Saturday May 23rd 2009

I brought Rio to the beach with Anastacia. He was so sweet. We cantered into the water and splashed around. He was so well behaved. I love my Rio :)

Saturday May 23rd 2009

Classic was so well behaved today. We worked on collecting and extending. He listened very well. He was a little sticky picking up the right lead. He circled well and even cantered from the walk with ease. Classic was very calm on the ground as well. At the end of our ride, I walked and trotted him on the buckle. He stayed relatively calm. He didn't seem to mind the camera in the indoor ring either. This was probably our best ride :)

Jack: We hacked outside for a little bit. We worked on rolling back over a pole. He was great. We worked on lead changes after. 

Calypso is having breathing problems so we didn't ride. 

Friday May 22nd 2009

Jack: He was so good. We rode at 6:00. He even went on the trails without freaking out. 

Calypso: We went on a long trail ride with another horse. He was so great! I got on and off of him while on the trail to check his feet. He was pretty slow though. 

Wednesday May 20th 2009

Classic: He was so much fun. We lessoned, and it was very tough. Riding a thoroughbred is completely different from riding any other type of horse. I have to be so much more relaxed, and I have to make sure to keep my calf on him. We worked on w/t/c and lots of circles. We need to work on keeping is butt and head straight. We did a couple trot jumps which worked out well. We ending on the 4 jump combination. We went through it perfectly straight. It was a very big accomplishment. 

Calypso: we flatted for a bit. He was great on the flat. We worked on counter=cantering circles. After this, we jumped a little bit. My trot jumps have improved tremendously. I looked up and over them. Next, we worked on roll backs and bending lines. I thought enough, but didn't over think. I was happy with my ride. 

Jack: Our flat started out great. I even got him to counter-canter a circle both ways. Our trot jumps were spot on. When we started cantering jumps, it was good up until our first bending line. I finally kicked him for refusing. He shouldn't have. I get really uncomfortable kicking him hard, but I did it anyway because how is he going to learn. After that, we jumped everything very well. 

Tuesday May 19th 2009

Calypso: I worked all day, so I only rode Calypso. He was absolutely perfect. We worked on extending and collecting. I was so happy with the ride. I was relaxed and so was he. 

Saturday May 16th 2009

Jack: we went on a trail. He was a complete dick. He reared up and kept spinning. We are going to have to work through this bitchiness. I still love him though <3

Calypso: he was perfect on the trail. We led a school pony with a novice rider. There were 5 people including me on the trail. Calypso and I took the lead leading Rascal. Then there were two small school ponies and their riders. Sam and Chico took up the rear. They were all pretty good. I was so proud of Calypso for staying calm and listening to me in order to give Rascal's rider a great first trail ride. 

Friday May 15th 2009

Calypso: We did a clinic with Mark Junghier today. Calypso and I worked on circles and collecting our stride. We did 8 in a 6. It was really helpful. 

Jack: we worked on confidence and owning my decisions. Trot jumps and long approaches. I have a video of it

Thursday May 14th 2009

Calypso: He was great. We had a nice flat.

Jack: we flatted as well. He was pretty good. Very slow 

Wednesday May 13th 2009

Classic: Awesome! I really had to work on my patience. Even when I thought I was being patient, I wasn't patient enough and had to work harder. We did a couple single jumps. He is coming along so well! Then, we worked on a quadruple combination. We went from 2 jumps to 3 jumps to 4 jumps. He kept drifted to the left and then ran out one time. I didn't get after him. I need to work on doing that and being stronger. He was so good after that. 

Jack: He tried to get me off by rearing. We went on a walking trail, and he wanted nothing to do with going the whole way. He seems a little off. 

Calypso: He was great! I really flatted him. He was in front of my leg the whole time. I was able to extend and collect him easily. He did nice circles and counter cantered. It worked well :) 

Tuesday May 12th 2009

Woodstock: I rode at Dana Hall today. He was pretty good. Woodstock tried to buck me off at one point. It didn't work. I wasn't riding my best today. I needed to focus a lot more. 

May 10th 2009

Jack: We didn't do that well. Our warm up was amazing. I rode very confidently. I knew my course well. The first three jumps were perfect. Then, we refused jump 4 and 6. At jump 4, I thought of going long, but in my head I seconded guessed the distance. I was a little to aggressive to jump 6, so we refused. Then we were asked to leave the ring :( 

Calypso: This class went much better. We had a decent warm up. The course was difficult seeing as only 4 out of 20 people went clean. 2 people went double clean. I was one of them :) Our first round was spot on except the skinny. I ran up to it, and we chipped. He kept it up! We touched a couple jumps, but nothing came down. It was so awesome. The jump off consisted of 6 jumps. It was a direct six to a tight roll back to a galloping 5 to a steady one then a galloping six. The first line was spot on, the roll back was tight, our five to one was perfect, and the six was very long, but I kept on it. We ended with a double clean round. 76 sec first round ( I think?) and 27.2 seconds for the jump off! I ended up winning by a second We got to do a victory gallop and were champion!

