This week

It's amazing what 4 days of consistant work will do for the baby horse brain.  He was so much better for our lesson this week.  We stayed in the arena almost the whole time and he was listening a whole lot better to my leg.  After the arena work, we moved on to jumping a tiny little "grid" (really just a one stride).  The first time through I think his little brain was about 4 strides behind us and he stopped at the second one and then jumped from a stand-still which totally dis-lodged me.  Second time was better and then trainer decided to put up chute poles to fix the drifting issues.  Initiate another baby brain moment.  He finally got the picture and went through well twice and we called it a day. 

Trainer works out of a vet's place so I was asking her about doing his teeth and she was like "well I can do them right now".  So he got spring cleaning: teeth floated (I felt bad, they were really bad), shots, coggins, and then the farrier came in the afternoon.  It's a good thing all this occurs only one the same day around 1x a year since my checkbook had a small heart attack.  He will get today and tomorrow off and hopefully be a much happier pony on Saturday.

Oh, he was argumentative about getting on the trailer again.  Argh!  He's really not scared.  SOOOO ANNNOYYYING!!!

In other news, saddle repair guy called and the tree is not damaged.  He just has to replace the stirrup bar and we'll be good to go.  Super happy about that.  Although now I've been borrowing all these super nice saddles with calfskin seats, I'm getting spoiled and want to shop again.

Good drugged pony

Last week

So saddle got shipped off to Ohio to a guy recommended by the Rep.  I don't really trust anyone around here to fix it.  Hopefully it is just the stirrup bar that is bent and no serious damage to the tree.

I borrowed a saddle for my lesson last Wednesday which fit Cabot pretty well turns out.  Too bad I can't borrow it permanently.  :(.  I'm stuck riding in my dressage saddle for the foreseeable future.  Double :(.  Cabot was pretty good for the lesson.  He thinks that arenas that are not fenced are optional for staying in, which we will need to fix.  He was super awesome trotting one way but not so much the other and pretty terrible listening to my outside leg at the canter.  Then we went out to jump.  He was ok warming up, definitely need to work on straightness and we pulled his boots since he was just hitting rails left and right.  Toward the end we jumped a little roll top which he was not a fan of.  He kept jumping off to one side so he wouldn't have to go over where the actual roll top was.  Finally got him to go straight over the middle and we called it a day.

He got the rest of the week off because I got super busy.  Funny how I was busier last week than when I had a full-time job.  Friday I went drug testing at a AA Hunter/Jumper Show with a vet from the vet school.  The weather was horrible, but luckily the vet had a couple of jackets in his truck because we were not prepared for 50's and raining and windy.  Drug testing is about as fun as it sounds, lots of waiting for horses to pee.  It was nice to be back immersed into that world even for a day though.  Lots of gorgeous fat hunter ponies and we got to watch a $5,000 Jumper Classic at 1.3m and a $5,000 Hunter Derby.

Saturday we went to a reining show and watched.  Also pretty cool.  Western Dressage :).

Yesterday was polo.

3 disciplines in 3 days :).

Another ride...same elbow

Orange pony has been relatively good the last couple of rides.  We are sticking to the round pen for now.  We're supposed to have a lesson on Wednesday morning (more on the supposed to part in a bit).  Here are some pics from our schooling at MeadowCreek.  Clearly we still need to figure out what our legs are supposed to do.

Today I worked Cabot and the Yellow Horse (fellow boarders un-broke 4 year old, who's name is Ethyl and I refuse to call her that) in the morning and let Storm wait for the afternoon so I could ride with Kelly.  Cabot and YH were pretty good.  Rode in the dressage saddle, which is quite different and somewhat uncomfortable, it's going to take some getting used to.  

Storm was ok in the beginning walking around.  I switched her to a Kimberwicke (mimicking polo pelham action) but she didn't seem to be a fan.  I asked her to trot and got half way around the arena to where I had set up a jump.  There are 2 barrels that are next to the jump and one fell over.  Ensue major spook and bucking fit because of said barrel.  I ditch (of course landing on the same elbow that took the brunt of the fall off Cabot) and she takes off down the arena.  Saddle starts to slip.  She still won't stop so saddle slips all the way underneath and then girth breaks.  Investigate saddle all is ok until I go to put the stirrup back on.

