The Start of Something New

Hello again! So I finally had a lesson in months and it went really well! The trainer I am now going to work with is amazing, I absolutely love her! First, I really liked how she taught, she was very direct and immediately told me what I was doing wrong and how to correct it. I really like this in a trainer, because I would rather have a person be blunt about something so I know immediately and can fix it. But she gave me really good explanations about what I should correct and why. So here is my homework that I need to improve on and show in my next lesson:

1. My horse is moving off my leg when I press with my WHOLE inside leg, not just the heel
   
2. My body should stop "pumping" and sit still
3. Get a slower rhythm from my horse, forward doesn't mean fast
4. Keep my hands up and especially during transitions
   
5. Keep my hands still and my leg back and knees not pinching

So that's the list! And I know I can do it! I am really ready to pick up my horse's training where I left off in the summer, it feels amazing doing something right again! I haven't been excited about my lessons before so this is great!

So I rode the beast today and implemented all of those points and it really made a difference! I felt Sam moving off better and our canter departures were really strong and powerful, which was awesome! Even the barn owner came out and helped my a little to find my rhythm in the trot which was great because I love another set of eyes! So all in all it was a very rewarding experience and really influenced me to jump back and take riding seriously again and pursue a goal. So here is my goal, by my last year of college I plan to take my horse up to training level in eventing! It's a pretty big goal if you know us (Sam and I) but with my new trainer and my inspiration I believe we can make it! On another note I have a dressage lesson on Wednesday so that too will help me whip into shape : ) So long and try to have that great lesson because that makes all the difference!

The Little Things in Life

Hello! Its definitely been a while, but of course when I got off of school I had to go and get sick : ( But I am slowly recovering and decided to spend some time writing! For a couple of days this week I did AM chores at the barn. During the school year I am so stressed that all I can think about when doing horsey chores is: When am I going to be done? But during break I have all the time in the world and I take a step back and enjoy the morning I get to spend with all my horses. I love feeding in the morning and preparing grain! The horses are so happy to see you, like they thought you were never coming. I take it slow and everybody gets special attention : ) And then comes my favorite part, mucking! Because our barn is very small I am the only person out in the mornings, so I have the place all to myself, yay! Mucking is so therapeutic, the shoveling back and forth and the silence of the barn is everything you need to calm your mind. I love it and can't get enough of it either!

So with this time off for me I decided to have a little boot camp this week. We are planning to go and have a lesson on Friday with a near by trainer. Considering Sam and I haven't done a lesson in months, it will certainly be entertaining to watch both of us working our butts! But hopefully all will go well. Then on Sunday we have a fix a test dressage clinic which I think will be very helpful for us. And finally I am going to have a dressage lesson with a trainer I rode with previously but due to time I haven't been able to ride with her very often. So I am expecting a lot of information and more than enough to work on after this week. But all in all it will help Sam and I improve our riding. So that is my plan and will let you know how everything goes. Oh I will post pictures soon from the winter days and hopefully videos from the clinics and lessons : ) Have a wonderful Christmas and will write soon!

Done!

First semester of college done, hooray!! Let me just say that everything you hear in high school that college is way easier then all those AP classes, it's a lie! My first semester was the hardest I ever worked for school. In high school I had straight A's for every class and the work load I thought was a lot, boy I had no clue when I got into college. Every night I did work and studied for all the classes. And the sad part it is just the beginning. But I think I just needed to get adjusted to the schedule and the method of studying. So hopefully next semester will be less stressful, ha sure... I am really proud of myself though : ) Now the exciting part, more than a month off! Thank goodness for that. It makes sense to me, work hard for three months and then you get a well deserved long break. So I survived and it's just going to keep on getting funnier, that was sarcastic ; )

So hows the pony doing now, well he's really the same. I rode him the other after finishing my last exam and getting home. He was actually really good. I set up "scary" jumps and he paid no attention. I am trying to plan to do some clinics/lessons over my break so I can keep improving my riding and Sam. We will see what comes up. Because I have so much free time now, I am going to barn to help out all here and there. Since the barn owner does so much for me, I am more than willing to help out when I can!

When I was driving home from school I stopped by our local library to grab some books! I love to read and during school I feel my brain can't keep all the story details and equations for chemistry at once. So reading for pleasure is put on the back burner till break! So I got a couple of books which I am excited to read, yay! My reading tastes have slowly changed to books more about bibliographies and such. I find it really interesting to read other people's opinions and the stories of there lives. In addition currently I am completely drawn into reading the classics, such as Crime and Punishments and Vanity Fair. I love walking into the library, you are surrounded by so many books that it's such a homey feeling. Reading I think is the best way to escape your current situation or just unwind. When I read a book I enjoy, I feel as if I am catapulted into the book and watch the story play out as watching a movie. It a fantastic feeling! Well I do have a busy week in front of me so if I don't get to write, Merry Christmas : )

Horse Psychic

So I am not one of those crazy people, but I invited a horse psychic to come out and read my horse. There are some behaviors that I don't understand why Sam does and I wanted to find out more. So this woman come out that a friend of mine recommended me to and she was a big help! It was really interesting what she had to say. And strange enough everything she said was spot on. The moment she came to him, she told me how playful and dominant he is and that's all what he wants to do, which is totally him. She also randomly mentioned about that he is a little scared riding on trailers, but after some coaxing he will get on. She said that there was a spot on his back that might benefit from a little chiropractic work, but other then that he is a really healthy horse. She also said that he really likes things that are repeated, like courses and exercises. It was a really insightful experience and I really believed that she knew what she was talking about.

