Autumn Refresh

After last week I definitely needed to recharge and I decided that I was going to spend the whole weekend recharging my batteries.

walking to the get Carmen I spied this 4-leaf Clover.
I decided it was a sign

Of course that involved doing horse things. I had no major goals for schooling. Just to sit on Carmen and see where we were with things and go from there. 

This weekend also marked the start of deer hunting season. Which means that a little extra caution is required. Last March I found this orange fly veil in a sales bin and I snatched it up. When we were tacking up I put it on Carmen and she immediately shook it off. 

Carmen: I hate this colour on me. It doesn't go with my eyes

Me: It's for your safety. Besides, it looks lovely. 

Carmen: It's just so not-cool. 

 

I hate this bonnet. And you. 

Friday Julia came out to ride and we started with a ride on our little trail. Both horses were a bit excited but stayed well behaved. In the ring Carmen was really good. She thought about being distracted but was easy to redirect. We had some lovely canter work and I was super happy with her.   I asked Ed to come up and take a photo of us in our hunter orange.

safety first 

Saturday I rode her by herself. She was a little more feisty but we worked through it. In my Johanna lesson she talked to me about weight aids. I tend to put too much weight in the stirrups. She asked me to think about how much my legs weigh. Don't tell me, just have a number in your head and have only that much weight in the stirrups.  When I think about it I can feel my seat get right into the saddle and I'm immediately more balanced.  I've been really trying to use that. When I focus on it, it really works and she can't dislodge me with any antics.

we had our first hard frost this weekend

I love riding in autumn. The air just feels so nice and fresh. And the bugs are gone.

If it wasn't that it meant that winter was just around the corner I would really love it. 

Sunday I arranged to go to Coveside and ride with a new riding buddy. Nancy was not available but this person was. Carmen was clearly stressed about getting on the trailer but when we arrived she was  just 'oh, it's here. Okay then'.  As we tacked up we chatted about our horses. She told me that her mare was pretty good on the trail. 

Carmen is good too on the trails. I will tell you know that if you run we're probably going with you.

When I walked out with Carmen to mount the amorous donkey came up to say hi. 

Well hello there little lady. How you doin'?  I didn't see the look Carmen gave him but he veered off pretty quickly. Mare glare. It's real folks. 

I have to say that the two mares were great together. They walked at similar pace. They were pretty chill with one another too. It was a lovely ride in the woods. 

As we walked along Carmen dropped her nose to check out a stump that was recently cut. I let her reach down to it when she suddenly popped her nose up. I laughed. I totally saw that- it jumped at you!' She sniffed and walked on. After that she was rock steady. Even when we encountered Dianne walking her dogs and an ATV. 

I could do this all day

It was a great weekend and just what I needed. My batteries feel recharged and I'm ready to tackle the world again.

Embracing the Zen

This morning I put Carmen on the trailer and we headed to Coveside to ride the trails with Nancy. I ended up being a bit earlier than anticipated and they were still cleaning the stalls. But, because everyone is so nice, they let me throw her in a stall anyway.

My plan was to quickly park the truck and then take her out of the way. I figured we could practice our ground work in a new setting. But when I got back to the barn Nancy was there so we decided to quickly tack up and get going. Carmen was hilarious.
Carmen: no, I can't go yet. Look they are just bringing the hay. Go have coffee or something. 

I was mean and took her out anyway. We did a bit in hand and then she lined up at the rock wall so I could get on. As soon as I sat in the saddle she was raring to go.

C'mon. Let's get this show on the road! 

I had her wait for Nancy and Beau and then we headed out.

These rides are so good for our confidence level. Carmen clearly had tons of energy and I gave her the rein and let her go.  I let her look at things and praised her when she passed scary things.

how we spent 95% of the ride. 

Up until now we've been following Beau, but shortly into the ride she passed him on a hill and kept going.

Me: I guess we're leading now

Nancy: Great! 

This was so exciting because it's been one of my goals for Carmen. I even had been working on a plan. This plan did not include that she would decide to do it.

I spent the whole ride letting her make choices. Sometimes she lead. Other times something seemed too scary and we let Beau go first. This was particularly true when we went through the section where we had encountered the grouse before.

