Merry, Merry, Merry, Christmas

So, I have not been posting lately because I've been soooo busy. I don't even remember much of the stuff I've done lately. Christmas break has been great because I haven't had to worry about school work & I've been able to focus on my boy. He's been wonderful, per usual, lately. We had a killer jump school today. It was just easy, as if my horse just took the reins & did it all. I love days like this. We've also been having some good dressage lessons. We are entered for the Ocala HT in February, & we're headed to Poplar on Friday! I'm excited for this upcoming year. We've had a wonderful 2013 & I know 2014 is going to be just as great!

2014 Show Year!

So, I'm super excited for 2014 & I reallllllly hope we have a good year! I'm going to start the year off with a schooling show, doing three dressage tests & then going cross country schooling. Then, we're going to go to Rocking Horse Winter HT in February, nothing for March. In April, we're hopefully going to run a T/N at the Ocala Horse Properties Three Day Event. In May, we're going to Area Championships at Novice, at Poplar. Nothing in June, but then we'll be moving up to Training (hopefully) in July, at Chatt Hills or Poplar. Then, possibly a Training level event in August. Then, we're going to run Novice at AECs in September. Then, we'll probably do something in October or November & be done for the year!

A Tribute To Lightning

She was always waiting at the fence!

So, I never mentioned Lightning on this blog. I'm actually rather surprised that I didn't. Well, Lighting has been suffering from COPD for 7 years. It hasn't ever been so severe to the point that she can't breathe until Monday night. I didn't own Lightning until Monday night. Her owners called & said that if we would take her, we could have her. She couldn't breathe & was showing signs of colic, but hadn't been colicing. We have tried to get Lightning for the past few years. She was "my" first real pony. Things started looking up the night we picked her up & took her to the Vet. He put her on some anti-inflammatory steroids & told me to continue giving her Banimene for the pain. Yesterday, she hadn't shown much improvement & wouldn't drink or eat all day. This began worrying me. We gave her Gatorade by syringe so we could get something in her. This morning, she started looking worse. & she started showing signs of colic. We got her out of her stall, let her graze & she drank some. We had already called the Vet to tell him it was time to euthanize her. I've never lost a horse before. We just thought that she was going to be okay after grazing & drinking (finally). But when the Vet arrived, he checked her & her intestines had twisted. He didn't think she was a candidate for surgery either, with her condition. Lightning was euthanized about an hour ago. I am completely heartbroken. Her COPD attack could've been prevented but her owners didn't care, they didn't even try to help her with it. If she wouldn't have had the COPD attack, she wouldn't have coliced. Lightning was the pony that taught me the basics of riding - how to post, canter, & jump. She also taught me what love for an animal was, & how to take care of "my" own horse. I only officially owned her for two days before she had to leave this world. & I hate that. She has been with me multiple times over the past few years on free leases spanning from years to months. It is beyond ridiculous that it had to be a near death experience in order for me to finally get the horse. This horse was the first horse I ever did more than walk on. She always gave me her all, no matter what.

She had the cutest ears!

She hated jumping, but did it anyway. She also spent a year at a therapeutic riding facility. Lightning was 21 & deserved to live out the rest of her life, as a retired pasture mate. I could've given her that. I would've given her that. She meant the world to me & I absolutely hated to see her suffering. I really didn't want it to end like this. She was my best friend & I thank her for doing all of the things she has done for me. She is the reason I started riding again. She is the reason I gained the confidence to start eventing. This incident just goes to show who should & shouldn't own horses. I love you Lightning, & I hope you're galloping around in Heaven. You may have not been loved by your actual owners, but you were loved by me.

The old ladies relaxing - Winter 2012.

Lightning's last day.

FODS?

So what do you think that means? Finished On Dressage Score. This is the very first time I've been able to say that Dargenzio & I finished on our dressage score of a 33.5. I'm so so so so happy. We had an okay dressage test which put us in 3rd, tied with someone else. & we had a double clear show jumping round which broke the tie. We finished our cross country double clean! We were going more like Training pace so we circled three times before the last jump so we could waste some time, but oh well! We came in at 5:07, 4 seconds under optimum! I'm so incredibly proud of Dargenzio. He pulled me the whole course... which is why we were hauling. He loves his job & I'm so happy that he does. We finished in third out of 15 riders! I need to say a big thank you to everyone who has made this possible, my three amazing trainers - Katie Bryant, Jodie Kelly & Bart Brennan, my horse - Dargenzio, my parents & the rest of my family that has been a huge support. Also, a big thank you to all of you who are reading this right now! I started this blog mainly for myself, but I'm so grateful that I actually have viewers. Now on a more serious note - There was an unfortunate event involving horse & rider at Poplar this weekend. I was the cross country warm up ring steward so I heard everything going on. I'm not going to share exactly what happened because if it was me, I wouldn't want people going around spreading the whole story. The horse & rider had a rotational fall at fence 7 on the Open Preliminary course. In the event, the horse sustained horrific injuries & had to be euthanized on sight. The rider walked away okay. I cannot even begin to imagine what I would do without my partner in crime. From my understanding, this horse & rider had been together for a long time, from Beginner Novice all the way up. Please pray for Jacel Galloway & her family as they recover from this tragic incident. Eventing is a dangerous sport but USEA is trying to make it safer by adding frangible pins, aerovating the terrain, & changing the rules. Its sad to see this happen, especially since the horse was doing what it loved. Please take a second to appreciate your horse & what they do for you. They risk getting injured, but they love their riders & love what they do so they keep trucking. Give them an extra hug & an extra kiss, make sure you tell them 'thank you' after every single ride & don't leave the arena without a big pat whether they behaved or not. They still did what you wanted them to do. Before cross country, I was really nervous. The ground was hard, my horse doesn't have stud holes, & the course was also maxed out. I didn't want that to happen to Dargenzio. I know we're only running Novice, but its still scary. I rode the course as well as I could & Dargenzio tried his heart out for me. We got around safely - That's all that matters.

Horse Euthanized After Fall At Poplar Place Farm November Horse Trial

Soooo...

This post might be super long. Bear with me.

