Lazy, Lazy, Lazy.

Not sure if I'm just worried about the upcoming show this weekend or I just subconsciously know I really need a break as I've been avoiding serious ring work like the plague.

Instead I've been hitting the trails with some fellow boarders to just sit back and relax. We do some walk/trot/canter along different areas of the trails so it's no biggie there. I'm wondering if I'm souring myself to all these things.
I'm looking into buying a western saddle to just dink around in and not have to obsess over position.

It could very well be detrimental to our overall work but I feel like we just need that mental break. Likely tomorrow we'll hop back into our english saddle and we'll work on the necessities as well as our boldness to jumps.
Our issue is that moment of hesitation that can give Symbah that window of opportunity to refuse and I'm getting fustrated with it. I can only afford/have so much coaching for this situation. I just hate riding so aggressively with spurs and a crop - but sometimes I wonder if it's a necessary evil if used only until this issue is taken care of? Hmm, food for thought.

I'm not nervous for the 2'6-2'9 aspects of the Fair show on sunday, but the two 3'0 divisions I've entered in. We've never shown at that height but there's no oppotunities previously for us either to practise until we showed on the Trillium or A circuit which is waaay out of my budget. My theory is that those 2 classes are further in the day, Symbah will have known his courses, seen the jumps and be in the zone for the 3'0". That's my theory.

But then I have to realize we have warm up in the AM. Then our first course starts. Then the second. Then a flat. Then one 3'0 class. Then the other 3'0, then the final flat IF we make it through that course round to pin (it's equitation).
Is it too much? I don't know, after a course he feels like he could go on and on forever. I guess I'll have to feel him out and pull him from some classes if he's not up for this challenge. There's no point making him sour over some ribbons.

Uhm, updates all around!

Yeah, I officially suck at this updating thing.

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.

Hang my head in shame!

Forgive me for not updating.

We never did end up showing at the last Ancaster show. We did, however, show at the Rockton World's Fair in October. I should've known it wasn't going to be a great day when we were late due to one horse refusing to trailer. So late I wouldn't have had time to even warm up for my division. So I backed out of that one and entered the Children's division (I'm 18, it's 18 and under). The arenas were mucky due to rain and while the soupy arenas at the Ancaster Fair Grounds were one thing.. this was a whole new kind of mud. We were not pleased.
We rushed for warm up but succeeded. I also had convinced a gutsy friend to take Symbah in the 2'9" jumpers (I can hear the laughter now).

I'll try to shorten this story up.

I was ditched at the fairgrounds while my barn owner left to pick up the other horse (the one who refused to trailer). I had on horse in one hand, and my puppy in the other hand. Talk about unimpressed on all parts! Thankfully another barn was nice enough to allow me to tie poor Symbah to the trailer while I got myself organized. This was a barn I had previously boarded at and had some serious issues/drama with. However, they put all that behind them and helped me when I really needed it. Talk about eating a slice of humble pie!

Symbah was great in warm-ups for both myself and the friend. Barn owner later returned with the mare, and I was ignored while they scrambled to get the horse ready. Eventually, the mare pulled a naughty move and dumped the rider into a cement barrier. Needless to say, she wouldn't be competing. So the horse's owner hopped on to school the mare, however, she borrowed my helmet because she didn't bring one.

Not an issue as she said she'd just be schooling for a few minutes.

Until they were calling all riders for my class and when I ran to grab my helmet, I found out that the girl whom I had lended my helmet to was showing the mare. I didn't have time and missed out on my only flat class. That was upsetting as there is prize money if you pin. I was in full panic mode as they started having horses jump their courses - and I still didn't have a helmet. Once again the other barn stepped up and let me borrow one of their helmets - talk about eating that pie again!

We ended up placing 5th in the 2'6" class, but had one refusal at a big scary pumpkin jump in the 2'9" class. Ontop of that, Mr.Symbah had become pissy with the crap footing and ended up tossing my friend during their jumper round.

It was definately not a good day.