We passed (and were passed) by gators, cars and other machinery at parts.

She could have cared less. The first time she had one ear on me and one on the gator. I just left the rein long and stayed relaxed.

In one section a squirrel ran up a tree. She leaped sideways and then went back to riding (although she did send it a dirty look).

She also stopped at the top of a hill to look through the forest. I let her look and determine that there were no bears, wolves or grouse and then walk on.

When we got back to the barn we were greeted by the donkey. He's gelded but thinks he's still got it. I also think that Carmen is in heat because he was quite interested in her (unlike before).

Hey girl, did it hurt when you fell from heaven? 

Donkey: 'Can you take me to vet? 'Cause I broke my leg falling for you'

Carmen: ....

Donkey is your name google? Because you are what I'm looking for

I put Carmen in the stall which had some hay in it, much to her delight. As she hoed into it the donkey put his head up.  Hey, is that salad for two? 

Carmen: um, Mom, what is he doing? 

I don't think I want to date a donkey. Or anyone, really. 

I brought the truck around and when I opened the back he looked like he wanted to hop in.

When I brought Carmen out she hopped right on and we hit the road.

I love that we are doing so many fun things this year. And I love the confidence we are gaining in each other. Even when she jumped I was able to immediately let the rein go and carry on.

In the 100 Acre Wood

On Saturday I had a grand adventure planned for Carmen and I.

Well, not 'grand' so much as 'fun'.

Part of my process goals this year is to do things without worrying about perfection or even perfect control. So I arranged to meet up with Nancy and hack at the barn where she boards. It's the one with absolutely stunning trails.

just as magical with other characters...

I gave myself some extra time for loading, just in case. But I didn't need it, although clearly a bit tight she walked right on. At the stable we were greeted by two small goats. Nancy asked how Carmen would be with them. The truthful answer was I don't know. The other half of that answer was that I wasn't all that worried.

I grabbed a photo of the adorable goats at the end of the ride

The cute little goats were very curious and were climbing on the ramp of the trailer as I dropped it. Carmen gave them the hairy eyeball but seemed unworried. She unloaded and headed into the barn. She always seems so comfortable there. Part of me would love to leave her there for a week to get used to all the things.

You may remember the donkey too. He was not to be overshadowed by two hooligans.

love that nose

It didn't take long to get ready. I asked Carmen to line up by the rock wall (which she did like a champ) and we were off. Carmen was exactly as I expected- up and a bit tense but not melting down. I gave her a long rein, relaxed my seat and we followed Beau and Nancy. 

And we stayed on the long rein for the whole trip. A couple times I shortened the reins to prevent a potential crash but I never held her. Even when we went by a small 'sculpture' of rocks piled on top of each other. Carmen looked, said 'meh' and carried on. 

tempting to trot/canter here but the ground was still a bit soft. 

When she wanted to stop and look at things I let her.

The trails wind through woods and up to fields. There are lots of hills (big and small) which are great for conditioning.

Can you see the view behind me? 

I look at these photos and I love how solid a horse she looks this year.  She has filled out nicely, I think.

Shortly after this photo (I think) we were walking back along an open area when all of a sudden all hell broke loose. A grouse flew off in a great flap, Carmen said EEEK  and spun and I tried to say 'whoa' but am pretty sure it came out as 'ARGHHHHHH.

Even the redoubtable Beau jumped. Nancy was perfectly calm of the four of us. After her jump Carmen turned back to watch the Grouse flap off. 

Carmen: WTF?

Me: god I hate those birds. 

My heart was pounding- mostly from the bird. They get me every time (I call them heart attack birds). We both took a deep breath and I dropped the rein and we walked on. Carmen was keeping a suspicious eye out but didn't become a basket case. 

Frankly I don't blame her.

that tail! Believe it or not I've trimmed it 3 times this winter

We finished back at the barn tired and happy. I loaded Carmen and we headed home. She spent that day and the next being very relaxed and mellow. 

I think it was a great idea to head out so soon in our riding season. It's all part of the plan to mix things up and keep them interesting.

Body and Soul

Before I get into the post let me share this:

This was shared on my wall by a friend on FB. It seems that my photo of Irish and d'Arcy is a meme. Which is pretty cool. 

