Clinic Day

I took Buck to a dressage clinic today about an hour from where we live and I just have to say, he was phenomenal during the clinic.  I didn't get any pictures or videos unfortunately (I'll explain why the camera was forgotten in a minute), the day started out horribly.

I didn't ride until 1:30pm but I wanted to make sure I got up in time to pull his mane and make him semi-sort-of presentable.  He's pasture bound now most of the time due to the lack of stalls (there's a barn but the horses can go in and out as they want right now).  It has been raining and nasty off and on all week long (yesterday was a particularly gorgeous day though, go figure).  and he was a MUDDY mess.

I woke up at 8:30, already running behind and went out to feed and work on his mane while he was eating.  It was FREEZING this morning, a whopping 45 degrees!  On top of that there was a steady rain coming down and he was a God awful muddy mess. His mane was easy it just needed a little tidying but the rest of him was pretty nasty.  I was lucky he had blankets on so his whole body wasn't covered in mud but his neck and head took a unbelievable amount of elbow grease to clean and I resorted to spraying his legs off with the hose because I was pretty sure there was no way I was going to just brush that off.

Shawn hooked the truck and trailer up and we were ready to start loading him at about 10:30, I figured he'd just get in and I could run in, change my clothes and we could go... WRONG!

I may have forgotten to mention since the accident with Dolly my mom gave me her retired barrel horse, Sweetie (21 years old) to be Buck's pasture buddy.  She was very upset he was leaving, trotting back and forth and calling out to him.  I can't wait until we get a barn where I can put her in a stall so I don't have to worry about her while we're gone.

Because she was freaking out he started freaking out and was rearing up on the end of the lead rope and would NOT get in the trailer, at this point it had gone from a steady rain to a pouring rain by the way.  He did finally get in and then started bouncing up and down and kicking in the trailer!!

I raced inside and changed my clothes, forgetting my cellphone, clinic application and coggins results (and the previously mentioned camera) in the process so when Shawn went in to change he had to grab all of it for me.  It only took him 5 to 10 minutes but it felt like forever because I stood out in the rain making sure Buck didn't do something crazy while we were waiting to leave and I was getting soaked through (next time I should remember to wear jeans and just change into my breeches once I get where I'm going!).

We finally left and everything was cake from there, Sweetie had gotten over him leaving before we even pulled out and was back to eating her breakfast and stopped calling out to him and the trailer trip went on without a hitch.

He was perfect during the clinic (Claudia Misner was teaching) and she even got him to really bend on the circle in all three gaits which we were having considerable problems with (OTTB).  I also noticed I sit kind of crooked on his back which could be due to me compensating for him being crooked (which only makes him MORE crooked) so I had to concentrate on straightening myself out.  Helped to make him A LOT straighter.  When he bent at the ribs he felt almost light and floating... it was incredible.  I can't wait to get back on him again.  I really wish I had pictures, he was working from the rear and looking amazing... I'm so excited!!  Also, it stopped raining long enough for me to get him tacked up, warmed up in the outdoor arena, through the clinic, and back in the trailer and headed home, it was amazing.  I'm so glad I didn't decide to back out because of the bad morning we were having.

Claudia was amazing and I highly recommend getting involved in one of her clinics if you should ever get the opportunity.

Barns & Clinics

So, the barn idea got scratched because the building the new house plan got scratched.  Yesterday we placed a bid on an already existing house with 7.5 acres, fenced for horses but no barn...  Hopefully we get the whole thing pretty cheap and can build a barn this summer after I graduate.

On another note, Claudia Misner clinic is this weekend and I've decided to take Buck to it on Sunday morning.  I figure even one day of getting him off the property for a while and riding some where new is good no matter what we're doing.  Hopefully I'll have some pictures and maybe even a video to post for you guys after the weekend.  Wish me luck!

Barn Plans

We have decided to build a barn!  For me this is sooooooooo exciting I just can't put it into words!!  I will show you the basic plans and then tell you how I'm going to change them to benefit, well, Buck for the most part haha!

So the first picture is the basic plan only I will be changing it some what.  I want to keep the 5 stalls on the left side since we're considering the possibilities of opening up to boarders (given that's feasible with such problems as liabilities, insurance, etc.) and lessons (kids only since I don't consider myself decent enough to teach anything but beginners and again after the considerations of liabilities).  I believe the aisle way being big enough to drive through is a great idea because I have every intention of putting hay lofts above the stalls with holes in the floor above each stall, that way you can just cut open a bale and drop hay down into the manger and not have to worry about throwing down bales, stacking, etc. 

