Ridin' all our cares away!

Our entire family on Thanksgiving day!

We had 2 short 60 mile rides after our KY jaunt.  They both were pretty fun!  We picked the better of the 2 weekend days (ahem, the WARMEST day) and went out once the baby went down for a nap (which put us around early afternoon).

A Sevierville back road

One of our rides was my "work loop" out to Foothills, down to 129, then back home.  Always a good ride.  On 129, we FINALLY stopped in at "The Dragon's Pit Stop" and went inside.  Usually when we go by there it's closed, so it was nice to finally get to go inside.

The following weekend, we took a route I picked out; the back roads of Sevierville!  I knew it was going to be peak color, and I didn't want to head out towards the National Park b/c I KNEW there was going to be a ton of traffic.  So we went the opposite direction, in the general direction of my work.  We headed out 321 towards Gatlinburg, then turned off up the back roads.  LOVE them so much; one road is more like a driveway than an actual road.  There was practically zero traffic, which I was THRILLED about.  On the down side, we were at the tail end of a stomach virus in our house, so David had to cut the ride a little shorter than he wanted b/c he was starting to get a "rumble in the tummy".  

Happiest when I'm out riding with my baby!

We cut through Wears Valley, which has some BEAUTIFUL sights, and turned into a neighborhood of gorgeous log cabins.  We climbed up ... and up ... and UP to the top of the neighborhood.  Breathtaking views up there!  Snapped a pic, then back down to home.

Could you imagine this view every day??

Our longer ride was 2 weekends ago; drove down 411 S towards Ocoee; had PLANNED to go all the way to a curvy river road down there, but we left later due to warmer weather, and David underestimated how quickly the sun is starting to go down now!  So we turned a little earlier than intended, actually touching the Cherohala Skyway for about a half a mile, then hit Hwy 68, which we had never been on before.  FABULOUS road, lots of curves; Khaleesi was SUPER happy with the route ;)

Last week, I rode to work on Wednesday.  Yes, you read that correctly!  It was 33 degrees in the morning, and I MADE IT.  I was sufficiently layered up to the point that the ONLY place that was cold was my finger tips.  So my gloves are too hot for 55+, and too cold for 40-.  My chin got a little cold because the way I had my jackets layered, I tunneled the wind directly up into my chin.  Slogged through work, then reaped my reward afterwards!  It was a sunny 63 degrees and I hit my usual track of FHP to 129 solo.  David thought I was crazy, but I'd do it again in a heartbeat;)

The weekend was a bust b/c it was raining on Saturday and COLD on Sunday, but this Thanksgiving week has been lovely.  We layered up and headed out yesterday around noon.  After a brunch at the Cracker Barrel with half of Maryville, we walked out to the bikes to see Mufasa's BRAND NEW rear tire sitting on the rim :(  I felt soooooo deflated, lol.  However, with a save from my amazing sister in law and then the fantastic father in law, we were able to not let that tiny roofing nail get the best of us!  11:30 this morning, we again layered up and headed out.  David's patch job seemed to be holding, so we headed into Knoxville, then north up to Big Ridge State Park.  Not going to lie ... that state park is a lot of nothing!  It sits on Norris Lake, and it must have been dammed up because there was no water to speak of.  There were hiking trails, but I have no idea if there were any waterfalls or any other "grand finale" there.  Made our way out of the park down this GREAT little country mountain road.  The road leading to the state park was like Holy 10 mph right hand corkscrews Batman!  I KNOW I said those weren't a problem anymore, but they DO still suck, lol.  I had ONE bad turn where I just didn't set up right, and I swung way wide into oncoming traffic, but luckily there was no traffic.  We ended up not far from the IMOK dealership and went down a SUPER fun curvy road that we had test ridden a Chieftan from the dealership down ... ever since, I've been dying to take Khaleesi down it!  It was just as fun as I knew it would be, and we worked our way back home, hitting I-140 for 11 miles.  But again, I was layered up perfectly, so didn't even catch a chill.  My gloves were perfect for this ride; it was between 50 and 55 degrees today; no chilly fingertips at all :)

David adjusted my handlebars a little; made them lower and closer.

Thankful for an amazing husband that always finds a fun track to suit our desires!  No long rides for a bit until the weather warms back up and the days get a little longer.  We went just about 105 miles today, and that was pretty perfect for the weather.  Gone about 5 hours, and that was with an hour lunch stop.  Not sure what next weekend will bring; we just take things one day at the time!  Blessed to have the time and the ability to do this together! <3 nbsp="" p="">

My favorite sign!  Curves ahead!! :)

Our thwarted ride!

