I am Tonks!

So after reading "I is Roxie!" Tonks wanted me to make a My Little Poneh version of her too.

Goals Completed and More for the Coming Year

    2011 didn't start out on a very positive note. The struggles I have faced over the last year, have made me a better horseman and rider, but a better and stronger person as well. 
   From months of treating Addie for EPM, to finally thinking she was back to her old self and then having her almost seriously injure us both, it was time to say goodbye. A few months after making the trip to Billings to give Addie back to her original owners and breeders, we got the sad news that she was put down because she became too much of a danger to herself and others. It was a hard thing to digest, but at the same time it was also a relief that she wouldn't be suffering anymore.
Here are some pictures from last winter. 

                 I wish things could have worked out, I love that horse, but I guess it just wasn't meant to be.

    After two or three months I found Tonks, well really I was finally able to go see try her out after months of looking at pictures and talking to her owners.
    At the end of June we made the trip up to Kalispell to bring Tonks home with us. Since we have had some different opinions about how to go about things, but after getting her number we have been doing really well together.  We went to my first event in a year, and hers in about six and we managed to place in the top six. The next weekend we took home 2nd. We were able to work with a lot of great instructors. Thanks Molly, Olivia, Amanda, Wendy, and Sali! I can't wait to work with you all again come the New Year!

Take a look at my Goals from last year.

Goals from 2010 for 2011

My plan of action is as follows:
1. take the TABY test to see what I need to work on before I take the GED
2. take my GED and pass with flying colors
3.apply and get accepted into college, namely Montana State (I love their equine science/pre vet programs) and that way I can afford to keep my horse and compete 
I was also accepted into the University of Montana and in the process of being accepted into University of Montana Western. When I do, I am planning on going there in the fall for sure!
4.take the SAT/ACT
5. and then attend MSU in the fall :)
This did not happen because my family (not naming who) is not supportive of me going to college, whatsoever.
and above all - pray to God I stay relatively healthy
I DID end up having a tonsillectomy in March, and was laid up for almost two months. It was not fun at all, but very worth it! 


      Horse wise I haven't been able to ride much because of various reasons, but heck thats winter in Montana if you have an indoor or not.

Goals for 2011:
- Get Addie's awesome jumping back and keep it
- work on my release
   I would like to think that I have improved my jumping release since I have been riding Tonks, because she pretty much requires that you don't touch her mouth when she is jumping. She is very opinionated, haha.
- get nice, consistent dressage work (mid 30's at least)
   Tonks and I did end up getting a 30 at our 2nd mini event together!
- get my C1 in the spring and my C2 later in the summer
   I wasn't able to get my C1 in the spring, but did get most of it this fall. YAY! I am going to finish it this spring and work towards my C2 before school starts.
- take Addie to our first reg. event and manage to do as well as we do at home
- conquer my fear of Addie bolting by doing LOTS of xc work
- be competing at BN, which means I will  be schooling some novice
- IF she is doing well go to an easy move up novice level event
- above else staying sound (for both of us, haha) and having fun!
Addie and I didn't get to do any of these things together, but I did get over a quite a bit of my fear of her being really stupid. That was before she was starting to be actually dangerous, and even then I was riding her when I probably shouldn't have because of the safety factor.


Goals for 2012!!

Horse Related Goals:
-Really work on our jumping
Tonks really doesn't like doing an exercise more than a few times, because she quickly figures them out, so I need to work on lots of different exercises.
-Finish my C1 in the spring
-Work on our dressage (at Events keep scores no higher than mid-thirties)
-Work on my C2 and get it before school starts in the fall.
-Work on my seat and mainly my legs, so I can ride confidently without stirrups at all three gaits and jumping (small fences ;))
-Make sure that I stay calm, cool, and collected while riding, because Tonks seems to feed off of any of my negative energy.
-Figure out a happy medium for us both out cross country so she isn't freaking out and I am not half halting the whole way. Maybe a different bit or figure 8?
-Remind myself that Tonks is NOT Addie, and that I can trust her more than I have been.
-Ride and take lessons on as many other horses as I possibly can
-COMPETE!
-Start at BN in the spring and  hopefully move up to Novice
-Compete at our first Reg. Event together, Arrowhead maybe?
-Go to a few events at Novice to prepare for Rebecca Farm
-Compete at Novice at RF

