Nothing better

... then a little shopping and a nice relaxing trail ride with a friend! yesterday we headed up to Lake Oswego to go to the Irideon/Toklat warehouse sale. Let me tell you it was amazing!! I got a pair of regular breeches for $18, a pair of winter breeches for $25, a fleecy dressage girl for $10, a pair of Woof boots for $10 and a Likit refill for $1! It was an amazing sale and we are going back to the next one for sure! If I would have bought this all at retail price it would have been well over $200! What a deal!

Mystic sporting his new boots and his girth!

Then to add to a good weekend Alanna and I hoped on the boys and headed out on a nice relaxing trail ride today after I worked on Mystics body clipping for a little bit. It is nice for both us and the horses to get out of the arena and just be out in the forest every once in a while although Mystic wasnt too found of the big hills, I think we will be spending more time out there this winter :) Another thing that I decided im going to do next year is a musical freestyle! Alanna suggested I do one and so we are starting to look for music! It is just going to be a first level freestyle as we havent even gotten through all the movements needed for first level but we have all winter to practice! How cute will it be?! Any music suggestions/themes are welcomed!!
The only thing that would have made the weekend better is if I wasnt getting sick... with my schedule it makes it hard to "take it easy" as I have school/work everyday along with my two ponies and homework. Luckily I have my last midterm tomorrow so hopefully things will calm down just a little bit.

Back home she comes

I got Sky moved back home tonight. It wasnt the most ideal thing as it was dark by the time I got home but it will be nice just to have her back in our back year while she is recovering also. That way I can see her everyday and not feel bad days I couldnt see her. She came off the trailer soaking wet. She loaded pretty good into the trailer in the pitch black but I could tell she was nervous. She has settled down great and is now happily munching on her hay and the little grain I gave her. She is all dried off and wrapped up in a warm blankie for the night too :)

 

 

 

 

my not so good picture of the night haha!

Here is a cute picture of the pony from the other night I couldnt resist posting also :)

"Why do you always have to take pictures that make my but look so big?? I swear its more trim in person!"

I just love my pony!

I really do so very much :) He has been off work for a little while do to him growing and with his eye issue I just didnt want to push him. We are started back to work but we are going to slow it down for the winter and just do 3-4 days of work and 1 day of bareback fun or trail riding. He has come back into work like he has been doing forever. I didnt expect him to be so ready to work again but he was and went right back to where we ended! He really is my perfect pony :)

On another note, Princess Sky is coming home for her resting time. I was hoping to bring her home tomorrow but I think it wont be till Saturday. With midterms and everything and her being 30 minutes away it just makes it hard. It will be nice to look out my window to see my pretty mare outside though! She isnt getting too much room because we dont want her ripping around and getting the zoomies but enough to walk around and not be stuck in a stall all the time. I will get new pictures of her this weekend, she is looking SO much better! Her ribs are all GONE! Yay!

I was looking at pictures and saw some of Mystics baby pictures!

Nappin... still his favorite thing !

I wanna be a jumping pony!!

Look at how far we have come

I came across a video of Mystic under saddle in the very beginning of his training when he was only worked a couple days a week and was just learning. It really shows you that if you dont train them to go better they wont, just like people! I can just that his gaits have gotten tons better and he is getting to be more of a dressage pony then in the beginning. Its crazy how time flies, I feel like I have owned him my whole life. On the 31st of this month it will be a year exactly. One of the best days of my life was when he came home with me, I am forever grateful to my aunt and uncle to get this once in a life time opportunity that not many people get in their lives. I do love my Thoroughbreds and will always have those too but Gypsys are a breed that I am not willing to let go of either. Once day Mystic will have another Gypsy buddy to play with, just not any time soon :) I am so happy to have finally found my once in a life time horse <3

Learning Everything! - In his first couple weeks really under saddle not just short bareback rides

His very first dressage test after just 60 days under saddle:
First Dressage Test Ever

Cross country schooling for the 3rd time this summer, he is such a good boy!
Cross Country Schooling- Last month

Dressage Show in August  - not as recent as I thought I had but picture this and a little bit better :)

The hard part about rescues

It always happens. Every single horse I have rescued, no fail, has had me question re homing them after some weight and training. My first, Tolo, was the worst. He was supposed to be a summer project then re sale. 4 years later he is now in his new home. I love that horse so much and still miss him, some days worse then others.

