Footing fail and Hampton becomes a nutcase.

Normal, sleepy, quiet Hampton ...

Was supposed to have a lesson today.

The barn I board at does not have an indoor. I can suck it up. But I don't expect my horse to suck it up when it comes to footing. But both arenas were frozen today. So much so that Hampton was sore when I started out lunging him. Not lame, but when he made a canter-trot transition, his back end did a little hippy-hop. Every time. It wasn't just "Oh he took a weird step." It was clearly a "he's sore and can't make the transition." So we (my awesome instructor and I) made the trek out to the hayfield to see if the footing might be better. I have ridden Hampton out there quite a few times and didn't think it would be a problem. FAMOUS LAST WORDS!

Hampton out in the field today.

He walked out to the field quiet and polite.

(cue scary music)

As soon as I sent him off on the lunge line, he began to snort. Then snort louder. Then passage. Then he tried bolting, bucking, running sideways, snorting, more passage, more bolting. The footing MIGHT have been ok if I had a quiet, steady horse. But it was muddy and thus slick for a wild creature who was basically out of control. It was about as wild and unglued as I have EVER seen Hampton. Normally, I would let him get that crap out of his system. But both me and my instructor were scared he would get hurt. And it's not worth it. We walked back and called it a day. Hey, guess he got a little exercise.

To be fair, the footing out in the pasture is also muddy and slick. So he probably hasn't been moving around much. Plus it's cold. Out in the middle of a open field. He's 3 and getting fed QUITE well. What a recipe for a wild poneh!!

I really, REALLY hope he did not hurt himself out there. His hind end slipped several times before I was able to reel him back in from his antics.

The BO is supposed to work on the smaller arena at some point, so hopefully it won't freeze so easy in the future. We won't get much work done if the arena footing is that terrible all winter. I plan to haul out to a nearby indoor for lessons but I can only do that maybe once a month.

I hate winter. Can't you tell?

Horse shows are not won in June

They are won in December, January and February.

Lady, what do I look like? A jungle gym?

Uh, so that's what I keep telling myself as the weather gets colder. And colder. Sunday I rode at about 10 a.m. and both arenas were still frozen. So, not the best footing. Hampton was a bit short strided and because we were both bundled up (me in my thick winter jacket and breeches, and him in his quarter sheet) ... we couldn't really "feel" each other and so it was mostly just a hack. No real work accomplished.

Today was much better. Yay for nice 50-degree days. Hampton was a bit fresh (as evidenced by a few bolts on the lunge line) but it was good because it made him very forward and responsive. Worked on trot-walk-trot transitions, then walk-canter. They were about the same as last time. As in, maybe 60% success rate. I either screw up and he ends up trotting off, or he LAUNCHES into the canter. Which I don't punish him for because hey, at least he's sitting and pushing off. lol. We did have several nice transitions in both directions. Then we worked on leg yields - making them steeper. Leg yielding right was great, to the left needs a bit more work. He gets somewhat above the bit. I suspect I'm taking up too much contact. Need to work on that.

More of the same planned for tomorrow with some shoulder-in thrown in. I'm thinking just a lunging day for Wednesday and then we have a lesson on Thursday. That will set us up great for a day off on Friday .. then I'll ride one day this weekend. Depending on the weather.

For him.

Thank you.

I try to walk away and I stumble

Here's some food for thought for the holiday weekend. :-)

Stumbling.

So, I'm not going to go into a philisophical post about how I am stumbling through life. I am talking literal stumbling. Tripping over your own feet.

Do you (or your trainer) punish your horse for stumbling? If so, how do you punish him or her? If not, why not? And do you ignore it?

Hampton stumbles a few times each riding session, usually. His toes aren't long and he doesn't even wear bellboots anymore, so I blame it on the fact that he's on the forehand and sort of lazy. My instructor says I should punish him for it - by half halting and using the stick. Up until now, I just ignore it. But I am going to try correcting him when he stumbles to see if it makes a difference. And to clarify, they are just minor little trips. And only in front. He never goes down to his knees or anything. It also helps to walk in shoulder-in.

So, how do you handle stumbles?

