During Wednesday's lesson, I rode Blondie.  There were five of us in attendance for the lesson, including Maggie, who rode Sammy for the first time.  She's a really good rider, and she didn't have any problems with him.  Her weakness seems to be pattern work.

M put cones out to make the ring about the same size as the show ring in East Lansing.  Ours was still wider, but it was about as long.  We worked on trotting, flat walking, and changing direction at a trot. This was really funny because all of us headed into the middle to make these dramatic passes in front of the judge, and almost collided with other horses.  When we reversed again later in the lesson, we all stayed on the rail.  M made fun of us for suddenly becoming cowardly.

At the canter, Blondie got ahead of me and I lost control of the steering wheel.  She cantered right through the make-believe rail.  I shortened up the reins, swung her back around and into the ring.  She did pick up the correct lead, and M said later that she and D will be standing by the gate the wave the horses back into the ring.  She then demonstrated by waving her arms all over the place.  Yeah, very funny....

Again, the only thing that marred the ride was Blondie's sudden bad habit of tossing her head violently in every direction.  M told me to ignore it, ride her straight, and keep her in her corners. We'll fix it later.  When we were walking the horses out, she said that if Blondie started getting antsy, to bring her in and hop off.  We had a good ride and she didn't want anything to ruin it.  I think Blondie was too tired to put up much of a fuss, because she was walking like a broke down trail horse by then.

Sunday was another busy day at the barn.  Right after I arrived, Kim, Audie, Laurie, and Brooke showed up, right after another.  Zoe and Sara were already there, getting Jimmy, Wildchild, and Blondie ready for a small group lesson.

Just before hopping on Blondie, I pulled my spurs out of my brush box.  I was hoping they would be an added incentive to get her around the back wall.  She wasn't going to be wearing blinkers so we can start getting her (and mostly me, I think!) ready for the show in April, and I was afraid I would need a little extra leg power.

This was a really good ride, except that she wasn't flat walking, and she kept throwing her head around again.  I hate the head thing; she jerks me right out of the saddle every time she does it! M told me to ignore it; they'll fix it.  Let me tell you, it's really hard to ignore when your horse constantly drops her head or jerks it up.  She's worse than Jimmy now!

I was on the wrong diagonal when she stuttered a few times, but M said that since I was riding her so well, I didn't have to run around the arena.  Yea!  I don't know if I could run around the arena dragging her along after me anyway!

When we cantered, I kept sticking her with the spurs, making her speed up. M told me that I  need to really work on keeping legs down, relaxed, heels out and away from her sides.  When Blondie  continued to drop her head while we were cantering, M told me to jerk the inside rein, hard.  It almost made the horse stand up, but she kept cantering and she stopped tossing her head around.

It was a really nice day, and after watching the next group lesson, I headed over to Beaners.  I had a coupon for a Mocha Mint something, and I wanted to test out my Acer laptop to make sure it still works.  I would rather drag it around Long Beach than my monster Lenovo.  I was very disappointed that the laptop was not working as desired; the backlighting seems to be messed up.  I took it to work, and the battery on the bios is dead, so it's a cheap fix.  I hope.  The laptop was still in pieces today when I left work today.

Saturday, M scheduled a meeting for the academy riders at Chuck E Cheese, of all places.  Did I mention that most of the riders are under 16?  Yup, I'm the oldest. By far.  Boohoo!

Earlier in the day Dean and I made a stop at the Vitamin Shoppe, and I stocked up on multi-vitamins.  Several people have suggested that I start taking supplements, and maybe I'll feel better.  Oh, ok, I'll try anything at this point.  I even purchased a mysterious little tube of tiny white pellets that are supposed to stop my dry, hacking cough.  Surprisingly, they really worked on at first, but now I'm back to coughing again.

After a delicious lunch at Yotsuba, and a little nap, I headed off for the meeting.  If started at 6, and when I got there, Sara and Zoe were just going in.  I met their mom and their brother, and then we started searching for M.  After we found her, she gave each of us some handouts, one entitled Mental Equitation for the Show Ring, and we read over them while waiting for everyone to arrive.

