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.