Winning Ways!

Beau and I attended our first Quarter Horse show today, sponsored by RMQHA (Rocky Mountain Quarter Horse Association). This Novice show was part of their Outreach program for people who want to show but are intimidated by the expensive tack and clothing at the big AQHA shows, and the high-dollar horses (Beau was given to me, so no dollars were involved...at the time, anyway. Everything after that has been $$$, as horses always are!). I know I've been intimidated by the big breed shows! But I found everyone to be really nice and helpful, and we had a LOT of fun! I guess I didn't need to be intimidated after all!

It was COLD...darn cold! It even snowed for a little while. Nothing stuck...but isn't it almost MAY? Where did spring go? The bitter wind blew all day. Try showing in 4 layers of clothing!

We showed in seven classes, and placed in four. We were 4th in Showmanship, then didn't place in Novice Hunt Seat Equitation because I didn't have a noseband on him, so we disqualified. We borrowed a noseband and placed FIRST in Novice Hunter Under Saddle. First place got a blue ribbon and a lovely engraved photo album, which will be filled with Beau-pictures.

We placed third in Open Hunter Under Saddle. That prize included a yellow ribbon and a nice photo frame.



After lunch, we didn't place in the walk/trot class or Novice Horsemanship class, but took fourth in Novice Western Pleasure. Fourth got white ribbons.

Beau doesn't usually stick his tongue out at people, but he was feeling a little sassy today!



I was really proud of Beau. He just transitioned to a shank bit, which is required for horses over the age of five. He's only been in a shank for a week, and today was the second ride in this particular bit (thank you, Annie, for loaning it and your beautiful bridle!!!).


Beau wasn't ridden until the age of 16, at which time I started teaching him the basics. That's OLD for a horse to learn new tricks! He's 21 now (his birthday was last Wednesday, and he got a 5lb bag of apples as a present--he was in Red Delicious HEAVEN!). He's a wonderful horse, and certainly doesn't get the attention he deserves. So, it was nice to have a Mom & Beau day, and to let him be the star for a change!


I hope that you had as much fun as we did this weekend. Good boy, Beau!!!

Sandy, sweaty and sore...but satisfied!

Odette called this morning and said that she was going to pack up Sara and head down for the day. She & I both love doing home projects, so I took advantage of the extra pair of hands and the company, and decided to rebuild one of the retaining walls on my property. The builder had originally used small, round landscaping stones. Brilliant guy...

Now, round on round isn't stable to begin with, then add sand and a bunch of ground critters digging tunnels through the sand, between the stones, and pretty soon you have a washed out retaining wall and a hill of sand migrating down your property...so we decided to rip it out and do it right. Notice how Genius Builder Guy put the LITTLE rocks on the bottom, and the BIG rocks in the middle & top...I'm not an engineer, but doesn't that seem a little STUPID? Doesn't he watch HGTV? That's a total Tool Time retaining wall...
I headed out to Home Depot and bought the retaining wall blocks. One of the workers was kind enough to cut a few for me so that we could stagger the wall properly.

When I got back with the blocks, Odie and I got started by removing the remaining landscaping rocks, and digging out and leveling the sand. We started laying the first layer of blocks, and quickly figured out how to get the base level. You can see the first layers with the washed-out hill behind it. At one time the ground level was even with the stacked stone to the right--that's how much has eroded since the original wall was built.
Odie's biceps are going to look like Popeye's! Each block weighs 53 lbs--that's HALF of what I weigh!
The wind was howling, and blew sand into our mouths and eyes as we dug. By the end, we were tired and windblown, with sand in every orifice possible! But the wall was almost finished, with only the cap to go! We were able to complete the wall in about 2 1/2 hours!
I'm so thankful for friends who are willing to lend a helping hand, especially with projects that I just can't do myself! Thanks, Odie!

While Odie was here, I got to show her my latest orchid in bloom--isn't that amazingly beautiful?I hope your day is filled with beauty, and wonderful friends!

Landscaping and landscapes

It's been windy and chilly, but sunny for the past few days. I've been riding Beau in preparation for our first Quarter Horse show this weekend. Today we worked on slowing down the canter. Beau is also learning to neck rein, as we have to show in a shank bit--horses over the age of 5 can't be in a snaffle, regardless of their time under saddle.

After my rides yesterday and today, I went out onto the property and dug up some young Ponderosa pines and some aspen trees. As you may know, my house is for sale. A good friend commented that my property is pretty barren. He's right--and it's hard to get anything to grow in sand. I'd love to have grass, but I'm not home enough to water it, and I don't want to spend the time mowing. I also had a comment from a potential buyer that there aren't many trees on my property...well, now there are an additional 30-40 young trees, from 12" to 48" tall! Here are a couple of photos; this is one of the taller trees, already windblown:

These are young aspen trees, about 24-30" tall. My neighbor Diane swears that piling rocks over their roots will help them grow, so rocks it is!

