Springing into May and June - Goals and progress

[StraightForward]

At least I can hope for spring. We seem to have bypassed it and gone straight from winter to summer.

Annabelle
Continue on her jumping progress
Get her back up to snuff on the 2nd level work
Get serious about finding her new person

Tesla
Getting in front of the leg quicker - no more 45 minute warmups!
Get cantering earlier in the ride so we can actually school in canter
Jump once a week
Keep working the trot adjustability and start incorporating that into the canter work as well.
Get her off property a few times (first will be next Saturday jumping x-rails)

Self
Finish up DRT3
Keep working on small adjustments to get my seat more dialed in.

[blob]

Self
Make time to ride even as work picks up
Keep using walking treadmill desk
Eat better

MM
Bring more lateral work into the routine, including HPs
Keep fitness sessions up
Take a jump lesson

RP
Figure out what's going on and get him back on track
If he's back on track, make it to a show?

[khall]

Specific goals are my two Cedar clinics May and June. Thought about a schooling show but unlikely right now. Friend who usually goes with me is auditing Manola Mendez at Jillian’s Texas farm and my ds graduates next week after the clinic. So busy May!

Might try to go school at poplar in May. We will see

Happy riding all and jingles to all dealing with crazy weather

[Moutaineer]

I can't believe it's May already. I can't quite get used to writing the date as 2023 yet... Something about the pandemic screwed with my sense of time, I think.

I have a clinic with Mette the weekend after next, which I think will be enormously helpful in getting me over this stupid anxiety thing. It's in a safe, lovely indoor arena that we have ridden in several times with no drama, but it does mean I have to go offsite and do something which should help me get out of my head.

I do have to be able to get on and ride without a warmup from Justin, though. But I think we'll be fine!

I don't know that we'll try and show this period. There's not much to pick from locally. I'm thinking more July timeframe. We'll probably end up at Les Bois in Idaho as our first venue, and I'll let Justin take him down centerline the first couple of times. I'm very grateful for his help and he's having a lovely time riding Potters so it's a win-win, really.

I'd like to get out and school off property some if I can, but we will see. There's someone who organizes little clinics and ride a tests that might be a safe and appropriate venue for low key outings.

The next thing to pick at in training is the extended gaits. Justin asked for an extended canter down the long side on Friday morning and nearly ended up on the next farm... I suspect that's going to be something where we go for a "safe 6" in the show ring!

Barn construction is still going on apace, and it's loud and distracting.

I'm thinking about signing up for DRT. I'm keeping up with my exercises, but I think it might be a useful add on. Those of you who have done it, have you found it useful?

[StraightForward]

I'm thinking about signing up for DRT. I'm keeping up with my exercises, but I think it might be a useful add on. Those of you who have done it, have you found it useful?

Yes, I've found it very useful! I'm working through DRT3 now. I think it hits at core strength and stability in a way that a more generalized program doesn't. It's helped me identify some pesky asymmetries that I'm can address now that I'm aware of them. I've also heard good things on CotH about DressurFit, which has a monthly membership, so I might give that a try when I wrap up DRT3.

I will have to come and meet you and Potters if you make it to LesBois this year! At best I think I might show T at Once Upon a Horse in August. Hoping 2024 will be our year. This year I am going to try to put in some volunteer hours to build the karma bank.

[mari]

I planned to do a few shows this year. Last one I did was before Covid. Ask me how that's going... So maybe in the next two months we will actually enter and make it up the CL.

Had a fabulous jumping lesson this morning. Sometimes I wish I was born a lot braver so that I could have done more with it.
https://youtu.be/JsKa6wPb9Wk

[exvet]

mari, Odin certainly appears to love going over fences. I love bounce exercises. I just wish Junior wouldn't stress so much over it. Monty used to too despite both having great form. Resi, on the other hand, absolutely loved jumping.

We're busy finishing our build up North and focusing on moving horses and dogs up there by June; so. lots to do. I just moved to another clinic (same employer) so many things are up in the air; but, to that end I hope to:

1. Get both boys to the schooling show in June

2. Get Brandon to the recognized show in June (after the schooling show) and earn his final qualifying score for the championships at first level

3. Get Junior stronger and more supple over the back with a consistently clean change both directions to be able to compete at regionals at third (without embarrassing myself) and hopefully show fourth level at the open show held the same weekend in the fall. He's getting so much better at the sit and push off now.

4. Get Brandon past his 5 year old silliness of resistance and accept the contact more consistently (yes, broken record; but, his muscling over the back is already changing for the better). He does turn 6 mid June.