Seven of the riders and their families showed up, and clustering at one end of a table, we went over everyone's strengths and weaknesses, and what we need to do to get ready for the show.  I decided to ride Blondie, and informed M of my decision, and we discussed some of the things Blondie did the last time we took her.  She kept ducking out at the far corner and kept spooking away from the rail where the seating is.  I had kind of forgotten about that....

We talked about what we have to do if our heels weren't kept down or we were on the wrong diagonal.  Kim, the meat-head, shouted, "You have to get off your horse and run around the ring 4 times!"  M said one time would be enough.  Someone asked what would happen to your horse when you're running, and I quickly interjected that it would run with you.  I was thinking that way I wouldn't have to run as fast!  M nodded and said it would be a good way to learn fitting and showing.  Oh, boy - like I'm going to do that!

Before I left, everyone was talking about being at the barn at the same time on Sunday.  I asked if we could have a big group lesson, because they're a blast.  Zoe cringed; she hates them, but I told her it would be fun!  I would be there, how could it not be??

I didn't linger after our strategy session; Chuck E Cheese is a rather sad arcade.  Now, if there had been a DDR machine, I'd have danced the night away!

Friday night's lesson was on Harley.  This was a "work on me" lesson.  I haven't ridden him in a while, so I didn't really mind.  It's challenging to try to get him trotting square and flat walking.  He used to weave along the rail, but I can make him walk a straight line now.  Finally, after over a year!

M had me drop my stirrups at a sitting trot, and I didn't have my usual difficulty staying firmly in the saddle.  I was able to keep his speed consistent, and we even trotted figure 8's and circles, though they were rather misshapen. 

I talked to M about picking up another lesson during the week, and she suggested that I come out and ride one of the lesson horses and just get more time in the saddle.  She said I could work on the same things that we covered in the lesson, and also transitions, sitting back in the saddle, whatever.  I think I'll talk to her about it again on Wednesday, pick a day, and go from there.  With the weather getting warmer, I want to ride more!

Despite the rain, the temperature was rather pleasant. I didn’t even take my sweatshirt to the barn. I did stash a hand warmer in my vest, because I’m always afraid that I will be cold.

Wednesday was a small class. There were only four of us, and M had me ride Sammy since Kim wasn’t there. D (who also wasn’t in attendance) wanted to see how I handled him, now that I am sitting back and in better control of the horse.

After the lesson, M said it’s the best I’ve ever ridden Sammy. I concentrated on sitting back and keeping him slow. He likes to jig forward in a trot when he’s supposed to be walking, and likes to be fast. M asked if I wanted to canter him alone, because he can be really strong, and I definitely felt better with that idea.

Just before I was going to canter, a boarder showed up with her horse and a lunge line. This is so annoying! They’ve been holding the group lesson on Wednesday nights for at least two years, and with the small size of the arena, I’d think that the boarders would have enough courtesy to plan their horse time around the one hour lesson block. Nope! There’s always at least one boarder that insists on bringing their horse to the arena to create additional traffic while we are trying to have our lesson.  It is distracting and can also be dangerous if they aren't paying attention to what they are doing.

Actually M said something to the boarder, because we only had about 15 minutes left, but she didn’t take the clue and insisted on clogging up the far end of the arena. I cantered Sammy in circles at the other end, and then when we changed directions, M wanted everyone to canter together, but I would remain on circles. That was the plan, at any rate.

Sammy picked up the canter, but he grabbed bit and dropped his head, and off we went. I would have picked up a circle at the far end, but the boarder was down there with her horse!! Instead, we raced around the arena, and I couldn’t pull him around in a circle until we had gone a complete circuit around. By then he was strong and fast, and I had a problem getting him to turn in a small circle. The idiotic boarder had stopped her horse by that point, which was a good thing, as we probably would have run into them!

