A Marionette, A Four-Wheeler, A Sports Car, and A Dirt Bike

I have a pretty great husband (that word is still really weird).    Said pretty great husband offered to me, as a gift, a trip to Atlanta to see my friends and horses any time I wanted.  Because I'm the new kid on the block at my job, I don't have vacation time until June.  There are also no other holiday weekends until May.  So the decision was made (about one week before!) that I was going to make a trip to Atlanta on President's Day weekend! =)

I arrived late Friday night and left *early* Tuesday morning.  I didn't spend *quite* the entire weekend at the barn, but pretty darn close.  I spent Saturday morning running some necessary Atlanta-based errands (hello, bank, Dekalb Farmer's Market, and Snooty Fox Tack Exchange!!!) and then headed to the barn for my pre-arranged late afternoon meet-up with Honorary Big Sister Jen.  After saying my hellos and chatting briefly, Jen and I got our ponies ready and headed up to the ring.

I decided that the first horse I should ride should be the love of my life, Star.  She felt absolutely lovely on the flat.  We jumped a little bit, as well.  Two things: 1) Thank god for Pelhams! and 2) One of us is better at jumping around (including a "scary" 3'0" jump)  after several months off than the other.  I'll give you a hint: it's not me!  All in all, it was a wonderful first ride after my 3-month hiatus.  It was also fun to watch Tiki go.  He has improved so much!  I commented to Honorary Big Sister Jen that he looks like a horse who knows his job.  Very neat to see! :)

Because we had started so late (remember, late afternoon meet-up... to which I was late), I opted to not ride Sparky after Honorary Big Sister Jen left.  Of course, I said hi to him and gave him treats, but then I spent some time with some of my favorite people friends, Joyce and Mark (the barn owners).

On Sunday, I finally had the opportunity to meet Honorary Big Sister Jen's Lovely Rider.  And I tell you what!  She truly is a lovely rider and a great kid in general.  I decided that I like her a lot.  Anyhow, Lovely Rider tacked up Tiki and I got Kellie out, as the plan was for me to first ride Kellie and tell Lovely Rider about her, and then let Lovely Rider ride Kellie.  Kellie was so good!  Definitely out of shape, but she was trying very hard to do what I asked of her.  We did some flatwork in each direction with lots of circles and following the nose, and then we hopped over a couple little jumps.  Kell-Bell was very good, and we had lots of fun.

I then dismounted and told Lovely Rider she could have a turn, but only if she promised to not rat me out for how terrible I probably looked.  She promised she wouldn't.  I gave her some guidelines on how I've been working with Kellie, and then mostly let her do her thing, trying to not be too bossy.  She walked Kellie around for a while, and then picked up a trot.  Honest to god, my jaw dropped and I said, "Oh my God, she's gorgeous!"  I have never seen Kellie really go with another rider... all I can say is wow.  Lovely Rider, of course, lived up to her name and looked lovely on Kellie, and as they finished up, Lovely Rider had a big, dopey grin on her face.  I can only hope Kellie and I look half that good together, but I definitely understand that grin.  During their ride, Lovely Rider came up with the best analogy ever to describe Kellie: a marionette.  How absolutely fitting!  (Damn, the kid's smart, too!)

As we finished up, I asked Lovely Rider if she wanted to stick around and ride Star and Sparky with me.  She agreed, so we got the two of them ready.  I started on Sparky and she started out on Star.  Again, Lovely Rider and Star looked really good together.  After flatting some, Lovely Rider jumped Star around a little bit and did a most excellent job (did I mention that Star was in a snaffle? lol!).  Lovely Rider commented that Star had a very comfortable jump and that she really loved her job - both true statements.  She commented that Star was like a four-wheeler - the kind that always has at least three wheels on the ground.  Yup, that's Star!  (Why can't I come up with these things?!?)

Sparky had his shoes pulled back in November and has been barefoot ever since.  Joyce had mentioned that he looked like he was getting stiff in his back end.  As we started out, he did seem stiff and a bit off in his back end.  It was nothing that should prevent him from working a little bit, and he definitely loosened up as we worked.  We did some basic W-T-C, a little lateral work and some circles, and then a few small jumps.  He was so good!  It really makes me wonder who this "asshole" is that seems to come out at Greg Best clinics.

