wake up call

I was putting Nina's blanket on her tonight and something spooked her and she charged past me. Just barely brushed against me and sent me staggering across her pen. That's how you get hurt messing around with horses, just not paying attention for one minute. It was a good wake up call. It is easy to get complacent and forget how incredibly fast and strong (and big!) they are. She was on high spook alert today - I was warned.

Since it is 19 degrees and windy....

Since it is so cold and windy today, I will have to get my horsey fix via YouTube.
This is my all time favorite eventing video, just watching it makes me grin. I have it on my business site on the blogging page. We will never get to this level, but Nina and I will be out there next year doing the itty bitty version. Turn on the sound to enjoy this one.

This is great fun...

I really wish the wind would stop

I taught a lesson this morning at another barn and the plan was to get in a quick ride on Nina before my farrier showed up.  But he had another appointment cancel so he was early and I didn't get to ride.  Just as well, by the time he was done the wind was howling and I was frozen stiff.  I wouldn't have wanted to have been out there any later than we were. It's an icy wind that just cuts through you and right through my formerly windproof jacket. 
Nina was pretty good for him, even when a trash can lid blew under her feet.  She spooked but didn't explode and he got her shod before it got so bad we had to go inside, which none of us wanted to do. 
I am trying her barefoot on her hind feet, which I have never done with a thoroughbred, but her hind feet seem to grow slower and not flare as much as the fronts and I really need to save some money so we tried it.  If her hind feet wear too fast we will put shoes back on.  It saved me almost half the normal shoeing so it's worth a try. 
It started out nice today and was fine until the wind started, tomorrow is supposed to be a repeat so I am going to try to get out to the barn early and ride before the wind starts. 

I wanted to share this...

This was posted on Jane Savoie's Facebook page last week and I thought it was worth sharing.

Somewhere behind the rider you've become,

the trainers who pushed you,

the people who believed in you,

the long hours of schooling,

the falls you've taken,

the ribbons you didn't win,

the tears and broken bones,

and the horses you've given your heart to,

there is the little girl

who fell in love with the sport

and never looked back.

Ride for her!

my curly coated TB

 

My curly coated Thoroughbred~!
We had a couple of prolonged discussions today ranging over topics such as...
Is Nina allowed to buck Barbara off just because?
Does Nina have to trot when asked or is she allowed to throw a dramatic fit over it?

By the timed we were done we were both literally dripping with sweat and now I had to deal with the familiar cold weather riding problem.  How to get her dry before putting her away for the night.  It was 5pm and getting dark, temps in the 40s and falling fast.  I threw a cooler over her and walked her until the cooler was soaked.  Then let her roll, then walked some more.  She was no longer wet but still damp so I started back brushing her hair to get it to stand up and dry faster.  As I back brushed it - it started to CURL!
I couldn't resist, I back brushed it all and took these pics.  My curly horse!
She did eventually dry, got a blanket put on and had dinner.
I think I need to clip her this week.

back in the groove

I spent the last week making excuses for not riding and persuading myself that if I just waited one more day the warm temps would come back.  It wasn't hard to find reasons not to ride.  I was getting to the barn after 3pm and it was grey and drizzly everyday.  yuck.  Today it was cold and a little windy and I sucked it up and rode.  Nina was a butt, which I deserved for not riding all week, but all and all it went fine.  I have good winter riding gear and I know how to layer and be comfortable.  It is cold and miserable getting tacked up but once you get on you warm up fast.  So it is not a big deal, but every fall I go through this.  Once it gets to be normal it's fine.  Unfortunately if you huddle down in your clothes trying to stay warm and still you are likely to get tossed on your head.  There's nothing like a cold wind blowing up a horse's butt to make them silly.

from my Facebook status...

I am going to ride in the cold, I am going to ride in the cold, I am going to ride in the cold. OK, I am not going to ride TODAY in the cold, but I am going to ride in the cold. *sigh*

Looks like our gorgeous fall is over, at least for now.

When I got to the barn it was 37 degrees with a nasty icy drizzle.  I trotted from the parking lot to Nina's pen, checked to make sure she was warm and dry, dumped her lunch in her feed bucket, trotted back to the car and zoomed home.  brrrrrrr
I used to ride when it was really cold, down in the teens.  Colder than that is hard on the horses although I have gotten on and just walked around at temps near zero.   Then I decided that 32 was a nice number.  No riding below 32 degrees.  This year I am thinking that 40 sounds good.
My hat's off to the Brits, who apparently ride in this wet crap all the time.   I am holding out for either warmer or drier. 

Cross country clinic

Eric Smiley (Irish event rider) has been coming here regularly in the fall to do a three day clinic.  Two years ago I had Scotty entered and he died just the week before the clinic.  Last week I audited the show jumping day of the clinic and enjoyed it.  This year I drove up to Loveland to watch the cross country day of schooling and really had fun watching.  Eric is such a great teacher besides being an awesome rider.  One of my goals for Nina is to do this clinic with her next year.

Nina