Building JUMPS!! and New Spring Babies!

Spring babies have arrived! On Sat. and then on Monday, Linda's two goats Sheba and Gertie gave birth! FINALLY! What a long wait! The two littles I'm holding are less than 24 hours old in this picture. Finn, pictured with Miles is also not quite 24 hours old in that pic, taken on Sun., as it was taken before the one's I am holding, (as of now) no-names. They were born late Monday night at 2am-ish.If you check out the size of my hands compared to them, you can see how tiny they are. I have medium sized hands and bone structure, so go from there... As you peruse further you will see me with Sheba's babes Bethany (Linda's pick) and Finnigan (Finn) my pick cause he was "almost" a St. Patty's Day Baby. Oh. And I'm Irish so I like the name....:) Then you can see our jump building endeavor further down, which I will get more into there....

On Sunday, when we went out to see the babies, as Linda had just gotten home from Boston on Sat, where she had been visiting her mom and dad. The very next day was her Birthday, so I was surprised (yet totally thrilled) when she told me that in lieu of riding we would be working on building JUMPS! She told me to meet her at Home Depot the next morning, and I was NOT late! We had talked about building jumps, but I had figured that I was going to have to do it myself. Linda has a lot on her plate, and jumping is more my obsession, not hers. It was only while we getting the jump standards cut to 5 feet instead of 10, that I looked at her and realized what was going on. (YES, I can be an idiot at times, but I do eventually get it..:)

Linda has a slight interest in jumping, but she doesn't even have a horse that she can jump at the current time. She brought me back a beautiful padded bridle bag to match the padded saddle bag she got me for Christmas, as a belated Birthday present. When she gave me that, and told me it was "part" of my present. I didn't expect more and told her so. She takes wonderful care of my horse (some months for free) and the amount I do pay her is, well, let me put it this way, NOT MUCH! So I just looked at her as the cute guy was sawing our wood, and got it. "Oh my God, you are doing this for me aren't you?" (Totally didn't even get it until that moment...) I was like, "You don't even have a horse to jump, and well, WOW!" She just looked at me and said, "Yep, Happy Birthday!" I was really touched. She figured out the PERFECT THING as a gift, and she proceeded to help me build jumps on HER birthday! We got it all home, and since she had purchased jump cups while in Boston, she proceeded to drill, and I made stripes! The standards in the pic are going to be painted white, and they have a 3'9 foot height max. Of course, that is down the road, but I believe in goals, and why not do them right while building, eh? We purchased enough for three jumps and finished part of one, at the lowest (12 inches) due to the fact that we decided we needed a super long drill bit to go all the way through the standard. Once we finished up, after commenting that we would rather be building jumps and teaching baby goats how to nurse ANY day over our jobs as RN's, Linda left to go help some folks move mulch, and I set out on a SOLO endeavor. I don't like riding alone. Since I broke my shoulder it has just been something I avoid. Yep. Fraidy pants. And sick of that baloney! I have decided that since Linda is so busy these days, that is just NOT GOING TO FLY! So I rode alone. And we jumped our new jump, and took lots of ground poles that we also bought for beginner practice. I took Jackson up to the new jump--just to sniff and get acquainted--and instead of looking at it, he proceeded to walk over it. I cracked up. We enjoyed our practice and worked on rounding his back and impulsion from behind, as well as our jumping. He was AWESOME! I could feel it, (head down, and on the bit with impulsion from behind!), but I dare not get too big-headed. Next ride is another challenge. I know just because I get something once there are no guarantees that our next ride (lesson on Wed.) will necessarily pan out! Humble is what a good ride makes me.  A great ride is great. But don't count on it being the norm. JOURNEY with no destination but work and more work! BUT!!!! He loves jumping so far!!! Thanks Linda, for making me feel special and helping me build my dream (literally and figuratively)! 

Reflections on Riding and Jumping....

