Christmas Ride

I can remember the day I became 'addicted' to riding.  I was 8 years old, and I'd just been instructed on how to mount a horse.  My instructor looked me in the eye once she'd set my feet properly in the stirrups and said, "Now, this may feel weird".  As the aged gray mare took her first steps with me astride, the joyful feeling that overtook my body was one I will never shake.

I still get that thrill every time I settle aboard my bike.  She hasn't been started since December 2nd ... I don't keep her on a battery tender, and we've had several days in the 20's.  She fired right up at the first press of the button ... and we were off!

Time constraints and a need for a rear tire kept us to a minimum ride today; but ANY wind therapy in December is perfect, no matter what.  Our ride took us through Walland to Foothills towards Wears Valley; and then we whipped around and did it back the other way and ended up in Maryville.  The air was crisp but mild and the sky was a deep, cloudless blue.  The growl of my Khaleesi drowned out all other sound, and the breathtaking mountain views calmed any wayward thoughts. 

I have officially hit 10,000 miles ridden during my 2nd year riding with FOUR more months to go!  I'm at 20,020 miles total on my bike.  I'm pretty sure this number will be my goal for the next 6 more years, until Colton is big enough to ride on the back and go with us.  Projected rain the next 2 days, but we're HOPING to have good enough weather to ride up to Bristol on Saturday so I can get my tire.  Everyone is doing a New Year's Day "Frosty Toes" ride, so hoping to be able to participate!

Love my bike, so blessed to have her and to have the ability to ride and spend time w/ my hubby.  We love riding, and can't wait until our next VACATION! 

The big one year "M"

Coolish, but beautiful day!

It had been WAY too long since I'd felt the ache in my back and the tiredness of my neck from a good, long ride.  It was with no small measure of excitement that on March 17, 2018, we planned a pretty ambitious trip to Charlotte, North Carolina.  My destination end goal was to try and get lucky enough to find an elusive zip up Indian jacket I was coveting online.  I wanted to buy it from a store so I could try it on, but so far I was having no luck!  Saturday morning dawned overcast and cool.  I packed David's left saddlebag full with drinks, an extra jacket, and other assorted girl things.  

We roared out of the neighborhood, gassed up, and tamed the Dragon.  Literally NO cars or motorcycles at ALL.  I'll be honest, there was a section where David ran off and left me in the dust and I felt just slightly out of sorts.  It had been a hot minute since I'd been able to twist and lean through the curves, so I needed to get my "sea legs" so to speak.

Waiting it out in Deal's Gap

We pulled down into the Deal's Gap resort and our plans for breakfast were thwarted because they didn't open until 10:00.  It was 8:00.  We decided to roll the bikes down under the cover of the gas awning, and it was at that exact moment the bottom dropped out.  We killed some time inside the store, then opted to try out the Fontana Village Resort restaurant once the rain stopped.  Even though it was no longer actively raining, we got pretty dang soaked from the waist down due to all the rain on the roads.  We rolled up the hill to the main resort and enjoyed a good, hot breakfast; will do that again!  We decided to tweak our route, and opted to scratch the idea of Charlotte and shoot for Waynesville instead.  That would knock about 6+ hours off the trip.  I realized already that a day trip into Charlotte on the bikes was pretty ambitious.  I was happy with that decision, and layered back into my Steel Cowgirls pullover/fleece 1/4 zip/leather jacket.  My knees were a little cold from the wet roads, so I added my nylon "swish" pants over my jeans and tall boots.  Good decision!  Definitely helped because Hwy 28 (Moonshiner) is not a slow road for the most part; we were trucking along at a pretty good clip.  

Major AT location; Fontana Village Resort

We took a standard route into Cherokee.  David wanted to stop at a Harley dealership he services b/c we haven't checked it out yet.  I was game!  As we hit the slow part into town, we kept our eyes peeled for elk.  Sadly, no sign of any animals other than squirrels.  Wandered into the tiny little boutique HD store and enjoyed stretching out my tight lower back.  My butt was already beginning to get "hot spots"; I felt like I was doing a long trail ride.

The Indian visits Harley Davidson

The plan was to hit BRP into Waynesville so we could avoid the Smoky Mountain Expressway; my one major gripe with my bike has been my dang windshield.  It just isn't the right height, so as I ride in high MPH situations, I feel the entire top half of my body just buffeting uncomfortably.  David takes pity on me and we try to keep it to curvy 2 lanes as MUCH as possible!  As we made the turn onto the Parkway ... the gates were closed!  What??  I felt a flash of disappointment as we pulled back onto the main highway and continued on towards Smoky Mountain Steel Horses in Waynesville.  

