February Catch Up

"I am, master of my domain."

Alex and I have been playing a little catch-up these past few weeks.  First we missed time because my grandmother passed away and then I proceeded to get my yearly bout of the chest crud plague. I had been telling myself for two months, "I will not get sick...I will not get sick," but despite my best efforts the crud hit me.  As a result, I lost almost another week with Alex, which was unavoidable but irritating.  The chest crud still lingers, but I try to ignore/downplay it, so that the hubs doesn't try to keep me in the house and out of the barn :)

Over the last few weeks, Alex and I have gotten back in the swing, we've had some really great rides on the flat, played around over some small jumps and even gone adventuring out around the farm.  That's right, we're so brave that we have ventured out by ourselves!  I have been really happy with how he's handled the move and how we're coming out the winter.  If we can keep on this roll, I think we'll get some real miles schooling and showing this spring, summer and fall. 

Currently we're working extra hard to learn the half-pass at the trot.  As is typical, one side is better than the other.  Heading right, we're awesome... heading left... we are challenged.  Looks like we need to do more haunches in at the trot to the left... Alex will be thrilled.

In other exciting news, since we're learning so much fancy pants Dressage, I've decided it's time for Alex to have his own Dressage saddle.  This means I'm currently in the market, preferably, for a County Competitor 17.5 with a MW tree, 2010 or newer.  I would also be interested in a County Connection, same size and age.  There are two other County models, the Fusion and the Perfection, but I am not crazy about the exposed blocks on those saddles.  I have seen a few Fusions and Perfections that have custom covered blocks, but not many.  I would REALLY like to buy late model used if possible.

So if anyone sees anything that meets this criteria, I would be mucho appreciative if you'd let me know.  I am obsessively searching online, but I could always miss something :)

The Nearness of You

Last Sunday I lost my grandmother.  This Sunday the visitations and funeral are over and I am left slightly discombobulated.  Forgive me if this post is slightly discombobulated too.

My beautiful grandparents

Yep, that's me with the big mouth.

Me again...oh how she loved the grand babies.

Just a few years ago, still beautiful.

My mother's parents were really the only grandparents I ever knew.  My father's mother died before I was born and his father died when I was very little.  I spent a LOT of time with my mother's parents. For for the majority of my life my grandmother was the center of my grandparent universe.  

On February 7, 2016, just a few days short of the anniversary of my grandfather's death, my grandmother died. Never again would I wipe her lipstick from my cheek after a kiss, hear her scold me, tell me she loved me or ask me to move over where she could see me better.  I never thought the emptiness would come so quickly, but it has... the nearness I once felt is starting to fade.  All I have now are photos and memories... I have no more grandparents.

When people say "you're never prepared" for the loss of a loved one, whether the death is sudden or "expected," they are 100% correct.  Life will, most certainly, go back to normal and move on, but the world will be a little more empty.  I miss her already.

Settling In

Not too much to report from the land of Alex. We're still settling back into our previous home. This Saturday will be two weeks since the big move. Alex has been surprisingly very calm and collected during our rides, in what I consider to be quite a spooky indoor. He HAS thrown in a few little "Alex Moves" just to let me know he hasn't been a victim of an invasion of the body snatchers :) but nothing of any concern or near the shenanigans I was expecting. I have to say, I'm very impressed and encouraged.

Hoping to get out for a hack this weekend when it's 60 degrees hooray!

HI!

We've Come Full Circle

Last weekend has come and gone and we are moved to our new/old home.  Thanks to help from friends, the hubs and a cooperative pony everything went uber smoothly.  Alex seems to remember his previous home and has settled in nicely aided by a round of ulcer meds for his sensitive belly (like momma, like pony). We've had two nights of lunging and no stupidness! Hoping to sneak in a lunge and ride tomorrow before snowmagedon on Friday!  Let's hope that happy cooperative trend continues :)

Hi!

Treats?

Gimme gimme gimme treats or
I'll eat your phone!

Christmas Swag

Although I'm not really someone who loves the holidays, there are parts I do enjoy.  I always have fun putting up our Christmas tree and decorations, going to see the Nutcracker ballet and most importantly surprising people with great gifts.  I also love to be surprised by the gifts people get for me.  

