Finally Fall

The first cool front of Fall 2010 came through early Sunday morning and the day was windy and, compared with the 95 degrees on Sat., felt pretty chilly.  My niece Amanda woke up and decided that she wanted to RIDE a HORSE for her birthday - so, she came to the Wild Orban Ranch and we had a horsey play birthday play day.  We saddled Splash, Pico, Diez, and Sunny in western saddles and loaded up.  In between, there was plenty of chicken chase'n.  I think there is a better than good chance that a future yaya was born. 

The Tulsa State Fair starts later this week, but the TSF 4-H/FFA show was held yesterday at the Tulsa Expo in the Mustang Arena.  Ivy and Alaina were excited and we did the standard show prep.  

Alaina came down with a cold and was not her usual perky self for the show - Sunny was pretty good and they placed in the ribbons in Showmanship (8th), Hunt Seat Eq(4th), Wst. Pleasure(7th), and Western Horsemanship(6th) - Sunny slid a wrong lead in for Hunter Under Saddle. 

Ivy and Pico had a pretty good day too.  They skipped Showmanship but placed in all their classes - 6th in Hunter Under Saddle and Hunt Seat Eq, 9th in Western Pleasure, and 5th in Western Horsemanship.  Trail and Jumping are not held at the TSF show.  Nancy E stopped by the show grounds to watch a little and treated the girls to sugar and caffeine - that helped Alaina and made Ivy a bit wild. 

We have a ride night this Thursday and food bank work night on Tuesday.  Then Friday night the girls get to go to the ODS/GCC kids camp.  Should be really fun and I get to help. 

Now that fall is here, I can dream of yaya rides together with my friends.  Ahhhh.

Rogers County Fair 2010

It was a fun if frenzied weekend.  I was hoping to ride Sister in the fair this year but after a month with Dawn D, but she is still not ready for me.  So, I picked her up on Tuesday and then took Splash to the adult ride night to check his soundness - he seemed fine if a bit rotten.  But I love my German Neck Stretcher!  I felt like I was tiptoeing in the old white truck since my main truck had some sort of problem going the Rocking C last week.  Steve had treated the fuel with Lucus and then Kissee Ford checked it out on their road test machine and found nothing.  So, the red truck is hooked up and I guess we are back in business.

The girls entered muffins and cookies for the fair on Wed, then we helped with the Speed horse show on Thursday when my wonderful YaYa's had an evening ride without me.  I heard it was a lovely ride. Darn... sure do miss my horsey friends!  Then on Friday evening I took Splash out for another fair ride check and he seemed sound again.  We washed etc., worked the Steak Dinner, and then headed to Expo for the long show day Sat. 

The girls showed halter in the am - Alaina and Sunny took Reserve Palomino.  Ivy and Splash were 2nd Appy Geldings "3 and over" but placed 3rd in the Grand/Reserve.  Ivy showed Pico in Stock Type (hehe) and both girls showed 4H Halter.

Kathy B with Call, Amanda on Casper, and Julie with Stormy joined me in the English classes.  Splash was better than could have been expected after all this time off and seemed sound for the show.  He was really bad in Showmanship but didn't run over the Judge - so its all good.  The Hunter Under Saddle wasn't to bad, just a bit inconsistent with occasional head tossing.  Amanda won the class fair and square.  Call gave Kathy a hard time so she went and worked her in the warm-up until Call straightened-up. Equitation wasn't great, but I didn't fall off.  The pattern was: start with a 360 left on haunches, sitting trot/left posting trot/right posting trot stop; then 90 turn on forhand right, counter canter 1/2 circle, canter 1/2 circle (backwards S), sitting trot, stop and back.  Not precise but ... then no counter canter and a trot early... but... could have been worse.  He still felt sound so we quit for the day.  Even so - it was great to be riding my horse in a show again.  Splash spent the rest of the day eating hay while Sunny and Pico had to do western.

