DefinitelyDressage.com

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LSP, could it be a reaction to the vaccines? That kind of lump doesn't look that different from what MM gets post vaccine--often the pain, stiffness, and swelling for her lasts 2 weeks if I don't do all the things I do now to prevent it. It's a bit of an overkill routine, but to prevent anything set...

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Oh, Exvet, my heart breaks for you. This was not at all what I was expecting to read. I very much understand and respect the choice not to have him live a compromised or painful life. I do agree with Chisamba though, that it does seem worth trying the drug. If it is causing extreme side effects you ...

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I've started riding some, which is good and hard, ha. RP has come back nicely in the contact, feeling straight and reasonably supple. So all of that has been nice. the thing we need to build back is that before the break he was much much more on his hind end, right now he feels like he is moving con...

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You listed many things, Chisamba, that are real reasons to be sad. But it's also relatable and understandable to be sad without any acute or specific cause. I feel that right now there is just so much. Some days I have to remind myself that it's enough to just get up and go about the basic needs of ...

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repeating most of my goals from last month, esp with RP, since must of March/April was lost to health things Me: Continue to eat at home/cook more than eat out/order in Walk 2-3 times a week Find time to ride with new work schedule Get trailer sorted Get bedroom sorted MM: Continue getting her back ...

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Closing out what feels like a not very productive monthlet! Me: Continue to eat at home/cook more than eat out/order in Walk 2-3 times a week Find a better daily cadence for work days Get trailer sorted Get bedroom sorted MM: Continue getting her back in shape Enjoy her Start pre-summer supplements ...

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Heddy, so sorry to hear about your father. This is never easy and a prolonged illness can be so challenging for everyone. Sending you hugs. I hope you are able to give yourself time to process in whichever way you need to.

Khall, sending jingles for Henry.

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Khall--we have a burn ban higher up here as well. And yesterday everything was very smokey from the south GA/north FL wildfires. I imagine it has been worse for you. We do have some forecast for possible rain this weekend. It's only 40% but I really do hope we get it and I hope you do as well. I can...

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LSP, glad Lynx is feeling good! I used the equiband when I was trying to fix RP's canter issues a couple years back and I really attribute it to being the critical piece of the puzzle that fixed things. I will say that I did feel that in order to get the benefit from it, I had to use it exactly by t...

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oh wow, 20 minutes from the barn, how nice Moutaineer! Gosh, snow in April--though it does seem like most of the country could use some perciptation in one way or the other! Aleuronx, congrats on what sounds like a successful show and some great feedback! re: shows: I am lucky to have 3 venues withi...

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great to see and hear everyone's updates! Re: riding with someone: For safety reasons, I like being at a boarding barn that always has someone around. But I am also glad not to be at a very busy barn. I will say, however, that I love being at a barn where there are a few people i've become quite clo...

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Jingles for all the horses and humans that are less than 100%! Exvet, that is hilarious--glad your boys are doing well! Chisamba, bareback hack definitely counts as a ride! And so impressed with all that you do in a day. Our board went up at the beginning of the year, so I think the owners will try ...

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Yes, that's the other issue with an oil is that not all boarding barns can do it and I understand because oil is a pain! I would think providing daily consistency is more important than the oil format. For allergies the other thing that I have found to be helpful is spirulina. You can find it in sev...

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LSP, I have been using the SmartPak Omega + E so I can get both vit E and high dose of omegas in one supplement rather than more than one. It's reasonably priced and palatable. Having said that best bioavailability usually comes from an oil format rather than a solid. So, if MM would eat it, I would...

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LSP i'm glad you got Lynx checked out early. If I could go back in time with MM, I wish had done more aggressive intervention for her asthma earlier. With her it sort of came out of nowhere. But I would have really loved to been more aggressive in that first year than I was. Hindsight is 20/20. But ...

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Thanks, Exvet, and yes I think regaining some lost fitness will be much easier than rebuilding trust and confidence. So, seems like the better choice all things considered. It's been so nice to hear the recent updates from you on Jr and how far he's come. At 12 he likely has many great years ahead a...

