SUMMER!!!

It's finally here!

I slept 14 hours last night and the only thing I had to do today was go see Reina. So I did!

Laurie met me out there and we went on a mini trail ride. It was hot, we were tired, but it was so so so good to be out again! Reina was overjoyed to see me and I groomed her til she shone! Her winter coat's about 99% gone and man does she look fabulous! :)

Even though I hadn't ridden in... gosh, I don't even want to think about how long it's been... she was perfect! She was just the same as always, except she was a bit girthier than usual (I don't really blame her though - I could barely fit her girth around her today, I don't know why! I hope it's because she's gained weight, though, haha) and a little more opinionated. But I didn't mind in the slightest. She still listened and wanted to go and stopped when I asked and loved on me like you wouldn't believe because she was so happy I was there.

Chi said she hadn't been eating as well lately, and she thinks it's probably because I haven't been out as much. My poor baby! I felt awful, but there wasn't much I could do. Since I'm done with school now, though, I'll be out all the time!

I also need to get her teeth floated... just have to find someone here I trust to be able to do it for me. Hmm!

Anyways, yup, that's about it. She was wonderful, being out there again was wonderful. Her manners were perfect, she hasn't forgotten anything I've taught her, and she was very level-headed even though we went straight out to the trail. I love my horse!!! :D

Mini Visits & a Whinny

Basically exactly what the title says.

I went out for just a few minutes yesterday because I had to drop off board (my favorite activity.. yay. lol), and I decided to see Laurie and snuggle Reina for a few minutes while I was out. Unfortunately, that's all I could really do, because of stupid finals being stupid. But soon, soon, I will be done for the summer!

Anyways, as Laurie and I were walking up to Reina's paddock, she looked at me, pricked her ears (as usual) and then... she let out a huuuuuge whinny!! I was like, "OMGosh, Rei, was that for meeee!?!" and Laurie was like "well it sure as heck wasn't for me!"

I laughed and said that's the first time she's done that to me - because it was! Laurie almost didn't believe me that Reina hadn't talked to me before. She was like, "but that horse loves you so fricken much!" I'm just glad it's mutual!!

Maybe she was feeling lonely because her buddy Comanche left to be bred to the stud, or maybe she just missed me because I hadn't been out in a few days, or maybe we've bonded enough for her to say hi whenever I come up! Whatever it was, I think it was the cutest thing ever and my heart melted right into my boots!

I stayed for about an hour, loving on Rei and talking to Laurie about boys and school and horses and God and everything inbetween. Reina just chilled, didn't move the entire time but to wiggle her lip at the fence and drop her head into my hands when she wanted rubs. It was adorable and she got 2 peppermints for hanging out with us when she was at liberty in her paddock.

Horses are awesome.
Finals are not!

Engagement Rings & New Trails

Chi's getting married!!!

She went to see her long-distance boyfriend last weekend, and he proposed! Down on one knee and everything! Her ring is giant and huge and sparkly and fabulous. She loves it, and she's so happy, and I'm so happy for her! Yay!!

Oh, and I rode today! Haha. Laurie and I went out trail riding and we adventured down two new paths we've never taken before!

But first, pictures of my adorable horse:

Awww!

Okay, so, we trotted a lot on this trail because it's fun! And Reina was oh-so-good, she was moving off my leg and sometimes I didn't even have to squeeze. It was so lovely! She was so responsive and in tune with me, it was amazing. Totally different from riding Apollo; even if she doesn't know as much, I soooo appreciate her trying! She tries so fricken hard to please me, she's such a good girl.

So both of the trails we took were total dead ends... but it didn't matter, because it was mad fun and we got to explore a little bit! Reina was absolutely perfect and acted just like we were on our regular trail. She didn't look or spook or get nervous at all. I was very impressed with her! I was wondering how she'd be on a new trail, and, well, now I know!

Lookit those cute little ears!

Those are of the second adventure we took, at the end. It's a road! We have no idea what road or what it is, but it was very pretty and Reina was totally unconcerned. In fact, she got impatient when I asked her to stand for pictures!

Did I mention that she was amazingly good? :)

I gave her the second round of wormer today and put on more fly stuff (will discuss that in a later post, but it lasts 2 weeks and it's freaking amazing, I've noticed a huge difference!!)... she's still much thinner than I would like, but would you look at that coat!? Good God is she shiny! At least she's looking much healthier apart from her weight. I'll give myself credit for that, at least!

