OFF TO ROLEX.... WOOT! WOOOT!

ME & ANGEL! ... I KNOW! Looks like him doesnt it?

Hey and I lost a ton of weight too! CoOL!

KIDDING!... Not me... or Angel.. THIS TIME... but soon!

That would be Missy Ransenhousen on Critical Decision

Well I have been busy getting in my last rides to hold me over the 5 days I will be gone. Cleaning, organizing and making sure I have grain and bedding and the fencing is up and troughs are filled. I am sure I will not remember everything but all is done outside, raked and mulched and organized so now I can concentrate on packing. The weather forecast calls for 70-80 degree weather. Its raining right now and good that KY is getting that out of the way, because aparently ROLEX is known to have less then fair weather conditions. That be the reason we chose the covered premium seating. What a great time we are going to have! I will miss my riding time and most of all morning walks to the barn with my two Schnauzers but I am sure I wont have time to think about them while I am there soaking up the sun and all the goings on!

The youngest ROLEX rider being 18,

Madeline Blackman on Gordonstown

Phillip Dutton on Connaught

Buck Davidson - Bruce Davidson's Son on My Boy Bobby

Allyson Springer on Destination Known

I will have my NEW Canon 50D Camera in hand tomorrow! PHEW... but really doesnt leave me much time to make sure all is in working order before hitting the turf! All those new buttons and gadgets and settings... AIIIIIIKE! But the plane ride will hopefully allow me time to familiarize myself with it to get me by... ONE and ONLY chance to get great shots of great riders at the GREATEST event... NO pressure Naw... nahhhh ... uh uh.... really no dont worry about it ... I got it covered... huh... puuh... yah...


Anyhoooo onto other news.... Charles was riden today. He did beautifully with his headset and understanding inside rein inside leg... NICE! And wasnt too bad to lounge or work with tacking up. Hmmmm... there is a connection here... WORK = NICE.... & NO work = DINK.... oh I get it! :) But really... the kids are well.. Angel is still "off" and upon my return I will make sure I have a commitment to 3 sessions with Tusch for Chiro/Acup to right the poor man. I know that Tusch will get him right so we can continue on with our progress.


Baby on the other hand... a little handful on the lounge and then... badaboom badabing... beautiful goer. Haley offered to ride her for me while I am gone as she has done such a great job with her the last two times, I have faith in her to CONTINUE her education with INSIDE REIN INSIDE LEG and not allow her to trot around the arena with her nose out... RIGHT HALEY! Thank you again ... you know that all that work will come at a price right? The price is get it RIGHT or forfeit your special gift from ROLEX! So I know you will do it all so perfectly while I am gone and I will be ready for my first dressage test in May ... and SO WONT YOU! :)


Lastly this will be my final post until April 28th as I will be checking out my competition in KY and taking notes on what motivates me to getter done and GET OUT THERE!

Cant wait to post my next post with all the wonderful things I will have to say.

YOU ALL WILL FEEL LIKE YOU JUST GOT BACK TOO!

It will be like you went without leaving and didnt spend a dime!

LUCKY YOU!

:) until then keep it on the rail and tune in next time!

TWO THINGS....

First off... I ordered NEW DUBLIN Aristocrat Field boots as I needed to replace my Mardens special Effingham field boots... they are not the new "high style cut" and certainly dont fit my calves the way they used to. NICE quality boot... unfortunately... not for me any longer so to EBAY they go and I found the new ones on EBAY for $99 including shipping. NICE quality... gel heel insert... WOWSY... surprisingly nicer thank expected and ratings on reviews were high for these boots too... couldnt wait to get them out of the box after UPS delivered and to my dismay... my calves are APPARENTLY NOT REG.... WTF? They are not fat BUT Dublins may run tighter than expected... OR I need to come to the conclusion that I should have ordered WIDE... but that is like ordering a size 16 or 18 in womens... NOT GOING TO HAPPEN! :(

Nice anyway... and I must work towards getting into those babies too!


Secondly, TOMMY GIRL needs a forever home. Percheron Mare... broke to ride by Mike Benson but hasnt had consistent time spent with her. Quiet mare, in need of attention. Would love someone to love on her & shed her out! See ad:


Tomorrow is riding time... have given ALL the horses a week off hoping that would help whatever has been ailing them and get back to RIDING! I have spent all week on my iron hoss enjoying the weather and getting my friend her permit time desperately needed.

OMG! HEART POUNDING.....

almost cant type honestly.... I mean really! Skip the gym and do bidding on ebay and your heart is going to pound out of your chest! CRAZYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!

I am sitting here cool as a cuke and just watching the last 26 seconds tick by when refresh ... refresh... still the highest bidder then ... WHAM... ugh oh... the other bidder realizes and YIKES... shit she is onto me! and she starts bidding ... but with only 12 seconds left... my fingers are crossed that she wont dump it up another 10 bucks and I will be free!


