August is already gone!
Sad to say I missed all of August here in LJ land. Work and horses have kept me on my toes and out of the office pretty much the entire month. I think I managed to be here one day in August.
So to recap. My minions are now gone back to school I shall miss Matthew, my 8 month co-op student as he was super dependable and an excellent Starbucks companion. :)
Work is finally slowing down which is great. I love being in the field but I was starting to get tired of it when every job dragged on too long and issues kept cropping up.
Aside from work, other events in my life that have taken me away from the office include:
BVJ Wow. I had SO much fun. Tyson and I stayed in an old trailer with Maddy and Adam and had a blast! Tyson and Adam are so cute together and even keep in touch on and off now which is great. Luke Bryan was amazing in concert and really earned my respect as a true performer. While I don't know if he'll be a long lasting artist, his voice is lovely and I really enjoyed his concert. I would pay to see him again. Tim McGraw was fine. Entertaining and a solid performer. Don't know if I'd pay to see him again but I'm definitely glad I did. Alan Jackson, while old and not in his prime is a classic and he was an awesome way to begin the long weekend. Terri Clark was tons of fun though I think Maddy and I were so drunk, I'm impressed we stumbled down to the stage in time for that. Note to self, Tyson is a dangerous bartender. On the plus side, we cleaned out our liquor cabinet! Overall, great music, great friends and great weather!
Alhambra Summer Event Whin went to her first event the middle of August. We entered in Starter because we had about 5 days of jumping on us but I REALLY REALLY wanted to show this summer so off we went. Starter, for those that don't know, is max 2 feet and a cross country course of logs. HOWEVER...our "little" cross country course was 1900m long and at a speed of 325 mpm (meters per minute) which meant you couldn't trot the entire thing (which, in my opinion, you should be able to seeing as it is STARTER). Whin settled into her stall and the show life fairly quickly and now quite enjoys her "food box". She also grew cuddly over the weekend so her sharp little mind is happy that it's doing something! Whin's dressage was interesting. She almost DIED getting to the rings and was super tense. I was worried about staying in the ring among other things but put my big girl panties on and out we went. She was decent actually. She felt tense and rushy and we got the wrong lead to the right (which we have trouble with) but overall, we stayed in the ring and I stayed on so a good day. I was a bit horrified by my test mostly because I was unhappy with the way I rode it. Anyhow, we ended up in first place out of 16 riders after dressage so I can quit whining now. Haha.
Cross country was the following day and both Margo and I were joking about our course of logs. Both Kat and Whin have jumped a variety of cross country obstacles without caring so we weren't overly concerned. My biggest concern was making time and not having Whin die on course from exhaustion! (I didn't think to get her super fit for a starter division!) Well Karma being what it is, Margo and I both had a refusal though I only had one which dropped me into 5th place. Margo had 3? so dropped way down. My refusual was a result of a fried brain (second last fence), sudden distractions (Margo and Kat walked by on the road right next to our fence) and a slightly scary fence (really light colored log). Whin was really good overall but felt very worried and had no idea why she was running around this field alone! I decided to trot my stadium course the following day to keep things really laid back and positive. She was a bit excited initially in warm up but then settled right in and had a happy (clear) stadium round. We finished the weekend in 5th place and Whin grew up a lot!
South Peace Horse Trials The last week of August took Whin and I to Evergreen Park in Grande Prairie for a 3 day stadium/cross country clinic with Robin Hahn and then a two day event Saturday and Sunday. Whin rocked this clinic and event. For a horse with less than 10 days of jumping, she handled everything beautifully. She's so mature! THe first day had us coming through a series of one strides (5 to be exact) but instead of going straight through, we circled right between each fence and then came back and circled left. The next time we may figure eight over the fences. Going straight through the first time was a bit wobbly but she didn't get worried or nervous, she put her big girl panties on and took care of it. It's a really interesting feeling having a horse that acts almost as a partner rather than a baby relying on you for direction all the time. She wasn't being obedient, she was taking care of it. Mares. Love em. Second day was a review of the first day and then out to cross country. Now Robin being Robin, we get to the water area for our first part of cross country and this being a pre-entry group one would imagine after trotting through the water a few times, we could warm up of a few small fences and tehn put them together. But no....he just gives us a course. Our first fence? Over the log, one stride into water and then out over an entry roll top. Circle back over a pre-entry coup, through the water, out over the log, down to a pre-entry ladder, around to the bank, off the bank, come back over the entry house and then trot off the bank into the water. Now we were all fine but really? The log wasn't big but jumping it into water AND not seeing any cross country fences before that makes it a bit mean. But that's Robin. So we did it. And Whin was bold for everything! We even jumped off the bank into water without thinking about it. Smart little mare! Our last day had us doing entry and pre-training fences (in fact, walking my course on the weekend, I found the fences actually looked small and boring which doesn't happen very often!) and even the training line on the bank (up the bank, one stride, over a vertical type fence, one stride, off the bank). Whin LOVES her job. She did have an issue going off the bank into water the following day but we worked through it and she was fine after that. She was jumping the banks very large so I wonder if it was a shadow issue? She also had no issue with the ditch the first day and then the second day said no. I didnt want to get mad at her because I felt she didn't understand teh question so we lunged her over it. I got back on and rode it and she was good but still did not feel solid.
