Shhhh... Are You Listening?

It's been a minute.

But I have reasons.

You see, I've been listening, like really listening to my horse. When we last left off we were scheduled to do a xc school and a debut at BN. *buckle up, this is going to be a long post*

BN log:)

Well, we went XC schooling, kept all our shoes on and really got to test out the new jump saddle. Riley was jumping in great form and felt very, very good. I left the course feeling quite confident about our show the next day. We left St. Augustine and headed over to Olde Hope to walk the course which wound up leaving me feeling a bit nervous (as it was a legit course), but within our ability. Looking at their Intro course I was really wishing we had signed up for that as I think we needed a solid, positive outing for this early in the season. Nevertheless, we took the ponies home and got ourselves organized for the show the next morning. Both horses were tired after their outing, but nothing out of the ordinary. I choose to turn Riley out despite our early start because I like to stick to his normal routine as much as possible (night turnout).
Sunday after the ponies ate (and got groomed, etc) we loaded up without issue and headed out for the hour trip down to Olde Hope. They traveled well and stood quietly while I walked my course again and got us registered. Emily's sale horse was an absolute rockstar at his first event and I watched them do their dressage test and got my self dressed and tacked up for mine. This is where I really should have started listening. As I was warming up I noticed that I did not have the same horse as the day before. Riley felt SLUGGISH. Yes, he can occasionally get lazy, but he reacts to leg and is generally more "up" at shows. He was not. I was offered my whip, but I declined because I didn't want to deal with him being offended for getting a little spanking, so I thought we could just work through it. I assumed he was just a bit tired from the day before, or hot because the weather was actually unseasonably warm. We did our usual warm up and lots of transitions (which usually sharpens him) and headed over to do our test. It was a muddled disaster. The worst test to date in part because I could not get him to move. He actually refused to pick up the canter tracking left (his easy lead -- I pony club kicked him into it finally) and broke to the walk (during our trot work) for no reason. He felt dull.

As good as it got (we scored a 45.2)

Full disclosure. I too, have been suffering from some physical issues lately (fatigue, aching joints, lethargy) so I don't think I gave him the best ride, but I was pretty upset when I left the ring because he DID NOT FEEL RIGHT. And, while I was quick to blame myself (and continued to do so all day long, much to the dismay of my trainer) I knew that something else was going on. I've never struggled so much to get my horse to MOVE. I opted to scratch for the rest of the day and again, I know that I delved deep into a depression spiral of negative thinking about myself, but in retrospect I'm still glad that I listened to my horse. After my division finished we headed home and I sheepishly made my way around the farm unloading the trailer and tending to my horse. I left feeling really defeated. I knew there was something going on with my body, but what was different with my horse?

A few hours later.

He colicked (mildly). I got a call shortly after I got home that we was down and showing colic symptoms. He temp spiked and he was trying to roll. The vet came to treat him almost right away and got him feeling much better. It was a moderate gas colic (he's not a "colicky" horse by any means). The vet and I chatted and we chalked it up to him being a bit dehydrated from the weekend's events. Riley drinks A LOT of water, anytime, any place, any water, he'll drink it. Saturday he did not have as much access as he's used to (post xc schooling) and was perhaps already dehydrated by the time we got to the event Sunday. Okay, Riley, I'm listening.

So I got him some electrolytes to add to his feed for any sort of strenuous work and/or travel based activities.

I'm just gonna stick this here (confo shot, end of March 2016)

While I got myself checked out (still trying to get to the bottom of all that -- but it's not Lyme disease), we took a bit of a step back. The event camp we were gearing up for got cancelled, which I was super bummed about, but in a weird way it was a blessing in disguise. I've been able to work on getting myself feeling better, and was able to take the pressure off Riley and figure out what he needs. The camp being cancelled also allowed a very cool consolation prize to come my way...

Pretty dressage saddle makes us BOTH look good.

By chance, a friend of a friend was trying to unload her very nice, gently used Neidersuss dressage saddle. I figured it would be worth a try since Riley had been having saddle fit issues (mostly resolved with the Prestige for jumping) and the dressage saddle I sometimes ride in isn't a good fit for me. This thing fits us BOTH so well. Emily said it's the best my position has ever looked (I just need to embrace lowering my stirrups like another 2-3 holes) and I feel great in it. I actually sit up straight and my pelvis feels tipped into a position that allows me to really be effective. And the SO offered to buy in lieu of the camp... okay then (#pinchme).

