Uncle Dan... feral Uncle Dan

 Poor Danimal... he's getting segwayed (how the heck do you spell that word?) into Uncledom. And he's not necessarily thrilled about it. Or cooperative. Ha! It's hard to think of him like I think of Fleck. He's not really "old".... but he's the oldest and most mature and most .... ha.. I was going to write dependable, but.. is he though? Maybe yeah... 

 

Anyways... I miss Fleck. A lot. But... we carry on. I've been wanting to do some more long trotting with Lyric but I am way too out of shape and I hate to keep lunging her in circles. So I thought... let's go back to ponying. Except, we can't go to Ashland now because then Funny is home alone. So... I decided to try it today at home. I didn't have a ton of time because of my neuro appt, so... I got home at 5ish and grabbed two halters, the bareback pad, and my helmet! I was at least smart enough to grab my helmet! 

 

I did a little bit of bodywork and groundwith with Lyric first and then I tied her to the fence and grabbed Dan. I put the bareback pad and the sidepull halter on him. I found it while I was cleaning my trailer for the show and was like "oh yeah.. this is easier than the halter". Then I grabbed Lyric and took them both outside of the arena and climbed on Dan. We walked off and all was well. I asked for a trot and it started okay but rapidly escalated!! I suppose I should have known better... Dan in a halter... ponying Lyric... on a cold and windy day (not as bad as yesterday but still not a great day for this).... Lyric having had a week off.. and Funny loose in the pasture. Not to mention Jean's two yearlings were already semi-feral in her pasture. We tried to trot a few times but Funny came galloping up, Dan tried to put his head down and buck, Lyric reared straight up and tried to bolt off.... I managed to stay on (almost didn't once!) and get Dan back under control and got Lyric under control all but once (let go but caught her again without having to get off) and get us all back to a walk in our multiple attempts to trot. I finally realized the effort was futile and gave up. I got off and walked them to the arena. I was tempted to just ride Dan or just work Lyric but then I thought... nope, we'll just do boring laps in the arena instead. 

So that's what we did. We went in the arena and everyone was civilized then. Well, mostly. There was some chomp attempts but in general, nothing worse than faces. We trotted laps about 6 times each way and did some crossing the diagonal a few times. We did a few walk breaks. And Lyric was a bit up at times but she was forward and marching. And she got quite soft in the neck a few times too. As did Dan! Yay! Dan felt pretty energetic also, which was nice. No western pleasure jog today. But he wasn't so quick and on the forehand that I coudn't sit it either. Yay! Interstingly, I felt short on him next to Lyric! Like.. he felt small! I'm not sure if she's grown.. or if it's just that her head is so big compared to his... or she carries her head higher than him.. but she felt huge next to him! hee hee. 

So, I think it helped Lyric and I think it was nice for Dan to do a little bit of work without me focusing on his frame. And he was in the halter which made him happy. And he did good! He was a good pony horse. 

 

Ha ha.. Okay, maybe not THAT happy. ;) He did kick Lyric shortly after I took this photo. He's gotten greedy about the treats! Bad boy! 

 

Working Eq weekend in aiken

Oh this is FUN!!! 

So, the weekend of Working Equitation in Aiken has arrived! I gave Dan a bath last night and let him dry tied to the trailer eating hay while I organized the trailer and finished packing. I made him wear a sheet overnight.. the unicorn one too! Ha. I added insult to injury. ;) But he was clean this morning so winning! I finished packing and then Judy and Teller were on their way so I put Dan in the little area between gates to eat grass while we waited. He got all upset and prancy but luckily Judy arrived before he got too rowdy. 

 

He LOVES Teller because Teller is a big goofy gelding who likes to play and doesn't take offense to Dan's gelding games so they got along great. In fact, because Teller was so non-plussed about Dan messing with him, Dan quit messing with him. They both just chilled and ate their hay on the ride to Aiken. 

