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Monday, April 18, 2011
lewie in his new trailer
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Friday, April 15, 2011
the one who started it all
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Wednesday, April 13, 2011
the new arrival!
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Monday, April 4, 2011
A Weekend Review
So, my well planned eventing schedule recently got slightly altered. After two weeks of torrential rain and not being able to jump I made the decision to not to go to FENCE horse trials this past weekend. I fretted over the decision but ultimately felt that I would really kick myself if I took Tia up there and we had an error that could have been prevented if I had only been more patient. Tia does best when she can see jumps and/or small xc each week. She is definetly of the mentality "out of sight, out of mind" so if you don't school for several weeks and then take her out, it takes a while to get the wheels rolling again.
Once I cancelled my entry to FENCE, I scheduled a show jump lesson for Saturday with my neighbors at Hadland Farm, Trina Green and Dustin Hall. Then, Elaine has an opening Sunday for a dressage lesson and I arranged to meet up with Trina and Dustin for us all to do some light xc schooling. What a fun weekend! Trina and Dustin are hands down the most amazing people to jump with. Tia really responds to their training theory and we always come away from those works feeling like a million bucks. I haven't seen Elaine in a few weeks since I have been showing so much. First thing, we reviewed my dressage tests from this year's shows and discussed a game plan for future tests. Elaine and I both agree that Tia must go more forward in her tests but she also has to be soft and hold her own body. Well, and hour and a half later I think we were beginning ot get it, LOL....I finished on a good note with her then quickly switched tack to meet Trina and Dustin on the xc field.
Trina was schooling a TB mare that I am going to event for them to sell. For the last several months she has been babysitting an adult ammie so Trina wanted to let her have some fun on xc. This mare is a saint! Lovely mover, super form and a jump as smooth as silk. I'm really looking forward to showing her so stayed tuned for more updates on her. Tia and I popped over some basic xc jumps, water, ditch, bank, etc. She felt like a rock star! I LOVE riding her and am so excited about her future as she is so game.
I will be jumping once more later this week and on Friday, packing up to head to Chattahoochee Hills. I have never been there but hear it is gorgeous. I remember back in the day when the original Bouckhart farm was running, North Georgia. That was THE course to go too and if you could jump around that xc, you earned some serious respect. Overall, I couldn't be happier than with the way Tia is training this season. Sure, her dressage needs more work but that is a never ending process that will continue to be finessed. Until next time, kick on!
Once I cancelled my entry to FENCE, I scheduled a show jump lesson for Saturday with my neighbors at Hadland Farm, Trina Green and Dustin Hall. Then, Elaine has an opening Sunday for a dressage lesson and I arranged to meet up with Trina and Dustin for us all to do some light xc schooling. What a fun weekend! Trina and Dustin are hands down the most amazing people to jump with. Tia really responds to their training theory and we always come away from those works feeling like a million bucks. I haven't seen Elaine in a few weeks since I have been showing so much. First thing, we reviewed my dressage tests from this year's shows and discussed a game plan for future tests. Elaine and I both agree that Tia must go more forward in her tests but she also has to be soft and hold her own body. Well, and hour and a half later I think we were beginning ot get it, LOL....I finished on a good note with her then quickly switched tack to meet Trina and Dustin on the xc field.
Trina was schooling a TB mare that I am going to event for them to sell. For the last several months she has been babysitting an adult ammie so Trina wanted to let her have some fun on xc. This mare is a saint! Lovely mover, super form and a jump as smooth as silk. I'm really looking forward to showing her so stayed tuned for more updates on her. Tia and I popped over some basic xc jumps, water, ditch, bank, etc. She felt like a rock star! I LOVE riding her and am so excited about her future as she is so game.
I will be jumping once more later this week and on Friday, packing up to head to Chattahoochee Hills. I have never been there but hear it is gorgeous. I remember back in the day when the original Bouckhart farm was running, North Georgia. That was THE course to go too and if you could jump around that xc, you earned some serious respect. Overall, I couldn't be happier than with the way Tia is training this season. Sure, her dressage needs more work but that is a never ending process that will continue to be finessed. Until next time, kick on!
Friday, March 11, 2011
kickoff to spring show season
How is it that the hours in the day can go by so slowly yet the week is gone before you know it? I think it may be some type of time warp....I keep intending to sent down and write more then the time gets away from me. Here is a quick rehash of the winter and 2011 plans for Tia and I.
