OTTB Charm

I've been so consistently busy and stressed out lately, that I just keep putting off my rides. Finally this week, I told myself to stop . I pulled out my tack, set it out and was determined to fit in a ride. First, on Wednesday, I pulled Charmer out. I spent a while grooming, because he is starting to shed. Then we got all tacked up and headed into the arena. I forgot about the fact that we haven't ridden since before I got jumps & a harrow and they live outside the far end of the arena. Charmer practically had a meltdown about them. This horse is never  spooky, so I don't know if it was him trying to get out of work or being legitimately concerned, but we spent most of our ride on that end making him deal with it. Love that fresh arena Once he settled, we got some good work in. But I can definitely feel how out of shape he is, mostly because he was on the forehand for most of our ride on Wednesday. Since we are both dreadfully unfit, we kept our ride to a pretty ...

Well, basically since Thanksgiving, Charmer has had very minimal work. School, work, and life got busy, and pony got a break. There were some lazy rides, and a handful of semi-work rides, but basically I snuggled him twice a day with his grain, and maybe a blanket change, and usually a nice long grooming session once a week. That was basically all I could manage for a while. But now, I am starting to get my schedule a little more manageable (a little ), and constant. And the days are rapidly getting longer, and with the beautiful weather we are currently having, I cannot pass that up. I squeezed in a ride on Wednesday after work, and for the fact it had been over a week since Charmer's last ride, and over 2 months since he had any real "make him work" rides, he was good. Sometimes I forget how challenging of a ride he can be. He requires a lot of precision from me, and that can be difficult, especially when we are both out of shape (okay, more me than him). And ...

So here is the exciting news that I eluded to in my last post! Charmer and I have moved barns. We are now boarding (for the time being) at the barn where we take lessons, and for this month, I have been able to put Charmer into pro training - which means he is going to get at least a dozen rides by our favorite trainer this month, along with a few other high level riders and trainers that work at the barn! I wish I could have said something abut this move ahead of time, but we were in a bad boarding situation and I couldn't risk our barn owner knowing about anything. To give a little background, the owner was still feeding the horses and things, but a lot of things had gone down that made the barn owner and I not get along whatsoever, and it turned into a little bit of fear for my own safety as well as my horse's. But on a happier note! This move is exactly what we needed. I was a little hesitant on how Charmer would react to moving from a large dry lot to a 12'x12...

Approximately a year and a half ago, I broke my pelvis. I was at a horse show, riding a horse for a local lady. There were a lot of various mistakes made by several parties (myself included) and long story short, it ended up with the horse falling down at a warmup fence. She took the pole down and all would have been fine if she was more experienced, but she was too green. She lost her footing, I jumped off, and she ended up crashing down on top of me with her left shoulder on my left hip. After being carted off in an ambulance, getting x-rays, and a whole lot of waiting, I found out I had broken my pelvis in two places. Luckily the breaks were fairly stable so I didn't need a full body cast or surgery, but it still meant I couldn't ride for a while. The fear, anger and depression that followed consumed me almost entirely. Even when I could walk and ride again, I was depressed and frustrated that I just couldn't ride the same - and maybe I never would. I was angry about t...

After having such a fabulous lesson last weekend, I was quick to set up another one for this weekend. True to form, Pancho and Charmer loaded up like champs. The drive over was quiet and calm, and everyone unloaded quietly and happily when we arrived. After tacking up, I had to make the decision of whether I lunge or just get on and see what happens. Due to a busy schedule this week, I hadn't been able to ride since our last lesson, so it was probably the smart decision to lunge. Which of course means that I did not make the smart decision and ended up just getting on. There was a lesson going on before ours, so we went onto one side of the arena to work on our warmup. Something just seemed to be in the air, because both of the other horses in the ring were definitely excited and looking around, and Trainer S said that someone had fallen off earlier that day (because ghosts in the field next to the arena). Pancho and Charmer were both a little up, and so Jayne and I...

Charmer and I have our first lesson of 2017 on Saturday, and I have been doing a lot of mental preparation for it, and some physical preparation with Charmer as well. I know there will be exactly one thing that comes out of my trainer's mouth roughly a zillion times. FORWARD . I need to ride Charmer forward. So for the last week or so, I have been visualizing and mentally preparing myself to put my freaking hands up his neck, shorten the reins, use my leg and ride him forward . *Note: none of these pictures are from last night That is what our entire last lesson was all about. I am a good enough and strong enough rider to handle my horse at speeds bigger than a western pleasure canter. So I need to push myself and him so that we actually get the canter we are both capable of. So last night, I had a ride with  Jayne  to get ready for our lesson on Saturday. And right off the bat, I had a firecracker of a horse. He was very up and excited. So instead of trying to microm...

For the first time in 2017, I finally got a chance to ride my horse! Proof that it happened And the strangest thing has happened during the last 2 months. My horse has improved . You know how usually after an extensive break, your horse forgets everything you have taught them? Well that didn't happen for us. I mean, sure he was a little rusty on a few things, like leg-yields, but overall, he felt more broke than he has ever felt before. Still nailed his leg yields even though he was rusty For anyone that knows Charmer, or has seen him in any setting, they will know that, while he has an incredible canter, it is usually a lot  of work to make it nice, and the transition is usually a train wreck. Drooling over all our pretty new things But the strangest thing happened in our ride. He was light and floaty. He offered canter transitions even when I didn't ask for them. And they were some of the most uphill and balanced transitions that I have ridden on any ho...

(I also considered the title "Thinking Cap") Guess who finally rode her horse for the first time in practically a month? You guessed it! Me! My bronchitis problem isn't 100% gone, but it is back to a point where doing a little work won't make me die of a coughing fit, so riding can be back in the picture. After a month of not riding, I've been itching to get back on. Plus I have a pretty new browband from  BrowbandsByJayne  (if you guys are interested in a browband, I highly suggest buying from her. Beaded with real swarovski crystal and sterling silver, and they are all handmade and gorgeous) and who can resist new pictures with pretty browbands.  I may or may not have had a little bit of a crazy idea - lets try a whole ride with a loose rein. Now you have to remember, this is the horse who hasn't been ridden in a month, and generally has a very loud opinion on being ridden, at any gait other than walk, without contact. Seems like a good ...