We got there and got the boys in the stalls. Only I quickly realized that none of the stalls had a proper latch... just a sliding bolt and the open dutch door. Oooof...  Sure enough Dan pretty quickly started to open his door. Sigh.. I am surprised it took him this long to learn that trick but not surprised that once he figured it out, he wasted no time employing it. So... I had to finagle the door with lead ropes and bucket ties. And later I realized he was chewing on the wooden cross on the front of the door so I sprayed it with OFF bugspray to help deter him. And then I hung his hay net over the door like they do at the racetrack and him and Teller happily munched and he stayed in and the door didn't get any further damage. Phew! 

We let them hang out for a bit to drink and pee while we got settled and then we pulled them out and walked them around. They were both a bit up so I ended up putting Dan's western bridle on for the clinic. But he was great!!! We warmed up in the dressage arena and even cantered a little bit both ways. He picked up both leads and was pretty happy. For the clinic, we were with Teller and another girl on her cute coming 3 year old quarter horse. The horses all did great and we learned a lot. We did all the obstacles that we were going to do in our "show" the next day and got to play a good bit. Dan was happy and mostly relaxed and he didn't stick his tongue out at all. Phew!! The only thing he got a little upset about was the backing up, but I kept it as happy and soft as I could and didn't insist and rewarded any try. 

  

 

After that we put the boys back in their stalls to settle and eat some hay. Liz had come to watch so we hung out with her and came up with a game plan for the rest of the day. I parked the trailer and unhitched. And then we fed the boys dinner and picked stalls. We decided not to walk them around because we didn't think they needed to and it was crowded and not much grass and they seemed content. Judy drove the truck to eat with her friend Katherine and then met us back at Liz's. Liz drove me to Publix and we got salads and snacks for dinner. Then we got to her house and took the dogs for a walk in the woods. It was lovely out there. Then I got in the shower. We hung out and had dinner and then headed to bed. I was beat! By then I had a migraine and had taken a pill so it was kicking in. 

  

We got up in the morning and Judy and I headed back to the farm. Dan was still in his stall! Yay! We fed them and cleaned stalls. Dan and Teller were both eating well, drinking well and seemed happy and content. We took them for a little walk and then it was time to get ready! We "tacked" up. Ha ha. I still don't have my saddle and got to warm up. The warm up was in the obstacle pasture because the dressage arena was only big enough for the arena and a 20 meter warm up circle. The boys were a little anxious so we walked a few laps together before we split up and started warming up. We didn't get a ton accomplished but it was enough. Then we headed over to the arena for Judy's turn. It was her, then another girl and then me, so we stayed for moral support for her and she stayed for us. Once the girl had finished her test I was able to go in and warm up a bit more in the arena. They took awhile writing notes so it gave me some time. Dan warmed up nicely. Then it was our turn. 

We did our test, which was fun. It's basically a walk trot test with a reinback, two halts, and a fun 5 meter tear drop thing at the walk. Dan was a super good boy. He felt nice and although he wasn't super bent and supple, he was pretty good. Our first circle wasn't quite a circle but that was my fault. And our reinback is tentative. But I was quite proud of him and thought he did well!  We ended up with a 68 I think!! But... they were very generous and it wasn't licensed judges, so...  But regardless, that put us 2nd out of 8. And her comment at the end of my test made my whole weekend! Even better was later when she came over and told me how it was such a joy to watch him trot in our test. He was so forward and happy and we were harmonious! Thank you God!!! I just want him to be happy and comfortable!

  

