Giveaway!

Follow the link for your chance to win a Horze club winter jacket! I personally have not used these products before, but the company has a great reputation and it looks like a decent jacket. The New England nights are getting chilly, time to start thinking about winter!

http://www.shemovedtotexas.com/equestrian-coat-giveaway/

Just A Memory

*SAPPY POST ALERT*
I write this post with a heavy heart and watery eyes. Jet has happily settled into his new home and I am so glad that he has so many people that love and care about him.. Even though I know I made the right decision for both me and him, I feel completely empty and lost. I know he is not "gone," but it is as though he has vanished form my life.

When something so influential in your every day life ceases to exist, you can't help but feel lost and confused. I went from seeing Jet every single day to not seeing him at all. I don't know what to do. My poor new horse is getting the effects of this. My overall desire to ride and simply be around horses has significantly plummeted. The last time Jet left us, I stopped riding for 6 months. I am doing everything in my power to make sure that doesn't happen again.

Having a new project horse has helped me stay with it and carry on with my life. Don't get me wrong, I like my new horse, but he isn't Jet. I don't have the bond with the new guy that I had with Jet and I truly don't think I ever will. I don't love this new horse. Maybe I will someday, but I don't right now. In my mind, it seems like I tried to replace Jet with the new horse. Now I am realizes that the idea of replacing Jet is not even remotely possible.

Strangely enough, the thing I miss the most isn't the riding. It isn't all of the shows. It isn't the ribbons we won or the lessons we had. Just being around Jet and standing next to him as he sniffed my body from head to toe....him putting his nostril to my nose and breathing in each other's scent...him gently touching my face...licking my hand...scratching my back....me scratching him all over for hours as he moved to show me where he wanted to be scratched....long in-hand walks through the woods and around the street... that is what I miss the most. That is what I can't get back, but that is what I will keep in my mind as just a few of the happy memories that I shared with my heart horse.

New Beginnings

Jet went to his wonderful new home Thursday. I'll do a full post soon, but in the meantime I'll show you guys a bunch of photos on how we spent out last day together. Make sure you click to see more!

Push and Pull

Jet and I had a great ride yesterday! A nice flat/crossrail ride in the field and a long trail ride and walk around the street was the perfect way to spend our last Sunday together. Here are some pictures

On a more frustrating note, Baby Thoroughbred (who I think I am going to name Boomer - thoughts?) pulled a shoe just a day after he got them. Uggh, frustrating! He is definitely a lot more comfortable moving forward with shoes so fingers crossed that we will be going consistently soon!

Here he is before the shoe came off:

And here is the shoe:

Luckily it is getting put back on today. He should be moving to a new barn with an indoor sometime this week/weekend!

Giveaway

Follow the link to figure out how YOU can win some ShowSheen products!


Giveaway!

April 27th

This will be a short and to-the-point post mostly due to the fact I get very upset at the mere thought of the whole topic.

Yesterday, Jet got a visit from his old/new owner. "P" (as I will call her) came by to see how Jet was doing, get some info on him, and to spend some time with him. She purchased him when we sold him about 7 years ago, but honored my "first right of refusal" clause by offering him back to us 3 years ago when things came up in her life. I also honored her first right of refusal clause by offering him back to her after I decided to move on to a horse that would be better suited for my riding goals. After some long talks over the past few weeks, she has decided to take Jet back and use him as a trail horse. She will also put a few months of training into him (she is a dressage trainer which is exactly what he needs) and then her daughter will take the reins to do some schooling shows/have fun with him. He will be leaving me to go to his new home with P on April 27th. I am happy that I get some time to say goodbye, but I am absolutely heartbroken that I will be losing my best friend for a second time. This was easily the hardest decision I've had to make in a while, but it is one that I really needed to make. I'll miss my Jetstar

The Grass is Always Greener...

