A bit of a catch up

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It’s been a busy couple of weeks. I’ve been sick (again. I can’t seem to fight this thing, whatever it is). And work. And teaching. And life too. Too busy and not enough hours in the day. Of course, it’s my ponies that suffer though they’re happy enough.

Last Saturday I went out to watch the cross country at Fair Hill. My second year going and always fun. We only saw about half of the CCI** but did see all of the CCI***.  Honestly, I love watching cross country but I doubt I’d ever be able to do any of that, even on a much much much much much smaller scale. I just don’t have the nerve. I get nervous in the ring jumping. Jumping cross country? Not really for me. Still, I’m in awe of everyone I saw. Truly amazing. IMG_6072 IMG_6099 IMG_6026 IMG_6149 IMG_6162

I also had the chance to by 2 MangoBay belts! I thought about ordering some earlier this month but talked myself out of it. Seeing them at Fair Hill, I was convinced. That said, I tried them on over my belt and now I realized they’re a little longer than I’d like. That said, they work and I can get them cut to size later. Love them though!

Mango Bay belts

Mango Bay belts

Riding-wise, I haven’t done too much. Lots of trail ride on weekends lately. 1 last weekend, 2 this weekend. So, by the time I get home from my weekend  barn/teaching/trail riding work, I’m way too tired to ride. Plus being sick… Anyway, today before the trail ride, I hopped on Heidi to make sure she was quiet enough to take out. I’ve been riding other horses out on the trails lately and I don’t think she’s been ridden since I last rode her on labor day. So, we played around in the ring first. Lots of walking followed by a little trotting and she was exhausted in her halflinger way. I love her but she doesn’t walk. She marches and trucks around the ring. Anyway, my calves were killing me after our ring ride (didn’t help that I pulled something in my right calf on yesterday’s trail ride — sort of the start of a charley horse that thankfully didn’t actually happen) so I enjoyed my half hour break before I had to take out today’s ride (of course the break included horse catching and hills….). Anyway, we had a good group on today’s ride (3 of them, the perfect number) and the horses were perfect. Of course, Heidi spooked at something at the start when we were walking past the frat boy field (saw a horse? no idea) and I almost came off. The spook was sudden and I didn’t expect the spin on the edge of a short by steep hill. I ended up in front of the saddle sliding off her neck but somehow I saved it? My trail riders were impressed! No other incidents during the ride though. Just exhaustion.

But, I needed to ride when I got home so I forced myself to hop on Subi when I got home. I haven’t ridden him in a few weeks and being that I was tired and needed my 2 point time, I just hopped on him in the round pen without lunging. Thankfully my crazy dork of a horse was as tired as I was and didn’t seem to have any energy. He’s like a walk trot lesson pony when he’s like this. Of course, he’s not always like this. Anyway, we survived out 10 minutes and 4.96 seconds in 2 point and then with my aching legs trotting around a few times before pain told me to call it a day. I love my Subbadork. Hopefully I’ll be able to find some time to ride this week to get one more 2 point time….

My favorite doofus

My favorite doofus

Love him to death.

Love him to death.

two point!

two point!

The other loves of my life

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While I’m drowning in laundry (towels and sheets already folded and put away!), I thought I’d post about my other 4-legged loves. My husband, he can have a post of his own later 😉

My two puppies are the best things in the world and even when they’re trouble, I love them to death. Hermione is a 4 (how the heck did that happen) year old mutt believed to be a lab/sheltie mix though I’m convinced she’s also got Jack Russell in her. We’ve had her since she was an itty bitty 12 week old cute thing. Dealt with a crazy amount with her (early stomach issues related to giardia, extreme separation anxiety), but she’s a princess and loves me like crazy. She’s the boss and we all know it. At a whopping 27 lbs, she’s in charge. Even the horses know it.

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Then there is Marble… Marble is a complete sweetheart we adopted 2 years ago. She’s a chocolate lab somewhere around 3 or 4 years old. She loves people, Hermione, swimming, fetch, and walking around with toys in her mouth (pine cones are a good substitute outside).

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More 2 point

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Finally rode again. After being sick for another week (after also being sick the week before), I finally had the energy to ride. I decided to skip my zumba class since the day has been crazy, my husband has my car, and on a vacation day, I don’t really feel like driving to work. So, I forced myself up off the couch and got on Batt.

Well, first I removed the crazy amount of mud caked all over him…

He wasn’t feeling the 2 point as we stayed in the very muddy round pen. But, I managed to stay up for 8 minutes and 2 seconds and then we moved on. He is so much easier than Subi. With Subi, he’s so long strided and bouncy and there’s so much movement, even at the walk. It’s so tempting and easy and often necessary to grab his mane just to stay up. With Batt, not so much. He’s just there and easy and a little down hill (which makes neck pressing counter productive). Anyway, I survived today’s challenge (I really wanted to make it to 7 minutes, mandated I make it to 6, and somehow survived until 8).

After 2 point, we did some trot and canter sets up the mini hill but neither of us were feeling it. He was bored, my legs were jello and the ground was mushy. We ended up jumping some gymnastics and calling it a day.

Not much else to say right now. Enjoying a few days off from work while recovering from a nasty cold. Fun planned tomorrow before I head back to work on Thursday? Laundry. Lots and lots of laundry. Fun and exciting.

Hand Gallop Blog Hop: What’s in a name?

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So in an attempt to continue blogging, I’m going to try my first blog hop! Thanks Hand Gallop!

hgbloghop

What’s the origin of your horse’s show name and barn name?

Subi:

Sub’s show name is Subliminal which was his name on the track. His sire is Power of Mind and his dam is TV Bee (http://www.pedigreequery.com/subliminal). When he came to my then barn from the track, they kept the name Subliminal and called him Subi for short. Subi is sort of his barn name, but Subliminal has always been used as well, especially for all official (or unofficial) paperwork (aka – vet bills and boarding contracts). Nicknames are Sub, Subba, Dub, Dork, Submarine, Subbers, Subba Dub Dub. He’s also been referred to the drama queen and diva by horse professionals.

Hayley:

Hayley came to me as Haley. The only change I made was to the spelling of her name. I don’t know, I can’t bring myself to change names even if I don’t love the name to begin with… She’s registered as Watch Dixie Shine, but I don’t use that name on anything… Nicknames include Hayley Hoover Vacuum Cleaner and Haybale Hayle

Batts:

Batts was once Batman. He was named by my former trainers kids. He joined a group of lesson horses that included a Scooby, Barney, Bam Bam, Hot Wheels, Sponge Bob, etc. He’s a chestnut.  I struggled with his name but couldn’t bring myself to really change it. So, his show name or “official paperwork purposes” name is Batiste and he goes by Batt or Batts. Nicknames also include Batthorse, Batty, and Battabat.

2pointober

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In an attempted to provide motivation, accountability, and strengthen my weakish legs, I decided to participate in 2pointober sponsored by Viva Carlos and Equestrian At Hart. My leg is weak and it just seemed like a good idea. I didn’t participate last October so this year it is. I’m not expected to do well, but I am curious to see how much I can improve by the end of the month. If I’m motivated, maybe I’ll keep going through winter too. It definitely can’t hurt.

Anyway, it was cold and windy (thank you 20* temperature drop overnight) and I decided to hop on Subi for the challenge. Now, I did lunge him to get the craziness out of him (I haven’t been on in 2 weeks, it was colder, and the ground was wet/slippery) and let him figure out the footing in the round pen. He had a couple stupid moments (first one he actually put effort into his buck/rear combo, second, not so much) but after 10-15 minutes of trotting, I got on. What can I say, I’m a wimp and some days my confidence needs lunging more than others. Right now, it’s better for me to do that and get on and have a good ride then not and either not ride or have a bad ride. I had too many of those bad rides over the past couple of years.

Because of the ground and honestly? my confidence, we stuck to the trot for 2 point. Baseline is 5 minutes and 22 seconds. Way more longer than I thought. I felt OK at the time (though really sore at the end), but my thighs hurt more now. I’m suffering a bit from jello leg syndrome.

After our 2 pointing, I did a bit of trotting each way and called it a day. Subi was perfect and quiet, but since I was riding in the grass round pen and it was super mushy/wet, it wasn’t worth risking falls/injuries.

Anyway, that’s this week’s 2pointing. We’ll see where I am next week!

Time to start blogging!

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It’s time I started blogging. I’d say again, but I never really go started to begin with. But, I need a way to stay accountable with my riding/horses as well as a good forum for me to vent about my horse related frustrations! Current plan it to blog to myself, but if anyone out there ever starts reading this, that’s OK too.

Who I am:

I am an (almost) 30-something (eek! how did THAT happen) rider who has been involved with horses for more than half of my life now. I started riding weekly a hunter/jumper lesson barn through high school. After high school, my mom stopped paying for my lessons and I started working off my lessons and riding 2-4 times a week. I also showed IHSA and learned a lot doing that. Somewhere along the way, junior year of college maybe? I started teaching up/downers in lessons/camp. I love teaching, but hate the drama surrounding it! Anyway, I’ve always been better on the ground then on a horse, but that’s OK with me. I stayed with the same barn for years, first buying my first horse, then through first “real” jobs and grad school. I eventually moved my guy to a self care barn, bought a second, then a third, then moved a few more times before finally settling in with my ponies in the backyard of the house I now share with my husband. I stopped teaching in 2010 because real life (aka real job quite a distance from barn where I taught with terrible hours) and recently started teaching again last year (at a new, less drama filled place) and am enjoying it again. I also lead trail rides in the warmer (non winter) months which can be enjoyable as well.

Outside the horse-world, I am a librarian.

What I do:

As I mentioned, I began riding hunter/jumpers. When did equitation through IHSA in college and showed hunters (minimally) when I got my horse. I’m not necessarily a competitive person and I never had the money to show as much as I needed to (both for me and my horse). I stopped working with a trainer years ago (terrible, but that’s life) and am learning here and there from many people. Right now, I just like riding my horses and having fun. I do a little bit of everything, but at this point, just consider myself a pleasure rider.

Who I ride:

I have 3 horses: Subi, Hayley, and Batts. They’re all chestnuts and are all in there teens.

subi1

Subliminal

Subi is my now 17 year old thoroughbred. My original. He’s the love of my life even though we’ve had some rocky years lately. I don’t do that much with him anymore beyond light rides and stuff, but hopefully, we’ll do more in the coming years.

Hayley was horse number 2. I love her to death though she does little more than eat. She’s about 14 now, but soundness is just not there (navicular plus some arthritis). She’s got major hind gut issues that no vets can figure out but right now she’s happy and comfortable so… I did hop on her for the first time in about 2 years last month and she was pretty sound. But, the next time I worked her, less comfortable. Hayley lives to eat and is the first to vocalize when breakfast should be served!

hayley

Hayley

Batts was the 3rd edition (and final edition while everyone else is still alive) to the crew. I wanted desperately for him to by horse number 2, but my trainer/boss at the time wasn’t willing to part with him at that point. Of course, 1 year later she was… Batt was formally known as Batman and is now formally known as Batiste, but in reality, he’s just Batts of the Batthorse. He does need a Batman saddle pad though… Anyway, he’s as quiet as can be and safe, safe, safe. I think everyone needs a safe, reliable horse. I love him to death though the other 2 are way more cuddly and affectionate. Batt just likes food, galloping up hills, and walking down random driveways when we ride around through developments. He like motorized equipment like tractors, lawnmowers, and snow plows, and generally doesn’t make sense. He’s a strange guy buy he’s Batts.

batts2

Batts

Goals/plans for the future:

With the horses at home and finances an issue, goals are limited. I recently bought a trailer and hopefully in the future (when I’m comfortable driving), I can start taking the guys out for trail rides and the occasional lesson, and maybe even a schooling show or 2. More than that? Not in the cards, but as long as I can continue to have fun and enjoy my kids, it’s all good.

More blogs to come, 1 in honor of 2pointober!

Poison Ivy.

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So I have poison ivy. Again (had it this past fall right before I got married). I’m very allergic and when I get it, it’s systemic. My skin is bright red and I look like a burn victim. My face is covered and my arms are covered and it’s starting on my neck and my legs. Ugh! So frustrating!

What makes it worse is that it started Saturday after I got bumped in the face on Friday by my horse. Next day, itch on my face. By Monday morning, a good amount of poison ivy was on the one side of my face. I called the dermatologist’s office and got an appointment for that morning with a different doctor than I’ve seen before, but an appointment nonetheless. See, I’m very allergic to poison ivy and while it doesn’t get bad right away, it will get bad. Saw doctor who told me it didn’t look bad and that he’d give me ointment but no prednisone. I told him it was going to spread, he told me with the ointment it wouldn’t, lectured me that prednisone was only for bad cases and my case wasn’t going to be bad. I was told to call back in 2 days if it got worse, but that it wasn’t going to get worse.

Wednesday rolls around and it’s over my arms, face, and hands. Still not terrible, but definitely spreading like crazy. Got a followup appointment with idiot doctor just because it was the easiest thing and his nurse set it up (if I had called to set up my own appointment, I’d have asked for someone else). So I drive back to dermatologist’s, people in the office are shocked at how much worse it looks… I see the doctor who makes a flip comment along the lines of “what’s wrong this time? Not feeling better?” I tell him (like he can’t see) that it’s spread, I’m itching like crazy, and the stupid ointment isn’t doing anything. He then says “I guess we’ll put you on prednisone, that’s what you want, are you happy now?” Um. No. Why would I be happy? I don’t like prednisone, but I need it. If I had gotten it Monday, I would have already been on track to beat this thing. Now I’m covered, my skin is killing me, I itch, and I’m miserable. To make matters worse, I leave in the morning for a 5 day business trip.

