First Ride

Today was probably the best day this week so far. Deli's eyes are starting to look better and my riding was pretty fun, not pure torture....
RC was pretty good. It's amazing the difference it makes when I'm not pissed off at something else entirely. Who would have thought. It turns out that MD and I are planning on entering a show in July in New Mexico. I guess I need to get cracking on this first level stuff then.
After RC, I RODE DELI. Well, not actually, But I sat up on her while MD led her around. It was sort of fun, kind of scary. I kept waiting for her to lurch, or buck or run. I know she's not a fan of being poked in the belly, so I though that leg signals were going to be her undoing. Nope. She was a little hesitant about it, but she didn't kick out or buck and twist. She stopped and shook her head. The other thing that she might not be simple about is the rein contact. She did pull down and do a sort of head flippy thing. It was so much fun to just sit up on my little horse!
Well, I'm tired so it's brief today. Enjoy, and leave a comment!

Oh, and today's picture is of one of the resident mastoodles... Say hi to Latte.

Standing

So today was a definite improvement on yesterday and Monday. It started well, and pretty much stayed that way. Other than the laundry, but that's just because I hate laundry.
It all started pretty much the same as all the others, with the exception that I gave Deli her anti-histamine in her feed this morning and put that steroid goop in her eyes. It must be working because she looks tons better then she did yesterday or Monday. Whew. Now I can stop worrying that she's going to die....

Of course, I started my riding day with Mr. RC. Again, he was a turd. I rode some test for MD, after a long and low warm up. I thought that he would be happy since he didn't have to sit as much as we've been working on. But no. Mr. Chompers was not a happy camper today, not at all. After a slight hissy while I was riding first level test 4, we sorted things out. The lesson finished with work turning onto the center line. If RC is going to be able to compete at first level, he has got to be warming up like a second level horse. Damn... Oh well, we're getting there, one frustrating step at a time.
After RC, I got to ride Diva. I rather like riding her, especially after my lesson with MD. She has a lot of go, and is sometimes a little lacking on the whoa. But today, she even came back from the canter to the trot when I asked for it not just when ever she felt like it. Either I'm improving, or she is. Either way, it's fun.

Later, it was Deli's turn. Yep, now that Deli can see again, she's back at work. She stood like a champ for the saddling and bridling, as if she never had four days off for health reasons. I lunged her both directions at all three gaits with the stirrups down and flapping. She did take a little offense to being smacked in the sides by the irons in the canter, but other then that she acted as if she was an old hand at all of this. Even her "moments" were nothing that I haven't ridden on RC or Opie. I really like this little horse.
Anyway, after twenty minutes or so of lunging, MD and I decided that she was probably ready to hold some weight. We spent probably ten minutes, standing in the stirrup, holding myself up on her side, then dismounting, rinse and repeat. By the end of the session, I was laying across the saddle while MD held her. If Deli keeps this up, next week, MD will lunge me on her. The next step will be walking and trotting without the line. Yikes... I cant wait.
After Deli strutted her stuff, MD and I worked with the Cremello mare. In a case of competitive two year olds (or in this mare's case, three year olds), she did everything that Deli did, even though it was her first day to wear a saddle. I was surprised at how good the little mare was, given on how spastic she can be. There wasn't even a buck. I'm not going to lie, I was nearly disappointed. Everyone likes to watch other people's horses misbehave... Or maybe that's just me.
To wrap up the day, MD and I went on a trail ride. We disobeyed the posted signs and everything. So for an hour, I rode Sonnet who did not relax for the whole hour. If anything she grew steadily less confident in her surroundings. RC would have loved it. Maybe next time for him....

Allergies....

So.... When will it end? That's all I want to know. To have something happy, I have added Tempi, Sand Dog as the picture of the day. She's loving it here; she runs all day, keeping up with the big dogs, then crashes hard as soon as we get inside.

