What's in a year?

SO much has happened in a relatively short amount of time. Cash is now owned by a 9 year old girl who loves him to death. He took her to a show just 2 weekends ago, and although he was a little spooky, he was an awesome little show pony.

Marvel is being leased by another little girl. I love him dearly and don't think I could ever let him go, however when reality hits, it hits hard and fast and doesn't listen to emotions. By this I mean that although every last hope and dream I had were pinned on him, through lots of learning experiences I have come to realize those hopes and dreams weren't logical. Marvel has crooked front legs. He loves to jump, he has an excellent brain, and beautiful gates. But his front legs are crooked. He will, or better yet should, never be my training level packer. I want him to live a long healthy life in as little pain as possible and it's just not right to jump him big on those legs. But what he can do is teach other people the beauty and fun of lower level eventing! He is very soft mouthed, can come on the bit, jump up to 2'9", and travel while keeping his sanity. He's perfect for the girls who want to know what eventing is all about and are maybe looking for their own pony and need one to ride in the mean time. He's big and beautiful and gentle, although still sometimes green. He's perfect. I will always see him that way. The reality is that he isn't though.

So that brings us to Panda. Mr. Pandamonium. The horse that wouldn't load on the trailer. The horse I was advised to sell as soon as humanly possible. The mean horse. The horse that didn't know that kicking with the leg means go forward. He came August 2013. We began dressage lessons February 2014. We began cross country/jumping lessons around May. So it's safe to say we haven't even been doing this a year.

Panda went from not know what going forward meant to being able to do a turn on the forehand, leg yield, pick up both canter leads, and come on the bit at the walk and trot. The canter is well on its way to being balanced and beautiful which is a long stretch from the jumbled mess we started with. We are headed to ride with Debbie Bowman in 10 days!

I went from feeling pretty confident I could train Panda to jump to realizing I absolutely could make him pop over any cross rail in our jump field but not correctly and to no specific end. At our first cross country schooling we trotted itty bitty logs on the ground because our canter was atrocious and dangerous over solid obstacles. In June we competed at the Beginner Novice level and came in 3rd place. In October we compete at the same level at the same venue and came in first! Yesterday we schooled almost a whole novice course and even did some training level obstacles. If our canter continues to improve, we will be ready for regular old Novice near the beginning of next year!

We've ridden with Joe Meyer and we are about to ride with him again. We are going to ride with Buck Davidson in December after our 3rd beginner novice run the weekend before the clinic. We have Doug Payne on the schedule for January. I am so proud of how well he is learning and how incredible he is doing.

Panda and I completing our first place dressage
round at Pine Hill in October.

Our successes have not been without some failures. Panda sliced his eye lid in half on a metal hook one evening that almost made our October show a scratch instead of a 1st place finish. Shortly after that accident Panda also developed what can only be described as roaring. We have yet to get him scoped as he has progressively gotten better but it is on our list of things to do. Some days it seems like you take 4 steps backwards. Some weeks it rains so hard our arenas are washed out for over a week. Marvel is still fighting his white line disease but with his handmade shoes he has been doing very well.

If I have learned anything at all since the last time I've written a blog it's that you can't do it on your own. Not just you or me personally. No one can do it on their own. I've seen my trainers go through ups and downs and that is extremely encouraging. They are real people too and it doesn't always go according to plan. And that's ok. A huge part of working with horses is using common sense and problem solving skills because a horse will throw something at you that you've never seen before. Ever. And neither has anyone else. You have to think like a horse sometimes and also keep your fingers crossed a lot.

I would never have been able to get Panda this far this fast if it weren't for the help and encouragement of the people around me. I wouldn't have to guts to ride when I don't feel good, or when the most recent 20 degree temperatures blew through, or if I feel too busy, or if I want to do other things. If you want to achieve your goals you just need to get out there and do it! It's hard at first but it gets easier. Ride. Practice. Make a plan. Don't take yourself too seriously because your horse sure doesn't. I'm only at the puny beginner novice level so I am probably not a huge inspiration but in literally less than a year of even being involved in this sport I have learned so much more than I ever thought was possible. I have been humbled again and again by the vast amount of things there are to know and learn. Every day I am challenged to try something new or learn something different. I am loving it. I think I will be an eventer forever!

Stay tuned for our next post, a crazy recap of what it has been like thus far to be a working student at Denali Sport Horses!

We Are Sorry

It's been awhile. I will fall victim to procrastination, boredom, lack of motivation, pure laziness, etc. I am sorry. Until I get paid for this blog (which will probably never happen and has never been the goal at any point anyway), I will not have enough regular time in my life, or enough extra brainpower, to sit down and write clever blogs. But the posts will come in waves, that you can count on.

I have been having so much fun and success with my boys and so many updates to share, but I have been sick for 2 weeks and had an epiphany that moved me to write this particular post, which I feel is extremely necessary. I used to be a "poet" of sorts and I've always been better writing than speaking so this is to Brandon. Not just him, but every horsey husband/boyfriend/friend/family member of every horse person I know. We are sorry. (Before you think this is too mushy or emotional, it was brought on by the monumental occasion that is me showering.)



