Boring Red Horse

Moving!

2010-11-14T22:04:00.001-08:00

I moved my blog to here! Update your bookmarks and follow me there instead :)

I am such a slacker!

2010-10-08T00:09:00.000-07:00

Wow, I can't believe I haven't written here since June. Talk about a slacker blogger and a terrible horse mom!

Things have changed a lot with Jaina. I am now riding her twice a week in lessons, and she's being ridden the other three days a week by trainers. She is doing SO WELL. I am riding her in a new reining bit (I don't actually know what kind it is but it costs $500 which is why I'm borrowing it) and she's doing so well. She's so much more forward, so much fun to ride.

I took her on a trail ride to the beach several weeks ago and she was great. She even walked right out into the water and did wonderfully. I was so proud. :) Here are some recent pics of her and the trainer!

Quick update!!

2010-06-20T22:31:00.000-07:00

Jaina is partway done with month 2 of training, and she's progressing so nicely. I rode her on Saturday for the second time since she started training and she's like a different horse. She backs so nicely, she is loping so great, she's calm, she's wonderful. I even got a couple good pictures of her looking almost like a real reiner! We had a ton of fun.

Next weekend we are doing our first fun show, a Ranch Horse Trail Challenge. I suspect this will be a TON of fun, and I will definitely have pictures to share. Without further ado, here are some pictures of Jaina from yesterday :)

Jaina Training Update

2010-05-26T19:55:00.000-07:00

I watched Jaina be ridden today, her first 30 days of training! No time to write, but here are some pics :)

Training!

2010-05-03T13:36:00.000-07:00

Jaina has officially started her reining training, and I can't wait to see the results. She's only been in it for 3 days, and so far the report is decent. Her biggest problem is randomly stopping and not wanting to keep going, so I am sure they will fix that up with no problem.

This weekend was gorgeous, and I gave her a bath and conditioned her mane and tail. She moved to a new corral now that is much closer to "the action" at the ranch, and seems to have fit in. There is a new mini donkey at the ranch that she is smitten by, and her name is Martha.

A Spring Day with Flowers

2010-04-24T17:23:00.000-07:00

Reining and saddle fitting

2010-03-29T15:01:00.000-07:00

I am totally hooked on reining now. I went to the Del Mar Spring Classic horse show over the weekend to cheer on my new barnmates, and it was a great time. It made me want to take part even more! I really think Jaina could do it.

I had a lesson last Thursday night, and it was a lot of fun. I'm focusing right now on keeping Jaina moving forward, stopping on "whoa", backing up, and loping. I'm supposed to lope 15-20 circles per ride. I have a tendency to hang on her face, causing her to be unsettled, raise her head, and not relax. So each ride my goal is to do the following:

Keep my hands forward, no hanging on her mouth
On a circle, correct my laying my outside rein on her neck, using outside leg, and pulling the inside rein towards the center of the circle and not back to my waist.
Stopping by putting my feet forward in the stirrups and saying whoa.
Teaching Jaina that "whoa" actually means back up, and not stop.
Keeping her going forward and not sucking back and over-collecting.

I also tried on a saddle over the weekend that apparently doesn't fit. I'm bummed out because it was really comfy, but there were large dry spots when I was done riding. I guess it's not wide enough. The annoying thing is that if the saddle is too wide, the underside of the horn (pommel?) pushes on her wither. So she needs something wide enough for her shoulders with enough clearance over her wither. She's harder to fit than I expected!

Fun times, and an exhausting weekend! Can't wait for my next lesson!

Doing well!

2010-03-20T16:03:00.000-07:00

Jaina and I had our first reining lesson this week, and it went great. I learned that I have been holding my reins too long! I rode her today as well, and she's doing SO WELL. She loves consistency, I can tell. I gave her a bath, rode her around the ranch, worked her in the arena, and spoiled her rotten by letting her eat some grass.

I also found a buyer for my dressage saddle, so I'm going to be getting a better Western saddle soon for Jainahorse. There is a Circle Y Park & Trail for sale at my ranch, so I'm going to try it on her this week and see if it fits her. I love her new ranch so far...people are great and I feel like I'm fitting in well. Jaina seems happy as well! Here are some pics from today:

Great weekend!

2010-03-15T14:14:00.000-07:00

This weekend was great. It was 70 degrees outside, sunny, beautiful, and I had all day long Saturday and Sunday to spend with Jainahorse.

I rode her both days, and it's becoming more and more apparent that I ride like a dressage rider and have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to Western cues. I realize there are lots that are the same, but I hold too much contact on her. I need lessons! At my old ranch, I was using a training fork while riding and she kept her head/neck down nicely and felt great. I had to give it back to its owner, so now I'm riding without the training fork and her head is up high and she feels so unrelaxed.