Fast forward through the months as I decided to give Symbah some time off showing to prevent any sourness. We were going great in our training until I used a different farrier and poor Symbah was crippled for a bit over 2 weeks. We had a gradual recovery but we were able to make it for a show at Blacks Equine Centre on January 17th. Unfortunately, our truck broke down so we were late arriving and couldn't get a warm-up. So we paid to enter Sym in one 2' over fences class as the warm-up. Last year we showed the 2' division, but this year we finally graduated to 2'6". Well, Symbah was (of course) great! We received a 2nd place in the 2' class, a 6th place in the 2'6 under saddle class and a 6th in the 2'6" Stakes O/F. He was great!

A friend also competed him in the hack division and came out with three 4ths, and one 6th.

Great day!

Symbah does have a part-boarder now as I'm finding myself drifting away from him. Instead of hopping on and having a fight, I often choose not to ride him at all and just allow the part-boarder to. Or my coach will use him in the occasional lesson. He's still my forever horse and nothing will ever change that, but past experiences have proven that it's wiser to avoid the fights. I did ride him a few days ago and he was phenominal. We were both so relaxed and did a mini course of 2'6"-2'9" with great flying changes (which had always been difficult to teach him). I even included some rollbacks and he was in heaven, flying swaps and jumping fences on an almost sideways angle - and fiesty! I'm happy my last ride was like that, it really put me in a better spirit.

The part-boarder is going to her first off-property show with Symbah this sunday. I'm a little disappointed I'll be out of the country that weekend but I'm excited for them. She's a bit nervous but there's no reason. He's been there, done that and is such a great packer for novice riders (under 2'6"). She'll only be taking him in the 2' division but I'm excited for what the results will be when I return.

I'm going to try and keep this more updated as I go along. I have a new gelding I'm working with now, named Diesel, that's taking up quite a bit of my time too. But I did create a blog on his progress as well so it'll motivate me to update this with news as it pops up.

Here we go, slackin' again!

Alright, so I fail at this blog thing. I always remind myself when I'm away from the computer but can't seem to when I'm actually ON.

.. until now!

Sooo. Plenty of updates!

So the summer show season was starting when I last left off. I intended on show Hamilton Hunt and the Ancaster Saddle Club shows, however things did not turn out as planned.

At the barn under some lessons we decided to start our collection work. However, I screwed things up and wasn't able to push Sym INTO the proper collection and in turn, caused him to start sucking back at fences. This created issues. Ontop of trying to find the proper shoe for Sym (his right side hooves are a bit bigger than left, causing fitting issues) it gave him a sore right knee (no outward signs, no heat, no being 'off', nothing).

Add all that together and that gave me a very grumpy horse who started refusing fences. This is a horse who's attitude is usually "YEAH! JUMPS!". Something was wrong.

So I ended up pulling him out of shows after a diasterous second show (wanted to make sure it wasn't a fluke, apparently). He got a few weeks off as I just didn't want to deal with him. I felt he had my number and it just wasn't going well. After a few weeks I gave it a second shot. Rode him lightly w/t and took him on some trails. Slowly built him up again. Started doing some small crossrails, slowly built it up.

Eventually I decided it was worth another try at Ancaster and we went to the June show - our intentions were to just get through a course. I was very pleased with him. He was a bit rowdy in the flat classes and didn't want to be a slow hunter pony. Overfences he was great. We had a refusal each course at one particular jump (a jump that ended us at our last show - so it was understandable). But with some extra leg and an encouraging cluck, he jumped it. We received no ribbons that show, however I knew and saw the improvement. He wasn't sucking back to jumps, he was getting his friskiness back and the willingness to jump. Not to mention his form is improving and he's carrying himself MUCH better!

We did not pursue Hamilton Hunt, it wasn't worth it nor was I financially able to do so. However, we schooled religiously at home and now are schooling 2'9" courses. It's fantastic, wonderful, and I'm so glad to have my horse back to normal. Ontop of things, my coach finally complimented me on my training skills so far with him. She was in a bind after her main schoolie was retired from. I let her use Symbah as he's basically a packer and his last rider absolutely loves him. I may end up with a part-boarder - who knows! I think I'm taking advantage here of having my horse worked a bit more consistently and ontop of it, the part-boarder gets 2 rides a week. One a lesson (with my coach) and another one on her own but without any jumping so I know my horse won't turn into a wreck!

