Another ride in the Cover All arena

 Back the first part of June Gilly and I went to take a lesson at Sheri's and rode in the Cover All arena. I love this arena, so nice inside and Sheri has the nicest footing in there...very springy and not a lot of dust at all.
What kind of lessons am I taking, just basic riding skills. I never had riding lessons of any kind when younger and I feel that I really need help in some areas....probably all areas! ha
The above picture I did some photo manipulation on it. I think it looks pretty neat.

 Gilly tacked up and ready to ride. He is such a good boy, posing for the camera, already worked on the long line and ready to go.

Putting on Gilly's bitless bridle, really good shot of him, me I'm not so sure. I think Kim, who was taking pictures, must have said something to me. I was probably saying, what?

 Love this picture of Gilly, he was really in a nice frame here and looking good. He is such a nice mover but he takes a lot of work to ride this trot, it's big and lofty.

 Trot, Gilly trot! Effortless for him, hard for me...by the end of a lesson I am wore out, he hardly breaks a sweat!

 Cantering feet, shots taken from a video.

 A little blurred but still I love seeing his feet off the ground, he has such pretty feet.

Sheri was riding Gilly here, moving along softly.
I am looking forward to going back for more lessons, it's been hot here, the horse flies are terrible so I will wait for cooler weather. I seem to have become a fair weather rider as I have gotten older....when I was a kid I didn't care what the weather or bugs were like, I rode no matter what! Not now, body also says what I can and can't do.
Even if I don't ride I can still hang out at the barn and love on my two boys, Pokey really loves that, he is a snuggle bug more so than Gilly.
Jane

I'm still here.....just not on here

I have been slacking in my posting....a lot! Have been doing lots of things just haven't been posting, sometimes writing just seems like too much work to do after a long day.

I have been making more saddle pads and sold some, Gilly and I have been doing some work. Even did some cantering and I am learning to try and be more balanced so both of us can have better rides. If I am out of balance I throw him off so he stops, can't say I blame him.

Nice trot Gilly!

We even cantered and it felt good. Went to Sheri's to take a lesson in the CoverAll arena, so nice......wish I would hit the lottery then maybe....yea, right! LOL

Some more saddle pads.....

These two pads I made for my neighbor Kim and her horse Messina. Like the last one, kind of whimsical don't you think? Flower Power and Peace signs!

This one is all wool made for an eventing friend. White wool and pink wool stars with black trim.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this one! My husband who is a non-active Marine who served in Viet Nam inspired this one. Love the military swallow tail and the emblem so classy! This one is for sale on my Etsy store GillyWear

Army pad, special order. Love the look of the tail on these pads.

This is Gilly's fun pad! I found this fabric and just had to have it, color is so different and love the wild running pony's on it. Trimmed this one out in a sparkly purple fabric. I haven't used it yet but in two weeks me and Gil are going to a clinic with Karen Musson so Gil will get to wear some new "clothes".
Hope I can get back in the groove of writing and posting. Got lots of pictures and will be going back and forth with posts.
Hope everyone had a good Easter....we did!!!
Jane and the boys

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
To all my Blogging Family!
Have the best ever Christmas!
Blessings to All!
Jane and the Boys

Gilly - Horse of the Week

Gilly made horse of the week on Carol's blog Horse Sense. Carol saw my post on Gilly Wear and wrote and ask me if she could use Gilly's story on Horse of the Week! I said, sure.....Gilly has a story to tell; there are pictures with the story if you don't know how I got Gilly go there to read his story (click on the link horse of the week to read it.

Yesterday and today it's rained and been very dreary here on the farm. Yesterday I started feeling not so good and today I really feel bad. I hope it goes away soon, I can't be sick for Turkey Day! I've got things to do, animals to care for....but today I have been on the couch, with the dogs keeping me company. They are so kind to me, always wanting to sleep on me to keep me warm....but I think they have ulterior motives, they want to sleep and keep themselves warm!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, everyone!!!  Blessings to all,
Jane

Beautiful November Ride

 Wednesday Gilly and I went for a ride, 2 hours, we visited the neighbor, rode down the road to the next township. I didn't go too far as old Lucy was with us. At 12 she still wants to go with us but can't last as long as she used to, so we go slow and don't go far. These pictures are when we were on our way back home.
Gilly checking out his shadow.

