WW: Baby Beau

Baby pictures of the first day I got my little kitkat Beau. He now lives with my step-step brother(?), about half an hour away from me, after living with my parents when I moved out. I believe he is around 7 years old now 

Summer 2016 Goals

I've recently run into some red tape in my academic progress. Last fall I had to take the semester off due to my tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy. A complete withdrawal is basically the same as failing the class in the eyes of the Satisfactory Academic Progress for financial aid. Last spring I retook my classes that I had to withdrawal from during the fall. Guess what also doesn't contribute to SAP? Retaking a course. So while I theoretically was meeting SAP, the financial aid center told differently.

I was put on a warning for spring semester and it was obvious that I would be placed on a hold because I was taking all my classes that I had enrolled in for fall but never got to complete. I've spoken with the financial aid office and they believe I am more than likely to get an appeal approved for this.

So, my steps to get through this summer includes:

• writing an appeal for financial aid
• meeting with my adviser to approve my appeal for submission
• submitting an appeal to retake a course that I didn't do so hot in
• attempting to pass out of a dumb one credit class

If all things go well and dandy, I will be applying to the college of business and economics this fall! I'm already signed up to take my first 300 level course. Education can be fun when you aren't stuck in first year bullshit classes. 

FF: Picasso

Flashback Friday/Fail Friday/Friday Funny

That one time nearly ten years ago (I was like 11?!) that I was an aspiring artist. Can't you see the natural talent? And wow that awesome scanning/picture of a picture quality.

Baby Horse Update

Baby Z and Winston finally shed their foal hair/winter coats. They look so handsome now! 

The bugs at my house are out of control, especially the mosquitoes. This means it is time for baby horses to learn about fly spray. Now you might remember how Z was way chiller than Winny. However, the tables have turned. 

I've gotten to the point where I can spray 75% of Winny's body without fuss. Z on the other hand thinks the bottle is going to kill him. They both don't care about the war paint at least.

We've also been working with the leadrope. Winny is again the superstar in this category but Z's fear has definitely subsided and he is mostly ok with it now too. They are both sweet loving boys and I'm so happy to have the opportunity to work with them!

Where the Surf Meets the Turf

Double Decker Busses

Del Mar, CA. The perfect views, perfect weather, horse mecca of San Diego. Home to riders such as Stephen Peters, vet hospital Helen Woodward, and the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club. Where I found my heart horse, Riesling. This place is where my dreams would come true.

 

As a girl I competed in the GSDHJA circuit. The week long end of year show was hosted here at horse park. It was always my dream more than anything to have my horse in the temporary stall, wake up early to salty beach air, and spend my birthday week (coincidence?) doing what I loved most. 

Unfortunately, soon after my parents divorce, my showing came to a screeching halt and I would never find myself showing here. But it is something I always dreamed of. 

La Mundial was there! 

My mom grew up riding in Rancho Santa Fe, a close second to my favorite place. What Rancho Santa Fe didn't have was my favorite tack store and my favorite event of the summer, the San Diego County Fair. 

My favorite flower, the Dahlia

Apparently these were for equestrians?

The fair is my must do every summer. I've gone every year since I can remember, and it always brings me positive memories. We always got to take a friend with us and had unlimited ride wristbands. One of my first memories at the fair is sitting in the garden show area and my mom pulling egg salad sandwiches for us to eat out of her Winnie The Pooh backpack. 

Carne Asada Fries mmm

Bacon Bomb

My grandpa worked at the fair every summer as well. He ran a handwriting personality test booth. One year, he was able to give me a GIANT white tiger stuffed animal to take home; the ones that cost over $20 in games to win. I still wish I had that tiger today.

Saddleseat horse show

If I had the choice to live anywhere in the world it would be Del Mar. Yeah the traffic sucks and it is ridiculously expensive, but the nostalgia and beauty is unparalleled. Someday, I will find myself showing at Horse Park. Even if I'm only living in a hotel room for a few days, my life dream will be fulfilled. 

Horse Display 

Chainsmokers

Meet Rose. This plan has been in the making for several months now. My bf L told me he wanted to learn to ride horses. Growing up in Montana, he took care of horses and is an expert stall cleaner, but never had the opportunity to learn the partnership and love that comes with riding. He has sat on Riesling before, despite refusing to ever ride in a dressage saddle. He saw the happiness and stress relief I gained and wanted to experience the same thing. 

