Horse shows are not won in June

They are won in December, January and February.

Lady, what do I look like? A jungle gym?

Uh, so that's what I keep telling myself as the weather gets colder. And colder. Sunday I rode at about 10 a.m. and both arenas were still frozen. So, not the best footing. Hampton was a bit short strided and because we were both bundled up (me in my thick winter jacket and breeches, and him in his quarter sheet) ... we couldn't really "feel" each other and so it was mostly just a hack. No real work accomplished.

Today was much better. Yay for nice 50-degree days. Hampton was a bit fresh (as evidenced by a few bolts on the lunge line) but it was good because it made him very forward and responsive. Worked on trot-walk-trot transitions, then walk-canter. They were about the same as last time. As in, maybe 60% success rate. I either screw up and he ends up trotting off, or he LAUNCHES into the canter. Which I don't punish him for because hey, at least he's sitting and pushing off. lol. We did have several nice transitions in both directions. Then we worked on leg yields - making them steeper. Leg yielding right was great, to the left needs a bit more work. He gets somewhat above the bit. I suspect I'm taking up too much contact. Need to work on that.

More of the same planned for tomorrow with some shoulder-in thrown in. I'm thinking just a lunging day for Wednesday and then we have a lesson on Thursday. That will set us up great for a day off on Friday .. then I'll ride one day this weekend. Depending on the weather.

For him.

Thank you.

I try to walk away and I stumble

Here's some food for thought for the holiday weekend. :-)

Stumbling.

So, I'm not going to go into a philisophical post about how I am stumbling through life. I am talking literal stumbling. Tripping over your own feet.

Do you (or your trainer) punish your horse for stumbling? If so, how do you punish him or her? If not, why not? And do you ignore it?

Hampton stumbles a few times each riding session, usually. His toes aren't long and he doesn't even wear bellboots anymore, so I blame it on the fact that he's on the forehand and sort of lazy. My instructor says I should punish him for it - by half halting and using the stick. Up until now, I just ignore it. But I am going to try correcting him when he stumbles to see if it makes a difference. And to clarify, they are just minor little trips. And only in front. He never goes down to his knees or anything. It also helps to walk in shoulder-in.

So, how do you handle stumbles?

Stop being so peaceful

Hampton and I had a super lesson today. (It's been probably close to a month since we've had one). Here are some of the things we worked on:

• Bend. Bend. Bend. Going left it's easy, but going to the right he likes to make an "S" out of his body. Perhaps this is why I found renvers so easy a while back? lol! He will bulge his neck left, tilt his poll right and swing his haunches out. He can be tricky to straighten in this direction, but we worked it out for the most part.

• Canter transitions. While they have improved A LOT ... they still need work to nail the scores in dressage. We might get by at training level, but for first we will need better transitions. The issue is that he gets confused about how to strike off with his hind legs. Like, he sort of has to ponder it. So, we decided to can the trot-canter transitions for the most part, and start doing walk-canter. This will help him strike off with purpose, organize his feet and get his butt under him. I am so happy to say that we got a number of really super walk-canter transitions. Woot! A few were ... uh ... not great. And a few times he picked up the canter and then I stopped riding and then he broke back into trot. Derrrr. But doing those transitions made him really uphill and brought his poll up.

• Leg yields. He needs to be sharper and needs to cross his back legs better. He's got the concept now, so I need to start asking more. Which brings me to ...

• Stop being so peaceful. My instructor said that I like to ride in a very peaceful manner (this is true). This is good in that I create very sane, good-minded horses. They have confidence and don't turn into spazzes. However, there are times in training when you need to rock the boat. Or your progress isn't really going to happen. I need to ask more, jazz him up a little, ride him more like a 3rd level horse then letting him plod along.

So I've got some good homework for this week! I'm  not sure how much riding I'll get in since work is going to get in the way. UGH. Perhaps by the weekend.

Sometimes it's good to plummet

Hampton fall 2010

Thank you to everyone who commented with encouragement. :-) It does help. I took out a loan on my 401K and that will help a lot with getting some things caught up. Annnd buying gas and food. I will be looking for a part-time job to help make a little more money, and keep hunting for a better full-time job as well. You all are right - things do work themselves out.

I was watching this interview last night with Cher (can you believe she is 64?!?) .. and she said "Sometimes it's good to plummet. Because then you really appreciate it when you come back up."

