Ten Questions

Life continues on as per the new normal - which is awesome! I'm spending a few hours every day at the barn, either riding or grooming, or just hanging out. However, it's currently not very interesting blog material. Teaching a young horse forward and moving off your leg isn't the most exciting thing in the world, and this extra bit of summer heat has even Ginger mellowed out and non dramatic.

Thankfully, L Williams at Viva Carlos has ten questions for us!

1. Is your horse spooky or bombproof? Both are pretty spooky!

2. Does your horse have a long or short stride? Both have crazy long walk/trot strides for their size, but both have a naturally really up and down canter, so we'd have trouble making any hunter lines without some work.

3. Describe your current barn in 3 words: Relaxed. Friendly. Wonderful.

4. If you could switch barns, would you? Nope. Not with any of the other options available - my horses are so happy there!

5. Favorite brand of breeches? I like my Ariats. But the reality is I end up riding almost every day in a pair of Kerrits ones, so they win for comfort/durability.

6. How many blue ribbons do you have? Not too many, I only got into the showing thing later in life and now haven't shown for about 3 years again due to my ridiculous work schedule. Also, I'm just not that good ;) Lainey won me a few, and I've won some here and there riding other peoples horses. Maybe 15?

7. How many saddle pads do you own? Eleventy billion. And I keep using the oldest, most beat up one. 

8. Is your horse on your phone background/lock screen? Yes. Both. Always.

9. Do you go trail riding often? Yes, it's a cheap and simple way to show my horses the world. My goal for September is 2 to 3 times a week.

10. Favorite horsey movie? Tough one...off the top of my head I'll say The Man From Snowy River.

The Mark of A Good Pony?

Both the girls have a random thumb size white spot on their bodies. Neither looks anything like a scar, more a naturally occurring white spot. Ginger's is more obvious to see:

A little less obvious now that her coat is sunbleached - in the winter it really stands out and
drives the OCD part of me a little nuts:)

While Bridget's is more defined, but hidden under her throatlatch where her coat forms a whorl, like a little reverse star:

Yes, I crawled right underneath her to take this photo. Do not try this at home :)

I Cannot Be Trusted

To walk into a tack store alone. I have zero self control...I've been trying to find a nice halters for Ginger and Bridget and thought I'd make a quick check at our local tack store. I didn't even make it past the shelves of breeches by the door. They normally stock just the basics as far as english gear goes, but today they had a pile of super cute full seats. So, I got these:

I see our deck that desperately needs re-staining...but the light was better out there to give you the full effect of the plaid
awesomeness :) Get used to them now cause you'll be seeing a lot more of them!

Definitely NOT in the I'm-not-currently-working-and-paying-for-two-ponies budget. Oh well :)

I also got sent a few more clinic pictures from Day 1. please pardon my awful sweaty helmet hair - it was really hot out there! Here's my cute little girl showing you how horse sized teeter totters are no big deal:

She loves sticking her front feet up on things to explore - Ginger is the same...

I love the look on her face..this is right after it tipped lol

Clinic Recap

I'm hoping some better pictures will be forwarded on to me, for now you have to put up with the few pics I took when I wasn't riding.

Saturday, I rode up to the farm a little in advance of my lesson time. Mac, (Ginger's Morgan boyfriend) was in the same class so I had a riding buddy, yay! After giving the clinician a quick recap of Bridget's experience to date, he suggested I lead her through the obstacles the first time and then go from there. She proceeded to amaze everyone by going through the spooky tarps, over the bridges, up the bank, and even standing on the teeter-totter. (pics to follow , hopefully). Clinician guy was like "Why did you even bring her to this - she's awesome. That's a good horse!" So, we were all pretty happy with little Miss Bridget and she gained a lot of admirers. I stayed after our session to watch some riding lessons and Bridget was perfect about waiting in her little pen and camping out with me. We stayed for a potluck dinner and a drink, then headed home after a long and super fun day.

Happy Camper

Day 1, teaching Bridget to put her feet where asked

Good pony!

In case you wondered how a very tall man looks on my pony. He got on for 5 minutes at the end to check steering and get a better idea of where we're at (and looked ridiculous, so of course I have to share ;)

He also taught her to side pass in about 2 minutes. I want some of that cowboy magic!

