What's Up Wednesday

 

It has been a WEEK! Lots to talk about and most of it pertains to Al so let's start there. As I whined about, things have not been going well for him. He's been very upset, distracted, and, well... kinda unhinged. So I reached out to my vet and while he couldn't come out immediately, he did ease my angst a bit by thinking it was likely ulcers and we can probably get this sorted out. He came out Friday to scope Al and sure enough he had ulcers. There was one really bad one in the fold of his stomach that Doc said was nearly a grade 4 (which is out of 4). So that's not ideal. 

What's extra tricky is that Al really JUST finished his last round of ulcer treatment. Which leads to several questions. Had they not healed fully to begin with? Did they return that quickly? Did the meds we used last not work? And this is why playing the guessing game and not scoping isn't always ideal. I don't love to scope because the fasting beforehand just seems so terrible for the horses. But honestly, it's worth it to know exactly what you're dealing with. Anyway, this time we have scoped so now we need to figure out which treatment plan to try this time. Al is already on Relyne which we are going to continue. (Eros gets it too, so I already will always have it on hand anyway.) Last time we treated with Omeprazole/fenbendazole as well as Misoprostol. This time we're going a different route. Well kinda. Temporarily he's on the same omep/fenben combo for a few days, but doc ordered us Esomeprazole to switch to as soon as it arrives. It's a more potent form of Omeprazole if I understood him correctly. We're also doing a course of Sucralfate. We are five days into treatment and I'm already seeing a different horse. I mean, things aren't magically fixed or anything. But the horse is so much more relaxed. Today I got on him and not three minutes into our ride all this construction equipment appeared on the road and it was... not quiet. 

I mean, OF COURSE this showed up while I was on Al, right? Wouldn't happen to Shiny who wouldn't care at all. But he actually tolerated it fairly well. I didn't push too hard about the scary part of the ring today because he was being so good about all the chaos on the road. And also, we did a walk trot ride. Played it safe. Kept the delicate flower somewhat protected. I realize some of the reason we are where we are is because sometimes I protect him too much. But he does have a painful tummy right now, so I think it's the right time to be doing that.

Post scope nap

In other Al news, we had our first session with our new trainer on Tuesday! Of course it was kind of rainy, but Al doesn't really care about rain. (He is a good boy about some things!) I'm feeling very positive about this trainer. We've actually known each other for more than 30 years so he knows my history and I know much of his too. But I've never ridden with him, so I wasn't sure of his methods. He was highly recommended from a trusted friend who has worked with him though, so I wasn't too worried. The lesson went so well! We spent a long while talking about what we've been dealing with. Trainer B asked me what I've tried and what's worked and what hasn't. And he really listened to my answers. He had some suggestions that I said I wasn't sure would work and explained my reasoning and he agreed with me. He had a lot of ideas and different approaches for every one of my concerns so I'm excited to get to work and try things out. But I digress, let's get back to the lesson. He didn't roll his eyes at me when I said it does seem to help Al take a breath when we walk the ring before mounting, and he said great, let's do that! After our stroll I mounted up, and we discussed where Al sees monsters and then he had us walk a bow tie shape all up and down that section. When Al did his stop and stare, trainer B had me get him moving but not by force. He said the horse is afraid, so we don't force him to do what he's afraid of. Get him to agree to move forward and then continue. So we did that. And slowly but surely he started to relax. We did have to wash, rinse, repeat the whole thing at the trot. But he came around nicely. We actually didn't touch on the canter. There was a lot of discussing and what not during the lesson, and I could tell Al was getting a little tired in the brain. We had a long session the day before, and so I asked trainer B if he wanted to do more, or let Al quit on what we had done. He said he was really happy with where Al finished (walking on the buckle up and down the monster side!) and didn't see a need to keep working just to work. And he also said he was glad I wasn't the type to want to keep going just to do all the things in every ride. 

We chatted for awhile in the barn about what he thought about Al, and he said it wasn't at all what he was expecting. In a good way! He agrees with my vet that a lot of our issue was likely the ulcers. He thought Al seemed like a kind horse who wants to do the right thing. Which is what I think about him too. So time to will tell, but I'm feeling optimistic. Which is a very nice change from the spiral I've been living in for the past many weeks! Let's hope tomorrow there's no surprise construction outside (or next door...) and we can really practice some of our new methods. 

Eros seems to be feeling pretty good these days too. He's been a little sassy about the far end of the ring, but nothing terrible. I'm guessing there's some wildlife out there that he can smell and I cannot. Silliness aside, he's been putting in some good work lately. We do the equiband once a week, and we've been jumping once a week too. If the weather would cooperate I hope to get to twice a week jump schools soon. He's been really good to the jumps. It HAS to be the doxy. That's the only change in his life. Zero torpedos in the last two schools! I'm not sure if it's because doxy makes them feel a little blah, or if it's because the doxy is helping the lyme... So I guess we'll see if the torpedoes return post meds. He still has a couple weeks left so TBD I guess. I tried to bring Pivo out today, and the results were all over the place. I set up two of them. I have a broken one that no longer tracks, but can zoom in and out and then I have a "good" one. But the latest upgrade seems a bit buggy. I actually think it tracked my entire ride on Eros, but (user error here) I forgot to put my phone on airplane mode. When I was approaching to stop the video and save it, I heard the beep of doom. The app closed itself and I got nothing. Nada. ZILCH. So disappointing. Thankfully the broken one got a few jumps. 

