Neil's celebrity look-alike:

Unquestionably Rolling Stone II.

Photo cred: Emily Daily/ Josh Walker, USEA

...after like ten years of practicing using his hind end better. I can see it.

old friends and the end of march

March has been a great month, really, it has. But it's always a little crazy as well. I'm a full fledged geek, and since I don't believe in half-assing anything, I end up trying to master everything I commit to (note to self: not good for mental health).

Last weekend was the state instrumental jazz festival at MDI. The title 'festival' does not begin to cover it. Jazz band is a source of lots of....well, let's say we have a love-hate relationship. As in, I love jazz band and hate rehearsing when it is sunny and I could be at the barn. We had a couple of great performances, though, made night finals, came home with a trophy. And guess who came away with one of the five coveted outstanding musicianship awards? You got it. So, thankfully, jazz is over, forever, for me. Miles on the road: 360, if you count the side trip to Denny's, where we had some adventures and a waiter who really wasn't excited to see 24 hungry teenagers at 11 PM.

Baby black pony has been a little bit neglected this week due to show choir taking over my life. It seems like 'one more week of this' is becoming a mantra of mine, but there is always one more week of something. He was fantastic Monday and Tuesday, got Wednesday off, and was a wild little puke Thursday though he is getting the hang of sidereins. Friday I made the mistake of pulling his mane on the crossties, assuming that since we had done this before without incident it would be fine. He scared himself and broke out of his third halter in about as many months, although I actually think it had less to do with me yanking hair out of his neck and more to do with the wildly exciting nothing that was happening. Good thing for him he's pretty cute. And now looks much more like an future event horse and less like a mustang.

Last night an old friend of mine came up for a visit- and by old friend I mean we took our first hunt seat lessons together at the age of nine and I was always terribly jealous that she got a pony before I did. So lots of shenanigans to be had this weekend, and lots to celebrate, too- honor parts were made official this week at HHS and I'm the valedictorian, whoop whoop. One of my best friends is the salutatorian and between the two of us we'll have all we can do to keep our speeches school appropriate! The weather has been deceitfully sunny (and freezing) but I will of course be procrastinating scholarship applications for a few more hours as I'm headed back to the barn.

doable.

Allison Springer: ". . . I definitely need to work on is that key stage of recognizing 'the point where an athlete may have to admit their limits, … but still find a way to get the best possible result.'"

Allison may officially be my new favorite eventer: helmet at Rolex, victory at Red Hills, and let's not forget, Dean's List Bowdoin grad. It's reassuring to me that I'm not alone in my quest to attain that caliber of an education and also ride (eventually) the upper levels. It's doable. I tend to let things consume my life and the idea of packing all my plans for the next four years into, well, four years, scares the living $#*t out of me most days.

I've had pretty decent rides on baby black horse these last couple of nights, which got me thinking about how far he's come along and how lucky I was to find him when I did- my horses always seem to just fall into my lap when I'm about to quit looking for them. He's the polar opposite of the red mares ( the whatnowwhatnowwhatnow brains) and a totally different brain and physique from Orient (how soon would you like to be airborne) and Beacon (do I have to move that fast) as well. CMP quote of the week: "Yes, all horses are the same but different, aren't they?" ringing home. Having a baby horse is forcing me to take everything much more slowly (I am turning into a squirrel, though, need-another-horse-to-ride-today syndrome). So if anyone wants to board a horse up here for me to work, jazz band ends tomorrow- sixth and final state festival of my career, show choir ends April 2, and there's really not a whole ton going on after that. The spring season has gone really fast. And it's not even spring yet.

Mary Drew's Wednesday update

MD stacking buckets like a pro

Anyone who spends enough time around me has probably picked up on the fact that sometimes, I can get a little too focused on the big picture and forget to enjoy the process, but yesterday was definitely an enjoy-the-process sort of day. It felt like spring!

We started the afternoon off with a major victory- clippers. Tip of the day: schedule clip time for central baby pony naptime. Black pony, who has previously broken out of two halters in attempts to escape the evil buzzing blades of doom, stood sleeping in the yard (no drugs, honest) while he got a bridle path (it had been a while), lost his winter beard (mostly) and started to look a little bit more like an event horse (and a little bit less like a wildebeast). Hopefully this means we'll be okay with clippers again in the future.

Neil sans whiskers

We then took our first hack of the season, hitting up the McSheffrey Rd. and hunting for hills. It was lovely out, lots of puddles to splash through, etc. - good thing he likes water- and it was a pretty nice quiet experience until Neil decided a school bus going by him was as good an excuse as any to be naughty. We had a nice little buck/canter down the road for about a quarter of a mile, after which we did walk-halt transitions all the way back to the barn. I will not be hacking him out on the buckle for some time now as you may imagine.

Funny though, I had been kind of sore and I think he may have snapped something back into place in the process of behaving like a complete ass, so he may have saved me a trip to the chiropractor at any rate.

wearing his helmet like a good PCer

MRPC bandaging links

Stable Bandage Links:

http://www.equisearch.com/horses_riding_training/english/eventing/video_oconnor_leg_wrap_070210

Best video ever. Max is the head groom for the O’Connor Event Team, and if you wrap like she shows you in this video, your horse will thank you and so will your examiners at your next rating. This is textbook.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7WFnASxTrM

She says “you can pull pretty snug,” but be aware that a too-tight bandage can be very dangerous and even result in a ‘bandage bow’ or a bowed tendon from uneven bandage pressure. Bandages should finish on the outside as she demonstrates, and pins are allowed for pony club, but they’re wicked difficult to handle if you’re not really used to bandaging. Pony club will have you put pins vertically, as show, parallel and horizontal, or in an X, and secure the bandage with a spiral of tape. Think about the disadvantages of pins, also- how many horses do you know who would rip that bandage off or injure themselves on the pins (Neil would try to eat them, for example). It’s a very old school method, Velcro is way easier to work with.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4nZPqvhuDA&feature=related