Lovely Rider and I then switched horses.  I didn't do much with Star: just enjoyed being with her.  Mostly I watched Lovely Rider and Sparky.  She couldn't get over how compact he was.  They also jumped around a little bit.  Of course, the two of them looked great together, too, and Lovely Rider thought Sparky was fun, likening him to a sports car.  Again, a perfect analogy.

That pretty much finished up Sunday, and Lovely Rider went on her way.  I gave her an open invitation to ride my horses whenever she wanted (because she has so much spare time in addition to riding Tiki!).

On Monday, my last day in Atlanta (sad face), I spent the morning first at Dover, exchanging Sparky's 1680D turnout sheet, which had a rip, a broken buckle, and torn-off piping (seriously?!), and then headed over to my friend Nan's house.  Nan has lovely, lovely horses - mostly TBs and one WB.  I got to see Nan, her beautiful horses, including her gorgeous, sweet filly who shows in the hunter breeding, and shockwave therapy.  I really had a good time visiting.

I then went to my barn to ride with Joyce and Debbie.  We just hacked around in the arena for a little bit.  Debbie rode Star while I rode Sparky and then we switched.  Sparky was a good boy with Debbie (as was Star, of course).  I just took it easy with both horses, enjoying the last bit of time I had with them before heading back to New York.  After leaving the barn, I dashed off to meet with Honorary Big Sister Jen for dinner/to see her one last time before I left.

It was a wonderful weekend, and I can't wait to go back.  On the Chronicle of the Horse forums, there is someone whose signature line says, "If you're lucky enough to ride, you're lucky enough."  So true.  Nothing makes you appreciate more what you have than not having it (or in my case, easy access to it).  I am so very grateful for my wonderful horses and my amazing friends, who truly are my "Atlanta family."

Oh, and the dirt bike, if you were wondering?  That's Tiki! :) (Lovely Rider is 4 for 4!) 

I'm Not Dead!!!

Friends, I admit that I am officially a terrible blogger and have apparently been so since May!  In my defense, I was preparing for some major life changes - namely, getting married, moving to another state, and hunting for/starting a new job!  

Wedding planning takes a lot of time, especially when:
A) Your mom, fiance, bridesmaids, and future-mother-in-law all live in different states, none of which are anywhere near yours, and
B) You are trying to save some money by DIYing things like save-the-dates, programs, etc.

So pretty much my horse life went out the window.  Except for the day that I hurt my back jumping Sparky around.  And then I couldn't really ride because I was hurt.  And then it was time to spend even more time wedding planning.  And then it was time for the wedding.  And then it was time for the honeymoon.  And then it was time to pack up my whole life and move 800 miles away.

I did manage to do some stuff, so I'll go back and fill you in on that... but in the meanwhile, I thought you might like to know that I'm not dead.

In Which Sparky Jumps 3'0"!

Okay, so I already gave away the good part.

Sparky turned 8 on Saturday.  Eeek!  Where does the time go?!?  Last I knew, I'm pretty sure he was 4.  Anyhow, so Sparky's chronological age is now 8, and his "training age" (yes, I made that up) due to his injury and related set-backs is 6 1/2, and he should be "all grown up" either way.

And he *just* might be (knock on wood).

On Tuesday, Honorary Big Sister Jen hauled Tiki and Sparky to her place of employ so we could ride together and kick each other's butts.  This was going to be Jen's last jump school in preparation for her (and Tiki's) first outing at Novice at the May Daze horse trial in Kentucky.  My goal with Sparky was to go somewhere different, jump around fences he hasn't necessarily seen in those particular spots, and do a little bit at 3'0".  My rationale was that if one of the PWF IEA kids can jump him 3'0", there's no reason I can't!

Everybody pretty much knows that the journey with Sparky has been, uh, interesting (Greg Best saying Sparky was an asshole, anyone?).  So it has taken a while for Sparky to get to where he "should" be training-wise.  And the goals for this trip were not a "given."

