I live in a Bipolar state

Title is sooo true! The other day it snowed, then yesterday it was 70 degrees!!! Stupid Bipolar state. Anyway, I rode Diamond again :) It took me about 30 minuets to catch her. She stopped once and I thought I could catch her. As soon as i took a step she took off. I just made her run until she stopped and wouldn't move until i told her too. lol After I caught her and saddled her up, I went on a ride. Everything went smoothly. She did everything I told her except her leads. I tried to do what Kevin told me too, work her in small circles in the correct lead. She would not pick up the correct lead for the world. I know a lot of horses have this problem, but isn't it annoying?? I'm just going to have to work with her more. Plus, the nice weather went away and now it's raining -_- Also, Youth drill practice starts Sunday!! Yea!! Exciting! My youngest brother is joining! I'm happy :D Anyway, that's it for now.

Long time..No see -3/15/10

Hey guys! Sorry I haven't blogged in forever! My computer got a virus and died.. Thankfully, the amazing computer guy fixed it! Thanks Brandon! Anywho.. I've been riding Dia alot because winter is hopefully over! I took her to practice last night (woot! first drill practice I've been to this season!) and she would freak out with my mom. I just had my mom keep her by the post so she could see thinngs and get used to it. The thing was, she wanted to be out there doing drill! :)) Now, to be a little boastfull, the coach let me ride as just a fill in one time. It was freaking amazing!! I got to be a lead rider (freaking scary, but amazing!) and lead part of the team; something I have never done before. Blue, my gelding, did AMAZING for me and did his part beautifully! :D Now back to the reason I even blog: Diamond. So during a break during the drill, I decided to go ride her. I had just got the bridle on her when the whistle blew to get back on. Go figure. After the practice, my mom was walking her around the arena so she would relax. Diamond was amazed with everything. I got on her and rode her around and she instantly calmed down and listened to me. One of the dads (Kevin) is a trainer. He was watching me ride her. He said she was doing well except for 2 things: her tiedown needed to be tighter and she needed to be on the correct lead. I also needed to ride her in circles in the correct lead for a long time. He said she'll only get better with time!! After I adjusted the tie down, he told me to ride her in a small circle in the right lead. If she wasn't in the correct lead, break down and try again. It took me one buck (from Diamond), a few backing up steps and a break down to get her in the correct lead. She did really good and I relaxed easily and so did she. She was happy to go out and I even let her gallop a lap (which she had a blast!!). If I follow Kevin's directions, which I plan on doing, she will be a great horse. I'm going to start doing the circles more than barrels for now, just to get her used to it. After she's good and Kevin gives the ok, I'll probably work with barrels then. Also, we have our first rodeo in April! Less than 6 practices away! So exciting! Write ya later!

2-13-10, 2-14-2010 bareback ride

So I rode today; it was the first time in foreverdue to wet ground, snow, ice, etc. So instead of saddling up Diamond, I just hoped on her bareback and slipped on her hackamore (which meant no tiedown!!). Everything was going fine until she decided to rear. She reared twice, I got off backed her up and got back on. She reared again twice. I'm not one to smack or use a crop, but I smacked her shoulder and tried backing her up. She reared again. I went to the barn and grabbed a crop and got back on. When she reared again, I smacked her with the crop on the shoulder and backed her up. She reared again and it felt like she waas going to flip over on me. I got off, backed her up, and lunged her. I ended on a good note after that, but still feel defeated as she is now "dominate" over me when I ride her bareback. I hope we can over come this obstcale.

2-14:
Valentine's Day.
It was a great day, until my neighbor passed away. I couldn't ride today due to the snow on the ground and it was just too wet. It was hard to hear that my neighbor, who we had known for over 20 years, had died. My parents are not taking it so well.

1/21/2010 - Sunny Day

Tittle baisically says how today was! It was a nice 55F again today! I saddle up and got with it. I also filmed a little and once the vid is done, I'll post it.

