Giveaways You Want To Enter

First off, Behind The Bit is giving away one of these amazing bracelets from Equus Couture:

Check out the company website - they have amazing bracelets, spur straps, etc for the rider, and of course, one of a kind browbands. I'm so in love with them I've asked G to buy my Christmas present there, and choose anything he likes - everything they make is just so gorgeous! (And for you other Welsh Cob fans, I'm fairly certain some of their designs feature some pretty nifty looking welsh-type dragons). You can enter Stacey's contest here. Good luck!

Secondly, A Gift Horse is celebrating 200 posts! She's having a contest for this awesome T-Shirt from Dapple Bay:

Best T Shirt

You've also got two more days to win a really nice looking Equi In Style shirt courtesy of Nicole at EquinPilot!

Also, courtesy of a post at $900 Facebook Pony, I learned there's a 24 hour flash sale on at One Horse Threads. 50% off their already on sale tees is just about giving them away, after all - or at least that's what I told myself ;)

I'm sure I've left out some contests - if you know of one and want to post it in the comments I'll add it here so everyone can join in and we can maybe get some more people reading all these excellent (and generous!) bloggers!

WW: Roany Pony

Ginger continues to get more grey hairs - must be the stressful life she leads! ;)

Just Horsin Around

All day...every day.

I should be ashamed to admit I'm not missing work, but so far the fun of unlimited horse time far outweighs any financial guilt or embarrassment. In all honesty, I do have some remote database work coming my way with a company I worked on a project with this summer so I'm not as stressed about the career thing as I usually am when I'm living here at the end of the world. I'm just enjoying my freedom while I can!

My life. Every day :)

So, what does a girl with unlimited time do all day? I start out by waking up super early because I'm way too excited about my upcoming day. Then, because it's still dark out, I read all the horsey blogs with a nice cup of coffee :)

 Finally, when it's no longer a 'weird' time to show up at the barn, I head out. It's 50/50 whether the horses will have been turned out yet or not. If they're in, I toss them a little more hay and go about grooming them both. If they're out in the pasture, life gets a little more interesting. Because Ginger is all "OMG I LOVE YOU YOU ARE MY BESTEST FRIEND EVER!!!1!" she usually comes running. Which used to be sort of cool, but now Bridget has also decided I'm pretty interesting and follows closely behind....which in turn seems to tip the balance into the full herd stampeding my way, complete with fighting and kicking over who gets to say hi first. I tried to take a picture yesterday to post, but it turned from "oh cute, here they come" to "look out, you might die!' a little too quickly. Thankfully, only my two seem to have any inclination to follow me back up to the barn, so we are saved any further drama after the initial meet and greet.

Calm before the storm, The other horses are just out of view.

After grooming them both thoroughly, I take one or both out for a ride, rain or shine, sometimes with company, sometimes without. And I enjoy every second of it - it's just so, so cool to be riding my own horses again after so many months away. After my ride, when everyone is put back away, if G is otherwise busy, I've either been doing a little work on the footing at our local ring, or volunteering time at our big arena at our club grounds. (Because volunteering is what us 'retired' types do ha ha.)

Bridget just patiently waits at the gate after our ride while I get OCD about a spot I missed and do a little more raking,

Then, when I get back home, I've been reading some of my favorite training books and getting ideas for my following day. This, of course, led to me wanting some jumps and poles to set up in 'my' ring, which has led to a whole new project this week - building jumps!

Sneak peek. Don't judge the purple, it was free paint and therefore it' s the best color ever :)

I don't think I've ever been as excited about my horse time. It's probably at an unsustainable level of fun, but hey, I'll enjoy it while I can.


As for my most recent 'horses aren't always fun' reality check in the form of Ginger's separating hoof, she's still a bit sore from the more aggressive trim. I have the vet coming out anyways next Tuesday for fall shots and teeth. He's a licensed farrier as well so he's the perfect man to take a look at the foot in question. I'm remaining optimistic it's something easily fixed and we'll get my high maintenance big mare back into regular work soon.

