Hard to Catch?

Well obviously the emergency-peppermint-bribe from the other day worked, because when Jill approached the old guy, their little buddy came right over demanding attention. Or maybe it was because he'd run and run and run til he needed cooling out (when the old guy was brought in before him) the night before that taught him the lesson?


They were trying a new turn out routine, the old guy in the ring and the little guy with the treeline hill paddock.. it was a pain when you wanted to ride the little guy in the ring. Jill knew the horses would be better off together, as they had been at their previous location, but the owner forbade it. 

Jill was pleased to see the fence where the top panels were down had been fixed. And, obviously a leadshank tied around the latched gate was a new procedure, to prevent them from getting together... Jill wondered just which one was acting as the escape artist.


There was water in all the water buckets and she was riding by 8am in the morning. whoo hoo! With people around working on the property even - they were heading to the horsepark for a pre-show school.

Until his feet were trimmed, Jill was still taking it slow. They trotted in the grass ring, walked and trotted the gravel part of driveway, past the not flapping today flag, And then went all the way to road on the asphalt driveway thru the pond. It was further than they'd ever gone, and it was with no long stops to settle. He was getting better about the spinning around, and, she didn't even have a crop! 


Jill remembered how at the last place, where she'd been the employee she wasn't allowed to take him outside "He'd kill you." was the boss's judgement, clearly not one to go outside on their own.
*
Jill tried to incorporate nutrition and general health care into the theory parts of her riding classes.  Like a physical education teacher, because of having done the Coaching Association theory courses as part of becoming certified.  But she found that many stables weren't interested in the free government resources available, and didn't want to use them in their student education or libraries.  Of course those were often the facilities owned by smokers or where the instructors had to duck off the property for a smoke now and then...
*
The old guy wouldn't be caught to have his hooves picked and sprayed. But he was moving nicely and looking happy and perhaps showing a little less rib? Speaking of which, Jill herself was pleased to cooking and eating. Aloo gobi, Daal and some other successful new recipes. She was on a roll, and was impressed when her guest was impressed!

She was given a free bike had been delivered. and riding on it for a second it made her start to think it was actually possible to get underway riding to riding...
*

"Are you the same John that used to own Potsie and Ophie about 100 years ago?" Jill asked the guy on facebook.  He replied "Yes."

"I bought that mare from you. I rode that mare for you. Coseka, remember? Named after the stock."

He had been a stockbroker then, not a blacksmith. Jill remembered how he never drank coffee in the early morning cold, just hot water and lemon.

"What'd you do with her?" he wanted to know.  She had a terrible accident. In the valley where she was turned out. She fell down a hill and got wedged under a tree and lay upside for too long before they could rescue her. All the muscles on her right side were killed and would never be restored. but we were able to find her home with a family on a farm, where she became like a family pet.

It had broke her 17 year old heart. She took a break from horses after that.

*

When Jill and Dee took Ophie and Postie out hacking, they rode out the back of the property, and there was an orchard. that was always a good place on the way home to stuff your tucked-in-shirt full of apples for later. You could just totally drop the reins and trust the horse's feet to stay put, as they stuffed their faces full of apples from the ground for right then and there.

Jill and Dee would ride around the corner and up the shoulder of the paved road to the concession roads left and then right again, to the Limehouse park. And then they'd jump all the benches and sometimes even the picnic tables to impress the baseball players, if they were up there.

Jill could remember how her blood bay standard bred cross always wanted to keep the lead. Especially if there were several in their group. When she really needed speed, to catch up or pass, she would break in to trot to overtake someone else's canter. It was fun for Jill to post up down in a kind of speedster slow motion, while they travelled at top speed. It was one of the only ways to slow her down.

There was a forest route to take on the way home if you wanted.  Those were also the days they biked 17 km to the barn to do the chores to earn the rides and then biked 17km home.

Everywhere You Go, There You Are

Every time Jill moved, it included a walk down memory lane.  She had come across some old diary notes:

I love the smell of the tack room. And I miss those moments with the bridle hanging on the hook above the table with the bucket and the sponges in it. I miss driving up the laneway and seeing Stoner out in the paddock with the other horses. For a while, he was ostrasized and it was hard to see him shunned nastily like that in the herd, but eventually, he always finds himself some rabble rousing buddy to hurt himself with. What a goof.

I love Stoney Pony. Remember how I had to kick his butt to pull his mane without tranquing him?  Was that cruel or kind? 

