Most Novel Thing Ever

I still have a full two weeks left as an official barn worker, but Cathy is starting to find people to take morning slots. That means that today when I showed up, some other nice girl was cleaning.

That's right folks--for the first time in ages, I was able to show up, not feed, not clean, and just mess with my horse. The only way it would have been more amazing is if Izzy was actually getting turnout, so she wouldn't act like a total nut the first half hour we're together. Sigh... can't win 'em all.

I scouted out and emailed two more facilities. No word back yet... If I don't hear anything soon, I'll try calling. I actually don't mind talking on the phone; I just hate the calling process... weird neurosis I guess.

Anyways. As I said, Izzy was a nut. I did my best to really just focus on what she and I were doing and ignore the silliness. It worked reasonably well. When she finally relaxed, we went out of the arena and wandered around the big field that there's eventually supposed to be a subdivision in. I hopped off in a patch of grass and let Izzy graze. We're making progress, I think. We're even supposed to have a lesson tomorrow.

All the Change is Scaring Me

Ok, you may or may not have noticed this, but I tend to be an introvert. I don't just go up to people and ask for stuff. I know what I want, but I don't like to be pushy about it, especially with people I don't know.

For example: I rode Izzy last night and she was a total snot about her left lead. Why? Because she hadn't been ridden at all since Wednesday. This is a direct result of me having to clean every day and then having to go do other stuff, so I didn't have the time. The obvious solution and the one that my husband and I have talked through several times (for my benefit, not his) is for me to quit cleaning and just pay board. I had already decided that I was going to be done at the end of the month, but I felt so bad about it that I didn't even want to tell Cathy even though I NEED to because she then NEEDS to find someone to take my place. Besides, I'd already hinted that was what I would do, so it's not like it comes as a surprise.

So I did it. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but she was expecting and already has someone lined up to take over most of my days. Yay! Good ending. I am officially done as a barn worker (for now) on Thursday, September 30th.

In other news... I'm still scouting barns. Over the weekend, I spent time driving around where I'd like to keep Izzy. (It's close-ish to my house and irrigated.) I actually found some promising stuff. Now I need to start calling people.

Have I mentioned that I'm an introvert and I LOATHE AND DESPISE calling people? I don't know why this is so hard for me.

Wish me luck. I'm still holding out for a big green pasture, shelter for my horse, and maybe even access to an indoor arena.

More On Boarding

I visited two more facilities today and I have a third lined up for tomorrow (unless they can squeeze me in this afternoon--maybe I should call and ask). My boarding list is starting to look quite impressive. I have a spreadsheet with about 40 different categories of things I must have, things I want, things I'm indifferent about, and things I will not have. There is also an 'other' section for logistical comparisons.

Today I visited boarding facility #s 3 and 4.

We'll talk about 3 first. I found out about it on the internet through a very out-of-date website. Also, I apparently have a friend who boards her western pleasure type horse there. All I knew was that they had an indoor. And stalls. I should probably put stalls in my 'indifferent' category.

I was pleasantly surprised when I first drove up. There is a massive indoor that is new and in good shape. There is also a house. There is not much else. I met the owner, who seemed very nice and talkative. She showed me around. It's in the desert (normal for this area). There is "pasture" but it's not irrigated. They have a mare pasture and a gelding pasture. The mares don't have a run-in yet, and honestly, I'm not wild about turning my girl out with a bunch of mares she doesn't know and saying, "go for it". I know it's standard practice in this area, but I don't like it. There are stalls lining the indoor arena (which is pretty huge). The stalls are 12 x 12 with attached 12 x 12 runs. They are in the process of building tack lockers in the runs so owner have direct access to their stuff.

They are in the process of doing a lot of things, which I find mildly unsettling. It is a newer facility--they've been there only two years after moving from a different location, and admittedly, building that entire indoor from the ground up is pretty impressive, but I'm leery of things that are always being worked on because that's where I'm at now. Maybe these people build a lot faster than what I'm used to (they could hardly be slower), but I don't know them well enough to say.

