The group lesson on Wednesday was rather small, with just Tina, Maggie and myself. Tina rode Lily, Maggie rode a rather feisty Gio, and I rode Sammy.  I admit that I wasn't especially thrilled to be back on him again after last week's less than successful lesson.

It has been unseasonably hot, and last night was no exception.  It was almost 90 degrees!  In May!  I do like the warm weather much better than the cold that ruins about 6 months of the year, but I have fears that my air conditioner isn't going to make it through a really hot summer.  We have a Freon leak, and I haven't be able to have them come out to recharge it yet this year, and Dean as turned it on more than usual.

Laurie helped me get Sammy ready, and then she lead him to the arena.  When I got on, she told me to take control immediately, and not let him walk all over me.  Jen had ridden him in the morning, and after the lesson, I think that's just what he needs.  He behaved like a perfect gentleman, and it was a blast to ride him. 

We started at the trot. Sammy crammed his head back and from where I was sitting, he looked really cute.  I wish I could get Blondie to bridle like that.  Sammy didn't pull like he usually does, though it does take a lot of muscle to keep him at an acceptable pace.

I wasn't really looking forward to cantering, and the first attempt yielded a counter canter.  It felt so rough I thought I was going to be shaken off!  I set him up and tried again, and he picked up the correct lead.  He didn't try to run off, but with his fast canter, it was a lot of work to keep him slow.  I was sweating more than he was when we were told to walk.

Then the real fun began (not really), as we worked on a pattern that Laurie thoughtfully provided from the horse show last weekend.  It was trot right along the rail, stop 3/4 of the way, canter a circle on the left lead, stop, reverse, trot back to the line up.  Yeah, right.  Sammy doesn't like patterns any more than I do.  We got the trot down, but the canter on a circle was a joke. 

When Maggie and Gio tried it, Gio started bucking at the canter.  Whoa!  I'd have fallen off, but Maggie stuck with him.  Her horse bucks with her, so she said she's used to it. I wouldn't want to get used to that!

Sunday, I headed over to the barn after a restful night.  Working on only a few hours sleep, I was rather happy to hear I would be jogging Blondie instead of riding her.  It takes a lot less effort to drive than to ride.

D warmed her up, and then I hopped in the jog cart.  I thought I was doing well the first way of the ring.  I cut the corners a little too much, but we stayed off the wall and I started to feel like I was getting the hang of it.

Then we turned the other way and everything just fell to crap.  I couldn't steer, and we kept scraping the wall.  It was like my arms were too tired to control the horse!  Argh!  It was a lot different using the show reins - they have hand holds, which made a big difference.  After I got her stuck in a corner, D took back over, because he felt that she was taking advantage of my driver's ed session.  Lecturing her to behave like an amateur show horse, he fixed what I broke and tuned her back up. 

Next, we had a group lesson with Robert, Abby, Kim, and me.  I rode Woody, my nemesis.  He can be such a jerk sometimes.  Ever since we jumped the mounting block, I haven't felt comfortable riding him.  Maybe it's because D insists on using draw reins with him.  I asked if I could please not use them.  I was told to get a german martingale instead.

At the beginning of a lesson with Woody, I can never get him to trot.  He always wants to slow gait. To be honest, I would prefer to slow gait!  No posting, just sit back and glide around the arena.  When repeated failed efforts to get him trotting, D just told me to let him slow gait and get it out of his system.  Sure enough, after a couple of times around, he started trotting for me.

I picked up the correct canter lead both ways, and had a nice ride.  He started to veer into to the middle of the ring towards the end, and I just couldn't figure out what I was doing that prompted him to do it. 

The sun came out during the lesson, though it didn't last long.  The weekend was cold and rainy, except for Monday.  Oh, and today, the first day back at work.  Figures.

Friday, of course, dawned damp and chilly, a drastic contrast to earlier in the week.  With the long weekend looming, the weather forecast is decidedly not favorable.  Once I arrived at the barn, though, the sun came out and it felt like spring again.  Lovely!

