Fat Transplants?!

If only it were that easy! I could take a few pounds of Mystic pony and give them to Sky! I do have to say she is looking way better and the barn is doing a great job of giving her hay whenever she is out and are really trying to help me get her up to weight also. She is looking way better but we still have some to go. I got my blankets cleaned so I took some out to her just so they are ready for when the cold comes. Im really just trying to get her up to weight before winter comes and although it is working its just a slow process in general!

As for my cute little black and white pony we are headed to Inavale tomorrow to go cross country schooling again! I cant wait! He is such a good boy. Im sure there will be pictures as Alanna is on the ground again because Rozzys little girl is riding him this time. Maybe I will let her hop on Mystic for a spin :)

So much progress!

Both Mystic and I have benefited SO much from lessons with Mary! He makes big improvement each lesson and also gives us stuff to work on before our next lesson so we can keep moving right along. We have yet to have a bad lesson and he is always on his best behavior for them! We even had it outside yesterday and he still worked really well for me. I didnt really know what he would do because usually he knows where the barn is and hasnt been the most responsive off my leg in the arena so I wasnt sure what we would get outside. He worked great though! Our circles were not really circles or anything but we still accomplished a lot. I was happy to hear that our walk had improved a lot and he didnt go behind the bit once in our lesson. We have been working on it ever since last lesson so im glad it showed. We havent really done much canter work in our lessons because we have focused on the trot but we did some last night and I learned a lot about both the up and down transition with him and how strong I need to be with my outside rein. I didnt realize how much I try to rely on my inside rein until working at the canter where he is much strong and more resistant at this point just because he isnt used to that kind of work. In the end we got some really nice canter work and a super nice down transition which is a HUGE thing for us! We always talk about how everything is harder for him because he really isnt built to sit on his bottom and push he was made to go on his forehand and pull things. But... with that being said he can learn how to do it and is learning very quickly and is such a trooper for the whole thing! He really is such a good boy and takes everything in stride and tries really hard.
Next weekend we are headed back out to Inavale to go XC schooling again! I CANNOT WAIT! There will be pictures for sure :) Then there is a derby in October that I might take him too. That really would be the last show for a little while. He has earned his break :)

Coming to an end

Show season is coming to an end. Its bother bitter sweet. I love showing but also know that my horse and I both need a break from it, especially from all that we did this year! I also know that we need the winter to work on everything so we can come back next year at a higher level. He is a solid training level horse and has proved it at every outing this year, now we need to install a few more buttons over the winter so we can come out next year at first level. We have begun leg yields but are no where near proficient at them. I struggle with getting him off my leg anyways as it is harder for him but we are slowly making progres.
Our last dressage show of the year was yesterday. We moved up and did training test 2 and 3 this time. I definitely have things I need to work on. I seem to always ride him better our second test after I come off the first one going "that was decent but he wasnt really moving off my leg" or wasnt doing something, which usually means im not riding him as well as I could be. We got 2nd out of 13 that ride with almost a 72%! Wow! After finishing my second test I thought now that was much better if the last one was almost 72 this one has got to be a 75! I saw my 3rd place ribbon (out of 16) and was happy with him! Then I saw our score... somehow with a much better test we score 5 percent less?! The first place person had a 67 something too. MUCH lower scores all around then the first test... humm I think Kathy got stung by a bee or something because the comments and everything were like a 180 flip from the previous one! Too bad its the only show we havent recorded my tests. Oh well I was happy with him and thats all that matters. Its not like a 66 isnt a bad score either!

Please Vote!

Please vote for Alanna and I in the "barn buddies" contest! Our ponies could win custom halters and gift cards to smartpak and our ponies could always use something new :)
http://www.barnmice.com/photo/barn-buddies-5
Tomorrow is the last day!


On another note Sky did a number on me today so although im hoping I can still ride Mystic in his dressage show on Saturday I have my excellent back up rider ready! His classes are very big. One has 16 horses and the other has 13. I think having a well known judge around here like Kathy really brought more people in. We are riding in Training 2 and 3. Im looking forward to see how he does and some comment we get from Kathy!

Perfect Show, Perfect Lesson, Perfect Pony!

