4 months and 4 days...

Although the time seems to be crawling by with Ms. Kiki, when I look at my google calendar I can appreciate every hour that I have spent grooming and riding her. Each moment is now etched in that space and here on this blog...I am glad that I started keeping a journal of our adventures together...it's starting to take shape into something I know I will look back on and enjoy after our first show together, and fingers crossed, first event next year!

So after a very obedient lunge and ride at a very quiet barn today, I thought she deserved a nice bath and some new photos to show how she is coming along. It's a bit hard to appreciate unless you are me, because it's been such a labor of love. But she did look like a broodmare when I started with her. Maybe if she could stop getting into fights with her herdmates she'd look a little nicer!

ok...some photos from April (I started working with her in the middle of March):



And a few from today...I will take more another day when the sun isn't beating down so much...(almost) everyone at the barn is afraid of Kiki so even though I had someone hang on to her and attempt to set her up for a confirmation shot, she was fairly uncooperative...enough so that the handler was getting nervous...but we got a few basic shots, and then I took some while I was hand grazing her!

adrenaline can only take you so far...

Since my last post about our rodeo-esque lesson we have only gotten 2 rides in. It has been ungodly hot here...yesterday it was 106 in the city and still 98 when I got to the farm. B's idea was that it would be so hot that Kiki wouldn't give me much trouble...ha! So let's recap...last Thursday, Betsy and some of the girls from Virginia came up for a few days so we decided to have a fun day where everyone played games! There were 9 of us mounted and I was excited about playing with Kiki because she seems to really like lots of stimulation and activity and although she acted like a nut getting ready (the vet was there working on a horse what ran through a fence two weeks ago, the trailer was pulled in front of the barn and was open, and horses were being brought in and turned out, and there were 8 other horses being tacked up)...once we got to the outdoor ring she was fine and she warmed up nicely. We played a bunch of silly games and it was really neat to see her watch the other horses and figure out what to do next -- she's incredibly smart that way. She broke into a few fits of crow hopping with excitement but I actually felt comfortable letting her canter back to the group! What a champ! At one point during a relay race where we had to grab silk flowers out of a jump, one of the other young horses spooked, ditched his rider, and bolted...I was standing with Kiki next to said horse's herd mate and I started to freak out a bit. I was trapped between the fence line and a jump and watched as this other horses galloped, bucking and squealing around the property heading straight for us. Kiki got pretty nervous, as did a few other horses, and she started moving around in a way that felt like she was either going to rear or bolt, but once the horse stopped (and was caught), I took a deep breath and she calmed down too. I really let my mind go to a worst case scenario during all of it, but I stayed on and didn't panic which certainly would have made things worse. I need to trust her, because she relies on me to tell her that things are safe. Our team ended up the winners and I got a sweet pair of socks with a little chestnut horse on them! We had a bonfire and a bbq which was an awesome way to end the day. It's strange to think that just last week it was cool enough to have a fire!

I gave her the weekend off, mostly because of the heat, though I did stop by and visit her on Sunday to give her some treats and love. I took a friend of mine and his son to visit and sadly his son got stung by a yellow jacket shortly after we arrived, so we headed home! I thought because it was a million degrees yesterday she might be tired, or quiet, but nooooo...I walked out to get her and she raised her head with a huge chunk of hay in her mouth, let me get a few feet in to the paddock, turned squealed and bolted. Nice. I try to get near her to show her that I have a cookie (it's useless trying to catch her empty-handed), she turns, bolts and goes bucking across the field, now with another mare in tow. Ugh. Finally she stops and just looks at me, snorting. I walk up, hand her the cookie and get going. Silly girl. She's all kinds of snorty heading back up to the barn and although she tacks up fine, I can just tell she got a wild hair up her behind. We had a lesson with the two other heads of herd on the property, which she was NOT ok with. She came in to the ring dominant, and without any of her herd around she could barely contain herself. If there's one thing I have learned about her body language is you can't trust MOST of what you see...the snorting, spooking, screaming, that I can handle, but it's her telltale wobbly legs that give away what she's really capable of. When she starts losing her mind her front legs will get really wobbly and shake, and well, there she stood, front legs going everywhere as I tried to mount. She dragged me around the arena looking at the sky for the first 10 minutes until I could get her to focus and take a deep breath. But the lesson was a good test for both of us...mostly, I was cursing myself for giving her so many days off...but we worked on lots of little things to make her think, and to learn some patience. Some solid leg yields (she's finally listening to my leg) and a few successful tuns on the haunches! We did a small bit of leg yielding at a trot and I thought we were done for the night...nope...B insisted I canter her, and I was nervous...where had my bravery gone??? But you know what, she watched the other horses go and she said to herself, "Niamh, I've got this, we go over here, pick up our trot and then left lead canter at M" and off she went, and we cantered around (albeit a little sideways) a few times...I really felt her canter, and now in a new close contact saddle, she felt comfortable for the first time! We did a few transitions on the left lead and then tried the dreaded right side! Though it was difficult getting her in to the canter, she actually felt more balanced in that direction. It's extremely hard for me to think of leg yielding her into the wall with my inside hand and leg while asking for the right lead canter, but once we got it, I could push her over with my inside leg and pulse the inside rein to keep her straight!

