In my last post I left saying that I took some time from riding for school & personal reasons.
That lasted 2 months.
With my dear mother trying to get me to ride again the whole time. If you dont follow her blog it is HERE.
Mother decided to call one of her friends who is in charge of a local barn about possibly having me exercise some horses for her or something along those lines. Later that week we went out and met a bunch of horses. 2 of which were kinda sorta not really broke to ride but I could do or better TRY to do whatever on. Then there was Cisco - Friends "lesson" horse. I use the " " because yes he is a lesson horse if you dont know what the hell you are doing. He is great with kids. But that smart horse figured out pretty quick that I had an idea of what I was suppose to do, whether I was doing so or not.
So I got up on Cisco, 16hh-ish TB/Paint. He jumps, does some dressage but like I said, lesson horse. I walk him out to the jumping arena & he looks a little excited but still nothing really excites a lesson horse. I get up on him and start walking. Gather up my reins to a better working length and ask for the trot. He seems a little confused.
"What? Trotting right out of the gate? & she is posting? What happens when I pull on my face? Oh her arms come with me but holds me back. And if I speed up? Oh her actually pulls me down without pulling me to a stop."
Cisco seemed to settle in quite nice & like I said, he knew that I knew what I was doing. I plopped him over a cross rail and cantered, did a bunch of random stuff then decided to get down to business. Over probably a 2' jump & RACE HORSE came out. Yup, I know what Im suppose to do but very out of shape, skinny girl fat can only do so much. The more we jump, the more excited he gets. He really was a joy to ride tho. Once I thought my legs were screaming I hopped down and that was that. I was allowed to ride him once or twice a week if I wanted and just have fun. Something for me to ride & something different for him to do.
& if you follow moms blog you know about the clinic she was to do. Well, they needed one more rider for said clinic. & who gets put into clinic, ME & Cisco, who Ive riden a who 2 times. Yup, I know what Im suppose to do, out of shape Miranda just cant do it for very long. By the time the clinic rolls around, I ridden Cisco a whole 4 times & we have not slowed down at all, probably sped up a tad too. I tell Amanda (Clinic lady) about Cisco, about me, about not riding, blah blah blah. We start and Cisco enters lesson mode, nice hunter even movements, nice to the jumps, nice away. Yup Lesson mode that lasted all of 5 Jumps. Then Speed Mode came on and Amanda laughs. I warned her. By the end we had some nice jumps & I had a better idea of how to slow down a speed racer (I'll do into that in my next post)
It was a great time. I got to watch mom in her lesson and I had fun in mine. Tho I took a lot more breathing breaks then anyone else. Not Kidding! I wheeze and wheeze! Totally forget to breath. At the end of the lesson I asked if there was anything for me to work on since most of my lesson we worked on Cisco, besides me being out of shape and rounding my back of course. Amanda had nothing for me besides the rounding which all has to do with me being way way way out of shape. So that felt pretty awesome.
I havent ridden since the clinic either. I had some minor health issues that needed fixed and hopefully this week I can get back in the saddle.
Stay tuned for the content of my Lesson with Amanda Wilson, big time Eventer.
I know, I said I would be blogging & BAM! I lied. But here I am to update.
In the last post I mentioned that I was taking Mulcahy to a show. We went & he was pretty darn awesome. I was very pleased. Schooled welled, listened, stayed pretty calm. Over all great.
Not only did we show in February but also in March in Cross Rails & 18". This show he was also amazing, a little bit more ready so we lunged to only make him tired & have a bad class. In March I also decided that even though I love this horse to death, I needed to separate myself from him & put more time into school. I had said goodbye to this horse once before & it was the hardest thing. As much as I loved going out to ride him, if he sold again & I had to say goodbye to him again I might not let him go. He sold once & was all set to go but the buyer backed out. My last lesson on him was the hardest & worst ride of my life. We laughed because my trainer said I could go with her to relieve him but mom figured that I would be bawling my eyes out & wouldn't make it a very exciting experience for the buyer. When he didn't leave I started riding him again but in fear of getting attached again I just wasn't myself. So I took a break from riding all together. Plus I needed to put school first.
My next post will be about my mother, who is dead set on having me in the saddle.
Well, I'm alive. (:
Long time no post? Yeah, kinda.
But I promise it was all selfish reasons & really I just need to get over it.
We left off with Pippi & I going to Delaware to show, it was a cluster! In the end, I came to the conclusion that Pippi & I have had to many downs, not enough ups & it was time to move on. Don't get me wrong, I still love that horse to death but we fight to much & it is no longer any fun. So mom has this idea of Dressage with Pippi, whatever.
So I quit riding, completely, for about a month & a half. I worked mostly on school. Got caught up in being a normal young adult filled with boys, friends, night outs & the whole thing. Then I wanted back in, lets face it, I'm in for life probably. I started lessons again but this time instead of riding Boggie, I rode Mulcahy! 17+hh OTTB - Tall, Dark, & Handsome.
Meet Mulcahy!
He is a blast! Very green but so willing & a complete ASS - bites, pushes, all up in your bubble. He is for sale, though I love him to death, it is not fair to him for me to buy him then only spend 2 days a week with him like I do currently. I'm lucky though, Kay asked me to be his "trainer". As in I ride him in my free time as I wish along with in my weekly lessons, to get him more experience. & since he is for sale, someone is looking at him & if the match is there he might be sold. Kay has already told me that she will stick me on someone else if I like because she has plenty of green horses that need experience too. & I like training & green horses so it will be good.
Now I have been riding him for....3ish months. Tomorrow we are going to a schooling hunter show. We will be competing in ground poles & cross rails. Nothing too exciting but a good show to get him experience. I'm lucky to still have Donna to come be my Show Mom & my mother to be there for me.
