One Year!

My little nugget is growing up! She turned 5 in July and has grown and changed so much over the last year.

Our first  ride at home, August 24th, 2013

We "celebrated" our 1 year anniversary at Steepleview Horse Trials, Bailey's second show. I'll start with our first, though, as I failed to blog about it earlier.

Roebke's was pretty great for B's first show. Dressage and SJ were the first day, and it was a rainy, crappy, gloomy day. The dressage was a little rough - a wet, very worn grass ring brought lots of slipping to an already spooky test. The show photog was working the next ring over, and between being out there all alone and the scary scary photographer, our test involved a lot of Keeping A Lid On It. We scored a very, very generous 43.50. Show jumping went much better despite some rocky beginnings - right before I got on, Bailey was being a big bully on the ground and reacted badly to my (exhausted, reactive) discipline and reared up a bit and ended up sliding to half fall over backwards. Bad pony! We got to warm up and Bailey came back into herself over the fences. She put in a nice round, especially for the scary fences and being exposed to fillers for the first time - just a bit of time because we trotted most of the course to keep things in control. XC was much better than it looks - Bailey went out gangbusters but we have to overtake a very slow rider in front of us and it consequently cost us some focus, and we picked up a stop after the water. She brought me home strong and seemed very ready to go back out and do it again, so it was still very positive. 

Steepleview was Bailey's second show, and after her stall walking fun at Roebke's, we went armed with a fan and several tubes of Smartpak's Smartcalm paste. It worked like a charm, and I had a happy, relatively calm horse who LOVED her fan and didn't stall walk a hole in her stall or do too much damage to her pretty self. Dressage felt a thousandfold better than Roebkes (no spooking, only a few moments of lost focus) but we had a less merciful judge to score a 39.5 to put us in 7th. Or XC was pretty close after dressage, and I was a little nervous as the starter course wasn't as friendly as I was anticipating. However, the minute Bailey went into warm up she clicked into XC Pony mode and was 110% in it to win it; forward, sassy and foot perfect. She rocked around XC for her first double clear and came home confident and still looking for fences, and we galloped our way into 2nd. Going into SJ, I was a little nervous - Bailey was slightly less calm on Sunday, and it was hot and stormy. Warm up was uneventful and I was a little nervous about her lack of apparent energy. She went into the ring, I pushed for more trot and got a canter... and just went with it. She was fatigued enough to not be pissed as I picked her distances for her, which was nice, and she put in what I am calling another double clear round. We did have a rail, but it fell long after we had passed which makes me wonder if the wind didn't help us out a little bit. 

All in all, we maintained second place for a pretty red ribbon and Bailey's first victory gallop! We head to Roebke's Run again in a little over a week.  Photos to come!

A & BB

30. Your future with horses

My future with horses is just the same as my past, I guess. I can tell you with confidence that I won't be losing this bug any time soon, and I have big plans for the future and for Bailey's talent. Bailey was purchased with the idea that I want to do a T3D, and maybe even go to the AECs. And I think we will achieve those dreams, and if the dreams change, I think that's fine too.

I've learned to not expect definites in the horse world; too quickly a badly placed step or a weak spot in a tendon or ligament can dash your plans. I'm lucky, because despite the disappointments I've experienced, I am only driven to do better. Perhaps eventing is the sport of perfectionists, at least for me, because I feel like I had a failure with Foxie, and searched long and wide for my next horse. I learned about conformation, about temperament and looked at each horse I considered for that "look". I have planned my training to go slow with this horse, and to set a base that will allow us to skip up the levels with confidence when she is ready. Yes, I am scared that I am going to end up with another injured horse, but at the same time... I'm not ready to give this sport up.

One day, maybe.

But not today, not tomorrow. And maybe not ever.

So my future with horses?

There will be more of them. Foxie will continue to age with grace, and when it is her time, I sincerely hope I have the strength to know in my heart that she is ready to move on, and to help her do that without pain. I already want another Prince Halory baby- after dealing with the most amateur-friendly baby horse I have ever seen, I love how much of himself he stamps in his babies. I want a farm, I want my ponies in my back yard so I can tuck them in each night and walk out into the field on beautiful sunlit evenings to sit on their backs as they graze. I want to set up crazy things to jump, and to jump them, and to go on trail rides and enjoy life looking between pricked ears.

So, I guess, depending on if I can keep blogging, there will be many more stories to tell.

29. Favorite brands...boots, breeches, tops, helmets, etc

Ohhhh goodness I'm glad this came up on a Friday, because I have a lot of favorite brands, for both me and my girls.

