Bye, bye summer

Yup, I think our summer weather is officially gone. We have been having an awful pouring down rain, super windy storm for the last few days and I am not a fan!

While riding pony yesterday 3 or 4 giant branches got ripped off the trees right outside the arena. Have I mentioned recently how much I love my horse?! Maybe he was so focused on being a super dressage pony that he didnt really mind (we were killing a leg yield to shoulder in at the time) but he twitched a little and went on with work with no issues. His collected canter is getting so nice and easy to ride. Well besides me using all the muscles that exist in my legs! I dont think we are making as good of progress on our trot half passes but im positive that im not getting myself positioned correctly. Tracking right I really tend to sit to the outside (well both ways!) which is throwing him off so im really working on trying to sit more even. Obviously this is easier said then done! Another thing I have started doing more again is working on my sitting trot. I warm him up and get him working posting before I move to the sitting trot and even after just a few days really working on it I feel like it is getting easier. Its definitely not like riding a bike! Those muscle leave the minute you stop using them. Besides the fact that I have to sit all my tests from now on it really works your abs too (not to mention pony would really appreciate it if I wasnt flopping around on top of him)!

Tolo has been a little more up since the weather went crazy and the temp dropped quite a bit. Not bad but not sure I would want to be on him with trees falling down so I opted to just have a little arena play time with him yesterday. He is really hard for me to ride after riding pony for all this time. Tolo is very sensitive and does not like contact. I am definitely all on board with 'heavier' horses! He is improving and doing great still. Alanna is coming out to get some current video today and hopefully a nice picture so I can list him on Dreamhorse. I will post it once I get it all edited and such.

Back at it!

Nothing makes coming home from vacation better then your ponies full on galloping up to you in the pasture. SO cute (especially since it isnt the norm for them haha)! They have been better about meeting me, but never that excited!

Pony got his crazy homeless looking hair done before I tacked up for a ride. The weather has been a bit crazy here where it alternates between somewhat normal to 100 mile an hour winds to pouring down rain. It is definitely a day where I am super thankful to have an indoor arena! I remember when I was first starting Tolo in the winter and there wasn't an indoor at the time. He was super good (as usual) but did need some reminding about what my leg actually means. A key point I picked up from our last lesson, that was way to long ago, is that he needs to become much sharper in his reaction to me putting my leg on. Yes he responds but it is generally a half hearted attempt. I am really going to work on getting him moving off my leg much quicker. It doesnt take much to get him sharpened up but I need to really be conscious of it and demand the same results each and every time which seems to be a weak point of mine. Overall it was a great first ride after just over a week off!

As you can tell the geldings seemed to have a fun time helping Mystic tear apart his grazing muzzle. Well played Mystic, well played. Luckily he isnt looking too bad fatness wise. He could stand to lose some more but getting back into harder work should help. Another boarder and I have a winter weight loss plan for our horses haha!

I also hoped on Tolo. He got a much shorter and less demanding ride. We mostly just plunked around and walked a while while I chatted with Alanna who brought Roz over. It is so nice to have horses that you can just walk around on the buckle and talk without having to worry about anything naughty going on. Definitely was a great first day back in the saddle :)

Sadly it is also the first day they got their rain sheets on :/ Im still holding up hope that this is just a temporary thing and we will have decent weather for another month or so but im sure that wont happen. Im not ready to lose the sun for 6 months just yet!

Back home

I just got home tonight from an awesome vacation in Nashville for the past week! We actually flew into Portland last night but I stayed at my dads so that I could hit my little cousins birthday party at Bullwinkles family fun center on the way back down today (never too old for some go kart racing and lazer tag!). It was a much needed vacation and I had a blast, more on that later!

Alanna took care of my boys while I was gone. It was so nice knowing they got some love while I was gone. I would have felt really bad if they had to sit all week. Not to mention pony would look like an elephant when I got back! I got back to late tonight to go see them but plan on spending lots of time with them tomorrow :) As much as I LOVE vacation its always nice to come home!