After losing some confidence after the show and the weeks that followed, we (Emily and I) discussed a plan moving forward. I've gotten really inside my head and needed to take a small step back while she improves on Riley's education. He needs some serious training rides (especially over fences) but also because he's started to be a real twit under saddle. A few weeks ago we had a really, really rough lesson where Riley gave me the middle finger and twisted his body so weirdly when I tried to get him to canter right. It was a bit bizarre and I actually thought he was going to buck me off. He was feeling dull/heavy but also explosive, a very weird combination.

We ended the session with me re-learning 2-point:/

Emily got on and he was really, really bad. The following rides and lessons offered more of the same plus uncharacteristic spookiness. A spooky horse he is not. One day I just lunged him (in our small lunging ring, not on a lunge line) and he told me in no certain terms that he could not canter right. Eventually, he worked out of it and we got some really nice, engaged work, but it took some serious effort. He was due for a trim and reset and after talking to the farrier about his stiffness (and the tripping behind that was just getting worse) we thought that we should experiment with pulling the hind shoes to see if 1.) he stops tripping behind and 2.) if it helps eliminate some of the reluctance tracking right. The day after, he colicked again... much milder, and gas related again, but my vet (after reviewing the weeks in between episodes) determined that all signs point to ulcers.

I'll do anything to make THIS GUY happy.

Mild gas colic at feeding time, uncharacteristic spookiness, severe, unexplained stiffness mimicking back soreness... I'm listening. And look, I get it. We really upped the level of his work this year. He came back earlier in the season than any of the previous years since I've owned him. We do a lot more actual dressage work. We gone off the property quite a bit. And he's being ridden more times in one week than ever before. So, I said bye bye to any immediate competition plans/$$$ and started him on Gastrogard.

The first couple of days after starting the Gastrogard were still a bit hairy regarding the spookiness, but he was much less tense/sore/stiff tracking right!

In between spooks, some really nice work. (note: relaxed tail)

The tripping has almost completely gone away and we have *fingers crossed* kept our front shoes on (even out on grass).

I guess that's why things have been so quiet here on the blog. There was so much and so little happening and I wasn't really sure we had figured out what was going on with Riley. I didn't want to talk too much about all of it until we had some sort of conclusion (btw, the vet did run through a myriad of tests with him and watched him go), and sometimes conclusions just take TIME. And while I appreciate feedback from my blog readers, I trust my trainer, vet and farrier to make the calls. I do enjoy sharing all the ups and downs of our journey because I feel like our story might help someone else struggling with issue X down the road. I've never dealt with ulcers before so this is all very new territory for me, anything you guys want to share would be greatly appreciated!

I'm still listening for signs that he's not comfortable or not enjoying the job(s) I've given him. But I'm also listening for signs that he IS happy. Like:

Best expression

Curious and playful

Just generally being a hunk (this was taken just a few weeks after the conformation shot above!)

He likes this bit/bridle

Shiny and dapple-y (the first dapples since I've owned him)

Putting one hoof in front of the other (together)

*What do you say readers? How do you listen to your horse? Sometimes it's tough to get quiet enough to really listen when the signs are so subtle. How do you take a step back and re-evaluate?

In search of... jump saddle edition

When we last left off, Riley was recovering from new shoes and body work. While my life got extremely busy with moving and NO RIDING, Riley got training rides, a new set of hinds and a trim all around and he's feeling very good about life. We signed up for our first event this Sunday where we're going to give BN a try at the ever-forgiving venue of Olde Hope. The intro division is really too easy for us now and I think it's time to start putting a little pressure on both of us.

In the meantime, I've been assessing the saddle fit issue that was brought up with the vet. Our current saddle does not fit at all anymore, so although a shimmable pad would get us through the search time to find a replacement it was not a great long term solution... and the last thing I need is him getting sore or sour about his saddle. We took a little trip down to Maryland Saddlery to see if they had any good options and much to my surprise they had at least three for us to try.

4 shoes are better than one

I've had several entries back-logged, but life is very busy right now, so I'm going to force a media/recap post on you guys instead.

Let's review...