I'll keep trying. I feel like every summer I have to re-learn how to use this thing. I also filmed Al with both cameras but we didn't do anything exciting. "Good" Pivo only tracked some of his ride and then chose to stare at the sky for awhile. Bad Pivo did what it can, but I didn't really have it pointed in a good spot for our flat work. 

I got the most useful footage with Shiny, but only kind of. The sun finally came out for my ride on her, which good Pivo liked, but Bad Pivo was kind of shooting into it, though it was also cloudy on that side of the property...  So it's like a tale of two weather fronts. (New England is a trip this time of year.) Anyway, Good Pivo tracked her for the most part, but was tilting too high (I have a Pivo X which can tilt up and down) and apparently didn't feel like zooming was necessary. It also was bouncing back and forth a lot. So the video is nauseating, but it did allow for some cute screen shots. I'll take it. Better than staring at the sky! Pony was pretty good today, but she was a little lazy. I did her last and I think she wasn't here for it honestly. I really appreciate that she still does the thing even if she doesn't feel like it. She doesn't fuss much or put up a fight. But she does pick her own pace and throws you the bird if you try to force something else.

Pony version of the finger.

Overall she's going well. I'm not sure she's thrilled with the saddle set up anymore, so I need to really start hoarding my pennies so I can get something else for her. I've been stalking the used saddle sites for her specs, but so far coming up empty. Hopefully something will pop up soon. 

Good Pivo, cutting off the feet.

Bad Pivo getting the best shots, but the worst lighting

Good Pivo in the sun

Bad Pivo facing the clouds AND the sun

Last weekend was kind of chaotic with non horse things:

Beautiful Dinner in the rose garden at my friend's house
But of course it started raining just after we sat down to eat so 
we had to move indoors. Lol!

A Midsummer Night's Dream with my bestie on Saturday night
She lives an hour from me, so it was a late night

Sunday morning I was up bright and early (5am this time which was much better than last week's 4:15) to do the chores so I could be showered and dressed appropriately to attend my nieces performance in Finding Nemo kids. I gotta tell you, these kids plays are adorable, hilarious, and complete chaos. Only like 1/4 of them can remember their lines or where to stand. Chaos. It's adorable. I had about three free hours after that before I had to be at Father's Day dinner. But in those three hours I had to feed also, so it was more like two and a half hours. Not enough time to ride. Or do any sort of project. So instead I took a nap. I think it was the best option. 

This weekend is quiet thank goodness! I have a horse to braid Thursday night, and family dinner Friday, and then nothing but horses on the schedule! It's supposed to start getting hot and humid, but I think we'll stay in rideable temps through the weekend. Monday and Tuesday though I think they'll have off. Monday is supposed to be in the 90's with feels like of 100, and Tuesday the high is 98 with a feels like of hades. Wednesday only looks mildly better so that might be a tack walk day... But they never really know this far out. We'll see how it shakes out. 

Fingers crossed the weather forecast is wrong about the highs so Al and I can have another lesson. Until next week friends!

What's Up Wednesday

 

Another week flew right by! Having a holiday in the middle always makes the time pass differently. With Thanksgiving on Thursday our lesson schedules were kind of shifted this week and poor Shiny didn't get to have one. I'm not completely sure she'll have one this week either... 

Normally I lesson with Eros and Shiny on Thursday mornings. But the barn owner doesn't really like us doing morning lessons in the winter when we're all stuck in the indoor because she has to do her training rides at the same time. So this week, there is only one open slot before she starts riding and I'd rather do Eros if I have to pick one. BO heads to Florida at the end of December though, so after that, we can get back to our old schedule. In the meantime I'll just keep trying to find a lesson that Shiny can fit into. It's tough because she only jumps 2' (sometimes 2'3") but most of the kids at the barn either jump 2'6" or cross rails. And the ones that jump cross rails do like two a lesson, not courses. I guess it's not the end of the world if Shiny takes a break from jumping for a few weeks. Boring, but not the end of the world. She's feeling pretty good these days at least.

Eros fit into a lesson on Saturday morning this week. I may actually do it again this coming Saturday. It's nice to jump a couple times a week when we can. He was pretty good for that lesson, but I was apparently not awake all the way when I was tacking up as I put his flat bridle on instead of his jumping one. He prefers less bit to jump (we flat in a three ring, but he likes a dee bit to jump). When Eros isn't completely happy, he likes to turn on the turbo thrusters upon landing off the fences. But it's fine. Even when he does that, he means no harm, and there's no real danger happening. I just lose my ability to half halt... Lol. Who needs that anyway? I'm also looking forward to later in the winter when the ring is quieter for his lessons. It can be tricky when he's feeling torpedo-y to try and dodge people not in the lesson. 

Al lessoned Wednesday and Sunday last week, and then again today. We already chatted about last Wednesday. Sunday went great! He was SO BRAVE at the end of the ring! They had set a new course, which involved a gymnastic (four jumps, each with 1 stride in between) and then a regular course. The warm up was through the gymnastic on it's own. First the easier way for us which meant jumping toward the barn, not at the dragon's lair (that's what Al calls the scary end). Then we reversed and did it the other way. Al was great, and by the end the out was a nice size. Once that was going well for all of us, we tacked on more jumps to make a course. Al was great through each course. Like, focused and using the whole ring. So good. To finish we popped over an oxer on the rail that trainer put up a little bit since it was riding so nicely each time. 

