The Three Year Hex

I have this weird feeling that I just can't quite shake right now. As an adult, I have never owned a horse more than three years. Period. I'm on my third (fourth?) horse. I've intended to keep each one forever. It doesn't work out.

Nikki (got as a baby, traded away for Izzy), owned ~6 months

Izzy (bad news bears for me), owned 3 years on the nose

Cuna (worse news bears for soundness), owned two years

And Courage and I have a three year anniversary in July.

I'm committed to this relationship, so I won't sell/trade him away because he's unsuitable like I did horses #1 and #2. I can only hope we don't face crippling and catastrophic lameness like #3.

But each case has been a little different and I'm just twitchy enough (and apparently superstitious enough) that I feel paralyzed. Or at least inhibited. I don't want to pay for lifetime numbers for him. I hardly want to think about plans and goals beyond this spring. I know I'm being weird, but it's a real thing for me.

At least until after July 27th of this year. That's our three year anniversary. That's when we start into untested territory for horse ownership and my adult self.

Crazy? Maybe.

Here's to many more with this guy! (And can it not be winter anymore? That would be ok.)

Project Selfie

I'll be the first to loudly proclaim admit that I'm anti-selfie. My general opinion of them is that they're taken by people who have no friends to take pictures for them.

But.

One of my favorite pictures of all time is this shot from last year:

 And you know what? What I love the most about this shot is that we're ALL in it--no one standing back to take the picture.

So we're doing something new this year: barn selfies. I'll keep a collection of all the wonderful people that make the barn special complete with Courage's silly face. Here's what I've got this year (and one from Christmas Eve, but it counts!!)

just us

old friends in new places

plus redheadlins and horselessinhalifax

 So far, I really love this. :-)

Tack Ho Confessional: Dressage Bridles

I got a question the other day about exactly what bit/bridle set up Courage was going in.

the sparkliest one, obv

Ha! The answer is he's not going at all.

Fact.

Well ok. He had a couple weeks off around the holidays due to travel/work/life (apparently I have to human sometimes? wtf). He's starting back into work now, which is as good a time as any to talk about the biggest time suck of horse ownership: choosing a bridle. Seriously. This takes too long every single day. It's like... do I ride? Hand walk? OH GOD TOUCH THE LEATHER MUST RIDE WHAT ARE WE WORKING ON

ALL SO BEAUTIFUL

This is my primary bridle selection right now. I don't use the franken jump bridle (left, brown and blue and sparkles) much because we aren't jumping and the bit is the least desirable--it's a knock off of the center bit, which is sometimes our favorite bit and sometimes not. It doesn't matter when we jump because I rarely touch the reins, but I don't love it for dressage.

I do love it for looking at and yes sometimes I take it home to clean just because I want to touch it for a while. (We aren't jumping this winter for a variety of complicated reasons. We're hoping to get back to it in the spring.)

That leaves the other two black bridles. Who can believe I own two black bridles? Right? 

so beautiful

This (center in top pic) is my Red Barn Capriole bridle with a Topline Leather browband and Courage's fancy Sprenger bit. There is a flash attachment loop, but we don't school in the flash with this set up. It's supposed to be our show bridle. I really like how Courage feels in the Sprenger most of the time. The reins are my SUPER AMAZING D'yon rubber lined with hand stops eBay find that I adore.

The crank is usually pretty loose and the bit is fat compared to most bits. It was our go-to for a long time. If we could only have one bridle, this would probably be my choice.

But.

Then there's Antares. And I love him.

such class

Antares has a couple features that the Red Barn doesn't. First, the cavesson is not a crank. Second, I keep the flash on here. Third, this is my stupid cheap $10 single jointed snaffle that is the thickest bit ever. Also you'll notice that the reins have martingale stops, which is important when starting an OTTB back into work after a break.

