So much to learn!

The deeper I am getting into this industrhttp://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=5088080186798053425y, the more I am learning I do not know, and it is scaring me. It is very frustrating trying to get answers when all you have is the internet and a few books. No one ever bothered to teach me anything about proper conformation for any disciplines. Up until I was about 15, no one even bothered to teach me much about equitation except for "heels down". For months I have been attempting to teach myself about correct movement in hunters and what makes it. Now a community on LiveJournal has me frantically trying to learn about balanced movement. There is very little helpful information or examples online. This is the particular video. It was posted in the community bad_riding, so as I watched it for the first time, I was looking for what was so appalling. All I could find was the lack of lead changes. Apparently the horse has no impulsion and is working off her forehand. The fact that, going back and watching it, I can not distinguish the way she is moving from videos of horses that are supposedly going well, other than more hang time of the limbs. If this is something so basic, why can't I even tell when a horse is going well, let alone ride one?
I am stuck at home, I haven't seen a horse in 3 months, I have no job, and I have to go back to community college in the fall. I am seriously missing Onalaska. I feel like none of it was real, like it's just a dream. When it comes to riding, I feel like that kid that got held back in school repeatedly, so now they're so old they'll likely never graduate. I feel like I can never come near to knowing as much as I even want to, let alone be a competent trainer. I am tempted to look into equestrian schools, if not for my future once I get a degree, but just to do some catching up on all the stuff I DON'T know.

Onalaska, Wales, and where to next?

Wow, life's just sort of swept me up and I forgot about this blog! I spent what was probably the best summer of my life in Wisconsin, met lots of wonderful people and horses, learned a whole lot, and lost my favourite horse. Over the spring and summer I became very attached to Deacon. For all our stupid little problems, we had just as many awesome little times. We ended up smoothing it out and taking grand champion in our division at the year end awards. In October he coliced and died. I don't want to go into it here, but you can read about it here.
In November I made the decision to leave. The position was supposed to be temporary, and it was time for me to let someone else have their chance. Besides, I was very excited about my trip to Wales that was supposed to be way more than a trip. I planned on sitting my BHS stage 1 exam at the very least, staying three to six months.
Because I didn't have a visa and I couldn't technically work, we decided to make it a 6 week trial period, with the intention of coming back in the fall if I liked it, which I was sure I would.
My time in Wales was wonderful and I'm very grateful to the family for opening up their house and riding school to me and taking me in. It was almost exactly as I had expected, I just didn't like it as much as I thought I would. My living conditions weren't great at all, which I knew about before I came. Cardiff was pretty much how it's described in the Torchwood novels and the people were just as friendly as I'd heard they were. Showjumpers ride differently, however. Horses move differently from hunters, and as much as I wanted to try something new, it got irritating when people are talking about your flaws all of the time, when in actuality they are not flaws but things that come from hours of practice. Apparently I tip forward, my heels are too far down, and my toes stick out too far. Ok, so they do stick out but still.

The plan while in Wales was to come home and get a job, buy a car (because my Jeep finally died) find a local barn to teach lessons at, and in the fall go back to college and then eventually by a little paint or quarter horse cross.
Since I can't seem to get any job at all, I'm now on a quest for another live-in job, this time something that pays too so that I can buy a car soon and then a horse. I'm trying to stay in the midwest, but we'll see how that goes!

Some would call it a bad day

Today I went to ride in my saddle for the very first time, and I fell off. Ok what happened was the girth was too big and so a little loose, the horse doesn't like to stand still to be mounted, the saddle was slippery and new, and I wasn't expecting it. I got on but didn't have the reins really and he swung and bolted before I got my stirrup or my reins gathered. The thought process was as follows: I think I can stay on- no, I'm going to fall- hehe I fell! NO Deacon don't go out the door! I hope the isle door is closed.
It wasn't. He ran outside and started munching hay. I thought the whole thing was quite comical actually, I just wish I had turned my camera on because from where I had placed it I bet the fall and escape would have been at least partially on camera.
Then after lunging him and another pony, putting a different (deeper, knee roll'd) saddle on him we worked on mounting calmly, and not spooking in the corner. He was fine then.
It all would have been good except for my only breeches broke. I love these because they fit really well, and I haven't really worn them out too bad. Only about a year of 30 minutes a week, less than that because I wear jeans to ride a lot. So I got home and went to change and I undid my belt and the button and pulled the zipper, but it just broke completely in two instead of unzipping! I know it wasn't from pressure since I need a belt for them to stay on well. The bad part is this was the second pair of cheap breeches to that to happen to. The others were Devon Aire and sucked all around, but I guess I got what I payed for. ($30) These were what I had, EquiStar.
I meant to buy new breeches soon but I wanted them to have as well as the ones that just broke. This really sucks because nothing is wrong with them at all except for the zipper.
After a paycheck or two I'm going to order either these or these.

