5 Day Challenge: Day 4

16. One thing I would change about my horse
If you have ever ridden a drafty breed after riding sport horses such as TBs I think we could all agree that we would like them to have more stamina and speed. This is something I really need to spend more time working on this year prior to our events.

17. Your future with horses
Who knows? I definitely plan on having horses for ever and have bucket list items as to what I want to accomplish such as getting my bronze medal and going training level eventing. As far as this year I want to show 2nd level and qualify for regional championships (at least at 1st level). I have never competed at Devonwood and it has always been a dream of mine since I first watched there. It would also be really fun to qualify and compete in our areas eventing championships.

18. Worst show ever
As far as the one that I hated the most when when I took Tolo to Inavale and we had an awful dressage test (we basically cantered half of it and somehow managed to still get a 35 or something) then was having an awesome xc go when he decided he was in no way going to get in the water. 7 minutes later... he got in but we were already eliminated. We had 2 more fences left on course! He then went and jumped clear in stadium the next day too. We would have finished 3rd.

Another one that had much worse results as far as completion was a Pony Club eventing rally. It was nasty outside and he dumped me in dressage warm up (hopping, bucking, rearing, totally not him!) then went in and put in the best dressage score of the day (which looking back at it makes me cringe watching it!) after taking a romp around the intro xc course before we caught him. He then went and jumped really nicely around stadium. We had to go straight from stadium to xc, I was feeling good he warmed up good, get out on course and stops halfway over the first fence then wouldnt jump it. Why he decided half way over the tiny BN fence it was terrifying is beyond me. I had a video but I cant find it! He literally had both fronts over then backed up.


19. Favorite horse show venue
Although I have never competed, YET, I love Devonwood. It is seriously gorgeous.

The arena you see is the big boy arena where do have FEI tests and the freestyles! They also have 2 more outdoor show areas, a huge warm up right next to a standard court warm up arena all outside! They also have a gorgeous indoor and a small indoor warm up. This place is seriously heaven. 

20. Show day routine
Honestly I dont really have a set routine and it depends on the type of show. He is always bathed the day before. Day of I load the trailer, load the horse, and we are off! If its a dressage show I try for getting there about 40 minutes before test which allows for a 20-25 minute warm up. At an eventing derby it would be about the same but our dressage warm up would be more relaxed since the tests are just very basic walk/trot/canter tests and I want to save him for xc and stadium!

5 Day Challenge: Day 3

11. Critique your horses conformation

Not greatest pic but most recent without blanket! (from over the summer I think)

I am admittedly very bad at conformation faults, etc. I can tell you the basics of what I see when I dont like a horse or when I really do but other than that I dont really focus on it. Unless it is obviously awful I dont really mind faults here and there. Nothing is perfect!

With Pony I know he has a short (and thick) neck. It doent look bad on him but when I would get on Tolo I would feel like his head was in another county. The biggest fault he has (imo) are his very straight wide set hind legs. Makes it harder to get him really engaged in his hind end. For all I know he could be a conformational mess but I dont care :)

12. My horses favorite exercise

Its seems like he really, really enjoys going XC! Once he gets the hang of what we are doing he is so game and actually picks up his pace on his own. Really jumping in general as he always has his ears up and is so cute looking!

13. Favorite spa day products

Lord know we go through our share of hair products! I am going to start using the EquiFuse products but you will want to be ready to drop $100 bucks on a starter kit if you are going that route (why I have waited till now!). Before Dawn dish soap was my best friend! Then some Mane and Tail shampoo/conditioner, corn starch, and some lazersheen as a nice detangler.

14. 3 best things about your horse

Well IMO it is hard to limit it to just three things :)

-By far my favorite thing, besides his good looks and charm, is how willing and game he is for just about anything I ask him. He is totally a "Yes ma'am" horse and tries his heart out for you.

-Another thing I love about him is just how safe and reliable he is. Whether he gets ridden daily or once a week I never have to worry about lunging before I ride really anything. He could have 4 days off and I could jump on him bareback and bridleless and canter around with no issue (he also backs up and side passes now!). He is the same horse each day and comes out to work at what ever we are doing that day.

-I also love how easy he is as far as loading, hauling, traveling, etc. We could literally (and have done it because we got lost!) get to a show 15 minutes before our ride and be ready for our test. We actually did that to one of his first shows and he still won his big class! We dont have to go to a show hours before our ride, dont have to get to the barn hours early to load or anything. I could get to the barn 5 minutes before loading time and not have to worry about a thing. This has also proved to be a big downfall for me because I tend not to stress about it enough and often forget things! NOTHING is more annoying than a horse that doesnt load and doesnt travel and keep a decent brain! And screaming? Dont even get my started. One of the single most annoying things a horse can do!

15. Favorite picture of my horse

This is by far the hardest question haha because I have SO many really really good pictures of us! So you will have to settle with some of my favorite pictures :)

The knees though!

