A wonderful sunny day at Arroyo

The day started out quite foggy and cold.  I know, I know…the cold comment is relative…it was cold for California!  We bundled up and headed to the stable.

Everyone was packing up and heading out to the Burbank show.  It feels so weird to be left at home as the trailers leave the yard.  Our horses are feeling well…finally.  The boys are 100% and Fred is almost back to normal.  So it’s a quiet, work at home time for us for this show weekend.

We worked all three horses and then the afternoon was a visit with Dr. Paul McClellan.  He’ll update our passports and get our export papers started.  The process of organizing the trip home has started. 

Today again we’ll work on the homework Shannon left us with from Tuesday’s lessons.  The boys are tired so it’ll be a lighter day for them.  The plan is to give them all Saturday off and we’ll head to Burbank to cheer on Shannon and Odie and the rest of Team Peters.  The weather promises to be sunny and warm so we’ll be breaking out the sun screen!

Only in California...Zen Boxing...the heavy bags are hanging from trees in the yard.

Another wonderful day ahead,

V

Lessons with Shannon today.

Lance and William had lessons with Shannon today and they looked great!!! 

Yup...this guy can canter...

"Go for it buddy...you can do it!!!"

William scared himself today (not in the arena, in his stall).  He cast himself.  He’s never done that before and he really was rattled.  He rolled too close to the wall in his stall and was stuck and couldn’t get on his feet.  A lot of horses panic and thrash about…not William.  “Whoa William, shhhhhh, whoa, good boy William”.  We put his halter on grabbed a couple of lead shanks and looped them over a front leg and back leg and heave hoed him over so his legs could get under him.  And up he got…what a good boy!

Shannon working in hand with Lance.

Lance and Shannon, in hand work.

Lance, Lindsey and Shannon...piaffe.

Can’t wait till tomorrow’s work!!!

I’m taking copious notes.

V

Back in California!

I’m back in California for the next week so we’ll update with photos after today’s lessons.  Everyone is back to healthy and working hard…yeah, yeah, yeah!!!

Lessons with Shannon today.  She and Steffen head to the LA CDI tomorrow.  We’re going to miss this show as well 😦  … Del Mar CDI (end of April) in our sights.

Off to Arroyo, camera packed…

V

Rain and More Rain…..

We’ve had a full week of rain in San Diego, which makes for an interesting week of working all the horses at Arroyo in a 20 x 40 covered arena. First off I have to say how grateful we all are at Arroyo to have a place to ride in the rain, as many places in California aren’t set up for this kind of weather. As well, it is a great opportunity to prepare for the warm up ring at shows. At Flying Colours we get spoiled because we often ride by ourselves in the arena. The result is we forget how to successfully navigate a busy warm up ring. The horses and I definitely got lots of practice this week!!

There was a big cheer today as we watched Kate and her staff start to take the tarp off the main arena and begin to prepare the footing for us to be able to ride in on Monday. Both horses and riders are starting to feel a little cramped and will appreciate a little more room to work next week.

With limited space to school this week, lessons with Shannon focused on the basics. We also took the opportunity to work on my seat. It is amazing how small changes in how you use your seat and core can make a world of difference in how the horses go. This is especially important on Lance who is such a big elastic mover but also very sensitive. If I am not in total control of my core and seat, the gaits are not always as rideable as they need to be for Grand Prix. I find honing in on how effective I can be as a rider so intriguing and both Shannon and Vickie are very gifted coaches in helping me find my way. I’m one lucky girl!!

They’re feeling better!

The swelling in both Lance and Fred is going down.  Thanks Dr. Paul, the meds are doing the job!  They are both feeling better and had a short lesson with Shannon yesterday.  William is still doing great and has stayed healthy for days.  We’re thinking positive thoughts and hoping we’re over the worst of it and they are all on the mend. 

I’m home in Alberta for the next week or so and loving the warm spring weather.  A nice slow melt of all this snow will be a good thing this spring…here’s hoping!  Thursdays for me is at my desk in the morning and then Grandma and Mack time in the afternoon.

Thinking of my “feeling better” horses in California, looking forward to playing with Mack today…gonna be a great day!

V

Show Ring Shine

Shannon has some seriously shiny boots!!! 

For years everyone has been asking her how she gets her boots show ring ready and now she is sharing her secrets with us in a great boot polishing kit.

Check out Shannon’s website www.showringshine.net.  I’ve used her Show Ring Shine polishing kit and my boots are looking better than ever!!

