His new little home is really cute, and as far as everyone I've met, they're all really great (what horse people aren't really?). I was really pleased when I came up the day after moving Hobbs to see him just totally chilling out, and actually being one of the more laid back horses in the barn. I swear someone sold me an ancient horse sometimes, he's just so good. I noticed while I did my first ride there that Hobbs showed me he's a really great in between horse. He's a bit lazy at home, but since we were in a new atmosphere he was a bit more perky than he's been, but still quite focused, except for the moment where that whole jump just CAME OUT OF NO WHERE. Silly horse. We had a really positive first ride there, my mom came to takes some photos and videos and unfortunately I apparently don't know how to ride anymore (it looks like) and I look like a gigantic marshmallow due to my five layers of clothes. Very unfortunate. After over looking the videos I might have to tape my reins because I CANNOT resist to ride with the longest reins in the world. (UGH)
So, it's with a happy heart that I've successfully moved Hobbs closer to the city, therefore, no more torturous winter driving - actually I'm trying to avoid it on a whole and I did just that really. His new little home is really cute, and as far as everyone I've met, they're all really great (what horse people aren't really?). I was really pleased when I came up the day after moving Hobbs to see him just totally chilling out, and actually being one of the more laid back horses in the barn. I swear someone sold me an ancient horse sometimes, he's just so good. I noticed while I did my first ride there that Hobbs showed me he's a really great in between horse. He's a bit lazy at home, but since we were in a new atmosphere he was a bit more perky than he's been, but still quite focused, except for the moment where that whole jump just CAME OUT OF NO WHERE. Silly horse. We had a really positive first ride there, my mom came to takes some photos and videos and unfortunately I apparently don't know how to ride anymore (it looks like) and I look like a gigantic marshmallow due to my five layers of clothes. Very unfortunate. After over looking the videos I might have to tape my reins because I CANNOT resist to ride with the longest reins in the world. (UGH) Here is the very end of our ride yesterday (thanks mom!). I'm being really hard on myself, but it's hard to watch yourself ride really. Half the time I think I'm crappy anyway and then to watch and not see some results, and look fat. It's a bit of a blow. But I analyzed this video compared to another of me riding my old horse a couple years back before I sold her, and I haven't changed so much for the worse, it just came to my realization I've got to work more on getting Hobbs to put weight into my hands in the bridle. I have been working on it, but I did leave my actual bridle at the old barn (great job!) so I had to make due with the only bridle and bit I had at the barn and I really dislike him in this bit so...I can blame it on that for the moment! But really, it's great to see yourself ride because now I have a couple things to work on in the next few weeks, and then hopefully I can make another video, and I can keep improving!
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It's Cold.
It's Dark. I never want to leave my bed. I've made my riding list for December and I am trying to keep motivated. I think I should just take a Sharpie every morning and write on my hand 'don't be lazy and useless'. Yesterday I spoiled Hobbits and bought him a new Baker sheet. I don't know who I bought it for more though, him or me. I have cracked the code of blanketing this year, and I will share my secret. 1. Have two of everything. I have doubles of everything so that way one can be getting washed while the other is getting dirty, this way I don't have to pay someone $40 for every rug to get washed at the end of the year. 2. Always have a rain sheet on top of everything. Rain sheets are so easy to throw in the washer, they don't take up as much room, and this way you keep your heavier rugs that are a pain in the arse to wash, reasonably clean and crap free. 3. I like to layer, so layer accordingly. I try hard not to over rug and not to have the horse in an added twenty pounds of blankets. Right now it's around -6 at night and a bit warmer and sunnier in the day and I have a sheet, a heavy weight with a neck, and a sheet. 4. And my personal preference, Horseware Ireland over Bucas. Bucas are really short on the horses I find and it looks like they're wearing crop tops. I like that HWI's are longer, and have more room in the chest. But seriously I just want to buy all of the blankets. It is 'Black Friday' and I might have to take part in a sale or two... Hobbs is moving to a new house today so I best get off and get him ready. Hopefully him being closer to me in this horrible weather will Hobbs on the right & his pal Henry on the left I was getting really excited about entering my first show with Hobbs (!!!) even though it IS an indoor dressage show. (Indoor AND dressage, you've got to be kidding me, we need to get out more)