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sigh sigh, this month off to a tough start. I have not been well enough to ride much this march. And now I have surgery scheduled for April 2nd. The doctor is anticipating 4 weeks at least out of saddle. And I've decided not to try to find someone to ride RP, i am worried the switch up will stress h...

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welp, my plans might get drastically changed. I may need to have surgery in coming weeks. If i do, that will of course change everything and I'll need to decide what to do with RP while I heal. 2 weeks no riding would be no problem, but 4 weeks might be not so ideal for him, we've built up so much s...

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Looks like it's time for a new thread! Some of my goals are carried over from last time! Me: Continue to eat at home/cook more than eat out/order in Walk 2-3 times a week Find a better daily cadence for work days Get trailer sorted Get bedroom sorted MM: Continue getting her back in shape Enjoy her ...

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great notes, Mountaineer! And how exciting for the Assist. Trainer to get such incredible feedback! Interesting re: the clucking. I used voice in all my ground work which means my horses know the difference between 'trot' v. 'canter' v. 'walk' when i'm lunging them either on the line or free. But wh...

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Somehow it's already time for close out! Me: Continue to eat at home/cook more than eat out/order in Walk 2-3 times a week Find a better daily cadence for work days Get trailer sorted Get bedroom sorted MM: Continue getting her back in shape Enjoy her Start realistically exploring options for summer...

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fwiw: i've actually found that using this CC method for training the flying changes has helped me maintain the counter canter better than when i tried the change over the diagonal. Over the diagonal, the idea of CC went out the window for RP. But when I asked for the change from the CC, waiting for ...

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SF--RP kicks up a lot in changes too, not out so much as needing to hop up and back behind to coordinate his legs. But also it does feel like it happens more when he anticipates and gets a bit behind the leg and hoppy. The exercise pattern that has helped the most is actually counter cantering aroun...

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SF--good luck on the saddle search, it's the worst. Fingers crossed for your Veritas Eximo. Sounds like your changes are coming along well. I don't know that RP and I are further along on them. I think probably around the same--where the idea of the change is there but the comfort in the mechanics i...

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MM had a bad asthma episode over the weekend, that I'm still trying to sort out and she's still recovering from. On Saturday she was great and normal and we went for a nice hack about (walk only, but about 40 minutes) with a friend. She was totally fine after and she went back out like normal. Sunda...

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thank you for sharing, lots of helpful tips in here!

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Exvet--glad you're having luck with new trainer and that you have a good, supportive path with Junior at the moment LSP--leaving and moving barns is always a hard decision, but it sounds like you have made the right one. My two are at a place they are out 24/7 unless weather is extreme and they are ...

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Sounds like you have a good system, Khall. It's so tough when they're out of work and in restricted movement healing. I hope everyone healiing from surgeries, Khall, Chisamba, Tanga is doing well! Hopefully i'm not missing anyone. We had ice on saturday, but thankfully kept power. Since then we've h...

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I have a dentist/vet who i really really love and trust. When I had a sr. horse in my care, I had her check him 2x a year, but she only intervened as needed. So it was higher frequency evaluation/checking in but less frequent floating, etc.

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Khall, so sorry Joplin's insulin numbers were not great. Hope the E drug kicks in and hopefully the increased work will also help. I'm guessing she hardly eats much, but are there any calorie reductions you can do? Last summer I realized most balancers aren't that low calorie, you just only need to ...

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LSP, it's good that changes are of high quality. But it's still stressful! Hopefully in the next few weeks you'll have a better sense of whether this is an ok set up for you, Lynx, and your daughter. SF, I'm sure you shared it earlier, but T's trace clip is so sharp looking! I love the clean points ...

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ugh, LSP, what a nightmare. I'm so sorry you're dealing with this. Barn changes are so stressful and these seems especially unideal. It might make sense to start exploring what other options there are out there, just in case? Not sure how it works in your area. But around here, there are a lot of ba...

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I don't know what my year goals are, feels too lofty, but I can think two months in advance! Me: Continue to eat at home/cook more than eat out/order in Walk 2-3 times a week Find a better daily cadence for work days Get trailer sorted Get bedroom sorted MM: Continue getting her back in shape Enjoy ...

