At the Barn #59 - Feet, a retrospective

Big winds today and yesterday. Big as in 40 mph steady. It seemed like a good afternoon to spend grooming, de-hairing and pampering my special guy. It looks like we are going to get cold rain and a big drop in temperature tonight, so the rain sheet goes on. Who wants to wear a restrictive blanket over top of itchy winter sheddings? Val says not me!

Since it's been damp for a week, I thought I'd pay special attention to his feet, and give his frogs a dose of Veterycin (holy water) to stave off the funk. Despite the tarp canopy framming around wildly, Val patiently remained ground tied. (bragging) He doesn't love it. He eventually tosses his head up and down trying to dislodge and grab the lead rope I lay over his shoulders, but he stays put.

As I cleaned Val's feet, I wondered how they look compared to when I brought him home. It would have been great if I had thought to take pictures back then. My obsession with documenting only started once I began blogging.

I dug around and found a few pictures. The first one was right after the hurricane in September - Val ultimately went ten weeks without a trim, so please ignore the chipping. I trimmed him right after I took this picture. I had just begun using Veterycin, and magnesium, so it's a pretty good benchmark.  The second was taken in December - looks like we needed to get after those bars! And the third was from today. The dark areas by the toe are sand stuck to where I had scraped away some crumbly sole.

 

 

I also checked Val's foot against one of his old shoes. One difference I can see, is that the shoe hangs past the back of his foot now. I'm thinking this means he has more heel - that he's not crushed in the heel area. The toe looks squarer. I wish I hadn't cut them off in today's photo, because his heels bulbs are more robust now too. His older frog seems bigger, probably because I'd sprayed it up with the holy water, and he recently shed his current frog. The biggest and best change I notice is that the white line issues are negligible anymore. I'll take it!

At the Barn #56 - (She's giving me) good vibrations...

The new saddle fitter pad has arrived from Thinline, but I haven't put it to the test yet. It came contained in a super cool reusable shopping bag. (Note to equine products companies - sending your expensive products with a free gift is smart marketing.)

Frustratingly, Thursday, Friday and Saturday were not fit to ride - rain and then major winds. The coming stretch of weather looks fabulous though - I should get plenty of saddle time in this week.

Yesterday I spent overhauling Val's stall, and doing spa treatments instead - deep grooming + clipping. All this was done while ground tied btw. In howling 30 mph winds. Lets just say my guy is pretty fond of the clippers - especially on his muzzle.  I wasn't planning on clipping anything but his bridal path. I think Val's whiskers are cute, not to mention beneficial. He was like - "Hey! Forget about up there and bring that thing hummy thing back down this way pleeeeeazzzzzz!"

 

Feels goooood... maybe tastes good too?!

Today was gorgeous, but I wore myself slam out shoveling ten tons of composted manure into the new garden bed. It took about four hours, and afterwords I didn't have the energy to ride. The borrowed Kubota went back home long ago, so a shovel and wheelbarrow were my coworkers. Oh Kubota - I hardly knew ye...

Lots of good things are on the horizon. I'm looking forward to planning and planting the gardens. Doing everything from seed this year, because I'm tired of bringing pathogens into my garden from nurseries. Overall - my experience has been when (purchased) plants reseed - the new generation seems to be hardier than it's nursery stock parents anyhow. And who knows what critters ride along in the little pots of dirt...

Also, I'm cautiously optimistic that I'll be working in my studio by next week. My electrician friend who offered so long ago to come wire my studio up may make an appearance this weekend. This is good, because while waiting for my friend to follow through, as a plan b, I attempted to get quotes from two local contractors. One quote took over two months, and when I finally got it, it was super gigantic, despite the fact that I had offered to dig the trench. The other electrician came by twice in the last year to look at the job, but could not be bothered to call me back with a price. Tiresome...

Finally - we just hit 100 followers! Thank you x 1,000,000 to everyone who reads and comments. I so appreciate the feedback, and the virtual company. :) Hoping to have a ride to write about tomorrow!

In the Arena #95 - ...of mice and men

I've learned to be wary of going into our rides with too much of a plan. I have better results by responding to what goes on in the arena - "ride the horse you have today." However, there is a little strategy I cooked up, and this was the day to try it out.

While we've been improving by leaps and bounds this last couple of months, there is still an unresolved issue. An issue that derails warming up at the walk + steering, and often keeps us from using the whole arena. Recently I've avoided it by moving immediately into trot work, where forward cures steering problems. Bypassing the issue, but not solving it.

