The Real Work Begins.

Solo has been a bit tender footed with the constant changing mud fest to frozen mud daggers for footing in the paddocks. However, he has finally been feeling better so I wanted to get to working more in the canter and with some canter poles seeing as his balance is actually beginning to come together and his last stallion hormones/habits have more or less depleted. Not that he had much in the “balls” department hehe.
Anyhow. While I wanted the pole “circle of death” but I just don’t feel he is there yet so we went half way and set one just inside A and another just inside of C.

We warmed up in our usual way. Working on thinking slight turn on the forehand coming through corner with a little half halt to get our haunches back underneath us and tossed in a few transitions from halt to walk, halt to trot, walk to canter etc.
Solo doesn’t require much “wake up” time like P did but he does need this time to gain a good attitude and stretch out and find his parts. Going from I think I can to I got this tude.

After a bit of work both ways and a brain break I started in a canter, chose a rhythm and kept a keen feel of where out shoulder or haunches were. Our biggest issue. Then as I started a circle I headed over one pole to test before adding the other.
Solo did extremely well to the right. Holding his rhythm, pace and picking his distance nearly every time. I felt a few warbles and near stumbles but he held his own!
The left was more what I expected of a three year old. Unbalanced, fumbly and totally out of straightness lol.
The trouble seemed to stem from the inability to hold his balance to keep the rhythm and pace and weighting the inside shoulder too much, leading to falling on the forehand and loss of haunches.
So as much as I love “figure it out” I had to step in. A little tap on the inside shoulder and a good half halt and steady outside aids seemed to fix it and Solo was quickly floating over the poles. Though, not without losing it all four strides later. But progress.

Today, after staying in two point to free up his back I am feeling it in my hips. Who knew....  I am actually starting to ride again!!!

Growing Up Quarter Horse; One Year!

A few crappy video stills from a recent ride.
I am starting to feel a bit of a balance change in short moments. More loft.

We can actually bend a circle in the canter now! 

Next week, December 4th, will be one year since Solo came home. With that in the back of my mind I couldn't help but compare how he has been to work with Paloma at this age.

Thankfully, back then DH was gung ho on coming to the barn so I have a ton of footage and photos to look back.

The biggest differences between the two aside from personality and mental capacity which I have covered previously, has been movement, growth and body positioning.

As for movement, Pal was quite a bit more balanced back to front, Solo's "fulcrum" or point of balance is a lot more wobbly. Like balancing on a 2" board versus 6". Pal also didn't offer up moving up and out like Solo easily does but that seemed counter acted by the more natural ability that Pal had to hold herself and self carriage.

Pal was also quite a bit more comfortable to sit however less engaged. She would have been the perfect pony express mount.

Growth. Paloma grew a lot more slowly but also filled out faster and held her weight a little too well. 

Solo at the moment, still continues to grow up at the haunches and not much, if at all, at the wither. Roadster style. Though, I notice Solo's shoulder and muscling to be defining quicker. I wouldn't normally think to compare the growth rates but I feel like it really affects how quickly and what you can introduce at certain times.

Body positioning. Pal didn't have much lateral balance and that even continued into later years. She just didn't have the natural ability to shift her weight diagonally. Solo has that, even too much at times and nearly leaves me hanging horseless. I think this part is conformationally related. Solo's haunches is true quarter despite his more thoroughbred gangly frame. His hip to bum to stifle area is very round and equally proportioned yet his legs are set a bit more mid gravity than Pal who wanted to naturally hang her legs back, hunter conformation style. All in all I think this lends to easily accessible bum power rather than having to prepare, hold and then attacking the task.

Looking at the year as a whole though, Pal was quite a bit more wingy and spooky at this age yet more mature physically and emotionally. She was like the ideal amateur rising 4y/o. Steady but babyish. 

Solo, while an old soul, requires an aware rider. He doesn't find spooks in simple everyday things but makes a big sideways jumping deal if something could be received as an attacker. Ie. Plastic bags blowing towards him.

Pal was also super forgiving, school master type, Solo is easily offended with strong aids or if he thinks he knows what he is doing. "That is NOT haunches out, That! Is leg yield, like THIS!"

In conclusion, I think Solo is going to take me further, despite having a slight lack of height he makes up simply in scope. Though, he is going to make sure I am very precise with both my body positioning and aids. Second chances but begrudgingly.

Probably a good thing for my riding in the end.

I do fear the ease of flying changes..... I don't even know what it is like to have a horse you have to teach changes to....hmm. 

Luckily, the future holds lots of time!

Here is a video from a recent ride. We have been working quite religiously to get some control over our haunches ... Solo clearly finds this tricky and protests a few times, thinking he has better ideas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFOQkckIs8g

Of Making Concessions; A Non Horse Life Story.

The building process begins again... With a very long and bumpy road ahead, er well a very bumpy and rough construction driveway.

Recently my life has been full of up's and ... Well I don't want to say downs, so let us say stale points.
We put the house on the market end of August. Yeah, I know... Here we go again!
Our 5-10 year plan house has turned into the 2.5 year plan, but that is how my life goes. I am driven, I don't hold back and I get things done. One way or another.

