Obstacles at Home: Freebie day

 You know...sometimes God really shows you that He's listening! And He has your back. Phew!! After I had my little meltdown I started to realize how much God was helping me out. This weather has been glorious lately and for being into May, it's just now starting to get hot and humid. And it's not even that bad yet. So thank you God for that. Then, I've been brave and told a few people no and most everyone has been super kind and supportive about it. Phew. Thank you God. And then, I've had a couple of random openings that have stayed open. Like this morning.... last night my client that lives in Buford, right across the street almost from Mom Searls place (which we were at yesterday) texted that she had to cancel for tomorrow. YAY! I mean... I hate to say it, but... Yay! That meant that I didn't have to drive almost 2 hours in traffic to work on their 3 horses and dogs and then drive 1.5 to 2 hours back to finish my work day. And... while they are great clients and I love them, they are also moving, so... hopefully I can get them rescheduled but I don't feel super duper guilty if I can't make it work. Although maybe I should feel more guilty, but... I don't. Thank you for that too God! So I didn't have to get up early... I could sleep in... I could catch up on a few things... I could ride... I could do lots of things!! I really needed this. The multiple little "breaks" that He has tossed my way has made a huge difference in my outlook. Just that little extra bit of breathing room... has made such a big difference. So yay. Anyways... really long way of saying, I had the whole morning off and didn't have to leave for work til 1:30!! So that meant I could ride! 

I was a good adult and ended up taking the recycling in and then picking up my prescriptions. And then I did the dishes and a load of laundry and tidied up the house a tiny bit. And then I rode Dan! Well, first I went up to the arena and set up some obstacles. I looked up measurements and set up 5 single slalom standards and then added 2 of the double slalom standards, so... we could do the 5 singles or the 5 double slaloms. Then I put the 3 blocks as my 3 drums. Then I pulled out the two big semi-broken wooden wings to make my "gate" and put my lunge line on it as the rope gate. I'll figure out how to make a wooden gate soon so that we can practice that. And then I put out a raised side pass pole. So then I got Dan and tacked him up. I ended up putting on my paddock boots and my english spurs and the bosal. I wanted to see if this would be better at getting bend without making him so upset.  So then we headed up on foot. 

I did a tiny bit of backing and then we side passed the pole without me on him. He actually did better today than I expected. So then I hopped on and we did some walking. I did some 10 meter circles because Judy had told me that Kelly told her that 10 meter circles at the walk were very good for suppling without the torque on the stifle. So.. noted! And I did like him with the spurs. He felt a little more willing to lift his belly and use his topline and soften his neck and was a bit more bendy. So then we did the rope gate a few times and he was pretty darn perfect! Then we did the sidepass pole and... he actually did it really well to the right... and then not so great to the left the first time. But we came back after a little bit and if I thought more about leg yielding him over it, vs halfpassing him over it, he was good. Even the hard way was great! So whooo hooo!! I think we can be acceptable enough that by the time we move up to novice, we'll be good enough at that. Good pony. 

 

So then we did some trotting and he did feel more bendy. We played with the slalom's and the drums and did some general suppling work. And.... I got annoyed at him. Poor guy. UGH! I need to remember the whole reason for doing this... to find something fun that he's comfortable to do. But, I get carried away with wanting to be good and... expecting him to be able to do something because he used to be able to do something. Like... bend around my leg for the slalom sir!! So I got handsy and then spurr-y. Sigh.. and he kept trying, bless him. He didn't seem quite as agitated as he did with the bit, but maybe it's just because the bit makes it more obvious when his tongue gets stuck over it?? I don't know. I'm so mad and sad at myself for getting sucked into my ... competitiveness? My frustration??? Like... why can't I just relax and remember that he is trying and it's hard for him and this may be his new normal?? Ugh. Although, maybe, to a certain extent... he is just being lazy and doing as little as possible. Because it probably is hard and not as comfortable. But I don't know if it's just that he doesn't want to because it's hard work... or if it hurts. I am going to have to pray hard that God also helps me have more patience with him. And I also wonder if getting his stifles injected will help him feel better and be more willing to bend and sit. 

 

His canter did feel better today though in ways. He didn't want to turn very well but he was better on straight lines. Although, once, on the right lead, he did get stuck out behind and fell out of the canter. I'm sorry buddy! We finished on a good note and I told him I was sorry and was proud of him for trying. 

 

Tomorrow we'll do a nice fun trail ride and then go get his stifles looked at. And then, hopefully when he can get ridden again, I'll remember that he is trying and to be kinder to him... I can still ask for more bend and more sit and push but I do need to be more sympathetic to his tries and not expect it to be 2nd level worthy just yet. Or ever!  Ugh.. no wonder he's a cranky pants all the time. 

bit woes

Ugh... today was not a good ride. I got in my head that he needs to be rounder and more through and "on the bit" so... in an effort to get better scores, I tried the western bit on him again. And... it worked.. but he was not a happy camper. He stuck his tongue out multiple times during our ride. Before we even cantered. 