I really love this set up for encouraging Courage to take a solid contact. He's pretty light in the bridle to start with, so the big, thick bit lets him lean a little bit. That would be a terrible idea for a heavier horse, but I like it on him. I also like the bridle for lunging and keeping the bit quiet and for rides where I think he's going to be silly--it's very forgiving and very stable.

we also lunge in a halter now

You'll notice that Courage doesn't go in a loose ring, ever. I know those are supposed to be correct dressage bits, but I actually don't enjoy scraping his brain off the rafters with a spatula. For whatever reason, he CANNOT deal with loose rings.

Whatever.

You'll also notice that both bridle have flash attachments, but I'm only using one flash. There are a couple reasons for that.
1) A flash in dressage is like a standing martingale in hunters. It's just part of the look, though technically not required. I like the look.

2) Courage goes well in a flash about once every two weeks. I'm really playing with this right now since it's not show season--Courage used to just gape his mouth open and brace. Then he'd open-mouthed chew on the bit. Now he's learning how to interact in a more educated way. I throw it on for lunging (which we've done a lot of lately) and I've been riding in it some. I'm certainly not above pulling it off if I think it's causing him tension, but we're just seeing what happens right now. I adjust it pretty loosely, but between bit stability and limiting odd-racetrack-mouth evasions, I like to keep it in the mix.

i mean i love sharing the indoor

So there you have it. Depending on whether I want to work on getting Courage more solid in the contact or relaxed and responsive, I choose a bit+bridle+noseband and roll. I'm really happy with the collection right now and I look forward to longer days and riding outside.

Teach Me Tuesday: Words You Forget to Ride

dogs "should" chase cats

This is a different question. I know when I ride on my own, I try to focus on doing a few things well each ride, whether that's getting my stupid hip angle open, lifting my hands, or what-have-you. Certainly when I ride in lessons, there's always that one phrase that the instructor WON'T STOP SAYING until you actually do the blasted thing.

But let's not talk about that. Let's talk about the one thing you have to leave behind you when you get on.

horse should move freely

For me, it's the word "should". Should gets me nowhere. Should creates pressure. Should causes disappointment.

I can try anything I want, but I have to leave should behind.

What about you? What do you forget so you can ride?

Barn Improvements

 You know when you're like halfway through a REALLY good ride and your horse ALL OF A SUDDEN notices the giant new mirror on the wall (like, in a bad way).

 So you hop off and let him sniff it because you don't have a death wish.

 But you see this look in his eye and you're riding alone, so you just strip his tack off and watch him completely lose ALL THE MARBLES.

 And he admires himself in the now totally-not-scary mirror even while galloping by.

 Like. Hey Sexy. You're so hot.

 Has anyone seen this attractive horse in the mirror? He seems to need cookies.

 Yeah. It was never about the mirror.

Suckers.

(We'll just file this under "horses gotta horse" and "thank god Courage doesn't pull shenanigans on frozen pastures" but also under "still gotta give him indoor turnout to keep his brain in his head".)

TSB's Guide to Sharing an Indoor

We're officially in to the time of the year where outdoor riding is dicey at best in the northern hemisphere. My outdoor has been alternately boggy, frozen, and inaccessible for upwards of a month now (sob), and so we're learning about the finer points of sharing a small indoor with a large boarding barn. Here are some basic rules that make everything go more smoothly.

1) Have a schedule.

This is SO IMPORTANT. I mean, yeah, there are going to be peak times that are harder than others, but if you (or anyone else) has some flexibility in their schedules, this makes sharing about a thousand times easier. If I can see that everyone and their dog are going to be out at noon on Saturday, maybe I'll come at 8am instead.

because no one wants to ride with this

2) Have a sense of humor.

It's winter. Turnout happens sometimes, indoors can be spooky, horse do random shit at the best of times. Don't take it personally that the green rider can't steer or the paint horse is bucking or my OTTB is bouncing off of you AGAIN (cough sorry E cough). Roll with it it. As long as you keep on riding and make good decisions, your horse is at the very least getting more broke and maybe hopefully learning something useful too.

