Suck it up Buttercup!

Does anyone else get nervous before a competition or is it just me?  No matter how much I prepare, I never feel like I'm prepared enough!  Tomorrow, Cat and I will compete in our fist competition of the year (ACTHA AOC) and I'm already getting sick to my stomach.  I've barely gotten 8 rides in this year due to the weather and I haven't ridden her in over a week.  If I was riding her consistently I might feel a little bit more confident (bwa ha ha ha, yeah right).

Earlier this week I was informed we had to have additional paperwork so instead of riding tonight, she's getting hauled to the vet.  On the plus side - this ride is considered "Gambler's Choice", which allows for each obstacle to be ridden twice.  While I really enjoy seeing what Cat's initial reaction is (that's the important one), I know if we get a second chance we'll do much better and my main goal is helping her to grow.

After this ride I have a fairly busy schedule which is not going to be very cohesive for riding.

03/08 -Chase has his band solo

03/09 - We have a birthday party

03/13 thru 03/15 - I'm taking the boys to an aquatic center for spring break

03/21 & 03/22 - We will be in Nebraska for the Nebraska Trail Exp (I'm going as a spectator)

03/27 thru 03/29 - MIL and I will compete in MO

Whew - Finally a weekend off!

04/10 thru 04/12 - Cat and I will be in a demo at the Iowa Horse Fair (if you think my anxiety is high about tomorrow take it times 1000 for this)

04/18 thru 04/19 - Back in MO

Finally a weekend off!

What in the world have I gotten myself into?

I guess as the saying goes "suck it up buttercup!"  

Did I mention the weather forecast?  23* (real feel 12*) with snow expected in the afternoon.  Guess I'd better get some thermals washed tonight!

Lions and Tigers and......Iguana's????

We only have 12 days before our first competition for 2015!  I'm getting excited and nervous at the same time.  I found an arena less than 10 miles away to use from time to time which has been a huge help in getting the horses legged up and prepared.

Yesterday the boys and I made a trip to Goodwill and found a few new "obstacles".  I know this is turning into a bit of an obsession when the boys are now finding things to scare the horses for me. 

Meet Spike!

And mini Spike!

When we got the arena we set up a few obstacles to work on.  There were some cones to trot through, a bridge, the barrels w/the tarp and mini Spike and then Spike (as a drag).  As you can see Cat was deathly afraid of Spike.

I feel like Cat is really coming along.  She has been side passing over objects (starting to the side vs straddling) and is getting more and more comfortable with it.  She even side passed over Spike.  She is also doing much better at picking up her right lead (this has always been her bad lead) and she's really starting to rock back onto her hocks and use her hind end.  I'm so excited to see the changes she's going to make this year - that WE are going to make!

Perfecting the Basics

Beginning riders try to perfect intermediate things, Intermediate riders try to perfect advanced things and the elite level trainers try to perfect the basics. ~ Warwick Schiller

This is a quote by Warwick Schiller.  It is the first quote by him I've put on my blog but I can guarantee it won't be the last. If you've never heard of him, I highly recommend you look him up on either YouTube or his website.

I found Warwick by mistake one day looking at YouTube videos of reining spins.  I liked what he had to say so I watched another video, and another, and another, and...........

Most of what he teaches isn't much different from that of other clinicians/trainers - sometimes it just takes hearing it from someone else for it to hit home.

This weekend I took Cat for a short ride down the road and then when we returned I decided to work on some obstacles in hand.  Cat hates tires.  I'm not sure why, but she does.  I went and picked up 8 tires on Saturday.  I started out by asking her to go past one tire...SNORT!!!!!!  Once she did that well then I set up two rows of 4 tires making a chute with them and asked her to go between them.  She went through them but had a bit of worry in her so I continued to do it until she seemed more relaxed.

Once she was moving through the tires well I bumped two of them closer together making 1/2 of the chute a bit tighter.  I continued the process until all of the tires were touching each other making it so she had to pick where she was going to place her steps.  She was a little super star and I could see her gaining confidence and relaxing more with each step.

Next, I asked her to go over a piece of plywood laying on the ground.  She had no problems with this so I moved to the next and final step - placing the plywood on the tires.  MIL was fairly confident Cat was never going to walk over the plywood on the tires but to her surprise Cat did it with very minimal hesitation and almost fell asleep once she was resting on top of the platform.

Pre-Warwick I would have started out with the platform on the tires.  I would have been able to get her on it, but it wouldn't have been as pretty and I don't think she would have relaxed so quickly.

