April Showers.....

 RAIN!  Thunder, lightning, and lots of rain.  We were dry - dry - dry until Saturday night since the big storm on Friday night was just south of us.  Then, in 2 days we got the years worth of rain.  The Easter Bunny had to stay indoors on Sunday.

We managed to ride on Saturday morning at the PARTY LESSON!  Sunny and Pico got to go for the girls lesson and I took Splash.  Kathy/Call and Mallory/Raffles joined Splash and me - they were looking mighty fine.

The new plan is for Alaina to RIDE Sister for the dressage schooling shows and I will get back to work on Splash.  That way, Diez can bask in her retirement.

The next dressage show is next weekend and I sure would like to ride between now and then.... so cross fingers for a little drying before the weekend.

Splash was a little miffed at being dusted off to go back into training.  So, I lounged him a bit before the lesson.  And, I used the german neck stretcher too.

We did the usual warm up and Splash was fusy in the bridle but we perservered.  For

 trot work we tried collection along the short end and the suggestion of extention on the long sides. 

Collection without STOP was a challenge but we "drafted" off Kathy and Call to get some fairly nice trot along the long side.  Then for canter, we tried to get counter bend to get better stepping up behind.  Left lead was fairly good but we had a little trouble with right lead - not to bad after such a long break.  Let's hope for improvement in the next few months.  The good news is that Splash felt sound.  Yeah!

With the serious mud, it may be weeks before YaYa's can ride again.  But I am game to lunch instead...

Show Girls

After Sunny's injury in January and Pico's sudden illness in February, the girls didn't get a chance to ride their regular mounts in the Will Rogers Classic.  But, at last, Pico and Sunny were good for the show today.

Pico was a little Freako - I know, its a big surprise - the wind was causing strange noises from the metal roof at the Expo.  But Sunny was pretty good for a horse that has been out of training.  Ivy showed Sister in Halter and Showmanship too.

The girls had a great time with their friends and I enjoyed seeing some of my favorite show mom's.

But I didn't get much of a chance to ride so Splash and Sister have been missing my riding.  And, since I am off to Kansas on Tuesday morning, I guess it will be next weekend before I'm back in the saddle.

Sure hope the YaYa's ride this week even if I am in Kansas.

Sister's New BFF

Alaina - Sister says that she would much prefer a lighter rider. We will have to see.
We had several fun horse evenings lasts week -

Monday - the girls hit me up to ride before my car was parked so I rode Splash, Ivy rode Pico (jumps of course), Alaina rode Sunny a little and worked Sister in the round pen and then did a little riding too.

Tuesday - The neighbor twins came over to ride and Rhett tried Sunny and then Diez while Riley made Splash walk and trot a bit. Both Ivy and Alaina jumped poor Pico who is wondering if jumping is the only thing 12-year old twins want to do. Then the 4 of them did a little trail ride around the ranch.

Wednesday - I took Splash to Rita's for my first YaYa ride this year - Rita, Nancy, Sherry, Kathy, Judy, Julie, Christiana had a sunset ride with yummy eats after. Splash was very good and the girls made fun of my efforts to skip the steepest slopes to spare Splash's haunches from strain - don't want to re-injure him now that we are riding again. They are pretty sure I am just a scaredy-cat.

Thursday - 4-H ride night - we took Pico, Sunny and Sister as well as our jump blocks/poles. Ivy worked Pico (jump-jump-jump) and Alaina worked Sunny a little western before mounting Sister to see how she handles real work during a busy ride night. She was GREAT and Alaina worked the cross bars and caveletti - even got some good canter departs over the cross bars.

So, we finished the week with the Saturday party lessons (Ivy, Alaina, Roxy, and Maddie at 10; Margret, Mallory, and Cathy at 11) followed by lunch at Graham's. It was a real party day since Saturday was Patty's birthday but since Kathy B had planned a surprise party Sat. Night at Pepper's, we didn't let on to Patty any hint of our plans.

Kathy B took Call to the ATRC schooling show and had some great rides. Sister and I worked on bend into corners while we all worked leg yields and circles with bend. We tried right lead canter first (the good side) and Sister was fairly good on our canter depart then we did several 20-meter circles, continued down the long side and circled in the other end. Decent downward transition too. Right was Bounce's difficult side, but Margret looked good to me and Raffles gave Mallory some lovely canter work too. When it was our turn to canter left lead (Sister's BAD side), she took the depart in under 3 strides and we circled before going down the long side and cantering a couple more circles before we transitioned to trot and then walk. The best canter work for us to date. Sister finished her work with Alaina and some practice over cross bars (for Sister) and in jumping position (for Alaina).