Closer Than Ever

This is the "journal" I kept over my trial weekend

Well, another blog because I currently don't have any internet access. I'm in Wisconsin, all alone in another family's house. 0.o Well, both the house and the woman are very nice. I'm spending the weekend here as a trial. If nothing goes terribly wrong I should be coming back here near the end of January for at least six months as a working student. For now I'll stay in one of the spare bedrooms downstairs but later when it gets nicer out I'll move to the little apartment by the barn because it has wireless and its own kitchen and stuff.
Later when Julie gets back I'm going to go out and ride. ^ _^ I haven't ridden since August!

I'm gonna go read now. I have a Buffy novel on loan from Trish and I also just bought a magazine that has an interview with Lily Allen and a spread with some random model wearing an awesome crochet hat that I really want to try and make.

...

It's later, um, 8:02 pm. This woman is so nice! Today I learned to lunge a horse (dizzy much?) then I rode her but I just trotted because she was coming off of time off or lameness or something but she was really crooked. XD She was all over the place and I kind of was too. Then after we put her away me and another girl who works for part of her board costs got two horses from a pasture. I lunged one and then rode her. She was much better but she's kind of short so it was hard for me to get my leg on her and I had trouble picking up the canter until I got a stick. Then we went and got feed, then dinner at Quiznos and then to Walmart for her to get some stuff and me to get some frozen stuff for lunch and dinner tomorrow and poptarts for breakfast. :)

Now I'm chilling in my room. I'm ok here because I have a lot of movies and a book and I have my TARDIS that I'm knitting. I could walk down to the apartment by the barn because it has wireless and is heated but It's so warm in here and so cold outside and I don't want to. XD That's ok because tomorrow I'll have some free time at the barn so I can go over there to warm up and get me some connection with the outer world. I can also email my mom and tell her not to worry, but I didn't bring my charger for my phone and it just died. That's surprising because usually it can go a few days when it has one bar of battery and earlier it today had two. o.O

...

Alrighty, it's now 9 pm on Saturday. Today was full and surprisingly not dreadful. You know, I actually don't mind cleaning stalls. 0.0 wow. I got to wake up late (as far as barn chores go) and then I helped bring horses in and out, then I learned how to muck stalls and then swept the isle, which was horrible because the dust was so thick that everything was hazy, and I forgot to take any allergy meds! I wasn't really cold except for my hands, because I had on a sweatshirt, my mom's huge, thick hand knit wool sweater, and my coat and a hat. Afterwards I came in the apartment and had a coke and warmed up and quickly checked my email and dA. I had a whole bunch of messages at both so I just tackled my dA messages and left the deviations for later.

When I got on to ride the same horse she was great at the trot and I tried a sitting trot. She was smooth and it felt great. Then I went to canter her and she was stubborn as usual. I had to actually pick my leg up off her and kick her several times before she'd pick it up, and even then she wanted to break into a trot. I just went over a few teeny crossrails and royally screwed them up. I thought I was going to puke twice. It's the most annoying thing, when I'm around lots of dust and I exert a lot of energy, the mucus in my sinuses/nose somehow like triggers my gag reflex. :[ I've always had the sense to tell someone and stop before I puke when I'm riding but it sucks in gym class when they make us run for ten minutes straight in the indoor track thing, because it's full of dust. I complained a lot to my teachers so they never really gave me a good grade at all, and last year I was trying to be a good little girl and not fail by stopping or running to the bathroom. I was sure I could keep it down, then I wasn't, so I ran to the nearest open door just in time and puked. Then I felt ok but the teacher made me sit in the corner. Later that class they were playing something (I forgot what) and I wanted to play but she wouldn't let me because I was 'sick'.

[back to present day] So then I truly thought my wal-dryl was in my big bag at the house, so she sent me back to get it and to eat lunch. I went back and realized it was in my purse, which I had shoved into my backpack next to my computer, which was up at the apartment. So I just ate my potstickers (which were very yummy) and read a little of the Spike and Dru book Trish lent me, then left a few minutes early and walked back up to the apartment to take the medicine.