I don't like using training aids though. Has anyone had any experience with a training fork?

I am going to start taking lessons very soon, I'm eager to get started and stop messing her up by hanging on her face.

A Free Breeding

2010-03-11T15:16:00.000-08:00

I entered a breeding contest a couple months ago, just for fun. I never thought I would actually WIN it. Well, I did. I was just called today and was told that I won the breeding!

This would be great, except I can't afford baby expenses. My boyfriend won't let me keep it...so I'm going to have to turn it down. I think they would have made cute babies too.

Here's the stud:

I wish I could have the foal. =(

A quick visit to the ranch

2010-03-07T19:19:00.000-08:00

This weekend was a rainy one here in San Diego, so unfortunately I didn't get to do much with Jaina. She lost a shoe when she was out playing, so hopefully the farrier will be able to throw it back on her tomorrow.

I bought a few bags of shavings to put in Jaina's pen to help prevent mud. Before I could even spread it around, Jaina decided it was something she NEEDED to play in.

After she was done, she told me proudly, "Look! I helped!"

I also met an adorable mini horse, so I'll share a pic :)

All Moved!

2010-02-28T21:44:00.000-08:00

I'd love to write more about this, but my health isn't the greatest right now and so I'm going to type fast and then sleep.

Jaina moved to her new ranch today. She hopped right on the trailer like a pro, and is now lounging in her new pipe corral. Unfortunately, we had a ton of rain yesterday. In San Diego, if it rains...the ranches hurt pretty bad because they're not set up to drain well. Our grounds are so hard that rain stacks up and doesn't soak in. Basically, I moved her from a nasty muddy pen at her old ranch to a new nasty muddy pen. Fortunately, our big sun comes out most days and it should be dry soon.

I didn't move my tack and equipment over to the new place yet, but that will be next. Horse down, tack to go! I am hoping to get out there a couple times this week before work to spend some time acclimating her to her place.

For now, it's bedtime. :)

(P.S. thanks to Breathe at HorseCentric for plugging my blog!)

Sea World and Horses

2010-02-25T23:02:00.000-08:00

Everyone is talking about the Sea World fiasco, with the orca whale who killed an experienced trainer. I have a few thoughts about this, and some of them actually have something to do with horses...so that's why it's being posted here.

First of all, I keep hearing everyone talk about "these are supposed to be wild animals, and this is what happens when you take these powerful animals out of their natural environment." I've heard this before. Now and then, people who doesn't understand equestrian sports say this. "How can you ride horses? Don't you feel bad for sitting on them? They are wild and majestic creatures." It's frustrating.

Honestly, if we hadn't tamed wild creatures - we wouldn't have any of the pet animals we have now. Dogs, cats, birds, rodents...all of these things were wild. So, that's a silly argument.

In addition,, Sea World as a company has raised BILLIONS for oceanography, and for the environment. Sea World is an immense charity that gives back to the whales and the marine life that live there. Most of the animals are bred there, they never lived in the wild. They have fun with training and stimulation. While their average lifespans may be lower, it is a safe and healthy life they lead. This is not elephant training where the elephants are abused in order to train them.

And the next time I hear any sort of comment about this that someone insinuates that the trainer "deserved to die", I will scream. No one deserves to die. I love animals just as much as the next person - but humans are the dominant species here. It is possible to house these animals in humane ways where they don't suffer, and where their lives could be enhanced.

A More Exciting Than Usual Barn Day

2010-02-18T11:54:00.000-08:00

I haven't written here awhile, but I have a good excuse - I'm sick as can be. I'm still waiting back to hear exactly what I'm sick with, but the doctors think that it could be mono. Sigh.

This all started on Saturday. I went out to ride Jaina and had a really great ride, especially with her lope. She's a good loper once she gets started, but the transitions are ugly. We had two decent transitions going left and right and I kept her loping for awhile. We rode for about 45 minutes or so, and then we walked around the ranch. I snapped a picture while riding her:

Afterward, I was going to hose her off because she was pretty hot and it was an 80 degree day. As I was walking her to the wash rack, I all of a sudden felt like I was going to pass out. I started seeing stars and black, and got really nauseous. I had to tie her up to a random fence and I stumbled over to where the barn manager was sitting and I sat there and drank a 20oz of water and enjoyed the shade. I ended up putting Jaina away and trying to drive home, but only made it a few blocks to a Chevron gas station before having to call my boyfriend Luke to have him pick me up.