So yeah! That was about it. I mean, she listened super well. And we got to work on patience, as Rei had to stop and wait for things a few times. She's so silly, she starts yawning as soon as we stop and she'll reach around to bump my boot with her nose. "MOM! MOM! I'm BORED! Can I go yet!?" We'll have to work on that... but it's a far cry from her hopping, head-tossing, pawing, impatient self when I first got her! If that's not progress, I don't know what is!

Hopefully I'll get to go out again tomorrow. The semester is trickling to an end, so all I have to do is study. I'm praying that means I'll get more saddle time!!

Oh, more good news? Totally lost 10 pounds. Reason #5376184789513416 why I love horses: it's great exercise!! ;)

Of Dressage Lessons, Moss, and Fire-Breathing Dog Crates

Is that not the most exciting title you've ever read!?

So, sorry, I know I usually post once whenever I go out, but... I've been busy, blah blah blah, excuse, excuse. Bottom line is I haven't posted even though I've had three horse-related experiences since I last posted and I fail and for that I apologize. The good news is that I have some very exciting developments!

First, Thursday: I rode Rei bareback again for the first time in, like, forever. I think she was a little confused at first: "Mom? Why are you up there without tack? I don't understand." She bumped my foot a few times with her nose so I petted her and reassured her and she seemed satisfied after that.

I was noticing an ugly lack of responsiveness in her turning abilities so I decided to break it back down to the basics that day. We turned, trotted a little (man, she gets bouncy when she really steps out and I'm on bareback! I had to grab mane once, I won't lie!), and turned some more. Within a few minutes she was working off suggestions again, and she felt great! I barely had to twitch a rein to get her to turn, and she was even bending like a real horse instead of throwing herself around like a breathing motorcycle! It was fabulous.

Then comes the fire-breathing dog crate. She's been snorty and puffy at it ever since it made its appearance near Chi's house, so I decided that enough was enough and we were going to work through that little bit of silliness today.

So yes. I despooked my horse bareback and bitless. Jealous? Nothing bad happened, either. No falls, take-offs, nothing. Just some snorting, backing up, and lots of treats, pets, and praise.

A few amazing things happened here:

1. She started anticipating my treat-giving. I think this is due to her nervousness. She'd bump my boot on either side of her if I was too slow in getting her treat and she got nervous in the interim. It was cute, because...
2. This led to her really realizing that Mom's sitting up on her back and my attention/love can be accessed by being adorable and reaching her nose around to bump my boot. She was always very polite about it, but it got to be very obvious that she wanted reassurance. Once I petted her face and told her she was the prettiest, bravest, best horse ever, she settled and went back to looking where we were going. And this, in turn, led to...
3. She'd very obviously try something to get a treat and, when I wouldn't click her, she'd turn around bump me - indignantly, this time! She was clearly saying "MOOOOM, what I just did there was FABULOUS and you KNOW it. Treat plz? Kthx." This is awesome because it shows me (even more) that clicker training really is working!
4. After lots of rewarding her for being brave, I was chilling on top of her and we were a few short steps away from the crate. She, OF HER OWN ACCORD, DECIDED - hardcore decided! - to walk forward on her own, stretch her neck down and out, and snort at/sniff the dog crate. I didn't have to nudge her like I had before! It was amazing! She got a peppermint for that, which pleased her greatly. I was very proud that she chose treat, praise, and bravery!
5. And this is the best of all (as if it could get better?): once she touched and inspected the crate for a few seconds, she seemed satisfied that it was not, in fact, a fire-breathing sharp-tooth-having horse-eating monster of an object. Thus, we start to walk away when... her hoof kicks dirt towards the crate and causes it to clang. She gets scared, jumps, and then... promptly reaches her nose out TO TOUCH THE CRATE AGAIN! Like she was saying "oh my goodness, new buddy, you scared me!! Are you still a vegetarian? Are you sure? Okay then." Once she touched it, she was totally fine. She comforted herself! I swear I was still reacting (or trying not to react) from my horse jumping out of her skin while I was on her bareback. By the time I got myself together, she was sniffing the crate on her own and comforting herself.

It was the most amazing ever. I love my horse, and I love clicker training!!

Okay, so there's the fire-breathing dog crate story.

Now... on Friday...

Moss!!!

My horse loves to eat moss. It is absolutely hilarious.

