Liberty is a Winner and I was not a loser...

This past weekend at Parrie Haynes, I really saw what a great horse I have in Liberty...He did his first open ride. We rode 25.5 miles each day and he still had lots of energy when it was all over. He lost one point on his MAW and a few points on metabolics over the weekend, but overall, I was very impressed.

We are having issues with gut sounds. He eats like mad on the trail, but I think he gets focused on his work and the gut sounds just never circulate. I'm going to have to figure out something to do with him that helps him keep loud guts.

Liberty placed 3rd in a class of 7 (three pulls, only four left at the end) Even more impressive, he placed ahead of the horse who won the President's cup last year. I was pretty excited.

The year end results from 2009 came out as well and we did really well. I knew that we were tied for first place in novice heavyweight, but I found out we were overall novice reserve champion. I also won first in novice horsemanship (that blew my mind) and we won novice team. and....because his half Arab papers came through before the end of the year, he's also novice/CP high point half Arab. He so far has exceeded all my expectations that I could just bust.

The ponies are getting the week off while Maggie and I do Christmas crafts and just take a break. It's been cold, so staying off the horses hasn't been a struggle. Liberty continues to surprise me with his attitude too. He seems to thrive on the work. He's happier to see me when i'm riding hard and traveling a lot than he is after I have given him days off.

This year (2010) we're going to tackle open, brush up on obstacle--I'm finally going to learn to open and close a gate--do a 50 miles endurance ride and start taking dressage lessons.

Medifast today...I gained a half pound. I'm sooo frustrated. I went to the ride and I rode hard. I ate a little more than usual, but I was hungry and I burned about 1200-1500 calories each day riding hard. I only consumed maybe 1500 calories each day (well, except for Sunday when I ate cookies and drank cider) So, this week...no cheating at all. Maggie and I had lunch after my weigh in at Jamaica gates where I ate meat and salad, which is on my plan. I began to think that I should split my 6-8 ounces of protein and my 3 veggies into 2 meals instead of one. Maybe that would help with hunger? I also got some of the momentum products to help with speeding things up and appetite control.