Hunter Princess Blog Hop – An Annoying H/J Trend

I can't say I really hate anything, but I am not fond of the extreme rises of breeches- so low or so high!

A medium rise breech fits me best (thankfully I found some TS that I LOVE), I have a long upper body and with a low rise I can't keep my shirts tucked in and with a high rise- they cut me funny because of my longer torso. My body isn't made for them, sadly!

What’s a trend/pet peeve you have about hunter/jumpers?  Share your opinion and join the blog hop!

Joining the Blog Hop is really easy. Just write a post related to this topic, add your link on this post using the blue button, and click the link below to get the blog hop code on your site.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Thursday my early birthday present was delivered so of course I had to ride.. Henry was high, it was hella windy and I felt like we were a hot mess. But I loved the way the new pad felt and was excited to use it!

 I basically just hacked around... stayed out of the way of the up down lessons and worked on forward but not too forward. Also lots of stopping and backing- one day this horse might not be so skinken heavy!

New Ride Light pad- she even put my name on it :)

Friday Henry had his teeth done... and after the meds wore off, he got a nice hour and a half turn out.

Saturday was the usual group lesson.

Henry was CRAZY in the round pen- he was all quiet to start and them BAM he ran around and I just stood there and let him do his thang...

Hopped on and joined the lesson.

We flatted, trainer even had us all counter canter- Henry did really really really well, I was super happy with him- we've only worked on that a few times.

Dare I also say that he was a tad lighter in the bridle after Friday.. we shall see if it's true or just coincidence.

We jumped. Warmed up over a little panel, then went over 3 X's that were one strides- tight so lots of whoa.


Panel off the right lead, left hand turn to a vertical with 3 ground polls in front of it, right turn to the 3 X's one strides.  Henry was good, we didn't do much grilling.

Took a little walk around the property with a few of the other ladies.

Un-tacked, vetrolined his body, washed his tail and scrubbed his legs.

We had a nice unexpected visit from Nicku.. she brought me my prize! I sure do miss her being at our barn and wish that she would move back! Maybe if I go bring Pongo back up to our barn, she will decide to stay?! :)

Let him dry and eat his grain while I cleaned tack and talked to everyone.

Clean pony!! (notice Lysstte and Ramone coming down the path in the back lol)

Turn out today, hack Monday, lesson Tuesday, off Wednesday, hack Thursday, hopefully a trainer ride Friday and lesson Saturday.

A Horse Box- Review

I have been intrigued by A Horse Box's for some time... so I finally took to plunge and ordered a 6 month subscription of the Horse Box.

Description:
Each month receive 4-7 handpicked items- from the best grooming products to gourmet treats & more.

I was super excited to receive it and eagerly checked the mail every day- even B was excited to check the mail every day with me cause "mommy was waiting for something special."

It finally came!

Here is the break down...

I love everything, I love trying new things, I love this box!!

I can't wait for October and I would highly recommend this to any horse lover!! How fun to get a little box once a month and for it to have new horsey things in it!

The Tack Box (Everyday essentials for competing during show season.) is my new go to present for horse friends! You can check out Lyssttes recap on the one I got her.

Henry got turned out last night (Wednesday), hack today as long as the vet doesn't come do his teeth, teeth Friday (I hope) and lesson Saturday.

Hey Tuesday!

I wasn't quite in the mood to ride but I made myself go.

I was there quite early so I got Henry and gave him a good grooming and tacked up slowly.

I was the only one there for our lesson for a long time, thought it was going to be just me but then Erica and Kat showed up.

Lunges Henry and then headed inside for the lesson. The wind was C R A Z Y so we rode inside. Henry was sleepy in the round pen and to start our lesson but as the lesson went on, he became more and more high... gee thanks Henry.

We did a lot of shoulder in then haunches in... switching it up to move that bootie around!

Cantering we worked off the rail and counter bend.

Then we jumped this fun exercise....

