Pony's new rider is MIA...

So, I know that I mentioned that someone wanted to lease the pony. Awesome, right? Yeah... that was a few weeks ago and I haven't heard squat since.

But really, would it be such a bad thing if I had to hang on to her forever? I adore this pony. I am secretly coveting her as my next dressage project. (Okay, Stretch technically is my "dressage horse," but wouldn't the cute white 13.2h pony be a fun little side project??)

Last night I decided to ride her. She needed to be ridden anyway, and she was such a saint for Potential Buyer that I was... well, I was inspired. The once-crazy Drama pony who once-upon-a-time wouldn't let anyone lead her without, well, drama had somehow transformed into a nice, well-behaved packer.

Okay, I'm not sure that she is truly a packer. The girl who wanted to try her told me that she was roughly an intermediate rider. I think the pony can handle intermediate. I think. At least she wasn't a beginner, right? WRONG. This girl didn't even know how to put a halter on. She did swear up and down that she has ridden before, so against my better judgement I let her climb aboard.

At first the pony was all, "WTF is this? Why is there someone strange on me?" and then she got a wide-eyed look, as if she was telling me, "Ooooh, I see. She is clueless. That means... *gulp*... I have to be in charge??"

The Pony, bless her heart, is very submissive and always low horse on the totem pole. She is highly trainable because of that. She just naturally wants to please whomever is in charge. The person on her was definitely not in charge, and they both looked a little lost.

After a bit of convincing, Drama reluctantly walked forward. Until Possible Buyer became a bit wobbly, and then Drama froze. Good pony. PB wanted to trot at some point during the ride, and Drama soundly said, "Uh, no, notsomuch." (This from the pony whose favorite speed is "go.") I was impressed. This pony does have a sense of self-preservation. She was downright cautious with this rank beginner and was absolutely saintly on a loose rein.

So fast forward to last night (sorry, I de-railed). I decided to ride Ms. Saintly Pony (whom, by the way, can definitely tell when it's me up there because she no longer feels the need to be cautious). It was windy last night. Like, really windy. The type of windy that leaves tree branches scattered across the roads. Why I felt the need to ride my most spooky equine in the middle of a violent wind storm is somewhat beyond me. I've definitely made smarter decisions in my life. But heck, I had a whole new outlook on the pony! She was GOOD! She just packed a beginner around like the girl was instead a Faberge egg balanced precariously on her back! Surely a little wind would be no match for my New and Improved Pony!

Riiiiight.

She was pretty convinced that Chupacabra was trying to get in the barn to eat us both. After several spin-and-bolt attempts (too bad for her I am damn good at riding those out now) I finally got her working on a 20m circle at the far end of the arena- away from the gate and the pony-eating Chupacabra. After she settled down a bit I called it a night and quickly got off, thanking God that I lived to blog about it today.

Reformed pony, my ass.

I still really want to keep her, though.

Sometimes things have to fall apart...

... before they can be put back together again. :-)

So my life for the last few months has been seriously messed up. Unemployed, unemployment insurance ran out, still unemployed, The Boy is being an asshole, I have 4 horses to feed, blah blah blah.

In the last two weeks, the following wonderful things have happened:

1.) I have someone interested in the pony. :-) She already came out to meet her, but there was a Christmas party happening in the arena, so she couldn't ride. She's coming out tomorrow to take her for a test spin. I really like this person, and I hope she taking the Drama Llama! One less equid for me to pay for...

2.) I have an interview tomorrow for a full-time job. Granted, it's Loss Prevention, which I DO NOT want to do again, but I need a job. That pays. Money. This one will, and it comes complete with benefits, too. I could do it in my sleep, and there is no contract saying that I have to stay there if the perfect surgical tech position comes along. It's a great job for my "in the meantime."

3.) Speaking of which, I also had an interview at Good Samaritan for a part-time surg. tech position (well, an OB tech position, but a foot in the door!). Just 2 overnight shifts a week, which I could easily do in conjunction with the LP job (LP agents are notorious for writing their own schedules). They even called back and told me they were very interested and asked me to re-apply after they had some union issues with the job posting and had to re-post the position. So that's a good sign. REALLY crossing fingers on that one!

4.) The Boy is still locked in his own little world at the moment (okay, that's not a GOOD thing, but hey, we can't win them all). I did, however, manage to royally piss off his borderline-psychotic soon-to-be-ex-wife, so that made my whole week better. But that is another blog for another day... bwahahaha.

5.) I had a great ride today on Stretch. We worked on really prompt walk/trot transitions with some whoas thrown in for funsies. He did great. He also let me know that he is not terribly comfortable being ridden away from the wall. I acknowledged that, and asked him to try anyway. He was a good sport about it, even if he was worried. We took it slow and got a few rein changes across the diagonal. To the asshole trainer who rode him in Texas: you're a moron. This horse plainly tells you when he doesn't like something. Just listen to him. He is not a dangerous horse. He's a baby. When he hesitates and then starts tossing his head, it means he's worried. I figured that out in, oh, about 2 seconds and you, Mr. Amazing Trainer, couldn't figure it out before he launched your stupid ass? You deserved it.

