The mud pit that was Dayton.  This pony looks like he liked playing in all the mud.

The run up to OKC is getting a little hectic.  Things are the barn have been nuts, and to complicate matters, I haven’t been feeling well all week.  I decided last weekend to start taking vitamins to boost my immune system, and promptly got sick the following day.  And after I spent all of that money on the vitamins, too.  I think that it’s  a myth that they actually benefit you.

I started playing DDR again to improve my endurance, and was just starting tackle the 8 & 9 footers again when that training program had to be put on hold.  I think I am feeling well enough today to start playing again, though maybe only working on easier songs.

Last weekend I went shopping with Tina, and she helped me pick out a new driving outfit.  Then we went to Mexican Fiesta for dinner.  I ordered the pork stew and thought it was very good.  It even feed me for two more days!  Lots of leftovers.  The chips and salsa were a bit on the lame side, but the meal itself was yummy.

I rode Ritz a few lessons ago, and am getting better with her choppy canter.  Blondie became terrified of the back gate again – this time because the door was closed, instead of being open.  She is such a silly mare.  I have been riding her with blinkers so I can drop my stirrups and work on strengthening my balance and my legs.

Wednesday’s group lesson was just bizarre.  Sort of like being in the Twilight Zone.  Someone fell off and had to go to the ER, there were raccoons in the walls that kept popping up like shooting gallery targets, and the horses were a little out of control.  With the raccoons, Blondie again had to wear blinkers, and we couldn’t drop our stirrups.  Due to various fiascos and dramas the lesson started late to begin with, and afterward, I wished I had just stayed home because that was the day I started feeling really sick.  So typical.

I rode Nyk on Sunday with full cup blinkers, and that was interesting.  He was certainly paying attention to every cue I gave him, and he even used his ears.  He felt like a little souped up sports car.  Last night he didn’t work as well – M had the fire extinguisher out, but the little bursts of solvent that she blasted ahead of us only bored him.  Blondie would have lost her mind.

The awesomeness that is Gizmo

Things have been a little quiet on here on the blog, due to a number of reasons.  The first is that I am just so busy, it’s hard to work up the enthusiasm to write a post after every lesson.  The second is me having to deal with disappointment over how Nyk and I placed at Jubilee.  Yes, I realize that when I got him, it was to help me become a more confident and comfortable rider.  It was to help me improve my abilities, so I could ride Blondie better.  In that, he’s helped me so much.  But that leads to the third reason I haven’t been posting much; I have to decide whether it’s time to sell him and move on to a more complicated horse.

My biggest dilemma is that I have become very attached to the little guy.  He goes out there, does his job with a happy attitude, and tries so hard to please.  I love that about him.  But when I stop and think about that last class at Dayton, when Blondie marched along and finished 3rd in the championship, I am forced to realize that the adrenaline rush just isn’t the same.  I feel buoyed for weeks after taking Blondie to a show, but I don’t feel the same way with Nyk.  It makes me very depressed, because I want to make sure that he is always happy and healthy, and there’s no guarantee if I do sell him.

Anyway, enough of the heavy stuff.  Jubilee was a blast, barring the usual shocks of reality that have a way of intruding on vacations.  While Nyk and I didn’t always place well, I feel that I haven’t ridden or driven him better than at this show.  The driving classes were especially good – I kept him cadenced, collected, and at a nice, easy pleasure trot.  He didn’t help me much because he suddenly decided to not use his ears, but he has made me a much better driver.

The fairgrounds were just stunning, and it’s hard to not be impressed by how well they keep up the buildings and the grounds.  The barns are brick!  Brick!!  The coliseum was fun to show in, and it was also fun to sit back and just watch other classes.  I spent a lot of time just watching, which I haven’t been able to do much at other shows this summer. 

