Holiday Weekends (equal) Love

There's nothing like a long weekend to make going back to work today totally suck help you recharge and get things done. Of course, my intentions were far more ambitious than I actually was, but that's pretty much the story of my life. I did a lot of dog cuddling and couch laying...

But I did get some riding in:

Thanksgiving AM on Bailey: we spooked and balked our way through like 35 minutes tops on the road, as the arena was still frozen from a cold overnight. Mostly W/T as it's apparently too hard to canter.

Black Friday on Arya: Arya came out of the pasture sweaty as the temps had climbed way higher than I expected. She then got rained on as she zoomed around on the lunge, and put in a sassy, bucky ride, which resulted in her being totally covered in sweat. Why was she bucking? Who actually knows. She did, however, trot over a pole without panic-cantering after it and immediately was allowed to be done, because GOOD PONY.

Saturday PM: I levered my butt out of bed in the evening (because yay, randomly feeling super sick and weak!) and rode a horse, because that's what you do when you feel icky. I used the lights for the first time and had a good but short walk-trot-canter ride. Bailey was SO good and I was super impressed that she wasn't spooking her pants off because lights and shadows and omg it's dark outside the arena, etc. More info on the lights is coming soon, because seriously... they change lives.

Sunday PM: Again, more lights because we must always play with the lights! Arya got brought out to do ground work and got a lot of treats to encourage her compliance.

I'm hoping to get out and ride tonight - probably Arya, but maybe both if I am feeling ambitious. This weekend was marked by lots of being super lazy, and I feel like I need to nix that immediately. I managed to throw off my sleep schedule with a few days of going to bed late and being allowed to sleep in, and this morning 5 am was disgusting. Ugh.

I'm trying to not let my brain go into total Squirrel mode over Arya's bucking, and will go back to the dressage saddle tonight and see if it continues. My first thoughts were saddle fit and chiropractic, and I really don't want to get into either until she's working more so I can actually benefit from that.

I did spend a lot of time spending money this weekend; our washer is leaking, which led to a late night trip to the nearest Best Buy so I could manhandle washer-dryer pairs. Appliances are too expensive, and I'd like to turn in my adult card now and go back to simpler and cheaper days, please! The only pro is that we're going to keep said leaky washer and put it on casters in the garage for horse use. It won't be totally sophisticated, but I'll be able to wash pads and wraps and maybe even sheets (if I am feeling brave - it's a center agitator...) in a washer, leaving me only blankets to do with my hose and trailer set up from the summer. Not complaining!

To counteract all of the adulting, I also hit Riding Warehouse's sale, a Back on Track sale and am excitedly pestering Amelia from Dark Jewel Designs with ideas for my new browband and strands. I haven't pulled the trigger on an Eponia Bridle yet - which is silly, because that is my birthday present and everything else is technically Christmas presents, but I probably will just... do it. Today. Maybe when I'm done writing this post. The horse kids are making out like bandits this year thanks to my Hubby, who said "spoil yourself a little bit because I'm spoiled (he got a new truck) and just buy what you want. I don't really need details." which is an entirely daring thing to say when you're married to a horse person. I'm scheming up presents for my horse friends as well, though recent developments with my friend and boarder, J's horse, Ginny, have put a bit of a damper on the excitement there.

Ginny and Arya got into a big old knock-down drag out fight about a month ago; Ginny got the short end of the stick and had wounds along her back that still aren't covered by hair at this point. And then Wednesday last week, they got in another fight. And again, Ginny got the short end of the stick, with a lovely blood-icicle hanging off her fetlock from a nice juicy cut on her leg. And in between all of this, Ginny has  been, sometimes like a madwoman, kicking her stall wall. Watching a horse stand there and double barrel a wall over... and over... and over again isn't a very positive way to spend one's time. We've tried creating a wall, wondering if she was jealous of Bailey's food, or worried about her own food. She was annoyed by this, and seemed concerned she couldn't see her friend. So we've got a half-wall up (aka half the bars by Bailey's feed tub are covered) right now, but between the fighting and the distinct unhappiness at being in the barn, we've had to have that awkward "you're my friend but maybe your horse should live somewhere else" talk. And I'm going to miss having a friend to ride with, deeply. It's been hard to get out and have a social life when my whole life (animal wise) is at home, and I feel that I am responsible for their comfort and care. It's been nice to be able to be social while still feeling like I'm giving them 100%. Alas, if the horse is not happy, it's not good for anyone, and it's especially scary because I didn't witness this last fight - the first one happened at the gate around feeding time, so I've been adjusting my routine to prevent Arya getting too food-protective, but it's clearly not the only factor. And it's uncomfortable to know I could come home to.... anything at this point.