Yep, that's the stirrup bar bent out at a 90* angle.  I am thinking she must of stepped on the stirrup (we couldn't really tell) causing the girth to break.  Not sure why the stirrup leather didn't break before causing metal to bend.  Also one of the billet straps came off.  I'm hoping I can send it back to get fixed/replaced since it's under a year old.  Bonus to being tack shop slave is that I have a pretty good relationship with our rep for that company.  Storm might have to go back to being a polo pony...

Bad ponies = sore Ashley

Cabot has hit that stage in his life where he is REALLY ADD.  It is super annoying and he needs to grow out of it already.  The lady that owns the place we went to school XC came into the store and told me it was ok to bring him since his Coggins was only expired by about 2 weeks.  So I figured I better get on him Thursday before that adventure.  I have been warming him up/working him in side reins and he has pretty much figured that out and now doesn't fight the rein contact so much.  He warmed up well so I took him out to to the arena and got on.  Walked around fine, albeit a little lookey at the horse that lives over by the arena.  Did some circles and still listening pretty well.  Cue trot and devil-pony arrives.  Flinging his head everywhere, not listening, pretty much just being a giant ass.  Back to walk - listens well.  Trot - head flinging.  So he got a nice smack in the head.  He didn't like that very much - starting hopping and mini rears.  I almost stayed on (famous last words) but he spun his butt and I came off.  Of course I landed in the strip of arena that hasn't been dragged in forever.  Elbow and hip absorbed most of the impact, with some whip-lash for good measure.  Bruised, but ok.  Devil-pony got put back in the round pen to work his little orange butt off.  I then got on in the round pen and he was awesome.  Listening to the contact and steering like I know he knows how.

Since I wasn't too sore the next day (Friday), I thought it would be a bright idea to take both horses up to school XC and see how they deal with having to be separated after a trailer ride together.  Both got on pretty well (some issues with Storm not thinking she could fit in the rear space), which made me super happy.  Got everything unloaded and tacked up Cabot first.  I figured he would be worse and better to use all my energy on him.  He was HORRENDOUS!  Screaming, throwing a fit, I couldn't even get on because he wouldn't stand still long enough (if anyone has any magic tricks for standing while trying to mount - I am all ears!).  So he got run around on the lunge line.  Then moved to the warm up area on the course and more lunging.  Finally walked out to where everyone else was and was able to get on.  He was slightly better once I mounted but still screaming unless he was actively doing something.  Exhausting!  We schooled mostly just itty bitty questions and the water and called it done with him.  I will have to take him back by himself since I really want to do Beginner Novice with him in June.

Storm was a little better.  Still very lookey and VERY STRONG.  She did ok with her first introduction to jumping.  Hopped over some little logs and x-rails and one little ramp.  I don't know that she will make an awesome eventer and it's becoming quite difficult for me to tolerate riding 2 complete greenies.  She might go back to being a polo pony by the end of the month.

Trainer's hubby was there taking pictures so hopefully we got some good ones and I can make an ad for storm.

Cabot (cell phone pic)

Adorable Zoe-dog in the blue bonnets last weekend :)

Blog silence

Please accept my apologies for lack of updates of the blog. 

It was a quiet few weeks on the horse front due to bi-weekly torrential downpours.  Hard to get any work done when the arena is soup (and never dragged).  And I was sick :(...really sick...stayed home 2 days from work sick (which I never do).

But now, it's time...the ponies are going to work!  And I'm not working! At least not as much.  The closing of the store got delayed until the end of April, so the boss-lady and I are only working Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Almost done with the first week and I am LOVING this arrangement.  The ponies are getting worked.  And I picked up another client - a 2 year old yellow Quarter Horse that boards at the barn.  My job will be to start her.  She got lunged yesterday and has somewhat of a good brain so hopefully it will work out.  And I'm getting housework actually done so our place doesn't look like such a disaster zone.  And cooking dinner...I think hubby is liking this arangement as well.

Cabot got worked on Monday and auditioned for the local rodeo.  I have never seen this horse buck so much.  I asked him to trot off and he took of straight up a la bronc style (back broken in half, feet together, hopping up and down).  He finally worked himself out of that and got to work.  Still working him in side reins letting him work out the head-set issues without fighting me.

