Show

First, the major dork: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2148807404315053547&hl=en

The show was lots of fun, Keno was tolerant and we beat many preteenaged girls. We did the whole course of itty bitty crossrails without incident, though Keno stopped caring towards the end. He let me mess around with him and do the games, which we owned. Take that, tiny girls and 43 year old pony!

Total haul: 1 blue ribbon (tied for Combined Test), 1 blue ribbon (tied at trot-a-pole egg and spoon), 1 blue ribbon (egg-and-spoon race), 1 red ribbon (tied for 2nd in overall dressage scores, I think)

Not bad for a grade horse, huh?

I was only at the barn for a couple hours today. I visited with Robert, grabbed an unhappy Keno and went out to warm up for a bit before Robert came to give us our lesson.

Cari was in the ring working with Xsarena, and she had the radio turned onto a classical station which was really nice to listen to. We warmed up on a loose rein, but I didn't plan as well and so we didn't have enough time before I asked him to start coming together. He wasn't thrilled about it, but we did. I did notice his long-rein canter was a little less downhill than usual, which was intriguing. He kept making faces at Xsarena when we passed by.

I think we had a really good session, I think next time I will warm him up outside instead of in. It's probably just because of the smaller-sized arena, but he self-balances better. It could also be all the boys (and Bella) watching him make him strut his stuff. I guess Xsarena isn't so interesting anymore. I also think that he likes the flash. I didn't tie it shut, so he can still chomp, but it does stabilize the bit, I guess? And he seems all for that. Our transitions aren't great but they aren't bad. He was doing trot-walk transitions on his forehand, so Robert asked me to hollow my back and lift my chin just before I asked, and that helped a lot. I'm really happy with this pony.

Cari mentioned that I should take Keno to the Mt. Hood Equestrian Center dressage schooling show on Nov. 2. I said it sounded exciting, but unless there was a way to trailer him, I didn't see it happening- even if it's not far away, it's potentially a long time in total, and that's a huge chunk of Robert's day gone.

But I mentioned it to Robert and he said yes! This is a good idea! And wants to take me and Keno, and Gillian and Star. At least we'd have a full trailer and moral support. So I hope this happens. If it does, I probably have to wash my show shirt and find nicer breeches. My boots aren't tall enough, but whatever.

Fed, clipped Gloria's horses and Luca for their shows Saturday, went home. Luca didn't want to get caught, but gave in and stood pretty still until people started going in and out of hay barn and making high pitched cooing noises to horses.

I think I might have a problem.

Currently I have a Keno and a Star bridle in my possession, returned upon the next visit to Stoneybrook (Thursday).

I arrived just in time to miss cute pony, but did meet nice people who owned cute pony. At least I theorize it's a cute pony- I never actually saw said pony. But it's a pony. Robert and I sat down and chatted about our mutual realization that me trying to do two horses would be madness all round. Robert suggested that, if we don't have a better idea and if Vic's stuff is all moved out, we could stay in his old trailer Friday night.

Robert also suggested we longline Keno to help him come through his back. He also added side reins! There was really a huge difference, Keno was pretty upset about it all but his only forms of rebellion on the long lines are going very slow, and not wanting to halt.

The minis had gotten there, so I harnessed up Pepper and helped them get attached to the cart, then I went off and finished feed and put my splint boots on Keno. It was cute. Reno and Star were absolutely convinced that he was getting treats (absorbed through his feet, I guess), and Star was very upset. Reno alternated doing cute things and trying to bite Keno through the bars. Keno was also convinced he was going to be getting treats, and was disgruntled when surprise! He was getting ridden instead. Minis were still in the arena so we worked in the small outside one.

Robert told us that we should warm up for twenty, thirty minutes before we came in, so we did that. I let him go through walk trot and canter on a loose rein, and then started trying to collect him when he was cantering freely. I don't know what part worked the best- whether it was the extensive warm-up, the long-lining, the side reins, or what- but he was really nice to ride. We really got our canter together for the first time in a while. So much so that I kind of forgot how long we cantered. I felt him really stepping up behind (it took me until just now to figure out that was what that was, actually) and let him walk, and looked. Oh hey, he's sweaty. And oh hey, I'm also overheated. We did a little bit of trot in frame and then walked. I got off and got a drink of water, and led him to his stall to see if he wanted something. Sometime between getting on the horse and getting off the horse, it had gotten warm and sunny, and neither of us were prepared for it.

