Filling in the blanks - How I got this far...

Editorial note: I'm trying to document my lessons from this winter and how I got to where I am now - so I'm going to be going back and forth in time for a bit until I get caught up!

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Last summer/fall my goals were to buy a horse that I could show locally and ride around on the roads. I wasn’t looking for a fancy horse, just an all-rounder that could handle a bunch of different things. I found the horse, rode him around the neighbourhood a bit and was daydreaming about trying some shows.


I haven’t shown since I was a teenager and that was only a couple of years of 4-H and one or two dressage shows. Last fall I had no coach or no real plans on how to make all of this happen. I started saving some money so that I would be able to do a few things this spring.

In December, I went out for wings with the people from the boarding stable down the road. I was there early and was talking to the lady that judges local shows and does a bit of coaching. I told her what I wanted to do and asked her if she would be willing to coach me. I think she likes a challenge, so she said she would take me on as a client. I was a little nervous, but knew this was my best chance of reaching my goals.

It turns out that this has been the best horse-related decision I’ve made in awhile. Coach is a great lady and very experienced. She judges shows all over the region and has shown AQHA and APHA for many years herself. Having her on board has removed a lot of stress for me. Not only is she coaching my riding, but she is helping me with what to wear, what tack is appropriate and even helping get Spencer looking the part. And one of her best attributes is that she is very dedicated – she hasn’t missed a lesson, been late once or rescheduled on me. Sometimes horse people aren’t the best with dates and scheduling things.

I was nervous and excited for my first lesson in mid-March. I told her what I had been doing in my riding up to this point and told her what I was having trouble with. She wanted to get an idea of my skill level, so she started out asking me to do different things, getting more advanced as we went along. Halfway through that first lesson, she stopped me and said “You lied to me!” and then smiled…

I was a bit confused… Me – lying about something? Not likely! I’m known for being pretty honest.

I mumbled and said “What did I lie about? I wouldn’t lie to you!”

She laughed and said “You told me you were a beginner rider! That isn’t true! I’m moving you right to my advanced lesson plans!”

From that point on, we trucked right along improving every week. She worked me hard and I would be in a t-shirt by the end of the lesson, even though it would be cold in the arena/outside.

My last lesson at the boarding barn was 2 weeks ago – and it was a good one! We are finally getting the lope to be slower and more rhythmic. I’m getting glimpses of a proper headset from Spencer as well – I’m sure with a more experienced rider, he would be getting that more, but I’m confident I’ll get that soon too. I brought Spencer home after the lesson and while it is great to have him out back again, I’ll miss the nice sand riding ring at the barn!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

I have to wear a halter?  ugh!

I'll get back to summarizing my 8 weeks of horse boot camp in my next post... I just wanted to share what is going on right now. Having Spencer back at home is great, but I have a bit of a problem - too much grass!!!

I don't have a drylot area where I can turn him out and limit his grass intake.  So, that has meant that he has spent a fair amount of time in his stall. Luckily he is good in his stall, but I would prefer to have him outside as much as possible.

The whole grass situation caused a secondary problem - Spencer quickly figured out that he wasn't getting much time outside, so my easy-to-catch horse decided to become a runner!  What a brat.  It took me about 30 minutes
to catch him the first time and he's been turned out with a halter since then.
He doesn't run anymore though...I guess he thought he might as well give it a shot the first time...?  :-)

The view I was getting every time I tried to catch him...

I mowed the grass in his small paddock, so that has helped, but I still don't want him out on rich spring grass all the time.  He is in pretty good shape right now,  so I don't want to lose too much of that conditioning!

Trying to get a shot of his body condition

I did try a grazing muzzle on him - he is ok with it, but not great.  He paces around his paddock and paws a lot. He was also getting into things - kicking his water trough and pawing at the pile of old house beams in the middle of the paddock (which are going to be moved in a couple of weeks!)

I'm being tortured - call the SPCA!

I think I'm going to set aside some money over the summer to have someone come in and bulldoze the sod/grass from my little paddock.  I will have over 4 acres of pasture left, so that will be enough, I'm sure!

We have also had a ton of rain in the past week - I can barely keep up with mowing the lawn and paddock, let alone weeding and fixing up my gardens!  There is a lot of stuff to maintain at this place - I'm not 100% used to it yet, since last summer was really dry and I didn't have a lot of work to do...!

Getting Started Again

Hey! Is anyone around? Taking a break from writing was kind of nice, but I also missed it a bit. I’ve found lately that I’ve had a few things to say so I thought I would try writing again.