Lessons leading up to the Horse Trial

Dargenzio schooling Friday, at Chatt

So, I went to the Chatt Hills Horse Trial two weekends ago. Dargenzio put in a lovely school on Friday, followed by a lovely dressage test on Saturday. We scored a 34, which put us in fourth after dressage. We ran cross country the same day & I was extremely excited. The course was mainly Training level questions, just at Novice height. Dargenzio was a machine up until the second to last jump which happened to be a stupid down bank. The line was a roll top to an up bank, two strides to a down bank, four strides to a house. The first jump & up bank rode really nicely. But I trusted Dargenzio way too much going up the bank & was thinking he'd *just* go down the bank without me having to add extra encouragement. Well, that didn't happen. He slammed on breaks right as we got up the bank & then backed up a buttload of steps which caused us two refusals. I was really frustrated with Dargenzio at that point but I was going to make time no matter what. So, we came in 10 seconds under the time even after our two refusals(; Considering I was sitting in second to last place, I really didn't care too much about show jumping which is why we had such a horrid round. I was kinda just sitting up there. Dargenzio sucked back way too much to one of the jumps (& I didn't put my leg on) & took the rail, because he literally climbed over the jump. I was at the point at not caring, we finished... That's all that matters, right? Monday after the Horse Trial was over, I went cross country schooling. Dargenzio was fantastic & schooled most of the Training combinations on course. We even schooled the up bank three strides to a roll top out of the water, which many horses had problems with on course. Dargenzio went to it the first time like it was no big deal. He was also much more confident while we were schooling. After Chatt, I went with my trainer to Virginia as a groom for the CCI*. The trip was long & exhausting but we finally made it there at like 1 in the morning. Then, we got the ponies settled in & got ourselves settled in. On Thursday, we had the first jogs.

San City - Accepted

Samson was looking pretty spiffy & there wasn't a hair out of place on his body. I cannot believe we honestly got him so clean. Katie & Samson were accepted after the first jog. Dressage came around (rather quickly) the next day & they put in a lovely third place test. Cross country was on Saturday & I had to wait impatiently at the Vet box, so I got to see nothing on course except the last few jumps. As we're waiting, I see a big black horse with a rider in a white shirt & tan breeches (exactly what my trainer was wearing) walking up the hill. Why were they walking? In my mind I was thinking, "That couldn't be Katie. Its not even her ride time yet, she has 15 minutes until she is supposed to go." Right before we noticed the horse, the announcer said they were running 10 minutes ahead. Well, she got down to the start box & it was her :( We were all upset since we were hoping for a clean finish. But, Katie retired on course which in the end, was probably best for Samson. The week before Virginia, she had been saying that Samson felt funny but she couldn't quite put her finger on what was wrong. She decided to run the CCI* since she hasn't ran one in 9 years, anyway. When they left the start box, Samson had been good over the first few jumps but then stopped. Samson doesn't stop... ever. Katie kept trucking & then he stopped again. At that point, she knew something was wrong. She circled back around to jump the fence just because she didn't want him getting away with it & apparently, he was switching leads every stride. Something was definitely wrong with Samson. Even though she is extremely bummed about not being able to complete the CCI*, I think she made the best choice for Samson. He is going to the Vet's tomorrow to see what's up. Hopefully it's nothing major & he'll be back out competing soon. I got home yesterday night & I leave in three days to go back up north, to Georgia, to Poplar Place Farm for the November Horse Trial. Dargenzio & I are going to go clean. I do not care what happened at Chatt or the Poplar before. We will go clean. Dargenzio should know that course by heart now, we've only schooled it a bajillion times. He also rocked around most of the Training course at Chatt so we shouldn't have a problem.

First ride after I got home

I rode him today for the first time since Chatt, & he was wonderful. I can't believe he was so great especially since he had only been ridden twice while I was away. Hopefully he will keep up the good behavior & trot down centerline perfectly, at Poplar! While I was gone, my parents got me a new pony! I had seen her beforehand & I only said yes because she is a super cute mover. Until today, I didn't realize how much work she will really be. First thing, I can't ride her for quite a while. She is covered in fungus - where her girth goes, where her saddle goes, all up her neck, where her halter goes, everywhere. Obviously, I'm treating it & it will hopefully clear up soon. Her hooves were horrific when we got her as well, so they need some time to heal before I even think about getting on her. She has been sore the last few days & finally today, she was moving normally. (Yay!) She also hasn't been ridden in a long time so I'm basically going to start her over. I don't want to risk getting thrown, so I'm going to take it nice & slow. She is really cute & I think she'll be a wonderful event pony or hunter pony. After not being handled for years, she jumped right on the trailer, got her shots like a champ but wasn't that wonderful for the farrier. I wasn't here but according to my parents, she kicked the farrier & it took her over three hours to do her feet. Well, the pony picks up all four feet perfectly for me & will hold them for long periods of time.

The new pony - Lena

She also didn't try to kick me soooo, maybe the farrier just has bad luck? I (attempted) to lunge her today. She seemed really willing but didn't understand the concept & it also didn't help that I don't have a round pen, to guide her. She was going all over the place. Needless to say, she really only walked & did a bit of trot on the lunge line because I couldn't get her to do anything else without going somewhere else. Now that Winter is here, I think I'm going to start working Savannah again. I intended on riding her today but it takes me 2 hours + to work with the pony & I rode Dargenzio for over an hour, so I didn't have time with all of my school work & other necessary things. But, I'm excited to get her started again & hopefully she'll be able to do the hunters or some dressage once I get her going again. Last time I rode her, she was awesome... but that was months ago. She cannot stand the heat that we're having with her Antarctica Winter coat so I'm going to body clip her once my new clippers get here. Soon enough, I'll have three horses to ride on a daily basis! Okay so. Wish me luck at Poplar & now this post is finally over!

