An evening toodle

The weather, while we need rain, hasn't been as bloody hot lately and it makes for some really pleasant evenings. And since it's been dry, the mosquitoes don't even seem as bad. Last night I decided that after a ridiculously busy day at work, I needed a bareback toodle. We could work on right leg and rein sensitivity and responsiveness without much pressure of a full workout. 

Hazel came to the barn with me and insisted on leading Gwyn up to the arena. I have a photo of Gwyn following Kaylee around like a puppy at this same age and this mare once again fills my heart with how precious and priceless she is. She kept her head low and followed that toddler with carefully placed feet. The only thing I need to do is show Hazel how to hold the lead line so Gwyn won't step on it. That was our only snafu, but even Gwyn started self correcting for getting too close and ground tying herself accidentally (lead rope was on the halter, not the bit, I know it's hard to tell)

Hazel has her own helmet, of course, and wants to put it on as soon as mine is on my head. She's also finally starting to show an interest in riding Gwyn, though not on her own. She likes riding with me. Since I had the bareback pad I think it was more comfortable for her too. She also likes holding the reins.

She chatters the whole time she's up there.

I worked on keeping Gwyn straight between me without using the arena edge and then also responsiveness to leg aids and neck reining as necessary. I didn't have my whip with me, and we didn't work on anything more than a walk.

As a random side note, I can't find my rainbow crop OR my black dressage whip and I have no idea where they might be.

Revelations I made, which might sound silly that I'm only figuring this out now, but ah well, that's why I'm taking lessons right?

Constant leg pressure aid was less effective than bumping her with a tap-tap-tap AND ALSO FUCKING EASIER ON MY LEG. Jesus. Why didn't I try that sooner? I feel like it's a super obvious thing and why didn't I do it, I have no idea. I feel silly. But there it is. I think I've been imagining my right leg as needing to be a wall or barrier which is making me hold contact and pressure, and that's probably wrong. So my mental approach to this needs to change. I'm going to experiment with this later when I can ride without a 2 year old in front of me.

Our selfie game is strong. I'm feeling really good about myself right now too with how everything is going health wise

So then I put kids to bed and promptly did a hip-opener yoga sequence and my legs are screaming at me WHY DO YOU HATE US!?? But I had cleaned my bedroom, like super clean and I now have a little yoga nook beside my bed that's just lovely and relaxing to be in.

The embarrassing before

The very zen after

And then I got crappy sleep because Hazel didn't sleep through the night like usual and woke up only to hear brays. Which is unusual. I figured someone went back to the barn and Saffron was calling to Gwyn and dismissed it.

Then I heard Gwyn whinny. And she doesn't really whinny unless she sees me at dinner time or unless someone escaped.

...

I'm sure that grass was nice and tasty but one of these things doesn't belong

On the plus side, my coworkers were highly amused by my text of "Running late, donkey escaped" As it turned out, I forgot to latch a stall door last night and despite putting both boards up on the door, Saffron is adept at lifting the bottom board just enough to slide under and then it settles back into place. So that was a great start to my morning,

Then, I stopped at the post office because I had a package from Belgium that needed to be signed for and for the life of me I couldn't remember what I was expecting from overseas.

I finally saw the box. It's the god damn megasus horse runners.

You know. That arrived after I caved and put shoes on Gwyn.

Forward Movement!

On the poison ivy front at least! I went to see a dermatologist who completely upended my medication regime and I'm already seeing improvement. The main gist is that I quadrupled my zyrtec dose, went back on just a straight high dose of prednisone and I have a completely different antihistamine for night time.

The hives haven't spread since starting this and have started to fade. As such, I've contacted Alison the dressage trainer and set up a lesson for tuesday! I've fixed what I can on my end, now it's time to focus on training.

Before this hives business I was thinking of doing the July dressage show but now I've got my sights set on the August shows. I already know that the July eventing derby is a no-go, but I'm still gung-ho on the hunter pace with Alicia. In a way, it's almost a good thing with this poison ivy and training snafu because it automatically limited my choices for next weekend, which has the dressage show, hunter pace AND eventing derby. Ridiculous.

