Merry Christmas from the farm!

     Christmas is winding down after a family packed week! Rob and I are exhausted, and the ponies are probably bored of hanging in the stalls all day. Byron is tired of us playing with his emotions. We took him to see Robert's parents then left him and came back... then left him at the house alone for a night while a friend helped up feed him. Whew! And now we are finally home (at least until next weekend when we travel for work).

Naps at Christmas time!

     So yesterday we had a great day riding some ponies, after a little bit of struggle before Christmas. We have been dying to try Oberon over fences (Ok, myself, Jeannette and Maggie). Finally I made some time during one of my lessons. I expected to be a great example, but Oberon had other plans. We went over a cross rail and he bucked a little at the end and off I plopped. Oops. Robert said my form was ok, I rolled past my head and shoulders. Except then I splatted on my lower back. I got back on and decided jumping crossrails could wait for another day.

     Sunday Robert and I had some extra time (haha apparently, this means I manufactured time for ponies into the schedule. Robert is forever telling me that we don't have extra time...) and we decided to work the ponies. Robert wanted to work on his communication with Oberon. Oberon requires one to ride with constant contact of the lower leg and constant contact through the bridle. Robert is learning how to do this, and practiced at the walk yesterday.

     Jellybean has been sporadically ridden, so I decided to go back to the round pen and work on walk/trot/canter. Unfortunately the round pen bit me, and I didn't get to canter around after I jacked my knee. Jellybean did well, and I think I need to focus on riding her in the cutting pen. I have also been trying to decide if she should be characterized as green broke instead of unbroke. I don't know where the line actually lies... Let me know what you think!

Good ride on a chilly day

     Happy Monday!

     This weekend blew by, but we did make some time on Sunday to ride the ponies. Jellybean was up first, and Robert lunged her on the line in the cutting pen. Then I hopped on her and walk/trotted around the pen. She did awesome! She trotted off on command (but only until she got tired) and slowed right down on command. She was getting better about turning, but she putzes out when she tries to turn at the trot. 

     It all boils down to Jellybean is super lazy. She is kind of spooky about the cutting pen, and especially the standing water on the other side of the fence. She also spooked off when someone driving down the drive splashed some water. The other awesome aspect of this ride is that we were not the only people riding in the arena! Jeannette was riding Cash, and Jellybean wasn't paying him any attention! I am so glad we had a good ride, and I hope the good rides keep on keeping on :)

All the ponies had fun running around the jump field!

Another day at the farm... and a rant about farriers

     Thursdays have been interesting the last two weeks. I have been "forced" to take the day off from work because the farrier. I guess this isn't completely true, because I have been growing things at work)This has ended up being a nice way for me to spend some extra time getting projects done at the barn, and a little bit of riding in. Last week, the farrier gave us the run around, saying that he was cancelling (a day out) because it was supposed to rain (which matters not, as we do farrier work under a shelter...). Then he said he would be out, but his truck had problems, so maybe later. Then nothing. I spent the day working with the ponies and cleaning out the nasty, nasty horse stalls.

     So this week, the farrier was scheduled to come at 10am. Good early morning time! Then the day before he rescheduled to 12pm. Ugh. Starting to be annoying. I went out to the barn and piddled, not wanting to ride because I wanted my horses done first. And piddled. Then we decided to grab lunch and got behind, so we texted the farrier to ask him to let us know when he was on his way, if we needed to run. He said he had to get some tools and he would be out soon... Cue 2:30pm and here he is. Starts working on Oberon and first thing tells me that he has navicular because of sensitivity to hoof testers.

     Now navicular sounds pretty bad. Basically, inflammation and degeneration of the navicular bone and the surrounds tendons, ligaments, and tissue cause lameness and pain that increases with time. Long story short, its degenerative, and causes lameness in the front feet and culminates with your horse becoming a pasture ornament. No bueno. Of course, I was very interested in how this works, so I spent some time researching and chatting with people.

     The symptoms of the syndrome include lameness on both front feet, with the horse avoiding stepping on his heel. One foot will likely be more sore than the other. So when a person sees their horse limping (being lame), they will usually ask the farrier to check them out or take them to a vet. The farrier can make some educated guesses, and the vet can x-ray or ultrasound the foot and get a picture of whats happening. Working together, the vet and farrier can usually come up with a treatment plan that maintains the horse's comfort and longevity.

     Anyways, to summarize that last paragraph, diagnosis occurs with radio graphs and ultrasounds and other in-vet hospital tests. In Oberon's case, I haven't seen him be lame... and this is a major red flag to me. The next red flag is the farrier diagnosing a degenerative condition with one small test, that could mean lots of other issues. The final flag is that the farrier said regular shoeing until he becomes lame, then fancy (ie expensive) shoes, then pasture ornament. Nothing was mentioned about working with a vet for a treatment program...

     I guess my summary here is that I am miffed that the farrier jumped to a very serious sounding disease with minimal diagnosis and no referral to the other side of the treatment (aka vet). I think its pretty much bs and a great way to charge me for unnecessary therapeutic shoes. He may certainly become lame later on, and I will deal with that when it comes.

     Ranting...I especially have trouble taking you seriously when you waste my entire day. Just because we can take texts to update ETA and reschedule, doesn't mean you shouldn't keep your original appointment. And please don't make your excuses less compelling when you don't apologize for being late and then tell me how you were working cows this morning, when you should have showed up at 10am. Ugh.

     And before this blog post gets completely ridiculous and long, I will end on a good note. I have written many times about Jellybean's questionable behavior and sometimes outright aggression to farriers. Well, with the assistance of the dressage whip, Jellybean was a saint. The excellent thing was when the farrier responded to my description of her behavior by saying it was my responsibility to discipline my horse. Why has no one said that before? Communication is clearly the key. Now all the ponies are trimmed, and hopefully staying dry as the rain comes again.

