What's Up Wednesday

 

It was a very non horsey week for me, but we can recap it anyway.  My little brother and his girlfriend joined us in Florida on Wednesday afternoon which was also the street carnival in the neighborhood where our dad's boat is docked. The carnival is fun for everyone. It's a flat rate to get in, and then everything is included. So as many rides as the kids can stomach, however many games you want to play (no one wins at them...), and the food is all you can eat. Obviously, I was there for the food. And I ate my entry fees worth for sure. I did join my nieces on the big slide a couple of times, and then us old folk took a spin the ferris wheel. 

This is a big deal because I've been anti ferris wheel for a very long time after an... incident. I will warn you, this is a gross story. So gross. You too would be traumatized. Anyway, many years ago, I was on a ferris wheel at my local carnival. And some kid had been on too many rides that was up above me. And he tossed his cookies up there. And some of it dripped on me. And I haven't been on a ferris wheel since. But this one had a little roof on the car. And they were only seating every fourth car to keep it balanced and moving along. So I felt it was safe. And I'm happy to report that there were no unfortunate instances this time. 

During the rest of our trip we did Florida things like hit balls at the driving range (I'm extraordinarily terrible at this), took a boat ride, mani/pedis, a little shopping. 

Passed by the house on our boat ride. It got new windows and a new paint color
so I nearly didn't realize it was the parents' place.

The kids were brave enough for the pool and the beach, but I skipped those being that it was barely 60 degrees out. I did abandon the family one morning for a drive down to Welly to visit my trainer and her daughter. 

I got to pick trainer's brain a little about Al, and confirmed some things I was questioning with her, which brought me considerable peace of mind. I struggle a bit with trusting myself when it comes to having a problem with a horse. Being that I'm an amateur and most admittedly NOT a horse trainer, I'm easily convinced that I'm doing things wrong or my thinking is incorrect. But honestly, I've been riding horses for 35 years. And while my dad has done well for himself at this point in his life, when I was growing up, we did not have the budget for fancy horses. I got the ones off the truck that were headed to questionable places, I had young ones; some of the things I rode for my trainer I would NEVER put a foot in the stirrup knowing what I know now. So yeah. I've seen some things. And while I don't make a living training horses, I'm not complete shit (most days anyway). My trainer is a pretty accomplished trainer. She's shown jumpers at the Grand Prix level since she was basically a teenager, even competing in the Olympic trials at one point. As a more mature pro, she's been developing horses up the level from just broke all the way up. So she knows her stuff. She used to hop on Jamp once in awhile and he was a completely broke brand new horse when she got off like twenty minutes later. Kind of a miracle if you ask me. 

She told me a story while we were discussing the problem child about a horse she rode when she was a teen. The horse would sometimes jump around just fine one class, and then quit in the next. Or sometimes vice versa. Like it was either perfect and the winner or it stopped out. Being young, her trainer put a pro on the horse to make it go around, but it was the same for the pro. She said back then, they were pretty hard on the horse trying to "fix" it. But finally the vet figured out there was something going on with it's eyes, so if the sun was popping in and out, or the ring got shady after a certain time, or whatever, the horse's eyes were not adjusting to the changes in light. It couldn't see in certain conditions. So from then on, she's always assumed there's a medical reason for sudden changes in behavior. She and I both do believe that sometimes horses can be assholes too, but generally, they're trying to tell us something when they don't want to do what they normally are willing to do. While we aren't sure there's something majorly wrong with Al since this pattern of behavior is pretty reliable at this point... She thinks we're doing right by checking everything medically off the list. And she kind of suggested just trying to be a little more patient. We both know that Al doesn't thrive under pressure. It upsets him. So hopefully the change in atmosphere up north will do him some good. And she reassured me that I am very much not a shit rider. I don't really need my ego stroked generally, but when I'm struggling it is nice to hear from someone I trust that I am in fact capable. Anyway, that visit stoked the confidence fire a little bit in me. I felt a little more confident coming home to Al. 

As horses do, I came home to them needing a bunch of new things. Eros' ice boots lost a strap while I was away, which I probably could sew back on, but it's nowhere to be found. Shiny has eaten several holes in the net of her hay pillow. But I planned better last time I replaced it and got the one with the removable net. So that will be a lot cheaper to replace than the whole thing. And Al has some horn that's decided to get wonky and it's pressing on his frog.

