The one thing I hate about living in Colorado is waking up on a day like today, looking out the window to the endless blue sky, seeing the sun shining so brightly and inviting and thinking, WOW! What a glorious day. Then you go outside and discover it’s really only 15 degrees. I froze my patootie off riding today. It doesn’t help that for three days  in a row now the farrier has been saying he’ll do my horse so just leave him in his stall instead of turning him out. (grumble) Between the arctic cold and the cabin fever, Big-A regressed to being a barely broke 4 year old and threatened to kill me more than once. At least I can clearly see that I have learned something in the last 12 months. In the past I would have been scared and asked my trainer to get on and deal with it. Today he just got a smack on his big, brown ass and a reminder that I’m in charge, not him. So I’ll take that progress and call it a good day anyway.

They posted the final  year end awards standings today and apparently I finished in 6th place in the Pre-Adult Hunters!  I thought I was in seventh and out of the awards.  Now we get two awards next weekend.  YAY ME!

He did it!  He finally did it!  I was just out hacking him around today, giving him a good work out.  I started to change directions at the canter, across the long diagonal, and before I asked, before I did anything, he busted out a right to left lead change ALL BY HIMSELF!!!   WHOOOOOOO-HOOOOOOOOO!!  You’d have thought he’d just won an Olympic Grand Prix medal with all the praise he got.   Way to go Big-A!  At least now I know he really does know about them and know he’s supposed to do them.

We aren’t going to Arizona for the winter circuit this year.  My mom has to have surgery related to her leukemia and it will be sometime in February, likely right over the three weeks I wanted to send him.  I need to be here to help her with recovery.   Eh, I really didn’t want to spent $2500 on shipping fees anyway.  I’m glad it’s settled but I’m a little bummed.  Being a grown up really sucks sometimes.

It’s been freaking cold as the north pole here the last two days so no training to report on.

Just when I think Big-A is starting to get it, he goes and has a day like today.  He was like sitting on a giant, soggy spaghetti noodle.  Couldn’t figure out what straight means if you handed him a dictionary.  Three steps forward, one step back…. on the wrong lead.

It’s supposed to be a whopping 13 degrees today so no riding time for Big-A.  We may have a heated barn with an attached indoor ring, but it’s not THAT heated, thank you very much. 

He’s had a really light week thanks to the snow and my work schedule but I’ve noticed that he’s definatley carrying himself better, with more deliberate step, since the clinic last weekend.  He’s even starting to attempt to automatically change his right to left lead on his own.  On one of my videos someone took at the clinic last week some arm chair grand prix riders in the background were totally critical of us when he missed his bad lead change.  GEEZ people, he’s only a five year old!  But I’ve let it get under my skin for some reason and am obsessed about his changes now, again. UGH!  How much longer before he just does them on his own and I never have to worry about it anymore??   I just hate feeling like people are looking at him and judging him as not being a good horse, when he is… or me not knowing what I’m doing, when I’m following trainer’s instructions.    At least he knows hes supposed to do it and he’s trying. 

Anyway, that is all.  All is quiet on the western front today.

I rode in a clinic with Frank Madden over the weekend.  It was awesome.  Amazing.  Worth every last penny.  Poor Big-A.  He’s used to a good 45 minute work out at home so he was a little in shock over the non-stop 2 hour sessions two days in a row.  He even sweated.   But by the end of day two, he was actually carrying himself around the ring with his head up and his butt following behind his front end.  I’m so sore in my chest and arms I can barely move.  My legs are sore but not nearly as miserable as my upper body.   Frank was a kind as everyone said he would be, but he didn’t blow smoke up any one’s rear end either.   He mostly had good things to say about Big-A, which made me happy.  And I was happy with myself because I was nervous about the fact that we were riding in the 2′9-3′0 session and we’ve not been working at that level more than a week.  But we were fine and kept up with everyone with no problem.  Big-A definitely jumps and uses himself better over the bigger fences. Frank says I should just go ahead and move up to the AA Hunters and 3′0 equitation since Big-A is already making the change with my trainer.  Who am I to argue with that?  I just need to get over my self defeating attitude and remember that yes, I can do it.  I’ll just need to battle my nerves at the shows to make it not be a waste of time and money.   But there’s three months left to work at home before the first show of the year so I have time to make that decision later.

