From the Horse's Mouth

Reformation: My Year In Photos 

This has been a huge year for me! I have a new job, and I like it much better than my old one. I used to be a racehorse. Now I'm an eventer! This is what I've been up to in the past year. 

Mom took me cross country schooling 

I was a little over exuberant about it 

We rocked my MidAtlantic Horse Rescue saddle pad 

We had our first event. Here I am doing Intro B 

Hiatus

Well then. I've been gone a long time, right? So the last post had George and I taking a show jumping lesson with Sally Cousins. Rockstar status achieved. 

Since then, George competed at a recognized horse trial at BN level, went Novice at Burgundy Hollow and at a combined test at Bucks, then had Lyme disease. After he felt much much better, he headed off to Olivia Steidle at Travelda Farm for dressage boot camp. He's still there and rocking it! 

As for Reffy and I, I thought about selling him, then decided not to, then broke my leg (not riding), then came back and had a slow season, took some lessons, went cross country schooling for real for the first time, and FINALLY went to our first horse trial at Burgundy Hollow last spring (May 2015). And he killed it. Then he went to another one. And killed it. The dollar horse I almost gave up on has turned into a legit eventer. 

Oh hey there dressage pony

Jump the jumps!

 

Yeah. So wow. Reffyroo is the wonder pony. 

We started this spring with a CT and some cross country schooling at BCHP. He finished 7th in his Elementary division cuz mom had the brake pedal halfway down his whole stadium round. Cue all the time faults. 😑

But look at the big thing he jumped! 

This weekend we go Beginner Novice at Burgundy Hollow. Mom will not eff up the dressage test and will canter all the jump courses. Cuz we're real eventers now. Aiming for his first recognized in the fall of all goes to plan. Stay tuned!! 

 

Lesson video!

http://youtu.be/GIfnJGMdvsQ 

Hopefully that works. 2 stride to 3 stride. Both of which George has never done. Thanks Chelsea!

Lessons with Sally Cousins

Friday, George and I took a show jumping lesson with the amazing Sally Cousins. Megan and I drove an hour and a half to Pine Grove then another hour south to Walnut Hill Farm in Manheim for a lesson with a 4* rider. It was a very long drive, but it was absolutely worth it. 

  We warmed up during the end of the previous lesson, to Sally's surprise, George the half draft had a fabulous canter, and was not as green over fences as I had made him out to be.

 Things I learned from my lesson::

1: Anticipate the possibilities. If your jump is along a wood line, your horse will run out away from it. Figure out the most likely problem and prepare for it. He's a big horse. Once he makes up his mind, you can't stop his decision. You must plan for all possibilities and hope you make the correct choice. 

2: Don't be afraid to go wide with your hands. A green horse is much easier to direct with wide hands and its easier to prevent runouts. 

         Photo credit Chelsea Larson

George getting well deserved pats for his super performance in his lesson.  

George Goes To Bucks County

A little behind on the posting again, but I was waiting for a certain someone to edit and post photos from the schooling trial George and I completed at BCHP. It's no fun to have posts without photos! (still waiting.... BOYFRIEND!) I only have one at the moment, so you readers will have to be satisfied with that until I can get my greedy little hands on more. 

      Photo credit Jeremy Benfield

That was a lovely snapshot from George's dressage test that had us tied for first in BN. Woohoo! It was a super steady and obedient test. WAY better than the fiasco at Burgundy Hollow. 

The rest of the day was a little hairy. We had one stop and a time fault in stadium, followed by 3 refusals and time XC. Bummer. Dropped us all the way down to last place. Well, second to last, someone was eliminated. Lol. I was a little disappointed, but can't really blame George. He's still very green over fences and tends to get distracted by the jump judges on XC, then is surprised when there is a jump in front of him he wasn't expecting. Whoops! 

Which brings me to the next bit of news. George and I will be having a show jumping lesson this Friday, the 13th, with the one and only Sally Cousins!!!!! I'm very excited and reasonably nervous even though we're still a few days away. Fingers crossed I don't make an @$$ out of myself. I've not done much riding this month and haven't jumped since the trial... This should be interesting!

Boo boo Updates

It's been a long, slow month of stall rest, bandage changes, and hand grazing. His stifle wound is pretty much non existent, with a little nubbin of flesh that didn't fall off with the rest of the flap. 

WARNING!! Booboo pictures ahead!

   Day of injury to about 3 weeks after

Looks pretty good, right? The one on his hock has taken a bit longer to look decent. He likes to lay down and/or roll EVERY SINGLE DAY and tends to slip his bandage. 

           Pictures up until last week

He's been chilling without a bandage during the day to encourage scabbing and more healing. The vet comes out on Thursday and will hopefully give us the go ahead to start back to work. I can't wait to get back in the saddle! We've lost so much time due to injuries since I adopted him. But you know what they say, best laid plans... Boo. Here's to a better future!

Don't Ever Tell Your Horse....

That he's about to go back to work. Let him be oblivious. Cuz you know what happens when you tell him? He goes out in his pasture and does this::: 

Warning: if you are grossed out by wounds and/or blood, you probably shouldn't read any further

And this::::

Which looks like this after the vet cuts off the skin flap

Awesome, right? He managed to wound himself on two major joints. The vet flushed his stifle to make sure he hadn't punctured or otherwise damaged the joint capsule. Everything was clear, so fingers crossed it stays that way. Looks like a whole lot of boo boo scrubbing in my future. Darn dollar horse is EXPENSIVE.