Not Horse Related (Mostly):
-Get a gym membership and start hitting it hard to strengthen my legs
-Do everything in my power to stay healthy
-Work on things that will help me trust Tonks and other people better
- Find a J-O-B! and/or maybe a Working Student position??
-Start teaching more
-Make myself a schedule and stick to it. Quick being a procrastinator!
-Move out and figure myself out a bit more.
-Finish applying to UM Western and make sure that I am able to go next fall. Just Get 'er Done!
-Join the Equestrian Team at UM Western
-Also just go with the flow and when the going gets tough the tough keep on going ;)

Hope you all have a wonderful New Year,and may you all achieve what you set out to accomplish!

Just Thought I Would Share....

Sundown Blues

  Since my last post in April, I have since tried out several horses and ended up finding the perfect horse.
Meet Sundown Blues aka "Tonks"

  Tonks is a 12yo, Canadian Thoroughbred mare, and 16.1hh. She has been doing much of nothing for the last sixth years or so, but before then she has shown Novice level eventing and schooled up to Training. My hopes for her are to take her at least Training and to my C3.
  I brought her "home" June 28th, and she has been a dream (for the most part) ever since!
  
  We started doing stuff as soon as I got her home. Just a few weeks of being together we had a lesson with Sali Gear, a Pony Club National Examiner from Virgina. Sali was great, and really helped us, with Tonk's new thing where she would start cantering which would escalde into her doing a very collected canter that she would sometime threaten to rear from. My anxiety from my experinces with Addie did not help this, so it just made the sitiation worse. Sali also helped us with jumping because Tonks loved approach them pretty well and then about three strides out bomb rush them, no matter how big they were. Including poles.

Here we are before our lesson with Sali Gear.

 Since then after lots of schooling, a quite a few lessons, and dressage clinic with the great Amanda Lamp we have made a bunch of progress!
Here is a video of us riding with Amanda:

Because of my saddle and where the stirrup bars are placed, I unfortnatly had a bit of a chair seat that made it a bit harder to stay in a basic balenced position. Other than that, Tonks was amazing, this was our second day/lesson with Amanda and in just that short amount of time Tonks had improved more than any of us had imagined.

   Throughout this time I had been taking lessons with Molly Rennie, who is our region's instructor coordinator, and Hellgate Canyon's main instructor and Jt DC. She really has helped us better understand each other, especially when jumping. Molly also really helped me re-trust Tonks after she threw my friend Alex when she reared infront of a xc fence. She almost ended up flipping over onto Alex. It was pretty scary. Luckilly Tonks wasn't affected by it at all, and Alex didn't end up getting seriously hurt.

   In Sept I was able to take Tonks to two mini events, two weekends in a row. We went Smurf because I knew that if worse came to worse, we would still be able to finish. Tonks was awesome! The first weekend we went to Herron Park, where I had only schooled once before 2 year ago, but Tonks had been there dozens of times. We placed 6th on our dressage score of 42.3 out of a fairly large class. The next weekend we went to the Flying Colors mini event at the Missoula Equestrian Park.We shaved off about 12 points from the previous mini event for a 2nd place finish on a dressage score of 30!

   After that we then went and completed the C1Flat and C1HM ratings! I have been waiting for at least 3yrs to get this. Unfortunatly, I did not get the jumping portion, which would have made it the C1 Classic rating, but even if I had planned on doing that I would have been able to. On the day I rated (as well as some other canidates) th arena was practically flooded, and we were barely able to canter, so I guess either way I wouldn't have gotten it, which is fine with me. Molly and I were hoping with a few more jumping lessons we would be able to get it before the weather got bad, but it got too bad out before we could.

  All in all I am very happy with Tonks. We have schooled up to at least BN height, and our dressage has gotten very good (in my opinion). I can't wait for it to get nice enough to start really riding again. My goals for next year are to finish my C1, take my C2, and compete at Rebecca Farms at Novice. Cross your fingers!