TN backroads heading to state parks!

Today!  Yay!

3 rides; one ok, one awful, and one fantastic!

Naughty mare!

Always so alert ...

Somewhat reluctantly obedient

Ahhh, horses.  So blessedly inconsistent!  That's both bad and good.  Bad, because you never know which horse you're going to get.  Good ... because it's like having 4 different horses, lol :)

Last Saturday, S was out at the barn and snapped a few pics.  Jade went through her typical thing; started out ok, progressed to not so good, ended up well.  I'd decided to put a little more pressure on her, and ramp things up a bit, so I set up the "circle of death" with poles.  (4 poles on a 60 foot circle at 12, 3, 6, and 9.)  My only plan was just to trot those poles.  I set it up in the jumping ring, and she started out pretty stiff and tense.  I spent plenty of time at the walk and walked her over the poles in all different directions.  When she did that well, I moved on the trotting the circle.

Sadly, things spiraled downhill.  She began to THROW her haunches to the outside, blowing by my outside leg, and trying to pop her shoulder and drag me around the poles. She began to rush them, jump them, and became just generally unreasonable.  I took her to the opposite end of the ring and worked her down, growling and spinning her until she shook off her "witch" persona.  Brought her back to the poles and she was better, but still unhappy in general, so I hopped her over another teeny crossrail off a short turn twice and ended there.

The following Wednesday, she was awful.  She just felt peeved off to be working.  I was even riding her in her "favorite" ring :(  Not sure what was going on, it was a very unproductive ride.  I had a few random poles set out to trot over here and there, but no specific "pattern" or anything.  Didn't canter, just trotted one of the tiny crossrails and she again tried to blow off my leg and wanted to lose her haunches.  I ditched the jump and focused on some lateral work for a few, and finally she VERY grudgingly did what I asked.  For the first time, I quit not feeling like I'd accomplished anything.  It was an unproductive AND an uncomfortable ride; my back was killing me afterwards!

Over at the eventing barn, I rode a LOVELY Morgan/Tbred cross I'm in LOVE with named Spellbound.  I rode him in the indoor, and trainer was pretty happy w/ the fact that I'm getting w/ her program:)  I'm holding my hands correctly, using my seat more effectively, and not getting so still in the arms.  She didn't have to tell me to sit back ONCE ... AND I lowered my stirrups 3 holes.  Success!  Today, I rode another lovely bay gelding, Ricky Bobby (yes, lol!  that's really his name).  I realized I'm feeling what it's like to have a horse be REALLY engaged and lifted through the back and on the bit.  Poor Tiki never really got there, probably because I just never rode horses that went correctly.  Ricky Bobby was very responsive to my hands and seat, and my confidence in my dressage skills is increasing daily.

Fast forward to my ride on Jade today.  I'd already ridden RB, so when I got on the mare, I rode her exactly like I did him.  Shoulders back, elbows on top of hips, leg on, supporting outside rein.  I used my seat ask her to lift her back, and my leg to push her up into my hand.  She. Was. Wonderful.  The BEST ride I've had on her ever!  She didn't get fast, she kept her hips behind her shoulders, she didn't root on the reins, she didn't curl up behind the bit, she was on the aids and working perfectly.  I didn't spin her once, she was fabulous.  I think she was so shocked to be ridden ON the bit, she didn't know what to do w/ herself, lol!  I've never honestly FELT what a real dressage horse is like.  I thought I had, but really I hadn't.  ALL the horses at the event barn go exactly the same, it's so cool.  I rode Jade like she was one of them, and it was great :)  I jumped her a TON over both normal sized crossrails, and a super tiny little brush box.  I made long straight approaches, short turn approaches,  AND I did 2 as a line, trot in/trot out.  Her canter after the jumps was fantastic; relaxed, rhythmic, and not hauling on me at all.  She doesn't overjump at all, but she does leave a little long sometimes.  I always work to get her right to the base, nice and slow.  She didn't rush, she didn't get crooked, she was great.  I think I am going to ride her after the event barn all the time, I think riding those beautifully trained horses are helping me tremendously.  GREAT day!

Post holiday recap!

Lots of pats for a job well done!