On the right side of the barn I plan to remove the one random stall at the very end of the barn since that seems kind of silly and just making that a wash rack instead.  The storage space next to it has a roll up garage door on the outside and could be used to store a tractor or whatever else you might want.  Right next to that would be the tack room.  Which leaves me with a big open space I have not yet figured out what to do with.  Also, I'm trying to figure out where I could possibly add on an indoor arena some time in the (distant) future... maybe after I win the lottery or something.  The right side of the barn will be right up next to the drive way which goes back down to the house so it is not likely the blank space could be left as a possible connection spot for said indoor arena.  It would probably have to come down to taking out the top (well the top as far as the picture you're looking at is concerned) where one of the big sliding doors would be into the aisle way and putting the arena on that end of the barn, which would mean in order to drive through the barn you would have to drive through the arena either to go all the way through or back into the barn from the other end... I haven't really figured this part out yet but it will be a while before this matters I guess.

Obviously the roof in the basic plan is not high enough to accommodate a hay loft but my father owns a construction company and I'm sure he could help me draw up plans more specific to my ideal barn.

Finally, the other picture is what I would like my stall fronts to look like, I think those are simple enough and could be quite simple to build and set up... plus they look nice.  It should all turn out to look something similar to this:

Thoughts anyone or any good ideas you might have about making the perfect barn?  I'm so excited about the possibilities of building the barn I can't hardly wait!!!  I'm sure this idea will probably change a thousand times before we actually start building.

World Dressage Masters

They did it again!  81.383% in the Grand Prix and 83.700% in the Grand Prix Freestyle puts Steffen Peters and Ravel at the top of the 2012 World Dressage Masters in Palm Beach, FL!  I'm so glad they did it again, they are such an amazing team!  I found both videos from the Grand Prix (video 1) and Grand Prix Freestyle (video 2) should you like to watch their amazing tests :-)  Congratulations to Steffen and Ravel on another victory for the United States.

And They're Off...

Last semester of my undergraduate career started today (FINALLY)!  Upside, I think it's going to be an interesting semester and we started earlier so we can get out earlier (finals week is the first week in May).  Downside, it looks like it's going to be a rough semester with my senior research class along with all of the other projects, papers, tests, etc.  I think I'm going to do my senior research project on therapeutic riding and how it helps the kids confidence and self-esteem, I'm pretty excited about it actually.  I emailed the therapeutic riding center today to see if they needed volunteers for their spring session that way not only can I get surveys and information from the kids I could also help and watch them progress through the program.

Buck has been getting neglected the past couple of months as far as consistent riding is concerned and I was really hoping to get more riding done since spring will be here soon and I was really wanting to go to more horse shows this year, but I'm not sure if I see that happening at this point.  I'm not a big fan of riding when it's cold out (I know, I know, I need to suck it up if I'm going to actually accomplish something with Buck).  It's tough to get motivated to go outside when it's so nice and warm inside.  Maybe I should consider moving to Florida or something.

Kind of a random post I guess but it was on my mind so I figured what better to do with it than post it on here.  I really just can not wait for this semester to get over, to graduate, get a real job (hopefully a day job during the week) so I can have more time (and money) to start really focusing on Buck and competing and really make something out of this extremely talented Thoroughbred I've been blessed with.  Otherwise, I might as well put him up for sale and have him go to someone who is really going to utilize his talents and let's face it, that's NOT happening lol!

I think this semester is really going to test my time management skills and I'm a little bit freaked out about it.  Wish me luck! lol!

New Years Resolutions & Contemplations

So, it occurred to me today as I was making up the new schedule for work for the month of January, 2011 is going to be over in 4 days!  Looking back on the entire year I can't say I really have too many regrets.  Some different things I've learned this year and the resolutions to go along with them (equestrian and otherwise):



1.  There comes a time when you get tired of trying to make everyone happy and you need to make yourself happy.  A time when you're done with the drama and find that the people who are important to you are the ones who you are important to.
There is definitely no reason to put up with drama.  I guess maybe it's because I'm older than the girls I go to school with (I'm 27) but I have found several times this year that I am really over drama.  I don't want to listen to it, I don't want to deal with it, and I certainly don't want to be around people who cause it.  Between working 3 jobs and a full load of classes, my horse, and my family I do NOT have time for friends with drama issues.  This year I vow to cut as much of that out of my life as I can... I don't want friends like that.


