4.8.09 - 50 questions

I found these on another blog, and thought it might be fun to fill out. You guys should do it too!

1. How old were you when you first started riding?
-wow, who knows: definitely before I could walk

2. First horse ridden:
-probably my mom's horse Mandy (Vanity's Night of Love) - she was completely bomb-proof.

3. First horse trotted on:
- probably Mandy

4. First horse cantered on:
- Maybe Mandy, maybe Sally - my pony

5. First Horse fallen off of:
- Definitely Sally!

6. Most recent horse fallen off of:
- Zoe (Promised Dance) about two years ago? Maybe it was three... anywho, an unlucky combination of train horn, thunder, and my being half-way through mounting resulted in my being on my back in a mud puddle!

7. Most terrifying fall:
- When I was in third grade I got tossed off Din (Penncrest Dinner Date) and hung upside-down from my left stirrup until my mom got me loose. Thank goodness Din didn't take off, otherwise I'd be toast! But yeah, that's how I got the scar under my left eyebrow.

8. First horse jumped with:
-most likely Sally, but I had another pony named Freshy (Ann named her Freixenet, after the champagne), and I tried jumping her for a while.

9. First horse who ran away with you:
- Sally: when she wanted to go in, she went in!

10. First horse that scared the crap out of you:
-Chachie. Kaladar coming in a close second.

11. First horse shown :
- Alexa Loudin's roadster pony Footloose.

12. First horse to win a class with:
- Don't know for lead-line, but I won quite a few walk-trots with Allie (Altavista's Alouette).

13. Do you/have you taken lessons:
- I had a lesson with BJ Taylor when I was very young, participated in a clinic when I was 7 or 8, and that's about it.

14. First horse you ever rode bareback:
- *shrug* don't know.

15. First horse trail ridden with:
-my Mom

16. Current Barn name:
- Spring Meadow Farm, but I don't think anyone actually uses it...

17. Do you ride English or western?:
-Saddleseat all the time, but I've ridden hunt and western as well.

18. First Horse to place at a show with:
- Footloose?

19. Ever been to horse camp?:
- Shamrock Farms Road Pony Camp!

20. Ever been to a riding clinic?
- Yes, when I was pretty young.

21. Ridden sidesaddle?
-Not on an actual sidesaddle, and at nothing more than a walk.

22. First horse leased:
- Technically Uno (He's a Masterpiece), but I don't think it was ever official.

23. Last Horse Leased:
- Uno

24. Highest ribbon in a show:
- First

25. Ever been to an 'A' rated show?:
-Yes, several. Even been tossed at one right after winning.

26. Ever competed in pony games/relay races?:
-no, but I always wanted to!

27. Ever fallen off at a show
-yep, but only twice: I got tossed off Din at Morgan Gold Cup in '92 right after they took my picture with the ribbon and trophy for lead-line, and Uno tossed me at Springfield a few years ago because he decided the ribbon was going to eat him.

28. Do you ride Hunter/Jumpers?:
- Nope, but it looks like fun.

29. Have you ever barrel raced?
- Never. Doing. That. Ever. Again.

30. Ever done pole bending?:
- never timed

31. Favorite gait:
-Rack!

32. Ever cantered bareback?:
-isn't that the only way to do it?

33. Have you ever done dressage?:
-very basic movements.

34. Have you ever evented?:
-No, but it's fun to watch.

35. Have you ever mucked a stall?:
-too many to count.

36. Ever been bucked off?:
-Oh yes, many a time before I grew legs long enough to hang on with.

37. Ever been on a horse that reared?
-yes, and it's something I discourage.

38. Horses or ponies?
-horses for riding, ponies for driving.

39. Do you wear a helmet?
- Only where it's required by barn rules.

40. What's the highest you've jumped:
-something in the 2 ft range.

41. Have you ever ridden at night?:
- That would be when #7 happened. I also show at night quite often, so no biggie.

42. Do you watch horsey television shows?
- if they aren't too hokey or just plain bad, yes.

43. Have you ever been seriously hurt/injured from a fall?
-Some scars and bruises, a concussion or two, but no broken bones.

44. Most falls in one lesson:
-none. Is it common for people to fall a lot during lessons? Seems to me like they should re-evaluate if they fall multiple times a week.

45. Do you ride in an arena/ring?:
- Yes, but I ride trails as well.

46. Have you ever been trampled by a horse?
- Nope, I am one with the herd! that, and I can dodge out of the way very fast!

47. Have you ever been bitten?
- Yes, and it's never fun.

48. Ever had your foot stepped on by a horse?
- Yep, even during an In-Hand class. What can I say, Duke and I both have Big Feet!

49: Favorite riding moment:
- Too man to list!

50. Most fun horse you've ridden:
- Globetrotter's Fantasy, Harlem's Leading Star, and of course Duke!

4.4.09 Good to be Home

well, after a week of being tortured with wedding plans, I have been home from Texas for a few days. I rode Roy today, my aunt Ann's pleasure horse. He's always a pleasure to ride, and I absolutely adore his canter - it's such a big feeling canter, but he's very collected at the same time. And Duke was fantastic! Galloping a quarter-horse full-tilt has got nothing on a Saddlebred's trot!

and speaking of Quarter Horses, let me introduce you to my friend's barrel-racing boys, who, despite being very different from my guys, quite possibly saved me from wedding-planning induced insanity!