And because that's depressing, here's the donkey's face after she put her tiny piggy hoof in her slow feed net and needed to be rescued (don't worry, the net has now been picked up so it's no longer at pawing height):

She will probably go out relatively soon, though the thought of her getting caught in the crossfire of a kicking fight is not a particularly nice one. Soon, Donkey, soon!

Thankful

Knowing that I am planning to spend most of tomorrow either eating or riding my horses, I want to take a minute to post the quintessential thanksgiving post.

I have a lot to be thankful for this year:

Fox Point Farm, in all of it's glory:

The farm has challenged me and changed me; I don't know if I can ever happily go back to boarding. There is something so satisfying about having my horses home to micromanage and laugh at and enjoy. As much as I miss sleeping in or coming home from work and becoming one with the couch, I am learning to live more actively and accountably because I have so many more things depending on me, alone, than ever before.

I am also thankful I have a spouse who (sometimes grumpily) enables me to live my childhood dream, and who embarked on a summer of hellish projects and didn't divorce me from stress. He may not love it like I do, but I appreciate him understanding what it means to me.

Favorite wedding photo is always appropriate

I am thankful for Arya, who is a challenge and a joy. It's fun to have so much young, spirited energy in my horse life again, and it's fun to realize that my #feralredhorse is finally my rock, and much less feral than she used to be. I'm thankful for both of them, for their mooching silly faces and their hay feeder throwing. For their squinty blinks when I flip on the lights at 5 am and for the way they peek around the corner of the barn when they hear me out with the dogs. I'm thankful for BB's love of the jumps, and Arya's love of running, and the joy they share with me when we do the things they were born to do.

I am thankful, and still dreadfully miss my Foxie. I am thankful I got to bury her at home, and thankful I got so many amazing years with her kind, forgiving soul. I am thankful for the years of media that let me remember her as she should be remembered, and not how it ended. I am thankful for the blue ribbons we won, the tears she let me cry into her mane and for teaching me so many important lessons.

Miss you, Foxmare. Love you. 

I am also thankful for my other kids, who are ridiculous and a source of humor and love every single day:

They're going to form a boyband, based on this picture.

Cheesily enough, I am so thankful for you guys. Knowing someone was listening when I was falling apart or losing my mind has value that I cannot express. 

And thankful for that bracelet, that reminds me of an amazing horse and amazing kind people every day

So, thanks, you guys. It's been a hell of a year, and I'm happy I had a place to write it all down to remember it all. We'll be back to our regularly scheduled insanity (and probably a lot of Black Friday shopping) soon. 

<3

A Week of Rides

I've officially fallen off the blogging every day train... sorry guys. I suck. Between work and daylight savings, I haven't had a ton of energy or time to blog, though I did totally waste some time yesterday making flow charts about my day. I do want to keep writing about my riding, so let's do some looking back, and I'll probably wait to publish this until I have another ride under my belt, too.

Derp.

As of my last post, I was going to ride (last) Wednesday after work, so help me god. And I did. Arya got a a school in my dressage saddle, and BB got to wear jump tack and went for a hack afterwards.

Arya's rides are so boringly basic that they're hard to write about, but we do have a lot of important things going on during them. We still lunge every ride, but haven't had nearly as many issues with her getting up / feeling like the steering and brakes have gone out, so it's been really positive. I really enjoy riding her - she's a bit easier physically than Bailey (less bouncy) and it's nice to have the tool box to recognize and address her issues. We do basic walk/trot/canter every ride. Her canter has lately become super lovely - rhythmic and SLOW with no input from me, gloriously uphill and I can just hang out and ride that allllllll day if I am allowed to. Her strike offs are still a bit iffy going right, but she is slowly learning to not get frazzled and tries again without too many theatrics. We are still working on relaxation, bend and (all related to bending) swinging her barrel out when bending in. Her trot, especially, has remained tight and she takes quick, short steps. I think if I can convince her to stretch more and take longer, slower steps, we will really have a great mover on our hands.