I'm just so relieved to have my brave horse back, and now I'm looking forward to the Ancaster show this sunday! We'll be doing the 2'3" division, and if he's feeling good we'll hit up the 2'6-2'9" division! Fingers crossed we can finally redeem ourselves 100% and come home with some ribbons!

I'd say I'll update this blog - but don't believe me! ;)

I'm failing at updating!

Sorry!

I said I was going to update and I lied again. I swear I'm trying to remember to continuously update but I have the memory of a goldfish!

We did have a show on March 22nd. It went fantastic, not counting that I had forgotten my bridle and a friend had to drive back to the barn quickly! I went there mainly for experience as the facility was big and intimidating, and so was the competition. As I said, the show was aimed for Trillium and A riders, not many little schooling show horses there.

Warm up was great to begin with, although it was incredibly crowded. We did get a couple stares as we were the oddest looking team, but it didn't matter.

We ended up going great for the first division, Symbah didn't seem spooky or anything. Usually I have a crop on me to pick up a bit more speed but I had to rein him in a bit more. He absolutely loved it! The arena was much bigger and more room to move about. He went over all the jumps but upon doing the finishing line he got too strong and drifted too far - practically cantered right back the jump. But a simple circle and we finished the last jump just fine.

Didn't do well for that course and didn't place compared to the trilly and A horses there. No harm though, I wasn't there for ribbons.

The second and third course went a million times better and most of my riding pictures have me grinning like an idiot as I was also having a ball. We did end up placing just out of the ribbons but I'm still proud - we weren't dead last. We were just placed behind the top 5 trillium/A horses so I think that's a great accomplishment!

We then finished up the Blacks Equine Centre winter schooling series on April 5th. It was great, probably the best run of courses we've ever done together. A friend of mine came along to show for the first time on a great packer and came out champion for our novice - I was extremely proud for her!

I ended up receiving a 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th for the division. We're still having issues with our lead swaps (he's great for trying but he's trying at the worst moment and becoming disunited.. it's something we're working on!). BUT we were overall Reserve Champion for the winter series.

Definately a proud moment! I've never won a series before like that, and while it's not Champion (we almost beat them) it's just as good!

So now our winter show season is over and we're in a lull. There's no shows until the end of May so we've been trying to work on our flat work, our communication and our form overfences. We have been schooling at 2'6 so far and even have done a mini course of 2'9. He's a lot more tight and cleaner over fences at 2'9 than below though. Which I think is both good and bad. But for now, we're schooling 2'6.

Unfortunately, a little over a week ago Symbah hurt his eye and had been out of commission. On sunday, we were finally able to play around out in the grass field with a flymask on but hadn't been allowed in the arenas. Now he's got the all clear but I haven't been able to get to the barn recently so he's been out for about 1.5-2 weeks. And in his stall about 95% of that time. Poor guy! I'll be bringing him back again though, to prepare for the future show season.

For now, I'm looking at doing the Juniors at the Ancaster Saddle Club this summer (starting May 24th). It's at the 2'3 height which I think is good for introduction. It's still in the air about the second series I'll do. I'm thinking of doing Twinholm 2'6 division however I'm just not sure - it'd make it difficult for me as it's on Saturdays. I also thought about Hamilton Hunt shows as they're on grass (love it) but it's a bit more of a distance.

Grr.

So for now, Ancaster is for certain and everything else is a maybe!

I'll try to keep this updated! Even on our random rides!

The show must go on!

So March 15th came. I made sure we had the trailer arrive earlier incase of mechanical issues.

None. It was a nice morning, clear, soothing.

We got everything ready and away we went. We arrived with ample time to get tacked up, warmed up and warm up over the jumps. Symbah didn't blink at any of them, and went through each line politely.

Again, I was feeling confident!

Flat class went well, and we ended up placing with a 4th. My coach seemed aggitated as one of the horses who placed above me had balked at the canter, and had even thrown a fit. But I wasn't worried, we had redeemed ourselves from last show. Atleast for the flat class.

