Kim became Mike's first official jump client when she bought a pair of plain standards and an oxer from him a couple weeks ago. The weekend before last, we drove down to drop the jumps off and 'play ponies' for the afternoon. It turns out that Kim's new barn is just around the corner from Wink, on the same back road in south Jersey. Small world!

We went out to the front field to see the horses and Gali retreated to the far end of the pasture as if to say, "Shit. Dom found me AGAIN!!!"
As Kim put it, "Guess which of these horses knows Dom."

It was unpleasantly hot out so we only rode for a little bit. I futzed around with Gali at the walk, trot, and canter, and showed that I can still get on his back from the ground, even in jeans. I love that horse so much. He's a ton of fun and super cool. I would definitely like to own a draft cross at some point in my life. You just can't beat those gaits.

Kim also got on Gali and galloped him around outside the ring. Bekka was riding her mare, Katie, around bareback and the two of them were showing off and having a good time. It was really cool to see Kim being so fearless on Gali. Her confidence has definitely grown in leaps and bounds since I met her, and its' a very cool thing to see. I was proud of her for gallivanting around on her horse, and I was proud of Gali for being so normal and level-headed.

I was asked to get on Gali and gallop him against Katie. I decided to give it a go, but Gali is less of a sprinter and more of a tank. He was willing to step it up and really move, but it took him so long to get his speed up that we'd be coming up on a turn by the time he really got going. Katie and Bekka left us in their dust. I think Ozzy would have them beat though.

We finished off the ride with a brief jaunt on the trails. Bekka informed me that Gali would NOT cross the bridge with the guardrails on the next street over so we went and addressed that issue. Mike followed along, faithfully taking photos despite the bugs and the heat. Have I mentioned I love that boy??

We all went out to dinner at the end of the day just to hang out and play catch up on each other's lives. It's too bad they're all so far away because we really need to hang out more often.

Have some photos of Gali time :)

Finally made a Facebook page for Thumbs Up Horsemanship.

Cherry wrote a testimonial for my website. She actually got me all teary eyed. <3

"There is a huge difference between people who know how to train horses and people who have the gift of horsemanship, and Dom is without a doubt one of the most gifted horsewomen that I have the privilege of knowing.  I am so excited that she is embarking on her own with Thumbs Up because it is her absolute calling in life and I am extremely proud of her.

I'm currently doing a series of posts about dog photography on Team Unruly. The first entry is up. This can all apply to animal photography in general. While you're there, check out the other entries on the site. Lots of good articles from a lot of informed authors.

I threw together a recipe while Mike and I were out shopping the other night. I saw buckwheat kasha on the shelf and it brought back memories of my mom's cooking. Mike had never heard of it, but was interested in giving it a try. I told him I couldn't make it like my mom, but I would give making up a recipe a go. When I made it, Bryce said it smelled tasty. He tried some and said, "This is so good and so ethnic! Good work, Dom!" So now if people ask Mike, "O, you're dating a Polish girl. Does she cook any Polish food for you?" he can reply, "She did once!"

So here's the recipe. It took about 15 minutes to cook and served me and Mike with leftovers. I forgot to take pictures so you guys will have to deal with related Google images.

Ingredients
2 tbsp butter
1 cup buckwheat kasha
2 cups beef broth
2 cans mushroom gravy (you could make it from scratch if you're a better cook than I am)
1 cup heavy cream or half and half
1 package cubed beef (don't ask me how much was in it!)


Let's make it!
1. In a pot, heat butter until melted.
2. Stir in kasha until kernels are coated and pot starts to sizzle
3. Add beef broth. Bring to a boil. Cook covered until broth is absorbed and kasha is fluffy (about 8-10 minutes).

4. In separate pot, heat mushroom gravy until hot.
5. Stir in heavy cream, mixing constantly until sauce is even in color. Do not boil. I  waited until it was hot then reduced the heat and let it just 'warm' while the meat was prepared.

6. Cut cubes of beef into smaller pieces. The smaller the meat, the better it will absorb the flavor of the sauce.
7. In a large, non-stick pan, heat beef until cooked. Around here we like our meat on the rarer side, but well-done also works for this recipe.
8. Toss meat into sauce. Stir thoroughly. Allow to sit for 10-20 minutes to allow flavor to soak into the beef.*
9. Serve sauce/meat over kasha as if it were rice. Enjoy!

*In the future, I might try to actually cook the meat IN the sauce so that it absorbs for longer, but I wasn't feeling that brave.

I haven't been blogging about Jazz at all because I haven't been able to get any pictures of her (a shame, really, because she's probably the fanciest horse I'm riding right now). She is doing really well and her owner is really pleased with her progress.

We eliminated the buck in the first two rides and it hasn't made an appearance since. I explained to CZ that Jazz wasn't using her hind end to push into the canter. Instead, she was using her head to sort of swing into it, and then getting carried away. The fix was to build her strength in a frame, asking for a canter only on a loose rein to start, and developing a proper frame at the walk and trot. As she built strength and topline, she could carry herself properly with less and less assistance. Her hindquarters and neck started to show visible improvement and she is now able to pick up the canter from a put together trot.

