# Trials, Tribulations and Travels with Patti



## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

I'm going to try doing a journal. I've never been much for doing a Diary, mainly because I never liked to write. So let's see if keeping an on line Journal goes a little better. Darn ADHD anyhow.......Sparklies! :smile:

The last 3-4 years has been kind of rough on me, lots of green horse riding and quite a few accidents and broken bones, which left me with some pretty good anxiety and PTSD. We've worked on that for the last 6 months, and quit riding the greenies. No more, I can't afford another brain trauma and I sure don't need anymore broken bones. 

Patti and I went into full Western Dressage training back in Feb. of 2018. At first, all I did was shake when it came time to get on. Thanks to a wonderful trainer and an amazingly patient school horse (Thank you Snickers!), I got past that fairly quickly and started riding again. And boy has that been an eye opener. I've been breaking and riding the green ones for so long that I've lost any finesse I ever had. I have an acquaintance that wants to do Working Eq but can't be bothered with the Dressage portion. She doesn't see how riding circles will benefit her. Well, I've learned first hand that riding circles is some of the hardest stuff I've ever done. You just can't count how many ways you'll find to NOT make a circle. I'm pretty good at the D, flattening off one end of the circle. Or looking down and ending up all over the place like a drunken sailor. Suffice it to say, Patti is a lot more talented than I am. 

Patti started going to the shows with the trainer on board back in March or April, can't remember exactly. She's won every class she's done, doing the Intro Level tests. She's been up in the 70's with the trainer. Now in the next 3 weeks, we'll be doing 3 shows back to back. Let's see if I can stay in the 60's with her. We'll bee doing Intro Level Tests 1&2 and trainer will do 3&4. 

We just went to the Payne County Free Fair, it's free for residents to enter crafts, baked good, livestock and has a 4H Jr Horse Show and an Open Horse Show for everyone. I went to the Jr Show on Tuesday, July 28th, to watch the kids. Our barn kids did amazingly well, a bunch of dressage horses doing Hunt Seat and Western Pleasure! They cleaned up. The new arena has some really steep bleacher seats and it was interesting to climb up them. They have no steps in between the seat portions and so you step from seat board to seat board, which for a short little old lady like me, is challenging. Coming down was actually terrifying, it's a LONG step between those boards. I don't know what I did to my knee, but I heard a CRUNCH and had some pretty sharp pain and then had to have help getting the rest of the way down. Long story short, knee is still crunching and swollen to twice normal size.

Saturday was the open show and I put Patti in it. She's done halter before but it was Arabian/Saddlebred style halter, not stock horse style. She was unimpressed and didn't want to stand for the judge. We got 2nd anyhow, LOL! Then there was Showmanship.......yeah, well....... We got a "participation ribbon" for that one. Patti doesn't see the point in it and neither do I, so neither one of us did very well. BUT, those 2 classes served their purpose, got Patti in the strange new arena and moved all around it before I had to ride her in there. We did Western Pleasure and Horsemanship. Western Pleasure actually went really well, considering she just found her low gear about 2 days before the show. My husband was teasing me about my Saddlebred Park Horse Western Pleasure mare but she actually did a credible job, only got strong and trotting big at the very end. We got a lot of applause for that big arsed trot of hers, but obviously that's not really part of WP. S'okay, we still got a 3rd (didn't expect that! I was going to be really grateful for just getting through.) and then there was Horsemanship. Patti decided that she just wasn't interested in riding the pattern. We did OK until it was time for the large circle at the extended jog (yeah, no, we did the Park Trot thing again, LOL!) and she kept trying to run out of the circle and head for the gate. Nearly got the judge with her big butt. Patti's big butt, not the judge's. We took 3rd out of 3 in that one. It's all good though, that was our first outing since we went into training and my first show where I rode the horse in several years. So, I call that a success. Patti really didn't get bothered by much, never got stupid, just trotted real big and got kind of up headed every now and then. She didn't hit any of my PTSD triggers, so it was a good show overall. 

Patti's idea of a Western Pleasure jog vs what the rest of the world calls Park.


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## carshon (Apr 7, 2015)

I couldn't help it. I laughed out loud at the "big butt comment" good job on your first show!


