These past two days experimenting with the fruit basket on Brie have made me realize on thing: she's perfectly fine. With the basket on, she kept pacing and was out of gait on the board for the first time in 7 years. She rode beautifully when I took off the basket. I think that I can just work on flexibility without the basket.
Harry appeared to have worked better today for my mom. She didn't put the bracelets on today. What we really have to work on is getting him to collect his corto so that his largo appears more extended. He can't go very fast at a largo without getting confused, which I think is caused by his early Fino background. It's good that we're figuring this out early because now we have all winter to perfect both him and Brie.
Nina is doing better. Her skin came off when we washed the wound again so it's slightly pink now but it doesn't look very deep. My brother longed her and then put her out in the pasture. When we were done riding, we walked by her and then behind the trees and she started screaming and running around looking for us, so we had to turn right back around and go back by her so she wouldn't hurt herself. I've never seen her act like that! It was cute and kind of sad.
I won't be able to go out and ride this Saturday, but I can't wait to ride on Sunday. Hopefully the farrier calls back and they get their hooves trimmed on Saturday!
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Day 173
So this morning I was talking to my mom about what we'd do when we got out to ride. She decided that we'd put weight bracelets on Harry's back feet and Brie would get the fruit basket today. My mom wants to turn her back into a show horse rather than a "LET'S CHARGE DOWN THE TREELINE" horse. So, guessing that Brie would be the worse one, I took her today.
Somehow, whenever we choose like that, we always end up reversed. Brie adjusted to the fruit basket quite nicely (other than when she was trying to figure out how to poop). Harry, from the looks of it, was completely freaking out over the bracelets. I like to say that he looked like he was squishing grapes for wine. According to my mom, he kept pulling and charging and bucking and not wanting to walk AT ALL.
Brie and I were just floating along. =] I put double reins on her, which I soon found out she hated going backwards in her training. She kept pulling and pulling on the jaquima rein, so I took it off and she immediately set her head super nicely and tucked and stopped pulling when I used just the bit rein. I'd like to keep it that way, but until she gets more flexible again, I have to use the double so it takes the stress off of her mouth.
By the time I got to Harry, I'm pretty sure my mom wore him out. After fighting with him for a couple of minutes at the start while he kept trying to pull away from me, I set the reins down, recollected myself, and went back to how Paco used to ride him when we first got him -- high hands and loose reins.
And he was wonderful. He walked, walked, walked and when we corto'd, it was a little pace-y, but by the time we got to our last pass across the soundboard he was sounding phenomenal. I'd like to try him first again tomorrow to see if it was just him being worn out or if I was doing something right, but my mom wants him first again.
Nina, on the other hand...we came in and she looked fine. We took everyone out to be groomed and my brother calls us over and shows us this.
Somehow, she made a huge gash on the inside of her left hind leg. If we were actually going to Nationals this week, we certainly would not be showing with this! I wish I had taken a comparison picture, but this leg was swollen like a balloon compared to her right leg. After washing it, putting peroxide, iodine, and some other wound salve we had on it, we wrapped it.
Which she then took off when she got into the pasture to walk around a little bit. She wasn't limping or anything, so it must've been a day old or so. We determined that it must be from her scratching herself and the nails from her shoe catching the skin. We're not too happy about that, to say the least. We were going to do another round of shoes in a week, but because we're not showing and now this, we're just going to take them off. We'll give Nina this week rest and see how it looks next weekend before my brother starts riding her again.
Somehow, whenever we choose like that, we always end up reversed. Brie adjusted to the fruit basket quite nicely (other than when she was trying to figure out how to poop). Harry, from the looks of it, was completely freaking out over the bracelets. I like to say that he looked like he was squishing grapes for wine. According to my mom, he kept pulling and charging and bucking and not wanting to walk AT ALL.
Brie and I were just floating along. =] I put double reins on her, which I soon found out she hated going backwards in her training. She kept pulling and pulling on the jaquima rein, so I took it off and she immediately set her head super nicely and tucked and stopped pulling when I used just the bit rein. I'd like to keep it that way, but until she gets more flexible again, I have to use the double so it takes the stress off of her mouth.
By the time I got to Harry, I'm pretty sure my mom wore him out. After fighting with him for a couple of minutes at the start while he kept trying to pull away from me, I set the reins down, recollected myself, and went back to how Paco used to ride him when we first got him -- high hands and loose reins.
And he was wonderful. He walked, walked, walked and when we corto'd, it was a little pace-y, but by the time we got to our last pass across the soundboard he was sounding phenomenal. I'd like to try him first again tomorrow to see if it was just him being worn out or if I was doing something right, but my mom wants him first again.
Nina, on the other hand...we came in and she looked fine. We took everyone out to be groomed and my brother calls us over and shows us this.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Day 172
Today was significantly better than yesterday, thankfully. We were on a short time schedule because I had to move back to school =[
I decided to start off Harry with some Parelli games today to kind of get him thinking. We did the Friendly Game (in which he hid behind me when I emulated a snake on the ground), the Porcupine Game and the YoYo Game. He's so good at the YoYo Game, but the Porcupine game takes a little more thinking for him. I know he'll have it down pat if I keep up with it.
