It's been a while

I haven't gotten on here in forever! Sorry guys. I just have not had the time to get on like I used to. I generally post during the summer or during the breaks from school. But anyway yeah. I'm soo ready for my next lesson. Anyway it's like the same day as my trainer's birthday. So i'm excited for that :) I'm pretty sure my mom is gonna go to the barn with me for that lesson. She wants to go with me when i give Linnea her christmas present. And when i give Maizie (Linnea's dog) and Dooley (The barn owner, Kim's, dog) their presents. But I'd better go or I'll be late for school.

Colder weather

Yesterday I rode in a much colder lesson. It's was dark for one. Luckily we have a lighted arena. I rode with a new girl to the farm. She's nice but other than that I don't know much about her other than that she rides at another barn with my cousin! Anyway.... I rode Red and she rode Jazz. Red was a butthole. He kept speeding up along the long sides of the ring. I kept using half halts and tried to slow down my posting but that wasn't working out so well. So I felt like I was riding HORRIBLY!!!! But Linnea said I was actually riding really well, it's just I kept getting stiff as it went on cause I was getting tired and nervous. Even more so when I got into jump position. She said I was pinching my back. She said we'd work on that. But after the lesson was over, I felt pretty bad. I had to get a hug from her before I left otherwise I probably would still be ready to kick myself for my riding yesterday. Linnea said It (My position) looked excellent , but it may not have felt that way. Oh well. I guess theres always next lesson. But Linnea might say it looked okay I just still don't feel like it was. But she said i've progressed so much in my past few years of riding, and in the past 6 weeks especially. She still remembers when she put me on Toby and I could barely get him to go. And now I'm riding horses that are wayy different from him. The horses i'm riding now are faster than him, and are more intermediate horses than they are beginner horses. Granted I should realize that I am a decent rider if Linnea has me in the advanced lessons but yeah. She said in my next lesson we can work on cantering and jumping since I was somewhat bored in this past lesson. (I get tired of only doing a posting trot and circles.) We only did that little bit cause Linnea didn't know how much Kimberly knew. Oh well i have to go....my backpack for school....disentigrated in the washing machine. :/ I guess I'm going to the store tomorrow.

I realized something.

Last night I went with my friend, Elaine , to go see Secretariat. During the movie I realized that the horse that I ride is just like him. He's a determined being. When he does something right, he knows it and when he does it wrong, he, yet again, knows it. He will try with all his heart to do what I want. Last Thursday I fell off and landed infront of him. He nudged me with his nose and started licking me. I rubbed his nose from the ground. When I got up he thought I was mad at him. I wasn't. I was mad at myself for falling off when I should have stayed on. I got back on, patted him, and went to go over the jump again. We did good. Over the past few years i've learned many things. Most of those things are from what I learned from the trainers i've had and the horses i've ridden
Toby- I learned to trust, love and to KICK!
Clark- I learned to be determined and stubborn
Abigail- I learned that I have choices
Jules- I learned to ride with light hands and to never trust barn dogs near the ring.
Grayson-I learned NOT to kick and to be even LIGHTER with my hands.
Ziggy- I learned to be even MORE stubbborn, determined and to stay away from him.
Count- I learned not to trust.
Red- I started to learn to trust again and to use more leg.
Baby- I learned even more trust and to use EVEN MORE leg.
Tripp- I learrned to hate birds and to kick harder.
Reina- I learned to use less leg.

Trainers
Linnea- I learned the basics of riding and to trust the horses and people around me.
Jessica- I learned to be stubborn,determined and to not trust people.
Cindy- I learned to be even more leary of people.
Linnea- I'm learning even more about riding and the trust people yet again and building up confidence in riding again and especially to breathe while riding.

Lesson tomorrow

Hey guys! Just wanted to say that things are going well right now. I have a lesson tomorrow @5 with Linnea. I'm probably riding Baby :) Hopefully I'll jump and canter in this lesson!

