Goals and progress... August and September!

[demi]

Thanks for your input, Kande. There are, of course, different degrees to which one applies the handbrakes! The degree that I was using them on Emma was very light, sometimes just bending my wrist. I wasn't doing it to the degree that there was excess pressure on the reins. Not enough to break a piece of yarn, but still enough to block the freedom of movement in a very light and sensitive horse. So more precisely, it was (and I say "was" but really, I will be working on this for a while) less like a "hand brake" and more like an ungiving quality in my hands, if that makes sense. I wasn't holding her so much as not allowing her. It's a very fine line at this point which makes it all the more difficult to fix. BUT, it must be fixed.

As I write and think about this, I realize that it's boiling down to a contact issue...quality of contact.

[Kyra's Mom]

Well... not much saddle time this week. I had my first attempt at ganglion impar injection by the pain doc and it didn't go. The needle needs to go through the joint between the sacrum and coccyx. Alas, mine is totally arthritic and calcified. She ended up just injecting around the end of the tailbone where the spur is. It didn't seem to do much except make me sore in a different way (when all the lidocaine wore off). I hope to get on tomorrow. Try it anyway. I cut a new pad that is a bit thicker for my saddle. I am not sure it will work but am going to give it a try.

I am doing another online course with Karen Rohlf and am enjoying that a lot. More to do with the mental side of things and how to develop a horseman's mindset and how to keep it interesting for the horse. Something I can do at the moment (use my mind ). So, since I am stuck doing a lot of ground work, I have been experimenting a lot to make some meaningful exercises that breaks the routine of 'normal' lunging. So, I put her on the lunge line on Thursday and ended up with a cool exercise, which she did very well. It really got her coming off her hind end. I set a cone about 6-8 ft off the rail. After a thorough warm up, I had her walk a circle to the inside of the cone. I had her halt just before the cone, full pass toward the rail and immediately canter. After half a circle, I would have her walk from the canter. Rinse repeat a couple times and change to the other side. Boy howdy, are those transitions getting better. NIka (Straightforward) has gotten in some rides. Sounds like fun...because of the heat, she has been riding before work and before feeding . Poor Sweetpea, I don't think I have ever ridden her that early and BEFORE eating (although she gives her a snack so she surely isn't starving). I guess she has been a bit distracted. I can't imagine .

Happy riding all.

Susan

[Moutaineer]

Demi, with Laddie, because he is a big horse and a much bigger mover than i had ridden before, I've had to learn to let go and say "oh well, here goes nothing...." if I hang on and block him he gets pissy about it, but if I let him actually move, it's a different story. It's an act of faith and I don't always succeed.

[kande50]

Thanks for your input, Kande. There are, of course, different degrees to which one applies the handbrakes! The degree that I was using them on Emma was very light, sometimes just bending my wrist. I wasn't doing it to the degree that there was excess pressure on the reins. Not enough to break a piece of yarn, but still enough to block the freedom of movement in a very light and sensitive horse. So more precisely, it was (and I say "was" but really, I will be working on this for a while) less like a "hand brake" and more like an ungiving quality in my hands, if that makes sense. I wasn't holding her so much as not allowing her. It's a very fine line at this point which makes it all the more difficult to fix. BUT, it must be fixed.

As I write and think about this, I realize that it's boiling down to a contact issue...quality of contact.

I think I get what you're describing, Demi. I got Sting so light on the bit that it didn't take much to block him with my hands, although his blockages were more in his head than from aids, because I'd clicked him for not only being light to the aids, but for being sucked back. So of course, that was what he was giving me, which was fine with me at the time because there were so many things I needed to work on (flexing and bending his body mostly), and I didn't need more impulsion to work on that.

If I hadn't been so worried about ruining his walk (because I've always read that it's very easy to screw up the walk) I would have just worked it all out in walk and then moved on to trot when I had what I was looking for in walk.

The basic problem was the same though: how to maintain the contact while at the same time giving him enough freedom to be able to lighten his front end, because it's way too easy to block the lifting with the contact (or by clicking at the wrong times)! So a big part of the challenge for me was to be able to see what I wanted to reward, since I didn't have an instructor standing there watching and saying, "Yes, that's it" at the moments I should have been rewarding.

