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!

Day 225

I have some lovely pictures for you all today!

This is Harry's beautiful jaquima!

Sleepy Harry is sleepy.

A close up of the shank of his bit...I should've taken a picture of the port, but I forgot. Notices the double reins!

Our very first saddle. It's from Colombia and is perfect for training.

Harry wondering why I'm taking a picture of his butt. This is the so-called "fruit basket" a.k.a rear end collector

 So as you can tell, I did in fact use the training saddle and the fruit basket on Harry today, hoping that it would get him a little more collected and remind him that he can't just string out like a Quarter Horse (nothing against them, though!) This is the first time that Harry has been very energetic at a longe in a while, since he's pretty pokey, which is okay with me because I'm not getting pulled around. But he was actually very good and responsive.

My brother and Nina exploring.

Brie peeking between the fence while she's eating.

He was a little stiff in this direction, but we worked at it the entire ride and he eventually loosened up. 

 Look at that adorable sashay!

 Now here you can see that he is really collected. He ended up working very nicely. I was able to keep a loose rein on him after the warm up and he was happily snorting along. He stayed pretty collected the entire ride, but he tap danced a little. We didn't work on largo, since we're trying to collect the corto before we can extend the largo at the same time. He was a very good boy and really gave me all he had today. He was definitely listening to me, as his hears were facing towards me the entire ride. He was responding well to my leg and to my reins and while he tried to get away a little bit with his head, after a few quick corrections he settled back like a charm.

Afterwards, we went out exploring without the fruit basket. Once he walked over that little ditch he calmed right down.

We even got to walk near the pond again! So proud of him. Now for some adorable shots of Brie in between bursts of partaking in her favorite activity: eating.

Afterward we came inside, I rode Taco really quickly because he kept pulling towards the door for Jane, so after he calmed down and was able to walk past the doors without wanting to run out back to his stall, I got off and let him go into the stable. Then everybody got a nice, thorough bath and tail scrubbing. Of course, everyone was dirty within 5 minutes, but what can you do.

Day 202

I was determined to have a good ride today after feeling pretty bad about my rides the last couple of weeks. I marched right into the barn and told Harry who's boss.

Instead of playing around with the rope halter and longe line, longeing without any tack on, I cleaned him up and tacked up, going out to the pole in the arena to longe with him. As soon as we stopped walking he wanted to bolt out and start longeing but I made him wait until I was ready to start working with him. I looped the pisador around the pole (darn, I should've taken a picture) in a way that if he pulled, it would tighten the part of the jaquima that is built around his head, behind his ears and apply pressure, but it was also easy enough for me to release if we got in a dangerous situation without either of us getting hurt.

Today was probably the longest amount of time I've spent longeing him since we had decided that he had the basic idea, way back two years ago. He ran around that pole like a bat out of hell and it was okay for me because he wasn't dragging me with him due to the poll taking the force of him because of the knot. We worked at longer distances and shorter distances, both directions. It was easier for me to get him back out longeing when he fishtailed out and wanted to back away (which he couldn't because of the knot) and continue working. After galloping around for a long time, he calmed back down into a reasonable gait and we stopped.

For the longest, I've been switching between the barbada rein and the bit rein when I ride, using the barbada rein to warm him up and the bit rein when we're ready to perform. Today I used both reins at the same time. I think that it had more of an effect on him because his speed was easier to control. We also worked on flexing while walking, something I've never done with any of the horses before, but I know that it's a good stretch for them while they're warming up. He got the general idea flexing to the outside wall, but more often than not he thought I wanted to reverse when I wanted to flex to the inside.

After getting him collected and right where I wanted him where he was being responsive and performing, about an hour into our ride, I tied up the barbada rein and just worked off of the bit. He was a little jumpy at the transition at first, but settled right into it, with the last 20 minutes of work being fantastic. I could not have been more proud of us! We both ended in happy moods and accomplished what I wanted, which was to longe better and be more collected in gait. I still have to work on finding the exact speed of largo that he likes without pacing or breaking.

When Harry and I were all done, I got on Brie. My ankles were hurting, so I rode her without stirrups. At first I was just  going to walk around with her because I wasn't using the stirrups, but I got up the courage to go through a full session with her, working her corto and largo and everything! She got upset a couple of times when Nick came up behind her with his horse, but she always does this. This is why we can't show, she hates horses being too close to her. I need to figure out a way to fix this, so if you have any suggestions, please tell me!

Eventually, I got enough bravery to canter her without stirrups. It was fantastic! I felt like I was flying and was perfectly able to balance myself. I was literally grinning the entire time. Too bad I never have a camera! Argh, I swear, I need like a personal photographer following me around.

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.

Days 75 & 76

Sunday

Another rough day lunging Harry. He keeps fishtailing out and I can't pull him back in because he starts to go up. All I can do is stupidly chase him around and try to get him to lunge. It's frustrating. He kept pulling a lot today and wanted to go faster. My hands were tired by the end of the ride. He's doing well though. Paco said for me to use the double reins still. The past couple of times I took them off because he was doing okay, but I guess I need to use them up until a week or so before the show.

Speaking of which, I think our next show is in the beginning of August in Springfield, Ohio. We're leaving Brie behind (that was decided before her meltdown) and bringing Harry and Nina. I'm both looking forward to bringing Harry and our first show together and dreading it at the same time. I hope he doesn't spook at anything that could get me injured. I'm not as young and fearless as I used to be.

