I know everyone who lives anywhere but here will throttle me for complaining about temperatures SOARING into the upper 80's, but holy gosh. When your body is calibrated for a tiny window of 68-72...
90 degrees turns me into a lazy marshmallow.
Such as it is, not much has happened. Good schools with Prairie late last week and on Saturday. We both opted to work on our tan lines (and highlights) yesterday instead of working, and today I shared the ring with a lesson so we were relegated to the "scary" end of the arena which was a good schooling "opportunity" but not exactly our most fluid ride.
Since I'm still sweaty, sticky and mostly toasted - I'll spare you the sissy complaints of a overheated Seattle-ite and get straight to the totally unrelated video.
This came to me from D (the miracle pony keeper) who keeps Star looking like she's in her twenties instead of her thirties or forties... (maybe she could work her magic on me in the coming years..)
Anyway - I sorta want to make one of these suits for P1 and P2. Wouldn't they be adorable!?!?!
I particularly enjoy the banded tail and floppy ears...
Monday, August 6, 2012
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
P2 Trim (where-in I terrify myself)
Since the mare was such a good sport on Sunday, she deserved Monday off. Since I didn't really do anything Sunday (aside from dispense carrots) I didn't deserve a day off, so I made grain baggies, cleaned up my tack locker and decided to give the girl a trim.
However, I did still have my camera in my purse form the show, so I managed to snag some "afters." This was harder than you might think since I forgot to swap out the lens from my telephoto. So all of the solar views involved me holding P2's foot with one hand/leg/whatever and the other hand desperately trying to balance my camera, angle it correctly and hold it far enough away to get the whole hoof in one shot.
Why I seem to be incapable of taking normal photos of my horse's feet, I do not know. But it's a trend that seems to be holding steady.
Anyway, her feet:
I think P2's feet are "good." She grows quite a bit of hoof, and doesn't seem to do anything too crazy with it. She does produce a bit of flare on all four feet fairly predictably. On her hinds, the flare is isolated to the medial side of each foot. Up front she spreads the flare around a bit more evenly, but it's most pronounced on the medial sides as well. Mostly I just wanted to take a teeny bit of growth, back her heels down again and smooth out the edges.
I don't quite know how to handle the flare. My vet tried to assure me that I don't really need to worry about it (in the amount that P2 seems to display), but when I'm staring at her feet It bugs me. Also, the difference between her tighter wall on the medial side, and the stretched wall on her lateral side is hard to ignore (consistent across all four feet).. So I sit there and furrow my brow at it but I don't actually do anything - because anything more than my 10 rasp strokes to even things out scares me...
As always, would love your comments. Her angles on the fronts look a little funky to me, and I still see that flare, but her hoof shape is pretty well balanced and her heels/frogs all seem to be doing their job.
Also - Prairie tends to wobble and lean on me less if I have her in the wash rack instead of a normal cross tie section which is dandy, except the mats are wet so her feet are "stamped" with some moisture. Ok, enough talk, here are the pics:
Right Front....
Left Hind...
Right hind...
Okay. There you have it.
(as a side note, my mom stopped by the show for a few minutes on Sunday. She hasn't been to a horse show since.... ohhhhh 1998? so it was sweet of her to come. But I nearly died when she asked "someone else is riding your horse? who are you Ann Romney??" Aside from obvious points for relevancy, if you know my mom this sentence coming out of her is nothing short of hysterical)But back to Monday's trim. P2's feet got a few small chips and since it's been a couple weeks since I touched them, I figured it was time for a baby trim. Only after I 'finished' her front feet did I realize I didn't take any "before shots" but that's an accurate reflection of how organized I've been feeling :)
However, I did still have my camera in my purse form the show, so I managed to snag some "afters." This was harder than you might think since I forgot to swap out the lens from my telephoto. So all of the solar views involved me holding P2's foot with one hand/leg/whatever and the other hand desperately trying to balance my camera, angle it correctly and hold it far enough away to get the whole hoof in one shot.
Why I seem to be incapable of taking normal photos of my horse's feet, I do not know. But it's a trend that seems to be holding steady.
