Your Flight Courtesy of "The Packing Cow"

While Amber is off I'm reluctantly riding other critters.

Today I was going to ride a cute OTTB named Mickey, but he had thrown two shoes so Casey and Victoria suggest I give Cow, the beginner rider packer, a walk-trot workout.

Somewhat disappointing, but hey, I'm catch riding so I can't be picky.

So I get on, and she's barely moving. We walked around a time or two and I had her on a loose rein. I wasn't paying her too much mind, because hey, it's "the packing Cow".

And all of a sudden she shoots sideways. And I did not go sideways with her. I literally just got left where I was. I was PISSED. So I hauled her butt back to the mounting block and she learned something today. I was so mad I was almost hoping she would throw me off one more time just so I could kick her butt all over again. LOL. I think she does that crap on purpose, because she learned that when she acts fruity and dumps her riders, they just put her away. Well, not this time, How Now Brown Cow.

As for Amber, she is the same. The bute hasn't really made a difference. It almost makes me wonder if she has very mild locking stifle?

Victoria also brought up the possibility of Lyme disease. A pony at the barn had it, so it's not impossible, but it just seems so unlikely. It's so rare here. But I have to keep the possibilities open.

Found out my Xrays and lameness exam from the specialist vet is going to run me around $500 total...ouch. Victoria also brought up, gently of course, the possibility that it might be better in the end to sell her as a trail horse. And I've considered it with first right of refusal in writing. My main objection to selling her if she isn't sound enough to compete is where she could end up. I would never forgive myself if I sold her and she went to auction or got into a shitty home. Never.

And then again, it's early to be thinking about such things, but it's still something to be thinking about. This has, after all, been plaguing us since I bought her. Apparently, she hasn't been sound since I bought her. Whether or not my riding her has helped or hindered is irrelevant. I've done the best I could with what I know. At the very least we can be sure it's nothing that I've done that made her do this - the first time I rode her at Andrea's we noticed it.

She was never totally right at Casey's, but she passed her flexions somehow in the PPE.

If I knew more, I'd feel better. The not knowing and all the possibilities is what is so frustrating. The fact that it's not a limping along lameness.

But hey, at least I have a funny story about how a little packer pony made me eat dirt that I probably wouldn't be able to laugh at if Amber wasn't off.

And my rides with the TB should be interesting. From what I hear he rides a lot like Amber, so I shouldn't have trouble making the adjustment. He seems to have a cute personality. He's kind of been a pasture puff so it'll do him good to have a job, anyway.

And back to hind end lameness.

So Heather believes Amber has a hind end lameness. She thinks hocks or stifles, and being that we injected her hocks once before with no real result, I'm leaning to stifles.

It obviously isn't blazingly apparent. Heather was surprised that she picks up either lead perfect and does auto changes over courses.

The good news is, she says even though it concerns her because Amber is young for stifle/hock issues, she thinks it can be fixed.

I feel kind of guilty for continuing this long. But I'm trying not to do that because I've been going with what I knew, and obviously she hasn't gotten any worse.

But no show tomorrow. Heather gave us bute for Amber 2x a day and she said if Amber improves then it most likely means there is a hind end lameness. She said just give her a call next week and let her know and we will go from there.

She said I should keep riding her though, light walking, so she won't get stiff. In a way I think continuing riding her HAS been what has kept her sound as she is. It's kept her in shape and everything loose.

She will be getting Xrayed unless anything changes. Heather recommended it, and I agree. Last time Kim recommended we not Xray because she said it would still lead up to hock injections. This time, I won't do anything without them, and definitely not injecting her hocks again without them.

Amber is my baby though, and no matter what the outcome, she will stay with me forever. Should she become a trail horse, a pasture puff, or return to being a hunter jumper. Casey seemed pretty disappointed for us. We have worked so hard the past few months and I feel like we've improved tenfold. I still can't believe how easily jumping has started coming. I can only pray we will be able to do it again soon.

Dos feet.

I went out with the simple plan to do whatever Casey thought we should do two days before the show.

We did some flatting which was laid back (maybe a little TOO laid back, but everyone stayed out all night I expected her to be tired). Then we did some warm up jumps over an 18" vertical. Trotted a few times and cantered it a few times. Then I did that 18" single plus another 18" (maybe slightly higher?) vertical on the diagonal. Then we did a course of 4 jumps. Almost the same course that screwed me up last time. Did I blog about that?

I can't remember. I had this one BAD lesson where I kept getting left behind over the stupidest little jumps though.

This time we BEASTED it. And unbeknownst to me, the second jump of the course was 2'. I didn't know until I dismounted and realized "Hey, that looks a little big!"

It was a really good course, our experience considered. We did lose our canter after the 2', but only because I felt like she was gaining speed and I could just let her set her own pace, but she tricked me and died and I couldn't get her back so I just let her trot up to the next jump.

I'm super, super excited. If you had told me a year ago I'd be able to jump 2' with in a year, I'd have laughed in your face.