They don't really have jumps. I can bring my own, but the one set of standard they do have is pretty busted up because the barrel racers just throw the standards over the outdoor arena fence apparently. Throw. Like tossing. --> This is not my impressed face. <-- Feeding twice a day, cleaning once a day... not a busy place despite the 40 stalls. There are more people coming in since the barn is only half full, so I don't know how current conditions compare to what is coming.

Turnout is available. They charge $1.50 to turn out. It's in the outdoor arena or a dry lot about the size of a small dressage arena. They try to leave the horses out for as long as possible, but riders have precedence, so theoretically, I could be paying for turnout and Izzy would only be getting like 10 minutes a day. I'm not sure that's better than what I have now. It's basically the same setup, only I have to turn her out and I don't have to pay extra.

I'm not sure what to think. The indoor is nice and tempting for the fast-approaching winter, but I'm not thrilled with their current set up and I don't want to sign a boarding contract for proposed future changes. You know? I'll keep it in mind, but it's not the top of the list. (Board in a stall with a contract is $200/month. If I have Izzy turned out 4x a week, I'm looking at about $224. Very reasonable.)

Boarding facility #4

This is a much smaller place. It's also a more expensive place. They have covered pens, pens with three sided run-ins, and a 4 stall barn with runs. I believe the board rates run $225, $250, and $300, respectively. Frankly, the basic package at this place was all I'd want. I have little use for a stall. (Although they are kind of cool. Don't know why.)

The owner was very upfront and honest. She said she might have one opening starting in October (which makes me more comfortable than a half-empty barn. Obviously, clients stay here.) She showed me her hay, which she feeds twice a day in summer and three times in winter. It's fabulous. Feeding and once daily stall cleaning is included in the board. The horses all looked happy, well-fed, and friendly (and they're mostly Arabians!! I have a leftover girlhood permacrush on Arabians.)

There is a nice, large outdoor arena complete with a set up of well maintained jumps. Apparently, the onsite trainer sets a jump course once a week to use, but it looks like they're taken down after that (since I don't think the arabs jump a lot.) I know the trainer, and would enjoy taking some lessons from her. There is not trail access from the facility, but they are close to several trail heads and the boarders do get together and go fairly frequently.

As for turnout, THEY HAVE IT!! Just like I want, even. Most places around here offer "pasture board" which involves turning a bunch of horses out in a hopefully-large-enough field and hoping nothing goes too seriously wrong. I don't like that method. This place has individual runs and covers for each horse, then a big (irrigated) pasture that everyone gets turned out in (in groups that get along). I like it.

Cross your fingers for me on this one. It's promising.

Any thoughts?

Get Ready...

I'm stuck at work this morning, which I guess is ok. It's crappy cold and yuck outside and if I'm going to start actually paying board, then I'm going to need to actually earn money. Crazy world, huh?

I just got off the phone with the owner of potential boarding facility #3. (Note: Our current location is referred to as facility #1, so you're not missing anything. I just numbered funny.) She sounds pretty nice and I'm going out to visit tomorrow.

In the mean time, I'm going to go ahead and make the list that Marissa recommended about my requirements for a facility. That will allow me to more objectively evaluate what I'm looking at. I'm also following Frizzle's suggestion to go to our (only) tack store and look for recommendations there.

Ultimately, I'm trying to be careful. I want the best possible care for Miss Izzy, but I don't want to burn any bridges getting there. I haven't told Cathy that I'm looking at other facilities because I don't want her to feel like she's competing. I also don't want her to think that if she just did X, I'd stay... (actually, that's probably true. X=turnout in this equation.) Basically, I want to make the best possible decision for Izzy without burning any bridges behind me. If I leave where I'm at now, I want to come back and visit and have there be no (or minimal) awkwardness.

I like the people, I just know that my girl needs more than what she's getting and I'm tired of having to compromise on that. I somewhat wish that my friend who kept her for a while would have been willing to continue the arrangement, but at the same time, I think it's time for me to take responsibility for Izzy and not just feel like I'm mooching off people. I want to pay X bill and know that my horse is going to be taken care of to a certain standard. I don't want to just work and work and work and then maybe occasionally get a lesson. That aggravates me.