We spent the first month just building quality at the gaits. She was definitely better going to the left and looking at the muscling on her shoulders and hindquarters showed that she was developed crooked. CZ rides better to the left, which wasn't helping resolve the issue. We did lots of circles and serpentines and her trot and canter slowly came together. Jazz also has a drop dead gorgeous free walk that I wish I could transfer over to CP.

As she got fitter and more relaxed, I also re-installed some of her lateral work. We started with turns on the forehand, which in turn really helped her pick up her shoulder (her one really bad habit is dropping her shoulder any time she wants to get out of work). Over time we added some turns on the haunches and started playing around with leg yields, shoulder in, and haunches in. She's really starting to lighten up on the leg. Once her shoulders were really supple and she was relaxed at all three gaits, we started working on her changes. They're still a bit hit-or-miss, but they're coming back and she hasn't been sassy about it at all.

But our biggest accomplishment has definitely been getting CZ more and more comfortable in the saddle.

After our first few training sessions, CZ told me that she immediately felt a difference in Jazz. The praise continued as time went on. She even got brave and cantered in her 'bad direction'.

Eventually, it came time for me to give CZ a lesson on her horse. She hopped on board and warmed Jazz up at a lovely walk. The mare was relaxed, flexed at the poll, and really pushing from behind. When she picked up the trot, however, things fell apart. Jazz raised her head, tensed her back, and slowed to a minced trot that was very unlike her. I reminded CZ to half halt the outside rein to bring Jazz into a frame. Inside rein back for the bend, outside rein slightly open to lift the shoulder, and relax. Her posture was very correct, but the horse just wasn't working with her. Her hands were still, still, still. She barely budged when I told her to open her outside rein.

Finally, I asked, "Did someone teach you that 'this is where your hands go, keep them there'?"
She nodded."Yes. I was told it's like holding a soup bowl and you can't spill any of the soup."
I took a deep breath and explained, "Yes. Technically that is where your hands go, but they don't stay there. You use them to communicate with your horse, then they go back to where they 'live'. There is a difference between still hands and quiet hands. For example, I can stand completely still in the middle of the ring and scream at you, or I can follow you around quietly and explain what I want you to do. Which would be a better way to teach you?"
CZ then told me that this particular trainer had actually taken a lot of the joy out of riding. "She always made me feel like I wasn't worth teaching. She yelled a lot and it never mattered how much progress I made, I still wasn't good enough. And if I couldn't accomplish something, she would just tell me it was because I was too fat to ride effectively." (I should add here that my client is not even remotely fat.)
"And you paid this person? That's terrible!"

So I told her to relax her arms. As if by magic, Jazz dropped into a frame, engaged her hindquarters and picked up a gorgeous stretchy trot. I reminded CZ that every time she had issues with Jazz, I wanted her to try softening her hands first.

"See how much she's willing to give you before you force her. I think you'll be surprised at how willing she is if you learn how to give and take. The key to the half halt is the release. That's why it works so well."

On top of that, I explained how her hands were having an effect on everything from her canter transition to her shoulder. I'd be willing to bet that's where the buck came from. Her face was blocked and she couldn't move her head so she threw up her hind end to get enough power to move forward.

"And when it comes to her lateral work, the reason she's resisting you is because she's waiting for the rest of the cue. Leg is just part of it. Inside leg and inside rein mean one thing. Inside leg and outside rein mean something else entirely. So when you put your inside leg on her, she's waiting for the rest of the message. She's not being bad, she just has no idea what you want."

I also told her to stop nagging and start prioritizing. Tempo first. You can't accomplish anything if the horse isn't moving forward. Frame and bend next, and ONLY fix the shoulder if she drops it and everything else is together. There's no point in preemptively worrying about the shoulder. It will just make her dead to the leg.

Our final breakthrough came when CZ had a really great moment at the walk and I told her, "See? You're riding it perfectly! You know she's capable of it. You know you can get it from her. You got it and you're riding around like 'no big deal', like 'isn't this how everyone does it?' I want you to ride everything like that. Like it's no big deal."
She says that tip really helped her out.

So... prioritize, relax your arms, and ride like it's no big deal. They're really coming along :)

The only bad news is that Jazz may have to move come fall.

CZ currently has Jazz essentially in her backyard. She has paddocks and a ring and a barn that serves mostly as storage because the township won't let her tear it up and build a new one. The mare technically lives next door where there is a newer barn and nice run in sheds with enclosed stalls. The owner of that property is in his 90's, however, and had a heart event two years ago, which nearly killed him. His wife is insisting that he not do the physical labor with the horses and he's down to mostly just throwing feed at Jazz twice a day. CZ does the hard stuff herself (so she's basically paying to do self board, but it's worth it for the convenience of having the horse at home). Once the hay in the barn runs out, Jazz has to find a new place to live.