[Chisamba]

Kyra s mom, i cringe in sympathy. Arthritis is horrible, and what a lousy spot to have it. Hope your donut saddle cover can help.

This week was my week to refocus riders on fixing themselves. I tend to have themes of the week. People are reluctant to truly change. My riders have various issues but the most common is unequal . It shows up various ways, but it is common to make the same correction twenty times in a lesson, and next lesson, after riding a week without supervision, i have to make the same correction again. Now this may be poor teaching. I have experimented multiple times and researched multiple ways to try and assist riders to make that essential change .

I think humans do not trust change. A skew rider feels straight and when you straighten them the feel skew, so rather than learning the new feeling they continually revert.

Anyway, we have to be prepared to feel uncomfortable to change. And without changing we are doomed to repeat the same mistakes.

So i learn by teaching, and reading, and taking lessons it helps me change.

I remember the Courtney Dye article where she said people claimed she was Lendons favorite, because Lendon never yelled at her. Then she pointed out that if Lendon told her to do something she did it, she exaggerated it, so Lendon never got frustrated with her, and she was a young olympian.

If you want to improve, exaggerate that difficult change.

[capstone]

This week was my week to refocus riders on fixing themselves. I tend to have themes of the week. People are reluctant to truly change. My riders have various issues but the most common is unequal . It shows up various ways, but it is common to make the same correction twenry times in a lesson, and next lesson, afterbriding a week without supervision, i have to make the same cirrection again. Now this may be poor teaching. I have experimented multiple times and researched multiple ways to try and assist riders to make that essential change .

I think humans do not trust change. A skew rider feels straight and when you straighten them the feel skew, so rather than learning the new feeling they continually revert.

Anyway, we have to be prepared to feel uncomfortable to change. And without changing wevare doomed to repeat the same mistakes.

So i learn by teaching, and reading, and taking lessons it helps me change.

I remember the Coutney Dye article whete she said people claimed shevwas Lendins favorite, because Lendon never yelled at her. Then she pointed out that if Lendon told her to do something she did it, she exagerrated it, so Lendon never got frustrated with her, and she was a young olympian.

If you want to improve, exaggerate that difficult change.

I love this post. I'm going to try to do this on my upcoming rides on Cartier.

[Chisamba]

I re edited it again, sorry about my horrible spelling and grammar mistakes.

[Chisamba]

As for my progress, I look the nose band off Kimba's bridle, and rode her without, she seemed to both look and feel pretty much the same, which I thought was a positive.

Deneb is changing shape and her wither is becoming more sharkish, so i realized today that the saddle puts a bit of pressure in the wrong place in the canter. She is progressing and beginning the hard step of truly shifting her balance back over her hind quarters. I feel comfortable and confident riding her at the moment, which is such a very far place from where i was with her at the beginning of the year, that i feel very happy with that too. Sweat equity!!

I really really enjoy these training goal threads, i find other peoples finds and problems help me sort out my own, and i enjoy sharing progress stories etc. Thank you to everyone who participates in them.

[musical comedy]

Trip to FL was a long one!

.....<respectfully snipped> Khall, have you considered training with Gigi Nutter? Remember her from the udbb (Touch-n-Go)? She susbscribes to classical principles having trained a lot with Karl Mikolka and has much in the line of credentials. She is only about 2 hours north of you. I am guessing your Florida trainer is Kim Robare? If so, I haven't found anything much about her except the claim to have ridden with Bettina. I don't think we can always judge someone by who they trained with. I think you need to see a good bit of evidence regarding their accomplishments and that of their students. But, that's just me.

[khall]

MC yes I know Gigi (have ridden with her before a few times), and no we are definitely not a mix. Hela, Mark's wife has suggested that I go directly to Bettina Drummond. Bettina is supposed to be in FL next February so may see if I can go down then and ride with her. I have also touched base with a trainer in Nashville who sounds interesting and another of Mark's riders has been riding with a GP trainer in SC that she likes. Will look into him. I still would ride with gallop in a heart beat, if she comes anywhere close to SE.