I hate poison ivy!!!! I’m sitting around with ice packs on my skin to cool the burning and itching. So miserable!!!

I’ll update on the other happenings at some other point.

Catching up.

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So I haven’t posted lately for a variety of reasons. Mainly weather, vacation (over a month ago! How did that happen? I want to go back!), and just the Subi Horse turning into a complete jerk.

So since January the weather has really sucked. It’s been cold and frozen and it’s just been miserable. Really, there is nothing else to say about it. I really haven’t ridden much. I had a good ride on Subi one afternoon in February and he was a saint for ¾ of our ride (I also rode the Batthorse and he was fine, but he always is). The dogs got loose and ran through the broken electric fence and were trying to hang out under Subi and he was fine and careful and really wasn’t bothered. We had a nice ride, he really used himself at the walk and even at the trot. I could have ended there, but… Then I decided to pop over a pop over a half X and all hell broke loose. Actually, he just jumped it as if it were 3ft and tried to buck and crow hop on the landing, but somehow I was actually prepared. We did it several times without much different results, dropped down to a pole, and had the same issue. I think we finally semi-calmly walked over it and I called it a day and hopped off. Walking out of the “ring” he started jumping around like an idiot… Who knows why, but he’s Subi. But that was that. He was 90% good for our ride. Batt was in the ring with us too because I didn’t trust riding Subi alone so that helped some, but honestly, other than the pole issue, he was a good boy.

Fast forward to the weekend and sucky weather. Then the next week Sandra came out to ride and Subi was a complete jerk. He pretty much has a bug up his butt and wanted to jump, play, and buck. I was NOT enjoying it. After a few too many crow hops I jumped off and walked for a minute where he proceeded to be a jerk again. Then we just stood at the mounting block. I ended up back on him and walked a tiny bit in a small circle and then once around, but pretty much called it a day with a tiny bit of success. Sandra and I chatted and I pretty much decided he’s just going to be off until the weather consistently improves and I can ride 5-6x in a row for 2 weeks. Honestly, he’s got energy and needs consistency and I can’t give him that right now. I also need a fenced in area to ride or lunge (or rather free lunge as that’s usually safer with him) which I don’t have. I thought about trying to board him for a month, but I don’t have the money and even if he’s boarded, who knows if I’ll get out enough to make it worthwhile…

I realized though that I need a round pen. Of course, who has $1000+ to spend on one? Not me that’s for sure. However, I have since learned that they are easy to build and Erik’s 100% with me putting one in the yard so hopefully in a few weeks/later this month we will have a round pen! It’ll be on grass for the time being, but hopefully come fall I’ll have the money for a load of sand to stick inside. Then I’ll more or less have all weather footing to keep him in work. My round pen plan is to work him in the pen on the ground for about a week and then work him in the pen on the ground, riding after in the pen for another week+ before I venture out to the “ring” again. I think just having fencing will make me 1000x more comfortable. But, I’m excited about this! Just not necessarily excited about the prospects of renting the 2-man auger again… I still have bruises from putting in our fence this past fall! Oh well… Anyway, the only issue is that the area we’re going with isn’t completely flat, but honestly, who cares… It’ll work for our purposes and I can really get Subi’s butt in gear (and since it’s an enclosed space, I can work on using the actually lunge line seeing that the jerk of a horse is well versed at getting out of his circle when lunging. Add walls.. ha! Success will be mine!).

Meanwhile, me and Sandra are sharing the Batthorse. Rode on Saturday and he was wonderful. Spurs and a dressage whip and he quickly started to understand that he needed to use his butt and carry himself. We got a nice working walk and later a gorgeous working trot. He had one hissy fit but got over it and was a star. He seems to be enjoying his hoof boots as well which helps a lot. We popped him over a pole and later a half x (I need to bring my jumps/standards/poles from my mom’s house…) and he really started enjoying himself. I rode again Sunday and while he wasn’t as good (what can I say, he likes Sandra better), he still tried. Plus I let him canter some which made him happy.  Both days left me with a tired Batts.

We’re also manually clearing out the “ring” better known as the woods where we ride. The previous owner cleared out a oval trail, but there are a lot of small trees/brush/plants/etc. everywhere else. This limits how much we can do. Anyway, Erik has started digging out roots and plants, section by section, so that we can have a bigger ring. We’re going to keep the smaller trees for now, but they may come down in the future. Anyway, he’s trying to make it as same and functional as possible (I have a good husband!). It’ll probably take a few months so finish everything, but it’ll be well worth it. Once we get our harrow this spring, we can drag the ring as well. In the next year or so I would like to put sand down as well and maybe fence it in? I just feel better with a fence! But, the fence is negotiable, the sand is not. But, it’ll be a next year project.

