The Most Amazing Horse in the World...

Sophie's new name is "The Most Amazing Horse in the World". Yes, that's right, she is now the most amazing horse in the world. I mentioned yesterday that she was very good after being longed when I tried my newly flocked saddle and I wasn't sure why. Well, today she was even better, and I have another possible reason, though can remove one from the list.

I warmed up while Kim was giving a lesson and the little girl was practicing barrels, Sophie didn't care. Kim's daughter was riding her young barrel horse, often cantering around the ring, Sophie didn't care. She didn't care about the clucking, she didn't care too much when the first horse left and she cared even less when the second horse left.

She was on the bit, round, soft, and wasn't tossing her head at all. We warmed up with 20 meter circles all over the ring, then went to leg yielding on the long sides, starting at less than the quarter line and moving further out from there. She was great, especially when I remembered to use my outside aids when turning for the quarterline.

She did really good leg yielding to the right and then we changed across the diagonal and cantered a 20 meter circle to the right, working on the upward and downward transitions as well as maintaining jump in the canter, keeping her round, and not asking for a bigger canter with my seat at the same time.

We had a break then and worked on leg yielding to the left, which didn't go so well, she wasn't nearly as responsive to my right leg though, and was very forward today, so I had some trouble with the leg yield to the left until I started utilizing the right rein, and then they got better. After that we reversed at the trot and I had my best change of whip ever. She stayed round and forward the entire time I switched it, then I fell forward after that and she walked, but it was a good sign. Then we cantered to the left and worked on transitions for a bit.

We ended the ride with sidepassing around the corners to work on her moving off my leg. We quickly learned that she gets a little anxious, so we can't do two corners in a row, instead we have to do a corner and then a lap, then do a corner again. After we did the exercise a few times she was much quieter though, and started to stay soft and round while leg yielding and we were able to use just a long side in between. We only did corners 6 or so times and she got much better about it, she also was trying to stop at the original corner when we passed it after just three times.

I couldn't believe how wonderful she was today though. There was one point during our warm up where I whacked her beind my leg with the whip because she was losing momentum, and after riding without a whip yesterday my legs were already tired and sore. After that, she was full steam ahead with no encouragement from me! But it also meant that when I tried to emphasize my right leg moving her left she sped up rather than sideways. So I plan to work more on the sidepassing to work on her sensitivity and my transitions.

Oh, and when the saddle fitter was here, looking at my saddle, she said "wow, you've really been taking good care of this", I thought it was funny, lol. I made sure to clean it tonight because I had to run yesterday after the saddle fitting was done and didn't have time to do anything but put Sophie away and get home to change for class. So, today was great, and I forgot that Sophie's been on Raspberry Leaves for just over a week, so who knows if they are a big contributing factor to her new attitude under saddle, but I'm not complaining!

*This* is why I bought an Albion...

The saddle fitter came out today and reflocked my saddle. It feels so much better, more like the trial saddle that I borrowed from the tack store that led me down the Albion road in the beginning. Sophie was *not* happy about being in the barn by herself, but she was pretty good. I did longe her before riding and she was a bit of a brat on the longe (makes me think I ought to longe her a couple of times a month just as a refresher) but she was great when I rode her. I left my whip behind and she was great, walking, trotting, cantering. There was less head tossing than normal as well (actually, none), but I don't know if that's because she worked out her kinks on the longe, the chiro visit, or the reflocked saddle. I have a lesson tomorrow and then 2 a week after that because Kim is leaving for Florida on 10 December and I want to get a lot of lessons in before she goes and I'm on my own.

I Rode Today!!!

This morning I went to the barn and groomed Sophie. I decided to try riding and saddled her up, she was a good girl, and after more eye drops I hopped on. She was great. Of course, I had to get off to pick up the dressage whip after a lap around the ring. Ever since my first lesson here I'm just a little nervous riding Sophie, but she's been great, so I think I can trust her enough to get on with the whip. We mainly trotted serpentines and worked on leg yielding in each direction. She did really well, she was getting nice and soft by the end of the ride and was also round. I only rode about 15 minutes, then stopped, because I was starting to get sweaty and I'm not supposed to sweat yet.

