find B severely colicing. He was down on the ground, completely washed out, caked in mud and dust, and looked beyond help. Then briefly after I found him, he passed on. Or so I thought...

Now here's where all those impossibilities of logic that can only occur in dreams kick in. I had decided in my devestation that I was going to take B's lifeless body, fold it up, and put it in the trunk of my car. You know, my two-door 1996 Saturn SC1 beater car that I drive around everywhere in lieu of my truck. Because of course a dead 1200lb horse would fit in there.

My barn owner and a woman I used to board with were both there help. We folded B's body and were surprised when we managed to fit it in my trunk easily. Then Former Boarder revealed with satisfaction that B fit in the trunk so well because she had removed B's right hind leg below the hock with a hacksaw. Yes, a hacksaw. She gleefully handed me B's now removed leg.

I was outraged and in disbelief-- why would she think to do that to my deceased horse, especially without consulting me?

I shut the trunk of the Saturn, with a three-legged B corpse tucked snugly inside. I'm not sure where exactly I was planning on taking B's body... but my dream-self didn't have much time to ponder that, as suddenly, B was alive! And in my trunk! Still in gastrointestinal distress, and now with a sawed off leg!

I quickly unloaded my elderly, colicing, and now crippled horse back into the paddock and took off in my car down the hill to get the vet.

In reality, I do actually have two vets in the area. There is a mixed-practice vet down the road who I used when I first moved to the area. Then I learned of the existence of a large, equine-specific clinic and started using them. For some reason in my dream-induced logic, I decided to drive and get the former, mixed-practice vet. Proximity, I guess??

I arrived at the vet's office (which of course, looked nothing like the vet's real office) and alerted the receptionist that I had a severely colicing horse who just had his leg sawed off and I needed the vet ASAP. She hemmed and hawed, then excused herself to the back room. When she returned, she presented me with a letter stating that the veterinarian could not offer me any services because I had been remiss in paying him $200 some and change on a previous visit several years earlier.

Again, I was outraged. This had to be a mistake. I had paid off my entire balance in full. And even if by some mix-up I did still owe them money, this was an emergency! My horse was in distress! Couldn't we settle this later? But the receptionist would hear none of it and turned me away.

Hysterical, I started back to the barn. I whipped out my phone and called the large equine practice. They agreed to send their on-call vet out to the farm. Relief!

The on-call vet arrived prompty, but turned out to be a cantankerous letch of an old man who poo-poo'd the severity of the situation and was more interested in hitting on me. He sloppily sutured B's right leg back on without concern. Then, even more grumpy than before since I refused his advances, he left-- no other instruction, no antibiotics, nothing.

B was able to stand up on his newly-reattached leg. His bout of colic seemed to be magically cured. But his leg looked UGLY. Barn Owner and Former Boarder are just amazed, though. "See, everything turned out fine... no worries," they told me. Meanwhile, I'm stressing over the fact that my horse's lower leg is just stiched onto his hock.

For the next several days, B hobbled around the dirt paddock precariously on his bum leg. All seemed to be well, although I was still not understanding how a vet would think he could just suture the leg back on and it would reattach on its own. Then, in true dream fashion, my dream morphed into another plot-line that involved me getting on an airplane with a bunch of folks I haven't seen since high school.

*End dream sequence*

The first thing I did when I woke up this morning was check my cell phone to see if anyone had been trying to call me in the night. Luckily, no one had. Although I am heading out to the barn right now to go hug my horses, especially B.

Just a photo to share...

I have other plans tonight, so I just swung by the barn briefly on my lunch break to take blankets off and reset my feed. I thought this moment was so cute I had to capture it (or at least try):



Yeah, it's crappy cell phone photography and for some reason Blogger wants the picture to require a microscope for viewing. I still thought it was adorable. B & P aren't exactly best buddies-- they have more of a sibling rivalry going on between them. But since I've started this blog, they've been all about having their picture taken together.

Tomorrow, I will ride! Mark my words!

Blanketing pet peeve

I've been trying to stay away from excessive negativity in my blogs, but a boarder committed one of my biggest pet peeves tonight. In this instance, it almost ended with someone getting hurt. Ok, maybe I'm being a little melodramatic, but really, injuries could have happened.

Pet peeve-committing boarder is a good horse person. She was in a rush to get home after riding. Her horse was in a stall eating her grain when the boarder threw the blanket over her horse. She then proceeded to tug the blanket forward to buckle the front. Against the lay of the hair. And the mare just FREAKED.

