Special Hot Mess

Ignoring everyone's success/end of season showing/new horses/good times I'm going to try and remain positive but its been very difficult this week.

I have not had one good ride. Not one. They actually have gotten progressively worse and I want to cry.

Dressage day was an absolute fail and I'm pretty sure Yankee forgot how to canter. Literally. Forgot.

I don't even want to share how our jump school went Friday but I'm going to anyways because I like to exploit my failures with an attempt at weak humor.

 I even brought my trusty bf and put Yankee's fancy white boots on in an attempt to get some cute pics. The weather was perf and I was optimistic.

The jump school ride started off per usual, him feeling a bit lazy and knocking a few low rails. He always does this because why pick your feet up for sticks.

NBD, happens often. He works out of it.

Oh look, I have a reining horse...

I actually almost fell off. Pretty spectacular refusals. They happened at almost every fence. Brilliant.

And even when he jumped, my body..was just...terrible.

What in the actual fuck am I doing. No really. Where did my eq go?

No matter how hard I tried to get it together, my leg slipped back. I jumped ahead or I got left behind. A few times I jumped no hands and that fixed my leg but most of the time he refused or knocked the rail down. We are a special hot mess.

Got maybe 2-3 alright pics. Maybe.

I still can find major flaws and out of the 50 attempts we probably took, 2-3 is just so...fail.

I entered Ridgefield for this saturday, but if my ride tomorrow doesn't go well I may have to withdraw.

Great.

I Like Things, Buy Me Stuff

Ahhh, its the christmas season.

No really, all the stores have christmas decorations and trees out already. Its September. Are we bypassing  Halloween and Thanksgiving now? Will we eventually really have a Christmas in July? Perhaps we will never know.

I do know though that the Dover sale got me all a tither with the wants. I got it bad. Typical American. Forget the real meaning of christmas, just give me stuff. But really, now I have thoughts of tack trunks and leather goods with red bows on them dancing in my head. I need want so many things. ALL the things.

 I saved supe rhard this year and managed to purchase myself a pair of bitchin XC boots, and a five point breastplate (drunkedly on Ebay). I also got a noseband for Yankee that cost an arm and a leg, but it was necessary and works swimmingly for XC. Too bad we never once evented this year.  (That IS going to change in FL). But we are dressed for it! *sad laugh*

I've been plotting what I can con my boyfriend and parents into buying for me. Since I'm a big girl now (haha, right) I only get one present from the rents and I usually ask for something expensiver. Last year mom bought me GORGEOUS plaid shipping boots. They are amazing.

This year...oh this year. So many options. SO little time. So so little monies I has.

Do you ever realize just how much money you don't have until you look around at the barn tack room and every single saddle is a custom schleese? Every bit cost about $100. ALL the boots are at least $100/pair and the riders are always wearing the classiest breeches and fashionable tall boots. Um. I can has preese? Donate?

And I'm over here, queen of second hand shit. Yay Ebay.

So this year, to try and be fancy, I asked for one thing I have ALWAYS wanted. A wooden tack trunk. Gotta stay swagtacular, especially among all the bitches in Florida. My crappy $60 black thing I bought at home depot just won't do anymore. I hooked the BF in on this one ;)

Specifically, dis one.  Its an awesome weird color (cherry) and its just beautiful. My tack whore self needs a place to store all my things and I am OBSESSED with nameplates. All my tack (no seriously, all of it) has a name plate and oh my god, you can put a nameplate on a wood box.

 The rents have been heckled to get me new field boots. I don't know if you've seen the ones I currently own, but they are...dead. I have to keep them closed with vetwrap and there is a giant hole in one of them. They are so ratchet it aint funny. Luckily Jackie donated her half chaps to me, and loaned me her show boots for this season but I really do NEED new boots. For riding. I don't need them to survive, but whatever. I need them. You know.

Two other smallish things I would really love is the combination polo wraps (elastic on the inside, polo wrap on the outside, extra supportive and shit) and a thinline half pad for my dressage saddle. I really think it would make a difference, but I can't justify even the Ebay price of $100. Gah.

One day I won't even blink at dropping some hundos on my horses' wardrobe but for now I still cry a little inside when I pay board and buy grain.

Its a beautiful curse I tell you. Riding.

A Raging Case of the Chicken Wing

Holla errbody.

I've been busy with work and selling my stupid car and sqeeeeing over the Florida excitement but managed to get a solid jump school in on Monday.

It was one of those days when you get on and you're like, "its gonna be one of those days". It was indeed.

He started off exceptionally lazy. Like, fat-QH-cowkick-the-shit-out-of-them-still-won't-move-crazy- lazy.

We then proceeded to warm up and fail.

top rail IS falling in this pic...

...this one too

Epic mouth jabbing while almost sliding off saddle. So talented at failing.

I got left behind numerous times and jabbed him in the face. Like wtf, what are we doing today. Not to mention chicken wings....my old german instructor would scream "VHAT THE FHUK ARE YOU DOING? YOURE GOING TO FLY AHWAY." Oh the horror.

dos knees doh.

Oh look rail falling again. And wings.

