Update - Abby and Shows

no good pictures of her first show but here are a few from the one a few weekends ago:

First Show!

So we took Abby to her first show and she was fantastic! Friday afternoon schooling was a little rough since she went over all of 2 jumps. She got her head together Saturday morning and after a quick warm-up she jumped around nicely with only one refusal.

After a short wait and a ton of lesson kid chaos, Abby was in the ring and ready to go. Our first course began on the left lead, which is our sticky one, so I was a little worried but we got it nicely on the second try. Then came the jumps... and Abby was great! She took all of them in stride and for the most part maintained rhythm, pace, balance and composure though it was not at the traditional hunter pace. And she took the 2' jumps with scary flowers like they were 4' oxers. Buttt we got over them all!! The second course was even better. We nailed all the leads, changes and cleared every jump.

We were in a class of 20 or so with many horses who had no business being in a baby green schooling class and while we did not get a ribbon I was very happy with Abby. She definitely showed her class by staying together mentally as well as she did and by still performing her best. She was awesomeeeee.

Love my baby girl. Pictures will be up soon!

Craziness!

Hey!

So I know I haven't posted in forever buttt I've been super busy with the horses. I brought in a horse to work with (yeahh already have Abby and Jazz butttt did it anyway) so Ive been riding 2-3 horses every afternoon. Plus school. Plus teaching. Plus life. Funfun.

So the new horse is a 7 year old Hano/TB mare who is absolutely GORGEOUS! She's 15.2hh with good conformation and THE sweetest personality ever. I could go on and on about how nice this horse is. She was doing 1st level dressage last spring, schooling 3'9" and packing at 3'3"/3'6". She's got a nice little jump and amazing smooth trot. When I got her 3 weeks ago she hadn't been ridden in 4 months but we got up to jumping 2' and schooling basic dressage work. She is a little mentally green due to a sheltered upbringing but a very nice horse.

Long story short, we're not going to be able to keep her since I don't have the time/energy to keep up with riding 3 horses every afternoon. She is going back to her old owners on Wednesday and Im going to miss the silly mare like crazy. She was so sweet!

If anyone ones interested in this mare let me know as she is a VERY reasonable price ($2,000) for the training she has (over $5,000 invested by her last owner, a jumper trainer) then shoot me a message!

Anyway, Abby is doing fantastic and we went to a clinic on Saturday. She was SO well behaved. She got off the trailer to be greeted by a big dressage horse who was rearing and striking at his owner and didn't bat an eye. She nailed both leads and was giving me a nice, true walk/trot frame about 25% of the time which is a big improvement. She's such a nice horse!

This weekend, she is going to a schooling show to strut her stuff in the babybaby over fences class. Hoping it is a great experience for her.

And Jazz is doing awesome as well. I'll give a bigger update later in the week!

Abby - Week 1

Hey!

So Abby's been here for a week and four days. Its been so much fun having her around the barn. Jazz kind of hates her but then again, he doesn't like many horses so and she's fast enough on her feet to stay out of his way. He's a great horse to compete on because he's outgoing and bold but it gets the better of him at the barn where is a holy terror to the other horses. He's definitely the alpha horse around the barn but Abby plays number two quite well.


So she's settled in quite nicely and every day she does a little better. When she came she was very nervous about everything. She still gets worried when people she does not know are around but she has become more and more laid back around me. We think on top of being neglected she was abused so there is a lot of work to do with her mental as well as with her weight and training.


As of today, I've ridden her 6(ish) times. Mostly conditioning but we have done one day of dressage and today we jumped a bit! She wasn't terribly happy with the cross rail so I lowered it and after being led over it a few times (she took a flying leap over it) I got back on and we went over it a few more times. She's soooo much fun to ride!





Love her!

Abby Here and Doing Well!

Hey!

Well Abby arrived very early on Sunday morning safe and sound! She came off the trailer a little unsteady which is to be expected since she'd been in there almost all night. It was freezing cold when I arrived before 6 to wait for her. The grass was covered in frost and the water trough was covered in ice. I half slept, half waited very anxiously for her to arrive. Abby stepped off the trailer a little before 8. I slipped off the halter she arrived in and put on the black one I had for her. It was a special moment to realize she was actually my horse.