The Search is On

    Since deciding (well okay probably for a couple of months before) and talking to Addie's previous owner about taking Addie back to her, I have been desperately looking for a horse. Our budget is 3k, TOPS. With such a minimal budget, your kind of stuck with older (around 12yo) horses that haven't done much or green beans that have done a little bit more but will need work as well.
    Being in Montana you already have a limited amount of horses that event or even jump, and if you do happen to find one they are selling for around 8k. When living in such a none eventing area, and your looking for "The One", you usually have to go to the surrounding states. Oregon and Washington that have a higher population of these horses at lower prices, and a lot/majority of them are young OTTBs that are just learning a something new.
     So here are a few I have found.

 Milo, 5yo, OTTB, gelding, 16hh. He is kind of downhill and probably hasn't been off the track long, so it would be quite a bit of work even though he sound like a great boy. He has a super pedigree too!

Casey, 13-14yo, OTTB, gelding, 17.2hh. Done pretty much everything, loves to jump and please. I really like him, and his owner is willing to lease or sell which is great. A fellow pony club member rode him at camp quite a few years ago and said he was great. I think he may be the one.

Tonks, 12yo, TB, mare, 16hh. Super attitude, done a little bit of everything. Was bought as a Training level prospect, but has only schooled up to that level and competed at Novice. Still a bit green.

Lastly is Chesapeake Bay, a 4yo Appendix mare. This is a video of her owner showing her to me, including her going over trot poles for the first time.

Spoke a Little Too Soon

  I need to start blogging on a more regular basis, geezzzee! Haha, sorry about that guys ;)
  So since the last time I blogged Addie has gone through her month of treatment, passed her nero, and lameness evals and everything was looking really good. Super good in fact. I was starting to look for a new saddle because we found out my was really bothering her, and starting to figure out training/showing schedules. Everything was looking up even though I hadn't ridden in a month due to a tonsilectomy that I had in March, and not having a saddle.
  I finally found a used Prestige Eventing saddle through Rick's Heritage Saddlery (which I totally recommend), and it fit enough where we could have made it work. Unfortunatly the day I went out to try it out and see how it fit Addie was lame, which was really disapointing. I tried it out anyway because I only had two days top to see if it fit, and if it didn't, ship it back.
 Addie was pretty good for about the first 45min, and then when when I went to get off because horses where being ran out of the barn after the evening feeding she just started to wig out. I couldn't get her to mind or pay attention for anything, and she kept on trying to run both my trainer and I over. I finally was able to get her back in her stall, but she really wasn't paying attention to me. I was able to get her calmed down enough where I felt safe to tie her up and start untacking. When I went around to her right side, which is opposite of the stall door, she started to pin me against the wall. So I told her to move over by putting pressure at her girth, just everytime I have for the last year and she REALLY freaked out. She started to pull and go over backwards at the same time, and this is a horse that I have only known to pull back twice and that was when I was clipping her for the first time and she spooked at the hair on the floor. Even then it wasnt bad, but she almost sat down several times while I was still pinned up against the wall.
 For whatever reason the twine loop that was supposed to act as a breakaway never broke, so I had a hard time calming her down enough to get her untied. Even then she was totally freaked out and never calmed down or started to listen after then. I was scared out of my wits, we both could have been seriously hurt very easily. We are pretty sure that the EPM has permanently affected her brain and that is why she now acts like this out of know where.
 Because this happened, along with other stuff that she has pulled, and none of it is resolved for long, I have decided that I am going to find Addie a new home. Addie has never been totally sound since I bought her last Feb., and when has been she doesn't stay that way for long. Not something you want in an Eventer. Since the economy is the way it is, and the horse market isn't in any better condition, I am just going to give her away. Yes, I know this sounds bad, but I am going to do everything in my power to find her the perfect home.
Addie would make a great broodmare, companion, or pleasure/trail horse. Whatever the EPM has done to her premanently cannot be passed onto a foal. She hacks out very nicely, both in a group and by herself. I need to find her a home asap. You can find her on dreamhorse.com under Addie Fitzpatrick. Addie also can be reg. with the North America Irish Draught Society (it is called something like that),and has super confo and bloodlines.

