The clinic was so much fun...I woke up at 7:00 am to the sounds of the golf cart rattling across the front paddock which startled me so I flew to the window but it was my daughter who usually (here at home) isnt up much before 8:30...Moved the 2 horse, moved the backhoe, the bobcat, the grove machine (all hubby's toys) so we would have room for all the rigs...Caitlin let me leave my two goosenecks where they were...gee thanks!
Anyhow ten riders (and all their supporters) showed up as well as my blacksmith who trimmed and reshod three of the horses while they were here, then gained another half dozen folks for clientele as they were so impressed by his work...He joked that he would have to move down here (he is from Ocala...trips to our place are worth the 2 hour drive!) and then he asked us to take in his new Paint to train...I wanted him to ride Cleo (he is normally a dressage rider) but he got busy and by the time he had a free minute, it was thundering and lightening. Caitlin moved the crowd to the indoor barn, and the kids asked tons of questions. This is a terrific group! Luckily we had empty stalls for most all of the horses; the rest were loaded onto the washrack to wait out the storm.
Anyhow Renan got to see me ride and he was very complimentary! I am pleased as the gym work has helped my legs (knee stays tight, heel stays down, and toe stays slightly tipped out...) Priscilla has the world champion mare and she too said it looked like my form has improved. When other riders note that your form has improved that gives me great faith...
I actually got Cleo to cross the new water-box my husband built...you could sail a boat in that thing...it holds water and lots of it...she stared at it, whooooofed twice, and with Caitlin kneeling down and showing her it was just water, stepped into the box and gingerly crossed it without the disaster it was the LAST time we crashed and sank our old water box...
I was so excited! Will ride her again tomorrow and try it since the trail course is still all set up...
Crush stayed out all day until the storm came; he loves his free time and can be hard to catch but he let me walk right up to him...I didnt saddle him today (he was saddled until late last night but I didnt get a chance to ride) so I will ride him as well tomorrow.
Kaely tried on the shirt I made her and it fit perfectly; I was so relieved as I hate that material since it has been such a bitch to sew...Now all I have to do is add the crystals and the cuffs (the kid is a bean pole with arms like a monkey!!!!) and she will wear it at the state show in 3 weeks.
Anyhow today was great despite the weird weather...two really awful rain storms but I am inspired by the comments people gave me when they saw me and Cleo working...Sometimes I let my age get me feeling like I may never get as far as I want with my horses, and I ain't getting any younger...
Pictures coming from the clinic today...just gotta remember where I left my camera!
11 comments:
Hello, hello!
I was gone to Las Vegas all weekend. Didn't want you to think I had left :-) First off, how do you people stand that kind of heat? It was even dry heat there, unlike the times I have traveled to Florida. Ick!
However, I am so jealous. My trainer is an hour and a half away, in good traffic. She's been my trainer for a long time now and is one of my better friends, so I would never think of changing, but the distance makes life hard. I have a mare at home, my show mare's mother, that I ride to keep in shape. I get to ride Time, the show mare, about once a month maybe. sigh. The only nice thing about it is that Time is a joy to ride and easy. Macy, her mother, is a bit hot. She's fine, just too smart, if you know what I mean. She tries to do too much and thinks too much, so she takes a lot of walking and quieting. Both are big strided with lots of drive tho, so my arse stays in shape and I can hold on in those stupid slick breeches!
I so wish I could come to your clinics! We have some group days of lessons for Horsemanship, Eq, Trail, Showmanship, etc...which are fun. Occasionally some big time trainer will come into one of the barns near me and give a clinic but the last one I went to, rather soured me. The not to be named unless you really want to know big time Paint trainer from Texas spent more time talking about how wonderful her daughters are and degrading us than helping. For $250 a day, that was a bit more than I could take.
I love this blog. The encouragement is priceless. Knowing there are others out there doing it like me is wonderful.
OOH OOH!! I know EXACTLY who you are talking about!!!!!!!!! I took the APHA judges clinic a couple years ago and she was one of the "teachers" and she showed a video of some rides from a world show (Huntseat Eq class) and instead of telling us what the riders were doing right or even wrong, she just degraded them horribly!!!! Most of us were shocked! I was sitting with Sonessa Gooding who has since gotten her judge's card and I know she was horrified at how shallow this woman is...
Yes I love being at home with the ability to ride and school every day...Today I practiced my #@%$!! diagonals and I must say I got them 95% of the time...Me and Cleo had a good ride but once more, Crush and I diddled it at the trot...his loping is fantastic but he just refuses to trot a nice jog and weaves all over speeding up, wobbling here and there...Very frustrating.
Our next clinic is already in the works and will be a showmanship and horsemanship clinic...everyone has written with positive input and despite the rain, had a fantastic time!
Yep today it is 93 degrees out and humid as HELL but if you don't ride and condition your horse for it, he will be a mess come show day...
I just bought an M. Toulouse saddle today which has super-fatted leather which I hope will help hold my butt in place...Took some doing but I got it for $350 and it is a $1000 saddle!!!!!!
Well I will keep posting to this blog and maybe we can encoiurage others to come on board and share too! I love reading about how other show fanatics live their lives between shows...right now APHA world is going on and I WISH WISH WISH I was there...
There is an open arab show this weekend but I am only going to watch and help with the clients and see some friends...our saddle club is hosting it but the arab people are working it so I will just hang...maybe take pictures...
My trainer is currently at the APHA World's. I love to go watch. I hope to show there someday. I have sent a couple of horses. Someday I will have a World Champion that I have bred. That was our goal. Yesterday was the first anniversary of my mother's death and we had always done horses together. I had a very sad day, played around with her favorite mare, and dreamed of that goal. Someday.
