Feelin' Groovy

Licorice got his back adjusted and my farrier changed his back feet up a little bit.  I gave him a day off and then did a light work out and he is all better.

We're working now on keeping him from curling under and contorting his neck.  Want to know what the fix is?  Of course...it's forward!  I swear one of these days I'm going to get a tattoo of that word.  Horse is crooked?  Forward!  Horse feels a little off?  Forward!  Behind the bit?  Forward!  Everything must start with forward.  You would think I would know this by now.  Really, I'm starting to wonder if I have a learning disability with forward.  It's almost embarrassing.

In other news, we went back down the driveway and down the trail with Licorice's best buddy, Fallon.  Fallon is a young thoroughbred who hadn't been worked in a few days, so he was very up and dancy.  His rider, Katie is fantastic though.  She rides and rehabilitates race horses so nothing phases her.  And Licorice, though a little high headed a few times, just moseyed along.

Barking dogs running at us from the yard?  Licorice turned and looked but kept walking.  Man with wheelbarrow behind a tree?  Licorice looked a little harder and was a little tense, but kept walking.

I chattered the entire time, hoping that would keep me breathing.  This was only my second time on this trail and I'm hoping that I can get out to do it often enough that eventually it will be (drumroll, please) fun!

Horse Hypochondriac

I'm a bit of a horse hypochondriac.  I worry so much about 'reading' my horse that I tend to always think he's got something wrong.

Yesterday while I was brushing him, I noticed some bumps on his back.  Could be bug bites or could be from the nibbling/grooming he's been getting from his pasture mate.  She's currently in season and spends her time nibbling on Licorice and hoping he'll nibble her back.  Mares.  :)

Then, while I was riding his back legs gave out.  This normally happens at least once while we're warming up and sometimes after we have cantered.  He's still figuring out how to use his rear end and I'm still figuring out how to help him.  However, this time it happened twice in a row at the trot and kind of freaked me out.  And his contact was inconsistent, so I worried that he was lame.  I cut my ride short since I didn't want to make things worse if he was off and I couldn't tell.

Then, while he's hanging out in the crossties he had one nostril flared and it was just stuck there.  Like he had a horsey stroke.  It stayed there for a good five minutes, completely flared and wrinkled.  Then it went back to normal.

What I want to do is figure out how to get an education on these things.  Sure, I can go ask my trainer if he looks okay.  I will have her check him over on Wednesday.  When I put him back in turn out, he drank some water and ate some hay and looked happy enough so I wasn't concerned about him right then.  But what about my education?

I want to know how to tell if a horse is lame.  I get it in theory, but I can't actually tell.  How do you tell when a horse is sick?  Can horses have strokes?  How do you tell if it's bug bites or love bites?

Does anyone know where you can get an education on this?  I know my trainers will answer my questions when they can, but I also know they don't have time to go over all of this with me and they're usually teaching lessons.  I wonder if anyone has come up with an online course about this.  Like an online Pony Club course.

I'm off to Google it now.

Also, though I was pondering what life would be like at this barn five minutes from my house, I'm not looking to make a change yet.  I think instead I want to focus on my goals of 1. getting off the farm  2. getting outside  3. getting more confident and to do those I don't need to switch homes.  And don't tell anyone because I don't want the pressure, but we've started practicing Training Level 2 and might consider showing next year... Streeeeetchy circle!

Hand Holding and the Magic Feather

Sorry for the lack of posting.  There has also been a distinct lack of riding.  Licorice now has a summer cold, which has him coughing and wheezing.  Our canter is improving rapidly.  Our walk....well, our walk still sucks.  In fact, our rides still start off sluggish and shaky with me doing too much and Licorice doing too little.  It's a work in progress.

I met a woman at the barn where my daughter is taking riding lessons (yes, my child is finally showing some interest in horses!  And yes, she's not riding at my barn yet.) and we were talking about the Oh Crap strap on our saddles.  I jokingly referred to it as my Magic Feather.  In case you haven't seen Dumbo recently, Dumbo was convinced he could fly because he held a Magic Feather in his trunk.  As long as he had that Magic Feather, he was fine.  Then when he dropped the Magic Feather, he thought he could no longer fly.  Thankfully, his little mouse buddy yelled at him that he didn't need the Magic Feather and that he could fly all along.  And so he did.

My Magic Feather is my Oh Crap strap (also known as a bucking strap and other names).  How many times have I needed it to actually stay on?  Zero.  But how many times have I just touched it or put a hand over it...just because.  Lots and lots.  I'm not ready to give up my strap, but it just got me thinking about how my riding isn't nearly as bad as I think it is.  Also, I was explaining to someone about what a chicken I was and she said "Do you ever canter?".  I realized then that what I tell people and how I ride are pretty different.  I walk, trot, canter at every ride and without major fear issues.  Apparently the way I talk about myself is as if I'm too scared to do much besides walk.  Ha!

