5 day challenge - part 4

1.  One thing you’d like to change about your horse

Not sure – I guess I would like him to have a better head set – not sure if more training will help or if it is a mix of conformation and attitude that makes his head set not 100%. I was told that if he could keep his head down he would be worth 3x what I paid for him…

2.  Your horse’s future

Well, in 2014 we are going to be showing a lot more. 4 club shows, at least 4 fairs and at at least 1 AQHA show…maybe more if things go well.

If he stays sound, 2015 will be more AQHA shows and fairs.

As for the long term, he has a home with me.  He won’t be sold, unless I have some sort of life crisis that forces my hand.

3. Your worst show ever

So far, I don’t really have one that went bad enough to write about. I do battle nerves a bit and that affects me.

4.  Favorite horse show venue

As a competitor, I don’t have one. Too new to the showing business. 

As a spectator…Congress?  ;-)

5.  Your show day routine
It starts the night before: get Spencer bathed, banded and in his super-suit.  Pack my car and check it twice...

Someone is not amused! 

There must be a better way!

Day of: Up way too early. Feed Spencer.   

Go over my checklist for the 1,000,000^th time. Check stuff in the car for the 10th time. Pack cooler and load that in the car if there is room...

Hoof black at home while waiting for the trailer to arrive.  Load up horse and I drive over to the show in my car.  Unload everything, get Spencer settled in a stall (this summer’s shows had stalls). 

Lead Spencer around the grounds – more for my nerves than his. Maybe longe, but not required. 

Fret and wring my hands. Try and eat something – usually a banana is the only thing I can stomach until later in the day.

I do two halter classes first, so I do a final groom, comb out his tail and apply face goop and get ready to go in the ring!  Usually after the first two classes are done, I start to relax and enjoy the day!

5 day challenge - part 3

I borrowed this challenge idea from Lauren, who borrowed it from Tracy...  I'm always looking for ideas to help me write posts and these questions seemed like a great start!

1.  Critique your horse’s conformation

Ugh. I’m terrible at conformation.  I don’t think I even have a decent photo of him.  His topline isn’t great – high wither and a big shoulder.  His legs are nice and straight and he has a decent solid build.  My coach hates his tail set – it is set too high on his bum for a western horse!  That doesn’t bother me much, but she comments on it all the time!  



How's this for a confo photo?  lol

Not much better, but he is shiny and clean!

Nice trot - but with that tail up/out!  ;-)

2.  Horse’s favorite riding exercise

Standing still?  Spencer is pretty easy going and trucks along at whatever we are doing.  I think trail riding at a walk would be his favourite thing – he likes to look around at the scenery a lot when we go out.

3.  Favorite spa day products

I really like Schneider’s Ultra silk prescription (http://www.sstack.com/horse-care_grooming-supplies_ultra-products_ultra-conditioner-detangler/ultra-silk-prescription-ready-to-use/) for coats/manes/tails. It smells really good and seems to help condition the coat. 

I also love vetrolin for a bath for the horse after riding. It just smells like summer to me!

4.  Three best things about your horse

He is 100% broke and steady, without being boring.  He has a good dose of attitude and I have to work to get a good ride out of him and he is the perfect size for me - right around 15hh.


5.  Favorite picture of your horse

Hmm – I have a few favourites at the moment…but here are two:  one from last winter...

And this one from our first show this year.  His eye is a smidge closed and I know it is a 5^th place ribbon, but I earned that in a class of 12 riders.  It was also my first time riding at a show in almost 20 years!

5 day challenge - part 2

I borrowed this challenge idea from Lauren, who borrowed it from Tracy...  I'm always looking for ideas to help me write posts and these questions seemed like a great start!

1.  Favorite equestrian book and movie

Books – the Black Stallion series? I don’t really have a favourite adult horse book… As for a movie…maybe Black Beauty or Phar Lap?

2.  Most common riding misconception

I'm going to answer this based on other people's misconceptions...and it is one that bugs me a bit... You have all heard the line: "Riding isn't hard!  The horse does all the work!"  I'm not even going to defend that - as we all know the truth!  ;-) 

3.  Two riding strengths and one riding weaknesses

This would be much easier to do if it was just weaknesses!  But, I’ll play along…
My biggest weakness is my fear/confidence issue – that holds me back a fair bit. I’m working on it, but it is always there in the background.