**

I feel a little stupid for complaining about my life, when a fellow blogger is in a situation much worse. Please go to Denali's blog if you haven't already. Denali's owner has been through a LOT with her beloved mare, and now she is making a really tough decision. I'm not sure what is more heartbreaking that losing your horse ... except maybe a close family member.

Remember to hug your horse today.

When life sucks.

Why life does not suck. :-)

Here is why life sucks right now:

• Due to some miscommunication, the gas in my house was shut off on Tuesday. The soonest they could reconnect is today. Leaving me with a couple of very cold nights and no hot water. Thus: no shower.

• I'm still playing catch up after having to produce a very large chunk of money in order to move into this new house. Money I did not have, because I hadn't been budgeting for rent payments. When I basically got kicked out of the previous house in mid-October, my roomie and I literally found a new place and moved in less than 2 weeks. My bank account is in the red.

• Therefore, I have no cash. No money to eat. No money for gas. Thankfully, my truck payment and Hampton's board are current. And he's plenty stocked up on grain. I have literally been scrounging pennies to buy food and drinks. I tried to sell my truck but no one is going to work with me as I am just a bit upside down on my current loan. It's doubtful a private buyer will purchase it outright.

• My career is still in the toilet. I have no immediate plans for a new job. I'm just sitting here, basically waiting for them to lay me off. The environment at work is tense. Everyone is crabby. The "managers" are horrible at their jobs. I am still in school to be a vet tech - but that is years away. And even so, I'm having doubts because people keep telling me the pay sucks.

• I took out a loan on my 401K to help catch up with finances. That was 9 days ago. STILL NO CHECK. Now I'm freaking out that it is lost. I need that check. BADLY.

• I. Am. Not. Selling. Hampton.


Even though life is super tough right now, he is the only good thing I have. Am I wrong to have a horse on a journalist's budget? Is that foolish of me? I don't know. All I know is that the horse is my life. In July 2009 I happened upon spunky, unhandled 2-year-old thinking I'd start him under saddle and make a little cash. I didn't think he'd end up being the horse I have been looking for for a very, VERY long time! Selling T-Bone was hard, but I was OK with it. Selling this horse would devastate me.

So ... ya know, since life has been super suck-tastic here lately. I am going to actually go out and do something fun (since I bought tickets a while ago). And that is to see Mike Gordon tomorrow. A few hours of no worries. Just Cactus.

The good and the gassy

Oh sweetness 74 degrees in the middle of November!

April 2010

I decided to work Hampton out in the hayfield today. Things started out a little rough - he was distracted and wanted to look around. But he wasn't bad. Once we worked through that, he ended up relaxing and I was able to do leg yields, shoulder-in and a few steps of renvers right out in the middle of the field! This was far more impressive for me, than for the horse. The lack of any wall or fence really made me pay attention to my aids. The fact that Hampton has never done renvers before was also pretty neat that I was able to get a few steps of it. Woot!

Toward the end of our workout, he had already pooed about 3 times. Not totally unusual for him. He pooed two more times on the walk back to the barn. Hmmmm. Then he started showing signs that he was gassy. Ohhhhh k. So I untacked him and cooled him out. Seemed better. I thought maybe working out in the field had perhaps made him nervous - there was a big scary farm machine grooming the field next door. I went ahead and fed him half his grain ration and his hay. Scarfed those up. Ok cool. Went to lead him back out to field and he pooes again - this time it's scours. Ugh. So I put him back in the stall with another flake of hay. Weird. He is otherwise bright, alert, no temp, pink gums, etc. Is it because the pressure is about to plummet? Maybe they got a really rich roundbale outdoors?

I watched him for another 20 minutes and no more "deposits." I put him back out and he got a big drink of water (like he usually does) and begged for a treat. I figured it was best he was outside to walk around if he was having some gas. I hope that's all it is. Poor guy.

Back in business!!

Hampton in July 2009.

I almost wrote something on Tuesday but didn't want to jinx myself.

The chiro came out Tuesday morning and worked on Hampton for almost an hour. She is an excellent vet (a graduate of Purdue), but also certified and experienced in chiro work, holistic medicine and kinsiology (spelling? ... derrr). She started out quietly examining his muscles and energy. It was fascinating to me. She had an assistant who would put one arm out for the vet to touch, and the other arm on the horse - so the horse, vet and assistant formed a circle. She was somehow able to determine sore areas this way. I admit I should have asked more questions but I was really fascinated by just watching and didn't want to interupt her.

Hampton then got accupuncture in his poll. Dr. Cathy (the vet) said that she has found that the pole and the hips are connected (not just in horses) and that if you get a release in one, it affected the other.

