The Great Kick To The Thigh Synopsis and How Monica Almost Died But Not Really

I realize I basically dropped off the face of the blogging earth for a bit, but I needed my week-ish to sulk and be grumpy. (PMS so so wonderfully hit me full tilt right after my injury so I was a ball of human raw emotion for a few days) I netflixed almost 24 hours a day and cried into my pillow of shame.

Okay. I didn't cry. But I did sulk. Heavily.

I'm over it now and my leg feels A LOT better. By leaps and bounds actually. I can bend my knee and now walk without looking like a fat crippled penguin and I CAN GO UP AND DOWN STAIRS. Its a Christmas miracle. My friends are champions and helped me with chores & riding the Yankee horsebeast a little bit for me.

Looking majestic in the 6:30 AM fog

So steady.

Mostly though they're all sitting around getting FAT. Which I am 100% OK with. Yankee literally is a chunk. You can't even feel his ribs anymore and B has put on about 80lbs this month. I WISH I had taken a better "starting confo" pic. I lunged B a few times but he's too hyper and green for me to lunge at the moment.

Translation: Wild bebe OTTB is feeling his oats and his 2 weeks off and mommy can't hang on to a lunge line while balancing on one leg while he attempts to destroy mommy and her resolve.

I've had a significant amount of time with my grumpy pants on this week and took to trolling the internet and doing things that don't require walking. Like, finding homemade fly sprays and looking at tack I cant and don't need/can't afford. BUT I WANT AN OGILVY OKAY.

I resented for a bit telling the world who kicked me. Because it was none of their business and everyone on the internet has their own opinion about everything and I didn't want to hear it.

Now that I am in a better mood though and don't really care what anyone thinks, prepare yourselves for "The Great Kick To The Thigh Synopsis and How Monica Almost Died But Not Really"

It all started one day after a fierce four days of solid rain. My boarder and I wanted to hack out down the road since our lovely field arena was flooded.

In a twist of fate, we were running late (gotta beat the sun and bugs) and I was in a hurry to get to an appointment.

I grabbed some brushing boots and a body brush, and stupidly and complacently rushed into
Bacardi's stall.

Cue normal baby OTTB response.

He reared, quite magnificently, as I bent down to put his boot on. My mind still hadn't registered that a giant Thoroughbred was above me thrashing wildy at the monster that was his dumb human crouching like I was to attack and eat him. My bad B, my bad. As my tiny imbecile brain realized what was happening .5 seconds later, I made an awkward, seal-like movement to get out of the way and ended up falling backwards in a crouch, folded, like a tortilla over my feet. try to imagine it.

My life quite literally flashed, as I say him attempt to not step on me. And then he came down right on top of my thigh.

Full force, all of his weight. On my leg.

I immediately thought I had died because my vision went black and I felt like I had been shot with a cannon.

Turns out, it was just my muscles shearing in half from the intense force that a sharp baby hoof put on it.

As I slowly regained my vision ( I apparently screamed because my boarder came crashing into the stall while I tried to tell him NO DONT SCARE HIM AGAIN but it came out more like nuuuhhhhhhh, hubbb heeeeeeeeeem) and laid there on the ground. Trying to regain composure and GTFO of the stall. But I couldn't make my legs move. I was pretty sure I had broken my back.

Nah, I hadn't but trust me, the pain and adrenaline coursing through me assured me that I was indeed, dying a painful slow death.

I later learned that my legs, back, neck, arms, teeth and face had not been broken. But I did tear several muscle strands in my thigh. Before the hematoma  settled in, there was a disgusting indented hole in my muscle. It was gross. In a cool way.

So there I sat, with a nasty bruise and giant swollen leg, unable to move, really anything, without jarring the shit out of my leg.

So that was painful and scary.

Lesson here kids: Don't get complacent with ANY horse. You never know. Bacardi is a very good baby, and I forget he is STILL a baby. A spooky one at times. It was 100% MY fault and I was an idiot to rush at any horse from behind with boots in my hands. I. Am, an idiot.

So, yeah. That's my overly dramatic retelling. But that's what it felt like. Flash of legs. Flash of life. Cannon. Body shattering. Crying, dying. Realizing mostly fine. 7 Steps. Healing. And now I'm fine.

Sort of.

Still can't ride.

COME ON

I was going to blog about my past few AMAZING rides but I have lost all motivation to be positive.

I got a comment on my last post to stop complaining, but sometimes people get upset and vent frustrations...my blog is where I do that on occasion. If ya'll don't like it then just dont read! But I have been and always will be sarcastic and snarky about most situations.