Had a lesson this weekend

This weekend I rode, for the first time since June, in a group lesson. There were two other girls riding with me. Katie who rode Red, Emily (Sp? I know of alot of ways to spell this name) rode Jazz, and I rode Baby. Ok, so at first all the horses were frisky cause of the cooler weather so we had to tire them out during our warm ups. Then we mainly worked on eq on the flat. Emily is new to the barn so Linnea wanted to see what she could do. In the end we all were asking for more cause we were all tired of only doing a posting trot. So Linnea now knows that we all want MORE! But anyway, Baby was ALOT easier to ride. Normally when we go along one of the straight parts of the ring we zig-zag along it. This time we only did that ONCE!!! I was so happy. My legs don't hurt too bad right now from that workout. Haha! But anyway, in October the barn has a fall festival and I was asked to work during it and to participate in a riding demo. So now it looks like i'll be spending the 30th at the barn. Which I totally don't mind! :D

Senior year has begun!

This past Wednesday was the first day of school. So far it's okay. Alot of different teachers are at the school while the school had huge budget cuts. BUt anyway... yah. Thursday I went and had a lesson with Linnea. I rode Baby. THat lesson was difficult to say the least. I was nervous to ride Baby and it didn't help that i was in pain before I ever got on her. But we'll get better eventually. Today I have to get things ready for my senior ad in the yearbook. I'm trying to make it as horsey as I can but thats hard since my mom says it can't be very horsey. Grrr... oh well.

A few weeks ago at my lesson my mom and Linnea were talking to each other on the phone. I didn't know this but my mom invited Linnea to go with us on a cruise next year :) haha that won't be weird at all haha. not really, Linnea is practically family anyway. Even my mom thinks that so yeah....Well i better go since it's almost 10:00am and i'm not ready to go out to the store yet. I wish it was Saturday so I could go to the tack shop :P

I had a lesson yesterday!

During my lesson on Red, we worked on all my angles. I was having difficulty keeping my shoulders back and my legs stretched down. I think part of the problem with the legs were that I had started out with my stirrups too long then I shortened them 2 holes when i should have only shortened them one hole. OH well. I'll remember that next time. Anyway. We worked on my postion mainly at the trot. Red was really slow at first. He had just done a western lesson and we were like "Red we're doing english now!" He sped up. At the end we did do some jumping. My Eq is getting better over fences I just forget at times and my shoulders come forword and I round my back :( But it'll get better with time. I just have to remember that. I will post pics later since I haven't gotten them off of the camera yet.

As school gets closer...

As school gets closer I am now realizing that I really am a senior. It scares me a little. I'm getting ready to start my last year of high school. So this week I don't have much to do other than go to my riding lesson on Thursday @ 6 with Linnea. Saturday is a family thing (Which i really wish I had a horse show to go to instead.) Then the next week is kinda busier... I have senior pics on the 18th and possible a schedule change... I'm not sure though. Then school starts on the 25th. My parents are going camping during this time. And I have a riding lesson the first week of school...well as far as I know.... i'm not sure cause Linnea may be going out of state for a week I'm just not sure of when that is. So that riding lesson is a maybe right now.

Since I'm on a different computer (Cause mine is still not working right and we don't think it ever will again) I thought i'd share an old show pic. This is back from my first show season. 2008. This was at my first walk/trot/canter show. It was with my 2nd trainer, Jessica, Linnea had been my previous trainer, but anyway, WE went to this show and here are the horse/pony and rider pairs.

For walk/trot

Hallie and Clark

Anna Grace and Toby

For walk/trot/canter

Madison and Sugar

Elizabeth and Clark

Christen(Me) and Toby

I had told Linnea that we were going to this show so she came to watch us. Quite frankly....she wasn't happy. She thought Elizabeth, Madison and I were not ready for a walk/trot/canter class at a horse show. ANd she really wasn't happy when she saw Elizabeth lose control of Clark and nearly t-bone me and Toby. I knew Linnea was going to come to the show to watch and I knew she was there because I had seen her truck. I saw her later for like 2 seconds then I had to take Toby to the trailer. I saw her on her way to leave later so i threw Toby's lead rope to Elizabeth and i chased after Linnea. She said I'll talk to you later. And that was pretty much it. And a few people from the barn where I was going to go next were watching us. Linnea left and i just stood there.I didn't wanna go back to the trainer that hated me. I wanted Linnea to be my trainer again but that wasn't going to happen anytime soon cause the farm where she was teaching was over an hour away from where I live. SO sadly i went back to the trailer and groomed and loaded the horses. We left and went to the barn and ate lunch. THe barn owners were happy cause all of the riders came home with at least one ribbon. THey were really happy with me and Madison since we placed in every one of our classes. No one knew that it was around this time that i started of thinking about going to a new barn.

