Why is this so darn hard????

I just realized that I haven’t posted in 3 weeks! Where did the month of June go?  I have a bit of an update on the Hank situation, but it is kind of whiny and long, so sorry in advance! lol

I have been working with Hank a bit over the course of the month.  He is great to handle on the ground and we have no problems there.  It’s the under saddle stuff that is hard for me. First of all, my saddle doesn’t fit him at all. We are ok walking, but the minute I ask him to trot, he pins his ears and tosses his head.  I tried a couple of times to push through it, just in case it was attitude, but he wouldn’t trot out.   I am talkng that as a strong hint that he isn’t comfortable….  A friend has said that I can borrow her dressage saddle to work him for the next few weeks, so I might try that, although I have a heck of a time riding in an English saddle. There is just something about the way they are cut or something that I have a hard time with.

I’m having some serious doubts about whether or not I am ready for a green horse.  Even a green horse with a good temperament seems to be a lot to worry about.  I’m very torn about what to do.  The barn owner was encouraging me to push myself out of my comfort zone and to work at it, because he is a good horse. I value her advice, but at the same time, I am wary, since she is motivated by money to a certain point. I am paying her to half-lease this horse, so it is good for her on two sides – one for the money and two because her horse is being worked regularly.

I am also not so great at ring work.   Hank needs lots of sessions in the riding ring, to work on his steering, brakes and body control.  He is out of shape, but that will come back quickly, since he spent 2-3 years on the track.  Ideally, I would need some lessons on him, but I can't really afford to board one, lease one AND take lessons on top of all that. 

Another problem with Hank for me is that he is tall. I haven’t sticked him, but he is probably 16hh.  And I’m only 5’0”.  He is very narrow, so I have no problem getting my leg on, but if I plan to do a lot of trail riding and eventually endurance rides with him, I need to be able to get on from the ground.  As is stands now, my stirrup is at chest/shoulder height when I’m on the ground.  There is no way I can get my stubby little leg/foot up to chest height to get on…

The friend that I have been riding with has been great at encouraging me and offering very good advice. She has noticed that I have been nervous a couple of times while riding Hank and noted that it might be hard to push out of my comfort zone if I’m nervous and my confidence is low.  I totally agree with her on that point. I tend to be a bit of a nervous person by nature – it’s something I’m working on and my nerves have decreased and my confidence has increased by leaps and bounds since I started riding Rusty out on the trails.  I know that I can trust him not to do something totally stupid.  Yes, I know horses are only safe up to a point, but I know what Rusty’s limits are and what spooks him. 

That being said, I’m ready for a horse with more “go” than Rusty can give, but not as green and inexperienced as Hank. Rusty is great to hack out and have fun with, but he can’t really keep up at faster paces.  His walk is slow and we’ve got him to step out better, but it still isn’t enough.  I’m also having hoof troubles with him – he needs shoes to walk on gravel, but is really, really bad to put shoes on. I’ve done it twice this year and the hassle isn’t worth it.  It takes the farrier over an hour to put to front shoes on.  Horse, farrier and owner all end up extremely stressed. 

It’s kind of bittersweet for me to know that I’ve outgrown Rusty – he is such a good horse. I really wish I had my own property so I could retire him and take good care of him like he deserves.  As it stands now, I’m not sure what I’m going to do with him. I can’t afford full board on two horses at my current barn. I have found a barn with really reasonable retirement board fees that is about an hour away, so I could still easily go visit and ride him once in a while.  I may also try and re-home him. If I am patient, I may be able to find a really good home for him.  I had no idea that the decision to retire or part with a horse would be so hard.

So, all of the above being considered, I’m kind of in a weird place. My head, heart and gut are all mixed up and confused. My gut is flip-flopping on the Hank issue, my heart likes him, but doesn’t love him and my head is swirling with logic and ideas and budgets.  In the mean time, I can still try and ride Hank and still take Rusty out, but I think I’m going to start horse shopping. My budget is low, but maybe I will find something that just might be what I need.

Anyone have any thoughts or sage words of advice???

Hank - the second ride

Yes, Hank is a handsome guy - and to those who guessed a Standardbred, you are correct!  Part of me wishes he was a Canadian, as those horses often have such great calm temperaments...but this guy will have to do for now.

I've decided that I'm going to do a trial with him for the month of June and not make any decisions until then. I'm on the fence about him - he has a lot of pros and a few cons that I seriously need to take into consideration.  I over-horsed myself a few years ago and it ended in a broken arm and I don't want to do that again.

My skills and confidence have grown a fair bit, but I'm not sure that I can handle a green horse.

Hank was raced as a 2 and 3yr old (he was a pacer). He did ok as he had decent speed, but had no instinct to want to win. His trainer said he had too much of a puppy-dog personality to do well on the track.  He often worked hard to catch the other horses, but then backed off as soon as he caught up. He just wanted to stay with the "herd" and nothing they did could get him past that.

