Midterm exams, music projects, 'social initiative' type projects, school, social stuff, personal/family stuff, and sometimes even horses... all manage to 'get in the way' of horses/my riding. And I find myself not necessarily wanting to go to the barn. I'm always happy when I get there, but in terms of leaving the house (or wherever I'm stationed before heading to the barn) I just lack motivation to move. To put it simply, my brain would rather spend the time sleeping. And all of that fades away the second I step out of the car and walk into the barn, I hate feeling anything less than positively thrilled about heading out to see my mare.
By the end of April, life should start to right itself again for me... I hope... and maybe if I'm lucky, I can even get into a regular weekly schedule. Gasp! How normal and relaxed that tall seems. That's probably a tad optimistic though, so lets not get too excited.
In horse-related news, I still haven't decided if I'm moving barns. I've looked around a bit, but most of the good options are either full, too expensive, or don't allow outside coaches... so the search continues. (for current barn options, and for my move in Sept.) Cadence continues to do well though, and is on track to head to our first show of the season on the 21 of April! Its just a CT, but (footing/weather permitting) they generally offer a XC school after, so it should be good fun!
Also, my blogging through April may be a bit spotty. Not for a lack of content, but simply a lack of time. Then again, when is content ever the issue? And since I can't think of a summary/conclusion for this, I'll just end here. Cheers!
Showing posts with label Craziness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Craziness. Show all posts
Friday, April 5, 2013
Friday, September 28, 2012
Prepairing for Pre-Training
I wrote this up a week and a half (or so) ago, & I guess I hit save not publish... better late than never, I suppose!
As the name suggests, Pre-Training (PT) is the level that comes before Training here in Canada. Almost identical to Novice, but we run at 450 or 425... something like that, and our brush fences can only be 3'3 or 3'6 or something, not 3'7. That one inch makes all the difference!
Anyway, Cadence will be competing in her first Pre-Training this weekend. In preparation, we headed out for a quick SJ/XC school today. Probably not the best move, since she had 4 days off following champs, then a w/t/hack school, and a relatively light dressage school on Saturday. She had another holiday Sunday, and then we took her out xc.... cue the disaster. She was in her shiny (not any more) new bit, a level 1 Myler D ring w/o hooks, and thank god she was because she was an absolute mental case. She started off the day by leaping into the air and nearly dumping me... because she didn't want to trot past a bench outside the ring. Then we had to spend 15 minutes at the canter working on the whole 'calm' thing, and by the time we actually got around to jumping I was exhausted. She jumped well, but was hot as hell. She wasn't too bad to hang onto, but if you set her back to the speed that we were looking for (a normal 12 foot canter stride) she'd lay on you & either die a bit, swap leads, or try to barge out her right shoulder. Fun. We jumped a few fences on a circle to get some breaks in place, then after screaming over a few lines (& jumping her first liverpool, which she didn't even look at) we took a quick break to fix my half-chap (which had actually fallen right off) and let my coach berate us a bit. However, when I hopped back on I was able to breathe & focus, and get some breaks! Yah. No disastrous fence-leaping here! So we moved on to XC.
She flat out refused the VERY FIRST FENCE! Our first real refusal all year!! I was unimpressed. After that little wake up call that I was goign to have to actually sit up and ride, things improved. She was difficult & strong, but we started to make some headway on the whole breaks & steering thing. Once we had that more under control, we attempted a ditch... and she refused again! I was stunned. After a quick boot, we hopped it from a stand still... so I suppose it COULD be counted as a non-refusal, but that would be a lie. Anyway, that was the last refuasal we had. Banks & drops were no problem, & big ditches weren't either. She did rub a few fences though... which is odd. Mostly when she was busy spooking at the tractor 4 FIELDS AWAY. Anywho, we learned an important lesson: mare w/o exercise = spooky, neurotic, high-strung, runaway train. Oh, and a lot more work from me.
A/N: She was ridden/lunged every single day following that xc school, as per our coaches orders!
As the name suggests, Pre-Training (PT) is the level that comes before Training here in Canada. Almost identical to Novice, but we run at 450 or 425... something like that, and our brush fences can only be 3'3 or 3'6 or something, not 3'7. That one inch makes all the difference!
