So, how did the first day of school go? How hard was it to get out of bed? How hot were the classrooms?
As hard as it is to go back to school after the summer off, it is even harder not to ever have summers off...which is what you have to look forward to once you are done school.
I am curious as to how many kids take bag lunches to school now days, vs skipping lunch or buying lunch at school. Making a bag lunch for someone else has to be one of the more thankless jobs in the world. It is hard to come up with healthy food that will be eaten and not trashes, and that will still taste good by the time it is consumed. I usually make Rob's lunch the night before, and it is hard to forecast just what he will feel like eating 14 hours later.
When I was a kid, my lunches were pretty much the same: one sandwich, one fruit, a juice box, and 2 cookies. The sandwiches were usually peanut butter and jam, or peanut butter and honey. Sometimes there would be veggies instead of fruit, or granola bars instead of cookies, but the lunch was pretty standard. I cannot imagine not having been able to have peanut butter in my lunches and I still live on the stuff! I liked the sandwiches and the cookies, but wasn't always grateful for the fruit. I was often jealous of me classmates with their bags of chips and candy, and possibly a can of pop, but maybe that explains why I am thin and so many of them were not... Anyway, thanks mom for all the yummy school lunches, and sorry for the apples that sometimes ended up rotting at the bottom of my locker...
...
New horse came yesterday for training: Pilgrim. He is a 7 year old QH gelding here to be started under saddle. His eventual career will be that of barrel racer! An interesting side note about Pilgrim is that I used to ride his dad a bit! His dad was a very easy to ride hunter, who competed at QH shows and on the "A" Circuit. Pilgrim looks nothing like him though, and appears to take much more after his mom who has strong working cow horse bloodlines...Pilgrim is BUILT. He is almost as wide as Gjelt!
Pilgrim can be nervous around new people so it will be good for him to get used to the comings and goings at Hillside.
Karen
Monday, August 31, 2009
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Eyeford
The weather was a little hot, but nice for the Eyeford show. The breeze was definitely welcome as the afternoon heated up, and kept the bugs away.
The show was reasonably well attended, with a manageable amount of entries in each class. The parking and warm up was nicely non-chaotic compared to some other shows we have been to this year. Lara did a good job keeping it running smoothly as well.
Janine was our hunter representative on Shawn. It was their first show together, and her first class was about as close to perfect as I could reasonably expect: Even canter, good corners, consistent form and pace. As it was Shawn, she did add in the lines, and trotted some changes, but it was all very smooth and huntery! She got a few comments on how nice a round it was and how nice a horse Shawn is. I was very pleased and wished I have videoed it for Janine. I thought for sure she should have placed in the top three, but it was not to be, and she was left out of the ribbons. When I later looked at the judges card this is what I saw: three checks denoting a good jump, then the notes: horse too slow, switched leads in front of jump...and no marks for any of the other jumps...apparently the judge didn't bother judging after jump 3! And no one saw him swap leads in front of a jump, so not sure what that comment meant and how horses that trotted jumps crooked placed over them. Oh well...I guess I would rather she had a really good round and no ribbon that a bad round and a ribbon.
The next three classes went ok for them, but Shawn was getting tired, so was later with his changes and had some chips where he should have been able to take off slightly long. Regardless I was still very happy with both horse and rider, and they did pin in a few of those classes.
There was another girl at the show who had some very nice rounds on her liver chestnut and was left out of the ribbons which suprised me. Sure the horse didn't come in looking like a hunter, but she got all her strides, all her distances, nice corners, and the horse had good form...and the rider was nice and quiet. I felt she definately deserved some ribbons based on some of the rounds that I saw that did place. I remember the horse from previous years and was very impressed with the progress they had made and told the rider so.
I guess that is the thing with hunters though...it is subjective and some days it is to your advantage, and other days you get left out.
Then it was the jumpers. Jerry and Karen made their debut and it went really well! Karen was one of the few to get a clear round ribbon in her class. They had a cheap rub in the power portion of the power and speed so that was too bad. The Stake class was something else though...there was a crazy hair pin turn at the end of the course...Jerry ALMOST made it, but just didn't have enough gas in the tank to get himself over the jump from the odd angle. Still, they ended up in a jump off as hardly anyone could make the turn, and managed to place 5th! It was a great first show for the two of them, and Jerry looked like a show horse rather than an off track maniac. Maybe the name "Serenity" suites him after all.
Sara and Fancy challenged the big division and did pretty good too, but I think Sara had gotten perhaps too much sun by then and was a little out of it and missed some turns. It was a long day for them as Sara arrived at the same time as Janine and I did for the hunters. Fancy jumped well though, and was quite good in the combination and tried pretty hard to accommodate some of the crazy turns.
Hopefully they hold more shows at Eyeford next year...if they do, we will be there!
Karen
The show was reasonably well attended, with a manageable amount of entries in each class. The parking and warm up was nicely non-chaotic compared to some other shows we have been to this year. Lara did a good job keeping it running smoothly as well.
Janine was our hunter representative on Shawn. It was their first show together, and her first class was about as close to perfect as I could reasonably expect: Even canter, good corners, consistent form and pace. As it was Shawn, she did add in the lines, and trotted some changes, but it was all very smooth and huntery! She got a few comments on how nice a round it was and how nice a horse Shawn is. I was very pleased and wished I have videoed it for Janine. I thought for sure she should have placed in the top three, but it was not to be, and she was left out of the ribbons. When I later looked at the judges card this is what I saw: three checks denoting a good jump, then the notes: horse too slow, switched leads in front of jump...and no marks for any of the other jumps...apparently the judge didn't bother judging after jump 3! And no one saw him swap leads in front of a jump, so not sure what that comment meant and how horses that trotted jumps crooked placed over them. Oh well...I guess I would rather she had a really good round and no ribbon that a bad round and a ribbon.
The next three classes went ok for them, but Shawn was getting tired, so was later with his changes and had some chips where he should have been able to take off slightly long. Regardless I was still very happy with both horse and rider, and they did pin in a few of those classes.
There was another girl at the show who had some very nice rounds on her liver chestnut and was left out of the ribbons which suprised me. Sure the horse didn't come in looking like a hunter, but she got all her strides, all her distances, nice corners, and the horse had good form...and the rider was nice and quiet. I felt she definately deserved some ribbons based on some of the rounds that I saw that did place. I remember the horse from previous years and was very impressed with the progress they had made and told the rider so.
I guess that is the thing with hunters though...it is subjective and some days it is to your advantage, and other days you get left out.
Then it was the jumpers. Jerry and Karen made their debut and it went really well! Karen was one of the few to get a clear round ribbon in her class. They had a cheap rub in the power portion of the power and speed so that was too bad. The Stake class was something else though...there was a crazy hair pin turn at the end of the course...Jerry ALMOST made it, but just didn't have enough gas in the tank to get himself over the jump from the odd angle. Still, they ended up in a jump off as hardly anyone could make the turn, and managed to place 5th! It was a great first show for the two of them, and Jerry looked like a show horse rather than an off track maniac. Maybe the name "Serenity" suites him after all.
Sara and Fancy challenged the big division and did pretty good too, but I think Sara had gotten perhaps too much sun by then and was a little out of it and missed some turns. It was a long day for them as Sara arrived at the same time as Janine and I did for the hunters. Fancy jumped well though, and was quite good in the combination and tried pretty hard to accommodate some of the crazy turns.
Hopefully they hold more shows at Eyeford next year...if they do, we will be there!
Karen
Friday, August 28, 2009
Summer Vacation is at an end...
The last weekend before school goes back in. At least the city kids have until Wednesday, but the poor Sherwood Park/Ardrossan kids go back Monday for a full week of school. At least there is a long weekend to look forward to next weekend.
I will miss being able to teach during the day, and having Tuesday nights off. It also seems that the 8pm lessons will have to move to inside from here on out...the days are getting shorter so quickly now.
This was such a hot and dry summer...interspersed by only a few cold weeks. Amazingly I didn't have to bring jumps inside at all this summer, with the rain conveniently falling on non-jumping days or at night only.
I do like Fall in Alberta, so I hope we can look forward to a nice fall and a late winter. I have to admit I am looking a little forward to the quieter schedule that winter brings for me, with less horses to train and no shows to plan for.
I hope you all have a great weekend!
Karen
I will miss being able to teach during the day, and having Tuesday nights off. It also seems that the 8pm lessons will have to move to inside from here on out...the days are getting shorter so quickly now.
This was such a hot and dry summer...interspersed by only a few cold weeks. Amazingly I didn't have to bring jumps inside at all this summer, with the rain conveniently falling on non-jumping days or at night only.
I do like Fall in Alberta, so I hope we can look forward to a nice fall and a late winter. I have to admit I am looking a little forward to the quieter schedule that winter brings for me, with less horses to train and no shows to plan for.
I hope you all have a great weekend!
Karen
Thursday, August 27, 2009
About time they started earning their keep...
Rob came across this nifty invention: Horse Car
With this, the horses could get their own selves to the horse shows! Ok, they may be a little tired when they get there, but think about how fit they would be!
Of course the photo is just showing a toy horse in the car. How on earth would you convince your horse to keep trotting as it went down the road? Maybe they should invent something like this that uses people power instead of the horse. Then we can hook teenagers to the treadmill and there can finally be a good use for teenagers...
Kidding of course...there will never be a good use for teenagers (other than to work at Sobeys and McDonalds of course!)
Karen
With this, the horses could get their own selves to the horse shows! Ok, they may be a little tired when they get there, but think about how fit they would be!
Of course the photo is just showing a toy horse in the car. How on earth would you convince your horse to keep trotting as it went down the road? Maybe they should invent something like this that uses people power instead of the horse. Then we can hook teenagers to the treadmill and there can finally be a good use for teenagers...
Kidding of course...there will never be a good use for teenagers (other than to work at Sobeys and McDonalds of course!)
Karen
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
The dogs have felt left out of the blog...
