Over the Years (er...year)

Getting all nostalgic over the goals that Charmer has brought me (and him too) to accomplish over the last year and a half(ish).

July 4th, 2015

So for starters here is the first day I went and met Charmer. I was skeptical of his solid-bay-boringness. But then his personality won me over. He was incredibly quiet, despite normal racetrack antics from other horses. He didn't even have a stud chain on, which I was pleasantly surprised that he didn't need. And then he had this pretty, floaty trot that I knew I could work with.

July 8th, 2015

This was the day after he came home. I forgot to get pictures (silly me) on the day he came home, but got lots the next day.

July 30th, 2015

He got a couple weeks off. I had to have tonsil surgery so he got the two weeks off while I recovered to adjust to his new life. Then we got to work. He had a decent walk, trot, and left lead canter. Right lead was a struggle (since he is off the track, wasn't all that surprised...). We either couldn't pick it up or he would cross-fire. He learned within about 6 rides that that wasn't going to work though, so I had a pretty nice WTC horse.

August 11th, 2015

We went off property and tried the whole "jumping" thing. He has lots of legs and wasn't quite sure how to use them. He was very quiet and calm despite other crazy horses, but the jumps themselves largely went like this:

ft. me looking for my dignity

So then we went through a period of time where I pulled his shoes, so we battled that lameness and ouchy feet for a while. Then this happened:

September 12th, 2015

Yeah I had this fun thing happen called a "broken pelvis". Sounds more fun than it is. It was a horse related accident, but not one of my horses. So I had to take time off for that. Although it ended up being significantly less bad than it could have been and I had to take only about half the amount of time off that I expected. 

So six weeks, three days later. I got back on my pony. My newly-off-the-track 5-year-old baby pony. Oh yeah and he only had 8 rides put on him before I got hurt. But he packed me around like a champ and despite 2+ months off due to his feet and my brokenness, he didn't put a foot out of line.

October 27th, 2015

Yep. Trotting no hands. 9th ride post-track. He's a rockstar. I've never been more proud of him than I was this day.

November 14th, 2015

Then he politely toodled around at his first ever show and my first since getting hurt. Oh yeah. Did I forget to mention I broke my pelvis at a horse show? So that was a solid mental block for me. We were a hot mess around the courses, but he was very polite and tried very hard to take care of me with very few baby moments.

January 26th, 2016

After a cold couple months of only indoor riding, we got a chance to jump around outside and it was super fabulous.

March 20th, 2016

Then we went through this whole him being a bucking maniac (really sad I don't have pictures. They would be awesome). So we got a new saddle to make him more comfy and changed bits because he got bored and more or less stopped jumping, anything more than crossrails anyway, because it always brought on fireworks. And I had confidence issues with jumps and fireworks ever since I got hurt.

April 9th, 2016

He got tired of any and all bits. so then we tried the hackamore. Which he really liked (winning) for a while.

May 1st, 2016

We finally made it out to a show again. Trotted around some groundpoles and crossrails. Big whoop. Nothing was spectacular, but we also didn't buck around the entire course, so I guess that was cool.

June 23rd, 2016

We finally got around to playing with some decent sized jumps at home at least. Although my position left a LOT to be desired. 

July 2nd, 2016

We got back to another show and finally debuted at 2'. It was not as controlled as I would have liked, but we made it around, however awkwardly.

July 23rd, 2016

Then we finally made it to a lesson for my first time in like two years and his first ever real lesson. It wasn't anything awesome and basically consisted of running my horse into fences because he kept bolting. But the trainer was very helpful and I left feeling okay and encouraged despite the train wreck that was my horse and I during the lesson.

September 3rd, 2016

After a few more lessons, we went to another show and it was significantly prettier and less wild. But we still didn't make it past 2'. I was both happy and slightly discouraged. I just wanted to conquer my fear of 2'3" and 2'6". Not that those heights are big, but they are the heights I got hurt at, and it just kept feeling like I wasn't ever going to do them again.

October 24th, 2016

Still fairly discouraged and feeling like we weren't actually progressing, I picked up this new bit at a local tack store and oh. my. goodness. it is magic. I swear. We have not had one legit buck, bolt, or grab and run moment *knock on wood* since we picked it up.

November 6th, 2016

Magic I tell you. I mean butt muscles galore.

November 12th, 2016

This was the real magic (that I attribute in large portions to this magical bit). The same show that was my first show back. One year later. We competed at 2'3" and 2'6" for the first time ever for him and first time since I got hurt for me. Fears. Conquered. It was not perfect by any means, but we made it over every jump. My heart swelled with pride and a smile beamed from my face.

So there is our journey and now you are all caught up. And ready to watch our continuing journey from here on forward.