Powering through to the end: November December Goals and Progress

[StraightForward]

Here we are at the end of the year, on the precipice of winter in the northern hemisphere! I'll likely just get a couple lessons in November, then be on my own for a few months.

Tesla:
Improve the canter, canter, canter. That really is it. We'll see the vet tomorrow, but I feel like it's all about teaching her to take weight on her back legs and flex those joints. If we can do that, 2nd level shouldn't be a big reach.
In that spirit, work on some piaffe in hand.

Annabelle:
Also work on the canter, and get the FCs jumper style. Maybe see if I can find a half leaser for the winter.
Get her lighter in the bridle, and more obedient to the leg aid. Generally, easier for someone else to ride.

Self:
Ride with intention and expectations.
Gym 3x a week hitting that core strength and working on upper body posture in particular.
Don't let extra poundage sneak on over the holidays.

[Chisamba]

Thank you StraightForward for starting the end if year thread.

I'm starting with me.

Self:
1) Do not gain winter pounds. Just don't. Weigh in daily and make the necessary adjustments.
2) trust myself more. I've been told over and over to lowr my hands lower my hands so after 3 days of burying my hands in the fleece pad in front of my saddle it was so enlightening to have the clinician admit I needed to raise my hands. This is just a small thing but it was huge. First. huge respect to the clinician who was able to admit something but I don't believe in short necks and low hands so just trust what I believe in. I looked at 500 photos on Olympic riders. You know who had low hands? Men with long arms. You know who had elbows on ribs? Men with long arms. Most females riders had higher more forward arms. Just saying. Trust my feeling and sympathy for the horse more.

They're is no need the change my sport, and no need to dismiss my principles and no need to throw away my rescues and waste a years income on a fancy horse. Love what I do and do what I love and live and love and learn . Duck the scores. Lol. They are nothing more that a paid opinion of a moment in time.

Horses:
Saiph, a little more X training. I had a crossrail on the diagonal this week because i was doing a jump training on client horses. So I jumped Saiph a few times and once she was confidently forward to the jump, I did three flying changes to a couple of strides out then jumped, so instead is thinking collection. At the end of all those flying changes she was thinking up straight and forward to the jump . I hadn't planned it, it was just there and we did it. So, don't be afraid of trying different things and playing around more.

Kimba. She lost so much muscle on stall rest do strengthen and fitness and gradual increase of work.

Honey, politeness an obedience, over and over again, and basics.

Flei. Comfort suppleness basics.

Winter is that time to focus on the root growth and not worry about how the twigs look. Like the trees, lose the leaves. Protect the branches, and push the roots deep so that when we blossom in the spring the roots can support a beautiful new canopy of glory

[khall]

Will be a busy 2 months both with horses and holidays/family.

Joplin working on developing more collection in the canter. Working on C W transitions. Continue the trend of more upright and staying softer in the bridle in the canter. Piaffe US more.
WE clinic November
Haul to big indoor show facility for exposure
Cedar clinic in December

Me continuing to lose the weight. Sticking with Pilates
Celebrating DH’s birthday
Celebrating mom’s birthday on Thanksgiving
Hosting thanksgiving
Anniversary trip in December
Figure out this pelvic floor issue with rehab

[exvet]

We hit the 'end of year' with a bang, taking Brandon to a show this weekend. I'm going to focus on keeping him relaxed and hopefully will see decent scores that we can use towards All-Breeds. I will be moving the boys back with me to Prescott (our home in the higher elevation) so that I can start my new job. It will be an adventure determining exactly what my riding schedule is going to look like now that I'll be dealing with almost a true winter. I do have plans to continue Brandon's PT and Junior's conditioning. Junior's stamina and strength demonstrated huge improvements just being there over the summer. I have plans to come back to the Valley once a month for lessons with Molly and will try to take as many lessons with the judge who comes up to teach whenever she can on the weekends. The focus of the lessons won't change much for either horse (or with either instructor) - Forward with Balance and maintaining consistent connection coming over the back. I am promised that if I can achieve 'those things' to the degree and demands necessary for the level we'll see improvement of our scores and Junior will begin to fly/jump in his changes. As for me, I'm going to continue to work out 4-5 times a week and hopefully get out and do more hiking. I also plan to get involved more with our GMO chapter up there. It's a portion of 'have nots but make due' of one of the major GMOs for the state. We'll see if getting involved makes any head way with our diminishing showing opportunities in the area. Here in the Phoenix metro the schooling shows have all but disappeared and have been replaced by private schooling shows and even a couple of recognized shows (all private) at one or two primary barns - outsiders not allowed or invited to participate. I think it's shameful how much more exclusive classical dressage has become in our area which is why I think western dressage continues to take off here.