It took a couple of circles to get him under control and soft on the bit again.   He slowed to a nice, easy canter, and it was the best he's been for me.  He was pretty much the perfect gentleman all lesson.  He does have one annoying habit; his head doesn't bend to the left.  At all.  I tried turning him on circles when we were walking the horses out, and he was twisting his head into of bending his neck.  Kim definitely needs to work on that!

I was most distressed by the return of winter weather.  I think that if it ever warms up, I'll start to feel better.  The results of the CBC came back on Thursday, and I have some kind of funky virus.  I wish it would die!  I'm not coughing as much, but I still feel like I have an upper respiratory infection. 

The barn was a virtual beehive today.  M was expecting some prospective customers, and she asked everyone to come a little early so that the barn looked busy.  After they arrived, I remembered that I had met the wife at Christmas, when I went and had the lesson on Summer.  She's a hunt rider, but M had her scheduled to ride Harley and Woody saddleseat today.  They are thinking of moving their horse to the farm.

D was working with Kim and Sammy when I got there, and M was giving Brooke a lesson on Spooky.  Sara and Zoe were running around getting everything ready, and as Sara had the schedule, I asked if I could see it.  Blondie was scheduled for a jog.  Hmmm.  I would have preferred to ride her, but driving sounded like fun.

The prospective customers arrived as D was bringing Blondie out of her stall.  When they learned that she was going to be pulling the cart, they were interested in watching.  D warmed her up, and then I crawled onto the jog cart.

I like everything about driving except for two things: 

1.  The horse constantly throws dirt on you! 

2.  I always feel like I'm going to fall off of the cart.

(I know I mention these every time!)

Tina happened to mention later in the day that she has the same problem.  I asked Kim why she doesn't drive Sammy (he's a champ at driving!), and she responded with the same.  She's afraid she's going to fall off of the cart.  I said they just need to make one with an adjustable seat.  Or have a phone book option for shorter drivers!

There was quite an audience for our driving lesson, but thankfully I didn't notice until we were almost finished.  Blondie only gave me a little problem, when she started hopping in the shafts and wouldn't go forward.  This was of course after I dropped the driving whip because I was having a hard time holding it and the reins at the same time.  D said, "That's what the driving whip is for!" but I'm not coordinated enough yet to use it!

I was having a terrible time keeping the reins from slipping through my fingers.  I finally had to stop her and remove my gloves.  It seems like there's a lot more pressure on the reins when you're driving than when you're riding, and I just couldn't hold on to them with the gloves on.  It was a lot better without them, but my hands were freezing when we were done.

D had us trot into the line-up, and we really have to work on that.  I'm not over steering like I was the first few times when I jogged her, but I totally messed up the turn into the center.  She was also bowing her ribs on the corners, so D will have to tell me how to fix that.  In pleasure driving classes, the horse has to back, so he had me back her up, too.  He said 2 or 3 steps was all that was needed, as the judges usually move to the next horse once they see your horse start to step back.

During a lull in the activity, I asked him if we could drive her this summer. He said that he was planning on it, depending on the show schedules.  So I could have a riding class one day and a driving class the next.  He said that she drives really well and we should do pretty good at it.

Blondie & Gio

Last night, I rode Blondie again.  M said that after a few more lessons, they're going to throw her into training again, because we have a horse show to get ready for.  She also said that I'm finally learning how to ride my horse!

Despite the drop in temperature, the sun was shining merrily.  This meant that there was a large strip of sunlight coming in under the door at the far end of the ring.  M told me to be ready for Blondie to duck out, because she is a chicken.  I think she is really a vampire horse, as she is so terrified of the sun.  Hopefully she won't start to dissolve when we are outside at the horse shows!

Sure enough, she spun out of the corner and turned tail like the chicken she is.  We spent most of the lesson trying to get her to go past the door.  (M has no problem with this, but I'm not as strong a rider so it took some effort for me!)  After trotting a circle halfway around the arena and expanding it every time around, I finally got her by the door, but she bowed her ribs and started cantering.  Slowing her back to a trot, we kept going around until she didn't canter by.  She did keep speeding up, but it was less and less noticeable every time.