2.  Don't bother reserving a space in your heart for people who do not make an effort to stay.
Again, I have joined a couple of different groups over the last year with people in them who claim to be my friends but when it comes down to it I don't feel like I can really count on them for anything.  So one of my resolutions this year is to cut out the people in my life who aren't really friends at all and who cause more drama than they help


3.  If you want to fly, you have to give up things that weigh you down and doing something wrong ten times is more productive than doing nothing at all.  Every success has a path of failures behind it and every failure is one step closer on the path to success.
I'm sure by now this is starting to sound like some sappy life lessons sort of post but I would like this next year to be the year I really do something with Buck.  I think he deserves it for me to take him on to shows and really make something out of him, whether I keep him and continue to progress or sell him to someone who can really make something out of him.


4.  While you're busy looking for the perfect person, you will probably miss the imperfect person who can make you perfectly happy.... Relationships must be chosen wisely, it is better to be alone than in bad company.
I have found (I guess this goes along with 1 and 2) I do not have the time or the energy anymore to put up with drama and bad friends.  Also, my husband is my best friend and we were just married in March of 2011 and I can't imagine my life without him.  No resolution here except to keep a good thing going lol!


5.  Someone will always be better looking, smarter, or charming, but they will never be you.  Be proud of who you are, your knowledge, and your skills, it's what makes you an individual.
I have a hard time with this and I have learned this year more than years in the past to just be excepting of who I am.  The people who really matter in my life do not have to be impressed all the time and those that I feel need to be impressed, are not worth having around.  I am who I am and if people can't be happy with that then there is no reason for them to be in my life.


6.  Making progress involves taking risk.  Step up to that next level test, push yourself, push your horse.  You will not know how far you and your partner can go until you make that one bold move.
2012 I am hoping will be the year Buck and I really accomplish something.  I want to start riding more with Cheryl when she gets back from Florida.  I want to start going to more events, and I want to really move him along and see what he's got.  I think there's a lot of untapped potential in him and it would be a waste for me to leave him sitting around again for another year.


7.  It is alright to fall apart for a little while.  You don't always have to pretend to be strong.  It is healthy to shed a tear and as soon as you do, the sooner you can smile again (R.I.P Dolly and Casino).
I try to be the tough one all the time but this year more than most has shown me it's alright to cry, it's even beneficial.  With the death of Casino and then Dolly last month, I have learned that getting it out helps you grieve and recover faster than if you bottle your feelings up instead.


8.  You can't take things too personally.  Rarely do people do things because of you, they usually do things because of them.
I want to stop worrying about what people think so much.  I want to stop ruminating over the mistakes I make at work or in my personal life and for goodness sakes stop taking things so personal.  I am not too bad about it anymore, but I need to realize that just because my supervisor at works tells me I messed something up, it does not mean he's going to fire me the next time I mess up.... mistakes happen and it's ok.


9.  You end up regretting the things you did not do much more than the things you did do (please see #6).
I don't know if I've learned this in the last year but definitely over my life time.  I regret not joining the Air Force, I regret not going to one University and sticking to it from the beginning... blah blah blah.   In 2012 I want to stop questioning everything all the time and be more spontaneous.  I don't mean I want to make a bunch of stupid mistakes but I want to be able to look back at my life in another 30 or 40 years and not see a bunch of things I wish I had gotten to do when I was younger.


10.  Regardless of how messy your past has been, your future is still clean.  Don't start every day with the broken pieces of yesterday.  Every day is a fresh start.  Each day is a new beginning.  Every morning you wake up is the first day of the rest of your life.  Live like you're invincible, but love like there's no tomorrow.
I think this is just a general good rule to live by.  You never know when your last day will be, but you can't live your life waiting for the other shoe to drop either.  Get on with it!  Live your life vicariously through yourself and make it exactly the way you want it to be because no one is holding you back but you.  You want to ride at Rolex some day?  Get yourself in gear and run for it!  You are only waiting on yourself...

Silver Lining

It's been hard trying to go on about everything after my disastrous weekend with Dolly.  On Monday in my stable management class the lecture was about horse slaughter, then today we had to talk about what we would do if a boarders horse died on our property (of our imaginary boarding stable we are all going to own after graduation).  That really sucked to have to listen to (so I tuned it out by reading Dressage Today behind my laptop).

