I JUST GOT A GREAT IDEA, YAY CHRISTINA.
I'M GOING TO NAME EACH OF MY POSTS, WITH A LYRIC FROM A SONG THAT MATCHES WHATS GOING THROUGH MY HEAD. woot ! :D
Title : Two Is Better Than One by BoysLikeGirls
Okay, so I'm going to explain how my ride last wednesday went. I ended up riding Shelby as you should already know from my last post. It was a GREAT lesson! I was riding with a more advanced group than me, so I got to do more than I do in my regular lessons.
Here's How It Went .. :
Warm Up = Walk, Trot, Canter by ourselves. Warm up using figures.
Jump Warm Up = Outside Line, the first jump was on the wall, & the second was on the inside track. So we would leg yield over to the next. We did that many times. Both directions.
Then we did a complicated course, & Shelby & I did it perfectly! Oh boyyy, do I miss her! She was a bit stubborn at the beginning but once we started jumping she was fine.
At the end of the lesson, I went to a standard to take my sweater off from the top, & I dropped it & she spooked. Once I calmed her down I dismounted & started to walk out of the arena since the lesson was over. Before I was out I realised I needed to walk ALL THE WAY across to get my sweater that I left on the ground. So I walked Shelby over, holding the reins at the buckle & she started trotting after me! Which I found really cute, since Allison was like : " Oh my god, I've never seen Shelby trot after someone like that!"
And that's it for now! I'll probably write agaaain soon. I have a lesson on saturday, so I'm sure you'll hear all about that !
Love,
Christina. (L)
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Answers To All .
Hey guysss. It's me, Christina. Anyways, I noticed that I left a lot unsaid in my last post. So let me explain. It's not as bad as it sounded.
Last wednesday, when I was at the barn, I rode Shelby in my lesson. I realised how much I missed her than. But when I was untacking her after an AMAZING lesson that I will go into further detail in a diff post, my coach told me to be careful around her head, because she's nervous on the crossties now. She told me that one of the grooms told her this. & than added "but he's gone now." I'm not sure what she meant but I had a pretty good idea after what happened next.
Someone who was in my lesson came from the front of Shelby holding a saddle and said "coming through!" * Shelby LOST it. She backed up completely, broke a cross tie, reared up. When she was back on all four, I rushed forward to calm her. Once she was calm, we took her off the cross ties while someone held her while I finished up.
Then I got thinking, not just ANYTHING can cause that much fright. It doesnt make sense, unless someone really traumatizing happened in that grooms presence while she was on the cross ties. Want my almost-sure theory? He was cleaning Shelby's stall, so he took her out of it & put her in the cross ties. He then did something that hurt her, & something that she would remember. HE must have abused her somehow. & that lady coming thorugh with a saddle triggered the memory.
It also makes sense that lately whenever someone goes in her stall near her head, she bites the air. Which she has NEVER done before. It's not her. That's what happened. I've made it my goal to help her overcome this, because maybe if I had been more involved with her instead of Will lately, I might've noticed sooner.
MY only question is this; while tacking her up, & not knowing about this fear, I was completely normal with her. Meaning, holding her head, moving the cross ties, & doing many things that could've spooked her. Why didn't she freak out when it was just me there, & only when it was a lady .. :S
Love,
Christina. (L)
Last wednesday, when I was at the barn, I rode Shelby in my lesson. I realised how much I missed her than. But when I was untacking her after an AMAZING lesson that I will go into further detail in a diff post, my coach told me to be careful around her head, because she's nervous on the crossties now. She told me that one of the grooms told her this. & than added "but he's gone now." I'm not sure what she meant but I had a pretty good idea after what happened next.
Someone who was in my lesson came from the front of Shelby holding a saddle and said "coming through!" * Shelby LOST it. She backed up completely, broke a cross tie, reared up. When she was back on all four, I rushed forward to calm her. Once she was calm, we took her off the cross ties while someone held her while I finished up.
Then I got thinking, not just ANYTHING can cause that much fright. It doesnt make sense, unless someone really traumatizing happened in that grooms presence while she was on the cross ties. Want my almost-sure theory? He was cleaning Shelby's stall, so he took her out of it & put her in the cross ties. He then did something that hurt her, & something that she would remember. HE must have abused her somehow. & that lady coming thorugh with a saddle triggered the memory.
It also makes sense that lately whenever someone goes in her stall near her head, she bites the air. Which she has NEVER done before. It's not her. That's what happened. I've made it my goal to help her overcome this, because maybe if I had been more involved with her instead of Will lately, I might've noticed sooner.
MY only question is this; while tacking her up, & not knowing about this fear, I was completely normal with her. Meaning, holding her head, moving the cross ties, & doing many things that could've spooked her. Why didn't she freak out when it was just me there, & only when it was a lady .. :S
Love,
Christina. (L)
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Truths Revealed..
Truths I've Learned Tonight.
1. I can't live without Shelby.
2. Maybe if I wasn't so caught up in Will, I would've noticed what that groom was doing to her.
I know this is vague, but I'm not in the mood to explain yet.. I'll explain later.