I was really pleased with her in the end, and if my flipcam caught any of it, I will certainly post, though the moment is etched in my mind! She finished off the evening by trying to maul me as I hosed her off, chain over the nose and everything...nerd!

*In other exciting news, I am going to farmsit for B and L next Thursday and Friday. I can't wait! Is it weird that I am excited to miss work for the opportunity to wake up and muck stalls instead?

I am such a horse girl.

Overdue!

Life has been a bit crazy since returning from my little vacation to Virginia, and I am just finally settling in after getting caught up at work and life!

I didn't have ANY cell phone/internet reception at Hunter's Rest so updating in a timely manner was just not possible.

The trip was incredible. I went with a couple of horse friends I know from Pegasus, one of B's students, and a lady that flew in from Washington State (who is an event rider and a vet -- she was awesome). The driving portion was super fun and I had created a trivia game (horse themed) to keep us entertained on the boring 3.5 hour drive. We loaded up with refreshments at Total Wine in Delaware to sustain us for the vacation! For anyone who has visited Middleburg, Va this is not news, but it is just gorgeous...rolling hills, mountains, stables everywhere, and it would appear that EVERYONE who lives there rides...EVERYONE. We stopped at a little bakery/sandwich place so our motorcade could unite, called Upper Crust. They are famous for their cookies (they even have horse shaped ones) so we bought one of each and chomped on fresh sandwiches. We regrouped and walked around the various tack shops near by...including the Middleburg Tack Exchange, where I would have been happy to spend the day. For those of you that don't know, it's a HUUUUGE used tack shop. Rows and rows of used (and some new) breeches, coats, bridles, hunt stuff...everything...then, you go downstairs and the basement is filled with saddles and boots...all used in great condition and cheap! Sadly, none of the boots fit, which was a disappointment, but slightly expected, and I am pretty sure I rubbed my face on a few saddles down there! I did get a nice pair of ultra thin devon-aire summer breeches for $29! And finally, a martingale stay for Kiki (I have been using a hair tie - so ghetto). I loaded up on rain-maker at another tack shop and we headed off to Flint Hill and Hunter's Rest to get settled in.

Betsy and her mother Jackie live on a beautiful farm on 25 acres of hills that back up to miles and miles of hunt land, essentially giving her place infinite property lines. We were originally supposed to be paired with a particular horse for the entire weekend, but that changed quite quickly (which I was happy about because I wanted to ride lots of horses)...so we got assigned a horse to go for an afternoon hack. I was assigned Tip...a dark bay who is an experienced fox-hunter. A sweet horse indeed, with a VERY light mouth, which is fine, because I have light hands. I think altogether there were 8 of us that day heading out into the woods. Betsy instructed everyone to ride on the buckle...and she meant it. Her horses are all well schooled and understand what is expected of them at all times...not kick-a-longs by a long shot, but seasoned to say the least. Around her farm are loads of hills (that would be excellent for conditioning) and miles of galloping paths with nice footing. One of the best parts about where she lives is that because it's in the middle of hunt country there are coops separating everyone's fields...so you can jump in and out of properties, or use gates of course. We didn't do much of anything but walk and trot a little and at one point the mare that was following Tip decided to get too close, he let out a well-placed kick (a big no-no for a hunt horse) and she (a new arrival to the farm, and an event prospect), swung around in a millisecond and double-barreled him...it was all totally chaotic for about 5 seconds. After that settled down we cantered a little through the woods, but one or two of the girls decided to let their horses go, which just caused problems for me and the mare following me. All in all it was a nice ride.