But here is the reasons I'm blogging again. As much as I wish I could tell you it's because I want to keep up with everyone again, it's not. Time wise with nursing school there is no way I could read your posts. I am blogging again so in 15 months when I graduate nursing school & get my next horse, I can look back & reread the training things I've done with Mulcahy now & whatever horse I'm stuck on next & use them for my horse. I will though try & read everyone blogs during free time so don't be caught off guard with random comments.
Ive noticed over the years that there are 3 main types of riders out there - HORSE GIRLS; the girls who think they are horse girls; and the I really want to be a horse girl whooo crosss country, whoooo crew, whoooo horse backpack and I just love my boyfriend.
HORSE GIRLS -
These are the girls who give up partying late to wake up at 6am to feed, clean stalls, get hay, ride, break frozen water buckets in -10 degrees, ect. I like to think I fall into this area. The girls that will ride any horse even if last week it just thru someone off and broke their arm. The girls that take horseback riding seriously and even if they dont compete they still want to be the best equestrian and take the horses needs above their own.
Wanna Be Horse Girls -
These are the girls who think they are the shit. The girls who really can only ride the dead broke horses and have the parents with the money to spend 10k on a amazing horse then when they get on a normal horse they cant do jack shit besides know how to look pretty sitting on the horse.
Story- Girl who shows at the local show I go to has an amazing horse that is 18 hh and cost a fortune. He broke his jaw last spring and had to go to a big time vet a few hours away for surgery then come home a few days later. If I was this girl I would have been with Pippi nearly the whole time unless school or something very important got in the way and I would have been at the barn when she got home. This girl didnt see her horse till 2! days after he got home then proceeded to complain on FB about having to wash his mouth out and not ride for a few weeks. And this past month she rode a different horse at the show and OH MY, her distances to the jumps were huge or small and everywhere and was a mess. But she thinks he is Gods gift to the horse world. URG!
There is nothing wrong with these girls they just drive me nuts. Learn to ride!
Think They Are Horse Girls -
These are the girls who like to think they are all about their horses till something better comes along. They have the horse pencils, and backpacks, and can ride but whoooo there is a party tonight. I have a boyfriend. Grow out of it. Play other sports and put horses on the back burner till it is convenient for them.
Story - I had a friend like this and a new girl at a local barn is like this. My friend really did horses for awhile, then she went to high school and did crew. Okay I understand doing other sports. Then she got a boyfriend and as far as I know she never rides anymore but here or there and her horses sit in the pasture as decoration. New local barn girl is like this. She rides and went to the show with us last weekend. Normal people wake up and feed their horses, clean the stall, school before the show starts, bathe, ect. I drove 45+minutes to the show and did this all before she even woke up. When she did she went and got breakfast. And then when she did get around to schooling she was shocked when her horse was a hot mess and not being good. She will also go to the barn and follow the new trainer around like a lost puppy and is totally boy crazy (I guess the new trainer is cute). She will be their for hours and not touch her horse. When she asked me how often I ride Pippi (5-8 times a week depending on weather) and she was shocked. Uhm, they need exercise too sweetheart and if I plan on taking Pippi to a show to do 2 jumping divisions we best be physically fit and ready bc I can't afford to go and have her be a mess.
I had my lesson Sunday with Autumn for my flying lead changes. And I fell off in the first 5 minutes. Yes thats right, 5 minutes was all it took. See I got to the barn early to warm up and get the buck out of Pippi before Autumn got there. Then Autumn put ground poles in the corner. The point was to circle at one end of the arena, go over ground pole and change lead and circle again, go over ground pole, ect. Well it was early so the grass was still wet and over ground pole we went, change lead, back legs slip put from under us, Pippi catches herself, gets pissy and bucks bucks bucks towards the fence. I, in a weird position with no leg straight am losing it thinking Pippi is going to jump the fence but last moment turns on her haunches and off I go in the other direction. Straight on my butt/back. And just sat there. Of course I got back on and had a wet butt. Just peachie. So we worked on getting the lead change. Pippi did get one but then switched it back to the original lead. Urg! Pippi was super pissy that day too. She made if loud and clear that she was pissed that she only got worked once all week. She was crow hopping everywhere and bucking. Her ears were pinned and her expression was clear as day, Eff You!
Today I tried again. And I must say, this crow hopping thing is getting old quick! She is going to get in loads of trouble it she doesn't knock it off! I started out today with bending and curving around my inside leg. She started off nice then got bored and proceeded to make a fuss. I started trotting then moving to the canter. When I started asking for a lead change she was running thro my half halts, running thru the simple change, crow hopping again the whole nine yards. She did get one lead change in which she was crow hopping and either had to change leads or fall on her face. And I gave her lots of pats and praise till I asked again so she crow hopped even more. Tomorrow I am going to try a different method with jumping so maybe she will like it better(:
I have to have the best friends ever(: Last week we decided that we would go to a hunter jumper schooling show for the weekend after I got approved from my doctor to ride in boots again with no brace unless I was in pain! (PS my test results came back. Thyroid is fine, kidneys are fine, everything else is fine besides my Vit. D intake which was really low. which is weird considering I am outside all the time.) The plan was to steal my friend Donny's truck after he unloaded and mom would drive his truck, get the trailer, get Pip, and go to the show all while I was working. Well Donny ended up bringing his trailer to get Pippi just as I am getting off work because his ball didnt fit our hitch. Like I said, I have the best friends, be jealous(;
Friday-
After Donny got Pippi, I went to unload everything from the trailer that I had just put in there a few hours prior, to the car and drive to the show. When we got there my other friend Kole was on the phone all upset. Well by looking at her horse I would have been too. Her horse cut his eye BAD. It looked like he was trying to take off his eye lashes if he had fake ones on. Six stitches later he is just fine but no show for him. Anyways I decided school that night because Pippi is Pippi and she is a hot mess if not riden often and I had rode her twice this week. I tacked her up and off we went. Pippi hates to be lunged now, really always has hated it but now I figure it is easier to just ride the hot out of her then try and lunge it. Donny starts to watch us and Pippi is HOT WALKING around. This is not how Pippi was last year and Donny got a great kick out of it. He finally left me alone to get the Hot worked out and I rode and rode and rode. Finally I got tired of holding her back at the trot and I just hand galloped her around a few times. By now Donny has come back in and is watch our canter/hand gallop and has a smirk on his face and asks if I want the jumps raised as they are only at 18"/2'3 ish. I declined and kept running around. He left again and I started taking fences one at a time then stringing them together. Pippi was Running at them but we werent a total mess. So I hoped Off and raised them to around 2'6ish which we had not jumped yet even at home the whole 2 weeks we have been jumping again. haha. Again I start one line at a time and string things together. Oh I love my mare! Our spots were HUGE and we were speeding around but it was a consistent speed. Donny came back in and asked for me to take some jumps to watch. I did and he had the same smirk on his face.
