Ride 'em Cowgirl!

Today Luna rode in the Little Buck series - racing against the clock for the barrel race, candy bar race, etc. Comet and Luna were quite a pair, however, we were at a severe height disadvantage compared to the other horse and riders. (No one else rode a mini.) And although Comet trotted his little legs off and Luna posted her seat off - I think we had the slowest time for every event. But I bet we had the most fun! Dad and Bella watched and cheered from the stands. At the end Luna took home a pink horse hat and saved her riding number. What a great day!

Okay, this is by far the funniest photo we have of Traveler and I jumping. Can you say overjump? We loaded up the horses - Traveler, my husband's and my daughter's mini and headed over to Tulip Springs Event Center in Kennewick for an Eventing Clinic on their training course. Traveler did the course great - but was a little unsure of this log. And when he finally decided to jump - he did! The spectators said we were about 4 feet over the log which was 2 ft high - so when I was 6 ft in the air I might have said something a little profane because I didn't expect the height.

I love this picture of him - he cleared this one pretty high as well. At the end of the session he was actually starting to "get" it. He really loves to have a job and it helps to keep him focused. We did have about 40 minutes of the "stud" thing going on the first day - it took awhile to clear his head. I could just feel that he wasn't totally with me and he would occasionally let out a whinney at a good looking mare - so we had a little bit of disciplining and focusing to do. But after we worked through this he got on with the job. He doesn't ever get distracted when we jump - it's just when we are waiting around for other horses to finish or doing flatwork that he tends to get distracted.
It is spring here, the sun was shining and we were around about 50 other horses. We almost weren't allowed to attend because most people have such hang-ups about stallions - but he was a good boy and really, if I hadn't informed the other riders and owners of the facility - no one would have known. But I feel that I need to let everyone know for safety's sake that Traveler is a stallion.

This was the most difficult jump - asking your horse to canter up to a 3 ft bank and jump off into water. Traveler did it so well and he was so smooth that we actually got our first compliment from the instructor - she said he was turning out to be a pretty good little jumping pony. The pony part is funny because for a Curly he is a good size, 15.2 HH but we are competing with Percherons and Draft crosses so he is a little dwarfed by them.

more fun at the water jump....

Luna and Comet

My helpers - feeding the horses. As you can imagine with so many horses, all high strung about jumping - there were loose horses every 5 minutes and someone would yell - get the kids! And they all had to line up next to the fence until the horse was caught. (Not any of my horses though, thank goodness.) My eldest daughter is still talking about the "loose horses".

Traveler - tired and wanting to go home. Until another adventure.....

Jumping, lessons and Luna & Comet

Jumping lesson for today. I trailered Traveler and my daughter's horse over to the neighboring arena and jump course for a lesson today. We counted (or we were supposed to count) strides before the jump. I have a really good grasp of three strides, but not four. Traveler did well. He definitely is responding to the warmer, spring-like weather and I had forgotten how much more work is required of me to ride a stallion. I have gotten lazy during the summer and fall.

He is fine if he is focused and working on a task. If we are just standing around and waiting for our turn to jump, he starts eyeing the girls and I can tell his attention is not on me and then he chortles, very lowly, under his breath. I know from experience that I have to immediately squash any stud-like behavior when we are working - so I have to discipline him and then keep him busy doing "work". I would much rather have a break too. At the end of the lesson he was too tired to care about anything so we could both have a break.

I ride with at least three different instructors and I enjoy learning from them all. They all have a different take on riding styles and tell you to correct various aspects of your technique. Today, I was instructed to get into two-point position 3 strides before the jump, hang on and let the horse do the work. Traveler is a good jumper, he wants to do it and I just have to get off his face and let him go to work.

The saying for today's lesson was "There's no shame in grabbing mane". Thankfully, Traveler has lots of it to grab. Today we jumped higher and farther than I ever have and he didn't even flinch. He is so powerful, it's like taking a locomotive over a jump. I was so proud of him. At the end of the lesson I was trembling, I don't know if it was from the whole excitement / nerves of galloping Traveler around a course and taking that last jump which just seemed huge or from exhaustion. Once again, I can barely move.

