Best Pony Smooches Award Goes To...

Yeah, he's THAT cuddly.

Living for the Weekends

This past weekend was a good one for me and Joey. The weather was good enough and both rides were just great.

I've been slowly, slowly working on flying changes with him. Like slowly over years, LOL. Which started with simple changes, then simple changes with only one trot step between, to clunky flying changes to every once in awhile a perfect change.

Last year he was getting pretty good at remembering to complete the entire change and not swap only in front and have to catch up behind. Coming out of the winter back in March, after a few rides, just for fun I asked him to change across the diagonal. Nope, it was a big hop followed by a little buck to catch up the lead and I loosened the reins and just pushed him forward. He wasn't fit enough yet to give what I wanted so I quit and didn't frustrate him.

This weekend was a different story, he's been under saddle 3-4 times a week for the past month. This Saturday I asked for the change across the diagonal after he was well warmed-up and he just did the change and cantered smoothly through the corner! Almost surprised me how effortlessly he did it!

Asked again on Sunday, same result. Then he started thinking every time we circled he was going to be asked to change as he neared the center of the ring. He tries so hard he over thinks what I'm going to do. So I over exaggerated the "hold" with my outside leg and inside bend to direct him and kept pushing forward to keep him from assuming the change. He understood. We jumped a few low fences and quit with that.

It's gotten much harder for me to ride during the week. I live for the weekends. I can't wait to ride my good pony again.

What Can I Accomplish With Only 20 Minutes To RIde?

Yesterday was probably the only day out of this week I'll get to ride. I was looking forward to it. The work day was long and before I knew it the clock said 6:25PM and I wanted to be on my way to the barn by at least 6:00.

Great.

I now feed and water all the horses at my barn in the evenings to help bring down my boarding costs. I've been rediscovering my barn worker skills lately in order to better afford my horse. (It's definitely easier when you're in your 20's than when you're on the cusp of turning 50, I'll say that.)

That being said, leaving work late means with all I have to do before I can get my horse tacked and in the ring to ride, all I'll get is about 20 minutes before I really lose daylight.

Is it worth it to even ride?

I was tempted to just groom him a bit after feeding and watering and that would be it. But we just got through a long, cold bitter winter where Joey and I had 3 months with no riding. That, and the lessons ingrained in me over years of competitive riding overrode the thought to be lazy. Any time spent in the saddle with a positive outcome will add to the hours needed to make a good horse.

So with a thorough but quick grooming (which is a chore in itself since Joey is shedding like crazy) I saddled up, zipped on my half chaps and buckled on my helmet and out we went.

 I'd rather be eating, mom but okay let's go.

Once I mounted up, my thought was, "what exactly am I planning to do?"

And I really didn't know. I really only felt like I had the energy for a leisurely walk around the ring but that's a waste. I got here, now let's do something.

So I started riding bending lines and adding walking over ground poles that were in the arena from lessons earlier in the day. We pushed into the rail from the quarter track and out again to do some work off the leg. We halted and backed. We rode long rein and on contact. We even trotted a few circles starting at 20 meters and spiraling in then out.

Then we walked out of the arena and up the driveway to a small grassy hill and walked up and down that hill to change up working on a flat surface.

And then it was dark enough to quit. And my 20 minute ride made it to 30 minutes, just walking and trotting a bit. But look at all the small things we did. There's always something to work on or refresh. So many little details that add up to a nicely trained horse.

It was quality work. Even just at the walk. 30 more positive minutes to add to Joey's resumé.

If you only get 20 minutes to ride, don't take the easy way out, use them. No minute in the saddle is ever wasted.

Still here after a Year

Looking back at "A Good Horse", I see my last post was just a year ago. Well, first off I'm glad it certainly hasn't been longer than that since I last had something to say.

:)

(excuse me, Blogger but you mean to tell me you haven't added emoji's to the blogs yet?)

Many times I had thought about adding a blog post but just didn't feel up to the task of expressing myself. I guess I also defaulted to Facebook for a faster snippet update of my life.

So much has happened in the past year, so I guess I was just busy and tired too at the end of the day.

Some things are still the same. This wonderful fellow is still the horsey love of my life. :)

Still enjoy working with this boy. He's been healthy and happy (knock on wood) and continues to be a source of joy in an otherwise stressful world.

