Hiatus

It’s been awhile. A long while. I’m currently less than a month away from graduating and I’m incredibly excited about it. I also found out today that I’ve been accepted into the MAT program at MECA. That was very exciting to find out after my admissions counselor forgot what a worry wort that I am and scared the crap out of me by asking me to come in to talk to her. Unfortunately I ended up having to withdraw from the art history minor program. With everything that happened and my mental state I couldn’t pull it together and write the thesis. Eventually I want to write the paper on my own and surprise my professor. I have a genuine love of art history the timing just didn’t work out. I’ve been riding as much as possible and actually started taking lessons up in Maine. I found the barn in Maine from auditing a Boyd Martin clinic over Thanksgiving break.

Boyd Martin and I

Raven, the super cute OTTB (go figure) mare I ride in Maine

Winter break was wonderful and Pi and I managed to ride a five bounce line right towards the end of break. Sadly Pi did something stupid (playing the black stallion again) and reinjured his stifle. Amanda and I are just starting to bring him back and this past week he entered back into full flat work. I was naughty and popped him over a couple of small fences and he rewarded me with trotting to the jumps and being sane about the whole experience while still being eager to jump.

riding in the first blizzard of the season in December

Over spring break Bonnie and her husband went to visit Pi’s real mom in Utah so I took care of Seventh Heaven for the week they were away. Pi managed to be a giant ding-bat and ate a six inch long metal and plastic twist tie. the resulted in me getting up every two hours and making him get up to check his gut sounds (whole new levels of intimacy were reached…) and rectum for any signs of distress or perforation- luckily he’s fine and I slept well the following night.

Pi is lucky that he’s too cute to hate

My thesis is pulling together and in a week or two everything will be neatly tied up with a bow and ready to install. We received our installation zone assignments and I have just about no clue of how I’m going to fit my work onto the teeny tiny wall that I was given. Its a conundrum I’m hoping my professor will help me figure out, but in all seriousness, its going to take a minor miracle to make it work.

Pi and I this past Easter weekend

New Directions

The last couple of weeks have been rough. It feels as if it’s been a constant up and down with few highs and a lot of lows. I’ve been redirecting in my work and the transition hasn’t exactly helped everything else. We had critique last week and while it certainly wasn’t my worst critique it certainly also wasn’t in my top ten. I have a new plan in the works that is uncomfortable in terms of design but being uncomfortable is a good thing for growth in terms of art. I have to take risks in order to make work that’s exciting for myself and just in general.

Taking risks is a part of life. Even if it isn’t making a piece of jewelry taking risks is a part of life. Risks allow us to take chances and to grow as individuals. It terrifies me to take chances and risks. I’ll be very honest; I’m afraid of failing and disappointing everyone around me. It takes so much to create at the level that the people around me and I constantly measure myself to their levels of excellence. I know that I need to not compare myself to others and I need to only try to better myself, however it’s hard. Either way I’m pushing myself hard for this next piece, and hopefully it’ll pay off and I won’t fall on my face.

The week before last I went home and had toe surgery. No one told me that sports and multiple years of musicals would result in multiple ingrown toenails that needed multiple surgeries to correct them. I had one toe fixed two years ago and the other one I obviously just had fixed. Of course being the nut that I am and despite limping and being in pain I bandaged up my toe and went to see Pi.

I’m obviously a horse crazy nut who doesn’t put myself before a chance to ride

With everything that I feel and with the emotional rollercoaster I’ve been on with school, and well- life, the stability that I feel the instant I step onto Seventh Heaven reassures every bit of me that wants to spend my life with horses in any way possible. Pirate and everything else at the farm represents a tangible sacredness of the bond and importance of the horse, the people involved in my life with the horses. The feeling that I have with this part of my life is a feeling of centered calm and collectedness. The way that Pi trusts me and has no judgement of me other than who I am in that moment is an instant confidence boost. I feel like I can’t quite describe everything I feel in those moments that are so precious to me, it’s simply cathartic.

Pi drying off a bit before our ride

Pi was of course a gem as per usual. He was super sweet in the field and we managed to get into the barn aisle without getting too wet in the rain. We did our usual warm up of walking and trotting and somehow I got it into my head that I needed to work on my independent seat and hands so we spent the majority of our time working in the trot and sitting trot. Pi tends to tense and stick his head up the air like a mule but after lots of circling, half halting and pushing him from behind he began to stretch and make nice contact on the bit. I even managed to stop feeling like a sack of potatoes and we spent a good amount of time with a very nice trot with no bounces. We had to share the indoor with some other people as it was pouring, and I don’t ride in the rain unless I have to because I’m a weenie, so I couldn’t work the long diagonal direction changes. I did manage to work some canter transitions. Pi was nice and moved up well and came down from the canter smoothly. He was a bit trippy at the beginning as the farrier was changed and he’s transitioning the shape of Pi’s feet to help him balance better. We moved together nicely and we were able to push deeply and balanced into the corners. After our ride he was super sweet and gobbled up the apples I brought him. I got to spend some time helping Bonnie with some barn chores which I also love to do. I hated having to leave him and having to go back to school. However, I’m so close to graduating and this degree is for me and not for anyone else so I owe it to myself to get the degree.

