Weekend Update & a Poll

We've been chugging along in #Feralredhorse land. Bailey and I stuck to the indoor last Wednesday as it's gotten cold again, and I was in a bad mood, so we were sissies. Bailey has been flip-flopping between being relatively good and being a total shit head. She has been spooky and reactive, and while Wednesday's ride wasn't bad, it wasn't awe-inspiring. Saturday followed suit - I disciplined Bailey while walking her up to the upper arena (where she has more problems, so of course we've been doing a lot of work up there) and then asked her to go through a person-sized door. When I got on her, it was clear she was holding a grudge about me telling her what to do and also was quite a spicy little chilly pepper, energy levels wise. She eventually worked down into behaving, but it's still disappointing that I have to deal with the basics at this point.

Gone is the horse who hacks out on the buckle. I don't know where she went.

Tonight, I'm thinking I might put her into a french link to see how she feels about that bit (I've been eyeballing a 14mm french link on ETT...) and hopefully will be able to get her into a decent place mentally in prep for tomorrow. Tomorrow, we see the saddle fitter in the afternoon and hopefully (cross your fingers!) she's able to get Bailey fitted up 100% with the Vision dressage saddle (or believe me, I will cry) so we can get back to doing dressage in a proper dressage saddle. I spent my non saddle time this weekend oiling the beast, and while it's still not beautiful and soft, I think I'm finally making some headway on getting it softer. Hopefully everything works out and I can keep the saddle of my dreams!

God I hope I can keep it.

Foxie went outside on Saturday (with bucking, because cool and windy) and was a bit spicy, but did some super basic/baby XC stuff (like, walking over a log that is slightly more interesting than a cavaletti) and was super excited by that. She'll get some attention tomorrow while I wait for the saddle fitter in the afternoon tomorrow, so I plan to pass over her tonight. 

Finally, I've been itching to share some farm related news, but realized... I should really make a plan and have an idea of what I want to do with farm related posts. So, if you read this, I'd love you forever if you had an opinion on farm related posts - do I make a separate blog? Relocate to a new space and share farm and horse updates? Or stay here for everything? Please use the poll or the comments to let me know, if you care :) 

picture polls

Mayhem

I've been trying to get in some riding in between the chaos of buying and selling houses, chasing down information on the new property, keeping my current home clean despite a muddy dog who doesn't wipe his paws and being intensely busy at work.

As you can tell, it hasn't been leaving a lot of room for blogging. Last week Wednesday, Bailey got to do some jumping, and she was a very very happy girl. We just did some simple fences under 3' (I think one vertical may have been 2'11 but maybe.) but she was so forward and willing, it was a lot of fun. I can tell I'm out of shape for it, and she's just basically out of shape, so we're a bit of an awkward pair occasionally. I won't complain, however, about a happy forward jumping horse.  I got back on her on Saturday, and we ended up doing flatwork outside as the arenas were full. It was probably 45+ degrees, and the footing in the upper outdoor wasn't bad at all. It is, however, badly located in the middle of the farm hubub so Bailey was very distracted. She did, however, put down some nice flat work and stayed generally rideable through some YAHOO moments. I also hopped on Fox that day, bareback pad and Back On Track pad combo again instead of a saddle. She was a bit stiff but ended up taking me back outside and was her usual sane and reliable self while also wanting to zooooom a bit. I can tell she's happy to be back out :)

Bay mare go powerwalk nao

Monday night was another 40s - 50's sunny day, and because I know I'm going to have to stop running to the indoor (well, I won't have that option) when we move, I've been pushing myself outside. I took Bailey out in the afternoon sun, and she was one hot chili pepper. She was looky, but not overly spooky. I did try to ride her forward and down, and she did actually do that for me. We played on the XC course a little bit (it's wet, and one can't do much without leaving divots in the grass, which I don't want to do). Bailey was overzealous to the max, leaping up and down the banks with gusto and trying to take off afterwards. She was a dink about the ditch, but then decided she could do it happily - from a trot that snowballed to a canter, only. We did the half coffin ditch to barrels (which she bombed over no questions asked) and a few other small things, but mostly I struggled with control and brakes.

We'll probably do more of the same today, as we're due for some rain in the next few days and I probably won't be able to get outside again til the weekend. I have my crash vest along this time, which will make this outing a bit more safe, but I still can't decide what to put in the horse's mouth today. The last time she wore her slow twist she had to fling her head every time I touched her mouth for the next two rides, so that's probably out. But what else is there? I got so used to big guns when it came to bitting up the Fox that I don't really know what to do when I need a bit more... assertiveness in my half halts and woahs but also have a sensitive horsey flower who doesn't like pelhams, waterfords, wide mouths or twists, ya know?

So, a question to my readers - what kind of bits do you use when you need a little more "woah"?

I guess I need to spend some time on Amazon and Smartpak looking at bits, instead of drawing barn floor plans...

But barn planz are fun planz!

Wednesday Whimsy: Things I'm thinking about instead of work

With the horse farm on the horizon, I am having a hard time focusing at work. My husband resents this because I'm not thinking about responsible adult things like moving boxes, home owners insurance and internet connections. Instead I'm thinking about pony things:

Like buying my own hay:

And the goofy long faces frolicking in pastures (because clearly I will somehow acquire the knowledge to maintain pastures and not kill my horses putting them out on grass by daydreaming...)

And clearly I will be busily trailering to lessons and jumping badass things and surely I will just have infinite free time to become an amazing rider. I'll be jumping monster jumps and teaching Bailey all of the dressage moves in no time.

Pictured: Not a monster jump, in the grand scheme of things

Right?


In the mean time, your advice / favorite corners of the internet / etc on hay feeding, hay feeders, pasture management and general horse keeping will be welcomed and obsessed over if you'd like to leave me any tidbits.