As for the ride, it was way better than yesterday. He was collected and seemed calmer and didn't seem like he wanted to take off as much. He was reacting weirdly to the bit, I thought, because since State Fair we've been riding him with double reins and he works much better with the rein on the jaquima and seems to get upset with the bit. Maybe we should look into changing it? I don't really know, because before State Fair for the longest we worked just with the bit. I'm wondering whether we should change it completely or if we should take him off of it for the rest of the year and then reintroduce it in January. Any thoughts on this?
Because we were short on time, I didn't get to ride Brie =[ But I got to give them all lots of snuggles and my mom fed them carrots straight out of the bag today! Those horses have got to be the most spoiled horses ever!
I decided to start off Harry with some Parelli games today to kind of get him thinking. We did the Friendly Game (in which he hid behind me when I emulated a snake on the ground), the Porcupine Game and the YoYo Game. He's so good at the YoYo Game, but the Porcupine game takes a little more thinking for him. I know he'll have it down pat if I keep up with it.
As for the ride, it was way better than yesterday. He was collected and seemed calmer and didn't seem like he wanted to take off as much. He was reacting weirdly to the bit, I thought, because since State Fair we've been riding him with double reins and he works much better with the rein on the jaquima and seems to get upset with the bit. Maybe we should look into changing it? I don't really know, because before State Fair for the longest we worked just with the bit. I'm wondering whether we should change it completely or if we should take him off of it for the rest of the year and then reintroduce it in January. Any thoughts on this?
Because we were short on time, I didn't get to ride Brie =[ But I got to give them all lots of snuggles and my mom fed them carrots straight out of the bag today! Those horses have got to be the most spoiled horses ever!
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Equestrian Team Summer - Day 7 (Final day!)
Friday
Today was my final lesson of the summer with Stacy. I thought I'd have the last one next week, but she's going to a regional dressage show with one of her other clients, so the next time I'll have a lesson it'll be with the team!
I think that maybe I needed to fall off. I was being pushed around and walked on like a doormat by these school horses, scared I'd do something wrong, and today's ride was spectacular simply because I had one goal in mind: DON'T FALL OFF AGAIN and did everything to prevent it.
First of all, I finally settled with the idea of correcting them. I feel scared correcting other people's horses because they're not mine, but when it comes between falling off and staying on, it doesn't matter to me anymore if I have to correct them, I'll do it! Also because I was scared of falling off again, my leg contact was phenomenal. To feel that contact and balance and be able to ride with one hand on the reins, one hand on my head, while in a two-point felt awesome.
I did so well today that we started going over jumps again. Having leg contact also made landing the jumps SO MUCH EASIER. I used to tend to forget to have contact over the jump and kind of just let the horse do his thing then try to recover afterwards, but not wanting to fall off has paid off in that aspect too. I did four jumps, and landed 2 of them soundly, with the first one me forgetting to sit the canter instead of stand which I immediately fixed a couple strides into it and the second one coming off on the wrong lead. The last two felt amazing, like I was flying without fear of going over the top.
I was also very strong in getting him into a canter and back into one after he broke into a trot a couple of times. (I was riding Tommy, btw). I feel very confident about moving up. If I don't move up a level this year, at least I feel like I'll place a lot in the shows and be able to move up the jumping for my senior year. By then I feel like I would know enough to jump in small shows if I got my own jumper (unlikely, but still). I just feel bitter about not having this kind of starting point last year with Nell...if I had had Stacy for an instructor last year, I might've been jumping for shows this year. Oh well, I can only move forward!
Today was my final lesson of the summer with Stacy. I thought I'd have the last one next week, but she's going to a regional dressage show with one of her other clients, so the next time I'll have a lesson it'll be with the team!
I think that maybe I needed to fall off. I was being pushed around and walked on like a doormat by these school horses, scared I'd do something wrong, and today's ride was spectacular simply because I had one goal in mind: DON'T FALL OFF AGAIN and did everything to prevent it.
First of all, I finally settled with the idea of correcting them. I feel scared correcting other people's horses because they're not mine, but when it comes between falling off and staying on, it doesn't matter to me anymore if I have to correct them, I'll do it! Also because I was scared of falling off again, my leg contact was phenomenal. To feel that contact and balance and be able to ride with one hand on the reins, one hand on my head, while in a two-point felt awesome.
I did so well today that we started going over jumps again. Having leg contact also made landing the jumps SO MUCH EASIER. I used to tend to forget to have contact over the jump and kind of just let the horse do his thing then try to recover afterwards, but not wanting to fall off has paid off in that aspect too. I did four jumps, and landed 2 of them soundly, with the first one me forgetting to sit the canter instead of stand which I immediately fixed a couple strides into it and the second one coming off on the wrong lead. The last two felt amazing, like I was flying without fear of going over the top.
