Absentee blogger

Hi folks -- no, I've not fallen off the map! It seems life has just gotten in the way of riding.

Lori, Tango's owner, moved to another state last month, so we ended the lease in July and I sent my handsome buddy on his way down south. I miss him, but I know Lori and her family are thrilled with their move, and I'm sure Tango's got great new digs.

So I had to reevaluate my options... and rather than search for another "hitchhiking" arrangement or half lease, I decided to put a temporary hold on horseback riding for the remaining year or so of grad school. This was such a hard decision to make. But the home stretch of this PhD will be incredibly demanding on my time. To boot, my wonderful boyfriend will soon begin work on a prestigious postdoctoral fellowship out of state, and long-distance relationships are financially demanding as well. I hated to admit it to myself, but the reality is that this upcoming segment of my life just does not have room for horses.

So needless to say, I won't have posts of my own to contribute any time in the near future -- but I'll keep reading and commenting, and hopefully in a couple years I'll be back in the saddle again.

Getting Acquainted

Hey guys. Phoebe continued to get ouchier and ouchier for a couple rides so she got about a week off and I've started back riding her. The last two rides have been probably 95-99% sound. She'll step a bit short around turns every now and then, but for the most part she seems good to go.

Since our first ride we've gotten a lot more used to each other. She's an interesting ride in that she's not really off your leg when you start, she doesn't go forward, but then again she also stays at a steady tempo/speed. So I've started letting her stay in her comfort zone until we walk/trot/canter in each direction. Once she canters a bit her motor gets going and she'll go forward when you ask. Our turning has improved, we can actually stay in the ring now. ;) She tends to lean in on turns and prop on her inside shoulder, so now I'm working on that with her. She's also a good education in canter departs. If I drop her front end as I ask for the transition she runs through it, but if I keep contact she'll usually step into it nicely.

One thing I'm rapidly falling in love with are her gaits. Her trot and canter are both ZOMG-amazing ;). Super easy to sit, even once she gets rolling. I have no idea how they'd score in the dressage ring, but for riding they're a lot of fun. This evening once she got rolling I could see why she'd been at an event trainer. Cantering her around made me want to go take her XC and jump around and I'm a giant wuss :). She's just a lot of fun to mess around with. If I can keep her in consistent work for another week I'll start pushing her for more stuff. Right now I'm trying to just keep her mostly correct and let her build up some muscle. Hope everyone else is having fun.

Goodbye, Pookie-Head (Pepsi's Gone)

This is NOT the update post I want to be making, but it looks like it has to be made.

We had to take Pepsi to the vet school today because he wasn't eating his breakfast and was showing neurological symptoms. (He couldn't seem to figure out where his hind end was, what to do with his hind legs, etc.) They gave us a range of possible diagnoses, anywhere from a bone spur impinging on his nerve (from which he would probably heal completely) to EPM/EEE/West Nile Virus, which we couldn't have really done anything about.

When I left him ~2:30 this afternoon he was eating hay and seemed fairly content. Lindsay (who works at the vet school) called about 3:30 to say that she & Rachael went back to check on him before they went home and that he had a catheter in him to help him pee, but was otherwise still in good condition and was being an absolute gentleman about everything.

I basically thought we'd have to make some hard decisions Monday (which is when we were going to run all the diagnostics to avoid an emergency diagnostic fee on the weekend), but never got the chance. I got a call tonight about 8:30 that he had fallen down in the stall and couldn't get back up. The vet also said that he couldn't pee or poop on his own, so I decided to put him down.

My mom and I drove to the vet school, and I was there with him while they put him down. He was laying down in the stall, looking around and being his normal sweet & mouthy self when we got there. They gave him some hay and a giant bowl of cookies to eat, and he was quite happy with all of the food around him to munch on, and kept nosing me for more. I was there right beside him as they gave him the drugs, and he was enjoying his cookies up to the very end.

The ironic thing is that he'd been SO good lately, and we'd really started to work on some of our last remaining issues. I was SO looking forward to taking lessons on him, to taking him to different clinics, and to get him started on Adequan so that he could keep going strong.

The good news is that at least now he's able to run freely in green pastures, and he can have all the cookies he wants forever.

So everyone, go kiss your horses, tell them you love them, and then give them a carrot or a cookie from me.

