just an update

[tinypony]

hey everybody!! i thought i'd give you all a general update about what has been going on this summer for me and my pony ;D

for those of you who don't know i own a 9y/o QH mare (mollie). this is the 4th year that i've owned her and boy is she a totally different horse than the one i bought (in a good way)!! our show season has been going great so far!! we compete in dressage and in our last show (last weekend) we got our highest scores ever!! in Training Level III we got a score of 67% and in Training Level IV we scored 69% i was THRILLED!!! mollie was so well behaved and truly through and connected and SOO light in my hands!!! the icing on the cake was that it was a pretty well known show in this area and i even placed higher than my instructor in both tests (she was on a pretty green horse) but it was still an awesome feeling ;D we will continue to show the rest of the summer and fall (maybe move up to First Level?) and will end the year with our first musical freestyle the end of october!!

this summer i've also been paid to school a young lesson horse prospect for our barn. he is an adorable arab gelding and we guess about 6 or 7 years old. he's a light chestnut with a flaxen mane and tail and just an absolute sweetheart. the barn had bought him last summer as a school horse but he became sick and right after that had respiratory problems because of allergies. he is finally on medication that works for him and i've been schooling him for a couple weeks now to get him back into the swing of things. i'll post pictures soon.

so that's what's been going on with me!! i hope i didn't bore any of you! lol.

tiny

[ShainaTN]

Thanks for the update! I'd love to come and see a dressage show! I think it is an absolutely gorgeous discipline. Good luck with the Arabian. Sounds like you are having a great summer in the show ring!

[downundermum]

Well done tiny. Those are great dressage scores.
My daughter competes in dressage here in Australia. She does Level 2 for horse riding club competition and for Equestrian Federation of Australia comps she rides Elementary (level 3).
What movements does your Level III involve. Just interested in the comparison between USA and Aust tests. Level 2 (hrc) here has medium and working trot, medium and working canter, counter canter loops, halt-imobility, canter change of leg through simple change. Our Elementary tests (EFA) also include collected trot and canter work, 10mtr trot and canter circles, 3 loop serpentines, walk to canter, and canter to walk and in the harder tests canter to halt.

[tinypony]

wow it's sooo different in the USA lol. what i compete in (training level) there are W/T/C movements such as circles, figure eights, changes of direction etc. in First Level it is basically the same but the turns are tighter and more complicated and there are lengthens of stride as well also all trot is done sitting rather than posting. the major differance from Training Level to First Level however is the amount of collection and impulsion in the horse. in training level the horse should carry their head somewhat low with the bottom of their neck relaxed (in other words so they are not bracing). in first level however, the horse should be 'on the bit' or round at ALL times. to be honest, i am not positive what the upper tests entail exactely. i know there are lengthens, leg yields, shoulder-ins flying changes, etc. but i am not sure what level they come in at - i can check for you though i have a book with all the dressage tests in them but it's up at the barn.

[downundermum]

Thanks for the info tiny. At level 2 (horse riding club) all trot work is sitting except for the lengthen stride which is rising(posting), and level 1 is all sitting. EFA Elementary the trot work is all sittting and starts to include some shoulder-in, travers(?) and smaller circles.
If you have an email address l will send you a couple of copies of Aussi tests for you to read.

[twnpnds]

Way to go Tiny! Can't complain about those scores at all. Makes you feel proud after all of the hard work you put in, doesn't it? I really love musical freestyle. Dressage or reining. Even though you have required movements it's still your own thing.

[tinypony]

hey everyone - my internet has been down since about wednesday and it finally got fixed today *yay* so downundermum that would be AWESOME if you could send me some tests i'd be really interested in seeing them. i'll pm my email address to you. so i have some more info on my guys. mollie has recently (wednesday night) injured herself. on wed. we had a major storm (probably why my internet went down) and we think that mollie kicked out at her walls during it (she does that often) and now her right hind leg is swollen and sore. yesterday (sat) the swelling was down but she still had some heat and her hock was sore to touch so we hosed it and wrappen an ice pack there. here's a pic of her leg:

and here's a couple pics i took of her:



the little arab that i've been training is also doing well. i've ridden him 4 times now and he's already made a LOT of progress. here are some pics of him:

[h2opony]

Sorry to hear she kicked out...

I just love that big exotic blaze... makes me wonder if she is hiding the sabino or splash gene in there somewhere... Very Very pretty... If you breed her down the line i would love to see pics would be intersted to see what she throws...

Thanks for sharing and sending good thoughts that the swelling and tenderness goes down

[Steph @ Elements]

Oh that gal is undeniably sabino! What a cutie!!!! ;D

[tinypony]

i've wondered SOOO much about her coloring!! when i bought her she was an extremely dull brown (probably due to her not getting the best of care) and over that summer (i bought her in march) after she was all shed out, she was orange. bright orange. not chestnut just orange lol. every year since then she has shed out a different color. also when i bought her, she had a few white hairs on her flank. well the hairs have spread and she is 'roaning out'. also, she is getting white spots. they start off as a couple white hairs and grow and grow and form perfectly circular spots. the vet has no idea where this is coming from because she's only 9 but there's nothing apparently wrong with her. the only explanation that we have is someone attacks her periodically with a bleach pen :-)
here is the roaning on her flank:


some spots on her side:


her biggest spot on her butt:


three spots on her ears:


as for genes, on her papers it has her mom as a sorrel overo but the rest of her family is solid.