Truthful Tuesday

 

I had a realization today as I was flatting around on Al. I really needed to decompress once I got home this year. I knew I was feeling some kind of way about my riding and my horses before the move, and it took the last two months for me to finally be able to take a deep breath and remember that I'm capable with these horses. And that THEY are capable too. And I realized as I was trotting Al around on a loose rein today that I'm not getting that feeling in my gut anymore before I ride. Not even on jump school days! I was having so much anxiety before my lessons, it made me want to cancel. I didn't of course. But boy, was I an anxious mess. Even in the lessons with my favorite instructor. Even sometimes on non lesson days. 

These days, I'm not feeling all this pressure to work my horses long enough or hard enough. I work them until I get the results I want. If we're having a problem, we work through it. And if I get the answers right away? Well maybe we'll quit early and take an extra long walk at the end. At the other barn, we've been told walk breaks are stupid and for bad riders. But at my house, we take walk breaks. Especially on these hot and humid days. 

Oddly enough, despite our more relaxed attitude, I feel like Al and I are  ready to get to some shows. I'm not ready to go jump around the 1.2M of course. But I think we're ready to hold our own at the .90's. And Shiny is ready to try... I dunno. Something! I just need to figure out who I want to help us when we go. Our trainer is still stuck in Florida. I can probably handle just Shiny on my own with a groom. But I think with Al I'd like to have someone who knows more than me on the ground. There's just something reassuring about that. Depending on where we go though, I do know most of the local trainers well enough that I could probably ask one of them to help me. I just need to pick a show and get my bum in gear. 

Anyway, that's today's confession. I'm finally feeling a little more confident and getting those trust banks refilled. FINALLY. 

What's Up Wednesday

 

It was a wet week around here, but we still managed to a lot of things... Just not as much riding as I'd have hoped. But what can you do? You can't change the weather! So Thursday, as anticipated was a rain day. It was actually considerably less wet than Wednesday, but the footing was saturated and so we had a rain day at the farm. But I made sure to use my rain day productively instead of being lazy. Even though lazy was kind of enticing. The horses all had their manes pulled and their fetlocks clipped. They look much more civilized now. 

Befores on the left, afters on the right

Having all different colored horses makes for a pretty mess after mane day:

Friday we were able to ride but it was just a muddy flat day. Nothing too exciting. And then Saturday we were rained out AGAIN. Can you believe it? Chores took a little longer than normal because of the weather and the fact that I thought the Gator was broken. But once those were done I went on a little mission to collect some things for jump decor. It was time to change the course and refresh the jump fill. Sunday was another muddy flat day. I was POOPED by the end of the day though. According to my watch I was entitled to feel sleepy.

Monday I was up early to call the mechanic for my fake broken Gator and they were able to come right out. Which was great because I was able to meet a friend for a quick breakfast. It was actually a gorgeous day, so after that I took Rita for her walk. She refused to take a nice photo though. That pup hates having her photo taken.

I had contemplated riding since it was so nice and the horses had so many days off last week. But I decided to stick to our Monday off schedule ultimately. I had a few things still on the to do list for that day anyway, and I had to be up really early Tuesday so I didn't want to be out in the barn until late. Instead, I got to work on my jump projects (and did so much laundry). 

I had been contemplating getting some astroturf and covering the last of my wooden jumps with it so I could have a turf jump. I keep seeing them in the hunter derbies and they look so pretty and inviting. Well, when I was shopping Saturday for flowers and what not, Ocean State Job Lot had a roll of turf that was 10'x8' for under $40. Obviously that was a sign. My jumps are 10' wide, so that would mean minimal cutting. I like things that are minimal work. So that was my Monday job, and they came out so nice!

I had two of these planks and one rail that matched them. They are all turfed now. I might have enough to recover the green box too. I just have to decide if I want to do that or not. Currently undecided. 

I also drilled flower holes in the flower boxes I got (I just got plastic ones and am using them upside down. You'll see in a little bit how they came out!) I had ordered some of my flowers so they weren't all in yet Monday, but would be for Tuesday evening when I did the course. Perfect timing! 

Tuesday was a LONG day. I was up at 5 to braid a horse for a photo shoot. KL Select was shooting catalog photos at one of my braiding customer's farms. So my braids will be in some ads! Kinda fun!