I figured I was dehydrated, so we sat there awhile and I drank a Gatorade. It seemed to help a bit, and I was able to drive home okay. Ever since then though (for the last 6 days) I've been getting sicker and sicker. I can't stand up without feeling like I'm going to pass out, I can't eat anything without getting nauseous. I have a sore throat, I'm weak all over, my nose and sinuses are stuffed up. I feel general malaise and I'm super exhausted. Poor Jaina, I haven't been able to see her since Saturday and it's making me sad.

Jaina is moving to her new home next weekend and I wanted to get some good quality time with her in before then. I'm getting nervous about moving her, worried that I might not be making the right choice. But I know that I need more motivation to get out to the ranch and being at a stable where people actually are active with their horses is a good choice for me.

Anyway, here's to hoping that I'll be okay by this weekend so I can spend some time with her.

Training or not?

2010-02-11T20:36:00.000-08:00

The place that I'm moving to in a few weeks (squeee!!) has a pretty fantastic training program. It's also reasonably priced. It's $500 (including board) for 5 hours a week of training for one month. That's $275 more than board each month. Part of me is contemplating signing Jaina up for a 60 day refresher course. I can also do 4 hours of training and 1 lesson a week (or any mix-match of lessons and training) for the same price.

Things I would want Jaina to learn are:

Walk, jog, lope, willingly when asked for around the arena (improve her dead-sidedness)
Improved transitions
Improved headset and softness and suppleness, lower her neck a bit while riding
Ability to ride out on the trails alone

The thing that worries me is that its a performance horse training facility, and I don't want Jaina to be a performance horse. I want her to stay a nice calm weekend-mount for me and keep her laid back personality. I don't want her to become hot.

I'm still trying to figure out if its even financially feasible. We'll have to see what March 1 brings! :)

2010-02-05T23:10:00.001-08:00

Change in Scenery

2010-02-05T19:13:00.001-08:00

As I was saying in my last post, Jaina is going to be paid off by the middle of this month, which means that I’m allowed to move her to a new stable. I’m kind of mixed on this, but I’m leaning towards moving her to this particular reining barn.

About my current stable:

Right now I’m at a mostly self-care barn, and Jaina has a “large” 24 x 48 pen. The barn typically requires boarders to feed and clean on their own – it’s basically just a facility rental and that is it. The barn manager does feed and clean for me, but I have to buy my own hay. It’s not that hard, I just call the hay guy, leave a check in my shed, and he just delivers it when I’m not there. The ranch has a very “self care” type feel to it though. Lots of people just stop by and clean and feed and leave. People are there are odd hours throughout the day, and there isn’t a popular time where everyone is out riding and socializing. Jaina has made friends with her corral neighbors, and I have made friends with a couple of the owners there and the barn manager…but for the most part it’s a rather lonely experience when I go out there. There are beautiful trails attached, but no one goes out on them. The only people who ride, ride either in the arena or around the ranch. I’m not one of the “cool kids”, so I feel like I’m kinda solitary.

Positively though, Jaina’s pen is huge and it’s not that expensive. Moving her will definitely mean she gets cut back to a standard 24 x 24 pen again. I know she’ll be fine, but I can’t help but be kind of sad about that. I don’t want her to be bored in a little corral. I also have my own tack shed that I cleaned out and painted to make it really nice. I have a rug in there, and a table, and lots of places to hang my things. The new ranch doesn’t have this kind of thing… =(

My current tack storage

The new place:

The new place is a full-service boarding facility. Before getting Jaina, I leased a couple of mares from there and liked what I saw for the most part. The pens are smaller and the tack storage is less convenient. However, it’s a reputable barn known for training of reining horses. They have a lot of boarders and it’s very active with a lot of people out there to talk to and ride with. It is surrounded by the Tijuana Valley trails that go to the beach, so I could ride Jaina to the ocean. I have a friend who boards on these trails as well, so I could meet up with her and go riding. This facility has regular events such as Cowgirl Camping, trail shows, BBQ’s, and other events that make it sound fun. I would be able to take lessons with one of 3 different western trainers, and there are supposedly plenty of people to go out trail riding with. They have a long sliding track, two round pens, some small turnouts, two big huge arenas, nice wash racks, hot walkers, and the managers live on site to care for the horses.

I’m aiming to move on March 1st. I think I’m going to pay for a month at my old place in case I want to come back. They said they’d trailer her for me and we could do a 30- day trial to see how it goes. I’m really eager to start taking lessons with Jainahorse and start working on something. Plus, the trails there are AWESOME and I’m really excited to be at a place where they have events and a more social atmosphere. It’s only a 15-20 min drive from my home, so it’s nice and convenient. Here is the ranch website.

I just need to get her paid off and figure out if this is exactly what I want.

