I know this is late, but….HERE IS THE VIDEO!

 

ENJOY! 😀

More pictures

  ^^^ These are the sweat patterns left by an ill-fitting saddle. My new saddle fits both Chic and Winny. 🙂

Pictures, both old and new!

(These are all going to be in my physical portfolio, but for the sake of convenience, I will post them here. That way I don’t have to print a ton of pictures to squeeze into my product development section tonight, but I still have documentation.)

The Last Post (except for videos and pictures of course!)

I had a riding lesson yesterday, which went pretty well. Sherwin agreed that $3000 would be the maximum price I could sell Chic for. I am glad that I now know that what I had in mind was realistic. Sherwin told me that Chic’s strongest selling point is how she moves. She has a nice, flat knee and is very well coordinated without a rider. I shouldn’t worry too much about the clippers and trailering, but should still train her to accept each. She would make a phenomenal children’s hunter according to Sherwin. She will definitely win the flat classes. As far as jumping goes, that will be up to her new owners. A child who is moving up from riding ponies would be a good new rider for her, however I would be worried for the child’s safety. Chic is still very green. Either way, now I know more about what I need to advertise her for. I don’t need to worry about her being unregistered, even though I would prefer she be. I also want to get her Coggins done, just to prove that she is not ill, along with a regular vet check and shots. She also needs another trim. (I guess all of this goes to show that, while I may be done with my Senior Project product, I am most certainly not done with Chic.)

A problem is that she is not lifting her back when we are riding in a straight line. Sherwin said that this is because she wasn’t started properly. I should have lunged her much more often in order to strengthen her back. A horse lifts her back when she is traveling with a bend better than when she is going in a straight line. This is because, when a horse travelling in a bend, her rib-cage is more sprung and she has to bring her hind legs more underneath herself. This is still hard for me to explain, but I found a website that explains it very well: http://www.classicaldressage.co.uk/activating_the_hind_legs.HTM

I am a bit heavy for Chic, which causes her to hollow her back even more. However, I can help this by flexing my inner thighs and placing my weight there, instead of in my bum. This is harder for the rider (as in physically difficult, but it is an excellent workout and helps me be more conscious of my position), but easier for the horse to round her back. I focused on this throughout the lesson in addition to everything else Sherwin was telling me. Chic was quitting on us a lot during the lesson, when we were working on small circles at the trot. This is because of how weak her back is when asked to lift it, and also because I did identical exercises with her last night for about forty-five minutes. Still, Sherwin seemed pleased with how I encouraged her to go forward. He had me dismount after an hour of riding and lunge her so that he could asses how she moves without a rider. Her head was steady, her legs were more coordinated, and her back was not quite as hollow. Still not fully pleased, Sherwin got his trap/martingale and attached it to Chic. The trap keeps her head in a set position, while the reins (hooked underneath the stirrups) kept her from dropping her head too low. She resisted at first, obviously not pleased with her head being restricted, but I was persistent, and soon she was travelling very nicely. Her back was much rounder and her legs were even more in sync with each other. She reached further underneath herself with her hind legs, and extended more in the front. I need to use this device with her at least three to four times a week, lunging her, so that her back gets strong enough for her to lift even when going straight. This also improves her overall movement. After half an hour of lunging, we all called it a day and I headed back to the barn with Chic.

I am really going to miss her. She has so much potential and is going to win somebody a lot of money. Hopefully, she will win their heart first.

This blog is due this week….

….and I feel like I have to explain myself for not having done enough with Chic. Or at least, I feel like I have not accomplished enough for her. Sure, Sherwin told me to market her for sale and that I get 20% (which is awesome). Sure, I have her riding pretty smoothly now. And sure, she has a lot more respect for me and we have a strong bond formed. (Speaking of strong bonds, she came galloping up to me two nights ago. I called her name, and as soon as she heard it was me, she came running towards me. I could have melted, it was so cool to witness.) However, I still have not desensitised her to the clippers, which is kind of a basic skill as well as a deal-or-no-deal selling point. The same with trailering. I loaded her into the trailer twice on Saturday (which I have footage of thanks to my wonderful boyfriend!), and she did not have a problem going in, which was impressive because there wasn’t a ramp and it is a big metal stock trailer. She stepped up fine, but backing up was difficult for her. She does not know how to support herself without her knees almost giving out on her. I know that her knees are fine, it’s not a physical problem. She just doesn’t know how yet, she is still a baby. (Arg, and I need to get her registered if she is not already.)

