Tuesday, August 3, 2021

Good news, Bit Fittings and Fun

 Today was a whole day off!!! Nothing scheduled! Well, not true... but, close enough. 

I got up and fed ponies and animals and did the dishes and a load of laundry. I cleaned the barn. Then Dr. Barrows arrived and we rechecked Dan. The area of concern actually looked more active today.... BUT.... it became more obvious that it's not actually the tendon, but the retinaculum. So... basically, that's good news! That means it's not a true tendon issue... although his suspensory is still pretty thick and big even for a horse of his size. 1.5 cm! But... not the 1.7/1.8 we thought they were. So, she said that it was good news and she had no qualms about ramping his work back up. YAY! She did suggest continuing to use the surpass and I forgot to ask about previcox but I'll probably keep him on it to get him through the weekend and then decide what to do. 

So then I cleaned the house and moved the ponies to the middle pasture because Kelli was coming over and bringing Marvin. She got here and we put Marvin in Fleck's stall. Dan was so excited to see him and went in like Dan goes in and said hi in a very forward and "aggressive" way. Marvin was like "whoa dude!" but they were fine and even played a little bitey face and scratched withers. So we tacked Dan up and then played with bits. And... ugh. He was a turd. I mean, he was good for the first two bits but he was moving like crap. Then he got all pissed off and was still moving like crap. Then we finally got some semi-decent work from him but even still....  Kelli made the comment that she saw what I meant. That... while he was still tracking up and going nice-ish, cause he's Dan, he certainly wasn't going as lovely as he was awhile back. And she saw what I meant about his topline and neck disappearing. And she saw why... cause he's not really through and using himself. Sigh... I just couldn't get him going. We tried a bunch of bits and while some of them seemed to be nice.. it's hard to say cause Dan wasn't going beautifully in anything... which is not the bits fault. So then we gave up and went back and got Marvin. I walked back up with Kelli and rode again. Partly because I figured Marvin would appreciate the company and partly because I wanted to see if I could get Dan going nicer. Of course he was tired, I was tired, and we were getting hot. So we played a little bit. He was maybe a little nicer. When Kelli finished I asked if she would watch and see if he was any more through. She did and said.... yes, but not really. He wasn't using his hind end.. it was just trailing out behind him. We talked a little bit and she helped me do a few minutes of work at the trot and canter. Basically, I'm being weak and just not expecting enough. I had to ride HARD but he did sit and push when I asked. She said that he was getting a little too quick in his tempo, which let him get a little on the forehand and then strung out and racing. So I had to sit up and use my core and half halt and get the hind end active and ride more with my seat and lift him up with my seat. And it worked. We got some decent steps in both the trot and the canter but good gravy I was exhausted! I was more tired from that 5 minutes than the whole 2 hours of riding put together. Doh! So we quit with that. Basically, I just need to up my game and expect more. 


So then we hosed them off and instead of turning Dan back out with Fleck and Funny, I left him in the pasture attached to the barn. He ended up hanging out with Marvin and they played. Hee hee. They were so funny together. Dan was maybe a little bit overwhelming, but.. .Marvin stayed at the window. Kelli and I had a quick 4:30 pm lunch and then she headed home. Dan was happy to be reunited with Fleck and Funny. 

So yeah... fun day despite the frustrations. It's so nice to have this farm... with the barn, the wash rack, the stalls, the split pastures, and the arena. And that arena, while the footing has it's issues, and my mirrors are not nearly what they could be (yet!)... it's huge! And it was fun to share it with a friend. 


Afterwards, I put some jumps up because of my jump lesson Thursday am. Jean came out and helped... and basically added ALL the jumps back in. But we left my little dog leg area with the mirros and that whole section bare for dressaging. So... I'll have to move some jumps back out again, but at least she can get some jumping in. And me too. And really, I may leave them all in until after the AEC's and just ride at Ashland until then. 




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