What's Up Wednesday

Despite my best intentions to have a good hard working week with the horses, we were once again a bit inconsistent. Al worked every day, but Eros and Shiny both had an extra day off on Friday. The farrier came mid day (just as I was finishing tacking up Shiny) and by the time I finished cleaning up from that it was pretty late. 

Farriers are messy. But I got everything cleaned up by the end of the day. 

Eros has been so great lately. I jumped him around today a little bit, and there were no zoomies! He did attack the teeny tiny bounce a little bit... but otherwise he just clocked around like a pleasant little metronome. I haven't yet attempted a line... but I think we may be almost ready for that! I did string together a mini course today though, and he really was lovely. 

I've been feeling extra appreciative of him lately. He's just a solid boy. 

Shiny's been good too, but I can tell she's ready for her hocks to get done. That happens Friday though, so we're almost there! I haven't jumped her in forever because her kiddo has been doing all the jumps with her this summer. I popped her around a little bit today. She was sticky to start, but once she got moving she was great.

I kept everything at or below 2' for today's jump schools with both of them. I think they're both more than fine to jump a hole bigger but I was feeling like I could use a confidence building day. So small jumps were exactly what I needed! 

Then there's Al.... Things are not good with Al. He's back to being terrified of the one long side of the ring, and occasionally other parts as well. Any progress I thought I was making this summer is pretty much all gone. He gets a rescope on Friday, and if there aren't any ulcers in there then I really don't know what's actually wrong with this horse. A few days this week I could only get him to work on the lunge line, and even that was a challenge. 

I tried a new approach with him today. Normally I let him walk the ring on a fairly loose rein and see everything before we start working. But today I put him together right away (just at the walk) and asked him to get right to a working walk. We made figures and focused on bend and going forward. Well. I focused on that. Al focused on the trees he finds so terrifying. I was hoping if I could get his mind on me from the start maybe we would have a more successful ride. It didn't actually help. Mostly because I never really got his full attention. I honestly don't think I know how to. I tried to dig deep and be really brave and just do the things I had planned on doing despite what Al's feelings were. And I did manage to pop over the little oxer on the safe side of the ring and also the little itty bitty bounce I have set up.

But I'm here to be honest with you all and so I have to admit, that I was only able to pick up canter just before the turn to either of the obstacles. I can't get to that far outside of the ring without him panicking. I've tried just doing part of the side and then circling to the safe side so we get in and we get out, and he'll do it half the time, but he's snorting and panicking the entire time I'm near the fence over there. I've tried doing ground work over there. I've tried just hanging out with him over there. I've tried lunging him over there. (And I imagine it goes without saying that I've tried riding him over there at every gait.) I've done lots of figure eights to just try and get some work done without dealing with the scary side, but even when we're not going over there he panics just being asked to go toward it. My ring is not very big, so I really need to be able to use the whole thing to get any sort of work done. 

There's a big part of me that just thinks I'm not brave enough to ride this horse. Like maybe I just need to let him do what he's going to do and work around it. But I do worry about getting tossed. And I don't know how to turn off that worry. I do have extra angst about the bad knee not holding up when he spins, but I don't know if that's really a reason for my being intimidated or if it's just an excuse. 

I do think it's about time I make a hard decision though. I'm not sure how long I can keep trying and failing before I finally just wave the white flag and find him a more appropriate home. It feels like a huge failure to give up. I haven't ridden a horse that makes me feel so brave to the big jumps in a really, really long time. And who knows if I'll find that again? But the reality is, I can't get him to canter around the ring, let alone point him at a big jump these days. 

All I really know for sure is that what I'm doing isn't working. And I don't know what else I can do that might work. Yes putting him in a training barn might help, but there's just not really any options close enough to me for it to be feasible. I haven't had any luck finding another trainer to come out to my place to help me. And while yes, it might be helpful to ship in some place, it doesn't fix the problem that I can't ride him in my ring at home. He's generally pretty good in new places for the first few rides. Probably he would thrive in a show home where he gets to go to new places all the time. But I don't have the budget for that. So I guess it might be time to consider selling him. But man. It breaks my heart. 