Then I got another horse and lunged and rode him. I've only met one horse before who continually tried to break into a walk from a trot. He was S L O W. By that time my legs really hurt so instead of being good, I sat the trot and put my heels into his sides. He's kind of short so I had to lift my heel up a bit to do it.
Then I got a baby pony and groomed him. He had burrs in his mane and tail. Julie commented on how much I seem to like grooming, and I realized that I did miss it. I like making a horse pretty. It's been over a year since I got to groom any horses pretty because the damn grooms did everything at Fields.

When I went to brush/pick the burrs out of his tail, he farted right by my face. X_X yes. When he was all clean I put a western saddle and bridle on and lunged him. It was fun because he was just learning. Now I want a baby pony of my own to teach! Yep. Or a mustang. :P I'd probably break like both legs or something because I don't know anything about breaking a horse.
Then I went back to the apartment and got some more internets. It was good to actually have so many messages to answer/read. I'm so compulsive of checking every site I go on at home that I barely have any more than one message or deviation to look at.

Then I walked back up to the house and had an Amy's frozen Indian dinner and another poptart and read some more. It was most delicious. Chick peas, regular peas, rice, tofu, and some sauce. Charlie, Julie's son (my age) asked me if I wanted him to show me how to start/work the Wii and tv or theatre room but I said no because I was shy as usual. I'll learn when/if (but hopefully when) I come back for sure to stay. The theatre room is cool, it's a whole room filled with huge chairs and a giant screen and a popcorn cart thing and movie posters on the walls. Julie says she has "saddle club" meetings there in the spring and summer for the younger students and their friends. I love that. I can't wait to have all the little horse mad kiddies over to do horse related crafts and watch horse movies. I used to not really like little kids but I guess I've grown up a bit because they've grown on me. I think it was having Dominic around all the time. He just loves me so much and he's so fun to take care of, even if it is trying or hard at times.

Then I watched Drop Dead Fred and now I am writing this. I forgot I deleted Snood, and I got bored of knitting so I was kind of bored but now I'm writing so I'm not. I'm listening to Madness right now, Our House. :P
Tomorrow I'll be down at the barn at seven and do some more chores and lunge a few more horses. Maybe I'll quick knit a little cord to attach to my camera so I can put it around my neck and record while I'm lunging, then everyone can get as dizzy as me. :D I can't believe I didn't really get any footage today, just what I'm sure is crappy, disorienting footage of the ground and some horses while I was trying to turn out Cinnamon, one of the horses I rode yesterday and today.

Well, tomorrow after that Julie's going to drive me part way back to Madison and meet (I typed that 'meat' at first XD) Mom and my brat sisters at a Hardee's.

My Show.

I know that some people go to shows every weekend during the season, but I have been to one real show. It was my graduation present, and while I wish I could do more classes, I am really grateful for what I could do. I rode Calvin about three times before the show, and then I was really confident because I was doing a really low class.

Excitement made me not get to sleep until about 3 am. I awoke at 6:30, much too late! I sped through the rain to get to the barn at 7 am, much too late! (So typical of me) Luckily I had people kind enough to groom and tack Cal for me and we had a very good first round.

Here is the professional photographer's proof gallery from the day.

First we went in for hunters over fences on the left lead, and we won the class! Cal was such a good boy.

Look at that teeny jump! No one believes I've been riding since 2001.

Then we went and did the same course on the right lead, and after one of the fences he picked up the wrong lead, and I was dumb enough not to do a simple change, and I let him rush a fence and so we only placed 4th.


Then we did the same course but for equitation over fences and I got third.


Then we had a break and then we went back in the warm up ring and he was moving REALLY nice.

My friend Trish took this picture with one of her film cameras.

We went back in for hunter under saddle and Calvin was so good. He won. After that we did equitation on the flat and I didn't place. There was some controversy because the person who won was an instructor.

When I was back giving Calvin a bath they announced he was champion hunter and we got a giant ribbon and another $20 gift certificate to the same tack shop. I ended up giving Ariel the gift certificates because gas was so high then that it would have taken me almost as much money as I had in certificates to get there and back.
Here's what we won.

Getting close

So, it looks like I could very well be moving to New Jersey after Christmas for a working student job! If for some reason they pull out, I have a dressage barn in New York and a show/boarding barn in Ontario that would like to have me out. :D

One of these days I'm going to write up a synopsis of the show, complete with pictures.

Moving along

I'm currently in contact with a few show barns that are considering having me come out to interview for a live in working student position. The positions would last anywhere from a few months to a year. I've been using a very helpful site called yardandgroom.com.