-Casey

Saturday May 9th 2009

THIS: We did very well. 75.75. We had two deep distances, but we fit them in alright. That was the only mistake. 

MClay: We refused the first jump :( after that it was spot on. 

NAL Children's Jumper Classic: We had an awesome first round. It was so fast and percise. We went clear. The jump off was fast, but I wasn't used to going that fast because I haven't in such a long time. We had two rails. One was mine for running him into a 1 stride. The other was his. 

Friday May 8th 2009

15-17:  jack and I put in a solid round. It wasn't completely perfect, but it was accurate and confident. We ended up 7th o/f and on the flat. 

PHA: Jack and I did so well! We landed the counter lead for a tight counter canter roll back. We lost it a stride out :( Other than that the course was amazing

USEF: I don't remember it that well. I know it went well. We did a nice roll back to a two stride. 

Children's Jumper: It was a great first round. Pretty accurate. In the jump off I lost my stirrup! We finished in 2nd though! We sliced a jump and did nice tight roll backs. 

May 6th 2009

Marcus: He was so great today. I rode him in an elevator. We worked on the flat for a bit, and then we worked on tight roll backs. I need to work on landing in both feet and quickening my recovery time. We had a bunch of really tight roll backs. It was great. 

Spy: He is a new gelding at the barn. He looks like Marcus except he is skinnier. We worked on the flat and over poles. I got confused at the beginning when I was trying to collect him. Once I relaxed, he was perfect. He needs to be ridden more like a hunter. You have to ask not command. We had a very successful ride. 

I'm off to Saratoga tomorrow afternoon!

May 5th 2009

I rode at my school today. I am drawing a blank on the pony's name :(  Flip is his name! He is so sweet. You need to be very calm with him which is always a challenge for me. We worked very well together. He helped me with slowing my thoughts and not searching for a distance way far out. 

May 3rd 2009

Jack: Today was incredibly frustrating. I wanted a clear course. I was so excited about getting over the first jump that I steered him toward the standard of the 2nd jump. Needless to say, we refused. Once we went over that jump, the rest of the course was beautiful. I just needed to line up the jump better. 

Calypso: We had a decent warm up. I go on course and totally messed up the first jump. We bun-geed it as Kellie said. The rest of the course was fast and on target. I need to get in the zone more and not flip out. 

-Casey

May 2nd 2009

Calypso: We were on fire today. I finally rode like I used to with the same energy and conviction. We got the last rail down. My fault because I tried to do five in a seven. oops. We had a super fast time though :)

Jack: we were so much better today. Our first class was good, but I made a mistake. The second class was awesome! I could have done better and slowed for my lead changes. I need to think and relax more. We ended up being good enough to test! They made us hear the test in the ring so our trainer couldn't help us. I had to test first! It was awesome. I did a great job and ended 4th :) Then we had our Mcclay course. It was awesome too. Very positive. I shouldn't have dove in to jump 9, but other than that I was happy with it. Even the flat went well. A couple horses were freaking out, but Jack remained calm (a little fast, but calm). We didn't pin, but it is the Mcclay and it is my first year. 

Tomorrow I have the Governor's Cup and a Child Jumper classic :) 

-Casey

May 1st 2009

Calypso: The first real jumped class I have shown him in since Fidelity was fucking awesome. I could have been faster and more daring, but for a first time out it was great. We ended 4th- so we got to ride for ribbons. My 2nd class was awesome except the first jump...my bad!

Jack: The morning started off very well. It was our first time showing at a real big show. We ended up winning. The class was competitive, but I guess we did something right. The rest of the day sucked. He spooked/I didn't pick a distance. We refused 3x in one class. Then the next class I fucked it up.  I went for 6 in a 7 line. oops. I miscounted. Jack was like I am going to keep you safe so no jump! We ended on that note, but oh well .

-Casey

April 29th 2009

Marcus: I jumped Marcus today. He was amazing- a real confidence booster. We jumped pretty high. The higher we jumped the stronger he got. It was so much fun

Classic: He is a thoroughbred that Kellie and Sam have been working with. I rode him for the first time. He has very nice gaits. we jumped little jumps. I was incredibly patient.