Renny Dashes and Jumps!

Renny Dashes and Jumps!

Look at that stock pony, walking with pride with his girl. From the very beginning, Renny has enjoyed putting his head long and low when he gets his reward!  From the very beginning!

Renny Playing and Jumping

Renny Playing and Jumping

Here he is, Mr. Handsome!

Beautiful Jumping Pony

Beautiful Jumping Pony

Here are my gorgeaus pony and his trainer as he happily trots forward with his girl.  He just thought she was the coolest girl ever!  I love his perky happy ears!

Violet's Developing Canter!

Violet's Developing Canter!

Here are photos and video of Violet working hard this summer to please me and Kelsey.  She's trying to jump rounder and canter more sweetly and in hand with her hindquarters under.  She wants to be a good top notch athlete!

My Blessing in Motion

My Blessing in Motion

Look at this beautiful pony, working hard, stepping under himself, feeling for his rider's hands.  I just love this pony!

My Competent Elegant Hard-Working Girl!

My Competent Elegant Hard-Working Girl!

Here are a photo and video of my lovely girl stepping out soft and sweet with Kelsey on August 5th.  She just looks beautiful!

Renny Playing and Having Fun

Renny Playing and Having Fun!

Here are a video and photo from July 13th of my boy having fun with his best trainer, Kelsey.  He had a wonderful summer, enjoying time with her and rising to new challenges!

My Beloved Snow Dog!

I'm writing this entry on Sunday, September 16th, after a gorgeaus cool sunlit day that I spent with my chickens, walking this beautiful dog, eating breakfast with the New York Times, riding Violet, canoodling with Renny, napping, and working in the yard!  Today was the first official day that I started Fall yard work to prepare for winter.  So, why not use a little photo from this past winter of a snowy morning with my beautiful beautiful girl!

My Darling Good Boy!

My Darling Good Boy!

Here are a photo and video of Renny all relaxed and soft and no-nonsense with his beloved Kelsey.  He just thinks she's the bee's knees.  What I love about this photo is you can see that Renny is a perfect combination of gorgeaus talented hunter/jumper pony and hardworking American stock pony.  I just think he's exactly the pony for me!

Beautiful Box Jumper!

Beautiful Box Jumper!

Here are summer photo and video of my talented lovely beautiful thoroughbred mare!  She has really proven that she's the granddaughter of Count Fleet and War Admiral!

Jumping Big Oxers

Jumping Big Oxers

Here are photo and video from this summer's work with Kelsey.  You can see my mare being soft and round and loving and obedient.  You see her working hard.  But we had some training difficulties over this summer. I've felt less confident and sometimes Violet rushes to the jumps.  So, though she can jump bigger and she's always working hard to take care of me, I haven't felt as though we were looking like a soft sweet hunter team.  But we have a new trainer now who is focusing on taking a step back and helping me work to get her to really listen.  I've been able to tell her that I know that I'm not soft toward the jumps and that I'm clamping down and driving her forward -- that I give her a full message to charge the jumps -- which she does obediently.  So, I am really very glad for the help on tweaking our jumping as part of our larger training!

Practice Makes Perfect

Practice Makes Perfect!

Here are a photo and video from Violet's summer work with Kelsey.  She looks so soft and sweet and pliant.  She's such a wonderful mare.  She's so intelligent and kind.  I'm proud of her.  I learned a great deal from Kelsey this summer about riding with an active leg, trusting the warm up, using the seat and legs first before hands, riding with training hands, letting her stretch long and low, expecting and demanding that she not hold onto a rein or lean into a leg, practicing moving straight and true.  I want to honor this teaching and I have to figure out how to take care of my girl because I think she will need care for her joints - traveling straight and true might be difficult for her, though she brings her best heart to her work!

My Adorable Hardworking Princess

Beautiful Violet Working on Leg Yields

Here are an August 5th photo and video of my beautiful Violet, working hard and dutifully in her lessons with Kelsey.  She's truly a charming intelligent mare.  I'm writing this entry on Sunday, September 16th, after a gorgeous beautiful cool sunlit morning riding her.  I got to the stable and she was obliging and reaching and soft for her Pessoa training.  And then we had a ride in which we worked on lots of responsiveness to legs, circling, shallow looping, leg yielding.  And then we cantered circles -- we cantered across ground poles in both directions and she gave me flying lead changes immediately.  And then I asked on a simple circle and she gave me a lead change in her difficult direction, not even with a ground pole! She was trying so hard!  She's amazing.  Then I gave her a massage and treated her feet with oil and gave her lots of treats and put her in her pasture.  

She's had her hooves grow so fast this summer, it's been amazing.  Anyway, she had these shoes on and in 3 weeks 2 days, she started to grow over the shoe and break.  So, we took off her shoes on Friday and by this morning, she was massively chipped off on her sides -- natural hoof-shaped chips, but I'll be very very glad when the farrier sees her.  Another thing about her is that she's really taken to whipping me with her tail lately.  I think her hindquarters might be bothering her.  She is super stiff in her right hind leg.