My eyes are doing great today, drops are a little further in between, but they are still needing them every 4-6 minutes really. But it's easy get distracted from the dryness and they didn't bother me at all at the barn. I'd love to know where Sophie is getting her dust baths though. She is chestnut when I see her every day, because of her thick dust coating. And she still loves having he mane brushed. She couldn't care less about anything else, but her mane (and her udder cleaning, loves that too).

I'm hoping that tomorrow I get to stop doing eye drops (steroids and antibiotics at least), it's one week since my surgery and I have yet another's doctor's appointment tomorrow. We'll see though!

Oh, and one thing I'm really excited about, we've been walking the cats! We have little harnesses for them and leashes and let them wander the yard in them. They loved it so much that we're getting them a stake and really long lightweight leashes so that they don't have to depend on us paying attention. We'll sit outside with the the entire time and keep an eye on them. Especially Elphie, since she only lasted 30 minutes outside last night, Kitty spent an hour exploring the yard. Elphie is much more timid than Kitty. I just hope this doesn't lead to them trying to escape when we go in and out. I took Kitty outside for five minutes this morning and she yowled when I brought her back in, then she sat by the back door and yowled, while looking at me, for a few minutes.

And finally, my blog has won an award! My first, so I'm pretty excited. The Knutson Family gave me the Arte y Pico Award. I've copied info about the award from her blog and posted it here...

"This prize has arisen from the daily visits that I dedicate to many blogs which nourish me and enrich me with creativity. In them, I see dedication, creativity, care, comradeship, but mainly, ART, much art. I want to share this prize with all those bloggers that entertain me day to day and to share this prize with those who enrich me every day. Doubtlessly, there are many and it will be hard to pick just a few. The people I will name today deserve this prize, as do the very long serious list of bloggers I also enjoy to read. But I will name the first 10 and leave the rest of the work to all the bloggers that visit other's blogs and are nourished by them."

The rules of the award are as follows:
1. You have to pick 5 blogs that you think deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also for contributing to the blogging community, no matter what language.

2. Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.

3. Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.

4. The award-winner and the one who has given the prize must show the link of the “Arte y Pico” blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award. http://arteypico.blogspot.com/

I would like to give this award to the following blogs...
1. When Lilies Fly... http://flyinglilies.blogspot.com/ Lilies are my favorite flower for one, beautiful and fragrant! Plus it's a fun blog to read and always has great pictures.

2. Dressage Life... http://dressagelife.blogspot.com/ Another great blog with loads of pictures in addition to great information.

3. The School of Life With Horses... http://inclined2ride.blogspot.com/ One of my remaining links to the pleasure horse world, she also posts lovely pictures of her horses to go with her blog.

4. MiKael's Mania... http://risingrainbow.blogspot.com/ How could you not when she posts pictures of stunning Arabian horses in almost every post?

5. Grey Horse Matters... http://greyhorsematters.blogspot.com/ This is one that I recently started reading, but once again, pictures of Arabian horses! She has done a spectacular job with some rescued Arabians and posts loads of pictures of them for those of us following their story vicariously.

Shameless Saddle Love...

Quite a few people have found my blog by searching for my saddle, the Albion Platinum SLK Ultima. I thought I'd post a little more about it, since everyone's finding my buying the saddle entry, but nothing about owning the saddle. Plus, I took some pictures of my new saddle (testing my camera eye, so sorry if the pics are fuzzy!) and wanted to share them. The Platinum refers to the fact that the saddle has a Genesis tree. The front half of the tree is removable, and can be replaced with any shape/width of tree, so basically this saddle will fit *any* horse I buy in the future, if I have the front part of the tree changed out. It does not simply widen or narrow like most adjustable tree saddles though. It is physically removed and replaced.