Finally I said "what?"
He replies with "What am I going to ask you?"
UHM?
"Where were my spots? What Speed did I intend to take this at? Where was my half seat? How about a 2-point and a release? Does Pippi think she is a jumper this weekend and not a hunter?"
"No, what are you doing Labor Day weekend?"
Like I really plan that far ahead in advance.
"Delaware is having their Ride For The Ribbon show and Sherman and I are going, you and Pippi should go."
Delaware is the BIGGEST Hunter Jumper show in the State! Donny thinks if I work a bit on my legs and all that junk we will be ready for it. OH MY GOODNESS!
So I called it a night, fed and went to bed.
Saturday-
Got at the barn at 6:30am to school again, feed, wash and chill before my division. Pippi must have gotten a lot a rest because once again we were a hot mess and ready for the race track. Oh Paint Mare, you are a PAINT not a OTTB! If you OTTB people saw her I swear you would start to wonder. She acts more like a OTTB then Sherman does who raced till he was 9 and just got off the track in February and was fit to race again in March. Schooling was not exciting, tho thinking back I should have schooled way more. I didnt want to loose Horse because I have little leg so I didnt over school like I should have. Then I fed her, and gave her a quick bath.
I decided to only do 2' and if I had plenty of horse and Miranda left for Sunday I would do 2' and 2'3-2'6. Well again Pippi and I were racing around at a consistent speed of FAST. But we got 3 firsts in over fences out of three classes with 4 riders in them. Whoooo. Like I said we were consistent and got most of our leads. In my flat class Pippi had no head set, no speed control, nothing. We were trotting in place at the walk, hand galloping at the canter, hot trotting at the trot. URG. But we managed a 2nd out of 4 because thankfully we got our acts together the second direction.
Mom decided she wanted to do the english pleasure class. Well Pippi was still very hot and it didnt go as well as expected.
Sunday-
I got to the barn again at 6:30am and fed first because the course wasnt set and then schooled. I decided it would be better on my arms to just walk a few laps then canter/hand gallop around a few hundred times before trying to control the trot. I worked wonders. I schooled till we were just right. Then mom wanted to do the ground poles class. You can read all about her classes HERE!
For my classes Pippi was being lazy, not listening to my spots or my legs. We ended up having one refusal which was all me. I had my leg on her, leg, leg then my ankle gave and she was like UHM, WHAT?!?!?! and quit. Totally me. I probably should have only done one division again instead of pushing it. We even knocked a rail which we have never ever done at a show. WTF Pippi! It probably does not help that Friday I started to get sick with a cold so by Sunday it was roaring strong and I was having a hard time breathing at a walk let alone at a canter thru a course.
After the show I talked to the judge who has an ISHA team and an IEA team. She said I started out strong and had some really nice classes but then we knocked a rail or had to do a simple lead change which cost me. I ended up getting second or third in my classes. Here is a few courses that I approve of.
Please remember I have been in a saddle for a month by now, riding in boots for 3 days, and jumping 2 weeks. I now know that I forget to half seat at all while jumping! I dont know were it went but it was not there. And now I am having my friend Autumn, who does Dressage and Eventing, come get a flying lead change on Pip. I have tried everything and it just isn't working and she is really good at that kinda thing so she is coming Sunday. We must have a flying change by labor day so we can go to the show and kick butt!
Last night I rode her again and set up a single oxar to work on getting leads over the jump. This is our first oxar since February and it was great. LOVE MY PAINT MARE. Sunday starts boot camp with Autumn and hopefully it is a minor detail to get my flying change.
Sunday was the Big day of small showing(: But of course a real horse show starts the day before with preparing the trailer, and washing the horsie. Bathing is really not that exciting so we will cut straight to Sunday. Since this was just a local horse show and jumping normally doesnt start till 11ish we got to get some sleep and have a quiet morning. Only I woke up to big puffy eyes that looked like they were going to get pushed out of my head. Luckily the puffy-ness went down as the day went on. When we got to the show I went and got my show bill so I could sign up for all my classes, a total of 7. Which really isnt a bunch for Pip and I. But I didnt want to pay for my classes till I talked to the judge and made sure she didnt care about me showing in half chaps around my brace and tennis shoes. This particular show is, well, a pain in the royal butt! If one person doesnt like something then they like to bitch about it and get it changed. They dont like when new people come and show and they really dont like it when they win. I was told by one person that it isnt safe to ride in tennis shoes, which I am aware of but come on. Ive been doing it for 3 weeks now and thats the only thing I can do. Luckily the judge was perfectly fine with it when I told her I had broken my leg and still need the brace for support. I also made sure to walk Pippi around the show grounds a lot before tacking up and such. She hasnt seen Big horses since the accident and we thought she might get worked up. But not SHOW PIPPI. She was a champ.
