Look Mom, I'm NOT a Giraffe!

The last video I posted of me riding was from May 24th I believe. The good news that that we have come a long way since then, though we are not even close to being "there" yet. Red no longer cleans my ears with his, especially thanks to the addition of the running martingale I added for these last 2 rides. We are also now using the proper size bit and a Vespucci bridle with a figure-8 (thanks, Mom!). Yesterday was the first day he wasn't resisting the figure-8. So, baby steps. We are getting there slowly but surely!



As you'll see in this video compared to the previous ones, we don't throw our shoulder in as bad or as frequently, we yield to the leg a lot more than before, and we are slowly learning how to carry our head. These things are far from mastered, but they are improvements! I'm very happy with his progress. After all, he's got his first beginner novice event to attend next spring hehehe ;)

Enjoying the days of summer

Here is an example of just one of the many storms to come by this summer. What a great picture, two things I love in this world: ponies and storms :)

I hopped on Red bareback the other day while he ate grass, just to see what he would do. A pic is below. As you may have guessed, he didn't care. He wanted to go for a walk on the trail but finally relaxed and accepted the fact it was eat time, not ride time.

I also took Red all the way around the trail by himself for the first time this past weekend. He did great. He froze once when we saw several horses in a large pasture, but he got going again with a little encouragement.



But yesterday, Red and I had an exciting experience on the trail. I went with the neighbor girl and thank goodness, we had 2 out of control horses on the trail with screaming kids on them come flying by.

We heard screaming behind us and we thought it was coming from a house. Well finally cresting the hill behind us come these 2 horses at a full gallop. There are kids on them (~13 yrs old) and they are screaming, legs wrapped around the horses as hard as they can, leaning forward... all the wrong signals for "STOP". I yell to my neighbor to turn our horses around and face them, heels down, and grab mane. These guys fly by and our horses rear and spin around but that was about it. They were really good considering. So one of these kids grabs the reins of the other horse and she ends up getting pulled off her horse... what a mess. She was hurt, found out today she bruised her ribs. We walked her home where the horses were waiting. Red did not like being around those horses. We had to keep moving because he was very very nervous around them. After we got past them, he calmed right down again.

I thought "oh no" as I'm on this green TB, off the track since January, as these guys come galloping at us. But Red did well. Had I been by myself I don't think things would have gone as well so thank goodness for that.

Hot Summer Nights

I went out to ride last night at 7:30 pm and it was still 84 degrees out. Good thing I don't mind the heat!

Red has been full of himself recently. I increased the amount of senior feed he was getting because his weight gain plateaued. I went out to feed yesterday morning and he was just rip roaring around the pasture. Kicking. Bucking. He was feeling good. So I knew I was going to ride that evening.

I lunged him before I rode to get some of that extra energy out of his system. As usual, he was a good boy. We just worked at the walk. I focused on my equitation, contact, getting him to carry his head right, a little bending, inside/outside leg work, etc. As a reward we went for a walk on the trail. I let him trot up the hill and it kicked his weak lil butt! He was huffing and puffing when we got to the top. Then we walked back home on a loose rein.

When I got back home, the neighbor was tacking up. I asked if she wouldn't mind if I came in with Red while she rode. Red hasn't stood in a ring yet with a horse trotting, cantering, and jumping around him. I wondered how much he could care. He fell asleep in the arena! :-D

I gave Red's mane a trim the other day. It was getting a little too long and wild. Now he looks like Lloyd Christmas from Dumb & Dumber. My poor boy. Neither of us can wait until it grows out!

Kelli's Visit!

My friend Kelli came out to visit Red and I on Sunday! It's the first time she's seen Red since I've had him. She rode him and got to see some of his quirks and she gave me a few pointers with regard to his training and his vices, which was great. Then she watched me ride and she gave me a hand with my equitation, and boy do I have a lot to work on. Head up, shoulders back, elbows at my side, let my elbows bend, watch my wrists, sit on my rear correctly, don't pinch with the knees, pretend someone is pulling me down by my knees, heels down, ask with my leg and not with my heel... crap I better get practicing!

Joe at TBFriends wanted us to get lots of pictures for him so a few are below. We had a good time and I hope we can do it again soon!

Me trying to get a pic of all 3 of us. Not easy.

Kelli riding Red

Red and I

Cheese!!!

Another Dressage Lesson

Well, it was time for another Dressage lesson! Since my last lesson we have worked a lot on leg yielding and it really helped us in this lesson. I needed a reminder on how to properly ask Red to carry himself in the frame he needs to be in. He was been giving me a lot of resistance but I also think I haven't been asking "properly". So it was time for a refresher.

We did a lot of work on my dressage equitation which felt great. Over the past several years, I have ridden several horses and had very few lessons so my equitation has become more of a survival technique rather than proper. We are slowly working on fixing that. Improving my equitation also allowed me to communicate with Red easier. Just a few short minutes into the lesson, Red was going better and I felt better. He's getting there, he gets pieces of what is suppose to happen but is still struggling with the big picture which is fine, he is still very green. What's great though is that he is trustworthy and he enjoys being out and he wants to please.

After the lesson, I walked him over a tiny cross-rail jump the neighbor had. He stepped right over it. I came back over and then asked him to do it at the trot. He snaked a little before the tiny jump but popped right over, and boy does he jump round. I asked him to do it again and he went straight and did it beautifully. He got lots of love and praise after doing it right and that was the end of our day!

Summer is here!

Red is asking, "is it dead?"


Summer is finally here! Red is so much happier when it's warm rather than when it's cold. Because of the wet spring we had, the mosquitoes are out in full force right now. I must have 20 bites on me. They bite through clothing, even jeans! Red does not like when I spray him with fly spray so we are working on his tolerance to that so he's not eaten alive.

