Jumping!

Another week with no gas money so it was up to Hubby to truck my sorry, poor ass to the barn when he got home from work. Thank God for an indoor because it was raining....it has been raining literally nonstop since Sunday. BO was giving a lesson and there were two other girls riding (Four Thorougbreds walk into an arena together....) in an arena just a smidge larger than a small dressage ring. All the ponies behaved themselves very well, and while at times it was feeling like a crazy warmup ring, we all managed to avoid crashing into each other even with a green bean baby, the lesson girl jumping, and the other girl riding dressage and I trying to squeeze in a canter whenever we could.

We all worked on cavaletti spaced 6' apart for Red and lesson pony's monster strides, then me on Red and dressage rider on her horse got down to business to finish off our flatwork when greenie and lesson horse were done. Red and I finally got the arena to ourselves after forty minutes of mostly walking and standing, some trotting, and cantering.

Hubby used two of the jumps in the arena to set up a little exercise for us. The first jump was a one pole vertical on an angle at M. I cantered in from the left, angled in towards it at B, jumped, then continued left around the arena before coming down the center line to another vertical with two bars. The second jump was 2'9. The first jump started at 2'3 and I told Hubby to just keep raising it a hole each time I went over. I didn't know what their heights were until after I was done which is definitely a good approach for me. The first verical looked really big because it was so airy, but I was like, "God dammit, I'm going to jump this thing!" and I rode Red to it like I owned the place. Yay for staying out of my own head!

Red, for his part, jumped like a superstar. He brushed the rail at 2'6 and 2'9 the first time going over and Hubby made us do it again and he picked up his toes to his eyes. He likes testing a jump's height to see how much effort he has to expend. He was actually huffing a little bit by the time we were done, but he got a long walk out before going back to stuff his face and get his legs rubbed down.

Today, there was no way I was going to the barn. Hubby is headed up to Western NY for a seed thing for work and the rain still hasn't stopped. I had to evacuate my car out of the driveway so it wouldn't float away. The power was out from 8:30 this morning until 1:45 this afternoon and now it's raining like hell and thundering and lightening. Good thing we have a canoe!

the driveway.

hubby out boating while temporarily home from work to get the
generator going.

the end of the driveway.

pig dog insistent on playing ball, even in the downpour.

darcy in the runoff in the neighbor's field.

A or B?

I'm filling out my entry for Burgundy Hollow Horse Trial Mix 'N Match (Oct. 2), and I can't decide if I want to do the BN Test A or Test B. I have to do Test B for Bucks the next weekend (Oct. 9), but it's a big step up from Test A (I know, I know. I'm pathetic.) and I only just started riding it yesterday. Test A is very easy and very straight forward, and there are alot more movements in Test B. Case in point: I rode it twice yesterday and forgot the trot circle to the right both times! I just kept changing directions, lol. But at the same time, Burgundy Hollow is supposed to be easy-peasy jumping-wise, so theoretically, it would be a good place to test the waters and get feedback on Test B before heading out to Bucks where the cross country is more intense. Hmm....

Here is Test B for the first and second times ever from yesterday. They are scary. There is a lot of room for improvement, to say the least. Red is definitely feeling his new feeding. He's moving with a lot more umph which is good because he's dressage comments have always been to have more impulsion and not be so sluggish, but it means we have to go back to downward transistions so we're not falling into them. And, as always, he needs work on his right lead at canter.

There was a horse right outside the gate getting tacked up outside its trailer, so Red didn't want to turn down the centerline. I also dropped my stirrups another hole, and while I was a little wiggly, I like them like that and I think that's where I'll keep them for dressage. We don't look great by any means, but I do like that Red's actually picking up his feet and not dragging his toes anymore.

The Weekend

Hubby and I took a tour of the cross country jumps Saturday. It was hot. It was humid. It was like climbing Mount Everest if Mount Everest was in the Amazon. Once Red gets fit enough to start conditioning up here, he's going to be beastly.

damage from Irene getting cleared out.

banks.

another view from the banks.

jumps got knocked out by Irene.

Nothing too fancy, and certainly nothing big, but at least it's better than having nothing at all to school over and simply showing up, hoping Red will go over.

I rode in the outdoor by myself since the barn was a mad house with lessons and boarders in the indoor. I don't know if it's because I haven't ridden in a month, or what, but I was all over the friggin' place. My equitation was dreadful and Red was poking along because of it.

i way overuse my leg when trying to get a bend or leg yield.
to say the least.

now move that booty over....

