Day 296

Sunday

We didn't end up going out yesterday because on Friday, our new puppy, Pepina, accidentally ate one of my brother's pills and she had to stay in the overnight ER. She is okay, thank God, but we stayed home on Saturday just to make sure that she returned to her normal, happy self.

I rode Brie today, since we're aiming to take her to the Michigan show next month, and I wanted to make sure that she stays focused and calm like she has been. We rode in the outdoor arena because it was absolutely beautiful out today, even a bit hot!

I never thought I would say this, but I think that Brie is pretty much finished. At 11 years old, I think that she is done trying to one-up us and has settled into the program -- we come out, we pet her, we groom her, we want to have a nice ride, we give her carrots, we go home for a week. Her attitude is completely relaxed in comparison to the whole rest of her life. I have to say, I think it's probably the magnesium that she's on that's helping break down the sugar in her blood so she's not so hyper all the time. But I also have to give us some credit. Without our understanding and patience, I'm sure she'd still be a crazy fool.

We had a beautiful ride and even did a slow canter...A SLOW CANTER. It was fantastic! And also she was strangely nice to Sadie today, and Sadie was nice to her...we think it's because there's a new mare on our side, Isabel. Brie and Sadie hated each other, but maybe they're teaming up against Isabel. Thankfully they're not all put out together!

My mom was having a hard time with Harry today. I blame it entirely on the wind, which is kind of dumb, but horses make up things in their heads to be afraid of, and it was pretty windy outside. So my mom took him in the indoor, and then the round pen, where he apparently had a magnificent largo. I wish I would've watched, but Brie and I were roaming around the property at that time. Once Harry came out of the round pen, he joined Brie, Nina, and Sadie for a ride around the property. We went a little ways down the street before a big gust of wind came by and Harry got a little iffy, so we turned around and went back.

Afterwards, we scrubbed them with a good bath! Brie was soooo dirty. When I was brushing her at first, the more I brushed, the more dust came up! She was pretty grey by the time she was "clean"! After a good bath, they all felt smooth and I took them out for some grass in the sun before bringing them back in and worming them. For me, it was the perfect day at the barn. Doesn't get much better than that!

Days 271 & 272

Saturday
I think that I forgot to post last weekend...terrible thing is, I don't even remember what happened! But I can't forget to post this weekend, the last weekend of 2012!

Today my mom decided that Harry is ready to be riden again. She was the only one who rode him while I dealt with Brie, who is feeling super good because she had her arthritis injections again. Harry sounded really good on the board and my mom said that he is paying a lot more attention to her now, which is really fantastic because for a while there he was ignoring us and just trying to follow Nina around. He looked like he was concentrating on her and didn't do any tap dancing and never broke gait on the board. It seems like his month off of riding and just doing groundwork has done him a lot of good!

I found out today that during the week, Samantha was out along with Jane and her grandkids to all ride. Samantha's mom was cleaning the stalls and the horse they were most scared of was Brie! That makes me kind of sad, that after all of this time she still is perceived as the crazy horse. She is an absolute doll when it comes to children and she has excellent ground manners. She is so polite when you go to clean her stall, she moves out of the way for you and everything. She even poops in the same spot all of the time so that there isn't a huge mess! So when I found out that Samantha's mom was terrified of cleaning Brie's stall because she was scared that Brie was going to hurt her, it really made me feel awful. Brie is very misunderstood. And it doesn't help that people still talk about her. We don't even show her anymore. I mean, just because she refused to walk in her classes and did her nervous crow-hopping that doesn't mean she's a dangerous horse. She's nothing like some of the other horses I've seen trained at the barn that are actually very dangerous, throwing their riders off of their backs and slamming people into walls while they're being groomed. I mean, Brie is even perfect for the farrier. I just don't get what makes people think she's this evil horse.

Sunday
My mom rode Harry again today and he was just as good if not better than yesterday! I can't wait to get on him and see how he is now.

I only rode Brie again today. She just wanted to fly! She is definitely feeling younger and spunkier now that she isn't in pain anymore. I had two reins on her today to try and work on her collection. She's gotten away with doing whatever for a pretty long time and I'd like to fix that. After we worked, I let her canter around the arena a couple of times and I could tell she was having fun! I swear, she should have been a Thoroughbred. She would've been a great race horse! She could have cantered for hours. Just imagine if I let her gallop!

Well, next time I post will be 2013. I hope that you all have a wonderful New Year's Eve and that your 2013 is filled with success!

Days 247 & 248

I completely forgot to write this over the weekend, so I'm going from memory here. I'm going to try to write it like it was that day.

