Do You Ride Horses? V.4

[.Scarlet.]

Update: GUYS! I had my last IHSA show weekend of the semester. And my first EVER showing over fences! Unfortunately, I drew the WORST horse both days for it. So my coach got me a different horse, but I wasn't allowed to place since she changed my horse. But we weren't going home without me jumping! His name was Avis, he was a 17 something hand bay who is calm as a cucumber. But, he's usually ridden in spurs and thankfully, my old instructor and old lease horse taught me how much leg I can really have. I remembered my course and he took good care of me! My coach told me I would have placed had she not had to change my horse, but who wants a bad trip on their first? Not me! My team and coach were very happy with my ride, and so am I. I honestly don't remember much except look at a line going down the diagonal, lol. First time over fences, everything moves so fast, even if you're horse isn't going that fast. But I am on cloud nine! I handled my emotions well and conquered my first course! Saturday I drew a pony on the flat, which sucks when you're 5 foot 10, but my leg didn't look long on her and we actually got 5th out of 10 riders! She was super comfy and fun And then on Sunday after fences, I rode a horse named Frankie, who is a huge goof black horse. But, he framed up super nice and we did pretty good, got 6th. Ya know, for just moving to novice after the 2nd show, I think I'm doing pretty good. Especially when there are usually at least 8 riders in my class. I really love IHSA showing, it challenges you so much, but it's so much fun! I wish I had pictures of all these horses though, the horses at this barn are fantastic, they show all the time and know their stuff.
Thanks for reading! Hope I wasn't too boring, haha.

I almost forgot! I did some photos of my friend and her horse, Bindi, a horse I ride in lessons sometimes. And I want to show you guys! Photography is a little side hobby I do on occasion. They turned out pretty well to me and I used them for my photography class. Actually, they're some of my favorite pictures I've ever taken haha



The rest are in here:
https://goo.gl/photos/jSzcFkEYQ1wfHk1b9

[Starwalker123]

@General Fun Question
Do you have any fun horsey stuff on your Christmas wishlist/ I'm asking for some hoof boots for my paint

[Mercury.Muses]

@ Christmas question
I'm hoping for a pair of gloves so my fingers don't freeze! LOL.
!EDIT!- Any suggestions on some good gloves? I live in a warm state and we don't get snow in my part so I don't usually buy "winter wear" xD I actually only wear pants for riding horses! Other than that, it's skirts and shorts! What about fingerless gloves?

Huge thing came up today at my lesson! My trainer offered my dad and I the chance to lease one of the mares, Sugar, for 125$ a month! She said she's confident in my riding skills and how I handle the horse and that we'd only be paying for the stall.
I pay 40$ a week, so for a month it's 160$ and we're thinking of doing it, I'm not sure though.

Tips, comments, etc, o2o? It's not like I'd be going out to shows or anything xD I'd just be heading over to the stables to ride and play with Sugar.

[.Scarlet.]

@Wishlist question: I'm hoping to get a Tory bit belt c: I just got new tall boots for a belated birthday present so I'm good for awhile

@RunningRace- So you would be paying $125 for the horse and $160 for the stall every month? So a total of $285 for a full lease? Or a half lease??

[LuciferMorningstar]

@wishlist question:
I am really hoping for a new tack box and/or groom kit. My brushes are really worn, and I don't need a tack box, but Orlando's stall is on the opposite side of the stable then the tack room, so it is mostly just a convenience thing

[ShortyTheHobbitess]

@My Christmas Wishlist: Haven't specifically asked for anything from anyone, but yesterday I ordered Tuffrider breeches, the reviews seemed pretty good & I'm really hoping on riding English more in the future, ordered two haybags, and a new bit for Shorty as I'm currently just borrowing the one I'm using for English.
---------------
Nothing exciting has happened really, had to work with Pearl again to remind her that the pitchfork/shovel will NOT kill her while at the same time rubbing the pitchfork all over Shorty who was nonchalantly standing next to me without a halter on.

Barebacked Shorty a few weeks ago, played in the yard a little bit, then rode in the arena to lope a little. Turns out I still need a lot of work barebacking the lope as I was bouncing around a bit, Shorty was helpful in that endeavor by loping as fast as she possibly could.

Went to the local boot store in hopes they would have a western riding boot that I actually like. New or used my options were broad square toe, square toe, square toe, snip, square toe, fat baby, snip. square, fat baby.... Not a fan of any of those, but I managed to strike gold while in the used boot bins. I found a pair of very lightly used Grand Prix zip paddock boots, they're a little tight, but hopefully they'll break into a wonderful pair of boots, I got them for a steal too!

[Mercury.Muses]

@Scarlet <3 - It's more like a half lease and the full price is 125$ a month. I already pay 160$ every month for my lessons and by doing this half lease I only have to pay the 125$ a month now - so dropping the 160$ a month- , I can ride more often. ( My trainer has a rule that she/someone must be at the stables for safety so if she's out of town, I'd most likely keep from going out to ride that weekend or something.) ****I'm not sure if we are going to actually lease though. My dad wants to because of the money of course, but I'm going to talk to my trainer and see how everything will work out since we wouldn't start for a couple of months with this whole lease.

