Day 44

I took pictures! But I'm in class right now and haven't uploaded them, so when I get back from work tonight I'll have to upload them and show you Harry.

Written on Sunday, 2/28/10

I worked more with Harry and Nina today than Brie.
After trying to get Brie to canter, I realize that I have no idea what I'm really doing and that I don't even have my balance, so I'm giving up on this goal until I get my balance on school horses. It's not worth messing up Brie so that I can learn how to balance when I can practice that with the school's team.

Speaking of Brie, I've found out that she most likely won't be going to the Memphis show. =[ I really wanted to go, but now it gives me even more time to calm her and experiment riding with lots of horses in an arena. Hopefully this means that I'll win a blue ribbon this season!

I have a feeling that even when I win this blue ribbon, I'll continue to write, because until I feel like I've made a total bond with all three of my horses now, there is still much work to be done.

So anyways. Let's start with Nina. I taught her the Yo-Yo game and she learned it fairly quickly! I was proud of both her and myself. It also impressed Paco and my parents. Shows them! Patience always pays off. That's really all I did with Nina, I wanted to end on a good note. I myself have to watch the next Parelli DVD this week to learn how to do the remaining 3 games, then I just have to practice them until they're really good and somehow acquire the money to buy the next level of DVDs.

Onto Harry. His legs are getting better; the injuries are not as bad as expected. Now I believe I've told you about his phobia of one corner of the arena. First off, I started doing Parelli work with him playing the Friendly Game (basically being able to touch the horse anywhere without any discomfort or resistance from the horse). He got very uncomfortable at first when he saw the Carrot Stick and started lunging to get away from it. I got him to stop fairly quickly and after about 5 minutes he relaxed when as I rubbed the stick over him. By then end of the session, he was completely relaxed except for when I went past a ticklish spot on his stomach. I decided to end my time with him here and not going on to the Porcupine Game. Lastly, I walked with him and halted every couple of feet in the corner that he didn't like and hopefully this helps when I ride him this weekend, if he's better.

Brie. Oh Brie. Well I got her out of the stall! It took a little while. I went in and pet her, she gave me her butt. This happened a couple of times and eventually she gave me her head to put the halter on, but then I missed and she ran into the corner again! Eventually, I got it on without being rude. I decided to get her out of the stall last, since Nina and Harry have no problems coming out of their stall. I guess every family needs a spirit like Brie don't they? Just to keep us on our toes.

Day 43

The beginning of this post was meant for Saturday, February 20th, 2010.
Yay! Today was the first day out with Harry! I didn't get any pictures of him though, we were all so busy admiring him to remember to take pictures of him! I did get lucky enough to get a couple pictures of Brie yawning, which I found hilarious.
Harry is stalled right across from Nina, so he can see Brie on an angle. I hope they get to be friends since Brie is a bit snippy with other horses. I was very proud of myself as well today! I went right in the stall and after a few tries, I got Brie right in the halter. It only took me a minute! So proud of myself. She was very happy today as well! It didn't take long for her to settle into her walk and gait beautifully. She was good for my mom too.
Ray finally is back. He rode Nina. She was a little pistol after not being ridden for a month; Ray didn't want us to ride her while she was away for both our sakes and her sake. I can understand that.
Pancho worked with my brother riding Harry since I was riding Brie first. I'm not too much worried about getting Harry to gait perfectly right now; I'm more concerned with getting him to trust me, and even though I said it last week, this week I really plan on getting a lot done at school Parelli-wise. I'm all caught up on my Skins (British show) episodes and Vampire Diaries episodes, so I'm all set for Parelli time. This Parelli takes a lot of work, but I know that in the end it will ultimately pay off with the bond I have with my horses. I have to start working on giving up Brie a bit to bond with Nina and now Harry.

