Finally.

Saturday I jump judged all day with my trainer Emily at Fairhill Starter Trial. We were assigned jump #2 which couldn't have been a better learning experience for me. The first fence coming out of the start box had you heading back towards show jumping and warm up, then you had to make a 90 degree turn to get to fence two which for all levels but elementary, was a sizable red coop of varying heights... then you cantered away from all things familiar and down a hill to a ramp. This was nearly the same type of scenario I was faced with on Riley at St. Augustine so it was incredibly educational to see how everyone navigated it. There were a few takeaways from watching 200 people go (yes, 200!!!). Those that had a sticky jump or a run out at fence #2 nearly ALWAYS had a run out at at #3. The horses that were shaky coming through the turn away from stadium were distracted and really needed a positive ride. I saw a few riders who could feel their horse bulging toward stadium or not paying attention that simply brought the back to a trot and refocused them before heading to our fence. There were a ton of young riders on brave ponies that gave really good rides. It made me want to channel my inner pony girl and get out there again! There were also a couple of riders that seemed completely over faced either with their horse or with their level. One girl in particular was on a bratty grey pony that refused twice at our fence and got eliminated at the next fence. Because it was a starter trial they let her continue but she nearly fell off at our fence and #3. We listened on the radio as it took her at least 4 tries to get over every jump and was overtaken by at least 4-5 riders. I think that someone should have pulled her off course, one because she wasn't going to teach the pony anything new and two, because she was becoming a hazard to the other riders. I have no idea how far around the course she got, but by fence 8 she had at least 20 refusals. There was another girl on a huge black horse that seemed very keen but she was a tiny, wisp of a rider and I would have to guess she was maybe 10-11 years old. The horse was very athletic and they jumped around stadium well, but he had a sticky jump at our fence and he DUMPED her at 3 and bolted. I have never seen a horse bolt like that in my life and he was headed straight for stadium. it was really scary, he was caught pretty quickly, luckily, but it was hairy to say the least. There were some other great rides as well, including Jane Sleeper on a few of her youngsters (she was literally the only person that came off the first jump on the appropriate lead) and Courtney Cooper on some really nice looking horses. All in all it was a really fun day, but it was blazing hot and I am going to have a permanent tank top tank for the rest of my life. Best part? We get a free xc schooling out of the deal! Woo hoo!

Sunday I finally rode Riley as his old paddock was ready again and riding him to and from his field was a royal PITA.

I made a super awesome diagram to show you:

The light blue line is the path I took yesterday. That has you going through into the woods, through a stream and past the cows, around Riley's usual turnout and back to where the new ring is. The green line is the path I normally take when going out for a hack. Both of these are roughly 1.2 miles. So I drive my car and tack over to Riley's old field (marked with a star), grab him, brush him off and pick out his feet, tack him up and ride him to wherever I want to school on the property. It's a bit of a hassle, but I am really not complaining, I promise. *Though I do hate having to mount from an overturned feed bucket. Having 140 acres to ride on and now a lovely ring is pretty incredible. We have even started putting in some XC jumps near the woods including a coop and proper ditch (yet to be schooled).

Also, the red arrow on the left of the diagram is the view I captured in this photo:

Chester County loveliness.

Riley was really good for our ride despite having two weeks off, save for one lunging session where he tried to kill me. The only problem was mounting. He's still doing this thing where he will move sideways as soon as I put my foot in the stirrup and I just cannot tolerate that. he knows how to stand quietly. He got a pretty severe reprimand the first time he did it and stood stock still on the second attempt (thank you jockey whip). Don't get me wrong, I don't like to get after him that much, but again, this is a dangerous habit and he's beyond this stage in his training. Anyway, we had a lovely hack where he was awesome about leaving his buddies. We trotted through the woods and the stream up a hill to where the cows are. As you know, he likes to pretend he's afraid of the cows so I figured that trotting him wayyy before the cows would help keep him focused on me. They were all piled up under a tree and he definitely kept one eye on them and one on me, but he was very brave. We hacked back to barn mostly trotting along the sides of the fields and headed to the NEW RING!

