May only the leaves fall this Fall. September October training Bimester

[exvet]

Oy vey! Well it seems that despite working very hard not to drill the flying changes I've created a monster. Always at home I would just do one, get it and finish with one in each direction. I also didn't work on FC two days in a row. At my lesson on Wednesday we didn't drill the flying change per se but did drill the simple changes in preparation for the flying change. Now I have a FC machine. He of course is throwing them in when I counter canter and to his weak side mostly. LOL, I knew it would come though I tried hard to avoid it. At least his changes are clean and with big step behind so there's not anything to punish really. Waiting for a saddle to arrive to try. If it fits I hope to be able to really focus on straight and into both reins in order to get past his new 'resistance'.

[Ryeissa]

I can die happy. I got a 66% and 67% in 2:1....
This has been my achilies heel for 7 yrs (sitting trot on the pony has been HARD, I mean HARD). Shessh.... Onwards and upwards. Still lots to work on but I am thrilled! I was sooooo nervous. Counter canter was easy, 10m circles were the right shape, not connected but the right size. Mediums are getting there. SI is fine. Walk-canter good. Down trans a little hard in the show, but it's always a bit harder to be super soft and light in a show.

[exvet]

Congratulations Ryeissa, those are definitely scores to be proud of for sure.

[StraightForward]

Well, I got a couple short rides in this morning before the smoke rolled in. Now it's nasty.

Tesla almost had me this morning. Since she is the type that you can kick/spank all you want and she'll just ignore it if she has a mind to, I've started bringing her around when she sucks back. I could feel her getting a bit light in front, but not much, then she decided to try getting out of it with a pretty good rear. I decided parting company might be a good idea, but I was able to sort of slide off the back/side of the saddle and land on my feet holding the whip and reins, so I gave her what-for, then calmly went back to the mounting block, got back on, trotted a circle each way and called it good. Hopefully she got the message strongly enough that the rearing will be one and done. I'm settling in for several weeks of simple riding walk trot figures and transitions until she gives up on this sucking back. When she isn't blocking me, she'll trot off with the lightest of aids, so I just need to convince her that is a lot more pleasant that arguing.

Annabelle was fantastic today. We are starting some baby HP at the trot, and she is getting so much handier in her other lateral work. Fingers crossed that she is settled enough to use it all at our clinic this weekend.

[Aleuronx]

Woohoo Ryeissa!! Those are great scores and 2nd level is hard.

I've been having some good rides and fluffing around on the trails. Had planned to head over for a lesson last weekend but truck thought otherwise. SCREECH!! Front brakes were metal on metal. Well turds. Funny part? I already had appointment scheduled for 100k service and miscellaneous stuff. So called in to move up the appointment and several hundreds of dollars later we are back cruising.

So Saturday was lesson time. We are definitely sliding into Fall here in New England with cooler temps, breezy days and no bugs (wooo!!) Took Kora to the outdoor for our lesson and was good to work on some distractions of people/horses coming and going and corgis bopping around but it was just too lovely of a day not to be outside.

Big news, we have a trot!! Tough love news, it's too big to do any balanced transitions with. We worked on poll up, lifting her neck to see the top of the crownpiece at all times to enable the shoulders that are now mostly straight to come up and out. Sounds easy but felt like a saddleseat rider to start. Once there we worked on keeping the up status and doing a walk transition then back to trot without having her duck behind or jerk backwards from the contact. This is just a lot of careful patience with the transition but so cool when we got a good one.

Then onto canter or at least tried to without leaping in the transition up and falling in the transition down. Right lead I'm to lift the right hand and press with the right leg then ask for canter (and wait for her to organize the trot to do so...) same for the downward transition. We used the circle to help facilitate the bend in both directions. Left lead I'm to get a little baby haunches in, outside leg off a stride then ask for canter. Downward transition in haunches in feeling as well.

Full disclosure I wrote this out to help me remember my homework.

[blob]

Congrats, Rye!! There's a reason so many professionals skip second level--it's hard!!

Thinking of all of you on the west coast. Conditions are terrible enough without having to also worry about horses.

[Moutaineer]

Congrats, Rye!

Naughty Tesla. Honestly, I think a lot of youngsters go through this stage. I think you are wise to a) make it seem a very bad idea, and b) regroup before it turns into full scale rebellion. I had a lovely little mare years ago that I discovered had learned that she got out of stuff by rearing. It was an ugly and painful business getting her to think otherwise.

Sounds like a high-class problem, exvet

Good idea on remembering the home work Aeuloronix. I probably ought to do that with my grasshopper brain at the moment.

I've been working too hard, along with being not very well, and I'm done with it. My life's not been my own, I've been missing my riding time, and I'm tired of entitled rich folks thinking they own me. I'm stopping that right now--time to get myself and Laddie back in the groove and get my sanity back.

First-world problems--Thinking about all of you on the west coast. I've been there and I know how stressful it all is.