The other thing on my mind is hand holding.  The barn I'm at is fantastic but they hold my hand a lot.  They schedule vet visits, farrier visits.  They cut back on my pony's food if it's too much and increase it if it's not enough.  Everyone is in the riding program, so there isn't any different disciplines.  If it's hot out, they take off blankets.  Raining?  They put on rain sheets.  If your horse looks funny, they notice right away.  If your horse is being a spaz in turnout, they check on him.  There is always someone there to answer all my questions and if I'm having a hard time with my horse, there's almost always someone there to assist me or offer advice.

So, what I'm wondering is if any of you have been (or are at) a barn like this and if you moved to one where you had to take more responsibility, was it challenging?  When I was in my 20s and had a horse it was easier because I didn't have a husband and a house and a child and everything that comes along with it.  Now that I'm older, I appreciate that I don't have to be involved, but there's a part of me that thinks I'm not growing my relationship with my horse as deeply because there's always someone else who knows better.  It almost feels like I can't make a mistake.  Does that make sense?

I have a whole other post that I would love to get advice on, but the last time I tried to do a private post it totally didn't work.  Sigh.  Internets.  Here are some pictures of Licorice.  His body is changing!  Yeah for muscles!

Spring = Springy Pony!

Licorice might be wearing a blanket, but he doesn't mess around when it comes to mud.  He had mud crusted over his entire face yesterday.  I couldn't get a good picture, but you can see the big mud chunk over his eye.

Spring in the Northwest means two things.  Rain and mud.  Then we get a few sunshine days in between where it's warm and everybody feels good.

This is a challenging time for our barn because in order for us to have grass in the late spring/early summer, we have to cut our turn outs in half.  If we don't, they are just perpetual mud pits.  So, the horses are feeling good as the weather warms up.  But they are restricted to smaller turnouts that are just not big enough for getting a good gallop in right now.

Which is why sometimes, like in my lesson last night, they feel the need to take forward to another gear.  Licorice was fine until we picked up the canter.  He stuck his nose up, grabbed the bit and tried to stretch his legs a bit.  I'm so proud of myself because although I was nervous, I simply sat deep and half halted.  I ended up having to do a full halt because he wasn't listening at all.  Then we did walk, trot transitions.  

They were ugly.  It was walk and then OMIGODI'MGOINGTOTROTASFASTASICAN and then me saying STOP RIGHT NOW AND LISTEN!!!  And my trainer yelling "Hands down!  Keep your hands down!"  Because for some reason, nerves dictate that your hands should be up near your eyeballs.  Maybe they're just trying to match my shoulders, which under duress end up stuffed directly under my ears.

We just kept working at it and working at it and in the end, we had some lovely canter.  Going down the long side of the arena was not very successful, but I did manage to get him back under control after only three crazy town gallop strides.  And though I was nervous and sometimes a bit frustrated, I was never terrified.  

I'm planning on going out today and letting him bomb around the arena.  Or at least lunging him if there are other people riding.  He just needs to get out and get crazy.  As spring hits and I'm stuck indoors working, I can totally relate.

Field Trip Update

Loading Licorice into the trailer - Check

Riding at a different arena without dying - Check

Riding an actual dressage test - Check

Taking pictures - Not even one!

We started on Friday with hooking up the trailer and working on Licorice's loading skills.  After water-skiing out of the trailer, down the ramp and thirty feet on the mud, it was decided he needed the chain.  This meant that when he changed his mind, I only water-skied out the trailer and down the ramp.

Licorice was reluctant and it was POURING rain.  But I have a very patient trainer and I stood in the trailer coaxing Licorice in, while she stood outside asking him to move forward and keeping him somewhat straight.

We enticed him with his favorite thing in the world, hay.  Even carrots are no match for a flake of hay.  It took about twenty minutes, but we let Licorice take his time.  As long as he was facing the trailer and not pulling me out, we sat quietly.  He was a bit worked up when he got in, but he got in.

Then he shoved me into the wall and spun around, trying to get out.  I was able to (with a whole lot of yelling and cussing that was totally not effective but made me feel better) get him turned back around and backed him out quietly.

Then we asked him to go in again.  This time, his hesitation was only about a minute.  We let him stand and eat some hay.  Then we backed out.  Rinse and repeat.  The fourth time, he marched right in and grabbed his hay so we called it a day.

**********************

Saturday I got to the barn bright and early.  Though it probably didn't change much, I lunged Licorice at home for a few minutes to make sure he didn't have any crazies built up in him.  Since he got so hot last time, we left his blanket off for the trip.  This time, he got to go in the trailer with two other horses.  He quickly made friends with Keiron, who was first in the trailer. 

The trip was uneventful and Licorice unloaded easily.  I walked him around and he was very high headed and stiff, but otherwise okay.  I did have to remind him to not walk in to me please.  Seriously, we still have much work to do on ground manners when it comes to pushing people around with his shoulder!!  I've got a rope halter and though I'm not super awesome at it, I'm going to try to do some work with him next weekend.

Licorice and I were the first to ride, so we tacked up and went into the small arena/round pen to lunge.  Again, he was totally fine.  Then we went to the big arena.

