The temps plummeted on Wednesday, so I really bundled up before heading to the lesson.  After checking the whiteboard at the barn, I saw that I was scheduled to ride Blondie, so I assumed that we would be taking her to the show on Saturday.  M confirmed this, saying that the first class is a schooling class, so there’s no requirement for show bridles, and only Laurie and myself are ever in the equitation class, so the odds of someone complaining about the lack of a show bridle were pretty slim.  I don’t really care, disqualify me, just let me ride my horse and see if I can do it outside of the barn. 

It was a pretty large group lesson, with 5 riders, and so we practiced diamond cuts and staying out of traffic.   Blondie was a pill in her stall, but she was mostly ok once we got to the arena.  She ran into her canter, and dropped out of it when I tried to pivot her around Gio.  Not enough outside leg. 

Today has been a bummer of day.  Jen got into an accident on her way to finishing moving out of her apartment before the closing on her house, and called me, very upset.  Which made me very upset.  Some woman pulled out in front of her, and since it has been snowing heavily and the roads were slick, she slid into the other car.  She called me before the police had shown up, and I was afraid she would get the ticket because she rear ended the other car.  Nope, the other lady got the ticket.  Jen’s car is not quite right, so I’m not sure what she’s going to be doing for transportation.  At least nobody was hurt.  Hope her close goes much smoother.

Jen and I headed off to our lesson yesterday, happy with the break from work.  We are so busy it’s crazy!  Oh, and my internet is fixed, I’m just booked solid this week so I am posting at lunch, which means no picture.  I’ll make up for it later. 

I rode Blondie and Jen rode Doc, who she really likes for some reason.  She even had him cantering by mistake, and managed to not fall off.   Yea, Jen!

Right off the bat, Blondie started acting like, well, a blonde.  When I was warming her up, she kept casting a wary eye into the center of the ring near the shavings pile.  I don’t know what she saw, other than a couple of piles of horse poop.  They weren’t steaming, so I didn’t think that’s what was making her nervous.  Then M moved over by the shavings pile – don’t know if she was sitting on the mounting block or standing up from sitting on the mounting block, but Blondie was suddenly terrified.  She tried to spin in to the center, and M told me to use the outside rein and not let her go where she wanted to.  I did it!  I was able to get her back over to the rail, and then we had her walk past the shavings pile in both directions a few times until she got her mind back on work.  Well, as much of her mind as she could spare, as I’m such most of her brain power goes to just doing simple things like breathing, eating, and standing up. 

Ok, I have decided that I have the stupidest horse on the planet.  She has seen M in the arena about a thousand times by now, and she suddenly forgot what she looked like.  Or that she was even in the arena, even though she was talking to us.  The cribbing is starting to break down the tissue in her tiny, walnut sized brain, I think.    Silly pony!  Do I say mean things about my horse?  You bet – one of the guys at work was trying to convince me that horses are smarter than dogs.  What are you, nuts?  Buu isn’t the brightest star in the sky, but even he is smarter than my horse.  And he doesn’t try to bite me or walk all over me! 

The rest of the lesson was pretty straightforward.  Blondie was a little fast at her canters but I think I am finally figuring out how to slow her down.  Keeping her cantering is another story.  Cantering her on circles is also rough for both of us – I’m not sure why that particular maneuver is so difficult.  I mean, I can walk in a circle and run in a circle and even drive a car in a circle – why can’t I ride a horse in a circle??

Argh!  My internet has been down, so I wasn’t able to update over the weekend.  Plus, I was fighting with a hot link issue on my other blog that was sucking the life out of my bandwidth, so, once again, I’m behind on my posts here. No picture today because of the internet problem.

Friday was a lunge line lesson on Jimmy.  It was pretty rough going at first, but I think I started getting more solid in my seat by the end.  During the lesson, M mentioned that one of her new adult riders might be going to the next academy show, and if she does, she will have to ride Harley.  Where does that leave me, I am wondering.  If I’m going to ride Blondie, someone else has to be able to ride her,   or she has to show her in a show bridle.  I asked about getting her going with the show bridle, since I have to use it anyway, but didn’t really get a response.  The show is only a week away, so I would like to know which horse I will be riding.  The sooner I know, the better, as I can start getting mentally prepared.  Harley is pretty easy to ride – Blondie will be a pain in the ass.  I’d rather ride her, though, since she’s my horse!