Khaleesi and Mufasa; "Indasaki"

Nice little dealership; they have a GREAT selection of apparel.  No Chieftan Elite, I was sad not to see the glittery disco ball bike again!  I slowly craned my head and looked at the wall hanging clothes, and I zeroed in on THE JACKET.  

Woo hoo!  Luckily, they had giant sizes in stock, and I swallowed my pride and purchased it.  IM apparel is cut quite small, ugh.  As I was finishing up, I noticed a lady's back with a Steel Cowgirls logo, and we exchanged "screen names" and a hug or 2.  Her name is Mayra, and it was so great to meet her!  She sent me a video, but I can't save it for some reason to share here.  Maybe I can figure it out, I don't know.  Didn't partake of any of the leftover food (burgers and dogs were gone) and we headed out towards the Rattler, my FAVORITE!

David let me lead and he filmed with the GoPro.  I'm very happy with my ride, but the weirdest thing happened.  My back started to KILL me, and I felt utterly exhausted about half way through the ride.  I wanted to stop sooooo bad, but David doesn't do stops and starts with GoPro rides.  My nether region was also extremely uncomfortable, and I found myself shifting around in the saddle a lot.

Jen and The Rattler, NC 209

The road has definitely deteriorated somewhat; it's been roughly a year since we last rode it, and it is needing a little TLC!  It was fun as always, though, and we finished up in Hot Springs, Appalachian Trail mecca.  We parked our now pretty hot bikes, stripped off our many layers, and dragged it all inside to a BBQ spot we wanted to try out.  Sat down with the menu, requested waters all around, and realized this place was NOT BBQ.  The menu was Ugh.  No bueno!  The waitress was understanding, and we left with our heads tucked under our jackets.  No, not really, but it was a little embarassing.  We put our layers back on, climbed back on the bikes, and drove down a few hundred yards and realized RIGHT NEXT DOOR to the not good place was an Irish pub.  How appropriate for St. Patrick's Day!  Having learned our lesson 5 minutes ago, we checked the menu before going in and deemed it worthy.

The good restaurant

It took WAY too long to get our food; the bar was semi crowded, but there was open tables, so not sure what happened.  I could feel my energy fading as we waited ... and waited ... and waited.  Finally it was delivered.  I ate a lot of my delicious Buffalo Chicken sandwich and gulped down more water.  Riding really makes you thirsty!

Managed to find an Irish Pub on St. Paddy's day!

The only good way home from there is through the National Park, so we took fun roads over that way.  I worked to keep my concentration on the curves ahead, and I got on the throttle hard as we powered our way out of the curves.  Seems like we always do that; haul ass once the "Final Destination" has been reached.  Like a horse heading home towards the barn!  We rode until I had to fill up Khaleesi's tank again, and David checked the weather.  Holy Thunderstorms in the area, Batman!  We REALLY hauled a$$ then, there were a few areas of the park that felt like a slalom course.  The clouds were mega dark and creepy looking, and all we could think was BEAT THAT RAIN. 

Love representing my beloved Indian brand!

We got a little rain, and our ride basically ended as it began; with wet road water spray all over our shins!  SUCH a fun day; we logged close to 300 miles and it was SUPER.  So crazy blessed to do this.  So happy the hubs loves to do this with me.  Grateful I have the desire to do it!  I look at my horse "friends" posts regarding their horses, and I STILL feel nothing at all.  No regret, longing, anything.  In fact, I feel GRATEFUL I'm out of it right now.  A brand new, custom CWD saddle costs MORE than my bike did!!!  WHAT?  Horses have always been a "rich man's" sport, and in the day and age of inflation, that holds true more than ever!  Got another ride to blog from this past weekend, hope y'all enjoyed the recap of our ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY FOR HAVING THE 'M'.  I have a goal for April 17, the one year anni of owning Khaleesi that I haven't met yet, but I HOPE to.  Guess we'll see :)

Outside the Dragon

So, so, so dirty!

Dirt roads, wine, and rain showers

Cheyenne (David's bike) on the left and Khaleesi on the right!