So you know how any time I take a day off to ride Riley he does something stupid -- for example, last time I wanted to go xc schooling mid-week he pretended to colic while Emily was pulling in the driveway with the trailer. A few weeks ago, I took a Thursday off to go xc schooling... I didn't even mention it on here so as not to jinx it. I carefully brought my horse in, checked his shoes and made sure he was comfortable. We had a little time to kill before we were leaving and we all joked around about his evasions. Meanwhile he did this:

Snoozeville, pop: Riley.

That lip.

Education and schooling

Emma over at Fraidy Cat Eventing wrote a post recently regarding how you know whether your horse is schooled, or rather, well-schooled. I'm sure the answer here varies wildly among horse people and certainly changes between disciplines. In my world... that of OTTBs working on second careers, I rarely see what I would call a "well-schooled" horse. But Emma's post got me thinking about what that means for me and my horse. And more deeply, what the difference is between education and schooling when it comes to riding (results may vary).

Webster’s defines education as ‘knowledge and development resulting from an instructive process’, or more specifically, the act or progression of acquiring knowledge. Regarding horses, I think that education comes from experience, exposure and being confirmed (or tested) in various disciplines (ie, showing or performing a discipline in front of a judge of some kind). I consider most things that Riley experiences as a part of his education, xc schooling, training rides, lessons, hacking... all of it. If it increases his progression under saddle, I count it as education. Schooling refers to education received, so while they almost fall under the same definition, when it comes to horses, I think they are much more nuanced.

So how do we define well-schooled then? Well schooled is defined as having been well trained or educated sufficiently, and here's where the nuance comes in. What is sufficient? What counts as enough to claim a horse as well-schooled? In my world world well-schooled equates to being "confirmed" in some capacity. As in, my horse is "confirmed on the flat" = he/she can walk, trot, canter in both directions with a rider. Confirmed over fences = jumps willingly/cleanly around a course of jumps appropriate for his education. This is a very basic way of looking at it I understand, and I could go into much more detail within each category, But I'm over-simplifying for a reason.

!!!!!! Olde Hope Evening Shade III Schooling HT !!!!!!

I still need to update about my great jump school last Wednesday, but first...

2nd Place at our second event!

So proud of my boy!!! (And how cute does he look braided?)

Berney test ride, day one.

I managed to sneak away early from the office yesterday to meet with Emily and try out the new potential saddle. It was MUCH nicer in person than I expected and it has clearly been well loved. Middleburg does a great job of vetting their used inventory so you don't have to worry about things like shoddy repair work or broken trees etc (which is why I am terrified of buying a saddle on Ebay). The leather is supple and soft with minimal wear. in fact, I could only find wear marks on the billets and the edges of the cantle.

I was nervous, to be sure... Riley as I mentioned, is difficult to fit... and he's opinionated when he doesn't like a saddle. I tossed the saddle on him bare and like what I saw right away.

Really like the balance from front to back. I put a pen on the saddle to see where the center of balance was and it was perfect.

Overall, I liked the fit along the front of the flap. There was a slight gap toward the bottom but I knew that would change one it was girthed up.

Great clearance around his withers. He doesn't have protruding withers, and since he wears a wide it's important to make sure the saddle doesn't crowd them.

We decided to tack him up in just a simple pad to see how the saddle settled in once I was up (I usually ride in a half pad of some sort). Riley is the kind of horse that will really let you know when he's in pain of any kind. As I girthed him up he was licking and chewing and happy. No dancing around and no grumpy looks. I stuck my leathers on and realized that they match perfectly (so does my breastplate -- bonus!) and got on.

Whoa.

I felt like I was sitting INTO my saddle instead of perched on it. My leg felt locked it place and it was immediately super comfortable. I was very excited to go play around on it. Initially Emily was worried it was a tiny bit small for me (in the seat), but I could fit my entire hand behind me and she agreed it was just a completely differently style from my old saddle.

Now for more pictures (which is really all I am good for these days as a blogger):

Loving the position of my leg and weight in my heels for once! *just after a jump

Comfortable enough to find my own balance again.

Riley was VERY distracted by the cows off to our right and felt like myabe he should veer us into a standard as a way to escape them.

My leg is still slipping a bit, but my balance was much better.

I posted this one so you could see his cute expression, oh and my super talented way of climbing up my horses neck.

When I picked up the canter, he felt the best he's ever been and Emily commented on both of us one stride in. The difference in this saddle is remarkable.