Gilly and me in shadow, I wish the weather would just stay like it was then. So beautiful, just cool enough for a light jacket and air so clear and the sky so blue! My favorite time of year.

Looking across our hay field to the back hay field and the shed beyond. Gil and I ride back there a lot, crossing creeks and riding in the creek. Gilly is not to keen on walking in the creeks but he is learning.

This picture should have been above but now I can't move it; anyway this is an old road that Gil and I ride on. A very steep rocky old township road that no one takes care of but it's still an open road. With all the rain we have had of late I haven't ridden up there, pretty muddy and slick.
Yesterday was a beautiful day but I didn't get to ride went to Stanleyville Stables to their open house, wish I had taken Gilly over just to ride around and enjoy the weather!
Today is another gorgeous day but we are going to do some work in the house I think, boo, I would rather be riding!
I love fall!!!

Jane

Gilly's wool saddle pad

 I made Gilly a wool saddle pad with wool I used to hook rugs. Since I am not hooking now I thought I would put it to good use. Wool is a natural fiber and so good at wicking water away and cooling, I thought why not?

I used three layers of wool on each side of the pad and the yellow line is where I put a another layer of wool for more support where the saddle will sit. This design was used from my ThinLine pad. Pad feels all soft and cushy and I used it on Gilly for the first time this afternoon. (same pad color looks darker in house)

I almost forgot to take the picture of the pad on Gilly after my ride. I had removed the girth and was about to remove the saddle when I remember, take a picture!
I have ordered a sheepskin rug so I can make Gilly a fleece girth cover, I didn't like the ones I found on line so I thought I would make one myself....yea, I'm like that.
I haven't been able to ride for about a week, going to chiropractor but am on the mend so I rode today, between rain showers. Gilly was good, we had fun. Tomorrow is supposed to be nice, no rain! So I want to get another ride in and then hit the sewing room and get busy on some more saddle pads.

Halloween

This is from a card I made a few years ago so I thought I would post it again. 

Have a spooky good Halloween!!!!

Snow Globe

This is what the looked like yesterday morning as the sun was coming up. It had snowed the night before. I had been to a friends house in the evening and it was a white out at times driving back home.
I went out to feed the boys yesterday morning and the sun was shining. A few hours later the snow started falling then another white out. The boys were playing and having a good time. I got a few pictures but missed some good ones.

Gilly had just come flying off the hill, jumped the ravine and I caught this picture of him.

Pokey and Gilly coming to the barn, the snow was beautiful but I am getting tired of the white stuff.

Pokey is saying let's play Gilly as he bits him on the neck. Sometimes I could hardly see them from the house the snow was so thick!

Finally got Gilly's attention so he would look at me as I took his picture. Snowy horse, it was so cold but yet he and Pokey decided to stay out and play in the snow, while I hid in the house and......turned up the heat!!!

Then in a short time the snow had quit and the boys decided to take a nap....on their hay! They did eat it eventually but a nap was in order first.

After the snow stopped I decided to drive out of the hollow and see all the snow. Ok, I didn't decided my husband called me and said get the camera and drive around and look at this snow!!!  Glad I did....

This is an old barn that is close to home and I really liked the way it looked against the white snow. Gilly and I ride past this one a lot. I always wonder what, if anything is still in the old barn.

Tall pines along a road that I drive on a lot but with the snow hanging on the branches it looked enchanted.

This picture was taken just around the bend from the last one. Note the small out building hidden among the pines.

Love the dark pines in this one but the sky was what really grabbed me. Cold out but a really good day for pictures.

Thought this tree was really pretty silhouetted against the cloudy sky, with snow stuck on the branches.

I used my Canon Power Shot SD780, would have loved to use my Canon Rebel but trying to drive a car and take pictures with a big camera that you have to look through the view finder, not a good idea! Yes, I was driving but I held up the little camera and just clicked pictures as I drove, not looking until I came home and loaded the images on the computer. Not too bad, huh?

Still no riding, too cold for me....soon, soon I hope!
Jane

Ride in the New Year???