I was also very strong in getting him into a canter and back into one after he broke into a trot a couple of times. (I was riding Tommy, btw). I feel very confident about moving up. If I don't move up a level this year, at least I feel like I'll place a lot in the shows and be able to move up the jumping for my senior year. By then I feel like I would know enough to jump in small shows if I got my own jumper (unlikely, but still). I just feel bitter about not having this kind of starting point last year with Nell...if I had had Stacy for an instructor last year, I might've been jumping for shows this year. Oh well, I can only move forward!
Day 171
It must be the change in weather because Harry and Brie were acting quite goofy today. (Nina, as usual, was great).
I got on Harry first. He was working lovely on the longe line and settling into circles, figure 8s and serpentines beautifully. Then taking him out on the wall he just wanted to get away from me and I was having a bit of trouble keeping him back. Then he started walking on the wall with his head to the wall instead of being straight and I didn't realize it at the time, but later on my mom blamed me for that because last week after I tried to get him to walk on the wall, most of the time I had his head into the wall to make him move over and he probably figured that's what I wanted so that's what he did today.
Allison was out today to visit and she rode one of the other boarder's horse, Extremo. We switched (I didn't like Extremo when I got on him) and she rode Harry. I felt so bad about 10 seconds after she got on. I thought she had more experience with antsy horses like Harry, and by antsy I mean horses that are willing to dump you when they get mad/nervous/confused. She kept clenching up and hanging on his mouth to try to get him to slow down and he just kept getting more and more mad. My mom decided we all needed to get out of the arena and into the round pen, and Allison wasn't too keen on riding Harry outside on our trail ride anymore, unsurprisingly. When she got out the door with him (he was behind Nina and I was in the back of him with Extremo), she must've gotten nervous and he got freaked out and started trying to rear and she looked bewildered and I just kept yelling "Pull him to the side!" She didn't manage to pull his head all the way to the girth, but moved him over enough for him to not go up all the way.
Once she got him into the round pen and my mom really explained what to do with him (as I'm not that great on relating to people about riding), he started to calm down and she had a couple of laps of a good ride, then we switched horses again. I ended up on Brie and my mom on Harry, while Allison was back on Extremo. We decided to go on a trail ride. Right after I got on Brie she started hopping and skipping and cantering in place. That lasted pretty much the entire ride. It consisted of me running into a lot of branches, narrowly avoiding the neighbor's barbed wire fence, and only getting some calm when we went back into the trees and she didn't know where she was anymore. At least it's good to know that she'll behave if she's in a new surrounding, but she was a total brat! I tell you, it's got the be the weather. She hasn't acted that brattily in a while.
Meanwhile, my brother and Nina look like the picture of relaxation. Nina was trotting along and even going a slow canter, just wandering around the property being a total doll. Harry looked like he started to calm down, Extremo was doing a cute little canter, and Brie wanted to eat everyone for lunch. After ending our trail ride and taking a couple of passes around the outdoor arena, it was time for everyone to get their baths.
What a crazy day. Hopefully tomorrow whoever I end up with gives me a great ride before I start back at school again!
I got on Harry first. He was working lovely on the longe line and settling into circles, figure 8s and serpentines beautifully. Then taking him out on the wall he just wanted to get away from me and I was having a bit of trouble keeping him back. Then he started walking on the wall with his head to the wall instead of being straight and I didn't realize it at the time, but later on my mom blamed me for that because last week after I tried to get him to walk on the wall, most of the time I had his head into the wall to make him move over and he probably figured that's what I wanted so that's what he did today.
Allison was out today to visit and she rode one of the other boarder's horse, Extremo. We switched (I didn't like Extremo when I got on him) and she rode Harry. I felt so bad about 10 seconds after she got on. I thought she had more experience with antsy horses like Harry, and by antsy I mean horses that are willing to dump you when they get mad/nervous/confused. She kept clenching up and hanging on his mouth to try to get him to slow down and he just kept getting more and more mad. My mom decided we all needed to get out of the arena and into the round pen, and Allison wasn't too keen on riding Harry outside on our trail ride anymore, unsurprisingly. When she got out the door with him (he was behind Nina and I was in the back of him with Extremo), she must've gotten nervous and he got freaked out and started trying to rear and she looked bewildered and I just kept yelling "Pull him to the side!" She didn't manage to pull his head all the way to the girth, but moved him over enough for him to not go up all the way.
Once she got him into the round pen and my mom really explained what to do with him (as I'm not that great on relating to people about riding), he started to calm down and she had a couple of laps of a good ride, then we switched horses again. I ended up on Brie and my mom on Harry, while Allison was back on Extremo. We decided to go on a trail ride. Right after I got on Brie she started hopping and skipping and cantering in place. That lasted pretty much the entire ride. It consisted of me running into a lot of branches, narrowly avoiding the neighbor's barbed wire fence, and only getting some calm when we went back into the trees and she didn't know where she was anymore. At least it's good to know that she'll behave if she's in a new surrounding, but she was a total brat! I tell you, it's got the be the weather. She hasn't acted that brattily in a while.
