Thank you Lord for bringing me Rocky.

So things have been going pretty good in my life lately, something which is both surprising and amazing.  One of the reasons I feel this way has definitely got to be Rocky.

Once again I am late to the punch in reporting on how our show went, but it's a good way to introduce this post, so I forgive myself.  (Hopefully you forgive me too.  After all, remember the title of this blog...?)

Our last-minute show at Langley Riders went so incredibly well.  Like, better than I ever expected.  After the Willoughby show I figured that, laid-back as the Rock may be, he was still going to get a bit "spicy" in public and need a fair amount of work and exposure before we'd be successful at shows.  After all, his owner informed me that the last time he'd been shown was in 2011 at the Sporthorse show - in the halter classes only.

Well.  I was wrong.

He took to the Langley Riders grounds like they were his own home arena.  And we proceeded to kick butt big time.  We wound up with firsts in equitation and hunter under saddle (both of which were classes that, if asked which classes I'd specifically like to win, I'd have named - eq because it's judged solely on me, meaning that perhaps my eq isn't as bad as I expected??  And HUS because Rocky was bred for it!).  We also won the pleasure pairs class which was fun, I'd never done it before.

Then we placed second in discipline rail and third in english pleasure.

I have to say that I think I was actually the victim of a little bit of breed bias - in my favour.  This is a bizarre thing to me.  I have spent most of my career riding arabs and arab crosses and fighting the breed bias.  At this show, the judge was a QH judge, and in a couple of classes I feel fairly strongly that she purposefully looked the other way during some of our minor disobediences.  Discipline rail is a good example.  Early in the class they called for turn on the forehand, which we hadn't practiced at all (had never attempted, actually).  Asking Rocky for it confused and frustrated him and he began acting up.  (It was also the end of the day and you could pretty much tell he'd kind of had it.)  Anyway Rocky threw his little temper tantrum, and the whole time, the judge stood firmly with her back to us.  Then they asked for a counter-canter, which was something else we hadn't worked on - it took me a couple of tries to convince Rocky that the wrong lead was REALLY what I was asking for.  The judge awarded us a second place.  Maybe she honestly didn't notice, but I find that hard to believe.

Anyway.  The whole experience was fantastic.  I love this horse SO MUCH.

Pics!

Warming up

In class

Picking up our ribbons!

Anyway.  All in all, a great day.  I was very happy with the people running the show as well, other than the announcement that show coats were usually mandatory - seriously, for $8/class, you think I'm going to crack out my $200 show coat??  No thanks!!

So I am looking forward with great anticipation to the Sporthorse show next weekend.  I sent in my entries so we're all set.  I decided to skip the halter classes and only show for one day, reducing my costs drastically as I don't have to pay for a weekend stall.  I'm showing in 2 english pleasure classes (19 and over, and coloured horse), 2 hunter under saddle classes (also 19+ and coloured), and the 19+ equitation.  I tried to enter the classes that would give us the best chance at success.

There is another show at Langley Riders the following weekend, a trophy show which could be fun but we'll see.

So I've been thinking a lot about what I'd like to try and accomplish with this horse.  In my mind, I am still an event rider, even though I've only really done dressage for the last *cough*decade*cough*.  When I first met Rocky I thought the same thing - he'd be a killer lower-level event horse, just on the strength of his temperament.  But... if my time in Calgary's jumperland taught me much, it's that jumping really isn't my thing.  Eventing appeals to me more than jumpers but in truth I think I'd always be battling my fears... which is fine when you have time and energy, but maybe not so much with my lifestyle.  Plus, truthfully, Rocky is not ever going to be much of a dressage horse.  Lower-level dressage, of course, because frankly I will always believe that dressage will help any horse.  But it will never be that easy for him.  He naturally wants to carry himself a bit downhill, with a flat-kneed stride.  So, I figure, why not play to his strengths and try AQHA for a while.  I worked at an AQHA barn in my formative years so while I have never personally competed with a quarter horse, I am very, very familiar with what they are looking for, and Rocky would be killer.  So... I think I've decided to give it a try.  After all, it's probably one of my strengths too... I am a very good show rider, I am great at finessing a fussy horse around a ring making it look like the desired "pleasure" to ride.  (Of course with Rock it doesn't take much finessing!)