Got my schedule...

Got my schedule for senior year. My school always manages to get things wrong. I'm in a class that i definatly said no about taking . Grrrr
!st Semester
Communications
Psychology
Foods 1
Discrete Math

2nd Semester
Biotech 2
Agricultural Advanced Studies
Individual Lifetime Sports <---Did NOT want this one.
English 4

I was gonna see if i could switch to and academic class instead of lifetime sports but the only science i have left that I can take is Chemistry. My mom thinks i've already taken wayyy too many sciences as it is.

AWESOME lesson!!

Yesterday I had an awesome lesson. It was really hot so Linnea wasn't going to push either me or Red too much. We worked on some flatwork and jumping stuff. But it was about my position. She had me arch my back and close my hip angle a little more and she was like "YES!!! You've got it!!!!" She was soooo excited. She was also like "Look at how light yours hands are! They're not pulling on him at all!" I'm now realizing that I don't need to hold my breath. I'm not as scared as I used to be but still I do hold me breath. We've found that the faster I go or the more I do at one time, the more I hold my breath. Linnea is trying to help me with that. I'm starting breathe more easily when I ride but it's still really hard. At my lessons people generally hear "Christen, take a breath." Linnea reminds me as I go that I need to take a breath. Yesterday she had me practicing my sitting trot, which I haven't really done in forever, and made me talk to her as I went. We were gonna work on my canter but we ran out of time cause it took me so long to get ready. But I think we're going to do some more flatwork at my next lesson. I think it's funny cause I usually HATE flatwork. But... I thought that lesson was really fun. Maybe cause it actually felt like I was doing it right? I don't know. Oh well. i got to go. I'm on my parents computer cause mine is being stupid and the wireless router is not working. Grrrrr. And i'm not sure if it's fully my adapter or if it's my computer. I kinda want the macbook pro......

Today was much better

The weather at first was cloudy/sunny. It was also breezy. It felt sooooo good. But anyway, the kids switched horses and did soooo much better today. Linnea was reminding the kids to drink plenty of water. Well she was also reminding me too since that was part of my problem yesterday. Then this afternoon we went out to the ring for the kids' second lesson and maybe 10 minutes in, it started pouring rain. After that started we went into the barn, unsaddled, groomed, and then Linnea was like "Christen why don't you head home so you won't have to drive through the storm." So yeah. The kids were gonna learn the colors and markings of the horses and then watch a movie. So the rest of the day was gonna be pretty chill. So I changed and left. Although I did have to drive in the storm. Not FUN.

NC is hot!!!

