Putting 2020 in Hindsight: November-December Goals and Progress

[heddylamar]

Maia: Get over the last trailer hump

This is not going so well. We've stalled out at about our July progress. I stand at the base of the ramp, and send Maia back and forth in half circles in front of me, over the ramp. Then, when she's begging for it, into the trailer, where she self-serves 1-2 treats and licks the bucket. I tug on her tail, and ask her to step out (then refill treats), and start over. I can send her fully into the trailer 8-12 times before she hits the brakes and won't go anymore. I've not gotten the butt bar up.

Writing this all out, I realize just need to do it, and start putting the butt bar up once she's plugged in to the treats. I'll put a few more treats in the bucket, and see what happens when she's distracted

[chantal]

Hard work this weekend (we filmed a video for a virtual-this year- local parade that raises money for food for the surrounding communities every year holiday season. Definitely the highlight of the season so far.

[quinta]

I love how much fun everyone is having with their horses! We all need some extra joy right now.

Vetting my potential horse #2 tomorrow, so hope to have a good update later in the day. I hate waiting.

[Sue B]

SF, how much colder does it need to get? it was 7F when I walked this morning. Granted, we do get up into the mid-30"s for an hour or 2 evry day, but with a 15mph breeze, it really doesn't feel that warm, lol.

Whining over...Tio is doing pretty well with his abcessed foot. It wound up breaking out at the coronary band where expected AND at the heel, which only I expected. No more swelling or heat now, just a tender foot that he forgets about when he gallops across the pasture, hehe.

Rudy hates winter and grouses every time I hop on for the first few minutes and then he's ready to go. I broke down and bought him a new girth because of the Hufgloken sale, and it arrived Saturday morning. Had to try it out soon as I was done with work and helping a friend, but because I had to go to an auction supporting FFA, I only had a very short time to ride, and so I rode in jeans and tenners (no stirrups for safety reasons). At first Rudy was NOT amused, and I found it inordinately difficult to do a rising trot sans stirrup, boots and britches So I was a little late to the auction riding longer than I meant to, while I sorted my body out, but, hey, it was fun so whatever. I did get there in time to take pictures of ds's friend receiving his American Farmer plaque and to buy stuff for way too much money in support of an extremely worthy cause. Good day all around.

Yesterday, I dressed properly and got a ride in before the sun set. My arena, with that black rubber, stays good even when air temps don't make it above freezing. My thermometer said it was 40 in the sun, but an hour later it was 25, so I don't know. I do know that Rudy declined to go on a hack after our workout, so I'm pretty sure the wind was bothering him. On the plus side, he did manage to put together a quite acceptable passage down the long side! He was able to develop some nice hang time, stay softly forward and absolutely straight. Probably didn't look like much to someone on the ground, but it felt really good.

[StraightForward]

SF, how much colder does it need to get? it was 7F when I walked this morning. Granted, we do get up into the mid-30"s for an hour or 2 evry day, but with a 15mph breeze, it really doesn't feel that warm, lol.

I tend to quit riding when it's 15F, but that's with an indoor arena. So far lows over here in the big city have been around 20, with a nice window in the late afternoon where it's sunny and 40F. Unfortunately no measures are being taken to keep the outdoor footing a little more weather-proof, so once the temps drop a little more, it will be too hard to ride on.

Quinta - Jingles for a good PPE!

[Chisamba]

me too, I quit riding at 15

[chantal]

Oooh, jingles Quinta!

I don't ride under 25 anymore. My RA just can't handle it.

The indoor stays decent and we have black rubber in the outdoor now so come on sun! It's not horrible here though. Cold this week for us, only getting up to 40ish during the day which I'm sure is balmy for some of you. I rode around 11:30 and it was about 35.

[khall]

This Georgian struggles with the cold. 40’s is the coldest I want to ride. Though to be honest our 40’s is a damp cold which goes down into your bones.

[blob]

good luck, Quinta! And great pictures Chantal--you guys look great!