Hazel makes sure everyone, including herself, gets a ginger snap. Note the fearlessness. She knows how to safely give treats! #horsesofinstagram #horseowner #kidsandpets #kidsandhorses #donkeysofinstagram #donkey #twohorsetack #horseblogger #stonewallsporthorse #friesiansofinstagram #friesiansporthorse #appaloosasofinstagram #appaloosa #toddlersofinstagram @quantum_chrome

A post shared by Amy (@lifein_space) on Jul 14, 2018 at 9:57am PDT

SmartPak had their rare sale on BoT products so I snagged two saddle pads. I really like them!

They're a good size for my larger saddle with plenty of room for wither clearance while still allowing use of the girth billet. 

Love this view!

 I didn't ride for long. I lunged a bit, but Hazel and Kaylee were in the arena with me and I'm not a fan of running my horse over my children. Hazel rode with me for a portion of the ride so we just toodled around while she chatted happily.

For the time I rode solo we worked on moving Gwyn's body laterally. Mainly because I know that's going to be something I want to show that we worked on when I have my lesson tuesday. Gwyn did pretty good! We also did some canter. She was much better to the right than to the left but nothing that was scary or unridable. I just boot her through it and ask again. She was much  more unbalanced to the left as well, which is what I'm attributing to her bucking and hopping. When her feet were moving appropriately, the canter was nice and controlled and rateable.

Each kid has their own helmet! Safety first.... until the 2 year old automatically removes her shoes upon entering the arena, lol

I didn't ride for long. I lunged a bit, but Hazel and Kaylee were in the arena with me and I'm not a fan of running my horse over my children. Hazel rode with me for a portion of the ride so we just toodled around while she chatted happily. This is one of the first times she's actually ridden with me and I'm really excited! For as happy as she is around the animals (and how comfortable they are with one another) she really hasn't wanted to ride. Or would get scared.

Hot mare. It was overcast but humid.

We rode 1.5 miles in about a half hour. Kaylee also got on to ride but quickly got frustrated because she tries to steer and be independent, but Gwyn always returns to me. Pokey ploddy pony she is not. She just wants to make sure Kaylee is safe.

And because I am all about all things purple... I found purple spurs and nunn finner purple rubber spur straps. I am stoked!

Seeing improvment?

On Sunday I gave Gwyn her first dose of Adequan and then it was just so bloody hot (and my Mom was here) that I didn't do much with Gwyn, but I felt better by telling myself that I was giving Gwyn some time off after her chiro adjustment and letting the adequan start its work.

Last night I went out to lunge. I've got the creeping crud but the weather has been SO NICE that I made myself go. It'll be hot again soon. As per usual, despite feeling like I could fall over and sleep once I was actually out and grooming and lunging I perked up quite a bit. I just grabbed my surcingle (need a new one) and my side reins (also falling apart) and switched out the sidepull for a baucher on my biothane bridle. 

Is that a more balanced canter I spy?!

Almost immediately I noticed a difference. Gwyn was offering the canter very willingly and was much steadier and more balanced than she's been. There was clear separation and push in her hind feet placement and no bunny hopping until she sassed me and got too rushed and off balance. I was so paranoid watching the quality of her gaits.

I also had two trot poles but I need to finesse the distance. They were set up and then my 5 year old decided that rearranging my arena was totally an activity she should do while I was otherwise occupied. Oh kids.

I didn't want to overwork her on the 20m circle so we did a little bit and then I took off the surcingle and side reins, reattached the regular reins and hopped on bareback to walk her and cool her out. I worked more on the lateral work, side pass, haunches in, shoulder in and she was great. I'm really loving how I can swing her body around right now. That dressage lesson was just wall breaking with whatever obstacle was in my head in how to achieve it.