Sometimes steering is a monkey on our backs...

As I lay in bed the other night, I visualized beginning a circle at the top of the arena. Instead of closing the circle, I would drop further down the arena, creating a series of loops - sort of an open slinky shape
(sneaky)

This would theoretically accomplish two things: surprise my horse thereby keeping his interest - he's very allergic to predictable - and move me throughout the entire arena at the beginning of the ride, in a roundabout way, without arguments. Holy cow - it worked! Nothing challenges my creativity like dressage.You simply cannot phone it in with a partner like Val.

We proceeded to have a lovely ride focusing on contact, stretchy trot and big walk. Although I struggled with keeping my lower leg on consistently - when I was able, he responded by reaching into the contact. Listen to your horse...

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As I prepared for our ride this afternoon, Val surprised me with a new trick. Each time I glanced up from grooming, he was in the midst of untying his quick release knot. First mouthing the loop, loosening it. Next pulling the end to dismantle the knot. Then finally yanking the whole rope back through the tie ring with a flourish as the leadline dangled from his mouth. He cut glances at me throughout the entire process, looking quite proud of himself. I was supremely bummed not to have my camera handy, although I expect I'll have other chances to document this behavior. Good thing we ground tie now.

I recently got a comment asking about how we work on ground tying. It's pretty simple. I halter Val, then lay the lead rope over his back. I begin grooming, picking feet, bug spraying etc. As soon as he moves a step, I (calmly) stop what I'm doing, send him back to where he started with a light hand on his lead, and resume. This process also involves lots of cookies.

Initially, the exercise consisted of moving Val back into place, over and over. Now - he might take a half-hearted step or two, get put back, sigh, politely drop his head and wait. It's good to set yourself up for success, ie choose a nice calm day when your horse is feeling pretty mellow, practice after exercise, and have a wall, fence or some barrier to limit avenues of escape. How do you all do it?

In the Arena #75 - Reading is "fun"damental...

When I very first started studying dressage, a friend kindly recommended some books... My Horses, My Teachers - Alois Podhajsky, Centered Riding - Sally Swift, Riding Logic - W. Museler and 101 Dressage Exercises For Horse and Rider - Jec Aristole Ballou.

I devoured My Horses, My Teachers and Centered Riding immediately. I need to give Riding Logic another try - it was way over my head at the time. Today Val and I cracked open 101 Exercises.

A hundred and one?!!!!!

We dove right in. Before I knew it we had ridden for well over an hour. Why the heck didn't I do this sooner? This book gave me the structure and focus that I had been struggling to find working without my trainer, and relying on my imagination.

We tried three exercises. Large oval with big and little trot, go and whoa, and turns and forward movement. Basically focusing on getting on the aids. Coincidentally, our contact was excellent today. I found it much easier to concentrate on accuracy, my aids and Val's movement, when I didn't also have to plan / decide on our school figure at the same time. The book is designed to be brought to the arena, with large print and simple, well explained diagrams. A fun session - and a great tool for riders who often have to work on their own like we do.

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Over the weekend we also did quite a bit of groundwork. Ground tying is something I've been wanting to accomplish with Val since I got him. We had two extended grooming sessions where he was ground tied the entire time. Initially he tried to walk off. Each time I stopped grooming, (patiently) moved him back, and then continued working.

I got some good insight into Val's coping behaviors during this session. First he tries to walk off. Then he tries what I like to call "hammer-heading". (His head met my elbow several times) Next comes lippy grooming which can turn into nippy clothes grabbing. More elbow. Finally there is extreme head tossing. I had seen this behavior when I met him at his old barn. Once he ran the gamut, which took about fifteen minutes or so, he finally stood calmly, eyes closed and bottom lip dangling. The second session he just stayed put from the get go... what a good boy!

We also did more trailer loading practice. Val self-loaded numerous times, so I think that's confirmed now. I couldn't be happier. I should elaborate - I'm sure that Val self-loaded before I bought him. I haven't taught him anything. A few bad loading experiences when we first got together unfortunately set us back. So really, I'm the one that needed the trailer loading work. I think I've got it down now ;)

Finally, we had an amateur massage session. I worked on Val's poll and neck. He has some very tight places on either side of his poll, and further down his neck as well. I guess it was okay because Val stayed put, and did a lot of stretching and yawning. We have booked a real massage session with someone who practices the Masterson Method. She is located on the other side of the state from us, but happens to be vacationing here in early October. Lucky Val!