Doing well!

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!

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

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

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!

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

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

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.