Weekend Update

Friday was a nasty day when it comes to weather.  Most of the day we were hit with wet rain/snow that reminded us that the winter we never really had isn't quite over.  For fear of dangerous driving conditions, my boss let me out early... so naturally I went to the barn!

Typically I don't get to see Bentley on Fridays because of my lessons at Myrddin.  I think he appreciated the fact that I came however, it doesn't seem like he enjoys being wet.  He simply adored having me fawn over him and was quiet and melted in my hands as I dried him and scratched his forehead.  Poor guy looked so pathetic:

We had a nice quiet ride in the ring since the kids weren't off school yet.  Crisper, the black barn cat trotted into the ring while we were trotting around.  I have never introduced him to a cat before, so naturally I slowed him, expecting the worst.  Crisper jumped up on the mounting block and sat there, so I decided to bring Bentley over to sniff him.  Well he got his nose right in there with interest in the cat, the cat proceeded to butt his head into Bentley's nose with affection, so Bentley buried his nose deep into the cat's fur.  It didn't stop there, Crisper started rubbing all over Bentley's face and wrapping his tail around B's nose.  This was followed by Bentley gently nibbling up and down the cat's spine... loud purrs ensued and the happy cat was our new best friend.

It was unbelievable, I expected it of Crisper, who often plays with the horses and will sit on their backs, but I was not expecting Bentley to give affection to the cat.  And this is the horse who is terrified of the miniature ponies?  I wish I had a video or even a witness, it was the cutest thing ever!

My lesson at Myrddin was difficult.  I jumped the hardest course I have ever attempted.  The hardest part about it was the tight turns, combined with skinny and tall jumps.

So if you are following, it was a liverpool crossrail, rollback to a green gate/vertical (2'6") squeeze through tiny space and to a skinny 2'9" gate vertical (I did a terrible turn here, LBH saved me with a great jump even though I made a bad corner and we didn't have enough speed for the height) around the outside and into the centre to another skinny gate 3', then back around the outside and a 2'6" vertical to oxer 1 stride combo.  I have to say, I have NEVER done anything like that before, and I was lucky to have such an eager jumper beneath me.  Remember, this ring is quite small! For example that first rollback, I think I counted 4-5 strides from land to jump, and here we had to make a 270 degree turn!  I had a lot of fun but need a lot more practise looking towards the next jump.

After our lesson, Barb (one of the other riders in my lesson) made a comment that she was really impressed about how quickly I improved, and was a bit jealous of my ability to take the coach's advice and apply the correction so quickly.  I suppose I have always been a quick and easy learner, I didn't have to study half as much as my peers through school.  I think I have found what my #1 skill is, and lucky me... I can use it for anything!  I cant believe the progress that I have made in the last year.  I have learned under a few different coaches, and always seem to connect well.  It really encourages me to keep going with lessons, I am seeing such tremendous value in them! 

My greatest teacher still remains my partner and teammate, Bentley.  If you want to learn how to ride a horse, the first person you must listen to is your HORSE!  He is constantly telling me what he needs and wants, and I must ensure I listen.  Horses are incredibly honest, and will never ask for more than they need or deserve.

We rode on Saturday, just a light ride, with my friend Heather.  When it comes to a relationship between horse and rider, I greatly look up to her and Rurik.  As life grows within Heather, I have noticed how in touch her gelding is with her needs.  In fact, for our ride she said "lets take it easy today, I'm just going to ride bareback."  What an incredible display of trust and love!  Even as she had some trouble mounting (due to belly restrictions from her coat and jeans!) he stood patiently with a loving expression in his eye.  Beautiful!

Bentley was good too, he must have caught good vibes from Rurik, because even as sheets of ice slid from the roof in the scary arena, there was no spooking.  I rode him the entire time on the buckle (at the end of the reins) and he would stop, turn, and bend with only a gentle wiggle of the reins.  This was our first "fun" ride we have ever had, where i was not trying to teach him anything, but just enjoying his company.  He certainly deserved it, and performed his best ever even though we were only walking, a big step forward in our trust.  Soon enough we will be ready to leave the arena in favour of a hack!