Look at this Very Good Boy good-boying all over the place

I think it was only 3'6" but it looked bigger. Regardless, I was proud of us. He just was so ridable and I didn't do anything to mess it up. And that right there is a good day in the saddle if you ask me. 

Our lesson today was with a a rider that's working to move up to the 3' and another that's prepping for a 3'3" debut, so the fences were smaller, but the courses were challenging, and that's a combo I like just fine. Al wasn't quite as brave at the end today, but he had a good excuse. I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned this here, but I might have... The winter barn is built across the street from an active rock quarry. Which means that on occasion they do blasting over there. In the beginning, they used to text the barn to let us know it was happening, but now they just do it whenever. If you've never experienced rock blasting, it's basically an underground explosion. So the whole ground shakes and there's a large boom. Oddly enough, it doesn't really bother the horses that much. Some blasts are bigger than others, but the horses always seem to just kind of shake it right off. Of course, when it happened today, I was on Al right next to the scary doors. Because where else would we be? And while it didn't revert him back to full on terrified, he is once again a bit more weary down there than the last few days. It's tough to be Al. Even though that happened and he was feeling a little nervous, he was still a very good boy and was willing to jump toward the dragon's lair. Oh! And for both of these lessons, once we were warmed up, I took off the draw reins. I HATE jumping with draw reins (even though mine are so long, they aren't in his way) so I'm so happy to be getting brave enough to take them away. I've only been using them to help me hold him off the spook and spin. And hopefully (fingers crossed) the spook and spin is phasing out. For now at least.

The dentist is coming tomorrow for the equine kids. I wish it was later in the winter. Additional bills at holiday time is such a bummer! But the barn schedules that stuff so we do it when it happens.

And that's about the it from here. Things are going well with all of the horses despite it being ridiculously cold here already. Like highs only in the 30's the last few days. Seems early for that nonsense. Does not give me warm fuzzy feelings for the rest of winter! But you can't change the weather, only your layers. I'm just really thankful for wool.

Hope all is going well with you all! Has it gotten ridiculously cold your way too? 

What's Up Wednesday

 

We are getting into a groove over at the winter home, and I got to lesson on everyone this past week. Only once each since the clinic was happening both weekend days, but I'll take it! 

We talked about Al's lesson last week already since it was on Wednesday. But we had another today, with one of the juniors. Her mom was there to watch and she was so sweet and videoed all my jumps too. Barn moms are the best moms. I haven't had a chance to make clips yet, so no video to share but I have some grainy screen shots at least. 

Al started the lesson being Al. He was spooking at pretty much life in general, but for whatever reason (which I really need to figure out) I was had my big girl pants on and just rode him through it. It wasn't easy. He was making me work ridiculously hard. But I did it, and I'm very proud of myself. If only I could do that every ride. Maybe he'd get better? 

(Side note: I ride with my physical therapist and we were chatting the other day about things that are a hinderance to our confidence. And I mentioned that my knee makes me more anxious because I worry that I'll do more damage if they spook and it wobbles like sometimes happens. She reassured me that since it is in fact ruptured I can't damage it anymore. She said unless I fall off, things like that won't cause any more damage to it. So that did give me a little more bravery anyway.)

Okay, back to the lesson. I just barely survived the flat portion because Al was really making me work for it today. But that's okay. Next came the jumping. 

Spoiler alert: we jumped at the scary end!

The course was still set from the clinic, so the outside lines were up against the rail. Which I think worked in my favor for jumping toward the scary end. Al's afraid of the doors in the center of that short side, so jumping against the rail meant we were facing into the corner and not so much at the doors themselves. So that was nice. Trainer wanted us working on the add stride today, and the courses were very basic. The junior riding with me is currently working on keeping all the strides the same length in the lines, so the add stride made that extra tricky for her. For Al and I, just jumping around the full ring is a pretty big challenge, so we don't really need super hard courses at the moment. Plus he was so behind the leg today, the add stride was pretty welcomed for me. I know Al has plenty of stride (when he feels like it...) so I'm not worried that I can't make the correct numbers. 

While I had to work pretty hard to keep Al moving throughout the course, I was pretty happy with our ride today. We used the entire ring, and I didn't have trainer get on and do it first. I did it all myself. Like a big girl. With big girl panties. The jumps stayed on the smaller side, but like the distances, I know Al can jump a big fence. Sometimes that's not the most important part of a lesson. Actually USUALLY that's not the most important part. 

I hope you enjoyed these blurry screen shots from our lesson today, because unfortunately, Eros and Shiny have lessons early in the day when no one is around to video for us. So I have pretty much no media for the rest of this post... Sorry! Enjoy the wall of text to come! 