You know that saying everything has a time and a place? Well, it is certainly true. This book has been sitting in my horse library (which is HUGE!) for seven years! It accompanied me on a difficult trip with the military to San Diego for six months where I would occasionally thumb through to glance at pics now and then, but never read the book. At the time, owning my own horse, let alone jumping again seemed unobtainable. A dream. But somehow, having it there in my line of sight gave me hope... Just that picture on the cover. A determined man taking a beautiful horse over a fence. Now, that dream is starting to be what I make of it. My dream is obtainable if I want it to be. :) The other day I glanced at this book as I was purusing my horse shelf, and went, "Hmmm. Let's see what this book has to say."  After all, since it helped me in my time of hardship, didn't I owe this book a gander? Definitely. Especially now that I am actually starting to jump my OWN horse. I want to share this book with you. Now STOP. Even if you don't jump (and I currently would put myself--even with experience-- as a wanna be jumper :), please read on because there are some fabulous pearls of wisdom I wish to share with you that this five time Olympian can't be wrong about. William Steinkraus has ridden in five Olympics and took the first individual equestrian gold ever won by an American rider in 1968 in Mexico City. He took along a few more team medals, has ridden on thrity-nine winning Nations Cups teams (usually as anchor) and has won over one hundred individual international competitions. He has been elected to FOUR Halls of Fame. He has numerous other standings under his belt, really quite too much to add here. But I think you get the point that the man has some horse sense. Before my dressage lesson yesterday I pulled out the book to show Allison who is eighty years old, and was quite the eventer in her time. "Ahh. Mindy," she drolls in her english accent, "Now that man is a legend. I own that book. Isn't it great?" She could even name the horse on the cover. Another crazy, but oh so cool thing. She teaches what I am reading. Almost to the word. Bizzarre? Dunno. She is also very Walter Zettl like, I am inclined to think she is just one HELL of a horsewoman and I am a very lucky student! So, on with the pearls of wisdom. They are straight out of the book. Stick around for his epilogue after the aphorisms. Trust me.
Thank you for this informative book Mr. William Steinkraus. I hope to shake your hand one day.....

Two Dozen Useful Aphorisms by William Steinkraus
1. Get your tack and equipment just right, and then forget about it and concentrate on your horse.
2. The horse is bigger than you are, and it should carry you. The quieter you sit, the easier this will be for your horse.
3. The horse's engine is in the rear. Thus you must ride your horse from behind, and not focus on the forehand simply because you can see it.
4. It takes two to pull. Don't pull--push.
5. For your horse to be keen but submissive, it must be calm, straight and forward.
6. When the horse isn't straight, the hollow side is the difficult side.
7. The inside rein controls the bending, the outside rein regulates the speed.
8. Never rest your hands on the horse's mouth. You make a contact with it: you carry your head and I'll carry my hands.
9. If the horse can't learn to accept what you're doing, it isn't any good.
10. Once you've used an aid, put it back.
11. You can exaggerate every virtue into a defect.
12. Always carry a stick (crop); then you will seldom need it.
13. If you've given something a fair trial, and it still doesn't work, try something else--even the opposite.
14. Know when to start and when to stop. Know when to resist and when to reward.
15. If you're going to have a fight, YOU pick the time and the place.
16. What you can't accomplish in an hour should usually be put off until tomorrow.
17. You can think your way out of many problems faster than you can ride your way out of them.
18. When the horse jumps, you go with it, not the other way around.
19. Don't let over-jumping or dull routine erode the horse's desire to jump cleanly. It's hard to jump clear rounds if the horse isn't trying.
20. Never give up until the rail hits the ground.
21. Young horses are like children--give them a lot of love, but don't let them get away with anything.
22. In practice, do things as perfectly as you can: in competition, do what you have to do.
23. NEVER fight the oats.
24. The harder you work, the luckier you get.

And now to his Epilogue which I simply loved.

