BeauD Video

Aha, the video finally emerges. The library internet is the only one around fast enough to upload these stinkers.

Merry Christmas!

Hello all! Its the day before Christmas Eve, and I'm cozy in the recliner chair back home! I came back yesterday so I could work at the vet clinic today. And lots of things have happened that I could write about, but my mind is drawing a blank and I don't feel like writing a huge amount. Go me. Finally something to say, and no motivation to say it. I do have about a billion pictures. So maybe they will trigger some brain waves.

So here is a picture of my boss, well, the man who owns BeauD. This is him riding one of his other horses, Ellie. Ellie was in the school's training program along with Cheyenne. I rode BeauD this day too, and he was great. Let him run around loose in the arena first, get his boogers out, then hopped on. Walk, trot, canter both ways. He was awesome. And we finally got some video of me riding him, although the video was kind of far away so it is hard to see. You can't tell how totally wonderful his canter is from this video. Riding it is like being in a rocking chair, and it's so smooth and comfortable. He doesn't rush at all, and isn't totally heavy on the forehand. Its lovely. Love.

OK. This is where that video was going to be, if the internet at my parents house wasn't painfully slow and lame. It can't upload video to save its life. I will have to go steal library or LBCC internet to upload it.

So yeah. And in other news... Gypsy has been a boogery little booger lately. But I don't quite believe its all her fault. Last few times I've ridden her, she seems just so...in pain. I got her worked by the chiropracter over the summer, because she seemed ouchy, but in all that time, she hadn't been acting like she was in some serious acute pain. But now she arches her neck, pins her ears, shakes the head. Its terrible! So I think I need to get her some work. It doesn't help that I don't think her saddle is fitting her anymore, it slides all around and back...So I have been doing a ton of bareback riding, which used to always totally fix her problems, but now she is even acting up bareback. I never enjoy riding that horse anymore. Sigh, oh to own a horse I look forward to riding. I peruse dreamhorse in boredom and just drool over all the horses I could own. I just want a horse that is big enough for me, and is chill. I don't need to show, I don't need ribbons. I just want a comfortable and nice looking ride where the horse is willing to carry itself and is good natured and happy to work. Boo. Sigh. But the other day, I did have some fun making her a santa hat. I got a cheap hat from the dollar store and cut holes for ears, and stuck it on her. Suprisingly she didn't care at all, and chilled with her hat for quite awhile. Super cute.

And other slightly exciting news...We took horses to the fairgrounds at work the other day. We took Cheyenne, so she could get some good practice and work to get ready for a possible show next month, Troy [the TB cross I worked last year-the other girl works her now], and...wait for it....waiiiiitttt....Beary! Miss fatty Beary!

It was her first trailer ride since she was 6 months old. She hadn't been taken anywhere since she was a baby to come live at my boss'. And she loaded right up in the trailer, no problem. She just doesn't back out at this point, she has to turn around. And she was moving that trailer all over the place during the ride, ha. But we unloaded her, and she was perfectly calm and easy. There was a major scary incident about tying though. I felt like an idiot for it, ugh. She used to pull back when tied, really bad. But I kinda fixed that, and she hasn't done it in months and months. So I tied her to the panels. Everybody ties to those panels without thinking. So I did. And we left her there, and she was fine for a while. And then she pulled back, and pulled all the panels with her, and it was a total train wreck. Horrible. My life flashed before my eyes, as I was trying to get close enough to her to let her loose. But as bad as that was, I will say she settled back down. She was breathing a little harder the whole rest of the time, a little cautious, but she was a saint. I led her all around, I saddled her, I rode her at a walk once around the arena. And so went her very first expedition. I will make sure there are no train wrecks next time. Cheyenne did super awesome. She is so good. She is going to own at the show, if we take her.

Beary on the left, Cheyenne in the middle, Troy on right.

Another cantering pony!

Ok so lots of excitement. Today I went to ride BeauD again...took him and Ellie [another of his horses] to the fairgrounds. BeauD got to have a nice little stud chain while being led around. He finally jerked me around and dragged me off enough to earn it. It is now our best friend. Ha. He was being a bit crazy, so we let the two horses run around in the empty arena and get their boogers and sillyness out, and that did wonders. I lunged BeauD monster and he did NOT drag me halfway across the arena. He minded the stud chain and had beautiful manners, walk trot and, dare I say it, canter! He didn't buck at all, and he didn't pull me around while he cantered. Oh dear me, might today be the day to try to canter Mr. BeauD? We shall see....
So I hopped on, and he was being great, and we trotted around, and he had some impulsion going, he was using his big beautiful booty a little bit....Bueno. And so...ok, lets bite the bullet. Ask for the canter! Don't buck me off BeauD....I just visited the chiropractor and am feeling better. So I asked....and he gave!!
Ahhhh, let me tell you. I was expecting some super quick crazy thing. No such thing! He cantered slow and easily, with lift and some impulsion, with his head held pretty nicely. I held him and he was feeling on the bit, but he wasn't pulling me, and he wasn't trying to speed up. And the canter! Oh, the canter! He is like a smooth rocking chair, so amazingly comfortable and wonderful! I was super excited. Stoked. Go me and BeauD. I was very happy and proud of him. Yay.
In other news, I went to the racetrack- Portland Meadows, yesterday. It was Oregon race day...a bunch of bigger money races going. It was super fun, lost a couple bucks, ha. Saw the vet I shadowed over the summer, the whole clinic crew was there! I said hi, it was awesome. Yay, they love me still. And she asked if I was going to come work a little while I was home on break. Heck yes! Also super stoked and excited.

The amazing cantering pony!

So yesterday night I went to work...Decided to lunge the giant Bailey monster- she is a clydesdale cross thing. She gets very obnoxious and nippy, and I was a bit tired of her evilness. So I brushed and lunged, and she is actually very good! She walk trots on the lunge nicely, and then I was working her a little bit in hand. She leads around, stops promptly, backs, and yields her big giant booty. I was a little pleasantly suprised- Ive never really worked her. I tried a bit of trotting in hand, and after a reminder that it IS required, she did great. Woohoo, I guess she just wanted some loving!
But anyways, this post isn't supposed to be about Bailey. It is about the other B pony of my life...Beary! I rode her last night too, and she was doing really well. Walking around, trotting around, turning, stopping. So I have been really curious if I could get her to canter....I mean, she would be a really cute walk-trot horse for some kid, but boy it would be really nice if she had a canter too. I tried cantering her last year, with some help, and oh goodness it was NOT happening. You don't even want to know the extremes we went to to get Bears to canter, and nope. No canter. Not even close. So last night I grabbed my trusty dressage whip that Beary is becoming very responsive and wary of. Ha. And I asked her to canter, and she went!!! It took a minute, and there was some minor little crow-hoppy strides, but she cantered! I was SO excited! I asked for only a tiny bit, then to come back down to trot. Asked for canter again, and she went! On the correct lead too! Turned around and cantered that way too, although it took a couple tries for the correct lead. But truthfully, I couldn't have cared less about what lead she was on. She could have been crossfiring and falling over and I wouldn't have cared- She was cantering! Beary the fatty lazy draft pony thing....was cantering!! Great success :)

BeauD

Hello all! Which includes the quite possible nobody-ness that reads this blog! I went and rode BeauD again, the big beautiful warmblood gelding that bucked my booty into the dirt the other day. But I would like to say that today went much, much better! We got into the trailer pretty easily, and lunged around a little crazy, and then rode. We walked all over, and trotted. And there was no trying to canter, and NO bucking at all, and no sillyness!! YAY! And I must again announce that his trot is lovely lovely and he would be a fabulous dressage horse. I was going to take a picture of him, but I didn't get around to it. Luckily, his owner took a few pictures. I have only gotten ahold of this one, but I love it. It was right after we unloaded from the trailer and he was very lookey-ahh scaredy cat about all the things around the fairgrounds. I think there were a couple pictures of riding, and I'll post those when they get to me. Good ride for today.

