92 days

I was grabbing coffee with two friends yesterday and the subject of boys came up. We were talking about how often when distance occurs for a long period of time it can be hard to keep the spark. Even more than the spark, often, we all found, you begin to see flaws you didn't see in that person, you begin to remember moments differently - you begin, to almost, dislike them. Which is ironic and awful and terrible because in the beginning, you had true feelings for them. Such is life.

Then, today, I was being nostalgic and thinking about you, my boy. As always. If my plan goes through I would like to "lease" you once you are home from winter pasture. You are home in 92 days. Distance has not made me think any less of you. In fact, it makes me miss all your quirks and issues even more. Distance has caused me to spend endless hours on forums, and reading articles, and looking up training tools and techniques that may aid in you becoming the horse I dream of you being. Distance has caused me to buy you things, things you don't really need, and plan to buy you more things, again - items that are probably much too expensive, and realistically very silly, and the fact is I don't even own you.

But I love you. So, I rationalize.

If anything, distance has made me entirely crazy, but it has also made me love you more.

& with all this distance, and planning, and thinking of you, I come to really worry about my plans. I worry in an almost obsessive manner, and it has made me tired. Distance has been very hard indeed, but I don't love you any less than I did the last day I saw you.

Riding Diary: 8

Horse: Quiz

Time: 1 hr.

Ride: Oh, the lovely Quiz. This horse amazes me, we get into the arena which is full of jumps and flower boxes and a managery of general craziness and you can tell she's not always 100% comfortable. (Coloured cut-out squares and flowers are here nemesis) Then you add like 4 other riders, sometimes more, most of them jumping, and she's basically like, "meh, whatever, we can handle this." & she's just coming up 4!! I love it. It really helps me because while she's being Miss cool-as-a-cucumber, I'm like... christ, this is hectic, I might die.
Anyways, started with a posting trot warm up... why do I have such a hard time picking up the right diagonal?! (as in the correct diagonal, not the right diagonal.. hardeeharhar) I really need to work on this, it annoys me greatly that I can't immediately pick it up. Then we moved onto the jog, Quiz & I have the jog down, I feel so much more comfortable at the jog than I did in my first lesson. I guess all my life people told me, "if you want to post, post, or you can sit the trot, it doesn't matter", I was also told that sitting a trot is "very advanced", something you need to work on and basically not to do it... it is times like these where I'd like to go back in the past and whack certain people upside the head. So, all my life i've been posting the trot... incorrectly... ugh... and the first time my trainer told me to sit the trot I felt like a big 'ol sack of potatoes/a mexican jumping bean because it just felt so.. foreign to me I suppose. Now I pretend I'm a western pleasure riding in a jacket so sparkly I blind you whilst I jog on by. :) (I hope that image is as wonderful for all of you as it is for me)

On to some loping and the beginning of some rollbacks! I definitely need to work on my rollbacks, but they are new to my lesson regime so I will forgive myself. My trainer has me stopping completely, and then moving my rein over before adding my leg. I add my leg too fast, with not enough rein to begin with, so it always ends up a little sloppier than I'd like. We worked rollbacks at a trot first, then at a lope, overall I was comfortable but would like them to grow more and more precise.. practice practice practice. I also have a tendency when picking up speed from a stop to lean forward and lose my heel, I need to focus on sitting back and tall while asking for speed from a stop or walk.

Finally we worked on loping the rail, Quiz has a tendancy to jump the gun and then when I attempt to check her back she'll fall into a trot. I'm not pulling on the reins very sharply, but I think she just doesn't really care to slow lope. So that's something that I definitely need to work on with her. I just need to reinforce my leg if she goes down to the trot and try and try again until we get this slow lope thing down. (Again, i'm picturing myself as a WP queen)

Next Time: I kind of addressed all of these things above, but, perfect diagonals every single time, more precise rollbacks and a calmer slower lope.

Chaps!

 I don't think my mommy dearest reads this blog, so these next lines should not be seen as me sucking 

up.

I have the best mother....

in the entire world....

ever.

Mama is not a horse person, I think she rode a couple times as a kid/teenager, but nothing more than a trail ride or two. I really want to get my shit together and take her out on a ride in the spring/summer. She thinks a horse named Wizard at our barn is very pretty, and his other name is "Red" (fitting, because my mom is a big 'ol ginger), so I think it'd be super cute to pair those two together. Also, I'd like my mom to officially meet Jingle (she's met him once before briefly), so that she can fully appreciate her grand-horse-baby.