Jump 1 circle to the left around the box (2) and then jump 3. Then did it backwards. Then I cantered the whole thing. Then she had us do 2 circles around the box.

Henry was loving it, I was loving it but sheesh all that steering!

Cooled him out and gave lots of love.

It was super cold so I curried his whole body to get ride of the sweat, blanketed, grained and gave kisses.

He is getting his teeth done either Thursday or Friday so I will work my riding around that :)

View from Henry's stall

Yeah yeah!

Friday Henry had a trainer ride, they said he was great- yahoo!

Saturday was the usual group lesson.

A little but of no stirrup work went on, I suck at it and it hurts. I do a little each ride but swear I am not getting stronger or better. Lyssette asked if I was going to do no stirrup November with her ... I think it would kill me!

Then we jumped....

Warmed up over the vertical facing south in the above picture. (the one with the word vertical under the line)

Then Lyssette and I waited our turn.

Started with the following course:

X vertical off the right lead to the rainbow 3 strides to the blue gate, left turn to the green gate, right turn to the vertical down the center line, left turn to the 4 stride line, left turn to the domino oxer.

Our first go was great- expect getting in a little deep to the oxer in the 4 stride- trainer actually said it was the best course I had ever ridden to date- YAHOO!

Then I had to wait and wait while others went and then we did the 4 stride line a few more times, it was rough but then we got it right.

Great lesson for sure!

Sunday Henry got some pampering, walking and a little grass eating (the tinny bit we found).

Something Monday, lesson Tuesday, idk Wed/Thur/Fri... hoping the vet can get out to do Henry's teeth and i'll work my riding around that... lesson Saturday.

Margarita?

Work has been kicking my bootie- even tho it's things that aren't my fault(in other departments), I still want my projects to go well!

Im trying to feel this way about work stress...

Wednesday I hacked Henry. We rode inside and there were quite a lot of people in there when we started.. I am going to make a neon yellow sign that says LEFT SHOULDER LEFT SHOULDER!! Thankfully Henry isn't phased by people running INTO us and cutting us off or running up his bootie...

Anywho he was great... he's been really strong but so is life- that's normal for him.

It ended up be me and one other horse that was on trial in the arena, she was squirmy and Henry didn't bat an eye- that;s by boy! We even used him as a blog so that someone could get on her and he stood there like a perfect gentleman as she was pitching a fit.

I rode in the ride light pad and a square pad and loved the way it felt... can't wait to get mine for my birthday!

Looking cute eating his grain while I filled his and Louie's waters

Cooled out, un-tacked, cleaned up and took Henry home. I ended up dumping his big ol water bucket b/c I think the Equine Aid made major algae grow in his water, it smelt nasty and was grooooody! It's never done this before :(

He got a light turn out Thursday.

Hack today and lesson tomorrow.

On Different Pages

Normal Tuesday night lesson was in full swing.

Got Henry, tacked up, lunged (it was cooler then normal so he was a bit crazy) and got on.

We were not on the same page ...

In the canter he was heavy and running through my hands.

OF it felt like nothing was right.  Erica and Kat said it didn't look bad but sheesh it felt awful.

We did a vertical, to the green gate, to the blue gate, to the rainbow, to the domino's.

Then the rainbow, to the domino's, roll back to the green gate, to the blue gate.

I'm going to forget the lesson happened and move on...

Hopefully I can get him out today, off tomorrow, hack Friday and lesson Saturday.

Radomes but awesomes

Totally none horse related, this video is great!

Also, this is an awesome blog post!!! Thanks to She Moved to Texas for sharing it!

Another great article on the GM clinic written by Dom Schramm.

Hacked last night.

I am starting ever hack/ride with moving his hip around. It's definitely getting better!

Other then that I just hacked around.. he was HIGH so I was more just working on getting him out, moving and keeping his brain busy.

We were both quite sweaty by the end of the ride- a nice 20 min hack turned into a 45-50 min no walk break ride lol.

