WINNER :)

Thank you to everyone who entered the contest. I personally had a blast reading all of the entries! You are a creative bunch!

Congratulations to Dom, who was the randomly chosen first prize winner!!!

And congratulations to Jessica, who was the randomly chosen second place prize winner!!!

So Dom, you'll have to let me know if you want a portrait or a logo for your blog and if you want to do a guest blog here, and Jessica, I will have fun picking out a little trinket from Rolex for you when I go next weekend!!

Thanks again everyone!

(beach report is coming up...boy oh boy was it an eventful day)

nice low-key evening ride

My friend Claire and I spent the day together and went to see Water for Elephants at the movies. The movie was very moving and sad in some parts and we both wanted nothing more than to go hug our ponies after it was over, so that's exactly what we did:


:)

I also picked up Lu's extra week of GastroGard at the vet's today.

Tomorrow we are trailering out to a local park that has a beach and lots of beautiful trails. I really hope Lucy's good!

Reminder: don't forget to enter the contest!

The contest ends tomorrow night at midnight. So far we have four entries and with two winners to be chosen, the odds are very good!

Don't forget to enter, and also leave a link to the post you promoted the contest in on your own blog, if you did so. That will get you an extra chance at winning :)

If anyone needs clarification on anything, please let me know, I'd be happy to help.

Here's the contest - have fun!

amazing ride

I am thrilled with Lucy after today's ride. She started out great, but once we got to the canter she got a little bit stupid. I brought her back, tried again, and she persisted with the leaping around nonsense. I got off and lunged her and boy oh boy did she have a lot of pent up energy! I think she felt much better after she had a chance to get that all out of her system. When I got back on, she was a totally different horse: so easygoing, happy, etc. It was wonderful! We even did some crossrails!

Here's a video:



My friend Claire was recording for me while she was holding her horse, Boe. Somewhere in the middle of the ride he got a bit bored and decided to have a roll, fully tacked-up!!!



Here are some stills from the jumps:




I have always struggled with my jumping position and I have got to say that I am really pleased with how well I was able to keep it together today :)

And we also took condition photos today:

A little bit of history

I got the most wonderful email earlier in the week from a woman who works at Suffolk Downs, the racetrack in MA that Lucy retired out of. Here's the email, which I am posting with Jess's permission:

Hi Kate,

A friend passed along your blog as she was sure I would find it of great interest and I did. I work at Suffolk Downs as the television personality and publicist and I remember your lovely filly very well. I always wondered what happened to her and I am so pleased to see that she wound up with someone like you - she looks phenomenal. I took home my first OTTB this past fall and he is the great love of my life.

Just wanted to say good work.

Jessica

This email put me on cloud 9 for a number of reasons:

1. How cool is it that my blog is out there and reaching people from Lucy's past?!
2. It is so awesome that Lucy was special enough even as a terrible racehorse, that Jess remembers her from two years ago! Just think about all the horses that pass through a racecourse.
3. Now I know a bit more about what she was like before I bought her!
4. It was so sweet of Jess to send me this email and I definitely blushed at all of her compliments!!

Jess and I emailed back and forth this week and one thing I asked her was if she was in touch with any of the jockeys who exercised her or rode her. To my delight, she emailed me yesterday to tell me that she had spoken with one of the jockeys who raced L, and the jockey "remembered her right away". She told Jess that you could never ride Lucy with a stick, because the more the jockey hit her to get her to run faster, the slower she went. I find this *hilarious* because "slow" is not a word I'd ever use to describe my horse, although compared to some of the very fast racehorses she was competing against, I can understand that she might be considered slow. But most of my time riding her has been spent trying to get her to slow down, not speed up, and I rarely carry a crop with her. If I do carry a crop I use it as a threat ("ok, you want to play it like that!? well check out my WEAPON!"). Good news is that I rarely EVER use it on her, but carrying it with me works as a little bit of motivation for her to behave (not like she ever really cares about consequences, as is demonstrated by her many naughty moments over the winter).