Anyway, Cadence will be competing in her first Pre-Training this weekend. In preparation, we headed out for a quick SJ/XC school today. Probably not the best move, since she had 4 days off following champs, then a w/t/hack school, and a relatively light dressage school on Saturday. She had another holiday Sunday, and then we took her out xc.... cue the disaster. She was in her shiny (not any more) new bit, a level 1 Myler D ring w/o hooks, and thank god she was because she was an absolute mental case. She started off the day by leaping into the air and nearly dumping me... because she didn't want to trot past a bench outside the ring. Then we had to spend 15 minutes at the canter working on the whole 'calm' thing, and by the time we actually got around to jumping I was exhausted. She jumped well, but was hot as hell. She wasn't too bad to hang onto, but if you set her back to the speed that we were looking for (a normal 12 foot canter stride) she'd lay on you & either die a bit, swap leads, or try to barge out her right shoulder. Fun. We jumped a few fences on a circle to get some breaks in place, then after screaming over a few lines (& jumping her first liverpool, which she didn't even look at) we took a quick break to fix my half-chap (which had actually fallen right off) and let my coach berate us a bit. However, when I hopped back on I was able to breathe & focus, and get some breaks! Yah. No disastrous fence-leaping here! So we moved on to XC.
She flat out refused the VERY FIRST FENCE! Our first real refusal all year!! I was unimpressed. After that little wake up call that I was goign to have to actually sit up and ride, things improved. She was difficult & strong, but we started to make some headway on the whole breaks & steering thing. Once we had that more under control, we attempted a ditch... and she refused again! I was stunned. After a quick boot, we hopped it from a stand still... so I suppose it COULD be counted as a non-refusal, but that would be a lie. Anyway, that was the last refuasal we had. Banks & drops were no problem, & big ditches weren't either. She did rub a few fences though... which is odd. Mostly when she was busy spooking at the tractor 4 FIELDS AWAY. Anywho, we learned an important lesson: mare w/o exercise = spooky, neurotic, high-strung, runaway train. Oh, and a lot more work from me.
A/N: She was ridden/lunged every single day following that xc school, as per our coaches orders!
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Blogging Fail... Update Time
During one of the most important times in my young mare's life, I've failed in my attempt to chronicle our experiences. But as whining won't solve it, I'll just do my best to recap.
May:
May started off with a positively disasterous xc school. Cadence was in heat, and proudly displayed some of t he worst behaviour I've ever seen from a horse. She didn't want to leave her buddies, she was hot-headed & inattentive, and requesting even the most simple of tasks would result in her grabbing the bit, refusing to move, or leaping up in the air and bolting. She'd spin, spring, and bolt if you asked her to trot, turn, halt, walk, move, stop moving, etc. and the behaviour continued on for almost two hours. At the end we'd worked through enough of it that she was humble and willing to calmly jump a few fences from the trot and the canter. We even hopped down a few banks just to be sure. However, a few days later we encountered the same behaviour at home only this time it was triggered by me asking her to bend right in the canter, and refusing to let her say no. Her behaviour became so dangerous I actually asked someone to come stand in the ring with me while I rode her so they could call 911. Again, it took 1.5-2 hours until she'd trot calmly around the ring... but we never really did get that right bend. Sometimes though you just have to cut your losses & quit while you're ahead.
Since Cadence's behaviour had approached (and then surpassed without so much as a backwards glance) dangerous, I gave her to my BO for some bootcamp style ground driving & lunging. Then after a tumultuous few sessions, my coached hopped on her once for me before I took her back.
June:
June started out with me working through the remnants of Cadence's bossiness. There were still some tough rides, & a few sticky spots but we worked through it successfully enough to go off property for a stadium school in early June & head off to a Bronze dessage show about half way through the month.
The jump school actually went pretty well. The jumping part was fine- whe wasn't leaping, barging, bolting, or grabbing over jumps. In fact the only issue we had arose from a trailer pulling in as we were warming up. I guess one of the boarders had hauled out somewhere, but their return (and the subsequent situation of the trailer near the one corner of the ring) was both distracting and terrifying to the mare. Approaching that corner of the ring would lead to spinning, shying, bolting, leaping through the air, grabbing the bit, etc. At first I tried correcting her, but as she was legitimately frightened (and not just acting up) this really only led to her getting more wound up. The only thing that really worked for getting her head back on her shoulders? Pointing her at a jump. Then she was rideable, calm, and focused. Silly mare.
Cadence also did pretty well at the dressage show considering we still didn't have much of a stretch in the trot. We scored 56% and 63% in Training 2 & 3 respectively. She would have been far more successful had we not cantered through the trot stretches, but considering the fact that a month prior we'd been leaping through the air at the suggestion of right bend? I was pleased. She placed 3rd in T2 and 1st in T3.
