Bridle: Winner Special
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| I am not used to this many steps. |
Anyway, let's chat about the horses shall we? I tend to take it easy on them the first week or so at home because the footing is so different. I mentioned that last week. Also, we've had a lot of rain so the ring has been pretty wet which also impacted what we could do. Which is just a preface to explain why we haven't done anything terribly exciting yet.
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| He's been working very hard. His choice. |
Let's start with Al because I always have the most to say about him. I'm not sure I will ever really understand how this horse's mind works. He's just so different all the time, and what works one month might not work the next. He started out really wonderful at home. The first couple of days were lovely. But working in my favor those two days was the weather. It was in the 70's and one of the days was even sunny. Al is a significantly more relaxed animal when it's warm and nice out. After those couple of days the weather deteriorated and so did Al's confidence. Also, the neighbor was not helpful. He literally has mowed his lawn every day since we've been home that I rode. (Except today because it's been raining the whole day.) And when he would finish with the mowing he would bring out the weed eater. And some days he took the hedge trimmer out and attacked the trees along our shared property line. Which happens to also border my ring. And Al's stall window looked out to this area too. Al would be in his stall just staring out the window and snorting for most of the day. I was hoping he'd settle, but finally I switched him with Eros who was on the other side of the barn. He seems to be more settled on this side of the barn, but today was the first day, so we'll see if it lasts.
He's been very reactive under saddle, spooking at everything, lots of attempted spinning. I tried what had worked all winter which was just staying soft and trying not to add too much additional pressure while he was feeling insecure. But it really wasn't working. He wasn't getting over any of the scary things. The last two days I've tried something different. I'm still not adding too much pressure because I've learned that with Al it makes it worse to "be tough" with him. So the last two days, I put him on a lunge line and just worked him at the trot in a very calm, no pressure way around all the scary parts of the ring. I just kept him trotting until he took a breath and seemed to calm down. Then we'd move to a new area. Wash, rinse, repeat. Yesterday I hopped on after this for just a few minutes to see if it would translate, and it seemed to. We trotted and cantered around a couple times each way, no pressure. Not in a frame. Not even in a real working pace. Just nicely and calmly worked our way around. He never worked very hard, but he was out there trotting for quite a bit of time, so he was tired when we were finished. My goal is not at all to exhaust him. I just want him to take a breath and relax. But right now, I think he may have to be a little tired to do that.
Today, I hand walked him around the ring both ways like we always do before getting on. He seemed to be in a good place. But once I was on, it wasn't translating. He got tense, head in the air, frozen in place. A few times I was able to coax him forward, but he didn't relax at all. Then he did a full 180. Fortunately, we were at the walk, so I stayed right with him. I turned him around and had him walk past what had startled him. And then I hopped off and repeated yesterday's exercise on the lunge. It didn't work quite as nicely today as it did yesterday, but it did still help. When I got back on, he was still pretty spooky, but we were able to get some work done, and this time I rode him longer. I didn't want him to think that spinning meant he could lunge and then have no pressure and then be done. He never fully was a relaxed horse today, but he trotted and cantered around the ring both ways, and popped over some raised cavaletti here and there. Which I think gave him something to focus on other than the monsters. In his defense, it was a miserable day. It was raining at a pretty good clip while we were out there and it was just barely 60 degrees. None of the horses were especially happy to be worked today. But it's supposed to rain all day tomorrow too, and I expect the ring to be too wet to ride. I didn't want them having two days off in a row. Anyway, not to make excuses for Al, but something he regularly spooks at is glare. Like when the sun hits the shiny finish on a jump, or bounces off a puddle. He doesn't seem to understand that. And even though it was raining out and there was no sun, there were a lot of shiny wet surfaces to spook at. He was very clearly surrounded by demons today.
I ordered a tube of Ulcerguard to experiment with. I had given all the horses a tube for their move. A quarter of that tube each day for four days. I started it Saturday, moved them Sunday, and they finished it on Tuesday. So I'm not sure if Al was good because maybe he's ulcery and that helped. But I've treated him in the past with no positive results so I'm not convinced. We did do that poop test on him this winter when he was acting this way and it came back negative. We have a vet appointment at the end of the month, so I'm going to ask if he thinks we should scope, just to rule it out. I don't really think this horse has ulcers just based on past experience. But I do think something's not quite right with him, the way he gets so unhinged. I just don't think it's "normal". Jamp could be spooky but not the way Al is. I don't know if it's because Jamp was older and had learned some coping skills by then or what. But it's not the same. I'm starting to think maybe I'm the problem with all these spooky animals I've had. But I haven't messed up Eros and Shiny as much, so I dunno. Could be me. Might not be. Horses are hard.
But I don't like to be all negative all the time, especially with Al. So here's a positive. He is my best housekeeper. When I went to clean stalls Saturday morning, Eros' stall was a big mess (as usual, he's a piglet), and Shiny's was mostly neat, though she likes to pee in two spots which is annoying. But Al's? Al's was so well kept! He has one pee spot, and all his poop was in one (albeit it very large) pile. What a guy! This is why you cut them late. Stallions are good housekeepers. If you wait long enough, they keep that.