AND .. it pays off... phew! I MEAN PHEW! I cant afford it which is why I wait until within the last minute an then put in my highest bid... and then cross my fingers! UUUUUUUUUUGH


Heart is pounding! and my hands are shaking! What is up with that!

HEY it was worth it though! Check out these babies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and now I am going to bed as it is 11:49 and counting!

As The World Turns at Birch Ridge Stables

Well... boring I must say. Except.... expensive too? FIRST: I had the vet come and do shots. So we all know how expensive that can be with 3 horses right? Secondly, the findings of the vet to include what we knew all along ~ Angel has an unlevel Lumbo Sachral and will need Chiropractic as well as, acupuncture to hopefully help his balance to allow us to move forward with training. LUCKILY - I wasnt able to send the check in for the VT Adult Eventing Camp, as I was waiting for my Coggins to come in. Luckily I say because Angel seems to need far more work than I had anticipated. The vet asked me to commit to at least $320 for 3 visits of chiro/acupuncture and then we can go from there. THEN: MON the farrier came and while he was trimming Angels pasture buddy, Angel was defiant by tear assing around the pasture in deep footing which I would later determine why he was"off". That evening I took him in for a curry and to ride, but noticing that he was holding himself in a manner that resembled being impacted? He was also not putting much weight on one rear hind. Farrier? Pulled muscle? I decided to massage him and do several back stretches on him and between sets... then pulling slightly on his tail, just enuf hoping to release muscle tension. Well the next morning showed me he was WAY off, and he really didnt want to walk to the pasture. Watching as he placed his rear hooves flatly and softly as he exited the barn.... ??????? He was sore. I buted him tonight and took note of his movements on the way in the barn. Then I brought the youngsters in ~ Charlie and Baby in from the front pasture. I happened to be behind Baby as she walked toward the barn... and she is OFF TOO! WHY? It must be the trim job. He didnt take much off? Maybe Dry dry pastures? They do have alot of "hang nails" on the heels... so I decided to goop them all up with Hooflex on their coronary bands and massaged it in hoping to add moisture to their feet. One 4 and One 9 and both with same symptoms? Weird. I will call the farrier tomorrow and ask his opinion. I will then make a call to the vet to see what he has to say. I know my horses, they are off. I will take note of their stalls in the a.m. and see how much they moved around or if they were irritated overnight also.

Sunday Charlie had a swollen knee but he moved out fine so I rode for 15 minutes. Baby hasnt been riden in a week?... and neither will Angel until this is resolved.... unless the Bute and/or the hoof oitment did something overnight. We shall see.

Its the never ending saga of having ONE horse to ride out of 3 or 4. NO wonder Phillip Dutton is taking 4 (FOUR) horses to the ROLEX!

Which BTW is only 7 days away now! WOOOOT WOOOOT!
Truthfully it will be hard to leave them unless this is resolved!

Note: I will not be using the loose snaffle on Angel as recommended by Tom Davis... Angel hated it and I feel it is undoing all the gain that we have made in the last 4 weeks. So I am going back to a regular snaffle. Secondly, I have purchased a figure 8 noseband to allow for less interferrance around the bit. I have also ordered some nice leather Dublin boots that will fit my calves! I have some awesome Effingham boots but the calves are NOW too tight and all the leather wrinkles at the ankle and caused blisters. I cannot continue to ride in my Danskos with 1/2 chaps...my small toes are crushed by the outside iron! I am not comfortable ...and my riding therefore sucks.

I am actually still up and its 11:23 p.m. in hopes to outbid some YANKEE on some awesome tendon boots, leather ... and of course BLACK! Nice looking ones... and comes with matching rear fetlock set! Dreaming and hoping to use them someday and give me a reason to sell my other black ones... and upgrade! Sooooooo

Fingers crossed everyone...

wish me luck...

10 more minutes....

DRUM ROLL................................................

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Kaitlyn!

A post!
Especially for you!
WOW... arent you the shizzznit!


Just to keep you in the loop... Lessons start May 2nd!
You are more than welcome to trailer in for your 60 minute session.
Hoping if and when you do

we can pick right up from where we left off!
Well of course after a special initiation test.

Be ready!

Your test results will be posted for all to see! :)
Contact me for more inforamation!
Hope to see you both in the arena soon!

I say lets do MOUSAM again this year!

Good date to work towards! :)

Another dreary day...

