Product Review - Bucas Smartex Blanket

Now I know I have never done a product review before, but with the cold weather just around the corner (had to scrape my car off this morning!), I figured I would let you guys know about the blankets I use for our severely cold winters.  Please keep in mind, I live in an area where getting -40 degree nights and -20 to -30 temperatures for weeks on end during the winter isn't heard of so for those in a warmer climate, this may not work for you (lucky ducks).

When I first moved up here, I knew I needed to get some major winter blankets for my horse.  After some research (thanks COTH forums!) I decided on getting a Bucas Smartex.  I loved that this blanket is rated for a wide range of temperatures so that I wouldn't have to be too worried about my horse over-heating during the day or freezing at night.  The way they do this is the liner is actually a built in fleece cooler that will wick away any sweat created by overheating or if I put him back out and he's not completely dry.

I've had this blanket for two winters and it has held up extremely well.  Koda has some very destructive herdmates (looking at you Cain) who love to bite and rip and tear anything that they can sink their teeth into.  I'm SO happy to see that this blanket is well constructed on the inside and out.  Last winter Koda had lost a lot of hair from his dock because his herdmates were grabbing and yanking on that tail flap.  He lost his tail hairs, but the blanket is still intact and looking good!

Nice and snug in his rug

The thing I found really cool about this blanket is the front closure.  For those of you with horses who think they're Houdini, if you have the leg and belly straps adjusted correctly, I would be surprised if they could get out of this one!  The front closure is velcro, quick clip system (it's almost like a latch system), then some more double sided velcro to cover the first bit of velcro and the metal clip.  It creates a really nice clean look for the front and guarantees that the flap won't fold over and expose your horse's chest.

I'm so glad that I got my hands on this blanket (when it was on sale too, woot!).  This winter I'm keeping my eye out for the matching hood since I'm going to be doing a bib clip on Koda (fingers crossed nothing ELSE happens to the trailer...)

*Disclaimer: I was not paid for this post, just wanted to let people know about what type of blankets I use and like

A Riding Lesson

I was lucky this past weekend to squeak in a lesson with Kathy Playdon when she came up here to test our Pony Clubbers.  Something that was super cool is instead of taking the fee from me for the lesson, she said to make it a donation to the club instead!

I wasn't really planning on doing too much jumping in the lesson since both Koda and I have been taking it really easy lately.  I also managed to have the Fiance there with us to act as videographer (two in one, woot!).  We started off with plenty of flat work, focusing on fixing my lower back which actually ended up being a problem with my lower leg and saddle seat being a touch pommel high.  We tossed a pad under the cantle and my leg looked a LOT better, but now I need to work on getting used to my leg being back where it's supposed to be instead of pushed forward.  She gave me some exercises I can do to help correct myself and re-train those muscles.  They mostly involve going without stirrups then taking them back and keeping my leg back where it's supposed to be.

After working on the flat, we moved to doing some jumps.  Both Kathy and I agreed to keep it fairly simple since Koda was showing some struggle in the footing in the arena due to his fitness level right now.  It was kind of neat since after we warmed up she just kind of called out jumps to go too and we made a twisty course around.  It's kind of funny, she asked me to start counting down my strides and I did but apparently I count my strides down a bit differently since my "1" is the jump over the fence, so my last stride is 2.  Essentially my count down is "4... 3... 2...Jump!"

At the end, we went over some homework bits for both of us which consisted of working on quick simple changes progressing to flying changes over a raised pole and increasing complexity in our grid work, then for me its all about working on getting my leg back under me for our flat work and keeping a solid base when the jumps go up.

Autumn Photos

As it gets colder here, we have been blessed with an actual fall season this year!  Last year we had perhaps a few days, and then the snow came so I'm so happy that we've been getting this type of weather.  Autumn is my favourite season, still warm (-ish!) with no flies and no snow.  Up here we do have to worry about hunters (geese, deer, moose, etc.) and with the harvest going on the roads are fairly busy but otherwise it's a great season.  I love the colours and the SMELLS of autumn!  Now I don't mean the artificial ones like cinnamon or pumpkin spice although those are rather wonderful, but the actual smells of nature while it's getting ready for the long sleep that is winter.

The colours of autumn and the fact that the horses are getting to be a bit more fluffy (not excluding their owners... ahem) always makes me happy.  Seeing Koda wanderign about in his field with the autumn colours behind him with his dark winter coat coming in is one of the best sights in the world.  I was lucky tonight that the fiance agreed to come out and take photos of us and take advantage of the beautiful colours and light.  Sadly the days are getting shorter and shorter so we had to take advantage of the time we have!

Anyways, without further ado, here are some of the best (and worst...):

Getting ready to head out, such a high-strung arabian...
Take a look at the trailer, it looks almost brand new!  