I know it shouldn't be a miracle that I decided to take a shower today
And I know I shouldn't keep a memo on the opening screen of my phone apologizing to the paramedic that has to cart me to the ER about my luxurious leg hair
I know hands aren't supposed change colors after you wash them and hay should not be a normal thing to pull out of the lint catcher on the dryer

I'm sorry that I am too tired to make dinner but my boots are always polished and waiting by the front door
I'm sorry that I'm too cold to drag myself to the grocery store but not too cold to go feed the horses in the dark and windy morning
I'm sorry that I can't remember to drag the trash can to the front of the driveway but I have it marked on my calendar the day each horse's stall needs to be stripped
I'm sorry I'm scared of cockroaches but not getting on my student's bucking pony

I don't know anything about the racial or political implications of Kim Kardashian's latest semi nude photo shoot on the cover of a magazine I've never even heard of but I can tell you the breed, age, height, diet, turnout schedule, current and potential abilities and favorite treat of every horse at the barn
I don't know anything about tire pressure, oil changing, or that rattling noise that just started in the front-ish part of my car but I know the make, model and color of every vehicle that belongs to every person that belongs at the barn

My awesome boyfriend and cheerleader.
And dog watcher...

I'm sorry I never have any money and yet mysterious, fairly large boxes keep showing up at the house
I know more about the latest imported show jumping stallion than I do about Obama's stance on pretty much anything
I have a first aid box of everything short of surgical gear for the horses but not even so much as Tylenol at home
I go to a nice dinner in my best, least stained breeches because jeans feel constricting (and also that leg hair really sits better in breeches...)
I know a good deal on hay and how much farm land should cost but I couldn't tell you a good price on milk

My tack room is more organized than the kitchen
There's more dirt on the floor of the house than in my horse's stall
My horse is cleaner than I am 85% of the time
The only time I will buy new clothes is when my breeches get a hole in them or someone buys me a gift certificate to a clothing store
My grasp of hair and makeup artistry didn't develop past 1st grade
I will be home eventually

And these are the things you didn't know when you met us. But you know now. And we are so thankful you've stuck it out this long! There's no girl like a horse girl and there's no changing us anyway.

Stay tuned for an update on all my adventures! I'm back. For now. :)

It Ain't Easy Being Green

I think a major theme we can all pin point from my blog posts is my uncanny ability to be jealous of one thing or another. From the value of the horses I ride, to the amount of money I currently have in my bank account, to the tack I can (or more importantly, CANNOT) afford. Please don't get me wrong, I am way happy living this "horse poor" lifestyle, but the future is so far away, and so is all that STUFF. I am green with envy about my green horses and my lack of green backs!

I was sitting around one freezing cold day watching one of the many Grand Prixs from Florida and just getting bitter when I decided to write this post. How do all of those people have all that money to show all the time? Where did they get those horses? How do I get there? I was musing about the fancy houses and trailers and dozens of Ariat Monaccos they've got lined up in their closets just waiting to be used in yet another huge jumper class. I imagined what their beautiful barns with shining perfectly muscled horses must look like and how many saddles they must have in their dehumidified, perfectly climate controlled tack rooms. Let me tell you, I was SO jealous.

But then I thought of my own life only a little over a year ago. Horseless, with a decent paying job, a second job, and plenty of free time. I was miserable. Working 8-5, coming home to eat a sandwich (alone), clean a bit, and take a walk with my dogs was my every day. I love my dogs. LOVE them. But I was born and bred to be a horse lady (although where those genes came from, no one could quite tell you).

So instead of being jealous, perhaps, I thought, I can make a plan. But how often do I make plans? Only every day of my life! I want to ride in that show. I want to own a horse like that. I want to have that truck and trailer. I want to have that saddle. WAIT! Those aren't plans! Those are dreams. Dreams are awesome. Plans are what gets you to those dreams. What I've been missing this whole time is a legitimate plan. Which is SO strange because if you enter my house and take more than a half second to look around you'll find lists upon lists upon lists. So right now my goal for Spring Break is to make a plan. It's gonna be loooooooong, because Rome wasn't built in a day, and if you find a horse for $700 today, it probably isn't going to be ready for the 1.4 m jumpers tomorrow.

Which leads me to my next portion of this play on words. It really isn't easy being green when it pertains to having untrained horses at a new barn trying to go it more alone than you ever have been before. Sometimes I attempt to ride a nice 3 stride line and Marvel can't figure out what a straight line is. Or I attempt to ask Cash to pick up his right lead and he decides he would rather get all worked up and nervous than relax and settle down into what I am asking him to do. Or Panda has a fabulous dressage lesson and then we have to canter a 20 meter circle and he almost impales himself on the chute the cattle come out of (because no, we don't have a dressage arena right now). And sometimes I am ok with all of those things and have the patience to deal with it. And sometimes I have deadlines in my head that we need to meet and we are all falling miserably short. So I get jealous again of all the made horses without giving any thought to how long it took them to get that way.

It's hard to have dreams and not get down on yourself sometimes. It's hard to make plans when you realize how long it will take you to really accomplish those dreams. Sometimes it seems impossible. Sometimes writing it down SUCKS. There are days when I've saved my money to make a purchase, I make that purchase and I am ecstatic and then 5 minutes later the reality of bills comes crashing down on me and I get depressed. There are days when I feel like I was just at the feed store yesterday, why do we need more hay?

I guess I just want to use this post as a challenge to myself and to everyone else out there who feels like it's not going to happen for them. At the barn we have a running joke that we all wish we were tennis players, or swimmers, or gymnasts, or knitted. ANYTHING but horses. But for those of us who were born with the horse bug running through our veins, there aren't any other options. I still don't know exactly how far I want to go but I need to make a plan. And I also need to understand plans change so they need to be flexible. It's ok to be jealous if you use those feelings to fuel your fire instead of using them to let you get depressed. You might have green horses now but with every passing day they get less green. And you become a better rider and a better person. I truly believe that if you have it in you, you can go far with hard work, a good team, and a plan. We're going to find out if that's true the further and further I get with the boys!

Stay tuned, in a few days I will be posting an update on the ongoings of life at the barn. It's probably not going to be inspirational, and I don't think it's going to make you pee with laughter, but we're all due for a status check. :) Some great things are in the works/have already happened for team green ponies (that's us!).

When I Grow Up I Want to Be...

A good rider. When I grow up I want to be a good rider. I tell this to my boyfriend ALL the time. "I just wish I was good at riding horses. Le sigh." "When will I be good at riding horses?! Le sigh." "I hope someone thinks I'm good at riding horses. Le sigh." "How do I get good at riding horses?! Le sigh, le sigh, le sigh." All the overly dramatic 1950's sighing and swooning aside, this is a legitimate question/goal that has recently got me really doing some thinking. When will I know that I'm a good rider? What makes a good rider?

Over the New Years holiday I watched the George Morris horsemanship clinic. There were twelve 18 year old kids and their horses that were among the top young riders in the Nation. George Morris was constantly saying that it was less of a clinic and more of a demonstration because of how great of riders these kids were/are. I am not the person who has the authority to butt heads with George Morris but what I can tell you is that I don't fully agree. These kids have, probably from birth, been put on $15,000+ horses and ponies that have packed them around many an eq course. Not to say that those horses and ponies don't have their problems, they're still animals with minds of their own, but money bought the horse and the trainer/training, not just the horse. They are lovely riders with lots more experience than I can boast and they can ride the heck out of their blood horses but what about sticking one of them on Panda, or Cash? They'd be completely lost I can guarantee you.

So I suppose the ability to ride all different kinds of horses would be a criteria of a "good rider." But that's not fair! Let me tell you how many people get recognized for schooling the stubborn Welch pony to make it a good lesson mount. I'm going to go with a big old fat 0. No one. There aren't cameras at every barn that feed back to David O'Connor where he watches from the Virginia hills and decides who will be the next Beezie Madden. Nope. Every day the weathered instructor of some unknown barn in some Podunk town rides the bucking pony into submission so that tomorrow her little student can jump crossrails without fear of being bucked off. Is that instructor a "good rider?"

And then there are the me and Amanda's of this big wide world where money is not, nor (hopefully) will it ever be, evenly distributed. The $700 horses we ride are being trained and bettered by us and are hopefully worth more than their meager beginning price tag. Who knows if we will ever score rides on big Selle Francais stallions in Grand Prix Jumper classes or Oldenburg mares in Prix St. Georges. Are we "good riders?"

It's easy to say that Beezie Madden, Reed Kessler, Ben Maher, William Fox Pitt and Boyd Martin are good riders. We see them at the top all the time. They're always winning. They always have top notch, top dollar horses. What we don't see is the work it took to get there. The 18 year olds in the George Morris clinic, I would contest, don't do a lot of work. They're still on mommy and daddy's dime, using connections their parents have made, riding horses most of us only dream about. And that's fine. And I could be totally wrong too. No one sees the behind the scenes.

Anyways, absolutely none of that really answers my question. And now I have a new question; How do good riders make it to the top? I think there is one basic answer to all of those questions and it's called hard work. I think you become a good rider by riding tons of horses. Any horse you can. For the experience. Do I think a good rider should be able to sit on any horse? Yes and no. There are some horses that are just so crazy that ain't no one gonna sit on their back. That is the attitude they were born with/have taken on and at that point there is no point in riding that horse. And a good rider can see/determine that quickly. But I do think a good rider should be able to efficiently and correctly ride pretty much every horse.

But a good rider should also realize when the horse is not a good match for them. Every horse has a way it prefers to be ridden and every rider has a riding style. Both can adapt to a point, but why force a situation? If I like a lot of contact in the bridle and a horse gets very fearful with heavy contact why not have someone partner with the horse that is a little more forgiving in the hands? And I think a good rider knows that and thinks that way.

A good rider is built by working with horses. Not just showing up at the barn to a tacked up horse, riding a bit, and then handing the horse off to a groom. Once you have reached the top that luxury can be yours but you learn next to nothing about a horse if all you do is ride it. There are plenty of horses that are capable jumpers but they need a reason to go the extra mile. If you spend time bonding with the horse and really getting to know it, they will often do leaps and bounds more for you than if you show up to exercise it three days a week.

A good rider is smart and empathetic. They see what works and what doesn't work. They are creative in their training techniques. They are able to get consistent results by using the same training methods to produce athletes. They have a good eye for horses. They are constantly learning and improving. They are dedicated. They are persistent. They shoot for the stars. They know that riding has its ups and downs and they don't get too down on the down side or too high on the up side. They work with what they have. They are innovative. They are tireless workers.

I want to be those things. All of them. Which I guess makes the answer to my question, "When will I be a good rider?" never. And at the same time soon. It's an endless pursuit. Being a good rider is totally dependent on the assessor and what they value. I was unimpressed (and also horrendously jealous) by the clinic riders because I see no hints of hard work. Whether or not their talent and skills were there wouldn't matter. I value effort.


