Baby Greenie Support Group now open: Share Your Pain!

[Duffy]

Elliott is not only totally adorable, but he’s a VONDERFAR jumper, Bumpkin!!! He does his Daddy proud!!!

I was very proud of Gramento the other day. I was able to completely body clip him, (with my new Double K’s ), sans tq drugs. It took a LONG time, between muchos hair and his sheer size - plus the width of the clipper blades. So, his patience was tried as well. I did put him back in his stall a couple of times for breaks, (also for me to sweep up gobs of hair periodically, so that I wouldn’t be buried alive in it). Unfortunately, he turned that mousy dark brown under that gorgeous bronze bay winter coat. But, at least he’s really shiny!

He was a little perky today, but he got better instead of worse, as we continued to jump. So, I figure that’s a good thing.

[Bumpkin]

Elliot definately sees “Dead Reins” and likes to make certain they stay that way.
I wonder if he would like some “naugahyde” reins? hahaha

We had a wonderful lesson today, Elliot is so much fun to ride. He does not take off or leap around.
I am always teary eyed and all gushy after most of our lessons, I just love this horse so much.
I know I have tons to do, and he has tons to learn, but just feeling SAFE & SECURE is such a wonderful feeling
And having a very perceptive trainer for both Elliot and I is a big help and pleasure.

[LuckyMe]

So sorry to hear about your fall, Bumpkin! The horses are feeling awfully fresh in this cooler weather…

As far as helmets, I recently got an International Royale. I LOVE it. Can’t say enough good about it. Its lovely, low profile, and has a really nice soft, deerskin-covered harness. I think Miller’s is the only place that carries them, they are fairly new…

Hope you are feeling better asap! Take care of yourself!!

[Beezer]

<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Bumpkin:
So is Barbie the future A/O, A/A or A/A Jumper for Beezer?
Or is she alas, for sale? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Barbie is safe from sale (or so we’re told) … she is one of the three remaining (i.e. unsold) children of QHSM’s favorite daughter – that would be her lovely mare, Las Vegas, who died last year. So Hammie, Barbie-Cow and Orphan April are not, QHSM claims, for sale.

Of course, should someone happen along with a wide-open checkbook…

Alas, I “fear” that Barbie has hunter written all over her. So, too, does April. This is not a bad thing … it just means that Beezer must not divert from her fitness/weight-loss routine, lest she not cut “the look” of the hunter ring. (Very unlike Merry, Beezer was not blessed with the metabolism of a bird or cursed by digestive woes; she did, however, somehow get the linebacker build our football-playing brother did NOT get. )

Now, Tig … TIG! There is Beezer’s hope for a FUN jumper. But given his penchant for self-destruction, Beezer worries that he’ll become her next lawn ornament/meadow magnet long before his time.

Bulletin Board Goddess

[dcm]

But Rio is the greenie my dtr has had for a year, Shadow is the “greener greenie”.

Rio is becoming a pro at the local circuit.

Shadow doesn’t know a durn thing, yet. But he’s much braver than Rio. He is greenie project #2 for my dtr. She loves those babies.

[Showpony]

<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by To Remain Anonymous:

Maybe because he’s mine too, I take his antics personally.

Any pro advice from those who’ve been there?? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I would like some advice too!!

[Bumpkin]

Perhaps you can shove Hammie into your suitcase and have some photos done of him at Spruce Meadows.
Do they still have any of the outside Hunter course?
I wonder if they have any Hunter classes offered during the non big Jumper events?

Have fun, now I wish I had made plans to go this year.

[Beezer]

That was one impressive effort by the Hambolarama … I had a split-second to judge his diagonal-wise trajectory, realize that he was likely not gonna clear the ring rail AND the standard that was standing between me and him … so I grabbed it, yanked it over … and got a really good look at Hammie’s feet and legs. That sucker never even broke stride when he hit the ground.

Of course, you have to realize that all of this was accompanied by sound effects: I hear Merry yelling, “Hammie! What is the matter with you?? Hammie, WHOA!” Then the crash of timber … Merry yelling … hooves thundering down the aisle, then this huge horse two-wheeling a corner, sliding in the grass as he attempts to hit the brakes (the furrows are MOST impressive!), taking one stride to gather himself and then LAUNCHING. From Merry’s end of El Ranchito, she hears the thundering hooves and Beezer yelling, “Hammie! No! WHOA! HAMMIE NOOOOOOOOO…” She got there just in time to see him get kicked.

Meanwhile, Beezer hastens to point out, while everyone else on the place was snorting and leaping with tails over their backs, Sam – who had a front-row seat to the proceedings – continued eating, merely glancing up with a “Wow. Cool. Would ya look at that. Huh.” Gotta love those Quarter horses!

I see trees of green, red roses too. I watch 'em bloom for me and for you. And I think to myself … what a wonderful world. Yes, what a wonderful world." – Louie Armstrong.

[LaurieB]

Oh Pam, you and I are in the same boat (or at least Warren and Tess are). I’d never heard the phrase “Virginia broke” before, but as soon as I read it, I knew what it meant.

According to my trainer, who has forgotten more about dressage than I’ll ever know, Tess also needs to be more on the bit. She feels round to me–but what do I know?–and even somewhat bent, but there’s this giving-at-the-poll issue. Miss Tess absolutely cannot understand why she should not be able to have her lesson and watch the geldings in the field next to the ring at the same time.

We have not yet achieved levade, but we do piaffe regularly. We also do canter pirouettes. After a summer of occasional work with draw reins, Tess has learned one thing: draw reins on means buckle down and do it right immediately; draw reins off, na na na na na na.

