Hunter Pace x2

The second one I've done has come and gone! Friday I went out to make sure that Spyder was groomed and worked on him for a while to help with the shedding. Since it would be 60-70 for the pace, I wanted to make sure that he would be comfortable. I got on to ride on the track, and he was a dream. He did have one weak hind end moment, but we worked on a lot of trotting and backing up to help with that. We did lots of leg yields, and there was no arguing. I had a great feeling about Saturday!

Saturday, I was being picked up by the BO so I got there early to get the grooming/shedding help going. When I got to the ride, I wanted to be able to tack up, warm up, and go. There were 3 trailers from the farm, and that was 9 horses in total. The vet and her assistant came to ride, as well. I let her know that I was worried about Spyder's hind end and she let me know she'd keep an eye out for his movement. She never said anything to me about it, but did give me some things to help with his hind end strength and assured me that her standardbreds are just the same in how they are built which creates the common problem.

We warmed up and had one tripping/locking issue with one fit prior to heading out. Spyder is always looking at folding chairs like they will kill him, but I have no idea what his fit was for. It was by the check-in table so maybe he saw something he didn't like as he was fine with the chair while warming up. We headed out and had a great ride with a few fits on the trails. He gets upset when horses pull ahead and I hold him back yet he hates being in the front. In the back, he's hurry, hurry, hurry, and in the front, he's, "ahh, this is going to kill me" as he looks at everything. Running water gave him a spook, but he did go through all of the water that was left from the rain we had during the week.

At the end of the ride, we had a grand finale of a fall/trip/laying down moment. Spyder was down on all four and I hopped off with a nice, calm dismount. He didn't want to get up at first, but I made sure I checked him out and walked him to see if anything was up. He was perfectly sound, and happy as ever. He hardly had a sweat the whole ride, and I think it was just a fluke. I was happy the vet was there as I mentioned it to her once she finished her ride, but she didn't say much about it and didn't seem worried at all. He didn't drink when I offered him water which made me nervous, but he went right to grazing when I took him to grass. We went back to the water and he drank a decent amount so I sponged him to cool him down and got him on the trailer with hay (which he didn't eat at first - another weird thing). He was back to his happy self stuffing his face after eating carrots and apples that the ride supplied.

I found out today that we won for the regular pace (we skipped the obstacle/game breaks) to enjoy the ride, and I did forget to mention we took a jump over a nice size log. Spyder jumped HUGE and he didn't throw a fit after it (surprise, surprise). Good horse. All in all, it was a really fun day, and we get our ribbons/prize basket from the pony club when they are at the farm tomorrow. I have no idea what's in it, but I do remember seeing treats which Spyder is so well deserving of. I'm off to ride later tonight and hope we can work on strength in the hind end since he got a nice day off yesterday. My finger is STILL hurting from when I broke it (and I still have no intentions on giving up riding for it to heal). Class starts again tomorrow. Meh.

Teleporting

Can I just teleport to the farm so I can get home and get to my school work? I completed my final, and now it's just my final project, BUT courses start for the summer session start right after this. I get no break for riding in any sort of pattern, but I do have the hunter pace coming up. Remind me why I signed up for school again? I've been enjoying pushing through, but I find it hard to get everything I need to get done and what I want to get accomplished taken care of. The reward has certainly been the farm time I've had.

I'm certainly no where near reaching my March mileage due to the lack of motivation and Spyder's bad attitude. Honestly, there has been nothing to rave about. I rode 2 days last week which were OK. I can't even remember what I did because it was that uneventful. I remember being frustrated and making my broken finger ache again due to Spyder deciding it was a good idea to rear/spook for no reason other than seeing another horse. Ok, maybe there was something eventful now that I'm recalling last week.

I rode out to the big ring and started in the dressage area when the trainer at the farm rode by on the track with a TWH. She ended up coming around the track by us and going up a small hill by the cross country jumps and Spyder spazzed! He stood up on his back feet with a nice rear, and she shouted. "Oh, wow! Are you OK?" and came in the ring so I could settle Spyder. Yes, the horse gaits different and it's a "different" color, but it's similar to a horse in his field and I am sick of the spook/excitement over NOTHING! This is exactly the reason I broke my finger from the "scary" deer that we see all the time. Once I got him calmed down, 30 minutes was more than enough fun for me.

The other day I rode I went out to the same ring to make sure I could tackle the attitude he gave me before. I could tell he was bored since he was listening for w/t/c so we jumped a bit. There were deer all over the place and he was jumping a higher placed cross rail like it was 3 feet so I hopped over the jump until he calmed down and jumped it like the size it was. It's been feeding time after work when I get to the farm so I'm sure we'll begin to get those issues back. JOY! He always gets a little more pumped when he hears the grain bins going so I have been feeding him a little before we ride so he thinks he's had his grain.

