"That's horses..." This was pretty much my motto all weekend! FENCE did not go as planned for Black and I. We dropped down to Training because I was not feeling ready for the Prelim. The weekend started out with Black a little feisty in the dressage warmup. Amy Barrington got us working in the right direction with Black working well over his back and doing the dressage work I KNOW he is capable of doing at home. Well of course once we got the the ring it seemed to all go out the window. Every time I asked for more bend or more collection Black threw a literal hissy fit and would throw his head up in the air in protest. NOT proper behavior for a solid Training level horse and nearly solid Prelim dressage. It also did not help that I was so focused on getting him to work harder that I forgot to turn up center line! Ops... So that got us a 36.8. We brushed that off and headed into cross country! Which is, normally, Black's strong suit! He warmed up well and seemed to be in a better mood then he was in dressage- thank goodness! We went to the start and he watched a horse leave the start box.. Since he's an OTTB and an upper level horse he normally rears in the start box anyway but watching a horse leave the start box really got him going! He blasted out of the start box very unorganized and left me behind. We had a stop at the second fence which was a tiny little rolltop!! To say I was mad would be an understatement... we worked it out later on course. Since he was so strong, I figured out I had to saw on his face to get his attention about 10 strides out and then soften to move him forward to the fence. And I think earlier in the course, I was just taking and taking from him and he decided he was going to show me! So lesson learned. Since Training SJ is something that we don't struggle with, Amy Barrington suggested withdrawing from SJ and having a dressage school and going XC schooling later in the day to redeem ourselves and for her to help us to understand what happened the day before. So I decided that would be beneficial to us in the long term. He was much better out cross country schooling on Sunday and Amy helped me to understand how to stay forward not just with my hands but with my hips as well. We also worked on keeping him even more forward than I think we need to be after all the plan is to move up!
Since Black was already in Tryon, we took him to Tryon Equine Hospital on Sunday afternoon to get scoped Monday morning for ulcers. I was actually pretty shocked and relieved to hear that he is completely ulcer free! With Black's weight loss, Dr. Bill Hay agreed with our previous decision to switch his feed and explained that it seemed to be helping but if we're still having problems he suggested switching him to Timothy. Which I really hope we don't have to resort to considering how much it costs! So at least we can rule that out and know that he is healthy and we can continue to move forward and not backward... This sport is a process for sure!
Monday, April 15, 2013
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
School Wins.
Well here I am two weeks later, finally writing the second blog! My parents think that they sent their daughter to the South for college. Which is true but let's be real, I'm here to ride too! School will always come first because my parents made it well known growing up that riding depends on school work getting done. I've come to realize that there are some weeks that school wins and others that riding wins. Well, to say that school has won the past couple weeks would be an understatement! Normally the semester gets crazy at the end but mine got crazy the week before and two weeks after Spring Break. I turned in a 44 page paper for a Psych class before Easter and now this past week and this week riding wins! HA!
Balancing college and riding has not been easy. If it was as easy as school work and riding I'd be okay. But you have to include a social life, eating, sleeping, studying, bathing, riding AND finding a way to make some money to pay for the riding. Oh and if you're competing you are gone for a whole weekend. I've tried to literally do it all. I've been to friend's birthday parties in my riding clothes. And I've pulled all-nighters in order to finish a paper so I can ride in the morning. While this works to an extent, eventually, something has to give. I refuse to give up eating, sleeping, bathing or my friends and boyfriend so school and riding take turns. At least that's what I have found works for me! I drove myself crazy last semester trying to find time for it all and I simply could not. I got to the point that I dreaded going to the barn. Now that is dangerous. Black and I aren't going to the Olympics or NAJYRC so riding needs to be an escape from the stress of school and the second that it becomes a job, something has to give. This semester I've tried to be better about being okay with not riding every single day. If I can't ride because I need to study, so be it. I end up hating the barn when I'm there when I know I should be studying. So I've learned to reward myself with riding. I finish a paper, I go to the barn. Why it has taken me almost 2 half years to figure this out who knows! The hardest part of this is that trying to move up to Prelim has opened a whole new door of challenges. Most people can agree that Prelim takes a different level of dedication and discipline in order to compete successfully and safely. We've been going Training for awhile so it's not something that we struggle with. Prelim, however, is a different animal. It's a whole new level of fitness for both Black and I (So add working out to above list!!). We need more lessons, more shows and more effective rides. I planned on moving up to Prelim at FENCE this weekend but because of school kicking my butt (for lack of a better term), we've decided to wait until May. Black also seems to be struggling with ulcers so I'd like to get him happy and comfortable before asking so much from him. Like I said, I do this for fun. Black needs to plan on living forever so I need to completely happy with his physical fitness and health before I put him on a Prelim XC course. Neither of which I'm completely happy with right now so we wait! I'm looking forward to having a fun weekend with the Clemson Eventing Team and my mom who's coming to visit this weekend!
Balancing college and riding has not been easy. If it was as easy as school work and riding I'd be okay. But you have to include a social life, eating, sleeping, studying, bathing, riding AND finding a way to make some money to pay for the riding. Oh and if you're competing you are gone for a whole weekend. I've tried to literally do it all. I've been to friend's birthday parties in my riding clothes. And I've pulled all-nighters in order to finish a paper so I can ride in the morning. While this works to an extent, eventually, something has to give. I refuse to give up eating, sleeping, bathing or my friends and boyfriend so school and riding take turns. At least that's what I have found works for me! I drove myself crazy last semester trying to find time for it all and I simply could not. I got to the point that I dreaded going to the barn. Now that is dangerous. Black and I aren't going to the Olympics or NAJYRC so riding needs to be an escape from the stress of school and the second that it becomes a job, something has to give. This semester I've tried to be better about being okay with not riding every single day. If I can't ride because I need to study, so be it. I end up hating the barn when I'm there when I know I should be studying. So I've learned to reward myself with riding. I finish a paper, I go to the barn. Why it has taken me almost 2 half years to figure this out who knows! The hardest part of this is that trying to move up to Prelim has opened a whole new door of challenges. Most people can agree that Prelim takes a different level of dedication and discipline in order to compete successfully and safely. We've been going Training for awhile so it's not something that we struggle with. Prelim, however, is a different animal. It's a whole new level of fitness for both Black and I (So add working out to above list!!). We need more lessons, more shows and more effective rides. I planned on moving up to Prelim at FENCE this weekend but because of school kicking my butt (for lack of a better term), we've decided to wait until May. Black also seems to be struggling with ulcers so I'd like to get him happy and comfortable before asking so much from him. Like I said, I do this for fun. Black needs to plan on living forever so I need to completely happy with his physical fitness and health before I put him on a Prelim XC course. Neither of which I'm completely happy with right now so we wait! I'm looking forward to having a fun weekend with the Clemson Eventing Team and my mom who's coming to visit this weekend!
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