Today's lesson was canceled.  There was no power at the barn, and with the blustery weather, M thought a lot of people wouldn't show anyway.  It was so cold when I got up this morning!  From 47 to 10 overnight - Michigan sucks.  The wind was blowing fiercely, and the back door was frozen shut.  It was like 15 below with the wind chill.  Now we can all wait for the snow that's supposed to make Friday's morning drive into work a nightmare.  How fun!

Since there was no lesson, I dragged Jen to the mall so I could spend some gift certificates and check out the new addition.  It was over-rated, and I ended up saving most of the gift certs.  Better luck next time.

Here is Jimmy pretending to be sweet and innocent

Good God! I had to punch a horse upside the head last night, and it wasn’t even mine! Jimmy started acting like a total jerk at the canter, due in part to me not having him angled enough before asking to canter the second way. First way, he was perfect. A little fast maybe, but that’s just Jimmy. After picking up the wrong lead twice, he just had a temper tantrum. He got really fast, and took off, sideways, to the gate. M told me to pull his head hard to the left and to clock him upside the head. Naughty pony!

We then cantered small circles, several times, in both directions, until he was slow and he had softened to the bridle. By then we were both exhausted. M declared that it was a good exercise, because I fixed him myself. I sometimes wish they were fixed before I got on them…

I can't even mention much about Jen's lesson, because while M was teaching me, A was teaching her.  Sure, we crossed paths a lot, but I couldn't really pay much attention to what was going on with her and Harley, especially after Jimmy turned into Mr Hyde.  She even left while I was still trying to "fix" Jimmy!  Ungrateful brat!  The least you could have done was stick around long enough to help me put my stuff away!

Blondie is off limits for me until Sunday - D wants to get her racking better, and he thinks that she's getting confused during my lessons, when she just w/t/c.  Instead, I will be riding lesson horses and working on "me."  Talk about depressing.

Look at me!  I'm a lawn mower!

Here is the first of two catch up posts. 

Sunday was the start of a mini heat wave, but I felt colder than when the temps were in the teens. Maybe that’s an effect of humidity? I don’t know, but I was freezing, especially my feet.

D is getting frustrated with Blondie, because she is acting like a moody mare. She keeps quitting on him, and diving into the middle of the ring. She was acting like that last year, which is why we stopped racking her.  She was getting so full of herself that I could hardly ride her.  I don’t know, maybe she is mildly retarded or something. She can’t concentrate on 5 gaits in the same exercise period. It was so much easier last summer when all she had to do was walk and trot while pulling the buggy.

M warmed her up, and had her racking around fairly smoothly. Then I got on and D had me concentrate on her head set, at the trot and the canter. We cantered a lot, and he would say, “She’s getting long,” and I would have to bring her head back up without letting her stop. Then we called it good and put her back in her stall.

I had a terrible lunge line lesson on Jimmy next. I just couldn’t find a solid seat. It was very frustrating, and I was so happy when it was over.

Next, I hopped on Wildchild’s back to check out Zoe’s new saddle that she picked up at the tack sale the day before. It is so comfy! Too bad it’s a hunt saddle. I used to think that my saddle was cushy, but now it just seems slippery.

I am trying to deal with a sick dog, so I'm a little pressed for time tonight.  He keeps needing to go outside (I'll let you guess what's wrong with him) and the Pepto  is only now starting to work.  No pic and short post.

Argh!  It was freezing again last night!  It was about 22 degrees, and it was snowing, too!  I bundled up again, and headed off to the group lesson.

The heater was on when I arrived, but it ran out of fuel before I was finished getting Blondie ready.  Ugh!  I didn't get really cold until after the lesson, though my fingers were freezing.  The rest of me stayed fairly warm.

We worked at the walk, then the trot, and then moved to the canter.  Forever, it seemed. All of the other horses were being pistols about cantering, while Blondie, for a change, just went steadily around the arena.  She did break once, but I made her pick it right back up again.  Gio was jumping around like a goof, Ritz was being Ritz, and I didn't really see what was going on with Wild Child.  After cantering both ways we called it a night - didn't want the horses to get too hot, and have to walk them for an hour to cool out.

It was bitterly cold again last night.  I was so happy to hear the turbo heater when we got to the barn!  Armed with six hand warmers and too many layers of clothing to count, I was ready for the elements.  I still felt a pang of panic when the heater belched a plume of smoke and shut off.  It had run out of fuel.

Jen rode Harley again, and I rode Blondie.  M was not feeling well, and she looked it, so she left us in A's care.  We had a fun lesson, working on leg strengthening and balance, though A was disappointed when D told us no racking.  Blondie still did it anyway

Right off the bat, Blondie started ducking out of the corner.  I caught her early and forced her back over.  With A and M's coaching, it only took a few times before Blondie was focused on me and not the scary door.  Then M left, and A really got down to business.