"A few final words. Taking things for granted is all too easy. But we must never forget, every time we sit on a horse, what an extraordinary privilege it is: to be able to unite one's body with that of another sentient being, one that is stronger, faster and more agile by far than we are, and at the same time, brave, generous and uncommonly forgiving. (How much poorer our lives would be if all our riding experiences were restricted to mechanized transport!)
Only as riders can we achieve some measure of eternal youth, since we can exchange, old, tired bodies for younger, more vigourous ones as easily as changing horses. Luckily, however, there is no surer antidote for the arrogance this circumstance might engender than the horse itself, for no poorer respecter of personages has ever existed. The horse doesn't know or care if you are a prince or a pauper, only whether you can ride with skill and justness. No throne can compare with the back of a horse, and there is no way man can come closer to nature than by becoming one with a horse. Truly, as the French like to say, "L'homme se complete par le cheval," "Man completes himself through the horse." Nobody has every understood or articulated this better than Shakespeare:
When I bestride him, I soar, I am a hawk;
He trots the air, the earth sings when he touches it.....
                                                          ----Henry V, Act II

I can't put it any better than that folks, so I end here for now......

Trailridin' at Sister Creek Ranch Boerne, Texas

On Wednesday the weather FINALLY cooperated enough for us to take a 40 minute trek out to Sister Creek Ranch in Boerne, Texas. Located on 700 acres chock full of trails, an arena, a covered round pen, XC jumps, and a barn to DIE for, it didn't take me long to fall in love, and feel the intense yearning to own my own ranch (stable) one day. Linda's friend Kathy from Massachusetts whom she met out on the trail last year was along for the ride, and she rode Linda's horse Red, while Linda rode her new three year old Traveler, and of course I rode Jackson. Linda and I did switch mounts halfway through as I had never ridden her new horse, and have been interested to see what he feels like. Being a three year old, the first thing I noticed is that he has no sides to put your lower leg against!  WEIRD! :) I just rode him with a very loose rein and worked on basic aids to start getting him used to the feel of them. He was awesome! He has a sweet trot and is very calm and willing and not spooky at all. Since he is still small and growing, please don't laugh at the pic of us! My 5'9 frame  made me look huge; and I weigh 148, not super thin,but i look like I weigh 200 lbs. plus! ;) None of our horses had ever been to this ranch, and Traveler had never even been off of Linda's property! They all took it in stride. We meandered around for a couple of hours, and since Linda forgot the map (doh!) we never really knew exactly where we were. We had a CB though, and easily found our way home without having to radio for directions. (Next time Mindy gets the map, hee hee...). If you want to check out their beautiful facility go to http://www.sistercreekranch.com/

They have two guest houses, a really awesome saloon with full kitchen, RV hookups, pens for your horses, etc. They are not very commercialized, mostly because they want it that way. They don't rent out horses, offer guides, or do any of the dude ranch type stuff, you must bring your own horse and then you can camp in a tent, RV or rent a guest house (pictured below to the left, next to the SALOON!) They have a great weekend coming up in the summer (July) for woman and their horses called "Too Hot To Trot". Sounds like a fun event I will check out. May be too hot to trot, but making friends is always fun! Morning and evening rides are predominant here in Texas in those hot summer months! I can't wait for blasted winter to be over with! Jackson has no shoes and has been exposed to CRAZY amounts of mud for the past two months. The rock we encountered on this ride was NOTHING compared to what we normally do (when we have no MUD months) and at the end of the ride he actually got ouchy! I was a bit freaked out because in the three years I have had him, he has NEVER been ouchy in ANY terrain we have ridden. Linda's horses, (who have shoes in the front!) acted as if they were about to die at the beginning of the ride when we were on the road! But I will keep an eye out and talk to the farrier. He is not lame and is walking as if nothing happened. In fact as soon as we stepped off the road, he stepped out normally. Fairly sure the mud just had to let itself be known in one more ways than it already has. WINTER BEGONE!! Bring on the heat! ;)

Thank God for this day, it was like a dose of Zoloft, lifting my winter funk hugely. I must admit it. I love jumping. I love dressage. But without my trail rides I wouldn't be able to function. Could I love riding the trails more than jumping? It doesn't matter, but I may have to say "Yes..." Luckily, I can do many things on Mr. Versatile so I won't ever have to choose anyway, and I'm never going to be the barn snob who won't take her horse on a trail ride because he's such a valuable competition horse and could get hurt! Trailrides. Yep. My version of Zoloft anyday.....