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

We had another show on Saturday the 8th. I rode Patti in Western Dressage Intro Level Test 1 and Test 2. We had a blast and did very well in test 1, got a 63% and test 2 had a few bobbles in it and we got a 58%. I can't complain, she was AMAZING for me. She got strong and up headed but mostly went very nicely. It was in an indoor arena which is my least favorite place to ride, but really, it was a very nice outing. I know I have a LONG way to go, but we're back on the path. 

A friend of mine was scribing for the judge and evidently the judge really likes Patti. Kept saying she wanted to give us more in our scores but there were some issues. I got a little anxious and forgot whether I was supposed to jog or walk in one part, so walked and of course, we should have jogged. Stuff like that. But we got through it, nobody melted down or fell off. We'll work on it some more and we'll do better next time.


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## Golden Horse (Feb 20, 2010)

Ok....

First things first, how’s the knee, you did get it checked out right? Knees are on my mind right now, and I’m not sure that ignoring them, or hoping for the best gets you the best long term outcome.

Lol, it isn’t until you start riding Dressage you realize how darn hard it is to ride actual circles, rather than ovals, eggs, squircles and every other thing. No you may not NEED to, but it is a challenge that is fun to conquer. 

63% is a great score at this stage, you should be well pleased with that, now something important


Oh look squirrel



Where was I? No idea....keep dressaging on.


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

Golden Horse said:


> Ok....
> 
> First things first, how’s the knee, you did get it checked out right? Knees are on my mind right now, and I’m not sure that ignoring them, or hoping for the best gets you the best long term outcome.
> 
> ...



Ummmmm, no. I haven't had the knee checked out yet. First I was too busy trying to get ready for the real show, where we did our first tests together and then, I came home from that and got sick. Right now I've got some stupid flu/cold thing so not going anywhere. Also not riding but that will be ok, next show's not for a month. If my knee doesn't feel better when I do, then I'll go get checked. I think I might have just needed some down time, it's feeling better this morning because yesterday I was in bed all day and stayed off of it. So, we'll see how it goes in a few more days. 

I'm thrilled with the 63%! I was just praying to get through the test without a melt down, I know you know what I'm talking about. The 2nd test, the 58 is actually not an unhappy score for me, of course we'd like to have done better, but considering I was getting kind of anxious and having trouble focusing I'm ok with it. We ticked off a lot of major triggers for anxiety for Patti & me. For some reason she doesn't like the outside practice area at the dressage show. She gets very tense and high headed and has had a couple of pretty good size, "OMG NO! I CANNOT DO THIS!" episodes up there when the trainer was riding. 

One of my MAJOR triggers is other people riding out of control, not so much a problem at dressage shows but the fear is still there, especially since one of my bad wrecks was caused by a big Dutch WB taking off on his "grand prix dressage rider" and running over me and Skippy in lessons several times last year. It eventually caused me to stop riding altogether because I just couldn't bring myself to ride with them in the arena and management would not do anything about it. Needless to say, we no longer ride there. There was a palomino at the Fair show who was totally out of control and his rider was using other horses as obstacles to stop the horse. I basically told her if she and her horse came anywhere near me I would get off my horse and beat her, she decided she could get him under control and go elsewhere for her shenanigans. Problem solved. 

Patti & I went up to the dressage practice area and rode like there was never an issue. She got a little tense and I reminded her that we were up there together and she calmed right down for me. So that was a HUGE hurdle we cleared. Inside in the dressage arena, because we were having rain off and on, they had gone to a small court and left the bottom area for the next 2 or 3 riders to use for warm up. Since I'm a little claustrophobic in an indoor anyhow, I wasn't sure how that would go but the other riders were awesome and courteous and Patti was very comfortable in there. So, another big hurdle cleared. 

My trainer is just one of the most lovely people ever. She gets so excited when Patti and I can do something that 6 months ago would have left me shaking, sweating and crying, that she literally starts to cry. She is so supportive and honestly, without her, I wouldn't be riding at all right now never mind competing. So, I'm very happy with where we're at. LOL! Seeing that sentence reminded me of my mom, the grammar Nazi. She'd have said, "Yes, you're right before the AT, never end a sentence with a preposition." or something like that. 

