Thursday, May 31, 2012

Sound Horse WOOT!

Trainer trotted Henry today and he looked good so they rode him and jumped. They didn't even lunge and he was good! :)

Tonight I have a lesson and will ride Louie. Not sure he has been ridden since I rode him Saturday so lunging will be a must.

I'll report back after our ride with all good things I hope!

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

May 29th, 2012

SO he isn't back to normal... didn't look 100% but I decided to w/t him to get him out and moving around.

He got a good grooming and little walk after our "work" as well as turned out to wander around while I cleaned up his stall, got his grain and chatted a little.

Here are a few pics :)



Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Felling Better?

Dear Henry,

I hope you are feeling better and ready to ride tonight- oh and not crazy :) You had Saturday, Sunday and Monday off with lots of turn out and no work.

Love your mother :)

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Happy Saturday

Henry trotted fine on a straight hard surface but just a smidge funny to the right on a circle. Going to give him another day off- he got turned out and ate grass/wandered around for almost 3 hours.

I rode Louie instead. As you know I like riding him- he's a nice broke horse so I can focus on me :)

Hacked around in the lesson and he was good. Worked on forward and keeping it there.

Then we moved on to the jumping. Got in line with everyone else and jumped the X back and forth, then jumped the panel X back and forth, jumped the two in a line... then I thought we were done cause she was raising the jumps. Um yeah surprise Karley.. keep going. We did a little course- Vertical rainbow to vertical with panel, left turn to the domino wall, right turn to the lattice oxer. The first time around I was frazzled so it was rough. Second time a little better. Third time better.

None of it felt amazing but it all felt ok- I was stronger and more confident then last time I rode Louie.

Going to check on and turn out Henry tomorrow and will ride Monday.

Friday, May 25, 2012

I am sure Henry feels like telling me this more often then not :)


Boo :(

Henry was a little tender today. I wasn't able to make it up for the trainer ride but my trainer called and said they didn't ride him cause he was a little off- not lame- but not quite right. The ground is really really hard in the indoor arena - I guess the owner needs to buy a part for the tractor. So my trainer thinks that is why he wasn't quite right.

She lunged him a little but nothing big.

I'll check on him tonight and trot him tomorrow before our lesson to see how he is going.

Fingers crossing he is ok and that he feels better tomorrow.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Wednesday and Thursday

Trainer ride Wednesday went well.. nothing special but good stuff :)

Tonight I had my lesson. It was a good ride. We rode inside and Henry was better about his frame- I went with a soft contact and that was a good compromise for us both.

We hacked around including some trot polls. Worked on a straight horse.. to the right he likes to drift towards the wall and over bend to the right so we worked on that.

Then we moved on to jumping. Started with an X.. had one stop not good but I felt like I rode aggressive to it and he was just being a bad horse. I got after him and did exactly what my trainer said and from there it was much better.

She raised the X to a vertical and then made a pile of polls that we jumped as well. Again worked on straightness after the jump with a halt- on a straight line.

Then the vertical got a little bigger. Again worked over the vertical and polls.

I was so proud of myself for being game for all the challenges that were thrown at me. I am getting more and more confident and excited to go places with Henry.

Kat and Andy took pictures so I can't wait to see them (as always)!

A few cell pics to tide us all over :)



Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Frame?

Last night = a 45 min fight.


Henry was not into being in a frame. He wasn't to go around wide eyed and focused on anything he could to spook. When he is in his frame and working he can't focus on everything else and be an idiot... so we fought and fought and fought. I ended up going to a canter after a while of fighting at the trot to see if that would help- nope didn't.


Kept fighting.


Finally he gave in a tinny bit. Not what I wanted but we were making progress. I ended up working on staying in his frame - halt, walk, trot, walk, trot, halt, walk... you get the picture. He actually went best with a longer rein and staying in a low "hunter" frame- except when we went by "the side" and jump. I continues to work around the arena but eventually just worked in that spot because he was being stupid. I went around and around and around that spot- making sure I didn't change anything in my body or hands- till he decided to relax and go by nicely.


After 2 or 3 times by it I called it quit... cooled him out.


Going to talk to my trainer about this cause something's gotta give. I want to be able to walk into that show ring next month knowing that I have a good feel of a frame.


Trainer ride today, lesson tomorrow, trainer ride Friday, lesson Saturday.

Monday, May 21, 2012

Oh HEYYYY!

Yep thats my horse ;)

Henry had a great trainer ride today.. was a bit high like Saturday but with a good amount of lunging and cantering he was game. Jumped everything in front of him... even was a bit blah over the X's.

Now I have mixed feeling about this- on the good side I think sweet this isn't a mountain for him to jump anymore and he's actually being quite honest.. on the other side I think wake up dude and JUMP lol.

