Tiki's first IEA blue ribbon!:)

I am so proud of the boy! Loaded quickly on the trailer this morning, and drove VERY slowly through the rain to the barn. Arrived fairly later than I wanted, then had to sit and wait on people to get parked. He warmed up just fantastic. NOT fresh at all, not a single head shake, nailed all his leads perfectly, and jumped every jump without a single stutter. I was so proud.

Several hours later, it was time to begin. I got back on Tiki again and hacked before things got started. All of a sudden, he was spooking in the back corner. The judge was sitting there now, and people were wandering that hadn't been there, and he was just ... skittering would be the word. Jumped him back and forth over the 'trot' jump about 6 times, then turned in .

His girl got on to warm up, and he stopped at the first warmup jump. 3 times. Grrr. He jumped it the 4th time, then trotted the trot jump fine. The show manager pulled him from over fences, but left him in the flat stuff. I could have taken 5 minutes and schooled him around the course again and he would have been fine, but we were already an hour behind.:( So ... in his first flat his kid got a 5th. Not too bad considering she over-compensated and missed the LEFT lead. Put him up for a bit, then his next kid was one of mine. She's a quiet, timid rider that's pretty novice, but he was just a rockstar for her. Nailed the leads, did great with her rhythm and pace, and she got a 3rd. Last kid was a crossrailer, and she did GREAT. He was just quiet and chill and she got a 1st!!! Who cares that it wasn't MY kid, MY HORSE was so good. We ended up Champions (for the third time this season, woo hoo!)

So proud. He totally retained what he "learned" Tuesday. Trotted to the base of each jump, cantered in quietly, and was slow off the ground. LOVE my boy! He'll have tomorrow off, then work, work, work on Monday:)

Always a breakthrough.:)

My boss is a great trainer. I took my 2nd lesson on Tiki from her, and it was great. She's totally a hunter trainer, and I want to do jumpers, but she's just so darn good at what she does. I have this vision of Tiki and I SLOWLY cantering a lovely course of jumps with lead changes and good distances, and Janet gave me the tools to do that yesterday. Our homework is to help the boy develop good jumping technique. No, form doesn't matter so much in the jumpers, but it certainly does if it causes rails. She MADE me TROT to the base of the jump. Yeah. I chase him to the base WAY too much. I need to chill, wait, and go SLOWER. I get so caught up in FORWARD, that I just get fast and flat.

We also need to work on getting him supple. His neck is SO stiff.:( I need to work him every single time I get on with unlocking and suppling his neck. Then I need to TROT jumps until I can do it without getting left behind. He jumped everything HUGE, which is not all that normal for him. Got me loose quite a few times. But we finished with a marked improvement in him waiting and rocking back to the jump, and Janet was happy. She says he's very cute:)

Let him rest for a bit, then gave a lesson on him to one of my IEA girls. Whether he just liked her ride, or the footing in the covered, or he retained what he learned, he was GREAT. Trotted quietly to the base of EVERY jump, NEVER got quick before or after, and acutally loped through a gymnastic. He's ALWAYS gone fairly forward thru the gymnastics, so to see him just lope through was awesome!!! Good boy! The distance was very short, too, and he always jumped well. Let her do a 3' oxer at the end; that's the pic at the top of this post. Isn't the muffin man cute?

It is a HORRIBLE day today; so bad I cancelled my afternoon lessons at Patchwork. The wind is gusting to 20 mph, and it is COLD and RAINING. About to go to Joyce's and do stalls; waited until late because all the horses will be in. I think I will go in Tiki's stall and do some neck stretches, though. At least work that neck today.:)

:)

Wow. Yesterday went AWESOME. Better than I could have hoped. Rode my boy at the end, after Mick and Audrey, and by the time I had him tacked and ready to go, C and Joyce were at the barn. That was a good thing because I DO prefer to have people around when I'm attempting something new.

Began by warming him up on the buckle, wtc. He was positively lovely; showing C how he will actually stretch his nose to the ground while I warm him up. Pulled him together at the trot and canter, pulled out a right to left lead change, then trotted over a cavelletti to warm up. I had a square 3' oxer set on one long side, my scary jump complete with his blanket draped over the pole and a pitchfork underneath on the other long side, and a 2 stride combination across the diagonal that was a single cav to the cav stack jump.

Jumped the 2 stride, and even though I set it short, it ended up long for him because he was a little crooked. I popped up a little, but did slip him the reins so I didn't hit him in the face. Came through again with a better canter, a straighter line, and more leg, and he jumped through flawlessly.

Next I approached the scary jump, used my crop behind my leg on approach, he bucked out a little bit, but didn't back off the jump at ALL. Yay! I came back on it the other way, no crop, and again ... perfect.:)

Finally, it was the 3' oxer. Haven't done one of those in ... 12 years or so. Cantered in on the left lead, saw it a tiny bit long, but closed my leg and sat up. Nailed it! He flew over, landed beautifully, and I whooped with happiness. He felt GREAT! Came again on the left lead and got a much better distance, and it was positively exhilirating. Did it one time off the right lead, got just a *hair* deep but it was still great. C was very complimentary, and it made me happy because it has been a while since she's seen him.

So excited; that was way fun. C worked on his muscles a little bit after untacking, and he is just so funny. He's a good boy. My little twit. Stopped by today and spent about 5 minutes just feeding him carrots. He liked it:) I'll flat a little bit Monday before hopefully shipping him out Tuesday to take a lesson with Janet.