Well, here I am sitting waiting for the New Year to come in and I thought I would do something different this year. This afternoon I got Gilly our for a short ride, wow, it was great! I hadn't ridden for several weeks or has it been longer? Oh, well, I got to sit on that big broad back of a magnificent creature and just let him take me down the road.
I got to thinking this was the last ride of this year but.....wouldn't it be fun to ride out the old year and ride in the new?
Well, that's what I'm gonna do!!! Gilly is in the barn now with Pokey quietly munching some hay, and he is still CLEAN, imagine that??? Well it's only about 5 after 11 as I write this so in about half an hour I am going to saddle up. Mike is going to take some pictures and I have the date and time stamp set on the camera so you will know it's the real thing!!!
Will post these pictures (they'd better turn out!) later!!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!
Jane

To get a new saddle or not???

I had been thinking of getting a new saddle, an all purpose instead of the dressage saddle that I now have. But now??? not sure what I am going to do. I thought of taking the large knee block off of the under flap of my saddle so I had a little more knee room. I really like this saddle, the deep seat is really comfortable, so I was almost ready to get my seam ripper and take the stitching off the leather and remove it. Then I thought, well, maybe I should call someone who knows something about saddles before I do this.

I called Trumbull Mountain Tack Shop and talked to Kitt Hazelton the saddle fitter there, check out her blog for tons of great information, Saddle Fitting-The Inside Journey. I wanted to know if I really could take the knee block off, she said yes. But then she said maybe what I wanted was to get an all purpose and sell the dressage saddle. If I take the block off, no one else might want it. So another thought but since Gilly needs work on his back, I will wait and see how he looks in the spring. What Gilly is doing in the picture above is what I have heard called long and low, he needs to do this to work those big back muscles.

Monday before I started working him in the round pen I put his saddle on him with only a thin quilted pad that I had made for him so I could see just how the saddle sat on his back. It actually looked pretty good.

 

 

Gilly looks like a big butter ball with his velvety winter coat, and he isn't done growing it in yet. When I put the saddle on him I didn't tighten the girth all the way up at first and just let the saddle find it's own place to sit. When I did tighten it up this is where it wanted to be. As you can see though it is still a little high in the front. I hope that with work his back will come up and it will be fine.

 View of saddle from back, this one was a hard one to get. I had to stand on tiptoe and hold the camera up and just click and hope I got the shot. That's one big butt to lean on, and pretty fuzzy too! LOL

 View of saddle from front, looks like he has room there too. This is a wide tree for a wide boy. So now I will just have to work Gilly when I can and weather permitting to build up his muscles. I ordered a couple of books from Amazon.com (my favorite place to buy stuff)  Longeing and Long Lining The English and Western Horse: A Total Program by Cherry Hill and 101 Longeing and Long Lining Exercises English and Western: A Ringside Guide by Cherry Hill  They both sounded like good books, lots of pictures it said. I like lots of pictures!

Will let you know how it goes when the books get here. I love doing ground work with Gilly boy, he is fun to work with. Maybe Pokey can learn something too. Then he will be a smart ass! heehee

Jane and the boys

Long lining

 Today Gilly and I worked in the round pen with the long lines. I am not really sure just how to do this with him so.....anyone who reads this if you have any tips, pointers or good books on long lining please feel free to help me! :-)  In the next few pictures we are just working on having him drift across the round pen to go in the opposite direction.

He does step over nicely. Sometimes he does really well then we have a few problems, I am sure I am not giving him the right signals and he is confused. He does try really hard for me. I need a long whip so I can reach out and tap him when he starts going the wrong way or when he backs up. He backs up when he doesn't know for sure what I am asking him.

I also saw when working him this way why he has such a hard trot to ride. He really, really needs to round up his back!!!! When trotting on the way up his back is more straight and when he comes down his back is really hollow and he is really strung out. Almost looks like he is pulling himself with his front legs....ugh...Gilly we REALLY need a lot of work!!!

I notice that his neck is really stretched out too. Looks like an old sway backed work horse.....poor Gilly!

 This looks a little better, head and neck are looking much better. I am also thinking of getting some trot poles for him to work with. With winter coming and sometimes riding is not going to happen but I am hoping that I can still work him in the long lines, even if it's just up and down the road.

So now if any of you have any thing you can tell me to help me out with this I would greatly appreciate it! :-)

The End