MM gets shoes for the first time tomorrow. I am a bit nervous about how she will be for the shoeing process. She is very good for the farrier, but her self preservation instincts are strong. I think she will be fine with the nailing, but I'm worried the smoke will set off her alarm bells. Right now the plan is to see how she does with them/if they make any performance difference and then either keep or pull. I am very curious to see how she does with them.

I've been working on getting RP's frame/self-carriage in a better place. As he's gotten more comfortable in contact, he's also gotten into hoping I'll carry him around a bit. Got some pictures from my ride yesterday and thought others might find it interesting to see where we are and what we're aiming for.

#1: this is where RP wants to be right now. He's seeking contact but wants to be too low and a bit behind the vertical. In this frame he has decent joint articulation and shoulder reach but hind leg is not reaching under that much and the distance between front legs is greater than the distance between hind legs.

#2: I can get him so that his poll gets higher and keep him there without too much work, but it's still too closed in the throatlatch area/behind the vertical. In this frame his hind leg reaches under ok, but his shoulder has less reach. The distance between the front legs is again greater than between the hind legs.

#3: I can also let him keep his poll a bit lower, but open up his throatlatch. I can keep him here without too much work as well as long as I a stay focused on it. Here he has good shoulder and hind leg reach. And the distance between the front legs is closer to that of the back legs. It was helpful for me to see that his movement is better here than it is at #2.

#4: this is where I would LIKE him to be. But we do not have the strength yet to carry this for more than a few strides at a time. Here the shoulder has more freedom and so the shoulder reach more upward and the distance between the front legs and the distance between the hind legs is pretty much the same

[Flight]

Awesome set of photos with explanations Blob!

[Ryeissa]

Blob- I feel you. In the same boat. thanks for sharing

[Lipsmackerpony88]

Blob, lovely photos and descriptions, especially in photo number 4! He will get there! You are doing a lovely job. Glad to see you riding again.

[demi]

Very interesting pics, Blob. Thanks for sharing. I enjoy analyzing riding pictures. I think you’re doing a good job with his training!

[MsM]

Good news and bad news. Good news is that the BO is redoing the footing in the indoor! Bad news is that it is unusable until they finish. And of course once they started we had snow and ice so most of the outdoor ring is unusable as well!
My boy does not do well with much time off. Especially in the winter. So yesterday I booted him up and managed to longe a bit in part of the outdoor. Didnt want him to do much as it was pretty hard and he has foot issues, but he had other ideas so we had some discussions. Managed to get some decent trot work before he amped up and distractions increased so we called it good.
I am hoping the indoor is done soon and/or the weather warms up and softens the outside footing!

[exvet]

We had a lesson on Sunday, that is Junior and I. My instructor (and friend, though when it comes to lesson time she pulls no punches which is why I'll drive over an hour to ride with her) had us working on straightness in all three gaits. It was a very good lesson. Went home with homework and today after repeating our work from Sunday had real canter halfpasses. It was so nice to have a horse working into both reins so that I could control the shoulders and the hind end, yeah! Junior is in a little bit of shock to realize that I've upped the ante but he's coping. I've also noticed that he's 'blossomed'. He's probably one of the stoutest welsh cobs, I've produced.

Ace is a gem, as always. He's such a pleasure to ride.

Brandon.....well....Houston, we're trotting now under saddle and he's even attempted canter. I think we'll hit our goals for this round.

So far the personal life is good. Professionally......people are so darn angry.....I've started having migraines again which I left behind in my childhood. I've been called so many names that I can't write here for long wait times and having to deal with drop offs and curb side service. It's been unbelievable and of course Banfield is demanding more production........

[khall]

And this is why us Georgians struggle to acclimate to colder weather. It’s supposed to be 70 the next 4 days.

[Kyra's Mom]

So sorry for the work aggravation Exvet. I just don't know this country anymore. Boise had a health district meeting last night. The anti-maskers and anti-vaxers showed up in force and some actually went to some of the the members' homes and blasted air horns, banged on buckets and yelled. One of the members' kids were home by themselves waiting for Mom to come home after the meeting and scared big time. Since when does protesting involve harassment ?

