Concussions, Lameness, and Run Aways. What Fun!

This past month has been quite interesting to say the least. Where to start...


The week after the show, Jet had some time off. I rode him Wednesday, then decided to hop on bareback on Thursday. He was perfect Wednesday and was willing to do anything I asked of him. Thursday went the same way....mostly. I did walk/trot over ground poles and he was doing great! We cantered the poles bareback to work on picking spots and lining up for jumps, etc. All was wonderful. He listened to me, waited when I told him to wait, went when I told him to go. 


After we did that, I decided to work on transitions. Jet started anticipating and got ahead of himself. In one corner, I asked for a walk to canter transition. Instead of going straight and engaging his hind end, he booked it to the side, leaving me hanging on to him sideways. After going around a quarter of the ring, I let go and ended up landing on my head and back apparantly. How? I'm not sure. 


I cracked my helmet pretty good and had a huge gash on my back. I was out for a few seconds and didn't move for a while I was told. My sister watched the whole thing. Instead of coming to see if I was even breathing, she sat there for about a minute and just watched me laying there...then she got my mom. About 5 minutes later, my mom came out to check on me and I was back on him...bareback....cantering...over ground poles....as the sun was going down. I don't remember the fall, all I know is from what my sister told me.


I got a concussion and a nice battle scar. I had a headache for several days, even weeks, afterwards, but I'm no worse for the wear. I rode a horse at school the next day and was in excruciating pain afterwards. Since I have no commonsense, I went home then rode Jet at Hobby Horse with Mom. Yet again, I was in serious pain. Did I learn? Nope. I rode again the next day. Finally, after riding three times and being in serious pain and on the verge of passing out at the end of each ride, I took a week off from riding at home, and two weeks off from riding at school.

This was the cut a few days after the fall. I couldn't wear jeans for over a week because it is right where my pants lie on me.

So after that fiasco, I rode Jet a few times. His feet were getting long, and I brought that to the attention of my mother. Our usual farrier was unable to do their hooves due to family reasons, so mother decided to try a new farrier. Abby had a show with Elsa that weekend and Elsa was in desperate need of her feet being trimmed. Well, the man came and talked to mother and brother. He talked about how each of the horses move and how this and that could do blah and blah. I wish I was there to hear what this guy said, but unfortunately I was at school. He did all of the horses feet. I got home that day to ride, got tacked up, hopped on, and was sadly surprised to see my never-been-lame-in-his-life horse gimping around with me on him. It wasn't obvious from the ground so I didn't take much notice to it. However, when I was picking his feet, I noticed a HUGE change in them. Every thing was extremely different. His feet were all different shapes, different angles, not level, and his toe was filled down at an angle leaving his sole hitting the ground instead of the hoof wall. 

Poor Jet was extremely uncomfortable. Elsa was also lame in her right front. We called out farrier a few days later and she came as soon as she could to see what she could do to fix them up a bit now that her family issues were a bit more settled down. Mr. Farrier took soo much off in all of the wrong places, that she didn't have much to work with. She managed to fix Elsa up a bit, though. With Jet, she decided to put shoes on with a leather cushion. This took the pressure off of the sole of his foot and placed it more on the wall where it should be. He instantly looked more comfortable, but not quite sound.

Three days later, he was sound enough for me to put around on in the trails. We kept it slow for a few days just to make sure he was ok. We are still working him back up to where he should be right now, but atleast he is ride-able.

A few days ago, I decided to go for a bareback trail ride. He was being an angel like usual, We walked and trotted around a bit. We were trotting around when all of a sudden, he stopped, squealed like a little filly, did a 180, bucked, and took off. He put his head in between his legs and had the bit clenched. I tried doing a one rein stop...didn't work. Circles? Nope. trying to atleast bring him to a reasonable canter or trot? Nope. Run him into a tree? Nope. So there I was...useless on my runaway horse. I let him have his head for 2 strides, then with all of my effort I sat back as far as I could and just yanked back. I am quite aware, this is not an appropriate thing to do, but when I am picking between staying on the horse or falling again and risking another concussion, I chose the act of desperation. He threw his head up and finally started to trot. We trotted all the way home through the trails. He jumped every log that was fallen, wove through all the little trees, and was still being a brat. So I got home, and worked him in the ring bareback. 20 minutes later, I got off....then lunged him. By this time, I expected a tired, sweaty horse but nooo. He was still full of energy and not even warm. I ended things on a good note and put him away.

