"Shadow"ing the Past

Last night, I went to see Shadow go. He's April's standardbred that is also from SRF where Spyder's from. You read about her coming to watch my Danny lesson, and I thought I'd be great to see him go so I could remember where I was just a few years back. Dom, from this blog, who has also helped me in the past helps Shadow get going, and gives April direction as she did with me. Dom rode him for the first part of the hour, and April got on to ride after.

He hasn't been under saddle long (a month or two), and he's already further than I would have thought (and where I was at this point). He's got a great work ethic and doesn't get frustrated like Spyder would. He stands great to be tacked up, and doesn't have the nippy tendencies Spyder has since he's 15 (I think). When you get Shadow moving, he frames up nicely and can hold a trot for a decent amount of time. He's to the point where his transitions are coming along from a put together trot to a few steps of pace, then back to a trot. Spyder had zero coordination and balance, and for the longest time, he could not get the pace to trot transition. I would have to stop him and then ask him to trot again. GO SHADOW!

I think Shadow will be a much easier horse to bring along than the one I got! When you put leg on him, you can see him thinking. With Spyder, he would think, but it involved anger and the thought of bucking/kicking out. Shadow's such a pleasant horse, and I'm so happy I got to remember where I was just two years back (less the angry horse). We've come SO far, and April and Shadow are going to catch up quickly! I've been in the initial phases of looking for a decent horse trailer so we can potentially ride together on trails and get to some shows. Hopefully Shadow and Spyder get along as well as April and I do. It's great to have such a support system, and April saw the beginning of that when I posted a picture of her horse on Facebook, and other stb owners had great things to say!

Blurry Shadow and Dom getting on the bit

When I got home, I realized that I had driven out to Howell which is where one of my old horses was. When I was looking through my e-mail to give Dom a name of a person that I couldn't recall, I found where I had e-mailed the woman who had Jamboree in the past. It brought up great memories of how sweet she was, and I thought I'd try to follow up with the woman since it had been a while. Going back, I saw that she sent me a picture in 2008. In 2011, she followed up with me to let me know that she was retired because she had a bad knee and may have some issues going on because she had growths. I do remember her having one lump when I had her, but it didn't bother her.

If you didn't read about all of my past pets (at the top of the page, I have a link), Jamboree was the sweetest horse I had ever known. I had gotten her from a family friend for the price of them having fed her a month, and she was skin and bones. I can't believe they had been feeding her for that long because she was HORRIBLE looking when I got her. They purchased a horse from a local dealer, and Jamboree came with her for free (why not?). I worked at a camp teaching lessons, and one of the girls I worked with had actually had her skin and bones in the past (I'm thinking she unloaded her to this dealer, but I'm not positive). Her coggins were from Florida so I did some research and found the farm where she was. They had gotten her in similar condition, as well. POOR HORSE! They were nice enough to send me a photo of her jumping which gave me hope that my big TB would be back healthy and jumping once she got weight on her.

How horrible she looked the week I brought her home.

The only problem with her was that she wouldn't load. I had a horse trainer come out that was supposedly a "horse whisperer", and he worked with her a few hours before telling me there was nothing he could do to help me. This was after I would put food in the trailer and leave her to figure out how to eat (which was horrible because she hadn't eaten in the past and was TERRIFIED of the trailer for some reason - It sort of worked to get her used to being around it, but she hated going in it). My plans of the "perfect show horse" were shattered because we couldn't take her to shows or to my trainer for lessons. When I went to college, Jamboree needed to find a home because I had sold Shayne (you can read about him at that same link - I have a picture of the two of them there), and she was lonely. I wasn't getting home enough to ride, so I posted an ad and weeded through the good and bad replies.