Once tacked up I went into the ring for the warm up. No lunging before hand. Which at the time I thought "OH NO" and at first I was half tempted to get off and go lunge. Pippi was a weeee bit....."trigger happy". Any leg pressure sent her flying as fast as she could into the trot. We did lots of circles at first and half halts which she listened politely to each but wanted to go. Her canter was the best canter ever tho. Oh so nice and soft and flow-ie and Oh to have that canter every time we ride would be amazing. Once she calmed down I took her out to stand while the other classes started out. I opted to not do the big pay back class (and the only walk/trot/canter class) because I figured it would have been a waste of money. Now I wish I had done it.
Our first class was Walk/Trot Hunter under saddle. And since Pippi got to stand around she got excited again. And was trigger happy again. Her head set wasnt super pretty, she was hot trotting around some but we still managed a 4th out of 9 horses. I was very pleased. Next was Walk/Trot Equ and Pippi was more manageable and I pulled a 3rd out of 8 or 9 riders. While they set up the jumps I went and talked to the judge and her suggestion was mostly about Pippi and having her more on the bit at times and not so forward which I knew was an issue but she really liked Pippi. Yay(:
For jumping they only have four jumps. Yes thats right 4. Like I said local small schooling show. In cross rails first class (w/t hunter) Pippi was jumping round and cantered off every jump but pulled down nicely and we got a 1st out of 4 horses. In the Equ course we got 2nd out of 4 and I think thats because I didnt sit the trot. For the Equ courses on the opening circle you are suppose to sit the trot, well I am a little out of practice and forgot. So I'll take that 2nd place proudly. Then there was hunter hack and they raised the jumps to 2'ish. For hunter hack you are suppose to stop at the cone, wait for the judge to nod at you, canter off and take the 2 jumps assigned, then hand gallop off around to the cone, stop, back, drop your reins to show that your horse listens and look at the judge again. Our distances to the jumps were off, our hand gallop was awesome till the stop that wasnt. The cone was like 2 strides behind us. We got 2nd out of 4 again. 2' Hunter over fences we managed another 2nd out of 4 with bad distances to the same jumps again. We kept chipping in no matter if I held her to pushed her forward. Grrrrr. In 2' Equ we got 1st out of 4 which Im not sure how because I was super tired and my legs were everywhere.
So very good day. I was super proud of Miss Pippi. I love how nicely our flat work is coming along. Considering we only jumped twice before the show that wasnt bad at all either. I have videos of the jumping but havent edited it so you'll have to wait. I did get 2 PAC points that will need to be turned in. And Pippi got Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow off so Thursday I will hack around some hopefully. Or maybe tonight I will ride her bareback some. But super proud of my girl<3
Because I am crazy, protective and a nursing student, plus very accident prone, I decided to make a first aid kit for my car. But why stop there? Pippi has had a first aid kit since day one but it has dwindled down and needs an update. So today is about what I have in my first aid kits.
HORSE AID:
In Pippi's and the mini's first aid kit I have 5 large gauze pads, 5 small gauze pads, 3 nonstick pads, 2 vet wraps, antibiotic cream, gloves, and aloe cream. I got the gauze pads and nonstick pads from when I was sick with my auto immune disease and had to scrub my ankles hard core. The gauze would be used to clean mostly then the nonstick pads to places over the boo-boooo before the vet wraps. Speaking of vet wraps, those things aren't cheap for being nothing at all! $2.40 for 1! wrap or $7.50 for 4. So I bought a bag of 4 since we will more then likely use them. And of course they are cheetah print. They also had pink camo but I HATE PINK so cheetah it is(: I also packed the gloves because I may not want to touch whatever happens to the horses or get crap on my hands. And everything fits in one of those school supplies bags from when I was in school.
Another reason I made a first aid kit is because I was look at Needs for a Horse Trailer online and Duh, First Aid kit is needed. Goodness.
HUMAN AID:
In my first aid kit for my car and will also be placed in the trailer for shows, I have 7 large and small gauze pads, 6 nonstick pads, many band-aids, antibiotic cream, cotton wraps, tape, pain pills, tums, and gloves. Again I used the gauze from my sick days. The tums because I get so worked up at shows that I need something to help me out (and if you get waxed like your eye brows, if you take tums you have less bruising and red-ness, My eyes always bruised BAD and I looked like a racoon!). Gloves in case I help someone else because I do have my first aid certification.
I was very pleased with it till.....
I went to school last night and burnt my hand on a microscope slide that had been in the fire. Nothing in my kit for burns. I am putting one of Pippi's aloe creams in it now. My poor three fingers were on fire! Not literally but it hurt like they were. I thought my partner was handing me the slide to stain the tissue but really she wanted to know if she had dried the slide out enough in the fire. So I grabbed the slide without thinking and then dropped it. Last night I slept with yogurt on my hands (yes yogurt!) and woke up with it everywhere. The yogurt pulls the burn out. I tried to use a ice pack but my whole hand was frozen and my burn still hurt. Urg!.
So I have been riding a lot. Working on my legs being up under me and sitting on my whoooohaaaa and not so much on my butt. Hands up, no pinching with the knees, heals down, head set Pippi, Canter without crow hopping Pippi, Hands! Legs! Half Seat and finally JUMPING! Yes thats right. I decided it was safe and I was strong enough to jump. A whole 18"-2'ish. YAY! It was a freaking blast. Yes my equ kinda sucked. I should have folded more, head up, release, heals down, legs back. BUT I didnt fall off and I had so much fun and Pippi loved it. I even put traffic cones laying down under a small small oxar to "scare" Pip and she went right over it, super round and looking but didnt refuse so YAY. Lots and lots of YAYs. We had taken the camera out but of course I never gave mom the okay to film so it never got used.
