Location Location Location: ASSFS Blog Hop

Well - we've been out of commission so long, most of our readers have probably forgotten all about us. I've been struggling for a while with how to make the transition back to posting. A Soft Spot for Stars blog hop seems like a handy way to "get back on the horse" so to speak. Thanks so much to those of you who checked in.

Always hogs the frame

Equestrian life is challenging here on the Outer Banks. Land is hard to come by, we're very remote, and the climate can be harsh, so overall even basic horse-keeping is an expensive endeavor.

• Hay / Feed

The nearest decent hay source is a 7 hour round trip to SE VA. Nice square bales of second cutting orchard grass are $10 - $12 each, usually weighing around 50 lbs. Val consumes 150 bales a year. I can store 100 bales if I cram the two hay barns to the rafters. Best to do this by December to have all the same crop. (to do otherwise invariably leads to frustrating hay strikes when switching to the new flavor) That will usually last until hay is harvested again in the summer.

To find the true cost, I have to figure in fuel and travel time. This adds another $200 to the truckload - usually fifty bales, making the per bale cost more like $16. (multiplied by three or four trips a year)

Luckily, the local Ace Hardware carries Southern States, so feed is just a twenty mile drive. They are great about special ordering, and give rewards on all purchases. TC senior is $25 a bag, beet pulp $20, and my ration balancer $35.

[A slight digression: This fall I had stocked all the winter hay by October and was super psyched about my stockpile. Then there were two hurricanes in one month. The second storm (Matthew) brought the worst flooding in at least a hundred years. My property has never flooded before, and I had three feet of salt water covering the entire farmette. Both of the hay barns and the tack room flooded.

Less than 24 hours after the flood waters receded, the wet hay was almost too hot to touch, and had to be un-stacked to avoid the barns spontaneously combusting, sorted to salvage what I could, and disposed of - about half of the hay. I didn't even document this part because I was in shock and then utterly demoralized. I lost all the animal feed, many tools and machines, the entire garden, and my tack room was an utter disaster area.

Biggest bummer: the bottle of hoof dressing tipped over in the tack room. While floating around it covered everything touched by the water in sticky black oil. (which was everything)

SO very lucky: I had taken all my tack out to clean and it was stored in the one building that didn't get water.

Still unclear on the state of the Brenderup... haven't been able to face that situation yet, beyond obsessively rinsing and spraying anti-corrosive on all parts that got under salt water. *heavy sigh*]

:(

Starting to recede finally. Val was unimpressed...

• Boarding

There is only one barn that boards, and they advertise full board at $450, "scheduled feedings twice daily along with free range of hay and turnout, stall cleaning twice daily, bedding, parking for your trailer on the premises." Turnout is in the riding ring, which doesn't meet my safety standards due to fencing issues and debris. There is no pasture or grazing here.

• Property

Real estate here is expensive. My nearly three acres was initially $250k, which I eventually got for $110k. This was basically raw land. Still saving towards house building...

Last week. It took months of work to get back to this.

• Lessons / Equestrian Scene

The nearest quality dressage instruction is 3.5 hours away in SE VA. When my trainer was still teaching, lessons were $50 for an hour. She generously let me come up for a weekend to get two or three lessons at a time, and I traded barn work occasionally. It was an ideal situation for me. I was lessoning regularly, progressing as a rider. I miss her terribly. Sadly, I haven't had a lesson in years, with none on the horizon unless something can be worked out with remote technology.

Most of the local riders are trail riders - a pretty spectacular proposition with 70 miles of beach to explore. There are thriving dressage and eventing scenes mid-state - a round trip of 10+ hours. The nearest showing (I've flat out given up on this possibility) is also either SE VA or mid state. I'm contemplating Working Equitation at the moment, and with a more well suited horse in the future I'd like to try endurance.

Nearest tack stores are also SE VA, and are expensive. With all the online options this isn't an issue.

I pay $40 for a trim. Not sure what shoes cost as we've been barefoot for about six years. For the last several cycles my farrier has just done a few corrections. I am taking over the trimming responsibilities. I've done this out of necessity because our farrier situation is always tenuous. He travels over 3 hours to get here and generally has to stay overnight to get all the horses without rushing. I don't think he makes much on his trips here.  I arrange the schedule for him and make sure all the horse owners "show up".