She was a little pushy on the ground at first as she first looked around. We walked for awhile to let her stretch her legs then put her in one of our stalls to settle in. With some hay, water and pony (who was totally in love) she settled in nicely and seemed to be happy that she could walk around in the stall (its big 14x14 with really tall ceilings. We went home and waited for it to warm up some then came back later in the afternoon. After grooming and blanketing we turned her loose with our two calm geldings then let Jazz out. No one seemed to mind the new addition. She trotted around the pasture some and she has THE most gorgeous trot I've seen. She's everything I hoped for and more.



Today was her second day at the barn. I groomed everyone then tacked Jazz up. We had a FANTASTIC dressage ride. We've added counter flexion, lots of spirals and TONS of transitions to our schooling. Plus I make up at least one different exercise in each ride so he always has a new challenge but we always in on the same thing: trot figure-8s. They were the first things he learned and is fairly good at them so I like to end on them. After I tacked Abby up to longe her. She stood perfectly in the cross ties as long as a stayed within sight of her which is big since when I bought her (sight unseen!) the owner said that was her only vice. She seemed to know what a longe line/longing were but as it got darker her thoroughbred ADD got the better of her so we quit with some parallel longing at the walk. Then groomed Jazz and Abby, fed and put blankets back on for the night. Overall a very good day!


And I think I'm going to get on and ride her some tomorrow!!

Katie <3

Abby's on the Way!

Hey!

Abby left her temporary home at Legacy Farm late last night (around 10). She is being hauled to my barn by Tapp's Horse Transportation and should be here very early Sunday morning. I'm so excited that she's on the way! For anyone looking to adopt a horse, I would DEFINITELY recommend New Vocations, Maker's Mark Secretariat Center, Tapp's Horse Transportation and several other private parties. They were awesome through the whole experience!

Miss Abby

Hey!

As I said in my last post, this was seriously the best Christmas ever. And a large part way was due to getting the best gift ever. That I got for myself :)) I paid for it and am currently in the process of paying my mother back for the rather large shipping fee. But it's perfectly fine with me. Because it is actually a she. And she, is a 10 year old, 16hh off the track thoroughbred. Her history post 5 months ago isn't known because she was being starved in a field with another horse. After that lovelyyy ordeal, she ended up with the best owner a horse in that situation could wish for. She's now happy and healthy with over 200 lbs gained since being rescued.



I've yet to meet her but she apparently has a sweet temperament and no vices. Except disliking cross ties. But since we don't have cross ties in my barn it shouldn't be a problem. Plus, Jazz use to dislike them too. She vets pretty clean too. No health problems with the rescue and no lameness.

I'm hoping she'll be my next jumper with some work. She's got a big jump and a stride that I loveeee. Hopefully some dressage, grid work and more schooling will get her to slow down, balance up and snap those knees up! This is her video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUx8hdmZrok

She should be hear in the first week or so of January and I'll have TONS more pictures and video of her. I can't wait!

<3 Katie

p.s. We decided her show name would be Never Say Never. I think it fits.

Christmas!

Hey!

I had an absolute awesome Christmas this year! My family is awesome and I love them to pieces! We had an awesome dinner at my grandmothers that was absolutely hilarious. My grandmother gave each of my brothers $25 and practically duct taped the boxes shut. They were wrestling to open them for nearly 5 minutes.



My full brother, Matt, and I went to my dads house to open gifts on Christmas day and I got the best horse stuff! A Micklem bridle, 2 bits (one a Fulmer!), a horse cooler, 3 training books (101 Dressage Exercises, 101 Jumping Exercises and a book of using grid work), new breeches, shorter round spurs, white polo wraps and 2 new schooling pads (one light blue and one black) ! And my favorite thing, a college text book of equine anatomy! I found all of it on sale(expect the bridle and anatomy book... but I reallyreally wanted them).