*I am going to refer to the schedule I posted a few weeks ago so I can tell you what we did and didn't do on the trip.

We did not end up having a confirmation lesson that night, we were all pretty exhausted after a long drive and what turned out to be a 2.5 hour trail ride! We had a delicious dinner, settled in and watched a hunt movie based in Ireland -- it was completely nuts watching these little kids hunt!

Friday we had a cross country lesson, which I was super excited about. I rode a quarter horse (who looked like a ISH/quarter horse cross) named Frosty. Also an experienced hunt horse, Jackie assured me I was in for a really fun ride. We started off pretty easy since a few of the girls with us are fairly new to jumping, much less cross country. Everyone had a brave face on though and that made everything more fun. Vicki and I led a lot of the ride through each element, and I got to cheer the other girls on and watch! At some point we got to an area of huge hills and one of the girls suggested we go cantering up it, Besty didn't think that was a good idea, but after some pestering she agreed to let us trot up and if our horses cantered a little to get their balance that was ok...well, off we went, and as soon as the lead horse cantered the others followed suit...I had a pretty good feel on Frosty who was getting pretty amped up, but he was still under control...the horse next to me bolted (but Vicki was quite capable and brought him back easily), and then I felt thundering hooves coming up the hill...I turned around and everyone seemed to be flopping off of their horses left and right. Three horses were loose, and three stunned girls were laying in the grass...Betsy (now at the top of the hill) and my instructor (at the bottom) were shocked...what the hell happened? Well, one of the horses (who was next to the horse that bolted) started bucking...the two others lost control of their horses and abandoned ship. At least one of these riders is used to riding in a group with horses going fairly fast, but never has full control of her horse, and it definitely influenced the outcome. I am all for going fast and having fun, but I always need to be in control...I don't need the horse making decisions for himself, or getting caught up in herd mentality and losing the plot. Everyone got back on, and bruised body parts and egos aside, we headed onward. The girls recovered pretty quickly but they were all pretty reluctant to try any of the jumping elements initially. I really wanted to do everything I could and tried to make the most of each challenge. Frosty was more than game...what's odd about a hunt horse is their eagerness to follow another horse over a jump...I guess since I have never really hunted and we don't school jumps that way, it was a little unsettling at first, but once I trusted him and just sat up and rode I was in good shape. We did a really fun combination of logs that had a one stride in and out to 3 logs (one stride in between the first two and 2 or three to the next one) around a tree to turn back towards the group, over a hanging log and then to a little bounce that could have also been ridden as a corner. We rode over to a neighboring farm where they had a huge field filled with stadium and natural fences!!! We rode a couple of combinations there including a really fun coop heading up a hill. I think the highlight of the ride was getting to jump on of the hunt coops from a big field into the woods (and complete darkness) where the landing was a little downhill. It was super fun!

Later that day we had a polo lesson and I opted to ride a green bean named City. He was afraid of the balls (we were using dodge ball size ones), the mallet, the mallet's shadow...but we pushed through and we was very brave in the end. We played referee for a little while so he could watch and we got to hit the ball back in when goals were made. Sometimes he would see the mallet and start backing up to get away from it, which was more funny that anything. We did win the long ball contest we had, because as it turns out, I have a pretty good swing!



Saturday we had a side saddle lesson! Since there was only one saddle (and one very tolerant side saddle horse) we all rode different horses while each person got to take a turn...then we were allowed to either stick with our original mount or swap with someone else...we played a game where my instructor pretended she was a client looking for a horse and we had to get to know enough about our horse to give her a description of why he/she would be good/bad for her...I rode PB to start, who is a lovely, huge homebred grey thoroughbred. He's young, but very willing and has a puppy dog personality. Riding side-saddle was awesome...Betsy said I was a natural!

It's a very strange experience and you feel of balance the whole time, but once you figure out how to lock your right calf against the saddle, you feel very secure. I even trotted a little! I got to ride a few other horses, but really just wanted to play around on PB. We headed to the Upperville Horse and Colt show to watch the side saddle hunter division! Super impressed!

I may have the details a bit mixed up here, but we went to the Old Dominion hound puppy party later in the afternoon. Each season they introduce the new pups to the huntsmen...mostly, I just wanted to play with puppies...and I did...rolling around in the grass getting them to chase my camera!