So, thinking about posting my ride recaps on my horsey blog!  I no longer own a flesh and blood horse, but I do have a steel one!  In all honesty ... I'm not sure how long I will go without riding horses.  It's been over a year, and to be honest ... I'm not missing it.  If there's any blog readers that haven't toodled over to my more personal blog, since this last riding post, I have had a baby and moved to Tennessee!  We had the baby because we wanted to, and we moved to TN to be closer to family so Colton Maverick would have family around him like Kody did.  February, David got his first motorcycle and we rode together all over the place!  In March, I got my motorcycle license, and in April, I got my OWN motorcycle!  I can't even describe the joy I get out of riding my Indian Scout Sixty.  I've named her Khaleesi and riding her to work makes my whole week!

Putting on the boots means I won!  We get to go riding!

Today, I talked David into taking me for a ride.  I've always suffered from PVS.  Parked Vehicle Syndrome.  Now, I suffer from PMS!  Parked Motorcycle Syndrome!  I get seriously grumpy and irritable if it's a nice day and all we're doing is just sitting around on the couch.  We didn't buy TWO motorcycles for them to sit cold in the garage!  Our original plan this weekend was to sit and watch movies since the baby is at the grandparent's.  Rain was in the forecast both Sat and Sun.  After coming home early yesterday and sitting for most of the evening watching (boring) tv, when I checked the weather for today, the rain wasn't coming in until after 2.  I had to talk David into taking me for a ride!  I think David had already decided to be in this weekend, and I had to get his mindset in a different spot.

The spot I suggested we ride, David said no because it's a holiday weekend, and he was concerned about us spending most of the time sitting in traffic.  Then he suggested we ride Cade's Cove.  Um, talk about a tourist spot?  With stop and go traffic?  He said it shouldn't be too bad since a lot of people are only just now coming into town.  I shrugged my shoulders and said ok!  We've ridden to Cade's Cove together when we borrowed his Mom's bike for a week, but I've never had the chance to ride my own bike there.

We went all matchey-matchey in our Jimmie Johnson jerseys and our Marvel helmets.  I usually let Kody wear my Marvel helmet, and I wear my Indian helmet.  On this particular trip, however, we left Kody still asleep in his bed!  It was a nice, easy trip up into and through Townsend.  It was VERY cloudy, but the sun was determined to peek out and chase off the threat of rain.

Down came a blackbird?

Right at the beginning of the loop

The scrolling marquis sign along the side of the curvy mountain road leading into the Cove reminded us that the loop is closed to motorized vehicles until 10:00.  It was 9:45.  Fortunately (I guess) we were behind a super slow car, so by the time we reached the loop, it was 9:56.  They still waved us around the entrance!  Ugh.  We had to pull around and pull off, waiting for a few minutes.  There were about 100,000 bicycles that we could see all around the park, but it seemed like most of those were packing up.  We U turned to head back to the entrance of the loop, and got caught up in an apparent mama bear w/ her cubs sighting.  We couldn't see them, as they were up hiding in a tree, and the park ranger waved us along anyway.

The loop was great for about 3 miles, and then my hand had started to seriously cramp up from working the clutch.  Also, Khaleesi puts out a ton of heat, and my thighs were on fire!  Her cooling fan kept kicking on; stop and go traffic when it's hot out is the worst.  We pulled off twice to take some pics, the 2nd time at a church.  The church was roughly 5 miles in.  After snapping a selfie, we lamented over the fact that the traffic was SO bad (no "told you so's" are necessary here ).  We happened to look behind us and saw a road sign that said "Townsend 12 miles.  Primitive, Unimproved Road.  One Way".   The first thing I asked is, "Is it paved?"  David said yes, but as we looked down the road, it was indeed a gravel road.  He looked at me, I looked at him, we both shrugged our shoulders, and off we went!

Wanna?  Sure, why not!

I was honestly nervous at first; I've read all these gravel horror stories on my motorcycle facebook boards, so I was convinced that one tiny misstep could result in a crashing disaster.  Like many gravel roads, the tracks where most cars ride was pretty bare of rocks, and the center, crowned portion of the road was full of them.  For the most part, David stayed in the right tire, I stayed in the left, and all was fine!  The only time I ever felt my tires really lose traction was if I got too up on the looser gravel.  There were some obstacles to avoid, so I did have to cross the middle crown a few times, and I definitely felt my handlebars shake a few times.  We stayed seriously slow, usually in 1st gear, but it was not hard to do at all.  The road was so beautiful and peaceful that we kept stopping to take pics.  The entire time, we only encountered 2 other vehicles!  Eventually, the gravel road dumped into a small, paved road at the top of a mountain filled with cabins.  We kept it still only in 2nd gear for the most part as we rolled on down the mountain.

