Jump the barrel say whaaaa?

Today, We set up the pop-up barrels and went for it. I was quite surprised at how well the BigRedHorse owned that barrel pattern. He only trotted it a few times and was already understanding what his job was. And the awesome part, he LOVES it. "Mom, can I just runnnnnn?" I find myself holding him back in between barrels.
Part of me inside is hoping that this isn't going to make him rush, even more, when doing dressage patterns. Olly rushes all the time, but he is getting pretty rushy. I decided to ride him in his boucher because I didn't think I needed much "whoa." For some reason he just doesn't respond well to that bit. He does much better with a D-ring. I don't want to use the D-ring because that is what I use for jumping and I want to keep the bits seperate. Both are french link. I knotted my reins to remind me where to grab the reins (like a 12 year old hehehe) and started out at a trot. He did AMAZING!!!! Now, I may be retarded, but I see it as...if your horse is properly "trained," meaning legs, seat, voice, collection and is trusting, he should be able to get the point. I trot in, say WHOA and bend him. Outside leg on the girth for for a bit of speed and inside leg just behind the girth to push him around. I grab my knot and keep his head and neck bent to curl him around the barrel. My BigRedHorse owned that first barrel. Lather, rinse, repeat on barrels two and three. At a trot we did awesome.

Time to try it at a canter. Again, he owned the first barrel, but the second and third were way toooooo wide. I think my left handed horse may be right handed. I don't have a video of the reverse because Husband decided to put the camera on "sports" setting and took like 300 pictures in addition to 10 videos. But! I can say that my boy did much better to the left first. We switched first barrels. To the left first. On our way to the third, he got a bit confused on which side he was suppose to approach. He ducked as if he were  going to bend it left. I had to give him some guidance, but by the time we got to it the barrel was right on his shoulder. A normal barrel horse would have knocked that shit down or plowed it over, the BigRedHorse on the other hand jumped that MoFo! A barrel is roughly three feet tall. Olly had it in the bag. He jumped that barrel with his front end and swung around with his hind and continued on. That's my jumping barrel horse!! I wish I had THAT on video. By the time out show is here on the 20th, I think Olly will be coordinated enough to run the barrels. I don't anticipate us winning anything, because we are going to be up against some horses that have been doing this all their life (Kelsey and Ben) but I do anticipate a whole bucket full of fun!

Hurricane...who??

So, all last week my friend Kelsey and I prepared the barn for Hurricane Earl. Word on the playground was that the barn floods massively since we are right across the road from the James River. Nice. So I spent most of the week tying doors shut, making sure boards were secure and storing jumps. On top of that I took all my tack home, just in case it did flood above the tack stall level. Thursday afternoon we decided to pull the horses (Olly and Ben) out and trailer them to higher ground. It took three hours to get Ben in the trailer and by that time the barn reserving the stalls for us was tired of waiting. Crappy. So, we found the highest ground out of the three paddocks and stuck them in there. Where were the other horses that are at the Ft. Eiustis barn, you ask? Well let me tell you. They decided, against my judgement, that it would be better to lock the horses in their stalls and close the barn. Yes, you read right. All the other horses were in the barn...during a hurricane...with possible flooding. I did advise (my non-professional advice) that this was the most idiotic idea yet to enter my life. Fortunately, the hurricane was the lamest hurricane I have been in and we got less rain than a thunderstorm. WIN!! All the hard work for nothing. BUT, I would rather have it that way than the other. Next time...I will do the same thing. I will pack it all up like a Cat 5 is knocking down our door and hopefully it will yield the same result.

Getting ready to leave...or so he thought.

In the paddock the morning of Hurricane Earl.

Ben

Kelsey braving non-hurricane force winds!

It was windy though...

The James River (across from the stables).

Over the past week alot has changed. Olly and I have been doing more training for the upcoming horse trials. My boys went back to school so there is plenty of time for the BigRedHorse. Monday we did a 5 mile hack with trotting and cantering sets. Tuesday I gave him the day off (to rest and tend to DOMS) and I had to stay at the school for diabetes training. Wednesday we did another 5 mile hack and fit in a few galloping sets in addition to the trotting and cantering. He seemed to recover quite well, which makes me feel better because that means I have done a great job with keeping him in shape.
Today I set up a small hunter course(all jumps at 2'6") of eight jumps. He tackled that course like a champ! He got almost all our leads. It was great.