She was filling out nicely

Dirty, but a much happier horse

The day this woman Susan came, I ran home from school and was thinking about Jamboree's trailering issue. I was hopeful that she wouldn't get in because then, I had more time to accept the fact that she was leaving. We worked with her for a bit, and putting a cloth over her eyes, we got her in the trailer in no time. I couldn't hold myself together. I worked SO hard to get her somewhere to work with a trainer so we could show, and it wasn't that hard for 3 of us to get her in for me to say goodbye forever. I had already given them her special feed, oil for extra fat, blanket, personalized halter, personalized bucket, etc. Since they had everything they needed, and I was sobbing, I just turned for the back door. They had asked me if I was OK, and I couldn't even talk to them. They left, and I couldn't watch the trailer go.

In 2008, I asked for information, and they had sent me a picture in which she looked TERRIBLE (not as bad as when I got her by far, but she needed weight). I couldn't help but ask them if they were feeding her like I suggested and reminded them that I gave them what they needed to keep feeding her per vet discussions. The woman didn't answer me because she was not happy with what I said to her. In 2011, I gained the courage to e-mail her again, and all she let me know was they still had her. I pried for more information, and they said they had gotten her vetted in which they found she had a bad knee and had to be a pasture mate (not sure what happened because she was vetted clear when I got her). They also mentioned that they thought the lump she had was melanoma, but it didn't seem to bother her.

Since I came across the e-mail address yesterday, I figured I would give it a shot and see how she's doing. I was surprised to get a response because they stopped responding to me again (I requested to go see her), but I got this back, "Jamboree passed away last year! We had to have the poor baby girl put down the cancer finally won the battle after a year and a half. She had a good life and a few months after she passed away, her boyfriend died. I think it was a broken heart he was never the same after she was gone. Hope all is well." And so I cried on the way to work today when I got this e-mail, and I cried writing this. She taught me so much, and I will never forget that amazing and strong horse. She never held what people did to her against them and loved with all she had.

Back at it

I got to ride yesterday which was the first day back since the wedding (and the week before). I left work a bit early to make sure that I had enough time in the event he had a lot of energy or wanted to act up from sitting for a week (and I couldn't find him because he moved to the field next to his since his needs a rest and that one has a ton of grass). He did not have a case of energy. Spyder was more peppy than usual, but that lasted about 15 minutes. What a lazy horse! He listened to my leg fairly well and remembered what we had learned in our Danny lesson. We had a smooth, comfortable trot that looked really great since he was staying round and putting forth an effort.

That lasted long... we had to push through some lazy spots. The rhythm gets lost when Spyder doesn't feel like going. I know it's still hot, but it's been low humidity and lower temperatures PLUS he sat. There is no excuse! The cluck is coming in handy to keep him listening and in a steady pace. When I am posting, my voice has to set the pace and keep him going along with my leg. Hopefully we can work through lazy, and it's good switching up the routine to keep him excited.

We did a lot of circles on the bit, and worked on w/t transitions. A figure eight around a jump with walking and changing the bend in the middle before picking up the trot again got his attention. He was very quiet, and I'm glad that I have a horse that picks back up where he left off. Level headed and quiet is better than a crazy peppy one. Go Spyder! I am looking forward to riding this week (only Thursday, though). I have a wedding in Virginia this weekend so next week should become a more steady schedule. I'm excited to get back to a bit of jumping. The jumps at the "adult barn" are always set pretty high because no one changes them so I am thinking of riding next door. The lesson jumps are better. Yes, I am just as lazy as Spyder and don't want to get back on after I get off to fix the jumps. I'm guilty.

:)

Brushed his tail out

Always drinks as soon as he's put back

With Hard Work, We Progress

So Friday was a great ride. It was a bit warm, but we had the perfect breeze. Spyder wasn't in the mood for a ride, but he perked up quickly and was easy to handle. We started with w/t and got balance going. From there, we picked up the canter. It was AMAZINGLY easy to pick it up (to the left, of course). Once we trotted to the right, I was having trouble getting him off my leg. It took a few circles, but FINALLY, he started listening. Since he was moving over, I pushed up into the canter which was also very easy for whatever reason. He can hold it longer because he's finding his balance, and he's starting to get moving off my leg at the canter, as well. Whoo, maybe soon we can do BIGGER circles.