All of that to say: I wish I had accomplished more. But, I don’t think I could have. I had a good three to four months where she was too thin for me to do anything intense with her. I now wish that I focused more on basic training, like clipping and trailering, rather than lunging and riding. Honestly, the latter has been easier than the former. I know how to lunge, I know how to ride. And teaching her those things are easier for me than teaching her how to not be afraid of a pair of clippers or of backing out of a trailer. If I could go back, I would do the basics first and then focus on riding her. Then again, I probably would not have had as much success with her under saddle if I waited for three/four months, so I suppose that this is a blessing in disguise.

Still, I wish I had done more. I don’t know if I could have, and technically my project is a success because I am selling her. But now I have to finish training her, regardless of Senior Project, otherwise I cannot sell her for very much. (I get 20%, remember? Selling her for a lot is important. 😉 ) So, I may be done with her for the project, but not for training her to be well-enough trained to be sold for a fancy price. Could I sell her now? Sure, of course. But do I want to, especially at a low price? Ha ha, no. And I want her to be kind of expensive, to weed out any buyers who might not provide the best home for her. More money to buy the horse typically means that the owners can afford better care for said horse.

My Chic is going to get the best home possible. That is a promise, to her and for my own peace of mind. I love this little horse and I will not have her abused, neglected, ridden poorly, or treated poorly.

Video very soon!

So, yes, I did not do two blog posts last week, but I got some AWESOME footage on Saturday and did not have time to edit it.

 

I will have it up by Tuesday! 🙂

 

In a nutshell, there was an NBHA show this Saturday at Latigo. I decided to ride Chic around the grounds. Trailers everywhere. People everywhere. Horses everywhere. And the video describes the rest. 🙂

UGH

So I would have had a lesson today, but I spent all night working on an English project that was due today. I finished the project, but I didn’t get a wink of sleep, nor did I have time to go feed last night. And Monday I didn’t have time either because I was working on the project. Sunday night, I don’t remember what happened. Oh, yeah, it was Chic’s break day, so I decided to take Winny out on a trail, which was fun.

 

I got a truck today. Drove it to the farm, no problem. Fed the horses, started driving back. Flat tire. Turns out that in order to get to the spare, you have to have a special piece attached to a bar to lower it down from underneath the truck. We don’t have it. It’s a used truck. We are having it towed to the shop (the ball joints needed maintenance anyway) right now. Well, my dad and sister are. I was there for an hour and a half, helping my dad try to solve this conundrum. My mom came with my sister so that she could take my place and my mom could drive me home.

 

I was having an okay week, you know? I could have ridden today. I wanted to, but my mom canceled my lesson because she insisted that I sleep instead. Secretly, I am glad she told me that all I could do was feed tonight. I am exhausted.

 

But yeah, about Chic. Sherwin decided to cut me a deal. If I market her right now, and try to sell her, I get 20% of the profit. Pretty sweet deal, and it should cover the feed expense. I’ll advertise her for $3000 firm. I just need to get conformation shots of her and footage of her being ridden, trailered, and whatever else. This is actually pretty exciting for me, because it means that my project is a success. I was able to train Chic to have the potential to be sold.

 

So, without further ado, Chic is now for sale. I just have to write up a contract and advertise her. And shave her stupid beard….

I guess I should say why

I only rode her a few times last week. Well, Sherwin recently locked up all of his tack in a different tack room. I suspect that people had been messing with his things. As a result of that, however, the bridle and bit I had been riding her in were under lock and key. I asked Robin, the barn manager, to bring it to my tack room for me, but it took her a few days because she was busy.

