Talking to Horses

Remember those Equestrian Question blogs I was doing a while ago? I just remembered I stopped doing them at #14, and since I'm floundering for blog topic today I decided to get back in the saddle with number 15, "If you could talk to any horse alive or dead, who would it be?"

I debated Secretariat for a while. As arguably the greatest racehorse of all time, it would be amazing to even be in his presence.  However, I don't have much to say, and after the first few minutes of being honored to be speaking with him, I feel like the gift would be wasted. Plus, I don't want to hear if bad things happened to him, I'm sure they did but I don't want to know about it.

I want to talk to my first horse, Honey.

She died February 8th, 2009 and she was the first love of my life. I want to tell her that I'm sorry for not getting a second opinion sooner, I'm sorry for not leaving her home like she wanted that last semester and that I selfishly wanted her at school with me.

I want to tell her thank you for being such a great horse, baby sitting me when I was 13 and teaching me how to be a leader as I got older. I wish I knew then what I know now, but that's life and unfortunately we can't go back no matter how much we wish we could.

Most of all I want to give her a hug, smell her neck and tell her I love her. I want to make sure she's happy in horse heaven and not to feel bad when I feel sad. I want to tell her I miss her but that I hope she has her pick of apples and oranges (yes, she loved oranges) up there.

She really was beautiful. Strong willed, opinionated but sweet and intelligent. She had a confidence in her stride that said she knew what she was about, and a softness in her eyes that made you feel like she saw your soul, and you were free.

I'm Dreaming of some White Fences

Good day to all of you, and a wonderful day it is looking out my window! The sun is shining, the gobs of snow are melting, and all seems to be heading into a *real* spring. Fingers crossed, our last snow storm was last night!

This winter (and "spring") has made me yearn, both for warmer days and an indoor riding arena.  During my ride on Sunday, we were working on turning on the hindquarters while his fore feet were in a square of poles on the ground, and it started to sleet nasty wintry mix.  As I huddled in the barn glaring at the sky, I wished for an indoor arena where our work would have remained uninterrupted by inconveniences like the weather. 

If you are a horse person, at some point I can pretty much guarantee you have daydreamed about your perfect horse property.  At this point it's pretty obvious mine includes an indoor arena, but there is oh so much more I would snatch up if I could. So let's dream a bit together, shall we?

First, I want a barn with stall doors that slide like butter on a hot pan.  The flooring would be these amazing recycled rubber bricks, you can hose it off, sweep it, and it looks fabulous. Plus, it's just the right blend of firm and gentle support to stand on.  My tack room would be lightly heated and completely enclosed so no floating dust gets in.  I'd have a lounge room overlooking the indoor, with plush couches, a refrigerator, microwave, and an old fashioned Coke machine.  Then there would be a bathroom large enough to change in, with real running water and everything! (Right now our barn has a porta-potty. It works, but it does leave something to be desired.) 

I would have a wash stall with a drain in the middle and overhanging hose on a spring so when you let go, it bounces gently in place in the air without having to drag a dirty hose around on the ground.  Sounds lovely, right?

Okay, so, the barn would have a covered aisle leading to the arena, which would be both air conditioned and heated. The indoor would have mirrors along one side and seating on the other, with two large doors leading out each end. It would also have a built in hydration system to keep the dust down. 

Then I would have at least three large (5 plus acre) pastures and one sacrificial pasture for spring.  Then there would be the outdoor arena and 50 foot round pen.  Of course, the property would have mature oaks and maples throughout, as well as some pines and poplar trees.  Grass would be thick and green, with no need to supplement hay through the summer.  Each pasture would have a shelter with two open ends and a roof.  

What do you think, am I missing anything? Apart from the house (Southern style with wraparound covered porch, hardwood floors and a glossy open kitchen with granite counters and a center island....). 

A girl can always dream, right? What would your place look like?

All the Stuff

Hello!

I have a confession to make: I have been avoiding blogging lately because I resent the next Equestrian Challenge questions. I don't really want to answer them, so I will do it quick, like ripping a band-aid off.  Then we can move on to other things.

My favorite color of horse: I don't have one.  Um, friendly? A friendly colored horse?

