Sumter Equestrian Center May Hunter Jumper Show Recap

This post has been sitting, complete, in my drafts file since early June. I haven't had the motivation to publish it because some of the events clearly show that I was unhappy with my last barn. Ultimately, this was the final event that showed I needed to move. I'm still working on the final "Why we moved" post but this will serve as a nice beginning to that story.

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Cupid and I, along with our barn family, attended the May Hunter Jumper show at the Sumter Equestrian Center in Bushnell, FL. I will warn you that I unfortunately didn't get any under saddle pictures and don't have too many "barn" pictures from the show. But, take my word for it that Cupid looked stunning and like a real show pony. The show took three days and I'll do my best to breakdown the events of each day.

Friday
Friday was our travel/set up/warm up day. Because I have a large Husky tool chest as my show tack trunk I had to run to my parents house to get a larger car. My little Toyota Corolla does great for day to day driving but it's awful when I need to move large items. Thankfully parents have a good size SUV and were willing let me borrow it for the weekend. (My dad also was kind enough to repair the fuse for my car radio, I somehow blew the speaker fuse again)

Once I got the cars switched and retrieved my supplies from my house I headed over to the barn. I was thankfully the first person to arrive at the barn for show prep. Knowing that I have a grey horse, who lives for a good roll in the dirt, I wanted enough time to get her relatively clean and presentable. It took us a good 30 minutes in the wash stall to finally have the water run clean and the conditioner worked through her tail. I would love to say that she enjoyed the spa treatment but she would much rather have other forms of human contact. By the time we finished with her bath the other girls started to arrive and get their horses ready. This allowed me to stick Cupid in her stall for a quick lunch and give my tack one final cleaning. I also had to figure out how to fit a second saddle in the car since the teen didn't grab her tack (or make any effort to prepare her horse).

Once all 5 horses at the main barn were done with their baths, and all the tack was packed, we were ready to load the trailers. Because we were taking two mares and a stallion we had to use two different trailers. Cupid went with two of the geldings and the other mare, the stallion went with the third gelding (who is actually his son!). The two geldings went in the trailer fine, and the other mare put up a bit of a fight but walked right in when she realized there was hay in the trailer. Cupid, on the other hand, made sure everyone knew she didn't want to go in the trailer. Just as my trainer was putting on her gloves to really get a grip on the lead rope, Cupid charged up the ramp and settled in the trailer. I was relieved that she went on the trailer when she did, because the assistant "trainer" had headed into the barn to get a whip.

The drive was uneventful and we arrived at SEC fairly quickly. The horses all unloaded fine and the second trailer caught up just when we finished taking everything off the first trailer. Immediately after everything was settled we hopped on to do a quick warm up ride in the rings. Cupid and I were in the pony ring since we were doing beginner classes. She was an absolute rock star for our warm up. We nailed all our transitions, and jumped all the jumps. We did have one tiny spook when a small pony, like really small, came at us but after a quick circle we cleared the fence. I couldn't have been prouder of how easily my pony settled into our ride and how well she did.

Once the horses were settled for dinner we all went to check in at the hotel and grab dinner. The barn owner went back to do night check and we all went bed for the night.

Saturday
Saturday was going to be a fairly easy and all of our riders had classes sprinkled through the day. Cupid and I would be competing in the walk/trot crossrails classes. We had our stallion in the jumper classes in the morning, then the rest of us were spread out throughout the day. I arrived at our stalls just after the barn owner and her husband finished filling waters so I got started feeding the horses. By the time all the horses were fed I got ready to start brushing Cupid. My plan for the day was give her a really good grooming in the morning, then pick her feet and do a quick touch up brush before our class. As I was taking my brushes out of the trunk Cupid started behaving strangely. For some unknown reason she started pacing around in her stall and rearing to see the horses behind and on side of her. The more I tried to calm her down the more spun up she seemed to get. After 45 minutes of her "temper tantrum" something suddenly clicked and she instantly calmed down.

I gave her a quick grooming and went to watch our first rider, competing with the stallion, in the jumpers. Our jumper rider did amazing and managed to place in her class. She was shortly followed by our two walk/trot pole riders who were riding the other mare and the "skittish" gelding. Both of them managed to place well in all their classes, and the skittish gelding even took Champion! While our walk/trot pole riders were going there was an announcement for all cross rails riders to come to the show office for their class placements. Due to the amount of riders they were dividing the class into two sections. Cupid and I would be going in the first section, and the other rider on my team with the other mare would be going in the second section.

After plenty of sitting around it was time for Cupid and I to prepare for our classes. I quickly groomed her and tacked her up with the assistance of the barn owner. We received a pep talk from the barn owner who gave us some tips she had picked up over the years, this was a welcome distraction from the pressure to do well.