Well the weather outside is frightful...

     Boy is it cold here. I know, I know. Friends up north reguarly endure temperatures near 30 for extended periods of time. I guess I was spoiled here in Texas last winter. We had a week of 20/30 and then back to 50-70. In any case, its been cold the last week (lows in the mid 20s-30s) and rainy drizzle. You can imagine this tanks any motivation to do anything. Lately we have been running out to the barn to feed and pick up a few piles of poop and then retreating into our cozy houses. So much for the thirty day plan... Although I did pick the absolute worst time to get started. Hopefully we can continue to move along even without the structure. I think it helps that we have worked at all three gaits now. Worst case scenario, Jellybean takes off and I just have to ride it out. While she isn't particularly comfortable right now, I don't think its impossible. Regardless, I have my fingers crossed for some nicer weather!

Brrrrr!

I almost got away!

As we near the end of year one of my captivity with my people I have been refelcting on the torture and all of the crazy stuff they have asked me to do.

Since I was adopted by Amanda and Robert they have made me do everything from walking through a water puddle to cantering under a stinky leather saddle.  All the other horses around here tell me this is what it means to be a horse.  I don't think they really understand who I am.  I am a princess pony!  I do not walk in water! I do not suffer my feet to be picked up by strange men with tools.  I am certainly not a working class pony.  I am Dusty Summer! 

With all of this in mind I saw my chance last night.  Amanda and Robert had brought the new guy, Oberon, and me in from the pasture and left our stalls unlocked while they made our dinner.  I was very cautious and quiet in my escape.  I waited until they were deep in discussion with Jeannette, then nudged the stall door open and made my break for it! 

Alas, my instincts and the people's snitch ruined my chances.  As I made my break down the aisle to freedom I saw some tasty hay and grain that had been left on the floor!  I tried to ignore it but it looked so tasty!  I stopped to take a bite and that is when I heard Oberon snitching on my escape!  He was pacing and nickering in his stall and then Robert looked over and saw me!  Shoot!  No escaping now!  He came down the aisle and tricked me back into my stall. 

These people are fools.  Maybe next year will be a better year to escape. 

I'll have to keep my gaurd up around these two legged animals....

Until next time.  Yours in captivity,

Dusty Summer (aka. Jellbean)

Oberon's One month Anniversary

So, it seems time flies by a lot faster when you are busy!  It seems like just last week when Jellybean met her "mail-ordered boyfriend", Oberon.  She was very excited and Oberon has grown very fond of his new stable mate.

A little bit of catch up on what he has ben doing lately.  First off, he had to get used to everything at the new place.  Whenever Amanda or I would ride him he would act like Doug from the movie Up.  "SQUIRREL!!!", oh that's right, we are riding....  "SQUIRREL!!"....  oh yeah, trotting here.  "OH MOTHER OF GOD! IS THAT A COW!!!!!!!!"  right....  cantering away now!  and don't forget all the scary flappy things like tarps of tin roofs or dogs, cats, kids...  a practical menagerie of new and scary things to see.

Well, he finally saw all there was to see and started getting bored...  I think bored horses are worse than bored children...  they don't get in as much trouble but, they are orders of magnitude more expensive when they do something stupid.  Sooo, we set up a work out routine for him.  long and low is his new torture (build that top line Oberon),  also a lot of circles to get that balance and strength back.

Other than that it has been a rough semester,  very little time to do more than ride 1-2 times a week.  I am hoping this will change now the undergrads are gone. I really hope we can build him up and see how he likes jumping in the spring!   Maybe even some fancy prancing dressage...  who knows.

Stay tuned for more fun.

p.s.  he has a twitter account just like Jellybean.  Follow him @oberonthehorse.

Back from vacation!

     I read a lot of horse blogs throughout the day, mostly with an eventing focus. They have been filled with one of two things lately. Either they are traveling south for the winter (NC/SC/FL) or they are bundling up against the cold. For Thanksgiving, we did the opposite, and took off to Ohio to visit my family. All the animals were left behind, with the capable Jeannette (of 14hands.blogspot.com) taking care of the ponies and Robert's parents taking care of Byron. 

     We returned Saturday afternoon, and tortured Byron a little bit by making him think we were going home immediately. We finally made it back to the ponies on Sunday afternoon, just in time to start feeding and cleaning up poop again :)

Robert really wants a helmet for Christmas

     Monday we had a bit more time before Robert tested for his 1st degree black belt in Aikido, so we started Jellybean's targeted training program. It basically runs on the basis that we will work in the round pen everyday for at least 30 days-ish. Obviously rain and traveling are going to get in the way a bit, but since teaching has died down I can do this if I set my mind. Then I will have my own horse to ride :)

     So we were running late, and rushed out the barn to get Jellybean dressed and catch the last piece of winter sun. Of course the arena was populated with all manner of children running around under and over trees etc. Robert worked Jellybean around the pen and got her attention with lots of transitions. Canter, trot, walk, trot, canter, walk, whoa, change directions, etc. When she was ready, I clicked my helmet together and hopped on. Jellybean was surprised by all the extra turkey I was holding onto. 

     Anyways, Robert started the same exercise, except with me on Jellybean. Unfortunately, children picked an inopportune moment to start jumping out from behind things. Jellybean saw them first and took off crow hopping and bucking a little bit. Of course, I was furious that parents were so inconsiderate of other people. I told the children to get away from the arena and tried to continue. Until another child ran beside the round pen and scared Jellybean again. Cue crazy lady. 

