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?

Buzzzzz, buzzzz, buzzzz... that's the sound of inviting winter in.

We've had an unseasonably warm winter here in Philadelphia, as in... a few years ago we had several feet of snow and ice everywhere to deal with. This year, I haven't put more than a sheet on Riley (and he's being going without one on most days)!

With (another) move under our belts and new and exciting facilities awaiting us, I knew we'd be legging up much earlier than I was originally planning. I had his shoes pulled a few weeks ago, so I took his shoe allowance and spoiled myself by having him professionally clipped! Woo hoo!

Let just say, Riley was not super stoked about being removed from his best friend in the WHOLE world to get a bath.

Opinions, he has them.

I actually enjoy the process of clipping (though the hair everywhere sucks) but I don't have my own clippers and Riley's pelt (yes, it can only be referred to as such) is really weird and destroys blades no matter how sharp they are or how clean he is!!! Out of fairness to the groom, I bathed him within an inch of his life and prayed that he'd dry in time! As a thank you for my painstaking work, Riley decided to bite the ever loving shit out of me while I was checking his belly for dampness. Through my quilted vest he very nearly broke my skin (and I'm sporting a huge bruise/welt combo) -- to which I responded with a little reality check on ground manners thankyouverymuch. Needless to say, when the groom arrived he asked me if Riley behaves for clipping and I assured him that he'd be on his best behavior. As a general rule, he's great for clipping and really enjoys it, but you never know.

Look at his sheepish expression. That's what a naughty (clean) horse looks like.

I decided on a hunter clip but I had his whole face done too just for fun (and to see if anything creepy was lurking underneath).

I am so pleased with how his skin looks clipped. In previous years, he's dealt with all sorts of gross rain rot/fungus issues and once clipped he looked a bit sad. This year he's only got a few little spots of funk and the coat underneath was shiny! I think it's partially due to the mild weather, but also because I've been treating his funk with Listerine/water and grooming all his yucky spots feverishly (*honorary mention for Head and Shoulders here too).

So much hair!

But GUYS, I took out his tail braid and combed it out and WHOSE TAIL IS THIS???

It was well worth every penny, and I didn't mind helping to hold Riley when he got fidgety about his face. He looks incredible! I can't believe this is a horse who isn't in proper work yet!

What a handsome beast! Also, he looks wayyy better with a few less lbs. He's usually looking a bit rotund by now.

Best of all, I adore how his face looks clipped! He grows insane goat hair all over his chin and I think it makes him look pretty unremarkable in the winter. I think he has a very cute face when you can actually see it!

Almost palomino for the day! ps. still fuzzy inside those ears:)

I guess I should dig out his quarter sheet as winter decided to show up the DAY AFTER I CLIPPED HIM!!!!!! We haven't had consistent cold weather at all and of course now he has to go in two rugs!

Ah, well, at least cool down time will be a minimum!

New kicks, new barn... take a deep breath -- here we go!

This post is brought to you by the letter "H".

As in, my horse is a hunk:

June 2015. Three months out of work.

With the head shaking taking a back seat (I don't want to jinx it), Riley gets shoes on today for the first time in months. Which means, we're back in business for riding. He's been worked lightly in the equiciser for the last few weeks to keep his brain intact and he's been workmanlike about it, but I think I'm going to have a lot of horse on my hands once he's under tack! He's lacking serious muscle in the photo above, but his topline still looks decent and he gets fit, REALLY quickly. I am beyond excited to start riding again!

Which leads me to our move. Moving again you say? Yes. This time to a farm a full 20 minutes closer, smaller barn with more turn out (and hilly fields) and a beautiful GRASS RING. The fact that the farm will be closer is huge. My current commute without any major traffic is at least an hour. On weekend mornings, I would guess I could make it to the new barn in 35 minutes!!! That means a lot more riding for me, and with a smaller barn to care for I won't be so tired after chores that I won't want to ride!

The next couple of weeks are going to be plenty hectic around these parts, organizing current barn, moving everything to the new barn and trying to leg up Riley again! Once we get settled in, if everything is going smoothly, we can set our sights on some events this fall (that is, if I ever dig myself out of the financial hole I'm in).

Stay tuned!

Monitoring and distracting (complete with lots of boring video)

so damn cute.

I had not-so-secretly hoped that if I left Riley alone for a week (while on heavy amounts of magnesium) that I would arrive to the farm Saturday to a bright, happy and pain-free horse.

Not so.

He was bright and happy enough, but only in his stall.