More Insanity

So. Its been a busy few weeks, and blogging has fallen to the wayside. Last week (first full week of March) I didn't get a chance to ride, and this week is also shaping up to be busy. This break wasn't particularly planned, and while Bailey was great when I got on her over the weekend, I was a bit nervous. Ya see, I fell off Bailey for the first time the weekend before. "For the first time" as in I legitimately had never fallen off of her in the 4 years we've been together. It's been close, but this is the first time I realized I needed to stop fighting and let go.

Letting the horse sit for a week after such a feat didn't feel good, even though I did make sure she put in some decent work before I quit on Saturday (read: lunging until she stopped volunteering speed and was tired, and then ridden. Again.). Getting on her the next Saturday (last Saturday) I was a bit nervous but she was surprisingly good. Weirdo. She will definitely be continuing her lunging routine pre-ride until I can ride her more consistently, but for now, the chance to burn off some energy pre-ride is making for a very rideable horse.


Beside's Bailey's temporary insanity... we (as in hubby and I) have also gone insane. It all started when a farm I've seen for sale several times (but never sold) popped up on the market again. And I sent it to hubby. And we realized we could afford it. That we could afford the eventual dream, like... now. So lots of things happened all at once (financing, finding a realtor, scheduling a showing, cleaning our house to put on the market... etc) and we went to go look at this house.

And then when our realtor called to put in an offer, the owner said she had a full price cash offer that very afternoon.

UGH.

So we kept looking. We kept thinking. Once you get a taste  of insanity, see, it doesn't quiet back down amiably or well. And then we found another place. And it ticks all of the boxes of our wish list except one (albeit a big one - the indoor arena). And we started the hubub all over again... except that our offer got accepted.

And now, between prepping our house to go on the market, I am finding 10,000 things to worry about. I have 99 anxieties and I am hardly able to get to the barn to ride... so. Here's a relatively un horsey status update about the state of insanity in #feralredhorse land.

Send help!

Sanity and Spring Inspired Goals

While we were plunged back into winter with some snow this morning (and cooler temps over the last week) the spring weather did get me thinking about my goals for the upcoming summer. The cooler weather also brought back my horse - Bailey has been wonderfully behaved and while I haven't been doing much that is blogworthy, we're churning away at the basics of balance, contact and bend. Upward and downward transitions went to crap while she was being crazy, so that occupied one ride (and is a constant battle). I've also been trying to go back to basics - I feel like Bailey gets away with a lot of inconsistency in the bridle because she goes there so easily I forget to ride. Foxie has me trained - my body automatically rides her differently, and unfortunately that position and competency doesn't cross over to riding Bailey. I spent a lot of our ride yesterday asking for and getting some decent work in a more correct contact. When I really have her, she can't wiggle, shoot up out of the contact or disengage as easily as she normally does, and I felt much more competent at pushing her back to work. She is, however, either woefully lazy or woefully out of shape, because she can't hold it for long. She did give me several steps of lovely canter that felt like it sat, and wasn't just a gravity-induced tumble of legs going faster and faster. I'm sure you can guess that I'll be going after that canter again next time!

I've continued to work on the dressage saddle oiling project, and while I have a ways to go, the leather does appear to be benefiting from layer after layer of oil. I'm going to pull it into the house tonight and continue to work on it this weekend - I'm part of the way there, I think, so hopefully I get it saturated relatively soon so I can stop worrying about it so much. Having the fitter out to fit this saddle is on my goals list for the near future, but I have to get the panels supple enough for the fitting tools first. Cross your fingers Cordia can work some shoulder blade freeing magic!

Goals wise, the warm weather (and the glut of sales) inspired me to make some plans, and a recent look at finances has helped me figure out that the show and lesson funds are about what I figured they were - negligible. I still don't feel a total burning need to show, so I think I'm ok with this; my two big goals right now are to get the dressage saddle fitted and start up monthly lessons with a dressage trainer. Here's what else I have come up with:

Bailey Goals: 
- Jump 3' course by end of the summer
- Work haunches in, lead changes and maybe walking half pass?
- Confirm leg yields and shoulder in with dressage trainer
- Continue to build off-site XC experience and confidence

Lesson / Clinic / Show Plans:
- Lesson with Dressage Trainer 1x a month when weather allows (aka probably not winter)
- Show @ Carriage House Combined Trial
- Consider the following shows as finances and prep allows: Roebke's Run Schooling trials, Three Ring Circus, local hunter/jumper shows
- Heavily Consider local "clinics": Focused Riding Center clinics, XC schools off site as opportunities arise
- Attend the Hunt Pace this fall if possible (technically could bring Foxie if I chicken out).

Other Plans:
- Have the saddle fitter out to adjust the dressage saddle ASAP
- Continue trailer organization project

I feel like a wimp only having one show on my schedule right now, but as I've written before... photography has given me some perspective on show management that is less than flattering, and it's only encouraging my thought that I should try to find out what makes me happy vs feeling pressured to show. I'm hoping Bailey and I can also progress enough to go to a late summer/fall Hunt Pace with the local fox hunt. I'm not sure hunting is Bailey's sport (hello, looky spooky red horse) but it's something I've wanted to try for ages, so... might as well make it a goal. I've also discovered some local Hunter/Jumper shows that are so close to the barn I might as well look into them - though I feel like I need to scope out the dress and expectations first. It would be awkward to show up expecting a real schooling show type look and end up looking dumb in a polo with my black-and-brown tack monstrosity when everyone else is wearing coats and proper brown tack. Either way... I'm going to do the one show. If only because I really want to wear my rockin coat:

Silly? Yes. But Still going to do it.