Nysak

So Far Nov ember is starting out as a quiet month.
On Thursday Styles left for a 5 month deployment, nowhere dangerous this time and he'll be back for my B-Day/our Anniversary so it's all good, I may even go visit him around Christmas.
Friday myself, my Ma and two friends went to the Rocking R to trail ride for the day, it was freaking GORGEOUS! out, and we have a great time, but nobody warned us that Friday started deer season here in NoDak(in MI it's Nov 15th and you couldn't PAY me to take my horse in the woods that day) well I had on some bright pink and blue, Pauline has a neon green helmet cover and three of the horses are SPOTTED so we were safe enough.
Saturday was the last home football game of the season for UND, GO SIOUX!! they won but it wasn't a pretty win, they are close to a conference title tho, not bad for only their second year in a higher division.
Not much else to say, with Styles gone it's horses, horses, horses for me. I do some house work and I have some sewing that needs finishing...

I am hating this fall so far.
I am sick again.
I got sick last on October 6th, it started with a sore throat the day after the Packers and Vikings game, it progressed to a nasty cough, head cold, lack of appetite and generaly feeling crappy.
I was sick for over two weeks, it wasn't until October 19th or so that I felt 100%.

That was nice as I had a reunion at the summer camp I worked at to attend
Oct 23-Oct 25th, I had a GREAT time there with old friends(and Styles was so good about being at a place he has no attachment to and no friends at, I loves you Lover for being so good to me) and catching up with the full time workers that remain from my time there.

I started feeling a sore throat coming on last night and chalked it up to talking all day while helping Da work on the trailer and then talking during dinner with Da and Styles(early B-Day for Styles) but this AM it hit me that I am once again sick...and this blows. 

Just so you know....
Tookie 1
Tookie 2

Summer is gone, fall is supposed to be here but it looks like we've slipped right into an early winter.
  The last show of the season didn't happen, too much rain made conditions dangerous to be running XC(cross country jumping) and without that part an event is kinda pointless, I mean come on I can go do dressage and stadium at any show *puh* but it wasn't too disappointing for me, that meant I got to go to the Sioux's homecoming football game(which they WON!) and spend the weekend relaxing instead of showing and then recovering from showing.
  Fall beings applesauce season to my house, so far I've made 12 quarts and I have enough apples for at least that many more,  if I decide to pick more from the three FULL trees on base I could make about 100+ quarts, but I'm not that crazy. I usually make a few pans of Apple Crisp/Apple Squares too, then they are gone and I don't make anything apple until next fall, I just can't stand apples from the store for baking, they have NO flavor in my opinion.
  On the family front My parents are all settled in here for the winter, they found a quiet court to park their 5th wheel camper in for the winter, it has an "arctic package" so they are warm enough for now, they just need to get all the extra insulation around it before it gets any colder.
   Me? well I'm sick, got a bug from a friends son, apparently he was sick(barfing) on Sunday night and we went over there for Monday Night Football(and watched the Pack get STOMPED by the Vikes) had I known he had been sick I would NOT have gone over, nice of the guy not to warm us huh? oh well, I'm not dieing just feeling quite tired and not eating much, juice and crackers/bread is about all the interest me, I might have run a fever a time or two, not really checking it, just waiting the bug out.

That's enough mundane waffle for one post, see ya'll later, 

I've been neglectful of updating this during all the chaos last week, here's the run down.
  Last Monday I went to the barn to practice my Kur for the show on Saturday, I hadn't run through it sense July and needed to work with Holi on it, when I brought her in she had a very swollen and runny eye so I called the vet straight away, after discussing things with him it was decided she needed eye ointment 4+ times per day, to be kept out of the sun and as much dust as possible. Obviously with those requirements showing was out, such a bummer as we only hold three shows and skipping one basically means you are out for a year end award.
  I put in an email straight away to the show secretary asking if I could enter my other horse in some different classes, technically the show was "closed" but we are a pretty laid back group and thankfully she said it was fine. Soo...this meant getting Kirbis Maximus ready to show, he's not a show horse just a trail buddy but I do work dressage and jumping with him as it is great exercise and gives him something new to do, plus I like versatile horses :)
 
  Friday passed in a whirlwind of packing, riding, bathing, hair care and arriving at the show grounds, oh and putting up the dressage arena in the dark.
   The old arena was made of stakes and chain, it was packed in several big tubs and anyone could transport it around to our shows with a pickup truck.The new arena is very nice, proper white planks, but it's also a beast to pack up and requires a HUGE trailer to store it in, I've helped set up the old one twice and the new one once(at the July show) so I volunteered to help set up again. A member with a goose-neck hitch arrived to drag the HUGE trailer up to the dressage arena only to discover that the jack had sunk sense it was parked and was too low to go on her truck PLUS the jack wouldn't work so she could get it on her truck! she made a few trips back and forth with boxes and planks, thankfully she got help with the trailer, got it on the truck and to the arena area eventually, but it was getting very dark by that time and we ended up setting it with headlights from several cars lighting the way, and THEN we didn't have a meter tape measure to set out the letters, I know where they go in a dressage arena, I just had no way of knowing where they went in this one, gah! we quit at about 9:45Pm and said we'd finish in the AM, well I(and I alone) finished in the AM, I dug out the meter tape, went out there and measured out where the letters went. What an experience...