On a side note, here is a short video of what Olly and I do on our off time :)

Practical Horseman ain't got nothin' on me!

So the other day when i was thinking up jump patterns, I set up two jumps that were about 15ft apart making an angle. The VIDEO I took was posted last week-ish. Olly did great, after a few tries he owned the turns. It helped him understand that you never knowwhat jump I will be pointing him to and that he will always have to be collected somewhat to make those turns. He owned it...not as much to the right. He must be a lefty like me ;). Anyway, I got my Practical Horseman a few days ago and I saw the "Tackle Tricky Lines" article. AWESOME! It was almost exactly the same thing I did last week. All I had to do was add one more jump. I have been wanting to try it out. Today would be a perfect day.
My friends from Savannah, Ga are in town. We were stationed with them in Hawaii a few months back. Perfect time to show off the BigRedHorse's mad skills.
I started out by setting up the jumps like they suggested in the magazine. After a few warm up jumps we gave'er a try. Nothing is too difficult for my BigRedHorse!!! He did pretty good, while trotting in. Then we decided to canter in. Not-so-much. We missed the second jump, guess that is where the whole collection comes in, huh? Back at the trot we did awesome! Next time we are gonna own it at a canter. It was so hot out that we decided to call it quits after only 4-5 tries. It was 1100 and it was already 90*. I am not complaining, I love summer. I hate winter. Here is the VIDEO from today.
On the way home MJ (my Savannah GF) hopped on and rode Olly home.

MJ and Olly

What a great rider!!!

Most of my non-horsey friends seem fearful hopping up on this 16.1h TB that just jumped 2-3ft like it was nothing. Not her. She hopped right on and rode him like it was nothing. I love it when people aren't scared of my horse. Sometimes just being fearful lets the horse know that they are in control. Olly is a great boy, but he will take advantage of anything he can. MJ would be a great equestrian. She wasn't fearful and actually had good form. A few lessons and she would be on her way. It was a short ride, but we accomplished alot. Good Boy!!!

Funky to Fearless

Yesterday Olly and I went for a 5 mile hack to the boat launch. It was a bit chilly out, but I can't resist riding my BigRedHorse.I decided to put my dressage saddle on and loose-ring french link since we wouldn't be jumping and my dressage saddle is insanely comfortable. Olly was suprisingly calm. I think he knows the difference between bits.

My spankin' stick, just in case

Aren't the clouds pretty?

On the way back from our ride, we rode in an empty corn field that has wind blown rye growing in it. He somehow worked his lip to grab a few bits...those things are like thumbs! As we cross the road to our Lane, he starts hacking and coughing. FREAK OUT!!! I jumped out of the saddle in the middle of the road and walked him across, while he was still hacking! First thought--my horse is choking! I ripped off his bridle and stood there. What the heck do you do with a choking horse?? The Heimlik?? The only thing I could do is stand there while tears streamed down my cheecks. I can't even explain how helpless I felt. After a few more hacks and nothing coming out (horses can't regergatate), he perked up and stood there looking at me like, "what's the hold up, mom?" I gave him a big hug and walked he rest of the way home (about 1/2 mi) on foot with his bridle in my hand and just the reins around his neck.

 FYI--absolutely NO EATING with a bit!!! I tell you, this horse is like one of my children. I think I cry more with him, than I do with my REAL kids! At least with my kids I can ask what's wrong.