News I was informed of today
I went back to school yesterday night for a dance formal thing and didn't bother going back home this morning since I had already made plans. I swear, it's like the minute that I'm not there, the world ends!
So apparently everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, was at the stable today. My dad, the "John Wayne" that he is, decided that he should go ahead and ride Harry. Mind you, Harry is 5 years old, has about one month of training, and my dad never, I mean NEVER, rides. Everyone is telling him to get off because he doesn't know what he's doing and he won't listen. My mom sees Harry getting upset and freaked out, ready to rear, and she's pleading with my dad to get off. My dad can't get off in time and Harry rears full up twice and has my dad hanging by the saddle. Now there's been this large hay cart in the middle of the arena since it started snowing since there's no other storage for it and the hay that's in it. Harry bolts and jumps on top of the empty half of the hay cart, breaks and falls through the wooden floor of it with my dad still on. Harry, of course, freaks out and jumps out, runs to the sound board (basically a stretch of wood used for hearing the rhythm of the horse's gait), skids across the board and falls over, landing on top of my dad.
My dad's okay, but Harry's legs are all cut up. They're not cut up real bad and Ray and Pancho said they would take care of Harry. Hopefully he gets well soon.

Day 42

We bought Harry!
I'm going to start watching Parelli again. I've been totally unproductive at school with my free time, and this is a good thing to start again. I'm going to start working with Harry on this corner that he will not go into because of his past. We're hoping to have him at a good point for showing in April.

Brie. Yeah, she scares me when she gives me her butt in the stall. I can't help it! I appreciate my limbs, even more so since I had knee surgery. Paco thinks it's the horse next to her, who is always kicking, that is making Brie uncomfortable and keeping her awake at night. Hopefully he can switch this horse and Harry. Overall, she did really well. I walked her a lot and cantered for a bit. Maybe I should cut back on the cantering now that shows are approaching. I'm just getting so restless being cooped up inside, and I'm sure that she's feeling it even more than I am.

Nina is still not being trained since Ray is away. Since he was gone basically a whole month, we won't pay him again for March.

I'll only have one day out this weekend, on Saturday. Brie's birthday is coming up! I'm gonna learn how to bake her a cake.

Hopefully I'll take lots of pictures on Saturday of Harry and have them up for you!

Day 41

I think that Brie may be going through some hormonal changes right now. For the past three weeks, although I have failed to mention it, she has been giving me attitude when I want to take her out of the stall. She may just not want to work, but she doesn't get out all week because of the ice, so you could assume that she'd be happy to leave, right?
Well, I'm trying to be patient with her, yet again. Just getting her to walk today with 3 other horses in the arena was a challenge and she worked herself up. I guess I never have a dull moment with her. She ended on a good note though, finally walking, so I walked a couple rounds bareback, which hopefully she enjoyed.

Still no progress with Nina, as we've just found out that Ray's mom died this week. He's been in Puerto Rico with her for close to a month now, and won't be back until the middle of next week. Please keep him in your thoughts.

I rode Harry again today. He reminds me more and more of Andre's horse, Querida, and maybe a little bit of Brie too. He's young though, so I should give him a chance on the Brie aspect of it. He may have a lot of potential on the Querida side of it, because Querida is a Fino horse. Right now, since Harry's young, we might just show him in Pleasure classes if he's really not where he needs to be, otherwise we'd show him in Performance. If it turns out that we've struck gold again, we might have a Fino horse, along with Nina being a possible Fino horse!
Now why do I speak like I own Harry?
Well.
I do. =] Not officially though. We still have to seal the deal tomorrow and, obviously, pay for him. I should've probably waited to tell you guys in case it fell through, but I'm so excited! While I release a small groan at having to calm and desensitize another young horse, I can't say that I'm not looking forward to the challenge. It will all pay off in the end.

Equestrian Team - Day 2

I've officially decided to join the college's Equestrian Team! I'm very excited for this because it's brought me out of my comfort zone. I can completely understand why Paso people and hunter/jumper people don't exactly get along...let's just say we both think of each other as a strange breed of people (and horses), but I'll be as open minded as I can be.

Apparently I'm very close to mastering the diagonals trickery, yet no where near getting cantering down pat. I was so used to a slight kick and tug and Brie taking off immediately, not this bouncy in between business where you almost lose your stirrups and cling to the saddle for dear life because the mane is unavailable because of clipping! In short, it was terrifying.

