Change Is a Constant

If there were a more truer statement I couldn't find one to replace it.
Yes I am still riding and yes its still Brandon. We have been progressing fantastically over the last 5 months. He is a great horse and my love muffin. We have a great connection and a very strong bond.

This was from a fun photo shoot last month. We looked so great. Cant wait for more pics when we start showing. However that will be closer to 2017 than this year. We are so not ready for that.  I also have another horse to play with .

His name is Boo. He comes from the same farm and he is handsome too.

Change seems to plague all of us but I think I am its target. We are moving yet again. We will be staying in this town. We love Camden. We will be settling again about 6 miles from where are now. Nice neighborhood. Brick house with a gas stove and 3 bedrooms. We can have a garden if we want one. So we are happy about this. We have been told we can stay as long as we want. I will be about 5 minutes further from Brandon but its ok. 

This past December was my 14th wedding anniversary and this coming year we will be renewing our wedding vows at the farm Brandon is at. Should be a lot of fun. Our 2nd honeymoon is in the works with a cruise to the Eastern and Western Caribbean. 14 days is planned.

I will try to keep up with this better but please don't count on it. I seem to say that and it never works out.

Something Big is Happening

Meet Brandon. He is an Old English Shire and my new love. No I do not own him but the lady that does has given me the go ahead to play, train, and show with him. I will be changing disciplines again as I am going back to my first love Dressage.

 I have been learning alot about myself and him. We started the end of August with just getting to know him. A couple dates a week, Wednesdays after work and on Saturday evenings. Grooming was the main event for 3 weeks and one day his mom said she wanted me to sit on him and see how he handled it. Brandon hasn't been ridden in 4-5 yrs. I climbed up on a Saturday night and that was it. We started in the round pen that following Wednesday. 

I have never done ground work before so it was interesting to do "Join Up". For those of you who don't know what Join Up is...when your in the round pen and you have the horse walk, trot, and canter for a time and then stop and turn your back on them. If they trust you and want to be your partner, they will walk up behind you and stand. If not they will stay on the ring wall. Monty Roberts explains this way of connection and bond very well in his books. Yes I have read some of them. I have never actually gotten the chance to actually try it. 

Brandon and I bonded over grooming but I didn't realize how much until the join up. Now when I get to the farm, he is in the pasture and comes quickly into his stall and waits for me. He even calls to me with a few different ways, including kicking the stall door. He puts his head down for me to put his halter on and follows me to the grooming area. 

In the round pen we get out there and I take off his halter. The minute I do this he now walks out to the ring wall and starts to trot without being asked and then goes into his canter. Its quite an amazing thing for a 17.1h, 2000lb beast to just do what you would like him to do without being asked. He then stops, comes to the center for a kiss on the nose and then I send him out to go the other direction. He comes back to center and we get ready to ride. 

We are still working on the riding part as to he will stand and be saddled but bridle time is another thing. We are working very hard on being a good boy about this, His mother calls him The Red Headed Step Child for a reason. Riding him is a project at this point. He wants to be a pasture pet. We do reverse very well. We do Whoa very well. We even move close to the mounting block without direction perfectly. What we dont do well is go forward. We are working on that. 

Brandon and I on our first ride.

I am really haveing a great time learning from him and with him. Small steps are better that 2 steps forward and 6 steps back. I will take small steps all day. I am hoping small steps will lead to Dressage steps by next fall, maybe some walk, trot, canter classes too. Whatever happens, we will do it together no matter how long it takes and we will be great as a team. We have the connection to go anywhere.

2015 A Whole New World

I am glad 2014 is over. Nothing good came from that year for me.

On to 2015!!

We have moved!!1 Yes we are in beautiful  Camden. We now live on the farm that I ride at. We love it here. It is so peaceful and quiet. Every window I look out has a horse in it at some point during the day.

This town is great too. We have Revolutionary War history here which makes me feel at home and a farmers market that I cant wait for it to open. The Springdale Race track is here and so is the Camden Hunt Club. Maybe in the fall I can go to Try It day.

The best part of living here other than we are back in the country, is that I don't have to drive to go to lessons or see the horses and the South Carolina Equine Park is a 1/4 mile down the road and starting this weekend, there is pretty much a show of some sort every weekend. AWESOMENESS!!!

I am HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY!!!

2014..May You Rot..

2014 has not been a good year. It started with a lie and ended with a show. The lie came with people we thought were friends. The lie started before we left Florida and ended when we moved out. I will not go into detail as that is not right to bash people here nor in public. The truth will come out one day.

My riding went in to a tail spin after leaving TR in May. I only left due to finances and his time being unavailable due to his show schedule. I have been to a few barns and after my BF found the one she did, I have finally landed at a good place. My discipline's have changed. I am no longer riding Dressage due to unable to ride a sitting trot without causing pain in my back. I am able to ride Hunt seat and to Jump without an issue.

