I miss Bodhi

I think i am obsessed really.... every five minutes a sigh and then the thought I miss Bodhi! Oh boy

Yesterday when I made it out to the farm it was already drizzling and gray. Determined not to let another day pass with out some riding done I got Bodhi out of the pasture and put his bridle on and rode him in one of the empty pastures. There is something so spirit lifting- to ride a horse bare back through the drizzleing rain. He was so light and forward and it felt like every slight adjustment I made he would respond to. I am now confident enough to canter him which is so much fun as his powder white mane flaps as he just chugs along. He has such a nice canter for riding bareback. I love his collected trot the most though when we get it just right it feels like I melting right into the horse.

We had some goofy/fun moments as well of me trotting around with my arms outstretched trying to steer only with my legs. He is getting better with that there may be some bridle-less riding in our future! His steering is O.K. but I have to brag that his stop is marvelous. Just say whoa and he stops, or just sit deep and grip and he stops. He then of course thinks he deserves a sugar. What a good boy.

I am on Cloud 9 and feeling very connected with my pony but we have some hurdles ahead of us before I will claim my 4 year old is finally "trained" or broke or finished etc....
Left Lead Canter- I can not get him to pick it up! Not riding or lunging. I am hoping that with more strength training it will come naturally so up until this point I have been ignoring the issue. We really have not done to much canter work at all on account of his age save for just asking for the correct response to my canter cue. I think now is the time for us to buckle down though. Any suggestions for exercises that could help?
Trail Riding- I think this is mostly my beef. I think he would be a calm mount if I could be a calm rider. I have been avoiding trailing as I feel like I am just going to make a mess of it. I am thinking that I also need to buck up and start working with this as well. I have to have faith that even if my nervousness will make him nervous at first that we can work through it together. It might take longer than it would with a more confident rider but I think Bodhi and I are strong enough partners to work it out eventually. Baby steps.

I am having a riding lesson tomorrow for the first time in almost a month! That will knock me off my not so high horse so to speak! Hopefully Katie will also have some ideas on what to do about the lead.

I hope everyone gets in some nice rides this weekend!

Online entertainment

I am the type that just loves to multi task! I love to listen to a book on tape while I drive, or a recorded lecture from a class I have not taken while I work or clean (Berkley posts a good deal of courses online) I have found many online horse information sites and thought I would pass them along for those who also like to learn while you do mind numbing tasks like curate and catalog museum specimens!

Horse Radio Network
I have mentioned them before; They offer a short tip show daily, an all around entertaining show called stable scoop, as well as a show on the 2010 games, dressage, and eventing. They are free and a lot of fun if you ask me!

The Horse Show with Rick Lamb
You can subscribe for free and there are some great interviews on their no matter what your interests are. I am really enjoying this show and learning a good deal about a variety of different disciplines.

Horse Hero
Is free to join as well and has videos how to's from training to rider fitness to nutrition... it is a great resource. Also has rider and trainer video diaries.

These sites are my first three clicks when I am looking for online horse education and enrichment. Please tell me about your favorite sites!

Slowly getting back into gear...

Got to work with the horses finally on Wednesday after a crazy weekend and car trouble on Monday

Worked with Dancer for the first time in the roundpen. I did an evaluation of her cues, her sensitivity to pressure and her hang ups. Synopsis: Very responsive and eager to please. She stayed relatively calm through the work though she is very easily distracted. As with most horses she is most sticky in the the forehand/shoulder though was willing to do a few changes of direction through the shoulder so I was impressed with that. Got a little resistant with backing so I got to see her obstinate side as well. I think it is going to be a good learning experience to work with her as she is very different from Bodhi. They will compliment each other well and will hopefully round me out as a trainer. One thing however; I really can not explain it but mares *feel* strange to me. Almost alien. Almost empty and without personality. I guess it is because I can not read them as I can geldings. I never knew there was such a large difference before but truthfully I have never really worked with them much. I am hoping to crack the code so to speak with Dancer. She seems like a nice horse.