I have been concentrating on Storm now.  She really needs to get sold.  I may have someone that wants her in Guatemala (hubby's family connection), so she needs to get tuned up enough so they'll want her.  I'm also going to taking her XC schooling tomorrow or Monday and see what she does.  Hopefully it will be a good experience (Cabot doesn't get to go since I let his Coggins expire...whoops...).

Picture Time

This weekend it rained somewhere between 2 and 5 inches depending specifically where you were at, so no riding.  Plus my best friend came to Dallas to visit so the hubby and I drove up to see her.  We decided to make a mini-vaca out of it since we never got a honeymoon and Saturday was our 6 month anniversary.  Awesome weekend...

We went to Medieval Times...

It was awesome!  Lots more emphasis on the horse than I remember (last time I went was 12ish years ago).  Food was good except that we had chicken earlier in the day for lunch so we ended up each eating about a whole chicken in a day...gahhh...

We also went to the Dallas Aquarium...

Of course I find the horses...even at the aquarium...

It wasn't so much an aquarium as a it was a giant rainforest exhibit.  Lots of birds, and monkeys, a sloth and even a sleepy jaguar...

Came home to find that spring has sprung with new babies. :)  This adorable white-headed creature is at the barn's neighbor's.  They have 4 llamas and I saw that they got a new addition on Thursday before I left.  I have yet to see it again to get a better picture since I think they put it up in the barn because of all the rain and chilliness.

This adorable little being was a surprise.  Turns out one of young colts that belongs to hubby's grandfather knocked up a couple of mares before getting castrated last spring.  This is the third and hopefully last adorable little dun foal born within the last week.  She has 2 brothers that are identical and feisty (one of the mares got sold to Guatemala and they were surprised a couple weeks ago with his arrival).

This is my new buddy...Brahman bull calf from last spring.  He just got weaned and loves to be scratched on his adorable big floppy Brahman ears :).

And hubby found a lady bug while helping me with the ponies yesterday...

Last but certainly NOT least......

Today is Cabot's 4th birthday.  Man how time flies...Happy Birthday orange kid!

Patience and Persistence

So my patience and persistence have definitely paid off.  Yesterday I took Cabot for a little drive in the trailer.  We went in a big circle about a 20 minute ride.  He hopped on right away, which was a good start and then started to fuss once he figured out he was tied and I was closing the door.  He was mostly quiet for the ride as far as I could tell.  Then the true test was to get him back on once we unloaded back at the barn.  He made a little show of it and refused at first, but once I got his grain he hopped right on.  He got on and off a couple times doing that until I closed him in to eat.  Finally close to done, I opened the door and he hopped off.  I wanted to go back and get his bucket and he actually followed me in again.  I'm so proud of him :-D.  Hopefully we can get to the point where we don't need the grain, but for now, that is SO MUCH improvement.  I did this all by myself too btw.

I spent Monday lunging him in side reins.  I've decided to take a couple of steps back so he gets better with the bit contact and doesn't try to whack me in the head when I ask him to turn.  The lessons seem to be paying off. 

Oh and we bought a dressage saddle.  It's a brown Passier that I got a super amazing deal on and it fits him like a dream.  :) So now we're really going to have to do an 3-phased event...

Back to work

I was finally able to get back to riding yesterday.  We've gotten a tiny bit slower at the store so I'm actually able to leave at 5pm.  I headed out to the barn and tacked up Storm.  She was ok given that she has not been worked since, uhh...last summer.  She threw in a couple bucks when I asked for the canter but reasonably well-behaved for a 5 year old TB.  She is the TOTAL opposite ride of Cabot and is going to take a little getting used to.  First of all, she's a million miles long nose to tail (Cabot is very compact) and the front end doesn't always communicate well with the back end.  And she leans into the bridle so much.  I figure that comes from race training (which is what I think she was probably doing in Kentucky before she moved to Texas to be a polo pony).  I checked for a tattoo though and none there so I guess she never actually raced.  We'll see how she comes along.  She's a bit spooky so I'm going to try and get some places for her to go and experience. 

Think I'm going to try and ride Cabot today and see if I can stay on a every-other-day schedule for both of them.  Then no one is neglected.

PS. Cabot and Slim threw the mother of all hissy fits when I took their girlfriend away to ride yesterday.  Gah...boys....

Holy guacamole

To say I've been busy is a HUGE UNDERSTATEMENT!!!!

