Dressage Saddle!

First and foremost, I want to send my condolences to JenJ, who lost her beloved Saga on Tuesday. Jen has really become a good friend ever since I moved to Texas, and from lunches and horse shopping all the way to frantic phone calls ("is this an abscess?" "is this roundpenning thing a horrible idea?"), I can always count on her for advice, opinions, or a shoulder to wail on when things go horribly wrong. Take a minute to go read their story, and to send your own condolences to her too. 

On the same page, Wednesday was the 7-year anniversary of Metro's death. I've written a lot about him over the years; you can find some of it on the old Eventing-A-Gogo blog. It is amazing how things come full circle - how his only remaining daughter is now here with me, acting every bit like her father's child every day. They look SO much alike too... they have the exact same head! (Aside from her crazy facial markings, of course!)

Miss you, Cookieman. Miss you all the time, every day.

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Onto some cheerier things! While I am still a bit worried about the state of Immy's hindgut (ordered some Equishure to try as per recommendation here, and thanks to everyone who gave suggestions!), everything else is progressing very smoothly. (Well, mostly.) We've had a bit of a strange week weather-wise - it actually SNOWED here on Tuesday! It was miserable, cold, blustery, and snowy all day long, so I called it a day early and stuffed some extra hay into their shed for good measure. We are now up to TWO WHOLE SNOWS for the season. That is two more than we had last year! Thankfully, this OUTRAGEOUS winter weather is probably completely over for the year, thank god. It was in the 60's today and will be in the 70's this weekend, which is more more reasonable for this time of year. At least all the grass is growing now that we've had some precipitation! 

Not sure how Immy felt about that, but P acted a bit like, "Oh thank god, the weather is FINALLY nice!" As evidenced by the snow on her blanket, she was more than happy to just stand out in it all day.

For Immy's fourth ride, I decided to switch over from the rope saddle to my dressage saddle - time to start learning to be a proper event pony! I had S hold her again while I mounted, and I am glad that I did - the difference between the fenders of the western saddle and the, well, nothingness of no fenders in a dressage saddle is a bit of a leap. Instead of a big piece of leather between my leg and her side, suddenly it was just my leg, and as expected it surprised her a bit! Thankfully, it didn't take more than a moment for her to settle in, and off we went to work on some more steering, stopping, and trotting!

I have some equitation issues I need to work on... badly. Yikes.

This picture makes me laugh - I was exaggerating my bad habit of doing puppy paws (AKA piano hands), and the super exaggerated movement got caught on camera. Rest assured, I do NOT usually ride like this.... although sometimes my mitts get the best of me!

She looks pretty stinking cute in dressage tack, does she not? She even offered to take a contact on several occasions at the walk, which is sort of what she is doing in that picture. 

Today, I kept things simple with a nice easy lunge and a good grooming session. I was able to pull the rest of her mane (YES!!), all except for one small area right behind her poll. I figured I had done quite enough, and left it at that. Someday, I will be able to give her a proper bridle path, and then we can REALLY do up her mane the way it should be... but that day is not today. As for now, I was most impressed that she stood still and allowed me to finish pulling, despite the fact that she was not very amused by it. She did her best to be a good girl!

Tomorrow, we ride again for the 5th time - and I may even ride in the even bigger paddock, so that we have a little more space to maneuver and work on steering. We shall see!

Third ride brings big things!

Immy's third ride brought some BIG and positive changes to her under-saddle life! I am so, so proud of her for being such a good girl today!

The day started off MISERABLY cold - 14 degrees when I fed everybody breakfast - and I was NOT keen to try anything that early in the morning. All my clients for the day rescheduled due to the weather, and so I spent most of my day trying to play catch-up on all the stuff I've been trying desperately to get done, but haven't been able to due to a lack of time. I actually had a super productive day, and at around 3 headed back to the barn to ride the girls. It had mercifully warmed up to a balmy 40 degrees (fml), but with the help of my trusty quarter sheet (and many, many layers for myself), I was ready for anything.

I had S hold her again while I mounted, and we started out in the same small holding pen outside of the barn as we did last time. The pen is actually a really ideal place for this sort of thing - she is closed in a small, square area, and has all of her friends right there with her (on the other side of the fence) for moral support. She is familiar with the area, and feels safe there. Today, for the first time, she didn't start and jump around when she felt my right leg touch her side as I was mounting. She started a bit when I first put my left foot in the stirrup to start, but settled in well. By the time I made my full mount, she was quiet and immobile. She stood still when I put my right foot in the stirrup too, no scooting! Awesome!

I had S let me go, and we went off in the pen to do some basic steering and whoas. She did so well that I asked S to let us into one of the pens next to the barn, so we could work in a bigger (but still enclosed) area. It is roughly the side of your average small arena, but still in a familiar area, so it was perfect. It really is amazing how NOT spooky she is - she has never seen that particular pen before, but she walked right in there like, oh, right, here we are, let's do this! 

Sweet little thing... she is SO TINY!

