Archive for September, 2009
September 30, 2009 at 1:33 pm
· Filed under Daisy
So last night I go out to the stable, I tack Daisy up with pretty much no fussing from her, and we go out and ride. It was like riding a different horse. She was light as air, responsive to all my cues, and just bubbling over with energy. I shortened and lengthened her strides at a trot at will-every 3 strides or so I changed her up for a while and she took my cues with no questions asked. I’m pretty sure I had her moving almost into an extended trot a few times! Not like a rushed regular trot-like the kind where she reaches forward with her legs and pushes herself off with more thrust than I’ve felt on her pretty much EVER. We cantered in both directions and she took her leads-she almost wanted to go into a canter a few times. This is a far cry from the horse I had to whip to get into a canter at the show! I tried to shorten her stride at the canter, and I did just a little bit, but she’d break back down to the trot after a stride. I guess that was just a bit confusing.
I can’t wait to get out there tonight and see what I have to work with now. She’ll either be raring to go again or she’ll be her normal bumming around the arena self.
I ordered a couple pictures from the show, too. Once they come in, I’ll scan them and put them on here.
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September 28, 2009 at 8:50 pm
· Filed under Daisy
The show yesterday went good! Not great, but good 
We got there early in the morning and got settled in. I walked Daisy around the show grounds to show her the facility again-she seemed relaxed. There were a few times she kind of hopped around nervously, but for the most part she either recognized the place or she didn’t care. We got back to her stall and she relaxed for a little bit before we got her tacked up. She tacked well-no major outbursts and she really didn’t try too hard to bite at me We got her out to the warm up ring and we rode around for a while. Once our time came up, we went to the ring and walked in. Going into the ring alone with your horse is always kind of a cool feeling. We approached the judge’s box and announced our number, then went about 5 steps further when he rang the bell-that was quick!! We trotted out and re-entered, as normal, and Daisy stiffened up a bit on our way down the centerline. We halted, saluted, and did our test. No problem She had a great trot, her canter was as good as it’s ever been, and she was sort of relaxed. Her headset could have been better, but overall we got good scores. She got several 7’s and 6’s in addition to an 8 on her final halt. There were a couple 5’s in there for her second canter circle, though, so our final score was a 61.4%. That’s our first qualifier for next year’s finals! She also got a 7 on her gaits-I can’t remember if she’s ever gotten that good a mark on her gaits before, so I was very happy with that.
Our second test was 3 hours later. She was tired and didn’t want to come out at all, so when we went to tack her up, she gave us a lot of grief. We dragged her out and I warmed up with just a walk. When we got to the ring for the second test, her mood was nothing like the first time-she was grouchy and tired and wouldn’t respond very well to anything I asked her. I ended up using the whip several times just to get her to move! She broke from her canter a few strides early at one point and tried to escape out the back way when we rode by the entrance/exit mark (A). It was sort of funny, but I also felt bad for her. Her canter was actually pretty nice if it hadn’t ended early, but the rest of the test was just difficult. The marks at the end of the test included “rushed” for one of the canters-one where I cracked her on the butt for not responding to 2 cues to go and she ended up leaping into a canter, and at the end the judge wrote something about her being an “Attractive and Willing Horse”. OK on Attractive, but Willing?? She wasn’t willing to do anything at that point! She ended up getting almost straight 5’s with a 6 or two thrown in. Nothing special at all. I wasn’t too upset about that since she already had her qualifier for this show.
Kathie and Heather did their championship rides for combined training at this show and they had their championships for eventing the day before. Both did very well, Kathie got 4th place overall at both shows, and Heather got 2nd place overall at both. Kind of a coincidence-they were totally separate shows and they could have placed differently at both.