Lesson Recap / Hoof Care

I finally found someone to get a weekly lesson with - and it's someone I've known for a number of years which is great. She's been riding and competing her whole life, but just took the plunge and got her coaching certifications and insurance recently.

While not as accomplished as some of your coaches out there in blog land, she's great with starting youngsters and has a nice quiet approach. Her own horses go really nicely under saddle and she's started more than a few jumping. Perfect for where we're at, and we're going to get along just fine, I think. (Dressage girl at our barn is my second option, but so far I've only met her the once - she's been temporarily living on one of the islands off our coast and can't make it to the barn very often)

Our lesson this morning with Bridget went just fine. We worked on all the basic baby horse stuff -transitions, bend, forward, etc. As I predicted from Friday's ride, Bridget was a star today. We need to up our fitness though, as poor pony was pretty tired after about a half hour of work (and one beautiful canter!). We spent another 15 min or so walking and doing a few strides here and there of leg yields, spirals, and baby walk pirouettes, all of which she was excellent for - she`s really got pretty solid with moving off my leg in the last little bit.

So, that`s the good news. The bad news (and the reason Ginger stayed home today) is that Ginger`s farrier came yesterday to trim and noticed her right front hoof has quite a bit of separation going on. It doesn`t look like white line disease yet (fingers crossed very very hard!). I had noticed it and thought it`s a mechanical issue because I feel like this farrier leaves the toes too long and Ginger`s fronts flare a bit, but farrier says it`s from something else (stress/diet/and or sweet itch reaction). That makes me super nervous, as I was thinking it was just a trimming issue (which is bad enough) and we're already so, so careful with her diet and management, since the breed is prone to metabolic issues and founder. Farrier did back her toes off quite a bit yesterday to relieve the pressure so we'll see. I feel bad for saying it, but my gut still says it was those long toes, and I'm hopeful a couple of more good trims will get things back to normal. Ginger is obviously a bit ouchy today.

My normal farrier, who I've had for 25 years now (I was one of his first clients way back when I was a kid!)  is amazing, so I may have to be the 'mean' person and get him out for a second opinion. Even though Ginger hates him, she might just have to deal :) He came out and trimmed Bridget and was super complimentary about her and her feet, which is nice to hear. I really trust him and it's a bit stressful to me that I don't trust Ginger's farrier when we're having issues with her feet.

Sorry for the lack of pictures - I've been super busy!

Good Little Pony/ Two Pointober

Bridget and I continue to play with installing some basic flatwork. Today was a bit of a step back, with her feeling a bit 'stuck' again, but such is life with baby ponies - also, probably means she'll be just wonderful on the weekend :)

G did come out this morning to take a few photos.

A bit of this...

And a bit more of that!

The vet is coming just as soon as we can fill his day and I'll get her teeth looked at - she's not nearly as fussy as she was, but I still suspect she needs a bit of work done.

We managed to canter a few strides, and then an entire long side, which is cause for much celebration. It's baby stuff, she needs to figure out her balance with me up there, and she's also just the type who would rather trot super fast than canter, even out in the field with her buddies. I try to set her up in the corner to help her with her leads, but if she ends up wrong, I just ignore it and keep her moving forward a few strides. Her trot is crazy big and bouncy for such a little thing, so the day we build a bit of a canter will be quite welcome to me! 

Leaning forward is not helping

 Crazy trot:

I sucked it up and did my base time for Two Pointober. I lasted 4:03, which leaves a lot of room for improvement!

September Recap/October Goals

September Recap

Sell Some Things.
Nope. I'm a hoarder apparently. In truth, wasn't expecting September's weather to be quite so fantastic, or my dislike of online selling to be quite so off putting. Sorting through boxes of tack is something I'm saving for a day when the weather is too terrible to ride. Maybe October is the month I will check this one off?

Flatwork with Bridget.
-Steering and an understanding of what forward means are both important features in a riding pony and currently non existent in this one. Start of the idea of contact and bend a bonus. Short sessions 3-4x a week. Clinics or other outings...lots of them. Learning less of a priority than good experiences.