[Kyra's Mom]

I hope I didn't damage my horse by riding in the smoky schmuck.

The Prestige saddle fitter was in town and I hauled Kyra to try a couple. I had the X-breath on my mind. I had tried one before my tailbone surgery. It was too small and really got me painful because the neat little hole in the seat wasn't in the right spot at that size. It worked well for Kyra but at that point, I wasn't sure I would ever ride again so I didn't order anything.

Today, we got to try the 18 inch. I actually fit into it although the demo had pretty straight flaps. It can be ordered with a forward flap. Because of my butt, I prefer to ride with a bit shorter leathers and really need the forward flap.

She did really well. She had only been ridden once in the last ten days because of my hand surgery and this was the second time she has been hauled in oh...the last 6 years! Luckily all the training I did when she was a youngster has stuck and she was point and shoot to load. We hauled to Eagle which is about 20 miles from my barn to a really lovely private barn. Green grass and manicured and watered arena with proper arena sand...and no rocks . So different from Kuna but then Eagle is near the river and Kuna is really desert (on a lava rock plain) so there you go. We are definitely in the low-rent district .

She was pretty looky but never did anything. She worked quite well. I threw in all her training (thus far). We did lengthenings, LY, half-pass in walk and trot, full pass (in walk of course), rein back, half steps, SI, HI, free walk (which was dynamite...good stretching and lots of overstep) and finished with a couple stretchy trot circles each way. Everything I could think of. She seemed to be easier to pick up the reins. In my current saddle, she will readily stretch but it seems like we always have to have a discussion when I pick up the reins. With this saddle, she would just work right back into connection. Her canter seemed "rounder" too. She tends to stick the base of her neck out into and in the canter and today, she just felt nicely round and working from behind. I threw in a 3 loop serpentine with simple changes and it was pretty darn nice. I just did everything I could think of including a bunch of sitting trot which I haven't done a lot of (in years...) I rode for at least an hour. My butt is a little offended tonight but didn't really bother me while I was riding. Her sweat patterns were pretty even, her saddle pad hadn't budged and she demonstrated no soreness at all so...

I will be the proud owner of a new saddle. My current saddle is treeless and although it looks pretty "traditional" and has a good channel, it is pretty short and concentrates my weight in a pretty small area. She has never demonstrated any soreness but I do worry about that if I really put her back to work with (much) more sitting trot, it would be detrimental. I bought it about 10 yrs ago it thinking that treeless would be better for my rear-end. Not really. This year, I have been riding with an Acavallo seat saver with a coccyx cutout pretty comfortably. But, I can't show with that and between wanting a tree to help spread out my weight and not having to use the seat saver, I, of course, have been thinking I need a new saddle.

The best...the model I tried is being discontinued for a new and improved model. The new one doesn't have the recessed mesh "hole" in the seat. It has the coccyx cut out but it is covered level with the seat and for me, having the recessed hole is better (for my problem). Since that model is being discontinued, they are 40% off . They had 3 in the size we need and with the forward flap option. The flaps are a tad long for my leg (an inch max) but hey, for $2000 less, I can cope. It is a mono flap and I didn't feel I had any trouble getting my leg on or with her responding to said leg. It is a light saddle which is nice for an old lady that has dodgy shoulders.

That was our adventure for the day.

Rye...that is awesome. I was just about ready to dip my toe into second level in 2012 when my body broke down. I would still like to give it a try next year...better late than never.

I've been working too hard, along with being not very well, and I'm done with it. My life's not been my own, I've been missing my riding time, and I'm tired of entitled rich folks thinking they own me. I'm stopping that right now--time to get myself and Laddie back in the groove and get my sanity back.

You go Mountaineer!

Susan

[mari]

Well done Rye!

I have a dressage lesson scheduled for later in the week. Since Odin has been cleared for riding again, I've spent most of my time in the jumping saddle, just getting his fitness up. So hopefully my body remembers what to do with longer stirrups

[demi]

Way to go, Ryeissa!!(and Riot!)

[Dresseur]

Well, I'm sure this will mean that everything will go horribly wrong in very short order, but the decision has been made to enter Miro into his first I1. The show is towards the end of October, so we have a little bit of time to get our crap in order. The trot tour is no issue, the piris and canter zig zag work well - the only issues will be the lines of changes. The 3s are coming for us, and we schooled our first couplet of 2s this weekend and are hoping to build from there. Realistically, I've blown both lines of changes on Gala and still come up with over 60%, so... there's a chance lol! But, when Andrea made the good point that he's schooling all of I1 and portions of the GP very competently, and I have a chance now to fulfill a dream, that I may regret it if I don't go for it because we don't know what next year will bring for showing and with horses being horses, there's no tomorrow guaranteed.

[StraightForward]

Susan, glad to hear they the Prestige is a go! Who knows, maybe we'll show together next year.

Dresseur, wow, you and Miro are really progressing! Looking forward to hearing how I1 goes!