I can't wait to get everything out to the barn and use it all! Except the white polo wraps... those are not getting any where near a horse until I do something important that involves dressage... like a rating or anywhere I probably shouldn't wear my rather used and abused brushing boots. They might be old and too small but they serve their purpose and I like them. :))

Anyway, Jazz is doing awesome. Getting fat and kind of hot since the rain makes consistent, hard riding impossible. We're playing with his grain and supplements to create a diet that holds the weight but less hyper. The old boys Largo and Duce/Dunkin are doing well also. They're both on a supplement to try to keep them feeling good. The cold slows 'em up a bit but the supplements seem to help. And new news about horses coming and going! Can't wait to write about it but got to go for now!

Merry Christmas!

Weird Weather

So the weather has been beyond crazy here. On Saturday there was a high of 50 and it was miserable out. Rain and wet mostly. But I caught a break in the rain and went out to the barn for a bit. I ride Togiferd (Togey) barebark with a surcingle for the first time. He was HIGHLY confused at first, especially when I vaulted on, but he lived and we ended up having a pretty nice ride. There was a little bit of fast cantering aka IDONTWANNASTOP! from him but that was no doubt to to me trying to hold on and say stop with my seat (not hands!) at the same time. After we just chilled out in the barn for a really long time. He probably munched through 2 scoops of alfalfa cubes and 2 lbs of the apple treats.

On Sunday it was 70 degrees! I rode Jazz in just a tank top and jeans. He was beyond amazing! The improvement in his gaits is incredible!! We've been doing a lot of exercises that trainers have suggested and it seems to be paying off. He's got much better lateral flexibility as well as swing/the beginnings of impulsion in his gaits. Its so much fun to ride him on the flat now because he feels sooo good. At this point I like doing dressage with him more than jumping! crazy! We still have a lot of work to do, especially on our transitions but that will come eventually.

We ended up not going to Clemson for a variety of reasons but its all good. Jazzy and I have a clinic with one of the best show jumping course designers in the country, who is also an AMAZING coach next weekend so I'm really excited. We are signed up for the 3'3"-3'6" ground. Hoping that goes well!

<3 Katie

Really Long Time, No Post

Hey so a quick re-cap of whats been going on in my world....

1. I went for and passed my H-B rating for United States Pony Club, thus becoming a full fledged C-3 Traditional.
I'm looking at taking my C-3 Show Jumping Specialty around March to hopefully become the 6th rider with that specialty in the United States. I have received very good comments about my ability to pass this rating from National Examiners so I'm feeling pretty excited already! The C-3 Show Jumping is done at Level II and III show jumping heights.
I'm also looking into going for my B Traditional in September. I am almost positive I will fail at that rating because so many examiners refuse to pass young candidates and refuse to pass people on their first time through the test. It will be a good learning experience and while I plan to be a prepared as I can be, I am also going to be realistic. The B Traditional is based on Preliminary level eventing.

2. Jazz has been doing AMAZINGLY well with his dressage training despite the fact that I have only had one lesson (a jumping one!) since August. I've learned a TON off the internet and by watching/listening to much better dressage riders verbalize what they are doing on their horses. Jazz has fantastic relaxation, rhythm, contact and the beginnings of true, good impulsion at the walk and trot with it really developing at the canter. Some days are better than others but on our good days we have a lovely extended trot, stretchy trot, free walk, medium trot, 20/15/10 meter circles and a very nice balanced canter. At this point the fact that our canter is not perfect is not bothering me. I found this quote "Walk for muscle, Trot for balance and canter for wind". It was more directed at conditioning training but I use dressage to make a better jumper so I feel it connects to us. The walk and trot give us muscle and balance. The canter, as long as it is freely forward, balanced and rhythmical, is just fine for jumping around a course.

