The Daily Routine

I am totally stealing this blog topic from favorite bloggers Hillary and The $900 FaceBook Pony.

My daily routine at the barn is pretty consistent. I love routine and structure; and the horses seem to appreciate that, too.

Right now I am responsible for morning chores Tues, Thurs, Saturdays and Sundays. I wake up around 6:45 am. I typically check my phone for anything interesting, and pry myself out of bed.

Lately I have been stopping at McD's for a large coke to start my morning. Absolutely terrible habit, but I do not like coffee and we can all admit that McD's has the best fountain coke on the planet.

I arrive at the farm around 7:30. The horses are on night turn out, so I will clean stalls first. There are only 5 to clean, so this goes pretty fast. Then I will do water buckets, throw hay, fill hay nets, feed the barn cats and start making up grain.

After throwing the full board horses grain, I then bring them all in. This takes a while because of the walking back and forth, and taking boots and fly sheets off. Sometimes the donkey gets a little squirrely on me, too.

Then I will walk out to the big gelding field. Hampton will come when I call, and Royale follows like a good little bitch minion. On days I ride Royale, I will bring them both into a stall and feed them. Or I will just grab Hamps. Then I go back out and feed the rest of the geldings, and grab one more who needs to come in. This is the most annoying part of the morning because it is chaos and I hate chaos. Also, sometimes the geldings refuse to come up to eat. (Never Hampton, he would NEVER miss a meal). On those days, I scream profanities at them. Sorry, neighbors.

He will miss the changes all day long, but never a meal!

After morning chores are done, I always ride Hampton first. Mostly because he requires more energy, but also because he is the favorite. I cross tie him, and give him a good grooming. On days he is encrusted with mud, I usually am in "fuck it" mode and get what mud I can but in no way is he show ready on those days.

We usually take a 5-10 minute walk around and then go to the arena to work for 40-45 minutes. Maybe a little longer depending on what we are working on, and the weather. After schooling, he typically gets hosed off, fly spray, any scrapes that need tended to, swatted, MTG, etc. etc. I will brush out his tail probably once a week (otherwise I leave it alone).

Then Hampton gets to hang out in a stall while I ride Royale. Same deal for him, but he works maybe 30 minutes. Unless he is a wild man that day and he works until he can behave himself and not trot 100000000000 mph with his head in the air. He then gets hosed off and fly sprayed whether he needs it or not (still learning that these things will not kill him).

I then take both boys out to the field and am typically home by noon or 12:30 p.m.

I then either make lunch, or stop somewhere on the way home. By the time I eat lunch, and shower, it is around 1:30 and may have an hour or so to chill out (i.e. watch Shameless on Netflix because I am in LOVE with Lip Gallaghar) ... and then I go into work at 3 p.m. and work until 11 pm-ish. I get home, maybe watch a little more TV and consume wine and go to sleep around midnight.

I don't eat dinner. I may snack at my desk.

I know my hours at work may suck for some people, but I really get a lot done in the mornings and I do not have to deal with the after-school crowd at the barn. Plus, I have no kids, no husband, no one to answer to so I can leave and get home whenever I please.

On days when I only ride Hampton, I am often home by 10 am. Before most of my co-workers are even awake for the day!

What is your daily routine?

In the farmhouse things will be alright

It has been a hectic couple of months. And I can finally sit down and make a proper post about it.

First off. I have joined the land of adulthood. Yes, at 37 years old I am now officially a home-owner. No, I can't actually afford a house. But I can scrape by with a condo!

It's a lovely little place, and a fellow horse friend of mine just moved in so things are now decorated with horses, horses and horses. Plus, it helps me keep down on expenses and she is an all-around cool person. I actually have a dishwasher ... and even a balcony which the cat loves. I love it even though I want to vomit when I write my mortgage check.

Which leads me to the next move: The horses!

They are now settled in to their new digs as well. It's not far from the old place, although it is a shorter drive for me now. They are living in the big gelding field and to my delight have a lovely pasture with a run in shed and plenty of hills to help keep them fit for me. I am doing morning barn chores to help with board, so that is a huge weight off my shoulders and a big reason I made the move.