One of my last lessons this fall...yes, I'm riding in draw reins to help out a bit...

Strengths: I have strong legs once I get riding a lot in the summer.  
I  will also just keep trying – I’m not the best or most gifted rider, but I follow instructions well and eventually get
things I’m trying.  That is why I love my lessons so much! 

4.  Least favorite thing about horses and/or riding

Probably the money it takes to show and get out to events and take regular lessons. Trailering fees kill me, but I can’t afford a trailer/truck either right now.

Oh – and washing horse blankets. Yuck.

5.  What do you feed your horse?

Spencer wondering why it takes so long to soak his grain???

I am lucky that I get to feed my horse myself. I can guarantee that he gets his grain/supplements regularly.   

The past 2 boarding barns I was at were terrible at feeding regularly!  

So, Spencer gets Buckeye Grow n Win   (a pelleted vitamin/mineral) and low sugar/low starch extruded grain from Blue Seal.  He is an easy keeper, so he gets the bare minimum amount. He also gets a joint supplement and extra magnesium once a day.  

He gets a lot of nice hay as well. Although, I’m sure if you asked him, he would like more hay…! And after our little colic episode, he is going to have soaked grain in the am and a hot mash of hay cubes, grain and electrolytes in the evenings. Spoiled much?

5 Day Challenge - Part 1

I borrowed this challenge idea from Lauren, who borrowed it from Tracy...  I'm always looking for ideas to help me write posts and these questions seemed like a great start!

1.  Most influential person on your riding

Well, there are two people…  My Dad was a huge influence on me as a kid. He made the whole horse thing happen – we lived on a farm and he was raised a city boy, but he was out there building fences and built me a little barn (with help from my uncles).  He drove me to lessons and horse shows and just encouraged me to get out there.  He died when I was 14, but he is still an influence on me today.  I thought I had an old post about him, but I can’t seem to find anything…might be a good thing to work on this winter!

My current coach is a big influence on me today. She is a local judge as well and is on top of what is current and what judges are looking for. She is also a “get ‘r’ done” kinda lady and we just go out there and ride and get things done. It doesn’t leave a lot of room for my worrying to get in the way, which is a good thing!

2.  Piece of tack you’d love to splurge on…

 Well, if we are truly splurging: a Harris western show saddle!

The Harris...

If I was doing a careful splurge: a nice Circle Y show saddle AND some sort of training saddle...

3.  Top 5 riding playlist

I actually rarely ride with music – I like to hear the cadence of the horse and my breathing.  

4.  Most important aspect of your barn?

It’s all mine!  I have my own little barn on my own little farm.  I do miss the social aspect of boarding a bit, but not that much!

Not fancy, but all mine!  ;-)

5.  Three winter riding goals

Hmm – this one is tough. No indoor arena, so things are pretty limited.

• I hope to do some showmanship practice on the weekends 
•  Get on and walk around in the snow on the weekends
•  In the new year, work on ground driving and longing to start fitting Spencer up for spring

Getting ready for winter

Edited to add: Spencer seems to be doing ok after his little colic episode. Going to start soaking his grain, adding electrolytes and maybe some soaked beet pulp or hay cubes in the evening.

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As seems to be the norm the past few weeks, I drafted parts of this post awhile ago...so most of this was my to-do list from September!

I have a few things to do around my little farm to get ready for winter and if the temperatures lately have been any indication, I need to get my butt moving! 

8-10 inches of snow...just a start!