CZ said she'll miss having her in the backyard, where she's been for the last decade, but it may be a good thing since she'll have other horses to play with. The mare has definitely been lonely since Dreamy died. CZ has basically been her only friend in that time. The increased work load definitely helps, but it's not a substitute for equine company. The good news is there will be trails at the new barn, which has CZ all excited and will give me more work when fall rolls around.

I continue to work with M on a weekly basis.

Clarence continues to make steady progress. He is starting to pick up the canter with just the slightest touch of outside leg. I have been giving M lessons on him and she's having no problem getting him trotting consistently in a frame. On top of that, I've been having her work on speed control within the gait, getting her comfortable with his 'fast' trot, and showing her that he comes right back down with very little effort. I think she'll be ready to canter him herself in the next ride or two. I also think he's ready to make his trail riding debut.



Dallas is also making progress, but of a very different kind. After his initial meltdown, I started really stressing the desensitization aspect of his training.

I went back the following week and worked with him on the ground for twenty minutes before getting on his back. He seemed to really remember his lesson from the previous session  and settled much faster. He seemed to put together that I would stop being crazy if he would stop being reactive. We amped it up a bit by adding a plastic bag to the end of the lunge whip. I was lucky enough to have Tor with me that day and she got some pretty good footage of the exercise. By the end of the session, I was able to rub him all over with the plastic bag and he followed me on a loose lead with relaxed ears. I got on him and there was no drama. We finished with just a tiny bit of riding and called it a day.

This past week, I decided to skip the desensitization and just hop on board. After all, I'm not going to expect that everyone who rides this horse from now until eternity spends half an hour prepping him for riding first. This time, he let me climb right on board and walked off on a loose rein like a sensible animal. We went on to have a simply lovely ride and I started incorporating some 'scary' stuff while on his back.

 M informed me that she is really starting to see a difference in the horses' personalities. They now greet her at the gate and wait patiently while she brings them in, whether it be one at a time or one in each hand. Her boyfriend has even gone back to working with them. She is no longer afraid of her own horses.

On top of that, Dallas seems to finally be coming out of his shell. The horse who wouldn't let anyone touch his face or ears actually came up to her, laid his head on her shoulder, and started looking for snuggles and scratches.

 In fact, he's gotten so good about having his face and head handled that I was able to get his tattoo number off his lip and figure out who he is, a 13 year old named Locomotor.

I just did my first post on TeamUnruly.com, an awesome new dog blog that I was very flattered to become a part of.

The sassy chestnut pony has been doing SO WELL. His progress continues to blow my mind. He has so much talent in such a small package. If he was 16hh I would have sold him by now, I think. The problem is that he's still unpredictable sometimes and just not a kid safe horse. I am planning to have Rachel ride him toward the end of the month to see how he does with a non-adult rider. It's a shame because he really loves teenage girls. I keep telling him that if he settles he can have one of his own.

I backed off on the jumping training for a while. He continues to get better and better, but I want to resist the urge to rush him. He can jump 3 feet comfortably, but WHY? I want to work on his form and getting him relaxed and consistent. I refuse to do grid work when it's 100 degrees out, but that is definitely the next step in his training.

Instead, we've been focusing on our flat work and dressage. He is going consistently in a frame and he continues to get more balanced, relaxed, and supple. We are slowly starting to introduce some lateral work at the trot. Or, I should say, more complex lateral work. I've had him leg yielding into the corners since the beginning. Yesterday he gave me some incredible collected trot without losing his impulsion. I've been focusing on keeping him forward and elastic above all else. His canter transition is also really starting to come along and his changes are improving, but not quite automatic.

Tor came out to ride him last week and gave him a stellar ride. It took her a while to figure out how to get him soft in the bridle, but once she got it, they did GREAT. He was powering around like a little dressage machine and she was really harnessing that energy into a lovely performance. What a powerhouse pony.



The best part was that the second she switched from dressage to jumping, he lowered his head, slowed his stride, and cantered along, super-relaxed a la hunter pony. She popped him over a few jumps without any ado and he nailed his leads.

Then I told her to get him 'amped up' for a bigger jump and he did that too. Dressage, jumping, cross country. I think the pony could do it all. Now I just need a pint-sized eventer to buy him.

My goal for CP is to get him to some Thursday Night Dressage at DVHA. It's a low-key showing experience that will give us valuable input on our dressage work. I just have to work out the logistics, but I think he could kick butt at intro and start doing training in no time.



Unfortunately, I still seem to come off of him about once a month.

Last month Sandy came down to ride JR for the afternoon. We'd had a lovely ride and were cooling out on a loose rein. CP decided to give JR a warning kick (even though they were nowhere near each other), then got overly excited and launched all four feet off the ground. I wasn't paying attention and didn't even try to stay on. I landed on my feet, though, so it doesn't count.

