Lame horses are never any fun!

       So, Friday the 13th (go figure) I went to go to Peppergrass farm to go have a jumping lesson on Ryn. We walked in the barn and she was on the cross ties. My mother and I were like..." Uhmmm." We went and talked to Debbie, and she said she was lame and she wasn't sure on which foot, she didn't really have time to check. We took her in the indoor, and she was limping and head bobbing at the walk! She did do a little trot.  We decided it was her left front. Her shoulder was hot as well as the rest of the left leg. We cold hosed her leg, shoulder, and the rest of her body. I picked out her hoof and rinsed it out, and pressed on multiple spots on her hoof to see if there was a possible abscess. Nothing.... On Monday we got the Farrier out and if found an abscess! it was not that big, and popped like a pimple. What a sensitive mare :) After soaking, and cleaning her foot everyday I was able to ride her on Thursday! (the 19th) She was REALLY good. It was the 1st time her back actually came up the right way. Now to just get my position on her.

     I really have not been able to ride this past week because of the crap load of rain we have gotten. Don't get me wrong, I would ride in the rain, but the footing is SO mucky and slippery. It's funny, with Duelli when she is not being worked she looses weight. It is kinda odd. Unlike Dixie, who does the normal thing and turns into a little marshmallow when she is not ridden.

       Tomorrow I am off to Hitching Post HTS in VT with Jessica Champagne and her mare Missy! It should be tons of fun. I have never been there, so it will be nice to see another USEA venue. Although, sometimes I dread going to USEA events when I am not competing.....this is for a good friend :) Hopefully, I'll get Duellsa and possibly Ryn out there to do some USEA stuff!

        After this weekend though, I have to get my BUTT in gear and start studying for my H-b. Jess and I are going to a Prep/Mock H-b on the 28th. :)

Taa taa for now! 

Finally....

                  Woohoo! My life is so horse crazy and I am absolutely loving it.

       I have had several fantastic rides on all four of my horses. Dixie, we think the saddle search is over! We bought a older Stubben for a STEAL of a price. It's looking like a great fit so far, and she seems to move fine. On the 8th I rode Dixie in a Judy Westlake lesson, and it was a great lesson. We worked on moving her lateral, cause when you do she gets extremely pissy and hollows out her back. So what she had me do was go on the long side of the arena and turn her at a 45* angle and leg yield down. kinda like /|   and every once and a while throw in a halt. Judy's reasoning for that exercise was, 1. Dixie and dominant so I have to push her around a bit, and 2. In order for her to actually cross over her hind legs she has to bring her back up. Which made sense. We did that both directions and when I'd get 4-6 good yielding steps We'd trot forward and it was amazing what the diffrence was. She was actually in my rein with her back up, instead of the alternative where she would be very fake with her back hollow and the contact was light, and then a little weight,  light, and then a little weight,  and so on. So our assignment is to do our regular warm up and then start the leg  yielding. So far we've had 2 great rides.  :)

Duelli is getting back into working, and excelling! She is coming along so well. We're still having trailering problems but that will come with practice. She is finally stretching into my rein! It's taken a while to get back into it, because of the couple months off, but she is coming back with a force. She has a fantastic work ethic. Today (May 10th) We changed things up and went out and did some jumping! All my XC ish jumps are super homemade, but they work and they are safe. She was awesome! She is so fearless and didn't refuse one fence. She is still having a little issue with when to take off before a fence, but she's still green. So for a green horse she's doing excellent.
      Ryn is doing well :) We're mostly working on me at the moment, because she a a BIG mover, and I am not used to it. When she is like western jogging it feels fast when your on her. None of my other horses have a big stride like her! We had a Judy Westlake lesson Monday (May 9th). It was different. We didn't really worry about Ryn, because we needed to fix me first. We worked on me not have a "Jumper" position. Which is weird because I feel like I have that ear-shoulder-hip-heal line, but I don't it's more like a ear-knee-toe line.
So I ended up with a grab strap and trying to get my leg under me, and my shoulders "BACK, BACK, BACK" I think the word "Back" it engraved into my skull right now. :) From riding on my own 24/7 I get the silly little habbits. Like, leaning to forward and looking at the mane, posting from my knees not my hips, and that darn right hand I love to hang onto. But after a little while finally got it. It is SO different going from little Dixie, and then Ryn who's gaits are just huge! A Couple more rides with the mind set of "Upper body BACK, Lower leg BACK, Hips FORWARD  over the saddle, and right hand GIVE" should make some progress in my riding and Ryn happier. (Lesson Video)
   Keiko has been awesome as well, I have not been about to ride her as much as I would like to, But the couple of rides I have had on her have been fantastic. She is really growing up (Except for trying to eat everything!) and finally getting some Spunk!
     My 1st show of the season is this Saturday! Just a little 2-phase, but I love showing so I don't care. I am taking one of my friends training projects for her. His name is Shickoba and he is just way to cute and is a brave little sucker. This pony would jump anything! He is like fearless on the trails, NOTHING spooks him. Oh, did I mention he is for sale? (There's my advertising Jenna!) Sale Video 1    Sale Video 2

   

New horse and Pony Club :)

Lunging VideoMaine has been really warm and drying up. It is amazing!

     We have a new addition to Second Glance Farm! After some serious pros and cons talking, we decided to take in a horse. Her name is Labrynth, aka Ryn. She is a 13 yro, 16"3 Canadian Sport horse cross, mare. She has been doing Dressage for the past several years now, and is now moving to eventing! She is a hopeful project horse, and a horse I am hoping to get my C-3 in 2012 :) Our plan is to introduce her this year to eventing in MeCTA events and maybe some USEA later in the year.  This will be really good for me, because I can continue my passion while really taking my time to get Duellsa trained. ( Lunging Video )

      Our pony club took a trip to UNH Horse Trials this past weekend. It was a lot of fun, though I wanted to be competing! Our fellow Mainers did amazing! (Shout out to them!!). It was good for the pony clubbers that are getting their C-1 this year to see a REAL USEA event. It is SO different out there compared to our local combined training events.

    Getting lots of riding, lessons, and training done! I'm a happy horsey kid :)