On to the Danny lesson yesterday - OH BOY! We walked over to the indoor very bravely, and he was just a bit perky/excited/nervous. It was100% my fault because I was nervous, but the heat made me realize that he wouldn't be moving anywhere too quickly. It was 95 degrees, and I had a 2:45 lesson. Had I known it would have been so hot, I may have not signed up, but I sucked it up because he doesn't come too often. The indoor was nice because we got out of the sun, and the ceiling fans were going which helped with air flow a bit. I'll have to go over to the indoor on days when it's really hot if I want to ride without the sun. Normally I wouldn't have ridden on such a hot day, but we had things to accomplish.

To start the lesson off, Danny asked me what I would like to work on. I had to think about it, because I'm not sure where we left off with our other two lessons. I remembered - the first was w/t/STOP because stop wasn't working... and the second was w/t/STEER because we worked on my posture, but steering was not an option. I decided to ask to work on rhythm and balance because I let him know we get a running walk or a pace when he's off balance (but it's also a laziness issue). We started off with a quick trot warm up in both directions around the indoor. Danny could see that I've been working with him as the trot was a lot better than prior lessons. It was great to hear I did something right since the last time he saw him move.

We worked on a circle around Danny while moving the shoulder out. I used a dressage whip to push his shoulder out when he wouldn't listen to my leg. At first, he kept speeding up with the whip in which case my outside rein had to dictate the pace. He kept trying to trot off which was frustrating so I had to keep bringing him back down. Danny let me know I let my horse get away with murder... bad habit, I know. Once he got over that the whip didn't mean SPEED UP, it means MOVE OVER, we were looking great. Danny was pleased with his form in the walk so we moved up to trot... failure. We looked like a sloppy mess, and he let me know it. Then I got asked, "why can you do it at the walk and not the trot?" Good question? It's because I was too busy flopping around. So lesson #1: Outside rein to set the pace, inside rein to pull in his nose for the bend. Easier said than done so we worked at the walk again. I had to keep my outside rein and hand at the saddle and close my inside hand until we got the bend.

Keeping my hands steady at the walk was easy, but the trot they were all over the place which was the problem. We then moved back up to trot once I got my hands under control. This time we got it, but Spyder was picking the pace. We worked on slower, slower, slower, and Danny assured me that there is no rhythm issue. Once he is balanced, his rhythm is great. I just had to learn how to keep him there and to keep his shoulder out. Spyder was getting frustrated on the one half of the circle and pulled a little angry/rear/hop up stunt, but I rode through it well (oh no, being asked to get off my leg is SOOO terrible). I am so happy that he pulled the act just once and that I could keep riding him like it never happened. We took a walk break, and I needed it! It was so hot, and I was bright red/feeling like I could pass out. Whew, summer is killing me.

I wanted to switch to the left because that's my stronger leg and the easier direction. So when Danny asked me to grab my reins to start up the same exercise, I said, "Same direction?" He said, "Of course, you think I'd let you do the easy way? I remember that the right is the weaker side!". I thought I could catch a break, but he let me know the once a month or so was not enough time to work on the "easy side". We were doing so well on the "hard side" so I got to switch direction at the trot. I had to keep using my weak right leg which was now the outside leg since he gets it so easily to the left. I knew I'd be sore the next day (but it's not as bad as expected). We kept switching back to the right since the "bad side" was getting to be so easy.