We might be jumping at the show. The supposed 18" jumps they put up are a joke, they aren't even 18", so I know we could get through it with no problem. I don't want to push her too hard at her first show, but it's the Green Horse Division...it's really not a big deal, and it's a small course of tiny jumps so I think she can do it. Casey said it was up to me, so obviously she thinks we are ready if I have the desire to try it.

Mareface got a bath today, so we won't have to fight for the washpit tomorrow. She's getting her spring shots and coggins tomorrow. Also having the vet check her for hind end lameness, just because that toe dragging still bugs me. Still waiting for the farrier to call back.

It would make my WORLD if we could solve the toe dragging.

But for now, jumping makes my world. And I'm rather on my high horse because my jumps finally measure up in feet, not inches. Haha. Even though 2' is really measly.

Also should be mentioned how FABULOUS Victoria and Dylan looked today. That's some stiff competition! Those other riders ought to be shaking in their boots. ;)

She's ready.

I had an awesome ride on the flat today. Amber was really going along nicely. Her consistency in her gaits has improved so much and she's starting to stretch down on a loose rein very well.

I just feel she's ready for showing. I feel like she's really ready this year. She may not win anything, she may not be perfect, but still I feel she's ready.

I did Dylan's mane for Victoria and in exchange she clipped Amber for me. Now our ponies are sexy beasts!

I'm going to keep the work light this week because I want her to be ready for the show, but not too tired. So we're riding Thursday and that's it. It's just a schooling show, after all. Tomorrow I'll be feeding up for the night and then Friday it will just be bathing and packing.

I think Amber might end up with shoes just on the back. It's a hard decision but she is still wearing off the toe, and she does it a little under saddle I noticed. More so in warm up. But the majority is coming off in the pasture and there's nothing I can do about that and duct taping her toes really isn't a fix.

So maybe it will give her a little extra support back there and perhaps the extra weight will remind her she has feet. The fact that she doesn't always do it and doesn't act like she's in pain just gives me the sense that this is conformational/lazy hind end. Still I'm going to have the vet give me another opinion when she comes for Amber's shots this month.

The fact that she wears both, albeit one more than the other, leads me to believe it's not lameness. The fact that the kinesiologist found nothing other than some tightness in her hind end and stifles also leads me to believe the same.

So right now the priority will just be to stop the wearing and go from there. According to Casey she moves great, but she's just not picking up those feet as she should.

Surprise...we're jumping. Happy Birthday Amber!

So I was going to wait until I got a video of us, but I can't wait any longer especially after how SUPER proud I am about last night's lesson.

But first, it's Amber's birthday! Happy birthday Ambermare! :) Turns 8 years old today...time has flown by!

A lot has happened since my last blog. I realized that dressage just isn't for us. Maybe it was for me and my warmbloods and sport ponies, but not for me and my QH. And I won't go into great detail on that. I just nit pick, fight and become frustrated, and I don't think even getting the best trainer in the world to help me overcome that would make me enjoy it. I don't enjoy it because Amber doesn't, and I become even more frustrated when I realize that *I* don't enjoy it anymore.

So after a whopping two weeks of owning the dressage saddle, I am selling that and my Kincade and bought Victoria's Courbette. Well, I still owe payments on it...Victoria in essence traded her Courbette with Casey for Casey's Crosby, then I bought that from Casey so now I just owe...$550? So I'm trying to eek out some $$ from my old saddles.

And then one day we just started jumping again and it was there. Now we're bouncing around little 18" courses. That's 18" verticals - not crossrails. We have moved up in the world.

What got me so excited about last night's lesson was that we were working on a bending line. I was having trouble cantering in and out, but I could trot in and canter out. I worried more about the crossrail than the vertical. Thought I could earn brownie points by adding the outside single as an optional jump, which was a little gate with a rail over it, and I did get brownie points, but I was still made to get our asses through the bending line, cantering in and out. And we succeeded!

We have a lot of work to do, but we are doing better than ever, and I think Amber is enjoying this. She's in a better mood than I've seen her in a long time - and so am I.

Our first show is March 10, but I think I mentioned that already. We aren't doing over fences at her first show, just the flat class in the greenie division. I think she's going to be a beast over fences though. Everyone has been telling me what a nice jumper she is, and how she always picks up her knees over things. Not to mention automatic changes she's been giving me. She's been getting her leads 99% of the time.


In other news, our shipping boots and travel sheet arrived.



Her shipping boots are a darker purple with a darker green trim. No picture of them, but she will be a hot mama stepping off the trailer.

Also got a pair of Ariat Challengers. HECK YES. Sooo nice. $92 ebay!

Still need a few things, including my show shirt which is getting monogrammed.

Everything is coming together so nicely. And for schooling, I got a pair of lavender open fronts from our friend Melissa. She didn't think lavender was manly enough for her gelding. Melissa is an adult that started riding just a couple of years ago and she is AMAZING. She owns a large pony gelding named Rufus - the only horse Amber really likes, haha. I've been riding with her a lot because we're jumping on the same level, and of course, because our horses are lovebirds.

