2014 In Review- Part 2!

Vegas. This is her.

Having fun yet? I thought so...There are a couple of great months that happened for me in the second half of the year. So, without further ado, the second part of the year:

I CAN'T WAIT FOR THIS AGAIN.

July- It was a hot month. But one of my favorite things happened this month, the Rafter K clinic! It was my first real clinic, and second and third overall jump lessons. I got to play with banks, ditches and water, and Bacon excelled at it all. We did our second event derby too, and Aimee was a great helper/baby sitter for me. I also got to hang out at my friends' boarding facility (tons of pics) and hosted my first contest!

WHAT THEEEE HELL IS THAT MOM?

August- I did the most posts this month. Which is weird, because it was right before my wedding. But hey! I'll take it! We did a lot this month too. A LOT. We did another hang out session at Redheadlins and Aimee's boarding facility. And Bacon and I went on our first trail ride. We also did our first Jump Night out at a trainer's place, and it was a blast. We also jumped 3'3" (our highest jump). And I got all of my girls back home!

Fancy horse.

September- So, I got married. I guess that was kind of a big deal. And, of course, there were lots of pictures. I started getting a bit sicker, so riding slowed way down, as well as posts. But I did do my first blog hop (which kind of failed, but I gave it a shot!) with horses and music.

Droooooool.

October- Riding picked up a bit with another boarding vacation, and we competed in our third event derby at beginner novice! The jumps flustered me a bit on the ground, but Bacon took care of her mom and got the job done like it was no big deal. I also bought my new wonderful CWD saddle (still hard for me to believe I did that) and had a fun time at Halloween jump night, including jumping our first little liverpool and keyhole!

Lovely setting.

November- Not my favorite month, because it always reminds me that my grandpa Bob has been gone another year. I talked about my computer cowboy, had another xc lesson, got to test out my new saddle, and started Throwback Thursdays Lineage style.

More drooooool. 

December- Pretty much a poo kind of month. The only riding I have been able to do is on the incredible Big Papa (Courage) and have done a few blog hops here and there, as well as informed everyone on the large impact of this growing sickness. But, I did buy the flat out PS of Sweden bridle kombo and two pairs of Aztec Diamond breeches, so that is fun!

More of this!

So, there you have it. I am not exactly ending the year of awesome riding quite like I wanted to, but I think I may be headed to the Mayo clinic in the coming month or two. I NEED to be able to ride and dream about doing my first real three day event with Bacon. I need to dream and do our first novice course. I need to feel like a person again. I have a feeling this coming year may be a difficult one, but I will not give in and I will not give up!

2014 Year In Review! Part 1

So, this year was kind of a doozy for me. I had it in my mind that I was going to try this eventing thing. And what Bacon and I had accomplished was way more than I thought we could do in one year. Even with being sick!

Winter wonderland.

January-
I started back on the blogging train after a really lengthy hiatus. I only had one post that month, here, that basically caught everyone up on the whole house buying thing, engagement thing, and dogs in the snow. Oh, and I was starting to go crazy not having my horses at my house.

Bridger pretends he is the boss of Diva.

February-
Still no ponies. But we got really close to having them home and were making a lot of progress in that department in Ever So Close. Can't bring ponies home if you don't have a good place for them to stay! Also, posted a few of my art pieces here, because I had to post about something.

I don't know why my butt looks so horrible here.

March-
Ah, the month of my birthday. And lots of rain and mud. But what else? BACON AND PANDORA CAME HOME! And even though it was just two ponies out of four, I was so so happy. And I immediately began to ride my horse. I also started my first concoction of meds (ho boy) and was sometimes riding a little racehorse named No Fear Baby. It was a good month.

Weeeee Baby!

April-
I fell off of Bacon, after I hadn't fallen off in years. It wasn't bad, except I hurt my arm a little bit, and then tried to get on a racehorse. Dumb. We also tried to jump a little more, I started antibiotics for Lyme disease, and got our engagement photos taken.

Meatball in his ACL brace.

May-
I love this month. The races start up here on derby day. And it is a great month for riding. Still looked terrible over jumps, but Bacon was looking beautiful in May. And we got our engagement photos and they were lovely!

Oh the horror of my position.

June-
First event derby complete? Heck yes. Even if it was crossrails and a walk-trot dressage test. You can read about it and see photos in Derby Triumph or watch the videos here. We also did our first tiny cross country jumps the following weekend and Bacon and I jumped our first skinny, a blue barrel sitting out in my pasture.

Stay tuned for the next post.... :)

TOA Blog Hoppin'- Shining Star

The theme from this blog hop from Beka?

Shining Star!

Let's talk about the biggest achievements your horse has accomplished.  I'm not talking about you as a rider - I want to know what your ponykins has done to make you proud.  Is there a glorious satin collection, did he/she figure out some dressage movement that took months to learn, or are is it just a great day when your butt stays in the saddle? 

I could pick shining moments for each of my girls. For Vegas, it was getting that collected jog all the way around the arena without picking a fight. We had worked basically every day with her as a 3 year old on not falling on her face when she did ANYTHING. She was always so heavy on the forhand (and still is...but less so) that she scrambled everywhere and argued with me constantly. She finally figured out that she could do it! And I was so proud. Even more so when she could do it at a show. We were still faster than everybody, but she did the best she could.