Now onto Pippi being a devil. Sunday I went out nice and kinda early to ride before the heat. I rode and everything then mom came down. We got her new water, cleaned her stall, turned her out to the grass field, and went home. I had planned to jump that evening after dinner when mom would be available to supervise. Later that day Donna called and said Pippi had gotten out of her field and was in the back yard. UHM...WHAT! But Kevin and Trigger got her into the stud field (mini's werent out yet) but she wouldnt let them catch her to put her halter on to go into her field. So I went down, entered the field, to have Pippi run the opposite direction. Little Booger! So I free lunged her around till she decided I was right and came to me. I put her back away and made sure the fence gate was shut right. I guess Donna, Kevin and Trigger (neighbor friend) were sitting in the backyard enjoying the breeze when Donna noticed Pippi by the water hose. They went down and Pippi let them come near her and put their arm around her head till she figured out that they were taking her back to the field. Then she trotted away but they got her in the stud field. Thats when I was called.
And if that wasnt bad enough Monday I went to the barn to feed before going to babysit and Pippis stall door, that must weigh 100+ pound,s was off the wall and on the ground. WHAT! Buckets were everywhere, salt block out of its holder and door, with hinges included, off the wall and on the ground. And here I am attempting to move the dang thing away from her stall so I can check her legs, body and feed her and get to work. I finally got the door slid to the other side and checked Pippi who didnt have a mark on her or swelling. Mhhhhh.... I fed, texted mom to call me and off I went to watch my Rugrats.So we think she may have laid down and got stuck against the wall. Or she spooked at something and freaked, Or she attacked the door and wanted out. who knows. We made a contraption to keep her in last night since she ripped off some of the wall and all. Like I said, Little Devil.
Finally getting in shape again. TANK!
I think this is where she came up with the plan to open her gate and get out.
On a completely different note I decided to show this weekend. A local local show, like ten minute drive from the barn to the show, is having their show this weekend and they have like 5 jumping classes (cross rails, 2') and a few flat classes and thats it for English. And only like 3-5 people jump and I figure what the heck. Everyone knows my leg situation and really I am going just to have fun and get Pippi out. She is so bored and wants to do something oh so bad. Plus every time we get the mini's show ready and move the trailer she gest worked up and pissed when she finds out she isnt going. Plus I have to wear half chaps and my tenis shoes because of my ankle brace. But what the heck. It shall be fun and low-key. August I want to go to bigger shows is I can get my legs under-control. YAY!
Since I am a Facebook addict, I am apart of many many Facebook pages that sell horses, tack and all equine stuff. I have never bought anything from them but it seemed nice to look, like window shopping. Well looking thru the pages, a guy listed a 3 horse slant load trailer for sale. I asked for more details. It is a 6year old trailer, bought new to them, taken care of and got lots a pictures sent to me. I, in return, sent them off to mommy. She agreed to go take a look at it in person. So last weekend we did and found out that we loved it. Yes it has some wear, hey it is 6 years old. But it really is in great condition. Sadly thanks to the storms banks were down and we had to put off finalizing the trailer. Yesterday was the big big big day! Kevin and Donna took us to get the trailer. Kevin even approved of the buy, with was super nerve racking. If he didn't like the trailer I doubt we would have gotten it. So now we have a trailer sitting in the back yard. Hopefully next spring we will have a truck sitting with it and we will be official! We have waiting 3 years to get a trailer and finally the time has come. Yay yay yay!
This past weekend and the beginning of the week we had some BAD storms. Friday Ohio, and West Virginia along with other states on the East coast were hit by terrible summer storms that knocked trees down, power lines ripped out of homes, fires, and power outages. And along with the power outages, people freaked and started stocking up on ice, and gas. Most gas stations ran out of gas when they could finally open and could only take cash. Issue for mom and I since we have dept/credit cards and never carry cash (well at horse shows is the exception). Power was out Friday evening till Sunday for us, power back on at the barn a whole mile away on Monday morning and Donna and Kevin who live 100 yards from the barn got power back Monday afternoon. We were lucky that no trees went down on our property, and none on the barn tho Kevin had some tree limbs down but safe horses and house. Crazy weather.
We have had a few storms since Friday but none that server. Crazy how fast a storm can brew in the summer.
I have been working Pippi a lot and even Chance Man some. I have had issues getting pinched tho and as a result my legs are forward and not under me. I am also posting funny at the trot. Like my upper body is so stiff. I figured out why Tuesday when I went to ride Sherman (OTTB 16.3hh) with Donny. I am a nervous wreck. I guess I didnt notice so much on Pippi but with Sherman I was so afraid of falling off, without a cast to protect my leg. Yeah I still have my brace and thankful Donny is such a great friend and lent me half chaps to use. Finally after Donny told me to chill, I started breathing and Sherman and I got our act together. Donny fixed my posting some and over all just felt better. And with feeling better Tuesday with Sherman, I felt better with Pippi Wednesday morning and Pippi acted so much better. No more running off, or jumping trot poles. We def need to work on transitions tho.
I got Chance in harness last week as well. He hasnt been on harness in weeks due to weather and just being busy. He was a champ tho. Great movement, transitions and listening so well.
I love my Haven(:
I went to the Dr's today. I was told I am walking better and got blood drawn for labs. We are checking my kidneys, thyriod, and Vit. D. So today I went and bought....
10 yogurts, 10 protein bars, and Nesquik for chocolate milk. Hey, Chocolate milk is better than no milk at all. (: Hopefully riding pictures coming soon.
So I have been riding. Mostly only like a half an hour a day because that's all my body can handle without dying from work and heat. But every day I can trot more, with better equ and just getting stronger. I was wrapping my legs with polo wraps suggested by a friend of a friend. She stated she did that under her half chaps when she was younger because she still got rubs. Well I am cheap and didn't want to buy chaps for a month or so of riding. So I polo wrapped, that lasted 2 days. My legs had NO grip what's so ever! Sliding everywhere. Horrible equ. Bad bad bad! So now I am just sucking it up and riding in my breeches pulled down and tall socks. Still very little grip but better then nothing.