Traceland Farm needs a show groom/ working student for their show season in Ocala and the owner is going to call me to talk. Here's their ad.

Andrew of Hunter Farms in New Jersey has just asked me when I am available for work.

Penwick Stable has sent me a questionnaire that I sent back answered. Here is their ad.

Julie of Bascule Farm in Maryland says she'd like to talk with me and I still have to call or email. Here is the ad.

I've contacted about ten more places that haven't replied back. I'd really recommend yardandgroom.com for this sort of thing. It is the only site of its kind I've found in English. The site is international.

I promise that I'll have an overview and pictures from the show I did in June soon.

Longer Time, No Update!

I've abandoned this blog! I've since been to a horse show, and jumped a 2' 6" course! I'll update later when it's not 1 am. I have moved to Ames to go to college at DMACC, so as of now I am not riding, but looking for a place where I can hack or be a working student until I can get a job and pay for weekly lessons. I've been calling Stagecoach, Canterbrooke, Jen Allen Training, and Stillwater Stables but I haven't gotten a call back so I'm going to keep calling until I get someone who answers, they don't seem to reply ot their messages. I have a video of the facilities here.

Ha ha, long time no update!

Guess what, I did ride a pony! A very fat, very naughty mare.

Update on the last few months; I've been riding my instructor's horse Calvin when I can. He's a 17.1 grey thoroughbred. I have my first show on him in three days! My parents are coming with the big video camera so hopefully I'll be able to capture it. I'm doing two lines of little fences, each twice in a row. Then, I'm doing some flat (!) classes.

Ace Day

yep, it was good. able to really feel when I can sit on him and get my legs on him, different feeling from Solo. He's a fast horse, too, and I'm now used to sitting up and slowing him down. I'm learning how to ride a horse! No more ponies, even if those 'ponies' are 16.0 hh! ^_^

whelp, server error, no course piccy for nowwwwwwww D:

An Old Favourite...

NINO_FAVintheworld.jpg - Image - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Here's my baby back in 2001 or so. Isn't the light from the window hitting him just beautifully?

I had the picture (developed from film) in my locker back in sixth grade, and when my friends decorated my locker for my birthday they added that sticker. This picture actually fell off and out of my locker somehow and I recieved it back folded over (hence the crease) and shoved through the vents in my locker.

SECTUMSEMPRA!

Let me just say- I hate my car.

There. Now we can get to the point. Satruday (A week from yesterday) I went up to see the clinic, and got to watch Ariel and Calvin be yelled at! That was fun and rather uneventful.

Thursday=bad.
Ran out of gas on the way, was 20 minutes late
The actual lesson was great. Ranger, such a sweet horse, was waiting for me.
Yay for MS paint and 10 minutes!

He is SUPER steery, that is to say, just a tap with the rein and he's turning. He takes a lot to stop. He's like my car before the brakes were fixed, and Solo is like my car afterwards.
Ranger actually jumps the jumps instead of taking a huge canter stride over, so you could say I jumped for the first time that night! We did larger jumps, they looked 2 feet.
My dad wants me to set a camera on a tripod and record the whole lesson, which would not only let me make little movies, but he could see me riding for the first time in forever and I can evaluate my riding.

On the way back I never go lost but I was running out of gas so I went to walgreens to buy a shell gift card, but there were no shells, so I retraced my way and ran out of gas on grand ave almost to gurnee mills! I had been on waukeegan almost to deerfield! Luckily the BP across the street took checks, of all places! But then I was forced to go over the amount I had in my checking. Then I was able to go to the Shell station, all the way by 6 flags. X_X
Then Colby informed me that the car CAN go on the highway again and was able to since the brakes were fixed. X_X so I took I-94 home, it took only 35 minutes despite there being rain and flurries, and part of the way being one lane, with cement on one side and road blocker things on the other!
I really need a second job. I have my app out at a tiny bookstore, lego store, REI, and I'm going to to petsmart again. NEED GAS MONEY!!
Did I mention I'm now paying for my own lessons until I can get my ass out of bed and to school on time more. I'm trying.

NEW BARN *Fields and Fences*

They have a website!

I've only been once- yesterday. Mapquest got me there fine in about 45 minutes but coming back was a whole other story. I tried to reverse the directions but got lost because there were switch offs and ramps. I'll be much better prepared next week.

As for the place, it's nice. It's set up like a show stable with two indoor arenas, (one being slightly smaller for warming up when they host shows. The main arena has a seperated "on deck" area. There are just as many if not more heated viewing areas than the old place. My lessons even went down by $5!

