I Get to SEE the Results of My Work with Bingo

Since Debbie had a summer camp last week, I had a week off from riding Bingo.  She used him some during the camp, and Bingo did not behave perfectly.  Nothing exciting, just Bingo suddenly deciding he had enough and making a beeline to either the gate or the center of the ring.  Since Bingo has such a thick throatlatch, there is not much a beginning child rider can do to change his path.  It could have been much worse, Bingo did…

Bingo Responds Favorably to the Guidance of my Thighs

Bingo, at 22 years of age and having a lot of bad riding in his life, has strengthened the muscles that help him ignore/disobey/and actively resist all rein aids. His upper neck is THICK, vertically and horizontally, with all the muscles he has built up to resist improper rein aids. If I am not very, very careful I can trigger a super…

Bingo Seems to Like My New Saddle!

I have had a saddle quandary over the years, many of the horses I ride have backs that are wider than my ancient saddles can handle.  I got these saddles for my Anglo-Arab way back when Thoroughbreds were THE sport horse breed, and while my Stubben Siegfried and Crosby Wide Front saddles were wide for their era I dare not use them without my Corrector pad on the wider backed horses I ride now.

Several months ago, I learned that years ago…

Bingo Shows Some Signs of Understanding   

Everyone at Debbie’s stable was upset when I arrived Wednesday morning, because the 30 or so year old pony, Lily, could not get up.  For a week or two, with two people pulling and pushing, they had been able to get her to stand, but on Wednesday they could not get her up on her feet at all.  Debbie, of course, was with Lily, waiting for the veterinarian to arrive, all the way back on the other side of the riding ring.  Mia was brought in for…

Bingo

Wednesday I got to ride Bingo, a nineteen-year-old buckskin gelding, who is possibly a Paso Fino/QH cross, around 14 hands high, for my lesson with Debbie.  Bingo had been owned by another MS sufferer who could no longer afford to support a horse.  He had been trail ridden some and ridden in a field.  Recently Debbie has been using him for lessons for two little girls.  Right now he is not very fond of being ridden in the ring.  Since Debbie had doubts about how he would react…

Considering Options

This week I rode both mares, Mia and Cider, and I got three rides in.  Mia’s coughing continues and my rides on her now are mostly in the category of physical therapy, hers and mine.  You all are well aware of how riding horses keeps me walking on my own two feet, and riding Mia now requires me to use a lot of leg to keep her moving out, which means that I strengthen the muscles of my legs every time I ride her.  As for her physical therapy I worry about the mare,…

Spring is Here

Yes, North Carolina in the spring.  This is the best time of year here, the gnats and flies are still mostly absent, even the colder mornings warm up nicely, the birds are tweeting outside the window, and the horses are shedding what is left of their winter coats.  The trees are flowering, the leaves are sprouting, and it is simply gorgeous!

Grooming Mia has been a hairy adventure in more ways than one.  Of course, gobs and gobs of hair fly off her coat and the…

Today is a Cool, Dank and Rainy Day    

As was yesterday.  When I got up on Friday it was raining, with a pretty cool breeze.  I debated about going riding, after all the weather radar showed that there would be a break in the rain by the time for my ride on Mia.  But my body said NO since I had spent the earlier part of the week on multiple doctor visits trying to get ready for trying the new, to me, MS drug Gilenya, and I was feeling quite run down.  Then I thought about Mia, thirty…

The Changing Seasons Always Mess Up My Riding    

Some mornings are cooler, and then other mornings are warmer.  Which breeches and shirts should I choose?  If my clothes make me feel too cool my muscles start moving slowly and it takes me more effort to move.  If my clothes make me feel too warm everything gets worse, balance, coordination, timing, and my stamina disappears.  The worst are the mornings that start out cool and then rapidly heat up, oh my, whatever can I do so I can…

Last Saturday, after reflecting on how good it felt to ride in my Crosby again I decided to ask Shannon if she would let me use my dressage saddle on Cider.  I had used my dressage saddle on Cider many years ago, before I got my Wintec Wide and EZ-Fit saddles.  Cider and I were only making teeny-tiny improvements during our rides the last few months and I was getting frustrated while Cider essentially plodded around the ring.  Shannon and I discussed this a little, and…