On the other hand, Gypsy has been a snot lately. I don't have any desire to ride her today....But I really need to. And then study for my finals. Which are this week. Which I have yet to study for....

EDIT-------------------- Got the pictures from our ride!

Welcome to the land of Pain!

Well well...Lets catch up on horsey-goodness news, shall we?
My boss rode Beary for the first time! It was very very exciting!! I warmed miss Beary up and she was being great, So we switched riders..She was nervous at first to ride Beary but fell into things quite nicely! And I must say Beary was an excellent student, and they walked around the arena together and did figure eights. It was a beautiful sight. Made me very proud! I took video proof! Sorry for me shouting VIDEO! in the middle....I forget my phone has noise.



So yes. Fantabulous. Ok, so then yesterday we decided to take the horses for a trip to the fairgrounds so we could get them into a nice big arena to really move. I practiced loading Beary in the trailer, and got to the point where she will get in, no big deal...But backing out?! Insanity! It's asking her to kill herself-backing off a cliff like that! Haha, its almost bizarre how weird she is about it. She will back all the way to the edge of the trailer, then just back up her front legs. She ends up standing so close together that I'm not sure how she is staying balanced. She would maybe put one back foot down, panic that there was no ground there, and shoot back forward. After mucho time of this, I just asked her to turn around and walk out. And no problems there. Huh. I will need to be creative and figure out how to solve this.

So yes, we didn't actually bring Beary to the fairgrounds, we took Cheyenne for me to ride, and Troy and Bliss for the other girl who works there to ride. And Cheyenne was so good! She was such a good girl, and wasn't doing her strange canter thing so much. Okay, I changed my mind, I don't think there is something wrong with her hocks, she just has an attitude. And I don't think she likes cantering in such a small space as the home arena. So yes, I got her to do a lovely little jog-trot nice and slow, and we did canter work. Yay.

But that does not explain my title for this entry blog thing? I will get to the pain now.
BeauD, or however you spell his name, got trailered to the fairgrounds as well. He is the big warmblood 4 year old that is owned by my boss's friend, if you recall. I have worked BeauD twice, once only on the ground. He is a good boy, but doesn't know much, and is a little hot. I am training him now because I guess he bucked off the crap out of his papa. Okay, well cool. So I tried my english saddle on him, it fits great. Perfect. It is a crime to put a western saddle on this horse, trust me. His build just screams DRESSAGE PLEASE!!! Oh, he is so so pretty and warmbloody and beautimus. So anyways. I was walking him around and he was being a great dude. We try trotting, and he is a little wobbley and funky, but in general is good. Then somebody flipped the switch...
He wanted to speed up when we were heading down the long wall towards everybody, and he picks up a canter. I tried to bring him back down, and he just exploded bucking! At first I was pretty sure I would stick him, but nope...I ate dirt, big big time. I jumped up, caught him and plopped my butt back in the saddle. You boogery little boy. I ask for the trot again, and again, he tries to canter and goes into bucking-mode. Oooh, you can fool me once BeauD, but not twice. I was ready for him so I doubled the crap out of him, and I am proud to say he didn't manage to buck me off the second time. We walked around and chilled out...worked a little bit of trotting slowly back in, and by the end we could trot the entire circle of the arena both ways. SUCCESS! :D
Sooo, I woke up this morning [the adventure being yesterday] and my body pretty much did a big fat groan. Oh, am I sore and stiff and icky. I am for sure feeling it today. But I had equestrian team practice this morning and it went SO much better than last week. I was doing things right, I felt in control, it felt good. Ester is a good girl.
Gypsy...well, haven't been doing much there. Shame on me... I feel slightly bad. But, last time I rode her I worked her pretty good, and she did great. I got a walk-canter transition in both directions! Excitement!

Riding Beary Video

HEY LOOK! A video! Apparently blogger likes the school internet and computers way more than my own crappy laptop, so here for your lovely viewing pleasure is a video of beary. She is coming along fantastic. Here she is under english tack [which I can't lie, Im pretty biased] but she performs lovely in. We are just walking around in this video...kind of boring, I know, but I didn't end up trotting in it because my dad, who is videoing, said it was too dark to see anything. It was dark out, so things are kind of hard to see, I apologize. But perhaps the real reason for this video is to make fun of my dad, when he makes his nice little commentary at the end. Haha, he will love that.

Another Beary note, we trotted outside for the very first time! I saddled her up, took her out and we walked all over the place. Across the bridge, through the water, the works. And then we trotted down the driveway, walked back, then trotted back down. And repete one more time. And she was perfect! I'm so proud.

I was less proud of miss Cheyenne who decided to be very naughty outside. She kind of wanted to take off when we tried trotting. It is starting to be Beary who is more behaved than Cheyenne. I am ashamed of my old training pony. Sometimes I really think there may be something wrong with her hocks or something. No, really! Not just an excuse. She even gets upset now when I pick up her front feet [which she never did before] as if it hurts more to have all her weight on her back legs? And she still is doing the weird angry-faced grouchy canter. Sigh, who knows.

And Gypsy...oh Gypsy... She was a total snot for her ride the other day. And yet the two times I worked her before and after that ride, I lunged her with side reins and she performed beautifully! Perfect frame and consistancy and it was a lovely sight to see. And then proceed to be a cow under saddle. What a booger pony.. She is on my bad side right now. So maybe today I will try riding her again, but go bareback. I know, shame on me, avoiding the problem. But whatever, I already had one bad ride today, my poor brain can't handle another.

I had equestrian practice this morning and it went awful. I rode my [previously favorite] warmblood gelding but oh god it was terrible. I felt like I didn't do a single thing right. He was being herd bound to another horse in the ring, and I was a mess and all over the place. A bad bad ride for me. Ugh.

Add in the fact that I haven't been sleeping well at all, and I got a killer migraine yesterday for the first time in years....and I'm not having a great week. Happy Thanksgiving everyone, god knows I need it. Going home on Wednesday and staying until Friday. I am glad to have a vacation. I need one. School is getting to be a major chore and it's only Fall term still. Problem.

RIP phone....again?