My shoulders were slumped, my hands were puppy-pawed, my legs were all over the place because I was clenching at the knee, and I couldn't keep my eyes up for the life of me. I never really got it together and only did about thirty minutes of walk and trot work before cantering once around to the left, bouncing over the tires just to end on a fun note.

Hubby volunteered to cool him out, so he plodded along on Red for awhile before we brought him back down, bathed him, and let him stuff his face with hay.

He's been moved to a new paddock with two other OTTBs that stick to each other's sides and ignore Red, and Red seems pretty happy with that arrangement. He still comes running to the gate to come back in whenever I go out to get him, but I think it's more because he knows there's guaranteed hay in his stall so he should eat it pronto than that he's miserable with his turnout arrangement.

Sunday, the barn was alot quiter when we got there with just one other boarder riding, so I shared the indoor with her and worked Red there. I put my spurs on to get him to listen to my leg (Listen period. Not even just pay a little more attention. For a Thoroughbred, Red has dead sides.) and I dropped my stirrups a hole. The longer stirrups made a huge difference in my riding. Before, they were too short for dressage, but too long for jumping and I think that was a huge part in making me feel so awkward.

I thought we got in a much, much better school today with both of us understanding what we needed to do this time. I still need to work on looking up (who doesn't?) and my stupid hands. I worked him a little at the canter, and I was going to run throught the BN Test B test for Bucks Oct. 9th, but the other woman in the arena decided to put her friend on her horse to cool out, so she was wandering aimlessly all over the place. Hopefully tomorrow.

Riding

I got to the barn at eleven today and BO had just brought Red in. She said he was standing in the run-in by himself again and wouldn't go up to graze. She's moving him to a different paddock tomorrow where it opens right up from the gate into a huge field that leads back into another huge field so he doesn't have to walk up a path to get to the grass like his first paddock. She also asked me if I wanted her to feed him three times a day instead of twice. Heck yes! She gave him a scoop of grain when I got there so I liesurely pulled his mane after he was done eating.

I took him to the indoor to ride today, and as we were walking up to it, I noticed cows across the road....with no fence between them and the street. So we turned around and ran into a boarder coming off the trail. I asked him if he knew about the cows and he said they had wandered over last week and to tell BO because she knew who to call. By the time I got Red back in his stall, took his bridle off, and told BO about the cows, they had already wandered back to the top of the hill into their fence. At least they didn't walk out into the road! Hubby had a beefer calf get loose a few years ago on a main route, it got hit by a motorcycle, and he got sued. Fortunately Hubby insures everything and the guy was fine, but the poor cow died.

The footing in the indoor is super deep chocolate-y colored dirt so we did a ton of walking. Of course, first Red had to investigate the mirrors.

We walked for a good twenty minutes before picking up a trot. We trotted for ten minutes total, not working on anything specific--just lots of circles and changes of directions. I had him canter once around to the left, then asked him to canter once to the right. Nope. He wouldn't pick up his right lead, period. He needs his teeth done, so that's going to get budgeted in for next month. Hopefully that will be an easy fix.

Welcome to Hidden Hollow!

Red is in his new digs as of 7PM last night. Yaayyyyy!!!!

Hubby didn't get home until almost five last night so we didn't get to the barn to load Red until 5:30ish. We pulled around to the back, hooked up the trailer, gave it a once over and.....one of our brand new tires was mysteriously flat. Like a pancake flat. Like couldn't even pull it around to the front of the barn to put air in it because the rim would have shredded it. It must be those three thousand miles we drive a week that wore it down so much. Riiiiight. So Hubby had to change it out for the spare which was fortunately also brand new (Wow. Who would have ever guessed the two of us would be so well prepared?), but he was royally pissed and I was starting to get a little peeved myself--though I was still in pretty good spirits because we were leaving!

yep.

After a NASCAR crew team effort, we got the tires switched out and pulled around front to load Red up. Hubby was worried Red was going to put on a diva-tude, but I know my food-driven pony. He knows trailer rides equal hay bag and he walked right on and proceeded to bury his head in hay for the rest of the ride. We finally pulled into the barn at seven.