Meanwhile, my brother and Nina look like the picture of relaxation. Nina was trotting along and even going a slow canter, just wandering around the property being a total doll. Harry looked like he started to calm down, Extremo was doing a cute little canter, and Brie wanted to eat everyone for lunch. After ending our trail ride and taking a couple of passes around the outdoor arena, it was time for everyone to get their baths.
What a crazy day. Hopefully tomorrow whoever I end up with gives me a great ride before I start back at school again!
Monday, September 12, 2011
Day 170 in pictures!
Day 170
Sunday
First -- I have pictures! I'll put them in a separate post so this doesn't get too long.
I didn't make it out yesterday because I was working concessions for the team. That is something I won't even get started with...I was at the football arena for 8 hours! But overall, I'm really excited to be on the team again, everyone seems like they want to make an effort to remain drama-free this year, which is awesome.
My neck still kind of hurt today, but against better judgement I rode Brie without a bit. Not for any particular reason, I just felt like it. Brie was slightly confused and her headset wasn't very good at all, but she still had a good behavior, which is all I wanted. My mom and brother have been working on some kind of dressage circling exercise for the back legs with Nina and Harry, so when I joined in Brie's first thought was "Canter circles yay!" and proceeded to be confused when I wanted her to largo, not canter in a circle, but she obliged. I had to put a bit back on her before anyone else got on because they didn't want her to be totally off the walls with them.
I rode Harry today. It was such a weird feeling. Like...after not riding a horse for a while, you feel bad about it, even though someone else is. I got that a lot when I was training Harry last summer and my mom rode Brie all the time, and now I have it with Harry because my mom's been training him while I ride Brie. It's like a kind of guilt. I don't get that with Nina, though, because I never really ride her, just pet her since my brother is like a dictator over who rides Nina.
Harry knew that I hadn't been on him in a while and tried to get away with going sideways on the wall. I was more focused on getting him on the wall than his gait, and since he's very sensitive to leg pressure, he kept speeding up when I tried to make him yield to my leg. It was all very frustrating for a good 15 minutes and then he kind of got the idea and while he wasn't really on the wall, at least he was close to it and going straight.
His gait across the board was great, and his largo seems like it's really coming along with everything my mom's been doing. Paco finally confessed yesterday that he thought that if Harry was properly trained as a baby he would be a Fino horse, but since he's already 7, you can't really do much to change that, so he'll stay in Performance. It was a bittersweet moment, where I'm happy that he's Performance, but really kind of bummed that he could've been this amazing Fino horse. Either way, he's still my teddy bear. Really, once you get to know him, he acts like one and kind of looks like one with his huge brown eyes.
What I was really impressed with was how he acted on our little ride outside. As you may remember, he's really nervous going outside and likes to be thisclose to Nina all the time for fear if she leaves, the Sun might swoop down and eat him alive. But today he was only a tiny bit nervous when we started out and then really calmed down! Brie, on the other hand, was crazy enough for the both of them. Harry was totally calm when we walked by the pond (that Nessie lives in and might eat him at any minute) and even led everyone up the little hill in back and around back to the barn! I was so proud of him, I can't even describe it.
It's gonna be hard now, because I'm going back to school. Fall Quarter is always hard because I like to stay for the football games on Saturdays, so I only get Sundays to ride. I wanted to start doing some more Parelli work with Harry because I started such a while back and never got to finish because show season took over. I think it'd be really good for his mental state.
First -- I have pictures! I'll put them in a separate post so this doesn't get too long.
I didn't make it out yesterday because I was working concessions for the team. That is something I won't even get started with...I was at the football arena for 8 hours! But overall, I'm really excited to be on the team again, everyone seems like they want to make an effort to remain drama-free this year, which is awesome.
My neck still kind of hurt today, but against better judgement I rode Brie without a bit. Not for any particular reason, I just felt like it. Brie was slightly confused and her headset wasn't very good at all, but she still had a good behavior, which is all I wanted. My mom and brother have been working on some kind of dressage circling exercise for the back legs with Nina and Harry, so when I joined in Brie's first thought was "Canter circles yay!" and proceeded to be confused when I wanted her to largo, not canter in a circle, but she obliged. I had to put a bit back on her before anyone else got on because they didn't want her to be totally off the walls with them.
I rode Harry today. It was such a weird feeling. Like...after not riding a horse for a while, you feel bad about it, even though someone else is. I got that a lot when I was training Harry last summer and my mom rode Brie all the time, and now I have it with Harry because my mom's been training him while I ride Brie. It's like a kind of guilt. I don't get that with Nina, though, because I never really ride her, just pet her since my brother is like a dictator over who rides Nina.
Harry knew that I hadn't been on him in a while and tried to get away with going sideways on the wall. I was more focused on getting him on the wall than his gait, and since he's very sensitive to leg pressure, he kept speeding up when I tried to make him yield to my leg. It was all very frustrating for a good 15 minutes and then he kind of got the idea and while he wasn't really on the wall, at least he was close to it and going straight.