      Despite the distraction of my fury, Jellybean was actually doing really well. Normally I am a huge proponent of scaring horses, but its just too much to ride a baby horse at twilight with screaming, running children. We successfully W/T/C-ed around, and ended on a good note, with Jellybean evening moving off my leg. Whew. More pictures soon, I realize the blog has become text-wall like in the business of the semester. Bonus Oberon pictures. Month updates coming soon ;)

Purchase date, 11/3/13

Part of the trial

More trialing. 

Vacation!

     Looks like the ponies will be on their own for the next week! Robert and I are visiting my parents in Ohio, so Jeannette will be horse-sitting for us. Byron will be staying with Robert's parents in Houston, so he gets a vacation of sorts too. The weather has been spacey again, although it looks like we will miss the "cold" in Texas (mid 40 highs) and trade for some highs in the 30s. 

     I did get to ride Jellybean on Sunday, and we worked on keeping her attention. She worked on walk/trot/canter transitions in both directions before I got on. Then Robert helped lunge her. We cantered for the first time, she has a lot of suspension. She has been pinning her ears at Robert as he signals to her with the whip, but she seems to stop that when she has to focus on other important things (like not falling over at the canter). I think this will be our strategy, and I am still planning on putting the 30 days on Jellybean. If I can rider her with Robert or Jeannette (please? :)) for about 7 days, I hope to be able to ride her with minimal assistance. The thirty days starts after vacation... whoop!

    In other news, since we can't afford to indulge ourselves with horse blankets (seriously, the overnight temperatures don't dip below 40 for more than one day at a time), we did decide to get Byron a blanket. Because they're adorable, and he's adorable, and why not? Pictures when we return from Ohio :) Happy Thanksgiving!

Jellybean's progress, or lack therof and Oberon's hidden skills

     I have been posting some entries about how stagnant Jellybean has been these past few weeks. I have been a little down on myself about her lack of progress. With the weather and light and schedules, I have only been able to ride/work Jellybean about once every week or so. She has decided to be pissy and isn't progressing well. I expressed my frustration with this to a friend this morning and she suggested just putting the 30 days on her and moving on. 

     I considered this at the beginning, but I didn't want to commit the time. This situation I am putting myself in reminds me that maybe I need to hammer down and just do it. Thirty days is relatively short, and then I can start riding Jellybean every day that I have time as she continues to grow. Then next summer we can actually start moving! I think a thirty day training plan should yield a horse that moves off your leg, walk/trot/canter, turns, and stops. I think if she's smart we could also progress further and any way we throw it, we should be riding in any arena with similar success. 

   Maybe I will plan on doing this once school ends. After Thanksgiving. I need to look at the calendar and hammer down. Well. Looks like I could do Dec 1-20. Then see where the Christmas holidays put us. Until then I need to work on riding her every free moment I have. 

     In other news, Oberon is going to be a solid acquisition. He is going to challenge Robert and I to be much better, active riders. He is not the type of horse to tolerate putzing, he needs constant direction or he decides to do other things. I sent an email to his breeder recently, and I hope to learn more about him soon. In the meantime, I need to put on my focus pants if I want to ride him successfully. And I think this will be a fun challenge!

Rain, cold, and stalls!

     Well we finally got everything under control this past weekend. The barn mess was finally resolved, at least until it rains again. We made some big changes, and hopefully the next time it rains we won't have major flooding again. This is mostly due to some different shavings appearing at a very good time.

     So when I last left you, Oberon was squishing around in his stall and Jellybean was displaced. Well Saturday we got started straight away and pumped the major water out of Jellybean's new stall. Once there was too little water to pump, we tried to rake the stall flat. Then we tried out the new shavings. They are very wood-chippy and almost chunky. This worked out very well for us, since mud has no structure and wood chips do! We loaded down Jellybean's stall and then left a fan blowing. In the evening when she came in, the stall was live able again!

     Oberon needed some help too, he had his stall raked forward to the front. Then we borrowed some stall mats to help pack down the mud and push the water out. Then more shavings! We filled and dumped a lot of wheelbarrows, but when we were done the stalls looked and felt 100x better! I didn't actually take any pictures, but you can believe that it was MUCH better. So now we just need to continue building up both stalls and soon everything will be better.

     We also started another preventative method. Home Depot sells some flood barriers, although they don't offer them in store.... only online. So we ordered a 6" x 10' and a 6" x 17'. They should be in early next week, just in time for the next round of rain!

     After the rain stopped, we actually had a real cold front and it dropped down to the mid 30s overnight. Chaos ensued at the barn as people tried to decide how to deal with their horses in the cold. Sunday we actually got to ride Jellybean, although not with a positive result.

     Consistency is completely key with horses, and we have not been able to offer that to Jellybean. Therefore, she doesn't always move forward in our lessons. She is fairly stagnant at this point. I need to figure out how to teach her to move forward off my leg. That will be considerable progress. Any ideas, feel free to advise.

Oberon's nasty dinner, which he seems to enjoy...

New boy at the barn...

So, you would think by the title that this is going to be in the voice of Jellybean.  Sorry to disappoint but, I wanted to talk about Oberon in my real voice.

Well, there is always a story to tell right?  Here is the story of Half of That the Cleveland Bay Thoroughbred cross that came to live with us on Tuesday.

Amanda found him on line and the fact that he was 17 hands tall was an immediate red flag that required further investigation.  Amanda got in contact with the owner and set up a time and place for us to go meet this wonderful sounding horse.  We packed up and headed done to Magnolia to check him out.  