The only cons are that you don't get to tack and groom your own horse. A groom does it for you. I believe in order to ride well you need to have a good understanding of the horse's behavior, and you can't get that if you always have someone else groom and tack your horses. Luckily I've had a good 6 years of doing it for myself and even for others. They have about 20 really nice lesson horses to choose from, though, so I should advance quicker now that I've dealt with a dificult horse. I really believe though that the dificult ones teach you the most and make you the boldest. I love Solo with all his little quirks and things, but I'm ready to try new horses. I haven't ridden any other horse but Solo for over a year except once last November 2006 and I was so used to Solo that he was hard to ride.

Also, my trainer told me that the most expensive part of a horse show is the traveling and Fields and Fences hosts at least two shows a year, so hopefully I can save enough to go. I think I can get by on those half chaps that look like tall boots so that I don't have to buy a whole new pair of tall boots, which start around $200 and are dificult to get the right fit, and take a long time to break in. I already have the fancy helmet I got for my birthday/christmas last year, and my mom ordered me a Tailored Sportsman shirt from a discount site for $20 and the price tag said $109.99! I still need a hunt coat but I know of discount places too, and I don't really need a nice one because I'll only be using it once or twice. I may even be able to borrow another rider's if they're about the same size as me. I've heard good things about RJ Classics, plus I see them in all different sizes and colors on equestriancollections.com and tackroominc.com for as low as $100. I almost bought a forest green Elite jacket through craigslist, I even called but then I didn't need it decause I couldn't afford the show.
I can always take whatever I get to the tailor so that it's not overly uncomfortable to ride in and that usually costs no more than $30.

Forgot to upload for a very long time

Here's one highlight where I did almost everything right. :)
Warm ups:


fun:


A bounce or one stride that I threw in when I saw I wasn't lined up right



I'm going to my first show at the end of this month! It's only a schooling show but it's $600 so it'll be my last for a long while.

Thursday, May 3, 2007

Thursday, May 3rd
Happy Birthday Mom and Drake!
We rode outside today and Solo was his usual outside. Our flat warmup was no nonsense and quick. We trotted figure 8s then we cantered them doing simple changes. After a few little Xs we moved on to a one stride. It was an X then a vertical, which looked to be about two feet high! After it Solo really wanted to GO! He was stretching out and moving very fast. We put it together with a real course, and I was scared that I wouldn't remember where to go. I found it's a lot easier when you are going around then when you're sitting there looking at it. I was trying to remember when to hold him and when to let him go but the truth is he was just going so fast the whole time was mostly instinct. Collecting, slowing, and waited and got him to not take half strides. Since they were all diagonal planks and stuff there was no specific number of strides that I was trying to get but I still counted his rhythm.

After I asked Ariel about shows and she said I could go! There is one in June but it's a 3 day show and she estimated after transport, entry, etc. fees it would be about $700. There is also one in August that is only about $200 because it is local and just one day. It's Fields and Fences. I have to save up but Mom says that she might buy my coat. Ariel said anyway they may excuse coats because it would be so hot but I need to buy a coat anyway because I plan on going to other shows. I want the R. J. Classics grey with teal and blue plaid because it looks awesome and tailored with only little alteration. Dover just started carrying it, and on horsetackresale.com people rate even the $190 wool version very high, up there with elite by grand prix and the top of the line RJ coat up with GP. I have my too big ariat breeches that I think I'll wear anyway and the too short, too wide, slippry devon aire crap tall boots. I'll have to buy some sadl-tight or whatever that grippy material is. At least those fit me in the feet. My helmet will look great.

I haven't been keeping my blog up to date.

Here is from two or three weeks ago:


and this is from last week.

Everything went well and I was getting nice spots over the diagonal blocks. I did each twice before I had to stop, I was about to throw up thanks to only eating some salty, sugary, nasty noodles. The rest of the dinner was even nastier and I thought I'd puke if I ate any more. I couldn't get any food on the way beacuse my debit card is not working until I transfer more money from my savings to my checking. I've accidentally been putting my checks into savings and also the check to Colby for my computer came from checking. They already had to take the $130 for my sheep out of my savings. Mr. Sheepy is sick, they all are but they're on meds and will be fine in time to work with them for the fair. Unfortunatley not soon enough for this Saturday's official weigh in so they'll just get their tags. That means we can compete in everything but weight gain class, the one class Glenview Clovers always wins. :*(. I think I may name my sheep Xerxes.
Back to the picture/diagram. Sorry it's a little hard to follow, got carried away with the magnificent MS paint again! Anyway, we warmed up with just going over the first x and cantering out in the middle of the line and back to the wall. I'm proud to say that when we moved on to the circle in the middle, after two trys I got it perfectly! The moral of this story is eat good food before you ride, take your alergy meds, and make sure you have money in your checking account before you buy a sheep!