Anyway, back to the riding portion of the program...I probably should have been doing a lot more with Kyra the last couple of weeks. The weather has been quite divine for December. Warm enough in the afternoon to get a ride in. However, I really tweaked my wrist and hand when I fell last week. I think it is finally on the mend. I wasn't sure I could grip the left rein. However, I gave it a whirl on Sunday with a wrist brace and it went OK. Canter was better although still a little stiff feeling but much softer up front. I did finally remember to check my stirrups (of course not until after I rode) and even though they were on the same # hole, the left was longer. Hopefully, that will fix some of my listing left next time. Today, I didn't have a lot of time so I lunged her. She went from semi-comatose to snorting and running around like a giraffe after this big rig and trailer went by clanging down the driveway next to the arena. She did calm down enough for me to do a bit of in-hand work with some very short trot/half steps. She was nicely relaxed and actually waited for direction . Also had a short but sweet Spanish walk session. I try to do some work WITH quality even if it is only for 10-15 minutes. I try to get her on her Surefoot pads a couple times a week. She usually doesn't stand on them for long...a couple minutes per session but I swear they are allowing her little contracted heels to spread so we will keep with it (until it gets really cold...not sure how pliable the pads stay below freezing).

I hope to make it back out tomorrow and have a ride. The outdoor arena was very nice today. It was gummy wet but we have had no precip in days and with the above freezing afternoons it has dried out nicely and they worked it again so nice and fluffy. Just like my horse. My is she fluffy. I will probably have to clip and blanket if I get to riding her more consistently. She warms up fast.

Happy riding all.

Susan

[mari]

I have about a week and half of riding left before going away for more than 3 weeks. The changes are sloooooooooowly getting better. I've been focused on the canter so much that our lateral work at trot is getting a bit creaky, but I think I will leave that til next year to pick up again.

[Lipsmackerpony88]

Kyra's mom- how awful and scary! I can't believe people sometimes.

[quinta]

Happy shopping update! I just brought home a mini-Autumn. Meet Nia, a 14hh 3 year old Welsh X. She was a summer project pony for a local eventing trainer, who gave her a really good start. Three solid gaits, extremely personable, and a fabulous brain. Really wants to do the right things, and is super chuffed when she does a good job. Trailered home like a champ, and is settling into the herd quite well. It's been a long time since I had a pony, and I am just so smitten with her.

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[Sue B]

Oh my gosh, Quinta! What a beautiful face. Congratulations! I am sooo excited for you. Only 3 years old? You guys are going to have such a wonderful journey together.

[StraightForward]

Awww, fuzzy spotty pony nose! Congratulations, looking forward to hearing about your adventures together!

[demi]

We got a new pony!!!! I mean, Quinta got a new pony Congrats. She looks and sounds perfect!

[khall]

Cute face on that pony Quinta! Love the spot. Keep us updated

[Lipsmackerpony88]

What a cute face!! Congrats, she sounds like a gem.

[Moutaineer]

Yay! Pony cuteness! Congrats, Quinta!

In other news... I had the vet out to look at Laddie again today, as he wasn't getting any better. He blocked his coffin joint very specifically, and he went sound. Which of course means that the issue is something in his coffin joint.

One likely explanation is that it's all got inflamed due to the abscess from Hell going on forever (he's not lame enough for it to be an infection in the joint.) Another is that he's got some arthritis starting, or that there's some soft tissue strain or issue in there.

For the sake of my sanity, I'm leaning towards explanation #1. It would seem like too great a coincidence for the abscess and the arthritis to show up together just like that.