[texsuze]

Not riding, just lurking now, but I still appreciate the dedication to horse, to sport and to personal health everyone seems to have. Observations from Chisamba make me nod my head "Yes, yes". And interesting how many continue to work towards weight management (with themselves); it doesn't get any easier with age, I'm here to tell ya'! Ride on!

[Tanga]

Not posting goals, but I have to say I love my girls. Yesterday proved it.

I took my dogs on the trail yesterday. One is a lab/pitbull mix that is fast and loves to chase. The other looks like mostly Dobie, but bigger, and some kind of giant hound because he loves to scent, and he is all about grabbing and shaking and killing what the other dog catches up with. In all of my almost 60 years in CA, I have NEVER seen a badger. They found a BADGER! Like, how stupid do you have to be to mess with a BADGER? I was riding Quilla and ponying Quinn when they stopped it and the Dobie actually got it and was shaking it as I was screaming at him to get away. The other dog backed off, but he wouldn't. He got it around the neck and shook it in a way that should have killed it 4 or 5 times, it got loose, repeat. Both horses are just getting in close where I needed them to be to get the dog off, just doing what I ask. I finally took Quinn's lead rope off, jump off Quilla, and put it on the dog to pull him away from the BADGER as they both (dog and badger) are panting exhausted, staring each other down. I pull the dog away as the badger backs off, daring us to come back. I drag the dog away.

Quinn ran back to the pasture. I take the dogs back to the car. Neither dog nor BADGER appeared to have a scratch on them. Both girls were kick ass and just quietly did as I asked as I tried to break up the BADGER dog fight!

And I'm with you on the weight, too, Chisamba.

[blob]

Me
Set better boundaries at work and stick to them to have some semblance of balance
Cook/eat leftovers 2-3 times a week

RP
Continue working on better canter balance
Start some supportive therapies (acupuncture, chiro, etc)
Lunge every 10 days or so to confirm/check progress
Continue work with poles and hills
Get in 2-3 lessons

MM
Get her back in shape
Find a good alternate rider for weeks I cannot ride to keep her fit
Enjoy her

[Moutaineer]

Well, I'm feeling much better, so now I need to get back in shape (wah!) and ride my horse.

I need to refine my understanding of connection, collection and impulsion.

I need to continue to work on my position and alignment.

You know, just learning how to ride, really...

[StraightForward]

Wow Tanga, I would not want to tussle with a badger, glad everyone is OK and the horses handled the excitement so well!

Well, Tesla flexed sore in both hocks, and sure enough, she had watery joint fluid, so she got steroid injections. I still wonder if this is secondary to another issue since she has always been wonky with so many things. But at least it's a not too expensive thing to try. It will be interesting to see how she responds. If this does seem to be the main issue, I'll get rads and look into PAAG or other options rather than just steroids, but this is a starting point.

Annabelle did pretty well on her flexions and didn't end up needing anything. So now I'm reassured that I can push her a bit more and not feel like a meanie. I rode when we got home from the vet and continue to practice the level of connection and engagement from the clinic. I'm probably still not intense enough, but A went really well. Working on down transitions or circles whenever she gets a little strong, and she got quite nicely adjustable off my seat. Last night we had a jumping session and I did a similar thing; adding in a ~12m circle after a jump if I didn't feel like she would take a HH politely.

Tomorrow is supposed to be the first of several rainy days, so we'll probably be taking it easy. T is off until Sunday anyway.

[mari]

Riding goals for me remain the same as last time: MORE MORE MORE. More suppleness, more bend, more response to the leg, more sideways, more submission. We've made some good headway over the last 2 months, and I want to keep building on it.

Our canter half-passes are much nicer than the trot ones. Trot he tends to plank a bit, and the sideways is laborious. So today we bullied him slightly into a much steeper angle with much exaggerated bend. And after riding a few of those, I could tone it down and actually send him forward in the HP for a few strides.

We have a show next Saturday, IF his slightly puffy legs from today don't balloon into full-on swollen leg virus and fever. He tends to be a petri dish for every random virus going around, so I'm expecting by tomorrow he'll be miserable.

[khall]

Wow tanga that was way exciting! Good girls!!

SF did the vet have you put T on adequan? That’s what my vet uses for most of his sport horses. My holistic vet uses it to both on her dogs and her pony. Joplin has been on it for a bit. Found she has unusual conformation in one hock upper joint. Had effusion from it. Vet says should not bother her.

Not getting too much done this week having trees taken down so lots of crashing and chain saws going.

No badgers!! Though we did have a bobcat in our back yard recently. Love the wild life we get to see here.

Happy fall everyone on this side of the world. Hopefully we can get some good work in over the winter here.
Flight good luck with the move!

