Pumpkin spice ponies: September and October Training Thread

[StraightForward]

Here's our new thread!

We are wrapping up rehab, so not much for goals this time around:

Me: Regular gym-going

Tesla:
Keep improving the 2nd/3rd level walk movements since we MUST WALK
Introduce trot through the short sides this month.
Introduce canter in October, and probably SI and LY in trot

Saddles: Get the Erreplus sent to Italy for a new tree, hopefully sell the Trilogy.

[heddylamar]

I just lost a novel, having to re-login

Me: Get healthy.

Maia: Stay sane, safe, and don't explode into a giant, red bouncing ball.

I was trail running on Friday, tripped, and cut my knee. I started to run on, then realized that maybe I should stop: there were rivers of blood running down my leg. Urgent care flushed, stitched it closed, and sent me off with antibiotics and a knee immobilizer.

Monday evening, it wasn't looking quite right, but nothing significant, so I went back to urgent care when they opened Tuesday morning. Popped parts open, drained, and packed, and sent me home. It was massively swollen by Tuesday night, so we went to the ER. They took X-rays, CT, and started antibiotics, then transferred me to another hospital with ortho and infectious disease specialists.

And then the real fun started.

First up was the ortho resident, who was too impatient to wait for the ER staff to figure out which pain meds I could take (not many, yay allergies!), so he did the knee prick without local or pain meds.

The white blood cell count wasn't too high, so a whole team of ortho residents came back and debrided, this time with local. I do not want to know what that would feel like without local anesthetic. Multiple abscesses, some "very deep" (which makes me question my knowledge of deep, because this is my knee cap, not a thigh), and extracted all sorts of stuff for culture.

Side note: it's a bit disturbing when a bunch of 20-somethings get excited about your wound and descend like a pack.

After more antibiotics and a dressing change, the orthos plan was to send me home today, but the infectious disease doctor came in this afternoon, looked at the wound, and asked me if the redness was the same or better than during the bandage change this morning. Worse.

So here I am. I'll be here until at least Saturday when they get the cultures back. Then they need to figure out what antibiotics will work for whatever is growing in my leg that I can take home (more allergies, including all sulfas).

The ortho team flooded the thoroughly abused and cleaned wound with six large bottles of sterile solution. By comparison, urgent care used 3-4 60ml syringes. I had to laugh. If the DH had brought me the sterile solution I'd requested, in addition to the gauze, I might not be here.

Now every time the DH gives me shit about "that time I insisted on washing my hair instead of going to the ER" (I scrubbed the shit out of the road rash with wound wash, and then myself because I was running a trail race) before going to the ER with a dislocated phalanx, I am going to push back with "septic arthritis."

If this heals without surgery, I hope to still go backpacking in October with friends.

And, once the wound closes, I'll start back with Maia on getting your anxious ass in the horse trailer. To that end, I should try lighting it up with the battery-powered work light. It's a Hawk, so lots of windows and light, but she hates any hint of a dark space.

[StraightForward]

Damn, you are taking "fall" way too literally. Yikes, I hope the infection is under control and you're on the mend soon!

[Moutaineer]

Yikes, Heddy! I'm glad you're in the right place to get it resolved (I get you on the pack of gawkers coming in to check you out. When I had my deer-goring incident, I reckon the entire hospital staff came through for a look. Fortunately I was so high on Ativan by then, I was past caring. This is a small town. For some time afterwards I'd have people saying "I know you from somewhere!" And I'd respond "Do you work at the hospital?")

Anyhow, Potters continues to improve. Justin just rode him as I was at the hospital this morning myself, having had an abnormal mammogram last week. They've just done an extremely thorough follow-up and found nothing, which is a relief, but I feel like I've been run over by a road roller. So I watched instead of riding. It was lovely, actually. Now I just need to ride him as well as Justin does!

[exvet]

Wow Heddy! My friend was just beat up by her young horse (spooked as she was leading and ran all over her) and now your 'more than' mishap. Wishing you a speedy recovery.

Had a great clinic today on Troy. Ace was the bomb schooling for the schooling show tomorrow and Junior was his cheeky self. I'll post more in the other thread but Junior's radiographs were not too bad - still moderate rotation on left fore, improved with less rotation on right fore and moving sound. Farrier is coming next week and we'll talk about rehab plans. His lab results were stunning except his insulin which was right back up to 64, bummer.

Goals - me, well I've lost quite a bit of weight just due to stress and all the extra work I've been doing to care for Junior, so I just want that to stabilize.

Ace - get through tomorrows training level test 3 without embarassing ourselves and then keep working on his stamina and skills for first level.

Troy - get him confident in the canter and solid in the bridle. He's been pretty good so now it's time to work on consistency.

Junior - see if I can keep him sound (with the grace of God). He at least seems pretty darn happy which does my heart good.

[exvet]

The last schooling show of the season is in the books. I showed Ace and Troy. I decided to ride Troy in Intro A & B in order to take the pressure off of both of us. It was the right plan. He was very nervous and did okay his first test for a 66 and change. I rode my tests back to back. The second test was going okay until the wind threw sand or paper cups or something hitting a banner in the corner and he bolted like his life depended on it. We got a beautiful balanced and up hill right lead canter and an amazing 20 meter circle that was a bit impromptu. Though it wasn't was I was hoping for he did let me circle him so the freight train had steering and I got on 8 on my rider score.................more cowboy up points and proof that the velcro is still there. We actually also got a 66 and change on that test. What also helped both of my tests were 8s on our halts. Looking like he's going to fill Monty's shoes after all.

Ace was a hoot. I did training level test 3 for both of my rides. His first test was okay with the challenge being maintaining him in canter. Well we did it though it wasn't all that pretty. He still lacks a lot of strength and bend at the canter. We scored a 62 and change. We had one test to rest before going in and doing it all over again. This time he broke once in the canter and a tap with the whip received a big buck and then no bending but he wasn't scarey or strong in the bridle LOL. He received the same score. It was clear that by the second test, this mustang was 'done' with dressage. He's still my steady eddie even if 'real work' isn't his thing.

