Horses for stress relief

I took a new role last October and it's been quite a challenge. I travel nearly every week and I have tough deliverables and prep-work for important meetings regularly. I won't say I regret taking the role because it's been a good push for my career and professional skills. Last week, I presented to 100 people - a big challenge for me.

Subsequently, I'm more stressed out these days. Now that days are getting longer and temps are warmer, I'm getting my butt out to the barn for more than just feeding and an occasional ride. I'm reminded how helpful it is to me to take this kind of time with my horses. Riding loosens my tight neck and shoulders from sitting at my desk with tense shoulders. Riding helps my remember to breathe and slow down. Riding gives me immense joy, gets me smiling again. Connecting with one of my equine partners can heal the wounds of the day... or even the entire week. So grateful for my horses.

Tonight I took Miss Ellie out front to put some time on in the wide open space. She was a rock star. She was calm and easy - no brace. We trotted and walked. She was a pleasure and I think she enjoyed the new environment. I had Kyle hang out with Rain while Ellie and I did our thing (figure 8's, trot transitions, etc...). Kyle just laid across Rain's back and stood still, hanging out. I think he was feeling the sheer joy of a horse, too.

Then, for the first time in months, I played with and rode my big boy Gem. What a PLEASURE that was! He felt great! He was soft and offered vertical flexion with ease. He gave me great canter departs and nice soft sideways. I've missed that horse.

Ellie will go home in a few days and I then will devote time to Gem regularly. He's a star waiting to get his chance to shine. I'm missing dressage, but I've made the choice to focus on endurance this year. I just can't do it all. His hock can't handle the rigors of dressage, but certainly we have lots to develop and he enjoys the time spent. So happy I have him in my pasture.

Got two of his feet trimmed (the lefts!). My plan was to do all 4, but I did the front and rear left side and ran out of steam. I know better. Should have done the fronts.

walking and riding

with chrissy and kyle

cowboy, rain, z

walked 4 then rode 2 back

rode cowboy a bit

chrissy did great

kyle walked rain some (i think he and Rain were not getting along great)

lesson with kris in the morn

she and rio did 20 mins of passenger!!

great, great sideways

figure 8

mounting is improving

rode ellie - great ride

lots of trot and feeling her move out

rope hack, want to get back to the bit

she's ready for more

coaching and riding

Kris trimmed Rain today.

Tougher day with Rio and Kris - so much wind!

The arena was flapping, but the horses did ok.

Rode Ellie, also. She did great with the distractions but was not as partnered up as I'd like today.

Come on, SPRING!

The weather finally gave us a reprieve today. It was warm (about 50) and only a little breezy. The snow is finally melting and the horses are starting to shed. I had a little pep in my step! I maybe did too much, as I was absolutely exhausted by bedtime.

Started with a short trail ride with Kendall and Chrissy. Chrissy and Cowboy left the property confidently, but unfortunately the country road sights and sounds were a little too much. We only went about a mile before we decided to turn around. Z was excited but responsive. It was great to ride away after a few months of indoor arena and riding only on the property.

I trimmed Z's fronts and Ellie's fronts. Z is struggling with some thrush so treated again with white lightening and managed her frogs. Ellie has a very flat foot but some good structure to work with. I didn't get to her hinds as she was having a hard time standing still with the herd out of sight.

I then rode Ellie in the indoor. She was full of energy and again, worried about the herd. She actually reared with me in the saddle for the first time. Surprised me! I brought the herd closer with some hay outside the indoor and we were able to have a better ride. We worked on the trot and circling and figure 8's. I thought she'd be going home today, but looks like she's here for a few more days. I will ride her some more while she's here. I want to build on the new attitude she found after yesterday. I had to hop off after the rearing and do some focused ground work. She worked up quite a sweat, but her idea of partnering with me was much better and she was ride-able.

After that, Steve and I fixed fence so I could re-open the west pasture. It's been closed due to down fence for 2 months. There's still 1-2 feet of snow in that pasture! This will be a huge melting week.

After all that, I had my 4 miles to walk for Avon training. I was so tired, it was more like a stroll. But I did it! Great day.

What a GREAT day...

Finally, some horse time.

Taught Chrissy and Kris together on Z. Sideways, figure 8, then riding.

Then Ellie with the bit for the first time. She was a little bothered, but we worked through it.

C'mon Spring!!