...but we need the rain to fill the wells that water our horses dont we? I was able to work Charles before the vet arrived to do Spring shots. He was a his typical charmer self... NOT! Worked him to a lather so he wouldnt give the vet trouble. All the kids got their shots. 5 way, rabbies and two got coggins. Budget is so tight I couldnt do the sheath cleaning this time around. Knowing that Angel will need some work on his Lumbo Sachral - may be able to do something next time. Dr Tusch wanted me to commit to 3 acupuncture sessions to correct some "issues" he has with his back. If I am going to be eventing him ... seriously in June... it must be corrected now to give it time to develope correctly before an event. Thank GOD I have items on Ebay for sale an will be sold to give me play money for Rolex and maintenance money for Angel.

I rode him today in the arena. Avoiding the frozen banks I created by plowing last week. Its worth it to have an area to work them though. I rode Angel with my bareback pad in the rain because I have been dying to get on since WED! I know WED! Well with their shots on Thurday they havent even been themselves until today. The rain the sleet an then down pour sent Angel and I in after 15 minutes... we couldnt take it anymore. He was wanting to just run on the lounge so bad. I want to bring them up to pasture on WED so they can enjoy just that! I will have my camera in hand and ready to capture all their loveliness while they run carefree in the field.

Unfortunately somebody is going to have to stay home.... Charlie heads or Tails Angel. Poor boys... cant have them both up there at the same time right off as Charlie Jerk starts too much trouble and Angel has no idea where the boudaries are. With the girls eating close by I am sure he wont get carried away, but if Charles were there I am sure he would drive him right through the fence or into the puckerbrush and then it would be Charlie Shiskobob time!

So until WED its raining and dont expect a post of me doing nothing but dreaming of the ROLEX! As we are down to 16 days away! YAY!!!!!!!!

This Ones For The Girls....

because I have two girls that love to take vids of their horses, I figured I would post this one I took especially for them.... dont know why but I did. This makes two posts for today!

Being Sick of Being Sick!

Well last week I was able to get in a ride on Wed & Thurs. But by Thurs it was evident... I was going to be sick with hacking, coughing, and nasal congestion! I went to bed early, I drank tea with lemon and honey. Then it hit by Fri night and I had to cancel weekend plans that dont come around too often which was unfortunate. Friends up from CT, which my husband was able to attend without me. My father was supposed to come down for a day of shopping. HEP was having a fund raising fish fry in Buxton, and fortunately Joyce offered to be me, the Secratary and lend a hand which I thanked her for. Sun nite another dinner in Sanford with friends and the whole time I am home blowing my nose and trying to get rid of all the crap rattling around in my lungs. I hope now I am on the mend as I have lost 4 days of riding! The first weekend in a long time that I havent rode... and I am none too happy. I have lots to do before I go for that eventing clinic. I will lose another week of riding while at the Rolex. Upon my return I will be heading up to Manchester for a saddle fitting - reworking session at Tresure Equestrain Center. I am trying to make sure all my T's are crossed and I's are dotted before getting too far along in the wrong.

Tomorrow is another day... today is dreary and rainy and all are out with the rain slickers on... and I am in putting tack up on EBAY for sale as I need to raise money for these extra curricular activities I am hell bent for leather on !

A Photography Contest MUST VOTE BY 31st!

Take a look at these nice pictures I entered in a photo contest to win $100 at Dover Saddlery

BUT... as it turns out the photography is not judged on what or how the photo was taken, nor colors or feeling that the photo created within.

Instead it is based on votes within the equestrian club members so...

PLEASE VOTE FOR ME!

link is:

http://www.clubequestrian.com/photos/gallery/best_horse_portrait_supported_by_dover_saddlery/1/3.aspx

bottom row across from left to right

you can vote once for each pic if you so desire ... its easy enough

ENJOY!

Charlie Charlie Charlie

... well.... I wish I could geld you again! You are such a jerk and such a love ... what is it?

I mean really what is your deal? I cannot figure you out. We are always at odds until we finally get to some kind of agreement prior to mounting. Havent you realized yet that I just want to ride? Get you out of the house for a bit and enjoy the scenery? Dont you like that? I mean ... your not like Angel, you dont have seperation anxiety! But the rearing, striking, kicking, fighting, thrashing head has GOT TO STOP!

Teeth are coming in and those gums looked rank for while. I wonder if the feed bothers your guts and your pissed off about that. Are you just an Alpha because Misty has allowed you to get away with it and you think it applies to all areas? Or is it "D" all of the above? I could be just making excuses for you being that I want to "label" it maybe? I dont know but I am sweating and physically exhausted after riding today.