Cool canter pic

I like this one :)

Perfect example of how "alert" she always is

Walking from round pen to ring

The holidays have kept me a little bit busy lately :)  My wonderful SIL was in town, so I didn't want to abandon her to go ride, but I DID drag her with me one day to take a few pics, woo hoo!  I haven't been to awesome eventing barn in a few weeks because I only have one day to go out, and with Christmas and now New Year both falling on that ONE day ... oh well, it's not going anywhere!

I did ride Jade Friday and Saturday.  She was a doll!  The waterford bit came in, and I actually love her in it (like I thought I would;))  I put that on Tiki's old 'hunter' bridle with a regular noseband, but still paired it with the running martingale just in case ... I LIKE my nose 'as is', lol.  The weather has just been fantastic, great temps and no wind, so I think that probably has had a small effect on Jade's behavior as well.

Friday, S was actually at the barn riding a barn horse and got to watch me ride Jade.  There was a lot of cacaphony going on at the barn, but she handled it pretty well.  I longed her in the roundpen first (with not much action) and mounted in there.  Both days, she stood like a statue and did not MOVE, good girl. :)  I rode her in the lower ring, aka her "comfort zone".  She began pretty well, with me only having to spin her a hand full of times.  From there, she actually tried to throw a little bit of a hissy fit, actually kicking up once or twice in protest to being ridden forward and on the contact.  I stuck it out, spun her around a few more times, and she decided to get her stuff together pretty quickly after that.

I tried to do some more rail work with her that day, so not so much figure 8ing ... she actually seemed like she got a tad anxious working around the entire ring like that; when I DID go to a few schooling figures, she really blew out a deep breath and put in some great work for me.  I was super happy with the trot work, I feel like we're making progress and holding pretty steady.  S has been able to ride her this holiday time, which is GREAT!  Went to the canter, and it wasn't even what I would call GOOD; it was just ok.  She holds the correct lead, which is great.  Other than that, it was fast, heavy, unbalanced, and just overall anxious.  I patted her anyway, though, because it definitely could be worse than what it was!  We ended with walking the little path around the pastures together; lots of spooks and scoots!

Saturday, I rode her in the upper ring with all the jumps.  Leaps and bounds better than the other time I rode her up there.  She didn't spook once.  She TRIED to, but I sensed the tenseness and immediately asked for shoulder in, then leg yield, then shoulder in, then leg yield, just trying to get her mind on ME and not what ever else she could think about.  I rode all around the jumps, making lots of circles, squares, half turn in reverse, trot over poles straight on, trot over poles at an angle, and I finally began to really make transitions.  I tend to get a little "stuck" in my trot work, just doing LOTS of trot all the time.  I did that with Tiki too.  I made her work on w-t-w-t-h-t-h-w, then added in canter. WOW, what a difference in the canter.  The left lead felt GREAT, I really worked on half halting pretty aggressively, then just softening and allowing her to carry herself; that strategy was pretty darn good if I do say so myself:)  Right lead wasn't too bad, but there was certainly some head flinging going on.  Went back to the trot, and was able to actually put my leg on her, and even clucked once!  WOW, lol.  I only had to do maybe 5 spins total with her that day.  In fact ... she felt SO good, at the very end I put her on a short turn, then out of nowhere pointed her at a teeny tiny baby crossrail.  She happily hopped over, making a nice jump for me, landed cantering, and seemed quite pleased with herself :)  LOTS of pats, loose rein, and all was right with the world.

Took today to catch up on some housework, I will ride her again on Saturday since I'm not working.  S rode her today, so hopefully she was a good girl!  Having so much fun, just happy to be riding again:)  Hope all y'all had a great Christmas and New Year ... I can't complain about mine :D

Visions of Rolex ...

I <3 ponies="" td="">

I sure wish I could FINALLY go to the Rolex 3 Day Event this year.  How ironic would that be?  Never could make it when it was a 5 hour drive, yet could FLY there.  Haha.  Not this year!  Hopefully my awesome new trainer will qualify again next year and I can be part of the crew then.  This year I will be sitting here at my kitchen table watching the live feed via my laptop.  Anyway!  As I sit here typing, I feel the familiar burn in my lower back that says I rode today:)  I rode 2 VERY different horses, but both were great!