Anyways, I'm rambling about nothing, the point of this blog post is how rad my mom is. I don't think she completely gets the horse thing - but she totally gets clothes. My mom and I share a mutual appreciation for pretty things (read-expensive), and shoes, and apparel in general. So this Christmas she wanted to get me something horse related and of course she gravitated toward the big ticket items. Her first thought was a saddle, but she contacted a family friend who steered her away from the saddle idea (... she was pretty shocked a "cheap" saddle in my books is $900) and steered her towards chaps.

My current chaps are stolen borrowed from a friend, they are a good 4 sizes too big, drag on the ground, and water seeps in through the crotch... but they are damn warm. So, my mom decided to get me chaps... and on Christmas morning I opened up an... email... from a lady who makes CUSTOM chaps.

So I got to design my own!!!

This is why my mom is the best mom.

Here they are, created by Joan Girletz of Girletz Gear Custom Saddlery out of Airdrie Alberta, her husband makes saddles, bridles, etc. and she makes chaps - specializing in some damn beautiful show chaps. Check them out if you are in the area and want to work with some really honest, stand-up kinda people, who make absolutely beautiful products.

I, however, was looking for work chaps, nothing with rhinestones (but there's nothing wrong with some sparkly silver or stainless..)

A friend of mine had shotguns made with full buckle legs, and I liked that idea, but Joan did not. She steered me towards traditional chinks, so happy with that decision.

Here they are...

I really wanted a darker leg with a lighter fringe, I LOVE how they came out.

Here's me standing a little awkwardly in them, haha. They should be a titch higher on my hips.

Saddle leather with yuma berry conchos <3

My initials are lazered into the backs of both hips.

So, mom if you ever read this, you are honestly the best. Thank you for supporting something you don't completely understand and often think I'm crazy for. I love ya.

How many cows would a cutter cut if a cutter could cut cows?

Buster Welch on Bet Hesa Cat... hot damn I love this horse.

One day Buster, i'm going to be just like you!

I was awoken to a phone call from a cutting horse trainer I had emailed a month ago. Same story, they didn't have "lesson horses" around and lessons on my own horse would be pricey too. However, we did have a nice talk (... isn't that nice? someone calls you out of the blue you've never met and you can just have a nice chat with them). He told me that with the drought years, and the fact the states are in a major cattle slump, cutting horse lessons are going to continue to become more and more expensive as barns fight to keep stock cattle to practice on. Makes sense, just sucks.

A lot of the trainers I've contacted have said the same story but offered up "finished cutting horses" that I could purchase and take lessons with. I'm a student, around here a finished, proven cutter can range anywhere from $10,000 (usually more around $15,000) - $30,000, and that's for me, a complete beginner to cutting. (what kind of freakin' beginner has $20,000 for a horse?! Show me your ways if you do!) It's pretty disheartening, this man however (a very respected trainer in these parts), told me that for a beginner I could easily get a ranch type horse that would be able to work a cow decently but may need to be helped along, pay between $5-7,000 for something pretty good, and from there would be able to learn. He said that a lot of people try to push finished cutters on beginners but it's not always necessary, especially if your taking lessons under someone. From there, once you get the hang of things, you can move up into the more "finished" world of quarter horses. He also said that he'd keep me in mind if anything comes along... which was really nice.

So, I'm a bit stuck, I talked to another trainer whose willing to put me on a couple cutters he has, but they don't start up until spring.. and then I'm gone for the summer. I'm really hoping that works out, I'm really interested in this damn sport, but I've never actually worked live cattle! It's time, no ifs ands or buts.

So, maybe the new plan is to continue with normal western lessons until I'm done University next year than in two years work my absolute ass off and buy myself a horse that can get my foot in the door, and move up from there.. that seems to be the easiest way to go about this goddamn dream. Life is so expensive ya'll!

Riding Diary: 7

Horse: Quiz!

Time: 1 hr.

Ride: This lesson went really well! My trainer kept commenting on how much better I had gotten since last lesson. I'd been out to ride two times since my first lesson and really focused on what we had done.. clearly it helped, and it feels good!

So, similar to last time we worked on the jog, this time with and without stirrups... ugh. & then we worked on loping, and that was about it. It was a good lesson though and I was definitely more calm and confident in myself.