Zeb was the lesson horse on Friday, and Tina and Gio rode with us.  At first M didn't hook the overcheck to the string that we tied to the front of  my saddle, and Zeb was a pretty good boy.  He didn't pull, and he walked when he was supposed to, though not in the straightest lines I've seen.  I kept having to adjust my stirrups; I just wasn't comfortable, and I don't know why.  I was just fidgety and didn't feel right all lesson.

When M fastened the overcheck, Zeb suddenly started pulling, so she took it off again.  Maybe he's been conditioned that when it's hooked, he tries to pull his head down and fight against it? I don't know, but it was weird.  Towards the end of the lesson, he did start diving his head and stopping by the out gate.  He was done, and he was making sure that everybody knew it.  M had me hop off at the far end of the arena by the corner, so that he stops thinking that when he walks by the in-gate he's finished.

I am a sleepy dog!

Well, we kicked off the holiday weekend in dramatic fashion, which seems to be becoming a habit around here. After a lovely day of running around town, stocking up on flashlights and water softener salt, we had a very tasty lunch at Steve and Rocky's.  Then I met Jen and Mike at the mall for a little shopping.  The three of us finished off our evening gorging on sushi and tempura at Happy Sushi.   Then things took a turn for crap.

Back home, I was settling in for some blogging when I happened to notice that Buu had developed a growth the size of a golf ball on his front leg.  This instantly set me into a panic, as it ballooned up during the day.  He has a permanent scab on that leg from nervous licking when we aren't home, a habit he's had since we adopted him.  Guessing that an infection flared up, I started looking for the number for the emergency vet.  I was afraid to leave it be until the morning because it was so big.  Helpful hint for pet owners; make sure you have the emergency clinic's phone number hanging on the fridge along with the number to your regular vet.

Getting Buu and Dean loaded up into the car, we arrived at the clinic a little after nine.  We didn't get back home until 12:45!  I am so tired.

Because Buu is dog aggressive, they took us to a room right away.  Something must be up with the local area pets, because the clinic was very busy.  We first saw the vet at about 10:30, and he scared the complete crap out of me.  After aspirating  the area, he wanted to take x-rays to make sure that the growth wasn't invading his bones.  Then he mentioned the "c" word, which completely threw me into a tizzy.  It was a very tense forty-five minutes until he came back with his diagnosis.  It was indeed an abscess, (whew!) and he wanted to drain it and then send us home.

His wrapped leg, dirty from collapsing in the driveway.

They had to sedate Buu to do the procedure, and the vet tech came and told us later that there was a lot of foul smelling fluid in his leg.  After they drained it, they cleaned it out, wrapped it up, and sent us home with a bag of medications.  This is when the real fun began.

It was raining softly when we left, and getting Buu into the car was an amusing sight. He was still groggy from the sedatives, and he just couldn't summon the energy to hop into my Jeep Liberty.  Good thing we didn't take the Explorer.  We finally got him in, just before Dean was going to resort to picking him up, and off we went. 

At home, things became very stressful.  Buu was too groggy to get out of the car!  Then, after we finally got him out without hurting him, he just slumped over onto the wet pavement and wouldn't move!  Try getting a 116 lb Rottie to stand up!  He was like a limb noodle, and I was getting progressively panicky about getting him into the house.   Dean could have picked him up, if we could have gotten the dog to stand up for a second,  but he refused to move.  I think at this point I was just about in tears, because the dog was getting wet in the rain, and I was so tired. 

Dean finally had a brilliant idea.  He went into the garage and grabbed a tarp.  We carefully maneuvered the beast onto the plastic, and then we dragged him into the garage.  There's a step into the garage, and of course he still wouldn't get up!  With me pulling and Dean lifting the back of the tarp, we got him over to the steps into the house.  Once the door was open, Buu got up and climbed the steps on his own power.  Then he walked over to his blanket and collapsed.  He hasn't done anything other that lift his head briefly since then.  It took about half an hour to get him into the house!  I think the clinic should have kept him a couple of hours before sending him home!  If Dean hadn't been there, I never would have been able to get him into the house!

Since we didn't want to even try to get him upstairs, Dean made a little nest of comforters and the two of them crashed downstairs.  This morning, Buu's a tiny bit more alert.  He's sitting up, at any rate.  I'm worried that he's a little dehydrated, because he drooled a lake at the clinic, but he doesn't seem interested in water.  Or greenies, his favorite thing in the universe next to his ring toy. 

