Winter Fashions

Winter weather finally came.  After the crazy October Snowpocolypse, it has been very mild all winter--dry and warm.

We had a cooooold weather snap recently, and this weekend finally some more snow.  Not that I'm complaining about the lack of snow.  It was pretty pleasant actually, and the warmer weather has kept the ground from freezing and allowed me to ride at home for longer.

Now that there's freezing cold weather and pretty snow though, we get to raid Cathleen's trunks for pretty, pretty things to wear.  Look how dashing!

We just went for a little romp down to the lake.  The snow was perfect--there was enough of it on the road to cushion the ground, cover the rocks, even out the holes, but wasn't slippery or so much that it was hard to get through.

My head is HUGE

Even through the snow, EZ can find delicious things to nom.

But is still eager to get back inside and to his hay.

Since we were staying off the road, we brought the little farm dog.  He would much rather go back to being a tropical island dog on his sandy beaches, I think.  Although he does enjoy the poopsicles. 

To try to make his cold, outdoor experience more enjoyable, he is also outfitted in winter fashions.

Complete with little rubber booties.  He's Mr Balloon Hands.

Kent Horse Trials

I have been in a black hole of noncommunication--and now after the event at Kent last Sunday some of my self-induced stress has lifted, so, hey again!

Arguably those weeks leading up to the event might have been the most interesting to comment on, since much of my life was revolving around EZdolla and our preparations.  But, of course, since I was so stressing I didn't have a moment's thought of taking pictures or otherwise documenting.  My b.

A few weeks ago I harassed Ronan to tell me what I should be doing to be getting ready.  He gave me some jump standards and told me to cut down some trees for poles.  Then I'd be all set!

So, I put dad to work, naturally.  And he cut down nice, impressively straight baby trees that EZ and I jumped over (starting with the teeniet tiniest crossrail, of course, as I like to do).

My favorite moment was when the grandchildren of our neighbors were out behind their house, that abuts the little arena area.  They had visited with EZ before and fed him grass and been enchanted, so on this particular day when I headed down there they asked if EZ Dollar was going to jump, and I was impressed with them for remembering his name, and assured them that yes, he was, with flying colors.  So they proceeded to watch, mesmerized, as one is, and every time we went over a jump they cheered, "Yay, EZ Dollar!  He's such a good jumper, isn't he?"  It was great having our own little cheering squad, just like my inner dialogue being yelled out loud!

Then I also needed to get ready for dressage, which meant measuring out the distances of the arena letters.  Yoohoo, daddy!  Pathetic, I know.  I really tried to do it by myself, but I was no good at it at all.  But with dad's help we eventually got it straightened away, and then he even mowed!  It looked real profesh.

Then the weekend before the event Ronan took us schooling xcountry, at Riga Meadows.  And I proceeded to be rocked.

This does not look intense.  But I am telling you, up close these xcountry suckers are thick!  And just totally different from anything EZ or I had jumped in a long while.  So EZ stopped.  Or he went right up to the base and then launched himself hugely over, all four feet at once, in a bunny hop style that threw me all over the place and caused me to lose my reins on more than one occasion.  Or he flailed over on his belly.  It was intense, I'm telling you.

And it was weird, what it felt like.  I wasn't scared, per se, but I certainly wasn't feeling it.  Ronan borrowed my helmet and clambered aboard and rode with long stirrups with one hand behind him tapping EZ's rump and whooping all the while, and they got it done.

The rest of the course went pretty much the same.  But by the end there were less bunny hops and scrabbling over and he was taking me to them.  Like to this little cutie:

 

So we ended on a good note, but I never really felt like  I could breathe and then I was sore for a legit three days afterward.  Rocked me.

Then Ronan took EZ back to Kinnitty Capall for the week before Kent and assured me he would ride him and get him over some jumps there and we would be totally ready.

I rode EZcutie at Kinnitty Capall that week and he was cute and good and then I had another jumping lesson with Ronan on Saturday.  It went well!  We went over the jumps at good distances, I was feeling confident.  Until we were supposed to jump out of the ring.  Over a little coop (that seemed gigantic).  EZ was unconvinced, as was I, and we mostly reverted back to scrabbling/bunny hopping.  But, we did make it over.  And his mane was pulled and his tail was banged and his coat was all washed and shiny and new saddle pads and reins were bought and we were going.

That afternoon after cleaning tack and packing the car up, we walked the course (that Ronan designed--yay Ronan!).  Again, the solidness of these babies was somewhat alarming to me.  They seemed wide and they seemed sort of frightening.  Particularly bright ones heading downhill.  But a few of them looked fun--there was a narrow little one that was nice and low, and cute little drop, a fun little ramp up and down, and a nice jump up to a little galloping hill.  Nonetheless, my stomach was basically balled in trepidation.