Anyway, her feet:
I think P2's feet are "good." She grows quite a bit of hoof, and doesn't seem to do anything too crazy with it. She does produce a bit of flare on all four feet fairly predictably. On her hinds, the flare is isolated to the medial side of each foot. Up front she spreads the flare around a bit more evenly, but it's most pronounced on the medial sides as well. Mostly I just wanted to take a teeny bit of growth, back her heels down again and smooth out the edges.
I don't quite know how to handle the flare. My vet tried to assure me that I don't really need to worry about it (in the amount that P2 seems to display), but when I'm staring at her feet It bugs me. Also, the difference between her tighter wall on the medial side, and the stretched wall on her lateral side is hard to ignore (consistent across all four feet).. So I sit there and furrow my brow at it but I don't actually do anything - because anything more than my 10 rasp strokes to even things out scares me...
As always, would love your comments. Her angles on the fronts look a little funky to me, and I still see that flare, but her hoof shape is pretty well balanced and her heels/frogs all seem to be doing their job.
Also - Prairie tends to wobble and lean on me less if I have her in the wash rack instead of a normal cross tie section which is dandy, except the mats are wet so her feet are "stamped" with some moisture. Ok, enough talk, here are the pics:
 |
| Head on shot of our front feet post trim |
 |
| and her rear feet post trim.. |
 |
| Left front lateral |
 |
| left front lateral (again) |
 |
| Left Front Solar (in focus, but missing part of the wall) |
 |
| Out of focus but whole hoof... (whoops) |
 |
| Right Front lateral |
 |
| Right Front Lateral |
 |
| Right Front Solar |
 |
| Right front solar again |
 |
| Left hind lateral |
 |
| left hind lateral |
 |
| Left hind solar |
 |
| RH Lateral |
 |
| RH Lateral |
 |
| RH Solar (out of focus again, whoops!) |
 |
| RH in focus but missing toe... |
Monday, July 30, 2012
Adventures in Hunter Land!
Our little foray into Hunter-Land proved mostly successful and hugely fun. Partly due to P2's admirable attempt to be a nice lazy Hunter, and partly due to how fun it is to haul out to a show with friends in tow. Prairie was lucky to have both 4 legged and 2 legged friends and fans out watching her go's in the little-teeny-tiny baby ring at the show.
Saturday before the show I had the pleasure of hosting SprinklerBandit and her friend while they cruised through Seattle on a horse-shopping trip, so The Boy was treated to a bevy of horse-gals when we all sat down to evening cocktails and snacks (also joined by Supermom and Denali's Mom).
He gets full marks for not running away - or totally tuning out as we started extolling the virtues of various pieces of tack. (For the record, the bridles came, the Aramas is gorgeous and we're keeping it. Full review to come shortly)
But back to the show. We had fun! I forgot what it's like to not have a 3:30 ride time, so I was a touch cranky at 5:30 when the alarm went off and even crankier when I couldn't hit snooze 8 times without missing our first ground pole class. (teehee. ground pole!). We had a little bit of trailer drama loading some other mares, but once again The Boy proved his worth as profession butt-tapper and horse pusher helping to cajole the cranky mares into the big metal box. Prairie loaded well and without incident, and was extra pleased to have S's little lesson pony as her companion. Izzy (the pony) was adorable and I regret not taking pictures of her butt next to Prairie's butt in the trailer. Too cute for words.
All in all we had 4 horses with us for the day. P2, Izzy, and two cute mares who belong to another of S's clients. Enough to keep us busy all day long but still manageable.
P2 had seven classes on her dance card.
The first couple ground pole classes were awesome. P2 didn't really warm up, but she trotted around her "course" politely and evenly. She still likes to pitch herself over the poles, but she totally refrained from spooking at any monsters in the bushes or anything naughty like that. For her efforts she got two blue ribbons and two "first place carrots" which she promptly devoured. The first place for her "hunter" round is a little suspect, since I accidentally taught Sabrina the wrong course. The ring steward let her back in for a do-over which was very nice, but then S accidentally snagged the wrong "line-diagonal-line" combo and ended up off course. Two very nice rides.. just not correct ones. Either the judge didn't notice or really no one cared. Regardless, Prairie wasn't going to give her carrot back.
We had a brief break which involved lots of standing around until our Cross Bar Division started and S took her around two more times. We ended up 2nd and 3rd which was fair since P2's brakes stopped working about halfway through each round leaving S with a less than consistent stride. Prairie did manage to sneak in the correct 4 strides in each line, but it didn't look... effortless. Still - no major spooks or bolts so I was really pleased.