Here's some info on his condition, which is called a lick granuloma abscess

X-posted to Manga Maniac Cafe.

I rode Sammy for last night's lesson.  It was lovely night for riding.   With a high of 86, there was no nasty humidity to suck the life out of you once you stepped outside.  With my low tolerance for cold temperatures, it was just about as close to a perfect night as they come. 

Laurie and Audie were the only other riders in the group lesson.  Laurie rode a rambunctious Gio, and Audie rode Harley, so she could work on her form.

When I climbed aboard,  I worked Sammy in the center of the arena, turning and bending him to loosen his muscles, and prep him for work.  M suggested that I just work the short rail to start, so we trotted, walked, and cantered back and forth, mixing things up as we went.  I had him stand for a few minutes, and worked on trying execute the perfect turn.

Then M had us trot the entire ring.  I started slowly, at a nice park walk.  Sammy has the most animated walk of any horse in the barn.  There should be a class just for park walking.  Skip the lofty, you're about to shoot out of the saddle trotting and the bolting, out of control cantering.  I was having a blast just sitting his spirited, peppy walk, and had to be urged to move to a posting trot.

Sammy and I did not got along last night.  Maybe this was due to the sudden burst of warmth.  I believe it was due to the fact that he was being an extreme turd, which is a nice way of saying that he was a complete jacka$$.  Sammy, why, oh, why do you persist in dropping your head at the canter and charging across the arena like a bull in a china shop?  He's not as smart as I thought, either, as he proved that horses really are stupid enough to run into a wall.  Not hard, mind you, but his nose did kind of bounce off the wood.  He did stop, though, and we decided to not try to canter again.  It kind of baffled me, because he was fine at first.  On the long rail, however, he was like a rocket launching out of a silo.

Monday night I had a line lesson with Doc.  Laurie brought some toys out to the round pen, and had an extremely evil grin on her face.  While I wondered what the hand weights were for, I think I knew what I would be doing with the playdoh and the ball.

The reins were tied and resting on Doc's neck, and I was challenged to catch the ball that Laurie tossed at me.  I was not able to catch the ball often when we were tracking clockwise, and I learned last night just how poorly coordinated I am!  I dropped the ball more than I caught it!

Next, I was given the playdoh , and told to make a heart.  Then a bird, and then a fish.  My sculpting skills need work.  Never having thought that I would need to be able to mold clay while trotting on horseback, I have neglected that particular artistic skill.

Then Laurie started tossing the ball at me again, but I just couldn't catch it!  Taking a break from that futile exercise, she had me drop my stirrups and placed a hand weight on each foot.  Then I was supposed to keep them on my feet while posting the trot.  If both weights fell off, I had to two-point the entire circumference of the round pen.  Needless to say, I spent a lot of time in the two-point, circling the round pen!  I did make him trot to get around faster, but Doc isn't exactly the fastest horse on the property.  When she put the hand weights away, Laurie said I actually kept them on longer than most people.

The line lessons make me realize how poor my balance really is.  If I keep having one a week, I hope it improves! 

I uploaded some pictures from the horse show.  Please click here to check them out.

It was a b!tch getting up this morning!  I didn't get much sleep, and I had to be back at the barn by 7:45. Laurie and I were going in the second class, and the show started at 8:30.  Laurie and Audie have been commuting, and they arrived a little after 8 - just in time to start rushing around because they still had to get ready for their classes.

The weather today just sucked!  It was cold and drizzling, and there wasn't much promise that it would be improving.  Yesterday was such a lovely day, too!  What happened?

I got on Blondie first and started warming her up.  She did not like trotting by the trash cans.  Or the parked vehicles.  Or the people walking in the road.  She is such a chicken!  She only gave me a little bit of trouble, though, and did what I asked, even though she was still a little nervous about it.  It didn't help that Gio, being a handful, side-stepped into a huge planting box and knocked it over!  Both of the horses freaked out about that. I don't understand why they line all this crap outside of the barns; it's like an accident waiting to happen.