Once I was watching a Grand Prix Jumper class. There was a lady who was terribly turned out. Her ponytail was sticking out from underneath her crooked helmet. Her breeches had a stain on them and her jacket was very old fashioned. Besides the pony tail, I was kind of hoping she would rise above her obviously unprofessional outfit and ride the crap out of the course to a win over some of the top riders in the country. Unfortunately the disaster that was her getup was only made worse when she tried to prove her riding skills. Every jump there were elbows flapping, yelling, crop using, a leap at the jump with her body, which all resulted in the horse knocking down a pole at every jump until it finally crashed through jump number 6.

She was not a good rider. I will always remember that. Always. The moral of this post and that story in particular are that there are so many things that go into a good rider. Just because you've reached the Grand Prix level does not make you a good rider. Just because you're on a nice horse doesn't make you a good rider. Just because you can ride a snotty pony does not make you a good rider. Just because you look pretty sitting on a horse does not make you a good rider. But perhaps if you put all those together and stir in a little hard work and constant self improvement you've got something there.

I will probably still ask my boyfriend when I will be a good rider and "le sigh" about everything that I don't have quite yet. But "le sighs" do not get you to "Good Rider" status. Believe me, if they did I'd be short listed for the 2016 Olympics by now. Only hard work will get you anywhere. You have to want it bad enough. It has to run through your veins. When your mom told you, "If you work hard enough you can be anything you want" is so true. But the key there is you have to want it. My little sister could never work hard enough to ride at the top levels because she doesn't care to. And that's fine. Don't get discouraged! And remind me not to either. Jump at every opportunity you can and make the most out of it!

Streaking Ponies

If I said I wasn't at least a little vain in my thoughts for my horses I would be a liar. As much as looks don't matter, they do matter to me. I have never had the kind of money to spend on my horses as I would like, but if we're honest with each other, there's no amount of money in the world that would be enough when it comes to my horses. This month my vain thoughts were turned to body clipping.

I love my boys the way they are. But they're SO FUZZY I WANNA DIE! And not always in a good way. When you use your mane comb on your pony's body, your pony might be too fuzzy. When your pony sweats like we just did a 10 mile long cross country course on a 55 degree day standing in his stall, your pony might be too furry. When your pony has layers that are more obvious than the ones your stylist put in your own hair (HA, stylist! Who has the money?! Just go with it.), your pony might be too furry. When your pony starts shedding in January, your pony might be too furry. So aside from all the pony versions of Bill Engvall's "you might be a redneck" jokes, I had a few reasons to body clip other than vanity. Panda loses a lot of his charming features when his eye balls are set so deep in fur you can't see them.

Please don't get me wrong. I totally wanted him to look pretty too, but our workouts were getting him a lot sweatier than they should have considering the weather and him drying before it got cool outside really concerned me. I also would like to get some good practice in and perhaps make a little money before the dawn of this year's show season. So I took the plunge and bought some clippers last week. Clipping whiskers and facial hair is the extent of my knowledge. Apparently I know so little about clippers I even had them shipped to the wrong place. Yeah. Shout out to my mom who had nothing better to do on a Sunday than meet me halfway to deliver my new box of clippers (that had been sent to my parent's house) and a giant tub of beanie babies (hoping to jump on the get rich quick train).

Ok. So shipping fiasco aside we're still left with me. And clippers. Thank heaven for the internet. 3 hours and 5 tutorial videos later I was slightly more confident in my abilities but I still had to put these lessons to work.

Let me take a moment to pause here and rewind. Did I mention I know nothing about clippers? I hope the question you're asking yourself is something along the lines of "Which clippers did you buy?" Or "How did you know which clippers to buy?" Again, thank heaven for the internet, although my research fell ridiculously short of any higher education requirements. Price was a major factor (see above statements about me not being rich). Mainly I went on a few tack websites, looked at clippers in my price range, read the reviews and pushed "add to cart" on a nice looking Andis Super pro x horse balder 2 speed hi-res HD extra sharp, or something like that, that had a SPECIAL OFFER (can you see what the selling point might have been??) of a free clipper blade with purchase.

Lucky for me my horse clipper/coffee maker (or whatever else this thing does. It better do something else for the price I paid for it...) was featured in one of the YouTube videos I so religiously watched. What I did not take into account on almost all the vidoes is that they did not actually show the WHOLE clipping process. They did give me tips and tricks and a basic how to but they skipped a lot which I will tell you about shortly.

So finally I found some time on MLK day to de-hair Panda, my first guinea pig. I oiled up my bad boys, cross tied Panda close to an electrical outlet, made sure he was good with the clippers and went to work. First of all, kudos to my grey steed. He could care less about the clippers although the whole standing thing wasn't his idea of a fun afternoon. Long swipes against the hair. Check. Got it. OMG, someone sweep and sanitize the aisle, this crap needs to get donated to locks of love! Like, I knew he had long hair, but I didn't realize that you could have braided it. No wonder he was so hot! Made it through his shoulder, body, and behind before my clippers said "no friggin way" to his belly hair. At that point it was time for a break. And it's time for me to tell you the two major things I wish I had paid attention to/learned.