"I smell your boot"

Good mare

 After riding I hosed her off and fly sprayed her just in time for Eric to come out with Hazel. He wanted to finish moving the hay out of the trailer so that's what we did (because the weather was super conducive to moving bales of hay)

"Okay tiny human, this is how to walk into the trailer"

So hard to see because the bushes and fence are in the way, but we caught sight of a Doe and two fawns! 

 Once all the hay was gone, Saffron slowly made her way into the trailer to snatch up the leftovers. The last time she was on this trailer was when I brought her home and I just sat and watched her. I really want her to be able to load calmly and have good associations with the trailer so this was excellent! The one thing I read that I feel is really important about donkeys is that they remember. They've got an iron trap of a mind and if you've got a repeat bad association you're pretty much screwed with them ever thinking otherwise about a situation.

I also didn't want to leave them alone with the fence open like this. They are escape artists, these two!

Have a silly video of Saffron hanging out with me and Saffron. 

Day 10 - Friends and Family vs Riding

Day 10- How your family/friends feel about your riding



From Clover Ledge Farm

Do you see that expression? That's the face of a man who has just realized that this is his future. It's a grimace. LOL

The big one here is Eric. He is a double edged sword in that he recognizes that having the horse and riding makes a big impact on my mental health. I am happier, more easy going, less irritable and more patient with the kids. He has admitted these things, on multiple occasions, and in writing.

But horses cost money and that man gets anxious when money is not where he wants it (mind you, not low, just not where he wants it) There is no tangible benefit, the horse does not earn us money, it just consumes it. So he gets grumpy but has yet to seriously suggest that the horse go away.

Kaylee likes Gwyn, but she's not as into horses as I was at her age. I can tell. She doesn't need to be out there every day. The horse is always around. I let her ride when she wants, but that's rare.

Hazel, on the other hand, is just an animal lover in general, and wants to be out in the barn with me. She helps with chores. She feeds Gwyn and Saffron. Of the two kids, Hazel is going to be my riding buddy I think.

My Mom is amused that I actually followed through with my determination to have a horse and a farm. She knows it's what I always wanted and damned if I didn't get it in the end.

Friends are amused. No one is surprised though. I made no secret of my love of horses and it's as much as part of me as my hair color and penchant for singing broadway and disney music at the slightest provocation. If they don't accept that about me, they're not my friend.

1.5 Miles at home!

A coworker pointed out today that my truck's tabs were out of date... uh... oops?  I didn't have much to do at work, and I could renew online since it was past the expiration date (my birthday...) so I skipped the last couple hours of work and headed to the secretary of state. That didn't take long to do as there was barely a line and I was on my way home. It was blustery and occasionally raining but I found myself longing to be in the saddle and not minding the weather.

As I talked with Eric I mentioned how I could totally get in a quick ride if I didn't have to pick the girls up from daycare and he asked if I could be done by six... It was 4:50 pm and I was 5 minutes from home. I totally could do it.

Anyway, I got to ride :D

Rain Clouds on the Way

I ran inside as soon as I got home and peed, grabbed riding pants and headed downstairs to get my boots and two new bits I ordered. I wanted to use one of them today to see how Gwyn like them. She honestly doesn't appear to have a super big preference for what's in her mouth, at least not so far as I can tell, and I want something to remind her that she is supposed to turn when I ask her.

For now I tried the happy mouth french link three ring elevator. I've been using a french link baucher and she's been good in that. I've also got a mullen happy mouth 4 ring elevator. I was worried they'd be too small, but it seems that 5 3/4 fits her. So yay!

Anyway, I groomed quickly, tacked up and then took a very reactive horse outside to mount. I had to grab my step stool from the trailer but she was good and stood still, even if she was quivering from the wind and Saffron being upset about us being outside the pasture.

With a very forward walk we went out to the front pasture and did a circuit around. I could FEEL her wanting to spook, and I hadn't gotten any wiggles out with lunging (no time) so rather than stay by the road with all the cars and trucks driving home, I took her up the driveway to see if we could access the farm fields behind the neighbor.