Motivation and Homework

2010-02-05T19:12:00.001-08:00

Back in my wee younger years, I was out at the barn riding every single day. Every waking hour that I could get myself to the barn, I was there. Now, there is this real life thing, complete with a 45 hour a week job, a car payment, a significant other, housework, and other obligations. Big freaking sigh.
I only get out to the ranch on weekends. This really cramps my style – I hate it. For two reasons. The first being that it means I only see my horse twice a week. The other reason is that it means my entire Saturday and Sunday are filled with Jaina. It puts a damper on my relationship with my boyfriend who works just as hard as I do during the week and wants to, you know, actually SEE ME on the weekends too. I can get out there just fine when Jaina has an abscess and needs my doting attention. NO PROB. But for some reason, I can’t motivate myself to wake up freakishly early on the weekdays to go ride her or even pet her. Argh.

I work 10-7. Theoretically, I could work 8-5 if I wanted to, but that wouldn’t solve anything since it is dark right now by 5:30 and my ranch has no lighting for night activities. This leaves the morning. It means I have to get up at 6 to get out there by 6:30 and leave the barn by like…8:30 to be home by 9 to shower and be out the door by 9:30 to get to work on time. Waking up at 6 is a REAL DIFFICULTY for me. I go to bed at around 1:00am every night, and sleeping earlier is hard because my boyfriend is a night owl too.

I honestly think I’d have more motivation if I actually had something I was working towards. With Jaina, I just kinda go out there and ride her around the ranch. We don’t have any particular discipline, and I’m not working on training her on anything. I don’t have a trainer or someone to take lessons with at my ranch, so I’m just hacking around aimlessly. This is really affecting my motivation to go out there – because we don’t have a chore, homework, something to work on. This is where a new ranch comes in. In about two weeks, I’ll have Jaina’s purchase price paid off and I’m free to move her wherever I want. I’ll blog more about this, but I’m leaning toward a particular ranch in Imperial Beach that focuses mainly on Reining. They have two really great trainers out there, and I could take lessons in a package of 4 for $100. I’ve never actually done reining before, and Jaina has. Maybe this will be a fun challenge? If nothing else, we can just learn regular Western riding together.

I just want something to work toward. I don’t necessarily want to show or anything, I just want something to practice on in the arena on days where I don’t feel like trail riding. Maybe having homework will be that added bit of motivation that gets me out there on a weekday morning? We’ll see.

Introduction!

2010-02-05T19:03:00.001-08:00

It’s my first post, and I always hate doing these…

I’m starting this blog because I’m bored on a Tuesday night. I’ve always wanted to have a blog where I keep track of me and Jaina and our progress together…or anything horsey that I feel like talking about. I tried it once already, and failed, so I’m trying again. Mostly, I want to have a journal of our successes and failures so that I have something to look back on. I want to show pictures and rant and rave about things. I just want Jaina to have a little corner on the web. I don’t expect anyone to read this, but if they want to – fine by me!

The original picture that was in her Craigslist ad

I bought Jaina in September, 2009. She was a completely spontaneous purchase – I was only intending to lease. Her name was D’Kota, and she stole my heart the minute I saw her. I knew I had to have her, but I wasn’t sure how it was financially possible. My wonderful boyfriend of over 2 years had a hard time accepting the fact that I wasn’t going to be able to live without her, and told me to buy her if it would make me happy. Best decision I’ve ever made! I worked out a payment plan and was able to make her my own. Life is good.

The first picture I took of her when I went to see her.

I’ve owned several horses before, but this feels new to me for some reason. She’s the first horse I have owned that is unregistered, so I know very little about where she came from. I live in San Diego now, and I used to live in Minnesota – where horse ownership was “done differently”. I know I’ll be blogging plenty about that. We board at a self-care ranch with a much different culture than I’m used to, but I’m going to be moving her to another ranch soon. I’ve really only ridden Dressage, so this Western thing is sort of new and exciting. And I have a full time job that demands a lot of my time – so juggling horse ownership in all this is a challenge. One I’m willing to take on, of course. =D

Jaina isn’t perfect. She has a little bit of a bucking problem, she’s a bit clubby in one of her feet, and drags her hind hooves a bit when she walks around at leisure. She’s a little cinchy for no apparent reason and is missing a chip out of her ear. She also rubs her mane something fierce, so she’s missing a huge patch in her mane. Nonetheless, I think she’s beautiful and everything I’ve ever wanted. Each challenge is something new to work on. I might not be as young and flexible as I used to be, but she’s taking care of me alright.

I look forward to writing here, and I hope that I keep up with it and don’t slack off like all the other blogs I have out there that I can’t update. Here’s to another new beginning!

P.S. I named this blog “A Boring Red Horse” not because I really think she is. People jokingly call her that…so that’s where the origin is from.