3. The big chestnut Dutch Warmblood, Togey, is now living at my barn! He had a bit of a rough settling in period but now that everyone is use to the addition, he is AWESOME to have around. The woman that lives on the property and feeds in the morning has always dreamed of having a 17 hh Chestnut Hanoverian and Togey is just close enough to her dream that she has totally fallen in love (after a brief period of being scared of the new big, somewhat wild-ish horse). He's buddied up with my old pony Largo who Jazz continuously tries to beat up and together they hang out becoming best friends.
The first few days of riding Togey were rough with him throwing me the first two times I rode then trying really really hard to throw me the third day (I ended up holding onto the check pieces, mane and reins with my legs wrapped around his neck.. BUT I STAYED ON!). Yesterday we had a super good workout with him quietly jumping 2'6" WITHOUT rushing or bucking and WITH flying changes so he can STAYYY! (well until the show in the 12th/13th then we will have to re-evaluate). I'm really excited to see what we can do together.

4. This isnt a re-cap but on the 12th and 13th, Jazz, Togey and I are going to a schooling show to hang out with friends, show some new heights and generally have some fun. At this point I am either doing Training or Prelim CT, High Jumpers and High Gamblers Choice with Jazz. And with Togey I am looking into doing the High Hunter/Eq division and some flat classes. Depending on how the next couple weeks with him go we might make some adjustments to that.

Anyway, I'll post some more later!

Five Favorite Photos

So I accidentally deleted the post about champs... oops...

Anyway, I've been super busy lately so I decided to just post my 5 favorite horse pictures. They're of me and the horses I ride or have ridden.

Jazz. USPC Championships.


Jazz. Schooling grids at home.


Togey. Lesson with Kevin.


Jazz. Schooling 4' for the first time.


Largo. Just hanging out being retired.

Seabrook Schooling Show

Hey!
Had a really great day at the Seabrook schooling show (local hunter/jumper/eq thing). I met up with a really great local trainer who is letting me ride/show her aMaZiNg horse, Togey. He's a 16 Dutch Warmblood with potential through the roof. He's been trained through second level dressage but is a bit brainfried about it so he's being retrained for jumpers. He is quite possibly one of the coolest horses ever.

We had a bit of an interesting warm-up considering this was the second time I’ve ridden him (first time was a month ago). I made the mistake of getting on and thinking ‘second level dressage horse must totally understand being ridden off the outside rein and inside leg’. He might know what it is, but he didn’t like it. So after some figuring (and one tempi’s and random jumps into the air) we got everything going fairly right. At the jump. And clearing it. And even looking like a hunter. We tried a 2’ hunter class (unpinned but would have gotten 3rd) and everything came together really really well. Had to do simple changes and had 1 majorly funky spot but besides that, we had the pace/jumps/turns/ down nicely. After that we had some break time and then back on for the 2’6”/2’9” jumpers. We weren’t trying to be competitive. Just put something safe together as a good learning experience. The warm-up was supper great and we jumped up to 3’. He was really good over everything with nice pace and pretty jumps (good spots/nice square knees/happy horse). Once we got in the ring, he got a little disoriented with the course and moved jumps and newly soaked footing (it had been raining) so we ended up with some slightly funky spots and a few trotted fences. We ended up trotting most of the second course because he made it clear that that was where he was most comfortable and after a point, if he’s more confident trotting that’s ok. I was really happy with his performance through the day especially after our rough spot and it being his first jumper show.

So all in all, good day, good learning experience for both of us. Besides that, I also got to hang out with Togey’s owner who is absolutely amazing as a trainer/rider/owner/person/whatever. And with some pony club people. And it was pretty awesome.

Best Quote Ever: “Did those kids really just tell a trainer and formally attired rider to get out of the way while we’re course walking?”
“Yeah, I think they did.”

Oh and an older rider letting a young kid get chewed out by a judge for something they did like, I don’t know, screaming a curse word in the ring, is wrong. And is something people don’t forget easily. Or at least I won’t forget easily. Adding insult to injury by wanting to threaten show management and complaining about the fact that someone figured out the horse/rider mix up and let the judge know so you could receive the chewing out as well, is also really really not cool either. No worries, won’t forget that part either.