Yesterday, D was in charge of my lesson.  Blondie had a pair of stretchers on for one rotation around the arena, and then they promptly broke at the cuff.  That was a real bummer, because she felt like she was actually doing something with her front legs instead of just shuffling along.  Then we had a few issues at the back door, and D told me to hold her over by the wall, but to also turn her head away from it with the inside rein, so she wasn’t looking at it.  Uh, duh, why didn’t I think of that myself?

Blondie was fairly well behaved, and we called it quits when she started doing her head bobbing thing.  I was getting ready to go, and D asked Tina if she wanted to ride the Friesian.  She did, so I decided to hang out and watch.  While they were getting him ready, D took me out to the pasture to show me the new babies on the property.  There are two Morgans and a huge ASB.  The scruffiest little Morgan kept biting me, but the other one was so cute and friendly, demanding scratches and pats.  The ASB wouldn’t even come near us, which was a bummer, because I really wanted to see him.  It was the first time I have actually been able to spend some time with any babies, and it was really fun.  Wish I hadn’t lost my video camera.

We went back to the barn, and Tina took her ride on Blackie.  While she was riding, D asked me if I wanted to ride him.  Since he’s only been broke for about 3 weeks, I thought I would pass.  Tina told me he was really cool and I should give it a go, so I did.  So, I was able to ride my first Friesian, and he’s a stallion at that.  I got into a little bit of trouble because I was bouncing on his back and he’s not used to that yet, but after I got myself reorganized, everything went pretty smoothly.  He is a really neat horse, and he’s so big!

Look at my new hat!

The temperature took another unpleasant dive in the wrong direction.  The turbo heater wasn't on at the barn, either, and it was really cold!  The parking area was a sheet of ice, and I was seriously afraid that I was going to fall and hurt myself.  There is a salt shortage in the area, and they are having trouble finding.  What they do have they are putting down where the horses walk between the barns - I'd so glad that Blondie is inside and in the barn that's connected to the arena!

A wasn't feeling well, and she left before the lesson.  I was actually a little worried about her, so I called her this afternoon to see how she is feeling.  She sounded a lot better, and said that she felt better once she was able to get her prescription filled. 

The riders in the lesson were Sarah, Tina, and Amber, and one of the boarders.  It felt a little crowded in the arena, and Blondie was just being awful.  So much for all of my feelings of accomplishment!  When we were warming up and M was finishing the lesson before ours, Blondie jumped about 2 feet in fright when Jimmy and Hannah walked by, scaring Jimmy.  It was kind of funny, but I think that Hannah was a little freaked out.  I think it was Jimmy's shadow that set her off.

Blondie would not flat walk, and after fighting with her about it, I let her trot.  The lesson started, and we worked on sitting the trot, trotting in the two point, and posting the trot.  Then M had us set up the horses to canter.  I didn't even get to ask Blondie - she started crow hopping and acting like a total ass.  M thought that I had set her up, and told me to loosen up on her mouth, but by that time, Blondie was basically just running around the ring, slowing down to hop around every few times.  M talked me through slowing her down, and keeping her on the rail, but we kept almost colliding with other horses.  Blondie was having a blonde moment and must not have remembered how to steer.  We finally stopped and reversed directions. 

The other way, she started getting a little light on her feet while I was trying to get her to walk.  M finally told me to just let her trot because she was getting stupid.  Then we cantered the, and I was able to keep her at a reasonable speed, and was even able to rate her speed so she didn't run over the slow moving Harley.

I asked M if they had worked her in the morning, and she told me that they had not, because they didn't want her tired for the hour lesson.  I think that combined with the colder temperatures turned Blondie's brain off.  It was still a good experience, because I was able to keep her from doing anything really stupid, like spinning out, and was able, at the end, to get her to do what I wanted.  But with everything else, I didn't really get to work on her headset, and I starting feeling like we have taken a couple of steps backwards. 

Wow, I just don't know where the time goes!  It's already Tuesday, and I'm two posts behind!  Good thing nothing much happened on Sunday, so it won't take long to cover that one.

Sunday, as I mentioned previously, was icy, and the drive to the barn was not much fun.  Actually, most of the trouble was getting to my car, and then getting out of the subdivision.  I hope that there weren't any witnesses as I had to slide down the ice on the driveway to grab the hood of my car, and then skate around to the door.  I almost fell when I opened the door!  I won't even discuss what a scary undertaking it was to scrape the ice off of the windows.  I was really starting to have second thoughts about attempting to venture out, but if I'm one thing, it's dedicated.

I managed to safely exit the sub, and then I thought I should probably call and make sure that A was still going to be there.  M & D had a banquet to attend, so they weren't going to be at the barn for long.  A was going to oversee events for the morning instead.  When I called, she was already there, so I continued onward.  The rest of the drive wasn't too bad, but M had warned me to be very careful when walking into the barn.  When I stepped out of my car I immediately understood why - it was a huge sheet of ice. 