Then came our first course. Our beginning circle wasn't too smooth (he has an anticipation issue and likes to..er, git 'er done) and I still have the bad habit of leaning forward too much. But we went through that course very smoothly. And received a 2nd place ribbon.

Our second course went nearly the same way. He got a bit stronger since some of the jumps were heading home, but the moment I asked him to come back.. he listened. So I definately couldn't complain. Main issue was our finishing circle, caught the wrong lead as well as became disunited between two jumps at one point. However, we placed 3rd.

Our final course was the Stakes class again. Overall our communication was good however, Symbah decided that if he landed on the wrong lead he'd simply break to a trot briefly then canter again. He caught me off guard twice, but I caught on and correct him afterwards. We did catch the rest of the leads but that breaking really hurt us. We placed 4th in that.

So overall we received a 4th, 2nd, 3rd and another 4th. One placing shy of Reserve champion again. That's okay though, we redeemed ourselves!

We have a show this weekend (dun dun duuuun!) at a different facility with scarier jumps. I work at this show series at the Blacks Equine Centre location so I'm familiar with their jump set-up and how they run the shows. However, they run it as a schooling show for Trillium/A circuit riders, so it'll be stiff competition.

Neither of us have been to this particular facility (they host them at two different ones, I only work at the Blacks one) so it'll be a new experience. And that's all I'm going there for!

So, stay tuned..

and fingers crossed I don't slack on updating this time!

Could we redeem ourselves?

So at the February 15th show, we only came home with a feeble 4th place out of 4 classes. At the previous show we went home with reserve champion. So it was not acceptable.

Our main issue seemed to be the communication between the fences with caused most of the problem, so that's what we needed to fix the most. So I decided for the next 4 weeks, it'll only be flatwork.

For the first week it seemed to go very well. Starting having him stretch and come down onto the bit, then collect himself up. Carrying himself proved difficult but atleast he was trying, so I did not get upset. Happy, happy.

But the second week proved that I had my hopes up. We become increasingly fustrated with each other. Constantly waging wars, fighting and I was just not able to deal with it like I should have been able to. He would "lock up" on me (grabbing the bit) and run through my hands, circles proved to be ridiculous ovals that drifted too close up against the arena walls. I was losing my "fun" of riding, I began to dread going to the barn because it was always a fight when riding. Then, on the last ride when I took off the saddle, I noticed hairs twisted and the saddle pinching. So from then on I took away the saddle.

So week three of our supposed flatwork training, became bareback riding because I refused to ride in the ill-fitting saddle and didn't have funds for a new one at the time. That being said, two and a half weeks until it was the March 15th show.

OH JOY!

So I continued flatwork with him bareback. Now, I absolutely love bareback and ride better without a saddle (per the opinion of my coach) so there wasn't an issue. However, during the second ride he was being incredibly spooky/jumpy. I managed to sit all of them but as we were rounding one corner of the arena at a simple walk, a monster from outside shut a car door.
Now, when my horse spooks.. it's the kind that jumps a little or sidesteps. But that night Symbah pulled the infamous teleportation spook. I was sent into the dirt while my horse had disappeared beneath it and re-appeared near the other end of the arena! At that point I was in tears.
Everything I had been working for and doing was all unravelling, falling apart. I couldn't even read my horse anymore, we were so disconnected. I spent the next few days sulking. I didn't want to go to the barn, I didn't want to fight with him anymore.

I then made the decision that I would give it one more ride, a final ride, to decide if I should continue or if it was best to lease him off to someone who had the patience I obviously lacked.
Again, I rode bareback and put him through his paces like normal. Soft, supple, willing. It was like he knew. I even broke my "only flatwork for a month!" rule and popped him over a few crossrails bareback. I finally "connected" again, and let me tell you.. it's a feeling I don't want to lose ever again!

So on week 3, my mother and I went to a local tackshop. I brought in my old saddle and sold it to them in exchange for one of their new saddles. We paid the difference, received new stirrups and irons.. and went home.
The next day I tried the saddle on him. We had an issue with the girth size but I found one that fit him (since mine no longer did!) and tacked him up. However, I agreed to go on a trail ride with a boarder.