When he got off the trailer we could already tell this guy was special.  He had one of the most interesting personalities and face I had ever seen!  He let me feel all over him, check him out in his legs and picked up all four feet.  After we looked him over a bit he got to do a little work out to show off how well he knows how to move!  I was excited...  The horse was not.  There was arm waving and lunge line swinging but nothing more than a speedy walk was attained...  So the ante was upped and he got tacked up!  Now we have a show!  He walks, he trots beautifully but....  You guessed it, sooooo lazy, no canter.  Well, the seller had had about enough so he got the spur treatment.  Suddenly, he remembered how to canter without any issues.  :)

After showing off under saddle for the seller it was time for my test drive.  Now mind you, I am still a green rider myself and am still learning to sit a canter effectively.  However, my faithful girlfriend told me I needed to walk trot canter this guy so I knew what he could do.  Who am I to tell her no?  So, up I go on a 17 hh strange horse in a strange arena to him and me on a gorgeous day with barrel races flying around at 150 MPH.  Now, everyone is expecting the worst, green rider, new horse, crazy arena, nerves everywhere about a sale...  But the horse and ride did fine.  We walked a bit, we trotted a lot and we even cantered!  

As I got more comfortable I started pushing the envelope..  We were having fun, cantering around and suddenly we had a miscommunication.  The horse went left, Robert went right and the ground came up and bit me in the butt.  I did fine thanks to years of aikido teaching me how to fall down but, the horse was more than a champ!  When I bailed off of him he took two steps back and stood there looking at me...  Kind of saying " what are you down there for? We were riding!". 

My story is that Amanda told me to try him out thoroughly... I thought I would see how he did when someone fell off!  I think he did great.  Test passed horse!  (that's my story and I am sticking to it)

Long story much shorter... 

We loved him, he liked us, we bought him.  He came to College Station yesterday and needed a very noble name to go with his noble carriage.  There is nothing wrong with his registry name of Half of That, or his barn name of Yoohoo but, I like Shakespeare and Oberon just seemed to fit. So, welcome Oberon to the family! And follow him on twitter @oberonthehorse.

Jellybean's new boyfriend!

     The rain has returned in force! After the last major rain event, we spent some time thoroughly investigating the rain situation and then made some fixes. Currently they are working, but unfortunately the aftermath of the last flood is still with us. Two barn stalls are flooded and trying to slowly dry out. While Jellybean has been displaced, we have been diligently working to accommodate our newest addition.

     I spend a lot (this is a huge understatement) of time trolling craigslist and other questionably savory venues for horses for sale. As I mentioned earlier, I am looking for a horse of around 17 hands or taller and with sufficient bone for Robert to ride comfortably. I prefer a broke horse, no greenies, and something older than 7. Well I finally found something priced correctly that met my qualifications!

Meet Oberon!

     Oberon needs a few groceries and a long term conditioning program, but I expect he will prove a great investment. He is a Cleveland Bay/Thoroughbred out of Imagine That by Sky Image. His registered name is Half of That. He is twelve years old and about 17 hands (to be taped later). He has some dressage training and some eventing background, although the specifics are fuzzy. 

     Robert test-rode him, and he did well, although I think he will do better in a snaffle than a tom thumb. He was responsive to leg cues, although fairly lazy. Either way, I think we have a great project on our hands. I will be letting Robert give him impressions of the test ride, stay tuned :)

     So today Oberon is coming, through the rain and mud. I am hoping to turn him out once he arrives, but that will depend on the weather trends. He definitely needs to meet his new girlfriend Jellybean, and hopefully they will have stalls ready, as soon as I get out to the farm and get started with some work!

Rain rain go away (year two)

     So the rainy season is upon us once again. Back when I lived in NC I thought only places in Indonesia and Africa had rainy seasons. Then I moved to Texas. It rains once a month between May and September, then the heavens open and it rains at least once a week. I like sunshine, and while the heat can be tiresome, I enjoy being able to ride whenever my schedule allows. In the monsoon season, I can only ride when I have time AND the farm is only moderately saturated.

     The owners of the farm have made significant improvements from last year, but managing rainwater in an area extremely prone to flash flooding and in a low spot to boot is challenging even with unlimited budget and time. So week by week, we make some changes, and at some point in the future everything will be perfect ;)

     Jellybean usually enjoys the rain, although I doubt she has any love for the days spent in the stall. I mentioned last time it rained, we had some serious barn flooding. This time it was much worse, completely flooding my stall (right) and the one next to it.

Oh nos!

     Luckily, the barn owner was able to investigate the problem, and she tracked it down to a detached downspout behind the barn. We all remain hopeful that this will prevent water from entering the barn. Jellybean was relocated after the flooding so she could enjoy a dry stall until hers dried out. Since most of my readers ride horses and (I hope) all of you have been charged with maintaining a stall.... you know what comes next. 

     We missed out ride on Thursday, and now we get to strip Jellybean's stall and re-bed it if the shavings make it here. This is going to be quite the process... we will have to shovel out everything, regrade the stall and then re-bed. If we were rich, we would simple mat the entire stall and save a large headache. Unfortunately (and fortunately) the stall is 14 x 12, and that would require several hundred dollars. Later.

     In other news, Robert and I (well mostly I) are horse shopping with increasing seriousness. I hope you are on the edge of your seat with (hopefully) our next acquisition.

Working on the lunge line and some recaps

     One of my favorite things about Jellybean is when she nickers at me when I drive up. She sees my little green car and calls at me. She also calls for me if I call out her name to bring her in from the pasture. Then she usually runs towards me. This is incredibly fulfilling.

Hey mom! Look over here!

    One a more focused note, Jellybean and I are sticking to the schedule. On Friday we completed a round pen session. Robert helped me lunge Jellybean and I rode her. We are still working very hard at understanding what it means when I kick/nudge her with my foot. She isn't learning this one too quickly. I'm hoping that repeated rides will help make the cue clear.