We started the sale on the website for the store going out of business on Saturday.  Since then, we've had approximately 400 orders.  This is a business that usually only gets 20ish on a good regular day and maybe 80 close to Christmas when it's crazy.  400!!!!  There's no way we can keep up.  People are just gonna have to wait and that's going to have to be ok.  Most seem to understand.

Anyway, if you want some good deals, hit up: www.legacytack.com.  Everything is 30% off now.  You better hurry...stuff's selling out fast.

I haven't even been able to think about what's going to happen after this gig is up.  Hopefully it will slow down a little bit before it goes dead so I can prepare a little bit.

And no riding this week...going in early to work and staying late = no more daylight.  Which doubly sucks because it hasn't rained and it was oh, 75 degrees today!  Why couldn't it have been like this last week???

However, I will continue to count my blessings.  A friend's husband passed away this morning from cancer at age 31.  Definitely puts everything in some harsh perspective.

I think I won

Cabot's still getting in fed in the trailer but is now getting on and off like a champ.  He got on and off several times yesterday morning by himself while I was cleaning his stall and even turning his buddies out (which totally surprised me).  In the evening, I didn't even put his halter on and he hopped right on.  Next step is to take him for a little ride around the neighborhood and see if he'll get on again afterwards, since it seems to be the trailer trips that make him upset, not actually getting on. 

His opinion of me since I told BO not to feed him in the mornings so I can feed him in the trailer when I get there...

Yep, full load of poop straight up in his feeder...

And it's still raining...maybe tomorrow we'll go for that trailer ride, so I feel productive.  I think all this rain/not riding has pretty much killed my dreams of being able to show in 2 weeks.  There's not another schooling show until June but there is a recognized one in April at Pine Hill.  Not sure if that would be a bright idea or not.  I need to get to work on Storm too so I can get her sold or just let her go back to being a  polo pony and focus on the orange kid.  Gah...not used to not having a place to ride when it rains...

Cabot 3, Ashley 1!!!

I am finally on the scoreboard in the battle of wills!  He got in yesterday!!!!  And went out on his own accord and GOT BACK IN!!  I was so excited :).  He was being his usually turd self and try to wait me out.  I put one of his feet on the trailer (my friend Kelly was holding lead rope inside) and stepped back and his just got right in.  No big deal :) (which on some levels is even more frustrating because it really is a battle of wills and he's not scared AT ALL!).  I told BO not to feed him again this morning so I can try again...we'll see.

Mom why is this such a big deal??

Good beautiful big chestnut butt!

The Battle of Wills continues

So of course it rained (hard) again yesterday so no riding :(.  I am not used to not having an indoor/covered arena when I actually want to ride and it has having some serious effects on my horse-happiness scale.  Instead I tried to work Cabot into the trailer using some methods I saw on COTH.  I have not tried the lunge line behind the butt method as of yet, since I'm still being patient and now he seems to have a tendency to go up when he gets mad and I don't want to encourage that at all.  After about 30 minutes, we are still no closer to getting in the trailer.  He has now not had grain for about 4 meals and that still is not enough enticement to get in.  Stupid pony.  I do feel like he's getting a little bit of an out, because I still turn him out and he theoretically gets to graze, but there's not much grass in there mud-hole of a pasture right now so I think he should still want his grain and hay for the 15 hours he has to spend in his run.  We'll try again today...

Valentine's Day was a major downer day -

A) I found out the tack store where I work is closing (stay tuned for an update when things actually go on major sales) and I am therefore becoming unemployed.

B) When I went to bring the horses in, all 3 of them managed to fight enough with eachother and take my concentration away from the gate, run through the gate and across the road.  As I trod after them, they decided they were in trouble and promptly ran back up the driveway where I was able to ghetto-rig some gates so they couldn't get out again and get them all in their stalls.

C) Checking my PO Box is a major cause of discomfort usually because of all the job rejection (tack store slave was not supposed to be my career after obtaining a Master's Degree) letters...this time there was an almost $300 bill from the dermetologist I went to see A YEAR AGO!  I guess all the funny business with my insurance has finally gone through so now they decide to bill me :(.

Ok...enough complaining...I'm very lucky in lots of other ways...

Proof of all the rain

Just noticed this when I went to the post office for work...