Something I was surprised by in my saddle search is that basically *everything* on an Albion can be customized. The flap length, seat size, blocks, tree shape, twist, etc, etc. If customized is the only way to go for you, definitely look into Albions, they are just as customizable as Custom Saddlery or whatever else is out there, especially if you aren't comfortable doing the measurements yourself. I have a Custom Saddlery saddle and while I love it, I just wasn't willing to spend that much money on a saddle that I had to fit to my horse myself, and there was an Albion rep in my area a few times every week. I also received a girth and leathers as a part of my purchase.

So, on to the pictures...don't forget, if you click on the picture it opens up full size! This is a full side view.

Front view...

Closer up view of the front, you can see how wide and flat miss Sophie is by checking out the tree.

They aren't kidding when they say Platinum, even the keepers for the excess stirrup leathers are padded!!!

The back, the detailing on the saddle is absolutely lovely.

Saddle info, in case I ever forget how big my butt is!

More detailing, the silver "button" is what distinguishes a "regular" Albion (which has a red button) from a Platinum.

Stirrup bar and stuff, fortunately the stirrups were very easy to put on!

The free girth! It's padded and super too.

Close up of the buckles, and the red logo.

Logo patch on the girth.

This is the side of the girth that goes on the horse, you can see how soft it is!


If anyone has any questions about the saddle, just ask! I'll do my best to answer them. I don't think it's been around for too long, and I have trouble even finding info about the Genesis tree on the Albion website!

Now, on to my day. It was another day of sleeping until noon and putting drops in my eyes. My mom and I went to my favorite Mexican restaurant and then to the barn. Sophie actually nickered at me when she saw me, I'm not sure if it's because she was happy to see me, or if she was hoping I was going to feed her since it was 2 hours until feeding time!

I took Sophie's lavender salt block holder and her mineral salt block and hung it in her stall for her. It occurred to me that while Sophie has a communal salt block in her pasture, she'd probably like to have one of her own, in her stall. And it turned out I was right, she *loved* it!!! Licking on it and biting on it as soon as I slid it into place. I also brushed her, fly sprayed her, and brushed out her mane/tail. She loved her mane being brushed, her head was drooping and her eyes half closed. But of course, when I went to brush her she walked away. I'll never understand how *I* ended up with a horse that doesn't like to be brushed.

So, that was my day. I really want to ride, but can't go for very long without putting drops in my eyes. Though the 20 minutes I spent at the barn (wearing my chemistry goggles) went ok. Maybe tomorrow, but we'll see. I kind of doubt it, though today I went longer without drops on average, and the vision in my right eye was improved over yesterday! I was a little worried at the doctor's yesterday because they said to call them if my vision got worse. But fortunately it hasn't.

And sorry, once again, if the pictures are blurry, they look clear to *me*, which isn't saying much at this point!

I Went to the Barn Today!

I had yet another doctor's appointment today, and went to the barn right after. DH was great and bought me a pair of chemistry type goggles so I put them on for my journey to the barn because I can't afford to get any dust in my eyes. Sophie was very happy to see me and wasn't phased one bit by my goggles. I gave her some treats and then a quick brush off before fly spraying her really good. Then I cleaned her stall (the new kid didn't do a great job yesterday) and gave her some more treats.

After the barn my mom and I went to the local feed/tack store where I got more peppermint horse treats, saddle cleaner, sponges, lavender longe line, and a Practical Horseman. I then cleaned my saddle once I got back home, twice, and "greased" it, as the warranty card says to, with lederbalsam (Passier, as opposed to the Albion brand, which I didn't buy). I'll wipe off the excess balsam tomorrow and put it back together (I did the girth and stirrup leathers as well). I really want to ride tomorrow, but I don't know if I will, plus it's supposed to thunderstorm so that could put a damper on things.