I had a great 8 weeks with Spencer at the boarding stable. There were a couple of glitches, but overall, the two of us did really well. In 8 weeks, my riding has improved so much that I’m still kind of shocked about it. Spencer’s fitness also came along really well – better than I expected, really. I’ve had two show people that I respect tell me that they are amazed at my improvement and my new coach has said the same thing.

As for the glitches – they were fairly minor. There were a few care issues at the barn, but all of the horses did ok in the end. The barn is going through a transition and the things were off for a couple of weeks. Regular boarders complained and the issues were resolved. I also had a bit of a hard time in the arena when riding alone. It is a coverall and Spencer was a bit goofy with the back door. It is canvas (or whatever material coveralls are made of) and if it was a sunny day, the door was translucent and you could sometimes see shadows through it. Almost every horse at the barn gives that door the stink eye. Since I have nerve issues, it took me a while to even get Spencer close to the door. As the weeks went on we did better, but I still have a hard time being in there alone. If I was being coached or another horse/person was around I felt better and the nerves would go away once I started focusing on my work. It was also a bit tricky in there in late March with snow sliding off the roof. Spencer was ok and only spooked a bit, but again my nerves got the best of me.

And as for the riding aspect? I think I fell in love with riding all over again. I was getting a bit frustrated with riding in general last fall – I didn’t feel like I was progressing at anything… My new instructor and I just seem to click and she has an agenda for us and a plan. I love plans. :-) Her lessons are quite structured and we do a lot of different exercises and when one thing works, we move on to the next right away. There isn’t a ton of repetition or just riding in circles. This coach is a trail/pattern expert, so I do a lot of pole work and riding parts of patterns. It sure gives both horse and rider something to think about, that is for sure!

The past 8 weeks also really helped me connect with Spencer. We did well together over the winter, but I knew the real test would be how we did while riding in a regular program. I did get some attitude from him here and there, but overall, he is very willing to work and is nice and responsive to cues and aids. I did start riding with a blunt spur, only because I have such short little legs and the spur just helps sharpen up the cues a bit. I also feel like a real western rider, now that I own spurs! lol

Taking another break



Spencer and Bonnie



I’m going to take another break from blogging…

I’ve been thinking about it for a few weeks and I think I’m ready for some time away. Work has been crazy busy and stressful and I just don’t want to spend much time on the computer when I get home at night.

I’ve started riding Spencer and we are gearing up for lessons and more regular training. We might even make it out to some shows this summer if all goes well.

I think Spencer is enjoying his time at the barn so far – he is turned out alone (as are a lot of the show horses…) but he is surrounded by about 8 horses that he can visit with over the fence. I think at least 6 of his neighbours (ha!) are mares and all are in heat! Here is a pic of Spencer visiting with his favourite lady – Bonnie the Clyde! Bonnie is about 19hh at the moment! (Spencer is 15hh)…

I’m looking forward to spring (we are still getting snow here!!!!) and doing some work around my little property.

Happy trails to everyone!

A successful day

So, yesterday Spencer went down to the boarding stable! I can't wait to start working with him again!

I took the day off work and had the farrier out in the morning.  My farrier was mentioning the fact that he trimmed the horses for both of the previous owners of my house and had been coming to my place for over 15 years - I thought that was kind of neat!

Spencer's feet held up really well over the winter.  I think I was up to almost 12 weeks between trims - which I would normally never do - but his hooves weren't long or chipped, so I think I did ok. 

Since I had the day off, I went out several times during the day to hang out with him. I was feeling a little teeny bit sad that I wouldn't have him at home, even though being able to ride is going to be great.  Every time I went out he was nickering and really friendly - so I'm wondering if he suspected something was up?  :-)  The trailer came around 5pm and he jumped right on.   He seemed pretty keen to be going somewhere! lol  I guess going somewhere in a trailer meant he would be seeing other horses?

After the 5 minute trailer trip, he hopped off the trailer and didn't even call.  I was a bit suprised. He nickered to a horse in another stall and settled in to eat his hay.  I have to remember that he is a show horse and was in a show barn for the last 5 years. 

I'm going to go down tonight after work and lunge him in the arena to see how he does.  He is used to arenas, but as we all know each arena seems to have monsters lurking in corners. 

