A tribute to Dancer

Today is the one year anniversary of Dancer's passing over the rainbow bridge.
I miss him terribly at times, and at other times I am happy that we had such a
wonderful life and that I was there with him when he passed. Today I am a little
sad, but mostly I am thankful that he was in my life for so long and that we grew
"old" together. We were both very lucky in that way :)

I was originally thinking of doing an organized outing today - either a dressage
show or trail ride. But instead I chose to go on a quiet solo hack with Buck. I took
him out on the rail trail and we walked almost the entire time. I'll admit that I was
more occupied with getting him straight and supple then with Dancer's passing. We
ran in to some dirt bikes on our way home (which are NOT supposed to be out there)
and I've gotta say that Buck was so good about 2 motorcycles riding up on his bum.
Dancer would've been running away at a very quick pace!!!!

I wasn't sure how I'd take today. I thought I might be a basketcase....but I'm not.
I think it is because I chose to live in the present and not fret the past so much.
RIP Dancer.

Another jumping lesson!

I am sort of in cram mode since we have GMHA coming up and the last event didn't go so hot. So today in the heat and sweltering humidity, Shannon and I met up once again with Mere for more torture.

We spent a lot longer on flat work today, and I was glad for it. I would say we spent equal time flat and jumping, and that was good. I didn't ride on Friday and Buck was a little stiff going in. I got on a little early and walked quite a bit. I am finding that I need a little longer at the walk than most "event" riders do...I think it's a throw back to when I was doing straight dressage....I'd spend about 1/2 my ride at the walk in the beginning. I want to make sure that everything feels right before going faster, haha.

So anyways, we worked up to some canter work....and while the right canter depart is still not great, the LEFT canter is becoming AWESOME!!!!! I was cantering around and at one point I had to stop and say, "OMG I ACTUALLY HAVE A DRESSAGE CANTER HERE!!!!!" YAYAY Buck!!!! hehe. It was a VERY long time coming. I had NO IDEA that it would take THIS long to get a decent canter that I felt test worthy.

At this point I start jumping an x-rail to get us thinking "jumping". Finally, we start a gymnastic line consisting first of a 2' vertical, one stride to a ground rail and then 3 strides to an x-rail. Slowly these jumps become all verticals. I learned today that it was VERY important to keep the GAS on while going around the corners! There were more "Oh that was terrible" moments today, and I do believe they had to do more with the lack of gas in the tank! So my major take home today was to keep him coming around the corner and press him forward to the base of the jump.

Getting back on the horse.....So to speak...

Today was my first time jumping after the disasterous Groton House Summer Classic. No, I didn't fall off, but after having 5 refusals total that day I had to think long and hard about how to continue. As we were fairly certain that the stops came from him not being sure he could do it in the slippery conditions and then my crappy riding, I thought I would give it some time and a few lessons to confirm this.

So I woke up this morning with butterflies in my stomach. On the way to my lesson I really thought long and hard about how and where I would like to see myself by the end of this season. Do I still want to event? Gawd Yes. Do I want to continue at elementary? Yes, the smaller sizes were too small. Do I want to be doing beginner novice by the end of Fall? Yes, to that too. But I actually realized a few things, too. I realized that in the past with Dancer, we'd have no problems at home but in competitions I'd get the stops...and we had a hard time re-creating them at home.

I went in to the lesson with a "game plan" in mind. Continue with me, working really hard to perfect the jumping skills on me. And then also speak with Mere about possibly riding him in a few competitions for me so I can watch him do it and love it. I can't say that she was *in love* with the idea, but I think that was more because she doesn't do a ton of competing of her clients' horses. When I asked her what it would entail for her to ride him (ie: how much money and training beforehand!), she said she needed to defer and speak with Denise (the other trainer at Scarlet hill) before coming with a game plan.

I felt better with a clearer direction. And thus, we started a gymnastic exercise. I think the BIGGEST visual I got was the "squeeze your boobs!" visual....hahahaha. I really want to jump ahead of the horse, but for some reason when I am told to squeeze my boobs together, my hands push me BACK in to the saddle and I don't jump ahead. Huh. Who'd a thunk it?! hehe. The other one that really helped was to make my self as "small as you can over the pommel" which in essence helped too. I have to say that having myself all "tucked in" like that made me feel SOOOO much more competent and less like I was flailing about!

So our gymnastic exercise was like a figure 8 that we had to canter around through and keep the boobs smooshed inwards. We had to turn left off a sharp curve and start a jump, then about 7 strides to another jump, turn hard right to another jump and then 7 strides to the last jump. I didn't have many "OH THAT SUCKED" moments! BUT, I did have one where I got ahead and wanted to jump for him - and he actually propped as if to say, "Look Lady, I thought we had an understanding....you stay back and I'LL jump first!" He DID go, but for a split second I thought we were going to have a stop. Way to illustrate a point, Buck!