So if I may amend my goals for this time around? Ace - build strength, stamina and BEND at the canter (he's good at the trot). Troy - more wet saddle blankets as an old mentor would say.

Because the show was at the neighborhood, the equestrian community, where our one house and acreage is located, I was able to ride the horses over to the show venue which was from our new house that we moved into over this week. Needless to say neither horse got a bath but my tack did get cleaned I also got to ride Junior over so my friends could see him. They felt he looks pretty good. Of course my goal with him is to still do my best to continue to support his recovery and pray for no setbacks of any real consequence.

SF you called it well for this segment - I literally had pumpkin spice ponies coming from every direction LOL

[Aleuronx]

Oof Heddy!! No one wants to be ‘remember that case’. Make sure to tuck into whatever your probiotic of choice is to support yourself with mega antibiotics.

We’re in the midst of some of the most beautiful riding weather. I’m trying to soak it all in to be tucked away and remembered in depths of February.

Pondered some goals but truly just throwing myself at the hands of trainer. I had a little fomo of not doing Regionals but looked at times posted and with 15 rides in the AA I-1 it was the right choice. Remind me of that when I’m score creeping in a couple weeks.

We had another clinician come to the farm last week and did a lesson where I felt again like she was just playing with us and a bit of show-off than nitty gritty work. Which was most fun and she was the 4th? or 5th? to say unprompted that Kora will be a GP horse. We will certainly give it a crack~

Section Goals:
-Baby passage development
-Control in the right pirouette, greater sitting in the left
-Enjoy fall hacking
-I-1 Freestyle plans for 2027

[khall]

Ugh heddy!! Major jingles for healing and no more ER trips/hospital stays! Yes it’s never fun being one of those patients:)

SF yay for T to slowly get back to her regular schedule program!

Exvet it’s amazing how many mustangs are energy saving beasts! Glad Ace is doing well still I remember you being so concerned with his colicing. Sounds like exciting show that ended well with Troy.

Mountaineer glad Potters is getting back to himself! I’m jealous you have a Justin that can help keep him going when you are out of commission. Wishing I had a Justin with me facing surgery again!!

Al sounds devine weather wise! We are still hot humid and bugs galore. IMHO you absolutely will get Kora to GP. Have fun with the training!

Me this time around keep all 3 going as good as I can prior to surgery 11/9. Joplin its changes, schooling CPs and starting passage. Do more piaffe US.
Chex heal from ear surgery he had last week. Poor guy had growths on outside of both ears not in cartilage thankfully. Came home Wednesday with drains in both ears. He’s good about me cleaning them up but any oral medication is a hard no after 2 days of it. Switching to another NSAID( bute powder is an no in his feed too) and gave up on ulcer guard. Then back to work. He’s been chugging right along. Playing with some pole work too. He’s the best at poles out of the 3

Gaila keep a training ride on her at least weekly otherwise she’s playing school mistress to a couple of people and is doing well at it.

I’m also going to go ride with a trainer in Aiken next month. He rode with Carl H when he lived in GB. Is a SA native who rides to GP and is a lovely rider. Hoping he can help me with FCs on Joplin and passage. If he’s amenable to riding get some while I’m out I will haul once able every week or every other week for him to ride Joplin.

And 1 schooling show in October with Joplin. At least 3rd 3 maybe 4 th 1. Thought about one for next weekend but bleh too hot.

I would absolutely send Joplin to Cedar for training except Joplin’s management and care issues. No trainer needs that headache! I have friends who live in Aiken with a farm and she rides with Sean the SA trainer too. So I’ll have place for me and Joplin to stay while riding with Sean.

So ready for a weather change! It’s just brutal here. Left the movie matinee today because it was too hot to work outside and car said it was 101. Brutal with the humidity.

Enjoy any good weather! Send some this way please!!

Happy riding all!

[StraightForward]

SF you called it well for this segment - I literally had pumpkin spice ponies coming from every direction LOL

LOL, we've had some cool, slightly blustery days where I've had 1,400 pounds of pumpkin spice on my hands. Then days like yesterday where it was a perfect 70 degrees, T is calm as can be. Hoping to let a little more steam out of the pressure cooker before more fall storms roll through. I'm noticing she is still just a tiny bit off circling to the right. The vet did say that would put the most strain on her injury since it's the left lateral branch. I'm modifying our circling to account for that and the irregularities of the arena I have to work in. An experience friend dropped by yesterday as I was checking her soundness on the lunge and agreed with me that she is 100% circling left, but there is just a hint of NQR to the right, so we proceed while watching everything hawkishly.

Found out this weekend that my longtime coach is heading to FL this winter, just about the time I expect to be ready for lessons again, so I'm trying to decide what to do. Oh well, we have a few months of rehab still ahead of us.

Khall, hope you have a great trip to Aiken and enjoy some cooler weather soon.

Exvet, sorry the ponies keep testing your Velcro, but at least you still have it!

Alx, I also have confidence that you and Kora will make it to GP!

[Ponichiwa]

Jeez, heddy, get well soon! Hoping horses and humans alike get through the next 8ish weeks feeling better than before.

Goals this time around:
Queso:
- Work up to 30min/day handwalking. If all goes well, maybe (just maybe) we can start walking under tack

Dijon:
- One more big outing at intro coming up in September. Not holding my breath for championships but cautiously optimistic. Top half of the class (and they are big classes) would be ideal.
- after that, canter time! Working up to a soft and fluid canter transition with the goal of something show-able by end October.

Me:
- fitness, as always. Never fun to work out in the 95+ deg temps but realistically, sitting them out means sitting out 6mo of the year.

[blob]

Oh gosh, Heddy--that is scary. Infections are no joke. Hoping you are feeling better an that they've found the right antibiotic for you.

I"m just emerging from vacation so I feel a bit of a fog/slog. But here are goals for this section:

Me:
Eat better
Find/make time to walk

MM:
Hopefully start getting back to walking her as weather cools

RP:
Regionals in October--put in a clean second level test
Open show alongside regionals -- show 3-1?!
Continue working on ease of lateral work
continue working on changes--particularly timing and fluidity

[Moutaineer]

Elbows... My elbows had apparently developed a life of their own. Potters thought this was a great thing to take advantage of. My rides are all about them right now.