The days were my typical weekend story.  I worked at the other barn and herded cats during the day.  I got a good photo of a bunch of them trying to squeeze into one cat bed:

And Dori taking a nice nap in the hay wheelbarrow:

And on my lunch breaks, I had time for nice naps with my kitty Abbey:

Linda was nice enough to take a list and some money to the Rockton Tack Swap Sunday and brought me back some interesting finds.  A nice step stool with a grooming caddy built in (and hot pink to boot!) A nice new girth for my all purpose saddle, a fly mask and some brushes.  Also a halter with neon yellow reflective strips on it.  Yes, neon does seem to be my theme!  Tack swaps always seem like Christmas but better!  I cant wait to try everything out.  Not sure if I will be at the barn tonight... there is a free seminar at Bahrs I have been considering.  Hmm, which will win... I guess we will see how I feel come 6:30!

The war with CIBC has ended

I had a bit of an embarrassing moment yesterday as my credit card was declined for a $3 purchase of drywall screws.  No, I am not a deadbeat (even though the cashier looked at me as if I was), I am just twisted and quite vengeful when it comes to large companies. Let me explain myself.

Last year, I was very happy with my CitiBank credit card.  It gave me discounts on gasoline, reward points, and best of all; customer service was excellent... in fact I would always get a person instead of a machine when I called into their service line!  In July, I got a pamphlet from CIBC stating that they had bought out the cards after Citi declared bankruptcy in Canada and that I would be receiving my new CIBC card in the mail shortly, and promised no service interruptions. 

About a week later, I went to the citi website to log into my account to see my statement, something I do almost daily, and the "Sign in" button had vanished.  I searched everywhere on the site, but there was no option to log into my account.  So I ventured over to the CIBC site and tried to log in there.  No luck.  Tried to sign up for an account, it wouldn't allow me because my card was still with Citi Bank.  So I sent them a nice email saying I understood why it wasn't working, and nicely asking how I could gain access to my statement.  All I received back was an automated email saying that my card would be in shortly.  This was at the beginning of August.

I tried calling the CIBC customer service and got automated messages that directed me through endless loops, and wouldn't give me any more information than the email stated.  I pressed 0 to speak with an operator and after being left on hold for over half an hour, I was hung up on.  This happened a second time!

I go into the local CIBC branch, and they were no more helpful, telling me I had to call the number and set up telephone banking before I could get online access, but ALSO I had to have my new CIBC card before I could do this.  Asked when I would get my card, and again I was met with vague answers.

I did not receive my new card until the end of October.  For 3 months, I had no statements, nobody I could speak to, and no way of ensuring the safety and privacy of my information.  I couldn't believe that the company could allow such a lapse in service.  Not only was it inconvenient for me, but I still think my records may be off.

So when I got this card, I thought to myself "Hmmm, they were terrible to me, how can I be terrible to them?"  So instead of activating my new card, I chose to continue using my Citi Card.  After all, it doesn't expire for quite some time.  And yes, they sent me letters in the mail, they tried calling me, and I wouldn't respond to them.  How does it feel CIBC?  I know it must be inconvenient for them to have to deal with these old cards.  Perhaps they have to hire extra employees to ensure tracking was done correctly.  I was a good customer, always paying my bills on time from my bank teller and making sure everything was in order (even when I refused to answer their calls).

So maybe they won by cutting me off before the expiry and embarrassing me at Home Depot, but I still managed to make business difficult for them for a good 4 months and that makes me happy.  So I will make my final payment and bid CIBC adieu with a bit of satisfaction, and give my business to a company who does care about my business.

Im ok... seriously! Its just been a while.

Well its been a while, and hopefully you haven't assumed the worst.  In all fairness, I did write yesterday, until blogger had some difficulties and lost my entire post.  I have to say, I am surprised that I am mustering up the effort today after that!  Since my last post, I have several things I could talk about, so sit tight, this might be a long one.

Friday, I had my second lesson on LBH at myrddin.  He did try and bolt on me again, but I was much more prepared for shenanigans and it didn't affect us at all.  In fact, I was very proud of our performance.  We jumped lines of gymnastics, which means a straight line of jumps one after another.  Barely time to think in between!  I don't think I have done this since I worked at Saddlewood, so what... 12 years?  Jumps were added one at a time and by the end looked like this:

                                                           X     X     X               I                     I

So 3 crossrails at bounce distance (no stride between, just land and jump) then a short 1 stride to a 2'6" vertical  then a long 1 stride to about a 3' vertical.    I think we may have been the only ones to jump clear every time.  I was so worried that I would be thinking about the line as one obstacle and relying on the horse to carry us through instead of considering each jump inside of it.  Not an easy challenge, but LBH and I jumped clear every time, and I surprised myself with my ability to make changes throughout the line (we seemed to veer right, so correction WAS needed).  It almost feels like a different level of consciousness when I'm doing it, guess this is what they call the "zone."