Jill would spend a whole day riding him in tiny intervals to loosen and warm him up and then she would hop off and pull some more. It worked. along with a few good whacks with a broom now and then, along with a shout to "STAND" (instead of kicking out with young students in the barn).

But really, she thought the whole human invention of a specific mane length and the pull vs cut tradition a bit barbaric and unnecessary!

A Racing Heart

Jill loved watching the exercize rides at Woodbine, early early in the fog of morning. After riding Stoney, she could really, finally feel how some horses are just B R E D to run. And, she came to think that maybe racing is not as totally horrible to the horse in ALL aspects as she'd previously thought...


*
Albert and Victoria? She didn't know what his facebook status meant... but she wished he was closer by.  She couldn't stop hoping for some kind of date for New Years!

Tis The Season

She would come dressed to ride.
*
Jill loved the boxing day jam tradition she had stumbled into, and someday she hoped to host such an animal.  With a real tree in the house... why not anyway.
*
Jill was glad to be horse-story swapping at the Gymkana. "So anyway, about this perfect place in Caledon to go get a tree: the very first time Stoney ever took off on me, was the very first day I invited a whole bunch of  barn kids out on a hack with me." Jill went on, as usual, with barely a breath. "I had been hacking on him on the roads myself at that point, and he was going well or i wouldn't have been in that situation... I guess it must have been one of the younger riders that knew we were allowed to ride in that big open field? Because we were out on my hack turf, with the brave, sensible Stoney leading the way and we decided to make the turn.  And as soon as I turned him into it, he bolted. He just took off, full speed, with no warning he started running."
Jill had been riding all her life, so to hear her first ever total take off story took place as an adult, was a shock.  But not compared to the horror that showed on her face as she described it.    "I have to say. that was the fastest I have ever travelled on horseback in all my life!   And so, there we went,  whipping past trees and who knows what stumps and holes at full tilt and the kids are whooping and hollering like this is fun as their herd of horses do their best to keep up somehow with the racehorse.,   Jill described shouting back to them STOP!!! I AM OUT OF CONTROL!!! STOP!!! which, incidentally, does not sound like whoa. to a racehorse.ha


Jess, who had a lazy horse it was hard to make gallop caught on first, and since she had been second in the ride she was quick in cutting things off and bringing the others to order. Jill said "I do not know how far away Stoney was when I could finally stop him. but I shook and shook and maybe even cried  on the long, long walk to return to the herd.  She did  not begin to try and count the stumps walk way back to the kids, who were standing there in a group worrying. 


What a horrible surprise yet ultimately lucky run, ha. At first Jill had said  "I never want to gallop ever again in my whole life. especially on THIS horse."

***
But there's a more fun thing about that Christmas tree farm:

The family tradion when as Jill was growing up was always an artificial tree, because of the pets. But, one time, when  parents surprised her.  


It would turn out that as they were driving home with their first ever real tree, from that very farm, they passed a very flashy horse and rider on the roads. They discussed the beauty and visible talent of the horse and the wonderful connection he seemed to have with the rider.  Jill's dad reported that he had always wished to get Jill a horse just like that... 


Meanwhile, Jill would remember that the very considerate driver passing safely had a car that looked like her parents' , (but obviously, it wasn't them since there was an actual real tree tied to the roof) that indeed that her mount  was sort of spooking at, so Jill rode on and they drove off and it was only chatting on the phone later they figgered out we had in fact seen each other day!

Patience

If she couldn't be in the love affair she longed for, then Jill wanted at least some modern, current romantic relationships to admire. The handsome she'd investigated seemed, unfortunately, to be engaged. So it annoyed her that he'd said "I've put an offer in on a farm" instead of "we" -- as if that meant he was denying his relationship status somehow. Sour grapes? No doubt.
*
The flirt-painter had asked her to be his first topless model. ha. It was cute to see her bareback calendar idea stolen and underway with someone less modest than she. Since he wasn't replying to her emails anymore, she assumed it was romantic for them. She tried to think, good for them! The truth was she was far too private to post such nonsense on facebook or a blog, and was annoyed when her ex posted photographs of her in a bikini in the snow, right around the same time.
*
It was with great disappointment that Jill called the potential riding buddy at the Equestrian Team members farm to say she couldn't make it anymore, at least until she found paid work. It took up half a day just to ride one horse! Not to mention the prohibitive travel expense. She did not mention the condescending discouragement she felt somehow from the paid staff in the boss's absence, but it was a part of the picture too. She felt she had other pony options much closer to home and with much more freedom and potential for new friendships, but she still hated giving up the Wednesday/Weekend hacks that had made such a wonderful winter!
*
"Oh trust me, I know what you mean when you mention needing patience, and what you mean when you say hard to catch!" Jill said.

