You mean we can jump? Whaaaaaaat?

Okay, I will admit that I have the physical ability to jump a fence, I just don't have the mental aspect of it. I had a horrific fall off of a bank that left me not too keen on the idea of jumping... that idea later ended my eventing career. You can't make a career or go to the Olympics being too chicken shit to jump anything bigger than 2'3" ;). Sure, I'd hop on seasoned vets and go jump some courses of 2' or so, but it was not very often. It also scared the ever loving CRAP out of me to do so. 

Tor is a bit like my old eventer, very much point and go- you just have to reassure her with your leg (where as the eventer just went). She has only stopped on one jump and that is because I gave up on her, she may look and hesitate, but she follows through if I do. I have (MUCH to my displeasure) been convinced to show in the hunter hack. Easy enough, two fences in a straight line and then rail work. Not a big, scary course. We have been schooling over lines of cross rails and small verticals for a while now, still really sticky, but at least we get something done. My old eventing habits have been SO hard to fix!

So my trainer gives me a course, including two verticals that I have not jumped in well over 18 months. I quickly said to Tor, "I take back EVERY popping you in the mouth, every chest smack, every statement of 'Fatty', everything other than cookies and wither scratches if you don't launch my ass into being a lawn dart". Apparently, my speech worked and we went around our course of five fences beautifully! She was listening, she was forward, and she was thrilled with herself! I was just happy that I kept with her and didn't get launched. :)

I love that filly. Really, I do. We are still in the super awkward "getting it together" phase, but she is amazing and has taught me SO much. She is a lifer in more than one way. One like her will never, ever come along again, so I will be keeping her until the day it is time to say "goodbye". I'll give an arm, a leg, and my liver if it means that I can keep her. 

Let's talk about rules!

I'm not the type of rider to verbally beg a horse to do something. I will give them praise, but I don't tell them "move over" or "come on" or anything like that. I have a few rules, and I enforce them. Severely. I will base these on a horse like Tor (and use her as an example), educated but lazy and likes to test the boundaries. Of course, I have little experience with actual "babies", so I can't comment on those.

1) I have a personal bubble; it goes about four feet all around me. If Tor steps into my bubble, she and I are going to have a big, big problem.

2) Tor does not have a personal bubble. At all. 

3) When I approach Tor, her hind end will move away from me and she will face me. 

4) I don't approach and retreat from Tor. I will approach in whatever direction I want, for how long I want, for whatever I want. That goes along with rule number two.

5) When I'm around, 98% of the time, Tor is "put to work". Walking out to the arena, hosing her off, grooming, whatever... she will focus on the task at hand. She will walk like a lady. She will act like one, too.

6) Tor can't eat grass when we are "working". She just might find a gentle tap in the chin or the lead rope just might "accidentally" pop her in the side. 

7) Standing still for mounting. Not optional.

8) Nothing stronger than a broken slow twist will touch Tor's face. If I ever need a stronger bit, it's time to get help.

And last, but not least, my favorite. (yes, Mugwump taught me this! :D)

1. Cue

2. Cue harder.

3. Make it happen. 

Pretty basic things. I don't ask for much, but I expect alot.

I ultimately would like to work with each horse using only a whisper. I don't believe in whips or chains or funky things like that; I feel that they just mask an even more severe problem. I'm not the best rider in the world, but I'm not the worst; I try to think along with the horse that I'm working with. I strive to be fair with Tor. She seems to like me, so I guess I'm doing right by her.

I have noticed that the more I enforce the rules, the less problems we seem to have. Both in and out of the saddle, things are just "understood", I guess. Like I said, I strive to be fair with her.

However, I will mention that she adores cookies, apples, and wither scratches. She knows ALL about cookies. ;] She is spoiled. I have no problem admitting that!

Not dead, just busy

Tor and I have been doing FANTASTIC in our last few rides. The Big Name Trainer (who actually deserves his Big Name) came through to give a lesson. Now, this guy rarely gives out more than a "Good job" or "That looks pretty"... so it's a really freaking huge deal for him to be "shocked" and "floored" with a ride. Well, he was; and I have never been happier. I take his word for strict law, it is rare for me to take another's word for consideration. What he has to say means the absolute most, and for him to actually say that he was proud of me was a HUGE deal. 

I learned so much in the two hour lesson it's not even funny. He figured out why I couldn't slow my body down at the trot- my irons were two holes long, my leg was loose, legs too far forward, and I couldn't balance. So, I raised them, and it was just awesome. I was so much more balanced and I could actually hold my post so that Tor could stretch out in her trot. Big Name Trainer stated it was "the best riding he had ever seen me do". You want to see a deliriously happy 17 year old, well, that was me. We didn't get around to canter, neither of us saw a point to it for ending on such a good note at the trot. 