By the time we got to 321, the main road back to Maryville, it was time to eat.  We'd decided to stop at a local winery to do a tasting and to partake of the amazing smelling BBQ food truck.  The winery is small and adorable with all kinds of cute purses and glasses, etc.  They're having some sort of open house type deal, and they had a few vendors set up inside of the winery selling their wares.  Tried the 5 sweetest wines they have and actually ended up buying a bottle!  All of them were very good.  I had a container of mac and cheese topped with pulled pork as my meal.  Oh My Gosh, it was amazing!  Very good food, wish the truck was a brick and mortar store, but they're only mobile.  Packed the wine bottle and a souvenir glass into the saddlebags and decided to head up to Foothills Parkway.

If any of my riding friends are still in the nervous stage about curvy roads and live close to me, Foothills Parkway is a GREAT place to see some amazing views, and get some uphill/downhill practice with a curvy road that's well paved, well marked, and usually light traffic.  The speed limit is 45, and we normally keep it around 50, sweeping tightly through those curves!  It's a good place for me to push myself a little bit, because if left to my own devices, I'd ride like a granny for the most part.  I kept right up on David's tail, and then we turned again down the CRAZY back road that is off the Parkway.

The connecting road is Flatt road, and it is a gnarly downhill curvy snake with driveways, ditches, and blind hairpin curves.  That was the one we did a month or so ago, and to me, it was harder than the Tail of the Dragon.  This time, David zigged where last time he had zagged, and we ended up on still a small curvy road, but not as bad as the prior one!  The name of the road is called Happy Valley, and it ends just below the Tail of the Dragon on Hwy 129.  We stopped in at the Harley Davidson outpost store as it was finally open!  Neat little spot!

Tired of our selfies yet?

Raced home trying to avoid the inevitable rain, as it had reached the dreaded 2:00 time, when the percentage of rain increased dramatically, but we failed a little bit.  Big, fat rain drops poured down us badly enough that I had to pull down my visor, and once again, I could feel my thighs/knees start to get soaked.  Gee, the LAST time we came down this way, we were soaked to the bone!  The rain only lasted about 3 minutes or so, and we kept pushing to make it home.  Made it safe and sound, and we'd both tried out too!

DIRT!  Yep, my Scout went off roading today!

I can't say it enough.  I'm so grateful and blessed to have the desire and the ability to do this.  I KNOW that my horse riding skills have paved the way for me to learn to ride a motorcycle ALMOST effortlessly.  Just like everyone, I have my "bogey" moments that I struggle with, just like on a horse (um, seeing distances!), but I feel so at ease, so ONE with my bike.  I ride her one handed a LOT of the time, and all I have to do is look down the road and she just goes wherever I want,  it's incredible.  I try to be grateful for the time I get and not nag David too much, but I just want to ride EVERY DAY!  I'm SO grateful that I've found an activity that I love as much as riding horses that David and I can do TOGETHER.  There's none of the guilt for me that I've always had riding horses.  Can't wait to continue to expand my riding resume and to keep experiencing these awesome moments with David.  I always pray for our safety and for the safety of our fellow bikers.  Living is dangerous, educate yourself and make smart choices in everything that you do!  <3 nbsp="" p="">

My favorite riding buddy

Gee, another "Helmet hair, don't care!"

If you find yourself in Townsend, TN, check this place out!

B and B barbeque.  GREAT food and nice peeps:)

How is it we've passed by this place a dozen times and today was the first time we noticed the dragon on the sign?

Strapping on the life preserver

Wow, can't believe it's been almost 2 months since I updated the blog!  I've had QUITE a few good rides, I'm still riding Kiara every Wednesday and LOVING it.  I got to ride Trainer's CCI3* horse a few weeks ago ... NOT at the walk for an hour, but for an hour w/t/c.  He's coming back from an injury and has a very specific regimen of dressage stuff he's supposed to engage in on a daily basis, and I learned what it felt like to REALLY get a 17.1 hand horse trotting forward enough to a good dressage test.  Let's just say it's NOT Like hacking a hunter ;)

Did a few gymnastics over the last few weeks.  Cantered through 5 one strides with a placing pole; that was FUN, and good.  The jumps ended up around 3', so a fun ride.  Another gymnastic I did was trot a vertical with 5 placing poles; it began as 2', ended up at 3'6.  WOW!  She was amazing through it, as the jump got higher, I found I could really just sit still and she was right there for me.  The cantering gymnastic was trotting in; a placing pole to an x, one stride to a vertical, one stride to a TALL crossrail, 2 strides to another TALL crossrail.  She was actually pretty spooky, and I really had to work to help her make it through the distance AND keep her from getting wiggly.  Trainer didn't make the last big X an oxer since Kiara is a little ... um, FAT right now.  Besides, she was pretty looky-loo with those tall crossrails.

