Motivation VS Nerves.

I was going for the Superman VS Batman feel in this title, which is after all what I felt like was going on in my ride this morning but my title just doesn’t have the same ring…

This morning I was all gung ho to ride outside and have a great ride after giving Solo the weekend off. Of course like anything with horses, make your plans pliable and mould the horse you have that day. But what makes me wonder, why can’t horse mould to the rider he or she has today? Huh?

For whatever reason, whenever there is a storm on the horizon, Solo’s nerves and tummy get all up in knots. Sensitive soul and red head for you I guess. He is in no way nasty but just jumpy, poopy and overly round, often making me wonder if I somehow totally screwed up and put the saddle on wrong.  

Today was one of those days. He acts head shy, when I know he isn’t, is hesitant to take the bit when I know he will, is on his toes and round as a ball when you first get on and just plain hyper and childish.

I attempted to ride in the outdoor ring but it has YET to dry out enough to not leave hoof prints. Refusing to be shut in today, I went out in the field to do a bit of w/t/c.

Needless to say, he was pretty up and sensitive but he listened as best as his 3y/o brain would acquiesce. I mean I did ask for a horse with more forward and sensitivity to my aids right? I spent most of my ride talking him off the edge and attempting some form of straightness. No luck with building that topline today! He remained pretty stoic until I asked for the canter. I knew I could feel a naughty bubble rising but he has to learn to deal and ride anywhere I take him.  Biting the bullet, I gently asked for the canter and Solo clearly burst the excitement bubble and attempted a buck. Tisk tisk. Seeing as I am the no BS type, he got a shoulder spank with the whip. Which he thought was absolutely terrifying and didn’t attempt any theatrics on the next two departs I asked for. Discount double check!

We managed the rest of the ride but I was pretty bummed and feeling like we really didn’t accomplish anything. Although, following suit of the location of most bright ideas, in the shower, I had a notion that there is training the body but there is ALSO training the mind. Today happened to be the latter and not a total fail after all!

As for Batman VS Superman. Pretty sure SuperKaila takes this one.

Quenching Or Teasing; The Hunger for Hunters.

Looking like a hunter baby, minus sunscreen, dirty feet and cut cream....

This morning it was pouring buckets of rain. The thunder woke me up a few times during the night but I still felt decently rested.

Pouring my own bucket, of coffee, I headed to the barn to rescue Mr Solo since he resides outside during the summer months, I am actually debating keeping him out this coming year but that is for another day. 

I found Solo lying in the run in shed all curled up... in pile of mushy poo, yummy.

I groomed as best I could and set up a raised 'cross' pole, maybe a mere 6" off the ground at the highest point with some 'scary' flowers in the middle. My goal with Solo, even though I won't start him over fences until coming 4 y/o, is to get him accustomed to fillers as much as possible and get him 'thinking' jump or at the very least, teaching him where his feet are. 

With Pal, I had waited until 4y/o to begin really anything to do with canter poles, fillers etc. While I had used poles quiet a bit, it did not seem to teach her that the poles fall if you hit them. All in all, these were things that I could have been doing when she was learning about foot placement rather than allowing her to 'learn' that the poles don't do anything if you hit them.

Anyhow, the same flowers that Pal used to think were very scary, didn't faze Solo. We mostly just worked on stretching down and into the contact today, I have to say tracking left was MUCH improved today. We trotted through the middle of the poles, over the flowers. Working on staying relaxed and straight to fences. (However, I have to say I need to work on the subtlety of steering. What was once heavy and felt like I had zero power steering fluid, is now very light and slightly too sensitive). 

Solo banged the poles a couple times and they bounced off the hollow plastic square risers, making bad noises. He wasn't concerned but didn't want to do it again the next time and lifted his feet much better.

I have opted not to punish, or tap if he knocks. With Pal, she didn't really care, but Solo, he cares. So I just let him learn.

Getting up into the canter we had a mixed bag. Some plowing and some reaching, proper, spots. Mostly just fumbled. But I expected it. We don't do a ton of work in canter anyways and pretty well zero in canter, so we will add this to the To Do list for next rides.

The ride left me wanting, anticipating how he will be in future over fences. Realizing at this age, I can't ask him to actually start jumping and knowing how uncoordinated he is right now with his yo-yo growth, it would not be a good idea.

I do wonder though, raised poles might be a good substitute. Next to no strain on the joints, well no more than flatting, it will offer him variety and make him more aware. I think I could chomp on that for awhile? 

Will it quench my thirst? Or tease my hunger?

K

Looking all AQHA

Sneak Peak; A Moment of Balanced Canter

Up bright and early and at the barn grooming by 6am after stumbling a mile to fetch dear pony who watched with great amusement... but neglected to meet me half way. I don't even get the last two steps like Pal used to give me... Pft. Men!

As it turns out the indoor is pretty well booked solid the entire day, every day now. Here is to hoping the grass ring dries up ASAP! I used to be able to show up any day at 5:30-6am and ride.... now my only options in order to avoid the mellow drama are Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 6AM unless I trail ride.
Whatever. I can make this work, right?

