And the winner is...

Wintec Pro. The HDR Pro didn't fit. Their regular is a little wierd. IF I meet a horse that it fits it must be a stick horse.

I was in CVS and my dad called. My shoulder is uber jacked up, so I went to see my friend who was a nurse practictioner. She told me she can't give me any of the fun meds. Plus she thinks its my muscles are just really tight, because she didn't think it was anything else wrong, since I had full range of motion.

So I rush home and open the box. I have to say the new Wintecs are pretty snazzy. There was this strap that I just couldn't figure out. So finally I go to the other side and realize the other end has buckles. I guess it's to keep the flaps down. I have no clue I'll read it later.

So it fits Lilly. It has good clearance and she moved so well last tonight. She was being a little bit of a shit so I had to find a dressage whip. Mine is MIA of course.
The only thing that she was really doing that was irking me was she was being so hard jawed. She really didn't want to bend at the trot. Finally towards the end she started softening up, but good grief she was being such a mare.
The Wintec Pro kept me in during 1 spook and a few half-hearted buck attempts. She was feeling good, the weather is nice and sunny but COLD!

All in all I do like the Wintec Pro. I think I'd rather have a little more foward flaps, but I'm just not used to riding with very long stirrup leathers. But I'll get use to it eventually.
The sadddle came with a girth, stirrup leathers, and stirrups. So pretty excited about that.

I've also decided to just concentrate on Training 1 and 2 since I'm going to do the licensed show in June. So I'll just stay consistent.

Time to get serious

So this winter I've been doing the intro tests. Only due to the fact this winter has been horrid and really did it so I could get some show time.

But now she's strengthening up and getting stronger. I love how she looks right now. She's nice and round and looks fabolous. Well now she's a bit red clay shade, but other than that she's rocking.

I kind of want to jump into Training 3 & 4, but I think mentally I need to work on me a little more. I tend to get a bit nervous lately and not trust her. So our barn is hosting a small schooling show, so I've decided to do Training 2 and if she schools well next week do 3, if she's being a butt I'll stick with 1.

Hopefully my saddles will be in. I sat in the Wintec Pro at a local tack shop and I have to say I'm happy with it. I'm glad I didn't get the contourblocks because I really wasn't digging it. They weren't that big, but I can see how they would maybe annoy me.
The only thing that annoys me is that I heard the Wintecs run big. The 17.5 was actually a good size for me. So hopefully a half and inch won't be totally crazy big.
I also sat in an HDR Rivella which isn't the model I got but similar. It was good, but it puts me more in a chair seat.

Nadge said she's going to let me borrow her saddle, but for now western saddle.
Lesson tomorrow hopefully the rain will hold out.

Saddle Time

So I ordered two different saddles. One is a Wintec pro the other a HDR Pro. Let's see which one I like better in a few days.

Morven Park Championship Show

So this past weekend Morven Park hosted its winter series championship show. I qualified for it. I got Lilly all nice and pretty, her blanket was sparkling white and she was very shiny. Thank you Microtek.

We got at the show at 9:00am, thinking that's enough time. But by the time I ran up to get my number and ran back that was like 15 minutes, because the show office isn't really close. Thank god my friend Leann went with me. So she tacked up Lilly. I got changed and hoped on. I had like 10 minutes to warm up.

She was spooky. The wind was howling and slamming against the indoor, so she was being a spaz. So I was unnerved because I was feeling rushed and hectic. So our warm up wasn't good.

We showed and it was just blah. We scored 55.5%. Which was fair, it wasn't a horrid test, but it wasn't good either.

So I went back into the warm up arena and we schooled. I practice leg yielding and did circles. We relaxed and were better prepared for our championship class.

We did a very accurate test. We were a little late in one transition, but we did good. I was a little off my final centerline.
The judge said on the score sheet that since her neck is set lower that I shouldn't keep my hands too high and to work on the developing a rounder connection. She said I need more impulsion.
First time I've shown under an "r" judge. So it was a great learning experience.

There was a guy riding and he got so close to us. I wanted to say dude, got a young spooking horse, but then I figure she'd just have to deal with it and it's good for her, because those warm up arenas can be hectic.

We got 65.5 in our 2nd test and Championship for the class. We got a Wegman's tote bag, some organic horse treats, chocolate, organic shampoo and bran mash. Very exciting. Now on to Training Level. :)

Budi Workout

My friend Budi donated a clinic for our club. I rode Lilly as the first ride of the day. Budi always does a mini-training ride on all his lesson students. He likes to feel the horse and pretty much warms them up for you so he can understand your horse better. After the warm up he gives you your horse back.

My friend Nadge let me ride in her saddle. Oh my god it was heaven for my butt. It put me in a great position and whew Lilly was flowing and grooving under saddle.
She got her saddle in Germany so I've never heard of it before.

Budi gets excited when he teaches, so I told the new people that if you want a break you'll have to ask. Budi will keep on teaching until you pass out. lol.

Lilly was funny, because I didn't feed her breakfast since we had the early ride. So she was grumpy when I hooked her up to the tack post. Then Budi gets on her and he wore spurs. He poked her once and her face scrunched up like dude what's your issue. Don't poke me! He told me I need to add spurs to help refine my aid.

We worked on leg yields and shortening and lengthening her stride. He wants to see her get stronger in the canter. He was impressed on how much she's changed for the better. I think he's always liked Lilly. I joked that I'd breed her to Popeye K and give him the baby to train, and he was like okay! haha. But Popeye K's stud fee is 2,6k, and I can't afford embryo transfer. :P

But had tons of fun. Pretty happy with the pony.

Spring time Fun

So the Lillers is feeling better. I really had no energy to ride, plus I had some chores I had to take care off, so I ended up grooming her a bit, lunging her, then feeding and leaving.

Someone just drag the arena, so we the whole arena to play in. She's such a good girl. I think she's happy to be back to work.

My friend is having Patrick Tigchelaar (http://tdstables.com/)come to the barn tomorrow. I'm leaving work to watch her lesson, then go to the Cherry Blossom festival and watch me some Caps action with my father. My Friday is jam packed.

Budi clinic is on Saturday and I plan to ride the Lillers. Then I'm going to be a ring stewart for the Vada/Nova spring licensed show. yay!

Break time

Lilly has had about a week break. She was feeling stiff the last time I rode her. So opted to give her a break. By the weekend still stiff. I think running from her paddock mate she torqued herself. He tends to go after her, no biting just rushes her and she runs away. I lunged her on Sat evening, still stiff. Sunday I was going to get some joint supplement, but it being Easter all the places were closed.

I gave her a real good liniment bath and massaged her real good. Monday I just watched her she seemed a little better. Yesterday I lunged her and she seemed much better. She was bucking and actually trotting forward instead of only wanting to jog. I got some joint supplement. I think I got Vita Flex or something. I'll probably use that until its empty and go to SmartPak and order some.

So I'm going to ride tonight and see how she feels again.