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Showing posts from 2021

Wentworth Hunter Pace - June 6, 2021

After Margaret and I had such a fun time at the fall hunter pace, we opted to go again this spring! This time, while I rode Rejoice again, Margaret rode her horse Jester and had a friend ride Ladyhawke. All Kennebec Morgans!! Jester and Rejoice have the same dam and Jester and Lady share the same sire. Unfortunately instead of a lovely late spring day, we had one of the first intensely hot and humid days of the year. It was definitely a bummer, but the ride was mostly in the shade of the woods and we had a great time!  most of the fences were 3' coops but we found a small log and this hay to jump haha Until we didn't. 😑 We brought along a third friend who rode Margaret's older mare, Ladyhawke. She's a good rider but hasn't known Ladyhawke for very long and didn't realize how much of a cranky boss mare she could be at times. She kicked Jester right in the front leg just about halfway through the ride, and while the cut itself ended up not being a big deal in the

Wentworth Hunter Pace - June 6, 2021

After Margaret and I had such a fun time at the fall hunter pace, we opted to go again this spring! This time, while I rode Rejoice again, Margaret rode her horse Jester and had a friend ride Ladyhawke. All Kennebec Morgans!! Jester and Rejoice have the same dam and Jester and Lady share the same sire. Unfortunately instead of a lovely late spring day, we had one of the first intensely hot and humid days of the year. It was definitely a bummer, but the ride was mostly in the shade of the woods and we had a great time!  most of the fences were 3' coops but we found a small log and this hay to jump haha Until we didn't. 😑 We brought along a third friend who rode Margaret's older mare, Ladyhawke. She's a good rider but hasn't known Ladyhawke for very long and didn't realize how much of a cranky boss mare she could be at times. She kicked Jester right in the front leg just about halfway through the ride, and while the cut itself ended up not being a big deal in the

Course Brook Farm Schooling Horse Trials - May 23, 2021

For our first horse trial of the year, I felt dropping down a level to Advanced Elementary was a solid decision. Babette agreed with me, and after several positive jump lessons through the spring, I felt confident and ready for the Course Brook schooling event in Massachusetts.  Basically, the jumps are four inches shorter than Beginner Novice (2'3' instead of 2'7") and we had to ride BN Test A instead of BN Test B. The four inches don't seem like a lot, but my trepidation of Ellie's stopping behavior is still there. I am not scared or nervous, but it stresses me out when I do everything right and she will still choose to stop. Granted, there are times I forget to give after a half halt on the approach or forget to put my leg on, but there are definitely plenty of times when she just stops despite the fact I am doing everything "right". Getting to Course Brook is a three hour haul, but I have now been there enough that the drive is not that bad. I act

Hidden Brook Farm Dressage Schooling Show - May 2, 2021

Ten days after the April 22 dressage show at HBF, we were back for their second show! It felt like a lot of showing after a winter off, but it also was good to test where we were so early on. Plus, these shows are so laid back and ho-hum for us, since it is our lesson barn, it is always good to practice tests in the ring where we lesson! We had run through First 2 earlier that week in our lesson and Beth really liked how I rode that test better than First 1. This was especially true in the canter work, as you lengthen the stride and then circle 15 m. in First 1 but you do the opposite in First 2. For where we are right now, cantering the 15 m. circle and THEN asking for the lengthening seems to help Ellie balance and develop her medium canter much more than how it is asked for in First 1. I know we are not ready quite yet for the canter loops of First 3, but to me it didn't matter which of the other First level tests we rode. So as Beth is the show secretary haha, she just had me r

NEJA Winter Schooling Jumper Show - April 25, 2021

Our final NEJA show in their winter series was at the end of April. On a whim, I decided to kick it old school and wear my rust breeches and navy coat. I definitely got a few "looks" from some of the HJ crowd, but it was worth being the weirdo eventer girl haha. It was a gorgeous spring day and our rounds were all excellent. Rejoice really seems to enjoy her newfound jumper pony status and powered around like she knew what she was doing haha.  My goals for the day were to win the ground poles speed class by taking a sneaky route someone's trainer would not approve of again haha like I did at the March show and to remember my jump off round like I did NOT do at the March show! Though there wasn't a super sneaky route to take in the ground poles class, I made sure to set her up for tight turns and rollbacks. We did win the class out of nine riders! Whoot! Our speed cross rails was also a good class, with Rejoice willing to listen to half halts, turn on a dime, and also