Habits. So easy to develop. So hard to get rid of.

[blob]

Mountaineer, my right elbow was such an issue last year. It was floaty weird and useless and kept me from getting a correct connection through that side. My trainer was tired of yelling at me about it, i was tired of hearing it and trying to fix it and yet the fix would only last a couple of strides before it popped into floaty land.

Finally, fed up, I took a polo and tied that right elbow down. it didn't feel unsafe because if i lifted that arm it would come free of the polo. But it did keep my elbow against my side and bent. I rode like that for a month, and knock on wood, no one has mentioned my right elbow since.

[Moutaineer]

Blob, sounds like a plan however, if Potters retains his current extreme objection to "R" I think I'd rather not, at the moment. I keep seeing that Correct Connect device for just this thing on my FB feed, and thinking "well fine, but if I have to bail out on it, there's a 2 ft long rigid device flying around in the mix, too."

(The R thing was new on Friday.... apparently, we can walk and trot past R going to the right, but cantering past it? Noooo. So, fine, we will just cut across the diagonal instead and you will have to put in the extra effort to do a FC. Silly horse.)

Khall, I meant to say, yes, a Justin is an extremely valuable resource, and I understand how fortunate I am to have him!

Well, the brand new equestrian center just up the road that we had a lovely show at earlier in the year has suddenly closed its doors in dramatic fashion after less than a year in business, so thats another boarding facility and show venue down the drain. Maybe it will sell for the $25 million price tag now attached and stay an equestrian facility, but I'm not holding my breath.

[StraightForward]

Blob, sounds like a plan however, if Potters retains his current extreme objection to "R" I think I'd rather not, at the moment. I keep seeing that Correct Connect device for just this thing on my FB feed, and thinking "well fine, but if I have to bail out on it, there's a 2 ft long rigid device flying around in the mix, too."

I was going to say, I have one of those medieval things I would be happy to loan you for the cost of shipping. I don't expect I'll be using it until early next year. With those and the Equisk bands, I definitely choose my day. Just put it ringside until I feel everything is going smoothly. The Correct Connect thing really isn't reasonable to use for a full ride. Maybe 5-10 minutes max.

Obie is contributing to this week's drama. I shouldn't have said or even thought that I'd have a break from vet bills for a few months. His left hind leg was stocked up earlier in the week, but seemed like it was not getting worse, so I thought maybe he had been stung. Yesterday I went to check on him and it was blown up to the point he can't flex his hock much. Gave him some bute, and arranged to bring him in to a pen for better care and observation. I found some old SMZs and got him started on those, threw on a sweat wrap last night, so we'll see what we have this morning. This same thing happened right around this time three years ago. I was just heading out of town to the Carl Hester masterclass, so I did what I could and wished him good luck, and he got over it, albeit with a massive event ring on his hoof. He seems to feel fine, but I'll probably see if the vet can fit him in tomorrow. Of course this coincides with having two overnight trips this week.

[Moutaineer]

I hope Obie feela better, SF. Im just waiting for Laddie to throw a spanner in the works as I'm off to England next week. Truthfully, I'm having far too much fun riding in the lovely fall weather at the moment to really want to tear myself away.

Three perfect, centered changes in each direction, twice (so it wasn't a fluke ) and some useful work on pirouettes were the highlights of today's ride. It got wildly windy with a front blowing in, so i thought we might have shenanigans again, but i think he was just too busy to care.

The focus on the elbows is paying off with much better connection, both mental and physical. Onwards and upwards!

[Chisamba]

Good September all.

i have been following Flights delightful adventures in Europe representing Aussie in the World games in Spain on facebook. I so remember the days i tried to do that to represent South Africa in dressage but, of course, apartheid and international banishment put an end to those dreams. Anyway the rider has to qualify in their country and the horse has to qualified in its country and then you have to find and lease the horse to compete for the competition. OF course all the aids are slightly different , because countries have different culture wrt aids, i remember that from riding around the world. anyway, wishing her the best of adventures and competition.

now as to me and my humble world,

Kimba and i are showing third level on Saturday, our flying change is still touch and go, right to left we tend to change in front and then a stride later behind, if she does not net completely stressed out and try to bolt away, left to right she is almost reliable. i find myself so impatient my my ability to help her with the changes and have to constantly remind myself that she paces, being half standardbred, and had to be completely taught to manage a three beat canter, so flying changes are not as simple for her as horses that are actually truly three gaited. but she is going to teach me to be my best self for training all the other horses to handle flying changes.

Pauletta has a hoof abscess. these are not uncommon in our area because we have had so much rain and mud to deal with, but here is to hoping it resolves easily.

as to my health, goals, maintain my A1C below 7, maintain my weight and health, keep strengthening all the old joints that wish to crumble and degenerate. i am not allowed to run anymore, really because of the knee replacement, so i am trying to be more valiant in my efforts to cycle, on a stationary bike, because of the low impact option it offers. but i hate it.

my little fellow is growing up, he is rather a nice beast.

i think i am going to schedule a professional photo shoot, and get some good piccies of him at three months. have you heard of the old saying, look at the young horse at three days, three months and three years? well we are approaching the three month mark.

nice to hear the queso and junior are in somewhat of a long phase of recovery and i truly with them both the best.

Moutaineer, well done on your flying changes, that is truly something to be happy about

unlike almost everyone here, i am looking to the cooling days with dread. i am already missing the hot days of summer, i can feel my seasonal depression oozing into my bones as i see the daylight begin to dwindle. like the trees starting to lose their leaves and change color, i want to just dig my roots into the earth and pretend i am dead for the winter. but horses need to be fed and taken care of, so that will keep me alive and kicking, lol.

[mari]

Chisamba - I feel your winter dread! We're a month into spring here in South Africa, and this morning when I left the house early to go riding it was so lovely to not leave in pitch darkness. And our winters are mild. But I'm not built for winter. Also, even though the winters are mild, we do go down to -4C sometimes where I am, and our houses are NOT made for it. No one I know has double-glazing, or any kind of central heating. We just suffer through it and then embrace summer.