Done! Did all of that, plus some!

Bridget went to cowboy bootcamp

And had some fun too

Back to work for Ginger.
-For both of us, this is all a mental game. Remember to remain patient and don't be scared to push the boundaries and raise the expectations a little. She's not a baby anymore. Short rides, keeping tasks and locations varied,  3-4 times a week to start to establish some fitness and reestablish confidence in each other. At least one clinic/lesson outing in a location other than our familiar area.
Meh. Been getting her out more like 2-3 times a week the last two weeks. She was dealing with nasty sweet itch on her belly/girth area the first part of September.

Tame the wild pony.
-Not as exciting as you'd think. Ginger's mane (and beard!!) need some serious cleanup. 
It ain't pretty, since she opted to 'help' by rubbing half of it out, but it got done!

Not my best work.

Fun with friends.
-This one is more for me, but benefits the horses too. I need to not get so serious about things and remember to have fun! With that in mind, try for at least one social ride with friends per week. On the non horsey side of things, lots of quality time with G.
Done, and to excess. Need to cut back on the socializing and work a bit on ring work.

Fitness.
-West Coast trails! Back to running/hiking/biking 5 days a week for a 45 min minimum. The ponies deserve a healthy rider, and I want to look good in my riding clothes (and blog pictures ha ha) again, so losing another 10-15 is the goal by the end of 2014. As with riding, remember to be proud of where I am as compared to where I was and don't get negative about where I'm not (yet!). Be realistic about where I want to be and be ready to work for it. Look at the budget and consider a professional's help.
Big fail here. Dieting still on track, but feeling pretty down on myself for not keeping up with any cardio beyond hiking and pony riding. Again something I apparently have issues accomplishing when the weather is so nice and I live at the barn in my free time.

October Goals:

Carrying Forward:

-Sell Some Things

-Fitness

New:

-Build/paint some jumps for use at our little community riding ring. I got the ok to do whatever I'd like, and since there are currently no jumps or even poles there, this is my (mostly self serving) project. The jumps will remain 'mine' but anyone using the ring will be welcome to use them.

-Bridget - more flatwork, as per goals outlined in last week's Progress:Bridget Edition post.

-Ginger - continue getting her out and about!

-Volunteer - These riding club memberships seem to come with a lot of volunteer hours! (Of course, I don't have to, but since I'm not working much, it seems selfish not to donate some time)

-Lessons - have my first one here on Sunday, fingers crossed it will work out to be a weekly thing.

-Two Pointober!

This picture of Bridget from yesterday has no purpose in the context of this post beyond me liking it.

The longer term plan is to get Bridget going reasonably well on the flat and over fences and be 110% ready with both horses for the show season next spring!

B&BS Blog Hop: Quirky Horse

I really enjoy Terise's blog, Breeches and Boat Shoes, and she has come up with an excellent blog hop. She asks:

What are some quirks, naughty or nice, that your horse has and do you love or hate them?

Since I own the most wonderfully quirky horse in Ginger, this was a blog hop designed for us!

-Under saddle: Think about what you want. Please don't progress to asking...mind reading pony will be very insulted. Don't even consider a stick or spurs - cue panic!

-The "Stranger Danger" thing. She's amazing at convincing people she doesn't know that she's just a poor, terrified pony who ether A) was abused, or B) is totally untrained. Same for strange horses - she's not a fan until you introduce them. Can make things slightly interesting when we attend a lesson with a new instructor.

-Vehicles. Vehicles are ok. Slightly different vehicles (ie with a trailer, or a roof rack) eat ponies for lunch.

-Barn cats. Black one = scary panther of death (run away if sighted at any time). Tabby colored one = awesome friend.

-Water. Loves water in any form, particularly if she can get her front feet in it.

-Sensitive. Like really, really tuned into you. It can be a little creepy if I'm honest. But it also makes for some really cool liberty type work - lunging without a line, trail courses tackless comes when called, etc.

