If you recall, one of my 2011 "goals" is to start taking consistent lessons. I posted an ad on Craigslist.org (love Craigslist!!!) searching for a Working Student position. I got several responses. One was for a Western Pleasure barn, that I turned down. I think the one discipline that I have little-to-no interest in is WP!!! A couple of other barns, and a Hunter/Jumper barn. I exchanged a few e-mails with the owner, Meghan, from the Hunter/Jumper barn, then set up a time to go to the farm and chat more about the position.
Wednesday evening I met Meghan at the barn and talked about the position for a bit. Right now they are renting a small-ish farm in Galena, which is about 40-45 minutes from my house. They are in the process of building a new barn in Johnstown (only 25-30 min. from me), and it should be finished in 3-4 weeks. Right now I'm going to get lessons in exchange for regular barn chores like mucking out stalls, feeding and watering horses, turning in/out horses, and possibly working their horses in the future. Hopefully, come April.. I will be able to move Bones and Kazi to their new facility.
I had my first day, today. The owner's sister, Kaitlin, is the riding instructor, trainer, and I think barn manager (not really sure.. lol). She's very nice and seems to be easy to get along with. I got there around 10am, and only stayed until around noon. I did a few simple task, including filling the grain in the trash cans, watering horses, throwing everyone a flake of hay, and helped bring horses inside. They invited me to go to lunch with them, and of course I accepted! We went to a cute little pizza place and the food was really good. They were headed to the new barn to show a boarder/friend the progress, so I followed them there to check it out as well.
The barn still needs quite a bit of work before it is done. The stalls need to be put in, fences need to be put up, etc. etc. But, it looks great so far, I'm excited to see it all finished.. it's going to be a beautiful facility!
The new barn is only about 1 mile from Jon's work.. so that's kinda cool! Haha. On my way home I clocked the mileage, and it's only about 20 miles from the new barn to my house. Not too bad.
When I got home I let the dogs out for a bit and checked my e-mail. Then I went to wash my car (which was much needed!) and headed to see my boys!
I took Bones on the trail for about 35-40 minutes. We saw two deer and all he did was stop and look at them. SO PROUD! =D He was nice and calm the entire ride, and rode on a loose rein. We did some trot and canter work and the top of the hill for about 15 minutes and then went back to the barn. We rode in the arena for around 20 minutes, mostly working on trot-to-canter, and canter-to-trot transitions. He worked up a nice sweat, so I decided to call it a day and cool him down. I un-tacked him, and put him in the stall with the cooler on to absorb some of the sweat.
I got Bones a Sleazy, and his just looooves it! Haha. Actually, to my surprise, he lets me put it on/take it off with ease. He can be quite ear shy.. but apparently he is getting better about it!
The chestnut is Areem
I know, the pad is waaay too big for him!
While Bones was drying off/finishing cooling down, I got Kazi out of the field. I was planning on just hoping on him bareback with a halter.. but, Alisha (from the barn I was last at) lent me an English saddle and I wanted to try it on Kazi. It actually fits him pretty well.. but he is lacking muscle on his topline, so it's usually best to use extra padding with him.
I free lunged him for a few minutes, then got on. We didn't ride for long.. maybe 15 minutes tops. We did a W/T/C both ways, some figure eights, backing, and worked on his "woah". Honestly, though.. I was more focused on my riding than on him today. Riding English is MUCH different than Western! Haha
The new barn is only about 1 mile from Jon's work.. so that's kinda cool! Haha. On my way home I clocked the mileage, and it's only about 20 miles from the new barn to my house. Not too bad.
When I got home I let the dogs out for a bit and checked my e-mail. Then I went to wash my car (which was much needed!) and headed to see my boys!
I took Bones on the trail for about 35-40 minutes. We saw two deer and all he did was stop and look at them. SO PROUD! =D He was nice and calm the entire ride, and rode on a loose rein. We did some trot and canter work and the top of the hill for about 15 minutes and then went back to the barn. We rode in the arena for around 20 minutes, mostly working on trot-to-canter, and canter-to-trot transitions. He worked up a nice sweat, so I decided to call it a day and cool him down. I un-tacked him, and put him in the stall with the cooler on to absorb some of the sweat.
I got Bones a Sleazy, and his just looooves it! Haha. Actually, to my surprise, he lets me put it on/take it off with ease. He can be quite ear shy.. but apparently he is getting better about it!
While Bones was drying off/finishing cooling down, I got Kazi out of the field. I was planning on just hoping on him bareback with a halter.. but, Alisha (from the barn I was last at) lent me an English saddle and I wanted to try it on Kazi. It actually fits him pretty well.. but he is lacking muscle on his topline, so it's usually best to use extra padding with him.
I free lunged him for a few minutes, then got on. We didn't ride for long.. maybe 15 minutes tops. We did a W/T/C both ways, some figure eights, backing, and worked on his "woah". Honestly, though.. I was more focused on my riding than on him today. Riding English is MUCH different than Western! Haha
Awesome pictures...
ReplyDeleteGood luck on your new position at the hunter/jumper barn...
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