Besides that little issue, it was a great day with good rides and lots of funnn! Hoping for pictures sooon!!

Second Try - C3 Longing

Hey!

I managed to pass the C-3 longing retest this weekend with very good marks and almost an exceed standard. Jazz was not fed any sugar cubes and was very well behaved. Actually acted like a trained pony this time around. The only reason I did not receive an exceed standard mark, got a check plus instead, was because I attached my side reins in the non-classical way. I have always attached the inside first, then the outside side rein then stepped around their nose to start longing. The correct way, which makes total sense, is to attach the outside rein first, then the inside so that if a horse starts looking like it will back up or think about going up, you can send them on immediately without having to step around their noses.

That afternoon, I also got a separate lesson in longing to further dressage training with Jazz. We also talked a lot about correcting training problems on the longe line. It was really really informative and fun as well!

Side note, Jazz and I are hopefully getting a new dressage trainer (we've been without a consistent one since about early June) and I'm really really excited to see how much she can teach us. She's a great coach that has brought plenty of young horses and riders along to even the highest level of dressage competition. Can't wait!

Crazy School, Awesome Clubs and Skinny Jazz

hey!
school has been like beyond crazy lately with AP classes and whatnot. Love AP Bio, APUSH and H. Anatomy but they're kind of crazy sometimes. And with 2 more classes on top of that plus riding plus pony club stuff plus a 45 min drive to the barn plus student government things are getting kind of crazy. one thing I'm realllyyy looking forward to with school though is the newly formed equestrian club at my school.

The first meeting was today and it sounds like its going to be REALLY fun to be apart of. I signed up to be a coordinator for the events which will consist of some clinics, shows and fund raising. There will also be some cross country schooling but I will probably be loaning Jazz out to one of the club members who cannot take her leased horse off the property. Either way it should be a ton of fun.

And last but not least, I need some help with something. Jazz is a 13 year old off the track thoroughbred who is THE hardest keeper to I have ever dealt with. No matter what I feed him he still looks skinny and underfed. His coat looks really good, his hooves are great without shoes (currently has them on for added traction while riding though), he's perky and has tons of energy but he just will not put weight on for anything. He gets:
1 lb of Purina Mills 32% (32% protein, 5% fat)
1/2 lb of Omegashine (flax seed)
1 lb of Dry Beet Pulp (soaked before feeding)
4 lbs of Alfalfa Cubes (soaked before feeding)
5 lbs of Seminole Wellness Senior Mix (12% fat, 10% protein) - soon to be switched to Seminole Wellness Show and Sport (12/12)
and Consequin with MSM and a daily strongid wormer.
he gets all that PER FEEDING!!! (cept for the consequin and wormer, thats once a day)

This is what he looks like: (add in a little more muscles through his hind quarters since this was taken this spring)He had the Panacure Power Pack regemin done (with Probios to keep healthy gut bacteria) before switching to the wormer last week in hopes of getting rid of any possible resistent worms. It was also suggested last week that he could have ulcers so he's going on ulcer treatment starting this weekend. This treatmeant won't hurt him if he doesn't have any but it could always fix something. I'm not thinking he has ulcers though because he isn't displaying any symptoms besides lack of weight gain. After this though, I'm at a loss for possible reasons for the lack of weight. Any suggestions?

I'm going to call the vet to come out and just go over everything if none of this works but really trying to avoid that. I've asked the vet about his weight a few times but have tried everything that was suggested so far but nothing has really worked. Giving free rein to a vet to just test everything will probably be extremely pricey though.... fabulous.

So any suggestions would be much appreciated!

Championship Pictures

Just random pictures from Champs in Lexington VA. I should have the videos and better quality pictures I ordered soooonnn!

Getting ready to salute the judge before the 3rd Speed/Knock-down Class

On course.Take Your Own Line Class.

Majorly angling an oxer. Funnn.

I like his knees. And kind of my leg. Thats about it though. Low fence in Speed/Knock-down 1

Fun parallel oxer in the Take Your Own Line Class.