Not to mention I feel like I almost got killed! Okay, I made a mistake of passing too close to someone. Sorry if I didn't know that these horses are very temperamental and pushy, I didn't know that the horse I was passing would buck and try to kick my horse (and me!) in the face!

And I understand the whole, "You can't talk in the show arena so don't talk here" business, but that seems so...anthropocentric. It makes it feel like the animals are just that, animals. No bond or anything. Slightly unsettling, but maybe it's just the instructor.

I am going to try to do the last show, but if I'm not confident enough that I'd win at least third place (or beat this girl I know is on the NIU team), then I won't go in. I'll still take my lessons with my mom's friend's daughter over the summer and be amazing and phenomenal when I get back in the fall, primed for those jumps.

Days 38 & 39

Saturday

Freezing! Ray isn't here because he's in Puerto Rico with his mom, so we can't do much with Nina without him here. It was very quiet and lonely at the stable today, only us and Paco really. Played around with Nina for a bit, rode Brie. Her cantering is getting better! Better as in synchronized, so that's good, now I just have to work on slowing her down.
Rode Ghandi today, who, I found out, is not really Ghandi, apparently his name is Jardinero, and we're calling him Harry from now on until we come up with a better nickname. He is so lovely! He has the prettiest hair ever, so long and graceful looking. If only he weren't a gelding.

Sunday

People were here today! Jane was here for the first time in pretty much EVER with Annie. They brought their horse Grace and played around with Taco. I feel so bad! I almost forgot that Taco existed! I mostly walked Brie today and let my family have their fun with her. My dad rode her for the first time in a lonnggg time. I could tell he was nervous. I think that's my little mission now, to get my dad better at riding Brie. Maybe it'll make him respect me more as an adult.

I rode Grace. I think I'm finally understanding what 'diagonals' means! I did it right the entire time I trotted, even though that was not that long of a time, as Grace didn't really want to move.

Rode Harry again. We're back to thinking of buying him. If the price is right, he would be a great addition to the family. He's so adorable and really sweet. My dad just brought up the issue of who's horse would he really be? It took me a couple of months to really bond with Brie while my mom couldn't ride because of her surgery. It took my brother and I a year to figure out that Nina was really "his horse" rather than mine. I wonder who's horse Harry would be.

Probably my dad's. He seems to be the most excited about Harry. So I'll keep you updated on this little colt (4 years old!) and am so excited that the show season starts for me in the next 2 months!

Happy trails!

Equestrian Team

Today was my first jumping lesson.
I didn't actually get to jump. Or canter. Trotting is hard! This is, to me, a completely different ball game from Paso Finos. What is a diagonal and why can't I get it right the first time? How still do you want my hands to be? I thought they were perfectly fine! Apparently not. Eee. And I thought that Paso people were perfectionists.

Even though this was a bit foreign to me, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The girls I met on the team today were super sweet, and I was a bit more talkative than I usually am when I meet people for the first time (well, with one of them at least). I love it. I'd love to learn to do this during the week while learning even more about Pasos on the weekends, that way I can be a more versatile trainer.

Now it just comes down to the money. Granted, $40 a week for lessons doesn't sound so bad, but when you only have $20 in your bank account and haven't gotten scheduled at work for two weeks, it can prove an issue. I've been scheduling, or asking, for Thursdays every week for the rest of the quarter, but then that means I'd have to find a different day to have lessons on. Maybe I'd have to do Sunday nights, straight after getting back to school from my stable.

I do know that I want to take lessons over the summer. My parents' friend's daughter teaches at a stable, I don't know where though. I'm sure I could get a discounted price for lessons through her.

One thing that I found really amusing was that these people were referring to horses about the size of Pasos, or even a bit taller, as ponies! I wonder what they'd think Nina is, because she's smaller. Maybe they'd consider her a mini.

Overall, today was a good day that greatly lifted my spirits this week. And now I'm extremely tired.