Note to anyone: It isn't the wisest to start breaking in a brand spankin' new saddle on a trail ride, which is the first since last fall. Somehow all went fine and we returned back. The saddle fits him like a glove and during flatwork he moved out so much nicer. Our transitions were better and I had a much happier horse!
So onto the final week. I had only a week to prepare for the March 15th show, making sure our communication was strong. I also finally had a fantastic lesson with my coach (it had been a long time) and I felt confident.

So then came show day..

Boy.. oh boy.

Update much?
Apologizes, again. I try to set some time aside to keep this updated but it seems my mind wanders and does not return!

Anyways!

I left off with the suspense-filled "I have a show next weekend.." and I did on January 29th.
The day went fantastically and we received Reserve Champion!
Symbah behaved wonderfully throughout the day and had that extra "oomph" needed to pick himself up a bit, and made a nice overall picture.
I was very proud of him and we seemed to be doing great afterwards.
We even competed in one 2'6" course and received a 6th place (out of 14th!). Very proud of him.

We did end up working on getting him to pick up his legs over fences, however it didn't seem to go over well. Most horses will go "Hmm, I knocked the pole with my leg.. it hurt a bit so I'll raise my legs higher next time". But apparently not my horse. No sir, his mind seemed to go "Hmm, I knocked the pole with my leg.. it hurt a bit so I don't want to do that again.".
So on that note, he started becoming more cautious to the jumps because I had to let him figure it out for himself. I'm a very controlling person and had "chosen" which spots for him to take over jumps so now that I had to let him figure it out.. he was lost.

So of course with that, we took two massive steps backwards in our training and things became increasingly fustrating. I resorted back to some old defensive riding but I thought we had found a happy medium to the work.
We had yet another show on February 15th. Perhaps I was too cocky from our previous placings, perhaps I had only managed to 'mask' our training issue and perhaps I had become so fustrated with him that our last few rides leading up to this show had not been too good.. but whatever it was, the show did not go well.
I should say the warning was when the guy who trailers us was late due to some issues with the actual trailer. We did make it to the show but missed our actual warm up so our two outside lines were mere 8" crossrails instead of the 2'0 verticals and oxers.

Okay, no problem.. right? During warm up I was having fun, calm, relaxed. We approached a wide grey oxer and Symbah hit the brakes, ducking out. That would've been warning number 2.
So whatever, I get him over the oxer and pretend nothing happened. When we get into the ring for the flat class, he's acting like a firecracker. Again, this is my usual steady-eddy horse.
Nope. But his upward transitions were fantastic, downward were a bit slow but still okay. However we did not even place on the flat. But, the girl who placed 1st had cantered the entire time on the wrong lead. The girl whom placed 2nd, her horse had bucked a few times infront of the judge's booth. And the girl whom placed 3rd, her horse had taken off and temporarily stopped the class. So that would've been warning number 3 about this show.

A note to everyone: Listen to your gut instincts.

Our first course had been disasterous. He charged and lunged over every fence, snatched at the bit and dragged me everywhere. I had no turning power with him and had to try and yank him off his feet to stop a possible trainwreck. Ontop of that, he refused and deeked out of one of the simplest jumps and proceeded to bolt across the arena and refused to slow down until I pointed him into a wall. However, I did turn him back and complete that course! Obviously, no placings.

The second course was a bit better but I spent the entire time in a defensive position, death grip on the reins trying to pull him back as he continued to launch and charge jumps. Made it through, but it sure wasn't pretty. Again, no placings.

Third was our "stakes" class. Depending on your placing, you can get money back. So after a flat class and two disasterous courses, I finally started to figure him out enough to stay somewhat safe. I was able to ride him a bit better through that course, although it was still terrible. We ended up with a 4th place for that one.
I had signed up in the morning to do one 2'6 class so I went in and scoped out the jumps. We tried over one single and he was acting like a monster still, almost taking down that jump. At that point, I called it a day and left. I was not going to endanger my life nor his with bigger jumps when we obviously had some training faults that needed to be fixed.

So we went home defeated with only a 4th.