I titled my blog post "Strapping on the life preserver" because today I FINALLY zipped myself into my xc vest!  It has a belt that clicks in the front, and I always feel like I'm putting on a life vest, lol.  I've been riding for a year and a half at a fabulous facility with a FULL xc course, Intro to Prelim, but I've never ridden out on it.  I had a chance once, but it was knowing full well I'd have to be "beating" the horse over every jump, so I bowed out of that one.

2 weeks ago, I hacked Kiara down the course and rode her on the tracks between fences at a walk.  Holy heck, she felt like she'd spook and spin right out from under me pretty much every second of the ride.  She spooked at the tall mustard growing, the tall grass, the jumps, the wind, the rustling of leaves ... she felt VERY tense.  I kept at it until she FINALLY stretched down into my hands and took a deep breath.  Back to the barn we went.

Today, I showed up when trainer said to, only to be told I was supposed to be ON at that time, not just arriving.  Grrrr. So I had to run to the pasture, grab Kiara, knock the dirt off, and rush rush rush.  I worked myself up a little bit, because I'd hoped to somewhat zen out, but it was not to be.  To top things off, I could NOT find my neck strap, so I grabbed a loose stirrup leather and put it on, but it was much tighter that I typically like; however, it was better than nothing.

As we walked down, she was working HERSELF up, head up and snorting.  We made our way down, and she spooked at the other horse that was already down there throwing a hissy fit.  We made our way past the other horse, found a track that wound through the mustard, and picked up a trot.  We approached a series of jumps, and she spooked.  Approached more jumps, another spook.  Kept going, and she finally began to focus on the job at hand.  I made it all the way to the end of that particular lane, and had some room to work back and forth a little.  There was an Intro log right by the start box.  VERY tiny.  Walkable in fact.  So, we walked over it both ways.  She relaxed a little more.  Trotted back the other way with MUCH less spooking this time, turned around, and walked the log again.  No biggie!  Trotted over it both ways.  I snagged the neck strap just in case, but she hopped over with no drama.  Landed with a bit of a head shake and a crow hop, but came right back to me.  Walked over 2 more Intro logs on the way back, and she was starting to feel pretty good.

Made it back to Trainer who was at the smaller water complex.  She went over my position at the canter.  I had to bridge my reins, lean INTO her neck, move my stirrups more towards "home" position, and stand straight up to stop.  I felt VERY awkward leaning on her neck, but Trainer insisted this way allows the horse to just fall into rhythm and YOU not to pick and pull on the way to the jump.  Makes sense to me!  There was another tiny Intro log that we trotted over, and I worked on keeping my knuckles in her neck the whole time.  Strung together a baby hanging log, canter thru the water.  She CHARGED into the water w/out a single hesitation.  Trainer told me to go trot an Intro Palisade jump on a path we hadn't gone down and gave me the "rules" on the course for when a horse stops.  You clear it 3 times, and you GET THE JOB DONE.  I gulped a little, headed to the jump, and she was so busy spooking at the mustard that upon arrival at the jump, she popped her shoulder and attempted to canter right by it.  I pulled her up, put her nose right on the middle of it, and reapproached.  She hopped over it big and crow hopped on the landing side, but we were over.  Came again and it was better.  Came the 3rd time and no problem.

Strung together log at the water, turn and go thru water, over hanging log, then down over an arched Intro log about half way down my warm up lane.  She ate the distance to the log and b/c it was so small practically tripped over it.  After the hanging log, she tried to crow hop so hard that Trainer hollered at me to fix it, but I was so busy laughing I couldn't do anything about it.  Finished up by doing the hanging log into the water to a BN coop, then on around to a BN green painted roll top type jump.  Coming to the coop, I sat down, got in the "back seat", pressed my knuckles in her her neck, and she jumped it well despite being a little surprised.  The turn to the rolltop was a PERFECT spot for her to duck out to the right b/c it was off a left hand turn, but I sat back, growled, closed my leg, and OVER she went!  I walked her back to Trainer on a loose rein w/ LOTS of pats and praise, then we did that one more time for good measure.  The 2nd time, she was like a BEAST.  Flew over the hanging log, charged through the water, took the coop like a star, and was looking for the center of the rolltop.  GOOD GIRL! I had SO much fun, she was GREAT.  Pleased, proud, and excited to go out again soon!