I have to say I really, really like the flash on Keno. Normally he's busy chomping away on his bit, expressing his displeasure with the world, but now he can't!

Robert was likewise impressed with Keno and I. The only thing I'm going to try and work on in the course of riding on Thursday is his tendency to jig when I pick up the reins after a long walk. Keno was very tired and placidly followed us around the ring, occasionally sighing. I asked Robert to set up a small crossrail and we trotted over it twice. Both times were pretty relaxed and he came right back to me afterwards, so I said we were done. I was really happy with him.

I talked to Cari and she said we could do one horse each, so I picked Keno and I figured you'd pick Star, Gillian. Thus I am cleaning those bridles, I think we can do saddles on Thursday (or Friday) if we want to- many fewer pieces.

I'm excited for Saturday, not least because Cari is getting a 13.1 Welsh mare in for Avalon to try out. I *generously* offered to ride her if Cari was uncomfortable doing so, because Cari is pretty big for that sized pony and she'll probably still be a little hot for Avalon.

Also I want pretty ribbons. Robert said he'd give me the one Reno and I won at the Fair, since Gloria never got to receive them, and I'll get one from Cari too. I think Keno and I will do the cross rail division because otherwise there will only be one team entered, and they'll be bumped down because there's no point in having one team in a division. Even if it turns into a mess, we can stop and it'll all be okay.

Birthday post! Wooo!

As I was going out to the barn along 224, I saw the signs for the Civil War Reenactment at McIver Park. I hope you had lots of fun, Ken! Who did you bring?

I got to the barn just in time to see Robert and Buzz going out with the Shires. Robert informed me that there was one of Cari's shows next weekend, and we should have a horse ready for that. He suggested Keno. (internal dialogue: Yes! I can jump him out in the open now!) He asked me to drive Reno, ride Keno, and work Dylan somewhere in the period of time I had today.

So I drove Reno. We got almost all the way down the blacktop before I realized we didn't have a whip, and so we turned around and got it. We executed a pretty nice back up and fan turn to get back on track to the back forty, if I do say so myself. He got pretty hyped up over the curves and I ended up not being able to control him for long at the trot. I tried trotting him up and down the stretch with the driveway on the other side of the fence, but he kept finding things to spook and canter at. My hands couldn't take it, they kept cramping up, so I settled for backing him up whenever he pranced. He may or may not have gotten the message. I need to get him out more, I guess. He's much lighter when I've been driving him, I think because I'm weaker than Robert. If I'd been brave, and hadn't been planning on doing anything other than massaging my palms the rest of the day, I would've taken him back, put his reins on the lowest shank, and gone back out. Oh well. He wasn't too bad, and he was mostly listening. So I put him back just in time for the Shires to pull up. Robert said he'd be out in a few minutes.

I grabbed Keno and lunged him just long enough to help him remember that it was a good idea to listen to me. We tacked up without much drama, other than flyspray, and headed out. Robert wasn't extremely useful besides telling me I was off the center line and didn't have a great free walk. Keno was resistant and angry that I was riding him, but at least he didn't drop his shoulder or try to buck me off. We did an okay test, but I'm planning on riding Tuesday and Thursday to remind him what he's supposed to do. We worked on how he was using himself for months, I don't want it all to go to waste just because I haven't ridden him for a couple weeks. Thankfully the only dressage test offered is Intro A, because his canter still isn't where it's supposed to be. He's not an obedient horse, it goes against the fiber of his being, but I was hoping to mold him into more of a dressage horse. We had a few nice moments, I'll give him that, where I squeezed with my inside leg and my outside rein and he gave to me. We did trot poles too, which went fine. I'd like to do cross-rails but I admit he's more likely to buck me off than anything else, especially as we haven't jumped in over a month.

