The Show

Welcome back!!
So in the time that we were apart I went to an 'A' rated show. Let me tell you - it was a blast! I took little ms Diamond and she was the bomb. It was her first show ever and she handled everything like a pro. Was it because of my training or was it because she is that cool of a horse - I don't know but whatever it was ... it worked for me. We went in the Hunter Pleasure classes and she placed a couple of times. Her owner and I were so pleased. It was nice to be in with the pro's and showing against the big time horses. It was unfortunate to see some of the pro's treat their horses the way they did. Jerking on their mouths and kicking them with spurs... I Promise you that horses are the most forgiving animals ever. They let us ride them and when they make little mistakes we go off on them and they try to do what they think we want them to do. If they don't do it right we go off again - and the horse just keeps trying. There are a few horses that will buck or kick in response to our actions. Personally I think some of these trainers deserve the bucks and kicks. I'm not one of those trainers - I am good to the horses I train. But I saw a lot of those trainers at the show ... I wanted to jerk some of them off of their horses. Then again I saw a lot of horses misbehaving that needed to be disciplined. Those were the ones I wanted to ride, so bad. The people on them were mad, but it looked fun to me. One horse was being so bad that his rider almost fell off. It was entertaining to watch. Of course I was watching all of this while trying to warm up my own horse. You can tell that I'm slightly ADHD. English horses, western horses, hunter horses - they were all at this show and a lot of them were really nice. One of these days I will have a really nice show ring horse. Until then I will be content with my eventers. My friends from Shadow Ranch were there at the show. They brought a bunch of horses down to show in the sport horse divisions. Shadow Ranch was where I got my start. They were there to stay all weekend - to show in Dressage and Sport Horse. I hope they did well. When I left they had already had won one championship. It was nice talking with them and seeing their horses. My real good friend brought her horse, Danny, I told her he looked fat - but really he just looked filled out. I wish I could have stayed to watch them show more but I was ready to leave. And Diamond was ready to leave as well, she was worn out. I did however call my friend when I got home to see how she did on her first level test and apparently all went well. It was a good show... I really enjoyed it.
As for the rest of my gang - all is well. Shamrock is the next to be shown - she is really going nicely. I can't wait to see how judges like her. Bruno on the other hand is giving my sister a bit of a time. He frames up so nicely - but it's not consistant. That and he won't jump - he bulldozes the obstacles. I've tried everything and he still just plows right through it. I had to school him some the other day. He is bull headed.
My two girls are doing wonderfully - Mia is still growning and Hart is still ms personality. I can't wait to show Hart again later on this season. She's a great horse. Speaking of great horses - I heard about one while I was at the show. Blossom my old mare; apparently the Shadow Ranch gang saw her at their last show. She wasn't doing so well due to rider issues - but it was nice to hear that they are showing her. Hopefully the rider learns to work Blossom correctly so that they can be successful. And my other mare Passhahnn - she is doing well apparently with her new little girl. They will be showing rated next year so I hear. Too bad I will be at school and won't get to see it. I'm sure Passhahnn will do wonderfully - she is an awesome mare. Ha as long as you don't try to jump her.
I'm very excited it's almost the end of the month which means I get a new group of horses to work with. And that is always a good thing for me, I get bored easily. The group I have now is a great group but they are passed the hard stage. Although today Torque had some issues - not too sure why but he'll get over it.
Well - That's all for now folks - tomorrow is Sunday... and I have get cleaned up for church.
Peace Ya'll