**The trip took a bit of a turn here and some of the girls started fighting with each other over horses and silly things...I started to separate myself a little from the group because I just wanted to have a good time and make the most of my experience there (this plan really worked out for me). we headed back to the farm for evening chores, where I climbed into a hay loft, via a stall in my nice clothes...I am always going to be a tomboy at heart, sigh. We grabbed a picnic dinner on our way to polo and set up on a hill to watch a twilight match! It was arena polo (I have only ever seen it on grass) but it was quite incredible! During the first match someone broke a mallet and half of it went flying across the arena. I discovered that there was a ledge on the opposite side near the entrance, so I walked over and perched myself there with camera in hand to get some action shots! Now I can say...you're not getting the full polo experience unless you're getting hit in the face with dirt with the mare waiting for the next chukker rubbing her face against you.


Sunday, we had a jumping lesson...and I got to ride my favorite mount of the weekend! I have to say she's probably the closest I will to riding a horse like Ms. Go-Go and although this horse was a thoroughbred, you could have sworn she had something else in her...she was a massive 17.1 dark bay...bought as an event prospect for someone looking to go advanced. She's pushy on the ground, but just a dream to ride. After spending the last 4 months almost exclusively riding a green, feisty, small mare, it was like driving a sports car. She had big, forward movement, asked for contact with me and was bold to the jumps. She didn't want you hanging all over her, but she wanted you to ride her, to stay with her. We worked on some fun courses and then I got to take her along the "Aiken line" which is a long strip of small cross country fences (maybe 10 jumps in a row) a few times, including partnering up with a little girl on an impossibly cute dark bay pony! It was bittersweet walking the horses into the river for a drink to finish our last ride at Hunter's Rest...and that mare...well, getting to ride her made the whole trip worth it! We spent the final hours of the trip at the Upperville Horse Show to watch the $150,000 jumper classic.


***I cannot wait to go back. I'm sure sure if everyone that went on the trip feels the same way, but I got so much out of it. In fact, my instructor has been suing the confidence I gained while being down there to push Kiki and I each lesson. It was nice to be reminded that I CAN ride...somehow riding a green horse that you feel invested in can consume you with feelings of self-doubt...and that has no place on an inexperienced horse!

I would really like to go back in the fall and hunt! Also, it would be great to bring Kiki there for a change of scenery and some new training!

****Oh yeah, I DID manage to find field boots, new breeches, a show coat, and show shirt...so you know what that means for Kiki and I?????

I think she dislocated my pinky today

lots and lots of crow-hopping around the arena for good measure...she was NOT going to make smooth canter transition indoors without a fight...luckily I was up for it today:

no time for an update, but here's a quick pic!

*I have been shooting a lot of polaroids these days

So much time, so little to do...strike that, reverse it

Phew! The last 2 weeks have been crazy! On the riding front, Kiki and I have been moving forward tremendously...with our first jumping lesson and a trail ride! She handled both like a champ and I after 5 days off I hopped on her after a light lunge and she was fantastic. The only roadblock that seems to have cropped up is that she is not not standing quietly at the mount block (something that was never an issue before) but we're getting through it. Mostly it requires persistence from me and endless patience. We both stand there waiting for the other to give up...I can wait there all day if that's what it takes. Goofing around while I am trying to mount her is something I will NOT tolerate. We've been riding outside a lot, and though I was fearful of it in the beginning, she's figured out that I won't stop riding no matter how silly she starts behaving. During our jumping lesson another mare from her herd came to the fence line, nickered as we went over a jump and sent Kiki into a rocking horse display of wiggles and tiny bucks...I nearly fell off, mostly because I was laughing so hard. What was equally as funny, was Kiki slamming to a halt and snorting at the tiny plank we had her going over the first time around...as far as she was concerned this was an 8 foot wall...so we walked her over the first time and then she got the idea...light bulb went on over her head and she finished the lesson like an old school horse. I was really pleased with her performance over the tiny fences...it's clear that her compact frame will make her dynamite for show jumping...she really feels my weight shifting in the turns and accommodates her body accordingly in a nimble manner. Strangely, working her over fences is making me MUCH more confident riding her. Something about jumping makes me feel fearless and I channel my inner 13 year old self that would wrangle bad ponies around cross country courses one handed over jumps! I had another good ride on her last night where we went on a little hack around the wooded area near the property, she was fantastic and even grazed a little along the way! I think the experience of riding the Pegasus horses on trail has really helped me to feel comfortable away from the safety of the farm...and honestly, they act much worse! Perhaps galloping Belgian draft horses up and down hills has made me a better rider...I think so.