I pulled out Dylan. His butt is itchy enough that he's rubbed off most of the skin on the dock of his tail, and I wish I knew what's going on. So when I put the crupper on, and asked him to walk, his reaction was to buck most of the way around the circle. We worked that out pretty easily. Robert had set up two parallel poles to help me get on the centerline, and I asked him to trot over that. I thought it was a good exercise because, well, entertaining for me, but for another, he had to think about what pace he wanted, how far out he wanted to be, and where he needed to put his feet. He clearly thought about it for a couple circles, and then he got it and kept it up pretty well. I didn't ask too much of him because it was pretty obvious that his dock was bothering him a lot. I started scratching and he nearly fell over from glee (no, really, I stepped back and he completely lost his balance).

We fed. Robert had mentioned a black bridle that had been bought for Lady and never used, and might look good on Keno for the dressage portion of the show. I draaaaagged Keno away from his hay and fitted it. Wow! If anyone ever has to sell him, they could totally slap that bridle on him and call him a sport horse, especially with the flash attached. It actually made his head look cute. It didn't hurt that he was looking exceptionally pathetic. That's basically his reaction to Robert, because Robert makes him do bad things, like work.

Robert also wants me to show Papillon. Is she sound, we wondered? So we saddled her up quick and took her out for about fifteen minutes before I had to go catch the bus. I didn't do the test, but she warmed up pretty well and trotted pretty well, though her trot's still strung out. You could tell she was a little disappointed that Robert wasn't riding her, and very disappointed that she didn't get to go jump things. Apparently John the farrier said that her shoulder was the most free he's ever seen it, so I guess something's being done right.

My reflection upon the bus is that I can't show both horses. Robert is going to be out of town that weekend, so I'll need to get there and clean stalls. I think Gillian won't be there either, so that's about doubling the time (and work) for me. I'd be showing them both in the intro A and trot-pole division. To do well, Keno needs a fair bit of warm-up, and so does Papillon, not to mention where I would put them while I was working the other-- everyone does their dressage tests first, then we put up the course and either do crossrails or trot poles. I could theoretically put Keno in the crossrail division, because he's a cute jumper, but he starts crowhopping after each fence.

I know I won't have time to bathe both horses-- as it is, I'll probably be getting up at 4:30 in the morning to catch a bus and be there at seven. I won't have the energy to clean stalls and properly work both of those horses. The probability that I will end up taking bridles and possibly a saddle home to clean them is astoundingly high for someone without a car.

I'll be out Tuesday for a while, and I can be out Thursday for about two hours before feeding, so I can still ride both and make a decision. If Robert was here it wouldn't be a problem, but he'll be at a show. As it is, I'll be helping make sure they have everything they need for the show that Stoneybrook needs to provide, doing stalls, and trying to do a horse or possibly two if I'm exceptionally dumb.

So what's the best plan of action (hint: comment!)? My guess is this:
7:20- Arrive
If horses are fed, then I bathe Keno and tie him in his stall.
8-ish- If the show doesn't start for an hour or more, clean as many stalls as possible
When it's about forty minutes before my time is called, I should saddle up Keno and start warming him up, do the test
If there's a fair bit of time before I have to trot him over a pole, untack him and clean more stalls, otherwise hang out until we've trotted a pole
Clean more stalls
Eat food
Clean more stalls
Clean more stalls
Take the tractor out (maybe successfully this time)
Feed
Collapse

I don't have any particular interest in doing the games, since competing against kids half my age isn't a lot of fun, so there's that saving grace at least. I just hope that I don't freak any horses out with the tractor.

Canter Canter Canter!

I feel like I have my mojo back. Maybe I never had any in the first place but either way, I feel like I've got some now. Robert said that I should play with Star, take Reno out, and have Keno pull the tire if I wanted to work on his cart training. So I started with Star.

I forgot to put on my riding boots this morning and apparently dont have any riding pants at the barn right now so I rode in a western saddle (I was going to do that anyway) and jeans with half chaps. I have never felt so stiff in my own clothing but I got it all straightened out such that I could get my legs into the right position if I were so inclined. (I try, but, you know.) I also put on my body armor because I always feel basically invincible in a western saddle and body armor. I took a bat and put it in my half chap just in case.

