One last Pool Party

 Rode with Kelli at Ashland

Did arena first.... felt good and was really collected and sitting but could tell he was unhappy because he was fussy in the bridle. Did some of our Liz homework and played a little but at the very end he stuck his tongue out so we quit. maybe he's still sore in his stifle from the renovo... shoe changes?? maybe from yesterdays ride?? maybe... unrelated.. maybe neck? but... decided to just quit. did do some sidepass over the buried railroad tie and he's really getting the whole sideways with front and hind feet at the same time way :) hung out for a short bit then went for a long hack. trotted some because we were bored. still bouncy on the trails

then couldn't help it and asked for a short canter. lovely uphill transition from the walk. only did left lead and it was short. also trotted three small logs, although he jumped the second and third ones. landed in a cross canter after one and felt awful but was more normal on the other two. 

played at the lake and went for a near swim. Tons of splashing... shoulders feeling good

topline sucks... though Allisa complimented him and his topline. But definitely losing it behind the withers. Saddle? too much dressage work?  saddle fitter coming tuesday so... can make a final decision (hopefully)

photos: 9-25 still hot

vidoes

Back at it... again!

 First ride back after renovo but also added wedges behind to help the stifle. Seems to be not toe pointing nearly as much if at all now, so yay for that!!! Likely the wedges vs the renovo, but... I'll take it whatever it is!

Orange as a pumpkin. bareback ride after the show. felt a little weak up front... collapsed/buckled a tiny bit up front a few times... sweeney?? stay apparatus? And felt a little "loose". But good otherwise. And trotted a bit on the trails and felt quite sound. Didn't want to trot for very long but... distracted? hot... it was sooo hot and his winter coat is coming in. 

finished in the arena with a tiny bit of work and felt pretty darn good. More high headed/neck set feeling... but did get soft and felt like his back was lifting... played a little and had decent trot half passes even. didn't canter and didn't do a ton of work because... first ride back.

Will hopefully hack and do some more dressage tomorrow. Focusing on the strength training!

Had to hose him off because he was foaming he was so sweaty... foaming at the saddle edges. And orange ;) But then once home he rolled in the dirt and is filthy again. Not that he was that clean even after spraying him off cause he's stained like a pumpkin.

photos: Post renovo and wedges

Vet Day

 Dammit.... spankings... ha ha... we just got off the trailer.. they must be practicing!

Got renovo in stifle today. The right stifle. Did steroids in the left just since it's been awhile.

sassy pants - messing with intern. making faces

Game Day!

 Well that was FUN!!

I'm so proud of Danimal. I signed us up for the Lucky J Ranch Horse Trail Obstacle Challenge! I wasn't sure if it was going to be a typical ranch horse challenge or more of a fun obstacle challenge like at Shakerag. And I wasn't even sure if we could do it without a western saddle, but... I asked and she said we could, so we did! And Jenn mentioned that she did it in english saddles all the time with her OTTB's, so... phew!

I was a bit unsure of what was going to happen but once we got the basics figured out - like how to enter, where it was, what to wear, etc - it was easy! It was just down the road at the Covington FFA center. It's an easy 25 minute drive. They posted the course a few days ago and it looked more like a shakerag fun course than typical "ranchy" stuff, but.. it had some ranchy stuff too. Dan and I had gone to the Dabneys last week so we were kind of prepared, but otherwise, he hasn't really done true obstacles since the Shake Rag course. But then again, he was reserve champion then and hadn't done anything in over a year. But I wasn't going to be competetive.. I was going for fun! We signed up for Amateur walk/trot. Although I probably should have signed up for Amateur W/T/C. 

They set the course up that morning and had a demo rider run through it at 8 am. I drove over in the car since the tentative ride times said we wouldn't start til 11:10 ish for my division. I checked in, got his number, and then watched them do the run through. And oh my goodness it looked like SO MUCH FUN! I was excited! Here was the course.

1) walk through a baby pool without water in it, next to an inflatable alligator

2) open and go through a metal gate and latch it (chain over the post)

3) Pick up a giant stuffed teddy bear and walk/trot around the gate and put the teddy bear back on the barrel

4) teeter totter bridge over a blue tarp

5) trot over a log (skinny log too!)