Hank in the round pen on Sunday

My barn owner has broken him to saddle slowly over the past few years - he is now 7 - and has a couple of summers of light hacks under his belt.  His "whoa" is decent and he will walk and trot no problem.  The girl that rode him last summer cantered him a couple of times, but I wouldn't say that he can canter well at this point.

I've handled him on the ground several times and he is fine. He listens well and is quite calm for an ex-racehorse.  He is good for the vet and farrier - since they get handled so much at the track, that stuff is all quite solid.  He doesn't seem to be very spooky so far, which is nice. If he is concerned about something, he will snort and stop. With a bit of encouragement, he will just keep moving.

I rode Hank for the second time last night - it was so-so...I think I was expecting more of a "wow! I love this horse" kinda moment.  He was obedient and did what I asked, but there were four things that sort of made me think more seriously about this situation:

1. He is very green and it shows alot in his steering. Sure, I can get him to go where I want in the round pen, but it doesn't have any finesse. He sometimes moves off your leg, but sometimes also moves into the pressure. I'm not sure if that is something from his driving training - anyone have any thoughts there?
   
   
   
2. He is always looking around while riding and it is hard to keep his attention.  He is obedient, but one ear and one eye are always on the lookout. This could just be because he hasn't had much of a life outside his paddock since last fall...  He is also a horse with a higher head-set than I am used to and I wonder if I can ride him well enough to work on getting him to lower his head and use his back more...
   
   
   
3. He feels "wiggly" when trotting (maybe because his head is high?). It feels as if he has a giant spring in his middle and his back end goes one way and the front goes the other.  This could be because he is green and it could also be that I'm just not used to his big stride... Most of the horses I've ridden in the past couple of years have been western trained quarter horses, so that is what I'm comparing him to at this point.
   
   
   
4. I don't think my western saddle fits him 100%.  That bothers me a bit since my saddle is my "safety net" - I'm very comfortable in it and I'm confident of my seat when I use it.  He was pinning his ears at the trot and after I took the saddle off, it was a bit sweaty just in the shoulder area.  I really don't want to try and find another saddle for a horse that I am just trying out... I'm going to have to try and borrow one or something.

Most of these issues are totally "fix-able" and aren't that big of a deal.  The biggest issue that I didn't list is ME.

I don't think I have the skill to train or work with a green horse under saddle. On the ground - no problem. I was working on his back-up, whoa and turn on the fore from the ground and he was getting the hang of it quite quickly.  

I am a bit worried that I won't be able to make progress in his training so that he is more safe and moving properly under saddle.  Even though he will just be used on the trails (and maybe endurance) I would like a horse that has some training in the bridle - if you know what I mean. I want him to be able to flex and bend and carry himself properly as much as possible.

Anyway - enough about my lack of skills - I'm hoping that I can overcome some of that and make this work.  Only time will tell at this point!

Finally! Something worthy of a blog update..!

So, I thought I would do an update to my update, then share a bit of exciting news...

I'm going to make you read the update first though!  ***cue evil laugh***

The cashel pad was a big FAIL.  It was waaaay too thick. I'm not quite sure what western saddle pad makers are thinking exactly when they make their products.  It is a nice looking pad and seems to be well made, but it just doesn't work. It made my saddle too tight in the shoulders and it screwed up my leg position. And the worst part, is that Rusty was off in the back end while riding in it.  I'm contemplating cutting it apart to get the smaller swayback pad that is apparently inside and try that on its own with a regular western wool pad.

As for the biothane tack colours - I haven't decided yet. Lisa asked me that in the comments on my last post...  I have a few favourite colours, but I'm going to hold out for a bit before I decide and order anything...

And that leads me to my news...

Rusty has been doing ok on long rides, but is having a hard time keeping up once we do rides over 8 miles or so.  His speed is also not the greatest at the trot.  He is totally bombproof out on the road/trails, but I just don't think he has the endurance to do more than 10 miles.  He is approx 18-20 years old, so I don't know how much I want to push him and he doesn't do well when it gets hot.  I am also having saddle fit issues as well, so I don't feel comfortable asking him to do longer distances and risk his back becoming sore...

That put me in a bit of a pickle. I don't really have the money right now to buy another horse.

And I am not ready to sell Rusty.

He has been such a huge boost to my confidence, that I'm not really willing to part with him.  It can be hard to re-home an older horse and I would be worried about where he went.

Hmm...what is a girl to do?

I was lamenting over this problem a couple of weeks ago over wine with the barn owner and Endurance Lady.

The barn owner's eyes suddenly lit up and she said "I have an idea!!! You could try Hank!!!"

Hank, I asked?  Really?

"Sure" she said, "Why not?"

I didn't really have a good answer, besides the fact that I didn't think I could handle paying for board on two horses.  She told me not to worry, if I liked him, we would work something out.

