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?

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.

Tantrums & protesting

this can only mean one thing...

You guys remember that lovely, sweet, kind, tolerant OTTB that let me climb on him bareback a few weeks ago?

Anyone?

No? Me, either.

Mr. Irish Goodbye got his shoes back on last Wednesday and Thursday I came out to see how he looked and put him back into proper work. We've been equicising and lunging (as much as his feet could handle), so he's not completely out of work, as it were. He was great about being tacked up (though inevitably, he always gives the lunging surcingle the hairy eyeball). 

Wait. A. Second.

Buddy, the vacation is over. He felt like being lunged in the small paddock adjacent to the barn was absolutely criminal. All his friends had their heads hanging out the windows and it just WASN'T FAIR.

Oh boo hoo, Riley you expensive pet!

I'm sure I've gone on a rant about lunging before, but whether I'm being redundant or not, I like it as a tool for young/uncoordinated/unbalanced horses. Furthermore, I really like the pessoa. It really helped Riley find his balance at the canter (without his jockey flailing about) and improved his straightness tenfold. I usually start by lunging in both directions, w-t-c with no engagement from the system. Once the buttons are reinstalled and he's obedient, I engage the pessoa. I like the setting that encourages long and low, but you can set it up a myriad of ways for various things. It's always set so his nose can be several inches in front of vertical when he's not fighting himself. In the 2 years that I've owned him, I've never really had to get after him with the lunge whip, nor have I ever lunged him DOWN from exuberance/naughtiness, etc. In the past, I would simplify the task until he got his brain back and make sure I didn't fry his little soul or he would get offended and just shut down and it was useless to push him through it.

Legging up -- considerations

Go away snow + mud!

With the worst of winter behind us in the Northeast, it's time to start legging our horses back up. Unless you're lucky enough to have an indoor, keeping a horse fit and going up here has been nearly impossible (even trailering to an indoor has been tough!). In previous years, I remember distinctly seeing groups of riders walking and trotting along the roads near our farm all season long. This winter, the roads were much quieter, either people migrated to Aiken for a few months, or conditions on the roads were just too treacherous (see: ice).  So, with the ice melted and very little snow on the ground, we've finally been able to get our guys going again. *ps. while I could have technically gotten Riley going a little sooner, starting and stopping with him isn't good for anyone!

After a full weekend of what I consider a good start to getting him legged up, I found myself thinking about the process and what I consider when bringing a horse into work after several months off.

Dressage work, flat work, real work, whatever you want to call it.

My barn is a mix of riders, hunter/jumpers, jumpers, ex-eventers, dressage riders... we all warm up our horses a little differently and attack each ride with a different frame of mind. It's interesting to see how that pans out with each horse. I would say that Emily and I are most aligned in the kind of training we do with our horses... and mostly that's because she's my trainer. Though, I owe an awful lot to my former instructor too, she gave me a great basis for everything I've accomplished today.

Video still: Practicing our dressage test, this is our change of rein across the diagonal. And hey look, my elbows bend!

Riley is at the point in his life where I can expect a little more from him with every ride. We try to keep our weeks looking like this: one hack day (sometimes with a little real work in the ring) -- hack day can include hill work, canters, or just a nice cruise around for a few miles, a jump school, a trainer ride, and a flat ride. Generally, Emily will ask me if I want her to work on anything specifically during the training ride and we come up with a game plan together. We jump on good footing so I don't think it's unfair to jump him twice a week (especially since we're not doing anything big).

More test work: 20 meter-ish circle (this is where he's getting too deep in the contact). Also, I don't understand why he makes me look so small. he's 16hh and I am 5' 6"+

Anyway, it's no secret that dressage is truly the foundation for all riding, and I really believe that in order to expect your horse to jump or gallop xc he needs to be able to carry himself on the flat, lift his back and engage his hindquarters. Can you jump or event without this? Well yes, but there will come a time when holes in your training will show up and your horse may even start saying no. I want to always feel like I am setting my horse up for success (which I did not do for our first event, not because of training per se, but more my mental state at the time) and it would be remiss of me not to make sure that dressage basics were firmly installed.