Bodhi is doing well too. We also did ground work only with side reins working on lengthing and shortening at the trot. He really started to get under himself and push with his hind end. After that I got on and did stetching exersises at the walk while practicing a few turn on the forehand and halts using my seat only to keep the cool-out interesting. He stayed very relaxed and seemed to get that the undersaddle work was a reward for the great in hand work. I like it when they agree to have a nice relaxed walk about. Sometimes youngsters miss the point! :)

All and all a nice communication day with the horses.

Meet the Crew

I have been posting now for a while (my 12th post!) and I thought it would be beneficial and fun to show anyone reading my cast of characters...

1st Picture is my dog Stella and me.
AKA stellardog, B-dilly, B-dunk, stinky and deamon spawn.
She is a Catahoula leopard dog/goat cross I adopted from animal services. She is a destructive force of nature, a danger to other dogs and small animals, and an absolute cuddle muffin.

2nd Picture is Chris my husband
AKA The Horse Husband and Moogers
His interest are football, history and teaching English as a second language. He is a tolerant guy of my horse habit and is actually quite helpful around the barn.

3rd picture is Dancer.
You may begin to hear about her as I am getting money off my board to work with her. More details to follow though she is a 13 yr old TB Mare with some issues.

4th is of course Bodhi!
AKA Bodhster or Bodhzilla

This is my family! Thanks for looking in.

Our First Show

Our first show was a total success! I was little worried about it because on Friday there were a few problems while schooling. We went to the show grounds Friday afternoon to school in the big scary indoor. I was heartened by the fact that I was not the only one schooling horses afraid of the judges box. Bodhi was not only spooky but agitated as well; biting at his side and stomping his feet. I jumped off and checked his tack and decided that it was the saddle pad. I took his saddle off right there in the ring and he instantly relaxed. I did not have another pad. So I decided to finish our schooling sin saddle. He was awesome and we had a great school. You should of seen the looks I was getting however from the other schoolers they thought I was nuts! Bodhi and I however were very pleased with ourselves. It was a big step in our relationship. I trusted him not to take advantage of the situation and act like a crazy bat and he really rose to the occasion and gave me a smooth and relaxed ride. My trainer thinks that riding bareback showed Bodhi that I was not worried about the indoor or the box and that convinced him finally that he should not be either. Go team!
The day of the show was uneventful. He did a great job. We got a 66.5% on Intro test A and a forth place. We got a 67% and a third on Intro test B.
Things we need to work on.
*More Forward. He was obviously a little nervous so was not being his usual forward self.
*Going deep into the corners. As that was where all the scary stuff lurked I let him get away with that one.
*Circles needed more bend. We need to practice our circles and make them more accurate and round!
I am so proud of the Bodhster. We got some 7s and 8s on our free walk and halt. Bodhi also got 7s and 8s on his movement. One judge commented Nice pony! The other said cute pair. I think that is a good start!
Whoohoo!!

Not so Great News

The showplace just posted my test times..... My first test is at 8:07!
I am the second ride in the big scary indoor arena. Also I saw my old riding instructor's students all over the roster. This means she will be there! This means I will be even more nervous! This is not good!

Great News!

Well so far this week has been rather eventful and my show is not even until Saturday!

First the most important thing... my email to Horse Radio Tip of the day show was read on episode 10! By the way I recommend the horse radio to any of the horse enthusiasts out there. It is brand new so still getting momentum but they have a dressage show, and eventing show, and a show called Stable Scoop that is all around horsey and fun. I enjoy all of the shows and you can download them onto your mp3 player (which is what I do).

On a secondary note I got to have a meeting with my future adviser about my graduate project. Items of conversation included plugging your cars in to keep them warm, something called "block heaters", Polar Bear groupies, and Polar Bear Prison. I think I may be a little over my head here taking on a project with Polar Bears in Canada as a Floridian who has not studied anything larger than rodents, but I think I am up for the challenge.

Something more terrifying then Polar Bears? Local schooling shows of course! Now I am looking towards Bodhi and I's first show. I am nervous as hell and getting more nervous by the minute. Showing used to not phase me so this reaction in myself is kind of throwing me for a loop. Bodhi and I had a horrible tense ride on Monday all because of my nerves. I am hoping to improve it today.

Any tips for finding my zen and focusing a looky pony come show time?