Boarder was luckily able to jump out of the way just before the mare knocked her over.

Is it wrong that my first response (after I realized no one was hurt), was, "You go mare! Way to tell her you hate that!"

Maybe that's not quite a normal response on my part... No?

But don't you all remember petting your first puppy or kitty? Or learning how to brush a horse? Or how to place a saddle pad? You always go with the lay of the hair. Against the hair is uncomfortable for the animal. Especially when you vigorously tug a heavy turnout blanket forward, making every hair on the horse's body stand on end.

*Little rant over* It felt good to get that off my chest. Now I'll step down off my soapbox.

In other news, B & P have been happily enjoying the sub-freezing temps here. They get to hang out in their snuggly blankets, stuff their faces with hay, and only come inside to be groomed and receive tasty bran mashes. I almost hate to tell them that the weather is about to break, just in time for the weekend. Woohoo!

Warm weather teaser

Yesterday was gorgeous-- sunny and close to 50F. After a week of below freezing temps, I was ready to bust out the shades and shorts. The ponies were able to get a break from their blankets for the afternoon:

Blurry pic of P... from my cell phone since I forgot my camera.

B... he's standing in a rut. Terribly unflattering, but I'll post it anyway.

The footing was still treacherous. The top was thawing and muddy, but the ground was still frozen underneath (Another potential name for my blog-- "Footing Isn't My Friend," since that's all I blog about 3/4 of the time). I took B for a little hack around the farm, but I opted just to longe P.

Another terribly unflattering picture, but hey, it's all I got.

After the sun went down, the wind picked up and brought back our miserable, unseasonably cold weather. Blah blah blah. Today I just groomed the ponies and fed them their hot, sloppy, alfalfa cube/bran mashes.

I am completely over winter. Is it spring yet???

Top Chef-- pony style

I became awash with inspiration in the grocery store today. The ponies deserve a treat for putting up with this cold snap. Especially B-- he has begrudgingly tolerated the soaked alfalfa cubes that I've been practically force feeding to him. I can at least try to dress the meal up a bit.

The ingredients (seriously, this cost me less than $10):

• 0.5lb alfalfa cubes, soaked
• ~3 cups of wheat bran
• ~0.25 cup whole flax seed
• 1 carrot
  
• Handful of peppermints
• Molasses drizzled to taste

The (almost) finished product, pre-hot water:

Overall, I think the concoction was a success. The pony food critics gave it two figurative hooves up. Although the pony food critics aren't very critical.

Nom nom nom

Just let me lick the bucket one more time!

Baby it's cold outside...

The anonymous ponies are bundled up and snug in the barn with huge piles of hay in front of them. We're having one heck of a cold snap. Tonight's forecasted low is supposed to be somewhere between 0 and 2 degrees Fahrenheit. Positively balmy, right? In comparison, the average low temperature for January in these parts is about 28 degrees. (Thank you accuweather.com)

There was an interesting discussion the other day at the Chronicle of the Horse about soaked feeds and water intake. Like so many other horse owners, I always feel better giving my horses some sort of wet meal when the weather gets like this. I was under the pretense that I was surreptitiously sneaking extra water into them. In all actuality, they're more than likely not getting anything "extra." Several sources cited that feeding a wet meal just proportionally decreases oral water intake, since they already have sufficient water absorbed in the intestines. And here all the conscientious horse owners of the world thought we were outsmarting our horses. Regardless, my ponies still got their soaked alfalfa cubes tonight, with some e-lytes. I'll outsmart you guys yet...

And now, a random picture of B to remind us of warmer days:

Night Rider Redux

Ah, the glowing Pet Sematary eyes... gotta love the flash

For being in the midst of a cold snap, this evening was surprisingly pleasant. The ground wasn't frozen, so I figured what the heck, P could use a ride.

We just rode behind the barn. Even if I wanted to go down to the ring, it wouldn't have been the best of ideas. The fencing on the farm is being replaced and today they started on the section between the ring and the road. Maybe it's a mental thing, but I like some sort of barrier between my horse, myself, and the cars whizzing by at 55mph.

P was pretty darn good, although she usually is when we're riding near the barn. She was relaxed and listening from the start. We warmed up with a few large circles and changes of direction, just focusing on staying long and low. We picked up the trot to the left first, her bad side. She wanted to get a little quick on the downhill, but was responding to my half-halts perfectly.