     Saturday was the Halloween playday, which I have already written about. Sunday we had another serious ride through the rainy farm land. The round pen was very wet, so I moved a little bit of dirt to encourage draining and got Jellybean dressed for our workout. We practiced what we already knew in the arena, then Robert stood on the ground and helped move Jellybean when she started trying to bite my foot instead of moving forward. We only did a little bit of trotting, since she was trying to cut the arena up to avoid the standing water.

     Monday was another work day for Jellybean. I put on her lunging clothes and we sloshed out to the large arena with the line and got ready to do some more work with the side reins. I am a little worried about over adjusting them and Jellybean revolting, so I have moved slowly with my adjustments. Turns out I have been worrying for nothing. The side reins only adjust so tight, and Jellybean is too small to feel any pressure from the tightest adjustment. Looks like I will be punching holes.

     I am going to ride her on Thursday I hope, unless the Halloween festivities take too long. Otherwise we will ride on Friday. Next week I hope to do some lunging over the trot poles and a couple of cross rails.

     In other news, we have been plagued by several obnoxious events which may have stolen Jellybean's breakfast a couple of days in a row. First we noticed that Jellybean's breakfast was being turned over in the aisle. Then a morning or two later, her grain was completely eaten! The next day she had no grain and minimal hay! This was getting obnoxious... then we saw her feed bin. WHICH WAS CHEWED THROUGH!

     We decided that the evil raccoons were trying to steal Jellybean's food, and then we found out some horses were not tucked in for the night and spent their evening eating everyone else's breakfast. We almost bought a game camera to see what was up, but it turns out we are going to instead catch the culprits. More on this story as it develops.

Happy Halloween!

     Many people take great pleasure in dressing up their animals for Halloween. Apparently I am one of those people. The barn decided to have a play day and costume contest, which turned out to be a great idea! Robert and I brainstormed cool costumes (well Robert did, I am sadly lacking in creativity). Finally after deciding Jellybean the sheep would be too hard to pull off, we decided to make dragons and be dragon slayers! (These costumes would also conveniently double as Ren Faire costumes)

     Now many people are worried about dressing up their broke, well trained horses. You can imagine we were a little bit apprehensive about dressing up Jellybean. We decided to pick up some "dragon" wings (aka fairy wings) at the store and then make Jelly some horns and spikes. We planned to secure these things with a surcingle and her halter.

     Jellybean was a champ through all this, she only put up minimal fuss as I tied on her spikes (connecting her mane to her tail) and then attached her wings. She didn't even care that much about her styrofoam horns. I call this a win. Once Jellybean was dressed, we started the costume contest! Jellybean and I won second place!! We were beaten by a very well done Cowboy/Indian pair! All in all a winning situation! And now the pictures:

     All in all, this was a successful day and Jellybean was a champion :)

First serious lunging session... and some lack of direction

     Last time I talked about Jellybean, I described my plan (or at least desire to have one). So Monday I got Jellybean ready and moved into the arena to check out the side reins I have for her lunging set up.

Mom, I know that picture isn't flattering...

     Once we had our boots and surcingle on, we moved over to the large arena and put on some side reins. They were adjusted to #3, which correlates to not at all. She only felt pressure when she dropped her head very low or very left/right. We practiced our normal w/t/c with voice commands. I think our weaknesses on the line are keeping a consistent distance (which I need to research how to perfect...) and downward transitions (which I also need to research and brainstorm). The other weakness I see is a lack of exercises floating around in my brain. So I visited one of my favorite online booksellers, and ordered my very own lunging exercises ringside flip book. It should be here next Monday, just in time for our next lunging session!

     In other news, Jellybean is getting ready for some Halloween fun. I won't spoil the surprise, but she's going to dress up as something ferocious. She will also be enjoying a clean stall when the new shavings get here. I think we're going to strip it ALL the way down, dry it out, and re-bed the entire thing.

     Stay tuned for the next riding update.

It rained, then poured, then flooded...

Howdy readers!   It has been awhile since I have regaled you with Jellybean antics.  Well rest assured she has not been quiet while it has been less than ideal for riding.

As the title suggests, we got a bit of rain around the barn the last week and a half.  well, Jellybean has certainly opened up her personality to let us know her displeasure at being in a stall all day.

She has started into her rebellious teen years with full force.  Amanda likes to have a neatly trimmed bridle path on her pretty little princess horse but, like every child, Jelly has decided she wants the exact opposite.  I present to you Jellybean's mohawk...   (much to Amanda's chagrin!)

Rear view

Side view 

Now, as you can imagine, being locked up in a stall can cause all sorts of mental fractures.  Here are a few pics of poor Jellybean having her day in the hurrr duuurrrrr  zone of stall life.

HEY!  HAY?  HAY?!?!

I am sooo  Emo right now...

Rawr!!!  I am pony give me hay!

Derp derp derp....   that is all.

I hope you enjoy this installment of better barns and stalls.  Tune in next time as we tour the great stalls of other famous horses.

Goals and Dreams

     Lately I have been revamping my schedule and trying to understand how I can be more productive. Now some of you that know me might say, Amanda, when do you ever take a break? And while that may be true, I think I can optimize my schedule and have time for some of this elusive relaxation of which Robert is always dreaming. So while I have been trying to become more productive at work (which is about five more blog entries), I also want to apply this to my barn time.

     Now the first step of optimization is identifying weak areas. My biggest challenge with riding currently is having a goal. Especially when it comes to Jellybean. I need a time schedule and I need planned exercises to stay on track. Aka Step One. Now when riding other horses, I have a similar problem. This is usually negated by riding school horses, who more often then not, simply need a confident rider to make them do. My other challenge is fitness. I need to work on strengthening my back and legs. This has been especially obvious during the recent jumping sessions.