Exvet, I'm sure you'll get Junior the change machine dialed in soon enough.

[Ryeissa]

I1! wow! that is impressive! Good luck and keep us posted.

[Sue B]

My saddle arrives (with fitter) next Sunday!!!!!!! I'm soooo excited

I did manage to get a few rides in, both ponies are fine although Rudy is still acting like current saddle bothers him (am I too sensitive?) a bit. I've been forcing myself to canter Tio every ride but I get so tense I'm not sure it's a good idea. My friend is coming over to demo some saddles on Sunday, and she agreed to canter him to verify this is all in my head and not the horse.

Moutaineer, life is short---get out there and ride!

Congratulations Susan, I hope this saddle is everything you've been looking for.

Awesome job Rye! I bet you smile all week!

Fingers crossed dresseur, you and Andrea have done such a great job with Miro

Exvet, I'm jealous. maybe I'll have that problem once I start riding in the new saddle.

[ironbessflint]

A bit of a brag for Anna Banana. We've still been hammering away all summer with those canter/walk/canter transitions. The string of pearls chain of 10m circles have REALLY been getting quite smooth. After one or two protests about having to walk, we can pretty consistently make it from A to C in one nice easy pass. The long side canter/walk/CC/walk/canter is also there without too much protest about 90% of the time, and many times it's even quite straight. So at the end of my LAST lesson trainer said yep, next lesson we're just going to give a flying change a go and see what we've got. She said we'll try a few things to see what works for Anna, and also to see if she's ready to play with it, or see if we get new things to work on for a bit and leave it alone for a while. Then my trainer had some things come up, *I* had some things come up, and we went a month between lessons.

Well, yesterday was the big day and pony was a rockstar.

After a bit of warmup we dove right in. Right is her easier lead, so we started on left lead so we could change TO the right. First attempt she immediately changed in front, but we couldn't get the hind under. Tried asking through a few more circles of cross cantering without success, so we ultimately asked her to change back to the left (so swapping front only again), which she also did promptly. Trainer handed me a whip for attempt #2 (which creates plenty of pony-tude....I rarely carry a whip with her and have NEVER actually touched her with one ). This go was going to be ask, outside leg kick, tap with the whip on the inside to get her right hind under.

Left lead starting off was particularly rammy with whip now in hand, but I managed my timing and (with plenty of pony opinion) we got a clean change! Yay pony

https://youtu.be/rY8KMgNpZrc

This was also ride #3 in a demo saddle....I'm guessing I may have to keep it now!

[khall]

Congrats Rye!! Those are great scores!

Too funny exvet:) smart pony so not unexpected

Dresseur wow! You and M go! What fun!!

I’m just dealing with rain and humidity again:(. We are supposed to get more rain this week from Sally all the wet is not being good for their feet. Ah well. West is burning up and we are dripping.

I am going to demo the dynamic saddle that blob has gone to. Just will have to wait for one to come into country. Sent my Ellis off for point billet to see if that will help keep it from sliding forward on Joplin. I do like the saddle and my vet prefers it on her has a nice wide chanel on it.

Also trying to get Cedar down for a clinic next month. She has regionals in October and hopefully Nationals in November so trying to fit in between the two. I’m going for it this time unless she or I get sick. Who knows what this late fall and winter will bring.

Stay safe everyone and happy riding!!

[Moutaineer]

All these new saddles!

I am currently having one of my Trilogies re-treed--it started to squeak ominously, so I moved Laddie to my other one, which is the extra wide tree and is actually Walker's custom-made for him saddle, but at the time, Walker was supposedly retired, so it was sitting.

Although it's theoretically too wide for him, Laddie likes it a lot and has been going very happily in it.

In the mean time, Walker is back happily in work, and my lessor and I are either sharing a saddle or borrowing one of my barn manager's Customs (she's the local rep and fitter.) This has been very generous of her, but I feel a bit awkward about it as I'm not planning on buying one any time in the near future.

so I finally got around to sending the squeaky one in and asked about re-treeing it to an extra wide, and apparently it's a pretty straightforward job and not nearly as expensive as I thought it would be. (Of course, when you add in shipping back and forth and the cost of the new billets it apparently needs while the saddler has it in bits, it's going to be $1000, but still...)

So in about a month, it should it back here with a new tree, new billets and no squeak, and I can get the saddle fitter out to fit them to both horses and everyone (except my bank balance, but actually, I'm not complaining--beats buying a new saddle...) should be happy!

[StraightForward]

We have a baby trot half pass! I'm super pleased since she couldn't figure it out at the walk and felt like she was about tangle her legs up and fall over not too long ago. https://youtu.be/qwXmRESUN2o

[demi]

Sweet! SF! Nice canter from the trot at the end, too.