Anyway, very cool :D

Jess has told me she wants to be a resource of information for anyone whose horse raced at Suffolk, so if you have a Suffolk OTTB and want to find more info about your horse, let me know and I will put you in touch with her. She is very nice and very helpful!!

Here's a photo of Lucy from when she first came off the track. Her last race was just a few days before this photo was taken, and here she was being prepared to be sold to her first home.

"Did you get it?!", and Lucy channels her inner Houdini

Yesterday was quite comical, or at least Lucy thought so!

Our ride was very decent, with one hiccup somewhere in the middle, but I'm going to blame the mayflies for that (and on a related note, they're called MAYflies, not APRILflies. Yet it's April, and they're here).

Anyway.

Yes the bugs were bad, and so was I because I neglected to spray my horse with fly spray. She handled everything well but had a little bronco session, which I sat and then triumphantly asked my friend who was videoing if she got it on tape! Ha! Now that's an equestrian for you. Even an embarrassing fall is not *that* bad as long as it is caught on tape!

Here's the video:



Stills:





After the ride, I cooled her out and put her in her stall and fed her. While she was eating I decided to go in and fly spray her (hey, better late than never...), which was all fine and dandy except I left her stall door open a smidgen and was too lazy to put the stall guard up, so what did the princess do?! She ESCAPED! Before I could get in front of her to block the door, she squeezed herself out into the barn aisle, took a look around and decided she felt like going outside, and walked out of the barn and made a beeline for the nice rich spring grass. Ok, I don't blame her for that, but THEN she refused to let me catch her! And it wasn't even like she was running around; I think the most she did was a little jog, but she just moved evasively enough that I couldn't manage to catch the little bugger. My friend Claire helped me and another boarder went and stood in the middle of the barn driveway in case she decided to go for a neighbourhood tour** and after about five minutes and lots of candy wrapper crinkling, she finally gave in and with a sigh let me put the halter on. She definitely had a twinkle in her eye while she was enjoying her freedom out on the lawn, though. You can bet I put that stall guard up today while I was fussing with her in her stall after our ride!

**She is already known as "that crazy horse" around the neighbourhood from that time she dumped me on the trail ride and galloped full-speed down the middle of the road all the way back to the barn. I certainly did not need her to be making the rounds on the well-manicured lawns of the neighbours eating their springtime flowers!

Pretty entertaining, if you ask me.

Today's ride was quick and relaxed, and she was lovely, even though the wind was kicking up some major debris that was hitting the side of the indoor. I think I was spooked more than the horse!

Ulcer Update: Lu's GastroGard treatment was scheduled to conclude on Friday, with the last of the three weeks of tubes. I got to talking with my friend from the barn who by this point knows Lucy pretty well, and we decided it would be worth calling the vet to see if he thinks that maybe one more week might do her some good. I called him today, gave him the run-down of her progress, noted some of the issues that seem to be lingering, and he said he agreed that an additional week couldn't hurt. So I will be picking up another box of GastroGard tomorrow and that will make her treatment the full recommended regiment of four weeks. I am happy about this and I think this will ensure that her gastric health will be 100% solidified before we stop the treatment.

I am LOVING the contest entries so far - keep them coming!! Don't forget to link me to any promotions you do in your blog so I can give you an extra chance in the contest! Details are in this post.

wasted space

I have to write about last night's hilarious adventures at the barn and I also have some video, but I can't download the video until tonight, so for now, here are two photos of what I would call "wasted space":


They are turf farms that I pass every day on my way to and from work. Rhode Island is a small state to begin with but I think most of the open space is taken up by these turf farms. Every time I drive past, I picture Lucy and I galloping across the fields, grass and dirt being tossed through the air with every stride and her mane whipping back at me.