Yes...alas...I have killed my phone yet again. This time, it was victim to a party at my friend's house and I think it got stepped on or something. Sad day. That was Saturday. It is now Friday. I feel so alone and phoneless, ha. It also means I can't take pictures of my ponies to decorate this blog and make it less boring, and it also means I never know what time it is, which may be the worst part. But I should be getting my new phone today, so the torture will be over. Ha. I think I need to get like those strings you put on your glasses so they can't fall off....but for my phone. Yes.
So anyways, been riding. More or less. I rode Gypsy yesterday and it was fabulous. Her canter transitions are getting soo much better, yay. AND! I got a lovely lovely walk-canter transition in both directions! SUCCESS! It made me rather excited. And I rode my friend's little 3 year old breeding stock paint filly, because she couldn't get her to canter on her right lead. Problem! So she asked me to try, and gosh dang it I could not get that filly to canter on the right. She picks up the left lead every single time. Hard inside bend? Nope. Ok....counter bend to force her to two-track and step under herself? Nope... Ok... Get a crop and give her a tap on the outside rump? Nope.. Ok I am out of ideas. Haha, and she was really hard to get to canter anyways, she didn't want to go. So I felt rather defeated. But thats ok, not my horse.
Rode Cheyenne at work the other day, and she tried to buck me off?!?!! WHAT?!?! I trained her better than that! She was 'afraid' of one entire side of the arena, and when I was going to MAKE her go over there, she got real pissy and went running off bucking. That was fun, except not. But by the end of the ride, she decided it might be better to just walk nicely on that side, instead of trying to launch me into oblivion. Success. Somewhat. Also rode Sage- their BLM mustang. She is so nice. Lovely western pleasure pony. She is smooth smooth smooth and slow and lovely. She makes me like western more. High Five Sage.

Beary Muffin

Hello...writing this from back home. I came home for the weekend to visit my friend for her birthday. But back home, I've been doing my pony things as usual. It's so hard to update and put pictures up and things without the internet at home. So annoying, you have no idea. None. Zero. But, I have been working with Beary at work, and she is doing great! She still only really walks, trotting is hit and miss. But the other day I braided her mane and tail up all pretty [for no apparent reason] and threw the dressage saddle and english bridle on her. This was only the second time english, but I took her outside first off, and hopped on! First time I've ridden her outside without an arena ride to prep. And she was fabulous! We walked all over, in the grass, along the driveway, across the little bridge thing...awesomeness. She was calm and easy and great. I'm so proud of her! I know it may seem like she is so...not broke, so not going anywhere because she doesn't have that trot down. But to me it feels like I'm finally getting somewhere with her. The trot will come in time, trust me, if you saw this horse in person you would realize just how NOT built for riding she is. I cut her some slack. And she will trot for me now, we just need to hone the directional steering and control part. But yes. Not alot of excitement with the others. Had a little scare that Gypsy might be sick, but I think her belly was just hurting from deworming her with Quest...note to self; don't use that stuff again. It's like the atomic bomb of dewormers....not quite necessary. And I guess...I left my boyfriend in charge of bringing Gypsy into the barn last night if it was super rainy...and he shirked his duties and forgot about her. So I guess she was outside in a monsoon all night getting soaked and cold. Lovely. And somebody random brought her in for me. Slight good news, I suppose. Anyways, heading back home this afternoon.

Alive and Well

Here, finally a picture of Gypsy, showing you she really is alive and well! I got really....REALLY bored today and "braided" this into her mane. Ok, its not really a braid, but what do you call this? I believe it's called a spiderweb, but no matter what name they call it by, it looks awesome :) Gypsy was wonderfully patient while I put it in, which is good because it took ages.

Everybody that saw it today at the barn commented on it, ha. On a sidenote...looking at this picture, I notice she is in great weight right now...wow. Thats nice, I like that. Now if we can only keep it there for the winter!

Anyways, I know it's Thursday, but I didn't go work horses at work because my back is trying to murder me. It hurts to bend... or do much of anything. I think I'm going to break down and find a chiropractor around here to go to. Fix me!

So um Yes.

I couldn't think of a decent title for today. So bite me.
Anyways, life continues as normal. I have been working miss Gypsy, I started again at work and have been working with Beary and Cheyenne. Beary pretty much retained everything I taught her last year, which makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. She is no-fuzz calm about being lunged, saddled, driven, you name it. She doesn't care all that much. Riding, now, that is her tough part. HA! She tends to think moving forward off pressure is more of a suggestion than a command. She was being real naughty about it yesterday, so out came the good old riding crop. I ask nicely, a little less nicely, demand it, and if still nothing, whack! It didn't take too long before she realized it may be a good idea to just walk forward. And she was walking out too! Not a horrible poke along slow as molasses walk. So I call it a success. A minor success, but for lazy Beary, moving forward is a big step for her.
I also rode Cheyenne, and boy was she being a pill! I think it was official be crazy day. She was so mad that I took her out of the grassy pasture and asked her to work! She tried to bite my feet...and not just the little oooh, nip your toe! No...She reached around and tried to take my foot off. So she got in some big trouble too. And then she got over herself and worked quite nicely. So I suppose that is success too.
And Gypsy, yes my little Gypsy midgit mare. I rode her with a friend from the barn down to the river a few days ago. And it went well, nice and fun. Rode into the river and splashed around- yes you read right- Gypsy went in the water and didn't fuss! All was great, then we started back, Gypsy spooked, hopped, I fell off balance, saddle slippage....Me on the ground, Gypsy running off into no man's land. AH! So I ran and found her.. So yesterday, being the stubborn person I am, decided to take her back there and have a GOOD return trip. So bareback and alone, we walked to the river. And she was perfect! Nice and calm, right into the water. Splashed around, got wet, yay for good times. And we walked back very very carefully. And....all was well. YAY! So I was happy with miss pony. But one of these days I need to work on her canter transitions and such in the arena, instead of always screwing around on trail rides. Ha, I figure that is what this winter will be for, when La Nina shows her ugly face and drenches us with so much rain that we all want to die.
Sorry I am stingy and haven't posted pictures...let alone the lost lost videos. Not having internet at my house makes life very difficult. So I can't upload pics when I'm on school computers, and every time I try to upload the videos, blogger website has a heart attack and doesn't want to upload. Very annoying.

The Elusive Videos

Ok, I swear they really do exist...really. Blog is being really irritating and won't let me upload any. And the other two I wanted to stick on here were on my mom's phone. And now those finally live now on Facebook, but who knows how to move them onto here from there? Not me... Sad, sad day for me. One day I will figure out this whole video scenario.
Anyways, rode Gypsy today again. She has been fabulous lately, although I haven't been working on her canter at all, shame on me. Her walk and trot are lovely though. And today I rode her bareback out on our little trail thing, and walked down to the river! The path is clear to get out there, if not a little brambley and rough. But we got there, and I convinced Gypsy to walk in the water a little bit! Very fun
Also started work again at the old barn, and I played with Beary and Cheyenne on Tuesday. They were good! Beary remembered more than I'd hoped for, and isn't being spooky or stubborn. She let me ground drive her a little bit, and I rode miss Chey walk trot canter. She is very very grouchy at the canter, which is kind of what she was doing before. It confuses me, maybe she needs her back worked on? Or maybe she is just being a turd and needs to be pushed through it. I will work the kinks out of my old project pony!