Last night, I had Mike come to the barn with me after the temps started to drop. He brought Training Test 2 and 3 with him so he could practice being a reader and I could school through the movements to see where we were. CP was feeling particularly frisky (probably because he had the weekend off). I told Mike to sit on the mounting block in the middle of the ring while I warmed up. Apparently that was a no-no in Ponyland and CP objected loudly and violently the first time we tried to trot by. He slammed on the brakes and threw his head down. With a bigger horse, I would have been fine, but he's so tiny to begin with that if he decides to teleport from under you, he's damn well going to. I hit the ground pretty hard and was PISSED at myself for coming off. CP looked downright concerned and came right back to me once he was absolutely sure Mike wasn't going to eat him.

I'm glad it happened at home and not at a show, but I'm annoyed because he has seen (and not cared about) much, much scarier things in the last four months. That's the thing with him... he's so so good until he's just not. I do think it's something he'll grow out of, but that doesn't help me with him right now. Haha.

We've also been working on useful things like opening and closing gates from horseback. The head shaking is because a horse fly was dive-bombing him:

Just wanted to share the video Wink's owner took of him playing soccer, and a photo of me with him after our first ride.

I don't know if I mentioned here that Mike is going to be an uncle at the end of next month, but we went to his sister's baby shower last weekend. Her house backs up to a standardbred farm and they have a nice view of the track. Misse invited the farm owner over for the baby shower, then introduced me.

"This is Dom. She's into horses."
I could see the farm owner wondering if I was just going to be one of those 'omg shiny pony' girls so I shook his hand and said, "Standardbreds, right?"
He looked relieved that I seemed to know about standardbreds and asked, "Do you know anything about harness racing?"
Do I know anything about harness racing?!? Ha! "I worked in the standardbred industry for years, actually," I told him. "I just got out in September and I'm doing free lance training for horses in general now, but standardbreds will always have a special place in my heart." I started to tell him about my history in harness racing, starting with the most recent and back tracking through my time at the breeding farm.
"Where did you work?" he asked when I mentioned that I worked for a trainer in north Jersey in high school.
"At the now-defunct Marveland farms," I answered. When I mentioned my old boss's name, the farm owner's face lit up.

It turns out my old boss (the one I got Ozzy from) was this guy's first trainer when he got into harness racing! Small world, but it gets smaller. The girl that C and I replaced when we started working there was the farm owner's daughter, who I actually met a handful of times at Freehold. He pulled his last horse out of Mike's barn in 2001. C and I started working there in 2000. I did some internet research and found out that he was Syd's owner! I loved that horse. He was a total goofball. It's good to know that he belonged to good people.

Then we got on the topic of Mike's accident (he got tangled in a lead rope and dragged across his property a couple years ago. He broke several bones, including his pelvis. When he got out of the hospital, he sold everything and moved to Florida to retire.) The farm owner mentioned that he went to Mike's to help him pack, move, and disperse the horses. He started asking me if I remembered certain horses... Rosie and Spiatross in particular. Then we started talking about the race string and the farm owner mentioned that he had owned one of Mike's horses.

Lady Jag

"It's not Laag Shot, is it?" I asked. "Because I'd buy that horse off of you in a heartbeat."
"No... it was a mare."
"Lady Jag?"
"That's the one!!!"

I can't even tell you the feeling of relief I got just then. Mike occasionally raced his horses in the claimers, but only if he thought there was little or no chance of them actually getting claimed. Unfortunately, Jag DID get claimed shortly after I stopped working there. My mind was blown by the turn of events. Who claims a 10 year old pacing mare who is past her prime??? I always worried about what became of her and I was thrilled to hear she wound up in a good place. In the end, the farm owner gave her to a friend of his in Maine, where she became a riding horse. Nothing makes me smile like a good old fashioned happy ending :)

I got an email last week from a woman looking for a horse trainer to continue her four year old gelding's under saddle education. She had bought the horse, Wink, from a well known trainer in Ohio. He had had 40 days under saddle and she described him as "generally a good boy". However, she realized that a young horse really needs to continue working with a professional. She found my site, liked what she saw, and wanted to schedule a first session.

I did some Facebook stalking and found the woman's page. Her profile picture showed a Gypsy Vanner in a western saddle and I secretly hoped this would be Wink. I'm always looking for new breeds to try and I had not ridden a gypsy cob yet. Don't get me wrong, I don't buy into all the hype. I do NOT understand why Americans spend six figures on what, to me, is just a hairy cart horse with spots. However, I was told that they tend to be comfortable and level headed horses, and I AM all about feathers. (Plus I could really use some western riding photos to pad my website. I'll bet half of you can't even picture me in a western saddle.)

My day started in North Jersey with Jazz (who really, really deserves an entry of her own, and who I'm hoping to get photos of). Her barn is an hour and twenty minutes away from me without traffic. Unfortunately, there is almost always traffic and it frequently turns out to be a two hour drive. Her owner makes it worth my while, but it's a lot of time to be spending on the road.