Barn aisle

OMG yes, I get to bring in these little guys in the morning!
SQUEEEEEEE

Geldings coming up for breakfast
(Royale on the right. Hamps in the pack of bays)

Hampton marched right in and declared he was the boss, as expected. Royale basically follows him around. He reminds me of Butters from SouthPark.

I need to figure out a better way to feed them in the mornings, as Royale gets chased off by other geldings. It's a much more rough crowd than the previous barn. Hampton easily holds his own (and is actually somewhat of an asshole), but little Royale does not. I may just end up bringing them both in everyday to feed them. Or maybe tying some of the bossier boys up to eat. Suggestions welcome!
I may buy feed bags for my two boys. That could make things a little easier ...

Anyway the new place is lovely. It's not as "modern" as the previous barn, but it is safe AND there is a covered arena WITH MIRRORS and great footing! No more dressage on gravel footing. There is an outdoor for jumping, too, if we please.

I was familiar with this place, but did not know that is actually used to be surrounded by a track. It's long gone of course, but there are still remnants. There are long stretches of great grass footing for gallops, trot sets, etc. There are also some trails for hacking. Definitely not "real" trails like the last place, but good enough for now. I will certainly miss our creek stomps but we can always haul out. Supposedly there is a trail to Flying Cross Farm but it requires "bushwhacking." (aka I would probably get my head taken off by tree branches trying to ride Hampton through)

Royale

Hamps

So there's that. New homes all around!

What is best is that I was able to leave the previous barn on really good terms and remain friends with everyone there. I will miss that barn family but I am sure I will still see them around.

Clinic Day 2

And I have even less photographic evidence from this day! Sorry about that!

The good news is that we did not get stormed on Sunday morning, however in true Kentucky fashion this year it was 93 degrees and 80,00000000 humidity. I chose to ride in the indoor again. It was sort of a lose-lose situation here. Inside, it was far cooler but the footing was deep. Outside, the footing was better but the entire arena was on a hill, and the sun was borderline insufferable.

Super crappy photo

Today, Liz started right off by calling us over to the center. From the ground, she took the reins and started to show me how I need to ask Hampton to release not just his neck, but his jaw and poll. He did pull his typical "off the grid" mindset on her, even standing still. He stares at something and I swear you could tie a crane to the reins and he would ignore it.

But eventually, he did release and I could see that tell-tale crest flip starting to happen.

I need to remember that it's ok to let Hamps be long and low and stretchy. He does not have to be uphill right off the bat. He has to come into suppleness and a better balance. If there is no suppleness, everything else suffers. The connection has to be playful, not static.

Off we went to work and I immediately had a softer horse who was offering more self carriage. I'd like to get him to a point where I can release more often and he stays softer for longer. We have a tendency to both get "stuck." Not really a pulling match, but not soft either.

Then it was time to check the changes. We tried the difficult lead first and .... WHAM! Got it on the first damn try!!

Unfortunately we both then decided to make sure it was not a fluke (spoiler: it was) and try for it again. And again. And again. It just kept getting worse. Late behind. Late. Late. Lurching. Even the GOOD change was late behind a couple of times. OMG WHY!!!! FML

via GIPHY

In my heart I figured it was probably Hampton just tired and muscle sore from the footing. But then Liz offered to get on! Um, of COURSE YOU CAN!

Liz rewarding Hampton for being a very good boy

She tried multiple tricks in her book, and interestingly enough ... she never got a good clean change either. She had a couple of close calls (which she was quick to reward him for), but for some reason he was really struggling.

Part of me thinks that I just trained that bad change on him REAL GOOOD. And part of me thinks he just doesn't understand how to organize his legs with the aids yet. A clean change in this direction is totally possible. We have done it many times - even in shows. There is just a disconnect somewhere. Very frustrating, but unfortunately common.

I was a little bummed we did not get to touch on the pirouettes but the footing was just too much. I was so happy with Hampton and his work. He just kept trying even though I know it was hard for him.

I feel like we got some great homework from this clinic and I really enjoyed watching and learning from the other riders as well. Many of us worked on the basics which I loved! Every pair came out looking better than when they started. Liz is not only a great teacher and trainer, but is highly knowledgeable in areas like saddle fit, health, nutrition, etc.

Plus she is a fellow Phish and Grateful Dead Fan.
Hippies unite!!!

L.A. Clinic: Day 1

Hampton and I spent the weekend participating in a clinic with Liz Austin.

