June 24th 2009

Jack: We flatted without stirrups. He was hyper. When we went to do a lead change, he almost bucked me off! After much work, he calmed down. I worked on always doing something and not letting him be a loose horse. I also worked on my strength. 

Calypso: We flatted for about 40 minutes. I need to get him back in shape for Monday and Tuesday (Westbrook Hunt Club). He was responsive, but very heavy. I rode him with his draw reins on the side which makes him a little heavier, but it definitely helps. He has become a little fitter. 

June 20th 2009

Horse show day!

We hacked and jumped a little in the indoor at Saddle Rowe. I used spurs and a crop. He was hesitant to some of the jumps in the indoor because they were all box type things without standards. Our first class was perfect! We ended up winning out of 13 people. We found the sweet spot to every jump and made everything word. Most importantly, I was confident. The second class was the MHJ. The announced the results of the first class right before I walked into the ring. Kellie told me to not let it get to me... I think I took that advice too legitimately. Our first 5 jumps were amazing! Then we cantered around the corner and I gunned him to the in of a bending line and we refused. He tried to go over it. I was just a bit too ambitious. The rest of the class was ok. Last was the NEHC. I went in very confident. The first jump was the jump I had refused in the previous course, but we couldn't do a circle before hand. I was so nervous he was going to refuse that we chipped and got 8 instead of 7 in the bending line. The rest of the course was amazing. Bending 4, roll backs, everything! The judge told Kellie I would have won if I hadn't added in the bending line. :( As good as the class was, I was so upset because I would have won and not had to worry about the NEHC until finals :-/ 

All in all it was a good day :)

June 19th 2009

Calypso: I lightly hacked him because the vet was coming today to look at him. (he had been coughing a lot). 

Jack: I gave him an intense flat! We flatted for about 45 min non-stop. He was tired. Then Kellie had me jump him a course with out a warm up. It was spot on. She said I got an 88. 

June 18th 2009

Calypso: I hacked him with out stirrups. He was great!

Jack: We had an intense lesson. We worked very well together. 

Classic: He was better than usual. 

Wednesday June 17th 2009

Jack: He was so good today. Kellie rode him yesterday and tried to work out a few issues. It definitely helped. He jumped around everything. I even learned to walk over a jump. It was so funny because I rode him in spurs, a crop, and yoke reins. I never rode him in that much equipment. 

Calypso: He was good. We went on a trail ride.  I work on a very collected canter. 

Handy: I gave him a very good flat today.  We worked on holding the counter lead and tiny circles. He was pretty good. I needed much more leg. 

Classic: He was awesome. Cantering one way was almost where I want it to be. He was a little quick the other way. His trotting has improved too :) 

Saturday June 13th 2009

Show day!

Jack: He was pretty good today. We went to Hanover Hunt and Riding club. It was interesting. It was one of those show with everything- morgans, Friesians, quarter horses, saddle seat, western. We showed in a grass ring. Jack and I hadn't done this before. He was pretty good. The hay bales through him off at first. We worked things out and by the end we had pretty good rounds. I needed to be more aggressive, yet have more fun. It was a successful day. 

Friday June 12th 2009

Calypso: He was pretty good. He coughed a little, so I didn't work him that hard.

Jack: We worked on the "loose horse" concept that Christie talked to me about. It really helped. I was able to make Jack listen the entire time. It was great.

Thursday June 11th 2009

Calypso: I rode with Christie today. It was calypso's first time jumping in  2 weeks. He was so great! I really focused on looking one jump ahead of me. This helped tremendously. I didn't worry about the distance and got over every jump fairly well. We also worked on roll back turns. Calypso was steady and under himself. 

Jack: I rode with Christie on Jack too. We definitely need to work on our flat work. I need to make sure to pull him together instead of just letting him canter around. Our first courses were pretty good. We went to canter to an oxer, and I took the first distance that came to me. We refused. It was aggravating. I need to be more patient and let things happen. After that, our courses improved. 