~Mary

***Run free through green pastures sweetheart. I will always love you, and now you can go play with Bandit...until I see you both again over the rainbow.***

Jay gave Skate some new ideas....

for getting out of work! I think he's been reading this blog : )

Skate pulled his brand new shoe partly off early last week. The BO pulled it the rest of the way off for him. Somewhere in that process he went lame - either from stepping on the clip (first time ever in shoes w/ clips, dangit) or from bruising while waiting to have the shoe reset, or some sort of soft tissue injury from torquing that shoe off. Who knows, really.

Anyway, we soaked and buted for a few days and he came sound this past weekend. I even rode for a while and he was great. I went out yesterday to ride again and he was lame again! Maybe there's just an abscess brewing in there...so I soaked and buted him again. I'm still turning him out - he's sound enough to gallop away when I take his halter off - ha.

So, I guess we'll just take the wait and see approach.

Freebie Ride

Hey all! Finally a riding update. :)

I get to ride Phoebe for the week. She's a 16.2ish bay mare who evidently was doing some eventing previously and jumps up to 3'6" (not that there are really any jumps at the barn, but still, it's nice to know jumping is an option if I keep riding her after this. She's some sort of warmblood, I forget what though. I'll try to remember to snap a picture of her this evening.

Last night I didn't do too much, because she hadn't been ridden in over a week due to getting adjusted. She's also been slightly off for most of the 3-4 months she's been at the barn. Her feet are getting rehabbed so we're not sure if it's her feet, her body from being stiff and out of shape, or what. She works out of it and doesn't seem particularly uncomfortable so the plan for now is to just monitor it and see how things go.

She's a VERY different ride from Pro. She has no concept of power-steering, is pretty resistant to leg (she goes when you ask, but doesn't really power along), and after Pro's giraffe antics I feel like her head is at her knees ;). She was fun to mess with though and seems to have a pretty good attitude. I think I'll probably end up trying to do lots of bending exercises with her. We did some walk serpentines and then when we were trying to figure out what leg the lameness was in I did some square turns with her. She did very well with those and she apparently KNOWS dressage, so I think the lack of bending is probably just her being lazy.

I cantered her for a bit on a 20m circle and was really impressed. Her canter was much more put-together feeling and I got her to rock back some at the canter and use her butt some. I'm thinking I might be able to do lots of canter-trot transitions to get her off her forehand some at the trot?

I don't know if I'll ride tonight, it's apparently going to be freakishly hot and I'm doing stalls for the barn manager since it's her birthday. Hope everyone else has been having some nice rides as well!

Jay's Still Lame...

I thought Jay was sound, because he has been looking good in the pasture. Specifically last Wednesday the BO put another mare and gelding pony in the pasture with Jay and Jay's gelding buddy, and the pony decided that Jay should not go anywhere NEAR "his" mare. The pony became a screaming whirling dervish, LOL, and didn't make much if any contact with Jay, but he got the message across. The BO's asked me that night if I picked Jay because of his beautiful movement at the trot, because he was just lovely, so I know he wasn't lame because they definitely would have noticed.

Friday night I tacked Jay up planning to lunge him just a bit to make sure he was listening to me, and then get on for a little bit and walk around. I started off trotting him to the right...and he was still lame on the RF, about a 3 out of 5! I was so discouraged. I didn't get a reaction to hoof testers.

Yesterday DH and I pulled up to find Jay playing in the pasture. He looked good and looked pretty sound at liberty. He was DEFINITELY feeling good! I put him in the round pen, and his lameness was a grade better than Friday.

After thinking it over and talking to the BO (who was at the farriers meeting and also saw how bruised Jay's RF foot was), I think he is just still sore from the extensive bruising. I hope that is all it is. Jingles for Jay will be much appreciated!

Jay's Farriers Meeting Update

A week ago today (July 14th) Jay went to the farriers meeting at my vet clinic. Unfortunately for us, they had FOUR cases that night (they usually only have three), and for whatever reason Jay was put last. So by the time Jay's turn came, another horse was still being worked on, people were more scattered, it was getting late, etc., and Jay didn't quite get the level of attention that I had hoped for, and that he would have gotten earlier in the meeting.