We're Getting It

So, today I rode little Ms Diamond and she was great! I think she is catching on. We're going off of the farm tomorrow to ride. It's going to be exciting. I'll see if she performs off of the farm, as well as she does on the farm. If she does well tomorrow then the show will be a breeze. If she kills me tomorrow than we might have a problem. Do you all realize that I only have a week before this show? DL - if you've been reading along with me than you remember her - is all for it. She is all for supporting me and telling me to kick butt. Gotta love her. At least I have one brave supporter who is all for getting me killed :) I think she would prefer if I lived through it but if I don't she will at least visit my grave.
Speaking of DL - she's discouraging my idea of breeding my mare. Not because she's mean like that... but because I'm going to school in March and I'll be gone for nine months. She is afraid that I'll worry myself to death leaving a pregnant mare behind. I've got to hand it to her - she knows me pretty darn well. I want to breed my mare so bad though. I found this huge stud that's really nice and just what I would want AND the price is right ... but the timing is all off. I really want a foal - one of my friends just had a foal a few weeks ago, a little arabian foal... he's really cute. Made me want one. Of course my thoroughbred foal would be a lot bigger than the little dishy arabian - but it would give me something to work with. AS IF - I needed something to do. I'm thinking about for when I get out of school though... it would be a perfect time to have a foal!! But DL is right - I would worry about the mare and the foal while away at school. But breeding the "perfect" event horse for myself would be ideal and fun. What's the "perfect" event horse? Oh, bay, 17' hands, ideal conformation, lots of trot and a personality/temperment like my mare!
My day was a typical day at the barn. It was extremely HOT. Me and the horses were drenched in sweat. There was "Torque" the big sweetheart himself. He got a little bit of an attitude with me today. He doesn't buck, all he does is shake his head and run to the center of the arena. Which he tried to do three times!! But we worked through it.
Then there's the love of my life "Shamrock" - she's having to learn the same things Diamond is learning (except we aren't pushed for time). Walk to canter transitions... correct leads... stuff like that. She's doing alright with it - she gets mad at me and crow-hops or kicks out. As soon as her coggins gets here I'm signing her up for the next dressage show. I've been working her on circles and sometimes she gets lost and just ... goes sideways. A dressage test should be interesting. Riding her is fun... she's like this little pony and I'm not used to ponies. I'm used to big 16+hand horses... and she is probably 14'3hands. We tried going over poles yesterday - and going over the poles wasn't a big deal, going through the standards was the big deal. It was cute - she got all excited about it but wasn't excited enough to actually go through the standards. I'll have a time teaching her to actually go over something.
"Bruno" arrived early this morning. He is my kid sister's new mount for the show season. He's green and just a baby - but he is a pretty cool dude. I think the two of them will do alright - he might be a little much to handle for her for a while - but he'll settle down. I might have to ride him at his first show but after that they should be good to go. His owner wants us to teach him to event... we might just do that. I'll see what I can do. I might have to push my little sister a little but she can handle it. She's a good rider - and a good rider always needs a little push.
As you can tell - I don't have another life besides horses... I'm sure you have figured that out. But don't worry - occasionally something exciting happens and when it does, I'll blog about it. But until then you will just have to deal with my every day life. Check back tomorrow I'm sure something exciting is going to happen with Diamond. And if I'm alive I'll blog about it. :)
Peace ya'll

WOW

WOW!!! Have I mentioned lately how great God is? He is so flipping amazing that it sends chills down my spine. He has blessed and blessed and I Couldn't thank Him enough for it.
Today was entertaining... wait let's back up - this week has been entertaining. I met a guy, I'm taking this beautiful horse to a show, I am getting two new horses to train, pony rides, church... crazy stuff.
Let's start with the beautiful horse. She is my trainee "Diamond" she is a beautiful arabian saddlebred cross. I broke her and she has been in training for about a month and a half now. She's been doing wonderfully. But at some point in time this week I decided that she needed to go to an 'A' rated show. Incase you don't know... 'A' rated just means "where the pro's are". Her owner is trying to sell her and what a better way to advertise than a show where a lot of horse people are. Now, I realize that this is kind of soon to be taking a baby horse to a show. I mean after all she's only been broke a month and a half!! "Kristan are you crazy?" NO... I'm just heavily medicated :D I'm praying like mad that this little horse does the trick and catches the judges attention and that the judges love us. I'm praying that all goes well and we are successful at this show... but I also have the understanding that Diamond is a baby and it's a first for her.
Today I was riding Diamond and I realized that when I have a big show coming up... I move into training mode. Normally I do the necessaries; walk, trot, canter, circle, frame, bend, and maybe jog if the horse is western. But typically that's what I do when I train, those are the things I work on. But now that I have this big show coming up I'm doing the real stuff. The transitions, the leads, the head set, the extensions, the hand gallop... and transitions are the biggest. I worked on transitions and leads for twenty minutes on Diamond today, that's not including the other usual stuff we do. I think she got my point. Poor baby. It's rough having a real trainer on top of you.
I have two new trainee's coming in. One is a western pleasure trained quarter horse and the other is a green broke appendix. I'm looking forward to both of them. The quarter horse will be fun because he already knows all the ropes, all I have to do is sit there. And the appendix will be fun because I get to teach him to jump!! I love jumping.
Today was kind of fun... I'd say more entertaining. My Dad is a preacher and his church had a tent meeting today with dinner on the grounds. He thought that it would be appropriate to have a horse there to give pony rides to all the kids ... so I got good ol' faithful out of the field and took him to church this morning. Since we were outside, and the only chairs to sit in were metal ... I decided to get on "Ripley" and sit on him during service. I got to use my new western saddle which is very comfortable. Ripley was a good ol' boy during service, he just kind of walked around the tent... ate some, attempted to go under the tent (That was fun). The service was good as well, in case you were wondering. It was funny because my Dad preached on Balem and his donkey - It's in the book of Numbers go look it up. After the service people ate and then the time came for the pony rides. We had kids lined up - but the funny part was when the adults started lining up! Every age from 1-70 years old rode Ripley around the yard of the church today. And I think the adults were just as tickled to be on top of the horse as the kids were. I found it very amusing... just the fact that it takes so little to make people spark up. I know we rode around at least 20 people... I rode around the wee little ones and then I lead around the rest. I am now worn out and sunburned. As for Ripley - he was a little annoyed and a tad bit tired... but is now happily resting in a pasture. He's a very good , patient boy. I don't think my other horses would have done it so willingly. In fact, I know that Hart wouldn't have put up with ONE of those kids... not to mention 20 of them!! Hart who is by the way, back undersaddle. And I am loving every minute of it. This horse is amazing to ride... I can't even begin to explain it. She is refreshing and enjoyable. I think I smile the entire time I ride her.
As for me... I'm off to cure my bad case of boredum.
PEACE YA'LL