I'm searching for a natural balance dentist at the moment. My former dentist doesn't want to come this far out of her way - she was traveling from MD. With her, Val had his teeth done standing in his run in, un-sedated and at liberty. The nearest dental practices in Va are vet connected, and will probably insist on sedation. I'm leery of trailering that far and having to withhold hay on the return ride because of sedation. If anyone in SE VA or eastern NC reading this has a dentist recommendation please share. :D

The nearest equine vet is also 3.5 hours away in VA. They do not come to the island. I give all the vaccinations (excepting rabies) myself, and the small animal vet kindly pulls a coggins and gives Val a once over at the same time. He actually removed a melanoma from Val's anus (tmi) over the summer, saving me time and money. I assisted for the surgery - it was pretty cool actually. Val is a super cheap drunk - he had half-rations of anesthesia and proceeded to cut major zzzzs while the cross ties barely held his big 'ol head off the ground.  

• Climate

Summers are hot and humid - generally in the mid 80's with 80% - 90% humidity being the norm. This is hard on Val and me. (landscaper) Thank goodness a jump in the ocean is never far away.

Fall and winter can often be very mild and comfortable, with less humidity and mosquitoes. This is the best time for riding, with average temps of 40's to 50's and the occasional nighttime dip into the 30's. A hard winter here would be several weeks of sub-freezing temps. It rarely snows, but is almost always windy, so big wind chills are common. Spring can be beautiful, but it is often stormy and unsettled.

Basically - life on this island swings between insanely beautiful and ruggedly inconvenient. It's not for the faint of heart, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.

In the Arena #149 - Fifty Bales of Hay...

It's been a productive week at the farmette.

A trip up the road for supplies...

Seriously - what's sexier than a full trailer?

A barn full. Yummy.

Had to de-bug first... sorry wasps. :(

My back is definitely not feeling sexy.  Stacked six high... winter will be here before we know it.

And there were leftovers!

Fit in a trailer loading session... (selfie video not my strong suit, pardon the wiggles)

                     

and a couple of very nice rides. What's not nice - this is what the footing looks like lately.

No rain for ages. I can barely push the wheelbarrow through it. A quick review of the archives reminded me that this is what we usually have to deal with in a dry summer. I've found this to be an incredibly frustrating situation, but resolve to accept it for the time being. Until funds are available for a new arena and a new water source to irrigate it with, we'll work with what we have, because we have to.

In the meantime, our goals are:

-- to implement the position changes I've worked on with my new trainer
-- to keep Val absolutely in front of my leg, requiring minimal aids to stay forward
-- to improve my focus, so that I can maintain steady, elastic contact
-- to know when to quit (holy crap this one's important!)
-- to get fit (both of us... talking about you too Val!)

so we don't make fools of ourselves - at the clinic we're going to in October! (controlled myself on the exclamation points)

I had a second (really good) lesson at L's place in July, but we both feel that lessons on Val would be ideal. (even though I'm quite fond of the other grey ottb in my life - Tom Terrific - edited to add his handsome mug)

It's such a long way to L's farm in Md - a mini-clinic is the only way to make taking Val up there feasible. We'll head up on a Friday and stay through Monday. The plan is for four mounted lessons, and hopefully an unmounted biomechanics seminar with some local riders. Should the weather not cooperate, we can trailer to an indoor. We'll cook meals and watch dvd's in the evenings. All horses, all the time. To say I'm over the moon would be an understatement.

It's a good feeling to have something to work toward again.

It's hard out here for a horse... ;D

In the Arena # 80 - Well worth the wait + letting it all go

No computer access since last week, so my apologies for the sparse posts. Also - thanks to our new followers. The weird blogger issues from a few weeks ago made it difficult to find out who you are until recently. Will be catching up on reading posts and comments over the next few days. Oh - and p.s. - I think my use of the term horse p*rn the other day (that's what I call my horse magazines) caused some major traffic. Yikes!! Am I going to have any regrets due to this naive mistake?!

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So - I've had just two lessons since last November - only one on my own horse. It's been exhilarating, frustrating, but mostly so challenging to be responsible for Val's and my dressage training... it was such a relief for us to finally work with my trainer again.