Unfortunately, the brush has grown up a bit too much for our usual crossover spot, but the soybeans are all harvested so getting back out there will be possible, I just need to clear a spot. I tried a few other areas and walked into a trail cam spot. Oops? At least I was wearing my safety orange. I think I'm going to prioritize my safety orange rump rug creation.

I love this view.

Once the field turned out to be a bust I walked Gwyn back down to our property and decided to work on some road desensitization. I eventually want to be able to cross the road and ride on the high school property perimeter. Rush hour, even in Dryden, is still too much for Gwyn though. As I was coming back down I saw that Eric had arrived with the girls. I walked out to the road on the neighbors driveway and then to ours on the grass strip we have between pasture and road. Gwyn was okay, but very jumpy and much more spooky. She had been nearly relaxed after the trip up to the field and back. We stopped to say hi to the kids and again, Gwyn relaxed. Hazel wanted to follow us but Eric herded them inside the house. It wasn't pleasant weather really to stay outside with the kids.

Gwyn and I went back down the driveway to stand by the road a little bit while cars passed. Then I decided we'd work in the front pasture instead of having to get off, go in the pasture and get on again for the arena.

I focused on sitting up for myself, but also kept the thought of impulsion from behind driving Gwyn forward into my hands. I wanted bend and steady contact. We were infrequently achieving that when I was lessoning with Jim. I didn't have any steering issues in the pasture, which is good and Gwyn was stretching down a lot starting to seek contact out.

Time to be done!

I also worked on posting evenly and slowly and rating her back with my seat during the trot rather than hanging on her mouth. After a nice trot circle I had her hop over my cavaletti and she was lovely!  We did lots of serpentines and changes of direction. Then I went back to the walk and tried to get a good working walk, again with that impulsion from behind and bend through her body.

I thought it was a good ride, but having eyes on the ground will be more helpful. I've finally contacted a trainer and have a lesson scheduled for the beginning of November. She'll come to me for the first one at least. I hope it's a good fit. She's not specifically a dressage or eventing trainer, but at this point we need more of an all around person (or dressage) to help us out before getting into specifics.

My cavaletti. I have supplies to make one more, which I should probably do at some point.

So there's that! We walked back and I untacked. The horses were upset I left without giving them dinner, but they're nothing compared to what Hazel would say if I fed the horses without her... And I was back in the house at six pm on the dot! As agreed.

It was a good way to end the day :D

Oak Leaf Run 2017

What. A. Weekend.

And now that it's been a week, I have time to sit down and write about it!

My parents flew in from their new state of South Carolina, partly to help Eric with the girls while I was away, and partly because they were trying to stay busy until it was time to close on their new house. I took Friday off and cleaned the house a bit while packing up for the trip. I got on the road a couple hours later than I intended, but I honestly wasn't in a huge rush and I knew I'd be arriving before dark, which would be an improvement over the past two years, lol. 

Even though I wasn't planning to ride competitively this year, I WAS bringing Gwyn, come hell or high water. The drive over was great. We just reactivated the wi-fi in the truck so I had signal the whole way and listened to podcasts or talked to Eric as he drove home from work. The truck had wifi the whole weekend so I was able to check in with family when I had time (which was like.. .never)

Gwyn seemed to know that we were there to have fun. I got the highline set up first thing with hay on one end and water buckets on the other to encourage Gwyn to move around. She figured out she could move back and forth pretty quickly. The camp site was all sand and easily drive throughable. I like it! And right by the bathroom (the green building behind the haybag)

Toward dusk with the tent set up now with rainfly. I knew it was going to be rainy. I was hoping what I had would be enough (hah... hah... hahahahahah)  I figured I'd hunker down in the horse trailer if I really needed to. In fact, I purposefully swept it out and laid down my outdoor rug in the trailer just in case. I used it as a changing room. So roomy!

