Getting back in the saddle

Finally weather and sicknesses and horse show judging gods aligned and allowed for a riding lesson :) I went out last Sunday and although a little chilly, it wasn't too bad. hardly much wind at all! Satchmo was in a grouchy mood. I don't know why. And although he was pretty good on the flat, he was slow and got VERY particular about where I sit for each gait. And each "seat" he wanted me to sit in was like the size of a dime. Sorry, Satchmo, but my butt is bigger than a dime and you're going to have to deal with that. We did a bit of transition work and sitting trot and then some jumping! This week we learned about Oxers! ooooo new! :D I thought for sure Satchmo would look at it and go "WOAH! What happened?" but instead he just didn't want to jump. After I got a hold of a whip and gave a little tap he went over! And from then on out he started to move forward, too! FINALLY! :D The oxers were good, though! We didn't have to drill very hard and for the most part he participated nicely even though he was still being sort of a grouch. Little did he know Vinece would be coming out later to ride *lol*

All in all, a good lesson! :) can't wait for next week!

Back In The Saddle

It's been a while since I've had a lesson because of weather or illnesses. I was SO glad to get back in the saddle but I don't think Satchmo was as happy. Poor pony seemed to be having back problems. Even jumping he wasn't having fun. I'm assuming it's the hard ground and being a little out of shape due to the inconsistency of lessons. Hopefully once the weather warms up and the ground gets softer all of the horses will feel a little better. Even Bella looked heavy on her feet and they both felt stiff. It was a good lesson though! We did some transition stuff and tried jumping but that wasn't as successful because he was ouchy. Hopefully next week he'll feel a little more in shape and a little less sore from getting back in the lesson groove again. And I'll have to get some pictures up for 2009 soon. It's just been so hard to actually keep to a schedule when it might snow one day and be 50 degrees the next. Ugh! I hate the winter!

First Ride of 2009

This morning - after much hiking and walking yesterday - I went for my first ride in 2009. Satchmo knows when I'm tired and made me work pretty hard during the flat. But it was the jumping that really took it out of me. I just couldn't muster up enough energy to jump much :( we did a few at 2' 4" and I don't know how I managed to stay on a couple of times. If I had had more energy we would've done some at 2' 6". Sorry, Satch :(

My Mom and I decided on horse Halloween costumes so we can be prepared for the Talbot Run costume show in October :P I know it's a little early but at least now we won't have to think up something last minute. I'm going to dress Satchmo up as Michael Phelps with a shoulder guard as his speedo, some goggles, a swimming cap and use some tied up bouys as lap lanes. :P MOm is going to dress Bella up as a Diva, a real one from the Opera :P Horns and braids and all :P very cool!

Last Lesson of 2008

Today I had my last lesson for 2008 with my Mom. Satchmo was muddy but in a good mood :) We worked on the flat for a while and did some walk - trot and walk - canter transitions. It was good :D I'm pretty sure Venice's legs grew, though, because the stirrups seem a little longer than usual. Then we worked over fences and it seems to be working well to just canter right into jumping and sitting back helps, too. I don't think I was sitting back enough so at least that was good.

Last but not least, we jumped 2'6"! That's right, 2'6"! Heck yea! :D Go Satchmo!! I can seriously vision him doing well even higher later in his career! I was so happy! :)

We didn't get any pictures of it, but I have a few witnesses ;) Happy New Year! 2009 is Satchmo's year!

Brrr it's Cold!

Saturday morning I went to the barn to ride Mr. Satchmo. It was pretty cold and windy but I managed to ride for 20 minutes. The ground was frozen, too, and Satchmo being the dainty flower he is did not like that. It took some coaxing from me to let him know that the more we moved the softer the ground would become but he didn't believe me until 2 min until we finished when the ground was actually starting to melt on its own. I worked on some transition stuff and did 1 jump and called it a day. I want to work on flying lead changes but I suck at them so for now I just worked on simple changes across the diagonal and trying to decrease the number of trot strides he takes before picking up the new lead. I figured that should be doing some sort of good. I found it amuzing that every time I asked him to pick up a new lead he swished his tail once. Some how his tail helps lol! Sally was there, too, just finishing up with Moonie who flirted mercelessly over the fence with Smash and Rizzo. Little floozies ;P I put Satch back and went home after that. :)

