JUNE 2006

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June 20, 2006

Busy weekend!  Lori and I went on a trail ride on Friday night.  I think this might have been our most eventful one so far.  On our merry little adventure, we spied a three-legged deer.  Pretty sure it was a doe -- no points.  Anyway, she seemed perfectly fine with her situation and wheeled off and away just as nimbly as any other deer.  But, let's rewind a little.  Justin was a little fired up at the beginning of the ride.  We're talking, he was acting like big stud man.  He was huffing and puffing throughout our ride like a hot Thoroughbred ready to get to the gates.  When we decided to canter up the hill in one of the hayfields, he decided it would be more fun to gallop and buck repeatedly.  Sometimes, I amaze myself at my 'stick' in the tack.  As usual, that left me giggling.  Why, I'll never know.  I think I'm supposed to be scared.  Then we let him stop to look at the horses at Kota Farm, he did a really loud blowing noise (that noise they make when they are challenging something that perplexes them).  He had his neck all up and felt all puffed up.  He was very funny.  We were literally within sight of the barn and voila, the lady with the kid on the llama was there.  For kicks, I did the big blowing noise like Justin and he took that as a reason to be scared.  Simultaneously, he and Topper wheeled around and ran the other way....Lori screaming expletives at me and both of us laughing and leaning back on the reins.  I still laugh when I think about it.  Nothing funnier than how that llama scares Justin.  Except maybe how cows scare him.  After we walked back up for him to get a look, he kept doing this head bobbing back and forth thing while he tried to size up the llama.  So, so funny.

The next day, I got up bright and early to go out on an organized trail ride with Middleburg Hunt.  There was a huge turnout.  I rode Rum and Neely and a friend of hers came and one of Linda's students, Marianne came.  I bumped into several familiar faces, including Luci Strange of Sandstone Farm.  Rum was a very good boy, very quiet and laid back and did all the water and so forth.  He was very good in the group as well.  Afterwards, there was a very nice lunch under tents and in the shade and we all got to catch up with old friends and new.

It was time to go when I saw Neely run down the hill towards the trailer.  I just knew that meant someone got loose.  Turned out, both Tally and Rum had pulled out of their halters.  With several of us involved, we rounded the boys up and got them all on the trailer and headed out. 

After that, I rode Fox.  By this time, it was pretty hot.  I kept our hacking to a light warm up and started jumping Fox over a pole, nine feet to a small vertical, nine feet to a landing pole.  I did that back and forth until he relaxed with the task.  Then, I trotted him to an X, two flowing strides to a gate.  I didn't love that line and did it in both 2 and 3 strides.  For nervous horses, I prefer to add the strides so at the end of our ride, I moved that line in.  He ended up doing the two fine but I think the three would be better for now.

I gave Fox a nice hosing off and fluffed his bed for him and left him to enjoy the rest of his day.

I'd gotten all prepared to make Bob a nice steak dinner, since he was coming home after being gone a week and while I was warming up the grill, the tank emptied out!  Grr!  So, I had to go get carry out.  Bob has been selected as the new commander of his Combat Communications unit.  I'm so proud of him!  I go to the changing of command ceremony on Friday.  I think his mom is going to come down for it.  That'd be great.

Sunday, I didn't get to ride since I needed to spend time with Bob.  We went to Lowe's for a few things in the morning, and then I headed off to pick up feed for Justin.  I went to Warrenton for it and stopped by Sabrina's to pick up some saddles she wants me to put on eBay.  Then, I drove to Upperville to look at a horse for Lori.  Turns out, the man who owned the horses is a man that a friend of mine, Becky, worked for for years.  She has bought five horses from him.  I've known all the horses through the years so it was fun to hear about them from their breeder.  I looked at two horses that day -- a gray and a very fancy chestnut.  I think both are worth a second look and I'm sure we'll arrange to do so soon.

Back at home, with a fresh tank in the grill, I made a yummy steak dinner for Bob.  And that was my weekend!