[Aleuronx]

I'll be mostly on repeat from last section for goals. It's pretty much our winter season homework. Trainer leaves for Florida after Thanksgiving so I'll be getting to see her as much as possible before she leaves. Other trainer will keep us ticking over winter between clinics. She has a good eye but lessons are not as intense which is fine, just different. I'll appreciate having more eyes on the ground as this winter will be very pivotal in the training.

Section Goals:
Flying Change Hell; work on changes
Trot with shoulders up, neck down - throughness. Start getting this within shoulder-in and laterals.
Half steps introduction
Hack once a week

Keep on tread mill 2-3 times a week for me

[StraightForward]

SF did the vet have you put T on adequan? That’s what my vet uses for most of his sport horses. My holistic vet uses it to both on her dogs and her pony. Joplin has been on it for a bit. Found she has unusual conformation in one hock upper joint. Had effusion from it. Vet says should not bother her.

Not at this point. Last year we did Adequan with Annabelle, but did it again early this year and it was not enough so we went to hock injections. I'm kind of thinking of this round with the hocks as more of a diagnostic. I'm going to start her on JointX and MSM as well, since Annabelle is already getting those. Right now I just want to see how much of the equation the hocks seem to be, or if there is another factor we need to root out.

[exvet]

Had a good lesson on Brandon this morning. Molly said he looked very sound and pretty relaxed and light after we got through our warm up. Starting to teach him how to really power up for the lengthenings/mediums. We head to the show grounds tomorrow to get him in the big indoor where he rides two different tests. The last time I had Brandon in that arena it was in front of Hilda Gurney doing a training level test and he screamed his lungs out throughout the entire test. Hopefully he'll realize that when left alone in there (no other horses) he's not about to be snatched by the horse grabbers.

Junior gave me some really nice moments this morning as well. His stamina has improved so much. He canters most of our ride without having any breathing issues or heating issues. I do twice a year Adequan and twice a year polyglycan (so every quarter) on both of my boys. I did something similar with Monty, Adequan along with Legend on Monty for really long, stressful shows all as pre-emptive measures. I can't prove that it worked but I'm not knocking it either considering how long he has lasted. Of course for me I get it all at cost and do it myself; so, the expense isn't nearly so painful.

[Chisamba]

Talking about supportive medicine any of you is Pentosan? By holy it has gone up in price by about 400% since it was approved by the FDA

[exvet]

I use pentosan now. I was getting it compounded but thanks to the 'new' laws, I can no longer get it compounded. We're forced to purchase the FDA approved product and yes, they skyrocketed the price when the change was going into effect.

[Srhorselady]

I had all my senior horses on monthly compounded Pentosan for years until that was no longer available at an affordable price. Now I’ve had to put the 28 year old on daily previcox. He used to occasionally canter in turnout and trot regularly. Now he is noticeably stiff, lame on turns, and only occasionally trots. All in the six months since going off the Pentosan. The 25 year old pony who is still totally sound and in work at 25 doesn’t show any obvious changes without it, but she is 13-2 and 700 lbs as well as younger and with a lot less miles on her. The 28 year old is 16-3 and 1300 lbs and showed to Prix St G with various health issues along the way. I am convinced the Pentosan helped but now it is more expensive than Adequan….

[Chisamba]

Rood and Riddle compounds pentisan and glucosamine to get past the fda. It's much more reasonable than the zycosan. You do need a perscription.

It's 130 a bottle.

Look into it if you like. I trust rood and riddle.

[blob]

I had scheduled a lesson for myself yesterday and just had to make it happen despite work. Thank goodness, I certainly needed it. And with all the infrequent riding, I esp feel like I need to get us back in shape.

this is a new to me trainer who I worked with a few times in the summer before things got crazy and she was starting to help me try to get RP's canter back where it was. Before riding slowed down it felt like we were making some progress with the right lead canter, but now it's gotten all wonky again. Yesterday the trainer spent some time with me diagnosing the issue so we can get to a better/more lasting solve. She thinks he's landing pretty heavy on his right front/falling in on shoulder at all 3 gaits and in the canter just totally destroys the rhythm of it. And that when I try to get him off of it, he somtimes just ends up swinging the right hip in and holding it high. She had me do some lateral work, but felt that while the lateral work helps and ultimately will help me get him more responsive to lateral aids (which he needs), I need to be careful because the lateral work can also make it easy for him to overweight the right front or swing in the right hind. So, she had me break up LYs with big circles (larger than 20 meters), where I would focus on trying to align his shoulder and then change the circle line (slightly smaller, slightly bigger) through just the shoulder. I did feel his trot improve through the work, but his right lead canter was still quite a struggle. I could feel what she was saying, I just couldn't really fix it/do anything about it. And in the right lead canter, when I use too much inside leg to get him up and off his shoulder, he is prone to swapping leads.

