Surprise!

Well… I figure I’ve kept it under wraps for long enough. so, without further due, meet the newest member of my family, Nico!!

”HII!! MAH NAME IS MOOP!! LETZ BE FRENZZ!!! (ALSODISMAHNOSEISNTITCUTE)

So. Yes. I got another horse! Nico, JC registered as “EL Longhorn” is a a 2016 17hh OTTB gelding 🥰

He came here around two months ago but I’m terrible at remembering to blog so… yeah. Your just finding out now… (unless you follow me on instagram that is! hehe)

But! back to Nico. He’s not been doing much of anything yet, I wanted to give him some time off after racing, and then I had to get his shoes pulled due to him having very thin hoof walls and not keeping them on, so he’s been a little tender on his feet and I would feel bad making him do anything.

I tried to give him hoof boots, but they just rubbed:(

anyways, he’s a super sweet and cuddly dude, which is what I was looking for! I’m a bit doubtful as to how well he will handle/like being an event horse (he is very clumsy + slow lol) but only time will tell! and he’s super super tho cute so that makes up for any lacking athletic abilities lol.

trying on Ollie’s saddle a couple weeks ago! (he has gained more weight since this photo was taken which I’m happy about too! he is chunking up quite nicely lol) I have one to try that will hopefully fit him better as well… I’m just trying to arrange a time with out saddle fitter to see if its a good option!

And that’s about it! not a lot going on rn with COVID. Ollie has been a bit stiff this winter so I’m trying him on a new supplement and we haven’t been doing any hard work.

not recent (from summer/fall) but had so much fun doing some bigger courses last year with Ollie…

And that’s all for now LOL. see ya in a couple months!

Hi again!!

Wowza, it’s been awhile since I last blogged! I’m really not sure where to start. If you follow me on Instagram (Maren_Eventing) then you probably aren’t too far behind on what’s been going on around here (spoiler if you aren’t on Insta, absolutely nothing.).

Brianna got some amazing pictures of my Ollie🥰

Obviously, I haven’t really been doing anything Lately because of Covid, and therefore don’t have a lot too update anyone on, but My coach opened back up for lessons earlier this month! I had a fabulous jump lesson* a week or two (who can keep track anymore?) ago, and I have another one booked for tomorrow as long as the weather corporates.

* social distancing style of course!

all the jumps got repainted and look AMAZING! Plus this fancy for sale sign one is new! Of course my little wonder pony didn’t even look at it even though we hadn’t had a serious jump school in months!! (Ok now I know I’m starting to gush about how awesome Ollie is but like… look at his adorable knees too🤩)

I think I’ll just stick a bunch more pictures from My last lesson and leave it at that for today… I really want to start blogging more again, but it almost feels like I need to do some massive update on what’s happened in the past 6 or so months? No way that’s actually going to happen so I’m just going to pretend I’ve been blogging and try too start up again. Maybe I’ll do a lesson recap sometime in the next week or so after my lesson tomorrow.

He’s like the cutest super pony ever

My blog has decided it won’t let me add any videos unfortunately… pictures will have to do for now!

Bit of an awkward jump in… this was a skinny one stride to a vertical one stride to another skinny

As you can see we barley made it over this one…

And we finished over this one! I’m not really sure when I decided that 3’5” triple bars looked jumpable but… it didn’t look that scary cantering up to it!

 

 

25 Questions

I’ve seen this tag going around and around, and it just looked like to much fun to pass up! L. Williams found these questions on Tumblr!

1. What is the first thing you do when you get to the barn?
When I go out to the barn in the morning the first thing I’ll do is get the horses fed. I’ll probably clean the paddocks/stalls then, or sometimes I’ll go inside and eat my breakfast first then do them later.  The second time I’ll go out to the barn will probably be to ride, and I’ll get Ollie in from the paddock right away, then be a meanie and make him wait in the cross ties while I brush him and get all his tack out. Then out again a third time to feed dinner.

2. Is their a breed that you would never own?
I’m fairly open to whatever, but I can’t see myself wanting a Gaited horse. At least not as my main riding/competition horse. If someone offered me a free Icelandic I’d take it!

3. Describe your last ride?

Um, XC! More on that to come later!

4. Have any irrational riding fears?

Lots!

5. Describe your favorite lesson horse?

TYSON! (Lesson Ponies count right?) I LOVE TYSON! BEST PONY EVER! I started riding him when I was, um, little? Around 8? 9? Wow my old brain can’t remember. I was little. Anyways, he is a 14.2hh bay pony, who was gelded at 9, and thinks he’s the king of the world and can’t be bothered. His mane is the craziest thing I’ve ever seen. I think he’ll be 26+ this year, but I was never completely sure about his age. I leased him for awhile, took my lessons on him, went to a YR XC clinic with him where I jumped 2’9” for the first time! and did my first ever event with him. (I forget our dressage score, but we got a run out on fence 1 on XC, a bunch of time, and double clear stadium) I continued to lease him for a bit after I first got Ollie, while we were seeing if he’d be a fit, and I miss riding him so much! I also did a fox hunt with him! (Drag scent! No live fox used)

The one thing I remember about this dressage test was The judges comment on it was “pony was naughty today” lol. Little did she know that Tyson is ALWAYS pulling his head! And notice my stylish helmet with the cover!