I came out of the lesson MUCH more confident than going in! I'm not 100% sure where we'll end up going, but I do know that I'm going somewhere ;)

Groton House 3-Phase Schooling Event

So I guess I do need to write about this outing. I'm usually good about documenting things, especially events, but this time I needed time to think about it.

The short of it is I just should've stayed home. It was a nasty, misty/rainy day and Buck was just not his full self today.

Dressage wasn't terrible. We ended with a 34 pp which put us tied for 7th place. He uncharacteristically spooked at the dressage judge's booth as I walked him past it. Like he has never SEEN one before??? This one *was* painted like a stone wall type thingy so maybe that threw him off???? Anyways, we had good parts, including his left canter which he got nicely but unfortunately broke early on (but promptly picked it back up again). Also during our right trot circle he thought I wanted him to walk instead of trot? Apparently I must have tipped ever so slightly forward and he stopped.

We walk the cross country and stadium courses with my instructor. I wasn't thrilled with the cross country course. Everything seemed "big" to me in the beginning. The first fence was a moss covered ugly log. The second fence was a haybale jump (on the tall side of the bale) in a fence line. It wasn't particularly scary but there was A LOT to look at on the approach, including a stumpy thing with lots of "gook" growing out of it right on the left of the fence about 2 feet in front of it. Anyways, I'll get more to cross country after the stadium part, because that's what we rode first.

So the stadium course looked wickedly easy. Nothing we hadn't seen at Apple Knoll on Wednesday, and no scary stuff under the fences. It was also in sand footing, so I knew we'd be fine.

NOT. Stadium warm-up was in a grass area that had lots of terrain going on. He jumped the x-rails and verticals enthusiastically, but when we came to the first oxer he stopped. ????? First time this pony has EVER stopped, and it's at a boring oxer (it was an ascending oxer, too). Meredith tells me later that he had slid coming to it and she felt that he was worried about the footing and decided not to go. So I bring him around again and yes, we make it over. We take down the back rail, but we made it over. Meredith wants me to do it again, so I come again and he stops. At this point she tells me just to choose another fence and take it because it's now time for me to ride the course....eeek. I jump the vertical and it goes fine. So we go in to the jump round and I am CLEARLY rattled. Very upsetting for a horse to stop for the first time in the warm-up for BOTH rounds. (They ran stadium and xc back to back, so I warmed up once, did stadium and then went straight to cross country.)

I need to add a part in here about my history so that ya'll (all one or two of you readers) don't think I'm a nutso. My past horse Dancer, was a dirty, nasty, stopper. He'd "make believe" that he was going for a jump, and at the last (take-off) stride, he would just slam on the brakes, drop his right shoulder, rear/spin left and I fell off A LOT. I quit eventing last time because of this behavior. It just wasn't fun anymore and I wanted to keep my brain on. So I have some demons, and I've gone REALLY slow with Buck because I didn't want these "demons" to interfere with his training.

So we go in to stadium. Fence one is fine (it's a vertical), fence 2 is a bigger oxer and I rode the bajesus out of it - and he goes fine. Fence 3, 4 (another oxer), and 5 are fine too. Fence 6 - I asked him to trot before it because I was more comfortable and he stopped at it. I represented to it and he went....but the stopping bug is back in my brain. He jumps 7 no problem, but we got to 8 and he stops again (it's another oxer).....ugh. I represent and also ride like a bat out of hell and we get over the tiny little thang. And we finish over 9. So we racked up 2 stops and a rail at one of the oxers which added 12 penalty points.

Ugh. I go straight to cross country with these stops in mind and it just wasn't a great feeling. So OF COURSE it transfers.