It's funny to go to new places, though. I ask lots of questions and try to learn as much as I can while I'm there, but I don't want to bring up old grievances. Sounds like dating almost. ;-)

PS Just contacted yet another facility. Wish me luck!!

Barn #2

Yesterday in the AM, I went to check out a place we'll call Barn #2. Initial impression: I liked it. Here are some basic thoughts about it. I'm partially writing this to help process it myself, since I plan on looking at more, but also because I'm looking for feedback. I've never looked at barns before. :-/

So. It's a western-type Quarter horse facility. They do have a small barn and they do have a tack room, however, the tack room is right by the barn door which is usually open. (Not worried about theft--just stuff getting super dirty. There is a gorgeous arena with professional footing that is barely used since most of the boarders just trail ride.

Speaking of trail riding, the property is right next to BLM land, which means I can trail ride without trailering to it. The whole place is built on hills, so conditioning would be no problem at all. There are no jumps, but if I brought my own, they'd be quite happy to let me set them and store them there. There is free trailer parking available for when I get a trailer... someday.

Horse details: pasture board is available for $180/month. Horses live out in herds in hilly dry lots that aren't super big. Owner tells me that they just got their water permit within the last week and they are putting sprinkler systems in for next year. That statement was backed up by all the trenches dug in the dry lots. That means we're looking at watered pasture for next year. It's a newer facility and the owner is actively working on improving it. There are covered pens and uncovered pens available. Well, technically they have some and if you want one, she's willing to put one in for you. That's $200 a month. There are not shelters in the pastures, but the owner is willing to turn out horses kept in pens in the arena several times a week for a couple hours at no extra charge.

Horses are fed hay twice a day and are brought in individually to be fed any supplements you provide. No extra charge for that. Owner is willing to put on fly masks, blankets, etc once a day, but if your horse keeps getting it off, she's not going to put it on 15 times a day. Pens are cleaned twice daily, as was attested by their clean, dry state. All the horses looked clean, healthy, and well-kept.

There is no extra charge to bring in outside trainers and no charge to catch/hold for the farrier. It's a pretty laid-back facility.

Breaking it down:
Pro:
-Pasture board
-Attentive owner
-Inexpensive
-Constant improvements
-Not much arena use competition
-Trail access
-Lots of freedom to do what I want
-Lots of trail riders to ride with
-Easy access to doing hill work

Con:
-40 minute drive
-No grass (yet)
-All western--lessons not available on site
-Pastures kind of small
-No english people to ride with
-I don't have trailer, so transportation may be difficult

I liked this facility. If I was a trail rider, I'd be there in a heartbeat. I liked the level of care and attention provided to the horses and the owner seemed quite straightforward, which I appreciate. (I'd die at one of those inbred show barns that are just full of drama...) I'll definitely keep it in mind, but I want to see what my other options are before I commit.

PS Izzy was fabulous today. We did a ton of work in 2 point so I could work on my lower leg position. Pretty sure my thighs will MURDER me tomorrow.

Weekend Roundup

Izzy and I did some fun exercises this weekend. We set a line of four trot poles with opposite ends raised about 6" on blocks for trot-through cavaletti. Next we had a series of poles set like this:

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Basically. Four poles, in that shape, inside ends 20' apart.

Finally, I set a little grid. There was a trot pole going in to three crossrails set one canter stride apart with a placing rail between each one.

The results: Izzy needs work on cavaletti. She sees all the rails and her little eyes kind of bug out, and she tries to just leap the whole thing. Seriously. I slowed it down and walked her through it, which was ok, but then she took a bunch of the rails down. Sigh. Pony mare... I didn't push the issue, but we'll continue working on this.

The "star formation" of poles was great. Hard, but great. It really forces us to balance, prepare, and focus as we walk or trot through. We can do it, but I want to work on refining the exercise so that we hit the exact center of the poles each time.