When I asked for the trot to the right, she decided she'd prefer to canter instead. And made her opinion on the subject known by throwing in a squeal and crow-hop before coming back down to the trot. I am not sure what's up with this attitude lately, but at least it was pretty contained tonight. We did a few W/T transitions to the right just to make sure she understood that trot means trot, nothing more.

We wrapped up with some circles of various sizes at the walk and a few turns on the forehand. Her turns on the forehand are awesome so long as we're alongside the fence. When we venture away from the fence line it's like I'm speaking a foreign language. Now her circles were PERFECT. I know that doesn't sound like much to be excited about, but lately P has taken a liking to trapezoids. Despite keeping a strong supporting leg on her, she wants to lay in and put corners on her circles. Tonight she was straight, connected, and round. The only thing I did differently was I used more of an opening inside rein instead of asking with a direct rein. Maybe I was over-estimating her steering abilities before?

I will say the great thing about riding in the dark is the self-awareness of how much you use your eyesight to gauge things like straightness, speed, balance, etc. You have to feel everything. It makes me understand why some trainers give blindfolded lessons on the longe line. It also makes me wish I had ridden with one of those trainers, haha.

Near the top of my wish list

The Wintec 500 Dressage

I am not much of a dressage rider. Oh, don't get me wrong, I have the utmost respect for the discipline and its participants. But as far as I'm concerned, I only have two reasons for pursuing any dressage myself. A)To have a solid flatwork foundation for jumping, and B)because they make you do it in eventing. So it would be safe to say I have no interest in breaking the bank on a dressage saddle. Mainly because I can't afford to, but also because I have a hunch the saddle might spend a lot of time in the tack room collecting dust. I just want something that will put me in a better position when I do decide to foray into the world of 20m circles.

I was having the great debate with myself about whether I should purchase a new el cheapo saddle or find a quality used saddle at a good price. Strangely enough, new and cheap won. Hear me out on this one.

First of all, my horses have very different shaped backs. The likelihood of one traditional-tree saddle fitting both of them is about as good as me taking a serious interest in the sport. It ain't gonna happen. The adjustable gullet on the Wintec is attractive for that precise reason. Sure, it's not a cure all... but it gives me a better chance of the saddle fitting at least one, if not both of my ponies.

Secondly, there's ease of purchase. When shopping for a used saddle, you have to do exactly that-- shop around. And wait. And hope something comes along. And have the money ready when that elusive deal does materialize. There's only four, tiny, inconsequential problems with that scenario:

-I hate shopping.
-I am impatient.
-17" used wide tree dressage saddles in my price range are harder to come by than expected.
-My horses have a magical way of sensing when I have extra money set aside and are rather creative in finding ways to necessitate spending it immediately. (Apparently both my horses are very concerned with the vet's financial well being. How sweet of them. Hmph.)

Minor details, right? But you can see why stalking Ebay isn't exactly up my alley.

I was having a major hang up with the whole synthetic thing. I think I may be over that for one, justifiable reason-- I can use it to ride in the rain. That will make the saddle worth its weight in gold if this weather continues. Plus, I'll be able to wipe that collected dust off super easy. Hehe.

My bank account is still suffering from PCTSS (post-Christmas traumatic shock syndrome), but I think sometime in the not-so-distant future I will lay down the cash for this purchase. Although not right now. There's no extra money lying around right now... YOU HEAR THAT B & P??? No need to get creative!

On that note, P seems to be over her little mystery bug. Her temp was normal and she was her perky, hydrated self. I didn't get to work her at all because the ground is in that precarious half frozen/half muddy state. I might try to call a neighboring farm and see if I can rent their indoor sometime within the next week, just so we don't lose too much momentum. But you know me and making plans...

Nothing like a scare to start off the week

I am not a planner. In my mind, the only thing plans are good for are getting broken. Especially when horses are involved. Tonight was a perfect example.

I wasn't sure what P and I were going to work on this evening in the dark, but I was determined to do something with her. No matter what, we HAD to do something productive tonight considering this week's weather forecast:


SNOW TONIGHT?!? THREE DEGREES ON THURSDAY NIGHT?!? Al Gore, why hast thou forsaken me??? Between impending precipitation and forecasted sub-freezing temps most of the week, riding is not going to happen. Let's not kid ourselves here.