I REALLY enjoy Danny lessons because he's tough, and you get a lot accomplished in just one hour. You're always getting questioned and ideas handed to you that make you think. He's always asking you things over and over again so they stick. The next ride, you know EXACTLY what to do because you repeat what you're doing throughout the lesson out loud. It's a great way to teach because you can't forget unless you are not participating in which case he lets you know it. You might get asked (which I did), "Now what are you doing wrong?"... when you're puzzled because you're doing things right (so you think). The point is, you think, "What am I doing wrong?". Well, nothing. The answers are sometimes complex and usually simple, but you don't think to say, "Umm, I'm doing everything right." It's positive reinforcement to remind you that you know what you're doing while you're doing it.

I had to repeat to Danny (out loud) "this is the hard side" a few times while we went around to the right in a perfect circle to remind myself that we accomplished what we were looking to do. Also, "outside rein sets the pace, inside rein turns his nose" must have been repeated ten times. Then I got asked, "and what else are you doing?" I also had to add "if the inside rein doesn't make him move out his shoulder, then push him out with the inside leg."  Saying this over and over again is going to help my next rides immensely. I'm looking forward to the next lesson because we were looking like a dressage team! The trainer/BO took a video of us once we got through the rough spots and changing direction. It's hard to see the difference between either side because he was so good in both directions! :)

Coming Up!

We've got a lot going on. I plan on riding prior to my private lesson with Danny Warrington on Sunday, AND I have a ride with Dom scheduled on Monday! :) YAY! Hope both kick my butt into gear! The 13th, so that following weekend, we have a "fun/benefit" show. I will post updates on all rides and events when they happen, but wanted to wish everyone a Happy 4th! :)

Oh, and below is a picture of cute twin fawns that I saw last week and never posted!

Cute! On the way down the driveway.

Friday Ride

Before heading to San Fran for work, I decided to get in another ride. It was again over 90 degrees, but this time, I was not going to let Spyder get away with not doing what was asked of him. The field is FINALLY mowed 100% except for a few straggling long pieces... all of which Spyder tries to grab while in action. I am hoping that the grass is not going to become a greater issue, but I make sure the signal is apparent as a NO!

Shiny with his feet trimmed

His lovely hair. He's standing REALLY weird.

Before I went out in the ring, I made sure that I got my dressage whip. Since it was hot, I was not going to put up with anything. Do what I ask, and it'll all be over soon. Before moving forward back at the barn, I made sure he was OK with it. I know that he knows what a crop/whip are, but I wanted to make sure he wasn't going to be jumpy or too forward since I have yet to ride him with one. His ears came back as soon as I picked it up, but it was more of a listening act vs. being angry. I rubbed it on his shoulder and back and moved towards his tail to make sure that he would be good with it. I moved it out extending my arm to see if he would spook with it far from his body. He was so good! I switched hands with it in front of the saddle to bring the whip up over his ears. Again, no spook. We were ready to ride, and Spyder was ready to go.

In the field, he was super attentive. He has been getting better with this, but his actions come sooner rather than later when asked to do something. All you have to do is hold the crop, and he knows it is there. He listens and waits, and it makes riding a lot easier. You don't have to kick, scream, push, and pull. You just have to ask while holding the crop. Well, that was easy, and he's also a bit more excitable with it in tow. At first, I thought he was nervous or anxious, but he's just more willing to listen for fear of punishment! Holding a whip in my hand is the new punishment, haha.

After I warmed up, the trainer at the farm came over with a pony to give someone a lesson. To get out of their way, I went into the dressage ring. From here, we did a bit of walking to make sure he wasn't going to spook or act up with other commotion going on. They were working on w/t/c and jumping (then cross country) so I wanted to make sure he would behave around a horse he has never seen. Usually he throws fits when horses are in the ring and he has to do something they aren't doing... he likes to follow or watch what they are doing. Asking him to pay attention and listen to me is too much to ask, but this was not the case today. Since he did so well, we worked on picking up the canter. With the crop, even on a hot day, it was just too easy. We cooled down after TRYING to do straight lines.

