After a couple of cups of coffee yesterday afternoon, we completed unloading the trailer from the NEATO ride and started prepping ponies for the TriState Horseman’s Association Dressage Show today. We were taking 4 ponies (Nike for Alex, Devil for Vicki, Ace for Alexis, and Huey for Amanda). Amanda was very excited that she was finally allowed to wash her pony too. She also kept reminding us that she needed to clean her saddle, bridle, and polish her boots. Who am I to argue with such motivation?
A couple of weeks ago, the kids all ordered new sleezies for their ponies from Just for Ponies using allowance money. For you non-horsey readers, a sleezy is a stretchy hood that covered the horse’s mane and neck. The primary purpose is to keep the mane clean and all the braids intact once a pony is prepped for a show. Amanda had chosen one for Huey and was very excited to get to use it.
Huey sporting a new sleazy from Just for Ponies
Amanda loves her pony
Once all 4 ponies were prepped and tucked into stalls, the trailer was loaded, and kids were washed, we were ready to crash. 5am came awful early, but we had to hit the ground running. We were at the show grounds by about 7:40 and discovered we were the first to arrive, which was fine since we also had the second ride time in one of the rings. We got our crew set up, ponies tacked up, and headed to the warm up field. Amanda was doing a lead-line dressage test, which means she is responsible for directing Huey and following the preset pattern, but I got to keep a line on his halter to make sure he didn’t try any funny business. After about 5 laps around the warm up field, I wasn’t sure about Huey, but I was definitely warmed up.
Vicki (right) and Alexis (left) warming up on Devil and Ace
Amanda and Huey warming up
Amanda on Huey waiting for her dressage test
Alex and Vicki each did a dressage test (Introductory C) and competed in the 18″ 2 phase class which included jumping and the Introductory B dressage test. Neither of them had their best performances in the dressage ring, however, they both did very well jumping. Vicki did have 2 good rides without Devil trying to leave the dressage ring.
Vicki doing a dressage test on Devil
Alex doing a dressage test on Nike
I was able to shoot video of the kids riding their jumping rounds.
In the end, the kids brought home a few ribbons and had a good day on their ponies. It was another busy horsey weekend for the farm. Luckily, next weekend only has 1 horse event.
This morning, Anna and I rode the NEATO 25 mile Limited Distance Endurance ride at Arcadia in RI. Anna rode Dakota and I rode on Mojo. Since Mojo only arrived on Sunday, this was a bit of a gamble. He has experience in LD rides, but the longest I had previously sat on him was about 45 minutes. We took the horses over yesterday afternoon and vetted them in. We set up some corral panels that were tied to the side of our trailer and the horses shared the space (Dakota and Mojo get along great). Alex hung out with me at horse camp while Anna took Vicki and Amanda to their music concert. The girls stopped by on the way home to drop off a few things forgotten in the barn and to pick up Alex; I really like the 15 minutes from home rides. I camped over with the horses.
This morning, we had a sitter at the house at 6 so Anna could get back to the ride. We tacked up and waited a few minutes to head out after the ride started at 7:15. I had been warned that Mojo tends to be strong and hot for the first few miles. I was pleasantly surprised that he wasn’t crazy, he just wanted to go. We held back some and worked on patience and listening. After the first 4 miles, we had been averaging a 7 mph pace which was faster than we planned. We slowed the horses and made sure we didn’t overdo it. Anna was concerned that Dakota was not as fit as at the GMHA ride last fall. We also had some technology issues. While we love our Garmin 310XTs for tracking distance and speed, we also use them for watching the heart rates on the horses. Today, we didn’t have good connections and Dakota’s heart rate reading was running about 35-40 bpm higher than it should have. There was a lot of discussion during the ride about whether or not Dakota was in distress. Of course, every time Anna put him in front and let go of the reins, he started trotting at 12+ mph. I voted that he was fine.
When we came in from the first 15 mile loop, Dakota actually pulsed down to under 64 bpm (the required level) faster than Mojo. That ended the concerns about his fitness and proved that technology isn’t always great. I ended up riding the second loop without the heart rate monitor recording on Mojo because of the bad data. It is just a distraction that isn’t needed and I think Anna and I are both going to shift to using heart rate as an occasional training tool, but compete without it. Maybe.