When I got to the barn directly after work, I realized I had forgotten my barn coat at home. Drat, especially since my hat and gloves were in the pocket. While I was a bit chilly, I was not deterred.

I brought P in from the field and started grooming when I noticed something wasn't quite right. P was standing perfectly quietly on the crossties... too quietly. Normally she's alert, looking around, leaning into me when I curry the itchy spots, etc. Tonight she was just standing there like a statue.

Out came the thermometer-- 101.7F. Drat again. I whipped out my stethoscope and jumped into vet tech mode. Her resp was normal (12 bpm), heart rate normal (36 bpm), feet felt fine, digital pulses normal. Then I go to check her gums and capillary refill time. Her gums looked fine, CRT normal. But her gums are tacky. Double drat.

Luckily, she had plenty of gut sounds in all four quadrants. And then some. If anything, she sounded boarderline hypermotile... not good, but better than my fear that I'd hear nothing.

My impaction worries were lessened, but I was still concerned about her water intake. P spikes fevers if you look at her cross-eyed, so that's not the end of the world. But if she's not feeling up to drinking adequate amounts of water, well... that's the recipe for disaster in a cold snap.

I gave her a gram of bute, then made her a nice mash of soaked alfalfa cubes with some e-lytes. Her appetite definitely wasn't affected. She scarfed the soupy mess down in about 30 seconds and begged for more.

I left her in the stall with some hay and a bucket of warm water, then went and got B to groom. He was the picture of normal. But he got a mash of soaked alfalfa cubes and e-lytes, too, just to be safe. A little extra water never hurt any horse this time of year. :)

I re-took P's temp again afterwards and she was already down to 101F. She had passed a pile of normal manure in the stall and drank about 1.5 gallons of water. Plus, she was acting like her usual bright and inquisitive (i.e. annoying) self. I figured that was enough for me to kick her back outside with her friends.

I'm pretty confident P's temp is nothing serious, but it looks like I'll be out at the barn bright and early tomorrow to reassess. It's always something, I swear. Part of me thinks if it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all. But I guess I should count my blessings that it doesn't appear to be anything serious.

(Famous last words, right?)

A full moon... you don't say...

After today, I'm thinking of renaming this blog. I'm toying with, "The Terrible Rider - Making you feel better about your riding abilities, one post at a time." Although I do feel slightly reassured learning that tonight is a full moon. That offers some explanation for today's events.

This was the high point of my afternoon at the barn:

The greeting committee

My horses never meet me at the gate, so right away that should have been a red flag. I just thought, "Aw, how cute!"

I rode P first, thinking I better get the young one out of the way while I had plenty of daylight. After yesterday, I was geared to have a great ride. I figured both our insecurities would be mitigated, if not completely cured. Ha! I should have known better.

The low point of our ride probably looked something like this:

A random pic I swiped off Google image search

No, I didn't actually fall off of her. I don't know how I managed to stay on, as I had a quantifiable amount of hang time off her left side. This is not the first time she has pulled the disappearing horse stunt, but it was the closest I've come to eating dirt from it. What's most frustrating is that she had such a melodramatic spook at seemingly nothing. It must have been those invisible horse-eating monsters again.

Believe it or not, we managed to have a decent ride after that point. We fit in a lot more trot work than yesterday. She never completely relaxed to my liking, but at least she was listening to me. And, she was being awfully cute after we got back to the barn.

I'm sorry for nearly making you eat dirt, Mom!

You'd think by default, there's no way a ride on my 22 year old packer could be worse that almost coming off.

B was in rare form this evening. Jigging, spooking, crow-hopping, trying to bolt back to the barn... I don't know what got into him. He can have his thoroughbred moments, but he's usually a fairly sensible guy. I mean, I let 5 year old kids ride him for cripes sake!

I was trotting him on a circle, trying to get him to relax and come down into the bridle. I was my usual calm and collected self (this nervousness on P is honestly a new thing for me), although I'll admit I was peeved my old schoolmaster was acting so asinine for no clear reason. Then, the most bizarre thing happened.

There is no way you could even recreate this if you tried. In my nearly 20 years of riding, nothing like this has ever happened to me.

As we were trotting, B saw lord-only-knows-what that set him off. Right in the standing part of my post, he stopped hard and rocked back on his haunches to wheel around (not something he has ever done). I was still moving forward in my posting position and his NECK smacked me in the face with so much force that IT CRACKED MY HELMET.