Things have been interesting with Carmen. Every day I see a huge improvement in her attitude and demeanour. And I don't think it's the training (although that is helping).

I think it's the gut medication.

When I think back, the wheels started to come off in early August after we had been at two shows back to back. I think that she has acidosis or ulcers. The medication I have her on is more for symptoms, not for healing so I will call my vet on Monday. I think she will need a round of ulcer meds and then will need them in the summer. In terms of her management I don't know what else I could do in terms of that to help her.  Maybe I'll save that for another post.

I feel guilty about 'blaming' Carmen when I realize that she was trying to show that she was uncomfortable. But she's not always easy to read and guilt is a non-productive emotion so I will try to let it pass and focus on the lesson.

Anyway, I had made arrangements with Tanya and Nancy to go on a trail ride at Coveside. You may recall that I went there last year and had a blast. Now given that last week Carmen was basically unrideable this may seem like a bad idea. But Carmen is generally better on the trail and around other horses and I wanted to add in some fun. Because lately life has not been fun for or with her.

On Friday night I was sneezing a lot but didn't think anything about it. Saturday morning though I woke up with a searing headache, sore throat and achy body.

Oh no.  

I made sure that I rested as much as possible on Saturday- other than taking care of the horses, dogs and doing laundry I rested. Ed was pretty sure I was going to cancel but I was determined to go. I hooked up the trailer Saturday evening and crossed all my fingers when I went to bed.

Sunday I did not feel good at all. But I could walk and decided that I was going anyway. Ed said nothing but clearly had opinions on this. But who knows when this opportunity was going to come again? So medicated, loaded my pockets with kleenex and put Carmen on the trailer.

I met up with Tanya and another young girl (Leah) at the stables. We parked and unloaded the horses. Carmen stood there looking around but didn't move her feet. We put the horses in stalls and then headed back down and got our tack.

can we talk about how adorable this donkey is?
Carmen was fascinated. Irish would have lost his mind. 

When I mounted Carmen in the arena she immediately tensed and felt defensive. I walked her in a few circles while the others mounted (the young'un got on from the ground).  We walked out and headed for the trails. Tanya's young mare was quite excited to be on this outing and pranced around looking adorable.
Suzi 'oh this is so fun, where are we going? What's that over there? Wheee'

As we walked out Carmen became more and more relaxed. Honestly you guys, she was incredible. We walked most of it on a loose rein. Not at the beginning- there were some granite rocks that she was highly suspicious of.

As we headed into the woods she let out a big sigh and her ears got floppy. I was able to let her walk out on a long rein.

honestly this property and trails are amazing

I occasionally had to take back the reins- she was striding out so well she wanted to pass the leader. And over bridges- just to make sure that I had her between leg and hand. But she walked over them with total aplomb. Which was great for Suzi because it helped her to just follow us over.

see my left hand on my leg? the other hand is on the buckle.
(I have my safety vest under the red vest making me look bulky)
PC Tanya

There was a lot of hills which was great for working her back and hind end. At one point we were below a public trail and a bike went by. Carmen looked at it Oh hey, a bike and then carried on. The things she did look at were cautionary and not near death experiences. Between being ill and the medication I was unable to be tense which likely helped a lot. 

I don't know how long we were gone. An hour maybe? When we got back to the barn all of us were very happy. The weather was cool but the colours were lovely. 

Suzi looking happy and wondering what her next
adventure is going to be. Carmen is in the stall next to her
eating all the hay she can stuff in while we get ready to leave

When I got home I realized that I was going to pay for this morning. I am now feeling even worse and my body seems rather pissed at me. 

But that's okay. 

My soul is happy. 

#noregrets

Unleashing My Inner 12 Year Old

Most of the time I ride alone. When Cynthia and Julia were able to come regularly I didn't mind because I had company some of the time. The nice thing about returning to showing is it allowed me to reconnect with old riding buddies.

One of those people is Tanya. Back in the day she showed her chestnut mare, Duchess and I showed my chestnut gelding, Irish. It was fun.