Not too long ago at Idaho Horse Expo I ran into my old manager from the tack shop I worked at. She was like a second mom to me, and I was so excited to tell her about how I now was living with my bf in the country surrounded by horses. I told her about how L wanted to learn to ride and she told me she had the perfect horse. Rose is one of her home-bred horses that is mostly happily retired at 22 years of age. However, this girl has a lot of fire and passion and loves to be worked. She had just been sitting at her ranch and offered to let me free lease her. Even more accommodating, she loaned us her tack. She came to us on June 13th, and has been an absolute doll. 

Shes a little chunky and has an old shoulder injury that requires attention. But she is the perfect teacher for L. I had the pleasure of getting a quick spin on her when she arrived (C wanted to show me her buttons). First off, it is so nice to be able to mount a horse from the ground! I'll still be getting a mounting block because I am the least flexible person on the face of the planet, but it is nice knowing I could get off and on during a trail ride. She has a ton of getup and go, and I can't wait to take little spins on her when she isn't babysitting L. 

Cottonwood Falling like Snow

What a weekend. I survived - my only comment. Ha. 

Pony adventures to continue, but I might have a concussion. And I temporarily lost my fitbit, boo. Anyways, the regularly scheduled program will commence shortly! 

Mental Fitness

I'm a terrible mother for letting my guy wear this ratchet fly mask

With the vacation, my sister's wedding this weekend (and me being Maid of Honor), and general life stress, riding has unfortunately been kept to a minimum. Luckily I am able to sneak to the barn on my way home and at least give him a good groom and cookies. He is in full care and while he misses getting worked, he is a naturally lazy horse so he doesn't quite mind just being pampered and hanging out with his friends.

Yesterday was a ride day for me, and I have to be honest. Not riding for awhile makes me get weird about riding. It was lightly sprinkling and I was worried about melting in the rain apparently but the indoor wasn't dragged. I was also on a bit of a time crunch due to scheduling. Weird wimpy Micaylah brain was all "guess we will just groom" until a barnmate asked why we weren't riding. Then I realized how much of a gross baby I was and tacked up. 

Going from nice and hot to a drizzly mid 60's day left Ries very fresh. While I entered the ring, barnmate was grabbing her horse from the pasture (on the other side of the arena) and Ries was pretty sure she was way more interesting. I immediately brought him up to the trot where he took some funky steps and was rather short strided. I moved away from the pasture and pushed him forward. Feeling the tension from the excess energy I quickly decided to canter. We got pretty normal transitions which let me know his body was feeling supple and he didn't have any weirdness. With this much energy, it is easy for him to turn it into naughty behavior. I had to put on the turbo boosts and push him into a strong, forward canter. After changing directions a few times I was able to unlock a pretty decent medium canter tracking right! Wohoo! 

Snax after rides

He was finally in work mode and without much physical fitness I focused on walk work. His walk is improving dramatically. Schooling first level I knew I needed to work on leg yields. We mastered these pretty well at the walk, and I had ten minutes left to spare so I said what the hell and practiced at the trot. My immediate instinct was to attempt to sit the trot. Normally I do about 5-10 strides before I have to start posting. After ten strides I felt it getting harder for me but pushed myself anyways. If I don't support myself in the sitting trot Riesling immediately disengages and slows to a jiggy walk. Surprisingly, I was doing pretty well and actually was able to adjust the trot while sitting! I guess I'm starting to become a real dressage rider!

Even though it was a short ride and not too physically demanding, it really showed a lot about how Riesling and I's mental fitness has improved. When I ask him something he isn't quite 100% schooled yet, he really tries hard to listen to me. I encourage him and it keeps him going. He is always so proud of himself when I give him a good boy pat! I can ask more of him mentally and he is ready to respond. I can't wait to do this every day. I was super bummed when I got off and was thinking about today's ride and then realized I won't be able to come out until Sunday. I love my #princessRiesOTTB

San Diego Trip 2016

Stallception

Every year I have to go back home at least once. Unfortunately my trip was delayed slightly by my bridezilla sister wanting to change her bridal shower so I didn't get as much SD time as I wanted.

I arrived in SD on the evening of 6/5 and had a burrito and went to sleep.