Wink's barn, on the other hand, was another hour SOUTH of me. With the stop-over to drop a saddle off for Tor, I had JUST enough time to stop home, drop the dog off, and scarf down some fries/coffee. I made it to my appointment with ten minutes to spare. The drive itself wasn't terrible, but I need to schedule these two clients on separate days in the future.

The barn was set back from the road in a pine/sand area, very typical of south Jersey. They had two nice outdoor arenas and a nicely finished barn that someone obviously spent a lot of time planning. The horses were all obviously happy and in good weight, and I was greeted by smiling faces and warm handshakes.

My excitement grew when I saw a spotted/feathered butt in the aisle.
"Please tell me this is Wink!"
"This is Wink!"

I'll tell you what... Wink made a very good impression on behalf of gypsy cob horses. He is extremely personable with a kind and intelligent eye. It was a lot like meeting a stuffed animal... only he was alive!

I started with my usual spiel and watched Wink and his owners interact. He's a little pushy on the ground, but he's not being mean or intentionally rude. He's just too friendly and well-loved. I gave his owners some pointers on how to deal with his pushiness (which they freely admit is their own fault and NOT ok behavior).

The owners came well prepared with a list of things that Wink knows and does well (not spooky, stands well for mounting, knows leg yields, PLAYS SOCCER!!) and things he needs to work on (slower lope, trail riding alone, neck reining, gate sourness).

Right away I noticed that they were holding a bridle with a short-shanked bit and asked, "Why that bit?"
It turns out that the former trainer recommended it and the owners felt like it gave them more control 'until he gets better trained'. I told them, "I'll ride in this bit today, mostly to show you why I don't think it's a good choice for a young green horse, but I will recommend using a snaffle in the future."

Before long, I was walking to the front arena with Wink trailing behind me. As promised, the horse stood completely still while I mounted. His owner described him as, "Not tall, but not small," and I think that's pretty accurate. He wasn't much taller than JR, but he was WIDE like a couch. Again, see stuffed animal analogy.

I started with a gait evaluation. The owners specifically went with a cob because they wanted comfortable gaits, and he is, in fact, very comfortable in the sense that his back does not move much when you ride him. I think they were also expecting him to be slow, which he is not. He's not a runaway or anything, but he's also a young, green horse who doesn't know a thing about collection and speed control within the gaits. I explained to his owners that he doesn't have the muscle and balance to slow past a certain point yet. It seemed to really be a lightbulb moment for them.

I took that opportunity to start to explain why I didn't like their choice of bit. A leverage bit is designed to be used on horses who are already trained to the cues so that you can do minimal movements and the horse can still 'hear' you. It's designed for neck reining, not direct contact. To use it for direct contact is unfair... like using a megaphone to talk to someone who is mere inches from you. I couldn't use the bit to half halt, for example, and any directional corrections wound up being much harsher than I needed them to be. Wink is actually very supple (the original trainer did a great job teaching him a lot of the exercises that I do with young horses and he had no tension in his neck or shoulders). I drove my point home by grabbing the cheek pieces of the bridle directly to show how much more willing he was to give to pressure without the bit.

The owners were sold on the concept and ran to the barn to retrieve a full cheek snaffle. The barn owner beamed. She had mentioned to the owners that she thought the bit choice was a mistake, and she had actually recommended the same bit I did!

I quite enjoyed the atmosphere at this barn. Wink's owners, the barn owner, and the barn owner's husband all sat in on the session, asked questions, and nodded along to my explanations.

Wink demonstrated that he's a bright, willing (if slightly lazy) young horse. All of his 'bad' behaviors are just green horse mistakes caused by lack of understanding and miles. He's above and beyond what I would expect a horse his age to be and I think they're going to have a very nice horse in the long run. By the end of the session, I had him neck reining and slowing his jog down. I'm excited to work with him in the coming weeks.

But the most exciting part of my visit to Wink's barn had nothing to do with horses. I GOT TO HOLD A BABY RACCOON!!! The barn owner discovered Roxy and her litter mate in an ocean-bound boat. She took Roxy in and placed her sibling with a friend of hers. They are 8 weeks old now and the BO is trying to wean Roxy to a bottle. I have always wanted to meet a tame raccoon, but a baby raccoon was a definite bonus. I wanted to take her home! She snuggled into my shoulder, holding on with her little fingers, and poked her pointy black nose in my ear. Then she made the most adorable little baby raccoon noises. She chirped and her whole body vibrated. Did I mention the tiny mask, scratch-able ears, and striped tail? I melted.

Next on my list: baby otters.

I was so excited about Roxy that I put my camera in the wrong mode and my photos of Wink came out blurry, but here's a sneak peek of my newest client pony:

I think I mentioned when JR first came to the farm that his owner was looking for a long term free lease for the pony. He's 14 years old and the owner is hoping to have her own farm in six years, just in time to retire him at age 20. She considers him part of the family and can't bring herself to sell him even though her daughter outgrew him. She also doesn't want to retire him too early and waste his talent and willingness. I kept this at the back of my mind when he came into training. 