I guess then that's our goal.  Next year I will keep doing the schooling shows and aim for maybe another Sporthorse show and try for an AQHA show - though I won't complain if I have to wait until 2014 for that.  They are super competitive so I definitely want to be ready.  In the meantime I may try to find an AQHA barn and/or trainer to hook up with.

I may also do some hunter shows, and aim Rocky toward AQHA hunter over fences.  But that won't be the focus.

It's so nice to have some goals, some things to look forward to.  With everything that's happened over the last year, I will take anything positive that I can get.  This horse is something I will always be grateful to have in my life, a chance I never ever thought I'd get in a million years.  I love you Rock!!

Me: "Rocky, let's go for a ride."
Rocky: "om nom nom."

Horse show time again!!

This post is super late but I did take Rocky to the Willoughby show last month. It was good. The show was PACKED... super busy. We got a 3rd in eq and a 5th in pleasure. Rocky was a bit high, did have one moment where he decided to just take off, but all in all not too bad. Although... pretty much every canter transition involved a minor crowhopping fit. Guess I know what we need to work on, lol.

 Pics!

So... looking at the pictures, I was actually kind of dismayed. I seriously lack polish, and it frustrates me. I know that it's because all the horses I've had in the last several years have been greenies, I've spent all my time trying to train them rather than work on myself. Well, now that I have a horse who will semi-reliably do what he's asked, I can concentrate on improving my own equitation and technique. I want to start lessons again soon.

 I am taking the Rockster to a last-minute show at Langley Riders tomorrow... my first show there. I think I'm going to have to break out the show clothes, all the pics I've seen from their other shows, everyone seems to be dressed up. At any rate it'll be good practice for the Sporthorse show in September. There's a show at Windsor on Sept. 9th that I may try for as well, just to get a bit more practice in before Sporthorse. We'll see.

 I'm so happy, though :) Things are still pretty crazy in the rest of my life, so it feels really good to have something like this to focus on.

Wish us luck!

Yet more crazy changes

So... if you read this blog regularly, or even if you only stop by once in a while, it may seem like my life is insane and all I do is bounce around like a lunatic. This would, in fact, be the case. Maybe it wouldn't seem so crazy if I updated more often, but in truth it probably still would...

Anyway a million things have happened since my last update. I am back in BC, working on settling in at a new place in Cloverdale. Somehow I find myself working a ridiculous job that was supposed to be a part-time, low pressure kinda thing, but instead is turning out to be 5 days a week and crazy. I'm not happy about it (the pay is abysmal) but for some reason I am reluctant to walk away and find something else. Who knows what will happen with that. In the meantime at least it's evenings and weekends so I get to spend my days with the boys... can't complain about that.

More importantly, on the horse front, I have several pieces of news that are much more interesting than my career (or lack thereof :D ) First, just as I was coming back to BC, Jessy asked if she could have miss Moira back. I was thrilled to say OF COURSE!! So they are back together and happy as clams. Moira looks great, I can't wait to see them showing again. Some pics of the SuperPony:

In other news, I myself am getting back into riding again too, and I am beyond thrilled :) When I first came back here, about 2-1/2 months ago, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. I didn't want to own a horse, I definitely don't want that kind of responsibility right now. But I didn't really want to do a part lease or something, or even a free lease. I decided to just kind of look around and hope the right opportunity would present itself. And it has :)

A very nice lady approached me about riding her horse, a 16.1hh appendix QH gelding. Now as you probably already know, QHs are not my thing... I have spent the last several years with Arabs and TBs, particularly the hot and crazy ones. So needless to say I jumped at the chance! :D

 This is Rocky, and he is adorable as heck, and SO MUCH FUN to ride. I don't have to constantly worry that my horse is going to spook out from under me. He does what I ask, when I ask it - usually, lol. It's a strange and wonderful feeling!

How strange to ride a horse that's already trained, that doesn't have issues I have to overcome. Plus, he's just so cute!

Rocky with his brother Harley. Love! <3

Anyway... we are already planning to go to the Willoughby Saddle Club show at CVP on July 22nd. I can't describe how excited I am. If you recall, my last show was a dressage show on Gia that left me so dejected I thought about not showing again. To be able to just go and show without worrying is going to be such a treat.