Eros was my first lesson on Thursday. I was in a group with two other adults who are super fun ladies. One of them has a horse in his mid teens who has the same sire as Al. And he can be a bit Al like too... But at his age, he's starting to settle down. The other horse in the class is an older gentleman who actually belonged to a friend of mine before his current owners. The horse world is so small. Anyway, we're all in the same place fence height wise, meaning we max out around 2'3 with these horses. Eros CAN jump a little higher, but he doesn't need to all the time. So it's a great group for us. The only tricky part about morning lessons is that we're trying to lesson while head trainer and assistant trainer are doing their training rides. So it's kinda busy. Sometimes we have to circle mid course and what not. That's just how it is when it's winter and we're all stuck indoors. I have a hard time in traffic because I worry about where everyone is all the time and don't focus enough on what I'm actually trying to do. But despite all that, I had a great lesson. Eros mostly kept a lid on the zoomies and with his freshly injected hocks we had no trouble getting the correct number of strides this week. 

Shiny's lesson was right after Eros'. We had a private which was perfect since she's just kind of getting back into a groove. Also, it had warmed up enough that training rides went outside, so we had the indoor to ourselves. She's feeling great after her maintenance. (PLUS, our favorite body worker was out later that day, so now she's feeling even more extra great.) Anyway, we did some flatwork that really pointed out where she's weak, and I felt the same things carry over when we were jumping. This was really useful information for me, so we have some homework to get her stronger behind. I don't think there's any real problem, I just think she needs more muscle. 

We moved on to jumping, but we kept things small. I felt like she was ready to jump bigger, but she was also a wee bit spicy, and I had a feeling that if we put the jumps up we might also be turning up the sass. So, we stuck to cross rail courses for this lesson. She was happy to be jumping for sure, and after the first four fences of each course, she really started to take me to them. Once she starts taking me to the jumps, she becomes much more adjustable and it feels like we could do pretty much anything- move up, wait, roll backs. Whatever. I just wish I could get her there sooner in the course. She's just such an opinionated mare, you have to kind of make it her idea. And I have to figure out how to make that happen sooner. I think a stronger hind end will help though. Time will tell. 

On our ride today I reintroduced collected canter to Shiny. It's something I've been avoiding when I knew she needed some vet work because I knew it was very hard for her. But now that she's feeling good, it's time to bring it back. And it's still hard for her, but she did it! Both directions! Not only did she do it, but she was able to lengthen both into and out of the collected canter. It was hard to get her collected from the lengthen, of course, but once she really understood what I was asking, she was right there for it. She's really smart. It's just the opinions that sometimes get in our way. Thankfully, she kept those in check today.

In non riding news, it's been fun back at the boarding barn so far. They have a kind of happy hour on Fridays which I don't always attend, but we've had some birthdays to celebrate so I do try to show up for those. And yesterday we did a barn Thanksgiving potluck which was really fun. So it's nice to have a kind of social life lately. 

So that's pretty much the rundown on this week. Things are going well, and I'm happy with how the horses are going. How are things with all of you and your horses? Getting lessons in this time of year? 

What's Up Wednesday

 

Okay, I promise I didn't forget this time either. It was just a very long day! I rode horses all day, and then drove an hour up to Uconn to give a braiding clinic tonight. It was super fun. I think I should do more of them. 

There were actually a lot of people in attendance, about 20 I'd say. Which normally public speaking isn't my thing. but it's a lot less scary when it's something you actually know about. That's me in the back of the above photo brushing the horse's mane. In case you didn't realize how short I am, that's a Morgan. Maybe 15 hands. Ha! Uconn has a Morgan breeding program so most of the horses in their riding school are Morgan horses. It's actually a strong breeding business, and Uconn horses are successful out on the regular Morgan circuit. Of course, that doesn't lend to great manes for learning hunter braids on... But we did the best we could. Anyway. That's where I've been all evening instead of drafting this post.

The horses are pretty well settled into life at their winter home. Last week, I had lessons on both Eros and Al. I had one planned for Shiny on Saturday, but we were able to get on the vet list for Friday, so we wound up having to cancel that one. She'll lesson tomorrow finally though. 

Eros' first lesson went really well. He was nice and quiet and jumped around. But he was a little short strided, which I've been having at home too. I figured he was due for some vet maintenance though, so I wasn't too worried about. And still am not too worried about it. He got to see the vet Friday as well, and should be all lubed up and ready to go for tomorrow lesson. 

Sleeping off his vet visit

He had the weekend off, and has been a little spicy this week after all that vacation time. Spicy for Eros though? Generally not a big deal. I have a feeling that stride will be plenty open for our lesson tomorrow though. Hopefully not TOO open. Time will tell.

Al's first lesson went mostly well too. We rode with the assistant trainer as regular trainer was at a one day show. The jumps stayed small, but we managed to use the majority of the ring, and I think we jumped everything in there. I was happy with it. We had our second lesson today, and it went well too. He's still ridiculous about the end of the ring, and I asked trainer to hop on and jump him down the line that was headed toward the scary end before I did it. Because I was being wimpy. But she did, and then I got on and did it. And we jumped all the jumps both directions. Toward the scary end, away from the scary end. All of it! Jumps were still small, but a little bigger than the other day. Which, honestly, I don't need to jump big all the time. Neither does Al. He knows how. I think he gets easier the bigger the jumps are so that makes it not scary for me. I'd rather preserve the horse and work on all the things I need to work on over smaller fences. Come spring when shows are on the horizon, we can start jumping higher again. I will also note, that as silly as he is about the one end of the arena, he is a lot better than he was last year about it. Partly because I'm trying really hard to handle it better, and hopefully partly because he's growing up. Haha... Hopefully. He is such a child. I wish you all could meet him. He has so much personality, but it's the personality of your typical 6 year old boy. Must touch everything. Maybe give all the things a shove. Taste them. Knock them over. Paw at them. He's a lot. But I love him.

And then there's Shiny pants. I've been feeling for awhile now that she was due for some vet work, but I was waiting until we moved because it's easier to get an appointment at the bigger barn that at my house. To be real, my vet's business has grown a lot, and I am pretty aware that he's looking to phase out the smaller barns like mine. So I try not to rock the boat because I'm really attached to my vet, and the other options around here are not great. Anyway, we got on the list for Friday as I mentioned. She had her hocks and neck done and also got a shockwave treatment on her neck. On most horses, I don't really feel a huge difference after maintenance. But on Shiny? She feels AMAZING. Like so fluid and bendy and even more forward. Science rules. I can't wait to jump her around tomorrow. I think she's looking forward to it too. She gets bored just flatting all the time. 

I'm not sure how much riding I'll get done this weekend. There's a Nona Garson clinic at the barn, but I opted out of riding in it. I can't imagine she'll be all that understanding about my horse who doesn't use the entire ring WHERE HE LIVES, and it would just be spending a lot of money to annoy the clinician. I could do Eros, but he also does not thrive in the clinic setting. He likes a quick warmup, jump around a few times, and then put him back in his house. After about 25 minutes of work, he just goes about pulling me out of the saddle and complaining about how hard his life is. Again, a lot of money to spend to annoy the clinician.  I did do Shiny one year, but the jumps kept getting bigger, and she wound up over faced and started stopping. I don't want to put her in that situation again. It wasn't fair to her. So yeah. I'm sitting this one out! If the weather cooperates there should be an extra ring to ride in, but if it's raining or crazy cold/windy there won't be. So we'll see if I get them ridden or not this weekend. I'm not sure I'm motivated enough to start riding at 5 before the day starts. Depends how cold it is. I am that amateur. I'm zero percent a morning person, and when it's 20 degrees? I am like -1 billion percent a morning person. I don't plan to audit this year either as there is an audit fee, and with the holidays coming I really don't have the extra cash lying around. I've both participated and audited this clinician enough that I don't think it will be anything new. Not money well spent for me at this point. 

In other news, I got to have a little fun with braids on Sunday. My friend wanted to doll up her horses for Christmas photos with our favorite photographer (Chelsea Lothrop). And this friend is super fun, so there were tinsel extensions and pompoms involved. 

I cannot wait to see the photos! They had wreaths on of course and I think they looked ridiculously cute. 

And that catches us up! Things are going well so far. Hope you are all doing great too and having lots of fun with your horses!

What's Up Wednesday

 

Another busy week around here! Thursday was nuts. I rode lots of horses and even jumped Shiny and Eros too. I feel like I haven't jumped Shiny much this year since her kid has been having so much fun with her. But finally this week it was my turn! She was great, though it did take a few jumps to get her engine revving. 

We're working on getting back to her twice a day rides. The last couple of weeks we've had trouble getting both rides in. Some days due to weather and other days just due to lack of time. It happens. But this week we've been better about it. Tomorrow and Friday are supposed to be in the 90's with very high humidity. So we may not double up in those conditions. Playing it by ear!

Eros was pretty good for his jump day. He's been a little spooky and well... rude lately. But I think that's my fault. I've been taking it easy on him, but I think it's time to buckle down and get back to really working. He's feeling sound again, so I don't feel guilty making him lift his belly and work his hind end. He was less of a torpedo for this jump school than he was last week, so I'm calling that a win. He still was jumping me loose over a small 2'3" oxer though. Ha. Never change E.

Eros got his feet x-rayed on Friday to see how far the white line was up his foot. And it was actually pretty far, almost 2 cm. Just in the one foot though, thankfully. Our farrier came yesterday to finish cleaning that out and repack it with medication. He feels confident that he got it all without having to cut away the whole wall around it, so we'll see next shoeing how it's doing. We're going to stick with a five week cycle for now until we get rid of it entirely. Which honestly is better for the other horses. Since they're barefoot, they are usually ready for a trim by then, and pushing to six weeks can get a little hairy. 

Al's been great! I have no media from our most recent lessons because I didn't get Pivo charged in time. But, SURPRISE! We went to our second show on Saturday, so I have a video of our second trip to share.

I again opted to just do two of the three trips. I don't see any reason to keep jumping jumps if we accomplish what we set out to do in two classes. Save the other jumps for another day! Anyway, we again did the Low Child/Adult Jumpers which were set at .90 at this show as well. Al was a little fire-y when he came off the trailer, so trainer and I both thought it wouldn't hurt to let him have a little lunge. I've always been all, who lunges a jumper?! But after last time with all the bucking, I decided I am who lunges a jumper. He didn't lunge long, maybe five minutes. Just enough to get the sass evened out. He was polite and not crazy, but definitely appreciated getting to blow off a little steam. Then I got on, and had a lovely horse! He was a little spookier at this venue than he was at the last show, but we were in a back ring that had a lot to be looky at surrounding it. He was super honest at the jumps though, and that's what is most important to me. Both classes I did were Table 2, Sec. 1 which is a speed class. I didn't try to go crazy fast, especially the first round. I just wanted him to see the jumps and be a good boy. And we achieved that, though we did add in the first line. He was spooking at the "timer" (It was a corgi planter on the fence like the ones I have under the one jump) and just generally distracted which caused the add. But he never acted like wasn't jumping out of the line. Just got squirrelly. No biggie. 

In between our two classes, a deer appeared at the far end of the ring. A DEER! As you can imagine, Al was like "MOM! There's a weird looking pony loose over there!" Fortunately, it had wandered away by the time I had to go back in the ring. But Al had already seen it, and was not going too close to that end of the ring. Honestly though, that was to my advantage since it was a speed class after all. (These "speed classes" had hunter courses, so there really weren't many places to make up time.) I just turned early which helped us be a little faster. You can see in the video above that we totally faked the fact he was spooking. Or at least, I think we pulled it off pretty well. 

We ended up being second in the first class and third in the other one. I was really happy with him. I haven't stepped on the gas yet, but he more than held his own against some decent horses and their riders who WERE on the gas. So I'm calling show number two a success! I'm not yet sure when the next one will be. I was thinking Fairfield, but their fees are insane. It will cost me $245 before I even enter a class there! So yeah. I'm skipping that one. Stay tuned I guess.

We also brought my trainer's daughter and her pony with us for her very first show ever! She did the short stirrup and did a great job. She even won a class! Her pony is adorable. Eventually, I would love for her show Shiny, but first I need to see how she'll be at a show. She's never done one other than the schooling show we had at the boarding barn that time which was just in house. She was pretty spicy for that, so I feel like I should be the guinea pig. 

Eros and Shiny wound up having Friday and Saturday off this past week. Friday because the vet came earlier than expected which was great, but threw off my schedule for the day. By the time I finished that appointment, rode at the other barn, and got Al worked it was close to 4. I still had to clean all my tack and pack the trailer, and I just didn't want to be up late. So I gave them the day. Not planning on the horse show taking FOREVER. I was done pretty early, but trainer's daughter didn't even get to get on until 5pm. So it was a LONG day. I think I unloaded Al around 7:45. We left at 9:15 that morning, so obviously, there wasn't time to ride the other two that day either. So, I decided to give Al Sunday off instead of Monday while I rode at the other barn and Shiny and Eros. Then I skipped my usual Monday off to ride everybody. I had to take my mom to an appointment on Tuesday, and I wasn't sure if I was going to get everyone ridden. (Hence not taking Monday off.) Fortunately, her appointment was moved earlier so all worked out, and everyone has been worked all week so far. I'll still ride tomorrow even though it's going to be hot, but we'll keep it light. Friday is supposed to be the hotter day, so we'll see how that plays out. 

So that's the low down over here! How are things with all of you? I shall leave you with a very cute photo of Rita having a snooze:

What's Up Wednesday

 

It sure does get busy once summer hits doesn't it? All good things though! My old trainer is back from Florida for the summer which I think I mentioned already. She's home for two weeks at a time and away showing when she's not here. So we're trying to fit in as many lessons when she's home as we can. Which works out to two lessons a week because I don't like to jump more than that. 

Lessons are going great! (Pivo was being a bit challenging though, so light on media. I think I have it working again now though!) Our first lesson was an easy one for trainer to get to know Al. It was lots of fun and didn't fill me with anxiety so that's a bonus too! The second lesson the jumps went up a little and the turns got harder. And it was even more fun, and not at all scary. I like when things aren't scary! None of this means I didn't make tons of mistakes, but every time I messed something up, I was able to come back and fix it the next time. And Al never got mad at me. No matter how stupid I got. Worth his weight in gold, this horse! 

And then I changed the course for the most recent lesson. As mentioned yesterday, I hate what I set, but it's good to work on the things that are hard. And so we did. Oddly enough, I didn't mess up that line where I thought I would. Instead I messed it up the easy direction. Ha! Come on, we all knew I would at some point. But still, Al just laughs of my idiocy and tries again. We worked on some crazy hard turns, but broke them down to the point they really weren't that hard. And we also practiced doing the add stride, then the correct stride, then back again in the line. Al is really good at that game which is nice, because I'm not sure I'm always so good at it. The harder the courses get, the better Al is for them. I think he enjoys a challenge and it makes him pay attention. We really only run into trouble in two instances. The first being when I take out of the corner which is my favorite mistake to make. The second is when Al get distracted by something other than what we're doing. Both are easy enough to work on though. Just lots of practice. Trainer really likes him though, and thinks it's a perfect match. I agree wholeheartedly! 

Eros wound up just having one jump day last week. I forget why exactly... I think it was mostly weather related. He was a good boy though the day we did jump. He's feeling pretty good with his maintenance done, definitely jumping a lot harder! Which makes me giggle because we're only jumping 2'3" and yet I'm getting tossed out of the saddle a little. Glad he's feeling good! 

I popped him over a few jumps today and he was a wee bit spicy! Watching the video back, it doesn't look as difficult as it felt, so I guess that part is good. I didn't even attempt any related distances though. I know Torpedo Eros would have made an appearance, and I wasn't here for that today. Despite his excitement, we got a couple of cute photos at least!

