Filed under: Marcus Aurelius, Random! | Tags: fun, jumping, lesson, Marcus, winter
View from my driveway of the far corner of my ranch
I’ve been riding a lot, lately. Well, maybe not as much as I’d like but still way more than a month ago! I’ve been able to ride about three times a week given my current work schedule.
On Monday I was able to get into a group riding lesson with fellow riding students Alison and Kathryn. We started out in the arena working on lengthening the walk and getting our horses to “walk with a purpose” rather than mosy along. More energy, more energy! After about 10 minutes of walking warm-up, we moved up to the trot and canter. Marcus is very fickle about cantering to the left so we’re been working on getting him ahead of the leg. Way ahead. So we collect on the short side of the arena and lengthen on the long side using a hand gallop. Marcus also hates spurs (but only to the left… he’s so odd) so when we canter to the left it takes awhile to get him moving forward and not kicking at my feet every stride or so.
We went out to the jumping field when we were done warming up. Alison was riding Zach, our little gray pony who has recently become accustomed to bucking little kids off at the canter. My dad put her on him to work the nasty habit out of him. Kathryn was riding her usual, Stella, and she hadn’t been ridden in a couple of days. So because of the current situation my Dad set out a pole for us to trot over first. Everyone did fine, so he had us hop over a crossrail next. Once everyone was steady with that, we were instructed to figure 8 the barrels. For some reason, Marcus lit up and was a complete maniac. My dad had me keep a steady hand and leg and if Marcus grabbed the bit in the mouth, circle. If I had two approaches where Marcus grabbed the bit, I was to trot the barrels. This went on for a while, and finally towards the end Marcus had a little more sense in him. We ended on a good note.
I was not too disappointed by Marcus’ bad behavior– it was honestly the first time he had jumped in about a month or so and it was cool outside. Other than that last little bit he was a perfect gentleman!
Other than that I haven’t taken any lessons. My dad stopped in on one of my rides and gave me some insight on a couple of problems Marcus and I were having, though. He had me do counter canter to the left to loosen Marcus up and get him responsive to my leg. Another exercise he suggested was to do a rectangle in the arena making the corners as squared as possible. This requires a lot of outside leg and a bit of half pass to get it right. Marcus (and I!) preferred the counter canter.
School starts next week and I move back to Oxnard for the semester. I want to try to get out to the barn at least once a week, but things are getting really crazy at work. We’ll see! And hey, there’s always the summer!
Furry Marcus on a cold January day
Filed under: Catapult
I have a heavy heart today.
On Christmas Eve, my horse, Gumby, passed away. He was only 23 or 24 years old, I can’t remember exactly. If any of you have read or do read my horse blog you will know who he is and why he is so special. If you haven’t or don’t, let me tell you why he is so special.
We acquired Gumby at the ripe age of 4, fresh off the racetrack. My dad had clients who were looking for a horse and a trainer and friend of my dad’s knew of one for sale cheap. Apparently this horse had been bucking off all of his riders and was a complete maniac. My dad’s client tried him and disliked him greatly for she had been bucked off as well. So my mom tried him and fell in love. They worked endlessly on his bucking problems while training him for eventing. Every time she would get bucked off, cracked ribs and all, she would get back on. She loved him. Eventually though, the falling off became wearing and she gave him up to be a school horse (used for lessons). This is where I come in. About the same time my mom was getting tired of Gumby, I was getting tired of Teddy. Tired of his psychotic tendencies. Three days before my big USPC Summer Camp (let me tell you, this was huge for me. I anticipated this camp all year-long and I went to it 7 years in a row), I finally just gave up on Teddy. Now, one week of camp was $450 so my parents were not about to let me ditch out. So they gave me Gumby to use. And so it began.
My mom and trained Gumby up to Novice eventing and had won many events on him. At one event, I believe it was Galway Downs in Temecula, CA, my mom and Gumby won first and then Gumby had to be immediately emergency rushed to the hospital because he was colicking. What the doctor’s found was an extremly large enthrolith (or a build up of materials in the shape of a stone) in his colon. Surgery was necessary. When the entrolith was removed, my dad kept it to show off how humongous it was. It was probably around 10 inches wide, 10 inches long, and about 15 pounds. Huge. My dad was a high school Biology teacher so he took it to his classroom. It now resides in our barn. Isn’t that amazing though? Gumby won first place in a horse trial with this massive stone in him. Absurd.
I think it would be unfair not to tell the story of how he got his show name, Catapult. In my mom’s first show on him, we went to Camelot Riding Club. We didn’t have a show name for him and since my dad went to enter her in the show, he got to choose the name. He didn’t tell us before hand and he didn’t tell us afterwards what his plans were. We only found out when the announcer called up “Lauren Royce on Catapult!” My mom was so furious! He had chosen Catapult because he had thrown so many riders. I thought it was hysterical, even though I was only 7 or 8 at the time. But anyway, it stuck and he’s been Catapult ever since!
Back to me. So when I started riding Gumby, I was actually able to move up in levels. I had been doing beginner novice with Teddy but couldn’t move up until he stopped being such a pig. With Gumby though, I was able to move up to novice and qualified for the USPC National Festival in Lexington Kentucky in 2007. We did several events and I moved up to Horse I in show jumping as well. He’s the first horse I’ve jumped higher than 4 feet. We did a Chase Me Charlie round that got to 4’6″. Amazing.
Any who, not only did Gumby give me the skills necessary to move up in riding levels, he gave me all of his love. I know that sounds so cheesy and stupid, but horses are affectionate. They’re trusting. They can sense your emotions. We had a great bond while I was riding him and he was just as sweet as ever when he died. He gave shows his everything and I owe it to him for probably half of the blue ribbons I posses.
In his last years of his life he made several other young riders feel loved and accomplished. When I quite riding temporarily in 2007 he became a school horse again. In 2009 I took him in a competition at the end of August, winning again. In between those years, a girl named Kathryn rode him and competed on him. He’ still her favorite horse ever and will be probably forever. It was nice to know that even though I “abandoned” him, he had a little (well not so little anymore) girl who loved him no matter what and treated him well.
Unfortunately, I was not able to say goodbye to Gumby. It breaks my heart, but I know he will be watching down on me from that big green pasture in the sky.
We love you Gumby.
Love,
Everyone at Peppercorn Ranch