When I first started riding again my sturrups were long, like dressage/western length. And about everyday I shorten them a hole when my ankle flexes better. And today during our ride, which was pretty awesome ride, I shortened my sturrups one more hole! To the hole that I was in pre-break. Yay!
On our ride today, and most of the week for that matter, Pippi has had an amazing head set. Tho she is a power house. She is having flash backs to when she was an OTTB in a past life I swear to it. Normally after she trots about a bit and we do some hand gallops she gets her act together, uhm not at the moment! She is a effing beast! But I am kinda not strong enough to stay with her while she gets the run out of her. I need to start lunging her before riding again. But we are getting somewhere again. Pictures will come at some point when mom and I can be there at the same time during riding.
So I went to the dr last Thursday and got new X-rays. Instead if seeing my normal dr, I saw his 2nd in command. My X-rays show some improvement but she wants happy with how slow it is going, or how I am walking. When I walk my foot either points in like a duck or I bow out at the ankle. So I got a new protective brace that allows me to bend but not bow out. And I can ride in it.
So I've been riding. Basically my equ looks like crap. Funny how my broken leg, even after all this, is still my stronger leg. My left leg has always been a bad leg. And Pippi is thrilled about getting worked, like she is having ex thoroughbred flash backs of something. She is hot trotting and speeding around the field. She was even crow hopping and bucking at the canter when I am holding her back. So is now back to the full cheek d-ring instead of a plain d-ring. I don't have enough leg to keep up with her without a little bit of bit in her mouth. Tonight Pippi forgot what ground poles were. I had them spread out like 3' and she would jump 3 of them then jump the next 3. Urg. She couldn't trot thru no matter where I put them or how I spread them out.
Chance has had some time off. With all the excitement of riding, and school classes starting again he got put on the back burner. Tonight he did get to jump. He is such a little bugger. He will be jumping a gymnastic line then stop in the middle not because he can't jump it but to get a quick bite of grass. Urg. So he got a little tug on his face a few times then was fine. Little brat. But man can he jump. And he loves it. I swear my horses have to be the biggest brats but I don't think I'd take them any other way. I love a horse with attitude. (:
I know I need to update everyone on everything Miranda and Pippi and Chance but at this time I'm studying so it will have to wait. But as I am studying Youth Paint Worlds is going on and I may be watching it on my iPad live.(: Oh how I dream of taking Pippi to Paint Worlds Open (happens in November every year) and kicking butt even tho I live in Ohio and Paint Open Worlds is in Texas. I can even qualify for Worlds easy peasy for next year, this year is a bust with my ankle. So now that is my new dream. I will get Pippi and I to Paint Worlds even if I have to walk the 1,200+ miles there and walk back. And I truly think we will go before Pippi has to retire as a hunter jumper show horse. Heck if all goes as I wish we may go more then once. Fingers crossed!
When we first got Pippi she was afraid of her shadow, as well as not being able to see the ground on the other side of the jumps. This becomes an issue when you have to jump flowers, bales of hay, ect. for a show. To get Pippi over her fear not only did we jump flowers and hay, we also jumped water buckets turned upside down, and put feed bags thru jumps and put rocks in the bottom so they didnt blow to much in the wind, traffic cones, logs, and coolers. Pippi soon over came her fear and learned that flowers were the lease of her worries under a jump.
When I started working with Chance, he was also a little spooky. When we started jumping I did a lot of the same things with him as I did with Pippi including bounce strides, gymnastic lines, and jumping weird things. Chance has jumped the exercise ball the horses have to play with, water buckets, feed bags, and tarps. Even tho at most shows we go to they use our jumps , if we ever went to a different show I wanted Chance to be prepared. Yesterday was our big show of the year. Side Note- Congrats for Donna for kicking butt and getting Supreme in her height division over the WHOLE show. In the jumping class they put flowers under 2 of the jumps, along with one jump having a gate. I wasnt super nervous about Chance, sure I thought even tho we jump weird things these flowers are a lot bigger then our flowers were but maybe he wouldnt care. A lot of people were afraid tho. Only a few horses jumped it with no issue, Chance being one of them. Unlike those horses tho Chance didnt even think about it, treated it like any other jump at home. 2 other horses from my barn jump as well. Sky who is jumped by Donna and Sunset who is jumped by TN. TN is a 15 year old girl who also does volleyball and has been showing minis a year or two longer then me. Sky also doesnt like blue, like Pippi not liking yellow so I understand. She ended up jumping it tho after some persuading. Sunset on the other hand jumped the first jump after a few NO moments and refused the second jump. Now TN doesnt work with her horses like I do mine. She never has Sunset jump weird things and often gives up even at home when Sunset refuses enough. I am not going to get into it with to much detail tho since she isnt here to defend herself but the point is that jumping weird things helps. Chance ended up winning out jumping class. I was so happy, he has quit the reputation as a jumper and I was afraid that some flowers was going to take that away from him.
Tonight I free jumped Pippi. I hadnt worked with her and weird things in awhile and after yesterday I thought it was a good of time as any. First we started up just warming up.
And Chance was in the other field eating grass, so lets be a bitch and charge him with ears pinned.
Started off with a one stride gymnastic line but she got bored fast so we went to this jump.
And at first went to barely a trot and cleared it. Then started cantering and really trying.
Some of her distances were off (not like I was on her to help at all) but pretty good for a girl who hasnt been worked a whole lot over jumps in awhile. We measured it and it topped off at 3'1. Didnt phase her at all. She only knocked it down 3 times and really she barely touched it, but it wasnt that stable. She is so funny and really seemed to enjoy herself. Everyone was proud but Kevin is always the most proud of her.
As for me I havent been on her since last Sunday. I want to ride so bad but my foot is so big and walking is a pain in the butt. I really dont want to do any damage but...... Dr on Friday so hopefully they can give me some more guidance.
