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.