Laurie and I went on a trail ride on Friday, and while we were walking along, suddenly Reina's face does a nose dive and she comes up with that giant mess of a moss ball. And she chews. And chews. And chews. And ends up eating the whole thing while we're walking along the trail. It was hilarious. Talk about on-the-go meals, lol!

Once she'd finished her giant bundle of moss, I thought that would be it. But no - she kept inspecting the gray spots on the ground to make sure they weren't another moss bundle! Bahaha. She finally found another one that was even bigger than the last one:

My horse is a dork. It was so big she kept nodding her head to try to drop some of it - it was trailing on the ground and she ended up stepping on it and pulling half of it off. Somehow, the other half disappeared into her. How is she still skinny? Seriously.

The only other notable thing about this trail ride was when I showed Laurie the pond. There's a little part of the trail that's covered in a tiny bit of water, and Laurie's mount Louise did NOT want anything to do with that water. Reina loves water, but seeing the seasoned trail horse balk, she decided she didn't really want to go over it after all.

I whipped out my clicker skills (I don't use an actual clicker anymore.. I just click with my tongue) and Rei and I were on the other side, Reina relaxed and grazing, within a minute or two. Louise still didn't go, though, so Reina and I headed back over the water (she didn't even look at it at all on the way over... what a good girl!) and we went around the other way. Best horse ever.

And... dressage lesson! I actually had that today, because last week my back was acting up and I had to cancel. I rode my new trainer's horse, Apollo, who's also a Thoroughbred. He's 4 years older than Reina, though, and much better trained (hopefully Reina will be that good in 4 years!!). He also looks and rides like a Warmblood, which isn't necessarily true of my slip of a horse, but I don't care - I love her!

My trainer's place!

Anyways, I worked on keeping Apollo working round and in a nice frame with light contact. I worked on making my hands quieter (hello, lightbulb moment!) and remembered what having a horse ride off my seat felt like (ie, great!! haha). My trainer gave me some tips about how to start with Reina, taught me how to ask for a leg yield properly (I'm not very good at it, though, according to Apollo), and had me practice long and low on her horse. I'm excited to teach Reina about that one; I think she'll really like it.

I have so much to think about now with her! I'm going to start lateral work on the ground soon, and work on her listening to my seat and legs more than my hands and voice now. I think that'd be a great place to start so we can have some really awesome communication going on between us. I taught her to work off my seat at the trot a little bit, but I'll expound on what I've already got and teach her to steer without me having to rely on reins so much.

Also, if she doesn't start gaining weight soon (I'll give the dewormer some time to do its thing - a few weeks, maybe), I'm going to have to call out the vet and find some way to pay for testing her for stomach ulcers. I hear they're common in TBs, especially high-stressed ones, and, considering Reina cribs already, I don't think it'd be much of a mental stretch to imagine that the stress that caused her to crib (I assume) also may have caused ulcers. I would do it sooner, except for the fact that I'm completely broke already. I'm really hoping the deworming will do it, but somehow I doubt it!

Sigh!

But in any case, we're making great strides and I'm very excited about working with my new trainer. She's going to help me be a better rider for Reina and I so appreciate that! I can't wait until summer comes so I can start spending all my time at the barn instead of studying!!

Videos!!!

So! Today I visited the baby foal, and she was adorable. I was just watching her, but when I squatted down, she moseyed on over to the fence and stuck her little nose out! Oh gosh, it was adorable. I petted her and loved on her and snapped some pictures of her being fricken adorable.

Investigating.. me! Cute!!

As I walked away, she put her little nose through the gate to watch me go!

Chi had to leave for work, but Laurie was there. Unfortunately, she was too sick to ride, but she agreed to video tape me riding Reina! So, without further adieu (they get better towards the end in case you want to skip to the best ones!):

Sorry there's so many... but, well, these are the best of the bunch! There are more on my youtube channel if you care to see the rest, but there's not much I left out.

We look so amazing together! I'm so proud of us. We've come so far!!! Oh, and this is the first time I asked her to do figure eights, circles, etc., so she behaved really well for never being asked to do those things before! What a good girl.

Apart from that, I contacted an eventing trainer, and I'm going to go take my first dressage lesson on her Thoroughbred tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes! She sounds great on the phone, and if it works out, I'll probably continue taking some lessons on her horse so I can learn. She also said she'd be willing to come out and work with me on Reina as well.

AND she's affordable! I'm so excited!