Got behind...

04.07.2008 - Chloe left, leaving Elle out with Casey

04.09.2008 - Really kind of crazy in the outdoor - bolting @ gate, not turning, etc. Got through it.

04.10.2008 - Lesson started off really well in outdoor - jumped first little course! Asked for more canter @ one point & got bucked off. Oops, I bailed and I shouldn't have...

04.17.2008 - GOOD lesson!

04.24.2008 - Bad buck off. Everything was going good until I rubbed her shoulder with my crop on the left lead - dirty buck. Marty lunged the crap out of her, and then I got back on in the indoor for some more.

05.07.2008 - Worked with Mike - went well. She went up when he asked for the left lead, but everything turned out fine. Riding in Aussie saddle (I had been using Colleen's Wintec Dressage)

05.13.2008 - Lesson, just lunged with side reins. I have no nerve.

05.14.2008 - First time in wash stall! Nervous! OK about her face, not OK about her butt/teats.

05.15.2008 - Did a lesson in the roundpen. Didn't get a lot of forward.

05.17.2008 - Bath time - very dancy and then bit my elbow! Smacked her nose and then she stood still after that!

05.19/20.2008 - In heat. Tail flagging & leaky. Gross.

05.20.2008 - Lunge lesson w/sweet metal bit.

05.22.2008 - Lesson in roundpen - rode w/Marty "helping" with lunge whip. Once I realized she wasn't going to wig out, things went well.

05.27.2008 - Got all 4 shoes. Mike only had to beat her up once or twice. Ok with hitting outside of feet, and smell, but putting nails in is weird.

05.28.2008 - Lesson. Roundpenned. Rode with Marty helping.

05.29.2008 - Wormed Ivermectin. Good roundpen lesson. After lesson, we went into the outdoor and there were problems. Steering, forward, etc. Went in field w/Cal & Skye, GOOD!

06.01.2008 - Started off lunging in indoor - no roundpen - good. Once I got behind her, she started to turn better. Cantered going into the short side and she was nice and calm. Went outside and did both directions by the gate. Good (no gate stickiness). Went to bottom of ring - good until left lead canter. She picked up the wrong lead and tried to bolt - fell on her butt. Nice and calm after that.

06.02.2008 - Lunged a little in the indoor w/no roundpen, but she was very backed off - didn't do much. In heat maybe?

06.04.2008 - No lunging. Finally slapped her chest to get her to stand - of course it worked! Walked and trotted full indoor. Rode outdoor and field with Mike & Dave.

06.05.2008 - Roundpenned to warm/loosen up. Slapped for mounting, great. Rode walk/trot for the full indoor - carried crop again! used reins/bit for second half of the ride. Walk/trot full outdoor!!!

06.09.2008 - 104 degrees, booooo. Great about her full hosing off.

06.10.2008 - Another hot day. Great about hosing off. Also really good about fly spray in the wash stall. Good with Max. Started on mare herbs.

06.11.2008 - Lunged a little, then rode. GREAT about getting on - only moved over (not back) 1 step. "FIERY" is a good way to put our ride. Lots of walking w/some trotting - rode both indoor and out.

06.16.2008 - Started off lunging at night but she had some "crazy" in her - free lunged in the indoor instead, and then got good transitions on the line.

06.17.2008 - Lunged before lesson, then rode (practiced) Intro A & B in the indoor. Cantered!!! (Felt so good). Rode w/the dressage whip to get my transitions - not even too scary!

06.19.2008 - Did a lesson outside - only walk/trot but good anyway. Rode in Colleen's dressage saddle. Saw that the "gate problem" is really a turning probem - fixed with give & take on inside rein, whip on outside shoulder. Good good good.

06.20.2008 - Trailer training with Mike. Tied in her stall, tied to trailer. Walked on and off about 20 times before we asked her to stay - great! Great at unloading, never looks going in.

06.21.2008 - Full bath, never moved a muscle (except face washing, which is completely normal). Used the small clippers on her nose, great! Did not do ears.

06.22.2008 - SHOW!!! Red Rock Schooling Dressage, the perfect show for us. Only about 10-15 horses total. Trailered great, tacked up/tied perfectly. Mike walked/trotted her around the place, and only really looked @ judges tent. Pefect lady. In warm up, she got a little herdbound when she was alone, but worked through - wanted to canter! God 2 thirds, hah! Had the comments I knew I would - sucky free walk, need to have control over hind quarters, etc. Oh well. I think I'll try riding w/2 dressage whips. SO PROUD! Whole day was good - everyone came to cheer us on, M@ was great, wonderful, AND a good groom. THEN we went home and the dentist came (big day). Best horse in the barn. I like her again :)

(We were planning on the show @ Lynns on 06.30, but we're going to skip it. I'm poor, and we know how she's going to be. I'd rather improve my dressage first!)

Good work, lady

Didn't feel like riding so I had Marty work Elle in the roundpen. Used side reins, she was very energetic. Got some good "command" and forward work in, then took the side reins off to jump. Went to the big block, spread about as much...Very athletic and nice!

Straighten up and ride right

Really good lesson, which was encouraging. Fixed the "diving" problem by making my hands really wide and putting my upper body straight. Did more canter work and lots of trot work.