Ginger loves her toys...but she is so hard on them. She has gone through three large soccer balls..two of which were kindly donated by Paige. She destroyed to tennis ball that Amanda gave her. She took the squeakers out of any of Mike's toys we left near her. She lost the hard purple ball in ball toy I got her for Christmas, as well as a number of Kong toys (I wonder if the fox and coyotes have them now?). Rob recently bought her a new Kong Type toy, that is kind of built like a classic UFO shape. Ginger loves it, and it is entertaining to throw, as it will roll in odd directions when it lands. Ginger however has trouble keeping track of her toys, as she will have one her mouth as she gets distracted by the call of the wild, and will end up dropping it along the way. She hates being without a toy though...which may explain why I caught her laying outside the barn today trying to convince me that the apple between her paws was a ball for me to throw, and not an apple that Joan brought for Rocket to eat...fortunately Rocket didn't notice the two teeth marks and ate the apple without complaint. 
I love this picture of Ginger that Paige took last year...I call it "Poverty Dog" as she looks as if she is one of the poor kids in South American countries that just have an old soccer ball to play with admist the rubble.
Mike is not as in to toys as Ginger, but he does appreciate a good squeaky toy if Ginger isn't around to steal and wreck it. His favourite game is keep-away...he isn't much into fetch or carrying a toy around aimlessly. He does seem to get a kick out of smelling shoes lately. Every shoe tells a story I guess.
Poor Mike is getting to be an old dog, and he is getting hard of hearing, and his back is getting quite stiff. He can't always hear when a person or horse is coming up behind him, and he can't move out of the way very quickly. He needs some sort of force feild to protect him, but as that isn't possible right now, we all just need to give him a little extra room, time and attention. And if you want to get his attention, slapping your legs seems to be the sound he hears the easiest.
Karen
I love this picture of Ginger that Paige took last year...I call it "Poverty Dog" as she looks as if she is one of the poor kids in South American countries that just have an old soccer ball to play with admist the rubble.Mike is not as in to toys as Ginger, but he does appreciate a good squeaky toy if Ginger isn't around to steal and wreck it. His favourite game is keep-away...he isn't much into fetch or carrying a toy around aimlessly. He does seem to get a kick out of smelling shoes lately. Every shoe tells a story I guess.
Poor Mike is getting to be an old dog, and he is getting hard of hearing, and his back is getting quite stiff. He can't always hear when a person or horse is coming up behind him, and he can't move out of the way very quickly. He needs some sort of force feild to protect him, but as that isn't possible right now, we all just need to give him a little extra room, time and attention. And if you want to get his attention, slapping your legs seems to be the sound he hears the easiest.
Karen
This year I had the opportunity to work with a few horses whose owner described as lazy. From an evolutionary point of view, it makes little sense for horses to evolve to be lazy. It is unlikely the mares bring grass over to the stallion while he watches TV and scratches himself. With horses in the wild, it is each animal for itself, and horses haven't been domesticated long enough for that trait to be bred out of them, if even it could be.
So, based on my experiences, research, and interpretation, we have and article to help with understanding "Lazy" horses:
The Myth of the Lazy Horse
As always, feedback, dissenting views, and criticism are welcome.
Karen
So, based on my experiences, research, and interpretation, we have and article to help with understanding "Lazy" horses:
The Myth of the Lazy Horse
As always, feedback, dissenting views, and criticism are welcome.
Karen
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
New Show Dates:
So much to the chagrin of people who booked time off specifically, Amberlea has changed the date for their Harvest Horse show to October 2-4 rather than the end of September. We will have to decide if enough people will be available those dates to make it worth going.
I am not sure why they changed the dates this close to the show, but I am sure they have a good reason.
Karen
I am not sure why they changed the dates this close to the show, but I am sure they have a good reason.
Karen
Monday, August 24, 2009
Pictures from the Horse Show:
Ri the Dressage Horse:
(or rather "Against All Odds" the dressage horse)
He is doing training level in the photo below, and is in the CDI ring doing the Amateur Eq class to the right. See the new booths!
Dexter in his freestyle: Lengthen trot at left, start of freewalk at right. Photos thanks to Christine Thew! Apparently I need to work on keeping my leg under me in his lengthens! I am going to have to be a whole lot fitter for next year when his movement will be even bigger...
Dexter in his favourite "class"...Freestyle grazing, and in his stall. He likes sticking his nose through the bars and seeing if there is anything he can grab. This is the end of the show and he is sporting his frizzy unbraided mane and his prize cooler (thanks Tudor Tack). I took him grazing in the trees a few times a day at the show, and he would come out with branches stuck in his mane braids and tail...
Karen
(or rather "Against All Odds" the dressage horse)
He is doing training level in the photo below, and is in the CDI ring doing the Amateur Eq class to the right. See the new booths!
Amanda and Ri in their final class of the final day, doing their final salute. Look how perfectly square he is!
Dexter in his freestyle: Lengthen trot at left, start of freewalk at right. Photos thanks to Christine Thew! Apparently I need to work on keeping my leg under me in his lengthens! I am going to have to be a whole lot fitter for next year when his movement will be even bigger...
Dexter in his favourite "class"...Freestyle grazing, and in his stall. He likes sticking his nose through the bars and seeing if there is anything he can grab. This is the end of the show and he is sporting his frizzy unbraided mane and his prize cooler (thanks Tudor Tack). I took him grazing in the trees a few times a day at the show, and he would come out with branches stuck in his mane braids and tail...
Karen
Sunday, August 23, 2009
And we're back!
Today was the final day of the Gold Rush show. I am not sure i could have lasted another day, so not sure how people who came the day before us did it! Thank goodness Rob was able and willing to help me with afternoon and evening chores this weekend!
Dexter showed at 9, so I made sure to get up early enough to do morning chores so i could be at Amberlea for 7ish as I wanted to lunge and take him for grass before our class. Lunging seems to allow him to get his nervous energy out better than having me on him, and it let him warm up easily and stretch his legs. I got on him about 40 minutes before his class, and had a fun warm up. We did lots of long trot and it is cool to feel him start to have more and more suspension. I am starting to get more confidence in our ability to have a strong medium trot by next show season.
I decided to focus today on helping him relax and get more confidence. I wanted to work him on a circle as that is how I usually warm up, but dressage warm up is difficult. The warm up ring is HUGE, and more than enough room for lots of horses, but dressage riders are different. You will have a few riders circling near their coach, which is easy to avoid, then you have riders touring the outside, again easy to avoid, but you also have people in the middle trying to work on more difficult moves such as pirouettes and lateral moves. Many of these riders are listening to their coaches on wireless headsets or just intensely focused and not always looking up (shocker...a dressage rider that looks down!), so trying to find a circle or work anywhere but the outside was tricky. At least in a jumping warm up horses tend to be doing one of two things: touring the outside or aiming at a jump. In dressage, they could be going forward, back, sideways, or spinning! So much harder to anticipate avoid and stay out of the way! Nobody was snooty or rude, I just felt bad when I felt I got in the way of someone trying to school a complicated maneuver!
My classes today were both in the indoor, so my main focus was getting him to be more relaxed in there, so I decided to be more moderate in my riding, and not ask for such big lengthens or as much collection. My first class went well. He was strong again in the canter, but much better and not so tense. We placed 2nd.
I had time to take him back to his stall for a brief break before his final class. I wanted to school the counter canter and lengthen canter but when we got in the ring, there were a lot of higher level riders school such things as pirouettes, and Dexter seemed quite nervous about them, particularly of the sound of the dressage whip. He then started to become very leery of a Friesian in the ring. He had been in the ring with that same horse all week, but all of a sudden anytime it came near he would tense and either try to turn away, or turn his haunches into him. It occurred to me that trying to warm up when he was clearly intimidated by the other horses was not going to be fruitful, so we didn't do much warm up. The class still went well, but as I decided to take it easy in the ring (it was the same test he had a tantrum in yesterday), our score was mostly 5's so no placing. Still, I think he left with more confidence in the indoor ring, and I was quite happy with him.
And with that we were done. It was 10:30...and Amanda didn't ride until 2:55. The weather had gotten quite cool, so I was glad for the jacket I had been presented with by Tudor Tack the day before (Dexter also appreciated the cooler Tudor had for him!)
So I watched some classes, picked up my tests, toured the tack shops, and chatted until it was time for Amanda to ride. Amanda got on, started to warm up, and realized she forgot her number. Ellen was kind enough to offer me her bike to ride back to get it. I haven't ridden a bike in years and I was extremely tired. It was apparently quite humorous to watch me try to ride her bike, and the paramedic stood at the ready.
Ri looked great in his warm up with lots of forward motion. While watching her school I was enlisted to hold a very large warmblood gelding. This horse stood quietly while his owner went to pee. I think this is a skill my horse needs to learn. Perhaps I will start holding him once and a while when I teach so he learns to just stand.
Although really, I am not sure why expect Dexter to be anything other than what he is. After all his grandma was the hottest horse I have ever met or worked with, and Tango is super opinionated, so no wonder Dexter is hot and opinionated...
Back to Ri...
Ri's test was in the nice outdoor ring. He was moving great, and I got some nice photos which I will have to post tomorrow. He lacked some focus as there was a fair bit of activity going on with trailers leaving, and lots of people walking to the show office to check out. I was very happy with that as his final test. I think he was in the 50's for all his tests which is great for his first year of showing, and his first time at training level.
At last it was time to pack up and leave. I was worried about the clouds and that it may rain as we loaded, but the weather held, and we loaded in good time. I was eager to get home, so I left Amanda behind to get her test and I headed out...but as I was trying to leave, I came across a loaded trailer parked at the exit behind the angle parking. No one was in the trailer, and I wasn't sure I could fit! Seeing my dilemma the Paramedic came over to offer assistance; he measured the distance and decided I could make it, but I wasn't so sure and imagined the sound of steal scraping against steel...so he got in and drove through for me thank goodness!
Dexter was pretty happy and obnoxious to be home. He always does a victory trot around the paddock after a show.
Overall, the show was good. A bit of a wake up call for me though, and I realize I need to make Dexter more of a priority if I want to get to the next level, and help him be more fit. It is great to start feeling some true extensions and lofty trots now!