Jay was definitely more sound than he was when he went to the vet June 22nd, but was still a consistent 2 out of 5 lame on the right front, and at times he was definitely 3 out of 5 lame on it. His palmar angle is 0 degrees...flat...where it should be a positive angle of 2 to 5 degrees. His soles are also thin, approximately 8mm where they should be at least 10mm thick to be comfortable.

The farrier who has been helping Jay since June doesn't shoe with traditional shoes (she is an awesome trimmer but only uses Hoof-It composite shoes), so I spoke up early on and let the group know I would need a farrier. A farrier was there that night who just moved to North Carolina from Alberta Canada, so he stepped forward to do Jay.

A few ideas on how to best help Jay were floated about, such as using a natural balance shoe, or the quick "cure" of using wedges and pour in pads. I just want a sound and happy horse! Jay had been sound in regular shoes before this, and I was concerned that putting pads, etc. on him would just give him more to grab and pull off. Jay was trimmed (revealing BAD bruising on the right front...not surprising), and several shoe options (without using wedges and pads) were discussed. Thankfully enough hoof had grown out on that right front that there was something to nail to! Because Jay has thin walls, though, a St. Croix rim shoe was used, so that the nail holes are further to the outside. Jay was trimmed to move his breakover back, and the right front was fitted a little closer in the heel.

Jay left the meeting with two front shoes on! The vet told me not to change anything about his turnout routine for a week, so he was kept on stall rest with limited turnout. Well, on Thursday morning I went out to check Jay and found him with a swollen, hot right front fetlock with a wound on the back inner side, right where it would be most "convenient" to have been hit by the left rear. I was really not happy to find this, even though I realized that Jay could have even done this some other way.

I gave Jay a gram of Bute, and by mid-day the swelling and heat were down. That night Jay was sound and obviously feeling MUCH better than he had in a LONG time. It has been apparent each day since that he is really feeling a lot better and happier. Yesterday I walked the fence line in the pasture with Jay, and turned him out for the afternoon. Today he started on his new turnout schedule!

I hate it that Jay (and I!) had to go through this, but there have already been some very positive things to come from the whole ordeal. Jay is at a much nicer, better barn. Jay, DH, and I are so much happier there! Our new BO was even interested enough to go to the farrier meeting with us! Also, this past Saturday I saw the farrier who did Jay, and got to talk with him some more. So long as Jay does well with his shoeing, I have a new farrier who would have been very hard to find otherwise because he is so new to the area. (In fact HE didn't even know he lived close to where Jay is boarded...his girlfriend who knows the area spoke up that night!) He cold shod Jay, but should it be needed he also does hot shoeing, something that is hard to find in this area.

Later this week I will be able to start thinking about riding Jay. The vet said to not even think about it for 10 to 14 days. ...OK, I admit it, I AM thinking about it, LOL!

BTW, where is everyone? I know that I am guilty of being MIA/AWOL too! It has been a busy time with moving, multiple trips per day to the barn, moving barns, etc....plus I haven't been able to ride to post any updates on that! I hope everyone comes back! :)

Pony Club Camp

Well, this is a bit overdue...but better late than never! I went to Pony Club camp the last weekend in July. It was supposed to be a mix of Pony Clubbers and Horsemasters, but it turned out to be all Pony Clubbers and one lone Horsemaster, me. Let me tell you, those Pony Clubbers are way more horsemastery than me!

I arrived Thursday evening and attempted to settle Skate in his stall. He was not a happy camper...lots of pacing and calling out. I slept in a tent outside the barn and slept maybe an hour total b/c I just knew he was going to work himself into a colic. One of his neighbors had severe allergies and spent the evening coughing - I kept panicking that it was Skate and he was choking. It was ridiculous - this is why I should never have my horse at home, I'd be a total helicopter mom.

By Friday morning he had settled a bit...I had a dressage lesson late morning. Funny thing was, once he was out of his stall, he was perfectly content. He just didn't like being in there all alone. It was also a cinder block barn - and visibility was low for the horses. The windows were barred and he couldn't really see his neighbors. Anyway, Skate impressed everyone with his ground tying skills, he was that quiet once out of the stall. I found out there were enough turnout paddocks for the him to go out in the evening, so that was my plan.

