More Moonlight Riding...

... But this time, not so late at night!

It's just been one of those months; my personal life is in turmoil, a close friend is unwell and I had just driven across 2 states and back to visit, and work is, well, unfortunately work. The one constant? My horses.

I didn't have anyone to ride with tonight, but I grabbed Red out of the paddock and jumped on anyway. The sun was setting, the wind was blowing, and Red was ready to jump out of his skin. I haven't ridden him since the last bareback romp at 2am, before then, it would have been weeks between rides. He's my Mr Reliable, I can always count on him to be there when I need him (and to shy at everything he can possibly spot, or not spot, whatever works at the time!)

I started my ride in a mood I probably shouldn't ride in, but in hindsight, I got more accomplished in that ride that I have in a long time because I had zero personal regard. Funny about that.
He shied at various things, and I drove him with my legs and seat on where I'd normally let him stop and survey the scenery first.

We limbered up and trotted down the driveway past usual objects of scaryness, he looked, but he didn't react.... We got to the arena and did our warmups. Our dressage training is pretty much out the window, but hey, what did I expect? Can't have my 'Mr Reliable' and 'Mr Consistant' cake and eat it too, without also being consistent from my end.
After we were warmed up, I asked for canter with stronger aids than I ever had before. Normally, I didn't push him and we eventually got there; you know, sometime later, maybe....
....bang... today we were straight into it..... 4 complete circles to the right, 4 complete circles to the left - the most we'd actually done in the arena. Sad, huh? He was rushed, but he was strong. He wanted to quit, but he kept the pace when I squeezed him on....
It was exciting too, because now I know he can do it, and now I know it wasn't him holding us back, it was me!

I've been taking him slower than he needs to go, because of my own chickeness.... Why am I chicken though? He looks after me. He always has. He's never bucked, and never reared. The most he does is shy. Alot. And maybe that's his way of telling me to get over myself.... Yet again, he's been the one to teach me a lesson.

So feeling confident, and totally free, I slipped my stirrips up 2 holes and we tried some jumping. Tiny, pathetic jumps, but who cares, they were JUMPS! Nothing like the 4' plus monsters I used to tackle in my young and fearless days (the days were my body actually bounced when I hit the ground), but I haven't had the courage to jump in years... He did everything I asked, again. We popped over the jumps, and cantered the long side. We came back to a trot, circled around to position ourselves, and did it all over again.....

I rode back to the paddock feeling like the full moon ahead of us was brighter and clearer than it had been in a very long time... Shame it didn't last long - but that's another story, and one has nothing to do with Red.

........Red. The horse of my dreams.

Red Wine and Midnight Bareback Riding....

Well, technically it was 2am ... It was Saturday night - my less-than-horsey-tolerant other half was out of town, and we girls were bored. What better solution, than a girls night!

The pizza was hot, the wine cold. The moon rolled over the paddock shadows like a giant discoball, and we kicked back and enjoyed an evening of total bliss and gossiping.

We fed the rather indignant horses at 9:30pm... My 3 geldings were the first stop. I called out to them them - I couldn't see them, but I could hear them. They came roaring down the field at breakneck speed desperately intent to get there incase I left without feeding them. We continued the rounds in the pitch black, listening to the sounds of impatient horses blowing, stamping, nickering and hollering that it was wayyyyy passed dinnertime.

With that done, we went back to the house and continued our wine and gossip session. After hours of intoxicated giggles and perhaps one too many revelations, we came up with the most fantastic idea ever (insert tongue in cheek) - midnight bareback riding! We trekked back down the hill, grabbed our horses and headed for the safety of the enclosed arena (not to mention, the soft, spongy sand!)... Our rubbery suppleness stemming directly from our levels of intoxication!

I clambered up onto a drum, and slipped quietly onto Red's back. I wasn't sure how it would go; Red's not exactly a brave soul during the daylight hours. How would he go at night?
But you know what, he reaffirmed my undying love for him all over again.... There's not enough money in the world to make me hand over this horse!
He dutifully carted me around the arena - around the barrels, over some groundpoles, over some very low crosspoles (at a walk). He trotted slowly while I laughed like a maniac and tried my best to balance on his bOnUcY trot.... He took a sideways step and blew at 2 tyres laying the the middle of the arena that he thought had jumped out of nowhere - at 2am on a pitchblack night, he wouldn't have been wrong! He never did look at them again, and we trotted round them several times again that night.

Almost every girl I know grew up wanting that loyal and noble white steed who would take them on endless adventures through the countryside..... My 'countryside' just happened to be the arena at 2am one Saturday night after too much wine. I dragged him out of his paddock and away from his friends, and slipped onto his back in the middle of a slightly cold, but very dark night... I pointed him in every which way; we walked around things, over things, and trotted some unbalanced, wine-induced wobbly circles. Whatever I asked, he did it...... Sometimes stopping him to slide my body down to wrap my arms around his neck and take in the smell of horse I find so intoxicating.

A girl and her horse.
My noble white steed.
How lucky I am to have found him.
How lucky I am, that he will always be by my side!
Love has never been such a simple thing as this.

Just Another Reason Why I LOVE This Horse!!

My other half has been nagging me to ride for a while now (whilst pretending 'he doesnt care either way - he's just doing it for me' ... Yeah. Right. I bought Huey for him to ride - but that hasn't happened, due to Huey being unsound...