yes, we’re adorable; and yes, Pi did in fact switch the side his head was on because he’s a ham

Kindness

Kindness is something that comes from many places and is so important. Kindness tempers even the worst of things and gives something much more important gain a foothold- hope. I try to practice kindness in my life and to the people, animals and other things around me. I feel better being kind and feel more whole. With all of the negativity going on in the world I so desperately want to try and level out the overwhelming amount of sad and horrible things that happen. I’m not naive in thinking that I can wave a wand of happiness and solve everything, but if I can make someone’s day better than I can hope that they’ll pass along some of the same kindness I showed them. Practicing kindness also creates a strong web of people who care about you and practice kindness back and I’ve been experiencing this lately. So much kindness and compassion has been flowing my way from the people around me as I try to heal and move on all while tackling school and life, and quite frankly it amazes me. I feel so lucky and blessed to be the recipient of these wonderful people’s positivity and I can’t help but try to be positive in return. I’m aware of just how sappy this all sounds, however, I’m just incredibly grateful and it makes me want to keep trying my hardest to practice kindness.

This past weekend I went home to help Amanda with the last trials of the year. We went to Hitching Post Farm’s fall schooling trials and had a very rainy blast. The younger girls at Seventh Heaven are like the little sisters I always wanted but could never convince my younger brother, Collin, to be. I can’t help but smile and laugh around them and just enjoy the world from the view of a preteen again, albeit some very mature preteens. Watching these families and reveling in what some of the best parts of my childhood revolved around, and lets be honest all of my life still does, makes me want to give the same experience to the kids I might someday have. They’ll work for it like I did, but they’ll be such better people for having horses in their life. I mean what other group of preteens would you trust with thousands of dollars worth of equipment and 1200lb animals to get it together and trust them to pilot these large and very powerful animals? I wouldn’t trust a lot of the “normal” preteens but horse kids are definitely different. I digress; the weekend was great. Violet and Sofia competed in Junior Grasshopper and had a blast. Violet tied for third in the class on Packy after the three rounds. Sofia was just awesome in general. Mac was so full of beans for everyone (her mom and I had all we could do to get his bridle fully on him and we know what we’re doing) and Sofia handled it like a champ. Mac knocked them out of contention with a glorious buck during dressage but they put in a double clear for cross country and stadium.

Violet and Packy rocking cross country at the Hitching Post Farm trials

Kristin brought Moon along for the Junior Grasshopper as well. The two have become such a lovely pair and have made huge strides this summer as a team. Moon got a bit ancy during dressage and bolted out of the arena eliminating them, but Kristin went and finished her test and put a smile on. The great part about schooling trials is that they’re for schooling and they let you compete on even if you’ve been eliminated. I love that we live in such a supportive teaching and learning community where everyone encourages each other to grow. So Kristin despite being eliminated was allowed to continue for cross country and stadium. Kristin and Moon looked so natural on cross country! They jumped everything smoothly, calmly and cleanly and really showed everyone how it was done on the Grasshopper course. In stadium they went clear with a couple of distracted moments.

Lea made the big step up into the Open Novice class. In the world of eventing it scales from the bottom being grasshopper, then beginner novice, novice, training level, preliminary, and finally advanced which spills into the realms of CCI * events and is usually associated with professionals and the olympic level. The step from beginner novice into novice is an exciting one and Lea and Tie were more than ready to move up. They’ve worked incredibly hard since Lea got Tie and have made huge strides. Lea is only twelve and she rides with the poise of someone older and she’s definitely a better rider than I am. In dressage they did very well and got a stellar 29.1 (the scoring is like golf- low is good) for their test; someone else just got a 19 which is a wicked score. In cross country they had some minor slipping as it had been pouring all day and Tie doesn’t have studs on his shoes. Despite the terrain and conditions they went over the obstacles nicely. The jumps are also closer to three feet tall and a foot wide so it takes skill to navigate them.

 

heading down to dressage

Lea and Tie all decked out in blue!

one of the “smaller” jumps on the course

Despite the weather being rainy and rather dour all weekend I had a great time. I truly enjoy spending time with my barn family even if I’m chasing after girls on ponies to check their girths rather than riding myself. I did sneak in a couple of rides with Pi and it was exactly what I needed.

