Eight Years Apparently.

The other day, Teresa and Leah pointed out that my blog archives are kind of... extensive... and I looked to see just how far back they went.

Eight. Eight years since I got my first horse as a newly-married college kid and started blogging for the stated reason of not driving my husband nuts. I was hoping to find some like-minded souls to connect with so I'd have someone to talk to about all things horse.

Since then, I've been through three horses:

Izzy 2009-2012

Cuna 2012-2014

Courage 2013-present

EIGHT (count 'em) barns:

1) first trainer, old barn

2) first trainer, new barn

3) first time on our own

4) second trainer, first barn

4) second trainer, first barn, second horse

5) second trainer second horse, second barn

6) sans trainer, second horse, third barn

7) second horse, final barn

6) third horse, repeat barn #6 (omg baby C!!)

8) third horse, repeat first trainer, brand new barn

I can't count the bridles that have passed through my care or the number of amazing people I've met along the way, both in real life and through the blog. There are lots of things I love about blogging and certain things that drive me crazy. I started the blog to meet new people, and that's definitely happened. Also awesome has been the opportunity to mark our progress through the years. I'm definitely not the same person who started this whole things eight years ago, but I like who I am a lot more now.

sass

Here's to friends and fun and new adventures and dear god let's stop moving barns omg.

Like Father, Like Son: The Story of a Courage

Emma got everyone talking about Thoroughbred pedigrees again, which is super cool. I really, really wish I was the pedigree queen who cared about breeding and shit, but I'm not and I don't. I do, however, have friends that are SUPER into it. So I coast on that.

My one friend who ought to blog and doesn't made me this. It's Courage's pedigree with photos of all the relatives she could track down, which is pretty cool.

His sire is Lord Carson.

def didn't get chrome from daddy

Courage was born 2005, so bred 2004. Per this article, Lord Carson's stud fee was 10k in 2002, 5k in 2003. Lord Carson won 12/27 races and made over 600k, so a decent stallion but not what you'd call "royally bred" or anything, other than his slightly pretentious name.

Oh and this. This TOTALLY sounds like Courage: "Grade 2 winner LORD CARSON (Carson City) died on March 16 due to head injuries he suffered while in the breeding shed. " Dramatic freak breeding accident? Yup. I can see that. Courage isn't even a stallion and he'd like to have one of those. Furthermore, depending on who you ask, that was either a totally random whoopsie or HIGHLY correlated with his rapidly plunging value in the breeding shed with an insurance renewal coming up. 

So that's kind of interesting. Definitely theatrical.

fabio-approved

Courage is a pretty unique guy--I was initially attracted to his confidence and calm and when further poking around Lord Carson lore (who knew?!), I found these quotes about the plain bay stallion:

"The first time I got to ride him was in November of his three year old year and he was already built like a six year old."

That checks out. C has always been BEEFY. Like "his race trainer put him on a diet" style beefy. He's built and he's not ashamed of it.

"And he had the body awareness of a mature horse too. And confidence. He was a bay horse and he had a swagger. He walked slowly, purposely, with the confidence of a lion and a kind demeanor."

Dying laughing here. Check, check, and check. Courage believes in Courage and Courage does what Courage wants. He always takes care of himself, isn't racy or quick, and goddamn he's an incredibly confident horse. He's scared of nothing.

"Lord Carson showed speed and used it tactically as a weapon. He didn’t need to go as fast as he could and he clearly wasn’t running scared. Other horses didn’t intimidate him and he used his speed wisely and with intimidation. He was just so damn cool."

Yeaaaaaah pretty much. He's totally unbothered by other horses and actually tends to do things just to get under their skin.

And then this: "It was in this moment that I saw another side to my kind, confident, friend He was pissed!" and "As soon as I lowered my body a few inches Lord Carson accelerated and his stride lengthened so far and so powerfully that his body literally lowered four or five inches."

Emotional and overly sensitive? Hm who does that sound like?

not courage!!

It's all from this article, which is super entertaining if you're obsessed with Courage and his quirks.

Other horses in his past are either so far back I just can't get excited or are super hard to research on account of being named after American State Capitols (I'm looking at you, Carson City). Or you know. Never did anything interesting or were super important to anyone (cough Lori Gail wtf woman).