Cupid and I entered our first class, walk/trot hunter on the flat, and did amazing. Cupid was extremely looky for the first few laps of the ring but settled once I started whispering to her. The judge only called for the walk and trot both ways which disappointed me because we had worked extensively on our sitting trot and backing up. But when we were called to the center of the ring I was excited to hear we were awarded 3rd for the hunter on the flat portion of the division. From the walk/trot hunter on the flat we went right into the walk/trot equitation on the flat. Like the hunter on the flat, the judge only called for the walk and trot, no sitting trot or backing up. We received a 2nd place which holds the honor of being the first 2nd place I've received with Cupid.

As we were exiting the ring I volunteered to be the first person to do the over fences portion of our divisions. Because Cupid had laid down last year between the flat and fences I wanted to get her over and out as quickly as possible. Our first fence class, walk/trot crossrails hunter, went amazing. Cupid was responsive and for the last line I seriously considered asking her to canter. The course went line by the judge, diagonal, line by spectators, diagonal. We circled and the gate attendant asked if we wanted to do our second round. I quickly said yes and we started our next round. This round went great until the last line. The course was line by spectators, diagonal, line by judge, diagonal. When Cupid and I reached the line by the judge she refused the second fence. I quickly circled her and we made it through the rest of the course. Upon finishing the course my trainer asked if I wanted to do my third round which was equitation, I stupidly said yes. This course was line by judge, diagonal, line by spectators, diagonal. For this round Cupid and I made it over the first fence but refused three times at the second, which was the fence we had issues with at the last course. I excused us and left thinking I had blown our chances at getting a tri-color for the equitation division.

Despite her refusals Cupid received lots of carrots, ear scratches, Gatorade, and love. She had done amazing for her first over fences classes at a show. I returned to the ring to watch our final two riders of the day and was pleased to hear that we had received a 2nd in our first hunter over fences course, a 5th in our second hunter over fences course, and a 5th in our equitation over fences course (despite making it over one fence out of six).

The second walk/trot crossrails class had two of our riders competing in it, the barn owner on her 4 year old gelding (flat only), and the teen on the other mare. They entered the ring for their hunter on the flat portion and both pairings looked great. The barn owners gelding was not phased by the crowds or other horses even though it was his first show ever. The mare is an old pro at showing and clearly knew what she was doing. While the riders were trotting in the first direction the gate attendant walked over to my trainer and informed her that the mare was excused by the judge, she had appeared lame to them and would not be allowed to finish the class. My trainer called the teen over and as she left the ring, explained what happened and she could not ride in the flat classes until we figured out what was going on. Ultimately the teen was not able to finish her classes for the day, there were no other horses that would work immediately. The barn owner successfully finished her flat classes with the gelding and both horses received plenty of attention for doing their best.

The final rider of the day was the assistant "trainer" who would be competing her gelding in the crossrails class. Her class was uneventful. Both the trainer and the gelding have been around the block with shows. They cleared all the fences and, I believe, placed in every class. We all cleaned up our horses and area, fed them dinner, and left for our own dinner and beds. Once again the barn owner returned to the Equestrian Center to do a final night check.

Sunday
I got up early for the final day of the show, packed, got breakfast, and headed to the show grounds before anyone else. I quickly got everyone fed and watered, then started to get Cupid ready for the day. Once everyone else arrived we all tacked to get at least one practice round in before the rest of the competitors arrived. Most of our riders, including Cupid and I, were competing in the pre-long classes so we all needed the practice before our trainer got too busy. I walked Cupid out of her stall as soon as she was tacked up and I was ready. As we were walking around waiting for our turn to use the mounting block Cupid began to get wound up. She became extremely looky and interested in everything going on. Once the assistant "trainers" gelding walked away Cupid began to get extremely strong, my trainer walked over and began walking her around and disciplining her. Cupid ended up back in her stall, fully tacked up, and had another explosive temper tantrum. For about 30 minutes she fought with my trainer and basically panicked. There was nothing I could do except watch and pray that she calmed down quickly and didn't get hurt. Once she calmed down enough we got her tack off and gave her some Gatorade since she had sweat during her fit. I honestly didn't know if I would be able to show her, or if we needed to scratch from our classes and call it a day.

Once she settled and became interested in her hay I relaxed a bit. Our jumper rider was competing in the morning hunter classes and I went to watch her ride. She was riding the stallion again and, despite him being more of a jumper, they did extremely well. I believe they placed in one of their fence classes!

Once she finished we all settled in for the long wait for the rest of the classes. One of the riders was in pre-short, and the rest were in pre-long. Cupid entertained herself by chewing a power cord that had dropped in her reach, flipping her halter off its hook, and mooching all the food she could off me. She quickly decided that she isn't a fan of Cheetos but loves potato chips. The girl in the pre-short class had been supposed to show the mare but was switched to the assistant "trainers" gelding, who she had previously shown. It was decided that the mare would not be shown and both riders assigned to her would be switched to other horses.

When the time came I tacked up Cupid and got her ready for our class. We would be competing against the assistant "trainer" and her gelding, and the teen on the "skittish" gelding. Our jumper rider would also be riding the four year old gelding in the flat classes to give him show experience, but because she had shown in the main ring she would be riding as an exhibition rider. We had all agreed that we would be skipping our jackets and using our long sleeve sun shirts since it was so hot.

