wildponyeventing.com

The Waiting Game

ponyeventer — Mon, 30 May 2011 16:23:45 GMT

We have been in limbo. There was torrential downpours at the beginning of the month and right on the tail of the weather was the EHV-1 virus breakout. So we sit and wait. Wait and sit. Frost is boarding at Mapleleaf Eventing so she had booster vaccines plus an extra for EHV protection, and she's been a bit too sore to work on top of it all. Here's hoping it all passes soon.

Did You See That Jump?

ponyeventer — Sat, 14 May 2011 15:52:00 GMT

It was as tall as my face and I sailed over it with scope!

Wild Pony Princess

ponyeventer — Fri, 13 May 2011 01:55:00 GMT

Ahhhhh...ice.

May Wild Horse Adoption still Open!

ponyeventer — Wed, 11 May 2011 21:22:00 GMT

The internet adoption for horses from WY, CA, OK,and Burns, OR herds is still open! Here's one Oregon cutie...

Check out the photo gallery on the BLM site https://www.blm.gov/adoptahorse/onlinegallery.php
This is an internet adoption so you can apply and bid on line.
Get your wild pony today!

Mustang News - BLM will Reduce Round Ups to Reduce Holding Costs

ponyeventer — Wed, 11 May 2011 04:46:00 GMT

http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2011/05/blm_plans_to_reduce_wild_horse_round-ups_to_reduce_holding_costs.html

10 Thoughts on Horse Showing & Care for Less Bucks

ponyeventer — Tue, 10 May 2011 02:11:00 GMT

Okay, just so that we're all on the same page...horses are expensive, training horses is expensive, showing horses is really expensive, the economy is down and prices of everything is up. So how can we maintain our horses well without biting into our household budget and going broke? Some ideas:

1. Feed costs. I've got a barn of hardy mustangs that are easy keepers so our feed and hay bill is relatively low. If you are choosing a horse, find out what kind of keeper they are. Evaluate your current feed program for each horse. Are you feeding a balanced diet or are you over-supplementing and over feeding, or just spending money on the wrong feed and supplements? When you do buy feed, buy in bulk and buy local. If you don't need enough feed to buy in bulk, get some local horse owners together and place bulk orders. You can save at least 10% in feed costs by buying in bulk, and possibly more by streamlining you feed program. Buying locally helps to keep your neighbors employed.

2. Ride share. Fuel prices are prohibitive. All trailers should be full and fuel bills split shared. Pool your resources and haul less stuff. Here in the NW we also spend at least 2 nights at shows. Consider hotel room sharing or camp at the show with friends.

3. Basic Preventative Care. Get strict with your horse's preventative care. Warm up properly, cool down adequately. Balance turn out and barn time for health and sanity. Be safe and sensible when you ride. Use a reasonable training and conditioning plan tailored for your horse. Ride in safe footing and protect you horse with proper, well-cared for tack and equipment. Oh yeah, wear your helmet!

4. If you turn out in groups and your horses are shod, consider pulling hind shoes. This reduces injuries and if your horses does well cuts your farrier bill down. Separate aggressive horses that may hurt others.

5. Instead of expensive leg treatments, do utilize the magical, medicinal power of cold water and ice.

6. Instead of expensive hoof treatments, do you utilize the magical and medicinal power of regular foot picking/cleaning, basic, homemade iodine-based spray on the foot bottom to prevent thrush, hoof oil on the outer wall to condition but create an barrier to prevent too much moisture in the foot. This extra wet NW spring is wreaking havoc on many horse feet.

7. Instead of expensive equine hair care products, put in a few extra minutes with a curry, some time with a hot towel treatment and using a wisp or rub rag. It creates incredible shine, healthy skin and gives you a great workout.

8. Learn to do things yourself. Bandaging, braiding, clipping...if you are really stuck on something then trade services with a friend or barnmate.

9. Share care. If you can't be at the barn or attend to your horse everyday, team with a trusted person to share care of your horses to keep them clean, exercised and healthy.

10. Be prepared. If you don't have one already, assemble a good equine first aid kit. If unsure, discuss what you should have and how to use it with your vet, trainer or mentor. Having necessary items on hand saves money, reduces healing time and cuts down on vet bills. The initial expense of assembling a good kit can pay for itself the first time you use it (sometimes several times over!).

