lucky, aww…I bet that child had a blast in lead line! That really is wonderful. Kids and cancer, dear to my heart.
PF- she sure did. I could tell there was something special about them when I saw them.
Got a mid-week ride with Pony. I had big goals of forward trot and maybe even canter. I ended up playing “how many times an I miss my diagonal“. Finally got it without looking when I opened my hip angle and really relaxed.
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Hi Everyone,
Out of almost nowhere I got a horse! Bennie is a 15.3 unregistered Appy. I found him at a barn in Phoenix and tried him on a very hot day. I got very dizzy, but he took good care of me. So my new trainer went to try him. She loved him, so a deal was a deal. He’s a good mover and a cute jumper. He spent 3 years at a nice dressage barn in Phoenix, but they discovered he likes to jump when they were doing cavalleti. The dressage trainer is elderly and had too many horses, so this other h/j trainer took him to sell him, put 90 days on him, and the rest is history. He is very easy to ride. He goes on the bit very easily and moves off the leg really well. He goes in a loose ring French link snaffle. I’m still working on my nervousness, though.
UNfortunately, the first day I rode him at home I killed my knee. I blew out my meniscus, ACL, and MCL. After my lesson I was sliding down (not even jumping down) and landed funny, and my knee went sideways. It was so painful. (I had hurt it before in a fall of a horse.) So I haven’t ridden him since. I probably could’ve, but I didn’t want to take a chance. I have surgery on Thursday to clean up the meniscus. Whether the surgeon decides to do the ACL depends on what he sees when he gets inside the knee. If the meniscus is reparable, then he’ll do the ACL. Truth be told, I’m not sure I’m rooting for that. The recovery on the meniscus clean up is a month, but the ACL is six months!!! :uhoh: I won’t know what he decides to do until I wake up.
Meanwhile, I found a nice lady who rode as a junior to ride Bennie while I’m laid up. She rode the Big Eq (although not nationally) and is a nice soft rider. She may even half lease him as once schools go back (I’m a high school English teacher), I won’t be able to ride him 5-6 days a week.
Here is a video of my trainer riding him:
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MFDF – LOVE your new pony! That’s such awesome news. We tend to get horses when we least expect it. And I’m so sorry about your accident. Sending happy healing vibes your way. Can’t wait to hear more about your new boy. I have a soft “spot” for Appys. 
ridernc, so sorry about the ulcers. It’s amazing at how many horses really do have ulcers. I hope the time off and meds mend him right up for you. I was doing the alfalfa pellets for my horses for a while. One horse did okay on it. One horse became quite nutty, so we stopped that. Also, make sure nothing else is bothering him physically. I think the time off will help and you’ll be able to tell when you start him back up. Good luck!! Keep us posted.
Nothing much new here. Recovering from the long fundraising weekend and back to work! Gotta pay for all that stuff I bought at the auction, haha.
MFDF- I’ll echo the congrats! Lots of healing jingles for you. How old is Bennie? I also have a soft spot for Appys- my old hunter was a solid App save one spot on his upper lip. He was the Goodest boy, except when asked to be a trail pony. I wish you many happy adventures
I’ve just been a lurker for quite a while now, but have to poke my nose in –
It’s been really nice here lately, only up to 103!! Pleasantly balmy for us Arizonans. Seems you are taking him up north? Be sure you don’t let him get too cold this winter. He won’t be accustomed and will need to adjust.
We find it takes 3 years for a horse (and humans) to adjust.
Even now Dodge starts shedding a week before the other 2.
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RiderNC: I fought ulcers for about 6 months straight and then was on a constant watch for them. Do you know what type of ulcers you would and what grade? As for maintenance, your plan looks really good to me. I would consider alfalfa hay over pellets bc the chewing gets more saliva and that’s helpful for digestion. It’s also idea to give it before riding. Something to consider. I’ve tried most every supplement and I’m not sure really if one works better than the others. I think what is most impactful is turnout and access to hay. So I think you’re in great shape. FWIW, my horse didn’t show signs of girthiness or poor coat or even acting differently on the ground. He just got really spooky under saddle. It was hard to know exactly bc by nature he was on the spooky side. So what’s great is you know what to look for that they might be coming back.
Mrs Fitz WOW he looks superb and how lovely that he has a dressage background. I’m positive that will give you a lot of confidence once you gain your strength. Fingers crossed you’re not out of the tack for too long!
PF CONGRATS on the fabulous dressage results, you must be so stinking proud! I hope you’re recovering from St Judes, I know that takes a lot of work to organize. I think all things considered, you guys did great work. Giving has been pretty poor this year apart from some initial swells when COVID began.