They got a little breather in their stalls and we had lunch and then got to "walk" the obstacles. Then it started raining a bit. I hitched the truck up between storms and then we got tacked up for our Ease of Handling rounds. Somehow I went before Judy this time and as we walked out to do our thing... Dan started to hesitate. I told him that Teller was going to be right there and that it was his time to go out and strut his stuff and show everyone how amazing he was. And he took a breath and was like "oh yeah, let's do this!" and marched out. We settled our garoccha pole how we liked it and then they finally rang the bell. We saluted and then started our round. And he was PERFECT!!! We trotted the whole thing, except the parts you had to walk. We did the single slalom poles, to the bell. And I managed to halt him exactly in the right spot this time and he didn't help me ring the bell. HIs back up was a hair tentative and slow but not too shabby. Her trick of "ask, release, ask, release" was helpful. And we walked into the bell corridor which helped too. Then we trotted off to the garoccha pole and he nailed it! We managed to get the pole, spear the ring, and replace the pole without it bouncing out or breaking gait! yahoo! Then we trotted to the switch cup and halted from the trot in perfect position. Then we did the livestock roundpen with a turn on the haunches to change our direction. Then we did the gate and he was pretty darn good for that. I forgot to slide my hand so I made it a little harder for us and he was nosing it some, but we still managed to do it pretty darn well. Then we trotted to the bridge and walked it smoothly and then, I even added a little turn on the haunches to salute the judge, although she totally forgot to watch for my salute and only caught the end. I was soooo proud of him! No tongue and he was working off my seat aids for most of it. 

  

Dan's Ease of Handling Round  (Here's his video, because it's too long to post)

I got off and fed him cookies. And all the cookies because he knew I had more and wouldn't quit mugging me. One of the auditors came up and told me how it was a pleasure to watch our round and how we "showed them how it should be done". Awwww. And I got lots of good comments about my hellhat. "Thanks, I made it!". :) We watched Judy and Teller's round and... I'm so proud of her. Teller was a turkey and tried to buck her off at the single slalom. She put him in a spin to stop it and they did an 8 spin rodeo before she got him stopped! I thought she might get off but she rode him through the whole course. Empathetically... but she didn't let him get out of it. She gave him his confidence back and he did most of the obstacles. He was struggling with the gate so she let him just sit and breathe and then moved on. And he did most of the obstacles really well and they finished on a great note. So proud of them!

The ponies got more hay and hung out while we packed up. Then we loaded them up and cleaned their stalls while they hung out in the trailer. It was just way easier that way. They were great hauling home and then Teller loaded right up in his trailer to do his last 20 minutes home. It was a super fun weekend and it was so relaxing and laid back. It was fun to hang out with Judy and I know Dan enjoyed Teller. And it was great to hang out with Liz and have a sleepover with Grace and Chloe! And... it made my heart so happy that Dan and I found something that is fun and seems to be enjoyable for him too! I dont' think it'll tax his body too much either.  And.... we didn't wait for scores but they emailed me a copy of our score sheet the next day and... DAN WON!!! Hee hee. The intro division, but still. 

So... now we're registered with the USAWE organization and have signed up for a proper schooling show at Jumping Branch Farm in May. It's show one of a three show series and.. it's a buckle series! Hee hee. We're gonna try and win a buckle! Although I'm sure the competition will be tougher there. 

The girls were anxiously awaiting his arrival. They missed him! And... I made sure to tell Funny NO KICKING when I turned him loose!

Prepping for the weekend

 Rode at home in halter with new reins. good boy. pivo ride. quite good. got both canters and no falling out. maybe one subtle one. good leg yields, turn on forehand and haunches, and worked on reinback. stiffer bending right. 

while i was at ashland he knocked the trough over

after ride... bath, then tied to trailer in sun snacking while i organized

photos: Pivo ride

video: Pivo videos

video of trotting in field

New Reins

 Rode at home. gorgeous day

hacked to arena. rode in western bit and new reins and new hellhat helmet

worked on our WE dressage and gate. good pony! got a motor walk and trot..my position helps. got both canter leads twice with no issue, though right hind gave out hard first time on the right. Fairly long canter set (for us and where we are). fine after. no tongue but he thought about it after the canters. played with the pattern/test. reinback still a struggle.. needs so much more rein. focused on soft transitions and using his neck well. did the serpentine wide pole under saddle. 

practiced with the gate but.. he's just too tall. I have to lean so much that I throw him off to the side. 

fun ride

photos; Snuggles, cutie, and new reins

Groundwork then a hack and snack

 did the raised and widened serpentine 6 times. Then practiced the gate in hand a good bit. 

