I need some advice

Today was such a beautiful day, and I knew it would most likely be the last one for quite some time, so I took advantage of 60+ degrees and sunshine to go bathe my horse. Hubby went along and Bay ended up getting his last bath of the year too. I had a reason for wanting to bath Boo. His winter coat is so long it is almost impossible to ride him without causing him to sweat up. I figured I needed to bathe him today and clip him tomorrow. I've had him clipped the past two years. The first time it was a full body clip. He lived in a stall at the time so it worked out alright. Then we changed barns and Boo got turnout all day long, so last year I had him pony clipped. That seemed to work too, but a good part of last winter I couldn't ride because of my surgery on my clavicle so he wasn't being worked to hard. This year I intend to ride a lot more...I'm wondering which clip he needs. Another pony clip? A low trace clip? Right now I am leaning towards a low trace clip. Anyone out there with any experience with clipping horses that are pastured during the day? I am open for suggestions.

Great show yesterday. So glad I got to go and watch Sarah and Bay do their thing. They did a beautiful job and I am proud of them both! They bettered their score from yesterday in Training level test 3 to a 70.8 %, and although they scored a little lower in Training level test 4 than they had the day before, they still managed to tie for first place. I'm not quite sure what the tie-breaker was but they ended up with second. So, with 4 rides Sarah ended up with 1 blue and 3 red ribbons. The best thing though was bettering her score. You always want to better your score. Does anyone know what they use to break ties in a dressage show?

I mostly sat in a folding chair and watched everyone ride. I tried to take a few pictures but the environment was not cooperating. It is so hard to get good pictures inside a riding arena. Even outside it's not easy. It was sunny and I'm not complaining, but the glare was a bit of a problem. The glare and the shadows.

One things for sure....I was relieved not to be riding. I have the worst show nerves! I've been told by more than one person that the way to fix that is to get out there over and over again, but I'm just not ready yet. I don't think my riding is up to the task. Working on it though. Definitely working towards it. I'll be riding the lower levels in the vintage classes but I'm working at it ;)

Happy Halloween!!

In a nod to Halloween I thought I would post a couple of pictures of the boys from years past.

What a wonderful way to spend a Saturday. Got up early this morning. I wanted to be to the barn by 8:00. Needed some time to get the pasture mud off Boo before we loaded up and headed out for the clinic. He wasn't too bad off considering it had been 2 days since I had been out. We were a little bit late leaving but got to our destination in time for Linda to saddle up and ride. I was to ride 45 minutes later.

I really learned a lot in this clinic. My friend Joanne taped it for me. If she hadn't I would be panicking about now, because I know I have already forgotten some of the details. Still I remember enough to work on until I get the DVD from Joanne. We worked in rising trot and canter. We also did some work on leg yielding which I had thought I was doing pretty well on, but now recognize that I am leaning too much and having to work way to hard at getting him to move sideways. This is a very non intimidating clinic and instructor. I love that. It makes it seem like a fun outing with girlfriends rather than a life or death work session.

We have coffee and everyone usually brings something for the potluck table. Today I took a crockpot full of taco soup. Nice to have something warm on a chilly day. By the time we got back to the barn I had time to come home, shower, and eat something before the trick or treaters started knocking on the door. It's now 8:06 and they are still out there in mass. My lights go off at 9:00 or when the candy runs out which ever comes first. Hope you all had a happy Halloween!

Tomorrow it's out to MHEEC in Boring where Sarah will compete Bay in the "Dressage Can Be Fun Show!" She did the schooling show today and got the 2nd highest score in her first class 69.4 as opposed to 69.7 and then got another 69.4 in her second class which ended up being the highest score. We have high hopes for her in tomorrow's league show.

A Horse filled weekend coming up!

Another productive lesson with trainer Tracey. Seems I have this major problem with turning my legs outward, so I am pretty much always in Boo's side with the back of my heel and consequently my spurs. Good thing they are those teeny tiny english spurs...still...it would be much appreciated I am sure if I learned to have a more stable leg and used my calf to cue him and NOT my heels.