     With the major problem identified, I guess I need to get started. So onto the Jellybean plan! With last weeks setback in mind, I want to get a regular schedule in place, no excuses. Jellybean is going to be my horse for a long (!) time and I don't want to skimp now. So, we will be riding twice weekly, and having a ground work lesson one more day. So three days a week to get going. Now for the short lesson plan!

Week	Review	Learn	Push	Other
One	W/T/C round pen	Going forward with kick	No person	Introduce Side Reins
Two	Moving off leg	W/T under saddle	Back up	Long lining W/T/C
Three	W/T directions	Introduce canter	Canter!	Lunge over xrails
Four	W/T/C	W/T cutting pen	W/T/C cutting pen	Lunge Transitions
Five	W/T cutting pen	W/T/C cutting pen	Transitions	Side reins
Six	W/T/C cutting pen	W/T/C directions	Transitions/directions	???

     Now this is exceptionally optimistic, but I think its time to be optimistic. I have been moving very slowly with Jellybean, and she has oscillated between boredom and over reactive. She needs more consistency, and I cannot commit to working her everyday. By the way, I forgot to mention, she is still growing! She was 14.2 1/2 and 800 lbs last time I measured her. And it looks like her chest is starting to widen. 

     I titled this post, Goals and Dreams, and I want to address the latter of those. Jellybean is somewhat of a dream for me to have. I always wanted my own horse. And sometimes it was hard watching others have their own horses while I hoped to have a school horse to ride. But I think everything worked out for me in the end. Jellybean is a great horse and we are going to do some great things. So, what are those things? For your convenience I present: a list (which also works out to a horsey bucket list of sorts).

1. Event. Maybe as high as novice.
2. Learn reining. Maybe not show quality, but be able to execute the necessary movements.
3. Tempi changes. Because why not?
4. Long distance trail ride

     I guess those jump quickest to my mind. In any case, the goal is really to be an all around rider. And do a little bit of everything :) 

Byron, our newest addition

A couple of steps back

     Jellybean is my first baby. And naturally, there are going to be some hiccups. We coasted past a pretty substantial hiccup last week. One of the challenges with the baby horses seems to be knowing when to move on and when to back up. Jellybean has been progressing well under saddle, we rode in the cutting pen twice with minor incidents. I decided I wanted to ride her in the pen again the other day, and she said not yet.

     Jellybean has a reasonably short attention span on a good day. She was especially impatient the other day. She didn't want to move in any direction, she just wanted to sniff the ground and try to eat. I tried to move her forward with the dressage whip, and she didn't pay any attention to it. Then she decided she was really bored and wouldn't move towards one corner of the arena. She jumped backwards/sideways and wouldn't move forward. 

     I had a moment of clarity. 

     With all my supposedly careful planning, I had jumped a few steps. Jellybean was excelling in the round pen, and instead of building her skills there, I tried to switch tracks and move forward too fast. Lets be real, if your horse won't move forward, you don't need to move to another arena. The dressage whip (unfortunately!!!) is not a substitute for learning to move off leg pressure. 

     In order to salvage the day, I decided to move back to the round pen and practice something we were both comfortable with. We lunged in both directions and called it a day. I think I will spend some time outlining our next steps. I'll keep you posted.

Bonus pictures from before the rain:

Jellybean being social... not

Hey!

Nom nom fresh grass!

 And after the rain...

What are you looking at!

I'm hungry and my stall is wet >|

Playing in the pasture

     Jellybean spent a few days in her stall lately, so Sunday I made sure she got outside to play in the cooler weather. Jellybean had fun playing all day long, and when I got back yesterday evening, some of the other instructors were jumping their horses through a gymnastics exercise. During a break from their practicing, I spent some time playing with Jellybean.

     We are trying to develop a "chase" game, where I run at Jellybean and she runs, then I turn around and run away from her and she chases me. I like to make it interesting, and try to convince her to jump over small crossrails, but Jellybean is much too smart for this. She even took it a step further and plopped her nose between the crossrail and starting eating some of the grass there... guess she didn't want any of my stupid jumping.

An interesting issue in the equine industry

     One of the many aspects of the equine industry is the constant buying and selling of horses. Since most people have a horse for a specific purpose, it follows that when that purpose is unavailable a change in ownership will be considered. I always like to think about the horse industry in tiers, because there are completely different attitudes and actions between tiers. First we have high level competition mounts. I'll be the first to tell you, I don't know a lot about this genre. So I'm going to glaze right over this one.

     The mid-range equestrian is the one that most interests me. These are the people that love their horses or competition and work on a budget (of varying size of course). Cost is always considered, but the health of the animal usually comes first. These are also the interesting buyers/sellers. This tier is usually interested in horses less than 10k, usually much less. Here we have clients trying to buy and cheap horse and get some training in order to sell or compete. We also have clients that aspire to achieve the higher tier, but cannot afford that level. Buying and selling horses in this tier has a lot of variation. I like to think I live in this range, even if my purse doesn't back up this notion currently.

    In any case, I am going off topic. I am currently browsing local ads for a suitable horse for Robert and I. I have fairly stringent requirements. I want a draft cross over 17hh between 4 and 18 years old, with training from green broke to finished all around. I do not care about the color or gender of the horse, but I require the horse to be priced fairly. While these requirements seem very lax, there are very few horses who even meet the 17hh description. I think it goes back to a trend in the high tier world.

     Currently, 'sporthorses' are very popular. This description varies greatly, but it usually means a horse with heavier bone than a thoroughbred that is athletically inclined, especially those with 'nice movement.' Now this horse can be anything from an Appendix grade to a Clyde/QH cross (really, I have seen it!). What many people like to think sporthorse means is fancy athletic warmblood, such as an Irish Sporthorse. Do you see where the price inflation comes in?