Later that same day (evening), we gathered at Pepper's in Claremore to help Patty celebrate her birthday. We were all cleaned up and be barely recognized each other with our "cloths on" since usually we are covered with horse hair, green slime and dust. Very fun. YAYA.

Truck Trouble and Sister’s Big Weekend

 Oh, and we had a dressage show too.

The big red truck has been having issues and Kissee has checked it out a couple of times in the last few months – to no avail. Finally, its loss of power at dangerous moments meant another trip to the truck doc. We dropped it off early Tuesday morning and Wednesday, Darrel called to ask a few more questions and change the cue from “transmission” to “diesel guy” – several trucks before ours, and a fix by weekend unlikely. BUT we had a dressage show at Patty’s scheduled for Saturday. So, crossing fingers, I made arrangements to retrieve the unfixed truck on Friday morning and take our chances. Kathy and Mallory were on stand-by for either horse hauling or rescue operations.

Friday morning at the shop Darrel said the tech was just putting the truck on the lift – so we crossed fingers and toes in hopes of a fix before 5pm. Mid-day and the word was that diagnostics found nothing and the “educated guess” was that the accelerator sensor was having issues (pricey) and did we want to replace it in hopes of a fix. We did and got the truck back just before 5 in time to check it going to Patty’s for a “night before show” lesson for the girls.

We loaded Sister, Pico and Diez and I worked Sister while the girls had a quick lesson. Ivy and Pico practiced Prix Caprilli and Alaina worked on holding Diez together while working for impulsion, bend, and submission to the bit (all very difficult for a retired Mongolian War Horse). After Alaina finished with Diez, she convinced me to let her try Sister over the crossbar of the PC test. Sister did fine and in fact, took a couple of nice canter departs after going over the poles. So, Alaina and Sister did a few circles trotting over the crossbar and we quit for the night. Meanwhile, Ivy was washing (torturing) Pico. It was to cold to wash Diez and I was too tired to wash Sister – we went home.

The truck ran fine.

First thing Saturday morning and we headed to Patty’s at 7am. Ivy was scheduled to ride Prix Caprilli at 8:30 and we wanted to have a chance to school before the first ride. Larry and Patty had groomed the arena to a high finish. Lovely swirls converging on center line and swooping around the end of the arena at “C.” Yes, you guessed it. Freako-Pico did NOT want to STEP anywhere near such beautiful dirt. OMG.

 

Alaina and I took Sister and Diez into the arena with Pico to help him adapt to the perfect dirt. After Prix Caprilli (134 points/1st place), Ivy and Pico rode First Level test 1 (55.172) and then (after the arena was shortened) Training Level test 3 (63.6) and was high point baby juniors FL and TL. The biggest problem Pico and Ivy have is no stretch in the stretchy circle and getting lengthened stride in canter. Sister and I rode Intro A and B with some nice moments (hehe) – we scored 63.125 on both tests. We need steadier connection and more ground cover in the walk.

Really, I was pretty happy with Sister since she is making progress with left bend and fussiness in the bridle. Alaina and Diez scored 63 in Intro C and 60.416 in TL-1. The judge (Lyn Francik) says Diez needs more ground cover at the walk and better inside bend.

At lunch, Lyn suggested that I work on asking for canter with a whip – tap-tap-tap – when the bend is right and see if that helps get a better canter depart. I will have to try that soon.

The truck ran fine - so maybe it was the accelerator sensor.

All in all,a fun day with our dressage friends and beautiful weather before the BIG WIND came in Sunday.

Alaina has decided to aim for Prix Caprilli with Sister since Diez is not an option (5 degrees of rotation from her founder a couple of years ago excuse her from jumping). So, Alaina saddled and lounged Sister on Sunday to try a bit of “jumping” and trail work. Sister shows potential for both since she isn’t spooky and is athletic. Both girls worked Sister over a pole in the round pen both directions and Alaina worked the bridge, cavaletti, ground poles and the box out in the big arena. Ivy did some jumping with Pico and Alaina gave Sunny a light workout too. The wind was howling but the temperature was warm. A nice end to a horsey weekend. YaYa.

