OTTB Charm

Well hello again blogland. I sort of dropped off the face of the earth there for a little while, but I did continue stalking blogs and keeping up with a lot of other people's journeys. I've been intending to come back on here for months now - so many fun things have been happening in my life & I have been super excited to sit down and write about them all, but for some reason I kept getting distracted. Finally, now is the time. My last post was about our Halloween show - approximately 8 months ago! Whoops. I guess time got away from me a little bit there. Lots has happened since then, and I'm excited to relive all of the memories through this post & then actually return to a semi-regular blogging schedule! Following the KOC Clinic & our Halloween show, we didn't have any big show plans on our radar, with it headed into winter, so we buckled down and got into a regular lesson program with Trainer C. Banner has this tendency to have a flat, long jum...

Charmer is my first straight off the racetrack horse. As such, I got him in race-fit condition. To clarify, he was not  in bad shape. He was in the condition that he was supposed to be in for the sport that he was doing at that time. Charmer was loved, treated well, and cared for. This is not whatsoever a post to say I "rescued" him or whatever. Because I didn't. If you get a horse straight off the track, you did not rescue them, you gave them a place to retire to. Charmer was in a fantastic home and his owners loved  him. Both on and off the racetrack, he was treated like a king. But that said, racehorse fit and sporthorse fit are very, very different things. Ever since the first day I got him, I was fascinated and excited to see how his body would develop as he changed disciplines. As he went from a horse that needed incredibly lean muscle to run as fast as possible, to a horse that needs thicker, different muscles to carry his body in a completely different way. Pl...

I have been so proud of how Charmer is doing these last couple of months. He just feels like he is finally learning how to horse. He is starting to learn that if I point him at a jump, I want him to go over it. Every time. When I ask him to rebalance in the canter and get off his forehand, he is finally learning how to properly respond to that. If I insist on lateral movements, he gets to work with only a few head tosses and angry moments. It blows my mind that somehow we went from this: To this: I also feel like I am learning how to rider again. During the time I have owned him, I have doubted myself innumerable times. Occasionally, I have lost faith in him. And I have often despaired that I am ruining a perfectly good horse. But somehow, in the last few months, things have begun to click. Everything feels like it is falling into place, and I love it. My own confidence is coming back. It is still not perfect, but little by little I am building on it. Now that I am...

A few weeks ago, I sat down and analyzed my goals for Charmer and I, and concluded with twelve goals for us for this upcoming year. These goals will be on their very own page for the entirety of the year, but I figured, as my first post of 2017, I might as well make a post about what I want our upcoming year to look like. 1.    Start being competitive (bringing home ribbons) at the 2'3" and 2'6" levels locally because I want a picture like this with Charmer The point of this goal is mostly for me to really take 2'3" and 2'6" classes seriously this year. I used to be serious/competitive at that height, and I would like to get that way again, and Charmer is the kind of horse that can make those heights look and feel completely insignificant.  2. Begin to play in the 2'9" and 3' classes locally I would love to get some killer pictures of just one or two rounds at 2'9"+ this year with Charmer. Even if I honestly ju...

So I have had this nagging cough for the last week or so. And anytime I try and exercise in any way, I start to basically hack up a lung. Well this is frustratingly similar to how I felt a couple years ago with pneumonia. I went to get checked out by the doctor. Luckily no pneumonia. Unluckily, its bronchitis. So yay. The doc said I'd be fine to be out in the cold, but should probably keep the exercise to a minimum to avoid an infection. Which basically means little to no riding for at least a week or so. Well what do you do when you can't ride? The answer is play with your pony on the ground and buy new pretty things. Or play with the things you recently bought. First off. Lets look at pretty, new, shiny things that my pony just NEEDED (or so I justified) Heavy weight Freestyle Weatherbeeta blanket in navy/grey. Such a great fit. Nice snap on the front. Perfect weight for the cold front we have coming in. Love the fleece lined neck. Bonus: Comes in our favorite col...

I really want to post, but its the middle of December and I have ridden my horse all of probably 4 times this month due to the weather and construction going on in our barn indoor. So instead of a recent ride post, I am going to just do a series of fun trot progression pictures. Enjoy! July 2015 August 2015 September 2015 October 2015 May 2016 June 2016 June 2016 July 2016 July 2016 August 2016 August 2016 September 2016 September 2016 September 2016 October 2016 November 2016 Sorry about the huge gap during wintertime. It was cold and I did not have a photographer. So I tried to make up for it by some doubled up photos from this year when I finally got Jayne  who takes pictures for me 24/7 and its fantastic. I also doubled up photos because I couldn't choose between some of them and I couldn't leave out any of my favorite pictures!