I entered the first flat class, pre-long hunter under saddle, feeling apprehensive about it. Cupid and I were showing against two seasoned show horses, the "skittish" gelding and the assistant "trainers" gelding, and I didn't want to walk away without placing. I had worked too hard with her to get our flat near perfect and wanted to show off a bit since the day before had been so good. Like before this judge only asked for the walk and the trot both ways. We lined up in the center of the ring and awaited the placings. Cupid and I took 5th, the assistant "trainer" took 2nd, and the teen took 1st. Like before we went straight into our equitation flat class which took even quicker than the hunter flat class. We walked and trotted both ways then were called to the center of the ring. I was happy to hear my name called for 4th, and the assistant "trainer" took 1st, the teen did not place.

Despite having asked my trainer to put me in the first rotation she waited until the last rotation. This honestly pissed me off because I get nervous when I have to wait for my events. Once I've gotten ready I want to get into the ring, put down the best ride I possibly can, and leave. Being in the last rotation means I have the time to overthink about everything that can go wrong. While we waited I walked Cupid over to a trainer I had previously met on an earlier barn search. We spoke for a bit and she gave me several tips and compliments about my flat work.

When the time came for our fence rounds the assistant "trainer" had me go before her. Cupid and I entered the ring and had a beautiful first round. The course was line by the judge, diagonal, line by the spectators, diagonal. We exited the ring and waited for our second round. After the assistant "trainer" and a few other riders did their first rounds we entered for our second round. This time it would be line by spectators, diagonal, line by judge, diagonal. Cupid and I approached the first fence at a good trot, got right up to our takeoff spot, and stopped. I circled and tried the approach again, this time adding a bit more leg, we reached the fence and shied to the side. Feeling like I wanted to cry I circled again, approached the fence while adding leg and holding my inside rein, then stopped. It was at that point the announcer excused us from the ring. We left and I felt like crying, I had failed Cupid and failed myself. My trainer brushed us off and I took Cupid to the warm up ring to get her over the fence there. I did not want her to learn that she could refuse fences in the show ring and end our ride on her terms. She popped over both verticals in the warm up ring after refusing the first once and we walked out. As we walked out I saw the trainer we had previously met, we wandered over to her to talk for a bit and she immediately began to talk to me about my rounds. She pointed out that I had brought my heels up during the second round,  pushed myself a bit onto Cupid's neck in my two-point, and looked down at the fence. It was nice to receive that feedback and the corrections about what I could do better.

I took Cupid back to the barn, packed my things, and gave her the rest of the carrots. We might have been humiliated in the ring but she only did what I asked her. If my cues had been clearer we would have had no problem finishing the rest of our division. We walked away with a 5th in the fence class we completed. I'm honestly extremely proud of this 5th because it shows that despite our refusals we are a good pairing and we will be able to succeed in this division (and higher ones) once I correct my faults.

Overall the weekend was a learning experience. I honestly think if I worked Cupid in the mornings she wouldn't have the temper tantrums. I also need to work on my jumping form and gain Cupid's confidence in me.

We ended up with the following results:
Walk/Trot Cross Rails Hunter on the Flat: 3rd
Walk/Trot Cross Rails Hunter: 2nd
Walk/Trot Cross Rails Hunter: 5th
Walk/Trot Cross Rails Hunter: Reserve Champion 

Walk.Trot Cross Rails Equitation on the Flat: 2nd
Walk/Trot Cross Rails Equitation: 5th
Walk/Trot Cross Rails Equitation: Reserve Champion

Pre-Long Hunter Under Saddle: 5th
Pre-Long Hunter: 5th

Pre-Long Equitation on the Flat: 4th

Adventures In Moving A Horse (Well, A Pony...)

As you might have caught on I was not happy at my last barn. Things went sour a few weeks ago and they went sour fast. I'll work on a "Why We Moved" post eventually but for now just understand that I had to move for Cupid's health and my sanity. We moved closer to my mom's house, which is still a 45 minute drive for me, but I couldn't have asked for better facilities. Despite only being here for a few days I've got a great feeling about this place!

Our moving day was Thursday. I stopped at Winter Garden Feed Co. on the way to the barn so I could pick up Cupid's current feed. She is currently on Nutrena ProForce Fuel and will be switched to Seminole Wellness Perform Safe. In order to ensure she has the correct food at the new barn I decided to be the one to pick up the feed, which also allowed me to get a new Jolly Ball and a Redmond Rock.

From the feed store I went to the, now former, barn. My plan was to ride Cupid one more time at a familiar place, give her a bath, then pack all my stuff. We were able to get our ride in, but the bath was a slight disaster. One of the other boarders at former barn had her horse grazing on the grass outside the barn and something about that freaked Cupid out. She once again took out the was stall wall (which has never been properly installed or repaired), effectively ending our bath. Once she calmed down, I had her stand quietly in the wash stall then took her to the hose outside to rinse the conditioner out of her tail. I allowed her to graze and prance around her turnout field until the new trainer called to let me know she was on her way.