We also jumped (something I hate, hate, HATE doing. It scares the hell out of me) some cross rails and a small vertical. Tor was a trooper and never swayed from her job, even when I was all over the place in the beginning. I, once again, had to get my leg underneath me (something I am horrible about coming from eventing) and get it more secure; it hurt like hell, but I did it. I quit folding over so much and started letting her come to me. She was perfect. Really flipping perfect. 

There are probably more details, but it IS 9 am my time during a tropical storm and I'm tired. 

We go to show on the 26/27/28th of September. I think we are going to do a cross rail class or two and then the hunter under saddle (my favorite) and possibly the hack. Not sure if we are showing on Saturday, but for sure on Sunday. Hmmm. We will see!

Fuck chewing gum. Alarm clocks are the reason for the downfall of society!

Day number one: The AT was coming out. And of COURSE I go to sleep all nervous and jittery and "oh my God, oh my God, oh my God". So I wake up bright eyed and bushy tailed at 12:30 in the afternoon. That is a problem.... the AT was on a plane back home! Whaaaaaaaat?! How could this be possible?! Alas, I looked at my cell phone. The damn alarm clock didn't go off. And it was set at 6:30 am so I could be well fed, hydrated, and ready for a lesson by 8:30. Talk about a Pissed Off Youth Rider. Oh, I was furious. Beyond. Not only was I pissed, I felt horrible for letting people down. 

Note to self: invest in actual alarm clock. 

Now, where can I get one of those?

Day number two: Had to be at work by 10:30. Hahah. Funny. I wonder why Sonic was calling me at 11:15 and I answer the phone with the classic "why the HELL are you calling me when I'm dead asleep" "Hello!?". I love how my manager was like "Uh... just checking to see you were alive. It's 11:15..." Me: "Shit, shit, shit!! I'll be there in 15 minutes!" Of course I get dressed at hyper speed in two minutes and I'm out the door. Of COURSE I can't find my car. Yes, that's right. I had been awake for no more than three minutes when I walked outside to get in my car only to find that it was not in it's Usual Parking Spot. In a moment of sheer terror, I run back up the driveway. Alas, my car! I parked it in the garage the night before... I need to invest in some Rockstar. Really. I do. So I sped off to work for the day. End of story.

I had this amazing plan to get Something Accomplished on the two horses, but no one was there... so I decided that some wither scratches were in order. The 3 yo was deliriously happy to see me. Tor... not so much. She is not all that affectionate unless she wants to be. 

Riding will resume tomorrow evening. The said 13 yo rider (who's horse just came yesterday, more about him later!) and I are going to ride our AQHA horses for an evening ride. The four of us will get Something Accomplished. I just know it! Oklahoma 2009 is looking to be much closer in reach. =]

Those promises I didn't keep

1. Have a 80 average. (wonk wonk WONK)

2. Get a job. (check)

3. Regular curfew (see reaction to number 1)

4. No more Mobile (again, see reaction to number 1)

5. Keep room clean (check... kind of)

6. Pay mum back (for the third time, see number 1)

Yeah... I think all of it lasted, like, a week. Maybe. You know the typical "I'm 16 and I know it all. I have what I wanted, I don't need to work for it now" 16 yo mentality. Yeah... no. It didn't get me far at all. I got involved with people with horrible morals and they are the reason I took a break from riding. One day, I'll blog about that. 

In February, I pulled my head out from under the rock. I pulled my grades up to honor roll status, got another job, started being in at 11ish, I no longer go to Mobile unless I NEED to, and I am setting aside money from all my paychecks to pay my mum back. I completely did a 180. Perhaps a 540 would be more suiting...

It's my senior year. SENIOR YEAR!! I have wanted to be a horse trainer my entire life, and dammit, now is the time to start doing something about it. My grades and my ability to ride a horse is directly related to being a trainer. Now is the time to learn and be, not time to party. Yeah, I'll go to the senior activities like Homecoming and a few games, but I still have to put the horses first. I won't miss a ride (or two or three or eight) just because of a football game or a dance. No. That is not fair to anyone involved in this, and certainly not fair to Tor. 

I mean business. This is real. And it's happening. 

Really, this time, I AM going to Burger King and then I'm going to sleep. Really... 

So, I'm thinking I should be violently ill more often!

Lack of update (baaaaaaaad Caroline), it has been a combination of work, Indiana, and being really sick. Little time to ride in the past... while.