There were a couple of exhibitor parties, but it was nothing like Dayton.  The free food will always win extra points from me, so I was a little disappointed with Jubilee in terms of that.  On the plus side, there were more food booths to grab a quick bite to eat, and the guy who made my breakfast for two of the days is a genius.  Thanks for the buttery, jalapeño goodness you packed into my breakfast wraps!

I’ve only had two lessons since getting back from the show, which turned out to be a good thing as my allergies have been making me very uncomfortable.  I have been tired and just not feeling well for the whole week.  Ugh.  Starting next week I will be riding every day but Saturday in an effort to get geared up for OKC.  M is letting me use Harley on Monday after work so I can work on balance exercises, and we have been doing a lot of no stirrup work during lessons.  I even cantered Blondie with no stirrups!  Something I didn’t thing would ever be possible because she can be such a silly horse. 

Only a few more days until we leave for Dayton!  We made  plans for a schedule change, and I am going to drive Blondie Wednesday evening instead of riding her.  I haven’t driven her all year!  This is the last chance, and I didn’t want it to pass me by.

We have been practicing patterns, and Blondie has continued to try her best to do what I ask.  The patterns aren’t pretty, but we are getting them done.  Friday was the best effort, with her trotting a very nice, round circle, and then stepping off into a canter off the rail.  She weaved a little down the line, but things are slowly coming along.  The class at the show is more for a bench marker for us; I want to see how much we improve over the winter and try riding in another adult eq class next summer.

Wednesday was a fun lesson, and we had a new rider join the group.  All of the kids but Amber ditched us, and since Blondie and Nyk had been visited by the chiropractor earlier in the day, the had the night off.  At first I wasn’t very thrilled to ride Harley again, but then I thought that it would be a good opportunity to see if I have progressed since the last time I rode him. 

It was very uplifting to see how much progress I have made at the end of the lesson.  I was able to keep him bridled without pulling on his mouth, but instead by bumping him up with my legs.  Since he travels in slow motion, it is easier to do with him than with other horses.  I actually have time to react and correct, where Blondie and Nyk don’t give me that opportunity. 

Today we ran through Meijer and I picked up snackage for the trip.  I am almost all packed up, but I am still stressing that I will forget something. Ugh.

DeeDee

On Thursday at Barn #2, I was in for a treat; I was able to ride a new horse.  Moonshine is a 5, and he is being groomed for his new career as a lesson horse.  I used to meet the prospect of riding a new pony with a certain amount of apprehension, usually in anticipation of the canter.  I guess I must be honest and say that if there is one gait that can cause nightmares, it is the canter.  This is ridiculous, because it is also my favorite gait, other than the rack, but there is that irrational fear that one of these days I’ll get on a horse and it won’t understand the word whoa.

Anyway, both S and Katie told me I needed to be “soft” with Moonshine.  I am not a soft rider – I am loud and demanding, and Moonshine really let me know when I was shouting my cues at him.  He didn’t like it one bit, and he didn’t hesitate to let me know by crow-hopping at the beginning of a canter.  I really like this horse.  He was honest and upfront, and tried to do everything I told him to do.  Even when I told him to fly off like a cannon ball.  How can you not like a pony who only wants to please? 

I have been working very hard to be lighter with my hands.  It is sometimes hard with my horses, because they both tend to have hard mouths, thanks to me riding too much off of my hands and not enough off of my legs.  This was very evident going the second way, because I couldn’t keep Moonshine in the corners.  This was getting me very frustrated, and I kept trying to neck rein.  S kept telling me  I needed to figure it out, and I appreciate that she gives me the opportunity to try to learn from my mistakes.  I knew I wasn’t using enough inside leg to keep him over, but I just couldn’t fix this during the lesson.  We were getting better at the canter cues, though, and overall, it was a good lesson.  It left me with a lot to think about, in terms of being lighter and softer, yet still effectively guiding and steering the horse.

Last night, I rode Nyk for the first time in about two weeks.  He was much lighter in the mouth when we started, but by the end, he was getting heavy again.  But, we worked mainly on keeping him slow, without worrying too much about his head set.  He gets going like a marching soldier, leaning on his bridle, and then I feel like I can’t get him to back off of it. 