The new trainer was kind enough to come pick Cupid up and had been informed that Cupid is extremely bad about trailers. I have never been allowed to load her myself or seen her loaded without a fight. In the weeks leading up to this move I had worked on a lot of ground work with the hope that she would be a bit better about loading. When the trailer got to former barn I was informed that I would be expected to load Cupid. Needless to say, I was a bit freaked out that something would happen to her. Cupid loaded like a champ! She followed me slowly up the ramp and stopped at the top, I let her evaluate the trailer and think about what I was asking. Once I felt like she was comfortable with the idea, I asked her to follow me into the trailer itself. To my surprise she listened and let herself get clipped in and the dividers shut! With that, lack of dramatics, we were off to the new location!

The whole drive to the new barn I panicked about everything that could go wrong. Cupid might be a bull getting off the trailer, she could bite someone, I might appear completely stupid, the barn could be worse than the last place, we might get asked to leave, and finally, this could be a complete success and I would feel stupid for second guessing everything.

The trailer beat me to the new barn and I dashed to it to help, thinking that Cupid was being a complete jerk which is why she wasn't unloaded. Nope, she was nervous and pawing, but the trainer explained we were going to wait to unload her until she stopped since she wasn't scared just being impatient. The went on for 15 minutes with us verbally praising her every time she stopped. When she stood for a full minute without pawing I was given permission to start opening the dividers to get her off. With each divider we did have to stop for a minute but she picked up quickly that standing quietly would get me to move quicker. Finally, she was untied, all the dividers were down, and I was holding her expecting her to bolt off. She calmly looked me in the eye and if she could talk she would have called me an idiot for thinking she's a monster. We slowly walked off the trailer and she got all the cookies I had in my pockets, tons of praise, and a well deserved grazing/exploring session while I explained her history to the new barn owner.

As we spoke the barn owner walked me through how her integration into the herd would go. Cupid's stall is located in a shed row of 4 stalls that is located in the center of a paddock. The other three horses would be stalled during the day while Cupid is allowed to roam, then Cupid will be stalled at night while the others have turnout time. This will allow all the horses to get to know her on everyone's terms and at a comfortable pace. Eventually we'll start adding the horses into turnout with her one by one until all four horses can be left out together. Because we arrived during the day Cupid was released into the paddock and quickly started visiting with the other horses. She had a whole "squeal and pinned ears" moment with the other mare, but there were no dramatics with either of the geldings in her group.

I stuck around the barn for about 3 hours just watching her and making sure she was settling in properly. Eventually my mom started texting me that I needed to leave the horse alone and take a break so I headed to her house to take advantage of the pool.

I returned to the stable that night for about an hour just to do one final check on Cupid. All the horses were stalled for dinner so we were all able to go visit with her. She didn't seem too thrilled with the bran mash she was provided but I was informed later that she had finished it all before the girl doing barn chores came back to turn the others out. Cupid appeared relaxed and was her usual lippy self, trying to see if there were treats in our pockets or if she was able to get a good scratching from us.

Overall, I've been really happy with our move and am excited to see how the rest of our adjustment goes! My only regrets with this move are that I completely underestimated how good Cupid actually is and that we didn't move earlier. I had looked at this barn months ago but backed out because I wanted things to get better at the old place.

 ***Note, I'm completely aware that Cupid is underweight. She's currently on a light work schedule and working towards a better feeding schedule. One of the items I'll be addressing in my "Why We Moved" post will be her weight***

Weekend Recap: Boat Cruises and Puddle Jumping

This weekend was full of all sorts of fun things. Normally I deep condition my hair and do a face mask on Saturday but I was at my moms house late last night and didn't feel like doing it when I got home. So now I'm sitting in my living room watching Quantico, writing, and letting my hair and face soak. I'm honestly impressed that I managed to finish everything on my list and have time to do it today!

I woke up yesterday and dashed to the barn for my lesson. It was my last official lesson with the current trainer so it was fairly bittersweet. We worked on various exercises to help us loosen up while riding such as standing at the trot, two-point, and hugging the horse. Cupid did amazing during this lesson! She's used to me working on standing at the trot and two-pointing but the hugging at the trot is a new concept. We've encountered it in lessons but I always feel like I'm going to go over her shoulder so we never work on it. Honestly I think we "jumped" better than we ever have before. My trainer made us hug our horses through a simple 6 stride line and Cupid rocked it! Normally she zig zags through her lines but during the hug exercise we had very little drifting. She did attempt to refuse one of the last jumps but I felt myself release my right leg and pop that heel up.