Update On Addie

     I have good news! I dont have to sell Addie after all! Downside is that she has tested with a weak positive for EPM, a neurological disease caused by a protozoa that attacks the central nervous system (you can learn more here). This causes asymmetrical muscle atrophy, neurotic behaviors, muscle soreness, poor coordination (more specifically of the hind end/legs), dragging of both or one of the hind toes, inability to stay balanced, and more. Fortunatly it can be treated. The most widely used anti-protazoal drug for horses with EPM is Marquis, but is also very expensive (usually around $750). This is what I am treating Addie with, and got an amazing deal from a friend that had left over from a horse that had treated a few years ago (who has made a full recovery after a very acute case the disease).  We are going to treat her with the Marquis for two months along with 5,000IU of Vitamin E every day. Vitamin E has been proved to help with inflammation and support the immune system, which are very important to help make a full recovery.
     Yesterday was the end of the first week of treatment, and she is acting much calmer (like her old self), hopefully it just wasn't a coincidence. I also started having one flake of hay put in Addie's stall in the am/pm so she has something else to focus on instead of being anxious during grain time (plus it will help prevent any side affects of the meds). So far, so good!
     Right now I am hoping that we will be able to do the things I have been wanting to do with her (before all the health and behavioral problems), if she makes a good recovery. So I will be posting a calendar of the things I am hoping to do with her here soon, along with updates on how she is doing.

First Post of 2011!

  I have... well had a feeling that 2011 was going to be my year, but at this rate it is completely and utterly horrible *sigh*.  Please bear with me as I vent a little.

  1. My great- grandma died the first week of the new year, which was really awful :(. It was even more so because we share a birthday, and were pretty close because of that. This year was going to be big for both of us, my 18th and her 80th. She was really sick, and there wasnt anything we could do for her, at least she isn't suffering anymore. Rest In Peace Grandma Pat.

 2. Addie's soundness issue(s) have never gotten any better, only worse. We don't think that she will hold up as even a dressage horse, so we are going to do some diagnostic stuff on her hocks to see how bad it has gotten, and find her a nice home as a please/trail horse/broodmare. Damn horses that are supposed to work out and never do, it doesn't help that I love the The Red Mare so much either. If you know of anyone who may be interested please let me know.

3. Last week my hamster died, yeah I know its not THAT big a deal, but it was for me. I had the "little" guy for a few years, and it was kind of a breaking point when he died after everything else that has happened. My life has a major suck factor right now.

4. Being that we probably wont get much for Addie because of her soundness and we are much more interested in finding her a wonderful home, we wont have much to buy me another. So I will probably be horseless for a while :'( If anyone knows of a horse for a lease to own, or cheap horse please let me know.


     On the bright side I am working on college applications, which are both a bit exciting and scary at the same time. I have also learned about a grooming position that would be awesome!

     My friend that recently lost her eventing partner to a neurological disorder. The horse community has really stepped up to help her find a new equine, and with their help she may have found a horse today. I am praying that she did. She really deserves it.

    On my own hunt I have spotted some pretty cool horses on dreamhorse.com that may be in my price range because they're neg. to good homes. I also have my eye on one down in Kalispell, so we shall see.
   
     Wishing everyone a better, happier,and successful 2011! If you are already having a year like mine, I have a feeling it is going to turn around for the better!

2010 Is Almost Over- Its Goal Time

        In the last few weeks I have been thinking a lot about the future and the possibilities, both horsie and non.
        One of the current issues I have had to deal with has been "solved" and a plan of action has been "developed". Right now I am supposed to be a senior in high school, but because of health problems I am technically a sophomore credit wise. I was hoping to graduate the spring of 2012, but in reality there is a chance I get sick again and that would probably result in delayed graduation...again. So I have made the big decision to get my GED, which has been debated off and on for a few years.

My plan of action is as follows:
1. take the TABY test to see what I need to work on before I take the GED
2. take my GED and pass with flying colors
3.apply and get accepted into college, namely Montana State (I love their equine science/pre vet programs) and that way I can afford to keep my horse and compete
4.take the SAT/ACT
5. and then attend MSU in the fall :)
and above all - pray to God I stay relatively healthy

      Horse wise I haven't been able to ride much because of various reasons, but heck thats winter in Montana if you have an indoor or not.

