Slightly Off Topic and Random

First, I want to say a little something about Andrea and Gogo. Gogo is very lame right now and hasn't been getting better and I think all horse owners can understand how tough that would be! Denali's mom is getting some money together to get a gift for Andrea, just like Andrea did when Denali looked like she was going to be put down. I can't even imagine what I would do if something were to happen to one of my horses. I know I would be a mess! In fact I've had nightmares about Grady having to be put down or dying, especially while I'm away. This is one of the reasons that I love the horse community so much at times - we can band together and help eachother when it is most needed. Please send at least just a little bit of your money to through PayPal to rehabdenali@yahoo.com. While it won't make Gogo better or make the pain go away, it can at least show that others care!

In other news - my computer got a virus but is back up and running. I really don't understand people who make viruses. Seriously? Do these people realize that sometimes people rely on their computers for their jobs? That they have put a lot of money into the computer and the programs that are on it? And that they have many important things saved on their computer, things that if lost would be gone forever? Like pictures and other documents. I just don't get it! This particular virus only wanted me to buy a virus protection package and had hidden and protected itself in my computer so that I couldn't get rid of it and I couldn't open anything that could get rid of it (my own anti-virus software and the internet). Luckily the people at my school's computer were able to get rid of it after 3 hours and I didn't lose anything, but it's scary. I guess that's one very good reason to back up anything that you want to keep on your computer!

I got stung by a bee(s) twice yesterday! I was cleaning out the horse stalls and was attacked. One got my hand and the other got my calf (I was in capris and cowboy boots, lol). It sucks! This is the third time I've been stung this summer. Before that I haven't been stung in almost 11 years! Ridiculous! While I'll admit it doesn't really hurt that bad, it's a pain (in more than one way) because the part that gets stung swells and gets itchy, then sore and bruised. I had a hard time getting my gloves off after riding yesterday. This is why I'm so terrified of bees...

Jetta got the day off today after our xc schooling yesterday. It was so much fun and I now know what things we'll really have to work on. I am already planning for Inavale next year and I can't wait! I'm super sore though today so guess what that means? No stirrup work! Oh joy. But I just have to tell myself that it's good for me. Plus I'm still trying to decide about the Will Faudree clinic. It's 6 hours away (!) but I think that's the closest I'm going to find anything and it would be a really good experience. I have 7 days left to decide...

And another random note. I posted about finding some name ideas for a horse and I got one suggestion! Really guys? I need help! I need lots and lots of ideas to choose from as he needs a much better name. Go here to leave a comment with your ideas. I know people with good ideas are out there... I'm going to keep bugging you readers until I get at least five more ideas! Pretty please?

I think those are all my random thoughts for the day...

My Future Event Horse

I've been hoping that Jetta will turn out to be an awesome event horse someday, so today was our first big step in that direction!

First time schooling cross country:



Scary! I don't wanna do it!





Good baby!





Whee!





Baby moment: sideways leap!





Jazz and ML. They tore up the course, of course :)




Looking very determined!




Prettiest picture



Leap!! I don't know what's with my face though, lol.

So much fun! I wish I had the time/money/motivation to trailer out there every week. Or better yet, I wish I had somewhere to contruct my own course! Jetta did super well though. We walked, then trotted once around the field. ML and I had to share a vest so she took Jazz over the baby jumps while Jetta and I trotted after and looked at all of the scary jumps. Then we switched and Jetta did so good! There was one jump that was really scary - a plain old log. I know, she wasn't scared of the roll tops, the barrels or the triple logs, just that one. Also the banks were really scary so that's something we'll have to really work on. We ended up doing all of the Beginner Novice jumps and a couple of the Novice ones. So proud!

Shhh... Fall is coming

Source

Yes, it's true, autumn is soon to be upon us. Disappointing, yes. So I thought I'd do a little post about all of the things I'm looking forward to coming with fall. Because let's face it, fall and impending doom winter brings a lot of not so good stuff too (think frozen water buckets, frozen fingers, icy ground, too much mud, thick winter coats, no trail riding, rain all the time, no sun, mud, shorter days, more mud, and, well you get the idea).

#1 - No flies! They're driving me and the horses crazy! They seem to be really bad this year...
#2 - Body clipping. I'm really looking forward to giving Jetta her first trace clip! She's going to look so cute :)
#3 - No more sweat that glues my breeches/tall socks/tall boots together. Ew.
#4 - Boarding. Since I'm heading back up to school, Jetta's coming with me and we're going back to our same boarding barn. It'll be nice to have access to a covered arena all the time and get to see all my barn buddies again!
#5 - All sorts of yummy stuff gets ripe. The apples in the pasture are soon to be ripe. The plums are close too and the raspberries are almost ready with their second crop.
#6 - Warm bran mashes. The best occasional treat to whip up for the ponies.
#7 - Snow. While I hate the non-stop rain and the mud it brings, as well as the lack of sunshine, I can handle it as long as we have at least one snowstorm. It usually brings about 2" of snow, but it stops school and everything in its tracks, giving us the perfect snow day to go play with the ponies in!

What are you looking forward to the most?