I MISS YOU OUTDOOR ARENA

3) Use some solid horse sense.

This one is a little harder to quantify, but remember that horses are prey animals and spook at things that are out of place or surprising... so maybe... don't whisper, hide, and poke your head out random places. Just talk in a normal voice, be aware of your surroundings, and act like everything is fine.

Really. PLEASE stop whispering, hiding, and popping out of random places so your don't "disturb" me. You're making it worse.

cough or "my tinsel-wrapped monster is coming in now"

4) Communicate clearly with everyone.

If you have a problem, TALK to either the party involved or your BO/BM. They can't fix a problem they don't know about, and just letting problems fester creates drama that no one needs. Sometimes we have to put up and shut up, but most things can be prevented with a little simple communication 101.

Haha, so there's my guide for surviving the indoor. Here's hoping I can stick to it and stay alive until we can escape outside... C'mon FEBRUARY!!!

El Nino and Survival Mode

As some of you might be aware, it's an El Nino year. While that has meant tropical temps and late blooming flowers on the east coast, it has translated to an enormous amount of water here.

On the one hand, we need the water. On the other hand, this is the desert and we're not good at handling it.

ON THE THIRD HAND, NOW IT'S ALL FROZEN.

Snow. Ice. Cold. Grossness.

What that has translated to on a horsey front is not overly desirable. Turnout has been limited at best--we're at a busy facility with a lot of horses on not a lot of land, so in an effort to preserve grazing, the horses just don't go out when it's wet and gross.

Look, from a land management perspective, I get it. Even from a horse management perspective--I really don't need Courage soaking his feet in the mud.

But from a brain management perspective, it's been really, really difficult. My usually brave, level headed (if opinionated) horse has turned into a legit climbing-the-walls losing-his-marbles monster.

this is a thing now

So instead of working towards our riding goals and building a solid foundation, we've been tackling survival mode. Neither of us needs to get hurt or mad. We just have to figure out how to get through this until life becomes a little more normal.

I keep reminding myself that slowing down/taking time off really never hurt anyone. I have to repeat that about 8792 times a day, especially as I watch Courage do things like this:

WHEEEEEEEEE

WHEEEEEEEEE

WHEEE wait what he can do this on his own now????

Huh. It's obviously not all bad. I can't blame to guy for needing to move around, I'm really quite a big advocate for giving stiff/sore horses time off, and ummmmmmm did anyone else notice how my horse learned to stretch down on his own?

Yeah, he did. I mean. He can stretch under saddle just fine, but it's a new thing for him to offer big stretches in his free time. So that's cool.

And there's other things too. When we're spending non-riding time together, I see stuff like this:

redecorating

Mr Personality

I'm so used to the OPINIONS I HAZ THEM side of Courage under saddle and trust me, while entertaining, it's also a PITA. Watching them on the ground just cracks me up. This horse oozes ATTITUDE and I'm loving getting to appreciate it without riding through it.

Ok, loving is a slight exaggeration. I really miss riding and I REALLY want to work towards goals and all that, but until we're ready to get back in the swing of things, this isn't all bad.

he sure does look good in tack

Teach Me Tuesday: Living the Dream

I'm really very lucky. I don't generally think of myself that way because I have a hearty helping of Murphy's law to go with it, but I remember laughing with redheadlins and Alyssa this summer as we struggle-bused our way through our first derby of the year (ok, Lindsey and I struggle-bused and Alyssa dominated). Whatever happened that day, we were living out our little horse-girl dreams:

We had beautiful thoroughbreds. Pretty show tack and clothes. Friends to ride with. Dreams to chase.

It didn't matter that I got 120 time penalties on xc (because yes, they do time ground poles. oops.). All that mattered in that moment was my thorough realization that I had achieved everything my young self always wanted.