Saturday I worked at the barn as usual and was greeted to a 2 storey wall of hay in the hay barn.  Someone hadn't considered that I need a way to get at the hay (didn't feel like playing life or death jenga).  So I had to mountain climb up the wall and make my own hay stairs.  Just sort of a pet peeve I needed to get off my chest, not what you want at 7:30 on a Saturday morning.  Fortunately it was an easy day and I got out at a good hour.

So I went to see Bentley on my way home.  Our ride didn't last long because we were having some tack malfunctions.  I noticed our veering to the centre while trotting was getting worse and no amount of leg seemed to work.  But then I also really thought about it and noticed that my weight wasn't centred correctly while I was leg yielding.  I got off and checked my saddle, yes it had slipped to the inside.  Girth could be tightened 2 holes!  Almost out of the fat horse girth :)  Still wasn't working, so I suspected stirrups were the issue.  Rode around for the first time without stirrups and no veering problems, and leg yield was working correctly!

So we did some more work without stirrups.  I was nervous since he is still young and there were a LOT of screaming kids running around and playing outside the ring, a big risk without stirrups.  So it was short!  But he did so well, seemed a bit confused as to why i was extra heavy at first (I have sat trot on him before, but never without stirrups, i was weaning him into it by lightly sitting, using my stirrups to take a bit of weight off him) but he seemed happier that I was correctly balanced for once.

To skip ahead, I took the saddle apart and found that the holes we punched were off by over an inch.  That plus loose girth and I was doomed!  So since Saturday, B has had a nice horsey holiday.  I will need some new stirrup leathers.  I am going to try and ride in my all purpose saddle in the meantime, assuming I can find a girth for it.

This also brings me to determine that while this saddle is good for winter riding, it wont be appropriate once we start doing OCTRA events.  I need more security over the longer distances and varying terrain.  I have budgeted now for a nice saddle.  Its weird to pay 3x on a saddle what I did on my horse, but I think it will be worth it.  I want to get one that is very high quality and will last a lifetime and multiple horses.  After lots of research, I think I have decided on a Tucker saddle http://tuckersaddlery.com/catalog1.shtml

I have not yet decided what model, but it will likely be either the Endurance Trail (pg 16) or Equitation Endurance (pg 18).  I like the aesthetics of the equitation model, as it reflects an english style, which is my riding background.  It also seems a bit more versatile for if I want to do any jumping, as the flaps are more forward.  So long as I stay out of the hunter rings and just jump for pleasure, it should be fine.  But, I do ride with a longer leg and like the idea of the enduro balanced rigging availble on the western style saddle, especially since I have had problems with my saddle slipping forward and to the right.  Seems more secure.  Also I suspect the fenders would mean less pinching and rubbing on my leg for the longer distance.  Anyone out there with experience care to offer their two cents?  This is a tough tough decision!

Also, not sure if I would spend the extra $300+ for the Gen II model.  It claims to be more comfortable for both horse and rider, but reviews show the original being pretty darn comfortable, so im wondering exactly what the value would be to having the latest and greatest considering the cost.  At least I have some time to figure it all out!

Saturday night was nice.  Since my ride was short, I was home and showered in time to consider the option of going out for once.  Lee and I went to Rapinis in Brampton, as Mom and Dad had gotten a voucher for him for his birthday.  The food was good, had great ciabatta bread while we waited, but the wait for our dinner was extremely long.  I had ordered the citrus ginger salmon and Lee ordered the steak.  The salmon was actually very good and perfectly cooked, but I was disturbed by the fact that the potatoes it came with were mashed and smothered with gravy.  Not only is it a strange combination with the fish, but I specifically ordered the fish because I have special dietary restrictions with meat.  Its a good thing I filled up on bread!

Sunday was cleanup day and after I came home from working at the barn, we spent the night doing laundry and other chores that had been overlooked in favour of the barn.  The last 2 nights also don't have much to report, I have been feeling off recently.  I don't feel sick, I just don't have any energy.  I will be going to the barn tonight to catch up with my vacationing steed.  Lee is stealing the car for the night so I am there until someone decides to take me home or I call my parents for a ride!  I'm sure B will love being pampered for the whole night, maybe its about time I clip him!