And something rather devastating happened this morning so brace yourselves for a few months of me being REALLY frustrated.

I got kicked.....HARD.

I am injured...pretty badly.

Tore my thigh muscle real good. Can't bend my knee....and thus, ride. Or work out.

For about 2-3 months.

Will I heed these instructions? Most likely not.

(I'll probably get fat again. And be real sad I can't show this season.)

I just got B and want to keep him in work (hello lunging and bareback rides) AND my friends mare arrived for training yesterday.

What fucking horrendous timing.

I swear to god my life is full of moments of excellence to lull me into happiness then shits on me, haha.

Granted, it wasn't my HEAD or knee and I didn't break anything, but a tear is pretty serious. You can literally stick your finger in the hole in my leg...its gross. And apparently my leg is going to fill up with blood and get a really hard lump and just be gross and bruised.

So, with GOOD reason, I am real upset today about life.

Here's a pic from my last flat ride and of my beautiful boys because why not

I am going to try my best to stay positive, but COME ON life, WHY. Everything was going great.

Motivate Me

I'm finding it increasingly difficult to ride 2 horses a day with the onslaught of intense humidity and rising temperatures. (strangely enough, the day the following pics were taken it was 45* at 7am and I was frozen. SUMMER WTF)

I know the easiest solution is just get up earlier, but my body went from working 70 hours a week, to nothing at all and has taken a drastic change in course when it comes to sleep patterns. Meaning I can't fall asleep till like 3 am, and cannot force myself to wake up before 830. I need to reverse this stat before I get in too deep.

That aside, I've put in some good work with the ponies ( riding every other day or so) even with the jank ass footing. It didn't stop raining for a week so we did a lot of hill/road work which is actually beneficial. Once the "arena" dried we did a bit more real dressage work with circles, transitions and change of directions for B, and 3rd stuff for The Yankee. Sadly, we have yet to get any Yankee video but I do have some cool pics of Bacardi.

This 'lil' man truly puts in work everytime I get on him. Gives 110% every ride, every time. He never quits. Even when he's frustrated or confused he keeps truckin'. Fabulously too, I can't get over his natural gaits.

Is this horse really five years old? No, he can't be.

Granted that is his good direction (right lead canter is a HOT mess), but can we please appreciate his understanding of inside leg to outside rein already?

Yes that would be an open inside rein and him still on the contact <3 br="">

He's way more consistent to the left, which is expected, but when he's on, he is ON

RED HORSE I LOVE YOU WHY YOU SO PERFECT.

Yes yes, Yankee is STILL my precious angelface and ALWAYS will be, I am just floored by this OTTB and his ease in the transition from racehorse to event horse. Granted his old owner did a LOT of the grunt work and got him started in contact, but he is truly taking this dressage thing by the reins (haha equestrian humor).

I could look at pics of my shiny penny all day.

FAV

I have yet to jump the nugget and plan to do that soonly, but I have ZERO jump materials.

As a child I jumped Spirit and Yankee over picnic tables and trash cans. Ratchet.

HOPEFULLY I will be taking Yanks to twin Towers this weekend to jump, but since B is god awful in the trailer I will be leaving him at home this time until we school a bit more with that wretched moving metal thing.

Also, Jackie is baaaaaack and she is a'bloggin. Check her out at The Wondermare because she is awesome and my bestie.

Dressage Queen Says Hello

I've been  home like two weeks and I am seriously sick of the rain and mud.

Everything is wet.

Everything is muddy.

Everything is moist.

There are puddles and mud everywhere.

BOY DID I TAKE THAT PRECIOUS ARENA FOR GRANTED.

Besides a brief 3 week layover, I never once went without a covered arena in MO, and even in rain the outdoors were fine. It made me forget all the woes of training and OTTB in muddy fields and having to suck it up and board over the winters (please dear god no). It makes me wonder how I ever got so far with Yankee and then I remember OH YEAH the most progression came with an arena.

WHAT HAVE I DONE.

My inner eventer is being shoved aside as my DQ makes an appearance. Its seriously just...so hard. Okay. I want flat. And sandy. 

Nonetheless the boys are being okay sports about it.

Poor Bacardi is slipping all over the place and getting frustrated because he simply isn't strong enough to maintain proper bend or frame on DRY GROUND and I'm just sittin in the saddle like, "this sucks" because I can't get mad at him for insubordination. He's trying pretty hard though.

