What Happened to September?

Well, its been 2 plus weeks since my last confession.... I mean blog post.  Since that time, we had a Party Lesson at Patty's, the girls rode with Sherry G, the girls rode in and I walked at (34,9587 steps) at the Tulsa State Fair FFA/4-H/Open horse show, tried to recover from the TSF by wasting a Sunday, traveled to both Wyoming and Kansas for work 2 weeks in a row, and... oh, yes, went to work in my cube some days.  Whew.  I need a vacation.  And signs of fall (or perhaps no rain) are showing in the color of leaves and light.  It is still warm to hot depending on your heat tolerance.  And, we have a new crop of baby chicks - 15 Rhode Island Reds pullets and 1 "straight-run exotic chick" who could be roster or hen.  They are pretty cute and are currently living in the big aquarium in the greenhouse with "chick cam" on 24/7 to provide entertainment and serenity (NOW).

Our party lessons have been small with Kathy B in the middle of campaigning with Ron for county commissioner and Mallory working day and night on their mobile so they can start remodeling the house and Mary off a Grand Lake and school back in session with volley ball games and x-country meets.  Small but fun and I sure do enjoy the equine therapy we share.

The girls each had a lesson with Sherry G down in Porter - her covered arena has footing made of ground tires and Nike shoes - the ground up tennis shoes hold more moisture and have no dust.  Really nice to ride and walk on - not deep or to squishy but really nice.  Alaina will be riding Sammy at dressage camp so we stopped at Gena's to pick him up for the lesson.  Sherry thinks that Sammy might already know some dressage.  The pair worked on Bow-ties using inside leg and rein to turn, rail leg yields, and walking turns on the 4-H using big toes on Sammy's sides with gentle inside reins and half-halts on the outside rein.  Alaina needs to remember that there are NO BARCA loungers, to keep her heels back/away, to carry hands like she is balancing a tray, and to ride with bloody stumps (walking on knees).  When Alaina was riding with all those things at once, Sammy looks like a million bucks. 
Ivy and Kismet made good progress too.  Sherry had Ivy balance a whip on her wrists to help steady her hands and she worked to cue with her toes, seat, and core to push Kizzy into the bridle.  Kismet will be a dressage horse yet.  Sherry has a lovely way with junior riders and gave both girls a note sheet with homework to do before junior dressage camp.  They can't wait.

Bandit AKA the Tiny Turd AKA the Land Shark gets an hour of grazing per day.  Gena has designed this red-neck tie out using a lead rope and dumb-bell weight.  TT did not waste time pulling his nose out of the grass for his close-up.  He is so darn cute!

The girls have been busy with school, volleyball (Alaina), and cross country (Ivy) so riding practices have been slim.  The Tulsa State Fair FFA/4-H/Open horse show was the last 4-H show of the year.  The format was different, a 2-day show on the first weekend of the fair.  Halter/showmanship/English/trail on Sat; Western/speed on Sunday.  Trail for the first time at the TSF but still no jumping.  The girls decided to show only Saturday (yay!); Ivy took Splash and Alaina showed Sunny.  With the inclusion of "open" classes, the girls had the option of twice as many classes.  Confusing because the age groups were different; 4-H is 15 to 18 for seniors while the open classes were 14 to 19.  Alaina and Sunny were 7th place in 4-H HSE and 4-H Trail.  Ivy and Splash received 8th in Halter Geldings, 10 in HSE as well as 8th/6th in Open/4-H Trail.  The girls lived on snacks with a little fair food.  Not enough to help my poor feet.  We were stalled on the very east side of the fair ground and showing in the main arena.  We were on-site for 14 hours.  I didn't have a horse to ride back and forth.  I vote to go watch not show next year.

Meanwhile, I am ready for a party lesson this weekend and was hoping to celebrate Kathy B's birthday (today) at the lunch after lesson.  Alas, Kathy and Ron will be campaigning so birthday cake will have to wait.  If the weekend is nice we can always go back and see a little more TSF.