In the meantime I have been doing lots of nice things for myself. I took 4 days off and went to Delaware for a luxurious beach getaway with my best friend Erica. Her parents have a lovely home near the beach and we sat around under the sun, went shopping, ate fantastic foods, indulged in Dogfish Head beer and sweet cocktails and actually relaxed...My pup Hugo came along for the vacation and he had a terrific time and we got to take him to the beach for the very first time EVER!
I returned home from Delaware barely unpacked, rode the mare and then went to the Devon Horse Show! It was really fun to go with a bunch of horse people, my instructor included and to analyze each horse and rider, swoon over the eye candy, and day dream about owning a pair of Dubarrys...sigh.



Being at Devon made me really miss the summer I spent in Southern Pines, NC when I was 16...I think I learned more about myself as a rider that summer then in 20+ years of riding! I wish I had brought a better lens with me, but lesson learned for Upperville!

And now, on to my horsie vacation that starts on Thursday! Here is our schedule! I am especially excited about spending time with Betsey, our host at Hunter's Rest, she's an ex-steeplechase jockey and an all-round bad ass horse woman....oh yeah, and an equine photographer!!!!!!!

Upperville Colt and Horse Show adult camp schedule

Thursday June 10 -- Arrive after lunch.
3 pm hack.
5 pm conformation and movement lesson (unmounted.)
7 pm dinner (farm-raised chicken tortilla soup, homebaked
bread, farmgrown salad with thyme viniagrette, farmgrown
lavender shortbread with creme fraiche.
8 pm art lesson (learning colors, patterns, painting
methods)

Friday June 11 8 am breakfast (farm-raised eggs,
farm-raised steak, homebaked bread, coffee, juice.)
9 am horse communication lesson in the barn (while we groom
and tack up for ...)
10 am polo lesson
12 pm lunch (* choice of sandwiches at the farm (included
in trip price) or on-your-own at cute 24 Crows restaurant
in Flint Hill, or at the newly revamped Orlean Market in
Orlean.)
2 pm art session with your horse
4:30 pm cross country jumping lesson
7 pm Dinner (farm-raised roast, farm-grown new potatoes,
farm-grown asparagus, salad, homebaked bread, home-made ice
cream

Saturday June 12 8 am breakfast (corn-blueberry waffles,
sausage, coffee, juice)
9 am side saddle lesson
11 am head to Upperville show
12 pm lunch on your own at the show
4 pm back to the farm
6:30 pm head to Great Meadow for twilight polo match and
picnic supper (fried chicken, pasta salad, brocolli salad,
rolls, cookies, beer)

Sunday June 13 8 am breakfast (farm-grown quiche, fruit,
coffee, juice)
9 am Organized trail ride hosted by Hunter's Rest for ODH
10 am head to Upperville show for conformation classes
12 pm picnic lunch provided (sandwiches, chips, drinks,
cookies)
2 pm $150k grand prix
5 pm depart for home from the show or return to the farm

I need to update!

Since the last post I have had 6 rides on the mare moving forward ever so slightly. Training a green horse is something I haven't done since I was much younger and my sense of fearlessness has really diminished in my old age. I get unnerved riding sometimes now in ways that seem foreign to me. I get frustrated with my own doubt and cave in when I should push forward. Video-taping my rides has helped me to conquer some of this self doubt by allowing me to see not only how small Kiki's temper tantrums are, but how well I handle them. Trusting your own ability is difficult when you feel like you could ruin the horse (I know that's not true). B has been incredibly patient with me and has helped give me some tools to use with Kiki that can alleviate some of the scary behavior when I am by myself.

One thing I am learning, frankly the hard way, is that she's not going to be consistent for a long time. I get so excited when she has two good rides in a row that when she has a bad day I get derailed. Stupid.