Going the second way, I had the same problem that I had the night before; Nyk kept cutting the corners, especially at the far end of the arena.  I tried to work this out by myself, but finally had to ask M for help.  Putting my inside leg on him was only speeding him up.  She gave me a whip, and had me walk him straight down the rail into the wall.  If he veered to the inside, whack him on the shoulder.  My, he didn’t like that one little bit, but it did fix the problem.  He scooted around the corner the next time around  at a canter, and I had to run him into the wall when he wouldn’t stop, and then we had to walk to get him focused back on his manners.  He did stay out of the middle of the ring, though.  I felt that we accomplished a lot in terms of speed control.  Let’s see if this carries over to the next time I ride him.

So, Monday I got Blondie ready and we started working on patterns.  M told me to break them down into parts, and even if we blow a part, there are several sequences to a pattern and to just work harder on the next one.  We worked on trotting down the rail, halting at the midpoint, cantering a serpentine, stop, reverse, show trot out of the ring.  We did it at a trot, then moved up to a canter.  Then we worked briefly on cantering down the centerline with 2 changes of lead.  That didn't go so well, because Blondie was getting really excited about doing all of this strange stuff, so we stopped and I walked her out. 
 
I will admit this about my horse.  She tried very hard to do everything I asked of her.  I just didn't ask her correctly all of the time.  She paid attention the entire time, too.  No falling asleep during the theory portion, either.  Maybe my girl is finally growing up!

The group lesson was mainly rail work, due in part to the high humidity.  Blondie was sweating before I even got her ready, and after the first canter, she was puffing away like crazy.  M asked if I wanted to try to do a pattern, but I decided to wait until Friday.  She was so hot, and she did so well the day before, I didn't want to keep pushing her.  Besides, I was hot, too! 

I am glad we called it quits when we did, because it took forever to dry her off.  Why don’t they make industrial horse size dryers that we could just pop the ponies in for a few minutes, and out they would come, nice, warm, and smelling like the summer breeze?

 

DeeDee

Sorry for the lack of updates.  I gathered up my mobile blogging unit and took it to Anime Expo the week before last.  The evening before I left, I rode Blondie, and we worked on canter transitions.  That is something that I still need a lot of help with, and if I am going to try to ride in the adult eq class at Dayton, I need to work in all of the practice that I can.

DeeDee

I rode Blondie again on the Tuesday after my return from LA, this time in a show bridle.  Nothing epic with the lesson, just a solid ride for the first time in a week.  On Thursday I headed to Barn #2, and rode Lucky, again in a show bridle.  This was another great lesson, and again, canter transitions were a highlight, and I got most of the right, so there’s improvement.  My legs were very sore afterward, as I haven’t had a lesson there in almost a month, and S shows no mercy. 

Elvis, keeping the ponies awake

That was it for lessons, because the MAM show was this weekend at the State Fairgrounds.  I discovered, much to my dismay, that I could have taken Nyk, since they changed the schedule around at the last minute.  This kind of upset me, because if I had called them up and asked that they rearrange classes for me, they would have laughed and hung up.  I wonder which trainer they did this for, as I try not to seethe with too much resentment.  I got to see the CP Driving championship, and I think that we could have held our own in it. Huge disappointment for me, but I’ll get over it. Eventually.

I was mesmerized by his suit

I did go to watch the last session, and to pig out at the exhibitor party.  It was a lot of fun!  Elvis was even there!  The food was good, too, even if it was catered chicken, mashed potatoes, salad, and green beans. 

Much to my surprise, the trash that had been accumulating for over the past year was even cleaned up.  That makes no sense, since they are going to flatten the site.  Why spend the money to clean it up?  The place is still a total dump, and is an embarrassment compared to other fairgrounds I have be to. 

