Trottin' Into the Wind

"Oh Lordy, she's kissing me again?" Puts on tolerant face, eyes at half mast.

Yesterday dawned bright and sunny with 70 degree temperatures, calling us to ride. I got out to Linda's and the wind gusts were blowing us over. Easily 35-40 mph.  But, nothing was going to stop us from riding (because of rain, mud and schedules, none of us had ridden in 2 weeks...HORROR!) so we set out and tacked up. Jackson tends to spook when it's really windy, but I thought to myself, "Oh well, he'll have to get over it, and I will too, because WE ARE RIDING!" Other than him trying his, "I'm going to back up so you'll turn around and put me away," antic at the onset, he did great! I just did a few circles to make him think he was getting his way, and then finally just gave him a kick and a stern "Walk On!," and he started walking across the big scary pasture with 3 feet of dried grass.

We rode over to Lorri's to pick her up, but didn't do any arena work or jumping today (OK, I did trot cavaletti) but the wind was miserable and it just wouldn't have been fun to hang out there. Not even for jumping. Lots of nice scary noises to freak Jackson out, but he did well with them all, even the rumble of the tin roof on the barn that would have scared me if I were a horse! Lots of good bomb proofing experiences were going on at Lorri's yesterday, including her husband burning the Christmas tree (yep, in the wind! we all just shook our heads over that one, even his wife...MEN! ;) but of course, it helped that he had been there several times before. Still, I was impressed with his calm, (somewhat on alert, but calm) demeanor and "spook smarts." I usually am prepared to sit at least one big side spook, possible 360, or crow hop a ride. That is just my horse and his breed, and I think I am fairly adept at it. I have never fallen off from one of those...although I almost did yesterday, read on!

Monting from the "off" side. I don't use a mounting block too often, but wanted to start that new experience with a nice leg up!

The three of us decided to head out into the back 40 where we often ride, it offers lots of trees, and just a nice ride. There are some super nice paths to trot or canter and a huge open field for practice and fun. We didn't hit the field due to the wind, but had a nice time the first half of the ride meandering along trails and talking. Lorri's horse Ozzie, (also an AngloArab like Jackson) kept having issues with invisible things on the trail, which Jackson decided not to imitate multiple times, despite being right behind her. That is just Ozzie, and Lorri is such a terrific rider that she is unfazed by her antics.

So we got to the point in the ride where we decided to go at a nice pace and trot for a couple of miles. Through trees, sharp turns, up and down ditches, through water, all kinds of fun stuff. Jackson still wasn't having any part in Ozzie's antics, just being my sane reliable mount. YAY! Then we came around a bush, and Ozzie dropped her left back hip and just moved out to the side. Huge side spook, or whatever you want to call it! Assuming Jackson was not going to imitate it, I didn't expect it, but I guess the back burner in my mind said, "Hang on!" cause darned if Jackson didn't imitate the very same movement! I sat it and lost a stirrup, but I was thinking while it happened, "Hmmm. What's the best way to fall off here?" I have less weight and more inner core muscles to thank, (or heck, maybe just luck) for sticking it! And then the culprit of the spook showed himself. Linda's dog Zelbar had gotten loose and skulked after us, making his appearance known in a sly way...

Linda on Traveler her new 3 year old QH/TB

So, once that got sorted out we had a pleasureable, uneventful rest of our ride. Oz proceeded to make Lorri work, especially when we put Jackson in the lead; she believes that since mares RULE and all geldings DROOL, she should be in the front. She will let Jackson ride abreast of her, but she wants to be in charge. Jackson could care less. He loves to be the one forging the trail, but he gives to bossy mare Oz easily, he just doesn't care that much! Lorri cracked me up. She made a comment, saying, "How do we have the same breed of horse, and yours is so sane? He never spooks!" This was after the spook with the dog, but she is correct. Jackson doesn't have half the issues with MONSTERS that Ozzie does. Who knows? Ozzie is a gem in the arena to take a dressage lesson on, but she can be hell on the trails. Lorri handles her fine, and you can often hear a giggle as they are disappearing around the corner at a full out gallop or some other crazy gait, so I think they are a match made in Heaven! Me, I'll stick to my horse on the trails, and ride Oz in the arena! :)

It was great to finally ride; talk about JONESING for something, and I'm glad that we still had fun in spite of that infernal blasting wind!