One evening last week I met with her daughter to go out for a hack and to work Hank in the round pen. I liked what I saw, considering it was his second ride of the year.  I'm going to leave you leave you there with a picture - any guesses about what breed he is???

More to follow...  :-D

An update of sorts...

Usually updates imply that the person is sharing some sort of relevant news or information that is of interest...  My update today is just for the sake of updating - and it will probably be in bullets, since I don't really have enough to say on one topic.

Not much is new here - it has been raining and my leg condition has been flaring up a bit. Between those two things, I haven't done a ton of riding. I was hoping to be more consistent, but what can you do? I'm just trying to make the best of the time I do have.

• I have a new saddle pad on order for Rusty - I hope it gets here soon. It is a Cashel swayback pad - I think my saddle is bridging on Rusty and that is what is causing the rubbing on longer rides.  I did some googling and the Cashel pad seemed to be the best solution for a reasonable amount of $$
  
  
• I'm getting close to ordering an endurance saddle - I think I may have lost my mind, but I'm just going with what is fun for me right now...  The endurance saddles look a little weird, but the fun is in all of the wacky colours of saddle pads and biothane tack!  If the swayback pad doesn't help Rusty, I just might have the justification I need to order another saddle! lol
  
  
• I did a big ride last week with Endurance Lady (well, big for me and Rusty, no so much for her) and we covered almost 8 miles (12.8kms) and it was really fun.  I felt great and could have easily gone farther, but Rusty got a bit tired on me towards the end - it was one of our first hot, humid days as well and he doesn't do that great in the heat. I'll have to watch that this summer.
  
  
• We need to get up to 12 miles of riding, at about a 5-6 mph pace to do the bare minimum at a training ride.  Rumour has it that my barn is going to be doing a 6-12 mile fun ride/clinic at the end of June, so I want to be ready for that.
  
  
• Rusty has been coming to me when I call him out in the paddock - this is new - usually he just looks up from his hay, shrugs and goes back to eating, making me go out there and get him.  The past few visits, he has been coming to the gate...  It could just be that I'm there at dinner time or he is enjoying his rides - hard to say with that guy!
  
  
• I am still waiting for my job transfer - paperwork in the government moves like snails in molasses uphill in January... getting this transfer will shorten my commute time and give me more time to ride after work, so I'm really looking forward to that, as well as the change of pace.

And that, folks, is about it.  Pretttty boring around here!  Hopefully I'll have something interesting to post about in the next few weeks.

The best laid plans...

I had hoped to write a post today summarizing Rusty's first week of training...but that kinda went off the rails by Monday.  It has been raining heavily here since Tuesday, so that has put a stop to riding outside and the other, even bigger problem is that Rusty pulled a shoe (luckily I found it in the paddock!) on Monday.

Yep, Rusty has front shoes.  I thought alot about whether to shoe him or not and I decided to give it a try.  I wanted to do some riding on gravel roads and he just can't handle that barefoot.  I know that hoof boots are really popular, but since Rusty doesn't like stuff on/near his feet, I didn't think that was the best option for now.

I've been trying to get in touch with my farrier all week, but I haven't heard back from him yet.  I want this shoe reset to see how things go - if Rusty keeps pulling shoes, then I will have to go back to square one and try and desensitize him enough to try the boots.

I went out for a long ride last Friday with two other people at the barn.  Rusty was really good and we covered about 11kms or about 6.8 miles!  We did a fair bit of trotting, but myself and the other girl were getting tired. Endurance lady literally trotted circles around us with her arab!  :-)  We were happy to let her trot ahead and then come back and meet up with us again.

The good: we did it and Rusty fared quite well. His legs were cool and not stocked up after the ride.

The bad: my right ankle turned to mush about halfway through the ride. I could barely do a posting trot after that point. I ended up putting alot of weight in my left leg instead. This caused a saddle pad rub on Rusty's back - I felt bad about that.

The funny:  Rusty walked right by two little girls squealing and jumping on a large trampoline as we rode by their house (while the other 2 horses panicked) and then proceeded to spook and snort at a regular orange pylon on the road - the kind that you use in riding rings all the time for pattern work!!!  What a goof!

Ahhh!!!! Scary pylons - don't make me circle those things!

Follow up: I need to double check saddle/pad fit and really work on strengthening my ankles.  I did some google searching and there seems to be some decent info out there on how to do that. We'll see if it works!

So, I'm hoping I can get the farrier out this coming week and get ol' Rusty back out on the trails...well, as long as our weather gives us a bit of a break, that is!

On a side note, it seems there are a couple of different meanings to "Competitive trail" out there.  Here, competitive trail is often a 25-40  mile ride and riders are scored at before and after the ride and at each vet check.  There is also a minimum and maximum time and I think points are awarded/taken away for being over or under time.  The winner has the horse in the best condition that is "fit to continue" based on the points that have been scored throughout the ride.