[blob]

Chisamba--i think my seasonal preferences might be different if I lived somewhere else or if MM doesn't struggle so much with summer. Much of my relief in the change of season is for her and the other part is because we are consistently in mid-high 90s all summer long, with 70+% humidity. It is brutal. Meanwhile our winters are very mild. We have some cold days, but they are few and far between and much of the winter is in the 40s/50s. That is very, very different from those of you who experience a true winter.

Regionals suddenly feels around the corner. My 2nd level championship class is saturday, so i've foolishly signed up for 3-1 on sunday. let's see...

[Aleuronx]

Cheering you on blob for Regionals!! Show ‘em what you got and have a blast doing it.

Couple of good lessons over the weekend before my trainer left for our Regionals going on over this weekend as well. Fixed my too slow left leg aid in the 2’s which is good as having her howl for each right change NOW, NOW, NOW was frightening but effective in our lessons last week. Canter piros still feel a hodge-podge of this happens and do this but then that happens and you need to be here, quicker/slower/lower/higher/smaller/active it goes on and on but so dang fast to do anything in the moment. Well, at least right now. They’re there, recognizable and we’re working to be more controllable. Phew. Anyways, this week we worked on the thousands of trots, getting her more comfortable in just being in the half steps and me just letting her be in the half steps.

We will bang on with that as winter here is long and cold with not much trotting to be done if you want to see the next sunrise. Always a crapshoot as what we get for severity of arctic vibes so if we get more time to work the trot stuff then it will be a blessed winter. Otherwise living in walk and canter it is.

Random joy is having leftover pergo faux wood flooring from our bedroom redo that my BIL was able to install in my trailer tack room. Life changing to have that replace the carpet, two sweeps and it’s spotless along with no scratches/waterproof.

[StraightForward]

Random joy is having leftover pergo faux wood flooring from our bedroom redo that my BIL was able to install in my trailer tack room. Life changing to have that replace the carpet, two sweeps and it’s spotless along with no scratches/waterproof.

Ooh, that is a nice idea! We redid our kitchen floor this spring and I bought enough extra to do a bathroom, but I'd probably appreciate a new trailer floor more.

I'm almost missing the hot weather, only because Tesla is getting more reactive. I'm taking Obie to the vet tomorrow, so I'll ask him if he thinks she's OK to have a bit of a blast around in the arena. So far I've just put her in the oversized round pen and she hasn't done any damage with a few exuberant leaps. Need to get some energy out lest I get dumped.

[exvet]

Ugh! I started at 4:00 AM this morning and finally got home at 8 AM to feed the horses and dogs. Spent the entire day moving mom into memory care which included taking her to and sitting through a medical assessment because there wasn't enough evidence of her need despite the last 3 weeks of me and the staff yelling at the roof tops about her living in her own feces and urine to prove she couldn't take care of herself with the level of care provided in assisted living.........................enough said.

I'll be rooting for you Blob. Between you and the others I get my fix; otherwise, I'd be missing out greatly on the 'real' show stuff. Here it's just small potatoes. Looking forward to riding all the boys tomorrow. Last weekend we found Troy's mojo again. He also has grown. Plan to put the stick on him tomorrow. Junior got new shoes and pads yesterday. My blessed farrier worked me in after work yesterday so I could move my mom today. When I got home it looked like Junior was floating above the ground when he ran up to greet me (or cuss me out for being so late to feed). Ace continues to keep his nose to the grind stone.

On the weather topic, I am grateful for beautiful weather which looks to be the same for at least the next two months. Family obligations may prevent me from taking full advantage of it but I sure do plan to ride, ride, ride every free moment I can.

[Moutaineer]

Beautiful but blustery day here today. I had a good, if rather challenging, ride. Sometimes with Potters the good stuff is right at the edge of what he's prepared to offer without blowing up. The finesse is in getting one without the other. We mostly managed that today...mostly!

And then, walking him out of the barn to turn him out, something behind him spooked him and he landed hard on my big toe that he broke 2 years ago. I'm tottering around the house pretending it doesnt hurt like hell, because I will be most unpopular if I disrupt our vacation plans because of "another bloody horse injury." Fingers crossed it feels better in the morning.

[exvet]

Ouch! Moutaineer. I hope your big toe is already doing better. It seems like my toes or my fingers always are the ones that carry the brunt of impromptu reactions of one sort or another from my beasts. Have a great time on your vacation.

[Chisamba]

I just lost a novel, having to re-login

Me: Get healthy.

Maia: Stay sane, safe, and don't explode into a giant, red bouncing ball.

I was trail running on Friday, tripped, and cut my knee. I started to run on, then realized that maybe I should stop: there were rivers of blood running down my leg. Urgent care flushed, stitched it closed, and sent me off with antibiotics and a knee immobilizer.

Monday evening, it wasn't looking quite right, but nothing significant, so I went back to urgent care when they opened Tuesday morning. Popped parts open, drained, and packed, and sent me home. It was massively swollen by Tuesday night, so we went to the ER. They took X-rays, CT, and started antibiotics, then transferred me to another hospital with ortho and infectious disease specialists.

And then the real fun started.

First up was the ortho resident, who was too impatient to wait for the ER staff to figure out which pain meds I could take (not many, yay allergies!), so he did the knee prick without local or pain meds.

The white blood cell count wasn't too high, so a whole team of ortho residents came back and debrided, this time with local. I do not want to know what that would feel like without local anesthetic. Multiple abscesses, some "very deep" (which makes me question my knowledge of deep, because this is my knee cap, not a thigh), and extracted all sorts of stuff for culture.

Side note: it's a bit disturbing when a bunch of 20-somethings get excited about your wound and descend like a pack.

After more antibiotics and a dressing change, the orthos plan was to send me home today, but the infectious disease doctor came in this afternoon, looked at the wound, and asked me if the redness was the same or better than during the bandage change this morning. Worse.

So here I am. I'll be here until at least Saturday when they get the cultures back. Then they need to figure out what antibiotics will work for whatever is growing in my leg that I can take home (more allergies, including all sulfas).

