Good Pony!

Mystic had a great show on Saturday. I opted to just do one test with him as he is definitely more of a one test guy. With 2 in one day he gets pooped out by the second. I would rather be able to spend some time warming up and have one solid test then 2 decent tests.

For the most part he was great! He was quite heavy on my right rein (nothing new... something we have been working on!) and we totally tanked our stretchy trot which is super unusual for us. Usually I can count on a solid 7 if not higher on that one. Our scores were very good, our biggest struggle is with our lengthening which we already know are hard for him. We havent pushed them with him since he is still young but I really felt as though he is starting to grasp the idea that he can lengthen his stride. I can see in our video a couple strides where it looks like he got it before losing it again. Overall he was consistent and good. We had no bobbles like we did at Champs and although our score was lower I felt much better about it. My biggest accomplishment from the test was our 7 and 8 that we got on our leg yeilds. I have spent a lot of time working on them and it has taken a long time to get him where we are now! I feel as if we still need more work to get him a little more solid on them but I am very happy with where we are at. Once we can get our lengthenings better I think he will be in the 70s as all his other scores were a 7 or higher. Not much to complain about there!

We ended up in 2nd place behind our trainers 3rd level dressage mare that is coming back from an injury. Another thing we cant complain about! He has a bright future thats for sure :)

Back on track

We had a great lesson last night! It was just what we needed right before the show this Saturday. Ride times should come out today! Mystic gets to go to the show with his girl friend to! They even have to compete against each other!

New halter from his girl friend Rhein :)

XC Schooling!

I would like to start this by saying how much I LOVE this horse! He continues to amaze me everyday (well most days :))

We headed out to Inavale this afternoon to go schooling. My game plan going into it was to warm up over just a couple fences in one area then put a course together, with the water included in it, just to see how he handled everything. He really hasnt jumped much at all but I wanted to test him to see how he would react to the water and new fences. He was GREAT! He went right into the water with just the slightest slow down to check it out first (still trotting though!). He ran out on one fence that was in a line (he has done very little line work and is still figuring out where his legs go) but jumped it just fine the second time when I rode him to it better. He had 2 really big hesitations at 2 different fences but when I sat up and squeezed with my legs to tell him that it really was okay he hoped right over them. That is just the reaction I was hoping for! I figured he would question some just because he doesnt have much experience but when I stepped up, and said no really I do want you to jump it, he jumped.

I found out that he really does like to jump! He was hauling me around out there! Power steering? Nope it was gone... speedy pony legs? YES we had those! It was so much fun to ride a horse that was just so game for everything I pointed him at. I always knew that he was going to jump it when his pony ears went up and he picked up his pace! I do think that a snaffle may not cut it for us out there though. He was super strong.

Another thing... whoever said Vanners cannot jump has not seen this boy! He has serious hops and is very tidy with his front end also. He tucks his little knees up to his chin!

We are slowly going to get all our eventing tack. Our focus has been on dressage since he has been young still (he turns 5 in like 2 weeks!) so we really dont have much stuff for jumping. He needs a cute little figure 8 bridle, a breastplate for sure, maybe a new bit, and some special boots to protect his tree trunk legs :)

Back to dressage work as we have a show on Saturday! Lesson on Wednesday to prepare for it with our Teacher Mary. Hopefully she doesnt kick our butts to bad on Wednesday as we have had a little break from lessons!

Doing what we love and lovin what we do

We finally got the jumps set up in the field at the barn this week! So of course Mystic and I had to head out and test them out. He was a super star considering he hasnt really jumped since last November.

Weekend updated

First off I think we both need a weekend to recover from the weekend! But we also had a great time! Met lots of new people, educated lots of people, and got tons of great comments from people!

For the most part Mystic was great, however he did have his moments! He liked to remind me that when the bridle is off he still can go where he wants when he wants occasionally. Its like he was just reminding me LOL! After one of our demos where he basically flipped me off I took him back into the arena and worked with him and his greatest motivator (treats!) and he was doing great! By Sunday he was awesome. After our demo I could walk him out of the arena with nothing on and ride him back to his stall, even with a big crowd.

I dont want to see what his dressage work will be like tomorrow but I can tell you our lesson on Wednesday will be MUCH needed :) Perfect timing for our show on Sunday. He is going to be one tired boy by August!

Its demo time!

Today was my last day of work for the week as we are headed to Salem to participate in the Cavalcade of the Horses at the Marion County Fair! To rode him tonight bareback and bridleless (in hopes that we were decent so we could show some off in the demos!) and he was PERFECT. He was doing walk to canters, canter to walks, didnt have any 'mind of his own' moments and was overall just a solid guy!

I had hopes of having our routine for the State Fair (last weekend of August) put together so we could just do that this weekend but I dont. So im just winging it pretty much. I figure if all else fails he just canters around the outside of the arena with no bridle and all the non-horsey people watching will think its the best thing ever haha! Its going to be a busy weekend! Im hoping to be able to get some pictures and video.

Pictures!

Here are some pictures of the pony from today! He had spa day #1 before the fair this weekend today so of course we needed pictures. His mane is getting SO long!

Back!

We are both now back home and not on a weird schedule due to barn sitting. We head out to the Marion County Fair on Thursday for a weekend full of demos! We still have to plan what we are going to do there whoops! I am heading out to the barn later tonight as it is just too hot outside and im just too tired after spending the day in Newport at an agility trial with my mom! I still have not decided if I will ride or bathe tonight. Either they will both happen by tomorrow. We have to start his baths now to get him any where near clean by next weekend!

While house sitting their barn had jumps! So we had a couple jumping days and he was great! He hadn't jumped since November (besides our impromptu jump over the log on the beach) and never questioned it at all! I was so happy with him. There is an eventing derby I am planning on taking him to on the 22nd as long as all continues to go well. I am still undecided as to if I will take him to the Two Pennies Dressage League show the last weekend of July or not. I am definitely thinking he is a 1 test a day horse so im trying to decide if its worth it! Hopefully we will get some pictures soon!