As some of you know (hello to my new followers!), Jet is being kept at my friend's house with her Thoroughbred mare. A few days ago, I received a frantic phone call from my friend that went something along the lines of, "HELP! The horses are galloping towards Tremont! (the busiest street in our little town) Jet won't stop. He jumped the fence. Dreamer is just following him. Come now!" Ofcourse, I immediately jumped into my truck and drove the 3 minutes down the road to the said location of the galloping horses. My heart absolutely dropped when I saw a cluster of cars and only one horse from a distance. A few seconds later (and some illegal driving on public land) and I saw my horse standing right behind Dreamer. Luckily, a horse person from a nearby barn saw the loose horses and caught them when they stopped to eat grass next to the busy street. Her and her mother held the horses until my friend and I got there. I was SO thankful that there were horse people around to catch the horses and that no people or horses were hurt. Minutes later, pictures were being posted to my Facebook that spectators took of the event. Not much happens in my small town so this was quite the talk of the town.

They ended up running to a store plaza/cemetery/soccer field intersection...interesting location that Jet has actually run away to before when he got loose at my house a few years ago. Someone went around the town opening stalls and gates and let a ton of horses go that night!

We didn't have time to think about lead ropes but we had bailing twine that temporarily served well until we had someone go grab the lead ropes for us at home.

QUESTION TO DOM - I have been unable to read your blog lately. Is it no longer going?

Back In The Saddle

Nothing impressive, but Jet and I went for a nice ride today. He was a little stiff, but he worked out of it. I have another story to post about later!

Head Over Heels

Jet and I took a nasty fall on Monday night. This will be a brief post since I am a little out of it but I will do a full post asap.

We were cantering on a slight down hill and he tripped. I went over his shoulder, landed on my head, he fell over me and almost did a somersault. He ended up kicking me in the back of the head and neck and on my back as he tried to recover. It took him a second to get up but he was up and trotting away before I could even sit up. The first thing that I said was "My head hurts. Where's my horse?" Apparently my speech was a bit slurred and I was out of it. After a second, I got up and fetched Jet and remounted. I walked only a few steps before I realized he was not okay. I got off immediately and untacked. My head and beck began to hurt even more. I walked Jet around a few times and he seemed to be moving around a lot better so we gave him some bute and put him away. I sat down for a little bit before heading over to the hospital. I ended up with a concussion, sprained neck, and several bumps and bruises but it could have been a lot worse! My neck is very sore and stiff and I can't turn my head too much. My left arm is pretty useless right now. I can't extend it in front of me or above my head and I can't lift anything with it. I also can't ride for 1-2 weeks so it will be long walks on the trails in-hand for me and my boy. The un-named Baby Thoroughbred will be lunged until I can ride again. Fingers crossed for a speedy recovery!

Progress

If you read my last post, you know that I did get the baby TB and he does have some aggression/territory issues. He seems to be improving and hasn't gone after anyone since my last post. Lots of ground work, ample turn out time, long grooming sessions, and peppermints have done wonders for him so far. The only time he even pins his ears now is when I do the girth. Fingers crossed more progress will be made!!

Long Story Short

Long Story short - I ended up buying the young TB. Once we got him home it was evident that he had many behavioral issues, including charging at you with teeth baring and biting. He has bitten me a handful of times when he was in the stall and on the cross ties. He got my sister today in the paddock. A few days ago he bit my mom's face (she got a nice bruise) and he pushed her against the wall... as soon as he has a lead rope clipped onto him or once he is being worked he is an absolute saint. He is super calm undersaddle, w/t no problems and is quiet on the trails and on the road. He doesn't care if other horses are around him and gets along great with our guys in turnout. If anyone has any advice on correcting this aggressive behavior, please email me at hearthooves@yahoo.com. I have been in contact with two trainers already and am working closely with one but am curious to see what others have to say/have experienced. If he does not turn out to be safe enough to be around in a few months I will have to sell him unfortunately. My family and my own safety are more important than a nice horse undersaddle.

