Much Accomplished.

Well, except for the riding. Looking back, I didn't get much saddle work completed this weekend. *sigh*

Thursday evening I longed Harley. He was good, and a bit delighted with his energy. :) Cute anyways.

Friday morning early I rode. Harley was introduced to his dressage bridle, complete with noseband and flash. He let me know just how crummy it was, flipping tail, ears, and face as I attached the neck stretcher. Quite promptly, he realized it wasn't going to get him anywhere to open his mouth to avoid the work, and he'd have to comply. With drool running out of his mouth, all I could do was giggle at him. Riding, I worked on all the gaits. One left lead wrong, after a pretty big trip and stumble. He started out correct, and then picked up the incorrect lead after his stumble. Lazy legs, I assumed, and quickly got him corrected. Rode for about 45 minutes total. Also did a LOT of transitions from walk to trot and back again. There's some significant improvement in his transitions, though they're still not where I'd like them to be.

Mo and I hit the arena, and went through all the basics. He also had a bit change, temporarily in the noseband and twisted wire o-ring. His transitions had gotten a little lazy, so I thought I might remind him of how easy life can be, as well as how difficult. 45 minutes of work, and about halfway through, he thought he'd try a "duck & run", taking my slight body language to mean "run off at a gallop instead of the jog she's really asking for". With a very sharp one-rein stop, followed by some very intense turns on forehand and haunches, Mo realized I wasn't joking around, nor was I tolerating it. He finally complied, and the remainder of our work went well.

Friday afternoon I took Harley to the vet for shots & coggins. All is well, so says Dr. Sam. Harley still has a few baby teeth hanging on, but we've decided to put off any serious dental work with them until at least his float next February. Works for me. He's still holding his weight good, eating well (not dropping), and doesn't leave even a speck of grain for the deer. :)

Saturday, Harley had a light walk on the buckle around the dirt road. About 35 minutes total saddle, some of that standing around waiting patiently. Nothing particularly exciting happened, except for the two "stop & find it" moments when he heard the neighbor dogs but didn't see them. Understandable, they were loud, and sudden. Wandering down the middle of the gravelly dirt road, I laughed at Mr ToughHooves. :)

Saturday afternoon, both boys got their hooves trimmed. All eight feets are coming along nicely. One hoof left to be 100%, and we'll be a band of happy barefoots. Harley's front right has this pesky crack that seems to turn into a split as he grows. Grr. Getting ready to start applying treatments to it, see if we can't make some progress. Romeo stood well for his trim, looked great afterwards. Harley was stiff and sore during his light walk, and this pain remained in his general attitude and way of going during the trim. I gave him 2g of bute, told him to enjoy the rest of the weekend off.

Sunday, knowing they both had new trims to adjust to, and Harley still recovering from his shots, I gave them both the day off. Tonight, we should be back in action. Depending on weather, temperature, and daylight, I hope to get both ridden, even if it's short for Romeo.

All that horse-ness being said, there are a doodle-load of other things going on around here. Is this something you guys would like me to blog about? Or, would you prefer I keep my life beyond riding to myself, leaving it to private discussions and unclear facebook posts? Most of it is pretty good right about now, so it wouldn't be a lot of down & dirty bad news. Send me a message, email, d-mail, facebook, comment. You know the drill.

As to the previous post asking about current readership, hang tight folks... I haven't quite made up my mind yet. I'll let you know if/when I do.

9-11 Harley

I was glued to the TV for the early morning. For the first time, I saw our curret VP say a few things eloquent. Must've had someone else write the speech for him. It was moving. FoxNews covered all three memorial services, all three locations, all at once. Scrolling between them, covering the special songs, speeches, and things done at all locations. Very moving. I hold the day pretty close, as I was physically close enough to the PA and NY locations to actually be useful. I gathered up bottled water, wash rags, and carried them to a drop off point that evening, to be hauled up to NYC for donating. I gathered up more bottled water for rescue workers in PA, to a different drop off spot. Finally, I scrambled myself to a blood donation point, got there early enough I didn't have to wait in line, and I did my part. Graduate school didn't cancel classes, which gave me pause. "We won't stop, that's what the terrorists want, is for us to cower in fear in front of the TVs." Classes were optional. I did my lab assistant work, and upon advice of my advisors, cancelled my late afternoon of research. For weeks, I was always looking up at every airplane, wondering, "Is that one going to be force crashed here?"

So, when I went out for Harley, it was with a different tone of mind. I wasn't out there as a chore, or a duty. I went out with a passion. The terrorists want us to hold memorials, have services, and be in general mental reflection for weeks now. They want inside our heads. I didn't allow it.