"What hand should you have your crop in for this one?" Ronan would ask.  "Well, it was in my left hand for the last jump, so I'm pretty sure it will still be in my left," was my reply.  Are you kidding me?  I'm going to be so focused on trying to stay on the horse and to breathe that I'm quite sure I won't be thinking about my crop.

Sunday, the day of the show, it was raining.  This had pretty much been guaranteed by the forecast, but I had been optimistically in denial.  I hadn't even worn my rainpants after debating briefly in the morning, and the minute we got to the showgrounds the deluge seemed to start and I knew this was a bad choice.  It was pretty cold and wet and miserable and people were scratching left and right.  All of this did nothing to ease my feelings of trepidation.

Show days are peculiar.  I can't say that the day itself is fun.  I am a mess.  I am panicky and stressed.  I am worried about remembering the course, about getting the braids to look pretty, about my tack and clothing and having time to warm up.  I can't eat a thing.  Thank goodness there were patient helpers.  It was Amy's first event in 10 years and she was showing in my division with times minutes away from mine, and so she was an excellent teammate.  Jennifer from Kinnitty Capall (who got her sweet little OTTB from Akindale too!) was there to groom and generally help me in my time of need.  And dear old dad, reliable to a fault, could always be counted on to hold a horse or a jacket or a saddle.  Mama feels too much of my stress and so was sending happy thoughts from home.

But once I was on EZ, I felt fine.  He felt good.  I figured we'd take it one step at a time.  See how dressage went.  Warm up for stadium, see how that felt.  I decided though that xcountry would be too much.  The wet weather made my already uneasy nerves even worse.

This brought up a whole host of feelings though.  Did this mean I didn't really want to event?  Would I ever be able to follow through?  Maybe this just wasn't for me.  What would I do with EZ then?  What would our goal be?  Was I really the type of rider who chickened out?  How much was this really about the rain, and how much was it that I was just scared?  Why am I doing something that scares me?
I was uneasy.

But we got all set for dressage and it was our first official test together and it was cute.  Not particularly good, we picked up the wrong lead, had lots of bobbles and unevenness, but cute--it even had stopped raining!

Then I agonized some more until it was time for stadium.  And again, once I got on, I felt good.  Warm up was questionable, but we were going over things.  The first jump was an oxer that seemed big to me, but then again, everything bigger than my teeny tiny crossrails seem big to me.

By this time the rain had settled into sprinkles, but also with a fairly heavy mist.

It was not so pretty.  We reveled in the bunny jumps and took down two rails.  But we made it around!  EZ didn't hesitate to take them, and I tried not to either.  See for yourself, in this video so generously filmed by KC!

Here is a another picture by dad, which captures both the mist and my apparently preferred jumping style, hands ratcheted on, holding on for dear life.  Poor EZ.

As I said, not necessarily pretty, but we made it!  It's crazy how during the round really there seems to be no thinking, just doing.  During the combination the first jump was pretty awful and EZ was confused and tried to avoid taking the second, but I hauled him over it, at which point Ronan claims he said, "You can tell that's one of mine!" which makes me sort of proud.  He really is the best cheerleader, as you can hear at the very end of that video.

Here's the professional fancypants photo--the only one that wasn't crazily ridiculous looking (seriously, my facial expressions--and EZ's actually--are phenomenal), and they were even able to photoshop some of the fog out it looks like.

We're flying!

When we were done we finally got to meet KC, who took further documentation, although Dollar wasn't so down for standing still.

 Look guys!  I'm an eventer!

Thanks, KC!!


Then a quick one-two change of the body protector for the jacket, and we were off to xcountry.

"How are you doing?" Ronan asked as the rain picked up again.
"Not good.  I don't know if I want to do this."  I had told Jennifer, Amy and dad that I was deciding to not do the last portion, but I hadn't yet consulted Ronan.  I didn't worry that he would try to convince me to do something I wasn't comfortable with, but I also didn't want to be lame, or disappoint him.  But he told me that only I could know what I was feeling and to only do what I felt like, like the good little trainer he is.  I told him that jumps 3 (a thick brush jump), 4 (a red chair type jump going downhill slightly) and 5 (a hay bale jump coming out of the woods) were worrying me in particular.  He observed that they seemed to be riding ok from what he had seen, but I could always just do the first one, cross the water that I knew might be a challenge, do the next one and stop there if I wanted.  All this seemed reasonable, I was there, EZ seemed good, I thought that I would give it a try.

And of course, all the rest is basically a blur, when adrenaline I guess takes over.  EZ felt great, no hesitations at all (except for the puddle, but that didn't really count), he locked on to the jumps and just went for them.  The little drop and up and the ramps and the hill were all as fun as I anticipated, and I just tried not to leave room for doubt during all the rest. I even managed to change my crop at the prescribed places!