We have been doing a little lunging (something I have always had strong opinions about NOT doing), but it seems to help her work out quirks here and there and to allow her to find balance with side reins(very loose). She has a nice self carriage so I am not struggling with her head to stay down (long and low) but she is actually a bit behind so we are trying to ask her to move into the bridle a bit more. The herd bound behavior is still pretty bad, and during my last lesson on Saturday (where I proclaimed I WOULD ride outside), the mare just about lost her mind when she saw two herd mates being turned out while my instructor opened the side doors of the arena. It was a great time for B to work through things with me and I handled Kiki fine as she called, jigged and spooked around the arena. Once we got outside she settled down a bit and the other mares just chomped on some hay instead of trying to distract her. It was a great day to test out the waters riding outside (I did cool her out a few days prior all by myself outside -- she looked at me like, "seriously?" when I asked her to walk out of the main arena door with me on her back)...there were truckloads of guys pulling down trees and replanting new ones along the fence lines, another horse doing canter transitions and two yearling colts playing and fighting in the pasture next to us. She spooked once at the colts, but mostly she kept her head. She certainly bowed out every time we headed towards her pasture, but after a few times around she settled in licking and chewing and got focused. I was quite proud of her.

We stood around while the next lesson came out and warmed up around us and she stood (mostly) quiet for about 10-15 minutes.

The next few weeks are going to be a bit rough for us, I can't ride her today so she will have had 3 days off when I see her tomorrow, I'll ride Thursday, but then I will be away for 4 days and probably won't be able to ride her until next Wednesday! I am hoping the exercise rider can hop on her once or twice in the meantime! Then my little vacation is coming up the second week of June! Agh! At least that involves lots of riding, even if it's not on her!

totally weird

Instead of feeling sorry for myself and submitting a less than stellar entry (I had a god-awful lesson Tuesday), I will share this (while I gorge myself on Drumstick flavored Edy's):

The tattoo was done for a good friend of mine who designs toys for a living, she was moving to Chicago and I wanted to get a drawing of one of her designs...I chose a pony (naturally), the picture frame was done by my talented tattoo artist Cindy...I love old picture frames. So, tattoo, circa June/July 2008...meeting Kiki, March 2010...there is a mild to moderate similarity:)

A week's worth

A weeks' worth of riding behind me and working into day 10 of the plague, I won't bore you with the minute by minute details of my past rides, but here are some highlights:

*Thursday's lesson included one hour of her undivided attention...seriously, one hour of ZERO herd bound behavior...no calling, none. It was quite amazing. We worked on lots of ground pole work, which she thought was super fun, managing to get quite full of herself (while still keeping it together) in between exercises. We did a little bit of canter work and I had one of those great "a-ha" moments where my instructor reminded me to ask her for the canter and then wait and I did just that...she said to wait until I felt her canter underneath me and then ask her to move on. It was fantastic. I know that doesn't sound like anything, but when you are struggling with a green horse and something just clicks, it's huge!

*Saturday I showed up to ride her and she was a bit injured. Now the weird thing about this is that I had a dream Friday night that she hurt herself (much worse in the dream)...so I was freaked out when I brought her in and she had scratches up and down her left hind. Her leg was stocked up and it looked like she got cast during the night and cut herself with a chip on her right hoof...grr...the farrier comes this week where that crack will likely get trimmed off and she'll get her first set of front shoes. Sadly the ground on the property it too hard for her not to have at least front shoes on since she's turned out 24/7. Initially our plan was to throw her on the trailer to join some girls at a local show so she could have the experience of leaving the property and hanging out in a new place. One of the girls showing fell right before my lesson Thursday and broke her wrist so my instructor decided to sit this weekend out. I was happy about that because not only was she hurt, but there were 50 mph wind gusts all weekend. I rode her a little to see if she was off, and cold hosed her for 20 minutes. I am keeping my fingers crossed that she's sound for Tuesday!

**Oh yea, I brought my camera to take confirmation photos of her but obviously chose to wait...maybe I will wait until her new bridle arrives this week!

I had a nice trail ride this morning on my favorite therapy horse Sergio. Volunteering this afternoon was equally rewarding as one of my favorite riders with CP rode Sergio without any assistance from me...I nearly cried. She's seriously come so far since last year when she could barely hold the surcingle. Equine happiness on all fronts.

