2020 Updates

Hello everyone! Long time no post. I've been suffering burnout from work since sometime late last year, and it hasn't let up this year. I've had zero desire to get on here and write anything after spending my day frustrated and staring at a computer. Put that on top of it being a bit of a dark time mentally for me, then pile on COVID-19 madness, and you don't have a good recipe for blog writing. Plus like... it was mostly low content times.

I hope you and yours are safe and well in this pandemic, and your life hasn't been turned upside down to an unmanageable point. I'm one of the lucky ones- my husband and I are both working at home 100% since mid March (expected through at least September, if not the end of the year) and it's BAU for us. I fall into a few of the health risk categories, so I'm extremely grateful to be able to work from home.

Our barn didn't close, but we did excessive cleaning with social distancing rules. Social distancing is getting easier as the weather warms up. I still feel safe going out there because of all the precautions I take personally and the precautions the staff takes. I wipe down my trunk, locker, and stall front when I arrive and before I leave. I keep a halter and lead rope for my personal use and leave Eli's regular halter and lead for staff to use. I tack up in my stall using a personal set of cross ties so that I don't have to share community cross ties. I wash my hands when I get there, at least once while I'm there, and before I leave. I use paper towels to open doors. Most of the other boarders do something similar.

This set up actually did a fabulous job of teaching him he's ok alone in the barn. I found he was a lot less worried about things when he was in his "safe space." It also taught him to stay in his freaking stall instead of running out!

As a barn, we've been using the TeamUp app to note when each of us will be at the barn so we can spread out throughout the day. There were some minor tweaks I had to make to my barn schedule, but I'm still getting out there 4 to 5 days a week.

I'm also on staff at the barn, so I participate in cleaning high traffic surfaces as well as the gator, pitch forks, wheelbarrows, brooms, and dust pans. The barn lounge was closed almost immediately to discourage loitering, and was staff only up until recently. Knock on wood, staff and boarders have all been healthy so far and we're going out of our way to protect ourselves and everyone else.

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Eli and I have been trucking along, taking everything slowly because I'm mentally struggling (but getting better now). Instead of seeing the good in each ride, I was only seeing what I hadn't done or wasn't doing because of fear. It made horses not fun, and I didn't want to go to the barn or ride. I wanted to sell everything and be done with horses, but I didn't know what I'd do instead.

I took GP trainer's advice back in March and got in contact with the sports psychologist she used several years ago. The program I was using got me in the saddle and going with Eli, but wasn't enough. I'm still in the early phases of the new program, it's hard but it's working.

It took an obscene number of pictures to get one with his ears semi-forward. He was gorging himself on grass and looked unhappy about it. 🤣

I got to have a great virtual lesson with Megan at the end of March! She really helped me to start bringing Eli's hind legs closer together so he engages better, but we also went over the cues for shoulder fore, and teaching a young horse how to respond properly. Breaking it down into attainable steps really helped in other aspects of riding too.

I also figured out back in April that a lot of my trouble with Eli taking over and pulling me out of the saddle came from him physically pulling the bit forward in his mouth and then leaning hard on it. He's gotten his tongue over the bit a bunch of times doing that trick. I wasn't trusting myself to keep my own balance so I was using his mouth for balance (I know, bad!), so this trick was really effective at destabilizing me.

When I ordered his bridle after he came home, I got a plain cavesson and a drop noseband. I swapped out that plain noseband for the drop. What a difference! He fussed with the bit, trying to take it from me, had a slam on the brakes tantrum when he couldn't pull the bit forward, and then settled into really steady work. Steady in tempo and the contact.

Link to YouTube

I've been able to pick the fights, and win them quickly, over not leaning, giraffing, or rooting. When Eli can't pull the bit forward, he doesn't get his balance lurching around, which means I have core to spare, so I can shake him off my hand and put my leg on and use a seat based half halt to put him back in contact seeking mode.

I also found a trainer in my area to take lessons from. She's been around for ages and finished her gold medal last year. We've been lessoning every other week since the end of March. Lessons revolve around self carriage with suppleness for Eli and correct position for me. GP Trainer P is forward into the contact and not pulling the horse into it, and she's been very understanding about my fear issues and Eli being a new partnership. (the video above was from our 3rd lesson, the two below are from our... 5th? on 6/5/2020)

Link to YouTube

Link to YouTube

I made a few other tack adjustments in the last 2 months:

Changed the bit from a HS RS Dynamic Loose Ring Lozenge to a Nathe. Eli has never been great about bridling (tall horse becomes a giraffe). In fact, I have to be careful he's still tied to something because sometimes he'll turn and leave as soon as he knows the bridle is coming! Penn was never difficult to bridle, but he gobbled up the Nathe like candy. When I put him in a double to take pictures before he went to his new home, he refused to take the bit the next day until he realized it was the Nathe again. I was at a loss of what to do bit wise for Eli. He had a hard, dead mouth, wasn't thrilled about meeting the contact, and evaded being bridled. I tried a cookie after taking the bit to encourage him to go along with it, which helped at least keep him in place, if not head down. He didn't seem... happy. I was afraid I wouldn't have breaks with the Nathe, but I got so fed up one day I just popped it on and thought, "I can always dismount if he's not listening."