The only thing that messed me up was the amount of people in the arena at the time... Definitely need to get used to my surroundings a little more.

For Next Time: No-Stirrup work! Toes up, heels down, don't bump her, or tense up.

A Sweaty Quiz & A Muddy Moose

Some photo's from today...

Little Miss Quiz! Quite sweaty after a beautiful ride today. =)

My "White" dog, Moose, after 2 hours of somehow finding EVERY puddle in off-leash, as well as mud-wrestling a black lab...

Clearly, the common denomination in today's pictures is that it took me quite some time to cool down/groom/mop up after two animals today.

Riding Diary: 6

I guess this episode of Riding Diary deserves a bit of an explanation before we go into the nitty gritty of my latest lesson. I like blogging, no matter how silly I sometimes feel rambling into space I've enjoyed blogging about all things horsie and enjoy being able to look back on certain posts.

For example, I like keeping the same format for all of my "Riding Diaries" and I always open up my last one as I write my latest... In my sidebar it showed all the posts since I wrote #5, and clearly I was unhappy. For me, I have a hard time looking back on the last 4 months, I guess I had this overarching dream of finally being somewhere where I would excel and become great. I didn't excel, I didn't become great, I was stagnant.. and it sucked. BUT, moving on is a good thing, and moving on from my last barn led me to the barn I took my latest lesson at!

I have a dear friend (who reads my blog... slightly embarassing that she now becomes a character in all of this) who, along with a young warmblood jumper she also owns, recently purchased a young quarter horse with a reining trained foundation. Her name is Quiz, she is adorable. After hearing about what had gone on at my last barn she offered me the chance to take lessons with her trainer on Quiz. (Which, after calling every trainer on my "wish-list" in the freakin' area solved the number one problem of not having my own horse) Obviously, I jumped on the offer, and appreciate it more than she will ever fully know. So, let's get too it!
                                                                         ******
Horse: Quiz :)

Bit: Loose Ring Snaffle

Time: 1 hr.

Ride: Adjusting to trainers is kind of like adjusting to a new horse, it takes just as much time for you to be able to breathe and relax with your butt in a saddle as it does when you are in a new trainers presence. (For me, atleast). I started out the ride basically just saying, teach me from the beginning. My foundation is so shakey at best, my riding is basically tips and tricks from hundreds of different people, all slammed into my poor body, and I just crave consistency with someone. Proper, consistent knowledge and attention.

So, we started the warm-up at a posting trot, aint no thang (I thought), she asked me about diagonals.. yeah I know about diagonals... realization: I rarely know what my horses legs are doing when I am riding. Square one: Louisa, you don't even know how to freakin' trot properly, focus more on gait. This is the most embarassing moment to type out on this blog, but now it is over. Then we moved into a proper western jog. My trainer has shown high level western pleasure... she knows what a proper western jog is, I don't. All of a sudden i'm being yelled at everytime I post as it is "counter-productive to the jog"... hmm, this is all very new. No one has ever told me this before? Last I heard I can post whenever the hell I want... wrong. Then we worked on loping, focusing on keeping my heels planted, and my body calm, legs still, all of that. Overall, I really enjoyed the way my trainer works with me, she's stern but I never felt like she was being vindictive or mean. She was coaching, and it was all helpful and constructive and I left with things to work on, and improve on.

I'm not here to bash the other person I was taking lessons with, but I will say a few things. Different training styles aside I feel as if in one day I have done more, and done so more comfortably with this new trainer, than I did in the last 4 months (granted, that is all of 4 lessons, but still). I went into my old trainers with loose reins, calm and relaxed and came out feeling like I always had to have extreme contact for collection, that my hands had to be rigid, that my body had to be rigid, that my legs had to be so tense and pushed against my horse that I felt like my legs were going to fall completely off.. basically, that everything had to be tense. The first thing my new trainer said was.. "what are you doing with your stops?", whereas he had me completely throwing my body back, she has me calm, relaxed, asking for a stop in a similiar manner, it all just feels more calm. He may not have wanted the level of stress that was happening, but that's what was occuring in our relationship - tense, stressed, etc. None of this was contributing to my riding, it was contributing to giving me an ulcer.

So, hopefully now that I can feel a little more relaxed, I can work toward a better beginning in my new phase of riding. I hope this all works out better than the last.

Next Time: Heels down!
[this has never been a problem for me before, unacceptable]