5. Do lots of trail riding at our new place.

6. I'll be taking a LOA from my current employer and helping my old employer (Humane Society) 1-2 days a week over the summer. As a result I hope to get back into doing more running (great running trails at our new place with fewer snake encounters) and keeping up with my pilates/Hiit work outs.

[Aleuronx]

This is the fun section, schooling shows/Rated shows, lots of lessons, better riding weather to enjoy it all.

Kora: Flying change prep (straightness, shoulder mobility and access everywhere)
2 schooling shows already scheduled for May, one this coming weekend to bop around 2nd 1
1 rated show in June
Lessons!! As much as feasible w/schedules

Me: Keep on weight loss challenge. Incorporate biking?

[Chisamba]

May. I have a clinic with Patricia Kottas. I'm a bit nervous about it. I rode with her father and found him difficult to understand.

I would like to enter a schooling show in May and a rated show June. July August. I feel like if I want to show I need to do it more consistently. I don't want to be too old to show and regret not making the push.

Rehab Kimba

Bring on my 2 projects, Honey and Flei. Did I tell you about Flei? Pronounced Fly, as in he is such a Fly guy.

[mari]

Chisamba, here we believe in showing (pictures!), not telling

[Chisamba]

Lol Mari. I acquired Fly when an Amish family sent him through a sale because he had so many road miles and they felt it was time for him to do something else. Only trouble being that a kill buyer bought him. I got a message that a girl wanted me to take her pony because she used her pocket money to buy him back from the killer. She was going to bring him to a meeting place at 2 pm. So I hooked up the trailer and went skedaddling to Pennsylvania to meet in a big parking lot. Sure enough there was a mule being held by girl in an Amish cart. I thought it was mule he had the longest ears and was NOT a pony. Lol. She jumped off the cart and led him right on the trailer. She gave me an envelope with his papers, jumped on the cart where her brother was waiting with a sniffle and went trotting off. She told me his name was Flei.she seemed about 14 but I'm not good at guessing age. He bucks like a devil lol.

[mari]

Oh my goodness those ears!!!

[StraightForward]

That is quite a story, Chisamba! Flei sure hit a stroke of luck landing with you!

[Moutaineer]

Hes very handsome, Chisamba! And yes, a very lucky boy.

I had my first solo ride with no Justin warmup since when? Thee end of January i think? on Tuesday. It was great! Just a really good ride with everything feeling like it was coming smoothly and effortlessly. I couldn't be happier.

Unfortunately I've been feeling really crummy yesterday and today. I thought it was food poisoning but DH isn't feeling too hot either today. I'm too wobbly and light headed to ride, which is truly frustrating at this point.

[Kyras_Mom]

I am following along but am not posting any goals for this period.

I leave for Iceland for a week on May 15th then as soon as I get back, I was going to set up Kyra’s tooth root extraction for the first part of June. She shouldn’t have much downtime but it will probably be late June by the time I can get her back to work.

To quote Stephen Colbert…Meanwhile…we will keep working on basics, as usual. My trail riding buddy is having foot surgery next week so she will be out of commission for 2-3 weeks at least but I have one other person I may tag along with. The trails have been uber busy because of the long winter that finally adjusted…to summer . So hopefully the crowds will wane a bit.

She has been a bit squirrelly lately anyway . Not her usual distraction, just flat out spooking. The BO thinks it is residual from the 2200 sheep that trailed through the area last week. I am sure that didn’t help. He said the whole herd lost their minds. Yesterday she took offense with something down in the creek. It was a big spook mostly in place thank goodness. I just put her back to work at canter which is what we were doing before the spook and she came right back to me. The other day it was a truck pulling a noisy, rattling trailer too fast down the little windy road above the arena. She hasn’t ever spooked at the traffic before so something has her wound a little tighter than usual. This too shall pass…I hope.

I am looking forward to my ride in Iceland…a short day ride to a waterfall. We are supposed to be able to try the tolt. I can’t wait (but will).

Susan

[Chisamba]

Moutaineer I hope you are feeling better.
Kyras mom, enjoy Iceland and tolting.

I hope you all know and downloaded the new bit rules. Bits that used to be legal are no longer and I had to change a couple of client bridles before show season.