The Good Comes With the Bad

So sorry for the lack of posting. So much has been going on lately between family, friends, riding, school work, applying for college, etc. It all got me thinking about life and what I truly want to do. After months and months of thinking, I have decided that I need to move on to another horse that will be able to take me where I want to go with my riding. Realizing that it will not be possible financially or time-wise, I can only have one horse through college. What does this mean? Jet has to find a new home. This decision was one of the hardest things I had to do. After months of going back and forth trying to decide if I could emotionally handle losing Jet for a second time, I quickly sent Jet's old owner an email asking her if she would want him back. It was a quick decision to write the email and I knew ti had to be done before I changed my mind again. This is what it said:

"Hello P,

I am considering finding Jet a new home. I love him to death, but in order to do what I want to be able to do with my riding, I need to find a new horse. Since I am going to college in the fall, I know I will only be able to have the time and money for one horse. This leaves me in a horrible position. I cry even thinking about finding Jet a new home, but I know it needs to be done. I was wondering if you would be interested in taking him back? It could be a free lease or ownership. If you are interested, we could work something out. You were such a great owner and he was fat, happy, and healthy with you and got to live on acres and acres of open fields. While I have had him, we have done lots of shows, hunter paces, and fairs. We are going well wtc, and have jumped up to 3'. He loves trail rides and gallops in fields. We have even pulled an inflatable snow tube behind him during the winter (I'll attach a video below. He is such an awesome horse!) He lovessss to drive and that may be something he would excel in.

You can email me through here or call/text me at 508 *** ****.

Thank you,

Emily"

Within minutes, I got the following response:

"Hi Emily,

OMG. So good to hear from you! Congrats on college. Where are you going? What will you be doing for riding? 

I may be interested, but I wouldn't be able to do anything for a few months. Any health issues with him? How easy is he to WTC and jump small stuff - xrails to 2'? He was always such a good boy. Is he still an easy keeper? What's your time frame?

My daughter has a rescued Saddlebred TB cross that we thought we'd be able to just condition for her, but he is progressing with neurological issues that are worsening despite all of our efforts. He has gone from just being "weak", to unsafe to ride, now to unsafe to himself in the pasture. I believe we have exhausted all medical intervention options, and we are being advised the end should be near in all fairness to him. (he's up there in age too. estimate 17-20 so it's the right thing to do.)

My daughter is 12 now and about my size (5'1, but she is much skinnier :)   and she just wants a buddy to bond with and hack around, have fun and take some lessons on. I would say she's an advanced beginner. She actually rides better than that, but she's a little timid, and now hasn't been on regularly in about 6 months. I would love to see the video of the snow tube. (I didn't get it) That sounds so fun! I've always wanted to do that with the kids, but my horses are crazed wimps! It would NOT go well. They are also unsuitable for her, at least for several more years. I'm not really sure she'll ever want to be crazy competition girl anyway, which is fine with me. One chronically injured person is plenty. Haha.

Let me know if you think he would suit her. I always loved him too. I'm not sure what I would have done if he didn't go back to you. I know how much you love him. At the very least I could probably find a job for him as a happy farm trail horse (showing the crazy young greenies how to do it without exploding) as long as he's not unsound. I love my Vet, but I could use a break from seeing them all the time (and I don't even want to add up how much I've spent this year), and I'm done with the emotional exhaustion. My daughter is in denial about her horse's condition and is still expecting a magical outcome. It's drained me as you can imagine.

Feel free to email or call me. I'd love to see the video and photos of him! And thanks for thinking of me :)

P

508-***-****
PS- How's your mom? Tell her hi for me. "

After a few more emails back and forth and some text messages, it has been decided that Jet will go back to his old owner so her 12 year old daughter can love him and ride him. P is a trainer and will put a few good months of dressage work into him too. She will use him as a trail horse/buddy to help her babies learn the ropes. He will be going back late April so it gives me some time to accept the fact that this is really happening, and needs to happen in order for me to do what I want to do. I have been casually looking for a new horse since last July. I have seen close to 40 horses now between private sellers, sales barns, and thoroughbreds on the track at Suffolk Downs. I have looked at everything from quarter horses to thoroughbreds to warmbloods to saddlebreds and everything else you could possibly imagine.I have only really really liked three of those horses. One fell through because of legal reasons (it was an abandoned horse and it was a long process of transferring ownership), one was a TB on the track that sold before I could get the vet out there to do a vet check, and other was bought out from underneath me by a friend who said that I could make the decision on the horse before they did. So it has been a crazy battle of finding the right horse and then actually getting it before someone else does. 

