We're just chillin': November-December goals and progress

[StraightForward]

We had a warm October, and the weather has cooled right on cue.

Going into winter with no indoor, I'm trying to be zen about any forced breaks we end up taking. The up side is that my new barn is in a much less windy area than my old barn, so riding outside on blustery days should be a little more pleasant. Also, the arena should drain better, so hopefully we won't lose too many days to rain. That leaves the wildcard of month-long frozen ground, but that probably won't happen until January, if it does.

So as weather allows:

Jump once per week
Continue working on the relaxation and bend through transitions
Quality of contact, encouraging an FDO feeling in the work as much as possible, since T can get a little "up" and posed
Play with changes when the moment seems right
Play a bit with half steps and canter piri

Me: Continue hitting the gym 3x a week. Increase that if/when I can't ride as much.
Remember to use the Home Horse and/or stand more during the work day.
I keep spinning my wheels on diet. I'm not doing terribly, but work is a lot right now, so I tend to just grab whatever is around. Maybe if the weather keeps me in, I can take some time for meal prep on weekends.

[Lipsmackerpony88]

Alright new goals and revised goals.

*Continue to work on straightness with Lynx (and in my own body)
*Continue to work on his canter quality
*Incorporate more equiband work
*refocus back on more pole work
*Haul out 2 or 3 more times season *ride out in the field or trail ride
*Thinking about riding in another dressage clinic with Lauren Spreiser but having performance anxiety because of a certain former trainer that might be attending. So not sure about it.

Continue to work on my own fitness. Work on my confidence. Lose 5 lbs.

[StraightForward]

Oh, I would love a chance to ride with Lauren! I say eff anyone who might be watching. It is about you and your horse!

We had a really good jumping lesson today. T had not an ounce of stop in her. In fact, I had so much horse my biggest challenge was adjusting to the idea that she needed full on half halts to the fences. The weather smiled on us too; the riders before me got sprinkled on, then the sun came out for my lesson. Shortly after we went back to the barn, there was a real deluge with thunder and lightning. A local dressage trainer I've lessoned with occasionally, and her WS came over and rode with him as well and had a great time. We are planning to do it again in two weeks if the weather cooperates. My dressage instructor will be out again right after that as well.

[Tanga]

My goals.

I have to sort this health issue out and find an answer. (Still none.) Hopefully I can get out of this new normal. This might require dumping my doc and getting another. Get back my energy and dump the pounds added because of my lack of ability to do much exercise. Doing this show, taking it as easy as I can with help, I feel like I've taken 50 steps back and am completely weak and can barely do anything.

Rest and relax with a vacation and nothing to do for winter, hopefully in a new, hopeful atmosphere in the country.

Decide whether I can just be OK with dropping Quilla down to PSG and I-1 and doing the year with having fun with her and letting Quinn be the GP star.

My friend, the one that got her bronze in two shows on Quilla, has a really nice camera and took some great pictures at the show. I think some pretty decent passage pictures, and an OK half pass. ha--screenshotted some and then compressed them. Color is off, but you get the idea.

[Moutaineer]

Can't see your photos, Tanga! Link doesn't work for me.

My first goal is to get to and survive this show in CA in 10 days time. Potters is traveling on the barn trailer which is a brand new 4 horse LQ so I think he should have a good ride down. I'm going to spread the drive over two days in an attempt to somewhat preserve my back.

I've got a week of training rides ahead of me before we go, which should be helpful.

I've been going back and forth on which tests to ride. I'm "booked" to do the 3.1 the first day, either 3.1 or 3.3 day 2 and 3.3 on day 3. I was thinking about changing them all to the the 3.3, but with my back playing up I think I should probably ease into it a bit and stick with my original plan.

The 3.3 gives him more to focus on, which is a good thing, but is harder on my body, which is not a good thing!

High class problem, I guess.

Once we get back from that, I think I'm going to just back off and play for a bit, then I expect we will get to work on the 4th level stuff. I haven't looked at in detail yet as I need to get the next couple of weeks our of my head first.

[mari]

My broken-record goal is as usual just MORE of everything.

Except for power in the canter. We need LESS of that
It is monstrously hot here at the moment, it was just over 30C when I tried to ride yesterday morning, and Odin was like a zombie horse. Just no go whatsoever. This morning's lesson we had the same temp, but he must have snorted some cocaine before I got there because he was nearly unmanageable to ride. Enormous canter, giant changes that felt like jumping small courses. Not one walk step could be had, which is tricky because we're practice tests with walk

Exaggerating the bend and suppleness and response to lateral queues has definitely paid off over the last year, so that will still be my main focus.
He is quite fit for canter work, but not for really responsive canter over 5 or 6 minutes. So that is another goal for this period, to hold longer stretches of canter and to expect more work from both of us.

I would like to do a last show (it will only be my second of the year) at 3rd level, but scheduling right now is tricky. So will see if we get to.

[blob]

I have some days off here and there in Nov and Dec, so I'm hoping that means some good riding time if weather behaves.

Me:
Keep trying to eat well
keep trying to work out some
Keep trying to balance work and riding

MM:
get her in shape again! Even if it's just long walks, in fact...
find time to do long walks on weekends
set up a better system for keeping her moving when i'm busy
look into nebulizer?

RP:
Continue to get 1-2 lessons a month
Continue to have high bar for lateral work and getting reaction off the leg
Keep playing with changes
Ride through 2-3 a few times to identify biggest areas to focus on

[Aleuronx]

Lessons this weekend were great. Got caught out in a good way having to do canter halfpass to working piro straight back into halfpass then flying change. Hoo boy did that bungle up the change! The learning there was the piro effects the canter and we (Kora and myself) need to learn how to manage the changes after the piro work. This is highlighted in so many PSG tests where the tempi's go to pot for people because they are directly after, dun, dun, dun the pirouettes. Noted and added to the winter list.