Pandora? Well, that little mare busts out her shining star smarts with almost every ride. I am always amazed at how fast she can pick up things, especially from my seat. Sometimes, this gets her into trouble because she assumes that she did whatever the maneuver was correctly the first time, and gets flustered when I ask her for "more". Still, so impressed with this small creature.

As for the Lucy Goose, her major accomplishment was moving from ranch horse mode to arena horse mode. The poor girl had been a ranch pony for 13 years, and then was suddenly moved from her home and asked to do things like lunge, trot circles and lope around a much smaller space. It was really hard for her to adjust, but she always tried to her best and she was able to figure out what we were asking her.

And then Bacon. She is proving herself to be a giant shining star. Not only did she start jumping again this year after a year off for lameness issues, she took us to our first event derbies ever. We completed our first dressage tests. She has kept me safe when I am feeling less than well. She went from an extremely nervous nelly to an almost seasoned pro in just one season. And I love her for that.

Hanging In There

Thank you for the short ride, Papa.

I know you all are probably tired of the "sick" posts, but my life pretty much revolves around whatever is wrong with me now. It is starting to swallow me whole, and I am trying to not let it take me under. But it is very very hard. What makes it harder is that there is still no answer to what exactly is wrong with me.

You must always torture the clinic cat.

So far, I have tested positive for Lyme disease and Parvo (not the same as dog parvo), we are still waiting to see about Sjogren's disease, and in the mean time I will be seeing an eye specialist, as sometimes they can help diagnose weird autoimmune diseases or cancers. The husband has started talking about me going on disability, which is scary and sad. I am exhausted when I get home from work. I am exhausted the whole time I am there. I can't hold onto big dogs or feisty critters, nor can I open things or move heavy bags.

The appropriately named "Harry".

Clients come in and if they don't know I am sick, they quickly ask if I am. Clients that do know come in to see how I am doing. If I can, I do surgeries so I can sit down most of the time, because my legs will get extremely stiff from standing and the arthritis takes over. I don't really want to eat, but sometimes I get hungry enough to eat a full meal. I just don't know what to do.

Penny, one of my favorite patients.

Hubs won't let me compete Novice next year if I don't get better. He won't even let me jump. But the fact that I can only ride for about 5 minutes when I am up to it is holding me back anyways. I am still holding onto my dream though, because that is about all I have anymore. I haven't given up yet and I don't plan on it.

Papa is one cool horse. I trust him to take good care of me too.

But some people lose the fight.

Exhausted and dizzy, but he waits patiently.

A Tale of Brothers and a Sister

Putting the baby Bac' on the hot walker.

So, you all know Bacon. She is awesome. She also has one full brother and one half brother that I have had the pleasure of knowing. The full brother was known as Peter (Jockey Club Name Inbetweenthesheets) and is one year older than Bacon.

The handsome Peter.

Right before his first win.

Petey was the sweetest boy at the track. At least I thought so. He was tall and bay with a little star and two socks. He always took care of me and I learned the ropes of grooming, tacking and doing all other things on the ground with him. I could put him on the hot walker without any worry of being trampled or kicked at. I could walk him around and he would wait for me. The first racehorse I ever sat on was him.

Love hugs in Golden Gate.

It was in his stall, without anything on, but still. It counted to me. I loved him and was so excited to see him win his first race. Blaker loved him too. He was his first winner as a paddock boy. They had similar personalities, and got along very well. Everybody loved that horse.

Battling.

Always battling.

Two handsome boys.

The last time I saw him was in California, at Golden Gate Fields. He was looking his best. I got out the massager and spent a good deal of time with him in his stall. I am glad I got to spend that time with him, as he was re-homed off of the track shortly after we left.

Watchful eye.

Forgot that I painted him.

He gained a home with a nice woman from Big Sur in California, and went into event training. After spending some time with her, he was sold to another woman in the same barn and continues his training. He has successfully competed up to training level, and his new owner absolutely adores him (as she should). I am just happy that he has a loving home.

Tucking those knees!

So fancy!

Winner winner!

It appears that Bacon and him have a thing for xc.

Ninteyinasixtyfive is the half brother to ol' Bacon and Peter. Born in 2011, I got to see the tiny guy as a baby. He had a big giant star and he was cute as could be. The boys wrangled him as a yearling, and he started training at the track last year. We give the young guys lots and lots of breaks. Basically, he was started and then turned back out to pasture to grow. I am thankful the trainer sees the importance of that.

Blake and baby Paul have an argument.

After the battle.

Baby Paul and Baby Ricky

He was brought back to the track again this year, and he had matured quite a bit. I missed his first race, but it wasn't too bad. He is in Arizona right now, getting another little break to further mature. There is a group of us who would love to have the little guy when he is all done too!

Paul works in company (in the blinkers).

He is kind of lazy.

Hello Paul!

Figuring it out.

3 year old Paul.

Foto Friday: Racehorse Faces

Just a fun handful of faces through the years at the track!

Rodeo loved to rock out.

Nobody was ever too sure about Crocodile.

Seeker pulls along Captain America.

Tudor Blue showing what he thinks of his defeated foes.

Courage gives a little smile.

And so does Felicity.

Tudor looks at the program with his trainer.

Yuma Landing ready to race.

Tribal Money gives a shake.

I don't know this horse, but he was handsome.

No Fear Baby don't give a damn.

Lil Ritchie was also special.

Tanner goes in for his first race.

Romona isn't sure if her head is screwed on right. It wasn't.

Peter (Bacon's bro) gives a smile!

The famous Big Papa.