• DONE! -- Get the heater going in the water trough – I had been stalling on this since wasn't too cold, until one morning in October when it was -4C and there was a thin layer of ice on the trough. 
• Might want to get on this...seeing as how we had our first big snow this week!!  -- Check fence and tighten a few strands. There are a few spots of the fence that get hit with the prevailing west winds and the snow really drifts up against it.  Last year I was able to step over the top strand by walking on a drift! Luckily Spencer had no reason to try and plow through the deep snow to escape! 
• DONE!  -- Test the fence and make sure all connections are good.  I’ve been working on this in sections, but have been slacking lately. 
• DONE! -- Finish pulling all the burrs out of the paddock.  I should have been more aggressive with this earlier in the year…  Next year I will be spraying the bleeping burrs when they start growing!!!
• DONE! -- Pack up fly sprays, fly masks and summer stuff – like shampoo and coat conditioner.  Last year some of that stuff froze on me, even though my tack room is insulated. I will probably store all of it in the house this year.  
• DONE! Need to get on this ASAP!  Have heat tape + insulation all purchased -- Install heat tape and insulation on my water hydrant.  It is supposed to be a frost-free hydrant – in that the water is pulled up and then drains below the frost line.  It froze on me in January last year, so I’m hoping the heat tape helps…  It may also need some adjustments so it doesn’t drip and freeze at the spout. 
• FINALLY DONE! Just washed my HUS saddle pad and once dry need to put it away -- Clean up and organize all my show tack/equipment so it is ready to roll for next year! 
• STILL TO DO.  4 more months of winter should be enough time! -- Clean and oil tack – I bought some nice waterproofing leather conditioner at Congress 
• DONE!  -- Dig out Spencer’s blankets – they are in a bin somewhere – hopefully I had the brains to not hide them behind my hay!  :-S

I have a few goals brewing for the cold, dark winter as well:

• Learning how to pull a mane and band
• Practicing showmanship 
• Working out – so I can be in better shape for the spring    
• Budgeting for next year’s shows and lessons
• Relaxing!  :-D  Winter is a great time to do some reading and catch up on fun stuff like that! 

Cold and snowy...and a hint of colic...

I have to tell you that Spencer had a little colic issue last night!!

Luckily he is fine this am.  It must have just been some gas...?  We had about an hour of rolling, pawing and discomfort. I walked him for about 30 mins and things started moving again.  

I think I got off easy, for sure!!  I don't think he is drinking enough water now that it is cold, so I'm going to start putting hay out by the trough when weather permits (even though I will have to fish bits of hay out in the cold!).  I think I might also start soaking his dinner again, just to get a bit of extra moisture in to his belly. I'm also researching some supplements and feeds to help his digestion, since he seems to suffer from discomfort every now and again. 

Anyone have any ideas?

Me watching the boys from my office window. Making sure both are drinking.

I had some plans to do some SNOWmanship (showmanship practice out in the snow...get it...?  I know, it's kinda lame...lol) with Spencer today, but I'm feeling crappy this morning too, so I decided to stay inside and start cleaning up my office.  It is a disaster -  I have papers everywhere and everything is crammed on to one small bookshelf...!

As I was pondering what to move from the bookshelf to make more room, I realized I didn't share pics of my first two trophies!!!  I thought I'd put them with ol' Zippo Pine Bar - Spencer's grandsire - for effect!  hahaha - mostly that is the only spot they fit right now!!

I managed to get some of the papers sorted, but I think I'm going to have to get some more shelves to sort all of my junk collectibles!  ;-) 

One year Spencer-versary!

This post is way over-due, but better late than never, right?  I wrote it back in September, but haven't been great about posting lately!!!!  :-S

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I can’t believe one year has blown by with my little bay horse.  He and I didn’t have the greatest start – I was worried that I had over-horsed myself yet again.  He was a bit dominant and had a hefty dose of attitude.  I was unsure about how to deal with that, as I don’t like yelling and getting tough with horses…it just doesn’t work.  Luckily I found a trainer that came to my house and 3 visits from her had us working well together.   Now we totally get each other and he is really great to work with. I still get a bit of attitude now and again, but it just a protest as opposed to anything unruly or difficult to deal with

Spencer on his first day at my place...

 We successfully showed this year – 4 shows in total – and I have plans to at least double that number next year. I’m still unsure about showing him at QH shows, but we’ll see how things go - more due to my riding skills than his ability!   I may not be showing at those QH shows, but I'm now on the board of directors for that club, so I'll be at the shows helping, if not showing.


I was also able to turn him out with another horse, even though his previous owner told me he was a terrible bully and had to be turned out alone.  He seems to have settled in well with me and I’m happy that he now has a friend!  If my boarder ever goes, I’ll have to find a suitable replacement.

