Rode a couple of days ago...

I decided to ride Sophie bareback a couple of days ago and it went really well. She let me get on and we walked around a bit, did some circles and then tried some leg yielding. She went right over, very light off my leg and then we tried turns on the haunches and forehand. She was great. We even did some half passing, I think, or counterbent leg yielding, lol. If I get brave I may try *trotting* next time! I still can't wait for my saddle to come in though.

On a different note, here are a few pictures of Kim's baby, his daddy is Starlight, his mama is the black draft cross mare seen in the pictures. You can see the rest of the pictures here (http://www.jesterjigger.com/2008babyjune06.html).

Shedded out Sophie pictures!

This is Sophie when she came, a little over a month ago...




And this is Sophie now...(the rest of the pictures can be seen here...http://www.jesterjigger.com/2008sophiejune06.html)...

Silver linings...

Yesterday I went to the barn to see Sophie. Still no saddle but we've been bonding through grooming and mane braiding. I misremembered when Kim said the farrier was coming and by the luck of fate pulled into the drive as the farrier was working on Sophie's feet. So I was able to give him a check and watch him in action (as well as Sophie's behavior). She was a very good girl, even standing in the other barn, where she's never been before. She is a conundrum, sometimes she adapts to new situations without batting an eye and other times she has a meltdown as if the world is coming to an end. I'm very glad that getting feet done was not a meltdown situation though. Her feet look great though, I just hope she makes it to the next shoeing without losing a shoe.

I hung around at the barn for a while, talking to Kim, brushing/braiding/fly spraying Sophie, and just as I was getting ready to leave Hayley asked if I wanted to ride her horse that night. At first I was going to pass but remembered I had a pair of breeches in the trailer and of course my boots/helmet are always in the trailer. So I agreed to ride Hayleys horse and it was awesome, because it turned into a full blown lesson with Kim on a Third Level horse.

He was kind of lazy to my leg because he's used to spurs, was testing me, and my legs are much weaker right now than they were last fall, but we did pretty well together. I even managed to sit his trot pretty well, which Kim said is very hard for people to do on their first ride with him. One of the hardest things to adjust to was collecting him enough for his level. I kept trying to do a training level frame with him and not asking him to be up enough. But I muddled through.

We did a couple of neat exercises. After I got the aids down for walk/trot/canter/bend/etc we worked on shoulder in and travers down the long side. Then we worked on cantering a 10-meter circle where Kim pointed out that I had to think about moving the shoulders over to really get the circle size down, which makes sense as that's the feeling I had with Jessie when we were almost pirouetting in the past.

After I got the hang of cantering a 10-meter circle we had a short break and then worked on a new exercise. Trotting down the long side, first half doing shoulder in, then a 10-meter circle at the middle letter, then travers down the rest of the long side, repeat at the next long side. We did that a bunch of times in both directions and then started working on half pass!

First we started working on just half pass from the quarter line which proved pretty difficult for me. So then we started with going across the centerline and asking for shoulder in and then haunches in on the diagonal line. That worked a bit better, but what really helped was trotting down the long side, doing a turn so that we were on the quarterline and then half passing back toward the long wall. That got us the best results, but mainly the last few steps toward the wall. It was still fun though and a great learning experience.

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.

Jake's in his new home...

I'm not going to say much about it in a public forum, but it's pretty amazing how ungrateful and rude some people can be when you do something incredibly nice and generous for them. But, I guess some people just never grow up. Anyway, Jake is in his new home. The barn is ok...I wouldn't board there due to the horses having no shelter in the middle of summer (or ever), even though they are kept outside 24/7. The stalls are nice, and they have a nice indoor/outdoor ring. They had Jake go in a stall by himself in an empty barn and then didn't care/notice that he was getting worked up from a 3 hour drive and then being by himself. But, the barn owners don't seem to be the kind of people that really take the horse into consideration.


I was a little put off when they said the horses come in for 10 minutes twice a day to eat, and they don't mess around because the horses know they only have 10 minutes to eat and then they're back outside. Jessie would never get to finish his feed if he stayed there. But, I suppose there are worst places for a horse, and fortunately there are plenty of trails very close to the barn, so he'll be able to do lots of trail riding once he's ready. And the story about the horse having seizures twice in two weeks before they called the owners wasn't very reassuring either. Hopefully they'll mention something like that to Jake's new owner when they see her since she'll be out often, rather than waiting until it happens a few times to let her know.

Difficulties...

Well, supposedly Sophie has become hard to catch. Sid often has to leave her in the pasture while he takes Champ and Rosie in and then go back for Sophie. Today the saddle fitter was supposed to be out, so I left an hour and a half early so that I could catch her since I wanted her up and ready by the time the saddle fitter arrived. It's especially difficult because all of the horses are in grass fields, fenced in by electric tape, so no gate to make getting one horse out while keeping the others in a bit harder. So I got out and the horses leave the gate and go to the other side of the pasture. I'm worried, but head out into the field. The other two horses come up to me and Sophie is right behind them. They sniff my hands and then Sophie comes up next to me and takes the treat while I clip the lead on her, no problem. We leave the field, managing the gate despite its awkwardness and make it safely into the barn. Saddle fitter couldn't make it, but we rescheduled for Thursday.