The dressage lesson was good. The woman teaching the lesson was a woman I had seen ride at Skate's first show - her horse had a meltdown so I remember it really well. We discussed how that judge was TOUGH for a schooling show - no one had scored above a 62 that whole day (I had scored a 54 and a 50, and my rides were not that bad). Anyway, we worked a lot on transitions, as I have a tendency to collapse and cause Skate to sorta shuffle into the next gate. I also learned my left shoulder is way ahead of my right. I had no idea I was that crooked. We then worked on TL 3, so I could ride that test for the fix-a-test that evening. That evening I rode the test and she scored me a 62...with instructions to work on my circles (as usual) and that Skate's not really reaching down consistently for the stretchy circle or the free walk. He stretches at first, but then pops back up, down, up, down. This was our first attempt at TL3, but it was way more entertaining than TL1. Geez, that test is boring!

Skate was out all night Friday, and was happy as a clam. I, however, was a nervous nelly over my upcoming jumping lesson. I haven't really jumped in a year! Thank goodness they let me do a private lesson. The instructor was awesome. Super positive and supportive. She helped my confidence and gave me some great position pointers to make me more secure. The lesson was focused on gymnastics....and she tricked me into doing the whole thing by saying we'd stick with poles if she felt I needed to. By the end we were doing 4 poles to a x-rail, to a 2' vertical, to a 2'3" oxer, to another 2'9" oxer! Yay! Thank you Skate, for being a trooper and toting my unbalanced butt over those.

Sunday was another jumping lesson, with the focus on our position. I sucked it up and rode with the big kids : ) That lesson was super fun. Skate was a little rushy and cranky - once the height went up he bounced the one stride and commenced to continue bouncing up and down after the line. I managed to hang on and come back through, and learned my lesson about trying to sit on Skate's withers over fences. He's already prone to getting on his forehand due to his conformation, so I've got to help him stay balanced by staying BACK over fences. I got to do the whole gymnastic with NO HANDS! That'll teach ya not to lean. The other teens were brave enough to do no hands, no stirrups, but I said no thanks to that. Ha.

We then went on to switch horses. The first horse I got on was a huge mare that was a Hobbes replica. She was the horse everyone needs to learn to jump on...very flat easy peasy jumper. I loved her although she did require some encouragement to go forward. That's the type of horse I ride better, anyway, though...Skate's tendency to get rushy has taught me a lot, but its not my specialty. The next horse I got on was a 14 h pony! She was the cutest little thing - basically pushbutton but was a jumping fool. I was terrified that she'd have to crack her back over those bigger oxers, but her jump was easier to ride than Skate's! She's got little springs for hooves.

While I was riding the other horses, Skate was getting schooled by the teens. The first girl who rode him whipped his rushy butt into shape. She's a super rider and had much better control of her body than me, so she was able to really focus on balancing him between fences. He was transformed into a cute hunter pony after she finished with him! We all agreed she rode him way better than I did - we had to critique each other's rides and discuss what we would work on with each person's horse to improve their way of going.

Lots of other things went on during the weekend; we drove to Tryon to watch a dressage show and do a little shopping (bought some Akene leather conditioner, that stuff is awesome), did a bunch of crafts (tie dye, anyone?), and watched some horsey videos. I had a great time, although I wish I had another horsemaster there with me!

Since that weekend, Skate has been a superstar. Every ride has been easy and I'm really looking forward to my lesson tomorrow. I think the 3 days of hard riding must have refocused him, maybe?

Good boy!

Pro has been great lately, and I've been miserable about updating. Friday's lesson was quite good. We started off with the poll-flexing exercise. Gayle reminded me that I need to do it SLOWLY, otherwise it becomes the razor in the monkey's hand. He really needs it done more to the left, and not so much to the right. Although he tries to overbend it right because it's easy for him and he thinks that's what I want. So then I have to carefully and slowly flex him back left, and I even saw his nuchal ligament pop back into place, which was pretty cool. Once we had him flexing AND staying attentive, we walked off. Gayle corrected my hands right away and with that, he started stretching and looking for the bit.

It's one thing to be conscious of keeping your lower legs off of the horse unless needed, but it's another to lift both your legs off the horse from the hip - I felt a few things in my lower back crack! It's sort of fluffing your legs, so the horse realizes he can poof his sides out. I remember the judge I took lessons with occasionally would have us do that periodically at the sitting trot, to sort of fluff out the horse. Pro seemed to really enjoy this fluffing, and poofed out! Unfortunately, there were a lot of distractions on Friday. Big Horse was doing some work with his owner in a nearby field, a brush hog was mowing across the pond, and the metal roof on the shed was banging and flapping in the wind. It was clear that Pro was getting nervous about these things, so Gayle stepped in to take advantage of the situation. We had to remind him that there is ALWAYS a safe place for him when he gets scared, and that safe place is chasing the bit.

So when he got nervous, I offered him the bit, and he actually remembered! He relaxed into his game of chasing the bit, and the nervousness disappeared. I was so proud. :) We did some spiraling in and spiraling out - spiraling in involves taking control of the horse's shoulder, and pushing that toward the inside. At the same time, you keep that inside hind leg engaged with your inside leg. It's easy for the horse to feel trapped here - with you in control of his shoulder and inside leg, so it's critical to make sure that they know they have an open door in your inside rein, to chase the bit. Pro hates feeling trapped, but I kept offering the inside and he relaxed! To spiral out, you switch the "door" to the other side, and open your outside aids - the horse steps over and over to fill those aids. He did so well.

We worked on longitudinal elasticity - lengthenings! Posting is following an arc, so to lengthen, you flatten that arc and post more forward, in a way. I had to remember to be prepared for his jump, and not get left behind the motion in that moment. He figured it out, and enjoyed himself! From there, we cantered, and he was just so well-behaved, and at this point Gayle had used up her lesson quota of "good boy!" sayings ;) so we ended it there.

Last night was pretty much a repeat of the lesson, only quicker. At each gait and direction I tested for the basics and once they were there, I moved on. I did let him work at the trot for a bit, since he felt really correct and it was giving his muscles a good workout. Once I checked the canter in each direction, he was done. :)

Here is us experimenting with leg-yielding - Gayle tells me to just turn my head and think sideways, and Pro SHOOTS sideways!!!


And the lengthening:

Worth the wait (for me, maybe not for you ;))

Friday morning Gayle called to let me know that she'd been kicked in the knee by her son's pony the night before so she was running late. My 10 o'clock lesson ended up being at 11, and I was a little worried about the heat, but typically once I get on and start riding I don't notice. Gayle brought out one of her Prestige saddles for me to ride in and Pro and I both loved it. I think it'd have been a good lesson either way, but in this saddle everything felt easy for me, and I think even for Pro. I was a bit concerned at first because it had HUGE thigh blocks and I've never ridden in anything that came even close. They were set far enough up and forward that they didn't really come into play except when we first started trotting and Gayle said to use them to help me do some half-halts. Other than that I never even noticed them being there.

We started off getting him to flex at the poll with the magical not-to-be-explained-on-the-internet trick Kate learned last week. Because of all the ligament damage in his head/neck from being cranked around as a baby, his poll and neck are too flexible. So I have to be very careful to get him to flex correctly and not over flex. Pro had already tuned me out by the time I asked him to walk off so I'd flex at the halt till I had his attention and his energy was pointed forward and ask him to walk off. If he went immediately to pieces then I'd halt, regather him, and ask again. After about 5-10 minutes we were able to walk off straight and engaged. With that as a start it was pretty easy to get him in front of me and thanks to the saddle and the engagement he rounded up with his back at the walk. Once I had him going forward with impulsion we worked on collecting that energy. So I had to get him out in front of me, but then once I had "forward" I had to collect him back so that I had "up". Part of doing that was giving him space to bring his withers up in front of me. Gayle had me shorten my reins a notch by moving my hands up to the next notch, not by bringing the notch back to me. That gave Pro space between my seat and my hands to come up. Pro spent a lot of the ride trying to convince me that it really was much better to do things his way, but luckily didn't have as much success getting me to dive with him or monkey with his face. I wish I could explain exactly what I did, but Gayle gave us a lot of time to just figure things out with the new saddle and me trying to not give in to the dark side, so a lot of stuff was little tiny adjustments that wouldn't make much sense on the blog ;).

We trotted both directions and worked on keeping his rhythm the same, nice and steady, but pushing him forward with NO rushing. I had to fight to keep him straight as he kept wanting to bulge (either out to the right or in to the left). Gayle had me straighten him a tiny bit at a time. Every time he'd get straighter and stretch down, I'd send him forward. The idea here was that he can't go forward and under himself unless he gets his front feet out of the way. So when he'd straighten, I'd ask for forward and get it, and THEN he couldn't really bulge as much anymore because his back feet were in the way. I love playing tricks like that on him! At the end he was taking these HUGE ground covering strides and we were all having a blast. Pro thought he was hot stuff, I was having fun because it was going so well and he felt so awesome, and Gayle was happy for both of us. She says a lot of people get intimidated by all the power when the horse is really traveling forward. I think I'm addicted instead. No worries I'll be trying to shut his gaits down. Now I just have to try to recreate it next time I ride. This heat has been giving me too many excuses to not ride...

Jay Needs Jingles!

I know I must be getting a reputation for long posts...sorry! I hope you will read, though, and I did include pictures! Jay needs some jingles!

A lot has been happening with Jay. After a little over two weeks this is what Jay's glue-on shoe looked like:

The new farrier came out 6-9-09, and removed that shoe. It was about to "remove" itself, LOL! She and I decided to try the Hoof-It composite shoes that I mentioned in my last post. I didn't get a picture of them on him, but this is what one looks like on another horse she has done:

She spent about three hours (!) working with Jay, who was not entirely cooperative at times, mainly because he hurt. Because we were trying the Hoof-It shoes, Jay's LF aluminum shoe had to come off too. There still wasn't anything to nail to, so both shoes were glued on.

Jay stayed overnight at my friend's place, where I had met the farrier, to let the glue dry. The next day I was getting reports that sounded like Jay was virtually crippled! So the farrier was super to meet me out there again that night to try to get Jay into a better situation ASAP. He was about 3 out of 5 lame which is still not good, but better than crippled! She began by removing the bar in the shoes with her nippers, and that helped Jay some, but he was still clearly uncomfortable. So off the Hoof-It shoes came! Between the shoes, glue, and overnight stay, there went about $60 down the drain! Ouch! The farrier has been great about helping me out with cost as best she can, though. She has really been great, and our next attempt was trying some hoof boots...and she let me borrow her own personal boots. So these are the Cavallo hoof boots with Happy Hoof pads inside them:

I have to add that this farrier's trim virtually eliminated the characteristic "twist" that Jay has had in his LH leg as he moves off. As we were watching Jay move, watching for it, I noticed some steps that I didn't like. So I did some neurological tests like circling and the tail pull, with not very encouraging results. I knew Jay was hurting from all the foot soreness and changes though, so I tried not to panic and took him home to see how he would settle in. The neuro tests steadily improved, so I think it was just from soreness.

Jay looked relatively good in the boots after 24 hours, and there were no signs of rubs. He had increased digital pulses which worried me, but TPR were OK, so I gave him bute. The next morning Jay looked good and seemed pretty happy, no increased pulses, and so with some more bute I made the decision, with some trepidation, to take Jay to pick up the new saddle. He looked good on arrival there, and was such a trooper and let me sit on him in the saddle for about 15 minutes to check the fit and make sure it was adjusted correctly. Not a very good shot, but here it is:

When we got home I removed Jay's boots to check everything over, and there were some rubs. Aargh! They weren't really bad, and I didn't want them to get worse, so I decided to not continue using the boots. I didn't feel comfortable trying them with vet-wrap, which is supposed to help with rubbing. I called Davie County Large Animal Hospital (DCLAH) to get an appointment with Dr. Meeker. Jay is scheduled for the farrier meeting July 14th (YAY!), but I wanted him to be checked before then. The soonest I could get an appointment with Dr. Meeker was this past Monday. The farrier met us there, too, which was really nice. She was VERY instrumental in getting Jay into the farrier meeting, too!

Dr. Meeker did a low block that blocked just the heels, and Jay went relatively sound. His coronary bands are still so inflamed from the boots that they are contributing some. He also did x-rays, and I was really nervous at this point as laminitis thoughts were being floated about. I was also worried about navicular, etc., because Jay was SO painful and lame.

Thankfully the x-rays were actually pretty good. There were no signs of laminitis and no navicular changes...YAY! However, Jay's sole depth is less than 1cm, which is about the minimum "acceptable" thickness. There is just still nothing to nail to in order to get a shoe on to protect him! Dr. Meeker said that Jay is excellent for the farrier's meeting, we just have to keep him comfortable until then. So I have found a better place to keep Jay for at least the next three weeks so that he can have good stall rest with limited turnout. The farrier also let me borrow her own Easyboot Gloves, with thicker Happy Hoof pads, for turnout.

Jay is so lame and uncomfortable that we did not get into evaluating his LH "twist," whether that is a contributing factor to the shoe pulling, and the effect that this most recent trim has had on it. Things are complicated right now!

A week off = Silly Pony

Once Skate gets used to thinking for himself, he prefers to keep it that way. He had a week off due to a death in the family so getting back into the swing of things is going to take a few rides. Last night he was rushy, tense, spooky, and on his forehand. Ugh. Good times! On the bright side, it really made me work on myself - I spent a lot of time really sitting back and deep trying to get him to engage his hind end and quit trying to dig a hole to China with his front hooves. My back is sore from having to half halt his front end so his hind end would catch up. I don't think its unreasonable to think he can canter down the long side without speeding up. We do not need to circle constantly! I spent a lot of time telling him to "get it together!"

Of course he was so opposed to listening to me, he tried to opportunize on every distraction...old rattly trucks seemed to be conveniently driving by all evening. Last week a biker went by and Skate cared less, what's with the fear of rattly trucks? I know he's totally just used to thinking for himself and I've got to reinforce that I'm the driver of this team!

I have always thought that the reason the horse was so bad after time off was b/c he was full of energy - last night I realized it has nothing to do with that. It was hot as crap, humid, and Skate goes out in a huge hilly pasture for 17 hrs a night...he is not full of energy. He was totally trying to control the situation. When he is worked regularly he is used to following my lead on the ground and undersaddle.

This weekend he'll certainly be worked regularly. I'm signed up for Pony Club camp, which includes two lessons a day in dressage, gymnastics, and XC (remains to be seen whether I'll actually be brave enough for this), plus trail rides each night of Friday through Sunday. Chubby Skate is going to boot camp! (Yes, he's actually getting his food cut back as he just slid over to the high side of the Henneke scale).

Elasticity!

Okay, so I'm finally updating my Friday lesson...I rode last week as well, but I guess I need to get more militant with myself about posting so I can actually use this blog to track my progress. **I also added pictures to Andrea's entry, so make sure to go check them out. :)

I was just getting on when Gayle arrived, so I took advantage of the timing to ask her to help with my pre-ride "ritual". We worked on standing poll flexion, which isn't anything like the way Chris Cox does it. I'm also sworn to secrecy, and made to promise that I won't teach anyone else how to do it. ;) It's something that's very hard to explain unless you're actually having someone stand next to you and show you, plus Gayle really emphasized that it can be harmful if misinterpreted and misused. But basically, I learned how to gently flex him at the poll (not his neck, at all...Gayle warned of repercussions of neck-flexing, especially when/if Pro ever gets into a double bridle!). She reminded me that the horse's atlas is a very delicate piece of anatomy, and doesn't need to be wrenched around in order to achieve flexion. Now, the neck-bending we did way back when she first started with us, that was discipline. And Gayle is quite clear on the differences between discipline and training. That was discipline, now we're training. :)

He warmed up pretty well at the walk, especially using my "high hands" trick to counter any attempts at giraffe-face. Pushing my stomach at my hand if he jigged. We moved on to the trot, and continued to practice "threading him through the bit", one piece at a time. Bump with my inside leg (or both legs, gently, to ask for a touch more impulsion), give with the inside rein when he pushes his energy back at me. Eventually we had quite the lovely trot :) and even ventured off of our circle into a figure-eight. And I bravely did my best at resisting the urge to TAKE my inside rein when he stiffened and pushed his energy back at me as we neared the bunny tree. Inside leg, give inside rein! We're making chasing the bit into his new safe place - where things feel familiar, comfortable for him. If he gets nervous, remind him to chase the bit, and he relaxes. And he did!! Finally, after many years, Pro is finally trusting me. Gayle reminded me that it will take a long time to completely undo all the misunderstandings from prior rides (both with me, and others before me). But he's finally realizing that he can trust me, and that I'll keep him safe, and always give him a safe place to go.

I also had a major conceptual breakthrough. :) I forget what triggered it, but I suddenly realized that ALL of these years, the words "on the bit" had conveyed the wrong idea to me. The horse doesn't go ON the bit, he goes TO/TOWARD the bit!!! The energy has to go forward, things have to go forward, how can things go forward if we're pulling their faces backward? Or pulling anything backward? I guess I'd "known" this in my head after working with Gayle, but it finally clicked into place and I really, truly got it. When everything goes forward, and Pro chases the bit, it looks as if he's "on the bit" when he's really always moving toward the bit.

We even cantered some, and he was so delightful about the whole thing. A nice easy transition up into the canter, and he relaxed into it. I feel like I can really sit deeper and more still when I consciously lift my lower legs off his sides at the canter. And Gayle reminded me that at all gaits, my seat looks more still if his back is up (counter-intuitive). There's no conscious going-with-the-motion of the horse (ie, moving hips, etc.) - you just sort of go with them by being still. If the horse's back is hollow, that's when your seat moves around, so it's a good way to check if their back is up...the feeling of "stillness" in your seat.

Gayle said Pro has finally (!!) developed elasticity. :) Longitudinal elasticity is the foundation of lengthening and shortening the stride, and lateral elasticity is the foundation of good lateral work. She said he's a solid 7-year old these days, so I'm just thrilled! :)

A happy moment...

I'm just going to say that yesterday Skate did what I have always wanted a horse of mine to do: He came galloping up to me in the pasture! I just went out to give him a once over and say hello and he spied me across the field and took off towards me. Sure, he just wanted a cookie...but it made my day and cheered me up after a bad week. Thanks, therapy pony : )

Reprogramming muscle memory

Sorry I haven't been blogging. There's just so much to do and so little time.

Last week I got serious about getting a new saddle and tried one out from Triangle Horse Sports. It was a little bit too wide for Pro and Gayle says that the gussetted style of panels won't sit properly on his back, so that had to go back. She thinks a Prestige will work best for him, so she's supposed to have her saddle fitter/neighbor David keep an eye out for a used Prestige in my price range ($800 or less, I'm a poor broke grad student right now). Until then I'll make do with shortening my stirrups a hole so I can post over the pommel of Kate's saddle ;). I realized about two weeks ago that I was slamming my crotch into it every stride at the trot so my butt would like some extra room. Dennis from Rocking B may come to the barn in July to fit several horses, so depending on how much that is I might buy in and have him see if there's anything closer to my price range that will work.

My lesson on Friday was hard because Gayle made sure we went to my weaker direction (going right) instead of left. To the left I apparently do an ok job of not fiddling with my inside rein, but to the right my right hand wants to do all the work still. That makes sense with what I'd noticed on my own about how I needed to keep a firmer connection with the outside rein. Unfortunately by the time my hand started understanding what I wanted Pro had already gotten pissed about me screwing around with his inside rein and gotten less cooperative. Gayle took control of my inside rein and helped get him to stop laying on my inside leg so that we could bend correctly. At the end we got a couple circles of nicer trot, though we had to go very slow to keep things at a speed I could control.

Last night the rain stopped/held off long enough for me to get a ride in. It was my first ride post-lesson and I went to the right and made myself not let my left elbow get in front of my left hip. That worked pretty well for keeping the outside rein connected. Then I tried to focus on every time I wanted to twitch my right hand bumping him with my right leg instead. If he didn't listen to the leg, he got tapped with the whip. If he didn't listen to the tap and get off my inside leg then I let myself pull his head in quickly and then immediately let go. He seemed much happier with that system than with me constantly monkeying with his head. I wasn't completely successful at staying out of his way with the inside rein, but I felt like it was progress. It's just a lot of work to stop myself from pulling inside, tell my leg to react instead, etc. We did almost the entire ride at the walk until I felt like he was stretching down and forward for the bit consistantly and taking "big boy" strides forward and was really in front of me. Staying at the walk helped give me the time to think and not worry about my balance while applying my aides. Our trot work was better than it normally is to the right, but it took a couple laps to get him back on the outside rein. It's going to take me awhile to get it right consistantly and convince Pro that I'm not going back to the way he's trained me to ride where I drop my hands and worry about his nose more than his ribs. Still, I was pleased with my progress in one ride, so hopefully by next Friday we can work on something different. :)