Friday was our travel day. After packing the truck and trailer - Val couldn't load fast enough once he sniffed out the extra special alfalfa kicker in his hay bag - we hit the road. I'm thankful for my fiberglass trailer. With temperatures in the mid nineties, Val was still (fairly) cool and comfortable. Our 3 1/2 hour ride was smooth, but best of all, safe. After arriving and getting Val settled in, I trailered a horse from another farm across town back to my trainers place. Dinner + a movie and day one was done.

 

We had three lessons, two Saturday and one Sunday. Started off with some groundwork refreshers. I have not been consistent in my space boundaries lately when Val and I are leading and hand grazing, so he has been disregarding my authority ;) Erin reminded me that when I correct him, I have to mean it. To put the absolute fear of god in Val if he steps one inch into my space, doesn't stop on a dime, etc. every single time! My inconsistent leadership stresses him out - he's much happier when I make the decisions. This work had immediate benefits under saddle - what a good boy!

Is it time to work? No? Ummm, cookies then?!

 On to our main objective - relaxation. We did numerous exercises that loosened me up.... ankles, hips, arms and torso. At one point I was dancing to the trot (doing the twist)... totally fun, and Val was loving it. I became very aware of where I hold my tension. It was amazing how Val's movement became freer, smoother and bigger once I let go and stopped blocking him. There was lots of blowing and snorting + grateful looks. :) Here's what I want to keep in mind:

What I thought I was addressing with more leg - sluggishness, lack of forwardness - was really Val trying to cope with me being tense and unbalanced.

No holding. No holding tension in your body, or more importantly in your mind. It blocks your horse - and if you keep it up - pretty sure it pisses them off.

No holding your aids either. Adjust him and trust him. Trust is not 95%, 98%, 99.9% - it is 100% or nothing.

You cannot prevent mistakes. You need to allow your horse to make an error, and then you have an opportunity to correct it. I had a major realization of how often I am guilty of this. It's an insidious form of not being in the moment.

Overall, the weekend with my fabulous guy was so wonderful. He enjoyed grazing, friends, attention, the grass... don't forget the grass! I can't wait to do it all again, but in the meantime, I'll be focusing on loosening up so we can boogie!

Nancy and Lad

Ashley and Howard

Bud and Val grooming - Lad watches longingly

Lovin' feelings

In the Arena #71 - Discretion being the better part of valor...

I must confess, I left a little something out of my last post. My ride on Saturday was actually a lesson from a different trainer. My boarder's trainer who was visiting from PA for the week. I had to take advantage of getting instruction with my horse in my arena. But somehow it felt a little bit like cheating on my trainer, and I wanted to mention it to her, before writing about it in my blog. She was cool with it...whew!

So - as I already related in my last post, the lesson went really well, but wasn't without it's intricacies. I was pretty nervous. Really nervous. There's something to be said for the trust you develop with someone you've ridden with for many years. I trust my trainer. I know that she has my best interests, and the best interests of my horse uppermost in her mind. Then there were the inevitable differences in theory and position. I feel like I succeeded at separating the valuable bits from the parts that contradicted, with out flipping out, or offending the visiting trainer. The best part of the experience was working in my own arena, and having someone push me way past my comfort zone. We broke new ground for sure.

Thrilled to report Saturday's magic carried over to today's ride. Forward. Tons of trot... no stickiness. Smooth changes of rein, rode into and through the corners, figure eights and weaving the cones. I can really see the difference when I support Val with the inside leg to outside rein. He feels better balanced already. No surprise, when he doesn't have to compensate for my interference so much. We're navigating contact too. While he's not reaching the reins from me just yet, he does seem to be appreciating my efforts to be consistent.

We worked in two point as well. After reading Grey Horse Matters' post on two point (with the very helpful diagram) I realize I have sooo far to go with this exercise. My balance is nowhere near what it needs to be... oh well, no pain, no gain. We finished up with halt trot transitions. Val treated me to several very square halts.

Afterwords some grazing, in the Bermuda Triangle, where for once, something scary actually did come crashing out of the woods behind us. A deer? Val leaped right into me, but caught himself and just brushed my shoulder with his shoulder. It was a very agile move, thank goodness. While I wish that he didn't feel so spooky out of our arena sometimes, he does seem to be a little more thoughtful about scary stimulus, and much more aware of me, in relation to his escape route. I'll take that as progress, and a sign that little by little he is trusting me to be the leader, and of course keep us safe from the myriad dangers lurking around every corner... don't worry Val, I won't let anything happen to you, I promise!