I rode in the Ride Light pad that Lyssette wrote about. I can't say he felt smoother but I did notice I was able to sit the trot better then my normal bouncing (Henry has a HORRIBLE trot to sit- my trainer won't even trot him when she rides b/c it hurts her back). I think I'll try and ride in it again on another day that she isn't using it. I plan to get one for my birthday though, thanks hubby!

Lesson tonight, off Wednesday, hack/lunge Thursday, hack Friday and lesson Saturday.

Horsey weekend ftw!

Saturday brought cake, dr pepper and oh yeah a lesson :)

Went down to get Henry and he was cutely waiting for me.

Groomed, tacked up and headed down to lunge. It was chilly so I made sure to grab my coat.

Got the crazies out, I seriously stood there while he ran a muck- then I encouraged him a little to make sure the crazies were all out :)

In our lesson my trainer told me to start out leg yielding him like we had done Thursday to prep for what was to come.

Flatted around- I felt loose which was frustrating but did my best to hold it together. Henry was a little more up then I would have liked but I never got yelled at for it so I must have been "faking it till we made it" well - lol!

On to jumping...

Here is a video Kat made.

And pics she took, LOVE pics, thanks Kat!

As you can see, it never warmed up- so weird since we have been having 90's and 100's lately!

On the walk back up to the barn, a tree in a pot fell over and just about got Juliana and I dumped. Both Henry and Louie whirled and spun- luckily we both laughed and then had to sit deep and push the nut heads forward past the tree - fewww made it!

Untacked, cleaned up, ate cake and drank Dr Pepper for Lyssettes birthday :)

Sunday was dollar day at the track so we headed out for Lyssettes birthday.

It was nice and relaxing, ate good nachos, hubby drank some beer and chatted with old friends and made some new ones.

Henry got a nice turn out Sunday :)

Oh and in one of the races, Henry's sister won and Ramones sister got second.. they were in the same race. Lyssette and I got a good laugh and realized that the sisters got the good racing genes!

Hack tonight, lesson Tuesday, off Wednesday, hopefully a hack Thursday, hack Friday and lesson Saturday.

Hunter Princess Blog Hop – A Princess Stereotype You Break

This week for the blog hop, let’s tackle this stigma.  Is there a way that you “break the mold” of the stereotypical hunter princess?

I don't have a $80,000 + made horse.

I have a nice horse who has taken lots of hard work, sweat and even tears.

He was less expensive then most (not "cheap" per say) and a hot mess of a stopper.

Hard work, a great trainer and determination on my part have paved the way for us. It hasn't been easy, especially after having a baby and there were defiantly times that I wasn't sure if I really wanted to do this. Now looking back I am SO thankful that I have stuck with it and we have a long way to go before Henry (and I) are A circuit ready, but we are a long way from where we started. :)

So what about you readers – what stereotype do you break in the “hunter princess” mold?  Every discipline has their stigmas too, whether it be dressage or western or even halter showing

 Joining the Blog Hop is really easy. Just write a post related to this topic, add your link on this post using the blue button, and click the link below to get the blog hop code on your site.

Don't forget to enter Hillary's contest :) http://www.equestrianathart.com/2013/08/contest-time-sore-no-more.html

Oh Lead Changes...

Shoe's back on, woo hoo!

I had a lesson today...

Got Henry, tacked up, lunged and got on. I haven't been feeling right so I had to really put my head down and muster through.

My trainer had my really work on not touching the left rein, so that Henry didn't have anything to hand/lean on. He's way way way heavier on the left side then the right.

Then we worked on walking a straight line, moving his hip over but keeping his shoulder/head straight. Then we added in moving his hip over but counter bend with hit neck.. like an S shape.

All of this was in prep for working on lead changes. This is what the lesson ended up being all about. Let me just say, I am SO thankful that most if not all of the time Henry gets his leads OF haha!

