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.