jumping in

My teeth hurt.  For many years I wished my teeth were less, shall we say bucky (that was Dr.P's phrase).  Then in my late teens to my early 30s I figured I would live with it.  I was attractive enough, it was silly vanity to want to do anything about my teeth.  Besides, I would look a lot worse with braces, right?

So now in my mid 40s I've decided if I want something I should seriously consider it.  Just waiting, rather than deciding means missing opportunity.  Or it may mean wishing for something that if I thought about it I'd realize I don't want.

So I decided to do something about my teeth.  It wasn't a quick decision.  I actually had to wait for months before I could set up the medical savings account.  It's very expensive.  Now I wonder what was I thinking.  It hurts, it's annoying, and it will hurt and be annoying for most of a year.  38 weeks - ok, 36 since I've already done 2.  It's almost as long as a pregnancy!

Maybe (ok not maybe) the horse thing is the same.  I've been working towards having a horse.  I'm having second thoughts about leasing G.  The stable is close, but it's so lonely.  I want to ride with my friends.

Horses for Thanksgiving week

It's been a busy week, busy with good things mostly.  I rode G on Wednesday morning.  It was a furlough day.  Menchi got to visit the horses.  He was very excited.  When I rode in the arena his barked and whined, but it wouldn't have been safe to let him off leash.  He would have gotten kicked because he doesn't know how to behave around horses.  I rode G enough to work up a sweat.  It was an hour with lots of trotting and some loping.  The arena was still heavy from the rain, so it was a real workout.

Michelle said she was going to worm G that afternoon.  I don't know how soon any difference could be seen.  She also talked about his teeth and feet, but no firm date on those.  

We went to Riverside and had a great Thanksgiving.  More on that in another entry.

We came home on Friday and I rode G again until he was sweaty.  I also lunged him a little.  I noticed his saddle really is sitting on his withers.  He has very high withers and is thin, so it isn't surprising.  I'm looking at saddle pads that might help.  I'm unwilling to spend too much money since he isn't mine and I don't plan on keeping my lease forever.

Saturday I had my lesson on Danny.  After riding G, I have a lot more confidence and respect for Danny.  It was a good lesson.  Lots of loping with lead changes.  Afterwards we went on a trail ride.  It was great weather, but a bit windy.  That meant 2 hours on Danny :-)  Then he was going to do another lesson.  He was probably tired after that!  I went hiking with Gary and Menchi at Placerita after the trail ride.  I was sure tired.

Today I go back to ride G.  I'm going to pay more attention to his saddle placement.  Maybe part of his lowering his head while loping is the saddle hurting his back.

gymkhana with rain

There was gymkhana scheduled for today at G's ranch.  Gary and I went to check it out, and I was hoping to meet more people.  Unfortunately it was raining.

The event started with pole bending.  Several kids in the peewee division were led.  A few rode it solo.  Then the adults and the rain started.  Several horses misbehaved.  One in particular bucked and reared, refusing to do the course.  Out of the arena the horse continued to act up.  It seemed a bit dangerous to me.  One girl was injured either once she was on her horse, or I think when she was mounting.  He was rearing quite a bit.  She thinks her ankle is broken.  I guess I'll hear about it later.

The gymkhana was called off after all of the pole bending was over.  They'll reschedule for the week after Thanksgiving.

I felt badly that I didn't spend any time with G.  I gave him some treats and pet him, but I didn't take him out of his stall at all.  Maybe in a few months I could try him in a gymkhana event.  It isn't terribly competitive.  Some people rode it fast, but many just were going through the course at a trot.

Good lesson

I had a lesson on G today.  It was more about me finding out what I should expect of him that teaching me new skills.  I feel much more positive about the whole thing now.  I rode him at a lope quite a bit.  Kept him at a trot  longer too.  Michelle was very encouraging about his progress physically.  I also lunged him a bit.  He did pretty well for Michelle, so I know how to do it now, and know he can do it.