I have had work after school so I haven't been able to get back on, but I am planning to if the weather allows it tomorrow. Fingers crossed!

-Em and Jet

Oh, by the way, please follow me on Youtube! I post new videos frequently and I have recently discovered the powers of windows movie maker! Here is my most recent video of me and some of the other students at my school riding in class:

The Results Are In!

If I said that today was amazing, it would be an understatement. I'm not sure there is a word that sufficiently describes the day I had. It was the best day I have had in a longggg time.


It started in the wee hours of the morning...5am. I woke up, took a shower, then marched on down to the barn to groom and braid the boy. I did a running braid in his mane only to have him shake it out a few minutes later... silly horse. I got Jet all set to go, made sure I had everything, packed and put everything where it needed to be, then waited. My fried Sara came with her truck and trailer to pick us up since our rig is not usable in its current state.


We got to the show right when I wanted to be there. I let Jet get off the trailer and walk around. We walked around the ring, around the trailers, warm up areas, everywhere. I let him munch on some grass, then brought him back to the trailer where I braided him while my amazing friends/sister/brother-in-law made my horse look like he was ready to enter a Grand Prix ring. He was spotless! We tacked him up and I warmed him up.


He was great in warm up. He was better than he has been at home! We even had a bit of an interruption...a miniature horse (one of sixteen that were there) got loose and was causing havoc around the farm. Eventually, the mini was tackled and pig pilled on and brought to control....only to have it get loose again a few hours later.


Ok...lets get to the classes! The first was equitation. There were four horses in my division and everyone of them deserved to be in the Green Horse division. Jet was amazing! We did have one mishap when they decided to test the loud speakers in the middle of my class. It was down for most of the classes before mine and they just haaad to test it right as I was going past the judge... Jet bolted and galloped for a few strides but was easily brought back under control. Right then and there, I thought I blew the class (which I was fine with because I was happy how we did besides that). Little did I know, every other horse in the class did the same thing and some were a lotttt worse than  Jet. We ended up placing FIRST! HECK YEAH! I was ecstatic to say the least. I almost cried. I got off of him and put him in the trailer so he could chill for a little bit and munch on some hay.


The next class was pleasure. I failed to realize how quickly the classes were going and this snook up on me a bit. We only got about 3 minutes of warm up. Throughout the day, Jet had many mini-meltdowns. First he spooked at a branch on the ground and he started rearing, then we took off a few times, reared a few more, etc. At least it added some entertainment to the day! For one reason or another, Jet clicked into 'racehorse' mode right before we went in the pleasure ring. He just wanted to go. But as soon as we stepped into the ring, he calmed down and listened to me. We were very forward in that class and counterbent at a few times when he was in the 'spooky corner', but he was better than he has been before. WAY better. I think we may have broke once right before they called for a walk, so I booted him and he took a canter step but the judge didn't really see it. We ended up placing second in pleasure! I was super surprised considering we never place well in pleasure! By this point in the day, I felt like some sort of God. I was ontop of my world because my horse was actually tuning into me in the show ring.


Next we headed into the trail ring. I don't think I have ever had such an amazing trail class! We had to walk into a back through, then back through it, walk half way over a pole(front feet on one side, hind on the other), walk over 5 poles, do a 360 turn to the right in a box, trot around some cones, then walk over the bridge. He was PERFECT! He didn't take a wrong step in this. I did, though. We went over the bridge and to me it felt like he scooted off to the side of it so I did it again...but when I went back and watched the video, he just took big, awkward steps over it but he did go over it the first time. Oh well, we did it an extra time. We won this class too!!


Last, but not least, was our favorite class: discipline rail. Discipline rail is basically a command class where you don't get 'out' if you don't follow the command. We rocked this class! Our transitions were spot on, he stood still, backed up perfectly, and even sorta kinda did an extended trot! I felt that this was our best class because it kept his mind busy, and my body busy. We won this too! 