A learning streak

I'll start with some old history on me.
Back before I ever met Symbah, I used to school 3'3" and showed at the 2'9" height (hunters, of course). I was a gutsy kid and heights didn't faze me. I used to help work greenies and horses with "issues" and never once worried I'd eat dirt. It was fun and I loved it.
But eventually I had crap horses thrown at me constantly, ones whose intentions always seemed to make me want to crash and slowly, ride by ride, my confidence slipped away.

After that, I just didn't have the nerve to pop a horse over 2'3 without tensing up and clinging to the saddle for dear life. So for a while, I just did minimal jumping because I lacked such confidence. And then in came Symbah.
Ignorance really is bliss. Because I hadn't known he wasn't quite halter broke, he apparently had a 'mean' streak in him and was unpredictable with a capital P. We just 'connected' I guess. And thanks to him my confidence has grown and the progress we've made together is fantastic.

I always got a little squeamish with fences over 2'3, and 2'6 made me a bit nervous. But Symbah sure loves to jump, would never stop at a fence and helps me over them. Without him, I think I'd still be a mess!
Well last night I tried something I hadn't done before. I set up a course of a line (first fence was 2'3, second was 2'6), a single fence of just a cross rail to warm up over and then a 2'9 vertical on a diagonal. We went over the fences fantastically, no hesitation, no rushing.. nothing. Then I decided it was time to try that 2'9 fence. So I took a deep breath and cantered him over it.

No problem whatsoever! He was still learning his distances so he did come up fairly close, but popped over it no problem. Another boarder was in there with me, helping me with a neat trick to keeping a steady but forward canter. What I loved most was after the fence, Symbah was doing a flying lead change to swap to the correct lead - no aids asked!
The last time we attempted the fence, we had a nice steady canter and he adjusted his striding himself, and popped over the fence. I had ended it on that - why push for more?

I'm very proud of him, and thankful he's given me most of my confidence back.
And I also have a show this weekend - I'll hopefully post updates on that afterwards! =]

Mooore Updates!

Okay, so I've majorly neglected this blog.

My apologizes!

How about some updates? =]

So I did end up showing Ancaster and thankfully, we didn't end up eating any dirt. Infact, things went fantastic. Warm-up was great, ran through the course without an issue and left it at that.

The show went great as well. We ended up with two fourths overfences but didn't get anything on the flat. I blame it on my poor equitation but still have an issue figuring out how one rider placed above us, yet their horse was doing airs above ground infront of the judge. Oh well though, the past is the past!

Things were quiet through October, no shows. Just plenty of quiet time to work on my many, many equitation issues. Gotta learn somewhere, right? I'll admit that I have improved immensely, hands down to that.

Our next show was at Blacks Equine Centre and simply showed in the 2' division. There's a bit of a backstory to this and is not one of my proudest times. I allowed someone to get to me, and her constant criticizing of my riding finally set me off. I ended up showing in the same division as her on equal ground (aka, we both had green horses who had the same amount of time off). I figured we'd put both our riding skills to the test and the better rider would be revealed.

Well, Symbah and I received a 2nd place on the flat, two 4ths overfences and a 3rd in the Stakes class (so we received $25 ontop of that). The girl didn't place at all and I figured that drama was over. It sure isn't, but there's no point going into detail!

Now, not too much is going on. I found out that I am in 5th place for the Year End Awards for my division. I'm only 20 points behind first place, so I'm very excited about it. BEC has had two shows so far, but I had only shown at one. So I have high hopes! My next show there is in two weeks on January 25th. Same division, going for the red this time! I've got my fingers crossed!

Lotsa updates!

Well, it's been a while since I updated and I've neglected this blog. But now's the time!

Updates!

In the last blog entry I mentioned I would be going to the next Ancaster Saddle Club show. I did, firt time showing there in the green division and I ended up in a nasty spill during warm-up. We approached a line badly, Sym threw in an extra stride because I didn't set him up properly. We both went over the fence off balance yet still headed towards the next fence! Well Symbah never refuses unless he knows it's not gonna end pretty. And this was one of the rare times he hit the brakes! And since I was still off-balance, I went right over his shoulder and ended up on my butt, beneath him. Symbah, great boy as usually, carefully picked his legs up to avoid stepping on me before standing at my side. I couldn't get up right away (didn't have "feeling" in my legs) but eventually did. A hospital visit later I got the thumbs up. And 3 painkiller pills PLUS a shot in the bum. I returned to the showground afterward to watch the rest of the show and check on Symbah.