Hidden Brook Farm Dressage Schooling Show - April 22, 2021

While Rejoice and I were busy playing jumper pony, Ellie and I had been concentrating on our dressage lessons during the late winter and early spring. It felt good to come back from a pretty laidback winter and not to have lost any training; in fact, I think Ellie's winter break did her a world of good. It felt as though she had matured a ton and was ready to be a First Level horse. She is coming nine this year and I think it is my favorite age so far! this was March but pretty representative of our winter rides Beth and I agreed it would be a good idea to knock off the rust and get the first 2021 show under our belt, so I entered the little schooling show her barn held during April school vacation. It ended up being freezing cold and spitting sn*w (which is better than the rain that was forecasted I suppose lol), so the weather wasn't exactly ideal and fun, but it was worth getting into the big outside ring and riding First 1 to see where we were at. We had not ridden this tes

NEJA Winter Schooling Jumper Show - March 21, 2021

Rejoice and I were ready for our second jumper show of 2021! I was determined to ride more confidently and ask my zoomy pony for a little more speed, as she had proven to me how good she was back in February. Let's be real. I just wanted to be ground pole champion of the world hahahahaha. Margaret did Rejoice's braids again, and this time because it wasn't absolutely freezing I put on her cute little boots and bells. I mean, it was ground poles and crossrails, but she was seriously the cutest little jumper pony! I walked the course and really liked the quick turns and flow. I decided to make a sneak attack between jumps 4 and 5 in ground poles to save some serious time hahaha.  Even better was the trainer telling her kid instructions as they watched my round: "Don't do that. Wide turn, go to the rail." We won (speed) ground poles out of ten riders! WHOOT! We ended up second out of sixteen in the speed cross rails class.  Then we had a great jump off round cros

NEJA Winter Schooling Jumper Show - February 21, 2021

I feel as though winter shows always feel like a fun thing to do until it is actually the morning of, and it is SO FREAKING COLD outside, and you think why am I like this? so cold but so cute But I digress. Margaret and I decided it would be super fun and exciting to bring Rejoice to the winter schooling shows at a local farm. Rejoice is actually a pretty decent jumper and seems to enjoy it much more than anything too dressage related haha. After our success at the three versatility challenges in 2020, I figured it might be fun to bop around a few little courses. Jumping Rejoice also helped give me confidence that had been lost in 2020 with Ellie's stopping issues. Rejoice is honest and the jumps were so tiny that it gave me the opportunity to just jump without much thought. I mean really, we did ground poles and cross rails. Adorable and so fun!  look at her cute little ears and plump & fuzzy mama belly Rejoice was a little wide eyed and I definitely was overthinking everythin

Movin' On to 2021

Whew! That was a whole lotta posts in a short amount of time! All caught up with 2020 and now we are moving forward! is this not the CUTEST photo of my youngest riding Rejoice back in January?? I never really wrote any goals for 2021, but they are pretty simple: Keep the ponies happy and healthy Ellie: Have multiple solid experiences at BN level Maybe have Babette take Ellie N by fall Confident in all First Level movements by end of 2021 Rejoice: Continue to have fun outings when we can! Dreamy: Keep her comfortable, sound, and in good weight (she was looking a bit elderly/unsound this winter to me so she is back on Equioxx) this was my favorite Bernie meme even better is that Janet Foy made it her FB profile pic hahaha I gave Ellie most of the winter off and just did some toodling around in the sn*w here and there. I felt as though we had grown SO much in 2020 that we both needed a little down time to digest it all. Babette was in Aiken anyway and I did not want to take dressage lesso

Ellie and Rejoice's 2020 Year End Awards

Despite the fact 2020 was a year of cancelled shows and lots of horse show changes, I am still pleased with the fact Ellie was able to qualify for a few year end awards. Rejoice even got into the act with one of her own! Ellie Maine Horse Association First Level Champion  62.2414% Family Pleasure Horse Program (Most Hours Award) Maine Dressage Society First Level AA, 3rd place 62.2414% Western Maine Dressage Society First Level AA, Reserve Champion  62.2414% (no pic because I have not received the ribbon yet) American Morgan Horse Association Bronze Medal in Dressage *While they suspended the Open Competition in 2020, they still awarded medallions. For a bronze in dressage, we had to earn  8 scores for Training or First level tests completed in at least 5 shows with at least 4 different judges. At least 2 scores must be from First level. All scores must be 60% or higher. Rejoice Maine Horse Association Family Pleasure Horse Program (25 or More Hours Award)

Ellie's First Fox Hunt - November 18, 2020

Ellie finally became a foxhunter! She was such a star and thought it was the most exciting trail ride of her life haha. It included new horses to meet, hounds that looked like fun to meet,  three deer jumping into our path, going fast through the fields, and then getting to eat grass at the holds while wearing her bridle. She took it all in stride and with a maturity I wasn't sure would ever happen LOL! This was a perfect culmination of a year of growing up and learning how to work as a team. We had SO MUCH FUN! I hope to do a few more fox hunts this fall in 2021! before we headed out we are way in the back haha Ellie is on the far left!