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| Look! This was what it looked like first thing in the morning! What a guy! |
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| That one rare day we saw sunshine |
As tricky as Al is, Shiny is the opposite. She's just the same pony all the time, and it's so refreshing! She took full advantage of the re-entry period and "forgot" how to travel properly for a hot minute. In that, I asked her to work from behind, lift her belly, and take the contact, and she was all "What? I can't hear you. Lalalalalalalala" which was hilarious because she knows what I was asking for and eventually complied. I was hoping to jump her around a little today, but the pouring rain was just so uninviting. We did hop over some raised poles, but jumping will have to wait. Maybe this weekend. We shall see what the weather and footing does.
Something interesting of note, she's barely tripped at all since she's been home. Once or twice a little one here or there, but nothing major. She was VERY trippy at the other barn this year, even after the EPM treatment. This isn't a new development, as she's generally less trippy in the sand than she is in the fancy GGT footing, but I feel like the difference is a lot bigger this year. Maybe due to the EPM meds. Who knows? Regardless of why, I'm happy it's happening!
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| I really can't stress enough how much I got rained on today |
So that's where we are at with the horses. Still waiting on some nice warm springtime weather. But I'm sure it's coming. In the meantime, we are plugging along. AND we got to see the Northern Lights on Friday which is very not normal around here. So that was exciting. To the naked eye, you couldn't see that much really, but iPhone came through for me and I got some pretty shots:
Which brings us to this evening. I had ordered some Poppi soda because my grocery store doesn't carry the ones that taste good. It was delivered while I was riding my first horse, so I brought it back to the barn so it wouldn't be sitting in the sun. But then, when I was leaving the barn to go back to my house at dinner time, I needed to carry this awkward size and weight box, along with my purse and tote bag and keys. Which was completely doable, except that I also wanted to close the barn doors so it would stay warm enough in there to keep the horses naked until night check time.
So there I am, holding all these things and trying to slide the barn doors closed. They're pretty heavy since they're HUGE and made entirely of wood. You may recall that my knee is missing an attachment point... Well. Apparently, I must have tried to pivot on that defective knee. Which... it doesn't really do that anymore. So I felt something slide out of place with a little popping sound in case I didn't feel it. Which didn't hurt, but was like... gross feeling. And the worst part, was that it then had to pop back when i straightened my leg. Ew. Guys. I honestly don't have words to describe how disgusting that was. It wasn't painful, just like... ew.
So that's my confession. Maybe this will teach me that sometimes making two trips is better than one.
Anyway, prior to moving home and starting on all the laundry, I got to have a last lesson at the other barn with both Al and Shiny on Saturday. Our favorite instructor was back from vacation too, so it was a great last day. Al went first. And let me tell you about the chaos that ensued.
We decided to lesson indoors because my lesson mate hasn't had her horse out to jump yet. Her horse is also a Casall (so a half brother to Al!) and well... you know how Casalls can be. So I didn't blame her. Of course, Al would have been better OUTSIDE, but also there was a lot more traffic out there, and it was nice to have the ring to ourselves inside. Plus, the doors were open which makes for a happier Al too. So things started out great. We were flatting pretty well with minimal snorting. He was forward and happy. And then some very confused delivery driver drove past the end of the ring... TWICE. (We don't drive around this ring, the parking lot is on one side, but the roadway does continue out to the outdoor and also around the indoor. But generally, we don't allow cars over there because the horses can't see them and it's spooky.) So the horses aren't used to that. Al did spook a little at the car, but just because he didn't expect it. He went right back to being a good boy. So anyway, we're flatting. And then barn owner decides it's time to bring in the mare and new baby who were out in the paddock just outside the scary doors. Now, I know very little about baby horses. So I have no idea when they are typically taught to lead. This baby is just a few weeks old, and has not learned that skill yet. So they just lead the mom through the indoor and the baby is supposed to follow. But this baby is spunky. So we're flatting in our lesson, and they start bringing the horses in. So we halt. (Also not sure why no one told us they were bringing them in.) Baby gets the zoomies all around the indoor. Mom could care less. Al is like WHOA! BABY! IS IT MINE?? Al's brother was sure the baby was a demon.
Something to know about Al, which makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, is that he's very good about horses running around him loose. I know this because it's happened quite a lot to him. He's like a loose horse magnet. They just want to run at him. If he was a human child, he'd get beat up a lot. Anyway, thankfully, Al was pretty fine about the baby running around after the initial excitement wore off a bit. And his brother, slightly less okay, but he held himself together thankfully. No amateurs were harmed in the running of the baby.
Eventually the lil guy finally followed his mom back to his stall. Al and the other horse in our lesson took a few minutes at the walk and then both went back to work nicely. We even jumped ALL the fences in the ring! Not only that, but we jumped down the lines heading toward the scary doors! Both sides! I was so proud. It was the very best last lesson we could have asked for. Now, did we jump big jumps? NOPE. Maybe they were 2'3". But with Al, the height is never the issue. So that concerns me zero. I thought this was a fabulous lesson. (Running babies aside.)
Shiny's lesson was next. I opted again to stay indoors because barn owner was doing training rides outside and I was again, very happy to just have the indoor to myself. The horses had gotten their second round of vaccines on Tuesday, and Shiny had a bit of a harder time with this round. So even on Saturday, she was still a little stiff and sluggish. I had said to my instructor that it might just be a cross rail day, but we'll see what Shiny has to say as we go. The flat was... slow. So slow. Lots of Shiny Shuffle. She also was tripping a bunch. But once we cantered a couple cross rails she seemed to perk up and wanted to do more. I guess the flat was just too boring for her? I dunno. Mares! Anyway, she ended up jumping around a couple of courses. I think the fences were 2' ish. She ended up great. I was also very happy with this last lesson. We're going to be unsupervised for the next few weeks until our other trainer gets back from Florida. So glad we finished on a great note!
Eros obviously hasn't lessoned, but he's doing just fine, plugging along, adding on trot minutes each week. More on him in a bit.
I didn't ride Sunday since it was moving day. It was supposed to rain later in the day, so I wanted to get the move done on the earlier side. Plus, the barn was also packing up for a horse show, and it was such chaos there, I really just wanted to wrap things up. I had to make two trips. I can stuff all three horses in my trailer, but I wouldn't have room for all of their stuff if I did that. (Yes, my trailer has a tack room, but it's full of show stuff, so there wasn't room for all the other stuff.) So I figured two trips was the way to go. I only live 7 minutes from the barn, so it's not like it's a lot of driving. Anyway, I spent the morning getting everything packed, and then brought Eros and Shiny home first. It was so nice having the side ramp because I didn't have to get someone to help me unload. I like being self sufficient, but none of these horses know how to load and unload themselves. I probably should teach them. Anyway, the first load went well. I got them settled in and unpacked the few things I brought home on that trip with them. Then I went back and loaded ALL THE STUFF plus Al. He also shipped great and unloaded nicely. I think they were all happy to be back home. I spent the rest of the day unpacking everything. The horses all had turnout before coming home, so I just let them settle in inside.
I was happy with myself because not only did I get them all home pretty easily, but I got the trailer unpacked, cleaned out, AND put away all in the same day. I have to hype myself up a little to put it away because I have to pull it out onto the road and then back it into its spot. I live on the corner of two state roads, so it can be busy. But Sundays are generally pretty quiet so I told myself if I didn't do it right away, I wouldn't do it until next weekend. And I need to keep driving the truck so the mice stay out. <<Pats self on back>> Got it done!
I still gave them Monday off because the farrier was coming but I wasn't sure when. And I had a lot of stuff to do aside from that. They were all idiots in turnout that morning so I knew they got plenty of exercise anyway. It was a nice productive day, and the horses were content.
Yesterday was our first day riding at home. I gave them all fairly light rides. My footing is just sand and the ring isn't completely flat, so they have to work a lot harder here at home than they do at the boarding barn with its flat rings and fancy GGT footing. I like to take it easy the first week to let their bodies adjust and hopefully avoid any pulled muscles or strained tendons. Also, I was a little worried Eros might have done a number on himself being an absolute fool in turnout the day before. Thankfully he felt just fine. Phew. He's supposed to technically canter this week (which he certainly did on his own...) but I'm waiting until the weekend to add that. We're not in a rush, I'd rather be careful.
I have two confessions this week to share and both pertain to my being back home. I'll save the silly one for last to lighten the mood. So the first one is that I'm having some kind of weird feeling of peace being at home this year (so far anyway). The horses seem to feel it too. (Though, they did all act like fools in their first turnouts here Monday morning. I was sure they'd all be crippled after all the carrying on they did. I like to think it was celebratory antics, but who knows with this group...)
Anyway, let me blabber on more about this peaceful feeling. I try very hard not to let others, especially those that I don't think are correct, get into my head nor dictate my emotions. But I am human. And sometimes it happens. I hadn't realized just how bothered I'd been feeling until I got home, and the feelings just lifted away. No one here at home can talk about me or my horses in a negative light. No one here is judging every decision I make or don't make. And no one is passing judgement on the quality or usefulness of my horses. Or me for that matter. And it's SUCH a calming feeling to just be free of that.
I have a barn full of quirky, bargain priced horses. But they are MY horses. And I love them and all their quirks. (Okay maybe not all of the quirks, looking at you Al.) But I think each of them is talented in their own way. They're worthy of the best care. They're useful to me and they bring me so much joy. And you know? That's enough. That's all that really matters for me and my horses. And I'm so excited to just relish in that this summer.
Um, but confession two? Heh. I haven't moved the jumps since last fall. I still have the same course set up. I just couldn't find the motivation in between all the rain earlier this spring. I figure we'll pop around what's out there this week and then maybe next I'll change it up. I mean, it's not like the horses remember the course. It probably feels new to them. Maybe. Ha. Oops.