Walking back to the barn, we saw the vet on the track. She has kept a two of her standardbreds at the farm throughout their training to get in harness and out on the track for early training. The one two year old at the farm was racing, but I don't think she was doing too well, and her two year old gelding is out for training. She wants to bring the mare back for a new discipline, racing under saddle (or RUS). People are starting to learn about this because of the exhibitions at races in the area. She was pacing under saddle (prior to the cart training), but she will trot and pace with her new trainer (getting 60 days), and the vet said she would love to ride her in one of the races and try it out. How exciting! The vet joked and said she would race me under saddle on her pacer, but we don't pace much if at all (not consistently at least) AND Spyder is just not cut out for fast. Maybe that would be exciting for him to work a little harder?

I untacked and hosed Spyder off since it was going to be a warm night. I took him to the outside cross ties with my phone. I sacrificed it with the water thinking that I didn't want to miss such a scene that I had last blog... the drinking from the hose and sitting like a dog on the lead. I got one of the two acts that I wanted to see, but not 100%. For everyone's viewing pleasure, I got the hose performance on tape. The bad news, it wasn't even half as cute or skilled as it was days prior, but you get the point.

Annoying him with the hose because he won't do it!

Turned the hose down so he would remember what to do!

 Me giggling. He did it, but he usually drinks longer. Today, he just wanted to play.

P.S. I'm in San Fran still (until late Wednesday night) so I won't be riding until Thursday (if I'm awake enough after work because I get back late). It is BEYOND beautiful and warm here for the norm.

The Weather

Many times I have gone out to the farm and found my horse like this...

January 2013 - Sunbathing

Wouldn't it be nice to sunbathe all day and decide to just not get up some days? Spyder takes advantage of the warmth and always finds a high and dry place to lay. People at the farm are always joking with me because he stays so clean. He HATES mud and will only walk through it if it involves getting to food. Funnier, he won't even walk through his own poop. He'll do everything he can to get around the manure, I'm sure it looks lovely at the trot when he makes his crazy moves to pass it. 



Oh no, I'm not getting up - same day as photo above

 

I do love that he picks a high and dry place, and even if it rains, he stays dry in his shelter. He doesn't get blanketed like almost every horse at the farm does, and he's still fatter, cleaner, and fluffs out nicely despite the fact that I may not get out to brush him for a few days. It's nice knowing he's so happy and healthy. I just wish I got to relax like he does.



January 2012 - 1 year prior to photos above.

 

 

It's frustrating knowing that he will throw a fit if he doesn't want to do something - if only life was that easy for humans. I think we need to take lessons and learn from each other... I should try to relax and catch the sun... and he should have a little better work ethic. For now, we meet in the middle. It's relaxing to see him so relaxed when I get out to the farm for a quick lunch visit some days. Hopefully I'll get better weather to get out more often!  :)

Spring has Sprung

Spring has sprung and so did my horse's attitude. I'm not going to pretend like we didn't always have a few quirks, but getting the grunt and kicking out to stop was nice. The new "hop" or explosion of energy has really frustrated me, but our last few rides were good for the most part.

I rode Tuesday, and to my surprise, I only got a little bit of sour ears. There was no grunting, no kicking out, and no hop! It was REALLY strange that he was SO good (at the canter) because we hadn't even been cantering for a lack of dry footing and positive attitude. We trotted a circle, and I asked him to pick up the canter... a "kiss" and a "kick" with the outside leg, and he acted like he knew the cue. Even more strange, we walked, and then picked up the canter. He got the correct lead as he always does, and there was no issue. It was like we've been cantering for years.

Hopefully the positive attitude will keep up with the warmer weather coming and be a fresh, happy start to what we have in store for us this season.

A few goals: keep on riding, keep on pushing through the attitude, work on the canter, refine steering, work on speed within each gait, get to the jumps, school some xc jumps, get out of the ring, and get off the farm! :)

Progress and Regress

January brought more cantering and less kicking out. One of my most memorable moments was being in the dressage ring when Spyder threw a rant. He kicked out, slid on mud, and fell down almost on his face. I somehow managed to stay on, but I think it was great for him to see what the consequences of acting up. From that moment on during that lesson, he was scared to act out.