I'm going to try to get in a several lessons in closer succession over the coming weeks. But in the meantime, I think I need to figure out how I can effectively get him off the right shoulder/right front in a way that is manageable for us both. I'm trying to think if there is a way I can do this through lunging....I'm a very effective lunger and it gets me out of the equation...

[exvet]

I have a rood and riddle account. It's where I get my estrone sulfate from for Brandon. I looked into their compounded pentosan but was initially told that it was on backorder and now it's in indefinite Limbo per my rep. I think they are feeling the pressure from some of the same efforts used to shut down Wedgewood and Nexgen which is where I was purchasing the compounded version from for quite some time. I will say that I see far less swelling from the Zycosan than any of the compounded versions I've tried.

Brandon had a habit of loading the front end in right lead canter. He is very stiff bending to the right and tends to bring his left hind across underneath almost too far. I was told to start riding him up and using my seat to pick up his shoulders and it did work................the downside is that is when he started getting sticky with his left stifle that led to us going down. The more I ask him to come under and load the hind end the more trouble he was having with his stifle but with his exercises, removing his shoes so he can have a natural breakover and possibly the estrone this is becoming less of an issue. To the left he needs to be more over the back and coming round but his mechanics are pretty good otherwise.

[Srhorselady]

Thanks for the info on the Pentosan. I’ve asked my vet to check with Rood and Riddle. I’ll probably get the same answer as Exvet but it doesn’t hurt to ask.

[Srhorselady]

Oh, I was getting from Wedgewood previously and Roadrunner before that and never had any swelling issues. At that time I had three horses on it IM once monthly.

[Chisamba]

I ordered mine Monday And got it today. ( pentosan)

I had to work thorough a tantrum of Saiph refusing to go forward, and simply ignoring the side you go from trot to canter. After about 15 minutes of my not relenting , she seemed to understand that I was not going to be persuaded to yield and she discovered she could after all go forward and uphill into a pleasant contact.

It's as if she suddenly becomes a real dressage horse.

Kimbas second day with canter included. Slowly getting her fit again.

I finished a self portrait of me and Saiph. At least I think it's finished, I often go back and fiddlev with stuff again.

Now to sleep perchance to stream. I have three hours before my 12 hour overnight. It does not bode well

[exvet]

I talked to my rep today (Rood and Riddle). Pentosan is still listed but they're trying to not add new customers. They are continuing to fulfill on going prescriptions and customers who have been receiving it. She said that this is something that is back-and-forth due to them trying to make sure that they're not nailed by FDA (or their customers) and have all their ducks (legally) thoroughly in a row.

I schooled Brandon at the show and though he was not thrilled with the big thundering horses coming so close to him, he kept it together. He wasn't too badly behaved or horribly distracted so we'll see what tomorrow brings.

I did a ton of counter canter and counter canter-trot-counter canter transitions as well as true canter-trot-transitions. While I feel that Junior's balance and lack of forward was still a problem in the counter canter, the work did help his true canter-trot-canter transitions much better in both directions. We'll keep working on it. The difference today was after all the counter canter work he was much more supple and willing to stay truly round and over his back through the transitions in the true canter. One key I felt was that going to his 'stuck' side which is the left lead, I was able to use some slight counter positioning to get him to soften and come over his back as we were going back and forth between the gaits. This is huge for the fire plug. Thank you chisamba!

[Chisamba]

I am glad junior and you are training well. Also sounds like Brandon pulled up his big boy panties! How it bodes well!!

I'm doing a hunt on Sunday with the Amwell hunt club . It's lovely country so i hope it's pleasant weather. I'm not a fan of galloping on sub freezing ground but I'm going with super friends.

.

[Moutaineer]

By golly my abs are on fire tonight. I've been doing some pilates as well as some more aerobic exercise.(back on the trampoline!) And I think my best ride ever on Potters today. (And my longest and most intense in at least 2 months.) What a superstar he was.

Actually I think he's been a total star for not killing me in the last couple of years as I've fumbled around learning to ride him.

[Chisamba]

By golly my abs are on fire tonight. I've been doing some pilates as well as some more aerobic exercise.(back on the trampoline!) And I think my best ride ever on Potters today. (And my longest and most intense in at least 2 months.) What a superstar he was.

Actually I think he's been a total star for not killing me in the last couple of years as I've fumbled around learning to ride him.

Moutaineer, I'm sure he is happy that you rehabbed him from an almost lame bargain to a happy healthy horse. Get your confidence. You are riding and progressing after a nasty illness and give yourself some credit.