I went to the barn today and I'm really enjoying this possible bond that Hobbs and I are developing. It's hard to see things clearly up front but he seems really eager to come and hang out with me lately. He knickers at me and meanders over to the gate and waits there for me. When I got Hobbs I was SO excited about bonding with him. I have always had a real hard time riding other peoples horses, it makes me feel like I'm the worst rider ever, and I feel like I don't ride that well when I don't know any past and can't foresee much future. But I've kind of forgotten about building trust between the two of us, because it just seems to be happening. Back to us walking in. I unrugged Hobbs the other day and I noticed him dropping a little weight but I didn't think too much of it since round bales aren't out yet and I have been struggling with his weight here and there. Although today I took his rugs off and noticed it wasn't getting any better. I started going into a panic and I felt like a horrible mum and I couldn't even ride because it made me so annoyed and upset. Prompt call to mom - it goes mostly like this 'can you google that for me?' My past two horses have been the worlds easiest keepers. It was more about what NOT to feed them, than what to feed them. Hearty eaters more prone to hay belly so much so that they might of been faking pregnancy. I never really realized how little I knew about horse nutrition until I started doing a little research and felt the struggle personally. I still don't think I know that much, but I think I made a good couple of decisions to try and help Hobbs gain some weight and become more chunky. Which is funny because I've always enjoyed my horses more on the slimmer sexier looking side. My changes are as follows... - Take out sweet feed - we had him at a great weight in the summer as he has lovely large fields, and wanted more energy. This didn't really help. - Add one more pound of Beet Pulp (No molasses) - Continue with 1/2 pound of Fat n' Fiber - Add one pound of Purina TRIMAX (ultium) - Add 1/4 pound of Rice Bran - Add cocosoya oil Hopefully this will start adding a little bit of weight over time. I was thinking of adding alfalfa cubes - about a pound - just free to have in a bucket in his stall, but I need to do a little more research there. Off to the Google to rack my brain some more about all things nutrition. Okay.
Well a lot has happened in the past couple of months. Not anything super exciting obviously because I didn't mind not writing about anything at all for, forever. But, Hobbs moved to his summer home at the lovely Hockley Ridge Equestrian, and has spent the last couple months absolutely luxuriating in the lush fields of Mono, Ontario. I'm going to break this down super easy in bulletin form so I'm not speaking forever.
Let be real though, you probably would rather just see some photos. Have patience. All things are difficult before they become easy. Can anyone get over this beautiful Canadian weather that's going on? It might possibly be just global warming and the beginning of what might be the hottest summer of my life, of course I drive two different cars, both sans air conditioning. But, right now it's still bearable and you will find me sun bathing if I'm not riding, walking my dogs, or at work. Sun bathing. I've had a couple thoughts over the last couples days of riding and driving and general living. First, we will begin with a little note on patience. I wouldn't say I've been overly impatient, but I've been so blessed with a really cool young horse, that's it's so important to keep patience my main focus. After having some time off, I'm so used to feeling the pressure of show season, impending goals, fall events, and I had to take a moment and tell myself 'Hobbs is four, we have absolutely no plans, get over yourself.' oh, and of course, the best of all 'Rome wasn't built in a day'. With that in mind, I had a great weekend of sun riding/tanning, We've found a couple great hills to walk up slowly but sternly. We've become close with our round the corner neighbor who I fondly enjoy giving the good ole country wave too every time I walk past. So with patience in mind we will continue next week, with long walks, and simple flat work. Soon enough, in a months time or so, I feel we will hopefully have some pretty good handle on the basics and we can begin with some dressage lessons! Which...I'm weirdly excited for? Oh, so this is how you know you're getting older! Next, I'm going to hit you with some city girl tips. Driving to the Barn
I'll leave you with this delicious photos of fresh Ontario tomatoes ready to roast in the oven and become a healthy soup to end my day.