We got Red snuggled into his stall, then unloaded my pile of crap into one of the lockers in the "carriage house" since the ones in the barn where Red is were all full. One of the workers was there to meet me, and she got my feed, supplements, etc worked out. About that time, new BO pulled in and got Hubby and the trailer parked before signing off paperwork with me. She told me if Red ever doesn't have hay in front of his face, just give him more. I told her he was going to eat plenty since he was skinny, so she told me to throw him two more flakes since he only had three in there and that should get him through the night. Um, okay!

hay! shavings! full water bucket!

I went down today to make sure he had settled in okay, get my tack/crap straightened out because BO wanted to switch lockers so my stuff was closer to Red's stall, and take the pony for a spin to see how he was feeling.

I got there and the vet was doing floats, BO was giving a lesson, and another boarder was pulling in behind me. I like barn activity. It makes things less boring. The BM introduced herself and helped me get started on switching out lockers while BO was finishing her lesson and told me how Red had settled in with his new pasture mates.

BM hays the horses by the gate when they first go out in their paddocks in the morning, then lets them wander up to graze. Red decided he didn't want to wander up with everyone else to the top of the field, so she gave him more hay halfway up. He was neighing some while she was doing stalls (follow the other horses and you won't be by yourself, you dope!), but otherwise seemed fine. He came down to the gate while I was switching lockers and stood in the run-in neighing, so I brought him in while I finished.

I chatted with the BM for awhile while I tacked up Red, then went to take him out to ride in the indoor. However, vet's truck was blocking the way, so we turned around and went out the other way and I decided to tour the outdoor instead.

view of the indoor from the outdoor.

part of the barn and a field.

"broodmare" field.

We spent fifteen minutes on a loose rein walking around in all different directions, checking out the jumps and the scary trail bridge, before picking up a trot. Wowza. A full belly of hay and real breakfast grain certainly woke Red Pony up! I haven't ridden him trotting in almost a month and he was feeling alive. Getting back on your barely 16 hand pony with a stride to rival Native Dancer takes some serious getting used to. Sit back and heels down and try not to get tossed ten feet into the air every time you post! I let him canter once around each way before walking him out. He was a little warm after about thirty minutes of work, but no sweat and he didn't take a deep breath so hopefully the lunging helped him hold most of his fitness.

I decided to walk him up to his new friends so he knew there was more to the field than being left alone at the bottom of it. He was not impressed.

headed to the first part of red's field.

after the first half, you get to this huge hill.

red says, "this is a good spot. no need to go on."

looking back down at the crest of the field. it keeps going though!

"bff! welcome to the top of the hill!"
"screw you guys."

red! some might consider that anti social!

this horse refused to take a hint. red allowed him to stay.

He's been there for less than 24 hours, his only equine interaction was occasional turn out with Bobby, and he's not used to getting full turnout for the past seven months, so I'm sure he'll need a few days to figure the whole thing out again. I think he'll settle down and wander up with the boys in a day or two when he realizes they're not going to stand around with him when there's grass elsewhere.

His field is also the cross country field. I only saw a few jumps from where I was, but I'll drag Hubby out the rest of the way this weekend to take a look at the rest of them.

Apparently they got hit pretty hard by Irene and a bunch of trees went down. Three of them are going to be trimmed up and left where they are for more jumps. Yay!

Here are a few shots of the barn. It's kind of cobbed together, and not going to win any beauty contests soon, but who cares! The horses are fat, the turnout is amazing, the rings are in great shape, and they know how to feed!

behind the round pen panels are the shavings and feed room.

indoor

Quickie

For lack of better things to do, and because Hubby got home early from work last night, we made a quick jaunt up to the barn to make sure Red was still alive and give him a spin on the lunge.

BO must have finally realized I was moving him because his stall card was wiped clean. CL and CL's Friend has rewritten theirs in. I hope for their sakes it means they're not staying. But really, what a retarded thing to do. What if one of our horses coliced or choked? A phone number would be key. Gah. But he's leaving this afternoon!

I just talked to the farrier right quick, but she was in rush so I wasn't able to ask her if she'll be able to come out to Benton to continue doing Red. I'll have to ask her this afternoon instead. I hope so. She charges $25 a trim and BO at new barn said her cheapest farrier trim is $60. Uhhhh.....yikes.

I started Red off to the right for ten minutes of w/t/c before handing over the line to Hubby to do him to the left. Hubby was not pumped, but I forced him to do it anyway. Red enjoyed it. He was all, "I know this sucker in the middle. I can do what I want."

hubby: walk on.
red: lol.