Today our ride was smoother. I left the jumps where  they were and made up patterns, no measuring strides or angles. We would have to adjust on the fly. I could feel that he was wanting to go. The power was in my hands. Sometimes it is like he wouldn't stop even if he had barbed wire in his mouth. Instead of pulling, I decided to just talk to him and see how it goes, it half worked. I wasn't so worried about the speed as I was the collection. It is hard for him to be collected going 50mph over a 2'6" vertical. Then he starts chipping and taking long spots and knocking down rails. We did a few circles to regain composure. I think he can tell when he has the elevator on we aren't doing calm collected circles. He knows we are jumping and he likes it. He likes the speed that he can get away with. Once he started focusing on whatever I put him to, we went back at the funky-strided course that has been sitting in the "arena" for awhile. He nailed the first few jumps and as we continued to the next few he started gaining speed. I let me flatten out a bit because the next jump was a mock water jump. A tarp with ground poles. Then we had a good turn to the left and up comes the mini coop. He did a good job focusing on me, he had no clue what jump was coming next. I think he realized that he had to get his crap together and that was why I was changing my seat and legs. He collected himself and nailed that jump too.  He was listening and focusing! YEAH!! We did the course twice with a walk lap in between and then went out to our little 1/4mi trail (the one with the snake filled creek). He is usually cautious down the hill coming up to the creek, the one side is washed away and I think it just looks scary. Today....I made him trot it and take the creek without thinking first. By the time he was on it he was moving too fast down the hill to stop. He HAD to go over. And he did. It wasn't graceful by any means...but he didn't stutter and did what I asked. Good Boy! I pushed him to continue up the 3 or  4 hills at a hand gallop. At first he was feeling me out. Is she serious? I can just...run? Then I felt the power. I wish I would have had my GPS on, I would have like to see how fast we were going. At the end of the trail there is a HUGE hill.

Ok, so the pic doesn't make it look huge...but it is!

He slowed to a trot and went down. What happened to my insecure BigRedHorse? I now have this fearless and bold BigRedHorse. No complaints here! At the bottom of the hill we walked for a minute to recover and send some texts (lol) and then walked back up. At the top he was asking to run again. Okey-dokey! I let him go. He did slow to a nice canter to take the creek (which is no longer snake filled) and continued to canter up the no longer scary hill. Back at the lane I decided to call it a day. He had conqured alot today.
I am going to try to find time to go to a local show here in the next month or two and then it is on to the horse trials in the area.
Oh and one more thing...These are a pair of breeches that I got from a lady on e-Bay. They are the best! The full seat is deer skin and I even got a star embroidered on the butt...they are now apart of my sassy collection ;)

Don't mind my busted-up fingers!

H2o, Agua, Water......

This morning when I got up I checked what the weather was suppose to be. Thunderstorms again pffffft. Yesterday it was suppose to thunderstorm and all we got was a sprinkle in the late afternoon.What a joke. So I figured they would carry the weather over to today. 97% chance of thunderstorms, no specific time. I waited until noon. I looked out side and this is what I see.....

Uhhh-huhhhh. I grabbed my saddle and was out the door. I wanted to do a few new jumps before the show. I kept them low and we did them only a few times. Just as a last ditch attempt.

"ditch-water" jump

Jumping Video

After hitting the jumps a few times we went out for a hack. I had to find a new place to ride since Saturday I got yelled at by a guy that was probably half my age learning to be a farmer because I was riding in a field that looked like it was growing grass. Now, I have been paying close attention to the farmers fields because I am deathly afraid to ride in their crops. Well, I guess they all learned from the Dust Bowl decades ago, because they no longer till the soil. Missed that one. So the "grass" I saw...yeah that was actually rye. Oops! Here is the catch though, I was riding in the non-growing area. I know that sounds silly, but I really am cautious of where I ride. I never ride on land unless I ask permission first and not in crops for sure. Let me show you....

Rye Field Video

I know it looks like in the video we are heading right for the rye, but I assure you we did stop and move to the side of the road. Anyway....
So, we went back on the trail under the powerlines. I just know one day I will glow from all the powerline riding.