We are one more weekend with trainer and them they are off to Florida and I'm on my own for a bit. There was some scuttle-up with the person I rode with occasionally last winter completely unrelated to me and the farm I normally traveled to during winter for arena use is also off the list due to footing reasons. So a bit on the drawing board on to new place to visit, getting off property ~3 times a month really makes a difference for her winter mental state.


Section Goals:
-Halfpass trot zig-zag ease of change
-Halfpass to change shorten straight strides to the change
-Consistency in counted tempi's
-Investigate new indoor visitation options
-Follow the 5k speed increase program

[khall]

Joplin is home!

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/HsLbxZjcvxXAsQv3/?

A bit drawn up but happy to be eating. I know myself I’ll probably be up at all hours of the night to check on her. Need to look into cameras for the barn. We have rain for this week so might work her in hand just a bit. Light TO tomorrow but they definitely want me to keep an eye on her manure output. She’s also in a study for colon displacement UGA is doing. Looking at gut biomes. They’ll take manure and blood for the next 4 weeks.

I’ve got Cedar clinic first weekend of December hopefully Joplin will be up to it. I’m just glad to have a horse that’s alive and no surgery to save her from the colic. Dodged a big one.


This go around: gradually get Joplin back in work
Gradually get Gaila back in work. She’s finally settling after weaning. Almost 4 weeks since being weaned
Get Chex back in some work. He had scarcoids in both ears that were treated. Boy was he sore:(


Start the covered!!


Hopefully the weather will cooperate for all and we can get some riding in!

[exvet]

Goals for the next round (and some catch up on the show). No chillin' for us:

Junior: Talking about sounding like a broken record improve canter quality

So, I've succeeded I think in conquering the basic concepts of the flying change. We got a low score for 4-3 on Sunday But we did eek out a 6 for our 3 tempis! and throughout the show NONE of our changes were the skip-a-change. Now while I don't and won't resort to the crank and spank method I do understand that I must teach Junior that I really do want him to lift up through his shoulder girdle and keep his front end not just up but come over his back and down into the hand in an accepting and non-braced way. In other words I MUST teach him not to use his under neck. We got it done with the flying change now for the rest of the canter (backwards I know but this is a Welsh Cob PONY). We also managed to strong arm the show management into giving us our pony card (excuse after excuse - we never received your email to set this up. We've lost our regulation stick. We only have an on-call vet so you'll have to see if they'll even come out for that - all hurdles were over come thanks to a very cooperative TD and the volunteer coordinator for the show). The point for mentioning that is I would like to go to the National Dressage Pony Championship either this year or next; but, I'm not going with the goal of embarrassing ourselves. I would love it if y'all could give me your best exercises for improving the quality of the canter in a way that encourages lifting of the forehand, not just the jump (that part I think Junior and I have worked out). Spiraling in at the canter is one that I know of but use sparingly for the sake of the hocks. Canter shoulder-in and canter haunches-in is another which I plan to use A LOT. Are there any other exercises that I can throw in between these to not drill a reticent pony? We have the stamina and he does have the strength just need this one piece to really pull it all together. I do plan to keep working on piaffe and passage under saddle of course which I think will help but it doesn't directly address the canter gait (and the point of coming all the way through over the back).

Junior's muscling is revealing in that he's right where he should be from just behind the withers to his tail but it's the base of his neck (top line and underside) where all the energy gets blocked and while I don't think just anyone can see due to the neck gods blessing Junior with a very nice neck but he's not developed over his withers properly along his topline because he avoids coming through to the hand. This I need to fix.

Troy: I plan to start lunging him about once a week with saddle on and get him used to stirrups flapping, etc. I will see about introducing bit/bridle depending on his teething status. He is so mouthy and juvenile right now and butt high.

Ace: get more trail miles on him

Me: Improve my lat strength and focus on keeping my upper body back especially so counter the pony's under neck which is so good at getting me to pitch forward when he starts to suck back or back off a bit.

[exvet]

Goals for the next round (and some catch up on the show). No chillin' for us:

Junior: Talking about sounding like a broken record improve canter quality

So, I've succeeded I think in conquering the basic concepts of the flying change. We got a low score for 4-3 on Sunday But we did eek out a 6 for our 3 tempis! and throughout the show NONE of our changes were the skip-a-change. Now while I don't and won't resort to the crank and spank method I do understand that I must teach Junior that I really do want him to lift up through his shoulder girdle and keep his front end not just up but come over his back and down into the hand in an accepting and non-braced way. In other words I MUST teach him not to use his under neck. We got it done with the flying change now for the rest of the canter (backwards I know but this is a Welsh Cob PONY). We also managed to strong arm the show management into giving us our pony card (excuse after excuse - we never received your email to set this up. We've lost our regulation stick. We only have an on-call vet so you'll have to see if they'll even come out for that - all hurdles were over come thanks to a very cooperative TD and the volunteer coordinator for the show). The point for mentioning that is I would like to go to the National Dressage Pony Championship either this year or next; but, I'm not going with the goal of embarrassing ourselves. I would love it if y'all could give me your best exercises for improving the quality of the canter in a way that encourages lifting of the forehand, not just the jump (that part I think Junior and I have worked out). Spiraling in at the canter is one that I know of but use sparingly for the sake of the hocks. Canter shoulder-in and canter haunches-in is another which I plan to use A LOT. Are there any other exercises that I can throw in between these to not drill a reticent pony? We have the stamina and he does have the strength just need this one piece to really pull it all together. I do plan to keep working on piaffe and passage under saddle of course which I think will help but it doesn't directly address the canter gait (and the point of coming all the way through over the back).