After the lesson I dashed over to my moms house to shower and change. She had signed us up for a boat tour in Mt. Dora through Premier Boat Tours. The tour was 2 hours long and went through Lake Dora, and the Dora Canal. I enjoyed the tour and found our captain, John, and skipper, Sandy, to be very pleasant. The houses along the route were fun to look at and the plants were fascinating. I especially enjoyed the cypress groves. The way the trees have grown and become "tangled" with other vegetation was enchanting. The only negative of the tour was that a good portion of it was spent pointing out alligators and trying to find them. I understand that tourists are amazed by the Florida gator population but after running past ponds with them, daily, they no longer captivate me.

View of the shoreline from the boat

From the boat tour we headed to PDQ for dinner. My brother has become addicted to their Buffy Bleu sandwich and was excited to have me try it. Because I wasn't feeling like a sandwich I went with the chicken tenders which were amazing. The breading was just right and the chicken tasted extremely fresh. I plan on going to PDQ again so that I can try more of the menu, possibly even the Buffy Bleu!

They don't look like much but they were really good!

When we got back to my moms house I helped her clip the dogs nails and back wash the pool for the first time. I had previously back washed the community pool I used to work at but never a smaller personal pool. It didn't take too long to back wash but neither of us had realized doing so would drain the spa. As soon as we turned the filter on we could hear this spraying sound, like someone had turned on a fire hose. It was the jet of the spa shooting water into the wall, which was then spraying all over the deck! We played with the filter, turning it on and off, and trying different valves until we realized that the jet was supposed to be doing that. The back washing had drained the spa and the jet was refilling the spa using fresh pool water. The spa successfully filled and the water actually seemed to appear clearer!

Once we were doing playing with the pool filter and spoiling the dogs, I headed home to get ready for the next day.

Views on a morning run always make it worth the effort

This morning I woke up early and immediately went out on a run. I put in 1.9 miles at an 11'56" pace. There was a lot more walking than I wanted, but I finished my run feeling good and not like I had worn myself to the bone. I'm going to work on focusing more on building my endurance then bring speed back in a few weeks. I want to get faster but I think I need to get my endurance back first.

That shine is probably more humidity than sweat

When I finished my run I flew through my errands for the day. I had to do several loads of laundry, clean the house, meal prep for the week, clip the Tweedles nails, and tend to the plants in my backyard, all before going out to the barn to work with Cupid and do the barn chores. I'm proud to say that I completed everything and still found time to read for a bit before heading to the barn! I'm currently reading Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson. I'll do a quick write up of it once I finish!

While doing my errands I received a text from one of the other girls at the barn. She had randomly decided to work with Cupid and successfully got Cupid to stand in the water that was flooding sections of the paddocks. Normally Cupid will do everything she can think of to avoid standing in the water but this girl managed to get her to walk through a few puddles! As much as I want to be the one to exclusively work with Cupid I am extremely proud that my pony wasn't a holy terror and learned something new.

Proof that she wasn't losing her mind with the puddles

It wasn't until I got to the barn that I learned what had prompted this little lesson. Cupid was apparently being brought in from the field this morning and jumped over a giant puddle then cantered off while dragging one of the other girls. Whoops. This prompted them to work with her and get her over this fear of water. She thankfully retained this training and let me lead her through the puddle by the gate when she was turned out this evening. *Note. There is a dry gate to use for her field. It's just a bit further from the barn than the other gates.*

Sometimes she's convinced she's a draft horse and needs to run through everything/everyone

My weekend might not have been too exciting but it was extremely fun!

Friday Favorite - Plant Nanny

I blame Twitter for this app. I honestly do. As anyone who knows me in real life will know, I live off Diet Coke. It's not uncommon for me to have to go find a Diet to get ride of a migraine or just because I'm getting antsy and want one. I'm officially addicted. Like hardcore addicted. If I forget one with my work lunch then I'll dash over to the gas station next store to grab a fountain Diet, my budget bates this. Consequently, I also don't drink a lot of water because I live off Diet Coke. This is a bit of a problem when I go to work out.

So when I started seeing some Twitter accounts complain about how they feel pressure to drink water during the day so the plants don't die I knew I had to give it a shot. Which I now deeply regret.....

I have my Plant Nanny set to my WiiFit weight and Regular as my activity level. I picked Regular because working at a desk job means I sit most of the day. My daily activity doesn't compare to someone on their feet all day, every day so I figured Regular fit better than Active. The third option for Activity Level is Sedentary which I know I don't qualify for. Once you select your weight and activity level the app tells you how much water you need to drink. My water level is currently 74 oz which is way more than I typically drink in a day. Another feature of the app is Drinking Reminders which will send you alerts throughout the day reminding you to drink. I've currently got my reminders set at every 4 hours, which I honestly disregard because I ignore every alert my phone sends.

You set your water bottle level and can set multiples in case you switch between glasses throughout the day. I currently have an 8oz glass and a 24oz glass because those are the two sizes I typically drink from during the day. Adding a new glass is as simple as tapping your screen a few times and is easy enough to do on the go. As you drink you press the screen on the water icon for a few moments and it records your drink. The more you drink, the more your plant grows! Once the plant matures your can plant it in your garden and select a new seed to start.