But no, these fields produce sod that is harvested to re-do athletic fields and suburban back yards. What a waste! ;)

In case you're wondering, the bridge-like contraptions in the photos are what the farmers use to water such a vast area of grass.

contest!

Ok friends, here you have it: The Just for the Hell of It Contest!

Here's how it works: You pick three posts that I have written. Take the titles of each post, and use them to write a little story (it can be totally fictional!) about Lucy. It could be a story about what Lucy would be like if she were human, if she and your horse met and fell in love, or really anything...the possibilities are endless. Then link to the specific posts so that everyone can read your favourite posts.

Here's a little tip: on the right-hand side of the blog, the Blog Archive lists all of the entries by year and month. If you expand them all, you can easily see the titles of the entries, which should make it fairly easy to pick three good ones.

Here's an example:

I had a dream last night, in which Lucy had a very clean mouth, and not the dirty one she had over the winter that was spewing out lots of foul horsey language when she had a "Mare Moment" (or five). A tail swish here, a four letter word tossed back at me (ears!) as she disagreed with my leg being where it , or that time we were quietly cantering around the ring when she decided that nonsense was boring, and then we were flying! Oh that was so much fun...NOT! But through it all, even though I don't think she'll ever be a mare without an opinion (because let's face it, then she'd be a gelding!), I do appreciate her quirks, and I love my mare!

Posts I referenced:

And Then We Were Flying!

In Which Lucy Has A Very Clean Mouth

I Love My Horse!

PRIZES!

So the winner will get his or her choice of:

a) a 5x7" original graphite portrait drawn of his or her animal (sorry kids, it has to be an animal; I DESPISE drawing people). If you are a horsey person and have a horse, great! If not, you could have a portrait of your cat/dog/ferret/gecko/whatever. As long as it is not human, I'm game!

OR

b) a custom designed logo for their blog!

The winner will also have the opportunity to do a guest blog here about anything they choose, in which they can of course link back to their blog!

AND we will have a second place winner! (I know, so fabulous!!), and THAT lucky person will receive a little trinket from Rolex! I have no idea what will be available there but I can assure you whatever I choose for you will be awesome, so do not fret, second place winner!

The first place winner and second place winner will be randomly drawn from a hat. You may enter only one story, BUT you can get an additional entry by posting about this contest on your blog, and linking me to it.

Entries must be posted as a comment here so that I can keep track of them.

The contest ends on Sunday, 4/24, at midnight. I will post the winners on Monday, 4/25.

Have fun, get creative (think of it like a crazy game of Mad Libs!) and good luck!

Fantastic lesson!

The theme of yesterday's lesson was "Inside Leg to Outside Hand."

I warmed Lu up without asking much out of her before F (my instructor) came into the ring. It was rainy and dull yesterday so we had to ride indoors, but that was truthfully a nice reprieve for me because I didn't have to worry about her spooking at stupid things or leaping over every puddle in sight, and I could concentrate on the task at hand. When F came in he asked me to talk about what we had been working on, since it's been a few weeks since our last lesson. He also asked me what differences I had noticed in Miss Lucy since the treatment began. We had our last lesson just a few days after she started the GastroGard, and she was still slightly naughty during that lesson. I told him everything I had noticed thus far, but of course instead of making a good first impression and showing how awesome that $1000 of GastroGard has made her feel, she pinned her ears flat against her head as soon as we picked up a trot! What a devil. I think she was mad because we had already gone through all three gaits in both directions and then walked around chatting for 10 minutes, so she thought she was finished. She went around with a nasty face for one 20 metre circle and then seemed to get over herself and she settled right down to work.

He got right on my case about establishing a rhythm and posting actively and not passively. It was *my* trot, and we were going whatever speed *my* posting decided, so it was up to me to tell her how I wanted it. Once I put my leg back and on her and posted rhythmically with a deliberate and full-weighted pause in the saddle between each rise, she really responded and slowed her pace down.