We go out to fence 1 and he immediately sees it. It's cute because he kinda locks on it and is like, "I got it!". Fence 2 he did the same thing, but I got scared so I think I started riding backwards and he slowed to a stop. I represent and he goes willingly. Fence 3 is a canter through a field - and it was FUN!!!!!! We get to fence 3 and he sees it again and goes easily. Then we gallop through the field towards home. This is where it was most fun for me - we were going fast and the rain was pelting me in the face and I couldn't see a DAMN thing, hahahahahaha. It was fun! We slow down for fence 4, which is a really narrow faced coop. He goes fine over it though. Then we go in towards the Groton House water complex - I game plan to walk here because it looks a little slick and it's busy and very downhill here.....We walk and yep, he slips....but we trot off to our next fence which is a little log ramp thing. He kinda hesitated with this one, but didn't give any inkling of stopping. Then we snake around a slippery dirt path, and then in to the woods for fence 6. Fence 6 is a hanging ugly log. He hesitates but I think more because I was looking at it, not because it was scary. Anyways, then we go to fence 7 which is a log roll top-y thing, which goes fine. And so does fence 8 (red coop), fence 9 - MY FAVORITE on course, WEEE, which is a cord wood pile, and fence 10 - a REALLY narrow faced table. We finally get to our last fence, fence 11 and have a bobble, but I am determined NOT to have another stop especially at the last fence and we basically crawl over the damn thing. (This was a 1/2 house type fence with turf put on the "roof" area for excitement....maybe Buck wanted to stop and eat it.)

Over all cross country was a blast. I kicked myself at the end of having the stupid stop at fence 2. I know in retrospect that it was my nerves getting the best of me.

So I am going to be working really hard with Meredith to fix some of my defensive riding flaws - and also to gain more and more confidence. And we'll go from there.

What I DID learn was that Buck is NOT a nasty stopper like Dancer. He stopped dead on straight and just stood there as if to say, "what do I do now, Mom?". I'm actually pretty happy about this in retrospect. At least he isn't mean about it. And he also WILL go afterwards if I present the question so he understands it.

I was pretty hard on myself yesterday. I actually was bawling when I finished and ended up asking Mike and Cady to go for a walk while I untacked and put the pony on the trailer. Now, looking back, I realize how silly I was being. I kinda realized today that IF I had DANCER now and had done THIS WELL at an event I would have been ESTATIC to have done so well on cross country, haha. So I am happy to have completed. And we ended up 11th out of 23, which in retrospect isn't THAT bad. So I'll take it for now.

Fence 2, 7 and 8 in stadium

A Cross Country School

Ugh. Another crappy ride with crappy weather!

Thursday night we had a deluge, and I'm not kidding you! Lake Theroux has returned in full force with about 4 inches of water in it. Eeek. Today Shannon and I went to Scarlet Hill for a lesson with Meredith. With the amount of water we receive I went in REALLY concerned that we may not be able to school cross country. Thankfully Meredith knows how much we need to school and lets us do a few fences.

First we warm-up in the indoor. Of course I'm in my jumping tack and I just can't get my leg on him as well in this saddle with my stirrups up 3 inches! The flatwork goes pretty well, so we go outdoors in the drizzle drazzle grossness which is now called Massachusetts!

We do a few logs to start with, and Buck does the "OMG A LOG" at the first fence again. haha. Definitely planning a good spanking before the first fence at Groton House! The rest of the logs he is great too, despite the footing being grassy/wet/mucky. I could hear the sloshing underneath his hooves and definitely rode more conservatively. Buck was conservative too, thankfully!

Our next test is a small log which we are told that a TROLL lives under. I LAUGH at Meredith saying, "IT'S JUST A LOG!" I say this partly for my own bravery, but also for Kisses (Shannon's pony) to hear....hehe. Kisses gets the message, but apparently Buck listens to Meredith and LAUNCHES over the tiny log like it's 3 feet, hehehehehehehe. WEEEEEEEE. That was actually kinda fun. I'm not sure if we got that response because Buck was FOLLOWING Kisses or because there actually WAS a troll under it ;)

We continue the lesson. One of the fences is a log roll top, probably about 2'3" or so, but on an uphill approach. We try it in the canter and the first time he WHAMS it with his hind leg. OUCH. Apparently I came back in the saddle too quickly, causing him to drop his legs. I learned my lesson there. The rest of the fences were ho hum. We walked over a 2' olive colored coop.....I didn't ride forward to it because I was REALLY concerned about the footing....so Buck decided to walk it. haha. Note to self: if you present the horse to the jump, you need to RIDE to the base and jump it with him. Duh.

I really felt icky about this lesson though. He jumped everything the first time, but it felt all wrong. When we canter fences he is getting SOOOOO close to the base of the jump that it is scary! Meredith tells me that he is being SMART about his spots because a pony of his size NEEDS to get to the base of the fence to get across some of the wider stuff. She says it's appropriate especially when fences slope away from us and have a wider base (such as a coop or rolltop). She also told me that I need to LET HIM choose his spots and stay back. I'm going to have to get used to all of this, because it's new!

Buck was really conservative with the footing. Meredith thinks he slipped on the take off when he hit the roll top, so it maybe that he really wanted to tone it down.

I am hoping that the footing on Sunday is better than it was today....and that maybe we'll be able to get in to a groove again out on course so he can gain confidence once more!