Ok, day started the same as usual, except that Deli's eyes were no better. In fact both were now starting to swell. They started to swell yesterday mid morning. Not good.
But I went about my bussiness, figuring MD would think that it was nothing. SO i too my RC lesson. Boy was he bad at the end. I thought that he started out really well, I mean he was stretching forward and down and it felt like he was really swinging through. And that was the best we got all day... His trot work wasnt that bad, in all honesty. I did many leg yields, trying to keep the bend through his body and not letting him throw that hip in or out. The I did some shoulder-in to renvers, which really helped our straightness. The difference was amazing; turns out that I need to actually USE my outside leg. Damn it. But after those exercises, RC executed our best yet half-passes. The was wonderful. Then came the canter work... This is where it went down hill.
Instantly, RC locked his back, drove his shoulders down and popped his butt up into the air. Charming. It took me ten minuted to move his shoulders out in line with his hips. And then, since "No horse has EVER been able to do this!", according to RC, he started locking his neck and swpping behind. Finally he got so upset that he actually reared (it's ok, it was a mini rear) with me. Thats when MD got on him. He was awful for her! He was throwing body parts every which way, trying to fall when his feet weren't where he needed them and bucking up a storm. I felt kind of bad; I mean, if anyone is going to be bucked by RC it should probably be me. But as it turns out, loose 10 meter circles are only impossible in THAT spot. He could do them every where else but there. It was a cursed-horse-eating corner of the arena. When I got back on him, we did two 10 meter circles in THAT spot, and two canter-walk transitions, then called it a day and went for a trail ride. No race horses this time.
After I put RC in his new turn out(he's been moved for being a jerk to everyone), I went and worked with the cremello. I really wish she had a name. I've been calling her Sunny, but that's so generic. Awful. Anyway, Sunny was pretty goood. I mean she only freaked out three or four times while I put the bridle on her. She was fairly decent while lunging, but going clokwise was way scarrier for her then going to the left. She is the anti-Deli. Everythgn Deli takes in stride, scares the shit out of the cremello mare. Go figure, Blondes....
After Sunny was back up,I went out to catch the pony colt, Buttons. At least that's what he's being called for now. I brought him inside so that he could stand in the wask stall while I groomed him. MD sticked him at 11.3h. I thought he was smaller then that. Other then flirting with Diva and making an insane amount of noise, he was pretty well behaved. I think he was making the noise because MD was telling me about how much he's changed. Evidently he used to be all body with a little head and skinny legs, like a tick. I think that should be his nickname. It would stick about as well and the Galloping Sea Cow....


As I put Buttons in his new pen, MD looked Deli over. She said to call the vet. So we did, and an hour later, Deli was loaded and on her way to see the vet. By the time the vet saw her, her left eye was nearly swollen closed (you can see in the pict, she is NOT blinking). That's the side that we thought had knocked into something. The right side was beginning to swell too. The vet, Dr. Garza I think, took one look at her in the trailer and said allergies. Evidently sometime yesterday, Deli was stung or bitten by something and voila. Here we are. So now I have to put some steroid paste in her eyes every 4 hours or so and feed her an anti-histamine twice a day. He said to call him back if she doesnt improve by tomorrow,so here's to hoping.
That was my Tuesday. Wow, huh?

Mondays Suck.

Yep. Read the title. Mondays Suck. Epicly. As anyone who bothers to read may know, last Monday I got bucked off and my pride was horribly bruised. How could anything top getting bucked off of a horse? Well, read on....
So MD had to take a mare to the vet to get checked for pregnancy (Amy isn't pregnant, so she stayed at the vet), so I did all of my morning chores, then rode RC, sans lesson.
I only worked him for about 35 minutes, then we both got a little bored (plus, he was being really really good), so we went on a trail ride down the path where the race horses exercise in the mornings. It was all gravy until there were the morning explosions, and a race horse came sprinting up behind us. I wouldn't let RC wheel around, so he just sat low and held it, in case I changed my mind and we did decide to flee. We didn't, so he just looked like a loser, but I got a smile and a laugh from the exercise rider. after about 10 minutes out, i decided it was time to turn around. This time when a new race horse came up behind him, he acted like he had never been afraid of anything in his life. I saw Martha's trailer pull into the deliveries drive as I made it back onto the property. Perfect timing.... or so I thought.
This is where my day went down hill, and down hill fast.
MD went inside to change into riding clothes, and while I'm untacking RC, I hear her yell. She grabbed a halter and rushed to Derringer. When I had turned him out this morning, he had a slightly higher then average (for him) temperature of 104.6, his heart rate was racing (per his usual) at around 75 bpm, and he was sort of panting. I wrote it up to not receiving his banamine injection in the morning, as MD wanted to talk to the vet before giving him anything more. His feet were finally not swollen, and he was eating his grass hay, so I turned hin out.
I rushed over to where MD had haltered Derringer, and he was sweating, but felt icy. Bad. Very very bad. When I checked his gums, they were white as a sheet. He was still panting and his heart rate was still high and erratic, but now he was pawing and reaching around and nosing not his stomach, but right in front of where the girth would be. MD and I tried to get him out of his pen, but he seized and collapsed before we made it. He fell and sort of rolled under the fence. He made it halfway under then he died. Right there. It took a few minutes, but when he left us, we both knew it. I doubt there was anything either of us could have done. He was buried this evening in the desert.

