And So It Begins...

And so it begins... that long winter- where all you do is try to fix things that are just slightly off....it is that process that makes us lose our hair, get premature wrinkles, and does not let our competition season ulcers heal.  It is that little bit more of a tilt in your pelvis, bringing your left shoulder back half an inch, putting your right hand down a inch, keeping your outside rein in your lateral work, or keeping your outside leg just slightly behind your inside-- instead of looking like a human gumby. It is putting a bit more step in your horse's stride, pushing their inside legs further underneath them, asking for more use in their backs, making their hocks bend, jumping a bit straighter, keeping a better rhythm, or keeping them a bit steadier in your hand. It is figuring out who might like a different bit, a different noseband, a different back pad...or, to my horror, no back pad, who needs a bit more attention, who really wants me to go take a hike, and who might like a different schedule than the rest of the horses...most likely Tess. Or in my case, you do all of these things with all seven of your horses on a daily basis. 



Baby Irish at her first Training- she's my little pogo stick!



Despite all my complaining, I am quite excited about this winter.  It will be the first winter I can take the time to really focus on what my horses need and want; I can process and apply all my knowledge from working with Jimmy, Linda and Sharon.  I will also be able to take some trips to Sharon's for some valuable, much needed advice.  Also, I am lucky enough to have been riding with Bonnie Mosser the past few months and this winter will surely bring out more of her helpful comments that the horses seem to love.  Bonnie has been such an asset to have since moving back home- it is a bit of a no man's event land around here, so having her so close has been wonderful.  We had a clinic with Bonnie at my farm last week, it was a great opportunity to ride a bunch with her and watch her teach as well.  All my horses were great. 



Ramble at VA H.T.



Poor little Ramble had an 8am flat lesson and 2pm Jump lesson so he was exhausted at the end of the day, but as they say "no pain, no gain" (and let me tell you, the next day I was having some pain!)- he had a great flat lesson and a very helpful jump lesson.  It helps me to see what I am doing wrong or need to change, so Bonnie got on him and popped him around, after that we seemed to click a bit better- he is very different ride than all my other horses, so we are both still learning!  Tess had a mini flat lesson then a mini jump-it was her first proper jump back.  There is a video up on the youtube channel!  She was a bit opinionated on the flat, as any successful women should be (she has read far too many quotes), but it carried over to her jumping as happy and forward.  She had a good time jumping for real, she seemed a bit appreciative after the lesson- and that happens rarely unless treats are involved!!!!  Little Aly had his first lesson, and Hillary had her first 3 year old stallion rodeo.  It was a great experience for him to have new horses on the farm and lots of commotion, he settled in after a bit and had a very productive lesson- he did 3 bounces in a row to a one stride! Big kid stuff.  Wits End has a video up of his lesson on their youtube channel, check it out if you want to see a very fun, natural jumper- that horse is going places.   Baby Nic also had his first lesson- it was good experience for him as well- he is so territorial it good for him to have to share- as my friend Tim says, carings sharing....and I don't care!  That is Nic to a T.  He was actually very well behaved for a baby race horse- he even jumped and landed on both leads, what a champ!



Ramble the XC Machine!

Irish is just coming back from her little vaca so she escaped the lessons, but she is happy to be back, she was getting a bit grumpy!  Doby is having fun and getting quite the little red head attitude!  Everyone else is doing well and starting to get busy and down to the winter work- time to share my premature wrinkles and hair loss!

Almost everyone is off to TTC for a dressage show/hunter show/xc schooling next weekend- the babies will be attending to see how fast they can make me a lawn dart.  It will be good for everyone to get out and see what they are in for as big kids!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and was able to get some rest!

 Hillary

Here are the links!

Ramble Jumping: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iaii4s5bv3g&feature=related

Tess Jumping: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-f0nRo0LyKQ

Aly: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3eM1w7GsmQ

Going Crazy? Can't go where you already are!

I probably have completely lost it; but my barn is full, my horses are happy and I am in need of sleep so all is well in the universe. 