I lost over 15 lbs over the summer only to gain it back before the holidays. I am determined that this year will see that 15, plus, come off.

In August we lost our beloved fur baby Nakota. I will tell you that this had an extreme affect on me and I have not gotten over it. I miss him so much and I cry for him when I think of him. He was plagued by seizures from 6 months old and they finally took him at 6 yrs old. He was a puppy at heart and mind and my love.

We moved into a place I would not wish on any one. I cant wait to move out of here. There is one place I would love to live but we may not be able to do so until 2016.

We have a new fur baby. His name is Winston and he is a Jack Russel cross. He is 6 months old and had been used as bait dog in the dog fighting ring. How he survived is beyond me. He is a love bug who just wants to play and be Daddy's shadow.

2014  has been miserable to say the least with a couple of bright spots. I'm glad its over.

Great Weekend For A Show

This past weekend was my first Hunter/Jumper show. I had a blast with a great guy (not just my hubs). Beau was awesome to say the least. We had a great day and he had alot of fun. He spent time at the fence line after we were done looking at the ring and making all sorts of noise.  We did very well for our first time. 1st place in Adult W/T HUS, 2nd place in Adult W/T Pleasure and 3rd place in Adult W/T Equitation. We also got a 1st place for Hunter Hack. Of course we were the only on in that class but we didn't break canter so we earned it and we jumped 2 cross rails. What an awesome show!!! Next show I hope to move up in classes.

Happy Again

I wont apologize for slacking off this time. I have a lot happen in the last few months and finally I am settling down. I have found a new farm to ride at and I love it there. Great instructor and great ring to ride in. Unfortunately Im back out in the weather but I got to do what I got to do.

Oh, the handsome man in the pic? Who is he you ask?  Well that Is Bo. He is a handsome devil isnt he. No he doesnt belong to me. Is my ride and soon to be show partner. Yes I will be showing starting with my first English show in December in beautiful Camden SC.  I will post more pics after the show. In the mean time I am enjoying this incredibly wonderful boy.

Again...

I am getting really bad at posting here. I have been working and dealing with some personal issues at home so I apologize.
  Ok on to some good news and bad news. Lets start with the bad and as we all know you always "end on a good note".

 I have not been riding with TR since end of May. He and his wife (Christine ranks, last I knew, 3rd in the nation in English Equitation), are on the road alot showing. They spend quite a bit of time out of state so I have had to find a barn that is closer to home. I have, in fact, tried 2 places and looked into 2 more. I can tell you beware of backyard trainers. Not all are bad but some should not be allowed to instruct. One place we looked at , the woman was actually sitting at a table outside of the barn door smoking and drinking. For those horses sakes, I hope the FD will get there before they parish. One place was just run down and too many horses in a small pasture. I had one lady who called my and informed me that she could teach me but that from the hoof to the tacking up, it was going to be her way or the highway. On this point I agree with some of that statement but at least let me step into the barn and see what I know before you slam me with your rules. She had an attitude immediately on the phone before I got "Hello" out of my mouth. I tried another place and they were awesome people but again they are a show barn and would be gone a lot and they weren't really a lesson barn. They made an exception because I was riding with TR and they know him. I am grateful for that, Thank you Angie and Kory Merril!

I began to worry that my  riding was over. It cost alot of money to drive 2 hrs one way, take a lesson and drive back. In there is also at least 2 meals for 2 people( my husband is like an American Express card, I don't leave home with out him). So I was spending close to $800.00 a month. I really had no choice but to cut it down to once a month after I had to replace my Jeep. Car payments suck when you haven't had one in 8 yrs.

I did get a lead 2 weeks ago and I will not be looking back. I have found the perfect place for me. The name of the equestrian facility is White Haven Plantation ( http://www.whitehavenplantation.com/. Its 45 min from where we live. Lessons are priced well and the trainers are certified instructors. Ashly instructs all disciplines and specializes in hunter/jumpers. Tay is an all around kind of guy, that has his heart( like mine) in Dressage and is certified to teach up to second level and that will change this fall when he goes for his Third level.  I have been informed that I am no longer an advance beginner but that I am an intermediate rider. Yeah for me! They have a couple of outdoor rings including a dressage ring and an indoor that I love.  I take 2 lessons a week right now and maybe when money gets better it will go to 3 lessons a week. We shall see. All I know is I am doing what I want (Dressage) and will be learning the correct way to jump by some pretty awesome people.
 Oh and on another good note...I have dropped 13 lbs so far and it continues to come off.

This first pic is of Ashly and I with Scooter

This one is of Dixie and I last night. She tested me the entire lesson.