When we were taking the last jump I knew we were home free, there hadn't been a single refusal, nor any of the totally awkward belly scrabbles or bunny jumps (except for a bit, of course, at the jump the professional photographer was waiting at).  When I heard Ronan's signature Irish whoop, dad was able to capture my celebratory response:

There is much to be improved upon.  But also much to celebrate.  We finished our first event together!  Despite much self-doubt and questioning, we did so fairly successfully, placing 5th in our division.  EZ seemed to like it and, now that it is all over, I can say that I did too.

Spring Time

I am declaring it spring.  The evidence: blankies off (mostly), mud, no frozen skin when exposed to the elements, green sprouts emerging.  This is a big deal.  A huge deal.  This means the ground is no longer frozen (I guess I gave that away already with the "mud" comment), and it logically follows that this means EZadorbs and I can galavant around the countryside again.

Which is pretty good, considering we are supposed to be getting ready for our big ("big" in this sense being totally subjective) event in a month.  ish.  We have access to our grassy area again, although I am trying to tread gently because of this mud issue that seems to be cropping up so often in this post.  And, I get to install our dressage letters now!  I can't wait.  I have to make sure I make the correct measurements so that we can practice our little dressage test accurately.

No big deal, right?  The trickiest part is the conversions.  Or else I need to buy a meter measuring tape.

So there's our dressage, taken care of, totally.  I am glad though that we had our winter time at Broken Wheel Ranch to get some consistent work done, EZ is just like a flexible, stretchy, on the bit machine.  And I've been still been hacking over once or twice a week to practice in a proper arena.

Then it's just a matter of doing it at Kent!  And then the small detail of the stadium and x-country!  Sure it will be just a breeze.  Without, you know, jumps, it's a little tricky to get tons o' experience with that stuff.  But, I am doing lots of cantering around fields.  And water obstacles.  Yeah, they're puddles, so what?  They are pretty legit puddles though, lets say mini lakes, maybe really-super-mini-lakes, and EZbigbraveboy just canters right through.  Sometimes on the second try.  But mostly on the first!

And, since he was so good at the jumpers show in February I'm hoping I'll just keep it together enough for him to continue going over things.  Ronan has promised to take me both stadium and x-country schooling, so I am not a nervous wreck.  Will be an adventure!

Meanwhile, we're getting all tuned up--vet, dentist, farrier, the works.  Very inexpensive.

EZ's favorite part of being fussed over is the end.  Because that's treat time.  His devotion to treats means that he will invite himself to hang out when I'm in the tack room, giving his bridle a much needed clean.

Noms?

I am sorry to admit that I don't discourage it.  EZ's company is quite excellent and his face particularly fetching.

  

This lack of discouragement of course translates to an invitation to just come on in in horsey language.  Take a look around!  Have a gnaw on the broom!

This dude takes invitation to enter to a whole new level though.  Just prances right on in like it ain't no thing, his tiny hooves seemingly giving him blanket tack room permission.

 

Myma's just about as bossy as declaring the tack room her own space, but although loud about it, not consistently effective.

 The tack room shenanigans convince the other cranky equine herd members that there might be something good for the getting, and they come down to boss EZpushover around.  He hides behind me for protection.

Noms??

I attempted to take photos of the frenzy for noms, so he thought the camera was a treat source and as a result I got several shots of pure nostril/lip.

And also this awkward-angle eye shot, in which you can see the crazy nom glint.

15º with a chance of Sleds

It was 15º when I got out of the car to ride today.  I think that's technically the coldest temperature I have ridden in so far, but weirdly it didn't feel as bad as other days have--it's all in the wind I think.

Now that we are approximately three snowstorms into the winter, it is increasingly difficult to get through the drifts in the fields to make it down the street to the indoor arena.  As a result I have ridden on the road the last few times, and maybe this is counter-intuitive, but because I'd rather not spend all that much time on the road, I have been trying to trit-trot as much as possible.  Maybe more things can go wrong at the trot, but it greatly decreases my time on the road, and the plows clear enough room so that I can be on the shoulder and EZ just loves mailboxes.

We made it off the road into the field up to the indoor, and the nice cushion of snow meant that we could have a little canter up the hill, which I have been dying to do since we've been making the trip.  This is our view from the top:

We had to make our own trail, but EZ didn't mind.  You can tell by the way his hair is sticking up like that.

On our way home the mailboxes were pretty well established as non-threatening, but we did not foresee the presence of screaming children on sleds, careening towards us at high speeds and did not take to them too EZily.  When the poor guy is nervous I can feel his little body quiver and his heartbeat against my legs.  He probably would've been sweating too, if it hadn't been 15º.  Anyway, we stood and watched the festivities until we were convinced nothing would eat us, and made it home in one piece, where we took another quick jaunt up the lake road hill.