The first thing I paid no mind to was a few of the reviews on the Andis clipper. They said, "Not for yaks." And no, I wasn't thinking they meant legitimate hairy animals that are nothing like horses, I knew they meant super hairy horses. I didn't think that applied to me and my fine haired Thoroughbreds. But apparently panda was so hairy and the hair was so thick that when you ran your hand through it, the hair formed a layer that I thought was skin. So when I made my first swipe and wanted to donate to locks of love I was more than a little surprised to find that I indeed, had a yak.

The other thing I wish someone had told me (or perhaps I should've read the instructions or something. Ugh. Who needs those?) in my many tutorial videos, is how often to oil/clean the clippers. I was under the impression that you oil them and then go about your business until you're done and then clean them. Apparently for best results, stopping every few minutes to clean and oil the blades is like, a must. Who knew.

So between my yak and lack of clipper maintenance knowledge I had pretty much clogged the clippers with miles of long Panda hair. Don't get me wrong. I LOVE the clippers. The motor is working out just fine. It's just the blade doesn't agree with the not bathed, steel hair fibers of my adorable yak. Poor Panda had to take a little break half way through and get made fun of by the other ponies while I figured out how to clean the blade.

Then I went back to work. And the clippers were not so willing. I got Panda's neck and half of his stomach done before they were back to arguing with me and his hair. By that time it was chilly, dark, I was tired, Panda wanted to eat, and I could throw a blanket on him and no one could tell his hair was in a giant state of disarray.

BUT WAIT! The story doesn't end with me going back the next day and clipping him the rest of the way. NO! I had to find a new blade. My blade was shot. So in I meander to Tractor Supply looking for an Andis clipper blade. Would you imagine, they don't have them. GROWL! I can't let my poor pony be ugly for another week while I order the blade, get it mailed to the wrong location, and then find some time to pick it up and finish him. Luckily I saved the box which told me I could substitute the better known Oster brand blade for Andis blades. Phew! Panda was saved.

So the story ends with a giant outpouring of time and money and an even bigger learning curve. Panda doesn't look half bad if I do say so myself and luckily I body clipped him just in time for snow. You don't have to tell me. I'm the worst mommy ever. Stay tuned for a hopefully better story of Marvel's body clip. But first I have to get my blades sharpened and figure out how much hair I'm working with!

On the Road Again!

I am ecstatic! We have made tangible progress! For those of you who don't know me or know me well, I am not patient. And not like I don't like waiting an hour for a cake to bake because I want to eat it not patient. I mean like if it (whatever it is) doesn't happen now I lose my mind not patient. The only way I don't lose my mind is if there is a very strict plan. I operate well with major milestones. So on my path to success I've had several. The first being getting back into riding. Next would be acquiring some legitimate prospects. Then teaching them to walk, trot, and canter. After that I would count getting the jumps as a big milestone and then teaching the boys to jump. Although we haven't worked on course work, and that is something that needs to be accomplished, I would say I'd hit a stagnate period. Not that I wasn't working toward anything, believe me, I am every day, but the hum drum flat work that I repeat day in and day out (because the jumps are being painted currently) was getting me down.

I appreciate flatwork as much as the next guy but my training plan was less of a plan and more of a fly by the seat of my pants thing. I know that Panda doesn't turn well and I aim to work on that. It's just that I don't really know how. We do circles, serpentines, I use the ever living crap out of my legs and it's all with very noble intent. It just isn't accomplishing what I'm really wanting to accomplish. And yet I do it. Over and over and over again. I don't know how life works for you guys out there but when I am trying to accomplish something and my methods don't work, trying the exact same methods again generally doesn't get me a different result. I'm not sure why this logic eludes me while riding. I think it's mainly because I have no other options or ideas and doing something is better than doing nothing.

With all that in mind, I'd been wanting to focus on improving (or just acquiring) my dressage skills for quite some time (who DOESN'T want to score 9 on the centerline?!). I don't know if it was a particularly awful ride on Panda, a frustration with Marvel's fabulous but not appreciated counter bend, some good nights at the bar (extra$$), or a realization that I will never score well on my dressage tests with a combination of my lack of knowledge (having only enough to know we're doing it wrong) and the boys' lack of skills but I bit the bullet and started searching for a dressage trainer.

If you think College Station isn't horse country, you're wrong. If you think College Station is only for barrel racers and cowboys, you're also wrong. If, after reading the above two statements, you are thinking that dressage trainers are a dime a dozen, you are 3 for 3 in being wrong. Congratulations. Dressage seems to be one of the few disciplines that is not as highly sought after in our area. And let's face it, who ever REALLY wants to do more flatwork. :) No but seriously, searching for dressage trainers was like finding someone here that will admit to you they are a die hard UT fan. It'll happen, and they'll be in your face when you find them, but you're gonna have to do some searching.

My first shot was our local dressage farm. Amanda was going to take with me and we wanted to ride a few schoolmasters to figure out what the right feel was. We were shot down. No schoolmasters for us to ride. But we were totally welcome to trailer our own horses in and take lessons on them. Super! Awesome! So yeah, about the whole trailer... We don't have one. We were going to call back and see if the trainer would be willing to come out and teach us but the way she was trying to sell me on dressage after I was the one who contacted her looking for lessons didn't sit well with me. I mean I was honest and told her we were new to dressage but I've still been riding for 13 years. I know how to keep my heels down and I also know what dressage is.