Now here we are with new horses. Tanya has a lovely dark bay QH mare and has been cleaning up at the shows. They are both so steady and harmonious. Tanya also doesn't live that far from me (30 minutes by trailer) so I invited her to come and play with Carmen and I on Sunday:

The weather all weekend has been fabulous- 25-27 degrees every day. It cries out to be enjoyed. Sunday morning I was walking the dogs when she texted that she was on her way. I took a short cut with the walk and headed back because I had been super lazy in the morning and still hadn't dragged the ring. I did my quickest drag ever and hurried inside to put on my riding clothes. I was just organizing the barn when she arrived.

Irish was so excited while Carmen affect indifference.
Irish: Oh hai! You are new. You are so cute. Are you staying? You'll like it here. I can show you where all the good grass is and we can gallop around. The servants are too bad, you just have to remind them of things sometimes. Do you know Duchess? I really liked her. She was nice. How's she doing? 

Suzi: .......

Carmen:  Irish! Stop it. You're embarrassing me. 

We let Suzi settle in her stall (I love having a guest stall) and we had a quick coffee/tea and chatted. Then we tacked up the girls and headed up to the ring. Tanya got to see how easy and well behaved Carmen is around home. Poor Irish was quite broken hearted to be left behind.

Aren't they cute?

Carmen was a bit tense to start but with reminders about bending in the corner and the distraction of a new horse she quickly forgot to worry about things.

My focus the last few rides has been to really tackle the stiffening through the corners, especially when we are coming around the diagonal. I've been adding in 10 m circles in each corner. This has helped me to be laser focussed on the bend and using Carmen's anticipation of what is coming to my advantage. It's been working too.  I was quite happy with how well we have been working together the last few rides. Tanya also got to see how Carmen can flow when she's relaxed through the back. We practiced our counter canter and it was just so easy.

Suzi was looking really good too and didn't seem bothered by the new surroundings. There's a lot to look at from my ring and she seemed to take it all in stride. Tanya noted that she was more 'up' than normal. Which shows that how a horse feels to the rider and how she looks can often be too very different things.

At one point we stopped and rested the horses and had a chat. Carmen thought we were done and was not impressed by the return to work.

Carmen: um, what are you doing? 

Me: we just had a rest and now we're going to do some more work. 

Carmen: Excuse me, but I think that you meant to say 'great work Carmen, now let me give you an apple and turn you back out'. 

I knew what was coming and I wasn't surprised when she gave a large spook a few minutes later. With a Ha! I'm on to this game Missy!  I put her in a tight circle and made her work hard and then went back to what we were doing. That was the end of that.  I finished with working on a few walk-canter-walk transitions. The walk to canter is pretty straightforward for her but the down one is harder and she trots a few strides. But I'm not too worried about it at this point- we were just able to actually canter straight in June.

After we rode a little longer we decided to go for a hack in the woods. Carmen was great about dropping the gate but when Suzi left before her she got in a snit and would not stand while I reached for the dressage whip (it's great for swishing flies). When I asked her to stop she decided to back up and after a little bit of this I said "oh back up? Sure. I love backing up. Let's go!' and backed her all the way to the end of the ring. This time when I walked her forward and asked her to whoa she stopped like a civilized horse.

Tanya wanted to play on the bridge and Carmen was happy to demonstrate. Suzi was not so sure about it but managed to get over part of it. We headed off to the woods with Carmen leading the way. Turns out that Suzi has not been on a woods trail before. I was proud of how good Carmen was leading the way and not being concerned about anything. Even a squirrel that ran across the path. I reassured her that it was armed and she appeared to believe me.

my favourite view

We stopped and I tried to take a selfie of us. Suzi did not want to stand still and I suck at selfies so it wasn't a total success:

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We did a couple loops through the woods and then walked up to the barn. Tanya wanted to go back up and try the bridge again. I wondered how Carmen would take leaving the barn and heading back up to the ring but she seemed resigned to her fate by then and walked up with just a sigh.

We stood there and coached Tanya through the bridge and she was successful!

trip-trap, trip-trap over the bridge

We walked back down to the barn and dismounted. (Carmen: thank god). 

It was a great day. I loved playing ponies with Tanya. I was thrilled with how Carmen stepped up and was the 'grown up' horse. We definitely are going to be doing it again. 

If you are on FB there is a hilarious parody about old ladies and ponies here. 