A Week Off, Revisiting NWEC

ponyeventer — Mon, 09 May 2011 02:28:00 GMT

It's been a rough week. I tweaked my back last week and we've had torrential downpours. We made a last minute decision to scratch Frost's entry at NWEC this weekend and go next week to the one day horse trials over the same course. The logic is that gives me time to rest my back and if footing is bad, the one day format allows us to skip any jumps/areas with bad footing and continue competing. Such is life riding horses!

This week I had several days of completely no riding and so I've been trying to get everything done that doesn't require bending or lifting. My tack is well-conditioned, the ponies have been thoroughly curried and gone over with shedding blades, lots of horse clothes have been washed. my show trunks have been packed and organized but not moved from there spots. Frost has had some good practise standing in ice boots, got clipped and her mane pulled. The boots were fine, but she still dislikes the clippers and hates mane pulling. Poor professional pony.

Congratulations to one of my barn mates Momi and her mare Ali for winning the one of the Training divisions this weekend, and doing so on her dressage score! Great work girls!

We are a WA State NonProfit

ponyeventer — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 02:25:00 GMT

Wild Pony Eventing needs your help to save the wild horses of America.

The mission of Wild Pony Eventing (WPE) is to increase awareness of the existence and abilities of the American Wild Mustang by means of training and competing with them in the equestrian sport of Eventing. We hope that by showcasing these beautiful horses and providing information about current wild herds and adoption events, we will inspire others to adopt mustangs. Ultimately, we hope to mentor other adopters interested in eventing mustangs.

It is truly a labor of love as training and showing horses is a work, time and money intensive endeavor. As we pursued our goals of eventing our own adopted Kiger mustangs, we found that people were surprised to learn of the existence of wild mustangs and their plight. Thus, WPE was formed in order to create public awareness and financial support in this endeavor.

Over 26,000 wild mustangs roam in herd management areas managed by the federal government’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM). These wild horses and burros are protected by federal law. They are kept in “herd management areas” (HMAs) across the American western states. The mustang has adapted to life in the wild over hundreds of years of natural selection. However, they have also developed unique characteristics based on their HMA. Mustangs can be adopted from the BLM, gentled and trained for a variety of jobs from pleasure horses to competition mounts. In 2010, nearly 3,000 mustangs were adopted from the BLM. Yet, close to 10,000 horses were removed from HMAs in an effort to maintain the herds with dwindling resources. Finding homes for these horses is one important way to preserve this breed and save these incredible horses from holding in long term facilities and possible euthanization or extinction of the breed.

As much fun as we have with our horses, we need your help through your generous, tax deductable donation. We are a licensed nonprofit organization in WA State. WPE Inc. is run by volunteers, so donations go to the ponies. Funds are used for training, show fees and necessary equipment for competing. We also welcome donations of needed goods or equipment, but ask that you contact us to ensure the correct type of goods or fit the ponies need. We can also use your time. Volunteering time to promote WPE is always welcomed and greatly appreciated. If you are a business, we are seeking sponsors as well.

Checks made out to WILD PONY EVENTING can be sent to PO BOX 902, Duvall WA 98019. See our show schedule online to make a cash donation at our show booth. Or go to our web page http://site.wildponyeventing.com and click on the PayPal Donate button to send money electronically.

Getting ready for the 2011 Season Opener!

ponyeventer — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 02:11:00 GMT

We have worked hard all winter and are putting on final touches to compete in the first horse trials of the season May 6-8 at the NWEC in Ranier, WA. Frost has matured so much this year and I hope that I will provide the ride she needs to put in a great dressage test, cross country runand show jumping round. These last 10 days are all about getting the last mane pull, clip touch ups, packing and final schools in before the big weekend. We will be taking lots of pictures and having our tests video taped.
Look for the Wild Pony Eventing banner and that cutie patootie little dun pony mare if you are at the show!