This year I was somewhat shocked to learn that my Christmas present, from the hubs, had been purchased in October.  This was very intriguing, because generally hubs waits till pretty close to Christmas before purchasing my gift.  All kinds of possibilities ran through my head making it a long wait to Christmas day :)

The long awaited gift was the SOLOSHOT3 https://shop.soloshot.com/ which is basically a personal camera man. 

This makes it possible for me to video all my rides in high quality video without dragging someone to the farm with me.  This is an insanely cool gift... I can totally obsess about all the things... all the things I wish I could see while I'm trying to do/learn them!

Here is a video that another rider shot with the older model SOLOSHOT2.  It does not have the upgrades, bells and whistles that mine is supposed to have, but this will at least give you an idea how the system works.

The only drawback is that the SOLOSHOT3 isn't officially available till this spring, so I won't be able to shoot any cool videos for at least another couple months.  Rest assured that when it does arrive, I will be a video machine!

I have to say, the hubs sure knocked it out of the park with this gift!

  

Semi Wordless Wednesday

Alex loves his second career, but misses wintering in Florida as a racehorse. Poor guy, he could do without cold temps, but was a good boy tonight anyway!

Change in the New Year

Well here it is 2016... where has the time gone? In my case, time seems to have gotten away from me while I was busy, working and riding and just basically trying to get to my holiday vacation.  Now tomorrow morning I'm forced to go back to the grind... ugh.

I usually don't make any New Year's resolutions, but this year I decided to make at least one and that is to blog more / get back into blogging.  My goal is 1-2 posts per week, but I would love to exceed my expectations :)

Now for those changes I mentioned...Alex and I will be making a change of location in a few short weeks.  Unfortunately, the farm where Alex has resided since July of 2014 is being sold and that means that we'll be going back to our former barn.  Although I'm kind of bummed and a little stressed out about the impending move, I'm glad we're going to familiar surroundings.  Hopefully the move will be complete before the winter gets ugly.

Happy Belated New Year Everyone!

Show Groove

I'm a little late getting this post out, but I think I'm still celebrating :)  August 16th, I took Alex to another show.  This was a Combined Test and Dressage show, so no cross-country this time (I think Alex was secretly bummed).  In an effort to get him in the ring as many times as possible, we entered both the Cross-Rails and Greenie divisions with an additional Stadium round at Starter for schooling.  

It was quite a tall order for a horse who had only been to one show, been in one Dressage arena and had one very poor Stadium round, but no better way to learn than through experience!

I'm happy to report that Alex and I made great strides this outing.  He was much calmer off the trailer (not wide-eyed) which made for a better start.  Despite a wet grass field full of geese for a rocky warm-up, he had two much better Dressage tests, even earning a 9 for our last halt!

Our Stadium rounds we much better, much more forward and confident.  The only blemish of the day was a stop at a green and white oxer with two large bright white boxes underneath it in the Starter round.  Admittedly I would have been much happier if we'd had three clear rounds, but considering I only entered for schooling experience, I probably need to let it go.  

Here is a video of our Greenie Stadium round, which was our best :)  

We ended the day 5th out of 9 in the Cross-Rails division and 3rd out of 7 in the Greenie division. Alex got his very first ribbons!  I'm one proud momma :) 

What A Long Strange Trip It's Been

While I'm not a Greatful Dead fan...that title seemed perfect for this post. I realize it's been a while, actually almost a year. There's several reasons for my radio silence, but mostly it was that with everything going on in my life, I didn't have the heart to blog.
Last fall was the beginning of a very rough time for me personally, as I struggled with a close family member's mental illness. At the very same time, Alex, who should have been my solace, was chronically unhappy and lame. I was miserable and didn't feel like articulating that and inflicting that on the blogosphere.
So, after treatment for my family member and for my horse, we've come out the other side a little stronger, a little happier and a little more sane :)

In exciting news, Alex went to his very first show two weeks ago! It was a big test for him, having to do a Dressage test, Cross-country course and Stadium round...had some unexpected trouble with Stadium, but we survived. Lots to work on, but also learned a ton!

So here's to getting back to blogging.
Kick on everyone :)

OMG It's September???