State Summary

Later, that same week…. After the exciting weekend of the State 4-H Horse Show in Shawnee and making the last day of the ODS/GCC Green Country Classic Dressage Show, I went to Kansas for a couple of days of work. Home to late Thursday night to join my YaYa Sista’s for a social but back early enough to sample some garden goodies including almost to early corn and a tomato/cuc salad. Note to self – balsamic vinegar makes cucumber slices look muddy but tastes great.. hehe

The girls had a great time at the horse show and brought home some ribbons. Alaina and Sunny - 7th Showmanship, 10th in Hunt Seat Equitation, 9th Western Horsemanship and 3rd in Trail (ribbons in 4 of her 6 classes); Ivy and Pico - 4th Hunt Seat Equitation and 7th in Hunter Hack (ribbons in 2 of her 4 classes). Both girls have really improved their riding skills the last few months but competition in the 9-11 age group is fierce. 

Alaina and Sunny really had a wonderful trail pattern and did fairly well in Showmanship and her English classes; western wasn't so smooth but she placed in the horsemanship even though Sunny was excited and broke gait to canter a couple of times. 

Ivy was looking wonderful in her canter departs and pattern practice in warm-up but had a little lead trouble in her classes - I think she is nervous and counter bends which leads to wrong lead.  She did compete in jumping although she was nervous about it so I am proud of her for riding through.

We really enjoyed our volunteer shifts at the dressage show on Sunday and Ivy wants a Hanavarian for her 2-year old project....haha.  After all his time off in re-hab, Splash will have to wait a little longer since a baby shower is prempting my weekly lesson.  So, cross fingers for some riding soon and for Splash to be fully recovered.  YaYa!

How to Ride During the Late Winter Storm

Well, Oklahoma Weather is at it again.  The girls were off for spring break this past week and we had several horsey activities before winter returned. 

On Monday, I got off a bit early and we loaded Sister, Pico and Splash and went to Patty's.  I lounged Sister and she was so responsive that I ALMOST got the nerve to ride.  But Patty wasn't there to help if I needed it so, since... Retreat is the better part of valor, I saddled Splash and worked him instead.  Ivy rode Pico bareback (she had an ankle injury and didn't want to put on boots) and Alaina took a spin on Jetter.  Alaina loves Jetter since he reminds her of Dezzie-Doo.  We left Sister in Patty's capable hands.

Tuesday, Alaina and I visited Dream Maker to pick up Sunny and get another ride in.  It was a beautiful aftenoon and several other riders were enjoying the day and the DRY outdoor arena.  Splash and I worked a bit and Alaina got a brief lesson from Dawn D before we headed home.  Shannean F was working her baby Dakota and Sandy T was looking fabulous on Sissy.

Ruthie wanted a chance to ride Pico before the Lily Pond show so she and Jean came out Friday morning.  I worked Splash and walked around on Pico, Alaina rode Sunny and Diez, Ivy worked Pico and had a quick ride on Splash, and Ruthie rode Pico and played around on Diez.  Very fun. 

Then the Lily Pond dressage and FFA shows were cancelled.

THEN, while we were working the Ranch Rodeo Consessions Friday evening, the weather turned.  Rain pounded all night and turned to snow on Saterday morning.  We tried to change the plans from Sat. party lesson into a lunch date, but the snow came down so hard, the roads deteriorated mid-day.  I had an adventure after a run to Walmart, when on my way home, I watched a little SUV go into the ditch near the RR tracks on King Rd.  Cars aread of me couldn't make the hill and backed out, more cars turned around in the church parking lot but I wasn't sure going the long way would help me out (the walk home would be a lot longer if needed).  Then, just when I thought I would give the hill a try, a big truck with mega tires, came over the hill and immediately hit the ditch.  I guess he was trying to get out of the ditch, but he plowed along flinging mud and snow util he almost hit the SUV.  Once he stopped, I tried the hill.  Didn't make it the first time but stayed out of the ditch.  It took me 3 more tries to get up the hill and then I crept home.  Very dumb to go out, but who knew.  The roads were so warm that the slush that caused me so much trouble was gone in a couple of hours.  Kale was visiting and got snowed in with his boring family (last time he visited at Xmas, he got snowed in too). 

But it is STILL snowing and blowing hard.  Maybe a Honda is not a 4-wheel drive vehicle?

So, here is what we all need to maintain our own riding fitness.  The Riding Simulator  This won't help our horses learn anything new but would look good in our living room.  YaYa