then decided to go ride. loaded up and hit the trails. soggy, slushy, and a bit drizzly but we only get really rained on at the very end. much more energetic in his trot today. maybe cause I put the bareback pad slightly farther back? maybbe coincidence? rode in western bit because of snacking and bareback and wet. no tongue. no real stress, but also didn't really seem to make him fancier. In order to get him from not bracing/inverting I had to have a pretty heavy contact, so... not really that helpful. had some good trots but not super soft or using his neck/back properly. argh. But very forward and energetic. did have a chunk of deer run across he path before us. 

finished our ride and his posture is just awful. His topline sucks, his trapezius suck, he's overmuscled in weird spots from pulling. Not sure how much is me, or lack of me, or just... lower cervical/brachial plexs trauma... ??? 

More lessons, less tack

 Today was Liz lesson day! Always a good day. And it was such a glorious day today too! The sun was out, the sky was gorgeous, and it is really starting to feel like Spring! Well, Summer actually. I got hot and sweaty today and sunburned! And poor Dan still has his winter coat. Poor guy. I really am hoping to not have to clip him, but dang, the poor guy might really need to be unzipped at the very least!

 

I did a very quick groom - would have been nice to do a much more thorough deshedding but I didn't want to keep Liz waiting. I tossed the bareback pad on and then, because I had to give the bosal back and mine hasn't arrived yet... and he was so unhappy in the western bit (and probably any bit to be honest), Liz and I decided to just ride him in his halter. So I put two lead lines on his halter and we headed up to the arena. 

 

Liz did some energy work on him first. She said overall he felt MUCH happier and more comfortable. He did have one spot on his right abdomen... and then one spot on his right gluteal that was HOT! That's where his tear was. So we both worked on it. She taught me that my right hand was my "moving" hand and my left hand was my "drawing" hand. So, his abdomen just needed to move so we used our right hand for that. The hot spot was probably somewhat of a "toxic scar" energy wise.. and probably some emotional component too, so we used our left hand to draw it out. But we had to then make sure we didn't hold onto it and gave it back to the earth too. It was kind of cool to feel and he definitely seemed to relax and release. Then Liz mentioned that his heart chakra needed some help and that it was stuck up in his hyoid area. Which makes total sense as I got a HUGE release with him there Sunday. And that fits with his tongue issues and the right hind being stuck. She thinks that it's not necessarily a physical issue with the bit, but a bit of PTSD if you will. Which, totally makes sense. And maybe we're getting too "woo woo" about things and it's just not that complicated, but... she worked on him and then told me I was going to have to keep working on it and she showed me how. She told me that I was going to have to talk to him too. So I was thinking "do I send him mental images? Do I just tell him?" and when I was thinking about the mental images, he relaxed a lot more and let her get more done. So... then she told me to try and told me to sort of think about imagining things.. maybe focus on the fun we're going to have... explain that there's no pressure.. he doesn't have to be perfect at this.. that *I* don't know what I'm doing either, so we're gonna figure it out together and have fun. And that we're going to find ways to make him happy and comfortable in his body. And we just want him to heal. And.. then I thought about my heart flowing into his heart and he gave a huge sigh and got all soft eyed. Neat! And then I got a little teary eyed. Man... energy work is odd and fascinating and wild! So, then we got a good release and decided it was time to get on and do some work. 

 

