A Dictionary for Rob

Appendix QH- A horse in which one parent is a purebred QH, which is bred for speed and agility, and a Thoroughbred, which is bred for speed and athleticism. Appendix QH's are quick, smart and athletic.

Hunter over Fences- A horse used strictly for showing over jumps. The horse is judged for its grace, style, pace, and general appearance and behavior.

English Pleasure- A class in a Horse Show where you are judged on your horses performance, not your own.

Dressage- French for "training" and is basically just that. In competitions, you and your horse must perform a set pattern solo.

Gymnastic- A line of fences that are close together. For example, you would take a jump, and then no strides, and take another one immediately, and then 1 stride to a bigger jump, and then 3 strides to the biggest jump.

Vertical Flexion- The angle that the horse's face creates with the ground. The ideal flexion is 90 degrees.

Over the Bit- When the horses nose is too far out, thus making the vertical flexion angle wrong.

Clinic- A day of intense training, normally with a visiting coach.

Equitation- A class at a show judged only on the riders form.

Hunter- A judged jumping event based on the riders position and the horses form, style, and manners.

Jumper- A jumping event where the horse is timed, not judged. The faster, the better.

Those are the basics, but I might add some more!

Fricken Stupid !!

If you couldn't tell by the post, today has sucked. Really, really sucked. Man....

It started off pretty good. Got up early, went out and caught my horses, brought my mare into the barn, hung out with her for a while, cleaned my tackroom, hung out with the horses in the pasture, and then I rode my mare. She did awesome. Trotted for the second time (her second, not mine) and she was able to balance and maintain a trot for half a lap around the arena. It was her first time in the arena- it was great!

But.... Then I went to go and ride the horses (or should I make that horse)I will be showing (or should I make that probably not showing) at the end of the month. Ok, so I went to a clinic on this Appendix QH, Jet, on saturday. It was a hunter clinic and the coach said he had excellent potential as a hunter over fences, although i have just been doing english pleasure and hack classes with him. He said I could carefully work him up to jumping 2'6 over the winter, and if was careful and didn't wreck him, he would be good. So, I rode him again today. He was good. I was planning on doing dressage only with him, as he is a little lazy off the leg, and needs some help with impulsion. So about 1/2 way through the session, my coach comes out and informs me that I will be the guinea-pig for her new gymnastic. Its her horse, so I couldn't really refuse to do what she wanted me to on him, but she went ahead and set up a row of 5, thats right, FIVE fences. (this is his 2nd time jumping. So, she tells us to do figure 8's in and around them. It was hard, as the fences were all only 1 stride apart. He's not that big, but thats not alot of space. Anyway, she then told me to go over the first fence, turn left and go around the 2nd, circle around the 2nd, jump it on a 45 degree angle, go around the third, circle the third, and jump it on a 45 degree angle, go around the 4th, circle it, and jump it on a 45 degree angle, and so on until I got to the end, where I was to do a 5-10m circle and do the same thing on the other rein.

IS THAT NOT PERFECTLY INSANE?????? Man, Im 15 and I know better then that. Poor Jet was falling apart, and I mean falling apart. He was hitting rails, losing impulsion, and jumping with terrible form. And, he learned about going around jumps he is faced with and going out to the sides of gymnastics. Uggg, I'll be lucky if I ever get him going again... That's so stupid, and he was trying so hard. All my coach kept yelling was, "YOU NEED MORE VERTICAL FLEXION!!!" uggg, he was trying his hardest to get through the exercise, who cares he was a bit over the bit?? SO, I got done with him, got him cleaned up and fed and put away. After that I was planning on riding MY jumper, Kosmo. Well, I guess he's not MY jumper exactly, but he sure isn't anybody else's. I was the one who trained him to jump, and I have been showing off him this year. He was doing pretty good. So at the clinic, I wasn't allowed to ride him, there was another girl from England who was riding him. She's pretty good, but was letting him go way to fast. He was cantering through trot poles up to a grid (not the crazy grid, a little in-and-out) and she sat forward and gave him rein and said "come on boy, come on!" She should have sat back and made him come back and not charge the fence. The girl is leaving on the 10th, so she won't be here for the show. I asked my coach about me riding in the jumper classes at the show, and she said- "well I dont know who you can ride." I was confused at this, as she has just recently bought a new jumper, there is Kosmo, as well as her daughter's jumper Tango. (Her daughter lives 5 hours away) So I suggested me riding Mook (the new jumper) I figured it would work, as when she first got this horse she said I could buy him when she was done her coaching test on him. Then I couldn't buy him. That made me mad as I had turned down an excellent offer on a nice TB as i was under the impression that I would be getting Mook. So, after she told me I couldn't buy him, she said I could still show him and take him to clinics, and ride him in the Saskatchewan Equestrian Games. I was happy enough with that.. when it was about time to start getting ready for the first show of the season, I asked about him, but she told me to ride Kosmo in that show, which was all good for me at the time. So I rode Kosmo and did well, for his and mine first time in the jumper ring. Placed in both classes. Soo, after that there was a jumping clinic at a barn a few hours away, which she informed me she would be riding Mook in. OK>>>>> UGGGG ! Whatever.

Now the show, she's gonna be riding Mook in the show too. So much for me being able to buy him. So much for me being able to ride him. I wish she wouldn't tempt me with nice horses and then let me down.
So I asked about Kosmo and she said "Kosmo won't be going to the show- he won't be ready" WHAT???? He was ready to show in May. It is now August. Of course he will be ready. She said he was too rammy at the jumps and he needed more training. OK.. he needs someone to sit back and hold him steady, but some more dressage wouldn't hurt. So I asked if I should ride him in the arena on the flat for the week, and she said, "no, it won;t do any good. He needs someone to come and ride him everyday. And I don't want you riding him at all, the girl from England can, she's stronger that you. WHHHHAAAAAAAATTTT???????? HOla, what is that about. Does she want me to muscle the horse around?? I can muscle the horse around, Im not weak. I have muscles. I can benchpress more then what I weigh.. I just havent been muscling him around, thats not the way to go. You teach him by having patience and gently asking him to come back, not ripping his face off. If she wants me to rip his face off, I can do that. Im perfectly strong enough, but sheesh, let me ride me own horse. Ugg, thats stupid.

So Tango, I asked if I could ride Tango. And she was like, no, I'd imagine my daughter will be riding him. (Even though she doesn't live there and she said she *might* come to the show to "help out".) So Im stuck riding the only horse she'll let me show on and look good. The one that is a chronic bucker and she is too scared to ride. Im allowed to take him in English pleasure, Training Level Dressage, Equitation, and *maybe* a 1 foot hunter class. Uggg.... im a 3' jumper. Thats so stupid.

Then she said that we would be working Kosmo towards going to an Event next year. She wants to me to ride him in an event and she won't let me do a few little jumper rounds?? UGGGGG!!! IM GETTING A HEADACHE!! Owwwwweee, Im going to bed.. uggg :mad: what a stupid day!