Recreational Riding

Some times I forget how much fun it can be just to get on your horse and go ride with no real intention of accomplishing something.  We've recently moved, bought a new house, etc., and I have not really had a lot of time to ride Buck since we moved just because I have been so busy (moving, graduating college, work, etc.).  Today I decided it would be a good idea to go out and just ride around a bit to check things out.  I haven't found a place to actually school him but it was fun to just go on a mini trail ride.  He was a little confused I think with the lack of structure and was distracted by all the new things.

The property has 18.5 acres, most of which is wooded, but there is a field up on the back of the property, which is where I took Buck today.  It kind of blew my mind for a minute to think I actually owned this property (first home purchase!!).  It has great grass, great views, and it is so peaceful and secluded.
There are woods on the side towards the house and along another side, 2 pastures on the other sides, one with cows (Buck was amazed by them by the way... definitely not going to be introducing him to the life of a working cow horse ANY time soon!), and the other had the neighbors 3 horses which Buck liked because they kind of keep him company on the other side of the fence.

We did have a bit of an interesting ride though, pretty scenery aside.  Buck has not been rode in a couple of weeks and he was definitely "feeling his oats".  First there was the failed attempts at rearing and bucking while we were riding (I'm just lucky he hasn't realized he IS capable of bucking while I'm riding), then there were the random unintentional side passes and awkward crooked circles, and it all culminated into him wanting to run back to the barn as fast as he could.  I decided I would get off and walk him down to the barn, but when I got of he jumped backwards away from me, fell down in the process, jumped back up and ran himself back down to the barn.  Interesting is a nice way of putting it I guess.  No injuries to horse or rider... except maybe for both ending up with bruised egos.  Note to self... Buck is no longer allowed to have more than a couple of days off at any time!  Time off = wild mustang!!!

I'll Have Another... Triple Crown Please!!

Can I just say how EXCITED I am about horse racing right now!!!  Not usually a race horse groupie but today I think I've become one... not to mention I'm a sucker for big beautiful chestnuts **cough cough Buck cough cough**

This gorgeous colt was a surprise from the beginning for race fans, with a purchase price of only $35,000 the colt didn't really catch fans attention (Kentucky Derby odds made him the  15-1 long shot) but his new owner thought the colt had amazing potential.  Great judge of horses in my book!!!  After his win today in the Preakness, the colt has a lifetime earning now of $2.6 million dollars, which means he's paid for himself almost 75 times now (not including of course feeding, training, vetting, etc)!!!

So, it has been 34 years now since the last Triple Crown Winner (Affirmed in 1978) and Big Brown was the last one to come as close as I'll Have Another.  This colt ran a spectacular race at the Preakness coming back from about 3.5 lengths off the pace in 4th to over taking Bodemeister in an awesome photo finish (pictured above)!  It was epic, almost as much fun as watching the old Secretariat races (I say almost because let's face it, those are by far the BEST races ever run in the Triple Crown).

I don't know about you guys but I think I'm gonna put my money on this gorgeous colt for the Belmont.  I'm really hoping to see a Triple Crown win in my lifetime!

From Herd Bound to Herd... Less?

After some consideration and flip-flopping back and forth, I decided the only way I'm going to get anything done with Buck is to keep him by himself.  So, I put Sweetie up for sale, expecting to get poor responses.  She's 22 and I didn't really think I would actually get her sold, but surprisingly enough, a family contacted me and basically bought her the day they came and looked at her.  

Now Buck is the only horse I own and I'm feeling kinda guilty for a couple of reasons.  First, because I always feel bad about making a horse live by themselves, but Buck can't seem to keep himself together when there is another horse in the pasture.  Secondly, my mom and I have had Sweetie for over 10 years now.  I've run local barrel shows with her, National Barrel Horse Association shows (including the State and World show), I've run the intercollegiate rodeo circuit and the state rodeo circuit with her.  So now I'm feeling really bad about finding her a new home, even though the people are really nice and their 13-year-old daughter is pretty much in love with her.

Guilt aside though, I think I've solved the majority of my problem with Buck by finding Sweetie a new home.  We recently moved into a new house so the day the new family came to pick up Sweetie we moved Buck at the same time to distract him from his missing pasture mate.  It worked!  When I got him to the new house he hoped out of the trailer, walked beside me like a perfect gentleman, and acted like a complete puppy dog the entire time!  He was the horse I remembered loving when I saw him at the track, completely calm and care free.  Hopefully this new found... um.... old Buck is here to stay, it's been four days so far haha!