I was riding Flei when he gave a little buck. I stopped him and we walked a bit and suddenly he stopped. Twisted his body and literally touched his nose to the back of the saddle. I got off and checked and there seemed to be a pressure area. Switched saddle ( that I thought fit) and pad and he was a perfect gentleman. I can almost imagine him thinking , ' you stupid human what do I have to do to show you I'm uncomfortable '. I've ridden for 50 years and never had a horse quite that smart and expressive. I have witnesses . I was riding with friends.

[StraightForward]

Well hey, we've exceeded one goal so far! I took Tesla to the pony club schooling show this afternoon - she didn't get turnout this morning and came out of her stall breathing fire. After a few leaps and squeals and plenty of tail-flagging on the lunge line, I wasn't sure if I should even take her. When I got there, I realized they were already doing the juniors crossrails, so I had to saddle up and get on immediately and had probably a 10 minute warmup.The crossrails were so tiny that she quickly realized she could just step over them. So we signed up for a 2' round and actually did pretty well. The only bobble was on my part almost missing the fifth fence. We recovered well and she was hitting her stride and cantered the last line while allowing me to half-halt and keep her between the leg and hand.

Annabelle also went this morning, when it was fairly cold. She did not handle the warmup without lunging as well as last weekend when it was in the 80's. It was looking like she was going to be OK, then she threw in a few of her "pogo stick" spooks, and just again when it was looking like things were under control, she did a BIG rear. Kudos for my rider for somehow landing on her feet with reins in hand and being seemingly unphased. Once she calmed down they had two nice 2'3" rounds and then did the 2'6" with just one rail pulled. A was very good about the fences and didn't seem phased by the different fillers and wings. But lesson learned - when in doubt, lunge it out!

Instructor ended up canceling this weekend's clinic due to weather and her getting ready to move to WA state. So tomorrow morning I'll school Tesla, then I'm off to Utah for the week for work.

[Moutaineer]

Don't expect the weather to be decent here, SF.

[Flight]

I dont really have any goals. Maybe aim to get Norsey up to the same level as Ding in working eq. I'm trying to get to a comp in June with Norsey, I'll see how he goes at that which will help me decide if he can move up a level or stay put. It's at a big indoor so the scarey factor is high for their first time there. Then you add obstacles and often they just go nup.
It's gone quite wintery here, and I'm not clipping this year and haven't started rugging. I feel a bit mean because we are starting to get frosts but the horses are like woolly bears! So fluffy! It's hard they do get sweaty but I'm away a bit for work, plus the overseas holiday at the end of winter means I don't have anyone to take rugs off or keep a close enough eye on them with rugs, so I figured it's safer to not have any on.

I went to our state champs with Ding for working eq. He was good. He's not brave and even though I've been practising over a straw bale jump pretty much every ride since the state champs last year (where we got eliminated at the jump), he still had a refusal. But he did manage to jump over the second go.
We also did the cattle phase. You know when you do something you've never done and people are giving you instructions and you nod but you really have no idea what's going to happen? Well that was me. I used to ride for a few years in a cow paddock, so Ding wasn't worried about cows, but he had no idea of chasing them. Fortunately the little cows were very quiet and mine happily trotted up to the pen.
The photographer took some great piccies:

dingsmall1.jpg (96.27 KiB) Viewed 78462 times

dingsmall.jpg (77.54 KiB) Viewed 78462 times

I had a vet check with Norsey, he just doesn't want to do piris to the left. To the right they are coming along ok but not to the left. The vet couldn't find anything, he flexed up fine. So just needs more strength and time. I just wanted him cleared before I kept at it.

Mari, i hope you get to a show! The jumping vid is cool, he just 'bounces' through doesn't he
Chisamba, great story with Flei! Be good to watch your progress with him and Honey. I love the story of him showing you his saddle wasn't right. Look forward to hearing about your clinic too.
Kyras mum - Have a great time in Iceland, will be keen to see piccies and hear how it goes. My friend went last year and rode too, the photos are amazing.
SF - that all sounded a bit too exciting! But great they both ended up doing a good job by the sounds of it.

[StraightForward]

Don't expect the weather to be decent here, SF.

I know! I'm teaching a field class in Tooele, and it looks like I might have a cranky, soggy crew.

Flight, absolutely love that cow chasing photo. Would not have known if was your first time at it. It looks like such a blast!

[Chisamba]

Two of my adult students kindly agreed to ride my green bean DHH yesterday. Just horses beginning a second career trotting around . No big deal. I'm just sharing for fun

https://youtube.com/shorts/dH-TQvBZwPg?feature=share

[khall]

Awe!! Bless you chisamba for giving those two another chance ata much better life. I like them both and we all know you will make wonderful changes in them.