For the girls:

Weatherbeeta blankets - especially the detatch-a-neck line: these blankets are worth their weight and high price because they fit my girls amazingly, last forever and have never leaked or left my horses shivering underneath. They also fit deep and are made with great workmanship, quality materials and great attention to detail.

WOOF Wear boots - While high-tech XC boots are all the rage these days, I like my reliable Woof Boots - they don't slide, they wear like iron and I can get them on and off with adrenalin-shaking fingers, which is good for everyone involved.

Courbette saddles and leather - I adore everything I own that is Courbette, and I am so, so sad that they are no longer in business. I have three Courbette saddles, a beautiful bridle that unfortunately doesn't fit Bailey, a breast collar and I think a few other pieces. The quality on every Courbette item I own is outstanding and the details and classic style have made me a monster. Like, I want a cob size bridle RIGHT NOW.

Back On Track - Especially for Foxie, I don't know if we could have gotten through last winter without or beloved Back on Track. The products also got me into Sore No More liniment and I LOVE both of the products. My girls have sensitive skin and I love the peace of mind using Sore No More over other liniments gives me. It also works fantastically with my Back on Track products, so I am a doubly happy camper.

For me:

Kerrits breeches. I love them. I have always loved pull on style breeches and love the Kerrits materials - especially the gripstretch full seats! It's great to have breeches you trust when riding a young horse, and I love not having to panic if I forget my saddle tight.

Thinsulate products - after nearly losing some toes last winter to the Polar Vortex, I became obsessed with Thinsulate equine products (and Columbia Omni Heat...). I own the Ariat Brossard winter boots with Thinsulate and the SSG Pro Show gloves, also with thinsulate. Wadding-style insulation just doesn't do it for me; call it poor circulation or bad judgement that I considered 0 degrees and above "riding weather" but I hate being cold, and I love those products for keeping me warm.

Tipperary products - I LOVE my XC vest and helmets. They make me happy, and it's so nice to have a helmet that fits and is super comfortable. I especially love my Titan, because I can SEE so much in it, which is great in gloomy indoor arenas or on the XC course. Plus, I love getting to have crazy red and green silks :) 

28. Helmet or no helmet?

HELMET!

I love my helmets, and yes I have several. Currently my collection includes a:

Tipperary Titan (skull cap) with silks for XC.

Tipperary Sportage for summer schooling

Charles Owen JR8 for Dressage and Show Jumping at trials.

27. You know you're an equestrian when....(list five things)

1. Your car has a back seat. And a trunk. And you still have to mound your groceries up in the shotgun seat because your car is a rolling tack room.

(My car may or may not have 200 lbs of feed and various rolling tack room supplies (SMBS, saddle pads, a full set of standing bandages and wraps, a bare back pad, full back on track blanket set, hose, 200lbs of feed, other various horsey snacks...) in it currently... and absolutely no back seat.)

2. Whips and spurs excite you. And saddle pads. And polo wraps...

3. You make it clear to your SO or any potential SO's that you like your horses more than him/her. And you mean it. Meeting my horses is much tougher than meeting my family, and will impact the way I see you for the rest of eternity.

4. Your life revolves around your showing schedule, your conditioning schedule and barn time.

5.  You hand mix your horses' carefully crafted mix of feed but can hardly be bothered to scrape together a simulacrum of a meal at home for yourself. 

26. Biggest riding pet peeve

Well that's a bit of a generic prompt...?

My biggest pet peeve with myself is that I flatten and "puppy paw" my hands. It's something I have been working super hard to fix, but that doesn't mean it's fixed. I tend to fall back into bad habits the minute the shit hits the fan in the saddle and despite the picture being very pretty when I'm correct... I still feel more effective in my old, nasty handed ways. Unlike with a sliding leg, or other things, fixing your hands isn't something you can really easily train for muscle memory. When my leg slid, my trainer tied my stirrups to my girth with twine. Boom. Take the twine off a few weeks later and my leg is trained and stronger from having to keep me in the tack with the tied stirrup. With my hands, I have been driven to try (especially because my trainer is really sick of hollering "HANDS" every two seconds) and have seen some improvement, however it's a constant battle. I have this shining goal of one day being worthy of white gloves... but its a goal.

