Glimmer of Hope?

During Valentines weekend I wet home to see my bf Alex, and he took me to go see Yankee!!!! Well, I made some pretty hard decisions based on what I felt and saw that Sunday.

1. He wouldnt come to me in the field. WTF. He never ever has done that! EVER!
2. He was incredibly cranky. My boy never nips, and he tried quite a few times, even when I offered his favorite peppermint treats. I was sad.
3. He was cranky in the barn too, again he loves being brushed ad loved and all he had to give me was nasty looks.
4. His back was super sore. I know why too and the situation wont get better.
5. His did not want to go in the arena, this tells me he was a) sore b) tired of the arena
6. His gaits were crap. Plain and simple. Could have been that I was riding badly because of my injury, but I ighly doubt me not being able to use my left leg made him tranter.
7. Almost the entire ride he had his ears back. AGAIN, very unlike him

I was concerned.

So I thought long and hard for two days including many things in the equation of my thinking. I wont go into details but mostly included my injury, our season this summer, money and his conditioning and current soreness.

This led me to Lauren Stewart, a VERY good friend and rider of mine. I asked her if she would be willing to take over from Grace’s duties of keeping Yankee sound and fit. Grace recently got a new job but with that less time to ride my boo, and I’m CERTAIN he is sick of an arena. Yankee is so used to running around outside conditioning and stuff and not doing dressage every time he is ridden. So its time for a change. A good change.

Sometime in the first few weeks of March we are moving him to Tiffin college so Lauren can take over preparing him for our upcoming season. I’m pretty happy with our arrangement. Mother has agreed to help me out and pay all his bills for me since I am unable to work, but as soon as I get back to work I am going to take over again.

Things are looking up and I hope they stay that way!!!

My boy and I

I thought this was a cool pic of our canter

Good news, Bad news, Better news.

For those that know me, I have been shit on by fate lately with injuries.

First in August, partial severing of my left achilles tendon which put me out of action in may. It still bothers me alot, and I cant run or walk very fast still.

Then in December I was an idiot and went skiing thinking if I kept it slow I'd be ok. WRONG. Lovely tumbling, bone jarring crash. I instantly couldnt walk and was very upset since I was home for Christmas and was looking forward to riding my horse or a month. Well after only 3 times, I went and wrecked myself bad. I couldnt walk or extend my leg for two weeks straight. Rents thought I was being a big baby and shrugged it off but here almost 2 months later I still cant walk well and I am always in such terrible pain.

So I told my mom I AM GOING TO GET THIS LOOKED AT. Good decision on my part. I was scheduled for an MRI this morning and went in to get it done, feeling quite nervous...and made the mistake of drinking coffe beforehand=jitters and really having to pee. Oops. It was loud and I could actually feel the magnetic waves, twas cool.

So then I went back to MU Hospital for the consultation with my fingers crossed.

Good news, bad news.

Good news, very insignificant miniscus tear, if at all (they think it healed on its own). SO=no surgery!! Bad news, it seems I have a tibia fracture, but as long as I stay off of it I should be ok in the next 3 months. But that means crutches for 3 months. Awesome. BUUUUUUUUUT, that means I can ride in the summmmmmer!!!

MY SEASON IS ON!!!!

I am SO relieved, like you have no idea. I was FREAKING out for a while.

FFFFSSSSSHEW!!!

Hopeful Lineup

Well, I looked through my Omnibus and decided on a few (lol) shows I hope to attend if funds suffice, horse is going well, and I have transportation means.

The 2010 line-up

Trail (State)-Level; Date

• Greater Dayton(OH)-Novice refresher-urgh; May15-16
• Maydaze (OH)-Training; May28-30
• Spring Run (IN)-Training; June 12-13
• [?]Training level 3-day(?); July 2-4
• Champagne Run(KY)-Training; July 9-11
• Gemwood(OH)-Training/Prelim[?]; July 24-25
• Hunters Run(MI)-Training/Prelim[?]; August 13-15
• [?] Flying Cross Farm HT(?)-Training/Prelim[?]; August 21-22
• South farm HT(?)-Training/Prelim[?]; September 3-5
• AEC’s (Georgia)-Training/Prelim[?]-September 9-12
• Hagyard Team Challenge(KY)-Training- October 20-24

Website for AEC’s-http://useventing.com/competitions.php?section=aec

(I don’t know how to link yet, oops.)

It’s frustrating I will most likely have to take a Novice event just to referesh Yankee and myself on how to compete again. Since Grace won’t show him, I believe he has forgotten a bit how to perform in front of a crowd. Hopefully he will bounce right back and moving on to our regular level of Training will not be a difficult one.