Hauling Hay (that leaves seeds) + bark from firewood hauled months ago + shitload of rain =



Grass growing in the bed of my truck



I pretty much hate rain now...

Got in 1 good ride on the orange kid last week.  He was ok, mostly paid attention and we did some trot poles which he figured out the second time through.  We have to learn to jump and play in the sandbox if we're going to show in a couple weeks (which might actually be out of the question since we still haven't conquered the trailering issues).  I did park the trailer at the end of his run, but have yet to be successful in getting him in and I'm not sure I want to just leave his grain and let him get in by himself (at least the first time I want to witness).  Anyway...also during last week's ride...he attempted to buck for the first time (yes, my not quite 4 year old Thoroughbred has not bucked at all throughout his "starting under saddle" process).  I found it quite entertaining since I think he was just voicing his displeasure at doing a nice canter transition and shoved his head down and kind of arched his back a little.  This is probably due to the fact that there is not enough daylight (still no lights installed....grrrrrr...) to be able to lunge him before I get on.  So I just hop on and hope for the best.  I'm actually kind of glad I'm getting a little opinion out of him and he's not a total dead-head.

It's actually nice out today - but I have V-day plans with hubby and the in-laws so no riding...Cabot also cut his lip on something in his stall yesterday (it looks like he got punched in the nose)...

Pic from last week -

Handsome man (a little dirty :))

More rain........

I know I really shouldn't complain since Texas is in a state-wide drought and 2011 was the driest year since 1917, but I really am sick of this raining everyday business.  Not having a covered arena is really making my training schedule pretty inconsistent.  And I'm sick of cleaning muddy paws and hooves.

So, I'll take this opportunity for a little background on me...

I grew up in West Central NJ (very far from the Jersey Shore).  I have loved horses since I could remember.  I begged every birthday, Christmas, Easter, Valentine's Day, Presidents Day (you get the picture) for riding lessons and a pony.  That wish finally came true one Christmas when I opened a riding helmet on Christmas morning.  Mom had finally gotten me riding lessons.  I rode at that farm for the next 9 years (through high school and summers in college) until I moved to Texas and the barn actually closed.  We could never afford my own horse so I rode all the schoolies and fell in love around 3 times only to have them sold out from under me.  The one who taught me the most (my heart horse) was Snickers.  He was a TB (I think), that went around like a mack truck when we first got him.  He ended up going lame for a while (I think a quarter crack) and was stall bound.  I got the ride on him after that and showed him through my senior year of HS.  He was a special guy - had narcolepsy - so you couldn't leave him standing alone after tacking up or he'd fall asleep.  I fell off in EVERY SINGLE show that summer, but he finally taught me how to sit and RIDE!  When I left for college, my trainer told me she would never sell him, but alas by the time Christmas came around he was gone :(.

So I left for school, learned how to drive and all about the wonderful Morgan breed.  Got a BS in Animal Science and didn't know what to do next so I signed up to get a MS in Animal Science (emphasis on Equine Reproduction) and took off for Texas.  During grad school, I bought a TB mare that is Oldenburg book approved (for my future ventures into the breeding industry) and was in foal to the school's TB stud.  March 12, 2008 out came the completely solid orange chestnut kid - Cabot.  4 years later...we're learning how to be a grown-up horse and venturing in the world of eventing since that seems to be what all the cool kids do around here.

This week...

I got to ride with my friend Kelly on Monday and it was a really good ride.  Cabot actually turned when I asked him to and I used the Kelly and Slim as bait to get him to turn sometimes.  He trotted around like a mostly normal horse and only had a couple episodes when asking to canter - in which I almost got launched over the gate and we almost jumped my jump standards that fell down (note to self: pick them up next time).  On a side note though, while trying to avoid the downed standards, he performed a pretty perfect lead change.  Once I got about 4 strides in a consistent direction and a good pace we quit for the day.  Very happy with the little man.

They both got their feet done yesterday so no riding and it rained again so arena is probably soup...we'll see.  I need to tackle the mare as she has more hope of me actually wanting to sell her to get my commission....

Some pictures from schooling at Pine Hill

Sorry these pics are from so far away.  Husband did not go with us, so had to relying on alternative picture takers with cellphones.  Look how he uses his neck!