PS - Meet Ruthie's new horse Dreamer!

Big Sis

My yaya sista's did the first ride of the season at Glenbrook on Thursday night - but I was flying back from Denver after a work trip to Laramie, WY so I MISSED it. And although cool, the weather was lovely. Hope everyone had a great time for me and that I can join in for the next one.

So, I had to wait until the SPL to ride and the weather was cool and misty all day - but did get above 40 so I shouldn't complain. Sunny's foot was looking pretty good on Friday so I thought we would take him along for Alaina to get started with a short ride BUT Sat. morning and there was a little blood again, so we took Diez instead. Alaina rode first Diez English and then Casper western (thanks Kathy). Ivy, Roxy and Maddy joined Alaina for the kid lesson.

Doc had an injection last week so Nancy didn't ride in the lesson - Call was recovered from her farrier attack so it was Mallory, Kathy and me. We warmed up with trot then worked a little shoulder in along the long sides and collection along the short sides. Sister was making some progress with left bend about half the time and showed minimal attitude for most of the lesson. After a short rest, we had a bit of "discussion" about returning to trot work and I had to get after her with some strong kicks. Canter right lead was fairly good, prompt and obedient transition for several large circles at A. Left lead canter took more than a complete circle - very resistant but FINALLY, left lead canter without kickout. Sister has a little trouble holding canter when changing from circle to straight line so Patty suggested staying on the circle to make things a bit easier. We finished with a practice test (Intro B) and discovered BAD HALT. So, before we even started the test, we worked on standing Quietly at X. Forward 10 steps - Stand; repeat - repeat - repeat..... Finally, Sister stood still.  The plan for the show next weekend is to make our halt at X as brief as possible. Hopefully, I will get a chance to practice halts a little before then.

Kathy and Call were looking really good so expect High Points for them next weekend. Mallory and Raffles had some really beautiful canter departs and had great impulsion, so they could give Kathy and Call some serious competition. Yippeee, my show friends are making progress with their mounts.

LAL was at Graham's (surprise) and we were an extra large group - 16 total including Marsha, Melissa, Larry, Susan, Mike, Deb, Ron, Patty, Nancy, Mallory, Kathy and me plus kids. Graham's loves to see us come in for our late lunch - haha.

I hope to get Big Sis over to Patty's for a lesson Friday evening before the show on Saturday and maybe will get a chance to ride this week. Cross fingers and toes. Yaya.

Spring, Spring Break and 3 Days of Horsey Fun

The girls were on Spring Break Last week and I managed to take Monday/Tuesday/Friday off to hang and horse around.  Rain on Monday soaked the arena so we missed out on riding both Monday and Tuesday too.  BUT.... Friday, the fun began.

The girls and I went to Rita's and met up with the Hays girls and boy to do a bit of jumping and to try Sister on her first trail ride (see picture of the Mini-YaYa's).  For me, that meant a ride down the hill and around the pasture and back to the barn.......  However, Rita says that a trail ride needs "trails though the woods, up/down hills, and over water/mud crossings."  Oh No.....  Can we say UD for Unintended Dismount? 

So, after some wild jumping girls and uneventful lunging, "we" mounted up and headed down the first STEEP hill, across the culvert/bridge and up the hill to the WOODS.  Down the BIG hill to the FIRST water crossing.

After a brief discussion regarding the wisdom of actually crossing the water, Sister LAUNCHED herself and took me with her. It was a blur to me but I have been told that there was whiplash backwards and then boomerang forward and by the time I could focus we were almost into the woods and I was hugging Sister's neck with my hands somewhere near the bit. Somehow we stopped and I sat up. NOT in the saddle. But not in the dirt either although the neck does not provide the most secure seating. So, NO unintended dismount by a technicality. Rather, an unintended dislocation. My "friends" were laughing so hard they almost fell out of their saddles. But, my adorable daughter Alaina came to my aid and held Sister so that I could Intentionally Dismount without injury. Sister and I walked back and forth across the "creek" several times before I got back in the saddle to continue the TRAIL RIDE. Thereafter, Rita and Comet blocked the launch trajectories so that Sister had to "walk" across water/mud crossings. Six or so crossings later, I was ready to call the ride a success and head back across that first crossing (Sister walked nicely) and up that final STEEP hill (Sister wanted to blast up but didn't go as fast as she wanted or as slow as I wanted). Back at the barn, I intentionally dismounted the normal way. Whew....