"I remember trying for ages in the big field to catch Stoney, when I was first getting to know him, while he ran around me as if being lunged, or ran repeatedly away or even just walked out of reach. Over and over and over for ages and ages and ages. I even remember losing it once and whipping handfuls of oats at him til they were all gone and then throwing the bucket at him in frustration as well, just before driving off in a huge huff, because he'd wasted our riding time. And, I consider myself one of the most patient horse people I know!"

But, after Stoney came to love cross country, he became easy to catch. Jill could still remember the first day she noticed. As she drove in, he was in the front paddock. She rolled down the window to say "well hello handsome" and he put his head up cheerfully and instantly started walking to the gate. She was overjoyed. Isn't that ... well, er, ...handsome!?!!
*
The competitors and barn staff yesterday got trading stories yesterday and Jill did not pipe up and add that the shared horse they had all experienced was one of the most agreeable, and safe partners she had ever had the pleasure of trying out. She had never ridden a horse like him that LOVED to jump! She must have rode him at least 10 times, and he was always a good boy. It was very sad for her riding career that he left, and she was sorely disappointed that she never did get to put him on autopilot and get packed around a Training course.

This was about the same time that her co-worker had mentioned to the clients that Jill was an unsafe teacher, while the boss was laid up in hospital. Why wouldn't the co-worker just offer her some safety coaching feedback? It left her in a very awkward position, and she decided to resign in the hopes of supporting everyone's best interest. It was unfortunate for the poor boss's bottom line that her unpaid hours would have to go to the co-worker that got paid in cash, but she was trying to do the right thing.

Jill vowed to learn how to make friends and supporters, rather than undermining enemies as she moved forward towards new opportunities. She truly wished to work as a team, she believed in synergy. She wanted to be a generous spirit, and made conscious efforts to take "the high road" as her older brother had always suggested.

And more cross still

Jill was able to coax the big snorting panicky bay, slowly, to the edge of the puddle. And then, he LEAPT across it! And they came back, and did the same thing. And back, same. And again...

Making a big fuss of him each time.

Jill was proud to be able to go with him. She thought it was the weirdest effort to have to make, because at first she had to be sitting up tall and using her seat to push, while making sure not to get ahead of him or go over his head, yet when he would leap out she had to make sure to soften and go forward with him, a challenging combo.

Its not like he was going straight across. It was always so random! A high jump, a sideways scramble, a stop quake quake fling the other direction... a surprise every time. Once, only once, he trotted right through it.

Which is all he had been asked to do on show day. The puddle was NOT an obstacle on course, just an unflagged challenge that brewed in the storm and eliminated them, ha.

Jill was sooooo glad to be able to go back and school the issue.

They did 10, 11 and 12 and then went to go play with the drop and water complex.

More Cross Effort

Then they went to the bank that was #7, and it did not cross Jill's mind that he would have a problem with it because they'd survived it on showday fine. But as they got near he turned into a BIG GOOF. Just like when they were on course and he wouldn't go through the water.

Jill kept trying and trying but he would not go. The teacher grabbed his bridle. They tried leading him with his trailer buddy. He kept backing up and spinning and threatening to really rear and getting worse and worse instead of better.

Jills neves started to get wrangled, in a new way and so she said so. The hestiation she had noticed would be obvious to her goof friend too. "Do YOU want to get him over?" Jill surprised her teacher asking. "Do you want me to?" she spoke before mounting.

It was not easy for her.

And, he kind of fell of the side once.

But, she did finally get him over proper.

So real quick Jill got on him and did it like eight times... including the top step and the next step and all the steps.

Jill said "he really is a lovely horse." and her teacher agreed. She always liked his scope, even when he was so shakey off the ground.

Next, they went to face the puddle problem.
*
"Better to come across the combination of two dreaded obstacles while here schooling then at your next competition." The teacher was merciless and Jill was glad it hadn't been her that vocalized the rider's fears, as the boss stood beside the first part of the jump and crossed her arms.

Jill went first and Stoney stopped dead at the edge, and then stepped down. A first time! He bounded through the water and jumped out over the bank while every body cheered. The other rider fared just as well and they had to go around to the other water, the h u g e success of the day!!!

The trakerner was fine, although humourous because he saw the ditch and CLEARED it so000 much.

