Equine First Aid

Amber has an abscess that just ruptured and a puncture wound just below her stifle that is now infected. Prognosis is excellent but I spent more time medicating my horse than riding!

My "Winglish" Horse

I took one step towards the dark side and introduced Amber to pole bending. We've been working on bending in circles so we are taking on a new challenge.

Amber does excellent flying lead changes, the most challenging part was getting the right speed to weave between the poles. We only got through the pattern once going one way and we missed a pole which is automatic disqualification. Like most western events pole bending is all about speed and less about form - although good form leads to better times.

I haven't seen anybody try to convert an OTTB into a western horse. Amber is still very English but she might be able to be a western/english hybrid - a "winglish" horse.

Daddy's Blood

I'm tired but I just wanted to remark that Amber's "little bro" Debussy won the Arlington Million today. The Million is one of America's premier grass races. Although half siblings are technically on the female side, I still think it's cool that they share the same father!

Field Buddies

Miran Farm is a place where English and Western riders coexist peacefully. I encountered one of the rare "conflicts" Wednesday evening - the ropers had taken over the indoor ring! This is not normally a conflict because a) it happens every Wednesday b) I can ride in the outdoor ring. Yet again, the weather was against me and turned the outdoor ring into a muddy slip n' slide. And rather than wait an hour to use the indoor, I opted to ride in the big field.

We started out rather well. Amber tried to bolt through the gate into the field but I held onto the reins. Eventually she stood still enough so I could get on. I was reluctant to go any faster than a walk since it had been raining off and on all day. Mind you, the field is huge and when we got to the far end, Amber decided she was lonely and started whinnying for her buddies. Monty was the first to respond to the damsel in distress and he cantered all the way over from the other side to join us. Then Gunner came trotting at full speed. For those not familiar with Gunner, he doesn't have a "full speed." All of a sudden EVERYBODY was there and it was like I didn't exist. Amber didn't really want to do anything. Too much for the thoroughbred brain to handle. We did canter up the big hill, but after that she kept trying to wheel take off. I still wonder what that would be like....

Photo: herd buddies Sunshine and Lily

Saddle Happy

I made my first serious purchase as a "horse person" this weekend - a beautiful used/loved Smith-Worthington saddle. It has the long flaps for my long legs and is a medium gullet - although medium-narrow fits Amber better. But for the awesomely cheap price, I couldn't let it go!

Amber is starting to really learn to bend and to move off of my leg. In our lesson on Saturday we worked on lateral movement and being able to bend in small circles at the canter. It was a fairly exhausting exercise just going one way but then we had to do it again on the other lead! We are so far removed from the "racing days" when Amber just wanted to go fast. I would be exhausted after just ten minutes.

Our jumping still needs work. I feel like we can't quite get the rhythm down. The first time through the grid I was holding her back so much I forgot to release over the jump. So the next couple times I over compensated and did the automatic/extended release instead of the crest release. Did I mention it was only a 12" jump?

Circling in Ovals

Wow, it's been over a week since I posted! I hope to add some more pictures over the weekend and maybe a video clip if all goes well.

We had a nice trail ride Monday night. I now know where the secret jumping log is in the woods. I will have to go back and visit that section of the trail soon. My plans for "hilltopping" tonight were stymied by the amazing downpour. Had I gotten out to the barn 30 minutes sooner, I would have made it. Instead we did work in the indoor - figure eights, circles. Actually the circles were more like ovals. Bending at any speed above a walk produces an oval rather than a circle. She was also rather eager tonight. There were only two days between the last time I rode her and tonight. Amber is one of those horses that really can't be ridden too much. And she is getting a belly.

Cantering on the correct leads was less of a struggle for her anyway. I almost lost my balance while I was checking to see if she was on the correct lead. Instead, I lost my stirrup but managed to stay on. Yee haw! In the next six weeks I would like to see if I can teach her to go from a walk to a canter. I feel tired just thinking about it. She seems to be able to sense when I am about to ask her - probably because she's figured out the general routine of our rides.

Show Time!!

Great day at Frying Pan Farm! Awesome day if you were under the age of 12 since that seemed to be the age cohort taking all the ribbons. I want to see those kiddos ride the same way on Amber. Guaranteed she would not make it easy for them. We saw a couple of incidents where ponies got the better of their riders. In the class prior to mine one kiddo used her crop a time too many and found herself sitting in the dirt with her pony racing around the ring. In a couple of my classes there was a girl riding a horse that was oversized for her and she couldn't seem to keep him in a trot. He would be cantering long after we were asked to walk.

Enough about everyone else. Amber and I did 3 pleasure classes (one division). The first class I totally screwed up. Screwed up as in posted on the wrong diagonal for eight strides. It never fails. I only post on the wrong diagonal in shows. The second class was walk, trot, and "go as you please" meaning the rider has the choice of trotting or cantering. I opted to trot in this class and I thought we did fairly well. At one point we got kind of squeezed and Amber stalled out almost into a walk, but I thought we deserved a ribbon in that class. However due to the subjective nature of pleasure classes, if you don't ribbon in the first class you're pretty much screwed in your whole division. I had some hope for the third class since we hadn't unleashed the stellar canter however Amber was determined to canter on the right lead going both directions so we were out of contention pretty quickly.

Except for a few major mistakes, a good experience overall. I think it may have been the best we've done in a show. The Frying Pan Farm series are Virginia Horse Show Association Shows so they bring out a lot of people going after points not training horses.

Photos: major props to Stephen Reasonover, one of my non-horsey friends who made it out to take photos.

By Timber Hitch, on Being Lucky

I am a lucky.

• I have a home.
  
• I am about to have a mommy who loves me more than any other horse. And I also have mommy's friends who love on me too.
• I get unlimited access to grass in a ginormous field.
• I have multiple geldings who adore me and are at my disposal.
• I can boss around other horses.
  
• I am a mare so I am entitled to be bitchy on occasion and it is tolerated.
• Mommy is patient enough to put up with my crap.
  
• I no longer race for a living but I can live for racing if I choose.
• The only baby in sight was foaled by another mare.
• I do work on occasion, but it is preceded by a nice grooming and followed by a cool bath.
• I live, I breathe, I eat, I run. I am a HORSE!