In the barn there are now 4 geldings, 4 mares and 2 stallions- yes 2 you read it correctly the first time. And that is ten horses! (I find if I type ten is looks like far less a number than 10!)  There are 3 off the track TB's (One Irish, one Kentucky, one Florida), 1 unraced TB (also FL bred), 1 New Zealand Sport Horse, 1 German warmblood, 3 Irish Sport horses, and 1 Oldenburg. It's like the United Nations in my barn! I'm glad they can't talk- there would be a serious amount of accents and foul language going on with those nationalities- probably the most coming from the Kentucky boy...who am I kidding, it would totally be the Irish.



Schooling at home!



Everyone here is doing pretty well.

Clif is healing very, very well. He has a little routine of going outside and when he's ready to come in he starts screaming, and by god you had better get there within the time he has allotted or he is going to make you regret it!  He is still enjoying all the hay, being inside and getting some extra treats (especially peppermints, I have turned the horse into a monster- the damage appears to irreversible). 



Clif after his 5 Points run- looking for cookies already!

Doby is going back to work as of this week; news I am sure he was thrilled to hear!

Nic is becoming a big kid- he did his first little jump and he loves it!  He's thinks he is a pretty cool kid- unfortunately, he seems to be right so I have done nothing to decrease his ever expanding ego.  He is a bit possessive- I find him staring at me while I'm riding other horses.  It has gotten to the point that if he were human I would have gotten a restraining order- he's like an over enthusiastic boyfriend that beats up any potential competition. 

The horses in training are all well and they are all three!  Everyone is getting big kid manners, some big kid dressage moves and some big kid jumping boots- they are all just so excited. It's like they are having their first day of high school- the attitude and egos are out of control, they almost don't fit through the barn door!  In all serious- they are all quite good looking horses and look like they will all have a very big future in front of them.

Ramble is my new little dirt bike!  He is a little XC machine, he has been quite fun at the two shows he went to.  He goes, he jumps, he passes flat out in his stall.  That's his motto and he is most definitely sticking to it! He had a good final go at River Glenn- he won the flat by almost 5 points on a 29, so that was exciting, know there is much more there for the taking!  His SJ was lacking a little, no thanks to his rider!  We will spend the Winter fine tuning our communication and muscles!  XC, as usual, was a great time- he really is like a little dirt bike- just pick a gear, point, and go.  He loves it, it's nice to know your horse is having just as much fun as you out there!

Baby Tess gets some sleep!



Tess is loving life, she is jumping now so don't be too shocked by that loving life statement.  She is going quite well on the flat, I finally feel like she can go hold her own in the dressage- key word there being can!  Hopefully, she will WANT to show off; because, we all know if Tess doesn't want it, it ain't gonna happen!
She has been so, so much fun to jump!  I am so glad she seems like the same horse-actually a bit more of a horse- I'm getting a little pull at the end of those reins towards the jumps, which did not used to be her style, so that is fun.  She will keep on keepin' on and hopefully all is well and she will be competing again this Spring to the best of her ability!


Irish is the little star of farm. I'm sure no one saw that sentence coming =).  She was a machine at Virginia HT- she was great in the dressage-the judge and I will agree to disagree (at some point this sport went from obedience to fancy as the key point of dressage).  In both XC and SJ she completely took over and jumped two wonderful clean rounds- I did get drug around the XC, she is on a mission out there, it's a bit intimidating!  The following weekend she went to River Glenn to do her first training (EK!).  She had a very good and educational weekend. She was quite good in the dressage- she got several 8's, mostly in the canter work- which put her in 3rd out of about 11- so exciting for her first one!  Her SJ and XC rounds were very good- she jumped like a freak all weekend, I was grabbing some serious mane!  She ended both rounds as a better horse and really, that is all that we can ever ask of ourselves and our horses.  My goal was to ride her to the best of ability- I am not sure I totally lived up to that, but I did bring back a better horse than I left the box with; so that, to me, is a success.  She seemed to love it- she was a bit backed off at the first few XC fences (the hardest fences were in the first 6 fences, which were all quite large!), but seemed to settled into a great and confident rhythm by mid course and maintained that the rest of the way.  So she ended up 7th at her first training, she a huge purple ribbon!, and I couldn't be more proud of her!



Irish the Tangerine Machine! No I didn't change my colors, I was just
a Tangerine!)

Now it's time to spend the Holiday's with the family, work on the dressage movements, set up some gymnastics and come out better horses in the Spring than I ended with in the Fall!

Enjoy your Thanksgiving!

Hillary