Peyton

Say hi to Peyton.

As I mentioned on my blog before, we recently lost our Min Pin Cruizer. After eleven years, that is a very big collar to fill. Cruizer was my first dog as an adult, meaning all the vet bills, feeding, training, and responsibility were mine. It wasn't until I started considering a new friend for Cowboy that I realized just what a big chunk of my life that dog was there for.

Cowboy has never been an only dog, and he got clingy and anxious after Cruizer died. The hubby and I decided that after my trip to SC, since that would give us a month and a half to recover and I wouldn't be so distracted after vacation, we'd look at the local shelters for a new family member. Today was the chosen day to go out. We packed up Cowboy and set out to find him a sibling.

Our first attempt was with a small Ibizian hound that was very sweet, but Cowboy couldn't handle the fact she was that much bigger than him. He was not a happy puppy. Our second attempt was little Peyton. Weighing in at nine pounds, she's almost exactly the same size. She's also a female, and a submissive one at that, so if he postures she just caves in. Hard for him to get into a fight like that. The meeting went well, our application checked out, and much quicker than we thought possible, we have a new dog.

Peyton is a chihuahua/pug mix, so we're calling her a Chug. At least that's what everyone is guessing. She was pulled from a West Virginia shelter with a high kill rate and transported to the Salem Animal Rescue League, where we found her. We got lucky, since she had just completed her quarantine. I have a feeling a charming, spunky young lady like Peyton wasn't going to stick around long. Being a recent stray we have no idea what her past was like. We're just starting over and assuming she's clueless. She's one year old (again, best guess), so training shouldn't be too brutal. Right now she's just learning her name.

After the initial excitement of a new home and new toys to throw all over the living room, the both of them have settled down. Cowboy has that classic look of 'what is this and why is it in my house?'. He's curled up in a dog bed, using my feet as a pillow. This is hard for him, but he seems to be okay with things. Peyton is on the futon, absolutely destroying a bully stick and quite content with her new space. I'm sure future updates on Peyton's training and exploits will show up. With such cute dogs around, I'll use any excuse to show them off.

Recuperation

Yes, I'm still recovering. Physically I'm back to normal (other than my sleep schedule still calling for a disgustingly early wake up time), but mentally I'm still dragging myself back to things like work and the indoor arena. The princess seems to be of the same opinion. She was not overly enthused about getting back to work on the circles after a week of gallivanting about the country side of South Carolina.

I'm putting the both of us in a holding pattern until we get to the summer barn. The dust at the indoor bothers her, so it's probably not a bad idea to lay off. She didn't cough at all in SC, but coughed several times when I worked her yesterday. I think the cause is becoming quite clear.

In the meantime, I've assigned myself a project. Warning, this is where my profound nerd levels become evident. On COTH there was a discussion on whether or not riding multiple horses at a show had an effect on how safely the courses are ridden. Of course I promptly thought 'we can just check the results'. This means I am currently compiling all of the results for 2010 in a data base to check for trends around different types of non-completions. I'm such a geek that even the engineering hubby is left staring at what I do with my free time. I'll post the results on here, so everyone can stare in wonder at just how geeky I am. My current hypothesis is that we'll find no relationship between the number of horses ridden and the completion rate, but we shall see. I've been wrong many times before, I wouldn't be shocked to be wrong again.

There are hundreds of trials with hundreds of entries at each one. I think it will take about a week to get the data compiled. Has anyone seen my life? I appear to have misplaced it again. I'd really like to have one.

Assuming the weather holds, I will probably force myself away from my new database and take the princess out for a long walk in the sun this weekend. Maybe we can bribe her boyfriend to join us.

Camp: Day 5

The Top Ten Signs That You Have Just Spent a Week at an Eventing Boot Camp in Aiken, SC

The adult campers. This photo was a lot harder to take than it looks.

10. You don't really notice the sand anymore.

There's a certain point where you just accept the fact that the sand is everywhere and it is not going away. Acceptance is the first step in dealing with the war on the sand. Sure, the footing is fabulous, but I do not need that famous footing sneaking into the linens.

9. Your farmer's tan has the crisp lines you wish you could get while painting a room.

Glove lines? Check. Helmet line? Check. Sleeve lines? Check. Annoying little 'V' shaped mark on your chest from your polo? Check. Legs the color of a fish belly? Double check.

8. Your legs have been quivering like jello for so long, it seems normal.

People are always surprised by how much I ride in an average week, but then I get here where we're riding every day for multiple hours and I end up with aching muscles anyway. And it's not just the people. The horses have a certain look they give you after the morning session when you go to get them for the afternoon session. The look that says 'you have got to be kidding'.

7. It doesn't matter how much you scrub, your nails are still not clean.

I have no cuticles. I bleed around my nails. My nails are still not fit to be seen in public. I give up.

6. Sleeping in to 7am feels like a decadent indulgence.

My roommate is a working student for my trainer, which means she's up for the first feeding of the day. Her alarm frequently goes off at 6:15am. That's cruel and unusual punishment in many states.

5. You can clean and reset a six horse trailer in your sleep.

We were cleaning out the six horse today and I realized that I didn't even have to think about it anymore. My body just knew the drill. It was a bit alarming.