This horse is adorable!

I stopped for a breakfast sandwich and then some glue to finish up my jump fill repairs. Next I got to work on said repairs. And finally I rode all the horses. Al's been super spooky so he's especially time consuming lately. By the time I was done riding and everyone was fed it was after 6. I popped in the house to feed Rita and then got to work setting the course. I am so excited about this one! It came out great, and I can't wait to ride it! Here are some photos. They're dark because it was almost nine by the time I finished. But I think you can still see everything well enough:

Just the flower boxes are new on this one. The other
side has blue flowers

same with this one, just got some new flowers/boxes.
This one is the same on both sides.

I think this is my new favorite jump. You'll see the 
palm trees better in tomorrow's post. But they bring
me more joy than I ever expected a fake tree could.
Eros better notdestroy them. Trees came from 
Amazon.

Close up of the flower boxes on the palm tree jump.
Yes, those are FLAMINGOS! They were actually 
sidewalk lights, but I removed the light strings. I 
intertwined some leis around them for some greenery/flowers.

I'm not sure how well these ice cream cones will last, but we're
giving them a try! They are giant cups from the dollar store.
I took out the straws and added these little bees instead. They're on 
the green oxer.

Okay, so the turf jump came out even better than I hoped!
It's right up there on my favorite list. And I am SO HAPPY
with how the flower boxes turned out for this one too. 

These are the flower boxes. They actually match the planters
I already had for the sides of the jump. 
For flowers, I used faux grass stems and these little butterflies
from Amazon and just squished them all together. 

Had another day of validation from my watch too. 

I had hoped to jump Al and Shiny around the course today. But you know how plans like that tend to go... Today was the first really warm day around here (not that hot, just in the 80's, but the horses aren't used to it yet) which would have been fine. But the WIND! It was wild. Paired with the neighbor who was alternating the entire day between mowing his lawn and banging on things with his hammer, it was a tough day in the ring. Which was a bummer because I thought I'd have nice quiet horses in the heat. How disappointing! (Also, the neighbor has 1.1 acre of land. Which includes his house. And some of it is wooded. So he doesn't have much to mow. Yet the only days he hasn't mowed the lawn since I've had the horses home is when it's raining. And Monday. Which really makes me think he's just trying to drive me crazy. The horses don't care that much about hearing the mower hum along. But they really don't like when he stops and starts it over and over again. Or when he runs something over.) 

Anyway, back to the horses. I set up Pivo today in hopes we'd get to jump so I have some media, but I'm saving it for tomorrow since I wore my Thursday's Threads outfit today. 

So Al. I knew he was going to be special today because he was in his stall staring out the window snorting before I even got started. I often wonder if the spookiness is something I've cause because I seem to have had a lot of spooky horses. But then I see him acting that way on his own and it does help me realize that I did not cause this. This is innate for Al. So there's that I guess. Anyway, I popped him on the lunge line which has been our routine the last several rides. I let him trot around near where he tends to spook until he relaxes and then I get on. Some days it's quick and he's pretty relaxed from the get go, and other days it takes a lot longer. Today was a long day. And then went I got on it got worse. I opted to use half the ring today. We really didn't get anywhere in this ride. I managed some trot and canter and we had a few nice moments, but he was edgy and tense the entire ride. It was pretty frustrating. He was really hot and sweaty in the end, but I really only was on him for 15 minutes. He was on the lunge awhile, but it was a lot of walking and trotting. Nothing all that strenuous. What was strenuous was his anxiety level. I had to laugh as we were wrapping up though. I have these two crows that have been hanging around (I've named them Cheryl and Russell). Well I was cantering Al toward the barn, and out of the corner of my eye I see what looks like something running up to us (like a cat or something). Turns out it was a shadow from my crow friend flying past us to land on the fence RIGHT IN FRONT OF US. 

Do you see it there on the right?? I'm not sure if it's
Russell or Cheryl. I can't tell them apart. 

Does Al spook at this? Nope. A freaking crow flying at his head is just fine. But the leaves blowing on the trees is not okay. I will never understand horses.