Pirate and Mac have definitely been in cahoots because Pi was just as full of beans as Mac was, although Pi has had nearly a month off from work so I expected the beans to be brimming from his bonnet. He was full of energy but nice and stretchy as we worked on lengthening his trot and really using his big butt for our propulsion. I also jumped him a bit on some small cross rails and he was stellar. The summer of working really hard to make him more comfortable and confident has begun to pay dividends, he went over the cross rails a bit eagerly but was calm enough to trot them which is huge for him.

someone is so fuzzy he gets soaked with sweat and takes forever to cool down

On Friday night I helped everyone pack and we shipped Packy and Mac up to Hitching Post so the next day would be much smoother as the girls had eight o’clock dressage times. While Amanda trailered them up and did prepr work with them I stayed back to keep an eye on Kristin and Lea and also so I could ride. Pi has his winter coat so in addition to him normally being a big sweater he has a fuzzy coat on now so he gets soaked in sweat even faster and takes even longer to cool down. We did some canter work on Friday and some small jumps. While he took forever and a day to cool out I managed to re-pull his mane which was looking a bit long. I know he’s back into swamp monster mode but when someone half leases him or I’m back for breaks it makes everything so much easier than letting it all go and having to start from scratch. Lea and Kristin are much more independent with their braiding and packing so I was able to putz more and help when needed much to Pirate’s dismay; he did manage to get quite a few apples out of the deal.

the “swamp monster”

Pi and I

Today I rode him one last time before driving back up to Portland and school. We successfully did a figure eight jumping pattern complete with lead changes (not flying leads but he actually was calm enough to trot in-between jumps and picked up the correct canter lead after the jumps) and having to listen. It was exciting and it makes me want to start scheming for next summer. Pirate also showed his meddle today as I asked him to do a lap around the hay field without any wingmen. For Pi it was another moment of hard work paying off and him trusting in me that I wouldn’t let him get eaten by anything scary, like a tree… what can I say, he’s still a big weeny. He got a bit antsy and we may or may not have blasted up the driveway at his speed and not mine but he stopped eventually and we didn’t run into anything and I stayed firmly put on his back. Afterwards we played a bit of chase on the ground as he cooled off in his cooler. It’s always important to me that we work on the ground and that he leads well and listens to me on the ground. A couple of apples even motivated Pi to trot briefly after me. I’m truly lucky to be able to have access to such a great place and to Pi, who despite being a giant hot mess is an amazing horse, just a little uncoordinated. He’s so much more than just a horse and is my partner in learning so much about horses and in learning to ride, I feel like I’ve improved so much this year and yet I’m still so far from knowing anything. I’m just lucky to be where I am even if Pirate is a 1200lb goober.

his eyes are always wonderfully expressive

oh and here’s a little gem of Pi returning to his swamp monster roots today after our ride:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0ZlSmEBvjI

oh and happy twenty third wedding anniversary to my parents

 

 

Midterm Oh Me Oh My

Well folks its midterm here at school and for once I don’t feel like I’m floundering. Check back with me in twenty four hours to see if I feel the same way. However, I feel the most prepared for midterms in a very long time. I’ve been making work that it out of my comfort zone but still feels natural; and dare I even say it- exciting. It’s been such a long time since I’ve been excited with metals and it’s a nice thing to feel again. I’ve also submitted a piece for the MECA Collect Sale. It’s another new piece that I’m also fond of. On one hand I want it to sell, but on the other I want to get it back to keep as my own.

horsehair, sterling silver and freshwater pearls

I’ve just finalized my plans to go home for an event to help out with the girls. I’m super excited to get back in the barn even if I’m not the one competing. I’ll admit that I’ve been dying to try out the new tail braiding technique that I saw recently. It also helps that I’ll be able to get a ride or two in on Pi while I’m home. I can’t wait to see my giant goober. It’ll also be great to go and cheer on some of the girls who I’ve become very fond of during the summer.

It’s also turned to autumn in New England. Autumn is my favorite time of the year. The air is crisp and cool without freezing everything. Being a Vermonter the leaves turning colors also illicit a pure feeling of exhilarating joy. The forests look as if they’re ablaze and alive with colors. While Maine has quite a few trees Portland doesn’t have nearly enough for me. I have to go home for Halloween to have surgery on a toe (a souvenir of the musicals I did in High School and the character shoes that hurt my feet). It’ll be nice to go home for another weekend to actually see my family.