When we moved down to the waiting area in front of the ring, D had us trot up and down the road.  All of a sudden I heard Laurie yelling for Gio to stop, and when I turned around, D was running as fast as he could after them!  Good God!  The class was about to start, Laurie was careening around the fairgrounds on the Devil horse, D was nowhere to be seen, and I freaked out a little.  What if Gio's stupidity was contagious?  What if Blondie turned into an out of control b!tch, too?  Wait a minute!  She already is....

Not knowing if D and Laurie would make it back in time for the class, I trotted up to another trainer and explained that my trainer suddenly had issues, and I didn't know if he'd be back, and could she please let me know if I picked up the correct canter lead.  She said sure, no problem.  I have to say that all of the trainers, even the ones that I don't even know, are very nice.  Even though D and Laurie did make it back, the other trainer was good for her word and let me know that I was good on the leads.

This guy was really enjoying the show!

The class went pretty well, I think.  Blondie did everything I asked her too.  She stepped into the canter the first way, but I had to stop her the second way and ask again because I didn't hold my leg on her enough and she started trotting.  She stood much better in the line up, though she kept fidgeting and backing up, even though she was on a loose rein. 

I need to work on collecting her a little better, and on settling down myself.  Since I don't feel that I ride her enough, I don't know how to get her to give me more yet.  I still don't feel comfortable riding her.  I hope I start riding her more now...

We didn't finish in the top six, so I was a little disappointed with that.  Laurie and Gio didn't place either.  It was a big class, with ten entries, and there were a lot of nice horses in the ring. 

Later, Laurie told me what happened with Gio.  He just took off, and she couldn't get him to stop.  He was bucking and rearing, and she lost a stirrup.  She grabbed mane, and started to really worry that she was going to come off, without her helmet, onto the hard road.  She finally circled him around a truck, and he slowed down.  When D caught up with them, he was not happy with the horse.  The curb rein snapped somewhere along the way, too!  I'm so glad nobody got hurt!

J and Kaison went shortly after.  J has been riding about a year and a half, too, and she bought an Arab hunter during the winter.  He bucked on her when she asked for the canter in her first class, so they gave him a really long warm up today, and M rode him yesterday in a class.  He was fine during the warm up, and then they called for their class.

Everything was going well until the canter the second way.  In hunter classes, they call for a hand gallop, which is supposed to be a noticeable change in speed from the canter.  I had been looking at another horse, when D said something like, "That total piece of sh!t."  Kaison was racing out of control, and J could not get him to stop.  The announcer called for all of the other horses to halt (there were about 8), and J started turning him in a circle at the end of the arena until the stupid horse stopped.  They were excused from the class, and she was very upset with her first show experience.  I don't know what it was about this show, but the horses were totally out of control!  I hope they behave better at the next one!

After the class, I snapped a few pics for Laurie, who is a freelancer for the Saddle Horse Report this summer.  I was her show photographer, so I might get some pictures published in the magazine!  What does this mean?  Nothing!  I'll get a picture credit in the magazine, and that's about all. 

See ya later, suckers! Me and Blondie going for a spin

Saturday was a no stress day at the horse show.  I didn't have any classes, so I was able to sleep in a little, and I even stopped at Bob Evans for breakfast.  Not as good as the Waffle House, but much better than the sad spread at the Comstock Inn.

I arrived at the fairgrounds, only to hop back in my car with Laurie and head back to Bob Evans!  Laurie M and her kids came too, and we had a great time laughing at stupid stuff.  I was just going to have coffee, but Laurie H said she'd never be able to eat all of her delicious looking strawberry french toast, so I let her talk me into eating a slice.  The vanilla cream sauce was yummy!  Then Laurie M tried to force me to eat some of her stuffed pancakes, but I really couldn't help her out.  Too many breakfasts upset the stomach.  Audie even amused us by yanking out a loose tooth and bleeding all over the place.  If you had been there, you would have died laughing, too.

Checking her tack

Back at the show, D hooked Sammy up to the jog cart and Kim climbed in the cart.  I ran around taking pictures of them, and then D brought Blondie out.  I asked if I should change into my jods, and he said no, I was going to drive her.  He warmed her up, and I got a couple of good pics, before he took her into the ring.  And brought her right back out again because they had just watered it, and he said it was just a nasty muddy mess.

