It's like the first day of middle school

I have butterflies about tomorrow! Tomorrow is really the first time that someone outside of the family (read: a stranger) has ever coached/evaluated Granite under saddle. I'd say its like the first day of kindergarten jitters, but I think it's worse. It's like Granite is going to middle school after being home schooled all of his life. Not only will this woman tell me what she thinks about my horse, but she can also tell me that all the work I have done with him hurt him and didn't help him.

Also, I have so many questions. We haven't had any pre-lesson chat. Does she like her students to ride in breeches or jeans? Should I carry a crop or use my spurs, or nothing? If a crop, does she like a bat or a dressage whip like Jen preferred us to use. Should I use the flash bridle I've been riding in, or switch out to a plain noseband? Bah. I know I am overthinking it, but I want to make a good impression. I don't want her to think that I've never had any formal instruction, but I also want her to know that I am open to guidance (assuming I like her and agree with her philosophy).

Anyhoo, I guess all I can do is go out there and be honest about Granite and myself and hope that she will end up making a good addition to our team! Plus, I think the pre-show jitters are part of what I used to love about competing. This is sort of the same, just cheaper, so I'll take it!

I went to visit the boy tonight after work. It was just getting dark but the moon was high and almost full and they sky was clear, so I ran a brush over the filthy thing and picked his hooves then threw my helmet and his bridle on and hurried out to the arena for a little bareback ride. It was nice. It hurt my back like no tomorrow. But he was cooperative and we even cantered some (have you seen his canter? phew. I may be sore tomorrow). It was a nice way to unwind at the end of the week.

Let there be photos... 1st ride of 2012

Well, good news. TK got a camera for Christmas. Considering the Mr. Gran Man has personally broken 2 cameras and my purse did Tyler's previous one in, it was much needed. I even dragged his butt out to the barn on Monday to take a few photos!

Nothing too impressive, but here are some photos!

I've found that lunging with sidereins for about 15 minutes before my ride helps 

Granite to warm up and work the kinks out before I get on and we just get in an argument.

It's mildly depressing to see how quiet he goes in the sidereins verses reins in my hands. 

I guess my hands are not nearly as quiet as I would like to believe. 

 Lazy, sweet boy. 

It was a less than mediocre ride, but I can't blame poor Granite. Between the holidays, traveling, 

and the lack of sunlight, lights, or an indoor, he was only ridden about 4 times in December. 

 Barn Owner's husband did give me a Christmas present... JUMPS! He had a bunch stashed in the barn loft and a few weeks ago he asked if I would like some... uh, YEAH!

Lesson is Saturday... nervous and so excited! Because the trainer is at our barn at least twice a week and has barn-sat for our Barn Owner a few time, she knows Granite and rumor has it that she can't wait to see him go and to get on him. I just hope she isn't sorely disappointed. 

Really Granite?

Oh boy oh boy. They keep telling me he won't be grown until he's 7... but I'm starting to wonder when "silly baby horse" translates into "mildly mentally handicapped" grown horse!

He lost a belly strap on his Wug, so I dropped it off with a friend to repair. And then we had the coldest night of the year. Our Saintly barn owner volunteered an ancient wool blanket that is too big for any of her horses (and consequently STILL too small for the big grey guy). And on night 1 of borrowing it.... well, you see what happened. SIGH. I should buy stock in blankets (and leg wraps) as many as this horse manages to destroy.

In other news. We have our FIRST lesson with a new trainer, Heather, on Saturday. We STILL love Jen the best, but now that Granite and I have moved, we are just too far away! So Jen is our go-to on speed-dial person to call for advice, and I will try to take at least 1 lesson a month this year with Heather (see my updated goals tab above). Heather is our Barn Owner (and other 2 boarders') trainer. I know very little about her except that they love her and she has a couple good reviews floating around on Google. She seems to be excited about working with Granite and I. And I am excited to get some perspective on his potential and aptitude now that hes a bit older. You never know, she may tell me that he will NEVER be able to jump his way out of a wet paper bag and that we should really invest in a dressage saddle. I'm open to anything actually.

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and are geared up for an exceptional 2012. 