Overall, it was a fun time. I always wake up in the morning of a show thinking “why do I keep doing this to myself??” then when we’re done I always think “I can’t wait to do this again!!” I wish I could figure out a way to get her more conditioned to deal with the stress of showing-I think that’s where she really gets tired. I can usually ride her for an hour or more if we want without a problem. She gets so tired after just a half hour of riding for the warm up and riding of one test that she can barely make it to the next. I guess the only way to get her used to it is to keep showing!
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September 24, 2009 at 9:31 pm
· Filed under Daisy
I’ve been working on memorizing my tests for the show this weekend and I’m pretty sure I’ve got them both down. I keep messing up on the easier one, but I know where I’m going wrong so it should be ok once I get used to it. The bad thing is that Daisy is completely convinced that SHE knows the test. She wants to do different thing than the tests require-picking up a canter in certain corners, putting in a diagonal where there should be something else, etc. This would be ok, but she is quite insistant that we shoudl go one way when we are supposed to go the other. I know that horses memorize patterns. It’s very obvious, actually-they are made to stick to routines. That’s why they always say you should feed a horse at approximately the same time every day and why they keep in certain areas in the wild, etc. Daisy thinks I’m doing these tests wrong, though, so I actually have to fight with her to make her go the way she doesn’t think she should. She tosses her head the opposite direction and pushes through her shoulder to try to get me to go that way. It takes all I have to get her to turn the correct way and of course that looks like crap. It’s another one of those things that makes me wonder what goes through her head. She must think I’m SO dumb. How can I mess up a simple pattern like this? It’s quite obvious that we should be going this way-why does Mom want to go the other way? Boy are we going to look stupid when we go to a show.
I’m working on relaxation and halting right now because I guess she forgot how to stop correctly, too. All in all, this could be an interesting show.
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September 19, 2009 at 7:24 pm
· Filed under Bandit, Daisy, Jake
Bandit and Jake are playing like puppies right now. Bandit has a toy, Jake runs and grabss it, Bandit runs and grabs Jake, then Jake gets mad at Bandit. It’s been going on for 20 minutes now. Hopefully they’ll sleep tonight! It’s so nice to see him play like that, though He really cracks me up. The problem is that Jake takes a break every 2 minutes to let me know he’s hungry again. My face should be chapped by now after all the dog kisses. I’ve never seen a dog that was more into his food. Another funny thing is that Bandit-the one that never eats anything-is also expecting food now, too. He loves that Pedigree food! Fortunately Jake doesn’t care what he eats. He’ll eat the grain free stuff no problem.
Daisy was good, then bad today. We rode for a while-she did pretty well. She got her leads again, so we’re about 80-20 now as far as taking the bad lead versus not taking it. She had her feet trimmed after that, then I gave her a bath. I scrubbed her pretty well and spent about an hour cleaning her up, mane and everything. We went back inside for a break so she could have some water and do her business. I turned and was talking to everyone with her right behind me when Diane asked “is she rolling?” Apparently Ms Stealth had snuck her way to the floor of her stall. It was cleaned, but the shavings were still icky and she had some stray pieces of hay in there too. When she got up, it was clear that she was still wet enough to be tacky and hold all the crap from her stall on her body, mane, and tail. Her mane went from wet and slicked black to infused with shaving flakes and hay holding it out six inches off her neck. She was covered in filth. Everyone laughed as i went back out to hose her off again. There is still crud on her now, but I couldn’t get it all off. I guess my plan is to go out and ride tomorrow and give her ANOTHER soapy bath. The show is next weekend, but it’s still good to have her fairly clean before her real bath. I guess I’ll be scrubbing more poop off her tomorrow before the Bears game.
Oh well-back to fending off a hungry Jake for another hour before real second dinner
Oh well-back to
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September 17, 2009 at 6:53 pm
· Filed under Daisy, Jake
I swear that little dog is nothing but trouble. He really upsets me when he swells up, I guess because it reminds me that there’s not much to be done with him, but he stole some pasta last night, so tonight his leg is swollen somewhat again. What a troublemaker. It seemed a bit painful so I gave him some aspirin tonight, but he still bounces around like a little nut whether it hurts or not. He does crack me up with his “welcome home, mommy” routine.