Apple Knoll Jumper Show

Ugh. Well at least I learned a ton!

So we land early enough for me to do a warm-up round. I go in and do a bit of walk and trot, and then go to pick up the canter. I go for fence one, a pretty simple vertical and Buck slows and then HOPS over it from almost a stop....Woah? What happened there?!?! He's been doing this a bit lately, like he can't figure out what the hell to do with his legs on take off??? The rest of the warm-up round was great. He didn't hit anything, we got the one stride in the combination and that was that.

Well I should've quit while I was ahead!

Our "real" round, I go in and pick up a nice bouncy canter. The good news is that NONE of these jumps look scary or big anymore! Bad news is that Buck feels this way too and feels like he can clobber them. We get in REALLY close to fence 2 and I think I must have been too far ahead of him, because he basically rearranges a few rails in between his legs. Time stops and I brace for a fall....well thankfully he finds his 5th leg and we kinda both stand there dazed and confused for a second. WTF just happened??? Well, we must go on. We regroup for fence 3, about 4 strides out and the rest of the course goes okay. He feels sluggish, but he jumps everything else clean. In particular fence 5 to 6 ride GREAT and I was VERY pleased with that. Fence 6 was on the short side, so we had to bend the line from Fence 5 to 6. Fence 6 was a fan oxer, which Buck had never seen before and it rode wonderfully. Fence 7A & B were a one stride, which we ended up trotting in and then getting two strides (hehe).

So the things I learned was that perhaps he might be a little more "surprised" at the first fence....I think I'll start beating his butt at the beginning, as that has gotten his attention in the past. I HATE starting that way, but it may be my only way to get him in front of me??? Also, I shouldn't be jumping 10 fences in my warm-ups, plus I shouldn't school the course before riding it in competition!

I also brought Cady with me and she rode in the leadline class. She did pretty well but ended up 2nd out of 2. She was pretty good though!

A ROLF (saddle) moment....

So I had a dressage lesson with Heidi this evening. It was pretty low key. I have a BIG event coming up on Sunday, so I wanted to get in with her and just work on some more canter.

His canter is really coming along, but I wanted eyes on the ground to confirm what I was feeling.

Well, he was MORE than ready to show me what he had tonight! hehe....I went to do the left canter. Heidi says, "when you have your trot, then ask him for canter...." So I prepare and I go to ask for canter in my usual fashion. Leg yield out and tap with the right leg.....Except I didn't get to tap - I just LIFTED my right hip to tap him and he went.......Insert hysterical giggles here for about 1/2 the 20 m circle we were working on.

When I got Buck he was not sensitive AT ALL. It about took a freaking 2x4 to beat him in to moving his barrel over, and forget flexing his neck and softening his jaw. Now he is so sensitive that he can feel me just releasing pressure. Pretty cool beans. I just can't believe how far he's come in such little time.

I was really worried about dressage for this weekend, but now I'm thinking I need to CHILL and just keep the outside aids active at "A".......

Doing what he was meant to do!

We originally bought Buckingham to be a leadline pony for Cadence. He was sooooo green when we bought him though that I needed to ride him and put some miles on his brain....

So today was Cady & Bucks 2009 show debut. They did do 2 shows last year - one at a tiny barn that was holding a tiny show (complete with stick ribbons) and the other at a bigger show.

Cadence is tiny and she's still young (5 on Tuesday!). Many of the kids in leadline classes are upwards of 7 or 8, and can post on the correct diagnol plus steer at the same time. So we've dealt with green ribbons every time Cady has shown (except one time last year when she got lucky and beat someone at egg & spoon!!!! hahahaha)...

Today was a bit different. She was *STILL* the tiniest one out there, but she was able to ride much better. This show required leadliners to trot around the indoor arena IN A GROUP for about 1 1/2 revolutions....and she did it! It may not have been pretty the whole time, but that was the longest time she ever had to trot :)

She still didn't win or come even close. But she was 5 out of 6 in both the leadline equitation and the leadline suitability (and I'm sorry, but I can't see how a jiggy, chomping on the bit, hot looking horse is suitable for a child, but I digress).

Buck was a star. Didn't flinch the whole time and put up with Cady saying, LINE UP NOW BUCK. Or TURN NOW BUCK as in she didn't have the patience to let the turn come around....haha. Sounds a bit like her mother!

Anyways, we got this joyous occassion ALL of video and pictures. And then the damn camera had an issue and LOST all of it. I was so mad. The OLD me would've said there will always be another show...but I know all too well that that one picture you take may be the last one ever taken of your beloved....horse or human. So I sulk.