First, some very good news, Mia did not cough at all when I rode her on Tuesday!  Mia is looking chirpier and she is ignoring every previous trigger for coughing fits.  I am still just walking her to build her up gradually from her 6 weeks of sick leave, but Mia no longer acts as if she is waiting for death.  And what caused this big change?  The remedies just helped her get the phlegm out of her lungs, what REALLY helped her was that Debbie could not find any round bales to…

It was a rather nice summer day when I came out for my lesson on Wednesday. I was really appreciating the wind helping me cool off since the technical fabrics work so much better when there is a breeze. Debbie and I groomed and tacked Tercel up, and Tercel let me brush his ears out more, he did not enjoy it (sour look on his face) but he did not put up too much of a protest. Tercel even was good as Debbie led him out to the riding ring, tightened his girth, and led him to…

Tercel was SO GOOD this week, though I did not think so at first!

When I got to the stable I told Debbie I wanted to figure out if Tercel could use shims in the Corrector pad. She brought him in, I put the Stubben on his back without the pad and it looked pretty level. Then I put the Corrector pad on first, put…

At least something good happened this week; I got my lesson from Debbie on Tercel!  Her daughter that runs the stable when Debbie is gone, Sam, developed a gall stone and could not give me my lesson on Tilly, so I rode on Thursday since Debbie had come home early to take care of the stable.

Tercel had already gone on a trail ride on Tuesday, and he was not too sure about being ridden two days in a row, the poor horse.  He showed his anxiety/displeasure by becoming ear…

Debbie finally got back and I got my lesson on Tercel on Wednesday!  It had been a whole month since I had a lesson on him, and I think he had not been ridden by Debbie either.  I brought out my 45 year old Stubben Siegfried (plus the Corrector pad and the shims for it) to try on Tercel, and the EZ-Fit saddle just in case the Stubben did not work.  Fortunately my husband did not mind lugging two saddles out to the van, plus two pads and three girths. 

Debbie brought…

Way long ago in ancient days I started riding in Chile, in an old English hunt seat saddle (before knee rolls) and the main English stirrup of the day, now called Prussian sided stirrups (also sold as Polo stirrups and exercise stirrups.)  This was long before those nice rubber pads that we all use, I had naked metal under the sole of my shoes.  The stirrups used in the very few lessons I got before I got my first horse were Prussian sided stirrups, as were the…

I got to the stable Wednesday, all prepared to ride Tercel again and ready to see if I could get my Stubben Siegfried to fit him.  Of course I also brought out my EZ-Fit saddle to use if the Stubben did not fit at all.  I got there, Debbie’s car was not there, I went into the stable and Debbie’s daughter Sam told me that Debbie’s mother had died the night before, so everything was in total confusion.  Sam kindly gave me a lesson on Tilly and since I had brought out my…

The heat wave continues down here in NC, highs in the 90’s as far as one can see.  I just got to ride once this week, but to help alleviate my boredom I got to ride a horse I’ve never ridden before!

Tilly is a pony, about 13.3?  She is a sort of “dusty” palomino with a lot of pink skin around her muzzle.  She is 30 years old, and I learned a little about her history.  She was supposed to be horse sized (her dam was 16.1,) but her dam died the day after birth and she…

It has been rather hot down here, weeks of highs in the mid to upper 90’s F.  In spite of having no air conditioning in my mobile home my MS has not gotten much worse, at least I am not stumbling all over the place and falling, and the horses are still letting me keep contact with the bit.  It has been so hot that most of my painful muscle cramps have gone away and I have been able to stop using the Back on Track things on myself and the horses I ride.  I think the horses…

Forty-five years ago today I finally got my first horse, Hat Tricks, after wanting, desiring, yearning and begging for a horse for thirteen years.

When I got my first horse I felt WONDERFUL.  But I had almost no experience with horses.  Just trail riding for 4 years as a kid in South America (horses already groomed and tacked up) in no way gave me enough experience to deal with owning a horse.  Luckily, due to reading every non-fiction book on horses I could find, I…