After the shows

So both the boys have made the move up to the next level. First was Finn at the Florida Horse park Feb 12-14. It was some of the worst conditions for dressage, 36degrees pouring rain and 20mph wind. But we made it through dressage even tho we were freezing!! We show jumped the next day, and he had a rail and a stop (his hind end was hurting him a little) but he was still very good. So luckily Lora Melin(Stay-Sound Equine Therapy) was in town that weekend. So she did some Lasering on Finnys hind end that night and he felt MUCH better for xc the next day. Finn was having the best XC run of his life until we got to jump 19. The rider before me broke the log going into the water, So Finn and I (along with 2 others) got held for 20min or so. Well because he had already done almost a full course, and having the 20min break he thought he was done. With very little warm up that they gave us after the hold. Finn barely made it into the water after 2 stops and then we just didn’t have enough time to get reorganized before the skinny toothbrush… But other wise I was very happy with him.

Deacon ran his first advanced this past Tue (Feb 16th). And he was very good also. He put in an OK dressage test but then show jumped very well with only one rail (just got in a little tight to the 2nd jump of the triple).  Then we had a good xc run. A little fast (he really wanted to run) but it was ok.Deacon still ended up finishing 3rd at his first advanced.  So we have our homework until our next show next weekend at Pine Top.

Overall I was happy with both the boys on there move up shows and look forward to Pine Top to see how they will go there.

Computer Woes

Unfortunately my laptop crashed big time, so this is being published via my mom. I’ll try to update in a day or two. I will hopefully get over to Best Buy on Tuesday and maybe be able to buy a new laptop.
This weekend Cathy Wieschhoff went home to Lexington, so I helped her groom take care of all her horses. So it was a busier. We’ve had some rainy days here, but sure beats what Ohio has had. Yesterday evening I went with some friends to a local tractor pull–get away from something horse related for a bit. Sunday night I’m going to Betsy’s for a Super Bowl party.
The boys have been good. Chet, the client horse, has been doing better too. Finny heads to his first Intermediate this weekend; and Chet’s owners are coming down for a visit too this weekend.
I’ll try for a major update as soon as I get that new laptop!
GO COLTS!

The past week.

So Longwood has been very busy the past few days. USEA had their Symposium here, which made Monday-Wednesday a complete zoo at the farm. But that is finally over.  Wednesday night I got lucky enough to ride 2 extra horses. Jared had a client bring a horse over for a lesson, but the horse was a little too hot for the rider in the beginning. So I got on the horse and schooled him on the flat and over fences for about 2omin. Then after that I got on Brett and warmed him up on the flat for dressage. He is a lot of fun to ride.

Both boys galloped Wednesday and were very good, and Chet has been doing much better the past few days.  Cathy has gone home for the weekend so I will be helping her groom Amanda out for the rest of the week.

Well time to head out -

First Show

Well.. Like always the first show never goes as planned. Deacon was very good for his dressage, but he didn’t get the score he deserved. He show jumped very well (i’ll post a link to the pictures once they are up), he just had a bit of time but I took some wider turns because it was a big course. He felt fantastic on cross country but one stop at  the first of two double tables because he didn’t understand the question with all the trees in between the fences (just have to go school it at Longwood).

Finn on the other hand was a ball of energy and nerves. So he had a very nervous dressage test, and had a VERY uncharacteristic 4 rails in Showjumping from the nerves. So he has proved that he needs to be back on Ulcerguard and ExStress.. He was listening VERY well on Cross country though (thanks to exstress) but mom gave him a halfhalt too many and put him way too deep to a skinny and he couldn’t get the 3 strides done to the corner, and I put him on the perfect half stride. But everything else he jumped very well.

I got lucky enough to only have to show on Friday and Saturday so Sunday I got to jump Sharon’s Brett. It was the 2nd time Bretty has ever jumped and I went up to about 2’3″ with him. He was very good. And for anyone who hasn’t seen pictures of him he is about 18H of pure Moose .

Well, off to go to the store then take care of the boys. I’ll keep updating every few days.  And post the link to the pictures from this weekend when they are up.

Melissa, Finny, Deke, and of course Fiona.

A New Week

Things should slow down a bit now that I’m not working for Ronald anymore. It was fun working for him. Got to ride all of his horses at least once. I did like Buddy (Che Mr. Wiseguy) very much, but really fell in love with Kairo. He reminded me sssooo much of Deacon; same mannerisms, same way of going, looked alot alike.  Also liked Italica, who he plans on riding in Rolex this year (a back-up plan for Buddy for the WEG). Ronald was super to work for–a really nice guy. And it was handy making that little extra cash to help with expenses.

Altho today I spent a good part of the day fooling around with the truck and sitting at the Ocala Ford dealership. They thought they had it all fixed and the courtesy car picked me up at Longwood and took me back to get it, but it wouldn’t start for me again. So they’re keeping it overnight and gave me a loaner–a little F150!

My two boys are doing good. I had a good dressage lesson on Deke with Missy Ransehousen last week and will probably do a lesson with Sharon Poulin this coming week.

My client horse, Chet, is being a bit of a pill. He’s not sure he likes this new life of actually being asked to work for a living (lol)!! But we’ll keep on trying and see if we can change his mind.

More later.

BUSY!!

Sorry no updates lately. I’ve been very  busy. This week, I’m helping out a friend in the mornings with his horses until his groom arrives in Ocala next week. Good way to earn a little extra money to help pay for my Ocala stay. I’m helping Ronald Zabala-Goetschel (from Ecuador) with his 5 horses. I’ve known Ronald since my first year in Ocala; hopefully he’ll make it to the WEG this year. And I’ve loved his horse, Buddy, since I first saw him. I help out Ronald in the mornings, then do my horse riding in the afternoons. So needless to say, I’m exhausted by the end of the day. And many thanks to my student, Carman, who came down for a bit and is still here with me for another day or two. She’s been a great help while I’ve been so busy.

First Entry!

On Friday I jumped the boys a little. They were a bit rusty since they haven’t jumped for a couple of months. But they were good. Saturday’s plan was to do their first gallops for the year. Deke made thru his gallop sets, altho he was a bit strong and “happy!” Finny pulled a shoe during his trot–so we never made it to the galloping part!!