So after the crappy lecture I decided to go out and see Buck who is still at New Spring at this point.  I thought I'd take advantage of the fact he's in a barn with an attached indoor arena and go ride.  He was brilliant as alway but we are having a couple of different problems I can't seem to get past.  First, I just can't seem to get him around my leg.  On a circle he feels like he's tilted into the circle, kind of like he's dropping his shoulder in, but his nose is pointed towards the outside of the circle.  No amount of pushing him off my leg or opening reins seems to make a difference and I'm kind of confused.  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  Secondly, he is LAZY!  I am constantly having to push him forward the entire time I ride him.  If I do not ride him with a whip or spurs it's almost impossible to keep him forward.  If he could get the head set right, I think he would be a fabulous western pleasure horse haha!  Not to offend any western pleasure riders out there, I definitely do not think those horses are lazy I just think his normal gaits are slow enough to be good at that.  He's got a gorgeous natural canter and a good active walk when I keep him motivated but by the time I get done riding him my legs feel like jelly.

Finally, the silver lining behind Dolly's tragedy.  I am probably not going to be buying another western riding horse any time soon since that's not really what I'm interested in doing anyway.  So I think I'm going to sell all of her tack and stuff.  With the money I get from the saddle, bridles, and other western stuff I have I am going to put in a saving account with Buck's name on it so I will have money for different horsey things I might need (such as a cross country safety vest or the broken reins that I finally replaced last week).  I never seem to have the money when I need something, this way that's no longer a problem.  Has anyone else ever done anything like that before?  Is that a little horse crazy?

Seriously?!?

I came back outside last night after the horses had been fed to take the dogs out and the pasture gate was completely torn off the hinges, it looked like someone had blown it apart with a hand grenade.  I grabbed Bentley and ran back inside and hollered at Shawn telling him the gate was gone.

I put on boots and a coat and ran back outside first towards the highway because I just assumed the worse and I was going to find them both out on the side of the road hit or something or they were just gone....
When I didn't see them out there I went back over to the gate and looked down towards the back of the pasture.  Shawn saw her before I did and started to walk in that direction.  Buck was down there with her and as we got closer I noticed she was standing funny, with all her weight in the front end and her right back leg was up, I knew this was not going to be good...

When I got down to her, her leg was broken at the ankle.  I won't go into details but needless to say there was nothing anyone could do to repair it.  She had torn up the backs of her legs, I assume she got sided up to the fence and got shocked by the electric fence and some how got her leg caught in the pasture gate (it was just a galvanized gate).  There was nothing we could do but call the vet and have him come out and put her to sleep (it took him an hour to get there though).

When the vet finally showed I grabbed Buck and walked him back up to the top of the pasture and gave him some feed to distract him while Shawn was down with Dolly and the vet.  Buck kept watching her of course and was fine for a while until she started to go down.  When she laid down he got very agitated and made the strangest low whinny, I've never heard anything like it and I hope not to again.  It sent chills down my spine and made me cry, I know he knew what was going on.  He basically dragged me all the way down to where Dolly was laying.  When we got down there he snorted really hard and flipped out and dragged me all the way back up to the top of the pasture where he proceeded to dance circles around me and holler for her.

After the vet made sure she was down we decided the best solution for Buck would be to load him up and haul him to New Spring Farm (about an hour trip with a trailer, it was almost 2 in the morning at this point).  She was going have to stay out in the pasture over night until we could get someone to come bury her or something the next day and I didn't think it was right to leave him out there with her all night long, he would have been panicking all night anyway.  I was really afraid he might go through the fence in the middle of the night and get hit on the highway.

Once he was comfortably in a stall we left the trailer at the barn and went home.  I went to bed about 4:30 this morning.  We got up this morning and spent the entire day trying to find someone to help us.  Luckily we have a great neighbor who just happened to have a huge bulldozer with a bucket on the front, he took care of everything in about a half an hour, I was so grateful.  There are few people out there who will still drop everything and help someone just because they can, I don't know how I'm going to repay him.

I feel so guilty for what happened to her and right now I feel like I'm not fit to have horses...  This has just not been the holiday break I had been hoping for.  I feel like a horrible horse parent today...

Bentley!