Now if I can just get through this stupid whatever it is, so that I can breathe through my nose again........I'll start practicing for the next time.


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

Well, it's been almost 2 weeks since I updated my journal. I got sick after the last show and it totally wiped me out. Today was the first day I've been up to see Patti and ride since then. IT WAS LOVELY TO RIDE AGAIN. I've been a real devil because I've been so mad that I couldn't go ride. Missed a show and every thing. 

Today's ride was just.........ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. So nice. Patti worked so hard for me. We did stuff we haven't really done before, turns on the haunches, shoulder in, inside leg to outside rein, keep her straight, left leg, left rein, right thigh right rein......ARRRRRRRGH! It was a lot of work but it was SO FUN! I always feel like we really accomplished something after I take a lesson. Can't wait til Monday! I SO missed my girl!


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

On Mondays DH and I take a lesson together. He's been riding Cloney but really needed a more understanding horse, so we switched him to Skippy. Right, took him off the gelding and put him on the stallion, but that stallion is the easiest horse to get along with EVER. Obviously since I was working on my stuff with Patti and he was working on his own stuff with Skippy, I didn't get to see the whole lesson but what I saw was amazing. He was able to relax and even if Skippy didn't quite understand what he wanted, he gave it a HUGE try. Never got ****y once. Hubby looked like a whole 'nuther guy up there riding. I was so excited! He's been wanting to go do a show and do a lower level test or 2, but wasn't getting there with Cloney. Today I can see that come next year, the beginning of the show season, he'll be there and I'm just so happy for him I'm still wiggling. 

Patti and I had another wonderful session, learning LOTS about how to get her to respond and stay where I put her and keep her bent and/or straight without all the wigglies. It's still on and off, of course, but we've both only been doing this for 6 months. I can truthfully say PATTI has been doing this for 6 months, I've really only started to ride the last 2-3. Today trainer says, "You're going to be cantering on her really soon, you've got this trot thing down, and she has a WONDERFUL canter. It's amazing how nice it is.". I was like........"UH NO, I don't have the trot thing down yet. Patti may but I've still got a bunch of work to do before I'm ready to move up.". She's got it in her head that I'm going to be doing Basic next year, I don't feel quite so certain about that. We had a blast today. Started out with Patti just in a great mood, started out blowing and just totally happy. Then we started working on some exercises and she was super light and responsive, I couldn't have had a better ride. Just LOVED it. Man, you don't get how much you miss something until you can't go do it for some reason. 

Trainer also just got in an APHA gelding that's been standing in someone's backyard for several years, he was a real top Western Pleasure horse back in the day. She knows I love WP, can't figure out for the life of her why but I do, so she asked me to do a test ride on him. What a sweetie. He's never going to be a WD horse, he's just not forward enough for it, but someone who loves WP like I do is going to fall in love with him. He was a real nice ride. I was riding at the jog (a true jog with some suspension, not a wog) and one of the kids said, "OH MY GOD, what is she doing? That horse can't possibly want to be that slow." and trainer said, "Oh yes, that exactly what he's supposed to be doing and how he's supposed to look for WP.", kid was flabbergasted. LOL! It was a fun ride and I hope he gets an awesome home with his own little kid, he's got the patience of Job. 

That was all on Monday. Tuesday it was really nice outside, so we went out to the outdoor arena and did a bunch of work on getting her to bend and keep her hind end under her. Whew, that was a RIDE. Patti always gets really fretful and strong in that arena, still don't know why, no particular reason that any of us can figure out. So, it's a work out when we ride out there. She was fine though, never got dangerous, just fretted a bit and wanted to move BIG the whole time. As usual, got off of her and was really grateful for her and how much fun she is to ride. I love riding that mare. 

Weds. we were back in the indoor, it was on and off rainy. She loves the indoor. We have to get past that because I'd just about rather ride outdoors in any kind of weather short of lightning or a tornado. She'll get there. I have faith in my mare. This was another really good ride. We worked on my posting trot, I'm still very much defaulting to a huntseat post rather than the more upright post the dressage folks prefer. We're gonna get there. So, last show is in 2 weeks, I can't wait. 

