Getting Back on Track

Today was a new day for me and Frankie. Primarily in what we are as a team. After yesterday’s lesson, I have realized one thing for sure. Frankie is a jumper. Frankie was bred to be a jumper, he has proven himself as a jumper, and with some work and re-finishing, he will be a successful jumper once again. My goals as a rider is to get to Rolex. I really enjoy eventing. The atmosphere is so much more laid back and, cross country is a blast. I also have a very personal... Read More

Fantastic Lesson

Despite my lack of a solid goal for me and Frankie I decided to take him off to the A hunter/jumper barn for a lesson. Wow and what a lesson it was! Not only had Frankie improved significantly but the showering of compliments definitely answered some questions for me. Compliments aren’t something that this particular trainer is necessarily known for. Needless to say, our lesson was terrific. We did not work on big fences, but smaller, 3’6″ for the most part.... Read More

Take it or Leave it? I'll Leave it.

I was really looking forward to today’s ride. I’m not sure why. I hadn’t actually finalized my thoughts of riding and riding Frankie, but it was a beautiful day and it just seemed a great day to ride. I didn’t have a huge amount of time to ride. I had to get Josh to his MRI appointment. Still, I had at least 40 minutes to spend on Frankie’s back. We headed outside and I had him in the De Gauge. He wasn’t really bad, he just wasn’t... Read More

Genuinely Spooky Frankie…

So, the vet came out yesterday. My only true complaint was that Frankie had really gotten cranky and not so nice to be around. Only on the ground really. Under saddle he has been good most of the time. Frankie decided that he might try to kick the vet, aiming for the head. Frankie has never liked vets. Maybe he hates them because one of my best friends is an equine veterinarian, who also gelded Frankie. I’m not sure. This was a new aggressive level for Frankie. The... Read More

Totally Aimlessly Riding

Well, since Frankie’s stomach ache and our last event I have been really wondering aimlessly when I have been riding. Today’s ride was just the same. Sure, I was working on him being round, forward, and through. But it just wasn’t the same. I don’t have the same motivation. Of course I also want to take it easy on him a bit with his ailment. He was really good today, but I need to sit back and really figure out what I want to accomplish riding and riding... Read More

Agitated Frankie Surprisingly Good Under Saddle

I brought Frankie inside, and he was agitated. It was lunch time—he wanted his food. He was also a wad of anxiety. Pooping non stop, and he just couldn’t stand still. I finally got him tacked up and considered scratching the ride thinking that if he is this anxious, riding him isn’t going to do his ulcers any good. Instead, I thought I would get on and see how he was. I chose to ride inside today because the outdoor had some spots underwater, and it looked like... Read More

Walk, Trot, Canter, Dressage I Guess?

Rain, rain, and more rain. Inside me and Frankie went. He had the De-Gauge on, and I didn’t have a plan, nor could I really come up with one. So we walked, trotted, and cantered. That was all pretty good. Frankie was a little tense today, but trying hard. I figured I would run through a dressage test for kicks. He was really good. A little icky in our upward transitions, but everything else was fine. I ran through it a few more times and called it a day. I need to... Read More

Frankie has a Tummy Ache

Well I guess this is good and bad news. Luckily, he just doesn’t hate eventing so much as to stop mid gallop and start bucking. It didn’t really fit into Frankie’s work ethic or personality. However since he is older, set in his ways, I wasn’t ruling that out. After having much anxiety about Frankie’s recent weird and reluctant behavior, I finally got an answer. Ulcers. The unfortunate thing is that the one day format of eventing is much to blame... Read More

Where’s Frankie?

I gave myself and Frankie two days off. I’ve come to the conclusion that Frankie just wasn’t an event horse. The one day thing was just too much for him. He needs better accommodations and a more structured environment. When showing him in the jumpers, he always got to the show two days before we even started showing, and even when we rode in more than one class a day, there was usually a break in between. He always had a stall, and even though I was perpetually... Read More

A Devastating Day – Town Hill Farm Horse Trials

After a three hour drive, we arrived at the event only to find out we weren’t stabled on the grounds. I was asked “Didn’t you receive the email?”; no actually I didn’t. Then after being told “It’s just six minutes down the road”, we headed out in search of our stabling. [cut to 30 minutes later] It was dark and we finally found the barn. Great. We had to get up early so Frankie could chow breakfast, have some time to digest, load... Read More

No Neck Stretcher for Frankie

I had to take Frankie for a spin before heading out to the event. With our horrible ride yesterday, I couldn’t just go with that. Luckily he was not bad. He wasn’t really good, but he wasn’t bad. I put the De Gauge on him and headed for the indoor. A quick warm up and we went straight to the dressage test. He wasn’t bad. That’s really all I can say. I didn’t ride long enough to say give him a chance of being great nor did Frankie come out... Read More

Spooking…really?

I was looking forward to a nice relaxing ride. You know kind of care free, even though we have work to do. Nothing too serious, just running through the exercises, not taking anything too seriously. I finally got my neck stretcher that I ordered forever ago. I didn’t really want to throw a new gadget on right before an event. But I didn’t see it having too negative of an effect. It basically does the same thing as the De Gauge, just in a different way. I even thought... Read More

Training Level Dressage Test B Revisited

Two days off. Well, I sure didn’t like it. Frankie seemed back to his normal, annoying, obnoxious, overbearing self. I tried to appreciate it instead of getting irritated. It was hard as he would grab my pony tail as I walked in front of him. The chewing on the cross ties was about enough to drive me insane. It was nice to see the ole’ Frank back to his usual antics. Since we are going to an event on Saturday and we will be performing Training level test B, I thought... Read More