My most embarrassing moment: I am assuming they mean "with a horse" because these are supposed to be "equestrian" questions, but for the life of me I can't think of an embarrassing moment I've had with a horse. Generally I do those on my own, but horses make everything better. The moment that comes to mind is when I was wearing flip flops, sitting on a tack trunk next to my horse.  It was summer and I was waiting for something, so I had taken my boots off while I waited.  Honey ended up accidentally stomping on my bare pinkie toe while she was stomping flies.  She had edged closer to me to be friendly, and apparently got a bit too close.  My toe was fine, it hurt and bruised up but it wasn't broken.  A bit embarrassing because I knew you shouldn't wear flip flops around horses but I did it anyway.

Whew! Now that those are over, what else has been going on with me?  I got my haircut (finally!) and my eyebrows waxed, and I feel so much better about the general appearance of my head.  I also bought some hair dye in lovely copper red that I will apply on Wednesday.

Why wait until Wednesday? I'm glad you asked! I have an informational job interview on Tuesday morning that I am absolutely psyched for, and I don't want to risk the hair color turning out badly right before the interview.  For now, that is all I will say about it, I don't want to jinx anything!

Back to horse world, Rocky gave me a giant spring vet bill with all of his shots and getting his teeth floated, but he is healthy! His sister, Philly, may not be quite so healthy though. It was discovered that she has a raised ridge around her left hind foot that looks suspiciously like ringbone. The vet took x-rays of it and we should hopefully find out today what the prognosis looks like. Here's hoping it is something easily taken care of and not a life long issue- especially considering that she is only a 3 year old.

Two for One!

The next Equestrian Challenge Question seems a bit silly, so I'll briefly answer it and then move on to the next question.  To start us off, how do my friends and family feel about my horse habit?  I think those of you who regularly read my blog could answer that for me, but here's your answer anyway: they are supportive. My husband occasionally wishes it cost a bit less (and let's be fair, so do I!) but everyone is in favor of me having a horse.

Let's move on.

The next question is for me to find a horse online that I would want to buy. Well, it took me about half an hour but I found one I would snatch up if I could! http://www.dreamhorse.com/show_horse.php?form_horse_id=1812277  He's a five year old Quarter horse gelding, buckskin, with trail riding and cutting experience.

He looks solidly built, pretty, athletic, and smart. He seems reasonably priced at $12,500.  After half an hour of looking at swan necked Quarter horses, horses who have clearly been run through the show mill so they lope like crabs, and Friesians who looked trained to grow hair, this guy seems awfully nice.

He's not everyone's ideal horse, but when looking at the $50,000 dressage horses or the $25,000 jumpers, I didn't really feel a "spark."  I feel like they'd be wasted with me, rather than with someone who participates in those disciplines and would drool over a horse with that type of training and ability.  Don't get me wrong, I'd gawk at them for a bit, but then I would want to put them out in a pasture with other horses or hop on them for a trail ride. Sure, some of those professionally trained pleasure horses might enjoy a spin out on the trail, but most would probably turn inside out and high tail it back to the barn.

So there he is, a horse I'd like to own given the opportunity.  I feel like I'd be able to use his abilities fairly, and I went with a "fancy" color just because I had to go for the gold somewhere!

My Back Hurts (and other various maladies)

Alright Folks, today we are getting back into our Equestrian Challenge Questions! Today's topic: Injuries Sustained From a Horse.  Starting us off, I have been hurt several times in the course of my equestrian life but only twice in a lasting way.  I've had my pinkie toe stomped on two different occasions, neither one breaking anything but causing some lovely bruising.

Recently, I banged my knee while working on opening and shutting a gate from horseback. I've done it before and received some bruising that I generally ignore.  This last time, though, I was in the car on my way home and lifted up the knee of my sweat pants. (Yes, I wore sweat pants riding. They're comfortable and warm, okay?) When I moved the fabric, part of it stuck to my knee before slowly peeling off.  When I got home, I discovered this:

I took this photo the day after I hurt my knee, when the cut had scabbed up a bit. Pretty bruises, huh?  Not a lasting injury but it's the only one I have photographic evidence of- which makes me wish AGAIN that I had kept the x-rays.