If you didn't already guess, we got CHAMPION in our division! I can not believe it! My horse was a super star today. I'm so proud of him! Its not about the ribbons, its about the experience. It was a great experience for both me and Jet. I had a great time with my friends, saw some people I haven't seen in a while, and learned a lot. I still can't believe MY horse did so well and is smart enough to switch from play mode to show mode so quickly. I love him<3 

First Show of the Season

When the weather cooperates and the homework isn't too much, I have ridden pretty consistently. Some days it will be a short 20 minute walk trot ride and others will be 1 hour+ walk, trot, canter rides. We haven't jumped yet and probably won't for a while until he is back in shape. However, we have been doing lots of ground pole work.


This past week, we have been preparing for our first show of the season! We are doing the 4-h show series at Haskins again this year. Since it is the last year we qualify for it, we are doing the Green Horse Division again. Might as well take advantage of it while we can! 


I made the decision to not pull Jet's mane for this show. His mane is helping him in keeping the bugs off of his neck and I didn't have anything to pull it with...so we will be *attempting* a running braid for this show. I already know it is going to be a disaster...oh well! It isn't about the braids, its about the experience.


I'm not expecting much for this show and my goals are simple:
1.) Get there on time
2.) Be safe and controlled
3.) Go over the ground poles in trail like a normal horse
4.) Not break from the trot or go into a canter during the classes
5.) Not kill anyone before, during, or after the show.


Basically, I was a nice, calm, relaxing day and a good experience for Jet. I could care less if we won 4 blue ribbons or not a single ribbon at all. I will definitely take pictures and videos for everyone and let you know how we did!

Rides

Jet and I have been hard at work. We have been doing w/t/c under saddle in the ring recently with trail rides thrown in here and there. He has been really good about cantering lately. He picks it up great and can keep it all the way around the ring with out bucking. When we are trotting, he knows hat he should do and he tries but he's lacking the muscle to get him all the way there. It hasn't been all work, work, work though...I have decided to introduce Jet to a rope because I hope to do roping, penning, barrels, poles, etc in the future and we have to start somewhere.

So I got the rope out, let him sniff it, touched him with it all over, swung it around....I was totally expecting a melt don when I started swinging it above his head but this was the result....

Yep. He's definitely going to be a roper!

Back in Work!

The snow has finally cleared which means we are back in work!

I have kept the riding fun and entertaining. Jet has a lot of excess energy built up! What does that mean? Trail rides. Lots of trail rides. We both absolutely love the trails and would rather be out there then stuck going in little circles in the ring. We have done three trail rides so far, and each one has been better than the one before it.

Three things that summarize the trail rides would be: bucking, bulging, and no brakes. Each day, these all improve. In fact, we ever did out first ever flying lead change! We were cantering in a field, he wanted to go home and I wanted to circle so I picked him up on the outside and asked for the change and surprisingly, he gave it to me! I was SO proud! After that, we called it a day.

We have had our fair share of fights as well. There is this one corner where he always bulges, bucks, hops, or does something. It gets quite interesting....but I have won the battle! After going by it a few times now, he is a good boy.

Today Mary-Kate and I rode him in the ring. He definitely needs a lot of work! With time everything will be put back together and I will get into more detail about exactly what's going on later. We both rode for about 30 minutes on him, totaling up to an hour. I warmed him up, she cooled him out. In the middle, we both did lots of trot work and short canters. Its great to be back in the saddle!

In case you didn't notice, I changed the design of the blog a bit as well as the top picture! And here it is again:

My Handsome man<3

Well, that's it for now!

-Emily and Jet

A lot of nothing

Lately, a lot of nothing has been going on. I am on school vacation and yet...I can't ride. Why you might ask? ICE! The past two months have been snowing almost nonstop. We had atleast one day off from school per week for five straight weeks in a row. Now with the warmer weather coming about, the snow has melted a bit during the day, then it refreezes at night.