Junior's muscling is revealing in that he's right where he should be from just behind the withers to his tail but it's the base of his neck (top line and underside) where all the energy gets blocked and while I don't think just anyone can see due to the neck gods blessing Junior with a very nice neck but he's not developed over his withers properly along his topline because he avoids coming through to the hand. This I need to fix.

Troy: I plan to start lunging him about once a week with saddle on and get him used to stirrups flapping, etc. I will see about introducing bit/bridle depending on his teething status. He is so mouthy and juvenile right now and butt high.

Ace: get more trail miles on him

Me: Improve my lat strength and focus on keeping my upper body back especially so counter the pony's under neck which is so good at getting me to pitch forward when he starts to suck back or back off a bit.

[khall]

Exvet RB to canter and piaffe to canter great for encouraging the lift. Don’t discount the piaffe work for building strength. I saw that during my last Cedar clinic I had mostly done in hand work with Joplin because of the heat and mom dying. Low and behold Joplin’s canter was improved to the point of playing with CP and getting this much sit in her canter

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/qxjXyywrEU6RTqAY/?
Joplin and Rip back out together today!!

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/PfvvXoUbZfeJacUb/?

[Tanga]

exvet--You are right on with what you need for the changes and it's not about crank and spank, but it is all about getting the front end up from coming under behind. Look at the video of Quinn from this last show--I was getting 7's on her one tempis because I finally was doing that.

[Moutaineer]

Two good rides in a row... today's was a bit like riding a volcano, but it was very snowy, cold and damp and our token Western rider was doing her thing in the arena with me, which rends to make the polite dressage horses nervous at the best of times

However we had some good stuff. Losing the half pad has put me closer to his back (duh) and both of us are more in tune with each other. Even though he was wired, we had some really nice flying changes, where and when I asked for them, I suspect because he can't really ignore my seat, and as well because I can feel what's where and get my timing right. We also had some really flowy trot half passes. I stopped while I was ahead at that point, partly because he was winding up to some kind of crescendo that I wanted no part of and partly to preserve my back!

I have to say though that losing the half pad that was supposed to preserve my back has so far made things better. I'm feeling no pain as I sit and type this, and my ride was mostly pretty good, except the posting trot warmup, which left me with back spasms for a couple of minutes. I need to examine my mechanics on that. I'm probably tensing my hips.

Farrier tomorrow, and bitterly cold. It's supposed to be less cold Thursdsy and Friday so hoping to get out in the big arena one day to do some test practice if the ground isn't frozen.

[blob]

We're in opposite of bitterly cold--still getting to high 70s/low 80s each day and the flies have been awful. For november, this feels bad.

MM hasn't been doing well with our extended summer. Sigh. But trying to keep her somewhat in shape for her own health. So, we are doing what we can--even if it's just a short walk.

RP is doing well, our SI is finally starting to feel easy. So, that means on to the HI, which is really proving tricky for him. i've never had a horse who struggles in the lateral work so much. He understands the aid to move laterally, but REALLY struggles to coordinate his body in it. And so while he is trying, it's clear it is very hard for him to work is body that way. It does seem that just plugging away makes it easier, but it seems he will have a hard learning curve on all the lateral movements-- at least at the trot. He moves fairly easily laterally in canter. So imagine canter HP will be no problem, while trot HP will probably be a mess. But all of it is in service of making his overall way of going better and I do feel us getting more sit and true collection at the trot.

[StraightForward]

Well, we went to the first winter jumping show this morning and... I fell of Tesla two jumps into our first round. As they say, pride comes before the fall, and I was feeling pretty proud of how we'd handled taking the shorter turn option towards the third fence. I'd just lined it up between her ears when a bird squawked up in the arena rafters, and suddenly I was looking at the side of my horse. T stayed and let me catch her, and we did the walk of shame back to the in gate. Our second 2'3" round I was a little nervous about more spooking, but other than one refusal, we did OK. She gets really sticky jumping away from the crowd at the in gate, so that is something we'll just need to address through more schooling shows. I was feeling more confident for the 2'6" round, and we made it through without any refusals, and just pulled one rail where I overrode to a gate she had been giving the side-eye. We have a jumping clinic set up for next week, then probably no more until spring, so I'm planning to study up a bit on seeing distances and riding courses more strategically.

Dressage is going well. I've gotten a change here and there when the moment is right, but we still need more jump in the canter. We are in the process of getting solar arena lights, but I've actually been enjoying how much more I feel riding in the dark. The other night we got our best yet canter HP.

[Flight]

Hope you're ok SF! Falling off is not fun.

I've got a bit going on, good and bad. Ding has been 3 legged lame for a while and is now booked in for MRI this week. The vets were hoping for abscess, because nothing else found on X-ray or ultrasound and that is what he presented like. But nothing has come out. I guess I just have to wait and see what the MRI shows to decide on what next for him.

I'll be going up for the weq nationals in 2 weeks. It's a long trip so I'll stay overnight half way up. It's a qualifier so that means things like a trot up and 2 gear checks and you can only warm up when a steward is present. I'm finding it all a bit much, but I'm sure it will be fine when I get there.

The young horse Bear, has been at a trainers. It's nearly a year since I fell off and broke my sacrum. He's going well. It's been a big year for us, moving etc.

To be honest, my goal is to just to get through this next couple of months.

[exvet]

Nothing wrong with goals that simply help us persevere, Flight.

SF I hope you bounce better than I do and aren't too stiff.

Blob, I hope MM gets the weather break she needs. I will say that when I took Junior down to the Valley last weekend despite it being cooler and having rain he still had obvious challenges with the air quality. Here I'm dealing with frozen hoses and buckets in the mornings but Junior and I far prefer the higher elevations just for the cleaner air.