I haven't updated this in a while but we are continuing to improve and work. I was away in Philadelphia for a few days and I also had a procedure done that left me with a few stitches, so the riding was put on hold for a short period of time. We have been working on the basics at the walk such as bending, leg yielding, side passing, half passes, etc. He is doing a pretty good job so far. He is starting to get the concepts, but not well enough to do them at the trot yet.

We went for a ride on the trail the other day and the mosquitoes were awful. Red and I have only walked on the trail so far, but these bugs were so bad we had to get away from them so we had to trot and canter. The good news is that he was fantastic, he didn't take off, he was very controllable, he didn't get track flashbacks, it was great! We also took the trail the opposite direction for the first time (so it was like a new trail) and he trot and cantered past "new" things with only slight hesitation. Only once did I stop and make him go back and see something, a huge pile of old fence, and he touched his nose to it right away.

We have a fun and exciting week ahead. My friend Kelli is coming out from Nebraska on the 28th and we are going to work with Red and she's going to work with me. I may also get a dressage lesson in the middle of the week if things work out.

Until next time!

Red can Jump!

... and he likes it! Every day I work with Red I am happier and happier with him. I think this time next year we are going to be able to compete in some beginner novice events! The dressage I don't worry about with him, the jumping he likes, and he is great on the trail and isn't afraid of much, if anything, so that should help us out on cross country!

I've put the jumping on hold again for now until we get further in our training and until he has a little more of a "break" from being off the track. He obviously likes it and has been introduced to it now so it should be easier when we bring it back in the future!

I usually love the stormy weather...

... but now it's getting in the way of my riding! The weather for the past week has been the same every day: sunny and warm in the morning and early afternoon, storms all afternoon and evening (the only time I can ride during the week).

So today I decided to ride before the weather got ugly. I tacked Red up and noticed the storms building in the area but nothing looked bad. So I lunged Red and he was a good boy. He needed a little extra work to the right, but that's ok. So when we were done lunging, it started pouring. We ran over to the shed and I threw the rain sheet over him and I waited in the shed. I was determined to ride today!



After a few minutes, the rain let up and it was beautiful again. I rode Red and this time, we used the entire paddock rather that just a part. He went much better and now he can get use to the idea of staying on the rail. To the left everything was great. He needs a lot of work on his balance to the right. He throws his shoulder into the center and can't bed at all. He is like riding a motorcycle around turns, I feel like my knee is dragging on the ground! If I give him a strong inside leg, he does a hop and will bend for a few strides, then he hops back to throwing the shoulder in. The good news is he responds so now it will be a lot of repetition and work trying to build up the right muscles so he can do it easier and for longer periods of time.



Red and I were both exhausted after our workout so I went for a short trail ride to cool us both down. We came across a doberman that was not behind a fence and he wasn't too fond of us. He growled and started running over and Red did not like that. No other dogs have bothered him, but this one wasn't behind a fence and he knew it. Red spun around and said I'm outta here right before the neighbor called their dog back. He settled down and then we were able to continue on with our ride... until the lightning flashed near us. Then we turned around and ran back home.

Again, it was another great day with Red!

A first I was hoping to avoid for a bit longer!

I got a rude reminder to keep my heels down! I had my first fall off Red today!

We were working in the paddock and we were working on the right lead canter. We were going in a straight line across the field and when we got to the fence, I asked for him to go right and continue the canter. Instead, he did a last second lead change
and shot to the left. That left me to go straight right into the fence! Luckily the vinyl fence is pretty forgiving and bouncy so I bounced off and landed on the ground with my feet and rear in the air against the fence. I was fine, no injuries other than a stiff calf muscle.

What's funny is I scared Red when I fell off. He stopped pretty fast and backed up and stood there and looked at me. I looked up to see where he was after giving myself a few seconds to rest (expecting to see him on the other side of the field kicking and bucking) and there he stood right behind me giving me the look of, "Oh wow, I am SO sorry, I had no idea that was going to happen OMG I'm soooo sorry!" It was pretty darn cute. I got up and he came right over to me and we gave eachother lots of love. He checked on me and saw I was ok, I checked on him and he was ok, and I got back on and we went back to work!

We ended the day on the trail and we went by our selves! I wanted to trot a little and work on my ahem *cough* heels and balance but Red started getting a little too excited. He kept going into what felt like a beautiful extended trot so I settled him back down to a walk and we just enjoyed the rest of our trail ride.

Enjoy the trail pics below!

Our first trail ride!

As you can guess by the title, I rode Red on the trail for the first time! I lunged him for a bit because he was feeling fresh (today was windy and cool) and then I met up with the neighbor's daughter and we started walking on the trail. At first he had his head so high the tips of his ears were about in my eyes. So we walked a few property lengths and then came back and did them again.

We passed a few horses and all he wanted to do was go see them, but I made him keep walking. He picked up a trot twice and wanted to go and I said no and eased him back and he listened and came right back to me. There wasn't anything he didn't want to walk past, so that's really good. Nothing spooked him. Tarps, trailers, sheds, piles of junk, etc. He took a little hop when a bunch of dogs came out of nowhere and barked at us, but that was it. After he knew what it was he was ok, no after-shocks.

At the half way point of the 3 mile loop, his head was down and he was sneaking bites of grass and the rest of the trail was a breeze. We stopped a few times and I let him eat so he could see that the trail is "fun" and no big deal. The last half we did on a loose rein and you could see he enjoyed it!

I'm off to Steamboat Spring for the week. I can't wait to get back!