Saloon to reader's right, guesthouses to left..

Main office

Linda...wish I owned this butt fitting bench! So comfortable!

Linda on Jackson with Kathy on Red ahead of her

Kathy (left) on Red, Linda (right) on Traveler

Steppin' out

Kathy and Linda

Linda on Jackson

Linda on Jackson...Love his face in this one. Isn't it cool to see someone else on your horse sometimes?

Me on Traveler. Come on Traveler. GROW!

View from a ridgetop

Me on Jackson, Kathy up ahead--heading home.

A Horse's View of the World...

A Horse's View of the World


Do you ever wonder what your horse is actually thinking? How often have you ever wondered if you are on the same page or even talking the same language? Take a look at some of the definitions from the horse's dictionary and compare them to yours.

Arena: Place where humans can take the fun out of forward motion.

Bit: Means by which a rider's every motion is transmitted to the sensitive tissues of the mouth.

Bucking: counter-irritant.

Crossties: Gymnastic apparatus.

Dressage: Process by which some riders can eventually be taught to respect the bit.

Fence: Barrier that protects good grazing.

Grain: Sole virtue of domestication.

Hitching rail: Means by which to test one's strength.

Horse trailer: Mobile cave bear den.

Hotwalker: The lesser of two evils.

Jump: An opportunity for self-expression.

Latch: Type of puzzle.

Longeing: Procedure for keeping a prospective rider at bay.

Owner: Human assigned responsibility for one's feeding.

Rider: Owner overstepping its bounds.

Farrier: Disposable surrogate owner; useful for acting out aggression without compromising food supply.

Trainer: Owner with mob connections.

Veterinarian: Flightless albino vulture

AND FINALLY.....

Only Horse People…

- believe in an 11th commandment: inside leg to outside rein...

- know that all topical medications come in either indelible blue or neon yellow.

- think nothing of eating a sandwich while mucking out a stall.

- know why a thermometer has a yard of yarn attached to the end of it.

- are banned from Laundromats.

- fail to associate whips, chains and leather with sexual deviancy.

- can magically lower their voices five octaves to bellow at a pawing horse.

- will end relationships over their hobby.

- cluck to their cars to help them up hills.

- insure their horses for more than their cars.

- know (and care) more about their horse's nutrition than their own.

- have no problem speaking of semen, abscesses and colic surgery at the dinner table.

- have a smaller wardrobe than their horse..

- engage in a hobby that is more work than their day job.

- know that a good ride is better than Zoloft any day.

Haven't posted in awhile....nothing much going on. Just getting through the doldrums of winter, praying for spring to hit early this year, and for the rain to stay away! I always get a bit down and home bound-ish this time of year, but it is nowhere nearly as bad as it used to be up North. I think I suffer from S.A.D. (seasonal affective disorder), so if I had to exist up there again, I am convinced I would need light therapy. For REAL. Had one awesome dressage lesson in which Allison told me that my form no longer needs the work (hell-a!)--she is now ready to turn Jackson and I into superstars! OK... That was her wording NOT mine! But lo and behold, it was a breakthrough lesson and Jackson rounded himself up, had impulsion from the hind end, and got his head out of the sky, looking for all intents and purposes like a REAL dressage horse! It was an arm pumping lesson, all of our work was shown to me right there in his headset. It needs to dry up and it is time to start working on the superstar part!! AKA: MINDY WANTS TO JUMP!!!! (AND SO DOES THE J-MAN! He whispered it in my ear! :)