First lesson done...

I had my first lesson with Kim on Sophie today. It was...interesting. Sophie was very upset to be in the arena and not out with the other horses, especially since they were being turned out for the day. So we started out with walking skinny serpentines, doing lots of changes of direction to get her focusing on me, not how miserable she was being alone in the indoor. After she was mainly paying attention to me we started adding in stops as well. Then I would ask her to walk forward solely by lifting my seat. Which she ignored, so I would back it up with leg (though not fast enough for Kim!). We worked on that for a bit and then Sophie decided she was still unhappy about being in the indoor and started flipping her head.

Kim told me to urge her forward, so I would give with my hands while sitting up straight and giving her an open window to be able to move forward. Eventually during a move forward phase she broke out trotting, so we ended up trotting lots of serpentines, with her trying to slow down to toss her head every now and then. But there were breakthroughs...sometimes after a head tossing episode suddenly her head would come down, she would round to the bit and move beautifully. We started doing circles as well and got loads of nice work and less head tossing.

By the end of the lesson we were trotting around the whole ring working on stretching down and out while performing the most amazing trot ever. At that point Kim said she was looking like a Trakehner now and it was wonderful. Kim said that we should score well though and the she's a really nice mover. So that made me feel a lot better about everything.

And an interesting side note, Sophie is the boss of her little group in the pasture, even though she's younger and smaller than the other two horses. But she tells them were to go and they do it. I was hoping to get to The Tack Trunk today to pick up another trial saddle, but I just couldn't make the drive after spending all morning at the barn. My body was pretty exhausted from all of the gardening and cleaning over this last week. So we're going to try to make it out tomorrow morning before meeting up with my sister. Not ideal, but I needed a three hour nap and wouldn't have made it after. Hopefully the perfect saddle is there, and I can look at the KK's.

Success...

Well, our first ride since moving her was a success. Craig came to the barn with me yesterday and we got her groomed as well as possible and then I took her for a spin. It stormed the day before, but the outdoor looked ok, so we headed there. Craig was leading Sophie and got out there first and told me..."it's all mud". I told him "that's ok". Then I closed the gate and stepped into the outdoor and water splashed up around my boot. It wasn't muddy...it was soupy. It was like a layer of arena footing over two inches of water. Crazy. So we turned around and headed back to the indoor.

The indoor was...interesting. there were cones and barrels *everywhere*. I could just imagine our ride viewing what lay before us. I moved everything off the rail while Craig walked Sophie around the arena. I made sure the girth was tight and then mounted up. Craig held the dressage whip while I warmed up a bit and got a feel for how she was going to handle the indoor. She was great, didn't look at anything or get spooked by the stuff on the ground or the sounds being made around the barn as people worked.

We just walked and trotted a bit, but she was a good girl. Kind of tense, which I attribute to either the saddle or the bit. Mine is a hollow mouthed eggbutt and her old bit looked to be a medium thickness regular eggbutt. So I'll get her a new bit from the feedstore and a saddle on trial at Equus Now when I make it up there.

Settling In...

Sophie is settling in great. She hates being alone in the barn though, so I'm trying SmartCalm on her to see how she does on it. I spent quite a bit of time currying her today and got a lot of winter hair off. I also discovered that she has dandruff all over her body, so I got some Listerine to mix with water to try to take care of that, and will also be starting her on Omega Horseshine to see if that helps with her coat at all.

After the brushing we worked on showmanship for a little while, she's super smart and was really picking up pivoting fast. I also led her to and from the barn to make sure that she minded her manners and didn't bump me while busy looking at something else.

Finally, I tried my saddle and her new bridle on her. I'm really not sure about the saddle, her back is shaped so oddly I don't know if *I* would be able to tell the saddle fits. Her new cob sized bridle from Bobby's fits great. The cavesson almost isn't big enough, but it fits fairly loosely on the last hole, so we'll go with it. The cheek pieces fit great and I'll have to double check the browband again, since I was too shocked by the bit to notice it. I tried Jessie's snaffle on her and it was way too small!

That's right, it was way too small. She has a much smaller head than Jessie, but her mouth is wider. I was so shocked. I'm going to stop by the feed store on my way to the barn tomorrow and see if I can get her a larger snaffle. I still can't believe how wide her mouth was! Maybe I'll ride tomorrow...maybe not. We'll see, lol.

Home Sweet Home...

Sophie is finally home! It's been weird, "having" a new horse, but only having seen her 5 times. Craig and I were running way behind schedule when we finally arrived at Linda's to pick up Sophie, so understandably, she had had to leave. Sophie was waiting in her stall though, and a little anxious about being alone since all of the other horses were in the fields. We got the trailer opened up and ready for Sophie and I gave Sophie a few treats while snapping the leadrope on her halter. I took her out to the trailer, hoping that it wouldn't take too long to get her loaded since I didn't know her style. I walked her up to the trailer and she lowered her head, sniffed the ramp, and then she walked right up and into the trailer. Craig got the back closed up while I snapped Sophie in and off we went. She travelled well and we arrived back at the farm around 5 pm.