Cantering had been put on hold because we went back to steering and bending work, but it was great to know that we had one entire lesson in January without complaints. It's very hard having an opinionated horse, but I am so glad that I have networked with enough standardbred owners to get input. I would say there was a ton of progress starting here and moving on into the other winter months.

February was a pretty cold and wet month so I didn't get to take any lessons. I didn't let the weather stop me and tried to get out as much as I could, but it was hard with the ground being frozen. There were a few rides where I was able to get on with snow on the ground, and it made me nervous at first, but Spyder didn't care about the snow. A few rides we just did some leisure rides without purpose since we had to find dry ground, and there was not a whole lot.

What was so great in January and March turned into a surprise of attitude for March. I had Spyder do an excited buck out on the track, and it was quite funny because it came from nowhere and he rode off like it didn't happen. March also brought more fits. Instead of kicking out, which we worked through at the canter over the winter, this is a new type of trick. - exploding? Spyder will jump in the air off all four feet to complain. We do work through it, but it's very frustrating because it seems to happen when he doesn't want to listen or get out a work. Feeding time makes it much more interesting and all steering gets thrown out the window.

I've networked with people saying that they have the same issues, but what do you do? Everyone in the horse world has their own advice. Ride like nothing happened vs. spur him - don't say anything and keep riding vs. yell and make a scene. For now, I make a loud noise since that's what we do on the ground when he shouldn't be doing something. He KNOWS about things that he shouldn't do (like be mouthy), but he can't help himself. He will be mouthy and then pull his head back because he knows he is going to get an unpleasant sound coming his way. This makes me nervous in the event that this is his new trick because if he wants to do it, I fear he isn't going to care of the consequence. Hopefully it's just another phase like his kicking out, and we will get through it.

I know that we got through the kicking out and a lot of the grumpiness, BUT this is going to be a new hurdle to overcome. We did get off the farm to end March, and it went pretty well. AC 4-H had a fun show, but I just went to ride around and get a feel for Spyder off the farm this season. In the ring, he listened pretty well, and had 1-1.5 of his fits, but I think I'm starting to learn how to handle it. I'm excited for what spring is going to bring! :) Need to get to jumping, but behaving is first in line.

The Journey Begins

 So where did I leave off? Oh yeah, Spyder comes to Split Elm...

First day at the farm

His new stall - Day 1

I have notes on some of my very first lessons, and we've come a long way, but I'll start from when he knew just about nothing. It was hard finding a place to start being that I never started a horse rather than a young one. I mean it is what I wanted, but was I ready for this? I was excited and nervous at the same time. Umm, why did I pick this horse? What do you teach a horse that only knows, "OK, there's a rider my my back. Cool, now what?"

Paddock to himself - he's changed so much!

I'd say I taught him something looking back, but mainly because I had direction from my lessons and instructors. I am very glad that I have people that can help guide me in this process of, "What do I do now?" So back to my notes. I believe he came to the farm on my Mom's birthday, July 15 so he had just turned 4. He went out in a ring by himself for at least a week to get used to the new place and figure it all out. I rode him a few times in the round pen as a caution of what could have happened being that he was young and may have been scared? What did I know? I got on him and he didn't care! I took him out in the field to graze for a bit on a lead to bond and what does he spook at? A LOG! A LOG that doesn't move! Oh boy, what did I get into?

Back to lessons - I didn't even get there yet because of my rambling... they start with "steering and going". Wow, embarrassing and beyond what I could teach a horse myself? I have those same comments for 1 lesson each week for 5 weeks. 5 weeks of steering and going, here we go. We did most of this in the pen where he was turned out by himself since he was used to the area on the farm, and then moved to the grass area that has some cross country jumps for looks that was next to this ring. Come September, we worked on moving off of leg to add in a new test. At the end of September, we were able to start to work on developing a canter to see how that would go - not TOO bad. My horse liked to throw in some small bucks in the beginning, but nothing that could get me off. It's weird, but I think they are fun to push through.

