Now introducing....

Over the winter, I got a phone call from a good friend of mine (from my Middleburg days) who said her sister had this nice mare that needed someone to put some time on her. I got some pics of the mare and got to visit her at her home in Pennsylvania while I was there for the AETA trade show in February.

Finally at the end of April, the stars aligned and she was shipped down here for me to have a go at her. She arrived jet black, full of spunk, and in need of a bit of a program to settle into. She's been a pleasure to work with, because she's smart, witty and always lets me know what's on her mind.

Unfortunately, the North Carolina sun had taken a toll on her blackness, and she is a lovely shade of faded brown. She's also had to learn to come to terms with the bugs, heat and humidity - but she's done so with dignity and class (just as any lady should!).

Last weekend I decided to enter Story in a local hunter show. Never mind that we aren't totally balanced yet with our cantering or jumping... I figured it would just be for the experience. I had a bunch of clients showing (who all did fantastic!), so I was slightly worried Story would get frazzled being my puppy dog, running around with me from trailer to ring to warm-up, etc... but she held it together well, jumped all the jumps the first time, and wound up Champion of the Long Stirrup Division (and it was her first time jumping a course, second time jumping more then one jump in a row!!!!). What a good pony!

So now, without further Ado, I present Huntin' for a Story. More information on story can be found on the "Horses for Sale" page at http://www.chorseeventing.com/.

The beautiful photos were taken by Terre Wrenn.

How do we get there from here?

It's been brutally hot here in NC. Not hot enough to keep me from standing in the middle of the ring (aka, making a living), but hot enough that I want to be a little creative in the time I get to spend with my own pony -- enter twilight bareback rides. Even if I ride him during the day, I think I'm going to keep incorporating these into the day as it's kind of like therapy for both of us.


Now, it's not totally bareback... see, I have this rediculously boney butt that likes to make horses buck me off, so for safety sake, I use a bareback pad, but I digress...


One would think I'm not being very safe anyway -- out there riding a spook of a TB in the dark, sans saddle. In fact, John shakes his head disapprovingly at the mere idea of it, but I feel perfectly fine... but once again, I digress.

My nighttime bareback jaunts and several conversations with friends while laying on the cool cement of the cross ties (trying to cool off), have me thinking about all the crazy things I did as a kid on a horse, and how those things helped shape the rider I am today. To be honest, we did some seriously crazy things... things that would have definitely been no-nos had the adults known we were doing them. BUT we were fearless, and learned from it.

I now don't have a fear of falling off (maybe I should!)... in fact, we had falling off contests. We had buckers that we'd make buck harder, twisty turny horses that jumped out of the ring, naughty ponies, naughty horses and did things like enter the high-bar class and jump over 4' when we were 8 years old riding a pony the barn had in for training (yes, my parents knew about that one). But one thing that came from our stupidity, was a healthy fear... not the bad kind, but the kind that taught us when to call it a day, and what horses wouldn't be able to get us out of certain situations... things that are important to know doing the sport that I do!

But now as an instructor, I have the dire need for my kids to be safe while they are under my jurisdiction. I like for everything to stay controlled, for their sake, as well as mine (Ask anyone who stands beside me while one of 'my kids' is in the ring... I leave bruises). BUT, I feel like they need to have some of those wild and crazy times, to learn from them. I think you need to fall off into a bush, and get stuck trying to swim your way out through the leaves (laughing the whole time). I think that you have to be around other people who have rough days, and know that NO MATTER what happens, there is a bystander standing there thinking "Man, I've been there", because everyone's been there (my favorite quote is the one that says "There are two kinds of eventers, those who have fallen in the water jump and those who are going to fall in the water jump"). I think you need to learn that horses are comics and the best way to get along with them is to laugh at their antics, even if it's thru tears.

So... now I wonder how to push my kids to that level of 'fun'. Do we send them out and turn our heads a bit while they figure some of that out? How do we teach that to the kids to only ride during a lesson once a week or once a month? We can 'teach' the emergency dismount and tuck and roll, but how do we know that they will do that when the pony is carening for the barn gate at mock-10, spooked by some bird, or blade of grass?

All things that I fear will take me a LONG time to figure out.