Fun with a single!

I had seen this exercise set up in the indoor before ... I just hadn't actually done it before!  It's called "The Diamond".  I'm sure we can add that little phrase after it ... "of death" ;).  At eventing barn, I've been riding Kiara.  She is so awesome, I just LOVE her.  In a lot of ways, she reminds me of Tiki (redhead w/ a mohawk), but other than the fact that she's comfortable to ride, she goes completely differently than he does.

She has a bit of a sensitive, (hysterical) side.  She has passing issues just like Tiki did; if you came at another horse head on, he would at LEAST raise/shake his head, at worst, panic a little and put on the brakes/give a little bucky buck.  Kiara, on the other hand, over-reacts.  To say the least.  At best, she will raise her head and put the brakes on; at worst, she slams on the brakes, sticks her head in your face, and spins/bolts.  Yeesh!  She's almost gotten me off 3 times that way, but I'm learning to tune in more to her body language if we're not alone in the ring.  I've been purposely working on the issue, and it is getting a little better, but she will still react fairly violently w/out much warning.

That being said, I warmed up in the indoor yesterday at the walk.  Way back when, when I rode her the first few times, she was pretty stiff in the jaw and had a hard time flexing at the poll.  Since that time, she now has not 1, but 2 owners, and the contact has become much more consistent.  So, I kept her in the bottom half of the ring due to another horse longeing, and I played around with moving her both directions laterally off my leg.  She came nice and deep into my hand, and really raised her withers and didn't worry about what was happening at the evil GATE.  Again like Tiki, she tends to lose her shape thru the transitions, so I worked some transitions and focused on maintaining that nice shape.  Trainer came out and set the single as poles; it's pretty self explanatory; it's a single vertical with 2 poles set as a diamond on both the take off and the landing side.  It was set in the short side of the ring.  The goal is to hit the center of all the poles on a figure 8, trotting in.  The poles went pretty well; it's an exercise that you will FAIL at miserably if you try to pull on the face too much.  It's an exercise that really encourages the rider to use leg/look to steer rather than trying to pull, because pulling creates bulging and crookedness; the point of the exercise is to be straight and balanced.

After a few circuits thru, up it went as a small vertical.  To add a level of difficulty, the distance is such that you trot in, so in addition to making a super tight turn, staying balanced and straight, you ALSO have to make a downward transition!  I was so proud of her; she focused in on the center of the pole and smartly bounced right thru and up and over the jump.  I worked on landing and NOT pulling, just half halting, balancing, and looking for my turn.  Once it was smooth, walked, and pole went up.  Rinsed and repeated, then walked one more time, then up once more on the height.  We finished up w/ the vertical at 2'9.  Of COURSE  I had to jump up her neck the first time at that height, but subsequent passes thru, I actually did really well w/ sitting tall and waiting on her.  She felt GREAT, trainer was pleased.  We then went with her to "babysit" one of the young sale horses in the 'new' outdoor; it's 200' by 325', so HUGE.  Kiara has been a little bit looky and spooky outside lately; not sure if it's a 'mare' thing, or if it's the winter season, or what.  I don't remember her being that silly out in the open.  There are no jumps in the outdoor, but there are dressage judging stands, combined driving obstacles within eyesite, and stacks of temporary wooden fencing piled around.  We got in some good circuits walking together, and Kiara only ran sideways once or twice, when trainer's dressage whip got a little too close.  Then it was time to go to work ...

As we separated and headed to our own ends of the ring, Kiara out of nowhere bolted forward, scooted her butt under her, and flung her head in my face; thank goodness for the running martingale I've thrown on her for this very reason!  She then ran sideways, I circled, she tried to bolt forward again, I circled, and I realized we were going to have to start VERY slow.  So, I walked tiny circles, then tiny figure 8's, then bigger, then bigger, until we were walking nice and calm around our entire half of the ring.  As I asked for the trot, we went BACK to tiny circles/figure 8's, and finally she began to breathe and relax and I didn't feel like she wanted to jump out of her own skin.  I VERY gently asked for a canter, again on a circle, and she was super.  Did that both ways, then ended with a trot around the WHOLE ring both directions (with quite a few calming circles thrown in, but she did it!)  Trainer and I walked one more lap side by side, and AGAIN she skittered sideways a few time (silly mare), but she was  a little more relaxed, so yay.