Initial treatment is the same anyway--inject the joint with a mild corticosteroid and HA to damp down inflammation. If that makes him sound, it's back to careful work, and wait and see. If scenario 1, then it should be a one and done situation. If scenario 2, then in about 2 months the juice will wear off, he will go lame again and we have to do a bunch more diagnostics and see where we go from there. If he doesn't go sound, then we have a soft tissue thing going on, which I don't even want to contemplate at the moment.

So, he gets 2 days off and then we pray to all the Gods he's sound on the lunge on Sunday, or at least by Tuesday.

This is killing me. Poor guy has been so miserable.

[khall]

I’m sorry mountaineer. Jingles Laddie comes sound

[Lipsmackerpony88]

Mountaineer, I hope it was from the abcess and that he comes and stays sound!

[exvet]

Huge congrats Quinta! She does look like a mini Autumn......those red heads Who's the Welsh half? They're like potato chips aren't they?

So sorry to read about Laddie Mountaineer. Sending jingles too.

We finally had a full day of rain yesterday. My turnout looks like the guys did double duty dancing in the rain. I'm waiting for it to get light enough to ride and will see if any of mine decided to try to do themselves in........I haven't paid my entry fees yet so there's hope they're all okay

[chantal]

Quinta-CONGRATS!! We love new ponies!! Looking forward to more pics and updates.

Moutaineer-jingles, just jingles, for health and sanity and peace.

exvet-argggghhhh! I love our vets, drop-off has been amazing for our dog Tesla (ha, a Vizsla so he matches SF's Tesla, and my guy). He keeps getting into trouble, so we've seen them 4 times since August. I guess the last doesn't count since it was his annual physical. And it's mostly allergies and ear stuff. They were bad this year-wonder if I should think about changing his food. Sigh. I am so grateful they are open and working their butts off for all of us, so thank you from across the country. I'm so sorry about a-holes and migraines.

We had a good dressage lesson, he's working so honestly. I needed more stability in my core, the cold and my meds being weird are making it a little hard, but hay, any correct riding is PT for me and I'm thinking I can back off a little bit this winter as we've worked hard all year. He's always refreshed by a break and well-behaved when we get back to it so we've got that going for us. I'm just frustrated with the canter and would like to be so much further ahead than we are. Patience Padawan!

[quinta]

Jingles for Laddie, Mountaineer! Hope the injection makes him more comfortable.

As for the breeding on my little mare... *shrug*. I am her fourth owner (!), and the specifics about the cross have been lost. She definitely looks and moves like a Welsh cross, so I have no reason to believe that's not the case. I do know that she has great conformation, lovely temperament, and clean x-rays. Papers would have been a bonus, but lack of them wasn't enough to make me pass her up.

[khall]

Well shoot. Went to ride Joplin today and she was slightly off LF. Has a pulse and reacted to nail. Hoping it is just a hot nail. My farrier is excellent but shit can happen a d his hip was hurting him that day after being kicked twice by a young horse he had worked on at another farm

[Moutaineer]

Thanks, folks. Laddie was looking pretty chipper and happy faced this afternoon. Apparently walked out to his paddock this morning like he was heading for the start line at the Kentucky Derby, but no bouncing around once out there. He could of course still be on a bute and nerveblock high from yesterday morning, so we shall see how he really is by Sunday...

[demi]

That’s good news, Mountaineer! Looking good for just inflammation from the abscess...

[Aleuronx]

I've been a bit quiet as of late but still following along and OMG Quinta pony yes!

Sigh, I don't know what it is but it's fact finding mission starting on Monday with the vet. Kora has progressively gotten more reactive and quite frankly, unrideable. Just feels tight in her own skin if that makes any sense. It's so not like her and clearly waving the red flag. My home vet talked me off the ledge and we have some avenues to explore. I took her off Regumate late fall as I hate having the barn girls deal with it even with the dosing gun to squirt on feed etc. Figured she won't need it over the winter, right?

We are going to start with checking off those repro boxes first on Monday with exam and bloodwork. Then go from there maybe gastric scope at the hors-pital, she'd been having some stress diarrhea when traveling so perhaps that's turned ugly in her digestive tract.