Although in many ways the show was more tense, and more serious, most people were still very friendly, helpful, and quick to return a smile or a good morning.
The best people of the show were the stewards and the paramedics: helping with pretty much anything and offering words of encouragement. They did double duty as gate masters and stewards and did a fabulous job! The show office also did wonderfully, and kept everything running smoothly and so well organized. Amberlea Meadows also really stepped up to the plate to make the grounds top notch for the higher level show!
Special thanks to: Tudor Tack Shoppe for the cooler, jacket, and saddle pad, and to Horse Life for the saddle pad.
Pictures to come tomorrow!
Karen
Dexter showed at 9, so I made sure to get up early enough to do morning chores so i could be at Amberlea for 7ish as I wanted to lunge and take him for grass before our class. Lunging seems to allow him to get his nervous energy out better than having me on him, and it let him warm up easily and stretch his legs. I got on him about 40 minutes before his class, and had a fun warm up. We did lots of long trot and it is cool to feel him start to have more and more suspension. I am starting to get more confidence in our ability to have a strong medium trot by next show season.
I decided to focus today on helping him relax and get more confidence. I wanted to work him on a circle as that is how I usually warm up, but dressage warm up is difficult. The warm up ring is HUGE, and more than enough room for lots of horses, but dressage riders are different. You will have a few riders circling near their coach, which is easy to avoid, then you have riders touring the outside, again easy to avoid, but you also have people in the middle trying to work on more difficult moves such as pirouettes and lateral moves. Many of these riders are listening to their coaches on wireless headsets or just intensely focused and not always looking up (shocker...a dressage rider that looks down!), so trying to find a circle or work anywhere but the outside was tricky. At least in a jumping warm up horses tend to be doing one of two things: touring the outside or aiming at a jump. In dressage, they could be going forward, back, sideways, or spinning! So much harder to anticipate avoid and stay out of the way! Nobody was snooty or rude, I just felt bad when I felt I got in the way of someone trying to school a complicated maneuver!
My classes today were both in the indoor, so my main focus was getting him to be more relaxed in there, so I decided to be more moderate in my riding, and not ask for such big lengthens or as much collection. My first class went well. He was strong again in the canter, but much better and not so tense. We placed 2nd.
I had time to take him back to his stall for a brief break before his final class. I wanted to school the counter canter and lengthen canter but when we got in the ring, there were a lot of higher level riders school such things as pirouettes, and Dexter seemed quite nervous about them, particularly of the sound of the dressage whip. He then started to become very leery of a Friesian in the ring. He had been in the ring with that same horse all week, but all of a sudden anytime it came near he would tense and either try to turn away, or turn his haunches into him. It occurred to me that trying to warm up when he was clearly intimidated by the other horses was not going to be fruitful, so we didn't do much warm up. The class still went well, but as I decided to take it easy in the ring (it was the same test he had a tantrum in yesterday), our score was mostly 5's so no placing. Still, I think he left with more confidence in the indoor ring, and I was quite happy with him.
And with that we were done. It was 10:30...and Amanda didn't ride until 2:55. The weather had gotten quite cool, so I was glad for the jacket I had been presented with by Tudor Tack the day before (Dexter also appreciated the cooler Tudor had for him!)
So I watched some classes, picked up my tests, toured the tack shops, and chatted until it was time for Amanda to ride. Amanda got on, started to warm up, and realized she forgot her number. Ellen was kind enough to offer me her bike to ride back to get it. I haven't ridden a bike in years and I was extremely tired. It was apparently quite humorous to watch me try to ride her bike, and the paramedic stood at the ready.
Ri looked great in his warm up with lots of forward motion. While watching her school I was enlisted to hold a very large warmblood gelding. This horse stood quietly while his owner went to pee. I think this is a skill my horse needs to learn. Perhaps I will start holding him once and a while when I teach so he learns to just stand.
Although really, I am not sure why expect Dexter to be anything other than what he is. After all his grandma was the hottest horse I have ever met or worked with, and Tango is super opinionated, so no wonder Dexter is hot and opinionated...
Back to Ri...
Ri's test was in the nice outdoor ring. He was moving great, and I got some nice photos which I will have to post tomorrow. He lacked some focus as there was a fair bit of activity going on with trailers leaving, and lots of people walking to the show office to check out. I was very happy with that as his final test. I think he was in the 50's for all his tests which is great for his first year of showing, and his first time at training level.
At last it was time to pack up and leave. I was worried about the clouds and that it may rain as we loaded, but the weather held, and we loaded in good time. I was eager to get home, so I left Amanda behind to get her test and I headed out...but as I was trying to leave, I came across a loaded trailer parked at the exit behind the angle parking. No one was in the trailer, and I wasn't sure I could fit! Seeing my dilemma the Paramedic came over to offer assistance; he measured the distance and decided I could make it, but I wasn't so sure and imagined the sound of steal scraping against steel...so he got in and drove through for me thank goodness!
Dexter was pretty happy and obnoxious to be home. He always does a victory trot around the paddock after a show.
Overall, the show was good. A bit of a wake up call for me though, and I realize I need to make Dexter more of a priority if I want to get to the next level, and help him be more fit. It is great to start feeling some true extensions and lofty trots now!
Although in many ways the show was more tense, and more serious, most people were still very friendly, helpful, and quick to return a smile or a good morning.
The best people of the show were the stewards and the paramedics: helping with pretty much anything and offering words of encouragement. They did double duty as gate masters and stewards and did a fabulous job! The show office also did wonderfully, and kept everything running smoothly and so well organized. Amberlea Meadows also really stepped up to the plate to make the grounds top notch for the higher level show!
Special thanks to: Tudor Tack Shoppe for the cooler, jacket, and saddle pad, and to Horse Life for the saddle pad.
Pictures to come tomorrow!
Karen
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Horse Show Day 2
Wow, am I ever tired!
Day two started with me being a nervous wreck. No idea why I was so nervous, but I think I was mostly worried my mushy brain would let me down again today.
I didn't ride until 11ish, so I had time to walk Dexter, braid, have breakfast and take my time. This was not a good thing. To start with, I managed to loose Dexter's number while walking him (at a Gold show, horses can't leave their stall without their number) and then had to spend 10 minutes retracing our steps as I had him out grazing in some tall grass and weeds...only to find that someone had turned it in to the Stewards, which was of course the last place I checked. So then I got back to my stall to see a cryptic note on his bridle hook: "Both CDs scratch". It took me a while to figure out that this was referring to my freestyle CDs.
So I had to make the journey back to the show office to see what was up. In the office there was someone else there for the same reason, which made me feel better. The other lady was shocked her CD had sound problems as it had been professionally made, so the office lady got her CD out to let her listen to it...and it looked fancy in a profession case with a nice label. She then told me that my CDs both skipped in the same place on both of them. Well of course they do! I had to explain that this was due to a combo of my lack of editing skills and the fact that I use the skip to let me know when I should be at my last simple change as my canter music isn't distinctive enough for me to be able to track my progress.
This admission made the other freestyle rider double over laughing.
So then I had to hurry to get dressed and get Dexter ready for our class. The freestyle was in the CDI ring that was so frightening the day before. Today he wasn't spooking, but he was nervous...but then so was I. Aside from some tension and whinnying on Dexter's part, and a break into canter when he was supposed to be trotting, I thought it went better than the last show. It felt slower and more controlled, and the 10 meter figure 8 felt balanced.
I knew I would loose marks for the tension, but overall we did ok for the required movements where he was focused. We did not however do so well for "Difficulty", "Choreography" and such...only getting 5s...which was a blow as we got 6-7 for the same test last show. I guess the International judges have higher expectation and experience on what can be done in a Freestyle. We ended up 2nd.
I watched some of the Freestyle before me, and she definitely had some interesting combinations: lengthen from F to X, leg yield X to H, canter at H. Yikes! I think coming up with a new First level freestyle will be my fall project, and then Rob can help me come up with better music.
So after that test I put Dexter in his stall, so I could watch Amanda's ride. Amanda and Ri had a nice test in the other outdoor ring, and other than breaking at the canter, he was nice and consistent.
Then I had to hurry back to get Dexter for our second test...only to find he had rolled in his stall, so I had to pick shavings out of his mane and tail! I tacked him up, and opted to just to a light warm up. This may have been a mistake. We got into the indoor ring and the test started well, with decent leg yields, and what felt like some big extensions. But then we got to the free walk and I could feel him tense and get hurried so I couldn't relax into the freewalk and he got more and more rushed, so I picked up the reins a bit and he started to prance as we were supposed to be doing a medium walk...and then he reared! No idea where that came from as it is not like him at all! The next move was cantering a circle. That went well. But then we had to lengthen. He felt like he could explode any moment so I wasn't sure how much to let him go so I only lightly softened my arms...and he took that to mean he was free to run! As the end of the ring approached I began to worry...fortunately we made the turn, and that seemed to help him slow down, and we muddled through the counter canter, but it took all I had to do the next simple change, and the other canter lead was just as strong...made worse by the fact the lengthen was towards the outgate. Getting him to come back to the trot was not easy or pretty...and our "Stretch" circle was manic...he was lengthening the moment I would soften so we didn't get much stretch.
I have no idea what set him off; Christine and Amanda thought it was due to the tractor that started up as we started our free walk, but I wonder if he was perhaps tired and didn't want to be there... Or maybe put off by the people on the sides and in the corner watching. Usually the ring is pretty empty when we show.
I am sure we scored low once he had his tantrum, but I wanted to know how the trot work was scored as that part felt great...but they couldn't find my test!
Amanda then had her test indoors. Ri started off nicely...and then big spook at the flowers at E. Then another spook at the loud annoying people at the concession who kept carrying on laughing and talking despite the signs to keep it down. The parts of her test that weren't at E where nice though. He was moving quite well and had nice transitions. We have no idea how she scored though, as that class was huge, and Amanda was home before it ended.
