Beamer Updates

Beamer rocked his first season of distance riding. He had a 100% completion rate, accumulating 155 miles in AERC and ECTRA. After I last blogged, he did the two day 50 at Brookfield, then completed a tough 55 miles at Hector Half Hundred. He and Chelsea wrapped up the season with a strong finish at the Jersey Devil CTR. Somewhere along the line, Chelsea switched saddles and eliminated Beamer's back soreness issues. They are both much happier in the new saddle!

Vetting at Brookfield.

The view in the Finger Lakes.

Cows are no problem. Beamer lives with them!

Last ride of the season!

Beamer also went to the beach a few weeks ago. I was originally planning to go with them, but life sort of got in the way. Still, Beamer handled the ocean and the sand and the blowing wind very well despite the fact that he's barely six!

In the process of stalking FB for relevant Beamer photos, I also stumbled upon one of him as a three year old, at his old barn, right before Chelsea got him. Look at his little baby face!

Despite the fact that Chelsea spent her year focusing on her young horse's blossoming endurance career, she still took the time to practice everything they've learned in their lessons thus far. Chelsea is diligent and soaks up every word I say, and Beamer's progress reflects that. 

Chelsea regularly rides with the girls at Gunner's barn. After speaking with the barn owner, I suggested to Chelsea that it might be a good idea for her to take advantage of the ring for our lessons. Having a defined area to work in (plus access to ground poles, etc.) would be beneficial!

Two weeks ago, we accidentally ended up having a lesson. It was the day my car died at Quick Chek. The BO picked me up for Gunner's lesson. When I arrived at the barn, Chelsea was in the ring with Beamer, and was excited to see me. Since I wasn't going to be able to drive to the rest of my lessons that afternoon, I had room to add her in! It worked out beautifully and we even popped Beamer over some cross rails that day. 

Sadly, I have no photos of that lesson, but we did schedule another one for this past week, and I remembered my camera. Of course, the day started off overcast and blustery, and my camera died two minutes before the sun came out. 

I actually caught up to Chelsea on my way to the barn. She rides over from her house and I rounded a bend in the road just in time to see a familiar bay butt trotting down the street in front of me.

I followed Chelsea and Beamer up the driveway and parked. The benefit of riding over to your lesson is that the horse is warmed up by the time you arrive! We were able to set right to work.

Over all, Beamer is looking like a completely different horse than he did at the beginning of the year. He is getting stronger and softer and more responsive. They look awesome!

Right now, we are working on a better canter transition. We are focusing on not letting Beamer run into the canter or rush once he picks it up. We're really working on a prompt transition that starts with the outside hind pushing off and the forehand lifting. It's a hard concept for Beamer, and it was especially tricky last week, when the wind was howling and the entire world was flapping and being very distracting.

Still, Chelsea insisted on proper transitions, and once Beamer picks up the canter, he's pretty good at staying balanced and starting to soften. 

As always, I have lots of good things to say about Chelsea and Beamer. The two of them are a great team already, and I can't wait to see where their partnership takes them from here. I may be biased, but my endurance riding students are some of my favorites.