Dressage and a new home

Well, Gypsy finally made it to my school town. She got here on Saturday, and of course, we had our little Dressage Show number two on the way. It was smaller than the first one we did, very low key. I liked it a lot, and the farm it was at was beautiful! It was a long court outside, versus the last show being an indoor short court. It was sunny and beautiful! And after not riding Gypsy for a week, I hopped on and did Intro tests A and B! And she was lovely for my first ride! So calm and willing and great, I was pleasantly suprised! I got my scores back and test A was a 66%! WOW! A big improvement on our 53% last time. I will say though, that this judge was VERY leniant and forgiving, and my ride was probably not as good as a 66% says it is. After that, I let her eat and chill at the trailer, and then saddled back up for test B. Ok...new discovery. Gypsy really despises being fooled into thinking she is done working, and then OH! Just kidding! Time to work again. Ok, she hates that. A lot. So she was super naughty and giraffe-ish for our second test. Oddly enough though, we got a 67% on that test. But...its because my geometry is aweful, and our first test..well, our 20 meter circle was kind of like an odd egg shaped, squished thing. And I didn't ride into the corners very well. So I think our lack of better score was more MY fault. On our second ride I was careful to actually have a circular circle. And its amazing how that can make your score skyrocket, ha. So Gypsy was worse, but our pattern was lots better, so voila, the judge actually DID see our ride, which I was next to sure of she didn't when I got my score back. So yes. I have a vid of that, and it will surface here someday. I still owe the last video too, ha. But now that I can steal the library's internet, I can upload the video from the first dressage show! This is me being sneaky and stealing.
So anyways. Gypsy is settling in great at the school barn. I've ridden her three times, and shes been super calm and awesome. Jumped her bareback a tiny bit yesterday and she was a saint. SUCCESS! :D

Ponyless!

Ohnoes! I am without horses for the first time since...well... I'm not quite sure. Maybe last year when I brought Gypsy down to school a week after I moved. It is an odd sense of freedom not having to run down to the barn to clean stalls and put out Gypsy, but it's not a very welcome sense of freedom. I think I much rather have the chore of taking care of her down here. I can't be without my pony! I love having her down here with me- I can go to the barn and spend hours doing whatever with her, and I always get so much riding on her when she's here. But that won't be until this Saturday, so until then.... I shall remain ponyless.
Although...I may run out to my old place of work in the next day or so, and visit my old ponies I worked last year! Beary- the big drafty mare, and ...OH MY GOD. I can't remember his name. My TB cross gelding I was working with. What is wrong with me, it hasn't been that long!? Oh I feel bad now, ha. I worked with him for months. And yet is is floating just out of reach in my brain. Wow. I am ashamed of myself. Ha.

Let'er Buck!

Yesterday I got home from the Pendleton Roundup! It was the centennial- the 100th year anniversary of the rodeo! And boy was it one big party! They brought back old events like classic bronc riding, chuck wagon races, and such. I only went on Saturday- the finals day. I got to watch the best cowboys and cowgirls in the nation barrel race, rope, and ride. It was really cool. The only unfortunate part is the fact that I am not 21 yet. Which kind of translates into not having squat to do after the rodeo is over. The roundup must be home to all of the world's most crazy drunken people looking for a good time, and boy does it deliver! The infamous Let'er Buck room, and all those bars. So I ended up being DD for my friend's drunken twin brothers and my boyfriend. So we wandered main street and the town for hours waiting to drive them home. Slightly very lame. It's always a little bit depressing knowing that you are the only ones who aren't out having a great time, and that you have zero to do while you wait on them. No bueno. So I do believe I'll just wait to return to the roundup until I am 21. But it was pretty fun trip anyways. And driving the boys home, ha...well, let's just say it was very entertaining.
"It feels like we are going a Million miles an hour! Its like we're on a rocketship to the moon!" "I could totally drive right now" "This pizza is hot! She handed it so calmly, I didn't even KNOW!" Among other quotes. Haha, and something about picking up a 42 year old woman who went by the alias of Katie. And my boyfriend apparently spent all night calling all the women he saw rather mean names, and asking where I was, and that he loved me. Haha! I guess I can't be too irritated with him then. He gets in my car and is almost strangling me while I drive, trying to hug me. And he asks for a kiss and when I say no, he gets all sad and mopey. Ha, oh boy.

But besides the good ol roundup, today I am moving back to school! I am leaving around noon, should get there around two, and then have the exciting mission of unpacking all my crap into my new apartment with my boyfriend! Gypsy gets to stay here at home for another week, and then is coming down. Meanwhile my friend is going to be riding her and giving her a boot camp adventure, for another schooling dressage show I will ride in her in the weekend I take her to Albany. Fun stuff, oh yes.

Discouraged and Dissapointed

Ah, what a day. I can easily say I've had better..much better. Gypsy has been giving me some big difficulties as of late. But we have been working and there have been some decent days thrown in the mix too, but ah today..what a train wreck. My friend's mom is a trainer who works with me sometimes [Silver Meadow Morgans...they have some nice horses for sale, btw] came today to give me a little lesson to prep for the next show we are going to on the 25th. Oh and Gypsy was just so bad. And lately when I ride I've been having such a hard time keeping control of my temper. It's my greatest pitfall of my riding- I just can't seem to keep my emotions on the back burner while I am riding, and I get so danged frustrated. So today Gypsy was pulling a lot of crap with me and the trainer was trying to help me, but God I just broke totally down. It felt like I was doing nothing right, and Gypsy was totally ignoring me and doing whatever she wanted. A simple thing like keeping the correct bend and staying on the wall? It has been a long time since I've felt so low and discouraged about my riding and about training Gypsy. I am dissapointed and frustrated with myself, and feel hopeless about my mare. I feel like an idiot trying to bring her to another schooling show.
I haven't been to my friends house to ride her horses in a while either- I've been so busy. And on Monday I am moving back to Albany for the school year. But Gypsy isn't going to be coming until the 25th, so I'll have a week without her. So my friend is going to work and ride Gypsy for me while I'm gone so she isn't out of practice for the show. I hope she rides the crap out of her- she is like sending Gypsy to pony boot camp.
So yeah. A very not good day. I feel like heading over and riding the other horses just to pull me out of my funk. I need to have an enjoyable ride.

Dressage Show

Well, the dressage show was a success! We trailered Gypsy and Zena- my friend's Morgan mare [whom I hate and claim is actually Satan in disguise]- and got there just fine. Gypsy's would-be bum leg was no trouble at all, save for looking a little puffy. She was being a little bit crazy while I was trying to warm her up. Our test- Intro test A, also known as the lowest dressage test known to man- went fairly well! She was a little goofy and was a little jiggy/prancey at times, but it wasn't a disaster. She was attempting to listen to me and keep her head sort of down. She was just kind of nervous, and probably could feel that I was a bit tense too. But nobody died, so it was a success. We can only go up from here! My class was only three people...which is weird because there were a lot of people in the Test A, but they sorted us into different 'divisions', which was weird. But it allowed me to place, so who cares?! I came in second of three people...Ha, I beat the 7 year old daughter of my friend's friend on her naughty little pony. Big win, ha.