I went to go see a 3yr old, coming 4, TB gelding yesterday that I really liked (make that 4 horses now that I have actually liked). He is super cute, has a good personality (is a little to playful with his mouth though...), sound, put together well, and has been started undersaddle by a close friend of mine. My trainer is going to look at him with me this week and we will see what she has to say about him. I know that if I do not find a horse by the time Jet goes back, I will stop riding. Last time Jet left, I wouldn't even look at a horse for 6 months. By having a new horse already, the transition will hopefully be easier...I just feel so selfish doing this...but it does need to be done. I will always love Jet and I will take him back in a heartbeat if anything goes array down the road. Fingers crossed that he will make the little girl just as happy and as good of a rider and he has made me. 

This is the baby TB. Opinions on him?

Long Overdue Update PART 1

Sorry for the lack of blogging lately. I have had very little time in the few weeks months to even think. In May, I had my first show of the season, taken SAT's, competed in 2 FFA (Future Farmers of America - haha, I know, sounds lame but its not!) CDE's (Career Development Events), had my Drill Team performance, had a lesson, went XC for the first time this year, worked on Jet's canter, worked, and was hired for the first time EVER to photograph a horse show!

Let's start with the boring stuff...I took my SAT's on May 5th, the day before my first show. I didn't get a good night's sleep the night before taking them and was completely brain dead 2 hours into the biggest test of my life. Being a hard-working student with a 101.17 grade average, I was extremely disappointed when I got my scores back and discovered that I only scored a 1720. My math was my highest score (always is) and my English areas need work. My mother is signing me up for summer tutoring to help prepare me for when I retake the test in the fall.

On May 9th, I competed in my school's FFA Horse Showmanship CDE. Originally, I was signed up to compete in both the Showmanship and the Judging portions but once we were there, I was informed that since I was the overall individual high score last year, I was unable to compete on the A-team (the team that can qualify for regionals and nationals). I still got to participate by being on the B-team(Backup-team). Since we had to have my spot filled by one of our B-team members, I filled their spot in return. However, I was still able to compete in Horse Showmanship. Basically, the competitors are randomly handed horses that we have never handled before and we must compete an in-hand showmanship class with them. I was watching the people infront of me getting their horses...there was a nice thoroughbred....a pretty paint....ooo a warmblood!...and then I get handed the 11hh ancient pony that can barely move...I made the best of what I was given and proceeded to win my class! I was SO happy! Our team ended up placing second overall so they won't be going on to regionals or nationals unfortunately. We only lost by 18 points! (out of 1500+) We judged the following classes: Conformation classes- Hunter Pony, Thoroughbred Geldings (Reasons), Sport horses, Paint Mares (they threw a gelding in this class!); Undersaddle- Hunter Under Saddle, Hunter Hack (Reasons). Overall, it was a long, but fun, day.

May 24th was our FFA Livestock Evaluation CDE. Normally there are 4 or 5 full teams competing at these competitions so we were shocked (and thrilled) to see that only one other team was there to compete that day. Once school didn't even try to form a team, and another had a team set up but none of the kids showed up to school to go... haha. We had to judge Tunis breeding ewes, Market lambs (oral reasons class), breeding gilts, market hogs, belted Galloways, and aged Simmentals (orals class)l. In other words, we did a breeding and meat class for sheep, pigs and cattle. I didn't really know what I was doing but after talking with people on my team and on the other team, nobody was really sure how to place the classes. The pig classes were exceptionally hard. After we did our oral reasons (where we get 10 minutes after all of the judging is done to prepare a 2 minute, one-on-one presentation to the judge as to why we place a class why we did), we were told that the pigs were actually from the same litter making it even HARDER to judge. Needless to say, I completely failed. But luckily, the other team failed more than my team and we will be heading to the National Conference in Indianapolis in October! I am excited, yet terrified because I feel completely unprepared and do not want to make a fool of myself...