First Day and a Contusion

So I’m currently typing this with one hand. I’m afraid that on Friday I took a tumble off of Pi and didn’t tuck & roll like I should’ve. Sadly instead of falling correctly I stuck my hand out to break my fall (of course my bad wrist) and managed to give myself at least a contusion (basically a big bruise); because of the swelling we won’t difinitively know that I haven’t fractured subtly for over a week. I surprised everyone in the ER when the X-rays came back without a fracture. Luckily I was wearing my helmet (#mindyourmelon) as I always do and my protective vest, as I do when I’m planning on doing something other than flatwork with Pirate, so the rest of me was/is completely fine.

The rest of my week hasn’t been as adventful as my Friday was although it has been pretty stellar. Staff orientation for the summer program I’m coordinating at has rocked. I’ll admit that at first I was a bit hesitant of the staff but after spending a solid week with them I can honestly say that I’m excited for the season to start on Monday. We spent friday at a cool training session in Keene with a guy that goes around training summer staff. After attending his session we went back to our facility (admittedly after an ice cream and game pitstop) to finish up our preparations for this next Monday.

Pirate has been a bit nutty and we’re working on changing his bit to something with a little bit more poll pressure to just make him a bit more aware when I ask him to slow or to pay attention a bit. He has also been jumping like a champ when I work him alone. We’ve been playing more and more with jumps and so far he’s just said no to jumping our smaller roll-top jump. This past Friday I helped to plan and throw a barn shower for Amanda, she’s due in July and I couldn’t think of any better way to celebrate her and her family more than showing our love for them as a barn family. I got a bit sneaky and completely surprised her with the shindig.

After Amanda’s shindig a couple of us saddled up and went out on the trail. let me tell you- I had a complete blast! Pirate did really well and even jumped a small log on the trail. We saw some porcupines on the trail which we promptly avoided. I’ve realized that I’ve become good friends with some of the younger girls at the barn and I adore it. I love being more young with them and being a role model with them (although not so much in my falling technique). I’ll sorely miss them once I’m back in Portland for my senior year. Once we finished our trail loop we had an amazing cante through a hay field and through all of the wild flowers. We went to the cross country field to try some field work and at that point Pi was getting a bit worked up. He gets fussy after a while of not working in the arena and this time was no exception. He started getting really uppity and after trying to jump him over a log, like I said earlier, I fell off of him. Luckily the owner of the farm is a nurse and she was home. My parents came to get me and we went off to the ER after I got back up on him and after one of the people I was trail riding with gave him a bit of a “the buck stops here” workout in the arena.

Saturday I was exhausted from the entire experience and from the ER so I just slept the day away. Sunday after cleaning up around the house a bit my mother and I went to the barn to give some ponies TLC. Pirate of course loves to be pampered and my mom spent some time with Debon, an old hunter mare that has been retired, grooming off the layers of grime and just giving her some loving. Debon was a hunter mare that ended up in a not so great place and luckily her owner (who had thought she’d been being cared for properly while she was gone) brought her to the barn to be brought back to her former glory. Debon’s since been retired and now doesn’t get much TLC as she isn’t a lesson horse. At least until today; my mom says that she doesn’t want to turn back into a barn mom but I think that just giving Debon attention is rewarding to her and it’s satisfying to watch something scraggly turn into a pretty and sleek thoroughbred again.

Today  Pi and I had our first ride since my tumble. I know it was only Friday that I tumbled, however I needed to get back on and really ride more than the little laps I had done the day I fell. Well we really rode today, and happily I mean that in a good way. I switched bits on Pi to try and give him a little bit more poll pressure to say “hello!” to him when he gets a bit excited. It seems to be working and we warmed up smoothly and even did a little canter work to try and settle him a bit about the whole thing. After we warmed up we jumped over a few fences that are slowly getting larger as he and I work together on jumping. So far my favorite jump to jump, other than a log, is an oxer. I’m a sucker for the extended feeling of the jump and I’m pretty sure its the type Pi gets the most excited about as well. We faced the log again and succeeded in jumping it without any issue or attitude from Pi.

The first day of camp was also a ton of fun! I’m super psyched about my staff and my kiddos after today. Of course there were some kinks but overall I really think this camp season is going to be a great one!

Louie the farm’s cow

Jumping Puddles and Saving Lives

Well this past week Mother Nature had to remind me that I’m not invincible or anything remotely close when she decided to drop the pollen bomb to end all ages on our region. Did I mention that she did it during water training week??? Well if I didn’t she did. We have to add another cap onto my head of being a lifeguard for the summer, although we can retire the substitute teacher one until the next school year, along with the Assistant Director of a summer program. In coming back to the lifeguarding this past week was our week of orientation, setting up the facility, cleaning (sooo much cleaning) and practicing all of our water skills from a normal save with a tube to backboarding a victim. During all of this training and setting up I’ve been dealing with some of the worst seasonal allergies I’ve ever had. It hasn’t been pleasant and I don’t think I’ll be seeing the end anytime soon as there are huge pollen deposits still happening.