When I got Tolo (then named Splendor)

 

 

Tolo and I after winning an eventing derby

The one after Tolo (well I still had him) was Chia. An ADORABLE small draft mare. About 15.2 hands tall. We think she was a PMU mare because she wasnt halter broke and seemed to have been treated more as livestock then a pet. That changed quickly! She was one cool horse and is now enjoying her life being a trail horse.

Chia in QT right off the feed lot

A few months later after a body clipping, mane roaching, and tail cutting to get the fungus and dreadlocks out

Happy in her new home about a year after I sold her :)

 Then came the one that almost made me give up horse rescuing all together. Candy Cane. She was an 11 year old off the track tb mare that was super skinny when she was pulled from feed lot. She seemed good in beginning but as she gained weight we noticed severe lameness issues and ended up euthanizing her because she didnt have one good leg to stand on. After that happened a lot of people from the group I got her through jumped down my throat about how horrible of a person I was and all so I even stopped visiting the rescues sights (which was a daily thing for me) and focused on the horse I had. It was a super hard time for me especially since it was not an easy decision to put her down.

Candy on the feed lot

Enjoying the green grass on her last day

 Although I havent gotten any directly off the feed lot since then I did get another one like I always knew I would end up doing. She was headed to the same place I just happened to get her right before she left for the feed lot. And that would be Skies the Plan, the Tb mare I still have. The point is... I have cried over every single one of them. From selling Chia, to putting Candy down, to all the adventures with Tolo each one has a place in my heart and always will. There is something about saving a lost soul that doesnt deserve to be where they were put that you just have a special bond with them from the get go.

Sky a couple days before I got her

Her from a month ago (she isnt working anymore because of her hip and she has gained even more weight to!)

The more and more time I spend with Sky the more and more I think to myself... im going to end up keeping this horse. This is the horse I have needed throughout the years. A nice big, tall, athletic, tb. Now if she would only heal from this injury we might just see where it takes us. I have to say with everything I love about my Mystic pony the one thing I miss about the Tbs is the athleticism and the stamina. Wouldnt be nice to have my rock steady pony boy that will do low level eventing and some dressage and my Tb that will jump a little bigger and gallop a little faster to help fulfill all my need/wants?! We will see where we are at in a couple months... Those darn rescue horses. Cant you tell they are so terrible? After all there is a reason they ended up where they did right? Thats a joke. Rescues do and always will have a special place in my heart :)

Lightning always stikes twice

If its not one thing its another, darn it!! I got out to ride Mystic pony tonight and I bring in all the geldings together (4 of them). I get Mystic in his stall and see his eye is all goopy. So I go to clean it out and its all swollen (like half way closed) and goopy and obviously painful. Poor pony :( Luckily Dr.April was in the house and able to come help doctor him up to make him all better! Well almost, he just needs a couple days of meds and we will be good as new.
I cannot tell you how thankful I am to have him boarded there. From the first week he was there and got in the super scary, but harmless thankfully, fencing jumping/breaking and blanket shredding accident that we have no idea what happened to having his eye swell up like this today it is super nice to have a knowledgeable horse person as the barn owner! I couldnt feel any safer leaving my baby boy where he is at because I know if any thing is wrong they will not only get ahold of me but also know what to start doing to help. It truly is the most perfect barn  :) We love it out there!


On a completely different (and non horse related) note, these girls the cutest I have ever seen! How adorable are they? 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odhUPMYXpX4
You can also watch some other ones of them on the same day actually meeting Nicki. I just cant stop watching it! SO CUTE!