Therefore, not a lot of riding has been going on. The only place I can ride is on my street which is not ideal in any situation. I don't do a lot with Jet, but it keeps him sane. I have been doing a lot of bareback riding, riding in just a halter, etc. Jet seems to enjoy the bonding time but boy....he is ready to get back in work. I have been keeping his mind busy with teaching him tricks. I will have to get some pictures of them!

This is how he keeps himself exercised.

Yipee!

Even though he loves to bounce around like a maniac, when I get on him he takes great care of me and goes into riding mode

I love my boy<3

Hopefully the weather will rally start to warm up and all of this now disappears. When that happens, I will be sure to post more often (:

-Emily and Jet



2010: Looking Back

Overall, 2010 was a good year for me. It was the last part of my freshman year in high school, the year I got my first horse back, the year of ups and downs, friendships and heartbreaks, and oh so much more. Here is how my horsey year went:

January: I started the year off with my old Standardbred, Blue. He was an amazing horse to me, but to nobody or anything else. He wasn't fond of other people and was quite dangerous around other horses, especially our other horses. He continually charged at the fence to try to get at Elsa. One time, he broke through, pinned her in a corner, and whaled on her and didn't stop until we got the hose to break them up. I loved him, and even though I only had him for six months, we formed a bond and I brought him a long quite well. Blue is now in a new home and we visit him every now and then. One of my best friends lives next door to him and gives him carrots for me (: Ironically, he is now named Jet!

January ended with me getting Jet, who is the reason this blog was made. (Almost one year on blogger AND with Jet!!) The last day in January I had my first ride back on Jet. I was great to get back on him.



February: February was a bonding month for us. We spent a lot of time lunging, joining up, grooming, and short rides. I figured out where he was in his training developed a plan of what I wanted to do with him. I...unfortunately....pulled his mane in February. His long beautiful mane was gone. I hated doing it but now, I couldn't picture him having such a long mane. We took him off property for the first time as well. We took him to Hobby Horse with Mary-Kate and her Standardbred mare, Katie.

It was a great time just to figure each other out again. We learned a lot about each other in February.

March: March was a great month. Not only was it Jet's birthday, it was our first show! We prepared by going to Hobby Horse a LOT. We also cantered for the first time. We were in the back field and he actually picked up a nice canter for a few strides! It was one of the best moments of my life at the time.

We also "jumped" for the first time. LOL!

http://borntotrot.blogspot.com/2010_03_06_archive.html

During out adventures there, I did something I always wanted to do...race someone across a field. And we won!

http://borntotrot.blogspot.com/2010_03_07_archive.html

We also had our first show. It went alright. I was super proud of him! We ended up placing 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, and 3rd! The month ended with Jet's 9th birthday on the 30th. We had a cake ;)

April: April was a quiet month. We did a lot of trail riding at home. It got really warm for a while so the riding was kept to a minimum for a while. But, we had our first show at a completely new place for him.

Our first Haskins Show was a mixed bag. It was rainy, cool, and had a LOT of horses in a small area. Jet was quick and a bit spooky but we did alright. We placed 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th.

May: May was busyyyy! We actually started to pursue jumping quite a bit. At the time, Jet was super uncoordinated and looking back, I should have waited longer to start jumping. But, no harm was done and a good time was had by all.

We also had two shows in May. We had a Hobby Horse Show and a Haskins Show. First was Haskins. He was less spooky this time and the classes were in the much larger outdoor arena. Thank gosh! He was however completely ignoring me in some of the classes so we didn't place well in those. We placed 2nd, 3rd, 7th, and 7th.

Listening:

Not Listening:

Our Hobby Horse show was MUCH better! He was so well behaved! I was so proud and I actually cried. We won our first ever blue ribbon together! We were also champion in our division (we weren't the only ones in the division either! There were 4 of us!)

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeThKIsBhYk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBzTzklnYqE&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RwG_RVbKao&feature=channel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCmFOGcnhe4&feature=channel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4u5r8mHWXY&feature=channel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVsOvQ7D2M0&feature=channel (where I cried!)

