Vet Approved

The vet said yesterday that I can start riding Walker again.  He took some blood, and I'm still waiting on results, but he has improved significantly enough that he thinks he is on the mend. :)

I decided not to ride him in the lesson since I didn't want to subject his first day back to those kinds of rigours, but my instructor said that I shouldn't have to worry about doing too much damage bringing him back to his regular level of fitness.  She estimates that it will only take me about 2 weeks to get him back to where he was, and given that he was sick and not injured, she says that the worst that can happen if I ask too much too fast is that he will be tired.  That's good to know.  Today when I go out to the barn, I am going to ride him walk/jog only, unless he's really excited to canter, and I'm only going to ride for a half hour.  I'll slowly increase his work load as the week progresses.

Instead I got to ride a mare named Holly in the lesson.  I was going to ride Coal, but my instructor said that he was looking lame in the lesson before, and since I didn't tack up another horse, she offered me Holly since she was ready to go.  To be honest, I really didn't think Holly was going to be my kind of horse since she's the type of horse an absolute beginner normally rides, but I was pleasantly surprised.  She is super sweet.  She never once put a foot out of place or even tried anything.  I think she is the most obedient horse I've ever met.  AND, she has a beautiful forward canter, easily as fast as Coal's but 10x more balanced.  When I rode Coal last week, if I didn't maintain inside leg contact while we cantered, I felt like he was going to slide out from underneath us.  But Holly didn't need that kind of reinforcement and she also didn't need to be kicked and kicked and kicked and kicked.  I wasn't wearing spurs and she just kept going until I asked her to stop.   What a novel idea!

The funny thing is that my barn owner is thinking about selling her and my instructor is devastated.  No one is using her.  Instead, all the kids are riding all the crazy horses that are recently giving everyone a hard time.  Holly is the perfect beginner horse, but she can also move up for someone who is looking for something with a little more go.  Needless to say, I will be handing my review of the mare to my barn owner ASAP.  She would be a waste to sell!

In other news, this is Ash.  He is ridden by H in our lessons.  I don't know if you can tell with his saddle on, but he is the most downhill horse I've ever seen.  I mean, even though you can't tell as much on his back with the saddle on, take a look at the legs.  His back legs are at least a foot longer than his front legs, and he is the clumsiest, cutest creature on the planet.  H has nicknamed him Moose, because frankly, he is long and gangly and awkward like a moose.

Because I'm swamped with school work, I don't really know my schedule for riding Walker other than that I will ride him today for about 30 minutes, and then probably this weekend.  My other goals: get two papers done and start preparing for exams.  I'm also gradumicated, people (you know, again...).  It has not come quick enough!

Stuff Riders Say

I found these videos while I was procrastinating today and they are pretty hilarious so I thought I'd share them with you all :)

The Lookbook

I've been spending the past few days shopping for breeches, trying to find something I like from Greenhawk since I have a gift certificate.  Because the choices are somewhat more limited here than on some of the bigger sites like Dover or Smartpak (which doesn't ship to Canada), I find myself simply dreaming of all the pretty breeches I cannot have.  Having absolutely no money and some pretty hefty vet bills is not helping.

Anyway, Hilary suggested that I check out Smartpak if only to read some reviews.  This led me down the rabbit hole towards their Lookbook with all their pretty outfits.  Now, let me just say that I really like fashion, but I am not necessarily the most fashionable person myself.  And definitely not at the barn.  While I was checking out the lookbook, all I could think about was how I'm lucky if my breeches are clean when I go to the barn, let alone worried about matching them to the rest of my outfit.  In fact, barn attire for me is usually 3 day old dirty hair, no makeup, whichever t-shirt I find in the bottom drawer, and a can-do attitude.

My new bogs - a little bright, but they get the job done!

I'm sure there are people who actually do look that awesome at the barn, and in fact, many of the bloggers I follow regularly post pretty pictures that make me really want to go back and take out all the pictures I have up featuring me at the barn!

Maybe someday I'll have the money to rock those looks, but until then, functional works for me!

Does anyone know of any other fun equestrian lookbooks/online magazines or catalogs? Smartpak and Dover refuse to send this poor Canadian their catalogs. :(  And I so love to window shop!

The Mane Attraction

In many ways, stall rest has meant that I can finally get a few things done around the barn that I never seem to find the time to do when all I want to do is ride. One such endeavour is Walker's mane.

For the record, I decided to let Walker's mane go this summer. I wanted to see what it would look like long and flowy. However, now that Spring is in the air, it's time for a trim.

The "before"picture

I may have cut it a little shorter than I intended to, but once I got to cleaning it up, I found that I ended up trimming it shorter and shorter each time.  :S I know that a lot of you pull your horse's manes but no one seems to do that at our barn. Everyone just trims them.  It's a process either way.

