happy joy, no more mouth soreness and completely unrelated seaworld on labor day weekend
i am so happy *does dance for joy* kalibre was good yesterday with his mouth, and he came into the right contact really nicely. he was very good and through, although we had to go back to the hennig... so, even though nobody left any comments or gave me any advice, everything worked out just fine.

anyways, i didnt do anything special yesterday, just a lot of circles and transitions getting him super supple and through...

:-)))))) (double chins attack... lol thats actually supposed to be a big grin) then i went to sea world, which was completely packed and totally not even worth the money until like 8:00. we went to a cirque de la mer show, which totally amazed me, just like cirque de soleil does... i cant believe the muscle strength those people have!! we also fed the dolpins, petted the manta rays, went to a mystique de la mer thing (more cirque de soleil type stuff), visited the clydesdale's (as if we dont see horses often enough - i went w/ my trainer, a girl visiting us from germany, my trainers sister who is also her groom, my trainers brother, my trainers parents, and the 2 german bereiters that work for my trainer), argued about where to go, stood in line forever to get drinks, complained about how people serving drinks just plodded along not caring at all whether or not there was a huge long line, and went to shamu's house of douse, where i sat in the soak zone and got pretty wet, but nowhere near as wet as i wanted to be... then we went to the shops and bought all new clothes for those of us who were in the soak zone, including pajama-type pants, a t-shirt that came with a hat, and a sweatshirt. im poor now, as you could have guessed. anyways, we stayed til they closed (they announced that they were now closed just as we were walking out) and i didnt get home til 12 (they closed at 11) cuz traffic was bad... anyways, it was somehow actually kind of fun.

-susan

still bad mouth :-( and saddle fitting
the thing with kalibre's mouth is still going on i think, although it isnt all that visible. the only thing is his tongue stuck out of his mouth a little tad more than usual, and he still doesnt want to go into the contact on the right side. i am sure i was pushing him evenly, but he was very heavy on the left rein, and very light on my right rein, if there was even contact at all. the only way i could keep the contact is if i shortened my right rein so the left was longer, but thats kind of artificial contact... i dont like that idea. any ideas for something im doing or why he might be avoiding the contact on the right side?

other than the contact thing, he was a little stiff in the neck when we started, but he worked out of it and was actually very well-behaved. we finished working and then went on a mini-trail ride with my friend danielle and her lipizzan gelding norman.

the albion -- haha a very interesting story. i am tacking up in the crossties in the barn aisle. the vet is in there giving horses their legend shots, as are my trainers, and his wife, who does eventing and is the local rep/fitter for county saddles. i put the albion on, and it didnt fit him at all. it was loose up by the withers, and got tighter as you moved your hand down. it bridged a little on his back, and it sat wrong. so, i went to ride in my trainer's hennig i've been borrowing (its a german brand), and they are just putting it on another horse. so she tells me to use a saddle by custom saddlery thats made for another horse. amazingly enough it fits his oddly-shaped back, so i ride in that... what a saga... his back is weird - it has a low spot just behind the shoulders a couple inches below his withers, right where the front of the saddle would come. it is so hard to find a saddle that can accomodate all that. anyways, the wife/county rep said that they could make a county that fits him, so maybe we will try that. anyone have any experience with a county saddle?

cheers!!

susan and oddly-shaped backed mouth sore kalibre

Albion
I am getting a new Albion for my Mt. Everest withered horse, and it just came two days ago. I havent tried it yet because Kalibre was having mouth problems (he got stung by a bee on the inside of his mouth), so... we are riding in it today, hopefully it will fit.

im riding without stirrups today, which will be good for me, because i am to d@mn lazy to wrap my stirrups with saran wrap... i need it anyways, my seat needs the help really badly...

Welcome
Hello and welcome to my training journal. Hold on tight for a wild ride, and please keep your hands and legs inside the journal at all times. Please remember to wear your seatbelts, and do not sit in the front seat if you are a child. Airbags can be harmful.

Anyways, I am copying Nicole's (Bruderchen, nicsfilly) wonderful idea for keeping a training journal on line with public access. Try not to laugh too hard at my stupidity or anything like that. Strap in now, or else you might just fall out (of your chair, laughing at my stupidity and my naiveness)...

Feel free to leave comments (ex: you are so incredibly stupid, I cant believe you are doing second level. time to hit the books and go back to introductory level...) Hopefully comments will be good, but I want the bad too. By the way, to leave or view comments, click the comments link found right under each entry (make sure you click the comments button for the entry you are commenting on). to leave a comment, press the 'post a comment' button...

-Susan