3'6" oxer in the muddy ring on Sunday.
Same Jump. Different Angle.

The End! :))

I PASSED!

Hey! Well I went for my C-3 last weekend and passed! So excited that that is *mostly* behind me. I didn't pass the longing because I fed Jazz a whole bunch of sugar cubes before going and then couldn't get him away from me! I never hand feed Jazz, or any horse really, because it makes them so pushy but I was so happy with how good Jazz was being that I fed him the sugar. My bad.... He would not go to the end of the line no matter how much I shook the whip at him/his shoulder and clucked him on he just turned right in and tried to come at me for treats. It kind of sucked. But he's back on a no treats not ever regimen so hopefully he will back back to my nice little longe pony by the restest in 2 weeks. Anyway, it was really fun besides the longing issue.

Jazz was really good for the flat portion and we got through Training Level Test A without too much trouble. For my switch ride I got to get on a super cute 5 yr old Clydesdale/TB cross who was really fun. Reasonably good marks all around from the National Examiners.

The next day was the jumping portion which is, of course, my favorite part. Jazz wasn't as good as he had been (very much wanting to run on the forehand) but it ended up working out really well. When he is being naturally forward and not as determined to travel on the forehand I have a tendency to get more layed out on his neck and be less active with my leg so it occasionally will get a touch out in front of me/not totally under me. So by him being a bit lazy I really had to sit up and ride him through everything. But he was still forward enough to blast off my leg when I needed it XC so it all worked out. I got an Exceed Standard in my grid work meaning I surpassed the standard of riding. The NE was really funny about it, I could hear her as I went over each jump correctly going YES!YES!YES!. It was the same woman who had had to fail me in the longing the day before so I was really happy to be back on her good side. The actualy course work was kind of annoying becasue there was this hil going through the middle of the open area with the jumps and that realllyyyy messes with how you have to ride a course. The hill and the fact that it really wasn't a jumper course to show off exactly what I can do got frustrating. Jazz and I don't look as good or stand out as much over spread out courses with wide turns as we do with snappy turns and bending lines. But we got really good marks so I'll take it. The switch ride was soooo much fun! I got a 16.3/17 hh green warmblood that had a bad bolting tendency but it worked out. We put together a resonable nice (safe!) course that I was ok with. He had school the practice fences so nicely (waiting for my direct of whether to hold or go to the fence and keeping balanced) that I was kind of shocked when it all went out the window after the first jump on course. Anyway, the NEs again had really good remarks. :)))

After that was cross country. I am not a fan of it. And probably never will be. But we got through it fine (minus a little galloping issue - I have very bad depth perception with anything distance and I let Jazz get into a big gallop only to look up and not be able to tell where the water complex was so after a little bit of a rough pull up we ended up being a good 100 yards from the complex). The NE was happy with the work and had the canidates check our horses pulse and respiration as an added fun test. Anyway, it worked out fine.

The last little briefing where they handed out results was probably the scariest and most depressing scene I've seen in awhile. 6 people started the rating and only 3 passed. Hopefully they will go for it again soon because they're all very talented riders.

So now even with the C-3 is out of the way, my next year is still packed with crazy stuff! I am planning on taking my H-B rating in Novemeber to complete the second half of the C-3 rating. After that I plan to take the C-3 Show Jumping Speciality in the spring (both the NEs said they would have passed me on it this weekend!) and might look toward the B Traditional before college. If I pass the C-3 Show Jumping I will be one of 6 in the country which would be SO cool! hehe! It would make me a good pick for the Show Jumping International Exchange that I would like to go on. It would also mean I could do some traveling instructor stuff with PC. While that opportunity would be fabulous I'm not sure if it can be done becasue of college NCAA rules and amature status things and weird stuff. I'm also planning on qualifying for show jumping championships this spring but possibly at a higher level! Can't wait to see how everything comes out

oh and we moved Jazz to my families farm FINALLY! So excited that he's out there. Can't wait to move there myself!