On the other side of my hats horsey things have been going well. Pirate and I have been riding inside a lot because it’s been raining just about the entire week. Its okay that there’s been a lot of rain as its given us time to focus on bend and impulsion in our flatwork and I’ve been focusing more on keeping my hands quiet. It seems that as I’ve focused on other things my hands have gotten rather noisy and very dependent. The rain stopped off enough for us to be able to ride outside towards the end of the week. In the outdoor there were some large puddles that I worked Pi into walking through. Pi isn’t a fan of standing water, mud and especially puddles, according to Pirate they’re the devil. I’m pretty sure that the shifting reflection is something that looks funny in the way a horse eye views a moving plane and as a result for Pirate triggers his fight or flight response.

After we wandered through some puddles and cantered around for a bit. I felt good after our canter and a bit adventurous and decided that well Pi is a capable horse and I’m a capable rider and well we can jump. So with a bit of confidence in hand we went over some jumps in the outdoor ring and one slightly larger jump that had been left up in the indoor. Pirate used to jump but he got a habit of rushing the jump from either being anxious, excited or even both. So after smoothly conquering some small jumps and doing laps in the field I got a bit of courage and took him over a log. I’ll be honest in that I’ve never jumped a log and have wanted to jump a log for ages but didn’t feel confident enough to do it or had a horse that I thought would be able to do it. It was a blast to jump the log! I mean it was a small jump but still it was accomplishing a long term goal that I’d had. Pi was a saint and kept it together as I’d misjudged the distance a little bit so he had the grace to get us over cleanly. I managed to lose my stirrup but thankfully multiple lessons with my first trainer of dropping and picking back up stirrups came into use and I stayed on.

Pirate got the weekend off as I had to clean and it was Fathers Day. I had left him sparkling clean but when I went and got him today he looked quite a bit different.

he was just a bit muddy (don’t worry he isn’t actually skinny, the angle is weird)

So a quick bath later we putzed down to the outdoor ring so I could adjust the jumps and so he could dry off a bit. I let him at liberty in the outdoor so I could worry about the jumps and he could just worry about himself. As per his usual good self he followed me right around as I adjusted things and put other things up.

Pi is just so adorable when he follows me

I got out of a meeting late today so we slowly warmed up (I still haven’t forgotten how hot of a mess we were when we didn’t warm up slowly) and worked on our trot for a good portion of time where Pirate has decided more and more to stretch into a good frame. After a really smooth (I mean smooth as ice) transition into the canter and a good lap around we started jumping some small fences. We haven’t done anything crazy (I’m working on his rushing issue and my confidence) just small fences that are mostly crossrails and today a low gate type jump and a small (and by small I mean baby size) oxer. We even managed to do a small line of jumps. I’m trying to keep the jumping super low key and mellow so Pirate learns that jumping is no big deal and he can just mellow out during jumping; although it is nice that he attacks the jumps so boldly.

Something that I’ve noticed after riding Pi for over a solid month is that m confidence in everything not just riding is growing. I forgot how much of a confidence boost it is to work with a horse and just how much I mentally and physically crave the time in a barn setting and even the smells of everything seem to sooth me. As Pirate and I have working on growing together and working on small goals he’s picked me up. I can’t help but smile when he lets me get him in the field without  a fuss and as he licks his lips as I groom and tack him up. Even though I’m the one deciding what’s going to happen for the day’s ride everytime he leads me through something new I can’t help but feel more and more fortunate that I’m able to ride him and that all of those years ago Bonnie bought an OTTB from Idaho

47.1%

Well this last week has been hectic but I’ve managed to survive. I worked as a sub a couple of days and had a blast on the day that the school earned an all school recess. They earned enough “otter bucks” (with a sizable donation from the staff) to have some morning fun. I took a walk with some kindergarten kiddos along part of the local bike path and had a blast. I was in the library another day and enjoyed reading southern tall tales to the kids. This next week I’ll be in kindergarten (my favorite!) all week; its the last week of school so all of the fun with the current classes and their dynamics will be ending. Of course now that summer is beginning to start for them I’ll be seeing a good many of them at camp once our season begins.

After Monday’s hot mess of a ride I made sure Pi had a nice long warm up on Tuesday. We had better contact and our trot felt better. He’s still been a bit off in his canter so we did some more circling. He ended up being puffy at the end of the ride so I hosed him down and he got Wednesday off from a serious workout. Wednesday I just focused on some more cosmetic things for the show like pulling his mane the last little bit, trimming his tail and trying to do his bridle path (quite unsuccessfully, we tried the twitch approach but he saw it and ran via snapping his halter crown), my trainer, Amanda Lamoureux, got it done via scissors later in the week while I kept him busy eating hay (such a fussy boy). I did a little bit of bareback halfpass work with him at the walk (we’ve started cooling down bareback so I can try and improve my awareness of his movements).