June 14, 2006

Lori and I went on a trail ride tonight.  We'd initially planned on riding in the ring but we changed our minds -- because we can!  It was such a pretty night.  We did our usual little turn through the neighborhood, stopping along the way to say hello to Lori's neighbor, Lee, whose daughter rides over with Tami at Stonegate Stables.  They'd just gotten back from Loudoun Benefit.  Ironically, she was on the phone with Tami shortly after we rode up!

Anyway, after our hellos, we moseyed on.  Saw at least four deer a few bunnies and a fox!  The fox was cool. 

Surprisingly, Justin was extremely well-behaved.  He walked up some hills he usually trots up.  He trotted up some ridges he usually canters up and he only played bucking-machine once, but that was very early in the ride. 

Afterwards, we looked through the pictures that Alyssa had taken of us (I promise to share soon!) and looked at the ones I'd taken with the throw away.  You can just barely see the little fawn and some of the pictures made us laugh out loud because our trail rides tend to be quite comical.

Anyway, I was glad to be able to ride on such a gorgeous night on my pretty horsie who I just adore beyond belief.

June 12, 2006

Somehow, yesterday, I managed to:

Go on a leisurely trail ride on Justin with Lori, treat myself to a sit-down lunch, go home to let the dogs out, drive to Middleburg and ride Troy, then I rode Rum, then I headed to Aldie and rode Fox, stopped for groceries and cooked my man a meal!

Here's how it all broke down:

Lori and I have established a kind of little route through the neighborhood.  I think our extreme trail riding days might be over for a bit.  Granted, I love a challenge but the goat trails do tend to put a dark spot on the day and Justin isn't keen on the big drop into waters of depths unknown.  If he can walk in fine, but plunge -- that's another ball game.  So, we have done some exploring and have come up with a fabulous ride. 

While we were strolling through some hayfields, lo and behold, Topper nearly steps on yet another little fawn!  This one seemed even tinier than the last.  This time, I was prepared with a camera and got a picture of him.  Once I get the pix developed, I will post one here.  He was just so cute, I wanted to scoop him up and take him home with me.  It just amazes me how you can get right next to them and they just don't budge.  So, I worry about what must happen when people bush hog.  I hope by then, all the little fawns have grown up and are able to bound away to safety when the tractors come through.  I just don't know why their mommas don't park them in the woods!

Then, we walked across the road to Compass Rose because Justin likes his victory gallops there.  But before the victory gallop, one must of course jump the jumps!  As mentioned, Justin doesn't jump.  But he can pop over the occasional log.  So, there was this enticing dressage ring thingy that looked like a fine cavaletti to me.  Lori said, "Why don't you just pop over that?"  So, with all the best of intentions, I struck off in a trot to 'pop' Justin over it.  Now, keep in mind, the way I have taught Justin to jump is to 'step' over it.  So, he will go over anything as long as he can step over it.  So, as fast as he could, he tried to steppity-step-step and it just didn't work.  Much to my chagrin, Justin had felled a cavaletti.  Of course, while all this was going on, someone was riding in a nearby dressage ring and when Lori broke out into peels of laughter, needless to say, we were being a bit disruptive.  I honestly thought she was going to fall off her horse.

Then came the decision to make the 'dismount of shame'.  I said, "Should I put it back up?"  As I crinkled my nose, hoping she'd say, "Nah!"  I actually couldn't even get her to answer because she was still laughing but because a friend of mine manages the place, I felt it only right to get off and reset the thing.  So, I did the dismount of shame. 

We continued to tour the property and circled back, heading towards the way home.  Topper decided he wanted to trot and Justin thought this would be a fine idea.  So off Topper trotted and off Justin went, breaking into a canter, complete with a few squeals and see-saw bucks, because you know, cantering is so much fun.  Well, his squeals and bucks made me squeal and laugh so there we were again, wreaking havoc zipping past the dressage ring.  Justin and I finished with a few laps around the field (Justin takes this very seriously and fancies himself quite the racehorse) and finally, we were ready to take a break and meander back to the farm. 

After that, I went out to ride Troy and Rum.  Troy has now turned into my easiest horse, even though he is the least broke and is only 2.  I no longer have to longe him first or do any desensitizing.  I just tack up, hop on, and ride him out in the big field.  He was so good on Sunday.  This time, he barely sucked to the barn, listening very well to my outside leg.  I had a great time cantering him around the big field and I just love his trot.