And now, because this was such a long and text heavy post, here are some pictures of the barn cats enjoying the sun on Sunday.  You are welcome!

Proof I should never leave tack room door open... they nap in there and then eat my lunch!

Luka and Chili playing.  I love Luka's expression here, he looks like a panther!

 So cute to watch them playing

 Nemo is the big man of the barn, as you can see Chili wanted to play... he would sneak up behind Nemo and bat him on the head.

Nemo is one very content looking cat!

Size Musings

I am going to take a detour from my usual reflection of Bentley's performance to something that sparked my interest this morning.

Every day, I open up my Internet explorer at work and MSN suggests several articles I may be interested in.  Today, the one I chose to click on was with respect to Tim Horton's recent addition of a 24oz coffee.  http://money.ca.msn.com/savings-debt/gallery/inside-tim-hortons-coffee-cup-upsizing

First off, I don't like Tim Hortons.  I am kind of a coffee snob that way, I prefer a coffee that's fair trade, very dark and black.  Many times I state that if you cant drink the coffee without loading it with sugar and milk, either you are drinking terrible coffee or you just never really liked coffee to begin with.  After all, you wouldn't add cranberry juice to a fine wine would you?

What struck me the most was on slide 5, the expert opinion is that  'Offering a larger portion strengthens the value proposition. Those perceptions linger, even if a bigger serving comes at the same per-ounce price as a smaller one.' In many cases I have seen the quality of food diminishing in order to provide more "Value", or in other words: quantity.

I guess it boils down to how we perceive value, and I just don't see eye to eye with the masses.  It makes it increasingly difficult to fulfill my definition of value without paying through the nose for it. 

Am I alone here?

Quiet night

Last night I chose to give Bentley a break after our big ride on Tuesday and just groom him and fawn over him for an hour.  Heather S also came out for the evening, which was a great surprise to me since we had not planned anything and she is rarely there in the evening.  She admitted that she had read my blog and knew I was going to be there... so here's your shout out Heather! 

She showed me the photos of her 3D ultrasound.  I had never heard of this before, and boy is it ever interesting!  It looks like someone took photos of her little boy from right inside her stomach.  It is incredible how far along technology has come.

Bentley thoroughly enjoyed his grooming, and with some mood music he dropped his head and stood quietly as I detangled his tail, I think he almost nodded off on me!  Hes coming along so nicely, usually he gets pretty excited in the crossties if I don't hustle and get him tacked up quickly (partly my fault since that's where he gets the most candy!)  Luckily he seems to like staying clean and grooming never takes very long.  I keep saying, once he turns white hes going to just LOVE rolling in poop and mud, it just seems to be the way light coloured horses are.  If you need proof, take a look at this photo of Fraser from last spring:

After I took B back out to his field, he didn't go back to his friends, no he sat by the gate staring at me with big sad eyes.  Was he honestly sad that I didn't put him to work?  Poor guy stayed there watching me as I went back to my car and for I don't know how long after I left.  It may sound silly but I am starting to think he doesn't get enough play from the other horses in the field, and really looks forward to our rides as his release.

Maybe I'm not completely crazy thinking that, come to think about it, I never have to lunge him or walk him anymore before riding. He stands quietly at the mounting block, and doesn't seem to care about girthing.  All signs point to an awesome horse in the works!

Approaching Hurdles without Jumping

Last night had both highs and lows in training.

I will start off with the lows as any good horse person knows to end on a good note.  The hard part about our ride last night, was I was faced with the realization that the fun part of training was over.  Bentley has learned all the basics and for the most part it was easy.  We can go up and down from all 3 gaits plus halt, turn both directions, bend in corners and around circles and in most cases he will respond to leg yield.  So now we have to start refining our gaits and movement and dealing with some training hurdles.  The excitement for picking up the correct lead or halting squarely is not nearly as high as those first moments in the saddle.  Yes last night was WORK.

We have picked up some habits.  Along one side of the ring we veer dramatically into the centre instead of going straight to the corner, but only at the trot, on that one side and only that one direction!  Very frustrating and has been harder to fix than I expected! I found that if I circled in the direction that we veered a few times before we entered the nasty side, getting good bend, he would be more responsive to my leg pushing him toward the outside, but by the time we would lap the entire ring he would forget again.  Looks like we will be doing lots of this in the future!