Courage is a genetic dead end due to the whole "gelding" thing, but it makes me laugh to know he comes by it all honestly.

racehorse courage!!

Operation Figure It Out

when your legwear game is unimpeachable

You're going to have to pardon the dressage nerd-ery so late in the week, but it's going to happen somewhere. That place is here.

In our last lesson, my trainer commented that Courage has gotten very good at stretching his neck down now. Our current problem is that he does it in lieu of engaging his hind end sometimes.

neck down is good progress

I'm not the queen of doing things right, but I generally do know how to engage the hind end of a horse, so we've done a couple of rides (at the walk) to get Courage really thinking about moving dat ass.

also gorgeous

See the trick with him (because complicated, sensitive and OTTB) is pushing MORE FORWARD will always only ever backfire when he's learning something new. Instead, I break it down, ride under the rhythm, and show him step by step what I want so he thoroughly understands the concept.

Thus, we've been walking. Slowly. In order to engage his hind end, I need to be able to control where he places his hindquarters so I can straighten them and move them where I want them, which I'll also need for renvers/travers and literally everything else we do from here on out (I LOVE HOW THIS ALL WORKS TOGETHER).

not sure if he loves how it all works together

 It's fascinating (not sarcasm. I am so much of a dork that I really enjoy this).

What's been really working for Courage is to ask for shoulder-in up the quarter line, and when I get 2-4 good steps, then immediately go forward into a free walk across the diagonal. The shoulder-in gets him stepping under, the freewalk confirms his stretch down and straightness so the exercise doesn't make him crooked and tense and the quarterline keeps me honest about where all the parts are going.

When that seems to be going well, we add in some walk/halt/walk transitions, which is another fantastic engaging exercise.

way better than he is with the ladies

I'll be honest: Courage is getting REALLY GOOD at this stuff.

So naturally, after a few good walk rides, I was like OK GR8 HORZ LETSSSS TROT.

That was not great--we sorta sped around on the forehand. I used my core (omg!) to slow his rhythm and for like 7 strides, it was seriously the BEST TROT EVAR. Strides long. Float on. Slow and perfect and power from behind and OMG YOU GUYS THIS HORSE IS THE BEST IN THE WORLD.

all the shit. all of it.

And then he lost. his. shit.

Yes after 7 strides. He was ostensibly spooking at birds, despite not being spooky in general or caring about birds in particular. I know enough about him to know that getting after him makes things worse, so I dropped the reins and walked up to look at birds.

He stood on the buckle, licking and chewing for a long time.

Sigh. Not scared. Try again.

silly hooman trying again

This time, even the walk was crappy and he was threatening to blow. Greaaaat. I got the walk to be less crappy, got off, pulled his tack off, and expected to see him explode.

Nope. Just hung out and took selfies.

INSPEKTOR HORZ LOOKN 4 BRAINZ

I finally figured it out while I put all my stuff away.

Courage is smart and he figured out what I want. He's a pretty good boy, so he even offered it in the trot.

BUT.

It's also very hard, mentally and physically, and he's not ready to do more than a few steps right now. I need to reward him for offering and only ask for what he can give.

If he can go from this:

to this:

It's worth taking a few weeks or months longer to help him learn the next steps.

We'll get there.

Teach Me Tuesday: Under the Helmet

Kinda like this

As a kid, I don't think I ever did anything particular with my hair and a helmet. I wore a mushroom-head shiny Troxel that I fell off in a bunch and didn't know to replace and for shows, it got a fake velvet cover and I used one of those black hairnet/ponytail clip things.

George Morris would have been appalled, but all I know about him was the column in practical horseman and for some reason, I focused on learning what a "safe jumper" and a "base of support" looked like instead of turnout details. Sue me. 

Then I rode with a much stricter trainer as an adult and learned that we had to buy more expensive helmets (meh), replace them when we fell off (this is good. do this.), and always put our hair up under our helmets. It's a very polished look and I do appreciate it.

otoh this sparkle CO is amazing

But now I'm doing dressage and "the look" if you will, seems to be bouncing pony tail to school and bedazzled black hair net thing to show. 

Which sort of feels full circle to me? 

Regardless. I'm now on the fence about the hair-under-helmet thing because while it's fine if you have short or thin hair, thick-haired people are most definitely compromising their protection and since it's really not fair to them to be the only ones with their hair out, it seems to me that we should choose our safety equipment based on what is actually safest and not what makes Georgie or the O'Connor's or whomever most aesthetically happy. 