Too much excitement

I didn't get to talk about my ride the other day (two days ago). Since Jetta got the day off because of our beach ride yesterday, now is a good time as any to talk of it! It was... interesting.

Near death experiences. If you've been around horses for long enough, I'm sure you've had at least one. You know, the moment when you're hurtling through the air after being thrown off your horse or when their hooves are flashing above your head as they rear. That moment. Here's how our ride went.

I set up a tiny cross rail in the arena since I'm trying to mix things up so Jetta doesn't get bored. We haven't jumped in a really long time so it was interesting. Our walk and trot is getting so much better. We're still doing lots of transitions to make sure she's listening to my aids and coming back to me when I ask. We headed towards the jump and - leaped over it and took off bucking, with an unplanned exit from the arena. Add in that of course my neighbor (it's her arena) stopped over to watch us. Lovely... But I was laughing the whole time as I walked her back into the arena.

Then we cantered. To the right she was doing super well. She's recently been leaning on my hands and not even trying to carry herself properly and cantering way too fast. But she actually did pretty good. Then we changed direction. Not as good in the other direction but I got her to carry herself a little better. We were about to transition gently down into a nice floaty trot, when "Zzzzzzzzzzzzzap!!!" My dad is very proud of his new mosquito/bug zapper. You know one of those giant purple light thingies that electrocutes buggies whenever they touch it. It apparently got a very large bug. Jetta stopped and did a rear spin while I grabbed her neck and told her to "Ho!". It was quite impressive I'm sure. I officially hate that bug zapper. So that was near death experience number one.

After my heart stopped pounding I cooled Jetta out and then asked my brother if he could help me put the jump away. He came jumping across the fence between my property and our neighbor's and Jetta just about ran me over, trying to take my arm off as she scrambled to get away from my brother. She thought he was going to kill her and every move he made was surveyed by Jetta and met with snorts and an arching tail. Geez horse! It's a person, not a killer! It was way too much excitement for me! I started riding at 7:30 in the evening, hoping it would be a little bit cooler out, but I was sweating before I got on, not to mention how hot I was after I rode the little monster, lol.

Baby's First Beach Ride

Guess whose first beach ride was today?? Jetta's! And she did surprisingly well...
 


Yes, that is us rocking the western saddle while jumping. Be jealous! Lol.





There was lots of spooking involved - at the seaweed, the shells, the different colors of sand, the water, the light, etc. but I was happy how she pushed through it and by the end she had almost stopped spooking and was going into the water by herself. I went with my instructor, JF, on her mare Lollie. Jetta was glued to Lollie the whole time "If Lollie does it, I'll do it. Otherwise, you can forget that!" seemed to be Jetta's motto. I was so proud of her cantering along the beach like a grown up! She did super well and we even went for our first gallop ever! Lollie is used to racing Jazz and I, so we were going at a nice canter and Lollie took off so I just went into two-point and let Jetta choose her pace. She extended her stride and was keeping pace with Lollie nicely - Jetta was not even close to going full speed while poor Lollie was going as fast as she could!



JF and Lollie




This mare has the prettiest trot ever and was even doing tempi changes!
Lollie's just amazing - she can piaffe too. And she's a quarter horse!



Buck, the movie

I finally saw it! And I enjoyed it. It was a documentary, but not boring. It follows Buck Brannaman in his daily life with flashbacks to how he grew up. You meet his family and watch him do his clinics. If you get a chance, you should also read his book. It reminded me a lot of riding with my awesome trainer, JF. Probably because she gave me his book to read years ago, and also because the rope halters that we use come from the Double Diamond company and are designed by Buck (I just realized this a little while back). Funny what a small world it is! She has a small barn not too far away from where I live and every summer I used to go and live with her for a couple weeks and we'd train horses all day long and I loved it. We rode western and she started a lot of colts. She's an awesome, no-nonsense trainer, but she is by no means a mean or harsh trainer and she has a background in natural horsemanship.

Also, every summer she'd have a dressage trainer from Utah come and do a clinic and he really reminded me of Buck! Same hat and outfit, haha. He's a "western dressage" trainer that does classical dressage of the French persuasion. His name is Clay Wright, and if you have an opportunity, check him out! He's a great clinician and trainer. My favorite :) I remember most hanging out with everyone after the clinic when we'd have a potluck and everyone would share their horse stories. The movie just kind of reminded me of those times :]

Side note - Don't forget to think up name ideas! I need all the help I can get with naming this horse :) While there's no prize, you do get the satisfaction of knowing that you thought up a wonderful name for an awesome little (well, actually ginormous) horse! Go here to leave a comment with your ideas.

Naming Contest!

Naming contest! Katy has a full brother that I am going to (eventually) get to train and resell. He's built a little different than she is and is mostly black instead of white. He has the same adorable personality though! His name is Colton. Sorry, but I don't like his name at all. It's not very cute and it doesn't fit him very well. His dam's name is Queenie and his sire's name is Taliesin. Neither of those offer any inspiration. I would like a registered/show name and from that, a barn name. I loved Katy's name that ML came up with - Hey There Delilah. So adorable! Any ideas on what to call this guy?

Any ideas are appreciated! Because seriously, I've got nothing.