We started out in the covered, due to an annoying thunderstorm rolling through.  Honorary Big Sister Jen had some stuff set at 2'-ish, a vertical on the diagonal at 2'9", and a 3'0" oxer on a short, awkward diagonal.  Sparky and I were not going to attempt that one.  We warmed up on the flat, for which Sparky was pretty good.  Honorary Big Sister Jen then did some 2'-ish stuff with Tiki, and then I followed suit with Sparky.  It wasn't all perfect (and I certainly wasn't!), but Sparky never hesitated.  In fact, he was forward enough that I was *quite* glad that I had chosen to use the Sprenger WH bit for the day.  We progressed through the line (it was set as a two to a one, or a one to a two, depending on which way you were going) each way... and eventually I got brave, and we cantered up to the 2'9" vertical.  And the Sparkplug looked a little bit, but he went right over!  I did my job to make Honorary Big Sister Jen jump the 3'0" several times, even though Tiki was being a shit.  *shrugs*  I do what I can to make others' lives more enjoyable. ;) 

After the rain let up, we moved to the (much) bigger outdoor arena.  Because of the rain, the footing was pretty darn near perfect.  Honorary Big Sister Jen had set herself an entire course at 2'9"-3'0", which she planned to jump "cold" (no schooling over anything before going in and jumping the course).  So she and Tiki started out over the course, and then decided on a do-over.  Second attempt was perfect-ish - Honorary Big Sister Jen sat up, rode, made decisions, and didn't take anything for granted.  I was very proud of her!

Then it was my turn.  Honorary Big Sister Jen watched Sparky while I went around and dropped random jumps to various lower heights.  I dropped the square oxer to 2'3", because I really haven't done too many of them with Sparky (and this is clearly Jen's fault, because she doesn't like oxers and never sets them at home... so since I'm too lazy to set anything other than what she's set, I don't do many oxers!), and then walked around and lowered a few others that seemed somewhat imposing.

I vaulted up onto my trusty steed (ok, really I used the mounting block to get on the pudgy pony), and off we went.  I didn't have an actual plan in mind (good thinking, I know) other than to just jump everything in the arena.  We started with the oxer because it was low and oxers generally don't scare me (except for 3'0" ones set on an awkward short diagonal).  And it went well.  So we continued along to the single verticle on the outside line.  Which also went well (not perfect, but well enough).  And we continued around to a single hanging gate (Sparky and I had never jumped a single hanging gate before).  And it went well.  And next thing I knew, Sparky and I were doing exactly what Honorary Big Sister Jen and Tiki had done - going in and jumping an entire course "cold."  And every single fence was just. fine.  After the gate, we strung together the outside line, the other gate (this one had flowers underneath), and a ramped oxer.  And Sparky perfectly willingly jumped everything.  He looked a bit at the oxer, but said, "OK - if that's what you want!" and jumped it with a foot to spare.

And I was pleased as punch.

The sequence of jump heights was 2'3"-2'9"-2'9"-2'6"-7 strides (we did 8)-3'0"-3'0"-3'0".  Holy crap!  Sparky did it!  He actually did it!

We still have some things to work on, but I could not be more happy with Sparky on that day.  Everything I asked, he did.  He trusted me to not put something in front of him that he "couldn't" do.  And he looked super-cute doing it!

As for me, though Honorary Big Sister Jen complimented on the fact that I've become much more of a stylist and a thinking rider, rather than "seat of the pants" (hmmm... that sounds familiar as well), I am terribly out of shape for jumping and have developed the habit of letting my stirrups be too long.  I *might* make it a point to spend some quality time in two-point for the next several days-weeks-months-as-yet-undetermined-timeframe... and I am definitely going to make it a point to get my stirrups to a *proper* length.  Too-open knee angle?  No thanks.

And without further ado, here is the link to Spanky's course! http://youtu.be/rathK9Jn5iU

Riding in the Rain



I think Sparky is tired of trying on bridles!