In this province (from what I can tell) we don't have competitive trail rides with obstacles - which is too bad, since that seems really fun.

Intro to Endurance mini-clinic

The last mini-clinic I attended this year was once on endurance riding /CTRs presented by two experienced endurance riders.  One is involved with Endurance Canada and the other is a long-time competitor and Arabian horse breeder/trainer.

I was pretty excited about this clinic, as I've been slowly reading up on endurance/CTR, as I've always thought it was something I could do. At the beginner levels, you don't need a special horse or special tack.   You can work at home building up mileage and conditioning on your horse and then compete or do training rides if you are interested.

The two ladies gave a great presentation with a lot of really useful information.  They gave us an overview on basic conditioning and what to expect during a ride, including vet checks and holds.  I won't go into the details here - it is easy to Google endurance riding and you will find lots to read up on. 

It turns out that they are going to hold a "hands-on" clinic at my barn sometime in June. It would involve trotting the horses out in-hand and learning the procedures of the vet checks and holds, followed by a 6-12 mile ride! I'm really excited about that and hope that it actually happens!

Rusty really isn't the greatest horse for serious endurance riding, as he is older - 18 (give or take a year or two) - and has large muscles in his back end.  Heavy muscling in the back end makes it harder to cool the horse out during holds and vet checks. Not a big deal, but I can't see myself doing more than 25 miles with Rusty. 

There is also one other major problem with being interested in endurance riding:

Horse transportation.  Or lack thereof.

That is my big roadblock.  There are 3 rides throughout the summer within a 2-3 hour drive from my house.   I don't have a trailer and don't really know anyone that could trailer me - that is alot to ask of a friend/acquanitance...  I could hire someone to trailer us, but I just know the costs would be extremely high. For example, it cost me $120 to have my old barn owner trailer Rusty to our current barn and it was only about 40kms (25 miles) round trip.  She didn't charge me a set-up fee either. 

I think my plan for now is to just work on conditioning Rusty and see what kind of distance we can do at home. If I really enjoy the riding and training, I will have to decide what I want to do longer-term.  It may require another horse and purchasing a second hand trailer.  I'm in no rush, but we'll see where this takes me.  I've just been thinking over the winter that trying to learn to show dressage or hunters or something just doesn't interest me anymore (it used to) and showing western pleasure seems a bit boring. (and I don't like how the higher level horses move - yuck!)  So, endurance/CTR fits nicely with where I want to go with my riding (I think, lol!!) - you can compete (or just go out and finish and have fun) but you don't have to be a pro or have a huge budget...

So, we'll see where we end up at the end of summer... I don't suspect Rusty knows what he is in for!  :-D

Western showmanship clinic

While I was on my blog break this winter, I went to a couple of short clinics at my former barn.

It was fun to get out and do something at a place with the nice indoor arena! I do miss having an arena, but I love riding out on the trails/roads much more, so I think I made the right decision to move.  I like that I can still take lessons from my old trainer and get to ride and work with some different horses.

So, when the opportunity came up to try the showmanship clinic, I thought why not?  Showmanship isn't that hard, right?...and I did some showmanship when I was younger.  I went along with those thoughts until the day of the clinic. On the drive over to the barn, I did some shaky math and realized that the last time I did anything even resembling showmanship was when I was 12.  *Gulp*

That was 24 years ago!!!  *double gulp*

I then put my thinking cap on and remembered that we didn't even do showmanship, it was just halter!  So no pivots or patterns.   I was starting to regret getting myself into this situation, but I knew everyone participating would be friendly and patient with me.  I was assigned a show experienced QH mare named Stormy and we were off.  I did better at remembering the patterns than I expected - I sometimes get nervous and forget what to do.

Image from Google images

The lady doing the clinic was a well know local APHA/AQHA breeder and judge. She was funny and was a surprisingly good speaker.  She explained things well and gave everyone lots of tricks and tips on what the judges are looking for.  She even gave us a few pages of handouts afterwards so we would have notes to refer to later.  I was really impressed by my friend's hubby, who did the clinic with their yearling! This yearling was better behaved than some horses that were much older and experienced. My friend and her hubby have been doing alot of ground work with this little guy and he could set up and pivot like an experienced show horse!  (I have some pictures of them from another clinic that I'll post about next week.)

photo credit: Cappy Jackson - from equisearch.com

I had a bit of a tough time - I would be concentrating on setting up the horse or trying to do a pivot and I would forget about my hand/arm position - or vice versa.  There are a surprising number of things to remember about hand/body position as well as trying to remember the patterns!  I had fun though and learned alot.  I could see myself trying some showmanship classes at a fun show some day. I also went through old issues of Horse and Rider magazine and found a ton of great articles on showmanship with things to practice.

