Scariest Garden Hose

Perhaps unexpectedly, this is a post about me being scared of the new hose at the barn, not my horses hating hoses or water. Or maybe if you've read this blog a while, you're not surprised by the random neuroses of yours truly.

Exhibit A: New hose left out to drain by the barn:

Exhibit B: Example of a garter snake:

Both inhabit the area around the barn, both move around, but seem to prefer hanging out in the long grass near the water taps.

It's freaking ridiculous, but every.single.time I trip over that hose or catch a glimpse of it out of the corner of my eye, I'm like "EEK!"

I don't even mind snakes per say, just not a fan of their habit of appearing unexpectedly in odd places and then slithering around unpredictably. Just pick a spot and stay there so I know where you are! 

New rule: Same goes for you, New Barn Hose!:D

(AND SERIOUSLY, WHOSE IDEA WAS IT TO MANUFACTURE A HOSE IN THESE COLORS?! AND WHY DID THE BARN OWNER BUY IT INSTEAD OF ONE OF THE MANY OTHER COLORS BASIC GARDEN HOSES COME IN? Does no one else see the similarity? I have so many questions :) )

Magic Tack, Part 2

First, the magic saddle. Then, in my perusing of all things horse on the internet, I saw what looked like a good bit to try on Midge and saw it was dressage legal, too. I started researching it and other Myler bits. Would one help the extra fussy Midge?

Reading about them on the Myler website, I was definitely getting an infomercial, too-good-to-be-true vibe.

ShamWOW!

Also, IMO they're not overly cheap for what I perceive the quality to be. Kind of an expensive experiment should B hate it, as she has many other bits I've tried.

Although I was skeptical, it really did look and sound like a bit that would suit B, so I took the plunge and ordered one through the Home Shopping Channel Riding Warehouse. It arrived in record time, and I've ridden in it twice now.

Myler MB33WL. Paying in 3 easy installments of $29.95 and I get a free Ziploc bag to keep it in because I ordered it before the time ran out. Just kidding, it was $89 USD (including a free Ziploc bag and a very large box)

Initial thoughts? Yep, for Bridget at least, it's magical. She's not hiding from the contact, and she's flexing easily side to side when I ask, rather than her previous go to of bracing. Ditto in the transitions - she's more easily forward into the contact and not wanting to brace or hollow as much.

Obviously, our every day basic training issues remain. (It's been hot, so again we struggle with a lack of energy and plenty of reminders are required to keep her up in front of my leg. Also, she's quite heavy and on the forehand in the canter if I'm not really on the ball)  It's not THAT magical of a piece of equipment. But, she likes it, and that alone is worth it and makes my job simpler.

Bridget's level of enthusiasm is never dramatic, but so far this bit seems to meet her standards

Long term, who knows? I'm glad I bought it for where we're at now, though! Plus, a magic bit is still far cheaper than that magic saddle I covet :)

Changes (Of The Fun, Flying Variety)

This might have been my favorite lesson ever.

I know I've mentioned a few times how good Audrey has been for reminding me to stay centered and to keep my upper body strong but not resistant. If I shift my weight or tense any part of my body, you'd better believe she's going to offer up SOMETHING because she is a good girl and gives me a lot more credit than she should.

Bridget prefers sleep to offering solutions to my requests, but I love her for it.

You've probably also gathered by now that often, in the canter, her SOMETHING offered in reaction to my above rider challenges often involves inadvertant flying changes :)

I'd like to think I'm improving, because it's been a few rides since I've had rider issues resulting in pony drama and the surprise changes have been minimal of late. Full disclaimer: It could be the magic saddle, though, too.

Today, as I was cantering  and shortening through the center of the arena, I could feel her really thinking and hoping I'd ask for a change. I laughed and mentioned it to EC, who suggested I just go ahead and surprise her and ask.

Random pics of my girls, sorry once again for the lack of Audrey lesson pictures. Especially in summer,the barn is empty of barn rats when I have my lessons in the evenings.