HORSE UPDATES TO COME TOMORROW!

Shot Down

My knee is *knock on wood* all better! The past few rides with Jet have been AMAZING. Something has clicked between us. I have been able to feel a difference in his movement. His hind end is finally engaged and going in the right direction. I can feel him coming up into my hands and he has a bigger, more suspenseful stride. His canter has also become 10 times better lately! I have been doing lots and lots of transitions and changes of directions, circles, serpentines etc. and all of the different things seem to make him become more responsive and lighter in the bridle. I'll have to get a video to show you guys.

Yesterday, we gave him a 6-way shot. Its cheaper for us to order it online and give it ourselves. Jet has always had reactions to shots. It doesn't matter if we give it or if the vet does, he always swells up like a balloon. Today I took a look at his neck where I gave him the shot and it was nice and puffy :( Poor boy...gave him some bute and hopefully the swelling will go down soon.

As soon as we start to do well, we always have an obstacle in our path that slows us down No worries though, its just a small bump in the road. Two weeks from today we will be sweeping up at our first show!

Something New

Since my knee has been bothering me on and off, I decided to try something new (to me) but very familiar to Jet. It is something I have always wanted to do with him. Want to take a guess at what we did?

Here are some hints: he was originally bred and trained for this. His first career required him to do this task and while doing it, he won three times. Some horses pace, some horses trot. If you haven't guessed it by now, you never will.

I finally got to drive him! I wasn't the only one who was excited to be hooking a jog cart up to him. His ears perked right up and he was happy the entire time I was driving him. I didn't drive for long but we got in some nice stretches of trot. He was calm the entire time and listened to every aid I used. He wasn't spooky and he didn't care that we were leaving his friends to go for a drive (when riding and leaving the "herd" he tends to be a bit of a brat). Ofcourse, I have pictures.

*I know we are on cement. There was no other safe place to trot. We were not on it for long and he was warmed up and cooled out properly.

Click to enlarge, click read more to see more pics!

Dear Horses, I Do NOT Like the Taste of Dirt

My knee FINALLY stopped bothering me when I was riding and guess what happens? I fall off...again.


Before this little streak that I now have going, my last fall was nearly two years ago. Now it seems like I fall off all of the time but strangely enough, I don't mind. It just gives me things to work on. The fact that I always get back up, without fear, and try again makes me proud and gives me inner strength. If at first you don't succeed, try try again.




As some of you know, I am part of my school's equestrian drill team. Today we had open tryouts and the current team decided to work the other horses after tryouts. It seemed like just another normal day.




I have been working with this particular mare to help break some habits and get her less tense under saddle. She is a little 8 year old 14/14.2hh chestnut pony mare who we shall call "S." She has bucked off several intermediate riders in the past few months and the school instructor is hesitant to put anyone on her at this point. I'm always up for a challenge and the instructor knows I can hold my own with most horses.


Lately, S has been AWESOME! I have her going consistently well walk, trot, jog. She has finally accepted pressure on the bit without tossing her hand. She has also begun to understand leg pressure. Before, she would just bulge through what ever leg pressure I applied and if she gets too annoyed, she bucks. She doesn't care if you kick with all of your strength; if she doesn't want to do something, she will do everything she can to get out of it. Oh, did I mention she kicks other horses if they get to close? This mare has learned every trick in the book to get her riders off. Her past owners were scared of her and she learned that if she got them off, she didn't have to work. Little does S know, I always get back on after I fall.


I have been working on her canter the past few rides. The canter is when she pulls 99% of her stunts. Usually, she just bucks or crow hops but today, it was her goal to get me on the ground. She did not want to work. It took three people to hold her still enough for me to even get on. She was rearing and jigging but I finally got my little bum in the saddle.




