Thursday, December 31, 2015

2015 Recap and Wrap Up

This year started out with a big decision: Letting Roscoe go to Indiana for two months to breed. It was a hard choice to make since he has only been away from us for two weeks before and his ridden work was increasing. Hopefully getting one of his foals will make it worth it.

Then I had some fun with my new camera and the Grey Boys.





 We managed a three cob ride in the snow, Roscoe's first.
 Roscoe was introduced to side reins.
 Then we saw how it transferred to the saddle
 Rosemary said she would not let Roscoe show her up.
 We found a solution to Dottie's nympho issues.
 But Peggy got her a heart bling browband while shopping the Dover tent sale.
 Roscoe shows me that he will jump at liberty, the start of much fun to come.
 We leave our baby in Indiana so he can make his own babies. While there we experience the loss of a newborn foal.
 But we also see Roscoe's cousin
 And Rosemary's sister
 And Roscoe's great grandmother. Little did we know the ride home would be long with a nearly blown tire.
 A mid term visit with Roscoe, cause who could go two months without seeing him, allowed us to meet the newest foal.
 Plus see the mares he bred, Ebony and Ffion (yes his g. grandma)
 And the younger girls, Rosalee (half sis to both Rosemary and Comrade), Rosina (half sis to Comrade) and Dyma Hi (full sis to Comrade)
 The new foal, always an awesome experience to play with them.
 From foals to my nephew and niece getting pony rides on Rosemary
 And Dottie, they never ride just once.
 Ah and yes our lovely trail ride that turned endless and required help from 911.

 Roscoe's home and ready to show off.

 Rosemary shows where his talent came from.

 Dottie dearest takes to the rail like a pro.

 Rosemary earns her Good Citizen award when she lets a three year lead her in.
 Roscoe and I have our first lesson, I learn my boy is normal and I am not messing him up.

 Mom and Peggy have our first two Cob drive, They all were super.
 Mom and I have a great ride on both our Cobs producing this mother/offspring picture.
 Winter clips begin with a large clip for Rosemary. A great thing since we had such warm weather.
 Roscoe and I survive bareback, redeeming ourselves from when I fell off.
 This wet warm Christmas, Rosemary and I played over Christmas tree poles.
 She wore her awesome new dragon bling given to all the Cobs by our Blogger Gift Exchange.


And on this New Year's Eve, I finally did Rosemary's fun clip. Those dang curvy bits are hard. 


Comrade closed the year with an excellent ride after nearly a month off. He enjoyed the Christmas Tree poles too also while wearing his new dragon bling. Go Welsh!

Though this year was not a showy one, I did manage to achieve one goal. I drove Rosemary solo and even played with a cones course
Next year hits off the 4th year for Equinpilot and I can't wait. I love to read other blogs and receive comments on my own. Hopefully 2016 will bring us back to the shows, breed and open.
Also in 2016 we await the arrival of Roscoe babies. 5 months left before a possible 5 foals will come. Of course I will be doing a Foal Pool, so get your guess ready.

Happy New Year!!!

Friday, December 25, 2015

O' Christmas Tree Pole Exercise

Christmas day dawned, wet and warm. We had dinner plans with Peggy and Larry, but I was determined to ride. Rosemary was elected as she was the least wet and dirty. As I cleaned a stall, I thought about how to change up the straight line 4 poles already set up in the arena. Inspired I came up with the O' Christmas Tree exercise.

This pole exercise will encourage straightness and you can choose to work over one, three or five poles. For Rosemary it encourages her to step through her hind end and push as well. Since she tripped a bit when I worked her over the four pole line, I put splint boots on her. She did figure out what was needed during that ride, so I was interested to see how she did today. Rosemary also sported her new bling. I think she liked showing her welsh pride with her dragon.

I started Rosemary over the single pole to see how she was feeling. Surprisingly she did not try to avoid the poles. She actually traveled straight. A Christmas miracle. That continued even over the three poles. I noticed the distance seemed short for her, but she adapted well. Mom said she was bending all her joints. I moved on to the five poles with the same distance. Again she trotted right through them with no hesitation. No tripping today. Mom stretched the poles out a bit.
Other than feeling more comfortable through the poles, Rosemary was still not working too hard. So Mom again stretched out the poles. Again Rosemary adapted, though she did need a bit more effort. A little tired she tried to get fast and I let her figure out how to make it through the poles and she did by the next pole.

By the end, I could feel her pushing from behind rather than just getting fast. Her trot around the ring improved and smoothed. We both had fun despite the rain. Here is a short video.

I wanted to hop on Comrade too, but the rain picked up and he turned into a mudd ball. Ah well next time. With him I could add a star at the top of the tree, ie turn on the fore or hind or do some voltes along the sides. Poles are such a great training tool.

And now I will leave you with a picture of my Dad's annual equine finance funny shirt he gets from me.



Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Blogger Gift Exchange 2015

Yesterday the rain stopped long enough for me to get a ride in on Roscoe. The first in about 3 weeks. He was awesome and showed the ground/lunge work we have done is transferring. Roscoe is moving along. We ended going over some poles. He has a huge stride, I think I will have to stretch them next time. When I hopped off, I found he got a bit sweaty after only a short bit of work. Someone may be in line for a trace clip if this weather keeps up. So we walked around the arena. He follows me, giving space and still listening. I laughed and jogged over the poles. My super pony trotted over them right behind me. Roscoe and I may never be show super stars, but where ever we end up, it will be a damn fun  journey to get there.
Then to cap  off the day, I came home to find my Blogger Gift waiting in my room. Tracy's Gift Exchange is so great because I get to know new bloggers. This year both sides were new for me. I opened my box to see that Rhiannon from The Horse is not Black sent a box full. Have to say I was super impressed that all the gifts were wrapped and labeled.

The first gift I opened revealed a pair of awesome socks. Absolutely me! When I showed them to Peggy, she asked if I mentioned my antisocial nature. I definitely prefer animals to people :)

The next gift came in a really cute bear topped box. Inside was bling for all three Cobs in the form of dragon bridle charms. Very cool! I can put these on riding or driving bridles.






















Next came gifts for the ponies from her her two, Dexter and Sassy.


Plus treats for me. I already know the pony treats are approved since we have used the Purina Apple treats for years, though they were called Dobbins Delight before and I recently purchased the Standlee Apple Berry Cookie Cubes to use for my own Blogger gift and my horses. The horse world can be so small sometimes.

Another great Blogger Gift Exchange. I hope my blogger enjoys her gifts. Which I will admit, I totally used the box my gift came in to ship. So yet another helpful part from Rhiannon. Her box was better than the one I had packed mine into, so I changed it right before going to the Post Office.
I hope everyone has a great holiday!b