And we're off.....

This season is going to be busy... and we like to be busy!  We've been filling in the calendar with all sorts of things to do (cause that's what one does when stuck inside for days on end!), and right now, things are looking good.... if we could ever put together a string of decent weather around here.

Last weekend was the first show I had on the calendar - a schooling dressage show at Whinstone Farm.  At first, we had a sizable group interested in showing, however after the treacherous weather of the last couple weeks, everyone's enthusiasm has waned a bit.  I did however feel bad emailing Patti (show organizer and Whinstone owner) to let her know that none of us from C-Horse would be attending, so I went ahead and signed up the P monster.... never mind that we had only been doing walk and trot sets for the last month.  I sent in my entry, and popped outside to see if we remembered how to canter.

And of course I can't help but to schedule things on top of one-another, so I had very limited time to enjoy the actual show.  I pulled into the grounds, furry/dusty pony in tow, a mere 13 minutes before my ride time (thank you frozen trailer hitch, you're a big help!).  Prophet warmed up fairly respectable, and put in a decent enough test.  One of my goals for the next month or two is to get P in lots of dressage arenas so I can really figure out how to RIDE him thru a test rather than winning the warm-up and then blowing it in the box. I figured now was as good of time as any, and booted him through a couple of movements to really try and get him to keep trying in there. I had a couple of wonderful clients come watch, and they were wonderful enough to video my rusty first go, so I will get to watch our test and see how it looked.... it didn't feel the best, but not the worst.

It must have not been too bad, as P scored a 69 and change, earning a win in the First Test 1 division and the high score of the day!!!!  AND we actually got an 8 on gaits (which I owe totally to the careful addition of weighted boots to our program).  Since I don't have the video or pics of P yet, I'm posting pics of our test for proof!

Can you tell I booted him a bit too much in our free walk?  (6th movement)

An 8! An 8 on GAITS!!!!!

69.310!  Good boy Diddy man.

So, I do feel like maybe the judge was a bit generous, but I am proud of my little man for being such a trooper with a 7 min warm-up.

The cool thing about Diddy is that he is multi-talented... As I had MANY lessons scheduled after the show, I threw him in a field at a client's place, and drove around to 'my' barns for a couple of hours, before returning to my boy.  I had one lesson left for the day... one of my younger clients, Ms. Yancie, who has a deep love for all things pink, so I figured she'd like a lesson on the Diddy, complete with his Pink Blingy Dressage Bridle (BonVivant Equine).  So Diddy pulled another shift as walk/trot lesson pony before getting to go home.

Her legs barely reached the bottom of my jump saddle!

Just because he was such a good boy Sunday, P got treated to the first canter/gallop of the 2011 season on Monday, and man, did it feel awesome.  He felt strong... really strong, and was moving SSSOOO well.  I'm so excited about this season!

Ciao, ciao!

Thank you Hoof Wraps!

This time of year, combined with this kind of weather (the nasty miserable kind), usually translates into problematic shoeing issues.  Soft feet, sucking mud, snow-balled snow, slippery ice, icy footing... it's all so much fun to deal with (especially for farriers, I'm sure!).  I'm very lucky in that I have a fantastic farrier, Larry Revels, who keeps Prophet's feet looking and feeling fantastic.  Seriously, the improvement in gait and quality of hoof has been amazing since Larry started working on Prophet. The seriously good farrier work, combined with great added nutrition (thanks to Prophet's supplements provided by Royal Champion) have meant limited "oops" moments when it comes to thrown/sucked-off/just-plain-missing shoes.

But... P always likes to make life a bit more interesting.

Sunday I had quite a busy day planned teaching lessons and felt pretty lucky to squeeze in a lovely ride on the boy just before I had to leave.  I turned him out, shut the gate and ran up the hill to grab their breakfast.  In the *maybe* 2 minutes I was gone, P managed to catch his shoe on the edge of the insulated wire that is buried under the gate (for the hot wire that we don't turn on) and cleanly pull of the shoe.  When I walked down the hill, grain buckets in tow, I opened the gate to find a perfectly pulled shoe and one very sheepish looking boy.

Luckily I had my handing Hoof Wraps handy, so slapped one of those on and was out the driveway minutes later (no fussing with vetwrap, sticking ducttape, etc....).

The true test came today - 48 hours after the initial application - when the farrier came, I pulled off the wrap to a clean, protected, lovely bare foot.... not too shabby considering Prophet is turned out 24 hours a day, and we had rain all last night.

I've used Hoof Wraps for several years now, and am lucky enough to have had them as a sponsor for much of that time, but I'm always amazed at the job that they do -- thank you Hoof Wraps!!!!

Prophet with his Hoof Wrap that lasted him 2 days (until the farrier came)!  I meant to get a pic of how lovely his hoof was underneath it, but didn't.  But you can use your imagination!

Hibernation? Is it a viable option?

Hello from the arctic north. I mean... what? North..... Carolina.

This is the place where wind seems to find the smallest areas of exposed skin, the temps regularly don't reach about 35 and the ponies are all crazy since they haven't been able to run and play for weeks due to the ice and snow -- that sounds about right, right? UGH.

I think it's safe to say that we are all about over this weather, humans and ponies alike.  And I'm thinking that I have some awesome timing regarding the time of year I decided to really give this 'riding thing' a go (read sarcasm). Thankfully, I'm a bit creative, and have kept myself and my horse's busy during this 'winter event' (this is the term the media actually used for the last ice storm).  On several occasions, however, I've seriously considered hibernation (obviously, I've practiced it when it comes to this blog - which I've been horrible about updating!).  Think about it though... Get a bit fat, sleep for a long time, avoid Holiday shopping - works for me!

But since I'm already half way through this mess, I figured I might as well stay awake, keep working and update my blog!

Last weekend, I was lucky enough to be escorted to the NCDCTA Gala by Jonathon (yes, John is my fiance, Jonathon is his alter-ego where he decides to become "one of my people" and act as 'horsey' as he can -- good laughs all night!).  Anyway, Prophet was a good boy this year, earning 5th place in the training division and 3rd place in the Preliminary and Above class.  Next weekend, I'm looking forward to the Fenridge Farm Banquet with friend and client, Dana Sanders and her husband - Mexican dinner and open bar! I have a feeling that John and Adam are looking forward to it for completely different reasons then Dana and I!

NCDCTA Preliminary and Above Division. Brittany Bridges, 1st; Amanda Miller, 2nd; Cassidy Sitton, 3rd.
Photo by Sandra Bridges

I'm running out of time for this update (I know, I know - equine updates coming shortly!!!!), but for now, I figured I'd leave you with some images of our activities over the last couple of weeks. 

Stay warm!!!

The Sitton's are serious about the Paintball War!

Teddy in the snow!  Photo by Dawn Borden

Prophet in the snow - with his headband on!
Photo by Dawn Borden

Awe - True love. :)  Thank hon!
Photo by Dawn Borden

When we can't ride horses - these are the activities that go on around the farm!
Photo by Dawn Borden