So, on to happier stuff. Is Jose's Real Deal from Florida? I can't seem to remember, but seems like that is where the trainer that shows him is from. I bred to him last year and got two babies that are some of the best looking I have ever had. I hate to breed to stallions I have never seen, but my trainer does the picking. I get the babies come about August, to raise and do ground work on. Sometimes I get to pick one to keep and show, which is what I did with the mare I show now. I love her to death, but so does my trainer, who refuses to let me bring her home :-) She's a hunter mostly, but she does her flying changes, so I am hoping by next year we will be doing Western Riding which is my favorite class. I probably have to trade off doing Hunter Hack, which the trainer will make me do and frankly I think I am too old to be doing! Leaping over things should be left to those who do it all the time. I do get to drive this one, however, and I haven't driven anything since I trained my ponies to drive in 4-H. I am excited about that as I always loved driving. What is everyone's favorite things to do?
Who is your trainer? We know a LOT of people...Jose's Real Deal MIGHT be from Florida; horses winter here a lot...We are seriously sorry we didnt go the worlds this year as the judging seems like they may have taken their Asshats off...
My trainer is Teresa Schofield-Pelton. Her husband, Jim Pelton, was from Florida too, I think. Teresa is riding, I think, in the Jr HUS, Western Riding SR and maybe Jr, Trail and the Jackpot trail or whatever that is. She might have a couple of catch rides as well. She gets better every year. It takes a long time to build a reputation good enough to do well at the world show. That sucks but it's how the game is played, so I know it's going to be that way. I am off to check out the website and see how everyone I know is doing back there. :-)
Was Jim married to Lynn? The only other Pelton I know is Piper Pelton.
My daughter and I liked how the judging went for the youth show but it did seem several poeple we knew that went out there to show, didnt! WTF? I am waiting to hear from them to find out why!
It could be that Jim was married to Lynn, I know he has an ex-wife that they are constantly fighting with back there someplace--he has two boys that still do some showing, halter mostly if I remember right. He still has part ownership in a stallion from that area, tho for the life of me, I can't remember the name. Looks like the kids I know that went to World did pretty well. The one that went with my trainer was a first timer and that tends to overwhelm them a bit.
Still working on my husband getting a website up where I can post the pics of my babies. Will let you know.
Ooooh, my friend Kris Pugh won the Novice Am Trail World Championship. She's been through a lot to get there, she's learned to ride late in life, she's over 50, and I couldn't be prouder! Woot!
Yep that has to be Lynn Pelton's ex-...He has two boys, one was SERIOUSLY, almost fatally injured in an accident when a horse rolled over on him when he was a toddler...Jim was part owner of a Horton trailer dealership in Ocala and the stallion's name is CC Lopin For Loot...(pretty sure that was his name) He was an awesome stallion and he is still around soemwhere but Lynn almost ruined him...Lynn had some serious problems...so glad to hear Jim has moved on...
Yep, that IS the horse's name, so it has to be her. She sues them for money all the time and fights for custody and does all sorts of mean things, I feel sorry for them, but the relationship seems to be good, so I hope it lasts through the crap.
Teresa is having a bad World Show...off pattern in SR trail, Jr horse got a fly in his ear over the last poles and covered them clearly, after stopping first and shaking his head and half rearing. To say the least, she was a bit pissed. Glad I wasn't part of the 'groom squad'. :-)
Her people, however, are doing very well. One of her Nov Ammies was third in Horsemanship, in all of her 4th, yes, 4th! ever Paint show. She blew through her Nov Ammie eligibility in her first three so they went to World's this year. Oh to be 21 and thin as a rail again. sigh.
I am currently designing showmanship jackets and horsemanship shirts for my neices to wear to Fair...trying not to go overboard...but having fun with the rhinestones and leather. I love making my own clothes. I see my friends plunking down 2K for a showmanship outfit and just shake my head. I'm curious about how people justify the expenses of showing in their household? My husband and I agreed that I could play with horses all I wanted if I paid for them myself. So that's what we do.
OOOH...me too! I am sewing like a mad woman and designing cool clothes...unfortunately I just want to make them all for ME to wear...I decided to do this after buying an expensive showmanship outfit off of eBay and the %$#@ thing didnt fit me right! The pattern was skewed like the woman had made it for a hunchback or something....so I watched the sales, went to Sears and bought a basic but sturdy sewing machine, took the sleeves off this outfit and redid the body of it and now it fits...but I am so mad at how much work I had to do to make it right, I am just gonna sell it...I LOVE LOVE LOVE Lisa Nelle's work and have bought several outfits from her but my bank account does not runneth over...I sewed when I was teenager and now it just seems t come naturally...I am loving making show clothes!
That is too bad about Teresa's trail go...Once my daughter was in a horsemanship class, a HUGE one with 6 judges, and she had the whole bunch of them charmed up the yazoo with her tovero gelding Leno (pics of him in the next post) and after everyone did their pattern they asked for rail work but it was so evident she had the entire class sewed up...as they went onto to the rail her bridle fell off Leno's head!!!!!!!!!! The freakin' screw just gave right then and there...Leno held the bit in his teeth and didnt do anything but equipemnt failure is an auto DQ and even the judges were bummed for her...
Yeah it is pretty sad what went on with Lynn P and the Flordia club here...If ever get to meet up with ya, I will bend your ear with some horrific stories...
I think we have decided to do Pinto AND APHA world next summer...I bought myself a new huntseat saddle this morning. I got a year to get the old body in shape, to come up with mind-boggling cool outfits and seal my western riding pattern!!! I wanna World buckle!!!
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