Gypsy also got a suprise second run because Zena went lame before her last test- stepped on a icky rock- and so my trainer friend Jess rode in Training level Test A...It went..well, it went. It wasn't horrible- the canter went awesome, although the girth broke in the middle of the test! Oh noes.... So anyways, I got a 53% on my test, and got comments like "not on center line, jigging walk, too small of circle and not round, too quick" but I also got a few comments like "quiet, good transition, excellent stretch, square halt"... Yay! Ha oh it was great. Our free walk she dutifully popped her head down to the ground- awesome-but then kind of weaved around like a drunken sailor haha.
And I was fully intending on uploading the video of my test, but my internet is pulling a big gay card, and won't work for its life. So that will be soon to come.

Show Morning

AHH! Its the day of Gypsy and I's show! A schooling dressage schow at Foxfire Farms. And wouldn't you know it, yesterday I am giving her a bath and I find her left front leg is puffy and kind of swollen. Not lame or favoring it....but GAH! But anyways I've got to get going, I'll update tonight with results!

Forgetful

Thats what I am! I meant to update about...a week ago? Something like that, but I forgot about it and now I'm finally getting to it.

I went over and rode Tar the Clydesdale again last week, and finally got the guts to try and canter him! I just ride him bareback since he is so hugemongous, so it seemed a little scary to me. But he was a wonderful boy! He didn't want to canter, so the next time I went to ride, on Sunday, I took spurs. One tiny poke and he cantered very nicely- this amazing slow motion smooth canter! I officially want this horse now...All his gaits are so slow and easy to sit, and he has nice manners, for a horse who is the size of godzilla. So After I rode I brushed and primped and braided him all prettyful...which I'm sure he really appreciated ha.

So yes, theres my picture attack for him. I've also been doing stuff with Gypsy, though I admit I've been a little lazy about working her enough. I was free jumping her a little bit the other day and she jumped her tallest yet! What a beasty pony she is! I'm not sure how tall it was, but I'm fairly positive it was over 3'6". I took a picture, of course because thats just what I do, so how tall do you guys think that looks?

I was oober proud of pony! So yes, and now today she got her feet trimmed by a new Farrier, and I really liked him. And later today I will be trailering Gypsy to the vet clinic that I've been working at. She is due for her shots. She is terrible for her shots. Ha, last time she kept wanting to rear, so we had to lip chain her. I bet my vet is so excited to see her today. Not to mention she doesn't get trailered very often so she gets a little hot and weird. So yesterday I drove the trailer (for the very first time with a horse in it!) to my friend's house. I unloaded her and we walked around. She was blessedly very calm and good! YAY! So I got the trailer turned around, more or less, and loaded her back up and off home we went! So maybe since we went on a nice pleasant ride yesterday, she will be less crazy and weird about going on a ride today. We can only hope haha

Drafties

Well I've been slaving away at work some more, but yesterday they were doing draft horse events, it was awesome! So I got to watch a little bit of my favorite Belgian's performance! Pete did amazing, I must say! The one class I got to watch, three hitched up to the wagon, Pete's team won first place! Yay! So I have a short...very very short.. video! Pete is the driver's back left! The video looks all retarded and small...because it came off my phone.

And here is a picture of him all hitched up (this was actually the previous day to the video)
I believe that he is hitched with... O'Riley? I can't remember. But pete is the one on the right in the picture

And thank god today is my last day of working at the fair. If I ever want to work the fair again, someone please slap me. It is very not fun. But anyways, I need to get going so I can get ready for it.

Working Working Working

Well nothing exciting has happened- still just working at the fair everyday until late. But decided to share this picture! This is Pete the Belgian and I love him! I visit him everyday, haha. This is the same one that was licking my hand the other day :)

I've been kind of lazy about working Gypsy during Fair because I'm so tired, but I did ride her yesterday, and she was great. Practiced a little dressage test type thing in the front yard and she was perfect- I am taking her to a dressage schooling show next month!

Making up for lost time?

Haha, three posts in three days? I think maybe I'm trying to make up for my long absence. Anyways, Today I didn't have motivation to ride, so I long-lined Gypsy outside over some ground poles and such, and of course I took a picture. I don't know why I always take pictures while I work her...but I do. Maybe so I have something to put here, haha.

She was a very good girl :)

Oh and I saw an awesome sunset last night (or was it the night before?) at work! Perdy Perdy

Belgian

Working at the fair yesterday running shuttles... But getting late at night the going was pretty slow, so I popped into the barn to say hi to the giant Belgians. One of them thought my hand was pretty dang tasty, and was licking it through the grate of the stall. Haha, very cute.

Biggest tongue ever.

Oh My Goodness!

I am alive, I really am! My Goodness, I haven't updated in more than a month, or something insane like that! But I do have an excuse, although it may not be very good. I have been super crazy busy as of late.. Two days a week I have been riding along with a local Equine Veterinarian, to earn credits for school, and because I want to be a vet tech one of these days. Then two other days of the week I got a job working at a little retail clothing store. And my last day of the week I have been riding my friend's horses because she broke her leg and needs them to be exercized. And the weekend? Ok, well I have no excuse for the weekends, other than it's my only days to get other things done. But enough excuses for one day.
I've been riding Gypsy as usual. On the ...4th? A few days ago I had the Equine Chiropractor out for Gypsy, and boy did she need it. My poor mare had almost everything on her right side out- ribs, her shoulder, her hips, her withers.. Which explains why going to the right is her worse side. So Gypsy got all adjusted up and got two days off work, and I rode her yesterday and she was very good! Her trot seemed much smoother and easier to me, and today was even better! So yay for that. I am just itching to take her to a schooling show...but! I just forgot, ha, I am scheduled to take her to a schooling dressage show on the first weekend in September, down near Estacada. YAY! I am super excited for that, and hopefully she will do really well. We will just do training level test, since thats only walk/trot.
Oh and speaking of Gypsy, I have been riding her over jumps now!! It is so much fun, and she really seems to enjoy it. I have ridden her over...oh, probably 2 feet or so at the most so far. I set up little jumps in my arena, and once I put a bunch in the pasture that we hopped over. She is learning really well and is pretty brave about it all.
I've also been riding my friend's horses, like I said. That includes Tar the ginormous Clydesdale, Merlin the love of my life Gypsy Vanner, Romeo, Major, and Poseidon the Tennessee Walkers... and yes. Poseidon is a little bit loco, be he is SO gaited that he is fun anyways. And Major is the only one that isn't really trained.
And lets see.. I've been working at the fair, but this year I'm not assigned to helping and cleaning around the horse barns, this year I'm driving a shuttle from the barns to the parking lot for all the 4H people and such. It's the easiest, cushiest job ever. Awesome.
Besides all that... Nothing really huge has been happening. Just a busy summer full of trying to make enough money so that I won't need to live in a cardboard box when I move back to school in September. But on the plus side, I will have more time to update once I move back. Ha.