Star was terrified of something basically as soon as we got out in the field. I couldn't figure out what it was. She was nervous about it most of the way around the field. I kept looking for the source of her distress so I could decide how I wanted to deal with it. Finally after coming out of the curves and going halfway down the field I saw Jessie and Bella (chunky but nice looking belgian x arab x paint). Apparently she is really scary. I decided I didn't want to go over there, in case seeing that it was a horse opened another can of worms I wasn't interested in today.

There are some barrels set up on the east side of the field, Star always likes to head towards them when I'm not paying attention. So we went over and started circling around the barrels at a walk. I'm wondering if she wasn't used for barrels some time in the past because she stuck to them pretty well if I put some outside leg on her. Then we did it at a trot and she was a little confused at first but then did a pretty good job at a trot too. She was still pretty distracted but she was getting the idea that there would be working happening now.

I pointed her down the path again and we trotted on our merry way. I decided I was going to sit the trot and try to keep her to a comfortable speed. She tends to see posting as licence to speed up so we'll have to tune that a bit. Anyway, she eventually noticed that when she slowed down a little I didn't bounce in the saddle. (I probably could have put more effort in and not bounced even at the pace she was going, but I was feeling lazy and self indulgent.) That was nice to trot around in the field again. There has always been some reason to not do it, the footing, my mood, my fatigue, my chickening out. In my invincibility gear it seemed like a great activity. So we trotted along for a while and when we got back to the east end of the field we did some more barrels and then we found a spot that was free of rodent holes and we did some cantering.

Star went through several phases in her thinking. First few seconds she was just a horsey doing what she was told, that was nice. Then she picked up a little speed because she was having fun. Then she did some sort of hopity bucking thing when a car came by but I pushed her back into a canter. (Gillians tip for ornery horses: if you want to buck you can't also throw your head in the air at the same time, it just doesn't work well, you have to pick one or the other.) Pushing her back into the canter was difficult and once we got going I was too distracted to breathe properly, but I got enough oxygen to function so it all worked out.

We got to a nice break point and I pulled her up so I could rest and so I could walk over and talk to Jessie. She has a horse in training with us, I think the current plan is to train her on the cart but Robert had somehow never taken Jessie out in a cart. Just the wagon, which really isnt the same, especially if you're sitting in the back. Ok, got that done, she would go for a ride with me and Reno when she was done working with Spot.

I spent a little bit of time meandering around looking for some berries I could induce Star to eat. That entertains me. Total failure there. Even when I found a nice spot Star just wanted to eat the grass.

Ok, so bored of that, I decided we should canter down the long side towards the barn. I wanted a repeat test of the whole not rushing for home phenomenon. She was really good until about 3/4 of the way down the field and I could feel that she wanted to stop and do her half rear thing but I pushed her on and she was cooperative. I pulled her up before we got to the culvert and contemplated going and cantering some more on the other side of the field.

I was really enjoying running around, and really pleased to be enjoying running around. However, I also wanted to end on a good note so that later I could continue to enjoy running around. The compromise was to take Star into the arena and practice cantering our bad direction, the left. We walked once around, trotted twice around and then picked up the canter. I think Star was getting a little tired, and it was hot out. I was feeling no pain and no sympathy so when she broke gait I tried to push her on. When she refused I cropped her. The problem with the bat is that its offensive but not all that convincing so I hit her several times with it before deciding that I would probably have better luck with my legs. I dont like whomping on a horse with my legs, its imprecise, throws my seat off, its a nasty habit, but I didn't have any better options. Anyway, that worked and we went around (all the way around, I was so pleased, we cut off no corners or pieces of the arena) a few more times before I decided this was a quit while you're ahead moment.

I looked down, having been very conscious of and somewhat successful in maintaining my upright head position, and saw sweat. Not just the little bit of sweat that makes a few of her hairs curl, real sweat, that lathered where the reins touched her neck. I was pleased. Star was somewhat less pleased. Dramatically less pleased when I hosed her off. (Oh you should have seen the mud that came off her when she got wet.)