I'm going to try and do a bit of showmanship practice with Rusty on days where I don't feel like riding. I think it is good to work on other things once in a while - it keeps the brain sharp!  Although, Rusty has a heck of a time with pivots/turn on the haunches... I'm not sure if he is just stubborn, or if he has a bit of arthritis in his hocks and it makes turning more difficult. We have some difficulty doing a turn on the haunches under saddle as well, but I wouldn't be surprised if I was the problem as well!  :-)  

My first three rides of spring

So I've officially had three rides (+ one lesson) so far this spring.  Not a huge number by any stretch of the imagination, but it sure feels good to be out riding again.  I have three more rides planned for this week as well. I'm going to aim to bump that up to 4 rides + a lesson a week, as the spring progresses, if all goes well.

I have to admit that Rusty tricked me with a bit of attitude on my first ride.  We went out with a girl at the barn who does endurance and competitive trail. She09- has a cute feisty arab and they do a lot of mileage.  I knew Rusty wasn't in shape to keep up, but she slowed down to accomodate us.    We tried to trot the 1/2 mile or so back up the laneway and Rusty started acting up - going sideways, bucking, etc.  What a goof!

I wasn't 100% sure of things, so I didn't push the issue. I tried trotting a couple more times and got the same result.  Bucking. Not my favourite thing. Rusty's buck is pretty tame by most standards, but still not his best behaviour.  I ended up walking the rest of the ride, vowing to work on his attitude when trotting with another horse beside him.

Fast forward a couple of days and I had realized that I had been tricked by my horse.  He bucks, we walk. Rusty wins.  D'oh!

Once I realized that, I knew I could give him a bit of a smack with the crop next time we trotted and he would be fine.   The endurance girl and I went out again.  This time we had a very successful ride.  We covered about 3 miles at a walk/slow trot, with only one tiny half-hearted buck!  A-ha! I win!  :-D

By coincidence, endurance girl and I met up at the barn on Sunday and went out for an even longer ride. She covered 3-4 miles on her own while I tacked up, we did about 4.5 miles together and she did another 4 on her own when Rusty got tired.  We did lots of trotting and some cantering on the neighbouring farm's track (which is a total blast).  

So, without further ado, here are a few pictures...

Rusty and another mare were snoozing in the sun when I arrived:

I quietly tiptoed out to see if he would let me pet him while sleeping...  This is a bit of a novelty for me - I'm only at the barn for a couple of hours at a time,  so I rarely catch him having a nap...  He sat up and let me take his picture.

I went around beside his head and sat in the hay.  He sighed and flaked out again, but wouldn't let me touch his head.

After 20 minutes or so, I was mean and got him up to head into the barn.  We got all tacked up with his new breastcollar and we were ready to go:

Endurance girl came by on her loop to pick us up.  Rusty is looking at them here.  Not a bad picture from my little iphone...

This is a picture on an old laneway on a farm down the road.  On the right is a cool creepy abandoned house. The horses walked right by with no problem, but the arab mare kept her eye on the place the whole time...

Rusty got pretty tired on me at the 4 mile mark - his head dropped and his pace slowed. I have to be careful to try and condition him better before we attempt more distance, since he had alot of time off this winter.  And he's old.  :-)  It does motivate him to keep up with his little arab friend though - she is a super fast walker, so he has to work hard even at the walk.

I'm really excited about riding - there are a few new people at the barn who are more confident riders, so I expect to be pushing my boundaries alot this year!  

The great bathroom reno of 2011

I'm totally taking the easy route here and posting bathroom reno photos instead of horse stuff. I'll get to the horse stuff later this week.

Our bathroom was in a pretty sad state - we decided this winter that it was finally time to do something about it. We found a great contractor through a co-worker and that sealed the deal.  We probably could have tackled the renovation ourselves, but with both of us working full-time, it probably would have taken way more time than necessary.  As it turned out, the contractor had it done in 5 days!  Not too shabby.

I did a bit of the demo work because it is fun and satisfying to rip out the old stuff.  You also don't need any special skills - just can just wreck stuff!  And wrecking stuff is one of my specialties!  lol

Here is a close-up of the first tile that I removed:

The vanity before.  Notice Richard in the mirror giving the room a "thumbs down"?  Also, all of the light bulbs started burning out the week before we started the demo. I figure it was a sign...  :-)

The very snazzy 1970's shower.  The contractor demo'd the shower and found "1972" written on the wall.  Yikes!  39 years old.  Good riddance old shower! 

Annnnddd - the new vanity!

 Snazzy mosaic tile backsplash (it has a couple of shades of blue and grey in it, but looks dark from this angle) and a modern faucet that actually works!

 A tiled floor and a toilet that doesn't use half of the Earth's water supply in a single flush! 

And the shower - I love the shower.  The same mosaic tile as the backsplash runs in a strip along the wall.  This is a small bathroom - about 12x12 max, so we just fit stuff back in the same dimensions as the original.

And my two little assistants - Charlie on the left and Roxie on the right. They love the bathroom window - it faces east and there is a lot of sun today, so they were watching the birds and basking in the sun.  

