Bernadine Clinic

It was a beautiful February day and I am under the impression that tomorrow will be the same. Perfect weather for getting out and spending time with our horses. I arrived at the barn at
8:00 a.m. this morning. There was a Bernadine Dier clinic at Crosby Creek and I had a ride time of 10:00 a.m. I love going to these clinics. My first time I was pretty nervous with not knowing what to expect. I haven't had a bout of nerves about it since. Bernadine is an excellent teacher and I understand her analogies. While we still have a lot of work to do, Boo and I have both come a long way since that first clinic. It helps that I'm able to lesson with Trainer Tracey too. The two trainers complement one another well. I think that's important. If you get people with completely different viewpoints on what is needed and how to get it a person can end up pretty confused.

We arrived at Crosby Creek at about 9:30 this morning. We took Miley (our corgi) along with us. She's not been feeling so well and I wanted to keep an eye on her. We had her crated and she was able to be in the bed of the pickup while we were riding. It worked out well for her and for us. The first ride was ending just as we arrived. The rider was doing some canter work and things got a bit out of control. The rider ended up taking a spill. She landed hard. After about 10 minutes she managed to get up and get back on and walk around for a bit. Once she put him away she disappeared, and I heard later that another woman had accompanied her to the hospital just to be on the safe side. I haven't heard how she is, but I'm sure hoping it was nothing more serious than some stiffness and soreness. It was a an all to graphic reminder that things can change in an instant even under controlled circumstances.

My ride went quite well. I will say that I am a bit sore in the legs since I spent most of my time in the posting trot. Both Boo and I managed to build up a sweat. I learned that I don't sit centered in the saddle. I'm heavy to the right and am contributing to Boo's crookedness because of it. Today we worked on getting me more centered. I have to tell you that centered feels like I'm falling off to the left. I can't help but be grateful that our barn owner has put up all those lovely mirrors in the arena. I think it will help tremendously to be able to see myself. Boo was nice and forward, but we need to work on the tempo because he likes to get a bit fast and I'm not to let that happen. We also spent the last part of the lesson with me working without my martingale. It has become such a crutch for me since my last fall...today when Bernadine told me she thought Boo would go better without it, I reached down and unhooked it. Bernadine was right of course. Things went well. Oh, there was some head in the rafter business at first but it was extremely short-lived. My friend Joanne took a video for me. Once I get it I will post a clip. In the meantime I've posted a few pictures.

What's wrong with Miley?

I've been sick with a nasty cold virus for going on 3 weeks now. I am finally starting to get better, but I can't say I'm completely over it until this nagging cough goes away. I haven't been out to ride but once in all that time. That was Sunday. Monday and Tuesday I spent with my grandson who ended up with the same virus. Probably got it from me.

Tomorrow I am scheduled to ride in a clinic, so I will be going out to the barn later today to get in a short ride and some cleanup. My new bit that the clinician suggested last month finally came in on Saturday and I haven't tried it out yet. Now I'm thinking I might just save it for tomorrow and let her see how we do with it. There are new mirrors up in the arena since we last rode, and I'm not sure I'm up for new bit and new mirrors on the same day! There is a reason I call him Boo afterall.

To top it all off my darling little corgi has had some kind of reaction to what I don't know, and she now has a very nasty sore on her muzzle. Yesterday the vet did a biopsy because the treatment she has prescribed so far doesn't seem to be working. I am worried sick because she has said if it's not bacterial or fungal she would then be worried about autoimmune disease or neoplasm. I know if we go there the treatment she will prescribe will be steroids and those scare me too. I'm grasping at straws and wondering about food allergy etc. but the vet doesn't seem to be thinking along those lines. In the meantime I'm keeping her with me nearly all the time to try and keep her from rubbing the muzzle even more raw. Can't keep her from licking it. Arrgghh! February has not been my favorite month!

Wordless Wednesday

Still under the weather but this picture makes me smile :)

Under the weather

Hmmm...if it's not one thing it's another. I haven't been able to work with Boo since the longeing session last week. I went out to hold the horses for the farrier on Friday. I was perfectly fine. Later that afternoon, for no apparent reason, I had this terrible pain in my left hip. I could hardly walk. Nothing unusual happened with the horses while I was holding them, so I don't know why I have the pain...unless it was from dancing the night before. However, if it was from dancing why did the pain not occur until Friday afternoon? At any rate, I went to an OHSET drill team to watch a friend and limped around like Chester in Gunsmoke! Remember him?

On Saturday it was a little better but not much. DH and I went back out to watch more OHSET. We spent the entire day out there. I would sit on the benches, and then stand up to stretch and then sit some more. Didn't walk around any more than I had too. On Sunday it felt quite a bit better, but still there was pain, so I decided not to ride. Monday even better still, but still some pain so no riding.

I had planned to go out today because I figured it would be even better today if not completely gone. That had been the pattern. The pain is about the same and I'd probably at least go longe, but last night out of the freakin blue I started sneezing and sneezing and sneezing. I now have a sore throat, headache, stuffy nose, and my ears feel like they have fluid in them. Arrgghhh! This is my first cold of the entire winter!

What is so strange about all of this is both maladies hit me completely OUT OF THE BLUE!!! No warning. Feeling fine. Wham! There's a problem.

This was suppose to be the month I rode regularly in preparation for the clinic with Tracey next weekend and Bernadine at the end of the month. As I said in a previous post "If you want to make God laugh...tell him your plans!

