Glorious Day!

 Oh how I love Tuesdays!! (wait... today is Tuesday right? yes.. it is!). It was a beautiful day too. God has really blessed up with a most amazing year weather wise this year. This is what every summer to feel like! Green grass, blue skies, fluffy clouds, no humidity, lovely breeze, and sunshine! Ahhhh. It got a little toasty at times today when the sun came out and the breeze died but overall it was glorious!

 

I ended up riding Dan first after spending the morning doing adult things... Did some scheduling, shipped my trode back, and then spent a good bit on the phone with the bank. And did some laundry. And ate breakfast. But then I decided to go ride. Kelli couldn't join me that early so I decided to ride Dan at home first. Which worked out well.

I brought him in and we walked our raised poles twice. I noticed that his left hind was puffy laterally and he had a large scrape across his hock and cannon bone. Dang son! I don't know what he scraped it on or if he got kicked, but... it took some hair off! It looked more superficial though, although it was pretty puffy. I figured a bit of exercise might help and if he was sore, we could just practice the gate, so we carried on. And he was fine. I honestly forgot he was puffy because I didn't feel anything. 

We warmed up and did some walk work. We practiced our "refined aids" and responses to my leg and then did some leg yields on the rail. Then we did the slalom poles at the walk and the cloverleaf at the walk. And then we played with the gate. It's definitely getting less problematic and I'm figuring out the best way to maneuever. We even had our BEST pass through yet today!! He was almost perfect and I don't think we would have even let any cows out. Yay! Cookies for that sir!

We did walk the double slalom and didn't bother trotting it today because I figured we may just be better off walking it. Though I do need to check the rules to make sure I can walk it. We trotted the single slalom and it sounds like that one is more of a very shallow line vs the double slaloms. So we should be okay with that. We also did some general dressage work... working on our bend. Which is much improved lately. Yay! I just need to make sure I'm not nagging with my inside leg. We did some leg yielding too.

Then we did the walking leg yield on the rail and then turned in and cantered. And the right lead canter was okay. Not great, but not bad. And the transition was maybe better. Then we did the left lead and ... wow! That made a magnificent improvement! He was round and lifting his back and very collected feeling. Like a beach ball! It was lovely. I didn't make him hold it long and gave him cookies for that. We tried again both ways and it got a little better to the left. 

We finished with a bit more trotting and then did some transitions. His backing is getting quite good and smooth too. I do think that I need to "sharpen" him up in my warm ups more. He starts off rather dull to the aids and sluggish but after we canter and do some transitions, he gets quicker and more engaged. So I'll have to remember that at the show. Even though we don't have to canter in our test, I should probably canter in warm up. For dressage and ease of handling. And then we've got a lesson Thursday at a new farm so I'll ask Shannon about whether she thinks we'll score better walking or trotting and see if she has any other hints for us. 

Good pony! After I got off, I walked him through the poles again and the doofus tripped hard and almost fell down. Dude! Pick your feet up! Which, reminded me that his leg was all scraped up. It didn't look much better but also didn't look worse, so... I cold hosed him a tiny bit with his rinse. And then he got to go spend the rest of the day chilling. 

 

Except when I brought Lyric back from our ride and turned her out, he walked up to say hi and I had turned my back and heard a squeal and a thud and they had clearly argued! I don't know if Lyric kicked Dan or Dan kicked Lyric but they both looked fine, so... jeepers! 

Escapees

 apparently i left the gate open this morning because I took hay in through the pasture gate but then i think I left via the stalls... maybe.. maybe I tossed some old hay in the spreader though?? I don't know. Regardless, the horses got loose around 10 this morning... Mike said he heard a noise and looked out and saw Lyric and Funny in the front yard... and then heard more noise and walked out and Dan was on the porch. All up in the porch, clip clopping on the concrete. Ha! Of course Dan is on the porch! Glad he didn't eat the regumate in the box setting out for a client. ;) 

Luckily mike shooed them towards the garage and then got a halter and lead rope and got dan haltered and put back in the pasture and then was able to get the other two. phew!

Whoops!

photos: 6-26 wardrobe malfunction

Western Lesson

 Fun day!!

And kind of chilly! Which was a nice bonus. I was expecting humidity to the max but while it was humid, it was more clammy and chilly than muggy. There was a nice breeze too.. a cool breeze, like a storms a brewin' breeze. But no rain today, so yay! We've had enough that I was grateful to not have it today. Anyways... I wore my Fleck shirt! The one that I had made with his sunset photo on it. And it's such a cool shirt...even if it doesn't really match anything. And I rode all three horses today, so it was kind of cool that Fleck joined us for all three rides. ;) Ha ha. Not really... I do need to make myself a hat band or something so he really can ride with us. 