In the meantime, I tried using Chic’s old headstall that I bought for her, but I stupidly bought a cob instead of a horse-sized. (A cob is a type of horse, slightly bigger and stockier than a pony.) I did this because her head was so small, particularly her jowl. Alas, her jowl has grown to where her old bridle no longer fits. Also, the bit I found (a D-ring snaffle) seemed to hit her palate and cause her a lot of discomfort. (The palate of a horse is like the roof of your mouth. Some horses have low palates, which requires different, softer bits in order to not hit the palate. Sherwin said that he thinks Chic has a low palate. This is not a problem, as I am able to ride her safely and comfortably in a French link snaffle.) So, I decided it would be better to wait to get the correct bridle/bit than try to ride her in a different headstall and the wrong kind of bit. I round-penned her instead, and as usual, she did very well. 🙂 She was responsive to me and respectful of my aids.

 

Also, I ought to mention how her ears are. Rather, how she is FINALLY starting to get used to me messing with her ears. I am going to try to shave her face today. (She has a beard.) That should be interesting. I haven’t desensitized her to clippers in a while, so hopefully today won’t be too big of a disaster. As for why she is getting used to me messing around with her ears, it is because I take every opportunity to pet them and move them around. I do this mostly when I tack her up and feed her. Sometimes I do this in the round-pen, too.

 

*Sigh* This is due in two weeks. We just went over the product rubric in class. I really hope I do well.

 

 

Jowl:

 

D-ring snaffle:

French-link snaffle:

 

Cob type horse:

 

 

(All images (c) Google Images)

 

Something unrelated but important for Winny’s mane: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZ3KR-G6gIY

To be honest….

First, I was like

YAY! Horsies and magical training and fun!

But then I was like

Oh, yeah, and that blog I’m supposed to do.

And now I’m like

IT’S BEING GRADED HOLY CRAP IT’S INFORMAL AND I MISSED WAY TOO MANY ENTRIES.

 

In my defense, the past 16 days I spent not blogging have been pretty busy. There was spring break, during which I did absolutely nothing but sleep and go to the farm. I rode Chic either two or three times last week. She did well, yadda yadda yadda. The usual. She does better every time I am with her. As usual.

This week, I haven’t had time to do anything other than feed both horses. Partly because of doctors’ appointments, and partly because of my chronic napping. Not the “I am feeling lazy” kind of nap, either. More like the “I am so tired my eyes are crossing” kind of nap. Totally necessary, but a symptom of the ever-present scourge of my existence: My poor time-management. To be more specific, just flat-out letting myself be distracted. I know that I can discipline myself. I just choose not to apply it because I either lack the motivation, or am not willing to get into the rhythm just yet. Honestly, I know that I don’t seem like a terribly punctual, precise, reliable person. But, I am. I really am. Heck, I am my own drill sergeant. It’s not a matter of lacking the means to discipline myself, it’s lacking the discipline to apply them. I do not want to admit this, but it is true. Maybe not, actually. I am still confused over this. I have the motivation, I have the discipline to apply the means….I’m just missing something.

 

Inspiration?

 

I think that is it. And I know the source of my brokenness. It sounds stupid, but it’s from a book My Name is Asher Lev. I will not describe it because it’s a curse to me. I love that book, but ever since I read it, I have not been able to draw, sing, write, play the piano, paint, or do much of anything really. No, wait. This isn’t why.

Nevermind.

 

I am brainstorming. Trying to figure it out.

I know this is simple. But simple things are not simple for me.

I over-think everything.

The solution, the answer. It’s right there. I just can’t find the words for it.

 

What is my problem? What is the missing component? What makes the ingredients a cake? Fire?

 

Is it fire that I am missing? Determination….

 

YES. It’s that. I’ve lost the determination. I guess it is another way to say unmotivated, but a lack of determination sounds the most accurate to me.

 

Gosh. I need to step up to the plate and crack this stupid blog into the outfield. I always hated baseball….