He also split my lip open. It literally felt like I had been punched in the face. I even heard my own neck pop upon impact. All while I'm sitting in the saddle.

Immediately after it happened, before I even realized I was bleeding and my helmet was cracked, I just lost my temper. Not my finest moment as a rider... but gosh dang it, it freaking HURT. And he knows better. How the heck did he get his neck so high that it smacked me in the darn face??? He didn't rear-- his front feet never got a chance to leave the ground. It's not like my balance was even thrown that far forward.

After my anger subsided, we both regained our wits and continued with our ride.

The damage:


That chunk of the visor ended up falling off and there's a little crack you can't really see that goes from the visor up to the vent above it. Never in my life have I wrecked a helmet without even falling off!

Oh, and if you're concerned, B's neck is fine after its concussion with my hard head. I checked him out to make sure I did no permanent damage. My neck, on the other hand... well, I have a feeling I'll be hitting the Advil bottle first thing in the morning. Maybe sooner.

I almost don't even want to know what tomorrow will bring.

How Pony Blogger got her groove back!

Finally, I had a decent and productive ride on P today. And on the most unlikely of days. The weather forecasters did not lie about it raining all night and all morning. They did lie about rain stopping in the afternoon. Ha! The farm looked something like this as I set out to ride:



Note the raindrops and mud puddles. Plus it was windy. I deserve a freaking medal for tackling this weather. I'm pretty sure P thought I had lost my mind when I threw the saddle over her back.

We mainly just worked on bending and schooling figures at the walk with a little trotting. The footing was terrible, if you'd believe that! My main focus was getting P to relax and listen.

Most of P's issues as of late are 100% caused by rider. I'm not sure why, but my self-confidence has been on the fritz the past month or so. It is pretty rare for me to be anything less than stoic in the saddle. But between P being more reactive and forward due to the cooler temps, plus the fact that I'm on a green horse in an open field with very bad footing... well, I guess everyone has a breaking point. And bad ride after bad ride wasn't doing a darn thing to reassure me of my riding abilities.

The other night, I started re-reading Bombproof Your Horse by Rick Pelicano. It was given to me as a gift a few years ago. While I'm an open-minded horse person, this isn't the type of book I'd ever purchase for myself. I had flipped through it when I first received it and wasn't particularly moved-- it was all very commonsensical and seemed to be written for a less experienced audience.

This time around, I still agree the book isn't anything earth-shattering. It is indeed aimed towards the beginner crowd. However, the author reiterates the need to stay confident and to continue riding through reactive behavior. I know this. Everyone knows this. But for some reason, it really helped my mindset to read it repeatedly in print.

So sporting B's racing yoke as a grab strap, I set off on P with renewed confidence. When we got down to the end of the field, I kept my leg on when she tensed and started looking around. I pushed her at a forward walk, doing circles, figure eights, and serpentines. That's another thing the book stressed-- keeping your horse active and forward when they are disturbed by something. That way they have an outlet for their energy and tension and are less likely to explode. Again, I know this. I've done this my whole life. But for some reason, lately I want to slam on the breaks when P starts getting nervous.

Aside from being tense and spooky, P has also developed new interest in acting like she's going to bolt home without warning. She hasn't actually bolted, but I've felt like it's coming. You wouldn't think this would phase someone who spent a good chunk of her life galloping at the track. There's a big difference between a routine gallop on a well-manicured surface (something I enjoy) and bolting erratically through a slippery, hilly, obstacle-ridden field (something I detest). When P gets even the slightest bit jiggy lately, I find myself unneccessarily snatching at her mouth. The yoke worked wonderfully to thwart me of this newly acquired habit. As soon as I felt myself wanting to take death grip on the reins, I just planted my hands in the yoke.

The result-- within minutes P was relaxed and stretching down into the bit. No more giraffe meets Tigger the Tiger on speed wanting to audition for the pro rodeo circuit!

(Right about now... I'm realizing I sound like a phobic loon who shouldn't be without 100 yards of a green horse. I swear I'm a capable rider! Honest!)

We trotted a couple large circles each direction on a fairly loose rein. I just was concerned with keeping a consistent pace and her not doing anything whacko at the trot. She was good both directions, so I figured I shouldn't press my luck anymore. I'd love to get back to working more on our carriage and suppleness as well as our canter, but the footing truly is atrocious right now.

We ended with a couple turns on the forehand and then headed back to the barn. The bombproofing book does have a great method for teaching turns on the forehand that is different than I have ever used. It is much more effective than the way I've been going about it all my life.

