Weekend Update & a Poll

We've been chugging along in #Feralredhorse land. Bailey and I stuck to the indoor last Wednesday as it's gotten cold again, and I was in a bad mood, so we were sissies. Bailey has been flip-flopping between being relatively good and being a total shit head. She has been spooky and reactive, and while Wednesday's ride wasn't bad, it wasn't awe-inspiring. Saturday followed suit - I disciplined Bailey while walking her up to the upper arena (where she has more problems, so of course we've been doing a lot of work up there) and then asked her to go through a person-sized door. When I got on her, it was clear she was holding a grudge about me telling her what to do and also was quite a spicy little chilly pepper, energy levels wise. She eventually worked down into behaving, but it's still disappointing that I have to deal with the basics at this point.

Gone is the horse who hacks out on the buckle. I don't know where she went.

Tonight, I'm thinking I might put her into a french link to see how she feels about that bit (I've been eyeballing a 14mm french link on ETT...) and hopefully will be able to get her into a decent place mentally in prep for tomorrow. Tomorrow, we see the saddle fitter in the afternoon and hopefully (cross your fingers!) she's able to get Bailey fitted up 100% with the Vision dressage saddle (or believe me, I will cry) so we can get back to doing dressage in a proper dressage saddle. I spent my non saddle time this weekend oiling the beast, and while it's still not beautiful and soft, I think I'm finally making some headway on getting it softer. Hopefully everything works out and I can keep the saddle of my dreams!

God I hope I can keep it.

Foxie went outside on Saturday (with bucking, because cool and windy) and was a bit spicy, but did some super basic/baby XC stuff (like, walking over a log that is slightly more interesting than a cavaletti) and was super excited by that. She'll get some attention tomorrow while I wait for the saddle fitter in the afternoon tomorrow, so I plan to pass over her tonight. 

Finally, I've been itching to share some farm related news, but realized... I should really make a plan and have an idea of what I want to do with farm related posts. So, if you read this, I'd love you forever if you had an opinion on farm related posts - do I make a separate blog? Relocate to a new space and share farm and horse updates? Or stay here for everything? Please use the poll or the comments to let me know, if you care :) 

picture polls

Mayhem

I've been trying to get in some riding in between the chaos of buying and selling houses, chasing down information on the new property, keeping my current home clean despite a muddy dog who doesn't wipe his paws and being intensely busy at work.

As you can tell, it hasn't been leaving a lot of room for blogging. Last week Wednesday, Bailey got to do some jumping, and she was a very very happy girl. We just did some simple fences under 3' (I think one vertical may have been 2'11 but maybe.) but she was so forward and willing, it was a lot of fun. I can tell I'm out of shape for it, and she's just basically out of shape, so we're a bit of an awkward pair occasionally. I won't complain, however, about a happy forward jumping horse.  I got back on her on Saturday, and we ended up doing flatwork outside as the arenas were full. It was probably 45+ degrees, and the footing in the upper outdoor wasn't bad at all. It is, however, badly located in the middle of the farm hubub so Bailey was very distracted. She did, however, put down some nice flat work and stayed generally rideable through some YAHOO moments. I also hopped on Fox that day, bareback pad and Back On Track pad combo again instead of a saddle. She was a bit stiff but ended up taking me back outside and was her usual sane and reliable self while also wanting to zooooom a bit. I can tell she's happy to be back out :)

Bay mare go powerwalk nao

Monday night was another 40s - 50's sunny day, and because I know I'm going to have to stop running to the indoor (well, I won't have that option) when we move, I've been pushing myself outside. I took Bailey out in the afternoon sun, and she was one hot chili pepper. She was looky, but not overly spooky. I did try to ride her forward and down, and she did actually do that for me. We played on the XC course a little bit (it's wet, and one can't do much without leaving divots in the grass, which I don't want to do). Bailey was overzealous to the max, leaping up and down the banks with gusto and trying to take off afterwards. She was a dink about the ditch, but then decided she could do it happily - from a trot that snowballed to a canter, only. We did the half coffin ditch to barrels (which she bombed over no questions asked) and a few other small things, but mostly I struggled with control and brakes.

We'll probably do more of the same today, as we're due for some rain in the next few days and I probably won't be able to get outside again til the weekend. I have my crash vest along this time, which will make this outing a bit more safe, but I still can't decide what to put in the horse's mouth today. The last time she wore her slow twist she had to fling her head every time I touched her mouth for the next two rides, so that's probably out. But what else is there? I got so used to big guns when it came to bitting up the Fox that I don't really know what to do when I need a bit more... assertiveness in my half halts and woahs but also have a sensitive horsey flower who doesn't like pelhams, waterfords, wide mouths or twists, ya know?