Her jumping had been improving in the weeks since her May madness, and we ended up going to a local Saddle Club show & riding around the 2'3 hunter courses. She was well behaved for the most part, but a little strung out. Still, we made it over everything, never touched a rail, and had something that resembled breaks too! An improvement from previous courses we'd done ;)
July:
In July the Mare finally started to really pull through. We went out xc for the first time since her episode in May, and had an awesome day. It was just Cadence and a baby who had never been out xc before, so we chose somewhere small. They just had 1 field of jumps, ranging from intro to novice, but it was perfect for what we needed. Mare Face was a super star, & the only issue we had was when a bird flew out of one of the jumps! Fair enough... jumps regurgitating living animals is really quite terrifying!
On the 21, we went to an XC derby and Cadence cruised around her first official XC course. We trotted several of the fences, and had one refusal at the second fence, which was a scary log that kind of surprised her as you had to cut through a tree line and then it was right there on the right. She just spooked at it, but we circled around & hopped over it. There was actually a mistake later on in the course (at another jump through a tree line) because I circled her & brought her back down to a trot. There was a young kid jump judging, they counted the jump as a refusal even though the fence hadn't been presented. Anywho, even with that error (& a few time faults picked up from trotting half the course!) we still came in 2nd place and had the fastest time.
Dressage went quite well considering it was right after xc, and we scored a 68%. We would have done better, except I goofed up our entrance & rode to C instead of tracking left to H... ah well! Stadium was also good with a clear round inside the time.
August:
August. Well, August has been amazing. On the 11, Cadence and I completed our first event. She won Open Pre-Entry (lowest Canadian division... kind of in between Intro and BN) by 12 points, scoring a 75.59% in dressage (36.8 penalty points), earning 0 faults stadium, and going clear XC but picking up a few time faults to end on a score of 42.8 pp. The event was fabulous- wonderfully run and the courses were spectacular! There was a skinny in stadium, and one out xc too. Cadence had never really jumped a skinny before, so I was pleased when she popped right over the little blue fence in our SJ round & doubly pleased when she jumped over the skinny log (flanked by trees, & flower pots, and all sorts of scary things) out xc with not TOO much convincing from me ;) Overall, the day was wonderful, & I could not have been prouder of my girl.
May:
May started off with a positively disasterous xc school. Cadence was in heat, and proudly displayed some of t he worst behaviour I've ever seen from a horse. She didn't want to leave her buddies, she was hot-headed & inattentive, and requesting even the most simple of tasks would result in her grabbing the bit, refusing to move, or leaping up in the air and bolting. She'd spin, spring, and bolt if you asked her to trot, turn, halt, walk, move, stop moving, etc. and the behaviour continued on for almost two hours. At the end we'd worked through enough of it that she was humble and willing to calmly jump a few fences from the trot and the canter. We even hopped down a few banks just to be sure. However, a few days later we encountered the same behaviour at home only this time it was triggered by me asking her to bend right in the canter, and refusing to let her say no. Her behaviour became so dangerous I actually asked someone to come stand in the ring with me while I rode her so they could call 911. Again, it took 1.5-2 hours until she'd trot calmly around the ring... but we never really did get that right bend. Sometimes though you just have to cut your losses & quit while you're ahead.
Since Cadence's behaviour had approached (and then surpassed without so much as a backwards glance) dangerous, I gave her to my BO for some bootcamp style ground driving & lunging. Then after a tumultuous few sessions, my coached hopped on her once for me before I took her back.
June:
June started out with me working through the remnants of Cadence's bossiness. There were still some tough rides, & a few sticky spots but we worked through it successfully enough to go off property for a stadium school in early June & head off to a Bronze dessage show about half way through the month.
The jump school actually went pretty well. The jumping part was fine- whe wasn't leaping, barging, bolting, or grabbing over jumps. In fact the only issue we had arose from a trailer pulling in as we were warming up. I guess one of the boarders had hauled out somewhere, but their return (and the subsequent situation of the trailer near the one corner of the ring) was both distracting and terrifying to the mare. Approaching that corner of the ring would lead to spinning, shying, bolting, leaping through the air, grabbing the bit, etc. At first I tried correcting her, but as she was legitimately frightened (and not just acting up) this really only led to her getting more wound up. The only thing that really worked for getting her head back on her shoulders? Pointing her at a jump. Then she was rideable, calm, and focused. Silly mare.