4. Your trainer says 'jump that' and you no longer respond with 'omgwtf'.

On my first cross country school, I literally squeaked 'what?' at my first Beginner Novice sized fence. Today? I was jumping the (little) steeplechase fences in Hitchcock Woods by my own choice. Fiona was eating it up (yes, she was sound today).

3. The dirt roads are less -- scratch that, the dirt roads are even more annoying after being here a week.

I swear I'm going to lose a filling to those roads. The washboards are horrendous and they just keep getting worse! I can only imagine what the horses are thinking when the entire trailer is vibrating like an unbalanced washer on wheels. I feel like we're going to open the door and the horses are all going to look at us with those spinny eyes you see on cartoons.

2. Anything other than boots and breeches feels like dressing up.

I showed up to dinner tonight wearing a button down shirt and clean jeans. My hair was brushed. One of my fellow campers didn't recognize me when she first saw me.

1. You can barely remember that other life and career that is waiting for you back home.

Tomorrow I head back to the frozen tundra. I can't imagine going back to life where it's not my job to pick Fiona's paddock and that I won't be there to see her in the morning. Someone else is going to toss her hay and water her? And I have to ride in an indoor? It all seems so unreal after taking a week and devoting it completely to my horse. But it's worth it. I got a lot of bonding done with my mare and we learned a lot this week. We have a two-phase back home on April 17th, and I am calmer than I've been since I bought her at the prospect.

A special thank you to my fellow campers for the pictures and for helping out with this top ten.

Home again, home again, jiggidy jig.

Camp: Day 4

In order to have a high, you must have lows.


Fiona's lame. It's not bad, but there's something up with her right hind. It looks to be up high, probably the stifle. It's subtle, she's not hopping lame or anything. We did work her for a bit to see how she would react and she started to work out of it, but we decided to just give her today off. She's done a lot in the last couple days, and I'd rather not push anything. So the princess went back in her paddock and I moped through lunch.

For the cross country schooling today I took another horse named Kelvin. There is nothing in the world like the indignant glare of a chestnut thoroughbred mare that is being left home when the other horses are getting to go have fun. I swear she stared at me while I got out my catch ride (another chestnut thoroughbred). The look was very much 'yo, you've got the wrong horse, get over here and get me before the trailers leave!'. I felt so guilty. It's almost like cheating on someone. I slinked onto the truck and tried to not look in the rearview mirror. I could feel her glaring holes in the back of my head.

Of course, I'd never ridden Kelvin before. It's very interesting meeting a new horse while cantering through an open field with horses cantering in all directions. He was a good boy, but a bit of a bulldog. He used to foxhunt, so he is definitely of an opinion on pace. In Kelvin's opinion, get your foot off the brake and hang on to something. He's also something of an extravagant jumper. My back did not appreciate his enthusiasm. In the end we had fun, but I missed my mare. It wasn't until he was putting his head down and trying to barrel at a fence that I realized just how adjustable she can be. And that she'll jump from anywhere. Kelvin stopped when I presented him to a fence with a crooked line (my bad, I'll take responsibility for that). I was surprised, because Fiona wouldn't have batted an eyelash. I think she's spoiling me.

Today was frustrating. That's the best word for it. It looks like the princess will be coming home this weekend, rather than a week out. I'm divided on my reaction. On the one hand, I'm selfish and I want my mare. On the other hand, a week off in the sun and a chiropractor visit would have been good for her, particularly when she seems to have an issue popping up. If she's looking better tomorrow, I'll ride her in Hitchcock Woods with the rest of the camp. If she still looks sore she'll get another day off and I'll plan on having the vet see her when she gets back.

I think I'll have a martini with dinner.

Camp: Day 3

Wow. Another day done. After some steak tacos and chardonnay at TakoSushi, I am ready to write about the day I had.

So, the princess went off to her two phase at Sporting Days. I have to say, I love going to this schooling show, everyone there is so friendly and helpful. Tom runs the dressage rings and he has talked me down from the rafters when I lost my number and this year offered to lay down the ring letters since the wind was picking up. The footing in Aiken is already famous. All of this combines to a nice day.

Her dressage was nice. She was a bit preoccupied with someone screaming for her from the trailers (I don't think they were even with our barn, that hussy), but she did get to work like a pro. 35.5, achieving our goal of improving on our 36.7 in October. The judge wasn't the kindest, either, so I'm very proud of her.

After that we pretty much went straight to jumping. Unfortunately that meant I had a front row seat to watch another rider come off and hit hard. My heart was dropping fast after that. I went down that hill, reminding myself to breathe over and over again as I walked into the jumping field. Who knew a Beginner Novice course could look that big? I started to trot and someone screamed for Fiona, setting her attention outside of the ring (I repeat, hussy). This had disaster written all over it.