Well it’s been a wild and crazy Cedar clinic with definite elevated stress level on my part. A week ago Friday Joplin showed up with a squinty eye so headed to the vet. Tiny corneal ulcer. Medicine banamine etc and she looked good by Tuesday. So stopped meds and Wednesday the eye was runny and she was running a fever again. So back to the vet. Thorough eye evaluation bloodwork etc banamine eye looked good and Thursday she was great. Was going to give her first ride off because of the fever Friday eye was a bit runny again so half dose of banamine that day. Out overnight and came in with huge eye lids where she’d rubbed it. Sigh. Through the fly mask. So back to the vet. Eye looked clear felt it was cellulitis so banamine and exceed. This morning eye is even more swollen and I’m panicking. Add in smz s and hot pack/cold pack and my DVM friend suggested a bit of throat spray dex furacin and dmso mix light coating on the lid. So worried.

I also hauled Gaila for 43 days check all is good there. So Chex is stepping in to be my ride for the weekend. He’s a sporty little guy that is learning quickly. His owner though feels over horsed and is looking to sell him. He definitely had some learning experience with the clinic and he’s being a good boy. I appreciate the ride.

Even more excitement today was a clinic horse got away from its owner ran down the drive across the road and back into the peach orchard with all us riders out looking for him. He was fine hauled him back from the dirt road by the peach orchard. All have had good rides even with the excitement. Cedar just takes it all in stride.

One more half day then off for a bit. DE graduates Thursday we are heading up there the night before.

Please jingle for Joplin. Just one worried horse mom.

[Chisamba]

I hate eye problems. Jingles for Joplin.

[blob]

Chisamba, what a cool story--looking forward to more updates on Flei. He's lucky to have landed with you!
SF, sounds like a successful outing with Tesla...and for Annabelle after some excitement!
Flight, Ding looks fabulous as always. And I love the picture with the cow!

RP continues to be a bit of a mess and I'm starting to feel very discouraged and frustrated. Two weeks back we did his hocks and right stifle. Last weekend when I was adjusting my stirrups from the ground he suddenly went straight up in the air and started broncing. I wasn't on him thankfully because no way I would have stayed on. He came right back to me after, trembling. It seemed very much like a pain reaction. The going up in the past has been linked to tummy related stuff. So I started him on ulcer treatment. A week into that while he's thankfully not standing up in the air, he is really not doing well in general. His trot is still ok. But both is canter leads have truly fallen apart. He is lateral and hoppy on both leads and is swapping constantly, clearly uncomfortable. it feels and looks like his whole body is uncomfortable when he canters. All of this is much worse than when I first decided I needed to get the vet out. I don't think the injections made him worse, but they clearly did not fix the issue and it seems like the actual issue (whatever it is) is getting progressively worse.

I'm not sure what to do/where to go next because I have a feeling we are dealing with something higher up given that we've assessed fetlocks, knees, hocks, stifles. The vet thought his back felt fine. But we did not xray. I'm not sure if we should look into back/neck x-rays or explore SI diagnostics (not sure waht those even would be) or something else? Also not sure if I should graduate up from our local vet and go to a university hospital. Or if I should just throw him in a pasture for several months and try not to think about it (he did get about a month off earlier and that break seemed to make things worse, not better).

[Josette]

Sending out jingles to everyone whose horse is dealing with medical issues. There seems to be several of us here with vet bills.

Khall - This spring has been horrible with allergy season (I look like a raccoon, itchy eyes, runny nose and feel dopey tired). Maybe a reason why/how Joplin scratched her eye? Could the swelling be more allergic reactions?

Flight - I always enjoy your Ding updates - he is a handsome horse. Your recent Norsey videos doing Work Eq were SUPER! You made that BIG guy look so light and easy to ride. He seemed to really enjoy himself - lovely easy flying changes.

SF - when I saw your A jumping I thought of the AQHA hunter classes over fences. (I've enjoyed watching those videos.) Those agile horses navigating those jump courses plus A has the added dressage foundation.

Blob - something sounds complicated and still unknown with RP. It is frustrating when we apply a treatment regimen and do not see an improvement. Maybe more evaluations are needed?

Chisamba - agree that is some rescue you did to get Flei - he is a very LUCKY horse. Your students are really nice riders. Lovely video and the horses look happy in their new home.

Kyras-Mom - I am looking forward to lots of Iceland pics!