[StraightForward]

Well, Annabelle and I managed to get over to the XC course after all today. She hasn't been anywhere except the vet in almost five months, so I was pretty happy with her. She blew off some steam on the lunge and was still a bit twitchy the first 20 minutes or so I rode, and wanted to inspect each log before jumping. Ryan got on her and took her over some good-sized solid jumps. She had to look at the first few of those as well, but then we went nicely. After that, I asked if he could get her in the water. He had his work cut out for him, even with a couple other horses in the pond for encouragement. Eventually she leapt in and trotted around, but was still hard to get back in from a trot or canter. We agreed that hunter world is definitely more of her forte. Toying with taking her in the 2'3" at a schooling show next weekend. Also, rode her in her new Fager bit last night and really like it so far. Less for her to hang on, but she seems fairly confident to step into the bridle as well. The canter has improved a lot as well as the simple changes. Hopefully FCs are not far off!

Did just a quick ride on Tesla since they haven't been turned out due to rain. She felt pretty good judging by the leaps she did when I pulled her tack so she could roll.

[Moutaineer]

Thank you, Chisamba. You are probably right!

Urgh. Board has just gone up by 25%. That's a lot of money. I just had lunch with a friend of mine from another barn and hers has gone up by a similar amount. I understand it, but that's a big jump in one go.

Barn availability not helped by a local equestrian center under construction going up in flames on Friday. Fortunately, no horses in yet. We haven't heard the cause yet but I'm sure it will be someone being careless. There are so many things that can go wrong at that "almost finished" stage of construction.

[Aleuronx]

Oof, 25% increase?!? That is not an easy swallow. Was this planned from all the construction going on Moutaineer and just hitting now? I’m stuck with whatever increases happen as we have a henstooth of a place, indoor could be bigger but it’s on the few places that Kora can live out 24/7 as is her preference, very large outdoor, both arenas with good footing and fields/trails for cross training.

Interesting weekend of lessons with both trainers. Saturday played with a different idea for the half steps coming back from extended trot to passage-like steps. I have no idea what I am doing but Kora is trying so I guess that’s what counts. For now to keep the back up and not disjointed I have to ride the neck a bit down otherwise she ends up climbing in front when she takes the half-halt back. This trainer loves the walk, which I hate, lol. So we compromise and work on the walk. This day was extended walk keeping the neck up and out, which is so hard and I hate. Have I mentioned I hate the walk?

Today’s lesson main trainer was MEGA. Just felt like we kept ticking through all the boxes, shoulder-in trot keeping within the lines and asking that inside hind to step under, haunches in trot don’t overbend the neck and keep the fluidity, half-pass trot both ways don’t over-do the angle and close up the hind legs. Canter we zipped through the half-pass, a little forward and back then pinged both changes clean. Which meant time to work on the quality of them, I was shocked as I thought we’d be at ‘well change was clean so good’ for more time. Same story here that the quieter I sit and aid for the change the better the change is. Finished up with our first working canter piros, riding a 6m volte asking for a step or two of very collected and turn. It was hard but man, such a fun lesson.

[goldhorse]

Not posting goals, but I have to say I love my girls. Yesterday proved it.

I took my dogs on the trail yesterday. One is a lab/pitbull mix that is fast and loves to chase. The other looks like mostly Dobie, but bigger, and some kind of giant hound because he loves to scent, and he is all about grabbing and shaking and killing what the other dog catches up with. In all of my almost 60 years in CA, I have NEVER seen a badger. They found a BADGER! Like, how stupid do you have to be to mess with a BADGER? I was riding Quilla and ponying Quinn when they stopped it and the Dobie actually got it and was shaking it as I was screaming at him to get away. The other dog backed off, but he wouldn't. He got it around the neck and shook it in a way that should have killed it 4 or 5 times, it got loose, repeat. Both horses are just getting in close where I needed them to be to get the dog off, just doing what I ask. I finally took Quinn's lead rope off, jump off Quilla, and put it on the dog to pull him away from the BADGER as they both (dog and badger) are panting exhausted, staring each other down. I pull the dog away as the badger backs off, daring us to come back. I drag the dog away.

Quinn ran back to the pasture. I take the dogs back to the car. Neither dog nor BADGER appeared to have a scratch on them. Both girls were kick ass and just quietly did as I asked as I tried to break up the BADGER dog fight!

And I'm with you on the weight, too, Chisamba.

Tanga, Calif. Dep't of Fish and Wildlife would like to know about your badger sighting. https://wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Mammals/Badger
I am very jealous.