So over the weekend - I put him on Red. He's a complete beginner - and regularly likes to tell me riding is 'just sitting there' ... So away the two of them go, in the roundyard, at a walk .... Red plods around taking babysteps for half a lap, then decides to wander back in and stand next to me in the centre of the roundyard in the hopes he's done....

Few quick pointers on the important concept of steering and away they go again... Getting cocky, the other half squeezed Red into a trot - i should actually say the "few step shuffle". You know those craft old mares that do little more than shuffle, but just bob their head like they're trotting?? Yeah, Red went there!!

With the 2nd attempt (and with a little coaxing from me) they were trotting like a sack of potatoes around the roundyard.... Feeling confident, they graduated to the arena and walked a few laps - both very pleased with themselves - the human was 'just sitting there', and the horse didn't have to work!

They then walked back to the paddock by themselves; the other half dismounted, disassembled my bridle to take it off , left Red standing there (untied, no halter, and the bridle in pieces on the ground) while he walked and closed the gate, then came back and took off the saddle - then stuffed him full of treats for "not killing him" .... (he's since been forced to admit that 'just sitting there' is not the case when out of a walk - I found that highly amusing)

But Red never stopped babysitting the whole time - oh how I love him (and the human aboard, of course haha)!!

Here they are together :)

Oh Heaven, My Hay-filled Heaven!!...

It's here - heaven itself! It arrived today on the back of a trailer and Red hasn't stopped stuffing his face since.

Red is not as brave as Huey, so when it rolled into the paddock - he watched it like a hawk, expecting it to leap up and engulf him with it's stringy-evilness .... When he discovered the giant stringball-of-death infact contained HAY, and not horse-eating monsters as he'd expected, you could almost see the merry jig he was performing in his head at the sight of it ....

I had an interesting discussion with the guy who delivered the bales for me - we chatted for a while, and got onto the topic that both Huey and Red were Standardbreds - ex pacers.... Now don't me wrong, he was a really nice chappy, really helpful, has great hay at great prices and will deliver - but seems another person who believes Standies can't do anything but wear a harness and pull a sulky on the track.... His comments will be in red, mine blue...

"Oh. But they're no good for riding. Right?!"
"They're excellent for riding. Very level headed - and can do anything they're asked. They just have to be retrained after they finish racing."
"They don't step-out well though, do they?"
"This guy (I pointed to Red) tracks up very nicely. He's been shown in breed classes so far, and we're working on our Dressage. The other one, (pointed to Huey) has a huge stride - overtracks actually. But hasn't done much, due to.... (explained Huey's hoof saga briefly)"
.... I then went on to explain that these guys (Standies) are now doing very well in Endurance and will often be kept as pacers for it as well....
"Oh. So what's it like to ride a pace then?"
"It's actually very comfortable once your used to it! No need to rise, just let your hips go. It's less labour-intensive for both you, and your horse, than trotting is"..
-nods in thought-

I don't think he believed me, but he was polite enough to listen and to ask questions. I definitely appreciate and respect that in a fellow horseperson; rather than having to listen to the usual negative stereotypical crap about how standardbreds can't do this and can't do that... Nooooooooo, they CAN, it's just that no-one has bothered to train and showcase them under saddle before now ... You can't take a horse straight from the track, who has many months, often YEARS, of muscle memory and expect them to perform movements they're not conditioned to do, nor trained to do. Not to mention the standy racehorse is well aware they get DISCIPLINED for breaking gait so it takes a little while to let them know it's now okay to trot, canter, and travel in a round frame,not hollow, when working...
It would be like sinking 30K into a dressage-bred warmblood and getting pissy because it can't do piaffe, passage, travers or canter piroeuttes without first training and conditioning them to do so.... The difference is, the warmblood is being taught from scratch with no former training/conditioning to govern it's attitude/behaviour/muscle memory; the Standardbred is being retrained into life after racing, and sometimes takes time to make the transition into it's second career.... Training people, training!! -end of rant-

However, all that is about to change! A new Standy group is forming in my area, and we're looking to promote these diamonds in the rough anyway we can :o) .... But for now - here are the lads, stuffing their faces for all it's worth, incase I take the holy-hay-bale away!!

Red Says Hi!

Red would like to say hi, from the depths of his turn at silver service...

I'm so busy working the colt, the stallion, and Huey - that he's enjoying some time off .... That probably wouldnt be the case if he wasn't "Mr Reliable" - but you can just jump on after any length of time and he'll do as asked...

I love my pony!

A New Year for Red!

Hello 2009!

I have big plans for this year ....

We are attending our first show for this year on January 18th... a local show, with Standy classes.... So we'll be doing both led and ridden for that one.. Mayyyyybe another show the weekend straight after that one (the 24th) and I have a few marked down for March so far.

We'll also be attending the Canberra Harness Club meet on the 8th of February, to participate in a ridden Standardbred parade being held by a new Standy Club being formed in the NSW/ACT area.... I'm pretty excited to be a part of this one!!

No new piccies of Red. I'll be riding him tomorrow so I'll be sure to get some. He is, however, fa as a house right now!! He's enjoyed time off over the new year. So much so, he enjoyed breaking into my feed drums with his partner in crime Huey and consuming a bale of hay between them. They were pleased with themselves none-the-less....

Piccies tomorrow, along with an update of our ride!