 Contrarian Rose |
|
04-19-2008
Show season has begun!  Last week our first two-phase, Rose behaved imaculate and seemed to LOVE all the attention! She loaded and trailered like a pro, was a bit nervous about the white dressage fences but still scored a neat 39. Stadium was a lot of jumps in a little indoor, lots of tight turns resulted in one pole down. And a third place!!Than on sunday a dressage show in Holyoke (hey, if you do it, you have to do it right!) and she scored 60% in all three of her tests. We were supposed to show in 2, but we were early and there was a scratch so why not do and extra test? With no warm up she did great in that T1 and ended up 8th, than a nice T4 test for a 5th place and a very quiet F1 for a 4th place. This weekend we drove all the way down to CT for a two phase (last minute planning on my  part) and after a very chaotic dressage test all we thought about is have fun in the jump course. Than the scores came back and Rose was standing first, her friend RT with Sami riding him second! So there were some extra nerves for the jumping, but they both cleared all the fences ith ease and we kept the top places.Than, of course, we had to try out some of the nice XC jumps they had in the parking lot, both horses had fun and liked the little gallop but it was warm and we called it quits soon. While waiting on the ribbons and watching some other guys jump both Rose and RT decided that the sponge bath left them too clean and they rolled (while we were holding them, both at the same exact time like they had planned it) in the dusty path!! 03-30-2008  The first real nice day this year, finally! Too bad the outdoor still has a foot or so of snow in it...Things are looking up, Rose had shoes put on, her feet look great! She has been having massages (I get those in trade for giving the lady lessons, lucky Rose!) and seems to be feeling great. Lotto had to go home, but Shane is keeping her company in the paddock now, she loves to boss him around just as much as she did Lotto ;) We are hoping to bring her home half through this month so she can spend more time outside and on trails. All depends on our outdoor though, hurry spring!! 1-24-2008 Happy new year from us!  Training is coming a long steadily, she is getting muscled up nice and looks awesome! I haven’t clipped her again yet since it has been so cold but I am hoping weather lets me do that before the end of February.. We are trying out a new saddle, Kieffer Freestyle, it seems really nice. Now see if I can find the funds. It would be good for her to have her own saddle instead of sharing the Wintec. I think. Besides that there isn’t much going on, just trying to keep busy, riding out as much as possible with slippery roads and snowy trails. Free jumping most Fridays (she’s getting that down pretty good!) 12-28-2007  Quick update on Rose (finally!)We have been having loads of fun in Chester, the indoor is turning us in to real DQ's but luckily the cowboys keep us sane. Last week they where all riding in their fancy saddles, I thought Rose would look good too so I tacked her up with Western gear. She looked great, and went around with her head nice and low (way easier than that collecting and stuff!) acting all professional. In the picture you can see her Xmas present, a Western looking halter ;) In between the times we mess around she is coming along great with her dressage work, lengthening the trot is no problem and the canter gets easier and easier. Lateral work is easy, but I need to keep an eye on her nose: she like to tip it in just a bit. 10-28 through 10-30 2007 Three days of jumping fun!!  Sunday I decided to get our mood going for the coming two days of Eric Smiley clinic, and I wanted to make sure the saddle I borrowed from Vivian fitted ok. So, I warmed Rose up in the hay field and than took her out over the couple X-country jumps we have in the field. Jayden was there with the camera!! Eric Smiley Fall Clinic 2007 Monday was dressage/flatwork day for us. After a little chat our lesson began as a private, Karen wanted to lunge her horse before getting on. Yay! He helped me with ‘forward, to the bit, straight’ and, just as last time with Winny, everything clicked en there we went: a perfect trot and canter to build from all winter. Tuesday was stadium day, lots of nerves in the morning (a TB is something else than a Fjord after all!) but they disappeared after Eric said that I had my money well spend on Rose! She jumped everything but the pink one (everybody agreed with her that thing was ugly ;) without a doubt, and even the pink one was ok the second time. Eric and Karen where both very excited about her abilities and I can’t wait till the next clinic to show him improvement in our dressage work. 10-23-2007 Today, strangely enough, might have been one of Roses favorite days!  First, the vet came over to float her teeth, and believe it or not: she stood there with her ears to the side and her eyes half closed while he was scraping and tugging around in her mouth… No tranqs needed! Than it was time for a body clip which, again, was something she seemed to love. She was very patient while I tried to get my ‘blanket-clip’ even on both sides, held her front legs up while I did her armpits and lowered her head when it was time for the jaw line. After all this we went for a nice trail ride, galloped down to the river (way deep, but no problemo for Rose!) and around. So, all in all, we had a good day together and we are ready for the clinic with Eric Smiley next week! 10-13-2007 The day of the CANTER hunter pace at Apple Knoll Farm in Millis MA! Jayden, me and Lauren in the car, Rose and Pepe in the trailer we left at 7 am for our 3 hr drive to MA. All the girls excited, the boys a bit uninterested ;) It was pretty chilly in the morning but by the time we arrived it was nice and sunny so we decided to ride in our shirts instead of the matching sweaters we had planned on. Wit the choice of fast or slow we (of course) went for fast, and if we wouldn’t have played around with the jumps so much that would have been the right one! After a nice warm up on the first part of the course we finally met some logs and other stuff, I followed Pepe and Lauren over the first couple (Roses firs XC jumps!) and after that we where brave enough to try it on our own. Rose was FANTASTIC! She shied away once but jumped every time after that. I hope the pictures will be up on the CANTER website soon you guys can see how much fun we had  09-19-2007  After lots of lunging en grooming I sat on her for the first time September 7th, she was a little surprised but walked around on the lunge line nice and quiet. After a trip we picked it back up beginning of this week and now I can just saddle her and hop on. Today I rode her in the ring for 20 minutes; she was good but still needs time and more strength to improve her canter. After the serious work we went for a walk around the block, she kept talking to the horses at home but walked happily around the Xc jumps, into the woods and back around towards the barn. September 2007 OK. I will finally start this blog for Rose. About time, she has been living with us for the longest time already! We picked her up the 15th of July and the trip home was uneventful. She was turned out with her old pasture buddy Pat right away and they were very happy to see each other again. A little too happy, they wouldn’t separate anymore to eat their dinner, so we ended up keeping them apart from each other. Right now Rose is turned out with O’Romeo and Lotto, and they get along great, whenever Gideon is in town he also gets to stay with her. |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