Once again we worked on my body position. I have to admit I have been lazy this past two weeks and haven't practiced what I learned last time nearly enough. Only a couple of times to be honest. So today we did more circles at the rising trot while Tracey continuously reminded me to look between my horses ears and not in toward the center of the circle. She also had to remind me to keep my stirrups on the balls of my feet, to let weight sink into my heel, to keep my leg long, to close my fingers around the reins, to keep my thumbs up (I am usually pretty good about that one), and to keep my hands lower and in front of the pommel. Oh, and to not let my reins get to long.

I hate to do rising trot. I have always hated to do rising trot. I am not very good at it...and Boo is not very good at going forward in a relaxed manner when I am doing it. So I know I need to practice more at the rising trot and gather Boo up and send him forward with a lengthened stride. We worked on that today along with spiraling in and out on a circle. When I finally got to sit the trot I think Tracey was surprised that I am much better at that then at rising trot. I spend 95% of my riding time sitting the trot...probably 4 % cantering, and 1% doing rising trot. Guess what I am best at!!! So we spiraled in and out at sitting trot and Boo was much more collected. At the end we practiced tranisitions from sitting trot to jumping into the canter and back down to trot, then walk. I ended the lesson tired, but happy. Tracey said I had a better seat than I give myself credit for. Yay! Praise from someone whose riding ability I respect. Feels wonderful. It's been a long time. So glad I am back in lessons.

This coming Saturday I will be doing a clinic with Bernadine Diers. She, too, is someone I respect. As a matter of fact, so far the two women have each validated one anothers lessons without ever knowing what the other one has said. That is nice. Knowing they both see the same issues and strengths. Makes me confident that with both it is money well spent.

Sara will be taking Bay to the "Dressage Can Be Fun" show at MHEEC in Boring this weekend. I can't go for Saturday's schooling show, but I will be there on Sunday for the league show. His name is FTF Baythoven and if any of you are there come up and introduce yourselves.

The puppy education begins

No horse time for me today, although hubby did take Bay cow sorting again. This time went better than the first time. He came home tired and happy. That's the way I like it. The happy part anyway!

Instead of going along and watching I took Miss Miley to her first beginner dog training class at Petsmart. I had signed up for Monday nights but no one else did, so they canceled the class. Instead I had three choices. Either Sunday at 2:30 p.m. or Wednesday at 12:00 or 1:00 p.m. Now if I went on Wednesday, I'd have to miss my linedancing class from 11:00 to 12:00 or leave it ASAP and rush home to pick up Miley and beat feet to the 1:00 class. Somehow, like with horses, I don't think rushing about right before a training session sets the stage very well at all. So I got Sunday at 2:30. The middle of the dadgum day!!!! I'm hoping to get moved to a Monday night class in November. If not I'll end up missing a lot of these classes for horse shows and trips! Bah humbug.

The class is going to be fun for the two of us though. I can already see her paying more attention to me. She's very treat oriented that's for sure! Hope she doesn't get fat before we are finished here.

Sunshine and horses

Ya know, reason tells me that if I only make it out to ride once every couple of weeks I am going to be one sore cowgirl the day after the ride. Life is finally starting to slow down (I thought that a month ago so don't hold me to it) so I should be able to get back on schedule with my rides.

Made it to the barn today. It would have been a sin not to go. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, and who knows when that will happen again. Somehow I didn't get the impression that Boo was all that happy to see me. I think he would have been content to stand out in the pasture and bask in the sun. My first reaction when I took off the blanket was "my God, he's a woolly mammoth!" He wasn't to tangled, but his feet sure needed attention. Once we had saddled up and made it into the arena, I could see that this was going to be one of those days where he would try just about anything to get out of work. He wasn't "hot" just conniving. He spooked at both ends of the arena and tried to give me sidepasses when I asked him to go straight. Unfortunately, his obstinence meant I had to use the "stupid stick" more than once. I finally got him going forward and listening to me. It took about 30 minutes to get there though. The last half of our ride went very well. We worked on what I could remember of my lesson with trainer Tracey. I have another lesson this coming week, and I don't want her to think I didn't work on it at all...although that is almost the truth. I also have a clinic coming up next Saturday with Bernadine Dier. I'm looking forward to that as well. So guess I am jumping back into the horse world with both feet this coming week. Wish me luck. I hope my body holds up!!!

Wordless Wednesday