[exvet]

Jingles for Joplin and RP, along with anyone else needing them.

khall, the last time I had a horse with those type of symptoms it turned out to be leptospirosis, causing systemic infection along with uveitis of one eye at first, then both eyes. It was in my foundation broodmare who did eventually go blind though treatment at the time was less than desirable (she was in Tennessee and vet care was very spotty at best). What was surprising was that she never lost a foal with the exception of one of my fillies 9 days after birth but that was due to something else entirely. Hopefully Joplin's eye issues get resolved and soon. Congrats on Gaila keeping the bun in the oven and cooking

Blob have you had endoscopy performed on RP? I, of course, see a plethora of GI ulcers (including duodenal and suspected colonic ulcers) in horses around here who have been treated with the typical first line of defense therapy (omeprazole), get cleared up but suffer repeat bouts that don't respond as well to that treatment alone later on, often necessitating treatment with misoprostol and diet changes, sometimes of extreme measures. I would make sure that the diagnosis of ulcers is verified with scoping before going that route though. The range of symptoms (behavioral and physical) run the full gamut. The stinker pony used to have explosive reactions like that which I later narrowed down to a combination of kissing spines and decreased vision in his right eye. He did not have ulcers. It's so frustrating to have to chase down these types of issues for obvious reasons; but, keeping fingers crossed you can sort it out.

Chisamba, as others have said, good on you and looking forward to see the ongoing transformation of your growing herd.

[blob]

Blob have you had endoscopy performed on RP? I, of course, see a plethora of GI ulcers (including duodenal and suspected colonic ulcers) in horses around here who have been treated with the typical first line of defense therapy (omeprazole), get cleared up but suffer repeat bouts that don't respond as well to that treatment alone later on, often necessitating treatment with misoprostol and diet changes, sometimes of extreme measures. I would make sure that the diagnosis of ulcers is verified with scoping before going that route though. The range of symptoms (behavioral and physical) run the full gamut. The stinker pony used to have explosive reactions like that which I later narrowed down to a combination of kissing spines and decreased vision in his right eye. He did not have ulcers. It's so frustrating to have to chase down these types of issues for obvious reasons; but, keeping fingers crossed you can sort it out.

Interesting about the repeat bouts not responding well to omeprazole in some cases! He was scoped early on when I got him with confirmed ulcers. But not since then. I will talk to my vet. His current diet is probably already pretty close to what a radical diet change would entail. He has 24/7 turnout with free choice access to orchard hay and grass (though his particular pasture does not get a lot of grass). He gets a few flakes of alfalfa 2x a day. He gets no grain and instead gets 1lb of beet pulp am/pm with multi-vitamin balancer (vermont blend) and ground flax. But I will talk to my vet about re-scoping and other options such as misoprostol and/or sucralfate.
I'm also now wondering if there is something going on with either SI and/or neck that was the actual cause of the problems, rather than his hock/stifle

[Chisamba]

Blob, not wishing this on anyone at all but have you researched EDM. It is most commonly first detected with gait changes and to use a human terminology, emotional outbursts.

I have become convinced that this is what Deneb had after a long long long exhaustive search for everything else. Unfortunately it can only be confirmed post mortem. Sadly Deneb has regressed to increased gait anomalies, definite neuropathy, and increased bouts od severe aggression. She has always been anxious but now the anxiety is very aggressive. She nearly killed poor Reese, her long time pony companion and Mikhail and I were attacked by her as we tried to rescue Reese. It has been the last straw and I need to scheduled euthanasia, but my heart grieves and I keep putting it off.

Anyway sorry to make it about me, but no one told me about EDM and your point had often reminded me of Nebs

Anyway eNAD/ EDM was always described as gait abnormalities and proprioceptive loss, but recently I read an article documenting aggression and anxiety , sheer panic ,as part of the diagnosis.

[blob]

Thanks, Chisamba. And I am so sorry to hear about Deneb--that is a sad and hard thing to deal with/manage.

I did not/do not know much of anything about EDM. I will look into it and keep an eye on progressing symptoms. Since it can't be diagnosed until post mortem, that makes things even more difficult. But it is good to have awareness of possibilities, esp if some options are ones that we won't be able to confirm with a test.

[khall]

Blob the other thing would be possible ECVM. Easy enough to look into with radiographs. Just make sure the vet understands the protocol needed for those films

Ah man chisamba so very sorry about Deneb. Hard decision to make but sounds like the only decision you can make.