Cadence also did pretty well at the dressage show considering we still didn't have much of a stretch in the trot. We scored 56% and 63% in Training 2 & 3 respectively. She would have been far more successful had we not cantered through the trot stretches, but considering the fact that a month prior we'd been leaping through the air at the suggestion of right bend? I was pleased. She placed 3rd in T2 and 1st in T3.
Aww, look at the sweet innocence. If only she acted that way!
July:
In July the Mare finally started to really pull through. We went out xc for the first time since her episode in May, and had an awesome day. It was just Cadence and a baby who had never been out xc before, so we chose somewhere small. They just had 1 field of jumps, ranging from intro to novice, but it was perfect for what we needed. Mare Face was a super star, & the only issue we had was when a bird flew out of one of the jumps! Fair enough... jumps regurgitating living animals is really quite terrifying!
On the 21, we went to an XC derby and Cadence cruised around her first official XC course. We trotted several of the fences, and had one refusal at the second fence, which was a scary log that kind of surprised her as you had to cut through a tree line and then it was right there on the right. She just spooked at it, but we circled around & hopped over it. There was actually a mistake later on in the course (at another jump through a tree line) because I circled her & brought her back down to a trot. There was a young kid jump judging, they counted the jump as a refusal even though the fence hadn't been presented. Anywho, even with that error (& a few time faults picked up from trotting half the course!) we still came in 2nd place and had the fastest time.
Dressage went quite well considering it was right after xc, and we scored a 68%. We would have done better, except I goofed up our entrance & rode to C instead of tracking left to H... ah well! Stadium was also good with a clear round inside the time.
A video with clips form all 3 phases at the xc trial
August:
August. Well, August has been amazing. On the 11, Cadence and I completed our first event. She won Open Pre-Entry (lowest Canadian division... kind of in between Intro and BN) by 12 points, scoring a 75.59% in dressage (36.8 penalty points), earning 0 faults stadium, and going clear XC but picking up a few time faults to end on a score of 42.8 pp. The event was fabulous- wonderfully run and the courses were spectacular! There was a skinny in stadium, and one out xc too. Cadence had never really jumped a skinny before, so I was pleased when she popped right over the little blue fence in our SJ round & doubly pleased when she jumped over the skinny log (flanked by trees, & flower pots, and all sorts of scary things) out xc with not TOO much convincing from me ;) Overall, the day was wonderful, & I could not have been prouder of my girl.
She looks a bit long & low here... better in the video
Not my best moment, but look at the scenery!
Way to use your neck mare... over the smallest jump on the course!
Thursday, June 7, 2012
I'm Not Dead (Yet)
School and life have recently gotten in the way of well, just about everything. Unfortunately, this blog got lumped into the 'everything' category and has been put on the back burner for the time being. I've hated myself for doing it (especially when I had to stop mid tale) but there are only so many hours in the day, and right now it feels like I barely have enough time for the necessities (school, riding, eating, and [hopefully] sleeping... on occasion). My classes are all but finished, with only exams left so hopefully I'll be able to make a triumphant silent and vitrually undetected return to blogging some time soon. Until then, I bid you adieu.
p.s. For those of you who still read this disheveled excuse for a blog, you're either saints... or in desperate need of a new hobby. Actually, even if the latter is applicable you're still a saint in my eyes.
p.p.s. I have still been reading people's blogs. I haven't been commenting, but I still try to keep tabs on all that's going on.
p.p.p.s. (is that even possible?) If you got the Monty Python reference in the title, good for you. If you didn't, go watch Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
p.s. For those of you who still read this disheveled excuse for a blog, you're either saints... or in desperate need of a new hobby. Actually, even if the latter is applicable you're still a saint in my eyes.
p.p.s. I have still been reading people's blogs. I haven't been commenting, but I still try to keep tabs on all that's going on.
p.p.p.s. (is that even possible?) If you got the Monty Python reference in the title, good for you. If you didn't, go watch Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Quick Morning Update:
Cadence has been doing well. My last day of classes is today, so yesterday my BO graciously lunged her for me. Excited to see how that went. She's been going gorgeously, and in spite of her cough that starts up every time we trot, I've actually gotten some unbelievably nice trot work out of her. When we first trot, she's rushy and tense. She knows she's supposed to bend, so she bends beautifully in the corners, on circles, and on serpentines. She's not truly supple though, and if you ask for a big bend anywhere random she gets frustrated. However, if you just give her some time to sort herself out, she gets a beautiful trot on her. The only issue is that its pretty big... and quite forward. Still, I think its more of an 'appropriate' trot for her. She's not light or extremely supple, or perfectly straight but she's good.