Could he be any cuter?! I don't think so. 

In a shocking turn of events, my vet had a cancellation on Friday and was able to come out to recheck Pammon and do Shiny's treatments. It wasn't the best of news for either of them, but nothing too terrible. 

Pammon's injury looks fantastic (the good news!) but he was quite back sore again when the vet was there. I had noticed it some that week as well. I honestly think it was from getting off the ace. That was his first full week completely sober, and I think it was caused mostly by tension than anything else. Pammon is a worrier. He startles easily and is always kind of ready for anything. When he was having some ace mid day, I think that tension went away and his back stayed relaxed. I've been working really hard this week to get him working stronger. More through his back and really making him lift his belly. And he already feels better. He's also been more relaxed in general even in the barn. So I think he just needed to detox a little. Hopefully this hypothesis is correct. Because of the soreness in his back, doc suggested it might be best for him to consider a lower level dressage job rather than a low level hunter job. The thought being that a low level dressage rider will be focused on having him travel correctly through his back with his belly up. A low level hunter rider will not be able to do that. So for the sake of his longevity and comfort dressage might be the better job for him. I don't have a ton of connections in that world, but I do have a few so I'll need to start reaching out. He's ready for that job now, but would definitely need some training to fully convert of course. I can flat pretty well, but I'm not trained in dressage so I'm sure there are differences in how he should be going. My vet's tech did all the young rider dressage stuff as a junior, so I let her hop on and see what she thought about him. She thinks he can absolutely go through second level and possibly even third. I think there's probably someone out there who would love him for that job. Hopefully. It was nice to see him go! I don't think I've watched any one ride him... ever actually. My trainer went and tried him for me initially before I bought him, so when I went to try him myself she didn't get on first. I don't think I've ever seen him ridden other than a couple of jumping videos from his sales ad. 

Earlier last week I let Shiny pop over a couple of these little raised cavalletti. They were the first "jumps" she has seen since last fall! She was really excited and took me right to them, so I think it's time we start jumping again. We'll go slow and keep the fences small. 

As for her vet appointment, it was interesting. We already did her evaluation last time doc was out, so we just planned to do the injections we talked about. We did the alpha-2 in her hocks and did use steroid for her SI. SI went smoothly, but the hocks were where we got the less than stellar news. Her hocks were very painful to inject and the joints were pretty dry. Meaning her hocks are in terrible shape. It's hard to tell with her, because her flexions are always perfect. Doc says this is pretty common with quarter horses. They just don't tell you when they need help. So we did the Alpha-2 this time, but next time we need to switch to steroid. Which ugh. Ponies and steroids gives me anxiety. I asked if there was anything I could do to help her and also if I should or shouldn't allow her to jump anymore. Doc said jumping is fine, the hocks are what they are and we don't jump very high with her. Plus, Shiny isn't shy about telling me she can't do something. So I just have to listen to her. As for helping her... He just said pray. So... not the best news. But since Shiny doesn't really have a job or goals, it's fine. I'll make sure she's happy and as comfortable as possible. And if she has to stop jumping at some point, we will. And if someday all she can do is plod around bareback, I'll still enjoy her for that job. She's the most level headed of the bunch, so her real job is to keep the peace here at the farm. She can certainly do that even with bad hocks. 

So you might be wondering why I'll keep Shiny no matter what but not Pammon. And the thing is, I just can't keep them all.  I'm happy to lease Pammon out and get him back when he's done. Or sell him to a wonderful home if someone wants him enough with all of his baggage. But he's kind of the disruptor of the group. The breaker of the peace if you will... Plus. he's broken my heart so many times in the few years I've had him. I will make absolutely sure that he goes someplace he's well cared for, and will do my best to take him back if that home is no longer appropriate for him. But I think he'd like to have a real job with someone who loves him so why should I deprive him of that? Ideally, a lease would be perfect. I could get a little money for the lease that I can put toward his retirement so he'll at least help pay his way some. We'll just have to see what happens. Chances are he'll still be here awhile. I'm terrible at moving horses. In the meantime, we'll keep plugging along! And probably start popping over those little cavalletti that Shiny's doing. 

Now that you're all caught up with the horses... I spent Monday this week catching up on some crafts I've been wanting to get done. It took way longer than I expected, so I still have a few to do. The most important (and already very late) one was my dad's Father's Day gift. I had planned to have it done in time, but some of my supplies arrived late. It happens these days, what can you do?! I made him a belt out of beta biothane and used the Cricut to put his boat image and name on it. I also put the image on a polo shirt for him. They came out great!

(Yes, my dad's boat is ridiculous. But he earned every inch of that 
boat all on his own. He's the son of immigrants and worked ridiculously 
hard to build his successful business. PPE! It's lucrative.)

I also had a couple coffee cups waiting for decals, but only was able to do one. The other one I need to try again. Another day. The one is cute though!

I also made myself a fake nameplate belt with biothane and the Cricut. It's hard to take photos of because it doesn't lay flat nicely, but it's cute once on. I'll wear it soon for Thursday's Threads so you can see. 

That's mostly it from here. I have a few more crafts to do for a future Thursday's Threads outfit and some braiding jobs coming up. All kinds of things on the calendar! ALSO, trainer and I talked about finding some one day shows to attend when she's back from Vermont. So things are happening! 

