Mountain Trail Course

Today was another road trip. Joni and I headed over to my friend Nicole's house. Her property borders BLM land and lots of amazing trails. Can you say "water crossings!". But first, her neighbor had this amazing trail course. We had to check that out. This woman does competitive trail mountain courses, so she built one in her back yard. Lucky us! Unfortunately I was having so much fun trying all the obstacles, I didn't get many picures, but imagine a bunch of "stations" with different tasks. I loved all the trenches and there was this pulley thing that you lifted up by backing your horse and up comes and big tire and tarp. Joni's horse Sky, did great through the car wash and Nicole's horse Ari, jumped in the trenches. It was so cool and it gave us lots of good ideas. It also showed us what we need to work on. Car wash Maddy...go through it,don't eat it! Then we hit the trails......(to be continued)

Attacked!

After our Parelli lesson on Sunday, I took Joni over to one of my old haunts, Whipple Creek Equestrian Park. When I first got back into riding seven years ago after a long hiatus, I leased a horse next to the park. I would ride every Thursday and I found myself falling in love with horses all over again. The park has a lot of good memories and I've been wanting to ride Maddy there. Sunday I had the chance to fulfill a little dream of mine. Little did I know, Clark County Vector Control has been slacking and the trails were still muddy, creating the perfect habitat for swarms of mosquitoes. Those nasty little things really got us. We cut our ride short and got the heck out of there, but not before poor Maddy was just mauled. I feel so bad for my bumpy girl.

Parelli Lesson

On Sunday, my barnmate and I drove up to Battleground, WA for a Parelli lesson with Michael Sparling. We met Michael at the Redmond Parelli tour stop. He is a young, enthusiastic trainer so we thought "why not?" I was a little anxious about things...I haven't had a Parelli lesson since Ann Kiser left over two years ago. I still worry about trailering new places and how Maddy will respond. I need to get over my fears. Maddy walked off that trailer, took a casual look around and started eating grass. So once I was over my worries about her, I worried about myself.

Running through Parelli procedures...trying to remember all the things they teach without my modifications. My lesson went really well. We focused on all online things...he called it a "day of refinement." Polished up my weaves and worked on a better depart for the circling game. He pointed out I need to direct her zones better, which is why my circling game departs kind of started with a sideways and then depart. He was very observant and was clear with his directions. I was pretty pleased and excited to have some direction and homework.

Joni doesn't know a lot about Parelli, but was willing to try a lesson. Joni and Sky had a very similar lesson to my own, working on shoulder yields and hindquarter yields along with better departs. He comes down to our area about once a month. We are hoping we can convince Michael to hold lessons out at our barn in the Beavercreek area...wouldn't that be nice. Below are a few pictures of Joni, Sky, and Michael in their lesson. The last one is Maddy, content, not a care in the world, just make sure my haybag is full.

Off to New York

A last minute garage sale find before I head out of town for 6 days. Check out these cool vintage Kentucky Derby glasses...one is 1962. Yeah! Anyway, I am off to visit a friend in New York. Forget the Statue of Liberty or Times Square, I made her promise to take me to Manhattan Saddlery and Belmont Park. Hope you all enjoy your weekend. Happy 4th!

Freeway Encounter

I was driving down I-5 south, passing many a truck and trailer as it was the weekend of Inavale Horse Trials, when a large truck and trailer caught my eye. On the back was www.teamtryon.com . An infamous equestrian celebrity sighting, Amy Tryon. Many of you remember her from the Rolex investigation in 2007. She jumped the last fence on her horse ,Le Samurai, who was running on three legs. She dismounted at the finish line and left others to care for him. He was later put down. She was investigated for abuse and after reviewing footage, they disqualified her.

In 2008, she fell off Poggio II during the Olympics and was eliminated because she didn't complete the course.

I don't know Amy, but articles said she began riding when she was 8. She excelled and has an impressive resume in the horse world. But I hope she is the exception rather than the example. It's seems goals and glory have clouded her love of the horse. Maybe she is the type of competitor that never had it, maybe chasing the blue has always been more important. I can remain hopeful that the past couple of years have taught her some tough lessons. I hope she realizes that riding is a partnership. The better relationship, the better the ride. As I drove passed, I thought of Le Samurai and Poggio and hoped that whoever was riding along in the back of that trailer would have a different kind of legacy.

Good Day..

I wish everyday would start this way. I woke up to sunshine and a text asking "are you going riding today?" I met Joni early out at the barn and she promised to show me a new trail she found. We both packed our clippers because we knew we would have to trim some branches. It was a great trail that a poker ride group recently broke for us. We vowed to keep this well traveled so we don't lose it. Great morning ride and we made it back in time to get me to work on time.

Beach Trip

Kacy from All Horse Stuff invinted me and my barnmates for a beach trip to the lovely town of Tillamook, Oregon. Kacy boards with the woman who owns "The Bay Ocean House," so that is where we get stay. I think this is my fourth trip...every time I go, I love it more. Maddy has gotten accustomed to the sights and sounds of the ocean and this trip she behaved so well. I am really proud of all the horses...they were all rockstars. Enjoy some of my photos from the trip. We had so much fun, cooking, hot tubbing, riding, and watching "The Lone Ranger" and "National Velvet" in our down time. Kacy took took some really cool pics....go visit her blog:-). I was busy messing with my HD Helmet cam, which is still a work in progress.