     So as I peruse the ads, I see green broke at the WTC selling for 5k. My friend over at 14hands has written an extensive article on the pricing structure that is based on the skills and value of a horse, so I won't trouble you with a rehash. I do want to highlight some of the key points.

• What does your horse know? Has it just been weaned but has been messed with quite a bit as a youngster (and also, see above rant for this to qualify)? Add $200. Is it a 2-5 year old and green broke with the skill to stop, start, steer, and transition between all three gaits? Add about $400. Give or take some depending on the level of knowledge and training the horse has. Is your horse trained to do a specific job and to do that job well and consistently? This is a hard price range to define.... For the sake of discussion we're going to assume you have a horse trained to do schooling shows (and has competed and done well). Add around $2,500. I am talking a horse that I could jump on and, with a little get to know you time, I could take this horse to a show and do well on it within 6 months.     

    This is a pretty key point here, that a lot of the ads I read miss. The value of the horse is determined by the training. Unfortunately it seems like a lot of people want to place value on a horse based on how they feel in their heart, or their size alone. I don't think I have seen a horse over 17hh for less than 3k.

     Another challenge I have reading ads is the misunderstanding about what constitutes a horse's size. When I view an ad, I would like a concise description of the physical characteristics of the horse. Including, but not limited to their breed, height, weight, injuries, and color. I cannot tell you how many horses I have seen advertised as a 'large horse' that is 15.2hh and 1100lbs. 

     This is the challenge in finding a new horse. Sometimes you have to traverse the tiers and try to speak another language. At the bottom tier, it might be 'a large horse that rides good without kickin' while the middle tier might describe a horse as 'willing sporthorse' or even the top tier that might say 'prospective jumper or hunter' or 'performance bred and push-button' It is always a challenge to interpret the ad and determine what the seller actually means, and how the price should correlate. And this, my friends, is why you should never buy or sell a horse without having a knowledgeable friend proofread and double check.

A Little Hiccup

     So most of the stories I have related are centered around something interesting Jellybean has done, and many of the stories are a celebration of something Jellybean has accomplished. Sometimes I relate the more interesting and dangerous things Jellybean decides to do. Today is one if the more challenging days.

     So today I got out to the barn around five and decided to ride Jellybean. Normally my handsome assistant is available to help me mount and lunge Jellybean, but today I enlisted the help of a substitute. This was very important, because Jellybean was found in her stall. Where she had been standing for over 24 hours. As you may imagine, she was probably ready to go run around and flirt with her many admirers. Another important factor in this evenings activities was the weather. We have started the cold front time of year, which is to say every week the weather gets rainy and windy and drops a few degrees. Many of you know cooler weather gives horses and energy boost. 

     So there I was tacking Jellybean up, trying to get her to focus long enough for me to cinch the saddle. She was decidedly unimpressed with my attempts to bridle her, and she promptly clenched her teeth and lips and backed into a corner in the stall. Unfortunately for Jelly, I am persistent, and I managed to get her all tacked up. We walked out to the arena and started the lunging portion of our workout. Jellybean was ready to go, and she showed off with a bit of athletics. I don't want to call it a buck, but she arched her back and jumped along with a canter-like stride as I pushed her forward. One of the occasional barn dogs was assisting with this annoying action, and I tried to shoo her so Jellybean would focus. 

    Of course, all horses favor one side or another, so when we lunged in the other direction she paid close attention to my commands. Then it was time to get on. I forgot my helmet in the tack room, so Jeannette ponied Jellybean around on Panda while I grabbed my dressage whip. She helped me mount and we were off! Tricked you! We didn't gallop off into the sunset, just walked off. Jellybean and I followed Panda around for quite some time, until a lesson was started in the same arena. Then Jellybean got bored and started spooking at the far gate.

     So I started out this blog talking about some naughty action, and here it is! Jellybean shimied away from the gate a couple of times, then decided the other direction was completely unavailable. Then she trotted off and did her popping/bucking/jumping thing while I was sitting there on her back. Boom! "Bucking" under saddle. 

     Jellybean continued walking another round of two and we were done. I think this is a sign that 1) Jellybean must be entertained and 2) I shouldn't ride the baby horse in a lot of chaos. Hopefully we will continue the up and up, and being trotting in the cutting pen soon.

Some random Jelly photos

Things have been a little bit slow since the rains have come. So I wanted to upload some fun pictures to keep you entertained.

I have been promoted!

Hey guys!   I figured out how to blog from this awesome little smart phone Amanda gave me to tweet with!

Yeah, its me Jellybean.  I thought I would tell you about the promotion I got last week.

Amanda has been riding me once or twice a week for about two months now.  She started out with Robert telling me what to do while she kicked me and pulled on my mouth...  I guess she wanted me to follow her lead because she stopped kicking and pulling when I went certain directions.  Oh well,  I am a smart pony and I know who feeds me yummy hay and grain.  I will continue to humor her.

So, anyway, we have been doing all this work in the tiny fenced area they call the round pen...  it really sucks because I have to keep turning in circles!   it makes my legs and back sore from all that extra work. Last week though, I got promoted.  I guess Amanda finally believed I knew what her little kicks and tugs meant.  She took be over to the medium fenced area and let me walk around out there.  It was great!   So much easier to walk in straight lines and actually MOVE instead of those silly circles.

All she let me do was walk though.  Maybe she still thinks I am going to try something funny if she tries to trot in the bigger space.  I can't wait for her to let me trot and canter.  It will be so great to work with Amanda on jumping when I get older.

Cash, my boyfriend, tells me all about these jumps in the pasture and how Jeannette lets him jump over them...  I hope Amanda will let me show her how well I can jump.  I keep trying to show her I am ready by jumping out of the pasture but, that only earns a scolding...  All of my friends look so pretty and dignified when they jump.  

