First Horse Show... tomorrow!!!

Long time, no blog! For a quick catch up- Since I've been out of college for the summer, Pixie has had much more consistent work than ever before. She came into the barn to stay inside in June, and has been progressing extremely well. Pixie now wears a full bridle easily (although I'm still experimenting with the best curb bit for her), canters like a pleasure eq. horse (most days!), and is marching past "boogers" like strobing lights and umbrellas. I think we're ready to head for our first horse show! So, tomorrow we will be leaving for the ETSA Midsummer Classic in White Pine, TN. Pixie will show Thursday and Saturday in the ASB Natural Country Pleasure classes (like regular CP but for horses wearing only keg shoes and with unset tails)...
In preperation, I've been *trying* to teach her to load. Now, I'll be completely honest... I am a rider at heart. I will fess up that sometimes I neglect doing as much in-hand as I could and do under saddle work instead. Which is all well and good until it comes loading time. I spent 5+ hours outside with Pixie on Saturday trying to get her to load into the 2 horse straight load Sundowner that she will be traveling in tomorrow. Needless to say, it was Regena vs. Pixie with Pixie coming out on top much of the time. So... I tried a different tactic and backed her in. She backs into the trailer like it's no problem. There's not enough room to turn her around (I tried), so I'm going to haul her facing backwards. It works, and we'll get to the show. I'll spend more time (not the weekend before a show next time!) working with her on loading when we return home. Yesterday I clipped her bridlepath, ears, nose, and feet... and am happy to report that, with assistance, we were able to do it successfully without any problems (and NO drugs! haha).
I really think that if Pixie remains confident at the horse show, she will do just fine. I completely expect "baby" mistakes and reactions to "scary boogers", but I want her to recover the way she has been taught here at home. If we enter the arena, do our gaits, and look halfway decent for our class- I will consider the show a success!

Video

Here is a quick, blackberry-captured video of Pixie from yesterday... On the fence row to try to work on canter leads close to a fence but not back in the arena yet (too slick yesterday, everything had thawed out and it was waaaaay slippery). We had a few words yesterday (my first riding instructor would've referred to it as a Come to Jesus meeting), but I guess that's to be expected now and again. An hour and a half of riding later, I feel like we gained some ground. Storm was rolling in - neighbors were hammering something incessantly for nearly three hours - neighbor kids on the other side hollering while playing hide and seek - other horses were intermittently running/snorting... it was not a day condusive to the learning atmosphere I had hoped for. Oh well. Here's a canter video too... She got really worked up at the beginning of this pass (but it was the only canter that my mother got on video), but if you look close you can see that I slipped my left arm down to pet her on the shoulder... she settled down.

There's more motor to her than I had originally thought. Wonder what she'll do when she goes back into the stall in the summer. Could get interesting! AOT Country Pleasure classes late this summer?!? I sure hope so... still need to 1) Try out some shoes, as Miss Priss is still barefoot ; 2) Get this cantering down better ; and 3) Learn to wear a curb bit...

Another quick update... canter lead breakthrough!

Pixie and I on a cold winter day

(no, I was not wearing makeup, lovely I know)

Unfortunately, with the wet weather and then the icy, bitter-cold weather that has been plaguing the Tennessee valley, my plan to work with Pixie alot over Christmas break didn't really happen. However, we made the best use of the time that we had. I am back up at school in Knoxville now, but I rode Pixie on Tuesday morning and had a real breakthrough!! I had started cantering Pixie during the fall-- but she never really seemed to "get" the idea of leads. She was super willing to pick up a canter in the arena-- that has never been a problem, but I don't think she ever understood the idea of my positioning to signal a lead to her. She would get the correct lead once but the lead wrong the next. So I backed off and decided to head back to bending and yielding shoulders and hindquarters at the walk and trot. That is what we worked on for the majority of my Christmas break. Tuesday I decided it was time to go back to cantering but I decided to take a different approach. After doing our normal arena work, I thought it was time to try canter leads again...But, instead of trying it in the arena, I rode Pixie down to a bottom field that is very open and flat. I made sure she was supple in her shoulder yields and her mouth felt great, so I walked her straight to a fence row, pivoted, and asked for her canter out into the open field. After a couple of false-starts on the wrong lead from what I asked, away we went. She had favored picking up her right lead before this ride, but that day I think she finally understood what I was asking her to do. When she picked up her left lead and we cantered about half the length of the field, I stopped and praised her ALOT. I mean, A-L-O-T. And honestly, I think Pixie understood. She pricked her ears and completely changed her demeanor from one of unassuredness to one of acceptance and understanding. I can't really explain it... but if she had been a human, I think she would've taken a huge sigh, smiled, and said "I've got it now!". She picked up each lead three times correctly after that with no false starts. And she has such a lovely canter... WOOHOO for breakthroughs! :)

I adore this mare! I think what I like most is the fact that, althought she might not understand things the first time, she doesn't quit or get frustrated. She is always very willing to try things. Hopefully I will get to go home to the farm tomorrow and (weather permitting) ride again.