Goals for 2011:
- Get Addie's awesome jumping back and keep it
- work on my release
- get nice, consistent dressage work (mid 30's at least)
- get my C1 in the spring and my C2 later in the summer
- take Addie to our first reg. event and manage to do as well as we do at home
- conquer my fear of Addie bolting by doing LOTS of xc work
- be competing at BN, which means I will  be schooling novice
- IF she is doing well go to an easy move up novice level event
- above else staying sound (for both of us, haha) and having fun!

Here's to 2010

Long Time, No Post

     Since my last post Addie and I have had a few set backs. I have been dealing with health problems, and Addie was having some behavioral issues (which kinda chipped away at the confidence I had gotten back after the accident).
    Addie's problems have been pretty much been fixed by moving her to a new barn where she gets almost 24/7 turnout with four other mares, and finally getting to see the pony chiropractor! Both of these things have really helped her tons.
   She was so excited the first day she was let out in the pasture by herself (before the she was introduced to the other four mares) that she galloped around it so hard and much that she managed to cut up the insides of both rear cannons. Fortunately they look a lot worse then they really are.
    At our new barn we will also be getting 3 lessons a month with our board. I am VERY excited for this, because I have never had lessons on a regular basis except for the short time I was a working student last fall. This will definitely help with us get to the next level!
    

Meggan Holloway Clinic

    This last weekend I took Addie to the FVPC sponsored Meggan Holloway Clinic. It was both Saturday and Sunday, but I only rode on Saturday. First I had a semi private dressage lesson, and about an hour or so later I had a semi private jumping lesson. Addie was very good for the dressage, but pretty lazy, from now on I will always wear my spurs for dressage. For awhile I had quit wearing them because she was being very responsive, but it didn't last long. Haha.We worked on using her hind end and transitions, she was pretty good.
For my jump lesson we did grids and little courses, the highest jumps being 2'6"- 2'9". She had no problem clearing them, she just was being a compete dork. So I will also start wearing my spurs for jumping again too, because they would definitely help re-enforce my leg aids when she is acting up.This is what she has been doing lately:

This is the after math of a helicopter/deer jump, the nose dive. Because of her current jumping style, Meggan has offered for us to come down and have a mini jumping boot camp. Apparently Meggan's competition horse, Cutter (Addie's half brother), went through this "phase" as well. He is now being campaigned at Training level, trying to qualify for Prelim.
All in all it was very productive, helpful, and fun. I cant wait for next month!

Recap

   In the last month Addie and I haven't really been able to do much anything because I have been sick off and on, so right now she is fat and happy. I have been lunging her at least twice a week to keep her moving, but it still doesn't cut it, especially with the last mini event of the season at the end of the month. I am pretty disappointed with my self being that I haven't gotten us where we ideally "needed" to be. If I hadn't been sick and had continued our training schedule that we had started at Meggan's back in July we would at least be rocking bn . Right now we only have one smurf (18") under our belt.
  Sorry guys, just needed to vent, now on to the good news.
  This weekend I am taking Addie to a clinic that Meggan is coming down and teaching. I am going to see where she thinks we are level wise for the up coming mini event. Right now I am guessing that we will probably go smurf again, but that may change.
   I am also going to talk to my Pony Club's DC about doing my C1 HM and Flat ratings (PC has a new rating system for those that may not have an appropriate mount for any of the 3 areas that one is rated on) sometime soon, because we are both more than ready for them.
  So here are my goals leading up to next spring:

• Take Addie to the Mini Event at either smurf or bn and end on our dressage score
• Have a dressage score better than 36
• Get my C1 HM and Flat ratings this fall
• Over the winter get both my C2 HM and Flat ratings
• In the spring get both of my C1 and C2 Jumping ratings, so I will have both of the original "eventing" ratings for both
 Thats all for right now, I will post more soon ;)