After some basic steering and whoas, I asked her for a trot. Word to the wise - if any of you ever meet Immy, don't ever cluck at her. I inadvertently taught her that clucking means trot-right-now-immediately-here-we-go. Same goes for the kissy noise... she canters the second she hears it! I will never, ever have problems with forward energy with this mare! 

She was a little surprised at first, and went into a zoomy trot, without steering or brakes. We managed to stop on the far end, and did some more walking. We attempted a few more trots, all with varying levels of zoomy, but it didn't take long for her to settle into a rhythm. By the end, we were trotting AND steering AND stopping, and only with a little bit of zoomy here and there. We made it almost all the way around the pen, quite a few times!

The video quality isn't great, but there you are! We did it!

At the walk, she had a few moments where she actually took a contact all by herself already, and stretched down to find it. It is time to put this girl in a dressage saddle, I say! (Also, I bet M would like her saddle back eventually!)

She was really quite good for the dismount too - she started a little, but didn't go anywhere, and afterwards tried to take the reins between her lips and play with them a little bit. She has this very shy, very gentle, very timid playful side to her that is just now starting to come out a little bit. It is so very sweet, so very shy, and so very heartwarming to see. I am not one to let my horses chew on things (EVER) as a rule, but to see her trying to play just a little bit with her reins today melted my heart. There is no way I'd discourage her newly emerging personality - unless, of course, she starts to actually chew on things. Then we'll have a discussion about it!

Out of all the lunging, grounddriving, groundwork, and other things that we have done, I really think she likes riding the best. She has been the quietest I've seen with ridden work, and had the happiest expression on her face when we were done. I know I'm waxing anthropomorphic here, but she really looked genuinely pleased with herself and proud when we were done. She just looked... different. Like she finally, finally felt confident in herself.


I rounded out the day with a nice long trail ride on P with S and her horse. The company was good, the horses were on their best behavior, and we froze our BUTTS off on the way back. The sun had started to go down at the halfway mark, and by the time we got back, temps had dropped almost into the 20's. We were FREEZING! I hate this weather, when is spring going to get here! Surely it can't be THAT far away!


As for other things, I had thought that the dentist was coming tomorrow, but we misunderstood him and I guess he is coming in a week or two. Bummer on that... the sooner he can get here, the better!

Second Ride!

Well, it took a few days, but the ground finally dried out enough for some real work - including our second ride!

Tuesday and Wednesday were a total wash. It rained all day Tuesday, and it continued all the way through Wednesday night. I had left a feed bucket hanging on the fence, and when I went to go peek in there to see how much rain had fallen, the bucket was filled to the TWO GALLON MARK. That's a sh*tload of rain, ya'll. Admittedly, since we have been in a prolonged drought, we did need it... but still.  Everything has been a right muddy mess ever since the rain stopped, the girls included.

Rain doesn't bother this yak... she stood out in it most of the day, on purpose!

Thursday was surprisingly warm and beautiful (upper 60's), so I let both girls be naked during the day, and found them to be completely encrusted in thick, chunky layers of mud, so I did my best to extricate them from the crustiness before their workout. It was mostly a large failure, seeing as Texas mud means serious business - once our "black gumbo" mud (greasy, waxy, sticky, evil mud made of Superglue and snot harvested directly from the nose of the Devil himself) sets up on fur, there is no amount of currying that will break it up and get it off. You literally have to wash it out, or else you will pull half of your horse's haircoat (and possibly some skin) out with it. I'm serious, it HURTS them to groom them when they are crusted with black gumbo! Growing up in the Great White North, I've dealt with lots and lots of mud... but there is nothing like black gumbo. It is a whole 'nother beast. 

Anyway. After I managed to rip half their hair out groom them as best I could, I tacked up P, and set out for a pony ride around the big pasture. Both girls had energy to burn - Immy pushed herself as far forward as her lead line would allow and tried to haul me along for the ride, and P shook her head and jigged sideways for the first 10 minutes of the ride. Once we warmed up, we trotted for 15 minutes, just to stretch all of our collective legs. P took a few off steps here and there, but for the most part she felt really quite good for how she has been. I'd say this level of work (light trail rides a few times a week) is more than reasonable for right now.

Honestly, I can't say enough about how much better Immy's attitude has been. She is a brand new horse at the new place - back to her old sweet, curious, cuddly self. She is putting on weight and muscle already, and everything from her attitude to her poos have improved. S, the barn owner (and my friend) is also going through some ulcer issues with her horse, so we're spending a lot of time coming up with ways to be proactive, brainstorming for other ideas, and sharing and swapping supplements and ideas. It has really been a lot of fun. 

After our successful pony on Thursday, it was high time (and dry enough, thank god) to get on Immy for her second ride!! I had S help me this time around, seeing as she scooted the first time when I mounted, and was glad that she was there - Immy was surprised again by my right leg, and scooted forward again. S led her around a few times, and then released us - Immy wanted to stay with her, but once she was on her own, she was fine to walk, whoa, and steer without assistance. I was even able to put my legs on her and start to use them along with the verbal command for "walk on." She was making some very smooth whoa and walk on transitions, which I was very proud of! Last time, she zoomed into all of her walk on transitions, and this time she was much quieter about it. Good girl!