That's when I had to fess up. I've never really had a horse with solid changes, so I could probably count the times I've ridden them in a dressage context (intentionally at least, lol)  on one hand. My question: do I ask the same as on a western horse? Or jumping? Answer: Don't over think it! Get your good canter, keep her straight, feel where her legs are at like you would as you ask for a good walk to canter transition. Simply weight your new inside stirrup slightly and slide your new outside leg back a little. Catch her with your new outside rein. Ask her to stay round and stepping up. Do not pull on her nose....she needs to be straight! Basically, most of the things I'm doing when I inadvertently get a change on her when I'm just trying to change the bend :)

Sophie is still really bum high. Grow pony, grow! Become a mini Audrey, please :)

EC remained convinced changes are no big thing and we didn't need to discuss it to death. I just needed to go play around and ask for them. And so I did. It took a couple of tries to get the feel (after all my talk about Audrey being uber sensitive, I still wanted to override them the first couple of times and ended up with some very crooked and...expressive! changes and cross cantering, even a couple of inadvertent one tempi changes down the long side as I over-corrected my body, lol, it's incredible that she puts up with my shenanigans :), and then after a couple of tries each way it was like the light bulb went on and it really was no big thing. She's fairly tricky to keep straight enough on her tougher side, and almost too easy (anticipating) on the other, but we did it! On purpose! Nicely! Easily!

And, oh my goodness, was that fun. I know for a lot of you changes are no big deal. For me, it's pretty exciting to start to get the feel and timing nailed down and have that tool available to me. One day I want to do tempis (on purpose), after all!

G has about a million pics of my ponies on his phone! Who knew?!

I'm very lucky that EC will let me ride her up and coming "big" horse and play around with new to me things and never worry I'll set her training back. I'm also aware of how lucky I am that Audrey is that perfect mix of very expressive and opinionated without being dangerous if you mess it all up. She's giving me a lot of confidence in using my rider toolkit and problem solving when it doesn't go to plan.  Quite often I have been far too passive because I lack confidence in myself to do the right thing, but that's changing a little because she is so responsive to what I ask...I'm communicating a lot more clearly and confidently. I'm very hopeful that what I'm learning now will translate over to Sophie and even Bridget.

Trying for a nice picture of us, 20 pictures taken and not one has all of us looking "normal" lol. Just keeping it real over here :)

Although, to keep me humble...Audrey did pull a very dirty move and nipped me hard on the arm as I was leading her into the barn prior to the lesson. Very, very quick and stealthy about it too, then the whole instant "OMG I DIDN"T ACTUALLY MEAN TO TOUCH YOU! PLEASE DON"T HURT ME" shocked face and so much sadness when I got after her a little for it. All the mare feelings, lol. So, yeah, don't worry. she's not a complete perfect angel! (But pretty close, IMO ;)

Champagne Taste

You're all familiar by now with the long, long saga that has been finding appropriate tack for round sized Bridget ponies. Spoiler alert: It's not easy. I've pretty much just decided to settle for "good enough" since B and I arent hitting any big goals anymore.

 I'll save up for something prettier down the road when Sophie is ready for her own saddle.

In the meantime inbetweentime, I've fallen in love with a saddle that's well beyond my current beer budget:

County Epiphany

I ride in this on my lesson nights, and it's just perfect. This is the first dressage saddle I've used that I don't feel like I'm fighting against in one way or another. It's soft and confortable without being a couch, and it puts me on such a good place I don't even need to think about my position. No more sore lower back or hips. The twist is narrow enough that even my short legs hang nicely, and yet it still feels close contact. Audrey loves it too, and goes noticeably better in it than her previous saddle. Also, it's now super easy for me to sit her gaits.  I want, want, want one of my own. Fingers crossed when the time comes for Sophie to have a saddle, an Epiphany works for her. Time to start hoarding pennies, just in case!

Anyway, if you're shopping, I highly recommend trying this saddle. Apparently everyone at the barn who's used it loves it, so I'm not alone in wishing for one. We're all fairly different shapes and sizes too, so it's interesting to me that we all loved it.

And, yes, I had the most fantastic lesson this week. Recap coming!

Day At The Races

This summer is just flying by!

On the Bridget and Sophie front, not much is new. I'm (hopefully) keeping Bridget at least partly in shape by taking her on evening walk/trots around the neighbourhood. It's been super hot out, and B just does not deal well with it. Since we have no big competition plans upcoming, I'm not feeling motivated to push her. We're still in tack limbo, too, so that's fun.

B needs more exercise, I think. She is getting round again!

Audrey was out tackling I-1 this weekend at the Canada Cup show and was apparently super, so my lesson is postponed til later in the week so she can have a well deserved day off.

Sophie is getting out once or twice a week. Bridget and her are in love, so ponying her off Bridget isn't as much of a hassle as it was previously. The screaming for Bridget when we leave? Super  annoying tho! On the plus side, she's looking great and maturing physically, even if mentally she remains a baby. Hopefully by this time next year she'll be getting started under saddle. Until then, blog wise my Sophie updates aren't too exciting. She loves attention, she hates being left out. She's a drama queen. Repeat theme for another year.