Beautiful day and great idea... lets trail ride up the road. OK ... except its dump day. A short stretch before the pavement ends and cars etc. Good to expose him to and was ok on the way up but did jump down and walk him to the dump. Got back on and rode fine. Way home... MR Dink arrived again... and rearing and traffic... I had already jumped down to get him over... but he wouldnt... luckily I had the rope halter on under his bridle and gave him some of that but he was throwing himself into me as he didnt want to walk on the shoulder.... I mean HE KNOWS what he is going to get when he messes with me... I make no qualms but he just didnt care... so then... unfortunately I had to resort to banging on the bit to get his attention... and I got it! I was mean ... but it worked... he walked ever so carefully home, without running me over and staying on the shoulder... I mounted up at my driveway and rode up the hill. I was huffing and puffing... and cars are going by ... some people wait... others impatient and I was thinking he was going to kick them for sure... as he does have heels that fly quickly out the back.

Somehow way down inside I would have wanted it to happen just to say "well WTF folks... you see me having trouble with my horse on some back road and you have to crawl up my ass? Well that is what you get!" But I dont need the drama in my life either! Been there done that ... years ago!

A SMART ride in Berwick years ago we had to turn around and head back due to an injury and only 3 of us on the side of the road... around this time of the year.... ice puddles... dirt dead end and some lady is coming for us... crazy lady... I was 2nd rider back... a beginner rider in front and behind... and this lady is veering for us... and gooses it to spook our horses as she mashes thru the ice puddles and sends shit all over us... hollering something as she flew by....

WELL>>> YOU KNOW she didnt expect me to haul ass after her either! GOOD ol Spicie up for a fight! We tear assed down the road after her... she cant go faster than a horse on a pot hole infested road... her car is shuttering left and right and she is trying to get away....she didnt take into consideration I would catch up! I came up on her and she smashed on the brakes and I see reverse lights come on! She was trying to run me over too! I cant use the kind of profanity that came out of our mouths at each other on here... but you cant bet I told her she was going to jail for this in so many words. I called the cops when we got back to the trailer an reported her ass.... come to find out ... the license plate didnt match the car description... NO REALLY? HUGH... no kidding that is the kind of people that would do that you know! She lives at the end of that road FIND HER OR I WILL! Apparetly it wasnt the first time! The person putting on the ride has had to deal with her before on several occassions... but not horse riding related. Anyway I had 3 written statements from us explaining what happened... and when it got to court the DA called me prior to, saying it more than likely would be thrown out and that I should vouge for a written copy in her file and somin' or other.... by then months had gone by and I was happy to not have witnessed an accident with any horse or rider. So I let it go. I shouldnt have but I did... WACKO!!!!!

AnYHOO>... didnt expect that story to come out ... but there she be.

On a good note... Charlie is bending beautifully... unexpectedly advancing quickly with that knowledge... HE IS going to be handsome when he fills in and grows up! Might want to check back then!

Last Minute Trail Ride

We decided after we were all done with giving lunch and throwing hay and shedding horses in the sunshine... "wanna go for a trail ride?"

WELL YAH!

So we tacked up and headed up the road. It WAS nice when the idea was agreed upon... then it got cloudy and blustery and started to spit snow! I mean C'mon! We want to get out of the indoor and just breath fresh air for a change you know? A change of scenery for the horses... I am sure they appreciate that right? So off we went anyway... and the spitting snow was really coming at that point... we didnt care... we were out... and it stopped, then started, then stopped, then sun ....

...then came the cars, truck, and dump runners, the soft shoulders, & the mud puddles. Further on up the road, came the ciaotic dump on the left, pavement ended, a dead porcipine and more mud. SOMEBODY... I wont say who... wanted to turn around before we even hit the 10 minute mark... SALLY SISSY WOOOSY!

We pressed on beyond the big culvert with major water to the right and left close to the dirt road... EEEK they said in unison... TUFF I said louder! Then crap... truck coming and snowbanks framed us in ... but a turn around up on the left meant... UGH... crossing that intsy weensie... water run off... Angel the brat... I had to jump down or the truck would never be able to pass... OH GOSH... ya thanks your welcome... now to mount up on the 17H fancy footer.... a rock? Nope not that one... too close to trees that like your knees! Ooooo how about that one... right beside that big mud hole hugh? Great idea... ya... it actually worked and he crossed back over the run off with the girls without question.

Pressing on led us to a deer carcus..... more mud... heavy sleet... deep mud ruts.... and finally our destination atop the big hill overlooking the power lines and mountains.... we made it PHEW!

Oh and looky here... the sun came out and shined down from heaven on our dear Missy Boo.

Then we turned around and Ahole By Night... decided to rear and whip around... making everyone else uneasy and then JIGGED the whole way home.... which is why the picture taking ceased :) :(

Using that opportunity to bend and collect and sidepass... left n right ... left n right.... we marched all the way home....

And that return home reminded me of all the trail riding I used to with Spicie and how tired I was after riding.... and here we are! I have come so far yet... I have so far to go! But below is are darling Baby - Wapsinyowallet... trotting delightfully along with Haley - collected and happy... why cant we all be so lucky.... ??????