Four2Farm I have two awesome horses and I STILL peruse online horse sale ads. Why!!!
As for me, the horses had a really great couple of weeks not jumping, with some trail riding, stretching, and then last week an absolute pole-a-pallooza. I think one of the days my trainer had 20 poles out. It was really good for me to do slow and steady and (theoretically?) meticulous work. Hudson is just so easy to flat and work with poles, while Duty we are still trying to figure out the right bit. But it’s getting better and man, when he is really straight and balanced and stepping under, he just feels like a completely different horse.
Today we did a few jumps and I struggled to get in the groove after a long break of not jumping. My trainer said something I loved which was “if you stay calm, you can get away with more mistakes”. And I just thought that’s really true, sometimes I get so down bc I didn’t find a good distance and I panic and jump Ahead or throw away the contact or whatever and then keep worrying about it cantering away from the jump like a dingle. The calmer I am and the more “supporting” leg I consistently keep, the better. I feel like one habit I have on course is in the corners or after a great jump, I really soften and come away from the horse, like I’m trying to give them a break. But the problem is I lose all the connection and all the impulsion and when I come back online so to speak, it’s really jarring for the horses and hard to get quality canter. I’m better off just staying connected and not cruising the corners willy-nilly.
So those were my silly light bulb moments. Calm before anything else and leg always… what a revelation :lol::winkgrin:
Popping in to catch up!
Welcome to our new posters! Can’t wait to follow your adventures.
Greys - a riding truism, more leg is always the answer. :winkgrin: I’m a huge fan of pole work. After all, jumping is not really about the jump, it’s the flat work in between. Sounds like your guys handle it so differently it’s a mental workout for you also. Keep up the good work!
”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹PF - congrats on both your dressage results and that fantastic St. Jude event! You might not have raised as much as in years past but, it’s still $12,000. more than they had. Such a great cause.
”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹Lucky - don’t beat yourself up about the warm up ride. It’s not easy to go into a strange area with lots of people doing lots of different things. I always say discretion is the better part of valor and you had the presence of mind to stop before things really started going south! Loved the pictures on IG, such a variety - all so lovely.
”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹MrsFitz - congrats! Bennie looks lovely. The good ones fall into our lap when we don’t expect it. So sorry about your injury, I hope the doctor goes the quick recovery route for you!
”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹Faye - I think you’ve already decided not to lease at this time. PF was spot on in her advice. You’ve come so far with this trainer, you don’t want to start doubting yourself on a horse that’s still figuring things out a bit himself. Sure, lesson on him (and others) and when the time is right, you’ll know.
When last you heard from me DD was having an MRI for a suspected fracture in her hip. MRI confirmed it. 
She’s now been non-weight-bearing for 4 of six weeks. It’s been quite a challenge for her - more emotionally than physically as riding is her release from the stress of work (and her work has been stressful as one of her roles is global mobility and, as you can imagine, that is rather complicated with Covid travel restrictions!) I’m helping out with her puppy, also complicated as one of my dogs is a very Alpha female, but we’re working it out. Her doctor has also told her he’ll want her to protect the hip for an additional six weeks after she’s off crutches (ie, no riding). I’m pretty sure she won’t make it the whole six weeks… On a happier note, I’ve had some nice easy rides on G. Trainer has been at shows so no lessons recently but that’s ok. Fall is my favorite time to ride.
Lost- continued jingles for DD and you!
Greys- what great insights. Even though we don’t really jump, I think the calmness and more leg still applies. I have a hard time with more leg as my instinct screams to pull and stop- hence the warm up ring debacle.
Jingles would be appreciated for my mom- Granny Dot is driving her crazy and we need her to realize that home alone is a no-go. Granddad’s place has room and the staff has even talked to her about it, pre COVID when she would visit every day.
Is Grand Dad still still there? If so that sounds perfect for Granny to go there.
ARgh at the fractured hip. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.
My lesson is today. I haven’t had one for what seems like a year.
We put the float on the new ute yesterday, I am glad of the public holiday and hubby and I both being home. We had to put smaller high tensile legal d bolts on the safety chains as the thicker one wouldn’t do up. Then hubby cut a link off the chain as it was now too long.
Typing that up LOL I am going to ask hubby why we didnt just remove the thicker ones as they are useless as a chain is only as strong as its weakest link which is the thinner ones. DOH!
He also changed the height if the float on the tow bar. To start with it was so low you couldn’t use the jockey wheel.
I have added a new job. Putting bread up in the local supermarket 6 morning a week. SQQQUUUEEEE a job in the local town. With the audits at the other supermarkets on the weekends, I am working 7 days a week for 3 weeks this month.