Kids got mediums on for some colder weather, and Arya got to experience #neckcoverissues for the first time ever

Bailey has been going relatively well, but still feels weak and behind my leg, especially on the flat. I think, where the OTTBs learn to dig in and "sit" with wide back feet, Bailey wants to trail along at the canter on her forehand, which makes her canter in particular much less fun to sit on after Arya's. We continue to do a bit of lateral work, and a bit of work with me trying to push her up into my aids more completely. We also hacked around the outside perimeter of the pastures; I want her to get used to riding out into the area that will be our pasture and XC course next year, and while our first jaunt wasn't bad, it wasn't wonderful either. She's got a ways to go, but she's a good girl nevertheless.

The reason I skipped my Friday ride: it was snowing INSIDE my barn. And outside, too.

Friday I skipped my ride, but got out to do work on Saturday with a vengeance. I did a bad thing, though; I tried to do my chores before riding, and skipped lunch in the process. Not a good combo! I had a great ride on Arya (more on it in a second) but totally started to get dizzy and felt sapped of all energy by the time I got on Bailey. I cut her ride short and called it a day. Arya did more work and we covered a lot of the items above, with some added walking over poles. We haven't done that for a few weeks, so the first time I asked her to walk over the pole she stopped, but allowed herself to be booted over it without any issue. We took walk breaks throughout our ride and walked over poles, single pole, then over a pole contraption of 3 poles made into an open sided square. She even walked over the corner of two of them and gave some good snorts and dropped her head down several times and got more and more relaxed as we went on. Just 5,000 more repetitions before I'll try them at the trot again!

I don't have media for these last few rides (maybe I'll get some updated video from the Hubby of Wednesday's rides) but I do have some cute pictures of the girls from the last week (mostly staring at the donkey when we took her for a walk) so enjoy those scattered through this post!

Arya loves the donkey lately

Why donkey out of it's box

Wednesday update: 

I only got on Arya yesterday as I've really been struggling with a lack of body heat and feeling unwell for no legitimate reason. It was blustery and cool, with a good whipping wind, which definitely didn't help my motivation. Arya got to wear the Horze fleece quarter sheet and has similar views about it as a greener Bailey did; it's basically a giant black plastic bag that is chasing her. She ran pretty hard on the lunge line trying to get away from it, and bucked one of her back cracking bucks before settling down enough for me to get on her. We did lots of walk and trot, and while she was a looney tune for her right lead canter the first time, she cantered her lovelyperfectuphillhearteyesemoji canter going left and was better going right after that. We also walked over poles and did not put up any fuss there. Overall she was a very good girl for a day that challenged her with wind, and I was able to keep her brain in her head under saddle with few issues.

We did the same thing on Saturday, sans quarter sheet and Arya remained a bit... tail swishy and silly. Brain stayed in her head and other than more than a few moments of "I'm going to try to have a tantrum by refusing to bend or steer" was pretty good. I'm a bit suspicious that her back hurts, or that she's not relaxing or something, so she's spending a few days in a warmer blanket with her back on track sheet on, and I'm going to try to get her out and stretching more often. Bailey got skipped due to time, and I'm upset about this. I really need to deal with this fatigue issue; I ordered more solar lights this morning, and will post about them soon, so I need to stop giving up my opportunities to ride!

An Indecisive Tuesday Poll

Friends, I am completely indecisive and Black Friday is slowly but surely marching it's way here. I'm still caught up on this bridle kick; like inception, the idea of a wide noseband bridle on Arya (who is currently the favorite child, so she gets nice things again) has been gnawing away at my mind (and Bailey can use it, too).  My horsey wishlist has expanded and changed a whole lot over the last few weeks. My inner control freak loves to tell people exactly what I want for christmas, and then get it. It feels a lot nicer than, say, bath and body type products that I am allergic to and cannot use...

I have my eye on several items, including more Dark Jewel bling (because who can resist?!), a Back on Track quarter sheet - though I can't decide between fleece and nylon and boring stuff like boots and reins and breeches that I suck at buying for myself but want / will need. I have some normal stuff on my list, too, but dishes and slippers and sunglasses have nothing on horse stuff ;)

Because my husband is not helpful when it comes to picking out things "he doesn't care about" (his words, not mine)... I need some blogger assistance. Help me spend my husband's money, people! For bloggerdom, and for the relatively satisfying knowledge that you will be adding something traditional into my collection of weird looking bridles. Or because I'm annoying. Or whatever reason I need to give you to actually submit an opinion on this blog.