So here's hoping that everything works out the way I would like them to... It has certainly been a promising start!

PS- It's 1:30 in the AM and I am NOT proofreading this, so I apologize in advance for all grammatical errors that surely occur when one is sleep-deprived.

Survivors

So it's 10pm and I'm blogging with a bowl of popcorn. I usually have a rule against eating things past 8pm. It's amazing how much weight just drops off on its own when I cut out the nighttime snacking habit. But tonight my willpower is down and it was either popcorn, ice cream, or cookie dough. I chose the lesser of the three evils and went with Healthy Pop, which tastes like cardboard but is giving me something to munch on.

Moving on.

This last summer I kept my horses pasture-boarded while I finished up my clinical rotation for school. While we were there, I had many life-altering "moments." First of all, this place had NO arena. None. Anywhere. There was a small round pen. That was all.

I happen to be an arena baby. I looooooove the arena. You know, with good footing, and corners, and straight walls. Virtually all of the training I do involve either the corners, the walls, or center/quarter lines. I have no idea what to do out in a field other than goof around for a nice easy hack. Kind of like a trail ride, where the only thing I want to accomplish is completing the ride with minimal drama.

So I solved that problem by not riding much all summer. Sure, I tried to ride in the round pen. It was fun for about 3 minutes and I quickly got bored.

Then one day out of the blue I decided to take the pony out for a "real" ride in the 40-acre hay field. Why I suddenly felt that she was ready to take on the big, open world at that moment still to this day mystifies me. I'm also not entirely sure why I felt that was the day to ignore my hatred of riding the tiny little 13.2 hand dainty pony. I always feel like I'm going to a.) squish her or b.) fall off the second she takes a misstep because there is nothing substantial about this pony to hold me up.

But I'm an impulsive person, so I went for it. Besides, I had ridden her in the round pen a few days earlier and she was only a *little* herd-bound, and we both survived.

I got her tacked up, led her to the gate, and she stood still like a good girl while I mounted and fidgeted with my stirrups. I was feeling a sense of confidence that my pony had, indeed, woken up one day and decided that she was going to become magically dead broke.

Off we went at a nice, calm walk. I was inwardly congratulating myself for my mad skillz at training the psycho pony. Then, approximately 20 feet from the gate, the Drama Pony must have realized that her friends were in a different field. On the other side of the barn. And that we had NEVER been in this field. She planted the brakes. I managed to boot her on until we were continuing in a tense, prancy jig, but at least it was the direction I wanted.

Another 20 feet later I got a spin-and-bolt attempt. Supposedly the bushes we were passing by were of the pony-eating variety. Thank God that in all my years of riding I have perfected the "You Can't Bolt If I Yank Your Head Around To My Kneecap and Spin You In Small Circles" maneuver. At this point I was livid. How DARE she try to run back to her friends! I decided there was no way in h*ll I was letting her move her feet back in that direction until she was being obedient. I don't need calm per se. I do need her to listen to me and not try to take matters into her own hands- er, hooves.

More prancy-jiggy crap. A few more spin-and-bolt attempts. A few times she planted her feet and refused to go forward at all (note: it is absolutely imperative to me that this pony ALWAYS go forward when told. When we first got her, she liked to rear as an evasion. I have seen her on multiple times rear so violently she flipped herself over. The rearing has gone away, but I've seen her do it, and I know she is capable. Therefore forward is a BIG DEAL- they can't rear if their feet are moving forward). Eventually I got her trotting in roughly 15m circles. It was hot out, she was out of shape, and got tired quickly. When she would trot politely in a full circle without trying to sidepass towards the barn, I would let her walk. As soon as she started being nutty again, back to the trot.

It was a long, hard ride, but she finally gave in and we walked back to the barn on a loose rein. As we were walking, several things hit me at once:

1.) I rode out the worst this pony has ever thrown at me and stayed on. I am not going to fall off the damn pony in a strong breeze. I *do* have good balance. I *am* a skilled rider. Several really bad falls off of a couple of previous horses has made me a timid/cautious rider. I don't need to be. I just need to get over myself.

2.) Pony was genuinely scared being out by herself, but even in her spin-and-bolt fits, not once did her front end leave the ground. I don't even think rearing crossed her little pony brain. It's amazing how far she's come since Katie and I first picked her up.

3.) I have ridden horses who have literally lost their minds when scared and there was no getting it back (refer to revelation #1, above). Horses are flight animals. It's what they do. The fact that the pony wanted to flee but eventually came back to me speaks volumes about her. She's a sensitive, nervous type anyway. The fact that we could still communicate with each other is huge for her.