Lessons, Lessons, Lessons

I've been doing a buttload of lessons lately & I've been so busy that it's not even funny. Today is the first day I've been able to get on the computer for something other than school work, in like two weeks. I go to my eventing trainer's place 3 times a week to work all day & do lessons so it's been rather hectic. I also do one lesson a week with my jumper trainer! & we've started lessons with Jodie Kelly, in Destin, FL, once a week. Even though I've only done two lessons with Jodie so far, she has helped Dargenzio & I so much. He is just so much more balanced when I get him in the contact that Jodie wants him in. His canter is much easier to ride too. I normally have to work really hard to get his collected canter, but now, that's the only canter he does when I ask for it. It feels great. Since I didn't get to go to the Phillip Dutton clinic with my trainer, last Monday, my trainer set up the same exercise that they did in the clinic. Ohhhh, it was difficult. 3 bounces to a waiting (& I really mean waiting) four stride oxer, turn left & come around to an oxer to a going four stride vertical. Obviously, we worked on adjustability! Then we spiced it up a little bit & added a corner, & a skinny. So my course was - oxer to skinny, corner to oxer, waiting line, going line. Lots and lots and lots of half halts. Chatt Hills is getting closer & closer so I'm getting excited! Hopefully we'll be ready to go down centerline & get the blue :D Here is a video from our second lesson with Jodie!

I'm Not Dead...

I promise(; I've just been extremely busy! So, let me go ahead & say that this entry will probably be verrrrrrrrrrrrry long. We had an interesting weekend at Poplar, to say the least. It started out pretty well but the second we crossed A, to go down centerline, everything went "bleh." We had a few good points in our test but the rest was just "bleh." We rode in a pony trot & looked at EVERYTHING.

  Plus, our dressage was in the grass arena next to the first cross country jump for Prelim, Intermediate & Advanced. Perfect. We were in last place after dressage... Cross country was great though. Dargenzio loved it. His ears were forward, looking for his next fence, the whole time. We did have a stop, but I'm fine with it just because it was his first Novice & he's a babbbby. Show jumping was just perfect.

I don't normally come out of show jumping feeling that great. We left all of the rails up & got around in style. I watched two people fall off right before me so I was a little nervous walking in. But, Dargenzio knows it's his strong point & took care of me over the first three fences where I was kinda still in awe that we were getting around. We ended in seventh, but we're determined to get a blue ribbon at our next Horse Trials! We will be heading to a few more HTs this year, one is definitely Chattahoochee Hills in October. I'm excited, nervous, but excited. I love Chatt, but I know that their courses are always difficult & generally max everything. But, we did get around Poplar & we did have a few interesting questions on course.

Hopefully, I will have some exciting news over the next month, but I can't reveal what it is yet!

Moving Up Or...?

I haven't been able to post lately because I've been soooo busy! After River Glen, we decided to start looking towards running Novice at Poplar in September. We've schooled cross country & worked on a tons of dressage work since. Last time we went schooling, the weather wasn't in our favor & Dargenzio was a little sticky to everything. Thats not good at all. So, we will be going cross country schooling again this week! If everything goes well, we will stay at Novice. If not, we'll run Beginner Novice & have a good, confidence building round for Genzo. Soooo, hopefully he will be good! We have decided that we will be breeding Savannah to my trainer's stallion, San City, next season! She is having a Repro exam sometime this year (in the next few weeks, haven't scheduled it yet) & then will hopefully be bred in March or April, next year! I'm very excited for this baby in 2015!

Ride Like You Want To Win...

"Ride the horse you have underneath you, not the one you wish you had underneath you or the one you had five minutes ago. Ride the horse that is underneath you, in that moment, and you will succeed."
Arriving at River Glen on Wednesday had its perks. I met a few very nice, knowledgeable competitors that really helped me out. One of these very wise people told me this when I mentioned that this was Dargenzio's first Horse Trial. Needless to say, I lived by this quote all weekend. Thursday morning was an interesting ride but I kept remembering that quote in my head. This horse was not the horse I left Florida with, this horse was an unfocused nutjob. I rode that horse. By the end of the ride, he was phenomenal. He still wasn't the same horse I left Florida with, but he was being great. Thursday night, I had a completely different horse. This horse was made. This horse sat on his butt, focused only on me, & tried his heart out. This was the horse I knew. At midnight on Friday, my phone lit up while I was asleep. I was (impatiently) waiting for my trainer to arrive & she had left earlier on Thursday, but was having truck problems. I woke up to see that it was my trainer calling & texting me, because she had broke down. My Dad left to get them & they arrived around 8 am, the next morning. We had a great ride on Friday, & that horse was the horse I wanted to ride down centerline on Saturday. That horse was forward, collected, & balanced. Did I ride that horse down centerline? Of course not. The horse I rode down centerline was lazy, not responding to my leg & was off balance. But I still rode the horse I had underneath me. We had an okay test with very few marks above 7 so I came out with a "happy with that test, just because we finished" attitude. I told my trainer that I didn't come for a ribbon so I was pretty happy with that test. That is when she told me that I should ride like I want to win, because then I will always ride better... That really came to mind when show jumping came around & I rode like I wanted to win. He was awesome in show jumping & went over everything like a champ. Our show jumping course was pretty tough but we took it with ease. We were sitting in first place on our dressage score of a 36.7, that I was happy with. We had a 6 point lead, going into cross country. We went clean on cross country but had some time faults (that we shouldn't have had), & finished in fourth place. I was a little upset because my watch was correct & there was no way I went 30 seconds too slow. Dargenzio's stride is massive & we galloped the whole course. My watch read us at 5:15 (which was really 5:10 since I started my watch at 5 seconds, in the start box) & the optimum time was 5:04. But, the jump judge's watch read differently. I think whatever went wrong, time wise, was in the start box since the girl in front of me was having a hard time getting over jumps 1 & 2, & finally was eliminated at 2. All I can say is, oh well. I wanted that blue ribbon but I obviously didn't get it. Dargenzio took our fourth place ribbon & threw it to the other side of his stall, so he wasn't very pleased with it either. On the bright side, we had a GREAT run on cross country & we will be running Novice at the September Horse Trial at Poplar! I am ordering photos from River Glen so hopefully I can post those soon :D

Camp, Camp, Camp!