Succeed or Learn

I want to thank everyone who gave me kind and supportive comments about my show experience- both on FB and on blogger. I do recognize that it was just one day in a show and I really do need to put it in the perspective of our whole season which has been very successful.

I can get a little driven in things I pursue (shocker I know). When I was in University and saw that I have made 95% on an exam my first thoughts were 'what the heck did I miss?'

So it's not surprising that I viewed my inability to get Carmen on track as a failure. But my rational brain knows that it was a learning experience. That is what I would tell myself.

So I've been thinking a lot about this and not sure how much sense I will make.

Because I don't think our test ride was about fear. The incident in the warm up was based on fear. For whatever reason, she found the walker with his dogs super unnerving. While I will concede that she was definitely wary about the open door in the ring she is not afraid of the ramp or that corner. We've ridden by it so many times and I can stand her there and she is totally relaxed. I honestly think that she spooks when she doesn't really want to work. If I get too reactive it escalates but I also can't have her bolt so it's a fine line and one that I don't always get right.

I have to be okay with not having it right all the time.

When I said that Carmen's 'nope' is dangerous, I wasn't really meaning in the ring. My biggest fear is that we will experience something like that when we're out.

I do recognize that she is far more rideable then ever and that sometimes regression will happen.

I do want to focus on the fact that I was able to address it and show her that this behaviour is not the answer.

I took Monday off. While I don't know that Carmen needed a day off I really did so I had a nice and lazy day visiting with family and puttering around. Monday night I set up a small course of obstacles in the ring to play with.

It's hard to tell from the photo but I set up cones for weaving, an L to back through, a landscape rail for side passing, two jump standards to pick up a water bottle and bring to the next one, three cavalettis 12 feet apart, a rope gate and my bridge. Julia joined me to play and despite the heat we had fun. Carmen started off a bit spooky but I ignored her and played around the ring. When she would get distracted and trip over the cavalettis (at walk or trot) I just supported her and let her figure it out. 

Backing through the L was interesting. I can back Carmen up with little difficulty but as soon as there are poles involved she gets really frazzled. And no, I don't think it's me- I honestly feel relaxed. I tried to break it down to step, halt, step halt but she began to fizz and spin. So I put her in a trot circle until she settled and then offered the halt. After about 10 minutes I was able to do the back 1 step, halt, repeat through one part of the L and I gave her a ton a pats. She looked at me as though to say 'is that it?'. 

Honestly, I think she gets frazzled if she's not sure of the answer or if she thinks I'm going to get after her for not doing it. After we went for cool down hack in the woods and she was on a loose rein and relaxed. 

she stuck her face in the spray, note the tongue. 

Today Carmen was back to her old, calm self. I'm sure the heat and humidity helped with that but it was nice to ride a horse that met me half way. We played at schooling and then incorporating the obstacles. It was fun. We even cantered the cavellettis- twice! It was so cool to get into 2 point and let her go through. I could feel her adjusting her stride to make it work and she didn't even get frazzled or annoyed with me. 

I decided we were done so we did the rope gate and stood on the bridge waiting for Julia. I felt Carmen begin to stamp her feet and was surprised because this is not like her. I looked down and saw a bunch of wasps coming up from under the bridge! 

CRAP! I walked her off and she was all 'meh'. Which is surprising because I would view a bunch of angry wasps as a legitimate excuse to run away. 

Someone explain my pony to me please. 

We hacked off into the woods, again on a long rein and she was as mellow as could be. 

happy, relaxed ears

Winter Wonderland

I didn't ride Carmen at all last week. Between weather, work, my medical tests and her teeth appointment it just wasn't happening. I had hoped to ride with Cynthia on Saturday but we had bitter cold and snow so we went Christmas shopping and had lunch out instead. After she left the weather markedly improved but I was home all alone and I thought that given the bolt last week I probably should have someone around. 

I took the dogs for a walk and I realized that the snow was powdery and perfect footing for riding. I sent a text to Ashley inviting her to come on Sunday to play. She was game and brought along Julia. The sun was shining and it was a lovely winter day except that it -5 celcius, with the wind the windchill was much colder. I thought that we might be crazy but it was still too good a chance to pass up. I put on some layers and we got the horses ready. 