My plan had been to run through a few tests with him again to see how the Mg was working and possible get on him to see just how bad things felt under saddle. He managed to spring the heel on one of his shoes (so riding was out) -- it was just barely sprung and not twisted or anything so the farrier said he'd come out a few days later to tack it back on. I wrapped it up in vet wrap just to make sure he didn't make it any worse and stuck another bell boot on him!

First I stuck him in the round pen to get an idea of how he was doing:

As you can see, the head shaking is about as bad as a was last week. I would be lying if I said I wasn't pretty heart-broken. I know it's naive of me to think he's suddenly going to feel better, but the problem with head shaking is that it makes you feel a bit nuts, like you are making up the symptoms or imagining things!

So I tried him with a nose net (home made with some old pantyhose) and he was actually worse. Lots and lots of sneezing and plenty of head shaking.

Riley's expression and distinctive head shake in this video of him at rest show his very clear reaction to direct sunlight. The head shake looks as though "a bee flew in his nose".

I've been keeping a record of the temperatures and pollen counts for the last month not surprisingly, the warmer, humid weather = higher grass pollen counts = worse head shaking. Last week he was much less symptomatic, but the weather was unseasonably cool, overcast and the pollen counts were next to nothing. This week things are warming up again, with high pollen counts, so we'll see how he fairs. He's still coming in during the day and going out at night, though his turnout buddies keep removing his flymask overnight, so we might have to turn him out alone.

The plan is to keep him on the loading does of Quiessence for one more week (as last week was so uncharacteristically cool and mild) and then scale him back to a normal dose. If his symptoms stay the same or get worse in th enext week, I'm going to have the vet out to talk about further treatment. 

Over the course of the weekend, I decided that since I can't ride Riley and he's happy enough inside, I would try doing some clicker training to stimulate his mind and maybe help give him a distraction. There's a very cool woman on Youtube named Shawna Karrasch (who was once a Seaworld trainer) that uses clicker training to encourage wanted behaviors and to discourage bad behavior. Her techniques are useful in all sorts of situations (like having a problem trailer loader or a spooky horse). I started very basic with Riley training him not to be a brute about food. I rarely, if ever, give him treats because he learned very quickly how to be a butt head when food was involved. He became pushy and mouthy and I hate that, but I knew that being so food-motivated would be an asset in clicker training.

First lesson... introduce clicker, then reward when horses head is in neutral position (he is allowed to investigate what I am doing etc), but I discourage him from getting at the food and he very quickly learns to turn his head away for a reward.

He caught on to this pretty quickly. For reference, the clicker is in my left hand and the food is 12% pelleted grain (nothing too fancy). His second lesson was targeting, which is a stepping stone to teaching various behaviors like ground tying, self loading, desensitization to scary things, lowering head... etc.

For this exercise, I presented a "target" (little green cone) and Riley was rewarded each time he touched it with his nose. As you can see in the video, he's not always touching it intentionally, but you reward for those moments too. It's very neat to see the light bulb moment when he figures out what I am looking for though.

Each session is roughly 5 minutes long, with lots of time in between. It's just enough for him to grasp the concept, but not get dull to the experience. Each time I ask for a little bit more out of him... for example, for the second session with cone I moved it up, down, left, right and further out of his reach. He seems to really like the activity and if anything I think it will help further our bond. It's painful for me not being able to do anything with him, but seeing how miserable he is in the sunlight solidifies my decision of not riding him until he's feeling a bit better. I might try him in the equciser (which is shady and cool) to see if he can at least get some exercise and be comfortable. I'd like to take him to an indoor to see if that makes any difference too, but I am worried about how worked up he's going to get having a bridle on and if that's going to make him very aggravated.

Riley gets an A+ for his targeting lesson!

Thanks for all your kind words and support, and to everyone who has reached out to me with advice or references via the blog, facebook and email. We are so grateful to have such wonderful support from all of you guys and it makes me feel just a little less crazy to know you guys are rooting for us! Hopefully we can get to the bottom of this soon and get Riley back on track!

Gearing up, so to speak.