Lately the highs have been in the 90's with a heat index of over 100. The past few days have been really bad. Thursday afternoon I went to the barn for a ride and I felt really bad. My trainer, Linnea, made my cousin go get my drink for me cause she thought I might pass out soon. So I still felt really bad so I got off a few minutes later. Then Friday my cousin and I went to Carowinds. We rode a ton of rides within 30 minutes. I got sick cause of the heat and I was dehydrated. This past weekend was okay. I stayed indoors so I was happy for the A/C. Then today was the start of the 2nd 7 & under camp at the barn. It was REALLY hot. When I got there I was already feeling nauseous. I went into the office to talk to the barn's owner, Kim, for a bit before going and helping Linnea. I got out and started talking to Linnea and she felt nauseous. Then Elissa arrived and she felt the same way. But we went on with the day. During the lesson the kids did good. One of the ponies in the pasture is known for galloping up the fence line and spooking lesson horses so Linnea was like "Christen, here comes Bella behind you." So I grabbed a hold of Tripp's halter just in time. Bella had skidded to a halt and Tripp saw her coming up fast. He dragged me like 4 feet so it wasn't bad. But then after the lesson was over we took the horses back to the barn and the kids unsaddled and then they went to the bathroom with Linnea while Elissa and I hosed the horses off. While we were doing this we didn't know but one of the kids with Linnea was getting sick. She had been crying in the bathroom then came out and said "I don't feel good." And so Linnea was starting to tell her that she'd feel okay after lunch when the girl puked. I had just walked out of the barn on my way to go get my water bottle which was at the ring when Linnea yelled to me, asking me to get Ashleigh's water bottle. I did but at this point I felt worse. I yelled out for Elissa to grab my water bottle then I went over to Linnea and the girls. On my way over there Linnea had noticed how my hand had gone from my side to infront of my mouth. She was like "Christen, why don't you sit down." I did and then I closed my eyes. That made the feeling get worse so Linnea told me to lay down. I did. Elissa came over with my water bottle. We stayed like this for a few minutes until Linnea asked us how we were. Ashleigh and I just layed there. So she sent the rest of the kids with Elissa back to the barn to have lunch and took me and Ashleigh to the office to get in the A/C. She told us to lay down. Ashleigh did right away but I hesitated. The office has dog hair everywhere!(The barn's owner brings her Welsh Corgi, Dooley everyday. And then we have Linnea's Austrailian shepherd, Maizie.) She turned to me and said in her "MEAN, SCARY, TRAINER" voice "Lay. Down." She also had a look on her face that if I didn't lay down then she'd do something that I wouldn't like. (For example, No riding or ground me... yeah my mom gave my trainer the right to ground me.) So obviously I did lay down. NOBODY messes with her when she uses that tone in her voice. It's like she's growling. She uses that voice with the horses, dogs, riders, etc. First she's nice then, she uses the "MEAN, SCARY, TRAINER" voice. She may be small but that also makes her a little bit scary. Anyway she left the office then came back asking if I was allergic to anything and I said no (With the exceptions being Morphine and chlorine). So she tossed me Pepto tablets that you chew. YUCK! I can't take that kind of medicine cause it will make me puke. And I said that to Kim so she took the tablets away and said that she'd give me the liquid instead. I waited a while before I took it because I nearly puked. Dooley (Whom I call Dools), the Welsh Corgi, thought this would be a good time to come up to us (Since we were laying down, we were finally at his height) and decided to start licking us. I squeaked then Ashleigh did too cause we weren't expecting this. Kim was like "Dooley! Leave them alone, they don't feel good." A while later Kim was going to take Ashleigh back to the barn since she was feeling better, but she was going to give me the Pepto first. Linnea came back just as Kim gave me the liquid. Her first words were "Uh oh." Cause around me I had a trashcan and paper towels and the pepto in my hand. Kim was like "Ashleigh is feeling better, Christen, not so much. So I had to take the medicine then wait a little bit before going back out to the barn. Linnea made me drink a ton of water. As soon as I'd finish the bottle she'd either say "Fill it up!" or she'd go fill it up. I'm so sick of water right now. But Linnea thinks I was really dehydrated. Thats why she was making me drink so much water. The sad part is I still feel bad. And I have to go back tomorrow and yeah... But after I came back to the barn I was talking to Elissa and she said Linnea is considering canceling lessons this week since it's so hot. But we have no official word yet. This is sad cause I normally get really bummed if any of my riding is canceled but I really couldn't care if it's canceled this week. Not if it's gonna be this hot out.

Sorry i haven't posted!!

I've been working at my barn's summer riding camps. I'm there from 9am-4pm ,Monday-Friday unless there is a special circumstance like I have a riding lesson or I have to leave early for something, like a doctors appointment.