I'm baaaacccckkkkk!

I think.

Yeah, I'm back. I'm feeling much better than I was a few weeks ago and I'm all excited about spring, so that alone should give me something to write about.

I took Rusty out on my second ride of the spring last night. It felt good to be out for a ride, even though Rusty was a bit of a pill.  I'll post more about that later.

I've managed to keep fairly busy while I was away from here, so I'll just give you some bullets ( I do love a nice bulleted list!) and I'll work on getting caught up in more detail over the next couple of weeks.

• The wonderful RuckusButt came over a few weeks ago and took Rusty for a short ride. He was not behaving well, so RB didn't get the quiet hack that I promised, but she was a good sport about the whole thing.
  
  
• We had our bathroom renovated - which was great. Our bathroom was last remodeled in 1972, so it was time for an update!
  
  
  
• I attended two short clinics at my old barn - showmanship and in-hand trail - more to come on those...
  
  
  
• I'm working at filling in the gaps in my horse knowledge as best as I can - learning how to bandage and wrap.  I had a cute equine model named Stewart help me out.
  
  
  
• I'm attending an Intro to Endurance clinic (just 3 hours) in a couple of weeks - should be interesting. There are a couple of new people at the barn who do endurance, so I think I'll finally have some people to ride with!
  
  
  
• I'm starting western lessons again on Saturday after not riding much all winter. Looking forward to it, but I hope I haven't lost too much ground from December
  
  
  
• I had the chance to sit in on a photography lesson from our CSI guys (they prefer to be called Ident, not CSI here!) and it was interesting.  Will it help my photography skills?  That remains to be seen. I really need a better camera to get anywhere, I think.
  

I guess that is enough for now - I'll leave you with a bad iphone picture of our ride last night...

Just a quick note...

I'm still on my blogging break, but I just wanted to send you guys over to visit RuckusButt's blog - she has a post about Rusty!

Go check it out!

Later alligators...

Taking a blogging break

I have decided to take a short break from blogging. Most days, I open a browser window, sign in to my blog and stare at a blank page, not knowing what to write.

I haven't been feeling well for the past couple of weeks which is probably the causing me to feel this way about my blog. I'm having a flare-up of an auto-immune disorder and it is very painful.  I'm working with my doctors to treat it, but it is slow going.  I'm fine, the pain is manageable, but it is very tiring. I just find that dealing with this takes all of my extra energy for now.

I'm sure I'll feel better in a few weeks, the snow will melt (a girl can dream!) and I'll be out doing stuff with Rusty.  In the meantime, I will continue to browse everyone's blogs to keep up with all the news.

Just so you know - Rusty is fine and weathering the winter like a champ. He spends his days stuffed into a round bale, with a herd of 4 or 5 old mares.  I'm hoping that by mid-late March we can be out doing some basic work to get both of us ready for spring!

A little update

I've opened a window in blogger several times over the past few days, trying to find something to write about. I have a few updates, but none of it really warrants a post on its own, so you'll get a bulleted list of random tidbits that are floating in my brain! (and maybe a couple pictures of Rusty...)

• I'm reallllly close to getting a transfer at work - it is something I've been working towards for a while now and it looks like it will finally happen in the next couple of months, or maybe even sooner.  I really need a change from my current position - things are slow here and I really need to be challenged a bit more or I get lazy and complacent. 
• I went to a showmanship clinic last weekend -it was kind of interesting... I might still do a post about it, but I didn't get any pictures, so it might be too boring.
• I was all excited about starting to get Rusty fit again since the footing at the barn and on the trails was perfect.  Then it rained.  And then we had a flash freeze (-28C overnight) and everything was icy.  It is now warm again but the laneway is probably icy and wet so not so safe to work on. I'm really missing an indoor right now!
• I was thinking of going to a Josh Lyon's clinic for a couple of days, but the barn hosting the event is really slow in getting back to me with answers to my questions. They aren't making it easy to register either - right now, they want me to drive 1 hour (each way!) to their farm just to drop off a cheque.  So, based on that, I'm not so sure I want to go now.  I'm fickle like that.  :-)
• I haven't started taking lessons again yet. I'm debating on whether it is worth the time and money...
• I'm obsessed with finding a used dressage saddle. I don't even like riding English that much anymore!  But I really like Rusty in black and want to see how he looks all decked out in English tack. I obviously need to get out more or something.

 We went for a walk dow the driveway when the snow was still nice. I had the dogs with me and they were happy to be out.  Every time I would ask Rusty to halt, he would look back longingly at the barn and his round bale, hoping I would get the hint.

 After the walk, I turned Rusty out in the round pen without his blanket so he could roll.  He wasn't interested.

 He wanted to be right in my face the whole time!

Gypsy is getting better each time we go to the barn. She doesn't bark at the horses anymore and even let Rusty sniff her a bit. She is nervous in this picture, but at least she isn't barking!