Warm and Cozy

Did I mention that we found an amazing barn (dare I say it because I'm always afraid to jinx it). We have been so happy. The 10 stall barn is home to a 41 year old Arabian, a donkey, a hackney pony, a QH pony, a regular sized QH, a paint, and my Hanoverian/QH/TB mutt :) Its a lovely motley crew. 

Our BO texted me tonight to ask if I could put Granite's blanket on because it was going to be under freezing and she was stuck 2 hours away at her daughters house with a very sick grand-baby. Of course I'll put my own horses blanket on! And... um, I will totally do the evening barn chores, duh. 

It was really nice. The quiet barn and the horses muching their hay. I can't even hear the traffic out there, and the moon was beautiful. I loved the opportunity to really think about how much I love that barn and the feeling of leaving all the kids warm and safe in their stalls on a chilly night.

To Be Continued... promise!

Granite says "Don't forget about ME!"

Well, actually he says "I am sleepy!...yawn."

But regardless of  Granite's dialogue, I say, "we'll be blogging again soon!"

Granite moved to his current casa on August 1st. He LOVES his 14x12 matted stall that opens to his paddock and 8 acres of pasture. He likes his herd. He loves his barn owner and so do I. We are happy.

Some soundness issues had me out of the saddle for about three weeks last month and had the vet out to visit 3 times. But now we are back on track and feeling good. 

We recruited a former fellow boarder who is a senior at the college in our town (oh those were the days) to ride him once a week. Letting go was a bit tough, but she's good and he needs miles. It was a great choice.

G is primarily working on transitions and using his booty. We are hoping to get out on the trail some this winter with our Barn Owner and fabulous trail blazing friends (with trailers...trailers are key). I'm hoping the concentrated efforts in the schooling ring and the experiences of the great wide open (or the local county park) will make for a well-rounded pony ready for a schooling show debut next season... 2012, here we come!

Yesterday TK and I signed a lease on a (large) one bedroom apartment in the town where we both work and Granite lives. We are sad about leaving the city we currently live in (mainly the friends we have in it-- PS EVA MOVED THERE AND NOW I'M LEAVING!) but are excited to no longer be commuters (10-15 min to the barn or work from the new place! bohyah!). We officially move November 19th. And if I move again in the next three years, I will probably freak out. Me or the horse... no more moving! 

TK has had a busy and difficult time adjusting to his new job and coaching football. But, football season ended yesterday (with a 1-10 record, ouch) and now, maybe I will have some photos to make this blog worth of being blogged upon again since I can drag him and Daphne to the barn with me.

That being said, no commuting = 1 hour and 20 minutes more time in my life to make room for our blog again.

See you soon!

On the Road Again...

Yes, we are moving again. Saturday will be moving day. Becky has been too busy between the heat and her other clients to work with Granite (saaaaad face) and as she mentioned when she took us in while we looked for a new barn, she is over crowded and Granite couldn’t stay for long. Fortunately the barn I mentioned in my last post had room for us and was willing to take us in this weekend.

They drove by Granite’s current barn this weekend and didn’t stop by but noticed Granite (the only Grey) demanding attention from a group of children who had reached over the fence abutting the road. She seemed pleased that Granite was an obviously friendly horse. She did ask to Becky’s contact info and if she could call her to learn more about Granite and his daily routine. She also emailed me about ten questions regarding his routine, his preferences, our training and goals. This is a first for me. It makes me nervous like she may not like my answers and may tell us no we can’t come board there, but it also makes me excited that she cares and wants to know these things. Most barns tell you how they do it and you just conform. She seems to want to accommodate him as much as possible (which makes me happy and makes up for any lack of facilities—hot water, arena, jumps, washstall, in-barn restroom).

Shes going to email me her barn rules and boarding agreement soon. I’m also nervous about them although I don’t know why. I like to think I am a concerned, yet easy going boarder. I don’t get to be involved as much as I’d like, so I demand a lot of communication. BUT I am pretty understanding that horses get scratched and that barn owners have lives. I try to be tidy and I try to help when I am available. So hopefully things will work out. My last experience has me really jumpy. The location is great though and all signs point to her being attentive yet not crazy.