For a horse who is built a little downhill he doesn't ride like it! That neck, tho!!!!!!!

That said, I am lucky because Riley is not the kind of horse who needs a lot of loosening up. In some ways he actually prefers that I sit deeper for the first 10 minutes than getting in a light seat. But a normal dressage day might look something like this: loose rein walk a lap in each direction. Gather him into a frame and ask him to use his body. Begin trot work. I ride with very light hands (which can actually be detrimental) and so I let him trot around freely and forward in a light frame and then gather him up a little. He likes contact and seeks it now all the time. We start trotting in either direction and then start adding in some serpentines. Then, we'll add in some harder work like 20 meter circles, and 10 meter circle in each corner (we both hate that exercise!), then I might ask him for some baby lateral work, going off the rail a few strides, forward a few strides and back to the rail. This exercise really helps straighten him out when he wants to throw his hind end around. I've been upping the continuous workload for both of us because I want it to actually feel like "work", we'll usually take a break and walk for a few minutes and then I'll do lateral work at the walk and then ask for the canter. His transitions are coming along pretty well (not as quick as I would like), but the canter itself is lovely. He's still pretty crooked to the right, but at least he can pick up his right lead 95% of the time when asked (and from a walk!) Usually I get off his back for a lap around and then sit and ask for some circles and more collection. I've just started adding in stretchy trot work (which he loves) and yesterday we did this for 10 minutes as a reward for good flat work. We just did figure-eights around the ring and he stretched beautifully down in both directions. He's starting to get a little deep in the Dr. Bristol, so I'm going to try a regular full cheek for flat work to see if that helps. I think the stretchy trot work will help let him loosen up too. Yesterday I added 10 minutes of no stirrup work and we both worked quite hard! Riley has a LOVELY trot to sit and he worked on lengthening down the long sides then collecting at the ends and doing figure 8's on the short sides. Without stirrups I was really able to wrap my legs around him and bend his body around my leg. I'm hoping to add more of this kind of work to each ride, but boy am I feeling it today!

You can keep your warmbloods, I'll stick with my paddling TB any day:)

BTW, this was my second ride in my Middleburg tall boots (my $55 score from the tent sale) and I am in love. They are so, so, so comfortable. I have heel lifts in them now, but they are so supple and comfy!

Emily was nice enough to take some video, which, if you'd like to be Facebook friends with me, you can see here:

Riley got borium on his new kicks yesterday and my farrier warned me that he might be feeling extra fresh and confident now that he knows he won't be slipping! Ha! He also got the bravest TB award from my farrier and he is the only one not afraid of the forge, the smoke, the hot-shoeing, the blow-torch and the sparks! Good boy Riley!

He's um, attractive?

Wonder farrier, working on his hinds. He has a long vertical crack in that white hoof but he showed me that it was only a sand crack that has not worked it's way through the hoof wall and that I could rasp it a certain way to keep pressure off it in between trims. At this point it's nothing to worry about:)

The long and the short of it

Riley has managed to pull three shoes off (LF, RF, RF respectively) within 5 days of each other over the last 2 weeks. To say that my farrier and I are frustrated would be a massive understatement.

Troublemakers.