Just Another Day

        Didnt get to go ride today....Just had too much going on. Dang it. Oh well, so let me get you all up to date.
        This weekend is the mini event which I am completely psyched for, but also kinda bummed about. The reason I am bummed is because my goal for the summer was to take her BN on Saturday, and guess what? The mare and I are going smurf. Barf.
        I took her out to school last Sunday at the park and had a lesson with John. I had never had one from him before, but it was pretty awesome. I got over the fear of her bolting with me again, she was a xc machine, even though you really cant be at Smurf and BN.... Anyway I used the gag that Meggan let me borrow ( the golden wings gag we tried when we over to her place) and it worked very well. Half halt here and half halt there, no more having to haul on her to get some kind of positive reaction. Yay!
      Addie was still jumping the BN and Smurf stuff like it was prelim height, and acting like she could jump 8 feet, so she needs to learn to sloooow down and be patient. Thus the reason for Smurfing this weekend. Plus since we can both do it all with our eyes closed we have a very big possibility of kicking some major a** .;)
      I figured out what I am going to both register Addie under with the USEA and IDHSNA. Since her sire is Dry Creek Macha, the first Registered Irish Sport Horse born in North America, I wanted to carry on the Macha name. It is also customary to do so in so. Read here what Macha means. Its very cool because I was wanting something that went along the lines of Celtic/Irish female warrior/goddess names, so I came across Aife. Aife (also known as Aoife) was famous female warrior from long long ago. So Machas Aife she shall be.
     Another reason behind Addie's "new name" is because there are not very many mares in eventing, and even fewer as you go higher up the levels. For those that do make it they are very strong and hold their own against the big boys. I have always thought that Addie would max out at Training probably to some T3D's. But because of her current behavior and love for jumping I have been lead to believe otherwise. John also mentioned after my lesson that Addie and I are going to go far together, which also gave me some more new found hope that we may get to prelim and possibly higher together. :)

Our Week At Boot Camp

   Last week as most of you already know, was spent in Bozeman at Holloway's Pretty Good Horse Barn, with Meggan Holloway.
  The timing couldn't have been any better, because while schooling cross country with Addie, on July 9th, she bolted. I only had one stirrup for aprox. .5 mile (give or take), and managed to stay on until she jumped the drainage ditch. I preceded to fall onto the bank of the ditch, and bounce into the ditch face first. That felt great (not really)! An ambulance was called, and off to the ER I went. Thankfully nothing was broken, and no concussion. We were really worried that I had broken my collar bone and tail bone. I was back and riding on Monday. My lower back is still pretty sore, but it will heal with time.
  So back to Out Week At Boot Camp. We worked on Addie's "foot work", because she is still learning where to put everything. It didn't help that she grew at least 1.5" since I bought her in February. Then she was barely 16.2hh, and now she is just over 17hh. And dang does she look good. No one recognized her, and I don't think that her original owners even would have! I need to post some before and after pictures. Now she doesn't look like a propane tank. The Mare now looks like a real sport horse!
  We worked on jumping four out of the five days I was there. We did a lot of grids and bounce lines, at the end she was doing them very well. Early friday morning before lessons and when we needed to leave, we worked on jumping ditches. Since the xc course was pretty much invisible due to how high the grass was, Meggan pulled out her fake ditch, and Addie never refused! At the end she was "galloping" over it at bn/n speed with no problem.
  On our way back into Missoula, Meggan and I talked about my goal of taking Addie novice at Rebecca Farm next July. Meggan thinks that if I do the August Mini Event and Stanton Farm on Sept. 11-12th at bn, and  if she does really well, she doesn't see why I couldn't take her around novice at the Oct. Mini Event.
To be successful at Rebecca at novice in July '11 we need to do at least 2 recognized  H.T.'s before then next season. I am currently looking at the May events, and will be deciding on our first shortly.

Following Suit

So  after just reading my friend's recent blog entery, I am going to jump on the bandwagon too! You can check out her blog at Pura Vida Eventing.

Here are my goals for the rest of the Summer:

-Take Addie to her first schooling Horse Trial at BN on August 7th

-Dressage score in 30's (swiped this one from Pura Vida Eventing)

-No refusals in XC or Stadium

-No breaking from gait during dressage tests

-Not hesitating or refusing at ditches

- Schooling some novice successfully

- Attend Buck Davidson Clinic at Jarba Farms in August

-Either go to the Dressage show here or go to Rebecca for H/J show

- Getting nice uphill movement with nice engagement of hindquarters ON the bit

- Go recognized at Stanton in Sept, go double clean xc and stadium and end on dressage score (BN)

- Take Addie to my C1 rating (and pass) the end of the summer or early fall

Thats all for the moment, but I'll try to think of some more!