All in all, there has been so much change that it overwhelms me often. It's getting better with time but I still have my good days and bad days. I am trying very hard not to focus on what I have lost, and instead look at this is a chance to start over and do what I really want. I'm trying to stay positive. I'm also very, very grateful for everything in my life, positive AND negative. It's what makes us who we are.

Hopefully I will be able to update more often, can't wait to document my progress with Rocky (going to start him over fences soon, maybe we can even do some horse trials next year!), and this blog has been seriously lacking in recipes lately ;) Wish me luck!

Just an observation...

Stella is just about 16 hh (maybe 16.1). A whole hand taller than Gia. But she doesn't really feel that much bigger when I ride her. It got me thinking... maybe it's something about the way I'm built, but I've ridden all sizes of horses and seem to fit them all about the same way. (For the record, I'm not terribly tall, 5'3". I don't know what I weigh anymore but more than I want to... plus I'm busty for my size...)

Anyway, examples:

Me on 14hh (Moira)



Me on 15hh (Gia)



Me on 16hh (Stella)



And me on 17hh (Sam)



Now, I realize that I tend to gravitate toward a certain type of horse - more of the Arab and TB type. That may be why the height doesn't feel different, if the body type is the same no matter what the height.

Anyway, like I said, just a random observation :)

Stuck on you

So, I guess I've made my decision about the Supermodel. I thought about it a LOT, I waffled a lot, I second-guessed myself a lot. I decided to sell her. I stuck to my decision until the last possible moment... then just a bit PAST the last possible moment... and then I changed my mind.

This horse is a part of me. How did this happen, I don't know. Do I need a high-maintenance drama queen of a horse? Heck no! But she's my girl, and it looks like she's going to be my girl for a long time.

Sooo... where to go from here. Since making the decision I've thought about this a lot too. I thought about taking her to the Sporthorse show but truthfully, it's kind of a waste of money. I can walk into a halter class and know exactly how we're going to place. She won't beat the warmbloods with their extravagant movement, so it depends on how many warmbloods are in the class as to where we'll place. It's a bit hard to justify for a show that will cost me more than $300.

So then what? I refuse to do the schooling shows. I have to say that being that the lower mainland is like the horse capital of the Northwest, the schooling shows I've seen have been very poor quality. Worse than the Tri-cities, I must say with shame. There must be a great divide in shows around here-- dinky little schooling shows where the same people tool around in circles or over fences accomplishing nothing, or A-level shows that only those with a lot of discretionary income can afford. I'm not interested in either at this point.

What else is there? G will never be an event horse (even the thought of her princessy butt going cross-country makes me laugh), I could do Arab circuit but the thought just doesn't do it for me. So... dressage.

Dressage is my bread and butter, and has been for a long time. I love it. I just didn't think it was G's cup of tea. But at this point... I don't care. I found out that there's a dressage schooling show on the 24th, and I started thinking that this may be the perfect solution. Get her out in public but set her up for success-- leave Moira at home (she'll be going a 2-phase the next day), no other horses in the ring with her, and get her really working and focusing (if at all possible). I'm going to enter 3 walk-trot tests so that even if she has a breakdown in the first one, hopefully we'll see some improvement with each successive test. In fact, I think that should be my goal.

We'll see what she thinks. I rode her yesterday for the first time in a couple of weeks (we just moved into our new house and it's been CRAZY!) and she was really great. I kept the longeing to a minimum (I'd love to not have to longe her every time I ride, so I am weaning us off of it) and I was so thrilled with her. Forward, swinging, round, concentrating. She got cranky toward the end as she got tired, but all in all it felt really good. There may be hope for us yet.

I did get a few pictures of Jessy riding her the other day, unfortunately no jumping pics-- she was not impressed with jumping. G didn't freak out or refuse, she just didn't care. She tried to trot everything, and if she couldn't, she'd just plow through it. After a couple of decent efforts we called it quits.

Perhaps it's a sign that she isn't meant to be a hunter :) Would she just make up her mind already??





Gotta admit, high-strung or no, the mare is freaking adorable.