What does this have to do with the quote?  I've always been in a hurry to advance and in doing so I didn't perfect the basics.  Now, I have not time limit on perfecting the basics.  Tonight I'll work her on the tires again - starting back at the single tire and I'll continue to do so until she no longer greats it with a SNORT!!! 

Small Victories

Doing the obstacle challenges has really forced me to step up my horsemanship and focus on getting the little things good.  Last year I began sidepassing Cat more and she got really good at it - so good that she started to anticipate what she thought I wanted and would sidepass all of the way off a log when I only wanted her to sidepass over one step.  While her sidepass was good, I could never get her to sidepass over an object if I tried to start her next to it vs. straddling over it.

Sunday was an absolutely gorgeous January day in Iowa with temperatures reaching nearly 50*.  I had hoped to put a pole next to the fence and start the sidepassing process over from square one (exept with a pole there) in an attempt to get her to sidpass over a log without starting out straddled over it first.  The arena was a muddy, mucky mess and was slippery so I decided to forego this until another day.  Instead I worked on getting control of all of her feet one step at a time.  After about 1/2 an hour I decided to take her over to the obstacle course and line her up with a log on the ground.  Instead of asking for the sidepass I just sat there and let her take it all in.  After a bit I asked for one step towards the log.  I could feel her wanting to move away from it so I slid my leg back and got one hq step towards the log and then released.  Then I asked for on fq step and then..........we were over the log!

I sidepassed her back off of the log and started back over making sure to take plenty of time to reward each little step, and each little try.  I attempted this several times until she finally stepped towards it without hesitation.  For Cat and I this was more than a small victory - this was a huge victory.

Our first competition for this year is just a little over a month away.  I have a lot of work to do and only 5 weekends to do it in.

Ringing in the New Year

The weatherman couldn't decide what the forecast was going to be on New Years.  It ranged from 17* - 38* depending on the day/hour you watched the news.  I opted to not haul out so of course it ended up being a gorgeous day!

I had on my coveralls so opted to just go on a nice bareback ride around the pasture.  The ground is now frozen but is difficult to navigate due to the indents from when it was mud prior to freezing so I took Cat to the arena instead.

The nice thing about the ground not being up to par for speed work is it helps force me to slow down and work on the things that need to be worked on.

Countdown to Competitions

My first competition is in just a few months.  It feels weird counting down the days.  The cold weather and lack of sunlight is going to make training days few and far between.





I've set a few goals for 2015.  Nothing major, but things I want to work towards.

Ride out of state at least once.

• I would like to ride at Kanopolis State Park in Marquette, KS
• I would also like to ride at Calamus Reservoir State Recreation Area and Wildlife Management Area in Burwell, NE.

Get Duke started

• I would like to get Duke started undersaddle and get at least 30 days on him.
• My long range goal is to have him far enough along to take him to the AQHA trail challenge in August or October.

Get Cat more refined.

• Cat had an amazing year this year and I couldn't be happier with her progress.  With that being said, I think she's ready to start giving me more finesse and refinement in our maneuvers.

Time Flies When You Are Having Fun

Wow!  I didn't realize it had been over a year since my last blog post.  A lot has happened since then!

This year I decided to step out of my comfort zone and start competing again.  I took Cat to her first trail challenge (ITREC) in June hoping to just stay on.  You can imagine my shock when we ended up taking 2nd place on the first day.  The second day we placed 5th.  This was enough to earn the Intermediate High Point buckle.

Trail riding this year has been pretty limited as we have had a lot of rain.  We did manage to get out a few times this year, although we were only able to have one overnight trail ride.

Playing in the water at Brushy Creek

More fun in the water

Duke got saddled for the first time this year.  He still has a lot of growing to do before a rider is added but he took it well.  More than likely he will become my winter project.

I decided to push my comfort zone even more by taking Cat to an AQHA Trail Challenge in August.  We ended up placing 3rd in the training level.

The pinwheel

In September we did another ITREC challenge.  Cat took 1st place on Saturday and 2nd on Sunday, earning another buckle.  

Last year after looking at some photos of the Black Hill on Horse Trails and Camping Across America I decided I to book a trip to SD.  For years MIL and I have said we were going to go  'next year' but always found a reason to not go.  This time there would be no excuses.

Two weeks before the trip Lucy got hurt.  I was hoping she'd heal up in time to go but decided at the last minute not to chance it and took Cat instead.

We stayed at Broken Arrow Horse Camp in Custer, SD.  The camp was nice and the people were great.  The trails were quite a bit different from the ones we are used to at home.  Lots of hills and lots of rocks!  I had decided not to put shoes on Cat and worried I'd made a huge mistake but she ended up fairing well barefoot.