This is the front of my property. I planted about 10 trees, varying from 12" to 48" here, and across the driveway in the following photo:


I also updated the urn on my porch, borrowing a design from the NW Flower and Garden Show. I paired a spiky burgandy flax with asparagus fern, blue lobelia and vinca vine, which should cascade down the side of the pot. Finally, I added a pair of dwarf Austrian pines to the flower bed in front of the house. Their new growth is chartreuse, a striking effect against the reddish brown of the landscaping bark and the gray stone of the front wall.


Speaking of landscaping and landscapes, this is Monument Valley last week at about 7a, from 39,000'. Amazing, isn't it? I do have the best view from my office window...

I hope you enjoy whatever views today may bring!

Saturday's Show

Ranger & I competed at the last of the winter Dressage schooling series yesterday. It was a warm and sunny day, but windy. We were scheduled to do Training Level Tests 1 & 4. We arrived early, socialized, warmed up and got into the arena for our test...and then the wind blew! An ENORMOUS dust devil hit the arena, which is made of fabric over metal scaffolding. The fabric whipped and rippled. The scaffolding shook. The farthest corner was hardest hit--it looked like an earthquake. We thought it was all going to come crashing down.

Poor Ranger flipped out--I've never seen him so terrified. He didn't know which way to bolt, because we were inside the building, so he stood and trembled in sheer panic. Once the dust devil passed, the wind died down to just "breezy," but it still caused the fabric to move, and Ranger was having none of it. Horses are prey animals, and no matter how much time we spend with them, they are always convinced that something is going to chase, catch and eat them. Ranger was certain that the big white monster in the corner was going to pounce.

The judge was kind enough to let us work in the corner for a few minutes before starting our test. Often, you can work with a horse near a scary object, and by asking him to do things that are a little harder than normal, get his mind off of the scary object and back onto you. Not this time, not even after several leg-yields, half-passes, haunches in...this monster was just too big. Ranger was actually shaking from fear.

We began Test 1, and as long as we were on the near side of the arena, Ranger was OK. He had a lot of trouble accepting the canter going towards the scary corner, and when I asked him for the canter out of the corner, he wanted to bolt. We had to attempt canter departures several times before he accomplished them. His trot was uneven, circles weren't quite circular...but my little horse still tried his best, despite his fear, and we finished the test. We got a 59, which is a low score, but it was a 100 to me because Ranger trusted me enough to continue to try. He was still trembling when we departed the arena. The scary corner is in the photo below--you can see that his ears are on the corner, even as he is trying to collect and be soft for me. What an amazing horse! What amazing trust!

We are about halfway down the arena, going away from the scary corner. Notice that Ranger's ears are now forward and his mouth is much more relaxed.

Ranger began shaking again when we neared the corner while warming up for our second ride, Training Level Test 4. Given his level of fear, I asked to be excused. I was disappointed, because we were ready for it--we'd practiced hard, and I was looking forward to comments that might reflect our improvement. The same judge has judged the entire series, so she's seen his progression over the past few months. However, it's not worth injury, or a ride that becomes a fight, or a ride that is stressful and unpleasant for Ranger. We have nothing to prove. This is supposed to be fun. He'd already given me his trust once by finishing the first test, and I didn't see a reason to abuse that gift, not when he was truly terrified.

The judge allowed us to use our Test time to work in that corner. I asked Ranger to trot in a circle in the corner, but kept getting an "egg" shape; he kept whirling around in order to keep his eyes on it. We finally got a round circle as he began to realize that nothing was chasing him. My last goal was to ask for a nice, easy, soft canter departure going towards the corner, so I took him to the middle of the arena, and as we neared the wall, I asked. Ranger gave me a lovely departure, so I stopped him after 3 strides and called it good. Sometimes winning isn't about the score.

Wild horses are hard-wired to survive, so much more so than domestic horses. That was very evident in this event. The domestic horses were certainly as terrified as Ranger, but they forgot about it within a few minutes. Wild horses actually remember things that affect them, be it a frightening place or sound, or the last place they found food or water. In fact, Ranger remembers where I put apples and carrots days later, and goes to each spot, even though I've only put something there once! Ranger will probably always remember that corner as being scary, so later this week, we're going back over there. Once he approaches that corner, he'll find some goodies hidden there...that should go a long way towards helping him overcome the trauma of horse-eating fabric!

The day was not without success...after our class, Annette and Nichole informed me that Ranger and I had won the High Point award for Training Level for the series! We won a lovely dressage pad, with Desert Skye High Point embroidered in the corner! This photo was taken as Nichole told us...can't you tell by my smile?