Mallory, Roxie, Maddy, Kathy, Amanda (in from West Texas) and Nancy joined us at Patty's for the SPL and LAL. Kale went along so that we could all eat at Graham's. Call had a run-in with a BAD farrier last and was off on the right front - DARN - Kathy and Call had to miss the first ODS schooling show of the year. Sister and I worked on bit contact and leg yield into corners in preparation for Intro A and Intro B at the show. We practiced Intro C with just half 20-meter circle canters each way. Sister took right lead fairly well and was slow to take left lead but no kick-out - yippeeeeeee.

The rain predicted for Saturday afternoon missed us so Alaina tacked Sunny up for a little walk-trot in the dried arena after 2 months of recovery from his foot injury. His foot is much better so its time to try to get him back in shape without causing re-injury. Cross fingers that he can slowly come back into work this month.

The first schooling show of the year was on the first day of spring - and Sister and I received 59.4 and 58.8 on our tests. Alaina dusted Diez off and will be riding her this year since Sunny isn't back for real work yet - they had very nice rides in Intro C and Training 1. Ivy and Pico rode Training 3 and First 1 - their first time at First Level - they won highpoint for both Training and First Level (13 and under Juniors). Both girls did really well in their rides and also worked the Concessions to benefit the juniors as well as did a little running/office help. Marsha C did a wonderful job managing the first show of the season held a Honey-Do in Mounds. The only real problem is that with me in Intro and Ivy in First Level, our rides were spread over the whole day - we left the house at 8:30am and we didn't get home until after 8pm.

So, three rides on Sister in three days. Fun. Now spring has sprung and I am ready to YaYa!

Spring Forward

Spring in OK means weather of some sort.  Friday was hot and dry and windy - with the entire state under a burn ban, wildfires were burning and my drive home from work was smoky all the way.  Saturday was sunny and beautiful with no wind and the temperature was warm.  Ahhh, great day for the SPL (Sat. Party Lesson).

So, the girls and I joined Kathy B, Nancy E, Mallory S-B, Roxie and Maddie for lessons at 10 and 11.  Alaina brought Diez since the dressage show is NEXT weekend!  Diez is still trying to figure out what went wrong with her pasture pet retirement; but she was in luck and Alaina switched over to Casper once Kathy arrived.  Ivy and Pico ended their lesson with some fine jumping.

The new dressage tests have been issued and Kathy B has the book.  Each level has 3 tests including Intro.  But.... Intro C has a little canter.  So, Sister and I will do Intro A and Intro B next weekend.

Alaina and Diez plan to try Intro C and Training 1 and Ivy and Pico will ride Training 3 and First 1.  Wow, 2011 should be really fun.

Sister was pretty good in the lesson and we worked on keeping my hands steady (especially inside) and tryed to push into the bridle rather than pulling.  After shoulder fore exercises at the walk and spiral circles in and out at the trot, it was time to try canter.  Luckily, right lead was first and after preparation for depart, Sister took the right lead and cantered nicely for me.  Patty was impressed and so was I.  Left lead wasn't so pretty.  But, after resisting bend/setup, SIster took left lead canter with evil mare ears and serious tail swish - but no kickout.  All in all, success.  Time for LAL (Lunch after lesson) at Graham's.

A cold front came through and Sunday was cloudy and cool (not cold compared to sub-artic) and there was a threat of rain.  The girls had spent the night with Roxie so I loaded Diez, Pico, and Sister and headed to Cheval Lake just afternoon.  We had a great afternoon.  Ivy, Alaina, Roxie, and Mattie joined Jordan to play in the big arena.  Meanwhile, I lunged Sister before mounting up and joining the Girls and Mallory for some arena work.  Although we didn't work to hard, Sister took left lead canter first and with a little more grace than yesterday - and then did right lead canter too.

Its spring break this week and I have some days off.  So, it the rain coming down tonight doesn't swamp my arena, we should get a little more practice in before the show.  Even got to see the YaYa Sisters for birthday dinner at Olive Garden on Wed. Night.  With the Spring Forward, evening rides with my sista's is coming soon.