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!