As the months progressed, JR proved himself over and over and over again. He is quiet enough for beginners, but experienced enough for advanced riders. He is small enough for kids, but stocky enough for adults. He can walk quietly on a lunge line and he can jump courses. He goes in the ring, on the trail, and off the farm. I wasn't going to find another horse like this 'free' with a 'back up plan' without looking really hard. I certainly wasn't going to have one drop into my lap. 


Last night, I officially let JR's owner know that I would like to keep JR here for his free lease.She is thrilled! She tells me that she's never seen him look so happy and healthy. The pony positively gleams and he has packed on the pounds since he moved in with me. She says I seem to take very good care of him 'mind and body'. She also writes, " That is fantastic news.  I much prefer him with you as he appears to be very happy and stimulated." So, welcome, JR, to the Thumbs Up crew. I now have a pony until further notice.

I am woefully behind on blogging. So much so that I don't even really know where to start. This is good because it means business has been booming and I've been way too busy to spend much time online. Fear not, though. Ozzy has not been neglected. Ok... maybe he's not getting as much attention as he used to, but I still see him daily, stuff him full of apples, introduce him to everyone, and ride him pretty regularly.

For a while there, Ozzy, the-horse-who-hates-jumping, was on a real jumping kick. We had a series of great rides during which he flat out WANTED to jump. We conquered everything from cross rails to verticals with flower boxes. The new purple gate seems to have scared him off that streak, but I took advantage of it while it lasted.

We've also had some 'come to Jesus' rides, but I can't really complain about where he is. His training isn't really progressing at all, but he's been semi-retired since his injury in 2011. Considering how irregularly I ride him, he's been retaining things without much fuss. I really wish I had more time to spend just meandering on him, but I keep telling myself that I'll get to more of that when this endless heat finally breaks.

I did take him on a trail riding adventure fairly recently. My friend Sandy (whose horse, Doc, is now living at M's farm with Dallas and Clarence) has been wanting to see Baldpate Mountain for quite some time and I offered to give her a guided ride through if she picked me up. I decided to take Ozzy over the client ponies. I felt like I owed him a good ride off the farm. It had been a month since we'd done anything really fun.

It's like Ozzy knew that I was coming to do something exciting. He pranced right up to me and pretty much threw his head in his halter with a throaty nicker. He jumped right into the strange horse trailer and unloaded at Washington's Crossing with bright eyes and perky ears.

I had been worried that he'd be spooky or hot. After all, he's not naturally a brave horse and the only reason he was so good for so long was because I was consistently putting miles and miles and miles on him. I shouldn't have worried. Ozzy stood stock still while I tacked up and mounted, then took off with a matter of fact walk as if to say, "And this is my trail."

Ozzy really hit it off with Sandy's horse, a Belgian x TB named Snuffy. The two of them are both big goofballs with no concept of personal space. They love to snuggle and they're not fazed by much on the trail.

Sandy and I had a lovely 7 mile ride up and down the mountain. Ozzy surprised me with his level of fitness. To be fair, he DOES exercise himself in the pasture almost daily. (You should see the dirty looks the other horses give him as he canters sets up and down the small hill by the ring.) He rode like we'd been conditioning all along, as if he'd been on the trails daily, not monthly.

Honestly, it makes me miss doing endurance with him. I still toy with the idea of making a comeback. Maybe start him with some CTR then move up to LD's. Even if a 50 never happened again, it would be good for him to get back to competition. I miss spending hours in the saddle with him every week. :( I don't think it's in the cards for this year, but maybe in 2013 we'll start logging miles in earnest again.

Have a handful of photos from our trail ride with Sandy in the meantime:

I've been working with Dallas and Clarence every week and they are making good progress. I haven't gotten pictures of Dallas under saddle because I'm still doing the riding with him, but I did get permission to take and post photos of M working with Clarence last week.

Clarence
Clarence has been making progress in leaps and bounds. It took him one session to learn how to get in a frame and one other session to figure out that I want him to canter. We're working on piecing everything together, but he has been trying hard and has been steady, quiet, and willing all along.

I do think I'm going to ride him in spurs once or twice to get him to lighten up to the leg a bit. I think he's so used to having things thwapping all over him that he sometimes misses the fact that leg MEANS something. Once he realizes you're asking, he happily moves off the pressure, but I think he forgets to listen for it sometimes.

He is getting stronger and stronger through his neck and back and his butt muscles are slowly building up. He picks up the canter very willingly. He still needs some help holding it, especially the right lead, but he tries hard and it's pretty easy to sit.

M tells me that he has quickly become her favorite horse. "I feel bad because I thought he was the bad one," she told me. Then, turning to kiss the gelding on the nose, she whispered, "I underestimated you, didn't I?"

The other day, she hopped on him in the evening just to hack around.Her boyfriend came home and couldn't believe it was the same horse they were both afraid of a month ago. The goal is to have Clarence be quiet enough to be the 'husband horse'. I think he's ready to start trail riding and we're going to incorporate that into our upcoming rides.



