Rain Rain Go Away!

Well, I think NJ is going to be having 48 hours straight of rain.  The rain is supposed to stop sometime tomorrow afternoon.

Nothing really interesting to report.  I had a great flat school Monday working on transitions.  Yesterday, I was able to flat outside between rain storms, and worked on lengthening and collecting at the trot and canter.  Liam overall was really good both days.

Although, he has a mysterious scrape across his neck.

I always wonder how he gets these scrapes... Reaching over the fence, bite or kick from another horse???  One will never know.

As long as all goes as planned, I will be flatting tonight and having a jump school tomorrow.  Might need a canoe to get to the jump school tomorrow!!! I am not going to horse show this weekend, but instead go on a fun trail ride with some friends.  I am just not feeling horse showing.  I think it is because the show is far away and my weekends have be really packed for the last 4 weeks and I am just plain old tired.  And the next horse show I have planned is literally 20 minutes from the farm in 2 weeks.

Well, that is it for now. 

Not much of a horsey weekend for me - boo...

I didn't do anything horsey this past weekend really.  I did get to see Liam for 10 minutes for a quick groom, hoof paint, and to give allergy meds late Sunday night.

Otherwise I worked Saturday morning and went to supercross Saturday night where I got to meet Ryan Villopoto (4 time supercross champ).

 

Well, I got to meet his cardboard cut out anyway.  The line to actually meet him was ridiculous!

Sunday I went to watch my husband practice for an upcoming race in a few weeks.  It was fun seeing all of our race friends we have met over the years and catching up even though it was freezing out AGAIN!  Grrr

Sunday's practice line up

Busy weekend for the DIY rider, therefore Liam had off both Saturday and Sunday.  Planning on hacking today, tomorrow, & Wednesday.  Jump School planned for Thursday.  Considering skipping the horse show I had planned for Sunday and doing another jump school instead.  I am just very tired and need a weekend to catch up on things and throwing in a horse show would just deprive me of more sleep and prevent me from catching up on anything...  Decisions, decisions, decisions...

Our week...

Liam has been pretty good all week... 

Tuesday we had a nice stretching ride.  He is really learning how to hack nicely.  He will now stretch and engage his back.  Worked on bending and just coming forward nicely.  It was really a great hack.

Wednesday I had a great flat school in preparation for the jump school that was planned for Thursday.  I probably got the best lateral work out of Liam to date.  We did spiral in/out circles, figure eights with leg yielding into the new direction, and shoulder-ins all at the trot.  We worked on collection and extension at the trot.  Then, worked on transitions.  Trot to halt is getting better, still no where near perfect, but better.  Canter/trot transition are dynamite.  Rode Liam for about 40 minutes and called it quits.  Cleaned all my tack and packed the trailer for the jump school on Thursday.

At work Thursday, crap hit the fan, and I ended up not making it for a jump school.  Grrrr... I was very disappointed, but I need my job to do all these horsey things.  I didn't even get out to the barn Thursday.  By the time I left work I was so fried that I couldn't even think.  I went home indulged myself on carbs, carbs always make me happy!!!

Friday, it was so beautiful out, I ditched date night with the hubby for Liam time.  I justified this to myself since I missed seeing Liam on Thursday...right?  Tacked Liam up and was heading out to the ring and the hay field was calling my name.  Liam and I both looked at the ring then back at the big open hay field and we kept walking right past the ring to the hay field.  We walked the entire hay field twice.  It was a lovely 35 minute walk.

Don't mind the mane, we are a jumper and go soooo fast nobody notices the mohawk!!!



I never even picked up the reins or touched his mouth.  Liam took a few big deep breaths and walked alert, but very relaxed.  I guess we both needed this non-working mentally relaxing ride...

Not able to ride Saturday, I have to work, then heading with some friends to a supercross race later that night.  Sunday I want to squeeze in a ride, going to support the hubby's hobby during the day and celebrating my mom's birthday for a BBQ at night...  So not sure where I am going to fit in that ride...  But I have good intentions...

Daily Grooming

I am a true believer that daily grooming is the most important grooming that a horse owner does.  I want to share with you my daily grooming protocol (can you tell I am scientist?).  It is fairly simple, but it keeps Liam's coat super shiny and looking healthy.


1.) Curry the entire body.  Head, legs, and body.  I use a curry mitt.  I like it the best compared to other curries.  I find that I can easily bend it around the legs, get into small crevasses, and it is soft enough that most horses, even sensitive Liam, tolerate it well.

 

 

2.) Brush off all the loose dirt, hair, and dander with a dandy brush.  I use short quick swipes with this brush.  I brush the entire body and legs, excluding the head.

 

3.) Brush the entire body and head with a soft brush.  I do this with long sweeping strokes.  This usually brings out the shine.

 

4.) Pick all feet.  I just use a regular hoof pick with brush.  I really like the ultimate hoof picks, but not enough to sacrifice that little brush that comes on a regular hoof pick.

This is all I do before I ride.  Then after I ride I repeat the entire 4 step process above adding in Keratex Hoof Hardener every other day. 

In the warmer weather I will skip the the 4 step protocol above after I ride and hose Liam off.  I do curry him wet and hose him off again.  This really gets out the underneath dirt without drying out the skin.  I only give a bath before shows or once in the spring after a long winter. 

 

 

Blog Hop: Appreciate What You Have

Let's take a moment to appreciate the Pros of our current ponies, whether you own them or just ride them in lessons.