Today, I think we all had some pretty high expectations for Bridget. But, once you start thinking like that, you all know how it's destined to go, right ? :) Pony woke up this morning and was over the whole working for a living thing. As the clinician said, the first day she was interested and having fun so there was no real challenge there for her. So today, she was bored and her whole attitude about it all was "Why?" and "Make me!" Of course, once you pick that fight, you have to follow through and I spent the better part of an hour in various stages of getting the pony across the bridge she went across twice the day before. So funny. Clinician said that's pretty common with really confident, bold horses...there's no reward to them for completing the obstacles because the obstacles themselves aren't even on their radar as something to be concerned about...so they start looking for other things to occupy themselves, in this case checking to make sure I really am in charge of the situation. The actual getting her across the bridge was just all the non exciting horse training stuff we've all dealt with - just a ton of patience, making her work, letting her try out her options, and rewarding her for even the slightest inclination to do what you asking. I won't lie, there was a whole lot of pony attitude on display and she was pretty naughty. In between the antics, I got a lot of opportunities to remind her about moving off my leg and also got in some pretty nice bend in her trot circles while we put her to work. She's got a lot of self preservation so even during the worst of it, she never felt dangerous, if you know what I mean - I didn't ever feel concerned or overly worried about her. 

Clinician guy called it when he said it was never about the bridge, since as soon as I got her over she quite happily went around and did everything asked of her for the rest of our lesson. Obviously I kept it pretty easy after that since pony brain was still processing such a dramatic change of events. Who would have guessed her rider gets to tell her where those feet go? ;)

All in all, a good clinic. I'm actually glad I brought her for both days, since I saw a hint of attitude towards the end of the first day and think it would have just been a matter of time before we had to have a discussion about the ways of the world. I'm glad I had someone there to help me through it! Clinician himself was great. I don't think he was teaching anything that isn't just common sense, but he's very calm and quiet and super positive about things, which I noticed was wonderful for the greener riders, and definitely a good thing for green horses. Just watching some of the other classes gave me lots of things to think over in regards to Ginger, which might be a subject for another post.

I don't think I'll do another extreme trail class, since she seriously owned that course and I do respect that she got a little bored by the whole thing. I may sign up next time for the riding lesson part, since he seemed good with the basics, which is obviously where we're at.  

Overall, Ms Bridget gets a gold star from me this weekend - I couldn't be happier with her, particularly as she escorted a couple of nervous (older) horses around the place and served as the "steady eddie"!

Trailssage

I've managed to get in another couple of rides on Ms Bridget this week. I'm focusing on her since I'd like to take her to the clinic this coming weekend.

G is away so I have no picture taker. You get to see the adventures of Bridget from the rider view instead.

 In the last few days we've made some progress understanding just what exactly I'm asking with those legs of mine. She's funny, she gets really frustrated if you have to ask twice and she doesn't immediately understand what you're asking - just like Ginger. Then once she's a little more confident with it, she's wanting to show you her new moves at every opportunity, also like another cob we know.  My sample size of two indicates cobs are all super smart overachievers :)

Little mare still has an excellent forward button, and a really great work ethic, but the rhythm is lacking and it feels a little stop and go up there. I think it's just a matter of confidence at the moment, and a short attention span: "Look! I know exactly what you want, watch me trot!" then 5 seconds later "ok...are we still trotting? Cause I could walk now? Or canter?" Normal baby stuff, and just a matter of miles. I switched out her bit to a loose ring french link (she was in a d-ring snaffle) and she's WAY better with that, and getting really good at trusting my hands and not bracing quite so much in the downward transitions. I'm using my dressage whip to tap her shoulders and help her out with the steering now and then, but she's getting the idea.

I'm happy with the variety we're getting by hacking all over the place, with the odd stop at the ring. It works out really well because I can play with mostly bending and moving off my leg at the walk in the ring and keep it fun and easy, and focus more on the forward/rhythm stuff on the ride there and back since the trail and road helps funnel her in the right direction. I'm remain super impressed with her and am so appreciative that I can just take her out on the trails and work with her there and not lose her focus.

Tomorrow is a day off for the ponies while I get that darn house painting done, then the weekend is that clinic. Busy, busy...but oh so happy :)

Itchy Ginger

I am so enjoying being home and being able to visit with the girls every day! These days almost make all the work stress worthwhile.

The view from my kitchen window last night.

We had non stop rain most of yesterday, so I gave Ms Ginger an ultimate spa day and hid in the barn. She's seriously the sweetest mare you could ever hope to meet - I love my quality time with Ginger, and I'd like to think she enjoys her time with me as well. I hope to get her back into regular work next week...this week I'm painting our rental house inside and out and what barn time is left I've been trying to get Bridget out in order to not completely overwhelm her at the clinic this weekend. (Side note - I know I had mentioned I'd like to bring both horses but I'm hearing some feedback about the clinician that's giving me a few doubts so I am holding out on that plan for now. I can always sign up for a riding lesson with Ginger the day of if he seems ok for that) I play head games with myself where Ginger is concerned, so I'd rather not have a bad ride if it can be helped. I'll get back at it at our own pace next week when I have time to be consistent (and have G to cheer me on). I think we'll all be happier.