6. Would you ever lease out your horse?

As of now, no. Down the road? Maybe. Depends on how things go.

7. Mares: Yay or neigh?

I really honestly don’t have much of a preference. I know some grumpy mares that I would not want, but I know some amazing ones as well!

8. How many times per week do you get to see your horse?

8 days a week. The bonus of having your horse live with you!
9. Favorite thing to do on an “easy day” with your pony?

Grab a rope halter and go for a bareback walk/trot if it’s windy/rainy, (no canter though because Ollie gets to excited and starts trying to buck lol) or a relaxing trail ride. I love both!

10. Conformational flaw that bothers you the most? 

Agh! I’m FAR from an expert, but there is a lot of things that I don’t like the look of! Anything weird with the legs is ☹️

11. Thing about your riding that your most self conscious about?

I don’t really have one thing that I’m “more” self conscious about then anything else, so really just everything.
12. Will you be participating in no stirrup November?

I’ll try and do what I normally is, which is to warmup with my Stirrups (I don’t like the thought of bouncing around on Ollie’s back if he isn’t warmed up) then work on one Stirrup/no Stirrups. Although I generally try and do a little no Stirrups every now and then, it’s nice to have a reminder lol.

13. What is your grooming routine?

Get Ollie from the paddock, pick his feet (and check his legs), brush his mane and tail, then I use a dandy brush with a couple quick swipes with a soft brush to finish off. My un-tacking routine is more complicated. I take all his tack off, (hose him down if it’s summer and he’s hot) scrub him all over with a jelly, then I use my soft brush. If he did a hard workout I’ll put liniment on his legs. Then he gets Neem oil or Sudocrem on his belly.

14. Describe a day in the life of your horse?

If it’s summer he’s outside 24/7, so probably;

eat, eat, sleep, eat, go for a ride, eat, eat, sleep, eat…

and pretty much the same for winter, except he comes into his stall with a run out at night.

15. Favorite season for riding?

Spring.

16. If you could only have 1 ring: indoor or outdoor?

I love love love the indoor, and it’s super handy, but I don’t think I could handle only having a indoor to ride in. So… outdoor? If I could have a big grassy field though, then I’d choose indoor and use the field for my outdoor 😉 the question said one ring. Nothing about fields!

17. What impresses you most about the opposite discipline (english vs. western)?

I like how most western horses I’ve met seem to have better ground manners! Versus some of the horses I see at events who are pulling their riders around (my horse included! Need to work on that.) I’m also impressed with how much they have to ride from their seat, not the hand. That would be hard!

18. You have unlimited funds to buy one entire tack set for your horse, what is he/she wearing?

DO. NOT. GET. ME. STARTED.

19. How many blankets do you have? When do you blanket?

Ollie has 2 fly sheets that he wears in the summer unless it’s too hot. I do blanket him in the winter as I clip, and sometimes it goes down to -8 (coldest I can recall it ever getting was -11) so he has 2 rainsheets, one has a removable hood, one 100 gram with a removable hood, a 180 stable sheet, a 220 gram that has the cutest pattern, and a 350 gram with a removable neck. Oh plus about 4 coolers. My horse has more jackets then I do.

20. What is your horse’s favorite treat? Favorite place to be scratched?

He will eat ANYTHING. Although I think Carrots, nickers, or Gatorade are his favourites! He like to get scratched on his belly, chest, and everywhere that the bridle would sit on his face.

21. Something about your barn that drives you crazy?

I really like my barn, but no water inside the barn drives me crazy. We do have a hose that’s only about 50 feet away, and the hose reaches into the barn, so it’s not that big a deal though.

22. Roached manes, pulled manes, or long flowing manes

I like the look of pulled manes, although I don’t think I’d ever do it. So I like to use scissors. But Ollie rubs his mane out in the summer (😳) and I always end up having to roach it. He’s cute with a Mohawk at least!

23. Can you handle a buck or a rear better?

I’d rather ride a buck then a rear. Rearing freaks me out. The thought that the horse could fall on you? Yikes! And while bucking seems harder to stick, and least you can keep your forward motion? Ollie unfortunately used to (still does occasionally 😑) do both. The rearing is always more scary because I’ll doing everything I can but he won’t stop. With bucking I can just grab one rein and make him stop. (Video is 2 years old btw lol, but the only one I can find.)