3 down 3 to go

The chiropractor came out to see Sky today. It is the best worst case scenario kind of thing. He went straight to the hip I said I thought was out of place and said "well the problem is she fractured her hip". Luckily right after that, before I had time to freak out too much, he said "luckily it is fixable". He went on to say that it has started healing nicely but he doesnt want her in a stall all the time then turned out to run and buck and all because he doesnt want the muscle tearing. So we will be hand walking and doing some trot work on the lunge line where I cant control her better. He said with an injury like that it takes about 6 months and since we are already 3 months in that we have about 3 more months. She was also really sore up on her withers, which he said is a very common thing from the track horses and said that once her hip is fixed its not something that should bother her but he adjusted her today and is coming back in a month to check back up on her hip and front end.
     So although its not good news at all its nice to know that she will be riding sound (as long as all goes well) in the end. She is looking really good weight wise even though she still has some to go we are way better then where we started! I will keep yall updated with her progress over the next couple months! And hopefully will have a happy one about starting her into work in the next 4 months or so!

Two horses, two barns, two different directions

The title pretty much sums it up. I have Mystic about 10 minutes north from my house (a little less) and Sky is about 30 minutes south of my house! Needless to say it is very hard to get out to see both on a consistent basis with school and work also so I have really been juggling everything.... and not very well might I add. Sky has kind of gotten the shaft from me and I feel really bad. I went out to see her tonight and she is looking SO good weight wise! I am really pleased with how she is looking in that aspect. Of course the muscle is still basically non existent but that is because of other reasons. I will try to get some pictures of her tomorrow! She has an appointment to get adjusted tomorrow, my mom was supposed to hold her but forgot she has to work (usually her day off) so I am hoping to juggle a few things around to be able to keep it because she REALLY needs it done and I just need to bite the bullet on this one! Along with being "out" in her hind end I think something might be up with her lower left hind still (same hind that I think she is out in). She has had some puffyness there off and on. Maybe it is related to being out? Maybe not? The first step is getting her adjusted and seeing what he says about her. Then only time will tell. Im sadly going to have to move her. I love where she is at now but it is just so far and with school, work, and Mystic I just cant justify leaving her there and not seeing her much at all. Luckily a stall is opening at the barn right across the road from me where I work at so im hoping to snatch that up for her. Bitter sweet but I know she will get out more and I can see her from my house. Anyways... I will update tomorrow after her appointment with pictures and details :)

Being Thankful

As I read Andrea and Gogos blog this morning I had to think to myself how thankful I am to have my horse sound and happy. Andrea really did everything she could for her mare and this decision  was not easy for her at all (speaking from experience...). I think a lot of times horse people who are not around or aware of soundness issues because their horse is always fine forget to be thankful for that. A horse cannot get around on 3 legs. Yet we use them hard and expect them to be fine and often times dont think about issues arising. This morning after reading their blog I headed out to the barn and just spent some quality grooming time with my boy knowing that I will be back out tonight to ride. Something that some people can only dream about being able to ride their steed again due to some kind of injury. So today I am just feeling thankful and blessed to have a sound and healthy horse. Its a good day to just take some time and go out to hug your pony because you never know what tomorrow may bring.

The weekend we picked him up

A couple years ago before I brought him home! He was just two here

First day of the rest of our live together :) It will be 1 year on the 31st

I love him <3

Lessons and Pony Shopping

I forgot to update you on our lesson on Wednesday (seems to be a very frequent thing... my forgetting things that is)! It was fairly good. I hadnt been riding him the previous week much so he was a little more out of it then normal. We lacked our forwardness and even more of our noodleness (well... we say he is more like a 4 by 4 but as noodley as a short stubby pony can get) or his flexibility to move off my leg when I ask. Needless to say my legs were very tired when we were done! We worked on our leg yeilds which still need a lot of work and seemed to go downhill since last lesson since I havent been working on them as much recently and began a little shoulder in work which he seemed to do pretty well in! He really is progressing nicely still. You can just tell when I havent been working him as much. Alanna and I are going to start doing once a week trail rides to vary our work over the winter and help build more hind end muscle and I am going to tone it down with him a little going down to working just 4 days a week or so. I have to remind myself that he is still a baby and only just 4 years old because he is just so "grown up" in how he goes under saddle! We will continue to work on our homework from this week and see the progress we can make for our next lesson. I got part of this weeks lesson video taped so it will help to watch some so I can actually see what I am doing. I will try to get some of it up here!

