DefinitelyDressage.com

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Hope Obie is ok, Straightforward! I had a really helpful lesson on RP sunday. I've talked on here already about how lately he will sometimes get kind of stuck and behind the leg. I've tried to combat that through a variety of things and thus far using trot poles as part of the warm-up had been the m...

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it will be a struggle to drive an hour each way to ride him 3x a week. My horses are an hour away from me. It can be tough because i can't really do quick trips to the barn. So, when I go, i need to make sure I have a few hours of time. But one thing that has helped tremendously with the driving is...

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glad you are ok and had a good ride after, Straightforward! Aleuronx--oof, hope you are ok! something like that can really hit you in the face/head hard! And yes, when there is an issue of someone getting hurt--I think using draw rein or martingale makes a lot of sense! Thanks for sharing Caliburn's...

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Can I lengthen the neck in a downward transition, can I lengthen the neck in half pass. Can my horse lengthen from the base if the neck or is it just poking its nose out. Great and useful tests--eager to play around with this. I found a few months ago that even though MM is great with a trot stretc...

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I don't think we're disagreeing, Exvet. I think my point is that I think riders are still being taught to count strides and find distances when riding. But I think the Facebook post is about measuring lines on the ground to set up gymnastic lines. Both valuable skills, but not the same. And I agree ...

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I also think there is a big difference between counting strides and being able to count off/measure off distance for a gymnastics line/pole work.

I'm pretty sure everyone is doing/being taught to do the former.

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Flight, it's always so helpful and interesting for me to hear about your work with Norsey. I think in some ways he and MM are quite similar, but it's also interesting to hear their differences. And this conversation re: neck/gullet is useful and interesting for both my horses at this stage. MM does ...

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I think knowing the distance between dressage letters is much easier and not a totally fair comparison. We all know the dimensions of a dressage ring and therefor know the spacing of letters. Can I "walk it off" accurately? No. But I know the measurements i need. And I can eyeball a 20 and...

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hugs to you. what a lovely gift

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I'm still in europe, so my two are in vacation mode and apparently the weather back home has been awful, so perhaps there would not have been much riding even if it was there. Enjoying hearing everyone else's updates and keeping my brain still engaged in horse things. Mountainer, such a scary thing!...

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Thanks, Tanga. I think the hardest thing is that her horse goes DRAMATICALLY better in saddles with wither gussets. I've rarely seen a horse suddenly transform because of a saddle. She tried two with whither gussets--a county and a husbuleous and neither worked for her. The county had way too forwar...

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Great video, flight--i hope you're really happy with how Ding looks and how in sync the two of you look together! I'm about to leave town for 2 weeks, so the horses will get a break. I think physically the break is good timing for RP. We have been working hard to strengthen his weaker right hind and...

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A friend of mine is searching for a Dressage saddle. She's made the switch from hunters to eventing and is spending more and more time focusing on her Dressage work. But she has not ridden in many saddles, so she's figuring out preferences as she tries things. Some things she needs/wants: For the ho...

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Yes, that's the same rubber I was talking about--however, I imagine that rubber might ALSO leave a black mark....perhaps you can grab a set to borrow/test out?

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Just another voice to say it depends on whether it was an accidental or negligence. If I saw that the other one had been well taken care of then I would, because accidents do happen and could happen to any of us. And the other cat being healthy and loved would give me most of the info I needed to gi...

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So do all of the metals rub off on white horses? I mean, I do not normally ride with my toes so far in/heels so far out that the side piece of the spur would never touch the horse (that is where I'm getting the color transfer). Hmmm I don't remember my spurs rubbing off on white fur but it's been a...

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i use spurs that look something like this: https://www.smartpakequine.com/pt/never-rust-prince-of-wales-spurs-with-straps-2142 it's a slightly squared off end, but no sharpe edges. I also have smooth rowels that I also use from time to time--I call them my show spurs because that's where i use them ...

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I'm also enjoying the back and forth about clinic/draw reins/training timelines. If I think about the times that I've used draw reins for a short period for a specific goal, it was always to provide a certain boundary. There was a horse who got in the habit of resisting by putting his head up and bo...

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I am not an anti-draw rein person--I do believe there is a time and place for them. But I don't think that time and place is for contact, balance and/or thoroughness--so, i too am disappointed that she recommended them to help with that aspect. But, I'm also glad that the clinic wasn't a total wash ...

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I very much agree that IW's trot extension leaves much to be desired--both in correctness and in pizazz. And it was definitely hollow, butI don't know that i thought her horse was particularly hollow during piaffe and passage also.

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I'm assuming it was a back-out trailer when the incident occurred?. It was kind of a double whammy... When she was backing down from a trailer, she slipped on the ramp and fell on her butt. It didn't seem to cause any real damage, but she's very sure footed normally and so I think it really rattled...

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There are some lovely things in that test--really elegant halfpasses IMO. But the piaffe and changes are big problems to me and I'm surprised it scored as high as it did.

I don't know that the US team this year will be particularly strong

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so glad you're getting more rides in Dressuer--you guys look great. Welcome, Manni! I ended sacrificing a riding weekend this week to work on trailer stuff. I don't have my own trailer, so getting time to trailer practice/train is somewhat dependent on someone else. This weekend a friend of mine lef...

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thanks, Tanga, I saw this link in time to watch a few rides! Though, I didn't see Isabel's winning ride. Man, it stopped working about halfway through for me, in the middle of hers. Did she seriously win??? What I saw was bad. She made no attempt at extended trot, the trot half passes looked passag...

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thanks, Tanga, I saw this link in time to watch a few rides! Though, I didn't see Isabel's winning ride.

