So what else is going on?

I know, I know.  Rolex is AWESOME!  I suck because I got to have all the fun and you may not have, get on with it lady.  Fine, I know, you want to read about my horses.  Not listen to me brag about my vacation. Okay, okay, fine.

I didn't get to ride last week after getting back from...well you know where :).  Tuesday the horses looked horrible with their half shedded coats so they each got a thorough grooming day.  App even got a full on spring bath, with two wash cycles.  He is SO soft now, still!  Nothing like a good bath to make a crappy coat feel so much better.  SO made me a knockoff Slick EZ after seeing someone use one at the barn and it works so well!  It really is a hacksaw blade in a piece of wood.  One piece of 2x4, about a half dozen swipes with a hand saw, tap in a 24 or 32 tooth per inch blade, voila.  It works so very well on loose hair!  If the horse is groomed daily and isn't having a heavy shed day, it isn't worth it but if you skip a few days it is awesome.

Who wants grainy cell phone video screencaps?!  

Wednesday I tried to ride but didn't get a chance to because there were people who showed up and they wanted to catch up with me so instead I groomed horses again, organized stuff and was social.  Sunday I went out to ride and it was crazy there.  I knew that the barn was throwing a birthday/pony party at 2p so I went out at 11a and it was crazy how many people were there.  On a busy day, there are 4-5 people there at once.  This Sunday there were 11?!  People working on fencing, people cleaning stalls, people setting up for the party.  On top of that, Mia was flipping out because App had been put in an "old mans" temporary pasture to eat grass without her and even after running around on a lunge line she had too much energy so I just called that day a pass too.

I finally got to ride on Monday and Mia was again all crazy.  I threw the jump saddle on and we did fitness, what better way to burn energy!  We are both terribly out of shape (unless you count round?), it is funny how quickly trot/canter sets will settle a mare down haha!  After the 4th 3 minute canter set she was tired and finally soft.  We stayed mostly on a circle that had a 12-18" jump at each end and I worked on forcing her to stay in a collected canter, to politely jump the cross rail and canter off without antics the entire canter set.  There were some antics, but not many.  It was a success!

Better than no media, right?

Tuesday was really amusing.  First, apparently, my lame, broken App who doesn't walk well decided to leave his grassy, flat area with a buddy and water and go brush whacking through some dense briars, up a small hill and over a fallen tree to "escape" and meander around the farm by himself.  What a dork.  They had a "fenceline" (just a strand of tape, not even hot) on 3 sides and used this tree/brush line as the 4th line.  Apparently App wanted to walk around and let himself out.  I told them he is crafty, just because he is old doesn't mean he isn't trouble.  There is a reason his nickname was Captain Asshole by SO in OH and MI!

But look at how consistent she is in her frame!

The other amusing thing was I rode Mia.  She was not happy.  The horses were fed late so she hadn't eaten yet and App hadn't been returned to her pasture (still in the old man pasture from the day) so she was head flinging, whinnying and sassing all about.  We started a dressage ride and she was very much "Oh leg?  Do I need to do anything about that?  Okay.....I guess....if you insist...." and extremely slow off of my leg aids.  After a good 10 mins I borrowed a dressage whip and gave her one tap.  One.  Suddenly her quarters would shoot off in any direction at the slightest hint of leg pressure.  Okay mare, you know there is there a middle ground?  Then she was all "I have no idea what this 'canter to trot' thing is that you talk about, have you taught me that?" and "I must pull you out of the saddle, my head is heavy, hold me up".  After a good 20 minutes of her pulling HARD and being a general pain, I hopped off and switched bridles to the pelham that I hadn't bothered to bring home.

It took all of 3 bumps with the curb chain before we went from uncooperative horse to wonderful partner.  HA!  We rode the Novice test A and the 2nd run through went beautifully.  All it took was one tap and 3 bumps, haha!  Ahh horses, you kill me.

And her canter is getting so good too! Though I have no proof
Just stare in awe of her trot and how far it has come.

Wednesday we had another dressage ride.  I started in the pelham but hopped off and switched to her eggbutt after about 15 minutes because I didn't need the pelham.  It wasn't a 100% perfect ride, but if I had to bring her to a dressage show tomorrow I wouldn't feel uncomfortable about it.  Win!  We ended with more fitness, 3 min sets for her, no stirrup during the sets for me.  We need to get our fitness back up and we can only do that with work.

We now have to get ready for our show on the 20th, plus learn Novice test B.  After this weekend things get crazy until June 1 so I am not sure how much I will be riding, esp after our show on the 20th.  I have a test day with the racecar on the 21st and then a race with the racecar on the 26-28.  It's going to be a crazy couple of weeks!  After June 1 my schedule is wide open so I am hopeful for XC schooling, we need to get on that!