The teachings that Mark brought were directly from Nuno Olivera and just make sense to me. I just miss Mark so much. He really is irreplaceable to me and to so many others. I am having a Mark Russell memorial weekend at my farm here in a couple of weeks. Hela is coming down and many of my regular riders plus another clinic host are coming in for a weekend of remembering and honoring Mark and his teachings. We will ride and hopefully learn from each other and I am going to do an in hand demo with Rip. So many of our riders had never been exposed to lateral work before riding with Mark. I think it would be educational for others to be able to see a horse with as much training in hand that Rip has, be able to see and ask questions as we work.

[Flight]

If you want to improve, exaggerate that difficult change.

I think I really need to do this. I'm slow to improve and I think this could help!

If I could ride! We've had a heap of rain, and one of my horses is lame again. Every time it's wet and slippery, he does something to himself. I swear I'm going to lock him up and wrap him in bubble wrap

[Chisamba]

If you want to improve, exaggerate that difficult change.

I think I really need to do this. I'm slow to improve and I think this could help!

If I could ride! We've had a heap of rain, and one of my horses is lame again. Every time it's wet and slippery, he does something to himself. I swear I'm going to lock him up and wrap him in bubble wrap

Here is the original article

https://dressagetrainingonline.com/blog ... -king-dye/

[Kyra's Mom]

I was able to get in the saddle today...l'm regretting it now but it was one of those endorphin rides so at the time it felt good.

I didn't have a long ride but she worked so well. For her to be correctly reaching for the bridle and soft in the connection is a real treat. She is giving that feeling more reliably but she does have years of not so nice feeling...think a little gray freight train...to overcome. I did a nice walk warm up then a bit of trot work. I wasn't going to canter but tried it and it was nicely forward and 'up'. Very nice to the point that I could feel a change in her canter and thought why not? I got a nice clean change each way and with that, we quit.

Straightforward rode her last night so she has been getting some nice steady work between the two of us.

Susan

[PaulaO]

My September goals are to get comfortable in a new barn with a new horse. She knows the basics, WTC' and how to move away from the leg. I have to cast back my mind to basic dressage theory to start at the bottom of the training tree with rhythm. The last two rides have been mini trail rides to get her moving forward. So much for me to relearn.

[Silverpoet]

We had a pretty good August and made huge strides in staying softly connected and working over the back in our walk and trot. I'm most happy with how her trot has improved. She's a gypsy cross and wants to go more up and down with the front end. Lots of lateral work has helped a lot and there is definitely more reach in her striding. We worked a lot on adjustability in walk and trot while keeping our rhythm so I'm really happy with that. She has a really nice active hind leg so it's mostly been teaching her to get out of her own way in the front end.

Our goal for September is to get the canter going. Mare has a nice canter for a heavy horse but teaching her that canter aid has been a buckaboo. My trainer can get it easier than me but the mare wants to run into it from a trot. I knew strength was an issue so we sorta put the canter on the back burner the last six months while we built muscle and strength and focused on the quality of our trot. Now, my trainer and I both feel maresy is ready to revisit the canter.

I welcome any suggestions you have for improving the canter depart.

[Chisamba]

We had a pretty good August and made huge strides in staying softly connected and working over the back in our walk and trot. I'm most happy with how her trot has improved. She's a gypsy cross and wants to go more up and down with the front end. Lots of lateral work has helped a lot and there is definitely more reach in her striding. We worked a lot on adjustability in walk and trot while keeping our rhythm so I'm really happy with that. She has a really nice active hind leg so it's mostly been teaching her to get out of her own way in the front end.

Our goal for September is to get the canter going. Mare has a nice canter for a heavy horse but teaching her that canter aid has been a buckaboo. My trainer can get it easier than me but the mare wants to run into it from a trot. I knew strength was an issue so we sorta put the canter on the back burner the last six months while we built muscle and strength and focused on the quality of our trot. Now, my trainer and I both feel maresy is ready to revisit the canter.

I welcome any suggestions you have for improving the canter depart.