After she was warmed up (her warm up was amazing by the way, forward, engaging trot and she even offered to take the bit a few times!) I asked her to canter. I got her usual "I don't want to canter - buck buck kick kick" routine but I got her going a few times around the ring at a nice, balanced canter. She was swishing her tail and I knew she was thinking of something. But after she got into the canter, she was fine.


I walked her around a bit and switched directions. Apparently, I gave her enough time to let her think of a way she has an excuse to get me off. She pulled the same stunts when picking it up and even threw in a nice grunt and tail swish. I had her going maybe half way around the ring before I had to come off of the rail to pass another horse. S will deliberately go after another horse to kick them when the opportunity arises so I made sure to cut in a lot. However, S believe that if she bulged far enough out, she would be able to reach her destination. after politely asking her to straighten out and go back on the rail without success, I gave her a nice boot with my outside leg to remind her that I actually meant that she had to stop bulging towards other horses. Needless to say, S did not like my reminder.


After popping a few bucks, I squeezed her on. She was getting annoyed that I wasn't already off. So what does she do? Out of nowhere, she goes from giraffe mode to having her head in between her front legs, bucking, then crow hopping, then dead stopping. Without having anything in front of me to put my hand on to stop me, I went straight over her head. I do admit that I was leaning forward to try to gather my reins and that also helped me get to the ground. What did I land on? My screwed up knee. Awesome.


As I was plummeting to the earth, I saw her hooves coming at me in the corner of my eye. My heart dropped. I knew she was rearing and that she was right above me. I covered my face and shut my eyes. A few seconds later, I opened them and was relieved to see S walking to the side of me. Its school procedure to stay right were you fall and wait for the nurse to come and check you out before remounting but I'm a rebel and got up and got back on before anyone could come over to me and see if I was ok.


I quietly dropped some F-bombs to myself because I could feel the pain in my knee. Obviously, I sucked it up and told the instructor that I was fine and that there was no need for the nurse. She wasn't too happy with me but she was glad to see that I was physically and mentally able to get back on after falling off. Within a few minutes, I was cantering her around the arena again. She finally gave in and behaved so I got off and called it a day.




99% of the time, I take complete responsibility for any accident or fall. This time, I partially blame the horse's past owners for installing bad habits into this poor little mare. She thinks that if she gets you off, she gets out of work. Hopefully I won't fall off again but if I do, its a good lesson for this mare.


The most painful part of the whole ordeal was walking away. Literally. Each step felt like my knee was being hit by a sledge-hammer that was being swung by the world's strongest man. I got home, iced it, and took some Advil. Oh, guess what I have tomorrow in school? Gym. And guess what we are playing? Soccer and kickball. It looks like my poor knee will take longer to heal than I thought.

"Leap" of Faith

Today, for the first time since I fell almost two weeks ago, Jet and I jumped. I set up four jumps in my little arena of varying heights. Since I am not wealthy, I used common backyard items as jumps and standards.

For example, one jump had big sticks from the woods as poles and groundlines and two saw horses as standards. This jump was a 2'ish crossrail placed on a diagnol so we could practice switching leads over a jump (which is a new thing that we need to practice for upcoming shows.) Jet did awesome! He listened to me and my body as we were approaching and landing the jump so he would land on whatever lead I felt like putting him on.

The next jump had a toy bin as wings and a long 2'6" wide piece of plywood in the middle. I slanted the plywood up against the bins so the jump had both height and width. It ended up being about 2'3". Jet seems to like more solid jumps compared to show jumping style fences. I think since it is solid, it is easier for him to see it and find a distance up to them. He went over this without hesitation.

Out of the bunch, the next setup was probably the most "normal." I had two big blue barrels as standards and then regular wooden poles. I set it up as a verticle with one pole halfway up and halfway down to give it some sort of a filler, the top pole, and then the groundlines. This fence was probably 2'4/2'5"ish. He went over this from both the trot and canter. He did buldge right when we were going to the left but he still went over it.