Pizza anyone?

With five pets in the house, things can get a bit wild.  Especially when three of five pets are young and playful!  I'll let the pictures speak for themselves...











Houseguests...

I gave up a beautiful riding day on Sunday to help out my new houseguest.  Check out the picture:

The little border collie on the left is Gyspy, my father-in-law's dog. My in-laws are in Florida for the winter and Gypsy spent all of January at dog trainer's house.  We just picked her up on Saturday afternoon and she will be with us until the end of March! Yikes! I hope we all make it that long.

She is about 16 months old and is a total handful.  We live in a small-ish house in the city, with a small back yard. I knew that I needed to take her out to the barn to run while the weather was nice, because she was going to be cooped up in the house all day.  She is ok in the house, but she paces.

And paces.

And paces some more.  She has a few things to chew on - her favourite being a piece of deer antler - which  is one of the few things she can't shred.  She tries to be good but she just has so much nervous energy that she can't help the pacing. We have worked out a schedule where she will be walked 3-4 times a day, so hopefully that is enough to keep her sane.

She is also terrorizing my poor cats. The big cat is NOT amused and has retreated to the basement where he has food, water and a nice bed - he ventures upstairs at night when the beast is in her crate.  The kittens are a bit more curious and I think in a few days they will get along ok.  Somehow Charlie and Gypsy have come to some sort of agreement. Charlie isn't afraid of her and Gypsy walks by and turns her head the other way and completely ignores Charlie. Roxie is having a harder time - she and Gypsy stalk each other through the house - Gypsy tries to herd her, but if she gets too close, Roxie hisses and smacks her nose.  Roxie also gets to a high point and gives Gypsy the stink eye, making the dog nervous.  It is kinda funny, but kinda annoying all at the same time!

I'm watching you!

 It was a bit of a hectic weekend trying to manage 5 pets with different needs!  Hopefully everyone adjusts to the routine and calms down a bit as the weeks progress. I think Max is the only one that is truly happy to have another dog in the house!

Funny txt msg shorthand

I'm sure most of us are familiar with your basic online shorthand of words, right?

LOL - lots of laughs, or laugh out loud
ROFL - roll on the floor laughing
OMG - oh my god (goodness)

...and the list goes on.  Today on FB I saw a list of horse related short forms - thought you guys might get a kick out of it:

OOH - out of hay


LAS - lost a shoe

BBM - bastard just bit me

FOMHL - Fell Off My Horse Laughing

FTC - Forgot the carrots

MIHA - Mare's in heat, again

IPTI - I'll pick up tennis instead

LWW - Lesson went well

MSMBO - mud sucked my boot off

HSIH - Horse Snot in Hair

HAO - Hay All Over

HIMB - Hay in My BRA

PIHH - Poop Induced Half Halt

UD - Unplanned Dismount

PTTDG - Prayed to the Dirt God

MMM - Master Manure Mucker

OOM - Out of money

MHTS - More horses than sense.

BAHHFDP - bought another horse husband filed divorce papers

GBBF - got board bill, fainted

GFBF - got farrier bill, fainted

HRHCF - husband realized horse costs, fainted

SLH - Smell like horse

DQFOY - Dressage Queen fell off - yippee

HTNHFH - Hiding the new horse from hubby

WWFNS - Will work for new saddle

AROGC - Arena rained out - going crazy

SSB - saddle sore butt

BTLGR - b###hy trainer left - good riddance

ALIGAR - At least I got a ribbon

NLT - No lesson today

HGR - Have a great ride!

Post-vacation wrap-up

Well, I'm not actually that upset about my vacation being over.  I love to travel, but I also love being at home with my pets and my routine...  :-)  I was feeling a bit burnt out before Christmas, as I hadn't had much time off during the year.  I took a bunch of days during the holidays to be with my family, which I really needed and this current 10 day trip was a great (WARM!!) break with my hubby, which we really needed - (even though part of the trip was with my in-laws...)

We spent a couple of days in Ft. Lauderdale before heading out on a 7 day Caribbean cruise. I love seeing the Caribbean islands, but as for cruising, I could take it or leave it, to be honest.  I found myself feeling a bit trapped on the days at sea.  The ship had approx 2800 passengers and at least 1000 crew members. It was a small floating city.  Every where you went, there were people.  Most people were friendly and there was lots of "where are you from?" going on.  Every time I sat down somewhere I seemed to attract little old retired couples from New York City!  I didn't mind talking to them at all, because I love a good NYC accent - until one lady started telling me her medical history! Yikes!  I  get people telling me their life stories alot when I am out - I guess I have a friendly face or something. I also have a hard time making excuses to get out of awkward conversations!

I'm glad to be home - travelling, while fun - always reminds me how lucky I am to have what I have at home.  I'm not rolling in money (saw lots of that) nor am I extremely poor (also saw lots of that).  Here are a few pictures - lots more on facebook if anyone is interested...