I have a gypsy in training that belongs to a client of mine. He now has a fabulous easy to ride canter, the key for me in getting him to understand the take off, was not not require him to remain connected in the bridle at first, he would really lift his head, and yes, even hollow, to free up his shoulders in the first stride of canter, we would go a few strides and then i would ask him to soften on the inside and come into the outside rein, once the depart was established then i would ask him to remain soft through the transition. yes it did mean that there was a bit of a learning curve in taking away the hollowness in the transition, but he can now do both without a problem.

this i might add is completely opposite of what i was taught, which was to get the transition working very well from the ground, on the longe in side reins so that the horse remains connected through the transition. I chose to do it the "wrong way" because his rider was not ready to maintain a connection anyway, and was ready to learn the canter, so she would canter him on a long rein, it was important for me to develop him in the canter ahead of her skills for two reasons, he had a bit of lordosis when we got him so keeping him correctly muscled over the top line was essential, and also, i like the horses to be A BIT ahead of their riders so as the rider learns the horse rewards them with the correct response.

My real "trick" and it is not a trick of course, of getting good upward transitions is riding forward into the downward transition, i support the horse with the legs into the downward transition, so when i ask for a transition, i first support with leg, and contact, the horse pauses because they are waiting to find out if the transition is down or up, so when i ask for he up, they are already in a waiting mode, not a rushing mode so there is less inclination to rush.

also, be committed

if the canter, at first, is a bit rushy and awkward, and then develops balance and throughness. it does not even matter really if at first the horse takes the wrong lead, i will do half a circle on the wrong lead, rewarding the horse for offering a good transition, and then i will balance the horse and bring it back and ask again, reaffirming which lead i want.

I had to really learn to establish canter and canter transitions, and this is what has helped me in my journey, the traditional way is probably better, that is with a horse really established in transition on the longe and having a person on the ground help establish the canter under saddle. this is my long way round, getting one thing at a time.

Teddy, canter strike off. This was taken mid winter. Yes we remove his feather.

https://youtu.be/rdY5iF5ksGk

[Josette]

Reading all these posts keeps me motivated for the excellent tips on riding/training issues. This summer was sometimes too hot for consistent schedule of rides. A few weeks back my guy was getting very sluggish/lazy to the leg versus his forward that can be too strong with hanging sometimes. (He was previously spur/strong hand ridden and we have made big progress reprogramming his mind.) So I had not ridden in spurs for several years as he was insensitive to my leg. We went back to a noisy bat for a while then transitioned to a dressage whip. Huge improvement! Next our lateral work needed better response and I felt I was using too much leg at the sacrifice of my position. I recently tried tiny spurs for a few rides and got lovely respect/response. Then I felt myself being stiff with my legs to avoid spur contact when he was super forward - I was making myself tight. So I rode without spurs yesterday and we had a nice relaxed ride with good response. When he hangs it is the left rein and I realize he is weaker on one side versus the other. So I really like the lateral exercises discussed here. They have really helped us. Our canter transitions can be nice/smooth or a huge leaping depart which I suspect is the weaker side. Overall we are still much better than where we started on our journey.

[StraightForward]

We had a pretty good August and made huge strides in staying softly connected and working over the back in our walk and trot. I'm most happy with how her trot has improved. She's a gypsy cross and wants to go more up and down with the front end. Lots of lateral work has helped a lot and there is definitely more reach in her striding. We worked a lot on adjustability in walk and trot while keeping our rhythm so I'm really happy with that. She has a really nice active hind leg so it's mostly been teaching her to get out of her own way in the front end.

Our goal for September is to get the canter going. Mare has a nice canter for a heavy horse but teaching her that canter aid has been a buckaboo. My trainer can get it easier than me but the mare wants to run into it from a trot. I knew strength was an issue so we sorta put the canter on the back burner the last six months while we built muscle and strength and focused on the quality of our trot. Now, my trainer and I both feel maresy is ready to revisit the canter.

I welcome any suggestions you have for improving the canter depart.