Shiny on the other hand, is still the MVP. She comes out the same pretty much everyday. And while she has many opinions on what I ask her to do, she generally does them all. I didn't jump her around the full course today though. She seemed like she was having a little bit of a hard time with the warm weather, so I did work her, and popped her over a few fences, we kept it pretty light and quick today. But I cannot wait to actually jump her around the whole thing. What we did do rode great. 

Eros is plugging along with his rehab. We are up to 16 minutes of trot (total) and two laps each way of canter. Plus 16 minutes of walking too. (8 to start and then 8 to finish.) I still am undecided on how he feels. I filmed our ride today, but haven't had a chance to review it yet to see if what I'm feeling is what it looks like. But he's also kind of testing his boundaries so I'm also wondering if some of what he's doing is evading rather than being unsound. Horses are hard. He was similarly afflicted like Al today with the terrifying wind. Thankfully, Eros is better able to control his emotions. For him, I can put him together and put his focus on his job and most of the time that's the end of it. Every now and then something really startles him, but he generally takes me with him. (Except for that one time awhile back...) While I wish he wasn't feeling spooky at all, it is kind of reassuring for me that I can get his attention back on me. It reminds me that my struggles with Al aren't because I'm terrible. Which like I know I'm not terrible, but sometimes you start to wonder when things are just always the same. Ya know? So thanks E for being my constant therapist. What a guy!

And that wraps up the week! I have some things to try with Al for the next few rides, so fingers crossed something helps him. I REALLY want to get him going over jumps again so when our trainer gets back we can find some little shows to go to. But alas... it's looking a little bleak right now. I KNOW it will get better though. It always does.
 

What's Up Wednesday

 

We've completed our first full week at home, and while it's not all sunshine and rainbows (obviously, you can't get rainbows without rain) things are going well. I'm working on getting barn chore fit because I can tell you, I lost a lot of that over the winter! Though to be fair, the hay I have right now is weirdly heavy. It's very nice hay, much nicer than last years, but so heavy! I was worried it wouldn't be good, sometimes heavy hay is... I don't know. Just not good. This is. But sheesh. I am not strong enough for heavy hay. And the sweeping! I have rubber floors, so it's definitely an arm workout sweeping those. Hopefully this means I'll be all toned and ready for hot girl summer... Ha. Kidding. It's HORSE girl summer. Duh. But I wouldn't complain if my arms get nice and toned. 

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.

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.

Look! This was what it looked like first thing in the morning!
What a guy!

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!

I really can't stress enough how much I got rained on today

Eros seems to be doing pretty well. We're still in that same place where I can't really tell if he's sound or not. He's not actively limping, and the longer we go for, the better he feels. So I'm still thinking it's probably a maintenance issue more than a soundness issue. Looking forward to that vet appointment to get a professional opinion! Eros has been a good boy though. He's definitely a little sassy, especially with how chilly and windy it's been. But he's a responsible adult and hasn't acted on his lookiness. Thank goodness. I don't want two spooky warmbloods to deal with every day. Technically we could have started cantering last week, but I made him wait until this week just to be on the safe side. And I gotta tell you guys, the canter feels pretty good! Also, when we go back to trot after cantering, that also feels better than how it starts. So positive steps for sure. He was really funny today. I'm not sure if I've mentioned, but Eros HATES water. He thinks baths are stupid and riding in the rain is pure horse abuse. And don't get him started on PUDDLES! The horror. (Mind you, he will roll in a good muddy puddle, but not walk through one if he can help it.) So today. I rode Eros last, and honestly, I almost didn't get on. I was so soggy and when it was his turn it was absolutely pouring. But then it slowed down so I went ahead and did the thing. Anyway, I wasn't sure what I was feeling when we first started. He kept taking these funny steps. And then I realized what was happening. He was trying to avoid the puddles. Which was a really silly endeavor because there were puddles everywhere. Eventually at the trot he accepted his fate, but cantering left he insisted on trying to jump over the puddle by the gate. Which he couldn't do, because it was very large, and then he'd get mad that it splashed him. Thankfully we only had to pass by there twice at the canter. He's not supposed to be jumping! Especially imaginary things.

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:

Truthful Tuesday: The one in which I whine. A lot.