Broken Arrow Horse Camp

The stalls at Broken Arrow

Lots of steep hills (trail behind Broken Arrow)

Mines outside of Broken Arrow

The Man From Snowy River?  I think I'll pass

On top of "Heaven" (7000 ft)

Some of the old mines

 

Rocky trail to Beecher Rock

The horses getting a much needed rest (Beecher Rock)

The view from Beecher Rock

I told him not to fall off!

Coming down from Beecher Rock

Rushmore Ride - TONS of rocks

The ride to Rushmore

Rushmore!

Blackberry Trail from Rushmore

We had a FABULOUS time!  This ride to Rushmore really challenged our horses and our horsemanship skills.  There was a lot of rock, a lot of steep hills and lots of downed trees.  The boys learned that you can use a leatherman to cut a tree off of the trail - it just takes a lot of work!  We were very patient while they cut away. :)

We had a great time and next year we are planning on doing it again (going out of state, not necessarily to SD).

I have another AQHA competition in a week and then I'm debating on doing the ITREC ride in October.  I'll be moving myself up to the "Advanced" level.  Not because I think we are ready for it but because I think I need to once again challenge myself.

I'm also toying with the idea of going to a trail challenge at the Nebraska Horse Expo.  Money and weather are two of the main reasons I can't make up my mind on this one.  It would be held inside a pavilion which would be a new experience for Cat.

Next year I would like to ride:

Kanopolis State Park and Calamus Lake & Recreation Area

Now that I've written a novel................I think it is time to hit the post button before I go on anymore.

Keep Calm and Ride On

This past weekend we got a chance to do a little trail riding without the kids.  DH, MIL and I got into camp Saturday afternoon and quickly saddled up to hit the trails.

We couldn't have asked for a better weekend.  The temperatures were just right and the horses were wonderful.

DH and MIL on the trail

My favorite view (at the lookout)

Cat taking a "Cat" nap

Belle was quite the character

We heard a group of riders coming down the trail so we mounted up and got ready to head out.  One rider told us to stop so she could take our picture.  I think this is one of the few we have of all three of us together.

DH, Me and MIL

Cat seemed fairly content with Sis in the lead and Belle behind her.  Sis wan't thrilled about being in the lead as Cat would "bump" her in the butt everytime she started to slow down.  Cat is a fast walker so she got bumped a lot.

MIL and Sissy

One of my favorite things about Brushy is all of the water crossings.  The horses seem to enjoy them as well.

MIL and Sis

Cat and I

 Sunday we met up with some friends and headed out for the spillway.  This is one of my favorite rides.  Jerry and Julie took the lead so Sis happily took up the rear.

MIL and Sissy

The spillway wasn't nearly as deep as it normally is but it was sill belly deep in areas.

Julie and Jerry at the spillway (and Belle)

Jerry and Hollywood

Headed into the spillway

Cat really isn't THAT short.  There is a drop off in the water.

Heading back to camp (Julie and Jerry)

Jerry and Julie headed down the big hill in front of me.

DH and MIL behind me on the big hill.

We had a great time.  I think the horses were ready to come home.

Belle and Sis seem tired.

Time to relax

Time for some down time in life to enjoy the things I like best - my family & my ponies!

A year of first

This has been a year of first, not only for Cat and I, but also for Shari.  This year I decided to let both of them attend their first parade.

Early this week we did a little preparation homework to make sure we were all ready.  I purchased this "curtain" and the wind was so kind as to help animate it for us.

I'm hoping I can make a PVC curtain holder so I can move this to where we can ride underneath it, but for now this will do.

Cat quickly learned this scary object was a source of rest and seemed to be magically drawn to it.  :)

We borrowed my mom's flag from the front porch to see how the horses would react.  I wasn't too worried about Sis and Abby as both of them have carried flags in the past.  I was a little taken back when Cat was the least worried about the flag.

She was to the point she really didn't care what I did to her as long as she got to rest next to the pretty blue stuff.

If you notice, her eyes are closed and she is pretty relaxed (if not sleeping).

Do you like her new forelock?

Time for the parade!

Shari and Janet patiently waiting for the parade to start.

Cat checking out her surroundings

Someone wasn't supposed to be that far ahead!

Oh yeah, I have candy to throw!

My pretty girl.

Janet and Sis

Shari and Abby

All-in-all the horses were great!  We couldn't have asked for a better day.  Stay tuned for our next adventure................