Happy!

Mmmm appley.

Gave Elle her first wormer - great! No problem, ate it right up. Lesson tomorrow.

Boo!

Had a lesson today, it was so nice out! (60 degrees). Started outside but went inside - she didn't want to turn right, was cutting in left, etc etc. Good inside. Forgot about wall problem @ walk, figured out/got through it a bit @ trot & canter. It took Marty scaring the hell out of her a couple of times, but finished well!

Matt's bonding

Matt finally groomed her today - very pretty! During late night, he had her, and she was great for him. Put spray on her for the first time and she wigged out a little. Oh well, it's new! It was so nice to see Matt with her! He had a conversation with her the whole time :)

Lunge line

Put Elle in the round pen - tried to "fix" wall problems - gahh!! Jumped a bit in the roundpen, then took her out to lunge on a line - for the first time I think! Good! Good enough, anyway.

Chutes and ladders

We were frustrated with each other today, which didn't help. Got some really nice round work, so I guess I should be happy with that. Tried to make a chute with poles but I'm not sure how well it worked. Will try again Friday (Stacy's lesson is Wednesday and Thursday's forecast is 10*F :( )

Longside, I loathe you.

Rode Elle and Cal (Cal was sound & good). Elle was much better @ walk and canter with the long side thing, and we did end up getting a few good passes at the trot.

Inconsistency

No riding 12.28, 12.29, or 12.30

Broke out the weapons

Another lesson, got right on and went to full ring. Had some weird energy to the left, but she was fine to the right. Really did the long side thing, got a short whip to try and help. We eventually got what we wanted so we quit.

First lesson!

Lunged her w/the saddle and bridle on for a bit, she's getting pretty good about commands and responding but she needs some work staying in the canter. Then got on and went straight to full ring. Started doing a bit of sideways stuff on the long side - we both got tired.

Christmas!

Came out on Christmas AM and got right on without any ground work or lunging. She was a little fresh, with tons of canter-hop stuff, but it was 7:30am! Rode for about 25 minutes, at the end she got really soft at the walk. I quit there because she did so well.

Surgery

Took stitches out - one was really embedded in skin and it hurt her a lot to get out. But, she dealt with it when I said "whoa." Did free lunge work with her and then put her in the surcingle for the first time. She was good! Rode in Sarah's Smith Worthington and it felt WAY better than mine. It's wider and I think it has a straighter cut. She's doing a lot of canter-hop stuff but hopefully we'll get through it. Rode on both sides of the ring, didn't want to "unstick" from the walls, especially at canter.

Carrots?

Took off sheet before late night. She's sweet. She didn't know what to do with a carrot! How cute :) I put it in her bucket for later.

Gettin' antsy

Brought Elle in to groom her - stitches look great! Not swollen or sore, look all closed up. Maybe I can take them out at 10 or 11 days? Get the weekend of riding in before Christmas....

Zapped her on the nose, poor girly. She went back, but stopped when I grabbed her, didn't get her head caught. Good girl. Put the thin sheet on under the Landa, I think it's too small. Matt picked up her foot! :)

There's only so much you can do when you can't work them!

Dec 12 - Took her out to groom her, good girl.
Dec 13 & 14 - no barn, exams.

Stitches & Twitches

So, went up to the farm today for my lesson - brought Elle in & she had a cut on her RH hock, on the inside. It was fresh and really deep and I could see something white (bone, tendon?) So, I put Betadine on it and waited for Marty to come out - she told me to call Steve out for stitches and to put triple antibiotic ointment on it. Called Steve, he came out. Yelled at me for the ointment. We twitched her to get the leg numb, she didn't like it but once it was on, she was good.

Steve said she cut the tendon a little bit but it's one that doesn't get used. Also cut a blood vessel, so it was bleeding a LOT. He put 2 double stitches in her and said to take them out in 2 weeks, no riding until then. Gave her a tetanus booster. Roy said we can keep her for an extra 2 weeks no problem. I was also supposed to ride Cal today but he's dead lame. Watched Mike dig an abscess out, it was cool. Also, Elle's LH hock was a little swollen - from old cut/kick?

Silly Bella

Worked before late night, stood on the crossties for 1/2 hour alone with no problem. That made me happy! Groomed her, checked the cut she had gotten yesterday (Eric turned Ben out with the girls on accident). Looked okay. Brought her into the round pen after a good grooming. Worked her a bit, then set up an x-rail. She didn't want to canter it, so I put it up to a vertical. She jumps willingly to the left, but doesn't like to canter them to the right - weird.

Crashed through just one, listened to "whoa" and "no" voice commands :) Kept spinning around after she jumped to right and jumping back to left - weird again. Clever, though!

Finished when she finally cantered one to the right and left it without turning. Good girl! First lesson tomorrow! Oh-at the end, she was finally following me around!

Outside

Came up in the afternoon. She was a little dancy and looky on the crossties, nothing terrible. Decided to ride outside because the ground wasn't too frozen and marty had a kid inside. Probably should have lunged her first, she was a little up and full of attitude. She didn't want to turn left in the rope halter, and kept making canter departs. Left is definitely her funky direction. Ended after she really softened at the canter.