So, I just got back from camp but I guess I should probably do a recap from our cross country school at Poplar the week before camp. It was great, we did the whole Beginner Novice course & he didn't stop at anything. He was being funky about the water but oh well. Now for CAMPPPPPPP. Of course, it was extremely fun & has made me feel extremely confident going into River Glen next weekend! The first day was a little iffy for Genzo. We were in an arena with 12 other horses & riders... a few of which either didn't know how to steer, or just didn't watch where they were going. He was a little nuts but finally settled into everything by the end of the lesson. The second day was great! We worked on 20 meter circles in our dressage lesson but didn't get the opportunity to do our jumping lesson because it decided to rain. Wednesday was also good, starting off the morning with a great jumping lesson where we did a circle of jumps that was extremely difficult but we got through it! We played games on horseback that night, but I chose to not use Dargenzio because I didn't think he'd be very cooperative. Thursday was great! I had a private dressage lesson in the morning, where we really got Dargenzio in the correct show frame. Our jumping lesson was soooooo fun too! We did four bounces to a going three stride oxer! & Friday, my favorite day, we went cross country schooling! Genzo was being amazing so my trainer thought it'd be good for us to pop over some of her Training level questions including a humungous log/fallen down tree sort of thing. It was extremely wide but only like 3 ft. tall. Dargenzio went directly up to it without a question & popped right over it :p We also went over a Trakhener, which he also took like a piece of cake. Today, we had the camp show & I got to do the Beginner Novice test B for our dressage test (since I'm doing it next weekend) & we did Novice level show jumping! He was awesome, except for being a little uptight & looky in dressage. Our show jumping course was great except for the fact that I was having a difficult time finding my distances so we had quite a few long distances, but oh well. I'm excited for River Glen & I *hope* this is my last Beginner Novice! I also came home to "Christmas In July"... My parents went out & bought two mini four wheelers for shows & got Dargenzio a bunch of stuff including a saddle pad, a new set of open fronts, bridle, etc.

SIT ON YOUR BUTT!

That title basically sums up my last two weeks. We're teaching Dargenzio to sit on his lovely hindend that God blessed him with. You would think since he has such a nice hindend, he'd be willing to sit on it right? NOPE. He is a total cow about sitting on his butt. Thankfully, we are getting there. We've had quite a few dressage lessons. Most of them start out horrific, but end REALLY nicely. His canter work is really coming together & he realizes that it isn't that hard to sit on his butt for three strides. With all of this hindend work, he has become extremely balanced & I was more than impressed with our hill work yesterday. We've been gradually building up our trot & canter sets, because I need Dargenzio to get more fit or he'll die running around Novice. Yesterday, he was able to withstand two 5 minute trot sets, & two 3 minute canter sets. He was also sooooooo balanced that my job was easy. I'm normally having to half halt every few seconds & I have to help him balance going down the hill. Not yesterday. I was kinda playing monkey, just sitting up there & steering. I really hope he is like this at River Glen because I cannot have an unbalanced five year old running around cross country(; He is really starting to prove himself & the feeling that he is finally achieving what I've been working for, for such a long time, is awesome. Now for the truck. We have officially bought a new truck & it will be coming home while I'm at Summer camp! (More good news, I'm now going to my trainer's Summer camp) Big Blue is officially up for sale & I've decided to name the new truck, Debby Dually. I think it fits very well. She is a brand new (yes, we did get a brand new truck for the price of a used one, thank you Daddy-O) 2012 Ford F-350 Super Duty, with the King Ranch package! They're currently installing gooseneck hookups for us, so we will be set once we go get her! I'm getting pumped for Summer camp & River Glen, & I'm not too sure which one I'm more excited about! I'll try to keep everyone updated with Dargenzio's progress but for now, enjoy this picture of him moping before our third day of (SIT ON YOUR BUTT!) work...

& now for one of our new truck!

Forgot to add! We're going cross country schooling at Poplar, at the end of the week! Hoping to school their whole Beginner Novice course (even though Genzo thinks its nothing) & a few Novice questions!

Looking Up!

I've been MIA for a while since I've been extremely busy, but I'll give everyone a recap of what's going on. I have signed Dargenzio up for his first Horse Trial (& I went ahead & paid so I can't back out on this one) at River Glen, in August. I'm super excited but nervous at the same time since I don't know how well Dargenzio will take that 10 hour trailer ride without a buddy. We have been doing many lessons & will start doing three dressage lessons a week with my trainer, so we can get ready for River Glen. Hopefully River Glen will go well so we can move up to Novice. Now... My truck is NOT fixed like the mechanic said it was. You would think that after putting $800 into getting the engine fixed that it would actually be fixed, well no. We brought it home from Georgia & the day after we got home, the engine quit again. This time, we're going to take it to yet another Ford mechanic. But, we just bought a new truck so we now have a backup & don't have to worry about being stranded on the side of a busy highway(; We have decided to sell Big Blue, after we get the engine fixed, so we don't have four vehicles & a trailer sitting in our yard anymore. This Summer has been hectic but totally worth it & I'm enjoying it :D

Summer...

So, I'm no longer going to Chatt Hills like I have had planned for the last three months. Yay. I'm definitely not happy & all I want is to take my horse to his first Horse Trial. Really? Thats not going to happen until September, maybe even October now, since the next Horse Trial that I could go to is in September. Ugh. I think we're officially at the bottom of the goal, totem pole. I worked my way up maybe a fourth of a way there. Then, I got shot down for going to NAJYRC camp. Now, I'm getting shot down to taking my horse to his first USEA Horse Trial. This is not cool & I will never move up if this keeps happening. So, I guess we'll have a Summer filled with really nothing other than lessons. I can't go to my trainer's camp, I can't go to a single Horse Trial, & I couldn't even go to Young Rider's camp. Perfect. On the brightside, Dargenzio is having both of his saddles adjusted to fit him so he'll be more comfortable. Well... I guess if I think positive, maybe things will look up?

Officially An Event Horse

Dargenzio is OFFICIALLY an event horse. He is signed up for his first recognized Horse Trial at Chattahoochee Hills in Fairburn, Georgia, in July! We will hopefully be participating in a clinic with Buck Davidson as well :D Anyway, Genzo has a USEA number of his own & we're getting pumped for Chatt. He has had the last four days off since the last show, & I got on him yesterday. Ya' know, he's five so any normal five year old would be stupid & be goofy. Not him. I guess he isn't normal. He went right to work & was really stretching! About 15 minutes into the ride, I was ready to get off. What's the point in riding a horse when he's being perfect? Especially a FIVE YEAR OLD. Well, I stayed on because he needs to get nice & fit so he won't die on cross country in the lovely Georgia heat. Its really nice to be able to ride my horse & feel the difference in his movement, suppleness, & willingness. Was he anything like this at the show? Of course not. He was really balanced as well & I normally expect a "I'm a giraffe, let me throw my head" into the canter transition. Did he do that? No. He was really really really good, I just can't get over it. He stayed nice & balanced, & only came up about an inch into the canter transition. It felt lovely! He was also nice & collected, whereas he is normally strung out & doesn't know what to do with his extremely large canter. Lets just hope he acts like this at our next lesson(; I love this horse more & more everyday. If it doesn't rain today, I'll be getting some conformation shots of him since he has really filled out since the day I got him!