One day I will jump big jumps and look pretty too...


talk to you again soon!

Clearing up some questions

     Here at the blog HQ, we sometimes field comments and questions from our readers. It looks like many of the regular readers are friends of Robert or myself, and some may not have a horsey background. So today I want to define some terms that I have been using, and address some of the other comments I have received. As always feel free to comment and share your opinions!

What is Tack?
Tack is any equipment used on the horse. It can include saddle, bridle, and pad and also things as fancy as dressage whips and ear bonnets (those cool crocheted ear covers jumpers use)

Why do we use boots?
There are LOTS of opinions, and I don't claim to have the answer. Jellybean wears boots mostly because I acquired them. The type of boots I have been using act as protection against hooves hitting her legs. They also provide additional support when she is traveling in the round pen. The smaller boots on her front hooves are to guard against over-reaching (that is, the rear hooves striking the backs of the front hooves). These are more useful working in smaller spaces.

What is ground driving and why do we care?
Ground driving refers to directing the movement of the horse by walking (or running) behind the horse, usually with "long lines" or driving reins. These reins are much longer than those for riding and allow the driver to stand at a "safe" distance from the horse. The person usually carries a whip (or incentive to more forward). I ground drive Jellybean to help her understand turning and stopping. As I continue riding her, I want her to respond immediately when I tell her left/right/stop with minimal confusion. This lesson serves to focus her energy on the bridle, instead of worrying about why someone is sitting on her.

In this photo, Jellybean is also wearing a lunging surcingle around her girth, which gives the reins a ring to go through to prevent her stepping through the line or the line dragging around her legs.

What is a dressage whip?

A dressage whip is a sturdy plastic (fiberglass??) stick about 36 inches long. It is used behind the leg of the rider, or on the ground for corrective purposes ;)

What is the time scale to "break" or "finish" a horse?
This is a controversial question based on a lot of factors. I wont talk much about the controversies, but I will outline my plan. I started riding Jellybean about two years old. We have been riding once a week or less for 30 minutes or less. I plan to continue this until she turns three. Depending on how she has grown, I will increase her riding to multiple times a week or she will continue on the once a week plan. I will then work on her basics (turning, being responsive, desensitizing to weird situations, etc). When she is 4-5, we will start working on jumping. So by this plan, Jellybean should be broke around 3 and finished around 5.

When can I meet Jellybean and take a photo?
Call or text me :)

Working hard... but hardly working!

Tablets are good for more than just taking notes or reading research papers!!

Intro to the Dressage Whip

     So last week I talked about how uninterested in moving off my leg Jellybean was. This week I decided to be proactive and ride her with a dressage whip. I asked her with my legs to move, then I swatted her stomach/flank/hip with the dressage whip as some more encouragement. Jellybean responded really well to this, and even walked around the arena without Robert standing in the middle of the round pen.

Not interested in turning...

Oh, you're kicking me? I don't care...

     We also worked on mounting from the ground instead of the fence, and Jellybean didn't care one bit. I think our goal next time will be conducting the walk/trot exercises without Robert in the middle of the arena. I'm very excited with how quickly she is progressing!!

And they're off...

     Well the beginning of the school year has taken off at 100mph. Rob and I have been very busy with research and teaching, and so the updates have been slower. Have no fear, Jellybean is still participating in photoshoots ;)

     One of the other instructors at the farm (who writes another blog: 14hands.blogspot.com) has been working on a photography class and taken some more pretty pictures of Jellybean:

Thinking about pony things...
Photo credit: Jeannette Bayer

I'm sad because I don't see my boyfriend :(
Photo credit: Jeannette Bayer

     When Jellybean isn't posing for photos, she has been running around in the pasture with some new friends: Sophie, Scooter, and Simon. They get her sufficiently engaged for our lessons. I rode Jellybean on Sunday. Despite being turned out all day, she was not very engaged in our lesson, and seemed more interested in galloping around. 

     When she started paying attention to cues again, I climbed on from the fence and we reviewed walking/turning/stopping before moving on to trot around the round pen three times in each direction. Then Robert walked out of the arena, and we worked on walking and turning and stopping without the extra cue from Robert. Jellybean has not connected the dots between squeezing/kicking and moving forward. I jabbed her with my heels until she moved and then immediately relaxed, but that didn't yield serious results. I changed tracks and tried to turn her head and help her move her feet that way, but she demonstrated that she is great at stretching her neck... I will continue brainstorming this situation.

Soap and Water and Sweat

     Lately it has been hot. Even by Texas standards. Jellybean has been coming in from turnout a little bit salty. I decided the time was ripe for a bath. We have sprayed her off several times, but she has never had the full treatment. I collected Jellybean from turnout after we tried to play a game. Since there are jumps set up in the field, I tried to convince Jellybean she wanted to run over them with me. She followed me when I ran away, but she ran away from the jump and walked around :( Sometime later...

     Anyway, we were tied in the wash "pit" and I just soaped her up, rinsed, conditioned, and repeated on both sides and tail. Then I took a sponge to her face and rinsed off some of the sweat from her ears and face. She was not a fan of the wet sponge on her ears, I will have to keep working on that. She ended up pretty clean and shiny!

Why are you taking pictures of me wet?!

     As I was cleaning Jellybean off, I noticed the cutest little patches of black skin instead of pink skin on her socks:

     After all the trauma, Jellybean finished up another great day with dinner and her fan. I did check her weight again, and she seems to have gained about 100 pounds, to weigh 750ish now. I also checked her height, and came up with 14.3hh, which is different then what I told you last time. We will triple check the height sometime soon and get back to you.