Monday I planned a mini blogger meetup! Fellow blogger, L. Williams, often visits SD so I scheduled my trip to coincide when she would also be in the area! Another blogger, Carey, also lives in the area and just so happens to work at my favorite store. I had phenomenal tacos with L for lunch (thanks again!) and we drove up to Mary's to meet with Carey (and shop!). I didn't find anything fun to bring home but I did grab some Ice Horse ice packs and a body sponge. Thrilling, I know. Afterwards we headed to Carey's new barn to meet the every so striking Cosmo. Man, is this guy a looker! Plus his droopy lip is too much and I just want to stuff him with cookies everyday. L and Carey were extremely nice and fun to be around. I hope to see them again sometime soon!

Tuesday I met with my RBFF from middle school. Her birthday was Sunday so I came prepared with cake. Plus I'll take any excuse to bring cake.

Wednesday I spent my day at my favorite place in SD, Del Mar. Del Mar is where my heart is and I have a separate post gushing over my heart home.

I hung out with my highschool best friend on Thursday morning, preparing to leave, only to waste time at the airport that evening. My flight was delayed and I wasn't going to make my connection, which meant I got to stay an extra night and had extra tacos. This trip was extremely refreshing and rejuvenating and although it was short I had a fantastic time. I can't wait to be back.  

In the making- Take Whore

I've seen the tack trunk/tack room tours and I've been meaning to add mine. Unfortunately I need to get my shit together and organize my blessed corner of the tack room. I even have a show trunk by my stall that hasn't been cleaned out since my last show in August of 2015. I took some "before" pictures of the insides of the trunks but am sparing your eyes from the clutter (in this post at least). 

My question for you today is do you have any ingenious storing or organizing hacks?

PS RCL stands for "Real Classy Ladies" - I'll explain in my tack area tour

Back into reality

The Motherland

Well I'm back from my San Diego adventures. I had a fantastic time and have some really exciting news happening today I can't wait to share with y'all, I also got to meet some lovely bloggers and stuffed myself with tacos. 

I am still digesting the trip but can't wait to share all the fun details in blogs this rest of this week. I hope you had a fantastic last week and happy Monday! 

Flash Back Friday: Seven Years

May 28th marks the 7th year I've owned Riesling. For fun I went back and found pictures from the first month I owned him. Enjoy baby Mic and gangly baby Ries.

Zoltar

So wittle

I never fully got to explain my baby pictures of this little guy. Zoltar is a Zweibrücker RPSI gelding. He was born out of draft cross (I don't remember her actual breeding) and by a gorgeous warmblood (Hanoverian? Holsteiner? I don't remember. I suck at this)

Zoltar was originally named Osczar due to his mom's name, Emmy. The sire's lineage commonly has a "cz" in the names. Luckily, this name was scrapped and Zoltar was named after the fortune teller in the movie "Big".

Zoltar had a "brother" who unfortunately passed away to colic as a weanling. Even though Dellazio only scored a silver, he was the promising colt between the two. Zoltar was Emmy's maiden foal so he is a little wonky and only scored a bronze.

Baby Z before he was weaned

Zoltar has always been a little sweety. Whenever I was at CJ's between riding or house sitting I always gave him a little snuggle. I would make little kissy noises and he would press his muzzle against my face.

With the devastating loss of Dellazio, CJ was more connected to Zoltar and wanted to see him go to a loving home, more so than selling him for his future potential.

I currently live at CJ's old farm house that typically houses her retired horses and broodmares. It is also a good place for baby Z to just grow up for a few years.

With his slightly deviated pastern CJ was concerned about his prognosis. I ventured with her to Idaho Equine Hospital where we met with a vet and discussed the concerns. The vet remained positive and had a strong belief that with additional growth his chest would open and his pastern would right itself. Even if it didn't, the time for surgery has passed and he is completely sound on it. We took baby Z to my house for his final destination for the day and as CJ was leaving she asked if I wanted him.

I joked that he would be living at my house anyways for at least the next two years anyways so he basically is mine (for now). We laughed and the conversation diverted. And as she drove away she shook my hand (??) and said "Congratulations!" I kind of stood there dumbfounded as she drove away.

He is so big now!

And that is the story of how I now own a yearling (what is my life).

Luckily, this baby isn't just dumped on me and CJ comes out to worm and help with other tasks at the farm as well. I more or less am being given the opportunity to bring up a wonderfully smart and sweet baby horse. I've mostly spent my time just bonding with him in the late evenings after dinner. He is an absolute wonderful treat to have at my house and work with. Here goes the #babyzadventures!