A fine start to summer....

Summer vacation began yesterday and I'd like to think I started it off by doing something I'll get to do a whole lot of this summer - riding my pony!

A friend and co-worker, Jennifer, invited me on a trail ride up at Bennington and I must admit that I was a bit nervous about accepting.  I've never ridden with Jennifer but I know that she is a fairly accomplished rider and I always hate being the "drag at the party" and didn't want to ruin what would be her first ride of vacation as well by forcing her to go at a beginners pace....but she was very kind and gracious and truly just wanted to make sure I had a good time on the trails.  In fact, she purposefully didn't give me her cell number so I couldn't back out at the last minute!

My last ride up at Bennington was NOT fun - Zoe spooked and pranced the whole way around the lake.  I now know that large groups are not the thing for us!  But yesterday's trip showed me that small groups of 2 or 3 horses are just fine, especially if one of those horses is as calm as Jennifer's quarter horse, Dutch.  Zoe only jumped twice and actually walked calmly by a couple of things we were sure would get her (a blue heron taking flight right next to us and a momma deer standing over her newborn fawn).  Go figure!  Overall, I had a great time and was actually quite relaxed by the end.  Thank you, Jennifer, for babysitting me!  :)

I haven't posted in quite a while, but that doesn't mean we haven't been busy.  I rode in a couple of clinics with Jim Briggs...and was called an under-achiever by him during one of the lessons.  I have to say, though, that I don't mind being called that during that particular lesson since I'm the only one (including Jim!) who actually stayed in my saddle!  I'll take caution over being tossed to the ground any day!

Weather has been (and still is) wet and chilly.  I am looking forward to some warm, sunny days.  I'm a little worried that I won't get enough practice time in before the dressage schooling show next weekend.  Yup, I signed up to take two intro tests.  And that makes me even more nervous than the trail ride yesterday did!  Zoe and I are totally unprepared to be judged.  Just the thought of trying to ride a perfect circle makes me tense!  But I have to put myself out there sometime, right?  :)

Sure hope the rain lets up this week so I can get some practice in.......

Clinic Weekend

This weekend was a big fundraiser clinic weekend for our pony club. We hosted Jim Briggs and invited participants from all over the region to take a lesson or two with him. E was signed up for both a jumping and a flat lesson with him.

Unfortunately, Monte was not up to the task of jumping by Saturday; his withers were still painful under saddle, so she decided to not use him for the lesson. Luckily, we board at a barn with many generous owners of many capable horses. E rode a pony (who really is a pony!) named Oscar on Saturday.

E and Oscar

Now Oscar has a bit of a reputation around the barn. He's not exactly a beginner horse - you could rightfully call him "Oscar the Grouch" - but he does know his stuff. He's very headstrong and takes a strong rider to make him go through his paces, however. After her ride, E compared him to Curly in that it took quite a bit of strength in both her arms and legs to keep Oscar doing what she wanted. Not exactly a willing partner, you see.

To make this all harder for E, she started to get pretty sick in the morning and by the time she rode her lesson she was achy and feverish. But she insisted on going through with the lesson. Oh, and it was cold and rainy. Not exactly ideal conditions.

But they did it. Oscar did not refuse any jumps and did a respectable job on the course. E managed to get through the lesson before collapsing in the truck. And Oscar's owner was quite happy that her pony had behaved well and redeemed himself, even if only a tiny bit, in the eyes of the spectators.

Sunday's lesson was impossible for E (high fever, sore throat, etc.), so we gave it to our barn owner C. Ends up that the lesson was pretty miserable since it was full-on raining and the horses were a little nutty. C's horse Maxwell bolted at one point and dumped her in the corner of the arena - a scary moment to say the least. But all was well in the end and the clinic has been deemed a success.

We will have the chiropractor out again to take a look at Monte. I think it's just lingering muscle pain, but we want to be sure.

Little Big Man

Monte is a pony...okay, he's really a "small horse" since Arabians can be below 14.3 hands and still be considered a horse. But in his mind, he's the big guy in the field.

Consequently, he frequently feels the need to assert himself with the other horses pastured with him. This would be all well and good if he were the head honcho...but he's not, really, and in the process of being put back in his place he sometimes gets hurt. Nothing serious, just a few scrapes and the occasional pulled muscle.

We think that is what happened recently. Last Friday, E saddled him up for a fun ride but as soon as she tightened the cinch on her Western saddle he became a bucking fiend. Luckily she was able to quickly loosen the straps and get the offending tack off of his back - also luckily, this all happened before she got on his back! We've seen him buck before, but this was a show worthy of the broncs in the rodeo.

It was quickly discovered that he had extreme pain in his withers, so a call was made to the chiropractor. We finally had our session with her yesterday afternoon (yes, the poor boy had to suffer for 5 days!) and the relief he felt was almost immediate.

He had a very worried look in his eyes when the chiropractor began but as soon as she did a few seconds of work on his shoulders and then his withers, he relaxed, gave a big sigh, and closed his eyes. He started to fall asleep by the end of her visit.

E is hoping that he is back to 100% by Saturday; she is signed up to ride in a clinic with Jim Briggs and wants to ride her pony rather than mine. Don't blame her, really, since she does happen to have a pretty awesome little guy.

3/26 update: Monte is still hurting - poor boy. So E will be riding Zoe for the Jim Briggs clinic, which is fine for the flat, but questionable for the jumping. Oh, and C corrected me about Monte not being big-man-in-the-field. She says that although he doesn't kick and bite the others as much as another pair out there, he does "growl" at them quite a bit and they all pretty much get out of his way. But unlike most other alphas, he doesn't mind not being first to go in for dinner. So she called him a "benevolent leader." Ha! Benevolent is not a word I would ever have thought to use to describe Monte. :) I kinda think it might have to do with the fact that he defers to the human handling the horses and if that human says he has to go last, then last he will go. Now that's a well-trained pony!

Jumping with Briggs

So today's lesson for E was a jumping one. And boy does her pony love to jump! As soon as they get into the arena his ears prick forward and off they go, rushing to the first obstacle. E is very proud of the fact that she and her pony were the only ones not called back to redo any part of the pattern. All of the participants did well - some even doing more than they ever thought possible. This instructor has a gift for successfully pushing the students out of their comfort zones a bit.

Click on people's faces in the photo to tag them.

She also loved the fact that Jim Briggs really - and I mean really! - liked Monte. He asked if he could pack him into his suitcase and take him home. :)

While chatting on the sidelines, one of the parents suggested we start a parent Pony Club group (I think they are called "Riding Masters" or something like that). Wouldn't that be a hoot? I'm hoping I can be a part of that should it actually come about.

Jim Briggs Clinic

It's been a busy day at the barn. E rode Monte in a dressage lesson with Jim Briggs, cleaned some stalls, rode a second lesson (on Zoe this time) and then finished mucking stalls. She's one pooped kid - but that didn't stop her from running off to a birthday party at the corn maze tonight! :)

The lessons went well on both horses but E says she still prefers Monte. Her words were that "Zoe knows how to do all that stuff but she makes you work for it. You have to ask her precisely and correctly. Monte just does it because he wants to." So for her, Monte was more fun to ride. I think they know each other so well that it all just flows so much more easily. Given time, she and Zoe could build the same relationship...but for now, she doesn't want to do that.

But I do. :) Next year, it will be me riding in this clinic.....