I'm also ready for it to be the last show of the year, I am needing to have some elbow surgery and won't schedule until after the last show. Can't wait for that too, I'm tired of the pain.


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## lostastirrup (Jan 6, 2015)

I don't know why I didn't follow this jurnal before. But I am glad I am now. 🙂


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

Well, once again I lost track of time and haven't been keeping up. Story of my life, LOL! 

Patti is never going to be an easy mare. In fact, trainer keeps reminding me that in other hands she'd probably be an unholy terror. Don't know why we just "get" each other, but we do. Not saying she doesn't give me down the road fairly regularly, she certainly does. But for the most part we muddle through it and go on. Today was a "I don't like this bit. I don't care if I loved it yesterday, today I do NOT love it. And no, I am not going to get on it and get round and use my hind end properly." "Oh, BTW, don't even ask." kind of day. So we walked in circles and we trotted in circles and we jogged in circles and we fought the bit a while and then we gave in for the last 10 mins of the ride. Why? Patti says so. 

We're doing a lot of riding, this weekend is our last WDAA show until we start up again next year. I'm ready to be done. It's fun but I start to get tired by the end of the year. Patti is currently leading the pack for year end awards, she's done really well! I'm so very happy with how she's coming along. 

We have been riding 5 days/week, for 2-3 hrs/day. I wish I could progress as fast as Patti has, but I have a lifetime of various ways of riding to unlearn so I can learn to do it the dressage way. I tend to fall into a hunt seat style of riding which throws Patti right onto her forehand AND yanks my hands back and puts her head way up. Lots of unlearning for me to do. And I failed utterly at geometry in high school, appears that I'm still not any good at it as an adult. Frequently my circles are more egg shaped, sometimes on a really bad day we get triangles, frequently we get a D because Patti likes to cheat her rear end out and it flattens one side of the circle. So, we both have lots to work on. Any day spent riding on my Patti girl is a good day though. 

Today we got done riding and I put her cooler on and just petted and loved on her and scritched her backside and we just had a lovely time in her stall. She may never be the easiest horse to ride, but dadgum it, she's sure the sweetest one to cuddle! I curried and brushed and scritched and groomed her to within an inch of her life and she just stood there making all those funny faces that horses make when they're loving all the attention. And of course, I fed her cookies. That's the most important part I'm sure.


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

Well! Our last show of the year was last weekend (the 13th & 14th) and it was a 2 day show rather than our normal 1. Patti and I rode Intro 1 & 2 tests both days. Saturday was attended by the "My dream horse" mare, Sunday was the Opinionated Mini Me (Mini for short) mare. Saturday we won our classes and scored really well, mid 60s again, and she and the trainer won their classes plus the Schooling Show Championship class. Sunday she was ****y right out of the gate. She didn't want the shanked bit, but she hated the snaffle bit, so we went back to the shank because at least she doesn't fling her head around and have foot stomping fits in the shank. BTW, BOTH bits are leve 2 Myler Comfort Snaffle mouth pieces, just some days she likes the D ring better and others she likes the shank. Go figure? I can't tell you why. 

Saturday Intro 2 was ..... frustrating to say the least. We were doing AWESOME and the judge all of a sudden rang the 'of course" bell and then realized WE were fine, she was on the wrong test. Things kind of went pear shaped from there. Patti's Free Walk, while having a nice long stride and moving on out, lacked a little direction to say the least. More like, from F to H Drunk Walk, at H pick up the Working Walk again........... LOL! We still placed 1st. 