I climbed in, and instead of trotting up and down the road outside our barn, he had me take her around the block.  I didn't like trotting her out into the busier traffic by the end of the arena, and there were chairs set up in the road on the otherside of the barn, which just freaked Blondie out.  I wasn't expecting them to be there, either, and in my surprise I almost ran her into a trash can.  Not good....

Me, Blondie, and the scary trash cans!

When we got back to our barn, I told D that I didn't like taking her around the outside of the arena because there was too much stuff to run into, so he suggested that we got the other way, around the outside of the barns to the far side.  This proved to be worse, as people refused to move their horses over when they heard us coming, or just stood in the middle of the road.  Hello, stupids!  I'm still in driver's ed!!

Sammy, pretending to be a bunny!

I took her back to where D was waiting and asked if we could jog around the arena, despite it being nasty.  He warned me to not even smile, or she'd kick mud into my mouth.  Yuck!  He wasn't far off, either!

It's a lot more fun driving her in a larger arena than the one at home.  Blondie's a tall horse, and she has a long stride, and at the barn, we're at the end  of the straight-away before you know it.  Here, I could actually concentrate on things other than constantly turning her. 

D had us trot, then transition to a walk, and halt.  We backed, walked off, moved to a trot, and then to a road trot.  We reversed at a walk, and at a trot, and I learned a very important thing:  Don't ever stop at a angle near a wall!  I got into a bit of trouble when she didn't want to walk off because the wall was right in front of her.  I'll never make that mistake again!

D must have liked the way she looked, because I'm going to be driving her at the next show.  I can't believe that I agreed to wear a dress and heels to drive a horse! What moron came up with the dress code for this??  I don't even own a dress!  Driving is rather dirty, too.  The horse throws up clumps of dirt, and it ends up on the driver.  Who wants to wear a dress for that?  I even had dirt in my pockets!

This is D at the wheel - he can keep her more collected than I can

Saturday night was a late one, with Kim's driving class the last one on the schedule.  It was dark outside by the time she had to show, and there is a lack of lighting at the fairgrounds.  Some clueless individual almost backed into her and Zeb, but fortunately there were no incidents.  By the time Kim's class ended, it was after 10, and I was starving.  There was an exhibitors dinner at 3 (2 hours earlier than scheduled, because the session ended so early), but I was hungry again.  I stopped at Taco Bell and grabbed a taco, and was dismayed to learn that there was a reception at the Comstock Inn.  And the "disco," complete with a DJ, was right under my room!  I could hear the DJ even with my earplugs.  I didn't get much sleep, and I'm not really happy about it....

*Please ignore the typos - this post hasn't been edited - help me out and email them to me ***

After a meal at the Owosso Taco House, an incredibly dumpy looking little hole in the wall with surprisingly tasty fare, I headed back to the hotel for a much needed nap.  By this time, the mere thought of trying to trot Blondie passed the bleachers had my stomach in knots, so what better way to deal with the stress than a nap?

Awakened by a slamming door, a frequent occurrence here, as well as the screams, laughter and general commotion that unsupervised children seem  so willing to make, I read a little and then started getting ready.  I packed up my camera, which I have hardly been able to use, and headed back to the fairgrounds.

As I headed to our stabling area, Audie, on Summer, and most of the other barn people, were emerging from the arena.  That was pretty good timing, for a change.  I was still early, so Kim and I went to the 4H establishment for some fries and nachos (perfect pre-exhibitor food).  Kim was going to be driving Zeb in the first class.  I learned today that when showing in a driving class, I would be expected to wear a dress.  To drive a horse.  With dress shoes.  WTF?!  Whoever invented the rule book needs to be beaten.  What woman wants to walk through horse shit in dress shoes?  And what if you need to make a hasty exit from your buggy?  In your formal gown?  It just doesn't should like a smart thing to do.

