Many rides

The past week has been SO awesome. At my show barn, i've ended up riding like ten times on show horses! Last saturday, I got to ride Elmo, which was GREAT. One of the best rides i've ever had on him, along with him being really well and cantering really well. Then, I got to just sit on this three year old named Romeo. (That totally counts.) Then I got to ride Juliette (haha yeah same owner,) Another three year old who was a lot greener and she only jumped around one time. THEN i got to ride this horse named Dillon in field by the barn and we even had him cantering out in the middle (when cantering is his biggest problem.) THENNNNNN I got to ride this girl's horse in his full bridle and it was totally amazing! He is a really cool horse! SO yeah, best day ever.

During the week, I rode Rojo twice and the first time, it was AWFUL. but the second time, I got on him bareback and we messed around for a little while and just had fun in the dark. I rode Elmo once during the week and we just trotted and took it easy. Then I got to ride a school/show horse named Sterling, then on Thursday I got to ride Dillon again and it was really fun!

Today, i had another awesome day at the show barn! Me and the other girl whose horse I rode last week (his name is Dash,) decided that we would ride and switch horses today. Now let me tell you, for ONCE, nothing has ever made me more happy than seeing someone else do good on my baby. Now i know i used to be selfish and never wanted anyone to ride him, but it seriously made my day to see someone ride him and enjoy him and love him. I had so much fun watching him go. She had a lap or two and I told her "You have to hold your curb and tickle the snaffle" and she did it and he just set his head back and marched through the ring. It was awesome, and she was like "dude you totally have his number and you know him so well" and it made me feel good :) she then let me ride her horse. While she was warming Dash up, i was waving alot of stuff at him to get him excited and he kept breaking into the canter while they were trotting, so of course, i was really nervous about riding him. But when we went to trot, after like one lap, we finally hit it off. AND he didn't break at the trot one time. My trainer looked over at her and was like "so how come he doesn't break when she rides him" and the whole time i was going *hehehehehe yeah :}* it was kinda cool hehe. but he was alot of fun too and overall it has been a great few days!

Tomorrow I don't have any lessons to teach, so i think i'm going to take Rojo on a trail ride with my neighbor and his horse.

A very long week!

Sooo on Friday, it was finally time to take Menassee (the COlt i broke for my senior project) home! I was so excited because i'd had him for a year and i'd worked so hard with him and i was excited because someone wanted to buy him!

That's the video of my whole project with Menassee! So yeah, big difference. Any ways, on Thursday i loaded the whole trailer ready for the 8 hour trip back to Georgia, and we were going to bring Rojo (So i was SUPER excited) and I missed school friday to get an early start.

Friday morning, I gave him a little *happy medicine* to perhaps help him get on the trailer, but it didn't really have much effect. We ended up trying for FOUR hours and he never got on. Being nice, i could get him to step up with his two feet, but never all of them.So then we tried force. Instead of running from a whip, he just runs at you full speed and tries to take you out! What a weirdo! We ended up having me, my mom, another girl, my neighbor, and two guys from the barn helping us. We even back him into a corner where he could only go straight and he wouldjump on and before we could close the door, he would shoot back off.

Menassee is so big that he can reach his nose out the escape door, and have his back feet off teh trailer still. We've hauled horses bigger than him, but they would go on the trailer to begin with. We just have a two horse slant load. But yeah, end of story, he didn't go on.

After the long, annoying day of FAILURE, i decided to get on rojo and let him eat some grass. I learned three very important lessons:

1. Riding in shorts and any western saddle is NEVER good, your legs get stuck!


2. Riding a hot, strong saddlebred in a halter, no matter how well trained he is, is only good every now and then because he WILL learn to take advantage of you.


3. Maybe i run rojo too much? Because he was all too happy to walk back home with his head down low and chill, rather than really working.

Any ways, that's how my weekend went! I also took Elmo out on a trail ride, just to let him chill!

Crazy Days

Sooo today was INSANE. My mom and I went and picked up my friend's horse from my show barn, and she was coming over to trail ride. We had a GREAT ride and both our horses were really enjoying it and we great friends, so after, we decided to turn them lose in the small pasture to cool off so we could go eat lunch, then we'd come back and haul him back to the show barn. Well my mom came running into the house screaming that he needed to come outside so i put flip flops on (over my socks) and my friend ran out barefoot because....HER HORSE WAS STUCK ON TE FENCE! Not only had he kicked at my horses, his butt was SITTING on the fence, and his front legs were standing and his butt was on the fence post and one leg was behind the top of the fence and the other was on the front and he was just standing there. Now is really wasn't funny, but it was really hard not to laugh at the way he was sitting. but we contained ourselves. :) So, we tried to get him down, but we were afraid if we pushed, he would fall, but he kinda just shoved himself off. Well then, he wouldn't put any weight on the foot. So we ended up sitting in the sun with him for four hours until the vet got there. The took Xrays and and decided that he just pulled a muscle in the leg and he has to be on stall rest for two weeks D: but (i know this is awful) atleast it wasn't our horse for once!