Anyway, I've been too tired to get on the computer lately. By the time i actually get home it's dinner time and all I want to do is take a shower and go to bed. But no, I have to eat, take the dog for a walk, play with the dog for a while, take a shower, then finally i can go to bed. But anyway, this past week was youth camp. We only had 4 kids but still they were exhausting! We used Daisy, Jazz, and Tripp out of the barn's horses. One camper brought her mule, Rawhide. That camp ended yesterday with a horse show. After most of the campers left, Me, Linnea, and Elaine went with the campers that were still there to the owner's office so we could be in the A/C for a little bit.Linnea had me sing the K9 Advantix song to the owner. Then at 4ish Elaine and I went to go get ready to ride. Elaine was going to ride around and i had a lesson. But first Linnea had to teach a 30min lesson to Lillian who is 6ish... I was tacking up and i had gone to get my saddle after putting my saddle pad on Red. Elaine heard Lillian say "I like that pad!" It's a yellow and pink tye dye english pad. I use it almost every time. But anyway,Elaine rode Jazz and I rode Red. In my lesson Linnea asked me what i wanted to work on and I said jumping cause I hadn't done it in a while.So she said okay and I started my warm-up. Linnea was happy when I had to post without stirrups at the walk cause she could see that my legs had gotten stronger. But later I was going around and I went over the jump and she got a little peeved cause my jump position wasn't how she'd like it. ANd I was tired at this point. So she was like "I'll give you a break and let you walk. But...you have to be in jump position to the count of 10." In two directions I had to do this and if my position wasn't perfect I had to start over with counting. Then when I jumped again Linnea was like "I want to be able to actually see your butt! Moon Elaine!" I was like "What!!!!?" and Elaine was like "Excuse me??!!" She replied with "Hunter girls moon people and smile doing it!" So yeah...after each jump she'd be like "Okay you mooned the barn but you didn't moon the bleachers and there is no one there!!!!" Gotta love my trainer...but at times, I really wonder why I chose to do hunters.

This coming week i sort of have a week off... I haven't decided if i'm going to go ride or what. We'll see.

Camps

I've been working at the barn's riding camps for the past two weeks. The first week was a youth camp and that group was pretty good. The ages ranged from 8 to 14yrs. This past week was 7 and under. That group...omg. Sooo tiring. But now i have a week off before the next camp starts.But anyway. My trainer and I have been bickering. The fun kind where we pick on each other. I usually start it by calling her short,shorty,mini pony, fun sized, etc. Haha! She gets right back at me though. She posts pics of me on facebook...

Yeah...she put my helmet cover on my head and tied hoofpicks to my head and my sunglasses fell and overlapped my glasses. She had fun doing this. She evil but i love her! She is awesome.
Anyway...we've done fun stuff like mini horse shows, painting ponies, played pony,pony,horse. (Like duck,duck,goose.) ,Redlight,green light. etc. SO far it's been great.

Long time, no blog...

Yes I do realize that it has been a long time since i have last updated. I've been busy with school,riding, & my awesome friends. School is okay...well sort of. It's getting really hard to juggle everything but i think i'll manage since there are only like 13 more instructional days, 1 day that is CRAZYYYY(yearbook & senior assembly day.Normally this is over 2 days but this year they decided to combine them), and 4 exam days.
Riding....not really much to say except that i'm back to jumping and cantering...
Friends. I shall repeat.They are AWESOME.
I'm just soooo ready for this year to be over. But really as soon as summer starts i really don't get to rest as i have to get senior pictures done, get a job, ride, work on my senior project, etc,etc.
oh well enough of my ranting

Horse Show yesterday

I went to a Piedmont Saddle Club Show yesterday. It was fun and really tiring. I rode Red, a chestnut gelding. WE took two horses. Daisy and Red.
Daisy's riders: Eden,Lillian,Brandy,Elissa.
Red's riders:Kaylie,Me,Elissa.