The guy in this picture is Jango, an 11 year old quarter horse- he runs high 13's when he's in shape, and he is built like a tank! He also looks a bit like Duke's shorter, darker, much scruffier cousin.

The guy I usually ride is Rip: he's about 18 now, but he's still got enough fire to keep me entertained. He's also the horse who took me on my one and only trip around the barrels at full-speed. It was fun, but once is enough for me!

And last but not least we have Major. He's 25 now, and is the one we trust kids and beginners with. In fact, the only person he doesn't like riding him is my friend's fiance, who he has tried to dump in a lake, and has actually laid down on in the middle of the ring while fully tacked - twice!

3.26.09- Vacation

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while, haven't had much of anything to report. The last few weeks have been uneventfully in a way that scares me when I spend too much time examining it. as for the next week or so...

After what was supposed to be a 2.5 our flight that ended up being 6 hours (diverted to Little Rock, Arkansas - which I'm convinced is two shacks and a ladder- for re-fueling) because DFW temporarily closed due to inclement weather, I am in Texas for a week. Life with Quarter Horses is much less fun than life with Saddlebreds, but boy can they sprint! I'll be back later!

3.13.09

It's been a busy week: Our farrier came out Monday to the gaited horses, and came back Tuesday to put shoes back on Nelson and to trim the babies ("my" baby did beautifully, thankyouverymuch, however, the other filly is quite funny when mildly sedated!). Duke already has plates on, and since I'm not going to River Ridge I don't see the point in putting his show shoes on him right now.



Tuesday was nevertheless a busy day for the Big Guy - after much deliberation and a lot of currying, I decided to go ahead and body-clip Duke. Poor boy is completely nekkid now! I have to go back and do some re-touching tomorrow when it's warmer, but hopefully his coat will be quite nice by Heartland Classic in early May.



The downside of body-clipping a grey horse is that when the hair is clipped away, you can see all the new dents and dings he has somehow managed to accumulate under the camouflage of a winter coat, and they somehow manage to look so much worse than they would on a chestnut! I can't wait until he gets sleeker, because then I can stop cringing at his various scrapes - I like my boy to look pretty!



Duke also had a visit from the Vet to have his teeth floated, and I rode him for the first time today. He was so much more responsive to the bit! I'm actually going to have to consciously adjust to it, it's that much of a noticeable difference. He was great, the only exception being when he stopped to stare when the neighbors child started screaming bloody murder - and who can blame him, it freaked me out too!

3.6.09

Yeowch! I decided yesterday that I was going to start working my aunt Terri's 5 year old mare Lilly, if only to help get my legs back into shape. Well, my legs are going to get a workout on Lil! She's been broke to ride since she was 2, but my aunt Terri really only wants to ride occasionally at a walk on trails, so Lil has learned to be laaaazy. On top of needing almost constant leg to keep the forward motion going (trust me, if I ever used that much leg on Duke or Adam I'm pretty sure I'd be floating somewhere by Mars!), she's a bit rough on canter leads since she's never really learned them. She seems to have the right lead figured out, but needs work on the left. the other big problem is keeping her going - I don't mind riding with a whip, but I hate having to actually use it for anything more than a very very light tap. I'm not hitting her hard by any stretch of the term, but I still feel guilty from the number of taps needed!

Lilly can (and will with little to no prompting) rack naturally, but I think she's going to be more of a hunter horse (Not enough neck, not enough motion, and I don't want to show against Fantasy or Toby :shrug:). She has nice bloodlines, and bred to the right stud I think she could produce great offspring, but she's still young: if I stick with it, and manage to get the tack and outfit, I hope to have Lil ready for the ring by August. Here's a few pics I took of her yesterday - sorry she looks so rough, but she normally lives in the outdoor-access stalls with our mini-herd of Hackneys.

As for Duke, he got a hair-cut today, and looks much more like the distinguished gentleman he is, rather than the large mountain goat he turns into in winter!

3.3.09 - or further proof I belong in the loony bin!

I decided to ask some friends to help me start planning Duke's Halloween costume for this year's Blue Ribbon Fall Classic, and one of my fellow BuckNuts suggested the following:

Forget Halloween, now all I need to do is find six yards of the right fabric, and Duke and I can match on Game days! :facepalm:

3.2.09

Hi guys, Duke here, and I'm hijacking my human's blog for the day to list my grievances. for starters, Ash was gone for three days doing some sort of job thing. That means I had to go three days without peppermints Three DAYS! I've also started shedding, and she wasn't here to scratch my itches. And on top of that, it's too cold to go outside, so I've been restricted to the barn aisle, which means I have to deal with Fantasy's daemon spawn every time I pass her stall (I have to deal with her outside too, but at least there I can scare her away!). I'm being neglected people! My human can't leave ever again! I don't know what I'm going to do in July, because she's going to be at something called a Wedding for a week. a WEEK!! how am I supposed to survive an entire week without peppermints! I may have to resort to some drastic measures... anyone got any ideas?