More show shtuff.

Here's a video clip of the equitation class. I'm well aware that my leg position is atrocious and I'm working on fixing it. :P The main focus is intended for Victor.



The equitation class again.
And my angled heels. lol

Oh! This is off topic, but I rode Norman yesterday and we worked on cantering. He's picking it up pretty well, and he has a lovely gait as long as he's collected. Everyone laughs at him, but he'll make a decent hunter jumper once he's got more schooling. He's soo overweight right now, though. My mom insisted on feeding him way more than he needed. She thought he needed lots of food since he's big. (She means well, but she really doesn't know much about horses). I put a stop to the excess grain. Despite his size, he's like an air fern. He keeps on next to nothing and is notorious for becoming chubby. I feel bad for him. ;( But his training is going well. Hopefully he'll get in shape this summer.

This is kinda funny. My dad said he wants to trade Norman for a paint. My dad knows absolutely nothing about horses. First of all, Norman is an exceptional 4-year-old. He needs some miles on him, but is an overall great horse. He's sound, hardy, young. Nothing wrong with him. Second of all, horses aren't like cars. You can't just trade them in every once in a while when you decide you like another type better. And it's really not his concern because he's not a horse person and I'm the one that feeds, rides, and takes care of them.

Especially in this economy, I would never part with a horse if I could help it. You have no clue where they might end up and you have no control over what happens to them after you sell them. Any horse could end up in a feedlot. Very scary. I would die if, God forbid, that ever happened to any of my horses.

*shudder*

Anyway, I'm looking forward to more shows this spring. Especially halter classes. :)
I also hope to start doing higher jumps if my trainer ever lets us. lol

The show was a success!

Again, it was only an informal warm-up show, hence the fact that I'm in jeans and a sweatshirt. XP
I was in 3 classes (Showmanship, walk/trot equitation, and horsemanship/equitation) and placed once. I got 6th place in Showmanship, in a class of 23. :) It's a tough crowd. 90% of those riders have been showing since they could walk.
Here's the Showmanship class. Victor was pretty good until we had to line up, and he wouldn't stand still. I can't believe we placed.


Victor, in all his fuzziness. This was before the classes.




And my friends and I with our horses. I was the only one from our barn that placed, but the horses behaved really nicely, considering it was Victor and Jessie's first show.

So, overall, it was a good day. Victor spooked once, and shied a couple times, but otherwise he was fantastic. That's really what my goal was.

I can't wait for halter classes this spring. That seems to be Vic's specialty. (Once he's got some more muscle on him, he'll kick arse.)

I saw myself riding on video for the first time, and I was like, "Who's that idiot?" Oops. That would be me. I can't stand the way my lower body looks. My heels are angled in towards the horse and too far forward. And nobody told me I looked like that! D; All this time, I had no idea. Thanks a lot, guys. Lol. I've got work to do.

There were some good looking horses there, too. Particularly a couple of drop-dead gorgeous paints. I wish I'd gotten pictures of them. They were awesome.

Photo Dump ;)

Here's the stud my trainer wants to breed Jessie to. I don't know if it'll actually happen any time soon because of the economy and all.

This picture does him no justice. It's a bad angle and it's just not flattering. I seriously need to get decent pictures of all the horses. I'll probably see Hustler at the Horse Fair in April.


This is Victor... I think the second spring I had him. As you can see, he had no muscle. And it was before I ever pulled or trimmed his mane. I do his mane twice a year now, so he actually looks like a Thoroughbred. >.> Looking back at the early pics, I can't believe how much better he looks now. He could still use some more muscle tone, but it's a world of difference. I'm not even posting the pics of the first day he came to the farm. He had NO muscle at all. It's not because he was neglected or anything, but the barn just had too many horses and he didn't get one-on-one care.


This was last summer and you can see those neck and shoulder muscles popping. :)



Another one with a better view of those nice rounded, filled-out hindquarters. Much better than the triangular, scrawny mess that was there four years ago.