July 5 2010

  Yesterday was a lot nicer than it is today. I can believe the down pour we had. Good thing there is a nice, big indoor where I board Addie or we would have been outta luck.
  Addie was very much a mare while I groomed and tacked her up, even more so when I went to put on my Collegiate aka my Craptastic Saddle. I know it doesn't fit, so I had stopped by Crazy Horse (the "tack" store) to see if they had a wide gullet in. To my despise they didn't. If I could have I would have had them order me one, but because they are a consignment tack store I couldn't :(. So I rode in the same arrangement that I used yesterday, and boy is that fun to get all on straight so she wont have anything else to get upset about.
  First we lunged. This is because The Mare thinks she is so aaaaaaalooooonnneee when we are in the indoor, and likes to scream and be stupid. Surprisingly she was pretty good on the lung, and just because I had her side reins already hooked up, I decided she could work for a while in them. It always seems to help set the mood for her, and then she doesn't pull on her when I ask her to take up the contact when I get on.
  Wow, my mom just came in the door and gave me some Almond Joys! Yummy!
  Okay, back on track. Addie is really loving the french link instead of the Stubben KK. Go figure. I spend $75 on the Stubben, and just $20 on the french link that I bought for Dover last summer. Oh well, good thing I still had it.
   Her right lead is still kinda crappy, we need to really work on it, because it is her off side. Otherwise we had some awesome trot work, mostly on the bit and round, and she was very much in tune to me. So all in all we had a pretty darn good ride :)

My 4th Of July Ride

   Today has been an unusual Independence Day. It has been uncharacteristically dark, gloomy, and muggy while years past have always been sunny and hot. This year I had the chance to escape away to the barn and see my "pony". I was just planning on lunging her with side reins, and give her a good grooming because I hadn't ridden in two days, and the last time I rode her she was a compete a**.  Throwing her head up, down, side to side and any other way possible. Hollowing her back, not listening to half halts, or my other aids. Figured that it was just because there were other horses in the arena cruising around and jumping, and she was going to jump as well. I didnt think much of it because I had been thinking about getting her a different bit for jumping, or maybe just a running martingale. Then my saddle started to sit on her withers. I already knew that my Craptastic Saddle (that I bought in 2008 brand new and it was the only one that would "fit" the horse I had at the time and my long legs) it is a bit wide for her, but I had been using my quilted  Mattes Correction Pad which had been working out great. Now it is sooo wide I need to get the next smaller gullet. Arrgg.
  We no longer have an "real" english tack store in the area, the closest is almost 4 hrs away. I might be able to pick one up at the Consignment Tack Shop, because they got a bunch from our local tack store when they went out of business. So today I used one of my Navajo saddle blankets to take up some space inconjunction with my regular saddle pad and mattes, and boy that helped! It didnt solve anything, the saddle still was sitting on her withers a bit, and left dry spots on either side of her withers, but she was much happier. I also switched her to Dover's old bit, a loose ring french link snaffle. I lunged her for about 10mins before  I got on, because she hadnt been ridden and to give her a chance to check out the "new" bit. She has been in Stubben's version on a KK Ultra loose ring snaffle, ridden with and without a flash. Addie loves the french link! I tried it without the flash to see how she really liked it, and guess what?! She did wonderfully in it, and doesnt need the flash.
   I w/t/c her at large, and on 20 meter circles, both on and off the bit. She was very responsive, but the left was better then the right, but thats how it has always been , so no change there.
   Since she was so good, I decided that we would pop over these itty bitty jumps that had been set up (18"), and my gpa put the novice height fences down a few holes for us as well. There were some logs used as fillers that we hopped over, one vertical, a gate, a small square oxer, and a small corner with a "liver pool" set up underneath it. The only one she kinda hesitated at was the corner, but it was more because I didnt have enough impulsion in her trot. She contiued to pop over everything at a nice relaxed steady eddy trot (a little to relaxed really, but hey I cant complain), and then I precieded to take her over them all after twice around at a nice balanced canter.
  Addie has always liked to speed up at the approach to a jump, especially at a canter, so much so she becomes unbalanced and she takes a bad spot (despite my half halts) and ends up hitting it and/or knocking a rail down. Not today though! The only time she almost got a rail was when I was trotting her up to the jumps on the approach, so she was just being lazing and not really jumping. So today she really proved that she is ready to move up in height (has been consitantly jumping up to 2'6", but mostly 2'3"), now she is ready to be consistantly be doing BN height. Yay!
 