Winter Motivation and Gratitude

ponyeventer — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 02:03:00 GMT

Winter came extra early here in Western Washington State. We had our first snow storm in early November and winter continues to plague us with unusually cold and snowy weather . As anyone involved in an outdoor sport knows, bad weather can really futz with your motivation. Commitment and discipline take a lot of energy, but when the winter weather sucks the motivation out of me it's just that much more difficult. It's easy to look at a magazine and or website and get psyched for the show season to start. But the reality of going out to ride in the 20 to 30 something degree downpour, with horses spooking and bucking, while much of the rest of the world hibernates indoors with munchies...sometimes it's a sucker punch to the unmotivated gut. But there are other twinges of reality that hit as well. I remember how tolerant and supportive family is about my horse crazy thing even though they don't quite share that degree of passion. Seeing my ponies faces when I walk into the barn on a cold, dreary morning. The little but monumental victories like keeping a rhythm through trot poles inside because that's all the weather allows. Catching a glimpse of another little mustang out there on the range who might need a home and job. Those things make me put off moving to Aiken for another year (it was just snowing there anyway!). And so I put on a few layers and Gortex and head out.

Marcos is unimpressed by a sudden snow storm and heads for the barn.

Spring Dreaming of Dressage

ponyeventer — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 03:27:00 GMT

As we work very hard on our dressage this winter, I am dreaming of Spring and the chance to show off our hard work and improvement. In the meantime, here are some snapshots of our beginner novice dressage at Aspen Horse Trials in September 2010.

Not too tense coming down the center line...don't even ask about that right hand of mine...and yes, pony is barefoot.

She focused and put in some lovely trot work...

I may be bias, but this is still the cutest, most beautiful pony face in the world. My Wild Pony Princess!

Frosty Caber Farm Event Photos

ponyeventer — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 04:20:00 GMT

Willowbrook PC Horse Trials @ Caber Farm, August 28, 2010

Kiger Frost Moon - Cross Country and Show Jumping

Preparing for Winter - Already!

ponyeventer — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 04:17:13 GMT

Rain, flood, cold, snow, ice. That's the mix of weather in Seattle's Cascade foothills from mid to late September until early spring. And the predictions for this winter are that La Nina will bring us lots of cold and snow. Since my tack felt damp several mornings already this past week, I turned on the de-humidifier in the tack room. It promptly sucked an entire bucket of water out of the air and I realized that it's already time for winter preparations. Ugh! I haven't even finished the tack room redesign. I guess I now have excuses for pony parties after dark in the name of finishing that project

Normally this would be a seasonal time to check the fence lines and do one last weed whack. But my son can tell you loudly and grumpily -- we have a 16 month-old Kiger filly named Maya who is a climber. If there's a fence of any kind, she has to climb it, much to my dismay as I constantly attend to scrapes and owies from her antics, but more to the chagrin of my son who has to walk the fence line daily and make repairs. She does come by this nasty habit honestly; Her mama has climbed out of several 6-8 foot enclosures and her Dad and sister were fences jumpers at her age. But still, we are working on building sturdier and taller enclosures, and getting her to tolerate turn out boots (hahaha says Maya).

Maya the Fence Climbing Fiend

Getting barn cleaning and organizing chores done now makes winter a little easier and safer, so I try to get the barn vacuumed all the way to the ceiling, including the light fixtures. The mats get their scrub down and the stalls get a once over cleaning and any needed repair. The feed barrels get a cleaning and kitties get their tree nook lined with extra bedding and a heated water bowl.

The ponies already look like bears ready to hibernate and even the big white TB is getting a thick coat on him. Soon it will be time to clip those in training. So the clipping supplies get inventoried - cool lube, blade cleaner, sharpened blades and spares, extra dandruff shampoo to soothe the irritated skin. My rule of thumb for clipping is that only ponies that are worked to a sweat 3 or more times a week get clipped. Usually I do a trace or hunter clip, but if I am going to be going to shows and working a pony to prepare for spring events, I will do a full body clip, including legs.

Of course clipping means blanketing. Several of the horses are already in rain sheets for turn out, but I am pulling out the winter clothes and checking for correct sizes. There's always one blanket that never made it to the cleaner or needs repair because it got used late. This year I am trying to save a bit more and do my own cleaning at the local Laundromat and tear repair with the Rambo repair kit. I’ll let you know how that works out. As I was bringing out the rain turn out sheets, I was finishing up washing and packing summer clothes like scrims and fly sheets to make room for all the winter blanket bulk.