Porkchop got a new brother and his name is BENTLEY!  He is the cutest thing on four legs!  I finally got to pick him up last night.

My only concern was the advertisement said AKC (American Kennel Club) registered (I've shown conformation dogs in the past and thought I might like to get back into it with Corgis because I love them) and as it turns out after all the arranging to meet his current owner and paying for him, he's actually ACA (American Canine Association) registrable.  So now I guess I can't show him in AKC shows unless the AKC can prove he comes from AKC registered stock or something like that.

I went ahead and sent in his registration papers with the ACA (it was only $17) so I can get a pedigree back on him and then send in the registration papers and pedigree to AKC and see what happens.  I've never heard of the ACA before, they hold some dog shows but I'm not sure about the legitimacy of the registry itself.  I'm ready to get his registration stuff back and pedigree info to learn more about him.

On another note: I FINALLY got to take Buck and Dolly to the farrier this morning.  I had the address so I just punched it into my GPS which said it was only 20 minutes away from where I live.  I got going, went out on a 2 lane little rural route road for a ways and then ended up having to go 2 or 3 miles down a gravel road.  The GPS took me to the wrong address and the gentleman told me it was about another mile down the road.  There are a lot of Mennonite and Amish families in my area and I was pretty much right out in the middle of no where and there was no other cars just horses and buggies! 

I arrived about an hour early so I hung out and watched him and his father put shoes on a gentleman's buggy horses, a really cute Saddlebred gelding and a not too shabby Standardbred/Saddlebred mare with a quirky attitude.  He was really good with them even though the mare tried to kick out at him a couple different times and always laid her big dark ears back every time he came back to size up her feet.

Once he finished with them I unloaded my two, brought them into the shoer shed and they went right to work on their feet.  It took them maybe 15 minutes, it didn't seem like any time at all and they were done since I didn't have shoes put on this time.  Loaded the horses back up and went on home.  Total cost... $40!!  A reliable farrier at the same price as the one I never could get to show up... I'm pretty much sold on this guy!!  Needless to say I will continue to take Buck and Dolly out to him.  They're feet look great and I feel much better now that I know I have someone I can count on to take care of them.

Woo Is Me

I have been having a really rough time getting a hold of a farrier since my husband and I got married (March 2011) and we moved to our current residence.

When I was boarding Buck in Columbia life was great, the barn already had a great farrier lined up who came to the barn about once or twice a month and you could guarantee he would show up exactly like he said he would, clock work.  You just signed your name on the list, left him a check, and your horse would have pretty and perfect feet when you came back out.  It was like a trip from the hoof fairy!

Well now that I've moved I had to go searching for a farrier on my own.  Needless to say it was an almost impossible task since neither of us actually knew anyone down here, especially horse people.  So finally my father-in-law found out from his barber there was a kid who lived about 12 miles away who was a really good farrier.

The first time I called the kid he called me back a week later.  I decided I'd give him a shot anyway since I still didn't know anyone, we set something up for a couple of days later.  He then called me a half an hour before he was suppose to show up and cancelled and wanted to reschedule for the next day.  Ok fine, I'll go for that, he showed up TWO HOURS late after the reschedule.  All I needed was Buck's feet trimmed at this point, took him all of like 15 minutes and cost me $20 (heck of a deal in my opinion since my old farrier cost between $60-$100 depending on the work you needed done).  The weird thing was he then hung around for like a half an hour to forty-five minutes longer, flirting and trying to chit-chat.  I actually had to start saddling Buck (even though I hadn't planned on riding) and walking away with him before the guy finally left.

So 8 weeks later I called him again and he didn't answer, never called me back.  I called him a few more times until finally another 8 weeks went by before I finally got a call back and we set up an evening for him to come out again.  At this point I was getting annoyed with the phone tag and decide to start snooping for a new farrier again.... UGH!  Doesn't do me any good to have a nice horse with messed up feet... I started thinking maybe I needed to take up trimming his feet myself but quickly changed my mind when I remembered how picking up furniture and moving it can cause me to throw out my back!

The night he was suppose to show up this time he called (a half hour before he was suppose to show up) and left a message on my phone because I was away from it.  He stated he had something come up at home and he was wondering if it would be alright if we rescheduled for the next night, if it was not that was alright he would come on out anyway.  I didn't get to my phone until almost an hour after he was suppose to show up.  He left that message with no intentions of actually showing up that night I believe.  If it were me and the person didn't answer and hadn't called you back by the time you were suppose to meet, I would have shown up like I said I would!

