Problem Child

So Dancer has been having what seem like one problem after another..... SIGH....

 First there was the nasty cut.....right where the bridle goes of course!!!

 Yeah good way to get out of work dude....

 Once it turned into this and I could ride....

his back shoe became loose.......

 

Which turned into this when the farrier came out.....apparently the white line was there in a pocket and she dug it out... BIG TIME...and I get to squirt cool green stuff in it....

 

Later that week I still felt he wasn't right under saddle....His butt was all wiggly when I was riding him and he was bucking and just being...not Dancer. SO I asked my trainer to ride him.

She agreed....SIGH

SO he gets to see the vet on Tuesday....  More to come on that....

 

Until then I'm keeping him entertained with carrots on stall rest!

 

 Since I have time on my hands....Saturday is Halloween....Which costume do you think is best????

Cross your fingers that the vet finds nothing!!!!

Not Standing Still

So I had to remind myself of this after watching the horses at Camelot.  Dancer and I may be going slowly but its OK. We are allowed to still be going Elementary. He is a baby horse (even if he's so good no one remembers that) and I'm still building confidence. 

 Look a 3 ft crossrail

I had a great lesson on Tuesday. We started off a little rocky with a horse not in front of my leg. But once we started jumping we rocked it. We had one really amazing course that felt soo awesome! I wish I would have gotten a video. Our last course had a little bit of a distraction. One of the horses that is at our barn because of the fires decided he needs to run past the fence and jump and spin in the air....I was actually pretty happy that, while it may not have looked awesome, Dancer and I got it done and made it around the course

I think we cleared it...

Tomorrow we are going cross country schooling at Fresno County Horse Park. I've never been there so it should be fun.  I'm hoping to jump all of the intro course and some of the beginner novice....

Unfortunately I don't think anyone will be there to photograph :-(

 I just have to remember that!

We are hopefully (if all goes well) going to the event in November! WooHOOO!

 I love this horse so much!

LOL, Wait a Sec

Remember this photo? The scariest but best day of my life. 

When I thought I had finally figured it out and was chasing my dreams.....

 Yah that... Why does that always happen?

Dancer fell, being stupid on the lunge line and is very sore his SI still a week later....

(He of course did this the day after the chiropractor was here)

So he got some bute...

And a jolly ball to keep him entertained for what is hopefully just two weeks while we wait for the chiropractor to come back out...

In some ways it is showing me just how much I truly love this guy...

 But stall rest sucks...

 And patience is not something I am good at. In fact I'm having "what if" melt downs almost daily.....

One Day at a time...

 I love this horse...

Prove Them Wrong....

So after we came home from the show I went into a bit of a funk....I knew my fitness was holding us back but I also felt (from some of the comments I got) that people thought we were going no where fast and I was lucky I was riding Dancer because there was no way I could ride another horse. 

I don't think thats true... He took care of me but I also took care of him... We are team....

So I sat in my funk for a week and a half (did a lot of the above) and then decided I needed to do the last part and I needed to be a better teammate

So I signed up for this thing called the Athletic Rider. Basically you use BeachBody products to strengthen yourself for riding. So far I'm pretty pleased....

 We will prove them ALL wrong!

Also Dancer's back has been sore....So I think I need to build up his butt. Since there are NO HILLS near my barn, pole work is where its at... So I sent my husband a link on how to build cavalettis.....And he BUILT them! Major husband points!

 I know traditional is white but who likes traditional?

Soon we will both be super fit and galloping into the sunset....Hopefully!

This!

Baby Horse Goes to his first show- Show Jumping Day!

 So Sunday was show jumping day. Pretty sure they maxed out all the jumps on the course. But as I'd learned from the last two days of the weekend. Trust Dancer. We can do it... And we did.

 I have to say this was my "scariest jump" of the course. And it had cute little butterflies on it! It looks little in the photo (and it is, its only 2'3" which is max intro height) but it looked so much bigger in my head!!!

 We came in 7th and won the High Point Thoroughbred incentive Program award. And got to do an Honor Round. Not to shabby for our very first show.....

 This is the scoreboard. Our only goal was to finish so I don't really care but hopefully next time we can be a little(or a lot) lower.
Video link http://www.rideonvideo.net/watch.php?vid=d5982a1e1

Happy Smiles all around!

(and many cookies)

Baby Horse Goes to his first event- Cross Country Day!

 

So the night before cross country we were walking the course and it was beautiful....

It even rained a little

  It was blazing hot the next day...... and of course my ride time was 2:00 in the 100 degree heat.

I don't know who this horse it but this is the water complex and you can see the dragon in the background....

I had major nerves again cross country day. Not so much about the jump but about being able to finish the whole course. Poor Alana was dealing with another rider that was having medical issues and me but Alana told me I only had to jump the first three and then I could quit if I want to. It got me in the start box and I guess she somehow knows me well enough to know I am way to stubborn to quit something I've started.

 

 So we jumped and I'd like to say we galloped but in reality we trotted a lot.....

 We even made it over the cabin (Thank you Dancer) the jump that scared me the most!

(as you can see, I'm saying I'm scared and he's saying no Mom we jump these)

 We had two stops at the trakener but my team cheered us on and we made it over the third time... and then over the dragon....

And of course through our nemisis the water......

We have a lot to work on and I need to get A LOT fitter......But it will come!