Henry, channel your inner Brunello!!

So we had some moments of greatness and then some yeah, not so great.

Henry is a smart horse (these lead change whoas have nothing to do with him not knowing whats going on) and one day I hope he will decide that just doing the changes (left to right is easy, right to left hit or miss) is easier then these fights I mean lessons ;)

After I worked hard and got some progress, my trainer hopped on Henry to drive the point home a little more.

He was pissed through the process to say the least hahah! But its interesting that he doesn't hold a grudge, it's like he was over it the second you let go of the reins.

Hosed him off, did a vetrolin lineament sponge down to help him not be sore from the tag team ride, cleaned tack and took him down to his stall with his grain.. gave kisses of course!

Maybe a hack/turnout Friday and a lesson Saturday.

Oh Henry

Henry pulled a shoe last night when I was lunging him before our lesson... guess he was having flash backs to his race horse days cause he was CRAZY.

I searched and searched for the shoe with no luck- tho I did find two others. Hopefully my farrier can put a new one on today so I can ride... fingers crossed.

Homeboy got hosed off (he was sweaty form his crazyness), kissed and put back in his stall to eat his dinner.

Never forgotten, 9-11

Life of Riley is having a contest.. don't forget to enter!

Unexpected day off.. for me.

Henry got an unexpected ride from my trainer Monday. I can't wait to get a run down from her tonight in my lesson :)

After work I still headed out to the barn to do some chores.

I turned Henry out and then walked Lou for Juliana.

Groomed, fly sprayed and conditioned both boys tails.

Grained and filled waters.

He's so cute! :)

Lesson tonight, off Wednesday, lesson Thursday, turn out Friday and lesson Saturday.

LOVE a clean horse :)

Saturday didn't pan out as I would have liked, but sometimes life gets in the way. I had to go to a walk through at my daughters day cares new location so I didn't get to the barn till 9:45.

Sadly, I missed the lesson but still rode. I planned to just hack around and then decided to work on counter canter... Henry was a little opinionated so I called over my trainer to help. We had a mini lesson working on counter canter which was HARD work for us both but good work :)

Cooled us both out cause we were pooped!

Since all the lesson people were done in the wash racks, I decided to give Henry a good bath.. including man parts.

I scrubbed and scrubbed- body, legs (hind legs, gotta get that funk off), tail, man parts... his man parts get SO dirty! I do it once a week and always have SO MUCH to clean- is that what ya'll find too?!

I ordered some of this to see if it helps break up the grime in there easier...

I don't know about you all, BUT I love having a clean horse. It seriously makes me so happy! Especially after a hard but productive ride :)

I let Henry dry a little while I cleaned tack, made his grain and took him home.

Gave kisses, filled Henry and Louie's waters (it's been 100+ yuck) and headed home.

Sunday he got the day off... there is a new fire not far from the barn- ugh...

Praying that they get it under control soon! It doubled in size over night and is only 10% contained.

Monday is supposed to be a hack day but I just got a text that my trainer rode him so looks like I'll just be doing some chores tonight.

Lesson Tuesday, off Wednesday, hopefully a lesson Thursday, turn out Friday and a lesson Saturday.

Hunter Princess Blog Hop- Ideal Outfit

Oh how I love shopping! If I had an unlimited budget I would get...

Helmet- CO Ayrbrush Helmet... I mean if I have an unlimited budget, why not spend $1000 on a helmet lol!

Then of course cause I would be doing Derby's, I'd have a shadbelly!

Then I would need a nice yellow shirt to compliment it...



And I need this belt like She Moved to Texas.. AMAZING!

I love love love TS Hunter Trophy breeches... they fit my body well so I'd just order like 50 pairs :)

 

Socks socks socks!! One of each please!

Of course custom boots, yep defiantly necessary ;)

Some nice gloves

Can I add a horse too? ;)

Join the blog hop!!! The code isn't working for me so go to She Moved to Texas and join there!