LAST Jump Nite at Wild Run Farm OCT

Angel & I

He is doing much much better now that his drama is over.

We are moving above and beyond

He looks happier...

there is far less tail swishing and teeth grinding...

both great signs of success!

Listening and not pulling reins out of my hands...

staying tucked longer and round before jumping.

Perfect take off... both rears firmly planted side by side... ahhhhhhhhhhh


I even got to take a round on my dearest darling sweet cheeks.... after Haley reluctantly gave me the opportunity.... :)

thanks Haley! I may even give you a credit on gas being your so nice & all !


Not my best side...but it shows her big ol' hooves... and my heels are down
... PHEW!

HALEY RICHARDS!

R U looking down?

BETTER NOT BE teaching my horse bad work ethic!

Haley's best side....

WELL! Cuz she always has a scowl on ...

NICE TUCK BABES!

WOW!

I mean WOW... take off down the runway from a mile away...

she has pegusus breeding I believe it was her moms side :)

See! Scowling... well... not smiling anyway... it was her last go of the nite.... BABY was tired although Haley could go a million more rounds... Baby calls it a nite after 79 jumps!

LOOK at that!

NICE NICE NICE

heels down... and chin up.... hands supporting... and horse happy!

HELLO ...!!!!!!!! PICTURE PERFECT...

oh and of course the fall foliage was just he icing on the cake!

After SEVERAL refusals on a jump already jumped 3 rounds clean

...

it was time for Candace instruction!

You can see Breezy wishing she was in on the scoop...

The "UH OH" you can see in her eyes!

after that ... it was back to the MILE HIGH club!

LIKE HOLY!

Sweet little jumper... this is what SCOPE looks like!

NO WAY NO HOW does breeze knock a jump down

... she might refuse if ILEAN is in the house

... but if all is perfect... her SCOPE gets the job done!

& this is the view of success :)

another nice view of a good "crest release" in the works...

chin looks a little "down" ... if you look close & compare other pics you will see the horse refects the riders perspective on where the eyes are

... HMMMMMM very intersting !

STILL LOTS TO DO

.... but we all are enjoying the journey and need each other to edify the good

and take note of the bad and keep plugging onward an upward!

Good job girls!

... maybe its time for HEP cross country course ?

... and I say....

GO BIG OR GO HOME!

Sadly...

I just cannot say enough about this amazing gelding.

Its sad to come to this juncture as I make this decision.

I have done what I can and will continue to do what I can with him in training until I find his perfect match. I want him to acquire his fullest potential and enjoy the years in his new found career of eventing and jumping.

He is a doll and a pleasure to work with.

I was hoping to be able to bring him along further to enjoy some of the fruits of my labor but it may not be in the cards for me this coming year.

I know he will inspire and be adored by that person he chooses and I know they will be happy on their journey.

Always thinking of you Angel... & knowing that your journey is in a positive direction.

awwwwwww... girls made a video for me!!!!!!!!

I guess they miss me...

"happy times at birchridge! We miss you mean bossy trainer:)
Sooooo.....whens next lesson???
from haley the snot picker!!!!!!"

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Acadia Ride Idea

This is a vid I found of others doing a Acadia ride.... I think we should plan one for this fall!!!!!

What do you think?

JUMP NITE at Wild Run Farm Lyman

WOW WOW WOW !!!

so much learned in short period of time
I think WHY DIDNT WE COME SOONER?
Well because... they have only had jumping lessons for what a month now?
With rain all summer most lessons were cancelled... and we had been working on dressage patterns
Then we started jumping after the BIG LET DOWN with Kaitlyns first dressage show because the judge was less than impressed with her efforts. I have yet to write a letter expressing my thoughts to the SMDA on that one! Judges need to know to edify the good in a nicer way & think about what they say and how they should say it before the damage is done after the fact! That NOT ONLY applies to these youngsters but to adult newbies trying to make their way in the dressage or show arena.... but that GRIPE is for another day.

Lets look at some of these shots shall we?

Baby ... LOOKING GOOD!

ALL GROWN UP ...

& having fun!!!!!

Misty took quite a leap of faith there!

