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.......

Canceled for snow?!?

We are in the middle of spring break - always a much anticipated vacation time around our house.  My plan was to spend the first few days carting the kids around to various activities and then taking a day or two for myself with the intention of going to the barn to ride, ride, ride.

Sounds like a nice plan, right?

Here's what happened to my plan:

Yup, it snowed.  For like an hour.  And then it rained most of the day.  And it was cold.  Oh, and then it hailed and thundered like crazy.

So much for riding today.....

Crossing my fingers that there will be at least one afternoon that is barn worthy.

I'm in charge!

When I started taking lessons with Pat a year ago the mantra I said to myself (and the direction that was often called out to me) was, "Breathe, Vanessa!"

The mantra officially changed during my lesson on Sunday.  I now say, "I'm in charge!"  (while humming Mary Had a Little Lamb, of course).  Every few minutes, Pat would catch Zoe and I doing whatever Zoe wanted and she would call out, "Who's in charge?" or "You set the pace and direction, not Zoe!"

I consider these new directions to be a sign of growth and improvement in my riding...I mean, I'm remembering to breathe now at least!  :)

Mary had a little lamb.....

Had a lesson with one of my favorite instructors, Pat, on Sunday.  She was with me when I first started riding Zoe, coaching me through all my nervous hyperventilation.  :) I haven't ridden with her in quite a while so I was looking forward to showing her that I'm doing so much better and can handle my horse now.  Which I was sort-of able to do....

We were up at Black Walnut again, but riding with only three other riders this time.  Zoe was better about the mirrors and wasn't too energetic but she wasn't the most cooperative of animals either.  Pat kept calling out that Zoe was being rude (which she was) with her non-compliance to my requests to stand still.  Gradually, as the hour wore on, Zoe settled in and did her job....sort-of.

My big challenge of the day was to be the one in charge. (Ha! Isn't that always my challenge with Zoe??)  When trotting, Zoe wanted to go fast-fast-fast.  My job was to bring her back to the pace I wanted. Oh, and to remember to breathe!  Finally, Pat had me recite "Mary had a little lamb..." while posting.  This helped me accomplish two things:  1) I could keep a steady pace while posting and begin to control Zoe's speed, and 2) I had to breathe in order to say the dang poem!  And it totally worked.  When I told E about this, she said that she's been reciting Row, Row, Row Your Boat for the same reason for years.  :)

So if you ever see me riding in the future don't be surprised if you glance over and catch me mouthing the words to Mary Had A Little Lamb...

Pony Club Games

We had a play day rather than a formal lesson at Pony Club this past Sunday.  One of the parents organized some games for all us riders - things like pole bending, backing through obstacles and relay races.

It's always fun to do something that is not so focused mentally.  Playing games like this forces me to just ride rather than try to do every little thing perfect....which in the end makes me a stronger, more confident rider and helps my fussy little mount get over herself and just do the job.  :)

Having said all that, the ride didn't start out all that well for me.  I was nervous riding with a big group since I had decided that the whole group thing is what made the trail ride so awful.  Plus, Zoe and I were experiencing a new arena together (Black Walnut, up on Cottonwood), which is okay except that this particular arena has mirrors along two of the walls.  Zoe freaked when she came up on her reflection - just who the heck was that other horse that appeared out of no where!!!  So with my nerves and her hyper energy, we weren't a good pair.  I had trouble bringing her back to me and just plain making her stand still. 

Cathy M. saw all of this and kindly offered me the use of her horse, Traveler, while she got Zoe under hand.  I quickly agreed to the switch.  Traveler is notorious for his complete lack of enthusiasm for anything taking place in an arena.  Getting him to just. move. forward. at. a. walk. is a challenge. 

So imagine my surprise when after going around some poles Traveler decides that the bag on the barrel ISGOINGTOEATHIMOHMYGOD!  He quickly backed up a step, flipped a 180 and started to move off in the opposite direction of that horse-eating-bag!  I was already starting to lean down to get an envelope out of the bag when all of this started, which really was a good thing because I had a good hold of him with my legs....so I managed to sit his whole freak-out.  I'm quite proud of that, actually.  :)

After that I never was able to get him to approach the barrel (although we tried several times) and he was very, very skittish when any envelopes were brought towards him.

