Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Aurora Horseman's Association Show-June 25th

Last Saturday, Ollie and I made our little show debut at a local show called Aurora Horseman's Association.
I have been working with Ollie for months prepping for this show. He still is very far from where I want him, but in the end I'm hoping for him to be a Ranch Riding horse, not a Western Pleasure mount. Nontheless, he did great for his first show, picking up 4 3rd place, 1 4th, 2 5ths, and 3 6ths. We entered 10 classes, and placed in each of them, which I was excited about! I used two bits, but sadly my family didn't get any pictures of his Horsemanship and Equitation in the curb. Overall, we competed in Halter, Showmanship, Western Pleasure, Western Equitation, Horsemanship, Western Trail, Keyhole, Barrels, and Wild Card. 
In Halter, he did extremely well. I had my horse trainers, mentors, and friends here at this show. I actually showed with a very good friend of mine who placed 3rd overall High-point at the AQHA Silver Dollar Circuit in Vegas this year, and was Circuit Champ in Trail at that show as well. I love all the support and critique I get from multiple horse savvy people. :)  After each run we would pick apart what I needed to fix, and what Ollie needed to improve on. Training takes a long, long time, but it's so worth it! 
I was a little slow on my Quarters.

After Showmanship and Halter (which he placed 3rd in each class....if I was standing on the right side of the horse for Showmanship I would've placed higher...whoops) we had a break while English went, and then Ollie and I got ready for Western Pleasure.


He still really needs to bring his nose in, raise his back, and shorten his stride. It is hard for him to hold a collected lope for long periods of time, so I didn't even ask for a collected lope during the whole show. 
 We then went into the practice ring.......


....and then was judged in Western Pleasure, Equitation, and Horsemanship. 



Extended trot lol....






Then I took a quick break, and saddled up for Gymkhanna. I was just going to let Ollie run like he used to, because we have been working on a "slow button" for so long.

I don't know what I'm doing here....

Yes, I am riding in a CLINTON ANDERSON SADDLE (!!) because I bought it a few months ago and forgot to blog about it. I have a picture of Clinton Anderson and I on my Instagram. 

We practiced the Keyhole a few times to warm up...



...and then we ran. Of course, we actually had a run every 30 minutes or so because of all of the people attending, so during that time I met some new friends...
Left To Right: Lillian, Kyle, Me, Alex (I already know her well lol) and her mom, Mrs. Tanya. 


Keyhole






Then we did Barrels....(I'm laughing because he was SO SLOW). 






And lastly, we did Wild Card. I don't have any good pictures of it, though. 



Afterwards, I just did a little bit of work with him to bring him back down from all of the speed events (which we mostly placed 5-6th in because I have slowed him down...and because he was tired). 

Me...doing something. Idrk what exactly...




Overall, I had an amazing time, and I cannot wait until the next show. August 13th AHA Show, here I come, with both a better horse and better rider!!

~CBL

P.S. I may or may not be about to sell 50+ models.......









Monday, June 20, 2016

5 Days

5 Days until Ollie's first horse show. Keep us in your prayers! :D




Monday, April 25, 2016

Photo Shoot With Alex

Read more about Ollie here


Last Saturday, my friend Alex and I decided to do a photo shoot. Alex has beautiful horses, and one day I hope to grow Ollie's hair out as long as Ike's (yeah, a girl can dream. lol).

First we took some portrait shots..

Ollie, prick your ears!!!

..and then we went for a trail ride. We both had our Canon camera's, so we each got photos of each other. 




I had Ollie go through some water...





..and stand in the middle of these..tall plants. The name of these things is currently escaping me. 



Lastly, we loped/galloped on a flat part of the Open space...
I BELIEVE I CAN FLYYYYY



"Go Ollie, go!!"

*cue awkward lead change*



..and then I galloped Ollie up a hill. 



I have even more pictures, but those are going to have to wait for the next post. Thank you so much for taking pictures with me, Alex!

~CBL

Monday, March 28, 2016

Atz Update

Hello everyone!
I thought I would update you on Atz, since I know y'all are dying to see him. ;)

Atz is no longer a little puppy....he is a big puppy, almost triple his size from when we got him on January 18th.

Today


Day after we got him
He still barks at the cats, but the cats fully protect themselves. 


He has got bunches of energy, and he is going to be a fantastic guard dog when he grows up...his bark is already very deep and he doesn't like to leave the house unless the whole family is with him.


His eye's have a bunch of expression-he is kind of like a puppy version of a Appaloosa.

He also really enjoys the horses!


I love our little Atz. Sure, he steals socks, and runs around with cardboard boxes and can be a pain in the rear, but I love him, and he is going to be a great dog one day. :)




 ~CBL