No good, very bad day.

Sorry for the long absense. I've been real busy lately.
Anyways, took Gypsy to the vet this morning to be ultrasounded for prego check. Would have been day 29 or so. And the vet found Gypsy to be very much so NOT pregnant. Awesome. There goes money down the drain. So then we took the horses trail riding. I thought Gypsy might do somewhat decent, what with her training of late. Ok no. She was terrible. World's worst trail riding horse. She pranced the entire way, save for the time or two I let her canter, and the time she galloped up a hill. But walk? Oh no! No walking. Just prancing. There was one very shining wonderful moment where she was walking miraculously on a loose rein and it was fabulous! But then it was gone. And she more than made up for her good moment by being a retard the rest of the ride. And she was so anxious and hyper and freaked that she sweat herself into a foamy, dirty, disgusting mess. Oh great.
And here I was thinking that I could take her to the trail trials tomorrow. Yeah no. Not a chance. She would kill me. And if not, she would just pick a fight and we would get into a huge big argument and the trail trial would be so completely not fun. I have the urge to write less than nice words here, but I am attempting to resist.
Everytime I think I'm getting somewhere with that horse, she goes and shows me that she will never be great at anything- or at least not good enough. Sure, she is walking and trotting totally beautifully in my arena at home now! Oh just gorgeous! But try and do that if I take her somewhere else? Yeah right! So there goes any shows. Try and take her out and enjoy a nice quiet trail ride? You gotta be kidding! I get so frustrated with her, I feel like I'm never getting anywhere with her. I kind of wish that Sam had been the younger one, and Gypsy older. Then I could take Sam to the trials, and have a great time. Sam was awesome, he was calm and chill and fairly responsive. You could enjoy riding on Sam. With Gypsy sometimes, it's like I can't remember when I ever thought riding was ever enjoyable and fun. Every day is training and every new thing I try with her is a battle. I mean, she really is a great horse. She is beautiful, and can move beautifully and is so athletic. When she does it right, it is awesome. The problem is the amount of time she DOES do it right is so small. The previous training she had was just so bad and full of holes, that she just can't get past it. It is so hard to undo what she learned, and try and teach her the right thing. If she had been trained correctly when she was first learning and was still young, god she would have been great! She could have been the cutest little hunter jumper. But nope, she is too wrapped up in her own silly head.
Ah whatever. End rant. Turns out I am going to borrow Merlin the amazing Gypsy Vanner from my friend and I am going to ride him in the trial tomorrow. I love that horse, he is awesome. Not sure how he will do with all the trail obstacles, but he is calm and controllable and at least I will have fun. So I am at least glad for that.

Gaited Pony!

Today I went over to a friend's house, who owns the Gypsy Vanner and Clydesdale and such. And of course, I hopped on those two and rode them around a bit...because well really, who can play with their horses and ignore those two? I could tell they haven't been worked in a while- they were both pretty rusty. But not terrible. Still fun, ha. But this time I decided to try riding one of their other horses too. She owns three tennessee walkers, along with two minis. So today I pulled Poseidon out of the field and decided to try and ride him. I'd never even touched him before haha, but he always acted like he wanted some attention and stuff... And WOW he was fun! I've never really ridden a gaited horse that knows how to do his gaits, but this boy did! And let me tell you, it is so much fun! I now understand why trail riders love them to bits! They are so quick, and oh so smooth and comfortable! And he was so easy to ask to gait...all I did was give him a little rein contact and ask him to go faster with my legs, and whoosh he was off! Haha so fun. I'm a fan. I'm going to have to ride him again.

In other news, I also played with Gypsy today. I want to enter her into the trail trials on July 10th...don't ask me why I am attempting this suicide ha. But you know, I think she will do pretty well, if she can handle being trailered out and being in a new place without being all prancey. I think she could probably do all the obstacles. Taught her to drag objects from a rope today from her back. And grabbed just about the scariest object that could possibly come out of my barn to do it! A long snakey black plastic tube...attached to a lunge line, and I said 'Hey Gypsy! Lets drag that around the pasture!' And suprisingly, she didn't decide to kill herself, or me! She was very looky and sort of snorty at first, but she kind of chilled out a little and we walked around with it! So if she can do that...She should be fine with pulling a log or something at the trail trials! Ha

Success story

Well, kind of. Gypsy has been super naughty since we got back home, so yesterday instead of working on dressagey equitation type stuff, we went out on an adventure. To remind myself why I like riding, you know? So we walked down the busy road to the tree farm and walked alongside the trees for awhile, then turned around and came back home. She was such a good girl! A little prancey coming back in the trees, but as soon as she hit road, she was quiet as can be. And she isn't afraid of cars one tiny bit! So yay for that.

Then then my buddy came today and gave me a mini-lesson! She took control of the reins and had me focus on legs-only...and wow what a difference it makes when you only have to think about one thing at a time! And a sidenote...having perfectly correctly positioned legs is so painful! Equitation and I aren't friends, ha. I have a bad habit of letting my toes rotate so they point out, instead of making them point straight ahead. Pain! But anyways, I got to watch my buddy ride Gypsy, and got some pointers and help, so that was all great.

And she is doing really well learning her halter stuff! She is getting really easy to set up her feet, and we are still working on getting her to stretch her neck out. So far, she will do it for food, grain buckets, falling dirt, and strange leaves. Haha. But we got a Gorgeous picture of her today with the full halter business going on...I was happy! And then tonight I clipped up her face and bridlepath and such, and that was great as well. :)

Yay I love this picture now, It's official. And I cropped out the grain bucket we were using to get her to stretch, ha. If only her ears were pricked forward...

Home Sweet Home!!

Ahh, how wonderful it is to be back home! Spring term is over, and so I moved back home with Gypsy. It is so nice to have her in my backyard again! And she is loving the pastures she gets to be on now....at school she only got a dry paddock, but here the grass is taller than she is!

Its a shame though, that Gypsy is welcoming home by being a nightmare to ride. Apparently, since we are home, it means she doesn't need to do anything I ask anymore. Sigh, ah that pony. She's so frustrating. I guess its just being in the 'new' place, a different routine... I guess I will just have to give it a couple weeks to see if she stops acting like a cow.

The Scary World of Training

Well, today I was wandering around the internet like I do, and I ran across this little beauty..

DEAR GOD what is that supposed to be?? I don't know, maybe I'm a tad old fashioned or something, but this looks a little like bit-on-crack to me. Oh, but then I got curious, and searched for more bits like this. And believe me, I ran across some bits that I would die before they touched my horse's mouth. Would you like a horror show? Look on.

Well well...here we have what looks like a double twisted wire that is offset. Not to mention that this is a gag bit, and has a mile long shank...which is fairly straight. Oh goodness...I can only imagine the horse's mouth just being ripped clean off. I mean....do people actually use this bit??

Oh and take a look at this one... What is that, chain for the mouthpiece? But not even chain...it looks somewhat like...what, a chainsaw chain?! With the big old long shanks to boot. What do you really need a bit like this for? I mean, sure, a horse is sure not going to run through this bit if it values its life....but it is going to create about a million other problems, I bet.