 

I tried to keep the reins nice and long and soft and just ask him with soft little reminders about staying soft. And he felt pretty darn good. He was round and soft and much more correct. But... he wasn't happy about it. I don't know if it's just the bit in general... or if it's the fact that the bit made it so I could get him more correct and round and that hurts his neck?? And then, when his tongue came out, I got mad because... dude.. it's not like I'm cranking your nose in.. I'm not asking you to go in a 2nd level frame even... I'm just asking you to be soft and slightly round! Ugh... But shame on me. Clearly it's bothersome to him... whether mentally, or physically, or both. So... next ride we'll go back to the bosal and just have to figure it out that way. Or... just accept the fact that we'll score poorly, but... hey, if we're still having fun, that's the important part. 

hack with marvin

 hack with marvin, played in XC field after

photos; Hack with marvin/kelli

Ahhhh... breathing

put saddle on to measure bc and wither strap. then such a beautiful day deciided to hack around neighborhood. put on western biit to see if more supple. hard to tell. maybe ... maybe not. had to have pretty heavy contact, so... maybe back to snaffle??

but forward and energetc. big powerful trot, but maybe nverted. but bold and happy

gorgeous day. ahhhhhhhh

photos; 5-26 neighborhood hack

Our first official Working Equitation Show

It's official! Dan and I are a Working Equitation team! He is entered with the national registry as am I. Yay! And we've done our first licensed show. At the intro level, but still. And man... intro level is hard! There are a lot of rules but also it's not easy on them necessarily. There are more 10 meter circles and backing than I expected. But we did it! And most importantly, we had a great time!

 

The show was held at Jumping Branch, which made me happy. That was Dan's first event (I think) and Fleck's first prelim. And I do like the farm, even if it's not Julie's anymore. Judy and Teller signed up to go as non-compete's since he was so squirrely at the clinic and faux show. Sometime early this week they mentioned that they were offering open schooling over the obstacles on Friday, but it would only be 50% of the obstacles and before the course was set. But by the time I had thought through it... they had already filled the spot and I had a doctors appointment I had to do that I couldn't move and would have made us not get there on time. So, we decided to just go Saturday morning. Which was better anyways, because I desperately needed to sleep in a little bit on Friday and I didn't show til 11:30 on Saturday anyways. So yay, not an insanely early morning Saturday even with the 2 hour haul. 

 

So Judy hauled over to me and then we took my rig to Aiken. Teller and Dan get along great together. So off we went. Of course it was raining as we left and then rained most of the way there, but at least it was a light rain. We got about 1.5 hrs into the drive and Linda called and told us that they had postponed the start of the show because of the rain. They were going to reassess at noon and go from there. Okayyyyyy... why?? It wasn't thundering... no lightning.... not even raining that hard. And it's Aiken. It's all sand! Even with the dressage being in the gass arena... it's... sand! So we were confused but okay. Glad we didn't wake up even earlier. 

 

We got to Aiken and put the ponies in their paddocks and I parked my rig. Unfortunately I had forgotten that the RV hook ups sucked and didn't keep power overnight, but at the time I plugged in... it was working. It was raining and they weren't going to make any decisions until noon, so... we just hung out in the car and chatted. And had some lunch. It wasn't raining hard and then even slacked off a good bit. Finally at noon they decided that they would start the show at 1 pm (they had to give people time to get ready) and they posted new ride times. Cool... except the radar was showing more rain later. Oh well. 

 

Dan had rolled when we got there and even though he had his sheet on, his rump got dirty. So we took them for a little graze but... it had stopped raining and was a bit muggy so we pulled their sheets off. Then while we were grazing (and watching some of the beginning rides), it started raining again. Not terrible, but... still raining. So then Dan's sheet got soaked and was so nasty. Ugh. Oh well. It stopped raining again so I hosed off his rump and he was presentable. It was finally time to think about getting ready, so I brushed and had Judy help me figure out what outfit to wear. :) Then I tacked up and right as we were about to get on, it started raining again. Ugh... My new saddle!! It was pretty wet. I tried wiping it off but... oh well. I just got on. We walked around a good bit because we were early. And they had a 10 minute delay because the judges tent had blown over. Egads! So we walked and walked and walked. And then I warmed up and he was good. We didn't bother cantering because I didn't want to stress his stifles and we didn't need to. And then we walked again. And then it was raining more... and then the wind picked up. And then it was downright chilly! Like, my fingers were chilled and I was almost shivering because I was wet. So we did some more trotting to warm up. I practiced our circles, our halts, our reinback, etc. Then finally it was our turn! By then I was warmed up enough - temperature wise and riding wise. 