After our 45 minute hold we headed back out. We ended up averaging about 6.2 mph on the first loop which was fine. We took it easy on the second loop of 10 miles. In the end, we completed the 25 miles with a ride time of about 4:15 and averaged just over 6 mph. Both horses cleared the vet check at the end and were deemed fit to continue, which is the criteria to be awarded a completion.
Mojo and I had a good ride together. We have a few things to work on, such as personal space. Mojo likes to be in my space and stood on my feet more than once. He also likes to use me (and Dakota) as a scratching post for his head. Despite these minor things, he moves out very nicely on the trail and has a powerful trot. He had no problem holding a trot up to 12+mph.
I do have a few things I want to change before another distance ride. Anna and I have both been somewhat unhappy with the halter/bridle combos we bought last year. She has recently switched to using a rope halter and adding a basic trail bridle. I think I’ll be making the same change. Also, I got a few rubs from my clothing (like sock tops on my calf where the calf and saddle touch) that require fine tuning before going up to any longer distances.
In the end, it was a good ride, but now we have to get ponies ready for the kids to show tomorrow!
May 18 is Amanda’s birthday. This year she turned 6. She is still a petite little girl at a whopping 35 pounds, but she certainly holds her own.
Wednesday morning Amanda opened up her presents from mormor and morfar. She got a Breyer winged horse and story, some riding pants, a shirt from us, and a doll riding outfit. Then we told her we were going on a field trip to the American Girl doll store in Boston. There she would get to pick out her own doll and an accessory from grandma and grandpa. She was very excited!
After chores we all headed out. Amanda is not very patient in the car, too say the least, and I believe she asked every ten minutes if we were there yet. An hour and a half later we finally arrived.
Alex sat down on a bench and started reading. He finished two books during the day!
The girls explored the store and made plans of what to bring home. They brought McKenna and Saige and I treated the girls to hair styles for their dolls at the doll salon.
Then we headed to the bistro for lunch. The dolls get to sit at the table in their own hang-on-the-table chairs. The dolls got their own tea cups. The food was kid-friendly.
After lunch we picked up the doll Amanda picked out- a truly me doll with long wavy red hair and green eyes. I guess she secretly wants to be a redhead! She also used her money from grandma and grandpa and some allowance money to get a new doll horse (the girls play horse with their dolls-duh), It’s an appaloosa.
Vicki used some of her allowance money to purchase a few new things for her dolls.
I had promised Alex a trip to the LEGO store inside the Natick mall, a whopping two minute walk from The American Girl Doll store. He had been patient all day while the girls browsed and quickly set his eyes on a big LEGO Technic truck. Lucky for him, his allowance account still had enough funds in it. He was happy. He started building it the minute we got home. The instruction book has 471 pages. It might take him a day or two to complete.
Vicki made Amanda some cupcakes and decorated them with Rarity, Amanda’s favorite My Little Pony. It was supposed to be a cake, but Amanda agreed Vicki could make the real cake for her “friend” party.
Last night about 9:15, I unloaded a new horse from the trailer into the barn. He had spent 6 hours getting hauled in from VT. Since we took this one sight unseen, Anna and I put him in the cross-ties and checked him over. At the end of the barn, there was a 10 year old girl sneaking around in the shadows trying to catch a glimpse of the new pony. When we spied her, she darted back into the house. I went inside and told Vicki it was ok for her to join us in the barn, so with a huge grin, she grabbed her jacket, slipped her boots back on, and happily followed me back out.
He was a little lonely today, turned out in a paddock alone, so Devil got to join him. They made fast friends and spent the afternoon mowing any new shoots of grass.
After work, I had a few trim appointments and then finally got home to get to know my new mount. His shoes were just pulled this weekend, so the first order of business was to get him fitted with boots. One benefit of being a dealer (and having 6 other horses on the farm using boots) is I can usually fit a horse with something we have on hand. Once that was taken care of, we tacked up and headed to the arena.