On Thursday we dropped into another lesson and with a nice slow warm up (I’ve made myself remember it after such an awful ride) we began to feel more contact and Pi is beginning to gain some softness and I learn to keep better contact with my reins. Overall for a month of solid work Pirate and I have made a lot of solid progress.

Friday was show prep day and it was EXHAUSTING! Amanda kicked butt in helping us get ready and another barn person was equally awesome and helped us out a ton. Pirate is used to me fussing over him and I had worked with him standing still as I putz and preen him (he enjoys it quite a bit although he does have a limit). As a result his braids came out pretty well. I’ll change some things the next time I braid but he was super handsome with his button braids.

Pi looking handsome with his braids as he goes to bed

The show day was stressful but after some snafoos and trips it was okay once Pirate was off the trailer. He settled in really well and I was happily surprised that he kept his braids in really well minus some shavings.

Pi looking handsome as we settle into the show

It was hot at the show but Pi calmed down after a bit of walking and so did I. I think exploring and just moving helps to sooth anything. I will admit that I absolutely abhorred warming up in the arena with so many other people in the ring and was nearly run into a couple of times. There was a nice moment when I was just the girls and horses from our farm (four of us went to the show, three were farm horses including Pi). The owner of the farm was there and she just kept telling us to have fun while Amanda just kept telling me to breathe (I just forget to when I have to focus on so much more and in a new environment) and relax.

Our test was a bit rough. We managed a 47.1% which isn’t bad for our first ever outing. Pirate got a bit hot and as a result was quite a handful in the ring (Amanda had to physically lead him to the ring as he was throwing a small fit). We started well on our test but it all went down from there as he just got hotter and hotter and I lost my focus on keeping myself nicely situated and just tried to ride him through the test. We DID, however, make our goal of not disqualifying and even managed a ribbon although there was only one other person in our class and we had and error. I was happy that Pirate didn’t jump the ring- he did look at it as we did our free walk but as a woman from the barn said “He probably thought about it and decided it was just too much effort to step over the ring”. After our test was done he settled right back down. It amazes me how Pirate is so laid back and then more and more he’s been showing his Thoroughbred self. Once his saddle was off it was like a switch was flipped and he was just done fussing and freaking out. Once he calmed down and I was out of my show clothes I had a lot of fun with the rest of my barn that was there. We had to try a while for Pi to load onto the trailer and actually had to put his trailer mate Moon on first. Once we got home he was a happy camper. He enjoyed his bath after and rolling in the dirt. I decided to make Sunday into an off day, although I had pool orientation and set up for lifeguarding this summer. So while Pirate got to eat I cleaned, practiced backboarding and saving people while getting even more sunburned than the day before.

Today I started my day by having a colored pencil at me. Kindergarten is one of my favorite places to be, however, with school winding down the kids are wound up for their summer and some are excited for it and other are scared for the lack of routine. Either way each time I substitute I gain another level of respect for the people who educate day in and day out and the parents who raise them. By the end of the day and more incidents I was in sore need of Pirate time.

Once I get to the barn and breathe in the smell everything seems to feel better. The barn no matter which one makes me feel at home. The way that a horse views you is one that I cherish the knowledge of. They don’t judge whether or not you’re wearing top liner or if you pulled off that latest trendy piece of clothing. A horse cares about how you treat them, whether or not you care for them and how your body language plays into theirs and ultimately if YOU are listening to them. A horse speaks volumes in the way they cock their hip let alone the rest of them.

Either way I enjoy the barn and it soothes me. Today we dropped into another lesson and tried to do some conditioning. The key word is tried because Pi just got too darn hot (almost like he’s an OTTB or something…) going up the hills we use to condition. He decided that we needed to canter instead of trot and by canter I mean HOLY-SHIT-OH-MY-GOODNESS-LETS-GO-UP-THE-HILL-CANTER type of canter. Pi gets overly excited and just goes and its a bit hard to keep a big butted pony (in reality a really big horse) back from doing things if he really wants to. We had to excuse ourselves in order to go and try to calm down in the indoor ring. As a result of him being a bit fired up to say the least we had our best canter to date. Pi had collection, bend and carriage for once and he also didn’t make his “I’m dying here” grunts as we cantered. Overall after not dying from him just exploding up the hill we had a good ride and closed by cooling down bareback doing some halfpasses at the walk.

some k-nex creations from one of my kindergarteners and I today

a hot smelly mess

Well folks this is crunch week before the show. I’m going to level with y’all; it’s my first show. Obviously I’m not in riding and horses for the fame, glory and ribbons as I’ve been riding for years without showing. I’ve always been a barn rat and have never worried about looking polished and show worthy. I mean I care about being a good rider and horse-person but I find the most enjoyment in the bond I have with the horses and especially my tubby pony Pirate (in reality he’s a pretty big horse but I call practically everything a pony). So end of ramble is that I’m getting a bit nervous about the show.