6) Either rope a fake steer OR drag an old christmas tree (they told us not to drag the tree without a western saddle since we didn't have a horn)

7) Go through a shower curtain cut into strips

8) walk through a maze of sticks/branches/logs

9) trot across the arena, pick up a giant flag from a cone and trot around the gate with it and put it back in the cone

10) pick up some mail from a barrel and walk to a mailbox and stick it in there. EXCEPT... there's a giant animated talking scarecrow thing that moves when you get up to it.

11) a mechanical cow on strings that went right, then left... and you had to "cut" it off

12) sidle up to a cooler and grab a water bottle, but it's next to a giant bubble machine. 

I headed home and ate some breakfast and my friend said my specific ride time was at 12:20. But at the office when I was checking in, they kept saying stuff like "if you're not early, you're late". So, my horse show anxiety kicked in and we left earlier than we had planned. We got there and I got Dan unloaded and unfortunately we had to park in the sun. And he saw the sheep in the pasture a bit away. Uh oh!! SHEEP!!!! But, he actually settled fairly quickly. He wasn't freaked out as much as curious.. but definitely alert. I decided to go ahead and get on and walk him around because... it's Dan. He's much easier to walk around under saddle than in hand. So we did. I put on my brown pad and had a brown shirt. But our brown pad did have some sparkles. A friend commented on it and I was like "oh... I was trying to be discreet... ha ha. I didn't put on the dino pad!". 

We walked over by the sheep and he was curious and interested and cautious but not stupid or super scared. And the sheep were just laying in the shade.. they weren't running around or anything, so that helped. Although a few did get up and walk towards us. After a bit we carried on and walked around. They had a small warm up pen and some people were coming out of it so since the gate was opened, I went in. Everyone else had left so we had the ring to ourselves which was nice. We walked around a bit and then did some trotting. He was tripping a LOT! The footing was deeper than he's used to but still. So we messed around a bit and then it was hot... and I thought it might be helpful to go watch from the side. So I managed to get him to let me unhook the gate chain and then get through and rehook it. Good boy. Good practice for the gate! 

We hung out in the shade and watched some of the other rides. And Mike came with us so he came back over to talk some. I was so glad he came but felt bad that we didn't really get to hang out. Dan got restless so we wandered around some more... snacked on some grass... jigged at nothing... squirted a bit across the parking lot because of... kids?? Nothing?? I don't know. Then we sat and watched some more... then we wandered around. Then they still weren't even done with the division before mine. Good gravy!! I got on WAYYYY too early. Plus, they were running behind too. But I did run into a lot of people I knew, which was cool. I was expecting to be the only random weirdo there but there was a bunch of my clients and one of the vet techs and the ag center girl who I had talked to about my soil... and two friends from Halfshire...  And Dan was actually in a pretty good mood. He was being cheeky but not snarly with people on the ground... people who knew him and were talking to me and petting him. He tried to get Chelsea (a tech) to scratch his butt. Ha ha. He did knock over the mounting block... try to chew up the order of go... tried to knock down a corral panel... And then he tried to intimidate some of the other horses standing at the in gate. One girl laughed and said he was her spirit animal. ha ha.. He was eating up the attention though. 

It still wasn't our turn so then we hiked up a hill to a grassy field and did some trotting up there. He was really trippy and clutzy.. I'm not sure if was because he was a little distracted and I was riding him very loose... or because he's growing out of his shoes... because of his stifle... so I didn't do a ton. 

Finally... finally it was our turn. It was like... 1:20 or so.  So in we went. I expected him to be better at some things and worse at others, but overall he did SUPER!