Seriously... where has my summer gone?  I cannot believe it's already mid-September and I'm worrying about getting out Alex's turnout sheet.  I haven't been posting because there hasn't been much interesting to write about.  Since work on our indoor began mid-August we've been without an arena (the indoor is being built over the previously existing outdoor) which means we have been relegated to working in the fields.  At first this was awesome in so many ways, Alex was super pumped to be out in the open and I was gaining tons of confidence riding him out in the open.  As the weeks have passed, I'm finding it harder to keep things interesting and as the seasons change the weather is not being as cooperative.  Luckily, our indoor should be complete in the next two weeks, so I am trying to focus on quality over quantity and Alex seems to appreciate my approach.  The best thing is that he is still SO HAPPY in his new (it's still new to me) home.

So, since the building of the indoor is the most exciting thing we've had going the last two months, here's a ton of pictures!

Post Holes Complete

Post Holes...

Really Big Post Holes!

Setting of Posts

Posts in Place

Trusses Started!

Trusses Again...

Trusses Finished!

Framing Complete!

From the Distance

Metal Starts

Again...

 And Again...

From the Inside (we have a roof!)

Almost Finished....

It's SO PRETTY (Happy Dance!)

From the Inside (More Happy Dance!)

I know this is probably more than you ever wanted to see of building an indoor, but it's pretty darn exciting :-) The electrician is due to start on our lights this week and then excavation to redo the base and give us amazeballs footing starts shortly thereafter.  Hopefully we should be in business by the second week in October...squeeee!

Golf

This past weekend, I journeyed into uncharted waters... a golf tournament.  I am NOT a golfer... despite having an abundance of patience I don't think I could ever play golf and would fully expect a round of golf to bring out my inner...

I have gotten to the point where I can watch golf on TV without complaining, I know some of terminology and can basically follow along.  I do have a few players I like to follow..so what if my favorite one is hot...It helps me pay attention :-)  Outside of eye candy, I do actually thoroughly enjoy most sports, you can catch me watching football, basketball, auto racing and golf any given weekend (mostly football as I am an insane Green Bay Packers fan... no really, I'm serious... INSANE) in addition to the rare moments I can find equestrian events on TV.

Since the PGA Championship was being held right here in our city, is a "major" tournament, and my hubs is a golfer, I decided to check out what live golf is all about...after all he's attended tons of horse shows and equine related events with me (with relative little complaining), so what the hell?

Interesting notes about golf... 

Attending a tournament is kind of like going to an horse show as a spectator.  You should expect LOTS of walking (actually I think it might be worse than XC at Rolex).  Don't expect spectacular food... not much choice and costs a fortune.  There are Porta-Pottys (cleanliness optional). It's a really slow sport...seriously at times it seemed to take forever.  Golf officials and golfers are super anal...they require total silence when preparing for and making a shot, there are officials everywhere to make sure the spectators stay quiet and don't distract the player (like watching Dressage on steroids).  Not only must the spectators be absolutely silent, no one is allowed to take pictures... zip, zero, zilch.  You're not even allowed to bring a camera on the property and the PGA is so serious about no photos taken with cell phones that they even have guys like this 

following the players around the course watching to make sure no pictures are taken.  If they catch someone taking a photo, they can literally kick them out.  This doesn't mean I didn't risk detection by and successfully evade Mobile Device Enforcement to take photos of my fav. Huge rebel, I know! :-)  

Our tickets were for Saturday and Sunday and the weather was crazy both days.  I was literally soaking wet and burning up for good portions of both days.  On both days we had rain delays although Sunday was nearly two hours, a good hour of which we sat out in the rain waiting.  Being the good sport (and horse person) that I am I didn't whine too much.  Turns out it was all worth it... the end was actually exciting because there were 4-5 players battling it out to win or tie and force a play-off and because they were racing darkness trying to finish up.  In the end, Rory McIlroy raised the trophy after storming back from being 3 shots back (see I know enough golf terms to be dangerous) and made his final put in near darkness (I think it was like 9PM or later).  Pretty cool stuff.  

I'd definitely go to another one... but maybe not two days in a row.  Don't look for me to become a golf groupie, you see WAY more of the action on the television than in person.  Back to horses and our regularly scheduled posts tomorrow :-)

Pepé Le Pew

Alex's love for his girls has calmed, but not left him. Only hopeful glances, no love songs last night. Perhaps he's feeling ashamed because it seems he's been recently sprayed by a skunk bwahaha!! Poor guy, it's not terrible but he definitely stinks! 