My Soft Wonderful Pony!

Here are some August 3rd photos of Renny with his favorite trainer, Kelsey.  He was enjoying his last few weeks with her before she left for Law School. You can see him moving sweetly and roundly through his work.  This past Saturday, September 15th, on a gorgeaus sunlit cool Fall morning, I had lots of fun at a riding lesson with our new trainer, Jill Jewett, and Gay and Mary and their mounts, Shorty and Fez.  Renny was great about his warm-up and worked very hard to make sure he would round around my leg.  He did an hour glass pattern at the trot and canter like a pro and he was just delightful for his leg yields -- soft, correct, willing.  We weren't permitted to do flying lead changes because Jill wants to teach me how to do them correctly.  She says that Renny may have the button, but I need to know how to ride any horse to ask correctly.  It was a really fun lesson.  We all felt like we learned a great deal!

Wonderful Girls Working Out!

Wonderful Girls Working Out!

I am still working on patience.

Some of My Pets

 Namaste.

Beautiful Elegant Hard-Working Violet!

Beautiful Elegant Hard-Working Girl!

Here are a photo and video of Violet working with Kelsey this past summer.  You can see that my girl brought her best heart to her task.  So, I'm writing this entry on Sunday, September 9th and Violet came back to work after a week's vacation to a new teacher, Jill.  So, today, after two riding lessons with Jill, I come to the barn on a beautiful sunlit cool morning.  I tack Violet and we walk around the farm.  At first, she's tentative and taking baby steps and moving cautiously, but then when she feels that I have confidence and that I'm happy and certain, she turns into a happy thoroughbred and walks boldly and relaxed and with interest.  We walk around the pond and farm several times and practice leg yields and circles and just enjoy ourselves.

And then we go into the indoor arena.  I let her have her face the entire time.  We do a big bold stretching racing trot, big booming trot, big booming canter.  We do shallow serpentines, circles, diagonals, leg yields.  We do all of this, all of this, with a long low reaching stretch. And she's just stunning.  She doesn't worry about the gates.  She doesn't fight.  She doesn't toss her head or snatch at the left rein. We're just relaxed and moving forward with joy.  It was awesome.  When she halted and I got off, we were both surprised.  I could tell by her expression that she was pleased and joyful about how much fun we'd had and how hard we worked at our awesomeness. I could tell she was proud at how well she had done.  I very much love my red mare.  I gave her treats and words of love.f

And then I played with sweet Renny for a bit.  It was one of the nicest Sundays I've ever had.

Renny Drills!

Renny Jumping Happily!

Here are photos and video from June of Renny and his trainer.  He just loves his girl.  And you can see him looking casually over at his shoulder, pleased that Grama will watch to cheer him on!  It was such a wonderful summer of watching my talented boy enjoying his time with her.  I'm writing this entry on Sunday, September 9th and reporting about Renny and me after he's taken his first week-long vacation in a long long time!  This week we started working with a new trainer.  And on Saturday, we rode with Betsy and Merlin, Gay and Shorty, and Mary and Fez.  Renny was fabulous. He was super adjustable, had gaits within gaits, was able to race walk, was happy to stretch and relax or collect and be wonderful.  He was super good at drill work and kept his pace and distance.  He was great about this little exercise where we had to extended trot then collected seated trot then volte and spring into a canter.  Badabing!  He was happy to work and be a good boy. And then he was just lovely about jumping.  I was so proud to be with him and to be part of Team Renegade!

Bold Box Jumper! There's Your Hunter!

Bold Box Jumper!

So, I'm writing this entry on Sunday, September 9th. We've had a difficult week with many transitions. We're at the end of summer and it's been a great summer.  In this photo, you see Kelsey giving Violet a relaxed summer training ride and the video shows them jumping the box.  What a wonderful summer and blessing.  And so I gave Violet a week's vacation.  And this past Thursday, she had her first Thursday night lessons with the ladies.  We had to do these drill exercises on a circle with three other riders.  It was awesome. Violet was agreeable, listening, talented.  She was adjustable. She paid attention to my eyes and seat and was careful about her distances and pace.  She was just a hoot!  So fun to ride!  And then in the jumping component of the lesson, Violet and I did well, but we showed what we needed help with -- I don't sit back when I'm asking for a downward or a slowing and Violet sometimes likes to rush a little.  So, Jill told us to keep my hands low and wide like training hands and ride her over the jump that way -- and Violet traveled even quiet sweet and with good solid pace to the fence and Jill shouted, "There's your Hunter!"  I felt very proud of Team Tenderness!

Lovely Violet, Dancing in July!

Lovely Violet, Dancing in July!