The last, and biggest, fence was the largest fence we have jumped as a team. I had a traffic cone as one standard and the mounting block with a smaller cone as the other standard. I used regular wooden poles as the top rail and the half up half down filler and then big sticks as the ground lines. As I set it up, I thought the jump was only about 2'6/2'7"ish but went I went back and measured it, it was 2'10"! He went over without hesitation at the canter going to the right (his bad way ironically) but he kept running out when canterred it to the left. I finally got him over it to the left at a trot and cantered it once more to the right and then called it a day.

I know my stirrups are waaaay to long, I'm too far out of the saddle, and I have broken wrists, but look at how well Jet handled it! And check out my new saddle ;) (matching bridle and stirrup leathers are coming soon!)

New Saddle and a Lucky Fall

After spending what seems like endless months searching for a saddle that not only fit and pleases my finicky horse, but also fits my extremely long femur, the search has finally brought me to this saddle:

Say hello to my new Collegiate Convertible Diploma (with a long flap ;)). After sitting in many saddles, such as HDRs; Cicruits; Marcel Toulouses; even a few Pessoas and Bates, I fell in love with this saddle. The flap length works well for me when I do anything and everything from flat work to jumping, the seat isn't hard like a rock, the leather is a much nicer quality than some of the others I've sat in, it fits Jet like a custom saddle, and the seat has the perfect depth and twist to please my personnal preferences. I just LOVE this saddle.

The first time I rode in it, I had a bit of a  mishap. I was putting it through my test run (w/t/c, half seat, sitting trot, how it felt with no stirrups, jumping, etc) and Jet decided that it would be more fun to see what I look like going over a fence while he stayed on the other side and watched.

He had been acting a bit funny that day. It might have been the weather, or something caught his eye, I have no idea. I was definitely jacked up and ready to go. I knew that he felt ok in the saddle because when we tried the last saddle on him, he was jacked up but instead he wouldn't move. All he did was buck in place and pin his ears. He does this with any saddle he isn't 100% happy in. But he was moving around just fine with the Collegiate.

My Aunt (my instructor) set up a large crossrail so I could start to test jump in the new saddle. He pulled some of his usual "I haven't jumped in a while so I'm gonna test you before I go over it" stunts which include buldging out, running out, going fast, supermaning, or going nice and forward to the jump, then just trotting over it like it's a groundpole. This day, he added a new one to the list. For the first time, he actually straight out refused with a dirty stop. The few times before we went over before he stopped, he was flying through and supermaning. After I reminded him that he does have to listen to my aids, I finally got him going nice and slow and steady to the jump and then BAM, he stopped. I would have been fine if he didn't proceed to tuck his head between his front legs and fly backwards. I went over his head, knocked over the jump and landed on my knee. Jet just stood still with the "OH SHIT! I didn't mean to do that! I'm so sorry!" face on. From the ground, it looked like he was about to come jump the pile of poles where the jump used to be and were I was but thankfully, he didn't. I'm just glad I didn't land on my head again like I have the past three times I've fallen off. I'd consider that a lucky break!

When I stood up to go fetch my refusing horse, I could already tell my knee just wasn't right. When I got back in that saddle and started riding, I was in serious pain. But, I kept riding and working with Jet until we finally worked everything out and he was jumping it like a pro. As soon as I put him away, I checked on my knee. It was already burising and swollen.

I took some Advil and decided to suck it up. Bad idea. Two days after the fall, I was in a dodgeball tournament at school (it was a group of my friends from my major - Large Animals - so we called ourselves the Moo Croo). We won the costume contest for the tournament! We all dressed up like cows. In our first and only match, I managed to get pegged in the knee and fall and twist it. We were the only all-girl team so needless to say, we didn't win our match, even though it technically should have been a tie! I went home that night with an extremely sore knee.

Now, more than a week after the fall, my knee is just now starting to feel better. I can ride without it hurting but if I over work it or hit it on something, I'll be close to tears. It gets better and better each day so hopefully I'll be 100% soon.

Computer Crash and Burn

I apologize for the lack of posts. My computer decided to completely die leaving me unable to update. The computer will be sent out to be fixed soon! However, we got a new laptop just incase the other can not be saved.