But look at those heels down! NICE JOB! .... & hands placed firmly where they need to be supporting horse and rider... :) LUV IT~!

Looking at next jump where one needs to be... as their horse doesnt know right?

WOO HOOOOOO MISSY BOO! ... Look at that expression!

SHE IS HAVING FUN NOW!

... see when the rider is having fun... the horse follows!

Kaitlyn very intent expression !!!!!

Concentrating... excellent!

NICE TUCK BREEZE!

OOOOOOOOO... mY FaV pic... look at breezy go!

ummmm heels down right?

Candace telling Kaitlyn to keep her eyes up and look onward and forward because Breeze kept refusing jumps... WHY?

BECAUSE Katie kept looking down... so the horse looks down and says "WHAT!!!! ... yikes"

There! MUCH BETTER!

Love it when a plan comes together~!

So we will be doing jumper nite I think every week now until the ground freezes and that will do us all some good and we can learn alot from doing a dozen jump course consistently every time!

The horse may even stop asking why :)

Lucky Clover Jumping Show

... sorry for the late posts. Between going on vaca with dad to Canada on a motorcycle trip and then returning to do hay, I have been busy outside of the horse world.

BUT not to fret... we did go to a show at Lucky Clover Farm in Sanford. Sue Austin owns the facility and most of the kids at the show where from the stable. That alone made it a laid back environment for the girls. They were able to learn alot that day.

Picking n choosing their own classes and asking questions about those classes for one. Making Haley go and sign up for her own classes with her own money for two. Then the getting ready and warming up for three. It was alot for them to digest I am sure. BUT HEY... if they want to show this is what they will expect. GETTING THERE EARLY ~ because ring warm up time is before show time and ring closes ... which is what Kaitlyn found out. She did not get any jump time in before classes started because she arrived too late.

Haley found out she needs not be concerned about others in the ring and do her own thing and CALL the jumps before you go over them. She also learned just because you jump 2' jumps in your own arena doesnt mean you are ready to go to a show at that level.

RULE OF THUMB ~ always show one level under what you work on at home. So you know you are ready when you get to a show.... a show always brings out all the things you have to work on or didnt know you had to work on! RIGHT GIRLS! ?????

I couldnt take a horse because I was the photographer for the show. I promised and I had missed the first show photo ops. I wanted to take Baby to school her but there will be plenty more options later this year :)

I got some great pics!!!!!!

Before classes started... aparently forgot she should put her jacket on....

Breeze looking good... nice extension....

need to get those thumbs up and headset rounder right?

NICE TUCK OVER THE FENCE MISTY!

the judges thoughts and gave some good feedback to the girls...

edifying the good is great!

Girls at basecamp....

wasting time chatting with shared BF instead of learning by watching others in the ring....

that wont happen again right?????

MYOPIA schooling jumper course

A good day... A HOT DAY!

I put Baby away after my second round because I knew she wasnt up for it :) Why push them when you know they are going to crash n burn because their stamina isnt up right?

:)

It was fun... and it was hopefully worth it to get my motivation back to where it was BEFORE all this rain came... my heart hasnt been in it and I havent been working at it ... then there was the Angel thing and this and that.... I feel the odds this Summer have been stacked against me.

The video shows all the best shots and video coverage ... SO ENJOY!

if you want copies of the pics drop me an email... birchridge@securespeed.us

Trail Riding with Mom

Mom on Misty and Me on Charlie jerk head pain in my ass needs to re-denutted

Jim rode Baby who was of course a doll face darling sweat heart!

Coming back out from the trail

PHOTO OP :)

I think the pictures make it look better than it was.

Lets see... the clouds were about to give way to rain which is why the pics came out good

The deer flies were KILLING US which is why we couldnt do the whole trail and had to turn around about 20' in!

Charlie was being a jerk and wouldnt lead... and Misty wouldnt go without a crop in the ass...

what was nice was the breeze in the field and flowers that made for great picture OPS!

So WHO CARES!

It was nice to have these pictures as they are a RARITY!

WOOD BURNING 101

NICE LONG HORN ~ drawn free hand... COOL looking egh?

... my perfect little barbed wire....