Moose-kind  thanks you.

Which Eponia bridle should Arya get?

The Cookie (black w/ brown padding, black/gold crystal browband)

The Gatsby with Cookie details (black w/ brown padding, "whiskey"/"Champagne" crystal browband)

Why are you so obsessed with black and brown bridles, seriously?

made here

A Day in the Life

I've really been enjoying the flowcharts I've been seeing pop up about people's days and routines, so I thought I would share mine. It's not terribly exciting, but I did actually find it interesting that, other than giving and taking about 3 hours in commute time, my days are very much the same. It helps that barn work has to be done daily, whether or not I have time to ride, so my day is started and basically ended with horse related activities. I don't really have a social life (and really didn't before we moved) so it's not life-ending that I have to go home and pick  stalls every day. I work from home on Fridays, and have flexibility during the week to work from home as needed, though I am very self conscious of my want to abuse this right and try to avoid working from home as much as possible, if that makes sense. I'd love a fully remote job, but in the mean time, I will be working with lights and trying that friend with the indoor to see if I can visit so I can keep my horses worked. I sleep in a bit on the weekends (sometimes unintentionally) but otherwise keep to an early schedule just to not mess with my body too much. Knox, the puppy, is growing up fast but I still prefer to not punish dog bladders by putting them to bed early and not getting them out to pee at a decent hour.

My chores are done at night, and include:

- Stalls, picking and re-bedding as needed. Owning two stall walkers means that this is not a light job.
- Refilling water buckets (currently done by hand, as heated buckets are plugged in and hose is frozen)
- Laying in feed
- Pulling down "inside" hay, filling hay hoops
- Once the horses are in, I refill the slow feed bale nets outside with the "busy quality" hay. We are expanding my tub and net system so soon I'll only have to do this every other day or so, yay!

I only feed once a day right now, which I may just continue to do. My horses don't get a ton of food, and have all night to finish their meals, and it allows me to actually leave on time in the morning. The only reason I think I'd go back to doing morning feed is if I can't get weight back on Arya without adding more food than she can eat in one sitting. Other than the mares conspiring to pee in weird spots in their stalls the moment I come in and flip on the lights, the stalls stay a bit cleaner and I can just throw on a coat and some boots and get back inside quickly.

I also need to get better about doing some productive work with the donkey every night. She's weirdly decided that I am going to murder her the last couple of days, so we need to rebuild the trust while I figure out why she randomly decided I'm an axe murderer.

So that's my day. It's not as wonderful and glamorous as perhaps I once daydreamed, but I do love having my horses at home.  

Pouting

After a good weekend of riding (I'll get to that in a sec) I'm hardcore pouting because of Daylight Savings. Because instead of riding the bus in the dark and coming home for an hour of daylight (max) where I can technically almost squeeze in a ride.. the sun is coming up as I drive to the bus station and is basically set as I'm riding the bus home. Luckily I'm working from home tomorrow so I'll get rides in on both horses (so help me god) but it's time to panic about lights and come out of my shell enough to contact the local lady I know with an indoor to see if I can buy/bribe a way into her indoor one day a week.

In leu of riding, out nightly entertainment includes teaching the donkey to lead.
Arya apparently loves the donkey

My current thought is that I can swing riding Fridays (my work from home day), Saturdays and Sundays at home, and just need to get one ride in midweek. Of course, I am pretty sure the only night I can't trailer in to the indoor due to lessons is Wednesday, so I'll be deciding between Tuesdays and Thursdays for my mid-week ride. I also ordered a solar light, because as of the last snowfall and freeze, I think I need to kiss any hope of getting electric run to the arena this year goodbye. It won't be bad to do next year, but in the mean time... I'm trying out a sketchily cheap Solar light option from Amazon that may or may not work. Cross your fingers for me! I don't know if we'll be able to hang them high (by bracing taller boards against my existing arena fence uprights, since the ground is frozen) as I'm not sure they will stay up in the wind, but I am wondering if I can put them on my top board to light up the footing. Have any of you seen any unusual riding arena lights? Particularly anything that actually works?