I turned her out for a while and then when she started pacing the fenceline I brought her back over to her buddies. They look pretty cute there the three of them (Nickie, Jade, and Star) gathered as near to Jade's stall as they can get. I staggered into a chair to finish eating the lunch I had started while Star was turned out.

So I still didn't canter the entire circuit of the field, but I'm getting close. I'll need the dressage whip. Its harsher but you only have to use it once, and thats why I like it. Maybe tomorrow, who knows?

In Memoriam

On September 5th Gloria Anderson, WWII military police officer, champion of women's rights, and avid horse woman, died in the hospital whilst recovering from her surgery there. She was 78.

As far as I know Star was the last baby foal to be born to one of her mares on her property. I wasn't sure Star and I were ready for a dressage show, but we went because we wanted Gloria to see how nicely Star was coming along, maybe even get a ribbon for her. Gloria loved winning ribbons.

On September 6th we took Star to the show. The night before she had been clipped and bathed. The morning of she had loaded and trailered very nicely. We were the first entry in the show, and we tacked up and warmed up without incident. We did our test and completed every element, which was all I had originally wanted. We took third, with a score of 59 and a shiny yellow ribbon. We took some pictures with the ribbon, but Gloria always keeps her horses' ribbons, and Robert says he has plans for this one.

We got a 7 on our free walk; and Robert said that even Gloria would have laughed to learn that the judge had described Star as "calm and obedient." But she really was. During our warm up we checked out every anomaly in the arena with suspicion, but then it was over. Horses were passing us, we were passing horses, no attempted kicking or biting, and towards the end she didn't even bother to pin her ears.

With a little convincing and a lot of apples she got back into the trailer and we went home victorious, albeit with heavy hearts. Robert says Gloria was very happy just to hear that Star would be going to the show, so I know she would have been as proud of her little mare as I am, maybe more so. We dont know yet what is going to happen to her now.

The ribbon she won says, "A place to begin" and I think thats appropriate.

Ooopsie-Daisy

When I got to the barn Imp and Luca were just finishing up a lesson doing some sort of pas de deux thing. Luca wasn't sweating much (Imp was) so I thought maybe Robert would take him out into the field afterwards, and maybe I could mooch an opportunity to do some more Luca driving. No such luck but Robert told me to hop in and he'd give me a ride back to the barn. I didn't have a helmet but it was such a short ways back to the barn so, I let it go.

I stepped in the cart, Imp left the arena, Luca tried to walk after him, I lurched a little in the cart, Robert gave Luca a forceful halt cue, Luca slammed it in reverse the way he sometimes does, inertia bit me. Yup, my head stayed roughly where it had been before and the cart slammed into my shins. I flipped over and landed on one of the tugs but I was too far over to get back in the cart. I was clearly going to fall off and Luca was starting to wiggle with all this weird stuff happening so I tucked my knees a little, pushed myself off and as soon as I hit the ground rolled away from the cart, most importantly, rolled away from the wheels. I got up and brushed myself off. Robert was startled by the falling but also impressed by my quick rolling action.

I stepped back up on to the cart. Of course, Luca starts running backwards, but this time I stuck my arm out and braced it against the front of the cart. It was actually a close call which irritated me. Then there was a little bit of classic me-Robert dialogue
Robert: I was going to grab you...
Me (interjecting): I'm sure you were
Robert: but I wasn't sure where to grab you.

Robert asked me to longline Dylan, so I got him out. He was OK on the long lines. The reins I picked out were too short, so that was problematic. I think that Dylan's problem is that he doesn't really notice a lot of my cues, and he also thinks that as long as he also does the thing he's told he can go ahead and do whatever else is on his agenda. So, I say walk and he walks, then he sees some manure, so he stops to sniff it. He sees no problem, he did what he was told. I see a problem, he failed to do only what he was told. Robert wants to introduce him to the cart tomorrow. Its been over a year since I helped Robert put a cart on a horse, but I think this will be very different than with the two pony bit... I mean, mares.