On another note, the field across from our barn we finally managed to get over there and see if we can ride there. It is really awesome, the track near the tree line is a beautiful grass turf and that will be perfect for galloping and hacking when the ground thaws out! Can't wait! Well I will be free soon, two more days and after that its a personal goal of mine to reorganize the feed room. I really need to take a before and after picture to really show the progress. In our barn we get lazy very easily and sometimes don't get to cleaning up stuff so our tack and feed room kinda looks like an explosion happened : ) So my winter break project is going to be just that and the sad part after a month the mess will come back! Stay warm!

Look Where You Want to Go

Considering I don't ride too often anymore, my horse gets jumped once every two weeks. I think he really likes that schedule too, its like a breath of fresh air for him. But the other day I made it my plan that I would set up a course and work on some jumping. My mom plays a bigger role with helping me with my horse and in some aspects she is my trainer. She definitely doesn't let me get away with things, such as my position or if I am slacking off in my riding : ) But I asked her if she could set up a course for me and boys she made us work. It was a really cool exercise, you had a line of two jumps that were two strides apart and the jumps were shifted so that you had to jump the side of one jump and the side of the other jump in order to go in a straight line. So the exercise was you jumped the first jump and made a circle right after it and come back to the jump and then jump the line to the second and make a circle after the second to the other direction. In addition you needed to change leads when you are making the circle after the second jump. This really made us work! But surprisingly it wasn't long till we got the exercise and mastered it. It was really a blast.

I get all my jump exercises from the book, 101 Jumping Exercises. This book is amazing it really takes you step by step through the introduction of jumping to the higher levels. Since our jumping ring isn't big enough for some of the exercises we will usually improvise, but it still fits the purpose perfectly.
With Sam repetition means boring, so if I jump less often he enjoys it more which I see in his character. But it works with me! On another note Christmas is coming and I think the only thing horsey that I will get this year is the quarter sheet, so trail riding in the winter won't be painful, hehe! But since this year Sam has a stall, I am thinking of making him a Christmas barn mash, with carrots, cinnamon, some stud muffins, and a bunch of other yummys. Knowing him he would REALLY enough that : ) So I am off to continue studying, the end is almost near, hooray! Be back to write soon!

Weird Winter

So I am taking a study break in order to write this! Let me just say that it is about the middle of December and it is raining outside, yup no freezing just raining. If I remember correctly last year it was snowing by this time and ice was all over the place. I don't know but something is definitely going on..

But on another note, I was talking to my friend/barn owner about finding some new places to trail ride and she mentioned about the fields across the barn and now I am really excited about going to explore those. I am thinking maybe about this weekend for the exploration, but we will see. I know for sure that if I will go, my fuzzy quarter sheet is coming along : ) I love field riding and trail riding, it is just really relaxing and a great feeling to be out of the ring and in the fresh air!

Well it was my day yesterday to do the morning barn chores and muck out, fun! Amazingly they didn't throw a fit when I started kinda late doing feeding and turning out. The barn where I board is really tiny and the people there are the best. The horses are taken care of mainly by myself and the barn owner. After boarding at two other farms, the owner that runs the farm is my favorite person ever! She is so willing to help, do whatever makes the boarder feel comfortable, and her personality is the best by far! I went through a tough time when I wasn't sure what to do with my horse and especially financially it was difficult to keep him up, but the owner of the barn was so supportful and we worked out a plan that allowed for me to keep my horse. I can't express the gratitude that I feel to her : ) I guess that is all the time I have from my break, now I will drag myself back studying, but the semester is almost done! Be back soon!

Hello!

My first official post, hooray! I promise I will try to continually write... Well, I guess I was reading all these other horse blogs and decided it was about time that I started my own. I figured my love or writing and horses can be combined, finally. I guess some history is in order for my horse first off. Samwise, "Sam", is a 10 year old TB off the track. When I was a freshman in high school I went to the track with my event trainer to finally buy my first horse. Boy, I really didn't know what I was getting myself into. Life with Sam over these 5 years has been full of twists and turns. First, Sam is not the easy type of horse and I know everybody will say no horse is really the easy type but Sam is a special boy. He gets really grumpy and really doesn't want to do anything really unless you have him going forward, but thats a whole different story. However strange and sometimes I really don't understand what is going through his mind, I gotta love his dorky personality.

Its funny because during my high school years and previously I was pretty serious into riding, the whole eventing thing. I had a schedule of what days were for flatwork, galloping, stadium jumping, and the whole system. In addition I was a working student for a number of years so I knew what do barn wise, health wise, and pretty much everything else. I competed for a number of years and had a dream of eventually going in the upper levels. But now everything changed, riding is no more of a scheduled acitivity but something that is treasured and valued. To tell you the truth, my horse and I were under constant training that I really lost the whole feeling of riding for the love of it. But now with the crazy schedule I have, I really value those times when I can actually get out to the barn and spend two hours of my day with somebody that is there for the same reasons as I. I especially love just grooming my horse now. The whole barn quite, only the soft munching of hay and light snowfall outside. It is really just the best therapy.

Sam and I have our best moments but we had our fair share of hideous ones too. I think it takes a while for people and myself personally to see what you want and need is usually right in front of you, you just have to look. Its been a long road for us and we've got lots of years to come, but I think I finally realized that without Sam I could be doing what I am now. He is there to remind me that life is not all about work and grades theres something warm and fuzzy about it too : )

Well I hope that was a welcoming intro and theres definitely more to come. My week is going to be busy, but whats new. But I am looking forward to just spending some time chatting and brushing my fuzzy friend that will always be there.