My appaloosa mare, Maya, had essentially no canter when I bought her (unstarted), so I made sure she could manage a couple circles of canter on the lunge before trying it under saddle. What really helped her though, was some small gymnastic jumping, and going out and cantering up gentle hills with a lead horse. Often, part of her warm up would be a big canter in half-seat both directions to get her engine revved up before asking for any sort of connected transitions. I think it was also mentally helpful for both of us to get some cantering out of the way early on, and it improved her trot work as well.

I hesitate to add, but I would also use her bit of barn sourness when headed back to the horse trailer to get the W/C transitions started. Of course I always made sure she would also walk back, but being such an energy conservationist, I had to be kind of opportunistic on finding those times when she would gather herself up and lift off. Probably wouldn't do with a hotter horse though.

Lastly, I did put her in a draw rein about once a week for a month or so just to impress upon her that it was possible to canter off without hollowing out. I avoid gadgets as much as anyone, but my trainer talked me into this, and she never got overbent, so in the long run, it was a clearer way to get through to her what it was I wanted her to do.

[demi]

Nice updates, everyone! We all have stuf to deal with and we are dealing with it!

It's 93 and humid again today. It looks like 90 or more through Friday. I know people ride in this heat, even show in it, but it just isn't enjoyable for me. Plus, Emma clearly doesn't like the heat either. It won't be summer much longer!

[capstone]

We are 6 days out from a competition near Houston. When I say we, it will be Cartier with my trainer in the saddle. They are doing last minute preparation for their first outing with his I-1 musical freestyle. I am basically out of the saddle (his saddle at least) until the competition is over. I just got back into town on Friday.

Houston should be awesome this time of year! *sarcasm*

[calvin]

Pleased to report that we showed at second level, Tests 1 and 3, with scores of 63 through 66 this past weekend. The judge's comments completely confirm my trainer's approach. All helpful! The most important challenge, per Chisamba's excellent posts, is to commit to making the necessary changes in my daily work. Priorities are more activity in the hind end, more throughness, better downward transitions, and keep working on his degree of suppleness. The other challenge is to return my show clothes to their sparkling, pre-show condition! It has been 11 years since our last show. Horse is now 21. We shall keep on working.

nancy%20show2[1].jpg (58.76 KiB) Viewed 23493 times

[kande50]

Nice updates, everyone! We all have stuf to deal with and we are dealing with it!

It's 93 and humid again today. It looks like 90 or more through Friday. I know people ride in this heat, even show in it, but it just isn't enjoyable for me. Plus, Emma clearly doesn't like the heat either. It won't be summer much longer!

We've been having a few nice days in between the hot ones, so I've managed to get out there a few times, anyway.

What I've finally realized is that if I wait until it's warm enough for me to want to change my clothes and go out and get started, then it'll be too hot to ride. So I've been skipping the clothes changing and just going out and climbing on in my regular clothes and then taking layers off as I warm up. IOW, just like winter!

[demi]

I lunged Emma for ten minutes this morning. Saddle, bridle, reins on the buckle, lunge hooked to lunging cavesson. She was anxious but walked quietly. When I asked her to trot she attempted to buck but refrained when I said "eh eh eh". I kept it low key and short so as to give her a nice re-introduction to going back to "work".

I was thinking about getting my other mare going again but I doubt that will happen. I just don't have enough gumption.

Although the temps are still in the 90''s, at least it is now cooling down to the mid-high 70's at night. I think they rest better at night now and they seem happier, not crabby and itchy like they have been for the last several weeks.

[kande50]

Although the temps are still in the 90''s, at least it is now cooling down to the mid-high 70's at night.

I think if we had the weather you do I'd put some fans here and there around my ring so I could ride past them, or stop in front of them to cool off. Or maybe I'd get a Big Ass Fan (http://www.bigassfans.com/) and install it at the end of my outdoor, because if I got a big enough one it would not only keep the bugs off but it would really help cool us off.

We almost always get down into the 60's at night,so there is a window in the morning when it's comfortable to ride if I can get out there and get started before it warms up. I used to always ride before work so don't mind getting up in the morning, but getting up and getting out there have become two very different things!