Ivy and Pico won Hunter Under Saddle with a lovely ride and then won jumping as well (2 riders) - Pico was a really good boy all day.  Alaina and Sunny had some good rides although he was a bit high headed and gave her a little trouble in the warmup before Trail.  Marsha C stopped by to watch and spoil the girls with limeaid.  Then, home late to eat/shower/bed... ahhh.

After sleeping in until 9am, the girls washed Diez and we hauled back to Expo for the Fun Show and Cloverbud show.  Pico got to go 2 days in a row but Splash and Sunny got the day off.  21 kids did Keyhole race, egg and spoon, tennis ball balance, cracker/snack/singing, goat decorating, and ride-a-buck.  Both Ivy and Alaina won their heats in the tennis ball balance and Ivy was a finalist in ride a buck (with Pico's high withers - I don't want to imagine).  Christiana had 6 Cloverbuds and Kathy brought Missy and Cisco for a couple of kids.  They had a great time and Ivy, Alaina, Emily, and Abby helped out.  Ruthie came out to watch and gave Pico one more ride before we headed home.

I guess I will go to sleep right now - no wonder I am tired...  Ahh, horse shows......  Next week, Tulsa State Fair 4-H and FFA at the Tulsa Fairgrounds.

Dressage at the Rocking C

The Remember September 11th Show at the Rocking C included 2 tribute rides - one for the heros of 9-11 and the other for our military.  Patty rode Dante and Marilyn rode Willy and a moment of silence was observed.  See some great photos at the OSD/GCC website (Jeanie's Photos). 

I had our earliest ride time at 8:45 for my First-1 test on Pico and we scored a 63 along with high-point.  Ivy and Ruthie both rode Pico in training level tests in the morning - Pico was a good boy - we were finished riding him before the dreaded Pirates started warming up for the drill exhibition.  Ivy recieved 2 red ribbons and Ruthie had 7's for impulsion and gaits!  After lunch, Alaina rode Sunny in both Intro tests - she really did well and they recieved their best scores to date and 2-3rd place ribbons.  It is hard to ride that western pony since Sunny has taken all the recent training in SLOW to heart.  I didn't ride Splash because after a couple of weeks of sound work (very light work), he was off again on Labor Day. 

Christiana and Zoe escaped the dance frenzy and got to ride at the show - both were awsome with at least 2 blue ribbons to show.  Christiana rode both Oreo and Arde - Arde is coming along looking more steady and Oreo had a wonderful first show.  Kathy and Call had good rides too - taking Ameture Training Level High-Point.  Marsha got judges comments for Lakota that included gushing praise for trot-work.  Shannean and Jurgen recieved a blue ribbon for the walk/trot equitation class and Jessie looked great on Denali in their coordinating pad, shirt and horse-hat.

The Rogers County Fair is next weekend - we will work the speed events on Thursday evening, then show Sat. morning (10am) halter/showmanship; Sat. afternoon (2:00pm) horse show; Sun. morning (noon) fun show; and will help with Cloverbuds Sun. afternoon (2:00pm).  So, come and join us.  There will be an adult ride night on Tuesday evening.  With 4-H on Monday night and fair entries due on Wed., every night is booked up.  The fair will be fun but I sure hope YaYa's can get together next week and that the weather will continue to be cool.

2010 - Summer End

The girls started school last week on Thursday and it must have been tough after the long, hot summer.  Alaina wore out during her lesson with Dawn D on Friday evening but practiced some trail before that happened.  Patty was off in NC visiting Clayton before deployement, so there was no Sat. Party Lesson.  But the girls and I got up early and rode at the Wild O Ranch.  Ivy jumped Pico bareback and Alaina played on Diez.  Splash and I worked a little trot/walk/trot transitions and did some long trotting.  Our arena was pretty solid and so was Splash.  No canter yet since I don't want to rush things.