I called him back and left a message letting him know I could not work it in the next night because I had to work but I wanted to know if he could come on Tuesday night instead (this phone call and situation all took place on a Thursday evening).  He NEVER called me back!!  Not until the day AFTER I wanted him to come out.

So, I am NOT calling this kid back anymore and I have found a new farrier thanks to the local saddle club (yay horse people!).  The unfortunate thing about this one is I have to load up both the horses and take them over to him.  Guess if he does a good job it will be worth the effort (except Buck is a nightmare to get in the trailer when you don't have help! Not mean just stubborn).

When Is Too Much Really Too Much?

You guys probably read my post a few weeks ago about the ad I found in the Dressage Today magazine with the picture of the horse they were asking $225,000 and I thought that was a little excessive... I now retract my previous statement and that is a heck of a deal haha!

When is too much too much to pay for a horse?  This past weekend was the 2011 Breeder's Cup Classic, a race I watch almost as tightly as the Triple Crown races.  On November 4, 2011 a cute little filly by the name of Royal Delta swept the Ladies' Classic by 2 1/2 lengths which I considered to be pretty impressive.  Anyway to make a long story short at Tuesdays Keeneland Sale, Royal Delta was the only 2011 Breeder's Cup winner to be offered at the sale.  Needless to say she blew the roof off the sale going for $8.5 million, a Keeneland record for a horse still in training.  She was purchased by Benajmin Leon's Besilu Stables and cosigned by Chanteclair Farm.

This puts Royal Delta as the 3rd highest price for a racemare or broodmare after the $10.5 million paid for Playful Act in 2007 and $9 million paid for Ashado in 2009.  Of all the horses sold the day Royal Delta went through the ring (285) 22 of these horses went for over a million dollars.

So somewhere along the way I think I got involved in the wrong end of the horse business hahaha!  Here's the video of the sale if you'd like to see what it looks like to purchase a horse for that amount of money.

Superstar Show-Jumper Dies Today

A world class competitor has died today.  Hickstead, partner of Eric Lamaze and Olympic medal winner in the 2008 Beijing Games collapsed after finishing a 13 fence course at a World Cup event of what they believe to be a heart attack.

According to one story from The Associated Press Lamaze stated they had just finished their round, knocking one rail and were circling to leave the ring when Hickstead collapsed of an apparent heart attack.  Vets tried to revive Hickstead in front of a speechless crowd at the Rolex FEI event in Verona, Italy.

After the veterinary service took Hickstead off the course the riders requested to have the competition abandoned and all held a moment of silence for Hickstead and Lamaze.

I couldn't even begin to imagine what it would be like to experience something so devastating with Buck, who I've only had for 2 years.  My heart goes out to Eric Lamaze who has been working with the 15 year old Hickstead since he was 7 years old.

I feel the equestrian world has lost a once in a lifetime horse today.  Horses with the kind of talent and willingness of Hickstead do not come around every day and I believe thanks to this horse and Eric Lamaze the show jumping world will never been the same.

R.I.P Hickstead :'(

Pan-America Games

Not sure if anyone has been following the Pan-American Games this year but the United States CLEANED UP the medals this year!

The USET received Team Golds in Dressage, Jumping and Eventing as well as Individual Golds in Jumping (Cristine McCrea on Romantovich Take) and Dressage (Steffan Peters on Weltino's Magic)!  To make it even better the teams also received individual silvers in Dressage (Heather Anderson Blitz on Paragon), Jumping (Beezie Madden on Coral Reef Via Volo), and Eventing (Hannah Burnett on Harbour Pilot).  Along with Individual Bronze medals in Dressage (Marisa Festerling on Big Tyme and Eventing (Bruce Davidson Jr. on Foxwood High)!

All in all I would say October has been an incredible month for our favorite equestrians and a HUGE congratulations goes out to every one of the participants in the Pan-American games.  No matter your placing, at the end of the day it is a great honor to be a part of any of the teams which travelled to compete at Guadalajara this year.

The U.S teams have not just done well in equestrian events but in most every event they have competed in bringing home 92 gold medals, 79 silver medals, and 65 bronze medals, putting the U.S at the top of the medal table followed by Cuba (136 total medals) and Brazil (141 total medals).