Coaching friends

12 degrees today... Oh my... that's cold

Some friends came over today and we played with our horses in the indoor. I coached them

just worked on "hunting for the answer" with the send. Then played with sideways toward with Molly, using driving game and motivating the hip toward. Amy was trying to use the stick on the opposite side of the horse, so I showed her the driving game (rhythmic motion to motivate) with body language asking the hip to come towards. She had it in no time.

I had Ellie with me for this time with my friends. Ellie is thin again! I thought she was putting on pounds, but today she looked ribby. I have to tuck her back in by herself so she can get plenty to eat. She did well with the group in the arena, but we didn't ride.

Trotting in the play area

What a great session! Ellie is becoming more and more confident and understanding! I had her push Deuce around tonight, too. That is very tough for her, but she started to get a small glimpse of what I wanted and tried her best.

We did lots of snakey bends and trot departs.

Leaving the arena and taking Z for a walk

Today, I rode Ellie outside the arena with Kendall babysitting. The weather and footing have been so tough for getting good work done with Ellie. We've stayed in the indoor most of the time and I really want to get her going outside of that building. I walked and trotted her around the outdoor with Kendall and Rain helping us out. Ellie felt good and ready for more. Kendall, on the other hand, doesn't have a lot of patience for babysitting. She really wanted to take off and cover some ground but Ellie and I weren't quite ready for that. Next time...

I also took Z on my walk today. We went 4 miles and Z was happy to just mosey down the road with me and the dogs. I'm hoping to get her on some of my walks and help get her ready for endurance rides this season. I have a lot of miles to walk, but I also need to get Z ready and fit. Hope I can figure out how to get both done together - at least sometimes.

Out go the LIGHTS!

Rode Ellie while I coached Kris and Rio today. Ellie was a great trainers mount. She's coming along very nicely.

For Kris and Rio, tracking their programs:

sideways #4

figure 8#2

passenger #1

In the middle of the lesson the lights went out. Luckily, everyone stayed calm. The generator ran out of gas! It was absolutely pitch dark, but it was great to see how calm we all stayed. It could have been a mess.

Kris trimmed Rain before she left.

Lessons and Playtime

Today was a great day. Had a coaching lesson with Kris and Rio. They are making huge progress with every session. Today was mounting session #2, Figure 8 session #1, and sideways session #3. The next lesson is slated for riding.

Had Gem with me to coach Kris. He had a serious need for attention today! I tried to play with him while I helped out Kris, but it was tough. He gave me some gorgeous COD's though and a couple at the canter. We also did some nice figure 8's at the trot on the 22'.

Then I played a little with Ellie and we rode around the indoor. Chrissy was there with Cowboy and Kendall had kids over, playing in the sand. It's just been so windy that the indoor has become a place for playtime for kids AND grown-ups! I worked on Ellie's forward when asked and worked on trot. Her feet got stuck a couple times and I wasn't sure if she was worried or just not feeling energetic. Either way, I took it slow and tried to build the communication.

Kris got Cowboy and Ellie trimmed.

Friday night riding!

Kendall and I ducked into the indoor for some Friday night riding time! I had Ellie and she was on Rain. We were going to ride out front, but the sun was going down so fast. I did ride Ellie for a few minutes in the play area and she was feeling great. But the sun was tipping it's hat so fast, we decide to head indoors.

Ellie did nicely and she's becoming very calm about the whole deal. Riding, mounting, the indoor, it's all becoming a breeze for her. I'm pretty pleased with her progress! Played with figure 8, follow the rail and backwards.

Kime teaches at my place

What a fun day! I had a group of 5-6 riders in the indoor for the first time. The sand was just delivered a few days earlier and wasn't yet groomed. We used it as terrain and made the best of it. I started with Gem. He and I did not have a good connection at all. I was so distracted and sometimes I feel like Kime is extra hard on me. Being the host adds a tough element. I also was coping with a friend feeling left out and we were texting. It was just a tough morning. After a break, I pulled out Ellie. My goal was to work on colt-starting with Ellie with Kime's coaching. Ellie felt good and was dealing with the big group quite well. She was glad to be with Kade, too. Kime had me ride her as another rider would trot off in front of us. The idea was for Ellie's trotting to be her idea - following the horse in front and pulling her into the trot. I was not to ask for it at all. I had no doubt that this would work, but it was a tough lesson as I couldn't hear Kime well and we were following Lexi who was obviously giving Ellie "get away" messages. Eventually it worked, when we put Kade in front instead. Ellie's trot was forward and free. It was a bittersweet lesson, but I was glad for the time with the group and getting Ellie moving out like that. It gives us another thing to play with and progress from.

