Show cancled :(

The jump Show was canceled, because of the weather. Lilly is still at Soaring Eagles though and is going to have a group lesson today, so that will be interesting :/

Oh and sorry about my last post, I'm not sure why the words got all split up like that.

-Sophia

Yesterday Lilly went up to Soaring Eagles for the jump show. She is getting better and better with loading

everytime :).

When she got there though she was a little bit more nervous than usual, but it was stormy weather,

and Lilly hates stormy weather, so that is probably why.

She did get spooked by the gigantic Fresian, Luca. He was coming out to graze and she just started prancing

and then spinning around. And of course Luca is afraid of everything, so Lilly's break dancing moves

frightened him a lot too.

But once he was back in his stall Lilly was fine and we went into the jump field to practice.

She was afraid of the bright pink cross rail at first, but I must say she did very well. The show will be tomorrow

(if it doesn't get canceled due to rain) and I'll let you know how that goes! :D

-Sophia

Just wanted to say the reason I haven't put any posts up is because not really a whole lot has been going on with me and Lilly.

I am getting her over the jump she hates at it's normal height (not well but we're doing it), and that's about it. No falls, or new vices, or amazing progress, things are pretty much just going at a steady pace.

Though yesterday I did jump Lilly in a Santa hat for a Christmas card picture, so I am proud of her for dealing with that flopping around on her head. :)

I'll let you know (if anybody ever reads this thing) if anything big happens -Sophia.

Discovering refusing.....

So today I rode Lilly, and we were jumping, it was going normal, then all of a sudden, she refuses. We were cantering at a very forward speed, she screeched to a stop right in front of the jump, so I almost went over her head.

Managing to climb back up from my seat on her neck, I turn her around, and start cantering towards it again, this time kicking her a bit more. She refused again. And again, and again, and again.

I hadn't ridden in three days, so I wasn't too mad, I simply lowered my jump to about 18 inches, and tried that, this time, about 2 strides in front of it, she tarted trotting, then walking, and then just stopped.

The first time she refused, she could have been just scared, but the thing with Lilly is wants she discovers something, sometimes she thinks it's a very fun thing to do. This would be one of those things. So realizing that, I got my dressage whip out. It might not be the smartest move to make while dealing with a young horse, but it was the only thing I could think of that I knew would make her move.

Knowing that she has big potential to give bronco bucks with a dressage whip, I started with small taps; giving her one every two strides or so. She still refused. I knew what I had to do. I put my feet securely in the stirrups, gripping the saddle with my legs, and tightening up my reigns, I halted her, raised the whip up in the air and gave her the biggest, hardest smack I could. Of course she gave me a big old buck, and I tapped her with it slightly again. Now I turned her around and tried again.

This time, she trotted before it, and sort of wobbled over it, still not really doing it right. I made her go over it again, and she did the same thing.

I decided to go to the other side of the field, and do a different jump. She refused this one also.

I set up two jumps in a circle, and decided I would have a try at getting her over them, they were very small, probably only a foot, if that; but I figured I needed to just get her over them, then we'd worry about the height.

At first she did her little trot-wobble thing, but after kicking, slaps with the whip, and going around a few times, she finally went around the circle gliding over them. I decided to leave it at that for the day, to let her know she did it right, and I didn't want to start a fight by trying to get her to do bigger.

Tomorrow I will probably raise them up again and I will give you an update on how she does!

-Sophia.

Update

Just wanted to tell everyone (not that i have any followers) That the reason I haven't had any posts is because Lilly has a summer sore, and I wanted to have to vet look at it before I rode her. He came today and said she was rideable-is that a word? Either way, by tomorrow or Friday we should be riding! and Lilly might go up to a show on Saturday, so I'll keep you posted!

Making progress

Today was a good riding day for me and Lilly for the most part. We got over (or at least got over it for today) one of her big vices she has been having for a while.

So Lilly is very difficult to get to really keep going after a jump that is over 18 inches. And when ever you keep her going, she drags you to the out side a little bit - or a lot.

So that had really been getting on my nerves lately, so, I lowered my jump to about 20 inches. I trotted it first, and made her keep going at a steady pace, and not drag me, just to show her what she was supposed to be doing. After that, I cantered it, and all I did once she has landed was drive, drive drive, to make sure she had a canter, that was very nice, maybe even a little faster than normal, but I let her drag me. At this point, I just wanted to make her go.

Then, after that, I went over it again, and this time all I did was make sure she didn't drag; by crossing my outside reign over her neck, while keeping a nice tight inside reign, and occasionally tugging on it a bit. She did slow down, but she never actually broke into the trot, so that was nice.

After that I did both, and hey, what do you know, she actually did it perfectly! Not to say she will tomorrow, or even for another month possibly, and it will probably be a long time before we get it when we go over a big jump, but the fact that we did it, even just this once, really makes me feel like I've accomplished something.

I can't tell you how frustrating it is sometimes having to train a horse, and be a young rider who still as a lot to learn myself, but I also can't tell you how good it feels when you get something good done. On bad days it is really hard to remember good days, but today really gave me hope, even though it wasn't that big a deal, those little things can really make your day.

Happy thanks giving!

Happy thanksgiving everyone! I might get around to riding today if I can. Lilly of course wants a feast of her own, maybe I will give her a little extra hay today ^.^

I hope everyone (and everyone's horses) have a great Thanksgiving!!!!

Well today I fell off :p

It wasn't a bad fall at all. I mostly fell because I was goofing around like the maniac I am.

We were jumping bareback, and we went over a jump (it was 2'4 and thats pretty good for bareback on a 5 year old horse- not to brag) and then after we landed, she took a sharp turn (she had tried to pull a run out before the jump, so I guess she made up for it after) and I just sort of slid off.

In my defense, it was raining, so she was slippery. But yes, I still did fall of which is irritating in a sense, because i hang on for bucks, refusals, everything, but then I had to go and fall off after something stupid. Oh well, that is so me.

I was laughing so hard when I hit the ground though, because it was so ridiculous. I was hanging on to her neck like a monkey and then slipped.

Oh well, it's just another example to show everyone falls over stupid stuff :). It is also another example that I am a clutz, even when I'm not even on my own feet.

So my horse Lilly went to her first show on Sunday, and I must say I am very, very proud of her.

It was just a dressage show, I figured that would be a good start because there isn't as much going on as there is at a hunt seat show. We got second, because Lilly stopped in the middle of our 20m circle to bite at a fly....

But either way I am still just really proud of her for behaving, after all she is only 5 and is not used to being at a barn, or around other horses.