Instead, I chose to have a fun, pleasant, productive ride. Harley and I rode through all gaits, and had a lot of good work. I noticed very early in the ride, I'm consistently losing stirrups when I'm insisting on using heel pressure to push him forward. I made the mental decision to shove my heels down, and as my calves sank into his sides, he shot forward like a lightening bolt. Fantastic! Now, to keep those heels down. :) A whole 'nother project. I knew it before, but with Ransom (and Mo), they were *wide* horses, so I could tap with heels without needing to worry about lifting my foot to do it. Harley's not as wide (got to be the TB close in his breeding, probably a skinny TB), and while he may grow into himself a bit more, this might be all we'll get.

A good ride over all. With heels down, he was easy to sit in the canter and keep moving. Towards the end, I felt myself driving with my seat, which kept his canter even more "put together". Trot work has improved as well, with some actual stretching down at the trot when I asked for it. Free walk / working walk , well , still need work. Apparently the hardest gait to obtain "nice" in. Eh, so far, at least.

09-10 Early Again

Sweetness on Sir Harley. Longe was short, less than 15 minutes, and he started turning in and taking a few steps towards me, "Mom, let's go already! Get up here!"

Ride was nice. One blown lead, and it was mid-canter work left. We made a nice turn, he forgot to pick his front feet up, stumbled BIG, and squirted up into the right lead as he came out of his big stumble. Slowed to trot, and he self-corrected. As soon as I sat deep and added leg (without a verbal kiss), he went back into the left lead and relaxed. Canter right has gotten a little lazy, so I rode that longer than left.

Trot work is improving considerably. He still doesn't understand "collect/half halt in the corners", and will instead brace against the turn, and hollow out his back. On the straight lines, and in a big circle, things are really improving.

Free walk is gaining ground as well. I'm opening up the ride on light contact, encouraging him to stretch down. Every walk "break" now is a working walk / free walk. Not until all the way at the end of the ride do I drop the reins completely and take my legs off. Now, he works at even the walk. As a result, he's starting to reach down into contact more willingly, looking for any kind of a break he can get.

Romeo and I meandered down the dirt road, weaved in and around trees a few houses down (on some cleared grassy area), then towards the mailboxes as far as two houses up. About a half hour, nothing but a walk. He wasn't even sweating when we got home. "Mo, if you want to stay fit, we'll need to do more than that in the future." I believe I heard him reply, "Fit? Show me the cookies, lady!"

9-8 & 9-9

Longed Harley Thursday evening. Spunky little fart. Obviously delighted with the continuation of the lower humidity and northern breezes, he gave a good buck and hop heading into his first canter. He bucks and moves forward, simultaneously. It's funny. A few hop hops and he decided that was more work than it was worth. I gave the side reins another good effort, and swiftly realized that he can still find an ugly way out of them. He'll lift his head, and not bend at the poll. I made them as short as they'd go, and got a little give, but not much. I wanted to hop on him at the walk, but without true reins or my helmet, I thought better of it, and stuck with longing only. 35 minutes.

Friday early evening, we were at it again. Warmup was nice, as he seemed happy to longe out in the neck stretcher instead of the side reins. He let out a heavy sigh as soon as I connected them, as if, "Okay, Mom. I don't like that, but I don't like the other more." :) Cute kid.

Riding was nice. One missed lead left, right at the start of canter work. Not so bad. Back to trot after only 3 strides wrong, and he lifted himself up into the correct lead. Good canter work, though short. I would've done more, but he felt really lazy, and I didn't seem to have enough leg power to keep him moving. (Figured out Sunday morning what was wrong there, but I'll leave that out for now.)
Total, about 45minutes.

Hauled Mo against his will into the arena. He looked pretty longingly down the dirt road while I was saddling him. "Tomorrow, bud.. Tomorrow." Ride was nice. He LOVES himself a loose rein. He did get just a bit chargey/racey at his trot, and when I added contact, he got even worse. So, I tossed the reins back to him, and pushed him at it. When he tried to ease up, I pushed him into a canter, and rode that hard for a little while. Mo, realizing I still have his number, and I'm not taking his garbage, relaxed for the rest of the ride.

Who'da thunk the baby would be easier than the oldie goldie? :)

If You're Still Reading

I'll repost this next week, too.. Thinking about making some significant blog changes. I know the account "followers" aren't the only ones reading, and I thank you "non listed followers" for being here, too..


Email me, through the links, through Facebook, through DG, through smoke signals (wait.. no, all the wildfires, don't use smoke signals), airhorns, text messages.. you get the idea..


If you're still reading, contact me, let me know.

Sara Bareillis ,, Machine Gun

Tell mе οff іn a letter

Completely ignore mе

Getting high οff οf saying

Whу уοu don’t adore mе?