Well, only I fall down, evidently.  During a display of fireworks today, I fell off of Blondie.  The smoke bombs get her going, and I was doing great, until I tried to make her march through the middle of the yellow smoke.  She zigged and I zagged, right out of the saddle.  I knew I was going over, though, so this time I was able to get my feet out the stirrups and land on my butt.  It figures that I would fall off of the taller horse, though.  I was irritated with myself for getting dumped, and after I got back on, I made sure I didn’t let her get ahead of me again.  She felt like a million bucks, kept her ears up, and worked well for me after that.  Guess you do need a setback every now and again to get back on track.

After the rodeo ride on Blondie, Nyk was a piece of cake.  He felt chargy and heavy in his bridle, but M said that he looked great at the canter.  I am trying to sit back farther in the saddle and use my seat more effectively, and also trying to bump him up with my legs more than my hands.  I just feel that he starts to bear down on the bridle and then I am not riding effectively anymore.

Tuesday I rode Ritz, and while I still dislike her big, bouncy canter, I was able to sit it better by pushing my feet forward and sitting back as far as possible in the saddle.  The left lead is always better than the right lead, but they were both about the same as long as I was doing that.

Wednesday I didn't ride.  The heat index was 97 at 3pm. and the thought of having to cool out one of the horses after working in that hot and humid weather just wasn’t appealing.  Instead, all three of us got a break.

The temps were a little cooler on Friday, and I rode Blondie for the first time in two weeks.  She was very sluggish, and the bugs are eating her alive.  She got a shot of an anti-inflammatory after she worked, because the mosquitoes left her neck a mass of bumpy bites.  During the lesson, we worked on cantering figure 8s again, which I can’t believe that I still can’t do.  I have some kind of mental condition that doesn’t allow me to understand how to do patterns.  Ugh!  And I am thinking about embarrassing myself at Dayton and riding in the adult equitation class.  I must be nuts, and we are going to have to practice patterns all the way until the show.

In other news, the puppy has gotten so big in the past two weeks!  I won’t be able to pick her up for much longer.  She was full of puppy cuddles today, and it is amazing how happy puppies can make you feel.

I left a little unexpectedly for Gold Cup today. I decided to ride down with M and the girls in the motor home. It's just as boring to drive through Ohio as I remembered. In the racetrack of the world, we were the turtle today, because in addition to traveling in a really big vehicle, we were also towing a two horse trailer behind. Aftering trying to figure out why the a/c wouldn't work, we realized that we had decided to hook up to a dead power box. After pulling in all of the slides and unplugging all of the cables, we moved forward about 100 feet and tried again. Yup, the first site had power issues. We had to relevel and then hook everything back up again. Wasted about an hour. After enjoying a dinner prepared by Chef Boyarde, everyone else headed back to the stalls to set up, and I remained to chill. Of course the fuse blew, leaving me with no a/c again. Ok, that's it for a quick update because typing out a post on the iPhone is painful.

Bentley

Once again I am neglecting this blog.  Shame on me!  I am trying to do better, but real life keeps interfering, darn it!

Wednesday was a little frustrating because some of the riders didn’t arrive until the lesson was supposed to begin.  I hate when the group lessons run that late, because then I don’t get home until way past my bedtime, and I have to get up at 4:30.  I run strictly on caffeine Thursday and Friday, because Thursday is a very late night for me, too.  What I don’t do to improve at my sport…

I rode Nyk on Wednesday, and excuse my language, but he was a little prick.  He thought we were training for the Belmont, and not for Gold Cup.  He was heavy on the bridle, won’t give on the bit, and raced around and around at the canter.  M made some tack adjustments, and I tried cantering him again.  Then he went a little slower than race car speed, but he was still too fast, especially going the second way.

We tried to work through the equestrian team pattern, and once again, Nyk was behaving like a stubborn little pony.  He would not whoa.  I was getting so frustrated with him.  I don’t like doing patterns in the first place, and he wasn’t making me like them any better.  Whoa means STOP, but I guess when your brain is the size of a walnut, you occasionally forget that.

