Year in Review: 2010/2011

I really like Andrea's way of recapping her year... very handy to look back on!  So, I decided I'd steal the idea.  Here goes:

November 2010

In November, I was still part boarding Bailey, and leasing Arty.  Bailey had some issues when he attempted the barefoot lifestyle, and we slapped some front shoes back on him.  I would still go out and school Arty before school (should have thought of a better word), and life was good.  All in all, nothing of consequence happened.

December 2010

December was slightly more eventful than November.  I stopped 'officially' leasing the pony (unless I'm mistaken... but I don't think I am), and about mid-month Bailey injured his back (we suspect he slipped out in the field) and started his time off.  My friend Megan was given the mare she had spent the last year and a half leasing for Christmas, and I wasn't given the indoor arena I asked for ;)  I met Cadence's mom at my coaches Christmas party, and was in awe of Cadence's impressively scopey free jumping in the video I was shown.  Seriously, that mare was jumping 6' in her hind end... over a 4' jump.  Thank god she doesn't jump like that under saddle.  I ride Z for the first time, and have issues with insomnia.  My attempts to brave the cold to school Arty (since we have no indoor arena) fail a little, and his training falls by the way-side.

January 2011

New years passes uneventfully.  I make a list of goals/resolutions, and on a whim, decide to add getting a horse to the list.  It can't hurt to dream, right?  My lessons on Z continue, (on a side note, that pony you see in the video [Z] is now schooling 2nd level... how time flies) and I end up riding her a little more than expected when my coach injures her back.  Arty gets a new bit, and I contemplate the awfulness of winter.  Not that any of that's relevant.  slightly more importantly, Bailey starts back under saddle after about a month off, and I meet and start riding Cadence!  I also get sick, but what else is new.  Cadence jumps her first gymnastic, and I ride Majik for the first time.

February 2011

I keep Cadence on a trial period (actually that happens in January), and when all seems to be going well she gets her vet check.  My whole world changes, when my wonderful parents who have been so supportive of my riding career buy Cadence for me, and call it a birthday present!  Best present I will ever get.  On a less up beat note, My time with Bailey comes to an end, and technically my 'official' time with Arty does too.  Last but not least, I go to England!  What a way to end the month.

March 2011

In MArch, Cadence started off the month by knocking the glass window out of her stall with her head, and then  colicing a week later.  Eventful start to the month.  We got a dressage saddle, and had bad luck attempting to get a close contact saddle.  We also switched her into an 18mm sprenger kk ultra, which she's been in ever since.  At the end of march, Ontario was still covered in snow.

April 2011

Through some good luck, a new saddle came into my life.  A beautiful (albeit used... they're over 3k new) Childeric CC saddel.  Can you say comfy?  The saddle search was over.  Show plans for the summer were drawn up, the barn got a set of three REAL standards (sorry bar stool jumps, the real standards take the cake)  and it was STILL SNOWING BY THE MIDDLE OF THE MONTH!  Mark Todd won Badminton (not that has ANY relevance whatsoever to my mare and I) Cadence got a YouTube channel, and I went to Rolex.  Perfect way to end off the month :)

May 2011

Cadence had a wee bit of an issue (I hesitate saying issue, as it really wasn't.  It was more of just an occurrence) with a little fill in her hind legs.  We revised her work schedule and did some more conditioning.  All of this occurred while I was away in Kentucky.  A bit of  a stressful start to the month, if I do say so myself.  Cadence had her first off property school, jumped her first course, and went to her first show!

June 2011

Cadence had her first ever cross country school!  She was awesome, and rocked the socks off of it.  Other than that, it was just the usual ups and downs of training a greenie.  I was also pretty lax in my blogging.

July 2011

Cadence and I did a little more showing.  We had our first combined training show (and the first show in which Cadence jumped... or at least tried to) in which we were__(think of word)__ by a terrifying bright red shed; an obstacle which proved insurmountable. Ah well.  As for the HT, two days before the competition, we signed up for an event (pullling some strings to get us in) and headed off to our first recognized (and first unrecognized) horse trial.  We did swimmingly in dressage, survived Stadium without a single refusal (though I'm sure it looked god awful) and got eliminated out XC.   Unfortunately, when your horse doesn't go near a jump... they can't really complete the course.  Those scary drops (or benches... don't know which really spooked her more)  To end off the month, I broke my finger out XC!  Yay!

(I love this picture!  Worst form ever, but she threw me a major loop on this one; I just tried my best to stick with her)

August 2011

We attended another HT, only to be foiled once again by those nasty sheds!  A different one this time, but apparently Cadence has a serious issue with outbuildings.  Other than that, we had some fun schooling at different places, and enjoyed the last few bits of my summer holiday.  Oh, and I started riding Launa for her owner on a bi-weekly basis.

September 2011

We attended a hunter show... that was not our finest moment.  Cadence was a bit too on the muscle for my liking.  There was also some awful form on my part :P  Other than that, the most exciting news would be that I started training Launa to jump (going NICE and slowly) and that Riding From the Ground Up hit 100 posts!  We also had an awesome XC School up at Headwaters.