 We're getting closer to Sparky's new bridle... it's been a bit of trial and error.  After Brita at Just Bridles contacted Barbara at Edgewood for the *just right* browband, Sparky now has a nearly-perfectly fitting Edgewood.  Well, as close as he's going to get anyway.  All the buckles are in the "wrong" spots, but at least they're all even.  I just try to not think about it.

I started out with Star on Tuesday.  I've recently toyed with the idea of making her a Western pleasure horse, but I'm having trouble committing to that idea.  If I do something, I like to do it right.  Doing Western pleasure "right" for Morgan world involves silver, dark oil, romal reins, and considerable expense.

The main thing right now is really just that Star needs to be worked, whatever it is.  So I decided to say screw the snaffle and flat her in her Pelham.  She just goes better in her Pelham, so why struggle with trying to make a snaffle "work," when right now the point is just to get her a bit more fit?  (Added bonus: it's easier on me, too.  What can I say?  I'm lazy).

As (nearly) always, Star did everything I asked, but was definitely grumpy.  She did offer up a few (appropriate) lead changes, though, which was pretty neat.  Out of fairness, I didn't push her too hard, because she's obviously unfit, and I was maybe about ten days late administering her Adequan this month.  Part of me would like to get her hocks injected, but it's expensive and I'm hesitant to inject a joint when a horse isn't actually unsound.  I might do a full loading dose of Adequan for her and see if it helps.

After I was done with Star, I tacked up the Sparkplug.  As we got to the arena, it started to rain; just a little bit at first, but enough to be annoying.  Apparently, I am not the only one who doesn't like riding in the rain - Sparky was doing the best he could to tuck his face away from the raindrops by curling up behind the bit and turning his neck and leading with his shoulder!  It was actually pretty comical.

The rain picked up more and before too long, both the Sparkplug and I were soaked.  The nice thing about that is that once you reach that point, it kind of doesn't matter that it's raining anymore.  So we proceeded to jump around a little bit.  (Another nice thing about the rain is that it made the footing nice).  Honorary Big Sister Jen had set a hunter-ish course consisting of a  2'-ish bounce on the outside line with a ground pole some number of strides away (bad me - I didn't count), the coop on a diagonal, a 3' vertical on the other outside line, and a low, wide oxer made up of the three cavaletti on the other diagonal.  I took away half the bounce so it was just a single vertical and I lowered the 3' vertical to 2'6".  And we began.

Sparky was perfect!  We started with the 2' vertical a few times and then moved to the coop.  After doing each of those a few times, I got brave and decided to try the wide cavaletti oxer.  Sparky hadn't seen this before, so I wasn't 100% sure what he would do.  I kept my leg on... and he didn't even blink!  Right over, like it was NBD.  As we starting stringing more jumps together, I eventually just threw in the 2'6" vertical.  He looked and wavered the tiniest bit, but because I kept my leg on, he said, "Okay," and went right over.  We strung together some little course, jumping each fence a few more times, and called it good.

I think we've finally "mastered" the coop.  Given any opportunity to duck out at it, Sparky will do so, but as long as I make sure to ride well and have a nice, straight approach, I think it won't be an issue.

It was really reassuring to have such a good ride, because I've really been struggling lately with "feeling like" making the trek to the barn to ride.  I need to feel like I'm working towards something, and that has really been lacking lately.

I plan on riding again tonight and on Sunday; I'll just do flatwork with Sparky and try to drag Kellie and Star out as well (at least on Sunday).  Next week, Honorary Big Sister Jen and I have plans to take our ponies over to her place of employ, jump around, and kick each other's butts.  It should be fun - and for the immediate future at least, gives me something to be working towards.

The Franken-Bridle

The problem with Sparky breaking his *ONE,* *EXPENSIVE* bridle is that I need to replace it.  And Sparky's head is oddly-sized.  Now, if he had just broken the cheek pieces that would have been fine - I already have an extra pair.  But nooooooo - Sparky had to find a way to break the headstall.  So until that's replaced, no useable bridle.

I decide on a two-pronged approach.   1- I replace his crownpiece and at the same time, upsize his slightly-snug browband for a larger one to accomodate his big brains.  2 - I also purchase a second, less-expensive for daily use.  Though Sparky has an oddly-sized head, this one seems like it might work.

