Finals suck

Sorry guys, I'm just now getting to Day 2 of the 30 day challenge :( Exams start tomorrow and things have been hectic the past couple of weeks as the semester winds down. The question for day 2 is: Your most intense/exciting moment at a show

Hmm I would have to say that this honor goes to Limerick, though it really wasn't his fault. We were warming up for dressage at the KHP 2 years ago when all of the sudden, this horse on the edge of the warm up ring freaked out and dumped its rider. Said horse then turned and took off like a bat out of hell, of course choosing to run straight at me and Limmers. Limerick, trying to save both of us (or prolly just himself - let's be real) from certain peril, launched himself out of the way while simultaneously throwing his head/neck up in the air and smacking me in the face. So that's how I got a bloody and very sore nose at my first ever event ;)

Two of my favorite pictures of us, just because:

My last ride on him

And because it's almost Christmas :) 

Back in Action

Sorry for the radio silence, I just got back from a week in FL and the Blogger iPad app is not fun to deal with, so I opted to take a break from blog stuff. The vacay was also a good time for me to recuperate and reflect on all things horse, though I finished the majority of my over-analyzing the night of the show.... Let's just say that my unplanned dismount caused me to question some things, namely if Limerick might be a little bit too much for me to handle. I don't remember how much I included about him in previous posts, but he came with a solid background at recognized events and had competed pretty successfully at training level. Therefore, I expected to get a relatively well-seasoned and experienced eventer, not the big ol' nervous baby that I was greeted with at our first show.

However, before last Sunday's show, I had never experienced any overtly dirty behavior from him and in the (almost) year that I have had him, he has NEVER stopped at a jump. We've had the occasional run-out, but I blame myself for those as he could sense that my heart/brain wasn't in it and politely opted to veer off course... Last Sunday I had to face a side of my horse that I had never seen before. For those of you who watched the video, you saw that he refused to get in front of my leg and tried with all of his might to do the opposite of what I was asking. You could tell even early on that he had no intention of jumping the course and was backed-off from the get-go, despite my best efforts to drive him on. Then, we got a few feet from the 100% not scary fence, he slammed on the brakes, and dropped his left shoulder. I was a total goner. Luckily, I was okay and landed on relatively soft grass! What the video did not show, and what I unfortunately missed due to my angry sobbing, was Limerick's rather expressive exit. You saw a brief glimpse of the buck/gallop away, but little did you know that he proceeded to give TB's a run for their money by galloping and bucking around for a good 3 minutes while numerous people tried to catch him. Not only did he put on quite the show, but he also tried to mow down all of the people who got in his path... not at all the sweet, loving, goofy horse that I know and love.

promising beginnings 

I discovered that I lean at the canter... uh oh

asshole. 

that hind end was workin'

we had a lot of these moments =|

Time to rewind. The day started with promise, as we loaded and unloaded calmly, got tacked up, and headed to dressage without much excitement. The dressage warmup was fab and he seemed incredibly relaxed and ready. Boy, was I wrong. We entered the ring and it was like something snapped inside his brain. Gone were the softness, the obedience, the submission that I experienced in warmup. Instead, Limerick suddenly had his sassy pants on and acted like he would rather be anywhere else in the world. Let's just say that we were hardly the picture of calmness or relaxation. This attitude continued until we got back to the trailer, where he calmed down noticeably and sort of returned to normal, though he was still a nervous nelly.

Next, we tacked up for stadium and headed to that warmup. Once again, Limerick seemed calm and I felt like we were ready to go after some really great fences and probably the best walk-canter transition I've ever gotten from him. Yeah, we may have been showing off just a little ;) We stood around for quite a while (the show was terribly organized), headed into the ring, and I guess you all know the rest. Following my dismount, E hopped on and was graciously allowed to take him over both the stadium and XC courses. He even had some ridiculous moments with her up, definitely tried his sassy pants moves, and then sort of gave in and decided that it would be easier if he just did what she wanted.

Limerick says "Me no go."

Sassy much?

He was not happy that she made him work

For the rest of our time at the show grounds and the rest of the night, I received what I'm going to call an outpouring of support from everyone in my horsey life! E sent me this gem:

Hillary made me tear up with her text messages, Collyn was understanding and kind, Kimmie made me laugh with her typical oddball humor, and S texted me about how proud she was and how much progress we have made :)

Oh and in case you were wondering, E does not think that Limerick is too much for me to handle. The plan is to put this behind us and keep marching on. Given Limerick's extremely bizarre and uncharacteristic behavior (and NASTY bowel movements at the show/in trailer), I have been instructed to treat him for ulcers. The other part of the plan involves going everywhere we can get ourselves to. Schooling shows, field trips, XC, just going to different farms. We're going back to square one and sort of treating him like the baby he pretends to be, aka getting him used to going off property as much as possible.

The only visible evidence of my fall

Fun in FL! Me and my cousin

Heaven

A, my sister, me, cousin :) 

Blue heron on the beach

Back in the saddle for the first time since the fall

Irish-sport-horse-eating corn

Gorgeous weather greeted us upon our return home

Shenanigans

Today's ride was long and tons of fun! Hillary and I did a modified version of the conditioning schedule I posted last week, then we headed down the trail. I was proud of Limerick for keeping his cool and even letting Houston lead for a little bit, which can be a tricky subject for the Limmers. We also jumped some of the fallen trees on the trail for the first time... Lim was very happy/excited, since he normally has to watch Hue jump them while he has to walk over, which he thinks is super booooring.