I hadn't ridden Rum in a while but decided right off the bat that the next time I rode him, he was going to have an entire ride dedicated to WHOA.  Darling, fancy horse but he really wants to lay on your hand.  So, yesterday was just a 'let's see where we are now' ride.  I jumped him a little and it was a little discombobulated and of course, there is no such thing as pulling up on the other side.  Plus, he would NOT pick up the left lead with out A LOT of setting up and perfect timing.

So, tonight, I went back and dedicated the first ten minutes to walk, whoa, walk-whoa-back.  Repeat and rinse.  Then, I tried him at the trot.  Had a few 'sit-downs' with him, then he got it.  Next, the canter.  The first handful of times, he kept throwing the right lead while I was pressing for the left.  After some chat about 'this is my outside leg, you will move away from it and NOW I want the left lead' he managed to get it consistently four times in a row after that.  So, he will be drill, drill, drilled on all that the next time I see him.  Next lesson, I'll be also introducing the quieter canter vs. the self-imposed hand-gallop.  Such fun!

I went to ride Fox and I redid his training braids then rode.  Kind of breezed through the flat work, which I usually like to spend more time doing, because Sarah had asked me to do some jumping with him.  Having only jumped a few Xs with him out there, I had him trot everything first.  He did stop and a pretty non-spooky jump but all I had to do was cluck and grab mane and he popped right over.  I'm a believer that if they stop, they have to jump from there.  Pam Lindholm (back from my Pony Club days) taught me that and it is probably the best rule you can have with jumping the green ones.  Forget that circling crap!  After that, he was pretty confident and jumped everything, including the brick wall and the wishing wells.  I know Sarah has probably jumped him over all of that stuff, but he tends to be a little looky and when you're out there by yourself, it is best to make sure you are in 'Drive' to these things.  Anyway, jumping him was a blast. 

June 11, 2006

Didn't get to ride as many as I had planned but had a great time, nonetheless.  We started out by taking the horses to Summerplace to school.  That was fun.  Justin had to be a goof ball for the first fifteen minutes because he didn't like the idea of other horses around his boyfriend, Topper.  Once he settled down, I was able to get him to do some work.  Alyssa came and recorded our rides and took pictures of us.  Can't wait to see how the pix came out.

After that, I headed out to Middleburg to Linda's and rode Troy.  When I got back to the barn, I noticed a few of the horses were in the barn just meandering around.  Turns out, they slipped through the side door from the indoor -- the chains that are normally up there were down.  You could tell they didn't break through them, but rather someone had left them open.  Then, I heard a bunch of thumping around where we bathe the horses.  The rest of the horses, all expect Spanky, had gotten back there.  They had walked through the barn and walked out the back door, which had also been left open.  I put Troy in a stall and set about catching everyone and putting them back in the field.  By the time all that was done and Troy was bathed, it was 5:00 and I needed to get home. 

Weird thing is, Linda called me later and said Rum and Kola (there's a reason why they named him Rum) were in the front pasture.  Now that one, I have no idea how that happened because I specifically put them in the other paddock.  Horse mysteries....

OK, I better get moving so that I can ride everything I'm supposed to today.  Picture to left is of Justin and I at Summerplace.  Alyssa, who was nice enough to come out  that day,  took a bunch of pix of us.  More to follow. 

June 9, 2006

What a great day yesterday was!  My first surprise of the day was a call from a friend in the office who is serving over in Iraq right now.  He's the one I've been sending care packages to from the folks in the office.  It was so good to hear his voice and to hear that he was still his old self, regardless of what the war and being away from his family has to be doing to him.  We had a bunch of laughs together and were actually able to talk on the phone for at least 20 minutes.  I have no idea how he was able to swing that.  Anyway, it was good to catch up and he'll be pleased when I write him to tell him that today, I sent him a box of newspapers that I'd been promising him.

