Saturday, February 28, 2009

Still Winter


The last day of Feb. and winter is still hanging on. 30 degrees when we got up this morning and dropped to 27 by the time we left for Patty's and it stayed around 30 all day long. Poor Patty had to layer up and give lessons to Ivy and Alaina first and then to Kathy, Marsha, Sheila, Allison, Shannean, and me. We had to lounge Sunny and Pico before the girls rode and Sunny was pretty snotty. Alaina got started slowly but ended up cantering for the first time on Sunny in an English saddle. Both Ivy and Shannean rode Pico and both girls made progress.

Sheila rode Gravy in the lesson and he is a cutie; I guess the gravy train is over for Gravy, but he sure is a nice pretty horse. Kathy had her second lesson with Call and they had a great ride. Allison did a good job with the little yellow horse and Marsha and Lil had a good ride too. We worked on leg yeilds at the walk first then at the trot.

Splash was pretty resistant in the walk but did better in the trot leg yields. We had some pretty nice trot work and adequate canter to the left. Unfortunately, we had a rough time getting canter to the right. We had flurries the whole time we were riding and it was truely cold. I guess we know who the crazies are to be riding in such cold temps. But freezing or not, my new winter boots do the trick and my feet stayed warm. I am very proud of Marsha and Kathy especially since both of them claim they won't ride in the cold. But Patty's arena blocking the wind really helps and I fear a ride tomorrow might be to cold in the wild Orban ranch arena where the wind can howl unimpeded. Next weekend is the Will Rogers Classic show so the show season is upon us. Sheila and Kathy and I are plotting a ride March 22 so stay tuned for details. Yaya.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

PICO!!!


I am SOOO excited for the show season this year because I get to ride the beautiful and talented Mr.Pico!! Cathy asked me to post a picture of Pico and I.


Enjoy looking! Isn't he beautiful??


-Ruthie

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Kathy's new girl is in Claremore!


After several weeks of anticipation, Call arrived in Claremore late this afternoon after about 48 hours in the trailer from California. Kathy walked her around Painted Acres and Call took it all in stride. Call got a new pink and burgandy blanket in a size 78 which was just right and she looked right at home in her new stall bedded down for the night. Kathy and Call will have their first lesson at Patty's Wed. evening. Very Exciting.
The weekend weather was better than expected - 45 for a high with high winds was expected for Sat. but seven hardy riders braved the morning chill for the party lesson at 11. Caspar was looking really good and Carol brought Snip for a relaxing ride. Snorty was a bit amped for spring but Krystal worked him through. The first exercise after warm-up was work on leg yeild along the rail. Marsha and I found it very hard on the hip joints and Splash was very resistant. But, Splash worked better in the trot and his transitiions in walk/trot are improving. Canter transition to the left is not bad although we are still struggling with canter transitions to the right. Patty says the days of the German Neck Stretcher are numbered becuause Splash is starting to become round more consistantly. I think this week's improvement was because we got a little work both Wed and Fri eveing. As the days get longer, we may get more riding in.
The first 4-H show is coming March 7/8 and the first dressage show will be March 15. Ruthie and Shannean will be share/showing Pico at the dressage shows. Ruthie came out Wed. evening and worked Pico and Shannean came this morning to work Pico and Splash a bit. R and S plan to show Pico in Intro and Training level and Shannean will ride Splash at 4-H shows. I am looking farward to both girls haveing lots of fun with Pico and maybe even riding a first level test by the end of the show year. YaYa!

Sunday, February 15, 2009

YaYa Showtime


Well, YaYa Sista's and friends spent a Sunday afternoon laughing at MTM and then went to Eggburt's for the Dec.-March birthday bash. Donna, Joan, Nancy, and Marion (in absentia) as well as Shirley were serenaded with the famous song. We don't sound like Elvis. Rita organised, got tickets and set up Eggburt's and Leila brought the deliceous birthday cake. THANKS! Here is a Youtube link that you guys might like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jzt09dRGFrY&NR=1

The weekend went really fast after a hard work week that included a trip to Kansas Tues/Wed. After 70 degrees and windy on Tuesday, there was 2 inches of really wet snow on my car Wed. morning. Sat. Splash and I had a lesson in the chilly morning and then Dr. Kristina Frantz and fab helpers Julie and Linda put on a 4-H fundraiser vaccine clinic. We started drawing blood, stabbing victims and FILLING OUT COGGINS PAPERWORK at 1:30 and finished up about 7:30pm after attending to a total of 45 horses and sending additional vaccines home with owners who couldn't get all their horses to the event. Thanks to Kristina and her entire crew including Darren, Jessie and Jacob, Braden and Brock, and Ian and Ali. All the kids and Orban girls too helped on the farm calls filling blood viles, handling sharps and assisting with the process. I beleive the Frantz gang went back to the clinic to attend to an injured cat, but I was draggin (as Puff would say).

Training with Splash the Slug Horse went mostly well. We worked on response time to cues from walk to trot and from stand to walk. I had to really get after him but he did seem to get it - mostly. Splash is now swinging his rump to the right in the downward transition, so we worked on straightening. That horse could work half as hard doing what I ask rather than resisting - but I keep telling him that resistance is futile. We had the wonderful neck stretcher on for most of the lesson but then did a little trot and stand work without it. That really went better than I expected so maybe there is hope. I sure do need a little more daylight in the day so that we can work a little more often. But the crocuses were up this week and daffodiles are starting to sprout their green parts. I can hardly wait untill spring YaYa rides! Have a great week.

Monday, February 9, 2009

Pico's Big Weekend


Splash got lucky since the Horse Club Quiz Bowl teams went to Stillwater for the State Horse Communication Contest on Sat. and he got to sleep in. Ivy and Alaina participated in Quiz Bowl and Team Problem Solving, Ivy did a speech on horse diseases and vaccinations and Alaina an illustrated presentation on her 7 favorite horse breeds. They were on different teams and Ivy's team is State Reserve Champion Quizbowl team, but both teams did very well. The contest is only one age group and both Rogers County teams are young. They will be a force to be reconded with in future.

Then, Pico had his day on Sunday. Shannean came over in the morning and worked Pico and Splash in the Wild Orban Arena. Shannean and Ruthie are share/leasing Pico for the 2009 GCC/ODS show season. And Shannean will lease Splash for 4-H shows. Hopefully, Splash will learn to like the 4-H horse show regime. Then Pico and Ruthie went to visit Sherry Guess for Ruthie's first lesson on Pico. They made good progress and both made me proud. As you can see, I have been busy recruiting future yaya's.

Sunday, February 1, 2009

February!

Tomorrow is Ground Hog Day and I sure hope that pesky prairie dog AKA ground hog does not see his shadow and does not hide for another 6 weeks of winter. But the forecast is for sunshine. I can't believe how fast the first month of 2009 has flown by. Splash has not made any discernible progress this year so I best work a little harder on him. The girls and I went to Patty's Sat. morning early to try to get the 10 Oclock lesson if available. It wasn't. Shannean met us and rode Splash first and then Pico. You really appreciate Pico after working so hard to every step on Splash. Shannean was able to get some canter work out of the boy but she sure does prefer Pico. The plan is for her to ride Splash in the 4-H shows and for Ivy to ride Pico. Hopefully, Alaina will be able to handle Sunny. Both Ivy and Alaina did not canter yesterday because the horses were a bit fresh. Next weekend, the girls will compete in the State Horse Communication Constest on Sat, so I won't get to ride. But, weather permitting, Shannean will visit Sun. morning and we will get a little ride in then. YaYa's rode a little today at Rita's but I didn't check my email in time to join in. Next time!