Daisy was a good girl on the other hand-We have been riding every day this week so far-the first day, Monday, I was really sore in my hips but we worked anyway. She took full advantage of it She was crabby and gave me all sorts of trouble in trying to get her to do things. The rest of the week she’s been better, and today was just great for her. We rode inside at first, then we went outside to tackle my aversion from going out there. She was pretty good, but she was fairly looky out there. We went and rode anyway-she was on the bit, had good connection, held her head appropriately, and trotted on pretty good. She was a little stiff at first, but she work out of it. We ended when I had her canter once in each direction-she took her good lead first and did well. We switched directions and she picked up her bad lead great! She didn’t argue about it, she didn’t run into it, and she was balanced and slow. It’s amazing to me that she can be so unbalanced sometimes and so nice and slow and balanced in other times. I’m working a lot on keeping MY balance better-I think I lean too much all the time and it’s become a habit.
Anyway, off to take care of Jakey-he’s doing ok, but he loves to get his attention
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September 14, 2009 at 8:55 pm
· Filed under Uncategorized
The one is my brother, Tim, holding Kellan-it’s so cute Tim broke his arm in a car accident recently. My stepdad, Bill, and he were in the van, coming home from Tim’s job when a drunk jerk pulled out in front of them. The van was totaled-it’s a good thing they were in a van, because that thing did not look good. Stupid drunk guy. I hope he rots in jail for a good long time. (I guess he’s lucky to be alive, too-his car flipped upside down!! It was a pretty bad crash!)
Kody's Hoofprints in Freshly Turned Sand-just thought it came out cool
Bandit Snuggling after a long day. I look dumb, but he's just sooo cute 
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September 14, 2009 at 8:27 pm
· Filed under Bandit, Daisy, Jake
Jake’s leg is looking better tonight. It looks like the swelling isn’t going down all the way anymore, so I’m thinking the tumor is probably back. I’ll have to make him an appointment with this guy I’ve been looking into. We’ll see what they have to say. I have a feeling that they’re going to say to leave it alone. We couldn’t remove the whole thing before and I doubt we’ll be able to do it now. I’m not very keen on the whole chemo thing, either-I don’t want to put Jake through that since he’s getting up there in age, he acts fine now and I want him to be happy, and finally I just don’t have the money to do it. I’m more concerned with the first two reasons, though, to be honest. If he was younger, I’d probably do it, but he’s 11 very soon, and honestly, I don’t think it would extend his life any more without making him miserable. I’m just going to bring him in and see what the vet thinks anyway.
Bandit was a little snuggle bug last night LOL! I think he was a bit overwhelmed with all the fun and stuff from going to visit his girlfriend, Zetta. He snuggled up to me by putting his head on my shoulder as we slept. It was really sweet
Daisy was happy to get the night off tonight, too-we went outside and walked a pasture a few times, then she got her shot and was done for the night. We’ll go for a ride tomorrow and see how she’s doing then. My fingers are still crossed! I hope she gets back to absolute normal soon. She can be with aspirin, but I’d like for her to feel better even without that.
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September 13, 2009 at 9:37 pm
· Filed under Bandit, Daisy, Family, Jake
We all went to Mom’s again for dinner tonight, so I brought Bandit with. He was so brave! He stuck by me most of the night, but he took food from pretty much everyone and by the end of the night he was walking up to Bill and playing with Zetta. Big breakthroughs for him! I still think about the scared little dog that wouldn’t even look at another person. Now he goes up to people on his on free will. We did have a good time-We got to see Kellan again and he is getting really big I’ll post the picture I got of him later on. My phone died so I only got the one picture.