Because I'm most happy when I'm not sporting the latest TBI. 

So. What do you do under your helmet? Short hair? Buzz it off? Put it up? Hairnet every time? 

25 Questions, Now With My Answers

Cathryn at That Red Mare started a fun blog hop to let us get to know our favorite bloggers a little better. I've loved reading everyone else's answers, so I'm having a whirl.

1. Mares or Geldings? Why?
100% geldings. I did mares. Never. Again.

she was a pretty thing

I agree that a good mare can be a good horse, but do you know what is so much easier to get than a good mare? A GOOD GELDING.

2. Green-broke or Fully Broke?
Oh, fully broke ALL.THE.WAY. I'm poor and will start with greenies for the rest of my life, but I am oh so happy when they start acting broke.

3. Would you own a "hotter" breed (ie. Arabian, Trakhener, etc).
I have a rule against Arabians. I can't afford Trakheners. My favorite Arabian quote came from an old school vet. An Arabian owner asked if a procedure could cause brain damage to his horse. Vet responded "Could you even tell?"

Ahem. I do have friends who have Arabs and they seem to love them. That is great. For them.

4. What was your "dream horse" growing up?
Oh, totally an Arabian.

this arabian

5. What kind of bit(s) do you use and why?
It depends on the day. I collect bits constantly and love rotating them and playing with them. Right now, Courage goes in a sprenger kk ultra eggbutt, a knock off of that bit, and an ancient old single jointed d that's thicker than my thumb. Fun fact: he likes the last one best.

6. Helmets or no helmets?
Helmet. Every time, every ride.

except on very rare, very special, very supervised occasions

7. Favorite horse color?
Oh my. I love a good chestnut. The right shade of bay. I'm very pro buckskin. A dark, dappled palomino. A dapple grey as long as someone else keeps it clean. Anything with chrome.

8. Least favorite horse color?
I don't like blue eyes or cremello/dilutes. I don't like my horses to have chrome on their bodies, but heads is ok.

9. Dressage or Jumping?
Depends on the ears you're looking through. If in doubt, dressage.

no doubt

10. How many years have you been riding?
I rode in lessons from 9-17, then break for college. Now riding again and well past college, but not doing that math for you.

11. Spurs/whip or no spurs/whip?
I like spurs OR a whip, personal preference for spurs. Imo, if the critter needs both, I don't want to be riding it. Or doing that sport. Especially with that horse.

12. Your first fall?
I honestly don't even remember. I started riding on a 25+ year old morgan gelding who jumped 5' in a previous life and then gave lessons. He had a wicked dirty stop and it caught me off guard lots of times.

also came off this creature a lot, but i loved her

13. When was the last time you rode and what did you do?
Yesterday. We toodled. It's a very important part of our training plan. TOODLING. Look it up.

14. Most expensive piece of tack you own?
ummmmm. Dressage saddle, if you count the upgrades? It still clocks in at barely over 1k. I day dream about French saddles, but they aren't happening for a long, long time.

mmmm sparkles

15. How old were you when you started riding?
The ripe old age of 9.

16. Leather or Nylon halters?
Leather for me, the happy absent boarder. Nylon for day to day/barn help use.

17. Leather or Synthetic saddles?
My first saddle was a wintec that I saved up for and bought when I was a kid. I loved it very much. I finally sold it because I loved leather more than sentiment and I haven't looked back.

18. What "grip" of reins do you like?
I'm really not a rein snob. I have average size hands and can let my open fingers slip any material or thickness. My preference at the moment is for rubber-lined leather reins and I really want to get some with stops, but I also don't want to shell out for new reins. I also love nunn finer soft grip reins, all my PS reins, and the occasional laced rein.

19. English or Western?
English to work, western to toodle. Mostly because I have zero affinity for western saddles and don't really understand how to get in them, stay in them, or get out of them.

plus fun to have a different look

20. How many horses do you currently own/lease?
Own 1. That is the best number for me. My obsessive energy gets confused when it goes in more than one direction.

21. Do you board your horse? Self-care/full board? Home board?
Board with mostly-full-care. Sometimes work off some of board. I've done self care (not a fan). I used to think I wanted my own place, but I really love all the amenities of boarding without having to take care of them, so who knows. I think my best boarding experience was working off board at a private farm with no crazy people. That was amazing.

