Everyone is saying that the days get shorter now. I beg to differ, my days are getting much longer....
I think people sometimes think my life is simple. They are so wrong. I have started getting a little burnt out, between doing all my barn chores on my own, working four TOTALLY different horses, and somehow fitting school work and sleep in there somewhere. BAH, it crazy. I have been slacking on my school work because I am to worried about keeping my horses going and studying for my H-B. (which is in 10 days!)So, my non-horsey education is slacking, so I need to get my ass in gear! Our town Drivers Ed Coordinator won't call us back ethier. I'm 16, I should have my licence. :P
I have been SO happy with all four of my mares. (Go figure). Keiko got June 13th- the 16th off due to a puncture wound on her left front forearm, it is all healed now. Thank god! I wanted it to heal before Keiko's first
Beg. Novice 3 phase. Yes, it was only MeCTA, but it is a big deal for a horse who did NOT want to move and crashed through any jump you took her over. She did AMAZING @ the Carmel HTS. We got a (not easy) 24 on our dressage, clear cross country, and clear stadium! (Dressage Video) I am so proud of her. This mare is such a packer on the cross country course. I cannot believe how far she's come.
Dixie got a few days off because her back was getting sore again! So she was snuggled in her stall @ night with her Back on Track sheet :) I rode her yesterday and she was okay, not bad just still a little sore. I guess it is not a bad thing for a hard working horse to get a break sometimes. :) Although we did have a dressage show on the 18th, before she started getting sore. It went GREAT. We did 1st lvl test 1 and go a 64. Then did 1st lvl test 3, twice and the first one we got a 59, and the second one we got a 60! So, it improved :)
Ryn has been doing AMAZING. We had the farrier out to Peppergrass before she came home (she came home on the 19th) He trimmed and shod her front feet, no problem. Then he went to the left hind, looked and went "Hmmmmm...". Walked over to the right hind, picked it up and was like "HMMMMMM....." I was like..."Uh oh! whats wrong!" It was weird both shoes were put on crooked. (That or her foot grew out crooked) If you looked at her feet like U U the outside of each shoe was almost an inch and a half higher than the inside. So, that was not helping her movement at all, nor the odd tripping. So he took them off and trimmed them, and she has NICE feet so she didn't need back shoes. About an hour later Debbie rode her and there was a 150% difference in her movement, and her hitch in her right stifle was almost nonexistent. YAY! :) So I guess taking those back shoes off was a good thing. Most horses you take off their shoes and they can't walk. Every ride on her since I got her home has been so so good. I was super worried to bring her home, but I guess now she has her "peep". She is such a one person horse, so it might be hard to sell her in a year or two.
Duelli has been great lately. We did have a lesson with Gail last Friday, and we found some "holes" in her training. She is the type of horse that breezes through anything you teach her so you forget about the small things. This time it was something so simple as giving to the pressure of my left leg. We have not really worked on much lateral stuff, we just wanted to get her stretching, going straight and learning basic stuff. Now, we start to get her moving off my leg. :) She'll get it.
On the 25th FPC went to Show Jumping Rally and they got 5th in riding and 8th in Horse Management. YAY. They did really good for a team with only 1 person that had been to SJ rally before. :) I think this weekend will be the 1st weekend for a while where I have nothing going on :) Next weekend is H-B testing, and Jessica and I are freaking out! Partly because they changed the location of our rating, so it is not on familiar grounds anymore. But.....the weekend after is the Stuart Pitman Clinic!!! I am so excited. I'm doing a lesson with Keiko and Duellsa. I can't wait. I think I am going crazy, but I want to take Keiko to the GMHA event in August. She is such a great mare, I think she can do it with flying colors :)
Now off to ride some horses :)
-Ashley Shaffer
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