So teach me this Tuesday--what childhood dreams have you achieved?

2016 Goals

Well here goes. Life is unpredictable and so I realize that all of these could be thrown out the window at any given time with absolutely no notice.

That said.

Goals are really important to me. I don't necessarily like them month to month, because so much of what I work on is... eh... non-linear? I don't know if I'll do something in a month, but I know that I can check to see if I'm generally trending up or down over the course of a year.

Without further preamble, here are my goals for 2016 that I think I can and want to accomplish on my less-green, still-OTTB somewhat-dressage horse who may or may not decide to play along on any given day.

1) Ride first level at a USDF recognized show.

This is a HUGE goal for us, and it's really hit or miss. There is only one local recognized show, which of course is at the beginning of the show year. I want to put a bunch of caveats on this, but it's the #1 thing driving me to work through the winter right now. Now it's out there.

I want it.

2) Get bronze-qualifying scores (60% or better) at first level at a GMO recognized show. 

I'd really, Really, REALLY like to do this at the USDF show, but it will be my first-ever USDF show and his first time ever at that big facility and GOD ONLY KNOWS what will happen there. Fingers crossed it's good.

So. Bronze scores. Want.

3) School second level moments at home in lessons/clinics. 

We want to keep moving up, obviously.

4) Jump a 2'3" - 2'6" course at home and have a good time. 

I like jumping. Courage likes jumping. Hopefully, all this dressage will make him a rideable and enjoyable horse to jump. If not, I can live with that, but let's at least give it another year.

5) Ride bareback in a halter.

Insane? Yes. But I've always wanted a horse who could do this and I want Courage to be this horse and if it's 105f in the middle of summer, maybe this isn't a terrible idea? In the round pen? Anyone?

6) Audit a BNT (dressage) clinic. 

This is two fold--I want to start developing a list of accessible(ish) (to me) BNTs to ride with and watch in case Courage and I reach a point where that would be useful and I want to get myself more exposed to high level dressage training. Different trainers have different systems and I want to start getting a feel for what might work for Courage if/when it ever comes up.

7) Attend two upper-level equestrian events. Grand Prix jumping or dressage, advanced eventing, International Hunter derby.

Again, this is to get ME out and exposed to high caliber competition. Plus it's fun. What's not to love?

8) GO ON A TRAIL RIDE

I just really want to do this.

10) Qualify to make a freestyle at first level. 

That's 60%+ on 1-3, correct? I don't know that I actually want to do a freestyle, but it's good incentive to ride all the tests.

And then...

REACH GOALS:

10) Do a 2nd level test at a schooling show at the end of the year. 

I can't get this one out of my brain. It's unlikely, but why not stick it here.

11) Ride at a jumping show intentionally and go over something more than a ground pole, intentionally.

I don't know about this one, but if Courage is rideable and fun at home, it might be worth a shot. Or maybe not. We'll find out.

Phew. I think 11 goals is enough. That's basically a goal for every month with one month off for unexpected crap that always happens. (I mean, obviously I won't just do one thing a month and most of those goals are multi-month endeavors. Just counting numbers here.)

Crazy? Achievable? The WORST IDEA EVER? I guess we'll find out. I'll make a tab to stick these in for reference all year long. I'm a little bit sick in the pit of my stomach, which I think means I'm excited.

2015 Year in Review

OH YEAH IT'S TIME!! It's officially my most favorite blogging time of the year!! Year end wrap ups. I like to do a little write up for each month and link to the posts that really refined that month for me, with a goal of creating an overall picture of what we did and how the year went.

Here goes!

JANUARY

It was cold and horrible, but we were in our second month at a dressage barn with an indoor. I was catching the bug and accidentally bought one of the only dressage saddles I've ever ridden in that actually fits me in Oops I Did it Again.

It fit me, it fit my horse. It was meant to be, right?

first time in black tack

I also worked through the emotions of having Courage as my own horse without a lot of supervision. I've struggled bonding with him because I got him at a very difficult time and he isn't an easy guy, but I was starting to see what a cool horse he could be.