As far as my eyes, left eye is doing great, the doctor is amazed every time he looks at it and that it's just three days after surgery. Unfortunately, there's some inflammation in the right eye, and it was made worse by the bandage contact (which was removed today). So now I'm back to steroids every two hours in that eye. My follow up is Tuesday, one week from surgery. Hopefully everything is looking better by then!

I've Been Tagged!

The Knutson's have given me my first tag, so here goes...it's concerning 6 Things You May Not Know About Me.

1. I can go from 0 to bitch in -.6 seconds. I will go to great lengths to help someone out, especially if it is horse related. But if you treat me unfairly or piss me off I will hate you until either you apologize sufficiently or you die. This includes if you bitch me out on the phone for not delivering the horse I'm giving you for FREE because I think you'll give him a good home but he wouldn't load that day. You are not more important than me, your time is not more important than mine, and you're damn lucky I still delivered the horse at all.

2. I had a crush on my husband for nine months before we started dating. I never told him until after we started dating. I also accurately predicted when we would get engaged, married, and where our next two assignments would be within four months of starting to date.

3. I'm a grad student, getting my Master's in Engineering Management. Normally I'm in the Air Force, working as a Civil Engineer.

4. When I was little, I wanted to cure the Ebola virus. I think I memorized "Hot Zone".

5. I've lived in five different places in the last five years (hometown Ohio, NYC, NJ, Korea, and now near Dayton OH). I was one of the few people in my high school class that didn't want to go far away from our hometown and was also one of the few that actually did. I've lived in the Bronx too, lol.

6. Six is my lucky number. I was born August 6th. Eight is my back up lucky number. I was born 08-06, weighed 8 lbs 6 oz, at 8:06 am. I also won a cake on a cake walk by landing on the number 6. I won Knox County Fair Equine Queen in 1996. I got engaged in 2006, and married when I was 26. My husband is the 8th man I've dated, 6th if you take out the couple that lasted less than two weeks!

And now...an update on my eyes!
I had a doctor's appointment today. My flaps looked good, but my eye still hurt a lot. Turns out there's a problem with my epitheleal, so they put a bandage contact on that eye and I go back on Friday to have it taken out. The eye does feel much better now than it did, so hopefully it's healed by Friday, because I want to go to the barn! Oh yeah, right now I'm about 25/40, but I can still see great. My right eye is blurrier, but that should improve as my epitheleal gets better.

I brought my saddle home and have been sitting on it and admiring it and touching it while I'm laid up. It has a weird grayish film on parts of it, so I'm going to clean it really good while I can't go to the barn and condition it. I'm so excited, I can't wait to ride! I also emailed Sophie's sire's owner and her breeder with updated pictures.

The Saddle That Wasn't...

Wednesday and Thursday my stomach was doing flips, it was kind of like getting Sophie again, because I was about to start *riding* Sophie. I was excited and nervous and bouncing off the walls. But then the saddle fitter didn't call on Wednesday to let me know what time...or Thursday. I left a message on Thursday...but didn't get a call back. So I called Friday morning, first thing. She answered the phone and it turned out that her dad passed away sometime between Tuesday and Thursday (I didn't ask when). So I don't know when I'll be getting the saddle, she's the executor of her dad's estate and I have no idea what that entails, but I imagine she'll be busy for a while. Her dad fell ill before I started the saddle process and took a turn for the worse the day of our first appointment way back when. So it wasn't a surprise for her I don't think, but I'm sure she's still sad for the loss. So no saddle report. I have been working on pictures though, and thought I'd put some on the blog.

This is Varekai. He's a Hanoverian I think, he belongs to Kim and does Third Level. He has to stay by himself (which I don't think he especially enjoys) but is a really pretty shade of chestnut.

Terrific News...