Thanksgiving Riding

What a weekend of riding! This weekend I took a little road trip with my Mom to Wilson College in PA to visit Monty. It has been 2 years since I donated him to the school and I had the sudden urge to finally see him. We drove up at 10am and finally arrived a little after 11:30am. I found Monty in Barn 2. The whole facility was great. 3 barns 2 indoor rings an outdoor ring and a cross country course! Monty looked just how I'd left him and I was happy he was still nice and fat. I was worried he would be too thin since he was hard to keep weight on - but it seems as if Wilson College knows how to keep him healthy. He gets 8 flakes of hay a day!! Talk about sparing no expense!! I found someone in charge and told them who I was and she told me I could hop on him and do whatever I wanted. It was weird not having any sort of rules but I went with the flow. I tacked Monty up and I could tell he just wasn't the same. He was still sweet and willing, but his spunky personality was definitely toned down. He didn't recognize me like I somehow thought he would and he definitely had a school horse mentality - a little sour. I dragged him to the outdoor ring and got on. He walked, trotted, and cantered wonderfully and was actually more balanced than I ever really got him to be. Then I popped him over some fences and he was like a push button horse! I couldn't believe it! He could find his own spots and was so even paced through the line to get the correct strides!! I could tell he had some fun jumping and I remembered why I had loved him so much. I didn't know what else to do with him so I hopped off after only about 15 minutes and took him back. I felt some better closure with him and that I really had grown out of him. He wouldn't be a challenge for me to ride anymore and we had both changed over the past 2 years. Sad to admit, but I was happy he was teaching little kids how to ride and was such an asset to the program. I left with my Mom and some great pics and a satisfied feeling about Monty's future.

Sunday I went back to Cathy's for a lesson in the rain on Satchmo. Satchmo was really quite good despite the cold icky weather and we even were schooling over 2'3" fences :) Cathy's plan is school him at home no lower than 2'3"-2'6" then we can show him at 2' next spring :) I'm excited! Hope Satchmo is excited, too! LOL!

I guess that's really it for the update over Thanksgiving weekend. :) yay horses!!

Show Day!

Today was the Talbot Run Combined Show. But before I get into that, I want to lightly touch on Saturday.

Saturday my Mom and I went to the barn for show prep. We put all of our tack in the trailer and groomed our mounts as best we could in the frigid temps. Luckily Satchmo was pretty clean after Venice's lesson. Bella was not as clean though. BUT I witnessed something disturbing...Satchmo ate poop. yeah...he ate poop. gross. We were there for an hour or 2 and then went home to get all of our clothes together, too.

Sunday we all met at 7am at the barn. It was cold and early but since it was a crowd, it was actually not too bad. Donna, Sallie, Cassidy, Aileen, Cathy, my Mom, and I were all there and a little nervous. I guess the horses were nervous too because we had a little loading issue. The one trailer ramp was frozen and the horses were slipping on it. Not a great start. Rizzo was also very upset to be left behind but she had to Rodan to keep her company. When we got to Talbot Run Cathy got to her judging post and we started getting ready.

Donna rode first and we watched in the viewing booth. I only saw her first test and it was good! Satch was so well behaved! After her first test I went and got myself dressed to come take Satchmo from her. I saw maybe the last few moments of her second test. Then it was my turn and our test was ok. Our walk was rather lazy, our halts were crooked, and per usual the right was not as good as the left. I then had 45 min to waste before I could jump. I showed Satchmo all of the jumps in the ring and got him used to it as much as I could. Cassidy and my Mom soon joined me and we went on little parades around the property until the jumping warm up area was available. That paddock they used was horrible. The ground was completely frozen and Satchmo didn't want to jump and slipped once! So I decided to just forget it and go back to the show ring and go blind. And it paid off! My goal was to canter the course and I succeeded! I had to trot a fence because I lost my stirrups but I cantered the rest and Satch was SO brave! I barely had to encourage him to keep going!!! :D I was very happy!

My Mom jumped next and Bella was really pumped to jump! She and my Mom had a great round, too! Sallie went next and Moonie was great! He plopped over the jumps just how she wanted him to. It was a great improvement from their last show experience :) Everyone did really well! And I think we had a GREAT spread of food and drink :D Gotta do that more often!

A little boy ended up winning 1st place, my Mom got 2nd place, I got 3rd, and Sallie got 4th :D Go Cirque Du Solan`! :P

We had some minor reloading issues again but when Cathy finished judging got everyone loaded and went back home. I don't have any pictures to post right now but if I aquire any, I will add them. here is the link from Aileen's photos: http://community.webshots.com/album/568871114dqQyOI

This next paragraph is dedicated to Moonie since I know his Mom loves reading about him ;)
Moonie is approx. 5' by 7'.
Moonie is made of 2 right angle triangles.
Moonie does not run away.
Moonie loves Satchmo.
Moonie relates dressage to geometry - rhombus = collection; parallelogram = extension; triangles = cut in half - someone get the glue! or is he made of glue because he's a horse??? trick question!