The event was lovely and sunny. Whin and I had upgraded to pre-entry as we were bored with logs. Dressage and stadium were the same day and after warming up for dressage, we were informed our judge left. Oh, like to the washroom? No. Left. As in, goodbye y'all. So we had to wait until Entry finished their stadium before Chris Collins could judge us. Our 30 minute delay left Whin pissed! Her test was not great and she was rammy and dull though randomly reactive. Chris is an awesome judge though pretty harsh at times (especially if she knows the horse and knows what it CAN look like) but she's fairly realistic and wont blow sunshine up anyone's butt. She also hates tension. Chris was most likely very sad for me that day.
Then we switched tack and I'm all of a sudden not looking forward to stadium because of her attitude but then we went in and rode and AWESOME round. She was clear, got her changes, got her distances...it was awesome!!! So she redeemed herself again with her quiet confidence.
I was excited for cross country. I knew in my bones that we were going to be fine. And we were. Double clear! She left the start box, I trotted my first fence so she could understand what was going on and she eyed up the entry fence and I had to drop her expectations with the pre-entry fence. We cantered away and that was that. The course was such that it started on the race track, two fences later, it leaves the track and goes through the trees and onto the powerline (where we are all camped) then through the trees and into the water complex, then through the trees and back onto the powerline and across the track and into the infield. I had planned on trotting off the track into the powerline and through any serious terraine changes because it's a lot to look at. oh no. There will be no trotting. Whin saw the people all standing around as we left the track and did a few lead changes as she went to look at everything but then saw the fences and we were golden. After that we didn't stop. She jumped a fence and instead of taking the line around the water to our next fence, I went through it. I was going to let her trot so she could be comfortable but once again, she came back to trot for a stride or two before picking up the canter and cantering through the water with her eyes already on the next fence. On the power line we had a bending line with the second fence in a big mud hole. Walking it, we had all decided to trot in between because of footing and the odd line it was on. No. WE canter things now apparently because we just blasted over that and across the track and into the infield. She just rolled along at the this nice steady canter and was just waiting to lock onto the next fence. Again quiet confidence. She wasn't attacking the fences but just knew what to do. Love it!
Now with the dressage thing, I checked the scores (online) and see 84.0 penalty points!!! :0 For those that don't know, this would imply a percentage of about 40-45%. Very bad. I knew Chris was going to crucify us but I didn't think it would be that gory! I was pretty bummed and was nestled into 9th place after moving up out of LAST place thanks to our clear stadium round. I picked up my test and looked at it. Not bad. A 7. Mostly 5s and 6s. One 4. That's it. No 3's. Not tons of 4s...So Somehow, I decided to have my penalties recalculated. Sure enough...almost a 20 point error!! This would be equivalent to a refusal on cross country! After recalculating, I moved into 5th place. Middle of the pack. Much better. I agreed whole heartedly with the comments and score of my dressage test.
While warming up for cross-country, Chris came over to me and said "Where was this horse in my dressage ring?!" I laughed. She jsut didnt' want to play yesterday. Chris also texted me later that night to say she was quite cute. At least we aren't hated.
After a double clear cross country round, Whin and I finished in fourth and Margo won the division! Yay success.
Other stories from teh event. Cassie came with me and slept in the tent with Steph and I. She was pretty stressed and ate about 2 cups of food the entire time. She was pretty happy and made lots of friends but was definitely overwhelmed and a full week was too long. Steph and Lucy are struggling in their relationship and Steph is thinking of selling Lucy or breeding her and is now looking for cheaper horses to start to bring up through the levels. I missed Tyson.
Poor Tyson. He doesn't even get a bold heading. I saw him hardly at all this month. He was pretty supportive for the most part including texting me during the show that his goal for me is to always have two horses but that he wants me to have a nice upper level horse as well as a project. Totally ok with that! We had a bit of an issue before Alhambra because I was getting weird vibes from him and i called him out on it. We talked it through and things have been great since! We stayed up talking last night until 1:30 which sucks this morning but is soooooo nice.