[Moutaineer]

Nice, Calvin! Well done.

I need to get up the courage to actually wash my washable dressage coat

Capstone, I don't know how you manage with the humidity. At least when it's mid 90s for shows here, "it's a dry heat."

Will the show be out or inside?

[Moutaineer]

I am spending the holiday weekend standing guard in the material suite of an 8 million dollar house for our local Showcase of Homes, so no riding for me... and it's a cool and beautiful gift of a day.

Oh well, got to pay for it all somehow!

[Moutaineer]

Master suite...

[Chisamba]

Mountaineer, im so happy that i am not the only one who has unintended words pop up in my typing! Sincerely thank you. What brand is your washable coat?

Those of you struggling with the heat. I complain a bit, but I somewhat thrive on it. I suppose it reminds me a bit of home. Right now, end of summer early fall, its really lovely. Of course no one likes the bugs., biting flies, etc. Hope you soon get the lovely weather.

Calivin, very respectable scores!!

Every time i show i wish they would allow black pants. Are we so concreted to tradition that they cannot allow dark pants. Some like light pants, that's good. I like dark pants. Rant over.

[Dresseur]

Miro and I are have been hitting the trails quite a bit, the weather has been really lovely. There is a "course" around the one hay field that our cross country riders use for their galloping circuits. We've been having long walks and short trots up the hills. There is even a cow field by the track so he gets to see those - he seems unimpressed, yet still worries that he may get his feet wet in a puddle The short stints of ring work have been super short - w/t/c and a few transitions and call it a day, but as he gains strength on the trails, the quality increases seemingly like magic

I've saved the hard work on myself - I took a series of lessons on my coach's GP horse and her newly minted I-1 horse. My position at the trot is spot on, and I'm becoming more and more effective. It really is amazing that you have to work harder in a lot of ways to ride a horse at that level. I know that you have to be more precise, but to work to ask for the extra brilliance and expression is a whole other ballgame. I STILL struggle at the canter. I have my hip "up" where it belongs, and my legs are in the right place and I have the right alignment. BUT!! I am drawing my elbows back at the moment that I should be giving. Basically, I'm crunching up the front of the horse which leaves the hind end out behind. It's subtle, but you can see it on slow motion video and when you pause the video. I need to use rigid reins... or something. This seems to be a last remnant from my hunter days, when I was taught to "follow" the horse's mouth, but really it was pumping the arms, and it was out of synch.

The thing that got this ball rolling is that I have been reading. A lot. I've expanded my library and have most of the old masters at this point as well as others. I was reading the Masters of Equitation on Canter and a particular quote set off alarm bells in my head. John Winnett wrote, "The main rider errors in the canter are failure to obtain response from the inside leg, and not giving with the fingers on the reins at the end of the third beat before the time of suspension. The horse must not be restrained at this moment; he must be free to jump forward." I've known that there is something in the contact in the canter that I'm missing. And I'm literally ready to hang up my helmet when I realized that I am doing this... Now I just have to fix it. Am open to suggestions on how to pull my head out of my @$$ and solve this rider issue.

[Flight]

Do the exaggeration thing! So don't worry about anything else and focus only on what you want to do with your hands/elbows and then refine the feeling. I'm sure your head is not in your ass and you will fix it in no time

Calvin, first show in 11 years? That's impressive! Congrats

Mountaineer, an 8 million dollar house! I can't even imagine it. Washable coats are great, just stick it in the machine, then shake it out and hang it up. Look as good as new.

I just had a great lesson on my young horse. I hadn't had one for a while (back to work, busted clutch, flu and rain) so it's good to know I've been doing all the right things, so today was just adding more. So now it's true shoulder ins and playing with the flexion, half passes and travers. Some exercises for his canter, to help him engage his outside hinds more. But what I really like, is the progression, it all just flows so there's no feeling of forcing the horse to do it, you just ask and see what happens.

[kande50]

Every time i show i wish they would allow black pants. Are we so concreted to tradition that they cannot allow dark pants. Some like light pants, that's good. I like dark pants. Rant over.

I wore black breeches to a schooling show one time because I thought it was going to be hot so I'd end up riding in black breeches and a white shirt. But then it turned out chilly and rainy so I wore my black coat, and when I watched the video I realized that my outfit looked like a saddleseat suit.

Maybe dark breeches would work with a light coat?

I do wonder how many judges would actually mark someone down because their breeches were too dark? Wouldn't surprise me if some would because they think tradition is so important, or perhaps because the picture doesn't look "right" to them unless the rider looks "right".

I've always felt that neither tack nor clothing should matter in performance classes, but maybe it makes the judges' jobs easier if everyone is dressed the same?

[kande50]

Do the exaggeration thing! So don't worry about anything else and focus only on what you want to do with your hands/elbows and then refine the feeling. I'm sure your head is not in your ass and you will fix it in no time

...because it only takes 10,000 repetitions.

[Dresseur]

Assuming that every repetition is performed correctly...

[Flight]

Yes, I hate the thought of how hard and how much I've practised the wrong things!!

[Chisamba]

Yes, I hate the thought of how hard and how much I've practised the wrong things!!

we cannot be perfect, so even when you are practicing something correctly, you are also , unfortunately, letting something slide, i consider it prioritizing, rather than wrong

[kande50]

Yes, I hate the thought of how hard and how much I've practised the wrong things!!

Fortunately, for those of us who have been doing this for awhile, we may have actually practiced it several different ways over the years, so at least for some things it's not all that difficult to go back to the way we did it before.

[Flight]

Bloody horse gave me a heart attack the other night. So in the evening after our awesome lesson, he wouldn't come over for dinner and it actually looked like his hoof was stuck in something on the ground. He was doing donuts around his grounded hoof . As I got closer, I could see it wasn't stuck but he couldn't use it properly and I'm thinking he must have a broken leg.
I couldn't find anything obvious, no swelling, deformity, lacerations, no hair missing etc. He was tender on palpation around his upper forearm. But he just couldn't walk.
Spoke to vet and showed them the below video, they said bute and see how is in the morning but didn't think it was fractured.
Managed to find someone to work my shift the next day in case we needed X-ray and a green dream.
So I'm checking on him in the middle of the night, so dark it took me ages to find him (he had moved) and I'd just binge watched 'stranger things' so I was freaking out slightly.
Got up at first light and he was still dragging the leg bit had moved again, so waited for vets to open and had one last check before ringing and he had improved so much that I didn't need to call vets, and by that arvo was even trotting around .
No idea what it was, no obvious abcess, still no swelling. I have to payback the shift with a 14hr Friday nightshift but am relieved that the horse seems ok


https://youtu.be/GWsxLIUNlcs

[StraightForward]

How terrifying Flight; glad he is looking g better! Wonder what caused that?

[Moutaineer]

oh Good Lord, Flight... I wonder if he whacked his shoulder on something and hurt his radial nerve? That'll cause temporary paralysis.

My DH has been binge watching "Stranger Things" too. I bagged it after the first episode as I'd like t be able to sleep again in my lifetime.

[Moutaineer]

We now have arena mirrors. First time in ages I have ridden with them... A salutary experience.

Having said that, once he got over the "they weren't there last time" thing about the mirrors, I had a lovely ride this evening. We have been working on more expression and impulsion in the trot--lots of transitions, lots of complicated lateral exercises. And, By Golly, I think we are getting it. He was a dancing boy tonight.

I also bought one of those Thinline Trifecta half pads and the thinline front shims in the labor day sales. My saddle is a bit wide for him still. We tried it tonight for the first time. He seems to like it and I like how it balances me, and it's certainly a help sitting the very springy trot I was getting this evenng. Probably from his side of it too!

[kande50]

We now have arena mirrors. First time in ages I have ridden with them... A salutary experience.

Having said that, once he got over the "they weren't there last time" thing about the mirrors,

Wow, he got over them?

I put a big screen TV in the corner of my indoor and my horse still won't go near it except to creep up and sniff it and then duck away. But if I try to push him into that corner he won't. He's less worried about the TV when it's turned on and he can see himself on it than when it's off and he apparently, sees his reflection, or movement, or ghosts or something.

I connect my video camera to the TV so I can see myself ride, although I haven't yet gotten into the habit of actually looking at it.

[Rosie B]

Quick update - We moved Bliss to his new home for the next three months on Saturday. He was a very good boy and settled in very quickly. After letting him chill for a bit I longed him in the arena and the free-roaming donkey (Sophie) marched right up to say hello. Bliss was initially totally shocked by this development but got over it quickly and they had a greeting-card worthy mutual sniff session... Unfortunately the only photo evidence I have of this is blurry, but here it is anyway.

And since then, my friend has been riding him daily and he's been as good as gold despite all the distractions from the Willard the goat (who also roams freely) and Sophie. She's already taken him through a bunch of the extreme trail challenges and he is quite chill about it all.

[AmityBee]

oh Good Lord, Flight... I wonder if he whacked his shoulder on something and hurt his radial nerve? That'll cause temporary paralysis.

Yep, that was my impression too, it looks like he hurt his radial nerve. My friend had an idiot horse who liked to run into things (gates/stall doors) he had a bad radial nerve paralysis once. Took a while to go away but did go away completely after a few weeks. Glad your horse is OK!

[Rosie B]

Ok, I missed that post Flight... that must be terrifying!! Hope he's ok!!!!

[demi]

Calvin and Mountaineer, you are both inspirations to me! I sure would like to do some showing and seeing older riders who are doing it makes me feel like maybe i can, too. Thanks for sharing your experiences.

[kande50]

Calvin and Mountaineer, you are both inspirations to me! I sure would like to do some showing and seeing older riders who are doing it makes me feel like maybe i can, too. Thanks for sharing your experiences.

Same here (love to hear about what those around my age are doing), but can't say that it has motivated me to go to any shows. I read about the shows at all the local barns on facebook, and think to myself that I wish I still wanted to go, but I don't, so I don't.

In fact, my post-showing plans were to send videotapes in to judges who score tests, and I've even lost interest in doing that.

So my only goal now is to get out and ride, or at least do ground work, which I managed to do every day this week so maybe I'm on a roll!

[capstone]

Capstone, I don't know how you manage with the humidity. At least when it's mid 90s for shows here, "it's a dry heat."

Will the show be out or inside?

Under cover but not exactly climate controlled. We were there in June and it was miserable. We have the added challenge this weekend of 60% chance of rain every day.

[Flight]

oh Good Lord, Flight... I wonder if he whacked his shoulder on something and hurt his radial nerve? That'll cause temporary paralysis.

Yep, that was my impression too, it looks like he hurt his radial nerve. My friend had an idiot horse who liked to run into things (gates/stall doors) he had a bad radial nerve paralysis once. Took a while to go away but did go away completely after a few weeks. Glad your horse is OK!

I'd say you both could be correct. I was able to lift and manipulate his leg for him, without it causing him too much pain. The vet who saw the vid suggested a neuro cause as well.
He seems to be totally recovered now, thank goodness.

[Brydie]

I'm so glad he is ok now Flight! Very scary thing to come out to!

I haven't been doing much schooling recently, didn't end up doing our lesson last weekend due to father's day and I saw on facebook this morning that my trainer is in hospital with 4 broken ribs after a nasty fall! We have been doing our trot/canter sets and jumping, and last week we did a pure suppling session at walk due to heavy rain the day before. The "ridden mandela" with shoulder-fore/in, leg yield and haunches in

[piedmontfields]

Glad to hear progress and recovery reports from everyone. I must say that the photo of Bliss with the "free roaming" donkey is awfully cute (and I am glad that both were sensible in the meeting of the equines). After seeing Emi go quickly from terror of a mini donkey (his bray! his size!) visiting her farm to adopting him as a mascot, I have a plot in the back of my head for her retirement years

Mountaineer, I am jealous of your mirrors and delighted by your dancing update! You have made lots of progress in your partnership this year.

My brief update is that we are experiencing a new trot and a new canter fairly regularly. So there is hope for continued evolution, even at age 14 (Emi) and 48 (me)!