Spring Stupids

Well it seems I can now confirm that Hampton's random acts of total dipshit-ness are a case of the spring stupids. We worked in the small arena today and he selected one corner and a bench as his Things I Will Spook At to Annoy Karen. I lunged him through the scary corner and he got over that, but the bench? Nope, going to spook and cut in on the circle. I kept at it.

There was an incident where he bolted sideways to the other side of the ring (he hasn't done this is probably 8 months), in which I responded by working his little butt even harder. Then we returned to the bench and I let him stand. Our ride was ... meh. He still wanted to shy at the bench, but decided to tone it down a bit when I jabbed him with my inside spur. I don't mind him giving things the hair eyeball. He just can't ram his ribcage into my inside leg. He was distracted and the canter was a hot mess. Wonky, tense. Yes he was being a prick but I am thinking a visit to the chiro is in order since the canter hasn't been THAT horrible for quite some time.

After a recent storm, the field is muddy so I think that the horses just aren't playing and have some energy now and are just feeling good. I do have to keep in mind that he is only 3 and a half years old, so ya know, what can ya do. I am sort of glad we aren't going to any April shows now. We need to iron this stuff out. Although I suspect once it warms up, he will be back to normal, quiet Hampton.

He's due for his spring shots and teeth tomorrow so that means he will get Thursday off. If I get to the barn early enough tomorrow, he can lunge again. We shall see.

The Noah Bug did quite well today. He has started to understand the concept of lunging and did quite well. Here are some photos of the beast:

Weekend roundup

Hampton

Indiana was kind enough to give us 80+ degree weather all weekend. :) I rode Hampton on Saturday and magically the Demon in the Corner was gone! He never even batted an eye at the same corner he insisted would eat him on Thursday. Nothing had changed. Guess Thursday was just one of those rare days when Hampton actually did act his age.

Our ride proceeded to be quite wonderful, despite the heat and the fact that were were both sweaty pretty quickly. We worked on counter canter (check!), shoulder-in (very nice!) and more transitions - keeping the poll up and the balance uphill. Sunday was even warmer so I took him on a bareback trail ride for about a half hour - as a reward for being a good boy the day before. :)

Noah
I actually got on Noah on Saturday. He is still learning about lunging, but seemed pretty stable when I jumped around him, put weight on the stirrups, leaned over, etc. So I threw a leg over. Things were going ok ... and then out of nowhere he head shot straight up and he started scooting. Thankfully my awesome ground person had a hold of him and he scooted around in circles for a minute before finally stopping. I jumped off, and then started over. The second time he was fine, no issues. I dunno?

The others

Saturday I rode a new mare named Marisol. She has done nothing but polo her entire life and was recently a polo pony for the polo team of the area university. She has a wonderful attitude - so calm and willing - but is an obvious burnout from being treated rather hard by the polo team. She is VERY defensive about her mouth and her back, so I do nothing but ride her on  very little contact and ask her to stretch. I think she'll come around. I also took Baxter trail riding on Sunday (yes, I rode him with a saddle - I 'm not that dumb). He tried his bolting sideways gig once out in the open field but with some cussing I got him stopped. He proceeded to jog back to the barn, where I then made him keep trotting. Then we went on ANOTHER trail ride in the other direction and the booger walked this time. heh heh.

So busy weekend but I loved every minute!

THE TRAILER!

*JUMPING UP AND DOWN WITH JOY!!!!!!*

It was gross and rainy this morning so instead of working horses, I went to look at trailers. And now this one is mine!!!! It's an Adam trailer, 2 horse straight load with a ramp and HUGE dressage room. I am getting a rumber floor installed, so I won't actually have it for another 2 weeks. No April shows for us, but it's a go for May! :) 

I love all the features on this trailer. Screen door and frosted window to the dressing room (big enough for me to sleep in) ... tall enough for Hamper (7'6") ... easy to lift ramp ... interior and exterior lights ... so so awesome!! I am so happy and tickled and it also makes me feel good to buy a trailer from a guy who was pleasant, polite and no pressure. 

I'm going to go do a happy dance now! :) :) :)

Oh, and here is a pic of me with the trailer. So yeah this is what I look like after working until midnight and dragging myself out of bed at 8:30 to trailer shop. Don't judge. :) And anyway, who cares!!! :)

$&*% for brains!

First, the skunk.

This morning the BO noticed that there was something in the critter trap in the barn (we think raccoons have been stealing the cat food). I heard her shriek "SKUNK!!!" and then ... the smell. O.M.G. My eyes were watering, we were both half-gagging. It was unbearable. We moved the offender (still in the trap) outside away from the barn and then opened all the doors in hopes the smell would clear soon. I think it did, but I still smell skunk and I'm showered and in the office now. Ugh.

The beast

I grabbed the big boy first. The 18-hand luv bug known as Noah. For now, I'm just lunging him in a halter and lunge line - he already knows how to wear a saddle so I don't have to worry about that. He needs to learn about lunging. He did pretty well today, only "protesting" once or twice. Need to work on sharper "whoas" but all in all I was happy with him. The BO took photos and wait until you see how big he is next to me! lol! Thank goodness he is good natured because he is too big to have an attitude!