I've had some losses. The hardest one was my mother passing away suddenly this past autumn. I'm still hurting and healing from that. She and I were so close. It's been rough.

Other things, just part of life I guess have been happening. Don't know how much to share, maybe time will give me the chance to open up more. But I want to bring this blog back. Maybe the writing and posting will help me find my way. Sharing what horsey musings and experiences I've had were always helpful to me and hopefully to some of you.

Keep an eye out for me, I plan to stick around.

Are Registration Papers Important When He's a Gelding?

Maybe, maybe not, right? I can't breed him. I am sure enough he doesn't come from any famous bloodline that I'd wager on it. He will never be sold so I don't need the papers to make him look fancy.

Yet I have been emailing the American Warmblood Society and trying to get his AWS papers since I first posted about my figuring out his early origins here: OMG I Found Him!

I know many of you thought it best I don't stir the pot so to speak but I want his papers. It's like I want his identity to belong to him again and be safe with me. As of today I am the closest I have ever been to getting them. It may take another month or two after I submit paperwork to them and my finger's crossed but it's happening! And I have to add, the AWS Team has been really great in trying to do this for me considering the missing pieces of Joey's past.

I love this horse so much. He's had two months of just chillin' (literally) in this cold snowy winter yet on the days when it's been thawed out and nice enough for me to ride, all he needs is a 10 minute twirl on the lunge line to assess his mood (which is usually quiet or needing one lap around with a snort and his tail up) and we're good to go for an obedient light walk/trot ride.

And he gives horsey kisses now, too. If I blow gently in his nostril, he wiggles his lips and then proceeds to horsey smooch my face until I laugh. No teeth, all gentle. He'll even do it if I make kissy noises at the opening in his stall where the feed is poured into his bucket, he'll walk over and smooch my cheek through the opening.

Still a match made in heaven.

Autumn in the air

Last night I rode Joey for the first time under the lights in the riding arena at the barn we now board at. Since the light switch is inside the barn owner's home, I have to text her and request the lights be turned on for riding. The barn owner is so, so nice and put the lights on for me even before I headed out to ride. It's been getting dark now at just 7:15PM and usually the earliest I can get in the tack is at about 6:45PM. So I have to bang out as much schooling as I can before daylight is gone. I've been holding out asking for her to put the lights on for me because it's going to be a long winter and I'm going to be requesting this a lot!

With the lights on early, Joey was able to adjust comfortably as we worked and daylight faded to darkness around us. Even with it being a chilly, windy evening, with strange sounds and gusty rustles he kept his mind on his business (which is so like him, anyway) and we schooled for a good 45 minutes. I'm trying to ride him at a lot of trot/canter work, I have plans to enter a Hunter Pace in November and I'm starting our conditioning now.

Mosquito Bites, Tiger Balm and Fly Spray

Went to ride after work today. We had heavy rain late last night into the morning and everything is soggy. When it rains heavily, the mosquitoes get really bad at the new barn. They owners have two huge fans blowing through the barn to move the air and keep the bugs away and it does help but today was buggy even with the fans.

Poor Joey, he was miserable. Stomping flies as I tried to groom him, then to add insult to injury, the girl came to feed dinner as I saddled up. I kept stuffing handfulls of hay in his mouth since I felt sorry for him but I finished tacking up and out we went.

I planned on a short half hour ride, just walking and trotting because the bugs were so annoying. I swear at this time of year the critters just huff the fly spray and party on. I mounted up and once we were moving Joey seemed to get a little relief.

I kept my promise, 30 uneventful minutes later I dismounted and brought Joey back to the barn. I felt so bad for my hungry pony that I untacked him and then let him into his stall to start eating his hay as I finished up brushing him and adding another coat of fly spray. Once I finished brushing him down then he got his grain. I swear he sighed in relief.

Fly Spray - okay, here's where I need opinions from some of you folks in the steamy south, what brand of fly spray do you find really works to keep the flys and especially the skeeters away from your horse? I tried Mosquito Halt and it worked a little better than the Bronco stuff I normally use but how toxic do I need to get before my horse gets some relief?