Haha, usually it's a Jade update that's so long, but I don't have much to report on her!  She was very good yesterday.  I worked her w/t/c on a LOOSE, loopy rein, and she was nice and receptive to that.  Picked up contact and worked over some poles, and again no issues.  Both leads were easy, the canter was pretty light, and I trotted her over some singles and she was perfect.  We did have an issue when I approached those dreaded wingless "stacker" standard things with a box under a crossrail; she stopped at that a few times, and when I got her over it, I THOUGHT she was going to stop again, so I hit her all in the back and mouth over it, so I got her thinking FORWARD and jumped a few other jumps, then came back to that one and she was good, so I ignored it from there.  Finished by trotting left to a tall crossrail, then turning left.  She likes to RUN to the right when I do that, so I just repeated over and over until she did it nicely.  It was a "good mare" day!

Love this Cali riding weather!

If there's any type of "perfect" riding weather out there, Northern California is certainly it!  I have been very pleased with Ms. Mare the past few times I've ridden her.  There was ONE day where if I hadn't slapped on my neck strap b/c I thought I was going to jump her around 3', she literally would have spooked/spun me off multiple times, but that day seems to have been an anomaly, thank goodness.  A few weeks ago, she flatted up nicely and when I hopped her over the "wingless" box/gate/pole jump that was just ONE section higher than what she'd jumped before, that girl literally almost jumped me right off her back!  She was about a foot over the 3' box, TWISTED in the air, AND drifted left about a foot, all at the same time.  Whoa.  Lol.  I bravely tried it a few more times, and it was pretty bad every time, so lowered it back down the one level and she was fine.  Silly girl!

Today was the first day she'd been ridden in a week, as it's actually RAINED (yay) in Nor Cal.  The ring was still super wet, so I set up 3 9' canter poles up one long side, and set a single 2'6 vertical on the opposite long side.  On the vertical, I laid poles ON the rail, framing out a chute on both sides.  My goal was just to work on straight and simple today.  She again flatted up really nicely.  I did NOT put her in the roundpen, despite S's suggestion I do so.  I could tell her frame of mind was pretty workmanlike as I tacked her up, so I "risked" it!

I didn't wear spurs today, and honestly I felt like I needed them!  She was pretty quiet.  Honestly, when I started out, she felt just a little short strided.  She warmed up well, though, and I focused on lots of big loopy circles and lots of direction changes.  I focused on feeling her stay straight from her hips thru her shoulders, and tried to work on keeping a nice consistent rhythm, especially over the poles.  She was focused well.  When I jumped the vertical, I just trotted over it, and halted straight.  Sometimes I went over the poles, sometimes I didn't.  When I cantered the vertical off the right lead, she was super!  I cantered thru the 9' poles a few times, and she did great there.  The problems began/ended off the left lead going over the vertical.  That jump is set in her "booger" spot where she likes to hop and drag right, both before and after the jump.  Sometimes she's so awful there, I can't even GET her to the jump because she's cantering sideways to the right.

Today I had a little bit of an epiphany, and when she began to fall right, I took it down a level.  In the past, I may either leave that area, or get mad and start "beating her up" with my leg, or bridging my reins and trying to just out-muscle her (and we know how well THAT works!)  Today, I just took a step back, and trotted her in a big circle.  I could FEEL when she stiffened the jaw, bulged the shoulder, and began to drag.  I kept my cool, and I worked SUPER hard to connect to that right rein, NOT forcing her, NOT kicking with my outside leg, just gentle, patient circling.  I tried it at a canter when the trot felt good, and that was a bad, no go.  I went back to trot, cantering SOME of the circle, back to trot, over and over until she just DID it.  I then came out of the circle to the jump; she was quiet, she landed and tracked dead straight, halted well.  What a good girl!  I was very happy with her; I was pretty pleased with me, too :)

At eventing barn, I've been riding Kiara!  I hadn't ridden her since her new owners took ownership, but it's working out that neither one could ride on Tues/Wed/Thurs for the time being, so I've gotten to ride her!  I LOVE her, I've been having a GREAT time sitting on her ... I feel as at home on her as I do on Tiki :D  She's just flat out awesome.  Love my riding time!