J + H Desire is the starting point of all achievement, not a hope, not a wish, but a keen pulsating desire which transcends everything. Rewind about two and a half weeks. I am returning from a short but leisurely trip in Bermuda, Hobbs had the weekend off and I went up to have a little quiet ride. We did just that and had a really productive flat, worked on myself and just let him deal with my body becoming stronger. So, the day after I get a text that little Hobbit is three legged lame and has been brought inside for a little rest and it will be looked at later. Okay...I'm at work...this is okay... But secretly I'm freaking out! This isn't what I need, I had literally had him for about 15 days and we're already into some trouble, my main 'why I shouldn't get a horse list' consisted of: They become randomly lame, and it sucks, and everyone hates it, and sometime you can't figure out what it is, and it's costly. But, after rationalizing that that was okay, and that if that's really the only reason for me to not chase my dreams then that's crazy! Except when you get that text and your horse is lame. Not crazy. It sucks. First we thought abscess since the sudden onset very lame horse. Treated for an abscess for a couple days, then the vet was coming out to do some shots (perfect timing!) he had a look and said bad thrush. So, I was giving a slew of instructions and some expensive medication and worked on treating the thrush. Then, the farrier was due to come (perfect timing!) and he said it wasn't thrush. I personally had a really busy work week the second week of treatment so I had left the barn staff to it, and when I returned a couple days later, he was sound, but hadn't used the vets medication, but who cared at that point, he was sound! We went on a couple really great hand walks with the dogs and I'm sure passers by thought it was really strange to see a girl walking two dogs and a horse down a country road but really...anything can happen in the country. We've seen it all! Now I'm just being what the country truly wants me to be! We had a great hack the other day, it was so sunny and peaceful, a great day to return to riding. Now, Canada has finally been blessed with Spring...well more like Summer weather but we're not complaining! Now, back to the drawing board as far as riding goes as we're a bit back at square one. So now that we've got a sound and happy horse, we've got a couple of things to continue working on.
J & H “We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.” Life is all in perspective, and I have only figured that out a smidgen about a couple days...maybe a week ago. Sometimes the 'big picture' is just too big and one can't simply look at it and understand it all the time. Sure, maybe some people have that super power but it is completely overwhelming for me.
Yesterdays ride...I went in with simple war tactics. After my showcase the day before I needed a better plan. I don't want to let Hobbs begin thinking that this is what hacking is all about. Hacking is one of the best parts of riding, in company or not, it is simply joyful! You're out there, hopefully in the sunshine but sometimes in the pouring rain and the only shelter is the trees along the roadside, I have my dogs with me always and it's a great time to relax, think about the trials and tribulations of life and just mosey down the road on your noble companion. So to create a positive atmosphere, what did I do? Invite a freaking friend! How did it turn out? Zero arguments, I didn't even need to warn the battle field, we walked happily down the road into a field, around the field, and home again, cars and all, we managed very gracefully! At this point I think this is where perspective comes in...here I found myself thinking that although Hobbs is very brave and doesn't seem bothered or phased by much, he is young (easily forgettable on any good young horse) and that he may need a buddy for a while, just a little shoulder to lean on in those moments where your eyes want to pop out of your head a little bit. And in perspective, I think that if this keeps my horse happy and brave, fantastic! Thanks to Cayley & Cleveland for coming along and being our spiritual hacking guide! J + H Since the beginning of my horse shopping I've been trying to make a plan of how I am going mold my new project - partner - friend - horse. I started out my re-reading my pony club books about bringing a horse into work, and getting an idea of what my basic timeline would look like. Since this is the first time in my riding career that I've felt no pressure to amount to anything at a rapid pace, I already feel a lot more at ease during every ride than I ever had.