Happy Turkey Day everyone!

(pic is the one that I saw online that made me drive to Maryland to go get him)

About to go spend Black Friday with my pony! It's a chilly one today; it's 10:45 and the car has only just now thawed out.:) Rode my boy on the flat Monday, and tried the new Myler bit. It felt like too much for him at first. Mouth is still gaping open and the head goes sideways. In fact, in this bit, he did something he's never done; lifted his head *way* up and looked backwards at me out of his left eye. He sucked WAY back and nearly stopped. Twice. It was strange. When he did that, I really let go and gave him a loose rein. By the time I popped him over a few cavs, he seemed to have accepted the contact, and actually pulled his head down, trying to pull the reins through my fingers.

Rode him in the bit again Wednesday out in the pasture. No trotting or anything today, JUST walking hills. He was fine in it, but did the head up and stare at me with his left eye again. I'll be putting that 0ne away, I think. He's very good in the Waterford, but after the first 2 weeks or so, his mouth was back to being wide open. I ride him in the figure 8 again, and he feels GREAT ... to ME. It's at the point now that I know what he's going to do before he does it ... I can read his body language like the back of my hand. But for the IEA shows, he's a little more unpredictable. Of course, he's only done 2, so I'm probably not getting an accurate read. He was GREAT at the first one, with appropriate level riders. The 2nd one wasn't so good, but that was with BEGINNER riders. He's not chilled enough for beginners yet. I'm taking him next Saturday to his third one, and was just hoping to find somthing with a *little* more WHOA if needed. Oh well. Whatever happens happens.

Today we're working on a scary jump. It will be fairly small, but I plan to build it up with a blanket, some brush, and maybe a pitchfork or something underneath. Just STUFF to make him look at it so I can take the opportunity to school him with a crop at the base of the jump. This stop and leap stuff has got to stop. He's brave once he's seen stuff; now he needs to be brave before he's seen stuff. Also going to set the 3' oxer; maybe I'll do it, maybe I won't, but the option will be there.:)

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving; I have a LOT to be thankful for.:):)

Shocked and Amazed.

A year ago today, my horse had been ridden in various pastures, had done 'mini' trail rides at the park next to Crazy Lady's farm, and had taken his first trip to Patchwork where he "jumped" a single crossrail (actually knocked down the pole).

Friday, I rode him in the ring, and cantered back and forth over 2'9 and 3' verticals like they were cavelletti's. He was just wonderful; so relaxed and "whatever" about our ride. I was very happy and proud of him. Experimenting with bits right now so that when he participates in the next IEA show the girls can stop him easily. I borrowed a Myler bit with a low port that I'll try on him tomorrow if it's not raining. I'm still looking for something he likes enough to go in quietly without cranking his neck sideways or opening and gaping his mouth. I'm convinced he can get there, I just have to find the 'magic key' ... or in this case, the 'magic bit'.

Next on the agenda (hopefully this week) is to build me a super scary jump to school him over. Blankets, flowers, brush, etc. The other jump is to tackle a 3' oxer. I've done one at 2'9, and he was easily over it. Didn't look/back off/etc. So ... if we're ever going to do the level 2 jumpers, I've got to canter down to a 'big one'. He'll be fine, I know it.

Looking forward to continuing our journey together this year. My "big" goal is the George Morris clinic next October at Black Jack Farm in Birmingham. There. I've put it out there in more ways than just words. Now I need to continue to lose weight and tone up, find a bit my horse is truly happy in, and conquer the height obstacles that are in my head. We'll get there.:)

Phew.

My boy is sound. Phew. Gave him the weekend off, C came and massaged him Sunday, and I took him up to the ring Monday to longe him on the end of his lead rope and see how he looked. He looked about 99% on that teeny circle. Let him off the lead and ran him a little and he looked just fine. Gave him an extra day on Tuesday, then rode yesterday and today. I'm trying a different bit because I think he needs more brakes for the kids at the IEA shows. Tried a mullen happy mouth 2 ring elevator, and he went fine in it. I do think he had more brakes in it. Flat work felt good, the canter was good, cantered the cavs on the low setting, and cantered a small crossrail. The boy felt nice and relaxed.

Today was "butt Thursday", and I rode him in the pasture to walk hills. He was GREAT until I made him walk a particularily difficult hill. At that point, he got an attitude on him, but was doing fine. As a reward, I let him canter to the top of the pasture, and he threw a few pretty big bucks, the little turd. Yanked him up, and he rewarded me by shaking his head all around. Asked him to trot around in the flat area up top, and he was just fresh and bucky. Hacked until he settled in a bit, then cantered and cantered, and cantered. Then cantered again. Then trotted some more, and he was a little more willing to do that. Let him end there. Plan to try and jump around a little tomorrow; we'll see how the booger is feeling.

First lame steps:(

Well, the muffin man stepped up to the farrier stand sound, and walked away lame:( Farrier swears up and down the horse looks fine, but Joyce and I both noticed right away as he walked away that he was walking stiff legged. Doesn't appear to have a hot nail or anything, but maybe he was trimmed a little too short? Or maybe he jammed his shoulder on the hoof stand because he was acting up while the farrier did the front feet. I don't know. Got on and walked some hills Thursday, and he felt pretty ok, but didn't ride today since Joyce had commented he still didn't look 100%. Oh well, show this weekend, so I'll re-evaluate him Monday. Keep yur hooves crossed for him!