We also had a bit of... fun the other day. Her bandage came of Sat, so her leg was up to balloon size on Sunday. So much so that I wanted to lunge her just to make sure everything was fine, and she wasn't sore/stiff/anything else. Her lunge work started off quite well, aside from three little canter strides she popped in before I could stop her. Everything was looking pretty good, so I decided to pop a few canter transitions in so I could watch her push off her leg. We started off to the left and things looked fine, so I turned her around to ask for the right so I could get an idea of 'normal' to compare it to. She was slightly wobbly off it, but I attribute that more to her lack of muscle/balance ATM as she had some good ones too, and her stride overall looked perfect.
So anywho, I popped her around to the right, asked for a trot, and got... insane. She bolted, doing her cow-hop canter (where they 'canter' but its really just a hop from the hind end to the front end... if that makes sense) for a few strides before bucking, squealing, and bolting. Full out nose to the ground all four legs up gallop... on a 20m circle. I tried to stop her by pulling her off balance, and she just kicked out and galloped faster. She honestly just flipped a switch, and went totally bat shit crazy. I tried speaking calmly and quietly, I tried shouting jumping up and down and waving my arms, I tried letting her 'go' (as a last resort) and I tried yanking her off balance. She practically dragged me around that arena, and I may be small but I have a decent set of muscles when I need them. She was so insane that she actually fall onto her LH hip 3 times, (once because I yanked her so hard in a wild attempt to get her to stop) which led to her hopping back up, squealing, kicking, and running harder.
I have no idea what finally made her stop. It felt like it went on for hours, but in reality her little trip to cukoo land probably only lasted about 5 minutes. Either way, I was even more convinced she'd be lame after that little escapade. She wasn't though, thank god, and everything looked good; not even any tenderness.
I've never seen a horse loose it like she did though... it was like all the excess energy she'd been holding inside her from her month and a bit of stall rest snapped- she just broke and had to let it all out. Just so long as she didn't hurt herself, I'd rather that happened with me there, in the arena, and while I wasn't on her back. Things could have turned out a lot worse.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
When it rains, it pours.
Honestly, I'd love to be able to catch a break... but that just doesn't appear to be in the cards. Generally I'm a pretty firm believer in things like taking responsibility for your choices and actions, and not BLAMINg things on anybody. However, I honestly don't think the whole Cadence situation (regarding her injury and subsequent month of torture and careful nursing back to semi-health) could have been handled any better. However, when I got home from my 32 hour holiday to visit my family for New Years, Cadence was back at the equine hospital. Thank god I have the most wonderful group of support staff (inc. our amazing barn manager, my extremely committed coach, and a group of friends that I owe my horse's life to. Not many barn owners will drive repeatedly to and from the barn to check on a boarders horse with a slightly elevated temperature, on a HOLIDAY! And not many friends would be so considerate as to haul your horse to the vet clinic for you [ALSO ON A HOLIDAY] in bad weather when they should be spending time with their family, organizing their wedding, or doing any number of equally important things) back home to watch over Cadence for me. I'll give details when I'm awake.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Back Home
Yesterday the vet finally gave the OK to bring Cadence home. She made the trip safe and sound, and is now enjoying chilling in her stall.... for the next two weeks. You heard me right, two weeks. She'll have the drain taken out Friday, and until then her bandages have to be changed daily. After Friday, they need to be done every other day. She's on 15 minutes of hand walking/day, and stall rest until the wound heals. Additionally, she gets 38cc of antibiotics 1x/day.
Last time we were in a similar situation (when we put her on stall rest till the vet could check out her leg) she managed to break out of her stall and gallop into the arena, tear a metal ring out of its concrete base, kick another horse in the chest (although he DID stick his nose in her butt) and just be a general pain in the arse. I love her dearly, but if she was that bonkers after 4 days, I have no idea how we're going to get through 15 :( The poor thing, she's going to be bored to tears. Anyone have good suggestions for mental stimulation whilst on stall rest?
Oh, and while at the vets they noticed her manure was dry, so they gave her 2L of oil via a gastronasal tube to prevent colic. Yet another thing to worry about. Please send the Mare your love and positive thoughts... and perhaps send me some of those positive vibes while your at it. I think I may need it more than her if either of us want to make it to christmas!