And then theres these.. Both are gag bits...The left has an itty bitty wire mouthpiece that just may shred your horse's tongue, and the other has a hackamore piece on it made of bicycle chain...

Sigh. I mean I could go on and on. There must be hundreds of these bits out there. And thats just bits! I can't even imagine the amount of weird pully systems created to yank heads down, hold horses still, or keep horses from bucking. I mean don't get me wrong. I'm all for training devices- I myself used my draw reins today on Gypsy to remind her that she can't ignore my rein cues. But I used them for five-ten minutes and then took them off. Draw reins do not cause pain. Martingales, training forks, draw reins...these things don't cause pain to get the job done. Thats the difference. I mean, sure! Ride your western horse in a shank bit, your big warmblood jumper in a pelham....but it doesn't have to be these bits that I've pictured here. There is a huge difference. If you can't ride your horse in something nice and soft like a snaffle, then I think you have more training to do. A bigger bit is not a shortcut for training. A bigger bit is something to graduate to. A bigger bit means less rein contact, more neck reining, more softness. It does NOT mean 'I can't control my horse so I will throw this huge barb-wire gag shanked bit THING in my horse's mouth'.

Really people. Just spend a little more time creating a softer and more responsive horse, and sure, use the humane training devices if you need them. But they are aides, not something to be relied on. And if you do that, there will never be the need to resort to these painful, inhumane bits that intimidate horses into submission.

End rant.

Proud Mama!!

Well hello world! As (I think) I said, our training horses went home. So today I went to work to see her, and work ponies. Also, my friend went with me because she is gonna take over my job, since I'm leaving. But anyways, I rode my girly, and she did well. Except she did her buck thing going into the canter, and the saddle was apparently super loose from her bloating, and the saddle kinda...well, fell off the the side, and me with it. So I ate some major dirt today. Then I hopped on her bareback and tried again, and it went much better. So it was all good. She doesn't buck bareback, its great. haha.

But the best part was when my boss, my training horse's owner, rode her for the first time!!! We threw the western saddle on her, and she climbed aboard. They walked around, and I taught her how to ask Mare to do haunch and forehand turns, as well as two-tracking and backing up! She did awesome! Got some very beautiful two-tracking, thats for sure! My owner was very happy with her, and said she was super soft! YAY! I am a proud, proud mama right now! I'm so happy that she liked my little booger mare...err.... HER booger mare. Haha. Next time I want to try and get them trotting. I wish I'd been able to take a picture but I forgot my phone at home.

In other news, I gave Gypsy a bath today... I rode her around a little bit bareback. I am trying to teach her to still be soft and give her head when we aren't on the wall. She is kind of rail-dependant. And I found a schooling dressage show I want to take her to in the next month or so, so we need to fix that. She got a little better at crossing the arena on the diagonal, and trotting down the middle long-ways. Then she got her bath, and got to be super pretty and clean! And of course, me being the picture-happy weirdo I am, took lots of pictures of her cleanness!

Umm...yeah that picture is sideways. Picasa is being retarded and won't save it if I edit it to be right-side-up. So just turn your head. ....

Summer?

Well, as we all know, this summer really isn't acting much like summer. Its been so rainy and cold and icky! Its June for crying out loud! But today it is actually summer-like! Its been sunny and super warm all day. I'm a fan of this, it can stay. And I found out yesterday that because of this stupid weather we've been having lately, people all over the Northwest are having difficulties in breeding their horses- the mares don't know what to do! It acts like winter or fall or whatever, when it's really summer! So yes, Gypsy has been bred twice now, and was still in heat today. WHAT?! Yes, she was flirting and talking to the tease stud, so back Mario came today and we bred her yet again. We are desperately hoping that she takes this time- my teacher, and the lady that is in charge of breeding, is feeling more confident about this one. So lets really hope this one takes... Third time is a charm?

Anyways, I rode her today before all of that, and decided to finally start riding her over jumps. I set up a baby little cross rail with a trot pole in front, and over we went. We just trotted over it, and she did great! So I put the jump blocks standing up, instead of laying down, so that the cross rail was a little bit higher, and we jumped that too. Gypsy did awesome! She stayed pretty calm and controllable, and would come back down between jumps and listen and lower her head. I am thinking she will be a good hunter...She's getting to have that real low, level headset without a whole lot of rein contact! That's her trot anyways, her canter is still really crappy, but her trot is beautiful! I want to get a chiropractor to work on her when I bring her back home, and I think that will probably help a lot.

In other news, spring term is over! Finals week is this coming week, and that means that my horse training class is over. So I had to say goodbye to my training mare yesterday....it was bittersweet. I mean, she has been getting on my nerves lately because of the whole random bucking issue, but for the most part I thought she was pretty fun to ride, and had a really friendly personality. I will probably miss my big sausage horse. Did I write a blog entry about the OSU Colt challenge we competed in? I don't recall, and if I didn't, I don't feel much like writing about it now. But I got pictures from the trail course today. So this picture will be dedicated to my training mare. She came such a very long way, and taught me a lot about training a horse from scratch. I am proud of her!

Breeding

Ok well so yes. We have been having Gypsy-in-heat issues, so we popped her a pgf2a shot the other day to bring her into heat, and it worked just like magic. She came into heat around Monday or Sunday or whenever it was, and we bred her on Tuesday. But I wasn't able to be there [BOOOOO] because I had to give a presentation in Animal Science class. Lame. But she did not go out of heat like she should have...instead, she was SUPER in heat today hahaha. So Gypsy was re-bred today to Mario, and I got to be there this time! It was cool! Mario is such a wonderful boy. Gypsy is usually teased to a stud who is very noisy and kind of wham-bam about this breeding business. But Mario is the wine and flowers sort of guy. Gypsy saw him from a hundred feet away and started neighing to him. My horse is officially a hussy. Ha. So anyways, Gypsy got used as the tease mare for the AI collection from Mario today- a first for my mare. They teased, and they loved each other! It was adorable.

And then we went to collect, and Gypsy was like...UHHH? Haha, it was funny. And when he leapt up on the shadow mount, Gypsy squealed like she thought he was jumping onto her.

So yes. She should definately be good and bred this time. Ha.

In other news...Do I have other news? Um.. Well, I am moving back home on the 12th of this month. Which means that I will have to unfortunately leave my work ponies behind. But I am so ready to get out of here and go back home. It will be nice to have Gypsy in my backyard again haha, and be able to go out whenever I want to ride and see her. And I'm sure she will appreciate being able to be out on grassy pasture....theres no such business here at school. Except now that she is bred, I was told she can go next door where school horses get put sometimes- a big lucious grassy field! See Gypsy, there are perks to having hands shoved up your butt!

JUUUUMMMPP!

This is Gypsy being totallly fabulous and jumping really high! She is starting to love jumping I think...and the [for once] good quality video is thanks to my lover :)

This is how high the jump is in the video. When I walked her up to it she was so excited and wanted to jump it again. Haha

Jump what?!