Tia had most of the fall off as I was working with my hubby to get the renovations done on our new house so we could move in. With that accomplished, the day after Christmas Tia went back to work. I set down before the new year to set some concrete personal goals for myself as a horsewoman as well as for Tia. Since Tia is my primary focus and my own horse, I tend to put a lot of pressure on us to get to the "next step". The basic 2+2=4, "one step in front of the other" principle. However, some daysTia tends to think that 2+2=5 or 8..or 100! She is not the most linear thinker so instead of "one step in front of the other", we may go left, right or even backwords before progressing forward. Tia is extremely bright and wants to please but she has her own way of learning that I have come to respect. One of my main goals this year has been to really evaluate what is going on at that moment, not what I expect should be happening.
Tia's first show of the 2011 year, was last weekend at Sporting Days. Overall, it was a success and I came away very pleased with our kick off to the season. We had solid dressage score and I was very pleased about how much Tia allowed me to "ride" her in the test, she was very workable. SJ warmup was a bit of a mad house with a horses going every direction and rain. We had one rail due to Tia getting a bit too nonchalent about the 3rd fence. I was all psyched to run XC but when the rain started flowing I asked riders coming off the course about the footing and was informed that the take off spots and the hills were getting slick. Normally, no big deal with some studs but Tia didn't even have back shoes! I pull her back shoes in the winter for as long as I can. She isn't really fond of back shoes and they can make her tight in her hamstrings and back if not watched carefully. I did not want to risk Tia slipping and losing confidence on the first course of the year so I decided to scratch XC and call it a day. Instead, on Sunday we went to the Gibbes farm down the road in St. Matthews to hop over some XC fences. Every time I go to that farm I am like a kid in a candy store, they have so many jumps! I love that they now have the big dirt mounds you can play with. They are so simple but so effective for teaching horses to drop their neck and lift their back as well as majorely building up muscle. We had a great time playing and got some company from the Gibbes dog pack that consisted of a lab, three golden retrievers and a great dane whose head came up to mine!
The rest of this week has gone well with all the equipment from last weekend finally dried out, cleaned and conditioned to be ready for Full Gallop this weekend. Chris, my farrier, came yesterday and put new shoes all around on Tia with stud holes so we are good to go no matter what the weather is. Dressage is at 9:28am tomorrow morning and XC at 3:36pm with SJ Sunday morning about 10am. Full Gallop always feels like my second home, I've spent so much time there, I am looking forward to a very fun weekend!
Tia had most of the fall off as I was working with my hubby to get the renovations done on our new house so we could move in. With that accomplished, the day after Christmas Tia went back to work. I set down before the new year to set some concrete personal goals for myself as a horsewoman as well as for Tia. Since Tia is my primary focus and my own horse, I tend to put a lot of pressure on us to get to the "next step". The basic 2+2=4, "one step in front of the other" principle. However, some daysTia tends to think that 2+2=5 or 8..or 100! She is not the most linear thinker so instead of "one step in front of the other", we may go left, right or even backwords before progressing forward. Tia is extremely bright and wants to please but she has her own way of learning that I have come to respect. One of my main goals this year has been to really evaluate what is going on at that moment, not what I expect should be happening.
Tia's first show of the 2011 year, was last weekend at Sporting Days. Overall, it was a success and I came away very pleased with our kick off to the season. We had solid dressage score and I was very pleased about how much Tia allowed me to "ride" her in the test, she was very workable. SJ warmup was a bit of a mad house with a horses going every direction and rain. We had one rail due to Tia getting a bit too nonchalent about the 3rd fence. I was all psyched to run XC but when the rain started flowing I asked riders coming off the course about the footing and was informed that the take off spots and the hills were getting slick. Normally, no big deal with some studs but Tia didn't even have back shoes! I pull her back shoes in the winter for as long as I can. She isn't really fond of back shoes and they can make her tight in her hamstrings and back if not watched carefully. I did not want to risk Tia slipping and losing confidence on the first course of the year so I decided to scratch XC and call it a day. Instead, on Sunday we went to the Gibbes farm down the road in St. Matthews to hop over some XC fences. Every time I go to that farm I am like a kid in a candy store, they have so many jumps! I love that they now have the big dirt mounds you can play with. They are so simple but so effective for teaching horses to drop their neck and lift their back as well as majorely building up muscle. We had a great time playing and got some company from the Gibbes dog pack that consisted of a lab, three golden retrievers and a great dane whose head came up to mine!
The rest of this week has gone well with all the equipment from last weekend finally dried out, cleaned and conditioned to be ready for Full Gallop this weekend. Chris, my farrier, came yesterday and put new shoes all around on Tia with stud holes so we are good to go no matter what the weather is. Dressage is at 9:28am tomorrow morning and XC at 3:36pm with SJ Sunday morning about 10am. Full Gallop always feels like my second home, I've spent so much time there, I am looking forward to a very fun weekend!
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