text: Month: April 2013
  
  So, it’s been a while since I last posted. Sorry guys. I had a blog written about my Thursday lesson, but it was just so negative I decided not to post it. I want to keep things real and write about the good times as well as the bad, but sometimes I get so down on myself and no one wants to read that; heck, I didn’t even want to read it again! So that’s my excuse for the radio silence. Anyways, on to more exciting things… like the schooling show at the farm!
  
  I went out to the barn on Saturday to practice and of course it was absolutely gorgeous out, but it was supposed to rain on Sunday so all the jumping was scheduled to be indoors. Blech. Oh well, April showers and all I guess. After talking with Trainer, we decided on a game plan: I’d show Diamond in Equitation Flat and Vinnie in 2′ Equitation Over Fences and Jumpers. I cried a little on the inside since there wasn’t a single hunter class. I mean, I haven’t shown in Equitation in probably five years and I’ve never ridden a jumper course! All I have to say is thank goodness for being able to practice the day before!
  
  By the time I got there the jump course was all set up in the indoor and it looked really nice, I mean I stepped into the arena and was seriously impressed. Most of the jumps had fancy wing standards with colorful poles and boxes all over the place. I even had a moment where I was just so incredibly grateful to be at a barn like this, with great professionals and a dedicated, caring staff. Anyways, practice on Vinnie went pretty well; I didn’t have much horse and struggled to keep up the correct pace, but at least our “jumper” turns went well. I also flatted Diamond in the smaller indoor to practice for our flat class. She wasn’t bad, but she did feel a little up and I was just a titch nervous, which probably didn’t help her relax. I only rode her for about 20 minutes and called it quits.
  
  Show Day
  
  I woke up early on Sunday and headed straight out to the barn. It was raining by 7 am, so I was worried that the horses wouldn’t get turned out. Luckily Trainer is amazing and managed to get Diamond some indoor turnout time before they started working the ring for the show — thank goodness! She said Diamond ran around like a bat out of hell. We all figured since it was raining there wouldn’t be many haul-ins, but boy were we wrong! All in all we had about 15 trailers plus boarders; It was much bigger than anyone thought it would be!
  
  Equitation on the Flat was first and I had three simple goals in mind: (1) stretch up, (2) keep weight in my right leg and (3) not break at the canter. I’m not an Equitation rider — I don’t have the body-type and I have way too many things to worry about when I’m riding to try to look pretty while doing it. Overall the class went pretty well I thought. I need to keep working on stretching up in my transitions and I caught myself slipping out of my right leg a bit, but I didn’t break at the canter and I did a sitting trot fairly well considering I never, ever practicing it. We ended up 4th out of 8, which I was very happy with.
  
  Equitation Over Fences Course
  
  Jumper Course
  
  Jump-Off
  
  Next up was Equitation Over Fences with Vinnie, so I swapped horses and warmed up in the small indoor over a crossrail. Vinnie had a bit more energy, and I was so proud of him for not succumbing to his fear of the bear that lives in there, haha. We tried to go over the big indoor to stand at the end, which was sectioned off as a “waiting area” but it was so crammed full we couldn’t even get in. So I hopped off and stood in the aisle for a while, waiting for our class. We did manage to get back on and over the arena to school a few jumps before our class started. Vinnie was excellent, even with lots of chaos, including one rider who was having a pretty difficult time her mount. Plus since were up there and ready, I was able to get my trip in early on in the class [there were 11 riders total!]. Overall, I was happy with my ride. We were a little wobbly in the line, and I got left behind a little bit at the first fence. Vinnie doesn’t have flying lead changes, so that always hurts us, but again, I wasn’t really going in for a good Equitation round, I just wanted to do my best to generate and moderate our pace, keep my lower leg more still and follow well. I think I really accomplished all those goals and while my trip could have been better, it was still much improved from our school on Saturday. I ended up 4th out of 11 in this class, and I was over the moon ecstatic!
  
  I took a quick break to learn my Jumper course and went back in. This trip definitely wasn’t as smooth or pretty, but Vinnie was a champ and helped me through it. I honestly don’t remember much about this course — I think I was so focused on where I had to go next I wasn’t paying much attention to how I was riding [which is funny, because even though this was the Jumper course, the only part that was more difficult was 4 to 5… everything else was really set like a hunter course]. We didn’t knock down any rails, during our trip, so we got to do the jump-off, which was super nerve-wracking because I can only memorize one course at a time, so I had no idea where I was going! I had to learn the jump-off standing in the ring, but luckily I had some great friends and the ladies at the gate helped me learn it. This trip was pretty ugly, but my only goal was to get over the correct fences, which I did. Our turn to 4 was really rough and I almost fell off afterwards, but we gathered back up and made it over the last fence. Woohoo! We even got a 6th (!!) for efforts! My first [and probably last] ribbon in the Jumper ring, haha.
  