Also it takes a good 7-8 laps of powerful ground eating, careening around the corners canter before I can get him to calm down, round up, and become balanced.  Good thing is, it is possible!  Still figuring out what cools his jets.  The little girls watching all said "wow you look so good cantering" but that was largely due to the fact he is beautiful to watch, not that we had the best control! 

Lastly, he hates to halt when walking!  We can halt easily from the trot or shortly after trotting, but if we are just walking around the arena for several laps and I ask, he just keeps walking, ears foreword and eager.  Not sure how we got to that point!  But if I trot him and bring him back down, hes happy to halt.  Maybe he is just bored of walking?  I am going to research some dressage exercises which might help our control and see if we can enjoy a good walk as much as a good trot.  He was starting to get silly after a while of trotting without many exercises, so I started alternating posting and sitting and his focus turned around.  Maybe I can find a way to adapt that seat exercise to walk.

Lots of hurdles to clear before we get out on the trails!  Still great progress considering I wasnt expecting to be able to even have a saddle on him by March.

The positive note was we worked for almost an hour and a half, making it our longest and most strenuous work yet.  I haven't really been doing much to condition him, but he seems to have boundless energy and enthusiasm naturally.  After an hour of heavy work (and sweat) I chose to cool him out, but after a few minutes of walking, he was perky again and starting to cause mischief.  So I trotted him for a timed 5 minutes straight working trot before asking him down again and cooled out again.  Well it didn't stop there, after 5 minutes of walking, he picked back up into the trot again (without me asking, grrrr).  If he had the energy to misbehave, he has energy to keep working.  So another timed 5 minute trot was his sentence. 

At that time, he told me he was ready to walk nicely and stay quiet for our coolout.  He seemed to get the picture and behaved nicely at the walk and we did a lot of serpentine, circles and stopping on the buckle.  Finally!  I guess that's the other hurdle I have to get over, stopping when he is ready, not just when I am tired or want to go home.  I need to live up to his expectations as much as he does mine.  I think he knows hes going to be an endurance horse.  Looks like we have a good partnership brewing!

On a side note, I took my car into the dealership to get its routine maintenance, and they made the comment "Do you live on the wrong side of a mud puddle?"  "No, I have a horse"  It all made sense to them then.

Oh and PS, i lied a little about the jumping, he did spook himself once when he tripped and splashed sand up against the boards, scaring him down the diagonal and right to a little crossrail before I really realized it.  A little hesitation then half a jump over it was all it ended up being.

Since he worked so hard, tonight I am just going to go up and spoil him with some nice grooming and snacks.  I think he likes when he is ridden, but I dont want him to start to resent it by working him too hard.  He certainly is a sucker for attention!

Long Weekend = Long post

I didn't get a chance to write much last week, instead I took a long weekend from work and went skiing with Mom.

Friday would have been the first day for me to sleep in since Christmas holiday.  Typically I have to be out the door by 7:30 for both my full time and weekend jobs, so I was very excited to sleep in until 8:00.  Unfortunately, my body and my cat had other plans.  Abbey woke me up at 6, jumping and running over the bed and through the room and for some unthinkable reason I said "You are right, its time to get up and moving!"

I had breakfast and coffee and waited around for sunrise before I decided to head over to the barn to see Bentley.  Nobody was there and since he is still green, I don't ride when it is deserted.  Instead, I gave him a good grooming including a pretty new haircut.  Lee doesn't like it so much, says it makes B look like one of the Three Stooges.  At least he doesn't look scruffy anymore, and I didn't choose to pursue a career in hairdressing.

Skiing came next on Friday.  Mom and I ventured up to Hockley Valley and although there was no snow on the ground, there was acceptable man-made snow on the hills.  Towards the afternoon there were light flurries which made for a festive atmosphere.

This was my first time skiing Hockley Valley, and my 3rd time skiing since.... oh maybe 12 or so years?  Fortunately I have good leg muscles and was able to withstand a day of skiing without too much pain.  The hills themselves were small, but good to get back into my groove.  The hills had lots of kids on them, but most of them stuck to blue hills, meaning the black diamonds were pretty much "our" hills for the day.  The terrain park was forbidden territory for school groups, and we found 2 nice runs off them.  One didn't even have a single ski mark in it until we went through.  I also amused myself with small jumps and wide rails in the park for the first time ever.  No falls, but I did catch my ski on the end of one rail and ended up going down the hill backwards until I was able to reverse snowplow to a stop.  If anyone asks... I meant to do that!