Jake’s leg is swollen again, too. I tried giving him Benadryl instead of chlorphineramine and that really didn’t work. I don’t know why, but whatever. I’ll just keep him on what I was doing before-it seems like since it’s been working there’s no reason to change. I talked to that person at the stable again and she said that it’s not Adobe Angel that I was supposed to try but instead something called Earth Angel Herbs. I’m going to look it up further before I try it because Jake has had reactions to everything I’ve tried so far. Plus this one sounds like it’s more expensive. From what I saw on the ingredients list, there’s nothing that’s made with any kind of grain. I have to look everything up this time, though, and make sure before I try it. I’ll write more about that when I get any more information.
Daisy did pretty good today, too. It seems like she’s not in season anymore, so the psycho mare phase is over for now. She was more receptive to my input in our riding today. I’m hoping to work more on my balance before our last show. I’m trying not to put too much pressure on her leg, too-I want her to at least be show-able by that show. The best part is that if she gets a qualifying score in her first class and she looks like she might be going off at all, I can scratch her from her second class with no problem. I decided on Training 2 and 4 this time again-I was going to do 1 and 2, but I figured that I know 4 very well now and I’d really have to relearn 1. I’d like to do the harder test anyway.
The Bears game is almost over now and the Packers just scored another TD. Ugh…. Go Bears!!!
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September 12, 2009 at 2:44 pm
· Filed under Bandit, Daisy, Jake
I went out and rode Daisy this morning-she was MUCH better than the past few days. I’m pretty sure she’s been in season and that’s why she’s been acting so crazy. We rode for an hour or so then I hosed her off. She’s cleaner than she was, but she still needs a scrubbing-that’ll be tomorrow.
So I’ve been putting it off, but i figured I’d better wash the boys, too. Bandit was first. I wrestled him into the shower, hoisted his little skinny butt over the tub wall, and started spraying him down. He stood there and took it-not very well, but he took it. He only tried to escape once. Then came Jake. First, I tried to wrestle is fat butt over the side of the tub-not working. I tried to get him in there of his own free will-forget about it. After a few minutes of him screaming like I was trying to kill him, I was afraid the neighbors might call PETA or something and I figured I’d better go get treats. That took care of the problem! Once i told him that he was getting no treat until he went in there, he reluctantly gave in and went in. I washed off the initial layer of scum, shampooed the heck out of him, then rinsed. He was defiant the whole time, but thank God for treats. That was the only way he was going to stay in the tub. He did try to escape several times, but overall, it was a successful wash. It’s easier to wash DAISY than it is to wash him. The funniest part about this is that the whole time Bandit was getting his bath, Jake was laying down next to me laughing at him-just pounding his tail on the ground like “see Mommy LOVES me! I don’t have to be cleaned unlike YOU.” Once it was his turn, it was all crying and whining-even a little screaming.
So needless to say, I’m exhausted today. I want to go take a nap, but I know if I do that I’ll just feel crappy when I wake up. Jake keeps trying to get feed him first dinner early, so I think I’m going to give in and do it. Jake wins again…..
PS-even though he’s dry now, I’m still getting lots of little kisses from Bandit. He feels really sorry for himself LOL!! Poor clean puppy.
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September 10, 2009 at 8:27 pm
· Filed under Daisy
Mass of flowers that take over my deck every year
These flowers are on a vine that covers the side of my deck-the little white flowers are really fragrant, too
Daisy was a spaz today! I took her out and lunged her because it was going to be her day off and she needs to keep moving to prevent any stiffness in her joints. She was ok on the lunge line, but she was a little too willing to canter, so I knew she had a lot of energy. We lunged for about 20 minutes then I turned her out in a pasture. She went nuts. I stood in the middle as she buzzed around me at top speed back and forth, kicking and playing-she had a great time. Yesterday when I rode her, I took her over some ground rails-she jumped over them I know she’s feeling good. It’s nice to see her get along better now. The last show of the season is in 2 weeks now, so we need to get going fast! I need to learn my tests…. Yikes! It’s been so long since I’ve done them that I forgot them already Back to practicing that tomorrow.
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