I am blessed with a wonderful Barn Owner who lets me do things like borrow her truck and drive it to another state and put 600-700 miles on it in one go. TWICE. The first time was after my oil pump failed in 2017. After my truck’s brakes died on our way home from VA, the first call I made was to emergency services, the second was to her to start to arrange transport for Penn to get to his MRI and to get home.
While mom and I were driving back to VA on Monday, Husband called. We had dropped the truck off at our favorite local shop without telling them it was coming, and left it with a big to-do list. The shop had finally called him back. They were concerned because we left them quite a list, and they basically said that with Thanksgiving coming up, them already being 2 weeks deep in existing work, and the amount of parts and labor and comprehensive look over that the truck needed, it could be 3 to 4 weeks before we got it back, and then we're getting into Christmas holiday time. Maybe they were concerned about the amount of time it would take to finish... but really, like we’d say no and have it towed somewhere else? Nah. But that did change things for Penn.
The best shot... has moisture on the lens. Facepalm
We had planned on going to the MRI Tuesday and taking him directly home to PA, with the understanding we’d probably be home before the MRI was fully reviewed and a treatment plan conceived. We were planning on bringing him back a week or so later… whups, not anymore. I’d have to borrow a truck for another 2 days on someone else’s M-F schedule, which I didn’t want to do because I only have 1.5 vacation days left for the year. I made a bunch of calls: VEI agreed to take Penn overnight and squeeze him into someone’s schedule for whatever treatment was decided on (easy to do because he’d be there already), and Barn Owner agreed to let me keep the truck for an additional day.
We got to GP Trainer’s by late afternoon after a nice drive that only had a few driving shenanigans from other drivers. GP Trainer's barn is technically closed on Mondays- no boarders, lessons or riding, just staff taking care of the horses and doing projects that can’t be done with clients around. GP Trainer’s assistant made an exception for me- I needed to drop off grain no matter what, but she said I was allowed to ride if I’d like. So ride I did!
"Hey I'm walking in a field, neato!"
I had planned on schooling in the indoor. When I got there, some of the maintenance staff were working in it and I turned around to go to the outdoor, which also has glorious safe footing and it was a beautiful day out. When I got to the outdoor, I found it had been freshly dragged. Not wanting to disturb it either, I got on and decided a walk through her fields on a pseudo trail ride was just the right thing to do. Penn hasn’t been on a trail ride since May, and she has tons of level field to stroll through.
Just a pretty pic of her indoor and the sunset.
I went for a quick 15 min walk, tucked him back in his stall, packed the trailer with all the non-essentials I needed in the morning, and high tailed it out of there. We were in and out in an hour and 15 min!
I did look over his grain situation while we were there. GP Trainer feeds breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and lunch is fed outside in the turnouts in winter. I found an overturned feed pan of alfalfa pellets out in Penn's dry lot, hahaha! They didn't go over so well then. I figure he ate about half of what they gave him, and I bagged the leftovers and put the rest of the bag in my trailer while he was eating a much more satisfying grain dinner with some of his regular supplements.
Cute face that says, "I do not like alfalfa pellets, Mom!"
The evening was fairly boring, mom and I had dinner and turned in early because a 7:30a MRI appointment meant leaving GP Trainer’s barn by 5:45a, which meant arriving there by 5a, which meant a 4am wake up!
So I ended up drilling Penn too much on the work we did in lesson with DT in my rides last week. He started getting a bit anxious and above the bit and not cooperative, and I'm starting to learn that means he's feeling overfaced that day.
Over the weekend, I just wanted quiet, soft rides. DT had me ride him much more up than I have in the past, which is totally where he needs to go. However, since Penn is young and green, riding like that all the time is not something I can do to him, and I forgot that I need to find a happy medium. Not every day can be up and working day, but nor should every day be long and low.
Our ride Saturday focused a bit more on a longer frame and lower poll. I tried to make sure his poll didn't drop too much, but I wanted him to find his confidence again. We had a lovely quiet and calm ride where I got to touch on everything from training level and leg yields.
Relaxed after a good ride.