[exvet]

There are few things better than realizing your young horse is growing up and putting on his big boy pants. Took Brandon to a recognized show this weekend. Despite having to be out of work for a couple of weeks, having to transition to barefoot and working in this awful heat, he was so darn good. I almost had to count the number of socks on the bay I brought because I started to think I pulled the wrong one from the turnout LOL. Seriously he really tried to give me what I asked both days. He competed in 4 tests at first level. Getting a low score of 63 to a high of 66, first level test 3, an improvement from his previous attempt back in April. He earned some 7s for his lengthenings, square halts, stretchy circle, leg yields and an 8 for his downward transition to the walk. Placings weren't anything to write home about but he did end up second in First level test 2 (and would have been second in First level test 1 if his aging rider hadn't gone off course due to forgetting the test). The best part was that he seemed to be starting to really 'get it' which will only get better with time

[Tanga]

Tanga, Calif. Dep't of Fish and Wildlife would like to know about your badger sighting. https://wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Mammals/Badger
I am very jealous.[/quote]

Well, that is very cool. That was the badger! It's clearly not expecting an actual address that I can give them and trying to get me to find it somewhere in the wilderness on a map.

exvet--You and Brandon are such a nice pair. My friend in Healdsburg (who took Sora) just bought a nice black Cob stallion from Canada and he is heading her way. She is going to be breeding some really nice smaller riding horse (maybe from my mares, too.)

[mari]

Awesome show report Exvet! Well done!!! I agree with Tanga, such a nice pair.

[exvet]

Thank you mari and tanga.

Tanga, if you find out more about the welsh cob stallion (pedigree) please let me know. I would be seriously interested in offspring if he's out of the program I suspect and cross breds in particular.

[Chisamba]

About board increases:

25% probably won't even bring them into profitability.

I have tried so hard not to increase board for my clients. I'm doing a lot more work myself, from construction and repairs to daily chores. The disadvantage of this is it takes my time and Emmet away from what I'm good at, which is the training and lessons which are essential to balance the finances.
I kept thinking if I could just hold it til the Covid driven expense increases abated, I'd be ok. Nope, after Covid prices continued to rise .

It's sobering to look at my year end report to discover I could have bought a nice horse with the money I lost on board. I bet a number of barn owners found the same thing and are having to make the "price up or close down" choice that I am facing.

On to more pleasant topics. Despite the fact that we were totally unable to save daylight ( ha ha ) and it's dark early, we had a gorgeous glorious day and went to a hunter pace. Me and my BFF were a little too fast but still managed the blue ribbon. It was lovely galloping through corn fields, and pumpkin fields, on tracks and trails and through woods. Many cute pumpkin decorated jumps that my horse thought needed a little more air to clear. The breath of life really does blow between the ears of a horse.

Exvet, lovely photo. Nice show report. How was B feeling after the show?
Tanga, I've considered breeding Kimba. I know you raised your girls yourself, right? In Zambia everyone continued to ride their pregnant mares with consideration as they got heavier, and then we rode before the foals were weaned. It's only when I came to the USA that I found whole herds of broodmare never even trained to ride. It was a shock. Lol

Have a great week and keep posting everyone. I check in daily to see what you have been accomplishing.

[StraightForward]

,
Well, that is very cool. That was the badger! It's clearly not expecting an actual address that I can give them and trying to get me to find it somewhere in the wilderness on a map.

If you drop a pin on Google maps, you can either give them the link to the location, or send them the coordinates. That is probably the easiest way.

Exvet, nice job on the show, Brandon is really coming along!

Rode Tesla last night and she had some sticky spots, but I think she is feeling a bit better already. I tried to replicate where we ran into trouble at the clinic keeping the left bend on a circle and cantering - and she did it pretty well, especially the second time. So hopefully she'll start to realize she's more comfortable and start taking a little more weight on the hind legs. If the weather will cooperate, I'll get some video this week and look for any changes.

I'm off work most of this week, so hoping to get some good riding in!

[khall]

Great show report Exvet! Glad Brandon put his big boy pants on for the show. Well done!

SF have a great week riding!

Chisamba riding pregnant mares. Most don’t I agree. I have and ridden after foaling but not every broodmare. I do agree riding before having foals is a good thing. See what you have make good stallion choices. Gaila is just sitting. She’s pretty big now. The hunter pace sounds fun!


Board increase. Ugh. It’s just so expensive to maintain a farm. This year to get clean hay we spent big $ on chemicals. Bermuda hay is going for over $9 a bale these days. Have not added up what we have in our hay between fertilizer and chemicals. Ugh. Then farm maintenance. We put $6000 into arena maintenance last year this year it’s fence posts and tree clearing. Over $10,000 for that. And my barn needed some maintenance $8,000 for the panels we need to replace.

We have hired out some of the bigger jobs but much like fence posts we do ourselves. Having a farm is a money drain. Boarders and their horses can increase the work load way beyond the returns. I cleared most of my boarders in 2010 when I had to have surgery. Just have a good friend now and no plans to add more. I keep the board reasonably inexpensive with just the one horse. You really cannot make money boarding horses. You have to teach and train. DH and I will more than likely downsize at some point hopefully streamlining the work load. I’ve also thought about boarding and then working to offset my board but it would not be local for sure! We would have to move.