And as for the Tiger Balm, well, I figured I'd spread the news that Tiger Balm works great to stop the itch from mosquito bites. I read it somewhere in some forum online and when I woke up at 2AM last night with 3 nasty, aggravatingly itchy bites on my leg I tried it.
You use a Q-tip and rub the Tiger Balm into the welt for about a minute. Then the itch is just gone! I was so happy it worked! Thank you internet!

A Good Weekend

So I rode both Saturday and Sunday and Joey was a rock star as usual. There were lots of jumps set up as the barn owner's daughter was prepping for competition at the Hampton Classic on Sunday. I played with the cross-rail, LOL. I also was daring and trotted him over the small liverpool she had set up. Joey jumped it with no hesitation and better than the cross-rail.

The best part was on Sunday, as I rolled up the driveway toward the barn, Joey was lounging in his paddock. I rolled down the car window and called out to him, "Hey Pony, whatcha doin'?". His head lifted and he watched the car as I parked at the barn.

As I got out of the car and walked to the stable I called him again and he started to stroll up towards his stall. Then he stopped, he never took his eyes off me the entire time. I went into the barn and was now out of his sight. I stood in front of his stall, opened the door and called him again.

There was the thunder of hooves and Joey burst into his stall at a trot and came right over to me sniffing my shirt and nuzzling me. Mind you, he doesn't get treats right away when I arrive at the barn and those are always in his bucket. So I guess it was the scratches and nose rubs he was interested in.

But after the past week or so of worrying about what was, I was really happy that he reminded me what IS!

Pictures from Joey & I at our first Horse Show

Well, they were pricey, and it's taken awhile but I caved in and bought two of the pictures from Joey's first Horse Show. They arrived the other day and now seems like the best time to share them here. Both pictures are ©Bruce Smith of Digital Hoofprints.

We competed in the English Hunter Pleasure horse division. I know, he's a little too "framed up" for a pleasure hunter flat class. Too many years in the Hunt Seat Equitation ring, LOL.

Here we are in the line-up. He looks so cute here. 

There was only one other competitor in the classes besides me. Actually, we were joking with each other when were entering the ring that everyone else was afraid to ride against us!

But for my first horse show experience with Joey, I didn't care. It was a great day as I posted before and  I don't know about you, but my pony looks pretty happy with himself in both shots!

I know I was very proud of him!

Disappointed

Well, suffice it to say, I did have a phone conversation with the farm owner where Joey came from. And it wasn't what I expected. I'm not sure how much I want to share, but the horse I have worked with and loved for just over a year didn't exactly match up with the horse she described to me.

I was stunned, disappointed and taken aback. What I can share is that he does have the American Warmblood Society brand and there are no registration papers available for the horse.

I spoke with my trainer about the phone call. He listened and then said he was glad I called as it might explain some of Joey's quirks that we've noticed and worked through. He also reassured me that if there are any dramatic issues with the horse, that after riding him and working with him for just over a year the odds are high we would have already seen it. He told me I'm an experienced, sensitive horseman and rider and I offer my horse considerate training and consistent quality vet, dental and farrier care. Everything is in the horses' favor to succeed and I should continue to ride and work with him.

Logically I know he is right. Emotionally, I wish I'd never gone searching. Ignorance is bliss but I guess informed is enlightened.

When you get a horse from a horse dealer, you get what you get. My trainer and I both knew this when we decided on Joey. This horse probably was pulled from an auction but we both felt he had potential to be a good horse with me. His past is most likely how he wound up changing hands and at an auction. That I even put this much together and found out where he started is a miracle in and of itself.

I thought Joey was rescuing me when maybe I was rescuing him.

So, the cowgirl in this English rider now wants more than anything to show that Joey's past is where it belongs - in the past. Every day is a new day. That his partnership with me is the better part of his journey. That I am his "Journey's End" just as I feel he is mine.

OMG! I found him!

More searching with Google and more studying Joey's stifle. The more I look the more I'm convinced there is a brand there. It looks like a hot brand but the faint outline is there. It's hard to capture on my phone's camera but in person it is there.

So this morning I'm Googling some more and then it happens, I open a web page and there is my horse's sale page! My hands start shaking as I scroll down and I have this lump in my throat looking at all the pictures of him - foxhunting!! I watched his sale video, and he is still the same lovely horse.