Ride wise, both of the girls got ridden this weekend; Arya looked sound on Friday afternoon, so while I ran out of light, I gave her a brief lunge and got on her on Saturday. Bailey got ridden on Friday and I felt like I was really getting her inside hind at the canter. She is happy to be out and moving, and since I actually remembered my spurs, I felt like I was able to actually get some decent work out of her. She was much more limber than our previous ride and was quite springy and active feeling without being a total nutcase. I was very happy with that! Her winter brain over the past few years has been unmanageable, but so far, she seems to be holding it together relatively well.

Arya lunged out nicely despite the fact that it had snowed 3-4 wet inches overnight, and rode really well. We're still working on our back to basics approach - learning that leg doesn't always mean sideways, and while I was asking for more contact and for her to engage with me more, we also kept it simple with simple transitions of gait as her main work. She even cantered a little bit, which got silly for a second there (aka the shoulder went, the steering went, and there may have been some adorable bad bucking and/or porpoising (they feel the same to me) but she recovered well and when we cantered again, she was rhythmic and very lovely.

The arrival (finally) of Hubby's birthday present this weekend resulted in him casually dropping "Why don't you just buy yourself whatever you want for your birthday" which I take to mean "Stop talking about horse tack and just buy whatever will shut you up". And I'm wholeheartedly ok with that. I don't need wrapping paper and a surprise, the thrill of the shopping adventure is enough for me! While my birthday is still a month and a few days away, I've, of course, jumped right into shopping mode. Because honestly, when am I not in horse tack shopping mode?!

My shortlist of wants this year is pretty short; I'm working on selling a pair of tall boots and at least one pair of half chaps to help finance another pair of boots or chaps that actually fit, and with winter firmly here, I can save for that purchase and don't necessarily need to ask for a pair as a gift. This works twofold; it gives me more time to try on as many pairs of boots and half chaps as possible and lets me splurge/ask for some fun stuff instead. I've been eyeballing a quarter sheet (Back on Track, because of recent discussions on other blogs) for the girls, and have been considering getting another bridle for some time. I'm starting to be less in love with my BS of Sweden knock off bridle; I feel like it's kind of heavy on both of them:

Though I know that the Micklem isn't the most beautiful thing ever, either. Because Bailey goes so well in the Micklem, I'm not really looking for a new bridle for her. Idk if it actually looks semi-decent on her, but I mean... she and Arya, who for some reason, I keep envisioning in this mysterious new bridle, do wear the same size, so they can share, too. It doesn't help that the blogging community has kept Eponia's beautiful bridles on my radar for some time now... and they happen to make a couple of black and brown bridles. And I love my black and brown saddles, so I am trying to decide how I feel about black and brown bridles. Especially on my girls. I think that my line up could use a more traditional element, and honestly I'm having a hard time justifying the cost of another (real) Micklem when there are so many pretty bridles that cost less, and I feel like nothing I have does anything for Arya's face.

So, readers: tell me about your bridles and why they are awesome, please. Some of you have already published (very persuasive) reviews of pretty things (aka Eponia bridles) but I know there are so many fish in the sea!

NaBloPoMo #6 - Your favorite tack and riding clothes you have

Yes, this does warrant two posts in one day, guys. The blogging world has turned me into a tack whore (albeit a very cheap one) and I love talking about stuff. Stuff makes me happy today :)

Alrighty, so let's get down to business:

Horse wise, my favorite brands are Courbette, because I now own two Courbette saddles that suit me better than anything I've ever ridden in. I have a Courbette Vision Extra (long forward jump saddle) and a Courbette Vision dressage saddle. I am so sad that the brand no longer exists, and think, if I do need another saddle, I'll end up looking at Stubben, who bought Courbette out way back when. I am thriving and feel much stronger and more capable than I have before in my dressage saddle, in particular, and I feel like the saddle is more forward and allows my leg to lay so naturally compared to other saddles.

Both of my horses, annoyingly enough, go like magic in a $14 Korsteel weighted loose ring snaffle with a single link, too, and that is the first bit I will put on a horse because it has yet to fail me. Compared to lighter bits or those with more links, the weighted snaffle seems to encourage a soft connection, self carriage and has worked out really well to keep mouths quiet.