Stop being so peaceful

Hampton and I had a super lesson today. (It's been probably close to a month since we've had one). Here are some of the things we worked on:

• Bend. Bend. Bend. Going left it's easy, but going to the right he likes to make an "S" out of his body. Perhaps this is why I found renvers so easy a while back? lol! He will bulge his neck left, tilt his poll right and swing his haunches out. He can be tricky to straighten in this direction, but we worked it out for the most part.

• Canter transitions. While they have improved A LOT ... they still need work to nail the scores in dressage. We might get by at training level, but for first we will need better transitions. The issue is that he gets confused about how to strike off with his hind legs. Like, he sort of has to ponder it. So, we decided to can the trot-canter transitions for the most part, and start doing walk-canter. This will help him strike off with purpose, organize his feet and get his butt under him. I am so happy to say that we got a number of really super walk-canter transitions. Woot! A few were ... uh ... not great. And a few times he picked up the canter and then I stopped riding and then he broke back into trot. Derrrr. But doing those transitions made him really uphill and brought his poll up.

• Leg yields. He needs to be sharper and needs to cross his back legs better. He's got the concept now, so I need to start asking more. Which brings me to ...

• Stop being so peaceful. My instructor said that I like to ride in a very peaceful manner (this is true). This is good in that I create very sane, good-minded horses. They have confidence and don't turn into spazzes. However, there are times in training when you need to rock the boat. Or your progress isn't really going to happen. I need to ask more, jazz him up a little, ride him more like a 3rd level horse then letting him plod along.

So I've got some good homework for this week! I'm  not sure how much riding I'll get in since work is going to get in the way. UGH. Perhaps by the weekend.

Sometimes it's good to plummet

Hampton fall 2010

Thank you to everyone who commented with encouragement. :-) It does help. I took out a loan on my 401K and that will help a lot with getting some things caught up. Annnd buying gas and food. I will be looking for a part-time job to help make a little more money, and keep hunting for a better full-time job as well. You all are right - things do work themselves out.

I was watching this interview last night with Cher (can you believe she is 64?!?) .. and she said "Sometimes it's good to plummet. Because then you really appreciate it when you come back up."

**

I feel a little stupid for complaining about my life, when a fellow blogger is in a situation much worse. Please go to Denali's blog if you haven't already. Denali's owner has been through a LOT with her beloved mare, and now she is making a really tough decision. I'm not sure what is more heartbreaking that losing your horse ... except maybe a close family member.

Remember to hug your horse today.

When life sucks.

Why life does not suck. :-)

Here is why life sucks right now:

• Due to some miscommunication, the gas in my house was shut off on Tuesday. The soonest they could reconnect is today. Leaving me with a couple of very cold nights and no hot water. Thus: no shower.

• I'm still playing catch up after having to produce a very large chunk of money in order to move into this new house. Money I did not have, because I hadn't been budgeting for rent payments. When I basically got kicked out of the previous house in mid-October, my roomie and I literally found a new place and moved in less than 2 weeks. My bank account is in the red.

• Therefore, I have no cash. No money to eat. No money for gas. Thankfully, my truck payment and Hampton's board are current. And he's plenty stocked up on grain. I have literally been scrounging pennies to buy food and drinks. I tried to sell my truck but no one is going to work with me as I am just a bit upside down on my current loan. It's doubtful a private buyer will purchase it outright.

• My career is still in the toilet. I have no immediate plans for a new job. I'm just sitting here, basically waiting for them to lay me off. The environment at work is tense. Everyone is crabby. The "managers" are horrible at their jobs. I am still in school to be a vet tech - but that is years away. And even so, I'm having doubts because people keep telling me the pay sucks.

• I took out a loan on my 401K to help catch up with finances. That was 9 days ago. STILL NO CHECK. Now I'm freaking out that it is lost. I need that check. BADLY.

• I. Am. Not. Selling. Hampton.


Even though life is super tough right now, he is the only good thing I have. Am I wrong to have a horse on a journalist's budget? Is that foolish of me? I don't know. All I know is that the horse is my life. In July 2009 I happened upon spunky, unhandled 2-year-old thinking I'd start him under saddle and make a little cash. I didn't think he'd end up being the horse I have been looking for for a very, VERY long time! Selling T-Bone was hard, but I was OK with it. Selling this horse would devastate me.

So ... ya know, since life has been super suck-tastic here lately. I am going to actually go out and do something fun (since I bought tickets a while ago). And that is to see Mike Gordon tomorrow. A few hours of no worries. Just Cactus.