All in all it was a very good $35 spent.

I'm very hopeful that I'll meet someone to trail ride with at the gymkhana on Sunday.

Tomorrow I ride Danny at Don E Brooks.

Short ride

Wednesday before parent conferences means a lot of classroom time and not a lot of horse time.  I groomed him and saddled up for a short ride in the arena.  The sun was below the hills, but there was plenty of light.  We walked two, turned and walked two more.  Then we did some circles, halts, and backing.  We trotted one in each direction and a couple times he broke his gait, back to a walk.  He picked it up again when I pushed him though.

I have a lesson set up for Friday on him.  It isn't that I need the lesson as much as I want to know how much to push him.  I don't want to do too much too fast, but I think I'm doing too little.

Michelle is going to email my info to the boarders in hopes of finding a trail partner.  If things don't pick up, I think I'll only do one more month there.  It's a nice place, but too quiet and the trails are a mystery to me at this point.  If I owned and I knew the trails, it would be a nice place to board.  At this point I think I'd be happier doing two lessons a week at Don E Brooks instead.

A little boring

So, day whatever.  G is just a little boring.  Before I give up on him, I'm going to try a few things.  First, I put a note on the tack room wall asking for a trail buddy.  I'm not going to go off on the trails alone until I've done it with someone more experienced.  Next, I think I'm going to contact Michelle about a lesson.  She can help me know how much to push G.  Also she can teach me to lunge him.  I tried a little in the arena and I just annoyed G.  I need more direction.

I rode him in the arena and he just didn't seem as willing or as responsive as the last time.  Then I rode him around the ranch.  He started tripping and lowering his head, kind of limping.  I got off and after a few moments he seemed to be walking fine.  I just don't know.  When I cleaned his feet I picked a very small rock from his "toe", the front of his hoof near the white line.  Maybe his feet hurt, maybe not.  Maybe I'm just seeing trouble where there is none.

I need to figure it out.  "It" being what I want to do with the horsey situation.  I'm thinking about leasing Danny during the winter break.  The cost is much higher than leasing G.  Twice as much plus more vet bills.  It would be a full lease though, so I could ride Saturday and Sunday as well as any other day I wanted.  The problem is, how many days a week can I ride during school.  If I can't ride at least 4 times a week, would I be doing him a disservice?

I've thought about buying him and moving him to the closer stable, but then who would I ride with?  I really haven't met enough people there yet.

Day 6 - arena work

At some point I guess I'll stop titling these posts by day.

Finally, good weather for riding.  It's Veteran's Day so no school.  I did work for a couple hours on report cards, but the sunshine made me stop.  A storm is coming, and I can do report cards in the rain.  I have to make hay while the sun is shining!

I need to find someone to ride trail with me.  I had hoped Nancy would do it, but turns out she doesn't ride on trails anymore.  Her horse is 27 years-old so they stick to the arena.  No one else was there today, other than John.  We talked about gophers and such.

I rode G in the arena for almost 45 minutes.  It's kind of boring, but he needs to build up muscles before we can do fun things.  He really responds to my legs and shifts in my body weight.  He also responds to some voice commands, though not perfectly by any means.  Certainly if I shift my body and look in one direction, that's the way he turns.  One of my friends said something about steering with your bellybutton.  It seems to work with him.  We walked, circled, did figure eights, backed, and such.  I trotted him a little and did transitions from trot walk, mostly with voice and body shifts rather than reigning.  I didn't lope this time.  All the reading I've done says if a horse hasn't been ridden in a long time to build up slowly.

After I rode him, I turned him out in the arena to roll.  He is so funny to watch.  He rolls, gets up, shakes, and sneezes.  Then he lays down and does it all again on his other side.  I think he's really starting to like me.

I wish I could give him a bath, but it's too cold.  I always smell much more horsey when I come home from riding him than after riding Danny.  I really think being in a large pen with other horses and room to wander is much better than being in a stall all alone.