Getting off went better this time as well - I had S come back and hold her again (after we had a whoa in the center of the pen, and stood there for awhile - standing still is a VERY vital lesson to learn!), and stayed right up against her and petted her as soon as I got down. She started a bit, but didn't go anywhere, and stood for some pets and cookies once I was down. She'll get it, it won't take long!

Yeck.... muddy, dirty, messy girl. She needs a bath!

Our bridling issues are the still same. Thankfully, the equine dentist comes on Monday, and shortly after that I am going to have some craniosacral work done on her. I think this will help her hugely, as opposed to trying a chiropractor... definitely excited to see what happens with both. (Maybe when she is knocked out for her teeth, I can finish pulling her mane and give her a bridlepath!)

Today, the temperature dropped from the 70's to the 30's during the day when a nasty cold front blew in, and by the time I was done with my clients and headed back to the barn to work the girls, a stiff and frigid wind was blowing. I tried to lunge Immy in the roundpen, but alas, the mud was still horrible in there, and she about wiped out at the gate on the very first lap. I called it quits for the day, and bundled the girls up in their winter blankies for the night. It is supposed to be in the teens tonight (!!!), so we will see if I am brave enough to get on a little zippy mare when it is howling wind and freezing cold! We might just go for another pony instead! 

FIRST RIDE!

WE DID IT!!! Oh, I have dreamed of this day for so long!!!

We've been prepping for this day for a very long time. To go from a horse that couldn't even be haltered in a stall to this.... there really aren't words for it. Miles and miles of prep work on the ground went into this day, and it all paid off. Despite it being cold, windy, and generally miserable outside, I decided to suit up and decide whether or not to get on depending on her demeanor today.

It almost was a no-go. She was up, hot, and reactive, and was especially disagreeable about bridling today. I've been bridling her in the roundpen, just so that we have more room to maneuver, but she has not improved yet. Bribery with treat and praise have not helped either - when it comes to things that really concern her, she shuts her mouth tight and refuses to take a cookie. I tried a new tactic today that actually worked surprisingly well, despite the drama involved leading up to it - pull headstall up over her head and attach the throatlatch before the headslinging begins. When she made her move to flail, it didn't come off, and she stopped her thrashing and looked at me in a sort of "um... now what? Can you help please?" way. After that, she let me pull both ears through for the first time EVER. Once the headstall is on, she opens her mouth happily and takes the bit, and she wears the entire thing without any sort of fuss or care. But those EARS. I am also dying to give her a bridlepath, but there is absolutely no way on this planet that it will happen anytime soon. She is going in to have her teeth done in a week or two, and when she is sedated I will have the vet check her ears for ticks or other nasty things, just in case. (And maybe when she is drugged I can do something about the bridlepath... maybe). She likely also needs a chiro adjustment at the poll... just... HOW to have that done when she is still so afraid of having it touched? She is still terrified of strangers as well... we're stuck between a rock and a hard place. How to explain to her that good things come from having your head touched? She is simply not bribe-able... no amount of cookies or pets convinces her that it is worth it.

Anyway. 

After a brief bit of lunging, I spent ten or so minutes doing additional desensitization work with the saddle. I've already done a lot of this, but it never hurts to do more - get on and off the mounting block, stomp on it, slap the saddle, bounce the stirrups, lean on her, pat her on the bum, stand in the stirrups, etc. I did this on both the left and right sides, the right being her more reactive side. She was still a little bit tense and jumpy, but she relaxed into it. Once I felt she was ready, I turned on the camera and went for it.

And she was GREAT. She did exactly what I expected her to do, especially given the bit of bad weather we're currently having. When my right leg materialized out of nowhere on her right side, she went WHOA WHERE DID THAT COME FROM? and scooted. She is a quick little thing, that is for sure! Hours of practicing "whoa" and standing still paid off at that point, and she stopped and stood quietly. More hours of teaching the command for "walk on" and making sure her hotheaded little self knows the difference between "time to walk nicely forward" and "time to GO" also paid off, and she listened to the verbal command for walk. It took a very long time and hours on the lunge to convince her that it is okay to just walk forward quietly instead of zooming off straight away into a power trot whenever she is asked to move forward, but I am certainly glad that she finally has the idea down. The prep work with grounddriving also came in handy, and she already knows how to steer and how to follow verbal commands from behind her. She has seen me plenty of times from Pangea's back, and so the idea of me being up there wasn't totally foreign. It all came together into exactly what I expected her first ride to be, and nothing unsurprising. I opted to go without a handler, simply because other people still scare her half to death. She knows me and had her full attention on me, and it worked. I don't normally get on youngsters without a handler, but I was glad I did in this case.

The video is a bit long and is a little bit boring, but it is worth it!

We have a very unpleasant widespread soaking rainstorm heading into the area tonight, and it is supposed to continue to rain and be generally crappy all day tomorrow. The girls are up in outside stalls for the night (there are trees in the pasture but no actual shelter or windbreak), and will probably be stuck there all day tomorrow as well. Immy will have a few days off for sure to mull this riding thing over, and we'll start up again later in the week. SO AWESOME!!

The girls say, aw crap, for real?