That mane :(

I think I've mentioned Ginger's issues with sweet itch in the past. In the time I've had her, I've been lucky and only had one bad year. This summer, however, makes it two. We thought we had a handle on it, then in the space of about a week, she rubbed about half of her mane off :( I'm not super attached to the long mane look and was going to really shorten it anyways, but...there's a difference between having some mane and no mane at all. I spent part of my morning pulling her mane and attempting to make it look a little tidier. I opted to pull it as short as I could in hopes of it looking a little more even, but I'm pretty unhappy with the outcome. The only good thing is cobs grow mane like nothing else, so a month from now this will be that bad haircut we'll pretend never happened. Ginger is looking fabulous, but like her haircut, my pictures are terrible. It's hard to get nice pictures of her because she's my best buddy and she finds it highly difficult to stand still far enough away for a picture. She's constantly trying to come say hi, so we end up with lots of awkward shots and more than a few of her nose :)

The new (unfortunate) 'do.

One of about a million identical pics on my phone.

Looking good, though!

The Hack and Yak

Monday, my friend M ended up with a free day and opted to trailer out to my barn for a trail ride. M and I used to board and ride together a couple of times a week for a few years, before she bought a farm of her own and I started doing all this silly working away from home stuff. So you can imagine how excited I was to go for a ride with my best riding buddy!

Since the goal of the ride was more to catch up and chat than actually, you know, ride, we opted for a loop with wide and level trails so we could easily ride side by side and 'hack and yak'.

I brought Bridget along thinking this would be a great, low stress introduction into trail riding with horses other than her barn buddies. M's horse is a horse that came from an auction in ranch country and is just a super, super mare. I have no idea how a good horse like her got to a low end auction, but she's here now and living the best life any horse could ask for. She's the perfect been-there-done-that buddy for the greener horses. Bridget was a little worried about the trailer arriving and the 'new' horse for all of a minute or two, then settled in and was a star for the entire ride. You'd never guess this is all new for her! We were out for about two hours, not because we went overly far, but more because we mostly walked and enjoyed the day. Sorry, I forgot to take any pictures - too busy chatting and these trails aren't overly scenic anyhow, particularly with the grey weather we're currently enjoying.

Our non exciting route.

Bridget impressed me even after we got back to the barn - the other horses were calling for her and making a fuss, but she was quite happy to stand and wait at M's trailer while we continued our non stop yakking for another 45 minutes or so (I'm not an overly chatty person normally, we just had way too much catching up to do for one afternoon!) An afternoon well spent, and I was so happy with my little mare.

Doing some post ride catching up of their own - 3 hours is a long time for the BFFs to be apart! :)

So Happy!

I made it to the barn this morning to see the ponies - they're both looking great.
I took Bridget out today, so I'll give her today's post and give a Ginger update tomorrow in order to not have the longest post ever!

I had thought that today I'd just get all my tack organized and unpacked, try a bunch of stuff on Bridget to see what I have that fits, and both Ginger and Bridget groomed and tidied up. Ginger especially is looking a little bit wild and woolly. Slight change of plans, because trying all my gear on Bridget ended with a pony who was tacked up and ready to head for a ride. Of course I couldn't resist.

Of course I had to ride!

Mindful that I was heading out alone on a 'strange' horse, I opted to walk her up to the ring for a quick ride in there and see how it went. The answer to that is maybe 'not so good' by standard riding pony definitions, and exceeded all expectations by mine.

She's super green, so the steering and whoa/go are all a little sketchy. It's not that she's not trying, she just doesn't have a clue. My saddle also felt like it wanted to roll around a little, which made me a bit cautious. Good news is that we had all the forward in the world, it was the whoa button that she felt should be optional this time. Somewhere along the way she has learnt to do the giraffe thing with her head, and also turn her head to your boot as a way to evade contact and to try to get out of bending/travelling in the direction you'd like. Interesting. As a result of that we had an impromptu lesson in moving shoulders over. Pony did not like this turn of events, but wasn't too bad about it and got the basic idea in a few minutes. The whole contact thing is going to be a huge work in progress - she has a problem with the whole concept, even if you pick up the tiniest bit of rein.  I'm guessing she learnt all this in her driving days? There's no way she was trying them out for the first time today. I know the lady that rode her a couple of times at the barn just used a halter, maybe there was a reason for that! I rode her in her bridle when I tried her out and figured there would be a lot of work there, but didn't test all the buttons so to speak. No matter, I knew I was getting a project, so long as she's 'safe' it's all good. I'll try a few more bits and see if there's one she likes better, other than that we have just have some work ahead of us.We did a bunch of walk/halt transitions, some attempts at bending and a bit of wobbly trot.  In order to keep it fun, I got her out of the ring fairly quickly and just explored the neighbourhood.