I worked Splash again on Monday evening in the last (hopefully) blast of summer heat.  He was showing some attitude but I was using the GNS to make sure he didn't give me that head shake thing since lounging is still out.  I am trying to minimize sharp turns and taking it easy bringing Splash back into training.

No lesson for me on Sat. since I signed up for the OSU Horse Owners Symposium in Stillwater.  Cross fingers for a lesson on Labor Day weekend.  My yaya's are planning a ride this Thursday since high temps are predicted in the 80's but I will be at a back to school night.  I will try to drop by for social hour.....  Cross fingers for lots of fall riding opportunities coming soon.

Last Week of Summer

I didn't ride my horse last week.  But I did get to sweat at a horse show.  The temperatures were in triple digits all week and I just didn't have the intestinal fortitude.  But, I did get to eat and socialize with my friends at El Azteca Wed night even if it was to hot to ride.  Friday morning I took Sunny to Dr. S to remove those pesky nose stitches.  With a little sedation, we removed a few stitches but will wait until next Wed. to get the rest.

The girls had a 4-H show on Sat. and a birthday party on Friday night, so I washed horses for them while they partied.  We headed to Expo at 6:30 so that the show could start at 8am.  With heat advisories issued, we ran the show as fast as possible in the same mold as the July show.  We had a little trouble with the timer for speed events but were done by 2 even so.  Ivy and Pico won high point 9-11 English with firsts in Eq and jumping.  Alaina had some nice rides but Sunny had a few issues including having the curb chain repair break in Hunt Set Eq and a little break in gait in trail.

Sunday morning, I headed to Owasso to deliver Sister into Dawn D's capable hands - cross all fingers and toes that Sister and I will be a team to start work by Sept. 1.  Then, the girls and I visited Shannean and Nancy F for dinner and to see Shannean's horses Dee and Dakota.  Dee will be an elegant dressage horse some day and Dakota is growing nicely into those Appy spots.  Dinner was my first taste of Indian Tacos and Corn Soup - both DElicious!  Thanks Nancy!

The girls go back to school this coming Thursday and I hope that means that temperatures will be cooling and we will be riding at Rita's soon.  YaYa!

YaYa's in Summer

It was to hot to ride - what's a yaya to do? Get together!  My sweet YaYa Sisters gathered at Rita's last Wed evening and we had wonderful food and fun for my birthday season.  I am sure I don't look any older - don't look any younger either.  Rita made homemade Peach ice cream and Sherry baked bread pudding and we had fruit salad, fruit crisp, Waldorf salad, taco rolls and taco salad, wine and peach ice tea, and more....  And we considered how long it will be until we ride again in the cool of fall.  That's to long!

Balloons landed in fields north and west of the Wild O Ranch on Friday morning and caused the resident horses to careen around the pasture in wild formation.  No horses were harmed during the photoshoot....

Tuesday evening Shannean come over to try to get a little more jumping video and Pico was his freako self.  Then Fri morning Ruthie came to warm up for the show on Sat. and Pico was more freako - could have been the balloons....  I rode him a bit too and had to manhandle him past C and the very scary cavallettie and tall grass.  And he was sooooo good at Rita's jumping last weekend. 

Then, off to Prairie Lane late afternoon to have Splash for his 2nd adjustment.  After his good, short lesson last weekend, Splash was very uneven on Tuesday evening - then on Friday morning he was fine (if you don't count bad attitude).  Dr. Ennis found his right shoulder better but a new spot on the left side of his neck (likely from using different muscles after the last adjustment) and he agreed that the spot Shannean had identified on his back was sore.  Dr. E also checked my saddle fit and gave me the all clear to start regular work in the next week or so just minimizing circle work.