We crossed the snake filled creek,

At the bottom is the creek, I know it is so small the picture doesn't even recognize it...sad.

 and as we were heading to our ususal trail, I saw a road that the hunters use. I have been down there before and thought I think this comes out to the road. Let's try it. Just about this time my camera battery died. GREAT! *note sarcasm* As we are walking down this lane I see a HUGE rut from the trucks and it is filled with water. Hmmmm...this would be good xc stuff. Note to self, on the way back canter through! We walked through to make sure it was safe to canter on the way back. We went down the trail and to the road. There wan't much room on the shoulder but we kept our eyes on the look out and used the space wisely. We crossed a bridge which had NO shoulder, and suprisingly Olly kept his cool the entire time. Sometimes if there is a big truck that whizzes by he shudders a bit, but not today. Good Boy!! We went roughly 2 miles before we turned around and headed back. Remember the huge puddle? I did! We started out trotting down the lane and as we rounded the corner I asked for a canter. PIE! He cantered right through without a hiccup.

Now, you would think that I would be geting used to Olly doing the "right" thing. I really do make a big deal of him doing what he is just suppose to do. Why?? Because his self-esteem is the size of an acorn. Honestly, it took A YEAR for us to do these things. A YEAR! I love my boy, but I am ready for a struggle when it comes to new things. I guess that is something I need to get over.

We headed back to the house for some sugar cubes and a good currying. Before tacking and after untacking Olly I always curry and then brush him. As I was brushing, I noticed that his sheath was inflammed. !!!!!!!!! WTF? I didn't notice it BEFORE the ride.  How could that happen? Did I just miss it? Seriously? Either way it was there now and I had to address it. As a veterinary technician I instantly had a slew of questions pop into my brain.

Is is painful? Did it seem to affect his ride? Fever? Was he eating? What could have caused it? How do I treat it? On, and on, and on! No, I didn't notice any change in his riding, it definatly was inflammed, but it didn't seem to be warm to the touch, or warmer than normal horsey temp. And he didn't seem bothered by it. He generally doesn't like me to clean his sheath and puts a fuss when I do. Same this time as I checked around. Nothing unusual. I ran inside to do a bit of recon on the computer.
I grabbed a bucket of water to make a compress. Now I have never come across this problem. My first reaction was to call the vet, but seeing that it didn't seem to bother him, I took a breath and tried to remember what has changed that could cause this.
Hay-I recently got a round bale instead of feeding square bales. He now has  24/7 access to hay. Increased protien can cause swelling, since it is the lowest hanging area, fluids tend to gather there.
Ticks-I found 5 ticks in that "region" that I had to pluck off. Ewwwwwwww! I know that Lymes and Ehrlichia is prominant here, so I hope that we don't see anymore signs of that.
Exercise-He gets plenty of exercise, but I hadn' ridden in the past 2 days and he was standing eating himself into a hay belly.
Wouldn't ya know that those are 3 out of the top 5 problems associated with sheath swelling. The other two? Cancer and dermatitis. I did take his temp, normal, so I kinda ruled out the dermatitis for now. And I didn't see any funky looking lumps or bumps to indicate a cancerous yuck.
My main concern after finding out that he wasn't in pain was peeing. I am totally busy and hardly ever see him pee. While I was "checking" the area I made sure that the inflammation wasn't so bad that he couldn't drop and go pee. The swelling seemed to be just on the outside. It didn't appear to affect the inside. Gross, I know, but a mom has to do what a mom has to do. I debated on giving him bute. I have mixed feelings about it. I held off and am waiting to see what tomorrow holds.
I did pay more attention to his behavior while I was in the house. I can see his paddocks out of 5 of the windows. He seemed totally content with the Chincoteague by his side. Munching away at the grass and hay and defending his paddock from the goaty-goat. He doesn't like her in his space.

This weekend is the Hunter-Jumper show. I feel that Olly is in good enough shape to show. If something changes I will totally pull him out. I am keeping an eye on his nether-regions.

Riding in the Rain

Yesterday I trailered out to Brandywine Farms (where I take my lessons) and rode for the morning. There were all kinds of jumps to explore. I was hoping that the weather would actually be what was forcasted, 69* and sunny...it ended up being 60* and don't-look-up-or-you'll-drown rainy. Still, warm enough to ride. It almost reminded me of the Hawaii winters.
I was hoping that after our ride on Thursday Olly would be calmer. When I unloaded him from the trailer, he seemed ready to go. Don't get me wrong, that is one of the things I love about him, his forward (which is sometimes an understatment) movement. But as usual when I got on he was cool as a cucumber. I talked to Terri about this change in personality and she suggested that is was because when he is with the "herd" he feels comfortable and confident and when he is alone at home is is always on alert. Makes sense to me. I'll take it.
We started warming up by taking a look at EVERY fence that was in the arena. Only two looked normal. The others were eye-balled carefully. There were seven of us riding including me. Hannah, Casey, Darcy, Emily, Lindsay, Terri and I made the bunch. I love riding with all the girls. It makes it so much more fun.
It was only a few minutes until the sky opened up and we were headed to the indoor.

