Birthday Week = Not so birthday ride

Monday of last week, BB jumped the things in the outdoor on her freshly trimmed toes. 

Wednesday, BB got natural horsemanship-ed and ridden in a western saddle (and yes, I thought she looked ridiculous) and apparently didn't get worked all that hard (though her brain was definitely working).

Thursday was my birthday, and with it came a number of wonderful presents from my fiance, including my heart-eyes-emoji I can't wait to wear it new show coat. Take a look at this sexual thing via google images stolen photo:

S/O to the girl on Ebay who was selling it supa cheap to I could actually ask for it without feeling totally guilty. Along with my fantastic fiance gift, I also got (among other gifts) a new show pad for the BB for dressage. I need to coat it in Scotchguard before it gets anywhere near a horse, but it's very pretty and will look very slick in the ring next year!

Meanwhile, I celebrated my birthday and hung out with some friends and suddenly it was Sunday, raining, and I wasn't wild about riding... except I probably really needed to. 

I was right.

I retrieved my muddy horse out of her muddy pit of a turn out, and she ground worked fantastically, submitting and chewing and focusing. And at the walk, she was really quite rid-able. The trot and canter, though, were a giant hot mess. There was persistent spooking at the human door and about a 4 stride area each direction where I actually got her to focus on me, and not on something else. I tried cantering until she was tired, but that doesn't really work when there are other people in the arena (especially when these people stare at you like you're wildly galloping. Bails was spooking in control, on our own end of the arena, and was jamming along like it felt good to run, she wasn't bucking or being wild... but whatever). Next we tried leg yeilds and transitions, to mixed effects. I picked up my whip. I actually used my whip. We tried half halts, leg yields towards the scary doors and downward transitions to walk or trot past the scary things. I got progressively more frustrated because she was just being stupid.

I don't know if she finally hit fatigue and the game stopped being fun, or I'd finally beaten her into submission (because for a while there, I was popping her on the ass every time she spooked with my whip) or if the period she spend staring out the window into the future lounge - construction area place actually helped settle her fears, or if putting my stirrups down 5 holes and wrapping my legs around her barrel actually made her relax (I didn't realize I was tense until I put the stirrups down. So much for the AP saddle!) but I finally got decent work.  

And by decent work I mean I got relatively un-braced, brain-in-the-brainpan trot and canter transitions (both ways, up and down) and actually felt like my horse was being obedient and not totally forgetting I was on her back. She got tons of praise, had to re-work the end section of our ride again since she came to a lovely downward and then spooked when someone clanged open the door, and was done. She was totally steamed and I'm honestly looking forward to the colder weather because I'm over sweaty stinky horses and am going to clip her if it doesn't drop 20 degrees. 

I feel like this winter is going to be ten steps forward, 20 steps back - she keeps making fantastic progress and then she has a bad day, or a bad week, or whatever, and I go back to halfway hating her because it's SO HARD to act like a normal horse and keep her kimchee together. 

Dear horse, plz let me know when u learn to horse.

Kthanksbai.

Hi, My Name Is Ow.

Riding has continued along the status quo - we've had a freakish warmup to the 40's lately, and I was lucky enough to get out of the indoor on Saturday and yesterday to ride outside.

Saturday:

It was quiet Saturday morning even though I was late-ish due to feed buying and grocery shopping. More about the feed later. I got the B tacked up and we headed to the indoor since it was windy. Approximately 5 minutes of herp-derp spooking because the idiots constructing the lounge addition onto the arena (which is still a wood skeleton of a building) already cut the wall open in places, which rattles terribly in the wind, we went outside after all. 

I set up "The Mercedes" which is a Y shaped jump exercise I found on facebook. Bailey enjoyed spooking at me and the jump standards and the poles while staring at the people who were unloading two new horses into a quarantine pen. We got some good jumping in - only one knock down the whole ride, and the horse was bold, too forward and actually took a few longer spots despite having long feet that kept picking up snowballs. I was thankful for my running martingale, because doofus was feeling good in a "I fling my face in your face" kind of way a la last year: 

Super cute, no? She finally settled and was good, and I quit while I was ahead, though she wasn't even remotely sweaty. I tried using a flash strap to make a Ralph Hill style kineton-thing to try and get a half halt or some brakes, but that just made the head flinging and steering issues so much worse, so once I pulled that crap off of her and got her to a place I was happy with, we were done. I should have stopped and swapped her over to a waterford or something, but I just rode through it wishing Christmas or my birthday would get here faster (I have it on good authority I'm getting a slow twist dee ring for one of those) so I had more brakes in my arsenal. 