Well the clinic ended up very well and I got to get my buckskin girl out! Her eye was pretty much normal today and so we just did some wih. All excellent stuff with new pieces to add to our growing repertoire. More on it later. Just relieved all is good at this time.

Exvet yeah lepto was on the radar for sure. We did not pull blood Saturday because of the weekend but will get tubes for blood draw today. Geeze horses are enough to make you drink wine and more wine

[Aleuronx]

Schooling show yesterday was a success. No rearing We are rocking 2nd 1 to get ring mileage while hitting the training hard this year. It was a gorgeous day with a solid breeze that made wearing a coat comfortable. There was lots to like and I was able to ride her and hold her hand when needed. She was a bit distracted at times but listened and improved as we went, so with rideability being our aim for this year I can firmly check off for this run.

We scored a 64.857% and won the class. Even better we got an 8 for our medium trot, a side goal of mine.

show.jpg (165.1 KiB) Viewed 78317 times

[Moutaineer]

Nice, Aleuronx! You must be pleased. I'd be beyond thrilled to earn an 8 for a medium trot.

Really tough decision Chisamba. I feel for you. But one to make before she hurts a human who isn't related to you and who then sues the heck out of you.

I don't think I've ever shared this, but one of the reasons I had my beloved Walker euthanized was that he was becoming increasingly unpredictable to handle and I was very concerned he was going to hurt someone. It was also obvious from this that he was extremely unhappy with his life. I think I left it "a day too late," to be entirely honest, because it was such a difficult decision to make.

Blob, how disheartening about RP. I thought he was over his early shenanigans. But, we've got two horses in our barn at the moment who have gone from difficult enough to be scary to back to normal on ulcer meds. One is on misopristol, which apparently is becoming hard to get hold of in the current politico-medical situation, and the other is on gastrogard. Having non-stop construction has proved to be very hard on some of the horses.

I had a lesson this morning which went very well. Boy am I out of shape, though! It's really hard to get fit for riding without riding. 30 minutes of serious work and I was ready to die and my bellybutton was sweating. We don't get much in the way of walk breaks at the moment where he can start looking for distractions.

I'm offering up allergies as a major factor. That not being able to breathe thing is really an issue. He barely broke a sweat.

However, I did discover that one of the problems with our left trot half pass is because I'm inadvertently pulling on the left rein. It's still not as fluid as the right HP, not as much crossing, but it got a whole lot better and straighter. I'm looking forward to riding it in the big outdoor when weather and contractors allow. At least the footing in the indoor is now lovely and it's quiet in there, and Potters is being pretty good about being in there.

Onwards and upwards. I'm looking forward to tomorrow's lesson, assuming I can walk

[Chisamba]

Really appreciate your comments Moutaineer. It's a tough one for me but you are right I really have to consider the safety of the other humans that are affected by Denebs antics.

Khall so glad to hear that Joplins eye was no longer inflamed.

Aleuronx congrats on what sounds like a nice showing.

Flight, Ding looks interested but not afraid of the little steer.

Horses are constantly interesting and engaging. The mist fun I had today was Kimba. I graze her for ten minutes twice a day to get her or of the stall. I was tired and sat on a rock, and she was absolutely certain that I was sitting in the best grass. She was so close it was hard to photo but her is a cute one

[Anne]

It is interesting to read everyone's updates, the ups and the downs. I appreciate the effort you all put in to post here! I'm away from my horses at the moment, and I check in here daily to get a horsey fix.

Chisamba, I bet those 2 x 10 mins a day with Kimba are super for both you and her! I can feel calmness emanating from that photo

[Chisamba]

Today am really happy with Saiphs 1/4 pirouette and flying changes have improved but still need a lot more improvement. I pled up my big girl breeches and took fly out to the big outdoor. I am mostly walking him because o pulled his road shoes and really really want to be able to keep him barefoot but he has worn road shoes probably for 10 to 13 years and his feet are going through all the chipping, peeling, and flaking that is part of the process. Honey can be so stunning when she relaxes her neck and reaches for contact. She shows me moments of glorious potential.

I wish everyone has our had a nice a day ii did today Be well.

[exvet]

Brandon was the subject of today's lesson. Molly had me work him using a similar exercise I had previously used on Junior in order to address his lack of suppleness and thus lack of submission. We worked to perfect the bending in our corners. The more I became insistent that he yield to my inside rein and soften before we went into the corner and establish the bend as well, kept it through the corner and then really achieve forward as we came through and out of the corner, the better his submission and balance became at all three gaits. She said I have his walk work at a second level expectation/ability, his trot work at first level and his canter, meh, though nice with good jump in the hind leg, definitely no more than training level in ability and expectations. The corner exercise hopefully will help improve that along with me really focusing on keep him balanced. Between breaking everything down for Brandon - inside rein to soften, outside aids to turn, both legs for forward, etc and then putting them altogether coupled with getting his teeth floated last week, I had a horse that was relatively quiet in the mouth.