 

I always feel a little angsty as we approach moving day for the horses. And that goes both ways; be it moving home or moving away. There's just always a lot to organize and whatnot. But the universe seems to find great pleasure in making moving time exponentially more angsty. Remember last year when I brought my truck in for service a month before moving day and then the whole thing was eaten by mice and I didn't get it back in time? And had to use insurance to pay for the repairs because it cost more than Shiny did? That was something! 

So this year, I made sure to drive the truck all winter. With regularity. And when I wasn't driving it as much I made certain to drive it every Sunday. (Some people go to church, I drive my truck.) Trucky had maybe three weeks in a row where I didn't drive it because I actually just forgot one of the Sundays and then was away on vacation for two of the following. I had it scheduled to go in for a recall and an oil change this Monday though, so Sunday I made sure to hop in there to take it for a ride. Well. It was dead. D-E-A-D DEAD! 

I'm talking once I was in it, it used up the last little bit of juice to tell me it couldn't start and then I couldn't even lock the doors. So very dead. Fortunately, I just recently renewed my USRiders insurance so I got that bad boy towed in at no cost. Which... thanks for that because I do have to pay to actually fix it. Fortunately though, it's just a couple of batteries and a fuel filter that appear to be the problems. Oh yeah, and there are definitely mice in there again. F-ers. Those things plus the oil change? Just under 2 grand. Sigh. Could be worse though. So I'm thinking all good, ready to finish getting things ready for the horses! Only I get home from the barn tonight to a bit of an odor in the house. I go sniffing about, unsure of the source. Until I reach the laundry room which is where my door to the basement is located. Ohhh. I know that smell. That's oil. Excellent. Yep. My oil tank is leaking. Thankfully, the oil guys were able to come over pretty quickly to put a patch on it. Of course, that's temporary and I'll need a new tank. You can double the truck bill for that... 

I still need to order grain and shavings before the horses get here, but at least I got the hay a couple weeks ago. (That was about the price of the oil tank but will last me the whole season.) So yeah. I'm feeling the angst. Feeling it hard. Gonna have to find me some braiding jobs asap. Or perhaps I can sell some body parts? My organs mostly function pretty well. I bet I could do something with those. In the meantime, once the horses are here, I'm hoping to get some extraneous stuff listed for sale. That could hopefully help my find some cash AND get rid of a bunch of stuff taking up space. 

Anyone else seem to have tons of extra bills every spring? Or is it just my stuff that all breaks this time of year?

This is just a little extra twist of the knife by the universe.
My washer took a bite out of my Anatomeq pad. Couldn't
have eaten a cheaper pad could it? Oh no. Gotta be the nice one.

What's Up Wednesday

 

Apparently I took exactly zero photos of any of my horses this week, so this will be a boring wordy post. Sorry. I'm a bad blogger. Maybe I'll just pop in some old photos instead. That will help. (Courtesy of Chelsea Lothrop Photography of course.) Also, I barely remember this week, so it may not be all that wordy. Separately, do you ever wonder if you maybe had a head injury go undiagnosed based on your inability to remember anything some days? No? Just me? Okay then. Anyway....

When we last left off I was preparing for my lesson with Al on Thursday. I had very little angst about it because I was 100% prepared to abort mission if that seemed like what he needed. I'm happy to report that he did not require that! My instructor knew of my current plan with Al, and was happy to play along. She felt like things were going the way I'd hoped (as did I) and didn't see any reason to change course right now. After doing some warm up flat work, we started off trotting some cross rails. Al thought that was easy and boring so we started stringing some together. Everything was teeny tiny and mostly cross rails. This way, if something "scary" grabbed his attention I was still comfortable enough to trot the little jump. Al was really excited to be doing something other than flatting and was very well behaved. We even extended the area of the ring we were using which was a big deal. We used about 3/4 of the arena but mostly jumped heading toward the barn. The one exception was a diagonal fence that was set closer to the non scary end. Still, in the past, that could be a tricky jump for Al, but this lesson, he was great. We strategically had a friend on her horse hang out at the scary end while we jumped which seems to help Al a lot. I see no problem with using these little crutches right now while we work through our stuff. Unfortunately, this instructor is on vacation the next week and a half so we're back to flatting for a bit until she returns. That's okay though. It's ridiculously cold here now, and who even wants to jump in this weather? Not even Al! He continued to be a very good boy through the weekend. Which is encouraging. We're still having low pressure rides, but we've progressed to using 3/4 of the ring for our rides when there isn't a rig happening simultaneously. He's handling that well, and hopefully over the next few weeks we'll be able to get back to rides that are little more like work and less like happy hacks. It's hard to be patient and just let him progress slowly, but I think it's worth doing. 