Following pictures are of Riley - she competes her horse at Beginner Novice and is getting ready to move up.  I used to give her lessons back when she did H/J stuff and she used to ride Cabot's mom.  She was also there when he was born and to do is the only other one to ever sit on him.  She had a little trouble trying to figure out the steering (she's never ridden such a green horse), but he was very good for her and did everything she asked. :)

I forsee some gymnastics in our future to get those knees up and even.  Haven't ridden at all in the last week due to all the rain.  Probably going to ride the neglected child (Storm) for the first time at the new place tonight.



We have a jumper...

I have not ridden all week :(.  The orange pony got a day off Monday after his adventures at Pine Hill.  It then proceeded to rain torrential downpour complete with torndado warnings Tuesday and Wednesday.  Glad the ponies were tucked in their stalls and nothing was damaged.  Now the arena is mud-soup.  We are going to attempt a ride today, but it might be just a trail ride down the road as the arena has to be investigated more closely.

Anyway, Cabot seems to have enjoyed his jumping lesson on Sunday as he proceeded to jump out of his pasture yesterday.  It seems that my tall TBs are now match for the loose wire mesh fencing.  By evidence of an apparent buffet on the much lusher green grass on the other side of the fence, Storm and Cabot were working on their lean on the fence for a while.  When my friend Kelly arrived at the barn, Cabot was on the other side of the fence.  It appears that they pushed it down enough and broke some of the wire to get the fence in the 2'6" to 3' range and large hoof size divots make it apparent that Cabot just leaped over.  Luckily he stayed by the lush green grass and didn't veture towards the street (luckily a deadend non-busy neighborhood).  We have no idea how long he was enjoying the lush buffet as the barn owner did not notice his escape.  Apparent disinterest in her unsecure fencing may have us searching for a new place :(.

I LOVE my pony!!!

So I took Cabot to Pine Hill to school cross country on Sunday.  It was a little intimidating first driving up because there were a TON of people there (there is a show in 2 weeks).  I thought I would have time to leisurely unload, tack up, lunge him and hit the course.  However, there were way too many people around to safely lunge him (he still doesn't have the best manners at that).  So I just hopped on took 10 minutes to get him to stand still enough and eventually needed someone to hold him so I could get on and said let's go for it.  I took him in their big show jumping arena to check our power steering and he was amazing.  A little looky at the camping chairs that were in the corner, but overall paying attention, not trying to run off and steering like he knows how.  The steering is a big improvement from Saturday when he basically didn't give a crap about what direction I wanted to go in.  This solidifies my theory that he is 1000x better when I take him off the property and away from his friends, which is the totaly opposite of any other horse I have ever encountered. 

With steering intact, we hit the cross country course.  We have been to this place once before in July I think and he was well-behaved but not really sure what to make of the obstacles I was asking him to put all his feet over.  This time, he acted like a veteran and was one of the most well behaved horses in our group of 10.  He jumped everything I asked him to with minimal fuss - only 1 or 2 refusals at the scarier fences and went over the second time in most cases.  Went through the water like a champ on first try and jumped in and out (a beginner novice question!eeek!).  We jumped all the green-as-grass, goldilocks jumps and a couple of beginner novice questions including a log to down bank!!!  Please remember I was also smothering my inner chicken, as I have only ever gone crosscountry (on a horse that knew what he was doing) a handfull of times.  I think I sometimes find it easier to ride Cabot as he litterally doesn't know how to do anything wrong (or right for that matter).  It's a learning experience for both of us and it's amazing how much confidence I portray have.  Anyway - crosscountry is FUN!!!  Now we need to hit the sandbox and teach him some showjumping and dressage.

I also threw Riley (now 14 year old - who was my former student and witnesses Cabot's birth also) up on him at the end and she popped him over a couple logs as well.  She was having trouble steering as well but got him over everything she asked. :-D  Then we got to the most difficult part of the adventure - getting Cabot back in the trailer.  He is getting worse with every trip.  It took 4 of us 20 minutes to get him in :(.  He doesn't seem to really be scared - once he makes up his mind/figures out we're not giving up, he just walks right on.  I think he will be eating out of the trailer from now on...

Use your legs

It's annoying that I have to constantly remind myself to use my legs.  I'm so out of shape...:(.  But it really does improve Orange Pony's turning when I use a combination of aids (imagine that).  He seems to be improving a little bit, but I'm not sure if that's just that his wants are alligning with mine.  He seems to be quite stubborn and only turns nicely if I make the decision to go in the same direction that he wants.  He's also SOOOO attached to his barn mates which makes life difficult.  Not sure what to do about that...