C-3 Rating - 7 Days

Heyy

Jazz and I have spent the summer working, not only, toward Championships but for our next Pony Club Rating. The C-3 Traditional. This is a fully mounted rating (well except the wrapping and longing) and the first National Level rating I have gone for. The jump height is 3' when you're without stirrups or on your switch horse and 3'3" whenever you jump your personal mount. The rating is comparable to Training Level in eventing (actually have to complete the training level dressage test and jump a modified training level course). This rating is my next big step in Pony Club. I feel prepared for the most part but just nervous in general. Jazz is going super well with both the jumping and dressage so if I can just hold my head together and talk my way through everything I think we will be just fine.

As I mentioned we schooled up to Training Level XC on Monday with no problem. One of my friends who has only jumped up to 3'6" once in a Chase Me Charlie class schooled him over 3'3" XC jumps with no problem. I was super proud of him for carrying her safely over big heights that she was inexperienced over while in the open!

We went to another barn on Friday to school their jumps because the ones at my barn are being fixed/painted and Jazz was good for the most part. I rode kind of funky but I know what I need to change and will get it done. A HUGE THANKS once again to Mrs. Holly who is not only letting me ride her aMaZiNg new horse but stayed on her own accord on Friday in the rain to help Jazz and I out. We even figured out a big 3'9" oxer (I hateeee oxers) with her instruction. Following hands, secure leg and seat with a more upright positition that had a nice approach, take off and landing. THANK YOU!

So the next week is going to be absolutly crazy with school and riding but I'm hoping it all works out. Can't wait!!

Recap...

hey!

long time, no post. my bad. anyway for a quick recap of everything:

Jazz and I went to USPC Show Jumping Championships in Lexington, VA. We placed 8th out of 40 in equitation and our team placed 4th out of 10. It was a great weekend all around. Fantastic people, really talented riders and everything else that makes a show great (minus one day of bad weather).

I have been prepping for my C-3 rating which is in 2 WEEKS!! AHHHH! Jazz has been going really well though. He goes in a nice little round frame, giving through his neck and back as well as correctly using his hind end at the walk and trot. He does it reasonably well to the right at the canter but its still iffy in overall consistency which is just fine for the C-3. We schooled cross country on Monday with no problem (one refusal over a 3'3" skinny but considering the funky angle you have to take to get to it, that he'd never seen one before and he went right over it the second time, I'll take it). We're going out to a wonderful barn tomorrow (Friday) to school stadim becasue my barn is having its jumps repainted. Hoping that goes well.

I'm really excited to jump tomorrow because 1) it will probably be my last jumping school before my rating and 2) I finally am figuring out the concept that several trainers tried to teach me this summer. I went out to switch ride onto a very talented local trainers new horse and to ride one of her students horses. Both are very very nice but very different from Jazz. After getting jumped out of the tack a few times I ask how to fix it and got the answer so many havent been able to get accross. Its weird to explain but I'm really excited to change a few things and see how Jazz goes.

Also a HUGE thanks to above mentioned trainer for allowing my to ride those horses. One of the horses is extremly well trained up to Second Level. Its soooo cool to be able to ride something trained in dressage after working with Jazz.

Anyway, I'll post more later. BYE!

Dressage Update

Hey!
Since my last post we took a day off then spent today working on our dressage which I can happily say is steadily improving. Actually, some HUGE leaps forward with only a few steps back. He carries himself very well in a forward working walk with his back feet stepping into his tracks if not stepping over them by an inch or sometimes more. I can move his shoulders apart from his neck with that apart from his hind quarters and then put them all back together to have a nice nose to tail bend. At the trot he is fairly consistent with traking up and maintaining the pace that I want. He is also giving to the bridle a lot more and allowing me to do what I want with his body which is good. Our work at the canter is still very.... um.... exciting. He will occasionally 'get it' and be soft/track up/ect but the rest of the time, you would think he has 5 legs. My dressage trainer got on him to work out his canter after I just couldn't make any headway with it. She told me later that she thought his canter was the strangest ever trying to work on a 20 meter circle. He just recently figured out how to canter anything but a straight line or wide turn without getting super unbalanced. I've figured out that figure-8s are the best way to remind him what he needs to do at any gait without risking a fight. I've tried to use them before but I didn't ride them correctly to get the reaction that I wanted.