I had booked a few days off earlier in the year for the Canada Cup dressage show, and am feeling pretty down about not ending up going.  In general I've been feeling very discouraged about how training and showing has gone with Bridget. Even though I'm pretty sure I've been making good decisions and wouldn't change anything, it still stinks a little to not be where we thought we'd be right now.

Diverting

G suggested a day at the races for a fun diversion, and I was all in. Apparently G had an ulterior motive, because he also had tickets to a celebrity sports fundraiser thing there. Being an introvert, that's really not my thing, but it worked out well - one guy I chatted to owned a Queens Plate winner at one point and coincidentally was G's fave hockey player too, so that worked well! Everyone was super nice and not being a huge football/hockey/soccer follower I didn't really know who I was talking to a lot of the time and found it a lot less intimidating than if it was a lunch with Carl Hester or Mary King or something! Plus, I escaped a few times to place some bets and check out the horses in the paddock and helped some of the hockey guys make bets.  So, social occasions with horses in the background = winning for me :)

For LWilliams :)

I bet on BC Charlie for Emma and made some money!

Back to work tomorrow, and a dressage lesson this week too. Then I'm off for another mini vacation. Life is good!

Farm Girl Workout

Living where I do presents a few logistical challenges when you own horses. I'm pretty sure I've discussed the insanely high hay prices here before. (I paid $720 a ton last winter for orchardgrass, which was actually a deal when the feed store was selling 70lb bales of timothy for $30ea)

My work commute is pretty, and walk on
passenger fares are reasonable. Purchasing deck space for a semi truck and paying the driver for his time? Not so reasonable. Photo from bcferries.ca

Guess who lucked out today and found a local hay supplier?! Me! I'm so excited. They live only about a km from where I board, the hay is gorgeous, and so much cheaper than trucking it in. There are only about 50 square bales per cut in "my" field, but I've asked to have first dibs from now onwards. 50 bales times 3 cuts a year should just about do my 2 ponies for a year.

Since this whole getting hay thing wasn't planned in advance, I loaded it in the truck and stacked it all in the barn myself. The pic below x 3 reps = a good workout!

I swear it really took me 10 minutes to load these and maybe 90 minutes to do the three trips to get all the bales off the field and into my barn. Because I was like:

START THE CAR!!

Do you source your own hay, or is it included in your board? Is it a big cost where you are, or readily available?

Horsemanship Clinic

(Horsewomanship clinic? Would be more appropriate - there was one guy and about 10 women there, lol)

Have I mentioned how much I love my new schedule? Sunday, I had a day almost entirely free to do whatever I wanted. Crazy, I know.

I decided to get extra crazy and actually be social by auditing part of a clinic that was being put on near where I board.

Long, long, time readers might remember when I first bought Bridget I signed her up for a clinic. This was the same clinician. He remembers me because yeah, I was the person who toodled through an entire "extreme" spooky trail challenge, and escorted the other horses through, and then after was like "Actually my horse has only been under saddle for a week and I don't really have any steering or brakes. I actually signed up thinking this was a colt starting clinic, but this is fun too." Bridget is a rock, what can I say, lol. Clinician was inspired then to use her as a demo horse to learn tricks, because he thought she'd be easy. B gave out her first big NOPE to that, lol, and I got to see the depth of her stubborness for the first time :) So, suffice to say, he remembers Bridget quite well too.

My first ride on Midge, Midge's second(?) ride ever :)

Back in the time machine to a week or two later in 2014, when Bridget was not impressed by cowboy clinician :)

"Is this what he wants me to do? This is kind of dumb, come rescue me please."

Anyway, off I went to audit last weekend. The instruction today was pretty beginner/basic level, but it's always super cool to see everyone out there learning and getting the job done. It's a good reminder too, that good riding is good riding. Regardless of discipline, the important stuff is all the same. There was a lot of talk about moving the shoulders to stay straight while backing, rather than chasing the hind end. A lot of talk about forward solving straightness, about how the horse being soft comes from the seat and leg, not the hand.

For the trail challenge, they had a "carwash" thing (basically a tarp you ride under), poles to sidepass over, barrels to jump, a cloverleaf pattern over poles, a plastic pool to step in, and finally a halt and back up between poles.

 I was asked if I wanted to ride a lady's horse while she was away. I said sure, thinking I'd be warming him up for her, and it's good for me to hop on different horses. You all know how not brave I am on strange horses!