The next time he took a longer spot, which Jill saw as a sign of his increasing confidence. They also did a big steeple-chase-like brush jump that he had to touch while getting through and then galloped on in the only real rhythm they enjoyed that day, taking a couple of the other fences in the field in stride.

A great way to end the day.

Hot to Trot

It was dark and gloomy but the rain held off enough that they agreed to proceed with the planned cross country school.

As they headed out the farm manager announced he was upping the skinny thoroughbred's grain. He was so hard to keep weight on! Jill wished for fattening that would not make him any more hyper.

Off the trailer and warming up in the stadium ring the horse was strong. Jill looked forward to the future planned outings where they would unload and only do CALMING flat work but that was not the plan for this time. First the coach popped them over the small white picket, then the small planks to a 1 stride combination. And then they were off to the big fields! Yikes.

She knew the pre-training course and went to between 3&4 to make the turn that Jill had not even planned to make on showday. Busted! They did it first the easier fence around the corner and then repeated the exercize with the tighter turn to the pre-training fence. d o n e. The tip of angling it right to left for a bit more time to turn was very useful. The teacher could totally relate to Jill's need for tricks for such a fast beast... her only horse not listed for the Equestrian Team was much like Jill's mount.

Then they were sent on a gallop all the way around the biggest field. The coach, groom and owner watched as he really tried to take off, including little rears, hops and his rooting down hard on the reins trick. Jill thought she did an okay job of riding the rhythm instead of fighting him, and not collapsing when he sucked back and then forward to try to yank her out of the saddle. ha.

Her teacher had once called this game "survival of the fittest." and suggested Jill take up skipping as a way to cross train between rides. Jill was motivated enough to actually do it, for her own protection. "The healthier you are, the less hurt when you fall. Right?"

**

Then they did a tiny log-drop and turned a sharp left for a gallop stretch.
Then they came back and did a bigger log-drop with the same sharp left up a bank.

He was good.
But the teacher asked afterwards "was he in control?" Jill answered YES, thinking they must have been fast.

how about letting the teacher get him down the step? he begins to freak out, even though he'd done it fine on showday, which freaks Jill out because she's terrible at drops in the first place and so the teacher hops on and really has to ride to get him to do it...

Take Two...

The second time Jill got into riding was after a 5 year break. She'd ridden for 5 years in her youth and given it up for first year university.

Now, she was working in a bank and spent most of her time trying to help the teller line up... One day she was cashing a cheque for a long-grey-haired-leather-jacketed-handsome-biker-looking fella. She asked what the company name "Huntfield" was all about and he said it was a horse business.

"Do you have any horses you want help exercizing?" Jill was surprised at her own audacious question.

"You should call my wife" the guy said leaving the number.

*

Shortly thereafter Jill was to meet Stoney Pony (or so she would come to affectionately call him). A large bay Irish thoroughbred fast enough for the track but too idiotic. Dangerous. He had been to many big name trainers in the area and the owner wanted him shown hunter now...

He would turn out to be more of a handful than Jill actually understood when she said "Well, I'll ride him for you. But, the sport I like is EVENTING"

Hope Rears

Well Done! Jill congratulated the student who had just walked the pony, with much insistence, over the spooky-snowy ground.

First you make her walk the snow, the next thing you know you're riding over bridges and jumping into water! The shy student actually looked at her, surprised, and then smiled.

*
"I always think there is something wrong with a person if they don't like animals." Jill was admitting being smitten by a fella who DID seem interested in every new trick she'd taught a kitty... She thought for all his sports car/motorcycle/womanizing/late nite party/sci fi sides he was charming, thoughtful and sincerely sweet.

She wanted to take yoga together. And maybe even some western lessons or trail rides. She couldn't stop thinking about him!

*

She was looking forward to her next riding lesson, which would be video-taped. You could always learn so much more the second time around, watching what the teacher saw, while hearing the feedback...

*

"horse people are so hard. sometimes i think i might switch to hockey."

*
He suggested getting tattoos together! Not matching ones or anything that cheesey, but just going to get them as a duo...

He also said he could walk trot and canter "and all that" and would rustle up his old riding helmet so they could go for a hack. Yipeeeeeee!

She was surprised to find herself okay with the idea they were dating. Not yet a boyfriend and girlfriend status, just dating, and she liked it? He could be, afterall, on some kind of rebound. And, no doubt wanted to enjoy some freedom! Meanwhile, she was well known for her diehard, exclusive approach to all potential relationships...

But this one seemed different somehow.

Even if he had party plans that didn't include her, and she pictured him spending time with another or other women, she felt okay about it. There's no way any of 'em would take up as much room on the dancefloor as he did, and she did, ha.