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Thanks all, this is so helpful and is putting my mind at ease. Though yes, my fitness will definitely be an issue! Both have had longer stretches off but only for injury, which is not quite the same thing. Both have plenty of space in turnout. RP runs and plays a good bit. MM, however, doesn't belie...

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Hi All, It looks like I'm going to have quite a bit of travel coming up for work. I'll likely be spending 2 weeks away, 1 week home, 1 week away, 2 weeks home, 2 weeks away (or something of the sort). And I'm trying to figure out what makes sense for my horses. I don't really have someone else who c...

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I just retired a pair of petries. I was disappointed that they did not last me very long. I am definitely not great about taking care of my boots, but the old petries I had several years back seemed to last forever, these ones did not. I did like the feel of them, though I found breaking them in to ...

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The place where I am the most distinct about what I do and don't tolerate is actually on the ground. I'm pretty strict about what I consider acceptable on the ground compared to some people. But the way I see it--a horse gets to be a horse 22-23 hours out of the day. The 1-2 hours that it's being ha...

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Pal looks great, Imperini! Congrats, Exvet--sounds like a really successful show outing Weather has been wet and unpredictable over here. Last week I rode in a t-shirt, on Sunday it was 24 degrees. MM has been doing ok. I've been working hard on being more precise and specific with my aids. I'm also...

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Yes, a good fitter can adjust off site based on tracings.

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I'm looking for a place to buy a noseband--I already have a headstall and browband I like, but need different size noseband for RP. Most places i've looked either don't really have options for this or are very high end and have pretty expensive nosebands (ones that are about the same cost as buying ...

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MacRiders are a bit of a different beast, which is partly why you're running into this problem. They're very adjustable--not just width, but shape as well. However, they require a special machine to be adjusted fully and properly--not what fitters use to adjust nearly every other saddle. And unfortu...

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Flight, super helpful to see your progress with Norsey's changes. MM and I have been struggling to make our L-R change clean and consistent. The R-L has been there for some time, the other one is always obedient, but not usually clean. So, it's encouraging to see that you and Norsey got to a good pl...

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Wow, Dresseur--sounds like M is doing really well. Hoping your flare has died down and that you are back in the saddle soon. Flight--hope you and your crew get some relief soon. What an awful situation. MM has been out of commission for a week or so with a strange infection (there's a thread about i...

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some great suggestions here. Another thought--you might need more outside leg: If a horse is on a bending line, that means the outside half of their body is on a slightly larger track than the inside half of their body. The outside body has to wrap around and the legs have to reach further in order ...

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Thanks, Exvet, all very useful info. I have not tried the Platinum products. But I have tried Anihist H without much success. I've also tried MSM, Flax, and a whole host of other things. Currently MM is on MSM and spirulina (which has made the most noticeable difference in her summer allergies, thou...

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What about Desitin do you think would cause irritation? Purely anecdotal--but it irritates my skin! I always get red and itchy after contact. Be careful and cautious what topicals you put on wounds. I have found that the antibiotic ointments (emollients and other similar substrates) - anything in a...

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The only other thing I've deal with that behaved like this was snake bite; but, of course the puncture wounds that finally could be found after the swelling went down gave it away. Hmm interesting... I'd guess this to be an unlikely place for a snake bite, but definitely possible. Swelling is prett...

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still not at all sure what this is or what caused it...and there is a part of me that worries this is something that might come back/reoccur elsewhere, so I'd love to know what it is definitively. However, on the good news--either the antibiotics, the cleanings, or her body seems to be fighting what...

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anyone have a brand/model of gloves they really love? I need a new pair--my current schooling pair is full of holes.

I want something durable and something that won't get slippery when things get wet/sweaty/damp

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Thanks, Exvet. Will look into pythosis. Updated pics from today... Vet still thinks it's an infected injury, but I don't...

It's spread over to the left side as well. But swelling is much less

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I was out of town for a few days. When I came back I noticed MM had a hairless spot near her throatlatch area. She's an itchy horse and often scratches herself bald. So I assumed that was the case--put some ointment on it and didn't think twice. The next day the area was MUCH larger, angry, and oozi...

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I mentioned this briefly in the 2020 goals. But one thing I'd really like to do more of is have more of a week by week/ride by ride game plan. Growing up I rode at a barn where each week intermediate and advanced students more or less focused on a particular exercise (adapted for experience/skill le...

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Hopefully I can get MM on a trailer again after her accident and if I can, then my biggest hope and dream is to get my bronze on her. I only need one score. But right now my changes need work before I waltz back into the show ring. Though, my trainer texted me yesterday to tell me that one of HIS re...

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My goal would really be to have RP on a concentrate-free diet. I might have to break that a bit to give him at least a multi-vitamin. But I'd love for him to only get hay, grass, and other forage. My barn doesn't soak beet pulp. But if they did I would have him get unsweetened beet pulp with a vitam...

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All great name options. I particularly like Benny. I'll throw Baxter into the mix.

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Blob it sounds like you may be on the right path with RP, but one other possibility just in case. If you have a vet/acupuncturist you might have him checked for TMJ. I had a horse who acted like he might have some arthritis in this joint and she was able to give him some relief. The dentist (who is...

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Great to have a lightbulb lesson like that, exvet--thanks for sharing. Flight, Norsey and your gal look lovely. But the smoke and draught sound awful. Hope things ease up over there. RP had his teeth checked on Tuesday. He had some erosion on the left side, which the dentist fixed. I adore my dentis...

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It doesn't look like I"ll end up showing until the spring anyway (but I might take my very fuzzy mustang to a fancy clinic in february. Both mine are full fuzz and given how crazy up and down the weather has been here, I"m glad I have not had to worry about the multiple blanket changes nee...

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