Saturday, we planned to trailer Riley along with Prima (she was competing at Fairhill), but the morning started with a weird vibe. When I got the barn, E had Prima bathed but she had a quizzical look on her face. Something wasn't quite right. Prima was a bit footsore so we bagged the idea of going to Fairhill. No need to make that any worse. With the truck and trailer hooked up and a beautiful day we decided we could take advantage of the circumstances and put the boys on the trailer and go for a nice hack at The Laurels. Henry decided he's never been in a trailer before and made me chase him on with a pitchfork and Riley smashed me in the top of my head as I was fixing the front bar in the trailer (totally an accident) -- like I said, the day had a weird vibe. With Henry working himself up we decided to trailer over to a local tavern, get some lunch and some beers and see how they were doing after a little time to settle. Wouldn't you know they were as quiet as could be when we returned. Off we went for our hack. Except that Riley refused to stand next to the trailer for me to get on. Grrrr. We had a few discussions about this until I led him down the road to a little bank near the entrance to the park. He pulled the same shit again and I made him walk up and down the back until he was will to stand still next to it. Don't misunderstand me here, I realize it's a new, exciting environment and he might not be an angel for mounting, but when I stick my foot in the stirrup and he flies backwards... that is not cool. Finally he realized that I was going to make him work really hard if he wasn't going to stand still, and he finally stood patiently while I got on! So dramatic.

Cutest pony after his hack!

Our ride was really nice. Both horses seemed very happy to be out and about. We crossed a few streams, got in some trot sets, a little cantering and as we headed back toward the trailer we did a quick shoe-check. Guess who pulled his RF? Seriously.

He was understandably really sore on the blue stone and sound on grass. Sigh. Time to reevaluate his situation again. My gut tells me that we should pull him shoes now before the ground get hard (since he is sound enough on grass) and ride him in boots. I've done lots of research on boots and found some that I think will work for him (the farrier will make sure they fit today). This will give him a little bit of time to get over the transition (roughly 2-3 months until the ground gets super hard) and he'll still be able to get in some work. We'll keep the sessions short while his boots break in (and to help prevent him from getting too sore). We will keep him barefoot from now until next spring, in the meantime P will try to trim his foot back to a functional starting point in small measures.

When I called P today, he laughed when he answered the phone and said that he's never had a client like Riley! It was his suggestion that we pull the shoes and he liked the idea of using boots to keep him in light work. He said it's his inclination to pull shoes on horses like Riley, but not a lot of owners can watch their horses throughout the transition (admittedly, it was hard in July, but that was only for a month). I told him that we've taken all goals off the table and that I just want to get him healthy.

These are the boots we tried Sunday -- they are too big, and I exchanged them for a smaller size in the "sport" version

Test run in the arena -- he was sound despite the fit!

I'm going to get some good photos today to show our starting point. It will be interesting to see the differences over the next 6 months. At least he's a good sport about getting the boots on! I'm going to order the pastern wraps today to make sure he doesn't get rubs.

So that's all for now... I'll keep you guys posted on how things go later today. For now, just some cute photos of Riley, since I'm too frustrated to even think straight.

Riley making friends with Zee .

At least he's an easy keeper.

Best buds for life/ Henry makes Riley look like a pony.

ps. Don't forget to enter my contest!!!!!!!

Back to School

It's that time of year right?

I was lucky enough to sneak away from work a little early yesterday to head out to the barn to ride with my friend E. The farrier was due at 3pm to put a shoe on both of our horses that lost theirs in the moving excitement... he was apparently running very late and actually didn't arrive until after I got there. That meant I had the honor of holding my horse for him...

