Saturday, June 30, 2012

Selling Spencer

You did indeed read that correctly.

I've spent the last few days trying to think of how to polity write this, and have come to the conclusion there is one. (That's the heads up there will probably be a plethora of swearing)

The good stuff first I suppose:
Spencer has been pretty well behaved these past few days! He had an amazing triple combination on Thursday! Which really was the best part of the course but he didn't spook at the boxes, the blue pole (he doesn't like blue) or the tree jump!
Today we didn't have anything that felt as good as the triple combination, but he still did great considering how hot it is and how hard he was working. The course was slightly longer and higher but no rails down, no refusals! He's cantering is meh. He still doesn't want to pick it up when you first ask from the trot, but once he gets going he's fine and generally picks it up the first time you ask. We've been working on getting a bigger, smoother canter, which has helped his jumping loads (he's kind of like Pony that way).

The bad stuff is that he doesn't behave for his owner the way he does for me. This is entirely her fault. He doesn't pick up the canter very well for her and when he does "he goes so fast its like he's in the Kentucky derby". That is a legit quote and are you fucking kidding me?! He's a cob! He's not capable of going that fast!!!!!!! She thinks he's going too fast so she gets nervous and yanks her hands up towards her chest and rips on his mouth so of course he fucking stops! But then she gets all pissed, I mean come on, what the hell else is going to do?! She doesn't get yelled at like any of us would because she's already nervous and she's about 50. (That's probably another reason that he doesn't want to start cantering with either of us but once he figures out I'm not her, he's like oh, okay, you aren't going to rip my face off for doing what you ask). She also rides very stiffly because she's nervous, he hates to be ridden like that. My understanding is she hasn't jumped since the first time when she was super stiff and wouldn't give a release. She doesn't trust him, which is stupid because he's mostly very well behaved. She got bucked off once and now they (her and K) think that everything she does wrong stems from that, but GET OVER IT!!!! If you can't handle that, you don't belong in this sport and need to gtfo right now. Everyone falls off, you have to get back on and get over it. There's no point thinking about it and worrying about it, it doesn't help. So K thinks they are both frustrated with each other, probably, but I'm on his side. The only reason any of this is happening is she can't relax, just pop a vallium and get on with it. Or better yet, trust him and get on with it. I have no patients for this kind of thing, it drives me nuts. We couldn't even tell her about when I fell off and got that huge bruise b/c she would probably stop riding or something. K wants to video me and Spencer to show her what he can do and that he would be like that for her if she just relaxed. L is the only one who seems to share my view. Everyone else is like "oh she's just nervous and scared, it's probably good to get a different horse". She shouldn't have bought him at all, she had only been riding for a year and he's to advanced for her. She hasn't said anything to me about selling him, just to K, how apparently has a horse for her to look at. Great, now I'll be forced back to Kokanee. Lucky me.
Ugh, I'm so pissed about this. It's all her fault and if she quit being such a baby, none of this would be happening, but as it is, she's wrecking her own horse.
So I guess we have to wait and see.
I wonder if she feels bad when she gets update texts from me saying how great he was, when she has (causes) all these problems with him.
I feel kind of bad being so nasty, but at the same time it's all true at the same time....

It gets really, really frustrating having horse after horse sold out from under you. Rocket and Tango were my choice because I wanted to ride someone else. Diesel had such a long back that he started to get sour in the end, so he got retired and sold to do light trail (which he loves apparently), Tommy had slightly clubbed front hooves so he was sold to a dressage home so he could have a longer career, so even though he was sold out from under me it wasn't so terrible because then I got Pony and it was best for him to go somewhere else. Pony was incredibly frustrating because she was and is my all time favorite but her owner thought it would be cheaper to send her to Calgary (and now Manitoba apparently, yeah that sounds cheap...) and now Spencer. He's probably the most frustrating because there's no reason for this to happen if his owner would fucking relax.

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Winners!

Me and Spencer won the obstacle course challenge today! Our time was 58:64seconds, only team to break the 1 minute mark! He was so good today!
Our first time through the jump course after that was great but the second time both of us were pretty tired so it didn't go as well. He got two lead changes during one of the excersies which was exciting because he's starting to figure them out, so hopefully there will be less automatic simple changes.
He was good about picking up the canter right away but not so good about doing his turn on the forehand. Rather than just doing it and getting it over with he does stupid things like back up. Still really happy with him.
There's a  show next Saturday but I have to close Friday and Saturday night so I'm not going to have enough time or energy to show as well. But both K and his owner and L are bitching at me to go. If it means so much to you show him yourself.
Granted she only jumped him for the first time last Monday and it didn't go well. She's to stiff and he doesn't like it when you ride like that so then he was backed off the the jumps at the start on Thursday. Hopefully she gets over that soon.

Also they caught the uni shooter trying to cross into the US without a passport, still driving truck but with the license plate he stole from his mum.

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Uni Tragedy & Horses

Three people were shot and killed and a forth seriously injured at the university I go to early this morning. The first emergency alert when out around 3am.
One of the residences is located above the 'mall', basically a really long building with loads of stores and food shops, also where most of the bank specific atms are and there was two armored trucks there dropping off money or whatever and one of them shot and killed the others, so now there's a massive man hunt and last I heard the had warrants out and were searching his parents house. He's only like 22 or something. Luckily there's a hospital on campus so there wasn't a long ambulance trip for the survivor. They interviewed several of the people who live in the residence and they were understandably freaked out however, several of them complained about "the police being rude" when they told everyone to leave the building. Really? Are you fucking kidding? The police were 'rude' to you, you over sensitive baby. Three people were just killed and your upset because the cops were rude?! These are the same ones who are all like 'oh no, it's so unsafe here! I'm going to have to move residence halls"...ummm no?! This wasn't someone going after students, it was all about the robbery (according to the news) so it's hardly an unsafe. This kind of shit doesn't happen here..that often. This is like second time this has ever happened and the last time it was at a school in Quebec where the students were deliberately targeted. Hopefully they catch the ass hole quickly, the last update on the police website was about the mum asking her son to turn himself in.
Some great press for Canada, university shootings and cannibalistic psychopaths that mail body parts to schools and politicians.

Regardless, I'm still counting down the days until I get to quit my crap job and go back to class. It's all I've wanted since about a month after exams finished.
I really hope that the one guy pulls through.

Onto horses...
I've been really lazy about blogging because I've been busy with work which makes me sooooo tired and to lazy to type, which is kind of pathetic. But I have so many stories to share!
Spencer has been pretty good these last few weeks. Last week we discovered he really likes racing! We had two jumps up beside E and B in the middle of the ring and two pylons down by A and we started at C, cantered down over the jump around the pylon, back over the jump. Spencer won both times and it was probably the best he's ever jumped! Not that Gody (like Cody but with a G), it's terrible I know.
The I jumped Kokanee outside for the first time and it was incredibly frustrating. That's about all I remember. Did the same course later with Spencer and it was much better. Then this Thursday we did an obstical course that was a lot of fun and me and Spencer are currently in forth place with 1.11.64minutes. He jumped well but every once in a while he gets this really weird 'stabby' canter. He's some what better about picking up the canter, but not always. He was good yesterday, but bad on Sunday, so it just depends I guess. We'll see how he does tomorrow....and I'll share some of the more 'interesting' stories from work..oh the classy clientele of the liquor store...