And the grid? Fabulous. Izzy has it figured out and I think she enjoys it just as much as I do. Maybe later this week we'll use it to jump more than crossrails.

On to other things... I had a talk with my husband, in which he told me that he'd rather pay board himself than have me keep working at the barn. (Yikes. He is NOT a horsey guy.) Basically, it's time consuming and takes away from other things he'd rather I be doing, so it's worth the money to him. I have no intention of asking him to pay for anything, but I want to head in that direction. I'm semi employed, at least for now, and it'll be tight, but I can do it.

I'm not sure what that means for me. I'm going out to check out a boarding facility with turnout this morning, but it's a primarily western place. That's fine, except the availability of jumps and lessons where I'm at now is huge for a person without a trailer. I'll check around, I guess. I'd like to be where I'm at now without working and with turnout, which is theoretically on the horizon, but with the pace that things are moving, we could be talking about years. Seriously.

Hopefully I'll have better options to talk about tomorrow.

Odds and Ends

My grandmother, who has been on hospice care for the past several months, passed away yesterday morning. It was peaceful and at home, so things couldn't have been better for her. (Lest I sound callous, I blogged about it here.)

I have a lot to think about now--the time I was spending with grandma is now open, I guess. That leaves room for something, but I don't know what. I don't really feel like thinking about it right now.

A friend was out riding with Izzy and I today (and Izzy was being a doll), so to cool out, we took the horses out of the arena and just wandered around. It wasn't a trail ride, but maybe a "trail ride". They were both great, and it was really what I needed. Things will work out somehow. We'll figure it out.

Working Out Issues

I had a brilliant ride this morning. Picture me saying that with a British accent and we'll be on the same page.

Since Izzy's back at the old barn with no turnout, I lunged her for a long time. She needs it. She's a horse that really and truly needs turnout. With it, she's as calm and mellow as she could possibly be. Without, she's a nutjob. I try to compromise; I turn her out in the arena when possible (but that's only about 20-30 minutes at a time) and I lunge before every ride. My lunging is not structured; it's just for her to blow off steam.

So anyways. After lunging, I hopped on and off we went. Izzy was really quite good. We worked on maintaining a steady contact and me riding her up to it from her hind end. (Yay! She's doing really well.) She seems to be figuring out that I'm serious about it, so she's been a lot better about it.

Next we worked on a jumping exercise. It looked like this:

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Yep. A single trot pole. We trotted over it both directions until we could both do it calmly and in balance without rushing off afterward. Then we cantered over it both directions. My goal was to begin to train myself to see a distance. (And since it's a pole, no one cares if I screw up.) It was a whole new experience for me, but I got Izzy to canter to it and put her front legs on one side with her hind on the other. It took a bit for me to start saying "Ok, push for this one" or "I need to hold for that" and I have a LONG way to go, but I definitely felt like it was a start.

We finished by trotting a small course of trot poles. It was a pretty illogical course, but I was more worried about rhythm, softness, and direction and less worried about the flow of the course. Izzy did quite nicely through it all.

In other news... School has started here, which means that Cathy lost two of her morning cleaners. It affects me in that she wants me to pick up the extra hours. I don't want to, but I understand she is in a genuinely tight spot. HOWEVER, the life skill I am working on right now is making good decisions to reduce stress levels in my life. It is NOT a good decision to take on more hours when I'm already irritated about working too much to board at a place with no turnout, no shelters, and no indoor. So. I thought about it. And I said this, "Well, if you're willing to ride Izzy (full training) for a month, I'll take the hours for a month. We can figure something out after that." **

I know you're all proud of me for standing up and saying what I thought, but it gets better. Cathy sort of hemmed and hawed about time and then said something like, "Well, I guess if I'm cleaning, then I'm also not riding." Notice how I did not just back down and say, "Oh. I'm so sorry that would be an inconvenience. Nevermind."

