Not the red kind you but on french fries, but the kind that needs to happen when I haven't blogged in ages...
Quick recap
1) Bijou and I went through a pretty nasty phase where she was being a huge idiot almost every day no matter what I had done with her previously. I put her back on a Vitamin B1 supplement and now we have more of a two way communication and not just me yelling at her at the top of my lungs
2) during that phase we went through total canter meldown. Canter = gallop + head toss + leap sideways + gallop faster. Canter rehab is currently underway with moderate success so far
3) I started taking lessons! I decided that I needed SOMEONE to keep me accountable week by week. This also has the added bonus of someone being on the ground to be eyes and giving suggestions. So far she's not the 'wonder trainer' but has been SUPER helpful and I'm glad I'm back under a watchful eye.
4) I started feeding my horse grain again. I started a bit early this year and just in the nick of time it seems as she's already lost some weight with the pastures dying out.
5) Lunging is my friend. What do you think of lunging?
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Monday, November 14, 2011
Bijou's 100th blog post.wmv
Wow, I know it's been quite a while since I last posted. I figured that I could put off posting until I had something really special to post about, and then I realized that my 2 year anniversary with Bijou was coming up. I figured I'd do a double whammy and have my 100th post be the 2 year post too. It's a little sad since that means I've only averaged 50 posts/year or approximately one post a week. I'm going to make year 3 count and do lots of blogging!
I've read through most of my blog over this last week, from when I first got this little lady all the way until now. I may not be where I thought I would with her, but I also didn't see having two horses for the first few months I had her, or breaking my ankle in the cards for us. We have had our fair share of ups and downs, successes and disappointments, but overall I'm happy to have her.
After years of feeling like the horse world could throw anything my way and I could take it in stride, I've finally found my match. Bijou tests me and challenges me in ways I didn't think were possible. I've learned so much about myself and the way I work with horses because of her. She's taught me quite a few new tricks to put in my training bag, and she's also taught me that sometimes it's alright to ask for help. She's humbled me in many ways, making me think some days that she's too much horse for me, but then I go out the next day and -as if she knows that I'm giving our partnership one more chance- she's turns around and gets her act together again. She's always surprising me, for better and worse. If we've done something all week and I expect her to execute perfectly - she'll throw a wrench in things and make us go back. If I take her somewhere new and scary she acts as if she's been there, done that. Never a dull day with this girl.
So I put together a video of (mostly) pictures and (a few) video clips from when I first bought her to November of last year. Through this period she went through the most dramatic physical transformation since I've had her so it shows up in pictures better. I realized that I don't have a lot of recent pictures or video of her (and trying to organize and find 1 years worth of pics was enough!) so I'll have to get on that to make a 2010-2011 slide show too. I'm hoping to get some video of us this week to give a comparison... we'll see if I can persuade someone to hold the camera :P
I've read through most of my blog over this last week, from when I first got this little lady all the way until now. I may not be where I thought I would with her, but I also didn't see having two horses for the first few months I had her, or breaking my ankle in the cards for us. We have had our fair share of ups and downs, successes and disappointments, but overall I'm happy to have her.
After years of feeling like the horse world could throw anything my way and I could take it in stride, I've finally found my match. Bijou tests me and challenges me in ways I didn't think were possible. I've learned so much about myself and the way I work with horses because of her. She's taught me quite a few new tricks to put in my training bag, and she's also taught me that sometimes it's alright to ask for help. She's humbled me in many ways, making me think some days that she's too much horse for me, but then I go out the next day and -as if she knows that I'm giving our partnership one more chance- she's turns around and gets her act together again. She's always surprising me, for better and worse. If we've done something all week and I expect her to execute perfectly - she'll throw a wrench in things and make us go back. If I take her somewhere new and scary she acts as if she's been there, done that. Never a dull day with this girl.
So I put together a video of (mostly) pictures and (a few) video clips from when I first bought her to November of last year. Through this period she went through the most dramatic physical transformation since I've had her so it shows up in pictures better. I realized that I don't have a lot of recent pictures or video of her (and trying to organize and find 1 years worth of pics was enough!) so I'll have to get on that to make a 2010-2011 slide show too. I'm hoping to get some video of us this week to give a comparison... we'll see if I can persuade someone to hold the camera :P
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