Young Riders...

My only goal in eventing is to compete at the North American Junior Young Riders Championships, one day. Well yet again, I'm being taken one step further from my goal. As my area's Young Rider's camp approaches, I am realizing how far I am away from this goal. They have great instruction & even a selection trial (schooling show) for Team Challenge in KY, in October, at all levels. This will be the second year in a row that I've begged, hoped, & prayed that I could go, but was shut down because of the price of it. So once again, the door to NAJYRC has been slammed in my face.

Thats An Adventure... For Sure.

Its not a real horse show without an adventure, right? RIGHT. So, my truck decided to leave us stranded at a gas station 30 minutes from Poplar, with two horses in tow. Thankfully, my trainer was able to pick us up & the horses so we made it to Poplar! My Mom took the truck & had our gas mileage device unplugged because everyone thought that was what our problem was. WRONG. I'll get to that in a second... Anyway, Dargenzio was awesome cross country schooling on Friday night & went over everything well. We had an icky dressage test which we scored a 41.9 (?) on but we redeemed ourselves in show jumping, where we had a double clean round! Everything was MAX height, & we even had a TWO STRIDE. Are those even legal in Beginner Novice? I honestly don't think so, but whatever... We school them at home so it wasn't a big deal... for me at least. Dargenzio decided to jump in like an idiot, so it just made the whole thing like poop. Good thing he is careful(: Dargenzio zoomed around cross country like a champ, with one measly stop which was all my fault. I came unbalanced through the water since Dargenzio felt the need to leap in & out of it, & I couldn't find my balance as we came up to the squid. He wanted to go, but didn't because I wasn't with him. He literally came right up to the base of the fence, ears forward, & then just kinda stopped because he couldn't go. It wasn't dirty & he knew he wanted to do it, & I did too. Anyway, all of the other parts of our course were great! Time was easy to make & we came in right under optimum. Dargenzio didn't even think about stopping at anything else & he even had his first gallop through the woods(; Pony man was great & he came back to the barn, to a liniment bath & poultice! So, we get on the road to go home & our truck decides to completely DIE about 30 minutes away from Poplar... this time, on the side of a three lane (busy) highway. Thanks to technology (Facebook), we had three wonderful people come pick up the trailer & horses that were in it! Thank you to Ms. Mikki, Aidan & Lily for coming to the rescue! They were at USPC camp, which was held at Poplar, & were able to leave so they could come to our rescue! Now, it was time to find a way to get back to Florida...? How are we supposed to do that? We know all of five or so people with a truck that could pull our trailer, & all of those five people were having problems with their trucks as well (or were busy). My Uncle ended up coming to get us & I'm very thankful that he did. We got home about 3 hours ago & the ponies are happy to be out of crammed stalls & to finally get to graze. Now for even more of a fun part, I came home & opened up my feed bin to mix feed... to find that we are almost completely out of feed. So, my horses ate maybe 1/2 of what they normally would get & are just getting Beet Pulp for breakfast tomorrow. My awesome feed store lady is going to meet us at her store tomorrow, since they're normally closed on Mondays. Welp, my truck is stuck in Georgia... where we will have to get it if its not going to cost a ton of money to fix. If its going to cost quite a bit, we will be on the hunt for a new truck which we oh so desperately need but its really not in our budget right now since we are taking Dargenzio to so many shows, lessons, etc. as I would love to have him running Novice by the end of the year. But I mean, we won't be taking him anywhere unless our truck gets fixed or we get a new one. So, hopefully this fix will be easy & cheap. All I can do is hope. I highly doubt I will be doing my trainer's Summer camp or the Chatt Hills Summer Series which I wanted to do so badly.

Cross Country School Recap!

Dargenzio is definitely something special. We started with a nice, slow warmup which went great. He even swapped leads when I asked! Our first few jumps were really "Get your butt over it!" because he thought they'd eat him & really sucked back coming to them. But after the third jump, he started settling in & realizing that this IS his job & he BETTER do it. So, he stopped being a pain in the butt & went over everything else I asked him to. We even schooled a down bank... With me slamming on his neck 3 out of the 4 times we did it. Yay for ponies that leap. My new trick - Hang on to my breastplate for dear life. But, Dargenzio was great & I'm ready to go kick butt at Poplar! We're having a boot camp this week with Katie & the ponies are staying at her place for three days so I can have lessons :D

Chatt Hills, Here We Come!

So, I had a spur of the moment idea on Tuesday this week with my trainer. She was going to Chatt Hills this Saturday (tomorrow) & I was unable to go since my Mom wouldn't be able trailer up. Well, my trainer's Mom is going & can haul a trailer sooooooo that means I can go! Yay! We were unsure of what level Dargenzio would run at Poplar but now we are definitely going to run BN if he is good tomorrow! Super excited since this puts me one step closer to taking Dargenzio to his first Horse Trial :D

Grids.

Grids. Oh, I do hate grid work very much. Hey, but my horse was great & didn't even think about stopping or running out like he did when we did grid work the first time! But I really hate grid work. Like really hate it... A lot. It makes my equitation just go BLAH. Of course, as an eventer, EQ doesn't really matter but then I look at my pictures & think "Oh dear God." I'm releasing now... at least :p

FINALLLLLLLLY!