So we're working and learning and poking around this new type of training with some success. We're going to start seriously working on the counter canter, trot lengthening, side passes and 10 meter circles once we get more consistency with his basic gaits. We've played around with these movements but mostly just adding them in when Jazz was having a good day, not walking in the arena with the intent to work on them. So far the counter canter is proving to be the mostly difficult for him to understand but after 7 years of people trying to drill auto-changes into his head when going across a diagonal or through a turn so I'm not surprised. He'll get it eventually with some more correct muscling, added impulsion, better balance and more schooling.

We'll get there sometime!!

Jumping Without Stirrups

Hey!
Well today I schooled Jazz over fences by myself which is kind of unusual for me but really fun. I don't particularly like jumping over 3' without a trainer but I wanted to work on some stuff before Pony Club Camp. My goals for this lesson was the school giving to the bridle/flexing (mostly on the flat but working to carry that over fences) and to confidently school 3'6" oxers (ramped and square).

Our flat work was pretty ok. Jazz was not really wanting to work, especially if it was working at the trot on dressage so I just made him do what I wanted before moving onto the canter. We did some flexing exercises at the canter to both sides (the right side is the stiffer one) before doing some more basic work with our counter canter. Jazz will canter a nice bouncy (not on the bit but we're working) 30-40 meter circle on the right lead tracking left. He's correctly bend into the circle but loses it and tries to swap leads if the circle gets any smaller. To the right (bent right on left lead) he cannot maintain a circle so we are just doing nice canters up and down the fence counter flexing to the right then straight then counter flexing to the right then straight. We've only schooled it a few times and he is already a lot better about giving in the jaw and poll but not quiet flexible and balanced enough to canter the large circles. We're a work in progress. : )

Anyway, after that I went into the jumping arena and began with some 2', 2'6" and 3' warm-up jumps. I then started jumping a 3' parallel oxer with a halt at the end. There was a just little more than 20 meters on each side of the oxer to work with so everything had to coordinate to keep from having a bad stop/run into the fence. So after jumping that for a bit we started a figure-8 over the jump just playing around and working on waiting for spots, going to spots and balanced turns. Then I decided to drop my stirrups. We schooled to 3' a couple times without stirrups before tying the reins in a knot and coming up to the jumps on a loose rein before dropping them a couple strides out. We did some jump exercises (no hands, playing with deep spots, ect). I ended up mostly scraping the requirement of completely balanced turns when I was giving up my reins to jump. He just had to stay well enough balanced (not totally on the forehand, not dropping his shoulder, ect) to get to the jump correctly. Eventually we worked our way up to 3'6" doing the same exercises. By the way, on a 15.2 thoroughbred that is super narrow, 3'6" is pretty big. We've done up to 4' but its big. My trainer came out at one point and checked my riding/Eq. before we moved up to 3'6" by the way.

So after one of our breaks we wen't back up to the fence (no reins, no stirrups, been riding for over an hour) and I let Jazz back off the jump when I didn't see a spot. Big oops. So he kind of jumped, kind refused and kind of landed on top of it. Sort of. He was fine and I checked him nose to tail and besides a small scrape on his nose he was just fine. For whatever reason, I had put on our thick neoprene XC boots instead of our leather jump boots so Jazz had a fair amount of leg protection. I reset the jump and we went at it again. This time when I didn't see a spot I foze in the saddle and Jazz made to correct decision to not go over the fence unbalanced with a non-functioning rider. So he refused/stepped out of it and we circled back to take it again. This time I put my leg on and went to the fence when I didn't see a spot. And we cleared it without a problem. We then jumped is 2-3 more times to make sure it was a good exeperience before quiting for the day.

I was pretty proud of him and am looking forward to camp next week! I also got some videos of the ride and put them together in a video. Here it is::