X-rays, you say? I took a tumble off my first horse, Honey, when I was around 16 years old.  We were cantering down a road, and by road I mean we were galloping down a racetrack, getting ready to pass another horse in the backstretch (in my head, at least) when Honey got other ideas. She decided that it was time to practice her reining skills, and did a lovely sliding stop.  She slid for about 6 feet (you could see the drag marks in the soft gravel on the side of the road), and that was without any reining training whatsoever! Or without being polite enough to cue me in to her plans.

I flew off over her right shoulder, performed a somersault, and landed on my back in front of her.  The air disappeared from my lungs and it took me what felt like forever to be able to move.  I slowly turned myself over, gasping for breath while trying to get back to my feet. Honey watched me for a minute, then took herself the last block or so home.

My back hurt. I was stubborn enough to get back on her once I had cried and limped my way home, to finish going home the right way instead of with a crash.  The next day I went in to get my lower back x-rayed to make sure I hadn't broken anything.  The x-ray was really neat looking, there was a sudden curve in my spine at my lower back because I couldn't lay flat on the table- it hurt too badly. I was lucky and hadn't broken or sprained anything, but the doctor outlined with his finger tips on my back the basketball sized bruise that was coming in.

To this day there are times when it hurts to lay down flat, but I can breathe through it and eventually am able to settle into it. Doing exercises that involve laying on the floor and putting weight on my back, like scissor kicks, are too uncomfortable for me to do.

Sometimes I get a twinge that goes from my right hip through my lower back, but I'm pretty sure a fall off Rocky helped with that one. I think I posted about this one earlier, so I'll do a quick synopsis rather than getting into the nitty gritty of things.  He got scared on a trail ride, spun and bolted with me. I lost my right stirrup during his spin, and ended up sliding off him while he ran "for his life." I skidded across the grass, getting grass burns on my face and arm but, more painfully, I landed and slid on my right hip.

Directly after the accident it wasn't so bad, it was stiff and hurt but not that terribly.  The worst part was for a solid four days after I fell, I had a really hard time lifting my right leg.  Which sucked because my bedroom and the bathroom were upstairs, making me look like an old lady whenever I went up to bed or had to use the toilet.

That about sums up my riding injuries. So far I have been lucky and nothing has been broken, knock on wood.  How about for you?

Home Away From Home

Like many riders, my barn is my second home.  In past posts I've talked a bit about my barn owner/manager, whom I call "Silver" on this blog.  She is a kind, knowledgeable horsewoman who takes wonderful care of my boy.  When Rocky had to be on stall rest for 5 days, have his leg wrap changed twice a day for 3 days, and get two shots of penicillin a day for 3 days, she took care of all of it for me for free. I didn't have to pay anything extra for the additional care or for getting a stall when I pay pasture board. Besides that, she pays attention and will adjust feed to keep horses at a healthy weight, switch horses into different pastures to keep everybody safe, and will call me if Rocky seriously injures himself.

For Silver alone, I love my barn. She keeps the barn drama free; I have never experienced a nasty boarder at her barn, or missing equipment, or anything less than the care I would give.

The great thing is, there are more things to love about my barn than just the barn owner and her anti drama policy.  The horses live in pastures with shelter, automatic waterers, and round bale feeding. The fencing is brown wide electric tape with wooden posts.

This is the front pasture :)

There is a round pen, outdoor arena, and riding trails on the property. Every boarder also has a tack locker and saddle rack:

On the end is where winter blankets hang until use, lockers are labeled with boarder's names and each saddle rack has a place to hang your bridle next to it.  If you have read past posts, you've seen the arena:

and the round pen:

This is my Home Away From Home. 

And in case you're keeping track, Equestrian Question #8 of 30 has been answered, "A bit about the barn/stable you ride at."

I Got a Ribbon!

On my 8th birthday, I got to be in my first and only horse show.  In my first Equestrian Challenge Questions post, I talked a bit about about my first riding lessons as a child. They were with a woman named Patti who had a program called Horses for Hearts. I was about 7 years old when I first started with Patti, riding her Welsh Mountain pony named Snowball.