To keep an eye on Gwyn I stuck reflective wraps on her legs (loose) and braided in a glow stick to her mane. She was wearing a leather halter and also a rope halter. I used the leather halter for the high line rope.

Ride meeting on Friday. The weather was surprisingly mild for mid October in Michigan. 

My tent. This year I decided rather than layer on the blankets and cushions and sleep on the truck bed, I was going to bring the cot. It was the best decision. I had my sleeping bag and two blankets and I was plenty warm.

But then it was like this ALL DAY.

Camp site in the rain.The trail went past this site ALL day so Gwyn had to watch all the riders going out. It was either great training for her, or just pure torture and meanness on my part. I can't decide which. I know which one Gwyn thinks it is.

Us volunteers (I was the ride timer all day) hung out in the pavilion. Thank goodness for the pavilion. It would have been a miserable day if we hadn't had it. Papers stayed (mostly) dry and there were picnic tables for dry seating.

While it was raining all day, it wasn't ridiculously cold, which was good. I had brought my muck boots so my feet stayed cozy warm and dry, which pretty much kept me happy. I had a poncho but it started ripping halfway through the day and basically became useless. I wish I had remembered my rain jacket or an umbrella. Next year.

Cute horse I was asked to keep an eye on while his rider ran to the bathroom. He stopped eating to watch her go and wouldn't eat again until she came back. It was sweet.

The long wait into the night. This year was the first year Oak Leaf (that I'm aware of) has had a 75 mile ride. There was one rider who did the 75. We also had a planned 25 mile LD evening ride, which would have been amazing to do. The trail markers the ride manager's sister cooked up were amazing and reusable! Two people decided to do the evening LD. So we were still working through the Saturday potluck (Soooo much food!)

The rain got heavier and then it started to get windy AND thunder and lightning! Our riders persevered though! The rider finished her first 75 in the pouring rain and thunder and horse was still ready for more. Apparently she had been boasting at the last ride that she had never had to compete in the rain.

Don't tempt fate, kid. Look what it did to you. TO US.

Finished!

The next morning I woke up to no rain on the tent (which kept me dry!) aside from what the wind was blowing down from the trees. I helped call the start for the Sunday ride since I actually had a voice and can project really well. Then, after breakfast, I decided that I was going to ride my damn horse regardless of weather. It was still spitting and pouring rain in spurts so this was a big mental hurdle I had to deal with.

Gwyn seemed relieved when I started tacking her up. I hopped on and rode out on the camp loop and came back in as riders were starting to come into their hold. The ride manager got my attention and asked if I wanted to help unmark trails since I was already mounted.

Um. Yes!

So I was handed a bag and instructed which loop would be a good one to do (since I did want to get home eventually and had a 2.5 hour drive ahead of me) So Gwyn and I unmarked some of the trail (Creek View Loop)  This was REALLY good practice for Gwyn, who was very confused at first why we kept stopping. Then she realized we were stopping at the colored streamers. THEN she started poking them all with her nose. She figured the game out! We pulled down plates that were stapled to the trees and the ribbons that were clipped to branches. At one point I dropped a ribbon and hopped off to grab it. Getting back on was also a good lesson for the Goober who had to stand still. And yay, with a decent bank I can still mount from the ground, all good things to know and do.

Loving on me while I try and pack up. She also knew the carrots were kept in the truck.

I was given a nice bottle of cider as a thank you when we got back. It's pretty much been decided for me that I time these rides that I can get to. I don't mind. It's a relaxing weekend, even with the rain (and my period, dammit) and this time I got to both help out and go camping with my horse and just be without kids for a little bit. 

The first trail I did was the black loop through camp. Then I took down trail markers on blue. The tiny heart is where my campsite was. It was about 2 miles all told of riding, but wonderful and relaxed and chill. And it stopped raining while I rode!

The drive home was uneventful and I came home to two sick kids who very much missed me, though Hazel was MAD at me for a bit and wouldn't let me touch her or play with her until nearly bed time. 