I know some of the other bloggers have been really sick, so I will count myself lucky if this is just a mild cold that is manageable in just a couple of days. Until then, I'm gonna go park myself on the sofa with my blanket and my corgi.

What was he thinking!?!?

Can ponies have temper tantrums...cuz I think mine just did. I managed to get out to the barn and get Bay taken care of early. I had planned to longe Boo on Monday, but Bay's injury put a hold on that, so I figured I would do it today. He needed a bit of a clean up so I did that and tacked him up, took the longe line and the longe whip and headed for the indoor.

Almost as soon as I attached the longe line he gave a little squeal and he was off! I don't like that kind of longeing. I like to start off at the walk, then go to the trot, and finally go to the canter. Normally Boo listens to me on that but not today. I managed to bring him back down to the walk but it took some time. We proceeded to walk and then to trot. Once I knew he was warmed up a bit I stopped him to attach the side reins. Then once again we headed out at the walk, then the trot. He was giving me a really nice and forward trot. I worked him in and out on the circle a couple of times then sent him back out and asked for the canter. That's when it happened. He started cantering, then he started cantering a little faster, then he went into an all out gallop and completely ignored me on the other end of the longe line. Around and around and around he went. I had to keep looking away from him to keep from getting dizzy. I kept asking him to trot, but he just kept right on doing what he was doing and he seemed ticked off! Since he wasn't listening I just stood there and let him circle around me at top speed hoping he wouldn't end up falling down. I let him run until he began to slow. Figuring he was tiring himself out I asked again for the trot and then an immediate WHOA!

I won't try to tell you he stopped on a dime because he didn't. It took some time to get him to slow the trot and then stop the jigging and finally to come to a complete stop and let me approach him. Once I was sure he was calmed down a bit I switched sides and sent him out again at a walk, then a trot, and finally a canter. We mirrored everything we had done in the first go round except this time Boo didn't start galloping like a mad hatter! I think he was just to tired. He used to do this to my previous trainer a lot. As a matter of fact he got so worked up he even started backing up on her and one time reared up and went over backward. With me he's always been a lot calmer. I don't know what his trigger was today. Maybe he was just expressing his irritation at having to work that hard. It's been awhile since I've longed.

I'm not going to stop, however. Next time I'm going to work the opposite side first. He's going to get longed at least once a week until he goes back to obeying my voice commands like before. It wasn't that the side reins were to tight because they were on the very first ring. I think he just had a temper tantrum. Today he was lazy Boo and he ended up working harder and longer than he would have had to otherwise. All his choice.

LET'ER BUCK!

DH and I love rodeos! We have an entire row for 2 days running at St. Paul. We usually always make an appearance at Molalla. We think the Canby rodeo is great! We've been to Ellensburg and danced in the arena with the Native Americans. We've done the Grandaddy of them all (Cheyenne Frontier Days) more than once. Every November we go to the Columbia Circuit Finals in Redmond Oregon. We have tickets for 4 every day of the Roundup! We usually try to go to a new one every year. I have Chief Joseph Days on my radar and the Calgary Stampede is a long held dream of mine, but my favorite rodeo by far is the Pendleton Roundup.

This year is the 100th anniversay of the Roundup. DH has been monitoring the progress of the new grandstands. While perusing the website he came across a souvenir that we just couldn't pass up. It arrived a few days ago.

LET'ER BUCK!

Want to make God laugh?

Want to make God laugh? Tell him your plans! I've heard that before and boy is it ever true. My last 2 posts have been about planning my rides and what I intended to work on. I decided last night that I would longe Boo in side reins today. I've found he's better about giving to the bit when I do that regularly. He respects me more in the saddle when I work him from the ground, and I think it's good for his topline. We do walk, trot, and canter. We work on transitions between the gaits. We make the circle smaller and then larger so he gets his hind leg crossing under him in both directions. He works up a sweat. It only takes about 20 minutes.

As soon as I walked into the barn I knew my plans were in jeopardy. Bay was standing in the cross-ties and there were about 6 people gathered around him. The first thing they said was "we just called your husband!" No one knows how he did it but Bay had knocked one of his teeth sideways. It was sticking out of the side of his mouth like a teensy tiny elephant tusk. He let me look inside his mouth and the tooth was very loose and there was congealed blood around it.

As soon as I saw it I knew it was something the vet would have to see. It was so loose that one would be tempted to just pull it out, but then again I didn't know if it had long roots. It might be a lot harder than it looked. Who knew if it had broken off and the part I was seeing was only the top part?

So I called my hubby and he just happened to be on the phone with the vet. Hubby really had no idea what this looked like. He was under the impression it was just loose. I set him straight with my description and within about an hour the vet arrived. He pulled the sideways tooth and the one in front of it too. By this time Boo had chowed down on his dinner and I decided it wasn't a great idea to longe him on a full belly. Not to mention that I had been out there in the cold long enough to get that bone cold you get. The kind where you really need a hot shower to warm up.

I'll be going to the barn every day this week. Some of the days I will be going twice. I have to flush his mouth out with warm salt water and an antibiotic 2 times a day. No riding (of course) for at least 5 days. Luckily the mouth usually heals fairly quickly what with the wonderful blood supply it has. I'm thinking he'll be much better by this time next week.

So I guess I'll use all that barn time to take care of Bay and to ride and longe Boo. At least I plan too...hahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!