Not long after that, Alyssa had told me that the Local Ponies weren't to go before 1:00 at Upperville.  Given the number of entries, it seemed like I might be able to make it for her rounds.  I went home at lunch to meet a carpenter at the house, grabbed some clothes to change into, grabbed the DVD recorder and headed back to work to finish out the day.  By the time I left the office, they were just starting the mediums.  I left the office in full-on rush hour traffic.  I took the Toll Road to the Greenway to Route 15 to Lime Kiln to Snickersville Turnpike to Sam Fred Rd, all to avoid traffic on 50 and at the intersection of Routes 15 and 50.  I made it from Reston in an hour!

Just as I was nearing the grounds, Alyssa's mom called me to say she was 8 trips away.  Once parked, I grabbed my stuff and bolted for the pony ring with just four trips to spare.  Right away, I was bumping into so many people I hadn't seen in awhile.  I got to catch up with Peggy Smith since we were both standing on the same side of the ring.  Always good to see her.  And I was so happy to see she was shooting that ring because that means we'll see pictures!! 

I had run into Liz on my way in, she was of course shopping because she's addicted to Upperville shopping.  She came over to the ring to fill me in on Codi's awesome wins from the day before.  It was great to catch up.  Then I saw Heather, who had done a nutritional work up for Buster waaaaaaaaaaay back when I first got him.  She and I had stayed in touch and have several mutual friends.  I invited her to dinner with Belinda and I, which then expanded the dinner to include Susan as well.  So, I'm looking forward to our Horse Girls Night Out next Tuesday.  All of us know each other but were never introduced by each other so, it just goes to show what a small world it is.

Anyway, Alyssa and Bailey were just so cute.  Alyssa did her own braiding and did a splendid job.  Bailey actually seemed surprised to see me.  His little ears went straight up when I walked over to him and he let me give him a few kisses while I pet is little head.  He was just as sleek as a seal.  Alyssa did such a great job at keeping Bailey honest.  She motored him around the course in the first round when there were a few times he actually appeared to want to do a little flower-sniffing.  In her second round, she was able to take the foot off the pedal just a little more and not long after, she'd survived her first Upperville!  I'm so proud of what she's done with that pony.  There is so much backstory with him and Alyssa has been so patient, so persistent and such a good student, she's really taken that pony far.

Of course, I got to chat with Terri, who I just admire so much, who trains Alyssa now.  She's such a positive force for her girls.  I met her other junior, Hayley and her very pretty pony.  And somehow, Heather is connected to Terri and Hayley too and I have to find out that story as well.  Because when it is all said and done, Kevin Bacon fits in here somewhere too, I'm sure.

Afterwards, I headed over to see Kelly and meet some friends of hers who were visiting on their way back from dropping their mare off who was getting bred by Saluut!  So, that was fun to meet them and to chat about that.  After hanging out for a bit, Kelly and I went into town at Backstreet for dinner.  Of course, true to Middleburg, their kitchen was closed at just minutes after 9:00.  Thankfully, Kelly knows the management there because they were nice enough to offer us salads and soup.  I had a yummy salad and gazpacho.  I love gazpacho season!  We had such a nice time chatting and basically closing the place down.

Tomorrow, Lori and I are headed to a nearby showgrounds to school the boys.  We're excited because given Upperville, we'll most likely have the ring to ourselves.  Alyssa is coming to take pictures and to video us.  I have some rides lined up at Linda's and will finish out the day on Fox. 

June 7, 2006

Managed to get out to ride Justin last night.  First time I've gotten to ride him in a week due to other scheduled events.  He was such a good boy.  I kept my ride fairly short because he'd just eaten and had the week off but he was great.  Everything finally got fixed with his feet -- I took the pads out and now he's living in bell boots until I feel like we have enough growth in his left front to trust that a shoe will hold if it has some minor interference.

Anyway, I kept my ride to basic walk, trot, cantering on a loose rein and he felt loose, comfortable and sound.  Oh, and no bucking or squealing!

Lori and I might trailer somewhere to ride this weekend.  We'll see how things go.  I'm hoping to make it out to Middleburg to ride at Linda's and hopefully, will get to ride Fox if he has his new shoe reset.  Fox is for sale and I'm hoping to ride him a bit before he finds a new home, which I'm afraid will probably be pretty quick because he's such a sweet horse with so much potential.  Me on Mr. Fox to the left.