Snowball was round, white, and a sweetheart. She was patient and calm, and while she wasn't the most beautiful horse in the barn (she was pretty cute though), she made for a wonderful lesson pony. Not long before my 8th birthday, Patti asked if I wanted to ride in a show that she was attending with her other horses. She had room in her trailer to add Snowball, and thought of me.  

I was really excited, and leaped at the chance. I was also nervous, but Patti assured me that I would be competing for fun and not to worry about it. 

When I got to the show grounds, I had never practiced any of the classes I would be doing.  Before each class, Patti would talk me through it and explain what I was supposed to do.  I remember doing the "cloverleaf," which was really a barrel pattern but for kids.  I focused really hard on what she was saying and went over the swirling pattern over and over again in my head, wanting to get it right.  I got the pattern right but couldn't kick Snowball into trotting until we were headed for home.  She did pick up a fast walk! 

Other than the cloverleaf, I did a walk-trot class, egg and spoon, pleasure, and showmanship.  I was terrible at showmanship, I had no idea where to stand so I kept moving around trying to be in the right spot.  We did trot back into place nicely, and it was the last class of my day.  I didn't do particularly well in anything else, but I had fun and got a compliment on "my" saddle pad- which was turquoise! 

As I was walking around, I noticed some people had beautiful multicolored ribbons.  I was told that they were participation ribbons and they were given out from the registration table for those who asked.  I couldn't believe my luck- I could get a ribbon even though I didn't win anything! 

I carefully pinned my ribbon to Snowball's headstall and admired how pretty the colors looked against her white coat.  I didn't care that I hadn't won anything, I was just happy that I made it through the day and now had a lovely prize to show for it. 

When I got home, I hung the ribbon from my bookshelf where I could admire it. After much searching of the internets, I could not find an exact match to my ribbon- which I may try to scan in at some point.  For now, here is the closest approximation I could find: 

My ribbon is soft peach and blue colored on the outer two strips and the ruched part on top. The gold Quarter horse head is the same, as well as the blue center ribbon. The center ribbon on mine says, "4-H County Horse Show" and "Participation."  

Equestrian Couture: My Old Jeans Count, Right?

As you may have guessed from the title of this post, our next Equestrian Challenge Question is for me to talk about my riding clothes, tack, and equipment.  I already listed some of this information under the page About Rocky, but I'll discuss it more in depth here.

I don't have a lot of fancy stuff for me, most of my money was spent on Rocky's saddle. Otherwise, I keep things thrifty (or try, anyway).  I normally ride in jeans, sometimes skinny Rockstar jeans from Old Navy to show off my cowboy boots.  I got my cowboy boots from the Minnesota State Fair, I needed a new pair because I wore my last ones out.  My mom took pity on me and got me and "early Christmas present."  They're Ariat Quickdraw Ladies' Western boots in Sapphire blue, seen here:

Also at the Minnesota State Fair, I bought myself a leather belt with barbed wire tooling.  They would personalize your belt for free, tooling into the back whatever you wanted.  I had them put ROCKY and KERI on the back.  I also picked up my first real Western belt buckle, a silver square with a galloping gold colored horse on it. 

I bought myself a pair of winter riding boots last winter, Ariat Heritage III insulated paddock boots: 

 They work so well, my feet sweat sometimes.  They also have enough traction on the bottom to be usable in the snow and ice, but not so much that they become sticky in the stirrups.  Along the same winter gear lines, I also have SmartPak Equine's Winter Overpant. I hate overalls, so these are a bit like snowboarding pants but with a synthetic suede full seat that keeps my butt from sliding out of the saddle- at least a bit!  They're windproof and waterproof, plenty warm, and I can fit a pair of pants under them. The sides zipper all the way up to the waistband and there are elastic bands to put around the bottoms of your boots to hold them down. (Stirrup pants, anyone?) 

Other stuff of mine:

-Troxel helmet in matte black.  I should probably replace it sometime soon because it's protected my melon in a few falls since its purchase, and I think you're supposed to replace them after every fall. Oops.

-Lunge whip with removable string.  I got the cheap $15 one from a local tack store. It works.

-Tack box that is a step stool and tack box in one.  It holds all my stuff, closes up and has a handle on top. Plus, if I need to see the top of Rocky's neck I can stand on it without having to go looking for a chair.