Now, back to my regularly scheduled, erm... starting to blog. I'll post updates from this say onward. No one needs to know about the Ultimate Rider Meltdowns I have had... 

Tor and I had a FANTASTIC ride this evening. I went out with a mindset of "Tonight will be a good one, if I have to ride 'til midnight to get Something Accomplished." And hey, it worked! Either my good thoughts actually work, or I was too weak/hot/out of shape to give a shit. I can't decide. We had a few issues in the beginning because she was as fresh as the high school boys on Prom night, but we worked thru those in about 10 minutes. It was too wet to longe. Boo! Hiss! We moved over to a bigger patch of grass and things got a little better.

Then better.

Still getting better.

Then really freaking "Oh my God! I can post the trot without depending on her head. Oh, look, her head goes down!" 

I was honestly expect a Ride From Hell since we have been out a total of a month. Tor had an abcscess in her left front, something that I think has been going on for quite a while I could faintly feel it, but you couldn't see it in her movement. I have also been in Indiana, at work, and have been sicksicksick with an unknown illness (which I blame on heat exhaustion). I was prepared for the worst since it had been so long and I couldn't longe. Had she forgotten everything? Was she going to take advantage of me being so sick? Was she going to blow up in my face because of energy? The answers: Not at all; She took great care of me; A little, but got over it. 

I have had ALOT of trouble with my posting (not the movement, but the whole slowing it down and controlling my horse with my post), which are the reasons for my URM (Ultimate Rider Meltdowns), but tonight it just... clicked, I guess. I loved the feeling of a controlled post with her face down. Gooooood filly, that is exactly where your face goes. =]

Tonight seriously made me deliriously happy. And the last time I was deliriously happy with a ride was back when my old event horse and I negotiated the bank that effectively ended my eventing career. Words cannot explain how happy I was; we accomplished a big something in a time where I thought we would accomplish nothing. It was kind of a wake up call: "Hey, you CAN do this. This seemingly impossible task of qualifying for World is NOT so distant. You're NOT crazy. Well, maybe you are, but you have a team of people who are crazy as well."

I'm off to Burger King for some dinner and then to sleep. Lee Paul is in town tomorrow and it's about time he whip my butt into shape. I'll update tomorrow, promise!!

Background;

I am a 17 yo former eventer from lower Alabama. Yes, the land where football and HYPP fans meet and run amuck. It ain't exactly idea horse country, folks. To make an extremely long and complicated story short, oh hell, I'll just give you an outline.

Accident Trainer (now known as the AT) texts me in class and tells me about Gorgeous Filly (GF).

Big Sister Trainer (now known as the BST) and I plan to go behind my parents back and go to Texas in the spring of 2007.

We say we are going to theme park and to watch a cutting show.

In reality, we go see the GF.

I fall in love with said GF.

Come home to parents who are kicking and screaming.

AT comes to land of the hicks.

Asks for check.

Mum writes check.

GF is mine.

Of course, there was crying and lots of promises.

98% of those promises were not delivered  until spring of 2008.

I fell into a hole of the land of the boys, but was kicked out of it.

GF is home and I am attempting to learn how to ride her.

As a rider who spent three years fighting with a TB gelding over EVERYTHING who needed no leg, and hell, no hand either. I'm not really sure how the HELL I rode him, actually. However, I did live to write this blog entry, so I must have done something right.

Now, more about said GF.

GF is a 2004 AQHA filly by Artful Move and out of Dinner Invitation (by Invitation Only). She is about 16 hh, brown, no chrome, and incredibly affectionate... when she wants to be. She has been home for almost two months, she spent the first 10 months of me owning her with my AC. Uhm... we get along really well, I just have to learn how to ride her and correct the habits of riding the TB. I have improved on alot of things, ALOT of things. Now I just have to put the whole package TOGETHER. We will go to our "first" (I don't count Tampa...) show in September, and damnit, we will be ready. I will also point out that a horrific fall a few years ago on said Crazy TB (the CTB) left this rider only wanting to ride hunt seat equitation, hunter under saddle, and hunter hack. Everything else is too skeeeeery for my taste. And I will only go into the HH pen with me kicking and screaming, but I will do it for my filly.

The whole point of this blog is to document my victories and defeats from the view of a 17 yo has been eventer turned hunt seat rider on the road to the 2009 AQHA Youth World Championships. Of course, I am not alone in this skeeeery task. I have the support of two amazing trainers (including the AT), my parents, God, and a fellow new to the AQHA show pen 13 yo rider who just purchased her first horse. But more about everyone later. It is 1 am and I should probably go to sleep. I have to ride my SHSF and the HBG in the mornin'.