Anywho he jumped everything that was asked of him and he did it well- no running out, stopping or freakouts. He jumped the lattice little oxer that was nicely flapping in the wind and even the liverpool!

Oh and even had good lead changes! I love being apart of his training and feeling strong enough to take control. I guess I feel even better about it all because I did all his riding last week- no trainer rides- and he was well schooled and not rotten from my week of riding!

Hack tomorrow, trainer ride Wednesday, lesson Thursday, trainer ride Friday, lesson Saturday. :)

Happy Monday!!

I saw this on FB and HAD to share... good laugh for Monday morning :)

"Um, there's a 9 year-old girl loose in the ring right now so you should probably shut the gate."

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Hey Saturday.. I normally like you, but not when Bayley has a rough night and is awake from 2:45 am- 5:00 am.

Anywho I wanted to get to the barn at like 8:15 so I could lunge Henry down- I had a feeling he was going to be full of it- but I didn't get there till about 8:25/8:30. So I hustled to get ready and then waited my turn for the round pen haha! When it was our turn Henry ran and bucked like a crazy man! I didn't lunge him as much as I would have liked cause someone else was waiting for the round pen and my trainer said he should be ok :)

I got on and went to work- one time around the arena and my trainer said to canter him down. Cantered in my 2 point for a while... legs were a burning! Then back to join the rest of the lesson. He was still high so after about 5-10 min of fighting I was allowed to go run him around again.

Run run run.

Back on and we were good- kinda. He wasn't great but at least I could partake in the lesson.

Flatted around as instructed.

Then onto jumping. We started with the rainbow X in the outside line. Henry did awesome... back and forth. Then on to the second jump in the line.. our first approach was bad. Henry thought/semi tried to duck out and i corrected him with my right rein but then was SURE we were going to run into the left standard so I slammed on the breaks. I got in trouble- rightfully so.

Came back around to it and was more aggressive and walla we jumped... did that back and forth a few times then went onto the line as a whole. Trot - jump - 4 strides - jump - lead change. Then my trainer had me do an oval with a tight turn after the jump. I'll be honest- I struggled. He felt heavy and just kinda barrel turned the corner. I knew I needed to balance him and my trainer was attempting to get this through my head as well... finally I checked in and we got it :) Ended on that. Henry was POOPED... I was POOPED.

I untacked him and turned him out to roll/eat grass while I cleaned tack. Bath time for Henry, grain and back home.

He had today off.

Next week's plan: Monday trainer ride, Tuesday Hack, Wednesday Trainer ride, Thursday lesson, Friday trainer ride, Saturday Lesson. Hopefully this week pans out as planned b/c that will mean LOTS of good work for Henry and me. We need it if we are going to go to the show at the end of June :)

Friday, May 18, 2012

Hard work

No trainer rides this week...

Didn't do anything yesterday- I needed a night at home to clean and do laundry.

Just lunged today on my lunch. I had lots to do at work and am SUPER tired so I knew I wouldn't be motivated to go ride after work so I jumped on the opportunity on my lunch break.

Lesson tomorrow.. should be interesting.

Henry and Louie hanging out

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Switch Up

Normally I don't ride on Wednesday but my trainer can't make it tomorrow for our weekly lesson so we moved it to tonight.

Tacked up, lunged and got on. We rode in the big mother of arenas - 2 of us in the lesson, 1 in a lesson with the eventing trainer and 1 person just hacking.

We did lots of forward/extended trot to tire Henry out. He was a little ok a lot ready to go haha. Pushing his hind end over in the corners. Canter transitions with his head down- still needs lots of work. 2 point in the trot and hand gallop.

Hubby and I were scheduled to lead our small group tonight so I had a limited time to ride... of course I blew through that time limit by like 30 min (oops) so I was quite a bit late but got a good ride in which always feels good.

Third day in a row that I have ridden Henry :)

Hopefully a trainer ride tomorrow and Friday and a lesson for me Saturday.

I will leave you with this... so true- though it needs to say Smartpak too :)


Pictures! and our ride...

First I will start with the update, cause one I unveil the pictures I won't have your attention :)

Hacked last night down in the BIG arena. Again I did lots of canter work and transitions. He was better this time then Monday night. Still not where I want him to be or acceptable.

I also did lots of weaving around the jumps. Henry gets up tight when we go around/through/over/under jumps.. ok the last two were just added for the heck of it. But really when I turn and go between standards of two jumps I can feel the tension start. I close my leg and remind him to go forward and that its ok - he does but we need to get to a point where he is schooled and comfortable. It will come with time.

I did 5 min of 2 point in the canter again. Time to step it up as I am feeling comfortable at this amount of time.

I walked around and cooled him out.. then i turned him out for like 20/30 min to eat grass while I cleaned up.