Happy ears (also, look G! Riding with no hands while I take pictures! lol)

She did great, just one small spook, and cruised along walk/trot quite happily on a fairly busy road. The roads and trails also act as a cheater way to keep her going straight :)

I say she exceeded my expectations because I took her out in an area that's completely new to her, she doesn't really know me at all, this was just her 5th ride under saddle, I pushed her buttons a little, and we went out alone in busy/spooky surroundings after her having about a month off. She was a bit 'up' but was not worried in the least about her herd mates, and was pretty cool with the situation. I absolutely love the mind on her - she's fun, as far as 'hotness' goes, today she'd have been an equivalent to an average day for Ginger. She definitely notices all the same stuff Ginger spooks at, the difference is that you can feel her thinking things through before she decides her plan of action. Ginger is more apt to blindly react and scare herself. With Bridget, I feel like I should encourage her to check everything out and `de-spook`herself, with Ginger the better option is usually to keep her busy and focused on her rider, letting the scary things be on the periphery until she's convinced they're not going to attack. They`re so similar, but so different. They`re going to be such a neat pair to own!

Enjoying a post ride roll

Ginger wants to say hi, but Bridget is too busy eating. 

Sign on her door. Bridget the Small Welsh Cob. Guess who's a 'Large Welsh Cob'? I love the owners, they're so cute.

I can't wait to get back to the barn tomorrow. Cross your fingers for decent weather...there is a lot of this out there at the moment:

Summer on the coast :)

Just About

After some epic marathon driving, less than 24 hours after I left my desk at work I'm in BC sitting in the ferry line up waiting to go home. (Which as locals know means I could be potentially still be out here another 24 hours ;) I'm so excited to be (nearly) home! I have a couple of trail rides planned tomorrow...stay tuned!

I drove past this sign last night just as  the weather went from sunshine on the Alberta side to absolutely foul right before the border. Pretty funny, BC, pretty funny, but the picture of the sun and your reassurances aren't fooling me this time. I'm on to you :)

Fear

Hey guys, I've had this post queued in various forms for a while now and have gone back and forth over whether to put it out there. I like to leave G out of the blog beyond the basics, but since this
is horse related and affecting some related decisions and also probably something a lot of you deal with, here it is:

Fear

When it's not your own. It's such a funny thing and it's one thing to deal with it yourself, but then what about those around you? I can't be the only one out there with someone close to me who really worries about me getting hurt.

G is pretty much the best. Super supportive, fun, and just an all around nice guy. Being super supportive of the horses changed a lot though after I had a bit of a fall a couple of years back. It didn't help that I lost a lot of confidence that year too. I know he was seriously wondering what the point of it all was when I was struggling so much with something that was supposed to be fun. These days, he still understands how much I love the sport and would never ask me not to do something I love, but he's a lot more reserved about the whole idea. He's changed from listening to me and encouraging all my big plans, to asking how safe I will be first.

I'm not laying it all on his doorstep - my struggles with confidence are well documented here and I know he doesn't want to see me back there. This is a partnership and I can't ignore his concerns. We've obviously discussed this more than once, and he's very much concerned that I'm going to be badly hurt at some point.

Where to from here? No horse or horse related activity is ever going to be 'safe' by conventional standards. I miss my over the top, enthusiastic cheerleader and am sad that he (quietly) worries so much about me.

What we have done together is to make the decision to bring Bridget home.  A good part of the reason Bridget is here is because of G. I love her, but she's not Ginger.  However, the idea of her (small, quiet, non intimidating) makes G happy. He was very much involved in the decision making. He also made it possible to purchase her. I told you he's a good guy. I hope that having him so involved and contributing to some of my decisions is a good start and that as time goes on, we'll both be back to a good place as far as the horses go.

So, back to the original question...how do you handle those types of concerns, particularly with someone very close to you?

Happy Ponies

You can see why the motivation to buy our own farm has dried up for the time being...the ponies are boarded in horse paradise! Just wish they weren't quite so chubby :)

From this weekend. Apparently you need a bay horse to fit in around here! Bridget is on the far left, and Ginger is the next one over in the centre of the photo.

Bridget and Ginger are already BFF's which G and I each predicted would happen when we met Bridget. Bridget is basically a mini Lainey temperament wise - calm, cool and quietly confident. The leader of the herd without even appearing to try for it.  Long time readers will know Lainey is my previous horse and was Ginger's entire reason for being for the years they lived together. Normally bottom of the pecking order, Ginger enjoyed 'second in command' status in the mare herd thanks to being Lainey's best friend. It will be interesting to see how this new dynamic plays out, because Ginger was much more confident and relaxed around the farm with Lainey watching over her world. If Bridget can replicate that she'll be worth her weight in gold to me!

Back when Ginger was Lainey's minion. Note the one ear on Lainey: "Lainey, we are posing for pictures, yes?"