Sunday was a whole 'nutha horse. Mini went up to the outdoor practice arena and promptly threw a fit. Nothing bad or dangerous, just "NOPE, I DON"T WANNA!" and of course, that meant we hadta. Then they took a break inside and we went in to practice inside, thinking it would be better. Yeah, NO. She wanted out the gate and back in her stall. "THIS IS THE 2ND DAY, WE ONLY DO 1 DAY SHOWS!". Yeah, until we do a 10 day, Missy. Judges comments, "Well, you earned every single point you got on this test. She gave you NOTHING. I appreciate you were trying to get her to move out, she just wasn't having any of it. Well ridden and glad it was you and not me.". Funny part was, we also had a learner judge and her comments were, "You need to lengthen your reins and let her reach for the contact more. Trust your mare and move her out more." LOL! Score was 1 point less than the main judge, just funny to see the difference in how they both saw the ride. The second test we rode on course, totally great there, just were lacking in precision and of course, Mini was having her little snit fits, so no I wasn't exactly loose on the reins, nor was I being very trusting. I was actually an inch away from pulling into the center and getting off. Mini wasn't being really ugly, no bucks or rears, just didn't want to listen so I toughed it out. Like I said, she's never gonna be the easiest mare to ride. Never has been so why would she change now? She's still more fun than should be legal. We still won both our tests on Sunday and went High Point Amateur for the day. 

Glad that's over for the year! Now we'll get down to nuts & bolts of tests 3 & 4 for next year. 

Took Monday off and went up to ride on Tues. Patti was still a bit on the moddy, "I haven't forgiven you for making me show 2 days." side of things, so we worked on various basic things, things that kept her moving and thinking and responding, rather than sulling up and being ****y. Weds. I showed up and it was gorgeous so we headed to the outdoor arena and I got a feeling. Told the trainer, "Here, you get on her, I've got a feeling about how this is going to go today.". She says, "OK, but really, she's fine, look at her.". I said, "She LOOKS fine, she's not. I can feel the "I'm gonna show you" coming off her.". So, she hopped on and there it went. It was a RIDE. She got her calmed down and I got up and ........yup, rinse & repeat. We went from "NOPE, I'm not GONNA" to "NOPE, AND YOU CAN'T MAKE ME" to "You better get over yourself young lady or I'm gonna whoop ya." "BRANG IT" and so on for 2 and 1/2 hrs. She finally quit having her little tanties for about the last 10-15 mins and we rode very well for that length of time. Oh, and yup, I brang it and she got whooped on for a couple of foot stomping, backing, tearing down the dressage arena rails, things. She was a SNOT. 

Thurs is our day off so went and got feed and drove down to get our cleaned & repaired winter blankets from the blanket lady. Should be a 1.5 hr drive, with construction & traffic it took me close to 4 hrs to get down there and 3.5 to get home. Took Friday off, I needed a day off. We'll see what it's like tomorrow.


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## lostastirrup (Jan 6, 2015)

Oh my gosh. They can be such princesses sometimes. Gotta love mares. I used to show one like that, and very glad I'm no longer on that emotional roller coaster. I'm glad she gave you one lovely day and you got good comments. Mares are tricky.


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

LOL! I will say that "Princess" is not a word that crossed my lips on Sunday.


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## lostastirrup (Jan 6, 2015)

Hmmm. Perhaps you spelled princess with a "B" and a few other slightly different letters?


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

lostastirrup said:


> Hmmm. Perhaps you spelled princess with a "B" and a few other slightly different letters?


That may have occured! And Drama Diva and She Devil and........


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

We just had our "End of the Season" party and awards presentation yesterday. When I first started out with this, I didn't realize that Central Plains Dressage Society was a new organization last year, so when I see how much they've done this year, it's pretty darn amazing. Patti cleaned up for end of year awards.

She went Champion in the Overall (Western Dressage, Intro Level, Schooling and Recognized Shows) category - Open and 3rd in the Amateur category (I only showed at 2 shows, trainer showed at the others). 

She went Champion Intro Level Western Dressage, Recognized Shows - Open and Reserve Champion - Amateur

We have 2 divisions East & West, we didn't show any of the Eastern shows, so she went Reserve Champion, Western Dressage Intro Level, Schooling Shows only - Open and 3rd - Amateur. I'll be showing a lot more next year, so we're only going to go up!


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## Golden Horse (Feb 20, 2010)

Wow, CONGRATULATIONS that is totally awesome....now where are the pictures?


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

Golden Horse said:


> Wow, CONGRATULATIONS that is totally awesome....now where are the pictures?