And I have done no work today. I should cut this. Done.
So to recap. My minions are now gone back to school I shall miss Matthew, my 8 month co-op student as he was super dependable and an excellent Starbucks companion. :)
Work is finally slowing down which is great. I love being in the field but I was starting to get tired of it when every job dragged on too long and issues kept cropping up.
Aside from work, other events in my life that have taken me away from the office include:
BVJ Wow. I had SO much fun. Tyson and I stayed in an old trailer with Maddy and Adam and had a blast! Tyson and Adam are so cute together and even keep in touch on and off now which is great. Luke Bryan was amazing in concert and really earned my respect as a true performer. While I don't know if he'll be a long lasting artist, his voice is lovely and I really enjoyed his concert. I would pay to see him again. Tim McGraw was fine. Entertaining and a solid performer. Don't know if I'd pay to see him again but I'm definitely glad I did. Alan Jackson, while old and not in his prime is a classic and he was an awesome way to begin the long weekend. Terri Clark was tons of fun though I think Maddy and I were so drunk, I'm impressed we stumbled down to the stage in time for that. Note to self, Tyson is a dangerous bartender. On the plus side, we cleaned out our liquor cabinet! Overall, great music, great friends and great weather!
Alhambra Summer Event Whin went to her first event the middle of August. We entered in Starter because we had about 5 days of jumping on us but I REALLY REALLY wanted to show this summer so off we went. Starter, for those that don't know, is max 2 feet and a cross country course of logs. HOWEVER...our "little" cross country course was 1900m long and at a speed of 325 mpm (meters per minute) which meant you couldn't trot the entire thing (which, in my opinion, you should be able to seeing as it is STARTER). Whin settled into her stall and the show life fairly quickly and now quite enjoys her "food box". She also grew cuddly over the weekend so her sharp little mind is happy that it's doing something! Whin's dressage was interesting. She almost DIED getting to the rings and was super tense. I was worried about staying in the ring among other things but put my big girl panties on and out we went. She was decent actually. She felt tense and rushy and we got the wrong lead to the right (which we have trouble with) but overall, we stayed in the ring and I stayed on so a good day. I was a bit horrified by my test mostly because I was unhappy with the way I rode it. Anyhow, we ended up in first place out of 16 riders after dressage so I can quit whining now. Haha.
Cross country was the following day and both Margo and I were joking about our course of logs. Both Kat and Whin have jumped a variety of cross country obstacles without caring so we weren't overly concerned. My biggest concern was making time and not having Whin die on course from exhaustion! (I didn't think to get her super fit for a starter division!) Well Karma being what it is, Margo and I both had a refusal though I only had one which dropped me into 5th place. Margo had 3? so dropped way down. My refusual was a result of a fried brain (second last fence), sudden distractions (Margo and Kat walked by on the road right next to our fence) and a slightly scary fence (really light colored log). Whin was really good overall but felt very worried and had no idea why she was running around this field alone! I decided to trot my stadium course the following day to keep things really laid back and positive. She was a bit excited initially in warm up but then settled right in and had a happy (clear) stadium round. We finished the weekend in 5th place and Whin grew up a lot!
South Peace Horse Trials The last week of August took Whin and I to Evergreen Park in Grande Prairie for a 3 day stadium/cross country clinic with Robin Hahn and then a two day event Saturday and Sunday. Whin rocked this clinic and event. For a horse with less than 10 days of jumping, she handled everything beautifully. She's so mature! THe first day had us coming through a series of one strides (5 to be exact) but instead of going straight through, we circled right between each fence and then came back and circled left. The next time we may figure eight over the fences. Going straight through the first time was a bit wobbly but she didn't get worried or nervous, she put her big girl panties on and took care of it. It's a really interesting feeling having a horse that acts almost as a partner rather than a baby relying on you for direction all the time. She wasn't being obedient, she was taking care of it. Mares. Love em. Second day was a review of the first day and then out to cross country. Now Robin being Robin, we get to the water area for our first part of cross country and this being a pre-entry group one would imagine after trotting through the water a few times, we could warm up of a few small fences and tehn put them together. But no....he just gives us a course. Our first fence? Over the log, one stride into water and then out over an entry roll top. Circle back over a pre-entry coup, through the water, out over the log, down to a pre-entry ladder, around to the bank, off the bank, come back over the entry house and then trot off the bank into the water. Now we were all fine but really? The log wasn't big but jumping it into water AND not seeing any cross country fences before that makes it a bit mean. But that's Robin. So we did it. And Whin was bold for everything! We even jumped off the bank into water without thinking about it. Smart little mare! Our last day had us doing entry and pre-training fences (in fact, walking my course on the weekend, I found the fences actually looked small and boring which doesn't happen very often!) and even the training line on the bank (up the bank, one stride, over a vertical type fence, one stride, off the bank). Whin LOVES her job. She did have an issue going off the bank into water the following day but we worked through it and she was fine after that. She was jumping the banks very large so I wonder if it was a shadow issue? She also had no issue with the ditch the first day and then the second day said no. I didnt want to get mad at her because I felt she didn't understand teh question so we lunged her over it. I got back on and rode it and she was good but still did not feel solid.
