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.

Raising a white flag.

I am in a weird funk right now. Things are not going well with Riley. He's not happy and either am I. It's been about a month since his shoes were pulled for good and even though I was told to keep him in work (and invested in TWO pairs of boots for him) he's miserable. How can I tell? Well, he's the kind of horse that greets you in the field, he comes in eager to please and never minds going to work. He's been avoiding me at all costs in the field. I have to drag him out and he's even planted his feet a few times and refused to move. Yes, this could just be stubbornness, but it's not. I'm dressing his feet with Sore No More before rides, Durasole after and babying the hell out of them to make sure that he's comfortable. He's not. Last night was the last straw for me and I left the barn feeling really defeated. What he needs is time and no agenda (and although I've convinced myself that I don't have one, I'm still holding on to a glimmer of hope that I can ride him sooner, rather than later). He needs to be in a lay up situation for the next 4-6 months. I don't want to rush this. I can't. He's too nice of a horse to simply put glue-ons on him, or pour $$$ into tests when we know it's his soles. I like the farm where we are now and it has lots of great amenities, but we can't use any of them. Yes, the arena has nice footing, but to get there he has to walk on gravel. To get from the field to the barn is the same story (and it's a hike). I thought about just leaving him there for the winter and trying to just go out once a week or so to pull him in and groom him, but I know he'll be miserable coming in across the rocky terrain/gravel.

Riley bashed his nose on the gate latch and cut it. Did I feel sorry for him? No*

Moving okay but still NQR even with boots.

 He looks okay tracking left, but definitely sore tracking right.

So what does this mean for us? Well, after I posted a photo of Riley on FB last night my trainer called me this morning. We had a weekend planned in two weeks where I was going to bring Riley down to do a little boot camp. Obviously that's out of the question now and I sent her an email this morning about that (which then prompted her phone call). She felt as though I should consider a diagnostic appointment at Penn on Riley's feet (I think she was under the impression that he was sore/off 100% of the time). Once we discussed the situation a little further she agreed that time was the best answer for him and to re-evaluate in the Spring. We came to the agreement that Riley needs to be in a more closely monitored environment. Right now I have little control over his feeding situation and he doesn't have access to a stall if he needs it. So something needs to change. We discussed some possible situations and I'll share more with you guys once a firm decision has been made. I just want the poor dude to be happy and comfortable again!

In the mean time, I need to figure out a way to keep riding. I need to be in tip top shape by the time he's ready for me!

Also, when life gets you down, there's always puppies:

New hound puppies sunbathing

This little guy is named Skunk!

*I nearly had a heat attack when I saw the blood coming from his nose
**I quickly put 2 + 2 together and remembered he just bopped his nose on the latch

Absorbine Stain Remover & Whitener Review (and how my horse is a saint)

Riley had rides 2 and 3 with his boots this weekend, we attempted a ride on Thursday but his feet have expanded/had and I could not get his LF boot on (grrr), and he's going really well. I've been relying on Andrea for moral support, professional opinions and for generally talking me off a ledge. She recommended using nylon socks (of the human variety) inside the boots to help slide the foot in until they're broken in. I also took charge of the flares by means of a Rider's Rasp and managed to get his hoof to stop grabbing the boot while I was trying to put it on. Success!

Saturday I went out to the barn early to lunge Riley (we've been keeping his sessions quite short to prevent issues with the boots), when I arrived the place was buzzing with activity and was more or less a three ring circus. Most of their volunteers come on Saturdays/Sunday from 9-12, they have a regular group of people who go on a morning hack on Saturday, visitors are permitted during that time and there were plenty of weekend warriors out to see their horses. On top of that, a new gelding was moving into Riley's field so he and Henry were inside while they transitioned the new horse in. I wasn't too worried, but the energy level was quite high. I got Riley booted up, threw his surcingle and bridle on (btw, Riley's new game is to pretend that he doesn't know how bridling works) and headed up to the arena. I had two goals for Saturday... lunge Riley to check for soundness in the boots and to ride him bareback (!!!). We headed up to the arena and so did everybody else... we were joined by a western horse and his two owners (who are ALWAYS screaming at each other, it's so awkward, but they are perfectly nice to anyone else) doing rollbacks etc on one end, a woman schooling dressage on her lovely warmblood, and a black and white mini with THREE tiny riders taking turns going around the ring... also, along the fence line an old TB who had just been switched to daytime turnout just about lost his mind when his turnout buddy went for a trail ride (he literally screamed and paced the whole time), and a growing group of onlookers.

Cavallo Sport Boot -- Day 1 (to be followed with a full product review in a few weeks)

He's not 100% here, I think he's still quite tentative on his feet. That said, he's moving out freely (he was slightly stiffer going right but what else is new). Pastern wraps and gel pads are en route to make him as comfortable as we can. He still very, very ginger on gravel, but I know he's going to be better off for this in the long run. Good boy Riley!