Then the clinician was like "Alright, let's start with T. Show us how to do this"

Apparently, this wasn't that kind of clinic. Random person auditing in yoga pants? Please saddle up and come run through this course. Sidenote: this one time GM came over to chat after a clinic and I got so nervous I couldn't even make words. It was awkward :)

Um, uh oh. I thought they were joking, but nope, they really were asking me to ride. OK then.

My strategy was basically to attempt it all quietly and correctly, not going for speed, basically tackling it like a dressage test or jump course and making sure I had him bending correctly. I tried to choose my lines wisely by giving him lots of time to see things. I've never ridden the horse before, but I do know through the grapevine that he's got a nasty buck and spook if he's pissed off or confused. Also, I had no stirrups, the old short person on a tall wide horse issue - my legs are shorter than the fenders on most standard western saddles.

Random pic of B to break the wall of text.

(Can I just ask for a minute, how on earth do some of you ride in western saddles? My hips were ready to pop out of the sockets and I felt about a million miles away from the horse. Also, I forgot how some western horses can make it feel like you are tipping into an abyss and there is nothing out in front of you...don't mind me and my giant saddle floating through space, pointing at the ground somewhere ahead, lol)

So, we jogged and trotted pretty much the whole pattern, and opted for the alternate slow route rather than jumping...buddy is not a jumper, and I had no idea if his owner actually intended for me to take him through the course in the first place.

Long story short, he was a good boy and pretty brave and went decently for me. Our time was actually respectable, and the clinician was very complimentary about my riding and how I handled the horse, which made me feel good. I was about a million miles outside my comfort zone riding a strange horse without stirrups and I know I'm not the greatest and can get pretty nervous riding in front of "strangers".

Sidenote: I think in the future I'd best avoid this clinician. It seems to me the whole lucking out into almost looking like I know what I'm doing thing has to end spectacularly at some point :)

I can't believe I forgot about this picture, also from the clinic years ago :) This is what a 6'4" tall cowboy looks like in my saddle on 14hh Bridget, lol. (Don't worry, he just sat on her for a few minutes for fun - no ponies were squished)

All in all, actually a very fun day. I'm inspired to try some similar exercises and courses in hand with Sophie, and the whole getting way outside my comfort zone thing was pretty good for me too.

As If I Was In A Dream

Life has been pretty good of late. But, of course because real life is just peachy, my subconscious is all "IT'S COOL, I'LL FILL THE ANXIETY VOID FOR YOU! HERE'S THIS SWEET DREAM, JUST FOR YOU!"

So peaceful.

Me, sleeping: "Ahh, what a beautiful day. I'm in a farm field, that's cool"
Subconscious: "Have you noticed those dark clouds over there?"
Me: "Nice. It feels dry, rain would be good."
Subconscious: "How bout a tornado?!"
Me: "Crap".
Me: "Hang on a minute. There are horses in this field! I'll just hop on one and run for cover. See ya!"
Subconscious: "That's Bridget you just jumped on. Good luck out running anything"
Dream Bridget "Yep. Not moving. Perhaps the tornado right behind us will carry us to safety"
Me: *frantically kicking dream Bridget*

Real Greg: "Wake up T! Stop kicking me."

So ridiculous, but funny. And I could only think the new and improved Bridget wouldn't ignore my real life kicking. Take that, stupid subconscious. B would totally save my butt. This dream is not relevant.

Would never let me down

Or would she...?

Lol. YEP. My ride on Saturday was awful. B was so sluggish and I didn't have my spurs.  All sorts of NOPE happening, and it was that level of no that only a pony can bring. Like I was honestly "Here, B, peace offering, canter back to the barn" and she was still not inclined to move much beyond a walk.

After mocking me with lovely 20 meter canter circles in the pasture the previous day, of course. Ponies are truly evil :)

Thank goodness we don't get tornados here.

Happy Ponies, Part 2

Just a few pics of the girls having fun this morning:

Hope you all have just as much fun as these two this weekend. See you on Monday!

More Effective

Recap of Audrey lesson number...6? I've lost track.

It felt really hot out last night. We actually left a couple of the sprinklers running in the arena while I was warming up, which felt pretty nice! The great thing with the horses living at such a busy barn is that the things you might normally worry about them spooking at...are not much of an issue. So, Audrey calmly walk/trot/cantered through the noisy, heavy duty sprinklers that water the arena.