[StraightForward]

Thanks Demi. She has just been gold lately. I had her saddle fitted for the first time since her injury, and she is almost symmetrical now, but I'd been shimming to her asymmetry. I think getting rid of the shims has been helpful. I've also been using SureFoot pads with her, and of course I can't prove it, but think they are helping her with tension, balance and body awareness. Last night I learned that this weekend's clinician's first GP horse was an appendix QH, so I'm now more excited that she will enjoy working with Annabelle and understand her more than someone who just works with WBs.

[Ryeissa]

great control there SF- I do those exercises too-SF/HI/HP etc. NICE JOB

[Aleuronx]

Oooh SF I would love to hear more about your experiences with the SureFoot pads. Did you do one of the clinics as well? I've been intrigued listening to some podcasts with the creator and briefly looked into them but they are kinda pricey. One of the bloggers I follow ordered some similar (but loads cheaper) foam pad to play with in a similar manner.

[StraightForward]

Thank you Rye.

Aleuronx, I just ordered the hard slants and firm flat pads. Annabelle is a pretty stoic girl, and I've been playing with Masterson Method, but it takes a long time to start working on her. I'm finding that she releases more and more quickly in combination with using the SF pads. It did take a while to get her to "buy in" but now she'll stand on them for quite a while, and then she often chooses a foot to keep on the pads. The slant is also useful for resting the hind foot for the hind leg back/down release. The other advantage is I can just put her on them for a couple minutes while I'm grooming and tacking up for a little focus on proprioception before working. I was thinking of taking the advanced Masterson course this fall, but I'm thinking instead that I might buy a couple more sets of SureFoot pads and just take some time off to work with other horses in the barn to experiment and get more experience. I have not taken a SF clinic.

[khall]

SF I’ve played with them a bit too. Have you tried the gym mat like Jec Balou uses? Mine took to them pretty quickly with Rip being the funniest about them. He started swaying and fell asleep.

Jillian did a podcast with Wendy Murdoch recently. Did not catch that though I’m sure you could find it

[StraightForward]

Khall, the podcast with Jillian was actually how I heard about the pads. There is a SureFoot FB group with lots of posts with photos/videos of horses reacting to them. I have not tried a gym mat. The one I saw was not much cheaper than the SF pads, and I figured it wasn't constructed to withstand hooves. I find it useful to have multiple small pads to move them around to different combinations, like a slant under the left hind and the right front, and I also use the slants to provide different feelings relative to current hoof balance (A is a little high/low in front) and posture.

[quinta]

ironbessflint, congrats on the change! That video gave me great joy, with your whole crew cheering you on.

[piedmontfields]

Lots of great progress and new goals in formation! You all are inspiring.

Moutaineer, would you be willing to share your Triology re-tree contact? I may need that sometime.

I'm continuing to do incredibly basic work (like super prompt, clear and straight w-c-w on circles & diagonals, lots of very accurate 10 m circles) which is making real third+ level work easier. We are at a point that half pass is kind of a reward or warm-up exercise---not an apex--which is kind of amazing when I look back on it. And I'm continuing to enjoy my remote training/learning activities.

Emi has been a bit of a fool this past month (the late summer cycles tend to inspire her to greater spookiness and sudden dance moves), but it's mostly just funny and good energy to shape. I am exploring adding some more fat to her diet (there is a limit to what she will eat) to help her pssm-looking topline---we'll see if she goes on a hunger strike or not. I feel grateful for her soundness and energy.

[Kyra's Mom]

SF...if you take some time off work, I would love it if we could put Kyra on the SF pads. That would be fun.

Other than Sunday to try saddles, I haven't been riding. The air has just been too gross. However, I put Kyra out in the turnout while I did some housekeeping in her pen. When I went to get her, she had been running...I assume almost the whole time as she was sopping wet with sweat. So much for no hard work in the smoke. I really don't know what bee she had in her bonnet. She has been on pretty restricted rations to get the weight off of her and I had the BO increase her hay back some. I can't even lead her without her lunging and diving for anything green. I am also going to get some Nexium and treat her for ulcers for a couple weeks. Then again, she usually gets a bit crazy (just a bit) when fall sets in although the temps are still in the 80's. I hosed her off and then we went inside and worked on her Spanish walk. That was probably our best session. Yeah...horses .

Susan

[Chisamba]

our overnight Temps are in the forties. horses came in shivering. I had to break out my sheets. of course they have been firecrackers to ride. Caliburn nearly ripped my arm off when he caught sight of something scarey. I had the rein over my arm and was pulling on my gloves. something I have not considered dangerous is the past. I got a sizeable " rope" burn on arm . he yanked me off my feet before I could get my shit together. So no more looping the rein over my arm. lesson learned.

[Kirby's Keeper]

@Kyra's Mom - Get Kyra tested for Cushings. Weight gain, aggitation and excessive sweating are some of the signs. Not all horses have the shaggy hair coat. We are into the seasonal rise for the ATCH which might be causing a spike in behaviours.