His first show - AC 4-H

Come October, we moved to a new area on the track, conquering one area of the farm at a time. We would alternate between his paddock where he was turned out originally, the side field, and the track which made learning more interesting with all kinds of new scenery. This month we got to work on more cantering, and now pacing his trot since he was starting to get the hang of what he was being asked to do. In the middle of the month, we went to an open show at the Atlantic County 4-H fairgrounds which was something new. I wasn't sure how it would go, but we did the "older and bolder" division so we could stick to walk/trot. He was PERFECT! In the ring he threw one fit because another horse cut him off, but I was just happy to have made it out alive, and as Grand Champion might I add. Ok, I know, I know, it's 4-H, but I'm still happy that we did well. It was fun competing with "normal" horses on a pacer because people wouldn't have known the difference if his big head didn't give it away! We even did the cross rail class which was just 2 jumps because we were having so much fun. I never jumped him, but he tried his best (and threw in some exciting pace steps between the two jumps)! We summed up this month with cantering a bit more. What a beginning!

November was a bit colder and somewhat muddy so we would go over to the indoor one night a week for practice in the trailer (yeah, like standardbreds need practice with that) and for something different. This month, December, and January were spent mainly in the indoor where we got to work on a little bit of jumping, ground poles, more cantering, pacing the trot, and transitions. It was fun knowing that a horse with a standardbred trot could collect and slow it down a bit. Man, they have HUGE gaits! We did get outside a few times this winter - on the track was one of those days where we got to practice with puddles. Water is such a scary thing to trot through, but we got through it.

In February, we got to work in the dressage ring in the big field since we worked on our circles and speeds to practice a test. Flat work was never my thing, but I was so proud to see that I was becoming a better rider from it, and I did all of this along with my horse that became a better ride. February began moving off of leg which has helped our flat work and bending out quite a bit! I never thought I would do so many quarter lines, but they went from omg, my leg is killing me because you won't move over to just closing my leg and having him move out... such a great feeling! Spyder hurt himself in the field like any playful 4 year old would (knee injury/cut and was swollen) so we had a week off which I'm sure he loved! He managed to do this while I was 6 hours away one weekend skiing in Vermont - thank goodness for farm owners that live on property!

Late February, March, and April brought more scenery between the indoor, dressage ring, track, round pen, and field. Circling objects became a huge accomplishment being that our steering wasn't all that great, but I knew it was getting there. Going round became a new feat which was fun, but also added confusion to the mix being that I was not always focused which confused my poor horse. I had to think about too many things - move forward, keep trotting, go this way, now go round, now keep going this way, ok, now turn, ugh, no, go round again... whoo, this was work! I'm so happy that I have a horse that puts up with me and is so patient, kind, and forgiving... if only I could obtain those qualities.

April - the first of us going round!

At the end of April, I had a hard time with Spyder after attending an open 4-H show. We signed up for the older and bolder classes again, but he was not very happy to be there. Maybe it was my nerves because he was so fresh, but it was not fun. Spyder never really does anything THAT bad. He might grunt or kick out because he's frustrated, but this was I hate you, I don't want to be here, I'm going to do a tiny rear thing and turn how I want to turn and do what I want to do. My nerves and frustration led to pacing which was 1) not fun 2) super fast and 3) not what you do at an open english show? I didn't make it to our jumping classes because we were both frustrated with each other, and I knew something was up.

May came and I rode on my own, without lessons to try to figure out our issues. Why did my horse trot and trot and trot and now decide to pace? What happened at the show? What did I do wrong? Did I push too hard? I needed to decide what to do, how to get help, and who to ask questions to. It was almost a year of moving forward but something had to push us back - what was it?