His gait across the board was great, and his largo seems like it's really coming along with everything my mom's been doing. Paco finally confessed yesterday that he thought that if Harry was properly trained as a baby he would be a Fino horse, but since he's already 7, you can't really do much to change that, so he'll stay in Performance. It was a bittersweet moment, where I'm happy that he's Performance, but really kind of bummed that he could've been this amazing Fino horse. Either way, he's still my teddy bear. Really, once you get to know him, he acts like one and kind of looks like one with his huge brown eyes.
What I was really impressed with was how he acted on our little ride outside. As you may remember, he's really nervous going outside and likes to be thisclose to Nina all the time for fear if she leaves, the Sun might swoop down and eat him alive. But today he was only a tiny bit nervous when we started out and then really calmed down! Brie, on the other hand, was crazy enough for the both of them. Harry was totally calm when we walked by the pond (that Nessie lives in and might eat him at any minute) and even led everyone up the little hill in back and around back to the barn! I was so proud of him, I can't even describe it.
It's gonna be hard now, because I'm going back to school. Fall Quarter is always hard because I like to stay for the football games on Saturdays, so I only get Sundays to ride. I wanted to start doing some more Parelli work with Harry because I started such a while back and never got to finish because show season took over. I think it'd be really good for his mental state.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Equestrian Team Summer - Day 6
There's a first time for everything.
Today's lesson was going super well. We went outside because there was a Saddlebred show going on inside, and (one of) the outdoor arena(s) was superrrr nice. I loved being outside with Tommy. We're bonding and he's learning me like the back of his hoof (does that apply to horses??).
So we work lots on trotting -- mostly sitting trot, to two-point, to posting, repeat. This is just for my benefit. Learning where my body is supposed to be over jumps and everything, getting some sense of balance. I feel really great about it. My back is straight, my shoulders are back, I'm sitting tall and feeling awesome.
Then we go into canter transitions. Cool. Not the best, but I'm getting them. I want them to be BAM CANTER, so I'm working on that. Tommy starts pulling his head. Okay, try to fix it. Start feeling myself falling forward. More cantering, falling forward more.
Now we're cantering and acting like we're approaching a jump. I'm going into two-point (or trying to). Not working at all. I can feel my legs swinging backwards towards his butt and my top falling forward and Tommy's like "Oh we're going forward?! Cool, lemme pull my head down to help you." I'm not getting myself back enough to correct him, lose contact with my leg and he starts trotting. We're going around a turn and I know I'm not balanced and start to feel myself slipping over to the left side of the saddle. No longer posting, know I'm going off, and fall/jump out of the saddle as Tommy just decides to stop because he clearly has no idea what I'm doing anymore.
I somersault over his head and catch him looking at me on my way down kind of just like:
As I roll away, freaked out he's going to step on me. I guess I layed in shock for a while, not believing that I just fell off a horse for the first time in my entire life. I could only think of this one girl from an old stable who constantly fell off horses as I lie there, trying to figure out what the heck just happened.
After Stacy grabs Tommy who is clearly confused as to why it's now nap time, she runs over to me and my mom who ran down the arena fence to see if I was okay. I roll over to sit on my knees and it occurs to me that my left shoulder and side of my neck really hurt like I cracked it really hard, which I prolly did on my way down. I wanna cry more because of humiliation than pain, so after I get over myself and Stacy informs me that I now must make cookies (as that's the barn rule -- you fall off, you make cookies for everyone), I stand up, check myself out, don't feel like anything's wrong, so I get back on for one final trot around the arena (post, sit, two-point, repeat).
And boy, did I feel like a loser until I realized that 1) at least it wasn't on my own horse, 2) it could've been a bigger horse, 3) it could've been muddy.
Now I'm more keen to practice not freaking out when I start losing control over a canter and not try to go into a fetal position on a horse (which is basically what I was doing as I was failing getting control) and correct these school horses the minute they start giving me crap! My mom pointed out to me in front of Stacy that I never let Harry, Brie, or Nina get away with ANYTHING, so why should I let these guys? Stacy agreed and said even if I don't think I know how to correct one of them to just do something to let them know that they're being rude.
Oye vey. I've just been so worried about doing the right thing by the horse and not screwing them up since they're not mine and totally let Tommy walk all over me until I was on the ground (thankfully he didn't actually step on me). I can't wait to get back out there next week and have experienced what I want to avoid at all costs and be adamant on not ending up on the ground ever again.
Today's lesson was going super well. We went outside because there was a Saddlebred show going on inside, and (one of) the outdoor arena(s) was superrrr nice. I loved being outside with Tommy. We're bonding and he's learning me like the back of his hoof (does that apply to horses??).
So we work lots on trotting -- mostly sitting trot, to two-point, to posting, repeat. This is just for my benefit. Learning where my body is supposed to be over jumps and everything, getting some sense of balance. I feel really great about it. My back is straight, my shoulders are back, I'm sitting tall and feeling awesome.
