Jumper Night

Lucy went to Apple Knoll Farm for their weekly jumper night, held every Wednesday throughout the summer. I used to go to it with Dreamer way back in the day, probably around 2002/2003. It was always a lot of fun and I was excited to take a trip down memory lane when I went to watch!

Kenny, Hannah, and I got caught in a bunch of rush hour traffic, which meant we got there just in time to watch Lucy walk out of the ring after she jumped :( I was so bummed, but then we caught up to Morgan and she said I had only missed the 2'3" class, and she still had the 2'6" and possibly 2'9" to do!

Lucy had been kind of a huge brat in the 2'3" class so Morgan took her up to the schooling area to work on a few things. Lucy did improve slightly, but she got hotter and hotter, and in the end Morgan decided to just let her chill out for a while, since schooling her to quiet her down was having the opposite effect.

in the schooling ring

bad horse...

just chillin' as dogs, kids, strollers, 4 wheelers, and other horses go by

They hung out and waited for their turn in the 2'6" and then Lucy went in and kicked butt. I was beaming from the sidelines watching her cruise around. Was it the most beautiful, fluid jumper round ever? Hell no, but she was fairly obedient, was totally game for the jumps, and clearly had a great time. Morgan rode beautifully and I was just so pleased. She had figured out very quickly that she couldn't hold Lucy, because then Lu would get very ticked off very quickly, and that's when the antics started. I knew exactly how Morgan felt...when riding Lucy to a jump, it's basically barely controlled chaos. I always felt like I was handing my life over to this horse, who hadn't exactly proven to be the most trustworthy animal ever, but if I tried micromanaging her, she was way worse. Morgan said exactly that; that she had to just let go and trust that Lucy was going to make the right decision. It's scary to let go like that but that just goes to show you that I truly sent Lucy to the right place.


Lucy and Morgan in the 2'6" class

2'6" jump-off

Morgan's student was also jumping so we watched her 2'6" round, and then they both hacked around on a long rein before the 2'9" rounds. Morgan told me that was her favourite part about Lucy. No matter how bonkers she is when she's working, all you have to do is drop the reins and let her walk around and she will do so with happy floppy ears, not a care in the world.

just walking around the parking lot waiting for 2'9"

The 2'9" class was even better than the previous one, probably because the height prevented Lucy from bombing around like she wants to do. She had to actually think a bit, and use herself over the jumps. She jumped clean and aced the jump off, and ended up in 7th place in a rather large class! Again, I smiled so hard my cheeks hurt. I was so proud!

Overall, the day went better than I could have hoped. The icing on the cake was watching Lucy calmly walk on the trailer with absolutely zero hoopla. You go girl.

girl power!

Lucy has a girl crush on her travel partner, MB. MB is not pleased.

by Lu! I will see you soon.

Is this real life?

I am on Cloud 9 with Lucy lately. Not only am I able to ride way more than I thought I was going to, but she is getting better and better with each ride! Yesterday I switched it up a bit and took her out on the trails to warm up. She was so happy out there! She walked on the buckle, happy pricked ears taking in the lovely warm Spring day. We did a bit of trotting and cantering, and even hopped over a log in the woods!

Then we came back to the barn and schooled for a while in the ring. Someone had put out some trot poles so we trotted back and forth over those. Three strides out from the last pole in each direction, I asked for a halt, then a pivot on the hind end, and then we'd trot over them again. This got her really responsive to my seat and she went from hauling on my hands going down from the trot to just lightly halting without the attitude!

Today we had a little ride in the misty rain in the outdoor and it was wonderful. We schooled some walk/canter transitions and I felt like she was really in front of my leg, but in a controllable manner! She was a lot of fun and didn't seem upset about the weather.

Here are some photos from our ride yesterday:

In Baby Hannah news, I caught her rolling over on video yesterday!!

back in the saddle

I rode today! I was feeling great, the weather was perfect, and given Amanda's perfect rides this week, I felt confident that Lucy would be a good girl. I was right. Even though all the time out of the saddle really took its toll on my strength, and I was all over the place, Lucy trucked right along and was seriously the best girl.

Maddy coached me through the ride a bit (mostly just saying "sit up!" lol...old habits die hard!) and then Amanda rode after me, and reported that Lu was a very good girl for her, too.

I was pretty sore when I got home, but I'm so happy I rode. Kenny and Hannah came along and hung out by the side of the ring. It was very nice to have them both there.

Tomorrow is Spring Shots, round 1, and if the vet comes out later in the day, I'll ride first. If they end up coming out early, I probably won't get there with time to ride. It's amazing how much time caring for the baby takes in the morning.