Jet and I have done a LOT of trail riding! In one week, we spent nearly 10 hours on the trails. This is by far his favorite thing to do. Our normal loop takes us roughly two hours to complete, depending on how fast or slow we choose to go that day. No matter what, Jet plods along with his ears perked up.

There is one thing that has brought up some concern..when he is in the field, he kicks out when he canters. I'm sure I have posted about this in the past at one point or another. To all of the Standie owners or riders out there: did your guys also kick out (it's not really a buck, he kicks out with his right hind) when you were just starting them out with cantering? He doesn't do this at all in the ring, only in the field. I'm worried that something is bothering him...

On a good note, I am in full swing saddle-shopping mode! I made the journey to Pelham Saddlery in NH yesterday and took an HDR on trial. It fits me and Jet well, but something about it just feels weird to me. I am used to riding in an all purpose (Colliegate Senior Event) so close contact/jumping saddles feel a lot different. I have also been looking at Dover's Circuit saddles. I have ridden in the circuits before and really liked them. Which do you guys prefer? Why?

I have tons of pictures that I will put up once they have downloaded onto the new computer. When I post them, I will tell you guys about my show schedule!

Plans for 2012

I guess you could say I have been thinking about my future a lot lately. Next year, I will be a senior in high school so right now is the perfect time to start looking at colleges. There are so many to choose from! I don't even know what career path I want to follow so how can I pick a college? As of right now(and for the past two years), I am at the top of my class. If I stay here, I will have to give a speech at graduation next year. I'm completely fine with giving speeches and presentation in front of people, but I absolutely suck at writing them. What am I going to do?!

All of this thinking made me start to realize that I only have a short year and a half left before I go off to college...and I'm not sure if I will be able to take Jet with me. I am going to do everything I can to either stay close to home or to find a place near the college of my choice where I can board him for a reasonable fee. That being said, I only have one full show/riding season left before I leave. So here is what I plan on doing with it:

1. Go to the National Standardbred Show in New Jersery on September 9th. I want to compete in walk trot AND walk trot canter classes and well as jumping and maybe even western classes.
2. Show w/t/c with Jet at local shows instead of w/t. I have never competed a full show season w/t/c. I'm capable of doing it, but I also end up riding green horses or Standardbreds who are learning to trot instead of pace, never mind even thinking about cantering! This should be exciting, but I will admit..I'm a little nervous about how Jet will do cantering in a large ring with many other horses..
3. Show in the hunters and jumpers. I have done groundpole jumpers with him in the past and crossrail hunter courses (click on the link to see the posts about that) but this year I would like to be competitive in the 2'-2'6" range. This means that we will have to get our lead changes down aswell.
4. Go team penning!
5. Try cowboy mounted shooting
6. Go to Woodstock Fair 
7. Drive Jet
8. Show him western atleast once
9. Do the Breed Demo at Hobby Horse Farm
10. Go to Rehoboth Fair again!
11. Go on the Apple Knoll Hunter Pace and at least one other hunter pace.
12. Go to the beach!
13. Be in a parade
14. Jump a 3' fence for the first time with him ( I have jumped up to 3'3"-3'6"ish in the past on other horses)
15. Ride with friends as much as I can

If I think of anything else, I will add it on here. Basically, I want to do as much as I can while I can do it. This year we are trying everything we can get our hands and hooves on. Hopefully, we'll get to do everything and more on this list.

As an update, me and Jet have been trail riding a lot since the clinic. The first trail ride I took him out on, he bucked at the canter NON-STOP. I was actually worried that there was something wrong. I just walked him after that.

The next day, I got on him and just walked for 40 min on the trails then did some ring work for 20 min. He has never given me such nice canters before! He was even somewhat balanced and slow going to the right! (his much worse direction)

I rode him again yesterday for about 45 minutes and we gave me another beauuuutiful canter. I don't know if he realigned himself with all that bucking or maybe if he just needed to get out and moving in a big field, but something clicked and hopefully we will continue to build on this canter and make it show worthy by April!