Of course, none of this is simple and straight-forward.  How could it be, when your pony needs a horse cavesson, cob crown, pony cheeks, and oversize brow?

I ordered a plain raised padded Dover Showmark for daily use; after chatting with a rep, it seemed a cob size might work, but might need pony cheeks for the buckles to be in just the right place.  I also ordered a plain raised padded oversize Edgewood browband and both a horse and a cob size Edgewood crownpiece from Just Bridles.  Truly, the cob crown seemed a little snug on Sparky previously, but I wasn't sure if it was because of the crown or the brow... so now that I have the opportunity, we'll find out and fix it.  

I received both the Showmark bridles and the Edgewood pieces on the same day.  The Showmark is very pretty and even has the new-fangled comfort crown thing goin' on.  The Edgewood pieces are exactly what one would expect from Edgewood. 

I fiddled around with the Edgewood pieces for a bit, and determined that the horse size crown fits the Sparkplug better than the cob, though the throatlatch is a bit long.  I'll get that trimmed down someday.  I also decided that I'll keep the cob size crown, as with the addition of that, I will now have a complete cob size Edgewood made from Sparky's cast-off pieces and the spare cheeks.  The oversize browband, however, was just plain too big.  And the horse size is too small.  Figures. 

The Showmark is possibly the most oddly-sized bridle I've ever encountered.  The browband and crown were a perfect fit for Sparky.  The throatlatch was, as always, too long.  The caveson was too small and the flash was ridiculously tiny.  And the cheeks - oh my gosh, the cheeks!  There is NO reason that either of my horses should need to have the cheekpieces on the top hole on a cob-size bridle - and yet, that was exactly the case!  So the Showmark bridle is going to be returned and replaced with a SmartPak Plymouth bridle.  For 1/3 of the price, I can handle a less-than-perfect fit (or, alternatively, can afford to buy different pieces to make it fit, or at least come close).

I've come to this determination about Sparky's head: he's oddly sized, but maybe in a different way than I realized.  I can't really mix-and-match pieces to make something fit because he's exactly in-between cob and horse size.  He's pony/cob sized in the length and under the chin and throat, but horse+ sized over the crown, brow, and nose!  (See picture above - red is pony, yellow is cob, green is horse).  You can't buy that - lol!  So the closest we're going to come for now is that I am just going to have to settle on adjusting straps on shorter/higher holes than I prefer (therefore having more excess strapage than I like)... and then it turns out that Sparky's current Franken-bridle is not that Franken-bridle after all.  It's basically a horse-size bridle with cob-size cheeks.  And the only thing left from his original cob size bridle is the cheeks.

One last thing: I'd like to put in a plug for Brita at Just Bridles.  She's absolutely awesome and is helping me brainstorm ideas for a browband that will both match the Edgewood AND fit the Sparkplug correctly, including even checking with Edgewood to see if they have a random irregularly size browband that just happens to fit.  This is why you deal with small businesses!   

A Perfect Day and a Far From Perfect Ride

I've been to the barn more this week than I have for the past several weeks, and yet I'm sure that I've actually spent less time in the saddle than in previous weeks!

Sparky is way out of shape and quite pudgy (my new favorite nickname for him is "Pudge," which I extra-like, because it's also a name for mashed potatoes, which I also love), so I've been trying to spend some time in the rather-hilly back pasture doing my version of "trot and canter sets."  This really just means that because I don't own a watch, we trot around the perimeter a few times, canter around then perimeter a few times, and then reverse and repeat.  We get the benefit of a big area to maintain our pace for a longer period, as well as the added effort from the hills and dips.

Since it was a perfect day weather-wise, I decided it would be a good day to go out to the back pasture.  We did this last week, and it went well.  The one change I made was to shorten my stirrups a hole - they felt a little long last week.