22. Have you ever had to put down a horse that you loved?

23. How many saddlepads do you have?
NOT A FAIR QUESTION PRECIOUS.

24. Slant-load trailer or straight haul?
I don't have a trailer. Courage loads well in most slants. Haven't tried him in a straight load because none of my hauling friends have one.

25. Why do you ride?
Riding gives me direction, channels my passion, teaches me life lessons, and gives me something to connect to. When everything else is out of control, riding centers me. 

Gotta do something with all that crazy to keep normal people from seeing it.

Audacity of Hope (or something like it)

look at skinny race Courage!

Alternately titled "with friends like these...". But I digress.

Most of you know that I met Courage when he was still racing. When I met him, he was the been-there-done-that horse that anyone could handle. On the ground. He was definitely NOT his exercise rider's favorite horse and he certainly wasn't one they put new riders up on.

I knew that. 

Sometime after C came home with me, I started hearing more about why exactly the exercise rider wasn't a fan.

this horse be stubborn?!

Basically, before my friend the trainer got a hold of Courage, he had a nasty reputation. So nasty that his previous trainers never galloped him because the moment they'd turn him around to run on the track, he'd bolt until he was good and done.

My friend the trainer got C about a year before I started going to the track. And he wasn't going to pander to C. And I've heard stories about sky leaping and rearing and hopping down the track on his back legs because he was so mad that he wasn't getting to bolt.

loving the evening light

So when I met him, I knew he pulled like a train and wasn't a ladies' ride, but he was well beyond all that nonsense. He did his job and he was fine.

Once he figured out it wasn't going to get him anywhere, he gave it up. (Of course, his exercise rider was ECSTATIC to see him go. I can't really blame the guy.)

So at the end of the day, that's the horse I knew and that's the horse I know I can get back. Courage can and will give it up. And then he'll be fine.

hard things make sexy bodies tho

I mean, let's face it: Courage was perfectly fine for quite a while with me, but then we started stepping up the workload. And he's just not quite convinced that retirement from racing ought to involve hard things.

Unfortunately for him, he's too much horse to be happy tooling around giving old ladies trail rides, so he's got to learn to love his job.

He's a jackass, but I love him.

I've debated sending him off to different trainers, and I still haven't ruled that out (shhhhh no one tell the bank account. it would FREAK OUT). Honestly, the root of this problem is Courage testing me. He has his tantrums and he sees what he can get away with.

And to this point, he hasn't thrown anything at me that I can't handle or that is dangerous.

Even the other night, when he had his complete meltdown on the lunge line--when he started escalating, he got in BIG TROUBLE. And he only had to do that a couple of times before he realized it was a Really Bad Idea.

And quit.

It's definitely not a perfect situation, but I believe in the little guy. 

Spring Show Schedule

he is super pumped

Plenty of exciting things happening that need to be typed up and shared, but I've been procrastinating on this long enough that I thought I might as well out it out there. Let's face it: some of you are showing in rated/recognized competitions already, and I haven't even plunked out a basic show schedule yet.

About that.

Every couple weeks, I get all ambitious and sit down with calendars from multiple show organizations and determine how much dressage and jumping I want to do and where I want to go and all that...

And then I realize that I really don't want to. The whole idea makes me anxious.

helps I ride better now

You have to understand--I was TERRIBLE at shows as a kid. I mean, I had "fun" I guess, but I was never actually successful. I remember being at yet another horrible jumper show and staring at the ribbons I'd never win and just wishing I could suck well enough to have a bottom placing.

And failing.

And as an adult, well... I had a lot of success with Cuna. I've had some really traumatic experiences with green horses at shows, and here I am with a green horse to show.

I know the only way to make him not green is to show him, but I just can't get excited about it. If I look at schedules too long, I just shut down. It sounds miserable and humiliating and awful to me.

can we do this at a show?

But I do believe in showing. If nothing else, it forces us to evaluate our progress in terms of an absolute standard, and I think that is a very important thing.

So here's my show schedule for Courage and I this year:

April 29-dressage schooling show at local barn. No prizes. No ribbons. No placings. Choose your own test. Get a score.

And if that's fun, we'll find something else to do. If not, eh, I'll make a new plan.