Handy: I rode him so that Christie could see how he goes. The flat work was nice. He was a little fresh and swapped his leads when I didn't ask him to. Other than that, he was great on the flat. After, we jumped a bit. He really jumps right from where you tell him to. I have a hard time trusting my distances, so it was strange. We finally got it by the end. We ended by doing a bending six to a bending 3 perfectly. 

Wednesday June 10th 2009

Before going to the barn, I rode a horse down in Middleboro for Kellie. He was so cool. He did dressage and eventing, but hadn't jumped in a year or so. The horse was incredibly comfortable. Once we started jumping, he was even better. He didn't even think twice about going over the jump. He didn't change his pace or anything. We jumped a 3'9" oxer. 

Calypso: we actually worked. He was hesitant and didn't want to listen at first. By the end, he was very supple and listened well.

Jack: he was high energy today. We worked on serpentines and figure eights. By the end, he was calm. 

Handy: He is like a giant teddy bear. I like him a lot. He needs much leg to keep him going. He is very comfortable and responsive. 

Tuesday June 9th 2009

Jack: he started off funny, but became more sound as we went. Typically tuesday after days off. 

Calypso: he was absolutely perfect. We did a lot of cantering. He worked harder than he had since he got a cough. We ended by cantering on the buckle. 

Spyder: She was funny at first, but became better. Her canter has improved a lot. 

I got new tall boots today :) 

Saturday June 6th 2009

Jack: he was  perfect. We started out a little hyper and spooky, but then he calmed down and we had a great ride.

Calypso: as always, he was great. He coughed a little bit, but other than that he was good. 

Thursday June 4th 2009

I honestly don't remember riding today. I worked in the morning, then hacked calypso and Jack.

Wednesday June 3rd 2009

Jack: He was great! Definitely fresh at first, but after a while he was really great. 

Calypso: we went on a trail with 3 other people. He was annoyed because of the flys. He almost managed to kick me while I was on him.

Spyder: She was as sound as she can be for Spyder. She was very slow and nice to ride. She cantered really well :) 

Sunday May 28th 2009

Warm up: It went so well. I flatted Jack pretty rigorously. Then we jumped in the ring. He was a little spooky, but it all worked out. 

THIS: We scored a 71 and ended up 5th. We got knocked out of the test by the last rider :( That sucked. I could have been much smoother, but it was my warm up after all. 

MHJ: It was great. Smoother than my first class. I was a little deep in the last four. I should have bent out. 

NEEHJ: It's some new weird final thing. It was going so well until I ran up to nothing. 

NEHJ: The first five jumps were flawless, then I froze because I got nervous and focused on winning instead of riding. We refused an oxer. I set up the role back perfectly too :( Then we refused the in and out. It was both our faults. 

WIHS: Great! Our first 3'6" class of the day. He tried to refuse at stride 4 in a 5 line. I took my legs clean off him and kicked him. Needless to say, he launched over the jump. The last jump wasn't as good as it could have been. I cut in after our weird 5 line. We ended up 8th out of 16. 

USEF: I ended with the USEF because I didn't want to wear Jack out. He was a perfect boy! It was so good. I thought it would be good enough to test, but it wasn't :( I was pretty upset, not going to lie. The only problem was I got deep in a bending six because I went direct. We worked it out though. It was my best course of the day :) 7th out of 20. 

Overall, it was a good day. I need to focus on riding consistently instead of winning. Really I do! I can't win until I ride consistently. I also need to focus more and not get nervous. 

Saturday May 27th 2009

Today I had a very bad lesson. Most of it was good, but I was so mean. I talked back to my trainer cause  I let a little thing stress me out. I legit yelled at my trainer. It was interesting. Then Jack and I did a good course, but he refused the in and out. I hit him for the fist time ever. He got mad, but he didn't try and do it again. The rest of the ride was great.