Then she got to adjusting his hind end, which was basically as messed up as you could get it. He had a rotated pelvis and his sacrum, left hip and a couple of vertebrae were out of whack. After some work, she said "Go ride him."

So I threw on some tack and hopped aboard (in my jeans and sneakers, classy).

I was hoping he would be a little better, but was not prepared for the shock I was about to get.

His wonky canter was .... gone. 100% gone. In its place was the rhythmic canter with jump. Granted, it's still croup-high and we still don't have the cadence I had over the summer but ... the lateral canter was gone. Both leads.

I rode again today and had a full schooling session. Hampton was ON. He was so there for me. You know when you horse is on the aids, over the back and you can just sit up and glide along? That was us today. I felt like I could have ridden a Grand Prix test (um, if we knew how ... details!). Again, the canter was there. It was jumping and no wonkyness. We just need to get the balance back, which doesn't worry me at all. We schooled shoulder in, circle spirals, trot lengthenings and transitions. It was an excellent ride. We'll start back with lessons next week.

I'm so glad to have my horse back!

A plug for a fellow blogger

If you haven't already, you need to visit and read A Process of Learning.

This is a great blog about a really adorable horse named Ella and her human (I won't post her name in case she doesn't want me to ...). Ella's human acquired Ella under really sad circumstances, but she has taken this gift of a horse and made the best of it. It's a truly inspiring blog, also humorous and a really good read. The reason I am touting her blog today is because she also does really great give-a-ways and I recently won one - a SmartPak giftcard! TOO COOL!

I think I might start an once-in-a-while series of promoting other blogs I read. SO many people out there have extraordinary circumstances, horses with "issues," and just their own unique stories to tell. They are worth a read.

That is why I have a horse.

(From this spring)

Yesterday I took a friend out to the barn to go riding. I hadn't been aboard Hampton in a week and wanted to see how he was doing. I briefly lunged him ... and at first he looked stiff. Like mostly in the right hock. But he worked out of it quite nicely so I decided to go ahead and ride. He felt WAY better than he looked on the lunge. Worked mostly on trot-walk transitions, and back and forth in the trot. Played with some shoulder in as well. It all felt good. I tried a little bit of canter. The right lead felt better than it has - but I did let him go forward in a more bounding canter than usual. Left lead was ... eh. Still wonky. So I ended it on a canter transition - first 3 strides were good - back to trot, stretchy circles to end the session.

Chiro comes out tomorrow so we'll see what she says.

After our ride, we went out for a trail ride around the property. Once we reached the big open hay field I let Hampton go for a little hand gallop. SO FUN! He comes right back to me when I ask and seems to really enjoy himself. That is why i have a horse.

After we put our horses up and I fed Hampton, we hung out with others from the barn for a cookout. Nice and relaxing, good food, friendly horse people. At about 6ish, we all decide we should go on a trail ride. Soooo I tacked Hampton back up. By the time 4 of us hit the trails, it was almost dark. We quickly found ourselves out in a wide open hay field in the pitch dark.

Hampton was an ANGEL.

He found a great rhythm and marched along like an old pro. A twilight trail ride with my 3 year old? That  is why I have a horse. I am so glad I switched barns, it would have been considered reckless to do something like that at the foo-foo dressage barn. It was really special to watch the sun set from the back of my horse. I think in the midst of training and trying to reach our goals, we all need to remember why we have a horse. I felt like a little kid again. I needed that.

The works.

Moving is just about finished. Organizing and putting things away? Ugh. Let's just not talk about that portion.

Hampton ... drunk as a skunk. Drooling.

Hampton had an appointment with the dentist this morning, as well as the vet for his fall shots. The dentist is excellent - the best I've ever seen as far as the quality of work he does. He is excellent with fearful horses, too. And only uses the power tools when teeth require a little extra work.

Hampton had to be sedated of course, and ended up having 3 caps extracted, plus one segment of a baby tooth that was wedged back in his mouth along with some food. I saved all of the teeth ... lol, no I'm not creepy or anything ... and hell I might make a necklace out of one of the larger ones. I know, I know. WEIRD-O!!

Anyway, he has a chiro appointment next week so we'll see if anything is going on there before I go ahead and get his hocks examined. If all checks out, then the canter this is a fitness, training, riding issue and we go from there.

He will get several more days off to recover from today and probably a few light hacks toward the end of the week.

Two molar caps, one incisor cap