With all the trouble that LF has given us over the last 4 months Riley has really started to develop some resentment about having it handled for long periods of time. This has resulted in several come to Jesus moments between us. He's usually very amicable about most things and well-behaved on the ground (I don't tolerate pushy horses), but he's gotten worse and worse over this hoof. The last two times the farrier was out he was pretty bad, but not nearly as bad as he was yesterday. He immediately pooped and peed in the aisle (which I should have seen coming), he was distracted by everything, he hardly kept his foot up for the farrier to take a quick look. Once he got down to business, Riley got worse, throwing himself around in the aisle (keep in mind this aisle is twice as wide as a regular barn aisle), leaning back and trying to sit down (because God-forbid he stand on three legs for more that 3 seconds). Even though I was holding him and correcting his bad behavior, it escalated. At once point, the farrier refused to let go off his leg and Riley hobbled away from him on three legs, he lost his footing and slipped in his own pee nearly wiping out completely... sigh. We decided to move him into the now free wash stall so he was a bit more confined. He was slightly better in there, but was still a bear. He decided that he could not keep his balance with his foot on the hoof stand and proceeded to thrash around and break that. Then he somehow cut the scab open on his old wound on the inside of his LF so there was a pool of blood filling up in his upside down bell boot (which wound up on the farrier). Thankfully, the farrier was able to get the shoe/pad on and finally get everything filed down and neat (though, without the help of the hoof stand -- farrier was not amused). He filled the hole left by the clip with some glue and he was as good as new... but not before he thrashed around some more and hit me squarely in the face nearly breaking my glasses. Admittedly, he got me really angry, frazzled and embarrassed. I told the farrier that I wouldn't mind if he tacked on an unruly horse fee on to my bill. Thankfully, my farrier is the nicest guy ever, and since he JUST put this shoe/pad set up on a week ago (and he knew I hadn't even had a chance to ride him!) he didn't charge me for the new set. I'm going to have to do something REALLY nice for him! But, after he left it really made me think about what I can do to improve his behavior for the farrier. He is really good for 95% of other activities. Maybe a chain shank/lip chain... I dunno, but he can't act like this again.

After we were through I quickly tacked him up and hopped on to see how he was feeling. We rode the perimeter of the property with our friend and he was quite good throughout. We trotted some hills on uneven terrain and he felt great. He walked flat-footed down the long driveway on bluestone without a care in the world. Hooray for that. We finished the ride with some quick arena work and he felt amazing. Hardly stiff at all tracking right and no weird steps. If I had to guess I'd say I felt a little unevenness, but it was marginal at best. I rode without spurs and he was lovely and forward (though I really do need them to help reinforce the bulging that happens) and we tried out a new bit which he LOVED!

We switched from this:

Herm Sprenger Duo

To this:

Happy Mouth Mullen

What a huge difference. I started him originally in a full cheek snaffle, which he went okay in (and I tend to like for babies), but he's not heavy in front and has good brakes and I wanted him to really think about the contact at the stage, so we switched the the Herm Sprenger. He went even better in that for awhile, but he was very unsteady in the contact and I think it was because of the loose rings. He would flap his head a lot and if I held the contact it felt like a tug of war because of all the movement in the bit. I read some really good things about Happy Mouths and I though since he seemed to like the feel on the solid bit we'd try to Mullen. Everyone seemed to agree that it was ideal for young horses and helped them seek the contact a little bit better. I wish I had taken photos after our ride because he had so much foam around his mouth. He rode so softly in it and after a few minutes of warm up on a loose rein when I asked for contact (gently) he gave and sought it out himself. Success! I think he also likes that this bit is much steadier in his mouth too. *ps. this was my first time riding in the arena at the new place and the footing is awesome!

My friend is going to try to ride him today and work on his canter a bit more and tomorrow we're hoping to school some of the xc jumps. I want to keep his work level as varied as possible!

This is post 198, stay tuned for exciting news at 200!

Best laid plans...

What do they say?

Whatever the saying, don't make any plans, ever, with horses. That's my takeaway.

I took the day off of the farm yesterday to spend some time with the pups. I took them on a really nice morning hike to a local state park that I haven't had the chance to explore yet. It was delightful and they had a super fun time.

Happy Pups.

Monday's forecast was looking pretty grim with thunderstorms due all morning and throughout the early afternoon but I was determined to get out to the barn to take Riley on a maiden voyage around the barn.

Riley had other ideas and when I grabbed him from his shed I realized he had ripped his brand new shoe off. Grrrrr. I haven't even had a chance to ride him since he got the leather pads and shoes! AGH! Oh, and it was on his LF, you know, the problem hoof. Sigh. It took some convincing to get him to walk past the scary brush and cat house again on the way to the barn, but he actually settled really quickly. I wrapped his hoof with some vet wrap, put some ointment on the gash he sustained in turnout (looks like it happened on a tree) and fly sprayed the crap out of him. (The BO found us and mentioned that if I leave my fly spray hanging up, they'll spray him every morning for me!) I decided despite the gimpy leg, we'd go exploring. There's so much cool stuff to look at around the farm and he's going to have to address it at some point! So off we went, through the grass jump field, and around a part of the xc course around the perimeter of the property, down to the arena (which they were abut to drag) and back past all the farm animals (swans, pigs, goats, et al). He was quite good abut everything! While in the arena, I thought I'd jog him to see if he was super lame (he wasn't), but he was lazy and a bit uneven):

Why am I doing all the work? Lazy bones. In other news, Whole30 must be working, I'm looking svelte!