Dallas
The progress with Dallas has been slightly harder to come by. He is definitely the insecure horse, the scared horse, and the reactive horse. He still gets upset when he's alone and his default response to anything scary is to shy sideways or scoot forward.

We've been working on the same basic things under saddle. He gets in a frame, but hasn't started to relax over his back yet. I spend the first chunk of each ride getting him to just relax and walk on a loose rein. His trot is choppy and distracted and his canter is... well, honestly, it's atrocious.

He has been standing by the mounting block, but the one time I got on him when M wasn't home, he bucked and bolted shortly after my butt hit the saddle. This week, when I went to get on him, I had a funny feeling. I got up next to him and reached a hand over his back to pat his far flank. The horse EXPLODED. He ripped away from me and took off around the yard, broncing and kicking up a storm.

"I think it's time to do some desensitization," I announced. "Do you have a lunge whip?"

I started with my usual desensitizing exercise-- casually swishing the whip at arm's length away from the horse, then slowly moving closer, and eventually brushing the horse with it. The first attempt ended in Dallas bolting across the yard again, dragging me with him. He eventually settled and actually looked to see what I was doing. Oy. It was a long, slow process, but by the end of the session I was able to touch him all over with the whip and even rustle it in the trees above his head. He was all wide eyes and quivering nostrils, but he stood still and thought about it.

Once that was done, we went back over to the mounting block. He was still pretty full of himself, but I did get on him (he stood quietly) and rode him off. It took a while for him to relax, but we ended on a good note and loose rein.

The goal for Dallas is to make him quiet enough for M to feel comfortable getting on him when nobody's home. Right now she's too intimidated to ride him at all (and I think she's right in not rushing it). Ideally, she'd like to trail ride him. I've got my work cut out for me with this one.

The good news is the horses both seem to be getting over their separation anxiety. Dallas still whinnies when he's in the barn alone, but he's happy by himself in the field and the ring. M says they've been much easier to handle, and her boyfriend has gone back to helping her with them. She is thrilled with their progress and we're hoping to see even more improvement in the near future.

Click for Clarence more photos.

Apparently I am incapable of floating peacefully down a river without it turning into a big adventure. When we went rafting in NY two summers ago, a tornado missed us by less than a mile. The last time I went tubing down the Delaware with Mike and C, it was two days after the hurricane and we did a three hour float in just over an hour. This weekend was no exception.

C had been wanting to go back to our spot from last year for some time and we all finally got the day off at the same time. We agreed to meet at Mike's mom's house and beat the heat by quietly drifting in the water for a few hours before heading to dinner. Mike had checked the weather, as usual. The only rain on the forecast was moving west to east along the bottom edge of New York and wasn't supposed to come anywhere near us.

Originally, Dev and C were going to bring their kayaks. Mike and I were going to share his industrial sized inner tube. Last minute, Dev and C decided they wanted tubes too. They ran from store to store, but had no luck finding any. Instead, they brought home two sharks and a seal. I claimed the seal, of course.



We drove down to Frenchtown and paid an elderly woman to park one of our cars on her property. She mumbled something about insurance not covering our floaties, but let us go in the end. Dev and I hung out in the water while Mike and C dropped the truck off at the park downstream.

I spent the whole time in awe over the difference in water level from last time. To be fair, we're in a bit of a drought so the river is lower than usual, but still. It really put into perspective how nuts we were at the end of last summer. This time around, the river was basically a trickle.

We walked out to deeper water, mounted our animals (easier said than done) and started to float. Mike had it easy with his tube, but the rest of us got a pretty good work out. It was a lot of fun and a good way to cool off. We did get some funny looks from people passing by on boats, but nobody said anything.

A couple hours later, the sky started to darken behind us.

"That looks promising," C noted.
"It should miss us," Mike reasoned.
Thunder rumbled down the river, growing louder as it echoed down the banks from the north. "I dunno," Dev was pretty sure the storm was coming right at us.

We decided to stay in the water until the storm got closer. We would move faster that way and maybe we'd be done before the storm hit. Maybe it would miss us all together.

But as time passed, it became pretty clear that the storm was in fact going to reach us. C and Dev did the smart thing and got out of the water at the next accessible dock. Mike and I thought we were right around the bend from our bridge (about half a mile from the parking lot). We opted to swim the rest of the way (what is with us and our swimming adventures???) and bring the car back. The people who owned the dock we had just passed called out to us, saying we were still an hour from the bridge. We decided to see how far we could make it, but just moments later, a lightning bolt cut across the sky directly above me. I'm all for near-death adventures, but I'd rather not get electrocuted. We got out of the water at the next set of stairs.

Mike deflated his tube while I walked up to the road to see if I could spot Dev and C. Meanwhile, ominous green clouds rolled over the hillside, illuminated by continuous flashes of lightning. Figuring that Dev and C had either hitched a ride back to their car or stayed  with the people whose dock they landed on, Mike and I started walking downstream toward his truck. I kept my orange seal inflated for visibility and ditched my shoes so I could move faster.