Wow. Great day, huh?

To top it off (for me) I didn't ride Deli today. RC ran her into the door, and her eye looks like she came out of a prize fight. So either flys mucked up her tear duct and I'll have to get the vet out to flush it, or RC is a major bully and beat the shit out of my poor Deli. But the poor little mare stood like a champ when I held an ice pack on her eye for ten minutes. The she didn't even flinch when I rubbed hot pink Swat fly repellent on it. It still looks like she was playing in her mom's make up.
On the riding front: I got my lesson of the day on Diva. I think that the lesson made me a whole lot more comfortable with riding her. This way I know what she does, how MD handles it and how much to expect of her. After Diva, I rode Sonnet (the one who bronced me). She was thinking about it again, especially since I was riding her while the back hoe was digging Derringers grave. She was decent until they started to move Derringer. Then it was get off or get thrown off. I opted to vacate the saddle by choice. After Derringer was out of sight, MD got on Sonnet to school her, then I got back on. It was really fun, again knowing how MD handled her and what to expect made a big difference to me.
Finally, last horse of the day, I got to ride Avril after MD. I got to do a 9 extension, play with her half passes and ride her passage. Awesome. Majorly awesome. Then MD wanted to school Avril's piaffe, with me as the pilot. It wasn't easy, but it sure was fun. I have never sat on a horse that moved so... springy. Sitting on Avril is like walking on the moon, I imagine. The hang time in the trot is amazing (and my abs are killing me just to prove it). It was pretty cool.
So the day ended much better then it began... But it still sucked.

Late night update: Boys suck..... (so do mondays.)

Weekends....

So today I didn't really "work". I got to sleep in til eight! Then I cleaned some stalls... Then it was lesson time.
RC did NOT want to sit at all today. I think he might be a little sore from yesterday, but even on the 10m circle, he was really really stiff. It probably took the better part of 45 minutes to get him to relax through his back enough so that he wouldn't pop into the canter every time I close my outside leg. The one thing that I did learn is that the most obvious sign that RC's not really connected is that when I half halt through the outside rein, he tilts his nose to the outside, or wags his head. If the head is moving, the connection is lacking. By the end of the lesson, his canter work was really good. He did some swapping behind at the beginning, but once he figured out that I wasn't asking him to sit THAT much, he settled down and was a good boy.
Then I lunged Deli. I'll have to put a pict up of her in all her finery, but I don't have anyone to take it... Maybe I can talk MD into it. Today we lunged without the halter on over the bridle. I even left the irons on the saddle, and after an initial start that something had hit her in the sides, Deli just went about her business. It all comes down to Monday. I'm going to sit on her then... We shall see...

To at least act like it's a weekend, I went into El Paso today. I fount a Barnes & Nobel about 20 minutes from here, so I drove down and just perused through the books. There were a few that looked fun, and I wasted a whole afternoon there. Maybe I'll go to the museums next weekend. I should really try to do SOMETHING each weekend...
And finally, today's picture was taken out of the window of my truck. Sorry if it's kind of blurry, but I kinda took it on the fly. What possessed someone to build a house like this in El Paso? it's kind of goofy looking....

Half Day!