It was such a delight to ride on footing again! I think a few more rains on it and it will feel even better, but it's beautifully level. I also like that the owner decided not to put the fence line right up against the edge of the ring because I feel like that tends to give horses something to lean on instead of truly going straight. We did some trot work which is still challenging tracking right, and some canter work. I got a lovely walk-canter transition and even a few 20 meter circles! He felt really nice! We cooled out in the adjacent pasture and I let him have a nice long drink in the stream. Such a good dude.

Being the bravest.

So, he's back by the barn now and he's coming in during the day and out at night. He had more bites on him then I would like and was starting to get a bit hive-y. So I think the night time turnout will be the best thing for him. He'll get ridden hopefully by Emily one day this week and with me on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday and we're thinking about going XC schooling Sunday! Vacation is officially over, mister! We can start jumping in the ring this week and I cannot wait to start making some plans for him.

Weeeeee! Horse ownership! #FAIL

No one said horse ownership was easy, right?

Right.

Well, Riley is lame. But let's back up... before I purchased him he had a hoof bruise (LF) which developed into an abscess. It ruptured quite easily, but he was very lame because of it. Fast forward to post-rupture and a visit from the farrier and he was much improved. In fact, I rode him on two paper chases over varying terrain and he never took a weird step. Furthermore, he did not react positively for hoof testers at the PPE, not even a tiny bit. He had his feet done last Tuesday or Wednesday and the farrier said everything looks quite good, though he'll be even better after a few cycles. The spring grass has been good to his feet, they're growing like weeds! But she did notice another bruise on the LF. E told me that it may have been aggravated by the trim, and that she'd keep an eye on him for me (see: I am insanely busy), she applied some Keratex, and has done a few cycles of Magic Cushion to see if it will improve. We're thinking it's likely another abscess, but it could simply be a bruise. Time will tell for now... I went to see him Sunday and his hoof was neatly wrapped up from E's visit in the morning (so I left it alone), but I brought him in for a once over and a nice grooming. He still has these weird 3 inch long hairs growing all over his belly, seriously? Just shed out already! Anyway, I stuffed him full of treats, attempted unsuccessfully to apply Corona ointment on his nose (still scabby and sore) and worked away at his perpetually fuzzy body.

UGH.

And then I noticed this --------------------->

So he has hives now. Perfect. They were pretty much localized to his ribs and flank, but they did not look very nice. They didn't seem to be itching or bothering him, so I shot E a text, she confirmed that she saw them in the morning and that we'd keep an eye on them. Sigh. Most likely cause is either flies or a buttercup sensitivity. Today she told me that his lameness is slightly better, and his hives aren't nearly as bad. It's time to invest in a good fly sheet I think. He lives outside 24/7 so any recommendations would be great. He's fairly good about not ripping his clothes or instigating fights (he's only out with one other horse). Tomorrow, I'll run out after work and see how he's holding up.

Soooooooo cute.

I would have the sensitive red head! Ah well, the only silver lining about his lameness is that I'm so busy that I can hardly think straight so riding him is really out of the question for now. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he's done with the dramatic issues for awhile!



ps. I haven't forgotten about the Absorbine Giveaway -- it seemed like a lot of bloggers were offering it at the same time and I wanted to wait a little bit.

work, freelance, work, repeat.

I popped out to the barn on Wednesday evening to say hello to Riley, put a little zinc oxide on his nose and organize my stuff in the tack room. I have literally no time to see him for the next week and it makes me a bit sad. Luckily, as part of the sale agreement (see: worst timing ever to buy a horse) my friend has offered to ride him 1-2 times a week for me to keep his education going. I have 4 freelance jobs in the next week on top of my regular schedule and I'm hoping to squeeze in some pony time Sunday morning before one of them... Saturday's job is 12 hours though and I'm not sure if I'll be human Sunday morning.

Luckily, my friend indulges me and sends me cute pictures and updates when she rides him. This pony makes me smile:

Starting to look less like a raggamuffin.