I don't have real early pictures of Norman available, but here he is last summer.

I can't wait to clip their legs. Especially Norman. He's fuzzy. It's been in the 40's and 50's for the past few days, but it's March in the Midwest. You never know. We've had snow in April before.

I would like it to be April right now.

These boots are killing me.

My trainer called me up and was like, "You better put some miles on those boots before the show!"

O.o So, I'm wearing my field boots around the house and they are not comfortable. They dig into the back of your knee. I don't wanna think about what it's going to be like to ride in them. I DON'T WANNA I DON'T WANNA.

Ahem. Now that my whiny 5-year-old moment is over, I might be going out to the barn today to lunge. Maybe with side reins. I'll have to see how Vic's leg is. I have to wear these bloody tall boots as well. I have a new found respect for jumpers and dressage riders. I need to stop whining...

My feet hurt.

I've already got butterflies in my stomach. The show is next Sunday, and I'm already terrified. Please behave, Victor.

I went out today...

And Victor seems to being doing fine, all things considered. He was rolling in the arena for a while and he got up and down pretty well. He even played a little. He's perky. There's no swelling, either. I didn't call the vet since he seems okay. I still have no idea if we'll make it to the show. We'll have to wait and see. I'm keeping a close eye on him. He's still a little ouchy on that leg.

Good and bad news.

I'll get the bad news out first. We had an accident tonight at the barn. I was letting Victor out after feeding, and it was dark. Well, nobody told me there was ice outside that particular door, and you can't see it because it's so dark. Victor slipped and fell, hitting his mouth in the process. His mouth looks okay, but he knicked it pretty good because it was dripping a little bit of blood.

But he's down on the ice now and my worst fear would be a broken leg. So I keep him calm and my mom gets dirt and starts shoveling it under his feet for footing. We got several blankets and laid them out over the ice as well. He gets up and we finally manage to get him back into the barn, and the good news is, he's weight bearing on all legs, so I don't think anything is broken. He's a little ouchy on his left hind leg, but at least he can walk on it. There was no swelling yet, and I'm going back first thing tomorrow to check on him. We left him in his stall overnight with a little bit of bute. I think he's going to be bruised, but it could have been a lot worse. I know it hurt going down. I feel bad. And the show is now compromised. I have no idea if he'll be able to go. We're going to get the vet out tomorrow and go from there. I'm just grateful he's okay.

I am pretty pissed that no one told me that area was icy. No phone call, no note. And I know at least two people knew about it. I just found out a little too late.

Shall we move on to the good news? Well, I lunged Victor over a cross rail, and it was his first jump this year. He freaked out a little at first and launched over it like it was a four foot oxer, but he calmed down after a while and went over at a quiet pace. So all in all, he did good for having most the winter off. Now if only he gets a clean bill of health from the vet. I can handle coontusions. Bone injuries scare me. I'm praying.

I also lunged Norman over trot poles for the first time ever. He went over those poles like he's been doing it all his life. :) I couldn't believe it. It was even graceful, which is a rare occurrence for him. I was so impressed. The video was taken when he was getting tired, so he's moving a little slow. You get the idea, though. Not bad for a greenie, huh?



I need to get polo wraps for him. I can't find any boots that are big enough. ;P

Show news and update on the neglected mare

There's an informal getting-back-into-the-swing show at Fox Valley on March 15. I'm going with my trainer and a few friends... and riding Victor. *dramatic music*

He better behave. That's all I can say. I'm looking to get natural calming supplements for him. He needs them badly.

We're doing halter and English walk/trot classes I think.

Anyway, about that mare. The lady that's taking her is out of town currently, but will be back this weekend and that's when she plans to get the horse. She asked my mom and I to be there, so I'll have a better idea of what's going on by then. But she's finally getting out of that crappy junk heap! Hooray! I can't wait. I'm thinking it's either going to be Friday or Saturday. I'm not sure yet. I'll post as soon as I know more.