Sunset Arya, with High jump and $14 snaffle

I'm also a total whore for my gadget/fad items, aka my Micklem/fake High Jump (though I'm starting to prefer the look of the micklem on my girls over the heavier noseband of the high jump, it's still the easiest bridle to put on ever, so it's my favorite for winter), my Total Saddle fit girths and my Back on Track products. All of these items add to the girls' comfort and I feel like they're more comfortable and happy doing their jobs when I use these products.

I also love every single Weatherbeeta blanket that I own, and will happily talk you ear off about the fit, quality and durability of those blankets. I'm sad but pleased that Foxie's old blankets went into the spare bin; they would have otherwise been on Arya, but since losing Foxie, many of her clothes (including her new set of Weatherbeetas) have gone to Arry, who is not complaining. I've been putting off pulling out the mediums with hoods, but we're starting to get cold enough that I feel like I actually should (the girls are wearing sheets and 180g stable blankets right now in the low to mid 30's for highs).

For me:

- Smartpak Knit pipers are literally the only reason I haven't died trying to ride my girls with my out of shape, muscle loss legs. My only wish is that they were cheaper so I could buy more (silly, I know) and that the waist elastic had a bit more substance to it; while it's not a deal breaker, I heavily regret days when I don't wear a belt. The stick is amazing and they are so comfortable I'm still stuffing long underwear under them so I can continue to take advantage of the comfy.

For the winter, the only breeches I've found really warm are the Kerrits Sit Tight and Warm full seats, though as I'll have my Arctic Horse skirts to hold off the wind, I'm contemplating the Smartpak winter breeches with silicone and am open to any and all recommendations!

Otherwise, I'm kind of in flux with a lot of my personal riding gear; I need to either get new half chaps or find tall boots to school in, and really resent the huge different in my ability to keep my legs quiet depending on what boots I am wearing. Because I've lost some muscle not riding as often, I'm even having fit issues with my tall Ariat winter boots, which honestly were never tall enough to begin with, but this issue seems to be more noticeable this year so far.

As I'm at a bit of a crossroads, I'd love to hear about boots, breeches and other rider spoiling type items!

NaBloPoMo #3, 4, 5

I'm already failing on the blogging daily thing; I didn't even have the foresight to schedule posts when I knew I was going to be booked up all weekend with work and cleaning and houseguests.

But let's get a few of these out of the way, because honestly... I stalled out on prompt #3 and immediately got kind of sad and just quit. Go me.

#3 - Your Best Riding

This one really got me down, like I said. Because I can't think of any moments of spectacular riding on my part. I have some proud moments, where my horse was good, but I can't recall any particular moments where my own riding just knocked my own socks off. So. That's something I should work on. I think, perhaps, that the best riding I've done so far was at Bailey's last Starter, at Otter Creek Spring a few years ago. Why was it my best riding? Because despite the emotional kick in the chest of coming down the center line and x-halt-salute and spotting my estranged parents literally hiding in the bushes after I had made it clear that they were not welcome to watch me show anymore, I kept riding. And I rode my plan, and I rocked it. It was seriously one of the best dressage tests of my life.

#4 - A ride that impacted your life and #5 - Your first fall actually go hand-in-hand with me. Because the ride that hugely impacted my life was on a school horse named Dundee. He was a crabby, behind the leg with a bucking problem, sour-faced chestnut thoroughbred and I, of course, adored him. He's the horse who taught me to get mad and fight for what I want, and he's the horse who taught me to sit and laugh through a bucking spell. He's also the first horse I fell off of; I think (if I remember my chronology correctly) my first fall off of him (of many) was rolling over his shoulder after a jump into the snow. Of course, being a saint of an animal, he didn't actually step on me despite falling off right in front of him while he was cantering, and he was easily caught and I got back on. No fuss, no muss, and easy. He was a good boy, and I do think we really connected in ways he didn't with other riders.

Love you, D.

Tiny Ashley and Dundee

NaBloPoMo #2 - The last time you rode a horse and what you did

I last rode on Halloween, and on my spooker to boot! Scary scary red mare ;)

It definitely felt like a winter ride, despite the fact that the snow is gone except for a few lingering chunks. I worked from home and went out to ride around 3 pm to give myself enough time to get on both horses before sunset, which is at approximately noon, if you ask me.