One of the exercises that we tried was cantering one rail, stopping, turn, canter the next rail, stop.  We were supposed to canter a box, stopping at each corner.  Blondie cantered beautifully the second way, but insisted on racking the first way.  I admit, the first time I didn't rush to stop her, but after that I started getting a little more forceful with her.  When she wouldn't stop, I turned her head into the wall like I had to with Ritz.  Blondie learned faster and I only had to do it once.  We practiced just standing still, and after a smart crack on the shoulder when she kept fidgeting, she stood as still as she knows how.  Her feet didn't more, but her head still did.

Jen was having trouble keeping Harley moving.  I remember having the same difficulty.  Being able to hold the reins and a whip really helped with that.  We did a lot of trotting in the two point, and changing diagonals every four strides, which A made fun of Jen because she was counting every stride.  I do, too, but I don't do it aloud.  To try to work on not balancing on Blondie's mouth, I started doing standing changes, which is a lot harder for me.  I can change the diagonal, but I usually pull back on the reins.  I am getting better, but I was still doing it.

A didn't want to get the horses too warm because of the cold temperature, so we walked a lot, too.  Blondie is getting better at a flat walk, but when she gets keyed up she starts to jig.  Harley has no trouble walking, and he actually was able to spend a lot of the lesson doing it.  Jen, maybe you need to wear spurs!

Ugh!  It was bitterly cold as I made my way to the barn.  I had on so many layers of clothing that I felt like a marshmallow.  Six hand warmers were scattered amongst my clothing.  I even wore a pair of gloves on the ride over.  I hate winter!

At the barn, we watched as D worked one of the new colts that arrived during the week.  It was a tall Morgan, and he looked cute trotting along the rail.  He really used his ears nicely. I don't know anything about him other than it was his second day under saddle.

I started getting Blondie ready, and when D saw that she was being a pistol when I was trying to bridle her, he took over and gave her a firm talking to.  When he dropped my stirrups to warm her up, I started wondering what was going on.  Then he racked her a few times around the ring and asked if I was ready for my lesson.  We were going to work on slow gaiting her.  He said that he thinks that she will make a nice gaited horse - she remembered everything from last year, and she was back where was then after only racking her 3 times.

I got on, and we had one perfect slow gait down the rail.  I don't know what I did or how I did it, but it was wonderful.  I had a hard time repeating it, but I think I was starting to try too hard.  I was getting too forward in the saddle or I wasn't holding my hands out far enough.  Or she would break at the corners or start going too fast.  The last time I rode a gaited horse, the horse knew what it was doing - it's a lot harder when the horse is just learning, too!

Blondie was starting to get a little over excited; she started spinning and ducking out of the far corner.  I am surprised that I started on!  I told D that he would have to fix her before we put her back in her stall.  He had me trot her and hold her over to the corner a few times in both directions, and then he told me that I fixed her.  Then we let her walk out.  Steam was pouring off of both of us - it was utterly bizarre.

After getting a cooler on Blondie and standing with her in front of the heater to dry her off, I put her back in her stall.  D was out with the Friesian, and Sarah told me I just missed him getting dragged around the ring.  Pooh!  I went to see what was going on. 

That Friesian is one big boy!  He looks a lot smaller in his stall.  Maybe with D standing next to him, I had a new appreciation for  just how tall and wide he is.  It was interesting watching D trying to step up into the saddle; the horse didn't want to have anything to do with it.  When D finally managed to get up, the horse still wasn't sure what was going on, but he mostly just walked around.  After a couple minutes, D got off, declaring that that was enough for one day.

By that time I was getting very chilled.  I finished putting my horse and my things away, and beat a hasty retreat.  I was really looking forward to meeting with Mara and Bryce for dinner (sushi and soup), but I wanted to go home and warm up first.  I'm still cold!  It's supposed to be about 10 degrees warmer tomorrow.  It doesn't sound like much, but it does make a big difference.

The weather has gotten steadily colder over the past few days, with highs on Sunday expected to be in the low teens.  It wasn't quite that bad on Friday, but it was cold enough to have me reaching for extra hand warmers.

At the barn, Jen and I noticed that a new horse has moved in.  It is a Friesian stud.  He's quite the looker, and he knows it.  When I asked D if he wanted me to ride Blondie or something else, he asked if I wanted to ride the Friesian.  I was excited for about 5 seconds, before I realized that there had to be some kind of catch.  When I asked if he was broke, I was told that someone sat on his back once.  Err, no thanks, I'll stick with Blondie.

Jen's assigned mount was Harley, and she wasn't very certain that she liked the idea at first.  As M was busy with a lunge line lesson, she asked me to give Harley his medicine.  I was a little reluctant at first, because I have never medicated a horse, but it went pretty much without a hitch.  At the end of the lesson he wasn't sweating and gasping for air, so I much have done it correctly.