Both of them were full of piss and vinegar energy and enthusiasm. Carmen was definitely tight but I put my whole attention on keeping her attention on me. 

AS we were riding Shanea came by to visit (not teach but I'm hoping that she can soon). She gave some good advice for us which was essentially inside bend and ride forward. I was struggling to not ride defensively given last week but I wasn't horrible. 

At some point at this will be a passage, right now it's really just prancing. 

 But she didn't bolt. Or even give a big spook. I could feel a real difference with the contact since getting her teeth done. I do think that this added to the issues I was having because today felt more like our normal excitement.

 I love riding in the first snow- the tracks are so fresh and the horses really pick up their feet.
Today was not about schooling anything- it was just about playing in the snow and enjoying the time.

Look at Irish having a ball. I need to do a post on some positive things about him that have been happening.

Shanea drew a heart in the snow at one point. 

 Despite the cold I was toasty and warm.

The footing under the snow was nice and solid. I didn't mean in my last post to indicate in anyway that my missing Steele meant that Carmen was not my heart horse. In many ways we really suit each other.

she has helped me reconstruct my heart. 

After riding we went for a little hack in the woods. The horses were up but really well behaved. After  Ash, Julia and I warmed our hands and bodies with some hot chocolate. 

It was a cold but magical day and just what Carmen and I  needed. I hope it was good for Ashley and Irish too. 

The Adventures of Teresa and Carmen: In Which we Meet a Grouse

There's a Grouse that lives in our woods. I know because I have startled it a few times walking the dogs. In keeping with Grouse behaviour is waits until we are just on top of it and then takes off in a loud flurry of flaps. It's quite alarming.

They are pretty

I have often wondered what would happen if/when Carmen and I encountered it.

this is pretty much how I pictured it going down

On Saturday at 12:15 I had the chance to find out.

But first let me back up a bit 

(cheap ploy to build dramatic tension but also to put in context). 

December has been warmer than usual and Thursday was beautiful. When I got hoe from work the sun was shining and it was lovely. I should note that by 'lovely' in Canada I mean about 10 degrees and no wind. If you are dressed properly it's perfect riding weather. I quickly tacked up Carmen and we headed to the ring. 

I had one of those wonderful rides where everything is smooth and easy. Carmen was relaxed and forward. She looked at a few things but nothing else. I am getting so impressed with our canter-it's so much straighter and our transitions up and down have improved so much. I put her away feeling really happy with our ride. 

Friday was also lovely. However, that morning there was a large machine coming down the road cutting the brush in the ditch. They were cutting just along the edge of the property (which is too bad because I have lost my privacy hedge). 

not actual machine but very close

The horses seemed to be okay with it so I decided to ride anyway. My farrier was coming that afternoon and I wanted to ride before he came. By the time I was on Carmen the machine was past our property and down the road.

Still, it must have unsettled her enough because she was completely different. She was spooky and bolty. I put on my big girl pants and rode through it all. There ware a couple times when she flatly refused to go into troll corner and I flatly refused to accept that. When she started to back up I gave her a smack and got her forward. It wasn't a battle the whole time. I was able to practice some walk-canter-walk transitions, shoulder-in/haunches-in etc. In the end we were practicing our lengthened trot across the diagonals into the corners. I could really feel her understand about lengthening her frame, not speeding her pace. I did a few free walks into the corners as well without any issue. 

So I decided to drop the gate and head out for a small walk in the woods. It would be our first in about a  month (hunting season). Carmen was impatient and fidgety at the gate but walked happily enough to the right and around the field. I was prepared to hop off if things got confrontational but she seemed happy enough to stride out. 

Just as we were coming along the woods and towards the path that goes into the trails the grouse flew up. 

Carmen threw up her head and leapt forward about 4 strides. She came right back, let out a big sigh and carried on. 

Yes.

I know. 

In the woods she was a bit uncertain going through a stream - we've had a lot of rain and the dry stream bed was running. I let her stop and consider the question. 

Carmen: I am not sure it's safe

Me: It's just water moving. It will be fine. 

Carmen: But we might get swept away. 

Me: It's only a couple inches deep. Trust me. 