So, the title pretty much says it all. I only worked half a day today. I was done by three, which was a good good thing, since my feet were killing me. I am not used to wearing boots all day!
(To the right you can see the incoming rain... who would have thought that it would rain so much in El Paso?)
So, today starts like all the others: clean pens, groom Derringer and give him his shots, then get RC for a lesson.
Today, RC was really trying (I think). I am so sore in the left half of my body, I cant really honestly tell what was his stiffness and what was mine. After about 20 minutes of not being able move his ribs over, MD kicked me off of him and rode him straight for about five minutes. Then I got back on him, and RCs half-passes were MUCH MUCH better. As it turns out, I need to kick his middle to the outside, otherwise he can't go forward at all, and ends up turning a half-pass into a side pass. All in all, I think that both he and I were too sore to be much good today. So we're gonna do it again tomorrow!
Deli was a delight (no pun intended) as usual. She lunged, outside of the arena, in a saddle and a bridle. She was very very good. She walked, trotted and even picked up her leads on the first or second time. That was her issue yesterday, but she is a smart little mare. Her only objection (read: bucking) comes when I touched her with the lunge whip, but as long as i didn't touch her, she was more then willing to stay out on the circle at the gait I told her to. MD thinks that I can get on her on Monday... we shall see!!

Click, Click, Boom!

So, today was not nearly as eventful as the beginning of the week. I rode a few horses, cleaned stalls, cleaned some tack... the eventful life of a working student.

<= The El Paso scenery. Evidently, the area near the mountains is government property.

I started the day with RC, as usual. Today we worked on getting those shoulders up and in line with his hips. It's really tough for him to lift those fat little shoulders, but by the end of the lesson, he was starting to get it. The other thing that MD thinks will really help him out at shows is to really nail those transitions. He CAN do it, he just needs to learn that hes HAS to do it EVERY time. Evidently MD thinks that's where RC can pick up the points that judges don't feel they can give him for not having the extravagant gaits of those big warmbloods. All he has to do is move forward in a consistent frame through both the up and down ward transitions.

On the plus side, MD thinks that thanks to RC's lack of self preservation instinct, he could be the perfect training project and might go farther then his build would suggest. That he lets the rider contort him into any unnatural shape is actually a good sign for his future training. MD thinks that he's practically a second level horse, and may just be learning the third level movements by the end of summer. She even told me that he might be able to go all the way to PSG, though I shouldn't expect 68% scores... that's ok, I'll take it!

After working RC to a panting lather (poor guy), I took him on a little trail ride around the property and down the road. He's liked exploring before, so I figured that he would enjoy it again. Imagine my surprise when i heard thunder. In the desert. Weird. then RC went stiff and spun, i nearly lost my stirrups! The I saw the clouds of dirt about 50 feet in the air. As it turns out, the land to the north of us is a military training establishment, and they were setting off blasts. Huh. That explains all of the helicopters....

After that excitement, I got to work with the cremello mare. She got to wear the bridle for the first time. As it turns out, she is not nearly as calm as she seemed yesterday. When I walked her around with a halter over her bridle, she was ok for about five minutes, then she went nuts. She reared and lunged away from me while MD was riding, and all I could think was "How embarrassing would it be to lose this horse right now". So I hung on... She dragged me about thirty feet, before she chilled out enough to just stand while I cooed at her. I got one hell of a rope burn for my efforts too. I think that she's going to be a tad harder to break then Deli seems to be.....

Later, I rode Diva. I really like riding that little mare. I just feel like I really need a lesson on her from MD. That way MD can tell me how to sit correctly. I fee that the whole issue is how I hold my hips... but who knows.

Finally, guess what Deli did today?

Deli lunged in a saddle and bridle! I introduced her to a bridle yesterday, and she has only learned to lunge in the last three days. As it turns out, she might have a few bucks in her as I bring her along, but she is really really eager to please. She just doesn't like it when either me or MD does something that she thought that she made clear she didn't like (like being touched with the lunge whip). Oh, I'm so excited. MD said that maybe on Monday I'll sit on her. We'll see.. We shall see....

Do you like fish sticks?
You must be a gay fish!!

OK, I'm done.... PS: leave a comment if you actually wasted time to read this! I wanna know!!!