And, then there's this... homeboy loves a stretchy trot.

Back swinging and happy.

We picked up our right lead canter first try from the walk and Emily was very excited for us! Jumping was a bit rough as it was a whole new feel of balance for me and not wearing spurs was not a good plan for such a hot day. But I needed to know how he felt over fences so off we went. Sadly, he gave me a serious case of whiplash after the last oxer by over-jumping and stumbling upon landing, if I had been in my other saddle I would have come off for sure!

I went on a nice hack after our ride and he was terrific. I hope this is the last saddle we'll need for awhile! 

And Blogger is being an a-hole so no video for you! Tomorrow, Emily and I are going to set up a little combined test for ourselves to run through our dressage tests and do some jumping! I'll let you guys know how day two in the saddle goes!

Oh yea, one last thing:

Entered!

Saddle woes and wins.

I have mentioned in the last few posts that I was going to be looking for a new saddle. I didn't want to give it too much thought yet because I don't have much of a budget, Riley is really hard to fit, and I pretty much need the size/style of saddle that everyone is looking for so I knew it was going to be a bit of a hunt. I've ridden in a few of Emily's saddles and while she's much taller than I am, I really like the balance of the Berney Bros. I thought it would be interesting to post some recent photos of me jumping in both saddles so you can see what I mean (these shots were roughly a week or two apart).

Current saddle. Heritage jumping saddle. Fits both of us well enough. smaller knee block and no thigh blocks.

On the flat, my position is quite good in this saddle, but you can kind of see here that if I want to put my stirrups up any higher I'm going to be in trouble with the knee rolls.

Case in point. The balance of this saddle doesn't allow me much security and I am thrown forward, pivoting at the knee.

I'm still jumping ahead, but my leg is staying firmly at the girth and underneath my body for a better overall balance.

When I am balanced, I'm able to give Riley all the freedom he needs. Having a saddle that gives me this kind of security allows me to find my own balance without throwing him off.

In between fences, love how my leg is in this photo, right where it should be.

 So, with Emily taking a trip down to Virginia for the WEG trials, I begged her to make a stop at the Middleburg Tack Exchange (aka, heaven) to look for my white whale of a saddle. She took a current wither tracing with her, my non-existent budget, and some parameters of what I was looking for.

In case you were wondering where I was instead of going to the WEG trials, I had a super long wedding to shoot on Saturday. While I was in the middle of shooting the ceremony, I got a couple of frantic texts from Emily saying that she found A 17" BERNEY BROS. IN WIDE. What!?! I was able to sneak away during the communion portion of the mass (there were also two other photographers) to go outside and make a call. She said she literally looked at hundreds of saddles and felt like it was a lost cause. None of the saddles fit Riley's wither tracing (did I mention he's hard to fit?) and she was starting to give up, when she saw on the top shelf a lone Berney Bros.

A small cross section of the used saddle inventory at Middleburg Tack Exchange

She pulled it off the shelf half-heartedly and nearly died when she was the size and shape. And then, this:

Like a glove.

Beautiful used condition. Love the balance of the seat and the more forward flaps than my current saddle. I don't have super long legs so I don't need a really forward flap.

Exactly what I was looking for, nice knee block and a small thigh block.

So I made the call, gave them my account info and it's mine on trial for a week. If I like it and it fits us both, I can make the seller an offer against the suggested retail price (all their saddles are on consignment).

So, fingers crossed for us that I have found something suitable! The very kind British woman who works at the shop mentioned to Emily that the Berney's never last more than a few days because everyone wants them and they last forever. What a score! I will post my current saddle for sale if this one works out to recoup the money!

Ps. I got a 17" because Berney's tend to be a bit generous in the sizing and don't usually come standard in half sizes.

Pps. Based on all of these photos its clear I need to do lots of two point work to lengthen my leg and stretch down into my heels. Sadly, I will never be one of those riders whose heels look super flexed (years and years of gymnastic has given my ankles early arthritis!)

Epic three-day weekend

Side note: I got to see this at a Drive-In theater Thursday evening. BEST.

Riley is back in full work and I couldn't be happier. Our ring is finished! Woo hoo!!