The whole barn was gorgeous and the arena was huge.  We had to put out ground poles to mark out a dressage size arena because this arena is longer and wider than a dressage arena.

I hand walked Licorice for a few laps and was trying to take some deep breaths.  I heard my trainer tell one of the girls to go get her helmet so she could get on Licorice first.  Something snapped and I thought "Oh hell no.  My horse is not even doing anything.  I'm getting on first!"  So, I did.  And he was tense and looky and had a few moments where his back dropped out, his head went up and I thought he was going to go for it...but he didn't.

For most of the beginning, what he did do was call for his friend.  He whinnied and whinnied and whinnied and Keiron whinnied back.  They were pathetic.  Later, when Licorice had to wait in a stall while Keiron was in the arena, Licorice screamed without stopping.  Until I gave him some hay and then he was perfectly quiet.  I knew the minute the hay ran out because Licorice went right back to screaming.  I'm going to have to bring more hay next time.......

We had a lesson and though it wasn't our best work, we held it together.  Then we rode Training Test 2 and you know what?  We wouldn't have scored great because our circles were sometimes half triangle, half oval and Licorice was above the bit, behind the bit, looking to the left.  BUT, we got EVERY transition in time.  When it was time to trot, we trotted.  When we were supposed to canter, we cantered.  When we had our halt, he may have drifted five steps to the right and flipped his head up, but he halted.

Someone asked me afterwards if I had a good time.  The answer is no.  Which seemed to surprise my friend, but for me 'a good time' was not my goal here.  That's asking too much.  I feel satisfied with our progress and proud of myself for doing it.  I know that the more we do it, the more I will move from satisfied to having a good time.  I also know that's not likely to happen right away and I'm okay with that.  In the meantime, I'll ride the high of knowing I successfully rode my horse in a dressage test in a strange arena.

Side note:  I must have been gripping the living daylights out of Licorice with my calves because I have hardly been able to walk the last two days.  My calves are just aching, which is a part that has NEVER been sore before.  

Post Lesson Re-Cap

It turns out I was pinching with my knee all the time, it just became more noticeable once I started sitting.  So we focused on keeping my knee pointed out while I'm posting.  I had to over-exaggerate a bit at first.  I was fine on a straight line, but as soon as I had to multi-task my knee pinched in with a death grip.

Licorice was a very good boy for my whole lesson (when is he not, I mean really....) and tried his best.  We had some really nice sitting trot and even a few decent half halts in the trot.

I also added in stretching up tall and pulling my shoulders back during the sitting trot.  It's so easy to want to just slump there and absorb the energy, rather than sitting tall and adding to the energy.

Then we went to canter and though our falling apart is less...spectacular, we still fall apart.  Licorice gets all revved up and doesn't listen to my half halts and my hands come up, my legs and arms freeze and we circle around at Mach 10 until I can get us back under control.

Once in the canter, we actually did some lovely work.  We're still finding the balance between half halting within the gait and moving to trot, so when I half halt we usually end up trotting because I'm just not as organized as I should be to keep him cantering after a good half halt.

Saturday is our outing.  I'm trying not to think about it too much and when I do think about it, I'm just trying to think about it in positive terms.  It WILL be fun.  It WILL BE FUN!!!

So Many Little Things

Sorry I'm so behind on my blogging! I'm hoping to catch up soon, but life is crazy busy and hasn't left much time for blogging. In no particular order, here's where we're at.

 Sitting trot: Looking good. So much that more people have asked me if I'm showing this year. SHOWING!!? However, my left knee on the inside has begun hurting after every ride where I do sitting trot. The last time I brought it up I was told that I was gripping with my knee. Ummm. Thank you Captain Obvious, but I need more direction than that. I have a lesson tomorrow and I'm going to be asking for specific exercises to work on not gripping with my knee. If you have any, let me know. At this point, riding without stirrups is out of my comfort zone. My barn doesn't do lunge lessons, so that's not an option either. Sigh.

 Spooking and Attention: After my ride on Sunday, someone was cleaning out their tack trunk. They had left their stuff hanging in various places in the aisle. I was dismounted and was attempting to lead Licorice through the arena gate. He looked. And froze. And the whirled away, almost knocking me over and backing up into another horse. Not cool. I made him back up and listen to me and then we went back to the gate. He took a look and walked through and then was fine. But I still struggle with keeping his attention and what to do when he freezes. In the middle of a ride, he'll see a horse outside and go all giraffe necked on me. Then he'll suck back. I kick him forward, but we usually are going slow with him dragging his head up to look. So then I revert back to grabbing the inside rein and hauling his head around. I really need to have a better plan and I'm frustrated that we regress so quickly. I will have a chance to work on all of this on Saturday because.... 


Going Off The Farm!!: We are actually leaving the farm on Saturday. We're taking the horses to a local arena where the show team is going to take lessons and do practice tests. And where I will attempt to not die of a panic attack or get run away with. I hope Licorice loads okay. I hope we have a good time. Can you ride with hip flasks in dressage? :)