Until then, I guess we'll all just keep on kickin!

C-Horse, Seabuck -- Sounds like the perfect match, eh?

A little over a month ago, I was approached by a guy named Dusty about trying a product out and seeing the effects it had on Prophet. Well, first off, my very first pony's name was Dusty, so I figured this guy couldn't be all that bad, but secondly, I'm pretty particular about what my horse ingests (ask anyone who's had to feed while I'm away - you nearly need a chemistry degree!). As soon as I got the email, I went to researching, and liked what I saw...

His product, Seabuck Complete, is a liquid made from the seabuckthorn plant that offers anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant functions. It's supposed to be a good, over-all supplement, helping with digestion, skin and coat health, etc... etc... One thing I was curious about was would it help with P's little habit of not eating all that well away from home... I agreed to try it out, as I really didn't see a downside.

So for the last 30 days I've been feeding Seabuck Complete, and I really like the results. First of all, Prophet actually ATE while we were at Lumber River Horse Trials (his prelim move-up). He's also been handling travel very well... not that he's ever been a BAD traveler, but I could definitely feel the difference after a couple hour trailer ride, which now he seems to unload as the same old P, just as he should! He does seem overall happier and more agreeable. I've made a couple of other dietary changes, and I think the combination of everything has led him to be less spooky and more chill. One thing that I wonder about is also the fact that his feet grew over 3/8th of an inch in one month (awesome for him!), and although they've been growing fairly well this year, that's definitely an increase! Don't know if I can thank Seabuck for that, but it does seem likely!

Seabuck Complete has a very informative website. check it out at http://www.seabuck.com/, and read up! Seabuck is offering a special discount, just to C-Horse readers. If you order through the Seabuck website, use the coupon code SBCS2010 and receive 25% off each gallon!

I'm definitely going to be keeping P on it!

It takes one to know one...

You know, in the past I've read these articles about how animals and there owners begin to resemble eachother, and I've seen the same comparison done for those couples who've been together for a long time. The theory behind two humans is that after years of being together, you begin to mimic one-another's mannerisms, thus morphing into a similar appearance (or something).

Now, I don't think P and I resemble eachother, although we do both have rediculously large melons (better to hold our rediculously large brains!), and tend to get a bit of a potbelly when we gorge, but other then that, we are fairly distanced in the appearance department. BUT, I've said it for years now, P and I are pretty much the same personality, just one of us is in a human form and the other equine. I'm pretty sure that's why we get along so well. He likes to argue, I like to argue. He is slightly lazy, I aspire to be slightly lazy. He's obstinate, I'm obstinate. He can turn it on in front of a crowd, and well, I'm driven by a desire to not make a fool of myself. :)

You get the picture...

One thing that I have come to realize is how to personalize P's work schedule. I guess for a long time I've fought what I felt like I was "supposed" to do, and what he really needs. This spring I've kind of been forced to figure that out - I guess they say everything happens for a reason? Well it just seems EVERYTHING has happened. Period. Which means that I've had to get creative in the P-man department.

Before I was forced into this grown up world, I thought it was difficult enough to have one upper-level horse to keep up, with a small full-time job or school, or whatever else I was doing. Now, with a full time job, 15-20 students, 4 or so rides on the side and a wedding to plan, I realize that I had it pretty darned easy before!

So now, Prophet's been getting specialized attention at night, going on nighttime hacks, adding in lunging, and taking more long breaks after an event, more hacks during the week, and less days off when he's in work. And it seems to be working for him! After his first run at prelim, I realized that I do need to add in some more serious gallops on the hills for fitness, but other then that this low-stress, listening to my horse things seems to be working out for the both of us! What an odd concept, eh? :)

So, I guess the long rambling post above was all just to say that I've had a couple of fantastic rides on my P-dizzle and sure do enjoy having him as my main (four-legged) man. :)

P is famous!

Just don't tell him that... he already thinks highly enough of himself.

About 6 months ago, I was introduced to a company called Skode's Horse Treats. Owned and run by an amazing woman, Lori, (a true one woman whirlwind!), the company revolves around producing great products that make horses happy and healthy.