He'd asked her to slowdance once and she'd been too shy. Imagine. So many exceptions to her norm. Her roommate found that hilarious. "You? Shy?"

Jill was also too timid to tell her parents in advance about her impending purple hair, and decided to just shock 'em with the truth after it was done. Her cousin thought it was a dumb idea but eventually conceded she should just do what she wanted "Afterall, its not a tattoo."
*

All these conversations swirled in her mind as she hacked up Kennedy road. She had the big bit in because he was so hard to hold lately, and had a good chuckle when her pat for bravery past the cows along the fence line made him flinch, and try and bolt. What a predictable chicken! The ground was too hard for more than walk for most of their trip to the Christmas Tree farm, but once there, they went for a nice long 400m/m gallop. So solid together, both of them.

Highlights

Tess 'n Lucy 'n Jill went to walk the course in the afternoon. There were no maps when they got there so they tried to draw one as they went along.

They found the course VERY daunting. Jill spent a lot of her nervous energy convincing Tess not to withdraw! Their teacher's student from another stable was so confident it made them less so.

*

Jill remembered the first night when she could see the big dipper as she turned her mount out for the night in the paddock behind the arena.

"I know the other instructor is mad at me and I know your partner is mad at me but I want to know if YOU want to know how it all went down?" Jill's mentor just asked if she had her riding clothes. And, promised to contact the student who got stomped on and electrocuted on Jill's very first day teaching there. The early report had not included THAT part...

The stars sure are nice in the country.
*

Jill came in 7th with an overall score of 64.90 (which was also 5th in adult novice)

and her teacher came in 8th with an overall score of 67.45

Mutual Recogniton Party

"I remember you from the olden days," Jill said to the heavy-set man around the heavy horses at the Fall Fair. "When you used to trailer Stone and me around to the horse shows in your stock trailer."

She'd gone to the Fall Fair with her bachelor friends and had no idea who she would run into.  His honrse-handler stern to friendly face, softened in recognition of her, amid the parked horse trailers on the final day of fall fair.

"That was the olden days" he chuckled, shifting his additional weight with a clearly bad now hip.

 "I was just telling some folks the other day the story of "Jill and The Thoroughbred," he said, ha, to her delight.  "Some standardbred folks was suggesting we needed a ramp for them to get their horses to follow them on the step up of the very same rig that big, spooky bay horse would follow you up in a heartbeat, back when you were eventing him and we'd trailer you."

Then he sorta turned to flashthe logo of his Ontario Sire Stakes jacket.  He was a trainer and owner now, but with some interesting philosophies about horse welfare, and horse sports in general.  She thought it was cool.

Jill was filling him in on her radio show.  "So you know your horses," he said, when she admitted her new crush out loud, on the young Suffolk Punch from the organic farm straw building teamster she'd just interviewed, ha.
*
She had noticed him once in between times.  And so, she just started telling him how she'd admired a particular team and teamster once, Her first time at the fall fair in fact.  Because his horses were so incredibly unique in the proceedings in the way they'd waited for his verbal command after he'd hitched the weight to them himself, and then in a seperate moment TOLD them to pull. And only after being impressed by that, Jill recognized him and had announced to her friends "Hey, I know that guy?"

"You recognized that? You saw that?" he was pleased, hearing her recollections. "Then you saw me compete. When I did so, I won everything, ha. All the time. They'll tell that ya that, here, if you ask around. But I was doing it safer then than they do now and I doing right by the horses the whole time too. None of these guys could beat my team, then, and they couldn't now.  And they still want to go."

Jill knew what he meant about the power of a horse that w a n t s   to please you!

Breakthrough

He was easy to catch in the paddock. He peed in the stall while Jill collected the tack, but then was still antsy in the cross ties, so she knew he was feeling his increased grain ration...

and Jill decided not to go out on the roads all by herself right away. She put on the spurs and started on dressage work. He was moving well, but kept spooking. Even after a half hour of hard work, including long canters to work off the excess beans, she couldn't really grab his mind, despite the fact that his body was engaged.

She decided to take him out and really burn the energy.

They trotted up Kennedy road to the bridge (1.5km) and then back. Really forward moving, with a steady tempo up and down the hills in trot. It had just rained so the gravel was really soft.

Then they went back into the arena for more work. His canter work in there was good and they did tree sets of canter walk, walk canter each rein and then called it a day.

Training Log

Jill rode for exactly half an hour, in the copper snaffle, in the arena this morning before work. He was great -- it was worth the hauling-her-butt-out-of-bed-to-hurry-around-like-a-fool effort.

Stone was easy to catch (and messed up his stall instead of the hall before she groomed him). Good boy!

They just did dressage work -- lots of longer canters, some counter canters, and lots and lots of down transitions. He was very good. She knew they were definitely improving! Jill could hardly wait for her next dressage school with her coach so as to get more feedback on what to practice.

He looks a little nerdy with his short bangs. His feet are very dry and the right front looks crooked and too long. But, no thrush, and not a single cough.
*

The End

Jill was beside herself, all the woman did from the moment she arrived was criticise things. After arriving late. Was she glad to see her horses in? Did she appreciate that Jill had been on hand to greet the vet? It had taken Jill most of her precious riding time to get them brought in.

Jill was very sorry that her pony footsies were sore. His poor bare feet. In a way she was relieved though because that explained what was going on, and she wouldn’t worry about larger back or hip or hind end issues. Did the vet use the hoof testers on the back feet? She’d expected him to be the most sore there, but they didn’t comment. Obviously the owner was mad that the shoes had been taken off in the first place. Jill was sorry for that too, if she’d gone against the owner’s better judgement.

She was only doing her best. Was it even her fault? WHO finally convinced the farrier/friend to stop by and see them, and pull the shoes, after their feet had been left neglected and overgrown? Jill thought she was responsible, but the owner had said it was her who worked it out at the gym. Whatever.

Jill had NOT dealt with the owner of the place about the feed, so why was she being GRILLED on where the ruffage chunks were? It was upsetting that there didn’t seem to be any on the property. How was she supposed to know why there was so much left? Meanwhile, she also accused the barn owner of feeding her feed to everybody. There was no winning.

She said not to call the farrier to come earlier, because she couldn’t afford it. Then she said call. Jill knew she was being set up for another disaster, so she gave her "boss" the number and told her to let her know what she decided to arrange.

Jill had thought the farm owner said she used Quest to worm them, which worried her, because of the discussion they’d had about how that stuff can actually cause blockages if the horse has worms, because it is so effective at killing so many.

Part of what these horses needed was consistency. Could they draw lines about who was responsible for what? The owner wanted to be the boss, but she wasn’t the one who executed things. And she wasn’t the person who saw things on a day to day basis. And, she did not know as much as she thought she knew, in comparison to those in continual equestrian/equine education!

Jill suggested a board contract that would specify all these things.

Apparently the body brush was worth $200. Whatever. She was obviously taking inventory. She was asking where’s this, where’s that. Jill said her favourite grooming stuff was still over on the other side where she tacked up, and when questioned further on particular items, she went over there to get it, so the woman could see for herself. The owner started rearranging items. Why? Jill had the things she used in the carrier she preferred to carry. There’s no thrush buster in your kit, the woman said, adding one. Jill pointed out the one in there already.

Jill had taken the saddle pad off because it needed cleaning. The owner saw it sitting there and made a fuss about her having used it because it was so dirty it could cause saddle sores.

Jill felt like she was in a bad relationship. But she couldn't break up with the boss because she loved the horsies so much. And she knew no one would ever take better care of them than she would.

Shortly thereafter when the boss ended their relationship, Jill was actually releived for her own sake, if sad for the horsies. The old guy's teeth would haunt her just for starters...

Show Plans

Jill was glad she'd taken him out to the grass ring, even though they were calling for thuderstorms. He was good out there for dressage work for a change!

It only took about 10 minutes til he was really on the bit at trot, with lots of changes of direction and transitions. His left side was harder than to the right, but she kept flowing back and forth. They worked on lots of transitions too, including canter-h a l t, and Jill thought it actually helped them to improve their downwards tranitions. The best one was when it only took about 6 steps to establish the appropriate tempo, while he stayed on the bit.

To keep it interesting, as a reward, Jill took him for a walk to the sand ring. That reminded her of when you warm up in one ring at a show and then ride over and perform in another one, so she collected him up again. He came together instantly. They worked some transitions in there, which were pretty good (relatively speaking of course), and when she checked her watch, it turns out they'd worked an extra 25 minutes in there. Time flies! He was so good.

She took him back to the grass ring and handgalloped around each direction a few times. And then, she approached the rails in a cross country fashion! It was fun, he liked it. And so she was brave about his speed too, and he was easy to get back in hand when she asked, even though he was only wearing the copper D. What a good boy!
*
Jill spoke to the boss/horse's owner about Checkmate. Jill said that they could get it together but they'd really have to scramble around to get everything ready by Sept 13 (mane pulled, coggins, overnight stabling, accomodation for us, X-country school beforehand ETC.) And, the expense! 

Jill really wanted to get him out to a dressage show, something different just to mix him up a bit and so that he didn't always anticipate galloping cross-country when he gets off a trailer. The boss agreed that the time and expense can be directed towards better ends.

Jill went into "In The Ribbons" and tried on both brands of hard hat they carry, in her size, and she hated them both. The new regulation helmets are so big and bulky and tall - she hated how they sit and feel and look, and didn't get one. She did however, exchange the top hat and put it towards a beautiful new show jacket - black and feels great! It looked so sharp while it was so comfortable. Jill had seen it in the shop before her very first show and had it stuck in her head ever since.

She picked up a few other items they needed for the grooming kit - a different kind of curry for the tail, a replacement for the broken/stolen flash noseband part, and a rubber glove thingie. The bill was $72 after the exchange. Usually the boss would cover these expenses, and Jill was owed $35 for the trailering to Caledon, but she wasn't going to bring it up, since the birthday gift top hat had cost $250.

Jill always said she could tell how much her mount liked the work they'd been doing by how hard or easy he was to catch in the paddock.

Under One Roof

Jill had had the pleasure of riding the old guy in his younger years, for many of them, and she hadn't had to pay any of the bills.

But the owner of the horse had a sweet deal too, because Jill was the only long term rider for him that improved him to such a degree, while paying him sweet attention, and never charged a penny. And, she never drugged him, or lied, stole or took advantage of his owner either. She sincerely and deeply cared for the individual equine partner, and he could always relax around her. It was a special trust. Regardless of his impending relocations, she knew he would always recognize their bond, as she would. They were special friends. And, she'd worked up a bond like that with their little buddy too...

Jill thought it was cute that the chocolate roan pony and the dapple grey mare who usually had pasture board where brought in because of the stormy weather and shared a stall. He was so tiny, and the stalls were so big. There was only the one available. And, the mare was his mom anyway! Cuuuuuuuuuuuuuute.

What Jill couldn't get out of her mind however, was the not so cute worry that her little buddy and the old guy had ALSO had to share quarters because of intense storm flooding in the show horse's stall. Her little buddy did pick on the old guy sometimes and even when he didn't he EXHAUSTED the old thoroughbred with over herding and stall/paddock walking.

The old guy just looked so exhausted when she said her farewell, and he did have a new scrape above his half-closed left eye...The little guy had a bit of a rainrot rash happening in the girth area so she didn't bother putting a saddle on him, just taking him out for a bare back ride.

For repeatedly abandoned horses with unpaid board bills, she thought they actually seemed okay. At least they weren't on the auction block for the meat market. Yet. Jill really feared that was what was coming... she was unable to pay their bills, despite wishing to.

Jill heard about the the official plan from a blacksmith, rather than directly. It was that they were going back to a previous home. A stable that Jill did not like and she knew it was mutual. The farm owners of her equine friend's intended new/old home would bad mouth her to the ends of the earth. And she would take the fall for all the weight loss and tender feet - the horse owner would not learn the error of her shortsighted, high stress ways. All this, to the detriment of Jill's beloved ponies...

She wanted to point out that the new/old place that had charged for floating the old guy's teeth every six months when they hadn't done it for two years. And she wanted to stress that the old guy actually, currently, needed his teeth floated, as confirmed by but not done at the last vet visit. They had weight problems there in the past as well, but the horse owner had stated her intention and was refusing Jill's input... Besides, what options could she suggest? The woman would not budge on the individual turn out thing.

And, as bad as it seemed, it was better than leaving them where they were. They WERE underweight and out too much, including poor individual. And, if the bills weren't paid, Jill knew the stable had the right to sell the horses at auction, and how inhumane the auctions were. Jill shuddered to think how sick the transportation to the slaughterhouse could be. And she had seen the CBC footage about the indecency of the slaughterhouse kill floor procedures. She could not bear to think that for her sweet bay pals.

Muddy Bud

The big dark bay had rolled so thoroughly in the mud that Jill had to spend as much time grooming and she did riding! The dressage practice wasn't bad, though it wasn't great. Canter was better than trot - Jill was finding it was happening that way, one gait would be good, the other not and then it would rotate.

They did some gallops around the grass ring and then jumped all the jumps from a collected canter, including the creepy wall and the gate that he had never seen before. Jill felt that he was not stopping anymore, he seemed to be enjoying jumps! And, he was letting her organize in front of them.

She'd been looking at old photos at her parents. She sure hoped her position didn't still look like that!
*
In the lesson, they targeted some oxer practice. The horse was confident now and it was nice for Jill to feel that she could actually flub it once in a while and the sky wouldn't fall in. And, he could flub it once in a while and still bail himself out too... He impressed student and teacher with a freakasorous spot to a fair size spread, because he had the scope to work it out anyway, with ease!

Some of the camp kids were watching the lesson. When they finished schooling the teacher said to the young 'uns, "Jill's got a big show this weekend." One of the little people piped up enthusiastically, "I think she's gonna win!"

Absence and Ailments

Jill had decided that with her teacher being in the US for a show for two weeks that she would totally goof off, and hack as much as possible. But, by the time she got to the stable the first night, it was too dark to go outside and she ended up tooling around in the arena. Ug.

He seemed quite stiff behind, probably from the show on the weekend (Jill was stiff too!), so they just did a half hour of flat work.

The next day was beautiful, so she took him out to the Christmas tree farm. He was not frisky in the slightest, but he was CRANKY and in fact he kept trying to turn around and go home. Jill felt he wasn't moving in his normal way and must be anxious for dinner and they kept it short with just one small canter.

The next day they trotted and cantered the whole concession to Heart Lake road. She was aware that he was stiff on the right lead and that up hills he was veering a bit with the left hind pushing more than the right - the opposite of his usual weakness. He was happy though, and the work seemd to do him good.

His halter was broken.
*
Lady was having a problem in that her tonge was so swollen it was sticking out of her mouth about 3 inches and she couldn't eat or drink. There was a big puddle of drool anywhere she stood. In examining the tongue no cut could be seen, no toxic weeds were spotted in the paddock and no one knew what to make of it. Poor thing. The vet's theory was she was allergic to bee stings but Jill kept her horse buddy f a r away just in case it turned out to be contagious. Would she really have to be put down?

Eat Cake

"Have you heard about the birthday parties where they've smuggled a pony up the highrise elevator?" Roomie asked as she stepped in the door.

As Jill got home and felt so suddenly ill, she thought back over what she'd eaten. Then, she worried about the cake. She'd only eaten the bottom half of the chocolate riches she'd been given - so, if it WAS posioned, hopefully at least she'd only gotten half! ha. Who would have ever thought she would sit down with that fellow employee/rival and share in her birthday cake. She'd only done it to be nice, but she didn't trust as much her companion's motives...

She had a thousand things to say when the boss called, but of course she didn't say any of them. She just thanked the boss for relaying a message to her and welcomed her back. All she hoped was that maybe the hard work she'd had put in would show and would make the boss's life a little easier somehow.
*
To tell you the truth, I think our first meeting was Grandview." Jill smiled to the handsome artsy lanking fella. "That's when you passed your business card through the driver's side window to me, but Bee, the intended go-between, managed to just keep it. I thought she must have a friend that liked you and I resented the entire carpool."

She remembered that he'd made her laugh on course that day. She was just a specatator/cheerleader that day, and was actually impressed to watch the photographer catch a loose horse, the first human it encountered after a rider fall.

He clearly didn't remember meeting her back then.

Would she become more special to him? To anyone? Jill remained single, yet optimistic.
*

Her bay retired-riding project peed outside, just as she approached the paddock, which she'd never seen him do before. And which she was worried was a sign he was staying out overnight - the surest way to teach them to go ahead and do such a thing! They were paying indoor boad for both horses. She felt a bit better about the paddock walking now that she remembered about his stall walking. He ate better when she rode too, she would make sure they went out on adventures at least a few times on the weekend. She also wanted to practice riding more with her seat.

*

Jill thought the grass in the paddocks did not look all that great, and neither did the horse! She spoke to the barn owner about his weight, and she said she'd make sure he got more food.

She rode for 35 min in the grass ring in the snaffle. He warmed up great, even when they went all the way around the outside... he had the glorious canter, and, she didn't even have spurs on. She worked canter halt, halt canter and then to keep him keen she jumped a few jumps and went back to the transitions. Sometimes he would root and pull so hard she could not Sit Up and she got mad at her own lack of stregnth, and looked forward to working him in the "big" bit the next day.

Twas lovely to just hose him down and toss him out afterwards. They BOTH liked it.

One of her young friends agreed to take action on his thrush action before Jill could get there. They were going cross country schooling and Tessa said she'd groom! whoo hoo.