Spencer (on the left) and Bailey

 I also found a friend in his old owner - we get along really well and have stayed in touch via email over the past 15 months. She is battling breast cancer and I hope she is well enough to show her  horse next summer.  We will be at a lot of the same shows and  I will be happy to cheer her on.

 

Spencer's old owner and her new horse last May

I’ve been told by many of my friends and acquaintances that Spencer and I are a great pair. We are both spunky and have a bit of an attitude!  That makes me smile when I hear that, since he has many more good years of showing and riding ahead of him.  He is 13 and in excellent condition.  As we all know, sometimes horses that have been shown a lot and in intense training often don’t stay sound.  So far, he is sound as can be and I hope to keep him that way.  The only thing I am monitoring is a bit of pre-arthritis in his left hock.  He gets a joint supplement and chiro when needed, so hopefully we can manage that long-term. 

I’m so happy to have found a great match for me and I hope to have many more years with him.  Down the road I’ll be looking for a bit fancier show horse, but that won’t be for a while yet. I still have a lot to do with and learn from Spencer.

He loves to be filthy!

Back from Congress - Part 2 - The shopping!!!

Ok – so the shopping at Congress is pretty awesome.  Most major horse product and western clothing retailers are there with a booth/store.  I had a list about a mile long of stuff that I wanted to buy for my show season next year.  I found a lot of that stuff and a few extra things!  

Note: I didn't take many photos as it was tricky to manage a camera and all of my bags of stuff!  Next time I go, I'll take my big camera and try and get some nice shots.

My new Justins

I bought jewelry, boots, a hat, a show bridle, a show saddle pad and a new show shirt.  Not to mention 2 new sets of heavy leather reins, spurs, spur straps and some new clothes!  I may have gone just a bit overboard, but when in Rome…  ;-)  I come from a family of shoppers and everyone always jokes that I was raised in a mall! Lol  I don’t shop much at home, but when I am away on a shopping trip, I can get a bit carried away.

Buying the hat was quite fun, as most of the retailers have a “hat bar” where you can get your hat shaped. I’d never seen anyone do that before, so it was neat.  I bought a cheaper hat, because I don’t wear it much and I don’t have the budget for a super fancy one.  Some of the nicer felt hats start around $600 and can go up well over $1000!  Yikes!  Luckily the guys at Rod’s took the time to shape my low budget hat, just like they would for a fancier one. 

Hat steaming and shaping - photo from Rod's blog

Finding a show headstall was my big goal and the one thing I really wanted to purchase. I must have gone to 25 places searching for the right one. There were lots of super expensive ones, but I was trying to find the sweet spot for quality and price, without breaking the bank. I drooled over the Kathy’s and the Harris ones, but at approx. $1200, they were way out of my price range. I looked at some more “budget” options, but the silver was all yellowed and chipped.  *sigh* 

I did use my iphone camera to take pictures and notes on headstalls. I'm sure people thought I was weird, but it was the only way to keep everything straight!

I ended up finding a really nice Circle Y headstall and my friend was able to negotiate a nice price on it  because she bought a fancy saddle from the same store last year! So, I ended up with a quality headstall and stayed well within my budget!

I haven't even tried it on Spencer yet, since he is all hairy and dirty!  

My friends also knew a few vendors, since they have all been coming to Congress for years. A lot of the vendors have also been there for many years, in the same booth location.  One booth had nice southwestern designed clothing and two friends spent a lot of time and money there.  While we were waiting for the girls to try on hundreds (or so it seemed!) of outfits, I spent time with the vendor's cute Boston terrier and drinking a cold beer!  

Not too shabby!  :-)

There was also several tons of bling for sale on the grounds. It was a bit overwhelming and not really to my style.  There were cheap bling belts and necklaces and lots of very expensive stuff as well.  

I spent a bit of time looking at this place that sold tack that you could customize with conchos. I probably went by the booth 4 times over the weekend, but ended up not buying anything...this year.

concho central!

 There were all kinds of leather products - handmade stuff was popular...

 Clothes, belts, bling - there was lots of it - in any colour you could think of!

I really liked this one place - they had really neat frames, mirrors and furniture. I can't remember the name of the store, but their stuff was really nice and not too badly priced. I probably would have brought something home if we had enough room in the car!  But, it was also good to leave a few things to buy on future visits!