The cool thing is that Skode's offers stuff you really can't find anywhere else. They have these awesome Trail Mixes that my horses are absolutely in LOFF with, brownies you can bake at home, mineral support products (Prophet never goes a day without his dose of Magnesium!), and of course the cookies! All of Skode's products are either low-sugar or no-sugar products, meaning that even the sensitive horses can join in the fun of treats without health risks.

Now, I'm not going to lie... P was slightly skeptical of the treats at first. He seriously wanted to know how I'd wronged the tack store for them to send me home with these treats without sugar, but he quickly warmed up to the idea that Skode's were awesome, and he would survive without his sugar-fix. I really enjoy the magnesium, because that, combined with a better nutritional plan for him, has allowed us to have nearly spook-free rides!

Enough blabbing -- on to the exciting part!

Lori and I have been in conversation for some time about different aspects of nutrition, Prophet, showing, business, etc... and she approaching me a few weeks ago about P becoming an "Equine Ambassador" for Skode's (aka... making P famous!)! I told her that I was sure he wouldn't mind people looking at his picture all day, as he likes to look at his own reflection all day (or at least while I'm tacking him up next to the trailer window).

So, check out P being famous on Lori's blog, and visit the Skode's site for all your cookie needs!

Ciao, ciao!

Snap, bang, boom... and just like that, it's over

I knew it would go fast, but I didn't realize how fast...

With the craziness that has been the life of Cassidy Sitton I've had a tough time absorbing the fact that my big baby horse was going to his first prelim. I did all the trots, all the flats, all the jump lessons and gallops, but I'd also thrown in in the pasture sweaty a couple of times and spent hours in the dark, hanging out with him by the light of the yard pole, because that was the only time I had during the day.

About a week ago, a fellow eventer (who also was moving a horse up at the same show), asked "so, do you think you're ready?". All I could say was that my horse was flatting well, jumping well, and felt like he was handling the heat pretty darned well... I guess you really don't know other then that until you cross the finish line.

The weekend started great, with Momma Sitton coming out to keep me company and be an amazing groom. We arrived on grounds fairly late Friday (after a morning of riding other horses, of course), and mom was given the job of settling in the star of the show while I took a look at the cross country course.

And I thought it looked very big, but very doable, especially with the new-found Prophet I've been sitting on this year! Did I say that the course looked big? It looked big.

P was fairly workmanlike for the dressage the next morning. I was a bit disappointed with how we were scored, but we ended up 4th behind 3 horses that moved better then P will EVER move! :) I was ok with that.

With suprisingly little nerves, I readed my boy for the XC phase, and began the walk over. I had a brief teary moment, all alone, walking through the field where P and I had a little discussion about how he was the only horse I wanted to be sitting on that very moment, and how proud I was of him. After the mushiness subsided, we got down to work warming up. Our favorite start-box man reminded me for the 100th time that because I was blonde, I needed to remember that the "red was on my other right" and off Prophet exploded out of the box. He jumped number one and was looking for the next flags. Over fence 2, he realized that this was a whole 'nother ball game, and did a quick double pump in the air. I didn't realize the line I'd planned for 3 took me straight into a branch over the fence, so after a mid-air collision, we landed and proceeded to jump HUGE tables. P continued to grow up and learn something at every question. His confidence kept growing and he just blew me away! I really let him slow down about 1/2 way thru as the heat was getting to both of us, and my priority was to come some clean and safe, so we ended with about 14 time penalties.

I was so happy crossing the last fence that I ended up trotting over the finish line and taking an easy jump off... about half way down I realized that my air vest was still attached to my saddle! Picture me hanging onto my saddle and walking on my tip toes saying "whoa Prophet, whoa Prophet" while trying to undo my buckle before the darned thing exploded. Mission completed, I lead my perfect pony back to the barn for a long day of pampering!

Sunday morning broke after a night of pouring rain. He jumped fantastic in warm-up, and really actually jumped fantastic in the ring, but a combination of the footing and fatigue led to us giving 3 rails rubs and those 3 came down. He really was spectacular though, all weekend, and I'm very fortunate to be the monkey who gets to sit on his back everyday.

I do have to thank everyone who made this happen. All my supporters, sponsors, clients and friends - hang on, cause it's going to be a crazy ride thru the next couple of seasons!!!