I even got an email from my new coach last night - someone had told her that Spencer arrived before I had a chance to!  Funny how quickly you forget about the boarding barn gossip hotline when you aren't around for awhile!  The good news is that the coach is keen to get started and so am I.  I'm looking forward to lessons even though I have a feeeling we will get our butts kicked!!!  :-S

Random Ramblings – Vol. 2

So, not much to post about right now. Still snowy, but there is some hope. The temps are slowly rising and snow is melting. In fact, our road is nice and clear. I took Spencer out for two hand walks this week – covering about 4kms each time! We met a few neighbours, who were surprised to see me walking a horse. I said that I don’t have a dog, so why not walk this guy instead? ;-)

Spencer is still on track to go down to the barn this week – I just have to finalize transportation issues. I was going to handwalk him down, but I’m a bit nervous. The road to their place is hilly and cars drive fairly fast. There are also at least 2 farms with horses, so I’m not sure how he is going to react. I’m sure he would be fine, but I think for our first outing, I’ll go with the trailer!

I met with my new coach and some others from the barn last week. I was fun to start planning lessons and hearing about everyone’s show plans. My new coach – I’m just going to call her Coach from now on – was grilling me on my plans and expectations. I had her try to guess the last time I had been at a show. She said 10 years? Nope. 5 years? Nope. 2 years? At this point I was laughing very hard. The last time I was in a show ring was 24 years ago!! She almost fell off her chair when I told her. LOL

I look a bit younger than I am, so that always throws everyone off at first. I also told Coach that I expect her to be honest with me – I don’t want to hear that I’m doing great, when it reality there is no way I should be near a show ring. She promised she would be honest. She also told me she likes a challenge, so I’m guessing I’ll make it to a show one way or another! 

I was able to take Spencer’s blanket off two weeks ago when the temps were staying consistently above -10C (14F) , which was great. I hate horse blankets!!! He was sweaty under his mane one evening, so I decided to just ditch the blanket. His coat has fluffed back up nicely and he seems to be coping just fine without the blanket. That convinces me to try not blanketing him at all next winter!

He is also starting to shed! As messy as it is, it is the best sign of spring I’ve seen so far. He dislikes being groomed, so that may prove to be an issue when we are riding more, but he’ll just have to deal with it.

Another reason that I’m looking forward to having him away for 6 weeks or so is that it will give me time to clean up his paddock and make some repairs to my fence. I’ll need everything to be nice and solid once the grass starts growing – as he likes to lean on the fence. I have to add a few posts on the western side of the small paddock, as the wire is really sagging, not to mention being almost buried in snow! Then I can double check the connections and make sure there is a nice voltage in the fence…

That about covers things around here!

Oh, winter...

I'm sitting here listening to the wind howl outside.  *sigh* It is supposed to get warmer by the end of the week, so fingers crossed that actually happens!

To follow up on my big plan, I am going to come up with a smaller plan to work with Spencer 4-5 times per week to get us ready to start some real work. I don't want him at zero when we get down there. I had hoped to start tonight, but with 25mph+ wind gusts and snow squalls, I caved like a house of cards! lol  Spencer didn't mind, I'm sure...he was a little wild eyed and jumpy tonight.

So, I'll start my plan within a plan this weekend, when it is forecast to be a balmy 2C.

In the meantime, I'm just going to post some funny pictures of Spencer in the snow!  I took his blanket off last weekend to give him a break. He proceeded to run around in his paddock and then rolled a few times.

I love this one - he was rubbing his head in the snow!

Snorting at something in the distance...

I love it when a plan comes together

Instead of continuing to complain about winter, I decided to come up with a bit of a plan to have something to look forward to. I am hoping to try Spencer at a couple of local schooling shows this summer and I need to get riding soon to see if we can pull it off. I would love to start riding regularly in March and it is sometimes possible, (like last year) but some years our snow doesn’t melt until April. I can sort of work Spencer in his paddock or up and down the laneway, but due to footing, we can’t do any trotting or cantering. The snow is even too deep and crunchy/uneven to do showmanship practice.


I don’t have a ton of extra cash to pay board right now, but I was able to negotiate a bit of a deal with the stable down the road. I’m taking Spencer down there in mid-March and we’ll stay until the end of April. It will give me a chance to either ride indoors or in their outdoor sand ring while my place melts and dries up. It’ll also give me a chance to have someone come in April and clean up the manure pile in my paddock – if it is dry enough!

I’ve also got lessons planned with a local coach. She is also a judge, so I feel like I’m in good hands. She is quite blunt, so I’m expecting to get an honest assessment from her on whether I’m ready to show or not. I’m not too worried about Spencer as he has been shown for the past 5 years or so. I’m definitely the weaker link in the equation!

The stable is only 1 mile down the road from me, so I’m planning to walk down and back most nights, since the exercise will be really good for me. I’m pretty excited about this – it has a bit of a boot camp feel to it. This new coach is pretty hard core (in a nice friendly way) and I’m hoping she will help motivate me to ride a lot and make some progress. This is a great opportunity for me to work with a well-known judge and meet more horse people. This judge knows everyone in the AQHA and APHA worlds around here, so it might be fun to see who else I will meet.