As a result of the heat, A felt a lot less energetic than normal. Still, she'll meet you halfway if you ask nicely (and let her express her feelings just a little :). Last night, although getting the energy level I wanted was a little more labour intensive than normal, we got there without much of a fuss and the remainder of the ride was good.

There's not much too exciting to recap as far as the nitty gritty details - we worked on walk pirouettes and did a lot of square corners in trot and canter before moving on to riding a lot of transitions within canter. The breakthrough for me was that I'm getting a lot better at collecting the canter and then opening it up again without collapsing my core too much or losing A's balance. I struggle with the really fine adjustments to my body, but things are getting better and I was able to bring the canter back and forth reliably and got a good feel for the amount of energy I need in her hind legs to get her 'bouncing on the spot'. So, that was pretty cool. Also, there was zero kicking at my outside leg in the canter, or inadvertent lead changes even as we played with changing the bend, so that's a win for me.

I'm getting fairly reliable at not pressing the passenger eject button

EC happily exclaimed "this is the most effective riding I've ever seen from you!" and my first instinct was to be a little embarrassed, because I feel really weak and ineffective still on the huge moving Ms Audrey...like if this is 'better' imagine how bad it is normally! But I'll silence that inner mean girl, take the compliment as it was intended, and look forward to getting better yet.

A, post cooling bath, enjoying some small snacks in the shade. I feel like the new title of this blog should be: "Project Gingersnap: Taking Bad Pictures of Good Horses Since 2011"

I have to say yet again what a fantastic horse Audrey is. She's got all sorts of opinions and makes me work, but when it comes down to it she's extremely generous. I'm not kidding myself that I've magically improved this much in 6 lessons and that my riding is making her go better, a lot of it is her adjusting to me and being quite forgiving with what I ask.

I love Bridget dearly, but I have to say the novelty of riding a mare that happily gets to work without multiple reminders and encouragement is pretty sweet. A also lets me know when I'm not up to her standards, but moves on and forgives me, unlike a certain little pony mare we all know and love. 

Good thing I actually find B's thought processes and her resulting actions to avoid work intriguing and funny a lot of the time. She's that total slacker we've all worked with that spends more time and energy thinking up creative shortcuts to avoid work, than the effort it would take to just do the job. In this picture, I'm 99% sure that she's wondering if there is a chance I've just tacked her up for a photo op or some hand grazing :)

Things I Did This Weekend

I've been looking forward to three day weekends for quite a long time! This was my first one, and I can't believe how much I got done. By Friday at noon I had already worked out, gone for a hike, stacked a ton of hay, cleaned paddocks, and gone for a ride. I'm so used to rushing to fit everything in that it definitely felt weird to have an entire afternoon with no plans! As of today:

- The yard and garden are all tidied up.

- I hiked and did a yoga class four mornings straight.

Saw this cutie first thing almost every morning at the start of my walk. They're so tame they don't even move off the path sometimes :/

My favorite section of the trails near our house. This part follows a creek down to the ocean and is always shady and peaceful, with some fair sized trees

- Got all my hay for the winter stacked and stored.
- Organized my tack and gear at the barn.
- Cleaned my tack and saddle pads.

B wearing all freshly cleaned gear

- Ordered a wider gullet for the new saddle (and some sale shirts...I'm not to be trusted!)
- Both ponies trimmed and groomed to a shine.

Bridget is an almost coppery color right now, so shiny!

- Rode 4 days in a row.
- Paddocks are all picked and cleaned.
- A nice dinner out with G
- A nice dinner out with friends
- Built the cat an awesome fort

Actually just the box the saddle came in, plus some assorted paper to shred. 

- Floated on the lake (without the cat ;)
- Read two books. Sheila Wilcox biography, and Girl With The Dancing Horse (Charlotte Dujardin). Both were OK, not great.

Friday night, I started organizing my things for Monday, and I was like "WAIT...technically the weekend has only just started!!" Pinch me, this schedule is wonderful!

My rides this past week were pretty low key. It was quite warm out, and B has had too much time off of late, so we mostly walked around the neighbourhood, with a bit of trot and canter mixed in. I couldn't resist cantering around the farmer's market grounds adjacent to the barn. That's possibly a no-no these days, but it's still technically part of the regional agricultural park, so I don't know. Prior to life as the farmer's market, it was part of the equestrian club grounds and even had a little cross country course. There are a few small logs left around the perimeter that proved too tempting for us to resist. Midge was having fun, but we kept it to just a few, I don't want to overdo it as we both are regaining fitness and her jump saddle fit is dubious.

Toodling around the neighbourhood yesterday