  All in all, this show was a huge success for me. I’m really proud that I accomplished all my goals, even if they were small and I probably could have challenged myself to do a bit better. These courses were definitely out of my comfort zone and I handled it all in stride.
  
  Yesterday was my regularly scheduled Monday evening lesson on Vinnie, but since Diamond is starting to feel better and come back into work, Trainer said I could flat her before our lesson. So I hustled out of work, slammed down half a sandwich from Subway and bolted for the barn. It was an absolutely gorgeous day: 70 and sunny with just a slight breeze… perfect weather for the barn!
  
  I groomed both horses while they finished eating dinner, tacked up Diamond Girl and headed for the outdoor arena. Diamond hasn’t been ridden outside yet this year, and since she’s been on stall rest for a while, I was prepared for fireworks. She is, after all, a chestnut Thoroughbred mare. But she surprised me by being an absolute angel. We flatted for about 20 minutes, mostly just trotting around, and she felt pretty good. We focused on bending and giving, which was mostly successful. She can be difficult to figure out sometimes, and I’m not always sure how much I can push her. Since I was by myself, I played it safe and accepted the bend and give she gave me. I also focused on keeping my weight down, and sinking into my heels, especially through my right leg. We did a little bit of canter, but she felt wiggly and wasn’t as willing to go forward, so I just did one circle each direction. As we cooled out at the walk, I swear I could feel her grinning from ear to ear; She was just so happy to be outside, being ridden. It felt great to be back on her and I’m so glad she’s doing better. I never thought I’d say this, but I missed that mare!
  
  After Diamond was cool, I rushed back to the barn tountack, grab Vinnie who was thankfully already clean from before, and finish getting ready for my lesson. It was a group of four of us, and everyone’s first time jumping outside this year so the horses were a little pumped up to say the least. We started with just putting a few jumps together and Vinnie wasamped. It was kind of nice to have some get up and go, instead of the feeble kicking and pushing I’ve been attempting in the indoor. Despite how excited he was, he listened and packaged, just like I asked.
  
  Once we were warmed up and knew what our horses were like, we moved on to some coursework to prepare for the show (woohoo!). We had some really fun jumps with pretty flowers and lots of options for turns. I was riding with all jumpers, so they got to do some really tough rollbacks and bending lines. Vinnie and I stuck to our hunter stuff, which is fine by me! I felt like I did pretty well, considering. I either had great jumps, where I found the distance and my legs stayed solid or I had bad jumps where I didn’t see a distance and got jumped out of the tack. I’m choosing to view this as progress because I didn’t have any jumps in which we had a good spot, but my leg swung. Plus we were jumping 2′, which I haven’t done in about three weeks. I’m trying to remember that progress will be slow, especially when I only ride 2-3 times a week and only jump once.
  
  I realized when I sat down to write this blog that I’ve had way more rides than I realized, so there’s lots to talk about. Sorry for holding out on you! So let’s see… Thursday night I hacked Vinnie. There was a big group of us, which is always fun, and we rode outside for the first time this Spring. I admit, I was a little nervous at first because I never know what’s going to set Vinnie off, but he was a champ! He didn’t spook once, not even in the scary corner by the bleachers [which Vinnie believes is a bear cave]. What a good pony!
  
  We started out with a group exercise, all four of us in a line, basically playing follow the leader. Vinnie and I did well, we just lost momentum to the left towards the end of the exercise. I guess our fitness and conditioning is still a work in progress. After that we did some work with ground poles. Vinnie was “on it,” as Trainer would say. He even took a long spot over one of the poles [on the “out” of the line], which was awesome. Vinnie is world-famous for sneaking in an extra stride and chipping wherever he can; anytime he takes a long spot is kind of a big deal in my book!
  
  On Saturday I had an extra lesson on Diamond; it was the first time I’d ridden her in about three weeks due to her injury. She came out a little up, but I kept her busy with lots of circles and changes in direction. She was a little stiff to the right at the trot, but worked right out of it. We ended up having a fabulous lesson and Trainer said we can put Diamond back to work full time! It also looks like I’ll be able to show her in some flat classes at the barn schooling show next weekend too. Yippee!
  