Sad and sadder…

Fred is sad and Lance is sadder but not William 🙂 

Fred and Lance still have swollen legs and are not happy but William is totally with it, digging deep and working hard.  Dr. Paul was out yesterday and had a look at all three of them again.  He’s not sure we’re dealing with a virus.  He thinks Lance has banged his leg and Fred is battling scratches on both hinds.  William has no symtoms right now.  He pulled some blood and we should have the test results back today.  He’s left meds for both Lance and Fred and we’re hoping they are on the mend and we will be over all this nonsense very soon!

The good news is William has really turned it on!!!  He’s figured out the work level he needs for this level of work and is showing Linds and Shannon what a good boy he can be if he puts his mind to it!!!  Yeah William, taking one for the team this week!!!

Going to be a busy day at FCS today.  The sun is shining and everything is melting…gonna be a wonderful day!

V

Shannon and Odie, 1st Place GPS Del Mar CDI

Congratulations to Shannon on her win in the Grand Prix Special at the Del Mar Show Park CDI yesterday on Odyssey.  Odie, through no fault of his own, is just now learning how to be a super star Grand Prix horse this year.  Shannon’s wonderful feel and expert skills are leading Odyssey down centre line and this weekend they had 2 successful GP tests.  Odie has amazing piaffe and passage work and Shannon’s magic touch maximizes each stride.  Lovely to watch and learn from each day!  Next show for this pair is the Burbank CDI end of March.

Shannon and Odie...warmed up and ready to go!!

Lindsey and I spent the weekend practising our positive thinking skills and found all sorts of benefits for not showing our horses. Well…we weren’t very tired at the end of each day, we definitely had cleaner clothes and hands, we got to watch a couple of classes at the show and we got to visit with Barb and Curtis and Bud and Gayle and Les and Ally and nicest of all, visiting with Braydon two days in a row…see…lotsa good things happened this weekend!

Lance and Fred still have swollen hind legs and Fred is now swollen in the throat latch as well.  William’s leg swelling has all but disappeared and he’s feeling much better.  Dr. Paul is coming today and will have another look at the three of them.

The weather is beautiful here and at home.  What a difference a week can make!

Our home away from home in Oceanside.

Looking forward to being home for a couple weeks…already missing my horses here…

V

Steffen aces the GP at the Masters in Florida.

A big Canadian wave to Steffen and Ravel.  They totally aced the Grand Prix at the Masters in Florida yesterday.  Yeah Steffen!!!  Yeah Ravel!!!  (Ravel…hope Dawn gives you lotsa  extra carrots today!!)  Ravel has been looking amazing in his work here at home and Steffen took it to Florida and showed ’em how to do it!!!  And he did it all without Shannon ringside…think of what it’ll be like with Shannon with him at the next show!!! (Shannon is home at the Del Mar CDI riding Odie in the GP Sat and Sunday.)  We’ll all be rooting for S and R today as they head into the ring for the Freestyle.

We put a light ride on all three yesterday.  Lance’s legs are almost normal, Fred’s legs are very swollen and William has a bit of swelling on his hind legs.  Looks like the week ahead we will still be dealing with Fred and William feeling yucky.  On the up side they got to hang out in the turn out paddocks for an hour in the sun.  Lance loved the extra rolling time in the sand and Fred and William just hung out and enjoyed the sunshine.

The coach is parked about 1/2 block from the Oceanside beach.  A lovely location.  Tsunami warning this morning till 8:41.  No one seems to be up and worried about anything.  Good sign.  Get dressed and put shoes on.  Good planning.  Canadians on the beach.

Camera ready…gonna be a great day!

V

:( :( :( :( :(

Five sad faces yesterday…

I left last Monday with Lance with fat legs behind and quite lethargic.  Not lame, (yeah!) but not his normal jolly self.  We arranged a vet visit; blood work done, temperature taken and a thorough check over.  The vet’s thoughts…probably not a virus, maybe he just banged his leg and it reacted with swelling.  Back to work last week and carry on and watch him.  Sooo today Fred came out of her stall…fat legs and quite lethargic.  Uggggghhhh.  William was flat out in his stall all morning.  I guess we have a virus in all three horses.  New bugs in California and our Albertan horses now exposed and reacting. 

So there goes our show plans for the weekend.  A vet certificate arranged and sent to the show office, shavings order cancelled and we’re very glad we didn’t totally pack everything in the trailer Tuesday.  The bright side of the whole thing is that the virus is not life threatening and they are all coping well.  They will all be back to their normal bouncy selves in a week or 10 days.

Put on a smile and adapt.  A tweak in the overall California plan…on to next week!

Fred...fat legs and all.