Then the real challenge came as we sat around for 3 hours waiting for the Junior divisions to run before our 18" classes. I took Prairie back to the trailer a couple of times to let her nibble and drink, but mostly I made her stand nicely in the shade and be patient. I kept waiting for her little egg timer to go off and for the tantrums to start - but for the most part she held it together.
Every now and then she'd get antsy and started pawing around, but she's usually quiet back down after a few minutes and start dozing again.
We finished with one little flat class for the experience. P2 has made it known that she doesn't exactly love being ridden in traffic, a preference that she needs to get over. This division cracked me up because it ended up having a few big horses lumbering around, along with some of the cutest little ponies and their cute little 9 year old riders.
Prairie won the class (not a large, or fancy class), but I did feel a little guilty about beating the adorable bay pony.
I finished the day totally exhausted from nothing more than standing around holding horses. But I had a blast! And I'm so super proud of my big dressage mare. She was calm, level headed and played along well. Next time we do this. (since P2 now has a fancy hunt bridle there will be a next time..) I'm going to aim for the "big" ring and enter the 2' Division. That way she has to deal with the grandstand and pretty, well decorated fences. Also, the arena is about three times the size of where she was on Sunday, so we won't have the benefit of such a contained space. But I think we are up for the challenge and I'd like to up the ante a bit.
The Boy was proud of our girl and was glad to respond with "no. She's not for sale" to a couple of inquiries.
Part with our big goofy mare? never.....
Next on the docket is another Dressage show in two weeks on August 12th. I sent my entry in to ride First 1 and First 2. I'd like to try to get to another Hunter Schooling show, but we have weddings on the weekends that most facilities nearby are doing their "august" shows. There's a "C" show we could hit in September, but we'll see.... For now, it's back to the Dressage saddle and focusing on increasing our impulsion and keeping our canter uphill!
 |
| Cuter. |
He gets full marks for not running away - or totally tuning out as we started extolling the virtues of various pieces of tack. (For the record, the bridles came, the Aramas is gorgeous and we're keeping it. Full review to come shortly)
But back to the show. We had fun! I forgot what it's like to not have a 3:30 ride time, so I was a touch cranky at 5:30 when the alarm went off and even crankier when I couldn't hit snooze 8 times without missing our first ground pole class. (teehee. ground pole!). We had a little bit of trailer drama loading some other mares, but once again The Boy proved his worth as profession butt-tapper and horse pusher helping to cajole the cranky mares into the big metal box. Prairie loaded well and without incident, and was extra pleased to have S's little lesson pony as her companion. Izzy (the pony) was adorable and I regret not taking pictures of her butt next to Prairie's butt in the trailer. Too cute for words.
All in all we had 4 horses with us for the day. P2, Izzy, and two cute mares who belong to another of S's clients. Enough to keep us busy all day long but still manageable.
P2 had seven classes on her dance card.
Ground Pole Hunter Sr.Enough to keep us busy :)
Ground Pole Equitation Sr.
Cross Bar Warm-up Hunter Sr.
Cross Bar Hunter Sr.
Hunter Warm-up 18" Jr/Sr
Hunter 18" Jr/Sr
18" Division Hunter Sunder Saddle Jr/Sr
 |
| Photo courtesy of Denali's Mom |
We had a brief break which involved lots of standing around until our Cross Bar Division started and S took her around two more times. We ended up 2nd and 3rd which was fair since P2's brakes stopped working about halfway through each round leaving S with a less than consistent stride. Prairie did manage to sneak in the correct 4 strides in each line, but it didn't look... effortless. Still - no major spooks or bolts so I was really pleased.
 |
| fitting in four strides in her "line" |
Every now and then she'd get antsy and started pawing around, but she's usually quiet back down after a few minutes and start dozing again.
S finally hopped back on for a bit of a warm up and I got to play jump crew.
For the record "jump crew" meant I shoved a burger in my face while adjusting a small warm-up fence from an X to a vertical. I thoroughly enjoyed that responsibility.
 |
| killing it. |
Finally it was P2's turn again. Based on the total lack of brakes with the Cross Bar classes, I switched her bit from the double jointed D-ring to a chunky slow twist full check. Not much more bit, but we were hoping to canter the whole course without developing a huge, slow freight-train-running-canter. It seemed to help and Prairie put in a decently even, good looking course.... until she decided to just go around one of her jumps. It wasn't a particularly dirty runout, but it was a runout which is naughty. S re-presented her and finished the course smoothly. Their second round back in was without errors and given all 10 days of our experience with courses looked pretty decent!!