For the record, I did clean it up a little bit more than this.
It doesn't look nearly this shabby in person

Also, one of the kids taught me how to do hunter braids this weekend. What a process! I can't believe you guys do that for every show! In Western disciplines, we usually just band the mane, which means we put tiny ponytails in it, instead of braids or bumps. I'm a banding machine. I can easily band Walker's mane in under 30 minutes, but I think this braiding thing will take forever. My instructor will be so proud if I ever take Walker in a crossrail division. My poor, good-natured quarter horse will be all hunter-esque!

I also learned the importance of matching string...

Easter

Happy Easter everyone! I hope you are all having a good holiday.

I came home for the night to spend Easter with my family, but I'm going back to check on the pony today. He seems to be in good cheer, and the vet will be out on Wednesday to take another blood test and re-evaluate him. When I was at the barn yesterday, the outdoor arena was almost melted, and if this good bout of weather will keep up, we should be able to ride out there in a week or so. I'm so excited that when my baby is feeling better, we can actually go outside. He'll be wild!

In other news, we got three new ponies at the barn, one of which is an adorable little mini! She is so cute. I'm totally going to put her in the back of my car and take her home some day!

Other than that, I have a quick question for everyone. I got a Greenhawk gift certificate, and I'm thinking about buying a new pair of breeches for the summer. I'm not the biggest fan of their Elation breeches, although I have 3 pairs, but they have a few new brands that I'm interested in trying. Has anyone ever tried these Baker Elite breeches or these Ariat Prix breeches? Or for that matter, anything on this page? All I want is something comfy to wear in the summer while riding. I'm not too worried about showing.

In fact, on that note, I don't know what our plans for showing are going to be. I originally thought I'd do the first show at our barn in June so that we could try some crossrails, but ever since Walker got sick, I'm worried about rushing him to that goal too soon when he needs to put on some weight and build back up his immune system. Even if he's physically fit enough to compete then, I will probably not have much of a chance to practice my own position, which obviously needs A LOT of work. Oh well. Health comes first. I'm not the biggest fan of showing anyway.

Idle Hands (and Legs and Feet and Body)

Since Walker is on an extended break from being worked, I've decided that I need to do something to keep myself fit for him.  Frankly, it's been a month since I rode extensively.  I was away over March break, and Walker got sick after that.  I rode him lightly for the first two weeks, but now of course, he is on stall/arena rest.

The other night when I rode Coal, I thought I would not be tired since he is much more forward than Walker, but I quickly found myself panting and sweating after only a few minutes.  Oh the joys of getting older!  You can't even take a break for a few weeks before you start to get lazy again!

When I'm finally cleared to ride the pony again, I think I'm going to develop some sort of fitness plan for him.  He has lost a lot of weight in this bout of sickness, and I want to make sure that I work him slowly and let him gain back some weight.  In the meantime, there's no reason I can't stay fit!  There's absolutely nothing wrong with my immune system, other than a case of the couch potatoes.

I hate to jinx our good weather and everything, but I think that Spring may have finally arrived.  On that note, I may try running.  Really, I don't know why I'm even admitting to it because I say the same thing every year around this time.  And every year, I pretty much give up after the first day it rains.  However, perhaps the idea of keeping fit to be worthy of Walker will keep me motivated.  Maybe.  Hopefully.  We'll see.  If I never mention it again, you'll know why.

By the way, Walker is no longer allowed to be turned out in the indoor arena without a halter.  Apparently, it took my trainer and her husband quite awhile to catch him this morning.  He didn't escape.  He just decided to have a fun time running from them when they tried to bring him back to his stall for breakfast.  The arena isn't very big, but he is a master of evasion when he wants to be.

We also got some new ponies this weekend, including one adorable mini. I can't wait to play with them!

A Bad Pony is a Pony on the Mend

Reflexes like a tiger.  I swear

I'm not going to jump the gun and say that the pony is completely on the mend, but the meds are definitely starting to work.  He has stopped swelling up since we started giving him the anti-swelling meds on a regular basis, and I think the iron is starting to give him some energy back.

Case in point: he escaped this morning.

Apparently when my trainer went behind this metal gate contraption to look after the horses back there, Walker decided to join her - and also totally freak the horses out back there, who are in a tight confined space.  This is essentially their stall after all.  He wasn't wearing a halter of course, and when my trainer went to grab him, he made a break for it - out the metal gates, through the indoor arena door, and trotted off like a madman down the barn aisle, insisting that my 35 week pregnant trainer would not be able to catch him.  Luckily for us all, the doors to the barn happened to be closed, and he was returned to his [very large] cage.

That's mommy's boy!