 

 

24. I would never buy a horse who ___________________?

Rears? Huh. What does this say about Ollie? Had bad confirmation.

25. Favorite facial marking?

Either a BIG snip, or a cute gigantic blaze like Ollie has:) or nothing.

Local H/J Show recap!

Recap on the h/j show that was on Saturday! It was at a local venue so my Sister and I hacked over. Since the format of the show has the Hunters go in the morning then the Jumpers after, we were able to arrive a little later in the day then normal, Which was lovely! It also meant that I didn’t have to wake up at 5am 😉 it’s always very unpredictable about when you should show up if your riding the Jumpers. Like I said, hunters go first, and they start at 8am. The height options for Hunters are x-poles, 2’, 2’3”, 2’6”, and 2’9”, And there is never a very large group of people in the Hunters. And you can NEVER guess what/how many rounds each person is planning on. So… show up in between 9:30-1? Luckily my coach had a couple students in the Hunters, and I was able to phone her and ask how things were going. She read out the order of go to me as well, so I could go;

40 rounds at 1 1/2 minutes each, means 1 hour, add in 30 minutes for raising the jumps a couple times, and the 30 minute lunch break, you have 2 hours! Which put us at 11am. We left at 10:15, and got there at 10:50ish. They were just finishing with the last couple Hunter riders, so we’d gotten there a Little earlier then need be… but it worked out. I hopped off and stood in the shade with Ollie for a bit, and Brianna got a longer warm up on fox. Once the jumps had been changed and lunch break was over, the show started back up again with 2’3” jumpers. Brianna and Foxy had two awesome rounds at that height! I think Brianna is pleased, and fox was a really good girl! I managed to get a couple warm up jumps in while the 2’3” class was on. Trot into the upright, canter the upright, canter the oxer… and done! The jumps got raised up to 2’6”, and Ollie and I headed in. 2’3” and 2’6” were being run as speed classes, with no jump off. We got in pretty tight with all the jumps, and I could have gone more forward… but we got around Clear! Although… slightly embarrassing, I forgot to cross the finish line. 🤯 IN MY DEFENCE, none of the other people in Jr did either. Lol… the last two jumps in the 2’6” course were VERY mean. 7-8 was a bending line, 7 just had some small flowers, but 8 had the big box ones under it. Then it was a SUPER SHORT turn to jump 9, which was a BRICK WALL.

 

 

It looks tamer in the video then how it was to ride. (Also, fun fact, listen with volume and you can hear my coach yell “yeehaw! Good girl!) also you can see how I turned JUST in front of the timing pole after jump 9, if I’d gone just 5 feet more! Oh well lol. The jumps got raised up to 2’9”, and Ollie and I went out again. (You will be getting pictures instead of a video, bc my phone is being annoying and is taking forever to load the videos.)

They put out this mean red gate on jump #2

Bending line from the red gate jump to this one, it rode nicely and was super fun!

For some reason jump #6 always looked bigger then the others

I jumped into this thinking it was a two stride.

My mistake, it was a one stride. We did manage to fit only one though!

Scary brick wall going the other direction with a MUCH nicer line towards it.

Tight spot over the last!

then I did a second round at 2’9”, before the jumps went up to 3’. Let’s be honest here. To me, 3’ Looks huge. But Ollie felt awesome, and he was SUCH a good boy! First ever course at 3’ success!!🎉

Not just me though right? These jumps look huge?!?

Then we got to go do our jump off, and coach was like “ok, so if you can, take the inside turns!” Haha… maybe I should have tried them at a lower height first?!? But we did one inside turn (that I am ridiculously proud of) but skipped out on the other as we were on the wrong lead. Here’s my 3’ round, I’ll put the jump off after. (Again, fun fact, listen with volume and you can hear these two people talking about Ollie in the background when we go through the A, B. You can also hear me clucking 😂)

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first inside turn I was going to try was after jump one, turning inside the green oxer but still going around the blue upright. Unfortunately, I forgot I was planning that when I was lining myself up for jump one, and I ended up jumping in with to much of an angle. We also landed on left lead, and I could tell it wasn’t going to happen. The second one however, worked! After jump off jump #4 (regular jump #5) the green oxer, we turned inside of the brick wall, where the route everyone else went was around the brick wall, blue and white spots, and red gate.

 

 

That put us at an angle coming towards jump off jump #5 (reg jump #6) but luckily my coach is always having me practice jumping on angles, so it wasn’t that hard for Ollie.  we got actually got a REALLY nice jump over it. Which is nice, especially since that was the jump that I thought looked HUGE and much bigger then the rest.