Hellion child was moderately more contained today, although the steward did have to yell at him to get out of the warm up ring, and I got sick of him biking up and down the barn so I stepped in front of him in the barn, stopping his bike and telling him "the barn is not a playground, the bike upsets my horse, so stop riding it up and down the barn". Again later I stopped him again as he rocked his bike impatiently back and forth right behind a big gelding while his owner was getting ready to mount just outside the barn door...she likely had no idea the kid was there...if she asked her horse to back up kid would have been in trouble. The kid later said hi to me though...so apparently he didn't resent my attempt at parenting.
Tomorrow will start early for me, with both my classes in the morning. I am inside for both my classes, so hopefully Dexter and I can work through whatever upset him today. Amanda rides late though with her last class. Hopefully the weather holds for us!
Karen
Day two started with me being a nervous wreck. No idea why I was so nervous, but I think I was mostly worried my mushy brain would let me down again today.
I didn't ride until 11ish, so I had time to walk Dexter, braid, have breakfast and take my time. This was not a good thing. To start with, I managed to loose Dexter's number while walking him (at a Gold show, horses can't leave their stall without their number) and then had to spend 10 minutes retracing our steps as I had him out grazing in some tall grass and weeds...only to find that someone had turned it in to the Stewards, which was of course the last place I checked. So then I got back to my stall to see a cryptic note on his bridle hook: "Both CDs scratch". It took me a while to figure out that this was referring to my freestyle CDs.
So I had to make the journey back to the show office to see what was up. In the office there was someone else there for the same reason, which made me feel better. The other lady was shocked her CD had sound problems as it had been professionally made, so the office lady got her CD out to let her listen to it...and it looked fancy in a profession case with a nice label. She then told me that my CDs both skipped in the same place on both of them. Well of course they do! I had to explain that this was due to a combo of my lack of editing skills and the fact that I use the skip to let me know when I should be at my last simple change as my canter music isn't distinctive enough for me to be able to track my progress.
This admission made the other freestyle rider double over laughing.
So then I had to hurry to get dressed and get Dexter ready for our class. The freestyle was in the CDI ring that was so frightening the day before. Today he wasn't spooking, but he was nervous...but then so was I. Aside from some tension and whinnying on Dexter's part, and a break into canter when he was supposed to be trotting, I thought it went better than the last show. It felt slower and more controlled, and the 10 meter figure 8 felt balanced.
I knew I would loose marks for the tension, but overall we did ok for the required movements where he was focused. We did not however do so well for "Difficulty", "Choreography" and such...only getting 5s...which was a blow as we got 6-7 for the same test last show. I guess the International judges have higher expectation and experience on what can be done in a Freestyle. We ended up 2nd.
I watched some of the Freestyle before me, and she definitely had some interesting combinations: lengthen from F to X, leg yield X to H, canter at H. Yikes! I think coming up with a new First level freestyle will be my fall project, and then Rob can help me come up with better music.
So after that test I put Dexter in his stall, so I could watch Amanda's ride. Amanda and Ri had a nice test in the other outdoor ring, and other than breaking at the canter, he was nice and consistent.
Then I had to hurry back to get Dexter for our second test...only to find he had rolled in his stall, so I had to pick shavings out of his mane and tail! I tacked him up, and opted to just to a light warm up. This may have been a mistake. We got into the indoor ring and the test started well, with decent leg yields, and what felt like some big extensions. But then we got to the free walk and I could feel him tense and get hurried so I couldn't relax into the freewalk and he got more and more rushed, so I picked up the reins a bit and he started to prance as we were supposed to be doing a medium walk...and then he reared! No idea where that came from as it is not like him at all! The next move was cantering a circle. That went well. But then we had to lengthen. He felt like he could explode any moment so I wasn't sure how much to let him go so I only lightly softened my arms...and he took that to mean he was free to run! As the end of the ring approached I began to worry...fortunately we made the turn, and that seemed to help him slow down, and we muddled through the counter canter, but it took all I had to do the next simple change, and the other canter lead was just as strong...made worse by the fact the lengthen was towards the outgate. Getting him to come back to the trot was not easy or pretty...and our "Stretch" circle was manic...he was lengthening the moment I would soften so we didn't get much stretch.
I have no idea what set him off; Christine and Amanda thought it was due to the tractor that started up as we started our free walk, but I wonder if he was perhaps tired and didn't want to be there... Or maybe put off by the people on the sides and in the corner watching. Usually the ring is pretty empty when we show.
I am sure we scored low once he had his tantrum, but I wanted to know how the trot work was scored as that part felt great...but they couldn't find my test!
Amanda then had her test indoors. Ri started off nicely...and then big spook at the flowers at E. Then another spook at the loud annoying people at the concession who kept carrying on laughing and talking despite the signs to keep it down. The parts of her test that weren't at E where nice though. He was moving quite well and had nice transitions. We have no idea how she scored though, as that class was huge, and Amanda was home before it ended.
Hellion child was moderately more contained today, although the steward did have to yell at him to get out of the warm up ring, and I got sick of him biking up and down the barn so I stepped in front of him in the barn, stopping his bike and telling him "the barn is not a playground, the bike upsets my horse, so stop riding it up and down the barn". Again later I stopped him again as he rocked his bike impatiently back and forth right behind a big gelding while his owner was getting ready to mount just outside the barn door...she likely had no idea the kid was there...if she asked her horse to back up kid would have been in trouble. The kid later said hi to me though...so apparently he didn't resent my attempt at parenting.
Tomorrow will start early for me, with both my classes in the morning. I am inside for both my classes, so hopefully Dexter and I can work through whatever upset him today. Amanda rides late though with her last class. Hopefully the weather holds for us!
Karen
Friday, August 21, 2009
Horse Show update: Day 1
The horse show technically started yesterday (Thursday) with classes, but Amanda and I opted to only enter Friday to Sunday, so we hauled over Thursday night, bedded the stalls and took them for a walk. Rob hauled for us as neither Amanda or I felt too good. He also did waters for us and looked after unhooking the trailer which made settling in go quicker.
While walking the horses beside the rings (we couldn't go in the rings as once the show started, the rings were closed to any schooling, even after show hours), we saw that they were a little fancier than usual...make that a LOT fancier! Way more flowers as well as wicker deer, wooden park benches, and other decorative odds and ends. AND brand new judges booths for the CDI ring. These booths are BIG, and fully enclosed with large windows. There are three of these massive booths around that ring; one at C, one at E, and one at M. The booths make sense, as they keep the judges out of the elements, the wind from blowing the sheets, and likely make it easier for the scribes to hear, and easier for the judges at C and M to talk without the other judge over hearing. All in all, Amberlea did a great job in making it look first class.
So today I got there early enough to take Dexter for a walk and little lunge before tacking up to ride for my 8:39 ride time. (This meant getting up around 5am to do chores before leaving. The horses didn't seem to complain about the early hours, but the dogs didn't seem impressed.) My first test was indoors. My brain was not fully functional. To start with, the ring was labeled as having a horn to sound the start. I was thinking a horn like a car horn, so a honking sound. So as I am walking the edge of the ring I hear a funny squeaky sound, and think to myself, "what an annoying sound for someone to be making in the arena"...until I heard it again and realized that was the horn! Ooops!
So we start the test. Dexter was being pretty good, but a little looky at the activity at the far end of the ring, and checking out what was going on in the barn, but overall pretty good. I, on the other hand, lacked a brain. So...mistake #1 was not recognizing the horn. Mistake #2 I was fiddling with my stirrup for some reason during the medium walk which he reasonably interpreted as meaning trot. Mistake #3 was the simple change through trot...he didn't want to trot, but i got it...and then forgot to get the new bend before asking him to canter again...bad me so we picked up the wrong lead. Then mistake #4....my mind drew a blank as to where I was supposed to go after the last canter. My brain was thinking "hmmm...it is test 3, so this is the test without a stretch circle..right? right...so maybe I go across the diagonal in lengthen? No that can't be it, I already did 2 lengthens...hmmm...." but by the time I did all this thinking I had already started across the diagonal in lengthen trot...and the judge didn't whistle me! I was at K before I finally pulled up and told her I was off test, so she finally honked the horn. And then I remembered that all I was supposed to do was turn at B, and go up centerline to halt in front of the judge. So we do that. But I was expecting Dexter to resist the halt, so I asked early...and wouldn't you know it, he halted perfectly as soon as I asked...so we halted wayyy to early and I couldn't decide if I should salute there, or walk ahead...so I ended up walking a few steps then saluting. Ug. Oh well, Dexter was good, and that is the main thing.
So my next test was in the CDI ring, 45 minutes later, so I took Dexter back for some water and a pee break. Meanwhile Amanda was getting on for her first test of the show. Somehow her first test just had to be at the same time as my second test so no chance to watch her go! Arg.
Dexter walking nicely around the CDI ring, not even looking at the judges booths, and we were soon whistled to start. We got in, halted, saluted and proceeded...but as he got closer to the booth I could feel his eyes getting bigger and his steps getting smaller! So we opted to turn early. That got us both a little tense, but still, he was ok. His lengthened across the diagonals away from the booth may have broken speed records though. I thought he was over worrying about the booths until we did our 15m circle at E...I am not sure if the he saw his reflection in the booth behind him or what, but he shot forward and sideways all of a sudden...but then managed to settle right back in and was somehow right back where he should be for the circle. No idea how he managed to recover so quickly and end up where we should be...the judge even commented on the nice recovery!
What was really odd about that test came at the end...I heard clapping! And it wasn't anyone I knew clapping! THERE WERE SPECTATORS! In fact, as I was leaving, there were so many spectators that the parking lot was FULL and they were parked a ways down the dirt road.
So with that I was done for the day, but Amanda had her Equitation class still. So I put Dexter away, and walked up to the ring to help her warm up. Then, 5 minutes or so before her class was to start, the judge saw lightening and stopped the show...which meant all 3 rings stopped and all the riders had to get off and go back to the barns. Good for safety reasons, but annoying none the less, particularly as the lightening was far off to the east. They stopped the rings for about 40 minutes, then let the horses back into the warm up for 15 minutes before resuming the show.