The event was lovely and sunny. Whin and I had upgraded to pre-entry as we were bored with logs. Dressage and stadium were the same day and after warming up for dressage, we were informed our judge left. Oh, like to the washroom? No. Left. As in, goodbye y'all. So we had to wait until Entry finished their stadium before Chris Collins could judge us. Our 30 minute delay left Whin pissed! Her test was not great and she was rammy and dull though randomly reactive. Chris is an awesome judge though pretty harsh at times (especially if she knows the horse and knows what it CAN look like) but she's fairly realistic and wont blow sunshine up anyone's butt. She also hates tension. Chris was most likely very sad for me that day.
Then we switched tack and I'm all of a sudden not looking forward to stadium because of her attitude but then we went in and rode and AWESOME round. She was clear, got her changes, got her distances...it was awesome!!! So she redeemed herself again with her quiet confidence.
I was excited for cross country. I knew in my bones that we were going to be fine. And we were. Double clear! She left the start box, I trotted my first fence so she could understand what was going on and she eyed up the entry fence and I had to drop her expectations with the pre-entry fence. We cantered away and that was that. The course was such that it started on the race track, two fences later, it leaves the track and goes through the trees and onto the powerline (where we are all camped) then through the trees and into the water complex, then through the trees and back onto the powerline and across the track and into the infield. I had planned on trotting off the track into the powerline and through any serious terraine changes because it's a lot to look at. oh no. There will be no trotting. Whin saw the people all standing around as we left the track and did a few lead changes as she went to look at everything but then saw the fences and we were golden. After that we didn't stop. She jumped a fence and instead of taking the line around the water to our next fence, I went through it. I was going to let her trot so she could be comfortable but once again, she came back to trot for a stride or two before picking up the canter and cantering through the water with her eyes already on the next fence. On the power line we had a bending line with the second fence in a big mud hole. Walking it, we had all decided to trot in between because of footing and the odd line it was on. No. WE canter things now apparently because we just blasted over that and across the track and into the infield. She just rolled along at the this nice steady canter and was just waiting to lock onto the next fence. Again quiet confidence. She wasn't attacking the fences but just knew what to do. Love it!
Now with the dressage thing, I checked the scores (online) and see 84.0 penalty points!!! :0 For those that don't know, this would imply a percentage of about 40-45%. Very bad. I knew Chris was going to crucify us but I didn't think it would be that gory! I was pretty bummed and was nestled into 9th place after moving up out of LAST place thanks to our clear stadium round. I picked up my test and looked at it. Not bad. A 7. Mostly 5s and 6s. One 4. That's it. No 3's. Not tons of 4s...So Somehow, I decided to have my penalties recalculated. Sure enough...almost a 20 point error!! This would be equivalent to a refusal on cross country! After recalculating, I moved into 5th place. Middle of the pack. Much better. I agreed whole heartedly with the comments and score of my dressage test.
While warming up for cross-country, Chris came over to me and said "Where was this horse in my dressage ring?!" I laughed. She jsut didnt' want to play yesterday. Chris also texted me later that night to say she was quite cute. At least we aren't hated.
After a double clear cross country round, Whin and I finished in fourth and Margo won the division! Yay success.
Other stories from teh event. Cassie came with me and slept in the tent with Steph and I. She was pretty stressed and ate about 2 cups of food the entire time. She was pretty happy and made lots of friends but was definitely overwhelmed and a full week was too long. Steph and Lucy are struggling in their relationship and Steph is thinking of selling Lucy or breeding her and is now looking for cheaper horses to start to bring up through the levels. I missed Tyson.
Poor Tyson. He doesn't even get a bold heading. I saw him hardly at all this month. He was pretty supportive for the most part including texting me during the show that his goal for me is to always have two horses but that he wants me to have a nice upper level horse as well as a project. Totally ok with that! We had a bit of an issue before Alhambra because I was getting weird vibes from him and i called him out on it. We talked it through and things have been great since! We stayed up talking last night until 1:30 which sucks this morning but is soooooo nice.
And I have done no work today. I should cut this. Done.