Anyways... today was lesson with Kelly Eaton day. I opted to take Dan first because I wanted to hack Lyric after and felt like she needed a longer hack than Dan. And I was hoping to get there early enough to do a little hack with Dan too. Which I did. We were able to hack around the small lake and then head to the arenas. I told Kelly where we were at and my concerns.. basically that I needed "more bend" and was worried about his posture and him not using himself correctly - whether it's saddle fit or just.. the work in general. We had done a tiny bit of leg yielding before my lesson started as she was finishing up with Caroline, so she had us pick up the trot to see what we had. And then we went back to "shock and awe" to get him moving off my inside leg. BUT... it didn't take much shock and awe. :) He was actually quite good. He's so freakin' smart. I swear.. he kind of cheats. Ha ha.

So, we had halted and she had me very lightly tap him with my right leg, slightly back. He should step his right hind over. And he did. It took a few tries to get him more prompt and I had to use the whip to remind him once or twice, but.. .in general, he was pretty anticipatory. So then we did it at the walk and then at the trot. I have to make sure I'm timing it right... when the outside fore comes forward, that's what I ask, because that's when he's lifting up the inside hind. I *know* this, but I think sometimes I get sloppy and don't make my aids clean. So I need to consistently ask very softly and not keep getting louder and I need to make sure my timing is right. And when I did that, he was actually quite nice. And quite bent in the trot even. 

So then we went the other way and he was actually worse with the left hind. Interesting! Ha ha. A nice pat on the back for me... way to rehab that right hind Holly. Ha ha! We did the same thing tracking left and got some nice bend too. And he was soft and forward and quiet in his mouth. 

We also did some leg yield on the rail to help him engage the hind end and use his core. At the walk. It also gets him more even in both reins. She did tell me that I do need to keep the contact, especially with the outside rein, even in the bosal. Don't throw him away. 

We finished up and she mentioned that he had a few bobbly steps here and there, but more so in the beginning and not really at all towards the end. She didn't see anything worrisome and said that basically if he needs to warm up out of his discomfort, so be it. He's 15 and has had a lot of trauma! Poor guy. But she also said that she didn't see anything else and thought he looked mostly symmetrical and happy. He was soft in his mouth and seemed to be enjoying himself. Yay! She did say that she saw the neck muscling that I saw and agreed it wasn't great but that he was using himself nicely, so... give it time. So, maybe it isn't the saddle or too much work in general. Maybe it's just... getting back into work and compensating and me not being as balanced in the saddle myself. We'll give it time. As long as he seems happy, which he does. Mostly. And he tells me when he's not, so.. as long as I listen, we will hopefully make progress. I did mention that I wondered if some of it is from him throwing himself up into the canter with his head, vs pushing with his hind end. But we had run out of time, so.. she told me to try the leg yield on the rail, then turn for inside bend and canter and see if that helped. So we'll try that next time I ride. 

 

I was going to do a cool down ride but ended up talking to a friend I hadn't seen in awhile briefly, so I opted to just head back to the trailer and head home so I could swap ponies and come back for lesson number 2. I don't think he minded. 

So yep... good pony! He felt pretty decent so hopefully we can keep building on this. 

Obstacles

 photos: 5-26 sat obstacles

trying hard. good boy. backing is way better. stirrups shorter is helping me. got good circles on cloverleaf but still struggling a little bit with double slalom. may need to walk in the show.

neck still looks awful, but was using himself better today i think. rounder. left lead quite round and nice but right lead still a bit wonky. using his neck (hence the awful neck muscles???)

dressage and hack

 hacked hills... 

then hacked with marvin to lake. saw one snake

then arena work. shortened stirrups two holes. big help! felt silly but could ride. still wider twist but doable. even canter, even in cowboy boots only. 

pretty good kid. trying hard. didn't feel bad and had a decent ride despite the fact that i think his stifle is bothering him. but has only been 2 weeks and 4 days since noltrex, so.. will shockwave it in a few more days. may consider osphos too.

frothy though! lathered like shaving cream under his rear cinch straps. need to pull them off or use the rear cinch

hosed off and chilled while i shockwaved marvin. good boy

photos: 5-26 hack and dressage, video of hose and in the woods

spa day

 chiro, acupuncture and myofascial work on accessory nerve

Poor Daniel. He really is trying!

Today was a rough day. Long story short, but I had to adult this morning and ended up having the ATM eat $17,000 worth of checks that I deposited into the business account. I'm hopeful that it will get resolved.... eventually, but... gah! That's stressful. So... I finally did all my errands and ate some lunch and then grabbed Dan for a ride. The sun was out and it was a beautiful day but, it was very cleary not going to stay that way. There were some ominious dark clouds in the distance and the radar was not looking good. But I figured it was a decent enough chance and since we were at home, I could always head back in if we had to. So... we rode. 