After that was in order, we concentrated mostly on letting go of the inside rein, which I just love to use as a crutch for my weak inside leg (F's words, not mine....but sadly I have to agree with him!) and I feel like I very much improved during this lesson. At one point during some trot work, I had my inside leg firmly against her side slightly behind the girth (where it's actually supposed to be!) and I was supporting well with my outside leg. I had a constant but elastic contact on the outside rein and a lovely soft look with the inside rein. She was going SO WELL, and she held it together for a good 4 or 5 20 metre circles! I was thrilled. That's the longest we've been able to hold ourselves together before one of us gets too tired :) She got a nice long resting walk break after that.

Canter work didn't feel as nice, but F assured me it looked very good. One of my biggest struggles with Lucy is rating her speed from "snails pace" to "way too fast". When she is going a good speed with a good length of stride, to me it feels "way too fast" and when it feels good to me, she looks way too short. She is a bit horse and she has long legs and I just need to let her move. She has a lot of spring in her step and that translates as feeling like a lot of movement, but I don't want to discourage that.

To the left the canter felt way too fast and heavy, but F encouraged me to keep going and supporting her and to remember my inside leg/outside hand relationship and after two or three trips around the ring it REALLY came together and felt lovely.

To the right the canter started out very interesting because I had her bent the correct way but she popped out her left shoulder at the last second (we can blame that on my outside aids!) and managed to pick up the wrong lead. She immediately tried to fix it but only got the front and not the back, and then she got upset and threw a huge buck to try and get the hind lead fixed. To me it felt like she was about to take off into orbit but F said, "organize and ask again!" and within two trot strides she was soft and departing into a right lead canter. AWESOME!

After the canter work we did some stretchy trot work, and some figure 8's at the trot with downward transitions at X (look at me talking like a dressage rider!). At X, I asked her to redirect her bend before we trotted off again. I could really feel her rib cage yielding underneath me when I asked - this is something new and it was great to achieve! Instead of being met with resistance, she willingly tried to figure out what I wanted. She was really incredible yesterday.

To sum it up, the only two instances of naughtiness were 1) pinning her ears at the very beginning, and 2) getting mad about the wrong lead to the right, although the canter thing actually makes me adore her so much more because she's as much of a perfectionist as I am!! Plus I think it's awesome that she "knew" that she was wrong.

Who knew a hunter rider who used to be ALL about the jumps could be satisfied with a dressage lesson where the only "jump" we talk about is that quality of the canter that makes the horse seem as if it's springing forward from the hind end? Pretty awesome.

She got three apples as a reward and we did some nice ground work with lots of treats and stretches to cool down :)

************************

I am getting very excited about the contest thanks to all of your excitement and comments on yesterday's entry! I am trying to come up with the perfect contest that will be fair and fun for all, and will post the details soon.

administrative notes

A few things!

-a week or two ago I turned that completely obnoxious Captcha requirement off so you can now leave comments without needing to decipher what the devil that thing actually says! On an aside, Lucy <3's comments.

-I wanted to re-vamp the blog with a bit of a springtime look, so though you may feel like you've walked into a candy store, don't feel you need to grab a bottle of insulin to battle all that sugar quite yet because it's just Lucy's blog.

-I will be changing the header (because honestly, pink stripes and winter photos together is kind of weird) as soon as I can get some nice springtime photos. We're planning a trip to the beach next weekend if the weather is nice and if I can sweet-talk Kenny into taking some photos for us, I think that will work out perfectly!

-I am mulling over the idea of a contest in the near future just for the hell of it and am looking for suggestions on what the prize should be. A print of a photo I've taken? A small graphite portrait of the winner's horse (or another animal if they don't have a horse) - see here for an example - ? Some horsey goodies? A t-shirt from the upcoming RISPCA ride that I designed the artwork for? A token from Rolex? I am open to suggestions!

And now, an adorable photo from yesterday's ride that my friend sent me last night of Miss Happyface (and I will never get tired of seeing a pleasant expression on his horse!):