And she did. I put my leg on softly and she stepped forward and in. While she didn't freak out she did walk briskly and breathed out when she stepped out. We did the trail and came out by the manure pile. We had to stop and consider the old trailer and shovels. Walking up the hill to the barn I asked her to lower her head and stretch out over her back and she did 

While I would have liked a less dramatic schooling session in the ring I was happy with how things all worked out. 

I'm pretty sure I heard you cutting up apple pieces. 

(if you want to see a fabulous drawing of a pheasant and horse meeting go hereEmily Cole's illustrations)

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We're Going and We're Going to Have Fun Damnit!

Years ago, when the children were small, I made plans for us to go the beach for the day. Alec asked if he could invite a friend and I said sure. After he phoned he came and said 'Kyle* says he wants to go to the lake not the beach' (*name changed to protect the not so innocent).

I explained that we were going to the beach and that Kyle could come or not but I wasn't changing my plans. Then Amanda's friend wanted to play video games rather then go to the beach. Before I knew it I was embroiled in this discussion and getting more peeved by the minute. Finally I snapped "We are not going to the lake, we are not playing video games. We are going to the BEACH and WE ARE GOING TO HAVE FUN. Now get.in.the.car'. 

Perhaps not my best parenting moment. But once we got to the beach much fun was had and everyone was happy. 

Which really proves that mom is always right. 

As you know, Carmen has been a bit of a dingbat lately. So putting her on the trailer to go out for a trail ride might not have seemed like the smartest move. 

I didn't care. We were going. 

And we were going to have fun. 

As always, Carmen loaded and unloaded just fine. As I took her off of the trailer a young woman said 'oooh'. I looked up to see her looking at Carmen with unabashed admiration. 

'Do you want her?' I asked, 'Because yesterday she was FREE'. 

Everyone laughed in sympathy. Horse people, they just understand. 

I groomed Carmen before we left so all I had to do was throw on her tack. 

do not let this expression fool you- she was completely relaxed in the stall,
just not happy that I was interrupting her snack

Nancy and I headed to the trails. The fall colour is hitting it's stride and the woods were beautiful.

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Carmen started off a bit tight and tense but soon relaxed with a happy expression and a long rein. I could feel the tension that had built up between us dissipating. We walked, trotted and cantered along the trails. Nancy and I chatted lightly. We both love going into the trees. We went into a big field and walked by some houses. Carmen could have cared less about the back yards, she was too busy giving some white rocks the stink eye.

On the way back we stopped to play in the hunter ring. As soon as we entered the ring Carmen gave a big spook at some decorative flowers. She was back to the tense, tight spooky horse of yesterday. I just kept working her. There was one moment when I was cantering and then she took off towards Nancy but there was a jump in the way and I was all 'No no no! We are not jumping that!' I managed to steer her around and got her back to control.

I took this driving out- this is the ring we were playing in

As soon as we were back in the woods she gave a big sigh and relaxed.

So happy here

I shouldn't be surprised but I am. It just seems weird to me that the ring is the scary place but the woods are fine. But I am happy that we both love going in the woods.

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A post shared by Teresa Alexander-Arab (@teresaalexanderarab) on Oct 9, 2017 at 11:57am PDT

Out And About

The lesson with Shanea was not the only fun thing I scheduled. Saturday I had made some special plans to meet up with my friend Nancy. Let me back up.

A few months ago when I was struggling with Carmen, Nancy had sent me an email suggesting that we get together and ride the trails are the place where she boards. Her horse, a big beautiful warmblood named 'Bo' was a great companion horse because he was just always so calm. I contacted the owner of   Coveside Stables to see if it was okay with her that I haul in. I used to ride a horse there a long time ago and she remembered me. She couldn't have been more kind about letting me come.

I really wanted to take her up on but with one thing and another it didn't happen. Last week I sent her an email to see if she was free Saturday and she was! The owner was also okay with me coming and so it was all scheduled.

In the morning I loaded Carmen on the trailer. Actually she loaded herself and I had to hold her back - as soon as she saw the trailer she was all 'let's go!'  and did not take kindly to my telling her that she needed to wait for me. The ride was short and I pulled into the gates.

the view leaving the property

Coveside is probably the most beautiful facilities I have ever seen. It overlooks the Chester Basin so the views are incredible. There are rolling hills, many rings for dressage and jumping. They have a large barn and attached arena plus extra barns and buildings for storage. Every year they put up temporary stalls for their shows. And best of all they have built miles of trails. All impeccably groomed and only for horses. I didn't take a lot of photos but check out their website and you will see what I mean.