Thursday, March 22

Starting out, my jeans threw me off and made my leg unstable. Cantering was good, circles nice with aids. Fun fun. did this course:

Trotted into the low x's in 4 strides, cantered out over the gates (about 1.5' high) around and back over the the gate again. The last time we did the x line to the gate line back to the x line. X in 3, gate in 4, x in 3.
flickrs not working either.

I visited Wedgewood/ Mill Run Farm...

Saturday, March 17, 2007
...and wow, it brought me back down to earth! I tried to go the nicer and faster way Kayla drove but I got lost quite a few times. I ended up using 1/2 a tank of gas! When I got there, some lady was there and her daughters were riding Sally and some chestnut paint and she said Donna and Lexi were out to lunch. I told her about me and she said that Kristine just told her students she was no longer going to be offering lessons. (everybody smile inside) Then I went and said hi to Bell, who I spotted from far away because she was her usual grumpy-muffin self pinning her ears and tring to bite the neighboring horse. :)After that I petted a growling Vivian and then left a note on the white board. As I was leaving, Donna and Lexi came and I went to talk to them. Lexi took her 'shorty' in and Donna acted like she was trying to figure out who I was. She needed to know if I was leasing, then when I said shareboarding she mentioned a woman who's mare doesn't jump any more but might do some for lessons. I wanted to say, "I AM EVA, I RODE WITH KRISTINE AND DIDN'T KNOW WHAT I WAS DOING! I RODE AND SHAREBOARDED PLAYER, REMEMBER ME???!" but I didn't. It was probably my green eyeliner for St. Patty's Day and the fact that had my hair down. So long are my dreams of certain great grey jumpers, show teams, etc. I realized I've been so stupid not to realize I can become a working student for Ariel and Becky! Tess says she has to work 5 hours for a free lesson. Maybe I can work out something like working 2 or 3 days a week in the summer in exchange for shareboarding Liver or hopefullt Trooper and only paying for one lesson a week. At the very least, I'd get an extra lesson on Solo every week or so if shareboarding was not an option. The only thing is, Ariel already has two other working students, I don't know if she needs/can accept me. Working students get to go to clinics and shows, even if it is only one a season or two, the real thing more than once a week always advances you almost twice as fast as just riding once. I'm going to ask Ariel next week but I'll make it clear I can't until I get that car for keeps and not just on Thursdays, which is any time from early summer til after summer.

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Will update rest later. Gymnastics and a gate:

Thursday, March 8th, 2007

Wow, this week was interesting! We started with some trotting, nothing interesting, then I got him to pick up the canter in about two strides both ways. I just never took my leg off him and kept my shoulders back. Oh, and Black Pony was back. Apperently they and their trainer are leaving in a few weeks. Before jumping, Mr. Solo pony spooked at a loud noise, but 3 strides later we were back working fine. I'm so used to it I think my muscles automatically put me in a deep seat with heals down and shoulders back now. Yay for OTTs! We started trotting into a little x and I got ahead, then got it right, then the girl riding black pony whose name I can't remember cantered tight circles with a whole lot of inside rein and not much anything else. Pony was mad and bucked a bit. She ended up loosing her balance and falling, the pony I think kicked her leg when she was on the ground. After that I was the teeniest shook up even though Solo was really good. We did this course:

and then just did 2 and 3 (natural gates) over and over until we did them right. I got my simple change every time but I think I need some prince of wales spurs! I did, however have a whole bunch of really bad spots and some bad eq. When I was waiting at school for a ride on Saturday it was such a nice day that I had the urge to just drive off, anywhere, as far as I could get on $30 of gas. I had the same urge Friday. Then I got the idea that I would really like nothing better than to throw my tack in the jeep and drive up to Wedgewood. My goal is to find and talk to Donna before Kristine. That was I don't have to tell her I don't want lessons with her anymore. Perhaps if there are Saturdays where I'm only working one shift I could drive up and present myself eager to do chores for free, maybe in exchange for a ride every now and then. Even if I have the car on Fridays I could. That would make the switch over much smoother not to mention easier, once I get the jeep for my own.