He came out a little fresh yesterday but there are so many reasons why that's perfectly fair. He had Monday off since the barn is closed, the temps went from 50 on Saturday to teens this week, and with the exception of our lesson last Thursday, our rides have been very short and easy. He's not working enough to stay quiet, so I need to give him the chance to blow off some steam with a free lunge here and there. I should have done that yesterday. Since I didn't, I chose to spend that ride just doing walk trot. He was wanting very badly to revert back to being spooky and I just had to open the trust bank, and let him try to make the right choices. For the most part he did, which was wonderful. I was smart enough to know that the canter might be make shenanigans irresistible though. Ride smarter not harder friends! Anyway, I put him down for a free lunge today but somehow no one saw that. Fortunately, with the cold weather, the barn was a ghost town so I was able to do it myself before riding him. He wasn't overly nutty which was nice, but did let off some steam. He was then kind of too quiet for our ride (and I forgot to put my spurs on, doh!) but I'll take that! He still was a bit spooky, but the ice on the roof was making some sounds and he was alone in the indoor too. He prefers a buddy or two. Though it wasn't a perfect ride, it was a nice ride, and we even did some trot work in more of a working frame. Not for long, just a a little bit each way, but it was a step toward adding some pressure back in. 

There are moments where I feel like he's maybe testing the boundaries of my not pressuring him. Like he's waiting for me to get after him. He'll break sometimes when I don't think he really needs to. I'm trying very hard to just calmly put him back to whatever gait we were in and continue along. But I do sometimes worry I'm causing a different problem by being to nice. I'm still staying the course for now (but will be sure to remember my spurs next ride!) because I really do think I'm doing the right thing for Al at this moment. And if it turns out I was wrong? Well then I'll try something different. Eventually, I'll get it right. Hopefully. 

Shiny had two great lesson last week! One on Thursday morning in which she was pretty perfect and another on Saturday morning in which she was a actual star! Thursday, she was good. If I had any complaints I'd say a little behind the leg, but she was listening nicely and there weren't any antics after the fences. I was happy with her. Friday our chiropractor was out and worked on both Shiny and Al. (Eros sat this session out since he's on vacation. Plus I can use those funds for some other expenses I have this month... sorry E.) Neither horse had any remarkable findings, and in fact, they both were feeling a lot better than last time. So that's great news. 

Saturday, Shiny came out feeling SO GOOD for her lesson. Not in a wild sort of way, but in a very fluid, and comfortable kind of way. In fact, once we started jumping, I actually was over-riding in error because she was so tuned in to my leg (which never happens). It took me a minute to realize I could back off a little and let her take us around instead. It felt amazing. I'm so proud of her. She's missing her Thursday lesson this week since she shares an instructor with Al, but I was planning to do our Saturday with one of the other teachers. BUT (there's always a but) I think it's going to be under 15 degrees for our lesson time (we go first thing) which to me is too cold for working them. And also, my nieces have a recital that morning which I'd like to attend. So no lessons for Shiny this week either. We'll get back to it next week though.

Eros is handling his vacation very well so far. He's hand walking nicely and staying calm for his turnouts. Very encouraging for his recovery. I find that the colder it gets outside the more he hates the ice boots though. He paws for the first five minutes he has them on. Poor guy. I get it. I also hate having to ice. Anyway, I'm glad he's happy and handling things mostly well. Definitely a better patient that Pammon used to be! I sure do miss riding him though. His March recheck can't come soon enough!

That's about it from here. This week will be quiet with no lessons and all the cold weather. But it's nice to have a quiet week after all the drama we've been dealing with! Hope you're all staying warm! Seems like most of the country is cold!

Truthful Tuesday

 

Welp. I'm not one of those people who can't admit when they were wrong. So I shall tell you, I was wrong to withhold jumping from Al. So very wrong. Like the wrongest wrong to ever wrong. That boy is BESIDE himself. Practically unrideable. 

You see what happened was, I thought I had beat the system by signing him up for a training ride last week. But I wasn't specific in my request and it was just a flat ride. In which he was just as much of a spooky a-hole for the trainer as he is for me, but I digress... The ride wasn't what I had hoped for because I really wanted him to jump to get his head back on straight. Since he didn't, he has snowballed into the biggest spookasaurus that ever spooked. Like ever. 

We attempted a flat lesson today and it was probably one of my top ten worst rides on him. He nearly got me off once, and has decided there is no safe space anywhere in the indoor. Mind you, he had a free lunge in the morning. Then spent several hours outside with his friends. Then he got worked on by his favorite body worker. AND THEN we had the lesson. So he had a pretty fab day prior. I don't even know what's wrong with his brain, but man. Something isn't right up there. He got this way at home too just before we moved, so it's certainly not location specific. 

I am not a quitter though. I will figure this horse out. Some day. Hopefully. Plan for the rest of the week is to have a training ride WITH JUMPS tomorrow. And then I will lesson on Thursday. And if he's still a spookasaurus after that? Well... I dunno. But I'll keep trying. 

My other confession though, is that when he's like this, I lose my brave. And without that, it's hard for me to really dig deep and be tough and give him the ride he needs. Usually I have Eros to help me find that confidence but since he's on the injured list, I'm kind of having to face this without him. And it's tough. All I can do is keep trying though. He's too nice of a horse to give up on. 

Any of you have a horse like this? What are some things that have worked for you? If it helps to understand what I'm dealing with, when Al spooks, it's not just a little hairy eyeball and a bulge away. It's a full on prop and spin. And sometimes there's no prop, just the spin, and that's when I have a hard time holding on. He'll pretty happily follow another horse around the ring, but the moment we separate from that horse, he reverts right back to being spooky. I can hand walk him back and forth around what he's scared of. But at each gait, and each direction at each gait even, it's like we have to start from scratch. I can't imagine he enjoys life like this anymore than I do. So we have to figure this out.

What's Up Wednesday

 

This week has been trying to say the least. I mean, it's solidly first world problems, and in the grand scheme what's bugging me is generally pretty trivial. But I am tired. And frustrated. And it's probably best if I don't go on too much about it here since it's a semi public space. But suffice to say, I think I will be taking a break from lessons with Al for a little while. Through no fault of his own. He's been a pretty good boy overall. I tried to lesson Sunday morning but for some reason everyone decided to ride at the same time. With like 8 horses in the ring, it was just utter chaos (they were all seemingly very wild) and I just called it a day. Al is a spooky horse and being in a ring packed full of other spooking horses is just not the right setting for him. I realize that this will sometimes be something we encounter at a horse show, but at this point in where we are, it's not a problem we're ready to tackle. 

Yesterday I had a flat lesson on him, and he was lovely. He still struggles some with the counter canter tracking right, but he's trying very hard with it. It will come in time I think. Something to work on over the winter anyway. 

We tried a jumping lesson again today, and Al was being a good dude. But let's just say, things went weird and I wound up getting off. Not because Al was doing anything wrong. Nor was I. I've been riding just fine of late. I'm not sure if there will be an instructor here this winter, but if there is, I may just hold off on lessons and jumping until the crew heads south. Just hit a reset and start over then. It's only a few more weeks. Al might hate it, but I'm tired of just failing all the time. Especially when the failure is the result of outside forces. I can fuck up just fine all on my own thanks.

Shiny is feeling pretty great though! She didn't get to jump the past week, but she's going to tomorrow morning in what's normally Eros' lesson. I'm pretty excited, hopefully she will be too... But like, not TOO excited.... haha!

And in other disappointing news... Eros has been off since last Thursday. He had a free lunge before our lesson, but when I got on he wasn't quite right. Then we changed direction and he was super unsound. I was hoping maybe abscess. He wears pads, so I couldn't really poke and prod, but my farrier was out Monday to trim and/or shoe them all and he didn't find anything. I hopped on him Tuesday to see if new shoes and a trim would magically fix the problem, but no luck. He was better than he was Thursday, but still noticeably unsound. I gave him today off, but I'll probably tack walk him tomorrow and trot a few steps just to assess before the vet comes Friday. I don't see any abnormal swelling nor feel any real heat anywhere, so I'm not sure where the issue is. I'm wondering if he maybe tweaked a shoulder. I dunno. Fingers crossed for an easy fix on Friday. 

So kind of a Debby Downer post today, sorry friends. Tomorrow will be more fun, I promise! Because Chanukah starts tomorrow night! And we're going to start celebrating in the daytime, because I have a lot of outfits.

What's Up Wednesday

 

I think What's Up Wednesday is really just me whining about the weather lately. I feel like it's cloudy and cold all the time, and if not that, then it's raining and cold. This doesn't bode well for winter. 

Rain does sometimes bring rainbows though!

And the trees are finally putting on a show

As in past weeks, the rain is messing with our schedule and we haven't done much jumping. I tried today, but the only one who behaved enough to actually get anything done was Shiny. She's the real MVP this time of year. 

I mean, we did almost die once:

But we didn't die. And I can't fault her for tripping. I think she's overdue for a shockwave and they're all getting their feet done tomorrow. 

In defense of Eros' behavior today, I rode him late and we all know he hates that. Never ride a redhead when they're hungry. Just don't do it. 

Or they will pull you off the saddle.

He started out okay. 

But after three jumps (that Pivo mostly ignored) the torpedo was launched. And it was a stubborn torpedo! It required a return to flatwork. 

Look! The sun tried to come out for four minutes!

Did I win the battle? Eh. I dunno. I think he'll be fine tomorrow. I'm pretty confident he was just really insulted that I rode him last and so close to dinner time. He really hates that. Dinner is VERY important to E. 

And then there's Al. Sigh. Al is tough this time of year. I really do think he'd be better if we could ride with another horse in the ring. But we don't have that luxury home alone, so we're doing the best we can. 

The last few days he has not been wild at all. But is nervous. He does not at all understand leaves falling off trees. It would be comical if it wasn't so frustrating. I'm pleased that his response currently is to stop and stare, rather than the spin and run of last autumn. But I've never had to work so hard just to get around the ring in my entire life. Like, I'm squeezing so hard noises come out of me. It's a good thing I'm here by myself, or it would be embarrassing. I haven't really been able to jump, because I can't get enough canter. We popped over that one little fence above a few times since it's on the side of the ring without trees. And aiming at the barn. But as you can see, we still had to chip since I have no impulsion what so ever. I cannot wait for him to get some training rides next month! I've said it before and I will say it till I'm old (more so than now) and gray (again more so than now): I am a decent amateur RIDER, but I am NOT a horse trainer. I need help sometimes. And Autumn with Al is one of those times. Winter too really. And spring. We hold our own in the summer! Sheesh. I wish I was a better braver rider. 

We're staring at two of the most enormous crows
we have ever seen. They were sitting in a tree
just waiting for the perfect moment to scare the poo
out of Al. 

I try very hard to reward him when he tries even if it's not the desired outcome. I just want the try. And I think he appreciates that. If you get too hard on him, he just gets more upset. But you also can't just be the good cop. You can't let him blatantly ignore you or he'll walk all over you. (Or spin you right off...) It's a fine line of how tough I need to be while still letting him feel like he's not in trouble. He does not like getting in trouble. Which is funny because he pushes a lot of buttons for a horse that doesn't want to be reprimanded. 

So anyway. That's mostly a recap of today. But it sums up the last week pretty well too. We're kind of living the movie Groundhog Day while we wait for our move to the other barn for the winter. They're all getting their feet done tomorrow (shoes for E, a front trim and hind shoes for A, and a trim for Shine) and then Monday they get their fall shots. Maybe next week the weather will be more cooperative for our shenanigans! As per the norm, it will rain here Saturday and then be extra cold and windy for Sunday. I think that's just the norm here now. At least, is has been the last three weekends. There I go... bitching about the weather again! Lol! Sorry! 

In other news, I had my very first MRI on Tuesday. It was for my knee so maybe I can figure out how to stop angering it. I don't have the results back yet, but should soon. Fingers crossed it's only as messed up as I think and will just need more PT. Or maybe there's nothing at all wrong (even better!) and I'm just old. That would be fine too.

That's it from here. Hope you all had a great week!