..."Today, You Won"

Last Friday I switched Lilly's bit to a Pelhem. It definitely helped me have more control. Lilly was up in front of me and couldn't shy out from under me so easily. So, by the end of Friday I thought we had found a solution to our current problem. On Sunday, Lilly decided she had an answer for my so called solution. The biggest problem is, Lilly is always thinking... Since she couldn't spook or shy, she decided bolting would be her new form of challenging me! She bolted about 3 times in the hour lesson. I almost ran into jump standards, cavaletti, and, of course, people on horses. But, by the end of the lesson, my trainer said...."Today, You Won".

Let's see what she tries tomorrow!

Rain Rain Rain

So, the weather here has been very wet for the past few months. It has been clear 10 of the last 77 days! It rained the past two days, so Lilly wasn't ridden by my trainer on Wednesday. Tomorrow should be beautiful, so I will get to ride! Will post some updates tomorrow! I am going to wake up with the birds! I really need a good dose of the barn....work has been quite stressful!

Training can test your PATIENCE!

So, withing the last 2 weeks, I have fallen off Lilly 3 times. This spooking nonsense is getting quite old! The last incident happened on Sunday. I hacked for 45 minutes. She was fine for the first 20 minutes, then she started spooking at nothing. She is really good at making me think I got the spook out of her, then in a nanosecond, she shys to the side, and there I am lying on the ground! My trainer and others agree, my horse is the smartest on the farm, and there is about 100 horses there. She is a mare and wants to be with her girlfriends, so she figures spooking is the way to get out of work...After the fall on Sunday, one of my trainers had me ride in the lesson right after my hack. So we rode for a total of 2 hours that day. I am not quite sure if I am sore from falling or from riding for two hours! During the lesson, my trainer had me really work her mouth the hole time to give her something to think about.

I am having my other trainer work Lilly tomorrow. She is a professional rider. The best I have ever worked with! She will give me an update tomorrow on what happens. Then Thursday I will have a private lesson with her. Lilly acts up more when she is alone, so this will be good for her! I have also started Lilly on a supplement called RelaxHer. We will see in a few weeks if it works on her.

I spent the day today at the barn doing some major grooming on Willow. We got rid of most of the feathers with scissors. She isn't used to the clippers yet, so I got as close as I could. She looked so good, I had to take some pics! I grabbed on of the girls to help me, but Willow didn't want to stand still!! BABIES!!!

Here is a BEFORE picture of Willow when I drove to Kentucky to see her. She was quite skinny and had a big fluffy coat.

Here she was TODAY looking like quite a lady.

And here is a pic of her top and bottom line. I couldn't get her to pay attention...

I feel like she is looking so much better. It is hard to completely tell in the pictures! When she arrived at my farm you could see her ribs and backbone. She was shipped with 1/2 inch thick dried mud on her from head to toe! The woman I bought her from did not take great care of her. She bought the horse last November from the Amish to flip (retard...) for $5000, and couldn't because of the economy. So Willow's condition went down hill. The food she fed this horse looked like it was for cows! Willow had trust issues with her back end as well as her ears from being ear twitched. The woman lied to me and said she had the horse for over a year, however, on the coggins dated November 15, 2008, another owner was listed, and Willow was listed for sale on the Internet on November 18, 2008.

I haven't figured out if I should email this woman and let her know I figured out her lies, and also to email her an updated picture to show what great shape she is NOW in.

It is truly amazing what food, water, a brush, and some LOVE can do...

Yin and Yang

So having two horses means that you can have two types of days at the barn. One not so good day, and one really good day.



So to start off my day today, I rode Lilly, my trained mare that I show. She decided that she wanted to spook at everything as we hacked around the ring. After quite a bit, I thought I had everything worked out of her and became pretty relaxed, then she spun on a dime when the wind blew, and I went the other direction . It's my fault that I trusted her, I know not too! I firmly corrected her and got back on, and of course she was a perfect as pie after that! I didn't jump today, after having to fight with her to bend and act like a lady! I think that she is perfect at horse shows because she doesn't know if anything is out of place. At the farm, she knows if something is where it shouldn't be. It usually happens when we ride alone, but if we are in the ring with other people she is usually fine.



After I was done with Lilly, I rode Willow. We walked and did small circles, and we also walked over ground poles. She was so good, that I decided to see what she would do if I asked her to trot. And she was PERFECT! No issues what so ever. She would trot around half of the ring and stop, then I would as for the trot again. We went twice around the ring both ways. I don't want to push her, so that was good for me.



The gash on her leg is getting better, but it is still huge and soft. It is hardening up, but it will take time to be completely. When I scrub the dirt off, it starts to bleed, but it is better then it getting infected!



I finally got a pic of it...








I am going to the barn all day tomorrow, so I should have another update....till then....