For the past 5 months, I have been working my BUTT off on keeping my eye up over fences. It wasn't such a huge deal when I was riding Savannah because she had a rather flat jump but now it IS a big deal, considering 1) I'm on a young, stupid horse. 2) He can actually jump, & will jump you out of the tack if you don't keep your eye up. 3) He also overjumps when he feels happy. Since I bought Dargenzio, I've come very close to falling off of him because I was looking down & came unbalanced. But my lesson yesterday, was GREAT. Other than Dargenzio thinking he could run out at a vertical (which I got extremely mad about... he didn't question it again), we had an awesome lesson. Now that my baby boy will be turning 5 next month, we have started making the fences bigger, which he loves. Dargenzio is also learning how to use his hindend over fences rather than just going "Blah!" in the air. I hate hate hate that feeling that we're just dwelling in the air, like he jumped when I first got him. He has been absolutely wonderful since we got back from rally (shocking, eh?) SOOOOOO, we're going to attempt yet another three phase. We haven't decided on level yet but we'll be headed to Poplar in June to see what we can do! I'm excited because I feel like I've become a better rider, with a more secure position & I also feel like Dargenzio is really starting to realize that jumping isn't all that bad. We've definitely had our ups & our downs, but I'm ready to get my career with Dargenzio started :D We will be heading to the Chatt Hills Summer Series in July if all goes well at Poplar, to run Beginner Novice! So, fingers crossed!

Also found this picture, that is my little bit of inspiration for today(:

When Your Horse Knows He Was Awesome...

So, I'm so glad that I decided to take Dargenzio to PHJA because he was GREAT. No lunging required since he was calm & cool, & knew what was going down. Schooling on Friday was great! Dargenzio didn't spook at ANYTHING. He was completely focused on me & what I was asking him to do. Saturday was... okay. Dargenzio was really pulling & on the forehand in warm up, but otherwise, he was being good. He was really making me ride though :p The people who set the course decided they were going to store the extra standards (sideways, at that) in the corner of the arena where it was already scary enough to horses. So, I went in to my first course with intentions of it being our worst. I was wrong, it was our best of our two courses! He was shying at the standards the whole time & didn't want to go to the rail but other than that, he went around the course really well. He rode soft, & we got all of our striding! That is REALLY hard for Dargenzio & I because the course is designed for horses with a normal stride whereas Dargenzio has a freakishly large stride. BUT, we got our 6 strides into the two of the lines(: Our second course was completely the opposite. The first course was great because Dargenzio thought that it wasn't going to be so easy. We go into the second course & he buffs up & is thinking "I'm taking over, sucks for you." That he did. The speed of the whole course just got faster & faster with me continuously saying "WOAH!" We got FOUR strides down the last line... when it was supposed to be a six. Needless to say, 2'3" is obviously too small for the baby boy & he knew it. The next day, we did the jumpers! Warm up was AWESOME. He was riding soft, getting all of our distances & didn't even attempt to take over the ride. We went in the course after watching many people go off course, have refusals, etc. We got around & didn't get to go to jump off because Dargenzio was a little too lazy over one of the verticals. But thats what I wanted. I wanted him to feel relaxed enough so he wasn't overjumping every single jump. I'm proud of my boy & can't wait to get him out more! Already planning on doing a schooling show in June :D

FINALLY Got My Show Pictures!

So, I finalllllllly got my pictures from event rally a few days ago... Right before I leave for another show, of course(; I'm extremely excited for PHJA this weekend considering Dargenzio has been kicking some serious butt in our jumping lessons since we got back from rally. I guess he realized that he was being a complete idiot at rally & decided to prove himself when he got home. He has really started backing himself up before fences & gets that "I can do it!" attitude about four strides out. These are the days that I love with him, but I know that they won't be like this forever so I can just appreciate it for the time being. This horse is REALLY cool when he wants to be & I've been super proud of him lately. So, I hope all goes well at PHJA. After we get back from PHJA, I have a feeling we're going to work on lead changes & I'm ready for them. The commenter on the dressage today at Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event said "Your canter will suck for about six months, during the time you're teaching your horse lead changes." I was thinking to myself, "Oh great, as if I don't already have enough problems with my horse's freakish canter." Oh well, we'll just have to see how it goes. He is also REALLY sitting on his hindend in all of our dressage work & I absolutely love it. Its difficult to ride such an uphill canter, for me, considering Savannah's canter is flat & she never loosens her back to make it comfortable. The excitement just keeps growing for Dargenzio & I, & I hope that we can get out to school cross country a little more so I can take him to another three phase. I was wanting to shoot for the Horse Trial at Poplar, in June, as his first recognized event but I'm not totally positive yet if that would be a good idea. So, we will just have to wait & see(:

Had to buy this photo from PB&J Photography(:

Shows, Impatience & A Need For Speed

I'm impatiently waiting for my professional pictures from Event Rally. They sent me an email saying they were sending them out so *fingers crossed* that they get her soon, since the photographer is only a few hours away, in Florida! Dargenzio & I came home a little bummed from Event Rally after having a pretty bad weekend but today, everything turned up. Our first lesson back (Wednesday) wasn't anything I expected. Dargenzio really felt the need to TEST ME after what happened at the show. He learned very quickly that he doesn't dare test me. He was charging at jumps like a freight train & when I'd ask for a simple canter, he'd lunge into a gallop. Needless to say, we fixed that problem today since that would just cause problems for us, later on in life. My lesson was great, & rainy. I'd ask for a simple canter, I got a simple canter. Jumping came along & he was definitely not charging at the jumps... More like falling over them. I swear this horse changes every single day. We only jumped three different jumps, but did them NUMEROUS times. He is really learning where his feet are over jumps & is really rocking back on his hindend over fences... which feels AWESOME. Today was the first day that he was consistent with rocking back on his hindend & I loved it. Hopefully, he'll be awesome in our next lesson so we can go to PHJA next weekend. I didn't really want to throw another show on him so quickly but I think he'll be fine since we won't be showing during May. Days like today are the days that I really wish my horse was older so we could jump higher but as of right now, I'm more than content with 2'6". So, my show pictures better get here ASAP because I'm not a patient person.

Take One Step At A Time

Rally did not go as planned. Our dressage test was great but Dargenzio wasn't stretching as much as the judge would've liked, which left us with a 35. Show jumping warmup was great & Dargenzio jumped everything perfectly. We went into the arena & all of a sudden, all of these jumps were absolutely terrifying. I fell off at jump 8 :/ The TD let us run cross country the next day. We only made it to jump 3 before retiring. The course was muddy & nasty from the torrential down pour we were having. Either way, I'm happy with Dargenzio but we have a lot to work on. I know he is going to be a wonderful horse one day so there is no rush!

Here We Go...