Then we go into canter transitions. Cool. Not the best, but I'm getting them. I want them to be BAM CANTER, so I'm working on that. Tommy starts pulling his head. Okay, try to fix it. Start feeling myself falling forward. More cantering, falling forward more.
Now we're cantering and acting like we're approaching a jump. I'm going into two-point (or trying to). Not working at all. I can feel my legs swinging backwards towards his butt and my top falling forward and Tommy's like "Oh we're going forward?! Cool, lemme pull my head down to help you." I'm not getting myself back enough to correct him, lose contact with my leg and he starts trotting. We're going around a turn and I know I'm not balanced and start to feel myself slipping over to the left side of the saddle. No longer posting, know I'm going off, and fall/jump out of the saddle as Tommy just decides to stop because he clearly has no idea what I'm doing anymore.
I somersault over his head and catch him looking at me on my way down kind of just like:
As I roll away, freaked out he's going to step on me. I guess I layed in shock for a while, not believing that I just fell off a horse for the first time in my entire life. I could only think of this one girl from an old stable who constantly fell off horses as I lie there, trying to figure out what the heck just happened.
After Stacy grabs Tommy who is clearly confused as to why it's now nap time, she runs over to me and my mom who ran down the arena fence to see if I was okay. I roll over to sit on my knees and it occurs to me that my left shoulder and side of my neck really hurt like I cracked it really hard, which I prolly did on my way down. I wanna cry more because of humiliation than pain, so after I get over myself and Stacy informs me that I now must make cookies (as that's the barn rule -- you fall off, you make cookies for everyone), I stand up, check myself out, don't feel like anything's wrong, so I get back on for one final trot around the arena (post, sit, two-point, repeat).
And boy, did I feel like a loser until I realized that 1) at least it wasn't on my own horse, 2) it could've been a bigger horse, 3) it could've been muddy.
Now I'm more keen to practice not freaking out when I start losing control over a canter and not try to go into a fetal position on a horse (which is basically what I was doing as I was failing getting control) and correct these school horses the minute they start giving me crap! My mom pointed out to me in front of Stacy that I never let Harry, Brie, or Nina get away with ANYTHING, so why should I let these guys? Stacy agreed and said even if I don't think I know how to correct one of them to just do something to let them know that they're being rude.
Oye vey. I've just been so worried about doing the right thing by the horse and not screwing them up since they're not mine and totally let Tommy walk all over me until I was on the ground (thankfully he didn't actually step on me). I can't wait to get back out there next week and have experienced what I want to avoid at all costs and be adamant on not ending up on the ground ever again.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Day 169
I love days like today. The sun is shining, the wind is blowing, it's perfect weather for riding.
I started by switching up where every one stands on the cross ties and started brushed Nina for a change (my brother was MIA). I never noticed how RED her coat is. It's so red it's almost purple, kind of. Then I tried to brush out her ears and she wasn't having any of it, so I got the carrot stick out for the first time in a while and started rubbing her ears with that and giving her carrots whenever she stayed still for a couple of seconds. By the end of it, she was staying pretty still, but when I brushed them she still fidgeted around and moved back and forth. My brother really needs to work on that. But I'm happy I got some bonding time with little Nina.
I rode Harry with his fruit basket first. My mom taught me what she's been working on with him, working him on a circle and pushing his rear kind of off of the path of the circle so that his back feet cross over every time he steps so he has to think about walking. We did that for a while and then I took him out on the board. I tried to largo him, but I wasn't able to give him my complete attention, which I felt bad about and really tried to, but it just wasn't happening and I didn't want him to suffer because of it, so I gave him over to my mom to ride and I got on Brie.
I took Brie into the outdoor arena after going around the indoor a couple of times and we corto'd around out there. Then I had my dad set up a little X jump out of two boards and a couple of traffic cones so we could go over it. Brie just wanted to charge the thing down every time we turned to approach it! She never refuses a jump (so far), so it was more for me to try and fix my posture going over it. By the end of it with my mom coaching me I had a better posture than at the beginning, but still not quite as good as necessary. I didn't want to stress Brie's joints too much, so we took a long walk around the property with Harry and Nina afterwards. She started out really calm but once we started heading back towards the barn she was GO GO GO! I was just focusing on trying to get her to not run into the barn, and actually had to turn her around so she wouldn't face the barn and do sidepasses to get in front of the door to go in straight without running herself or me into the siding! What a goof.
We still don't know if we're going to Nationals, but I really don't even want to anymore. It's so disappointing and because of everything that happened I didn't really enjoy myself as much as I could have today, which is even more upsetting...
I started by switching up where every one stands on the cross ties and started brushed Nina for a change (my brother was MIA). I never noticed how RED her coat is. It's so red it's almost purple, kind of. Then I tried to brush out her ears and she wasn't having any of it, so I got the carrot stick out for the first time in a while and started rubbing her ears with that and giving her carrots whenever she stayed still for a couple of seconds. By the end of it, she was staying pretty still, but when I brushed them she still fidgeted around and moved back and forth. My brother really needs to work on that. But I'm happy I got some bonding time with little Nina.