That is what insecure teenage me would have said. Starting to grow up me is thinking that it makes more financial and equine sense to move Izzy somewhere she'd be happier and just have me pick up a few more hours at a non-horsey job to pay for it. And honestly, as much as I like and respect Cathy as a trainer and a person, I'm not willing to continue this arrangement forever. Izzy needs turnout. I need a trainer who can give me lessons reliably and will say no to other people instead of just saying yes to everyone and me getting pushed aside. Insecure me would say, "Well, they're paying and I'm just a working student." Growing up me says, "I'm providing you with a valuable service and I am worth your time."

We'll see where this goes. I'm intrigued by the idea of actually just paying board every month and letting someone else muck stalls. Of course I'll still be hands-on with Izzy's care, but I'm kind of over this whole thing I'm doing now.

**If I take on the extra hours, I will be responsible for the morning cleaning (and usually feeding) of 22 horses 5x a week. That's at least 20 hours a week and it more than pays for full training every month, I'm pretty sure. Oh, and I make more at my other jobs than I do there...

Cold Front

It was 50f and windy this morning. It's also my birthday, and yes, I was cleaning. Between the cold and me being tired, I was not the most chipper person ever. Also, the person who was supposed to help didn't show up. And I wanted to jump, but I only had my dressage stuff.

So, that's a lot of excuses for me just turning Cassie and Izzy out in the arena and letting them play. They had a good old time while I worked, then I put them away and went home. Now I'm at work... I brought my needy lil' beagle with me, and he's being predictably needy.
Here's a picture of the beagle making friends with one of my husband's rabbits at home. So cute!

Dressage Lesson

After riding in the clinic over the weekend, I realized that I was getting a lot of similar comments to what I've already received. Since I'm a fairly sharp person, I figured that even if I don't fix a problem the first time, maybe by the 10th or 11th time I'm told it, I ought to figure it out, right? ;-)

So. As much work as we need jumping, yesterday I dragged out the dressage saddle to take advantage of Cathy's area of expertise. Specifically, I need to 1) ride Izzy's hind legs up to the contact 2) provide contact to ride her up to and 3) forget about messing with her face. This can be done equally well in any saddle, but the dressage is good for us.

Off we went. Izzy was absolutely lovely--she even let me ride her forward. She was accepting the contact pretty well and I just had to focus really, really hard on engaging her hind end. When I got her stepping up behind, everything else magically went right. (Shocking, I know. I seem to have to re-learn this every couple months.)

About 2/3s of the way through my lesson, I realized that I needed to get off and take care of some, er, pressing female issues, shall we say. Thankfully, Cathy was willing to hop on and take Izzy for a spin. It warmed my lil' heart to see Izzy give Cathy the exact same act she was giving me as far as leaving her butt behind and lifting her nose to try and get her to fix that instead of ask her to work harder.

They worked through that and left me with several valuable lessons. (And oh how I wished I had my camera handy--Izzy looked great at the end of it.)

Lessons learned (hopefully)
1) I'm not riding the horse's face, so I need to leave the face alone and engage the hind end. If I engage the hind end, then Izzy is able to push forward off her haunches, round through her body, and stretch down into the contact. It feels great when done right. Someday, we'll do it right.

2) Contact buggers me more than it does her. My old mare never wanted more than an ounce of contact in each rein, and I've transferred that to Izzy. Thus, while Izzy isn't particularly bothered by a strong contact, I need to convince myself that it's ok to have some.

3) As I rider, I'm soft and quiet and tend to be somewhat ineffective. :-/ Sad, but true. I need to be willing to compromise my "pretty" position in order to use my aids more effectively. For example, in the canter, I just left my seat flow along with Izzy, which means we run downhill and almost trot uphill. When I watched Cathy ride and use her seat more definitely, I realized that Izzy is capable of a lot more than I'm asking her for. I need to use my seat in such a way as to say, "This is where I want you," and then keep her there. Once she figures it out, Izzy is pretty compliant.

Hm. Sounds like a bunch of stuff I should already know. I'll finish out the week doing dressage I guess... then I need to put together a better schedule for Izzy and I. We need to jump (well, do cavaletti mostly), work on dressage, and I want to get her out of the arena more often. It's good for us to do hard things.