 

We went in and did our test. I was giggling because I thought I heard the whistle but was like "My saddle is too squeaky... I can't hear!". ha ha. But then I heard it for real, so in we went. He was a good boy and we had a decent test. He wasn't super supple, but... it's an intro test. I tried but.. he was still fairly straight and not that bent. But he was soft and floaty and did all the things. When we went across the diagonal he did try to lengthen a teeny bit. Goof! Although he ended up scoring better on that movement than anything else. Hmmmm. We got dinged for him not being supple. He was too stiff/straight. But he had a nice tempo and was obedient. So we scored a 62.5. I mean... not great, for an intro walk trot test, but... not a bad score in general. That put us in first by 0.5 pts. Although apparently the girl just behind me forgot to reinback, so.. she probably would have beat us. 

   

We hacked back and I untacked and turned Dan loose. Knowing full well that he would likely roll, but...  I couldn't put his sheet back on as it was soaked and nasty and dirty. Ugh. Oh well. At least I didn't ride til 12:30 the next day and had time. We went and did our EOF course walk afterwards. It looked like a blast! It was on the cross country field, so they incorporated the water. Fun! And twice. Sweet!! That should be an easy 20 points for us! I made sure I knew where start and finish was. The first obstacle was the double slalom poles. Oof. Those are hard! Then a nice easy turn to the pitcher. Then you either cut in front or behind the bell corridor to go to the bridge. I was thinking in front of the bell corridor was going to a better choice so I could leg yield him out into the entry vs a weird s turn thing. Then from there we went to the bull line. And the bull was a printed out life size cow on thick poster board. It was rather intimidating. Dang! Then we went around behind the water and through. But apparently you HAVE to walk it... unless it's the speed round. Oh man. So then you did the drums (the cloverleaf pattern) and then from there to the bell corridor. And then to the livestock pen, then the gate (which was a wooden gate, not a rope gate) and then back through the water. And then, don't forget the finish flags!

   

After that we fed the ponies and then, because it was so much later in the day due to the rain delay... I begged out of going to Katherine's for dinner and just ate my salad and snacks at the trailer. I was extroverted out and tired. Most everyone else had cleared out, so I sat in the sun and ate and then I chatted briefly with another girl. Turns out she boards her horse at the Dabneys. Fun. So then I took the boys for a little graze. They were good together. Teller is good on the lead so Dan just kind of drug us both around. ;) Then I decided it was time to settle in for the night. And realized that my rv hookup had lost power. Well that sucks! Judy had my truck.... and my cord wouldn't reach any farther. Okay, well... it's fine. Maybe it won[t be that cold... only 44 degrees. Ugh. Well, I can snuggle under the covers and sit on my phone. Except it was down to 20% battery life. Ugh... well, I can charge it at the barn for a bit... except when I went to plug it in... because it had been raining all day it sent alarms for "Moisture in the charge port"! Good gravy. I guess I'll just go to bed then. At 9:30. ;) But... honestly, I was tired. So.. it was fine. I did read over my EOH notes to make sure I had it and then went to bed. It wasn't that cold... under the covers. Just cold when I got out of bed to pee and then to wake up in the am. 

 

Dan was pretty dirty in the morning. He had obviously laid down in the dark sand and was covered. Luckily there wasn't supposed to be any rain and it was supposed to warm up. We fed the boys breakfast and then went and watched the first few riders, including the master guy. It was pretty impressive! Then we took the boys for a graze. And then I gave Dan a bath. Then we had to graze some more so he didn't roll and it helped him dry. And then... we just tacked up and got on. I figured we could walk around a good bit and just chill. Even though we still got on too early. But we hacked around... then did some trotting in the hay field area. Then I decided it was probably best to head over to the warm up area so he could look around and see all the things. So we did. We watched a few and then we did some more warming up. They had a bell corridor set up and two barrels so we practiced a little bit. And then they still had the XC jumps set up so I was practicing my halts at the end of the jumps. He spooked at the ditch in the trakehner jump. Ha ha. Fool! 