Fabulous ride on Joplin yesterday! Had a work out in the field. Her piaffe US is really coming. So happy with my girl!

WE clinic this weekend

T C transitions to improve FCs. That is what Cedar and JP do. So does Karen Rohlf. I plan on playing with both C W and trot canter transitions. I want to be able to almost canter in place.

Happy riding all!

[Moutaineer]

Oh, I completely understand the "why." I was expecting something. But it doesn't make it any easier to swallow coughing up an extra $250 a month.

Nice show report, exvet!

[blob]

Re: board changes: I think many barns hold off making price changes with good intentions, but then it ends up being a BIG increase when they do have to go up. It would probably be better/easier for all involved if more incremental increases took place. Our board also went up this summer--but by $50, which is easier to swallow. And I suspect it will go up again within a year or so. A friend who owns a barn just this year decided she was going to have different board prices for different needs, a bit controversial, so i'll be interested to see how it works out for her financially and from a boarder management perspective. But she realized she has some boarders who have horses that get little to no grain and don't get any of the higher calorie hay. Meanwhile there are others who get and need a lot more. I hope it doesn't result in owners not giving the horses what they should get, but it's also understandable that the retired pony air fern is not as costly for her.

Weekend rides were interesting. MM remains a joy to ride always even if the stakes are very low. Still working on getting her back into shape after too much time off--I really need her to stay as fit as possible for her breathing. So, we mostly hacked around with trot and canter work broken up with plenty of walks. I let her 'choose her own adventure' in terms of where we hacked too--not steering, but instead letting her pick her trails. She opted for the steeper hill to a wooded trail to start on Saturday and the same one to end on Sunday.

With a focus on the right shoulder, I rode RP with a crop on Saturday (I normally ride him without a whip), so I could use it as a reminder on his shoulder. I think it worked well in the beginning as a gentle reminder to stand up and we got some good canter work. But he then got a bit hot and when he gets hot off osmething he curls behind the contact and chomps on the bit, so it makes it hard to get correct work. Sunday I decided to not use the crop, hoping some of its memory would carry over. But he was very lean-y tracking right. I played around with lateral work at the trot and walk to help, but the canter was tricky. I tried experimenting with some different things: is there a difference if i do the upward transition from the walk or the trot? Not really. Does doing CC help stand him up? Potentially, but could also get him scrambled. Does it help to LY off the outside leg or the inside leg in the canter? Yes, and more so off the outside leg, but the improvement doesnt' stick. Is it better on a straight line or a bending line? Straight. Does changing his frame help? Yes! getting long and low helps a lot. But I think getting higher helps as well, he just has a hard time maintaining that position.

[Aleuronx]

For us the trot-canter or walk-canter shows whether the horse is truly in front of the leg or not. Confirming that they are spot on in front of the leg, the change then comes more easily. If behind at all that's when legs get muddled or left behind in the change. Just our experience, it's a good test of whether the horse is responding promptly enough to allow the aid to cleaning come through for the change.

I'm fully expecting an imminent board increase just how much is the question. The hay season has been so poor due to all the rain we've had this year. The barn is already feeding out some 2nd cut from our home fields and there was no hay to put up in the auxiliary storage area at all. Neither are good signs. The empty hay semi-trailer still sits in the parking spot from last year and hasn't been replaced with a full semi yet either. Ominous.

[exvet]

Exvet, lovely photo. Nice show report. How was B feeling after the show?

Thank you everyone.

Chisamba, Brandon was noticeably tired but doing really well. When we got home after he did the usual roll, check out what hay was left out, and annoy his barn buddies. I rode Junior that evening and then went through the standard evening routine. Brandon was looking quite sound while following us around from a safe distance during my ride. Then, I found him at 10 pm, my usual late night barn check, snoozing with his muzzle so deep in the sand I thought he must taste the dirt. Most evenings at that time he's up keeping watch on the neighbor's place but he was exhausted Sunday night. It's funny how much you can tell what goes on in the wee hours of the evening by the tracks and patterns in the sand. It would have appeared that Brandon caught up on needed rest. I let him have Monday off (I worked) and plan to resume our weekly in hand work and lunging routine tonight after work. I'll have a better idea on his progress and any 'after effects' from the show tonight.

I don't plan to show again until January. I most likely will be taking just Brandon unless Junior makes some significant progress with the flying changes. We're going on vacation next week and Junior and Brandon will be staying with Molly for the week. She's going to continue Brandon's PT for me (and injections) and work on Junior's canter/forward issue. I'm not hoping for any miracles but will be interested to hear what she has to say about any progress we have made since last year when she took care of him for me (she rode him about 3 times which is what she's likely to do this time).