While winter beats on mercilessly in the Northeast, I've been starting to think about the year ahead for Riley and I. I have come up some some short-term goals but they are all contingent upon various things falling into place! Looking ahead for the next 4-6 weeks they look something like this:

*Leg Riley back up -- he's been on vacation for roughly 2 months and was ridden very lightly in November. We'll start road walking and hacking followed by some trot interval stuff before I ask him for anything proper.
*Move to new farm -- that's happening soon, so the transition period maybe interesting to say the least (more on this in a minute)
*Look at some clinics/shows to knock the dust off (tentatively, we are thinking maybe the end of April as a rough goal for a baby HT)
*Train him on the Equineciser (sp?) to work on a baseline of fitness even if the weather is bad -- this is going to be a very cool addition to his schedule!
*Re-introduce the Pessoa to help with his topline. He goes pretty well in this regardless, but I want him to have at least a little work under his belt before I ask him to work 'hard'.
*Get Riley's front shoes put back on at his next trim.

Treats go here.

Blogger meet up and CTJ moments

At least the weekend ended on a good note.

Saturday I spent most of the morning getting hives and sunburned while I helped set up a large temporary paddock in a 28 acre field. With our ring almost complete, we're trying to keep several horses near the barn and paddock space is limited until they get the perimeter fence near the barn finished. Anyway, we made a nice big paddock that can be moved around and included a section of the stream so we don't have to worry about watering those horses. Later in the afternoon we decided to go do a little flat work and jumping (followed by a nice hack). it was about a billion degrees outside so we didn't do too much in terms of jumping but Riley decided to pick that time to act like a total butthead. Keep in mind we were schooling the very same gymnastic as last time, but this time just two cross rails. It basically rode like a 3-4 stride line. The cows had recently been moved and he used them as an excuse to not pay attention to me, but we got through the line a couple of times successfully albeit with one ear on the cows. The three of us took turns schooling it and then we set up a bounce going in a different direction (essentially perpendicular to the gymnastic). Riley's never done a bounce so it was first set as a tiny cross rail and a pole for the second fence. Whne I tried to get him to leave the other horses, he pulled his nappy behavior again and I booted him forward. I head toward the X and at the last second he decided to spin-duck-bolt left... fucker... I took one look at Emily and she thought I was going to hand him over to her, but I was PISSED. Now that I know what his evasion is, I can prepare for it much, much better. Came around again, same thing, this time I grabbed my right rein and slammed him into the standard. I stood him directly in front of it and made him crawl over it. I came around again and this time cracked him on the shoulder with my whip and he leapt over it. You see... I'm not asking him to do anything hard. No, he hasn't schooled a bounce yet, but he knows how to go over a cross rail and a pole. So we continued to school it until he went through without sucking back. We put the second X up and he sort of fumbled his way through but didn't touch anything...a few more times and he was bouncing through like he's been doing it forever. Good boy. He was all too frazzled that I actually got after him though. He's the type of horse that doesn't need a beating, but if you are going to use your whip, you have to use it once and MEAN it. Our Come to Jesus moment was when he realized I was serious and that I am not falling for his bullshit anymore. After we ended that on a good note the three of us headed for a nice trot hack around the property. It's about a 2 mile loop up and down hills and through the woods and over a stream. Riley was pretty agitated, but settled once he realized that work was not over. We let the farm owner lead as her horse had some trouble riding around all alone the day before and we wanted to boost his confidence. Everyone was lathered by the time we got back to the barn!

Quick post

I've been working like mad lately. Freelance work is picking up for me (which is great) but I am wiped out all the time. Wednesday, I decided to take a personal day from work knowing that I'd be working a 13 hour day Thursday, regular work Friday, the farm Saturday and more freelance on Sunday. I needed a day to reset. Plus, the forecast was gorgeous! Sunny skies and temps in the 60's!

Emily and I decided to take Riley and her new horse Brody for some fitness work and a hack. They are very similar in some ways (ahem, slow pokes) and they both enjoy having a buddy for hacks. Their field as I have mentioned previously, is 20 acres with a gradual hill. The footing is really nice, especially around the perimeter and it's perfect for fitness work. the only real challenge is explaining to Riley that YES, we do have to work in YOUR field. We started off with some trots on the hill (about a 1/3 of a mile) then we did some sweeping figure eights and the top where the terrain flattens out. Riley was great, forward and in front of my leg and I got some nice contact work out of him at the same time. He was still stiff to the right, but since we had such a huge space to work in I didn't have to nag him as much to bend. I would really like to get him off my right inside leg more, but baby steps. We tooled around at the trot for awhile then we checked the rest of the perimeter for ground hog holes. While we were doing this we saw one go into their shed! We only found one hole in the field, phew... but we're going to have to figure out a way to flag them for us while we're riding and for the owners when they go out there to mow. We got back to the gate and decided to do one big circuit at the canter and both boys were very well behaved. I got into two-point and just let Riley move out in front of my leg. Neither of them got silly at all at and we finished up our fitness work with a long trot at the top of the hill. We took them for a little hack around the property so Brody could practice stream crossing (we are so lucky to have an actual stream to practice with!), but to get there we had to pass a patch of woods where there were about a dozen deer bouncing around. Again, both boys kept a lid on it and Riley led the way down to the stream. Brody was a total champ, though he was more interested in drinking all the water! We walked the boys up to the sheep and rams to say hello, schooled the crossing a few more times and headed back to the barn. Poor Riley was exhausted, he's had to work so hard lately (sarcasm).