I’m going to try and ride Batts later this week if the weather holds out, but with this snow/rain/who knows what storm coming, we’ll see how things work out. Weather this weekend looks nice though. Mid 50s! I’m just ready for spring!

Weather. Abscesses. Hay.

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Went back to work on Wednesday. I wasn’t ready for vacation to end, but end it did. It hasn’t been terrible being back, but being at home is so much more fun than work. That said, I’ve had headaches every day since Tuesday so  that hasn’t made things easier. In addition, I’ve felt really run down which hasn’t helped either. I’m afraid I’m fighting something. Just what I need. To get sick. I also need to get a flu shot which will definitely mean getting sick which is why I haven’t gotten it yet. This week. This week I’ll get the flu shot and likely get to take a sick day. Great. Being home will be nice, but not when I’m miserable from getting sick from the stupid flu shot…

The ground has been super frozen since who knows when. Prior to freezing, we had a crazy amount of rain which resulted in mud. Now I have ugly frozen mud. Not fun. Horses are miserable due to the frozen (and deep in some places) foot prints throughout the paddock/field. Just what I need. Right now I need spring so that the frozen ground can become unfrozen and the ground ultimately become normal again.

I’ve discovered why this riding thing is so hard. Being at home is a part of it, but mainly my issue is that it’s winter. I hate the winter. I hate the ground. I hate the season. I never like winter and over the past few years, I can’t say I ever have ridden consistently. So why should this year be any different? If I don’t like winter riding, why do more of it than I have to?

So I’m just going to continue to ride when I can and forget the rest. Expectations, etc. Sandra came out today and despite my hopes that the warmer weather would lead to softer ground, no such luck. It’s going to take several days in the 40+ degree temperatures so that the ground can start unfreezing. Anyway, we mostly walked. Batts wasn’t overly comfortable and lots of trotting isn’t yet in the plans for me and Subi. So we worked them both hard at the walk. Subi was awesome. He’s really starting to get it and our work on framing and carriage has come a long way.  I do have to say at this point I’d love some dressage lessons… Anyway, back to the ride. I mostly walked with Subi, but we did through in some trotting and he was awesome. I could feel how hard he was thinking AND how much he was trying. Plus, he’s getting more and more muscled the more we work. Have I mention lately how much I love that horse? Even when he’s a jerk, I still love that horse.

Batts and Sandra worked on hind end work as well. Poor horse was so confused, but he seemed happy whenever everything clicked. And, like Subi, poor guy was exhausted. That said, hopefully if we get him going nicely at the walk, we’ll be ready to do the same at the trot when the ground improves.

Poor Hayley, likely as a result of the ground, appears to have an abscess. Just what that poor mare needs. Her feet have been doing great, but I’m assuming with the ground… Poor girl. I hate seeing her miserable.

Speaking of miserable… The horses are driving me nuts. They’ve been finicky about their hay. Sometimes not touching much of it, sometimes demolishing it, lately a combination of the two. Now, this is the same hay they’ve been eating and cleaning up in a few short hours until last week. Now? Who knows. I thought I had a bad bale or two, but if I put the hay out a second time, they have been finishing it and then not eating the new stuff… They’re also eating it on the ground and not always in the nets? Maybe they’re protesting the hay nets? Not that they haven’t had nets for the last year plus… I’m starting to think that maybe the ground where the nets are is bothering them and that more of the issue? I don’t have a clue but they’re driving me nuts.

 

 

How things go.

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So I’ve been fighting weather and business and haven’t managed to ride much. Of course. I’m finally off from work and the weather has been miserable. Or, the weather is fine and I’m busy with family, holidays, etc.

So I’ve managed to ride twice in the last week. All things considered, that’s not actually terrible. Subi was fabulous on Friday. Lots of carriage work. We even managed to add in a little trotting while working on carriage. He was fabulous. That said, he was also completely exhausted from the effort and once the tripping and weakness started showing, we called it a day. We’ll get to do more soon.

We had some snow the other day and then crazy wind so it wasn’t until yesterday that I hopped on Batts. The ground was a little funky but we did the best we could, just a little trotting and cantering. The other day with Sandra he worked on trotting a log which he seemed to enjoy, but unfortunately, his log was covered with snow so we skipped that. But again, he was very good. That said, he’s still way out of shape and that played a role in the length of our ride. But, nonetheless, it was a success. Success is what I’ve been looking for lately. That and staying on.

More later when I have more motivation to write, but there’s a brief summary…