Do You Ride Horses? V.4

[June Bug]

June Bug: Oh...cantering bareback...I love it! I can understand what you mean about keeping your balance. I have a tendency to lean a bit forward or a bit backward and that tends to throw me off so I have to constantly check myself. If you want to start the cantering bareback a bit more smoothly, try using a bareback pad or even riding him with his winter blanket on? I used to do that with the horses up in NY and it helped me get used to the whole feel of the animal rather than just learning as a went. ;)

I wish I could have decorated my babies stalls- our house looks so Grinchy this year. We only have a tree and some stockings, and they're probably coming down today or tomorrow. xD

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Pictures to come...I promise. xD

As of now, it's pretty warm-ish outside and there is no snow! Woot woot! I got my green Christmas after all (Even if it is a bit muddy). I haven't been working my boy or girl since the rain hit hard as I don't want them slipping in the mud and hurting themselves so they've been let out in a smaller pasture and have been being put in their stalls earlier. They're taking it in stride though and as long as they have food to snack on, they're happy. But yesterday, I went to my local Co-Op and with some money I got in a Christmas card from my grandfather, I was able to buy my two a Christmas present after all! It was a miracle in my own eyes. So after some debating with my dad, I walked out of the store fully equipped with a Jolly Ball. I introduced them to it yesterday and they both loved it...too much in fact. It made my day and it tickled me to no end. I shall post pictures of them with it...you will die of cuteness. xD

I don't really like the feel of bareback pads and he really doesn't need one (super comfy and super smooth) so I don't have one and even though I have a blanket for him, I never put it on him unless it's under 15f (It's currently in the 40s and 50s) because his coat is so fluffy and dense, he overheats easily in it.
We cantered a total of four times that day and after the first one, it got easier and easier. I've been riding him bareback for quite a while, and canter him with a saddle every time I use one, so I'm used to the feel of him. X] I just need to work on smoothing out his transitions so we don't have all those awkward strides between the nice trot and canter.


Jolly balls~! Granix plays with everything EXCEPT balls. xD I wanted to get him one so bad, but the one we have floating around the barn, he totally ignores.

@ Gifts
I didn't get a whole lot of horsey stuff, but that's mostly because no one in my family is at all horse-savvy so they have no idea what anything I ask for is, haha. I did get show clothes though, breeches, a shirt, jacket, and boots. My mother took me out shopping for them a couple weeks ago, so I already knew I was going to get them as I was the one to pick them out. She also picked up a new grooming bag, a couple browbands I was looking at (Granix has a cob-sized head, but a horse-sized forehead so his current browbands pinch a bit), and a head bumper that she saw on sale (which I actually did need so I was really happy she managed to pick out a good gift without my help).
My dad gave me a nicely-sized wad of cash which I'm going to use for a couple clinics my barn is holding on New Years, so I guess that sorta counts, haha.

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The friend of mine that's been training my other friends' 3-year-old hung around and helped me do some free-jumping with Granix yesterday. After a couple rounds of him taking the jump, but not very confidently and knocking it half the time, we played around with it and found that he has trouble judging the size of a jump if it blends too much with the footing or if it doesn't have a ground pole. Once we fixed those two things, he had a ton of fun! He went from choosing to jump the larger cone off to the side to not wanting to stop and wait for us to adjust the height, lol.
We started at about 18" and took him up to 3'6". He maybe jumped a total of ~15 times. We don't jump a whole lot so he was pretty tired after that, haha.
We then played with the 'super scary' Spider Man ball that she was playing with with the baby earlier. He didn't seem to understand it. He wasn't bothered by it like some of the horses have been (her dad's huge Irish Sport mare was terrified of it), but he didn't seem all that interested in doing anything with it either.

[Rising]

OMG I just looked out of the window and it's snowing! I have a mad plan to teach Jessie to pull a sledge if the snow settles. I've been thinking about it for ages now. It sounds like a recipie for disaster but I will make it work! I'll edit later, I have to get out and enjoy my white boxing day!

So it isn't really snowing at the moment but it is getting dark and the temperature is continuing to fall so I may have a snowy ride soon. I've never ridden through snow in my life. Fortunately Jessie isn't shod so she won't get too much snow building up in her feet. I'll work on sledge training her if the snow settles. She has never been broken to harness as far as I know so I'm just going to rig up a device to let her pull a children's sledge. Then one person can be pulled while someone else leads her.

[Hooligan.]

Sorry I know I haven't been on in ages guys! And I promise I will full you all in on who won the NfR, but I wont go through the details of each round because I simply don't have time. However, it did snow more than half a foot here yesterday so we have quite a bit of snow at the moment and we're going to make use of it! In about an hour my friend and I are heading up to do some extreme snowboarding, so I'll let you all know how that goes.

@Christmas Presents:
I really didn't get any "horse" things necessarily....My amazing boyfriend got me a Cruel Girl soft shell pink and black jacket, my friend D got me a new stormy kromer hat, an American flag scarf, and a FOX Racing shirt. I got two fancy turquoise necklaces, a Victorias Secret Pink shirt, a Victorias Secret Pink hoodie, the Cowgirl Tuff Chief pants, a Roar cowboy shirt, a bunch of candy and an iTunes gift card, zebra slippers, 2 Bluetooth wireless waterproof speakers, a rechargeable wireless battery for my phone, a new car charger for my phone and a new doctoring kit for my saddle. However I have yet to exchange gifts with my friend L and my two aunts lol.