This week I rode once so far. I hope to get out again, but this project is stressing me out! I went out to the big ring after warming up on the track to get a feel for Spyder's attitude. There was no argument with my leg so we went out and did some trotting while giving the deer looks. Cantering was decent in a circle and he was moving off my leg, but he was gearing up for some bad behavior. He did throw some rocking horse squealy bucky/reary/whatever the heck he does moves in there so we came back to the trot until he decided to go nicely once again. On the way back to the barn, I practiced moving him off of my leg. We went all the way to each edge of the track using each leg to push him over then we worked on stop, walk, trot, walk, stop, trot, back type exercises. I kept turning back towards the ring then heading back to the barn with some spins (moving off leg with the front of his body and not the back) in either direction so he had to listen and take his focus off of feeding time.

It's really getting old having to dance around his buttons and moods, but I hope to get him under control and move forward. The hunter pace should go smoothly, and hopefully we'll get back to putting in miles.

Life updates in picture form:

We made a fire pit for the back yard Saturday

The grass is getting green and Spdyer has a big butt.

I swept and organized my tack area at the barn

Kaiden sun bathes in his fluffy mess of toy destruction.

Kaiden killed the Easter lamb.

WW: Ouch

Slow to Type

I'm a bit slow to type due to this weekend's chain of events that led to a broken finger. Yes, my ring finger and middle finger on my right hand are taped together. It's the ring finger that's down. Good thing it's on the hand I use for EVERYTHING! I wanted to ride on Saturday, but Chris came down with a cold which he so generously passed on to me. We were couch bound all day and had an early night after watching the Olympics. Man, they can make you feel like you've accomplished nothing in life. Below is picture proof of how little I've accomplished, haha.

Selfie before the ride. Hahaha

Sunday, I woke up refreshed, but not 100%. I decided that it was the warmer of the two days, and I had to get to the barn. I took some meds and headed out after reading about April's hunt to find a dressage saddle on Facebook. She inspired me to put on my dressage saddle that hasn't been used since that schooling show we did. YIKES. I believe that my Instagram caption for the picture of the saddle on him was something like, "you can rip my legs off now." Anyways, I thought it was a great idea to ride on the track since we ended there with our last few rides. We traveled around 3/4 of the way around when KILLER DEER were spotted in the riding ring. Spyder has always seen deer in this ring, and he sees them all day when the 100's that live nearby cross through his field and even graze with the horses.

Result of 0 - 30 degree weather always = fluffy mess

Fluffffff

Big deal! It's just some deer, get over it! I pushed him forward after he was noticeably excited/scared/whatever emotions horses feel. Since he was a bit on the peppy side, I was in my dressage saddle I never ride in, and we were both out of shape, I decided to give it the old "emergency dismount." I had one foot on the ground when he jerked back and for whatever reason, I didn't let the reins go. This is a signature move I have - front flips while holding the reins. This time I didn't flip, but one day, I'm going to get seriously injured from pulling a horse on top of me. I know this yet I keep doing it subconsciously, why? He stopped after pulling me about 10 feet which resulted in this broken finger. I think.

I walked the spooky horse towards the deer on foot and was hoping he wouldn't trample me with another fit. Explain to me why I thought this was a good idea? I got him past where the deer went in the woods and got back on in the ring. I rode for 40 minutes with a "broken finger" by holding it straight and having little to no stopping power. I got in a  few steps of canter, a few bucks, a few grunts, and then, I got a calmer horse. Not calm, calmer. I rode back to the barn and got off in one piece. Always get back on!

I was afraid to pull my glove off when it was throbbing, but I was glad to see no bones protruding from the skin when I warmed up to coping with what I'd see. It felt funny, but I never broke anything so I wasn't sure what happened. I went to my parent's for dinner (after food shopping like a weak baby), and it started to develop a blue bruise on both joints which progressed to purple by the time I got home. I got ready for bed and taped it after showering, and I am not coping with taped fingers. Hopefully I can get a splint that will do a better job at holding it straight, and give me an additional finger to work with. It's fine when it's extended and I can bend it, but it hurts to lift items and put weight on it. I looked up the time for it to heal, and it looks like 4-6 weeks. I don't have the patience to wait that long, and I'm sure I'll be back to destroying it this upcoming weekend with riding. I have off for President's Day, and I hope we get a nice weekend (nice as in 35 at this point)!

Moral of the story: don't trust too much, don't be so brave, maybe you aren't ready for trails solo

Finger in the blue - purple stage