Here in the foothills we are just weeks away from flood season, which can strand us for up to a week from getting out over the river valley and supplies getting in. And some year’s snow and ice follows quickly. I have been pulling out my kits and going through them to make sure I have enough winter supplies - here that means thrush and scratches remedies for sure - but also general supplies and the emergency kits. I ordered an extra 10 bales of hay and an extra bag of grain for October in case we get flooded in early.

The fans are getting cleaned and ready to be put away and the tack room heater and tank de-icers will come out. We don't usually get extended freezing weather, but it's a real pain when it does freeze. The pasture water troughs have a de-icer 24/7 during the winter months and we maintain a spare tank for dipping out water in the barn in the mornings. I keep Vanodine on hand to treat the water if it has been standing for a while, and that maintains it's potency in water up to 70 degrees.

On the list for next month is to check tire chains, winterize the trailer, and get a load of 5/8 minus gravel, a bag of ice melt and sand, and get the horses clipped. And if those snow predictions keep up, I may try to budget in a snow blade and chains for my lawn tractor. Woo hoo!

What do you do to prepare for horsey winter?

Aspen Farms Horse Trials September 2010

ponyeventer — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 16:13:50 GMT

So we are home from Aspen HT over the Labor day weekend. The weather was the ideal late summer WA - hot in the daytime sun and cold at night. Thank goodness for the propane heater and shade canopy. And no rain! Overall it was a great experience for us though we had a minor hitch (I will come to this later). Aspen was a four day affair. We tent camped on the grounds so we hauled in massive amounts of stuff. Arriving Thursday about 11AM, most of the day was dedicated to setting up the stall and horse area before riding.  The horses are kept in temporary stalls and we were in "Barn B" which consisted of six double row temprorary barns. There was also a barn A and C. Barn B was situated up on a plateau and surrounded by a ditch that certainly must become a moat in the rain. It was interesting watching people navigate over the pallet "bridges" and horses over the drainage ditches to get up to the stalls. There were a few spectacular falls and leaps by both humans and equines. Trailers, trucks, RV's, etc were parked below the barns to which your horse was assigned. We stabled with our "team mates" from No Faults Farm.   Water was located centrally in a large tank, so when we weren't riding we were hauling water and of course cleaning stalls, cleaning tack, grooming, walking the horses, braiding, unbraiding, and wrapping.

Barns B with the moats and pallets bridges
Our Thursday evening practise ride was less than ideal. Frosty is used to turnout, and so her trailer ride and then being confined to a stall all day left her a bit grumpy. Add to that all the commotion of the show and a warm up area four horses deep, and she was tense and ready to kick. We spent as much time as possible just riding around the grounds looking at everything before we needed to get into an arena to work.   Frosty did relax more and find a rhythm before our training session ended as the sun began to set. We bathed and cleaned tack by lantern light and then DH, the dog and I retreated to the heated tent.

The "small courts" for Novice dressage tests
Our dressage test was just before 10 on Friday morning, so we had plenty of time to hack again before warm up. Again, the warm up area was high traffic, and Frosty was in wild pony mode ready to protect herself from the not-my-herd big horses running after her (or so she thought). Luckily our dressage arena had its own warm up area for "on deck" riders, and our warm up really took place there and we hit a wonderful balance and rhythm. Frost put in her best test to date. She was on the bit, round and swingy most of the test. Her trot work was lovely. Mom had a brain fart and went off course (I still think I rode 2 circles, lol!) and so I cost us 2 points there. Our main issues at this point are staying forward in our down transitions and that right lead canter. But we have time, and the pony was lovely. And so we finished our first phase standing in 15th place in a division of twenty one horse and riders.