Uh, for the first time ever, I had real direct rein steering. I didn't realize it was missing. He wasn't afraid of the contact, in fact he went right to it. We kept it and haven't looked back! He's been much, much happier in the contact. The amount of BTV curling has also been reduced. Sure it still happens sometimes when I get too heavy handed because I've lost my balance (sorry Eli), but he lives on the vertical for the most part.

First or second ride with a new-to-us saddle!

Put Penn's Hastilow Concept Elevation on consignment with the saddle fitter and found a used Black Country Bellissima. GP Trainer mentioned she first saw Eli that she didn't think the saddle was a good long term fit for Eli, but I didn't get a new one at that time because I figured he'd be changing shape and Penn's fit well enough for now. Fast forward to the end of April. Penn's saddle had been reflocked twice, and I'd widened it once already. Suddenly, the panels weren't sitting right and it was both pinching the very top of the whithers causing pressure bumps while being too wide at the bottom points (meaning it was too wide). Making the tree narrower only made the bumps worse (so it's also the wrong shape). When I stuck my hand into the gullet, I found the left panel under the twist was sitting on Eli's spine ever so slightly. I put Penn's old Stubben 1894 on, which is several CM too small, and Eli preferred to have his back squeezed than whatever was going on with the Hastilow. I suspected that he also disliked the flex-tree in it- he seems to enjoy steady, non-chatterbox tack.

After what seemed an age, (ok not really, 3 weeks and one homemade saddle pad later that relieved the spine interference for the most part), my previously scheduled appointment with the saddle fitter came and we settled on the Black Country Eloquence. I test rode a padded up WXW to see if Eli liked the tree (he loved it) and if I liked the feel (I did not). The main hang up was the saddle I was trying was a half size too small, which made everything feel off. Saddle Fitter did not have an Eloquence in stock in an 18.5 that I could try, and Black Country was still closed from the virus. We talked about having something custom made because I didn't like how the seat felt and we thought I'd enjoy a slightly forward flap dressage saddle (thank you Mary Wanless), but I also wasn't prepared to spend $4500+ on a new saddle. Instead, we did some internet scouring during my fitting and found a few 18.5 MW candidates that allowed trials, and I reached out to them. I took the WXW on trial so I'd have something to ride him in and to make sure he kept liking the tree. I actually found the saddle winner the next morning- a very well used Bellissima. The Bellissima is the same tree and saddle as the Eloquence, but is the luxury model.

From the tack shop's website

I called the tack shop selling it first thing when they opened and it was on its way to me that afternoon! I was super nervous about it not fitting Eli since it looked a little narrow to be a MW, but it fit Eli like it was made for him. It also felt like it was made for my butt! It encourages me to keep my pelvis tilted up, thigh rolled in, core engaged... all those Mary Wanless taught ideas. I still think I'd like more forward flaps, but it will work for now. If/when Eli outgrows this saddle, I'll order a custom Bellissima (because in truth, I love calfskin seats). I just have to save for it!

Eli has felt like he was about to buck for 90% of the rides I'd had on him up to this point. I'd check in with other people riding with me and they'd say, "No, there is no buck in his back." It made me nervous to put leg on or really ask Eli to do things. My friend that rides Eli sometimes didn't register the feeling because her mare feels like that all the time (very high internal pressure mare who does often buck when she feels she's been wronged). That feeling is gone!

Monty Robert's Dually Halter over the bridle with a second set of reins hooked to the rope nose as a sort of emergency brake.

Eli can also walk downhill under saddle. I started trail riding with a Dually Halter safety net and the idea that simply getting into the woods was a victory, even if I got off and led him. The major problem I had was his inability to sit down to go downhill. He'd flail and try to trot off, stumbling and running into the horse in front of us. With the Bellissima, that is gone. I didn't make some miraculous training adjustment overnight... I changed the saddle and he sat like he's supposed to. He likes it better!

Link to Youtube

Thanks to the change of saddle, I had this first successes on 5/26/2020, when I just "went for it" and cantered outside because Eli felt safe. Sure, I'm super freaking handsy and using him to balance myself, but to get less handsy in the canter I need to practice the canter.

I made the change official on Memorial Day when I drove to the fitter's office to drop off Penn's saddle for consignment, return the trial saddle, and have them vet the Bellissima for soundness. I took a bunch of pictures of it sitting on Eli and of Eli's back without it so they could evaluate balance and his musculature. The saddle needs to be reflocked, but with a shim it'll do until the fitter can get out again.

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In other news, the beauty of the internet has also led me to some incredible strangers. Through Instagram, I found someone who managed to get SoloShot to replace her arm tag because she was sent a faulty tag. I tried to get a new tag under warranty back in Oct 2018 and got no where with them after a month of pestering. This lovely individual, who was a stranger to me and we had nothing more in common than a love for horses and broken SoloShot3s, used her connections to get my inquiry to the right people at SoloShot. I got a new tag about a month ago, and my Soloshot3 has worked almost flawlessly since! It has had a couple goof ups in tracking where I'm not sure what happened, but it has worked well enough for 95% of my rides because I keep it on medium view instead of tight... so videos on the blog will end up a bit zoomed out, sorry! But the bright side is... I'll have new media regularly!