I have a tendency to kind of stall on things and change my mind, but I’m hoping this is the right situation to give me a big push and get me more confident and get doing some interesting things with my horse! It will be interesting to see if Spencer gives me lots of attitude once we start working, since he is out of shape and has been enjoying his leisure time… Or will he respond well to more structure? I’m hoping the latter, since the two of us need to bond a bit more and trust each other under saddle. Here’s hoping it all works out!

Spencer finally gets some exercise!

We had more snow on Friday, so that actually helped improve the footing a bit around here.

I am quite sick with some sort of plague, so I haven't been feeling up to doing much. I couldn't resist the new fresh snow and sunny skies yesterday though.   I free lunged Spencer in his paddock to start and was getting a bit of attitude from him.  It made for some good pics!

Then, since the footing seemed decent, I decided to lunge him for a few minutes.  And man did I get attitude from that horse!  I know his attitude now when I see it, so all I did was laugh and make him work a bit harder every time he did something goofy.  I was getting lots of head snaking, squeals and little bucks.  He makes a funny squealing noise when he doesn't want to work.  To me,  it sort of sounds like something a horse might sound like if it was hurt or something - it isn't mean or agressive sounding, but more of a whiny sound.

I ended up longing him longer than anticipated, due to all of the attitude. I did lots of direction and gait changes and when he could walk/trot/lope without any attitude, I let him walk a few laps to cool down. Mr. Tubs was puffing and sweating from his 20 minute workout! lol

Today, the weather was even nicer. A few degrees warmer and lots of bright sun.  I was tired of being cooped up in the house, so thought I would do a repeat of yesterday, minus the free longing.  I tacked Spencer up, thinking that if he behaved on the longe I would get on and walk around the pasture a bit.

He was 90% better on the longe line today - no big outbursts of attitude, just a bit of ear pinning and tail swishing.   He quickly worked through most of that, so after a few minutes, I got on my horse!

It felt good to be on my horse for the first time since late December!  The footing was ok, but not great for riding. I just meandered around in his paddock for 20 minutes before calling it a day.

Hopefully the weather holds and I can do a bit of work of most nights after work.  I am sure getting impatient for spring!

Random ramblings

I always think that I don’t have much to write about these days, since I’m not doing much horse stuff...Once I sit down and start typing though, lots of random stuff comes out!  Maybe I’ll try and do a “random ramblings” kind of post every week or something... 

His move looked like this! Luckily I was far away... 

Spencer hasn’t really travelled too far in his paddock with all of the deep snow we have had. He has a few trails packed down around the barn and to his shelter. I figured he wasn’t comfortable walking around in the snow much because it is all hard now and while I can walk on the top of it, he sinks down every other step. 

 I went out to feed on Monday and when I went out back door to see how he was doing, he gave me this wild eyed look and took off galloping around his pasture!   I guess the snow wasn’t too deep/hard/crunchy for him after all!  At one point, he even jumped the manure pile and then did some sort of Spanish riding school moves.  He jumped straight up in the air and then kicked out with his back feet.  I wish I had my camera with me!   It took him 10 or 15 minutes to calm down and he came back to the barn all sweaty and with his head down.   What a guy. I had to walk him for a while to cool him out before I could feed him.

While I was searching for images similar to the move Spencer “performed”, I found this cool post about in-hand dressage with a miniature horse:  http://equineink.com/2008/06/18/good-dressage-comes-in-a-small-package/

His name is Lancelot and he is so handsome!  He has some videos on YouTube and his owner has a book about training minis...

Since I can’t do much outdoors with Spencer right now, I thought I would practice clipping him.  I saw the previous owner clip him and he was fine, but to be honest, I was expecting a bit of attitude when I tried it.  I got out the clippers and he didn’t even flinch.  I was expecting to have to do a few sessions of desensitizing him and calming myself, but I had his bridle path trimmed in about 5 minutes and he would have let me trim his muzzle too, but I didn’t bother.   So, I’ll need to think of something else to work on.  Maybe I should try pulling his mane and practice braiding or something...???

Oh – I just remembered something horsey that I did a couple of weeks ago. I went with a friend to visit her young horse that is in training.  This barn is into cutting and sorting, so we went to watch an afternoon lesson. The trainer then took my friend’s young horse into the arena afterwards, to get him used to the cows.  It looked really fun actually...it would be neat to try that sometime. Maybe one winter I’ll board for a couple of months and do something like that with Spencer!

moooo

The young paint isn't too sure he likes the cows...

Ok - enough rambling for today. More to come next week. I like my rambling posts!