I got on Bailey first, and forgot my spurs because I almost had an emotional breakdown trying to find riding gloves and things went downhill from there. She was relatively forward and happy to be moving, but still feels quite weak and unable to hold herself together. I foresee a lot of walking lateral work and transitions and long trots for her this winter - and that's kind of what we did. W/T/C in both directions, and some walking lateral work (haunches in is super hard but doesn't = rearing, yay!). She didn't even get warm, but did have plenty of fun jamming around at the canter, which is her favorite. I ended up getting a strap weird on my riding skirt so I spent more time thinking about my skirt than I did thinking about my ride, but she got out and got moving, and that's a step in the right direction. It's such a nice change to be able to swing a leg over her confidently and know that her shit is totally under control. I need to get her more fit before I can start asking her for actual collection, but I feel like I finally have a feel of what I'm lacking in her connection, which hopefully helps her get stronger and will put her in a better place to jump and do dressage come spring.

Arya lunged around like a happy thoroughbred kite on a cold day (though canter and walk are the only gaits she is ok with lately on the lunge), and then came up lame when I got on her and asked her to trot. We did a little work on bending and learning the difference between forward leg cues and bending leg cues at the walk, and she was hesitant to bend when her lame leg was her inside front vs her outside front. I'm thinking it might be a bruise or an abscess, as we've had a lot of freeze-thaw mud that, of course, freezes into pokey ridges of mud from them walking around when it's thawed, so this is helping my theory of it being hoof related. She always seems to come up with something when I find the resolve to really do some riding. MARES.

Luckily this prompt came up, because I want to keep logging my rides without over-posting like crazy due to this month of daily blogging. And maybe I won't keep up with posting every day (hell, I basically already forgot today and it's the second day!) but I am going to try!

NaBloPoMo #1 - When and why you started riding

One of my early lessons. Don't you love the weird martingales?
Every horse wore one at this barn.

I started riding at some point in my mid to late elementary school career - I think, about the 4th grade. I had been begging and begging and horse obsessed for years, and finally broke my parents down to let me take lessons vs occasionally sending me to a YMCA horse camp or on a trail ride. The barn closest to our house was located, and lessons were arranged. The barn was a hunt seat Arabian and half-Arabian type barn, and continues to churn out riders in those disciplines to this day. The lesson horses were a motley crew of fuzzy mutt type horses, and a handful of Arabians and Morgans. The barn consisted of two aisles along one side, and a single aisle along the other, all situated around the small indoor riding ring. I hung out in the Arabian realm, never showing except at the in-house schooling show (which was always exciting because the horses were rarely, if ever, ridden outside, and the show was put on in the outdoor arena) and generally growing too tall and too obsessed with jumping to be particularly well liked by the handful of trainers who moved through the place during the years I took lessons.

First horse show

Hilariously, the trainer told me to hold my hands like that,
and subsequently destroyed my hand position for the next... 12ish years. Whoops. 

I, like many, was bit by the bug while I was young, and it was an interesting phenomenon only because no one else in my life was at all interested in horses. I've always just... loved them. Connected with them. Even though I was no good at first, riding has always been an athletic pursuit my ill-suited to athleticism body could actually tolerate. When I say I'm ill-suited to athleticism, I mean that I have a congenital heart defect that, before the corrective surgery that really didn't do anything when I was 14, allowed my aorta to press in on my trachea as it expanded to pump more blood. I have a permanent... crushed spot - a soft spot, really - in my trachea that rattles gloriously and makes me sound like I need an inhaler. I sound like out of shape hell when I come off of XC at shows, and have always struggled with running or other vigorous athletics. Because I can't inhale and exhale in a particularly productive way, I've never enjoyed athletics. Horses, though, are a good balance. Because I'm generally calm and happy in the saddle, I think the corresponding drop in blood pressure helps make up for my lack of ability in the breathing department.

Either way, I spent a handful of years riding Arabians and getting obsessed with jumping thanks to the Olympics and books, and I'm sure the trainer who gave my parents the number of the local eventing barn was happy to see the back of me when I went. It certainly worked out well for me - I learned more about horses and riding over the next year than I had in the previous several, and that little eventing barn did so much to shape me as a rider and horse person today. For all of my whining about frost bite and being cold as hell, I'm hoping I can find my old resilience and determination. Maybe it's packed away in a box of winter riding clothes?