It's definitely him. One thing about a painted pony is the markings don't lie. I can't believe it took me a year to actually do this. (Yes, this past August 4th it was one year ago I found my Good Horse) I guess I just took all information given to me on faith and was just so happy that Joey was so good to me. After what I went through I didn't want more than that. But this faint brand marking has stirred my curiosity.

I emailed the farm where he came from asking for any information they are willing to share about him. And I told them at the very least, I just wanted them to know he's safe, loved and has a forever home. I wonder if they'll answer me.

Click the link, and meet "Rembrandt" - now known as Joey.

Does Joey have an American Warmblood brand?

So the other day I was hand grazing Joey after a good scrubby bubble bath. As the sun is glistening on his damp coat, I'm admiring my chubby, handsome pony when I notice something on his left stifle area. Something I never actually caught before and it never occurred to me to even look. There seemed to be a very, very faint marking in the fur. The longer I stared at it and moved around him in the direct sunlight the more I was convinced there was something there. It almost looked like an uppercase "A" and these curvy things on the top at both sides. I rubbed the fur, smoothed the fur, even rewet it and tried to make it go away but I still noticed it if I stared long enough.

When he dried, it was almost non existent. When I went home I Googled different kinds of horse brands and there it was:

This is the brand for the American Warmblood Society. 

I now was even more curious, so the next day I went out to graze him again. I wet the fur on his stifle on the left side and took some pictures with the camera on my phone. Here's the best picture I took:

Look at this very carefully. Now look at this picture:

Look more carefully at the area circled in white. 

Do you see these lines and points? I added the actual brand to the picture to now help visualize.

Now I slid the brand into place. It seems to line up to what I saw.

Could my horse really have this brand? Would it be this size on a full-grown horse? I couldn't find many pictures online of horses with this brand to compare the size, it does seem a little large but I just don't know...

I know there are cases where horses are branded but the brands are so faint as to be almost impossible to see unless the horse is shaved to the skin. I don't feel like shaving off a patch of Joey's hair right now to look, but maybe if I body clip him in the fall all will be revealed. (I didn't clip him last winter so it would make sense that I wouldn't have noticed this then.)

And what would it mean if he is branded as an American Warmblood? I received no papers for him when I bought him but the brand would mean he is registered and passed some kind of inspection to have it, wouldn't it? So would there be some way to track him down or would that be a waste of time? Anyone familiar with these brands and especially the American Warmblood Society with any insight would be very welcome. :)

I love Joey no matter what he is. But if he is branded, how cool!

New Home for Joey and Me

Well, a week ago we took the opportunity and made the move. Joey is now only 15 minutes from my house and from my job. He also now has a big bright stall with his own attached paddock. The stall has a rubber matted floor and the barn is very well ventilated. His stall is always dry and there is no "barn smell" about the place. At this time of the year, he is able to walk in and out, day and night, as the door to his stall is latched to stay open.

He's made friends with the geldings and the mini horse stallion on the one side of his paddock and has learned the mare on the other side prefers to be left alone.

I can have my shoer, vet and trainer. There is a good sized riding ring with sand footing (with no rocks!) that is watered and well maintained. There are lots of jumps of various kinds that I am welcome to use. It's great that the other riders all ride english/hunter/jumper.

The tack room is clean and nice, my big show trunk fits in the corner and there's a place for all my stuff. The best thing is it's locked and alarmed so I feel okay about leaving all my gear there. I have a key to the feed room too, and the hay is fresh and the feed is plentiful. There's even a good sized grazing area where we can graze in hand as long as we want.

It's quiet. I've ridden when the daughter of the barn owner rides once but I mostly have the place to myself when I'm there. And you know what, I like the quiet. My life is so busy and full of people that spending time with Joey alone in a calm, quiet place is so soothing. He's such a good boy and once he saw everything that needed to be seen and snorted at, he has settled down and we have spook free rides - even when the neighbors are in their pool and the dogs are playing in the yard.

I even see him almost every day now, which is another plus. Before the distance to the barn made it so I would only get there 3-4 times a week. Now I can stop in, even if it's just to graze for a few minutes and check his water.

I'm trying to get in touch with my farrier right now to schedule a shoeing. Hope he will come to this place and I don't have to switch.

Joey, just off the trailer and in his new stall.