The ortho team flooded the thoroughly abused and cleaned wound with six large bottles of sterile solution. By comparison, urgent care used 3-4 60ml syringes. I had to laugh. If the DH had brought me the sterile solution I'd requested, in addition to the gauze, I might not be here.

Now every time the DH gives me shit about "that time I insisted on washing my hair instead of going to the ER" (I scrubbed the shit out of the road rash with wound wash, and then myself because I was running a trail race) before going to the ER with a dislocated phalanx, I am going to push back with "septic arthritis."

If this heals without surgery, I hope to still go backpacking in October with friends.

And, once the wound closes, I'll start back with Maia on getting your anxious ass in the horse trailer. To that end, I should try lighting it up with the battery-powered work light. It's a Hawk, so lots of windows and light, but she hates any hint of a dark space.

Holey Moley, sounds like a close scrape with joint infection there. I hope it all goes well and that your recovery is rapid and not too painful.

[blob]

Heddy--do check in and let us know how you're doing

[Aleuronx]

Yes Heddy how’s things doing? Hopefully you at home.

Kora also said hold my beer. Been watching some nasal discharge off a single nostril over the weekend that got her loaded up to the hospital clinic today. No fractures this time but sinusitis and sinus infection. The heck. Not coming from guttural pouch, good news and not tooth related also good news. Culture comes back later this week but SMZs for shits and giggles unless that changes our focus.

Legs still work so couple days and I’m getting back on. Nice try mare.

[Chisamba]

Hello,

horrible week, my lesson Pony, Daisy, is not responding to the Marquis, and it is so difficult to know when to make the difficult decision, however she is beginning to have disphyagia, and if a horse cannot eat and drink then it seems to be time. i think.

on other news, horse show on saturday if if is not disrupted by the predicted nor easter. four students going,each riding two tests so it promises to be a busy day.

the divine miss P is taking a student, so I shall be doubly anxious.

Heddy, how is the injury
A, how is Koras nose dribbles
exvet how is the hoof aches?
how is mr cheese?

is miss M doing better in the cool weather?

did i forget anyone, i hope all are doing well, not only the equids but the aging parents and all

its quite sad to think that half of my salary from working the night shift is going to go to filling up my truck with fuel. honestly f!ck this economy and the political millionaires who put us i this economy. and i know i should not introduce politics into a horse bb, but in in a bad place emotionally because of Daisy and that is my excuse. i apologise.

okay got that off the chest. thank you for listening or by all means ignore me tonight.

[blob]

Oh, Chisamba, I am so sorry to hear about Daisy. I know you gave her a very good life. It is so hard to let one go, esp. one that is probably loved by so many of your students as well. I hope you avoid bad weather and have a good show. No apologies needed, this is a tough time to try to survive, let alone thrive.

We are getting a break in weather, thankfully, at last. So MM will hopefully start sweating again. And if it holds I"ll get back to riding her--nothing intense just the fun hacks nad frolics we were doing before summer heat.

Regionals is next weekend (Oct 1-4), but i have not been riding much because RP somehow got AWFUL girth rubs with the same grith he's always used. So he got several days off to let them heal. Hoping i can get us organized some before the show. But i'm also feeling a bit blah about the show. i will be going totally alone, which is fine, but a bit boring.

[Chisamba]

Oh, Chisamba, I am so sorry to hear about Daisy. I know you gave her a very good life. It is so hard to let one go, esp. one that is probably loved by so many of your students as well. I hope you avoid bad weather and have a good show. No apologies needed, this is a tough time to try to survive, let alone thrive.

We are getting a break in weather, thankfully, at last. So MM will hopefully start sweating again. And if it holds I"ll get back to riding her--nothing intense just the fun hacks nad frolics we were doing before summer heat.

Regionals is next weekend (Oct 1-4), but i have not been riding much because RP somehow got AWFUL girth rubs with the same grith he's always used. So he got several days off to let them heal. Hoping i can get us organized some before the show. But i'm also feeling a bit blah about the show. i will be going totally alone, which is fine, but a bit boring.

i remember once being quite sad about going to a show alone, and it was such a best event for me. i did obviously know quite a few of the people there but it was a huge bonding experience between me and miss P. i could really just set a schedule based on how i felt an what the show times were, hack, hand walk, and otherwise have a lot of time to spend just with one horse, one set of rides, and i hope you have a similar experience, Blob. the surprising thing was that because she did not have a companion horse at the stables, miss P enjoyed going to the warm up and show ground because there were other horses there.

i think Exvet shows alone quite a lot.

[exvet]

Heddy I hope your knee is showing significant improvement by now. I too have had the pleasure of being a medical teaching subject. I have a new appreciation for those clients who would come to the vet school with their horse and 'not' want the students involved with the care (as an intern my attitude was typically 'go somewhere else then').

Blob, as stated earlier you'll have a strong cheer group through the internet vibes, rooting for you and RP. Chisamba is correct. I've been showing by myself for quite sometime now. I do miss the camraderie when it's a barn or group experience; however, I have found it easier to manage it all in some ways because I no longer really have to coordinate with others and the odds of 'my' horse bonding or becoming a pill due to thinking he's leaving someone behind is non existent. I find long wait times between rides which I only deal with on the younger ones are usually filled with long hand walks with my horse(s) which does help with relaxing them. Because I do know a lot of the people (vendors, competitors and trainers) it's common to run into people and spend more time than I was planning 'catching up' usually with a horse in hand. I also still get into many conversations with those curious about welsh cobs (usually people I've never met before). Boredom has been rare for me because having Welsh Cobs also usually brings about some unexpected antics from one or more of mine. My only challenge has been when I've taken three to a show on my own. Fortunately, I have been lucky enough to have good eggs in terms of hanging around all day until it's their turn but the care of each, prep work including tacking up and then riding does wear one person out a lot faster. In a way that has been good for me because I have less chance for nerves to take over because I'm so busy keeping to my EXACT schedule in order to get it done. At times I've had to have horses tacked up for over an hour waiting for their turn because I have to get them all tacked up prior to climbing aboard the first one just so I can get off when my ride is done, untack, quickly settle them and then scramble aboard the next one. Most show secretaries though seem to give me some grace and at least try to allow more time between my rides if I have multiples.