It’s been really theraputic to be in the barn so much. So often I find myself wrapped up in things and overanxious and other than when I’m having a terrible test practice I feel calm and at peace in the barn. This past week I mananged to make it off of the farm and into the hay fields with another rider. Pirate who is completely petrified of standing water (don’t even get me started on how such a huge horse is petrified of standing water) managed to make it over a stream and through the mucky hay fields without too much grief. Pirate also managed to do some small fences without having a fit or being too worried. On Saturday another girl (and by girl I mean woman but that feels so old and she isn’t) and I sunk some time into the outdoor arena weeding, redistributing footing and dragging it. I didn’t get in a ride due to a hoof scare on Pirate’s part. His hooves wear funnily and he had acquired a nice gouge that alarmed me.

On Sunday we had a really good practice of our test and all of the canter work Pirate and I have been putting in has definitely paid off. I’ve been riding just about everyday trying to focus on different parts and issues to make the whole better. The day started well with a really nice bonding moment with Pi on top of the hill (did I mention the lovely hike to the pasture gate followed with a steep hill to climb after with the possibility of a chase if your pony is naughty?). I’m not sure if I truly emphasize how much of a loving laid back horse he is. It ended around 9pm after I’d scrubbed him within an inch of his life, conditioned his body and made him look shiny (especially his big butt (good news we’ve managed to solve his drunken popped booty issue!!!)).

 

 

 

oops, interrupting some serious lounging by Pi with miss Debon (an OTTB and former Fox Hunter) in the background

and then Pi decided that he should try and take a nap to get out of working

I was in first grade today and I’ll be honest that I really enjoy working with these kiddos. I love their humor and that they’re still at the age where magic exists and evil is still just a cartoon character that can always be beaten. Every year the first grade attempts to hatch chicks as they learn about the life cycle of a chicken and learn about farms (it is Vermont afterall). Sadly this year there was an incubator malfunction and it was too high for too long and the first batch of eggs never even developed (trust me they checked). Luckily we live in a really great community where the farmer who brought in the first batch brought in a second that he knew would hatch. So now there are five adorable little chicks all hatched and one egg left to hatch.

arghh too cute!

all five little cuties hanging out in their warm box

Today I ended up dropping into a group lesson. I have to level with y’all again; this was my first group lesson ever. I’ve been taking lessons on and off again from the age of fourteen and riding from the age of three. Over the past seven years it’s just never worked out to take a group lesson, from people pulling out to not fitting into a current group or there not even being a lesson group at all. It was nice to have Pi working with other horses although after doing really well yesterday we were a hot mess in lesson today. I’ll admit that it was my fault. I know that Pi needs a really good and slow warm up and I rushed it in order to drop into the lesson. We were all over the place in our trot, Pi and I couldn’t find a good contact and I’ll admit that keeping a nice consistent contact is something that I struggle with and Pi doesn’t help me out with. Our canters were fan-flippin-tastic compared to our last lesson and it was really rewarding to receive the praise and validation that we’d improved on something that’s been a weak spot for a long time. Now I have to remember to breathe (with all of the little bits and pieces and the test to remember I just forget to breathe) and Pirate has to remember to not stick his head and neck up like a chicken (yes pun intended).

one more photo of Pirate because he is THAT handsome

a job offer, sunburn and transitions

This past week has been full of ups for me, my family and those around me. I was offered and have accepted a job offer as an assistant director at a summer program; and after not being offered another position I was pursuing in tandem, I felt redeemed to get this job. I also took a lesson where I felt sloppy but for just getting started again after five months of not riding my trainer was happy and the lesson ended on a good note with a much better working trot. My sitting trot has vastly improved and I’m actually half bouncing/half sitting the trot.

The horses have begun the transition to full pasture and Pirate showed me love today by running away in the farthest part of the field from the farm. Luckily I managed to grab him. When I turn him out after our workouts he goes running (and sometimes farting) up the far pasture hill.

My week was pretty low key and I got to substitute teach on Friday in which Mr. Ben was growing weed. Now let me explain. Every year the classes work on a farm project in which they learn in depth about agriculture and even visit a local museum farm. They also do worksheets about farms and even imaginary farmers a.k.a. Mr. Ben. In this worksheet they read about Mr. Ben and what he grows. the question then asks: “What does Mr. Ben grow? “Mr. Ben grows corn, weed- Ms. Drake there’s weed in bread (oh he means wheat).” “Yes A there is” “You make flour from weed” “A you mean wheat” “ya there’s weed in flour and you use flour to make food””

Mr. Ben grows corn, potatoes and beans the reading says nothing about wheat or weed for that matter.