Saturday

If there ever was a "best" day for riding, today was the day. It was absolutely gorgeous out and I wanted nothing more than to go around with my little Harry. I wonder what he's really thinking when I imagine he's looking at me with such love in his eyes. He was a little iffy in the warm-up, and wanted to go pretty fast, which is always a surprise to me. I changed his bit back once again and it's too early to tell how he's responding to it, although I can say that he is not having issues flexing anymore, so whatever his deal was with that must have worked itself out, although I still take extra caution stretching him before we start up.

After his ride, my mom, brother and I walked around outside, enjoying the weather. Not the ideal Quarter horse type walk, but enjoyable nonetheless. It was so cute, he couldn't keep up with Brie and Nina's power walk, so he broke into the tiniest canter I've ever ridden and didn't get psycho about it. After that, I don't mind letting him canter around outside a bit. He truly has gotten a lot more confidence outside.

Sunday

Worming day! And well needed, the horses have begun ripping their tails out. Poor things. They look so shabby now, but hopefully it will smooth out soon. Brie has been kicking the stall again and we have no idea why, Paco has supposedly increased her food rations. So we tried on one of Judy's trail boots and Brie didn't seem to mind it, and so she suggested that, since the impact of the kick must be affecting her arthritis, we should buy a boot of our own and just leave it on her all week. It's not so much as a boot, but more of a hoof covering. It doesn't go up on the meaty part of her leg at all. All we can do is give it a shot.

The Easy Boot, via Horseloverz.com

So since we're pretty much decided on not showing Brie again, I've been wondering about how she would react if I started riding her bitless again. When she was being trained, the only reason she started wearing a bit was because we wanted to show her, and it's required, but before she was age 5, she hadn't had one. I think that next week I'm going to try that out and see how she is. She was being pretty compliant today, but I felt like she could have relaxed even more. My goal for her now is to just get her into a calm mindset and keep her there for the entire ride. We walked around outside by ourselves, in which she didn't bolt, so that was a plus. I managed to keep her at a speed-walk the entire way through.

While I was waiting around by myself in the outdoor, I noticed that the serpentine boards had been filled in where the gap was that she got her hoof stuck in, so I hopped off and tried to have her walk over them. She wasn't too keen on the idea, but she walked over them a couple of times before everyone came out and we got back on and walked around some more. She's really doing well lately, I think it might be because she's getting out a little more since the heat wave has subsided. Her leg wasn't swollen at all this weekend and she didn't really limp either day too. I hope that as autumn sets in, she's much more comfortable.

Day 244

I really have no clue what's going on with Harry. It has to be more than a simple attitude problem...I only rode him today and I was determined to be patient with him because I have this feeling that there's something wrong, but I don't know what. Before I rode, though, I let them all out for a little romp the in the fields.

So I took extra time with little things before I got on.  I made sure he would longe correctly for me, which was a total surprise. I thought he would be fighting, as usual, but I decided to go straight to the pole to help me so that way we wouldn't be set up for a fight, and he was very calm and nice about it. Then I made sure that I flexed and rubbed him really good on the ground before I got on and also stretched out his legs. When I got on, I didn't go after circle work since he was so good longeing, and I went on to the rail instead. I was just focused on getting him to walk and then stop and flex to the inside both directions around the arena with just the bosal rein. I left the bit rein tied up.

After he did that without any fights, I tied up the bosal rein and took up the bit rein and asked for a corto. It was like he had and epiphany. He was calm and gaited beautifully and stayed balanced and centered and didn't twitch of buck or fight. He even stayed on the wall. I didn't ride very long because I wanted him to remember this good ride and how happy I was with him.

I took him outside afterwards with Brie and Nina and we all walked around. It's funny, because when Brie starts getting ahead of everyone, my brother says "Nina, go get Brie!" and she takes off after Brie. I said "Harry, go get Nina!" and he took off after Nina. At first, he tried just largoing very fast, but he couldn't keep up, so he went into his very first mounted canter! I could tell as soon as he took off he wasn't balanced, so I slowed him back down while Nina and Brie slowed down. On the way back, in the back pasture, Brie and Nina took off again, and I let Harry go into a canter and he found his balance and it was one of the smoothest canters I've ridden! He was great!

I really don't know what to do about him. I want to call a chiropractor, but I don't want to call the chiropractor. Maybe I should wait a couple more weeks and see if he's any better?

Day 243

I rode Brie first today, since my mom wanted to try Harry again because of everything that happened with him yesterday. She changed his bit back to the one that he was wearing about a year ago to see if that would make a difference, since he really seems like he's not respecting the bit anymore. I didn't pay much attention to Harry at first, but apparently he was pretty antsy.