I haven't mentioned this yet - she's getting her own grain now. The 14/6 was just too much for an easy keeper. She's on a 12/3.75 now. Doing great on it. I was going to do a 10/4, but all I could find at the local feed store was sweet feed, and that's no bueno. But the extra protein isn't as much of an issue as the fat content to me. So she's getting 1 and 1/4 cups of Nutrena Complete Triumph AM and PM, with her joint supps in the AM and 2 flakes of hay at night. It's really just about perfect for her. I may have to take her back some in the summer still, but for now it's working. When our current supps run out I'm starting her on smartpaks. She will get MSM, Smart EZ keeper (which I feel is perfect for her situation), and a mare supplement I haven't decided on. I don't want to put her on something that basically sedates her, I just want to take her hormones down a notch so that she will be more agreeable about other horses. We have some trouble riding in groups, because she is constantly trying to race other horses. And there's always ear pinning when other horses are riding with us, which will kill us in our hunter flat classes. More than I could make up over fences I'm sure. She's not hard to ride or handle, just grouchy with her fellow equines. Still investigating different supplements on that note.


I think that's all our updates. I've never felt more accomplished with my riding...nor enjoyed myself as much. And I'm so proud of Amber!

Not dead!

So my laptop charger is broke and I keep neglecting to get a new one/get it fixed...so here I am on boyfriend's desktop. Not procrastinating.

Things are going well with Amber. I feel like my position is improving. Her stamina is much greater, and she goes into contact 90% of the time now. Not asking for it in canter yet because I feel she doesn't have the muscle for it, but we collect for a few strides at a time.

We cantered a crossrail recently, but I've decided not to jump outside lessons. I really need that expert critique from the ground because I'm most definitely still learning.

However, I do have some big news. Two big news in fact!

First, I am the proud new owner of a gorgeous dressage saddle. Yes.



Fits Amber perfect, and it's a very nice saddle. Came with 2 girths that I'm pretty sure will fit her nicely. Haven't ridden in it yet, but it looks super comfy.

So there's that, and she's going to her first show March 10.

It was kind of a hard decision. I decided to pick one shoe series to go to through the year, rather than several different ones. Reason being, besides the fact that she isn't ready to hit more than one show a month, I discovered that the shows at Equine Country (which is where I'd prefer to show over Johnston County), are mostly on the same dates as EDCTSA shows. I'm thinking I'll school dressage on my own time this year, work towards better jumping with Casey, and be more prepared next year to do those. And this year just poke around at Equine Country and actually have a chance for year end awards. Kind of bummed I won't be able to show in my new dressage saddle, but hey...no rush, next year we will be all the more prepared, and she will be more experienced at shows. EDCTSA is quite a bit more expensive to show in, so I'd rather do that and go in less "blind", and go in for our test run at a less expensive one.

The less I jump, the better I do. Although sometimes I feel like maybe I should just do dressage because I feel like I'm the world's worst jumper...but I just overthink approaching fences is all. I ride it like a dressage test instead of just keeping my shoulders back, hands forward and letting her carry me over the jump. I adjust everything too much.

That's most of the news. Amber is seeing a barefoot trimmer February 21st. It will be 7 weeks, and I'm hoping she can go that long. Trimmer told me if she starts stumbling, give her a call and we will do it sooner, but she's trying to get me on the same schedule as a nearby client so I will have less of a travel fee.

I'll try to post more updates in the future...sorry for going MIA again! ;)

Good Omens And Farrier Appointments!

So I'm knocking on wood here, literally, but I had a fantastic ride on the last day of the year AND the first day of the year...is it a good omen for 2012? I hope so!

Obviously we had an awesome time with some great jumping New Year's Eve. I need to train myself NOT to look at the jumps. I do it because I try to keep her centered, but it's a bad habit. And on the flat, I look down at her head to see if she's too high or too low and to try to get her poll and withers at the same level - but that's also a bad habit and I can feel when she's correct and I don't need to do that, but blah. It's all just bad habits.

But having an awesome ride despite my lacking? YES!

And New Year's Day was just a quick flat ride, but she was still AMAZING. Nice slow canter, got all her leads, nice transitions. Really stretching down for me.

I do love my mare so very much...also, I checked our prints, and NO DRAGGING STILL!

The Stallings are coming to do her feet today, and I need to roll out in a few minutes. Taking Allie and Tills with me today. I also hear that the girl who used to lease Amber is coming, and she hasn't been out in forever. It's Amber's day off or I'd let her ride her today if she wanted, but hopefully she'll start coming back out more.

I also can't remember if I mentioned it yet, but Amber's show name is officially Queen of Diamonds. This has a lot of points, including a sentimental point.

Jack's show name was Jack of Hearts. So it's card-related like that. Diamonds are red, and Amber's a chestnut. And finally, her only marking is a tiny star - like a diamond. Yeah. It fits her. And of course, she thinks she's the Queen of the barn. She's starting to be happier about her stall life now that she knows she's going to get to go outside every day. I think being in jail for 20 hours a day at Halcyon made her pretty sour on the idea of stalls. Can't blame her. I can tell she's more content now. Her stall is almost twice as big too. She also enjoys being able to lay down for a nap in peace (tail full of shavings in the morning!).