A little bit of a break

Things have been super busy around work and the barn, so I haven't had much time to ride or play. I hope after this week this will change. I miss playing with my ponies. I have seem them everyday and we did ride and play on Wed/Thur, but that isn't enough for me. Here's hoping next week and the beginning of 2014 will allow us more time for fun!

Christmas bowls for the horses!

Jess getting his shoes reset

Char Christmas Day 2013

Char was the first...

Yesterday I had my fifth ride on Char. It was the first time we have ridden without Jess in the arena. Even though we didn't have Jess we had Sam, Lucky, and Dancer with us. She did just fine without Jess :) We were all riding together which was a lot of fun! At the beginning of the ride it was same as usually, not much if any forward motion. She doesn't like to leave the front of the arena. We did do backing, hip yields, and some turning. Then we finally got some forward motion...she decided it would be okay to walk all the way around the arena :) We were probably on our 5 + trip around the arena and she was super relaxed, head and neck completely level with her top line just cruising along! So I never saw it coming...I assume snow fell off the roof and past the window. All I know is we were up and facing the other direction and I knew at that moment I was not staying on. I was forward and to the side, yep no hope to stay with her. Once she turned back again I was on the ground and she was headed towards the front of the arena. Landed on my side and tail bone, bumped my head on the ground, but I had my helmet on! All was well I got up brushed off and went to get her. We stood and talked for a minute to help both of us calm down. She was still pretty up! But slowly she came around and I was able to mount back up. We took a few steps and I dismounted, on my own terms this time, lol. She was still nervous, but did well at letting me mount and dismount! All and all it was a good ride. We probably rode for almost 30 minutes before the unexpected happened. I do not blame her in any way, and in fact I got Jess to ride after and something in that corner was scaring him! He is rock solid and I could not get him to walk over there and stay calm. So it truly was extreme fear on Char's part. And if he had been with us in the arena at the time I would say it was what happened, but he was not with us. Odd...but lesson learned. Always be prepared, well at least when the snow is melting off the roof :)

In other news, I had a awesome ride on Pixie earlier in the day. It was nice enough to ride outside for a bit. So we just cruised around bareback. I can't say enough that this horse is my rock! For so long I thought Jess would be the only steady eddy, but I was so very wrong. Pixie is my go to horse for relaxing rides! Now Jess is still the go to when a job has to be done such as ponying. Pixie just always has an opinion about her space, lol. Oh well we all can't be perfect!

The barn from the outdoor arena. Pixie and I enjoying our ride!

checking out my boot

So anyways the title...as I have said before I have never been thrown off a horse. Fallen on yes, twice in fact, but never thrown. So Char now holds the title of the first horse to throw me :)

One Year

November 24th marked our 1 year with Navi. I realize I am late in posting this, lol. Navi has taught us so much in the last year. She is still the stubborn little pipsqueak that I brought home from the auction, but we love her dearly. I look forward to 20+ years of trail riding with her. Her training is currently continuing and as soon as she has reached a spot in her growth that I feel it is safe to ride we will start riding. Until then she just gets more ground work :)

Summer 2011

Summer 2013

2nd Ride on Char

My partner ponied us off of Jess yesterday. Char did great while being ponied, now forward motion on her own accord was a different story. She wouldn't move off of my leg alone. She will get there so I didn't push the issue and we just continued to pony. I could touch and pet her everywhere while riding so that was/is a good sign :) She stayed rather relaxed and stood perfectly for me to mount and dismount. However I for some reason was nervous right before getting on, so I had to stand and collect myself with some deep breathing. Funny how you get older and all of a sudden getting hurt is the first thing to come to mind on the list of what if. I realized I don't not bounce back as well as I used to. And its been a lot of years since I have ridden a really hard buck or rear from a horse. I have never been thrown, they have fallen on me, but not thrown. The fear of the unknown is almost worse. In the end of course I had nothing to be nervous about and I am sure the nerves will get better every time I ride her. I have to trust that the ground work was laid and if we take it slow she will be just fine :)

Jess and Navi eating a mid day snack. Yes, I know how filthy Navi is :(

Winter wonderland at the barn

Char

My trainers horse, Angel, peeking over the fence.

Extreme Cold!

There isn't much going on around here as far as riding or even playing with the ponies. This is because of our extreme cold snap that we just started her in Montana. Starting today we will not see temps above zero until Sunday when the high should reach 10 degrees. Tomorrow's high is -2 and Friday will be the worst at -8 for the high and -18 for the low. These temps do not include windchill :(

All of my guys came in on Monday night and will most likely be in at night until next week. Jess and Char usually always come in at night to help keep them from getting achy joints in the cold weather, but the other girls usually stay out 24 hrs. During the day they are all blanketed and have free choice hay to help stay warm. With everyone coming in at night it means I get my workout in since I have five horses to clean up after in the form of stalls.

I am hoping to get some good winter pictures today. Its beautiful at the barn with all the snow. The barn probably has 8+ inches currently.

First Ride on Char

Yesterday was the day! I had done all the prepping I could do and I felt like she was ready. I warmed her up by ponying her first then having her move around loose while saddled. She took it all in stride as usual. Then I laid on her again and then sat! She did great! I just hung out for a minute before dismounting. I then remounted to work on flexing. She decided to move around a little bit, but really took it all in stride. We practiced flexing a few times and then I dismounted. Next step is I am going to have my partner pony her while I just hang out being a passenger. No pics this time, but my friend did video it for me :) I think she was secretly hoping for something more exciting, lol.

We are getting ready for this big winter storm that is rolling in today. It looks like we won't get much snow, but our day time highs won't reach above 10 degrees until at least next Monday. Our low temps are neg. teens with super cold wind chills! It is our first big taste of winter this year. So far we have stayed warm with maybe a day or two of colder air. I rode all weekend in preparation that I might not ride for a few days. We are lucky to have a indoor that stays above freezing most of the time though.