I put him back in the expensive bosal to try it and see and put my roller spurs back on. We headed up to the arena and did a hill or two while Jean was finishing up and exiting the arena after her lesson. Then we did some walk work and he was much bendier today!

We did the gate and.. man, that's a tough one. It's like... sometimes I can nail it and other times.. we let the cows out! I'm so glad that I can keep practicing on it, because I need to get a "technique". But he's getting better about not helping. Then we did some trotting and he felt pretty decent. He tripped once or twice but was more forward. But he's still dragging that right hind. I can hear it. We cantered too and he's more forward for sure and hasn't tripped/fell out of the canter in the last ride or two. BUT... he got a little proppy and I think I'm jabbing him with my spurs! So I took them off. Sorry Buddy! I think my leg isn't as stable in the western saddle with the longer stirrups and then the long roller spurs are more pokey! So, I took them off and he was still pretty forward and bendy but not as goosey. Okay... I hear yah! I'll either have to get proper western spurs or try my nubs again. I need to ride in jeans with the paddock boots and my nubbin spurs to see if that works too. Or just go back to no spurs. But he definitely struggled at the gate without the spurs. Or... *I* struggled more. So.. hmmm... gonna have to figure something out. We also played with the sidepass. I decided NOT to drill the obstacles today. Mostly because Mackenzie had moved some of them for their lesson, but... also because I felt like maybe I needed to give him a break. Even the intro division is a lot of tight turns. So we worked on our western dressage.. just suppleness, circles, etc. He felt pretty decent but was a bit forward and maybe not as soft in his topline today. 

We finished our ride with a tiny bit of turn on the forehand and then I noticed he had stuck his tongue out and flailed it a tiny bit. It's not as obvious when he has a bit in.... and he didnt seem quite as stressed, but... it's there. And then I felt horrible. I really do think it hurts him to bend his right stifle. And I'm asking him to do all sorts of sitting and engagement... and he's trying. Bless him, he's trying. And.. honestly... this happens everytime I put him back to serious work.. he starts to look like crap again. His neck is getting that sag at the base of his withers... his traps are maybe filling in, maybe not... but.. his neck looks awful. Sigh... I wanted to cry. Bud... I'm so sorry. I just wanted to find a job that you could be comfortable in and enjoy and... now I've turned it into something that isn't. Ugh. And I don't know how much of it is the saddle itself... but my gut is it's more likely the stifle creating all the issues. Ugh... I should be mad at Funny, but I really am not. In the same way I'm not mad at Dan for breaking Fleck's jaw. It's just.... sad. And.. I'm mad at me.. because I can't just enjoy something... I have to be all competitive about it. And while I tell myself, Dan likes to be the center of attention ... he likes to show and show off..., maybe he does, but... it doesn't mean he still can't hurt too. So.... maybe he'll be okay. Maybe the noltrex will really make a difference soon. Maybe I can do some more "things" to help him out. Maybe I just need to back off and give it some more time. Maybe not.. maybe I need to realize that his comfortable place is the trails and only the trails. Or the occasional obstacle challenge. Sigh... But it's so hard to tell. Am I just emotional today and putting too much into one ride? Or is this something I"ve been ignoring in spite of the obvious signs for ... heck, probably years? I don't know. Maybe both? I signed up for a lesson with Kelly Eaton on Sunday so I'll see what she thinks. I guess at this point, I might as well continue to do the whole buckle series show and just take my foot off the gas pedal about trying to win it. I'll just go and do the series for the fun and joy of it. We'll go and have fun and maybe we'll walk the ten meter circles instead of trotting them. And we'll just have fun and enjoy it for what it is... a weekend with my bestie who's trying his heart out for me. And in the meantime, we'll simmer down on drilling and just do more hacking. 

I just pray that I hear him and put him first. I know that I do... but sometimes I think I stop listening for a bit so I don't have to hear. Because I just want him to be happy and comfortable SOOOO badly. So hopefully he'll get a nice trail ride before our lesson on Sunday. Or two. :) 

Oh, and poor guy... during our ride today I didn't realize that my get down rope had come loose and he stepped on it twice and stopped short twice before I realized what had happened. Ouch! Sorry buddy! My bad! When we left the arena, I let him shut the arena gate with his nose... to make him happy. :) Then we headed home and I untacked. Poor guy was sweaty! It's so humid though. It was starting to look pretty dark when we were finishing our ride and sure enough, the skies got real dark as I was untacking. I just managed to get him untied and was walking to the wash rack when it started pouring. Like.. my timing was SPOT ON!! ha ha.. Just like with Lyric yesterday. :) 

 

I hosed him off anyways cause he was dirty and still hot and turned him back out. Good pony. Thanks for trying. Then later tonight after dinner... he snuggled. Or used my face as a napkin. Whatever. ;) But we snuggled a bit. I hope he forgives me.