Pongo and I were struggling to find the magical canter for jumping yesterday. I think we were both feeling a little sluggish. I have been on the struggle bus lately and just feeling spread a little too thin, so that might play into things.
Feed me cookies???
I had been riding him in a full cheek snaffle, but S felt like he needed some more breaks. So S had the girl try him in an elevator and it was too much for him. I got to try the Wonder bit on him. I am not sure how I felt about it. He was softer, but he was also curling behind, which I prefer bracing to curling. I don't like going towards a jump with the horse curling. It unnerves me.
Wonder Bit
Our first set of jumps was terrible at best. I think we pulled rails at every single jump. He was sluggish and behind the leg for the whole set. We put eight strides in a line that should be a forward six. I was trying to get him forward, but he was so backed off that I wasn't ever to able to recover.
The next time was a little better, we had a couple decent jumps, but he was still getting too backed off. S sent us through and added a few more jumps. I got him much more forward, but after the third jump he started curling and I wasn't sure if he was paying attention. We had the biggest jump coming up and it was freaking me out that he wasn't locking on to it. Call me crazy but I want the horse to be paying attention to the jump.
More cookies!!!!
He did see it and everything was hunky dory but it was still unnerving. After that, we finally got he bolder canter we needed and got some really nice jumps. Why is it so hard to find the canter? I think I need to spend some time playing with different canters so we can find that more forward one easier.
Last week I had a jump lesson on Pongo and we got to test out the jump course for the show. It has been while since Pongo and I have jumped a course. I think we did one last fall...maybe. It was a really fun course with lots of turns (some harder than others).
Jump Course (Can you tell I drew it?)
In case you can't follow my fantastic drawing, you start with a left hand turn from one to two. Then a tight right turn back to three. Three to four was a five or six stride bending line, with another tight turn back to 5a. It was then two strides to 5b, with a left turn to six. Six to seven was a fairly nice line with a right turn back to eight. Eight was a bending right line with another right turn to ten.
After warm up S had us start with the tricky part of the course. First we rode the bending line from three to four. Then we added in the turn to the combination. I am not going to lie that combo was a little scary. It looked big and I asked how big it was. I was kind of hoping by asking S would lower it, but no such luck. She said it was slightly bigger than beginner novice (gulp).
Such a cute face!
The first time, I totally screwed up the turn into 5a and was too far to the right and we weren't straight in the combo. He thought about bailing on 5b, but I gave him a tap with the whip and he went for it. It was pretty ugly and I felt bad for the terrible line up. The next time, I got the line right and we nailed the combo.
We took a break and I "walked" the course. AKA I rode Pongo around and looked at the lines and hoped I knew where I was going. The whole thing rode really well, but we did have a couple of issues. One, coming into the combination Pongo was getting behind the leg a bit, so I gave him a cluck and a tap which resulted in a launch at 5a. Then 5b was a little awkward and he pulled a rail. Six and seven rode really well. He got a little fast to eight, but it wasn't bad. Between eight and nine Pongo decided that half halts were optional and we totally took a flyer. I got serious with the half halt and got him back for ten.
No new media, but he is still cute.
I was really pleased with him (shocker I know...I love this horse). Sure we had that rail, but that was totally my fault, I shouldn't have given him the tap going into the combo. I think the cluck would have been sufficient. I thought the course was really fun although some of the girls at the show were terrified by it. Maybe I don't know enough to know what I should be scared of...either was it was fun.
It was a pretty quiet weekend overall. I finally got to breathe from work and was super lazy. It was pretty amazing actually. Since I had to work last weekend everything was pretty much a blur last week and while I am a morning person, it sucks getting into to work at 5 AM. The things we do for our ponies.
Cute remodel Stinker...
Stinker had kicked another board out of his stall and since he has gotten his hind shoes he has been doing a number on the wall. So ashamed of my asshole horse. Saturday I had a decent ride on him and filmed it for a video lesson (which I am super behind on blogging about them). I then rode Pongo. I am so out of shape when it comes to riding two horses.
Pongo was pretty good, we did dressage in a jump saddle. He didn't appreciate my insistence that he stay soft and move off my legs. We did lots of lateral work. Leg yields, shoulder ins, and what not. His leg yields are pretty good. The shoulder in leaves a bit to be desired, but I think part of that is me. I am much better at cueing leg yields than shoulder ins. Overall, I was pleased with him.