The morning was chilly, but in the sun it was positively lovely.  Miss Jade came in from the pasture with a positive attitude and only had one "normal" poop in the washrack.  The barn was quiet, and the mare seemed happy.  Gave her a good grooming, then tacked her up in the same setup as Saturday; running martingale and a single joint Myler D-ring snaffle with no hooks or anything of that sort.  I decided today was going to be a low pressure kind of day, so I was pretty relaxed.  Took her to the roundpen, and she was trying to run off before I even had the reins secured, so I growled at her to knock it off.  Let her run it out until she told me she was done, and when I pulled the mounting block to her she didn't move a single muscle.  Yes!  Got on and walked to the 'scary' upper ring.  Kept as loose a rein as I felt comfortable with, and took a nice leisurely walk around that ring.  She spooked twice, all 4 legs splayed out like a statue, but no spin or anything, phew.  Took her out of the ring after that walk, and down to 'her' lower ring.  Just spent some time walking on a relatively loose rein until I felt her take a deep breath.  I then began to walk a figure 8 around the 2 jumps in the center of the ring, using my leg 95%, hand 5%.  I kept my reins pretty long, and just focused on pushing her into my outside rein.  After that, I went to trot around on the rail ... on a loose rein.  Ya know, I did the SAME thing with Tiki.  He would get SO fast at the trot, then he would freak himself out because he was so unbalanced.  With a horse like Jade, it's easy to hang on her face to keep her slow.  What she then does is balance off your hand, so then you feel like you're always in a pulling match.  You have to allow them to balance THEMSELVES.  She has to learn to regulate her pace without me getting in her face.  Enter the One Rein Stop.  Every time, and I do mean every time she sped up, I spun her.  Eventually, they get tired of that!  But it teaches them to have a little self control and balance.  So I did that both ways until I made it a FULL lap of the ring with no spin ... on a loose rein, yay!

After lots of pats and a short break, I put her on contact.  I went immediately to the trot figure 8 around the jumps (which was different).  I've been doing the figure 8's in the far end of the ring, this time I was smack in the middle of the ring.  Back and forth, gentle contact, and a nice outside rein half halt IF she sped up.  There were quite a few times when she came onto the contact and got SO light and lovely, I really felt the horse she has the potential to be!  I then decided to be brave, and picked up the canter and cantered the 8.  I did a simple change through the walk in between.  I did probably 20 8's, keeping my hands up and together, butt in saddle, outside leg keeping her from dragging me out of the circle.  Again, I was very glad to have the martingale because cantering does bring forth lots of head flinging.  I just kept rinsing and repeating until she took a breath and made a few very nice transitions.

After one more break, I trotted on the rail on contact again, then did a shallow serpentine, tiny circle into the rail, finish serpentine, then trot up over pole.  I did that both ways 3 times each then let her finish.  She just got better and better, again giving me moments of true contact and lightness.  I like her in this bit the best so far; she is behind the kimberwicke, she is WAY too mouthy in the loosering, and in this one she takes the contact and even gets a little heavy in it, which is fine.  Trotting on a loose rein will fix that ;)  With the figure 8, I never feel her get mouthy with the bit, the mouth stays shut (ahem, Tiki never figured that out.  He opened his mouth in a HALTER!).  S just got a waterford, excited to try that!  I will put her back in a regular cavessoon when I try it.  Just trying to get her wants all figured out; she isn't a complicated horse per se, she's just super sensitive.  I really enjoyed her today, what a good girl!

At the other barn, I got to ride a pony!  She is fat and furry and white :)  I loved her.  Her name is Kimi, and she's a connemara.  LAZY!  Good lord, I wore my spurs and carried a dressage whip and still I worked myself to exhaustion;)  Trainer came out and made me get her on the bit like a good little dressage horse.  Had some great moments there.  I had to work for every step, but still had a blast.  I would love to take her out and run her around the xc course, I bet she's super fun.  My position was better on the pony, but I'm still having issues keeping my shoulder blades pressed together.  When I was a dancer, NO trainer EVER had to tell me to open my shoulders, but after so many years of riding alone and riding greenies and spookies, I've developed a bit of a softness to my upper body.  The default position is shoulders open, elbows on top of hips, hands up.  Slightly different from the hunter hand position :)  I'm SO looking forward to integrating myself; right now I still only know a hand full of people, but I'm getting to recognize some of them.  Trainer is slowly beginning to throw some responsibility on me.  I think she's been feeling me out to see what I know, and is starting to understand I do know a lot, so is starting to treat me as one of the crew.

So, I appreciate the ache in my lower back.  It means I got to do what I love today.  It reminds me that anything worth having, is worth working hard for.  It gives me hope that some day I will again stand in the start box and hear that countdown.  Incredibly thankful for my life, and looking forward to what tomorrow brings! :)  Peace and love y'all.