Introducing Mojo! He is a register Half Arabian (the other half is Dutch Harness Horse) and his registered name is Money Shot. Mojo is owned by a local farrier who has been following our story and thought we were the right match for her horse. Mojo is 10 years old, 15.3 hh, and 850 lbs. He has long legs, a long back, and a narrow barrel. He spent the early part of his life as an arena/show horse and has spent about the last 3 years as a trail, endurance, and CTR mount. He seems very well matched for our desire of a versatile horse for some dressage, eventing, and endurance. We are a little concerned that Vicki may try to claim him.
As the light was fading fast, I did manage to get about 30 minutes of saddle time on him tonight. This weekend we are doing a 25 mile Limited Distance endurance event with NEATO, so that will be a true test of our compatibility. We have him on an extended trial, so stay tuned for more Mojo!
How show season officially kicked off this weekend for Sawyer Family Farm. Friday evening was spent in the barn trimming hooves, kids clipping fetlocks and bridle paths, washing ponies, braiding manes, and loading the trailer. The kids elected to spend some allowance to buy a sleazy for each pony to keep the mane a little nicer overnight before a show. Devil didn’t seem to care about his purple sleazy as long as it had a hole to eat through. Nike was less impressed with his green sleazy, although I believe he has likely worn one many times before.
Devil in his new sleezy
Nike in his new sleezy
Saturday morning, everyone was up by 5:30 for breakfast and to load ponies. We were at the CT 4-H Horse Show by about 7:45 and spent over 9 hours on the show grounds. It was a bright, sunny day and great weather for showing. The Barnyard Buddies 4-H Club was represented by Alex on Nike, Vicki on Devil, and Alexis on Ace.
L-R Devil, Vicki, Nike, Alex, Ace, Alexis
The 4-H Horse Show starts with Showmanship. All exhibitors must do Showmanship to participate in mounted classes. There was a bit of waiting around since Showmanship is one at a time. Vicki got the highest score of the three in Showmanship, but in reality, none of the three enjoy it or put much effort into Showmanship. They prefer to ride.
Alex is bored
Vicki showing Devil
Alex showing Nike
Alexis showing Ace
Throughout the day, Alex and Vicki were competing against each other. Vicki only moved up to walk/trot/canter classes for 1 show last year. There were 9 junior (under 13 as of Jan 1st) riders in the English W/T/C classes for Equitation (judging more of the rider position), Pleasure (judging more of the horse’s movement), and Discipline (correctly executing the movements within a specified time). Alex got 5th in all 3. Vicki got 6th in all 3. Alex was simply happy to beat Vicki. Vicki was disappointed, but I think it finally made her realize it is harder to show in those classes than she expected.
There was a fair amount of waiting in between classes while the senior riders did their classes. Devil and Nike were both extremely well-behaved. Nike is a seasoned show pony at 23 years old, so I think he was explaining it to Devil. One thing about Nike is that so many people recognize him. At this show, an instructor we had never met recognized Nike from when she taught the girl who owned him more than 10 years ago. He is one of those gems that makes the rounds in the local barns teaching kids how to ride.
“Listen kid, here is how this works…”
Happy to be at a show
Bored, but willing to smile
Vicki chose to enter the English Trail class. In that class, the kids must ride a specified pattern that includes various obstacles such as a wooden bridge, weaving cones, and ground poles. One obstacle was to stop the horse in a box made from jump poles with 2 front hooves outside the box and 2 rear hooves inside. Then side pass the horse keeping the pole between the front and rear hooves, including a 90 degree turn around a corner. Vicki gave it a noble effort, but Devil just didn’t understand what she wanted and they didn’t complete that obstacle. However, the next obstacle was to back your horse through 2 cones, make a 180 degree turn around a 3rd cone, and continue to back out between the original pair. They completed the series flawlessly and the gate attendant mentioned Vicki did better at that than any other rider she had seen. In the end, Vicki was thrilled to learn she won the class!
Backing around the cones
Throughout the day, Amanda was very well-behaved. Her favorite event is the cake walk, which she looks forward to all year. She is very outgoing and always manages to find a new friend.
