Beach Adventure

Bucket List: riding at the beach - CHECK!

Two weekends ago I was invited to go with 3 other couples, 3 other horses and 3 other dogs to Long Beach, WA which is 2.5 hours from my barn.

I hauled Sam and barn BFF's horse, Flitzen, and one of my dogs, Aero, with my truck and my backyard neighbor's trailer.

The ride was smooth and easy, though very curvy as we took the path on the WA side of the Columbia River, all the way to the Pacific Ocean. It was very pretty from what I could glimpse as the driver.

The drive to the Pacific - water to the left, woods to the right.

We caravan'd with the other trailer and a car behind me. It was nice to have the trailer as a target in front of me.

Bright, but overcast day. It was actually perfect.

We rented a house with small barn. There were 6 stalls - four had sand runs, a tack room, a large run-in area for another 3 horses and a round separate sand paddock area. So nice.

Sam and Flitzen settling in. Ended up not feeding on sand after this shot ;)

We were originally going to hand walk and lunge, but I felt I would be in more control riding.

The sand trail we followed to get to the beach several hundred yards away.

The beach!

Long Beach is 28miles of all beach. Cars are also allowed to drive on it.

Beach as far as the eye could see, in both directions!

We went out at low tide each time, so we had PLENTY of nice wet sand to ride on. Sam was very energetic. Amazing walk, haha. And when we trotted, I basically had to just stand in my stirrups because posting that fast was just ridiculous! But he was overall calm minded and listening. And he was SUPER curious about the water and the algae foam left from the tide.

He would sniff it all like a dog would. So luckily, he was good enough to walk on a long rein so he could satisfy his curiosity. 

He took his time and a lot of viewing from both eyes, but eventually we got closer and closer to the ocean. 

He even played a bit in the small tide pools.

I got a lot of practice taking one handed photos with my phone while moving, haha.

We got THIS close to the ocean on the 2nd day. We walked alongside for a few feet and as the water came in, Sam was all 'no touchy' and just moved his path curved away - and then he was done with it and keep moving away. 

We galloped several times. Really opening up and getting new gears. We raced Flitzen a few times - neither horse even thinking about stopping until we both asked them to slow together. I found out that using a FULL release between half-halts really works. Because otherwise, Sam just leaned on the bit and only half-heartedly listened. But a full, complete release between halts worked beautifully. ;)

One of my dogs, Aero, also got to come - though not on the beach while I was riding. He likes to chase speeding horses. He did enjoy things like getting to be on furniture and in carpeted rooms which are banned at home. :)

Sleep with me all night, every night.

Back to galloping. SO COOL! We probably galloped for like a max of 60 secs each time. My calves were burning! It just reminds me how much power horses really have. Just wow. I brought a bareback pad, but don't think I'll ever use it at the beach because Sam did sidle sideways a few times for things like large seaweed chucks. But maybe next year, I'll put my arms up like in Black Stallion :D

I also decided to sell the Wintec and just use my saddle next time. Safe from salt and sand at this beach and I probably used new muscles on the Wintec just because it's a different balance point.

Two half days, one full day and two nights was a little too short. Maybe a four days next time. Oh, there will be a next time. :) And my horse is a beach superstar.

Pretty ride home too - about an hour from home, along the Columbia River.

TotD Irideon shirt - great buy!

Over at TackoftheDay.com today is the Irideon Quarterline Short Sleeve Polo. Get it. 

It's the bomb-diggity. I also have it in blue as well as today's razzle dazzle - both of which I got from TotD about a month ago. They move great, long, have the cutest rolled sleeves, great buttons and keep me really cool. I love the kinda silky but not slippery material. 

I got a size large, which worked out perfectly. I'm a large in all Kerrits tops and medium in Under Amour tops for reference.

If you were on the fence, I'm pushing you over the edge.

http://www.tackoftheday.com/product_p/2014-06-13-222-e.htm

Here's a shot of me wearing the razzle dazzle color with my merlot colored SmartPak Pipers.

Stone Walled

Finally jumped the 'stone wall' at my barn. I have officially jumped all our jumps now. It's a 2'x2' block and visually intimidating. Bonus that there was a rail laying across it. And we jumped it well :D

Sam rockin' the Wintec in prep for the beach this weekend. I'm super freaked out about salt on leather! Wintec saddle, old, too long calfskin leathers, backup girth, regular irons, backup bridle. Best stuff, safe at home!