Amanda's class was a group class in the CDI ring. Ri was pretty good for the most part, and didn't seem concerned at all with the booths. I think it helped that the other horses in the ring didn't seem to care. Poor Ri had some trouble keeping up with the big warmbloods for the lengthen trot, but otherwise did well.
So then both horses were done, so we cleaned stalls, fed more hay, and got them clean water, and then went to the show office to get our tests. Both horses did well, and scored above 50 in their tests, and Dexter placed 3rd in one of his classes. I also won a saddle pad for a door prize kind of thing.
Now I am hoping I can get enough sleep tonight so my brain is working better tomorrow! I have my Freestyle first in the CDI ring. And I am nervous. I have a slightly easier variation I can do, and I think I may go with that and accept a lower difficulty score, but we will see. Amanda once again rides at about the same time as me, which is annoying considering we are riding different levels, but I am sure I will be able to watch at least one of her tests.
One thing that would make tomorrow go better is if someone would accept responsibility for the young hellion child that is wrecking havoc in the barn just up from us...for some reason certain horses don't like a small child yelling, playing fort in a stack of shavings bags (and jumping out of them at random while yelling), or riding their training wheel bike up behind them and then dropping it in the middle of the barn alley. Oh, and I think he punched Amanda too...what do you do when a 5 year old punches you and its parents aren't around? I suggested Amanda puts some of her nurse training to use...
Karen
While walking the horses beside the rings (we couldn't go in the rings as once the show started, the rings were closed to any schooling, even after show hours), we saw that they were a little fancier than usual...make that a LOT fancier! Way more flowers as well as wicker deer, wooden park benches, and other decorative odds and ends. AND brand new judges booths for the CDI ring. These booths are BIG, and fully enclosed with large windows. There are three of these massive booths around that ring; one at C, one at E, and one at M. The booths make sense, as they keep the judges out of the elements, the wind from blowing the sheets, and likely make it easier for the scribes to hear, and easier for the judges at C and M to talk without the other judge over hearing. All in all, Amberlea did a great job in making it look first class.
So today I got there early enough to take Dexter for a walk and little lunge before tacking up to ride for my 8:39 ride time. (This meant getting up around 5am to do chores before leaving. The horses didn't seem to complain about the early hours, but the dogs didn't seem impressed.) My first test was indoors. My brain was not fully functional. To start with, the ring was labeled as having a horn to sound the start. I was thinking a horn like a car horn, so a honking sound. So as I am walking the edge of the ring I hear a funny squeaky sound, and think to myself, "what an annoying sound for someone to be making in the arena"...until I heard it again and realized that was the horn! Ooops!
So we start the test. Dexter was being pretty good, but a little looky at the activity at the far end of the ring, and checking out what was going on in the barn, but overall pretty good. I, on the other hand, lacked a brain. So...mistake #1 was not recognizing the horn. Mistake #2 I was fiddling with my stirrup for some reason during the medium walk which he reasonably interpreted as meaning trot. Mistake #3 was the simple change through trot...he didn't want to trot, but i got it...and then forgot to get the new bend before asking him to canter again...bad me so we picked up the wrong lead. Then mistake #4....my mind drew a blank as to where I was supposed to go after the last canter. My brain was thinking "hmmm...it is test 3, so this is the test without a stretch circle..right? right...so maybe I go across the diagonal in lengthen? No that can't be it, I already did 2 lengthens...hmmm...." but by the time I did all this thinking I had already started across the diagonal in lengthen trot...and the judge didn't whistle me! I was at K before I finally pulled up and told her I was off test, so she finally honked the horn. And then I remembered that all I was supposed to do was turn at B, and go up centerline to halt in front of the judge. So we do that. But I was expecting Dexter to resist the halt, so I asked early...and wouldn't you know it, he halted perfectly as soon as I asked...so we halted wayyy to early and I couldn't decide if I should salute there, or walk ahead...so I ended up walking a few steps then saluting. Ug. Oh well, Dexter was good, and that is the main thing.
So my next test was in the CDI ring, 45 minutes later, so I took Dexter back for some water and a pee break. Meanwhile Amanda was getting on for her first test of the show. Somehow her first test just had to be at the same time as my second test so no chance to watch her go! Arg.
Dexter walking nicely around the CDI ring, not even looking at the judges booths, and we were soon whistled to start. We got in, halted, saluted and proceeded...but as he got closer to the booth I could feel his eyes getting bigger and his steps getting smaller! So we opted to turn early. That got us both a little tense, but still, he was ok. His lengthened across the diagonals away from the booth may have broken speed records though. I thought he was over worrying about the booths until we did our 15m circle at E...I am not sure if the he saw his reflection in the booth behind him or what, but he shot forward and sideways all of a sudden...but then managed to settle right back in and was somehow right back where he should be for the circle. No idea how he managed to recover so quickly and end up where we should be...the judge even commented on the nice recovery!
What was really odd about that test came at the end...I heard clapping! And it wasn't anyone I knew clapping! THERE WERE SPECTATORS! In fact, as I was leaving, there were so many spectators that the parking lot was FULL and they were parked a ways down the dirt road.
So with that I was done for the day, but Amanda had her Equitation class still. So I put Dexter away, and walked up to the ring to help her warm up. Then, 5 minutes or so before her class was to start, the judge saw lightening and stopped the show...which meant all 3 rings stopped and all the riders had to get off and go back to the barns. Good for safety reasons, but annoying none the less, particularly as the lightening was far off to the east. They stopped the rings for about 40 minutes, then let the horses back into the warm up for 15 minutes before resuming the show.
Amanda's class was a group class in the CDI ring. Ri was pretty good for the most part, and didn't seem concerned at all with the booths. I think it helped that the other horses in the ring didn't seem to care. Poor Ri had some trouble keeping up with the big warmbloods for the lengthen trot, but otherwise did well.
So then both horses were done, so we cleaned stalls, fed more hay, and got them clean water, and then went to the show office to get our tests. Both horses did well, and scored above 50 in their tests, and Dexter placed 3rd in one of his classes. I also won a saddle pad for a door prize kind of thing.
Now I am hoping I can get enough sleep tonight so my brain is working better tomorrow! I have my Freestyle first in the CDI ring. And I am nervous. I have a slightly easier variation I can do, and I think I may go with that and accept a lower difficulty score, but we will see. Amanda once again rides at about the same time as me, which is annoying considering we are riding different levels, but I am sure I will be able to watch at least one of her tests.
One thing that would make tomorrow go better is if someone would accept responsibility for the young hellion child that is wrecking havoc in the barn just up from us...for some reason certain horses don't like a small child yelling, playing fort in a stack of shavings bags (and jumping out of them at random while yelling), or riding their training wheel bike up behind them and then dropping it in the middle of the barn alley. Oh, and I think he punched Amanda too...what do you do when a 5 year old punches you and its parents aren't around? I suggested Amanda puts some of her nurse training to use...
Karen
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Chance left today, Pete left on Monday, and Jewel is scheduled to leave tomorrow...I enjoyed working with each of them, but at the same time it will be nice to have a bit lighter work load for a little while!
With the big show this weekend, I decided to head to the tack shops to see if I could find a proper dressage coat and dress boots to fit me. I have held off buying these items, and have been showing in my blue pin stripe hunt coat, and my 20 year old second hand field boots, but it seemed time to step up and buy the right outfit for showing Dexter.
At Before You Ride I found a decent black hunt coat with horse head buttons...two buttons are missing, but I can replace them if it means saving a few bucks. The jacket is machine washable which was a major plus. I am not so sure about the velvet collar though...
All the dress boots at Before You Ride looked to be made for small people...the boots came up about 15 cm short of my knee, so no luck there for boots.
On I went to Tudor Tack, where I found a possible used saddle for Diesel, and I tried on some new dress boots. The economy brands were my first choice...but alas, they do not come in my size. Even the talls were too short, and the narrows too wide...wide enough I could fit my arm in the boot. So I decided to ask about the Ariats, and low and behold they had a pair in both my foot size and Narrow/Tall! I tried them on, and although still a little loose in the ankle and calf, they fit well enough, and the only other option would be the Konigs which start at $1300! Not likely to be in my budget anytime soon! I got the Hunter version of the dress boots, so they don't have the steel shank, but the steel shank version adds another $300 or so to the price, and these ones seems stiff enough.
So the boots came home with me. I tried them out on Gjelt, who was the only horse I had left to ride today. The boots are so different from my dress boots! Even just standing in them they feel odd; they are built so that the heel is naturally a tiny bit down, so when standing in them,the boots push the knees forward...definately not meant for walking! Riding in them was way more different than I expected too...the boot is so stiff, and the ankle so supportive, that my weight was held more evenly in my foot, rather than pressing down into my heel like in my feild boots. It complete changed the way my leg hung, and helped me to put my leg into a more dressagey position.
Another definate bonus is the these boots have ZIPPER!
So now I am not sure if I should go ahead and show in these boots, or go with my old Field boots...I won't get a chance to ride Dexter in the boots to practice, as I plan to give him tomorrow off, and I show early Friday AM....
But, now to the point of my story...now that I have dress boots, I can now understand how much they will help support my ankle and leg position so perhaps developing my dressage seat would have been easier if i had the boots earlier. I see this often with students, particularly beginners. They want to save money, so ride in any old boot with a heel. One day they splurge and get proper boots and/or half chaps and suddenly their leg position is so much easier to hold and things start to fall into place. Perhaps things would have been easier had they bought the right equipment sooner....
Karen
With the big show this weekend, I decided to head to the tack shops to see if I could find a proper dressage coat and dress boots to fit me. I have held off buying these items, and have been showing in my blue pin stripe hunt coat, and my 20 year old second hand field boots, but it seemed time to step up and buy the right outfit for showing Dexter.
At Before You Ride I found a decent black hunt coat with horse head buttons...two buttons are missing, but I can replace them if it means saving a few bucks. The jacket is machine washable which was a major plus. I am not so sure about the velvet collar though...