Lo and behold, the little girl went to work when I pointed her at her first fence. She marched around the course, cantering over the fences and giving me no trouble. She made all of her distances. Rumor has it that my course was recorded, and that everyone could hear me calling out my strides on related distances, punctuated by a lot of 'good girl, Fiona!'. I walked out grinning like a fool and petting her neck. There were no words for how proud I was. That course was like nothing she had seen, with gates and fill and hard turns. When we got to the end and I cantered toward the exit gate, she was tugging at the bit and wanting to know where the next jump was.

Tomorrow is a dressage lesson and another cross country school. After the last two days, I'm ready to go. I want to go jump the Beginner Novice fences, I want to open her up and see what she can do. I've been having a major crisis of confidence and faith for the last couple months, but you know what? That was fun, and tomorrow will be fun, too. My little girl is all grown up now.

Camp: Day 2

Day 2. I can't believe it's only been two days, my body certainly thinks it's been more than that. I feel a bit like I've been run over by a train. I thought I was in shape for this, riding five times a week, but that really isn't enough prep work for riding twice a day for a week. Lesson. Learned.

Today was a run through of our dressage tests for the schooling show tomorrow followed by a trip out to gallop and school cross country. Our test run through went very well, and I think we'll be quite ready for the flat work. Fiona got the middle of the day off, then it was time to pack for our field trip. I had a total heart attack when I went out to get the princess and found her panting like she had just finished running cross country with her ears drooping and looking pretty pathetic. I took her temp and it was over 102 degrees. Not a good thing when she had just been standing around. I hosed her down over and over again until she was breathing comfortably and her temp was down.

A quick check-in with the vet gave her the green light to go out with the rest of the camp. We loaded up, grabbed our gear, and took off for Jumping Branch. The princess was not entirely delighted about having to go on her own when we were going around the mile track, but when it was time to turn up the speed? She was all business. Stopping? Just a bit of a challenge, since there was a lot of track to go, but since we were going a good bit faster than our 450 mpm target, it was time for her slow down.

When it was time to jump, I was a nervous wreck. Jumping has been so dramatic for months, something to worry about and stress over. Now I was out with a group of other riders jumping in the open while Fiona was still fussing about where people were. When she spooked badly at a jump (probably a training level fence we were walking past) and tried to spin for home, my heart was around my boots. We did canter around and pop the baby fences with no issue, leaving the group behind without a second glance. When we were pointed at a Beginner Novice rolltop, I lost my nerve and squeaked 'what?'. Of course I did it, because my instructor told me to. Fiona didn't bat an eyelash. Through the trees, nice deep spot, canter away with her ears pricked and wanting to know where the next jump was.

Every jump was like that. Sit up, tell her that we're really going to do this, and we were on our way. She jumped beautifully over everything with barely a second glance. We were cantering through the water with her tugging at the bit, wanting the next jump, and I could only think that we have got an eventer on our hands.

Tomorrow is the schooling two phase. We'll be doing Beginner Novice, and of course I'm nervous. But I'm feeling more confident after the last couple days. We have a 6am wake up call, so I stayed home tonight to just rest and recharge. What a long week, and we're only on day 2.

Camp: Day 1

I am currently propping myself up at my trainer's desk, trying to stay awake while a video she took uploads so my dear husband can convert it to .wmv. It occured to me that this would be the perfect time to make my first camp post. I can't go to bed for twenty minutes, and that's just about the right amount of time.

Drawings and photos will have to wait until I'm a touch more coherent. This is not a trip for the faint of heart. The twenty hour drive is a beast all on it's own, but when combined with hours in the saddle every day? I'm sleeping earlier than I have in months and it's a struggle to not have a nap in the afternoon. The weather has been glorious, with temps in the 80's and sun while back home they deal with another blast of cold and snow. It makes the drive so much more bearable.

We arrived Saturday afternoon, and on Sunday we only did a walking hack to help loosen the horses up after the long haul. Today started camp proper, with a dressage lesson, a lunge line lesson, and then a big stadium jumping school. My trainer hasn't seen Fiona since January, so it was nice to show the progress that we made while locked in the tundra. She did very well in her dressage lesson. We even had civilized canter departs! Clearly the 24/7 turnout is agreeing with her. The princess has her own paddock that is probably about a quarter acre with paddocks all down the row with horses to keep her company. She has rolled so much that I will never get all of the South Carolina sand out of her coat.

As always, I was a bit of a nervous wreck for my jumping school. Because the princess lacks patience, I decided to wait and play photographer/jump crew while the rest of the group jumped. I didn't tack until almost everyone was done. That part worked well for me, but her next door neighbor in the paddocks was calling for her from the second she walked away. This was a bit distracting. Okay, it was a lot distracting. After our first warm up cross rail he called for her and she immediately dove right to see him. Minor detail there was a pine tree in the way. I got the limb right to my face. Those that saw it said it was very amusing. I was less amused.

Aside from the warmup, I was all smiles. We actually completed a Beginner Novice height course, the whole course jumped from a canter. It was such a wonderful feeling of accomplishment to jump that last jump and think 'we did it, we really did it'. Good thing we did, since we have a two phase schooling show on Wednesday and we're entered at Beginner Novice.

Tomorrow is dressage in the morning and pace work in the afternoon. Galloping? I suspect that Fiona will be all over that. I'm bringing the metal bit. Just in case.