Last time we were in a similar situation (when we put her on stall rest till the vet could check out her leg) she managed to break out of her stall and gallop into the arena, tear a metal ring out of its concrete base, kick another horse in the chest (although he DID stick his nose in her butt) and just be a general pain in the arse. I love her dearly, but if she was that bonkers after 4 days, I have no idea how we're going to get through 15 :( The poor thing, she's going to be bored to tears. Anyone have good suggestions for mental stimulation whilst on stall rest?
Oh, and while at the vets they noticed her manure was dry, so they gave her 2L of oil via a gastronasal tube to prevent colic. Yet another thing to worry about. Please send the Mare your love and positive thoughts... and perhaps send me some of those positive vibes while your at it. I think I may need it more than her if either of us want to make it to christmas!
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Blog Post Fail
Argh! I missed yesterday's post! To my credit I have a fairly good reason: I had no time, and this past week has been insane. None the less, if I REALYL REALLY wanted to, I could have done it. Alas, I'll post the post tomorrow.
A brief summary of my insane week:
Monday: skipped classes to prepare for Tuesday's mid-terms
Tuesday: Mid-terms, and Noel Gallagher concert, get home at 12:30
Wednesday: Murdoch Mysteries, get home at 5am on Thursday
Thursday: Survive off of 3 hours of sleep
Friday: Music department's annual silent auction & dinner dance(which finishes at 11, so you don't get out of there till at least 11:30)
Saturday: Lesson, and RAWF's Big Ben Challenge
The Big Ben Challenge also doesn't finish till at least 11, 11:30's more realistic though. So I won't be home till about 1:30am.
A brief summary of my insane week:
Monday: skipped classes to prepare for Tuesday's mid-terms
Tuesday: Mid-terms, and Noel Gallagher concert, get home at 12:30
Wednesday: Murdoch Mysteries, get home at 5am on Thursday
Thursday: Survive off of 3 hours of sleep
Friday: Music department's annual silent auction & dinner dance(which finishes at 11, so you don't get out of there till at least 11:30)
Saturday: Lesson, and RAWF's Big Ben Challenge
The Big Ben Challenge also doesn't finish till at least 11, 11:30's more realistic though. So I won't be home till about 1:30am.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Sad News: For Sale
This post should have been up last Monday, or at least last week, but I seem to have succumbed to another wave of sickness and with mid-terms next week... well, you get the point.
I think the phrase "it was the best of times, it was the worst of times" is an accurate descriptor of my Monday. I couldn't exactly say it was a bad day.... too many good things happened; too many wonderfully fantastic things happened to call it a bad day. At the same time I couldn't say it was a good day, effectively for the same reasons. Here's how my Monday went:
At noon, I discovered that my regular Monday dressage lesson was cancelled and rescheduled for Wednesday. This was disappointing, as Mondaywas a beautiful day... a lesson would have been fun. Then however, an idea struck. Since the weather was nice (in spite of the recent onslaught of bad weather we've been experiencing) I attempted to cajole my dad into trailering Cadence and I down to the Dundas Valley so we could go for a ride. Surprisingly (especially considering the short notice) he agreed.
To me, the Valley is a special place. I love trail riding, and the miles and miles of well kept paths winding themselves through the scenic Dundas Valley provide the perfect backdrop to any trail rider's wildest fantasies. Actually, that's a lie... I think the Rockies or the Himalayas or something equally awe-enducing would probably be (just a wee bit) better. However, in terms of local availability the Valley's the creme de la creme. I digress. So the disappointment of the canceled lesson turned into glee as the opportunity to take my pony on a REAL trail ride for the first time appeared. One strike for a good day, one strike for a bad day. The score is tied at 1 - 1.
The ride itself was fantabulously amazing. So much so, that I feel the need to make up words to describe it. I would have taken pictures (in fact, I went to great lengths to ensure my camera was available and readyfor action) however, my BRAND NEW camera decided to up and break on me. There goes another strike against the good day tally. Current score: 2 - 1 for Bad Day.
Additionally, upon speaking with the BO, I discovered that Judy (Launa's owner) has decided to sell my 17 y/o baby girl. Very disappointing, especially since she's been doing so well recently! However, pairing really isn't a match made in heaven. Launa requires a slightly firmer ride than Judy is capable of giving her, and while she may be an angel for the BO and I, Judy and Launa just don't have the experience to allow them to 'click'. Aside: I've spoken with Judy since her decision to sell Launa, and she's truly done with the mare. Launa's now free to a good home, and Judy (while dedicated to ensuring Launa gets a good home) has sort of given up. No more rides, no more visits, etc. I'll continue riding Launa until she's sold, and I've been asked to increase the number of times I ride her (to make up for both Judy and the BO not working her)... so we'll see what I have time for. So that's one BIG strike against a good day. Score: 3-1, with Bad Day maintaining their lead.