[Moutaineer]

Piedmont, I'm using Josh Siegel from Siegel Saddlery in MA. My fitter here, and Debbie Whitty from Trilogy, recommended him. He's very organized and very pleasant to talk to on the phone. We will see what I get back and when. I'll keep you posted (he did say that parts were delayed coming in from the UK, so things might take a bit longer.)

Chisamba, I tore my rotator cuff pretty spectacularly some years ago doing the same thing, so, while "ouch!" you may have got off quite lightly!

I have never heard of Surefoot pads. I will have to do some research.

Lesson this afternoon, which I am looking forward to--we are doing a lot of the same kind of work as Piedmont to improve the general canter work in preparation for another bash at better flying changes. Trainer has me thinking about transitions between true canter to counter-canter shoulder-in on a straight line. I say "thinking about" because we could tie ourselves up with a bow trying to do this with my level of grace and co-ordination--we have to approach such things slowly! But I can see the point of the exercise.

Laddie as been Mr. Spooky recently. I suspect the hocks are starting to feel in need of some juice. This time, we'll do upper and lower joints as that held for nearly a year last time, whereas just doing the lowers has lasted less than 6 months and has required some supplemental previcox from time to time. He varies between inspiringly sound and moving fabulously to "hmm, just a little something NQR." Older horses and their issues.

(And Walker has a goose egg sized lump on the outside of his cannon bone. Doesn't feel to me like any tendon or ligament involvement. I suspect he must have whacked it quite hard on something--who knows what... He was sound on it at first, but now he's a bit off. So, next week is going to be an expensive vet week with the both of them needing attention.)

Sabine Shutt-Kerry is in town to teach a clinic for local pros and trainers for the next couple of days. There are some worthy horse and rider combinations so I shall treat myself to some (I hope) inspirational auditing Friday and Saturday.

[StraightForward]

I have never heard of Surefoot pads. I will have to do some research.

I wonder if I can get a commission? I've been turning both of my equine bodyworkers on to them (for my own benefit ). The one who worked on A & T this morning said she is going to try to buy a full set because she has so many client horses she thinks would benefit. I haven't spent enough time to get T bought into them, but A is enjoying them and I think they're helping her with her wonky body.

Susan, I will absolutely come up and try them with Kyra. I'm off the week of Columbus day, and maybe the flies will not be so bad by then.

[Kyra's Mom]

@Kyra's Mom - Get Kyra tested for Cushings. Weight gain, aggitation and excessive sweating are some of the signs. Not all horses have the shaggy hair coat. We are into the seasonal rise for the ATCH which might be causing a spike in behaviours.

I suppose it is possible but I don't think so. I know why she gained weight. She went from eating hay that was 1-2 years old off an aged field to eating 1st cutting off a newly seeded field. I am sure the NSC's are quite a bit higher . I am more concerned that she is IR...she doesn't fit Cushings (at the moment) She doesn't excessively sweat...she was sweating from running around in 85 degree temps like a lunatic for 25 minutes. I think she is starting with transitional heats and she gets very lonely when she is in heat. That day...she was very, very, very lonely. She had lots of little pee spots all around her pen which is unusual. So I am thinking her agitation at being alone was heat related.

Today, I didn't even bother with turnout. Our air quality was still putrid (RED) today although you could actually see some sky. I think it finally made it to the orange range this evening. I put her on the lunge line and we did what I call "line" walking. I give her about 15 ft of line and send her down the rail and walk with her. When she gets ahead of me, I ask her to do a circle then when she returns to the rail, we proceed straight again...rinse repeat so that by the time we have gone around the arena once, she has done about 8 circles. I did some long reining and was happy that she actually waited for me to ask her to do something. Once I am behind her, she typically gets a bit anxious and eager and thinks she knows what I want. I had to do a few corrections but she was much better than usual. We did some lateral work and a few tries at half-steps. Finished with her Spanish walk work which was a bit 'stompy' today although she had a couple really nice steps with her left front. Up nice and high and actually held it a couple seconds and put it down normally.

SF...that would be great. I should be able to work something out that week.

Susan

[Dresseur]

And I’m entered. Six weeks to get my $@?! together.

[Kyra's Mom]

You go Dresseur!

[Chisamba]

is it the one with the 10 counter canter half circles. Dresseur ?

[Aleuronx]

Well I've had a bit of a week. Monday I went to ride but completely forgot to put my boots in the truck so that was a fail. No big, was just going to hack so groomed and hand grazed her instead. Tuesday after I get a text from the working student, "Kora is toe pointing one of her hind legs is there anything you want us to do." Well fudge. Jump in the truck and boogie on over.

No swelling or heat anywhere, no pulse, palpated her all over and found some minor sensitivity maybe in her hamstring. She is full on toe point pointing and walking albeit poorly. So we're guessing she got tagged by pasture mate in the rump. I give her dose of banamine and rub liniment on her bum and tell working student to message me in the morning. She's a little better in the morning not full on toe pointing but just resting leg now and then. Thursday she seems about the same and I start spiraling about having to take her for lameness evaluation at the horsepital.