That's about it for me. On to Rocky!  Looking back at his Page, I pretty much described the important pieces.  A quick review, then:

Saddle: Circle Y Trail Saddle

Saddle Pad: Diamond Wool, round barrel shape in Mahogany color pattern.

Girth: Weaver leather felt lined Smart cinch with Roll Snug cinch buckle.

Headstall: Reinsman brand with clips so changing out bits is easy.

Bit: Reinsman Offset Dee 3/8" Smooth Copper snaffle. He likes to chew on it sometimes, I think he enjoys the copper flavor.

Slobber straps: Clinton Anderson's 2 piece with barbed wire design.

Reins: Clinton Anderson's mecate reins in black. LOVE THESE. 

Close up of his bit and slobber straps.

My old saddle, but you can see the whole bridle pretty well here.

Halter: teal blue rope halter, as seen in Rocky's picture on the left margin of the blog. 

Lead Rope: Turquoise nylon, my husband accidentally purchased a lunge line instead of a lead rope, so I cut the lunge line to size and melted the end. The rest of the rope was turned into a tug rope for Bear. Everybody wins! 

Wherein I do not Die, Although I Probably Should Have

I'm not positive when I fell off a horse for the first time.  I have had several falls, some painful, and one that I wish had been caught on video- and of course, no one saw it. Thinking my way back through the horse years of my life, my best guess for my first fall happened on a horse that wasn't mine.  The particular fall I'm thinking of (which was followed quickly by fall number two) was completely my fault.

During the sad, horseless years of my life from approximately ages 10-12, I got a small dose of equine every time my family went up to our deer hunting cabin.  About a quarter of a mile down the road from our cabin was a farm where we knew the farmers.  They had four horses at the time, and every chance I got I would take the four wheeler down the road to visit.  I bought brushes for the sole purpose of giving them a good curry while I was there, and with the dream that I would someday be able to use the brushes on my own horse.

The horses were amiable enough, and seemed to enjoy my visits.  Chantilly was half Percheron, half Quarter horse, and all solid bulk.  He was built like a small tank, with a neck bigger than my 11 year old torso and a back that was as soft to sit on as a sofa.  He was a mixture of fat and muscle, but kept a level disposition and a pretty face.  Chantilly was bay, with a white star and snip and large, kind eyes.  He often let me scramble onto his back, using a nearby rock or stump to give me enough height to make it over his rounded sides and onto his cushy back.

He accepted me without complaint, letting me lead him by his long mane into a position where I could get on.  You see, I never had anything on him, no halter, saddle, bridle- anything.  Yet I would sit happily on his broad back in the middle of his pasture, content to let him graze and meander so long as I had a horse under me. The other three horses were there, too, and I would sometimes sit on Holly, a half Percheron, one quarter Quarter horse, one quarter Appaloosa mare.  She was flea bitten gray with some dappling, a slightly less wide, little bit taller version of Chantilly.

On the day of my first fall, I had discovered a four foot high embankment in the pasture the horses were in. I was gleeful, knowing that it would be much easier to mount one of the horses from this embankment than it ever was trying to line them up with a measly stump.  Chantilly allowed himself to be coaxed over to it, and stood about a foot away from it, grazing mildly.

I was worried about that one foot gap, but it was difficult to push Chantilly closer without having him move once I was on top of the bank. I patted his back a few times, trying to make sure he knew that I was about to launch myself at him so he would be prepared.  He didn't appear to object.  I took a deep breath, and made my leap.

Let's just say I misjudged the distance.  I was used to having to jump as hard as I could, and then pull myself up, barely making it onto whomever was lucky enough to have me that day.  The embankment was much easier... too easy, in fact.  I threw myself straight over and landed on the ground on the other side of Chantilly.  I narrowly avoided face planting in mud by catching myself on my forearms.  Chantilly tossed his head and snorted in surprise, shifting his feet a little.  He did not, however, run me over.  I let out my breath and climbed back to my feet, giving Chantilly a few pats for not spooking at my tumble.

I reassessed the situation, chuckling a little at myself.  Chantilly was still obligingly standing next to the embankment, I was uninjured, and I still wanted my ride.