Rockin his bright blue rain sheet in his pasture :)

Still in tact!! What an accomplishment

     On another note his rain sheet has lasted a whole week on him in the NDF gelding pasture! WOW! Im sure he will need another one this winter, maybe another Christmas present along with his dressage bridle he is getting? Although it is irritating to have to buy blankets so much (there is a gelding that likes to bite your horses butt and tear your blankets) its nice that he gets to go outside all year round.


     As for pony shopping... its quite interesting to say the least! You can check out Alannas Blog to see the ponies we looked at! It was rather entertaining. The down side is that we did not find her next partner in crime. Horse shopping is actually not very fun. You would think that with SO many horses out there it shouldnt be hard to find a well started horse for less then $10,000 that has normal owners right? Well it is lol! I have also learned just how nice my pony is, boy am I one lucky girl!!

Stole this from a friend who stole it from someone else!

I saw this on facebook today and I couldn't help but repost.

A Gelding Owned By A Girl

She's begun dating a cowboy, so he joins us on our rides. And she says she'll be on my back when they play "Here Comes the Bride."

Her new guy's horse is a Leo Bar, a muscled speedy thing. But I lead the way on every trail, he knows that I am king.

At first glance he had his doubts, about ribbons and a tail in curl, but now he realizes who I am, A gelding owned by a girl.

They ought to have a special prize for horses cursed in this way. The whims that we put up with, the games they like to play.

We live our loyal lives alongside these girls who are our own. From lead lines and kiddie gymkhana, to barrel racing when they're grown.

But there's one thing about a girl that makes it all worthwhile, it's the fact that she'll always think you're grand, and that you have real style.

How did I end up as CEO? I never expected to become, such an important thing as this, the place where I was from.

An auction over six years ago, and a girl looking through the rail, saved me from a
packing plant, and braided these ribbons in my tail.

She had no idea where I came from, imagines I was a champion stud, still thinks I am from time to time, even when I'm covered in mud.

That's how I can put up with the giggles, and allow myself to bow so low, as to nicker when she brings me carrots, and to put up with what she doesn't know.

Next thing there'll be a young' un, moist-reared and pudgy-cheeked, and the old saddle will be stained, by the water they invariably leak.

So laugh if you like at this old nag, go ahead and stare, I'm a gelding owned by a girl, and I've learned not to care.

You try putting up with the doo-dads, take her ineptness if you can, but it would kill any cow pony. who has ever been owned by a man.

Yes I'm a part of a special breed, but I put up with a pearl, and the truth is I kinda like being a gelding owned by a girl.

Me and my special gelding <3

Xc Schooling!

Ahhh... I never updated on how cross country schooling went! Of course it went awesome as usual! The only sad part was that they let the water complex drain so we didnt get to school that. Although I think he would have gone in without a fight it is my biggest fear that I will have another horse that wont go into water so it would have been nice to school it again. Oh well there is always next year! We added some new challenges this time and he responded well to all of them! We did up banks, down banks, ditches (again), some small courses, etc. We even threw in some "scary" fences. He did stop at one, but after he got over it he didnt stop at it again. I cant really blame him since he is still figuring out where to put his legs and how to get over them well and all. I will attach a video to watch!

We are going to slow it down with him a little this winter. He worked really hard all summer and is progressing VERY well in dressage. So we will keep going but wont do as much as we have been doing. Then when next spring comes in when he is closer to 5 we will kick things back up and start showing 1st level dressage and by August I hope to take him to a 3 day event as long as all goes as planned (which it rarely does!).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLN3xsoEcNM&feature=related