A sunday ride

I've been having issues with cell reception lately so no GPS tracking for me this time. I did maaaaybe a mile.

After a full day of barn chores yesterday, including getting what I needed to fix one of the dutch doors to the stalls that Gwyn broke, I decided I was going to ride today.  I had promised Kaylee a trip to the Disney store so she could use her gift card that we didn't bring with us on vacation to Disney and while we were at the mall, I grabbed some clothes for work. I left Eric with Hazel.

Unfortunately, Eric was not feeling well. I bought lunch for us and we headed home only to find that Hazel had just passed out for her nap and Eric was ready to doze off as well. Fine by me!

Kaylee and I ate lunch then headed outside to play with the horses. She helped me groom Gwyn and then I spent some time braiding Gwyn's mane. At this point Hazel woke up and Eric, still feeling awful (and not even Man-Flu(tm) but legit 100+ fever awful) went back to bed after passing me Hazel. So I took Hazel out to the barn with me and tacked up Gwyn. Then off to the arena we went for lunging!

Thank FSM she has never done this when I'm riding her. Also, no reins or line on her. I unclipped it all (love the scissor snaps on the reins!) because I intended on this free lunging and didn't want anything to catch and break.

Dork

Saffron also free lunges.

Invisible jump!

Some of this was naughtiness. She didn't want me to catch her. So we did some tough work on the actual line and I made her step under herself and really lift her back. She was working nice and round by the time Kaylee came back and wanted to ride. Our neighbor was mowing and had stopped to watch us.

As I was bringing Gwyn over to the step ladder, she swung her butt away (cause she thought we were still lunging, even though I had my whip tucked back, dunno, body language maybe confused her? I did have Hazel on my back and Kaylee next to me) and then double barrel kicked into the air! I was shocked. She has NEVER done this before. It was away from me and the kids so I wonder if she got bit by a horsefly or something. Totally weird. She was fine the whole time after that.

Only moments after the double barrel. Kaylee climbed on all by herself with the step ladder. I'm really proud of her! She tried steering but hasn't quite gotten the hang of it yet. She loves her new helmet too! Having the perfect fit has really helped her willingness to wear it.

So we did a lunge line lesson so she could just be balanced and feel the movement underneath her.

Gwyn was slow and careful. Good mare.

Then it was my turn! I put Hazel off to the side with Kaylee where they dug in the dirt a bit.

I missed this view. It was too long between rides. With work getting hectic I both don't have time to do this and be with kids and keep the barn/house tidy but also NEED this for mental health.

Fun perspective! 

Playing

Best donkey.

Given how my time has gotten away from me, I'm amending goals for competition this year. I'll likely just keep doing intro rides at the endurance events I want to drive to (Metropark Express in September and then Oak Leaf Run in October).  I REALLY enjoy the volunteer part of endurance rides. I get to be social with everyone while still getting a horse fix. I think my plan for Oak Leaf specifically is to volunteer both days and just ride in the afternoon unofficially. That way Gwyn goes camping with me, I get to ride and I also get to volunteer. Until I have better time management with conditioning both Gwyn and myself, it's only asking for trouble to try and even do LDs, especially with both our sizes, realistically speaking. Neither of us are fit enough.

The eventing derby I wanted to try is next weekend and the entries closed on August 1st, so I'm late for that plus the dressage test requires cantering and I'm really not confident in our ability to remain in a dressage court at a canter tracking left. That's our biggest weakness at the moment. So my plan is through the winter to get some lessons and iron that out. I DO want to do one of the local dressage shows and do some walk/trot tests. There are several more through the year. I just need to pay attention to when entries close. October, as usual, is my horse event month with a hunter pace, hunter derby and oak leaf plus the polly ann trail ride. It's positively packed.

Hopefully with a new person hired at work, things will be a touch less hectic for me and I can more easily fit riding in and some off horse exercise as well.