So, I'm writing this as we're passing through Dothan, headed to Poplar... I have a really good feeling about this weekend & what it has to hold for Dargenzio & I. Other than forgetting buckets & my paddock boots, we're off to a good start. We're hoping to make it there by noon so I can school him & get Savannah settled in. That's her new job, the horse that goes to every show just because... Long car rides are not my forte so I guess I'll just write about our awesome cross country school on Tuesday. Dargenzio has become VERY brave with jumping & he went up to every jump like a pro. He hopped over the Novice ditch the first time, without hesitation, & he even went over the Beginner Novice houses like he's been doing it all of his life. We also conquered the water complexes, banks, & other various jumps. So, I hope everything goes well this weekend so we can get out to more shows!

Flying Changes, Liverpools & Distances!

Dargenzio & I had a fantastic lesson today. Yesterday, he was wild & I was half halting every like two seconds. Today, he was lazy & behind the leg. He changes day by day :p Anyway, I think this was our best lesson yet! We kept it rather simple & started with a simple cross rail, which he almost fell over. & then we did some pole work, which helped me (& Dargenzio) a ton on finding the perfect distance. I've never been very good at feeling my distances but today, they were just coming to me & he was listening the whole time. We also attempted some flying changes in the beginning of our lesson, but we didn't completely succeed. He changed the front but not the back, but we'll get it eventually. Changes are also one of my weak points since Savannah didn't do them. & since he was being so awesome, we decided to pop over the liverpool. Oh I tell you, that thing is the scariest jump in the world. He went over it though, a little over exaggerated the first two times & then it was just whatever. I'm very proud of my boy & cannot wait for event rally next weekend, with these two awesome lessons behind us! We have our week planned out already; Monday - Dressage lesson, Tuesday - XC school at Poplar, Wednesday - Off, Thursday - Dressage at home, & Friday - School dressage at the show! I'm a bit bummed about our dressage test because we are running Tadpole since this is only his second show & first three phase. Our dressage test has no cantering in it, so Dargenzio doesn't get to show the judges his gorgeous canter :/ Oh well, I know he's going to be great anyway!

Its All Going By WAY Too Fast!

AHHHHHHH. I'm going to have a freakout. Its 9 days before we go to Eventing Rally, 6 days before we go cross country schooling & Dargenzio came inside last night with a loose shoe! REALLY? So, we had to cancel our lesson for yesterday & today because he is not rideable with a loose shoe. UGH. Anyway, my awesome farrier will be stopping by first thing tomorrow morning to fix it because he is just the best farrier anyone could ever ask for... & he bends over backwards to fix all of the pulled, lose, shoes & overgrown hooves that we have encountered over the last year. Did I mention how awesome he is? Anyway, my solution for a loose shoe was simple... Vet wrap & duct tape, like you'd do for an abscess(; Thanks to Savannah for puncturing her knee (-__-), I have about 20 rolls of Vet wrap left over so I was able to wrap his hoof last night & this morning. & oh yeah, he's totally styling in that pink zebra duct tape & yellow Vet wrap. I am so NOT ready for rally next weekend... Not riding wise, totally ready for that. But I'm not ready for the (picky, even though they're awesome) Horse Management judges to nit pick at all of my stuff, including my horse. Nothing is labeled, yet I had everything labeled a month before, last year! My horse is going to need to have his ears clipped, along with his muzzle, & legs. And he'll need about three bathes before being clean enough for inspections(; He also has yet to learn how to jog... (Please don't run me over Dargenzio). My next 9 days are going to be very very very hectic! BUUUUT on a good note, I have been in the process of finishing Dargenzio's browband for cross country & might I say, its pretty awesome. If it will stop raining sometime today, I'm going to go fit it to Dargenzio before securing the ends. Here is a sneak peak(; PS, I do take custom orders so if you want to order a lovely browband from me, check us out on FaceBook at www.facebook.com/equinebeadart or email me at equinebeadart@yahoo.com

 

Oh, & I thought this was super funny & its totally Dargenzio in every way...

 

We Live & We Learn

Today was a wasted day for Dargenzio & I. We decided to go to a small, local show which turned out to be a complete bust. I was hoping one, they'd have a big enough arena for him to canter in... There was one but it was up the hill, far away from the show ring & had no jumps in it... Two, people would know how to control their horses... Oh dear lord, talk about people not watching where they're going & getting super close to you with a horse that bucks & rears. Dargenzio was definitely NOT a fan of the horses that were acting up, & NO ONE had any common courtesy to leave the arena (I mean, there were three arenas & tons of space outside to lunge)... And three, that the show would run just a little bit faster so we wouldn't be stuck there until 5 pm. If I wouldn't have had a million things to do back at home, this wouldn't have been a problem. But the show literally moved as slow as a turtle. 1 hour lunch break, which is normal... Then, it took them like 30 minutes to set up for the trail classes. Oh yeah, they had to take that down too. This was about the time we left because I didn't want to know how long it took them to set up for the jumping classes plus there were ten or so flat classes before that, along with lead line & an at liberty class. Needless to say, that bath that I gave him yesterday was useless, along with the trip over there which was an hour & a half :p But I do think this was a great schooling experience for Dargenzio, I rode him for like an hour & a half... considering I expected the jumping classes to be starting sooner. He rode in a covered arena, in an itty bitty not even dressage size arena, & got to ride with a bunch of crazy Arabians(; If he isn't scarred for life, we'll be good. Note to self - Don't take a young, very green horse to that show ever again. NOW FOR THE GOOD NEWS, I came home after a pretty bad day (should I even mention that it was in the 80s with no wind blowing at all) & as I was pulling the horses off the trailer, someone started honking their horn from our front gate... Who the heck could it be? So I threw them in the pasture & ran over to the gate to get what I thought was just mail, until I realized that I had a package. It was Dargenzio's new KWPN Dutch Warmblood pad that I ordered at PHJA, last weekend. I didn't expect it to come so quickly but the lady who monogrammed it did a fabulous job... She even had to make the design (which is why I had to order it) since she didn't have it already made at the show! I absolutely love it! If you need anything monogrammed or embroidered, check out High Class Horse!