 

June: June was the end of the school year. WOO! It was also another quiet month. We had no shows, nothing on our schedule, so we spent a lot of time playing around. I decided that I would not jump him in June because I felt like I over did it in May. I didn't want to ruin it for him. So, we spent our time trail riding with friends and family. It was also the first time we went swimming with the horses! Both Jet and I loved going swimming and we did it several times.

 

July: In July we got back to our work. We did a lot of ring work and slowly started jumping cross rails again. We went to Hobby Horse a LOT. I actually got a really nice canter out of him there a few times! One time, we got stuck out on the trails in a rain storm and instead of running back to the indoor to ride, we just stayed out and rode in the rain :)

 

We also had our first lesson with my Aunt. She helped me straightening him out and keep an even tempo. To this day, that lesson has helped us miles and miles! I owe my Aunt the world for helping me with him.

 

Jet and I went to Mary-Kate's house a few times and rode with her and Katie. We did a little bit of jumping and we had a lot of fun on the cranberry bogs!

 

We had another Haskins show in July. It was another mixed bag show but...we won another blue ribbon! Jet owns at discipline rail classes ;) Jet decided he forgot how to go straight so I blew my equitation class to get him listening again. Surprisingly, I guess I didn't look too bad but Jet broke from the trot...twice..so we placed 6th out of 6. But the judge came up to me after the class and told me that if he didn't break, we would have placed much higher. Trail was ok...he was being a selective listener. We placed 5th of 7. In pleasure he was a complete lazy bum. He broke multiple times (five times I believe?). Once I got him good with the crop and for the rest of the class he was speedy Gonzales. Out of 8, we didn't place. Oh well. But...in disciple rail, we owned! He was PERFECT. We won :)

 

Mary-Kate came to my house and we had a long ride in the ring and on the trail. We did some flat work, jumping, and galloping!

 

 

August: August was another busy month. It was the end of summer/get ready to go back to school month. We also had a few shows. Starting with Rehoboth fair...

 

Rehoboth fair was amazing! We had a great time, but everyone complained that the judge was not an experienced judge. She placed all over. The classes were pretty big as well! It was our first jumping show and games show too. Jet blew me away throughout the day! He was a true superstar! He was perfect in the flat classes, didn't refuse in the jumping classes, and was great in the games! We also won two blue ribbons :)

Results:

Open Horse or Pony In-Hand- 3rd out of 14
Jr. Walk-Trot Equitation- 5th out of 9
Jr. Walk-Trot Pleasure- Did not place
Jr. Walk-Trot Cross rails- 4th out of 7
Jr. Walk Trot Horsemanship- 3rd out of 9
Mint Julep Class- 3rd out of 15-20
Cloverleaf Race- 3rd out of over 20
Izzy Dizzy Race- 1st out of about 15
Boots and Saddle Race- 1st out of 8


Decked out in Farm colors!







We had another Haskins show in August. Jet was AMAZING considering there were 10 horses in the classes. I was extremely surprised when we were called 4th for equitation and 5th for pleasure out of some amazing riders and horses that were definitely not green training wise, but still fit the bill for showing less than two years. I was SO happy with those placings and I felt they were fair. Discipline rail was crazy. The judge had us trotting with one hand behind our back...etc. The pleasure class was full of spooking horses but the judge still had us having only one hand on the rein...smart move. Horses were spooking everywhere but Jet was a steady eddy and we placed 5th :) Not sure how we placed in trail, 4th I believe, but he was good during trail. It was an interesting course but he was very good!

Jet and I participated in our first ever jumper show too! We went to Clover Valley and did two classes of ground pole jumpers. Jet was really good! Didn't refuse at all but we did get a lot of "Oooo"'s and "Ahhh"'s from the spectators because our jumping was...colorful :) Let's just say these pics explains our jumping quite well. Let me remind you..this is a GROUND POLES class.


We did have some great moments of beautiful distances and jumps and these were just a few bad moments.




We ended up placing 4th and 6th out of 12 riders! Yay Jet!

Between our shows, we had a few VERY useful lessons from my Aunt, had some riding time at Mary-Kate's house, shared trail rides with my mom, went swimming with the horses again, and went to Hobby Horse a few times. We also ground drove Jet for the first time! He LOVED it!