[Flight]

Lovely photos Exvet

I had a clinic with my instructor on the weekend. She was down for 6 days but I had a course on at work so I missed the first 4. I love just watching as much as I can. I took Ding for my lessons and we worked on straightness and back to inhand for his piaffe. It was cool, she took him for that and she's so precise and clear with what she's asking.
So, that's my homework.

My goals will be to just keep slowly getting the young one going under saddle and hopefully getting our place sold.

[khall]

Flight I love in hand work! I need to get some video of the piaffe work I do with Joplin in hand. We not only work true piaffe but work piaffe trot as in very active short trot and do HI and HP. It’s such good fun!

Very sad today. Putting mom in hospice and probably looking at skilled nursing care home. She’s just deteriorated so much.

[Moutaineer]

I'm sorry, Khall.

[khall]

Thank you mountaineer. Aging parents is a difficult road.

I do have one fun thing to report. I ordered a new saddle yesterday!! It’s a Peter Horobin monoflap customized to my very flat backed mare.

https://horobin.com.au/saddles/equestri ... -kitzbuhel

[Lipsmackerpony88]

Tanga, that is so crazy that your dogs got a Badger. What an event!! Lol! Yikes

Blob, I hope you get more riding time in soon. Being a grown up sucks sometimes, doesn't it? With work and all that getting in the way of our riding!

Exvet, wow Brandon looks great. I'm glad the PT and Estrone seems to be helping.

Flight, that's fun homework!!

Khall- I am sorry to hear about your mom. This stuff is hard to deal with- I did it with my Grandma. The last few years were so so hard.

Lynx trotted on the long lines today! He's only done at three times in the first time he got loose and tangled up. So he's actually come a long way quickly. Today was the first day he actually seemed confident about what he was doing so the dressage trainer added in just a little bit of trot at the end. I'm very proud of him.

The vet came out for a recheck. His back is still looking good, but we are making the decision to do Prostride in both stifles. He's a bit sore on the left and occasionally having some mild locking/slipping in the right. Luckily my vet is going to work with me as finances are so tight right now. I've used her forever and while she can't do all the fancy stuff some of the big clinics can She sure helps me out where she can.

Fingers crossed that we can get him feeling good. It's so hard when you got two things playing off of each other. Im my mind the back stuff and the stifles probably go hand in hand which makes sense why we got "stuck" before. Hopefully we're getting about the full picture here so he can get smoothly back into a full routine.

[Moutaineer]

LSP, sounds like a good plan for Lynx. It really is a puzzle untangling what is affecting what at any one time sometimes. But I do believe that the best thing you can do with a functionally sound horse is appropriate steady work with an eye towards it being physical therapy.

On the subject of which... I really need to get some new pictures of Potters. He looks like an entirely different horse. The work that he has been doing, mostly with Justin but with me now, too, and the changes to his feed that I made about six weeks ago have made him truly blossom. He's so much deeper through his waist, he has a topline running from his ears to his round hind end, he's carrying himself so much better. There's more to go, but I couldn't be happier.

He's very much easier to ride with all that added substance. There's a place for one's legs, and a place to sit, and he doesn't disappear out from under a seat bone so easily. He's also much happier to step up into the bridle and take your hand. He's also just glowing with good health and obviously feeling good. Several people have said to me recently "He's such a big horse!" Which makes me go "huh?" compared to the other elephants in the barn, but I think it's all about radiating presence and that gleam in his eye.

A saddle flocking session is in order next week with all this change!

(And I know I'm tempting fate with even talking about him like this.)

I'm feeling better, too. I still get tired if I try to do all the things, but as long as I pace myself, I'm managing riding and working. Now, housework and those other things are a bit more of a stretch! 

[Chisamba]

Lovely update Moutaineer.

I went with friends to the Equine affairs in Massachusetts. Saw Steffen Peter's presentation and Phillip Duttons. Then did a marathon shop. Then ate some soup that disagreed with me and vomited my way home.

I splurged big time in an ABI ring drag. Footing being one of the big keys.

[exvet]

My sympathies khall. My mother isn't as far along in her dimentia as yours but there still are mounting challenges all the time.

Moutaineer it certainly sounds like your efforts and plan are working.

I had another lesson on Junior with Molly on Thursday. I had some really nice canter-trot-canter changes and walk-canter-walk changes that likely could/would have resulted in clean changes. We're honing all the mechanics so that the correct attempt at flying changes becomes easier than the alternative.

Both boys go to bootcamp this afternoon. Molly has ridden Junior (left him with her last year for our vacation) before but has never ridden Brandon. I'll be interested in hearing her summary report with each boy upon my return (especially since during our first meeting she stated that there is only one breed she really dislikes, Morgans).