Lesson tonight, hopefully a trainer ride Thursday and Friday and a lesson Saturday.

Now for the pictures from 5/10/12's lesson. Thanks Kat and Andy!




LOVE this :)

Hello 2 point challenge - "Keep going"

"My legs are jello!"

Walking up to the other arena to jump




Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Quiet on the home front

Didn't take a lunch yesterday as I was busy at a customer site so I left work at 4:15. Headed home and said hi to the hubby and baby girl, changed and headed to the barn. There was one person riding when I got there but she was done before I was done tacking and lunging.

So I had the WHOLE arena to myself! :) This was good for Henry cause he prefers to ride with other horses. A lone arena = a lookie/spookie horse. Good stuff work us/me to work on.

My goal for this hack was to get my 2 point in and work on our canter transitions. At the show and in general Henry likes to kinda flick his head when we canter. It's not pretty ha! So I did lots of canter transitions and once I got a couple good ones each way I cantered around in the 2 point letting Henry relax and felt the burn in my legs. I did 5 min consecutive 2 point cantering.

Henry was sweaty and I was tired at the end of our ride but it was a good one. Good boy Henry! :)

Hack tonight, trainer ride Wednesday, lesson Thursday, trainer ride Friday and lesson Saturday.

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Weekends are for rest.. kinda ha!

Saturday Henry just got turned out. I had miss Bayley since hubby was working.

Sunday I wanted to ride but for some reason was SO tired and was able to get in an hour nap, house cleaning, laundry and dinner with the hubby and daughter. So after dinner we turned Henry out, cleaned his stall and automatic water (nasty!), chased Bayley around and grained.

Henry got a nice relaxing weekend!

Monday hack, Tuesday hack, Wednesday trainer ride, Thursday lesson, Friday trainer ride, Saturday lesson.

Friday, May 11, 2012

Hello leg workout

Last night we started our lesson out in the big arena... any by big I mean this thing is BIG... 200x325. This pictures doesn't do it justice but you get the idea...








So we used half of it at the beginning and then once we started cantering we we all the way around.. well I did. My trainer had be get up in a 2 point (hello 2 point challenge) and let Henry go/get him moving. We cantered 8 1/2 (yes I counted) big a** laps around the arena in 2 point and my legs were DYING! I reversed, walked half way around and picked up my canter again (to the right) in you guessed it 2 point. This time I only had to go about 4 times around.. hello jello legs :)

Then we headed up to our arena to jump. Hacked a little to remind the horses we were working and then went back and forth over an X and worked on lead changes after the jump. I was having a hard time because every time we jumped Henry wanted to drop his shoulder and go left... this was exasperated by my outside leg/spur asking for the change. Eventually I was able to keep him to the right with a strong outside rein, inside leg holding him over and outside leg asking for the change... yay for having a trainer to fix the confusion in my head :)

Trainer ride today and hopefully tomorrow.

Oh and Kat and Andy came last night so we know what that means.. pictures! :)

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Wednesday May 9th

Trainer ride. I showed up and they were hacking... he was nice and sweaty already as it's HOT outside. Hacked him around, cantered the poll on the ground which he is finally doing w/o the world ending.

On to jumping... they started with this





Then they moved to this

He was good, no stopping... trotted and cantered it both directions and even worked on lead changes.

Lesson Thursday, trainer ride Friday (and a course change thanks to Irene and Lyssette) and hopefully a trainer ride Saturday to make up for missing one last week.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Horse Show PICTURES!

Thanks Kat and Andy :)


Someone save me.. my mom left me! haha



sweaty face!


Super cute pic of Carlos and Henry!





So Serious!

Just keep hacking...

Got out of my meeting early so I went out and hacked Henry which means we might eat dinner tonight before 8 pm AND i'll be able to make dinner!

Back to Henry... it was hot and either of us wanted to do this ride business but it was needed so I got to it.

Tacked up, lunged (didn't last long cause it was hot and he was not high) and rode. The jumps had moved around so he was a little lookie but a few times by them and it was old news :) I had the arena to myself for half the ride, it was nice.

Walked, trotted, sitting trotted, walk to canter, halt from a canter, canter to trot, trot to halt, halt to canter...  you get the idea. He was a little fussy with his head but settled in. I wanted him to stay in the frame and work in the frame through our ride but there is more to be desired there... homework!

Henry got a new fly sheet...



And for good measure a cute picture of Henry :)


Monday 5-7-12

Well I didn't ride... hubbys softball game and him working late put a kink in the plans.

I did get Henry out, lunged, vetrolined and walked him.

Hack tomorrow, trainer ride Wednesday, lesson Thursday, trainer ride Friday and hopefully a trainer ride Saturday :)

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Hey Henry- you da man!