-G. With acting like she's high on something half the time, and not a horse I would in any way consider beginner friendly, around my not-so-horsey husband G she is a big dog. (She prefers his company to mine and LOVES when he takes her out for a walk!)

A happy day for Ginger! Splashing in the lake with G.

Of course I just love Ginger and she wouldn't be her larger than life self without all the quirks!

The (Really) Easy Keeper

Both girls are super easy keepers...even with the price of hay pushing $500 a ton around here, I've worked out it costs an average of about $100 a month (including a basic grain and mineral supplement) to feed the both of them. It's pretty nice that we have pasture to graze, but they have to have their pasture time pretty strictly regulated, even in mid winter.I suspect if I wanted to be a super budget owner and didn't worry about sugar content, they'd do just fine on pasture alone all year and I could forget about feeding hay. 

We know Ginger will eat just about anything. But now we have Bridget, who takes it to a whole new level. Is there some weird genetic thing that makes her want to eat the worst weeds and grazing in the pasture? Its a bit odd, since the pasture is seeded and mowed and the poop picked - it's beautiful! She really has to go out of her way to find weeds. Exhibit A:

A zoomed in shot of the other horses happily eating nice grass at the far end of the pasture. The dirt patch visible is from some digging to install more drainage pipes, not overgrazing. 

And....Bridget at the other end of the pasture, eating the weeds around the manure pile. Same moment in time, same pasture, She does this every day - it's really her preferred area to graze, and as you can see it's not a large area so she's eaten it basically down to the dirt. I pay extra  to board at this beautiful pasture why?

Whatever's in those weeds is making her shiny and healthy, at least.

Hope everyone had a fabulous weekend! We did a bunch more trail riding, which is not so very exciting blog material, but was a lot of fun:)

September's 10 Questions

L Williams at Viva Carlos has 10 more excellent questions for us. Yay!

Is there something you don't like about your riding? My lower back hurts. I think this is why my right leg and heel want to creep up all day long so I can sit on my left seatbone. It really bothers me since it's not fair to my horses for me to sit so crookedly! Been focusing on it hugely and feel like there's been great progress...then I see pictures where it's still in evidence here and there and hate myself a little. Also impatient to finish losing the extra weight - not only do I think I'll look better in the saddle, I think being smaller will help me ride better/more effectively.

Does your horse buck? Ginger is more a fan of the spin and bolt - her bucks in the field look super awkward. Bridget's done a little rear and crowhop, but again, not showing much talent for rodeo :)

Ginger's signature move

Is your horse head shy? Bridget - never. Ginger - if she doesn't know you she can be very head shy and convince you I beat her. If she knows you or you give her a treat she's instantly cured of that. 

Favorite barn chore to do? I love doing repairs and landscaping - anything that makes the place better. I like cleaning and doing stalls, but the satisfaction is obviously not quite so long term!

How many times do you ride a week? Twice a week while I was away, now we are pushing a month at 6-7 days a week and I'm just loving it!

Who is your favorite pro rider? Tough one. I really like to watch Carl Hester's videos - he's so light and positive and has an amazing sense of timing. I do love eventing though, so I'll pick Mary King since she's an amazing rider and also seems like a good person from the interviews I've seen.

If one pro rider could train you for one day who would it be? For one day only? Hmmm. If I could magically learn one thing from someone it would be more confidence going faster over bigger fences, so maybe I'd choose to be out with a steeplechase jockey or something! Or, I'd pick one of my above choices or any of the eventers who also seem to produce good dressage tests consistently...WFP, Ingrid Klimke, etc. I'd be super super nice to them and be a barn slave to try to get that one lesson extended to many!

Favorite Facial Marking? Nice even blaze.

Sensing some similarity here

Leg Markings or No Leg Markings? All or nothing! Either 4 evenly marked whites or none at all. I'm apparently OCD about markings.

Ever broken anything falling off? Does confidence count?

Progress: Bridget Edition

Thought I would do a progress update for each pony once a month or so. Apologies in advance, this is probably going to be boring as heck, but I'm hoping a good tool for me to be able to look back on and/or set future goals. Ginger gets to be exempt this month, since we`ve just been inching back to work, but Bridget has accomplished a lot!