Kids are a great laugh. On Saturday I was going to ride, however, Pirate gave me a little mudpie present.

Pi was so caked in mud that I had no choice but to give up my plan (his entire other side was a giant partially wet caked mess that I could NOT get off of him) to ride and give him a bath. An hour later he looked lovely and clean.

On Sunday he was a bit muddy but not even close to what he was. I did part of a trail ride with him. Pirate, who is afraid of water, counts mud he has to walk in with the same regard to water. Thus when we met mud a half mile on the trail he refused to go on, spun around and threw a fit. I didn’t feel like eating tree and relented. Instead we cantered hills on the farm and did some ring work. He and I also popped over a few small jumps keeping it super low key as he tends to rush the jumps. I wore my vest because I’m a cautious wimp after spraining my back from a fall. I managed

Today Pi was in the farthest part of the field. I made the trip twice as my trainer was having braxton-hicks and was not exactly in the position to grab the lesson pony from the hill. I ended up putzing around the barn giving him a good haircut and practicing my top knots. Once I finally got on him we worked on our keeping our gaits consistent with a good forward motion. I’ve begun mocking a dressage entrance as we’ll be entering a small show in June and Pirate needs a straight line, not a drunken-crooked walk to X, stop and salute. As we worked on our drunken entrance (I swear Pi doesn’t remember that he needs his big butt to be in line with the rest of him, I mean seriously talking about bootylicious OTTB here) it got better and his trot has definitely improved. After a relaxed walk break Pi had a lovely walk-canter transition and 20 meter circles at the canter.

One of my cohorts has just landed a job which is exciting as her new job will allow for her to actually see her horse and even event this summer. Some of my extended family has relocated and their kids are loving the new stomping grounds. Overall it seems like everything is going well and is on the up and up. Of course it is only Monday.

one pukey pony, a troublesome cat and a graduation to boot

This past week was filled with a lot of stuff. Pirate decided that after his chiropractic adjustment and coggins that he would be a pukey pony. Now for those of you that don’t know horses physically cannot vomit, what I mean by pukey is an attitude.
Pirate was not thrilled by my plan of just walking through some hill exercises and I got treated to the best canter he’s given me and a small bronc ride as he expressed his interest in continuing said canter when I said no. So instead of staying out in the sunshine and walking up and down the hill we went inside and did half-pass work at the walk (somehow Pi forgets his butt should be in line with the rest of him and that it CAN in fact move over). Following that he was actually able to enjoy his bath which was weird for me because he’s afraid of puddles and in general water, Now mind you the humor in a big thoroughbred being afraid of water isn’t lost on me, especially when I have to haul his big pudgy butt over said puddles. I also wasn’t thrilled when he pooped in the wash stall after ample opportunity to do it elsewhere and after I had just bathed him.

Today Pi was a bit spunky and hopefully we’ll starting jumping tomorrow and start training for a local distance ride to help with his non-existent fitness. He’s getting more flexible as we work together and I’ve started stretching him out before and after each ride.

the traitorous pooper Pirate

In reality I do love the goof and he’s always been funny about when he poops, sometimes I think he has performance anxiety in terms of going potty as it once took him twenty minutes to decide he would actually pee.

Following that Wednesday I scooted up to Portland (yes the one in Maine, not Oregon) to see friends graduate from MECA and get my first big-girl drink in the US. I did managed to get carded for the first time which in my europeanly experienced opinion is lame because I always lose my license and alcohol isn’t that spectacular. I’m very proud of the MECA seniors and their thesis show was really well done.

Upon my return I found this in my bedroom. Silly me forgot that Sassy doesn’t care if your clothes are clean and she’s in the middle of shedding. She can and will lay in your clothes dresser even if she nearly gets stuck in the process of getting in there and knows she shouldn’t be there to begin with.

the look on Sassy’s face says it all

Oh and yesterday was Sunday and it was also Mothers Day! My mom is awesome and definitely the reason the way that I am. Not only does my mom talk me to sleep when I’m having panic attacks she also lets me go play with ponies on Mothers Day. Now don’t worry I’m doing a mothers day project with her to build a jewelry holders complete with a catch tray because my dad has flushed pearl earrings down the toilet before. I also brought her a cute little charm from Italy (Italian post office store for the win!) and made cupcakes. Needless to say this has been a very active week.

Oh and my partners in crime are back from college so get ready for some silly antics!