Okay I had to stop going through my pictures because I just kept picking more and more! I love them all! And they are all courtesy of Alanna our right hand multi talented women at our shows :)

5 Day Challenge: Day 2

Today I went out shopping with my mom for most of the day and Mystic benefited from this trip, of course. I have been meaning to get him a blanket with a detachable neck so I picked him up one today and it is super cute if I do say so myself! The neck fits funny (short fat neck problems here!) but I just folded the top down a little and will maybe add another strap of more velcro to help with the rest. Its an unavoidable problem just due to his conformation. Im hoping it will help keep him warmer on these super cold days and keep his mane cleaner!

Girly colors! Only color they had but its actually super cute

6. Favorite equestrian book/movie
I am not a big book person but some of my favorite movies are The Long Shot (oldie but goodie and also how I named Tolo!), Seabiscuit, Dreamer, and National Velvet. I could go on!

7. Most common riding misconception
That riding is easy! I just laugh at people that say it is easy but I know that they obviously have never done it before. Now, for me, it is very easy to get on my horse and just walk/trot/canter around but it is NOT easy to actually work on our dressage! Talk about muscles!

8. 2 riding strengths and 1 weakness
-I would say that although I do not drill in the arena 6 days a week I am generally good at working on and improving on things I learn in my lessons. Because I cannot afford to take them as often as I would like I feel like I really need to take advantage of the ones I get
-Also I think I have pretty steady and quiet hands which for obvious reasons horses like!
-A weakness I have (or 2 that go hand in hand) is that I am kind of standoffish about working on brand new movements outside of my lessons because I don't feel like I know what they are supposed to feel like and am worried that I am teaching them the wrong way and then I get frustrated!

9. Least favorite thing about riding horses
How freaking expensive it is! I always feel like if I had the opportunities that some young kids have had, thanks to their rich parents, I could be so much further in my riding. Im not going to lie, I get jealous seeing all these people riding in every event of the season, lessoning weekly, going to clinics, etc.

10. What does my horse eat
I definitely fall into the bad horse parent in this category but I do know the basics.
-Daily turnout in pasture
-AM/PM small scoop of some low fat grain (this is where the bad mom part comes in) w/1 scoop Horseguard at night
-1 flake grass hay at night when in stall

5 Day Challenge: Day 1

While Pony is out of commission I thought it would be fun to try this out along with many others!

1. Most influential person in your riding
 I would have to say it is my mom. Although she isnt as involved in my riding now, as she was when I was dependent on her to drive me and such, she still comes to every show and is always willing to go out and do something with Pony should I need (which isnt often but its nice to know she will if I need!). She also played a HUGE role in me growing up riding and letting me keep the passion. She is a single mom and is a dog trainer so we dont have money and even when it would have been really easy for her to say we really shouldnt have horses she instead helped me get my first real job at 15 and the rest is history :)

She even shares her ice cream with him :)

2. Piece of tack you would splurge on
Nothing new here but I would buy Pony and I a custom jump saddle. We are both hard to fit and it would be amazing to have a 'perfect' saddle for us! Honestly I have never ridden in a super fancy saddle because I have never had one so I dont even know what I would get. That being said I am thankful that I learned to ride in a very basic non supporting saddle because I feel like now if I rode in a nice supportive one I would only be that much better of a rider!

3. Top 5 riding playlist
I LOVE music and love riding to it! Usually I just turn on our local country station. But I just picked up the new Florida Georgia Line cd that is really good and would be fun to ride to. Sadly Pony is not cooperating so we havent been able to ride to it. Instead he gets to listen to me sing while we hand walk.

4. Most important part of your barn
We are extremely lucky with our barn. Although there are many barns in Corvallis very, very few are nice and Pony worthy and ours happens to be the best in town. Daily turnout into pasture YEAR ROUND (unless it is really really nasty out), hot water wash rack, awesome accommodating BO, the fact that the BO works at OSU vet hospital, drama free (yes it really is for the most part), walking distance to trails, fields to ride in in the summer, etc! I could go on and on. But overall the fact that Pony is happy there!

5. 3 winter riding goals
This is all assuming Pony returns to work soon!
-Get a lesson every 2 weeks and continue to work hard between the lessons to show improvement. We are reaching a hard time in our training and the harder we work the faster we will get there!
-Continue to work on his conditioning
-Be ready to show 2nd 1 by Devonwood in the Spring (with the big boys!)

ETA: We had a snow day today! The best we have ever gotten (that I remember)! Because we so rarely get good powdery snow that sticks pretty much our whole city was outside playing in the snow! I went out and walked Pony in the snow and he loved it! He was a Fire Breathing Dragon Gypsy edition (still has nothing on a TB)! It was pretty cute actually. Since being on stall rest he also believes he is being severely deprived of food. 

I think this picture describes him very well haha!