Hope you can see where this is going. Get out to the barn this afternoon and her leg is full on swollen, well double fudge. Pick up her foot and wham GIANT CRATER OF PUSS on her heel. Oh man, I've never been so happy to see puss -every horse person ever.

abscess.jpg (187.05 KiB) Viewed 8870 times

I've hosed it and thanked the abscess deity for it's benevolence of not having a broken pony. It's been years since I've dealt with an abscess so advice happy accepted!!

[Dresseur]

Chisamba, no counter canter in the I1, the big moves in canter are the hp zig zag (not as many crosses over centerline and no counting as in GP), the piri “V” pattern, 3 tempis and 2 tempis.

[heddylamar]

I've hosed it and thanked the abscess deity for it's benevolence of not having a broken pony. It's been years since I've dealt with an abscess so advice happy accepted!!

I really like poultice pads for abscesses. Clean, flood with clean water, until it runs clear. Then slap a damp poultice pad on, vet wrap, and gorilla tape. Repeat twice a day.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/produ ... cm-x-41-cm

[khall]

Exciting Dresseur!!
Aleuronx that's a big one!

Last ride on Joplin was just awesome:) I really have to ride her from the seat and just be there with my hands. I love it! To have one so sensitive to my seat and be honestly forward yet come right back is just a joy.

I'm having to take some time off working horses because we got hit by Sally and had some damage. Not horrible but PIA. My tarp/roof on my shavings bin collapsed from the rain (over 7 in over night) and we had water get into mom's apartment. So dealing with drying out the apartment (loud equipment!) and having to move mom into our house until we get it dried out really is difficult for Mom to handle the change in routine. But could be worse, many in Al and Fl lost everything.

Cooler weather! Yeah! Less daylight though, boo. But at least we aren't like last year and having triple digit heat into Oct. Happy riding all! Enjoying all the updates.

[chantal]

We've been working steady, and have added in sitting trot and SI. Sitting trot is easier than SI, what can I say. It also depends on the day. I had a terrible lessson last Thursday as I decided to ride my road bike outside for the first time in over a year the day before and was too sore to do anything. So frustrating. But we had an awesome poles clinic today and just had fun. He went so well. I love how things work together. I did get to audit a Felicitas von Neumann-Cosel clinic on Friday and I incorporated one of her breathing techniques for transitions and it worked like a charm. Interesting week, from being very frustrated to being on cloud 9.

[chantal]

Just catching up on everyone else, so much going on. I've been wondering how all of near the fires are. I can't imagine how bad the air is for animals and humans Hoping you all stay safe.

Rye-your congrats on your 2L scores, yay!! Aleuronx-happy to see the abscess pop out, funny how abscesses aren't scary, more of annoyance and such a relief compared to so much. Big news Dresseur, good luck, and don't tell the pony what your plans are StraightForward-don't you love the tests they throw at us? And exvet, sounds like you have lots of fun stuff going on. Junior is such a smartypants, he'll get it. And yes, at least the changes are clean. We work on things being non-events too, for both of us. And Brandon sounds so smart. More pics please!

Stay healthy, keep healing and take care of yourselves. These are trying times. Our horses are so good for us.

[StraightForward]

Mikey is looking super, Chantal! Looks like some fun pole configurations. What saddle are you riding in? I'm not sure if the Albion AP I have is going to work for Tesla or not, but I would like to have a forward seat saddle for her.

Aleuronx, glad it was "only" and abscess and not something more sinister.

Dresseur, I'm sure you and Miro will have a great outing. We can all live vicariously through your show reports.

I did my first clinic ride with Carrie Harnden yesterday. We arrived early to give Annabelle time to settle in. She was pretty calm walking around the property, so I thought I could go ahead and ride without lunging. Plus, I want to get to where she is manageable off-property without lunging, since that's not always an option at show grounds, and she will run herself into a lather. All bets were off when I got on after walking her around the indoor. She started spooking, reared straight up, and Carrie started saying "you're braver than me, I think you should get off and lunge." I got her on a circle at the trot and eventually we got some nice work, but I owe a thank you note to the person who invented silicone full-seats. Overall, I think it was a good thing having a calm voice help me to work on pushing her forward when she does one of her stop and go up type spooks, so I'll feel better equipped to handle it next time. Hoping our ride this afternoon will be a little less exciting.

Next month I'm signed up to ride with Melonie Kessler at a different barn, so A will get some more experience out in the Big World.

I've had two good rides on Tesla since her little event. It made me re-think my approach with her a bit, and I'm being a little softer so she doesn't put so much energy into blocking me. I noticed she was getting really hard in her rib cage, so I've been doing some Masterson work on her to get her to release and soften. Hoping we'll get towards truly accepting my leg instead of just going forward stiffly. She is so big, bold and balanced that it's easy to forget that she is also just a baby that needs to time to adjust to being a riding horse.