I have 10,000 Riding Pet Peeves, too:

1. Sitting on one's horse and chatting while in the arena
2. Riding side by side in the arena
3. Acting like your meandering trail horse who is CLEARLY not doing any "work" should get the rail while my horse that is half way through a line of shoulder in needs to move
4. Bragging about not needing lessons
5. Not taking lessons
6. Unsafe riders basically abusing their horses because they don't know any better
7. Riders who are too scared of their horses to be effective (WHY ARE YOU HERE BUY A CAT ALREADY)
8. Riders who are too "cowboy" tended and are not kind to their horses
9. Riders who ride with a temper
10. People who jump in western saddles
11. People who jump without any proper instruction
12. People who feel the need to gallop... everywhere all day every day
13. People who don't groom their horses before and after their ride (leaving saddle marks is a sin)
14. People who don't take care of their horses, treat that nasty case of scratches, etc.
15. People who don't take care of their horses... period. AKA no dewormer, farrier work, vet care... attention... acknowledgement...
16. People who disrespect other people for what they do with their horse (I'm not against a discipline, I'm against stupid behavior in general)
17. People who don't know and don't care to know or follow the rules at a barn
18. Rude, catty riders. 
19. etc.

25. Your dream trailer

OH BOY this is definitely one of my favorite subjects. I am hoping to be in the market for a new trailer soon, as the Area IV events make it difficult to find a hotel (and afford one... my poor budget!) and driving back and forth is less than ideal, as is camping because I seriously LOVE to be clean. Solution? Trailer with living quarters.

I'm caught between wanting something fancy and something functional that can be pulled with a smaller truck, like our current F150.

I like my straight load trailer and LOVE the newer models with soft mangers. I find that they give the horses a lot of space and also allow them to really have ample head and neck space to make snorting, coughing and balancing easier. I don't mind slants, and will probably end up with one, but I love the straights and the flexibility they offer. I do get a little nervous about the slants being long enough, but I wouldn't worry too much with Hawk brand trailers, just because I know that they are extremely well thought out and high quality trailers. My DREAM trailer is a 2+1 design with living quarters, but I am definitely NOT made of that much money. Or any money, who are we kidding. A 2+1, however would be ideal because even if I'm ever lucky enough to be showing two horses at once, my living quarters would be unlivable because of all of their stuff in a regular trailer, or one with a small dressing room with the goose neck as shown above. 

So, my list of priorities:

- Warmblood stalls and ceiling heights
- Amazing ventilation for the horses
- Soft mangers for easy clean up and prep to get on the road. (Bailey rarely touches hay on the trailer anyways)
- A ramp for Foxie, especially, but would also be great for loading things like wheel barrows and trunks.
- A shower. I'm not too picky here- if I could pull off an Insta-Hot type creature in the horse area, I could deal with that, or a real shower in a trailer. As long as I can get clean and get a bit of hot water on my muscles after XC, I am a happy woman.
- AC. I hate to say it, but horse shows here are miserable - either it's hailing and hardly above freezing (IN AUGUST!) or it's 114 degree heat index and the ground jury is still debating on if they should waive coats. AC would make life 10,000 times better.
- Amenities like load lights inside and out, latches for the back doors, etc are kind of expected with the type of trailer I am looking at, as are well padded stalls and non-slip flooring, but they are all important to me, as well. We've done a lot of refurb and amenities work with my current trailer, and I value that every time I have to look for something in the dark or think about loading a horse for a late night vet call. We've had a lot of crappy experiences loading horses in the dark or dealing with tack rooms that are just not functional, so I've been doing my best to fix that wrong with my own trailer.

Yep, I think about this far to much. 

24. Your best riding buddy

So this is going to sound awkward, but I prefer to ride alone. All day erry day. I love having a trainer again, don't get me wrong... but I hate sharing the arena, and tend to tolerate other boarders only until they get in my way. I don't have a buddy, I don't have time to wait for someone else to show up to ride with...

So here's my best riding buddy:

Love that mare. She's my rock, she's the best to get on and just... ride.

#gofoxgo

23. First horse you rode

I rode my first horse in Yellowstone National Park at approximately the age of 3. And by ride, I mean I got lead around by a cowboy (who smoked, I'm pretty sure) but I was enamored with my horse even at that age.

I'll try to find a photo - no promises. 

22. Describe the importance of riding in your life

Riding isn't "important" in my life - it's everything that makes me who I am. Three Day Eventing shapes you, and cuts away the "flab" to really show you the kind of person you are.

Before I started riding horses I was painfully shy and didn't really have a spine. The first time a trainer handed me a riding crop I nearly cried. I didn't want to kick a horse, or wear spurs, or make them do anything they don't want to do. Which, for most lesson horses, is just about everything.