Needless to say it's been a great month for all of my favorite sports teams.... USET gold medals, St. Louis Cardinals 11th World Series win, the Kansas City Chiefs upset the San Diego Chargers, and Mizzou upset 16th ranked Texas A&M this weekend.  I'd say the U.S and Missouri have had a great October.... can't wait to see what November has to bring!

Money Pains

Everyone knows horses = money... of course for some people that means people with horses HAVE money.  As those of us who actually have horses know it actually means people with horses are BROKE! 

I don't know what hay prices are where you come from (I know Texas and Oklahoma are having it rough this year) but I just spent $400 on 100 bales of lespedeza and prairie grass bales for my two horses.  That's not going to last me the whole winter and I'll probably have to get at least another 100 before the end of the winter.  What are hay prices like where you come from and what are you feeding?

Also, I can't remember if I wrote about this earlier but Buck broke his bridle after he decided it would be fun to try and do a back flip while we were riding, not a good idea!!  So I need to replace the reins on my snaffle bridle and I haven't really found that are worth anything that are less than $50.  So if you know of any good, black reins which are not going to break the bank hook me up!

I was also planning on purchasing a double bridle at some point in the near future.  I was looking through the Dressage Extensions magazine I received in the mail yesterday and here's kind of what I noticed on that front...

Cheapest Double Bridle = $189.95 (good news it comes with handstop reins for the snaffle and plain leather reins for the curb so you don't have to spend money on that part)

Cheapest Loose Ring Bradoon = $18.95 (not sure this is what I'm going to go with I just use a loose ring on a snaffle bridle I have now and it seemed like a good choice for this purpose)

Cheapest Curb = $39.95

So with all three of these things a new double bridle is going to set me back $248.85.  Don't get me wrong, I think for a double bridle that would be a heck of a deal and honestly, the cheapest bridle in the magazine was not the one I REALLY wanted (I really like the ShowTime Weymouth Bridle with the crank caveson which is $258.95 and you still have to buy the reins separate which range from $73.95 to $109.95... totaling $332.90 to $368.90!)  Guess it's gonna be a while before I invest in that bridle.  Good thing we're a long way from those levels yet!

Finally, my riding teacher is great, I love her to death, I just wish I lived closer to her.  I have been working and getting paid every month for the chores at the barn but she's getting ready to leave for the winter and go to FL (LUCKY!).  Anyway, I want to keep riding at the barn while she's gone so the idea is to bring my horse up one night and ride and do chores that night, leave him there the next day and do chores and take him home that night.  So basically I'll do two days of chores and he'll get to spend the night up there.  Good side is the barn is awesome!  Indoor arena, outdoor jumping arena, outdoor grass dressage arena and trails and cross country course all over the property.  Pretty much if I died this place would be heaven for me haha!  Not to mention it would solve my problem with his anxiety over watching Dolly while I'm trying to get some work done with him!

My only concern is there will be no money involved, just the trade of my horses stay for the work (which it only take like 20 minutes to feed during the winter because there's only like 6 horses at the barn and the owner makes my life SO easy... it's really the easiest barn job I've ever had).  It costs about $70.00 to fill up the truck right now (gas is $3.15) and it take me it's a half of a tank to get to the barn and home again (it's about an hour away).  So I guess I wonder if the cost of driving up there is worth the pay off. 

I can't afford to board him permanently I don't think (I think $350 a month) so I drive and ride for a while and bring him home again.  I go to college in the town where her barn is so I'm driving up there and back every day anyway (although I'm driving a car that gets 32 mpg)which makes during the week would the best so I wouldn't have to burn gas going up there on the weekends.  I just don't know what to do.

Obviously my first instinct was an automatic yes because she's great and I love the barn and it's the perfect training facility for a prospering eventer. Then I started worrying about the gas money.  My husband is the most supportive person ever so he told me to do it because it does no good to have Buck if he's not going to get ridden hahaha!  He's not a trail horse and he's not a pasture pony... he needs a job!

So after this LONG post that is my money rant and worry, I just don't know what to do with myself.  Why can't I just win the lottery??? Oh right.... I have to buy a ticket first :-p

How Far

I received my latest issue of Dressage Today and there were some ads in the back for horses for sale.  Great read by the way if you're in or interested in getting involved in the FEI Junior & Young Rider Program.  It's really my favorite magazine.  Anyway, I've never noticed the ads in the back before and I was flipping through them day dreaming about which ones I would buy if I had more than $10 in my checking account. As I flipped through the pages I just happened to spot this guy thrown in there with horses anywhere from $3,500 to $60,000... $225,000!!!