In My Little Bay Horse, I hashed it out about as clearly as I ever have.

FEBRUARY 

In February, the weather got mildly better, which was good. More importantly, I wrote one of my favorite TSB posts of all time: The Ammy Manifesto.

It struck a nerve (in a good way) with riders and readers and bloggers. I was inundated with comments and messages and in-person thanks from horse people in all walks of life. 

so majestic

I also accidentally kicked myself into novelty stirrup overdrive in the Old Cripple Woman Here post wherein I discovered my complete inability to ride in regular fillis irons.

This is relevant because it marks possibly the only time I've had an actual justification for buying pretty shit.

I didn't make a lot of noise on the training front--things were trucking along the way only intro/training dressage horses do--slowly and painfully boring-ly.

flexy is almost novelty

MARCH

March was such a mixed bag. We started the month with our first-ever dressage clinic, which was a stunning success. Courage was good for both days and we started to move towards "actually doing something like dressage" instead of "just trotting with his head down", so that's cool. Clinic write up was called "Dressage Fun" and it was nice and vanilla and peaceful, even if it marked ground breaking moments in my understanding of Courage and how to ride and train him.

Of course, it couldn't all be smooth sailing. That sped us right along to memorable posts like Sunshine and Roses and LAUNCHING IN TO ORBIT and Dressage By Memes, both of which pointed to some serious trouble in pony paradise. We tried bodywork and it helped, but Courage was having a serious case of the 'tudes and riding through it was possibly not the most fun I'd ever had.

of stolen internet fame

As a confirmed tack ho, I medicated in all the best ways. Acquisitions are documented in Friends are the Worst, which was a funny post to write and still makes me laugh to go back and read.

I maybe couldn't ride, but I was building a banging wardrobe.

APRIL

April started out with a bang. In Failsauce, I chronicle yet another lesson-gone-bad (sorta forgot how many of those there were), complete with epic fail pictures. Courage was not convinced he had to horse and he was doing his best to talk me out of it.

moments we never forget

I tried to keep myself motivated and focused with the Ultimate Trotting Picture Progression Post, in which I did a trotting picture of every month of Courage's post-track career to that point.

old picture

I also got myself into lessons (Guess Who Can Still Jump) with a jump trainer to try and get another perspective on how to ride with Courage. Even now, looking at those pictures makes me REALLY want to jump.

And of course, I made the rash and impulsive decision to sign up for a fancy clinic with a $$$ clinician. What could possibly go wrong?

Ahem.

Don't answer that.

MAY

This month was not so good.

We canceled all our normal plans to do the big, fancy clinic. First Courage missed a schooling opportunity, then blew a leg up, then COMPLETELY DECLINED to get on the trailer to even go to the clinic at all. In Disappointment, Tears, That Stuff, I talk about what pinning all my hopes on one day turned into.

The follow up post, When in Doubt, Wine. Also Pie, was equally raw and emotional. Courage and I were capping off difficult months and bad rides with severe disappointment in ways I never expected.

I really don't even know how to condense down the events of May--there's a lot of gritty, hard stuff I had to sort through. In Surprise! Dressage Clinic, we had a good ride and a terrible ride and made some progress. We started hacking again. It was not fun. It was not even very safe. It was bad.

I seriously questioned why I had Courage and I reflected that he is the sort of horse that tests people. I had to figure out if I could pass the test and if I wanted to.

Finally, I made a plan and to take Courage to his first show of the year. It was a make-or-break moment for us, chronicled in Here Goes Nothing.

forgot how bad this month was. pic is still badass.

JUNE

Can we have a round of applause for May finally being over? That month was SO BAD. June started out with our first show of the year. I made good decisions, stayed on the horse, and didn't get disqualified. Then we did another show! 