[heddylamar]

Oh no. I'm so sorry to hear about Daisy. She's lucky to have you, and a whole stable of doting students, Chisamba.

Yes, it was a very close scrape (no pun intended) with a joint injection. There's a visible divot in my knee where they dug the abscesses out.

I finally got the stitches out and the all clear from the ortho surgeon to do all the things — except bodies of water and rolling in dirt — that my body allows last Thursday. Of course, when the stitches came out, it drained through the steri-strips, so the no horses or dirt clock started again /sigh Despite that, I went to the barn yesterday morning — with everything well sealed — to hold Maia for the farrier. If nothing changes, I have plans for ground work on Sunday. Fingers crossed. Using it too much is still making it quite sore, and I'll have a great scar. Stairs have graduated from the single stair hop down to normal walking, which is huge — our house is all stairs. I have another follow up with the surgeon next week, and then, hopefully they'll cut me free. I did cancel my backpacking trip for October 8–13. We're still planning for the November trip, but by then I should be back to normal.

Showing alone has been my norm as an adult Blob, and I found it truly enjoyable. I got to choose the music, timing, and my horse had the trailer as a box stall for haul-in shows.

[StraightForward]

Jingles for Daisy!

Blob, I hope you have a good time at regionals and RP starts tolerating his girth. Does he need sheepskin?

We are plugging along here. We even managed to ride after dark today without shenanigans. Two more weeks until we start a bit of canter, which I think we're both looking forward to. I'm making myself sit the last two trot sets, and we'll add two more sets on Sunday, so hopefully I'll get my core back by the time we're ready for real work. I'm also starting to ask for a bit more balance and cadence in the last trot sets (we are currently doing 6 2-minute trot sets, alternating directions). Our walk piris are coming along and there is slight progress with our halts. Usually T swishes her tail and stomps when I ask for a trailing hind to come forward, but she is slowly getting less dramatic about it.

Obie's cellulitis is being stubborn. I started him back on bute and did a sweat wrap for about 36 hours, and it is starting to look better, but not where I want it. He seems happy enough in his pen, but I need to get the mats fixed up this weekend so he can have a more comfy place with some bedding. Not sure if he's picked up weight yet, but it's only been a week.

[Moutaineer]

Greetings from sunny England... I hope Daisy starts to improve, Chisamba. And Odie's cellulitis improves.

Blob, Potters has suddenly started getting little rubs from the girth he has been wearing for years, too. Im wondering if he has changed shape more than i have really noticed. Several people in the barn have moved to the Correct Connect girth, and I think that might be something to look at when I get home. Good luck at Regionals!

Heddy, glad the knee is improving. That sounded a bit scary.

Potters is under the tender care of his Uncle Justin for the next two weeks. We were working on tempi changes before I left. I need to practice counting, apparently.

[Ponichiwa]

Counting is shockingly hard. 3s tend to flow easier, 4s not so much. I have multiple engineering degrees. Does not help.

September is almost over, somehow, and good riddance. It's been high 90s/low 100s ans sweltering humidity all month. Unacceptable. Despite that:
- Queso is up to 20min/day walking. He would prefer grazing and has complained to management. Vet check in 2 weeks; fingers crossed for walking under saddle.
- Dijon came in clutch in his 4th ever show in his 3rd state, with scores up to 74% and placing up to 2nd in 35+ horse classes. We are now back at home and cantering under saddle, although we are a fair bit away from something we can take in public and score 7s.

The other hole in our game: halts. It's been 8 yrs since I started a young horse, Queso being the last one. What are your favorite halt improvement tips and tricks? Halts right now are occasionally square but often against the hand (even if I halt on a loose rein).

[exvet]

Ponichiwa, I've been very blessed as it seems. My horses, welsh cobs, arabians and morgans have all been 'easy' to get square or close to it halts without them pulling me out of the saddle or giving my shoulders a wake up call. I can't really give any 'exercises' per se. Ace who really is NOT a dressage horse, gives me really nice halts but the key for him has been he's been really good in the bridle from the get go. I work on connection after the halt a lot, meaning I ask for a nice connection once we're on spot and once I get it they get a huge reward. Then once that's in place I ride the hind end into the hand. I will do halts all throughout my schooling session even when trail riding. All the while working more on connection and coming from behind then really worrying about if it's square or not. My guys all have a post on each corner so the squaring part takes care of itself if I have the connection aspect and coming from behind with gusto part all worked out. Hopefully that makes sense.

[khall]

Chisamba I’ll add in my jingles for Daisy! Hope the show wasn’t rained out but looking at the news NJ got hit hard.

Blob good luck at regionals! Are they at Conyers this year? I know the fall weather is a lovely break after such high heat and humidity!!

SF glad T is cruising along with her rehab!

Mountaineer have a wonderful England vacation! So glad you have Justin.

Ponichiwa it sounds weird but Joplin likes to go against the hand in halts. What I find with her is my aid for halt is pressing down into the stirrups evenly and just keeping everything else the same. It’s weird but works for her.

We had a Cedar clinic last weekend and a pole clinic this weekend with my holistic vet who does rehab. Very interesting stuff on poles. And Joplin was a star during Cedar clinic!

Worked on CPs FCs (still hard for us!) start of passage and interesting exercises to help advance Joplin. One was renvers at trot on circle to CP. Took me a bit to realize Cedar wanted me right into the CP from first stride of canter. L canter easier than R but this is something Joplin finds definitely in her wheelhouse. Passage was interesting. It’s going to be big. I’ve got some things to do to play with it now though. One our most difficult exercises to help the changes was canter figure 8 with piaffe instead of simple change. So we cantered piaffed then cantered other lead. Joplin said let’s just go ahead and canter. But we got it and it’s a good one for engagement

Chex was phenomenal Friday Saturday under a new rider was eh. Good canter but trot kept stopping Sunday he told me he just couldn’t do it. My holistic vet worked on him again this past Friday he was out. Said because he was under general anesthesia not surprised. It’s rough on their bodies and he’s a sensitive boy.

Gaila showed she’s worth her weight in gold! Has 2 lessons with 2 different riders and just tried her heart out. She gives you exactly what you ask for. If you ask correctly she’s happy to do it if not well she won’t. Proud of her and both of the riders who I’ve been helping. Proud horse mom!

Here is Joplin

https://youtu.be/WrRRwkLrA0E?feature=shared


Happy fall everyone! And good riding!

[Lipsmackerpony88]

Well I had a huge post that I lost. But wishing everyone well through rehabs, loss and good luck at shows!

Lynx is carrying on okay. I think he's slowly losing weight or at least the fat pads. I am going to be changing his diet a little. I can't change the hay at the moment but I'm going to take him off his ration balancer and do a vitamin supplement pellet. Reason being is the hay is really high protein and I don't think he needs any extra! He pees all the time but we checked his kidneys through blood work and his sheath is clean and clear. I'm not sure that the extra protein is the culprit, but it's probably not helping it plus why pay for protein his body isn't using, that's my thought. It's actually annoying because sometimes he needs to pee under saddle but won't dare even try to pee with someone on him so instead he just gets weird and annoyed.

I'm really just enjoying being around him and riding the amount I can. No big goals anymore but it's okay.

My daughter though is having a grand time and I enjoy her journey. She's been getting some very good quality canter out of the Gypsy lately avd learning about wearing spurs (She doesn't wear them all the time, but there's some days they're important with a fluffy gypsy lol)

She has started a little bit of jumping again with this chestnut mare she lessons on. We threw her into a little show with some cross rails and they kicked butt. There was students from pretty much every top h/j barn in the area and she placed 3rd and 4th against some very fancy and seasoned horses. It's fun watching her confidence grow and skills!

[StraightForward]

Happy October everyone!

LSP, great to hear your daughter did well at the show and continues to grow as a rider. She is getting such a great foundation!

Khall, sounds like some great clinics! This year seemed low on clinics here - Peter Gray was supposed to come last month but the smoke was so bad they had to cancel. I am looking forward to the symposium on the new tests in November. Kari McClain is the judge.

We are now at the 7-month mark on rehab and trotting 16 minutes per ride. T is getting a little spooky - yesterday all was well and then she suddenly teleported 30 feet to the left for no reason I could discern. Last night I couldn't resist asking for a few strides of canter each way. She remembered the aid right away, and the canter felt really good. Cantering some long sides might be on the menu as we're just 10 days away from adding canter to the schedule anyway. This weekend the osteopath/bodyworker is coming, which I think will be good, as she occasionally gets a little pissy when I ask for a lot of right bend. I got her a HorseHalo red light hat that covers much of her neck, and I think it is helpful with keeping her a little looker in the poll. She certainly seems relaxed when she's wearing it.

Obie's cellulitis is being rather stubborn. I thought I had it handled, but I only wrapped his lower leg day before yesterday, and sure enough his hock was boggy again last night. Got him some Incrediwear compression socks that cover the hocks, so I'm hoping those will help and reduce all the wrapping. I can cold hose right over the socks. In a few weeks he'll need to go back out to pasture, and then I'll move T over to his pen, which is much larger than the stall/pen she's been in since July.

[khall]

Lsp glad to hear from you! Yay for your daughter and the Gypsy!! Proud mom I’m sure.

SF yikes! T is definitely challenging your stickiness it sounds like. Hopefully you are wearing your vest. I used trazadone for several weeks with Joplin when I first got back on. It did help

So I shared this below on FB the other day. Such a cool horse. Riding today playing with my Cedar homework if canter figure 8 piaffe work I got inspired to try it with Joplin. Got to love my buckskin mare! Piaffe to CP left full CP on the spot check! Right a bit harder not fully on the spot but especially since I’ve schooled CPs very little and full CPs just at the last Cedar clinic so happy!! We may never go down CL at GP (got to get those FCs) but I have so much fun riding my mare she’s just amazing.

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1A7Fgj ... tid=wwXIfr

Anyway had to share! Happy riding all!

[exvet]

Nice khall!

We are a sea of mud but all the rain from the hurricane coming through Mexico did allow us to cool off. Junior tried to kill himself yesterday by escaping his stall (he's already figured out how to open his new stall door) and running through the gumbo type mud for about 10 minutes. I was at work so my SO was in panic mode to get him back in. Fortunately a Welsh Cob will respond to food especially when he's on a starvation diet. Nothing used was outside of his allowed diet and this morning he was sound. Darn skinny minnie stinker pony.

Speaking of being in love with one's horse, Ace continues to surprise me by giving me his all. We're still building up his hind end strength but each ride gets better and better. Despite Junior's lunatic episode yesterday due to being locked up in his stall for 3 days, he was cool as a cucumber for his 3 mile walk under saddle this morning. Troy, I think, is starting to mature a wee bit. He's still so immature brain-wise but he's really starting to figure out the stretch over the back cues - walk and trot. I backed off on canter until I get his shoe situation figured out. He keeps throwing his shoes and with the cost and all especially when we're trying clips, I'm going to wave the white flat and have him go barefoot which he is right now. Unfortunately his barefoot situation isn't grand because it was thanks to the mud, not a fresh hoof trim. Even so, he really is giving me some very nice stretchy trot and free walk which for a horse who has the attention span of a gnat is not too bad, LOL.

[StraightForward]

SF yikes! T is definitely challenging your stickiness it sounds like. Hopefully you are wearing your vest. I used trazadone for several weeks with Joplin when I first got back on. It did help

I haven't brought out the safety vest yet, but if the weather starts getting more blustery and cool I might need to. Last winter I bought a pair of Sync Venom full seats and thought they were way too sticky, but didn't get around to returning them on time. So I'm riding in those almost every day and they may have saved my butt a few times. She is much less reactive than Annabelle was during rehab, so I don't have to go to great lengths to sequester ourselves.

Speaking of Annabelle, I just saw on FB that her owner got a horse property, so she is living at home now along with a geriatric appaloosa gelding. Makes me happy that she seems to be a keeper for the owner.

Exvet, sounds like Troy and Ace are making great progress. Glad Junior didn't get himself in more trouble on his little break for freedom! Yes, I have some colleagues in southern New Mexico that say they are getting more rain than they've seen in years. Hopefully it can get where it needs to go and not just turn into gully washers!