Getting To Know Each Other

Welllllll, today was the first day Dargenzio has been ridden since we got home from PHJA. He was great! We schooled my trainer's cross country course & this will be the second time he has been cross country schooling. He is finally getting the hang of eventing... Now it's me. Dargenzio has a lot more stride & power than I'm really used to so I have had to learn to let go of his face & let him be forward... which I used to think was too much. He is more than willing to do cross country & I absolutely love it. He loves it so much that he pulls me to the jumps, which he rarely does. This horse will be a cross country machine; He has the heart, will, & power to make a wonderful event horse(:

Where It All Started...

So, I started this blog with the intentions of only making it about Dargenzio but I realized that, that wasn't fair to the mare that taught me everything. If you're reading this, you probably know that I had to retire my old event horse, Savannah, in November due to hock problems. Gotcha Covered, aka Savannah, was my first event horse & even though I was only able to ride her for all of 10 months, she taught me A TON. She's the type of horse that will slam on breaks at a jump if you aren't looking up & don't have your leg on. Oh trust me, I keep my leg on now. I never fell off of my Savannah mare, knock on wood, but I "always almost" did as all of my friends would say. She took me to my first three phase, where we had a stop at the LAST JUMP -__- She also took me to my first South Region Pony Club Event Rally where we had a phenomenal weekend, ending on our dressage score of a 41 (I think?) & she took me to my first Horse Trial, where we had an error in dressage (whoops), a rail in show jumping (whoops) & a stop at the stupid stupid squid on cross country (whoops). All of those were most definitely my fault & I was anticipating a stop at the squid... so she gave it to me.

Summer Camp at my trainer's barn!

The months following my first Horse Trial (May HT @ Poplar Place Farm), were amazing & terrible all at the same time. We were really getting to know each other & we were both improving with our riding... But, the mare was going on and off lame from different things. She is very accident prone & we had Vet bills once a month for three months straight for all different things. September came around (rather quickly) & my trainer told me that the September HT at Poplar would be our last Beginner Novice if all went well. Well, all did not go well. My horse decided to puncture her knee (& run over my trainer's barn manager, sorry Amy!) which put her on stall rest for quite a while. So, we scratched from Poplar. September went by very very slowly & October went by pretty slow too. Savannah's leg was healing very well & we all thought she'd be ready to go to Poplar in November, so I signed her up! We went schooling & she was fantastic, especially since she hadn't seen a cross country course in forever.

Cross Country Schooling in October, at Poplar Place Farm.

Four days before the Horse Trial, Savannah started showing soreness in her hindend & my trainer didn't want me taking her to the Horse Trial, because we would get drilled for it in dressage. So, she let me take her lovely mare, Aquataine, who I had also showed in October at Florida Horse Park (because Savannah had been lame for that too). Savannah has always had hock problems since she flipped over & landed on her hocks, in February of 2012. When we got back from the Horse Trial, I was excited to get my Savannah mare going again & we were going to start double dosing her on my best friend, LubriSyn. She was sound, for the most part, all year because she was getting LubriSyn joint supplement. But after my trainer watched me do dressage on Savannah, we all had to talk. This was probably the hardest decision I have ever had to make in my riding career... To retire Savannah or to make her suffer & keep going? If you think about it, retired horses are generally useless... but we decided that we wanted to use Savannah as a broodmare somewhere down the road. So, that was it. We officially retired her... Oh & she hates it. As of December, I was on the search for a new horse & even though I had tried many, I didn't find "the one" until I sat on Dargenzio. Okay, he wasn't the best at my trial... but I just had a special feeling about him. The whole process of buying Dargenzio went by super fast. Two days later, we were at the Vet's office getting a Pre - Purchase Exam done... & after he passed, he came home. My parents & I were really having some doubts about him after we took him to his PPE... You're wondering why. Well, he tried to climb out the escape door of my trailer... He tried kicking the Vet, & he doesn't have the best ground manners. I'm one for a challenge so when they asked me if I was sure I still wanted him, I said yep. My trailer rattled the whole way to & from the Vet's office, with him stomping, pawing, etc. He came home to something new & really settled in within the first few days. He got to meet Savannah, who hates him, & my little Lightning McQueen pony that I love oh so much.

Ditches...

The Start Of Something New

Dargenzio(:

Okay, so I guess I should start by saying that I decided to make this blog so I could recap on all of my great adventures, years down the road. Anyway, I'm Danielle & I'm an eventer in USEA's Area 3. I just got a new horse about three weeks ago & he is already showing to be a very promising prospect. Dargenzio is a 4 year old Dutch Warmblood gelding by Cantango, & out of a Juventus mare. I was a little skeptical about him when I first got him, because he was very green... but there was also something that made me have to have him. We just got back from our first show at the Escambia County Equestrian Center, in Pensacola, FL. This was Dargenzio's first show & it was fabulous! I am beyond impressed with how well Dargenzio cleaned up his act for this show. We got to the show grounds around noon on Friday & he was a complete mess. Anything moving... or not moving, was beyond scary. But that's a typical four year old for you. I rode for almost three hours on Friday, just getting him used to everything! And I am so thankful I stayed on his back with everything that he was doing. Most of our ride was full of keeping his mind busy & WORK. We went into Saturday with very low expectations, & we really just wanted to get around. We did way more than that! I decided to enter him in the 2 ft. Open Hunter & he was phenomenal. Our first round was great... No squirming, no questions, no looking & most importantly, he listened to ME for once! I was so proud of him & got really excited for our second round because I knew it would be 100% better... I guess I was a little too excited because I went in & went off course. But hey, the one jump we did get to do was great :D

Dargenzio's first... over exaggerated jump in the Open Hunter class.
Photo Credits to Justine Chase!

 Dargenzio was beyond exhausted so he got to sleep for the rest of the day... & that is exactly what he did. When we got back to his stall, he got bathed off & then put into his stall with a ton of hay. He stood in the same place, up against the stall wall, for five hours straight. There was no waking him up either. On Sunday, I had a different horse. We were only in warm up for about 45 minutes before my trainer said we were ready to go into our first jumper class. Okay, so I was a little nervous but my horse acted like he had done it his whole life. Lets keep in mind, the horse has never cantered a course before but he went around perfectly. He even threw out some lead changes... Don't really know where he got those from since we've never taught them to him, but eh, I'll take it. We took a rail due to rider error, but the course was great otherwise. I feel like we both left the show with a ton more confidence than what we went in with, & I am so proud of him. He has the next three days off because he worked so hard(;

All smiles after our jumper class!