Jobs

I wish I were on talk radio sometimes so that I could say "Good Evening Everybody Out There" and have people actually hear me. Because I say it in a very fun, welcoming voice that is very up-lifting. But since we aren't on talk radio - we will just start typing about what's in my head.
Well, we might not go into detail about my head because sometimes that is scary. :)
Lately I have been dealing with my career ... training, selling, breeding horses. I love my job, if you haven't noticed. I consider myself very blessed and I'm probably one of the happiest people on the planet when it comes to work. I'm going to school to ride horses!! How great is that? Today I was listening to my sister and a friend talk about school. They are both in college, both want to be educators... and I listened to them tonight and they didn't sound excited about their career choice. The only exciting part I heard them speak of was the possibility of teaching abroad. They were talking about classes that they have to take, that they are dreading. They were talking about classes that they took that they hated. The hassle, and the time that they are putting into their education so that they can do something that they call "a burn out job". Uh... Hello? Who wants to go into something that you know is going to burn you out eventually? Go into something you love dearly - that you enjoy - I don't want to do something that I'm going to hate three years down the road. What's the point in going to college for that? Spending all that money - wasting all that time... I don't get it. This my friends, is the reason I didn't decide to become a veterinarian. My career choice is hard. It's hard to make money in my profession. Infact my trainer took on a second job recently because the horse business just wasn't making it happen. Does that scare me? Yeah - it does. To think that one day I may not be able to afford to pay bills because my job just isn't paying... that bothers me. But I've constructed a plan. See, the people I see struggling in my profession are centered on one discipline , or one part of the equine world. I want to be a part of it all. Western, saddleseat, hunter, eventing, dressage, jumper, reining - I want to do it all. I want to breed horses on the side... and the school that I'm gonig to is going to teach me to do my own farrier/blacksmith work to save me an expense. I'm not going to limit myself to one thing, because when you do that you cut your own pay check. I'm working hard to build my pay check up. I'm taking all the lessons I can, in saddleseat, western, dressage... all of it. Because I'm not going to be lacking in business - and I'm not going to "burn out". I might be put out of commission for a few days due to being hurt on the job. Haha - but I guess every job has it's pro's and con's.
Speaking of jobs - tomorrow my job is to hold horses for the vet and farrier. So for now... I'm off.
Peace ya'll

Do it

Hello My Loyal Readers - and all the newbies.

Let me tell you - stuff just keeps happening. I'm exhausted and it's not looking like I'm going to get to sleep any time soon. Tonight is hopeful - I'm excited.
So to keep you all entertained I will tell you of my successful adventures in my little horse world. Wanna see something pretty?
Beautiful isn't she? This is my current love. "Shamrock" - currently under my training and soon to be shown by yours truly. She is so good under saddle that I can not wait to see what she is going to be like in the show ring. She is wonderful in the making.
In other news - the horse business is good. Days come and go, and during your day you do things, or you don't do things. You make decisions and you make mistakes and you do what you do. And as you know, I ride horses. Some people don't understand what that means. That means that I think, that I concentrate, that I balance, that I direct, that I ask, that I tell, that I fall sometimes. So far this week I have not fallen off :) this is a good thing. I have this one horse - she's mine actually, my love "Hart" - and she has this 'but you love me anyways, right?' personality. When she does something wrong - she shoots those big brown eyes into your gut and says "woops, I sowee". Then there are other times, like today, that she misbehaves and than runs for dear life in the other direction! Whether that direction be the opposite way or be on top of you. She's running no matter what!! Today it was on top of me - no worries, I stood my ground - but as soon as she stopped running on top of me, she looked at me with those big brown eyes and said 'I love you please don't discipline me'. Ha - she's adorable. All horses have personalities but her's just sticks out more then most. I was very concerned for my girl Hart last night - because a growth showed up on her jugular. The vet is coming to check it out Thursday, I'm hoping it's just nothing, but there are many other things that it could be.
Getting a business started is a pain - advertising is a pain. Flyers to be made, business cards, references. References can be more of a pain then anything - I have plenty of people who will refer me, that's not the problem. The problem is getting these people to mention my name to other horse people. I realized today that some people just aren't into helping others out. They're in it for themselves and only themselves. It's sad really. Then I look at these people and I see their success - or lack there of... and it doesn't bother me as much. They'll get what they deserve. They're getting it now, and no, it's not fame or fortune. Sometimes what you work so hard to build up back fires on you - and you end up with too much build up and not enough of the stuff to make it work. I'm building something, but I'm doing it with the right attitude. I'm not really better than anyone - I'm just average. But I will be great one day... watch and see. With God's help and a little bit of training - I can do it.
Well, Do what you do and let me do mine. Peace