Back from Congress - Part 1 - the horses

I've had quite the break from this blog! I've just been super lazy these past few days. I spend so much time on the computer at work all day that I don't always feel like doing much stuff online when I get home.  I've been anxious to get back to posting though, so here is part 1 of my  trip to Congress.

The short version of the story: It was awesome and hope I can go back next year!

Pretty medals!

For the long version: read on!

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I made it back from my big trip to the AQHA Congress a few days ago.  I had a great time and was really amazed/impressed by the scale of the whole event.  There were trucks, trailers and RVs for miles, parked all over the fairgrounds.  There were horses and people and hundreds of golf carts all over the place.  The shopping was awesome and the horses were amazing, for the most part.

A jacket from Connie's Customs

We watched several classes, including youth showmanship, hunter under saddle, futurities, novice amateur western classes and many others.  I had fun watching the horses and checking out the blinged out outfits the women wear in the western pleasure classes. They are like evening gowns with chaps!  The prices on the really fancy show jackets are outrageous – you would have to spend a minimum of $1000.00 to get started and we saw ones for sale that were over $4000.00!!!!  Luckily I will never need one of those outfits, since I find them a bit too much for my taste!

I have to admit that I’m still not a huge fan of western pleasure. The lope is still kind of nasty on a lot of horses. I think it has improved a lot over the past few years, but still not my favourite. I enjoyed the HUS classes – the horses move out much better - and I was even getting ok at picking the top 3-5 horses in each split and even in the finals. 

Proof that I actually watched some classes!  ;-)

The auction was the big event on the Sunday - which was ok, since we needed a  bit of a break from shopping!  We had all reviewed the sales catalogue ahead of time and maybe a few fantasy picks.

We toured the sales barn ahead of time to see our picks in person.  I had my eye on a nice yearling gelding out of Lazy Loper, a super popular stud (here is a link to a youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DndgYsEh7KE) and he went for $5500, which isn’t unreasonable.  Maybe someday I’ll buy my next horse down there!  

Lazy Loper - stud muffin extraordinaire!

 It was fun listening to the auctioneers and it took me a while to understand what they were saying!  They also had people at the front of the seating areas watching for bids and communicating with the auctioneer using all kinds of hand signals – which I couldn’t really figure out - but it was fun to watch.

The people I was with seemed to know half the people and horses on the grounds – we talked to people in the barns, people showing, people there shopping, people there with their trainers, etc. etc. etc.  It was a big learning experience - I met lots of new people and learned a ton about bloodlines and what judges are looking for in the big classes.   

Coming up next – shopping at Congress!

Updates are hard when you aren't riding much!

So, I've been a total slacker with both riding and this blog!  I'm not sure what happened in the riding department - my motivation went out the window as soon as September hit.  Oh well...I'm not on any particular schedule here, so it doesn't really matter in the end.

I found out recently that Spencer and I are reserve high-point in halter AND western horsemanship at the little series of club shows we did this summer!  Very cool for me, considering I had no idea if I could even win a ribbon, let alone a reserve high-point award. The only slight bummer in this situation is that I'm going to miss the banquet because I'm going to Congress that weekend.  I guess I'll to have a friend pick up any loot I might win!  :-)

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I spend a lot more time on my computer when the seasons change and my riding slows down.  I've started riding English a bit with Spencer, so of course I have been searching for matching tack and all kinds of extra stuff I don't really need...!

I was teased a bit this summer for Spencer's training tack. I have a safety orange saddle pad and fly veil for him that I quite like. I also have an orange helmet cover that I'll have to get out now that it is cooler.

I noticed that emerald green is very popular in a lot of stores this year. Green is my favourite colour and it isn't often a colour that you find in clothes in retail stores.  I was browsing the internet to see if I could come up with a couple of super-matchy " tack items for Spencer just to bug my coach a bit.  ;-)

It turns out that there is a ton of bright green stuff for the English side! I attempted to make one of those clothing mash-up images that you see all over Pinterest.  You know what I mean, images like this:

I actually like this outfit, even if there is no green anywhere!  ;-)

Here is my bright green version.  I even included a Ralph Lauren model with a green polo shirt, 'cause I totally look like that when I ride! LOL  I really love the white saddle pad with the monogram and the beer and clover pad.  I'm part Irish (somewhere in my heritage) so that would be great to have, right?  The saddle pads and the polos are all from Ebay.  I actually can't remember where I found the black/green stirrups.  I'm trying to resist ordering some of that stuff this fall since it is my favourite colour and all!