I jokingly commented to Cathy that if I'd wanted excitement, I could have just stayed on Zoe!

So, lessons learned from my ride on Traveler:

1.  Don't assume that just because a horse is normally quiet it'll stay that way!
2.  A solid seat is based from the waist down - my hands weren't all that necessary to stay with him as he moved off that barrel.
3.  My connection with Zoe is stronger than I thought. I discovered while riding Traveler that I take some of the things I easily do with Zoe totally for granted.  Like just turning - I don't even have to think about it with her.  I look in the direction I want to go and we just go.  It's amazing, really, when I think about it.

This is fun?

Pony Club and Horsemasters took advantage of the recently clear weather and went on a trail ride at Bennington Lake.  E and I were both very excited to join in; I love a chance to ride somewhere other than the arena at our barn and I'm sure the horses like the change as well.

 Group shot, with Molly's ears in the foreground (Isn't she a great photographer?)  ;)

I wasn't worried about taking Zoe (or Monte, for that matter) up to the reservoir since they have both been before, and we actually had a decent ride then.  So my nerves were not jingling as we loaded up.  (I'm basically trying to say that my energy was calm, so my horse shouldn't have gotten anything spooky from me....)

The moment we unloaded, Zoe started to jig and dance around.  Just getting her tacked up was a bit of a challenge, but I thought that once I got on her and we started moving she would begin to calm.  Boy was I wrong!  And by the way, Monte really wasn't much better...

There were about 10 other riders going along with us.  Most were calm;  only Zoe, Monte, a Tennessee Walker and a very green Morgan were having any visible issues.  Right away my girl decided she needed to be near the lead, but not actually in the lead.  The baby Morgan got that position.  But I had to work to keep Zoe off his tail; I felt like I was yanking on her mouth almost the entire ride!  I tried keeping her busy, side passing back and forth, but she was still frequently jigging and spooking.

Monte decided that he needed to be right behind Zoe.  But she decided she hated him and actually kicked out at him a few times when he got too near!  (That's not a fun feeling, by the way, having your horse kick out while you're on them.) It's safe to say I had one of the worst behaved horses on the trail.

Luckily, there were no run-away moments for Zoe and I.  E did have to dismount once when Monte just plain refused to go down a somewhat icy/slick hill.  Zoe stumbled and fell to her knees at one point (she was too busy watching imaginary monsters and didn't pay attention to the trail!), which scared me a bit, but we quickly recovered.

On the final stretch of trail (about the last 100') a dog jumped up in the brush.  That was pretty much the last straw for Zoe; I could feel her bunching up under me, so I dismounted and chose to walk her down to the parking lot.  I had to remind her of her ground manners, but once we did a little re-schooling (only about 20 seconds), she was her wonderful self again.

If only I had had that wonderful pony for the rest of the ride!

A friend taking pictures commented that even though I claimed this was a far from stellar ride, I am smiling in every single picture she got of me.  What can I say?  Any moment spent on my horse makes me deliriously, irrationally happy!  This is true in lessons as well.  All the other students will be so serious and stone-faced and there I am, laughing and talking to my horse the whole time.

I'm crazy, I know.  ;)

...And to answer the first question: Yes! This is fun!

Pig Pen

Zoe, rolling in her favorite dirt spot in her pasture.

Remember the character from the Snoopy cartoons, Pig Pen?  Always dirty and traveling around in his own cloud of dust?  Lately, it seems that my Zoe is channeling her inner-Pig Pen full time!

Even after a full brush-down, she is still dirtier than most of the other horses at the barn before they are groomed!  My mare just loves to roll in the dirt.  It's the first thing she does whenever she is put into her pasture and by looking at her muddy coat, I assume it is a favorite activity throughout the day as well.  :)

I love watching the horses stand up.  Such an awkward process, actually.