Amber: The Superstar!

How long has it been since I've update?? I have no idea! At lease a month, maybe more. I really need to start updating this regularly, I mean thats the whole reason I started writing it in the first place right? To keep people updated on the horses?

Anyway... Amber is doing FANTASTCI! We had our second show on Sunday, and got RESERVE CHAMPION!! I rode Amber in the Beginner Equitation division, which included a walk/trot class, a walk/trot/canter class, and 2 classes over crossrails! Well we got 3rd in walk/trot out of 6 people, very nice! We got 1st in walk/trot/canter out of 5 people! I was shocked about that one! It was Ambers first walk/trot/canter class ever!! And her canter still needs some work! I'm still in shock over how well she went!!! We got 1st in the first jumping class, she was a star, and 3rd in the second jumping class, and I think that was because she pretty much took off over the 3rd jump and I didnt get her slowed down till right before the 4th one, it was quite sloppy!

Unfortunately some people get mad at other peoples success, Apparently an old not so friend of mine was complaining when Amber and I placed first in the walk/trot/canter class, that we were "too close behind her rider" (obviously the judge didnt think so, hehe) and we "Had the wrong lead" (we picked up the wrong lead for about 2 strides and then fixed it) and we "Kept breaking stride" (once again, yes we did, once for about 3 or 4 strides because the horse in front of us cantered about 1/2 as fast as Amber and we had no where else to go)

It amuses me when people can't just be happy with how everyone did, they have to gripe and complain about every little thing! But a good friend of mine, who was sitting next to this person asked her to please be quiet and mentioned that obviously the judge hadn't noticed any of the "horrible" things I did because she placed us first!! That just made my day!!

But anyway! I couldn't be happier with how well Amber did, and with how the day turned out! It was amazing! She is Amazing!! Our next show will be on November 21, I am so excited! But I will update long before that! I promise! hehe!

Now for some pictures from the show!

The Chronicles of Amber

Amber has officially been at Whisper Wind for about a month now, and yes I know I really need to update this blog a little more ofter! Hehe. Things have been going really really well! We rode in our first show on September 12th, and did walk/trot (yes we rode against like 8 year olds, but it was a really good experience for my girl) The first class was a walk/trot equitation class, amber did fab and we placed 2nd out of 7, I think we would have placed 1st if Amber had stood still during the line up, but she was being very figity!

The second and third classes were pleasure and hunters, Amber is not what I would call a pleasure horse right now, and she is certainly not a hunter, she's going to be my equitation horse and eventer, so I was not a bit surprised when we only placed 4th in both the hunter and pleasure class, Especially since in the Hunter class Amber insisted on stopping and pooping right in front of the judge!!

And the 4th class was a groundpole class, we got 3rd, I thought we did better then that, but I have a feeling the judge was trying to be fair to the little kids who worked really hard to be in the show, knowing that I was mainly doing it to give Amber experience.

Since the show we have been working a lot on the canter and small jumps (crossrails) We even managed to canter her first just yesterday, and came out of it in one piece! Our next show is going to be on October 31st (yes Halloween) and we will be doing the next division up from the w/t, its called like beginner rider, its a walk/trot class, a walk/trot/canter class and 2 crossrail classes!! So all in all things are going really well! Will update again soon! Now I have to run to the other barn and move my mini to his new home!!

Ambers First Week Home

Amber has officially been at Whisper Wind farm for a week (and 1 day) now. So far we have had 2 lessons together, and gone on a couple relaxing bareback rides. All in all Amber seems to be settling down well at Whisper Wind and I believe she is enjoying herself there!! So far in lessons we've just been working on getting the both of us to relax. When she does something little and silly, I tense up and then she gets frustrated and we turn into a big mess! So that's something that I'm working on... breathing... breathing... breathing...

There is a show at the farm on September 12, I would really like to show Amber in it!! But our canter still needs a lot of work! I could also show walk/trot against people half my age, lol, after all it's just for the experience, nothing else! Well and to have fun of course!!

Anyway, its time for me to go to class, oh the joys of being a college student!! :-P

Video of Amber and me in our first lesson at Whisper Wind

My Show Horse Is Home!!

For a few months now I had been planning on selling my 6 year old mare, Amber. Riding her makes me nervous and I just didn't feel like she was the right horse for me. But last week that all changed... After I had to cancel my lesson on Liberty, because he was sore, I began realizing that at his age and with his minor arthritis issues, he probably wasn't going to hold up to what I wanted him to do.

So I started thinking about the idea of buying a new young horse, when my trainer pointed out to me that, well, I already have a perfectly sound, young horse in Amber, and she just needs some more consistent training. My trainer thinks that Amber is gorgeous, sweet and has a lot of potential!! So today Amber came to Whisper Wind, tomorrow we'll have our first real lesson together, and we'll see how things go! I'm really excited about how things are starting to turn out! I will update tomorrow with how our lesson went!!

The First Day of the Rest of my Life!

I have been riding horses for the past 17 years. I own a beautiful 20 year old percheron/thoroughbred gelding named Liberty. He is the love of my life and we have been together for the past 13 years.

When I was younger I took lessons every week, sometimes twice a week. I showed regularly and I was in great physical riding shape.But 5 years ago when I left for college all of that changed. I've been through 3 different barns in the last 5 years, I stopped taking regular lessons, or really any lessons at all, and I stopped showing except for maybe one or 2 shows every other year.

Then a year and a half ago I hurt my back. I got run down by a 2 year old warmblood colt and got thrown into a wooden tack trunk. I hit the corner of the trunk with the center of my lower back, I came out of it with 2 herniated discs in my lower back and a bone chip that was pinching a nerve and required surgery. I wasn't allowed to do any real kind of physical activity for over 5 months, and I gained a lot of weight! Weight that I am still having trouble getting off.

I am so sick of being out of shape and over weight and not able to ride like I used to be able to. Last week I made the decision to move Liberty to a new barn, a wonderful barn called Whisper Wind Farm. It's a very active lesson and show barn and I will finally once again begin taking lessons regularly and showing regularly.

I am creating this blog to begin documenting all the horsey news in my life. Now that I am at a new barn and have new goals, this will truly be the first day of the rest of my life, for both me and Liberty!

Me and Liberty