Love all that green! 

I then decided to try and find some western tack with the same emerald colour. It doesn't really exist on the western side yet. Lots of lime and hunter green, but not emerald.  Here is my initial lime green western inspiration:

 And then I found a bunch of sites that make custom bling tack and you can choose your colours:

Emerald green - this could work!

 Or, I could get a whole set of matching tack in whatever colour I wanted!!!

This would look great with green crystals!

Luckily I'm able to resist buying anything right now! I'm sure I'll find all kinds of neat stuff to buy at Congress. I've heard the shopping there is pretty amazing!

An update, to move the grouchy post down!

Just a warning – this post is probably going to be all over the place…as I don’t have much to say on any one topic! ;-)  I also wanted to push down the grumpy whiny post!

I think my show season is done for this year. There are some fairs I could go to, but I think I just want to work on my riding at home and save up a bit of money. I have three things I want to save a bit of money for in the short term:

1. A mini shopping trip to PA with my family (DONE! Had fun, found some nice new clothes for the fall!)
2. Building some trail obstacles (more on that later);
3. And more importantly, I’m going to Congress in October!!! Woo-hoo! (That’s a big AQHA show in Columbus, OH, for those of you not into the QH scene… )

I was invited to go with my coach and two other ladies that I got to know this summer. I am pretty excited to go – mostly for the shopping – I can admit it! It will neat to be at such a big horse event and the gals I’m going with are pretty fun. I may have already started a shopping list! It will be fun to get some stuff that isn’t available here, or would cost me a fortune in shipping.

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A couple of weeks ago, I rigged up a little display in the barn for my ribbons. I still had two of Rusty’s old shoes, so I pounded the clips down a bit and spray-painted them John Deere green. I like green and that paint was sitting around, so why not? ;-) I bought a 6ft piece of fine chain from the hardware store and voilà! A ribbon display!

 

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What? I have to work?

My coach’s hubby came over today with his tractor to pull some sand off my ring - it was just too deep!  He didn't charge me anything either, which almost made me cry. They are such nice people and they know how much I appreciate the help.

In the end, we almost doubled the width of the ring. It is about 120' x 120'  now! I need some barrels or jumps or something, lol.  Or, I could almost set up a trail course on the one side and leave it there.

It is really hard to deal with workers and explain the type of sand you need for horseback riding. Not too deep, but not too shallow. Sand that won’t pack too much but isn’t too loose or too coarse or too fine. What??? Umm, right, ok. My sand is almost like beach sand and in hindsight I should have had the guys bring me a sample before dumping it all in the ring. I can work with it though, so that is the good news. I may have to have a load of a different type of sand brought in next year to mix with the stuff I have. I guess it is still a work in progress at this point!

A pretty nice panorama!  It was a beautiful day today...even if it was cool.

I also finally hauled all of my poles and jumps standards to the ring. We even Macgyver’d two harrows for the ring – one is an old piece of chain link fence and the other is made of pallets! I set up a small section of temporary fence to keep the horses away from it, since the ring is inside my larger pasture. I will fence of the riding ring eventually, but for now it is all open.

I have some plans this fall to build some trail obstacles, but I’ll save that for another post when I can get some pictures of my handy-work!

A very crappy lesson

I was away for five days last week and then my Mom came back to stay with me for a week. I didn’t really have a lot of time to ride, with work and entertaining my Mom. Unfortunately my Mom isn’t the slightest bit interested in horses or my riding, so it was hard to sneak away and have some time with my boy.


As a result of the above, Spencer had a nice little two week holiday. I rode for about 30 mins on Saturday and then had a lesson last night. The weather was dicey, but the rain held off, which was good. I had to laugh at Spencer when I first went out to the barn to get tacked up. He was trotting around and whinnied to me when he saw me. I wasn’t sure why he was so wound up when I got out there, but just attributed it to the cooler weather we are having.