We started out at the walk and she was like... "that's a lazy walk, let's get more energy". And before she could tell me, I just sat up with my core and chest, and closed my legs on him (vs squeezing every stride) and he immediately got a bit more marchy. He didn't hold it though and then he petered out again, so I closed my legs a bit more and didn't get a response, so then he got a little tappy tap with the whip. (Which I remembered this time). And he got more engaged. We talked about his neck posture and how he needed to unlock just a hair and use himself so we could build his neck up. It's not about placing his head, but I did need a little bit of rein to help unlock his poll. So, if I sat a little to the outside (and sometimes to the left no matter which direction we were going) I was actually sitting square, which helped him straighten up and march. And I could use a tiny bit of inside rein, slightly lifted to help encourage him to unlock and allow the bend in his body. And then he could really march and use his neck properly. That's how he'll build that neck muscle. Aha! Okay. Then from there, we can ask for the trot. But not from a stuck neck. And when I asked when he was there, our transition to trot was much better and smoother. And the trot was better. Neato! We practiced that some and got some trot work in. Not a ton, but a little bit. And we got some really nice trot! Like.. even from the beginning he felt more marchy and less draggy in the hind end. Liz agreed. He was listening to my seat and body. Tracking to the left he was falling in with his haunches so she wanted me to fix that. I immediately pushed his haunches out and she said no.... now try it by fixing his shoulders instead. Okay... so I sat to the outside, lifted my inside shoulder and seat bone, and pushed his shoulders around to a shoulder fore, and... aha!!! He got straighter, his front end lifted, and he got more energy. Ooooh! That's cool. And duh! 

 

We went to the right lead canter fairly quickly because I had told her about his struggles the last ride or two. She had me get a good walk, then a good trot, and then just ask for the canter. The first time I smooched and asked, he picked up the left lead and then immediately came out of it. She told me to be more supportive on the outside with my rein (don't throw him away just because I'm asking a little more with the inside for flexion) and to sit a little more to the outside...get that good neck relaxation and bend and then... smooch. And he picked it right up! We actually had a good canter!! I tried to go straight and we both collapsed to the right a bit so he veered in. I corrected it and sat him  up a bit straighter, but... it definitely took some quality out of it. We regrouped and tried again and it was much better this go round, with my being more supportive of the outside. Yay! At that point she was getting close to having to leave and we decided that it was a good place to quit because he really tried hard and we had a lovely canter, a lovely downward to a beautiful powerful trot and then a lovely downward to a great marching walk and then a halt! YAY!!!  And then, while we were talking about how good it was, I looked up and saw Funny standing in the pasture. The way the sun was catching on her coat made her look very white! At first I thought she was the water trough but it was the wrong place. And then she totally looked like Roany... and then a little bit like Fleck... and then I was crying again. But I was telling her that the trot feels so powerful! And it's neat because him and Funny are very alike but also very different. They are both so reactive to my body but she's almost hyperreactive whereas Dan does react, but it's a bit more of a slow controlled reaction. Which makes it easier to retrain myself because we don't get the slingshot effect. And how he gave me an epiphany today! Like.. THAT TROT was so powerful. It wasn't fast.. it wasn't big... but it was engaged. Oooohhhhhh! Fast doesn't mean engaged... finally I get what that feels like. It was super cool!

 

We chatted more and then Liz had to leave. She did suggest I keep riding Dan but don't do the right lead canter anymore. So... we ran through our WE test, which is kinda fun! I mean.. it's an intro test, but there's some 10 meter tear drops and a reinback, so.. kinda fun. And then we did the left lead canter. I forgot to sit up and collect him more, but it was still decent. And then we did the gate (WE style) and it wasn't great and he goes way too far forward before we turn back so we have to sidepass back, (while the cows are getting out!) but we did manage to at least do it WE style vs our style (smashing it open and shut with his nose). We hacked back in the pasture and did a tiny bit more trot and even got a few steps of right lead canter (whoops) and then I got off. He was sweaty enough and it was hot enough for a bath. And the butt foam! Oh my goodness, so much butt foam! 

Good pony! I really think we're both going to enjoy this WE, WD and trail riding adventure. And Liz kept saying how great he looked and how happy he looked and how he was going to just kill it in the western dressage! And she also mentioned that by building his body back up this way, she really thought in 6 months to a year he could go be a fancy show hunter too and do some jump classes. :) She made my day! She's like Kelly Eaton.... makes you feel like the worlds best rider, even if all you're doing is a simple 20 meter circle. And she gives you hope about the future. Which... is a great thing. And hopefully Dan (and probably me too, to be honest) can work through our emotional duress about things and go back to being a happy, friendly, and dare I even hope for cuddly, boy again!