Mommy Lies!

So we went to the indoor yesterday and jumped. I was so excited that Saturday night I got no sleep. Blahhhhh...! Pippi loaded into the trailer fine and off we went. Donna also brought her Mimi Skye and the cart to practice as well. Pippi went into show mode and warmed up well tho she did fight the headset at first. Started jumping, no big deal there. Moved the jumps up to 3'. This is the first time having the jumps set at 3' with me riding her. She has free lunged it and jumped the pasture fence at 4'. Please ignore my mouth and let me know what you think.

We had no refusals at 3' and she felt good. Yes she could have more forward but the arena was a bit small and she couldn't really open up and stretch out. We took a break. Donna played with Skye and Pippi could chill. I got back on and mom said "the jumps are set a little above 3' but not much" so I started. We try to school a bit above whatever I will compete in so that whatever it is isnt a big deal. Went around a few times. Pippi was staring to get tired and I had fallen getting out of the trailer, landed on the rim on my butt and it hurt like hell. Oh baby! It is bruised today and my back hurts as well. It didnt help that I fell taking pictures do Donna and Skye. Anyways we did 3'6. MOM IS A LIAR. 6" inches is not a bit above. She claims to have done it for my own good. You can read her story at I Pick Crazy. but yeah, Pippi is way tired here, my back kills but you can watch the video.

Things I Improved -
1. My release is much better. I use to not release at all.
2. My legs are better, not great but not far behind me.
3. Heals were down, they could have been farther down but what are you going to do.
4. Canter is not terrible. Probably would have been better if I had more faith in Pippi and I hadnt fallen.

Things to Improve Still -
1. CANTER
2. CANTER
3. Two Point, I have a bad habit of preparing for two point to soon, but I think that had to do more with trying to get Pippi up and over since she was getting tired.
4. HANDS
5. CANTER.


Over all I was please. Pippi got a lot of hay for being a good girl, got rubbed down with lineament, and wont be worked super hard till the show.

 

 Pippi and where a 3' jumps is on her.

 

Watching Skye and Donna and 3' jump pole

                                        Pippi as a Smurf - Cooler-

      I Jumped Ahead of her...ooppsss but movie still 3'6
                     Look At Her Folded Legs and Using her Neck!

                                       Smurf watching Skye and Donna - 3' jump.

Winter Riding

Yesterday I decided to ride Pippi hunter under saddle style on a trail ride, English saddle and bridle and all. I tacked up and set out....I should have lunged. She was a HOT DISASTER! Hot mess doesn't even cut it. She was biting the bit literally and pulling. Her headset was about as great as a giraffe's but her trot was HUGE. We never went above a trot and even then I was holding on for dear life. Urg...this is great with a show next weekend. On the way home I thought she was chilling out till I tried to circle her and she Reared. Seriously now. It wasn't her normal little bounce rears she does. This was a full out rear. I was done after that. I was alone with mom at work. Took her home and lunged her and of course she was perfect then.

Today I rode her at home on the baseball field. I thought I would get a chance to canter but mother nature at other plans, darn rain. But I did do a lot of trot, yay. Mom said my legs are solid. Thank you lesson horse. We are guessing learning to control my body on a different horse has helped me a bunch with Pippi. Her head set today was much better as well. I am very excited for Sunday. I mis jumping oh so much and I am feeling better about it after today's work out.

"Horse People"

So I still need to give out my award thing but it is hard to do from my iPad and will have to wait. Till then I well rant.

Urg I am tired of fake horse people. Seriously! Here is the thing - you can't just come out to the barn when the weather is good. You need to come out when the weather is bad, good and in between. Grrrr....! When you don't come out not only does it affect the people that have to take care of you horse for you but also your horse. They need attention and worked. Duhhh! What is even worse is when they show and work the horse as if it has been worked daily for the past year and should be jumping 3'.
This rant is not about any blogger, just a few local girls. Yes I know when someone boards their horse they may not get to see them every day or even every other day but once every two or three weeks does not work. I am not perfect by far. I work two jobs, shadow a nurse once a week, school full time and still manage to see Pippi six days a week and work her around two days a week. My mom always told me horse girls were the ones with horses on their backpack and notepads. Equestrians are the ones who are out cleaning stalls in the rain and dealing with frozen water buckets. If you don't have time for your horse or grow out of it as many people do sell your horse. So there, rant done.



Oh yeah I had another lesson. My trot is a beast! My canter....not so much. I can't seem to make my upper body still,mi tend to roll it.? Like I don't arch my back enough or something. It is not so bad on Pippi but the lesson horse is very different and I just can't seem to move with him. But I got to really jump for the first time. Last time it was like 18" but this time it was more like 2'3 or so. My trainer really likes me over the fence which is awesome. I am always worried about over fences. Not to fix that canter.