At least I think he is cute...
Saturday evening we had a surprise birthday party for the barn owner and it was really nice. Somehow he managed to surprise him, even though he got totally fed up with the girls that were suppose to keep him distracted and out of his house. He even offered the one driving $100 if she would take him back to the barn. This is the girl that you can get to do just about anything for $0.25.
Sunday, I was exhausted and didn't end up riding. I gave Stinker his meds and told him he was pretty. Then I went to check out the pig and ducks the girls had gotten. The barn owner is a total softy and I am praying that the pig stays little and doesn't turn out to be a 600 lb boar (it is a boy...). It is pretty cute and I will get picks of all the baby animals later. It was dark when I was out there.
My idea of adulting at its best.
Stinker is getting his teeth done...(I am still reeling from the last bill.) So far I am over a grand in vet bills for this year. In other exciting news I *might* get to go to Florida and ride with an instructor from Denmark. That isn't set in stone, because you know work and the whole I need a job to pay for said Stinker pony. Depending on the budget, I might send him anyway and have S ride him if I can't go.
This was supposed to be posted yesterday but my internet at home crapped out yet again. Boo internet providers. They charge out the wahzoo and then don't deliver...I wish I could do that and not get fired.
Anyway, as I mentioned before S took Pongo to a recognized event this past weekend. Sadly I didn't get to go. Instead I worked and watched the eventing showcase, which wasn't too horrible. Also I don't have any media from the show. Double boo.
How I spent my Saturday.
So the highlights. They were sitting third after dressage on a score of 38.5. I think that is a pretty accurate reflection of where he is at. The judge wrote he was a "darling youngster" (go Pongo!). I think he is darling but I might be a smidge bias. S said he was a little looky but overall a very good boy.
He was a total rockstar for stadium. They went double clear and S said he felt fantastic. He was super adjustable and right on point. The fences could have been a lot higher and he would have been fine.
Cross country got a little interesting. The first couple of fences were essentially glorified ground poles. Then they came down the hill to a coop and Pongo saw another horse. He was so busy staring at the other horse he didn't see the jump. When he finally looked, he ducked out. The circled and he ducked out again. I've had this happen (ditch video anyone) so it made me feel slightly better. Anyway, S got him over it and then his brain clicked on.
Looks pretty darling to me.
The rest of the course was good. He wanted to go and was over jumping a lot of things and was looky but they finished. They did pick up some time penalties and with the two stops that tipped them over 100. And dropped them into last 5th since one person was eliminated.
I am super proud of him even if his final score was crap. It was his first show ever. It was his first time hauling and his first overnight trip. He did his job and they finished. Not to mention that they rocked dressage and stadium! Sure they had a bobble on cross country but that is the first cross country course he has seen besides ours. He is young and I think he will make an awesome little eventer. Sadly, I do think he is going to be offered for sale, but S is going to wait and get him running beginner novice and schooling novice, so hopefully he will get a good home.
The younger girls kicked butt! They were 1, 2, and 7 in their division and one is now qualified for the AECs. The older girls struggled a bit in stadium, but everyone had a blast. I'm really proud of this barn because we aren't the fanciest nor are the girls aren't riding fancy horses, but they work hard and have fun. And at the end of the day it is paying off.
I am so behind on life...work is taking over. I hate adulting! Whine aside Pongo is going to the show!!! Hopefully I will get media and what not. Sadly I can't go (did I mention being an adult sucks?). They aren't going BN, S decided to bump him down to starter. Not a bad decision, because until Wednesday, she was taking her horse. Her horse is fine, she just didn't feel confident about running her with so little prep.
Anyway, back to last weekend. There was a clinic at another barn that I wanted to go watch, so I did what any horse obsessed person would do when they have guests in town. I compromised and drug my parents to the second day. The first day we went to the beach, so it was a compromise.
Thankfully, my dad sleeps a lot, so it didn't bother him to sit and watch riders nap. My mom was super into the clinic. It was pretty funny and she actually made some very astute connections. I was surprised how readily she picked up a problem one combo was having and related it back to Stinker and I. I know she is smart, but it isn't like she has ever ridden or studied dressage. Mostly just what I ramble on about.
Overall, I really liked John Mason's teaching style and I would ride with him. I would need to get Stinker more consistent and accepting of the leg before I would feel ready. Right now Stinker doesn't do so well when he is put under pressure, it has improved drastically, but I think it would be a little too much for us right now. But in the future it would be someone to keep in mind if he comes back to the area. Here are his centerline scores (and yes I always google them along with videos) and the farm he is based out of if you are curious.
The first ride we watched was a friesian mare. They were working on training level things. I liked how if the mare got rude and tried to rip the reins out of the rider's hands, John had her add leg and tighten everything up. This is something I have been struggling with, Stinker gets irritated and he roots (especially at the walk). And this gave me something to think about in terms of how to handle it better than I have been.
The canter was also rather interesting. The mare likes to trot bigger and not canter. Basically the game plan was to get the canter and ride the big forward canter to tell the mare, "yes, I want you to canter." Then, start asking for her to bring it back by half halting and almost asking for the trot but keep the legs/hips saying canter. If she breaks to the trot that is fine, but they need to rebalance and go right back into the canter. The horse tired the lady out quickly and she tended to let the horse walk when she broke from the canter. This was basically teaching the horse to break. Obviously, Stinker and I don't have this problem because his favorite evasion is add more speed. John also suggested that she canter out in the big open field for awhile where she didn't have to worry about turning so quickly. This mare had a huge stride and the corners of the arena came up very quickly on the short side.
The second ride was a spicy Dutch mare. This one was working on 2nd/3rd level I believe. She was a lot like Stinker (well better trained) but they quite a few similarities. The mare liked to be tight and curl and use speed as a way to get out of work. Hmmm...yep that sounds familiar. John actually ended up getting on, so he could feel things out. The mare was braced on the right side and pretty much faking everything. Yep sounds familiar. It pretty much boiled down into ride them forward into the contact and he utilized a lot of shoulder in/fore, haunches in/out, and leg yields on circles to get her to loosen up and really start accessing her back.
No new media so there is a kitten in a bag...
The third ride was nice, but it was mostly focusing on flying lead changes. So, I didn't focus on remembering much from it. The fourth ride, was my favorite pony ever. This pony is so spicy and sassy. He is super cute and can jump. I always wish I could ride ponies when I see him. Anyway, he is for sale, so if anyone is interested in a dressage or jumper or eventing pony (he can get quite strong on XC), let me know and I will put you in contact with his owner. They mostly worked on getting him steady and not fussy.
The clinic was quite interesting and I always like watching other people ride. Sadly, I don't have much media from the clinic, because I feel weird posting videos/pictures of people I don't know. Like I said before, I would happily ride with John. He is quick to correct, but isn't mean about it. He was German trained and I have heard some horror stories about Germans, so I was a little leery.
S's mare has been having some medical issues (off and on lameness and what not), but she was doing really well last week, so S entered an event. Well, that has gone down the crapper and S was trying to figure out a backup plan since she already paid and can't get a refund. Enter Pongo. If her mare isn't ready/sound/whatever Pongo is going to go and run Beginner Novice.
While, I really hope her mare is better, part of me is super excited that she thinks Pongo is ready and capable to do a recognized event at Beginner Novice. I also think that if she really focuses on dressage, they have the ability to do well together. He does need a bit of a tune up, so he looses up through the left side more. But he is more than capable of doing the jumping and with her confidence they shouldn't run into any problems.
I will keep everyone updated if they do go (I have mixed feelings. I want Pongo to go, but I don't want S's horse to be lame either...). Either way, I am so happy that she feels confident in what I have done with him to take him to a recognized event.
I had a lesson on Tuesday on Pongo. We were working over ground poles and getting him soft, supple, and adjustable. He was feeling quite sassy, so it was a little interesting. At first he was trying to spook at things. He lives in the jump field pasture...so he spends 14ish hours out there every day. I was not amused (ok it was a little funny, but really??). Once I convinced him life was harder when he tried to spook, he gave that up and moved on to other tricks.
Pongo tries to say he doesn't have any tricks.
He actually felt pretty good, although he sort of reverted back to his habit of tucking his head between his knees in the canter. This move makes me so nervous, because I am always afraid that he will launch me. He has never tried to buck, but this position gives me zero leverage and therefore makes me nervous.
We worked through a set of trot poles multiple times, because he kept getting over zealous and rushing. Finally, we got him nice and balanced both directions. Then we moved onto a set of canter poles. S wanted me to trot them first, just to demonstrate that he was listening to me. Mr. Sassy Pants was trying demonstrate that he knew it all.
All poles should be cantered according to Pongo.
Every time we tried to trot through it, he would start pogo sticking it. He was never rude or barging, he stay on the bit and then start hopping through the poles. I was at a bit of a loss at how to ride it (partially because I would start laughing...S was laughing too for the record). Eventually, we got things figured out and were able to move on to canter.
I seem to always end up with the weirdos and I love them for it. Hopefully, next week I will actually get to jump and have more interesting things to write about. I am really pleased with how well Pongo has been retaining his knowledge. Every week it is easier to get him working nicely, even though I am basically riding him once a week. He is a smart little cookie and lots of fun.
Poor Pongo has been very neglected lately. Between work and the lack of daylight I have been lacking in time/energy to ride/work two horses, and Pongo has been losing out. I don't think he minds too much, because he is quite chunky and very sassy.
Right now I have dibs on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. Unfortunately, I have pretty much only been able to ride him Tuesdays. And that is mainly because I use him for a jump lesson on Tuesdays.
Typically, I regret my decision not to ride him on Monday, because I have to remind him that yes he does have to be soft and supple, yes he does have to respond to my leg, and finally yes when I give him a half halt, he had damn well better half halt. This past week I got smart and rode with a dressage whip, which made the warm up process much faster. I was a little nervous about how I would manage the longer whip when jumping, but it was fine despite the fact I typically try to use my arms to fly over the jumps...
None of our rides have been fantastics, but that is mostly due to the fact that I am only riding him once a week and we always jump. He is lazy at first, then he realizes he is jumping and perks up. And by perk up I mean he tries to say I got this and I don't need to listen to you. Then he gets tired and I get tired. These lessons highlight how out of shape I am, but I am working on fixing that.
I am pleased with where he is at, because honestly he is still rather green. I have given him the most consistent work since he came off the track. And honestly I am quite firmly in the amateur/green rider group. I had never jumped before May (not counting when I was a kid and would try to get my cow horse to jump logs and ditches). I think he will make a fantastic horse, because he has a good brain and is willing.
I don't have any new pictures, so enjoy all of the old ones that I have probably used a million times. But that is what Pongo and I have been up to. It isn't a lot, but I think it highlights that even without consistent work he truly knows what I taught him over the last few months.
I finally got the photos from the Sinead Clinic. Here they are starting with the proof it really was Sinead Halpin. PS Just look at Pongo. He is >>>>>>>> cuter than me. :)
So I have talked about how Pongo is now being ridden by another girl at the barn too. I have come to the conclusion that I don't share well. While she is an excellent rider for her age (12), she doesn't have the experience or understanding to keep him where he needs to be right now. I have gotten spoiled having him all to myself because it is so much easier to make progress when I am the only one riding him.
Before our conversations were more of me saying do this and he typically would say ok. Occasionally, he would give me some sass, but in general he was working really well. I could get on him and he would start with some swing in his back. He would always be a bit braced to the left, but it would take a couple reminders and he would give. Then we could start getting him to lift and really push off from behind. Depending on his softness I would start bringing his shoulders back into line.
Now, I get on him and his back feels like a board. So, I say, "let's walk off and put some swing into the walk." Pongo, "Ummm no I don't do that." Me, "Ummm YES you do." Pongo, "Ummmm not so much..." Me, "Get it together dude. You can walk forward and put some swing in your back." Pongo, "Fine if you insist." The last is accompanied with an eye roll I am pretty sure. This type of conversation takes up the majority of the ride. By the time I get him back to snappy responses and soft, I am exhausted so I push a little bit further and typically end the ride. I find it very frustrating because I really want to move forward with him and I haven't been able to the last few rides.
On the bright side, I have a jump lesson on him tomorrow. Hopefully the pain in my legs from today pays off tomorrow and we have a good lesson. I am a little nervous, because we haven't jumped since the Sinead clinic. I also am riding Stinker before my lesson, so I might be a little tired. He has been a handful the last couple of rides.
This is slightly disjointed, but after my ride on Pongo, I messaged D and basically said I am sorry I messed up the horse (Stinker) you brought to me and that it is now nine months later and we are just getting back to where he was when you brought him to me. D being the amazing person that she is basically told me to get my head out of my ass and I should never feel like I messed him up in the first place (in a much nicer way). She kindly reminded me that he did spend 3 months off for EPM and while we should have gone through this stage earlier that prevented it.
Then because she is the smart amazing trainer that she is, she knew I was getting in my head and over thinking things and followed it up with reminded me that all horses have regressive stages. Every single horse, and it is very frustrating, but you just go back to square one and build things back up. Then one day, they go "oh yeah, I remember that" and you have another jump forward.
I have been procrastinating posting because I don't have internet at home and blogger on my phone hates pictures. I'm too chicken to put the pictures on my work computer and use it. If this post has pictures I manned up or called about my internet otherwise I am sorry for the lack of photos.
In pony news (let's face it that is all people care about) I haven't ridden Pongo since the clinic because he pulled his shoe. But yesterday the girl rode him for a dressage lesson and she said he was really good. Her standards are lower than mine, but that still made me happy. He hasn't been ridden in 1.5 weeks so at least he is consistent enough that he wasn't an asshole.
In Stinker news, I have been so proud of him. We have started cantering again and it is a mess. He locks his neck and legs go everywhere. S and I agree it is a strength thing, so lots of hills to really build up that bum. He likes to flip his leads on me (especially going left), sometimes it is both, just the hind, or just the front. He also likes to canter in the front and trot behind. So my main goal is to canter a few strides and bring him back before things get messy. Unfortunately this requires me to be very very organized, which I am not.
I have been very proud of him, because he has been keeping his marbles together. We have not had a total meltdown where I haven't been able to get him back in awhile. Sure we have moments where he loses it and goes to Stinker land, but he will now come back to me.
In addition to that I have been wanting to get S back to riding him, because I want her to be the one that starts jumping him. I don't trust myself not to accidentally create a problem since I am so green and he is easily frazzled. Rather than throw her to the wolves, I am having her ride him for one of my lessons. This way I get to see him under saddle (yay!) and I can also help her through sticky spots. With one ride down I was so proud of him. He has had anyone else on him since D hopped on him several months ago. But while he was a little anxious, he went to work for her. Their sticky spots are in the same places I have trouble. Yay it isn't my riding. But I got him through it.
Some people may be wondering why I am working with a trainer that I need to show how to ride my horse, considering that I am paying them. For me it is a no brainer. One S is a lovely patient light rider. Stinker does not respond well to force, it causes him to shut down. So I am very careful who I let on him. So far it has been D, S, and M (gives beginner lessons at the barn part time). They are all very patient and kind riders.
Technically I let one of the teenage boys on him, but that was just to scare the boy. He thought he wanted to ride Stinker and I thought it would be a good demo of why you don't want to get on just any horse. I made him get a helmet and got him on. I led them in a 20 m circle and that was enough for the kid. Sticker was a ball of tension and was prancing/scooting the entire time. But now the kid has full respect for Stinker and doesn't want to get on him again. I never turned him loose and Stinker has excellent ground manners, so I wasn't worried that the kid would fall off. He would just get to feel what a ball of tension feels like.
Anyway back to the actual point, S is fully capable of riding Stinker and riding him well. She just hasn't ever been around a horse that is like him. I'm totally ok with giving her the tools to ride a horse like him, so then in the future maybe she can help other horses. It would be very easy to create a monster that would get passed around and eventually end up in a kill pen. So why not let Stinker be a bit of a guinea pig if it could help other horses be productive? I am not worried about her creating problems. It is just about showing her the tools that D has given me.
Finally, I trust S completely. I know she won't get frustrated and do something drastic. Plus when I travel for work I want someone to be able to ride him. He does the best with constancy and I feel that I should do my best to provide him with situations that he will thrive in.
So a long rambling post later, Stinker has been doing well and I am super proud of him. Hopefully we can continue to make progress. I have a new goal for us. I want to be solid at walk trot canter and have leg yields for the end of December. We have a four day dressage boot camp and I really want to be able to start working on first level stuff. I think it is doable but it will require some hard work and maybe a bit of luck. The walk will just take time which I am ok with. There is no reason for us to rush. The canter will take strength and that also takes time. Also I really need to get him working more over his top. We are getting better but he is still inverted 95% of the time. I need those percentages to switch.
Day two of the clinic was cross country day!!! It was a super fun day and I have a very long introduction video (very crappy sound; it was super windy) with Sinead Halpin explaining pretty much everything. To start things off, she had us find our natural balance. To do this we stood up in our stirrups (no dropping your heels), leaned forward to rest our knuckles on the horses neck. This put our crotch above the pommel. Once we had our balance here, we were instructed to remove our feet from the stirrups. Say what?? I felt like I was in yoga class doing the weird inversions. Once we were "comfortable" without our stirrups we put our hands out to the side. This was to test if we were truly balanced. Pongo only sort of tried to wander off when I was wiggling around.
This was to be our position. It seemed difficult at first, but it was actually much easier to maintain than true two-point. As a side note I have played too much basketball. When a coach puts you in something like this, you don't stop until they say stop. So I was holding myself while Sinead was talking away, my legs started shaking and I looked around. Everyone else was back in their saddles... Do I get bonus points?
So there are three basic positions, there is cruising, prep, and sitting. In cruising position, you are in your balanced position. The goal of this position is to be as still as possible so the horse can just gallop without you influencing them. Any time your body moves it affects the horse. When there is something coming, you shift your upper body slightly (the amount depends on how sensitive your horse is) to the rear. This is something you want to practice until your horse is dialed in and knows that the shift means there is something coming. Ideally, you can use this to bring your horse all the way back to a walk. The final position is sitting seat. This is good for ditches, banks, young horses, and such. When you are in your prep position, you shift your hips back until they are at the back of your saddle. This leaves your feet out in front of you which will help if your horse stops. Make sure your butt doesn't actually drop into the saddle, because this becomes a driving aid.
In this video I canter in the cruise position, then shift back to the prep position, and finally drop down into a walk. This next video, is all based on the sitting seat position aka ugly sitting trot. I struggled with this (please ignore my concentrating face...it is terrible) because my dressage queen self wants to sit pretty not sit ugly.
Finally, we add jumps into this. It is all baby stuff still to get a feel for things, but I was very pleased with how well Pongo was responding. I was smart and in warm up he got a pop with the whip to get him up in front of my leg which improves everything.
After this, we moved on to the ditch which I already blogged about, so I will gloss over it. The summery is Pongo doesn't like ditches and over jumps. We were doing well, then I gave him a bad set up, so we had a few refusals. Then we got over it and to the cross rail. Yay ending on a success!
Then we went to play in the water complex. This was fun and relaxing after the ditch. We did have one little hitch with the first drop, but that was mostly because I forgot my leg and was too far forward. You can see it coming from a mile away.
I have some other interesting tidbits from the other groups. In one of the groups there was a beautiful grey mare. She was a five year old (I think) OTTB with tons of potential. Since she was green to a lot of the cross country I was happy to pay close attention to all the tips thrown their way. One thing that I thought was very useful was when they were approaching a fence/ditch/bank that the horse might refuse because they hadn't seen it before, Sinead had the rider remove leg (and all forward aids). The reasoning behind this was if the rider is not saying forward and the horse chooses to stop, then the horse did nothing wrong. As long as the horse was still thinking about going forward it was fine to stop. I missed this at a couple of regular fences, but I saw it in action at the ditch.
First Sinead had another girl jump her horse over the ditch a couple times so the young horse could see. Sinead always used a slow approach to new objects. She says speed doesn't solve problems and it only creates them more in the future. So everything was done at the trot. The first 5ish times the mare was still thinking forward, so the rider and Sinead were ok with her stopping. After the first couple, Sinead had the other girl act as a lead in for the mare. When the mare stopped thinking forward, the rider got after her and it took a couple more tries to finally get her over the ditch. Like Pongo she was over jumping, but they kept taking her back and forth over the ditch until she was calmer. Sinead didn't let the rider make a big deal out the mare jumping the ditch, because it is something that is expected and not something that is huge. The rider was allowed to tell her good job, but nothing excessive.
My elbows are always going rogue.
Overall, I learned a ton in this clinic and I would love to ride with Sinead again. I am so proud of Pongo and the fact that he was such a good boy. In fact, Sinead used the words "drunken sailor" this weekend and it wasn't in reference to him!!! Yay! Drunken sailor no more. My only regret for the weekend is I didn't think to have her sign anything. I totally should have had her sign the bottle of wine we drank (well it was only half the bottle, but it is all gone now).