Balance

Balance in everything. Riding, love, fun, danger, life.

So busy balancing new job, morning hours, commute, kid stuff, housework, hubbie and riding. Too busy=zero blog entries.

But I've managed to ride the last 6 days in a row and it's been awesome. Lesson on Saturday, bareback with buddy Amy three nights and back in saddle last two evenings. All good things.

Yeah, we jumped this 2' one stride - one stride line bareback. Easy.

Another lesson this weekend. Beach adventures next weekend will be another check off my bucket list!

Bit It Up Blog Hop

This week Viva Carlos asks, what bit do you ride your current beastie in and why?

For jumping I started Sam in a Herm Sprenger Dynamic RS Aurigan Eggbutt Style Bit. I liked the concept of the design and because I rode in the loose ring version for dressage, it made sense to me at the time to use the same bit. Keep in mind I had never jumped before.

Herm Sprenger Dynamic RS Aurigan Eggbutt Style Bit

But after some pulling and humping issues while jumping (which was very related to unknown poor saddle choice of a 'whack his back' Flair saddle) my trainer suggested something much more useful to get a whoa when I needed it. She let me borrow hers and I was eventually convinced to buy my own. They were hard to find in D ring style - for some reason loose ring versions were everywhere - so I bought two. That was about two years ago and now they are impossible to find (though some brands are making similar versions now).

The Pessoa Magic Copper Moon Dee Bit is awesome in that it is a joined bit for independent rein use, but locks to act like a mullen when engaged with both reins and creates pretty nice stopping power.

Pessoa Magic Copper Moon Dee Bit

I've been using this bit for the last two years for jumping and it's just the right balance of being light and easy to communicate but stronger when I need it. 

I sold off both my HS bits and went to a Happy Mouth Mullen loose ring for dressage for a while, because the HS let him duck behind the vertical much too easily. And now he goes (if we actually ride dressage) in a random double jointed loose ring. I also have a Happy Mouth D for lunging/long-lining.

I literally own 5 bits, two of which are duplicate.

Parade

I haven't been very motivated to post. I also haven't have much newsworthy going on.

I got a Technical Writing gig with Xerox. Six month contract with probable extension - so that is good. The bad is that it's an hour drive to get there - though some flextime or work from home is possible at times. I start on Weds.

I'm also probably going to board a few retirees at my house starting in July for extra income to help cover my kid's college tuition. Just waiting to get my fields baled (after it stops raining).

I was invited to be in a local parade on Saturday with Mexican riders to represent a local restaurant. All the tack and clothing (sans jeans/boots) were provided to me. It was my first parade on horseback (had only been in marching bands prior) and very likely Sam's first parade too. He did great and was perfectly fine in the parade, though he thought the pace was too slow. ;)

So here's a deluge of pictures and video from my fans. :)

Our row was from my barn, me on the outside, a trainer in the middle and our onsite worker and horse whisperer in the blue. The two other horses besides Sam are both his stallions who are half brothers (Aztecas) and are about 3 and 5yo. 

The mariachi band at the front of our contingent

We had dancers too!

Playing the part

Sam looks so handsome - love him nosebandless

Jacket off near the end when the sun came out

Three Amigos!

The end of the line!

Here's a short video of our barn group (of about 20 riders in our contingent). WARNING: Our BO is shouting in the video quite loudly - but you get to see the dancing horses and not my horse dancing, haha.

And a perfectly quiet video of Sam and I walking with a bit of Mariachi in the background.

Ride in parade bucket list, CHECK!

What 2'8" looks like

This is what 2'8" looks like:

Good news is that looks like I've got that pelvis tilt thing corrected

And here's that buck on the other side that I have to figure out how to ride better. I look like I'm coming off a x-country drop and getting a little too intimate with my cantle (though honestly, it doesn't feel like it looks when riding). I'm not sure it should look quite like this. Time to watch other rider videos in slow motion.

We did land particularly low on this one and Sam pulled the rail with his hind feet. But it was the only video I got - these are the stills - and as it was, I had my phone on the jump standard next to us.