On Sunday we left bright and early to load up both Roz and Mystic to head on up to Lake Oswego for our first eventing derby! Mystic and I just entered trot a trail division since it was only his 5th time jumping ever. I wasnt really sure how he would do over fences because even though they were only little cross rails he hasnt had much experience at all and they had flowers around them and all. There was no need to worry at all because he just trotted right over all of them like a seasoned star! He did knock the very last fence. But im sorry.... who in the world puts 18 fences in a trot a trail class?!?! He just got tired and decided that last fence didnt really need to be there and he was just helping the next horses out :) We were in second after dressage with a score of 33 so I thought for sure we were at least 3rd place in the end which was ok with me since he jumped every question I asked and as a perfect pony over all!! Surprisingly it turned out that the 1st place person had time faults (a lot!) and everyone else also had jump faults so we ended up winning the class!! He won a pretty blue ribbon and a pretty white LOH saddle pad :) what a good good pony!

Our winnings :)

Show buddies!!

Love my boy <3

Tonight we also had a super duper good lesson and I am SO happy to hear that we have made progress since our last lesson. I have kind of had the feeling that I really cant get what I want out of him with Mary there babysitting me along telling me what to do and such. So it was nice to hear that she thinks we made obvious progress since last lesson. We are nipping his "I am going to go behind the bit a little so I dont really have to work that hard" habit in the butt right now. Tonight we focused on really getting him to use his hind end and sit down on it to push forward and get a more upward moving trot. He responded very well to the exercises we worked on and Mary also gave me some homework to do with him every ride. I am very excited to see where we are at come next year now that we have all winter to get to work instead of a show or outing every weekend like we are doing now!

XC Schooling is ALWAYS a favorite!

I LOVE xc schooling! One of my favorite things to do with horses! Yesterday Alanna and I headed over to Inavale with Mystic and Roz for a little pre-derby schooling since Mystic has only been out there once and Roz hasnt been in over a year. The boys were great and it was very fun as usual. Mystic was a total trooper and was cantering down banks, doing bigger ditches, running to the water, and putting mini courses together. I think I have myself a good low level eventer on my hands! I am so excited to see how we do at the LOH derby this Sunday. We are just doing trot a trail (12" cross rails) but it is our first derby ever and it will only be his 5th time jumping ever if I jump him a little at home over some stadium fences. I feel silly doing a walk/trot dressage test but its ok.
On another note I went out to lunge Sky this morning and the dressage trainer there happened to be there. She was asking about her and took a look at her. I told her that her soundness is still questionable but I have been working her to see if it gets worse or better since it is very subtle and it hasnt seemed to get worse. After watching her move she said that it could be a few different things but to try working her for the next 30 days on a big circle and see how she does because it could be (like I was saying) just lack of conditioning and muscle. A good thing is that she did say if we get that figured out that she will be a very nice mover and that even with that little glitch she still picks herself up nicely. That is always good to hear that there is potential in there someone we just need to get through some other stuff to bring it out fully.

The sooner the better

The hard part about rescuing horses and rehoming them is that you form a bond with every single one of them. Every single horse has something you like about it, you might not like much which makes it easy to rehome them but on others you just cant seem to let go of them. I feel like im getting to that point with Sky :/ I told my mom yesterday she better sell soon because if she doesnt and I get her going nicely the chances of her leaving are very slim. She truely is a very nice horse. She has a very sweet personality and she is very smart. It was the previous owners who did her no good, at no fault to her own. She still has a long way to get muscle wise improving her topline and her bottom but we are getting there slowly just wanted to focus on getting some fat on first.
It is much easier to let a horse go if you can distance yourself from it for awhile first. Like with Tolo I didnt do much with him for the month before he left. Yes I still miss him and all but I know he went to a great great great great home who is still in contact with me also. So im hoping someone comes along soon because I will only be spending more time with her the next however long getting her going under saddle. More time = more emotion and more emotion = less likely of me getting down to one horse which is what I really wanted!

So much to catch up on!

I have left out a couple things in the last couple posts! Mystic had a photo shoot on Saturday before the fair and he rocked it! I will attach pictures that I got from it! He is so handsome :)
On Monday we are headed xc schooling with Mystic and Rozzy which will be tons of fun. Im glad Alanna can actually ride with me this time instead of just walking, there will be pictures and video of that for sure.
Today Sky moved into Black Diamond. I was really excited to see her move in the indoor arena because she looked really good, like gorgeous! Im going up tonight to work her as she settled in really good. Hopefully she comes along really nicely! Here are some pictures: