It’s a bittersweet time for us. I’m very excited for where we’re going and the new opportunities we’ll have, but I’m also very sad to be leaving where we are.

His current home is with some of my very closest friends, and we’ve had a wonderful experience out there. I couldn’t have afforded to keep him for the last year without their generosity. And I couldn’t have gotten through Ace’s early training without their help. And I also couldn’t have gotten through some of the tough times of the last year without their encouragement and support.

But now we’ve gotten to a  point where we need something a little different to continue progressing in our training and for me to give Ace the time and attention he deserves.

I’ve come to a stand still in Ace’s training at my friends’ because, while it’s very nice, the arena and sole riding area is small. It works well for the more compact smaller horses, and for the kind of work my friends do with their horses. But for my big thoroughbred who is quite long nose to tail, the turns are too tight. After riding outside a bit this summer, it has become painfully obvious that Ace just isn’t comfortable moving in there. He can manage a trot, but it’s not great. And while we do a little bit of canter, the turns are just too tight. By the time we recover from coming out of one turn, we’re headed back to another. Now that he’s got a solid foundation, there just isn’t the space to do much jumping or work a dressage test. And we can’t access any trails to practice getting outside and preparing for cross country or a hunter pace.

For two months I’ve been working at a local boarding stable, bringing in horses and feeding two nights a week. It’s been helpful for my finances, but has severely decreased my time with my horse. With Ace out there, I’ll have access to all their facilities plus I’ll be able to spend more time working with him. The barn has stalls for 24 horses with a large indoor, a small outdoor, nice pasture space, a wash rack, a heated bathroom, and 3-4 hours of trails.

Because I’ve been working there, I’ve gotten to know the barn owner and the other boarders, the horses, the routine, and the level of care provided. And since I feed there two nights a week, my board is reduced and I won’t pay any more out of pocket than I do currently. I also have a buddy at the new barn who has a hunter background and is currently working towards her Centered Riding instructor certification. And she has three jumps she’s offered to share … so between her jumps and my blocks and poles, I can set up a whole course.

It’s an exciting time for me and Ace, even while it’s a bit sad to be moving on. Of course, the two barns are less than 10 miles apart. You can bet though that you’ll still find me out at my friends though … hanging out and playing with their horses from time to time!

In the midst of all this, I have been checking on Ace nearly every day, even if I just stop out for three minutes to pick his feet.

Back In His Old Digs

Ace is a happy boy these days. Dave and Tracie have a new permanent addition to their personal herd, bringing their total back up to four. Poke is a great little chesnut quarter horse; he was boarded with us for a while, and was recently given to Dave and Tracie. I rode him a bit when he was here before, and really liked him.

We have two main stabling areas at the barn. The first consists of four stalls in the end of the indoor arena, where Dave and Tracie’s horses live. They go in their stalls morning and evening to eat, and are loose in the arena during the day and night. When we had to put Classic down last December, Ace moved into her stall in the arena.

The second area is a small pole barn just in front of the arena where Ace lived when I first got him. It has two stalls and storage for hay. It has access from the stalls to a large paddock area that goes around the arena. Lately, Dave has had some horses in for training for a month or two at a time. They stay in the small barn and paddock, which makes management easy.

Now that Poke has come home and there’s a sixth horse in the mix, it made a lot more sense for Poke to live with Dave and Tracie’s other three horses in the arena and for Ace to go back to the small barn. Instead of sharing the paddock with the horses who cycle in and out, Dave split the paddock in two so each horse has his own space.

Ace seems quite happy with the new situation. He’s outside all the time, moves around quite a bit, and is even building up some muscle in his butt since his part of the paddock has a big hill. He doesn’t mind a bit being separated from his herd, but does still get some pasture time with them. I like having him out there where he has constant access to outside (which also solves my blanketing problem for this winter!).

Ace’s Elephant Memory

To my very great happiness, Ace has been 100% sound for nearly a month now. He got his feet trimmed last week, so they are starting to look much better and the bad frog has healed and grown back significantly.

Now that I’m starting to settle into the new house and schedule, I can start working my horse again. I started with some ground work over the weekend, to renew our communication skills and see how much he remembered after 6 weeks off.

It was like he had been worked yesterday.

He remembered how to do everything I asked, except to stop and disengage his hindquarters when circling. (and I can’t really complain about having issues stopping rather than going, for a change, can I?). Actually, he was doing the groundwork better than he had. We’ve honed some of our skills under saddle, so he moves his shoulders and does sideways much better on the ground now than he ever did.

This is the second injury that has sidelined Ace for at least a month, and both times he’s started right back up where we left off. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen another horse handle it quite that well.

Mostly, I now need to work on re-conditioning him. I think he’s still weak in that right stifle, because although he’s sound, it sometimes makes that popping noise if he’s not using himself well.

I’m going to lunge him over the next week, and then get back in the saddle with long walks and slowly building up the trot and canter work. I hope this nice weather holds out a while longer so I can ride outside and get him back in shape before we are confined to the arena for the winter!

I rode in my saddle, but warmed up without stirrups to keep that deep seated, balanced feel I’ve been working on. I didn’t last long, though, because my poor legs were pretty sore from days of riding bareback. So I put my stirrups down 2 holes from the hunter length where I usually ride and went to it.

Ace was light and responsive as we played with mixing up transitions to and from halt, walk, and trot. He was moving really well, carrying himself, rounding and coming on to the bit as a result. He was listening to my aids when I asked him to keep his shoulders straight. His ears were up, and as soon as we’d make a transition, he’d flick one back to me and wait for my next instruction.

I was balanced and centered, and my legs were quiet even with the longer stirrups.

I felt good about me and even better about him.

Talk about a confidence boosting ride!

It made me realize that my boy is definitely worth of the show name “Ascension.” I liked it, but it felt a little too lofty for my back-yard pony who has yet to prove himself.

But tonight he started to.

as⋅cen⋅sion
/əˈsɛnʃən/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [uh-sen-shuhn] Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1.     the act of ascending; ascent.

as⋅cent
/əˈsɛnt/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [uh-sent] Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1.     an act of ascending; upward movement; a rising movement: the ascent of a balloon.
2.     movement upward from a lower to a higher state, degree, grade, or status; advancement: His ascent to the governorship came after a long political career.
3.     the act of climbing or traveling up: Three climbers attempted the ascent of Mount Rainier.
4.     the way or means of ascending; upward slope; acclivity.
5.     a movement or return toward a source or beginning.
6.     the degree of inclination; gradient: a steep ascent.

I’ve debated between Audacious and Ascension, but decided to go with the name that gives us something to live up to. There were a several deciding factors:

1. It got my mom’s vote
2. It got OnTheBit’s vote (and we’re so alike that having horses with matchy names amuses me)
3. Jane’s comment: “I liked Ascension best – it implies ‘movement’ in the name, and that’s what you’ve been working so hard on.”
4. It’s very appropriate for either a jumper or a dressage horse.
5. It gives us something to live up to, which will keep me motivated.
6. He totally earned it today.

My thanks go out to Donna from A Velvet Cage who commented with the original suggestion of Ascension!

Despite the dumb little rodent’s prediction of six more weeks of winter, I saw the first sign of spring today …

… Ace’s summer coat is starting to grow in!

He’s not shedding yet, but I saw the disctinct shiny, soft, dark hair starting to come in underneath the coarse, long, lighter hair on his neck and shoulders. Boy was that a beautiful thing!

On top of that, we’ve had a warm weekend (mid-40’s) in Northeast Ohio and nearly all of the snow that has been on the ground since before Christmas has melted. The grass may be dirty and brown, but I sure was happy to see it.

It gave me thoughts of everything thawing and the ground drying up enough that I can take Ace out in the back fields to ride.

I’m really looking forward to spring.

Well, kind of. Ace’s owner Cheryl and I worked out a deal, so I have started making payments towards his purchase and have taken over the cost of his care. She’s happy to have someone take him who is going to love him and give him lots of attention and the training and work that he needs. I’m thrilled that she’s giving me the opportunity to have my own horse on terms that I can afford.

He hasn’t had any riding in the last few years, and only some western before that. He is very good with handling, trailers well, and lets me hose him (didn’t like the sponge much when he got scrubbed though). He’s a bit underweight and needs to build up some muscle, but we’re already headed in the right direction there. He’s already pretty, but he’s going to be gorgeous once he fills out. Ace is also a great mover.

Ace will be staying at my friends’ Dave and Tracie’s with their horses whom I’ve been riding for the last few years. He’s got a roomy stall, plenty of hay, grain, and turnout, and we also have an indoor arena to work in. I couldn’t ask for a better situation, or better people to help take care of my horse.

We will spend the next few weeks doing groundwork and probably some surcingle and tacking. Once Ace starts to fill out, gain some muscle, and is doing well on the ground, we’ll go for our first ride together.

I’ve got so many emotions right now … excitement and nervousness primarily. I’ve been excited all week. Now that I’ve actually met with Cheryl and agreed to a deal, and have gone home for the day, I’m a little bit worried about what I’ve gotten myself into. I’m pretty sure that’s normal. And I’ve been around horses my whole life, and while the opportunity just came up and the decision was made this week, it’s something I’ve been thinking about for a long time. So I really do know what I’ve gotten myself into. And I know it will all work out.

So, thank you Dave, Tracie, and Cheryl for making this possible! You are making one girl and one horse very very happy.

Oh, and a big thanks to you too, Mom. I couldn’t do this without you either.

I wasn’t horse shopping. I didn’t even really know that I was in the market for one if the right one came along. And then he moved into the small barn where I ride.

I’ve ridden my whole life, and I’ve had plenty of horses who were my project horses. My mom had a horse who was sort of mine too when I lived at home. I’ve had horses at my disposal any time I wanted for the last few years. But I’ve never had one of my very own.

Enter Ace: an 8-year-old thoroughbred gelding who was never raced, registered as Ace Brown. A dressage trainer friend of a friend bought him two years ago to use in her business, which she hasn’t been able to get going just yet. He’s stood in a pasture doing absolutely nothing for the past two years. He is about 16.1 hands, and is a nice bay color with short socks that just cover his pasterns on diagonal legs (front left and back right). He has a pretty face and a sweet eye. And he has the best personality in the whole world. He’s very sociable, but not pushy about it. And very sweet.

The first day I really played with him, he was in a small turnout with a pile of hay. He hadn’t had a good brushing in ages. And he was filthy. So I took out my brushes to see how he’d handle it. And he just stood there and leaned into it. Barely blinked. Did I mentioned he was turned out with hay and grass and water and I didn’t tie him up? He’d follow me when I went to get a different brush, and then turn there and stand stock still while I used it. I decided to see if he’d let me shorten his unruly mane. Again, he barely blinked as I shortened it — and it took a long time because he’s got a long neck and the thickest mane I’ve ever seen on a thoroughbred. Did I mention he was in a turn out and I didn’t tie him or have somebody hold him?

He also chases the barn cats. It’s hilarious.

He’s a little flighty about movement around his head, but will let you touch him any where. We’ve just started doing some groundwork with him. In just a few sessions he’s already getting desensitized to movement. He’s smart, willing to try, and learns fast. As you can see, he’s a little underweight and has no muscle, but we’re already fixing that.

I’m in love.

And Ace just might be mine very soon.

I’m working on starting a second section of this blog to chronicle our journey. I will keep the focus of this main section on horse events, news, and issues, and have a second section devoted to my personal journey. I’ll probably have it up and running tonight or tomorrow. So check back and I’ll let you know!