Up the embankment I went again, and again I rubbed my hands on his back.  This time, his ears went back when I touched him, but I figured he would be okay once I was on him.

I judged the distance correctly and made it onto his back, only to find myself on the ground directly behind him.  It happened so fast, I laid on the ground for several seconds trying to figure out how I had gotten there.  Chantilly had reared up while I was getting on him, and I had rolled/slid off the back. After I realized where I was, I quickly got myself away from his hind feet.

I was still, somehow, unhurt.  He easily could have double barrel kicked me as I fell right behind his massive hind end, but instead he was trying to convey (relatively nicely, given the circumstances) that I was no longer welcome to sit on him that day.

Being a horse crazy (emphasis on crazy here) kid, I tried to maneuver him into place at the embankment again but he wasn't having it.  He deliberately walked into the middle of the pasture where there were no stepping stones of any kind, and gave me disgusted looks when I half heartedly tried to move him again.

I finally accepted that a ride wasn't in the cards, and was grateful I was okay.  Having to explain what I was doing with the horses to my parents wouldn't have been a fun conversation- as far as they knew at the time, I was going down the road to pet the horses, not ride them loose in their pasture.

Looking back as an adult, I realize how very lucky I was that I never got hurt with those horses. They weren't handled by their owners very often, I never had a helmet or any sort of tack, they were loose with other horses in a pasture... yikes.  If I saw someone doing that now, I would definitely step in to try to save them.  Then, I was so starved for horses the risks seemed worth it, and I was young enough to do it anyway.

So concludes the answer to our next Equestrian Challenge Question- my first fall.

The Last Ride

The next Equestrian Challenge Question is to talk about a ride that impacted your life.  One particular ride keeps jumping into my head, insisting that I should think no further, this is the ride I need to write about- so I'm going to go with it.

Do you ever have a moment where you can feel that something bad is going to happen, and you suddenly convince yourself that the car coming at you is going to crash, or the wind outside is really a serial killer coming after you, or there is a ghost living in your basement?  I have these once in a while, but they rarely come true.  I say rarely, because this is one ride when I had a feeling that- well, you'll find out.

Honey was my first horse and I loved her.  I am tempted to put in an analogy here, to show how much she meant to me, but the simple fact is that I loved her.  If you've ever truly loved a horse, you know what I mean.  If not, (and I don't intend this to be mean) but you wouldn't appreciate the analogy anyway.

She got sick in the middle of January 2008, and I couldn't figure it out.  She had colic, over and over again.  I had the vet out many times to see her and they would treat her colic.  Once she was stable, they left.  By the beginning of February, she wouldn't go three days without ending up rolling on the ground, nipping at her sides.  I don't want to go into much further detail today, but she had trouble eating more than a partial flake of hay at a time without getting colic.  I checked on her about fifteen times a day, giving her bits of hay at each time.  She lost weight anyway, and I had stopped riding her.

Finally, she had been doing a bit better for a few days and I decided to take her out for an easy ride.  She was amenable, eager even as we went out.  We walked the whole way, going for a gentle ride around a bike path near the barn.  It was less than a mile total.

The sun was setting over fields dotted with snow, the temperature unseasonably warm for Minnesota.  I looked at the golden light, the sparkle in her mane, and I got this deep, gut feeling.  And I was right.

Two days later, Honey died.  She carried me faithfully and with her usual cheerful demeanor, but I just knew that this was our last ride together.  I will remember that ride forever for how beautiful the day was, how calm and lovely Honey was, and for getting to have a last ride on my beloved mare.

My Best Riding

Question 3: My Best Riding.

I'm not sure how to answer this question.  I don't show, so I don't have an official, "You scored X at this event, which is your best score yet."  Since I don't have that, I'll talk about a time that I rode through something where I could have fallen off that also shows how I worked through an issue successfully.

Some background is necessary before getting to the best riding part, which unfortunately is not some of my best riding.  I was on a trail ride with Rocky and Bear, but no other riders.  We got to a part of the trail that enters the woods from a meadow.  Rocky was uneasy, but I asked him to keep going anyway.  We began to cross a sandy strip of trail when he spun and bolted.   I stayed on for the 180 degree spin and when he rocketed off, leaving deep gouges in the sand where he used his hind end to launch us away from "danger."