That also means it is added to all my other jobs!!!
So I am going into work early. I am not doing it alone yet so I did not cancel my lesson. I will discuss other times/days with my instructor in person. I will wear what I am going to ride in! I will take off all the returns and put up all the bread for yesterday and if the trucks come beforehand I will put up new stuff until 8am.
Home by 8.15am. The float is still on the ute. I will pack the grooming gear and tack. My boots, helmet and gloves. Put boots etc on Stars and U hope to he loading him by 8.45am. My lesson is at 10.30am just over an hour away.
Yes I am excited. No I haven’t been asleep for hours. Who needs sleep!
You have to love hubby. I stay at Mum’s Saturday night with the audits. Hubby said he will bring Stars for me early Sunday mornings. Then I can have a lesson before starting the audits and he will take him home again. I will ask about that day and time first.
It would also be cooler for Stars riding and travelling.
Stars and I are not fit! I bet there will be heavy breathing and walk breaks. The heavy breathing from me!
I have worked out that I don’t have to change anything in the mornings. Hubby works Sim. I get on and ride while hubby makes up feeds. I put Sim away. I hop in the shower while hubby feeds. Then I ride Stars in the afternoon when hubby rides Dodge after work.
Sim told me that hubby does not ask for canter at x crossing the diagonal. Then he told me hubby does not ask for canter on the long side. Sim is also starting to stand at a halt on a loose rein any where in the arena, and I have started asking for walk canter transitions.
Stars I am much happier with. The walking to warm up was.not.working. I was feeling so frustrated. Stars was not a happy camper, it was taking hours.
Now I hop on and walk forward and go straight into trot on a loose rein. Twice around, change direction. Trot around twice change to his good way and ask for canter. He is now cantering down the long side. With the walking to warm up I couldn’t get him to canter for aaaggeesss. And only got it once or twice.
Then I change rein and canter the other way. Then pick up long and low and work on trot and I can canter whenever I want. Then I pick him up to work.
I have even started asking for walk canter transitions!
Hubby trimmed his hooves on Saturday. He had Sunday off. He wanted to go in the deeper parts of the arena yesterday. The lesson is a bit deeper than our arena but hopefully he will be more forward with being away from home.
Lucky: Heaping, dumptruck amounts of jingles for your mom and Granny Dot. This is a really tough situation.
I forgot to explain a timer walk. At most shows, they have open divisions and then junior amateur divisions, where pro’s cannot ride. Usually at the end of the show, there are the jumper classics, which typically have prize money. In order to compete in the classic, you have to compete in at least one of that divisions classes during the week. But sometimes, those classes aren’t held in the ring you like, or you can’t show on the day of those classes, or this is the week you maybe want to try moving up but not for the whole divison and you still want to jump a classic at the end of the week.
So let’s say I’m jumping the 1.20 AOs but I am ready to start moving up. I may jump the 1.30m AO, but I don’t want to jump that classic at the end of the week, bc it’s usually a tougher course set to 1.35m.
So I will do what’s called a timer walk, where I enter the 1.20 AO class and break the timer beam but don’t jump the course. Many shows won’t even make you break the timer beam, they will just mark that you entered and did not show, which still allows you to do the classic.
We wanted my mom to show, so we had her do a timer walk as an entry, which was fun for her and allowed her to be at the show.
Hopefully that’s helpful!
Greys I have never heard of anything like that before.
Lesson done. We have now changed to an. Afternoon during the week s9 as it won’t interfere with work.
He came over to see the new ute when we arrived and said Matchy Matchy. Silver ute and float. I hadn’t even realised that. That was just a coincidence and not by design.
He said all the things I knew he would say, that Stars had trained me to be happy with the bare minimum. I amm too soft a rider and that Stars is very relaxed.
He said he could see my riding changing to do as he asked but it is not effective as he wants to see a change from Stars. He doesn’t care what it is. Head up with dislike or whatever but there must be a reaction.
He was very happy with my downward transition from trot to walk. He wanted me to sit and walk on the 4th step. I got a good every time.
We worled on the getting a reaction. He wanted me to use the whip. But I actually faked that!!! I know. I know. Too soft, but he doesn’t like being hit and I will have to work my way up mentally to actually hitting him with it. I did tap him in walk
And when he was going more forward in trot as he accepts more then as an aid and not punishment. When he is not forward he sees it as punishment.
Apparently my left hand is going out and down when I am going to the left. This is causing him to hyperflex.
So my homework is left hand up and forward. Get a reaction. Leg yield on the circle to the outside and do squares.
I will go and do that now.