@New Topic:
So what other sports do you all do besides riding?
In the winter I snowmachine, extreme sled, and extreme snowboard. In the summer I dirtbike and rzr lol. I don't really do sports like basketball or volleyball or anything like that. I played volleyball for one year when I was younger but I don't have time for it anymore. And I've been told m too violent for basketball so...I do run a little bit in the summer and do a lot of swimming.

I also do a lot of modeling though, so I have to keep skinny ha. And I'll admit right now I have quite a few pounds to lose before I'm ready for summer shoots. I mainly model like with horses just doing photo shoots but when I'm older I want to do some boudoir modeling. And I plan on modeling dirtbikes and sleds this summer and following winter:)

[~Indian pony~]

Hello! Sorry I've been MIA xD. Here I am though c:
-Christmas Presents
As far as horsey stuff goes, I didn't get a lot. Just two new dressage pads, one for shows and one for schooling cx I absolutely love them. They're gorgeous :3
Other than that, I got a 3D puzzle that took me almost two hours to figure out xD, a Kindle fire HD 6, new camera, a calender, and a TON of beading supplies for my beaded horseshoes that I've been making, a pony charm for my charm bracelet, Pajamas, slippers, and a new cage for my guinea pigs :3.
Then my family spent the rest of the day just hanging out cx.

@Smokeyiscool
I skii! Sorta. xDD I can't say I'm great at it. I sing, if that counts for anything o.o. I draw a bit, and photography.

@My riding/Hannah
Hannah and I are doing mostly good. I don't know, I feel like some days I'm on top of the world, and the next I'm bawling and nitpicking at myself for not getting this stuff already. I've been having some trouble remembering to keep my hands up, so I figured I am going to imagine Charlotte Dujardin's hands when I ride and start bringing mine up so high that my instructor has to tell me to put them down xDD. I found a Bible quote that kinda relates to my issues in riding.
Trust the Lord with all your heart. Don't depend on your own understanding.
Remember the Lord in everything you do. And He will give you success. - Proverbs 3:1-5
Basically I need to shut up, let go, and trust the Lord to help me find success in my riding. I guess that applies to everything in life though.
I managed to get Hannah to where antlers for Christmas xD!I can post a picture later if anyone wants to see.
Did anyone else torture their horses with Christmas decor?

[.drizzled.mango.]

ahhh
every time i go to ride a new horse, somebody appears and announces how they're mad and evil and charge around bucking and taking off and enjoy trampling children in their spare time - i know its nonsense but i can't properly trust any horses right now and it makes me nervous even if it's exaggerated..i found a really amazing 15.2 and some girl started telling me how he'd bucked her off twice in the last lessons she did on him and how he's dangerous and now i can't look at him the same way (he did buck/stop her off but everybody else said it was very rare and not as bad as she made it sound)
-n-
i only seem to come on here to complain i'm sorry haha

[spring.]

ahhh
every time i go to ride a new horse, somebody appears and announces how they're mad and evil and charge around bucking and taking off and enjoy trampling children in their spare time - i know its nonsense but i can't properly trust any horses right now and it makes me nervous even if it's exaggerated..i found a really amazing 15.2 and some girl started telling me how he'd bucked her off twice in the last lessons she did on him and how he's dangerous and now i can't look at him the same way (he did buck/stop her off but everybody else said it was very rare and not as bad as she made it sound)
-n-
i only seem to come on here to complain i'm sorry haha

Have you not met me and my constant Belle Mer complaining??

[Mustangs]

How do you get used to a new horse? Recently my sister is lending me her horse to use in a horse show. I have never ridden her, ever, so Im kinda nervous. Is there an easy way to easily get used to a new horse? Im a person that finds it hard to get used to a new horse sometimes.

[~Indian pony~]

@Mustangs
Please please please tell me you own/ride a mustang o_o I need a Mustang buddy on CS!
Have you tried any ground work? I don't usually recommend stuff like this, but maybe parreli or something similar? I've never tried it but from what I've seen, it does encourage trust between horse and rider. Just try to spend as much time with the horse as you can, weather it be riding or just grooming. ^^

[Petlover552]

YAAAAAAY more horse lovers here!!!!!!!

I am hopefully getting a new horse next year <3
My current chestnut Arabian (Glory is her name) is 27 years old... and i really want a horse can ride western, do barrels, and jump with :c
Glory is an oldie, going numb in the mouth, loosing her eyesight, and has arthritis in both her front legs <3
But despite all that... she still tried to buck me off at times last summer! Shes quite the trekker!! Most horses are lazy, and have problems going. Not her... she has problems stopping.. even at her old age XD

Well you just got a slice of my life XDXD

[Mustangs]

I have a mustang x arabian, but she is more arabian like. I'm trying her today and perhaps she'll be better than I thought. My mustang x arab injured her front leg during a parade when some kid sudden;y ran over to pet her. So im riding my sister's andalusian in a small eq on flat show.