Pictures from the show

Pictures from this past weekend's show are up on this website! If you would like to see them, they are at this site: Digital Hoofprints

Go to "galleries" you may have to register an email with them to view on the site. Once you are there, look for the 2012 gallery, the Smithtown Hunt Horse Show June 10th. We are in the Opportunity Pleasure division.

Joey is the horse with the blaze and hind stockings. Pictures are pricey. I will order at least one but not sure which to choose. If you have one you like, let me know in the comments and maybe I'll buy the one with the most requests.

Joey's first Horse Show - everything I hoped for!

We did it! Today was the show, our first Horse Show and we ROCKED! So tired but just had to share. I entered him in the English Pleasure Hunter Division and we won two 2nds, a 1st and Reserve Champion. Joey never put a hoof wrong and was a joy to ride. Just so happy! <3

Joey is now a USEF number

I took the plunge and registered Joey with the USEF/USHJA today. Big plans in the works. Luck be willing, we will be competing in a registered horse show in less than 2 weeks. Exciting and scary at the same time! His name is now officially, "Journey's End" but he'll always be Joey!

Joey update (with lots of pics!)

I know I haven't posted anything in awhile and have never posted any pictures of Joey and I riding. Finally, the wait is over! One of my barn buddies brought a camera with her last Saturday and here are some pictures of me and my little Clydesdale/QH doing our thing. Enjoy!

Jumpin' Joey!

My riding lesson this past Wednesday was great! My trainer gave me some good exercises to work on. I'm particularly happy he gave me one to do to work on getting flying lead changes involving cantering over a ground pole.

The jumping we did was great, Joey is better over a bigger jump. I had a feeling he was bored with all the little cross rails we've been playing with. We started over a single 18" straight rail with a ground pole one stride out and that worked up to a 4-stride 2' line. Joey did so well!

Joey was so unfettered as we worked on all this that my trainer had to ask, "um, is he always like this, quiet?" So I laughed and said, "um, yes, that's why you wanted me to have him!"

Then my trainer set up a long approach X-oxer at about 2'6" with orange traffic pylons in front of it. I looked at him like, "you're kidding, right?" I hadn't jumped anything bigger than a little X-rail in a good year.

I was told to stop whining, that based on my level of riding experience I needed to knock it off and canter to this fence NOW.

So off we went, Joey cantered right up and over, he never even looked at the jump. In fact, he seemed happy to cruise right up to it, he liked the bigger fence! Now it was a little clunky, my take off was kind of long and not well thought out but pony was game and went for the distance.

We rode it again a few more times, worked on my approach and release (Joey needs a very generous release because he stretches his neck way down to his knees as he jumps) and by about the 4th time we nailed it!

My trainer asked me to switch his bit to a rubber snaffle. I laughed and told him I already tried that and he'd chomped a chunk out of it. So we agreed on trying a Happy Mouth bit because Joey is so calm, we want him to have as little mouth pressure as possible so as not to interfere with his forward roll to the fences.

So I'm motivated! Looking forward to next week's challenge. Just hope with the weather we're having this weekend that the indoor isn't too crowded for me to at least work on the lead change exercise.

Riding Lesson this evening

Okay, it's been 6 months since Joey and I became owner and horse. I figure that was plenty of time for us to get to know each other, for me to rehab my knee in the saddle, get back in riding shape and to form a relationship. I have decided we will start to put on a little more pressure and go into a lesson program, specifically to work on Joey's jumping style... or lack thereof.

He's honest and game over a fence but not always the most graceful goose in the pond if you get my drift. So I'm hoping to work with gymnastic exercises over fences under my trainer's watchful eye and school him to be more aware of picking up his feet, using himself with a little more effort and striding into an obstacle correctly.

But mostly I think it will just be fun to be challenged again!

Goals for Joey & I in 2012

Actually have decided on setting goals for Joey and I for 2012:

1) Get my horse trailer road worthy again.
2) Compete with Joey at a horse show. (planning on the english pleasure trail horse classes)
3) Ride in at least one hunter pace.
4) Ride as a capper with our local hunt at least once.
5) Win one prize with Joey - doesn't matter what it's for or what placing.

Seems very attainable. Will certainly keep posting here as we attempt each one!