Saying Good-Bye

Spencer left for his 'new' home (he's going back to the people who W bought him from) today.

I got to say good bye to him, which was nice because I haven't really had that same opportunity with other horses. I went to see him before opening the store, a nice cheerful start to the day (don't you wish there was a sarcastic font?). Well I didn't have to pull over on the way back to town this time, so that's something.

Talked to K before I left and she said she's got horses for me, she hasn't "sold them all away" so hopefully the week after next I'll be able to start riding somewhat regularly but between opening the store and studying I don't know how frequently I'll be able to ride, but it's better than waiting until December! This self imposed exile from the barn has not been going well at all, so it will be good to go back.

I'm guessing the horses she means are Rocky (yay), Gody (meh) and Kokanee. The good thing about Kokanee is he stays inside during the winter so no waiting around for his coat to dry completely! That's at least something, and maybe I can kick his ass into gear. However, I have no desire to show him because when he trots he looks lame until his back left hip muscles loosen up. Not a good look.

More release! And toes in!

I have a few pictures of Spencer, I'll have more when I figure out how to get them off my phone.

Last Rides with Spencer

So last week and the week before were my last to rides with Spencer sadly.

He will be going back to Amberlea soon.

Last weeks ride was really good, we warmed up outside which was nice since it will be one of the last times of the year we can! He was really well behaved and our jumping course actually went better than I thought it would, so at the very least it was a good end to our time together. Especially since the week before hadn't been so good!

I've been trying to find out if he's gone or not but I haven't had much luck with people replying so I have no idea and I'm quite happy not be going to watch Harvest this year because by that time he'll already be there and that would be quite sad to see I think.
I haven't heard anything from W since she said "this is best for everyone", which is fine because I don't have much to say to her.

I'm hoping to ride Rocky once there's time between school and work  (god I hate my job at the store since school started. I have terrible coworkers and stupid customers. I'm sure most of you know what that can be like :P). It just sucks that couldn't have continued working through last winter and then this might not even be such a problem.

No More Spencer :(

Actually that is not completely true. There will be no more Spencer in a couple of weeks, his owner has sold him. Back to the lady she bought him from funnily enough. Actually its not very funny at all. Everyone else seems to think it is though.

His owner texted me yesterday afternoon to say that he will be leaving in a few weeks and that "this is best for everyone". Ummm, no, no it isn't. It is best for you. Then she goes on to say "don't give up on him yet." You gave up on him, not me woman....oh the things I would like to say to her. Sadly, I can't, so instead I say them to you. Lucky you.
But last Saturday may have been our last ride together unless his owner goes back to the lake this weekend, but it's pretty chilly so she might not. In which case, she will ride, and I will not. Well, I wont ride him anyway. And because E is still riding Gody until the end of the month at least, I will probably be riding Kokanee. Not fun. He jumps cute, and in the winter he lives inside which is great, but he can be such a pain. I have photos of me and Spencer, sadly the really good jumps we had did not result in equally excellent photos :( but I shall try and find time soon to post them.

University is back in and it is okay-ish. The one psych prof is hilariously fantastic. Swedish, she seems nice, but it involves oral presentations (i cant even do those in English, so you see the dilemma) as well as possibly attending their Xmas party and having to sing whilst wearing a crown of candles. And I can tell you right now, that will not be happening. However, it seems like such an excellent language that I still want to take it! But i did well enough in french that maybe i can go back into that if I decide this is all to terrible to cope with. B.c there is already far to much stress involved with uni to have also deal with presentations... We shall see.

I'm not sure about continuing to work at the barn during uni though, because doing that plus working Friday, Saturday and Sunday, at the liquor store might be to much and I get way more hours at the store, and I won't get to go abroad unless I make more money :( I do have some wonderful stories about the customers. Wonderful is a strong word.
I've also found projects and old notes from my equine science class last year, so maybe I'll post those and it will be something to have between posts about actually riding.

Leasing v. Lessons

After much debate, I've dropped my lease and will only be riding once a week during the university term. Last year it worked to ride several times a week but it just isn't going to this year. I might not even be able to keep my job at the stable, but we shall see. There is another girl looking to work off a few extra lessons, and the easiest way is to give her my job. That way I can open the store on Saturdays rather than close and have more time for school (or fun stuff...not that clean the barn isn't fun..). Then I'll just have to find a new day to ride during the week and make sure I have away to and from the barn back to the university.

Spencer has been really good these last few lessons, although his owner has started riding him again, so that is a bit of a problem for our progress. Although earlier this week she finally sucked it up and cantered him properly, no freak outs or ripping on his mouth! Sadly it is to little to late. Some people came out to try him last week (or possibly the week before, I don't remember) and they are coming back this Thursday. Although we aren't sure how keen they are because they were planning on looking at another horse out by Calgary.

Spencer and I have been working on good up and down transitions, not so much on canter transitions, but definitely on walking/trotting and halting. He's getting very good at listening right away and keeping energy and form during the transitions and halting squarely. Hopefully this will help him sell quickly. We've started to carry a dressage whip rather than a jumping bat, and he's really great with it. He's much more respectful of it and I don't know if its because he can see it better or what, but its much less work getting him to do what you ask. Unless it's lead changes, but he's so much better than he was at the start where he would immediately drop down to a jarring simple change; now he will keep cantering on the wrong lead and every once in a while we get a lead change or  at least a half one. Very much improved.

Our jumping has been quite good as well. The dressage whip is rather a pain to jump with, but it keeps me from turning my elbows weird by trying to keep it against my leg. We've only jumped 2'6"ish (some of the standards just have cups that slide up and down and only 2'9" is marked, so that's just a guess). He does well though. There have been jumps he hasn't seen before or in a while, such as the grey planks which have red swirls on one side, there's three planks on this for it stacked one on top of the other, as well as some bright blue standards and blue and white boxes. We've been having jumps with more filler lately, which makes things a bit more exciting; you never know which ones Spencer will decide he doesn't like!