Sarah and Zoe showed up shortly after, and we all got our horses ready.  Then we headed out to the arena for our lesson.  It was rather laid back and I think we mostly goofed around.  Then Sarah decided that we should play musical horses, and I ended up on Wild Child, while Zoe got on Blondie and Sarah moved to Jimmy.  We trotted around a while, Sarah tried to get me to canter Wild Child, and I decided it would be a good time to get off when A grabbed a whip to help her out.  Wild Child has the yuckiest canter ever, and Sarah's saddle left me feeling less than secure. 

We switched horses again, and played follow the leader.  Laurie and Audie were there by then, and Audie led the way.  Blondie was pretty tired by then, and Sarah couldn't get her to do much, and since Jimmy was wet, we called it quits for the day.  It was sort of nice just goofing around for a change.

Yesterday, I arrived at the barn, and learned that A would be in charge again.  M was headed off to a meeting.  A helped me get Blondie ready.  It was a really fun lesson, and I feel like I'm finally starting to learn how to ride my horse.  A kept after me to work on Blondie's headset, and then had me practice diamond cuts around the corners and trotting off the rail.  Liz was in the ring, so A had me chase her down, and then pass on the inside, or diamond cut around her. 

I'm getting better at picking up the canter, too.  We grabbed the wrong lead at first, but I was able to stop her and set her back up again.  The other way, I tipped her and made her keep walking instead of trotting like she usually does, and then she stepped off into a nice canter.  Though I still mess up at times, it seems that we are making smoother transitions.

The ring was very crowded last night, and at one time, there were three people lunging 3 different horses!  It was good practice steering Blondie through traffic, especially at the canter, where she tends to cut corners.  It was a little nerve wracking, though.

When the lesson was over, A said we had a fantastic lesson and that Blondie looked great.  Yay!

Yes, that is a pair of underwear. What will he do with them? Tune in later to find out.

Here's a quick catch up post of my last two riding lessons.  My teeth are still bothering me, and I think I will have to go and have my bite adjusted again.  Yesterday was Dean's birthday, and we had a less than memorable meal at Buddy's Pizza.  His choice, not mine.  Yuck.

Wednesday night, A was true to her word and spent most of the lesson helping me figure out how to get Blondie's head set.  I think I am starting to understand how to use my hands, but I am a little hazy on using my leg at the same time.  Friday, M  explained how to use my leg, and she said that I was getting Blondie bridled better.  We also aren't having the constant tug of war over the reins.  Maybe things are finally starting to look up?

Everything is covered by a layer of ice this morning, so I don't know if I will be able to get out to the barn today.  I am hoping it will warm up in the next hour and the ice will start melting.  Won't winter ever end?

I have been suffering from incredible pain since yesterday.  The whole left side of my mouth feels like a horse stepped on my face.  I went to the dentist today, and thankfully, nothing has abscessed.  Instead, my lower front teeth have shifted again, causing a lot of pressure on the teeth.  The shooting pains are a result of my bite shifting.  The dentist ground down one of my teeth, and adjusted my bite block, but he said that my teeth might hurt for another week.  Crap!  I can't even eat!

You would have to be a polar bear to enjoy the weather in Michigan

It was really cold yesterday, only about 13 degrees.  I wasn't too worried, though, because I had my bag packed with my Under Armor.  Only when I went to the restroom to change, my expedition weight long johns weren't in my bag!  OMG!  I thought I would expire from dismay right there in the bathroom!  Worse yet, Jen didn't really want to go because it was so cold, and M had called to let me know that the lesson before us had canceled, and it was up to me whether or not we came.   Thinking I had my warm clothing, the freezing temps didn't faze me.   Had I known I was missing my pants I would have canceled!

I got changed into the winter gear that I did have, and off we went to the barn.  I was upset because my riding pants were too big without the thermals, which only served to emphasize that I had forgotten them every time I moved.  I purchased a few pairs that were a size larger to accommodate the added bulk of the thermals.  And then Jen pointed out that the pair I had on had a hole in the seam. And the thread at the knee patch is starting to unravel.   ARGH!!!   They are new and I think I've worn them twice! 

At the barn, Sarah and Zoe were getting Wild Child ready for a drive.  M had mentioned on Sunday that they should try driving, and that Wild Child knew how to drive - she just hasn't done it in about five years.  D helped them get her ready, and then he gave her a refresher course on pulling the buggy.  I didn't get to watch much as I had to get Blondie ready. 