She picked up her canters both ways, but she did cut the corners by the back door.  I did get a better understanding of holding the rein closest to the wall and using the inside leg to hold her over.  I think I will wear a pair of spurs tomorrow and see if that helps to keep her from bowing her ribs out.

I'm sure that by tomorrow she will have forgotten that the sunlight won't eat her, and the struggle with begin again.  At least she's not as cowardly as Harley, who is petrified of lines in the ground.  And the shavings pile.  And the barn cats when he's out of his stall.  And loud noises.  It figures the biggest horse in the barn is biggest chicken, too! 

M and Sammy

Wednesday was another wonderful evening for horseback riding!  Most of the snow has melted (finally), and has created a soupy mess of the parking area at the barn.  I had to carefully make my way through the mud, because I was afraid I would slip and fall.  What a mess that would have made!

Wednesday's class was huge!!  Eight riders!  I haven't ridden with that many people at the barn before.  There were so many students that M ran out of horses!  Guess what that meant?  I rode Blondie again in a group lesson for the first time since our disastrous outing a few weeks ago.  Finding tack was a challenge, as that many riders put a strain on the inventory of training equipment.  I am going to have to remember to bring the bridle that M picked up for me at the tack sale.  I rode Blondie with two sets of reins and a running martingale because there wasn't anything else left.  I didn't mind; that's the equipment I prefer to use.

After M hooked up the stretchers to Blondie's front legs, she helped me up and told me to help her when we got near the far door.  The sunlight was streaming through the crack, and Blondie is just terrified of it.  I guess she thinks the blinding glare will consume her or something.  I don't know what goes on in her horsey little brain, but it was a challenge getting her to go by the door without her scooting off to the middle of the arena!

With so many horses in the arena, I had to really pay attention to everything that was going on around us.  Gio started hopping and making a fuss right in front of us, and we had to cut out around him to avoid bashing into him.  Blondie did really well with this until we passed him, and then she pooped out.  M told me I need to add more leg.

We were instructed to trot a small circle right where we were, and to not collide with any of the other horses.  Blondie broke from the trot and we were almost beaned by Jimmy.  I guess she doesn't know how to trot circles yet, and I needed to help her more.  We've never tried this before, so now that I know, I think we can do it the next time we're asked.    Maybe next week?

Things got really interesting during the canter.  M had the Morgans stay on the rail, and the Saddlebreds stand in the middle.  There were four of each, coincidentally.  There were way too many horses to canter all at once, since several of us have issues with that particular gait.  The Morgans went both ways pretty much without a hitch, and then it was the ASBs turn.

We started the second way of the ring, so that Blondie and I could end on a good note.  Robert was behind me, riding Woody.  I asked Blondie for the canter, and she stepped right into it.  Good girl!  This is usually the side we both have problems with.  As we cantered along, I could hear M shouting, "Pull him up!  Pull him up!"  I could also hear Woody bearing down on us.  It sounded like a runaway freight train barreling behind us.  It totally freaked me out because I thought we were going to get run over.  Thankfully, Woody shot by us and swerved to the inside of the arena.  When Robert finally got him under control, M had him stand in the middle until the rest of us were finished.

Blondie picked up the canter the other way, too, and when we were finished, M said that we won the canter!  Blondie didn't quit once, and she had a nice, smooth canter. 

With everybody standing in the middle, M had Robert take Woody back on the rail and try to canter again.  It just wasn't working for them!  Woody kept ducking into the center (we were crowding closer and closer together to avoid getting crushed!).  He does that when I ride him, too.  I felt a lot better about that (sorry, Robert!).

D, who had been watching the lesson without offering much input, finally suggested that Robert let Woody slow gait.  Instead of cantering, they got the rack around the ring!  I was slightly jealous, and if I was a slightly better rider, Blondie and I would have been doing that too!  Hopefully by next spring...