But with any luck there WILL be another show. And Cady and Buck will be practicing for it :) And they will rock because I say so!

Okay, maybe Scarlet Hill is the place to be!!!

This is an aside from the original reason for the post, but I've got to say...EVERY TIME I go to Scarlet Hill Farm for a lesson I always either meet really COOL people OR I reconnect with really COOL people from the past! Today was no different. I ran in to Tori from UNH, circa 1999 (?!). We used to board our horses together up there, and while we had different majors and really never saw eachother, we did see eachother enough to know eachother 10 years later....And THEN there was Lesli, who I did Kingsbury Hill Adult Camp with in 2000....Both of them have horses at Scarlet Hill, and I met up with them again. It is so funny to see old faces - I love it!

So anyways, back on track. Shannon and I had another jumping (stadium) lesson with Meredith this afternoon. The lesson didn't look too promising when we first got there - the arena had recently been dragged and all the jumps were in a heap. Not to worry though - Mere's working students SWIFTLY created a jumping ring that anyone would be proud of, haha. Shannon has an event this weekend, so it was her turn to set the bar for what we worked on. She wanted more scary stadium stuff, and that she got!

I want to make another brief aside to tell a little more about Shannon, as it really pertains to this lesson and blog entry. Shannon and I go way back - 1999 - I think is when we met. She has always been an incredibly beautiful rider to watch - she has great rider's conformation AND she is graceful. She got "Kisses" about a year ago after he had some "naughty" issues at his old farm....and she's been reschooling him ever since. Shannon has always said he has a naughty stop in him, but I am HAPPY to say that I have only ONCE seen it (and that was at a ditch)....but every other time she proves herself wrong. I know that's ONE time that someone doesn't mind being wrong - since I've been there and done that myself! Anyways, that little pony of hers is QUITE the cute little jumper!

Anyways, back to the lesson. So I've been working Buck now in the KK Ultra French Link bit (whereas we were in a french link boucher a while ago). I've also been working with the DQ down the street....So today I decided that I would jump in the KK bit, but use the Figure 8 bridle, and see what happens.

Well, WE HAVE A WINNER. We started the ride today with a bit of walk/trot/canter warm-up, as always. Buck felt very soft and supple. Yay for Buck. We then started our jumps - first a x-rail, then a x-rail two strides to a vertical. Then a vertical two strides to a vertical. We continued the same line, and Meredith started adding "filler" for the jumps to test our ponies and their spook factor. We started making courses out of all of the jumps they had set.

I'm not going to begin to try to remember the sequence of all of our little courses, but I'll describe some of the lines we did. We typically rode a line to another line, to sometimes a stand alone jump, and then changed the flow to add or subtract or move something...if you get my jist.

Our first line we always started with was a gymnastic line. This one always rode funny for me because of the end part. We trotted in over a small x-rail, one stride to a 2' vertical, and then two BENDING strides to another vertical. The bending part was the part I had problems with. It wasn't that the horse can't bend, but it was hard for me to get my brain around trying to RIDE and jump that quickly. It was great practice, and thankfully by the last round I *think* I got it right.

We also had the two stride line - one fence was a flower box and the second fence was BARRELS. Now barrels were not a huge deal for Buck, as he has jumped other "barrels" before (mainly whiskey barrels, haha!). But this was a HUGE accomplishment for Shannon. Apparently last summer she couldn't get Kisses NEAR barrels, let alone OVER the barrels on the FIRST try!!!! YAY Kisses!!!

Another line we had was maybe a 5 stride line - brush box to a vertical (which in the end Mere made a 2'4.5" oxer, hehe).

Finally we added the dark blue "Scarlet Hill Farm" panel jump and a SKINNY vertical!

Buck was VERY good to almost all of these jumps. The parts he got in badly were rider error. The, uh, rider had some technical difficulties at one point CIRCLING because said rider LOST HER STIRRUP?!?! That NEVER happens, so why it happened THEN was beyond me, hehe. If we were in competition I would've gone for it and we would've been fine, but no need to kill either one of us. We did pull 2 rails at some point, but again I think it was more to do with crappy riding and learning when to walk the fine line of putting the pedal to the medal vs just cruise. Both rails were when I misjudged and just tried cruising.

The overall and most EXCITING thing I took home today was the feeling of ADJUSTABILITY I am FINALLY getting in Buck's canter. There were many spots today where Buck either had to lengthen or shorten his stride to jump properly and by far and large, he did it! I have had days where I thought I would NEVER have that kind of ride on him, and to have it come so quickly was really exciting. I think a lot of this comes from a. me remembering how to ride, b. me trusting him more and c. his strength building so it's easier for him. Oh, and I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that he is soft in his jaw and neck - which makes it EASIER for me to ride him!

