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[MochaTheLlama]

Well, actually, I agree with Toppyrocks on this. I think Hano should be the one to make the new thread.

[itsdemonnxoxo]

It would be adorable, if you put some random pictures of Western and English sports above each, section like, this



•Ѧɛмвɛяƨ•

[Carbon]

That would be cool... And thank goodness the arena is covered!!!

[itsdemonnxoxo]

@Belle - What doe you mean by the arena is covered?

[Carbon]

At the show on Sat. it is pouring right now, and it doesn't plan on stopping anytime soon... Bella is going to be a fireball!

[Hanoverian]

@.raindrop.- Don't you even think about quitting riding. We have all ridden those nasty, hard, and tough horses/ponies. But it's what makes you a better rider. Even though you don't think it's helping you, since it's not enjoyable -- it really is. I mean I have ridden horses and ponies that I have not had a particularly good time on, but now reflecting on those moments I have realized that i'ts made me a better rider. Over the summer I rode a pony named Cookie, and just recently my old trainer that owns Cookie asked me to come back and ride her.

A few weeks ago, I went back to ride and train Cookie for her. It was hard, since she would refuse almost every jump. Overall she was just a naughty pony with a bad attitude. Although after working with her for a while over the same jumps, we got it to where I could ride her and make her jump those fences if she wanted to or not. Yes, I fell off of her since some of the refusuals were pretty bad. But I got right back on and made her jump those fences. Then I over heard Cookie's owner (who is was also my trainer) telling my mom that she was so glad that I could come ride Cookie. She said that I was a talented rider because, Not only did I know how to get on a well trained horse and ride well, I also knew how to get on a horse that wasn't trained well or needed to be retrained and ride him/her. Which made me feel really good.

So just think about all the good riding Buttercup does. Clearly your instructor wouldn't put you on her if she didn't think you were capable of riding her. Another example is that for one lesson my trainer put me on a inexperienced horse named Skye, who still needed training. He was also tough, wanting to cut into the ring all the time, following horses and getting too close to them, and not always listening. Although once I finally got him to listen it made me feel amazing to be able to do that! Even my trainer said I did well. However, the other girl who rode Woody got to do more jumping, and jump higher. But I didn't care because I knew my trainer put me on him because she was confident in my riding ability and knew I could ride him. Even though my eq. may have not been amazing that day, I was learning how to ride a horse that needed to be corrected/trained.

It's just those little things, that at the moment may seem bad, but your really learning a lot and will help you in the long run. Dont be upset about your lesson not going so great and about riding Buttercup again. Make the best of it, especially since you now know that all of us had to go through the same or similar situations with tough horses. I am sure you can do it I will be rooting for 'ya :3

Not sure if you saw this .raindrop. ;D

Guess what??? My birthday is tomorrow!! The only things on my wishlist are horse/riding related :3

Here's what I want:
1. A horse
2. To lease a horse
3. Joules polo shirt(s)
4. To do another A rated show
5. To ride twice a week with my trainer
6. My own saddle
7. A ring shaped like a bit :3

Happy almost-birthday! Or is today your birthday? I'm trying to catch up with this thread. :p

It was reallly hot today -80F - and since just a few days ago it was only 40F, I just had a flat lesson because the sudden change in temperature makes the horses stiff, and it was really hot. xD
I rode Kat, the little chestnut Arabian! I had a lot of fun with him. He's hilarious, though - when you first get on he acts all offended and does little bucky things, but then he acts like a little angel.
I love riding him, but he can be complicated. His tendency is to drop his back and to stick his neck up while pushing through my left aids, but I actually managed to push him into a nice frame, power with his hind end, and get on the bit. (: My trainer says that I look great on him, yay! This is going to sound so pathetic, but I love getting her approval. xD I adore her, she is such an amazing rider and trainer.
But yeah, she actually said that we looked beautiful together, which made me feel really great. (;

After my lesson I hosed him off, which he seemed to love - I've never seen a horse that actually LIKES having his face sprayed with the hose!
He jumped out of the washrack, though. :p It's outside, and is pretty much a little gravel rectangle with crossties, racks, and shelves, and is bordered with about 3 inch tall cinder blocks. Yeah, Kat jumped out. It was so funny - he just bounced up off all four feet really awkwardly to get over it xD
I love that horse. I wish that I was a bit shorter, though! I'm 5'11 and he's 15 hands. xD Oh well, I still enjoy him.





EDIT: viewtopic.php?f=44&t=1084725&p=29908261#p29908261

[Hime]

Hime- that's really cool about the tolt! I knew a bit about it before, but you explained really well and seeing it on video is really cool. I'd love to try it sometime! Is Heta very good at the tolt? Have you found out any more about her hocks?

Well, it's easy for her and I heard she used to have a really good tolt when she came from Iceland, but it's super pacy now. It used to be totally piggy pace too but after working a lot with her it's just really pacy now. Sometimes I get couple of steps clean tolt, but not that often and I have to work really hard for it. It's probably partly because of her hocks that she has trouble with it, and she's bit stiff and unbalanced and just doesn't get those legs under her very well. And I'm not that good rider when it comes to my seat, which according to L could be one of the factors needed to fixed before she can tolt better...
About the hocks. L and my instructor saw the clinic papers, that state there are changes in the hocks, from last year February and pretty much agree with them as Heta is quite similar gait vise as one other mare at the stable who has bone spalvin. The problem is that some clinics give the bone spalvin diagnose too easily when it's Icelandic with bad tolt, so I wasn't sure if I should take them seriously that time. I should take her to another x-ray to be sure what phase they are now, but currently I'm bit tight on money and the x-rays can only tell me what's going on at that moment, not how they will progress. I did on essey about bone spalvin when I was at school, so I know quite lot about it, but it's progress varies on each horse so it's mostly unpredictable.

@Missy: I agree with you on the Shetland thing, the old english type is much better. Walker and Shetland... That's an intresting way to put it, never thought of it that way. Guess that's not totally far fetched idea as Icelandics are small-ish, fluffy and pretty calm generally, but they still have the gaits and some fire and showiness(is that even a word?), plus high-ish movement, when under saddle.

Heta got shod yesterday. The farrier adores her as she stands absolutely still and doesn't pull her legs away. He didn't do much to the hooves, but said I could take the inner toe studs away after the ice melts to see if it effects her movement. And we got two new horses in the stable. One is 5-7, not sure, old black tobiano Icelandic mare, who might become Heta's new paddock buddy if they get along, and the other is my instructors WB mare, who has been leased for while to one of her friends.

[itsdemonnxoxo]

Can I remake this thread?I am very bored..(: I would just quote everything Hano has posted. But I would have to let everyone redo there forms..(: Lol, some of the usernames need to be updated!