So we loaded up and headed off to the show Saturday morning. I was nervous but the conversation in the car kept me mostly distracted. Once we got there and I got to work - it was like I knew it was game time and I was calm, so NOT what I was expecting! I lunged for like 30+ min till he was pooped ha!

Climbed on and went to hacking. He was awesome! There were three rings of classes and three warm up rings. I hacked around in the jumper ring first. He went around like he had been there a million times. Then we walked to the other side of the property and hacked around in one of the hunter rings, again he was awesome! *Side note- it was SO windy*

Then Lyssette and I went around the property (thanks Lyssette and Carlos for babysitting). We hacked some more.

Then we were waiting around and everyone said I should do a class since he was being so good. QUICKLY- I hopped off him, got my coat and shirt, the show bridle and entered the class. We quickly changes him out of our hack stuff and just left the tack that was show ring approved :) It was a world win and I am thankful for all the people who helped me get in the ring in like 5 min flat!

There were 12 or 13 people in my class so I didn't expect to ribbon.. I just wanted him to behave. Which he did minus a little _ ok a lot of head shaking. He wasn't to happy with the bit I threw in his mouth right before going into the ring... we haven't ridden in it is probably 3-4 months.. next time I will make sure to practice in my show bit :)

Anywho NO SPOOKING, NO SCOOTING... such a good boy! I had one oh shit moment when cantering cause there was NO where for me to go so I did a tight circle- oops!

But overall he was awesome! Next show is in the end of June and it's a 2-3 dayer so we will be rock stars by the end of the weekend haha!

I rode for so many hours and I am def sore today! Back to the grind tomorrow.. Henry had today off which I am sure he was greatful for. Hack Monday, Hack Tuesday, Trainer ride Wednesday, Lesson Thursday, Trainer ride Friday and off Saturday.

Here is one picture from Kat and Andy.. hopefully more to come :)


Thanks to Kat and Andy for coming, Paulette for all her help, of course Irene for being and awesome trainer and Lyssette for being and awesome show buddy!

Friday, May 4, 2012

It's Show Time

Thursday I had a lesson. Gotta get in a good ride in pre show :) We jumped and Henry was good. Also worked on getting lead changes after the jumps. Oh and I did my baseline for Sprinkler Bandit's challenge... 3.5 min :)

Today Henry got a trainer ride. They worked on jumping him over the pile of "stuff" in the arena which eventually turned into a decent little jump. It ended up being one wide jump- three sets of standards- and X, vertical, X. Henry jumped it well from a trot but got a bit sticker at the canter. They worked through it and ended well.

After the ride I bathed him and packed for the show.

I've got everything ready at home as well. Meeting at the barn at 7 am tomorrow.

Heres to hoping my nerves stay at bay and Henry is good and not spookie :)

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Ok this isn't funny...

Let me back up a second...

Last night we had a good ride. I was SO hungry so it was hard to focus but Henry gave me a good 30 minutes so that was awesome! We just hacked, went through the paces as all I could think about was food :)

Today was supposed to be a trainer ride but something happened and it's no longer. So I went up to take off Henry's sheet and he was out in the pasture with the nettle again! :-/ Yep you guessed it- he rolled and has hives again! This time they were everywhere but where his sheet was HA!

Another dose of Dex for Henry... Ugh!

Trainer ride and lesson for me tomorrow, poor Henry LOL! Trainer ride Friday and show Saturday :)

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Hey Henry- that was NOT cool!

He just about gave me a heart attach last night...

I didn't take a lunch yesterday so I could leave early and ride Henry before hubbys softball game. I was on a tight timeline so my head was down and i was focused.

Got Henry, tacked, lunged and rode. I was the only one in the arena so we were on a mission and had the whole arena to use :) They had opened the sliding doors at the other end of the arena (one end is always open, the other end isn't and the sites are fixed walls). We had a few spooks but no blow ups... the moving shadows on the walls were the scariest I guess.

I hacked him around.. worked on straightness per my trainers instruction and transitions/extended trot/bending per my instruction haha!

After riding I groomed Henry and then put him out on the hill to graze while I cleaned up. I went out to grab him and put him away and noticed he was COVERED in hives- I just about freaked out! I quickly called my trainer and dragged him to the barn to see if Laura was still there. Between the two of them they talked and we gave him a shot of something to help counter the reaction. He wasn't fazed by any of this hoopla- curious why I was stressed and why he wasn't in his stall eating his grain.

So I put him back and went to survey the hill where he was- and low and behold he had rolled in stinging nettle. Stinken horse!

Henry isn't allowed out in the stinging nettle anymore!

On that note here is a super cute baby picture of Henry I borrowed from his Canter blog :) Way to cute!!!


Hack tonight, trainer ride Wednesday, lesson Thursday, trainer ride Friday and show Saturday...