CVP Horse Trials 2011

Jessy and the SuperPony did their first Horse Trial this last weekend at Campbell Valley Park here in Langley. They were fantastic! Jessy's goal was just to finish without getting eliminated, I figured that they'd finish on their dressage score since Moira is such a jumping machine and knows her job so well. I didn't make it to dressage day (it was a Friday, I was obviously at work) but they did great with a score of 67.5%, putting her 10th out of 17. Cross-country day I got my butt out of bed at the crack of dawn, loaded up the baby and headed out to see her go at 8:08am.







She went clear, of course, not even a hesitation. And they rocketed around the course, coming in super fast (actually they came in about 40 seconds under the maximum, lol). She moved up to 8th after cross-country.

Sunday was stadium... a long day of waiting! Her division was at the very end of the day.





They dropped one rail in stadium which unfortunately put them in 9th place and just out of the ribbons... but nothing to be disappointed about, they were fantastic and in stiff competition. Can't wait for the next event!

Birthday cupcakes!

How do I know I'm a super baking geek? When my idea of a fantastic Saturday night is diving into a complicated new cake recipe.

(That and I realized that I have four types of flour. Seriously.)

Anyway, I'd been whining about how I never had time to bake anymore, mostly because my focus has been on the horses. But since I made the decision at the last minute to pull Gia from the Willoughby show today, I found myself with some free time last night. And, since I found out that it's Jessy's mom Krista's birthday today, I figured it was exactly the excuse I needed to break out my (slightly dusty) baking tools.

I'd been eyeing up a recipe I'd seen on Sweetapolita for a fluffy white cake and frosting that interested me. It's actually not that easy to make a basic vanilla cake and frosting that isn't too heavy or sweet. In fact, in order to get the light texture, you'll see how much work went into it.

And nothing says "birthday" like a white cake and vanilla frosting! Of course, given the choice between cake and cupcakes, you know I'm going to make cupcakes. And given the choice between regular cupcakes and mini cupcakes, you know I'm going to make minis!

So, I dove in!

In order to make the cake portion, you need:

6 large egg whites, at room temperature
1 cup whole milk, also at room temperature
2-1/4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2-1/4 cups sifted cake flour (this is important-- not regular all purpose flour)
1-3/4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into cubes

Preheat your oven to 350, and line your cupcake pans.

In a medium bowl, add the egg whites, 1/4 cup of the whole milk, and the vanilla. When you put those ingredients together, it looks disgusting. Don't lose heart. Beat the mixture for a moment and set aside.



Next, get out your sifter. I know, sifting sucks. It's tedious and really tests your hand strength! But, if you want a fine silky batter with no lumps, it must be done.

Sift the cake flour into a larger bowl.



Once you've recovered, add the sugar, baking powder and salt, and whisk together.



Add the cubed butter to the dry ingredients...



... as well as the remaining 3/4 cup of milk, beat on low speed just until moistened, and then on high speed for 2 minutes.

Add the egg white mixture in 3 batches, beating on low for 20 seconds between each addition. The batter will look odd, I warn you... to me, even after beaten, it looked like it would separate at any moment. It didn't, it just looked that way.



Fill your cupcake liners...



... and bake for about 25-35 minutes. The toothpick test will tell you when they're done.



Gorgeous!

Let them cool, and prepare for your frosting! Now, I warn you-- this is a labour-intensive process... but it's so worth it!

You'll need:

1-3/4 cups unsalted butter, softened and cut into cubes
3 cups sifted powdered sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 vanilla bean, scraped
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
pinch of salt

If you can't find a vanilla bean (which, sadly, I couldn't) you can use 1-1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract instead.

In a big bowl, beat the tar out of the butter. No seriously, beat it on high speed for 8 minutes. You will feel that your arm is about to drop off. I stopped every once in a while to scrape down the sides of the bowl... hey, it was a good excuse to give myself a break!

When it's been beaten that long, it looks like frosting already. (But blech, I'm sure it still just tastes like butter!) It gets very pale and creamy.



Add the remaining ingredients and beat for ANOTHER 6 minutes. Oh, and be sure to sift your powdered sugar, if you don't want lumps in your beautiful fluffy frosting.



Now that it's done, I had the hard task of choosing what colour the end result should be.



(I have too many choices in my cupboard!)

But... I'm sure no one will be surprised at what I chose...



In my defense, it's Krista's birthday! What better colour for a birthday woman??