I pulled up to the barn and unloaded Carmen. She walked behind me into the barn on the rubber pavers and into a large, beautiful stall and looked around as though to say 'finally'.  I turned around to get my stuff but it was already out- Nancy and one of the workers had unloaded my saddle, bridle etc for me. I then parked the trailer in the parking lot and came back to the barn. 

barn and arena

Nancy introduced me to the guy who helped and then to Rose- 'all grown up'. I knew Rose when she was young it was great to see what a lovely young woman she had grown into even though I can't believe all that time had passed. 

After a brief chat we tacked up the horses, went into the indoor, mounted and walked out of the indoor (red door in the middle of the photo above). I didn't walk her around or lunge her. I just got on and off we went. 

And we hit the trails. Bo and Nancy were perfect companions. They ambled along in front of us at a nice steady walk. Carmen was amazing. She was obviously looking around and a bit excited but normal horse excited. Not stiff or spooky at all. 

those ears- one was on me at all times

I let her have a bit a rein and we just walked. I loved the woods trails- they were so varied in the type of tress. Some had a lot of ferns others were mossy and still more with strewn with pine needles. I told Nancy that I expected to see a hobbit at any moment.  My inner 12 year old was over the moon and kept giggling. There were numerous wooded bridges and I wasn't worried. The first one she was a bit spooky once she realized that there was something underneath. By the third one she was all 'meh' a bridge.  At one point we came close to a public trail and Nancy called 'hello' to a couple walking above us (most likely to warn the horses). I called hello as well and Carmen didn't even blink. 

Nancy took this with her phone. I wore my vest to be safe

We went up and down hills which was a great way to work her hind end. There were some rocks along the path that Carmen looked askance at but, again, it was just normal horse ('are these okay? I will go by but will keep my eye on them in case they turn to be rock trolls' ) behaviour. 

We then came into a huge field and the hay had been cut so it was free to use. Part of me wanted to go for a gleeful gallop but I restrained myself. Next time I told myself, this is all about making it low key and easy. Nancy and I chatted the whole way. We both agree that riding out is the most fun part of riding. Her little West Highland Terrier kept us company- occasionally going off to hunt squirrels. Carmen was completely not bothered by this little white terrier popping up in various locations. I loved watching her run around being all terrier like. She was definitely less white when we were done. 

and then with my phone. Pretty sure this was my expression the whole ride.
Carmen "could you calm down please, it's embarrassing'

We ended up coming out near the front gates and by the dressage court. We headed back into the woods and came up to the barn. I think we were gone between 60-90 minutes. I put her back in the stall. Nancy hosed Bo off and turned him out while I went to get the trailer. Carmen was not too impressed when I came back My friend! Where's my friend? But settled as soon as there were people around.  The ride home was uneventful. I hosed her off at home and turned her out to catch up on all the grass that she missed. 

it's not fancy but it's my slice of heaven

 As I was cleaning out the trailer Ed came up and said "How was it?"
"OH MY GOD I HAD SO MUCH FUN" I may have been squealing. I was definitely grinning.

He smiled and said "you have been saying that every time you come back. You are having a great summer with her and I am glad. You earned it".  This is why I love this man.

It may sound silly that I was so excited about trailering off property, riding out and then returning. I know lots of people do this all the time. But two years ago I considered it a good ride if there were fewer then three bolts in a ride. Last year we spent hours on training to get her rideable. I will be eternally grateful to Royce and how he helped us. This year I wasn't even sure I should show and look at how that turned out. I will be eternally grateful to Karen, Johanna and Shanea for getting us ready for that. Last year I would not have believed that I could have done something like today without a lot of lunging and 'managing' of Carmen. Yesterday I hopped on and said 'let's go, this will be fun'. And she believed me.

I am finally getting to do all the things I love on a horse that I love and for me that is truly special.

Thank you Nancy for taking me and Jackie for letting me enjoy your beautiful property.