Best trail pony

Where we were at:

Confident little pony who would go anywhere you pointed her. Problem was, her concept of rein and leg aids was vague at best. Not to mention stop and go. But if you wanted to go out and walk around the trails she was actually pretty good - spooky and opinionated, but enjoying the outing.

Where we are now:

Way better steering! Our circles are mostly round these days. Awesome about moving off my leg as well...turns on the forehand and haunches are a go, as well as spirals and leg yields. Huge progress there over the last few weeks

A basic idea of contact/forward. It`s only been in the last week or so it's started to click. She's much less 'stuck' and willing to stretch down onto the bit. This is actually huge, since the driving video I saw of her was essentially all her running around inverted and featured a ton of head tossing. The head tossing stopped almost immediately when she realized I'm not going to haul on her face, but the inverted, hiding above the bit is taking longer. The last couple of days she's got a lot more confident about things and is addicted to stretching over her back, which makes me so happy!

Practical stuff - opening and closing gates mounted, lunging, fly spray, leaving the barn solo, dogs accompanying us, people on bicycles, leading/middle/following on trail rides, puddles, standing for mounting...all things that took some practice, but she's pretty solid now!

Things to work at;

Rhythm, straightness. Baby pony is still pretty wiggly, and the trot is much improved, but still very stop and go feeling as compared to a more finished horse. 

Balance, strength. Lots more slow trail miles will help get us there with minimal stress.

Canter. Currently if I'm after her to get some 'forward' and if she offers canter for a few strides I take it. That's fine for now, but a transition on cue could be something to play with after the above two items have progressed a little more.

Lunging/in hand work. We've got the basics, but I'd like to get her more on level with Ginger, where I can essentially do everything I need to from the ground and get the same or better results as a ride.

Lots more of this in our future

Two For One

With G's help, this morning I was able to get in a ride on both horses in one outing and accompany G out on a hike. So lucky to have a 'horse valet'!

Since G is not the best picture taker and the rain was really coming down, we didn't get any really nice shots, but that's OK, we had a great outing, with a quick ride in the ring on both ponies, then a trail ride where I rode Ginger through the forest for about an hour or so, with G leading Bridget. then I got on Bridget for the half hour ride home along the road. 

Those hands again. But I was so happy to ride Ginger :)

 I really need to keep putting time on Bridget. Our ride in the ring to start with was a little discouraging - the forward button was once again sticky and to be honest I called it good after pony kicking my way to a few canter strides in each direction. I've been focusing on having fun out on the trails a little too much - my efforts to get her moving in the ring left me huffing and puffing more than she was. We need to buckle down a little and get those basics more solid, as she can be quite impatient about standing as well. Definitely a respect issue in general as she's pushy on the ground too. It's great we've been having a lot of fun and putting a ton of miles on, but we need to address the respect/work ethic issue - I feel like what we do now is setting the foundation for our future together and it's not going to be all fun for Ms Bridget all the time :).

One of the many outtakes but Bridget is it at least lol

Ginger was fabulous. To be critical maybe a little too forward and excitable, but it was nice after Bridget :) We just walked and trotted and did a few leg yields and serpentines. My main goal today was to have a good trail ride on her, so the ring work was more just a check in,

Nice relaxed trot to finish

Both were excellent on the trail. We went through lots of water, over some small wooden bridges and through some tight spots and difficult footing without any issues. So nice to have my awesome Gingersnap back in trail pony mode. I don't know if I'd go so far as to say Ginger had fun - she hates the rain and is currently obsessed with one of her barn mates - but she was really well behaved and I think enjoyed the attention she got.

Good Ginger gets a hug - she doesn't look overly impressed :)

We came back down the area's main road. Bridget of course was a star and G was very impressed with her, as I always am. Ginger remains quite spooky with traffic if drivers don't move over and slow down, so I don't really ride her on the main road as I can't count on the drivers there to be horse smart. 

All in all, a nice morning that left me eager for tomorrow's ride.