  For the show on Saturday I had no expectations of winning a lot, my goals were simple, namely beat at least one person in each class. When I took Kirbis to the May show we got some ribbons but they were sympathy ribbons due to low entries, I wanted to earn some this time around, also I wanted to sustain a correct lead canter in our ONE cantering class.
   OK first up Intro Dressage Test A, we scored a respectful 66.5%! the judge made remarks like "bold entry", "very capable horse" and "good gaits, more in there" and the best part he got a 8 for his free walk, and 8!! we WON the class.
  Intro Dressage Test B, we scored a impressive 67.5%! comments included "bold entry", "powerful trot", "plenty of ability" and "horse has great impulsion" we got 5th, there were some very good horses/riders in this class.
  Training Level Test 1, the dreaded cantering test, he was very good, we got the correct lead and didn't fall out of canter! our score was 65.217% comments were, "clear rhythm"(for trot work), "quality walk" and "athletic horse" we placed 2nd, a few good riders made mistakes in their tests but that's showing, anything can happen.
   Next up Walk/Trot Dressage Equitation(judged on my riding) it was a small class, maybe three of us? anyway I got FIRST! and the judged talked to me about Kirbs, how she liked him and thought I was a "well matured and athletic rider" but I needed to me more quiet with my hands, I explained where Kirby was in his training(haha he's not anywhere) and she said I was on the right track :)
  Now hunters, Green Hunter Under Saddle Walk/Trot to be exact(judged on his way of moving) out of 6 lanky TB and one arab Kirb got 6th, well we still beat somebody and really the chunky pinto isn't going to beat a TB in a flat class.
  Green Hunter Hack, a Walk/Trot class with two 18" cross rail jumps, it should be either a flat class where we all take the two jumps after flat work or we all take the two jumps and then get worked on the flat, but this judge had us do a little pattern almost like horsemanship, trot a circle, jump the two jumps, walk after the second, around a corner to a cone, stop and back four steps. Kirb jumped the first jump very awkwardly and then was crooked to the second, but he walked nicely and stopped/backed like a pro, we WON!
   Green Hunter Over Fences(trotting not penalized) needless to say we trotted the course, he can canter his jumps but he doesn't have his leads down, better to just trot and be a greeny than canter and get wrong leads, he marched around the six jumps like he'd been doing it all summer and we WON again!
   I am so proud of the Kirbis Maximus, he surpassed my expectations and it was nice to know the judge thought he had some talent for the dressage and hunter stuff, who knew he was a show horse in disguise?

time it's a flying by
Our last hunter jumper show is this coming saturday and I guess I'm ready, I'm doing two dressage classes PLUS my freestyle, the freestyle I haven't practiced sense the last show in oh...JULY! I'm also doing some flat classes and two jumping ones, baby jumper 2ft 3in and hopeful jumper 2ft 6in, and I'm such a weeny about jumping at 2ft6in, but I've been pushing myself these last few times I've jumped, I forgot to measure them on Wednesday when I jumped, I know one was higher than the last time I measured it, but it just means more prep work and only this coming week to get it right *sigh* why do I set myself up like this?

Hannah has been doing well in her lessons, she jumped Nysa on saturday and it was great, she had some mistakes but she handled them well and recovered from them well to boot, and I told her I'd rather have her make some mistakes and recover so well than have a "perfect" ride and have no idea what to do when things get iffy. If this last show goes well Hannah will win her short stirrup division for the year, yeah man, not too shabby for the kids second summer of showing.

Life wise things are ok I guess, finances are tight, made more so by my decision to buy Holi mare from my friend, she is totally worth the price(and more) and I can do it, it just makes me nervous. Add on a car with a nice front end noise/shimmy, a truck that has NO air condi, another car that needs a new...well car and yeah, I'm hoping that while Ben is gone I can save more money, I usually do.

wow been a while sense I blogged I guess...
This past weekend was filled with a horsie trip to Minot, the Wahl Walkabout tour with Clinton Anderson(horsie trainer/showman type person) a group of us from the barn went and we had a BLAST, from the road trip there to eating out to the antics we got into both at the event and the motel(Pauline doing a Shamu impression in the pool springs to mind) it was plain fun, Styles did not come with but that's ok, he took care of the animals here leaving me free to enjoy my weekend with no worries about them.
Here is all of us at the Minot Scandanavian heritage site, that is a replica of some famous church(the original was built in the 1700's!) behind us.

In other news I'm working with Kirbis Maximus on jumping again, partly because I've not been riding him as much as I should and he's out of shape (aka FAT) so he needs the extra workouts, and partly because I'm considering taking him in the Green Hunter classes at my shows next year. Not sure yet about that because 1. he's just not a hunter and 2. having two horses at a show is hella lots of work. Anyhoo here are some pics of us jumping, you can see he's improved from this spring a lot, he's got some motivation going on ;)

 here he is jumping, so cute. 
And here is a really good one of him really moving that big booty.
also he's got his canter leads down now, I don't have to struggle for the right lead at all, as long as I ask him correctly we get it right :D

Had a good day today.
   This morning I had made plans with Elsbeth to go watch morning works at the horse park in Fargo, it's fun to evaluate the horses without the race day crowds, chat with the official timer and just hang out at the track, there was also much lusting and ogling going on, of the horses not the Jocks(yes the horses) we both said it would be fun to be an exercise rider but we lack the guts.
After watching we snuck out onto the XC course in the infield so I could show her a few jumps and check out the progress on our new WATER COMPLEX! hells yeah! can't wait to jump into/out of that thing :D
   I had planed on jumping Holi today but I seriously lacked motivation when I got back from Fargo, but I did it and I sure am glad I did, she was super good, well behaved and wonderful, I worked on her keeping a good pace not racing around to the jumps(I only had two set up) and also taking a nice close takeoff spot, I had one small 2' vertical fence and then a 2'8" oxer with a placing pole on the takeoff side, Holi got a bit bold at the simple vertical but the oxer with the pole did the trick, she waited for the deep spot and didn't have her own ideas about how fast it was going to be taken YAY! I also want to get me bolder about jumping because as much as I love it I'm a weeny, anything over 2'6" or so is freaky tall to me, I know Holi can go to 3'+(ish) but not me, so the 2'8" oxer was my start and it looked hella HUGE when I set it up, after jumping it tho I feel ok with that height and I think I'll push myself to hit 3' before the summer is gone.

We did its, we spend the weekend down at the R camping out and doing a bit of trail riding, I loved it, Styles tolerated it LoL
Friday he got off work a bit early so we got down there in good time, got settled and decided to take a cabin for the night and not set up the tent, there was a chance of storms and we hadn't yet tested the tent for it's water proof-ness.  For dinner we had Italian sausage, beans and coleslaw (yummy!) and I wanted s'mores but Styles didn't want to light a fire just for s'mores, we hadn't brought that much wood. As the evening progressed we had reason to be thankful we settled on a cabin, it stormed! we got a light show and some heavy rain(making sleeping in the tin roofed shack impossible) but we watched and listened and made the most of it.
Here is the little cabin, there is a full size bed, a single bed, a couch, a small table and a teeny fridge in there believe it or not.

It did clear up eventually and we hit the trails, not once but twice! Styles said I had unlocked a feat for that LoL This is me and the mare on a pretty section of trail

And we have proof that Styles can operate something other than a game pad

After such hard work(sarcasm) the horses were sweaty and tired so they entertained us with some synchronized rolling.

That evening we had campfire pies for dinner and the much waited for s'mores, the evening was storm free and we got some good rest, but Sunday dawned rainy again with out much hope it would clear, and knowing the trails would be even worse for mud than on Saturday we opted to come home early and enjoy some time with technology again.

So what is going on in the life of Nysak I hear you ask? or maybe you didn't ask, maybe I'm just mental and the voices have started up again...
Anyway time for a little update.
 This month has been a welcome break for me from showing, don't get me wrong I loves to show my poneh but it gets tiring, just as you are recovered from one show another looms ahead to plan, train and pack for.
So no big shows for me from July 25th until Sept 19th, just some fun time with friends. Last Sunday Hannah and I went to a local western show, we did walk trot western pleasure(earning a 4th and a 3rd) as well as the games, egg and spoon, barrels, poles and keyhole, our little english ponehs did great, I got 3rd in barrels adult and adult poles, I don't think I placed in keyhole(Holi does the GO good, the STOP and turn...not so much) Hannah got third in childrens barrels and poles along with 4th in childrens keyhole. It was a very fun day, we even got Dena to come with her little paint mare Lucky and play too.
  Tomorrow Styles and I are heading down to the Rocking R for a weekend of trail riding and camping, yes Styles is going to trail ride with me (YAYA) he may not hit the trail as many times as I will between tomorrow night and Sunday afternoon but he's going and that is enough. I'd like to get Hannah out there with us as well but I'm not sure how that's going to work at the moment, I can go get her but then I'd have to care for her all weekend(as Hannah's family isn't planing on camping) they can haul her themselves but they do not have a trailer and don't want to make multiple trips to the R and back just so Hannah can ride. Tonight is taken up with packing and planing, and figuring out how I'm going to get all my crap from the barn into my trailer, seeing as they have a GIANT trench across the barn yard today and it won't get filled in until next week.
Oh and it's bloody hot! high 90's for the last three days, this weekend is supposed to be a bit cooler, thank goodness or I would have reconsidered my camping/riding plans.