Penn got fussed over for the rest of the day- I pulled his mane and the farrier reset him. After all that, I braided his mane back over to the right (I let it out for a couple days and his hood pulled it back to the left). They're loose braids and just a couple crossovers because I don't want to damage his mane, but I do want to teach it to stay over! I think it'll be braided for the rest of winter while he wears his hood.
Sunday we rode outside because it was gorgeous and sunny and almost 60 degrees. It was super windy, so Penn wore the ridiculous orange ear bonnet. Last time I rode him outside, the wind was blowing his forelock around and it ended up in his ears and he really did not like that at all. When the first gust of wind blew in his face, I think he was expecting to have his forelock in his ears, but once he realized it wasn't, he happily trucked along, NBD. I think the ear bonnets help to muffle the wind too (as well as other sound). So, I guess Penn will be wearing Mikey's blue ear bonnet for horse shows.
Ridiculous braids and ear bonnet.
I think I only worked him for 15-20 min Sunday. He was really soft and responsive, and he did everything I wanted fairly well. His right lead canter is really coming along as the better lead- I am still pushing him up and forward in the canter because that gait needs the most work, but it doesn't seem to phase him the way the work in the walk and trot does. His leg yields were good too- they tend to be more bracing and quick and not sideways outside.
Part of the reason I didn't work him all that long was because I wanted to make sure we got to go for a walk in the woods. It's good for everyone's brain! There's a wee 15 min loop that goes out the back of the ring, out past the pastures (and past the scary smelly pigs!), then loops through a gentle trail through the woods (you can still see the barn and the horses in the fields), comes out on a gas well road, and then you ride a short distance on the actual road and back in the front driveway.
Looking through the trees at the horses turned out.
Penn went on his first solo trail ride! I tried to find someone to go with me, but while there were people out riding, none were interested in a short hack. I'm not about to do away with downtime (or seeing something besides an indoor arena), so we went anyway.
Happy to go for a walk.
He was really super- he was brave past the pigs, held his ground when a herd of deer went charging through the woods, didn't balk at walking through mud and ponding water, and walked on a loose rein. I don't trust him to walk on the buckle yet, but he'll get there!
Proof that he foamed! He foamed all weekend, yay! He also grunged up his bit, haha.
A goal for the fair weather riding months is to work in the outdoor in the evenings and weekends, and go for this walking loop whenever we're done to relax. Eventually I'll branch out to a bigger loop, but for now this one is fine!
Husband and I took the trailer back to the barn on Sunday, so he was around while I rode, and he used his fancy schmancy new phone to take pictures and videos and even a few GIFs!
Basically, the idea is to have some fun while the snow actively works Penn. I had a lot of on the forehand, connection and bend issues, but I also wasn't pushing him as hard as I could have because I was worried I would adversely effect his balance and we would both eat snow.
Ignore my horrid position. I'm going with I haven't really ridden in two weeks.
Husband also played with GIFs on his phone:
More still shot media:
This would be a great pic if he wasn't so on the forehand!
Then we have the videos!
Trotting left:
Trotting with a change of direction:
Trotting and some canter:
Same video as above, but Husband added some slow-mo frames:
A short ride -I like working in snow and water, but I'm not always sure how good working in snow is for the tendons- and not overly productive, but it was fun!
I'm just going to bombard everyone with pictures from the last couple days.
I worked from home Friday. Migraine + Snow Storm = Work At Home. My coworkers for the day were great.
Nickels was extra active and perky.
Penny slept in a fish.
Sophie slept next to me on the couch. She sleeps extra soundly and that means I can mess with her, hehe.
Then I went to the barn at the start of snow storm Jonas. When I left, I debated if that was a smart idea. My Mom went with me. 28 years old, and I'm still dragging my mom to the barn like a little kid.
About an hour into the snow fall, on my way to pick up Mom.
I had a good ride! It's the first time I'd ridden Penn in about two weeks since I've been sick and then it was just too cold to ride. His trot work was excellent, there wasn't too much to nit pick. His canter needs work though- it was particularly bad- not through, tense, not going to the outside rein, rushy. I'm going to have to work it quite a bit before the show next weekend. Hopefully it was just bad since he'd been off for 5 days! I'm sure the below didn't help:
I have no idea how he did this. He's sound and not swollen. It is quite tender though- he didn't like me wiping/dabbing it and then spraying it with Aluspray.
The only thing I can think of is that his blanket hind leg surcingles got tugged on or pulled by another horse and the metal buckle that determines the length of the strap dug into him. The fields are very clean and tidy, I can only assume it was his poor social skills at work.
I'm glad I bought a blue version for horse shows.
Mom and I headed home. The roads weren't too bad, but they weren't great. I dropped Mom off and got back to my house in one piece! Or the same number of pieces we started with, haha.
Waiting at a traffic light.
In front of my house.
I woke up to this face Saturday morning:
Penny Snugglepus!
Husband and I cleared the driveway, but first we took Sophie outside for her first snow walk!
Not a fan.
I say Husband and I... meaning I cleared enough to get my car out and went to the barn while he finished up with the plow!
Fiction and Penn digging for grass. Well they were when I got my phone out. Fiction was like, "Human! Food for me?"
I opted to take Penn for his first snow ride instead of doing real work inside. We still did work, but we did it in the outdoor with the snow. I kept it short because I still insisted he work over his back and I know slogging through the snow is hard work... which was the point- he has to lift his feet and he has to lift his back too- so absolutely no sitting the trot. I let the snow slow his tempo and I focused on keeping our balance because I didn't want him to accidentally biff it and then both of us eat snow. Walk-trot-canter each way. He found an awesome trot to the right- I saw his knees lifting out in front of his shoulders and he had a great feel. He had a hard time supporting the left lead canter and his balance in the snow- however that could have been because it was the last thing I tackled.
A great view!
Walking around the track we wore in the outdoor.
Trying to make him round up so I can get a nice pic of him working.
I ventured out to the grocery store after the barn (I know, you're supposed to go BEFORE the storm. I do things backwards). I decided to get some chocolate chips (in addition to other staples) because Husband really likes chocolate chip cookies, and since he finished my trailer, I figured I'd bake him some cookies.
She begged the whole time. Like a dog.
Husband and I are taking the trailer back to the barn Sunday. I've got a bunch of pictures, but I'm missing some shots of it in the dark. I'll have to get pics of it lite up like a Christmas tree next weekend when we park it in the dark after the next horse show! :-)
I ordered him a fancy show halter with a name plate last week. In cob size. He refused to put his ears forward in the pictures without the tag. I ended up putting the buckle on this side down one more hole, and called that good. His everyday halter is full size and on the tightest holes, and this show halter is cob size and on the biggest holes. I had to buy the horse that's between sizes. But he's oh so handsome!
I was so flustered by the end of Monday that I used an early out to leave work 2 hours early. I was supposed to have a lesson Monday evening. However, Trainer was concerned about the footing because of the rain. That's totally fine! Monday's lesson was going to be teaching him to jump, and I'd like good solid footing for that.
His shoes got reset yesterday, and the farrier made a couple tweaks to the breakover point because Penn has just been clumsy about his front feet and trips on level ground a lot. I held him because he just can't be trusted to stay in the crossties, and you gotta be nice to your farrier. We had a good laugh about Penn. He freaks out over clippers, but doesn't freak out over the grinding wheel that the farrier uses... it makes really loud noises, sparks, and smells because of the sparking. Oy.
I took him out for a hack around the hay fields and decided to just have fun with him. I always liked cantering/galloping Mikey up the grassy lane between the hay field and road and I hadn't tried that with Penn yet. He's so quiet. I asked for trot and canter and he was like, "Ok, I'll lope along like a hunter. Can I stop now?" We had a lovely quiet ride. And he didn't trip over his own feet once on the uneven ground (I'll have to tell farrier!).
He's so quiet that I even took video of him with my cell phone. While cantering. Good baby horse!
I took him back to the barn and decided to mess with the clippers again. I made a plan based off of everyone's suggestions from my last post (thank you!!!) and Trainer's suggestion of closing one of the barn doors and having him learn to cross tie with his butt against the door.
Cross tied! With both cross ties! I felt brave, haha. Pre-clipper training.
First thing I did was my prep work. Close both barn doors. The aisles are 60' long and 12-14' wide. That's a big enough play area, and he can't leave the building. I also left his fuzzy boots on. Gotta protect the legs from themselves. I clipped the chain to his lead rope and put it over his nose. I pulled out the clippers and got them set up halfway down the aisle (conveniently where the plug is!). I just set them down, no turning them on yet.
Second was practice giving to pressure. I asked him to give to the chain, and he immediately lowered his head until his nose was level with his knees. Good boy. I asked him to give again, and lower his head further. He was like, "WTF MAN!" and jerked his head up and thought about backing and rearing, cranked himself for jerking his head up, and then thought better of it and just stopped. I asked for him to give again, and he did- nose even with his knees. I asked to give lower again, and he answered correctly this time with some lick and chew and almost touching his nose to the ground. I had him bring his head back up, then asked him to move directly away from me and then towards me (like 4H showmanship turn on the haunches, but I only wanted a step or two from the shoulder). Repeat all of the previous steps. He became very tuned in to what I wanted. I barely needed any pressure on the chain to ask for any of it. Good boy.
Third, I took my lashless dressage whip and asked him to walk with me and turn small circles around me while staying forward. I didn't even have to touch him with it. A bare flick in his general direction got him moving. If I actually touched him with it he'd shoot forward and past me or move his body away from me. Good boy. For now I'll take forward past me. When he'd do that, I'd just bring him around in a full circle around me and then reset him next to me.
Fourth, I stuffed my zocks with several handfuls of horse cookies. The nugget ones you can get from tractor supply. I set the container on a stall far away from the clippers so I could restock in peace if necessary. I didn't have pockets and zocks are really good cookie holders. And the nuggets are perfect tidbit treats.
I finally brought him back to the middle and picked up the clippers. He went to go backwards, but at the barest pressure of the chain and a small flick with the whip, he held his ground even though I was way too in front of him. Yay for good programming- chain pressure meaning give and whip meaning forward. I was pleased that I could apply both from in front of the girth line and he'd still respond properly.
I held up the clippers, he was like, oh ok, and let me rub them all over his front end. Nose, face, ears, poll, cheek, neck, shoulders. Perfectly happy with it.
Throughout the rest of our endeavors, I made sure the clippers stayed near the wall so he was free to swing his body around to either end of the barn as an appropriate escape.
I finally turned them on. He wasn't as surprised by them as Sunday, but he did go to go backwards. However, I didn't have to correct a thing. He engaged the chain slightly and gave to it. Instead of going backwards, he weaved. He was so nervous, but he knew he couldn't leave, so he just weaved his body back and forth. I never felt more than a slight pressure on the lead rope. Good boy. He kept reaching his nose out, but getting scared and then weaving some more. I put the clippers on the floor (yay for dirt floors!) and gave him a cookie for standing his ground.
I turned him away and led him to the end of the barn where I made sure he was tuned in to me and the whip by doing a couple circles in walk. Then we walked past the clippers (him between me and the clippers, so we were tracking left around the aisle). I walked with a purpose, he tried to, and when he fell behind I flicked the whip and he trotted to keep up and get past the clippers. Small amount of pressure and he gave and walked. I turned him at the other end of the barn, then passed with me between him and the clippers as a "break". Turn around, repeat many times.
He tried several different answers: slowing down, running past, shoulder into my personal space (I actually hit him with the whip for that one- he never did it again). We kept going until he was willing to walk past it while only keeping an eye on it but traveling straight for the most part. Cookie time!
Next was stopping him next to the clippers, then asking him to move forward again immediately. I didn't want him to have a chance to think about backing up from the halt. Good boy and more cookies. Next was stand next to them and linger. Good boy and more cookies.
He got several breaks by standing at either end of the barn away from the nasty clippers.
I eventually led him directly up to the clippers, and fed him treats as he got closer and held his ground. I picked them up, and he was very interested in them, so I kept feeding him treats when he'd reach his nose out. He eventually bumped into them, but it didn't seem to surprise him, so more cookies. It became a 'touch the clippers, get a cookie' game. Good boy.
The most surprised reaction he gave me last night was when I turned them off. They make a louder click noise, and he jumped and stepped back, but found pressure and came forward on his own again. Cookie.
I rubbed them all over his head and neck again, then more cookies.
He got to be done at that point. More than enough good work. I put his sheet on (it continued to rain last night) and put him outside with his friends. We'll repeat later in the week and again next week, and maybe in a couple weeks I can actually trim him!