When I got home, I got some news that could have erased ALL the bad stuff. To explain, here's a little history lesson: there's a Canadian tv show called Murdoch Mysteries. It's a crime show set in Toronto in the 1890's. This absolutely fantastic piece of television is currently filming it's 5th and final season, so one of my friends and I applied to be extras on the show. After some emailing back and forth, they said that they'd let us know when they had space (they have to have x number of unionized extras on the show, so they were waiting for a day when there were lots of extras needed) and lo and behold, Monday night they emailed. My friend replied as soon as she'd gotten the email. However, she's an infrequent email checker and by the time she'd replied to them they'd already had to fill the positions (they were for the next day). So I got all hyped up, and finally let myself believe we might make it on the program, only to have those hopes crushed again. It's not my friend's fault, it's not the programs fault, it's not anybody's fault. Still disappointing though. So there's another point for good day, and another point for bad day. Two for the price of one, eh?
I don't know how much of this is relevant, if any. It's just one of those things that's easier to get off your chest. Writing it out and seeing it 'on paper' helps me work through it and figure out how I actually feel. In this case, I'm still unsure. Too many good things, too many bad things. I'll just try to concentrate on the good, and hope for the best.
I think the phrase "it was the best of times, it was the worst of times" is an accurate descriptor of my Monday. I couldn't exactly say it was a bad day.... too many good things happened; too many wonderfully fantastic things happened to call it a bad day. At the same time I couldn't say it was a good day, effectively for the same reasons. Here's how my Monday went:
At noon, I discovered that my regular Monday dressage lesson was cancelled and rescheduled for Wednesday. This was disappointing, as Mondaywas a beautiful day... a lesson would have been fun. Then however, an idea struck. Since the weather was nice (in spite of the recent onslaught of bad weather we've been experiencing) I attempted to cajole my dad into trailering Cadence and I down to the Dundas Valley so we could go for a ride. Surprisingly (especially considering the short notice) he agreed.
To me, the Valley is a special place. I love trail riding, and the miles and miles of well kept paths winding themselves through the scenic Dundas Valley provide the perfect backdrop to any trail rider's wildest fantasies. Actually, that's a lie... I think the Rockies or the Himalayas or something equally awe-enducing would probably be (just a wee bit) better. However, in terms of local availability the Valley's the creme de la creme. I digress. So the disappointment of the canceled lesson turned into glee as the opportunity to take my pony on a REAL trail ride for the first time appeared. One strike for a good day, one strike for a bad day. The score is tied at 1 - 1.
The ride itself was fantabulously amazing. So much so, that I feel the need to make up words to describe it. I would have taken pictures (in fact, I went to great lengths to ensure my camera was available and readyfor action) however, my BRAND NEW camera decided to up and break on me. There goes another strike against the good day tally. Current score: 2 - 1 for Bad Day.
Additionally, upon speaking with the BO, I discovered that Judy (Launa's owner) has decided to sell my 17 y/o baby girl. Very disappointing, especially since she's been doing so well recently! However, pairing really isn't a match made in heaven. Launa requires a slightly firmer ride than Judy is capable of giving her, and while she may be an angel for the BO and I, Judy and Launa just don't have the experience to allow them to 'click'. Aside: I've spoken with Judy since her decision to sell Launa, and she's truly done with the mare. Launa's now free to a good home, and Judy (while dedicated to ensuring Launa gets a good home) has sort of given up. No more rides, no more visits, etc. I'll continue riding Launa until she's sold, and I've been asked to increase the number of times I ride her (to make up for both Judy and the BO not working her)... so we'll see what I have time for. So that's one BIG strike against a good day. Score: 3-1, with Bad Day maintaining their lead.