We have hit that brick wall, but not yet emerged victorious on the other side. But hey, like I keep telling my trainer, I’ve got time. It’s not like I’m going to age-out of anything.

[Janet]

My sister has a horse who used to be very- dangerously- spooky. My sister is a VERY assertive rider. Once the horse figured out that my sister was “in charge” and that she (my sister) would take care of protecting both of them, she (the horse) stopped spooking.

But I can’t give yu any exercises to achieve that.

[wtywmn4]

Ah the weekend show-a-thon . Beezer you will just have to keep us apprised.

Okay, you got me, what the dickens is the little purring sound??? Mine lets me pick a great rythem, sounding like Alydar. Thankfully, we aren’t even close to that warp speed!! However, I can relate to asking with a retort of flattened ears and then an okay, what-ever (say that in an Eyore tone and you have it). He’s really a gem sometimes.

[LuckyMe]

<<Anyone else with a groaning horse who has solved this problem? >>

I worked with a mare this summer who used to do that! We never figured out what it was, we did have her examined by a vet just to rule out any sort of physical cause or discomfort. She was a quirky little thing and this was just one of her many odd traits!

I love reading this thread, especially as I have a coming three year old who is nearly ready to be stared under saddle! Seems like there’s loads of fun things I have to look forward to!

A quick question for you all, what sort of bit did you start your greenies in? I have gotten all sorts of different recommendations, from rubber mullenmouths to french links to plain old eggbutts. any ideas?

[DMK]

<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by LaurieB:
DMK, we’d like some pictures, please! <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Did I brag on my greenie’s jumping style? That will teach me… Somebody must have swapped him out for another horse, because I did NOT recognize that creature who landed in a heap on the other side of the X last night!!

Green Beans, where the only consistancy is inconsistancy…

Beezer, I loved your Tale of Tigger! He sounds like my kind of horse

[LaurieB]

<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Merry:
Oh sheesh. I get one fixed and I have to get back on another one…

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Hey Merry, want to come and ride another one in Atlanta?

Okay, so Tess has had the last week mostly off (trail riding and stuff) since being so good at her last show of the season. Today I got on and took her into the ring.

Oh no, said Miss Perfect, you don’t understand. I’m still on vacation. Move off your leg? I don’t think so. La la la la la. I don’t hear anything. You’re not talking to me, are you?

So I took the crop out of my back pocket. Tess was not impressed. We’ve seen you hold that thing before and you never actually seem to use it.

Whack! (all right, tap. )

Ow, ow, ow, ow. Such torture of a young horse! It shall henceforth become impossible for me to perform at any gait with my head down. And by the way, how do you like my gallop?

[Beezer]

Barbie Cow doesn’t really seem to mind jumping. She doesn’t really seem to mind hacking. It’s just that she seems to mind doing those disciplines under “Merry Rules”!

Basically, if you just kinda let her go along as she wants to go along and ask for things only occasionally and softly (the Beezer school of riding greenies unless Merry’s around watching ), she’s a pretty happy camper. But she considers Merry MUCH TOO demanding with too many Merry rules (you know, you will travel straight on a straight line, you will bend in the corners, you will give with your jaw – those kinda rules ). And since Merry is not about to allow Barbie to play by any other rules than Merry Rules … well, that’s when the fireworks begin.

So … fix that, Merry dear. Beezer does not “do” Barbie Cow tantrums.

Bulletin Board Goddess

[DMK]

<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Merry:DMK, I’ve had those trail rides, too. We seem to have no problems with the overloaded trash bins on the street, but spying a water meter coverplate on the ground? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Merry, there is just one little problem… That horror of a road I referred to? That isn’t a trail I was on, that’s my RING that is located mere feet from that road!

It gets even more fun in the fall/winter. Apparently all the sound muffling leaves fall off the trees in a 24 hourperiod. I know this because every year in October, literally on the same day all the horses (green to made) get absolutely STUPID on the exact same day. One day the ring is fine, the next day it is scary beyond imaginings. I like to think of Fall as my Back to Basics month… you know, how to walk around the ring, how not to leap 45 feet at every noise, how not to be a giraffe…

[Cactuskate]

C&C, it’s not just the resetting of the bumped rails that is tough. It is not having that knowledgable voice in the center, giving me great pearls of wisdom and bolstering my courage.

I am the epitome of being able to TELL someone else how it should be done, and be their voice of encouragement. But I become a bumbling fool when left to my own. Sigh…someday.

“The older I get, the better I used to be.”

[wtywmn4]

Bumpkin that would be great if you can post that information. Maybe a little redo, putting it in laymans terms??? You know us non-desginer types…

Not only would that be informative, it could very well help people understand the why of wearing a good helmet.

[headsup]

so wait…did them running into something make them stop? LOL…

[elizabeth]

That’s how girls bond - they share information! So you’re doing this thread (boys and girls alike) a favor in the “greenie support group bonding process” by sharing your Tiggy-tough-decision-making process with us.

Oh, I must say, I like Tiggy a lot. My favorite, favorite post is the one where you were discussing how Hammie was “misbehavin’” and Merry was “correcting” his behavior, and poor Tiggy, whom you were riding in the ring at the same time Merry was riding Hammie, was going around muttering nervously (at least you thought he was muttering) “Oh boy. Look at the trouble Hammie is getting into. Not Tigger. Tigger is a good boy. Tigger is a very good boy.”

Good luck in your decision. Here’s to hoping your cousin can be Tiggy’s next owner.