[exvet]

Great pictures Chantal! Your pictures remind me that I need to set up some grids to work through, maybe today. Good luck Dresseur. I'm a bit jealous since I don't think I'll really have an opportunity to show until December. Great progress StraightForward! I have to mention that about 25 years ago, Melonie K gave me one of the most discouraging comments on a test (first level) that to this day was the worst I ever received - 'capable horse, incapable rider'. I still have it as a symbol of both inspiration and proof of how far I've come with my riding. It was on my Arabian that I eventually earned my bronze on and to be fair it was the first show I ever did with him and only 3 months after purchase. Still, I have to admit I almost walked away from dressage that day, especially after getting a 70+ score on my holsteiner (different judge) at second level despite his display of strength on his hind legs multiple times during the test (he was a lovely mover though )

We had a lesson Friday which went well. Due to the change machine we did not do a single flying change. Instead we worked on lots of counter canter and Junior didn't stick in one impromptu change. We also worked on turn on the haunches. We ran through a great exercise which really got Junior's hind end revved up - work on a square - quarter turn on the haunches at a walk, immediately trot, walk 2 strides before the corner which again was another quarter turn on the haunches, immediately trot, etc. At first Junior to exception to the quick fire, rapid aids; but, once he got the hang of it he was on fire in a good way.

I'm trying out a Roosli Pilatus. Of course it arrived at the house one hour after I got home from my lesson. I'm not sure if it's going to be a keeper. It is a really old model (and looks like it's on its last leg) but there is no question it fits his back in terms of length far better than my albion slk. I also love the fact that the saddle is very close to the horse and minimal padding. Can't decide if the twist might be just a wee bit too wide for me. Going to try it out some more and see. If I keep it, I'll be looking for a much newer model which in my seat size and MW tree isn't all that common. It will give me time to save up for it. I simply can't swing a brand new one. Looked into it but my cash flow just took a huge hit since my daughter landed on my doorstep two weeks ago due to an abusive boy friend. Just bailing her out of her situation has cut into my equine fund significantly. Hopefully I can recover enough in a few months that I can get Junior an appropriate saddle.

Brandon is doing very well ground driving at the walk. In the next day or two I'll start trotting him in long lines. He's thankfully pretty unflappable. I hope to be trail riding him by the end of the year. He got his first set of (front) shoes this week; so, he's set to handle the tough terrain once I feel sure that we have a solid whoa, go, turn left and turn right. One benefit to having my daughter here for the short term is that she will be able to ride Junior while my SO rides Ace and we can put Brandon right in the middle, helps to diminish the spooks when you have two solid steady eddies on either end.

[StraightForward]

Great progress StraightForward! I have to mention that about 25 years ago, Melonie K gave me one of the most discouraging comments on a test (first level) that to this day was the worst I ever received - 'capable horse, incapable rider'. I still have it as a symbol of both inspiration and proof of how far I've come with my riding. It was on my Arabian that I eventually earned my bronze on and to be fair it was the first show I ever did with him and only 3 months after purchase.

Wow, I think maybe she has mellowed since then? I showed under her right before Annabelle was injured and we only got very kind, helpful comments and a 7 for gaits even though we weren't exactly setting the world on fire. I audited when she was here last year and she was very calm and positive. She usually does clinics here a few times a year.

[exvet]

Great progress StraightForward! I have to mention that about 25 years ago, Melonie K gave me one of the most discouraging comments on a test (first level) that to this day was the worst I ever received - 'capable horse, incapable rider'. I still have it as a symbol of both inspiration and proof of how far I've come with my riding. It was on my Arabian that I eventually earned my bronze on and to be fair it was the first show I ever did with him and only 3 months after purchase.

Wow, I think maybe she has mellowed since then? I showed under her right before Annabelle was injured and we only got very kind, helpful comments and a 7 for gaits even though we weren't exactly setting the world on fire. I audited when she was here last year and she was very calm and positive. She usually does clinics here a few times a year.

I'm guessing that a lot has happened since then LOL. I showed under her a few years ago with one of my Welsh Cobs at second level and she gave me very fair scores. It took some convincing to be willing to pony up the cash to ride under her again but in some ways it was to prove her wrong as well. She gave me 7s for rider score; so, I guess I'm now considered capable.

[chantal]

StraightForward-that's my jumping saddle, a Black Country GPX. It's one of the few we found that fit my long upper leg. It's quite comfy and more importantly it's great for him.

Thanks exvet, I love doing gridwork and jumping with him. Keeps us fresh and happy. And he loves it!

"Capable horse, incapable rider," yikes. Someone must have peed that judge's Cheerios that morning.

[StraightForward]

Thanks, I actually had one of those a few years back. It worked well for me, just didn't fit the horse at the time.