This fence just looked bigger then the rest? I think maybe because it didn’t have flowers or any fill under it?

once I’d finished that round, I was just walking Ollie around the arena waiting for Brianna to get on Foxy, (she’d dismounted to wait for me while I was riding) but then I look over, and there is Foxy in her halter… what? Apparently, Brianna had been passing the reins to my mom, so that she could put Foxys hoof booots on for the trail ride home, but my mom didn’t catch them before Brianna let them go or something… and Foxy stepped on them… then lifted her head up… and the bit feel off the bridle. Luckily, the way Fox pulled her head up meant that she’s totally fine! And when she pulled it didn’t put pressure on her mouth. But regardless, the bit and reins were now on the ground. I suggested attaching the bit to the halter… but we weren’t sure how well that would work lol. Brianna (can’t blame her) didn’t really want to ride the excited baby TB back home in a halter, so we kinda just sat there for a bit thinking about what to do. Finally I came up with the idea to use Fox’ Bridle as a bitless. She uses a Micklem, and they can double as bitless bridles, so we figured it would work. I mean… it worked for a bit? Once we got about 5-10 minutes down the trail (past the “hippie” campsite that I was explaining Here. This time there was a shirtless tattooed dude with a vicious dog + 3 school buses + 5 cars) Brianna Realized that she had no brakes, so I went in front and boxed Foxy in. The worst part was when we were almost home and we were going down our road, and Fox was sooooo excited. Then a truck zooms by, and fox let’s out this big buck… luckily B stayed on. And we were right across the road from our coach’s driveway. So B was able to kinda trot across the road and I followed then grabbed Fox from on top of Ollie, and we were able to get her to stop by putting Ollie in front of her. (he’s such a good boy lol) I held fox while B jumped off, then I left and went up my driveway 😂 Ollie got hosed off, offered the whole bag of horse cookies, then put out in the grassy paddock to graze. Turns out we won stuff to! We got reserve high point in the juniors, and I won a polo shirt for the judges pick award? The judges pick award is kinda just what is sounds like. The judge gets to pick someone, then they give them a award for what they liked about that persons rounds. Apparently I was very consistent with all my rounds… so free polo shirt with the equestrian clubs logo!

I love this horse ❤️

I always like it when my phone surprises me by taking good quality pictures.

The most ridiculous trail ride… EVER.

Ollie is still (worryingly) a little stiff in his hind end. I’m hoping that he is just foot sore, and that when the farrier comes next week to put shoes on him (for the first time ever! I’m really curious to see what happens) he’ll start to feel better? But then, This is a horse we are talking about. And it’s never simple with these animals is it? Anyways, since he was stiff, I didn’t want to do anything to hardcore. But a nice walk trail ride with 3 minutes of trot for Tanta’s rehab program sounded great! So off Brianna and I went! The first interesting thing that happened was a big dump truck zoomed passed. But lucky, both of our horses are used to cars/trucks and nothing came of it except a couple snorts. Next. We turned off the road with the big truck and onto the small one that leads to the beginning of the trail, so we walked down the new road, and past a (in Tanta’s mind) VERY scary rock. at the end of the road I could see someone I knew walking a horse in hand. Both Ollie and Tanta clearly saw this horse, so I figured they wouldn’t spook. Lol. Famous last words. Once we got closer- directly across the road from them- my horse JUMPED into to air, then landed with his front feet… in the ditch. He proceeded to jump back out of the ditch, almost leaving me in it. It was kinda funny actually. We moved on, and nothing very weird happened for awhile. The horses were a little crazy, but It was a given considering how windy it was out.

Then, we reached the end of the trail and got to another road. I love this one road, it is generally quiet. and there is two big hills and they are perfecto for galloping up! The timing worked out great and Brianna’s alarm went off saying it was time for 1 minute of trot! So we got to trot up one hill, then we went down it, and at the base of the hill… is an old rusty truck that  hasn’t been used in 30+ years. That both Tanta and Ollie have seen SO MANY TIMES. But, guess what? Of course Tanta (who was leading) saw it and spooked all the way across the road, almost falling down the ravine on the other side. Luckily B managed to get her under control in time.  And, we proceeded. Theeeeeeen, when we could literally SEE our driveway, we were that close, a large truck turned around the bent behind us and spook Ollie like crazy. He, (surprise?) once again, JUMPED INTO THE DARN DITCH. What on earth horse? And then he and Tanta Proceeded to gallop down the road with me and Brianna hanging on.(maybe 40 feet? The bolting didn’t go on for thhhaaaaatt long… but?!?) I honestly have no idea why. Ollie has NEVER. Spooked at a car in the whole 3 years I’ve had him. And neither Brianna nor I have known Tanta to do something like that either. So… what the?!? I won’t take him out on the road if he acted like this, and he never has. Also, how come I ended up in a ditch TWICE in one ride? Ollie’s never showed any interest in jumping into ditches before today!

Total score.

ditch: 2

Maren: 0