A ride like this is exactly what both of us needed. She started off tense and distracted and we were able to work through it without issue. Hopefully we're beyond the roadblock that went up this winter.

The only thing that could have made today's ride better-- my raincoat. It was locked in my car... with my car keys. Thank goodness for wonderful significant others with spare keys! But the spare key didn't arrive until after I was done riding... better late than never I suppose.

Best laid plans...

Well... I did manage to make it to the barn with just enough daylight to squeeze in a ride on P. Unfortunately, said ride was nothing but counter-productive. I don't much feel like going into details about it. Hmmph.

I'm noticing a disturbing pattern here. Less than stellar ride, off for a week due to the weather, less than stellar ride, off for another week. Yeah... this schedule isn't cutting it for me or P.

I think the need to keep my filly in some sort of consistent working routine outweighs my concerns about the footing. Tomorrow, despite the forecasted rain, I'm going to buck up and do SOMETHING constructive with her. Even if we just go down to the "ring" and do some groundwork in hand. Anything is better than her thinking her only responsibilities in life are to clean up her meals and stand to be groomed.

On that note... a couple pictures! Nothing fancy, just my horses in the pasture this evening.

Are those boots and breeches you're wearing? Crap.

Hi mom!

This is rare, photographic evidence of B's tell-tale "guilty" face. But everything seemed in order tonight, so maybe he was just happy to see me for once? Nah, it can't be true. Maybe he just wanted to look cute on the internet.

A side note-- they're just wearing their light sheets. I would have liked them to go naked on such a nice, sunny day... but that never happened this morning. Pot, meet Kettle. Oh well, everyone lived to tell the tale.

What was I saying about Mother Nature?

More proof that Mother Nature is not a horse owner. No sympathetic horse owner would allow it to be gorgeous and sunny on a work day, only to kick off the weekend with MORE rain!

Maybe if I'm lucky, I can steal out of work early and sneak in a ride on P before the sun goes down. That is, if today's sunshine does anything to evaporate the newly formed lake that used to be our farm...

Night Rider

The Caped Crusader. The cooler was more for me than him-- it was COLD tonight and I wrapped myself up in it while riding. The glowing orb above his neck is just a spot on the lens.

I've decided Mother Nature does not own horses. If she did, there's no way she'd bless us with a rainy winter that would scare even Noah off. Nor would she allow it to get dark at such an ungodly early hour for several months out of the year.

Between the muck and the dark, riding the green-bean filly P has been all but impossible the past month. We don't have a true ring, let alone lights. And there's standing water EVERYWHERE. My horses aren't sure if they're living in a pasture or a rice paddy.

But B... well, you don't own 22 year olds for nothing! Off we went this evening for a sloshy, chilly, bareback hack in the dark.

Since it was too wet to actually DO much of anything but walk, I had the brilliant idea to take some pictures of the cars whizzing by our riding ring. ("Ring" meaning the flat area at the far end of the pasture where we put our jumps. It's the only level area on the farm.) I thought the car headlights would yield some impressive shots in the dark.

For future reference, flashbulbs from horseback are not the wisest combination ever. Anyone with two brain cells could probably figure that one out. But you know, I wasn't worried about that on my trusty, rusty old pony...


That was my one, lousy attempt at a headlights picture. It is a REALLY good picture of my piss-poor grooming job. The car would be the two, minuscule dots between his ears. And what the picture fails to show is the aftermath-- my horse leaping straight up in the air and wheeling around to hightail it home, with me, bareback, hanging on to reins, camera, and cooler, thinking, "Wow, that was a stupid idea." LOL. That picture would have been priceless!

The camera went back in my pocket for the remainder of the ride. Live and learn, eh? Although $10 says I'll innocently try it again in the not-so-distant future...

Pony #2

B sort of stole the spotlight in the introduction post. I tend to ramble on, and on, and on about him, mainly because he's been my right-hand man for so long. But lest we forget that I have TWO horses. Meet the anonymous "P," a coming 4 year old WB cross:

For several years, I boarded B at a breeding farm. Being a poor college student, I had an arrangement with the farm owner to work off my board. (A side note: I worked off my board my entire horse-owning life up until about 2 years ago. I truly hope I never have to go back to that. The situations always turn ugly. Always.) I did a little bit of everything on this farm-- cleaning stalls, feeding horses, helping with breedings and foalings, working with the babies, riding the greenies, handling horses at shows and inspections, etc. You name it, I did it.

