recycling busted bell boots

Lauren got Lucy a pair of silver glittery Davis bell boots for Christmas, and it was just in time for her old set (boring black) to get demolished. I switched them out for the new silver ones today and Cairo seemed interested in the old ones, so I gave her one to play with.

she thought it was the best thing since dog cookies

love is, um, blind?

sooooo happy!

"what do you mean this is a hand-me-down?"

"ahh whatever, I'll take it!"

2011 in review

2011 has really been a stand-out year for me and Lucy. This was the first summer where I wholeheartedly 100% enjoyed my horse and felt we really made progress.

I think by far, the best decisions I made regarding Lucy this year were:

-getting her scoped for ulcers, and treating the ones we found aggressively and completely
-cutting her grain in half
-moving her to a barn with ample turnout where I am even more involved in her care
-getting her out and about whenever I could to shows, organized trail rides, the beach, etc

Going month by month, here are the highlights:

January: It snows. A LOT. In fact, I think it snowed every Wednesday for months (right, Lauren?). Good thing Lucy seemed to enjoy trudging around in the snow. Example A. Example B. Example C. Lucy also turned 5, though she could have fooled me because she mostly acted like an unbroke 3yo.

February: It continues to snow, A LOT. Mice take over the barn. Gunner, Lucy's boyfriend, enjoys eating my water heater. Kenny buys his truck, which will eventually allow us to have lots of fun over the summer with Claire.

March: We enjoy a few really nice trail rides, and then Lucy dumps me in the middle of the trail, drags me a bit, and gallops the 7/10ths of a mile back to the barn...down the middle of a road. Less than a week later, I made myself take her back there for another ride that wasn't quite uneventful, but at least she didn't run away this time. We had a few really fantastic lessons and I felt we made a lot of progress.

April: Lucy was scoped, which revealed ulcers all over her stomach. I felt like a crap owner, but tried to make it up to her with $1200 worth of GastroGard (thank god for horsey insurance). She rapidly makes progress and I begin to have hope that she isn't a total whack job afterall. I also connected with a new friend, someone who knew Lucy in her racing days, and we've remained in touch since then. She would later help me and a friend find the perfect OTTB for my friend. Lucy and I go for an unplanned swim at the beach and I develop a deep hatred for swans. Claire and I drive from Rhode Island to Kentucky to attend Rolex 3DE and we have a BLAST.

May: Lucy throws me into a jump and I do quite a number on my left shoulder. Actually, looking at my entries from May, most of them involve me getting tossed. See? And another.

June: I discovered some long lost trash the dress photos. Claire and I FINALLY have a successful trail ride that doesn't involve me eating dirt. Lucy gets weighed and I discover that she's gained 180lbs since I bought her. I give myself a big pat on the back. Claire and I go on a hunter pace and have a great time!

July: We move to a new barn and Lucy instantly seems much happier. Much, much happier. I do extensive work with Lucy and overcome a lot of her trailering issues. Since she is behaving so well, we get to have some fun together, she gets to model for a photoshoot, and I even take her to her first horse show.

August: Lucy lets me know I made the right choice not becoming a vet. Lauren and I truck out to take a lesson together at a near-by farm thanks to the wonders of Groupon. I discover I have guts, and we spend Hurricane Irene barrel racing in the indoor in an attempt to forget that we have no power for three whole days.

September: Lucy continues to look amazing thanks to all the grass she stuffs her face with daily. We conquer 3', and then soon after, 3'3"! I help my friend begin a horse search at Suffolk Downs.

October: Kenny and I go on a few trail rides together and Cairo gets to come along, too, marking the first successful group trail ride! Lucy and I go on a massive beach ride, and then another hunter pace, where I get the truck stuck in the mud like an idiot. We also go to another show, and I make my first solo truck and trailer adventure to take Lucy to a clinic in Massachusetts. October was a busy month!

November: Lauren, Cassie and I attend Equine Affaire and have a total blast. I have some wonderful rides on Lucy and my saddle pad business really picks up. We conquer 3'6".

December: December was not a great month for me. I got thrown a few times, I got run over by a horse, I got stepped on, and it seems a lot of horses forgot their manners when the weather changed. Lucy did get a little friend, though, so she had a good month.

I hope you have all enjoyed this year's shenanigans, because there sure were a lot of them!

manners

If you full-board your horse, do you expect the barn staff to install manners in him or her, or do you believe it is your responsibility to make sure your horse respects his or her handler on the ground?

Similarly, if you work at a barn with full-boarded horses whose owners may not be around much, how would you handle a very VERY rude horse? Would you take extra time to work with the horse, or just deal with its nonsense every day? Would you contact the owner and ask them to do something about it?

I'm talking about blatantly rude, disrespectful, and potentially dangerous behaviours. Spooking into the handler, disregarding the handler's personal bubble completely, refusing to move forward, pushing the handler around with the shoulder, yanking the handler around, etc.

(we got a new boarder. the horse is quite rude. I'm not impressed.)

Merry Christmas!

early morning crazies!

She was getting a bit warm, so I took her blanket off.
Isn't this December? In New England? It felt like Spring!

Oh here comes Tony, the 17hh Shetland Pony.
Well, he thinks so, anyway.

Sheepish?

Tony ran around me in circles, taunting her! HE IS SO NAUGHTY!

Mom, seriously, you turn me out with this fool on purpose?

I bet he would taste really good.

Is this their inconspicuous look?!
"It wasn't me!"
"Or me!"

Then at the last second she sticks her tongue out at me...

And they're off again, leaping about their field.

Lucy and the invisible aliens

I fell off today...TWICE!

Round 1:

Trotting along, L spooks at something, ducks her shoulder/spins/bolts, I go off the side, land hard on my lower back and then slam my head very hard against the ground.

I was mad and very sore (and more mad because I had to buy a new helmet! GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!) but I got up, dusted myself off, and got back on.

Round 2:

Had successfully w/t/c around the whole ring, Lucy was looking at things that had been there all summer like they were green, slimy, and arriving by space ship. She was being kind of lala in general. I thought I was being so clever, and I tried to get her mind off of the invisible aliens by saying, dear horse, meet my inside leg! BAM. Then coming around the halfway point of the ring, something caught her attention and we went from going nicely forward to going backward! and sideways! and up, down, and around! It was like an amusement park ride, except I wasn't amused! Her spooking caused the horses in the turnouts to spook, which got her more upset, and though I thought I had managed to sit all of it, she threw those last two maneuvers in there (got me unbalanced enough where I lost my stirrup, and then jumped to the side and deposited me neatly to her left). I landed on my feet this time and was unhurt but I was so mad that she dumped me twice, and I of course had a bleeping audience who saw the whole thing (both episodes) and their faces were like :0!!!!!!! that I had a minor breakdown.

Yup, I sat in the dirt and cried about it. Kenny ran over (for the second time) and said, where are you hurt?! and I replied through my tears, "I'm not even hurt, I'm just really really mad!".

Lucy was hanging out by the gate like, "um, is it dinner time yet?".

I got up, got as much of the sand/dirt out of my pants as I could*, collected my beast, and took her into the indoor. I lunged her for about 10-15 minutes and then got back on (for the THIRD time) and rode for another 15 minutes. She wasn't bad in the indoor but she wasn't great.

Overall, a crappy day.

Kenny is a total superstar and caught the entire second round on camera!

running sideways.

jumping invisible 3' fences

the getaway.

*Can I just say, if it's not bad enough to get tossed twice in one day, did I really need to have to literally sweep the sand out of my riding pants and underwear? If that's not adding insult to injury, I don't know what is.