So, a question to my readers - what kind of bits do you use when you need a little more "woah"?

I guess I need to spend some time on Amazon and Smartpak looking at bits, instead of drawing barn floor plans...

But barn planz are fun planz!

Wednesday Whimsy: Things I'm thinking about instead of work

With the horse farm on the horizon, I am having a hard time focusing at work. My husband resents this because I'm not thinking about responsible adult things like moving boxes, home owners insurance and internet connections. Instead I'm thinking about pony things:

Like buying my own hay:

And the goofy long faces frolicking in pastures (because clearly I will somehow acquire the knowledge to maintain pastures and not kill my horses putting them out on grass by daydreaming...)

And clearly I will be busily trailering to lessons and jumping badass things and surely I will just have infinite free time to become an amazing rider. I'll be jumping monster jumps and teaching Bailey all of the dressage moves in no time.

Pictured: Not a monster jump, in the grand scheme of things

Right?


In the mean time, your advice / favorite corners of the internet / etc on hay feeding, hay feeders, pasture management and general horse keeping will be welcomed and obsessed over if you'd like to leave me any tidbits.

More Insanity

So. Its been a busy few weeks, and blogging has fallen to the wayside. Last week (first full week of March) I didn't get a chance to ride, and this week is also shaping up to be busy. This break wasn't particularly planned, and while Bailey was great when I got on her over the weekend, I was a bit nervous. Ya see, I fell off Bailey for the first time the weekend before. "For the first time" as in I legitimately had never fallen off of her in the 4 years we've been together. It's been close, but this is the first time I realized I needed to stop fighting and let go.

Letting the horse sit for a week after such a feat didn't feel good, even though I did make sure she put in some decent work before I quit on Saturday (read: lunging until she stopped volunteering speed and was tired, and then ridden. Again.). Getting on her the next Saturday (last Saturday) I was a bit nervous but she was surprisingly good. Weirdo. She will definitely be continuing her lunging routine pre-ride until I can ride her more consistently, but for now, the chance to burn off some energy pre-ride is making for a very rideable horse.


Beside's Bailey's temporary insanity... we (as in hubby and I) have also gone insane. It all started when a farm I've seen for sale several times (but never sold) popped up on the market again. And I sent it to hubby. And we realized we could afford it. That we could afford the eventual dream, like... now. So lots of things happened all at once (financing, finding a realtor, scheduling a showing, cleaning our house to put on the market... etc) and we went to go look at this house.

And then when our realtor called to put in an offer, the owner said she had a full price cash offer that very afternoon.

UGH.

So we kept looking. We kept thinking. Once you get a taste  of insanity, see, it doesn't quiet back down amiably or well. And then we found another place. And it ticks all of the boxes of our wish list except one (albeit a big one - the indoor arena). And we started the hubub all over again... except that our offer got accepted.

And now, between prepping our house to go on the market, I am finding 10,000 things to worry about. I have 99 anxieties and I am hardly able to get to the barn to ride... so. Here's a relatively un horsey status update about the state of insanity in #feralredhorse land.

Send help!

Sanity and Spring Inspired Goals

While we were plunged back into winter with some snow this morning (and cooler temps over the last week) the spring weather did get me thinking about my goals for the upcoming summer. The cooler weather also brought back my horse - Bailey has been wonderfully behaved and while I haven't been doing much that is blogworthy, we're churning away at the basics of balance, contact and bend. Upward and downward transitions went to crap while she was being crazy, so that occupied one ride (and is a constant battle). I've also been trying to go back to basics - I feel like Bailey gets away with a lot of inconsistency in the bridle because she goes there so easily I forget to ride. Foxie has me trained - my body automatically rides her differently, and unfortunately that position and competency doesn't cross over to riding Bailey. I spent a lot of our ride yesterday asking for and getting some decent work in a more correct contact. When I really have her, she can't wiggle, shoot up out of the contact or disengage as easily as she normally does, and I felt much more competent at pushing her back to work. She is, however, either woefully lazy or woefully out of shape, because she can't hold it for long. She did give me several steps of lovely canter that felt like it sat, and wasn't just a gravity-induced tumble of legs going faster and faster. I'm sure you can guess that I'll be going after that canter again next time!

I've continued to work on the dressage saddle oiling project, and while I have a ways to go, the leather does appear to be benefiting from layer after layer of oil. I'm going to pull it into the house tonight and continue to work on it this weekend - I'm part of the way there, I think, so hopefully I get it saturated relatively soon so I can stop worrying about it so much. Having the fitter out to fit this saddle is on my goals list for the near future, but I have to get the panels supple enough for the fitting tools first. Cross your fingers Cordia can work some shoulder blade freeing magic!

Goals wise, the warm weather (and the glut of sales) inspired me to make some plans, and a recent look at finances has helped me figure out that the show and lesson funds are about what I figured they were - negligible. I still don't feel a total burning need to show, so I think I'm ok with this; my two big goals right now are to get the dressage saddle fitted and start up monthly lessons with a dressage trainer. Here's what else I have come up with:

Bailey Goals: 
- Jump 3' course by end of the summer
- Work haunches in, lead changes and maybe walking half pass?
- Confirm leg yields and shoulder in with dressage trainer
- Continue to build off-site XC experience and confidence

Lesson / Clinic / Show Plans:
- Lesson with Dressage Trainer 1x a month when weather allows (aka probably not winter)
- Show @ Carriage House Combined Trial
- Consider the following shows as finances and prep allows: Roebke's Run Schooling trials, Three Ring Circus, local hunter/jumper shows
- Heavily Consider local "clinics": Focused Riding Center clinics, XC schools off site as opportunities arise
- Attend the Hunt Pace this fall if possible (technically could bring Foxie if I chicken out).

Other Plans:
- Have the saddle fitter out to adjust the dressage saddle ASAP
- Continue trailer organization project

I feel like a wimp only having one show on my schedule right now, but as I've written before... photography has given me some perspective on show management that is less than flattering, and it's only encouraging my thought that I should try to find out what makes me happy vs feeling pressured to show. I'm hoping Bailey and I can also progress enough to go to a late summer/fall Hunt Pace with the local fox hunt. I'm not sure hunting is Bailey's sport (hello, looky spooky red horse) but it's something I've wanted to try for ages, so... might as well make it a goal. I've also discovered some local Hunter/Jumper shows that are so close to the barn I might as well look into them - though I feel like I need to scope out the dress and expectations first. It would be awkward to show up expecting a real schooling show type look and end up looking dumb in a polo with my black-and-brown tack monstrosity when everyone else is wearing coats and proper brown tack. Either way... I'm going to do the one show. If only because I really want to wear my rockin coat:

Silly? Yes. But Still going to do it.

The Devil in the Downpour

I've spent the last week in a hole, horse wise.

Bailey spent a week spooking and melting down under saddle, and slowly but surely I, much like a spoiled child, fell into a state of pouting disbelief. This winter has spoiled me, just like last summer spoiled me; Bailey had come into herself so much, and reacted so positively to the new atmosphere that I forgot that the winter of 2015-2016 was entirely unproductive, training wise. I've forgotten how much time I used to spend just Keeping A Lid On It, where this year I've been training lateral work and actually getting shit done. So the absurd week-long spring in the middle of February arrived and suddenly... the #feralredhorse is back to her feral ways. Spooking. Spinning. Rearing. Noping out violently away from me like I'm going to attack her.

I don't actually have any media of her noping out, but just imagine a horse flinging themselves sideways and half rearing a lot with rolling eyes and that particular look of crazy chestnut thoroughbreds seem to have on lock. 

So yes, I did spend the last week trying to figure out why my horse was broken (and considering everything from bits to supplements to sales ads as my solution) and bemoaning my life, my saddles, my tall boots (guess who's schooling boots decided to start breaking. Again. When I just got them back from the repair man.)

Show boots may become schooling boots.
Because why school in boots that hate anything other than the slimmest breeches and socks? 

And then it got cold again. And Bailey's brain came back. She was still a bit up when we ran up to the upper barn to chat with J on Saturday (though, in her defense, I haven't replaced her quarter sheet yet and it was COLD) but came down to the lower ring and... did work. The turning stayed installed. I didn't wish for a running martingale the minute I got on. There was no bucking, no bolting. Lateral work was a bit resistant and rusty, but the tiny arena and jump saddle position aren't really her friend there. I'm looking forward to pushing the envelope more tonight - and maybe even setting up a jump, depending on arena traffic. It's amazing the things you think you can do when you're able to successfully stop your horse!

I feel silly, getting all frustrated and frantic after only a week - which is three rides - worth of bad behavior. It's been especially infuriating when Foxie is going so nicely and then I get on a horse that is about as comfortable to sit on (with steering and brakes about on par with it) as Miley Cyrus' wreaking ball. Bailey is a damn good horse, when it comes down to it. She's talented, and when she's keeping her brain properly between her cute little ears, she's a dream boat to ride. She truly is my dream horse.

So, here's to hoping I can figure out a tool box to deal with her seasonal reactivity, or at least stay on through it so we can spend the warmer months having fun!

Spring Sprang Sprung

My work seems to enjoy letting us have weird holidays off, so not only did I have Monday off, but I also got an early release on Friday afternoon. I hadn't ridden since Monday's awkward squeaky full seat ride, so of course I had big plans of taking Bailey outside on Saturday and was only vaguely sure I would die.

First, though, I spent part of Saturday morning and a portion of Friday oiling the panels of both of my Visions (reminder: I have two now. It's a problem) as I had finally gotten up the guts to email my saddle fitter, who is a saint, and when I finally went to take the photos of the Dressage saddle's panels she had requested, I realized that they were, if anything more dire than I remembered.  There were now sections of deep cracking where the longer dressage panels curve around Bailey's shoulders and flanks and compared to my jump saddle, the leather felt more like pleather than anything.

Fffffffff(un).

On the fitter's recommendation, I immediately went out and got some Neatsfoot oil and am beginning to bring the panels back. They still have a long way to go, but they seem to feel a bit better, so hopefully those poor panels are not a total lost cause. Speaking of, I know what I need to do tonight.

Anyways: Saturday I worked in the morning and then headed off to the barn with lots of rocking out in the car and dreams of all the fun things Bailey and I would do. And then I got on her... and she was a bit of a freak. I could tell she was up. How could she not, with the weather, and being in an indoor with a terrifying pony cart leaning against the wall. She was also very offended that I put her slow twist on her, and spent a lot of time being tense and reactive because I was shutting her down too quickly or too well and clearly the slow twist is the devil. And because I'm good at judgement, we joined J and some others for a  trail ride. Outside. I got on her after watching her bounce in an Arabian-impression-excited-circle around me with her tail flagged, snorting, because horses were playing, oh em gee! and we had a semi safe feeling walk around a part of the gallop track. When we got near the road to the neighbor's house (which runs across a small marshy ditch from one of the short sides) people were taking down trees with chain saws and lots of trucks and noise, and Bailey started to get... more up. And I tried to distract her by stopping, backing up, going forward, going sideways, etc... but the backing up yeilded a small, relatively unterrifying rear, so we got her past that quickly and didn't go around the field close to where they were working. 

When in doubt, prance.

On the remainder of the trails, Bailey seemed to resign herself to this weird walking passtime and alternated between power walking in the lead (despite having no idea where she was headed 90% of the time) and shockingly, not killing us on the bits of ice and snow the sun wasn't able to reach to melt. She was really quite good the second half, and even on the first, she didn't try to bolt or really freak out more than I could handle, so, I'm going to say it was a positive first trail ride! And yes, she is coming 8 and just went on her first trail ride. Those first couple years were rough, guys.

This was before it rained, FYI.

Monday was obnoxiously rainy, which didn't work well for my plans or for the already saturated layer of ground that has defrosted at this point. I tidied up my trailer a bit, and had a nice ride on Fox while waiting for J to show up, and then got on B. And she was a mess. She seemed to hardly realize I was up there - she was throwing her head and humping her back at the walk, spooking, and taking tiny strides when asked to go forward. Something was wrong, but she wasn't off, she wasn't injured... she was just... wrong. 

I almost got off and lunged her, but instead tried to take her problems in stages. We walked and trotted around semi normally. A canter session loosened her up more, but, as J said "It looks like she can't decide which end she wants to go up". She was hot, worried and offended, even though she was in her micklem and her snaffle. I was wishing I had grabbed a running martingale (of course, the one time I shrug and say, "she'll be fine" she's not). It took a lot of time and the arena emptying to just me and J for her to calm down, and she had a few good sessions of blowing and blowing, which is usually her tell for relaxing and coming down from being spooky. She still spooked pretty violently at nothing when we passed a door that has a gap so  you can see the aisle beyond, but didn't actually run into J's crabby mare, so she at least had grown some self preservation, if not some sense. 

Beautiful, if slightly crazy, BB <3

Bailey's bad ride didn't feel naughty to me, and I find that troubling. It felt like a big step backwards to being #anxietyhorse. I felt like she didn't trust me, and that for a portion of the ride, I hardly registered to her, despite being on her back and holding the reins. I think part of it was anxiety or not being sure how to handle some soreness in her back end (she will be spending more time in Back On Track items from now on) but it still wasn't encouraging. I can blame pain, or the weather, or the weird group of people who were in the arena with us doing weird and stupid things, but in the mean time, #anxietyhorse is going to make me worry. Maybe she will be just fine tomorrow. Or she might be a total psycho. 

Who knows.