Thursday I went to Barn #2, and had a very informative lesson with guest instructor.  S was away at a horse show, and she had a trainer who is more involved with Morgans fill in.  We will call her S2.  She started by having me sit on Lucky, and then she went over proper leg position, arm position, and other form vs function points.  Then she had me head out to the rail at a posting trot.

This was a very important lesson because S2 emphasized how to use your legs and seat, and to keep your hands and fingers light on the reins.  I know that is the goal of being an effective rider, but sometimes I just clamp down on the bridle, especially when I am riding Blondie.  She just wants to bury her head, and I think that I have to carry her along.  All I am really doing then is keeping her heavy on the bridle and making her worse.  One of these days I’m actually going to be able to put all of this theory into practice.  When, I don’t know, but one of these days!!

Sunday, both of the ponies were very good.  I rode Blondie first, in blinkers.  I am going to buy a hood, because they are so useful.   I don’t have to worry about her getting a burr up her butt and getting scared at dust specks.  We can actually get a good ride in! 

It was so dusty in the arena that we took Nyk outside to drive him.  He was so good!  He walked when I asked, and he trotted at a nice, pleasure trot speed.  No racing.  So nice.

Saturday I went to Sarah’s graduation, and had the added bonus of seeing Krystal get her diploma.  I did not realize that they went to the same high school!  Too bad I did not get a chance to congratulate her during the festivities.   That will have to wait until her party on Saturday.

Today was not a good day.  First phone call of the day was a co-worker’s mother calling to tell us he passed away over the weekend.  He was 25 years old!  WTF!!  I have DDR’ed with this kid, gone to the Indian buffet and gotten sushi with him.  I can’t believe he’s gone, and I feel so, so bad for his family.  It was so unexpected.  My prayers and thoughts go out to his family.  Things like this really make you think about how fragile and fleeting life can be.  Enjoy it.  Chase your dreams. Don’t give up, because you may never get another chance to make them come true.

I have been dealing with web site and internet connectivity issues since last Thursday, so the posting has been non-existent.  First, my site host lost 2 drives and all of my sites were down for almost a day, Then my blogging software decided to be finicky,  and then my router crapped out on me.  To make matters worse, I couldn’t get my netbook to hook up to the modem through a direct cable connection!  Argh! I hate computers! I have a work around until I can get another router, but it is a pain in the rear. 

We are getting ready for Gold Cup, which is in two weeks, so lessons and training are going full speed ahead.  Last week I was the dunce of my lesson at Barn #2, and it was all because of stupid patterns.  I was having a hard time with a pattern near the end of the lesson, and the harder I tried to get it correct, the more tense and awful it was.  It was horrible.  I am so glad that I am not a Junior Eq rider.  Maybe being old has it’s pluses.

Today I rode Jimmy in a longe line lesson, and I don’t think I’ve ever felt so sorry for a horse in my life.  The gnats are eating away at his ears, leaving behind open sores.  Ouch!!  It’s a good thing Zoster is picking up a fly mask for him tonight.  Death to gnats!

There has been a change of plans regarding the housing arrangements at Gold Cup.  We are now all chipping in on renting a mondo motorcoach for the week.  How awesome is that!!  It will be like one big slumber party!  With WiFi!  I emailed the fairgrounds today, and they informed me that they have wireless internet access!  I hope I will be catching a ride there and back, so I won’t even have to drive.  Now, that will really be a vacation for me.  I’ll just have to pack up a box of books, and I’ll be all set to lounge around between class sessions.

We had kitties visit the office last week, and that was a lot of fun.  Kittens and puppies are so, so cute!  You can’t help but want to pick them up and cuddle and snuggle.  The puppy was back at the barn tonight, so I got some puppy love, too.  They don’t stay babies forever, so you have to take advantage of the time when they are.  Especially with dogs.  Once they hit about a hundred pounds, it’s not quite so easy to pick them up anymore.