THEN, i was tied rojo at the hitching post, cause my friend's horse needed a friend while we was there, and he had some hay in a net to eat. After like 30 minutes of watching rojo, I asked my mom if she would watch him while i went to the house and grabbed the keys, and you know, before i even made it to the house Rojo had his foot caught in the hay bag and was rearing up to get out -.- yeah it was crazy lol i mean not even a minute after i left he was freaking out and being bad! it was very bad.


I didn't really have a good day, even though it started so good! But hopefully things will get better tomorrow :)

Wednesday Rides!

So on Wednesday, I went to my show barn to ride Elmo! When I got there, the guys were already gettin him ready, but my trainer wasn't ready for me yet. I ended up getting to ride this 4 year old named Peepers who just came to the barn! I got to ride him after 2 other people though, so he was kinda tired, but he was unusually well mannered for a 4 year old! He trotted very nicely and cantered off right when I asked him too. He's a real pretty, bay, 17hh saddlebred.

Then it was finally my time to ride elmo! He was great, i wasn't! I rode him in his full bridle, but he was kinda tired, and I had forgotten my spurs. He had some energy, and he was trotting level, but you could tell he was kinda tired. My trainer had ridden him the day before. When we went to canter, there was another girl in the ring who's horse kept taking off, and I psyched myself out. I got the canter lead wrong on the first try, but we got it on the second! He actually cantered really well, instead of his usual giant and fast steps. I missed the canter lead the other direction too -.- but he was good any ways. You gotta make mistakes so you can know what to fix, right? Here are some pics of Elmo:

After that, I got to ride this horse named Hans. I showed him last year in April, and he won me my first neck ribbon! He had popped a quarter crack at the last horse show, and had been off a week and a half, so they decided it'd be best if i got on him first. He wasn't lame, but he was frisky! When we were walking, he kept trying to turn his butt to the inside, and everytime i'd put my inside leg on him, he'd swish his tail. It was kinda funny :) but when we went to canter he threw his head in the air and started bucking and my trainer was like "Do you think he's sore?!?!?" and i was like "No way he's just doing it because he thinks i'll let him" and sure enough when i "helped" him settle down, he cantered wonderfully! It was kinda silly cause everytime i would put my leg on him to canter, he'd buck, and when i didnt kick at all, he was fine.

But it was a good day at the barn :) I'm going out on saturday to hopefully ride elmo again and maybe bring rojo with me :)

Bareback in the rain?

Today, while feeding the horses, the sky opened up and it started to pour down rain. I was so excited, because i absolutely LOVE riding in the rain! So i bridled Chester, my quarter horse, and the second i got out of the barn the rain stopped! Dang it! so i just took my shoes off, and hopped on bareback anyways. I ended up laying backwards on CHester with my barefeet hanging down and laid back on his gigantore butt! I could've gone to sleep like that! but then we just rode down the road a little ways, before heading back and finding my shoes again. :D

Racing Practice

So my horse rojo is a small saddlebred, that i've had for two years. He is somewhat "hot" and always has lots of energy, but he HATES saddleseat. I set out to teach him western and make him the ultimate trail horse.

Last weekend, me and two other girls were at the show barn, and we had free rein of the school horses! So we decided to do some races in the field next door. The problem was, that I was riding someone else's school horse, but the other two girls had their own horses! So of course, I couldn't ride as hard, or do as much and I was labeled the "party pooper."

I'm thinking next weekend I'll bring rojo over to race! I was practicing today. We rode a mile at a hunter-ish pace, with walk, trot, and canter. Then we took a little break. After, we rode half a mile at a working canter, then the other half at a full gallop. We did all of this in a halter, (which is a really big deal because saddlebreds are known for being strong in the bridle and somewhat hard to handle,) and after 30 seconds of walking he cooled right down! Lastly, i let him sprint just a little ways down the road and man! He was FLYING! My little pony was going way faster than the 16hh school horse at the show barn!

I think we're in for wins at the next barn day races! (plus he's just awesomer :D)

This is rojo and me at the fairgrounds! yes, i know he's chunky :)

Intro

Hi everyone,

I am a senior in high school, and this is to share all my crazy horse stories. I plan to become a horse trainer, and own and operate a quality barn, someday.

I currently have SIX horses. First, is Sonny. He is a 23 year old saddlebred, and he taught me the most of any horse ever. I swear, even after all the new horses i've ridden, that horse can still run all over me if he wants!

Then is Chester; he is a 13 yer old quarter horse/draft cross. The only horse to ever get me off more than once! We dont really see eye-to-eye on many things, sadly.

Next, is Justin. He is a quarter horse/mutt that is around 15 years old. He is my mom's horse, that i teach lessons on, and i trained him to walk trot canter two summers ago.
Justin ----->





Rojo is my main man. He is s six year old saddlebred that i got from my show barn. He and I worked for over a year before i ever enjoyed riding him or anything. Now i ride him western and trail ride him and he is my world!

Elmo or A Dramatic Man, is my show horse. He is a saddlebred that I have been showing since last August. We have shown in 11 classes, and won every but 2 in which we got second. He is the state and regional champion for 14-17 show pleasure.

<-----Elmo




Lastly, is Menassee, he is a 4 year old saddlebred that i broke for my graduation project, and I borrowed him from a barn in Georgia.

So these are all my horses, and my blog will be about them, along with some other horse related things.
Thanks for reading!