What's Up Wednesday

 

We have lots to catch up on since I forgot to do a recap last week. I feel like when the horses are home things can get a little less consistent. But I'm not sure it's because they're home so much as it's summer and there's just more to do in general. Plus the lack of indoor, occasionally the weather messes with our plans. But we've been pretty lucky lately with well timed rain storms. So that's been nice. I don't have a way to water my ring, so I am dependent on the rain for dust control. We've been getting plenty, and frequently at night or on Mondays so that's been lovely! Our things we had to work around this week was shoes on Friday and chiro on Saturday. Both necessary things, so worth the disruption. I still got to ride both days, but our jump plans were derailed. Not the end of the world. Anyway, let's talk horses!

We'll start with Shiny. She was busy the week before this one! A friend of mine came by with some of her family that is visiting from Colorado. Shiny was wonderful for pony rides for a few of the kiddos, and then there was one who rides, so I let her ride Shiny off the lead. She did a nice job with her, but Shiny thinks it's HILARIOUS to not canter for kids she doesn't know. I didn't realize this was a thing until now. But she did it with my trainer's daughter the first year she came to ride, and now she's also done it with this other child. Both were capable of riding at the canter at the time, but were definitely a little more beginner level than advanced, ya know? And apparently, Shiny doesn't believe kids should canter until they're better riders I guess? I dunno. I don't find it that hard to get canter from her. Her regular kid doesn't struggle anymore either. I am pretty sure it's a test. Mares! Ponies! I'm not sure which to blame it on. Still though, if they're going to be naughty, I'd prefer it happens in a slow and deliberate way like that versus running off or bucking or whatever. Either way, we've been working on transitions a lot. 

I don't share media of other people's children, so enjoy this unrelated photo.

The day after pony rides, Shine's kiddo came to ride, and they did great. They're really getting along great this year. She didn't come last week though. I'll have to reach out and get her back here. Hopefully her mom will be up here soon too! 

She got lazy over the raised cavalletti and got big mad when it fell down.

Otherwise, Shiny's been pretty good. Definitely the most well behaved of the herd lately. I'm still struggling with getting the gas pedal to work though. I just can't seem to get her really moving. And when she's not coming forward, we make mistakes to the jumps because you can't adjust a pony that isn't fully engaged. Despite that, we've jumped around regularly, and she does accept her fate of bad distances when she chooses not to listen to my input. So there's that at least. 

It was kind of raining on and off this day so Pivo had the day off.
Instead I just filmed from the barn aisle, so the quality is what it is.

I think she's ready to start jumping a little higher again, but I don't want to attempt that until we fix the forward off the leg problem. So more flatwork for us! Our chiro was out on Saturday, and she was really happy with how Shiny's looking on her diet. I was hoping the body work might magically unlock our go button, but no such luck. She had a new to us therapy this time using acupuncture needles, but instead of sticking them in pressure points, they went into the muscles to release the fascia. She seemed to really like it.

The needles are hard to see on her, but look close, they're up there in the middle of the photo.

Getting the backside adjusted!

Overall though, I'm happy with Shine. There are always things to work on, but she's feeling pretty good these days. If you have any suggestions for good exercises to light one up a little, please share! I feel like I have to use the whip an awful lot on this pony, and I HATE that. The fact that she continues to keep her ears pricked forward while I smack her suggests I'm more bothered than she is... but still. I prefer not to hit my pony. 

Eros is doing well. BIG things happening for him the last two weeks as we've started cantering some single poles on the ground. 

Next week I think we'll try a little pole course if I move the jumps. I can't make a pole course work with what we have set up unfortunately. And hopefully next week we can start raising some of the poles and maybe add a cross rail. Baby steps. I'm not in a rush to get him jumping after working so hard to get him sound again! 

He's been good generally, but a little spooky at the far end lately. Today he absolutely could NOT horse down there. 

There was a lot of rapid reversing. Finally I took him for a hand walk up there which did not help. And then I just gave up and rode him on the front half of the ring. I was running out of time and some days we have to choose our battles. I'm not really sure what he's so scared of, but I honestly think it's some tall weeds that are growing back there. They've been blowing around in the wind. Which is ridiculous. But horses, right? Al was terrible today (more on that later) but I did him before Eros, so I'm thinking there must be some reason for this behavior if they're both being weird. Maybe the bears are back? Or some deer? I dunno. I didn't see or hear anything. Eros was relatively good for our ride though. So long as I didn't stray from our safe space. Honestly. Horses. Ridiculous. Most of the time when E is spooking it's because he's fresh. But I don't really think he is this time. Could be though. We'll see what we have tomorrow. If he's still acting a fool, I'll have to address it better. 