TK has orientation for his new job tomorrow and he starts coaching football at a new school (in the district where he will be teaching elementary school) tomorrow. So cross your fingers that that goes well for him. Now we just have to count down until when we get to move close to our jobs and my horse J

In other news, I got to go home and visit my family this weekend. I wish I could teleport and they weren’t 5 hours away. They are the best people ever and I just don’t see them enough. I got to see my best friend Eva too (shes back home with her family until she finds a big-girl-job). We neeeed a girls weekend. Shes on the job hunt and I’m just praying she ends up near me. Ideally, her horse is at the barn with Granite and we buy a trailer together and we all live happily ever after…. But I’ll accept her being within commute-for-a-dinner distance.

I appreciate all of your kind comments on my last post. I haven’t been on Granite yet, but I hope that after moving and him settling in, we can really get back to work. Hopefully I will see him more and we’ll be in a supportive atmosphere and we can just continue forward in yet another chapter in our relationship J Here’s to hoping!

Burn Out

So, it’s been over a month since I’ve updated you. My father chided me on the phone Monday night for leaving my readers hanging. I said “but dad, no one wants to hear the bad parts” but he told me you all deserved a run-down of events (and depressing ramblings) regardless.

I figured I would utilize my lunch break today to check-out of work for moment and to take the opportunity to reunite with my blogger-friends.

Through most of June I had been doing a good job of riding about 4 days a week and sometimes even seeing Granite more often than that. Unfortunately, none of my rides had been much fun. Granite is completely distracted by ANYTHING that takes place anywhere on the premises. He was spooking at things he has seen 100 times and at one point when he took off and almost careened into a fence, for the first time I felt scared on board my horse. That is not a feeling that I welcome. I am a self-proclaimed timid rider (you will NOT see me ever riding cross-country…no no no!) and its been so wonderful to have felt confident on my 3 year old during his whole first year under saddle. He may not have been perfect, but he was always level headed and honest. That’s all I ask. But that was the highlight of a downward spiral for us in June.

I like to think Granite hasn’t just jumped into the looney bin. There had to be factors contributing to his behavior. I think I can name a few. He was moved into a solitary pasture and his stall-mate moved into the “big” barn so he literally never got to touch the nose of another horse. He is an extremely social boy and he plays with others to the point of their annoyance. If you get him with another social horse, they play for hours on end. Taking all of that stimulation away from him was a lot and I think when I took him out, he has so much pent up anxiety (herd animals don’t rest well when alone either since no one is there to stand watch while they lay down). It was also very hot and he wasn’t getting to come in much at all. This normally would be fine with me since I prefer him being out 24/7 anyway, but it was HOT and there was no shelter in his pasture/ Some trees that provided an amount of shade, but no shelter from the elements. I don’t think these factors completely resulted in his behavior issues under saddle, but I think they compounded a big, strong 4 year old already trying to test his limits.

I realized that my problems with him undersaddle had not gotten any better in a month and I clearly was hitting a wall and with my confidence waning, I was not going to prevail. So, I called Becky. And I begged. She told me her barn was jam packed, but she would make room for us for a temporary training situation. If she can work through some of his bending, collecting, straightness, suppleness issues, then I can hopefully regain the positive tract we had been on late this winter into early spring.

So, although I felt guilty doing so, I gave the barn manager about 6 hours notice (it was the 1^st of the month when I found out Becky could take him and I had no contract… so, who wants to worry about prorates?) and got Granite (and all of our stuff) out and on the road back to Becky’s barn. Her barn is 1 hour away from my office then 25 minutes back to my house which makes it difficult to see my horse much, but I knew it would be worth it for at least a month to let him decompress, get his head on straight, then have some tuning up with his Kindergarten Teacher. My horse was a different horse the day after he arrived at Becky’s. He was my dead-head, easy going, lazy boy again! Its like he kept thanking me. He went back into his huge pasture with 4 friends and he loved every moment.

I’m hoping Becky has some time in the saddle with him in the coming weeks. Now that we are past having lost THREE shoes in one shoeing cycle and the temps in the triple-digits, I think she will be able to concentrate on getting him back on the right track. At least I hope so.