What's Up Wednesday

 

I need to start taking notes throughout my week, because I barely remember what went on... We're kind of in that point of winter where every week feels mostly the same. So there's not a ton to report on (or remember). Anyway... 

Eros' hives have gotten REALLY bad, so I just recently started him on some Benadryl which should hopefully help. Also, the new shavings came, so hopefully that will just fix the problem. Otherwise, he's still living his best life. We had a few beautiful days where the weather was sunny and in the 50's. Felt like spring! So E got to do his walks outside, and we both really enjoyed them. We walk for 30 minutes and usually cover about 1.1 miles. But outside E had some pep in his step and we managed just under 1.5 miles in the same amount of time. We even got to see Al during our walk since he was having his outside time while E and I were strolling.

Speaking of Al, he had a decent week. Not the best we've had but not bad either. Thursday we had a pretty great lesson, but then our Saturday lesson wasn't as great. He was more distracted and not moving off my aids very well. We rode a little earlier than normal though, and it was pretty chilly still at that point in the day, so I'm not getting worked up about it. This week it's cold again, and tomorrow's lesson will be in the low 20 degree range so I have no expectations for that either. Hopefully it's at least less windy than today. The indoor was rattling it was blowing so hard! And the snow is still up on the roof... These are wild times my friends. Wild times. Thankfully the goat's been wandering free lately to keep Al company with his thoughts...

The goat lives with Al's half brother CD (who we lesson with!) but is allowed to roam in the mornings. When he was a baby goat he was raised by all the barn dogs, so he's not really sure what species he is. He wags his tail like a dog. Doesn't eat tack or carrots, but does like donuts. He also especially likes to pull the jump flowers out of the boxes and drop them on the ground. He's a pretty good goat as goats go. And Al really seems to enjoy his company. 

Shiny was SASSY this week! She was kind of sticky all week, not wanting to get to work at all. I was thinking she may be coming due for some maintenance, but I don't actually think so. I'm pretty sure she should't be due for a bit longer. Our Thursday lesson she was cranky about picking up canter, but once she got going she was great. Jumped around willingly albeit maybe a little short on pace. Saturday though? So many opinions. ALL THE OPINIONS. And she was not at all interested in moving up to the jumps. At one point, I asked her to lengthen to get to a nice forward spot at a little vertical. She made faces and sucked back until we were about a stride and a half away. And you know what she did then?? She let out a HUGE buck. Which there wasn't space for. Next thing I know, we're about one inch away from the fence and I'm thinking... Huh. Wonder what's going to happen now... I was hoping she'd stop. But Shiny doesn't stop. Shiny is the most honest animal on the planet (unless the fence has square rails, she hates those). So she pings herself right over. I was just up there like a rag doll with sticky legs. Fortunately, no one died, and we came back and tried again without the acrobatics. We compromised the rest of the lesson, I picked the slow distances and she agreed not to try and kill us. 

Sunday Funday she was fine for but we barely did anything... I rode Al early that day, then went to brunch and came back for Shiny. So I was suffering a food and mimosa coma and let Shiny have an extra easy ride. We both enjoyed it. But then Tuesday? She was SPOOKY. Shiny! She only spooks maybe twice a year. I wasn't thinking she could possibly be wild already. She just free lunged the week before last. Those normally take for at least a month with Shiny. But then I got on her today and when we were done with the warm up shuffle, I asked for canter and she just wanted to kick out and bounce up and down. At first I worried that she was hurting, but then I decided you know what? I think she's wild. So I hopped off, tied up the reins and stirrups and let her have herself a free lunge. She was nuts. Galloped around, threw some bucks, had a grand old time. When I got back on she was much happier, and moving forward nicely. I frequently forget that when Shiny gets especially backwards, it means she's wild. It's counterintuitive, but that's a pony mare for you. 

I had actually hoped to ride her outside during the nice days last week, but our lessons didn't give us the opportunity. I did take walk her out outside on Friday though, and it was lovely. She was definitely happy to get out of the indoor. 

That's about it from here this week. Hope you all had a good one! Is the weather all sorts of up and down where you are too?