All the dress boots at Before You Ride looked to be made for small people...the boots came up about 15 cm short of my knee, so no luck there for boots.
On I went to Tudor Tack, where I found a possible used saddle for Diesel, and I tried on some new dress boots. The economy brands were my first choice...but alas, they do not come in my size. Even the talls were too short, and the narrows too wide...wide enough I could fit my arm in the boot. So I decided to ask about the Ariats, and low and behold they had a pair in both my foot size and Narrow/Tall! I tried them on, and although still a little loose in the ankle and calf, they fit well enough, and the only other option would be the Konigs which start at $1300! Not likely to be in my budget anytime soon! I got the Hunter version of the dress boots, so they don't have the steel shank, but the steel shank version adds another $300 or so to the price, and these ones seems stiff enough.
So the boots came home with me. I tried them out on Gjelt, who was the only horse I had left to ride today. The boots are so different from my dress boots! Even just standing in them they feel odd; they are built so that the heel is naturally a tiny bit down, so when standing in them,the boots push the knees forward...definately not meant for walking! Riding in them was way more different than I expected too...the boot is so stiff, and the ankle so supportive, that my weight was held more evenly in my foot, rather than pressing down into my heel like in my feild boots. It complete changed the way my leg hung, and helped me to put my leg into a more dressagey position.
Another definate bonus is the these boots have ZIPPER!
So now I am not sure if I should go ahead and show in these boots, or go with my old Field boots...I won't get a chance to ride Dexter in the boots to practice, as I plan to give him tomorrow off, and I show early Friday AM....
But, now to the point of my story...now that I have dress boots, I can now understand how much they will help support my ankle and leg position so perhaps developing my dressage seat would have been easier if i had the boots earlier. I see this often with students, particularly beginners. They want to save money, so ride in any old boot with a heel. One day they splurge and get proper boots and/or half chaps and suddenly their leg position is so much easier to hold and things start to fall into place. Perhaps things would have been easier had they bought the right equipment sooner....
Karen
Monday, August 17, 2009
Dressage this weekend.
If you want to come watch some higher level dressage, Edmonton's first ever Dressage CDI is this coming weekend. The show starts on Thursday and goes until Sunday, and is being held at Amberlea Meadows.
There are four horses/riders entered in the Grand Prix, and seven in the Prix St. George. Click here for the schedule.
If you want to be bored out of your mind, you could consider coming in the morning to watch the lower level tests too...in First Level alone there are 30 entries! That is a few hours of watching the same test over and over and over for the judges. I don't know how they do it. I think there will be three rings running concurrently so that should make it a little less boring for spectators...and likely there will be shopping.
Karen
There are four horses/riders entered in the Grand Prix, and seven in the Prix St. George. Click here for the schedule.
If you want to be bored out of your mind, you could consider coming in the morning to watch the lower level tests too...in First Level alone there are 30 entries! That is a few hours of watching the same test over and over and over for the judges. I don't know how they do it. I think there will be three rings running concurrently so that should make it a little less boring for spectators...and likely there will be shopping.
Karen
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Upcoming Events
Upcoming shows and events for Hillside Stable:
August 29: Heads Up Horse Show (Sherwood Park). Hunters and Jumpers to 2'6". Click here for the prizelist. Entries close soon, so if you want to go, talk to me ASAP so we can get entries in!
Sept 5, Still Meadows Horse Show (East of Sherwood Park). Open Show. 2 Jumping classes. Click Here for prizelist.
Sept 25-27: Harvest Horse show. Dressage, Hunters and Jumpers. Lesson horses are welcome to go for the dressage or hunters. Click here for Prizelist.
August 31 is also the first day of the fall lesson schedule.
Karen
August 29: Heads Up Horse Show (Sherwood Park). Hunters and Jumpers to 2'6". Click here for the prizelist. Entries close soon, so if you want to go, talk to me ASAP so we can get entries in!
Sept 5, Still Meadows Horse Show (East of Sherwood Park). Open Show. 2 Jumping classes. Click Here for prizelist.
Sept 25-27: Harvest Horse show. Dressage, Hunters and Jumpers. Lesson horses are welcome to go for the dressage or hunters. Click here for Prizelist.
August 31 is also the first day of the fall lesson schedule.
Karen
Saturday, August 15, 2009
How to spend a cold raining Friday...
What is the best way to pass a cold raining Friday? By playing in the mud of course!
My parents met Rob and I at our place in the morning, then we all (including Mike and Ginger of course) headed out to Elk Island. Apparently raining days are the best Buffalo spotting days as they were everywhere! Including on the road:
I have never been this close to a Buffalo before! Ginger was quite excited about it too. The adults didn't care about the cars on the road, but the babies got nervous. This big fellow seemed to be concerned with keeping his herd together as he had some on both sides of the road...and we didn't want to get in his way!Some of the babies were quite red in colour. Perhaps they were still very young?
We saw a few different herds, as well as some lone males sleeping along the side of the road.
So what made us venture out in the cold rain? Fish collecting of course!
My dad has been doing a study for a few decades now, and the Sticklebacks at Elk Island. When he first collected samples, he notices that about half of them didn't have pelvic vertebra, and half did. It appears to be a genetic change and not due to pollution, so he wanted to study if this change would increase or decrease in the population. Over the years the percentage has stayed fairly equal which is odd...normally a genetic change would either show to have an advantage and flourish, or would not have an advantage and die out. For the difference to remain constant it must have SOME advantage, but no more so than the fish without the change.
As my dad is no longer teaching, he doesn't have a ready supply of lackeys...I mean students...to help him, so Rob and I volunteered to help with the collecting.
We started our collecting at the site he usually got the fish, which was by the West Entrance and houses.
The water is very low this year though, so to get to the water involved wading through lots of MUD. Sticky gooey bug filled mud. Rob was kind enough to go first to test the footing, and he let me stand in one place while he drug the skein in a semi circle around me. In this picture I am on the right, Rob in the left, and my dad in the dock. My mom is the photographer and dog watcher!
After filling the net, Rob had to drag it up on the dock and then onto the grass so we could pick through the plants bugs and muck for the fish. There were LOTS of bugs to sort around! at first we couldn't see any fish in the catch, but once we got the idea of what we were looking for, we realized that there were a fair number in the net. Picking up the little fish wasn't as hard as I thought it would be though; as small as some were, they were tough! I wasn't so keen on the bigger ones that would flip flop around on my hand though. Although we were looking for Sticklebacks, most of the wish seemed to be minnows., which was a little disappointing. (Unlike Sticklebacks, Minnows are not native to the lake, somehow they were introduced, so my dad is also going to count the percentage of each type of fish collected).
We did three collections in that mud. It was NOT easy as the muddy bottom would suck your boots under, so each step require a lot of concentration and effort to free the foot and not topple over! Ginger really wanted to help, so my mom had to keep her from jumping in after us!
We had one other spectator during this...a little beaver swam over to see what we were doing. It dived under and reemerged about 2 meters from Rob! I am not sure if it was curious or trying to scare us away. When we were packing to leave we saw it on a post cleaning its face and watching us go. It was pretty darn cute.
As we weren't getting much fish here, we went over to Sandy Beach to try a new location. We drove over there, washed the pond gunk off our arms, and had lunch in the rain. Then it was back into the water. This time it was much easier though; the bottom was sandy and the water much more clear. With our first catch we could tell that this was a better location as the net had many more Sticklebacks, and there were more adults. Still lots of bugs though...and snails...and we also caught one leech! The water drops off sharp at the beach though, so I would only be up to my knees, and Rob would be up to his belly button. I think we did 3 or 4 hauls there before my dad figured he had enough fish for his study.
Before we left though, Rob wanted me to come out to the deeper part with him. I figured he was unlikely to try to drown me with my parents there, so I followed him out. Did it ever feel weird once the water got deep! The pressure of the water clung the hip waders hard to my legs, but the boots still wanted to float. I though I was going to tip over!
So here we are at the end of the day:Very fashionable I know: We had layers of clothes, including hip waders, life jackets and bright rain jackets just in case something went wrong.
As tiring as it was, it was also a lot of fun to play in the water like that. It is important to note though, that we had official permission to do the collections. It is illegal to take any wildlife or plant life into or out of a national park!
Karen
Thursday, August 13, 2009
A morning to rant...
Two weeks of cloudy days, but why won't it rain! Ok, it rained a little this week, but not nearly enough. The geldings are getting restless and want back out on their grass pasture! I hope we get that rain they are forecasting for tonight so the grass can grow and be less crunchy under foot.
...
I have been helping Wendy in her pony search, and she found a lovely gelding that I am quite excited about. Hopefully one day he will come here to learn to jump!
Along the search though, we found another pony, and in doing a search to find info on that pony's owners I found their website. It was the same not so great people that tried to buy Bugsy a few years ago. So I perused their website. It makes me think our industry needs some regulations...or at the very least parameters that allow non-horsey parents to know what is safe and what isn't.
For example: lesson kids (beginners based on the rubber boots) riding in a hard packed dirt paddock with a barn OPEN to the area. I could just imagine an unwilling pony deciding to quit early and head back to the barn. And the risk of getting hurt falling on hard packed earth? Ouch... But there is more....they list their horses....they seem to have three lesson horses only, yet run camps. So what happens if one goes lame? Are they going to ride double? Oh, and one of the horses is only 4. For insurance purposes you can't use horses that young for obvious reasons, but they are.
Oh, and they also show a LOOSE horse in the ring during an obviously beginner lesson. The horse has a halter and something on its back...but no handler.
And then there are their lesson prospects. The unhandled/unstarted horses (as of mid May) that they plan to start using in lessons in the summer or fall. What??!?? Seriously?!? I don't care how good of trainers they are (and they must be great considering they only charge $350.00-400.00 per month for training including board...you guys are suckers for bringing your horses here apparently) But you CANNOT make a horse lesson safe in two months when it is barely halter trained! But a non-horsey parent or Disney addicted kid wouldn't know that.