You can find out more about here at her website, HERE.

We have ridden with Liz before, as she was based in KY for a short time last summer. I loved her teaching, and it's really difficult to find that level of instruction in our area. So of course I jumped at the chance to ride in her clinic. Plus, my local GMO gave me a scholarship which paid for it. Because, you know, I has no monies.

The clinic location was a mere 20 minutes away so that made things even easier.

We rode early afternoon, and as I was tacking Hampton up at the trailer - a thunderstorm rolled in and promptly SOAKED us. I had the saddle on, but quickly grabbed my helmet and bridle and ran for cover in the barn.

Nothing like showing up to a clinic looking like drowned rats (and I was wearing a white shirt!! fml)

Sorry, this is how we roll here in Kentuckeh.

Hampton was unphased (he probably appreciated the cool rain as it was 90+ degrees), and we went to work. The footing in this indoor area was quite deep, and right away I could feel Hamps struggling a little with it.

So no one worked on any lateral work, but there was plenty of other homework.

We spent a large portion of this lesson making Hampton's canter more jumpy. This has always been a struggle. Not really for him, but for me. I tend to sit up there and enjoy his wonderful, rhythmic almost QH-like canter. That's all fine and dandy, but that's not what you need for the upper levels in dressage.

Make that canter bouncey!

Some little tips:

* Counter bend, bump bump with outside leg
* Literally bounce with your seat in the saddle (not push or pump, but bounce)
* Once the canter jumps, sit quiet
* Counter bend, think medium canter

We then started working on the changes. Right to left is reliable, and we had some beautiful changes. But we just had a hell of a time with left to right. I got it a couple of times, but no matter what I tried it was just always late behind. Or Hampton "lurches" into it. I'm not sure if he was just tired from the footing or what? We always struggle with this change, but it's not usually THAT awful.

We ended on a little trot work. Passage feeling to letting that feeling out into a more forward trot. This will help make his very average, normal trot - much more expressive. A work in progress but some good moments here.

Overall a very good first day. Lots of information and I find Liz to be a very pleasant, straightforward teacher. She does not f*** around, and will tell you if you do something that is shitty. She is not for people that need constant validation. If you cannot handle the truth, she probably isn't for you. She is quick to say "Good for you!" when you do nail something, however. And all of the horses really seemed to like her.

Hamps got a good rub down and some bute that evening, in hopes that he wouldn't be too muscle sore for Sunday. Next up: Day 2!

(sorry for lack of photos!)

Artistic body art

You guys.

I think my horse may one day be in the Olympics.

Equine artistic body art competition perhaps?

Enjoy this series of photos from a day in the life of Hampton. This was, of course, after our ride and after I gave him a very cooling bath. Meticulously picking mud off his face, and lovingly washing it from his mane and tail. Then giving him a good soaking of expensive fly spray.

:)

"Hmm. She is still watching me. Where should I grind mud into next?"

Seriously no modesty here.

Hashtag Problems (hilarity ensues!)

Thanks guys for participating in my little hashtag contest! Mostly I just wanted to make everyone laugh, and I knew fellow bloggers always come through especially when it comes to making fun of ourselves! So enjoy!

#YellingTimber
(from L. Williams at Viva Carlos)

From SprinklerBandit

#JumpingProblems
#PonySaysNo
(thanks blog reader Elizabeth!)

#MoshPit
(L. Williams)

#WantMyIronsBack
(L. Williams)

#wheezinginwinter #toocoldtohorser
(From Micaylah)

#displeasedwithyouraid #orwegoup? #wronganswer
(Micaylah)

#takemewithyou
(Micaylah)

Royale and I rode in the pouring rain on Tuesday.
#everythingsoaked
#seahorse?

Bronzed

Credit: FEI

USA Dressage team nabbed the Bronze medal at the 2016 Olympics!

SO exciting. (Am I only the only one OBSESSED with the olympic equestrian events?!)
I thought everyone on the team rode so well. The horses are just so talented. I don't believe the USA has had a medal in dressage since 2004?

Freestyles are Monday, and show jumpers start soon, too! yay!!!

Also, one last reminder to send in your #Problems contest entries! I have a good collection so far, but wanted to give you all a little more time to send them in! CLICK HERE for original post.