After the lesson we put all the kids on their ponies and they "jumped". My daughter Luna rode Comet, her new horse. Traveler got his dream and we just acquired a miniature horse. Luna is 4 yrs old this year and eager to do whatever everyone else is doing. After her first jump, she looked at me and said, "well, he took that one pretty well."

Pictures of Luna & Comet and Luna with her little riding buddy on her miniature horse. Watch world, here they come!

No pictures for this clinic - my husband was out of town so I just rode Traveler in the 2nd "Student of the Horse" horsemanship clinic. He did great - once again, I am so amazed at how far we have come. We had to ride with only a halter and lead rope and walk,trot, canter and then do a one-reined stop and walk, trot, canter again. Traveler did it calmly and consistently. And he was the star pupil! Then we worked in a small arena with 9 other horses (he paid them little to no attention) on flexing to the outside, inside and then flexing and asking the horse to take a step up and over with the hip opposite the side of the flex. This is definitely not our greatest strenght, but he is showing improvement and would do it for a couple of steps. He really is coming along. Slow progress, small steps, but improvement nonetheless.

Tomorrow we have a jumping lesson and I just know he will be much more responsive to my leg pressure and giving & flexing and approaching a jump straight on. Next weekend we load up the horses and head over to Tulip Springs Eventing Facility to practice on the "real thing". I am buying my jump vest now. :)

We will also be brining my daughter's mini. Yes, Traveler got his dream (actually he couldn't care less about this mini) and we now have a little horse for my 4 year old daughter to ride. She will be coming along to my lesson tomorrow and attending the kid's lesson. What fun!

Here we go....

(excerpted from Tuesday, February 23, 2010 blog on Ride-A-Curly)

Okay, we made it! This last weekend we just endured the two-day riding "boot camp" at Spokane Sporthorse. I am so sore I can barely move. Every month now we will have lessons with Karen O'Neal - Olympic Eventer extraordinaire - and be barely able to walk on Monday. I am so not kidding.
For Valentine's Day my husband asked me what I wanted the most and I told him an "emergency riding lesson" to prepare to this event. So together we got on our horses for the first time this year at a neighboring indoor arena and started to work out all the bugs. His horse would not canter - although they did the most amazing extended trot! And mine, well, he was certain to let me know that this was NOT what he had planned on doing.
And so we plunged ahead and started our jumping lessons the next weekend. This is the second and third time we have been in the saddle. Thankfully, at the end of the first day I was told that Traveler and I were back at where we had left off in the fall. But now I need to get him in shape.
My husband is riding his gelding (smooth), Joker. Joker is very sensitive and has a hard time adjusting to the artificial flowers in the jumps. Much to my husband's dismay. I'm riding our stallion, Traveler, and he is asleep most of the time and wouldn't notice the flowers if they jumped up and bit him.
Things went well - considering how out of shape all of us were and how sore we were on Sunday when we returned to the second dose of training. I'm glad we took the pictures because frankly, I was not feeling that happy about our performance but at least we got some good shots so I must not have done that badly. However, at the end of the lesson I was given some pretty honest advice about my riding style and areas of improvment. (note: replace honest with brutal)That's what I am paying for so.... I promise, next time I will have QUIET hands.
We start out each lesson with about an hour and a half of dressage (this is what really kills my legs, seat, etc.) and then progress on to jumping. At the end we start working through different courses. Joker "won" on the barrels jump and didn't even flinch - Traveler did it, but not gracefully. We both ended on a good note and limped our way back to the trailer.
On a side topic, I am happy to report that Traveler did not exhibit any stallion behavior, although the sun is now shining and spring it seems is around the corner. He did chortle, very quietly and under his breath, twice, at the beginning of our lesson and he was quickly reminded of the task at hand. Definitely not breeding. Guess who caught his eye? There were morgans, mares, geldings, warmbloods, arabs, thoroughbreds, etc. Oh, it was the minnie. Yes, the miniature horse that my friend brought to keep her horses company really seemed to interest him. Good grief. No accounting for taste. (Not that I don't love her minnie, but let's be realistic.)
All for now - I'm going to go and sit in the hot tub.