Awards Banquet.

      To start with I would like to recap my show season of 2011. I started getting...uhm...pointers from a friend who is on a local college team. She helped some but..idk. It felt more like social hour then Here is this and you do that. I went to my show in April just hoping Pippi and I could finish a course. We did but of course really that wasnt enough for me. I wish we would have placed better. Mom got me a new friend who gave me pointers and I loved him dearly. Mostly because I could "bitch" at him and he would just give it back to me. He never let me get away with anything and always pushed me. I found myself sore after lessons. Plus he let me ride his horses which any horse person loves riding new horses. During the shows it went from eh to PIPPI I HATE YOU. She was throwing me off, refusing jumps and just deciding she was done. At every show there is always the horse that just doesnt do it right and people are always whispering about. Pippi and I had been that the whole time during the show season 2010 and it continued this year. We were told to sell her and that she was dangerous. What was worse was her being awesome at home and jumping beautifully. I needed a Pippi Break so to say so we sent her to my friends for maybe two weeks. That was what we needed. She came back the end of June or so and we got back to work. No more was this horse that just quit on me and was afraid of her shadow, now there is a horse that jumps anything I point her at (well tries) or at least doesnt do the dirty stops that throws me off. We went to the next show and KICKED ASS. Now Pippi is still the paint showing against TB and WBs. We got 1st in every jumping class we entered and at least 3rd in the flat (we hate flat). I was super excited. The next weekend we went to was a new show with bigger classes and totally different jumps and we placed in every class we entered and got 2' Reserve Grand. I was proud. Since then we do well. Still have our days where she is a nightmare but it is far better then where we were at the beginning of the year.

      Last night was my year end awards banquet for the schooling show we went to monthly (April - October). We got 2' Grand Champion AND 2' Reserve Grand Champion. I felt so good to get awards when at the beginning of the year we couldnt finish a course to save our life.

      To all the people who ever doubted Pippi and I - HA HA HA We Beat You.

      To the people who always had our backs, always told me Pippi would bring her "at home self" to a show and kick butt THANK YOU.

Yeah, I suck...It is sideways. (:

Jackets/Blankets

 

So everyone has their own opinions of if horses need jackets and hoods, and from the picture above I guess you can guess my position. Pippi owns more jackets then I do (Spoiled Much?). 

Now some horses don't need jackets. I am sure Pippi would grow a thicker coat if she didnt have jackets on, but I dont want a thicker coat. Where we live one day it will be 20F and have freezing rain, then the next day it will be 55F and sunny. Pippi (and I) don't do well being cold, or hot. While riding if I allowed her to have a full coat she would get hot and by the time I get to warm up she is already sweating and I have to spend more time cooling her off and drying her then I did riding - I dont have much time as it. So Pippi wears jackets. I make sure she isnt getting hot in her jackets and she only has her hood on when it is indeed COLD and snowing. Some day she gets jackets put on and taken off two or three times depending on how weather is. Thank goodness she normally is fine with it. She even enjoys her hood. If I think she doesnt need it and she believes she does she refuses to go out and backs up in her stall. If I put it on her she walks right out and turns around to look at me for candy or hay. 

Like I said spoiled.

 

Thats what is going on with Pippi. 

Now Haven. I was feeling creative one day and took pictures of the cats.

 I L-O-V-E love this picture ^^

 Jingle Belle(moms cat) playing with Tim. I promise she is playing ^^

  

Stumpy suntanning(:

 And Taj thinks she is a model(: ^^

Horse Show Yay!

Well it looks like Pippi and I are going to a horse show the weekend of February 4. It is really just a large (bigger then what I am use to I guess) schooling show. I have never been to this show but my friend, who is taking us, says it is amazing. Pippi and I will be competing in the 2'6 division. I wish I could show in the 2'9 but that class is 2'9 - 3' and Pippi (mostly I) are not ready to show that. I am pretty pumped. I will make sure mommy gets good videos and pictures and I will keep everyone updated.
Since we dont have an indoor Kevin has agreed to take us to a local barn that has one for a few hours. I am very thankful for him and Donna. This way till then I can continue to work on flat work then when we go to the indoor at the end of the month we are work our butts off jumping. If all goes well I hope to try her at 3' for the first time. She has jumped 3' before (she always over jumps anyways) but we have never had the jumps set at 3'.





On the Equine Affaire Front, I competed my video editing, and sent in my packet of info. The application is not due till Feb. 10th and I am guessing by the end of Feb. or very beginning of March I should know if I got into a clinic. Oh the wait may kill me(:

JMR

Hello all!