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Closing out this period and the year, ready for 2025 to be done! Me: Eat healthy options more Walk more Find time to ride despite work, despite weather MM: Get her back into shape Enjoy her RP: Work on changes Continue working on hind end strength for better collection and extension Get a more fluid...

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Yay Dijon! SF, hope you get a break from the rain and are able to get to the clinic Khall, oh no, I"m sorry you're in pain but sounds like you've found a good one. Fingers crossed for the PPE! Exvet, sounds like a productive period for you! I'm hoping to get some more riding time in over the ne...

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I don't have that bridle but I do have a kavalkade and am happy with it!

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Great to see everyone's updates! Khall, any updates on the potential new pony? Chisamba, hope surgery and healing go well and a snowy winter seems like the best possible time to take care of it Aleu, lovely snowy footage, as always. SF, T looks like she's doing well! Have you started working on chan...

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Blob, can't say it will be a bargain but I have found stubben to be the one to offer the most variety of 4.5 inch bradoons during my 'pony' tenure. I have also found companies who focus on tack for driving also tend to carry options that would meet your specifications. Also if you access some of th...

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I'm also here to complain about weather related lack of riding, ha! Less cold (though it has been chilly for georgia), but more that it's been wet. We've had so many days of rain this week that riding has been essentially a no go. Even though at times it's only a misting, the ground is so wet from p...

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Welcome back, Flight and Mari--hope things are progressing nicely and weather is not too warm! I think I got a bit greedy with wanting to school changes last week and RP got over excited. We were not successful that day in anything clean and fluid and we had a moment of broncing. Thankfully as soon ...

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I'm so sorry, Khall. Echoing others that it sounds like very much the right decision. You did so much to keep him happy and comfortable--he was so lucky to you. Hugs to you and Joplin as you both deal with the loss.

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I think it is possible to be both, but it may not be the kind of dressage ride you would want. But might be a very fine dressage horse for her. Yes, as dressage riders we want horses that are electric off the aids, but there are many riders who are successful riding absolute push ride horses even up...

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I think energy matters a lot. I always tell people who are riding MM that she needs to believe you will kill her. I'm kidding mostly, but MM is NOT a physical ride if you win the mental game with her. If you come in calm and gentle she will say 'oh, ok, we're doing nothing today" and then she b...

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Aleu, continued jingles for the pup, glad things are trending in the right direction. SF, on no! I hope T is feeling back to normal soon. Chisamba, how is Kimba? I'm sorry your knee needs a surgery, hopefully you can get it scheduled quickly. It's a bit of a toss up whether I end up getting to ride ...

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Hope the US goes well! The two links above are both to the same video, fyi, but the chestnut foal is nice! Are you priortizing fresh? or does it not matter too much at this stage? I am not much help knowing lusitano bloodlines. But I do have a friend who has done a decent amount of lusitano and PRE ...

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I have started in the last couple rides trying to be more consistent with working on changes. Not yet making it a thing we are schooling during a portion of a ride. But instead of only throwing it in every several rides, I wanted to do it a couple rides in a row--still just asking for one or two per...

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This year I am so grateful for the dark and cold after what felt like a very difficult summer in so many ways. I am also grateful for the stillness of this time of year. On to goals: Me: Eat healthy options more Walk more Find time to ride despite work, despite weather MM: Get her back into shape En...

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Thank you for the thoughts, Aleu. I agree it's a hard place to be and in the past I've had that supportive team so I know what it feels like. I feel limited in my options without moving my horses to the other side of town, which isn't the right choice for other reasons. So, in that way I feel a bit ...

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one idea could be having her work on a pattern, something like: walk 4 strides, turn left, walk 2 strides , trot, go through some cones and halt between them, etc. You can make it as complicated or simple as you want while still making it safe and low key. another thing could be working on transitio...

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Mountaineer, glad surgery went well and you are on the mend. Jingles for an easy recovery and clear success after the fact. LSP, glad your daughter is getting her confidence back and hopefully feeling better. I'm glad you got some clarity from the vets around Lynx even if it's not what you wanted. F...

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