That was the beginning and end of my knowledge of dressage trainers in the area. Until I realized I have a friend who has a friend (who knows a guy whose aunt's cousin's sister... kidding!) who teaches dressage lessons and trains horses. After religiously stalking her web page and her facebook page I decided she was worth a shot. Email sent. Fingers crossed. At this point I was so excited to take lessons that I was checking my email every 10 minutes. My phone would just unlock to the email screen by the time I received an email back (not really, but I think it was getting close). SHE COULD TEACH US LESSONS AT THE BARN! AAAAAAHHHH. I think those were almost my exact words to Amanda when I sent her a text. SO excited!

So our first lesson was yesterday afternoon. I arrived at the barn 2 and a half hours early JUUUUUUUST in case. I was hoping Marvel was in a fantastic mood, which he always is, so we could strut our lack of stuff for our new trainer! I was also hoping Amanda was in a good mood so she would like our new trainer. We quickly got down to work and it was more than apparent that my personal assessment of Marvel and myself was dead accurate, we know nothing. However we are not a hopeless case! We worked on bending and turns on the forehand. Marvel decided to forget he knows how to get his leads and also started throwing a 5 year old temper tantrum near the end by refusing to bend but if that's the worst of his temper tantrums I'll take it. I'm working Marvel and Panda on the bends and turns on the forehand for the rest of the week and next week I'll be riding Panda. I can only hope he gets such rave reviews.

I am so excited that we've achieved a new milestone and I think having lessons with both Maggie and Sarah (our new trainer) will really keep my fire lit. Also, the warmer weather and longer days that are quickly approaching will make riding a lot easier. Or at least give me more time to do it.

The journey of 1000 miles begins with the first step. Sometimes I'm scared to take the step because I think it won't matter in the grand scheme of things. I guess I'd rather jump off the cliff and crash and burn. Foundation is everything. EVERYTHING. It's funny that the small step is scarier than the free fall jump. If you never start you'll never find out how far you can go. There's so many different cliché sayings but they're all so true. Just keep on marching toward your dreams one step at a time. That's what we're doing!

Your Grooming Box's New Year's Resolution

This post is for all you long time horse fanatics, you parents with horse crazy girls, and you first time horse owners or leasers. All of you who have Christmas money burning a hole in your pocket. We've already mildly discussed tack for the first time horse owner but what we didn't, and couldn't, discuss were the products you need (and may want) for day to day horse care. Let's see if your grooming box has everything you need to make it through this year without a third or fourth or tenth trip to the tack store.

It's still cold outside so let's start with fall and winter things!

• Curry combs - there are two main types, the ones with about 10 large hard rubber prongs on them and the ones with tons of little soft rubber bristles, for lack of a better word. If you had to get one I would suggest the one with little bristles. This one can be used on the face and legs as well as all over the body whereas the other one is strictly for the body. It is also less severe so your more ticklish horses are prone to stand more still and tolerate it better.
• Dandy Brushes - There are three main types of these. Stiff, medium, and soft. If you had to get one I would get the mid grade but I prefer to have 2 and include the soft brush. The stiff brush gets off a lot more dander but otherwise doesn't have any extreme benefits. The medium brush helps you flick away all the dander and the soft brush smoothes the coat. Also, in the winter time horses get those ugly curry comb paths from the dust that sits on and under their staticy winter coats. The soft brush helps eliminate those.
• Baby Wipes/Cloths - If you're very OCD like I am, the soft brush doesn't get off enough of the dust trails from my horse's coat. To completely get rid of them either keep baby wipes on hand or keep a cloth and get it slightly damp. Swipe them over the marks and the wetness picks up any left over dirt. Not a necessity for every day barn life but for any fall and winter showing where your horse is not body clipped this is an investment you should probably make.
• Cooler - No. Not an ice chest to keep your Dr. Peppers cold. A cooler is a cotton horse blanket that is used to wick away moisture. Since our barn and a vast majority of my readers are based in Texas, you should know that we get those random 65-70 degree days. Our horses sweat especially hard when we ride them on those days and the temperatures drop quickly as dusk approaches. On those days you may want or need to rinse off your horse. This is not ok if the temperature is going to be below 70 in the next 12 hours. Unless you have a cooler or a lot of towels and some elbow grease. Use the cooler until your horse is mostly dry and then allow it to air dry the rest of the way. I would follow this with a blanket just to be safe. Again, this is not a necessity but it's a nice thing to be able to turn to. Especially for the show horse.
• Cowboy Magic/Show Sheen - Since we can't bathe our horses in the cooler weather but we need to grow out those manes and tails, Show Sheen or Cowboy Magic can be your best friend. Show Sheen comes in a bottle similar to fly spray and technically can be used all over the body (except for saddle areas) for a brilliant shine. I am not a fan of Show Sheen on the body because I prefer a good brushing which, when done properly and consistently, can give you the same, and actually better, results. Cowboy Magic is a leave-in conditioner that can be used on the mane and tail. It has a more pleasant odor to it and doesn't have as many harmful effects as Show Sheen (such as leaving the horse with an inability to sweat or saddle slippage if used in the saddle area).
• Standing Wraps, Leg Quilts and Gold Bond - While not technically a grooming aid, you might notice that during the winter your horse's legs are puffy and swollen. Clean and dry the legs and apply a little bit of gold bond powder to your quilts or the leg directly. Wrap the horse's legs starting at the front, moving around the outside of the leg to the back and then continuing to the inside and back to the front. Gold bond can also be used on any flaky skin your horse might get around the elbows and withers.
• Micro Tek - They make a lot of products but their anti fungal spray is the best for Thoroughbreds in the winter. Many horses, but TBs especially, are prone to skin ick of several varieties. Rain rot and dry crusty skin being the most common. Spray on Micro Tek and let it do it's magical stuff. This is not a shampoo so there does not have to be any water involved.

