DefinitelyDressage.com

heddylamar

Maia and I rode alongside the Monday afternoon working eq group in the indoor. They were working around huge inflatables. And that damn tarp. Maia didn't even bat an eye at the inflatables, but that tarp got a good long look when they were folding it up at the end :lol: We're working on some of our ...

heddylamar

It's really disheartening riding with someone who can't see your or your horse's potential. My barn owner and one time trainer in Texas was great at making every horse and rider sound like they could be great ... but made sure that they knew they had no potential except in some unachievable situatio...

heddylamar

The first ride with the new trainer wsn't a fluke! Maia and I rode with her again yesterday morning, and since we'd mastered everything from the previous ride, we moved right along. Plus she got to see a teensy taste of spicy red head :lol: Colder temps, windy, morning ride ... Maia's always been a ...

heddylamar

I seriously contemplated doing it this weekend anyway — Maia will stand for a blow drier

But that would put a serious kink in her willingness to stand for the clippers! She's got a very short timer on how long she'll cooperate.

heddylamar

Maia needs to be clipped, but unless I somehow grow time between now and Friday, it's going to have to wait for the next warm spell.

heddylamar

@zybtfrm If it's not something that they can straighten, you should be able to find a fabricating shop to build a new fender for you.

heddylamar

That is absolutely terrifying, Aleuronx. Walking right back on? Kora is an absolute trooper. She needs extra carrots for a few weeks! What a fabulous girl <3 :lol: :lol: Chisamba :lol: :lol: I hate waste, but I'll toss brand new underwear immediately if they can't resist transforming into a thong. T...

heddylamar

Somewhere over the past 2+ years, I lost control of Maia's midsection, and she stopped fully engaging and we lost the explosive impulsion. Honestly, I wonder the long ass hot trailer ride to Texas took a bigger toll on her than was obvious, because when I first rode her there she was an entirely dif...

heddylamar

Moutaineer wrote:but no-one died.

This is my base line for every ride

And, honestly, obedient while tense? Potters deserves an extra carrot!

heddylamar

Maia and I rode with a new trainer this afternoon. She instantly honed in on one of my big obstacles and gave me a whole bag of tricks to address it. Another lesson next week, or three weeks from now — she's out at my barn nearly every Friday to work with one of my barn mates. The best part? She's a...

heddylamar

I get the travel/health certs just in case, but have never needed a brand inspection. No one has ever asked to see the travel cert, but I don't want to find out what happens when I don't have it in hand (or digitally, as is more likely with me). @SF — both of mine are microchipped. It was quick, eas...

heddylamar

It affects my work too. And to a much larger degree, DH’s work too. That’s an added stress we don’t need.

All these young guys for Trump are clearly choosing to forgo sex for the next four years — and beyond, because WTH is going to trust them now? I hope it’s worth it.

heddylamar

Maia is finally back to work! I'm really glad I just waited it out — at the end of September, she was walking and trotting sound in the field, but uncomfortable under saddle. Two weeks ago she was still a bit uncertain. And now, she's sitting, reaching, and back to her happy, bouncy, sassy self :) W...

heddylamar

Oh no, khall. Jingling for for Joplin!

heddylamar

Oof. That sounds miserable for Odin. Jingles that the antibiotics clear it up, and the vets find a cause.

Lovely photos, Chantal!

heddylamar

I've got the Hawk 2H bumper pull + tack. Like SF, I'm not sure I'd haul it with a half-ton. But, as you all know, I've spent a ton of miles on interstates. Hilly fast-moving interstates that are a challenge with a gas 3/4 ton engine. With the equalizer weight distribution hitch, it's like hauling th...

heddylamar

Glad you have a good GP! I am finding out how we mostly don't get blood tests that test what we need, and the test results don't show what we really need! If it's not on the regular CBC, most docs don't think to test for it. I'm perpetually low on iron, magnesium, and D3, and I always have to remin...

heddylamar

My new primary care physician took one look at my long list of weird, seemingly unrelated, problems that have been increasing over the last 5 years, and asked if anyone's ever tested my B12 levels. I was low. So low that I'm on my third month of weekly shots. I don't know if there's a correlation, b...

heddylamar

That's pretty pricey, LSP! I was looking at $100/foot for glue-on shoes with Maia's latest adventures. Does Lynx need extra special shoes??

heddylamar

Smartpak is having a 20% off sale on helmets right now.

heddylamar

Maia is sound-ish? Or at least I'm no longer feeling ill? In the past few days, she's turned a corner. We were on bute 2x a day for a week, spent 5-6 hours inside in Easy Boot Clouds, then Venice turpentine when I took the boots off and turned her back out. Much to my abject horror and joy, Maia sta...

heddylamar

I have really narrow feet, and find Ariat's paddock boots to be fairly narrow. Mountain Horse and Ovation tall boots are far too wide.

As for helmets, get something with MIPS. And get something that is comfortable, doesn't shift, and doesn't have hot spots. That's sooo individual.

heddylamar

I'm so sorry for your loss, Khall. Maia greeted me at her stall door, walked around a bit, and actually walked for the vet. 100% more comfortable on grass than the concrete aisle, or asphalt. The vet ruled out laminitis and PHF, phew. He agreed with my initial assessment — before I started spiraling...

heddylamar

Is it something we did? I just had to call the vet for Maia too. Trimmer was out yesterday, and Maia walked off a bit tender. Today she refused to move at all. No heat. No fever. No parking out or shifting her weight, nothing particularly odd beyond refusing to pick up the left front which would shi...

heddylamar

I think all these exercises would work but I can't do them in the middle of a dressage test :lol: she can turn on the tension at a moment's notice! To your second point, I am close to trying some chemical assistance to calm ME down. I have NO doubt I'm adding to this.... I do breathing exercises an...

heddylamar

I've had three gens of tense and forward, and very little crossover in what works best to disarm their often explosive tension. Some of things that have worked: – Warm up with counter canter (literally walk to the arena, immediately start cantering, and after 5-10 minutes we could warm up properly) ...

heddylamar

Integrating critical thinking into the curriculum needs to be a top priority for the US Department of Education.

heddylamar

Those flaps aren't forward enough for you, StraightForward, and the cantle looks like it's shoving you forward. Maybe a different configuration would work, but I wouldn't go through the hassle — and expense — of custom making it if it's not at least close. And it isn't. If they make it, I would try ...

heddylamar

I'm so sorry, goldhorse.

heddylamar

And that, right there ...

Biden needs to go enjoy hanging out with his great grandkids in retirement. And we need an age limit on who can run for office.

heddylamar

Oh no khall, that's terrible news. Many jingles for Rip.

Maia's laminitis stall mate in Texas got through the triple digit summers with AC, alcohol baths, and ice baths.

heddylamar

This week's SCOTUS ruling is terrifying. And as someone who works politics-adjacent (campaign fundraising), I cannot get away from it. Everyone outside work wants me to weigh in, and I just want to go for a long run and bury my head in the sand. Fortunately, DH recognizes I need downtime, and refuse...

heddylamar

Get something that works for both of you. If it fits both of you, but doesn't meet your needs (e.g. lower cantle), keep searching. There will be something out there! I was going to suggest Stubben, but the cantle is higher than I recall. I ride in an older Laser 747 with has a medium deep seat. It's...

heddylamar

We've made zero progress the past two months ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I did ride a good bit before leaving San Antonio. Then Maia was a giant, explosive nutball during our two-week layover at Mom's farm, so we just did some groundwork. The second half of trailering went much smoother with five new trailer tires, n...

heddylamar

Heddy, I thought you were already THERE! Guess I missed the flight plan memo ;) We had a 10-day layover at my mom's farm in Tennessee. That's quite the trek all in one go, and both of my co-drivers had some funky scheduling issues we needed to work around. But we're here now, and Maia's out with a ...

heddylamar

We are underway!!! Only 800+ miles to go. All the unplanned trailer densensitization has paid off — 15 minutes of a bite or two of timothy pellet mash (with a small handful of grain to sweeten the interest), and Maia marched all the way in, shoved her face in the bucknet, and gobbled. Of course, the...

heddylamar

Memory loss is such a roller coaster. We've been through it with all the grands, and at 78(!) my dad's well into it himself. The early onset is probably a side effect of all of his other medical problems. We'd know more if we could get him to see a neurologist, but that's a whole huge ordeal that in...

heddylamar

The other day my friend was walking home and a peacock started to display right in front of her very high-strung TB mare. That was an interesting morning. Peacocks elicit some interesting reactions! Mom's very placid gelding turned into a snorting, prancing monster when he encountered a flock at a ...

heddylamar

Thanks! We need all the luck we can get at this point ;) Luckily I was hauling with my mom. We're both pretty non-plussed when playing whack-a-mole with disaster after disaster. The only real stress point was tire number two. That extra two hours was pushing us into 18 hours on the road, and we were...

heddylamar

Leg one of the epic trailering journey is done. Finally. The highlights: — Three days of remedial trailering work after Maia decided she doesn't trailer any more — Three extra nights in a hotel (we kept checking out, then checking back in :lol: ) — Five fingers/hands dinged in feeding a very hungry ...

heddylamar

The packers have come and gone. I've moved 20+ times, and this is the first move I can recall where they did pack and load in one day. And I got all of the last minute cleaning done too. We're ahead of schedule! I told the DH that I'm going riding tomorrow :lol: (Maybe!) The cars get picked up tomor...

heddylamar

A week from now, the piggies, DH, and me will be flying to Maryland. I'm coming back for the houseplants and Maia too at the end of the month

heddylamar

Ouch, Paula! You might want to look into working with a personal trainer or physical therapist. They can help you build a program tailored to strength, balance, and movement.

heddylamar

You don't know the power of the dark side ;) We're a month out from leaving Texas, and still haunted by that darn abscess! I'm hoping the farrier can trim Maia's foot in a way that relieves a bit of the pressure tomorrow. For the most part she's sound on it ... but 10 meter circles are painful. Hope...

heddylamar

Maia's been battling a teensy fingertip-sized abscess since early January. It's finally reached surface level, and it's a bit too ouchy now to ride through.Not too sore to be out bucking and running :roll: After over a week of soaking, plus a few days of drawing poultice, hasn't popped. I'm almost a...

heddylamar

Yep! We'll get nearly 3.5 minutes here!

heddylamar

@Kelo What a cutie! He's got the big butt like my mom's retired barrel horse/pasture ornament/very occasional dressage horse :lol: (I give her shade for not riding very frequently, but he's the perfect horse for that) My first horse was a redheaded QH mare. She taught me so much, and I still ride he...

heddylamar

Maia likes to swap behind too if I'm not giving her to space to really open up. So cantering in the arena is a disaster. Outside is great, and even better if it's uneven ground ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ One of the suggestions I got from my bodyworker is lateral work, specifically things like shoulder/haunches in. W...

heddylamar

Have you tried cantering on uneven ground, or over ground poles, StraightForward? Maia can be very creative with her legs too, but if we're on uneven ground she's really dialed in. And, yeah, this move is happening quick! We went from "maybe" to "we're doing it" in a few weeks. I...

heddylamar

@khall what a cutie! I went back to your link for more pics, and OMG, baby playing :D Momma's looking good too! And @blob, fabulous turnout! The pink coat is perfect for you both :mrgreen: If you hadn't told us, I wouldn't know he's foot sore (or is he not here?) I don't know if you've tried anythin...

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