Love,
Christina. (L)
1. I can't live without Shelby.
2. Maybe if I wasn't so caught up in Will, I would've noticed what that groom was doing to her.
I know this is vague, but I'm not in the mood to explain yet.. I'll explain later.
Love,
Christina. (L)
Lessons
Heeey guys ! Okay, so unfortunately, I don't own Shelby or Will. Their just the horses I ride in my lessons. Sometimes it feels like their mine though, because not many people ride them, & I just love 'em so much ! I usually take 1 - 2 lessons a week with my coach ; Allison. She's really good at teaching us new things, & although she can be harsh, we know she's just trying to help us improve. There are 5 people in my lesson who ride with me. There's Claudia, Melanie, Tara, Amanda, & Valerie. Let me go through a brief explanation of them all.
Claudia : She's 16 & started riding english only maybe a year ago. She rode western beforehand. She's a really good rider & she rides a horse named Thyme.
Melanie : She's 12 & has ridden at our barn for about 5 years. She rides a horse named Apollo, & she's great on him. She's super nice, & everyone loves her !
Tara : She's 11, I think, & I don't know how long she's been riding. Her mom owns a horse at our barn. She rides a horse named Chief.
Amanda : She's 11 & has ridden for 5 years. She's really short, so she rides ponies all the time. She owns two of the school horses; Ally & Dandy. & her mom is a coach at the barn. She switches in between riding Una & Dandy.
Valerie : Valerie is 11 aswell, & also very short & tiny that it limits its her to mostly ponies. She switches in between riding : Ally, Dandy & sometimes Shelby.. <\3
Okay, so those are my riding companions, & sometimes random people will join in to get a lesson.
Now I'll tell you what goes on in our lesson.
First 15 - 20 minutes : Warm up ! In walk & trot, circles, leg yielding, serpentines, change of direction & more excersices like that.
Next 10 minutes : Warm up in canter. Excersises like in trot.
Rest of lesson : Allison will warm us up in jumping, & then she'll give us a course of usually 6 to 8 jumps to do. We each do it in turn, & when we're all done we'll either redo it, or if there's not enough time left, we'll each choose a part to redo.
So that's usually how our lessons go down ! :) I have a lesson tonight at 4pm, so I'll FOR SURE blog about that !
I wonder who I'll ride, :S
Love,
Christina. (L)
Claudia : She's 16 & started riding english only maybe a year ago. She rode western beforehand. She's a really good rider & she rides a horse named Thyme.
Melanie : She's 12 & has ridden at our barn for about 5 years. She rides a horse named Apollo, & she's great on him. She's super nice, & everyone loves her !
Tara : She's 11, I think, & I don't know how long she's been riding. Her mom owns a horse at our barn. She rides a horse named Chief.
Amanda : She's 11 & has ridden for 5 years. She's really short, so she rides ponies all the time. She owns two of the school horses; Ally & Dandy. & her mom is a coach at the barn. She switches in between riding Una & Dandy.
Valerie : Valerie is 11 aswell, & also very short & tiny that it limits its her to mostly ponies. She switches in between riding : Ally, Dandy & sometimes Shelby.. <\3
Okay, so those are my riding companions, & sometimes random people will join in to get a lesson.
Now I'll tell you what goes on in our lesson.
First 15 - 20 minutes : Warm up ! In walk & trot, circles, leg yielding, serpentines, change of direction & more excersices like that.
Next 10 minutes : Warm up in canter. Excersises like in trot.
Rest of lesson : Allison will warm us up in jumping, & then she'll give us a course of usually 6 to 8 jumps to do. We each do it in turn, & when we're all done we'll either redo it, or if there's not enough time left, we'll each choose a part to redo.
So that's usually how our lessons go down ! :) I have a lesson tonight at 4pm, so I'll FOR SURE blog about that !
I wonder who I'll ride, :S
Love,
Christina. (L)
Monday, December 28, 2009
She'll Be Loved.
Okay, so I noticed in my last post I mentioned Shelby at the end .. & I've realised that you readers don't know who I'm talking about ! So let me say a little story & explanation to you .. :
The Story :One day in August 2008 I came up to the barn for my usual weekly lesson. I checked the board, and right there next to my name said Shelby. I had never ridden her, neither had anyone else in my lesson. I got her tacked up and ready, what a sweetheart she was, but when I mounted up, she was not what I expected. Sure i had to point my crop to her ears, sure she bucked, sure she made me use my legs so much that they ached for days after. But everyone told me that I was good on her, so I started asking to ride her again. I never knew that I would get so attached to this mare. Sure, I've loved horses and ponies in the past, but this was different. And I could feel it.Fall was the same as the beginning. Crop to the ears. Leg on. ALWAYS.But in Winter, things started to change. Not much, but there was something different about her. I took a bad fall off of her sometime in January, and my coach took me off her for a few weeks, and all I wanted to do was get back on! And when I did, I swear. Different horse. Things started to come together. At last. Not completely. But it was a start. Still needed the crop, but I didn't need to point it towards her ears.Spring and Summer was when everything was perfect. Sure she's still a buckaroo, but never for long. Sometimes she doesn't buck AT ALL in lessons. And that's amazing for her. We have something amazing going on. And it's unbreakable. She's come on in leaps and bounds, and so have I. She's taught me so much. And she's the reason I'm the rider I am today. I love her so much.