I did get in a pretty solid ride this morning despite the tractor and hay wagon being parked in the arena, weird?! Some would get cranky but I figured it was multi purpose. Something to steer, bend and leg yield from and despookify. One would think I parked it there myself!

I was operating a bit slow this morning so we only had about 25 minutes so I chose, simple, w/t/c, leg yeild, notions of shoudler fore etc. And I have to say Solo is getting to be a really nice ride tracking right! His trot feels floaty, toe flicking and with effortless impulsion (baby impulsion mind you), no nagging to feel like he is 'taking me somewhere'. His canter, oh man, with the already small arena, the tractor/wagon made it really tight, Solo balanced and wound around that thing like nobody's business.

Erm what? What is this? Who am I riding? Might I remind everyone his canter usually feels like I am riding in a washing machine on top of rocking chair?

He broke the canter after a couple laps, I could have booted to keep it but it was so nice and likely took alot of effort. The transition to trot was equally balanced so we had a break afterwards.

Left? Ugh. Where are thou left?

Left is still a bit of a cluster .....mess. It is hard to explain but I feel like his body is bent to the outside but his head and neck are still exhibiting slight inside bend... I am not sure but I am guessing his is hollowing to the outside.
My brain tells me the answer to this is to stretch out the tight left side (inside to the right) muscles, so we worked on a few spiral circles, filling up the outside rein, etc.

Solo does not yet soften tracking left much... seconds here and there but not really. Canter, remains a bit of an en devour. He finds it tricky to pick up the canter this way without 'trantering' first or giving me his opinion. After a couple reminders he consents and picks it up just fine, though it is still very rough it is improving, just slower.

It still amazes me how horses can swap their 'good' sides and no matter your plan for the ride that day, your horse is really the one with the ride plan. Wish they would care to chime in before I spend time planning, ha-ha.


I also had a little reminisce moment. Right when I was trotting, actually both left and right, I remember thinking, 'Wow this feels great, I never got this forward and free with Pal'.
Pal always felt like I was riding in a square, no where to go, no matter how much you plead. Solo, places to go feel endless and easy.

Canter, the moment we had today, felt powerful, bouncy but comfortable, huge but rideable and I felt like I could turn on a dime!


I remind myself we all ride, 24/7, through thick and thin, sickness and health, for moments like these!

Trolls.

Ugh I cannot believe she smeared baby butt cream on my face and now wants to put me on the internet! My social life!

Quickish post for the day.

Lately, the theme of my barn life has been 'Trolls'. Horse people trolls to be exact.

For a time I started riding in the evenings after work and of course this is when everyone comes out. The more the merrier in my books unless your a.... Troll. :) See caught myself there! It is possible!

Anyhow, said trolls have been lurking, thinking they know best and know all there is to know about horses. I totally appreciate opinions if warranted, if horse is in danger, or hey you just want to have a constructive chat. But opinions that you cannot voice to the subject, well that is just high school.

I have been known to have a quick tongue for injustice or rudeness but normally I can bite it, smile and stomp away.

Not recently.

Not too much detail but at the barn there is someone who has come back after being asking to leave due to drama in the past, promising to be different. (I knew better then and now! However, I won't say it, just blog it haha). Anyways. This person has now brought her hillbilly friend to teach and ride her horse. A few of the beginner riders who don't know any better have joined the bandwagon. I avoided and carried on my merry way for the most part. Until these two people decided to start talking smack. I ignored for awhile but when other boarders come up to me saying....'i heard this is going on...'

Uhh no. Not when it has to do with the safety of health of my horse!

Not getting any further into it then that but I may have absolutely lost my canary at a recent event involving these two trolls due to a very unsafe practice and I let them have it. Now it is pretty damn awkward and BO won't handle it. Mostly we just ignore each other now or I just ride at 6am again. Easier.

I just don't understand how people deal with these crackers! And there is virtually no where else to board....

Ugh.

P.s. I also loved when my horses food is changed suddenly without telling or asking me.

Signing off. Rant for the day.

Trialing New Dressage Trainer - Forward First & Foremost.

Tired derp face...herd is so far....

Two weeks ago my sister found a new dressage trainer, took a couple lessons and got a couple others on board who also rave about said coach so I thought I should give her a shot.

None the less, I have a great dressage coach but I just don't know if her style matches Solo. Hard to explain really but I am sure those reading understand in some ways.

So I booked a lesson for yesterday in hopes of having some one who understands babies who are quite unbalanced due to big movement and a bit sensitive and prone to internalizing stress.

Initially, I explained to her very little except that Solo was three and I needed some insight but I was not interested in weekly lessons, more like twice a month. 

She ended up showing up rather early so we had some time to chat while I tacked up.

I explained the above and she totally understood why I was concerned about where to push him and where to lay off.

With Solo you don't know if he is uncomfortable with a situation until he reaches a tipping point and something else tips him over the edge. He is like the challenge of squeezing an egg.... It just doesn't break no matter how hard you squeeze but a small prick of a pin can cause a break.

Analogies aside. We started the lesson with her watching my warm up and chatting about Solo, what I feel, what I have done, where I want to go etc, essentially the five W's. I also briefly explained what I have been doing in other lessons.