 I then got on and roaded the Fox for about 15-20 minutes and then did some arena work for another 15 or so. I can tell she hasn't been out in too long just from that ride; she kept trying to turn around and go home when I was messing with my girth, and while it took her some time, she finally got back to business and into the swing of things after a rough few minutes. 

Roading Foxie is the best - she cruises along with about 6 gears of canter/gallop and once she got back into the routine (it took her about 10 minutes) she found her usual roading trot back, which is this stretched out, nose poking out mega trot. She trucks along like the beast she is, and it's lovely. I actually got her sweaty, though we spend the majority of our last 20 minutes under saddle walking. She was totally coated in gravel road spray from galloping, but was very happy with herself when we were done.

Monday:

The girls got their feet done, so I automatically tossed Fox back out in the pasture without lunging her or anything. Bailey wasn't so lucky...

The riding instructor at the barn stole the straight bottom of my Y excercise so we had a V instead - I had an inkling to road the B after a few good jumps, but she totally ruined that plan after doing about 10 minutes of relatively ok flatwork. Someone spooked up a huge amount of Canadian Geese who were honking and circling for what felt like FOREVER while Bailey quietly and ridiculously lost her mind over, and over, and over. She had done great ground work before our ride, and while her work pre-spook wasn't spectacular (someone is getting whiny and lays on the bit between "I AM OUTSIDE AND I FEEL GOOD" moments of head flinging joy) the spook itself was ridiculous. I couldn't get her to loosen or relax her neck, I hardly could get her attention, and she wanted to passage. Or bolt. Or stop and stare. But walking or trotting was TOO MUCH. When I finally got some semblance of steering back and kinda-sorta had brakes I started jumping her, wondering if jumps would make her focus. We jumped and circled and changed direction a billion times, and she was still looking out of the arena and blowing me off every opportunity she had. I didn't have a half halt, I couldn't turn her shoulders easily and I certainly couldn't get her to fix her freaking lead while she obnoxiously cantered around on two different leads.

So I made her gallop for like 10 whole minutes. 

The majority of the time she was bent out and being a total asshole, but then she got tired, and I made her keep going and suddenly she was straight and carrying herself and actually acting like a horse. Normally I would quit, because she was acting pathetic and tired and was puffing and stretching.

But I made her jump some more, and it was lovely. We didn't have the snow factor this time, but with the V instead of the Y I was able to play with a tight little roll back and was mostly able to keep the impulsion, while also throwing her at jumps crooked and on angles and she never could anticipate where I was going to send her, but she was a good little muffin and went out and did work. She did have a tendency to land on her right lead (the lead towards the geese flying field area) over the smaller of the two jumps, but in general she was half halting, coming back to me, and was actually looking for me to set her up and tell her where to jump from. I wasn't really trying to play with the spot or go for long or short, I just kind of worked with what I was getting since most of my consciousness was taken up by how much my ass and thighs are not in shape for this sort of crap at all, much less two rides in a row.

But by the end, the red horse was tired, and while she stopped and wanted to look at the indoor when we walked past, I could just kick her forward vs. having to worry about her twanging herself into the fence, or otherwise freaking out. 

So I'll take it. 

Other quick news: the girls are trying out a new feed - Purina Equine Senior Active. My current mix (Ultiumx Strategy Healthy Edge) is 12% protein and 10% fat, and the new feed is 14% protein and 10% fat with the same calorie per lb value and nearly the same NSC, but without me having to hand scoop 200 lbs into their cans every 22 days. I'm hoping it agrees with them, and that the protein doesn't make Bailey hotter. I'm not too worried about Fox - she looks spectacular right now since Drew has been lunging her back into a topline, and I'm hoping the extra protein helps give Bails the muscle definition I'm looking for.

We also got a second tack trunk, since I was getting REALLY REALLY tired of playing tack trunk tetris every ride trying to fit crap into it, while still having to store a lot of stuff in my car. Second tack trunk is AWESOME and I am so happy I spent the money (technically, I replaced my show trunk and demoted the show trunk to barn duty). I can now fit coolers/quarter sheets in and actually find things in my trunks - and I probably have room to spare for an extra bridle or two so I can have brake options for the B. Note to self - get the waterford out of the trailer and onto a bridle!

I already have Foxie's lunging bridle (sans reins and noseband) which is a Dr. Bristol Boucher, but the last time I used that it didn't do much for Bails and I. The waterford was too much for her last year (though we will be trying it again) and thus, I'm hoping that the slow twist D will give me a bit of extra steering and brakes without her being too reactive/over stimulated like she gets with a curb chain/pelham, faux kineton or, I am guessing, a pair of sliding gag cheeks. Bailey is a much trickier animal to bit than Foxie - Fox was easy! It probably helped that I had trainers loaning me bits at that point, but hopefully I won't have to buy too many to find what I am looking for. 

Anyhoo, I am going to go and bemoan my hips, thighs, knees and butt which are all currently too sore for words. 

It's been a Week

It has, it has. 

I didn't ride on Wednesday evening; I made pie and cheesecake instead for Thanksgiving. I then got up and was going to go ride, but lost motivation and ended up watching a movie. 

Thanksgiving was uneventful, but the long weekend was nice. I rode on Friday, and then Sunday, and am planning a trip out again tonight. We've been continuing the routine of groundwork - bridle - ride and things aren't awful. The B has been putting out some good work after some initial time being stressed and worried and not focused. I've been shamelessly using Foxie when Drew is lunging her - we go in circles around the lungers and Bailey feeds off her energy... or I do... or she's distracted by horse on a lunge line and is better behaved. 

Sunday was a particularly nice day - I swapped to riding in Foxie's new Philippe Fontaine Deauville since I feel like an idiot two-pointing in my dressage saddle (and it needs to be cleaned and conditioned). I like the balance more for the work I'm doing, and like the security of the double block. It's not as perfectly balanced as my Vision, but it's also lighter and more appropriate for flatwork because my leg isn't so far out in front of me. While the groundwork started out kind of rough, as did the riding, she came around and rallied really nicely to do some real work. We did some flying changes (jumping a cone because Bailey can't change her lead without a catalyst) and I really feel like the change is there, and really nice - she just can't figure out that I'm asking her to change the hind as well as the front. It's an ongoing project - in the mean time, she still has a nice simple change, even if I dislike the idea of doing simples in the show jumping ring. 

We put the girls in their medium weights with the neck covers on Friday, and I was happy with the timing - it was chilly and then it snowed early yesterday morning and was still kind of going this morning - it makes me happy to know the girls are warm and dry in their good coats. Bailey may not care, but Foxie certainly does. 

We also got our Farmily photos back with the girls - I'll post some more later, but here's a favorite (despite BB being a turd): 

Hopefully she makes up for making that face with more good work and fewer mental meltdowns!

Note: I actually resisted horse-related Black Friday / Cyber Monday deals - I got myself a knee brace, and there is horse stuff on my Christmas list, but I didn't buy them anything yet! They're getting a HUGE amount of cookies and peppermints from their Dad, so I need to come up with a few small things to get them for their stockings (in part because 5 lb bags of peppermints don't come close to fitting in them). 

​

I Can't Even

Today is the day of I-Can't-Even. Work? Newp. Motivated to ride? Definitely not. Capable of normal human thought? Not really.

Since I can't sleep (I mean I could, but I would be in major danger of losing my job) I figure... blogtime. What's happened since I posted last? Lots. Clearly I am bad at blogging. 

Since my last post, BB got used in a Natural Horsemanship (Buck Branaman style) clinic as an example of a horse who is spooky/doesn't trust her hooman to keep her safe. She didn't kill the guy, for which I was grateful, since that would have been embarrassing. She also wasn't full on Bellatrix Lestrange crazy... but from watching the clinician and then working with her/riding her, I think I have actually figured that facet of her neurosis. 

Clinician basically started off defining his "bubble" of space, and then worked with the B to get her feet moving when she tends to freeze while staring at something scary. He progressed to having her move laterally to get her to soften her body. By the end (when he had the audience applaud and stop randomly and start randomly) she was showing progress and was also much more respectful of hooman space and hooman guidance. Things I didn't like? When he disciplined her for not backing up on his cue - she's been taught a different one, and I think it's kind of obnoxious to punish a horse for responding perfectly to a cue you don't use. I also didn't appreciate him whapping her in the face once or twice with his flag - I don't remember the exact context, but I feel he could have been more understanding of a horse who hasn't ever been worked with on the ground that way. I am a soft mom, though.

Post clinic, BB was lovely on the ground. I did some basic work again before my ride, and I felt she was better than she would have normally been - more tuned in to me. Our last ride (Monday) was surprisingly not crap. We had farmily photos done on Saturday (thus no weekend ride) and Bails was AWFUL. Spooking, snorting, half bolting on the lead, and of course I wanted her in her show halter so I didn't have a nice rope halter or stud chain to pop her with. We're still waiting on photos, but Monday's ride went pretty well. 

First change? BB felt like she was trying to be good. Drew lunged her while I took the Fox for a spin and I was honestly a little worried - she was a total doofus. Once I got on, we focused on the two door corners of the arena. Right now, I'm trying for the following under saddle:

1. Continuing to go forward at the same pace (not stopping or scooting forward)

2. Not dramatically throwing the body to the inside when passing the scary thing (usually followed by a scoot/bolt)

3. Not locking the base of the neck and the jaw

I'm hoping with 2 and 3, we get the desired result of not losing bend/lead/etc when spooking and that she learns to "keep it in her pants" so to speak. She does well when asked to do shoulder in or leg yield towards the scary thing so I think we'll get to going through normally. I'm also trying to boot her forward and through the spooks and reward her when she relaxes - I also discovered I'm holding my breath at the canter, so I'm also trying to keep breathing, keep my elbows soft and not brace for the spook through my own body. I am sure she reads tension in me and reacts, so I can definitely help us improve by being more in control of my own body while I teach her to relax through hers.

We're not getting much "work" done, but I feel like it's good for her brain to learn to chill out. Her canter will improve from her gaining balance and focus (and hopefully so will her problem of losing the lead in the back when distracted) and she's staying fit and getting sweaty each ride, so I think we're doing the good - if not the fun/desirable - work. She was a little weird through the contact on Monday, as well, so I'm tempted to toss her into the boucher or the waterford for a ride or three. We can only get better, right?

Quick Catch Up

My last post was technically "sent" on the 11th - though I forgot to hit "post" until today - so there is that. The indoor arena #strugfest2015 has continued. I didn't ride Friday - I had a potential saddle buyer meeting me on Saturday morning, so Drew and I trooped out Saturday morning. The girl bought the saddle (YAY DOLLARZ!) and Drew lunged the Fox while I got BB tacked up to jump. I set up something similar to the run-and-jump exercise from the Lucinda Green clinic two years ago, but someone came in to lunge, so my run and jump became more of a turn and jump. Bailey warmed up great and had some serious hops over the warm up fences. By then Drew had appeared (he had to blanket and turn out his horse) and he had fun making the jumps as scary as he could - BB jumped them with no problem, like the silly red star she is. One was an uneven oxer with miscellaneous poles added on and under, while the other was, at first, a single vertical with no fill. Drew added some fill ( a very scary gate that wasn't in cups, just leaning against the standards) and put it up and off we went. 

Outside, Bailey was much better about taking the longer distances, though she got up the butt of the vertical a handful of times, nearly unseating me. I'm thankful she's generally honest and didn't buck me off while I was up on her neck dicking around. I also needed my martingale hardcore (my face is, however, in pristine condition thanks to it) and was wishing for more bit. Once the gate got added to the vertical, she started to duck down right before (like 1-2 strides out, max) and stall out/jump it SUPER awkwardly because OMG scary thing. With one hit/knock down of the gate (which gave me whiplash because Bailey bolted on the backside) I finally got to riding more aggressively and got her over it much more smoothly with a couple of clucks and a few well timed taps behind my leg with the whip. Not only did I feel like a bad ass jumping the big jump with one hand, but Bailey soared over it with absolutely no problems.

Red horse has got some hops!

Indoor Strugfest, 2015

It's not even December yet, and I am already bored to tears when forced to ride in the indoor. I don't care if I am riding in sleet, hail, etc, I WILL be riding outside this weekend. I can't stand the indoor anymore.

Wednesday's ride was great; I didn't ride Friday because we left for a wedding that morning and I didn't want to wake up early (I like sleeping in. Even though I didn't, and I woke the FH up and he was crabby because of it). The wedding was great, and I picked up riding on Monday. 

Drew lunged Foxie, who had a case of the I-wanna-buck zooms while Bailey was similarly unhinged. They are starting construction on a lounge (don't ask me; I don't want it) and the contractor placed some items in the doorway/corner of the arena presumably to keep them out of the weather. These items are clearly horse eating and Bailey lost her tiny little mind whenever she was asked to go near them. Walking eventually got ok past them, and trotting was tough but she eventually got her kimchee together about it, but the canter was a disaster.

The only saving grace of Monday's ride was that once Drew left with the zoomy Fox, I could ride in the middle and far side of the arena. I finally got some semi-normal canter and some great lateral work out of the #FeralRedHorse. She did some very nice leg yields that were, again, mostly straight and not tense in the base of her neck, and I got some great shoulder in at the trot. 

The struggles of the indoor arena are real, and really freaking frustrating, ya'all. Idiot horse kicked sand on the Scary Corner Stuff and then attempted to spook-rear-bolt away from it, and while I shut that down, my saddle moved forward like 4 freaking inches in the process. 

I think I should just move to Florida. 

I iz not crazy I iz cute.

Through

I rode last night and it was actually a pretty awesome thing. I arrived just in time for the lesson kids to be wrapping up, and my horse was hardly muddy and actually seemed to be interested in me. I rode Monday, but with the deathcold, I rode for about 20 minutes and most of it I struggled to think and breathe at the same time. Last night I was feeling much more like myself - and I was ready to take on the inconsistency that I had felt in the bridle the last two rides I've had with BB. 

We started with a lot of walking warm up, and then trot and canter. I really focused on my own position issues (leaning forward, not keeping my heel down, leg under me and thigh applied. hands going everywhere, shoulders caved in...) and tried to use my whole leg to push the red mare up to and through the bridle, while also keeping my reins short and thumbs up. She's always been light, and unlike Foxie, has never really been the time to "hold" the bit and the contact like a handshake. I noticed two very positive things from these changes I made last night.

The first was that I was able to push her through a lot of lookiness and spookiness. I would prefer to not have to "muscle" her through turns or times when her attention wanders, but at the same time, we didn't lose nearly so much work, even though the doors were open and she was very interested in what was going on outside. 

The second was that I felt that I was actually able to push her into the bridle - meaning that she wasn't behind the vertical avoiding a more firm contact, and even when her head came up, I still had her face and was able to push her forward, and bam, the poll would relax and she'd go back to work. From this work, I was able to do a lot last night - it wasn't nearly so hard as I was expecting to get her into this much more malleable and workable frame and attitude. 

We schooled a rather poor dressage test (I mean, spooking in the two door corners, but it was generally obedient) and I actually got some collected canter to extended on one lead - the whole cadence changed, which was awesome to feel and hear as she's struggled with the canter since we started trying it. She also gave me some lovely lateral work at the walk and trot, and even did some somewhat-not-awful shoulder in, and really showed off with some stretchy trot at the end that was actually in the contact. 

Moral of the story: maybe I should ride more correctly before I see the problem as 100% caused by my horse. She's a weirdie, but a goodie. She also will probably end up clipped because I'm OVER her taking her approximately 18 years to dry.