And then there is the TWO year old that they bred for a 2010 foal. Sad sad sad. She will then be trained to join the lesson program apparently. Nice. A three year old lesson pony that already had a foal.
Lessons at this place are CHEAP, so I imagine they won't have trouble getting business, but at what potential risk and cost to the kids and the horses?
So...what can be done? it would be hard to push regulation onto an industry like this, but perhaps a check list parents can go through to help them judge if a lesson program or camp is safe? Education of parents of the risks inherent to horseback riding?
I fear as the cost of horses goes up, good programs won't be able to keep offering lessons at a cost that average people will want to pay, so people will go places just because that is all there is. I don't know the solution to that. I don't want to see riding lessons to be only available to the elite, but nor do I want these poorly run pony hells to flourish.
Karen
...
I have been helping Wendy in her pony search, and she found a lovely gelding that I am quite excited about. Hopefully one day he will come here to learn to jump!
Along the search though, we found another pony, and in doing a search to find info on that pony's owners I found their website. It was the same not so great people that tried to buy Bugsy a few years ago. So I perused their website. It makes me think our industry needs some regulations...or at the very least parameters that allow non-horsey parents to know what is safe and what isn't.
For example: lesson kids (beginners based on the rubber boots) riding in a hard packed dirt paddock with a barn OPEN to the area. I could just imagine an unwilling pony deciding to quit early and head back to the barn. And the risk of getting hurt falling on hard packed earth? Ouch... But there is more....they list their horses....they seem to have three lesson horses only, yet run camps. So what happens if one goes lame? Are they going to ride double? Oh, and one of the horses is only 4. For insurance purposes you can't use horses that young for obvious reasons, but they are.
Oh, and they also show a LOOSE horse in the ring during an obviously beginner lesson. The horse has a halter and something on its back...but no handler.
And then there are their lesson prospects. The unhandled/unstarted horses (as of mid May) that they plan to start using in lessons in the summer or fall. What??!?? Seriously?!? I don't care how good of trainers they are (and they must be great considering they only charge $350.00-400.00 per month for training including board...you guys are suckers for bringing your horses here apparently) But you CANNOT make a horse lesson safe in two months when it is barely halter trained! But a non-horsey parent or Disney addicted kid wouldn't know that.
And then there is the TWO year old that they bred for a 2010 foal. Sad sad sad. She will then be trained to join the lesson program apparently. Nice. A three year old lesson pony that already had a foal.
Lessons at this place are CHEAP, so I imagine they won't have trouble getting business, but at what potential risk and cost to the kids and the horses?
So...what can be done? it would be hard to push regulation onto an industry like this, but perhaps a check list parents can go through to help them judge if a lesson program or camp is safe? Education of parents of the risks inherent to horseback riding?
I fear as the cost of horses goes up, good programs won't be able to keep offering lessons at a cost that average people will want to pay, so people will go places just because that is all there is. I don't know the solution to that. I don't want to see riding lessons to be only available to the elite, but nor do I want these poorly run pony hells to flourish.
Karen
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Attention Clare and Joan...
Guess what found its way into the lower North paddock? Its big...its black...about as wide as two normal horses...and the ground shakes when it trots...yes, we have a Friesian again! This one is a big 5 year old gelding. Built much like Ayla though, with a gorgeous wide chest. Not the thick long mane though...we will have to work on that. His name is Gjelt. It is pronounced "Bob". Kidding...actually it is pronounced "Yelts". Go figure.
Along with him came a very nice 3 year old chestnut QH gelding named Aiden. Aiden is nice, just over shadowed by Gjelt's presence. He is a nice big boy, and looks very well built and althetic. He was trying to play the tough guy and keep Gjelt from danger by prancing around like an arab around him. For some reason the tail in the air just doesn't work for non-arabians.
Pete will be going home soon. He has turned out to be a nice little dressage horse, and definitely has "the look", so hopefully Wendy can join us at some shows with him next year.
Karen
Along with him came a very nice 3 year old chestnut QH gelding named Aiden. Aiden is nice, just over shadowed by Gjelt's presence. He is a nice big boy, and looks very well built and althetic. He was trying to play the tough guy and keep Gjelt from danger by prancing around like an arab around him. For some reason the tail in the air just doesn't work for non-arabians.
Pete will be going home soon. He has turned out to be a nice little dressage horse, and definitely has "the look", so hopefully Wendy can join us at some shows with him next year.
Karen
Monday, August 10, 2009
Well, Paige went home today. Paige the horse. Her neighbour, Jewel, is already missing her. They seemed to have an odd love/hate relationship and liked making snarly faces at each other from the safety of their own pen. Paige the human is going to come back from vacation and find the two horses she was helping look after both gone.
This week in lessons, we are working on corners. Proper, symetrical corners. Corners that resemble the 1/4 of a circle. I am using the pool noodle as a pointer to encourage riders out in the corners. Seems to work well :)
You may notice some of the shelters got a bit of a make over on Sunday; Rob and his folks put new siding on them to match the barn. Ri was the most curious of the chance, and had to inspect it from all angles. He seemed to approve.
Karen
This week in lessons, we are working on corners. Proper, symetrical corners. Corners that resemble the 1/4 of a circle. I am using the pool noodle as a pointer to encourage riders out in the corners. Seems to work well :)
You may notice some of the shelters got a bit of a make over on Sunday; Rob and his folks put new siding on them to match the barn. Ri was the most curious of the chance, and had to inspect it from all angles. He seemed to approve.
Karen
Saturday, August 8, 2009
White Stallions
Amanda took me to see the Lippizzaners today! We saw Tamara down in the floor seats...I want to ask her what the foot was for it, as it appeared to just be carpeted pads over cement! I didn't see Anna is the Wheel Chair section though, or anyone else we knew.
The horses were neat to watch, and the riders were obviously very skilled, with very good seats. The head rider "Andrew" was impressive too. Our plans to kidnap (mannap?) him, were thwarted though... Anyway...I appreciated how he dealt with his horse misbehaving in the ring; rather than let it bother him when the horse broke to canter rather than extend the trot, he quietly circled and tried again. He was also quick to pet the horse once it had done well.
I liked the sparkly hair net thingies the girls wore. I think they would go over well in the dressage ring.
They did the airs above the ground this time, and although the horses weren't consistent on them, they did perform impressively. Sitting the Capriole looks like it would require a lot of balance!
Not all the horse's were Lippizzaners though, there was at least one Andalusian, so I am not sure why they call it the Lippizzaner show. The Andalusian had a very impressive mane. I also liked the fat flag bearer stallion.
I wonder if these horses just live on the road, or if they have places they get to take breaks at?
Karen
The horses were neat to watch, and the riders were obviously very skilled, with very good seats. The head rider "Andrew" was impressive too. Our plans to kidnap (mannap?) him, were thwarted though... Anyway...I appreciated how he dealt with his horse misbehaving in the ring; rather than let it bother him when the horse broke to canter rather than extend the trot, he quietly circled and tried again. He was also quick to pet the horse once it had done well.
I liked the sparkly hair net thingies the girls wore. I think they would go over well in the dressage ring.
They did the airs above the ground this time, and although the horses weren't consistent on them, they did perform impressively. Sitting the Capriole looks like it would require a lot of balance!
Not all the horse's were Lippizzaners though, there was at least one Andalusian, so I am not sure why they call it the Lippizzaner show. The Andalusian had a very impressive mane. I also liked the fat flag bearer stallion.
I wonder if these horses just live on the road, or if they have places they get to take breaks at?
Karen
Thursday, August 6, 2009
So back to the drawing board for a name for the filly...nothing seems to fit when I actually go to use it...well, except for Riva, but Rob veto'd that.
Any opinions on the name "Karma"?
Amanda was discussing about the learning techniques she is learning at her new teaching job, and I was trying to think if I could make use of the school's policies. I have decided not to go with the no criticism/judging route, but I thought the learning circle may work, so from now on, if you want to voice your opinion during lessons, you have to hold the sacred learning circle icon...aka a big pink pool noodle. I will be videoing.
I am working on the Fall Lesson schedule right now. I think I want to only teach 3 hours a day this fall: 5-8 on Mondays, 5:30-8:30 on Tuesday, 6-9 Wednesday and Thursday, and 10-1 on Sunday. I may be willing to teach during the day one day a week if there is enough demand.
It also looks like indoor board is spoken for now; I am just awaiting some deposits to reserve spots. I am going to be using the feed/blanket stall this winter too, so I will be working on creating an area for these items to be stored conviniently to allow this stall to be used. I will be keeping Dexter inside this winter, but his stall will be available in case of emergencies.
Karen
Any opinions on the name "Karma"?
Amanda was discussing about the learning techniques she is learning at her new teaching job, and I was trying to think if I could make use of the school's policies. I have decided not to go with the no criticism/judging route, but I thought the learning circle may work, so from now on, if you want to voice your opinion during lessons, you have to hold the sacred learning circle icon...aka a big pink pool noodle. I will be videoing.
I am working on the Fall Lesson schedule right now. I think I want to only teach 3 hours a day this fall: 5-8 on Mondays, 5:30-8:30 on Tuesday, 6-9 Wednesday and Thursday, and 10-1 on Sunday. I may be willing to teach during the day one day a week if there is enough demand.
It also looks like indoor board is spoken for now; I am just awaiting some deposits to reserve spots. I am going to be using the feed/blanket stall this winter too, so I will be working on creating an area for these items to be stored conviniently to allow this stall to be used. I will be keeping Dexter inside this winter, but his stall will be available in case of emergencies.
Karen
GoodBye Dreamer
Dreamer left for his new home today. He hopped right in the trailer and off to his new life as a mostly trail horse. I hope he is happy and well cared for.
With Dreamer gone, I will move Rocky and Rocket back to the run way for a bit, and then I will have to find a new horse to go out front with them. I don't like leaving only two out front as the horses in that feild can't see other horses, and I don't like leaving anyone all alone while the other horse is being worked.