I love Casey in this pic! lol!!

We warmed up in the indoor for a few, trotting and cantering. And sure enough the rain stopped.


Back to the outdoor, Batman!!



After warming up we started over one crossrail, a bit of a what is that and then over. No problem. Then the line. PIE!



Moving on! We next tried the please-don't-eat-me green wall. It took a few swift kicks but he went over.



History was made. From that moment on he didn't refuse another jump. He put his trust in me. A feeling that made me smile from here to Hawaii.



We did alot of trotting in and cantering out of the jumps. Although we can canter, going over the jump versus counting strides is a big difference. We were just focusing going over new and exciting things. Strides will be later. We hit up the wall a few times and then Terri calls out "white barrels" and looks directly at me. Ummmm...I'm not going first!


Terri was confident that I was mostly the reason that my big red horse was not going over the jumps like he should. The anticipation from me was carrying over to him. No arguements there! "What you need is a packer," she suggested. O.k., remember how that went at the show...not in our favor AND it was way smaller than 2ft barrels. How can I say no, I mean, part of me was curious and wanted to try it again. This time Casey was my leader. The first time I watched her ride she was with us at the over fences show. I really think the judge had it out for our barn. I totally think she should have placed higher.

Casey and Breeze

But back to the jumping...Terri calls out "Sit, shoulders back and keep your leg on him." "Oh, and breathe!" I followed Casey and Breeze right over the barrels. HOLY CRAP! He did it! Now that was excitement. I felt like an Olympic jumper. I think that was the first time that he went over a jump without refusing it first. Sad, I know.
Next jump, blue barrels. Again, I wasn't going first. Hannah was the first off the line. She will jump anything. I wish that I was as good as she is when I was that age. One word for her...Fearless. And I still swear that she is older than 14.

Hannah and Neveah

We didn't need a packer this time, he not only went over the jump but cleared it by a mile. It would have been nice to know HOW high he was gonna jump. I had to hang on for dear life!

I didn't even get to my two-point!

At least he was calm after the jump he just cantered away, unlike one of the ponies...LUCY.
I rode Lucy at one of the barn shows, bareback. I have no idea how I did it. Darcy was hanging on for dear life, I mean not like grabbing mane or anything, but her legs were a-grippin' around those corners!! That pony would be great for an Open Jumping class, she can change a lead, cut a corner, and take a jump like nothing I have ever seen. I wish I would have gotten it on video. And Darcy...she rode her like a pro.

Darcy, ride her like you stole her!

After a few times over the barrels we called it a day. I think Olly had a great work out, two hours of jumping...he was WALKING on the trail to cool out.

Hannah and Neveah, Emily and Hailey, and Olly and I

Flower power

In my last blog it stated that my horse WOULD NOT jump the flower vertical, even though it was only 18". So this past weekend we braved the cold weather and tackled the dreaded "flower jump." I had some left over fall looking silk leaves that I used to make a festive wreath last year that would work just fine. Bright yellows, oranges and everything in between. I took them out to our "arena" and plastered them around one of the standards and along the ground rails. It was for sure to make him stop and think. Sure enough it did.It wasn't a jump yet just a canter pole with one stride to a vertical. We entered it at a trot and out of it at a canter. Easy, right? Well now to ad a crossrail (I also dropped the vertical to a crossrail). This made him think, it looked different. Before even attempting and failing I walked him up to it so he could evaluate. We even trotted around it a few. At the frist attemp he bulked but went right over. I'll take it!!! At least the forwad motion stayed forward. Now all we have to work on is the departure.