My new saddle should be here on Friday! I talked to the saddle fitter today and she thinks she'll be able to bring it out on Friday, needless to say, I am very excited. She's going to be in the area for a show and was planning on bringing my saddle. After my saddle gets here I'm going to have a lesson ASAP and have Kim ride Sophie while I watch ASAP too. If the ride with Kim goes well I'm going to ask her to ride Sophie once while I'm at Breyerfest. Then have another lesson the next week and maybe another Kim ride while I watch.

After that it'll be time for me to have eye surgery and I won't be able to go to the barn while my eyes do the initial healing, so I was thinking it would be a good idea to ask Kim to ride Sophie three times during the week I'm out of comission. I think that'll give us a good leg up for getting started with our serious dressage training.

I did make it out to the barn today after the initial round of thunderstorms was over and took some pictures. I did take an apple for Sophie and at first she didn't want it because there was a huge puddle she had to walk through to get to me. Once I get the pictures done I'll be able to post an intro to Sophie's pasture mates at least. Anyway, have to go to bed as the husband is getting cranky and we have PT tomorrow. I figured a break wouldn't be bad for Sophie since I've longed her for the last two days and have been increasing the effort I'm asking of her. So I'll longe tomorrow and Thursday and then we'll be ready for our saddle on Friday!

Speaking of Tack...

How do you clean your tack? How often do you clean your tack?

I'm really torn on the tack front. I get a lot of pleasure out of cleaning my tack after every ride. It's relaxing, and makes me feel good to take care of my investment. And I like pulling out clean tack the next day. Plus, while I've never been in one, I've read enough Saddle Club to know that there are stables that require riders to clean their tack after every ride, right?

But I'm wavering on *how* to clean my tack. I started out using Leather New, a couple of sprays on a soft rag and a quick wipe down of my tack left it looking great. But then I read the back of the bottle, and it says you need to rinse the tack with a wet cloth after using Leather New. So I decided to switch to Leather Therapy Wash, because it says you don't have to rinse it off. Except I don't like the smell of it or how my tack looked after using it. So I decided to ask on UDBB and also read some old threads about it. It turns out most people recommend using *water*! A quick wipe down of your tack with a damp rag. My brain nearly imploded. Can I really just use water? So I've still been using the Leather Therapy to finish it up and plan on asking the Albion fitter when I get my new saddle what they say is the best procedure for caring for leather.

I've been thinking I may switch back to Leather New and fill the empty Leather Therapy with water and then try to rinse the leather off with and damp rag. But I don't want to buy anything until after I know what Albion recommends, that way I don't waste any money.

Saddle fitting...part 1...

The saddle fitter was out yesterday and she was great! Very friendly and explained everything clearly. She has to have a tree made for Sophie due to her being more U shaped than V shaped. But, I'm getting a Genesis tree, which means that should I need to use the saddle on another horse in the future I can have an Albion fitter take apart the front part of the tree and attach a new one that fits the new horse.

Sophie was a good girl for the trying of the saddle though. No tantrums or anything. We mainly walked and trotted. Julie loved her though. Apparently she has an Arab/Hanoverian cross yearling that looks just like Sophie. Same color and body type and star on her forehead. I'm going to send her the link for my website so she can show some pictures of Sophie to her filly's breeder.

I ended up ordering an Albion SLK Ultima Platinum. Lots of words, but I think it's a good investment, especially since this saddle's tree can be changed to fit just about any horse (as long as it doesn't have crazy high withers). Now I just have to wait the 5-6 weeks until the new saddle arrives. I'm hoping it takes less time, but who knows, since a hoop tree needs to be made of for it.

Saddle fitter comes tomorrow!

Sooooo excited. It will be nice to get a saddle that fits so I can start riding again. I found the perfect barn should we get Langely next spring, but I really need to kick my riding up a notch if I'm going to fit in. It should be easy, once we get started again, especially if I take 2 lessons a week as often as possible. It'll be interesting to see the process behind fitting a horse and a rider for a saddle.