New Video

Here is a new video of Tolo! Even braved the field to pop him over some fences (after our trustee friend went out on her feet to see if she could stir up any bees first. how sweet!). He is doing super good and beside being a complete idiot for the farrier is progressing nicely. I was ready to put a free sign on him after the farrier and send him on his way. It was ridiculous and totally unreasonable of him. Its not like he hasnt been getting done his whole life (well since I got him). He redeemed himself the next two rides though!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPrPG5Dg0oQ

Alanna asked if he felt off to me and he really didnt feel different then he has. But looking at the video he is maybe a little funky. He did get his butt beat down the aisle way for the farrier and slipped so im not to worried. He was game to go and wasn't resistant so I worked him.

His superman!

I am SO done with talking to people about buying him. I have him very reasonably listed in my opinion ($2500). People all want a ready to go eventer. Did you miss the part where he hasnt been shown since he lost eye sight? or that fact that he was just started back over fences? Look all over dreamhorse and you will not find a horse nicer then him for that price. Sadly a bunch of crazies looking for a $15,000 horse without the price tag come out of the woods. So done with it!

Revenge!

So remember the other week when I had to take down all those bees hives in the trailer? Well im pretty sure the bee Gods came back for revenge yesterday. I warmed pony up in the arena then headed out to the field to jump a little. We warmed up over some trot poles and small cross rails before working our way up to some verticals, the brush boxes, and a decent sized (close to 3' probably!) plank. He was on fire! The few distances we got bad were all rider errors but otherwise he was spot on. Distances, lead changes, and going forward to the fences. He was AWESOME.

I popped him over everything a couple times, put some short sequences together then called it a day. About 20 seconds after I brought him to a walk and was going to go on a nice walk around the field to cool out he started shaking his head really bad and got super agitated and before I knew it we were swarmed by hundreds of bees. Apparently we hit an underground bees nest and they were some seriously pissed off bees! I swung off of him right away to let him escape the swarm by himself and he took off (not sure I have ever see him run that fast haha!) back to the barn. Meanwhile the little suckers are all over me! I was swatting him away, flicking them off of me, and running away at the same time! Luckily our BO and a friend were on the ground and took off to fetch my pony as I danced my way back to the barn while the stupid things followed me! Pony had run all the way out to his pasture gate before he got most of the bees off of himself (there were a few in his hair that they killed when I caught him). I felt so bad for him! The BO brought me some drugs and ice while my friend untacked and hosed off pony. We checked him over and found about 6 places he got stung on his hind end so he got some bute, grain, and apples. By then he had already recovered from the traumatizing experience!

Last night when I went to check on him :)

I went out later last night to check on him and found only 2 main swollen parts, one on his chest and one on his hind stifle. I know he got stung more but couldnt find any more. He was his same ole happy boy begging for apples when I went out! Hopefully they dont look too bad today as I know mine all tripled in size over night :/ I thought I got stung 5 times but actually got 7. Three on my left leg, three on my right leg and one on my arm. Pretty sure I have only been stung 2 times in my life before now and I hope to keep it to 9 now! They itch SO bad all the time. Definitely looking forward to them not bothering me anymore. They woke me up last night and I had to fall asleep with a bag of peas on them as that was the only time they didnt itch! I am not a fan!

Down Time

This week I have been really bad about riding the boys. Between work, being exhausted, and a giant thunder/lightening storm I only rode a couple days. Yesterday I was finally going to ride both of them after work when Tolo had to come in without a shoe (of course!). He is due to be done and it was wet from our storm but it still puts a hold on riding him! So lucky for pony until Tolo gets his toes done its pony torture only :) I think I am going to jump him some today! Got to take advantage of the jumps being set up outside while we can. Can you believe its already September?! This is crazy! Pretty soon I will be complaining about mud, rain, and how dark it is. Winter time in pony world is not fun, especially in good ole Oregon!

I am already ready to shave ponys hair off. Its so thick already and he sweats so much. But I learned last year that if I do it too early then I will just end up doing it again 3 weeks later. And as most, it is not my favorite activity to do!

I have one week left before I leave for Nashville for a little vacation with my dad and step sister. We get to spend a week at a hotel right on the main strip by Tootsies (to bad im not 21 yet!) and Bridgestone Arena where Blake Shelton, Jana Kramer, and Easton Corbin are playing the night we arrive (and we will hopefully be there!)! I went last year and loved it. Cant wait to be back!