It's hard with an unknown but I trust with my team that we'll get her sorted. And I'll feel horrible if it's something I did or decisions I made but we will turn her right again first.

If that isn't enough to jingle for... I'm on another good interview streak with a company for a really exciting position that would allow me to work from home. I'll take any and all spare jingles for that to come through!!

[Lipsmackerpony88]

Alueronx,I hope you figure out what's going on with your mare and she's right again soon. Kudos for you for listening to her. I've done the NQR thing, no fun. But it sounds like you have reasonable places to start checking out.

[chantal]

Blob-love the pics and commentary. Very cool exercise to do that. RP is really cute! How was the shoeing experience for MM?

[Anne]

Everyone, I'm enjoying reading all the updates, and I'm sending jingles for those horses and humans needing them

I'm finally riding again now that my back has recovered to a large degree (still doing some physio exercises for it, but am pretty much pain free). However, Connor got a kick to the knee a few weeks back and though he is not lame, it still has some swelling. So I'm riding the 'spare' horse (my partner's 2nd horse, a big Irish Draft cross). I took him out for a hack to our local river today, in blustery windy spring conditions and he was a champ. A bit of a 'mental health improvement' day for both of us, just an easy walk in the spring sunshine.

I'm going to 'corrupt' the training thread with a completely frivolous photo of our four boys, taken when the neighbour's pet deer decided to visit....

2020-12-09-4boys-sml.jpg (70.01 KiB) Viewed 8957 times

[chantal]

Anne, that's a great picture!! I'm going to start a new thread specifically for pics and credit it to you. Eye candy is always appreciated!

[demi]

Yes, nice pic, Anne. Are the two on the left with the stars related? They look a lot alike.

[demi]

The right lead on a shorter rein is much better. I videoed training level 3 a couple of days ago and it was a definite improvement over the one I did in July. It took 6 months but I guess I should be happy. I looked at the vid from a showing perspective and saw some mistakes that could have been avoided. I was in “just do it” mode and was unaware of what movements had coefficients.

At any rate, I decided after watching the video that it was time to start practicing for 1st-1. So yesterday I videoed trot lengthenings and was happy with how Rocky is responding. Being able to watch what we were doing makes all the difference for me. I only did 6 lengthenings, varying from 3-7 strides each. I thought I could feel them, but they were actually better than they felt. Now that I know how well she was responding to the request, I can make changes in how I ask. So this is what I’m doing to change next time:
For one thing, I put my hands more foreword than they needed to be. She was definitely reaching into the contact, but on the first couple of attempts she was stretched out too far which resulted in going on the forehand.

Also, the ones where I did SI first were better than the ones where I just half halted in the two corners of the short side and then did the lengthening. And the one where I did a 10m circle at B, then halfhalted in the two short side corners was the best.

Tomorrow I will try 10m circles into SI, to half halts in the corners, to lengthening...

[Ryeissa]

COVID issues finally hit my barn, but hope to be back riding this week. I tested negative. Nothing major or super serious but very scary times!

[piedmontfields]

I do appreciate the jingles! My dear mare Emi has a torn suspensory + + (chips off sesamoid and splint bones). I don't know what happened, I'm seriously judging myself for missing signs (if they were there), and am trying day by day to work towards a happy retirement for her at the very least. She has given me so much and I am very heart broken, but trying to do the right things and just be patient. She is actually actually pretty cheerful, except for stall rest and humans that only let her graze calmly so much each day.

I do appreciate the good and sad updates from everyone. It has been quite the year. I am in a state with very high rates of COVID. I am vigilant about masking and distance, but many at my barn are young, healthy and casual. I'm extremely thankful to be working from home (and to have a super demanding, crazy job with multiple promotions this year).

I regret, Demi, that I have not made a special note of your serious progress with Rocky! Great video/images and very thoughtful improvements.