There were a ton of people in the ring when Jen and I led our horses out.  She was riding Doc, because someone else was riding Harley.  Zoe was riding Jimmy, and M was setting up a jump for her in the middle of the arena.  Sarah was still driving Wild Child - it was very crowded out there!

The lesson started, and the highlight was watching Zoe take Jimmy over the jump.  When  she asked for a higher jump, M told her that Jimmy hadn't jumped over 2 feet, and set it up anyway.  Then she told Zoe to make sure she grabbed some mane in case he ducked out.  He didn't hesitate a bit cleared the jump easily.  After they went over it a few times, M had her walk Jimmy so he didn't get too hot.  It was too cold for them to get all sweaty.

D brought the Friesian out during the middle of the lesson, and lunged him so A could ride him.  While that was going on, Sarah came out with Sammy.  Then A hopped on the Friesian, and there were six of us trotting around the ring.  It's a lot more fun with all of the traffic out there, though Jen didn't agree. 

My biggest frustration, once again, was getting Blondie bridled.  She just won't sit nice and pretty unless I man handle her the whole time.  Then the tug of war starts, which I lose, and she pulls me out of the saddle.  I talked to A about that after the class, and she said she would make it her mission to show me how to get the horse bridled.  She said that I need to give the reins a quick flick, and not hold them.  I am hoping someone can help me figure this out before the show season starts!

Well, with a wind chill advisory and temps hovering at about 3 degrees (-22 with the wind chill!), I decided to stay home this morning and not venture out into the cold.  Almost everyone was going to the tack sale in South Lyon today, anyway.  D was going to be at the barn to shoe some horses, but he told me to come if I wanted to.  I thought it might be more fun to sleep in and then read all day.  I didn't think hand warmers would have made much of a difference today.

After our rather exciting night, I had a very hard time getting up at 6:15.  I was so tired, and I had a headache to boot.  Stupid false alarms! The entire stay at the Hampton was very unsatisfying this time around.

At the Pavilion, it seemed a lot colder than it actually was.  I think all of the doors being open helped to contribute to this feeling of chill.  There were more barns represented at this show than any previous show this year, and many of them were still unloading.  I hadn't even heard of a couple of them.  It was a lot more fun with more horses there.  It didn't seem like there were more people though, which was very odd.

Jen was recruited to sell hoodies for the UPHA, and she ended up doing very well.  She sold about 20 of them, and a bunch of last year's shirts that they were trying to get rid of, too.  Maybe she has a career in sales?

I was in the first class again on Harley, and Laurie was up on Ritz.  There were six riders in our class, which is a huge amount considering how small the ring is.  A warmed Harley up while M warmed up Ritz.  I have decided the only reason D comes to these shows is so he can eat cookies and drink hot chocolate.   At least he excels at it!

I got up on Harley, and when the class was called, headed for the gate.  I was very aggressive with him, and he broke into a canter.  Stupid me, I went into the ring anyway.  I thought I could be him back down to a trot within a few strides.  It took a whole rail...

Many of the horses were less than perfect, too.  One of them was an absolute nutcase, and the rider couldn't even keep him on the rail.  He almost collided with Harley twice.  I finally circled him around through the middle of the ring, and they called the canter before I could get to the other rail.  Laurie and Ritz were coming up next, and she waited to set up Ritz until I got to the rail and cued Harley.  Otherwise there would have been a lot of traffic for us to weave through.

Other than the canter at the beginning, Harley was a good boy.  We trotted into the line up, and we ended up being first out of six.  That has been my best placing, and I was very happy that we won.  Laurie and Ritz were second, which was her best placing, too.  Ritz probably would have won, if Laurie had gotten her to canter the first way.

Our next class was just Laurie and me, and it was a lot of fun.  M was egging us both on, challenging us not to let the other win.  We both had a really good ride, but Harley ended up in first.  M said she probably would have placed Ritz first, because all things being equal, she's a harder horse to ride.  I have to agree that she much more challenging than Harley.

I asked D if we could bring Blondie to the next show, and he said yes, if they could find someone else to ride her.  M had mentioned that a lot of her students were going to the next show, so I hope they can find someone else who can ride my nutty mare.

Jen and I left at the lunch break, and headed to our usual Indian buffet for lunch.  It was so tasty today! The goat vindaloo was especially good, and they had a tomato vegetable rice that was also delicious.  The Japanese restaurant that is in the same shopping center has closed, so we will never be able to able to try their sushi.