OOPS! Once again forgot to take my camera out when we were on the trail, I'm a bad blogger! You'll have to settle for the before the ride pics, which Lorri missed as she was tacking up! Next time!

THIS is a Wonderful Life....

Anne, Lorri and me...Can you believe that Lorri and I both have Anglo Arabs? They are SO different!

Linda on Red (Missouri Fox Trotter), Anne on Allie (Arabian) and Lorri on Ozzie (AngloArab)

On Wednesday we had wonderful 68 degree weather and it was the perfect day for us to hit the trails! I haven't been riding too much in the past month with sickness and weather getting the upper hand. Oh. And work. And the kiddo. There were actually five of us who rode out, but we took these pics without our friend Kathy (later pictured in pink) because she was being a slow butt... :) J.K., Kathy!
We took along tools to clear some trail, officially beginning our work on the annual Triple H Equitherapy Scavenger Hunt. We have changed the date from June to early May because we think the cooler weather in May will attract more riders. Adding new trails and obstacles are imperative to keeping the interest and freshness of the ride alive. Three of us cleared branches and forged trail on foot, while two held the five horses; I'd say we spent 45 minutes clearing and the rest was a relaxing, invigorating ride. Even though we waded streams, and traveled at a pretty fast pace for five riders, it felt as if we were all very much in sync and we all had a ball. If you have ever ridden with this size group, you probably know that this does NOT always happen! :)
As we rode, I reflected on the past year a bit, and how far I have really come with Jackson. When we trot now it feels like another extension of me; we have both gotten so much better at this gate, I am no longer thrown up into the heavens gulping at the stars. We can canter. Collection, check. (OK. Much more collection than ever before, how's that? :) On the bit? Most of the time. Doing things with such comfort and ease that they are automatic? OH YEAH! :) Lost 54 pounds? Done that too. That in and of itself has helped my riding immensely. There are people out there who are overweight and ride superbly. I am not one of them. I was a thin person in a fat body. Seriously. At my thinnest I weighed 127 lbs. at a height of 5'10. Of course, this was at the age of 22, and I was VERY thin. Realistically, I will be happy to lose another 10 lbs. for a happy 135-140. My horse loves the weight loss too. Did I lose the weight for my horse and to be a better rider? Absolutely. My dressage lessons have also been a wonderful thing we have started this past year. With Allison my instructor(who is 79 and was a Grand Prix XC rider in her time), it has really been an eye opening experience, and benefited my riding more than I can say. Although I don't know if I will ever be what you call a dressage rider, I DO take lessons to help our partnership, further our learning, and to aid in mine and Jackson's jumping abilities down the road. I firmly believe if you can perform classical dressage (at least the basics) you are ready for anything! In the next year it will be time to add the next piece of our challenge. JUMPING! We will also be working on obstacles and add a few competetive trail rides and our usual trail riding to the mix for variety and to keep it fun! They don't call him a sport horse for nothing and we both love changing it up!

Back to our ride. We did lots of different and advanced terrain: small spaces, up and DOWN steep hills, deep streams, switchbacks, etc. All the horses took it in stride. We even did a couple little jumps over a log and one drop off. Kathy was riding a seasoned Warmblood XC jumper, and Lorri did them at a wild hand gallop (gotta love those mares!), but Jackson is nothing if not practical, and is so attuned to me. He is one smart guy, and knows just what I am ready for these days! We popped the jumps at a trot...Don't get me wrong. This horse is SO MORE THAN capable of a wild, fun hand gallop in a heartbeat, and could run all day, but he knows that we have that on the list for next years post! :) What a good boy!
As it neared 5pm a really cool mist hung like a light cotton batting with the sunlight over the water. It looked so cool. I am in the light blue in the pics below...wish they were better, I had my camera, but Linda actually remembered to grab hers and take a few! Sometimes it is not a picture taking day, I felt the need to commune with the day, my horse, and my friends...

All I could help thinking was, THIS IS THE LIFE!

Happy Holidays and a very Merry Christmas to you all!
May your rides be many, fun, and fill you up in 2010!

I Am Down With O.P.P.!