He got a training ride Tuesday and was a superstar. Emily wrote about him on her blog, you can read it here. I'm actually quite surprised as to how straight and forward he feels in the new ring. One of the best things about it is that the owner choose to put the perimeter fence about 10 feet away from the edge which actually forces the horses to go straight and carry themselves, or at least you will know just how crooked they are as they cannot "lean" on the rail. His right lead canter is coming along wonderfully. Emily really worked on that Tuesday and when I rode him Friday he picked it up rather easily. He's still quite counter bent in that direction, but he's learning to move off the side leg and right now I am more concerned with the transition, getting the right lead and maintaining impulsion rather than forcing him to bend. With time and strength that will come too. We are working on some baby lateral work at the walk and he's starting to get it.

The little girl inside. (This is a horribly written post, my brain is not working)

It's official, I HATE winter. I'm not one to usually complain about the cold, but I am OVER the snow and the ice. We've had over 50" of snow this winter making it something like the 3rd snowiest in history! There's nowhere for the new snow to go so it's getting a little crazy around the farm. There are just walls and walls of it everywhere and we've had to carve out paths to get to paddocks, totally insane! Though, to be fair, it's better than losing power and water like we did with the freak ice storm a few weeks ago.

A beautiful capture in Riley's paddock.

The farm looks completely majestic despite the what an enormous pain in the ass it is to do anything in the snow. Seriously, turning out horses in a foot and a half of snow is exhausting! *I should take some photos this weekend of our crazy paths we've made to get to and from the pastures, it's pretty funny.

Riley emerges over the hill to the sound of the bell

Luckily, Riley and Henry have the luxury of living outside. They have a 20 acre paddock, a stream, a shed the size of a barn and a round bale. They're both really acclimated to the weather so they are happy as can be in their field. It's actually really cute to see them both hanging out in their fort looking out at the horses in their tiny turnout paddocks (we can only reach the small ones right now for the horses in the barn). The only downside to them being out is trying to feed them in all the snow. They basically get the same amount of feed but Riley gets supplements and Henry is on SMZs for a few days. Plus we like to put eyes on the horses at least twice a day to check for cuts and missing shoes etc so it's important that they come down to the fence line for feed. So rather than truck all the way up the hill to the shed, we've been bell training them with a cow bell. It's been going on for a few weeks now and they are getting really good! They can't see you at all when you're down at the gate so you have to call them, shake the bucket of grain and ring the bell. One by one they'll come over the hill and saunter down for breakfast or dinner. They've carved out a little path in the snow so they have to use the least amount of energy to get down to the gate.

Saturday was a gorgeous day at the farm despite all the snow and with my saddle back in my grubby mitts all I wanted to do was ride! There were flurries and everything looked kind of magical so I convinced Emily to tack up her new boy so we could get some fun photos of us out in the big field that hadn't been touched yet! I forgot that her new horse hadn't met the sheep/lambs yet and he was quite surprised when we led the boys through one of the stalls to get to the field! The horses truly thought we had lost our minds when we hopped on and pointed them at the snow (the sheep have a shedrow kind of of overhang so there was a wall of snow to convince them to walk into. Brody wasn't so sure, but Riley showed him that it would be just fine:) It was super deep snow so all we could was walk and it felt crazy, like we were on the moon!

But all you guys care about are photos, so...

Heading out into the giant field, you can't tell but there are a bunch of hills in here.

Ha! Look at his back leg!

This looks like we are both laughing -- I assure you, Riley was NOT amused.

Caught, mid-buck! Cheeky!

Aw, snow pony. SO happy to be back in MY saddle.

The cutest.

We only stayed our for a few minutes because it was impossible to move around, but Riley and Brody were good sports about it all. We walked over near the small paddocks and the other horses gave us a look like we had lost our minds. The truth is, the little girl in me is always crafting up goofy ideas like this. Most people wouldn't want to go for a ride while it's actively snowing in 14" of it, but I was dying to. If I hadn't wanted to ride in my saddle so badly I would have hopped on him bareback! Once a horse crazy girl, always one!

The sweetest horse a girl could ever want.

We're in love.

Of course we got another couple of inches of snow today, but this weekend is supposed to be in the 50's and sunny. Some rain at the end of the week should hopefully get ride of some of the snow. I'm eager to at least go for some road hacks to build fitness on Riley. There's endless amounts of hacking around us so away we go!


I've been bartering with Emily for training rides and I've racked up 3 so far by doing blanket repairs and waterproofing! Woo hoo! Boot camp time Riley!