I Have No Rhythm... Are You Surprised?

Yesterday (in the freezing cold) I experienced my first trail lesson with Cassie. It was so much fun, but I've definitely proved to myself that I have absolutely know rhythm. Hehehe. I'm decent at counting to the beat of the 'trail trot' while working the jog-overs, but I can't for the life of me bounce my hand (think drummer) with the beat of her trot. Rob just shook his head at e, but hopefully I'm not too hopeless!

We worked on lope-overs as well, and I'm learning to find my distance. It seems completely counterintuitive to me to stare at the ground, especially coming from a hunter/jumper background. Thankfully, I watched part of my new Tim Kimura Trail DVD the night before so I knew all about buckets, ladders, and using my rudder!

By the end of our lesson, I could already feel a difference in the amount of lope I was getting and our steering had improved which is always a plus! Cassie loves trail, and I think it'll be good for her to try something other than going around the arena in circles. Apparently, my homework for this week is to practice jogging over poles and find the beat.

It's definitely going to be an interesting experience!

2014, Year of the Horse

Much has changed in my little horse world, but I'm hoping to be better at chronicling the adventures of myself and my Appaloosa show mare, Cassie, as we go from Western Pleasure to All-Around. I bought Cassie at the ApHC World Championship show in 2012 and started showing her in 2013. It was a long journey regaining proper riding use of my legs after the car accident, and Cassie has been wonderful physical therapy. We finished up a dream show year as Reserve World Champions in Novice Showmanship!

You can read more about that journey in this wonderful article written by the Equine Chronicle:
From Wheelchair, to Walker, to Reserve World Champion

Sheza Fancy Impulse otherwise known as Cassie is a 2006 ApHC mare by Too Sleepy to Zip and out of Zips Impulsions. Her pedigree reads like a Who's Who of Famous Quarter Horses, and she's known as the diva around the barn. As of Jan. 2014, she's a 7 Time World & National Champion and a 6 Time World & National Reserve Champion. But she's primarily only done the pleasure, and is now getting her little diva mind blown over the fact she's going to have to work more at the shows!

My retired Thoroughbred hunter, Color, is still retired and enjoying the good life at her new retirement home with her band of geldings. She's so happy to be Queen Bee again. She's like 25 or 26 this year, and I can't believe I've had her so long!

I'm hoping to keep track as we start adding more events to Cassie's repertoire. At the end of last year, we added Western Horsemanship and Showmanship to my Pleasure classes. This year, the plan is for Rob to show her in Western Riding and Sr. Trail, and I hopefully will add Novice Trail (if I find some rhythm!).

It should definitely be an entertaining year!