September: September was the start of the school year. The beginning of September was filled with trail rides because I wanted to cram as many in as I could before school started because I knew I wouldn't get out as much. We had some long rides on the Hobby Horse trails and at our own trails.

Dad rode Jet for the first time too! He wanted to go for a trail ride with my Mom at Hobby Horse but before we let him on the trails, we gave him the 101 in the ring. He has ridden before, just not frequently. He knows the basics and can sit and hold on if need be. One of our old standies bolted with him and ran around the ring, complete with sliding stops almost into the fences and my Dad stayed on and eventually got her back to a walk. Gotta love mares :)



Dad did take Jet to Hobby Horse and he was a superstar! He took great care of my Dad and they had a blast :)

I thought I was going to go to a dressage show at Flatlands at the end of September. I entered and everything but apparently, my entry never got to them (we mailed it). But, I didn't know that until the Thursday before the show. So, we were preparing away and took quite a few amazing lessons with my Aunt. We practiced the test and worked on anything and everything in between.  After one of my lessons, my Aunt generously paid for a massage for Jet! After that massage, we saw dramatic changed in Jet's way of moving. It made a 180 for the better! He was so much more balanced, free moving, and coordinated! His gaits improved and he seemed more willing to canter without kicking out. It was definitely something that we have done and will do again!

October: October we did a lot! We went to Mary-Kate's house a few times and for the first time ever...we jumped 2'!


2'!!!

It was definitely the highlight of my riding at the time! I have jumped 3'+ with other horses but this was my highest with Jet and he was perfect :)

We had the Fall Fest Horse Show. It was basically a disaster. Mary-Kate and Katie came and if Katie was out of Jet's sight or 20' away from him, he had a meltdown. Squealing, bucking, rearing, bolting, spooking...you name it. I was really disappointed in him but we got through it. We did the jumping and games classes just like Rehoboth Fair but during the jumping, he was having meltdowns so he jumped horribly. We ended up placing..
Rehoboth Fair Fall Fest Horse Show Results:

October 17th, 2010
Open In-Hand- 2nd
Adult Walk Trot Equitation- 3rd
Adult Walk Trot Pleasure- 5th
Adult Walk Trot Horsemanship- 5th
Open Walk Trot Pleasure- Did Not Place
Open Walk Trot Showmanship- 2nd
Senior Cross rails- 2nd
Candy Race- Did not Place
Barrel Race- 2nd
Obstacle Course- 4th
Costume Class- 2nd







We had out final Haskins show too! It was the best one for us of the year. He was great! Straight and listening :) Not spooking or breaking either. He did get a little fast on one long side because the footing was really deep. We placed 2nd in all four classes and we got reserve champion!





We also went on our FIRST hunter pace! I LOVE HUNTER PACES! Jet loved it too! He cantered so well and he jumped everything and anything I pointed him at! We jumped up to 2'3" over logs, coops, etc. His ears were up the entire time too. Mary-Kate and I went together and Katie was awesome too! We will definitely try to do at least one hunter pace next year!



I didn't get any jumping pics though :( He was GREAT though! He jumped them better than he has ever jumped any type of show jumping jump. He loves cross country :) We placed 7th out of 30+ teams!

November: November was  my birthday :) Woo! Besides that..it was a really quite month for us. We only rode a few times a week because I had drill team practice 3x a week. The days grew shorter and the school work increased. I didn't have a lot of time on my hands to ride. I did have an amazing bareback ride on him the night of the blue moon though! We did wtc bareback for the second time ever! It was an amazing feeling!

December: The beginning of December was very boring. Almost NO riding! I lunged him when I could and hopped on him during the weekends but it was impossible to ride during the week. During school break and the week before, we managed to get some good bareback riding time in!




We also hooked a sled up to Jet and he took us for a ride! It was the first time ever we have put something behind Jet since his racing days! He was a saint :) Nice and slow and listening
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2J7CSw7Sx4


What a year! What's in store for next year? Shows? Goals? All that can wait until another post because this one is DEFINITELY lengthy enough on it's own!

Happy New Year!

From Emily and Jet