I hope that your week is as successful as ours was! The rest of this week is going to be spent getting Beau ready for his first Quarter Horse show!

Last Shaggy Show of the year

Ranger & I participated in the last Shaggy Horse show of the year. It's a winter series, held at a local indoor arena. It's a fun way to stay in touch with most of the members of our riding club during the rough, snowy, blustery winter months. The weather cooperated--it was sunny, with a cold north wind, but we all survived without freezing to death (although my ears may not agree!).

I know that this is blurry, but I liked it anyway. It shows Ranger collected (albeit a little behind the bit), in a canter, during Western Horsemanship. Ranger had had chiropractic work the night before. He wasn't moving well, and his hips were out. For him to do as well the next day was terrific! We placed in every class.

This is the arena. Margaret is on the sorrel horse closest to the camera. I met her at a Mark Rashid clinic last summer. Her horse is Cougar, and he's a nice, willing gelding. I'm right behind her on Ranger. We're warming up for the Pleasure class, in which we took 6th place out of 12 horses.

Here we are, awaiting placings for our class. The nice part about Shaggy Shows is that you get to dress for the weather--no-one cares that you aren't in "show clothes." None of us wore fewer than 3 layers!

Now, we are looking forward to the summer series, which begins in May. Our last winter Dressage show is next weekend. I'll let you know how it goes!

Have a good week!

Karen

Two Good Weeks and One BLUSTERY Day!

This is the view from my kitchen window this morning. I guess I'm not going riding today...or anywhere else, for that matter! The winds are gusting up to the mid-40's. We're expecting 6-8" of snow, but that's down from the original forecast of 1-2 FEET! So, I'll stay inside, warm and cozy, and catch up on home-things, such as my blog.

I'm off for a few days, but have had two terrific trips in a row. The most recent was an overnight in Birmingham, Alabama.

Shannon, Brenda, Jake and I set off to explore downtown Birmingham on Monday, April 7th. Shannon specifically wanted to see the 16th Street Church. We hopped on the trolley to begin our day. It cost each of us a quarter.

This smiling woman was our trolley driver, to & from downtown!

We walked through Freedom Park. During the Civil Rights uprisings, demonstrators were often attacked by police dogs. This sculpture is a disturbing monument.

This is another sculpture in Freedom Park. MLK's statue is in the background; Birmingham is where he spent time in jail, and wrote the letters that became the book "Why We Can't Wait."

This is the 16th Street Church, the site of a bombing that took the lives of 4 little girls. The church was closed on Mondays, but you can tour it Tues-Sat.


We found the Peanut Depot, which roasts peanuts the old fashioned way--in roasters that are over 100 years old! Note the open gears on the left--OSHA would have a field day! However, the roasters are grandfathered because they have been in continuous use since the factory opened.

Owner Lex, scooping freshly roasted peanuts.

Birmingham is in Jefferson County. Their sewer covers are works of art, aren't they?Me & Henry McShan, a former construction worker turned watercolourist. He is self-taught, and very talented. I bought the smaller painting of the 16th Street Church for $25 (larger paintings are $40). If you are ever in BHM, be sure to find him--he'll be displaying his art on the street, somewhere around 20th N and 4th. I think that art is a terrific souvenir, especially when you've met the artist.
Of course, I had to snap a photo of Obama headquarters. The North Carolina primary is only a few days away, and I'm planning on making some phone calls as part of the grass-roots effort to encourage people to register to vote, as well as to get out and vote!
Birmingham has a lot of parks, and this small site was dedicated to 9/11. It's a beautiful memorial, with a bench facing the sculptures. Both towers are taller than I am--but then, what isn't!

The previous week, my overnights included a long stay in San Francisco. Matt & I headed downtown, in search of sushi, baseball and a tour of Alcatraz. We took the BART to Embarcadero, explored the ferry terminal, then discovered the trolley barn.The Alcatraz tour was sold out, so we continued to explore. San Francisco has amazing architecture, and we discovered this Catholic church, built in the 1800's.
Mass was in progress, so we couldn't go in, but I was able to zoom in on the stained glass through the window. Beautiful, isn't it?I love the Victorian cottages. This is a wonderful building, with the traditional bay windows and elaborate paint. This is in the Cottage District, near Japantown. While in Japantown, we found a tiny sushi restaurant and gorged--it was amazingly delicious!
We are both baseball fans, and hoped to see a game, but the Giants were in LA. We wandered down to AT&T park, and walked around. I had treated myself to a game last year, between the Giants and the Reds--it was one of Barry Bonds last games, and I also hoped to see Ken Griffey Jr, but both were out for injuries. I'm looking forward to going to another game there this year--it's a beautiful ballpark. If you go, be sure to have the Gilroy Garlic Fries!
So, two good weeks capped by a blustery, stay-at-home day. Not bad for the first half of April!