And Yankee is a total diva about mud. Like, refuses to step in it at all. So we've been doing lots and lots  and lots of 15m trot work on the flattest part of the field with the least amount of mud. Jesus.. Its been...fun.

Running out of ideas here.

Today I guess I will take each boy down the road...up and down up and down. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

I just want it to stop raining. Am I being too whiny? Probably. First world problems.

And then there's this... of Yankee having a thoroughbred moment.

He literally galloped around for 7 minutes straight, as hard and fast as he could. Was having a ball! So adorable <3 br="">

I still miss jumping.

Saturdays Are My Favorite

I HATE BLOGGER JUST WANTED TO SHARE THAT YOU SHOULDNT BLOG WHILE SLIGHTLY ACCIDENTALLY TIPSY ON WINE BECAUSE YOULL HIT BUTTON SOMEHOW AND MISSPELL THINGS AND IT WILL DELETE YOUR HARD 45 MIN WORK. IM SO ANNOYED OH MY GOD.

What I had said was some reminaition of, "I love all you guys and your posts and I'm sorrry I don't personally respond to your comments but just posting a blogpost takes like an hour with this freaking country internet. I HATE.

SO.

To continue off my recent post, I wanted to post some comparison pics with Mr. Baby B and his process in training.

Saturdays are my favorite. Lately, my friend Chris (he bought Mrs. black and beautiful-see last post) has been coming over and we have been working the boys together. We usually go for a hack, then he takes a dressage lesson on Yankee Pants and then I school B and he videos, and then I jump on Yankee to do a  few more advanced movements.

Also, Coffee

Per usual, Yankee is a saint and tolerates Chris's greenness in Dressage. He is a great student and understands what I ask of him and DOES it. Genuinely willing to learn. Yankee also shows him what is right and what is wrong. LOVE THAT HORSE.

Learning balance and forward

Feeling what inside leg to outside rein does

Let me just say I MISS MY ARENA. It is exceptionally difficult to practice balace and straightness in a muddy, not very flat field. Throws a very interesting curve ball into my training with Bacardi. AS most OTTBs he is VERY weak to the right and getting him to be consistent through the contact, or even be straight is....highly difficult.

Warming up on light seat and contact

I love this, forward and working

As I explained before in my last post I train my ponies inside leg to outside supporting rein, with my inside rein doing whatever it has to. With B, that usually means half halts or leading rein to help him around the turns, with a very solid outside leg to keep his bod going around the curves. In theory this works, but he is a baby and still doesn't quite get it/isn't strong enough to cary it very long. BUT. He is very smart and understandsand tries SO HARD.

A light, inside leading rein to help guide around the turn

Even when he isn't quite sure, he still stays active and doesn't suck back. My favorite thing about him. Yankee was HORRENDOUS as a child doing this. Yes, he will be behind the contact a little bit at times, but all I do is bring my hands up a smidge and press forward with my legs...

Diving a little. But still forward

 My favorite is the next 2 pics. Two stride difference. The first he is rather overbent, avoiding contact (to the untrained eye he looks "on the bit" but nah), though still forward. I pick up my hands and put my leg on (especially that inside leg) and he responds by driving forward more from behind, lifting his back and consequentially, his head and neck to a more relaxed, accepting position.

What a good baby! Truly impressed with his work ethic and ability to just remain calm and work through the "question at hand"

GAH SHINY SEXY BUTT

Love this! Soft jaw, relaxed neck, forward, active hind end, back engaged. Good OTTB!

 Pats for the baby! Really excited to see where this guy goes.

In other news, I really miss jumping....

Motherfakers

recently I read an article that Eventing A Gogo shared on Facebook about the demise of the "Super Stallion, Totilas" and it got me thinking...

I have never actually thought that Totilas was super star-more like a super fake. Gal, like may Europeans trained him with rollkur and fancy front leg movement which adds that "spark and flourish" the judges sadly like to see these days. They reward gimmicky training for proper training and its very apparent in the breakdown and eventual end of Totilas's super career. I always found it rather sad that his neck was so cranked in that he could barely breathe and his front end movement was so exaggerated that he looked like a walking horse, while his back was flat and his hind end trailed out. I will never understand how the judges always scored him so high. Perhaps they were blinded by his front end whipping around like something out of a big lick show.