This blog hop comes at a perfect time for me.  I was really down over this past weekend.  I feel like every second of my life is scheduled and yet I don't have anytime to do anything.  Liam is a ton of work to get to the show ring.  He has to be ridden at least 5 times a week or he turns into a spook monster and because I am a DIY'er it all falls on me, which is good and bad at times.  I miss many social and family events because I am riding or taking care of Liam and that bums me out sometimes.  But then, I had a beautiful Easter morning trail ride with Liam and I couldn't have been happier that day.  Would I have loved to go to Easter brunch with the family, yes I would have, but Liam needed to be ridden and I had to work in the afternoon.  These are the hard decisions I make on a daily basis and I always put Liam first.  I figure if I am spending all this money to have a horse, I might as well make it worth it!

Now lets get to the blog hop part and appreciate the pros of Liam for a moment:

Liam absolutely adores attention and makes me feel like the most special horse owner in the world.  He whinnies at me when I go to the field to get him.  Cuddles with me while I groom him.  He is generally a very happy horse to be around.

Liam is a trier.  I have to be very careful of this because he tries super hard and gets really frustrated when I tell him he is wrong.

Liam has the most comfortable canter I have ever sat on.  Literally I can canter him all day.  He is so balanced that he makes it easy.

He is an athlete with a scopy jump.  More scope then I will ever need.

Liam generally has good feet for a thoroughbred and saves me money every month because I only have shoes on his front feet.

He lets me clip his ears, pull his mane, clean his sheath, etc without any fuss. Great ground manners.

Liam has taught me a ton in the 3 years I have owned him.  He is the first horse that taught me to really ride the back to the front.  He has a very sensitive mouth and if you take a feel of his mouth without enough leg to back it up you better be ready to kiss his ears.  As soon as he flips his head I know I need more leg and that has really taught me the balance between leg and hand.

Liam is pretty uncomplicated othewise to ride, consistency is key with him.

Liam is that special horse to me and he has a forever home with me.  He is the first horse I purchased and cared for completely finacially on my own and that means a ton to me too!  I just love him.  We are a good match and really understand each other.

Easter Morning Trail Ride



(I forgot my phone and couldn't take any photos, but I grabbed these off the internet.) 

 





 

A friend and I trailered over to Christie Hoffman Farm yesterday morning for a trail ride.  I am completely spoiled for boarding less than 5 miles from this beautiful park.  Christie Hoffman Farm is a public park for hiking and horseback riding and it has over 170 acres to ride on of hilly groomed trails.

 

 

The park has a ton of jumps including logs, coops, tables, ditches, and even a water complex.  It really is perfect for an eventer to come and practice!!!

Since it was our first time out this year, my friend and I decided to just walk all the trails.  I really underestimated how much walking up and down hills is a work out for the horses.  Liam was exhausted!  We rode for about 1 1/2 hours just walking.  Liam started out a little nervous, but by the end we were walking on a long rein and he was very relaxed.

I can't wait to go back! 

Is this really my horse???

Headed down the mountain for another jump school yesterday. 

I was tired yesterday from a long week and my legs felt like jello from the gym, but I am determined to keep this horse going!!!

I didn't really have much time to flat.  When I arrived at the ring another person was having a lesson and jumping courses and even though the ring is big I hate to get in any ones way while they are jumping a course.  I know how frustrating that can be.  I just parked myself out of the way and watched. 

Once she was done jumping I had about five minutes to warm up.  Liam was being really good and quiet so we started jumping.  This would have gone disastrous a year ago without a proper flat, but I think my boy is growing up.  We were able to have a five minute warm up and a productive jump school!!!

The course:

We started warming up over the natural (brown) vertical on the diagonal circling each direction.  Liam started off really quiet and I had to really use my leg. 

Then we put together a short course:

First time one came up great rolling back to two was good, but I made a move with my shoulders too much, three was a bit weak.  Heading to four liam dived right with his shoulders and five to six was perfect in five strides.  All in all, the entire course was good, but I am a perfectionist...

Second Course:



We decided to keep the start of the second course the same one through four and then jump the in to the five stride line for jump five with a roll back to an oxer for jump six then up the diagonal line for seven and eight in five strides.  Jump one was awesome again.  Totally fixed my shoulders to jump two and it came up perfect, three was much better.  I rode better to four, but Liam pulled me past the distance a little and I gave a big (way to much) release and we had a hard rub at jump four.  Five came up great, I actually settled to five which made the roll back set up perfect.  Liam took a hard peak at six (walls in front of oxer) and jumped the moon over it, but landed and just cantered softly away.  Liam took another peak at seven (pink flowers with white gate) and jumped hard and I just kind of sat there shocked and didn't do a thing.  Like hello, you have another jump coming in five strides - WAKE UP!  I just left it up to Liam to figure it out out of the line and he really showed his education here.  He just softly cantered down and the distance to eight was either a little long in five (correct) or chuck one in for add in six.  I just kind of sat there like a rag doll and Liam made the decision to make a big effort and jump out in five.  I just kind of went along with it.  Good boy.  He really is turning into an ameture horse.

Next we deicided to skip one and two and start with three through eight.  I completely fixed the turn from three to four.  I cut the corner too short to five and it made that jump really tight.  Roll back to six was great.  Liam was pulling down to seven and I felt like he never looked up, but it worked out in five strides.  My friend suggested when he is pulling down like that to counter bend for a few strides to lighten him back up. 

Did five through eight again and all was good!  Still a little pulling down, but good...  Maybe he was getting tired...

I was supposed to horse show this weekend on Sunday, but the horse show moved all the jumper classes to Saturday and is going to run a two ring show instead of a one ring show on Saturday and Sunday.  Unfortunatly, I have other plans on Saturday and can't attend the show.  Missing my first show of the season already...  I am a bit disappointed, but it is still early in the year and there are plenty of other shows to go to.   Next one on the list is May 4th.