Tired pony hacking back to the barn. Riding in a t-shirt!!!!!!

The weather was scheduled to be really nice overnight, so I stuck Riley's sheet on and stuck him out in the pasture that shares a fence line with the cows! Mean Mommy! But he's going to have to get over them at some point. He and Henry high-tailed it as far away as possible. Hopefully, he's feeling less worried about them in general?

Later, another co-op member showed up and she wanted to bring her show horse in to get him ready for Devon in May. He's been living out for the the last 6 months so it was time to get him less feral:) His field is wayyy up past Riley's and it's a good 1/2 mile walk back to the barn, so we schemed up a little plan to drive up there, feed the others, change them into sheets and pony him back. Of course hilarity ensued... it always does with us.

First, we called the boys for dinner. Two came running immediately (the same two that came galloping up while we were hacking past their field and the scary deer (thanks, boys)... but the other was no one to be found. A few minutes later a slightly panicked horse comes bursting through the field with his medium blanket flailing around like a cape. Uh oh. He was understandably panicked and we tried to calm him as he galloped across the field. As he past the shed he must have stepped on the blanket and was going so fast that the entire thing ripped off leaving a small piece around his neck, he jumped a pile of sticks like a seasoned eventer and came up for his dinner. As soon as we realized he was fine and not going to tumble or kill himself we all burst out laughing. I went to retrieve the remainder of the blanket from the field and pull the piece off from around his neck. The blanket is dead, but no one was hurt in the process! Ahhh, horses! It was clear once I spread the blanket on the ground that he had gotten the back caught in a tree probably from itching against something, he got caught and then panicked. Luckily the straps all broke the way they should.

What was left of his blanket. This was hanging around his neck. Very high-fashion, no?

We grabbed her show pony and she sat in the back of my car while we ponied he from there. He's apparently an old pro at this and walked and trotted along with us. What a good boy!

NBD. The same wild 6 year old that cooled himself out last week in the indoor!

That's all for now. I'm hoping to get some riding/lunging in tomorrow and maybe I can get Emily to put a training ride on Riley on Sunday since I'll be working.

Ps. All this talk about working has got me thinking about a post regarding affording our horses, board, co-ops and the like. I wonder if that would be interesting for everyone???

Training rides

Riley has had two training rides Friday and Saturday, so I decided to take the day off from riding (even though I was planing on going for a hack today). It's been a long time since I took a weekend day away from the barn and I slept in (highly unusual) but completely delightful.

Friday Emily rode Riley and said he felt really great. The big difference between where he was 6 months ago and where is now has a lot to do with his feet. He is still stiff tracking right, but I think once we unlock him a little he won't find it as hard. She was even able to get him to pick up the right lead canter 3 times. Saturday I planned to have her ride him again so I could see how he's looking under saddle and she could show me some tools to work into his routine. He's very focused on the cows and utilizing lateral work and some shoulder-in helps get his brain back. Emily commented that he feels much, much more forward than he did last year and that letting him move out and settle into the contact works best. He's very willing to find contact at the walk and trot but still needs work at the canter. I think once our transitions are confirmed the rest will come. Emily also said that she thinks the Pessoa had really helped his balance and that his willingness to utilize his topline.

Warming up, Emily commented that sitting the trot stabilizes him (and that he has the most comfortable trot ever!)

His concentration face.

Moving out beautifully and relaxed along his topline.

You can see there's more tension tracking right. Emily really drove him forward until he relaxed.

Stretching down into the contact. He loves doing this!

Proof! He DOES have a right lead canter and it's adorable.

YAY!

My takeaways from the ride were to keep his confidence up (lots of verbal and physical praise), give him lots of breaks between the hard work, use lateral work to help engage his hind end and to help him understand moving off my leg instead of leaning on it (he was not able to move off my leg at all last year, continue to encourage forward, always forward (which will help with the nappy behavior), lots of changes of direction keep his brain busy. Oh, and to ride him with a dressage whip so I can give him little taps behind my leg without losing focus. *He actually kicked out at the whip when he was being stubborn about picking up the right lead canter!!!