We didn't make it far before the skies opened up and we got caught in a wicked storm. It was raining sideways and branches were coming off the trees.  Of course, nobody slowed down to see if we were ok.

Eventually, a car pulled up behind us, horn honking. It was Dev and C! The owners of the dock had very kindly taken them to their car. C and Mike drove off to get the truck and Dev and I stayed in a boat launch parking lot, watching the storm. I video taped some of it, though the video doesn't do it justice. There were some pretty impressive displays of lightning and one clap of thunder even made me jump.

The storm had blown over by the time Mike and C got back. Mike said he hadn't realized how far we still were from the end of our float. It's apparently a very good thing we got out of the water when we did. The lifeboat crews that Dev and I saw make me wonder if other people weren't so lucky...

We packed up, dried off, and most of us got changed and we went to dinner in Flemington. It was pretty clear that it had been quite a storm. Lots of big signs were blown down along the highway and there was debris in the roads. Nothing like a good storm to make you feel alive! I would like to try tubing the normal way some time though...

I stopped to see Tor on my way home from training up north the other day and finally got pictures of her riding her horse, Cola. He's been unofficially her horse for a long time now, but she finally got the legal rights to him this year. He's too much for his old owner to handle, but Tor has made a lot of progress with the ten year old thoroughbred. She schools him in basic dressage and recently started jumping him, but she really wants to do endurance with him. She's done 15-20 mile rides with him without even having access to a trailer! Sound familiar?

Cola has been struggling with his weight this year, but Tor is doing everything she can and I'm confident she'll have him fat and shiny in no time. In the meantime, we wanted to see if my saddle would fit him better than the others she has tried. People knock Wintecs, but I've found that my old-style AP fits a lot of finicky horses, especially ones with high withers. It's not great for my posture, but it does seem to make a lot of horses very happy and comfy. Cola was no exception.

The other cool thing about Cola is that Tor switched him over to barefoot when she got him. He used to go shod in front 'just cuz', but my trimmer recommended someone good in the area and he's had no issue with the transition. It just goes to show you that being a thoroughbred doesn't mean you NEED shoes.

I got to ride Cola myself a few weeks ago, but it was fun to watch him go with the person who knows him best. Enough rambling though. On to the pictures!

Three six-week-old, female pit (mix?) puppies came in to Animal Alliance yesterday. They were there to get spayed and wound up in need of a foster home. Carolyn took them back to the farm with them and I met them this morning. The poor dears were very sweet, but hadn't had much human contact and were pretty shy as a result.They were in need of some TLC and some groceries.


 I started off by taking them home to play with Bryce for an hour at lunch. Just one hour of playing with us and Herbie made a huge difference and I wound up bringing them home for the rest of the afternoon when I was done with my lesson. Herbie is, as usual, mothering the homeless critters. 

The neighbor behind us actually came over to ask if Herbie had puppies. I assured her that Herbie cannot make babies, then listened to her telling me how she was wary when we first got a pit, but that Herbie has changed her mind about the breed. She eagerly asked questions about the pups in broken English, then told me she hopes they find good homes.

The babies are available for adoption through AA. There is an adoption fee and an application process, but I am happy to answer questions. Feel free to email me if you are interested. They are extremely sweet and come stampeding when I call. They are eager to please and just as lovable as Herbie was at that age.

Mike likes the white one, I like the one with the mask, and Bryce's favorite is the tan one. I think that means we have to keep them all!!

(and for those of you who are wondering, all three puppies I posted last time found good homes)

Have some assorted photos from the past couple weeks.

Rachel and Kristin came to visit last week. They are one of the few things I truly miss about SRF (although, they don't volunteer there anymore). I saw them at Jersey Fresh, but before that, they hadn't visited since the winter. They hadn't met JR or CP and I hadn't given them lessons in forever. In fact, Kristin hadn't ridden at all in six months and Rachel just quit lessons two weeks before their visit. I'm hoping they'll get to come back for regular lessons in the near future, but it was great to see them regardless.

Of course we tacked JR up and threw the girls on him. They both squealed over what a cute and fun pony he is. Rachel even jumped him over the flower boxes with both rails up. Of course I took a billion photos. In the end I even got on him to hop over the new lattice jump. Woo!

Have some photos of the girls' visit.

Wordy updates later :-P Two weeks ago I went to work with Dallas and Clarence and got a chance to take some pictures around the farm (mostly of the adorable kittens in the barn... all of whom are looking for homes, btw).

Mike continues to build my jump course in his free time. The other weekend, he finished my lattice wing standards and matching gate. Everyone keeps asking me how I picked the colors. I thought they looked good on the shelf at Home Depot. LOL. I will say that we are never going with spray paint again. O, and did I mention I gave Mike a mohawk at some point this month? He wants to get a reaction out of his boss by dyeing it green for a day.

Have some jump building photos: