Today I received another email from one of my adoring fans (not my mom this time) telling me it has been too long since there has been a new Canter Banter post. I know. I go through this every time, huh? Well, big news banterers. I’m moooovin’ on uuuup! To the East side! Well yes, really I am. I am moving further from work but much closer to the horses. Girls got to have her priorities!

Since I last blogged, Q and I rode in the two day Gary Striker clinic at  my barn. It was a really great experience. It was nice to have a fresh set of eyes to help critique us and a different perspective on what to work on. Here is a little video of our experience from day 2:

So as you can tell, not necessarily very high jumps but lots of lines, bending lines, varying lengths and widths, and complicated turns. I have no idea how I managed to remember that entire course! But it was a lot of fun and we learned a lot. I think Q enjoyed himself as well. We have been steadily improving since then.

Even with the constant downpour and thunderstorms that have frequented the Northwest as of late, everything in our barn is going full speed ahead. Our first group of girls went to their first show of the season last week and did fantastic!  Many others are getting themselves and their ponies ready for show season, riding as much as possible and pushing themselves. I know I sure did in the clinic, the soreness in my entire body reminded me of that for days!

Ok I apologize if this may come off a bit of a rant. Because it is! The ominous four letter word is here. SNOW! Ugh. it’s almost March, come on!

Why am I outside in this?

The past few weeks have not worked in my favor at all. Two weekends ago, my lovely Saturday afternoon lesson was cancelled because of a crazy windstorm. It was knocking trees over in the woods and raking things across the roof. Not good! Ponies don’t like to hear crazy noises above their heads and not know where they are coming from. Last weekend was fine but then yesterday all h-e-double hockey sticks broke loose. Hail, snow, wind, ice, freezing temperatures. Again, not the most favorable conditions for riding or driving 20 miles in after work.  So I did not get to go out to the barn at all yesterday. No pony day makes Jessica very, very sad.

But amidst all this craziness, some light ahead! March 19 and 20, Gary Striker of Eastwick Hunters and Jumpers is coming to our barn to teach a clinic. We have all ranges of riders coming, from beginner to advanced. If you or anyone you know is interested in riding or auditing please let me know! It should be very educational and a good way to get in shape for the beginning of show season! It is always a good idea to get a fresh set of eyes on you and your horse before competitions. I am really excited to ride Q in it and am going to really start preparing with some private lessons to get ready! Hopefully I will have some awesome pictures to show off here pretty soon. As soon as all this snow melts.

OK, so granted it may only get up to 85 or 90 around here in the two months of summer we get, but when you are used to 65 degrees, that feels really dang hot! I am particularly wussy when it comes to the heat, but at least my office has air conditioning. Our pets need a little more help. Horses in particular tend to either be in a hot stall or standing out in the sun in their pasture. So what can us humans do to help out heat-stricken beasties?

courtesy of Katie Stine

Well even though it seems obvious, it never hurts to say, always keep plenty of fresh water around. Inside the stall and outside in paddocks. I have my lesson in the morning anyway, but especially around the Northwest, when the hottest time of day is later, it is always best to ride early. Here is a helpful article from Drs. Foster and Smith on how to help keep your horse cool and recognize heatstroke. There are some fancy barns with fans and air conditioning, but seeing as we have very few scorching days here, usually water, a bath and some shade works just fine.

Of course one of Q’s favorite activities is bath time. I mean, you get treats to stand still and then get to munch grass while drying. What could be better? Well actually getting him to stand still while I fuss with buckets and hoses is always a treat, but here is a great article from a professional groom on the basics of bathing your horse.  I am also a big fan of just rinsing him off with cool water after a hard workout and letting him dry for a few minutes in the sun. Also always always remember our friend fly spray. I just received my little roll-on fly repellent in the mail today and literally squealed with joy. Make sure to spray their entire bodies liberally.

I personally always keep plenty of water for myself and sunscreen on hand. And yet I always end up with a sweet farmers tan after a day at the barn. Weird. Anywho, here’s a cool article on how they kept horses cool back in the day when they were working on the streets of New York. The first photo looks shocking, but the source assures he is just suffering from heatstroke. Poor  ponies! I like the walk-in bathes though. Kind of like the first drive through car washes, wouldn’t ya say?

Ok ok I’ve been a very bad blogger, I know. Not having internet at home and being super busy at work is not conducive to blogging. But let’s forgive and forget, shall we? I promise I’ll be better. Moving on, I had a super awesome, pony filled weekend. Saturday, Q and I had a really fantastic lesson. He hadn’t been ridden all week but was super good and we did some crazy jumper courses. Such a good boy! Then I got to ride Otto, who pretty much enormous. It is like going from a sports car to a big SUV. Quite different, but lots o’ fun. Seeing as how it was the first weekend of sun we’ve had in awhile, my friend Michelle from the barn and I decided to go to the races on Sunday. So we got up early and rode our two horses and then headed to Emerald Downs!

Sunday was supposed to be a nice day, which it more or less was. Sprinkled a bit at first but the track stayed fast and the sun eventually came out. One thing that made this trip different for me was that Michelle used to work on the track for many years. I feel like going with someone who really knows racing makes a big difference. In fact, one of her buddies owns a few racehorses and ponies on race days. So I actually got to meet the horses and get a tour of the backside (of course I had forgotten my camera). Best part of the day was seeing our friend’s horse West Seattle Boy tie the all time track record of 16 wins! The 11 year old still has plenty of spunk and more chances to beat the record.

The big winner of the day!

I’ve got to say that seeing a happy, sound 11 year old horse who loves to run showed me a new side of racing. It felt so different and much more personal to meet a horse and their owners and hear about how much they love and care for him. They spend all day, every day taking care of their small herd. It was so cool to meet them all and hear about their different personalities and styles. Michelle kept telling her friends she will need to lock up their horses because I wanted so many of them. Honestly, I wouldn’t put it past myself.