The food was also surprisingly good albeit expensive.  They served fresh organic meats and the salad dressing tasted chef made rather than pre-made.  Very impressed, it seemed like a nicer hill than Glenn Eden, but perhaps if I went on the weekend I would have a different impression, I would be happy to return on a snowier day.  Its right beside a golf course, and due to our bizarre weather, it really felt like we were skiing on a golf course.

Friday night I had my first lesson at Myrddin with Margie.  My friend DJ had brought to my attention a few weeks ago a groupon deal for 4 lessons, so she and I ventured up to Ballinafad to start our set of lessons.  I was partnered with LBH, an off track thoroughbred.  Let me just say... I have never had luck with OTTBs... LBH was no different.  I did have a fall from him (never pleasant for the first time in a new group lesson!)  I guess what happened was as we all cantered, someone ran up his rear and he took off like at the track, with some bucks, some twists and turns and we almost ran into someone.  I was staying pretty well, until one point where i just thought to myself that it was easier to just allow the fall to happen safely rather than try and hold on and risk scaring him or hurting his mouth.  No bruises and my pride is surprisingly unblemished.  We did really well after that, we cantered alone and he was a different horse completely.

We had a jumping lesson after that, the first one I had really since I was a kid.  Lots of things I am doing wrong!  But I think I caught on quick enough and made big improvement in the 4 jump course we did.  Big difference however, was the feel of jumping length stirrups!  I have been riding recently in dressage length, possibly beyond dressage length, so I felt like a little jockey perched up on top of that Thoroughbred!

Not too much to report about Saturday, just worked a long and cranky day (I was a little stiff from my eventful Friday) and went to bed around 7:30pm!

Sunday I had a bit more energy and rode Bentley after I finished work.  He was bad at first, largely due to the company in the ring.  First horse was being lunged because she was acting funny and needed to release some energy.  After she was gone, one of the miniature horses was brought in for the same reason.  Bentley is very scared of miniatures apparently.  Wouldn't even go in the same side of the ring as this large dog sized mare and was very difficult to control.  Deciding it was time for him to conquer his fears, I dismounted and let him up to her.  It took a lot of coaxing and patience, but eventually he stretched his neck out in that terrified Arabian way and smelt her.  He was very relieved that I allowed him away after that event.

After the mare left (not before she kicked her handler Adriana in the hand!) he cooled down in a matter of minutes and was trotting around like a superstar.  Trotted him for almost 15 minutes until he was clearly tired.  For such a fat horse, that's a very impressive jog!  He got naughty again when the girls came in to watch Mallory and Polar's ride, hmmm maybe he remembered Adriana from the miniature pony incident.  Or maybe he just doesn't like an audience.  Either way, once they left he quieted again and gave me a sufficient positive note to end our work on.  Best part of the ride, I was able to take his bridle off over his ears without a single complaint.  Still working on getting it on easily, but getting it off is a good start!

Crazy Canter

Last night we worked in the lower arena.  Bentley never behaves in the lower (large) arena and has almost gotten me off a few times there, but we have slowly been working it back into our comfort zone.

My theory has always been that the shadows confuse and/or scare him since the lighting is very different than in the happy upper arena.

We started out walking around and just getting him to pay attention to me.  Halts were almost impossible and would take us 50% of the perimeter of the ring to complete for the longest time.  As he settled, I started giving him a longer rein which I think actually helped our halts.  We have been working with the Nurtural bridle and I have been figuring out what signals work best.  He doesn't seem to notice when I keep a tight rein and then try and halt, as much as if i just let him motor off at a lightning walk and then ask for the halt gently.  I am going to work more at getting him to slow with my other aids.  So far this is working but he still gets distracted in that scary ring sometimes and the long rein doesn't do it.  We will just keep trying!

Eventually we were able to calmly trot around the ring, circle and serpentine, trotted nicely for almost 10 mins straight.  Best he had ever done in that arena.  So it was time to try cantering.  First lap around, the Silver Bronc came to the surface and we bucked all the way down the long side of the arena.  Lee wasn't pleased watching from the ground, but my thoughts were "hey we are going straight and forward!"  and all I could do was laugh at his antics.  Saddle ended up right on the shoulders, so we adjusted, got back up and tried again. I never let him get away with tantrums!