I was on animal care duty for the weekend since Steve and the kids were camping at Oolagah Lake.  But after handling the morning chores including chicken management, I headed to Inola with Pico and Splash for the Rocking C Dressage show.  Ruthie had Pico at 8:26 in T1 and Pico was spooky on both sides of M and just north of C.  Soooo, during her T4 ride at 9:54, Splash and I stood in the doorway between C and M - magic!  Pico was good and Ruthie had a lovely ride.  10:24 and Pico and I were mounting for our first ride - T4.  Ominous drum roll.....  the pirates were gathering for the exhibition drill team ride and Pico had the first of about 100 heart attacks.  Those tricorn hats along with the puffy shirts and flowing coat tails (gorgeous costumes) were MONSTERS after PICO.  So, although Pico found a way to deal with C and M (Splash in the doorway), the entire east side of the arena was now the scariest place on earth. 

The good news is:  I didn't fall OFF.  But T4 and First1 were not the harmonious dance dressage should be. Oh well, there is always next time.

Meanwhile, I will dream of improvements with Splash and of trail rides with my yaya sisters.

Good Day / Bad Day / Good Day

Good Day - Saturday morning we scored the 9 and 10 am lesson times so headed to Inola early.  The girls rode the 9 am slot and both Alaina and Ivy had good lessons on their mounts.  Sunny had some nice slow canters and Alaina worked on bringing him onto the bit without the head toss (using timing at the point in the canter when his front end was lowest) to give a half halt.  Ivy worked to use more leg and less hand to bring Pico onto the bit.  Pico didn't spook in the indoor arena for a change.... 

Kathy B on Call, Marsha on Dakota, and me on Splash started the 10 o'clock lesson.  We all did stretching exercises to warm up and then worked on trot and walk transitions.  Splash was sound both ways with only a little unevenness in the corner when going clockwise for a couple of seconds.  Yippeee!  Splash was feeling so good, he was obnoxious.  Lounging would help but Dr. Ennis says NO Lounging.  We didn't push and quit after just 20 minutes.  So, I switched my saddle and bridle to Pico and finished the lesson on him.  With only one little spook, we had a great 1/2 lesson doing circles and leg yields.  Canter work was nice too.  Kathy and Call were looking really good now that Call is sound again and Marsha and Dakota had some nice work with Dakota learning to give to the bit.  Are we ready to show at Rocking C next weekend? Kathy and Marsha, for sure - Splash and me, we will have to see.  After cooling the horses, we headed to Siloam Springs for lunch.. hehe .. we went to Graham's but dilly dallied so long that Larry thought we had been to Arkansas and back.

Later, that same day, I gave Diez a bath with some special horse soap made by my long lost friend Cathy VW - found by Trisha on FB.  She lives in Tallahassee, Florida and raises goats and horses.  It was wonderful stuff and I need to find a way to get more.  Diez looked lovely and her hair coat felt so soft.

Bad Day - Sunday morning I planned to take Pico and Sunny to Rita's place to video Shannean's OSU team audition.  Gave Pico a rinse and went to the stall to grab Sunny.  Crisis!  Sunny had ripped his nostril more than an inch deep.  I called Dr. S and made arrangements to get him stitched up by Dr. Round.  Meanwhile, I dropped Pico and Diez at Rita's so that the show could go on.  Cindy H, in town for a quick visit, came out to Rita's to visit Prince and got a royal Nip on the arm.  It was a love nip Cindy and he didn't mean it.... really!

Good Day - Shannean rode Jurgen (Friesian) in a dressage test, Pico (Arab cross since he was good) for transitions and jumping small jumps and Winston (Tenn Walker) for some more jumping.  I got back from the vet clinic just in time to watch Alaina ride Winston.  Now, she wants more Arabians, a Friesian, and a TW in her herd.  After I got Sunny back home in a stall with a fan going, Pico back in the pasture, and Diez back in her turnout, I headed back to Rita's to work on the DVD for OSU.  On the disk we put 6 minutes of Jurgen, 4 minutes of Pico and a couple minutes of Winston and about 15 still photos including a couple with Shannean riding Silka with Prince running along side.   Soooo cute.

Even though it has been way to hot to ride in the evening the last few weeks, the yaya's have a pot luck planned for Wed. night.  That will be way fun!