June 30 2010

  Addie was definitely the Big Red Mare today. I didn't ride yesterday, but dang she acted like I hadnt ridden her in three! She was definitely in La La Land today. I had to do lots of counter bending at the trot to get her head screwed back on, to remind her she knows how to be round and not bend like a 2x4. Maresy was madly swishing her tail during warm up at the walk, and bouncing like bees were attacking her. She finally she agreed with me that there wasn't anything bothering her.
 Today there were two other horses in the arena as well. That was very exciting for her, because she believed she had a reason to scream at them a few times while their riders looked at me like "cant you just shut her up?!". To say the least The Mare has a mind of her own and will scream until hell freezes over no matter how many times you "tell" her to shut up. Hopefully she wont ever do it in a dressage test.
 On the up side her canter work was pretty good, and she had some nice walk to canter transitions as well. Her canter to trot down transitions were another story. You would have never guessed we had just spent a whole ride on them the day before last, which were very nice if I may say so. Oh well. We did some free walking to cool her down which was wonderful, we then ended it on some turns on the forehand (which she apparently forgot how to do, but finally remembered) that were pretty nice as well.

  I thought I had figured out my saddle fitting issues, but they sprung up again today, so that didnt help my riding whatsoever. The pommel was really tipping forward. I switched from a SaddleRight pad I was borrowing from a friend to my Mattes Quilted Correction pad. That had helped for quite a while, but now I probably need to go a smaller gullet for my saddle (I have a crappy Collegiate Convertible Diploma I am trying to replace with a Stubben). Right now I have a X-Wide Gullet in it, so I'll have to get the next size down and see if that helps at all. When I go down to Meggan's on the 11th I am going to have her do a fitting to see what size she really is.

Long Time No Post

I am not being very good about keeping my blog up-to-date. So now I am going to promise to keep you all up to date.

Since my last post, Addie and I have finally begun to really click with each other. She has finally figured out that I am not just pretending to know what I am doing, to "okay you've got it boss" and tries her heart out. We still have our "red thoroughbred mare" moments, but who doesnt? There have more good days than bad, so I cant complain, but there has been reason to dub her "Mrs. Robinson". The show name "Sweet Adeline", is just that, too sweet for my fiery, big, red mare...So it just wont do. Now she is known as Mrs. Robinson, and Mrs. Robinson she shall be.

Addie has also been taken on her first xc school, and was great. She did everything asked of her, even though it was all new. I also took her to her first show, a H/J schooling show at the local equestrian park. Addie placed in three out of the five classes. We only did the 18" and 2' classes to keep things simple. She was also very hot, but "cooled down" after the first class.

I currently had to move Addie from the boarding facility to a new one, which I am very pleased with. It has a small scale xc course with a complete water complex, regulation sized outdoor dressage arena, and heated indoor- which will be great for cold Montana winters.

Moving up

Addie is doing great. Last week I jumped her up to 2'6" for the first time, including strange things like barrels and "picket fences" in them. Didnt even hesitate. I am so proud of her! I will post some videos asap.
I also took her to her first show last weekend. We did the following classes: 1)18" hunter under saddle w/t, 2)18" hunter o/f, 3)18" hunter o/f,4) 2' hunter o/f, and 5) 2' hunter o/f. We placed in the 2nd, 4th and 5th classes! We were going to do jumpers, but there were not any offered under 2'6". She was great, but I am definitely going to try a different bit on her! I will post some pictures from the show as well.
Ciao