Wood Burning the Barb wire first, allowing the center to have Circle M for MORSE & carrying the Longhorns look through the brand creation came out PERRRRRRFECT!

Goes perfect also with those valances I made & the shimmery curtains!

The one over the sink I added the rope to the bottom of the material pull shade to match

Behind the couch... still have to do the couch but I have some great ideas :)

I re-apolstered the the seats to match the curtain... or visa versa really.. as I only had enough material left to do what I did with the valance as you see there... notice the horse hair detail in the center? OOOOooooo ... AAAAAAhhhhhh ;)

Next on the agenda?

WHO KNOWS!

Tomorrow is another day... lets see what's in store shall we :)

Angels Absess

BECAUSE BLOGGER IS PISSING ME OFF ~

I HAVE TO EXPLAIN PICS before my blog... dont ask!

IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER ....

ANYFRIGGINWHOOOOOOOOOOO...

this pic shows the soft section in the white line of the toe ...

I thought would be where the absess would drain

:( but it didnt

Angel Soaking... what a good boy :)


The puncture wound ... OR SO I THOUGHT!

12 hours later it looked like this after I soaked it! LIKE OMG freek me out!

NOW.... the rest of the story....

Well after we got through the Acupuncture and Chiropractic successfully with positive results, the ferrier was scheduled the following week. UNFORTUNATELY, we had several weeks of rainy wet weather and to Angel's demise we encountered a trim to the quick. WHICH means that to no fault of anyone but mother nature and murphys friggin LAW did we end up with an absess. Which was on again off again for 4 weeks until it finally came to a head.

I could ride him some days when he seemed to be better, and now I know those must have been the days when the pressure was finding its way in the path of least resistance and not go out thru the hoof as I thought it would where it all started. I soaked it 3Xday for 6 days in Epsom and Iodine and got a 6 day prescription of anti biotic which I crushed 12 pills a.m. & p.m. in his grain with Bute and his Shen Calm and Joint stuff... then tried... and I SAY TRIED to wrap it and keep it clean in between soakings to no avail....what a riggamaro!

ON the 6th day I noticed this punture wound on the back side of his heal ... thinking well hoping around on 3 legs probaby got him into trouble or scuffed it ... but that evening soak showed the WHOLE heal broke open and looked like dead flesh coming off. The soak caused the flesh to turn white... which lead me to believe that it was dead flesh... OH & the smell! YUK!

I was not happy... and still not happy and I just have to share that I have NEVER had an absess in all my life of horsemanship... therefore I guess I have not lived hugh?

Well things are on the mend... and I HOPE to be riding him again by next week

FINGERS CROSSED!

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE....

crying out loud... I am sorry.. I have just been enjoying the sun! Who wants to be inside UPDATING... when there is sunshine going on outside?



Gosh.. hmmm now where did we leave off? OK... last post was jumping ... the girls working hard at seat and hands while jumping. From there... we had another lesson and I took tons of video of them jumping. Here are the differences between the two.



The bay mare pops over them easily with forward motion only after being confident about the jump at hand. The rider sticks with her horse but needs to work on maintaining the contact throughout the jump. Before, during & AFTER. If her horse tries to run away after the jump, decide to halt after the jump a few times around and get the horse to listen. Taking control of the horse upon landing and not by bumping on the mouth... RIGHT! right :)



The grey mare, has no forward motion and wants to be babysat throughout the course. Finding ways to get out of jumping knowing that the rider only WILLS the horse forward and doesnt take control or maintain forward motion. The rider worries more about falling off and holds on and leaves the horse to jump at will and then bumps the horse upon landing which makes said horse mad and gain speed which makes said rider worry more and think horse with NO FORWARD mtion is going to run away with her. So she bangs on horse and does one rein stops. NOT ANYMORE RIGHT?!!! right :)



After that lesson we decided that maybe the next lesson would be at the HEP cross country course.



I decided that it would be great to condition my steads on the course as well so the first day we took Baby & Misty. They did great... except for one thing... grey mare did tons of circles between 12" jumps to gain the confidence to go onto next jump. INSTEAD of just taking control of her horse, which she is learning to now ... :)

Keep up the good work and the fruits of your labor will be ready to harvest soon!