Our final course was the gymnastic line to the panel, to the barrel two stride line, to the 5 stride line with big ass oxer, to the skinny and then Mere had me add back the yellow brush box. This would've been a bending line from the skinny, but when I landed I didn't feel I had the pony to work the bending line, so I decided to jump it on an angle - which went very well!

Interestingly enough, that last course was, I think, the best course we have done to date. Also the most technical, the most looky, and THE MOST HUNTER-ish he has been to date as well! Now I'm not aiming for a hunter pony. But I would like one that knows his job, does it with relative ease and enjoys it. I had that today, so I'll take it!

I was originally going to take him to the Apple Knoll Jumper show tomorrow....but I think I'll scratch that idea. He was fantastic today, and I want to reward him by not tiring him out too much over the jumps. He felt a little tired today - and I need to buy more oil for his feed because I think it makes a big difference.

A Dressage Lesson

I live down the street from a dressage boarding facility. The owner, Heidi Venuti, dabbles in teaching as she has a full time job. I decided a few weeks ago to take a lesson with her because "something just wasn't quite right" and my regular eventing instructor, Meredith Scarlet, was not able to schedule a lesson during my free time.

Our first lesson revealed how VERY locked in the jaw Buck has become. Or was. It wasn't anything I didn't already know, I just couldn't figure out WHAT he was doing and how to fix it. Heidi rode him that day for about 45 minutes, just working his jaw and getting him soft.

So after that lesson, I was able to maintain the softness (thank goodness) and am now able to focus on other things.

Today's lesson was more of the same, but we worked more on my position and what I do that affects his way of going. One of the main things I found last week is that he goes much less "hectic" when I've removed the spurs. Heidi also added today that perhaps I am using TOO MUCH leg and that I should just drape them (and not nag) and either "BAM" him to get him forward OR use whip....but NOT both at the same time. This discussion led to also experimenting with my upper body and what it does to him. When I slouch, he wants to stop. When I sit up, shoulders back and relaxed and let HIM move my hips he strides much more through. Woah. This BIG guy is MUCH more sensitive than anyone could ever imagine such a "lug" being!

In addition, we discussed my NASTY habit of constantly grabbing the inside rein. I don't think I did this as much with Dancer, but with Buck I have always felt kinda like I lack steering. In an effort to maintain the circle, I've taken to pulling on the inside rein. Now we ALL know it's inside leg to outside rein. I've ridden this way, and I've taught this way, so WHY it is so hard to leave alone is beyond me.

So my homework until the next lesson is to leave the inside rein alone. Also use less of a nagging leg....and to continually work on slowing the canter down. It is *almost* there tracking right....but tracking left is much harder for him. I believe this is a strength issue, and I know his right hind is weaker. Hence the problem being in the left canter.

Anyways, we were both very satisfied with his softness and self-carriage in the trot. He was nice and relaxed, and that was a wonderful thing.

It is hard for me to remember that this little Pony is still only 6 years old. (He'll be 7 in August.) He is so very smart and willing to please. I am so lucky :)

Green Acres....is the place to be!

So with our previous successes at Weenie and Green levels, I decided to up the ante and see what this pony is REALLY made of. Up to this point I didn't really have any goals, but I did want to compete in the Groton House Summer Classic - which only offers Elementary level and Beginner Novice level divisions. This meant that I would have to be ready to jump 2'3" courses, and rather than make a fool out of myself at Groton House, I opted to "try it out" beforehand.

There is a local event that runs a series....This event, Green Acres Stables Event Series, has a bit of a groupie following. Seriously, some people live and breathe for this event. Before signing on to this event I did attend a cross country schooling clinic taught by Nancy Guoyotte. I found the "pre-elementary" jumps to be too small for where we were at in our training, so I decided to just GO with it and do the elementary division.

Now this could've been the biggest mistake in Buck's training. I figured it was kinda risky considering that on May 17th we'd done the 18 inch division, and then by May 31st we'd be doing 2'3" division. That's a pretty large jump in a horse's training....but we had previously been schooling up to beginner novice (2'7") heights. Plus Buck is no "ordinary" pony. He's very laid back. Is happy to do what I ask (most times) and doesn't get rattled with excess traffic and excitement. In short, he acts like a 20 year old pony who has been there and done that....but in reality, he had NEVER been off the farm (or on a horse trailer) until I bought him.

So anyways, the week beforehand I panicked. I stayed up all night long (kinda like tonight!) and I rode hard. Not only was this a move up in terms of jumping, but this was also a move up in dressage as we had to actually ... CANTER ... in a dressage test. WOAH NELLIE.