He was sweating with foam between his back legs we finished and wanting to canter. Lets see if I can replicate that at home.
Greys- thanks for the explanation. I’ve seen it before without realizing what it was. What a fun experience for your Mom. And thanks for the dump truck- as of today we need a few more loads!😛
if I may vent- I’ve never, ever dealt with the unprofessionalism at the level of Granny’s rehab. Mom talked to the admissions lady, in confidence, about our concerns. Today, granny calls furious that some girl, (not who mom talked to), came and told her that “your daughter thinks your not mentally competent to live alone.” First of all, not even remotely what was said. Secondly, why would you ever share info with others like that. Granny is paranoid enough thanks.
As a healthcare professional, we get told all kinds of stuff. We never, ever throw the family under the bus, let alone tell the patient where the info came from. The most we ever say is, “hey, I talked to your family and they want you To work hard with us.”
I can’t do anything to fix it or help except to reassure mom that this is not normal for rehab or family confidential conversations. So I bake and cook and get my 10,000 steps. And Pony time isn’t even a possibility until the 15th as I’m working literally every day.
lucky - Sending another dump truck load chugging your way. I am sorry your are dealing with this, I went through much the same with my parents. The good thing is that you and your Mom are a team, even if sometimes you are blindsided by outside forces. While you may not be able to immediately “fix” the situation, your help and support through these trying times is critical and I am sure your family is so grateful for it. So, vent when you need to - we understand.
lucky, hugs. That was completely unprofessional and kind of unethical. Sheesh. I truly think most of the folks who truly want to help the elderly and work in a facility are few and far between because “big business” doesn’t want to pay those folks what they are worth. I tend to see a lot of folks who truly don’t care about the job and the turnover is so high. I’m saying this coming from a perspective of a court reporter who has a client (attorney) who specializes in nursing care abuse. So I feel for you. We need to start paying folks what they are worth and retain the good health care workers working in nursing facilities.
Hope everyone is doing well! I have a good update. As some of you may remember, I had two goals for 2020. One was to compete in the RRP TB Makeover, which was postponed till 2021. So, that goal is just moved to next year. The only other riding goal I had was to go the the New Vocations/TIP Championship show in KY at the Horse Park, which was also cancelled. HOWEVER, just yesterday they announced that the New Vocations show is going virtual! It’s October 24th. So I signed up for a few dressage classes, and I’m going to do my best. I’m excited. I’m sure it will be tough competition, but I’m curious to see how we’ll stack up against all the other thoroughbreds. :yes:
Paradox - Thanks for sharing, we may be competing against each other virtually! 
TC, I think that would be awesome if you compete, too!! Go sign up! https://virtualhorseshowseries.com/new-vocations/
ARGH Lucky
Not quite the same but I had the same with our bank.
I bought an investment home and gave my phone number. Somehow they called Mum’s number and asked for me. She said I was not there. He then went on to say I am calling about the house she is buying. What house? And it went on from there.
Then I get the biggest lecture ever. Had she just not sold an investment house? Could I not see that this was not a good thing to do, etc etc etc etc etc.
I gave the bank a dressing down. It is nobody’s business what I do. I had come up with this idea myself over a week when I was 24, I was stunned to hear what my fiance’s parents had paid for their house. They could sell it now for such a big profit. … but they would have to buy another one so that would be pointless … so they need 2. One to sell. One to live in.
In hindsight mum did the wrong thing selling the flats and our house to buy the agistment property.
She could have sold our house and used the flats as collateral.
Later in life I married my now husband. We met with me living in share accommodation. He did not know I had houses. I paid an awful amount to get rid of abusive fiance and have those houses put in my name. Then I couldn’t afford to live in my house.
With those 2 houses we were able to buy a house. It was no good as on sand that I hadn’t realised with stables out the back. We sold that less than a year later at a huge profit and bought this farm.
Then with the 2 houses we bought the riding school.
Wow an apology from Mum No way could she have have thought of ever owning something like that.
Now several years ahem decades, later I have finally sold both those houses This vastly reduced the loans with the first sale. The second sale goes through at the end of October. It is going to cost me $250 to get that house release from the riding school. As the riding school now largely outweighs the loan for it now. The farm has always outweighed how much we owe on it.
The bank keeps asking me what I am going to do with the money. It is NONE OF THEIR BUSINESS. I just say I am not paying off the loans that are negatively geared. I had to sell the 2nd house because they stuffed up and made me sell it as it was no longer negatively geared when they made me pay off the loan for it as well as the house I sold. I will put it in the offset account which reduces the interest instead, but does not pay off the loan.
Indoor riding school with mirrors anybody?