Living in our neighborhood has been met with challenges mostly for my SO; but, that's because I can do my own thing and not get involved with anyone or any of the drama down at our 'community' barn. I come and go and most everyone just leaves me alone; however, when we were building our place, my SO stated that he would 'give it a year or so and if the HOA became too big of a PITA then we would sell and build elsewhere. I knew that meant he would be scoping out other properties all the while. He really has had to deal with and put up with so much garbage through it all. So, when we were trail riding a few weeks ago, we saw a realtor putting a for sale sign on a property just on the other side of the fence from our community (same beautiful view, same access to trails and state lands, etc). Turns out it's just over two acres and no HOA. We close at the end of next week. Looks like another build (will repeat the exact same floor plan) and move for us; but, at least it's not going to take us far just far enough to not get fined for a driveway that was already approve or deal with the ever increasing HOA expenses, etc. I also get to put in my own full sized dressage arena, possibly with mirrors. It won't be covered but because we'll likely hang on to the 2 acre lot in the current neighborhood as an investment, I'll still have access to the covered arena that I currently use (just for a lot less because we get charged HOA and water per 'lot'). We'll be putting our current house here on the market at the first of the new year. Never a dull moment that is for sure.

On the horse front, Troy has been lunged with tack a couple of times now and took it all in stride. I also started tacking him up and stepping up on the mounting block (left side and right side) just banging around on the saddle etc. He could have cared less. I won't back him for a while due to his VERY gangly state but it's good to get him used to anything and everything. He also reminds me so very much of Monty in terms of movement and use of back. Monty, BTW, is still teaching people how to ride flying changes. He looks great for 26, soon-to-be 27 next year.

Now for Junior........thank you very much for all the suggestions. I've been putting them to use. I knew all along that I would have to approach Junior's training in a somewhat ass backwards way. He's a pony and you can't hit him with everything at once or he simply shuts down. In the beginning I had challenges with contact and connection, especially getting him into the right rein. I had a dismal year at my first attempt showing second level and then went on to win Reserve HOY for our GMO at second level the following year (thankfully we redeemed ourselves). During that part of the journey I introduced flying changes which were clean and in the air, then put them away while we ensured we had a balance and through counter canter only to start seriously taking on third level with a pony that discovered the skip-a-change. As you know that was a *%&@** problem to
work through and get past. One thing I had to do was get forward and I mean very forward which meant I had to throw the 'preferred amount of contact' out the window. I knew that this would kill me in scores but I had to focus on getting in the air changes and teach Junior that flying changes were to be flying and nothing else. I had to celebrate late changes, croup high changes, any change in the air even if far from a 5 or 6 just to get it through to Junior that flying was the only thing acceptable. Junior cannot be crammed, bullied, intimidated through the movements and especially not cranked and spanked and expect to have any forward/impulsion. I entered the most recent recognized show with the goal of having FLYING changes. Thankfully we did even if they weren't considered sufficient by some of the judges. Hell they were all in the AIR which I was actually quite proud of when we got done and we at least had a 6 on our 3-tempi's.

All this week people asked me if I was happy with the show and would I continue. Damn straight I was happy with the show and the progress and you better believe your sweet patootie I plan to continue. This past week as already stated I worked through the exercises and re-introduced the "Pelbow" concept of my seat, ie, my elbow doesn't leave my pelvis, my hands are soft with soft contact and follow the horse but my elbows are damn mine. Junior's busy mouth has come back but he's working into the contact and over his back and his changes are GOOD. So, now the goal will be to continue to ride him from back-to-front with the expectation that HE WILL ACCEPT THE CONTACT and I will concede to accepting the busy mouth for now. My hope is that in time with this body becoming more comfortable and realization that he can do the work without dying, I'll have a true fourth level/PSG pony. To that end, I will be entering the recognized show in Indio, CA in January with the plan to compete Third 3 on Thursday and Fourth 3 on Saturday and Sunday. My plan may blow up in my face; but, just looking at Junior's muscling and feeling some really nice clean changes makes me think that as long as Junior doesn't find his broom (to swallow) we should be okay. Dressage sure isn't linear and at times we have to ignore the insistence that to get from point A to B, the pyramid must be followed in a specific order. Ponies, especially Welsh Cob ponies, think that the "building" blocks of the pyramid really are more of a bunch of dots of varying colors that you address when you can, kind of like the old fashion game of twister. You just hope that when you've placed each foot, hand, head, whatever on each color called out that you're still standing LOL. With a pony you usually are even though you might not ever be able to walk upright again As long as they are EVENTUALLY able to perform the movements clearly and correctly working over the back who cares?!..........

[Moutaineer]

Oops, SF. I hope you aren't too sore.

Flight, fingers crossed for a nothingburger for Ding. And good luck with your competition!

Blob, I hope the weather changes in favor of MM soon.

Exvet, congrats on the new property! That sounds ideal!

We had another solid ride on Friday. Lesson on Monday and then we head out for CA on Tuesday. I've spent the day cleaning things and running around after the Brand Inspector who was supposed to come yesterday. I'd completely spaced it, as had 2 of my traveling companions, and trailering through Nevada without a brand inspection is risky. Still, we are all legal now!

[exvet]

Thankyou Moutaineer. Isn't it crazy especially in this day and age? I had to get a brand inspection on Troy prior to bringing him to AZ. Fortunately the breeder had sold several Welsh Cobs around the same time and even though they were all leaving at various times and separately too that month or two months later as was Troy, the brand inspector came out and certified/verified all 5 on the same day. You never really need the paperwork until you do LOL but it seems so pointless in more modern times. I was never asked for it and as a matter of fact all the weigh stations and inspection points were closed when I transported him. That is what I usually find when I haul, most are closed. It just takes that one time though. Arizona's brand program became totally voluntary some time in the mid 2000s so it's really for other states that I comply.

[StraightForward]

Jingles for Ding and MM!

Brand inspections - no one seems to get them here. I think there are some reciprocal agreements between Oregon, Washington and Idaho. There are too many ranchers who run livestock across state lines. It's just not practical to try to track their movements. That does remind me that I've been meaning to ask the vet about getting T microchipped. Does anyone else have their horses chipped? If I remember correctly, Rosette had been chipped at her GOV inspection, but I don't believe T has a chip. I guess the first thing would be scanning for one. It seems like having a chip with up to date info should excuse brand inspections (I know it doesn't, but it just seems like a sensible policy).

I'm just a tad sore this morning, but not bad at all. I guess it's good I'm packing an extra 10-15# of padding that cushioned my landing.

[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, easy, simple to register. When the vet pulls a coggins or travel cert, I include the chip number so it's all tied together. Also, ouch! But better bruising than a real crunch. And good on you for getting right back out there

Congrats @Exvet! That sounds perfect! And a huge stress relief. Our HOA experience has ranged from great to weird rules like banning 3/4 ton trucks(??)

[Moutaineer]

Potters is chipped. Even the brand inspector said he thought that was the way to go nowadays.

We had to go really old school with no photographs as their computers were down, so I have a very faint carbon copy of a 45 day travel permit with hand drawn markings while I wait for the old yellow laminated card to show up...

You are supposed to do a brand inspection as soon as you purchase the horse. Theoretically you can be stopped and asked for it within the state. I just hadn't got around to it.

An acquaintance was stopped in Nevada without brand inspections and it got complicated and expensive. (She was probably rude, though...)

We always do health certs.

Glad you aren't feeling too bad today SF! I have joked in the past about my buit in safety vest.

[exvet]

Troy is microchipped but Junior is not. Ace did have a microchip which is how I was able to verify his age when he wandered off the reservation. When I acquired him his microchip was a huge abscess. It came out in my attempt to treat it. I don't know that it would have cleared up otherwise especially since he was so under weight and with both the abscess in his neck and a URI. He was 5 when I got him and the microchip was placed when he was 2.

I have to do a health certificate on Junior when I go to Indio. I always have them done and available but have never, ever been asked for one during my travels. Because Indio is hosting a CDI as part of the show this may be the first time I have ever had to present one. I have received phone calls in the middle of the night to verify my signature on a health certificate/coggins for horses going over the Florida state line in the past.

[khall]

I have no idea what a brand inspection is. Very familiar with health certs. Travel to Florida it’s a must. Other SE states not so much but better safe than sorry.

Joplin seems to be fine after her UGA stay. Lost a few pounds but she needed to! Not much work going on with horses right now. Finally getting rain last few days off and on. Much needed rain. Slowing down the start of the covered though!


I’ve got a dressage nationalist competitor overnighting on her way back to FL. She was 10 th at 2 nd level. I’ve got extra stalls and mom’s apartment which makes a handy stopping place. Had a Milton evacuee for a week with 2 dogs a tortoise and a rabbit. Her horse stayed in FL

Jingles for Ding flight! I dealt with similar issues over the summer with Rip. He’s finally completely back to normal now. Sound and full of beans:). Bad bruising that abscessed. Dang it took awhile

[khall]

="khall"]I have no idea what a brand inspection is. Very familiar with health certs. Travel to Florida it’s a must. Other SE states not so much but better safe than sorry.

Joplin seems to be fine after her UGA stay. Lost a few pounds but she needed to! Not much work going on with horses right now. Finally getting rain last few days off and on. Much needed rain. Slowing down the start of the covered though!


I’ve got a dressage nationalist competitor overnighting on her way back to FL. She was 10 th at 2 nd level. I’ve got extra stalls and mom’s apartment which makes a handy stopping place. Had a Milton evacuee for a week with 2 dogs a tortoise and a rabbit. Her horse stayed in FL

Jingles for Ding flight! I dealt with similar issues over the summer with Rip. He’s finally completely back to normal now. Sound and full of beans:). Bad bruising that abscessed. Dang it took awhile


Mountaineer safe travels and good luck at the show!

[Aleuronx]

I got Kora microchipped this year due to the upcoming USEF mandate for showing and went with the temperature monitoring one. It's been very interesting throughout the summer and into fall/winter to see how her temperature recovers after work. Same easy needle injection and no issues.

We had a last two lessons this weekend for the winter, baring any clinics my trainer comes back for. I have to say I'm a touch depressed as our training progression and trajectory has been huge this late summer into fall and the idea of that slowing is well, a bit sad. But it's also winter. In my head I know I am capable on my own but the push from lessons and eyes on us to tweak things as we go have been incredible.

We worked on loft in the trot using poles to get her to push up rather than out. The canter, a slight leg yield hand into the right to left change has made a better quality change out of the new gears in canter we have. Highlight was riding a diagonal line of three 4 tempis to next diagonal of 3 tempis where they were good, and I was riding to the mirrors so could see that they were good and I rode 5 of those instead of only the three asked for. Chastised and forgiven. In my body I need to live in the middle of the saddle as Kora likes to push me right making me collapse in my left side rib cage.

I did put in for the lottery with one of our local GMOs to ride with Lauren Sprieser and got picked for both days, weekend before Thanksgiving. That will be some exciting insight before hiberation.

[exvet]

Congratulations Aleruonx! Can't wait to hear how the clinic went. I like Lauren Sprieser as a person. I used to follow her progress with riding/showin but must confess I haven't really paid close attention for years. I read her articles every now and again. She reached out to me years and years ago when I put Monty up for sale. She had a client very interested in him and was very nice to talk to and listen to how she would handle the pair if the sale went forward. Just her overall approach to dressage was refreshing. I ended up selling him for far less to a close friend who I knew meshed well with him (just didn't have the money for a PSG horse and badly wanted her silver since she was a local pro). He was 15 when I sold him to her and he's going to be 27 the coming year. Though I'm sure Lauren would have looked out for him, I know I made the right choice. I would love to ride with Lauren.