I spent a long time getting the rein stops on star's bridle despite the fact that I wasnt going to be using a martingale today. Robert put one on using more brute force than I would have let him use had I known that was his plan. The rein with the buckle wasn't going to be conquered with brute force so I took my 50 cent rein stopper and drilled into it with a power drill until the opening was wide enough to slide over the other rein. Its not on as tight as the other one, but it really doesnt matter at all.

I got star out and she walked up to the hay barn without balking! I have no idea why. I didn't have a whip or a carrot so maybe we both got distracted and we just walked right up there without incident. Anyway, I started brushing her down and vast vast quantities of dirt were coming up. Not off mind you, just sitting there on top of her fur. Some of the dust had blown away mind you, but there was just an astonishing amount of dirt.

That got me thinking about how I was going to clean her for the show on saturday. (how is it september already?) She is pretty scared of being washed so I dont really want to go through all the soap and stuff. Its bad enough that I'm going to put her in a trailer, close the divider and the door and then drive off with her still in it. I dont really want to pile on more distressing things. So I decided this was a good time to introduce her to the vacuum cleaner. The thing itself she wasn't too worried about. I held it up and she dutifully sniffed it and then went on looking out at the horizon. Then I brushed her with it still off, she didn't care about that at all, it felt just like a brush I'm sure. Then I turned it on. That got a little attention but I had moved out onto the blacktop. I tried to vacuum some of the dirt off myself and Star watched with interest. I brought it to her and she decided that this was the sort of thing best sniffed from a distance, so she opened her nostrils really wide and took deep deep breaths. She tolerated being brushed with it for short intervals so I just brushed until she calmed down about it and then stopped. Then brushed some more. One pass with the vacuum is insufficient for most of her body, her hindquarters particularly but she'll accept it on both sides now so I'll do it again tomorrow, on friday and on show day. Hopefully that will suffice.

I tacked her up and took her out to the arena. Seabreeze and Sue were in the arena. We stopped and chatted, Star and Breeze were perfectly friendly with each other even though they were standing pretty close. Sue is going to the show on saturday also, but not as early as I am so we wished each other luck and she left. To warm up star and I walked through all the movements in the test. Walk down the centerline, halt, salute, walk, etc. It took star a while to get the idea behind the free walk. We dont go diagonal across the arena much at all. To practice having her reach her head down I had two piles of manure directly on our line of travel. I didn't do it on purpose, obviously, but it wound up being of some help. It had its detriments, she was being allowed to sniff it so she wanted to stop, on the other hand, she put her head all the way down.

Our circles at the walk were pretty nice, from what I could tell. My turns down the centerline were excellent, I was pleased with us. She stopped reasonably square I think.We ran through the test a couple of times and the first few went OK. It started to break down after a while, maybe she got bored.

The big problem isnt in the free walk, its in the trot circles. She, predictably, wanted to canter on these circles. She's always liked to canter rather than trot on circles but that really really needs to be fixed. It was a nice enough canter really. And as I asked her to stop she was quite resistant but gave me progressively slower and slower canter strides. Towards the end, oh, she was so smooth and collected I wanted to let her go but I restrained myself (and her.) Anyway, it was really difficult to convince her that we were supposed to be trotting. I think she associates circles + me paying attention to my position and her bend, with cantering.

Tomorrow I'm going to try to ride her twice. In the morning I want to slap on a western saddle and the running martingale and take her outside. After some warming up, going across the creek, etc. We're finally going to spend some quality time cantering around the field. If she gets so fast that it makes me nervous we'll do an ~20 m circle. That does seem to slow her down a little, but she's been really lazy lately so I think it wont be a problem.

Ride number two will be shorter. Dressage saddle in the arena, we'll work on our test. Robert will sit behind the judges table and critique. Both the table and Robert will scare Star but thats fine, thats the point. I'm debating whether or not to use the running martingale at all, and if so whether to use the one thats too big for her, or try to fit the other one too her and try it out. I dont really care if she looks all cute and on the vertical but I do care if shes tossing her head to evade the bit while I'm asking her to stop cantering