I started to notice it more after that article (I wish I could find it, very good read) the horrible epidemic of incorrect training that this world seems to be revolving around, especially prevalent on social media. DO NOT get me started on the teenagers giving "advice" to each other on Instagram (so comical, really, I don't know why I even troll there anymore) on how to train their dressage and event horses. Twitter is no better and there is even talk of "head-sets" on my beloved OTTB Connect page on Facebook.

WAKE UP PEOPLE GET A CLUE

A "headset" is a term in the HUNTER WAND WESTERN WORLD. It might be "acceptable" to see the hunter and pleasure queens yank yank yanking their horses heads down with pelhams and harsh hands but that is NOT what dressage is about (DISCLAIMER: I showed on the Hunter circuit for 7 years-I HAVE SEEN this first hand. Sure, there are soft, kind, correct hunter riders, but they are few and far between. Do not try to argue this. Its ridiculous and thats why I gave up hunters). If you want to get super picky and technical, I GUESS you could call when a horse is on the bit and soft and engaging their whole body and brain to the rider and where they carry their head a "headset", but no, not really.

A horse reaches the point in training when they accept the bit and have the appearance of a bent neck ("headset) at the POLL. The key term being "reaches". It takes TIME to train a horse to accept the bit and it not reached in a few weeks. In fact, dressage means TRAINING. It is a continuous, lifelong process. It takes a soft hand correctly training from the inside leg to a connecting but giving outside rein, with the supporting inside rein and outside leg to ask the horse to come through the bridle. ASK. Not force.

Too often do I see the dressage and eventers yank yanking their horses into a false frame  and getting rewarded for it in the ring! WHERE IS THE TRAINING? WHY ARE THE JUDGES DISREGARDING PROPER ENGAGEMENT? WHY ARE HORSES PLACING SO HIGH WITH FLAT BACKS AND TRAILING ENDS?

Am I the only one frustrated here?

Its scary, coming from the event world, to hop on a horse trained in western or hunt seat and feel them traipse along the most crooked and flat. Like, I can't even.

I went and tried out a horse the other day for my good friend and HOO BOY is she a western  horse. Crooked as can be and so downhill I wanted to slap skis on and take a ride.

Oh hay downhill

This was me and her fighting for about ten minutes before I realized she has no idea what I'm asking her (western trained, WUT ARE SNAFFLE BIT) and I just dropped contact and sat like my old hunter days.

She's actually a really nice mare. Very quiet and willing, just oh my god crooked and maj upside down.

He's buying her and is putting her in training with me to re-learn how to carry herself and accept contact.

I am just happy I'll have another project and that I can perhaps un-do all the yank yank training done on her.

So grateful for my dressage background. I will never regret switching from hunters to eventing. While there is bad in every sport I truly believe eventers (most of them. THOSE HUNTER QUEENS ARE INVADING) have their heads screwed on right and take the time to condition and train their horses properly. And they're just plain nice.

Have a good ride! ;)

Digging

 I JUST REALIZED THIS IS MY 400th POST!!

A few of you asked for a pedigree/racing post on the red man, and I actually did all of this before I bought him. Because obsessed. 

But getting all of this together took a good chunk of time SO YOU BETTER READ IT AND LIKE IT DAMMIT.

His old owner actually had a race pic, which i think is WICKED cool because I have zero of Yankee and it makes me a sad girl. Sidenote if anyone knows how to track down 9 year old racing pics, it'd be chill if you let me know.

Bacardi's race name is truly abhorrent and I'm changing it immediately. I already have one picked out and its not registered with USEA but I'm not sharing yet... Hint-it has to do with alcohol, HA.

HERE is a link to his pedigree.

 

I'm also pretty positive this is picture of him at his old racing stable. Came up in google search and it looks a hell of a lot like him....

So thats neat. I dug through his pedigree quite extensively and minus his immediate sire and dam he has some very impressive bloodlines.

On his sire's side the most notable;
-->Storm Cat-Northern Dancer-Secretariat-Bold Ruler-Man O War and on his dam's side;  Secretariat-Bold Ruler-Nasrullah-Man O War. War Admiral and Seattle Slew are in there somewhere too.
In case you didn't know me at all, I am ABSOLUTELY obsessed with Man O War and almost peed my pants when I saw that he was related (granted about 10/11 gen's back BUT STILL) TWICE. I guess that's where he gets his red color ;) And its pretty bitchin that he has Secretariat on Gen 5 and 6, BOTH sides. HOW COOL.

I will forever believe that Man O War is the greatest racehorse to ever live and if you want to debate with me, Please-try me ;) 

For those of you not interested at all/you already know about the background of some of his grandsire's I give you permission to stop reading now.