Fun day in my amazing indoor arena. I'm a very fortunate girl!

More time with Ellie

She had a few days off because of my work travel, but today we went in the indoor and got some trotting work done. She's getting more balanced in the larger space. It started off a little slow because Sky was running around outside the arena and whinnying. Rain and Kendall were in the indoor with us and not sure which mare he was talking to. Either way, we had to ride for a bit and work out the worries before I asked her for trot.

She has a nice stride in the trot and covers good ground! It's a bigger trot, too. It started snowing while we were riding and the wind picked up a little. Luckily, that didn't cause much concern. I was happy with her progress today. We finished with some indirect and direct rein.

Ellie's first Follow the Trail!

Rode Ellie in the indoor with Marla, Chrissy and Kendall today. Chrissy rode Cowboy a little, Marla led us around on Z and Kendall rode Rain. Ellie and I followed and sort of mimicked a trail ride scenario. Ellie did great following them and this was her first ride with other horses. She was calm and pretty easy-going. At one point, the herd outside the arena got restless and that definitely caused Ellie some concern. I hopped off to be sure we didn't have a huge train wreck with all the horses and riders inside. After things calmed, I got back on and rode her a little more.

She's doing really well and she's ready for the trail.

Jess and Rebekah ride their horse

Started in the round pen, but the footing was so bad. So we moved to the indoor. Ellie handled it all quite well. Jess and I are concerned that the change to my property has been hard on Ellie, as well as living in a stall/run. We agreed to just let her be with the herd with hopes that she doesn't get hurt. I hope this helps improve her spirits.

The footing was good enough to do any trotting in the round pen and I didn't get back on her in the indoor. I will do that next, however. She was a little worried in the indoor as it was her first time in there. I led Rebekah around on her and she was calm and good for Jess' daughter.

Just a very nice horse with a great brain.

Another ride on Ellie

We took it slow today. The snow is melting rapidly and very slick. Even at a walk, she was losing her footing at times. So, at the walk we worked on indirect and direct rein, go and whoa and staying on the rail. I had absolutely zero head tossing today! She's losing that brace which is a great change.

Before we went into the round pen, I tacked her up and did a few minutes of ground work. While she was tied for saddling, she slipped in the barn aisle and went down. Poor girl. She got a couple scratches, but it was minor. What was most impressive was how she handled it. She was calm and easy about the whole thing. She worked to get her footing back, but she didn't freak out and she came off the adrenalin so quickly afterwards. This horse has an amazing brain!

Another ride on Ellie

Another great ride. Worked mainly on trot transitions and getting softness in the rope hack. Started with just a few minutes of ground work and got into the saddle easily. She stood still for mounting, as well. She was bracy at first and threw her head a little. We worked through that before moving in to the trot transitions. She's working through her balance as she carries me at faster speeds. There's still a lot of snow on the ground, but the air was fairly warm today.

I will move her to the big arena and work on passenger riding at the trot either in the next session or after 2 sessions.

Ellie gains balance in the trot

She's doing so great!! We started with a little ground work, then went into the round pen for riding. We started with walking and just working on softness in the hackamore. I used the rope hack today for the first time (instead of 1 rein with the 12'). She had a little trouble with the confinement, so we worked on that for a while. She got more and more relaxed with it and I worked very hard on releasing at the correct time. Then, we started to build the trot. We got some nice trot circles in both directions after she figured out how to carry me at that gait. She is doing so well!!

We had a foot of snow to trudge through for this ride today. Made it extra fun. I wish I had gotten some video of our session today.

Ellie wears a saddle!

Put a ride on Ellie and it was her first time with the saddle in the round pen. I did get a few strides of trot towards the end but we mainly worked at the walk. Worked on direct rein quite a bit. I did not work very much on indirect rein. Played with friendly game with the rope over her head.

Trimming

Kris Warner came over and we took care of Rain Gemini and Ellie. Ellie had an awful lot of hoof wall but she actually has quite a good foot. Kris trimmed Rain and Ellie and I trimmed Gemini. I didn't put a great trim on Gem, I wasn't feeling well.