Meanwhile, I was trying to walk Brie around outside. I don't understand her. We've gone outside a million times, but every time is like the first time we're going out. I wasn't planning on staying out as long as I did, but I didn't want her to charge the barn. So I would make her stop every time she started to get crazy. Unfortunately, the flowers weren't saved....we were walking by the pond in back and she stepped into the flowers by accident. I tried to get her out of there with both my legs and the reins, but she wasn't having it and ended up side-stepping all the way across the flower bed.

I feel very defeated with Brie. I know she's come a long way in manners in the arena, for the most part, but she still is crazy outside and I'm pretty sure she has the same attitude about shows, but that I can't be certain of. Should I just give up? I don't know what else I could do to try and make her not as excited outside. I've tried everything I can think of and nothing works.

After I managed to get back to the barn without killing myself, I got on Harry for a bit. He's a whole other problem. I don't understand where he went wrong either. Ever since May or April, he has not been the same. He hasn't been as good and I don't know what we're doing wrong, because we're doing the same things. At one point long ago, he got over his aversion to one wall in the arena. Now, suddenly he remembered that he's scared of it and will not for the love of God walk straight on it. When I first got him, he had such a hard time flexing, and we got over that. Now, he won't flex at all easily without giving a fight or trying to rear. Part of me thinks that there's some anatomical problem going on, but I don't know how to find out what it is. Everyone else thinks it's just his attitude, but why would he change so quickly back to being horrible? No one's done anything to him.

In part to end on a good note, I got off of him and walked him outside by hand. We walked around the pond because I know he's scared of it, and he got pretty close to the water's edge by the end of our walk. Then I lengthened his line and ran over the little ditch and he followed me over and although he was hesitant, he jumped right over it. If he couldn't settle his brain inside, I hope that readjusted it outside.

Lastly, I rode Taco outside for Jane. He enjoyed it and after I got back to the barn, Jane got to talking about letting him canter, since he won't be showing for another year, if he even shows next year. Everyone says not to canter Paso Finos, because apparently it messes up their gait, but Taco has a really smooth, slow canter that Jane likes. We wanted to see if it was a 4-beat canter, since there are classes in Colombia called Trote y Galope where the horse trots and canters and they're judged on that instead of the corto, largo, or fino. I took him across the board at a canter and it was in between a 3-beat and a 4-beat, depending on how his back feet landed each stride. Jane's settled on not listening to the people who bring her down and just having fun with Taco. He's had a lifetime of showing and pressure, so now he gets to relax and have fun.

Day 212

I decided I wanted to ride Brie again today, for real this time. My mom took Harry and she changed his bit since apparently he had a "baby bit" still on...bits are so confusing. I wonder if it's just the Pasos that are this difficult and have this many bits. So she changed his and that in combo with the soft bosal we changed to yesterday had him looking phenomenal! His board was magnificent, probably the best board we've heard in a while, and his headset was perfect! I can't wait to ride him next weekend and feel it for myself.

Brie, on the other hand, was over due for giving me a tough time. I spent the majority of my time trying to make her walk, and then when I got that, I stupidly made the decision that she deserved a canter for being good...wrong idea. After not practicing it for a while, she went back to taking off like crazy, and wasn't even responding to my leg or body weight when she decided to exit our circle and try to take off around the arena...then when we tried to calm down again and hit the board, she jumped off the end and wouldn't approach it straight on...I think that if I'm serious about getting her back in the show ring, I might have to stop trying to canter her...it just makes her so hyper! I'm thinking about changing her bit too next weekend. 

After finally getting a good pass back in the indoor (we rode in the outdoor), I hopped off and, on a whim, decided that I wanted to ride Nina, as my brother was finished with his ride too. I wish every horse were like Nina! This is probably the first time in the 5 years that we've had her that I've actually ridden her to ride her, not just poke around the arena and enjoy a horse who actually walks. She is so powerful! I could feel her little hooves pounding beneath me. She is so willing to do whatever you ask of her. She's just amazing. We had an amazing pass on the board too, and after that we just walked around outside for a little bit with Harry (who was NOT calm) and went back inside to hose off. 

After this ride with Nina, I'm hoping that I can ride her in the pleasure mares class if my brother lets me, since he's going to ride her in the performance mares class. I'm sure she'll do well wherever she's placed! Last time I rode her was spur-of-the-moment at the Michigan show last year in the pleasure class and we won a 2nd! And I hadn't even practiced on her! If I get her after I'm done with Harry every weekend until our first show, I'm sure we could be winning 1sts! 