I walked him for about 35 minutes today, mostly because he was pretty excited and I know that being stuck in a 12 x 12 isnt all that exciting and it is definitely starting to drive him crazy. A sure sign of it is that he was jigging and spooking at the Fed Ex truck that drove by. Umm... what?!?! I cannot imagine having a 'normal' horse on stall rest if it is making Pony like this! Good news is that he is only very slightly off. I even took a video and texted it to Alanna just to make sure I am not going lame horse crazy and seeing a bunch of stuff. I hate to put off having a vet out if it is needed but I also dont want to have a vet out just to tell me what I already know (which seems to happen a lot with mild lamenesses). So after talking with Alanna I decided that I will give him 2 full weeks before having vet out. Not to mention since we are not used to this kind of snow everyone is in a panic and basically not leaving their houses so im not sure I could even the our vet out now (im sure if it were an emergency she would come but I would hate to have her out just for this right now).

Crazy man I tell ya!

Im Caving

Sadly Pony looked a little worse tonight (not much and maybe it was the same but I really thought he was getting better!). Lame horses make owner delusional haha! Its also freezing cold here and I had just hand walked him for 20 minutes and felt like a popsicle. On the plus side, Pony is super good for it and I just throw his lead rope over my shoulder and put my hands in my pockets to keep warm. I think im going to cave and call my vet out. He has now been in on stall rest, except for the 20 minutes of hand walking I have done at night, since Sunday and if it was a minor pull I think there would be more improvement by now. Now the trick is finding time to have vet out. I might just bite the bullet and call her out on "emergency" this weekend or else he will have to wait until early next week and only if I can work around my finals schedule.

I know this is a super bad thing to say but I am DREADING having the vet out. Not only because I dont want to hear that he need X amount of time off but I am worried that they are going to want to ultrasound him and you know what that means... bye bye feather :( I would never, ever put his hair before his well being but if I can do everything in my power to be able to keep it I will!

On a fun note, my favorite mare moved back to the barn (after some time out to pasture to baby sit her baby sister) and along with her came the baby so I get to pet a little baby everyday! She is seriously adorable and super well behaved for her age. I have been getting puppy fever recently but really don't want the puppy to be mine, I just want to play with them, so a baby pony is a good substitute. I dont really want a baby pony either but its fun to get my fix then be able to have my nice 'adult' pony that already knows all that stuff :)

What do people w/o horses do?

I have not been able to ride Pony for a week now and its driving me somewhat insane! It makes me wonder what people who dont have horses do with all their time?! Im not saying that I have but I am also not saying I havent spent way to many hours on Netflix this last week. I tend to watch and rewatch tv shows. So ive been marathoning on a show that has like 4 seasons (even though I have watched them all already and am current on what is playing live on tv haha).

Pony is doing better than a week ago which is a positive! He is stall bound now because it started raining and the paddock got closed. I hand walked him on Sunday for like 20 minutes and threw him on the lunge line to see what he looked like. He was much better! Still lame but almost sound looking tracking left and slightly off tracking right. I got a text from our BO this morning saying her husband turned Pony out this morning which I was slightly worried about. He wasnt supposed to go out and I stressed a little about it but I figured if he was going to be that much worse then it is something that need more attention anyways. I went out after work tonight and thankfully he looks no worse for the wear! That being said he is on strict orders to stay inside. No need to chance it, we have work to be doing if we want to hit Devonwood in the spring!

I Splurged

So Tolo officially sold, its Black Friday, and my pony is lame. What does this mean? Some serious shopping therapy! I told Pony that I just spent my life savings on him so now he has to get better, preferably by tomorrow :)

Sadly he is still lame and it is looking more like he pulled something. He is on bute and in a small paddock area during the day instead of the big pasture with the boys. If he doesnt improve in the next couple days then he will go on straight stall rest as a last resort before the vet comes out. It is much better than the first day but he has also been on bute. It seems to be worse when he is first pulled out of stall. He also will occasionally take a funny step then be ouchy for a few more before getting better, which is why we are thinking it is not just an abscess anymore. Fingers crossed it will improve with some rest! I was planing on having a chiro out but that was before he got hurt so that will have to wait until he is all better!

He stood totally still for 30 minutes to soak his hooves! Good pony :)

He got lots of Christmas presents today! I hit Gallops this morning since I was up at my dads and right by it. They had a 15% off store wide. I found a fleece jump girth and a bit. I also got new stirrup pads but of course got the wrong size. Then I came home and saw that Bit of Britain (I had never bought from them before) was having a 20% off and free shipping on everything! So I was a big spender and bought him new body clippers, a black Micklem for his dressage bridle, a new dressage show pad, and got myself white full seats! Next on the list is to get all my memberships (all 500 that you need to compete at a recognized dressage show! It is a bit ridiculous actually) for both Pony and I for 2014. Slowly I am chipping away at everything we need to compete with the big boys next year so the first show doesnt roll around and I have to spend $400 on top of my show fees (which will already be like $400!) just for memberships/tack/clothes that I need. Being a broke college student it is not everyday (or anyday really) that I can spend that much in one day and I have to say it was definitely more scary pressing that submit button then I thought it would be! But it is also super exciting to be getting us ready for next year :)