 

 There is a lot of snow.

Good thing there are those trustworthy ears to lead the way!

This is the view though when a hound dog sneaks up behind us and we jump while holding the camera.  Sort of impressionist, no?


And, while we're talking about degrees here, driving home after dorm duty my car helpfully indicated that it is now -1º.  Winter does not kid around. 

Good thing the herd is all nice and bundled!

Snow Ponies

I went to bed last night wondering what would await me this morning.  The horses were being idiots, and I totally blame Donovan.  After the cow extravanganza when I went to check them they were all the way out in Timbuktu, in the driving wind and snow.  I caught Donovan and he led all of them down to the barns, where I fixed his blanket and generally reminded them all that we did have barns now, that we worked very hard to obtain for them, so they should use them and love them and stay warm.  Then I let Donovan go and he immediately galloped back to Timbuktu, with everyone following on his heels, including Donker, although you could tell he resented it.  Ridiculous!  So I trudged back, caught D again, and closed him in the stall, with the goats who had smartly scampered in.  The others, loyal to the end, milled around outside, without going to the other barn even when I fed them treats, but at least they were out of the wind.  A few hours later I let D out, and away they went again.  Oh well, I tried.

Then this morning we woke up to this:

Yeah, snow!  It was mostly done coming down, but the wind was still blowing.

Blowing so strongly, in fact, that it had created convenient drifts right up against the barns.

Can you see the poor, aggrieved goatie faces?

Donker had obviously had enough of the ridiculous horse behavior and had joined the goats, although they were none so happy where they were either.

I shoveled them out, checked on Myma (very unimpressed), and started on the other barn.

Please take note of how the ground in front of the barn is blown completely bare--it's only actually in the barn that there is snow.  Obvious design flaw.

Since the goats and donkey had been freed, they went to get the others where ever they had spent the night, and they appeared from the whiteout, with Big D leading the way (obvies).

I don't know where D had decided it would be best to weather the snow, and I see his point about the barns, but still, evidently they had their own drifts to deal with.

Look at their poor snow faces!  It's most obvious on EZ, given his lustrous black coat (isn't he beautiful?), but they all were covered in snow and ice.  Poor things.

 

This is a snowy Donovan nostril, in case there was confusion.

I fed everybody and brushed everybody and removed their iceballs, then put on some cozy little neck covers since it's still windy and obviously they're not so into the barns.  I wanted the warmest one for Dutchie, because he is most elderly, but it wasn't the one that matched his coat, so they are all mismatching and clashing, but I figured they wouldn't really mind so much since you can't see for all the snow anyway.

Dad scraped out most of the drifts with the tractor and I shoveled out most of the rest of the snow, and all creatures were actually seen to be using the barns, so there's that.

I gave Myma some more hay and distracted her with half a loaf of stale bread and achieved this:

Which may or may not be the cutest thing ever (after Donker) (sorry Myma).  She didn't love it though, and when I went back to check a few hours later she had wriggled out of it. 

In conclusion, snowy days leave no one comfortable.  They're all ok though, and that's what matters most, and hopefully tomorrow we'll have less gale-force breezes.

Cows out all over the place

It started really snowing a few hours ago, with really comfortable driving wind.  This was an appropriate time for the cows to let us know that they were out.

The trusty bouviers sounded the alert that these characters were out for a stroll.

Wait, so we're not supposed to be out here?

We better get out of here, here comes the wrangler!

And with that they happily trotted up to the barn, where I shut the gate behind them.  And then I counted, and joining the one that had obediently stayed where she was supposed to (agoraphobic?  Bouviephobic?), that meant that there were only four.  I went back to the house to check with dad that there were indeed supposed to be ten total and that he hadn't in fact put six up in the Hilton for the winter (should've known--Millerton does not have a Hilton).    I didn't really trust my counting skills in the low visibility, plus I hadn't had my contacts in, so Liz and I went back to check.  Yup, definitely only four.


We looked really hard, but  we couldn't find any hoofprints (or, you know, actual cows) indicating where the other six had absconded to.

Liz looking hard for cows

but the road seemed empty.

so I took a picture of us, in which it looks like I have no jaw.

Dad was patrolling in the truck and we heard honking from down the road.  He and mom followed the trail, where our neighbors had pushed the naughty six into a field behind the house.  I kept getting in the way because I wanted to take pictures.

You can't tell, but you'll have to trust me that those truck lights are shining over six up-to-no-good heifers.  

I really tried to document this momentous occasion, but I was late opening the gate and my camera was freezing.  Just trust me, it was big doings around here, but all are safe and sound, don't you worry.