He walked up to the pool and after a sniff or two put both front feet in. But then he was like "um... this isn't big enough for all four feet" so he took his front feet out and went around it. The pool was practically on top of the entry way so I didn't bother trying to get him back through it. Had it been off the rail a bit more I probably would have. Then we headed to the gate. He wasn't alarmed at the streamers or anything and even helped me push the gate open. Like at home. And then he let me sidepass him so I could pull it close and latch it. We trotted over to the teddy bear and he was totally super and fine for that. He was probably the bravest of all the horses over the teeter totter.. he didn't even look at the tarp.. just walked on up and over like it wasn't even there. And he jumped the log beautifully too. One of the few that jumped it in center. But of course! He was fine for the lasso. They didn't let us drag the tree because it was apparently heavy and we didn't have a horn, so I tried to lasso the cow. Ha ha. He didn't mind me throwing the rope but... although I hit the cow (I was practically on top of it to begin with)... it was an abysmal attempt on my end. Ha ha. He almost trotted through the shower curtain but I asked him to walk right about the same time he started to back off. And then he poked his nose through and then went. He was super over the log jumble even though he stepped on a log and rolled off it. Then we trotted to the flag and he was fine with that, although he got excited and started to canter a few times. When we got to the mailbox he was great and I pretty much got the mail in the box but didn't let go and the scarecrow thing moved! For everyone else it moved earlier, but.. it waited til we were super close for us. Which... maybe was better? Maybe worse? But Dan jumped back and then I couldn't convince him to get close enough again. He wasn't freaking out but he wasn't getting closer. I think he would have had I given him more time, but... I figured he would need a good bit more time, so we just carried on. He was more curious and trying to figure the moving cow out than scared but he didn't quite "box" it like a cutting horse. He didn't even trot... but he tracked it with his head... so that was probably a "fail" but I think that he would really enjoy it if we could actually spend some time on it. And then we trotted up to the cooler and bubbles and he was not a fan of the bubbles. I couldn't get him to sidle up to the cooler, so we just tried to exit... but then he wouldn't go out the gate because of the bubbles. So they eventually came and turned them off and it still took him a minute. ha ha. 

Look at him go!

We ended up 4th of 10!!! Good boy Dan!!! It was so much fun and we had a great time. I think that Dan had fun too. He seemed to enjoy himself and wasn't stressed or freaked out. So yay! Good day. 

After that we pretty much untacked, hosed off, loaded up and headed home. I figured he was tired and thirsty and I was tired and thirsty. And hungry. 

Okay..... Optimism restored!

 Okay then..... that was a happy surprise!

Today was the day Liz and I had planned for her to come give me lessons on all three horses. I wanted to have her help me, because that day she let me ride Party was so fun. I want my horses to go and feel like Party! And... Liz was super supportive of me and my business and I want to do the same for her. It was a fun day! Long... and exhausting, but fun!

We started with Dan. I put the saddle on him, although I was tempted not to. I got on and hacked him up to the arena and wandered around a bit before she got there. I was bummed, because... he kind of looked lame at the walk and kind of felt lame at the walk too. Liz got there pretty quickly after I got on and we chatted briefly. She did her amazing thing where she put her hands on him and felt for things. She said that he felt sore in his right lumbar area... which may have been from where I injected him (his "back and pelvis" protocol from Dr. DeClue). At first he was super cranky and fussy but then he started to realized she was helping him and settled into it. Then she felt the front and said his left shoulder/neck base was very stuck. Like... muscularly stuck... She didn't think it was fascia or nerve pain, although maybe a little bit of pinching. She had me walk him around a bit and then trot some. She said he looked stuck in his sacrum and his left hip was lifting more than the right hip. So then she had me hop off and adjust his sacrum. I went ahead and did his right sacroiliac joint too and ischium. He held his breath (and his leg up a bit) after the SI adjustment, but eventually took a breath. She felt him again and still felt like he was stuck in his right flank. She said it felt super taut and tight and like a blockage of energy. So... she helped him send it out and down and he started taking some really deep breaths and then finally a big deep breath and let some of it out. And then he was much softer there. I also played with his left shoulder/scapula to help relax that some and we got a big release! 