We're going XC schooling on Sunday.  :-D Not sure if that's a great idea since powersteering isn't reliable yet, but we're gonna go for it.  Long ride on Saturday morning to prepare when we have lots of daylight.

First Ride at the new place

Got to ride Cabot on Monday. He was good considering the conditions. I don't get out to the barn until about 5:30pm and since the arena lights are out, it's a rush to get him worked before dark around 6:15pm. Seeing as he hasn't been ridden in months and it was quite windy, I ran him around the round pen a bit before attempting to get on. He was great in there - shyed away from the scary monsters of tractor and junk in the corner (including a roping dummy), but I think he liked the footing and his movement was much more animated than usual (also could have been due to the unusual feeling of sand hitting his legs). Why does it seem that one side is always deeper than the other in a round pen?

I then took him into the arena which hasn't been dragged recently (something to be said for being the one in charge of that like I was at the old job). I walked him around past all the scary monsters (again more junk piled up) and hopped on. We just walked and tried to achieve focus, which I was sort of successful. Another ride tonight...(yesterday was a tennis day - yay for cross-training).

Moving day

Saturday was moving day for the ponies. Quite the operation. They moved from hubby's gfather's farm to a boarding facility that is right around the corner from our house (super convenient). It has an arena and a covered roundpen, which I am super excited about.

The morning was spent getting everything ready...including moving the jumps we built first so we'd have room for all the hay and grain in the back of the pickup. Hitched up, filled up the tires, and now it's time to get the ponies on. I'm pretty sure that Cabot thinks the trailer is a hell-box by this time and he gets worse every time I attempt to load him. This time he was pretty good and only required slight persuasion with the whip by hubby. It annoys me to no end that he no longer loads when I'm by myself, but just needs a person with whip standing behind him to quietly load. Storm was good, more concerned with the apparent lack of space and who the other horse was than really objecting to being loaded.

Now, they were in the trailer a grand total of maybe 20 minutes. And came out - now they're best friends...
What is it with horses that share a trailer ride being bonded? I have heard this before. What gives?...
One of the main reasons that they got moved to this place is because ADD-pony aka Cabot will not focus away from his friends. He is exponentially better when in an arena (vs polo field). So the ponies being joined at the hip now is a little inconvenient.

They fussed quite a bit when I brought them in and put them in separate stalls, but have seemed to have calmed down now.

First ride on Cabot at new place will be this evening...

Welcome...

Welcome...

Intro to me (AA)...I am a twenty-something occasional rider/tack shop employee. I grew up riding Hunter/Jumpers and have caught the eventing bug since moving to Texas. I have also dabbled in driving (I love combined driving and would love to have a horse I could do that with), reining (I do live in Texas), and polo (via my husband's family). I have ridden off/on for the last 15 years and currently have 2 TB's that this blog will chronicle.

Stars of the show..."Make a Fuss" aka Cabot (pictured above). 2008 model Thoroughbred gelding- solid chestnut (much to my dismay:(). He is my baby. I bred his mom and then purchased her, foaled him out and have dealt with him for the last 4 years. He thinks he's a dog and would probably sleep in my bed if I let him. He is my first horse that I have had from birth and trained all by myself (kinda scary...). He got started this summer and then he has been sitting since July due to 100*+ weather and then an unfortunate incident with a pasture-mate's hoof in which he acquired a miniscule chip in his cheekbone. Now it's time to get back to work and see what kind of horse he's going to become.

Equine #2: "I Don't Speak" aka Storm (I did NOT name this one). 2007 model Thoroughbred mare - mostly dark bay, I think there might be some white when I peel all the mud off. She is an acquisition from my father-in-law that is a retraining project. She will be sold, she will be sold, she will be sold (If I keep repeating it, it will happen). Has the basics, but needs more buttons installed (Power-steering would be a plus...).

Occasional guest appearances by...Finn and Zoe ...furr kids that sleep in the bed. :) Finn is a 6 year old terrier mix with an amazing underbite and is pretty much the coolest dog you will ever meet. Zoe is a 1 year old Australian Shepherd and definitely a close runner-up for coolest dog.