Riding taught me to get mad. It's a weird concept but when I got stuck with a bucking lesson horse who I was SURE hated me, I learned to get mad, and learned how to assert myself over his exuberant, bratty personality. I hate getting mad in the aspect of taking out that anger on your horse and do my best to never reprimand a horse more than is needed... but sometimes they need it. I also learned to push myself - to get mad at a sliding leg or at a stupid rail that we took because I screwed that up, and let it burn up my insides until I get it right. Moments where I "Get it Right" ring as the moments of most satisfaction in my riding career - like that time I did a perfect Karen O'Connor (as I term it) through a water complex. Being able to sit the drop, pick up my reins and turn off of my leg to the next related fence, get the perfect distance and then burn out is still a great memory for me. Riding forced me to grow a spine, because if I didn't, I'd be dead. Horses won't respect you if you don't respect yourself, and make them respect you even though you're 150 pounds of human versus a 1500 pound horse.

Riding has taught me to love routine, and repetition and has allowed me to find little goals and pursue them with a vengeance. Riding has taught me discipline, and has taught me to get the job done, no matter how I do it. Make it work. Make it happen. Phrases like that were not in my vocabulary naturally, and now they are something close to a mantra.

Without riding, and when I'm not on a horse, I'm an anxious, socially inept mess, but I can draw on the strength of will riding has instilled in me to keep calm, kick on and make it happen. I titled this blog "Keep Calm and Kick On" because it is a fundamental part of my riding. You have to say "F#$% it all!" and kick on - don't dwell on the past, or on the rail you just dropped, or the distance you just missed. You just have to move forward and go out and fight for every single fence, one at a time. There are days when you will be sitting on a flag-seeking missile of horse, but I go out of the box every time ready to fight, either way. I love the Visionaire article on Eventing Nation that refers to crops and spurs as "weapons of war" because I feel like they truly are. I don't want to use them, obviously, but I'm not going to to "battle" without them.

Horses have changed my life, they are my life and they are the best part of my life.

Am I obsessed, yet? 

21. Your favorite schooling outfit

This is a weird one for me - I am a "throw clothes on and go" kind of rider. I do, however, love my technical fabric and Kerrits breeches, so here's my current favorite clinic outfit, which I usually wear some semblance of, as of late:

Black Kerrits Gripstretch breeches
Romfh Sinead polo (love me some coolmax!)

I also have those breeches in a military brown/green with a black seat, and I adore them (again with the Sinead polo - it's AWESOME!)

20. Your favorite horse show

This is an easy one! My favorite horse show is Roebke's Run in Hector, MN - I will be attending every year I possibly can.

- The facilities are beautiful!
- The owners are always seeking to do better - the jumps get cooler, the prizes get nicer, the footing gets better and they are always seeking to add new opportunities for Area IV.
- The owners and volunteers are also extremely nice and the owners did me the favor of holding my entry and eventually allowing me to sell it when Foxie was injured.
- The competitor's party has the best food.
- I won my first eventing ribbon there - and have had some great memories!

19. A discipline you would like to try

This is interesting - I have tried a lot of disciplines in the past, so I'll list them out as I think:

- Started off riding hunt seat style Arabians
- Moved to an Eventing barn, but never competed in a trial or anything
- Moved to a Hunters/Show Jumpers barn, never showed, but soaked up the perspective


I think the sport I would want to try is Fox Hunting - I've tried barrels and find western games to be a bit dull at best. I show jump, run XC (MY FAV) and do dessage (my favorite when I am in the mood...). I have never, however, gone hell for broke and jumped things out of stride for a portion of the day, I have never ridden with hounds... the whole sport has a culture that I find really interesting. I think Fox would have been an amazing hunter, but Bails has some work to do before she is trustworthy enough to even take to the fun trials. The sport is also, around here, quite cost prohibitive.

18. Your favorite horse show picture

I'm liking this challenge, because I really do believe that a picture is worth a thousand words. These pictures are from the two trials that taught me the most; I was competing without a trainer, and at one, was being snubbed for not stabling with the barn I boarded at and paying for training I wouldn't receive when it came down to it. These ribbons taught me that I can succeed, and that I have the tools to do that housed within myself.

Fox's first completed trial and first HT ribbon, back in fall of 2010:

VICTORY GALLOP!!

Foxie's last HT ribbon and last horse show, Summer 2011:

Though her career was short and started off with a lot of disappointment, she taught me everything I know and love about my sport. Ribbons feel really good, but a foot perfect show jumping round or making optimum on XC is the real victory. Bailey is the victory - the fact that because of Foxie, I could take her out to a 200 horse trial for her first show and get her around without being disqualified.