As awful as that looks, it's not hurting him, so he's able to stay working. I sent this photo to my farrier but I haven't heard from him yet. Which is kind of odd, he usually replies pretty quickly. Hopefully he's okay. My guess is he's traveling. I did let him know the horse seems fine on it, so it's not urgent anyway. It's happened before, just needs to be trimmed away. There was also some miscommunication (or maybe lack of...) and Al and Shiny didn't get their meds for a few days. Not ideal, especially for Shiny, but they both have survived thus far, so I think they'll be okay. This is why I have such anxiety about leaving my horses though! I wish I could travel with all the four leggeds. 

Anyway, I've ridden Al and Shiny twice since I've been back so far, and they are doing just fine. Yesterday Al was a little angsty but the ring was busy. Today I rode him mostly by himself, just with a horse lunging in the rig at the scary end. This is honestly the ideal situation for riding Al. He's not scared because that other horse will get eaten first, and he's able to concentrate on his own job. Of course we're not addressing the real issue, but honestly, I don't really care if we fix that particular problem. I kind of think it's irreparable. We don't have shows at the barn, so it's not like he'd ever be in a situation where he HAD to deal with it. Short of lessons or whatever. His fear of the end seems to be entirely exclusive to THIS ring. And I'm really starting to believe this is a battle that's not worth fighting. Though I may revisit that later if/when he gets his head back on straighter. For the time that the other horse was in the ring with us, Al was actually very relaxed today. I chose to not put much pressure on him today. I didn't ask for more even though he was a little below pace. I didn't force him to stay in a frame. I touched on everything of course. Asked for more, and if he gave it I backed off. I asked him to come together and use himself for a little bit, and then let him go back to stretching if he wanted. Once the other horse finished and we were alone in the ring, he was a little more nervous, but he still kept himself together. I got some dragon breathing, and he broke from canter to stare at the scary end when we were heading in that direction a few times, but he never spooked. So was it a "good" ride? I mean, not really in that we didn't get any REAL work in. But I think it was a good ride because it was positive. He made a big effort to stay tuned into me, even when it was really hard for him. Traveling left, he did not want to hold the canter as we headed in the direction of the dragon's end. Once he held the canter all the way through that short side (we stayed on half the ring, so he wasn't anywhere near the dragons) I let him trot then walk and told him how great he was with lots of neck scratches. We'd been working 30 minutes, so I figured it was a great win to quit with. Now would I normally expect that win twice before quitting? Yes. But with how things have been going, I chose my moment. My current plan is to keep things mostly low pressure so long as he's trying and staying relaxed. I'll talk with my favorite instructor tomorrow and see if we can pick a time for an Al lesson. I have some things I want to try to see if we can get things back on track, but they involve jumping so it has to be in a lesson. Plus, Al is generally a more agreeable fellow when he jumps at least twice a week. Time will tell if that does the trick. But I'm feeling a little more optimistic. 

Shiny is doing great. She's quiet as can be after her vacation week. She's lessoning tomorrow. Being that she was off the thyroid meds for a few days, I think we'll keep the jumps small, maybe just crossrails even, for the first lesson back. I know how I feel if I miss just one dose of thyroid meds, so I can imagine she's feeling pretty out of sorts. Hopefully that will regulate soon now that she's back on them. She's such a good pony though. I'm really lucky to have her. 

Eros is great too. He keeps telling people he's retired so I have to lecture him about lying. He's enjoying his vacation though and comes in from turnout an absolute swamp creature. (There's a ton of mud up here. Apparently it rained the entire week I was away.) We've been hand walking and grooming plenty which I really enjoy with him. He's just so sweet and acts very appreciative of our time together. I miss riding him already, but I'm glad we get to spend plenty of time doing these other things. 

Rita had a great time with her grandma while I was away, but was very disappointed about the weather. She was hoping to get her grandma in the habit of taking a long walk everyday, but alas... that didn't happen. Rita's other grandma (my stepmom) made Rita a bed for Chanukah. Yes. MADE. And it's adorable and she loves it:

In this photo she was investigating because it smelled a bit like my parents' dog Juno. So she was suspicious. But has deemed it safe since. 

That's where we're at! Sorry for the lack of media. I really need to remember to take more pictures. I hope you all had a great New Year! Here's to an even better year ahead!