I healed up and I was good to go.

On July 13th, we had another show at the Hamilton Hunt in the Novice Division. It had rained bits the night before, and poured in the morning so the grass was niiice and slick. Just as our division started though, the sun popped out and dried out some of the grass. Many horses were slipping around, and one horse wiped out entirely on its side and sent it's rider airborne. Both were okay though, and continued to show. I decided to trot through the "slick" parts of the course (thus getting marked down) to avoid slipping, falling and/or injuries. But we ended up with two fifths over fences, and a third undersaddle (bigger classes as well). So I couldn't have been more proud of him!

Of course, while practicing at home a few weeks later, we made a mistake over a fence and had a wipe-out. It was a 2'9-3' fence that Symbah had already cleared twice but chipped the last time. So I decided to try one more time and end on a good note. Sym bull-rushed it, chipped in an extra stride because (once again) I didn't set him up properly and he ended up jumping flat as well. His knees came up beneath the pole and he ended up sommersaulting through the air. I hit the ground and rolled, right into his path! His shoulder came down on me hard and I was out. Came to and my boy was just standing by my side. So up I got, and knew I had a real bad concussion as I couldn't hear, see or really function at all. I ended up passing out several times, and Symbah stood loyally at my side each time. At one point he lowered his head, I grabbed his bridle and he hauled me up to my feet as I tried to make my way back towards the barn.

Several times along the way I fell and/or passed out. Never once did Symbah try to take off or leave me there. After opening the arena gate I was down for the count, atleast three minutes. When I came too, Sym was standing over me as if protecting me. I'll never forget that sight. Eventually I got back up and rested a hand on the stirrup to support myself, said "C'mon boy, you gotta take me back to the barn" and clucked. He walked very carefully back towards the barn, stopping when I wobbled, before continuing on. Eventually I called out and got help from the barn owner and a nice boarder, who took Symbah into the barn to untack him and put him away; while the barn owner took me to the hospital.

Five hours later, I find out I have a concussion (duh!), a type II separated AC, sore ribs and I managed to "rotate" my C1 and C2 vertebrae. I wasn't aware that was possible, but it was!

So I managed to stay bedridden for 3 days before heading up to the barn and ended up going on a nice long, relaxing trail ride.

Moral of that story: Don't jump without supervision or atleast someone close. And especially not when attempting new heights! (not to be tried for a long time, let me promise)

So do to my accident (supposed to be taking it easy for a month), I missed out on the following (and last of the season) Hamilton Hunt show, and the Ancaster Saddle Club show. I did go and watch/take photos though. The last ASC show was supposed to be on September 14th, however 4 days of rain got that re-scheduled to the 28th. Which is this sunday, and I'm showing!

I'm both excited and nervous, but I believe we're ready this time. I've worked hard with him after our accident and since then he's been much more forward and energetic overfences. And really tucking his knees up! I'm really overcoming a fear with this show, as I get mild anxiety attacks with thinking hard about it.

I trust this boy 100% and he's there for me 110%, and has saved me on more than one occasion.

Show tiiiiiiime!

Haha, alright.
So it's 1AM at this point. I have to get up and be ready at 4:30am.
I'm getting a lot of sleep, aren't I?

Here are some updates:

On May 25th/2008, we showed at the Ancaster Saddle Club and showed in the Hack Division.
It was a pretty good day - rescue remedy is my friend.
We ended up getting a 5th in the pleasure hack, and 6th in open equitation.
Not bad!



On June 15th/2008, we showed at the Hamilton Hunt and showed in the Novice 2'-2'3" division.
Symbah was absolutely amazing, never looked at any of the jumps twice. A real pro!
We ended up getting a 2nd (first course), 3rd (second course) and 4th (flat). Can you tell we were getting tired? Oh well. We have lots to improve on; but we've both come a long way so I can't complain!