I rode Harry with his fruit basket first. My mom taught me what she's been working on with him, working him on a circle and pushing his rear kind of off of the path of the circle so that his back feet cross over every time he steps so he has to think about walking. We did that for a while and then I took him out on the board. I tried to largo him, but I wasn't able to give him my complete attention, which I felt bad about and really tried to, but it just wasn't happening and I didn't want him to suffer because of it, so I gave him over to my mom to ride and I got on Brie.
I took Brie into the outdoor arena after going around the indoor a couple of times and we corto'd around out there. Then I had my dad set up a little X jump out of two boards and a couple of traffic cones so we could go over it. Brie just wanted to charge the thing down every time we turned to approach it! She never refuses a jump (so far), so it was more for me to try and fix my posture going over it. By the end of it with my mom coaching me I had a better posture than at the beginning, but still not quite as good as necessary. I didn't want to stress Brie's joints too much, so we took a long walk around the property with Harry and Nina afterwards. She started out really calm but once we started heading back towards the barn she was GO GO GO! I was just focusing on trying to get her to not run into the barn, and actually had to turn her around so she wouldn't face the barn and do sidepasses to get in front of the door to go in straight without running herself or me into the siding! What a goof.
We still don't know if we're going to Nationals, but I really don't even want to anymore. It's so disappointing and because of everything that happened I didn't really enjoy myself as much as I could have today, which is even more upsetting...
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Day 168
Today was a sad day.
Not because of riding. Brie was so good today. I think it's because I gave her a banana before we rode =]
But today was a sad day because I don't think we're going to Nationals anymore. I'm gonna take a break from same old training talk and go on a mini rant about my organization, just to be warned.
I sent in the entry forms this past Monday for Nationals. I only authorized paying for the classes right now and my mom would pay the stalls when we got there. Seemed normal. Shows usually let you do this. We thought we were good to go.
But then tonight my mom gets a phone call from the show secretary. They said my credit card was declined. That's odd because I had enough money in there to cover double entry fees. She calls them up to find out they were trying to charge it for the classes AND the stalls, which is NOT what I authorized for. What was I supposed to do if I somehow had enough in my account to cover this?! The secretary said that we had to pay everything in full up front, but no where on the rules did it say this.
She then proceeded to try and charge us for USEF memberships, which we don't have because the shows we went to weren't USEF sponsored. I was going to get my membership sometime closer to nationals because I need it for the USHJA and IHSA membership for the team as well, but they were trying to clear that. My brother was going to get his closer to the show too, but they said that since he's a minor he can't do that anyways.
Then, on top of all of it, we found out that we aren't guaranteed any of our money back if we can't make it. Only if there's a vet emergency, we might get 50% back from the classes, nothing from the stalls or shavings (the stalls and shavings are outrageous, btw). We've been to that venue before and they're 3x the amount as before, but whatever, it's Nationals, we were going to do it. They wouldn't give us money back if there was something wrong with US, only the HORSE. How is that right?! The horse wouldn't have a rider, so how could he/she possibly be in the class. What if there was a family emergency? Nope, no money back either. Get there and break your leg getting out of your car? Nope, tough for you. Die upon arrival? Sorry, you might get a little bit of money back.
It's just outrageous. I mean, the cost is one thing. We could handle that. But the fact that they won't give you any portion of money back if YOU, the rider, had an emergency is really stupid (for lack of a better word). Plus, it's in September, the month when most children in the United States go back to school. If they're always harping on about getting the kids involved, how about not making them choose between academics and their passions? And then they wonder why people are leaving the organization.
This whole thing makes me not want to show at all. What's the point if you can't go to Nationals? What's the point of spending your small amounts of money on weekend shows if you can't make Nationals your goal? If that's the case, to hell with my horses' gaits, I'd rather have them be atomic bombproof on a trail.
I'm just really upset and really disappointed with the organization right now. If it were up to me, I would leave it for good. But we'll see how the rest of my family feels about it.
Not because of riding. Brie was so good today. I think it's because I gave her a banana before we rode =]
But today was a sad day because I don't think we're going to Nationals anymore. I'm gonna take a break from same old training talk and go on a mini rant about my organization, just to be warned.
I sent in the entry forms this past Monday for Nationals. I only authorized paying for the classes right now and my mom would pay the stalls when we got there. Seemed normal. Shows usually let you do this. We thought we were good to go.
But then tonight my mom gets a phone call from the show secretary. They said my credit card was declined. That's odd because I had enough money in there to cover double entry fees. She calls them up to find out they were trying to charge it for the classes AND the stalls, which is NOT what I authorized for. What was I supposed to do if I somehow had enough in my account to cover this?! The secretary said that we had to pay everything in full up front, but no where on the rules did it say this.
She then proceeded to try and charge us for USEF memberships, which we don't have because the shows we went to weren't USEF sponsored. I was going to get my membership sometime closer to nationals because I need it for the USHJA and IHSA membership for the team as well, but they were trying to clear that. My brother was going to get his closer to the show too, but they said that since he's a minor he can't do that anyways.
