The I-Man Confidence Jumps
Irish got a new figure eight bridle, breast plate, and girth for his birthday!
Well Irish Morning Mist and I had a fun filled weekend attending the progressive show jumping horse show in Aiken. It was “I-Man’s” first show back and our goal was to just get use to the atmosphere and all the commotion. He was very behaved and seem to enjoy the courses and jumps that he was faced with. Although he still has some kinks to work on, like the camera guy isn’t going to attack him and that the timers aren’t scary monsters, he is steadily progressing. We did the 2′6″ and 3′ classes to raise his confidence and as something he could easily handle. All the trainers had their eye on him and think he will be a real competitor within a few months. We plan on taking a break from showing till the end of August just because the heat is awful. I will definitely keep you guys updated as we continue down the road of success!
Happy riding!
Megan and the I-Man (Irish Morning Mist)
Posted in B&B Success Stories, Irish Morning Mist | 
Tags: Bits & Bytes Farm Horse, Horse Show, Jumping
The Newest “A Team” – Allegiant and Amanda
Allegiant is doing fantastic!!
Allegiant is doing fantastic!! She is settling in great. Her pasture buddy is a 25 year old 13hh pony mare. But, right across the fence, she can also hang out with three geldings.
I lunged her in the round pen, and she did great for never being in one before. She got sweaty, so I rinsed her off, then dryed her hooves off, and applied hoof polish on them. I am doing the stretches about A LOT! But, her right side is slowly getting better. She is getting more smooth when I do the crossing over on the right! She hasn’t spooked at ANYTHING!! She did want to back off of the wash rack at first, but within two or three minutes she did,
Allegiant is drinking three buckets of water per day, and she is eating ALL of her food!!
so she got a treat for that! I tried giving her an apple; she doesn’t like them, haha. We even beat the apple against something to get the juices out, and she still didn’t like it. But, I found a treat she does like!! Licorice flavored treats!!
She is drinking three buckets of water per day, and she is eating ALL of her food. I think she likes it here! She knows she doesn’t have to race anymore. I have a hard time keeping up with her at the walk with those long legs of hers, but we are getting used to each other. Every time I walk into the barn now, she talks to me. She already knows who feeds her and takes care of her!!
Amanda and Alle!!
Hunter, Jumper? OTTB Does Dressage!
Dear Elizabeth,
Tux (Bato Loco)and I are meeting our latest challenge. Robert O. Mayer has started training a few of us at our stable in classical dressage. Tux and I are at quite a disadvantage, since neither one of us knows what we are doing. I’m a hunter/jumper girl! We are starting slow. We made a little tiny bit of progress this weekend, and it feels wonderful. It is obvious this will be quite a project. Wish us luck!
Best!
Melissa
Classical dressage is the basis for all riding disciplines. It is all about learning to communicate with your horse so that there is a harmony and balance. I like to call it, “Meditation in Motion”. Jumping should be just dressage over fences rather than the yanking and pulling that you see from so many jumper riders. If the horse is balanced and listening to the rider, you will be able to adjust to the stride of a combination by adjusting your body’s position. Whether you are a Western reiner, hunter/jumper or pleasure rider – learning the basics of classical dressage will make you a better rider and your horse a lot happier. – Elizabeth
Amanda Meets Allegiant
Amanda and Allegiant hit it off on their first ride!
Elizabeth,
Allegiant meets Amanda's family including Lily the Italian greyhound.
Yesterday was a ton of fun (even if it didn’t look like it on my face, it was)! When I first went into Allegiant’s stall, she was so calm and relaxed. I was expecting something a little more lively for just being two weeks off the track. She was gorgeous and tall. I wasn’t expecting her to be quite so tall, but it’s fine with me since I’m tall too! She stood quietly to be brushed and pick her feet out and to tack her up. She was not girthy in the least, and she put her bit right in. She EVEN put her head down to help you put it in! That was nice.
When we got to the arena, and Elizabeth got on, I was expecting an extremely fast trot. But, she just did exactly what you wanted her to do. If you sat up, she would go slower, and that AMAZED me. I am so used to my old Appy not caring what I do.
Amanda rode Allegiant on a lunge line first.
Then I got on, and we started out slow on the lunge line. She was calm ready to listen to me. After a few lessons on my body position, she really got in tune with me, and we started to click! Then, we went off the lunge line. At first, she wanted to eat the trees, but I got her attention, and we went trotting around the arena, she was GREAT!
Afterwards, we must have rinsed her off 2-3 times, and she stood perfectly still, even for her face!! And, we bathed her and scrubbed her with iodine shampoo, she still stood there.
Getting in the trailer was a little tricky with all the food bags and water buckets, but she did it well, and calmed down soon after that. We stopped about 7-10 times to make sure she was all right. She was a little sweaty, but not bad. And, she was eating her hay. We stopped at Publix for five minutes to get one thing, and she was AWESOME! Read the rest of this entry »
OTTB’s Set New Standards for Equine Obstacle Course
Icy Event is doing much better – putting on weight. He is so good-natured and appreciative.
Laura
While we don’t have any new photos of Icy Event, we have fun photos to share of “Dudley” aka Josh, one of the 25 Special Horses and Coinmaker.