Finally the day came. Before I knew it I was at the event and ready to puke. Okay, I'm not really the puking kind of rider, so I didn't almost puke....but I was edgy and just wanted to get the SHOW on the road already! I warmed up for dressage and he was WONDERFUL. Very light in the hand (relatively speaking), responsive and ready to go.

Well somewhere between the warm-up ring and the dressage ring something happened. We got in to our test and it all but fell apart! I suspect that most of this has to do with the fact that when Buck is nervous he locks his jaw and basically communication stops there. EEEEEEk. The first canter transition is basically blown as he attempts to pick up the wrong lead. I correct him quickly and we manage to SOMEHOW stay in the arena. This test is an EVIL test because ALL of the trot and canter circles are to be done at "A"....which JUST so happens to be where the break in the arena railing is....HULLO. WHO designed this test for green horses and riders???? Anyways, this would be one of my least stellar dressage tests EVER, but we still manage to score a 37.8. The Video shows that it was not nearly as bad as I had feared. In fact, my overall feedback for my own test is SLOW THE TEMPO DOWN, DINGBAT...whereas in the arena I felt that we were REALLY lazy.

Anyways, with dressage down, I am now free to concentrate on cross country - the real scary part of the day. So after waiting forever, I am FINALLY in the start box and it's time to go. Our first fence on course is a wee little brown coop (which we jumped at the xc schooling clinic) and to my surprise he actually offers to STOP at it!!!! I say, "LIKE HELL you are stopping at the first weenie fence on course" and he jumps it. I beat him with my stick once between fences and he gets the idea - go forward or else. The second fence is a largish log (maybe 2'?) with a nice inviting large face. We have no problems with this fence whatsoever. That beating helps. Our third fence is another LITTLE log, but the approach is downhill. The downhill evens out just before the log, but the landing is a bit of a drop. He jumps this with no problem.....and so we canter off to my "bugaboo" fence on course. Fence 4 is a max (2'3") brown rolltop. Not a BAD fence but the face of it is about 8' and there is NO wing on the right side. Buck definitely gets behind my leg at this fence - if I even had my leg on...haha. Anyways, it jumps terribly, but we get over it on the first try. Phew. Fence 5 is the same log as fence 2 (just going at it backwards this time). It's fine....and then we come to a BIG ASS LOG in fence 6. YIKERS. This is the one that AWESOME friend Shannon tells me NOT to walk too close to when we are walking. (The theory being that the closer you get to it, the bigger it looks. I have tested this theory before and it is definitely true.) Anyways, this fence actually jumps really well, phew. On to fence 7, which is a set of whiskey barrels with quite a bit of "munch factor" in it.

(When I say munch factor I mean that someone forgot to use the weed wacker around the base, and therefore the grass here is as tall or taller than the jump, haha!).

Whiskey barrels jump fine. Now we are to fence 8 - which is one FREAKING wide ugly log, with a downhill approach, very narrow face with mega run out factor to the right. The log is doubly yucky because the left 3' of the log are larger and bumpy, which gives you about a 4' area of optimum jump factor. Right, this one jumps fine, too. Phew.

We continue down the hill and bang a left in to the other field. We go around a bunch of jumps and go to fence 9, which is - SURPRISE - another log - a small one - maybe 18" but also with a drop on the exit. I trot this one. Actually, I trot *most* of the downhill portions. Buck is ALREADY built downhill, there's no reason to further handicap him! After this point I walked a few seconds. Yes, I walked. I had planned to walk at some point in the course. I needed a mental break, and I was really worried about Buck's fitness and breathing. We are still battling the breathing issues AND this is the longest, most terrain and biggest course we have ever jumped.

The walking actually didn't last for too long. It just didn't feel "right" and Buck agreed. We trotted down the rest of the hill and jumped fence 10 - a BIG jump. This one was haybales with a telephone pole suspended over them. I did actually walk right up to this in my course walk - and yes, it was between Beginner Novice and Novice heights. There is NO WAY this should have been on an elementary course - BUT it rode beautifully, so there.

We had to snake through a bit of a mucky area....we may have walked a few steps before regrouping for fence 11 - an ugly railroad tie type oxer thingy. Fine. Then we cantered back towards home and jumped fence 12 - a max red coop (and Buck actually HIT this one, so I know he's feeling tired at this point). Continued up the hill screaming, "YOU'RE GOING TO DO IT BOY, JUST ONE FENCE LEFT!!!!".....