We intentionally bought the building lot in our area because it is a brand new subdivision in a suburban area right between two major cities and right off the freeway. Plus DH and I thought being so new it would make us stay for awhile, knowing people don't generally like living in construction zone. My life is a construction zone so I didn't care.

Anyhow, houses and horses are my passion so I don't really mind.

Among the many showings, great feedback, second showings .... It took us almost three months to get an offer. Then as soon as one person wants it everyone does!
We are now in limbo until the end of the week to find out if the house is sold. It is kind of sad in a way, we worked really hard on this house and we know the love and detail that was put in, yet the second person who offered wrote us a lovely letter with pictures and their story. Call me old fashion but this meant a lot and rest assured us that someone will know the love that we put in and love it even more.

Along with selling the house comes moving. Moving in with my mother in law... For the third time so we can build again. Third time is the charm am I right?!
However... The closing for the house would be the 2nd of January and conveniently it is DH and my turn for Christmas supper, which is really not going to work seeing as we sell mostly everything rather than store it all for 8 months.

Long story short, with split families, snobby families (mine), and Portuguese families (DH's), we can't fit everything into one day with nothing but an oven, plastic cutlery and a bed. Reminds me of college age days....
Two of the three categories took it fine, they know we don't sit, we don't stop. My side...well is snubbing me. Christmas spirit yo!

At this age of my life I have learned that swimming upstream is way harder, though DH and I are not sedate people. We have goals, we have dreams and no one is going to make it happen but us. Much like my riding and horse life. I accept that there will always be someone better, I don't need to prove my worth, I want to be MY best and that is good enough for me.

As I've struggled to understand people for many years, to keep everyone happy, take in all advice, I have learned that nothing will make me feel better than knowing I listened to all perspectives, tried to make concessions and compromises and in the end did everything in my power to keep my mental and physical sanity.
Really I could not imagine a better Christmas than ditching all the presents, bon bons and booze and spending the day with my horse.

Yes horses aim to please but in the end they don't complain if you miss an important date, they don't hold grudges and they just simply live in the moment.
This is the life I want to live!

Of Setting a Winter's Pace Before Springs Race.

"Are you done....? I has a bored...."

These past couple weeks have been spent surviving the seeming monsoon season which has now turned to frozen monsoon, leaving brutal footing for the poor ponies which were inundated with near knee deep mud just a few days ago.

Last week I spent the majority of my equine time scrubbing, shampooing and hosing mud off Solo due to the brutal pasture conditions and dang white legs! The poor guy easily catches boughts of mud fever on his white legs, so 3 out of 4. This time was not so different but different at the same time.

In the spring, the poor guy got mud scratches and the majority of his white hair rubbed off his legs from the fetlock down.

This time only his hind legs where affected except while the hair stayed, they stocked up to the point where he was favouring them in anything more than a walk for a full two days. So ground driving and ground work were the name of the game.

The stocking up quickly resolved as the weather cooled which led to the herd exploring the paddocks further and getting into the river which had breached it's banks and flooded into the paddocks. The horses must have been drinking the nasty stagnant water and a couple of the horses ended up with different types of ailments. Solo got drippy bottom, his seemingly only response to all things stress related or food related. 

This usually lasts about a week which is ultra fun now that it is -15 ....poosicle tail anyone?

On the riding front, now that So is back to riding soundness we have been working on bits and pieces of our recent lesson and really trying to get Solo to be a bit straighter with his haunches. 

So has really picked up on how to move his haunches away from pressure without flying sideways and now gives me ear sass when I ask with a bit too much pressure, which was needed when he didn't quite understand.

We can now go from 's' shaped to running circles around our front end in 2.2 seconds, haha. The joys of sensitive horses (actually joys... I love this. This I can work with).

Once we do get it right. Both our walk, trot and canter instantly flow and float... Until we lose it a few strides later.

P.s his canter is becoming something of dreams... Not quite as couch worthy as Pal but ideal and comfortable for jumping.

On the poles and jumping front, I did set a ground pole set 10ft from a raised pole then 10ft to another ground pole on a curve in the short end.

My goal was to get a bit more lift in the canter and use the short end/curve to achieve this. In turn gaining flexibility, balance and awareness of our feet.

I mainly left him to figure it out himself, aside from setting the canter. Solo broke a couple times to the trot but I also felt the canter was not 'right' a few strides out. So my fault but good lesson for Solo too, I am sure he'll have to save my a** a few times in the future. Best to learn how now.

November 1st mud ridden confo shot.

All in all, while I didn't get a ton of saddle time, I did get time to watch and reflect on where we and just Solo are now.

Watching and reading where everyone else is with their late three year olds, I feel behind, yet ahead.

Mentally Solo is far beyond all the others, acting more like a 8-10 year old as far as tackling new things and general behavior. (Most of the time...). Except physically I feel behind.

Solo is massively growthy right now. Especially noticed with blanket adjustments 24/7. And I keep getting a feeling deep down to keep my rides short (30-35 mins), and not push it. So while most in our age group are starting over cross rails at least once a week and more than once or twice through, much like I was doing with Pal as a coming four year old, I feel like I should listen to my gut and stick with our pace. 

I am thinking I am for once going to allow myself/Solo a slower pace this winter, then get back into the grind for spring.