Wild Pony Princess braided for dressage.
Saturday, day two, the Novice divisions ran staium jumping rather than cross country as the organizers were juggling divisions up through 2 star and two different cross country courses.  It was a hurry up and wait day. Our ride time was not until 3:45. And as those days often go it turned into hurry up, wait, hurry up, mess up! Just as I was dressing and tacking for stadium, Murphy's Law of Everything That Can Go Wrong Will Go Wrong kicked in. In a rush to make my warm up, I did a very bad thing.  Tacking up my tense, wild mare who has been girthy since day one, I tightened the girth sharply in one fell swoop. Brain fart #2. Before it even registered, she kicked me right on the belly of my thigh. Cow kicked me no less! Thank goodness she's baerfoot. I was crying and swearing and rushing and generally losing my mind as we haphazardly made it to the stadium warm up. Now, Frost was pretty freaked out. She knew she did a big bad, plus she had been sitting around waiting, and anticipating all day. The warm up area was a bit overwhelming with horses galloping around, trainers yelling at riders and riders calling one of the three warm up fences as everyone went around in circles. The first reaction Frost had when she got "attacked" from behind by a horse approaching from behind was to kick out. Whoa wild pony! And so we spent as much time as possible navigating open space and finding a canter rhythm. Frost got her hrythm and got some jumps in but by that time my kicked thigh muscle was cramping and I was using my breastplate to hang on. I seriously went into the ring just to get it over with.
The jump course was straight forward and fair, but there was a few jumps to look at and a few tricky lines for a green horse. Frosty did really well for a pony that still requires lots of riding. She was 100% honest and while her form was not so pretty she got the job done (it's hard to be scopey when your pilot lets you go with too little gas and stride to the base of the fence). We had one oops and missed a fence while gawking at a tent left up from dressage to the side of the ring, costing 40 time penalties.
Ice, ice, ice, then ice and heat.  My thigh had a nice welt and knot. I really thought I was ready to ride XC on Sunday. We had time to walk around and look before heading to warm up. As soon as we started to warm up I knew I was in trouble, and after jumping a little crossbar I wondered if I should be riding. Now my coach had made me a grab strap, which I was using, but just keeping my leg on hurt. We decided on a "Plan B" to jump the first four fences on course and retire. But once on course I should have listened to my body and pulled up, but instead we eliminated. Constantly learning lessons with horses!
And so, overall, I think we had a good learning experience. I got the feedback from the pony that I really can calm her down in a high stress situation to a dressage frame of mind, and I really do pilot over fences and give her confidence. Aspen was a gorgeous venue and the Elliots and Aspen crew did a fabulous job with the entire event, but especially in their first 1 and 2 star offerings.
Look for more pics of Aspen as they come in!

Wild Pony Eventer Kiger Frost Moon Continues to Impress

ponyeventer — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 04:34:00 GMT

It's been a busy few weeks! Frosty has been working hard to prepare for her last one day schooling show before her first USEA recognized event. We have been schooling dressage, show jumping, cross country, and conditioning. Big thanks to our coach Lexi, our friends Meika and Jordan at Polestar, and Jessica and Julia at Traumhof for helping to make all the preparations possible. This past weekend we went to the Willowbrook One Day Horse Trials at Caber Farm. Frosty was a rock star! She took a last minute change in dressage test (=little warm up while Mom got the test memorized) in stride and stayed steady in her pace and got some nice comments from the judge. Having just got the swing of dressage, XC then stadium, Frost was a bit thrown by doing stadium jumping first. We had to walk through the XC warm up area to get to the stadium area. So, she was ready to gallop and tackle some jumps when we entered the ring! About half way though the course she settled in, and overall she hit her spots and jumped big and bold. And she was anticipating her next fence on course, throwing in flying lead changes as if she does this all the time.
XC was a solid, fair course for BN. Frosty has just recently started schooling bigger, solid XC fences, and so I was very pleased with her big, confident jumping on course. The pony was quite pleased with herself and celebrated her conquest with the Daddy, slobbering all over him and getting kisses. Dogs and the pony herd were happy to have us home.
A day off for both of us at home and then we went right back into preparation for Aspen Horse trials this weekend. Dressage school, hack, mane pulling, clipping, and cleaning tack and laundry Tomorrow is our final jump lesson and then lots of last minute packing and off to Aspen for four days!
Stay tuned! We have professional photos from Caber on the way and we will have videos at Aspen and John will have the digital camera too.

The Great Tack Room Expansion

ponyeventer — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 04:28:00 GMT

I needed to expand my small tack room as space is at a minimum in my barn. I've also had 2 older freezers hanging around waiting to be recycled. One day, tripping through the tack room looking for something in a stack of plastic storage boxes, I thought "If I could just keep tack in the tack room that would be great!" Light bulb! So the great tack room expansion has begun. Chore one, almost finished, is to move all the grooming and vet/medical supplies out of the tack room into lockers, so that tack could actually be organized and found in the room meant for it (and the supplies found as well).

