Not-So-Speedy Dressage
From Endurance to Dressage
When I pulled into the barn yesterday morning, I could see Izzy whooping it up by himself. The sun hadn't yet cleared the tree tops, and the air was just slightly cooler than it had been making it a good day for goofing off. He was bucking and gallivanting around his paddock in what seemed like a happy-to-be-alive dance. I rolled my eyes in exasperation of course because I had assumed he'd be tired after his long drive from the day before. Apparently not. I had already planned to give him the day off, especially after being stuck in the trailer for five hours the day before. Giving him a day off at my previous barn always carried a bit of stress as I never knew what mischief he would cause in his boredom. At the ranch, I don't have to worry about it. He's got plenty of room to run around, and if he digs a hole or bangs on the fence, nobody cares. I left him to himself and met up with best friend and her mustang, Rio. After our stroll around the neighborhood, we dropped Rio and his rider off at home, and Speedy and I walked back to the ranch. I let him graze on the grass and then I sat in the shade and gave my tack a good cleaning. The ranch was quiet except for the buzz of insects and the sounds of the horses munching their morning breakfast. Izzy has an older stallion to his north and three horses immediately to his south. He is enjoying their company. I've already taken a small bucket of treats out to the horses in front of Izzy in an effort to get to know them and their routine. I've also been doling out cookies to the stallion who seems to really enjoy the extra attention. Speedy seems to have finally settled in as well, so he got turned out for the first time last night. The ranch owner will feed, and then open Speedy's paddock gate each night. In the mornings, his gate will be closed so that Willie can enjoy his day out. The horses will alternate at each meal time. I go back to work officially on Wednesday, but I'll have to go in on Monday or Tuesday to get things ready for my students. I already spent Monday afternoon setting my classroom back up after the summer clean-up. All of this means that my daily four-hour barn visits are over. When I get to the barn now, it's going to be hot, really hot, and our summer heat lasts until Halloween. While it's not quite as hot in October, we always have several days over 100 degrees. By November, our temperatures are more tolerable. That means that I have 10 weeks of hot afternoon riding in front of me. Both horses have today off as we're driving over to the beach for the day with the dogs. It is such a relief to know that Speedy will have had twelve hours of turn out and Izzy can run off his energy any moment that he'd like. I'll still be at the barn every day, but now I won't have to spend my time waiting for horses to finish their 20 or 30 minutes of turn out.
I think we're all going to be a lot happier. 8/6/2016 05:51:17 pm
Thanks, Tracy! Yeah ... land is at a premium here in California. :0)
In that photo of Rio and Speedy, perhaps they're looking at Pokemon? 😉 8/6/2016 05:52:44 pm
Your comment made me snort and laugh out loud! 8/6/2016 05:56:25 pm
Acres? Yeah ... not gonna happen here unless you have your own place. Rio's owner has 2 1/2 acres, but her house, yard, chicken coop, hay barn, tack room, and such take up about half. The rest she has crossed fenced into side-by-side pasture with a gate connecting the two. She doesn't have an arena, just the pastures.
jenj
8/5/2016 09:17:32 am
So glad they are settling in so well, and that Izzy is making the most of all the space! 8/6/2016 05:57:06 pm
Thanks, jenj, and I know he is. I love to hear him thundering around out there. :0) 8/6/2016 06:01:41 pm
When I was a kid, we went back to school after labor day, but for the 26 years that I've been involved in teaching (4 as a classroom aid), we've always started before then. For the past few years, the districts have moved the start date up to allow for a week off at Thanksgiving and an earlier dismissal in June. 8/8/2016 05:48:54 am
That's one of my favorite things about blogging - seeing how horse owners around the world do it. I feel like we have it pretty good here in California. For one thing, we have GREAT weather (although very hot in the summer) which means I can ride in a long sleeve t-shirt through much of winter. :0) Comments are closed.
|
About the Writer and RiderI am a lifelong rider.
I began endurance riding in 1996 where I ultimately completed five, one-day 100 mile races, the 200-mile Death Valley Encounter, and numerous other 50, 65, and 75 mile races. I began showing dressage in 2010. Welcome to my dressage journey. About Speedy GSpeedy went from endurance horse to dressage horse. After helping me earn a USDF Bronze medal in the summer of 2020, he is now semi-retired. Speedy is a 2004, 15'1 hand, purebred Arabian gelding. His Arabian Horse Registry name is G Ima Starr FA.
About IzzyIzzy was started as a four-year old and then spent the next 18 months in pasture growing up. I bought him as a six-year old, and together, we are showing at the lower levels. He is a 2008, 16'3 hand warmblood gelding. His Rheinland Pfalz-saar International (RPSI) name is Imperioso.
National Rider AwardsState Rider Awards
State Horse Awards
Working Towards:
CDS Sapphire Rider Award Third Level: 63.514% Third Level: 62.105% Fourth Level: Fourth Level: 2023 Show Season
Show Rating (***) CDS/USDF/USEF (*) CDS (s) Schooling (c) Clinic (r) Ride-a-Test Clinic 2023 Show Schedule
TBD 2023 Completed … Pending 2023 Qualifying Scores
Regional Adult Amateur Competition (RAAC) Qualifying Training Level 3 Scores/2 Judges/60%: Score 1: Score 2: Score 3: Archives
|