We head out to the pasture, and started out at a walk around the perimeter.  After completing one circuit, we moved up into a trot.  As we came by the trees, Sparky started to get a little "looky."  I remembered that the neighbors have cows and assumed that Sparky was just hearing them, but worried because he couldn't see them.  I mentally shrugged and thought, "No big deal.  He's seen cows before - he'll be fine."

We passed the treed area and move along our fenceline to where it paralleled the clearing in the neighbor's pasture... oh!  Here are the cows!  Sparky was still acting a bit spooky, so after we passed by, I brought Sparky back to a walk, with the intent of walking by the cows again.  It seemed it might be okay, but then one of the cows (calves, really) cantered up to the fenceline!

Thoroughly convinced that the zombie calf wanted to eat Sparky's brains ('cause they're so big, you know), Sparky politely tried to excuse himself from the situation through all means of attempted bolting, spinning, backing, hopping, and popping up in front.  I had him well enough in hand that he didn't actually run off, but I knew that I also did not want to stay on him.  Convinced he was about to be zombie-fied, it took a minute to settle Sparky enough for me to dismount.

My smart thought upon dismounting: unbuckle the reins.  I knew I would have more control over Sparky if I brought the reins back over his head, rather than leaving them around his neck as I usually do... but for some reason, unbuckling the ends seemed like a good idea.

I worked on the ground with Sparky for a while, trying to convince him that the cows really were not going to harm him.  Poor Sparky was literally terrified - every single muscle was tense, he was puffed up, blowing, shaking, snorting, and soaked with sweat.  Poor guy!  A few times he relaxed just enough to try to reach down and take a bite of grass, but as he rustled leaves and made noise, he scared himself again!

Eventually, Sparky started to calm down some, and tried to grab a bite of grass again.  But then, horror of horrors, one of the zombie cows (again, calves, really) came  running up to the fenceline again.  That was enough for Sparky.  He said, "Fuck this shit!  I'm outta here!" and took off.  I suppose I could have tried to hold him, but really, what was the point?  I'm brave, but I'm not stupid (I don't think, anyway...).  As Sparky ran off, I yelled to him to not break anything.  And I set off, at a much slower pace, across the many (15?) acre pasture back towards the little barn to retrieve my pony.

As I got close, I saw that there were no longer reins dangling from the bit... nay, there was no bit!  So much for my warning to not break anything.  Of course, for probably the first time ever, there are no spare halters by the barn with which to catch my horse, but then I spotted a random few straps laying on the ground.  So I walked over to those, thinking it would work for now to lead Sparky back to the main barn.  As I got closer, I realized that those straps were not so random after all.  Oops.  Reins - check.  Bit - check.  Cheek pieces - check.  Headstall - headstall?!?  *Sigh*

Who would have thought a cow (calf) could be so terrifying?

All Grown Up?

So it would seem that perhaps Sparky is ready to be "that horse" - the horse that will go pretty much anywhere, do pretty much anything, and not get rattled by the occasional bad ride, bad spot, bad/scary/new fence, or llama.

Honorary Big Sister Jen recently took Star and Sparky to her place of employ to give lessons for her middle school IEA team.  I figured it would probably be okay... but part of me was still a little worried.  And I couldn't be there, because I was working!  In the afternoon, I received a text message from Honorary Big Sister Jen telling me that I HAD to call her as soon as I got off work!!!  Hmmm... so, as soon as I got off work, I called.

And Sparky was  perfect!  He nearly backed off the trailer without needing his driving reins (yes, my horse must be "driven" back off the trailer), and then clocked around with kids like he did it all the time.  He did, apparently, have one meltdown involving a llama, I believe, but (and this is a big "but") he recovered and carried on with his job.  He jumped everything in the arena (much of which he'd not seen before) and even swapped his leads during the practice equitation tests.  And finally, upon his return home, he backed off the trailer in a much more convential manner, requiring no driving lines at all.

I couldn't possibly be more pleased with my Napolean!  Apparently, Honorary Big Sister Jen told one of the girls that if I were there, I probably would have tears in my eyes.  I'm pretty sure she was right!  It's taken a very long time, but Sparky is finally turning into the horse I always knew he could be. =)

PS - Star was, of course, perfect as well. :)