The dining room on the cruise ship...modern and huge!  The food was delicious, but I'm glad to be back to regular fare.

Our first sunset at sea - this might be Miami - can't quite remember...

Arriving in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The old fort  - Fort San Felipe del Morro - dominates the view.

I really liked San Juan - we only walked the old city, but it was really interesting.  I love history, so learning about the places I'm visiting is interesting for me.  Richard and I walked several miles that day, exploring the old city together.  In fact, I took more pictures in San Juan than I did anywhere else.

Inside the fort...

Interesting old crest

The view wasn't too bad...

Me standing in a little guard post - there wasn't much room inside.

Fun with the zoom

 The beach at Philipsburg, St Maarten (St Maarten/St Martin is co-owned by the Dutch and the French)

We then took a taxi to a beautiful beach on the French side of the island. The view was nice, the sand soft and the water warm.  It was a nice relaxing day.

Our next stop was St. Thomas, in the US Virgin Islands. Another beautiful spot - we quickly ditched the city and headed out to a nice beach. Richard was able to do some snorkeling here. He saw several sea turtles, as well as rays and lots of colourful fish.  He even saw a barracuda!

Waves hitting the shore on a rocky section of the beach

All in all, we had a relaxing trip.   I even ordered Rusty's breastplate from Jeffers Equine and they shipped it to my hotel in Florida. No tax and free shipping - gotta love that!!

Checking in

Hi everyone - I just thought that I would try and do a short post on my iPhone. So, please excuse any typos!

I'm sitting in the Ft. Lauderdale airport and my flight leaves in an hour. I think they are going to have to drag me kicking and screaming on to the plane!

We had a nice break though and in all seriousness, I'm looking forward to being back at home. All of my furry little friends have been carefully tended by my Mom and I'm looking forward to spending the day with her tomorrow before she heads home.

I bought Rusty a present on my trip - a nice Weaver leather breast collar - itmatches my bridle and I think he'll look pretty spiffy in it. I'll post some pics when I get out to the barn next. I'm sure the security people will find it interesting when they scan my luggage! It has lots of metal and rivets and will probably show up s a funny shape. Although, I'm sure they see all kinds of weird stuff packed in peoples suitcases!

I haven't had much of a chance to check in on eveyone's blogs, so I'll be getting caugt up this week. More later when I get home!

Do roan and plaid match???

I made it out for another ride yesterday. It had been snowing for two days straight, so I just decided I might as well go and see what happened.  Often, the day after it stops snowing is really cold and windy, so I didn't want to wait to try and ride... (and I was right - today is freezing cold and windy!).  

I didn't mind riding in the snow, since it would give me an opportunity to try out my new (used) wool quarter sheet that I found at the bottom of a pile of ratty old blankets at a tack shop.  I love second-hand tack and try to buy used stuff where I can. I had been meaning to pick up a quarter sheet for a while, because I think they look cool.  Of course, sometimes the problem with buying used is that you don't get a lot of colour selection.  I wouldn't really say that the red plaid matches his coat, but I don't really care. I won't be using it much and it is more to amuse me than anything.  

We trudged around the fields with Richard and Max happily following along.  I think my dog loves snow more than any creature I know. He rolls and runs and digs in it like a mad man. I'm glad we are able to take him out to this barn!

I tried to get Rusty to pose for a picture in the snow, but he didn't really want to stand still for long. So, I made him practice some turns on the forehand while we waited for Richard to take the picture.  I didn't get him to take too many, since it was cold and snowing heavily...

You can't really do too much "riding" in this weather - the footing was ok, but not great.  You could probably trot the edge of the hay fields, but I didn't really feel the need to bother. Rusty and I are on winter vacation until the snow melts, so this was just a fun ride (and probably my last for a couple of weeks, since we leave on Friday for our trip!!)

A New Year's Day ride

We have had some pretty unseasonal weather here over the past week, so I decided I had better get out to the barn for a ride while I could.

It was damp and foggy, but Saturday's temps were above 0C and I think it even made it up to 6C (43F) for a few hours!

The footing was mostly good, although there were a few spots that had a bit of ice. Rusty was happy to go around those and so was I.  Although, at one spot along the trail, he stepped around a chunk of ice and put me into some wet cedar branches - that wasn't the worst of it - one big branch hit me right in the arm and it took alot of strength to push past it - a smaller rider might have been knocked out of the saddle!

 We didn't do much but walk around the fields. It was nice to be out in January and not be freezing cold! Rusty was feeling a bit fresh, which probably makes him like a normal horse, since he is pretty laid back most of the time.  Today is my last day off work ( boo!) so I'm hoping to get out for another ride later this afternoon.

We even had some greenish grass out near the paddocks. It is such a novelty to see any grass in January that I gave Rusty a few minutes to have a little snack...  :-)