I was pretty grumpy by the time we left. I was admittedly really excited to get back on, especially considering how sound he's been looking! A call has been made to the farrier and hopefully he'll be out tomorrow to put a new shoe on him. Sadly, I took a spin around the field to look for the shoe to no avail. Just flushing money down the drain!

 At least he's looking shiny and happy (oh and completely awkward during his growth spurt):

The Odd Couple. Also, his fly mask's ear is hanging on by a thread!

Hopefully the shoe goes back on successfully, he managed to rip a big chunk out of his toe (where the clip was) and we'll get some evening rides in this week!

Ps. I'm nearing 200 posts and I'm thinking of organizing a fun post with prizes!

Sounder and sounder

Feeling quite sorry for himself

Something got into Mr. Riley last week. He just wasn't himself. I was terrified of even saying the word 'colic' out loud, but he was just off. Nipping at his chest and sides (he can sometimes be a little girthy), he was strange when I bridled him and worse by the time I got him to the ring. He REFUSED to stand at the mounting block. This is very odd for Riley. He's the kind of horse that I can park at the mounting block after having a month off and get on while he stands stock still. He was not having any part of it, and we had a bit of a come to Jesus moment when he tried to scoot away with my foot in the stirrup. I broke it back down to basics and I was able to get on without much fuss. Sigh. But all was not well once I was on. I know it probably sounds a lot like I'm babying him, but spending so much time with him while he was recovering from soundness issues had given me a really good idea of what his baseline personality is about. He wasn't been cheeky or hot, he was just not himself. When I got off (after only a few minutes of work) I took the photo to the left. Poor dude.

Special.

When I returned from my trip, Riley seemed sounder than he has been in quite some time. He's still a bit off or uneven, but I'm trying to work through it as I think it's a strength issue more than anything. His feet look GOOD. His soles have stopped feverishly exfoliating and they seem to be toughening up a bit. I think just getting them off the ground is helping. He was back to his old self, which was encouraging to see, the picture left says it all. He's a bit of a cartoon character most of the time, so it's quite noticeable when he's not feeling 100%. We've starting getting back to down to business, slowly adding time and real work into our rides. He's doing okay, but his stiffness tracking right is starting to be a real problem. He's just not strong enough to work correctly going right so we're going to take things back to basics to help him build up some muscles. He's so out of whack going right that when we're trotting, if I start to ask for some contact or bend (or heaven for bid, both) he break into the left lead canter for a step. I push through asking for trot, but he'll do it any time the work gets "hard".

It seems quite obvious that we need to work on strengthening up his back and teaching him some real bend. So Sunday I broke out the surcingle and side reins. I've been using a neck stretcher, but he's already really good at relaxing his neck and stretching on the lunge. I want him to learn so balance with a little bit of contact, and I think the side reins are just the trick. I warmed him up in both directions (though, getting him to move out is ridiculous... lazy bones) -- snapped on the side reins super loose, but enough to catch him if he got strung out, and sent him tracking left. Once he got a feel for them I asked for some trot and I have to say that he moves a hell of a lot better when he's actually using his back! Much more forward and balanced. About 5 minutes of varying speeds, with lots of transitions and we switched to his hard side. He was pretty good tracking right too, though less excited about not being able to pop his shoulder and throw his body around. I think I might look into getting one of the Faux-ssoa systems, since he throws his hind end around to compensate for his lack of balance. It would be helpful to have control of his whole body from the ground!