[Lipsmackerpony88]

I love reading and catching up with everyone's been doing.
SF- I hope you aren't too banged up from your fall. I admire your perseverance and continuing on in the show! I'm sure in the spring you guys will come out even more confident.

Blob- glad RP is doing well and I hope MM get some relief soon from the weather!!

Exvet - I would be shocked if you stopped with Junior and I think that is kind of a silly question from people! I think you know your horse and you're on a wonderful track. I really admire how you approach training and I wish you were closer to be honest! I'd love to have you as a riding buddy, you have so much knowledge and grit.

Mountaineer, being in Colorado I know all about the Brand inspections. I think it's quite the pain to have to deal with.

Khall- glad Joplin is still recovering well.

Aleuronex, ooh congrats on getting the spots on the clinic rides! I audited her last year and I really enjoyed her. I'm still contemplating if I'm going to ride in the clinic in December with her. I emailed the organizer and said it kind of depends on how my horse acts the next two outings away from the farm. And if she can maybe just put me on a wait list. I don't want to hold up the spot but at the same time I'm not quite ready to commit to it. It's mostly an anxiety thing for me probably more than it is for Lynx ha!

We had a really yucky week last week. One day I came and was shocked to find the horses turned out in some pretty nasty weather. Not sure if they didn't read the forecast or what. I wasn't mad but it just changed my plan for the day. He was blanketed but in a really light blanket as I had anticipated that they would be staying in... So we had a "spooky" groundwork session that day. Basically we try to set up some things that might be a little bit spooky to him to work through it. The conundrum with him is that when things aren't a surprise he doesn't find them very scary at all lol But he did enjoy it a lot and he thought it was a great "play." He was moving a bit funky on the lunge that day. But I think what was happening was they added something to the footing which when freshly dragged is great but when the humidity is just right in the air it kind of starts to ball up in their feet. He has pads on his front so it was creating balls of packed sand trapped in there.

Over the weekend he was kind of full of it because again the weather was not good. But today I was able to ride outside finally and he was SO relaxed (I did put him on ulcer meds a week ago.) It felt like he was really listening to my seat today and gave me some really lovely shoulder in and turn on the forehands.

Fingers crossed that the weather stays nice this weekend. I'm hoping to trailer over to my trainers little farm. She doesn't have a indoor arena or any arena at all. But we were hoping for just a chill field trip for him.

[Lipsmackerpony88]

Exvet, I finally got the Estrone from my vet. I think the instructions are twice a week for 4 weeks, once a week for 2 weeks and then every other week? It'll be interesting it to see if I see a difference or not. It was surprisingly cheap.

[exvet]

LSP - it is VERY cheap. I followed that protocol only to find that Brandon needed to be back on it at twice a week dosing for another 6 weeks or so. I was then finally able to wean him off and feel like I wasn't losing any ground. It was very clear that not only did it mellow out his cocky self his stifles were NOT locking at all while on it. Once I had thoroughly build him up both with ground exercises and under saddle work with him sitting a bit more without hesitation I knew I could take him off of it and keep him off of it. That being said, I've used it on others (or prescribed it) without seeing much difference.

[Aleuronx]

I will absolutely post about insights from the clinic. Glad to hear you had a positive interaction with her Exvet and LSP. I too found her refreshing for her perspectives on dressage but that's all well and good until you actually ride with someone. I'm happy where Kora is in her training so not stressed about touching on things in a new way for a couple of rides. I think it will do us both good.

LSP my trainer has had horses on Estrone for stifles but I don't know the particulars for treating frequency other than it made a difference for them. All geldings while I guess is maybe interesting or not. Another reason to be a happy mare person

[Lipsmackerpony88]

Exvet, yep I have mild expectations for the Estrone but felt it was worth a try with the cost and not many side effects to worry about! I'll keep in mind that we might need to keep him on it longer. I guess time will tell if it works or not for him.

Aleuronex - I think I watched about three rides with her? Unfortunately most of them are lower level (I think one rider was second or third level but she was on a pretty hot fizzy horse and it seemed like they were working on the riders position more than anything, which was needed imo.) I also saw a ride with a saintly thoroughbred mare and by the end of the ride she really looked like a new horse. It was pretty amazing.

Then the other one I saw was a young horse that was a bit overwhelmed. Lauren talked her through lunging the horse and they even spent quite a lot of time at the mounting block with the horse. Lauren seems to be a stickler for the details. Meaning if the horse moved it off from the mounting block (at the phase of training anyways) She had the rider get off and do it again until the mare stood. She was extremely nice about it but she just explained that to her all these little details add up and affect things even through the upper levels. She was a very calm teacher and seemed to like she was very even keeled.

[StraightForward]

Lauren does some great Ride iQ lessons. She is very funny, and T really comes together when I do her sitting trot lessons, though my core muscles hate me for it. Aleuronx, I hope you get a lot out of riding with her. I'll be looking forward to your takeaways!

Exvet, I'm excited for you on the new property! Getting what you want without a huge move is fantastic.

[Chisamba]

Tell me about upcoming microchip/ USEF protocols. I had not heard.

[Chisamba]

Tell me about upcoming microchip/ USEF protocols. I had not heard.

Never mind, I looked it up. What smro you think about it?

[Lipsmackerpony88]

I went to ride in the beautiful warm sun and found Lynx to have a painful horse bite on his back. Horrible location and sore and swollen. So we decided to just do groundwork instead.

My trainer was unblanketing a few horses so she threw blankets over the rail, then into the arena, towards him, dragged a whole bundle of them on the ground. Kind of followed him with them. He thought it was very amusing. Then we threw a chair into the arena. Threw cones all over the place. He thought this was all just very fun and amusing. But then we walked to the end of the arena and in the distance he could see some people moving around behind their horse trailers and stuff. He did think this was a little concerning (My trainer and I have a theory that his vision isn't as clear as some.) But we worked on some of the flexions and body work that Sarah Martin showed us. And by the end he was taking a nap with a foot cocked even with a four-wheeler whizzing by the arena. I think it was a good confidence boosting groundwork session.

I rubbed Sore No More around the bite (there is no real broken skin) and gave him some roboxin. I really hope he'll be good to go in the next day or two. We're hauling over to our trainer's house for a little exposure.

And on that note I emailed the organizer for the Lauren Spreiser clinic and asked if I could just be put on that wait list. She said she was happy to put us on a wait list and if they end up getting full but I decide that we are indeed ready, she thought she could probably add at least one extra ride one of the days for us either way. Which is extremely generous of them.

We will see! We are hauling out tomorrow and then I'm going to go back to that other trainer (silver medalist that specializes in groundwork) at the end of the month. So I'm sure I'll know by then if I want to ride in an off property clinic or not.

[Moutaineer]

Well, we all got here to Thermal in one piece. Potters arrived in very good shape on Tuesday evening and I got here Wednesday afternoon after a very long drive in time to do some handwalking. The venue is vast and the arenas are a long walk from the barns, and I feel like I've been covered in a thick layer of dirt and grit all day.

Warmup rides this morning... he was a complete loon, unfocussed, running through my aids in the canter, spooky and generally obnoxious. In the end I called it and went back to the barn before we caused a riot. A bit embarrassing as Guenther Sidel was warming up Anna Buffini in the same ring.

He had a bath (we are all taking advantage of the California sunshine to scrub our grubby northern horses within and inch of their lives,) and then we went back out for a second attempt at a polite warm up at the end of the afternoon. That went much more according to plan so I'm hoping that's the bit that sticks for our first test tomorrow morning!

It was an exhausting day all round and I'm happy to be tucked up in bed in my cosy little apartment.

[Aleuronx]

@Chisamba I know the H/J'ers have been required to have chips for a good few years now. I'm not sure how it will really effect showing other than a disease outbreak event. I don't see TD's having time to scan everyone on arrival ala CDI competition.

Good luck in the ring Moutaineer!! Fingers crossed the working Potters shows up and you have good rides.

Yay LSP! I say go for it to the clinic. It sounds like Lauren modifies to the ride/horse combo so I bet you'd have a blast.

Had our first ride in a slightly frozen outdoor. We are in drought conditions so there is enough soft footing ontop of stable frozen to be rideable enough for not tough work. I will be outside until absolutely not possible! Just an easy move through the gaits and pop a change each way. Another winter ride checked off.

[blob]

re: chip: i also need RP chipped sometime in the coming year. I wonder if it'll make show sign up easier--maybe all we will need to supply is the chip number and coggins, vax records, and USDF/USEF numbers will all pull up when the chip is entered into the system. That would make things easy for competitors and show organizers.

Glad you made it without incident, Mountaineer, hope you have a great show.

LSP, ouch--sounds like a painful spot for a bite, hopefully it heals quickly and you end up with a clinic spot!

[Moutaineer]

61.45 at 3.1 for a mid-pack third place. I'm actually pretty happy with that. He was tense but obedient. We lacked suppleness, but no-one died.

[Lipsmackerpony88]

Mountaineer, I think you should be happy with that!!

[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 fan of the "untraditional" dressage horses (and wasn't bothered by my complete lack of commitment to dressage) so she didn't give me or my spicy girl too much side-eye

[heddylamar]

but no-one died.

This is my base line for every ride

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

[StraightForward]

Great start Moutaineer, that is a lot of pressure and I'd imagine atmosphere/activity too. I hope Mr. P settles can relaxes for you as it goes on. Middle of the pack at third is nothing to sneeze at when you're rubbing shoulders with Olympic hopefuls.

Heddy, yay for a new trainer who gets you, your mare and your goals!

LSP, hope Lynx is healed up and ready to ride soon!

I've had a few good rides this week, though I had sort of an allergy attack or something the past couple days and was exhausted and wheezing trying to sit the trot. Canter is feeling more like I think a WB's canter should feel, and the simples and CC are getting better. Need to make a point of getting video in the near future, but weather and darkness make it a bit tough. We have a jumping lesson tomorrow, but dressage lessons were canceled due to the dodgy weather. Hopefully we'll get a couple around Thanksgiving though, since my instructor's family is here.

[exvet]

Congratulations Moutaineer. I would take that score with a smile any day. I'm heading to Indio in January. Will be interested in hearing more about your experience there. I've hauled horses there but have never shown there.

LSP, Lynx sounds a lot like Brandon and his 'interactions' with other horses. It was never a dull moment with him. Always figuring out new ways to rearrange his room or figuring out how to 'pick at' someone just enough to get bitten or kicked even when logic would say 'not possible'.

I've only had a chance to ride Junior yesterday since last weekend's official start to the 'mandate' of connection, contact and being on the bit. Despite high winds (which almost unseated me when we passed a realty sign that was swinging and creaking loudly) Junior was far more expressive and lifting his shoulder girdle for longer periods of time. He still gnashes his teeth when I won't let him use his under neck but it was far less yesterday than compared to last weekend. I don't think the wind really had much to do with the mechanics of our ride. I have a lesson tomorrow so I'll work on it some more today (far less windy) focusing on some other exercises than the ones y'all suggested just to mix things up and not over work specific muscle groups; but, all in all I think we're doing better. I will definitely find out tomorrow. I find it ironic though not too surprising have owned so many Welsh Cobs over the years that in the passage Junior does NOT insist on using his under neck. I guess because he is truly and properly collected (without resistance or sucking back). We did longer stretches of it yesterday hoping that the light bulb will go off that he can perform the movement quite easily without that part of his anatomy in the mix.

It will be interesting to see how much Troy insists on using his under neck when he is finally under saddle. He is certainly not built as compact as Junior and though Junior has one of the better neck/shoulder tie ins of the babies I bred (save his sister who's competing at PSG/Intermediate now - very similar) it is his go to. Neither his sire nor his dam were quite so married to the concept but he's even more compact in build than either of them. Now my section C who is 13 hands on this tippy toes and Monty were both masters of how to use the base of the neck to do everything in life if need be. Even the mare who competed in CDEs before I acquired her didn't use the base of her neck to lift herself, she just threw all of her weight down onto her shoulders but I understood why. Once I was able to teach her how to lift through her shoulders so she could score higher at first level it was like a new life for her but then she entered the broodmare band. I find it fascinating how similar and yet unique each one is

[Moutaineer]

Sooo.... this morning was a ride of 7's and 4's. Mr P was on one, and we were in an arena we hadn't had a chance to warm up in that apparently has dead people stacked in one corner (according to 3 horses in our group, who all had issues in the same spot.) So we had 3 significant spooks, a kick out in one of the flying changes and I was a dummy and went off course. I rode my socks of though and we came in with a 59 and change. So a better quality ride than yesterday at root, but just dumb stuff pulling it down.

Tomorrow we get to ride in the main Grand Prix Arena... what Potters will make of that, I do not know!

This place is huge. Wear comfy shoes and bring lots of money, exvet! The facility's shavings suck and come in small bags. The stalls are bright and large. Other than that it's all dirt and palm trees. The footing is very nice. Premier textile and sand mix, the same as we have at home. I found a very nice little VRBO 10 minutes away from the showgrounds to stay in.

[Lipsmackerpony88]

Heddylamar- sounds like a wonderful trainer!! How exciting!
SF- yay on the canter progress!!
Exvet- yes Lynx is very much a character. He's very friendly guy but he sure instigates things.
Mountaineer - kudos to you for riding through all that!! Hopefully the Grand Prix arena is less exciting.

Well Lynx trailered over to my trainer's little farm today. He did WONDERFUL. He loaded up wonderfully (He even was sighing as we were doing it lol.) There was a lot to look at there, but he took it all in stride. I will say he does best with that approach. Just being very calm with him and letting him kind of stare at things until he starts to feel more comfortable. The more you try to push him through things too early the more tense he gets. Unfortunately he still is a little bit sore on his back from the bite. It's definitely getting better and I suspect I can ride on Monday. But it wasn't ready for today. But we walked over a little bridge and lunged while the neighbor's kids were doing some crazy things in the distance. He kept his cool and ended very relaxed.

Hoping to get off property at least one more time and then I'll make the decision for the clinic! The hardest part for the clinic will be there is mirrors (which he has never seen) And there is small little windows looking out of the indoor. As well as a little viewing area on the other side (hard to explain but it's just bar stools sitting all around one side of the indoor.) So there will be a lot to look at. Today was encouraging though so I'm leaning towards trying...

[Flight]

Mountaineer, reading your posts is making me nervous about my competition next weekend! Mine is a long travel and effort and I just wonder what Norsey is going to think about it all too. Hopefully no dead people corners Sounds like you are doing a great job though.

Ding had his MRI. He has a really deep abscess thing that is stuck in there. The surgeon isn't keen to go digging for it. So he's in hospital for the week with antibiotics (regional limb perfusion) and oral doxycycline. If it doesn't work, I have no idea what will happen next. He's still very lame.

I've had to put music to my dressage test for next weekend. I've never been interested in making a freestyle, so I've bashed together something because I've had to and yeah not feeling too great about it! But I guess you start somewhere!

[StraightForward]

Moutaineer, onward and upward! It is so hard to know what is going to set them off, and what we think might be scary that they don't care about. I'll have my fingers crossed that he likes the GP ring better tomorrow.

LSP, sounds like a good outing. With the clinic, it might be worth asking if you can haul in the day before for familiarization if that is feasible for you. I'm sure either way you'll get tools to work through the scary spots, and could also get some work done in the less scary part of the arena as well.

Flight, jingles for Ding. On one hand an abscess seems less sinister than some other possibilities, but not good if it is deep and hard to treat.

We had a good jumping lesson today. The instructor laid out quite a setup just for us. T was full of it when I got on, and then the rider before us had a fall and the horse proceeded to gallop around the arena about 5x before deciding to be caught. Of course I hopped off, as did the instructor's wife, who was riding a rather hot young mare. T showed off a little passage trot that I hadn't seen in awhile, but then got bored with it all and went back to business after the wreckage was cleared (the rider was more scared than hurt). Sometimes I value having a WB that doesn't get amped up and want to go forever (loose horse was an OTTB)! We worked our way up to jumping a full course with a bending line where I actually remembered to count strides even while the neighbor was running his riding mower fairly close to the arena. We are also being challenged to ride shorter approaches, and the wife said that T would make a lovely hunter, whereas a few months ago she recommended eq for us over hunters, so I guess things are going the right direction. After that, I watched a local dressage trainer's second jumping lesson and she was clearly having a ball and said she wants to bring her younger mare next time, too. The next few days are looking stormy, so we'll just keep on keeping on as we can. They did get three solar lights put up, so I'm looking forward to testing those out on the next clear evening.