I lost my right stirrup in the process but did my best to resettle myself in the saddle as we flew across the small meadow.  After the meadow, there is a hill that we have cantered up before and then we run down a fence line.  The fence line comes to a corner after about 120 yards, and taking this corner would bring us back to the barn.  As we galloped across the meadow, I realized that I did not want to try to stop him after going up the hill.  There is only about 15 feet of flat space before the hill would drop off to our right, and a fence would be to our left.

My right arm is stronger than my left, and I began to try to pull Rocky's head around so we could circle and slow down.  Instead, he shook his head and kept going.  I continued to try to tug his head around, but he gave a little buck now.  Having lost my right stirrup earlier, I had nothing to brace against to try to pull him around, and instead fell hard to the ground, where I slid several feet across the grass.  I had cuts from the grass on my face, and for a few days after I had trouble lifting my right leg due to falling hard on my right hip.

Cut to about a month later, and I am riding to that same sandy spot on the trail, this time with another girl at my barn and my mom.  This spot now caused some fear for me, as Rocky had never pulled a 180 degree turn-and-bolt on me before and I was loathe to repeat the experience.  I took some deep, calming breaths and settled into the saddle.

We got past the sandy part and started down the little gravelly hill.  He huffed, spun, and started to trot back up the hill.  Again, I lost my right stirrup and the bumpiness of his trot bounced me to the side.  He couldn't quite run up the hill as my mom and Tapper were coming down it. I shoved myself back into the saddle and managed to stop him at the top of the hill.

He tried to fight me a bit, but I pulled him into a trotting circle and yelled at him for being so naughty.  He immediately stopped fighting me and, when I asked, halted.

The girl we were with told me that she would have smacked her horse for misbehaving so badly.  I had thought about it, but as soon as I raised my voice and told him he was bad, he looked guilty and stopped resisting me.  For the rest of the ride, he was angelic, doing everything I asked as willingly as he could.  I think this counts as an example of my best riding because I did not fall off and I was not too harsh with Rocky, even though I was scared.

After that, I was much less fearful of riding across that bit of sandy trail, and he didn't try to spin and run again.  It reminded me that he does care about me and will try to make it up to me when he knows he's done something wrong.  I became more confident in scolding and correcting him, knowing that he will not flip out or try to hurt me on purpose. The best riding, I think, comes from an understanding and sensitivity to your horse and how they operate, which I achieved on this ride by not smacking him.  He didn't need that strong of a punishment to get the message that he was not allowed to take off whenever he thought he might be scared.

Riding Goals

The second of the Equestrian Challenge questions asks what my riding goals are, but it doesn't specify a time frame.  I'll make one up, and say that these will be my goals for this year.

This year, there are some new skills I'd like to learn.  Ideally, I would take riding lessons but money is looking pretty tight for the next year.  I just bought a house, and the monthly payments on it are $120 a month more than anticipated, which is going to squeeze our money bags quite a bit.  Justin is looking at getting a new job, and if he does, we'll be able to breathe easier about the larger mortgage amount.  I digress.

Since I likely won't be able to take lessons, I'm not sure how I am going to figure out how to do this stuff.  However, I would like Rocky and I to:
-Side pass
-Do rollbacks
-Travel with collection when I ask for it
-Perform flying lead changes
-Open and shut a gate without dismounting, perhaps even gracefully?
-Become more confident at walking over things (bridges, things he hasn't seen before, etc) This is the one desensitization area that Rocky tends to struggle on
-I also want to participate in at least one ACTHA event this year, and perform well.

I am really excited about ACTHA, but again, my budget worries me a bit.  Still, it seems like a great organization and a lot of fun.  In case you are unaware, ACTHA is the American Competitive Trail Horse Association.  You do a 6 mile trail ride with roughly one natural obstacle per mile.  Each obstacle is judged and has a time limit.  There are a wide variety of available obstacles, including bridge crossing, going through a gate (some of my goals sounding familiar?), cantering, standing still while a "wild animal" crosses your path, and many more.