Haha, I am greatly enjoying this jumping Gypsy business. Sent her over some more today, and she actually let me free lunge her over the jump, instead of leading her into the chute. I didn't really make a chute today actually...because I was too lazy. And sure, a lot of the time she was boogery and dodged the jump, but she went over quite a few times too! She is learning to do it right :) Haha.

A sidenote- she is getting to have such an awesome walk and canter. I wish I could find somebody to take a picture or video of her ridden. I would say under saddle, but I almost never ride with a saddle anymore. I mainly ride bareback these days. Hey, what can I say? I don't like my english saddle all that much, and its easier to just hop on without it.

This picture is the highest jump she went over today. She still only does crossrails- she thinks the straight bar is scary. So next on the list is to get her going over those. She's so cute in this picture. "Jump? Jump what?"

Oh and another video. Because they are fun. But it's only ....one second long. Ha! I was having a super difficult time taking video while sending her over the jump all by myself. When I tried to take a vid, she would be naughty and dodge the jump.

...Western?

Ahh and so the week of weirdness continues. Hey, its Friday, I still have some of the week left to squeeze in some more weird! So today, after a year of english-only riding, my old western saddle emerged from the dust of the tack box and faound its way to Gypsy's back.

Sooo...Haha. She was actually pretty dang good about it. I used to ride her only western, but that was back in the days of..."riding consists of just trying to stay on". So on I hopped, and she wasn't thrilled at first. But I set her to work, and I actually rode her exactly like I do english. So technically I was still riding her english, she just happened to be wearing a western saddle. Haha. So we worked on keeping her head low and in frame, and after a little bit she was trotting fabulously around! Even tried to get a little bit of a slower trot so that I could sit a little easier all western-like, ha.

And now back the saddle goes into the tack box for another year. Ha.

The week of weirdness.

Ok yeah so weird week for Gypsy. She has been getting teased for the first time in her life, and she wasn't so sure how that goes at first. She would kick and squeal and hate the stud, then turn her butt to him and start showing a few heat signs. She is confused. Haha. She hates palpation with a fiery passion, as well as ultrasounds. Speaking of which, we ultrasounded her the past few days and she was showing a follicle looking pretty ready, but it just looked bizarre and not right. Vet said that it was an abnormal follicle that didn't ovulate right, so she is infertile for this heat. So miss Gypsy gets to not be bred for another week or so. If we wait for a normal heat cycle it will be too late in the season, so in a week or so we are gonna stick her with a shot to bring her into heat, and breed her then.

Other weirdness too! But happier weirdness. I have been oober unmotivated this week, who knows why, not I. So instead of having a real ride yesterday, I hopped on bareback with nothing but a lead rope around her neck. I was totally expecting her to take off and kill me. But no! She was actually a very good girl! We walked around, turning both ways and stopping. So we then trotted around too, in circles and figure eights! It was amazing, and mucho fun!

And then today I really wasn't feeling well at all, so I decided to try something different...again. Ha. I set up a little jumping chute and tried to free jump my pony. Ok, I don't think she really likes jumping all that much, but she was trying for me. She just gets nervous about anything high enough to be called a legit jump. Haha, ok she's not really that bad. But I can't lunge her into the chute to jump- she just doesn't do it! She gets her evil hat on, and ducks around or runs to a corner. So I would grab her halter and lead her up to the chute entrance and then let her go, and then she would jump! Haha. Oh boy. But it was neat.

Babies? Babies!

Ah yes, the epic decision has been made. My little Gypsy is going to be bred! I am mucho very excited about it. Because if you think about it...all of Gypsy's silliness is training-related. She got a very late start on some decent training. But she is calm, and super friendly and gentle. She is built beautifully! Fine boned and straight, with a gorgeous typey little head, and that famous Arab floaty trot that is smooth-smooth-smooth when she is behaving. So, she is going to be bred to LS Andretti, aka Mario. He is a beautiful beautiful bay Arab stud. He has amazing bloodlines that you couldn't ask more from, is sweepstakes nominated for his foals, and has a futurity title under his belt. I've met him in person a couple times, and he is so quiet and sweet. He seems like such a nice boy. So! Today was Gypsy's first teasing session! I had no clue as to what expect from Gypsy...She's never been bred before.

So we took her over to Ace- a paint stud that is at our barn. He was the teasing extrodinaire for the day. Gypsy got to sniff noses with Ace (who was in his stall). She wasn't too sure what to make of this noisy boy at first, but she definately warmed up to him! She decided he wasn't so bad at all, and turns out Gypsy was in heat for her very first teasing! Well done, Ace! Haha. So currently the plan is to ultrasound Gypsy tomorrow to be sure of her heat, and then Mario will make a trip to our barn for some Gypsy romancing! Haha, except we are going to AI Gypsy...So I suppose there will be no actual romancing. Ha. So yes, I'm very excited. This should be a very nice foal. I am hoping for a NOT-Grey filly.

Then I lunged her around to rid her mind of silly boy thoughts, and rode her. And she did amazing! After not riding since...ohh...friday? Hopped on bareback (as always, right?) and she was being soft in the face and very nice. Walked and trotted around, and I think it was our best trotting yet! Success!

In other news....At work, drafty mare has been hitched to the cart for a second time. She did awesome. And TB gelding is doing great too! I rode him outside, and he has now had his first two experiences of cantering outside! He was a good boy....bucked me off once...but he was behaving wonderfully before and after that little incident. Ha. So if you ignore the buck-off, he was awesome. ...Right.

And in a completely random and unrelated sidenote, I found a baby starling in the barn today. So I grabbed it and threw it outta the barn. It wasn't too thrilled about this idea, as you can see. Hehe. Too bad I'm a tard and forgot to rotate the picture. So just tilt your head.

Schooling Show

I took my training horse from class to a little, low key schooling show yesterday! The owner of the horse, and the lady running the show had entered me in a lot of classes and I was really very worried about it, but it turned out just fine! My little mare did fantastic, I am so proud of her!

So we entered into.... Lets see if I can remember this. Ha

1.Walk/Trot novice horse (english)-----2nd place

2. Walk/Trot green horse (english)-----2nd place

3. English Pleasure novice horse----2nd place

4. English Pleasure green horse----1st place

5.Walk/Trot novice horse (western)---2nd place

6. Western Pleasure green horse----3rd place

7. Extreme Trail novice horse-----no place

I am SOO proud of her!! I think the judge really liked her- we kept placing really well, even in classes where I didn't think we had a huge chance. So take that, those of you who say headset is the most important thing! My girly doesn't have a good headset right now...She kind of trots and canters around with her head and neck straight out...But she has a beautiful and even cadence- she is very very consistent! This was her very first show ever, and also mine (discounting the IHSA where you don't ride your own horse). And I won my very first blue ribbon ever! I was so very extremely excited. The only thing that was difficult for her, I think, was the very long waits between classes. Sometimes it was an hour or more of just standing around saddled and being sat on, and she was very impatient with that. But she has never had to do anything like that. She did fantastic, better than I would ever have imagined! Yay!