What's Up Wednesday

 

I don't know if any of you are like me, but I thrive on routine. When my routine changes, it takes me a little while to settle back into the day to day. Things are pretty fluid right now with the horses having moved and trying to find my new daily schedule. We'll get it ironed out soon enough though! Despite my feeling a little disheveled, things have been busy and full of fun!

Last week I mentioned getting my covid booster, but my dr actually ran out before my appointment, so I had to wait until today. I am now boosted though! Hopefully it's kind to me and I can go about my day tomorrow. So I guess that's less fun, but still something good!

Anyway, back to horses. When we last left off, I was looking forward to my lesson with Shiny to see where her head was at. I had a private lesson with the lady who teaches the beginners. I've known her since I was a little kid, and she's wonderful. She's been around horses forever and has loads of useful knowledge, but she also will listen to what I think I'm feeling and my concerns. Not all trainers are like that... Certain personalities seem to think that amateurs know nothing and don't want to listen to us. It's frustrating. Thankfully this person is nothing like that! We started off with some light flatwork to get her listening and her parts moving, and then moved on to the jumping part. We started as easy as it gets with just poles on the ground. After doing them a few times, they became little tiny crossrails, and then eventually little verticals. We kept everything small, probably 18" at most. After popping over all the jumps as little verticals, my instructor said to just go ahead and jump around like I would at home. She would offer advice if I needed it, but she wanted me to try and get the feel I had at my house. It was EXACTLY what we needed. Shiny felt great, and by the end she was really taking me to the jumps like she was enjoying herself. So it may be premature since everything was small, but I think we're no worse for the wear after the clinic. And my apologies for having zero media. No one was around to video. I should have brought Pivo since we had the ring to ourselves. Hindsight and all that.

Dumb and dumber... I mean...
Pammon and his younger lady friend
who lives in the paddock next to his.

In more exciting news, Pammon saw the vet on Friday for his first ultrasound since he temporarily retired last spring. The news was positive. The ligament does not look perfect, but it remains to be seen if it ever will look normal. It's significantly improved though, and doc thinks he's healed enough to start some very light work under saddle. And by work, he means 30 minutes of walking. Which would be boring, but the horse is feral now, so I imagine much excitement will be had. He can do a working walk, not just meander on the buckle. So that should help the time pass.

I put the saddle on him and he looked
at me like he thought I had lost my mind. 
Also, yes that is indeed mud on his feet.

We had our first "ride" yesterday (with a little chemical assistance of course). It went okay until the horse in the ring with us left, and then he seemed like he was going to lose his shit. So 22 minutes was enough for day one. I had an eye dr appointment this morning and then my covid shot appointment this afternoon so I only had time to ride the other two today. I'll get on him again tomorrow though! It's nice to have him back in the rotation again. Hopefully I can keep him healthy this time. Fingers crossed.

Eros had a recheck Friday too, and he also got permission to keep moving along with his rehab. I'm just adding a little time each week to our daily rides, but he's honestly doing almost as much work as we normally would when not rehabbing. The hardest thing about rehabbing horses at a boarding barn is that we can only jump in a lesson. I totally get it, this has been a rule at every barn I've boarded at. But it's tricky because Eros is allowed to add some little jumps into our rides, but I don't think he's quite ready for a full lesson yet. I'll have to see if there's a real beginner jumping lesson we can hop into. The way they do lessons here, they want to warm us up. So it's a lot of flatwork before we ever jump. It's great for some horses, like Bellino and Shiny, but it's not ideal for Eros. We will make it work. I'm DYING to pop him over some fences though! I really need to figure out when I can do that. 

Saturday they hosted a schooling show at the boarding barn. I had originally planned to show Shiny, but after the clinic I decided not to (next one though!). Since I wasn't competing, they asked me if I wanted to judge it. I once judged a schooling show back when I lived in Saratoga, and it was so much fun! So I agreed. And it was super fun! So much respect to real judges though, because it was hard to put these kids in order. Like is it worse to find bad spots to 5 jumps or have two late changes? Tough call. There were only a few divisions: Walk/trot, walk/trot/canter, short stirrup, 2' and 2'6" so I was done around noon. Nice and early with plenty of time to ride! (There were some jumper classes after that were run at all different heights, but they were judged by someone else and were outside leaving the indoor free.) Both horses were great, though we didn't do anything exciting. Just a flat day. As I was finishing up in the barn, a big storm rolled through. I waited it out, and then headed home at which point it was dark out. So I didn't notice right away that the storm had left some tree damage at my farm. 

Good timing at least since the horses aren't there. My barn worker has been working on cleaning this up for me this week, and I'll see if I can fix most of the fencing myself this weekend if he gets finished. The gate may be a loss though, it's pretty broken. 

Always something when you have a farm! Despite the tree problems, it was a great week, full of good news for Pammon and Eros. And Shiny too really. She's going to have a vet check this Friday. Nothing is wrong, but I have a nagging feeling she could use some maintenance. It only hurts my pocket to have her checked out, and that's much better than not checking and hurting my pony. The nice thing about the boarding barn, is there's always horses that need to be seen, so at least the vet call is shared! 

Did you all have a good week? Have some lessons, or do a horse show?