We even lightened the mood with my Updated Guide to Showing on the Cheap. Showing as an adult has some critical difference from showing as a kid. This is an important thing to figure out in your adult show career. 

We capped off the month with our first ever (locally) recognized dressage show. The post is called A Series of Unfortunate Events for very good reasons, but the show itself was so critical. It taught me that even on our less-amazing days, Courage and I were turning in to a capable team.

What's more, we knew how to overcome obstacles. ALL OF THEM.

And yes. All my June pictures have satin in them. DEAL WITH IT.

JULY

July was a fun month. We putzed around after our pretty intense show schedule in June and I used the down time to think things through. Yup. That meant I came up with the wild and crazy goal of earning my Bronze medal on Courage in Well Here Goes. It was quite a switch from our jumper pursuits, but I explain that in Why Dressage. 

just gotta trot

The transition was complete (mostly). Halfway through the year, I threw most of my goals out the window and decided to pursue a whole new discipline. We certainly didn't stop jumping, especially as we celebrated our two year anniversary together in Two Years of Courage.

<3

AUGUST 

My most favorite thing about August was this post: A Fundamental Shift. Courage and I have always had such a weird hot/cold on/off relationship. It was one simple ride in August where I finally felt Courage start doing things to try and please me, and it was paradigm-altering. I followed it up with Finding Our Way Together as we .

still love this

Of course, it wasn't all sunshine and roses--I was struggling with my position and riding and trying to tackle a whole new discipline FOR REALSIES.

story of my life

Oh and Courage proved that he is also the perfect pony ride horse, as long as it isn't indoors in December.

um how cute is this?

 SEPTEMBER

September brought us dressage clinics and fall weather, which is a bit more motivating. In Possibly the Best Dressage Clinic Recap Ever, I talk about some major breakthroughs we were having. There was also the Ultimate Dressage Position Fix, which actually is a fantastic cross-discipline application device.

fix it

More importantly, I wrote one of my favorite thinking training posts while I reasoned through some issues Courage and I were having in Under Pressure--Language, Responsibility, and the Intelligent Animal.

Plus there's always the awesome things blog hop, which just makes me happy to look at.

OCTOBER

October brought Epic Pony Weekend, with our first course jumping of the year, some awesome dressage-in-a-field pictures, our last event derby of the year, and some kickass free jumping pictures. I also got Courage's dressage saddle professionally fitted (complete with uber-professional sparkles) to start getting ready for next year.

so perfect

On the training front, I started to buckle down and get serious about first level. Some of that was funny, like discovering my European Princess Thoroughbred, and some of it was serious, like my About Face on Video. I also had to work through feeling like I wasn't trying hard enough with my nice horse in Not Confident, Not Proud.

GRASS SHARKS ALERT

 NOVEMBER

This month opened with one of my all-time favorite posts to write, EVER. Why Barn Friends are the Best Friends was me reflecting on the awesome women in my life and how grateful I am to have them.

the best

 There was a lot going on, though. Courage and I won our first-ever tri-colored year-end champion ribbon and I love it in all it's gaudy over-the-top-ness.

ALSO BEST

I talked about Why I Kept Courage when things were hard this year (which was a lot). We also rode in an absolutely fantastic clinic that majorly changed the way I ride and gave me visual media for Socially Awkward Equestrians United.

yeah try to explain that to your non-horsey friends

 DECEMBER

December is not over yet (THERE ARE A FEW HOURS LEFT), but there's only so much we can do as we meticulously work our way through the beginnings of first level. We celebrated One Year of Dressage early in the month. We also talked about Spooking Theory and the Hot Horse and Light. Bulb.

pictured: not ideal

Our 2015 Goal Wrap Up showed surprising progress despite our many set backs,

plus adorable

 2015 was not the year I expected or thought I wanted, but it's the year I had. Courage and I are a stronger, better team with improved focus and increased confidence. I'm excited for what 2016 brings!

here we go!