LOL! No pics. I didn't take my camera, so ...... shrugs. :riding:


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

First post since my elbow surgery in Dec. For anyone who's interested, that tendon surgery to fix my tennis elbow is one of the ugliest things anyone has ever done to me. The bursa in my elbow turned out to be fine, the thing that was causing so much pain turned out to be a neuroma and that's now gone and it's MUCH better. That was not a terribly painful part of the surgery and felt almost immediately better. That tendon surgery though! UGH! I slept in the recliner in the living room for a week after because I was afraid to lay down in the bed and have someone bump me or to roll over on top of it. The pain meds did absolutely nothing, the thing that saved my sanity was the ice pack. I kept an ice/cold pack on 24/7 for the first week until things started to calm down. They said that surgery was rare and now I truly understand why. I'm still happy I went ahead with it, now that things have mostly calmed down, I'm having much less pain even on a bad day than I had before. Surgery 12/26/18 and finally cleared to return to riding 02/01/19, still have limited lifting and grip restrictions. So, as soon as it clears up enough to trailer, Patti will go back to the trainer and we'll start riding again, prepping for the World Champs. We can still make it! 

Patti has been being the Pasture Princess the last couple of months. She's been on vacation, which has been pretty extended, through no fault of hers. Our winter has been wet & sloppy with a couple of nice days in there but the footing in the arena was never good enough to ride. Trainer's got a lovely indoor, I don't. Patti ought to be wild as a March hare by the time we go back. It's been windy. It's been cold. It's rained, sleeted, hailed, snowed, sometimes all in one night. Yesterday my driveway was a sheet of ice, no way we were going out in that! Melted by evening, I'm just hoping that it was windy enough to dry it all out before the sun went down and re-froze everything. 

Hauling buckets through the frozen, lumpy, bumpy, slick mud yesterday was a colossal pain. I'm still limited to what I can pick up and how I can do it, and hauling seems to be one that does everything wrong to that arm, so had to haul the feed cart, the hay dolly out to the barn one armed. Yeah, that was a struggle. Trying to pick stalls one handed has also been an adventure, those muck forks can be pretty wild with just one arm/hand to control them. 

Happy news is, we've been working the youngsters on the ground and every one is doing well, including Joker the newest baby. He's been very calm during our ground work, had a few little temper fits, but nothing major or prolonged. Good news for a one armed lunging person. I have noticed that using my whip in my left hand is a problem, makes that tendon flare up real bad. Keeping it in my right hand is great except the horse is used to me being a leftie on the whip and when I have to reach across my body to communicate something with the whip, he gets confused. He's starting to understand and I think I'm getting a little better right handed.


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## csimkunas6 (Apr 18, 2010)

Couldnt figure out why I have never seen this thread before....well thats because it was started when I wasnt as active LOL....hope your elbow gets back to where you can ride again FAST! We do need some pics of Patti though.....


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

csimkunas6 said:


> Couldnt figure out why I have never seen this thread before....well thats because it was started when I wasnt as active LOL....hope your elbow gets back to where you can ride again FAST! We do need some pics of Patti though.....


Right now everyone is a muddy mess. The cremello is a pale pink, the pintos are whatever base color and pink, the palominos are kind of pinky-orange. Gotta love that OK red dirt. Can't wait for stuff to dry out and clean up.


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## csimkunas6 (Apr 18, 2010)

Dreamcatcher Arabians said:


> Right now everyone is a muddy mess. The cremello is a pale pink, the pintos are whatever base color and pink, the palominos are kind of pinky-orange. Gotta love that OK red dirt. Can't wait for stuff to dry out and clean up.


LOL!! WV had the same red clay! Rodeo was hardly ever a Paint, he was usually a solid chestnut! LOL...dont have to worry about mud in weather that stays below 0 LOL


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

csimkunas6 said:


> LOL!! WV had the same red clay! Rodeo was hardly ever a Paint, he was usually a solid chestnut! LOL...dont have to worry about mud in weather that stays below 0 LOL


As I've gotten older, I've gotten less tolerant of cold. As far as snow, unless there's a chairlift to take me to the top of the mountain so I can ski, I have no use for it.


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