This time around there was no bucking, he has a very easy tell when its going to happen and I was careful to let him know it wasnt going to be tolerated.  Perhaps the funniest part however was his "race" with his shadow.  Every long side, his shadow would stretch in front of him, he would focus on it so intently and I would feel him really digging in, trying to race past it.  A couple of the times I am sure we were at full gallop in the arena.  Lots of fun, but unacceptable in the indoor haha.  Eventually he cooled his jets (I started doing large circles instead of the track to keep him from racing) and with a lap of nice cantering we called it a night.

I dont think I even tired him out, he was all excited in the crossties as we were untacking and pestered me for treats.  Hes going to make one great endurance horse!

Here are some pictures from the other day!

Weekend Sunshine

What a beautiful weekend we had for the beginning of February.  It wasn't just free of snow, and wasn't just warm, it actually FELT like spring.  The smell was that of a crisp spring morning, the birds were chirping, and the wind just had that right feel to it. Of course, I had to take advantage of that!

Fortunately for me, the owner of the horses that I spend my weekends picking up after wasn't riding, so on Saturday, I got to spend some daylight with Bentley.  Something that hasn't happened in weeks!  Maybe even since I first got him.

Sadly, we aren't comfortable riding outside yet and rode in the arena instead.  We had the easiest time yet putting his bridle on.  He has been very ear shy since i got him and most days bridling him seems like a wrestling match, but it was almost perfect!  Next we did slow work in the ring as we were sharing with a young lesson.  I am very proud to say that bentley is now able to distinguish the difference between leg yielding (does it both ways!) and my leg pressure for bending around circles.  Didn't try it in any of the upper gaits yet, too nervous to undo all the good work!  His trot was so calm and slow too, he was vibing off of Polar (pony) and was possibly the calmest I have ever seen him under saddle.

I hand walked him in the outdoor sand ring after his beautiful performance.  He was still very excited that he could see and talk to all of his friends, it wasn't easy to get him to do much of anything I asked.  Oh well it will just take some patience!  Hopefully we can get lots of outdoor work in time to hit the trails come real spring.

I brought my camera out to the field after and took some pictures of him and his friends in the sunlight, i need more for my desktop background at work!  He was so cute and affectionate, always coming up and snuggling with me.  Made it hard to get back far enough to get a decent shot!  He seems to like eating things these days and took a good nip at my camera and walked off with one of my gloves (i wasn't wearing it, fingers are ok!)  I felt bad leaving him, the other horses don't seem to like to play with him and just ignore his attempts to start game.  We miss Fraser!

I will post the pictures another time, I'm at work and don't have them right now.  But I did get that canter video uploaded.  Here it is!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqZiiMb9J7w&list=UUR5V9czRYbC1UYNzYIjWhRQ&index=1&feature=plcp

That's it for today!

Out past 9

Had a wonderful dinner last night with Sheena, Erin, and their friends Kate, Acey and Adrianne who I had the pleasure of meeting for the first time.

Went to Boiler House in the Distillery District.  My favourite district of Toronto, and probably the place I visit most frequently.  I think it came as a surprise to the girls that the only one who knew how to get there (me) was the only one who didnt live in town.  Haha. If you have never been... GO... NOW!

While I love everywhere in the DD, Boiler House has become my favourite indulgence.  Yes its expensive, and the portions are like those you see on TV for fancy restaurants - seemingly small, but when you take the time to enjoy your company and laugh through your whole meal, its more than plenty!  This place really brings the emphasis away from the "im hungry lets eat" mentality of going out and lets you just have those special moments that we all need.

We had the benefit of the Winterlicious menu which kept things a little cheaper, but the wine did me in!  They have a very extensive wine list in case you needed a little extra motivation ;) 

Get out and enjoy winterlicious if you are near the city, itss a great way to try something new on a dreary day.

-Sarah

2nd post... im on a roll!