It is nice though that the Novice Greater Dayton HT is only 20 min from my house, so not much will be spent on hotels, gas, stabling or food. WIN. The longest trek will definitely be to Michigan, 6 hours. The trip sucks, but the grounds are so gorgeous and the trial was so professionally run I will try to compete there as much as I can. My favorite thing about that place was the dressage rings-very quiet and out of the way of everything. Fantastic if you have an ADD horse like me, detrimental if you have a clingy, herd-bound horse. Kentucky is another place I enjoy just because Yankee is suuuuper familiar with the grounds, however the dressage rings are right by the warm -up which is distracting to me and my horse. I do love the Cross country. However, the Stadium rings are usually too small or mucky. Bleh. But I still love it! I’ve never competed in Indiana, so that will be a new experience!

Unfortunately I don’t think I will qualify for the Training Level 3 Day since I will only have 2 trainings before that event and we have to go double clear on both jumping phases. Difficulty. We still havent, and we did 5 T. in 2009. Yankee is frightful of spectators on XC and focuses too much on them instead of the jumps, or he knocks a rail in stadium because he gets to excited. We must work on this. I really hoped to qualify for TL3D because I think it will be a great experience to introduce Yankee and I to the format of higher level events. I can only hope! I qualified with Spirit, but we didnt get to go because of finances.

I do hope to Qualify for the AEC’s this year. I have 2 Training levels set up with a hopeful 4 Prelim’s but we first have to kill it jumping before that can happen. I will be happy to qualify for AEC’s at Training. I also qualified for these with Spirit, but again, couldn’t go because of finances.

Blast money.

Anyways, it comes down to money and my parents being willing to let me use the truck and trailer. Expenses as we all know for horse shows include but are not limited to: entry fees, stabling, food for human, hotel if preferred (myself, I’d rather set up a tent and camp out. WUSSGOOD.However if mother comes with, she usually puts us up in a hotel, something I dont have to pay for.), & gas and lessons during or before events.

I sure hope I get a good job this summer.

The Lifestlye

So for those who say riding isn’t a sport, I’m here to prove you wrong.

I have gone my whole life trying to explain to my friends and prospective friends that horse riding is indeed a workout. People will ask me in conversation, “So what sport do you play?” and I’ll say, “I ride horses.” Cue dirty/skeptical look. I’m quite sick of this!

I thought of the topic for this blog post while hauling water for my horses in these frigid winter temperatures. Not only do I have to chop ice, but hauling water buckets full of h20 back and forth, back and forth- really is a great way to exercise. I was puffing by the second trip. Example one.

Another wintery chore (or summer. or spring. or fall.) is stacking and unstacking hay. My bales weigh anywhere between 50lbs and 75lbs, and I can usually pick one up in each hand if I have gloves on-a product of baling hay and stacking my own since I was 10 Throwing bales, picking up, moving and stacking is very physically demanding, not to mention itchy and gross. I always end up with blisters on my hand, sore back and shoulder muscles the next day, and sweaty as all get out-even in winter. Example two.

For everyone who DOES ride/care for horses, we all know stalls have to be cleaned once, if not twice, daily. This involves scooping the wet bedding (which can be surprisingly heavy) and precariously balancing it until one can dump it into wheelbarrow. This works the arms and shoulders baby! Then, the poo, which is handled the same way as the wet bedding, but 1st has to be shook out of the clean bedding. Dump heavy ass wheelbarrow (sometimes trudging through snow, rain, mud, muck etc.-YOU try pushing a 150lb wheelbarrow full of excrement through all that and TELL me its not hard). Then shoveling new bedding into said wheelbarrow. This literally breaks my back in half. Next, here comes the water buckets again! I like to dump and scrub my buckets every other day. For those who are lucky-hoses, for those who are not so lucky-hauling. Example three.

So the care of a horse can be exhausting alone, but have a non-rider ride my horse in a lesson. I PROMISE that you will be tired in five minutes. Basic riding-walk, trot (yes, posting) and canter is hard enough for beginners. It took me a year to really learn how to post properly at the trot and be able to manage long periods of trotting. It takes more muscle than you would expect to post. Thus my fabulous six pack. Thank you, riding. Move past beginners stuff and move onto galloping, jumping and collecting a horse. Good luck with that Try to collect my crazy, ex-racehorse, in warm-up for dressage when he is intent on pulling your arms off and running around like a little bastard. Also, good luck with that. Also try to keep him calm and cantering correctly during a jumper’s round. It can be a fun time Not even gonna worry about cross country-there is no WAY a beginner could ever take my horse, or any horse for that matter, and jump a full 23 jump XC course while maintaining a two-point seat (standing in the stirrups in non-horsey people talk). Example four.

So. Non-horsey, looking down upon me, ignorant people, have a go at it. Let me know how you feel the next day. I’m sure you’ll wonder what train hit you.

On a lighter note-here are some pics from Ohio!