[blob]

It is obvious after a few more days that RP is definitely still in real pain somewhere (ulcer issues aside). In his defense the broncing only seemed to be an uclery reaction. Several days into ulcer treatment he does seem to be feeling better in that department. However, he is still having trouble with the canter. And it's clear there is pain somewhere. The vet is coming back on Tuesday, but I'm not sure how productive the appointment will be since she's seen him and we already injected based on findings. I'm trying not to be too discouraged about it.

[Moutaineer]

Good luck, Blob. Could he still be holding tension in that canter because his tum still hurts?

Day 1 of the Mette clinic in the bag. It went very well, and she is pleased with the improvement in my position and in how I am riding, which made me very happy! We worked, as always, on alignment, among other things--including the half pass. She was kind and confidence-building, which was what I really needed. I'm guessing I may get pushed a bit harder tomorrow... It was good to get out and about and off the farm.

[exvet]

Yes, Blob, good luck, Fingers crossed she's able to pin it down for you and you can get started getting him back to where he was.

Sounds like a great and productive clinic Moutaineer. Hope the rest of the clinic goes as well.

I have to say that I've been walking on cloud 9 all day. Junior schooled well today. He was supple forward and on my seat. His changes were all clean and not braced. I felt like I/he was channeling his sire. He has never felt so good nor has his canter had this kind of quality. Now if I can just reproduce it in an electric setting..................as always, we shall see.

[StraightForward]

Blob, sorry RP is continuing to have issues. I really hope you're able to find a resolution.

Moutaineer, I hope the clinic continues to go well. I really enjoyed auditing Mette and hope I get to ride with her someday.

Exvet, I can read the happy coming through in your post. It sounds like your perseverance and attention to detail is paying off in getting to that next step of quality in the gaits!

I got home from Utah at a reasonable time last night (Moutaineer, we actually had great weather except for getting chased out of the field by a thunderstorm one afternoon) and immediately headed to the barn. T was pretty good for having four days off. She didn't put her ears back and tense up like she usually does when I get on after several days off. We went out in the field near the road where there was a flagger, and not far down the road, a bucket truck working on the power lines. She didn't care about that but was kind of sucking back. Took her back in the arena and popped over a few crossrails until we found canter, then went back out to the field and I was finally able to get her cantering out there. Then we finally ventured up on the irrigation canal bank, but didn't go past the stable's property line. There are quite a few gopher burrows, so I'm concerned about having her spook and step in one, so I think we'll just venture an increment farther each day until we are comfortable doing a mini "trail ride."

It was getting late, so I just put A on the lunge since she'd gotten a mid-week ride. Once she warmed up, I could see that she was actually feeling a little spunky, so I turned her loose and she really let her TB side out and flew up and down the arena a few times and showed off some pretty impressive trot (for a QH) in between. This will be her dressage week as the jump rider is out of town, though I'll probably take advantage of the little course that is set up and pop them both through some 2-2'3" stuff today. I get to take it easy this week after all the hours I put in last week, so I'm looking forward to spending some quality time at the barn.

As for me, I sort of stalled out in the middle of DRT3, so I'm planning to restart at Week 1 on Monday. Today I need to go grocery shopping and reboot the clean eating now that my work travel season is over.

[khall]

Been a busy week here! Sounds like most are being successful in their rides. Blob I do hope you can suss out the issues with RP.

Been digesting what I learned especially the in hand lesson
With Joplin. Focusing on a few things. One was half pass in the draw at the trot R. Have L no problem but R was an issue. Cedar quickly sorted that out. So addressing lift of the sling and more engagement in the piaffe. Keep the ask for her to stay released to the rein!! Also do sternum lift and butt tucks get her thinking of those areas to engage.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... tid=cr9u03

This was the outcome she’s really starting to come together well. She’s so easy to activate then just remind her to stay together not eeek out. I was able to piaffe halt Square back to piaffe. Joplin is such a star.

Eye is still being treated I’m hoping it will not flair back up when I stop.

Still enjoying some cool weather for Georgia and rain finally. I’ll take it

Happy riding all!!