We went out to the ring to lunge a bit before my coach arrived. Spencer was on high alert and was a bit snorty. I brushed it off and just kept working. A few minutes later, I found out why he was so jumpy. A neighbour (that we couldn’t see) was outside doing some target practice or something and gunshots were ringing out. This happened last fall too, so I’m sure the horses will get used to the sound. The first few times they hear gunshots, they get a little nervous, as do I, since it isn’t something we hear all the time.

When my coach arrived, she was surprised to see me lunging. Spencer hasn’t needed any lunging all summer and has been super calm. She asked why Spencer was all wound up and I smiled and told her she would soon find out why. I got on and started warming up at the trot. After a few minutes, another two gunshots rang out – Spencer did a little scoot, but didn’t spook. Coach exclaimed “oh my gosh! No wonder he is nervous!” We just laughed about it and carried on. Luckily the marksman next door gave up soon after that and went in for dinner or something!

The lesson never really got much better though. The sand in my ring is still a bit too deep, so Spencer had to work hard at the trot and canter to keep going. ( Coach’s hubby is going to come with the tractor this week and pull more sand off, which will help.) Spencer kept breaking at the lope and I was getting very frustrated. Frustrated with him, the sand and how weak my muscles became after a measly two weeks off… And we all know we don’t ride well when frustrated. I had to take a couple of walk breaks to calm myself down and start over.

Spencer was ignoring my leg, looking off in the distance and was just being difficult. It was one of the worst lessons we’ve had since our early lessons this spring! I’m sure it’s because we were both distracted by the weather and gunshots, as well as being a bit out of shape. I have been a bit spoiled this summer, as almost every ride and lesson I've had has been excellent - we were making so much progress, that I assumed every ride would be good!  I'm going to ride as much as I can this fall to keep him going, but the darkness and winter will catch up to us eventually. 

Shows 3 & 4 – checking off goals faster than I can set them!



Halter class

So, I now have four club shows under my belt. I really felt by the end of the last show on Sunday that I was getting the hang of the whole show thing.

My only goal for last year was to buy a horse that had the potential to show…CHECK!

My initial goal for this year was to make it out to some schooling shows…CHECK!

So, I have clearly met my basic goals – which is a first for me! After the first show, I refined my goals a bit to include the following:

Goal 1 – remember all my patterns (3 each show)…CHECK!

Goal 2 – win a shiny ribbon … CHECK!

Goal 3 – learn proper western show turnout and pack my tack ahead of time…CHECK! (with one exception – I still don’t know how to band a mane. That is a goal for the fall/winter)

Goal 4 – have fun… CHECK!

Goal 5 – improve my riding…CHECK! (still a lot to work on here, but my progress since mid-March is pretty drastic!)

I don’t think I have ever met so many horse related goals in one season. Ever. With any horse. I’m actually finding it kind of weird…in a good way! So, for this last show, I added a couple of extra goals:

Goal 6 – Don’t break at the lope in the rail classes

Goal 7 – Don’t freak out riding in a group in rail classes

I was able to meet both of these goals at the most recent show! I got through a western pleasure class without Spencer breaking at the lope. That was a huge victory for me. I’m sure I’ll still have to work on that in the future, but I was actually able to do it at the show!

My haul from Sunday

I don’t have a lot of experience riding in a large group (which I consider to be 8+ riders or so) in a fairly large ring. I was worried Spencer would spook or take off or something, but he hasn’t put a foot wrong. He just trucks along and ignores the other horses. He does look around a fair bit, but working on getting his headset really consistent is a goal for another day.

Spencer and I have really started to click. We were fine before, but we are now really sailing along. We placed in every class at this show, which was a first. I also got my very first 1st place ribbon! (did you know that firsts are red in Canada??)

I actually got this in the command class, which was a bit of a surprise. The command class is basically “Simon Says” on horseback, which is meant to be a fun class at the end of the day. The announcer calls out changes of gait and other tasks (sidepass, backing, halt, stand on a loose rein, etc.) and if the rider doesn’t do the task properly and quickly, you are eliminated and go to the center of the ring.