Down the road we go (my favourite photo)

After hacking down the road and getting some photos while taking advantage of the light, I went back to the yard to do a bit of schooling to make sure both Koda and I still know our stuff even though both of us are woefully out of shape.  I didn't know that the fiance wasn't coming back with me to the yard.  He decided to go off for an adventure in one of the adjoining fields...

to watch the migrating ducks.

and I mean a lot of ducks

DUCKS UNLIMITED!

I really like this photo even though it's blurry

Once I realized he hadn't came back, I of course start running through all the awful scenarios that could had happened to him.  It's harvest season so the road is fairly busy with smaller vehicles and bigger trucks...  After calling out for him several times, I ventured back out to find my missing fiance, praying he wasn't hurt somewhere.  

Photo op!

Love this pony

Two Weeks of Silence

Hey guys!

Sorry I haven't been blogging as much lately, have been giving Koda some time off and am just not having much to write about in the sense of a riding journal.  As we transition into the fall and prepare for winter, I get stuck in this weird position of wanting to ride and go out and school gymnastic lines and movements and hacking out, but there is no final goal we're working towards.  Well, there is a long term goal, but the short-term goals aren't written in stone like a competition.  It also doesn't help that our winters are extremely nasty up here so if I try to do any conditioning/fitness work on Koda, it will all go to pot.  What I'm tempted to do is work on educating both Koda and myself, working on more of the dressage than the jumping right now since it's something I can do when I'm schooling alone (no getting off and on to set jumps, etc.) and our "arena" is still draining fairly well.

As we roll into October, I know snow is on the way and winterizing the trailer is going to be a major priority (bringing in all the lotions and potions, store the show and extra tack, and figuring out what to do with the trailer to make sure it will be okay when it gets completely covered in snow).  I am praying that we don't have such a bad winter as last year, along with the rest of the drama that happened.  At least this winter I have all that I need to keep Koda cozy and comfortable through those -40 nights!

Let's hope for a short and warmer winter!

Winter Wonderland!

Silent Sunday

Surveying his new home, April 2012

South Peace Horse Trial

I decided that Koda and I were ready to actually compete in our first horse trial.  It went REALLY well for a first time out and Koda was a rockstar.  Some sticky moments here and there, along with a couple rails in stadium due to me being too tense, but really I'm nit-picking.  He was excellent, we have plenty to work on, but we fulfilled the goal of the weekend - finishing with a number, not a letter :)

Most of the comments on our test read included either balance and/or roundness.  Some of the marking didn't make sense with the comments attached (very nice comments, but got a 5...?) but he was a good boy and we have a clear way forward.

All photos and video of our stadium round were eaten by technology, but it was nothing to write home about.  We had a fine warm-up (thanks JS and JK for all the coaching and help!), but I got tense going into the ring.  The jumps were itty bitty, so I don't think Koda was respecting them as much (same as how he usually "jumps" at the Kathy Playdon clinics).  All in all, ended up with 3 rails, but eh!  We'll work on it :)

Cross country was super fun, although the hardest part of the ride was actually the warm-up.  The warm-up fences were along the track right beside the grandstand where the show office was.  There were flowers, people, and many other distractions right beside the warm up so really, if we could deal with that, the course was going to be a piece of cake.  Once we started our course, Koda just took it and went.  It was AWESOME!  Best part of the entire course were the first 3 fences on the track where we just had that fluid motion and flew.  We had a bit of a sticky on jump 4, but crawled over and off we went.  During my course walk the night before, I checked and I could step over every jump, so I had no problems pony club kicking Koda over if he got stuck staring at anything.  

We did it!!!

South Peace Clinic Day 3 - Cross Country

On the third day, we worked on doing some banks into and out of the water and tying together mini courses for each of us.  Koda was again a super star, but you could tell he was getting a bit tired from the intense jump schooling we'd been doing in the clinic.  This day we took it easy and didn't push Koda too much, just brought him back to what was easy for him (starter and pre-entry fences) and setting the rhythm.  He was VERY enthusiastic about one bank complex and launched off, unseating me a bit but got it under control.

At this point I decided that yes, we're doing the competition, Koda is feeling good, I'm feeling good, and everything is clicking.  I was happy I had been schooling the dressage test elements already so the test wasn't a big surprise.  Stadium was going to be simple since we had no related distances or combinations, all single fences of a max height of 2'.  The only issue I could see us having was him getting overwhelmed by the show atmosphere.  One thing I did to help him out for that was for our evening walk, I'd take him up to the stadium and dressage rings for some grazing time and to let him just look around.  They had moved a couple cross country fences into the stadium ring (Prelim. cross country for the competition) which had him the most concerned.  He was snorting and glaring at them, and I couldn't help but laugh at the poor boy.  Silly gelding, the jumps don't eat you, you eat the jumps!!

Om nom nom nom nom
Grazing and cooling of the legs all in one easy step