It's PAST time for a little update!

Well.  Sorry for the lapse in coverage lately!  I've been travelling to FL for work, and the time change has had me all tired as soon as I get off work.  I'm sure the time change hasn't been helping things either!  I've ridden a few tricky horses at Event Barn that a year ago, I would NOT have achieved good results on.  Still to this day I tend to go to my hands before I go to my seat, but thanks to Trainer, I've begun to slowly back away from pulling so much.  I rode a tricky dressage pony last week that kicked my butt!  He picks up this AWFUL half tranter thing that feels so yucky.  And when I put my leg on he just wants to canter.  And when I tried to hold contact, he just stiffened his jaw against me and went around like a 16.1 hand moose.  Ugh.  After about 10 minutes, I was actually really frustrated and questioning my ability to "ride ANYTHING on the flat".  These dressage horses really are MUCH different than the hunter rides I'm more used to.

Trainer was finally able to turn her attention to me and help me, so after about 15 more minutes, I was FINALLY able to get some semblance of a nice, round trot.  LOW hands, but still have elbows bent, shoulders back, LOTS of half halting, but NO pulling.  Wow.  I actually felt like how it feels to physically push a wheel barrow uphill while riding this horse.  I thought the feeling of PUSHING a wheel barrow on a horse was impossible.  Nope, in fact, when you're properly riding a dressage horse, you should ALWAYS feel like you're pushing a wheel barrow!  His canter was actually quite lovely, I had no problems with that; it's always that trot work that's hard for me to REALLY nail and do it perfectly correctly.  At the end, I felt like a tired, sore wet noodle, but I got pony going nice and forward and round, so it was all good:)

I've had some LOVELY rides on the mare, most notably after switching up her bit.  S ordered a litle 2 ring gag bit, and I slapped that puppy on my bridle ASAP.  Switched her from a running martingale to a standing with the gag because I've always thought pressure on a gag rein to bring a head down is silly.  Yes, I know you're supposed to thread just the snaffle rein through the ring, but with a 2 ring elevator, you ALWAYS have some gag action; it's not like a normal snaffle gag.  The standing has done it's job perfectly.  The one or two times she threw her head in my face, it kept her from smashing it, so I'm happy :)

Last week, I worked with Jade on counter canter for the first time.  I only did it on the long sides.  I practiced picking up correct lead/counter lead on the long side, switching up which one I wanted.  She got it 90% of the time, I was very happy with her.  I think her LH is getting stronger, because I used to have problems picking up her right lead.  I still do on occasion, but she's gotten better.  Got in some VERY good lateral work from her, as well as a bit of shoulder in.  I decided to break down the jump work for her and trotted virtually everything, circling inside the lines so we didn't have the shoulder bulge and drag, and EVERY jump was 2'6/2'9.  Height is NO problem for her, and the jumps don't bother her.  If I could just FIX her in between bulge and run off crap she'd be AMAZING to jump around.  Little gag bit worked GREAT and when she decided to land and bolt, I sat her on her BUTT so fast it made her head spin.  Finished up with a lovely track with good approaches, quiet landings and a great attitude.

Most recently, she flatted up nice and quiet so I threw in a few crossrails, which she took to beautifully.  Did NOT canter on the flat, just gradually progressed from random x's to a full course.  I cantered EVERYTHING.  We had one issue where we often have issues, coming left lead away from the in gate.  She bulges and drags right to the rail.  It's dangerous, it's stupid, I don't know WHY she does that.  So I kicked her butt to the point that she got upset every time we came around the corner and began hopping up and down so I just patted her, walked until she chilled, then jumped the jump  out of a trot.  I didn't venture to that spot any more, but I did have a few issues with jumping a line or 2 once she got tired.  Jumps the first jump great, just hauls and drags right on landing, never sighting in on the 2nd jump in the line.  So, I trotted in, cantered out after jumping in, circling right, jumping in, circling left, etc about 5 times so when I went straight ahead it surprised her and she was beautifully straight so I quit there.  LOVE the brakes, speed was not ever an issue.  Even though she can still frustrate the heck out of me, she is 148% improved over the mare she was a year ago.  I would LOVE to run her xc, I think she will LOVE it because at the BN/N level there's no need to worry about lines.  She can gallop in, gallop away, no worries.  It's currently on the bucket list :)