I have a few more training rides banked with Emily, and then I'm going to start paying her to ride him once a week. I'll be able to ride/lunge him at least 3 days and I think that will be plenty to get him ready for some schooling events. I want to at least use the Pessoa once a week to continue the improvement with his straightness and topline. We'll keep our serious rides on the shorter side 30-45 minutes and keep hacking out. 

I am really impressed with how he looks, being in a 20 acre hilly field has been good to his body. His condition is really great for a horse who essentially had the winter off.

**Also, just in case the horse world isn't small enough, I was in the city last night at one of my favorite bars and I chatting to a couple standing behind us... the girlfriend happens to be an advanced rider who sold Emily her most recent horse Brody!!!!! Whoa.

horse-shaped kites

I don't usually use stock images since I take one million photos at the farm all the time but, this is basically what yesterday was like for me:

Seriously.

My new schedule at the barn has me feeding and bringing the barn horses in on Wednesday evenings (thank you daylight savings time). An easy task usually as 7 of the 11 horses live outside. All I have to do is bring the mares in and one gelding (which can be a slight challenge sorting him from the other boys). But there was a crazy weather system coming through our area promising a 45 degree drop in temps over night and wind gusts over 50 mph (they were already gusting at 45 mph when I arrived and it was raining sideways). We all agreed it would be best to bring in the other 4 geldings in Riley's field so that they were protected from the elements. Normally, we'd just stick a medium rug on all of them and let them hang out in their shed, but it was wayyyy too hot at 6pm to do that. Certainly none of us were going to head out in the middle of the night to do a blanket change, so inside it was.

Except... the boys have become quite feral living outside. We've bell trained them to come to the gate for dinner and stupidly, I decided I would feed them inside and bring them up to the barn in pairs. I really should have fed them as usual because they lost their minds when I tried to catch them (because I wasn't feeding them). They were all completely wild, the wind was howling which got them even more worked up and things were escalating quickly. I decided to take the biggest trouble-maker out of the field first, thank goodness he let me catch him because he had been bucking, galloping and squealing like mad just prior. He's also the biggest of all of them and I figured if I could get him up to the barn (it's about a 100 yards to the barn) the rest would be easy. Ha! He was a fire-breathing dragon and was spooking at everything. I know him well enough to not tolerate his shenanigans, so we had a discussion about manners. Then I went back for trouble-maker #2. He was actually worse than the first and literally dragged me up to the barn. He has a way of completely tuning you out, to the point that it seems as though he has no idea there's someone on the end of the lead rope (which makes him more dangerous in a way). He spooked all over the damn place while I held on and dug my elbow into his shoulder so he at least knew I was there. Next up was Riley and he was also a hot mess. Every time a gust of wind came along he'd break into a trot, neck craning around to see where the danger was coming from. With him, I just gave him more slack on the lead as he is very respectful of my space and I didn't want him to feel confined. Lots of pats and talking. When we got to the top of the driveway, he saw the cows (again) and did the biggest spook I've EVER seen him do (it was hilarious). Then he spooked at the mounting block, which had been moved to a new spot (horses???) and I finally got him in to the barn. Last of all is Emily's new gelding and despite one rather large spook when we first started up the hill, the more I talked to him and patted his neck, the more he relaxed, he too, spooked at the mounting block, but I finally got everyone in, safe and sound.

To be clear, hot horses on the ground don't worry me, I know these guys really well, but it was a perfect storm for something bad to happen yesterday. I am rarely fearful handling a single horse and we can generally bring them up in pairs, but it wasn't worth the risk at all. For the first time in a really long time I was actually worried one might get away from me.

I am a true believer in the theory that it's better to be safe than sorry and even though I didn't want to make a million trips up and down to their field, I knew that bringing them in (selectively -- as some handle being alone better than others) one at a time was the best course of action. I was at the barn alone and safety always comes before anything else. I feel bad for my friend who has to turn them out today in 19 degrees (with the same wind)!! Hold on tight!

How do you guys handle situations like this? Do you take risks, or err on the side of safety?