I have discovered that it is very difficult to be a ninja photographer when you are also participating in the show.  I've hardly taken any pictures, because I was either getting myself ready, or trying to help get someone else ready.  By the time Blondie went Thursday night, it was too dark to get a decent picture, so a super-duper flash has been added to my wish list for the next show.  A video camera with a hard drive would be nice too, but that is, sadly, far, far out of the budget this year.  Maybe by next year, when Blondie and I will make a better team, and I can bribe some unsuspecting friend or family member into going on a little rode trip to the show. Heeheehee.

While I was able to watch Kim's class, I didn't get to watch her warm up.  She looked very fetching in her red homecoming dress, though maybe she was showing a little too much leg.  If the judge had been male, that would have been a good thing.  As it was, it's some lady who is struck by fits of blindness. 

Kim's was a class of one, which I always find to be a bummer.  A little competition makes for a more interesting class.  For not having driven much, Zeb and Kim made a cute pair.  I just love Zeb, and I hope that they buy him from the school.  Kim only had one really sticky moment, after the halt when Zeb started going backward and Kim was having a problem getting him going forward again.  When the announcer was calling her name, because the horse is owned by the college, he assumed that she was a student there.  That was pretty funny, as she's not even old enough to drive yet.

The most unnerving part of riding in a show is the waiting.  You wait until you have to get ready.  You wait until they start getting the horse ready.  You wait until the class is called.  It's very stressful, and there was a 10 minute hold called before we were supposed to go in so they could water down the ring.  Argh!  That's when Blondie gets really keyed up; it happened at the academy show, and when we finally went in, she was so pumped that she wouldn't do anything right.  Walking up and down the parking lot, she started getting agitated, and started trumpeting at the other horses.  She is so full of herself, and she really needs to concentrate on backing up her boastful behavior!

To warm up, we went to the Goat Barn.  It's partially under construction, so there were building materials stacked up at one end.  They made her really nervous, but she walked by them without being too much of an idiot.  Laurie and Gio soon joined us, and we trotted, cantered, and walked again before D declared that we were ready.  We headed over to the main ring, and found out about the hold.  D had us walk the horses up and down the parking lot, and try to keep them loose.  I saw that Roxanne was getting ready for the class, too.  It always makes me feel better when people that I know are riding with me.  Kind of stupid, but comforting none the less.

When it was time to go in, he told me to stay behind Gio.  Just stay behind Gio.  I trotted Blondie up to the ring, trying to avoid the rut that she's deathly afraid of that crosses the path.  The look on D's face was so funny when he saw us going toward it.  I think he thought that I forgot about it.  I steered her to where it wasn't as obvious, sat on her and really legged her to get her over it.  She hesitated a little, but kept on going. 

In the ring, I think a stayed a little too close behind Gio.  Blondie did seem more relaxed as long as she was following behind another horse.  She didn't even blink when we trotted by the stands, which were semi-full of people by this time.  Noisy people, might I add.  Unlike wimpy dressage or hunter shows, ASB and Morgan people are a loud bunch, cheering on riders and horses.  That didn't bother her, either.

The biggest mistakes I made were getting caught up in traffic before the first canter, and rushing the second canter.  For the first canter, I got stuck behind two horses, a misbehaving Gio being one of them.  He started veering to the inside, and I was afraid he was going to start his occasional bucking fits.  The second way I didn't get her set up properly, and she ran into the canter.  She kept ducking her head at the canter, too, which is something that I need to work at.

In the line up, she started her rude behavior again.  We were next to a horse that kept screaming, so my blonde idiot thought she had to join in.  Thankfully the judge started at our end, and Blondie backed for me, but then she would not stand still and D, standing by the stands behind us, told me to walk her in circles.  So much for displaying her manners. 

When the numbers were called, Laurie and Gio were 4th and Blondie and I were 5th out of an eight horse class.  Not too bad for our first outing together.  D said that I rode her better than he did the night before. 

I went to talk to Roxanne later, to see how her ride went, because I had tunnel vision and only saw what was going on directly in front of me.  She was disappointed with her outing.  Her horse acted up, and they didn't even place, which she said was the first time that's happened with him.  For the championship class, she'll be riding in a later afternoon class than us.  Laurie hasn't decided what class to take Gio back in, either, so I might have lost my blocker.  Good thing the championship classes are usually larger, so I should be able to find another unsuspecting horse to follow.