On the plus side we had a fairly productive ride yesterday even if the skunk smell increased as he sweated :-)

Alex Discovers Girls

As I mentioned, upon moving to our new farm, two mares were left behind to be moved when a pasture was ready.  Said pasture(s) became ready last weekend, so we moved the girls this past Sunday.  The girls will be living outside in one of the three pastures with full (more like giant) run-in sheds.  Initially they were living in the largest pasture that borders what is now the outdoor (soon to become indoor) arena, so if they chose they could come up to observe/hang their heads over the fence bordering the arena.  

After a beautiful ride on Saturday, despite a post-hole digger being used in the background, our Monday ride left something to be desired.  Alex was so worried about his new "audience" that he pretty much kept one ear on them at all times... "what are they doing? how come they are walking around doing whatever they want? are they watching me? are they still there? OMG they moved!" But basically he finally settled enough that we got some work done and called it a day.

Tuesday, I climbed into the saddle expecting more of the same since the girls were once again hanging out to observe our ride.  Initially, it was more of the same, but a little better... until... the girls decided to run off down to their run-in shed which sits way into the back of the pasture.  You would have thought Alex had lived with these girls all his life and had sired their babies (he's never even touched noses with either of them!).  He started whinnying and snorting and losing his proverbial shit.  "But I MUST go with them! They are my women!" Despite the fact that I finally worked him out of it and quit for the day, he was still looking for them from the wash rack and calling out.  As we had originally planned, we moved the mares to the other back corner pasture (construction for the new indoor means some of the fencing in their current pasture will have to come down) which we also hoped would calm Loverboy down.  It did not... when we turned everyone out for the night, he totally ignored his BFF and walked the fence calling for his women despite the fact that his pasture is at the front of the farm and theirs is at the back.

This morning the report was that he and his BFF, whom he apparently convinced to join his cause, were lathered up when they came in for morning feed.  Alex then spent the morning staring longingly out his window while intermittently singing sad I love you songs... OMG.  Fortunately, he seemed to calm down throughout the day and the report was that he was calm when he went out tonight.  Hopefully we won't have such an issue now that his women aren't right next to the arena.  I swear one of them must be coming into season, because I have never seen him act like that and he lived next to a mare for the first year plus of his life with me!

We'll see what the morning brings... silly goofball :-)

Moved!

Alex & Bernie BFFs

Wow I can't believe it's August and we've been at the new farm for almost a month!  Time is literally flying... it seems like yesterday that summer had just started... now all my friends kids are going back to school and people are talking about summer being over.

Alex officially moved to the new farm July 13, 2014, but most of the week before and after was spent cleaning, prepping, moving and settling in to our new wonderful home.

New Abode for Alex and Friends

Inside the Abode

Feed Room

Grass! Alex & Bernie's New Pasture

Alex & Bernie's Giant Run-In Shed

Moving weekend was crazy busy... Saturday we moved all my jumps, which seemed more numerous the more the temperature climbed, 40 bags of shavings and 50 bales of hay. 

Trailer Hay Explosion!

Sunday morning we moved 4 of the 6 horses (two mares came later in the month).  Lucky for us all the ponies were well behaved for their trailer rides and everything went smoothly.

Alex in his new stall. Just love how
there's so much light, makes
everything bright and cheerful!

New Pasture First Night

Since we had moved away from Alex's home for the past two years (and the only place he'd ever lived while I owned him), I figured it would take quite a while for him to settle.  I gave him a few days to hang out before I rode.  Of course since I was expecting mass chaos, he was pretty much perfect despite having nearly a week off AND being in a new environment... such is life with Alex :-)

First Ride!

And in the same vein, as quickly as we'd had our first ride, Alex decided to rip off his left front shoe...

Now that was partially my fault because he was overdue for a shoeing because of our change in location and my farrier was trying to get us on the schedule, but Alex certainly got his money's worth.

He gives 110%

Familiar from our abscess days...

AND... back in the boot

Luckily for us, the farrier came in two days, so we didn't waste much time and I think that saved us from any lameness.

After the shoe debacle, things have pretty much been smooth sailing... Alex seems REALLY happy in his new home and I am really happy there too.  The peace and quiet are amazing.

"Mom, I love this place!"