[Kyras_Mom]

Well..found out today that my barn is in the process of being sold. Yippee…NOT. Supposedly, the new owner is planning on continuing the boarding business but we will see. It hasn’t closed yet so who knows what will happen. Oh well…I am headed to Iceland for a week and will worry about it when I get back.

Kyra has been a bit strange this week. Wednesday she just lost her $#*t. She was super distracted and super attached to her barn buddies who left for a trail ride (which they have done a hundred times and she hasn’t cared). I went ahead and saddled her and we started her warmup and damned, she was a tightly wound spring. I put her to work in walk with lots of voltes and SI. There was no way we were getting out of walk. After 15 minutes, I asked her to halt and planned on dropping the reins and she screamed and started doing the two-step. I said I am over this and dismounted and went and got the lunge line so I could get her moving and maybe get her to relax? She lunged quite well but man was she pent up under saddle. I suspect it was a combo of stall bound due to a dump of rain last weekend and she was in heat. The next day I just let her move and didn’t fuss too much with frame and she was reasonable at w/t/c. They finally got back out in their pens on Thursday so I didn’t go out Friday. Today she was fair but still a bit tense but I didn’t feel like she was going to teleport out from under me.

I don’t know…with the barn situation so dismal around here, I am about to search out retirement board for her. Mom is taking a bunch more time and any place else is going to have me driving 1-1.5 hrs (round trip) so I just don’t know if I will have time for riding. I will see what the new owners are like but I am pretty picky.

Khall, Joplin looks great in hand.

Susan

[Chisamba]

No new exercises from the clinic, just doing them better . Basically the trot work is PSG ready but the flying changes need to be straighter. And I need to be more clear on my aids

[Moutaineer]

What a bummer, Susan. Maybe you will luck our with the new owners. Fingers crossed.

Day 2 of the clinic had me on an electric horse looking for things to spook at. After being an outstandingly relaxed and calm boy the day before I was a little disappointed, but at least it gave us the opportunity to work on some relaxation exercises and leadership techniques! I think he felt like he had done enough on Friday and why was he back here working this hard again? (Whicj makes me wonder how a several day show will pan out... he may actually be more rideable on day 1.)

He only lost his marbles once or twice, due I think to two horses being loaded loudly just on the other side of the arena wall. So a semi-legitimate excuse.

I think Mette was quite suprised that I was more "eff that, you are going back to work" than "I want to get off and cry" so I guess we are making progress...

[Moutaineer]

Oh, yeah, Chisamba. I got hit up on the clarity of aids thing, too. Its so much easier to be clear when the horse is in front of your leg and has its own motor.

[Chisamba]

I worked with great focus on aid clarity. In particular correct right leg position. ( old bad habits pre hip replacement) . The goal is to do the flying change is the same steps you need for the 6 stride zig zags. Work off the rail, be straight legs and seat in place. Change bend, move the hindquarters ( Making sure not to move the legs ) them clearly shift the legs and change. The idea is to make room for the hind leg to come through and not be short or late .

A snippet if collected canter on the square. https://youtu.be/cboHe99IrVg

[khall]

Just wanted to share a clip from our Cedar clinic on our wih on piaffe. Cedar has such great details to help me continue to develop Joplin. I just did the one lesson in hand since we had dealt with the fever and swollen eye. Really good lesson though

https://youtu.be/7olvjePk-9U

[Chisamba]

Joplin is a stepping machine.

[blob]

Exvet--so fun to hear about your great rides!
Khall-- glad you had a productive clinic even though you weren't able to benefit from the full set of days. Joplin's piaffe looks lovely. And hopefully you and the horses are all healing!
Kyra's mom -- barn searching is so stressful. Hopefully the new owners are great or you find a new barn that works for you. Hope you have a great time in Iceland!
Mountaineer--sounds like a productive clinic even if you had a fire breathing dragon on your hands on day 2. Sometimes clinics like that can be valuable because you can get more tools for dealing with something that happens from time to time.
Chisamba--you and Saiph look really, really good together. She looks so confident in her canter and you are really balancing her nicely through that exercise. She's really come a long way, not just since you got her but even since the last video you posted, she is sitting so much more in the canter.

[Tanga]

khall SO cute! I would teach every horse p/p in hand from the beginning now.

An idea to add to that that I did--You can use a halter or bridle, but I stand just behind the saddle facing forward and hold the reins/lead and do it from there so it's sort of like being in the saddle. All three horses do it that way, and it's a great way to loosen up their backs just before I get on.