No biggie. Tons to talk about though and tons of change!
Symbah's part-boarder went to the show I mentioned. They did great, he packed her around and they pinned. It was so long ago I don't remember what they pinned! Soon after that Symbah magically went lame again which seemed to happen when my barn owner used him in lessons. End the part-boarding, and begin my serious fustration. Eventually things finally boiled to the breaking point in April and I have enough of my barn owner and all things related.
Ontop of that, the new horse I mentioned, Diesel, was given to a local horse rescue to be a pasture ornament because he was borderline batcrap crazy. I don't know if he was mishandled or just a very flighty/explosive horse. But he was too much for 90% of the horse owner population and I genuinely think he had a screw loose. Broke a trainer's finger and nearly took down two other people in his panics. Great pasture ornament though.
Anyways.
I had enough of my barn owner and ended up moving to a quieter facility. Symbah gets to live outdoor 24/7 on 30 acres of delicious grass and I don't have to be worried about drama or people saying things behind my back. What a relief! And Symbah has been more happy and more energetic since being at this place on just grass, than at the old farm on hay and grain. Hmm.
Also finally found THE perfect farrier. He's great with Symbah and knows what he's doing. My previous farrier (also the old barn owner) nearly ruined Symbah's hooves and legs from her bad trimming. Long toes and long heels (that gave the appearance of being under-slung). If it wasn't for a message board I was on, I would've blissfully thought my old BO knew what she was doing. But now his feet are shaping up nicely and you can TELL he's feeling better. He's definately moving better that's for sure.
Aaaanyways.
Fast forward some time. I showed Symbah at Hamilton Hunt in May and June. We just did the 2'6" Green Hunters. Still technically his second year so it counts. He was faaaabulous and we came home reserve champion both times. Super star!
Then we switched over to the Ancaster Saddle Club shows for July and August. We did the Open 2'6-2'9" division. Our July show was a bit rocky, but he was wonderful for the August show. Had an oopsie on the second course (too much of an angle so the jump popped outta nowhere - and I forgot a part of the course). Nevertheless, he was very good especially in the pouring rain.
(Photo credit goes to Holly Varey)
OH! Have I mentioned it's been my lifelong dream to show at the Royal Winter Fair? I did now. However that is waaaay out of my abilities but I got the chance to do the next best thing.. I showed at the Canadian National Exhibition. Same show venue, but jumpers. Our first attempt ever!
..We sucked, obviously. Haha. Bright jumps and Symbah do not mesh well and for the first time in a long time, I got very nervous in the ring. I didn't set him up good enough and I didn't follow through when I felt him balking. However, he did take everything in stride. He had no issues with the warm up rings, being stabled somewhere new, multiple rides per day, walking up the massive ramps, the coliseum, etc. He just wasn't ready for the jumper fences. BUT we did get over one blue oxer which is pretty significant to us. Symbah seems to balk at blue things and I have issues with oxers. So again, aside from not completing a course, he was a superstar. I'm hoping to go back next year and be some real competition! I'm hooked!
Also on that excursion I found a new great coach who's been helping me. I've had the benefit of both this coach and my current barn owner (also a coach) to catch my issues. It was quite a learning experience.
So fast forward to now. I'm going to be showing at the Ancaster Fair this upcoming sunday. I'm excited but a bit nervous. We'll be making our debut in the 3' Handy Hunters and the 3' Equitation. Then from there I'll once again hit the Rockton World's Fair but this time to compete in the division I originally wanted to do last year. And, I've also entered in the 2'9-3'0 jumpers just as a trial ride. It's a cheap class I figure we might as well make an effort and see what the outcome is.
So in this final chapter I'll conclude with our most recent success. Since leaving the previous barn I've gained confidence in leaps and bounds. It helps when there aren't people around to criticize or insult you!
We've been schooling 3'0-3'3" quite confidently now and have even jumped up to 3'9" without fear. It's been such a relief to feel confidence towards a jump.
And because of our huge improvements this winter, I'm moving facilities so I can continue to ride and school him during our great canadian winter. Fear not, it's only from November - April as the current farm doesn't have an indoor arena so my riding would be non-existant. And it'd be a waste.. to waste Symbah for 5 months then struggle to get him into shape again. We're also going to try and break out into the jumpers this winter as well and hopefully by the time the CNE rolls around again we'll be a lean mean jumper machine! ;D
Anyways, I apologize for any typos or incoherent sentences, it's 4AM but I really wanted to update this for anyone that reads it.
Fingers crossed I can keep remembering to update things on atleast a weekly/bi-weekly basis.
No guarantees.
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