Bad weather for a girl like me, who rides four to six days a week come spring/summer, kills me. I get so bored. I am very TRIAN mode. I like to work towards my goals and do something. This winter is the first time - since owning Pippi - that I don't have an indoor to ride in. So now that it is raining, blehk weather I am lucky to ride two or even one day a week. And when the weather - and ground - is nice I have work, and school. Yeah yeah I shouldn't complain, I made my schedule and chose to keep my job at the mall, but I miss riding a lot. And it is effecting Pippi too. Her jumping is sketchy, she is fast and taking crazy spot to take off from. Our flat work is still goo, since that is mostly what we do.

So to still get horsie time, beside cleaning stall and seeing Pippi I found a website that I Love! It is call Judge My Ride and it has real judges there to help you out. So the website was made first on Facebook (where I found it) but once it got huge they went to a website and people can post pictures or videos on there and judges, along with other people give you critiques. They tell you to fold more, that your legs have move back, that your horse is doing that or this and even what to do to fix it. They are different tabs for different things. The site is mostly hunter stuff but there is dressage tab, along with a TB tab and confirmation. My favorite tab it the Ask the Judge. You can post whatever question you have on your mind. I have posted a few pictures and even asked some questions. The people on the site are very nice and try to help you out. To write on a picture or post you have to have an account but it is FREE! And Smartpack is one of their big sponsors. And if someone posts a picture without a helmet on they wont judge it. Every week they do have a photo of the week picture too. I love this website. I have learned a lot from it, like how a judge see things and what they are really looking for. So check it out. (:

EQUINE AFFAIRE

Yay Yay Yay!!! This girl is very excited.

I have been talking to mom and my "show mom" Donna that I would like to take Pippi to Equine this year and since the beginning of the year I have been waiting on a schedule, It Is Up! I found a few clinics that would be good for us and will help us out. Now I need to get the app. and summit my videos. I found mostly jumping ones for me since I hate flat work but also a few flat clinics that will hopefully help.
I hope I get into one or two clinics. I am applying to many (5) clinics so that my chances are greater to get into a few. I have a few videos already made, they are okay. I am so critical with my riding tho that I am never pleased with any clips of my riding, I rip myself apart. But anyways, I am excited. More then excited really. For one thing it is just another step for Pippi and I to improve and most people don't think paints jump, so I enjoy showing people up. Stupid people on their WB looking down on my little 15hh paint and we kick butt.

My Weather is bi-polar.

Oh Mother Nature, sometimes I hate you. Going from 25 degress to 55 in two days kills me. My poor sinuses. Earlier in the week it was snowing and so cold. We were dealing with frozen buckets, think blankets, and no much riding. Now it is 55, and muddy. At this rate we will only be trail riding, and doing flat work. We Hate Flat Work. It is boring and as hard as I try I can't seem to make it that much fun. Tho I have been having problems with my canter but my new trainer fixed that.
Pippi is not a fan of the cold, or the heat. we are spring/fall riders (: She was very sheltered before we got her and even for the first year or so we had her - mostly bc she was our first horse and we were still getting into the swing of things and with work and school we couldnt go let her out all the time. I went down to the barn to clean her stall Monday and let her out, she saw snow falling and HECK NO was writen all over her face. I had to force her out and she was not at all thrilled. Well, she was only out a couple hours  - The Poor Baby. You'd think the snow was going to eat her alive.
Chance is being funny as ever. His new thing is to fling herself at his door and put his front feet on top of it when Pippi gets to go out and I haven't gotten his halter on him yet. He is so funny when he gets out. I try to turn him out for a little bit each day (depending on weather, work, and school) since he sees Pippi out every day. He runs, bucks, then throws himself down to roll. We have been working on side passing so he can do obstacle, he is not a fan. Rather jump but thanks to mother nature it is to wet. One minute he is doing great, the next he thinks he is done. I may smack him when he really ignores me just to get attention then he acts like he is neglected. Poor baby I am sure I am really hurting him.
Besides that, school started. Not a fan of my teachers but I need these classes for my nursing program.
Haven likes the cold weather, enjoys sleeping with me. On Tuesdays mom has to take care of Pippi, I normally work 10am-2pm then have class 3pm-9:30pm. He hates when I am gone for a long time and runs around when I get home. My poor baby. Whenever I am gone in the evenings he tends to get upset and carries around anything that has my smell on it and brings it downstairs. He has brought down hair ties, bras, stuff animals, and hoodies. He is for sure my baby. Good thing I didnt go away for college, my mom and dad would die dealing with him.