(This pic's from September, but its so hilarious I thought I had to include it)

October 2011

Cadence jumped her first bounce at the start of the month and was a total pro!  I went out west for my cousin's wedding, and Cadence's old owner/breeder came down for the weekend to ride her and she even took her out XC!  RFTGU got 30 followers, and other than that not too much happened.

November 2011

This was an action packed month.  Launa was put up for sale, I was essentially 'given' her to ride and maintain, and since I don't have nearly enough time for that, I pawned her off to a friend who is now part boarding/leasing her until she's sold.  Cadence went for her first 'real' trail ride, all by her self I might add.  I started and ended my acting career with a spot as an extra on Murdoch Mysteries, Cadence and I rode with Belinda Trussel, and we rocked a set of fairy wings at our friend's costume games day.  RFTGU celebrated its 1st birthday, and I SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED NATIONAL BLOG POST MONTH!

Second Last Post of NaBloPoMo

Unless something extremely dramatic happens and I don't end up posting the post I've been working on for quite a while, tomorrow I should have successfully completed NaBloPoMo, save one day... and I think I had a pretty good excuse that day.  THat week was easily the most insane week I've ever survived.

For this post, I actually just wanted to share some NYC pics!  Here you are:

 Who you gonna call?  Ghost Busters!

Rush, Grab, Lay, Barge, Bolt

Cause that's what makes the world go round!  Oh wait, no it isn't.  That's just what makes Kate grumpy.

I had my first ride back after being on vacation (well... I consider three days away to be a vacation) and it was... enlightening.  Recently I've been ruminating over putting some scary stuff under jumps, and seeing how Cadencde ould handle it.  So today, in the absence of a lesson, I decided to try it.  I dragged out three jumps, putting two on the diagonal and one on the long wall, and added pylons under two, and upside down water buckets on the side of the remaining diagonal. 
Now, already I've made a couple of stupid mistakes.  Firstly, Cadence has had a bit of a day on, day off, day on, day off schedule over the past week.  She had just come off of three days on and three days off (with yesterday being off) so I should have flatted her.  My rationale for jumping was that I didn't want her to go too long without jumping, lest she be too crazy when we finally got back around to it.  In hindsight, I should have flatted today and jumped tomorrow.  The ONE extra day wouldn't have killed her.  But instead, I figured a brief lunge would suffice.  My second mistake was starting off with three single fences.  Whenever we canter fences, we've always done some gymnastic work first... so expecting her to jump these scarier fences with a totally different warm up was a big mistake on my part.
My third error came when I forgot to put on her martingale... whoops.  I hate artificial aids (and include martingales in that category) but when your horse will grab the bit, nose in the air,a nd run three strides out from the jump?  You're better off with the martingale.
The ride started off well enough; her warm up was adequate too.  Though she was a little hesitant to rock back in the trot.  (I later discovevered she'd lodged a massive stone in next to her frog, so perchance she didn't want to put too much weight on her hind end; though the rest of the ride indicated no such qualms) The issues came in that (even in the trot) she'd flatten out before the fences, and jump 'em flat & long.  In the canter it was even worse, as she'd grab the bit & throw her head up before running at the jump.
When she wasn't doing that, she'd be stiff, grabby, and heavy in the hand.  Not much fun.  After three or four of these jumps (for lack of a better word) I tried bringing her back to a trot right before the fence.  We hopped 'em nicely like that, but every now and again she'd just grab and run, adding a  stride or two of canter in before the fence.
On to the next trick.  I moved one of the diagonals over and made a gymnastic out of it and the fence on the long wall.  Just a simple one stride set to like an inch or two shy of 18'.  So in essence, set to 18'.  We hopped over that a few times, then trotted the diagonal off of the gymnastic.  All three fences were nice and calm, so we did the gymnastic twice more, and cantered in to the diagonal off of the second gymnastic.  She lengthened a wee bit up to the diagonal, but there was no grabbing, and no running off so we called it quits and ended on a good note.  Cadence doesn't need to be worked into the ground just because I set her up for failure instead of success.

Home We Go...

... and then straight to the barn.  Honestly, I'm flying home, maybe making a quick appearance at school for my afternoon classes, and then heading off to ride Cadence.  I've missed my mare over the past few days.  Life in the big apple's been spectacular, but I can't wait to get home.

The Big Apple

Lots of fun touring the big city.  Oddly enough, it doesn't feel that big once you're in it.  We walked through Central Park this morning, ate lunch at a really traditional old-style diner near 5th Ave, went to Tiffany & Co.  Then, after a little afternoon nap, (toddlers are tiring...) we went shopping!  I think I could really get used to this lifestyle... if I had a couple million to spare, that is.  Otherwise, you aren't getting this lifestyle.  Its insane!  Things are just so outrageous.  I'm currently staying in an appt. on the west (I think) side of Central Park.  I can practically see the park from the window.  Well, I'm looking the wrong way; I can see the Hudson River though... does that count?  Either way, an apartment like this goes for $10 000 per month.  Per month!  Insane.  This is a ridiculously big apartment, but still.  What's even more mind boggling is the fact that the east side of the park makes this side look cheap.  Quite the life.

On the agenda for tomorrow is a broadway show, popping in to see Time Square, and (probably) some more shopping :)  Hope everyone enjoys their weekend, and survived Black Friday with all your appendages in-tacked.