Rolex Day One - Dressage

Day one is over and the Top 10 standings as of today are as follows:

1st - Boyd Martin and Remington XXV with a 45.3

2nd - Karen O'Conner and Veronica with a 47.8

3rd - Andrew Nicholson and Calico Joe with a 48.7

4th - Becky Holder and Courageous Comet (My Fav) with a 48.8

5th - Doug Payne and Running Order with a 50.2

6th - Laine Ashker and Anthony Patch with a 51.0

7th - Will Coleman and Twizzel with a 51.3

8th - Marilyn Little and RF Rovano Rex with a 53.7

9th - Will Faudree and Andromaque with a 54.7

10th - James Alliston and Jumbo's Jake with a 55.0

I was kind of curious as to what happened with Jonathan Paget and Clifton Promise but then I realized they did not go until tomorrow so no worries for those in New Zealand rooting for the pair.. I'm just dumb and wasn't paying attention to the ride times :-D

Herd Bound

Today the "twins" (where you see one you see the other) went to have their feet done.  I haven't been putting shoes on them since I haven't really been riding much lately (i.e not at all) and Sweetie's feet were a hot mess.

They had an appointment at 8 o'clock this morning so I was smart and planned ahead, hooking up the truck and trailer the night before, then I realized I had forgotten to clean the trailer out after the clinic (whoops) it was dark so the cleaning would have to wait until the morning.  Today I was up at 6, fed the elephants disguised as horses (Buck eats as much as an elephant anyway) and backed the trailer down the lane along side the pasture to clean it out.  It's easier just to back it up and throw the manure over the fence out in the pasture than lugging around a wheel barrow.

At the sight of the trailer you would have thought someone had electrocuted the horses.  They left their breakfasts to go run around the pasture like a couple of wild mustangs who were seeing people for the fist time... it was ridiculous.  I was glad at that moment I got up extra early, planning ahead for silly horse behaviors.  I finished cleaning out the trailer then pulled back up and prepared it for the loading of crazy horses.

I let them act like their world was coming to an end and went inside to eat my own breakfast.  They were back up eating as if nothing had happened by the time I was done and I clipped a lead rope on Sweetie before she realized what was going on which made Buck even easier to catch since he will do anything she does (monkey see...).

Walking two horses alone is always a feet of acrobatic excellence if you ask me, especially when you have one trotting and tossing their head (Sweetie) and the other one you're practically dragging because he's lazy (Buck).  Tied Buck to the trailer, loaded Sweetie first which caused panic for a hot minute before Buck realized he was going to.  I have to say, he loaded the best I have ever had him load up with her in the trailer already.  Sweetie on the other hand, always loads well but when I put him in the trailer she struck out with one of her front legs and started doing the "mare in heat" bull (She's 22 years old!!).  I guess if I could just take them every where I needed to go with Buck together, all would be perfect in the world...

The trip to the farrier and back took maybe 45 minutes, I really wish I had found a farrier who makes house calls but he's really great and doesn't cost much ($36 to have both horses trimmed).  We played the same game as previous with getting in and back out of the trailer once we got home and then when I turned them lose in the pasture Sweetie wanted to run around and act all silly... Buck decided finishing his previously forgotten breakfast was a much better idea (I think there might be a brain in that head of his yet!).

Just silly horse moments I'm sure we have all had in common at some point in time lol!

Wow

I feel like my posts almost always have something tragic going on in them.  Today is going to be no different unfortunately.  Early this morning the eventing world lost an amazing competitor, Amy Tryon.   She died in her sleep today and as far as I can tell there has been no information out about the cause of death.

I'm sure anyone who follows eventing will remember Amy who recently competed on Poggio II (in the photo), the former race and trail horse, at the Galway Downs International Horse trials two weeks ago.  For those who do not she has also represented the United States in two Olympic Games and two World Equestrian Games, with team gold at the World Games in Jerez in 2002 and a team bronze from the Athens Olympics.  She was also named Eventing Horseman of the Year in 2006 by The Chronicle of the Horse.  Amy was also a firefighter for several years.  Besides being an amazing competitor she was also a mentor and trainer for several up and coming talented students and horses.

It is with a heavy heart we say goodbye to yet another great competitor and champion for our sport.  My thoughts and prayers go out to her friends and family through such a difficult time.

LMFAO

I really felt like this needed to be shared with those who have not come across it on YouTube yet.  This man is brilliant and I am a huge fan!  This freestyle won him the freestyle Dressage Under The Stars for 2012 by the way.