My little Devil's Ivy in Plant Nanny

Overall, I like using Plant Nanny to track my water intake. The app isn't complicated or annoying, but is still motivating. I have noticed myself making an effort to drink more simply because I want to get a whole garden of different plants. I actually get up in the morning and start drinking water as opposed to finding whatever juice or sweet drink I have in the fridge! Plus my caffeine consumption is much lower than it has been in years, I've gotten really good at only having a Diet Coke with my lunch as opposed to several times a day.

I would highly recommend downloading Plant Nanny to anyone who is looking to drink more water during the day!
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I once again failed to get myself up this morning for an early run. So I set my daily plan for a run after I was done working with Cupid.

My whole "don't snack at work" thing is going super well....

When I got to the barn after work it was extremely hot out and Cupid had already been turned out. As always she was wonderful about coming up to me but it was clear that she would rather stay outside to graze. I got her groomed and as I was putting the saddle on I realized that I really didn't want to ride but I knew I had to work with her since she was being super willing. I ended up doing a groundwork session which we haven't done in awhile. I asked her to walk over a saddle pad on the ground, which caused no reaction even when I picked it up, shook it around, and threw it on her back and neck. She stepped up on a step with very little encouragement, then backed off it without questioning me. Then we went into the arena and worked on our walking, trotting, backing up, and lateral movements in hand. She was amazing about respecting my space and listening to me. When we were trotting she happily followed me over a small cross rail then backed up between some poles on the ground. I am extremely proud that she remembered our work from a few weeks ago!

Once I got home I changed for my run and headed out, after first figuring out plans for tomorrow with my mom. My plan was to run to a school near my house and do some speed work. The first segment of my run was .59 miles and I maintained a 10'10" pace without feeling too winded. When I got to the school I set my water down, stretched, then started my "speed" work.

Fitbit stats from my run to the school

I started at the nearest island then jogged on the right side to the second island, between the second and third I sprinted, then I jogged to the fourth, from the fourth I walked around the island then did the same in reverse. I was able to do 5 of these which hit my goal of 10 sprints today! From there I picked up my water, stretched, then jogged home using the long way for a total of 2.21 miles. My fitbit recorded the run as a 11'11" pace which I don't think is too shabby!

My parking lot for speed work

On my run I stopped at my mailbox and as I was getting my mail noticed a little cat. He was super friendly and followed me to my house with some encouragement, but didn't want the food I offered him. After sitting with him for a bit, because he wouldn't let me pick him up to bring him inside, he dashed away into some bushes. I posted him on the Nextdoor app for my neighborhood but everyone seems to think he's an outdoor cat that belongs to a neighbor. I honestly don't know what I'll do if I see him again, it kills me to see a cat like this outside. He's too friendly to not have a family.

The little kitty I tried making friends with

Well, I did great at my morning training run!

5:30am. My alarm goes off. I peek outside and see it's still dark. Roll over and go back to sleep for another hour. This whole getting back into running and dedicating myself to training is going super well! On one hand I need to suck it up and go run despite the darkness, on the other hand I should probably get my community gym card activated and go use the fitness centers. If it wasn't the rainy season, with thunder, I feel like this wouldn't be an issue.

After deciding that the run was not going to happen this morning, thanks to needing to go do Paralegal things, I got up and immediately got yelled at by the cats. Apparently having all their food on the mat as opposed to in their bowls is a crisis. Tweedles, if you didn't shove all the food out of the bowl then we wouldn't have this issue!

You've got food Bailey. Stop yelling at me!

Once I was done with everything on my to-do list at work for the day I headed over to the barn. The drive there kills me, it takes an hour and the drivers are insane. At least once every drive I'm cut off with very little clearance or tailgated by someone who could easily pass me. But it's worth it for the pony therapy time, and getting to make sure she's doing alright. Because it was extremely hot and humid today I didn't want to work her too hard. The dressage ring is used for turnout so I can't ride in it at night, and no one has mowed the jump field in a few weeks so I don't feel comfortable working patterns. We just did a few laps at the walk while asking for her to go long and low, trot work while asking for a frame and lengthening/collection, and a few laps of the canter focusing on our turns and staying balanced. Our work at the trot needs a lot of practice but Cupid works so hard to do what I ask and it's amazing to see how far she's come since our first ride last year.

After our ride, I gave her a bath including working on getting her used to having her face wet. Because I think she expects me to aim the water up her nose and in her ears I'm currently using the mist setting on the hose. Once she's comfortable with the mist setting I plan on using a light trickle on her cheeks and possibly the center of her forehead. So far she allows me to mist her face but doesn't look thrilled. She has started to play with the hose and take drinks when I offer it to her, it's this little action that lets me know she's getting more comfortable with the wash rack.

