We need some GO-GO juice!

So I rode again today and it was SO nice outside! Finally it decided to get above the 50 degrees mark! WOW! Only problem is that Styx totally took that as an out to be lazy. Thank goodness that we took him off of the SmartCalm supplement!

However, he was great again today and I stayed in the saddle a bit longer than I usually do. Needless to say I can barely walk and my thighs are cursing me right now. Good call on skipping out on pilates tonight. But I needed it, and I still need much much more but we are taking these things a little at a time.

So here are our good points: He picked up his left canter leads perfectly today! His transition from trot to canter was beautiful, but now the transition from canter to trot needs some polishing. His right leads are pretty much always dead on, and that was no different today. It is really nice that every time I ride him here lately he is the same horse. Of course the warmer it is outside the slower he moves for some bizarre reason...seems like every other horse I have ridden up to him seemed to be more snotty along with the cold weather. Who knows...this horse has as many weird quirks, as do I! Haha

Oddly enough along with weird quirks and things to work on, his walk needs some attention. Fortunately I can do allot of this work myself when I am riding him. But usually people complain about their horse's trot or canter work...but the walk? Haha he just TOTALLY shuts down when he is walking. In his mind he is thinking "OH HECK yeah! I'm done!" when really I'm just giving myself time to catch my breath and slow my heart rate...like I mentioned earlier, riding him is a pretty darn good workout! So his walk is pretty lame and he is incredibly hard to steer when he is plodding along like a donkey. As long as I can keep him forward in the walk his steering is much better, but keeping him forward in the walk is like asking a freakin' miracle. Geez, I WHACKED him several times today (and no he didn't go wildly bucking towards the barn) and all I got was the infamous swish swish. But no walk. I sure wish I could get more from him other than tail talk. Oh Styx....

Generally I got another good day in. I think he likes wearing black. He feels like a fancy dressage horse now. SO black is officially his color. Not only does he look great in it (well, to me this horse looks great in anything!) but he seems to preform better in it. It's just karma I guess, and I do seem to be a bit superstitious sometimes :) we will go into this on another post.

So until my next ride (which I am guessing will be in a few days because I do have to go back into work tomorrow and the rain is imminently coming) remember to always love your buddy and as Jane Savioe says "Always keep a positive attitude, even if your horse is bucking wildly through the arena." I guess this means hold the heck on and cowgirl those bucks and guess what.....halt at X. (if you can hehehe)

Look out 2010...here comes Mary Collin and Styx!

So 2010 is finally here...wow. What a year 2009 was! Allot happened last year including the purchase of my first horse! I am constantly finding that I want to share stories with people about me and my horse so with this being the season of new beginnings, I thought what better resolution than to write about him every time I ride. Along with my fabulous trainer Katie, I realize that I am constantly beating myself up over silly things (his head tossing, too bouncy with my posting..etc.) so I need to write about it so that I can really realize how great he truly is and how blessed I am to be the owner of such a fun horse. It is time to stop, take a step back and look at where we are....

Just to catch you guys up on who we are...I am a full time dental hygienist. I wish I had the time and money to be a full time "professional" amateur dressage rider, but unfortunately I chose the "rich girl sport" with a poor girl budget. I grew up riding hunter jumpers...well...I'm not sure if riding is the proper term, but I sure tried! But the most important thing is that I loved it. I have always said that horses were my first love and how true that is for many people. I quit riding once I made it to high school and my old trainer moved away. I didn't ride for many many years until April 2009....

That gets us to the now. That's when Katie comes in the picture. How lucky I am to have such a talented trainer in this small town! Long story short, she talks me into trying out dressage...yeah...dressage. The first thing that I thought was "Is she serious? Why in the WORLD would I want to do nothing but trot around in a 20 meter circle? Isn't dressage for people who are scared to jump?" SO I go to my first few lessons and quickly learn that there is SO much more to dressage than 20 meter circles. (Chuckle Chuckle)

So my lessons progressed and my riding got better each day so we both decided that it was time for me to find a partner in this game we play. So the Internet was on fire with our searching and searching. We found several prospects but nothing was really sticking out in my mind as what I wanted for my dressage partner. Finally I found an ad for a lovely grey Thoroughbred and my heart was sold...the rest is history.

Granted that he had very little dressage training...but was trained hunter jumpers...he was off the track only a year...6 years old....and very silly. But he had my heart. I totally loved him at first sight. My husband about had a coronary when I told him what I spent on a horse with no training in the sport that I was perusing...but what could I say?? I was in love!

June 27th 2009 I bought my very first horse. His name is Styx and is pretty much my child. I love this horse like he is my own and my husband, family, and non-horse friends think I am insane. He bites, he kicks, he hates to be loved on and can be a naughty boy at times. But like I said, once you know...you just KNOW. (Sigh)

So 6 months, 1 show, being tossed the first time in years, a motorcycle accident (look for this blog later), and getting him back into work following the injury we find ourselves in 2010, and looking brightly into the future this show season. I know that we will have our roller coaster ride and hopefully you will enjoy reading about it as much as I am going to enjoy writing about it. We have allot in store for us this year and maybe...just maybe you can learn a little bit along with us. Until next time, heels down, soft hands, and halt at X.