~Still looking on advice for gloves! Another issue I kind of ran into was that I have super long nails.

[LuciferMorningstar]

@Scarlet <3 - It's more like a half lease and the full price is 125$ a month. I already pay 160$ every month for my lessons and by doing this half lease I only have to pay the 125$ a month now - so dropping the 160$ a month- , I can ride more often. ( My trainer has a rule that she/someone must be at the stables for safety so if she's out of town, I'd most likely keep from going out to ride that weekend or something.) ****I'm not sure if we are going to actually lease though. My dad wants to because of the money of course, but I'm going to talk to my trainer and see how everything will work out since we wouldn't start for a couple of months with this whole lease.

~Still looking on advice for gloves! Another issue I kind of ran into was that I have super long nails.

Ahhhhhh! You are so lucky! I wish everything was that cheep around here! (even thought its still pretty expensive). Lessons are $500 a month at my stable, and then it's another $300 to belong to the stable, and the lease is $200 a month. I work on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, along with Sat and Sun, so I get $350 a month ff, but it's still really expensive!

Random question:
Looking for holiday themed tack, does anyone know a good place to buy it? Thanks so much!

[.Scarlet.]

@captain swan
Walk him around after your lesson. Take extra time to walk him out, hand walk him outside a little bit, and don't groom or untack in his stall if at all possible. Walk him around after you're done grooming and untacking, and then turn him out for a few minutes if possible. Then, slowly walk him back to his stall, taking your time. If he starts to pull you forward, turn around, and walk him for a few more minutes. Make him listen and relax. And like Weiss Schnee said, some extra turnout time probably isn't a bad idea either.

@Barn Searches / Personal Updates
Well I think I can say my barn search is officially over! I rode at 3 barns, all of which I was very pleased with, but one barn really stood out to me and made me very happy. I went with the one that's the farthest away and has a very high private lesson price, but it's a great stable and I'm really excited to start there in their group lessons. I'll say a little bit about each trial.

Trial one went pretty well, it was about a month ago and it wasn't anything to exceptional. Instructor was nice, the horse I rode, Apollo, was a total sweetheart, but it just didn't really click with me as well as I thought it would. Nice focus on equitation, though.

Trial two was last Saturday, the indoor arena is kinda small but I got a lot of good work in. My equitation was actually really good, and the instructor was very relaxed, and gave me free rein (haha) to fix what I needed to, while still pointing out things that I needed to work on, but mostly keeping quiet. This was also the barn that was most interested in IEA, so I'm hoping I can maybe start a team there. The horse I rode, Quinn, was very responsive and quiet and was easy to work with.

Trial three was yesterday, with my old trainer from my former stable. It was a great lesson with a lot of good work and my instructor was really happy with my equitation and how I worked with Amidor, the horse I was riding. Even though it was cold yesterday, we still got to wash his legs, they have a shower rack with warm water for the winter, which was really cool.

The only thing that I'm really worried about now that I've decided is picking which group I'd like to be in. I'm going to take group lessons on Saturdays, and I'm going to be in either Advanced Flatwork/Intermediate Jump or Beginning Jump. Beginning Jump will be with the trainer that I had my trial with, who I really liked, and she said that she would work with me in beginning jump to keep me at an appropriate level. Now, I've never ridden at a stable with levels, so I'm not sure what would qualify for advanced flatwork, but I feel as though the intermediate jump part is a good match for me, though I don't think it's with the same trainer. I'm going to call this week and find out and hopefully I'll have consistent lessons for quite some time. C:

@Ambassadorship / Internships / Working
I'm not sure if I mentioned it or not, but I'm a brand ambassador for K. Marie Equestrian, a really cool company that makes some super cute bags and accessories for equestrians. If you ever get a chance to be a brand ambassador, I'd say go for it! It's a lot of fun, and there are some amazing companies out there.

I'm also an intern for Style My Ride, so I get to work with the more fashion-oriented side of riding, which is something I've been in love with recently.

And I might also be starting my own company for horse related shirts, so that's really exciting too! Really, any business type endeavor with horses has been really interesting to me lately, so I've been really involved with horse stuff lately.

@General Fun Question
Do you have any fun horsey stuff on your Christmas wishlist? I'm asking for some Piper Breeches and some belts from one of my favorite brands. c:

I have friends on IEA teams and I ride IHSA so if you ever have any questions, let me know ^-^ Hopefully everything works out for which barn you decide on! Atmosphere is a lot, so make sure you're in a good, drama-free environment!

I'm very jealous of your job and ambassador opportunities! If you ever need designs made, I'm a graphic design major and do some pretty solid work!
Those boots on Style my Ride, so expensive, but soo beautiful. Ugh if I had the money!!

I agree, love those Piper breeches, but my mom doesn't like the idea of pretty breeches for schooling, lol. I'd get them all if I could

[akuma <3]

I started buying Caramelized Alfalfa hay...
the horses LOVE IT! but it's not that cheap...
i think i'll keep getting it, but for like those "once in a while" treats...

i dunno >_<