It can get a bit competitive though, with spectators and eliminated riders cheering on the last two participants. I usually get eliminated early on, with something like a counter-canter, but for whatever reason, Spencer and I were getting the commands like clock-work. He got all of his leads for all of the canter and counter-canter, we sidepassed, backed a circle, did turn on the haunches and turn on the forehand, hand galloped, etc. etc. It was a blast and I still can’t believe we did so well. I think I even won $10 or $15 on that class as well! My first earnings! Lol

There weren’t really any negatives for this most recent show. I did come out of there with a list of things to work on, which will become my new set of goals! So, in no particular order, my things to work on are:

1. Trying to calm my nerves more – I’m getting there, but still need to focus on breathing
2. Being more patient in the trail/horsemanship classes – I tend to rush the patterns when I get nervous
3. Working on my seat – I’m still a bit bouncy at the canter, which is partly due to Spencer popping his head up on me
4. Start working on cleaning up simple lead changes – get down to one or two steps of jog and make sure my position stays solid
5. Start schooling flying lead changes – not sure if Spencer was trained to do this or not, but it is something to work on
6. Ride English more often and work on position at trot
7. Work on Spencer’s head set – this will come as I get stronger and am better balanced
8. Build/set-up some sort of display for my ribbons!!!  :-D  I have become a total ribbon ho!
9. Work on downward transitions - namely lope/jog and lope/halt
10. Build some trail obstacles to use at home to keep things fun
11. Start planning the 2014 show season - it will likely be bigger! And start a budget/savings spreadsheet as well, since showing ain't cheap!

Wow - 11 things sounds like a lot to work on, but I find all of those things fun and challenging at the same time.  Yes, I'm a bit of a geek. I can admit it freely.  :-)

Saddles come and go…

I am working on a post about my last two shows (which went well!) but I’m waiting for a friend to send me a couple of pictures before I post it.

In the meantime, I wanted to talk saddles. I love saddles, both English and Western – I read about different brands and daydream about all of the saddles I would like to own if budget was no issue.

I have purchased two saddles in recent years, one western and one endurance. I got a lot of use out of my western saddle – it fit Dolly and Rusty really well. It was extremely comfortable and everyone that rode in it loved it. The not-so-great news was that it didn’t really fit Spencer all that well. I had to pad it up and just hope for the best. Once I started riding him in my new-to-me Circle Y show saddle, it highlighted how poorly the other saddle fit.


I only used my endurance saddle about 10 times – I just never really felt all that comfortable in it. I have lots of room to store saddles, since I have my own tack room, but I always feel guilty looking at nice saddles that can’t be used due to fit or a drastic change in discipline. The market around here for western and endurance stuff hasn’t been that great, but I decided last week to try and sell both saddles. That would free up space in my tack room, as well as put a bit of money back in my pocket after building my sand ring!

I listed the western saddle to sell locally and within 2 days, it was sold to my old coach! The endurance saddle went on Ebay to hit a wider audience and it sold by the end of the auction! So, in 7 days, I went from 3 saddles to 1. My time with only one saddle was short-lived, as another saddle has found its way into my tack room...

My coach has also been bugging me to start riding Spencer English. He will be a good little HUS horse for me next year, so that was part of my plan from the beginning. I was dreading searching for an English saddle though – I find them pretty to look at, but hard to fit! I also didn’t want to spend much until I decided if I liked riding English again. My coach knows tonnes of people that are always selling tack and within a few days, she found me a saddle to try. It fits Spencer ok and seems to fit me as well. I’m getting it – with stirrups, leathers and 3 saddle pads for a steal. The lady just wanted to get rid of it!

I’ve ridden in the English saddle a couple of times so far and it is going better than I had expected. My core isn’t super strong, so I’m a bit wobbly when posting, but that will come with more miles trotting. I’ve been spoiled by my western saddle that holds me nice and secure!

Hopefully my saddle number stays at 2 for awhile, but you never know. I'm itching to get a nice training saddle, so I don't have to school in my show saddle. My show saddle is older to begin with, so I don't want to scratch it or wreck it somehow.  I would love to get another Rocking R saddle, since my old one was so comfortable, so we'll have to see how the budget goes over the coming months!