Now for Spring and Summer things! I won't go over the brushes again but there are several different products we can use once the weather gets warm enough to bathe.

• Slick N Easy - The shedding season will be upon us before you know it. While a good shedding blade never hurt anybody, the Slick N Easy block is a mega life saver. Curry combs make the hair fly in every direction. The Slick N Easy is, for all intensive purposes, like a pumus stone. It is really brittle and also a bit like sand paper. It grabs hair and dirt alike and flings it aside. When it gets too dirty to work properly you can just scrape it against the nearest hard thing till your edge is no longer coated in dirt. This is not an everlasting tool. It starts off being about a 3"X5" block and slowly dissolves into nothing. It should last a horse through it's whole shedding season but every horse is different. At about $5, I'd call this an essential.
• Shampoo - If you buy no other shampoo from a horse store this summer, buy blue dawn. It works like all your expensive shampoos that advertise a brilliant shine. It gets the yellow out of your gray pony's bottom and makes white socks shine. Aside from those benefits it kills fleas on your local barn (or house) dog if you're feeling generous enough to give them a bath. And price per unit of volume is completely unmatchable by anything at the tack store. ANYTHING. If you want some cool shampoos and have some money to splurge Mane and Tail is always a good go to. Cowboy Magic makes a shampoo and conditioner and a yellow out shampoo. Quick Silver is a really good buy too for horses with only white markings. A little bit will last you a lifetime although the price for the bottle you get can sometimes cause you to think twice. I always keep a bottle handy. Actually, I've had the same bottle for every horse I've ever owned. A little life lesson here for you: there is no such thing as hosing a horse off too many times during the summer. There IS such thing as giving a horse a bath (with shampoo and conditioner) too many times. Once, MAYBE twice a month is enough. Too much more and you'll find your horse with a dull coat because it has no natural oils in it and also dry irritated skin.
• Sweat Scrapers - Invest in a good sweat scraper. They are SO cheap. And while it isn't a real problem for most horses to be put away wet, some horses are prone to developing rain rot easily. Rain rot is caused by the skin getting and staying wet. So a stalled horse can still develop rain rot by excessive hosing without sweat scraping.
• Fly Spray - This is the only thing that might keep you running back and forth to the tack store till the employees know your name. While it's always enticing to buy the bottle because it has the spray top and is super cheap compared to the concentrate next to it on the shelf, don't get stuck in the here and nows. Buy the spray top bottle the first time if you must and see how long it lasts you. Probably 2 weeks if you use it sparingly. Multiply $9 by at least 8 because we have at least 16 weeks of fly season and that's $72. Now let's look at the concentrate. It's $30 or so. But how many uses does it have in it (or how many bottles does it say it makes)? I believe that one bottle of concentrate can make 6-8 bottles of fly spray. Hey! 8... That number just appeared before somewhere recently. So there's $30 (or $60 if you have to buy two) or there's $72. You're welcome. I know that math can be hard to do. Did I also mention that buying the big bottle means less trips to the store?! WINNING.
• Hoof Oil/Polish - This one was tricky to decide whether to put with summer or winter. Texas weather is crazy. We have hot, cold, humid, dry, wet, etc. These changes are especially hard on hooves. Hoof polish or oil is a good thing to get especially in the dry summer to keep horse's hooves from cracking and breaking. While most people think that the dryer the better as far as hooves go, they actually do require a good bit of moisture to be healthy. Too wet is also a bad thing, don't get me wrong. If you've got an extra bit of cash, either throw it at some good hoof oil or a good hoof supplement with biotin, zinc, and magnesium.
• Fly Masks - At my old barn we never used to use fly masks. This year with the boys I experienced a nasty case of eye boogers that I was pretty sure were contagious because they all got them at the same time. While I was assured it was just a case of allergies, the flies were swarming the eye boogers and making everyone a little annoyed. So keep your little baby wipes or cloths on hand to wipe away eye gunk and throw a fly mask on your horse to keep them comfortable. It can't hurt right?

There are TONS upon TONS of things you can put in your tack box. This list doesn't even cover the list of medical things you should have in your first aid kit or really even in your show box, but for day to day things you should be set. I didn't mention hoof pick here but that should go without saying. Hopefully your manic trip to the tack store just received a little more direction! Good luck and happy New Year!

The Opposite of Normal is Winter

Hi guys! Long time no post. The break suited no one in particular as it was less of a break and more of a "Sharknado." (I've never seen the movie but I heard it was mass chaos) I was banking on the holidays being a time of serene riding with little to no cares in the world and lots being accomplished. I think something about sunsets and me riding off into them were part of the wish/dream. Alas, that didn't happen. I thought it might be nice to recap my holiday adventures and project a different future (hopefully).