   

Finally it was our turn! So we headed in and asked the judge if we could adjust our garrocha pole. She said yes, so we went and checked it. But ultimately the reason I wanted to check it was to show him the bull. It was kind of scary. But he didn't seem to care. She blew the whistle, so we turned to her, halted and saluted and then headed over to the start and started! He felt pretty good through the double slalom poles, even though I knew we would get dinged for being stiff. But I thought our square turns were fairly symmetrical. ;) Then we did the pitcher and I trotted in and out. I thought he did great on that one, although he did add one step to our halt. Then I cut inside the bell corridor to get to the bridge and he almost trotted past it! I halted him just in time but we had to side step to make it inside the markers. Doh! Why??? Why do you always want to charge the bridge sir?? (Note to self, get the walk farther back, Also note to self.. he'll probably canter the bridge in the speed round if I let him). Anyways, then we headed to the bull line and he was super and we speared the ring even! Yay! Then we went around to the back side of the water and got our walk. And he started to walk right in and then started snorkeling! The whole way.... Poor guy was thirsty and hadn't drank anything yet, despite two clean buckets of water! And he had lots of wet grass yesterday, but dude! Come on... walk! I was pony club kicking and trying my best to get his head out of the water. Doh! We got through and then did our drums. I thought they went pretty well, but figured we wouldn't be "supple". Then we headed to the bell corridor and he did that well but he didn't back straight and was kind of slow and erratic. Then we did the livestock pen and that went well. Then we headed to the gate. Ugh... I cannot figure out how to do the gate with him. The rope, yes.. but the wooden one... I can't figure out how to not let go and slide it or whatnot. And so I lost it and then he slung it with his nose. Doh! Then it was so far away from us and as I was debating what to do, the wind flung it back at him. It hit him in the chest and then he grabbed it and slung it past him the other way. Daniel!! Doh. So finally I was able to get it and shut it, and pull him off the fake ivy he was trying to chew on. So then we trotted to the water for the last obstacle and walked. And then he snorkeled again! And finally, I was like... fine, just take a drink then... but then he turned sideways and started pawing. No!!! Ha ha... Oh my gosh... I couldn't really be mortified.. I mean.. it's Dan. He was just having a blast! I did finally manage to get him out and we trotted around the water and the turd stuck his nose down and let our a little buck. Then he trotted nicely back through the finish flags and we turned and halted and saluted. 

   Dan's EOH round

So...yeah. Ha! I can't really be mad at him though. He was just "helping" me like I taught him. And also, I've been rewarding him for pawing in the lake too for rehab purposes and... he gets to play and splash and paw at home, so... I can't even be mad at him. He did all the things I asked. We ended up not scoring great though. Although to be honest, he didn't score that much worse in the water and the gate than he did in any of the other obstacles, so... guess I really can't be mad at him. She did make the comment on the end that we had great potential but I allowed him too much freedom and he takes advantage. Ha ha. Noted. 

 

We stayed and watched the last few rounds and then I popped him over the cross rail for funsies too. He had a good time and even chose to canter it. I was so tempted to pop him over the starter cross country bench, but... figured I should probably behave. Judy had been riding Teller whenever I was tacked up so she had been riding around too. We untacked them and turned them back out. And then we ate lunch and then I hooked up while Judy volunteered as timer for the speed rounds. Once I finished and we were all ready to go, I went to watch the last of the rounds. It was really cool to see all the different styles. And I'm so glad we waited til the end because the "master" did his speed round and it was glorious! Halt to canter, canter pirourettes with a lead change out of it, and just.... lovely! And all one handed! And not chaotic or rushed or spazzy. Controlled and calm. It was lovely! They tallied up the scores and told us to stick around for the "award ceremony". We hung out and then they did the awards. Dan and I were first in dressage and we tied for 3rd in EOH, but our collectives were 0.5 pts higher than the other guy, so we beat him to get 3rd for points. We ended up getting reserve champion in our intro division. Whooo hooo!! So we came home with a blue ribbon, a yellow ribbon, and a Reserve champion ribbon. AND we even won a hay net. :) Cool!

 

Two of the girls stopped me and shared photos they had taken of Dan laying down after. Ha ha... Guess he worked really hard opening and closing gates and pawing in the water. Hee hee. I got worried for a minute that he was colicky from not drinking but he was fine. The boys loaded up great and we headed home. 

  

It was a fun weekend and very educational. We learned a lot and have some things to focus on for the next one in June. 

practice riide

 practiice ridie at home. 

good boy. diidn't drill, just played a bit. ran through test. good pony

shockwaved puffy stifle and tendon sheath and got a bath. we'll see if it holds ;) Did put a sheet on because ti's gonna raini and to try to keep him clean. 

photos; 5-26 practice

Work day ride

 finiished "early" so snuck ni a ride. set up blocks as obstacles and practiced clover leaf and gate. coudn't remember how to gate properly. duh.. back up first. did both hands. cantered a tny bit. leg yields. halts. good boy. but leanng hard onto my right leg. 

stifle is defintely swollen and sore. bemered and happier. butacort. 

photos: 4-26 work day ride