  At the end of the lesson I had a nice talk with Trainer about my goals and making sure we are still on the same page. I’m really glad we talked, because I’d been a little frustrated lately. Of course, it’s been difficult to work on jumping bigger the last few weeks with Diamond out and Vinnie just coming back into work, but still. I have a goal, and I want to stick to it. We also talked about things I can do in my flat rides to work on strengthening my legs, especially my right leg. Sounds like lots of two point and no stirrup work is in my future!
  
  After Visa died, I made a promise to myself that every year on the anniversary of his death [April 17], that no matter what, I would go to the barn. So when that date fell on a Wednesday this year, I did what any responsible adult working full-time would do: I took vacation. Sorry, I’m not sorry. The morning was tough, I won’t lie. I cried, a lot and seriously contemplated not even bothering to get out of bed.
  
  Around 9 am there was a knock at the door, so I shuffled up to answer it. Lo and behold I received a beautiful bouquet of flowers from my amazing boyfriend complete with a heartfelt card. It was really sweet and made me start crying all over again. I finally managed to pick my sorry ass up off the couch around 11:30 to pick up my friend N for lunch. She took the afternoon off so we could eat mac n cheese and fried pickles, and then go to the barn together. I know, I have the best friends.
  
  I splurged on an extra flat ride with Vinnie, and worked on the usual: bending and giving especially to the left and then did an adustability exercise with ground poles. As we rode around N and I chatted about everything: Visa, her heart horse Romeo, riding and showing. It was really nice to just let it all out with someone who understood. After our ride we did a spa day with Diamond, who was especially thrilled to not be in her stall “resting.” I spent extra time brushing out her mane and tail, and just loving on the big red mare. Trainer even came out and chatted with us for a bit, and told me that for my lesson on Saturday I could start out on Diamond to see how she feels! Here’s hoping she’s all recuperated and 100% sound so I can show her in some flat classes at our farm’s schooling show in a few weeks.
  
  Of course, a special trip to the barn always warrants a photo shoot. We even tried to take a picture of another’s clients three horses to send to her in the hospital; she’s having hip replacement surgery and we thought a shot of her three favorite babies would cheer her up. It was a bit of a clusterfuck, but I did manage to snap one that has all three horses’ ears pricked! From left to right: Moiya, Reiki and Bruin; the three musketeers!
  
  After our barn shenanigans, N and I headed up to the local tack store for some retail therapy. Because nothing makes you feel better quite like dropping stacks on stuff for horses and riding gear. I bought a Professional’s Choice girth for Diamond since I’ve been coveting one for a while and since I can’t manage to ever walk out of a tack store without new boot socks, N and I got matching pink owl zocks. Yeah, we’re about 10 years old. All in all it turned out to be a good day. I didn’t do a lick of work for anyone and I spent a ton of time with ponies- which was exactly what I wanted and I kept my promise to myself.
  
  Today I’m writing a blog that I didn’t have the strength to write exactly one year ago.
  
  Dear Visa,
  
  I love you. There are so many things I wish I could have done differently in your life. I made mistakes, but I hope you know that I did my best to correct them and I hope you can forgive me for being young and stupid.
  
  I hope you know that you are a huge part of our family, and that since you’ve been gone, not a day has gone by where I didn’t think about you. I miss you so much.
  
  You were the best first horse a girl could ever ask for. Steadfast with the biggest heart I have ever known, the only time you ever refused a fence was when I was falling off and you swerved so I wouldn’t. You never backed down from anything — showing in literally every class in 4-H and kicking a** in all of them. Together we learned about success (and failure) and you taught me that hard work pays off.
  
  You cultivated my love of horses and my passion for the show ring. You helped me pick my major in college, get my first job and most importantly, you showed me true love. We went through so much life together, that now it’s a little hard going at it without you sometimes. But I’m lucky, because you vetted Sam, and made sure he was good enough, before you left. And you were right, as usual — he’s definitely a keeper.
  
  I hope you know that I’m going to buy another horse someday, hopefully sooner rather than later, and I believe that that’s what you would want me to do. But I also want you to know that no other horse will ever have the same spot in my heart. You will always and forever be my first horse, my first love and I will never forget all that you taught me.
  
  Love Always and Forever,
  
  THE MASTERCARD // “VISA”January 31, 1993 – April 17, 2014
  
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  Hi! I'm Tracy, a full-time marketing and communications professional from Central Ohio. Fly On Over follows my journey as a horse owner and adult amateur trying to find success in the hunter/jumper show ring with my Thoroughbred, Miles.
  
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  Hi! I'm Tracy, a full-time marketing/communications professional from Central Ohio. Fly On Over follows my journey through horse ownership and as a working adult amateur trying to find success in the hunter/jumper show ring with my Thoroughbred, Miles.