Greetings from the Frozen Tundra... Still.
With more snow (really, Minnesota?!) and another swirl of the Arctic vortex rolling in, I'm about at my wit's end. Bailey and Foxie are surviving the winter blahs, but I think we're all bored and impatient and just so, so done.
Update on Foxie: Foxie has been doing some small amount of work. Lately, with all the weather changes, her neck has been suffering, and she is starting to get the tell-tale sore on her withers that says winter needs to be OVER. Foxie's withers were damaged by the blanket we purchased in haste the first big winter storm of the season - we took what they had, which had a large quarter-horse esque neck hole and sat too far back onto her withers. A sore ensued and the hair grew back white. She has had her "zebra" stripes ever since and the sores rear their ugly head late in the winter. This year I caught them at the "chapped and starting to bald" phase, and on went the slinky and the goo. This year we're trying out bag balm instead of our usual Corona brand ointment, and it's much easier to spread in the cold - and less of a mess. The neck soreness (a nice big block of rock hard neck muscle) seems to reflect general soreness in her body. I plan to start riding her more, as she loosens up well with lateral work and stretching. She will also spend extra time in the Back on Track blanket until the weather evens out and she's in a little better shape. She also is in the first stages of going on a diet, a decision I've been toying with all winter. With her reduced workload and general pigginess on the round bale, she has been fat and happy all winter. With the Spring vet visit about a month away in my estimation, her highness needs to slim up! She is going from a 50/50 mix of Ultium and Strategy HE to a 1:2 ratio of Ultium to Strat. She will hopefully end up on 4.5 lbs of Strategy HE.
Bailey, on the other hand, has gotten a feed increase. She has been in more regular work than her chubster of a sister, and other than a bit of mane rubbing, seems no worse for wear from the obnoxious weather changes. She has grown (Sticked at 16.1 today!) and changed shape. Her first blanket, the Schneider's, is beginning to look outgrown, and with all the crap I've gone through with it and with the liner, I'm pretty fed up. The blanket doesn't run size wise like the Weatherbeetas and is showing butt cheek - and as of today, I'm noticing her belly hanging out of it, as well. While it was cheap(ish) it has been a pain between needing more waterproofing and repairs - also I don't care if it's 1680 poly or 1680 nylon it is covered in teeth marks (insert frowny face here). Bailey's Schneider's liner has also been collecting three corner tears from what I assume is pressure (???) and the velcro "V-Free" mechanism is trying to tear free of the blanket. Albeit, the more expensive Rambo Optimo liner also has now developed a miraculous corner tear, and the front velcro is also trying to tear free. Seriously, I am so done with liners for her! Foxie's liner is still tear-less, and I just repaired a few weak looking areas in the wither area - it should hopefully last another season. In the mean time, I will be shopping for a new blanket that actually covers my red horse. Sigh.
We had a pretty awful jumping lesson two weeks ago (detailed in the last blog), which resulted in more jumping than usual, as I am stubborn and try to not let her backslide in her training. She has been lovely over the smaller fences and while I'm frustrated that we're still jumping around ~2 foot fences, rather than a more challenging height, I'm happy that she's learning to deal with different distances and canters pretty willingly to the fences even on the "first try". We're still a work in progress but I'm secretly hoping that my big brave over jumping beast she was this fall comes back when we're reunited with the outdoors.
I've also been struggling with saddle fit;
The dressage saddle seems to be too narrow and needs a lift in the back to look like it fits.
The Vision seems to be too wide, but is workable with lift front pads. B's shoulders are starting to exist so I anticipate that things will get better - with more growing and perhaps a reflocking, it should fit at one point. I keep feeling like it's too far forward but the flap tends to fool me into thinking it's way too far up her shoulder... I will need to continue to play with it, but it's so cold I never get the chance!
The magic is the enigma - it seems to fit, but flexes to be a bit lower than the standard 4 fingers of clearance. She does seem to like it, and it wants to sit in the proper place on her back - ample space for her shoulder but doesn't dominate her back. I'm slowly considering finding a dressage saddle with the same tree, but since Courbette is out of business and Stubben is just starting to put out the Phillipe Fontane models that look like dead copies under another name, so we will bide our time.
So... yeah. More winter blankets, more cold and no end in sight.
Exasperated,
Ashley, Bailey & Foxie
With more snow (really, Minnesota?!) and another swirl of the Arctic vortex rolling in, I'm about at my wit's end. Bailey and Foxie are surviving the winter blahs, but I think we're all bored and impatient and just so, so done.
Update on Foxie: Foxie has been doing some small amount of work. Lately, with all the weather changes, her neck has been suffering, and she is starting to get the tell-tale sore on her withers that says winter needs to be OVER. Foxie's withers were damaged by the blanket we purchased in haste the first big winter storm of the season - we took what they had, which had a large quarter-horse esque neck hole and sat too far back onto her withers. A sore ensued and the hair grew back white. She has had her "zebra" stripes ever since and the sores rear their ugly head late in the winter. This year I caught them at the "chapped and starting to bald" phase, and on went the slinky and the goo. This year we're trying out bag balm instead of our usual Corona brand ointment, and it's much easier to spread in the cold - and less of a mess. The neck soreness (a nice big block of rock hard neck muscle) seems to reflect general soreness in her body. I plan to start riding her more, as she loosens up well with lateral work and stretching. She will also spend extra time in the Back on Track blanket until the weather evens out and she's in a little better shape. She also is in the first stages of going on a diet, a decision I've been toying with all winter. With her reduced workload and general pigginess on the round bale, she has been fat and happy all winter. With the Spring vet visit about a month away in my estimation, her highness needs to slim up! She is going from a 50/50 mix of Ultium and Strategy HE to a 1:2 ratio of Ultium to Strat. She will hopefully end up on 4.5 lbs of Strategy HE.
Bailey, on the other hand, has gotten a feed increase. She has been in more regular work than her chubster of a sister, and other than a bit of mane rubbing, seems no worse for wear from the obnoxious weather changes. She has grown (Sticked at 16.1 today!) and changed shape. Her first blanket, the Schneider's, is beginning to look outgrown, and with all the crap I've gone through with it and with the liner, I'm pretty fed up. The blanket doesn't run size wise like the Weatherbeetas and is showing butt cheek - and as of today, I'm noticing her belly hanging out of it, as well. While it was cheap(ish) it has been a pain between needing more waterproofing and repairs - also I don't care if it's 1680 poly or 1680 nylon it is covered in teeth marks (insert frowny face here). Bailey's Schneider's liner has also been collecting three corner tears from what I assume is pressure (???) and the velcro "V-Free" mechanism is trying to tear free of the blanket. Albeit, the more expensive Rambo Optimo liner also has now developed a miraculous corner tear, and the front velcro is also trying to tear free. Seriously, I am so done with liners for her! Foxie's liner is still tear-less, and I just repaired a few weak looking areas in the wither area - it should hopefully last another season. In the mean time, I will be shopping for a new blanket that actually covers my red horse. Sigh.
We had a pretty awful jumping lesson two weeks ago (detailed in the last blog), which resulted in more jumping than usual, as I am stubborn and try to not let her backslide in her training. She has been lovely over the smaller fences and while I'm frustrated that we're still jumping around ~2 foot fences, rather than a more challenging height, I'm happy that she's learning to deal with different distances and canters pretty willingly to the fences even on the "first try". We're still a work in progress but I'm secretly hoping that my big brave over jumping beast she was this fall comes back when we're reunited with the outdoors.
I've also been struggling with saddle fit;
The dressage saddle seems to be too narrow and needs a lift in the back to look like it fits.
The Vision seems to be too wide, but is workable with lift front pads. B's shoulders are starting to exist so I anticipate that things will get better - with more growing and perhaps a reflocking, it should fit at one point. I keep feeling like it's too far forward but the flap tends to fool me into thinking it's way too far up her shoulder... I will need to continue to play with it, but it's so cold I never get the chance!
The magic is the enigma - it seems to fit, but flexes to be a bit lower than the standard 4 fingers of clearance. She does seem to like it, and it wants to sit in the proper place on her back - ample space for her shoulder but doesn't dominate her back. I'm slowly considering finding a dressage saddle with the same tree, but since Courbette is out of business and Stubben is just starting to put out the Phillipe Fontane models that look like dead copies under another name, so we will bide our time.
So... yeah. More winter blankets, more cold and no end in sight.
Exasperated,
Ashley, Bailey & Foxie
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