Sitting by the arena, waiting patiently
Sporting her new cap she bought with allowance money
Cake walk time!
Amanda and her new friend take their cake walk winnings to share
At the end of the day, the Gymkhana classes were held and included Bending Poles, Arena Race, and Barrels. This year, the W/T/C Gymkhana classes had 6 entries: all juniors and all riding English (which is a little different). It was nice to see some kids entering just to have a fun time. Devil was the smallest pony in the class and it showed in his times. The short legs make it hard to outrun the bigger horses. Alex was the most experienced in the class and as a result, got 1st in 2 of the events and 2nd in the 3rd event. That was good enough to win the Gymkhana Division (and gave him 6 total wins over his sister).
Alex and Nike running bending poles
After a long day, we headed home. Luckily Chinese takeout was on the way home. We unloaded ponies and ate a quick dinner. After dinner, the trailer was unloaded of some items and reloaded with others, because Sunday was the 1st West Greenwich Hunter Pace for the season!
One really nice thing about the WGHA hunter paces is they are close. Since it is only a 15 minute drive, we can get up at 7 and still make it to the ride with plenty of time. Today, Anna rode Dakota with Alex on Nike, Vicki on Devil, and Alexis on Ace.
Amanda and I hung out at the trailer and I worked on changing out the interior trailer lights to LED lights while they were gone. They rode 11 miles in about 1:54. As soon as they got back, I could tell it hadn’t been a relaxing ride for the group. The fatigue from showing on Saturday had a definite impact causing some melt downs (Vicki) on the trail. Compounding the problem, Devil is in the best shape of his life and was full of energy and giving Vicki some trouble because he wasn’t tired at all. After a filling lunch, everyone was feeling better. Anna scored 3rd in her division and the kids placed 4th in the junior division. It was amazing to see 14 junior teams at the hunter pace today! Next time, maybe we won’t schedule the kids for 2 days of events. Maybe.
4th place in the Junior Division for the kids and 3rd in the Hilltopper Division for Anna
Tonight, I will be picking up a new horse for a pre-purchase trial. It will be after dark by the time we get home, so stay tuned for new pictures later this week.
This afternoon, we headed to the Mystic YMCA for some swimming time. All the kids did lessons over the winter, but with our summer horse schedule, we decided not to do lessons right now. Instead, we will do 1 or 2 evenings a week at the pool as a family and I will coach the kids. The kids have an event coming up in June that we are specifically training for, so stay tuned.
After plenty of lap work, we headed out and stopped in Mystic Cycle Center so I could replace me helmet (the padding was worn out from age, not damage from an accident). On the outside rack, there was a used bike in awesome condition that was a good size for Alex. Just a hair large, but he will fit it great in a month or two. Alex had seriously outgrown his previous bike and the price was unbelievable based on the condition, so we decided to get it. By the time we were done, everyone was hungry and we didn’t have anything planned for at home. Five Guys was on the way home. We all worked out. Five Guys uses real potatoes for their fries, so it’s healthier than McDonald’s. We love Five Guys and to quote Amanda “Five Guys has THE BEST hot dogs.”
We finally got home and it wasn’t dark. What do you do when you bring home a new bike? That’s right. Alex, Vicki, and I went out for a short ride while Anna fed the horses and Amanda watched a show (swimming was enough for her). I meant to do a short loop. I underestimated the length of the short loop and how long it would take with Vicki on a small bike. I missed a turn, realizing it as we cruised by the turn. The kids were doing fine, so the “short loop” got a little longer than planned. However, light was fading fast, as in, the sun was well below the horizon. We made it back to the house just before dark. The limiting factor on the ride was definitely the bike Vicki was riding. She was working at least twice as hard as Alex. So now we are watching for a used bike upgrade for Vicki. In the end, we rode 7.7 miles in 55 minutes. They should sleep well tonight.