Anyway! I frosted all the little suckers (the batter makes at least 50 minis, by the way) and when they were all laid out I thought they needed something more. I immediately thought of sprinkles (there are many situations where I immediately feel that sprinkles are the answer) but I really wanted something more sophisticated. Then I had the answer-- I still had a half-full bottle of edible glitter from my wedding cake pops. So, glittery pink cupcakes it was!



I'm in love :)



And the taste? I actually think this is one of my all-time favourite recipes. As you know, I quite often don't eat what I bake. But these are great, not overly sweet, and a wonderful texture. They also store well (Tupperware in the fridge, then pull them out for an hour and they will be soft again) so I admit to having a few more than my fair share today :)

I hope Krista enjoyed them, I think this is a recipe I'm going to pull out for a few parties in the future!

Although... I think I need to invest in a bit more edible glitter!



Ta ta! Willoughby show update to come!

Arabians I have known

For some reason, whenever someone has an Arab they need to sell or need worked with, they always seem to find me. I have NO idea why this is! That was a semi-sarcastic remark... I have been a sucker for the Arabs my whole life. It started when I was a freshman in high school... I competed in FFA horse judging, placed 3rd in the state competition and was awarded a chance to compete in the national championship which was held at the Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show. I was there for three days, and I was totally, utterly hooked. The horses amazed me-- their versatility, their temperaments, and of course, their sheer and utter gorgeousness :)

So began a career with this special breed. I have always said that if you're going to try and make a name for yourself as a trainer, train Arabs. They're like cheating, they're so easy to work with. But I have learned that this is not true for everyone. You have to be a fair, tactful, sympathetic rider, but not afraid to stand firm when necessary. This is exactly the type of rider I am, and the type of horse I like-- in fact, both of my mares are half-Arabs (Moira is Arab and Dutch Warmblood, and Gia is an Anglo-Arab-- Arab and Thoroughbred).

I have meant to do more posts on horses from my past, but as the title of this blog implies, I just don't ever seem to find the time. So, today I am going to give you a little peek at the Arabs who have passed through my life over the years.

I will start way back in 1998, with Oliver Twist (Ollie) an Anglo-Arab pony I bought out of someone's backyard. We showed from schooling shows up to "A" rated large pony hunters. When I sold him in 2000, he went to Japan!




After that, concentrating on eventing and then moving across the state led me in a different direction. I didn't find myself with another Arab again until 2003, when a most amazing thing happened: Chaarlotte.



Chaarlotte has the best story of pretty much any horse I've ever owned, I will save it for her own post. But she is an incredible horse, and when I bought her, she was pregnant by a Paint stallion, whose name I of course can't remember:



... and she delivered a gorgeous black filly, another half-Arab, who we named Chaantilly.



Not long after, I bought my own small farm, and decided to go all out in breeding Arabs and half-Arabs. I leased an amazing stallion named Konfetti:





I tried to compete him, and qualified for Sport Horse Nationals, but he had a really bad colicking problem so eventually had to give the lease up because I wasn't comfortable taking on the liability any longer. But he was so wonderful I ended up leasing his full sister, Pye.





She foaled two fillies in the time I had her: Onyx (by a perlino stallion-- she's actually a smokey black, should have been a buckskin!)



And Beyond Grace (by a TB stallion named Beyond His Years:



At the same time, I had another Anglo-Arab broodmare named Kia:



... who had a gorgeous, and I mean freaking gorgeous, filly by Stormy Auctioneer, whom I named Stormy Romance (Tempest)





Seriously, the baby everyone wants.

I also had a purebred mare named Twitter Pation (who I did NOT get along with well), who never managed to get pregnant, and eventually sold as a kids' horse.



There have also been a few Arabs and Arab crosses (neglect/starvation cases) who came through my life briefly, to be re-homed, like Ruby Tuesday:



Mesa:



Tory:




And Piffany, a yearling filly... who unfortunately was so badly starved, her organs shut down and she didn't make it.



Like I said, any time there was an Arab in trouble, I was there.


Eventually, due to a bad breakup, I ended up selling all the mares and foals except for Chaarlotte and Chaantilly who I gave to two of my good friends, who still have them. Maybe someday I'll get back into breeding, I really enjoyed it... but for now, I'm trying to focus on showing (although, that isn't going so well for me, lol!)

Eventually I will have more detailed stories on many of these horses... I promise!