I have never been seriously interesting in participating in a horse show, but this sounds like the kind of competition I could get on board with. I love trail riding and this would be a great way to give myself riding goals that relate to my interest, improve what I'm doing, and have fun.  There are no horse breed restrictions, and all of the horses have to trot out sound at the end of the ride.  It seems humane, with no harsh training methods or easy cheats.

The goals of ACTHA rides seem to be have fun, be safe, and win a ribbon (or belt buckle, or cash...) if you can.  Each ride also donates the proceeds to a charity of the ride host's choosing.

Those are my riding goals this year.  Basically, I want to prepare Rocky and I to be successful at an ACTHA ride, and then see how it goes at the real deal.

Equestrian Questions

I found a list of "Equestrian Challenge Questions" on someone else's blog, and while I am on hiatus from the barn, I thought I would do them.  Some of the questions are geared toward English riders or riders who compete, but I'll adapt those ones to suit my style. There are 30 questions total, and the first one is...

When and Why you Started Riding

I started riding real horses when I was about seven years old.  Before that, I galloped down the dirt road by my house on Thunder.  Thunder also took me back into the woods, along a creek and across little wooden bridges. Thunder was usually a beautiful black horse, but sometimes he was other colors, too. He jumped twigs across our path like a champion, and could out run anything, except my sister.  She was four years older than me, so her horse was pretty fast. Whenever they passed us, I would pretend that Thunder and I were taking it easy, not that my shorter kid legs couldn't keep up with my sister's longer legs.

As I got a little older, my sister tried to convince me that my bike could be a horse, too.  I wasn't too excited about learning to ride a bike, but eventually I learned.  After that, I could pedal super fast and then coast with my eyes closed, feeling the wind rush past my face and pretending that Thunder was causing it. He was a good horse, until having an imaginary horse just wasn't good enough anymore.

Then I started taking riding lessons from a lady named Patti, who had a program called Horses for Hearts.  She did group lessons where she taught safety, grooming, and eventually, riding.  They were group lessons, but I only remember being there with a group for the first time we went.  That was the day I raised my hand to ask if we would be galloping that day.  I was seven.  Patti started to chuckle until she saw how serious I was.  I was worried about it but thought it would be exciting; I wanted to know if it was on the agenda.  She choked back a smile and told me no, no galloping today.

The horse I took lessons on was a Welsh Mountain pony aptly named Snowball.  Snowball was technically gray, but I would call her white.  Most of her coat was white, except for her black nose.  She was round and sweet, a perfect child's beginner pony.  As I learned more about steering and control, I was able to ride Pepper a few times, her slightly bigger Pony of the Americas.  My sister got to ride Reggie, and I was super jealous of her.  Reggie was a tall, elegant black Tennessee Walking horse.  I thought he was the most beautiful horse, and quietly pined to ride him.  He was for older kids though, and I never got the chance.

Me on Snowball, my sister on Reggie

When I was about nine, Patti had to sell her horses because her husband said that she was spending too much time with them and not enough time with him.  I don't remember ever meeting him, but I hated that he did that to her.  My nine year old self vowed that, if I ever got married, my husband would never do that to me.  My mom tried to explain to me about compromises, and that they had a son together so getting a divorce should be a last resort.  I just shook my head.  Horses were in my blood, I needed them in my life, and I knew if it came to a choice between my husband and my horses... well, I knew which way I was headed.

Before I married Justin, I had my horse conversation with him.  Patti's story stuck with me as such a tragedy, I couldn't get married without making sure that Justin would know exactly what he was signing up for.  I told him that I would be willing to make compromises, and work things out to the best of my ability, but the horses would stay. I told him that he could never tell me to get rid of them, and if he did, he probably wouldn't like my answer.  I was scared to have this conversation, but more scared of not having it and regretting not being more clear down the road. He told me he understood, he loved that I was so passionate about horses, and that he would always support me in having them.

I have loved horses since before I can remember. I read every horse book my elementary school library had, and even convinced the librarian to purchase more. I was a lucky girl that my parents were able to give me riding lessons starting at such a young age, and I am a lucky woman to still have a horse in my life.  His name isn't Thunder anymore, but he's beautiful, black and best of all- real.