Why oh why do I love my mare? I mean she is far to small for me, by like a hand at least, and she can be a total bitch!,and is high maintance, and the list goes on and on. But let's face it, I'm not really the nicest person either and I'm to tall for my taste. But she jumps better then some 17hh horses can, and she loves to work, and get brushed and we are both competitive and love jumping and she will play with me and help me forget about my problems.
But why do I love her so much today? Bc even when she is out of shape (and I mean she is out of shape bad) people tell me how nice she looks and how muscular she is. We often get the comment that she looks like a late cut gelding.
Today the dentist came to float Pippis teeth. This was far over due, like it needed done in February but I put it off till March and then my leg got in the way and finally we got it done today. I don't care what anyone says Pippi knows the dentist voice means business and as soo as she hears his him, she darts to the corner of her stall, 3 times now over 3 years. Now Pippis afraid of needles. This may sound crazy but I mean it! She can tense her neck up like no other and make it impossible to locate a vein bc of her jumper muscled neck. She has been jumped 3(!) times in 90+ days and she still has it toned nice. It took him a good 30 minutes to get a vein and everything. And of course her teeth were terrible. This is the mare that got 2 sets of wolf teeth, no lie. Only 20% of mares get them and she got 2 sets in the first year of owning her. Urg. So most of her teeth were very sharp and she has a bad cut in the back due to a sharp point. Which is why she is tossing her head every which way with a bit in. Bad owner award goes to me for putting the dentist off so long. But our dentist is the one who commented on her looking great today and I just laughed. Yeah she has gained a good 200 pounds since we moved her to Donna's so she does look healthy, but not in shape like he went on about. In moms and my eyes she looks kinda bad in the "in shape" department. Oh well, we can take a compliment when we are given one, unlike the compliment about her being the hardest horses to get a shot in the neck. So yes I love Pippi, even tho she pushes buttons. She is my beast!
Yesterday marked 91 days since I broke my leg and Pippi started her kinda sorta vacation. Yesterday on my 91st day I rode Pippi, like really rode, w/t/c in a saddle with my legs in the stirrups!!!!!!! AHHHHH.
Okay first recap incase you forget or didnt read the accident post. I was on a trail ride with Pippi and my Friend A on her horse Rodeo. Pippi took the lead on the ride after a bit, which isnt like her, so I let her go for it only to have her spook at a rock, tree, bird, cloud, grass, ect. and rear/back to Rodeo who took it defensively and kicked out (bc lets face it, Pippi is a bit of a Bitch and he needed to stand up for himself). I took the kick in my right leg right above my ankle and Pippi took off, I fall off, Pippi runs, I roll down a hill, A chases after Pippi as I call for my mom to hike 2.5ish miles in the trail to find me (bc at this point I totally forget the path we took). Mom finds me, A finds Pip, Mom tells me to cowgirl up and ride Rodeo (WHO KICKED ME) to Kevin and Donna who are waiting with truck and trailer at a near by rode. Ended up breaking both my Tibia and Fibula very nicely and missing Equine Affaire clinic and a bunch of shows. Urg.
Anyways, I rode in one cast for a month but nothing super exciting and mostly bareback. Here are the pictures (finally) from that when I thought riding in a saddle would be easier (so not true).
Bag to cover cast so no sand/hay/ect gets in.
When I got my walking boot I attempted to ride again in a saddle with irons after a week, FAIL. I should have known it wouldnt go well but I get my hope up with just about everything and since walking again was so easy, I figured riding wouldnt be next to impossible, LIE! So I spent the next week or so working on myself. Walking a mile on the treadmill every day, doing sit up/crunches (with the help of Haven laying under my head as I rise), swimming laps at the pool when I wasnt freezing to death. Really working on flexing my ankle.
Yesterday I decided it would be a great idea to try riding again. I had been walking fine without my boot at all for a few days, flex just fine for the most part, it was time. I went to the barn and set my mind into riding mode. Got Pippi ready and went to put my boots on to find that my fat ankle (gets swollen thru out the day and it has been so warm that it was pretty swollen yesterday) barely fits in my boots and when I zip them it puts enormous pressure and hurts like hell. So I rode in my rubber boots. Went out to the smaller feild and jumped on. First only walking, getting used to everything again. 2-point, trying to push ankle down, turn, whoa. Then I trotted, trot, trot, turning, trot, trot. Then I got brave again and cantered. It was amazing, a little bit super rusty but amazing. Pippi kept falling on the forehand at the trot and dropping her shoulder during the canter but still. As time went on my ankle went deeper and deeper. Started just flat then went a little deeper. Not so much sore joint, as sore muscle pain. Ignore my equ, Pippi's head up like a llama, basically everything besides me in the saddle, feet in the irons.
What is with my hands?
Good Head! Ahhhh she remembers.
So yeah. After riding a bit, I got tired and Pip was getting a bit hot so I called it a day. Even afterwards my leg didnt hurt all evening. I wont tell you at this morning my leg hurt so I put my walking boot back on after not using it for a few days. I was going to ride tonight but I think I'll give my leg some time to fix itself and it is kinda gross out thanks to rain. Wednesday I wont ride bc Pip is getting her teeth floated which is the weirdest thing in the whole world to watch. So come Thursday I'll saddle up again. Pippi is a bit too fat, not muscled enough. I hope to show come August if I can talk Kevin into taking Pippi and I. Maybe suck up to him a lot till then(;
As stated before in a post about Chance, he was trained in harness/cart about 2+ years ago. He was still young and wasnt really feeling it then so the trainer or Donna and Kevin, didnt push it. Donna, along with most people, have told me to get him back into it again and after playing with Skye, I decided it was fun so why not.
