Riding and the Chiropractor

OK, back to ponies! We're finally out of the cold, so riding can happen again! Hope everyone stayed warm!

Penn's rides have been oh-so-riveting the past two weeks. Ok, so they're not exciting at all. I'm working on keeping him uphill and light in my hand, as well as trying to toss in some of the moves from 2-3 and 3-1. It's barely exciting to ride, so writing about it sounds terrible.

There were some good rides where Penn worked hard, I didn't get in his way too much, and we quit quickly.

There was one very bad ride where I wanted to kill him (and so I quickly found something we could do in a mediocre fashion so we could stop on what could be called a good note). He forgot how to trot and do things in that ride, as well as laying on my hands in canter. I tried shoulder in to a 10m circle to haunches in at trot. He giraffed in the shoulder in and slowed way down, was jerky and lame feeling through the 10m circle, then kinda sorta did OK in the haunches in since he likes tossing them in right now anyway... I have to say he did have a worried look in his eye after we were done riding when I got after him for being the mouthy bastard he is.

Then there were the rides where he just laid in my hands at the canter. It took several rides to get him back up and light. In fact, I had a ride where my hand just got too tired to hold him up so I threw him away in an effort to rest my arm. The bastard started carrying himself instead. Less is more. Gotcha.

I had an "aha moment" with the lateral work though- it's always "inside seatbone on!" and well that gets me to crushing him, then it doesn't work, so I try harder. In general, I sit heavier on my left seatbone (even in my chair right now, as I type this). GP Trainer had me sit a little more to the right on lefthanded 10m circles (and Penn was magically able to stand up and bend and finish the circle). I figured there must be something to that, so I tried cuing for shoulder in with more tucking my hips under me and belly button in feeling than a single seatbone feeling. Penn seemed to appreciate that because his lateral movements became less jerky and softer in the bridle. Less is more. Again.

I love Zootopia.

I was able to ride outside twice in the last two weeks- on 12/26 and 1/1. Both days the sun came out and warmed up our dark-footing outdoor enough that while it was wet, it was not soppy and it was soft. I took full advantage of those days to work on trot 5 loop serpentines with plenty of time to get straight and bend, and then to work on the canter 3 loop serpentine with no change of lead that we need for 2-3 (since we go down centerline in a month!). I want to talk about that, because they were happy rides, haha.

The first time I tried the 3 loop, I could feel Penn questioning if I wanted a change. I tried to make it very clear that he was to maintain the lead, but track the wrong way. He only had one lead goof in the 8-10 serpentines we did (I made sure to do 4-5 each direction because I had no idea when I would get to school it again), when he was on the right lead loop and swapped over to the left about halfway through the second loop. I ignored the change, brought him back to walk quietly, and asked for the right lead again. He never did it again. I was "helping", aka not helping, him along that first day by lightening my seat a lot and letting him carry himself much lower than I usually would (which I'm sure contributed to the lay on my hands days that followed). He did have trouble maintaining the canter in general, and most often the "fall apart" time would be when we got back to true canter at the start of the 3rd loop. I never made a big deal about it the first day we worked on the serpentines because I don't want them to be a hot button issue or something to be nervous about. Around that time, I let him carry himself less uphill to help him make it to the end of the serpentine, where he would promptly collapse. He tried very hard though, and the right lead is definitely harder to maintain into the 3rd loop (go figure huh).

He's going to retire from dressage and become a magazine model.

The second time I got to try the 3 loop work, I made him travel more uphill, and I paid more attention to what my shoulders were doing. He never offered me another lead change, and I was very pleased with the uphill canter and the amount of jump he developed in the counter canter. Again, he struggled to maintain the right lead canter in the third loop. I rode the 2-3 pattern in two pieces- once on the right lead, then instead of a simple change to the left, we took a short walk break before picking it up to work to the left. This way, he never learned he could "stop" after the 3 loop, but I would never be unfair to him and force him to continue on when he's been quite good.

His medium canter was very very strong feeling- he kept the rhythm a lot better than he has in the past and I could feel the bigger air time happening. The transition back to collected canter takes too long, but I don't care. Not yet at least. He's barely strong enough to hold the collected canter through all that canter work in 2-3, I'm not about to nit pick how long it takes him to return to collected canter at this point. (that goes back to, "He can only make good canter out of good walk and good trot. He's not strong enough to make good canter out of bad canter." and going from medium to collected is dangerously close to making good canter out of an ok/bad/unorganized canter.)

Another good exercise I've done in the past week was walk/canter/walk/canter on a 10m circle, especially to the left. It reminds me to sit up, and reminds him to hold his own damn face up. I did that a few times and his left lead became notably better.

By this point though, I could feel Penn's need of a chiropractic adjustment. I'd get on him and he would take short walk steps to start, almost like he was lame (I remember this being a cue from last winter/summer that he needs to be seen), but he'd work out of it in a couple minutes. The ride we had 2 days after our lovely outside work was not good- I worked him without boots, and maybe that was the problem since he interferes badly, but he had to work out of something in the trot (but then had a lovely start to his half pass work), and could not canter to save his life. 1/4/17 was 9 weeks from his last adjustment by Super Chiropractor, so I'm actually impressed that it took this long for him to start feeling bad.

I had been pestering Super Chiropractor's office assistant for most of December, "Does he have his January schedule yet? When is he coming back to my area?" Finally, I was told, weather permitting, he would be in town on 1/4/17. Sign me up!

Acupuncture Injection Therapy- B12 shots in his adjustment areas.

Gosh, I love Super Chiro. He does such good work. Penn's right hip has been a little low, but no where near as bad as it was when Super Chiro did him the first time. Super Chiro was working on the left hip more than the SI area (where he did a lot of work last time- Penn's spine was curving instead of going straight into the SI area), before a huge pop happened and Penn's back immediately became bouncy and loose, and his hips were magically even again. Super Chiro isn't crack happy, and he doesn't man handle or surprise the horse, he just makes firm adjustments. I helped him make a shoulder adjustment (held up the right front while he did something, I couldn't tell you because I was trying to hold onto a foot that Penn did not want to hold up, haha).

His really super badonkadonk is even again!

I decided that while Penn is gaining the strength to do 2nd/3rd level work, I'm going to have him seen every 4 weeks by a chiropractor (goodbye money, glad I got a promotion with a significant raise in December), especially since 8 weeks is a stretch for Penn and we're going to start showing again soon. So Penn will see Super Chiro every 8 weeks (that's SC's goal schedule), and he'll see Local Chiro (the local vet I used all summer) 4 weeks after SC's visit. I'm hoping I only have to have Local Chiro work on him 2 or 3 times, and then maybe toss in an extra visit near Championships.

But we're still plugging away at holding an uphill canter longer, trying to make the walk relaxed and on the bit again, trying to make the trot work again, working on the devil's transition simple changes, and starting to mix in the movements for 2-3 and 3-1.

2 Week Overview (Lesson, Trail Rides, Clipping, Browband Bling, Chiropractor)

I promise I haven't fallen off the Earth. I've been super busy at work, busy with Penn, tired of working 7 days a week, and haven't felt like writing, nor really had time to. I'm trying to keep up with everyone else's posts! But things have gone on:

I had another lesson where I struggled with my seatbones. Very discouraging, I didn't bother writing about it. We focused on different ways of trying to get my seatbones working properly, but at this point I'm overthinking it and overdoing it.

Queen Penny and her court jesters, Sophie and Felix.

I took Penn for some long over due walks.

Pretty scenery... but we somehow missed the fall leaf change. The leaves went from greenish to dead and off the trees.

Trail ride at Trainer's when we hauled over to see a new chiropractor. (details below)

Penn got clipped almost two weeks ago. He was a gem this time around- clipping his whites all summer really helped desensitize him to clipping. I still can't cross tie him, and I had to wedge him against the wall and ground tie him, but we got the job done! This is the first time I've fully clipped my own horse- I've fully clipped Trainer's but I've always left the face and legs unclipped on my own horse.

One last look of his pretty mahogany color. I braided his mane, tail, and forelock to keep them out of the way.

Part of the pile of fluff. #notpoop

So pretty! (Except that mane- I was halfway through pulling it)

I really like the no-hair look! I did a poor job with the saddle patch though. It doesn't match side to side and it is a bit big, but whatever. I can fix it when I clip a second time this winter.

Penn was such a big boy about me clipping his face, I was very happy with him!

I also finally finalized the Dark Jewel Designs browbands I won from EventingSaddlebredStyle's Olympics contest- I'm so totally smitten by the one, so much so that I haven't even taken a picture of Penn wearing the other!

Black/Gray/Clear ombre with tanzanite spacers.

LOOK HOW PRETTY

I was completely distracted by it when I went to hang the bridle in my trailer- the sunlight really caught the tanzanite spacer's color.

It has merited a lot of looking- sometimes the clear beads catch the light, sometimes the black. It never looks the same and I love it!

I also got a gorgeous gray and navy one, which I'll post when I get a pic of it!

Penn looking at the trailer when I pulled it up to haul him over to Trainer's barn last Wednesday.

And Penn made a big trip to the land of NQR last week. He's not lame, but his right hind is not willing to step up and under. It's always been weak, but this was beyond normal for him.

Trainer called a halt to lesson as soon as she saw it when we warmed up last Tuesday. I told her we'd been struggling in general, and I had long lined him Sunday to try and work on his canter. He had bucked into the canter numerous times, which is completely unlike him, and he struggled to the right on the lines. She had me trot/canter each way, then lunge him so I could see what it looked like and so she could see if it was better or worse without a rider.

He was much worse without a rider (no wonder I feel like I'm holding him together again, it's because I am). It's not visible in the walk, it's barely visible in the trot, and it was horrible in the canter. To the left, it was like he completely forgot to bring his right hind along with him. It was barely coming up even with his hip. To the right, it was like he was bouncing on his hind legs instead of striding properly.

He was about 2 weeks overdo for chiropractor work, and we had been working hard at flying changes, more collection and extension, and more lateral work. We're hoping it's a mix of fatigue and overdue for bodywork. I'm upset I didn't notice it riding him, but it seems to have been graduallying getting worse so I attributed it to something going wrong in training.

I had already scheduled Penn to be adjusted by a traveling vet who does chiropractor and acupuncture injection therapy (B12 injections). He has quite a following and came highly recommended- he travels over half the country to just do chiropractic work on horses. Luckily, that appointment was the next day after lesson. I hauled Penn over and we went for a gentle walk before he was adjusted (it was a gorgeous day!).

This vet was very concerned about Penn's lumbar/SI area/hips- more so then his regular chiropractor. He was quick to point out that Penn's right hip was considerably lower than his left. It's been that way since last winter, and his regular chiropractor had been working on it. I figured what was left was poor muscling on that side since he didn't really want to step up and under with the right hind... apparently not. He said he thought it had been like this for a long time, is probably from an injury long ago, and it would take him a few visits to get it fully worked out. He also pointed out how the lower lumber region wanted to turn to right (and I could actually feel it- he showed me where). The vet was surprised I had just reported that Penn had just started bucking this week- he thought Penn should have started bucking long ago.

Let me say that Penn did not enjoy getting adjusted. The vet did a quick check all over, adjusted his shoulder, then worked on the problem area in his hips. He showed me how stiff Penn's back was before, and then how bouncy it was when he was done. It was very neat. He used a bit of force in his adjustments, and Penn decided he had enough and moved away sideways... so we reset him and he decided to try walking away... so I held his head and shoulder, Trainer had two hands on his right side as the vet worked on the left side to release the right (very interesting). Penn did reach around and pin his ears and snap a couple times, so I did feel bad for him... But I know when I'm worked on effectively, it does hurt, but I also understand what's going on so I don't bite my chiropractor. Towards the end, he started stomping his right hind- something vet said is from his back releasing and it creating a tingly feeling down his leg.

He then popped in 6-8 needles in the SI area and one on his right shoulder, and injected them all with B12. I think the B12 is supposed to help the adjustments stay longer. The vet said to give Penn at least one day off with normal half day turnout- I said he'd get 4 days off because I simply couldn't make it to the barn again before Monday.

Holy shit though, Penn's hips were extremely close to level when he was done. When Penn's regular chiro adjusts him, his hips still look the same. I was floored. I've never been able to see physical results of the work... and this guy is only $15 more expensive than Penn's regular chiro. After hauling him home and finishing up there, one of the other girls at the barn noticed Penn being willing to stand square behind, instead of his usual pose of the right hind under or resting while the left holds up his hind end. Interesting.

Penn is, of course, on this vet's schedule for next time he's through this area (about every 8 weeks- the guy likes every 6 weeks but finds he can't get all his clients seen within 6 weeks for the correct rotation, so it's 8 instead). I do believe Penn has a new regular chiropractor.

I'll see how he is tonight! I'm hopeful that this NQR will be gone with that big adjustment and time off. Our Very Exciting Event is next week and I wanted to make Penn's second level debut at a show the weekend after Thanksgiving! Both are up for cancellation depending on how Penn is this week.

Chiropractor

Penn saw the chiropractor last Tuesday morning- she's an equine vet too.

(side note, how awesome has the Olympics been this time around? XC was crazy! I was so excited for Michael Jung and Sam though, and Phillip for nabbing the bronze! Dressage has been so exciting too!)

Penn hadn't seen the chiropractor in 7 weeks, and it kind of showed. He had a lot more tension than usual. The vet immediately asked what we've been doing because he was out everywhere. The right hip was down, left was up. The sternum area was twisted- towards the front of the chest was twisted right, the area under the girth was twisted left. Hopefully this clears up some of Penn's girth issues. Neck was stiff too, but the poll was good.

Penn really enjoyed having his poll worked on- he just kind of got a sleepy eye and droopy bottom lip. I wish I would have thought to get a pic of it!

The more important thing: the vet gave me a couple exercises to help him out between visits.

Crunches:
These came with a disclaimer to not do them more the a couple times a week, and for no longer than 20-30 seconds... which is kind of longer than I'd have him hold it, but I'm glad I have a time reference. Basically, you tickle both sides of the haunches on the X I've marked in the below picture. This makes the horse tuck his hindquarters, lift his back, and work the abs (like when you surprise them with cold water on their bum). This is good for horses who seem to have trouble in the SI area (like Penn). It builds the muscle gently, but if done too often will make the horse sore. So less is more approach here. Also, if you try this, be careful, tickling that spot on the haunches might surprise the horse and make him kick at you or run forward. On sensitive horses like Penn, fingers are enough to get the desired response, but less sensitive horses may need something pokey like a hoof pick.

I've tried numerous times and I can't seem to tickle him like the vet did. I'll have to have her show me again, then watch me do it and correct me! I scratched him all over his bum, all he did was look confused, lol!

Sternum Lifts:
Same idea as the crunches, but single hand and right under where the girth goes.

Modified Carrot Stretches:
The vet/chiropractor does not like regular carrot stretches. She finds that the horses get anticipatory about food and end up doing jerky, twisted motions instead of smooth, correct motions. The head needs to stay perpendicular to the ground, and the stretch needs to be smooth an consistent. She showed me how she does them: Stand with your back to the horse's neck, grab one hand on each side of the halter, and slowly encourage the horse to wrap his head and neck around you, back to the shoulder. Don't pull him into it, but ease him into it.

Saturday and Sunday, I was at the barn riding at 7am because it was so flipping hot and humid this weekend. At least I rode before the sun was on the arena. I really liked riding before barn work, so I think I'll keep up with it for the rest of summer. 

We had some nice rides after- the canter is a lot more comfortable for him. We had some especially nice transitions from lengthening canter to working canter when I did test practice last Sunday.

Next up, lesson from Tuesday 8/16!