This incident was several months ago. We have since moved back up to the barn in Estacada (I really missed the arena). In retrospect, while attempting to take the pony out on our little jaunt was somewhat impulsive and foolish at the time, I think it is one of the best things I could have done for both Drama and myself. I am no longer scared to ride her. Getting over my mental hangup about riding her has been great. I find that I actually enjoy riding her now, and her training has been progressing in leaps and bounds.

I think she, too, also came out better on the other end of our adventure. It seems like we bonded. She's much more in-tune to me, and she tries her heart out for me every day. It was like, in her little pony mind, the joint traumatic experience of having to ride in a field made us soul sisters. Everything that we used to struggle with before (trailer loading, clipping, taking her blanket off over her head) is suddenly a non-issue. I can almost hear her saying, "I'm not a fan of the blanket going over my head, but you and I went to Hell and back together, therefore I trust you."

Silly pony. I am still trying to sell her, but not as enthusiastically as I once was. I secretly wish she wont sell. If I had the money, I would keep her in a heartbeat. Maybe take some dressage lessons together. No, she doesn't have the "sparkle" for competitive FEI levels, but right now she has the heart and the willingness to likely make it to 4th and do pretty well.

Did I mention that we started schooling lateral movements just last week and she is now leg-yielding off of only my seat bones?

Meet My Herd: Drama

The Drama Pony is a spunky, vivacious, adorable pony that Katie and I picked up off of CL. When we went to go look at her, we found her in a chicken barn that is about 50 feet from a very busy highway. The girl who was selling her told us that she had been planning on using the pony for rodeos (wha....?) but didn't have enough money for all of her horses, so she was downsizing, and the pony kept getting out and wandering around said highway. The owner also disclosed that she had plucked the pony out of some old-timer's backyard, who apparently didn't know how to use a halter and thought that ear-twitching was a perfectly acceptable way to get anything done. She also had no name- he just called her "Horse."

So, the combination of "she's a pretty nice diamond in the rough" and "we can't leave her here to live in a chicken barn where she escapes and runs into the road and/or gets used for rodeo" (Okay, the rodeo thing still baffles me. What the hell would a grown woman do on a 13.2h pony in rodeo?) prompted us to plunk down the $500 and drag her home.

Our first clue that this pony would be a challenge was trying to load her into the trailer to take her home. She reared a couple times but we got her loaded. Then she started rearing IN the trailer. To the point where we deliberately drove like maniacs just so she HAD to keep all 4 feet on the floor.

We named her "Drama." It started out as a joke about how "every barn needs a little Drama" (get it?? A little Drama?? For a 13.2h pony? We thought we were clever) and we quickly realized that it suited her better than we thought. EVERYTHING is dramatic to this pony.

We spent the next few months just teaching to her NOT rear every time she hit the end of a leadrope or cross-tie. Not only would she rear, but occasionally she would rear and then strike at us with her front hooves. This is clearly a learned behavior from somewhere in her past. And honestly, it probably worked for her. Even though she's small, it's still frightening to see any equine on their rear legs trying to kill you with their front. When she tried to pull this stunt with us, however, we did not back down. If she struck, she promptly had a Come-To-Jesus meeting. With whatever Katie or I had in our hands. It was not pretty. I used anything I could think of her make her move her feet forward. Now. Granted I probably could have come up with a better tactic. But if one of us has to get hurt, I'll be damned if it is going to be me. When she would just rear, sans striking, we would not budge, wait for her tizzy to be over with, and continue with whatever it was that triggered her rear in the first place.

Slowly, the rearing became less and less, and we spent the summer getting her over her head-shyness. Fly masks on and off.  Halters on and off. Bitless bridles on and off. Until she learned to deal with it. With grooming, we'd brush just a little closer to her ears each time and back off when we sensed a rear coming on. It took FOREVER. But slowly the rearing became less and less frequent, and we moved on to other training issues, like riding her.

Fast forward to today. The project pony that we wanted to flip for hay money is still in our barn 2 years later, but she is going beautifully under saddle. I haven't seen her rear in almost a year now. The little kids at the barn can practice their Showmanship patterns with her, and she is a saint. Last week I was able to clip her face and bridlepath without her halter on. Which is HUGE. Under saddle, she is schooling Training Level Dressage and starting over fences, and is absolutely darling. She's actually surprisingly fun to ride and is going to be shown heavily this year to market her. Hopefully we can sell her into a show home, with her own little girl. Little Girl will have to be a good rider as the pony is very sensitive to aids and slightly on the "hot" side, but she is beyond sweet and will do ANYTHING for a "good girl" and a pat. Plus, she's so talented over fences that the only home I can even try to imagine her in is a hunter show barn with matching blankets and tack trunks.

The sad truth of the matter is that the pony is simply too fancy and talented for us to do her justice. She will never live up to her full potential sitting in our barn.