This photo is from August 5th and the video is in late July.  Kelsey and I shared a training ride and it was so fun.  My ponies are wonderful.  Gay was on hand, so she took a picture of us.  I'm writing this entry on Sunday, September 9th.  I'm sort of tired because it's been an exhausting week with bad news on practically every front.  But there's been good things too.  So, for example, Violet's been in training and working hard since May, so I gave her a little more than a week off.  This week she came back into riding.  I rode her for the first time this past Wednesday in the outdoor arena with her new trainer, Jill.  She was wonderful.  She was relaxed, adjustable, lovely.  Jill worked us hard.  She made us trot hard and swiftly and canter boldly and forward.  She made us just work work work our tails off -- We worked at the trot and canter for 40 minutes.  By the time we stopped, I cried in the saddle because I was relieved and sad and jumbled up. And it was weird in a good way.  Jill said that I had improved so much and she could see my determination and she was so impressed.  And I couldn't really even manage being gracious because I just was crying.  I love Violet and Renny and I love the summer they were blessed to have with Kelsey.  They truly benefitted from their work!

Sweetest Pony Ever!

Sweetest Pony Ever!

Here is a photo and video of Renny having a lovely relaxed summer riding lesson with his trainer, Kelsey.  He was so happy to please her and do well.  I am writing this entry on Sunday, September 9th and Renny finally had a week off from work, after training with Kelsey all summer, showing, and then working with me for a week or so to make sure I could use all of his bells and whistles.  So, on Tuesday of this past week, he came back into lessons after that week off with his new teacher, Jill.  He was amazing as usual. He had a nice adjustable walk, trot, and canter.  He was very responsive.  He was happy to do drill exercises where he had to be obedient about his distance from others and taking cues immediately. And his canter was sweet sweet sweet.  He benefitted from his week off!

Patience

This entry is devoted to the patience I am trying to learn.

More Kisses

I'm writing this entry on September 2, 2012.  Today I spent an afternoon at my barn, visiting my horses and cleaning their tack.  And on my way home, I had a reason to drive on the road I took to visit Hailee for many years -- Poe Road out of town.  And I thought about my beautiful mare and how much I love her.  And I thought about how grateful I am that she is safe.  So, here is a photo taken March 7, 2008 about two months before Renny's birth.  Violet and Hailee were wonderful dear loving friends.  What's funny is that before I even drove on that road today, I had a chance to think of her (I think of her every day).  When I drove up to the barn, I saw Renny standing with a friend, grooming and giving swirls, just like in this photo.  And my mind just filled with the times I'd seen these two mares groom each other and Renny groom the girls!  I miss her so much.

Mid-June Naps!

Here are my two handsome little fellows, taking a summer nap in June on my dining room table -- all bossy, all cute, all wonderful, all mine in the beautiful summer!!!

Violet Jumps the Box!

Violet Jumps the Box

Here's a little video and photo from this summer when Violet was in special training with one of the very best riders I ever met!  Violet brought her best work to being softer, lifting her belly, rounding up, being stronger, picking good distances to the fences, AND jumping the box!

Such a Fine Athlete!

Such A Fine Athlete!

Here is a summer photo of Violet, working hard with Kelsey.  I'm just so proud of my thoroughbred.  She's round and happy and sweet and intelligent.  She's kind, kind, kind.  She makes me so happy.  And I'm proud to know her and be part of her family!

The Herd Earns a Vacation!

My Dear Girl!

Here is a photo and video from July 29th, when Violet gave her sweet best to her trainer.  After Kelsey left for Law School, I rode Violet and Renny for a week or so, just to see if I could get the same talents out of them as Kelsey did.  I was able to get flying lead changes from both ponies, and Violet has been a sweet dressage girl and Renny has been fantastic at jumping.  Anyway, both ponies earned a week's vacation, for the last week of August.  They have only 2 days left and I am looking forward to riding again!  The first few days, Renny was not too happy about his vacation because he is a hard-working stock pony, but Violet really needed a little relaxation!  She's been really enjoying her hard-earned vacation!

Renny Misses His Trainer!

Here's a photo from Renny's last training session with Kelsey before she left for Law School.  You can see that he's just a happy pony.  He just finished pleasing his Grama and trainer and brought his best heart to his work.  He's a solid little hard-working talented graceful handy pony.  About two weeks have passed, since she left for Law School, and this little pony has been sort of looking for her.  Every time I pull him out of his stall to groom him in his cross ties, he peeks around for her expectantly.  He really enjoys her company and confidence!

Rowdy Siblings!!!

Here are my Aunts and Uncle and Grampa, visiting dad over the 4th of July.  I just love this photo.  They are such a fun-loving gregarious bossy group!  I'm proud to be related to these wild ones!

The Chicago Sanchezes!!

Here is my Uncle Rick and his beautiful smart family - Audrey and Shelley with their puppy in the background.  Rick is without doubt one of the nicest people I've ever met -- generous, kind, sweet, affable, agreeable.  He always has a kind word.  He's a role model to me.