Today, I'll be showing at the Ancaster Saddle Club again. This time in the Green division, which is 2' courses. I'm not sure how we'd going to do, but we're going to give it a shot. Symbah has a knack for saving the day when needed (yeah.. I'll admit it, when I get hot and tired, I tend to lose my position!). Hopefully we'll be able to get through it cleanly without any issues.
Definately not going for ribbons this time, this is just to see what he's capable of after working on some new things.

Wish us all luck!

Show season plans..

Alright, so I've checked out the websites of the two showgrounds I'm hoping to show in. Both are schooling level, since we're not ready to hit the bigger stuff just yet. Might as well perfect your stuff on schooling before playing with the big boys, right? Haha.

Ideally, this is my show plans:

May 25th - Hack division
June 15th - Beginner/ 18" course
June 22nd - Hack division
July 13th - [MAYBE] Novice (2') division
July 27th - Hack division
August 17th - [MAYBE] Novice division (2')
August 24th - Novice division (2')
September 14th - Novice division (2')

Also,
I'm planning on attending the Pink Ribbon Ride dressage show at a nearby show grounds. All proceeds benefit the Princess Margaret Weekend to End Breast Cancer and the Juravinski Cancer Centre Foundation. I know diddly squat about actual Dressage shows, but I'm going to wing it simply because I feel so strongly to participate and "give" money for those charities in a way that is both fun, helpful and can gain experience.

I'm likely only going to do Test A of the Walk/Trot division. It'll give me something to focus on for a few months.
The show is on June 29th.
And of course, I'm going to embarrass my "macho" gelding with pink polos and pink saddle pad! Why not? And I'll have to go on a search for a crisp pink polo shirt. :)

I'll try and get photos from the shows and post them on here as well.
So that's it for now,

I'll update soon.

The introduction

My name's Marissa. I'm 17 years old and have been riding since I was 9. I'm mainly an english rider though enjoys riding western on trail rides and for cowsorting. I had solid english lessons for the first five years of my riding life before my favourite barn, and horse, had moved to a different facility too far for my mother to drive me. I ended up part-boarding a really bad horse at a run-down barn where I found the love of my life, Symbah. He was an 18 month old Fjord x TB gelding. At the time he was barely halter broken. I eventually taught him how to lead like a pro, stand in the crossties, stand quietly for the farrier, handle spooky objects, done in-hand trails, lunged a wide circle w/t/c, sat on him and started steering him undersaddle when he was 2. But then I had a falling-out with the barn owner and left that barn. About 4 months later that barn went under and I ended up purchasing Symbah. He was very underweight, hadn't seen a farrier in about 4-5 months and hadn't been dewormed in about 5 months or so. I found out the barn owner had tried riding him undersaddle to sell him quicker, and 2 weeks prior to me buying him had tried starting him over fences. So he got to relax and be a horse for a few months, and then I went back to the basics.

Fast forward to now. We've been to a great barn, a really bad barn and now am at a great facility again. Symbah is healthy, happy and sassy. He's 4 now, and goes solid walk/trot/canter, can do a small crossrail course and is started over simple 2ft fences. He rides english and western, have lightly played with gaming, he's nearly bombproof out on trails and seems to have a good knack for cowsorting. I love him dearly and have no intentions of ever selling him/letting him go. He's always willing and aims to please. We've been to 4 off-property shows and our most recent show he placed 3rd, 4th, 5th and 5th in the Hack division.

People always tell me he's not going to get further than schooling shows because he isn't the pretty Thoroughbred/Warmblood that is desired in Hunter. But he's got movement, and he's got heart so I'm not going to give up on him. We'll prove everyone wrong, one day one way. We're the underdogs.

At the end of April, we'll be moving to a closer facility to start into some serious training. We'll hopefully hit some simple schooling shows this year, and next year we'll jump in with the big boys on the Trillium circuit. Our goal is to get to the "A" circuit and place in just one show; nothing more. Just to prove those nay-sayers wrong. Sure.. we'll hit some bumps along the way, but we'll meet new people, new horses and new places as well. It's all a learning experience.

So here we come, BYB wonder and I.
Zoom-zoom!

If you have any questions/comments, please feel free to e-mail me at Artistedecheval@hotmail.com
Thank you.