Cowgirl being silly-this was before the massive snow storm

Cowgirl snuggly in her blanket

Early morning

Sunset Jan. 14th

wintery-ness

Some pics from our latest winter storm

Zoey enjoying the snow

Zoey and Z baby

Cowgirls frosty nose

Z baby

the girls nom-ing on some hay

brand new year, new chances!

Well my new years started off just fantastic. NOT. I got to ride Yankee exactly twice before I fell ill, then sprained my ACL tendon in my left knee, the same leg with my healing achilles tendon. Awesome.

But here’s to making GOALS and not RESOLUTIONS!

LIST 1 (back to listing, drat it), SCHOOL STUFF

• Finish my remaining semseter at Mizzou and figure out what-the-hell I am going to do for next year
• Study study study, all the effing time. Grades is money. Or is it time is money? Same diff.
• Try to get all I can form my classes, like knowledge wise
• Learn diffrent study techniques
• Stay off facebook whhile studying. FGEEz.
• Don’t be afraid to ask profs questions. They won’t bite. Orsome might….
• Try to make more friends….realize no one is perfect and everyone has issues. Sigh.

LIST 2, HORSES

• reach prelim level by the end of the showing season (sept/nov)
• compete in as many shows as possible, like as many as possible.
• renew membership to USEA
• take more trail rides
• swim!
• try to have double clear rounds in all jumping phases
• break a 20% on dressage test (OMGeez)
• after eventing season, compete in dressage shows, up to 3rd level
• try to eliminate dressage test jitters
• make my braids perfect!
• school tables so much that yankee becomes less afraid of them
• work on my jumping position (ever since my injury, its been weak)
• continue to ride my horse in a way that will present him the best way possible

LIST 3, PERSONAL

• Lose the remaining 5-10 lbs I’ve gained and KEEP IT OFF!**
• remember to STAY RELAXED. There could be something worse, you could be dead.
• find a new job.
• try to become a better person.
• keep in touch with old friends, they are the best. Loves, lindz and Jodi (few others too )
• be a more grateful person
• be a better daughter and sister (getting all sentimental here)
• work on my something special no one gets to know what that means except me
• not spend as much on stupid shit, see above
• try to accept others FOR WHO THEY ARE!

**This is NOT a vanity thing, it is a health issue for me. A regular 5′9 girl should not weigh 165 lbs, even with all the muscling I have. it’s just wrong. Plus I feel gross all the time. I’ve already lost 10 of the 20lbs I would like to shed though. GO ME!

Wintery weather pictures to be added later when I can remember where my cord is!!

Christmas and my Yankee!!

I really wanted to make this post epically massive but I have a monster headache, so, alas, I will have to keep it shorter than I would like. But I do have pictures of Yankee, alive and very well.

Drive home was a cake, and I am quite enjoying my break. HA, rhyme. But anyways I am also quite excited to spend AMAP time with my beloved boy.

First day I went to visit him, it was freezing cold, like, whoa. I was nervous about being in an unfamiliar barn but everyone greeted me warmly, and always guessed that I was "MonicaYankeesOwnerHowisCollegeDoYouLikeIt?YankeeIsGoodHeMIssedYou" (yes, in one breath). I had to interrupt Rob's (the head trainer and barn manager) lesson to ask where in the world my horse was turned out and where his stall/halter was. I felt bad.

I trudged through the snow and mud in my paddock boots (note to self: wear snow boots next time) out to Yankee's massive pasture. I looked for him in the giant herd of horses playing and eating in the "red field". I really couldnt make him out amongst all the other dark bays, but then I looked and saw my magnificent horse running as fat as he possibly could in the mud towards me, neighing!! HE MISSED ME! HE RECOGNIZES ME!! It was a great feeling. He snuffled my hair and gladly followed me to the barn.

Yankee couldnt stop showing how much he missed me, it was very cute. He wouldnt let me brush him or anything he just kept giving me "horse hugs". And of course, being his goofy self. It was awesome. This is why I love this horse.

He does this all the time

Riding him was like heaven...I couldnt believe how great it was. I missed his flowing trot and rocking canter. AND boy, did he improve! Grace has his canter feeling fantastic now and his departs are better than they ever were. Not only that but he can shoulder-in and haunches-in at the trot now! As well as lead changes.

his haunches in

Lovely canter

However, Rob seems to like rollkur. I dont like this method, so I'm going to say "out of sight out of mind". Yankee has improved greatly and as long as rollkur is not an everyday thing I think I can be ok with it...as much as i really don't want to be.

In case you didnt know what rollkur was, aka "deep". Not a fan.

But anyways its been heaven, and I'm so happy to be back for a few weeks.

Oh, and Zephyr missed me too :)

Z baby :)

Got some good stuff for Christmas, $$, DVD, itunes,boots, gorgeous necklace, books :), some clothes, Skull candy headphones, scarves, and a Carhartt jacket! I AM BLESSED!