OK, change of names…   I’ve never been fond of Fifty Two Eighty as a show name.  It’s just kind of odd and makes no sense once you leave the Denver area.  But since I couldn’t come up with anything better I let it stick for the first year.  I finally had an A-HA! moment though.    Several years ago I was traveling in Italy and needed to get from the SE coast to Pompei, on the west coast.  I was told to buy a train ticket to a small town, get off there and catch a bus to antother small town, then get back on the train to Pompei. I got off in the small town and waited and waited and waited and waited for a bus that apparently did not exist.  By the time I found someone who spoke English to explain this to me I had missed the last train of the day to Naples and had to spend the night in the train station.  That tiny little town was Benevento.  And now so is Big-A’s show name.  It’s strong, manly, one word, to the point and just suits him.  Plus there are no other horses registered under that name with USEF.    SOLD!!   Someone asked what it meant and I didn’t know. So in the interest of not naming my horse Ass Fool of the Country I did some reasearch.  Bene  means kind or good (I thought so any way) and Vente/vento means breeze or wind.  So my horse is named Kind Breeze… which seems good for a hunter.

Benevento it is!!

Something has finally gone off in Big-A’s brain.  He’s getting it.  I dont’ know if it’s the tiny indoor ring at the new barn that requires him to keep balanced or the  bigger fences that require him to just pay attention, but the guy has taken my pep talk to heart and is starting to bust out the lead changes on his own.    He comes down off the lines, gallops to the corners, automatically switches the front on the first half of the turn, shakes his head in frustration, the pops out the back end on the second half.  The we gallop down the rail whoopin’ and hollerin’ with tons of loves and pats.  Occasionally he gives a tiny celebratory buck to demonstrate how proud he is of himself.   He’s getting it.  And every time I ride him he’s just more and more fun.  Just point an shoot and smile.

Well I am either the most dedicated rider in the barn or the stupidest.  The jury is still out.   Frankly if I had realized how much harder it was snowing out there vs. at my house I probably would have just stayed home too.  But I figure, days like these are why I moved him to a barn with an attached, indoor ring in the first place.  Besides we’re prepping for the Frank Madden clinic next weekend so I need the lesson time. And it was awesome to have the ring all to ourselves.

Big-A and I did our first 3′0 lesson together today.   No sweat.   I knew it wouldn’t be a problem but it was nice to finally see the fences go up and feel one step closer to the rated divisions again.  I schooled him at that height right after I bought him last year but hadn’t since then, in the interest of keeping him on a strict training program.   But the time has come.   Plus, again, the clinic next weekend is 3′0 because that’s the only division they were able to get us into.   But he’s ready.  I’m ready. And, at least at home, we’re ready together. 

 Since we were there all by our lonesome, we set up all sorts of weird angles and practiced our equitation turns.  He loves that stuff.  I really do think he got bored with the line-diagonal-line-diagonal bit over and over and over again this last year.  Plus I totally dig the medal classes, LOVE them, so I’m thrilled to see how much he likes the challenges.  (Besides it makes him pay more attention.)  I love it when he comes out and just struts around like he’s not really the lazy goof I know he actually is.  And today he was all that:  up, forward, looking around and even trying to do his lead changes without being asked. I rode better than I have in a long time too.  I walked away today feeling, for the first time, like maybe we CAN move directly in the Adult Amateur Hunters and 3′0 equitation divisions starting with the Spring Preview in May.  But Big-A, you gotta hear me loud and clear on this one.  We’ve been laying off you on this lead change thing for a year now with about 90% success, but you gotta step up and help me out here buddy by  busting ‘em out on your own or we’re screwed.