Link to YouTube

6/20/2020 We love a super boring canter these days :)

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As for the blog, I'm certainly not closing it. I'm also not going to be updating it as much (heck, I've only managed... 3 times this year?). I'll probably do a bit more updating now that the Soloshot3 is working again!

Link to YouTube

We started cavaletti Sundays back up this past weekend. We stopped them when Eli started bolting through this same exercise and I had to use the 90 degree turns to trip him up and help him not anticipate. I did a bunch of cavaletti on the long lines to let him figure out cantering trot poles like a wild man was not a safe thing to do. Ever since, knock on wood, he's been good!

11/19/2018 - Diagnosing Penn, Part 3

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!

The Perks of Outside Forces

The past few weeks with Penn have been a bit of a struggle. We've hit a bit of a plateau and we're just fighting each other in my effort to get to the other side. I'm all, "Can you just sit down please" and he's all, "OMG NO! I'm going to (insert an activity that is not sitting) instead" and then I'm all, "Oh FFS, if you'd listen this would be over already."

This felt quite festive and fun!

Penn went on a little vacation from Christmas until what will probably be this Sunday. It's been between -2 and 23 degrees from 12/24 until what looks like 1/6. I really don't like doing much when it's like that, but he's worked a few times since the Northeast decided to relocate to the Arctic for various reasons (I was stir crazy, we had a "heat wave" where it got to 20+, and snow riding!).

I purposely don't give Penn these long vacations. He becomes obnoxious and spooky. Sigh. Anyway, we had a few experiences in the last week that seemed to give Penn one hell of a reality check... yay!


Saturday 12/30/2017
We got a bunch of snow, and I had to go to the barn and work anyway, so I decided we were going to go for a snowy trail ride, temperature and wind be damned.

SNOW!

Ok, it was really cold and I wore two pairs of pants and two coats in addition to my two layers of shirts, and I rode in my Noble Outfitter muck boots (which I NEVER do) so that my toes would stay warm. Still so worth it! Penn got out and got to go for a walk, and he had a great experience going down the slightly steep gas well road back to the barn.

I told him to slow down, get lined up straight, and sit down. He decided I was full of shit and leaned on me and his own shoulder... and promptly slipped out from under himself because of the frozen ground under slippery snow. We didn't fall down, which was good (I thought we were going down). He got himself sorted and I kicked him on down the hill and told him "Sit down!" Don't you know it, he got very light in my hand and sat. A nice dressage sit that I would have liked to have in the ring! He kept it the length of the gas well road (which is a long time- it takes 5 min or so to get down the hill in good weather), and I gave him a ton of pats at the bottom. My thighs were hurting from telling him to sit, I bet his hind end was sore too!


Sunday 12/31/2017
I worked at the barn this day too, and I was planning on riding Penn after. It took a long time to get the barn work done- it was 1 degree at 8:45 when we started, so we fed, hayed, watered, and starting cleaning stalls while the horses were still in them. This takes FOREVER. Especially when I leave Penn in his stall to clean it.

Stall snuggles <3

And Penn wasn't the only one who wanted cuddles, Syndrome came down from the stall walls for hugs and snuggles and we had one big cuddle-fest in Penn's stall. Penn even got in on it! He put his nose on the cat and flapped his upper lip around in an almost petting motion.

Cat for breakfast?

By the time we got stalls done and horses out around lunchtime, I had had enough. Penn still needed to be worked, he had far too many opinions about working when I rode him the day before our trail ride. He felt good that night, but wanted no parts of speed regulation or right bend and was spooky and tense.

I opted to set out cavalettis and break out the long lines. I haven't long lined him in ages, and he could really use a good work over cavalettis. I set the poles out on a curve (so I could stay on my circle), and raised the inside of each. My theory was I could force him to take smaller steps, but also force him to take loftier steps at the same time by having that end of the pole higher than the outside. I didn't want to be completely sadistic, so I kept the wide end of the curve on the ground.

Penn handled the work to the left well- he adjusted his stride after bouncing the poles (jumping the first two then panicking and jumping the last two), and trotted nicely through the poles. He understood he needed smaller steps on the inside, and added a small amount of lift to his trot step. Nothing spectacular, and he was content to clip the poles with his toes when he passed through.

Oh tracking right. The hamsters that control Penn's brain went crazy on their wheels and ran amok. You would have thought I asked him for something crazy. Nope, he wanted to trot around at mach-12 with his head in the air, looking to the outside at the other end of the ring, spooking, all while leaning in at a dangerous level. To be honest, it was how he had felt under saddle tracking right when I rode him two days before, except I could force him to look in and stand up straight.

He lost his ever loving mind. I tried rather forcefully on the lines to break his staring to the outside, almost forcefully putting him "in frame" by pulling each line to flex his nose out and in and work it down, and then holding the outside and then pulling the inside rein in bursts to bring his head down. It didn't work all that well and he did his own mini-bolts on the lines, complete with twisting bucks (aimed at me) and then more running and spooking. I got dragged around my circle quite a bit. I was trying a bunch of things to try and keep him on his feet- letting go of pressure, bending his nose in with the inside rein, pulling the outside in an attempt to stand him up.