I got back on and we went to work. She said he looked MUCH better. She also mentioned that he felt "alive"... and not like a horse that was done. So we played with some stuff. She gave me some exercises to do at home. Basically... don't just take up the reins by grabbing or sliding... instead... as his front left comes back, inch up on the left rein..then as his front right comes back, inch up on the right rein. Incrementally inch up on the reins as he is walking and he'll incrementally lift his core too. If I go too quick though, he can get braced, so I had to be aware and soft. We played with a normal trot... and then a more collected trot. But the collected trot was achieved by me posting more up and down (vs throwing my pelvis to my hands) and thinking of lifting his back and core with my back and core. And it was awesome and worked! She did have me have a soft connection and felt like I could have slightly shorter reins that I wanted to have. But, honestly... he came up in his chest and neck and stayed up in his back and soft, and the connection was still super soft, so I was okay with it. Plus it encouraged me to be soft and following in my elbows. Oh, and... we did some counter bend/true bend stuff, and... when he felt like he was falling in against my inside leg, I kept wanting to push his haunches out with my inside leg, but instead, if I almost rode a  haunches in, he got straighter! Magic!

It was fun! We didn't do a ton but... he felt pretty darn sound!! Especially compared to two days ago. And he was more up and correct. He felt more like a fancy dressage horse and a CORRECT fancy dressage horse! We didn't canter because... he was working hard. We were working on strength vs fitness. And his veins were poppin'! And.. there were a few moments of uneveness, which Liz thought might have been more muscle memory of pain/anticipation of pain than a true lameness. But, he's going Tuesday for renovo for that stifle probably anyways, so.. it could be all of the above. 

So after we talked. She said she was super excited about him. She was expecting him to feel fairly bad, but she felt like he was going better than he ever has! She said he was supple and loose and stretchy and gumby and... she could totally see why I was having a hard time giving up on dressaging him. She thinks I should keep trying! She did suggest that I spent about 6 weeks just doing short intense strength building rides on him at the walk and trot only. Working trot... then on the short sides, the collected trot. She said this will fix my canter anyways without having to work on the canter. She also said that she wasn't opposed to me doing the Halloween show... even at second level! She also threw third out there but changed her mind. So.. that was exciting!!! It would be nice if I could get him happy enough to do a 2nd level test in a costume. Maybe Beauty and the Beast.. maybe punk rockers... ?? I don't know. I'm gonna have to work on a costume too. 

So yeah... a good day. And.. he was HAPPY! Not once did his tongue come out. Not once did he try to curl behind the vertical. He was more up and lifted than he's ever been and you could tell her had fun because he was almost cuddly after my ride! CUDDLY!!! 

 

Really bent

 Gorgeous weather this morning so went to ashland. Couldn't resist.

nice long hack. trotted some and felt pretty decent in the woods/fields. Ran into elizabeth and veri and her dogs. Dan didn't mind the dogs and was well behaved. Said hi to veri politely and then after made snarky faces when Veri got too close to "HIS GRASS". ha ha.

went and did more trotting. then headed to jump arena to do a tiny arena assessment but it was booked. So went down to dressage arena. and... lame at the trot. Legit lame. Clearly lame... feels very much like right hind. Did side pass fine. Tried to back the V and his tongue came out but he did it. then cantered. Right lead felt awful at first... then second time around felt better but still not great. left lead was much better feeling but he fell out of it at the end. kelli happened to come over to start her ride and watched and said that while the right lead canter felt worse, the left lead was also showing his right hind way out behind and not stepping up. she agree right hind at the trot. 

So... had to run home for a zoom call then...

called barrow and made appt for next week. maybe renovo.

But still a lovely day to ride and we had fun on the trails

photos: Lame behind

Still funky

 dressage school with kelli.

still not quite right. she didn't see a lameness at first but then did. thought he didn't want to step up and under with his left hind. 

flatting... tongue came out at haunches in right. still throwing right barrel at me, won't bend right very well... wants to bend left.  right lead canter better but still hard to hold. maybe better on loose rein, but maybe not. can't tell if it's right front, right hind, left hind? Nothing? Played around a bit and wasn't awful so kept going. Did stick tongue out at end. 

then Kelly thought she might faint so I tied dan to the trailer for a bit whiel I untacked and hosed marvin. Then got back on and took dan to the lake and back. Wanted to do way more but was running out of time. 

Decided this evening to inject his back. maybe that's the issue... or maybe it's the stifle... or the other stifle needs love to. but at least this way I can try this... and then rule it out before i go to barrow or keelin for recheck.

such a good boy... drunk but also happy to sit there and let me poke him. good pony