Baby, please, I’m well versed

In hοw I might bе cursed

I don’t need іt articulated

Stand іn line wasting

All οf уοur time јuѕt tο hаtе mе

Evеrу dime gone tο ways

Yοu саn find thаt mіght bait mе

Anԁ drag mе down, sight set proudly

Bring mе tο thе ground, see

Yοu lovе tο bе somebody’s enemy

Maybe nobody loved уou whеn уοu wеrе young

Maybe, boy, when уοu сrу, nobody ever comes

Will you try it once?
Give up the machine gun

Machine gun

Locked and loaded

You're practically floating away now

In your fortress you feel like

You're more or less safe now

But let me say I don't mean harm

Oh, but, baby, you'd be charming if you'd come undone

Get back where you started from

Maybe nobody loved уou whеn уοu wеrе young

Maybe, boy, when уοu сrу, nobody ever comes

Will you try it once?

Give up the machine gun

Machine gun

Nevermind how you've rationed your time

And the battle is underway

Maybe times are gonna change

Don't just hide in the silence behind

What you've really been trying to say

What a skill, baby, aiming to kill me

With words you don't mean

Maybe nobody loved уou whеn уοu wеrе young

Maybe, boy, when уοu сrу, nobody ever comes

Will you try it once?

Give up the machine gun

Machine gun

9/5/11 Back to the MEC

Harley, Romeo, R, and I, headed to the equestrian center again.  Jennifer met up with us on the way.  The new weather brought us a nice breeze, and MUCH cooler temperatures.  The lower humidity alone made the day delightful.  Security unlocked all the relevant gates and turned on the lights.  We found the entire complex our own.  No one in the arenas, no one driving around.  Security guard "dummy locked" the gates, so it did appear to the unnoticing eyes that the entire facility was locked up.  We were parked nearly out of sight, and found the entire facility our own. 

I started out with Harley, and things went well.  Dressage saddle again, and we had much the same results as Sunday morning.  Harley let me know early in his longe that he'd had enough, this was day 5 straight of work, and he wanted no part of going big, or going fast.  I attached the neck stretcher to the girth buckles, and saw the beginnings of the transition to side reins.  Other than lazy, he didn't fight the new stretcher position, and responded nicely. 

My ride was hard work.  I won't lie and say he was springy and forward.  He was a lazy sloth.  Rethinking the ride, I'm chuckling to myself.  I had to use an absurd amount of leg to get him going forward.  At one point, I was curious just how short his trot stride was.  I rode out to a part of the arena that hadn't seen hooves, and rode a big half circle.  Back to the other end of the arena where R, J, and Mo were waiting, I let my legs rest a minute.  As I rode back over the back of the arena and that fresh circle, I saw hoofprints that were tracking up.  I laughed, right out loud, and caused J to ask, "Uh, what's up?"  "Um, I thought he was being lazy and short.  Turns out, lazy yes, short no.  He's actually tracking up back there, just saw the hoofy prints."  Through more laughter, I started asking for less from him.  I was expecting Harley to be short strided, while he was just being slow about it.

Canter work brought us two wrong left lead departures.  Partially my fault, as I asked very early in the ride.  I had hoped the canter might wake up his trot - no such luck.  J laughed at us, saying, "He just wanted to prove to you he can still get it wrong for an audience."  Pfft!   After the two wrong leads to start, Harley was impressively polite, all other requests correct.

Longed him about 15 minutes, rode about 35.  Asked for some pieces and parts of a few walk/trot dressage tests, since plans are still being made for early October.  J and I discussed registering us as a pair for Championships at w/t level. "You're going to burn yourself like you did before.  Don't assume the worst.  Registration just might be worth it.  So you have to take him to an extra show for the scores, how bad is that?  Besides, you know where they're having championships, and it'd be really good experience for him."

Again, after the ride on Harley, while trying to focus on Romeo's basic reinforcement ride, my mind was running at mach speeds, churning with the possibilities.  Houston Dressage Society holds two levels of walk/trot - Introductory (USDF), and Green As Grass (Local).  That's two opportunities to qualify for Championships.  Are we up for the challenge?  Just what are the judges looking for at the starter/beginner level?  Are they focused mostly on the rider, and expecting only young beginners to ride walk/trot?  Are they giving allowance for intermediate riders and green baby horses?  Will they reward forward movement, or are they expecting the beginnings of collection as well?  Am I "stealing ribbons" from a beginner amateur by entering Harley with hopes of championships at walk/trot levels?  He's nowhere ready for Training Level, and that's in my 2012/2013 plans.  NOT my 2011 goals in anyway.  Where to go from here. ..