All of the drama and the issues with Granite had really caused me some burn out. I was dreading going to the barn where I was constantly worried about Granite not being happy or safe. He was a terror to ride and I never looked forward to THAT after a long day at work. I was spending money and time right and left on extra farrier and emergency vet farm calls.

The events of late spring/ early summer completely shot my motivation and eagerness to be with my horse, at the barn, or even thinking about equines. It’s happened to me before (after a few years of showing heavily and being disappointed with a 2^nd or 3^rd place). I don’t know if “normal” horse people get to the point where they question being horse people. I start to think, I could be looking into buying a home (or at least a new car) if I didn’t have the horse. Yes, I could go visit my friend in Denver if I didn’t have the horse. Sure, I could have more time for my friends if I wasn’t juggling my whole life plus the horse. Maybe having a horse, being a public servant who plans to marry a school teacher is unreasonable…maybe its selfish. I know that I will never have the means to compete on any recognized level or with any regularity. Should I even own this lovely, large, talented warmblood… if we will never have the opportunity to really BE anything? These are the thoughts I start to think and when I know I’ve burnt myself out. Maybe they are legitimate thoughts, maybe I’m just in a equine-slump.

I know I would be lost without horses. I know I have committed to Granite. But at this juncture in my life, when I don’t see him I feel guilty and when I do go see him, it’s mostly out of obligation. That’s never fun, and I spent a lot of time and money on that horse because its my passion. It should be a reward for me (for the most part) to get to see my horse or ride or to even have him in my life. I have to take this opportunity to re-evaluate.

So while Granite is at training, I’m trying to take some time away. Yes, I still go see him 3-4 times a week. But I’ve only been on his back 1 time (bareback for about 15min) in the last three weeks. I’m trying to remove the guilt when I don’t make time for him by saying “he’s in training, he doesn’t need me right now.” I’m training for a ½ marathon in November, and while I’ll probably never do another one, I want to make training for this goal a priority. I want to readjust to what it is that I love about my horse and I want him to be able to be a horse and be happy. I hope to road trip with my best friend to a 3-day event in the next couple of months. I know not having any "barn friends" has a lot to do with it. Growing up, I always had my best friend to ride with and I looked forward to the camaraderie as much as I did the horses. Now its just me and G for the most part and I think just talking about horses and goals and riding will help me remember why invigorates me about it all. 

In the meantime, I’m looking for a barn next to my office (so I can see him on my lunch if necessary, or every day for a few minutes at least when I don’t have time to ride). I think I’ve found a place. Its definitely not fancy, but its in my price range, he would have a stall but it opens to the pasture and he can choose when he is in or out. The owner lives on site and she seemed really open to me having my own farrier/trainer/vet if I wanted. She can feed and hold for me. Theres no wash stall or hot water and the “arena” is just an area of the pasture marked off for riding. But I think being able to have a good relationship with the owner and her being willing to work to achieve a situation Granite is happiest in may overcome the physical facilities. Her horses (6 of them) were in good shape and she has a 40 yr old Arabian on site (I like the longevity). I’ve asked if I can put a deposit down to hold the spot until Granite is done with training (a few weeks). I’m awaiting a returned call on that. She is located 4 miles from some awesome trails and she says she likes to go to the occasional local fun show. Maybe for now, maybe even for always I should work toward trail rides and fun shows. Maybe I even look into getting a college student to catch-ride Granite 1-2 times a week so I won’t feel guilty when I need to spend the evening running, or with friends, or with TK. Maybe someone with the time and money for shows (and no horse for whatever reason) takes Granite to the level he deserves to be at, and I support them all the way?? Thoughts. 

Speaking of TK…. He got a JOB J 17 minutes from MY JOB! And 3 miles from the aforementioned barn. When our lease is up in December, we will be moving one county east. I will cease commuting and will begin living, working, and riding in the same area!!! Hopefully not spending hours of every day in the car will help me to relax and enjoy riding again.

Sorry for the depressingness--- see Daddy, I told you they didn’t want to hear my complaints.

Hope everyone out there is well. I AM keeping up with your blogs J