Today aside, he's generally been giving me good work. He's still really locked up on that right side, but now that we've graduated to full flatwork I'm hoping he'll start to supple up some. If not, I may chat with doc and see if there's something else we need to address. Maybe he has lyme? It would explain the spooking and the stiffness. Probably wouldn't hurt to pull another titer on him. I don't think I've checked him in awhile. 

And then there's Al. This horse is the biggest emotional roller coaster I've dealt with. One week, I feel like we're moving forward. Last week we jumped a couple 3'3" jumps even! And they were so easy! And then this week? Can barely get him around the ring again. I tried jumping him today and couldn't get his focus. At all. None. I even got off and made the fences small, and still couldn't really get to them. The jumps aren't the issue normally, but today, I couldn't get enough canter to even really attempt much. He was on HIGH ALERT. Now again, Eros was feeling the same way, so there could be a reason. But it was really frustrating. He was like that yesterday too, but we were more able to work through it. Today I don't feel like we did really. 

Managed to get over this one!

I still think there's something bothering him physically that I haven't gotten to the bottom of. But like, what's left? We've treated for everything I can think of. He feels sound. He was pretty out of whack when he got adjusted, so much so that he earned that day off and an easy Sunday ride. Then he had Monday off. So I'm not sure if he's just still feeling out of sorts from his adjustment? If I can get him to move forward, he feels pretty great, but achieving any sort of forward anything is nearly impossible the last two days. When he's spooky like this, he just wants to have his head in the air and not move. It's like riding through quicksand. Which, I'm glad he's sticky and not spinning. But still. It's unpleasant. And pretty much unrideable. I've gone back to taking the pressure off and just asking for the minimum. And it helps some. But I really thought we were past this, and I'm incredibly frustrated that we're back here. He's still on both ulcer meds, so I can't imagine that's still in play. I may reach out to our chiro tomorrow and see if she has any reason to believe it could be related to his adjustment. Maybe I need her back out. I have no idea. I still believe in him, and despite me telling him I might need to sell him so he finds a better program, I don't mean that. I want this to work. I want to fix what's bothering him. I really think he's worth it. But like, selfishly, I really wish we could get a few weeks of good rides at a time. I'm not greedy. I don't need a full year or anything. But man. My confidence. This is hard. 

So here's some more photos from last week when things were good.

I think what's so hard, is that I just don't really know how to fix this. I don't feel afraid on him, I just feel stuck. Like my tool box has been emptied and I just need some kind of manual. This is why being home alone is hard sometimes. I generally think I'm pretty capable. But this horse has my scratching my head. And while I do know some trainer I could ship to, I think the problem is here in my arena. And I don't currently have someone who can come out to help me. And obviously, I didn't get any help last winter either. I'm not great asking for help, and it does something deep down when you can't get it. Ya know? 

Anyway, sorry to unload like that. We'll get through this rough patch like we have all the others. Hopefully sooner than later! In the meantime, I'll just be really thankful for the other two for keeping me semi sane. 

In less angsty news, I got to see my older niece in Mary Poppins last week. She played the bank boss (I forget his name) and did a great job. The show was really impressive! They only rehearse for two weeks before putting it on and the kids are all pretty young! I think 10-15 or around there. They did great. This Friday my younger niece is in The Little Mermaid. Same thing, two weeks of rehearsals. This one will probably be chaos since the kids are like 5-9. Most of them can't even read yet. I'm imagining missed cues, flubbed lines, confused children. Should be fabulous. I can't wait! Seriously! I'm sure it will be adorable.

I had a braiding job Saturday night this past week. So glad to be getting some work finally! I had a small panic when I saw the mane at first:

Yep. It was VERY short, uneven, and I'm pretty sure cut with a solo comb. (Please if you are going to hire out for hunter braids, DO NOT USE A SOLO COMB!) But somehow, it actually braided up pretty nicely. And the horse was an angel to work on. The horses at this barn are always really lovely to work with. I'll take questionably cared for manes on a well behaved horse any day! 

I have a pony to do for them in a few weeks and then the week after that I have a new customer to braid for. So yay for jobs! 

And that's it. That's all I've got. Cheers for you if you read through all of this without being like wow this chick is whiny. Please, feel free to share any advice you might have in the comments. You all have had your ups and downs so you might have some tools in your box that I do not. Or some owners manuals maybe! Lol!