Then, on top of all of it, we found out that we aren't guaranteed any of our money back if we can't make it. Only if there's a vet emergency, we might get 50% back from the classes, nothing from the stalls or shavings (the stalls and shavings are outrageous, btw). We've been to that venue before and they're 3x the amount as before, but whatever, it's Nationals, we were going to do it. They wouldn't give us money back if there was something wrong with US, only the HORSE. How is that right?! The horse wouldn't have a rider, so how could he/she possibly be in the class. What if there was a family emergency? Nope, no money back either. Get there and break your leg getting out of your car? Nope, tough for you. Die upon arrival? Sorry, you might get a little bit of money back.
It's just outrageous. I mean, the cost is one thing. We could handle that. But the fact that they won't give you any portion of money back if YOU, the rider, had an emergency is really stupid (for lack of a better word). Plus, it's in September, the month when most children in the United States go back to school. If they're always harping on about getting the kids involved, how about not making them choose between academics and their passions? And then they wonder why people are leaving the organization.
This whole thing makes me not want to show at all. What's the point if you can't go to Nationals? What's the point of spending your small amounts of money on weekend shows if you can't make Nationals your goal? If that's the case, to hell with my horses' gaits, I'd rather have them be atomic bombproof on a trail.
I'm just really upset and really disappointed with the organization right now. If it were up to me, I would leave it for good. But we'll see how the rest of my family feels about it.
Friday, September 2, 2011
Equestrian Team Summer - Day 5
Today was SUCH an improvement. I felt so much better with my legs. But of course, since I got better with my legs, my top half fell apart!
I rode Tommy today again (yay!). I'm becoming quite attached. I'm glad she's letting me stick to one horse until I figure out what to do with the bottom, balance, and but the top half and bottom half together over fences.
I feel so great that I can finally see and correct my diagonals. I'm super happy that most of the time now I start posting on the correct one to start with!
One thing that really clicked for me this week was leg position. With the Pasos, you're usually really quiet with your leg because if you slightly kick them (unless you're in Brie's mule mode or Harry's backing up to rear mode), they'll be heading for the hills! Stacy really drilled it in my head today to open up my hips and keep my calves in contact with the sides of the horse all the time. I also learned a semi-obvious but neat little trick about head pulling and such that I can't wait to try on Harry -- instead of pulling back the reins to try to fight them to tuck their head back and stop pulling, give them a little squeeze and pinch your shoulder blades together so you're not really pulling, just kind of locking yourself in a firm upper body position for a minute while pushing them onwards with your leg.
Trotting was awesome. She had me really working on my two-point position today in a trot along the long walls of the arena which helped me balance over the fences WAY better.
But, since I managed to do something right with the bottom half, my upper half was lacking. I completely kept collapsing my ribcage over the fences instead of keeping a nice and helpful frame that I had before when I couldn't balance with my bottom half. So I have to think about that and remember it for next week!
Stacy also gave me some at home kind of exercises that would help me strengthen my two-point, which I think is fantastic and I'll be doing them alllll week.
I can't wait to get better. Since my first show with the team will be in November, I decided to ask her if she'll let me jump in it. She said if I keep improving like did today, she'll see if she can move me up to beginning jumping!! I can't wait!
I rode Tommy today again (yay!). I'm becoming quite attached. I'm glad she's letting me stick to one horse until I figure out what to do with the bottom, balance, and but the top half and bottom half together over fences.
I feel so great that I can finally see and correct my diagonals. I'm super happy that most of the time now I start posting on the correct one to start with!
One thing that really clicked for me this week was leg position. With the Pasos, you're usually really quiet with your leg because if you slightly kick them (unless you're in Brie's mule mode or Harry's backing up to rear mode), they'll be heading for the hills! Stacy really drilled it in my head today to open up my hips and keep my calves in contact with the sides of the horse all the time. I also learned a semi-obvious but neat little trick about head pulling and such that I can't wait to try on Harry -- instead of pulling back the reins to try to fight them to tuck their head back and stop pulling, give them a little squeeze and pinch your shoulder blades together so you're not really pulling, just kind of locking yourself in a firm upper body position for a minute while pushing them onwards with your leg.
Trotting was awesome. She had me really working on my two-point position today in a trot along the long walls of the arena which helped me balance over the fences WAY better.
But, since I managed to do something right with the bottom half, my upper half was lacking. I completely kept collapsing my ribcage over the fences instead of keeping a nice and helpful frame that I had before when I couldn't balance with my bottom half. So I have to think about that and remember it for next week!
Stacy also gave me some at home kind of exercises that would help me strengthen my two-point, which I think is fantastic and I'll be doing them alllll week.
I can't wait to get better. Since my first show with the team will be in November, I decided to ask her if she'll let me jump in it. She said if I keep improving like did today, she'll see if she can move me up to beginning jumping!! I can't wait!
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