Fingers crossed for Laddie and *A L L* for the rest of the year. I feel am maturing as a horse person going through this process of serious injury/rest and total uncertainty. It is very hard and challenging. A year ago I was dealing with an ACL tear in a dog (1 year later, he has excellent quality of life and is doing well at age 11).

[khall]

Oh gosh piedmontfields that’s heartbreaking

Demi yay for first! That’s great Rocky is showing nice lengthenings.

My farrier came out hoof tested Joplin and pulled a nail. No idea why she is sore with slight pulse. She’s done this once before on that foot. Supposed to lunge her tomorrow to see how she is if I need to I can throw her on the trailer with Rip Thursday for his check up. I believe his airway is better. His whinny sounds normal now. It gets hoarse when he has inflammation

Glad Laddie is better hope he stays that way.

Jingles for all who need them and happy riding for those who have sound healthy horse and good weather

[StraightForward]

Jingles for Laddie, Emi, Kora, and any other DDBB ponies with soundness problems. Geeze, it seems to have arrived in a cluster!

Demi, I feel like we're leading almost parallel lives, training-wise. A has started offering some nice lengthenings, and the right lead is becoming much less of an issue. I can see that I need to work on riding her a little shorter - I feel like I am, then I watch the video and she is still pretty long. Today was likely the last day of riding outside for a bit as we have a storm coming in tomorrow, so I grabbed a bit of video to refer back to later. My upper body is continuing to vex me, with the right shoulder coming up and the right arm sucking into my body. I think it's getting better, but honestly it's a miracle that Annabelle has improved so much considering my own failure to straighten myself out. A few minutes of her crushing all the right lead transitions today: https://youtu.be/OumatyuV7B0 We got some good W/C transitions as well, but I'd turned off the video due to the waning daylight.

Tesla is getting a lot better about not being sticky, but with the change in weather, I'm not sure how much more progress I'll be able to make with her in the next few months. At least she is at a point where I think I can ride her at the haul-in arena, which is nice and big. Hopefully I can work my schedule to do that 2x a week over the winter.

[Moutaineer]

Oh, damn, Piedmont! That really blows. And that sounds like an actual injury, rather than something you might have felt coming. Front or rear? I suspect you have sought out excellent veterinary care and advice, which is all you can do, apart from following the protocols and praying. Don't give up hope though. Big jingles for Emi(for whom I have a rather soft spot amongst our family of horses here,) and for your patience and fortitude.

And I understand your barn issues. Selfishly grateful that several people have left our barn and we are down to 6 horses with 4 paranoid middle-aged owners who have no social lives. We are all pitifully grateful for each other's socially distanced company when we do run into each other.

And also big jingles for Joplin, Khall. I hope it's simple with a short and sweet recovery period.

And Kora! poor kid. Any news on her yet?

And on the subject of feet, SF, how is Tio doing?

Damned fragile horses already. Really.

Keep your fingers and toes crossed for a sound Laddie tomorrow.

[Anne]

@Demi, no, the 2 'starry' boys are not related, but yeah, they look quite similar! Carlo (left-most) is 1/2 Andalusian 1/2 TB, and Bram (next) is 3/4 Irish Draft. They are my partner's horses, and my two are next, Connor (bay) and Fergal (my 'problem pony', Connemara/TB cross).

Piedmont, oh no! Poor Emi, jingles for her.

[demi]

Oh Piedmont, I am so sorry to hear about Emi. I was noticing that you weren’t posting a lot lately and was hoping it was just because you were too busy with work. I know you will take the best possible care of Emi. She has thrived under your care in spite of her other health issues. I am sure you know that animals sense when their people really care about them. Emi “knows”you are going to take care of her and that’s why she is cheerful right now.

Lots of jingles. And keep us posted. Give her lot’s of low carb treats for me. (I’ve shifted Rocky from regular treats to the low carb ones and she didnt even notice! She thinks they are fabulous)

[Ryeissa]

Congrats Quinta! Adorable! as you know the pinto wonder is 14.3 hands.

[Ryeissa]

Jingles for Emi!