Yesterday Donna and I set out to line drive him. He was pretty chill about getting the equipment back on and even took the bit just fine. Then he figured with all this junk on him he couldnt walk. It took some convincing but finally he decided to walk out to the arena. In the arena after he had walked some he decided he could walk with someone driving behind him. -And of course we forgot to grab a whip for some forceful encouragement.- Donna walked beside his head, I driving from behind. When Donna let go of him head well, *lets turn around and look at how pretty Miranda is trying to keep up with his butt spinning around*. After sometime Donna took over driving and I went to fetch a whip. This made a huge difference. Tho Chance was walking forward, stopping when asked, and turning decent, he was tense and a little worried. We ended on a good note and untacked.
Today, Chance was a champ with everything I asked of him. The girls I babysit, C (9) and K (11) wanted to go riding Pippi and play with Chance. Pippi was fine, she normally just follows me or when they get brave they walk her around on their own and make her listen to them. They must be getting use to her and all bc she kinda tested their steering today. Chance on the other hand was great. I really noticed how different he is in just the 1.5 ish years I have been working with him. Girls said to trot and starting trotting beside him and he trotted off, girls sped up, he sped up, girls took him to a jump and he went over it like no problem with no pulling afterwards. I was so happy. This is the horse that use to drag me around, decide he would hot trot everything and at all times and was just a brat.
This afternoon when I went down to drive him he was great again. Our steering had improved and we were no longer fighting each other as much. He walked off mostly when asked, turned nicely, and wasnt nearly as tense. YAY! Now I dont know much of drive, just basically the basics from watching Donna and playing with Skye. But we are learning together (tho really he knows this it is just a reminder for him). Mom came down and even got some video, so without further ado.....
Very happy with him. Hopefully we can attach something to him to pull (besides a cart bc he will kick the shit out of it) and see how he does with it. Clipping for the next show starts tomorrow tho :p
Today I went out to the barn - after taking mom out for her birthday dinner - to just do some more mane thinning/shortening as mom did her stall. We werent planning on staying there long since it was already late. I went out to get Pip only to find her in one of her moods. You know the mood, where the horse rather play around, run from you, then have you bring them in. URG. So I grabbed my lunge whip to go play bc really we needed a play day. She was running around, bucking, kicking up her heels, the whole nine yards. I decided to put up a tiny jump bc she has always loved to free jump. We are talking put her in an arena by herself with jumps set up and she will run around and jump all by herself. She has done that since day one. So I set up a tiny little 18"ish jump and she was flying over it. Running full blast for it then lift off! I click my whip like once I think to give her the OKAY and off she goes, no more encouragement needed. So I raised it to 2'ish and the same thing. So I raised it again to about 2'9 and again she shot over it like a champ. Thats the highest I have jumper her since I broke my leg 85 days ago. She was a CHAMP! Here is the video for proof.
Sorry for quality, considering this was like last minute I didnt have my camera on me so cellphone was used. Doing this with Pippi is always nerve racking bc she knows she can clear the fence around the field, she has done this before while free lunging in the snow at a trot and the fence is about 4'ish probably.
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This past weekend we had our 2nd mini show. Now in two weeks will be our Championship show. Exciting(: Chance didnt do damage to the trailer like last time, till we took away his buddy. For this show Chance and I took 1st in Halter Gelding B division, Supreme for B Division, Failed terribly at obstacle (even tho those were our own stuff from our barn), and won our jumping class. I was very pleased with him. He was even pretty chill for clipping and bathing. I thought maybe my horse had been stolen and replaced with a clone. I hope he does well at the Championship show in 2 weeks but there will be a lot of mini's there. And I decided to restart Chance on cart. He was trained in this a few years back but was still in his "I am Boss" stage and didnt do great with the cart. I was playing with Skye at the show in cart and it is fun. This FUN with Chance starts tomorrow.
We had our second mini show this past weekend. More on that to come. On Friday Donna and I got the minis ready; clipping, bathing, ect. And of course it was raining so Pippi was inside. Now don't get me wrong, Pippi can be out in the normal rain, not this RAIN rain we had were it was basically raining sideways. So as we are getting Chance clipped Pippi thinks it would be run to swing the gate that we use when she is outside so that she has the option to come and go as she pleases. She was swinging it open then closing it again. Then she decided to taunt Chance with the fact that she has hay. She did this till the rain took I brake and I let her out. Next we did the mini Sunset and Pippi, who had the option to go outside and explore, thought it would be good to stand right in the doorway behind the minis. When we took a break, Pippi was so jealous she even bit me on the shoulder! Little brat! She has on,u ever bit me once when she was in pain and I was messing with her. Finally while Kevin was hooking up the truck to the trailer and moved it over to the barn Pippi got worked up again. This time since she was outside she ran, and ran and slid in the mud and ran and ran and spin around on her haunches then run some more. Huff and puff, runnnnnnnnn, spinnnnnnn, runnnnnnn, ect. All bc the truck and trailer were being moved. Finally she got ahold of herself and chilled out to eat hay again.
I know she wants to go to the show so bad and be worked again. Pippi really enjoys getting riden and jumping and the prep work that goes into it. She doesn't mind getting her mane thinned for the most part or getting braided. She loves her sleezy and jacket and likes to get bathes. Really she likes all the attention she gets. Plus Kevin babies her BIGGGGG time. Last night I was pulling her mane and she was just standing calmly and Kevin decided she was hungry for peppermints and hay. Of course he gave them to her and she ate, still standing. Such a good girl. But spoiled. I think by July maybe but def August we will go to a show and play around. (That is if I can get a ride there)
Oh I did ride last week. It didn't go as planned on my part. I figured and hoped it would be asveasy as it eas to walk again without my boots or even in my cast. I got my boots on - my broken leg ankle is still swollen and barely fits in my boots. I hopped on and tried to put my heel down, ehhhh not so much. They were level so that's a start. I first walked and did turning then I tried to trot. At the trot I noticed how much I was gripping with my knees. I don't want to start bad habits bc really I have enough of those as it is so I am once again taking a brake. I am going to work on swimming and flexing my ankle some more and try again later. No need to rush it and get in more trouble down the road.
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