The new mare is going to get to out with Bliss and the girls on grass tomorrow...I wonder what she will think of that? I am hoping she will become friends with Coregel as I want to split Coregel and Piper up this fall as they are a little too attached.
I have yet another name floating in my head for the new filly: "Gemma". Her registered name is "Found A Gem" so it comes from that. I did like Anna's suggestion of Suki, until I realized how much it sounds like Sucky. I was sort of thinking Whisky too, but I think I like Gemma the best when I actually go to use the name.
I went to elementary school with a girl named Gemma. Nice girl, liked horses, and had the same birthday as me. She got picked on though by the teachers as she just could not come up with the right answers and couldn't read aloud. They got frustrated with her and thought yelling would help for some reason. It was rare that we had a teacher that could see beyond that and see how smart she really was. The subs would always pronouce her name wrong too, and the other kids would laugh...but what sort of teacher wouldn't know to pronouce a G followed by an E as soft? I think Gemma turned out to be dyslexic or something, and I still cringe when I think of how mean certain teachers could be to her out of frustration, when really shouldn't it be the teacher's responsiblity to find a way to teach, and if they can't, then isn't it their failing not the students? Saying the same thing over and over, louder and louder is not good teaching.
That lesson kind of mirrors horse training issues though. How often do horses suffer punishment and strong methods when the trainer/rider runs out of skill or patience? How often to people just use stronger and stronger aids to convey what they want, rather than step back and think that maybe the horse doens't understand, or is otherwise unable to do it? Or maybe that the rider/trainer is the one at fault for using incorrect or conflicting aids?
Something to think about next time you start considering your horse as "Stupid".
Karen
With Dreamer gone, I will move Rocky and Rocket back to the run way for a bit, and then I will have to find a new horse to go out front with them. I don't like leaving only two out front as the horses in that feild can't see other horses, and I don't like leaving anyone all alone while the other horse is being worked.
The new mare is going to get to out with Bliss and the girls on grass tomorrow...I wonder what she will think of that? I am hoping she will become friends with Coregel as I want to split Coregel and Piper up this fall as they are a little too attached.
I have yet another name floating in my head for the new filly: "Gemma". Her registered name is "Found A Gem" so it comes from that. I did like Anna's suggestion of Suki, until I realized how much it sounds like Sucky. I was sort of thinking Whisky too, but I think I like Gemma the best when I actually go to use the name.
I went to elementary school with a girl named Gemma. Nice girl, liked horses, and had the same birthday as me. She got picked on though by the teachers as she just could not come up with the right answers and couldn't read aloud. They got frustrated with her and thought yelling would help for some reason. It was rare that we had a teacher that could see beyond that and see how smart she really was. The subs would always pronouce her name wrong too, and the other kids would laugh...but what sort of teacher wouldn't know to pronouce a G followed by an E as soft? I think Gemma turned out to be dyslexic or something, and I still cringe when I think of how mean certain teachers could be to her out of frustration, when really shouldn't it be the teacher's responsiblity to find a way to teach, and if they can't, then isn't it their failing not the students? Saying the same thing over and over, louder and louder is not good teaching.
That lesson kind of mirrors horse training issues though. How often do horses suffer punishment and strong methods when the trainer/rider runs out of skill or patience? How often to people just use stronger and stronger aids to convey what they want, rather than step back and think that maybe the horse doens't understand, or is otherwise unable to do it? Or maybe that the rider/trainer is the one at fault for using incorrect or conflicting aids?
Something to think about next time you start considering your horse as "Stupid".
Karen
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Spooky had a foal!
Big Clydesdale Spooky that some of you remember had a foal at the end of July! A very leggy black and white pinto filly!
Michelle tried so long and hard to get Spooky in foal, so I am glad to see she got such a nice baby after all that effort! I remember trying to get her pregant when she was here; it seemed either Spooky's timing would be off, or the semen would ship up and be in poor condition; we just couldn't catch a break.
Congratualations Michelle and Spooky!
Karen
Michelle tried so long and hard to get Spooky in foal, so I am glad to see she got such a nice baby after all that effort! I remember trying to get her pregant when she was here; it seemed either Spooky's timing would be off, or the semen would ship up and be in poor condition; we just couldn't catch a break.
Congratualations Michelle and Spooky!
Karen
GoodBye Little Bay horse.
Well, it looks like Dreamer may have a new home; I have a verbal agreement to sell him to the lady that came out and rode him last week. I will be a good home for him; lots of trail riding, and quite likely a lifetime home as she kept her other arab until she was over 30 and needing to be put down. I like the idea of him going to a lifetime him as he is so people friendly. Plus, she has all the silver show tack that every arab needs!
Poor Paige though...I keep selling her projects when she is away! At least she had a good last ride on him.
If all goes as planned, he will be going on Thursday or Friday. I will miss him; he has quite the personality, and always acts so happy to see me!
So now our sales list will be: Bliss, YJ, and possibly Piper. Tango needs a rider, and Sunny may be for lease this fall as well. On the "want" side, we are looking for a medium size, well trained pony to purchase for a client, so let me know if you know of anything.
On another note; Kaitlin is out of the hospital now, and is out and about! She drives now too, so watch out for a black Cavalier on the road....
I hope she can salvage some of her summer.
Carole, Kaitlin was also telling me about some trails to the North, so when she is back riding, she can show us where they are!
Karen
Poor Paige though...I keep selling her projects when she is away! At least she had a good last ride on him.
If all goes as planned, he will be going on Thursday or Friday. I will miss him; he has quite the personality, and always acts so happy to see me!
So now our sales list will be: Bliss, YJ, and possibly Piper. Tango needs a rider, and Sunny may be for lease this fall as well. On the "want" side, we are looking for a medium size, well trained pony to purchase for a client, so let me know if you know of anything.
On another note; Kaitlin is out of the hospital now, and is out and about! She drives now too, so watch out for a black Cavalier on the road....
I hope she can salvage some of her summer.
Carole, Kaitlin was also telling me about some trails to the North, so when she is back riding, she can show us where they are!
Karen
Monday, August 3, 2009
Random Web jokes...
A couple is getting ready for bed. The man says, 'I am going to make you the happiest woman in the world.' The woman replies, 'I'll miss you.....'
-----------------------------------------------
'It's just too hot to wear clothes today,' Jack says as he stepped out of the shower, 'honey, what do you think the neighbors would think if I mowed the lawn like this?' 'Probably that I married you for your money,' she replied.
-----------------------------------------------
Q: What do you call an intelligent, good looking, sensitive man? A: A rumor
----------------------------------------------
Dear Lord, I pray for Wisdom to understand my man; Love to forgive him; And Patience for his moods. Because, Lord, if I pray for Strength, I'll beat him to death. AMEN
----------------------------------------------
Q: Why do little boys whine? A: They are practicing to be men.
----------------------------------------------
Q: What does it mean when a man is in your bed gasping for breath and calling your name? A: You didn't hold the pillow down long enough.
----------------------------------------------
Q: How do you keep your husband from reading your e-mail? A: Rename the mail folder 'Instruction Manual.'
HA!
-----------------------------------------------
'It's just too hot to wear clothes today,' Jack says as he stepped out of the shower, 'honey, what do you think the neighbors would think if I mowed the lawn like this?' 'Probably that I married you for your money,' she replied.
-----------------------------------------------
Q: What do you call an intelligent, good looking, sensitive man? A: A rumor
----------------------------------------------
Dear Lord, I pray for Wisdom to understand my man; Love to forgive him; And Patience for his moods. Because, Lord, if I pray for Strength, I'll beat him to death. AMEN
----------------------------------------------
Q: Why do little boys whine? A: They are practicing to be men.
----------------------------------------------
Q: What does it mean when a man is in your bed gasping for breath and calling your name? A: You didn't hold the pillow down long enough.
----------------------------------------------
Q: How do you keep your husband from reading your e-mail? A: Rename the mail folder 'Instruction Manual.'
HA!
brrr.
Although I do vastly prefer this to the 30 plus weather...I just wish we could have more moderation in our weather.
This Saturday Amanda is taking me to see the Lipizzaners, so be prepared to be expected to do Levades in lessons next week! I am very interested in seeing how the riders sit; I don't think there are better dressage type riders seat wise anywhere. Does anyone want to do afternoon feed so the horses don't starve while I watch the white stallions?
New mare still needs a name. Christine suggested "Alice" after some Brownie's song about Alice the camel who in the end of the song ends up being a horse...I think the filly should be insulted.
So far her main characteristic is that she is pretty loud calling to her old friends across the road...and she has a bumpy head.
Karen
Although I do vastly prefer this to the 30 plus weather...I just wish we could have more moderation in our weather.
This Saturday Amanda is taking me to see the Lipizzaners, so be prepared to be expected to do Levades in lessons next week! I am very interested in seeing how the riders sit; I don't think there are better dressage type riders seat wise anywhere. Does anyone want to do afternoon feed so the horses don't starve while I watch the white stallions?
New mare still needs a name. Christine suggested "Alice" after some Brownie's song about Alice the camel who in the end of the song ends up being a horse...I think the filly should be insulted.
So far her main characteristic is that she is pretty loud calling to her old friends across the road...and she has a bumpy head.
Karen
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Names
So Rob doesn't like the name "Riva" for the new filly. I still like the name, but as she is still new I am willing to change it, so I am looking for suggestions. It has to have at least two sylables.
For those of you who haven't met her, she is a liver chestnut, with a dark mane and tail, stripe down her face, and a small amount of white on her left hind.
What do you think of the name "Mocha"? She is kind of Mocha coloured?
On another note....Pete's owner has farm fresh chickens and turkeys ready for your freezer if you want one! She will be coming up in the next couple weeks. I don't know the price yet.
Karen
For those of you who haven't met her, she is a liver chestnut, with a dark mane and tail, stripe down her face, and a small amount of white on her left hind.
What do you think of the name "Mocha"? She is kind of Mocha coloured?
On another note....Pete's owner has farm fresh chickens and turkeys ready for your freezer if you want one! She will be coming up in the next couple weeks. I don't know the price yet.
Karen
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