I unloaded Sophie and other than whinnying once on the trailer she was an angel (not that whinnying once was a bad thing). She was a little unsteady backing off the trailer, but walked around calmly and showed little interest in meeting the geldings in the first paddock (including Jake).


The boys, waiting to meet Sophie (Jake is the one w/o a halter).

Jake and Sophie meeting.






Stretching her legs...














Two times she busted out this spectacular extended trot. Most of the time she was very springy, but not more so than Jessie.


It was after she did it again, I realized that she is indeed a terrific mover with a lot of potential for dressage. It was the first time I saw her trot like that, and it just about took my breath away.








The boys, checking her out.


Fuzzy, but I call it her ode to the Black Stallion.








Still enthralled...



And a quiet moment with her, giving her treats to help her recognize that I am someone to look forward to seeing. It was really sweet, she would follow me around after I gave her some treats.

Anticipation...

The day of moving Sophie is quickly approaching, and I am just getting more and more nervous. Lots of worrying about did I make the right choice for one. It's hard to buy a new horse, especially when the last horse you bought was 14 years ago...when you were only 13 years old, and you've pretty much been riding *that* horse ever since then. Then I worry about how my riding instructor (who will be returning from Florida next week) will like her. I never even told her I was looking for a horse, since I figured I needed to find one that I like because I'm the one that is going to have to ride it. I worry about how Sophie is going to settle in. Who will she be turned out with? How spooky is she going to be in her new surroundings?

And then there's the saddle issue. Should I buy a new saddle to take on trial for Sophie's first week home? It works out to go look tomorrow, on my way to my parents house, but how often will I even ride Sophie in the first week, as she settles in? I really don't think I'll ride her more than a couple of times, if that much between tomorrow and next Friday. So I think I'll hold off, even though I'm anxious to get going with this. But, I think I will buy a cob sized bridle, so stopping at the tack store won't be a complete waste.

Finally, on a less fretful note, I have been planning my return to riding. I've been reading Lessons for Lendon and plan on working on one or two of the lessons for each of our rides. She starts out working on some things that are important for Sophie and I, and I think it will help a lot. It's a great book, and if you've been thinking about buying it, I would. I got mine from Amazon, they were having a sale which made it cheaper than buying at Equine Affaire. The sale seems to be over now, but here's the link...http://www.amazon.com/Lessons-Lendon-Progressive-Competition-Practical/dp/1929164165/ref=pd_sim_b_title_30

Indecisiveness rules again...

Well, the plan has changed for the third (fourth?) time. It looks like it's going to thunderstorm on Friday, and we don't want to be picking Sophie up during thunderstorms, so that's a no go. It's also supposed to rain next Wednesday. Aargh! So the current plan is to pick her up on Sunday, when it should be in the low 70s and sunny. Then we will certainly have daylight to load/unload in and she may get to go straight from trailer to a paddock, where we can watch her settle in with some new friends (and take pictures!).

Finally, pictures from Friday...

I don't have any pictures of my lesson because Craig couldn't make it, and the pictures I do have are pretty lousy due to not having my Nikon D50 available (I was a good wife and let my husband take it to Cleveland for a karate black belt test). But I didn't want to come away from the trip empty handed, so I took Craig's old camera, it seems to be a Samsung Digimax or something like that.


I'm going to caption these pictures with what I hope she's saying and what she's most likely really saying (in parentheses).



Mommy! (Oh, it's you)



I'm not just thinking about coming over there, I can't *wait* to come over there! (Hmm, do I really think it'd be worth my while to leave my corner and come see you?)



I'm coming, I'm coming, I can't wait to see you! (Well, I have decided there is an 85% chance that you have a treat, and for those odds I am willing to walk 50 feet).



I'm so glad you came to see me! (Well?)



Even when I'm not looking at you I'm still paying attention to you. (Losing interest fa-ast...)



Oooh, I knew you loved me and brought me treats! (Gimme treats now!)



I'm so glad my mommy loves me and bought me watermelon treats because my old owner said that they were my favorite. (What the heck did she just feed me?)



Yum! (It's not getting any better).



Yum! (Nope, still not getting any better).



Yum! (I think it's getting worse...)



Yum! (What the heck is wrong with her, does she really think this is food?!?)



Yummy! (Ok, that's it, I really think she's trying to poison me)


These are just a couple pictures of Sophie modeling her new purple turnout halter. She was really much more interested in checking out the grass we were on, but she was a good sport for a few pictures.







I should mention, when I gave her another watermelon treat after grooming her she spit half of it out. Sigh. If her coggins is back in time we're going to move her home on Friday, so that the real bonding can begin. This was my 5th time visiting her if you count all of the times I looked at her too.

And she did look happy to see me. But that's probably because she thought I had treats. Or she's lonely. Linda turned her out with another horse but it was picking on her, so she put her back in her lonely paddock for the remaining two weeks.