I blame it on the fact I hadn't ridden in a while and had recently gotten over the summer death sickness but that was still no excuse to 100% lose my eq and become a flying chicken. But seriously, Im very good at concentrating on my body and making it do what I want..but it wasn't happenning Monday. Yanks was exceptionally UP after we warmed up and was jumping me out of the tack to make matters worse...

No please. I need more canter. Thats not enough.

After 10 minutes of getting nowhere with a hyper horse and weak rider, I gave up and jumped a fence with no hands...

....Okay that sort of solves that issue there. We played around a bit more and got some cool pics in the process of attempting to improve our ride for the day. While I still got jumped out of the tack damn near everytime, I DID stop jabbing him in the face, and he actually jumped quite nice over some rather large oxers.

...Juut dont look at me please. Look at him. At him.

and my favorite of that day, which was exceptionally hard to do...

Two thumbs up for a superstar horse!

We are going to re do the last picture when we have better light because, come on,  its pretty freaking awesome. I want a pic of that framed.

Love this horse.

Halp.

I need assistance.

And I has news.

BIG news.

Its the coolest most bestest thing that has happened to me yet and I'm esplodies all over with all the excitement.

I'm moving to Florida.

FLORIDA.

Jacksonville, Florida

Where there are horses. and eventing. and beaches. and sun. and horses. and showing. and sun. and beaches.

The two best things about Jacksonville?

Voldosta is less than 2 hours (1.55) away. Stacey and Klein mare and le Moch live there and I WILL be trailering to ride with them and such. Often.

Ocala is just over 2 hours (2.13). OCALA bitches. OCALAAAA LA LA LA!!! The eventing epicenter of Florida. The O'Conners farm is close-ish. There are tons of trainers less than two hours away from where I will be living and OH EM GEE ALL THE EXCITES I CANT CONTAIN THYSELF

I've been holding in the news for a while because I wasn't quite sure what was happening until recently, but we just bought plane tickets to go visit apartments and barns for mid October.

Having a little bit if a hard time finding eventing barns in Jacksonville. Apparently everyone is a Hunter Jumper, but I've found 2 barns that cater to eventing and H/J and two barns that are exclusively H/J but am hoping they won't mind an eventer n the mix.

Not partial to associating myself with the hunter princesses since they can be catty and judgmental but I'd rather explore my options than write off a nice barn with good care simply because they are hunters.

I Loathe boarding in general but Jacksonville is not a farm community and I don' think we can afford to rent a farmette at the moment.

So. Preese, if anyone knows anyone that events in Jacksonville, I need assistance finding a barn.

Right now I am too excited and overwhelmed with planning to type much more, but that is the gist of the excitement.

GAH!

F*%$ing INTERWEBZ

No seriously my internet barely works for an hour a day. I HATE the internet monopoly in this town. No choice but to use them and the service sucks. Thus why I haven't blogged in 20 days. EEEEK.

I've also been working 60-70 hour weeks and barely have time for sleep. I also got sick. But more later on that.

Prepare yourselves for a shitload of pics. Like an insane amount. And news. Lots of news.

One of the things we've been up to is giving "lessons" to a few of my friends (some not pictured). Funny how when you turn 20 something everyone thinks its awesome you have a horse but when you're 11 you're a freak.

Anyways. People have been bugging me to give rides and Yanks is SO good with beginners. He is the most lazy. The girls do better than the guys and they were able to go off on their own and steer a little. Adorable.

I got a few more pics from SMSG and I've decided I ride liek a constipated sloth. Luckily Yankee always looks shiny and gorgeous. But his rider...gag.

We're attractive and take great pics

toe flicky

Amid my hell weeks I work, I try to get out to the barn. Sometimes we are awesome and jump 3'9 triple bars like nothing. I love this horse. And this picture.

The following pic was actually two days after the first and he still popped over it spring loaded. Hock injections=winning.

We did a few dressage schools and he was alright. Inconsistent ability to exercise the beast.

I made over a grand the week before I got sick but paid for it dearly.

 I got sick. Really sick. I could barely lift my arms up. I still went to work though, don't worry. No one could cover my shifts and apparently its acceptable to serve food to the general public with snot running down your face. Football and college kids are back so its been hella insane but with that comes great money. 

Sadly I couldn't work the pony for 9 days and for the first time yesterday I busted him out and lunged...

He. was. psycho.

 

No he really doesn't have any feet on the ground.

This is most impressive

 

 I haven't seen shenanigans like that since he was THREE fresh off the track. I really couldn't put a finger on it because its been hotter than satans balls lately so I can't blame cool weather. He goes out every night. Maybe too many calories. Either way. He was just a bit off his rocker yesterday.

After four mighty explosions he simmered down and gave me some nice forward work with good transitions. I called it a day.

This AM I wanted to ride but I was still a little sick so I lunged again with trot poles.

He seems good right?

Yeah well most of the time he exploded around like a rocket. He decided trot poles were canter poles.

The thoroughbred gods have deemed me unworthy of a calm ELEVEN year old.

The positive note is that his canter was pretty collected and very uphill. Bright sides, right?

When he was calm he was great. Impulsion, collection, forward. Good boy.

And now hopefully I'm on the mend, We are preparing for a jumper show on the 21st. HOPEFULLY we can go. I am sans trailer at the moment and its a bitch.

We also have some HUGE news. Stacey and Jackie should keep their mouths closed ;)