I am a doofus.

Yes, that is just what I am. A complete and utter doofus.



See, I have this gorgeous horse, and most of what I do is NOT RIDING HIM. Argh! I worry sooo much, and do all kinds of strange stuff. Just look at this, I bought him a halter in the colours of his breed association. As if he gives a flying fuck?



Posing at a lake. I should have ridden him there - pah. The photographer, who owned a horse herself when she was younger (14.3 hh I think) asked me if I would jump up on him for the photoshooting. Aaaaah.. No, I dont think so.




But hey, at least.. I can show him off.

(Yes, I did ride him today again, and yes, it was horrible and I rode like a sack of shit, and no, I did not canter, even though I want to like nobodys business!)

With a bit of luck I will start out with lessons with two other persons in March, they are OK, the woman more so than the man, and I am hoping they can teach me the basics that I so desperately need - and want! The other trainer did not pay enough attention to the basics, IMO.

I remember

I remember then chickens! The birds in the cage! The nice little room where I slept! The plastic flowers! The outhouse! The little toilet by the barn that was still in use - with the tub you'd pee in.. I remember the little boat with water and flowers in it! The rabbits! The green yard with little trees, and the pear tree! The old kitchen with handmade counters! The giant bed in the master bedroom! The 50 year old Telephone! I remember the goat! The car without seatbelts! The neighbours horse! Vividly remembering the television, the mucky smelling carpet, the little dogs that bit, the little house on the lawn where I learned to play poker, the stoneset hedge in front of the house, the warm embraces when I came, the little rake and shovel to use with the flowers on the windowpane in the "Nice Living Room", the age-old "His Masters Voice"...

When I was 5, coming on 6, my mother had a big operation 800 km away from where we lived, staying there for two months and immediately after going away for 6 weeks for recreation. Meanwhile my father was almost always down there with her, my mothers parents were down there the whole time, and my 3 yo brother was either with them or my fathers parents the whole time. My older brother (7) and I were at school, 1st and 2nd grade respectively, and were either tended to by my father or this woman, Anita. Warm, motherly and becoming. She was supposed to stay at our house, but often "happened" to take us home with her. I loved it there. She was most always alone, all kids grown up, husband working as a trucker. When my mother was home again I would often visit Anita, and until I was 12 I felt as if her home was my second home. Then I kinda grew up, and it was not as inviting there anymore. I guess I got too old to be cute, or something. Today I got a call that the husband has died, and Anita is moving out. The place is by far not the same anymore, I have not been there for years. Some of the things, like the goat, have been gone for nearly 20 years. But I still remember..
Sigh..

Sorry for the OT.

On Topic: I had a girl sit on Cargo today without saddle, while teaching him to stand by the mounting block. Hes good, but still wont stand still when I place him beside the block in the corner. I may have to figure something different out.

How easy is it to make me happy?

Very easy, apparently.



Just look at my pretty boy. So relaxed, so calm and at ease. It has come recently, with ground work and a lot of carrots. I had the hardest time to get him to go away from me :) This is a really good picture IMO, the sky is so incredibly blue and clear and the stomach feeling I get from looking at it makes me all fuzzy.



I also got this shot. A quiet, contemplating horse. Interested in what I am doing, alert, but still resting.

Today I borrowed a saddle because I need a new one. It was very interesting how I rode much better in it. I concentrated much better, and when trotting I could post much better, and sitting was much easier. I did not once encounter the "Foot through stirrup" problem once, which has been my constant enemy for a long time. No bracing against the cantle. I sat the trot, relaxed, draping my leg. It was amazing. I got approving looks, which made me incredibly happy. Kimber rode Cargo at the canter, and he looked so very very good. She did a really good job at it. I wanted to do it myself, but we were 6 people in the arena, two of them newbies, three of them doing dressage work, and I just could not see myself trying to navigate my "little" boy around all of them. It was hard enough at the trot. When he was finished he was quite tired, so he got a little sun while drying off, and a warm blanket while I ate cake *yumm*. After one hour he was already dry again, munching his hay. Umpf, the BO wants to limit how much I give him because he is very much afraid of colics. I am, too. An empty stomach that produces gallons of acid while the horse has nothing to munch on except for straw that can block his intestines.. Not my horse. I know plenty of people who give this type of hay ad libitum, or 30-40 pounds a day. Cargo "only" gets 20 pounds, thereabout, and he is a big horse after all. The BO hands out 2-4 pounds, he told me himself. I dont like that. All my googling and asking knowledgeable people has shown that I am not doing anything wrong. Sure, if it is very wet I will not give him as much, but right now it is nice and he can get as much as he wants.