Murdoch Mysteries' Constable George Crabtree, Dr. Julia Ogden, Detective William Murdoch, and Inspector Thomas Brackenreid
I don't know how much of this is relevant, if any. It's just one of those things that's easier to get off your chest. Writing it out and seeing it 'on paper' helps me work through it and figure out how I actually feel. In this case, I'm still unsure. Too many good things, too many bad things. I'll just try to concentrate on the good, and hope for the best.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Hop Skip & a Jump
Cadence did her first bounce on Saturday. She was stellar, and didn't just hop over the whole line like I feared she might. Good mare! She still likes to grab a bit about 3 strides out from the jump. Its fine so long as she gets a good distance, but far too often she just gets in deep or has to go long. She's getting better though. I leave tomorrow at 7 to go out west for my cousins wedding (we were supposed to leave at 7:30pm tonight, but a bird flew into the plane and broke it so the plane's grounded for the next 4 days) so Cadence's old owner/breeder (KAitlin) is going to ride her and hopefully take her out xc this weekend. I'm so excited for the both of 'em.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Welcome to my Life
8:40-3:15 Classes
3:20-4:00 Drive to barn
4:00-6:00 Groom, tack up, ride, etc. BOTH Launa and Cadence
6:00-6:30 Drive to Flute lesson
6:30-7:00 Flute lesson
7:00-7:15 Drive home
7:15-? My niece's second birthday party
And somehow I have to fit in dinner, school work, band practice, and maybe even sleep before waking up nice and early so that I can be at school by 7:20 at the latest. At least the weather's nice!
3:20-4:00 Drive to barn
4:00-6:00 Groom, tack up, ride, etc. BOTH Launa and Cadence
6:00-6:30 Drive to Flute lesson
6:30-7:00 Flute lesson
7:00-7:15 Drive home
7:15-? My niece's second birthday party
And somehow I have to fit in dinner, school work, band practice, and maybe even sleep before waking up nice and early so that I can be at school by 7:20 at the latest. At least the weather's nice!
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Two Down, Two To Go
I have a new acronym for myself : MLIC (My Life Is Crazy) None of this average stuff for me. Today I:
-Went to school at 9 for a music theory exam
-Left at 10:30 to go to the barn
-Lunged Cadence (She was alright, but fall in a bit)
-Hopped on Cadence and worked in the walk and trot. Her boyfriend, Bronx was in the ring so she was a bit distracted, but awesome all around. Her constant left bend is all but gone!
-Left the barn at 12:30 to head back to school
-grabbed a slice of pizza on the way
-Played my flute exam at 1:35
-Left school (again) at 1:55
-Came home to study. I still haven't gotten to the study part yet...
During the next week I have:
-A lesson (on Cadence) and an exam tomorrow
-An exam Thursday, and hopefully I'll lunge Cadence and ride Arty. Thursday's my last exam
-A lesson Friday (on Cadence)
-Ride Cadence and Arty Saturday
-Ride Magik Saturday. A lady from Arty's barn is going away for a few days, and wanted me to exercise and love her 7 y/o morgan cross who was backed and trained english and then left out in a field for two years. Her rider's ridden western her whole life, and is sort of out of depths with this whole English thing. She's the mare in the pictures. She's stubborn and egotistical (in my opinion) and her mom spoils her a bit, but she has the basics and was started really well (backed and trained by Elaine Ward).
-On top of that, I still don't know when I'm supposed to be riding Bales. Ah well, I'll get around to it.
-Went to school at 9 for a music theory exam
-Left at 10:30 to go to the barn
-Lunged Cadence (She was alright, but fall in a bit)
-Hopped on Cadence and worked in the walk and trot. Her boyfriend, Bronx was in the ring so she was a bit distracted, but awesome all around. Her constant left bend is all but gone!
-Left the barn at 12:30 to head back to school
-grabbed a slice of pizza on the way
-Played my flute exam at 1:35
-Left school (again) at 1:55
-Came home to study. I still haven't gotten to the study part yet...
During the next week I have:
-A lesson (on Cadence) and an exam tomorrow
-An exam Thursday, and hopefully I'll lunge Cadence and ride Arty. Thursday's my last exam
-A lesson Friday (on Cadence)
-Ride Cadence and Arty Saturday
-On top of that, I still don't know when I'm supposed to be riding Bales. Ah well, I'll get around to it.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
An Eventful Night
So last night I was heading out to the barn late, with my mother in tow. Actually, she was driving. Unfortunately. She missed the turn off to the barn, and spent 45 minutes lost, and trying to find our way back to the barn. Add that to the normal 30 minutes it takes to get there. Anyhow, we finally made it... very late... so I tacked up quickly for a short ride. It was around 9:15 when I got on, so we decided to just have some fun with the time we had left. We did our usual routine to start off with, and just after we`d finished cantering to the right, the lights in the arena went out! Bales got scared, but let me dismount and head over to the light switch to turn it off. (the lights were off, the switch was still on) I hand walked him around the arena, trying the light switch after every lap and finally, 15 minutes later, there was light! Yay! I have some vids to post, but currently they`re all around 4 minutes.... so I think I`ll edit them first!
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