Along the way, I spent time teaching the kids about safety when riding along the road. We talked about safety in a bike group, marking hazards for other riders, maintaining your line when cars pass, announcing passes, etc. We did have 1 scare when a large SUV decided to fly around us on a curve, into a blind hill, with a guard rail on our side and high bank on the other side. As the SUV came around, a car crested the hill and discovered the SUV in his lane. Now, the car appeared to be speeding as well (common on our road) and instead of hitting the brakes, he swerved to the side and hit a large rock on the embankment. The sound of the loud pop was his tire blowing out. Of course, he was well over 1/4 mile down the road by the time he was able to slow enough to stop and check the damage.
The incident highlighted for the kids the fact that you can never trust drivers to do the safe thing and you have to be vigilant on the roads.
Vicki warming up before the ride. Her bike had a leaky tire so she switched to Alex’s old bike
Alex figuring out the new range of gears and brakes
Almost ready to head out
Alex spent a lot of time cruising with the low effort on the new bike
Last weekend was family trail riding. Amanda rode Huey for 6 miles, including about 3 miles of it by herself, off the lead line.
Amanda riding Huey without help
Amanda riding Huey without help
Anna and Dakota
This morning, Alex and Vicki had a jumping lesson with Pony Club. It was a nice cool morning and they both did great. Both pairs, Alex/Nike and Vicki/Devil are very well matched and we hope they will have a lot of fun together this summer.
Alex on Nike
Vicki on Devil
There are no photos, but King went back into work this week. He has recovered better than we expected from his EPM. He has definitely lost a lot of fitness over the winter, so it will be a long, slow conditioning program. We are cautiously optimistic that he will be in the 60-70% that are able to make a complete recovery from EPM and resume full activity.
Today we said farewell to Echo. While we loved his personality and got along great with him, he just wasn’t quite the right match for what we are looking for. So, our search for the next horse resumes.
Today, we joined a group ride with NEATO (New England Arabian Trail Organization) at Pattaconk State Forest, which was a new venue for us. We rode just the single 10 mile loop. We were originally planning to do 18 miles, but the day got started a little later than planned and we had 5 flat tires on the trail. A “Flat Tire” on the trail is our code word for a boot problem. We have been having a lot of boot problems lately, but we have some Renegade boots on order and hopefully, that will reduce the number of boot casualties.
This comic is such an amazingly accurate illustration of my relationship with Echo. Don’t get me wrong, Echo and I are getting along great. But out on the trail, he goes into full Arab mode. Last summer, Misti literally spooked at a Butterfly crossing the road ahead of us. It seems Echo is quite untrusting of rocks. In particular large rocks on the side of the trail, flat rocks in the road, and rocks that are a different color than other rocks. Throughout the ride today, as Echo would veer to the side, Anna would laugh and say “Perhaps a bush.” It was the scary mud puddle that caused a spook resulting in my forward somersault over Echo’s shoulder.
Even though we didn’t ride as far as originally planned, it was a good training ride and I think we are still on track for Alex and Vicki to do their first 25 mile ride in May. Echo, Dakota, Nike, and Devil all did great.
Vicki loves to bake, and she particularly enjoys making birthday cakes. Today, she made Anna’s birthday cake, as specified by the birthday girl. It’s called a “European Layer Cake”.
3 layers of yellow cake
Strawberry jam between the first 2 layers
French Vanilla pudding between the next 2 layer
Topped with fresh made whipped cream and fresh strawberries.
Vicki did an excellent job making it all by herself.
In April 1996, 20 years ago, I met a very attractive blonde from Sweden at the Naval Academy’s International Ball. I had duties to attend to escorting women to the ball, so our introduction was brief. However, a couple of hours later, I was able to find her again and asked her to dance. 20 years later, we are still together and she is just as attractive at 40 as she was at 20.
There will be no big surprises, just some gardening time and saddle time as Anna requested. However, I wanted to share a few of the pictures from our early years that stand out in my mind. Click on the photos to see the details.
This was taken on our 1st date. The morning after we met, I met Anna at her bed and breakfast and took her out for breakfast in Annapolis.
A candid of Anna laying on my bed at my parent’s house
Anna in Chicago, Summer 1996
Anna on Mackinac Island, Summer 1996
Fall 1996, overlooking the Naval Academy
Fall 1996 in Alabama for Anna’s first Thanksgiving