After watching us and having us get right to the canter, which I tend to avoid because it is so uncomfortable right now and he doesn't have a ton of strength or mental capacity to deal with all that goes into a canter. Seems simple but it isn't for him. Something as plain as picking up the wrong lead, him knowing it is wrong and him wanting to make it right can lead us to a jumbly, bouncing, tense mess. Never a good experience for baby brains.

Anyhow, I conceded and using the advice that I learned from long time coach a few weeks ago, feeling for where the right lead will be and supporting with outside aids so Solo stays on my inside aids, (sounds backwards but it's a miracle remedy for him right now). Solo picked it up just fine without much fuss though still head in my face the entire time, though apparently it doesn't​ look as bad as it feels. 

Long story short, we did a lot of low impact canter work, granted with lots of breaks, but she explained that I am paying her to help me with areas I am not as strong. Though, she still had great advice for my walk and trot, though those being much stronger than our canter. 

Our walk she says is good and forward for his age. Little tweaking there.

Trot, Solo is starting to soften to the right, left still pretty wonky and tense but has slight moments where softness is coming. She noticed that "our wheels come off in the corners", so she has me give a slight, slight tap on Solo's inside hip going in and coming out of the corner. This really made him lift his inside hip and take a longer, deeper step under. Weird but makes sense!

I had struggled with Solo taking a huge and I mean toe flicking huge, reach up front but not being able to reach as deep behind. Strength totally, but in order to build strength he needs to try. 

My last coach recommended to hold him and only ask what he could balance for now. Also sort of makes sense especially since Solo is prone to stressing but also made me think of future confusion and trouble with going forward. 

New coach says always forward first and if it feels awful and bouncing, that's good! Erm?... But somehow I got it. Solo may not be able to hold it or contain for long but he will build strength in the right areas now rather than retraining later.

Overall the lesson felt confusing by the end. It took a few hours to digest before I actually pieced things together and things clicked. 

Sadly, I still didn't get any video but we are planning another lesson in two weeks in which she asked to warm him up and have a feel of what I experience. That I liked! This is my type of training! 

Feeling and seeing can be totally different, finding a coach wanting to experience both is enlightening and refreshing.

Til next time!

Ahh refreshing drink!

Of Baby Tantrums & Glimpses of Tomorrow

June? Where did May go? June? Where is summer?

I cannot believe we sit here now in June. I don't know how I miss an entire month of not blogging and recapping the goings on.

Anyhow, getting past the theatrics or into however you want to look at it, May was a roller coaster. It was chock full of barn drama that no matter how I attempt to avoid and run from, I always tend to be the one who cares enough to say that something is really unsafe. And I say it in a kind, 'trail' may be a better way..' then people go baserk. Now, I won't repeat the drama unfolding but I have to say some people cannot speak, only yell and some are immensely disrespectful.

I have now reserved myself to riding alone and at 6am just so those situations are out of sight out of mind. It cannot affect me. Hopefully.

On the Solo front. He is having pasture grass for the first time, as in EVER! Ha. My sheltered child! 

The boarding barn I am at unfortunately did not follow the hour by hour increase rule more than a day or two so the poor guy ended up with gut upset and some liquid gas like he gets if the food change is too fast. 

Me, as intense as I get about things, researched everything again and found Equisure. Seeing as it was like Tums for horses I formed out the $60cdn for the two week bucket. Three words. Don't buy it. Not only did it not help but it actually exasperated the issue giving him very sensitive flanks. Ugh. 

KER the company who makes it did talk me into keeping it going at a low dose for a week to no avail. I have contacted them again letting them know, let us hope they stand behind their product and allow me to return the rest. 

I hope we are getting to the clear again as the runny bum was almost non existent yesterday.

Other than this, riding has been going well. I am learning a great deal about expanding my riding vocabulary, after allnot all horses can be ridden the same.

My dressage coach says Solo has the polar opposite of issues that Pal did. I knew he was different but I couldn't identify how and how best to handle, which I am still learning but apparently Solo is 'blocked' behind where Pal was up front. She gave me a visual of a spring being compressed not having a clue where to go which is Solo, and Pal was a compressed spring with a brick wall on the front end. Both workable issues, Pal's felt easier but was actually tougher to get past. And Solo's feels awful but has an easier long term forecast. For him it will be about strength, growing and not allowing his front shoulder to get too far ahead until he has the strength to balance it and keep his hind in sync.

Solo also got his teeth done and wolf teeth pulled with his shots this month.... So far I see a major difference in his weight gain and stretching down into the bit.

Lastly, while trot is going very well, canter is still a bit of an event. Solo tends to anticipate and get his head up in my face rather than relaxing. Which I have learned is partially my fault from correcting him on his leads too quickly after bringing him back to trot, letting only a step or two and asking again and his personality of worry wart. Coach has lent quite a few tips for feeling where the right lead is in the trot, ironically with him, outside leg to control the shoulder and inside opening/softening rein. This is tough for my brain but works and will have to do until he can balance behind a bit more.

Now, off to work to pay the equine bills!

K