Today's clinic ride was much better. I just had to lunge for 30 minutes first. So Annabelle was a little tired when we got to the actual lesson. Should have worn my spurs. But we got some good work in. The clinician sets up a diamond with 8 ground poles with some space at the corners and has us ride around them, and then turn and go on the inside for one or two lines, and eventually ride inside the square. It got Annabelle setting up more over her inside/left hind in the canter going through the little "gate" and then back onto a circle or diamond. She also had me riding with wider hands, and then only going narrower when the horse was really straight and in a good spot, and also being more "playful" in the contact. She is coming back in November; not sure if I'll sign up or not, but I do think this helped to explain what my regular instructor has been working on with me in a different way.

[Kyra's Mom]

Well I've had a bit of a week. Monday I went to ride but completely forgot to put my boots in the truck so that was a fail. No big, was just going to hack so groomed and hand grazed her instead. Tuesday after I get a text from the working student, "Kora is toe pointing one of her hind legs is there anything you want us to do." Well fudge. Jump in the truck and boogie on over.

No swelling or heat anywhere, no pulse, palpated her all over and found some minor sensitivity maybe in her hamstring. She is full on toe point pointing and walking albeit poorly. So we're guessing she got tagged by pasture mate in the rump. I give her dose of banamine and rub liniment on her bum and tell working student to message me in the morning. She's a little better in the morning not full on toe pointing but just resting leg now and then. Thursday she seems about the same and I start spiraling about having to take her for lameness evaluation at the horsepital.

Hope you can see where this is going. Get out to the barn this afternoon and her leg is full on swollen, well double fudge. Pick up her foot and wham GIANT CRATER OF PUSS on her heel. Oh man, I've never been so happy to see puss -every horse person ever.

abscess.jpg

I've hosed it and thanked the abscess deity for it's benevolence of not having a broken pony. It's been years since I've dealt with an abscess so advice happy accepted!!

Yeah for pus! I went through this very thing a few years ago. I did take her to the vet and he x-rayed the fetlock (where there was some mild swelling) and decided she sprained her fetlock. Sent me home with some bute. I gave it for 3 days and she was better. Went out the 5th day (skipped the 4th since she was better) and OMG...stovepipe leg . Swelling clear above the hock and barely weighting her toe. I thought she had really blown a suspensory. Took her in and did some cold water therapy and after that was examining her leg and despite 20 minutes in cold water, her heel (in the exact same place) was hotter than Hades. I went from looking for a stall to put her in so she didn't do any more damage to...nevermind. Pretty sure it is an abscess. Next day...yeah for the giant hole in her heel. She was much happier. I was also on crutches after foot surgery so we were a pretty pathetic pair until the abscess blew then someone had to lead her for me as I couldn't keep up. I also couldn't manage any poulticing by myself...I just couldn't hold up her leg and me on one leg. So luckily we were having a dry spell (in March...pretty weird) so she got managed by benign neglect. She was sound by day 2 post blow and that was that. It did take a good 2 weeks for all that swelling to go away. I wasn't sure when it all started but my gut told me abscess and I should have listened and could have saved $300 bucks.

Our air finally cleared up. I rode yesterday but in the late morning it was still quite smoky and I had a time limit and didn't feel like putting her boots on so we just did a walk session which was fine since she hadn't been ridden in a week. We lots of lateral work so she had to really put forth some effort.
I did a rare (for me) 2 rides in a row and rode again today. Since the air was clear, I added trot and canter work back in. Just working on basics after the lay off. She was pretty good but she is still being a little bit squirrelly and 'lonely' but she stayed with me (both mentally and physically) fairly well. She needed a lot of reminders to stay straight today. I noticed that I am leaning to the left, especially in canter. Not really collapsing...but leaning for sure. That certainly doesn't help the straightness quotient so something I really need to be aware of and fix.

Happy riding all.

Susan

[chantal]

Thanks, I actually had one of those a few years back. It worked well for me, just didn't fit the horse at the time.

Today's clinic ride was much better. I just had to lunge for 30 minutes first. So Annabelle was a little tired when we got to the actual lesson. Should have worn my spurs. But we got some good work in. The clinician sets up a diamond with 8 ground poles with some space at the corners and has us ride around them, and then turn and go on the inside for one or two lines, and eventually ride inside the square. It got Annabelle setting up more over her inside/left hind in the canter going through the little "gate" and then back onto a circle or diamond. She also had me riding with wider hands, and then only going narrower when the horse was really straight and in a good spot, and also being more "playful" in the contact. She is coming back in November; not sure if I'll sign up or not, but I do think this helped to explain what my regular instructor has been working on with me in a different way.

This sounds like really good work, yay for good clinics. It's great to work toward the same goals in different ways, invigorating, challenging and helps me so much. Gives me alternatives when I'm stuck. We were trotting the small circle in the middle picture, coming onto the grid in that picture. Active trot to about an 8 m circle. The circle is the green pole to the yellow poles. On and off when needed, never more than one time around and then into canter over cavellettis on both ends of the circle and than back to the trot circle grid.