S opted for a few simple changes, since P2's flying changes can still result in some confusion for the mare. I think that was a smart decision and it gave Prairie some nice, calm, confidence building rides - which was our primary goal for the day.
We finished with one little flat class for the experience. P2 has made it known that she doesn't exactly love being ridden in traffic, a preference that she needs to get over. This division cracked me up because it ended up having a few big horses lumbering around, along with some of the cutest little ponies and their cute little 9 year old riders.
Prairie won the class (not a large, or fancy class), but I did feel a little guilty about beating the adorable bay pony.
I finished the day totally exhausted from nothing more than standing around holding horses. But I had a blast! And I'm so super proud of my big dressage mare. She was calm, level headed and played along well. Next time we do this. (since P2 now has a fancy hunt bridle there will be a next time..) I'm going to aim for the "big" ring and enter the 2' Division. That way she has to deal with the grandstand and pretty, well decorated fences. Also, the arena is about three times the size of where she was on Sunday, so we won't have the benefit of such a contained space. But I think we are up for the challenge and I'd like to up the ante a bit.
The Boy was proud of our girl and was glad to respond with "no. She's not for sale" to a couple of inquiries.
Part with our big goofy mare? never.....
Next on the docket is another Dressage show in two weeks on August 12th. I sent my entry in to ride First 1 and First 2. I'd like to try to get to another Hunter Schooling show, but we have weddings on the weekends that most facilities nearby are doing their "august" shows. There's a "C" show we could hit in September, but we'll see.... For now, it's back to the Dressage saddle and focusing on increasing our impulsion and keeping our canter uphill!
Friday, July 27, 2012
P2's Baby Course (and gratuitously adorable ponies)
Since the show is Sunday, I turned the mare over to S so that she can have some consistent rides before we make our grand Hunter debut. It sorta feels like cotillion all over again.. what with shopping for new outfits, practice her "dance steps" and worrying about how well she'll fit in with "society." lol
Good thing I'm just as nonchalant with Prairie's "debut" as I was with my own...
S had a great little ride yesterday. The mare wasn't quite as calm as she had been with me the day before, but there was more going on and we made the jumps a little more "visual." Still baby heights but P2 is getting more patient in her approach. The biggest challenge of the moment is correcting her leads. Sometimes she swaps on her own, but if you push for the lead change she tends to get unbalanced and start running (you'll see this). Other than that, I'm super proud of my girl!!
Here's a quick iphone video of her course yesterday:
Apparently today she was even more relaxed and willing to sit for normal horse strides in the line... so we're still trending up!
And now... for something completely adorable. Good friend D (the magical caretaker of ancient pony Star..) has a couple (adorable) little tiny welsh ponies that may or may not become lesson ponies. She recently sent me some pictures and I just have to post a few. Have to.
Can you imagine having these adorable things in your barn!?? I want to collect a whole set!
Good thing I'm just as nonchalant with Prairie's "debut" as I was with my own...
S had a great little ride yesterday. The mare wasn't quite as calm as she had been with me the day before, but there was more going on and we made the jumps a little more "visual." Still baby heights but P2 is getting more patient in her approach. The biggest challenge of the moment is correcting her leads. Sometimes she swaps on her own, but if you push for the lead change she tends to get unbalanced and start running (you'll see this). Other than that, I'm super proud of my girl!!
Here's a quick iphone video of her course yesterday:
Apparently today she was even more relaxed and willing to sit for normal horse strides in the line... so we're still trending up!
And now... for something completely adorable. Good friend D (the magical caretaker of ancient pony Star..) has a couple (adorable) little tiny welsh ponies that may or may not become lesson ponies. She recently sent me some pictures and I just have to post a few. Have to.
Can you imagine having these adorable things in your barn!?? I want to collect a whole set!
 |
| This cute thing had a baby. |
 |
| (heart. melt/) |
 |
| omg |
 |
| That's Star in the background... I always wondered if she'd be a good mom.... guess not |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