OTHER PEOPLE'S PONIES!!!! I have been taking advantage of Jackson's healing process to ride two of my friend's horses, Ozzie and Shorty. Each so totally different and each teaching me more and more about myself and my riding. I look at pics and videos of us and go "DOH!", but it is a learning curve and I certainly hope that some things will come together with enough time spent in the saddle. Riding horses other than your own is a wonderful experience, I have found!!! What do you guys think of Jackson's healing? Time for a lesson this coming Wed. or what?


Enjoying some time on Shorty....





Learning on Ozzie...



Jackson's healing stitches...


Looking good!

A Horse By Any Other Color Is.....

Ozzie and I!









Allison, Ozzie and I

The horse with the beautiful bay color is named Ozzie! (I have always wanted a bay!!) She is my friend Lorri's horse and is also an AngloArab like Jackson, but of the mare-ish persuasion--perfect for the plan I have concocted which I will get to here in a bit.

Yesterday, with Jackson's wound looking better, but certainly not ready for a girth, I took a lesson with Allison on Ozzie. I have only ever ridden Oz for the equivalent of 10 minutes, but since Lorri has trained her to be quite the dressage horse, I wasn't worried. And I'm glad I took the opportunity to experience Ozzie! Don't get me wrong. I LOVE MY HORSE and I treasure every ride. But being able to ride an accomplished very well trained horse was sooooo nice. Obviously, when you are a pretty novice rider yourself riding your greenie horse, you are learning BASICS. And basics for TWO gets HARD! Which is fine, I don't mind. But it was really refreshing to be able to concentrate on ME and not be so worried about my horse. We worked on my issues and threw in some new things which will help so much with my riding. I even got PUNCHED! Yep! Allison came up to me while I was on Ozzie and punched me in the gut to demonstrate how tight my abs need to be. I may bruise... LOL! Picture the sweet (well not ALWAYS, at least during a lesson... :) 79 year old lady in the pics coming up and sucker punching you. Well, that worked anyhow! My abs turned to stone. Ok...semi stone, they need quite a bit of work! HEE HEE! Allison has so many cute (but not always cute while you are trying your VERY BEST..) expressions, one of them being, (in her haughty English accent, mind you)"RIDE YOUR HORSE!" I can't count how many times that has been yelled across the arena at me. One day I got, "Mindy, RIDE that damn horse for the love of God!" I love it! The annoying thing is, when I take lessons I give 150% so hearing that during the lessons does make me clench my teeth, (as it does everyone I know who takes lessons from her :) I SO want to shout back, "Well, what the HELL do you think I'm doing?" :) But, I must confess, I always give a bit more after that. I RIDE my horse!

The only thing that made me a little nuts while riding Oz was the fact that EVERY TIME I changed directions my diagonals were wrong!! I have NEVER had this issue on Jackson. I am always on the right diagonal! Not a hard fix since I've been doing that since I was young, but puzzling. The only thing I can think of is that Oz is so much smoother than Jackson that I just didn't feel the change like I do on him. Any ideas anyone? I am so perplexed by that one. And of course humbled...diagonals, wrong, WHAT??? HA! Always, always something!!! But diagonals? Sheesh!
My friend video-taped me yesterday, THAT should be interesting. I hate seeing how bad I can look, but video helps me improve so much, seeing what you look like is always a good thing, and obviously I then have a better picture in my mind of what really needs work. I'll just be adding to the list of course, but I bet I see a few improvements too! Fingers crossed anyway!

OK...NOW for my plan. Let me know what you guys think! I have found a sire for Ozzie. He is also an AngloArab and is...drum roll please.... Jackson's full-blooded brother, Bugsy! I have recently been in contact with Bugsy's owner and she does dressage with him and shows locally. She says he is very mellow and sweet. He also has a red rating with the American Warmblood society, which is an honor, considering he's not, a-hem, a Warmblood. But really. How cool would it be to have a family member of Jackson's in my little horsey circle? I have been in touch with Bugsy's owner and she said she would be up for it...now I have to work on Lorri. She has had lots of babies, started them and trained them..Ozzie being one of them. She also has Kite whom I think she may want to breed more than she does Oz...Kite is a Polish Warmblood/Arab cross. I love how much more filled out Bugsy is than Jackson, I think mainly due to the fact that Bugsy is a stallion. But the face is like looking into Jackson's....



Bugsy standing for the American Warmblood Society where he got a red rating...