Another adventure

We are embarking upon the adventure called "Custom Saddle" and "Riding without saddle for months until it arrives". I look forward to it. It was only possible because I killed my savings book that I have been putting money into since I was not yet born.. lol. I am very happy.

I tried to get up on him without a saddle, but I have decided to buy/try a Sheepskin Saddle/Pad. It has a cantle, room for the withers, kneep rolls and everything. But it does not have a tree. Secretly hoping I can buy one used, if it works out what I have in mind, I might have it by the weekend!

That amazing Being

Oh wow, Cargo-Argo was good today. He was very forward, which was good. He has had a lot of time off since last wednesday - I lunged him Thursday, rode him Friday, then he had Saturday off, we rode the trails for an hour Sunday, Monday I wanted to ride but had forgotten there was a meeting I had to go to, and yesterday he met the vet for his yearly shots. His teeth were floated too. So he should be good to go for another year!
He was very forward, and more giving than usual, more supple. I actually had to practice my half-halts, and we did many transitions because he was constantly running away from under me! Now, what a change in the horse. We did circles, the big ones were OK but with the small ones he was not so sure - so we did a lot of them. Shoulder-in, shoulder-out, leg yielding, you name it. He was on the bit more than he was not, so success! When we were almost finished I asked him to pick up a canter, and he instantly reacted and jumped forward into a big bold canter. Weeehee. I get more and more familiar with that gait, and soon I am sure we will be able to do good transitions from the canter too, just as I am now able to, sometimes, keep him on the bit in my transitions walk/trot/halt. Right now, when I try to transition to the trot from canter, he gets heavy in front and "falls over". My fault! But oh my God, he is such a good horse. I am sorry to leave him when I have to go home, want to kiss and pet him just one more time!

Rest for the weary.

Cargo was only longed Thursday, worked medium Friday, and got today off, too.
I did try to canter friday, but we only got a few steps in. I think I was too tired afterwards to do something really. It is a shame that I am so out of shape, I wish I could ride more! At least I have tomorrow to look forward to, there may be a trail ride :) Always being in the indoor arena is really getting to me.

I had Lis over this evening, and she showed me some of the horses she had ridden in the US when working with a lady called "Shawna", talked about the lady, and showed me pictures of her mare that she has borrowed a friend, because Lis dislikes mares just like me, and prefers geldings. I showed her pictures of Basse, sniffed a bit, showed her the video of me testriding Cargo and we both had a laugh about how much better he and I look now. Then I showed her pictures of when I had the professional photographer out who took pictures of Basse and I in August.



She was quite excited, and we agreed to get together and get him out sometime in the spring to take pictures of us. We were pretty positive that others would want to join us, too, so we could get a good deal. Seems the price had gone up some since, but a quarter, but meh. If I want something, I should be ready to pay what it costs, and I really got it for a steal last time!

Onward

With Basse, it took 4 months to get to the canter. With Regina, her owner chased her with a whip the second time I rode her. With Cargo, I did try cantering after 2 months and 10 days. Today, 3 months and 1 day after I got him, WE DID IT! I took my own sweet time, we have trotted so much, walked, and I get better every day, I dont believe we have started cantering one day too soon. Last time I tried on him, I think I made the mistake of starting at the end of a long side in the arena, meaning he could not go forward and "find our balance", plus I leaned forward, let go of everything and so on.

But, to be honest, I think his canter is the easiest thing I have ever sat on. He canters incredibly smooth. So now I can learn how to canter, too! I have set a goal for us to ride a beginners dressage test around May 1. I will need to walk, trot and canter relaxed 20 m circles and trot a ½ 10-m circle. All but the cantering circle is easy-peasy, so I am looking forward to the test :)
We also did some acceptable sidepasses, but man is it hard to control my body with those long legs dangling and the hands and my shoulders and the horse is losing his butt..

(I made my teacher laugh out loudly when he told me the horse was "Losing his Butt", and I asked him how I was supposed to remedy that, after all I could not pick it up and put it in my pocket!)