I got home after the barn and wanted nothing more than to skip my run. It was still hot and humid, and I'm super lazy. After going through various stages of bargaining, including offering to reward myself with chips and salsa, I got myself off my floor and went for my run. The plan was to just run as much as I was comfortable with. I'm not starting my official 10k plan for another few weeks so I just want to get myself to a steady 3 mile pace that's hopefully under 11:00 minutes per mile. As always my times aren't good by any standards but they're something I can do and I can only improve from here. I settled into an easy 1 mile run which resulted in an 11'24" pace. Once I finished my mile I continued for a little more just to get myself closer to my house. Overall, I feel good with myself. I got out for a run even when I didn't want to and I didn't talk a walk break until I got to my cool down starting spot.

If anyone has any suggestions for how to keep myself from getting a stitch in my side when I run in the humidity I would love you forever! 

What's Up Wednesday?

I got home from the barn. Quickly changed from my breeches to running shorts. Dashed downstairs and put on my running shoes. Just as I was locking my front door it started to pour. If it weren't for the thunder I would be trying to get a quick 3 miles in. The lifeguard in me still tells me to stay inside during thunder. So now I'm sitting on my couch, watching Netflix, and eating leftovers from last night. Yay Florida life....

On the bright side, the rain is pretty to listen to and I do need to write as opposed to my usual say I'll write and walk away.

In an effort to start keeping up with this, I'm going to try and set a few days for regular posts. Everything else will be a fun extra that I'll write as I think of it (or say I will, write it halfway then walk away). One of these regular days will be Wednesday since it's mid-week and I'm usually settled into my work week at this point. Because I'm super creative these posts will be labeled "What's Up Wednesday?" and will try to cover anything that's going on in my life. The plan will be to segment these posts into four sections: Run, Ride, Read, and Repeat. The first three sections are exactly as they sound, and the fourth section, Repeat, will be for anything else that's going on in my life.

So without further blabbering, let's begin the first "What's Up Wednesday?'!

Run
I stopped running. After the Star Wars Half Weekend I took time off to let my foot heal and didn't really start once I felt better. A few weeks ago I went and did three different runs to see where I was at in my baseline fitness. The first was on June 4th and I did a mile in a run/walk pattern, this was done in 11'01". The second was June 6th and I decided to do an easy mile without walking. This was the first time I've ever run a mile without walking since high school and I'm proud to say that I was able to complete it in 10'56"! The third run was 2.5 miles, on June 9th, at an 11'27" pace. For this run I did end up doing a run/walk pattern and I really don't have an excuse as to why I decided to not slow down and run the whole thing.

My goal is to run a 10k this fall without walking (other than water stops) which means I'll have to put in substantial training. I am currently planning on running the Celebration Rotary Club's 19th Annual Pancake Run on October 28th. My ultimate goal would be to do the 10k in under an hour, but for right now I plan on beating my PR of 1:14:46. I know I have it in me to PR, I just need to take this training seriously and make sure to run enough races before so that I'm ready to really rock it.


Ride
Cupid is doing well. We showed at the Sumter Equestrian Center in their May Hunter/Jumper/Dressage Show and did fairly well. I am in the process of finishing this recap so you should see that in more detail at a later date.

Currently, Cue and I are working on our flat work. I've started to ask her to use her hind end more and she is responding beautifully. We have plenty of moments where she is clearly confused but she attempts to respond to me and it's those attempts that make me appreciate how good of a mind she has.

The biggest news I have regarding Cupid is our upcoming move. On July 1st, Cupid and I will no longer be training with our current trainer or boarding at our current barn. I made the decision back in May to move out to the West side of Orlando for several different reasons. The main reason being that I want to have access to trails and would like to be at a property that does not flood. If you follow me on Twitter then you have seen my complaints about the current barn flooding. It will be nice to be at a place that was build uphill and has better drainage.

Read
If you follow me on Goodreads you'll see that I have been binge reading The Saddle Club series. As a joke I picked up the first book because I had read about how bad the horsemanship is. This has turned into me laughing over the writing and horsemanship, while appreciating that these are great books for the horse crazy child. When I wasn't able to ride these books let me maintain my love for horses

I'm also reading Little Women again. A few years ago I decided to start the Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge and this is one of the books on the list. I'm in no hurry to complete the challenge, I just would like to do so before I turn 30. Since Little Women is one of the longer books it makes sense to read it with ample time to finish.

Repeat
Last weekend I had my second concert with the CFCArts Orchestra, American Roadtrip. This stands as the concert I am most proud of. The music was challenging yet the entire orchestra, including myself, rose to the challenge and put on an amazing show! Manager attended one of the performances and stated that it was his favorite one yet. Our next concert is ¡Fiesta! and will be on November 3rd and 4th. I can't wait to challenge myself further and perform with the orchestra again!

Star Wars Dark Side Half Marathon 2017 Edition

Well, I'm happy to announce that I have successfully completed the 2017 Star Wars Dark Side Half Marathon! The course was fast, fun, and much nicer than last year. Despite having several different issues during training I was able to pull off a time of 2:50:17 which is significantly slower than my PR time but is my fastest time since I moved to Florida. I can't say I'm 100% happy or satisfied with my time because I know I can do better, but it's a start and a good sign that I can do this whole Florida running thing.