Update!! :-)

Just a quick update- Since I'm up in Knoxville now, unfortunately Pixie's work over the last two months has been somewhat sporadic. However, I have been working with her as much as is humanly possible---and she's doing wonderfully! She walks, trots, canters (still working on getting leads 100%, but she is getting better with each workout!), backs, and is comfortable with light trail riding and obstacles around the farm. We definitely need more consistent bridlework, but that's just going to have to wait until I can work with her on a regular basis. For now, she's learning to be more confident. She is SO level headed under saddle that I let my mother (an advanced beginner rider) ride her over the weekend. Pixie was slightly unsure at first, but she quickly adjusted to my mom. Quite a feat for a three year old filly! I can absolutely see Pixie as a learner-type child's horse in the future.

I'm thinking that once spring/summer rolls around, I'll try to get her ready to take to some late summer shows for ASB Country Pleasure 13&Under with a wonderful little catch rider from KY. That's my plan, anyways!

As you can tell by the picture, Pixie is getting QUITE fuzzy and fat to boot! She gets along fabulously with her field mates and has even taken up with the three goats that now also inhabit her field.

Progressing nicely...

Just a quick note- we now have 5 rides under our belt, and she has done amazingly well! Her timing and balance are coming along wonderfully- Pixie figures things out very quickly. The funny thing is, I think she really enjoys being ridden. We are walking, trotting, "whoa" and standing, and backing both directions.

I didn't think breaking horses was supposed to be this enjoyable or easy...

Ride #2- Check!

Just a quick update- Pixie and I completed ride #2 this AM. She did very well today also-- we even worked up to trotting the entire straightaway today. She is so smart, I think my biggest challenge with working her will be to keep her entertained. Pixie really seems to enjoy new things... Anyways, just a quick note to say YAY she's doing well!

Pics from the first ride (Yes, I wore a helmet... I hate them but I was not going to be the brave, stupid one... I have to use this brain awhile haha):

(you can tell I was slightly nervous... I do not usually tilt that far forward!)

Officially BACKED!!!!!!!! :-D

Well, we did it.......



Today was the day. Actually, it didn't start out that way. I've been saying all week that Pixie is ready to ride, she is ready to ride. But the farrier is not able to come out until early next week, and I really did not want to wait that long to begin with Pixie under saddle. So this evening I headed down to do my usual evening routine: feed ponies, then cats, then goats, then pony in the far field, and then return to work with Pixie. I got out all my grooming accessories and my long-lining tack, caught Pixie (which has turned into a LOVELY game btw... need to research methods of catching a filly who delights in making you chase her for about five minutes, and then decides 'Okay, it's MY idea now, this sounds good' and walks right up to you very nonchalantly), and started work. I got Pixie all groomed up and Travis helped me. We got to talking about my game plan for Pixie, and I said, "Yeah, I think I'll ride her tomorrow or Saturday..." And he replied, "Why not tonight?" Well, why not tonight?


So, we did it tonight. I saddled Pixie up and spent about twenty minutes practicing getting on, laying over, and standing (on the arena gate) over Pixie's back. She's so smart, so after a few minutes of this her face literally said, "What the crap, this is nothing to stress over". Obviously, she was ready to ride. I got on her back with Travis working as my handler (and my mother taking pictures on her phone, LOL--which I'll get from her tomorrow and upload). He walked with us for a minute, but she did WONDERFUL and we were soon off the leadline and on our own. Primarily, we just walked around the arena at a very relaxed pace. I let her feel my weight move in the saddle as well as my legs at her sides. She did quite well-- we even trotted around half of the arena. She was unsure about moving forward very fast (which is TOTALLY preferable to the other extreme hahaha), so this trot was more of our long-lining "jog" pace, but I wasn't going to ask for more speed today. After about 15 minutes of riding time, I called it a successful day and dismounted.


I'm pretty darn impressed with Pixie. No funny business, no fussing, no nothing- she took today like a champ!!