So Diamond was a biotch today. She bucked and reared and threw a fit. I couldn't let her lope, it rained HARD last night and I didn't want her to slip. We loped a few strides, but trotted. If I ever win a million dollars, I'm building an indoor arena. I mostly just worked with her on being slow and controlled. She did alright.

Yeah, that's all for today. Off to hear a missionary speak. TTFN.

1/17/10- First time to ride in 2010!!

YAY! I rode yesterday for the first time in 2010. Which reminds me that I didn't fullfil my resoulution to write down my hours in the saddle this year.. Oh well.. haha.. I also got her a new rope nose hackamore! She responds much better to it and accepts it nicely.

Anyway, snice it was like 55F out, I rode! I didn't practice barrels because who ever devlivered ourhay put the round bale in the middle of my barrel pattern. Gah. I caught Diamond and she was pretty good. She is still learning to stand tied; she pawed and kicked and tried to rear while tied yesterday. Once she settled down, I groomed her out really well and she litterally fell asleep. I then helped my brother (who is a begginer) groom and saddle his horse. After he was finished, I went to get the blanket and saddle. Do you ever have a problem with saddling? Diamond has "all of a sudden" had a fear of saddling. I have no clue what her problem is besides she doesn't want to work. I let her smell the blanket and then I put it on her (after she continueously moved). As I was adjusting it, she nipped at me! Twice! I untied her and backed her up. The saddle was easier to put on then. Once I got everything on her, I lead her out of the stall so I could mout up. She then stepped on my foot, causing me to loose balance, fall on my butt, and then she thought she could just stand there on my foot. It hurt, but I finally got her to back up and off. Once I got on, she backed up. She wouldn't quit backing up, even if I said woah, or tried to kick and let her have her head to go forward. I told my mom, and she said to just make her back up the next time she did that; make it seem like a punishment. Diamond does this when she doesn't want to work, she has lots of quirks ;) Keep in mind, I haven't ridden her in a few weeks, due to weather and Holidays. So once we got going, she did pretty good. The only thing was that she bucked like 3 times and reared a few; which I took care of by backing and turning her in circles. Then we went to ride with my little brother. We loped a few strides (the ground was still soggy and I didn't want to risk anything) and mostly trotted. All in all, it was a pretty good day. Today is supposed to be 62F out. I'm going to finish school fast today and go ride my fat hayburners! Haha :) I'll hopefully post pictures tomorrow. Until then, TTFN or Ta ta for now!

No Barrel Pracitce for Dia and Me

Ok, so with Christmas past and New Years here (Yay 2010!!) it's been to cold to ride. Christmas Eve a blizzard came in. We had over 2 foot of snow (which is a lot for where I live) and the roads were horrible! The ground has either been a) soaking wet and mushy b) rock solid or c) covered in ice and snow. And now we are getting more bad weather in with more snow! Ugh. I probably can't ride until Feburary. Diamond is doing well. She is still a biotch when it comes to food (lol) but besides that is good. She is getting fat, like most horses do in the winter, but she is still a sweetheart. I was filling up the water trough yesterday and the wind was blowing cold and hard. She came up and stood by me to block the wind:) I love my baby girl. 2010 is our's! We should be starting the drill season soon as well; which is very exciting for both of us. Hopefully we can start riding again so I can start blogging again :) lol That's it for now! Happy New Year everyone!

12/20/09- Barrel Practice Day Three

Today went really well. I only practiced the barrel pattern a few times, and then went riding with my brother. I walked the pattern a few times; she still had it down to pat. So, I trotted it once. She was AMAZING! She had really snappy, sharp, clean turns (what I did was trot up to the pocket, break down to a walk, walk around the barrel, and then trot on to the next barrel). Then Samuel and I went riding. He rode my gelding, Blue and I rode Diamond. We rode around our property. Samuel is still a beginner rider, but loves to "trot race". So, we were having a "trot race" when Blue decided that Samuel should learn how to lope. He took off in a Western Pleasure like lope and Samuel did well. Then Diamond took off. A few days ago, she wouldn't have, but she SLOW LOPED!! I was so proud; even if it was just a few strides. She did very well today, and since Christmas is coming I probably won't get to ride that much this coming week.