In the Arena #67 - I'll be your mirror...

I'm really appreciating these longer evenings. More time for chores and riding. Second to riding, I loves me a freshly dragged arena!

I repeated the ujjayi breathing warm-up from the other day. And again, our ride was positively impacted. This exercise is a keeper. The only drawback - I haven't exactly figured out how to incorporate "good boys" into the breathing exercise.

We did lots of trot work. Our transitions were prompt and crisp. Val reached, and started to pick his back up... we even produced some sittable trot. There were still a few sticky left turns. After looking at the photos my boarder took for me, I wasn't surprised. I was sitting way, way off to the left. I don't seem to catch myself in this position issue until it shows up in Val's movement, or lack thereof. I hope I can overcome my hip situation.

Overall - a wonderful ride. We are progressing. It would probably, definitely help to get a lesson more often than every six months. Eyes on the ground and all...

This uncertain economy, especially fuel prices, has forced me to reassess a number of my goals / priorities this winter. I've had only one lesson since December... there is no new arena (yet)... and I've had to give up my spot in the spring Herbermann clinic. Hopefully things will start looking up soon. We're heading up to my trainer's farm weekend after next, I've set aside the funds for about half the sand needed for the arena, and have made arrangements for another clinic spot in late October. Meanwhile, we'll just continue moving forward, slowly, but surely.

In the Arena #22 - Notes from our lesson weekend

Lesson one - Saturday afternoon. We focused on steering... sometimes a sticky business. To make the exercise more interesting, I practiced zigzagging the arena, traveling to, from and around the dressage cones, making sure that we were very accurate. Way more fun than circles... (or eggs and ovals lol). Val is the type of horse that responds well when his mind is engaged.. so it's my responsibility to keep our work creative and stimulating. I must be absolutely clear in my mind and with my aids, about where I want to go. Clarity... always looking straight through my horses ears with a soft gaze... and no twisting my torso or shoulders. Keeping my hands low and following - making changes in contact through my elbows.

Sunday's lesson began with steering as well. We built on the work of the day before and got to a point in the lesson where we were adjusting our direction with precision and subtly. We transitioned into some flowing smooth trot work, including 20m circles of the round variety in both directions :) What a joy. For the first time, I felt very much at one with my horse... we were doing dressage!

Monday's session was more challenging. After spending about half the lesson building on the progress of the previous days, we regressed back to our steering problems. Actually, I believe that the issue is until I am totally consistent with my leadership, Val is going to be compelled to take over if he feels any hesitation on my part. I must be evenly weighted in my stirrups as well. I have been unwittingly contradicting my turning aides with uneveness which is super frustrating to Val. Also - I must envision what I want to happen (as opposed to what I don't want to happen).

Due to the impending storm, I left Val to board with my trainer. This is the first time I have been away from him since I brought him home, almost a year now. I miss my guy a lot. He's having a good time though, doing horse bonding stuff such as three way grooming over the fence with the chestnuts - Comfy and Howard - shocking as Comfy is the head honcho of the farm. He also disrespected some fencing and found his way into the paddock with the ladies(!). He and Lacey have been flirting with each other for a while. Glad he's safe and enjoying himself, but I can't wait to bring him back home!

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Update -

Got a call from my trainer this morning that Val is very lame on his left front and there is heat and a big pulse. We're hoping it's an abcess... waiting to hear the vet report now. As my friend Jerry says, "Good news. bad news, too soon to tell." I'm super bummed that Val is lame but if he had come back home with a vet worthy issue we'd be in trouble. No vet will come here when there isn't a hurricane breathing down our necks. In fact, any issue needing treatment of any type would be a huge problem. Anxiously awaiting my trainer's call...

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Another update -

Good news! Val has bruising of his sole... not super visible to look at but evenly tender to the hoof tester over half of his foot. He's in a hoof boot and has had some bute. I guess the combo of a very recent trim and working on hard ground... perhaps the giant 15 minute #*@& fit he had when he couldn't see his buddies?! Time for some venice turpentine I reckon... what a relief :)