[exvet]

After the bolting event at the last schooling show, I took Troy down a notch and all we've been working on has been how to accept the bit, stretch out to the hand, stretch over the back and keep the tempo slow (when he wants fast) and speed it up only when asked from the seat/leg. Though I'd say that his attention span is still equivalent to a gnat, he has become much steadier overall. As a result I decided it was time to try to canter again. He got both leads as asked and no eruptions or threats to take over. To say that today was a good day is an understatement.

Ace just keeps giving me what I ask within his strength and flexibility level. I am having so much fun with him. If it weren't for the new rule about microchipping I'd show him recognized again. When I acquired him his microchip was in the process of abscessing out so I'm not sure if he's going to tolerate one or not. Of course it was placed by USDA/Indian Council so as to the cleanliness of the procedure, who knows?

I've also decided that if Junior makes a decent recovery, I'm going to ride/train him towards western dressage. I've been riding him (still walking only) with a bosal and he's so much happier. I can go all the way up the levels using a bosal so.........of course it's still a wait and see game at this point.

Hope everyone is healing, resting and enjoying the fall. Blob I hope to hear good news from your advantures - good luck!

[Chisamba]

Have any of you studied the new tests? Took a quick look and didn't see any tremendous changes but did not take time for a large sample size

[StraightForward]

Have any of you studied the new tests? Took a quick look and didn't see any tremendous changes but did not take time for a large sample size

I only looked at a couple. To my dismay, the canter work in 2-3 has definitely changed. I need to walk through it, but it seems kind of tricky. I think 3-1 is the same.

[exvet]

I certainly didn't see any significant changes in the training level tests. I heard that there were more significant changes to 2-3 and 4-3 but that the tempis in 4-3 were still from the right lead canter (only) causing consternation with some.

[blob]

the changed 2-3 canter work actually looks quite nice and much less time consuming than the CC serpentine. 3-1 and 3-3 (hopefully my tests for the coming year) look to be unchanged which is fine with me as both are efficient and clear tests. I don't know the 4th level tests well enough to assess. I THINK 1-3 is the same, though maybe they changed order of 10 meter circle and LY.

Ok, regionals recap!
We had an uneventful (thankfully) haul-in and set-up on Thursday. Our schooling on the grounds was fine. RP was listening and seemed relaxed, but I spent most of my time orienting on which arena was which and i we were stabled far away from arenas, so much walking and not a ton of work as I didn't want to tire him out on day one for no reason.
Friday: I rode 2-3 as a practice run before championship class. Our canter work felt good, our trot lateral work was a STRUGGLE. The scores reflected this--with both my HI and one of my SIs getting 5s. But the canter and walk work had some 8s and overall we pulled out a 66.9% and second place.
Saturday: championship class! I had an 11:10 ride time, which was ideal because I hate sitting around all day, so just enough time to do the morning things--rebraid and bathe and get on. Warm-up was organized in a weird way with a barrier in the middle making it nearly impossible to get a solid longside of lateral work and instead everything felt like a giant circle. But I really tried to focus on lateral work. He just did not feel well connected or through the back in the trot (but this has also been the case the last week or so at home). But canter once again felt really good. In our test, I went for as much angle ont he lateral work as possible, knowing i would lose some quality of trot, but wanted to be able to demonstrate SOMETHING. And overall ended up with what felt like a very clean test. We were rewarded with a 66.19 overall, which felt like a good score and something I was really happy with. But interestingly enough the judge at c gave me a 68% and the judge at e gave me a 64. In fact there was one movement where the E gave me a 5 while the C gave me an 8 (which is a big difference!). But since my overall score was one I was happy with, I didn't stress too much. AND I felt super proud of the 68 from the C judge, which is our highest score thus far on that test. We finished the championship class in 4th place and the judge at C actually had us in first place for the class--both things I was really pleased with!

I was supposed to ride 3-1 for the first time with RP on Sunday. But weather was looking like heavy rain (3+ inches) all day. So, I decided to scratch and head home Saturday night. Honestly, I think we could use a bit more time for 3-1, but had signed up since we were there. I would have odne it in good conditions but riding in that test for the first time in heavy rain and even more than that trailering home in heavy rain sounded like a BAD time. Of course it ended up not raining until quite late in the day and I could have ridden in nice conditions after all. BUT I don't regret ending while we were ahead on a high note--plenty of time for 3-1 later! Unfortunately once we got back, RP had a bit of a panic moment unloading and panicked off the ramp and got loose. He is unharmed except for a small scrape on his cheek and i did make him load and unload right away so no fear set in.

All in all a good weekend, and I'm very proud of the little pony. I wish someone had gotten a picture of our championship class from awards ceremony which was all big big warmbloods that all happened to be black or dark bay and then little roan RP. It was quite the image. Once show photos come back I will see if there is one that shows us all -- i will definitely buy it!

RP now will get most of this week off as I have a follow-up biopsy this week that'll keep me out of the saddle for about 5 days. Good timing for a well-earned day off.

[exvet]

Congratulations Blob! Those scores a pretty darn good. Sounds like RP really tried to handle himself well. Sorry about the variation in scores but that's opinions for you. You've more than proven that you guys are ready for third level. So nice to hear ponies doing well!

[StraightForward]

Way to go Blob! 3-1 will be there for you next time, with better weather!

Hope we get to see some pics soon.

[Aleuronx]

Woohoo RP and blob!! Those are some great scores at regionals where can be persnickety about giving out valid efforts. Good training should rise above, lil roans as a bonus.

The story as it goes in short. 12 days of SMZs and sinus drainage is gone. Still haven’t heard culture results and even I’m annoyed with calling to get no answer. If it’s resolved then grand.

Saddle fitter came, measured and mare has even more back muscle. Played with some options. Fairfax hard no, she was changing late in front. Black Country Dante tree was better but I hated it for me. After much back and forth with Black Country we are having a Frankenstein saddle made, inner workings for Kora and outer details for my long leg and preference.

Yes it will be an eff ton of money. Yes I will be trying to sell my current saddle as soon as confirmed new saddle is all good. Don’t talk to me on tariffs…