For others, here's a brief synopsis of a few of them and a pic of I could find one. (copied from Wiki-not sorry)

--> -->

Storm Cat-February 27, 1983 – April 24, 2013) was an American Thoroughbred stallion whose breeding fee during the peak of his stud career was $500,000, one of the highest in the world, Grandsire SECRETARIAT

Northern Dancer-(May 27, 1961 – November 16, 1990) was a Canadian-bred Thoroughbred racehorse that won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes and became the most successful sire of the 20th century.^[1] The National Thoroughbred Racing Association calls him "one of the most influential sires in Thoroughbred history".^[2] In the 1980s, Northern Dancer's stud fee reached $1 million. Although he has been dead for almost 20 years, more Northern Dancer-line horses are Breeder's Cup winners than from any other horse.

SECRETARIAT-(March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse that in 1973 became the first U.S. Triple Crown winner in 25 years. He set race records in all three events in the series – the Kentucky Derby (1:59 2/5), the Preakness Stakes (1:53), and the Belmont Stakes (2:24) – records that still stand today. He ranked second behind Man o' War in The Blood-Horse's List of the Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century.

Seattle Slew (February 15, 1974 – May 7, 2002) was an American Thoroughbred race horse who won the Triple Crown in 1977—the tenth of eleven horses to accomplish the feat. He remains as the only horse to win the Triple Crown while undefeated (I ACTUALLY HAD MET SEATTLE SLEW :D)

  

Bold Ruler- April 6, 1954 – July 11, 1971) was an American Thoroughbred Hall of Fame racehorse who won the 1957 Preakness Stakes. He was the sire of two other Hall of Famers, Secretariat and Gamely. Bold Ruler is also the grandsire of Bold Forbes, Foolish Pleasure, Hall of Fame fillies Ruffian and Bold 'n Determined, as well as Spectacular Bid. He is great-grandsire of Seattle Slew. He was the Leading sire in North America for seven straight years between 1963 and 1969

Nasrullah- March 2, 1940 – May 26, 1959) was a Thoroughbred racehorse that was bred in Ireland and trained in the United Kingdom before becoming a champion sire in both Europe and North America.

War Admiral- (May 2, 1934 – October 30, 1959) was an American thoroughbred racehorse, the offspring of Man o' War and Brushup.War Admiral won 21 of his 26 starts, including the Pimlico Special and the U.S. Triple Crown in 1937. War Admiral was voted 1937 American Horse of the Year, beating his nephew, Seabiscuit

MAN O WAR-Lexington, Kentucky, March 29, 1917 – Faraway Farm, November 1, 1947) is considered one of the greatest Thoroughbred racehorses of all time.^[4] During his career just after World War I, he won 20 of 21 races and $249,465 in purses. In easily winning the 1⅛-mile Preakness Stakes, Man o' War set a new Pimlico track record of 1:38-3/5 for a mile, then was eased up for the final eighth of a mile to finish in a time of 1:51-3/5.^[13] The horse was next sent to Elmont, New York, for the Belmont Stakes. Man o' War won the then-1⅜-mile race by 20 lengths, setting another American record with a time of 2:14.20, beating Sir Barton's record set the previous year by over three seconds. That year, he also won the Dwyer Stakes, the Travers Stakes, the Stuyvesant Handicap, and the Jockey Club Gold Cup. As the racing season wound down, no one wanted to race against the seemingly invincible Man o' War, who had easily won every race he entered. In the Lawrence Realization Stakes, no other horse was willing to go up against him until Mrs. Riddle's niece, Sarah Jeffords entered Hoodwink. Man o' War won by more than 100 lengths while setting a new world record of 2:40-4/5 for a mile and five-eighths, besting the previous record by six seconds in a track record that still stands.The final start of Man o' War's career came in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, in the Kenilworth Park Gold Cup (the first race to be filmed in its entirety). For this 1¼-mile match race, Man o' War ran against Sir Barton but easily drew away in the first furlong and was slowed to win by seven lengths. Over his two-year career, Man o' War won 20 of 21 races, setting three world records, two American records and three track records.

I wish I could find better pics of Man O War galloping, he was a boss ass bitch. 

All in all, Bacardi has some sweet lineage. Kinda cool to own a horse with so much history. I've done one on Yankee before, but I am not sure exactly where that post is...

HERE is Yankee's pedigree. He also has Northern Dancer a ways back and Bold Ruler, Nasrullah, Native Dancer AND Man O War 8 gen's back!!