And now, the little %%*^&$* !!

I wish I had photos. Or a helmet cam. My lesson with Hampton actually started out well. We were working on the usual things - staying uphill. Keeping the bend. We started to work on the canter loop from the old First Level Test 4 and out of no where (and this is after working for 45 minutes), Hampton decides he IS. NOT. GOING. NEAR. the CORNER OF DEATH. Which he has been quietly trotting by for the past 45 minutes. WTF. Every time we approached the Horse Eating Corner, his head would shoot up and he would balk. I tried to keep leg yielding him out and keeping him looking into the arena - instead of at the Demons In the Corner.

At one point he just stopped. And I got pissed. spur spur spur WHACK with the whip and then Hampton does his best impression of coon jumping and bucks in place. Then I yelled at him  and spanked him a few times. Then he started to thrash his head around in protest (I kept asking him to turn left and leg yield out ... ) ... it wasn't pretty. My instructor through he was half truly scared (of whatever was in the corner), and half being a punk. We called it quits because he was sweaty and we feared he might tie up (he's never done so, but he did work really, really hard today).

After I untacked, I took him back to the Horse Eating Corner of Horror and let him eat grass there. Seemed fine. Go figure.

Tomorrow I plan to lunge him exclusively in that corner. And that will be his workout. :)

Gotta love young horses.

Trailers and horses and insaneness OH MY!

I wuv him.

Ok so I am mostly recovered from a super busy weekend of riding and the Hoosier Horse Fair. I went to the chiro this morning to get my back, hips and pelvis sorted out. I was having major back spasms, even while riding which is unusual for me. Much better now. :)

Trailers
So on Sunday at the fair I went trailer shopping. The Hawk I have been eyeing was there and I got another up close and personal look at it. It's a great trailer. The rumber floor is amazing. However ... the sales lady was a loon. And my father was with me. And once you fail at being 1) a friendly, warm salesperson and 2) Giving your potential customers information (she gave us incorrect info on the tongue weight) ... there is no redeeming yourself. This lady couldn't have cared less whether or not I bought a trailer from her. And we are not talking about a $900 trailer (like my last one). You would think in today's economy they would try a little harder to make a sale. Nope. She didn't care. This irked my father. And therefore irked me. So I think I might purchase a trailer elsewhere, and then have the rumber floor installed. Has anyone installed a rumber floor? The trailer hunt continues ... but I think I'll have one in my dirty hands by the end of the week ...

Horses
Hampton had Sunday AND today off because I was really really busy. Plus it was raining this morning. I HOPE to ride him tomorrow. But it might not happen. Why?

I am getting another horse in for training!

A friend of mine from college is sending me her Percheron cross to restart. He is 7 and was started about 3 years ago, but he is still green and has not been ridden since that time. SO ... he is coming to me to learn manners, lunging and get back going under saddle. Did I mention he is 18 hands? *gulp*

Baxter is doing well, despite the 5 minutes we spend flying sideways around the ring on Saturday. I guess I could have lunged him more, but I think it was an issue I really needed to win under saddle. Which I did. Once he gave it up, he was brilliant! I've still been riding Zippy every once in a while, and he was also a wild turkey on Saturday. Spooking (once almost dumping me), being obnoxious to tack up, wiggly, snorty, head in the air. But again, I just kept working through it and he ended up giving me his best canters yet!

... I really need to get back to training Hampton this week. I am aiming for the April CAF show. I thought about bringing Baxter, too but I think I will just take my big bay boy this time. After the show we are going to stay for a lesson, too! It will be Hampton's formal intro to jumping. (ground poles, small crossrails at the most). So yeah, spring is here and now I am so busy I don't know what to do with myself!

Oh - and I see I have reached 70 followers!! Yipeee! Thank you all of you who read my (mis)adventures and leave comments. :)

Let the photos do the talking

I am exhausted, so I will treat you all with mostly photos today. On Saturday, I rode 3 horses (Baxter, Zippy and a new mare, Marisol) and lunged Hampton. Baxter and Zippy were wild (it was windy and chilly). Hampton and Marisol were unaffected by the wind and temps and were good to me. That's yesterday in a nutshell.

Today was the annual Hoosier Horse Fair. I went down to help with the therapy horse demo. The barn where I board Hampton is also a therapeutic riding center, so I like to support them as much as I can. I was nominated to take lots of photos today. So I did.

WARNING: Major cuteness follows!!!

In which Hampton channels his inner Black Stallion

Imagine if you will.

Me, Hampton. No saddle. Just a halter and a lead rope.

Galloping along the beach. The wind whipping through our hair.

That's how last night's ride went.

Ok. Except that there was no galloping. Only me riding bareback and Hampton packing me along at a slow trot, clearly concerned that I had lost my mind. I love watching the sunset from his back and just spending time enjoying my horse. No bridle. No saddle. No dressage. No on-the-bit. The dressage part of me feels guilty for not demanding the best from him during every single ride. But the little kid on me - the Alec Ramsey - loves these rides. I was even holding my arms out to the side while trotting down the rail. (Further proving that Hampton is indeed an actual Saint). 

He gets today off (but I'll still ride the pony) and Saturday we will return to dressage-ing.