Now on a more personal note...I'm really disappointed with everyone at the barn...I feel like no matter where we go, we get laughed at for doing things our own way. When we were training with Andre, people laughed at us for using him. Since then, we've pretty much done everything on our own, and people always talk about us like we're some crazy people who don't know what we're doing...and even though we're winning classes (at least on Nina), they still don't have respect for us. I don't know if it's an industry thing or what, but it's hurtful to feel like you never really have true friends, or even allies, in this business. Like yesterday, I found out that Nick was laughing at me for trying to make Harry unafraid of the tarp last weekend...but I don't see any of his horses walking all over it and playing with it like Nina and Brie do! So what if it's taking Harry a little longer, we didn't go into desensitizing with him straight away like we did with Nina and Brie because, as a 5 year old, we had figured he had already been exposed to all of this. And I don't see too many other horses in costume class with dresses touching the floor (or dresses at all, for that matter). 

 Or even today, when talking to Paco. I made signs this morning for feed directions to hang on the horses' stalls so that it would be easy for him to remember because we change Brie's feed amounts around whenever she gets too high in sugar or too low in weight, but when my mom approached him about changing Brie's feed, he basically dismissed her and said that no matter what she said, he would do what he wanted to in the end. I was just angry and felt betrayed! Here he's supposed to be our friend, and then he goes and discounts us like this anyways? This is our horse's health we're talking about, and he's not exactly a specialist in horse health and certainly not in Brie's condition. 

I hate feeling like we're at the mercy of someone else all of the time...and it makes me really appreciate what we had when Andre was taking care of our horses. Sure he got angry Harry that one time and might have scarred Nina for life in terms of being afraid of farriers, but at least we knew up at Brie and Nina's breeding farm that they were being let out and fed properly. 

If anything is encouragement to stay in school and get a good job, this is it. I need to get a job that can support my horses on my own property that way I can ensure that they're being taken care of the right way all of the time.

Day 167

Brie never ceases to amaze me.

I passed off Harry to my mom today to work on since I was having no luck getting him to gait yesterday, but I'll talk about him later. Brie is insane! Here I am, all worried about riding her because she hasn't been in a while and her leg was stocked up this morning. It was so relaxing to really brush her and scrub at her elbows and what not and to put lineament on her hock and ankle in the back. She looked like she was happy to go.

Then I got on.

I knew from the minute she started swishing her tail that it wouldn't be a relaxing ride.

All I wanted to do was walk her around the arena, you know, take it easy on her. But nope, she was almost literally rearing to go. So after struggling with her, dismounting, longeing, remounting, and repeating, I just let her go.

We cantered for a while in a huge circle about half of the arena. My better judgement told me this was a bad move with her arthritis, but Brie was telling me, "LET ME GO ALREADY DAMMIT!" So we went. To say that she was in one of her fast modes today would be an understatement. We rode with Allison today for probably our last ride before she changes barns. I'm thinking maybe that's why she was a little goofy, but then again my mom said she was pretty crazy for her ride yesterday, so who knows.

Harry was also in a bad mood today because of the fruit basket. In the beginning he tried to buck my mom off. He really doesn't like that thing. But he looked better in his corto today! Even though we're supposed to be doing largo more, I didn't really get to watch it because Brie was always zooming past him. I do know that we have to do more circle work with Harry in order for him to really think about doing everything at once.

While we were out walking around, Harry started dancing but this time his back feet were keeping up with the front and Allison said "I think he's Fino-ing!" So it's not just us who think that he can do it. If only we had a different trainer to help us out, I'm sure Harry could be a Fino horse. But for right now, we're just gonna try to get him to largo for Nationals. We'll see what the winter brings.

Day 106

Oh Brie. Now that we've started canter training, that's all she wants to do! Not okay, especially when no one else wants to canter her during their ride. We have to work on listening skills. We tried to work a corto inside and then went outside to jump ditches and canter. What a silly mare.

I rode Harry today too. I actually started on him. Our lunging was nice, a couple of fishtails, but we did very well. He's listening very nicely. His gaiting today was rather odd though. All of his hooves weren't in sync at all, even when I hopped off and let my mom try to fix that. I guess everyone has those days though, don't they.

I'm so excited for Thanksgiving break! My irregular weekends have finally ended! I can't wait to start going on Saturdays and Sundays from now on. I didn't go yesterday because I went to the NU VS U of I game at Wrigley, which we lost horribly. It was so depressing, I can't even begin to tell you. Oh well, all I can look forward to is this upcoming weekend of normalcy!