Like all runDisney races this one required me to get up at dark o'thirty and to the start line extremely early. I got to Epcot at 4:00 and was on the bus to Magic Kingdom by 4:15, which got me to the starting area around 4:45. While I was walking to the corrals I ended up in a pack of people that were literally stopped before corral G, which was an issue seeing as I was in corral D. I was in this crowd for a good 5 minutes before ducking out of it and walking in front of the port o'potty lines which were right in front of the corral entrances. I thankfully was able to get to my corral in time but that crush of people was insane. For next year I would like to see the port o'potties moved a bit away from the corrals as I think those lines were contributing to the back ups.

I was happy to see that Disney really cycled the corrals out onto the course extremely fast. It seemed like such a short time passed between the wheelchair start and when I started. I believe the new "wave" system was helping with this, but I don't honestly know how they were splitting the waves. For both the 10k and half I was in the first wave and did not see how the corrals were being split.

Mile 1 consisted of exiting the Magic Kingdom parking area and went by fairly quickly. I ran the entire mile so that I didn't get caught in the pack and disrupt anyone. According to my fitbit I did the first mile in 11:45, which seems accurate. You could tell that it was extremely humid out and that the end of the course was going to be extremely hot.

Miles 2 through 4 were on the roadways from Magic Kingdom to Animal Kingdom (mostly Bear Island). Other than the "fight scene" on Bear Island there wasn't really anything remarkable about this chunk of the course. It was flat, fast, and peaceful. I spent this chunk going away to my "happy place" and laughing every time I saw one of the portable lights. A friend of mine works for the company that provides them and he had told me I owe him for making sure they were set up correctly. According to my fitbit I did miles 2 through 4 in 13:04, 12:26, and 13:17.

Miles 5 and 6 were my best miles of the race both time and focus wise. Just before mile 5 I spotted a 2:30 pace group and "latched" onto them. They were doing a run/walk that seemed similar to what I was attempting to pull off. They were an extremely friendly group and I got the chance to speak with a few of them while we ran. I appreciate them "pulling" me through these miles. Miles 5 and 6 took place inside Animal Kingdom and, much to my surprise, were not as humid as last year had been. I enjoyed this section which is a first as I usually hate being in Animal Kingdom when it's hot outside. My times for miles 5 and 6 were 11:04 and 11:07 respectively.

It was during miles 7 through 10 that I effectively fell apart physically and mentally. I was hot, sweaty, tired, and my injured foot was acting up. I stuck with the pace group for most of 7 but once we passed that mile marker I gave up and focused on just moving forward at a pace that was comfortable for me. Miles 7 and 8 took place on the section of the course that I mentally broke last year and I started focusing on how hard that had been. The only positive that I took away from this section was that I didn't give up. I focused on finding people running at my pace and sticking with them for as long as I could. I did spend a good chunk of time walking because I didn't want to injure myself any further. My times for miles 7 through 10 were 11:39, 13:35, 13:14, and 13:44.

Thankfully my race turned itself around after we entered Hollywood Studios around mile 11. I can't say that my times improved greatly but my mental game got better and I was able to pull myself together. This section of the course was almost identical to the 10k and I was able to latch onto the idea that "I did it, I'm almost done". Studios was filled with photopass which is always fun to try and make sure you get caught in their camera and look somewhat decent. From Studios the course takes the river walk to the Boardwalk. Like in the 10k the river walk was congested so I focused on staying out of the way of those faster than me and moving forward. I personally love whenever a race utilizes the Boardwalk because it feels like a "home" to me. Having worked at the Boardwalk I love seeing it all lit up and the memories associated with it. My time for mile 11 was 12:38.

Almost done I think I'm allowed to make stupid faces

After the Boardwalk it was almost like a "home free" moment. You dash up the hill (or walk if you're broken like I was), then dash through the World Showcase, by the "ball", to the finish line just outside the park. I always love this section of races. The World Showcase is one of my favorite places at Disney and I love running through it. While running by the America pavilion I saw the 2:45 pace group and joined them for the end of my race. The girls leading this pace group were so energetic and seemed like fun leaders. I honestly wish I had joined them from the beginning of the race. From there my race was over. I crossed the finish line at a run and immediately grabbed my medal, cooling towel (finally!), and the post race snacks.

This race was certainly not good for me time wise. I am embarrassed by my time because I know I can do better and that I have consistently screwed up my training since I moved to Florida. At this point in my running journey I can honestly say that I need help. Training by myself does not work and is doing me more harm than good. Yes, I am finishing my races but my times are nowhere near what I'm capable of. I'm honestly afraid of doing a 5k because I know it will be over 30 minutes which after running sub-30 is humiliating for me. I've been speaking with a friend who wants to get into races and we've agreed to find a running group together. Hopefully, this will help with my confidence, mental game, and times.

As a note, this is my only runDisney race of the year. Last year doing 3 was great but financially stressful. I'm hoping to check out some local Florida races this fall that will not only be cheaper, but allow me to meet more of the running community here.