Jen was having a bit of trouble keeping Harley moving, but when she did get him to step up, he looked cute.  Her leg looked pretty solid, too. 

The horses weren't hot when we took them back to their stalls, so we brushed them off, put away the tack, and made a fast exit.  I was getting cold by then, and just wanted to head home.

Right now, it's about 4 degrees.  I am so looking forward to my lesson this morning.  As long as my feet and head stay warm, I am usually ok. 

Whoa! Look at the size of those nostrils!

We did something different during the lesson last night.  M brought a carton of eggs and a bag of spoons, and after we had warmed up, she gave everyone an egg and a spoon.  Then she told us we were to put our reins in one hand, hold the spoon with the egg in the other, and move forward at a walk.  In the two point.  Then we would trot, and then canter, keeping the egg on the spoon.

Ok, I knew that I would be one of the first to drop the egg, and I was, indeed, the first.  Blondie and I were great at the walk, and were doing fine at the trot, as long as we were on a straightaway.  I was having a problem steering her around the corners with one hand, though.  My egg didn't break after the first tumble into the dirt, which is pretty surprising considering how far it fell.  It must have been frozen solid by that point.

After dropping the egg again the other direction, I became frustrated with it and just worked on steering with one hand.  No spoon, no egg, just keeping the other hand held out by my side.  We still sucked, and I can see that this is something that we are really going to have to work on should we ever hope to become egg and spoon champs. 

Next, we worked on the judge's pattern from the show last week end.  It was trot down the rail, perform a figure eight using the entire arena, and then trot down the opposite rail.  Blondie is getting better at patterns - or maybe the size of the figure eight for easier for her.  I kept changing my diagonal too soon.

After the pattern, I asked Blondie to canter, and she totally ignored me.  I pulled her up, backed her a step, and then asked again.  She stepped off into the best canter transition I've had on her, and she stayed nice and slow.  I was really happy with that.  Maybe it helped that D had ridden her earlier in the day. 

In her stall, though, she was just being a pig.  She kept jigging and crowding me when I was on her left side.  Her ground manners are just the worst.  You'd think that for two square meals a day and only having to work about 30 minute at a time that she'd be a little more appreciative.

When I pulled up to the barn, the hay was being delivered.  The guys that bring it are so funny.  The older guy sets the bales on the noisy contraption that lifts them to the loft, and the younger guy runs back and forth stacking the bales.  He's noisy, too, and if I really pay attention, I can hear him swearing under his breath as he stomps back and forth over my head. 

I had a lunge line lesson on Jimmy tonight.  M even threw in some new challenges - we trotted over two ground poles while I was in the two point and the posting trot.  It was little rough at the posting trot, because I kept leaning forward.  Still, for not having done that particular exercise before, I thought I did pretty well.

What I sucked at was dropping my stirrups and "running."  I was supposed to move my lower legs like I was running, while hanging onto the back of the saddle at a sitting trot. I just couldn't do this, especially going the other way of the ring.  M finally had me do it at a walk, because it wasn't working at a trot.  I am just weaker going the second way.  We didn't even try to go over the ground poles in that direction.  Sigh.

It's supposed to get very, very cold over the next week, and I am so not looking forward to riding when the temps are in the single digits.  Yuck.

Bentley

Oh!!  Today when I got to the barn, A was getting Gizmo ready to jog.  After D jogged him around the arena a few times, he asked me if I was ready.  Me!  I got to drive Gizmo!  They are working on teaching him that he doesn't have to be fast all the time, so it was a nice, leisurely spin around the ring.  He was really fun to drive.

Next, I got Blondie ready.  Then we had a free for all in the arena.  A was giving a lunge line lesson, and Kim and I were working our horses at the same time.  Amber started giving instructions to us, but M took over.  When we reversed, Blondie decided that the shavings pile has turned into a horse eating monster.  If it's not one thing, it's another with her.  Now the back door doesn't give her pause; the shavings pile is suddenly scary. 

After working her through that, I guess I cut off Kim and her horse.  Then, M had us chase each other around the ring, cutting each other off so we learned how to better maneuver through traffic.  It was fun, but I was getting rather warm during the exercise.  Then we worked on a canter, and called it good.

After I put Blondie away, D started working on putting her shoes back on.  He's not putting her show shoes on yet, just a little pair.  Hope I can still ride her when he does put the show shoes on.

Next, Audie took a spin on Bentley.  It was so funny!  It looked like she was riding a rabbit.  He was booking pretty good, too, but since he's had over a year off, they didn't work him for very long. Amber did get to hop on for a quick turn, while M hooked him up to a lunge line.  Before I left, they asked if I wanted to ride him and I laughed.  Bentley is the only horse in the barn I have never wanted to ride.  I'd feel guilty making him haul me around, and feel ridiculous because he's so small.  M said that I could drive him instead.  That I'm interested in!