After my college graduation, the breeder gave me the gift of a foal in-utero. It was the unborn foal of a mare that was sold to another local breeder, so it was actually a convenient situation for the breeder. She no longer had to worry about selling the foal quickly. Plus, I would have my own gorgeous foal to raise and show as I pleased. Win-win for all, right? Riiight...

On February 26th, 2005, P was born.



Unfortunately, no good deed goes unpunished. That same month, I had taken my first, real, full-time, 40+ hour a week job. Post graduation, I had been working at the racetrack, which complimented working at the breeding farm perfectly. I'd be done at the track by 11am and was then free to spend the entire afternoon helping the breeder as needed.

The new full-time job proved to be not so accomodating.

The breeder and I had discussed my new working arrangements prior to me taking said full-time job. Though we had mutually determined it wouldn't be an issue, the full-time job DID interfere with my ability to fulfill my obligations at the breeding farm. And being a mere entry level position, my full-time job didn't compensate well enough to afford board for two horses. Moving to a more affordable farm wasn't an option, now owning a suckling foal and all. And the breeder was much too kind a person to "repossess" the foal in retribution for board for B, as P was a gift to me.

The months following P's birth were nothing but awkward and uncomfortable. As a friend, the breeder insisted I keep both horses at her farm, but was also understandably very angry about not having sufficient help. A riff continued to grow between us. Upon weaning, I brusquely moved B and P to a different farm, thus terminating a long friendship between the breeder and myself.

I absolutely adore P and am forever indebted to the breeder for such a generous gift. While I have worked with foals and young horses most of my life, there is nothing like raising a horse who is all your own. At the same time, there is always a little bit of sadness and a whole lot of guilt in the manner which I acquired her. I'd like nothing more than to be able to share P's stories and experiences with her breeder, who was a great friend and mentor to me. To this day, I still hope that P would make her proud.

Also, as a result of our falling out, I've had to raise my young horse at some less-than-ideal-for-young-horses boarding farms. This has made our lives rather *interesting* at times.

Bienvenidos

I started this blog last fall, full of aspirations of making my horses internet celebrities. I quickly learned that keeping a captivating blog is MUCH more difficult and time consuming than I envisioned. It was only a matter of weeks before I became frustrated and lost interest.

But I woke up yesterday and thought, "Hey, I can do better."

So *poof* went my old posts. Here's to a new year and a new start for the Anonymous Pony Blog.

You may wonder why this blog is "anonymous." No, I don't have anything to hide. No warrants for my arrest, no witness protection program. I am just slightly unsettled at the thought of strangers being able to google my horses' daily activities. Plus, discretion is the better part of valor in my book. What if I actually want to sell one of my beloved ponies one day? Lord knows I don't need potential buyers learning that on March 27th, said beloved pony kicked the vet, dumped me on my butt after refusing a fence, and then developed an irrational fear of sponges or the like.

Anyway, I digress. Let's meet my ponies!

This is my 22 year old TB gelding, henceforth known as "B". (Anonymous... remember?)



I've owned B since 1998. He was given to me by a neighboring racehorse trainer who was suspiciously short with any details about the horse. However, the trainer did make the generous offer to, "come out and drug him before you get on him the first time." Thanks. In hindsight, that should have been a HUGE red flag. Ah, to be young and naive again!

In all seriousness, everything worked out fine. B and I have been inseperable for many years now. After some prying, I managed to learn that B was quite the successful racehorse-- racing from 2 to 11 with 109 starts. He's even graded stakes placed, although he spent the latter part of his racing career as a blue-collar claimer. Here's B in one of his many wins:



B and I spent several years trying to make our mark in the show ring in any way possible. Hunters, jumpers, dressage... we even ventured into the worlds of side-saddle and barrel racing. Now in his 20's, B enjoys a life of semi-retirement. The show ring is still mark-free.

Pictures from our show years are few and far between (most still live with my mother in another state), but here's one I happened to have on my computer from one of our very first schooling shows. I believe I was all of 16 at the time. B is probably 11 or 12 here.


In the spirit of consiseness (too late), I'm going to wrap this post up. Next post-- pony #2!

P.S. I'm having a heck of a time formatting this blog. The photos keep getting all wonky on me. So if anyone has any helpful posting tips, I'm all ears!