So far so good with daily blogging ;)

I rode again yesterday, but that wasnt the big change at the barn.  Lets give this a bit of back story before the big news. I had bought a saddle with all the trimmings in the parking lot of our local Tim Hortons yesterday.  Hmm, come to think about it all sorts of "trades" seem to go on there, yet wondering eyes still looked at me funny as I moved saddle from one trunk to another.  Anyways, it had everything but a girth, so when I arrived at the barn, I immediately started searching for the girth that always seems to be floating around and nobody seems to know who it belongs to.  Looking on top and around all the tack lockers, something didnt seem right, a saddle and rack was missing... for a very important horse. I looked in the locker associated with it... empty. I think I know what happened.

After I had brought B in, Laura greeted me and confirmed my suspicions.  Fraser was gone.  Packed up for a 7.5 hour trailer ride just that day.  I had known he was for sale and had been actively searching for a new home for him, but I had always assumed he would stay close or end up with friends.  It was disappointing to not be able to say goodbye to him. It was still very shocking.  I will miss him deeply and really hope that he has gone to a great home.

Fraser and I shared a lot of good memories. I had been riding him off and on for a year and in that time he taught me about gaited horses and boosted my confidence after so many years out of the saddle, and I taught him to jump (even got up to 2'6" oxer! Not bad for a couple of oddballs).  We competed and happily placed last in almost all our schooling shows (no... rocky mountain horses dont make good hunters) We rode countless trails and bounded over logs and streams.   And a good part of all that was done bareback.  We even dressed up for halloween and made one hell of a "Black Tie Affair" couple after scooting around the ring pole bending, barrel racing and jumping.  I tell you, that horse looks damn good in a top hat and bow tie.  I know he will make his new human partner the happiest rider alive.

Sorry B, you gotta earn your stripes before you get a post like this!

First post!

Well I figured its about time I start a blog.  I decided to call it "Someone Like Me" (cue that line in Kings of Leon's Use Somebody)because I don't want to have a theme or restrictions to what I write.  I want to use this as a way to share what is going on in my life to friends and family as well as reflect and keep track of what I have done or just simple musings.  If you are a stranger here, welcome!  I am happy to share my experiences with you too if you are someone like me. 

It will largely be about me and my horse as I train him.  I am also hoping to write about all the other things I love... food, music, photography, nature.  Whatever I feel like.

So as I mentioned before, I will probably end up talking a lot about my horse and that's how I intend to start things out.  For those who do not know me or have been following my progress, I bought a 3.5 year old Arab x Trakehner at the beginning of December.  He was unbroke and very nervous at the time (could barely even pet him, he would flinch!) and I kind of expected he wouldn't be ready to ride until spring.  Well he proved he just wanted some attention and became so easy to train!  This is the first horse I am training from square one, so sometimes he trains me instead (when I am willing to listen haha).  Could very well be the most open relationship I have had with a horse when it comes to communication, its very neat.  Ok non-horsey people you can stop laughing now at how I describe us.  No hes not my boyfriend haha.

Anyways, under 2 months now and we attempted our first canter last night.  I wont bore you with everything that led up to this point, but it was a huge step for us!  I have been riding him in a nurtural bridle (http://www.nurturalhorse.com/buyBitlessBridle/index.shtml) and a treeless saddle for only about 2-3 weeks.  I wasn't expecting anything easy as he LOVES to trot and when I am working with him on the ground it takes a lot of work to get him out of a trot, but he got it almost immediately and with enthusiasm!  The arena is so small, we had difficulty with our turns as we were pretty speedy at first, but once he figured out he had done the right thing and I determined I could try and collect him without going back to the trot, he became very relaxed and more like a rocking horse, using his back end easier and accepting my leg and we got a full lap of the ring.  Here is the video! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7rDpCPQces&feature=plcp&context=C36c8b73UDOEgsToPDskKPXTTAO5zca25eQvc8XVUU

We also cantered the other direction as well, but no video of that.  Just as good, but again, we have difficulty making our turns at first.  We will work on this as we settle into our rhythm!  I didn't want to pull too much on his head or use too much leg to have him start confusing the signals, I was just happy to get transitions correct!

Its a very incredible feeling to feel your horse canter for the first time under you.  I suspect its something like hearing your child's voice for the first time.  You know and love the creature and you spend so much time looking forward to the day when they take that big step, but have no clue what the outcome will be.  You can kind of see into their personality once you feel their movement and it becomes a very tight bond.  Very sappy, but thats what I feel!

You cant wipe the smile off my face :)

-Sarah

Whoops Lee uploaded the wrong video, thats just us trotting.  Canter video will come soon.