Paco's ride yesterday seemed to carry over to today with Brie. She was a complete brat! All I wanted to do was practice walking and corto-ing without stirrups but she kept bunny-hopping so I had to wear them. She wasn't walking straight, she tried to run into Harry (which would've been okay if it was Nina, she loves Nina, but she's not too keen about Harry and I didn't want any kick-battles), and she would NOT reverse properly at all. After a few times cantering around the outdoor arena, she got tired and I brought her in.

Didn't get to ride Nina today because of Brie's psycho attitude.

Monday

It never occurred to me that Brie might actually like going outside. But I'll get to that in a minute.

Harry was better today. Paco told me I was lunging the wrong way (you can imagine how dumb I felt) with the pole and that it was being ineffective. After he showed me how to put the rein around the pole, Harry was much better and much calmer. Paco said that since Harry already knows how to charge ahead, he needs to learn how to walk, which I'd been working on, and that the pole is a good way to teach him. It definitely worked, because when I rode him, 9 times out of 10 when I wanted him to walk he walked. I'm now working on reinforcing that because Harry likes to just go when he decides to go, which is not gonna happen. He needs to learn that he can only corto when I ask him to, not just whenever he feels like it. He started out very energetic and uppity but then calmed down. Still wasn't going as slow as I would've liked, but it was progress from yesterday.

Onto Brie. She was pretty calm in the indoor arena. Walked right along, so I decided I wanted to go for a bit in the outdoor arena. She zigzagged as always out of the barn and into the arena and was pretty calm going around, snorting her little heart out. We walked and corto-ed mostly and it was really enjoyable. We worked on some serpentines which she absolutely hated at first but then got the hang of it. I was ready to go in and I assumed she was ready to go in, since every time we passed the gate she'd lean that direction, knocking my boot against the fence. I wanted to break this bad habit so I went to the other side of the arena and wanted to make a straight line out the gate.

Definitely was not happening. She would make it halfway there calmly at a walk before she started hopping. After about 15 minutes, we got out of the gate and I was trying to go straight into the barn, not sideways into the ATV and manure spreader next to the door, and she did a little rear. The first rear she's done since I was about 14 on her! I didn't even really register it because my eyes were pretty much squinted closed from the sun, so I felt it as pretty quickly and instinctively pulled her to the side. For about a split second I wanted to just go into the barn and be done with it, but we moved back into the outdoor arena for a few more laps around. After she snorted her heart out again, I tried to make the straight line out. Still not happening. It then occurred to me: "She's resisting going into the barn...maybe she likes being out here?" Which was completely weird because all the time I've had her she's always acted crazy going back to the barn from any sort of outdoor activity and I always assumed it was her excitement to go back, but it now occurred to me that maybe I was wrong.


So after my mom helped us get out the gate, we walked outside. Yes. We WALKED. Astonishing!! We walked the front pasture and she wanted to go out the gate of the property (but that was not happening. Don't wanna take a mile when given an inch). We walked back behind Gary's house and along the trees. We cantered in a circle for a while and then walked some more. I wanted her to walk along the trees but she veered off towards the mini mountain of dirt back there, snorting all the way. That's what really did it for me. She likes being outside. She's not this barn sour diva. She's a real horse. She loves the sunshine demons and the wind monsters. I was so happy at the end of the ride, which she completed by going straight into the barn without zigzags or bunnyhops, that I could have cried.


I finally know what to do with her. I don't need to "turn her into a trail horse" because she is one. I need to ride outside every chance I get and for a lonnng time and we'll both be happy. This has to be the best feeling in the world. While she may be nutty and quirky, there's never a dull moment with Brie. She really is a gift given to me to give me patience and hope that no matter how difficult an obstacle might be, I will get over it some day if I only have some patience and understanding.

Day 36

What an interesting day.
Brie was still a little stiff. My mom rode her first because she was feeling left out. We both rode with double reins this weekend because Brie kept putting her head up in the air instead of setting it. Maybe I'll continue working with double reins for the next couple of weeks and go back to the single reins mid-March to start prepping for the show season.
Speaking of shows, I can just imagine Brie's delight when she found out she was in a surprise show! A bunch of people were riding in the arena and Ray decided to have an impromptu show, which my mom was in. It consisted of the changes between largo and corto and walking, the usual. The lineup, and then he asked everyone to do a serpentine and take the sound board. Brie and one other horse were the only horses who did it right, so they tied for "first place". It was a cute idea and very effective. We should have more of those, just to keep the horses on their feet.

Ray also talked to us about Brie. My dad wanted to hire Ray to work with Brie and I the month before shows started and Ray basically said that he was afraid of messing up what I had done with Brie because I did such a good job and is trying to convince us to buy another horse. He says that for the money we would be (essentially) wasting on him to help Brie and I when we don't really need help could better be used to pay for another horse in installments that is already trained, a horse that we can just get on and win with. That all sounds fine and dandy, but personally I like a challenge, which is why, out of all the horses that Ray offered for me to ride to test out for purchase at our barn, I'm going to be riding a young stallion named Ghandi. This horse is the most beautiful statue-esque horse you'v ever seen. He's pretty much like a movie horse with the flowing mane and the defined yet delicate face.
I only hope that I can handle him and buy him. I have to wait two weeks for that since Ray's gonna be out of town helping the owner's daughter, Georgina, secure her spot in the Youth Mundial (World Championship). I wish her the best of luck!