SpruceHill

A Promise Kept

I made a deal with Little E a couple of weeks ago. If she cantered in her riding lesson I would take a video and post it on my blog. After the big accidental jump incident two weeks ago she got a bit shy about cantering. She was trotting fast to get used to the faster pace and she was not steering her pony very well and was not paying attention. Her pony popped over a  not so small jump and it kind of scared her a bit. She stayed on the whole time but was definitely thwarted by the whole experience.

Yesterday at lessons though her instructor had her all ready to roll. With out much coaxing she did it! (this is actually the second time, the first time I did not have my camera ready *bad Mommy*)

Little E canters from Sarah S. on Vimeo.

I thought she did an excellent job for her first few steps in the canter. She got a bunch of high fives from the bigger girls which made her very happy.

 

Back at the barn she took care of little Sliver Charm and brushed her. She was sweaty after all her "hard" work.

 

 

I am excited to see what happens next week! I will keep you all posted.

Way to go Little E!

All dressed up with no place to go

Yesterday was a really warm day, the kids were restless and were needing something to keep themselves busy. Hey Mom's out there do your children come up to you and say "Mom I am really bored, there is NOTHING to do!"

Well I solved that problem. The ponies needed a good spring grooming, there was hair flying everywhere! They are shedding like crazy like CRAZY I say!

 

Arial loves to be groomed. Think of it like a day at the spa. She really enjoys it and you can see the relaxation in her expression, it also make her lips twitch with pleasure.

 

It also gives me the perfect opportunity to take pictures of her while she is tied up. She is very patient with me while I do this. Though she does sometimes think my camera is a peppermint.

 

I just love her lips they are so cute and fuzzy! Kissable!

 

I just love her lashes, I wish I had long beautiful lashes like that!

 

Pampering is very exhausting! My goal was to pull her forelock,it has gotten very long this winter. When you pull a pony's forelock they yawn. It is uncontrollable, they do it the whole time, it's a bit contagious.

 

Whew excuse me I can't help myself.....*Yawn*

 

Not quite finished yet...... *yawn*

 

Feuw! Man I am sleepy!

 

Ok Done!

After I got her good and clean and brushed I gave her a BIG ear scratch and gave her some carrots for being such a good girl. (When you pull a horse's mane you actually pull the hair out. Arial does not like it much, I use a new special comb now that does not pull her hair out. She likes it much better!)

When I scratch her ears or give her a treat she does this.

 

Pure pleasure!

 

All dressed up with no place to go!

It was a long cold day!

This morning we started our day at 5:00am. HES had a school IEA horse show. We arrived at the farm in the midst of a snow squall at 6:00am. Here is the sky right after it moved through after the sun started to rise.

 

It was very brisk and windy all day. It snowed through out the morning.

 

 I felt sorry for all the girls, they were cold while they showed in their classes. Not able to bundle up. Here HES is waiting to go into the ring. Can you see her shivering?

 

 

I would like to personally thank the inventor of Under Armour! I would not have made it though the day with out it! The stuff is amazing.

First IEA Show

(I know I know I have been posting a lot of horsey stuff! Bear with me ok?)

Yesterday was our first school IEA show of the year. IEA  stands for, Interscholastic Equestrian Association. It is a different type of show because you do not take your horse with you. You go dressed and ready to go in your show clothes and a school horse is picked out of a hat for you. So the playing field is relatively even so to speak.

It was a very cold morning, but it turned out to be a beautiful day for showing.

 

The show is a hurry up and wait game, so we were there all day but HES only rode for 10 minutes. We watched all our girls ride. They all did very well considering we had no coach. Our coach was traveling and could not get back in time. That is a big handicap but the girls overcame the hurtle and did well regardless.

 

HES happened to have a good pick and was relieved she did not get a spazzy mount.

 

Her class was in equitation. All the horses go around the ring and the judge tells them what she wants them to do. Walk, trot or canter. Their form must be just so. That is what they are judged on.

         

  

I do not know what the final results are, but the team had a good day.