What a great day for riding!  It was a little chilly in the morning, but not unpleasantly so.  When I arrived at the barn, everyone was crowded in front of Pepper's stall.  The old guy is not feeling well.  He could hardly walk, but he is eating and pooping.  They called the doctor out to check on him.

M helped me get Blondie ready.  When I first got on her, she was really rough at the trot.  M had me bring her back in the center and took her stretchers off.  When she pulled her shoes off, she bruised her heel, and it was a little sore today.  She rode a lot better without the stretchers, and by the end of the lesson, she seemed to be ok.

Blondie was a little lazy today, probably because her foot was bothering her.  We used the German martingale, so she didn't do the annoying head tossy-shaky thing.  She also rode her corners better.  

When we got ready for the canter, we started on our psycho side (2nd way of the ring - clockwise) and she picked it right up!  She was little fast a first, and then I slowed her up a little too much and she started to fall out of it.  She stepped off into a nice canter the other way, too, and actually walked when I asked (most  of the time).  Then M had me trot her into the line up, and we called it quits.  She was really happy with the ride and said that I need to thank Jimmy.  Again!

While I was putting Blondie away, the vet showed up to examine Pepper.  I paused on my way out to watch her treat him.  She took blood, gave him a couple shots, and then gave him an I.V.  That was really weird.  The bottle was about a half gallon of a stinky orange fluid, and it took about ten minutes to administer.  Then she put him back in his stall, suggested they try to slowly hand walk him later in the day, and recommended a recheck in the morning after she ran the blood work.  Poor Pepper can hardly move!  I felt really bad for him and hope he's going to be ok.  He started eating right away once he was back in his stall, and the vet said that's a good sign.

Now I am delaying the task of cleaning up the back yard.  As the snow melts, more and more piles of doggie-doo are being exposed to the air.  I have scooped up about four bags in the past few days.  Yuck! 

Bolstered by new antibiotics and a free sample of nasal spray, I headed off to the barn.  I probably should have stayed home and rested, but the weather was actually pleasant, and the lesson was only a half hour, so off I went.  

At the barn, M said that we have to come up with a plan for the academy show.  It's the championship show, and I have to make a decision.  Do I want to ride Harley and try to win, or do I want to ride Blondie, and just shoot for a good ride?  Erg, that's a tough one!  Does it really matter if I place well at an academy show?  For my long term goals, riding Blondie would probably be the better choice.  I have until April 11 to figure it out.

I rode Blondie today.  It's the first time she's been ridden in a week as  D has been jogging her in the cart the last few days.  He turned her out in the arena earlier, so she could burn off some energy and be easier to handle when I rode her. In addition to running around like a maniac, she managed to pull of both of her front shoes.  Good thing there's a farrier in the house!

This is the best I've ever ridden her.  I sat back in the saddle, and she actually walked for me.  No cha-cha-cha, just a nice flat walk.   M told me not to worry about her head set, just concentrate on making her do what I asked.  She was being a little lazy, which was all right with me because I was not feeling well.  When it was time to canter, M warned me to make sure I set up her correctly and firmly asked her to do it.  Since she was being lazy, she bet that Blondie wouldn't pick it up the first time.  I waited until a corner, set her up, and she stepped into the canter.

The other way I had to whack her with the riding crop, and she picked up the wrong lead.  When I tried to pull her up, she wouldn't stop, so I started standing in my stirrups.  M told me to sit and stop standing!  I did, and used a wall to stop the horse.  It's funny how they don't like to run into solid obstructions.

The next time I asked she picked up the correct lead, but was going too fast.  It took about two trips around the arena to slow her up, and then she had a really nice canter. Except for this weird head shaking thing she just started doing.  M told me to ignore it today and we'll fix it later.  She didn't want me to get into fight with the horse, so after we cantered, she had me bring her into the middle and hop off.  She said it's the most in control I've been.  There have been fancier rides, but I was in charge.  Then she told me to go thank Jimmy for that!  It's Harley I have to thank, not that silly Morgan!!