Winter Lucy is on her way out

Oh hi! No, I'm not dead, though my body tried that several times. I had so many complications beyond the initial issues after Hannah's birth, it was ridiculous. I was in the hospital two additional times and finally ended up having surgery two weeks ago. That seemed to really do the trick, and it's been smooth sailing ever since. This week I actually got approved to be a human again! I can now go for walks, spend time outside, do housework, etc. I have never been so happy to go to the grocery store! It's insane.

Hannah is doing wonderfully, though she has developed an issue with colic, and also has reflux. I'm not sure which is less fun: a colicking horse, or a colicking baby. Both suck. She's on some medication now that is helping her (and us! no one likes to be up with a screaming child all night!) and I hope she grows out of it fast.

I went to the barn twice this week; once to watch Amanda ride Lucy, and then again today to do stalls as a little surprise for Maddy :D

Amanda and Lucy have been having great ride after great ride and I am confident that Summer Lucy has made a triumphant return! I plan on getting on her tomorrow or Monday. Spring shots are on Monday but if I can coordinate someone to watch Hannah, I'll get out there before the vet does and hopefully at least walk around.

Here are some photos from Amanda's ride:

first, a photo with Baby Hannah!

I love how soft Lucy looks through her body here :)

Another positive (but crazy) story

It's nice to occasionally be able to tell you guys about times when Lucy is a good girl and uses her brain cells.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I always use my brain cells."

Yesterday it was really warm here, almost 50 degrees. Everything is thawing out and I decided to lunge her in the outdoor. The last time she was in the outdoor was the day we all tried to take the horses for a hand walk on the trails and Lucy ruined it for everyone by spending the entire time on her two hind legs and waving hello with her front legs. She was out of control.

So to be safe, I closed the special gate that my BO set up for us to make the outdoor, which doesn't have a fence around one half of it, as enclosed as possible. I put her on the barn's lunge line, which resides right next to the outdoor for easy access, and she was going beautifully. She had a gorgeous floaty trot, seemed happy, was stretching down through her back and neck, and I was like, wow what a fancy horse.

She had a little canter and was being polite, not pulling on me or being stupid, just going around normally. I had about the same amount of pressure on the line that you'd have if you were balancing your horse for a jump.

Well, the line suddenly snapped in half and without warning. I had a "loose" horse cantering around me with about 25' of lunge line whipping around behind her. It even smacked her in the butt. She looked very worried but did not have a tantrum, spook, or take off!

The last time this horse was loose in the outdoor, she ran herself up the road, slipped and fell, and for her efforts, won $4000 of vet bills and almost a year of rehab. Yesterday, that couldn't happen again because I had closed the gate (THANK GOD), but she didn't even flip out. She simply continued lunging herself in a perfect 20 metre circle as I stood in the middle holding the broken handle-end of the lunge line.

The aftermath.

I think she would have kept on cantering all day if I hadn't said, "Lucy, WOAH" and walked slightly toward her shoulder. She stopped and looked at me like "what the heck are you doing?"

I am not sure why the line broke like that, though I suspect since it sat outside and was subjected to the elements, the material had rotted just enough to cause a weak spot. There were several big knots in the line to make it easier to hold, and it didn't even break at one of those spots. Very strange! It was a Dover cotton line for anyone interested.

She got a lot of cookies after that :)

10 degrees? Sounds tropical!

Ahh, New England in January. Yesterday: temps in the mid teens, 8" of snow. Today: Temps in the low double digits, sunshine. Tomorrow: 30 degrees, sunshine. By Monday: 50 degrees and rain.

So ridiculous.

Today I got so much baby-planning stuff done and rewarded myself with a trip to the barn, where I donned two pairs of fleece pants, two pairs of socks, and Kenny's huge thick heat-reflecting Columbia jacket, which fits my growing bump the best.

While waiting for my water heater to warm up some water so that each horse could have one warm bucket with their dinner, I tossed Lucy in one of the grass turnouts and she had a bit of a spin:

And this, my friends, is why this horse wears bell boots! 

I love her so much. Look at that face.

 She was very happy out there and got some energy out so I grabbed her rope halter and my helmet and climbed aboard :D

I haven't ridden in a while but Amanda has been doing so much work with her on the ground, and I could read her body language today and knew she was in a good place mentally. She was perfect for me. We just walked around the paddock twice and had a little trot up the long side. I hopped off and gave her a big hug after that. I love her.

good girl!