I looked at the cost of building a medical cabinet and grooming cabinet outside the room versus re-purposing the stand up freezers to become lockers, and the freezers won by a landslide. It was mostly elbow grease, but I spent about $40 on Rustoleum "Rust Cap" brand spray paint and used about 1/2 roll of duct tape. I splurged and spent $20 more on peel and stick dry erase patches, which I highly recommend. Background: these freezers were old and I got them via Freecycle so they are re-recycled. They have both been used in barn and garage, so they had accumulated some rust, dings and breaks, Okay more than a few. I started by scrubbing out the inside and outside of the freezers, letting them air dry, and repeating this a few times until all the grunge was gone. Duct tape was used for any cracks in the plastic and even to replace some missing door shelf ledges (it works!). Then spray paint renewed the shelving and the exterior and took away the last of the rust. Once dry, the new lockers got their stick up dry erase dots, and one was designated "The Groom Box" and the other "The Vet Box." Grooming has become so easy, and I can find all my medical supplies again. No more stacks of boxes!

Now, I am in the midst of continuing to empty out the tack room, fill the lockers, and get ready to re-hang racks, hooks and organizers in the tack room. Take a look at what we have so far...below are pictures of the freezers pre-repurposing and as they are getting stocked.  I will continue to post pics of the project as the tack room evolves...
The start...2 sorry, broken old stand up freezers and a tack room busting out the door, literally.

The freezers get a face lift to become lockers...

And the stocking begins...vet box...

and the groom box...

It will be so nice when it's all finished! Stay tuned...

Lincoln Creek Benefit Horse Trials

ponyeventer — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 04:27:00 GMT

So wild pony Princess Frosty took a big step up at the Lincoln Creek Benefit doing her first Beginner Novice - which is 7 inches bigger in height and even more in width than our previous novice events. She rose to the challenge and made me proud! We had our first really nice dressage test. By nice I mean that she was relaxed, straight, and did not spook at any part of the dressage ring or get upset by the judge's tent or trucks. Not even the truck next to us that honked its horn for the start bell. We had a focused, relaxed test that I am proud of. Warming up for cross country, we were already jumping bigger fences than usual but Frosty took it in stride. I could have walked off the warm up area and called it a success. The BN course was mostly the same course for the next weekend's USEA recognized event, and so several of the fences were max height and width, and many were types of jumps we have yet to school. So, to be fair to myself and the pony princess, I had to go onto the course with an open mind and with a plan B. And plan B it was by the max #2 barn coop jump! Being a non-USEA event, you have much latitude in what you do on course. Frosty cantered up to the barn jump and about 5 strides out her pony eyes could see how wide it was. She slammed on those brakes and popped her eyes out. This was not a naughty stop, it was shear surprise, then shock, kind of like, "Mom! You almost ran me into the side of that building!" Ok, the concept of jumping bigger more solid objects has not yet gelled for her. Luckily, this jump had a smaller version next to it for us to school. We finally got over the BN side but Frosty was rattled. And so, plan B was on, school as much of the lower fences as possible first, and skip the max table late in the course.
At this point I want to give a big shout out to volunteers who help out at events. You don't know how crucially important they are until there are not enough at an event. Please volunteer if you are not riding or have time after you ride! While we were on course this day, there were volunteers positioned so that they could see several fences to maximize coverage. The only problem was not being able to pull up riders if necessary. So, coming around a turn to a down bank, we almost collided with a big horse flying backwards away from the bank. Now Frosty is still a very gullible young horse. If another horse tells her that there's a monster over the other side of that bank, she believes them with all her heart. She has schooled banks but she was looking for the monster under this one. She stopped and pranced and in the process of sliding down the side ripped off a bell boot. Better the boot than skin. We then we meandered across a field schooling a bunch of logs and small fences to get that confidence back. She went on to jump the beginner ditch, several coops, and ran up and down her first Rebecca-boobytrap-style bank hill. She was exhausted but pretty proud of herself at the finish. She relaxed with ice boots and her hay bag, and posed for pictures.
I didn't anticipate how tired Frosty would be jumping that XC course with the extra height and schooling. I almost scratched stadium but decided to give it a go. We didn't have a clean round, but dang if that little wild pony didn't jump higher and longer than she's ever been asked before. So I was pleased that she was willing to try so hard for me. And now I knew that we both needed to work on fitness at this new level.
Overall, this was a great success for both me and Frosty. We gained experience and built more trust in each other. So now off to the next one day with our eyes on the goal of a USEA recognized event!
Below, Frosty hanging out after dressage at Camp Wild Pony Eventing