He basically cantered and galloped amok until his bucking and kicking knocked himself off balance and he got his hind legs tangled together and lost his hind end. Then he got a bit smarter and started listening. Of course by this point, he was a bit tired and wanted to walk.

NOPE. Trot through the poles dammit. Not my fault you wanted to be spooky and run instead of working! He had a huge medium trot going on though when he realized I wasn't letting him walk. He took the poles two at a time on the outside edges. Wonderful shoulder freedom.

He wasn't very respectful of the poles, continuing to tap them with his toes, but he did better to the right than he did to the left. When I brought him all the way in so he was stepping over the highest part of the poles, it finally clicked in his brain to take loftier steps- he did two rounds through where he self adjusted his stride and really bounced up as he stepped over the poles. He had real hang time in the air- like a fancy GP prospect's half steps! I was very pleased and let him stop with that because he put a TON of effort into those steps and I wanted to recognize it.

So foamy these days though!

Monday 1/1/2018
I hemmed and hawed about going out on New Years Day, but in the end I realized I didn't want to sit at home and went to the barn to long line Penn through the poles again.

He started off MUCH better. I made him walk through the high side of the poles in our warm up. They were close enough to take a single walk step in between, but he really struggled to articulate his shoulders, hips, and joints to flex his body to take that single step with the poles that high. He got it right several times and I'd praise him loudy. I'd praise him even if he snuck in an extra step because he was still trying very hard. I'll have to do that more often- it's good for him to learn how to flex all those joints and move his body around.

We tracked left first again, and he put much more effort into finding suspension over the poles, except he was still happy to clip his toes on each rail. That was annoying, but he was being quite reasonable about everything else. I was able to spiral him in and out so he took bigger but still lofty steps on the outside, and then short, bouncy and very lofty steps on the inside.

I swapped him over to the right, repeated the walk work over the inside of the rails, and had him trot through the poles. He kept his hamsters running properly in their wheels this time, even if he still wanted to look to the outside and be off the bit. We cantered a little when he got a bit worried about the spooky end of the ring, and it wasn't too bad! No bolty bucks either.

He put a good bit of effort into the work to the right, nothing spectacular, but definitely an overall better effort than the day before. However, he was starting to get tired, and was fighting me a bit... trying to lean on the lines and talk me into holding him up... and then the best thing happened.

He completely bungled one of his final passthroughs of the cavalettis. He was so distracted by trying to lean that he was on the forehand taking too big of steps... he tripped over the first pole, managed to kick the second pole up above his knees and almost fell down as he tried to keep stepping. He'd catch himself then trip over the second pole on his chest or the next pole on the ground. The second pole ended up getting thrown out of the circle and the rest of the poles were demolished. Thank goodness for PVC poles (which is also why the one bounced with him I'm sure).

The only booboo from his incident with the poles.
From now on we need to use polos and bandage pads for cavaletti work!

He was rightfully shaken after getting away from the poles and it took me a few circles to get him back to walk. I gave him a pat and scratch and told him he was a good boy, then took him with me to reset all of the poles, then walked through them in hand with him to give him confidence in the poles again.

I sent him back through the poles in trot, and don't you know it, I had his complete and full attention. He was light in the lines and focusing on the poles. If I asked him to collect, he shortened immediately and then finished adjusting his stride for the poles himself. He showed the poles incredible respect after that- only clipping them every now and then as he misjudged his feet, and he would get a little worried when that happened.

I only made him go through them 3-4 more times to make sure he was still confident, and he was wonderful each time. A lot of lift and bounce through the middle of the poles (not even at the inside edge!).

Looking a little model-esq!

Wednesday 1/3/2018
So what do all of these experiences have in common? Penn trying to avoid doing what I want, and then an outside source exerting some kind of consequence for avoiding. I would ask again, and he'd listen.

I rode Penn for about 20 min last night, and he was simply wonderful. I had to barely ask for sit and he was "leaping" to comply. He gave me zero fight when I'd sit into him in walk, trot, and canter. I trotted him through the poles and he didn't touch them once. He paid attention, took big steps, and kept his own balance. The canter had far more bounce to it while still being light. I had far more control over his stride length and engagement in all gaits than I ever had before. It was great. Good work = short rides!

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I think we'll continue messing with those poles on the long lines, and snowy trail rides when I can do them. I'll have to come up with some other cavaletti patterns for the lines so he doesn't get bored, and I have to get to them in the canter too. I want to keep the high walk poles though- that is an excellent exercise in pushing his flexibility. As much as I'd like to ride him through it all, I think he'll take more articulation chances without me on him.

Some exciting things are going on!

9/4-5/2017 - Trail Riding and Lesson

Monday 9/4/2017:

Monday was turning out to be a beautiful day, but getting hot quick! Austen and I got to her barn, and I tried to see what Penn was up to- he was just chilling in his field in an apparent grass coma. Austen and I messed around with Baybuilt (a trim and a ride!), then she went over and fetched Guinness while I got Penn tacked up.

He made me walk across the entire field, then thought about running away! He was very happy out there by himself and did not want to be caught.

Penn kind of stopped eating well on this trip- he didn't eat all of his dinner, and only ate a bit of his breakfast. I know he goes off grain a bit while he's on a lot of grass, and when he's away, so I still chalked it up as normal for him because he was in a grass coma and not at home!

We had to keep the trail ride short- I needed to leave for GP Trainer's by a certain time to make it in time for her staff to be there when I arrived (I believe Monday is her day "off", aka minimal work day, and her staff is usually done by 4pm).

Penn decided to be a bit of an ass about water on our trail ride- backing up, not wanting to cross. It took us about five minutes to have a "moment" at the first creek crossing before Penn decided crossing it would be a good idea. Austen knew of another great crossing that we could walk up the creek a bit, so we went there to finish our ride:

This one was fine. It was so pretty! I wish I had it at home.
He was staring at Lyra who was hunting something from the creek.

Too soon, it was time to head back to the barn and pack up. I love visiting Austen! We always have a good time. I cannot thank her enough for being my eyes at the show and having great tips that really helped (and spending her weekend on horse show mode!), and for keeping me company after my parents called Sunday. I would have been in a really bad mindset if I had been alone.

I arrived at GP Trainer's right as her staff was finishing up for the day at 4. They showed me where to put Penn to eat his dinner, and which field he could spend the night in (the horses were on night turnout). Of course, Penn wanted no parts of his dinner.

Asshole. This is why I don't use feed pans either- both Mikey and Penn dump them.
I scooped the feed back into the pan, and the asshole grabbed the pan and dumped it a second time WHILE I was refilling it.
I just turned him out at that point and put his dinner back in a travel ziplock!

I turned him out and he was like "See ya mom!" and meandered off to investigate his neighbors and chow down on lush VA grass. I went to my hotel, had a nice dinner by myself, and went to bed early! #paintingthetownbeige

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Tuesday 9/5/2017:

I arrived for my lesson in time to massage Penn a bit before it. He really likes that phaser! He took a snooze while I massaged him. GP Trainer was super sick with some sort of plague- she taught her mom in the lesson before me, and then peaced out to go to the doctor after my lesson. I had looked on her schedule to see if she had any earlier slots available (I did want to get home ASAP after lesson), but she didn't have any earlier lessons, and no lessons for the rest of the day. I have a feeling she cancelled her schedule except for the two of us, which was nice of her to teach me anyway!

We worked in her outdoor since it's a standard size ring and I wanted to work on 1-3 concepts in the correct riding space since Championships was coming up. I told her about the weekend, (yay bronze! boo 2-3) and how I needed some hand holding because I felt inept after the 2-3 disasters.

She immediately got after me for accuracy- 10m circles and not cutting the turn right/halt/turn left stuff. ("You're a bronze medalist, ride like one!"). We looked over the halts too- she told me to stop touching him before I thought I needed to because I was pushing him out of the square halt. Then we went on to address riding the movements better, and I had some major DOH moments. I told her, "Why the hell didn't I think to ride them like this?!" She laughed and said that's why she gets paid the big bucks, lol.

We're going to put some graphics in here too.

Left: Leg yield zig zag
Middle: Right lead shallow loop
Right: Left lead shallow loop
Green is the track, blue dash is your eye.
Did you know, the only thing harder than riding a shallow loop is actually drawing one on a computer? Please forgive those horrible green shapes! I couldn't free hand it, and Excel shapes were limiting.

• Leg yield zig zag: leg yield right K-X, leg yield left X-H. Ride the shoulders down the K-X-M diagonal like you would the half pass right, but aim about 2m to the right of M. This puts you on the centerline a bit before X, so you have "plenty" of time to straighten over X (and ensures make it to X). Then when you leg yield left, aim for about 2m to the left of H so you get to H on time and are straight again at H.
• Shallow canter loops: Right lead on K-X-H and left lead on H-X-K. Look at the letter on the 3/4 diagonal (R and P in our loops), when you get towards centerline start looking to C/A, straighten on centerline, then look down the diagonal and aim slightly before H/K. Riding the loops like this ensures you make it to centerline, show more than just two straight diagonal lines, and ensures you show some counter canter.

It's magical nonsense, I tell you! Like, durrrr, how did I not think of AIMING THE MOVEMENT?! I'm sad it took me this long to learn that, and here we are, basically done with 1-3. The shallow loops are SO FUN to ride when you ride them like that. They are SO EASY to ride when you ride them like that too. So easy. I am seeing all the points I've lost in the past on the 1-3 loops AND the T-3 trot loops fly past my eyes.

I'll certainly keep that magical nonsense in the back of my head for the next ever because it will ALWAYS be applicable to basically everything else.

We worked a little bit on the simple change through trot as well. I have it down so Penn takes 2 steps of trot and off we go again. She wanted me to take 3, if only because it sometimes looks scrambled when you take so few trot steps. Guys, we royally sucked the big one here. Waiting that extra step messed us both up- he started picking up the wrong lead, or just trotting off really fast. I guess that means we've over-schooled the movement and he's anticipating.

We finished by running through 1-3, which went pretty well except he simply got tired. She finished with, you'll be great as long as you:

• Don't warm up for 35 min.
• Get his coughing under control. It's a huge problem.
• Make sure you know your test.

I told her two of the three were just fine, I normally warm up for like 15 min, and I've ridden this test at least 20 times in the past year and a half, I know it. **foreshadowing famous last words**

The coughing was a huge problem throughout lesson. He had his warm up coughs, but then would rip me out of the tack and cough up a storm in the rest of the work, to the point where it was detrimental to getting the work done.

I got on the road shortly after lesson, and made a few phone calls. Penn was scheduled to have his fall shots the next day (stupid USEF 6 month and not within 7 days of the start of a show rules made this appointment really nerve wracking if they had to cancel for an emergency). I called the vet office and asked them to have the vet bring an antihistamine with her to the barn. I didn't believe Penn was sick, I thought he had allergies. He's a seasonal cougher anyway, particularly in the fall (he came home in 2015 and a few weeks later I was almost in tears because I thought he had heaves and was doomed). They asked if I had a preferred drug choice, I said no, they're all illegal to show on, so just one that usually works fast and well.

The next call was to my barn owner to fill her in on my grandfather and the vet visit. I work for her 1-2 times a week, so I needed to tell her my schedule would be up in the air. I also told her all the things I needed for the vet, since we hit crunch time as we were 8-10 days out from the start of Championships.

Towards the end of the phone call, the sky started looking REALLY scary.

This does not do the darkness justice.

I didn't worry too much about the rain, I've hauled through it before, NBD. I take it easy and it's cool. I already drive super slow with the trailer anyway.

Nope. I ended up pulling over about 10 min after hanging up with BO. The road was no longer straight, and the rain was coming down so fast and hard that my wipers did exactly nothing to get it off the windshield. The wind was very strong too. I limped along for a little bit at 35 mph before looking for a safe place to pull over.

I watched Penn in my cameras, and originally panicked because his head bumper was wet and I thought I had a leak in the roof. No, the wind and rain were that strong that they made it into my limited screened windows and soaked his face and side. Sorry buddy :(

The rest of the trip was uneventful, just long. I got the trailer parked and unpacked in record time once we got to the farm, tossed Penn out, and went home to empty my suitcase to pack it for a trip to NJ for the funeral.

Non-Lessons!

Before I write about GP Trainer's visit (which was a total blast, and totally exhausting), we've got some low key fun stuff going on in between training.

Like BABY GOATS!!!!!! The farm has 4 baby goats on the ground (two sets of twins) and at least two more babies on the way soon! The 4 you can see here were born on July 4th (foreground) and July 5th (background).

National Pony Cup - Small Horse Division

So this was some super exciting news I found out- National Pony Cup has Small Horse awards! You have to get your small horse measured by a vet and fill out a form and pay the fees, but that's it! All of the scores you earn in that competition year count, so you don't have to get the form in before you show. Penn isn't registered anywhere, so I thought this would be fun to do en lieu of a breed registration. They add "degrees of difficulty" to the percentage score (the number of percentage points depends on the test ridden), and then average all of your scores at each level.

Part of getting him registered for this was to get him officially measured. He was originally supposed to be 16.2 (per his breeder) as a 6 year old, but the sale barn called me when he arrived and said he's more like 15.3. When he came home, my vet measured him at 15.1 with a tape (which was one week later). I measured him at 15.2 3/4 at the wither and 15.3 at the rump with the barn's stick sometime between Dec 2015 and Feb 2016. So basically we had no idea how tall he was- no one could agree. It didn't matter, I showed him as 15.3 and that's the end of it.

Well, the vet measured him at 16.0- 162.5cm officially. He's allowed to be up to 163cm with shoes for the Small Horse Division. Whew, he barely made it! I thought she was crazy though, there's no way he was 16 hands.

Well, Austen was right when she told me back in May that I should stick him again because she thought he grew.

We pulled out the barn's stick over the weekend and measured him again... 15.3 3/4 at the shoulder and 16 at the rump. Slightly downhill, but he's grown about an inch in the last year. He grew an inch as a 7 year old. I mean, part of me is jumping for joy ("He grew!") and then the other part of me was like, "Oh shit, he grew!" I'm glad he doesn't need to be measured for Pony Cup again though- his form is considered final since he's 8 this year. Growing explains some of the gait problems he's had in the last year too (aside from just a strength issue).

Have you ever seen a boar get a belly rub? I have!
And when Penn spooks the boar, I totally get it now.

New Experiences - Riding Bareback!

I also rode him bareback for the first time this past weekend! I've been putting it off since a) I rarely rode Mikey bareback because spine and shark fin withers, b) I haven't done any serious bareback work since leasing my QH Jasmine and that lease ended in 2004, and c) Penn wigged about me not riding with tall boots- full leg contact was a bit much. How was he going to deal with complete contact? But I want to ride Penn in GP Trainer's swimming pond when M and I go back in a couple weeks, so I have to be able to ride bareback, haha!

I used to be much more confident riding bareback. And bridleless.
Oh to be young and indestructible again!

Penn stood like a champ while I scrambled on. A friend stood by his head to make sure he didn't move (the transition from block to back is the one place I thought he'd have a good chance of dumping me), but he just stood and let me scramble. We walked and trotted, and it was fun as soon as I pulled myself out of the fetal position, lol. The first time I asked him to trot he was like, you don't really mean that... and then broke into this western pleasure jog, lol. Maybe next time I'll canter. I have to learn to sit up again though- I could feel I was tipped forward and afraid to sit on him.

We went for a little trail ride with M and her mare when she was done with ring work. Next time, I'm using my 5 point with my bareback pad! It immediately slipped way back on the first hill... Penn was really super on the trail as well! He watched his own feet and took everything super easy- no power walking. There's a step mucky section that he usually walks a bit quick through... he sat down and took teeny tiny western pleasure steps down it. I have to say, he usually trips a couple times when we trail ride... he didn't trip once. Someone had to watch his own balance because I couldn't watch it for him!

Basically I need to practice bareback a lot more. It's much easier than no stirrup work (so much easier to get my leg around him). It'll be fun now that I know Penn will take care of me a bit! It seems we both need it, lol!

Bareback ride with sleepy ears! Such a good boy.

We've had a fun low key week! Good thing too, we're busy for the next 3 weekends (then I'm busy on the 4th weekend!). I think I'll use bareback and trail rides during the week as something low key that we can do to chill.

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.

Crunch Time

We're getting down to the wire- we leave for Championships on Thursday.

At least I haven't starting freaking out yet. I might have obsessed over the ride times and figuring out how many are in all my tests (Friday: 1-2 has 17 horses, 1-3 has 16. Saturday: 1-3 has 17 horses. Sunday: Championship 1-3 has 29). But I've actually been really good about not freaking out, all things considered (just wait and talk to me on Wednesday or Thursday).

USDF sent out Preliminary Year End Standings two weeks ago. I checked out where Penn and I were when they sent it out, we were a lackluster 119th place or something in the First Level AA with a median of 63.603. I was like, "Wow, I guess we aren't doing so well this year." I checked out the listing after this last horse show... Penn and I made a huge leap up the ranks, to 31st out of 198 horses! You have to have 8 scores with a median of over 60% to make the list, and we had 8 before the last show. It seems you get drop sub-60 scores once you have more than 8 scores, because our median jumped to 67.941% (I dropped a 58 and gained a 67 and 69!). I'm so super pleased to be so far up the ranking. I do not expect to move up any more- in fact I expect we'll move back down some as riders go to their championships and earn more high scores. But it helped soothe my nerves a bit since we got to drop our worst score, which was actually our first recognized score, so yes, we've improved a ton this summer and I can hopefully expect to keep scoring 67-69% this weekend. Just a cool bit of information.

So what has Penn been up to in this last week for prep?

Being stinking cute, that's what!

Almost nothing. I'm actually starting to check out a little. I always feel a bit drained after a horse show, but the desire to go to the barn isn't there. Not good.

He had Tuesday off after his long adventurous weekend. He earned it!

I rode him Wednesday and Thursday in the small court we have in the outdoor and worked on walk-halt-walk, trot-halt-trot, canter-walk-canter. I checked on our shallow loops too since he did a couple flying changes in the last week. Everything worked well. I drilled the halts though- he's been resting a hind way too much in them. After two days of working, he doesn't rest a hind too often and I've learned a bit more about how to ask him to halt properly (it's such a skill). He may not be perfectly square every time, but he at least has even weight on each foot. Otherwise, he felt nice and sharp and I didn't feel the need to school anything else. I can only mentally exhaust him and break his training at this point. I am going to add halts to the end of our warm up plan. He doesn't start off well in them, but gets sharper with practice.

He was off Friday and Saturday because he saw the chiropractor Friday afternoon.

Sunday I loaded him up and took him to Trainer's barn for a trail ride with our old trail riding buddy. We briefly visited Mikey's grave, I teared up severely as I said hi to him, then we kept going.

Penn is off today because it'll be his last day off until next Monday (I didn't feel right riding him 8 days in a row), and I really need time at home to clean the house and do laundry before we leave on Thursday. I want all the show and horse laundry done so I can pack it all in the trailer on Wednesday and then do last minute laundry Wednesday afternoon/evening.

We have our last lesson tomorrow evening. I want to go over our last few tests and touch on making the lengthen trot better on the straight line, work the halts again, and smooth the leg yields. I don't think there's anything else to do, just smooth things over.

I'll probably write up a lesson review in the truck on Thursday while we're driving, but then I probably won't write again until after Championships (or maybe I'll do cell phone updates, I donno, I haven't decided). But just in case, I'll see you all on the other side.

Labor Day Fun, Part 2: Horse Swap and Trail Riding

The recognized show over Labor Day weekend was a Sat/Sun show, but I opted to do Sunday only. Since Monday was a holiday, and I was driving by myself, I ask Austen about staying over an additional day and going for a trail ride or something Monday before I went home. She thought it sounded fun, so that's what we did!

First, Austen's barn is soooooo fancy. New and visiting horses stay in quarantine stabling.

The nicest quarantine stabling I've ever seen!

I figured I'd have to clean Penn's stall and bring hay, water buckets etc since I was a visitor. Nope. They gave him hay, filled his buckets, gave him his breakfast (as long as I left out a baggie of grain), and cleaned his stall a bunch of times. A++ for service!

Penn loved the window, just like home!

Austen and I wanted to do a horse swap before our trail ride, so I got tacked up and headed to the indoor ring... it was so pretty outside, but umm, that indoor. Drool. I just wanted to ride in it even though they have a pretty outdoor too!

He's all ready to scare the resident dressage queens!

Ermygawd, can we talk about how GORGEOUS this indoor is?
Plus fluffy footing that I'm pretty sure Penn loved.
Plus retractable windows really let the indoor cool down... no sun and a breeze.

I beat Austen to the ring, so I hopped on Penn and rode him around, trying to gauge how he'd react to a third day of work (since he'll be seeing that at champs). He was a bit distracted and a little tense, but settled into work much better than he did for our second test the day before. We did very basic work, just a run through of things he knows and he eventually relaxed. His happy place is definitely in canter now, he relaxed right into it. So much so that I got thinking about the jump he had in his canter on Saturday when we were schooling... hmm... so I decided to go for it and see what happened. I brought him across the diagonal, right to left, checked my seat and leg, and sat up like in my last lesson... straightened a little and just asked for the new left lead... and bam, he hopped right over! Late behind, but he did it!

2.3 seconds after doing his very first flying change!

OMG I was so excited! It was no big deal and Penn just hopped over. The late behind already has me nervous, but he gave me such an excellent and quiet first attempt that I'm happy! It's just hard not to play with it before championships... with my luck, he'll go, "Oh you want changes now? OK!!!!!!" and he'll flip flop in our shallow loops, and goodbye 8's that are double coefficients. He's already inclined to because that's where he first offered the jump for the change. I don't think I've messed it up though, he's very responsive to leg and seat and I don't think he'll plow through to change as long as I make it very very clear what I want. But we're definitely working on those this winter!

Pic stolen from Austen

Austen arrived and we did a horse swap. OMG I love Guinness. I wish I had access to him for a week or more so I could keep playing with all the buttons and work on myself as I got used to him. Austen has done such a good job with him, and he has a level of suppleness that Mikey never had. I first had to work on straightness and not pulling his nose around to the inside. He was happy to go wherever I put him, as long as I gave him time to limber up. He immediately talked me into shortening my legs and curling my body- he takes more leg than Penn. I'm sure he looked much better than I did! He's also a half passing machine. My first instinct is to shove the haunches (wrong) so when I'd ask for it, he'd happily lead with the haunches, just like I asked. I'd ask for for the shoulders to move over and lead in more of a shoulder-in feel and he was like, "Sure thing!" The ability to move his shoulders around, within the half pass, was AWESOME. We did one canter half pass (it didn't have much over or bend cause I'm bad at them, no fault on Pig!), and I could feel him saying at the end, "Would you like a flying change?" I opted for no, since I know he can be expressive and I don't want to mess them up! He is so polite, I loved riding him!

I can't say I saw much of Austen riding Penn, cause I was like, "OMG GUINNESS LOOK WHAT I CAN MAKE YOU DO!!!" but Austen tried a change and he gave her one too!

Me trying to get Guinness to bend his head around so I can get a pic of his face.
He just says "Whhhhyyyyyy"

Two other girls showed up at the indoor for our trail ride, so we swapped back and off we went! Austen's huskies are awesome trail dogs. They make me wish I had a dog to take trail riding. I would probably go a lot more often.

This is a really really really pretty place!

Penn learned about creek crossings on this ride... we did 6 of them? I donno, but he wasn't about to get his feet wet, lol. He stopped and really looked at the first one. I gave him his head and kept pushing forward and I grabbed the grab strap on the front of my saddle. First time I've used it to help me stay on! He jumped the creek since it wasn't wide, and I praised him for going anyway. The next crossing was wider, and he jumped the whole thing again... but it had a nice beach in on the other side so I made him walk in. He then proceeded to lower his shoulders and play with the water with his face, so I kicked him up again and was like, "No rolling!!!" There was one wide crossing where he couldn't jump across (he tried), and was very surprised when he landed in the water so he tried to run out... I'm that horrible horse and rider on the trail that has no steering or brakes or anything near water. I laughed though, he made a big splash jumping in like that.

Following Guinness a bit too close.
I think I need to get him an every day bonnet that is not bright orange.

He almost dumped me on the very last one- the creek kind of split and it was two narrow strips of water with a tiny strip of ground in between (I imagine it isn't there if the water is up at all). I thought he would try to jump the whole thing, or jump and run... Nope, he jumped and bounced it. Oops, I wasn't expecting that so the second leap caught me off guard. He stayed straight though and I held on to mane until he stopped.

The trails were so beautiful and so well maintained!

The trails are maintained by EPIC, and they're Equine Only trails- no ATVs, motorcycles, bikes, walkers, etc. They are spectacular and I wish we had them at home! I absolutely need to come back and visit again.

We had some cheese and crackers and bubbly after the horses were put away while we watched people ride in the indoor (Penn probably needed a rest anyway after our long trail ride, he was dragging by the end!).

Had to bring our baby self to the very fancy wash stall.

Sadly the weekend had to come to an end and Penn and I had to go home :-( I had an awesome time meeting Emma, visiting Austen, and spending the weekend!

All tired coming home.