My question to you is, how much would you be willing to pay for a competition horse?  How far would you go to compete international?  Honestly, if I had the money to spare, it wouldn't be beyond me to consider a horse who's purchase price fell into the 6 digit range hahaha!

Here is the link to his full ad on Equine.com, Aristo.  He is gorgeous, beautiful gaits and obviously has proven himself internationally...  If I could only win the lottery (of course you have to buy a ticket first).  So just how far would you go (given you had the financial means of course)?

Ride-Alert

I saw this nifty idea on a link posted to my Facebook by Mary King.  Ride-Alert seems to be along the same lines as On Star or Life Alert but for riders.  I tried to do some searching and I couldn't really find a lot of information so I was wondering if anyone else knew if there was something like this in the US yet?

I would say for those of you who trail ride frequently or those of you who spend a good amount of time riding alone, this could be some what helpful if you fall off your horse (excluding instances where you're unconscious and unable to call).  What do you think?

Random Thought

So I was reading one of my Dressage Today magazines earlier today and there was an article about the men in dressage.  The article is Wanted: More Men in Dressage if you're curious.

I was then thinking about all the dressage shows, or any english shows I've been to for that matter, and I think I only remember competing with one guy and he was in the junior division.   I live in the midwest, a world of rodeo, roping and western riding.  Every guy I know who rides either ropes, rodeos, or just trail rides for fun.  I don't know any who actually ride english.  Here they even make fun of the men they do see competing in english events saying it's for "sissys" or it's a "wimpy" sport... little do they know!  I'm just making an assumption but I would venture to say in other countries there are many man who compete in english events.

Anyway, it's as though you go for years in lower level dressage competitions rarely seeing men at all and then one day you get to an upper level, national or international events and suddenly  they are dominating the competition (Steffen Peters, Guenter Seidel, John Williams, etc.)!  Now granted I understand some of these men do compete in eventing but still, a lot of them are still clearing out those "blue ribbons" in dressage.

What I wanna know, does the same apply to other parts of the country?  Are your dressage or english riding competitions dominated by women or do you compete equally against both genders?

Brilliant Video!

This video gave me chills and I just had to share it!  Good job ohsoawesome12!

Season Changes and Blankets

So it's getting closer to the time of year when I have to start thinking about blanketing Buck for the winter. Now, normally it wouldn't be a big deal because he usually lives in a stall and the sheet I have for him works pretty well. Now I have moved to a place where there are no stalls, just a shed he can go in and out of with Dolly whenever he wants.

My concerns are 1) he doesn't really grow a good winter coat so he needs something pretty thick I think, 2) since he is out all the time it makes it difficult to keep him from tearing up the blanket so I need something which will hold up and 3) like most college students I am running on a limited budget so I need to find something which has 1 and 2 but is also not a ridiculous price.

Last year I had purchased a Wrangler (I think) blanket for him when he went out to the pasture during the day but sadly one of the girls who turns out turned him out in a pasture with a horse who ended up almost ripping the blanket right off of him. Needless to say I do not think it is repairable.

I'm hoping maybe some of you will have some suggestions on blankets you've tried and liked because at this point I'm not really sure which way I want to go with this.

P.S. I don't blanket Dolly because she turns into a wooly mammoth in the winter and some how always manages to get blankets off and wrapped around her no matter how many straps they have on them!

Lame!

Sorry guys! I have been REALLY lame about updating lately but my life has just gotten 100x more stressed in the last couple of weeks!

First off... School started... again... UGH! So there are classes of course, study sessions, homework... you know the deal.

Since school has started the sorority stuff has gone back into full swing as well which means meetings and what not. I'm also the Panhellenic Council Treasurer (Panhel is the governing body for the sororities) so I am dealing with all of that as well. Don't get me wrong I love it but it's just very time consuming. This week is rush so I've been very busy with all of that.

Also I got promoted at one of my jobs and since I have three jobs I have that schedule to work with as well haha.

AND somewhere in between ALLLLL of this I have to find time to ride my horse and get on here for you guys lol! I'm not making excuses I'm just letting you know what's been going on and where I've been. How come no one comments on my stuff anyway?? Let me know what you all are up to!