A little tharapy

As any college student will tell you there are three "crunch times". First: at mid terms. Second: right before thanksgiving. And last: right before finals. Guess where I am right now? In crunch time numero deux.
I'm in the final stages of three projects, had one test, and two presentations this week. Yikes.
So amid all of this and juggling the group meetings, I had a choice. I could either a) take a nap and catch up on sleep or b) go for a ride, and spend four hours thinking about horses. Guess what I went with? Yep. B.
And yet again, I have reaffirmed how important horses are to me. Yes, I could have blissfully fallen into a four hour nap (or coma). But after riding I felt relieved and revitalized. Even if RC was a little buck-master.
So, Happy holidays everyone! I hope your holidays are filled with food, family and fun!

Championships Update

I know, it's nearly been a month since the region 2 championships in Wayne, IL but here is a little sneak into my championship experience. All in all I think that it was a wonderful show. Other then the cold and the rain and all the walking... It was amazing. Both of my boys did well. They handled the 8 hour drive to get there without a problem. My first mistake (though it wasn't all my fault) was getting there too late to have a warm up ride on Wednesday. As it turns out, Lamplight Equestrian Center does not have any lit arenas to allow for evening/night riding. My plan was to leave by 6 am, BUT I got an interview with NavAir at 8 am, which pushed my planned arrival time back about four hours. I got to the show grounds about an hour before my mom and sister showed up, so I got some stalls bedded, my boys unloaded and checked in before seeing Courtney and the Buckmeister. And Mr Scott, of course. Anyway, other then a few rider errors (some severe)I felt that my rides all went pretty well. On my third level open show ride, I totally forgot the test I was riding, and since I was without a reader, just continued on as best as I could. I knew I was off course by about the second move, but the judge did not ring the bell, so I just continued on. What I did was track right instead of left in the second move of the test, so my whole trot work was backwards. The judge rang the bell right before the second extended trot and just had me come down the centerline after the half pass word and track the other way. So pretty much the judges only saw the trot work to one direction. I don't know if they were as confused as I was... But my score was not so hot. Oh well, you live and you learn. My other sub par test was a first level open show test with RC. Mr. RC was a tad opinionated in that test (read: bucky). It was one of the most frustrating tests I have ever ridden, but the judges comments were pretty funny after the fact.
"Capable pair. Try to not let horse be so vocal in his opinions"
In hindsight, I probably would have done better in region 4, but it was worth it the spend a few days with Courtney (even if my ribbons aren't as pretty). There will always be another championships....
Anyway.Enjoy the video. It was fun to make, and I feel that it kind of captures the championships experience.

Hell Week

Hi all,
So this week is kind of hellish. Midterm presentations, group meetings, etc.
I promise that I'll do a write up about the championships eventually... it's just been so busy for me! Wish me luck on this week....

Starting out on the right lead...

All i can say is that I hope that the rest of the week is as good as Sunday. I tagged along with Terri and Anna to a Mid-Rivers Saddle Club open show. It was supposed to be last week, but it got rained out otherwise I wouldn't have gone to a show so close to the championships.
That being said, I'm glad I did. It was alot of fun, and I did pretty well, if I may say so myself. RC was a trooper, slogging through 8 classes through the day. I entered Novice walk trot (english), adult walk trot, adult english pleasure, novice english equitation, adult english equitation, novice horsemanship, adult horsemanship and adult trail. By adult trail, RC was pretty worn out. He had decided that this was not the kind of shows he likes. Evidently he prefers the shows where he goes back to the stall and eats for a few hours between classes. At the end of the show we had three championship ribbons and one reserve. RC does like big ribbons (a la AT style). I wish I had a picture. RC and I were nearly too sequined to look at. It was great.
Next month they have a costume class (and I'm so doing it)... so ideas anyone?

Now on to the championships. The ride times are up, and I have less then three days... The count down has begun.

Things that piss me off...

All right, I finally have some spare time for an update.
So, where to start? Oh yes... Topic today: Things That Piss Me Off
So where to start. Oh yes. Why I couldn't go riding today. Evidently there was some silly fraternity/sorority thing-y going on. Which would all be well and good, I mean no harm no foul, right? Well, major harm, major foul. I have less then a week before i have to go to the championships, and I couldn't go out riding today because some douchebag frat boys don't know how to part their little toy cars without scratching the hell out of Larry. It put me in a rather foul mood. I NEEDED to ride today... Damn.
Number two: Comments from non-dressage people. Yep. It only took two months to get to me again. And I thought I had thick skin... I guess it's gonna take some more practice. I wish that I could give everyone who tells me how "lucky I am to have a horse who 'just does that stuff'" an hour long lesson on either of my boys. Feel the burn, people, feel the burn. Neither London, nor RC for that matter, are born doing "that stuff". It takes hours of pain, tears and misery to get eight minutes of show able work! While I appreciate that people think that London is "pretty", I doubt that anyone realizes how much work went into making him that pretty.
Number three: A $300 offer for RC. Yeah. Right. His accessories cost more then that. I'm just insulted.

Alright... I'm done with my bitching and moaning... Have a good week.

Horses and Homework...

I know! I know! Long time no post.... I'm back at school now and have my first project presentation due tomorrow. Back to the real world for me, I guess.
Anyway, I went to the Centerline Dressage Show in Springfield, IL two weeks ago. While it was not RC's best show, it was London's/ We qualified at 2nd level in tow rides, and got our final third level qualifying score with a 65%. MMy show boy is back!
Well, I have to get back to practicing this presentation...wish me luck!

Where it all began

So, I've been back in Houston since Sunday morning. And it is even more humid thenI remember. Ew.
Deli and RC are living out at Pattison with London, Opie, and Sonnet. The introduction did not go smoothly. Go figure, that right when I want to introduce new horses to the herd all three mares are in heat. What are the odds? On the plus side, it'll only be another few days before Opie quites being so bitchy to the new comers.
So for now Deli and Sonnet are in the little pasture while RC, London and Opie are in the big pasture. RC is in much better shape then the other two, so they don't chase him around too much. They have been in this arrangement for two days now and the only one who is truely disturbed by the change is Sonnet. I figured that having the two year olds together would be ok, but Sonnet is not a big fan of change.

Today I went out there alone since Mom worked last night (I seem to spend quite a bit of time alone now that I'm home). I took Opie for a little trail ride, which made me think (thus the title of this post). Isn't it odd that this one fat little orange horse is the reason that I have all these other horses too? I've had Opie for 12 years now, and we've dabbled in just about everything. I've tried Katy Cowgirls, western clases, barrel racing, trail rides, dressage, carting, swimming and all sorts of other things that a silly teenager would do with a horse she thought was perfect.
I know that my riding has pregressed by leaps and bounds fromthe day that we brought Opie into our lives, but she doesn't care that I learned all about riding and horse care, using her as my guinea pig. Honestly, she's probably the only horse who could be expected to clamly go trail riding one day, then win a barrel race the next.