I think the lunging is going to be very helpful for him. It's a massive struggle to get him to canter on the right lead under saddle. As in, I tried unsuccessfully for 15 minutes while he got increasingly flustered. I think for ow, our workouts are going to either be lunging for 20-30 minutes with and without side reins or rides that include long warm ups with w-t-c and some connected work at the trot. I'm going to leave the canter off the table for now and see how well he does once he's got more tools in his toolbox. He's feeling much better under saddle as far as soundness goes and he can walk on all types of terrain without mincing along! Watching him walk confidently on blue stone downhill to the barn just about had me in tears on Sunday! Let's hope that things can keep moving forward so we can get him to some fun little shows in the fall. He's too handsome to keep at the barn! In other news, I'm sort of eager to move to a new barn because I am always riding alone and it is boring. The end.

Shoe saga, and xc fun.

It's been one month since Riley's shoes were pulled and we've had a series of ups and downs. These were expected, and sadly the downs slightly outweigh the ups. Here he is looking incredible one week after his shoes we pulled:

Sorry about the lack of quality, it's pulled off the video. But whoa! He looks great.

Looking fancy.

After this big improvement things only went downhill. The weather got wet again and his feet started to deteriorate. He was noticeably uncomfortable on anything but grass. I diligently applied the turpentine as often as I was out there, we pumped him full of double strength Farrier's Formula and crossed our fingers. Then the weather got really wet again, and despite being in during the day in a nice dry stall his feet started crumbling. They looked like they were growing though and so I was thankful for that but I was really unsure of what P would say at our 4 week trim date.

Here's some comparison photos:

The angle looks slightly better after 4 weeks. Not a huge improvement.

To my unskilled eye, I see some progress here. The left photo was post-trim so it appears neater, but the new photo reveals a slightly wider frog and some significant growth at the hoof wall. *I had just applied magic cushion the day before which is why his foot is a weird color.

Again, I think the angle has improved a little, and his heels look less under run. Not sure what that wrinkle near his heel means?

I don't see a ton of changes here and his sole was starting to exfoliate a lot.

P told me that his hoof grows really evenly, and that is a good thing. He said that he wanted to reduce the flare, but would have a hard time doing so right now because he's so sore. His soles were still paper thin and P recommended that we put shoes back on to make him comfortable. I was really hoping we could wait another month but based on how Riley was mincing around on anything but grass, I had to agree. So he got hot-shoed (to hope for the best possible fit. P told me that he could put leather pads too, but for now he wants to let the sole do it's thing and that the pads would be something to consider down the road.

Waiting for the farrier. Sir Snooze-a-lot.

I know the whole shoeing thing is a big arguing point within the horse community, but it has been hard watching the changes even over the span of just 4 weeks. I am as patient as they come but after taking Riley to xc school last Sunday I felt like a horrible horse owner. Don't be alarmed, we didn't jump anything, we just hacked around and led my friend and her baby horse over some things, but was was nearly crippled walking on blue stone. It was dramatic the change when he'd hit the grass again, but he was miserable otherwise. He's got a great attitude and he didn't get stubborn or mean, but I knew he wasn't happy either. I got off after the last water crossing on the way back to the trailers because I could hardly stand how he was hobbling along. We wound up giving him a little bute when we got home. Sigh. I think we'll try pulling his shoes again over the winter but we'll have to see how he does.

Being a cutie pie hanging out in the shade.

Don't mind me and my sweet fanny pack.

I'm going away for a few days so I'm hoping that a couple days of bute and some R & R and he'll be ready to get back to work. P had me trot him on grass and pavement after he got his shoes and he was still really short in front. We will re-evaluate next week.

In other news, we're moving barns... well, the whole crew is rather. The property has been sold to a BNR from another country (she's coming to train with Phillip Dutton down the road) so we're looking for a new barn to rent. I'm excited about moving since we all agree that our #1 luxury item is access to hacking right off the property! Fingers crossed we can find a great place for the winter!

It's a good thing he's cute: