Quinn halts at X

Colleen Hoekstra Clinic

2008-06-02T14:39:00.001-07:00

Well it was a phenomenal weekend. Three days of hard work for Quinn and tons of knowledge for me. We did our first canter!!!! No bucks and the right lead every time! He is such a good boy. I think that we have finally solved the hopping into the trot problem, which was a huge relief as we have been fighting about it for months now. Now our goals have moved up to conquering training level and making our show debut at 1st level next summer. I am so excited and blessed to have a willing and sweet partner in Quinn. Thank you Colleen for helping us and making me feel that our goals will be achieved!!!

He's Got legs!!

2008-05-14T19:53:00.000-07:00

Well I finally bit the bullet and shaved his feathers off. Actually, Jen shaved his feathers off. He looks a whole hand taller, which when you are 15.2 on a good day is a big thing. He worked hard today stretching over his back and using his back end. Hard work for him. It is much easier for him to just plod along with a flat back and on his forehand. We still have miles to go but are having fun getting there!

P.S. Quinn wanted to wish his girlfriend Waltzing Matilda a happy 4th birthday today!

My Heart is Broken!!!

2008-05-03T18:14:00.000-07:00

It is Derby day! One of my favorite days of the year. My friend Jen was there to watch the race and placed a few bets for me, Thanks Jen! I had settled in to watch the race with my mom and dad, enjoying all of the pre-race coverage ( probably my favorite part ). I can't wait for the race, the first time in years that I think that a filly will actually win. My pick Eight Belles. She has been undefeated in 5 starts not bad. The race starts and she breaks well. Big Brown comes from the 20th post on the outside and takes the lead. Eight Belles charges into 2nd and keeps up with his pace (4 3/4 strides behind) until the finish. I am happy that nobody or horse was hurt and then they pan out to the track and Eight Belles is laid flat out on her side. For anyone that knows anything about horses knows that this is not good. Finally after what seems like forever the track vet tells Bob Costas that she has suffered compound fractures of both ankles and has been euthanized on the track. My heart breaks! Why does a sport that I love have to cost horses their lives? This news is so gut-wrenching in the wake of the 2 horses that died in the Rolex 3-day event. My thoughts and prayers are with the owners, trainers, and riders of all of these horses! Quinn should be happy that his mom is pretty lazy and rather undemanding! I will remind him of this when I see him next.

In the right direction

2008-04-29T16:20:00.000-07:00

After a great ride Monday, I feel that Quinn and I are finally moving in the right direction. My fear of the mounting block is almost gone for good. I don't even care if he takes a few steps as I get on, as naughty as that is!!! We are now going from the indoor arena to the outdoor arena without even a glance at anything around him. I am hopeful that the next step is a short trailride. Maybe Friday, depending on the weather. Our walk to trot transitions are getting better daily. He is barely putting his head up and trying his annoying canter departs instead. I am really looking forward to the next clinic that Colleen Hoekstra will be giving the last weekend of May. I hope that she is impressed with our progress. I am keeping my fingers crossed that he will be on his best behavior. Although he tends to show off for a crowd. We'll see.

Quinn goes wild

2008-04-23T17:14:00.001-07:00

Well we finally did it! After an awesome workout ( the trot is getting better), we had our first walk outside of the arena and down the driveway to the outdoor arena. He was amazing did not even look at anything going on, even allowed Mattie to lead. I would love to be able to trail ride him and now I feel that this goal is closer. Go Quinn!
Our trot work is getting better, with him reaching toward contact instead of objecting to it and fighting me. Now if we could only get over the walking away while I am mounting. Mounting is hard enough when you are only 5'1"" on a good day!:)
More work for him tomorrow. We both need to get into better shape.

Lazy Days of Spring?

2008-04-20T17:47:00.000-07:00

Well apparently Quinn thinks that working 4 days in a row is the cruelest form of torture that there is. He has never moved so slowly!!! I only lunged him because I knew that he was not used to working this many days, but I practically needed to drag him around the ring! Oh well at least he got a haircut out of the visit.

Breakthrough!

2008-04-19T18:51:00.000-07:00

Well, today I realized that going forward is not going to kill us! I have accepted the fact that even if it is ugly, I have to keep him moving in front of my leg. I don't knpw how many times I have been told this, but it took months of us getting stuck and him playing his half-rear, canter depart trick to get me to just "let go" and move him out. Maybe we won't always be just on the edge of Training level!!! :)
Back to the barn tomorrow to work on it some more!

Welcome to our blog!

2008-04-17T17:43:00.000-07:00

Hi! Thanks for checking out our blog! I will be doing all of the typing because the other subject of this blog is an 11-year-old Percheron/Quarter Horse Cross named Harlequinn, but you can call him Quinn. He has a hard time with the keyboard! I am hoping that this will be a tale filled with triumphs and trophies (or ribbons at least). I am keeping my fingers crossed that this blog is going to narrate our road to our first dressage show and beyond. Please come back to check on our progress.