The title refers to all of the various exciting situations we got ourselves into today. First, Limerick decided for the first time in his life that he wanted to race Houston during our canter sets. This gave me the opportunity to test out the stopping power of the pelham, and I was able to keep him relatively reined in (pun intended). Then we headed down the trail, which starts out with a steep and rocky hill that we have to walk down. Today was only my second time of being brave enough to not get off and hand walk him down, and I finally learned that the best way to go is holding a loose rein with one hand, put the other hand on the front of my saddle, and lean way back. Good thing I did, because Lim pretty much slid half way down the hill and I would have been a total goner in a less secure position... scary! We calmly trotted the first two logs and then launched ourselves over the third as someone got a little too excited. 

Then, we headed down to the creek. For some reason, Limerick has started pulling this absurd maneuver where he spontaneously performs airs above the ground. He pulled this at least three times today, and it basically consisted of him throwing his whole body into the air. It is somewhat like a buck, but it involves his front legs too.... such a fun and awesome habit. He was so good for the creek and was incredibly cautious when I tried to make him trot and canter through the water, which Hillary got video of :) Please make sure to notice after our third or fourth attempt, when he walks with his head down and we all of the sudden disappear for a second into the water! It was absolutely hysterical and Hill and I both died laughing (I'm sure Limerick didn't appreciate this much, as it makes him look rather clumsy). 

Finally, we headed back to the farm. To get off of the trail and out to the open fields that lead back to the farm, we have to go up a series of medium sized hills, maybe 3-4. For some reason that I absolutely cannot fathom, these hills seriously piss Limerick off and make him super hot. Seriously, he can go from plodding along like a dead-broke trail horse to a prancing, snorting, head tossing, leaping monster on the verge of exploding. This behavior always starts at the base of the first hill and continues until we are in the open field. Do any of you have any idea at all what could be going on here? Hillary can vouch for this and has witnessed it many times; hopefully she can add some extra info for you all to consider in the comments! 

Fortunately, once we got to the field, Limerick visibly calmed down and I was able to ride on the buckle again. He did manage to force my somewhat voluntary dismount into the corn field after a scary and invisible monster chased us, but no harm, no foul. I might have actually killed him if he hurt me (I'm about to leave for two weeks for a total outdoorsy trip), but he didn't other than making my back and shoulders slightly sore. If you want a visual, we were walking on the cleared path next to the field when he suddenly flung himself 5 feet to the left and into the corn field. This caused my left leg to fly out of my stirrup while I fell to the right, my right foot still in its' stirrup and my hands desperately grabbing the reins. I very nearly pulled myself back up, but he refused to calm down and it got even worse when I became unbalanced. Alas, I dislodged my right foot and hopped down, landing ever so gracefully on my left foot and right butt cheek.... Limerick of course ran like a madman for 12 or so feet, when he stopped to munch on the very corn that he had just trampled =| This is me, not impressed. Once I caught him, I hopped back on and we continued the ride like nothing had happened! My inner pre-teen immediately called this scene from She's the Man to mind... watch the first minute and you'll understand why it relates to my fall! 

I leave tomorrow morning and Lims will be in training while I'm gone, so I'll try to update a few times. I'll also have multiple opportunities to ride on my trip, so I'll get lots of pictures for you guys of me riding some broke donkey through the Grand Canyon ;) 

Finally, some screenshots from the ride:

Limerick says "you want me to do what?!?!"

my face.

hole??

aaaannnndd getting up.

marching on

canter! 

Caught in a brief downpour 

CRAY/Photo Dump

Unfortunately, due to a perpetually frozen outdoor arena and no indoor, Limerick has had a less than ideal work schedule of late (BOO). We've had snow and ice on the ground since Thursday and the temperatures have been frigid with unbearable wind. This sucky weather has not kept me from the barn, but it has kept us from doing more than walking, until Sunday... enter batshit crazy pony. Sunday, the ground was starting to thaw and was rather soppy, but the ring was still a frozen rock, so Kimmie and I opted to work in the front field, hoping to work off some of our horses' energy.

It's been so long since then that I don't remember all of the details, but the gist of it is that Limerick was seriously insane (for him... keep in mind that even his insanity is rather tame). He tossed his head and chomped on the bit, jigged, pranced, etc. Even though we were out there with Jazz, he was still insecure and kept looking around for him/going towards him when possible. He also threw himself into upward transitions and kind of exploded, trying to get his head down and run with me... super fun! That was about the time that I realized how precarious I felt and how potentially slippery the ground could be, so I asked Kimmie to hop on and see if she could get him to listen better and stop running around like an idiot. He tried the same crap with her, but she kept him together and let him run around in a controlled manner for a few minutes, which did wonders for his brain! Then I hopped back on and asked for one more canter transition, which he was good for, so I called it a day.

Meeting Jack for the first time!! 

Snow :)

Snuggles (real name Jack)

Kimmie and Snuggles

He loves me

Me and Limmers. I'm wearing my weirdly awesome face mask

Jazz and Limerick meet Jack

SNUGGLES

I'm seriously considering a trade...

My sorority's bid day :)

Weird-awesome face mask