Everybody did flat classes while a few of us did the games on horseback.
Me & Elissa did ride-a-buck.
We both lost.
Linnea & Kim signed us up for as many classes as they could.
We also had to think up shownames on the spot.
Red was Big Red.
I don't know what Daisy's was.
We dared Linnea to go into the stick pony races with me and Elissa cause we were the oldest ones in there as the rest were 9 and under. (yeah we were embarrassed.).
Linnea WON!!! haha
We got a few ribbons. Not bad for the barn's first time showing ever.
We got anywhere from 1st to 6th. Elissa & I didn't get any riding ribbons because Red was a butthole and decided to freak during our classes. My 1st class i lost control and he nearly crashed with another horse where everyone from my barn was standing. They could all see my face. My 2nd class(ride-a-buck) I rode better and kept control of him. I had a martingale and used half-halts alot!
During Elissa's class he was just a huge butt. Thats pretty much all I can say. There are good and bad show days. And for me and Elissa it was the latter.
Sorry I have no picsright now. Battery was dead in my camera.

Possible horse show soon.

Yep! The title isn't kidding. I could ride in a horse show soon. It's a fun show. It's english and western. I'm not sure if i'll be able to ride in it because I'll just be getting used to the horse i'm switching to for my next lesson. Her name is Baby. And she's a bay QH...i think. I've only seen her. I've never ridden her before and she is going to be the horse i'm riding for my graduation project. If your wondering about what that is, check my other blog. SO the barn is having a meeting about expectations when we go to shows and etc, on the 20th. FUN FUN. well i gtg. homework.

Awesome lesson yesterday

Yesterday I had another private lesson with my trainer, Linnea. I rode a paint named Trip. Trip was a little spooky since, earlier in the day a woman with mules came and had a lesson, he's scared of mules...we just found that out. But I got on,me in a thick Carhartt jacket, even though it was cold and he was spooky. I walked and trotted around for a little bit. Then I was on the side of the ring closest to the barn and he spooks and tries to take off. I pulled him in while saying really loudly "WHOA!". Linnea thinks a bird scared him but we're not sure. So anyways, I jumped a little bit :) It wasn't huge but it was fun. After a while of jumping a few times I cooled him out and went to get off. My leg cramped up and we spent like five minutes trying to get my foot to be flat. So after I put Trip in his stall, me and Linnea talked for a little while then we both left the farm. I ma or may not go to the farm next Sunday. It just depends on what my mom is like. Either way I have a lesson the Friday afterward. I think i'll ride Red so i can canter :)

pics

I feel like posting pictures. These are at least a few months old. I don't know how many years old some of them are. THe paint is Toby. The ribbons were from a barn show. THe green cart is me @ the local county fair where I showed goats for FFA. And one is me and my cousin, Avalon, leaving the water park. okay...so my computers being slow so i'm going to go and do something else. maybe clean tack...maybe not...

Rode again today

I rode today. I was suposed to ride Friday but we decided to go ahead a have my lesson today due to possible winter weather. Anyway, I used my new saddle. :) Linnea likes it and loves how my position is nearly perfect. It's weird considering I really haven't ridden much in the past year and yet the only thing i'm being fussed at about is my shoulders or simple thing like my thumbs or how my hands tend to rest in my lap. I go back to the barn on my birthday, 02/06! I'll be 17. I don't know if i'll ride that day, but we'll see. And Linnea said that in the next few lessons or so i might be able to canter. :)
I just need to learn to not be distracted by psycho cats. haha. Tripp was so good. I only had to remind him that I wanted a forward trot, not a pokey trot.

Busy week

This week is a busy one. Tomorrow starts exams. The exam i have tomorrow is for Physical Science. It shouldn't be too difficult. But anyway. Last Friday I was able to start riding again. I had a private lesson and I rode a 16hh paint named Tripp. I love him he is soooooo awesome. I should be to use my own saddle at the barn soon. I've just been waiting for my new stirrup leathers to come in. I go again on the 29th and then on my birthday (February 6th) I'm going with my trainer to a clinic :)

Wow 1st post of the new year.

And what a way to start this post other than almost falling out of my chair. Anyway. Exams are in a week : ( And I have to take all of mine since they are either state EOC's or State VOCATS exams. Three of them are going to be easy so i'm not worried about US History, Physical Science, or Animal Science 2. The one i am worried about is Algebra 2. I suck at it.

Next week i go to the doctor and see more about my wrist. hopefully he'll say i can ride this time. Last time he said no.