The plague and other stories

I have been riddled with a horrible plague since last Thursday, but I have fought through it to entertain company from across the continent and managed to ride Kiki twice. Friday was a gorgeous day, and I had already planned to take off from work, but my cold was just beginning to kick in, I decided to have my lesson regardless. I think the mare knew I wasn't 100% and she didn't challenge me in any way. The barn was full of horses so we were forced to cross tie (sort of) which made for a good opportunity for more ground training with her. I always expect the worst from her, especially with something like cross tying (she's not exactly known for standing still) and she's easily distracted. But I had all my ducks in a row, tack ready, helmet close, etc...so I wouldn't have to abandon her on the ties. The cute part of all of this is that, since she is bonding with me, she wants to follow me now! But that makes for a tough lesson on the cross ties. I only hooked one of them up and draped a lead rope around the left side of her so she "felt" tied. She stood like an old school horse save for chewing on the cross tie. Seriously, this mare who you could barely get near a month and a half ago was standing without a care in the world, relaxed, and resting a leg. It should be noted here that I am not training a horse whose never been touched...most of this is a refresher course for her, but she was in a pasture for the last year after her last attempt of getting back into to training. It is encouraging to see her "get" things. She is smart and willing and I think that's what I like about her most of all.

We tacked up and headed in to the arena for our lesson. She was just a lamb for everything! I asked B to start my video camera (I won't bother posting the video here -- it's long and boring and features a good 5 minutes of me trying to get my new stirrup leathers right), but it was really nice to watch it later and see our progress together. Another women who owns a gigantic thoroughbred cross that she bred and raised, was riding before me and I let her do a couple of dressage tests so Kiki and I had to stand quietly in the corner while they passed by. As I said before standing still is not her strong point, but she was fantastic! When they finished up, B had me work on some leg yielding at the trot and some 20 meter circles in different areas of the arena. The other woman riding said that I was a lovely, soft, quiet rider! This means a lot coming from this lady! She was excited to see Kiki go (as well as everyone else who rides there -- Kiki's reputation precedes her). We finished up the lesson doing a couple of basic dressage tests (boy am I rusty with the arena letters!) and I was really proud of her for staying focused throughout. She was being such a good girl that B suggested we go for a little cool down walk outside! I was a bit worried about Beauty (the grey filly mentioned before) calling to Kiki and distracting us, but even when she did and with Kiki responding she never reacted in a bad way. No spooking, jumping, bolting, just calling. I guess I can handle that. Baby steps, right? I brought lunch and ate next to her pasture and when I walked up to give her a treat she whinnied at me! I think I felt my heart melt.

Saturday's ride was more of the same, perhaps a bit shorter as it was in the upper 80's. We rode for the first time with the big side door of the arean wide open (it faces her paddock). She never tried to run through it, but she did lift her head and get distracted EVERY single time we passed it. I was proud of her for staying with me.

*EDIT: Another big moment for Kiki on Saturday was being "cross-tied" while a friend's mare was being reluctant to load on the trailer. She stood quietly while the mare panicked, backed up, and goofed around, all about 50 ft in front of her!

In a little over a month, me and some of the other girls at the farm are heading to Virginia for a riding vacation. I am super excited and I am thinking that I just might purchase a pair of tall boots and maybe, just maybe a show jacket. You know what that means?????? Mostly, I just want to get Kiki a new bridle to match her shiny martingale. I cannot wait to go on this trip...we are learning to play polo, ride side-saddle, and best of all, we will get to school cross country on some fantastic horses!

compassion

*Left photo: cell phone photo of him abandoned
*right photo: iphone in front of my house yesterday
I thought I would post a little something here about the OTHER love of my life...my pup Hugo. He was abandoned almost a year ago in front of a coffee shop on in West Philadelphia. I saw his photo posted on Facebook (one of the useful functions of social networking), borrowed a car, raced over and picked him up. He had a chain leash that was tied in knots around a bike rack which was attached to a chain choke collar that was embedded (only slightly). He came pretty willingly, since it was raining, and I brought him home. My intention was to post photos, ads, etc to find his owner. In the meantime I bathed him, and bathed him, and bathed him...he was so incredibly covered in fleas, I just cried my heart out watching them eat away at his skin while I tried to remove them. I gave him some frontline and he was feeling much better! A week or so went by without a solid lead as to who owned him, so I took him to the vet to see if he was microchipped (he wasn't), but he did have a couple of types of worms and he was about 10lbs under weight. My vet asked me then if I wanted to make him my dog...really, I think this was Hugo's decision. He was microchipped and we had officially adopted each other!!! WHOA!

The progression that Hugo has made makes me feel hopeful for my journey with Kiki. Patience, compassion, courage, and time are all things I had to dedicate to Hugo's rehab. He is a fantastic dog now and I would trade him for the world! Apparently, I have a thing for red heads (since I am sort of one myself)