I have little knowledge of Natural Horsemanship, in a sense that I've never bought the Parelli package, but I have learned about it from other sources and I thought given the my horses relationship with the track and that he had never been anyone's 'horse' before, I wanted to lay out simple rules, that I am the leader, not him. I started doing some research reading articles learning a little more about the games and how to execute them and which I wanted to try and so on. During this I came across two YouTube Channels that I started watching. I watched a couple before I even had the horse, but instead of doing some work the other night I got hooked and watched quite a few. I don't agree with exactly everything they have to say, but there is a lot of different knowledge to be obtained from them. So back to my outline, I had originally wanted to hack around fields for a couple weeks and just let the horse relax, get used to just going forward was his only job. We went on a hack the day after he arrived at the new farm and he was a gent. He expressed he wasn't exactly interested in deep mud - nothing has really dried up yet in the North - but he was brave to be out on his own walking forward with ears forward, generally interested. On our way back he managed not to jig around and walk back to the barn and all of his friends in a good manner. Yesterday, I was loosing sunlight, but I had enough to hack around for a little, my original plan was to hack until I lost sunlight and if I had a good half an hour I would leave it there, and if I wasn't so lucky, I would do some ring work. So I headed out, in the same manner as the last hack, I was happy that he stood while being mounted in the driveway in between to fields of horses. We crossed the road and he started flipping his head around being a bit of a diva. We walked on and I could tell right away my ride wasn't going to go as planned at that there was a battle that was going to have to be hashed out. I was originally a little pissed off that he was acting like this, but then I thought to was Australia has taught me. Make the wrong thing hard and the right things easy. I was very grateful I was able to clear my mind and be able to remember this. So, he was being particularly punky about honestly, nothing in the ground but the same part of the field, so I decided this would be my battle. I had bad footing, so the hack wasn't worth it, but I couldn't let him return to the barn thinking if he put up a stink he wouldn't have to go there. I felt I won the battle to a good enough extent, I had him going forward (in any manner - I wasn't about to be picky) we circled around the spot a couple times (although never sans some attitude) and we walked back to the barn. He hasn't been with me a week, so I figured a couple things could of added to this, but I returned to the barn and started to do some ring work. I wanted to work on a one rein stop, and trotting around on a loose rein. So I get into the arena and I work on exactly that, and I was very pleased. I brought his mind to another place, and I had him nicely going round just on the buckle - which is a great workout for me as well. It is so hard to trot around with no contact what so ever, I was more reminding myself to relax and let go, and I decided if he canters, he canters, if he trots faster than light than so be it. And more honestly, he chose to walk quicker than anything. So we ended on a very pleasant note and I'm excited to ride right now. J + H So far my horse shopping experience has been simple and straight forward. I found a gelding who I found attractive, well built, with an incredibly earnest eye that I couldn't resist answering the advertisement! I hadn't really thought a whole lot about shopping by this point - I had been given the semi go ahead from my mum but had mad an agreement with myself that I wouldn't go look at just anything it had to be something I felt greatly special about.
I had contacted the owner and she had mentioned that she had gotten my email and that with regret the horse was to be taken on trial to another lovely young lady and that although I sounded like a great match, she had to honor the first come first serve system and that she would let me know if any other of the Thoroughbreds on site would be suitable for what I wanted to do. Funny that even though I had never met the horse I was a little let down by the situation, I had really liked him from the photos and videos and could see him being something interesting in the long run. I continued my little search, although not too crazily but a couple days later I received and email from the brown horses owner saying that the trial fell through due to no fault of his own and that I was more than welcome to come and try him. I am still in the process of trying him so that's where we stand now. As far as I'm concerned I am happy with my little to no horse shopping, although looking at the ads is a great deal of fun, trying to arrange meetings, going out to ride a new horse and sort of riding it because you don't want to upset the owner, it's really all just a mess. I always thought that this was a dream come true but so far, I count my stars that it has maybe been cut short! J |
AuthorRamblings of a city living, horse riding, clothes buying, food cooking, wine loving lady. Archives
March 2015
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