Haha, fence 13 is a small loggy type thing that jumps fine....and then, as I'm cantering to the finish lines I see....wait, ANOTHER FENCE!!!!! haha. On the course map there were 14 jumps, but when I walked I only saw 13. Well thankfully I was paying attention enough to see this one last minute log thrown in for good measure. This one jumps fine, too.

PHEW. We went clean. And then, I am brought to tears. I realize how so very thankful I am for Dancer bringing Buck in to my life. I have ALWAYS firmly believed that Dancer brought us together because we found Buck just 3 days after Dancer passed....and while our life with Buck has been interesting (with the breathing issues), it has also been very exciting. I am FINALLY able to say that I am an eventer. (Yes, it's still not a USEA recognized division, but we will get there....)

One more phase. The stadium course is Buck's nemesis. He could really careless about stupid PVC rails, and he also knows exactly where they all are. The course has a few oxers - which we haven't jumped since December - on it, plus a rollback turn and a bending line. Should be interesting. I go in with instructions to RIDE YOUR PONY you idiot! hehe. And I do....except the two jumps with PVC rails - we clip them and they come down. Well, the rest of the course was pretty good, so I'm happy with it.

FINALLY I check the scoreboard. I was 3rd after dressage, but ended up dropping to 4th after the rails in stadium. I am still TICKLED with this result. More tickled that we had no stops on xc!!!!

This feels like a huge victory in my heart and my brain. I don't think I'll EASILY get over Dancer's naughtiness....but I am finding myself trusting Buck more and more, which allows me to ride better. How cool is that?

So our next event is Groton House Summer Classic. And I will not make an idiot out of myself because now I can CONFIDENTLY go in to the event knowing that if I ride, my pony will jump it! And that's all I need to know for now :D

Cross Country at Green Acres
Stadium at Green Acres

Everyone else is blogging....

So I guess I'll join in the fun! Seriously, it seems like a great way to capture the daily excitement...plus it makes it easier to scrapbook later.

I don't intend to write in this thing every day, but I do intend to keep it eventing adventures related....so if you're not in to horses then this blog is NOT for you! I do have to say that I'm a bit self concious about this whole thing because a few of my friends are EXCELLENT writers...and me? I just kinda tell it like it is with no fluffy words or descriptions. So there you have it.

Since I am starting this soooooo late I guess I need to put some background in to this blog. Sort of catch you all (haha!) up on where life is and what not.

In a nutshell, I have little to no experience in "eventing". I have experience in "trying to event" in that the horse I had before (RIP Dancer) was a naughty, NASTY stopper. So I'd try to event and sometimes I'd suceed, but most of the times I'd end up wasting the entry fee. Serioulsy it would've been better for me to put all my money towards buying a new horse, house or even just saving it! haha.

Dancer died in June 2008....which led me to buying a Welsh Cob pony, Buckingham, for my daughter....He was green broke - maybe 10 rides on him - and none of that was faster than a walk (and one trot when I test rode him!). And his job was to be a pony club / leadline horse for my daughter....but somewhere along the way I realized that I am having FAR too much fun with this little guy. At the end of August 2008 I popped him over some ground rails and he never said no....So I entered the little bugger in a 2-phase "Derby" competition at the end of September 2008.

Buck's first foray in eventing was at Echo Ridge Two Phase in Lee, NH. We won the division. Now mind you the jumps were 12" tall....but there were certainly things he had never seen before, with all sorts of terrain to deal with as well....so we were off to a good start. We went back to Echo Ridge in October and won the same division again. Alright, this is too easy, so I enlisted in some help and decided to "go for it".

Fast forward through a VERY FREAKING LONG WINTER....

We had some breathing issues in the winter, and then some soundness issues in the Spring. I ended up entering him in his first 3-phase at Apple Knoll Farm in Millis, MA. I believe they called the division Weenie. Oh, wait. That is what I called the division. I think the max height was 12-18"....I wanted a good outing and this was the first time that we had done cross country in competition. We got 2nd place at this little event - and would have won had it not been for a LOUSY rail in stadium over a 12" cross rail. Seriosly Buck, pick up your damn feet!

Dressage at Apple Knoll
Stadium at Apple Knoll

The next event we went to was another small one at Groton Pony Club in Groton, MA. We entered the "Green" division which had 18" jumps. Moving up in the world! Well, we got the GIFT of a lifetime in dressage with a score of 23.5. Seriously. Who gets those scores??? Certainly NOT an old plow horse used to hay fields and what not....but on this day, the old (young) plow horse DID get that score and the competition was ours to lose. But we didn't lose. We had a rail in stadium but we still won.....

Dressage at Groton Pony Club
Stadium at Groton Pony Club
Cross Country at Groton Pony Club

And now, I will post our first OFFICIAL event report in my next entry....