Let's start with Thanksgiving. Over that week I was responsible for no less than the entire barn, more or less. Bless everyone and their horse's souls, we made it to the other side of Thanksgiving. I think I hashed out with Amanda no less than 15 different situations that may or may not require veterinary assistance and what the cap was on her already maxed out credit card. Just in case. Feeding was easy. Maybe I'm not cut out for running a barn like I thought I was, but I found the boarders much more difficult to deal with. There were horses EVERYWHERE. In the jump field, in the yard, in random stalls, new horses showing up out of nowhere, like POOF, viola, new horse. Mind blown. My idea of policing was based on the logic of most 4 year olds... "I'm gonna tell Maggie and you're gonna be in BIIIIIIG trouble!" It worked I suppose because by the time everyone came back there was a new fence, the same number of horses as when we started this adventure, and no vet visits. Phew. You can see why I didn't blog for those 2-ish weeks.

Then there was basically 2 weeks till Christmas. So about Christmas shopping... My days off  were rainy which is pretty much the only reason anyone got presents at all. Otherwise my plan was to ride. Jump. A lot. I also had to decorate and somewhere in there we got a cold spell followed by a rainy spell. Pretty much my riding plans were smooshed.

So then we have Christmas. This time everyone was going out of town. If you do your math correctly that leaves exactly no people around to feed. Luckily one of our little girls who was going to be receiving her pony for Christmas and who got some experience helping me feed over Thanksgiving volunteered (for a mere sum of $40 per person) to feed our ponies for us. And then Maggie decided not to leave so we were all saved. Still, going out of town means, at least for now, no riding. Boo. The Monday before Christmas I was bedding down stalls and gearing up for being gone. Unfortunately I forgot to use my professional weight lifting training knowledge and pulled a back muscle scooping all of 3 pounds of shavings. Besides being completely embarrassed that I can't lift more than an empty shovel, I also wasn't able to ride even upon my return.

That leads us to the new jumps! Yay! We got new jumps for Christmas. They are in poor repair and we got a little gypped because it's only half a course (or less I think) but it's more standards and poles that we didn't have before! We set up a combination 2 stride to a 1 stride, a diagonal 3 stride, an outside 4 stride with an oxer, a gate, 2 cross country jumps and a skinny. We then proceeded to have an outstanding lesson over the jumps. Marvel began with a giant leaping buck which made us all think I was going to have my work cut out for me but then he pulled out of it and jumped everything like a champ. He's really going places.

My last major story is more of a lament. As you all can tell by now, I didn't do much riding (or blogging, or facebooking, or walking, etc) over the break. And poor Cash got thrown a bit by the wayside once we got the new jumps. I've messed with him every day and turned him out but I'd say he got ridden 5 times the whole month of December. Now if you ask him, he's lived the horsey dream, he got fed blanketed, brushed, turned out and barely worked. What this actually means is that he regressed a bit as far as everything we had been working on. It's not a big deal, he can still walk, trot, canter, jump, etc but now he's a lot more frantic. New Years day after a stellar ride on Panda, I got Cash out and walked him around. We were chilling out in a pasture watching the men fix a pipe that was leaking when I got a hair brained idea to hop aboard my skittish pony. Amanda thought it was a fantastically clever idea if she did say so herself so she grabbed the lead rope from me and, blanket and all, I proceeded to try to board spooky black pony. To no avail. Because I came at him like a mountain lion, all running and bounding at his side and back. Little did I know, we had picked a battle. So over to a picnic table we all walk, because by this time I had an entourage waiting to see my eat dirt. I lift my foot up and he flies sideways. I had pretty much realized by this point that I wasn't going to stay on this pony if I ever got on him at all. Well, back to the picnic table, pat him on all sides, take the scary blanket off, lift foot up, semi still pony. Slide foot over, pony still standing. Slowly ease weight off picnic table, WTF am I doing?! Attempt to settle weight on pony's back, ACROBATICS. Before I knew it, his head was down and he had shot out from under me. It was a Roadrunner and Wyle E. Coyote cartoon where I was suspended in mid-air and I hold up a sign that says "ouch" before hitting the ground in a pile of dust, watching my pony run off into the not so sunset that is the barn. Needless to say, we got the saddle out and saddled him up, rode him around to show him I am not a pony eating feline but he looked at me differently that whole evening.

Now I am sitting at home and it's a warm and balmy 18 degrees outside. Yet another day lost to the ninja that is Texas weather. Seriously, it sneaks up on you. I have been watching the George Morris clinic put on by the USHJA and I have learned a lot. I'm ready to start practicing and also get the green jealousy monster off my back. I couldn't help but think I could've been there. And I used to be able to do that stuff. And now I'm popping my green unbalanced horse in the mouth over boring 2 foot fences. So instead of living in the past and the what ifs and the could haves and the wishes I'm making a plan for the future.

This year I am going to participate in a show. At least one. We are having an in barn show in May but I'd like to participate in one we have to travel to. Marvel and Panda will be jumping courses. I will work on my body and position when riding. I will do more no stirrup work. I will take lessons from other people. I will attend a seminar/clinic. I will work on and master flying lead changes. Panda will learn to turn. Marvel will stop bucking after fences, or at least realize another fence is coming. We will practice altering strides during a course. And we'll do all that by February. ;) Kidding. But it shouldn't take us to the end of the year to do those things. Now if the weather will cooperate that would be splendid! I am also working more and more toward getting my own barn up and running although that's more of a 5 year plan.

14 hands is back again. Happy New Year. Don't regret your past. Learn from it and have an awesome future. That's what we're trying to do!