Final Prep for Frosty's Second One Day Event

ponyeventer — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 03:34:00 GMT

As the other wild ponies watch carefully, the countdown for Frosty's Event Number Two has begun. Our second full 3 phase event. We will be going Beginner Novice at Lincoln Creek. This should have been our third, but we missed a show earlier in July due to hives (Frosty) and a naughty lumbar disk (me). The road can always be bumpy with horses, but add a green, wild pony, a job, family and Murphy's Law and mayhem can ensue! Thanks to Victoria for riding the Princess at a needed XC school while I was down!
Our main focus in training has been getting Frosty to sit on her but and use it, both on the flat and jumping. We've done lots of schooling at some of the great local facilities like Polestar Farm and Traumhof, and working with our coach Lexi. We've added a bit more conditioning with trot sets and an extra hill over the past weeks. With the extra work comes extra preventative care...ice, ice, ice. The homemade Wild Pony Eventing ice boots are great! And I am still icing my back regularly to prevent flare ups.
So this week is the final touch up week...school the movements in our dressage test, school some jumps, tidy up the mane for braiding, scrub the trailer, pack...

Getting ready for dressage school at Traumhof

Looking over those XC jumps at Polestar

Homemade Ice Boots

ponyeventer — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 03:34:00 GMT

Most horse keepers who condition and jump their horses use cold therapy to prevent injuries. I've used cold hosing and ice wraps, and Jack Ice Boots, but I admit to coveting Jack Whirlpool boots. I'm not interested in the compression of the whirlpool boots so much, as we aren't working that hard yet, but riding a pony barefoot on hard ground makes me wish for those boots to get legs and feet chilled at the same time. But, the price tag for whirlpool boots are currently prohibitive. So, I've done my research and made my own ice soaking boots that goes sole to knee. Below are the humble but effective "Wild Pony Eventing Ice Boots."

Ok, so the beauty of these homemade boots is that they work and they are cheap. They consist of a tire inner tube (I used an 8 inch tube but for a bigger horse you may want to go larger). $12.99 for one, but beware, they smell bad! Cut out the valve stem and then cut the inner tube in half, which leaves you with material for two boots. Using duct tape, I taped up one end of the tube, and then rolled it up and reinforced with more duct tape around the end flap and under the area where the foot will rest. Then cut the top to fit the height and contour of your horse's leg. You can use suspenders to hold them up, or use the suspenders from your Jack boots. Total cost about $15 and time about 20 minutes to make and fit.
Voila! It works! It's cool! It's the epitome of Wild Pony Eventing! Of course I may have to decorate them with some pink pony frillies...hehehe.

Year of the Pest

ponyeventer — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 02:46:00 GMT

Summer 2010 in Western Washington state is the Year of the Pest. Flying pests. We had a warm, wet early summer followed by sudden heat. It's brought out all sorts of biting insects. I've never seen the ponies so bothered by flies! In past summers, a horse would come in from the pasture once or twice with a few obvious bug bites. But this summer half the herd has visible bites or tail rubbing, and Frosty has broken out in hives several times. To make things more complicated, both Frosty and her sister Maya have reacted to fly sprays with hives, including herbal sprays.

Fly bites!
So we have a multi-tier approach. Everyone is eating garlic and drinking cider vinegar. Those ponies know something because when the vinegar bottle comes out, they get excited and have a drink! Our fly spray is vinegar too (white vinegar is fine, no need for cider vinegar). I've spread fly predators and fly tapes where ever flies congregate. I've even hung some pennies in water bags, Supposedly the reflections from the pennies keep flies away, though I haven't noticed a difference yet.
We've also armed ponies with fly protection wear. Frosty is the most sensitive and so she is wearing a full hooded Amigo flysheet and a mask. Maya and Johnny have sheets and Maya wears a mask. Maya loves her mask - it seems to meet her inner human need to play dress up.

Maya loves her fly mask!
So far we are dealing with the excess of biting bugs, but we'll all be relieved when fly season is over. How are you and your horses handling the Year of the Fly?