So now you know who Shelby is, & how much I love her. I always will .. (L)
I sometimes wonder if She'll Be Loved will ever NOT be loved by me ..
Until next time,
Love ,
Christina (L)
The Story :One day in August 2008 I came up to the barn for my usual weekly lesson. I checked the board, and right there next to my name said Shelby. I had never ridden her, neither had anyone else in my lesson. I got her tacked up and ready, what a sweetheart she was, but when I mounted up, she was not what I expected. Sure i had to point my crop to her ears, sure she bucked, sure she made me use my legs so much that they ached for days after. But everyone told me that I was good on her, so I started asking to ride her again. I never knew that I would get so attached to this mare. Sure, I've loved horses and ponies in the past, but this was different. And I could feel it.Fall was the same as the beginning. Crop to the ears. Leg on. ALWAYS.But in Winter, things started to change. Not much, but there was something different about her. I took a bad fall off of her sometime in January, and my coach took me off her for a few weeks, and all I wanted to do was get back on! And when I did, I swear. Different horse. Things started to come together. At last. Not completely. But it was a start. Still needed the crop, but I didn't need to point it towards her ears.Spring and Summer was when everything was perfect. Sure she's still a buckaroo, but never for long. Sometimes she doesn't buck AT ALL in lessons. And that's amazing for her. We have something amazing going on. And it's unbreakable. She's come on in leaps and bounds, and so have I. She's taught me so much. And she's the reason I'm the rider I am today. I love her so much.
So now you know who Shelby is, & how much I love her. I always will .. (L)
I sometimes wonder if She'll Be Loved will ever NOT be loved by me ..
Until next time,
Love ,
Christina (L)
Let's Make Some Introductions ..
Heeey everyone !
SOO, I've had many blogs in the past, but never kept any of them. BUT, I plan to keeo this on going ! My name is Christina, & I'm 14 years old as of October 17th. I have brown hair, & brown eyes. I attend high school, in grade 8 & I'm the typical high school student- with 1 exception, I'm horse-crazed.
I've been riding for 3 years now, & I've been through 3 stables, the third is the one I'm at now. I ride once or twice a week, usually on a horse named Will. He's 5 years old, & very green. He's a flea-bitten grey pony standing at 14.1 hh. He's kinda've an A.D.D. child at heart, & is quite the spazz. But you gotta love him & his weird ways, he IS only a baby. :) <3
I'm currently on winter break as of December 22nd & I've been at my dads house (parents divorced) since yesterday. This morning I went to the barn with my step-mom & I rode her horse Breezie (Winter Breeze). She's a 22 year old, white as snow, ex-proffessional hunter. Despite her age, she has LOTS of energy ! :P
It was my first time riding her, & it went really well. She even started to hack at 1 point ! :) :) :)
Tomorrow I'm going back to ride her, & I'm going to practice getting her to hack when I ask her to, & flying lead changes (she's great at them, but me not so much). & wednesday I'm going to my barn that I take lessons at (Breezie switched barns for the winter so my step mom could be closer to her) to hang out, help out & take a lesson. :)
I wonder who I'll ride, Shelby or Will ? :S
Love,
Christina. (L)
SOO, I've had many blogs in the past, but never kept any of them. BUT, I plan to keeo this on going ! My name is Christina, & I'm 14 years old as of October 17th. I have brown hair, & brown eyes. I attend high school, in grade 8 & I'm the typical high school student- with 1 exception, I'm horse-crazed.
I've been riding for 3 years now, & I've been through 3 stables, the third is the one I'm at now. I ride once or twice a week, usually on a horse named Will. He's 5 years old, & very green. He's a flea-bitten grey pony standing at 14.1 hh. He's kinda've an A.D.D. child at heart, & is quite the spazz. But you gotta love him & his weird ways, he IS only a baby. :) <3
I'm currently on winter break as of December 22nd & I've been at my dads house (parents divorced) since yesterday. This morning I went to the barn with my step-mom & I rode her horse Breezie (Winter Breeze). She's a 22 year old, white as snow, ex-proffessional hunter. Despite her age, she has LOTS of energy ! :P
It was my first time riding her, & it went really well. She even started to hack at 1 point ! :) :) :)
Tomorrow I'm going back to ride her, & I'm going to practice getting her to hack when I ask her to, & flying lead changes (she's great at them, but me not so much). & wednesday I'm going to my barn that I take lessons at (Breezie switched barns for the winter so my step mom could be closer to her) to hang out, help out & take a lesson. :)
I wonder who I'll ride, Shelby or Will ? :S
Love,
Christina. (L)
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