This method demonstrates a ‘cupping’ approach, more support under the fetlock. The statement at the end ‘try and change them every 24 hours’ is NOT correct, stable bandages should not be left on more than 12 hours. If they go on at 6 PM, you had better be there at 6 AM to take them off. Especially when you’re new at putting on bandages, the risk of injury from the bandages is increased if you leave them on too long. Plus, most of the event horses I have wrapped would tear their bandages off with their teeth if you left them on much longer. Also note the horse in this vid desperately needs his feet done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9JjSl_NYjg&NR=1

Gives good reasons for using bandages- one she doesn’t mention is we often use stable wraps to support another bandage, like a knee, hock, or spider bandage. The materials she uses are popular in the UK, NOT appropriate for Pony Club, and are an example of materials waaay too long for the horse. Imagine if you put these on your horse and left him overnight- when he laid down, he would be pinched both in his fetlock and behind the accessory carpal bones (behind the knee) and cut off circulation, likely resulting in tendon damage. Max talks about this in the first video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBgFaGuBlJQ&feature=related

A properly wrapped track wrap or flannel will make your job a lot easier. Just don’t set it down on a hill where it can unroll when you set it down!

For more stable bandaging fun:

USPC C Manual &

USPC Bandaging Manual, pages 5-25, 30-31

WC victory post

Finally got in a ride on Neil today. After fifteen minutes of airs above the ground on the longe, he was an angel. And I learned not to give him five days off in a row.

Today was actually probably the most relaxing day this week (Tuesday: discussing farriers and X-rays while on a bus to Orono, Wednesday: jazz, battle of the bands rehearsal, show choir, Thursday: show choir, sound check, battle of the bands concert) with total sleep hours clocking in at like...negative. Cheers to my fellow members of the class of '11 and of the Tanner Caron Six, as I refer to our victorious senior band. I literally shredded a bow and had to switch halfway through... very cool.

Aly saw Dr. Reynolds today for a chiro workup at Caitlin's suggestion and she found more than she ever has before: sore withers, C7 out and lots of muscular stuff, so hopefully after that big adjustment and some more time under the Back on Track sheet she will be feeling great. Troy reset her front shoes and found a lot of sole soreness and some heel pain, but she was much better after (from what I hear). I really hope we can get her pain-free so she can have some fun with Ellie! I was sitting in the auditorium today and they played a sound clip for a Quiz question (It's Winter Carnival at HHS, when they give us a day of absolute silliness to keep us from killing ourselves, and each other, in the middle of winter). Anyhow it was the song I always used to roll down the window to sing to her when we were trekkin on the highway- brought back lots of memories, esp. of the Bobby Costello clinic we kicked off our season with last year. I may or may not have teared up.

But pumped and planning a terrific schedule of clinics for N-dawg this summer! Ian Roberts at Rohirrim Farm, yeah, be jealous.

Stay warm!

lesson vids

are here, here, and here (click)

Enjoy!

Aly and Neil like it at Springpoint!

rollercoaster day:

Sometimes I think school days are easier than weekends: I get six hours of the day when relatively little is demanded of me except that I pretend to pay attention and don't attempt to overthrow the government, etc. I have yet to cover less than two hundred miles on the highway for a single weekend in 2011, and this weekend was no different (total highway miles: 808, miles in my truck: 459).

It has been an eventful weekend. Props to the Blackhawks for making my Saturday night with a lovely comeback. Can't wait to spend 227 more miles on the highway to play in the band at your game Tuesday. Sunday was an early AM departure (from a very, very icy driveway at Horseplay Farm) for Springpoint Farm in Durham. Aly is spending some time there for Ellie, a student of Caitlin's, to have fun with. If all goes well the Air Mare will stay there while I go to college and turn Neil into a 4 star event horse.... or an any star event horse. We'll take what we can get. Needless to say there were lots of tears and carrots involved, but it was quite obvious that she liked Ellie a lot and I know Caitlin, Gena and everybody at Springpoint will take really good care of her! She has the best stall in the barn, no neighbors and the first one in the door so she always knows what's up. From Gena: 'Aly was surprised and delighted when the door to the barn opened. Woke her up poor deah...but the hay and water was gladly accepted. What a sweetie.' And now I have an excuse to go down there for lessons all the time.

Speaking of lessons, I had an especially great one with today while we were down there. Baby black horse was a bit wild but he settled down when we brought his sister back to see him (somehow my two horses who hate each other became best friends in the trailer on the way down and were completely and obnoxiously inseparable). As usual what started out as a jump lesson turned into a flat lesson. I need to work on my contact as usual but it was different issues this time and that's always refreshing. By the end of the lesson we were really getting the hang of things (forward...FORWARD....) and I have a nice baseline to go from until I can get back down there. Some people are better at teaching me than others- the words click or the style or something, anyhow, after a Caitlin lesson I always feel like I should never ride with anybody else again ever. So I had lots to focus on for the drive home besides the fact that I was leaving my baby pony behind...

Lesson video shortly!

It's nights like these...

when what I really need to do more than crunches and no-stirrup work and homework, is not forget what it feels like to be galloping a nice horse in a nice field around a nice cross-country course.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_profilepage&v=oM7j5ojoq7c

http://www.youtube.com/user/event4life#p/a/u/1/3ggrpoZgKm8

Good night all!