In the footfalls of legends

Yesterday I moved Riley to a new farm. I'm sure if you've been following my blog for any period of time you're thinking... again? Yes, again. Our current place was only a temporary solution until we could find a barn to rent again. Despite being in one of the most horse-centric areas of the country we had a very difficult time trying to find a place. People flaked out at the last minute, didn't follow through with their promises and some places were just unfit for horses. While the amenities at the current place were great for the price (xc jumps, arena with super footing, hacking, etc) the circus atmosphere was a lot to deal with. That, and it just wasn't convenient for boarding a horse. We had to keep our stuff so far away from our horses that every time we wanted to tack up it became an ordeal, schlepping stuff all over to wherever our horse was cross-tied. That, and despite there being about 30 horses on the property, there were only two places to tack up and we had no access to a stall even if we needed one! We came across a fantastic opportunity that truly felt too good to be true. So the three of us (the two girls who rented the previous barn and I) decided to all go see this place together, meet the new owner and make a decision. It was a unanimous YES on all accounts...

What I didn't know, was that the farm was iconic. I'm not sure how long ago exactly, but the very famous Derry Meeting Farm came up for sale (if you don't feel like going to the link, Danzig and Storm Cat were both foaled there at the farm!!!). It was split into three separate parcels and each one was sold to a different owner. Erin Sylvester has one, I'm not sure who has the other, and we have the third (by we, I mean of course that a couple purchased the property and we are renting the barn)! So we drive up to the property and I immediately recognize the gates in all the fields. They are quite distinctively yellow with a large "V" shape in the middle. The barn is a modest bank barn in really good repair. It's unclear how long it was vacant for, but it was pretty cobwebby when we first looked at the place. This particular property was the broodmare farm, which would explain the gigantic stalls and sheds.

Inside of the barn, looking out the driveway. Riley's stall is the second on the left in this photo.

Despite being a little dusty, the place looked great. We were all a little wide-eyed looking around. It was just what we were looking for, 11 stalls, LOADS of turnout, sheds, access to the best hacking around and quiet. The woman that owns the property has a horse that she keeps in the area and ideally wanted to find a few people to run the barn and eventually she would like to move her horse over too. She's putting in a ring (hopefully in the next month, the contract has been signed -- we're just waiting for the company to finish up Erin's). She was pretty adamant about not wanting a boarding facility, nor does she want any real role in the barn operation, so she was just as thrilled to meet us. We were excited to know that she had a good friend who also wanted to move her horse there and we decided that the barn would be run as a co-op. We all really like the idea of shared responsibilities and a small co-op can be really effective if it's run correctly.

One of the "riding" fields. This is the view from the overhang on the side of the barn with dutch doors, looking out to Riley's turnout field. There's a large pond and a natural stream running through the whole property.

The stalls in the barn are HUGE. I think the smallest is 14' x 18'. Riley's is roughly 15' x 15' with a dutch door looking out over the property. The trickiest thing so far has been leveling the stall floors. They are clay based and were quite lumpy when we first looked at the place. We dragged out a bunch of family members yielding pick axes last weekend and tried to break up some of the old hay, pee, poop that was now like concrete. I worked on painting the newly made saddle racks and Breaking up the surface of the stall. It seriously looked like he took a jack-hammer to it. He wasn't removing any of it as he went along so I had to shovel it out in stages. The floor is looking quite a bit better, but we'll still need some sort of gravel or stone dust to level it out further and mats (down the road). I have a little more work to do on Sunday and then it will be good enough to bring him in at night until we get the other stuff sorted out. It's not a good long term solution, since cleaning stalls with dirt floors increases your costs of straw etc, but... baby steps.

So the barn was in almost ready state when we moved everyone in yesterday. You know, for someone who has only had a horse for 6 months I have certainly acquired SO much horse crap. We filled up the back of our Honda Fit, which holds a remarkable amount of cargo and I still had to put stuff in the trailer. I dragged a very reluctant Riley out of his field (ps. His Baker sheet is mostly intact) and threw him on the trailer. He was happy enough to oblige and chomp on hay. As we were loading the boys the two dog kennels surrounding the jump field were deafeningly loud. They were all hysterically barking and it made me feel so happy that we don't have to deal with that anymore (*I will miss the puppies). The new place is only 10 minutes away and the boys unloaded well. We stuck them in a small paddock together to take everything in and Riley put his head down into knee deep grass to graze.

I finished up organizing my stuff into my trunk... I bought one of these for in front of my stall -- seriously... a tack trunk for $68. It fits my saddle (though, I'm not keeping it in there) and 90% of my stuff. It even has a pull out tray that looks like a mini grooming box (I'm planning on keeping medical supplies in it). Eventually, I'd like to have a really tack trunk, but this is completely functional, has wheels, a handle and it locks!

Around 5 I took Riley down the road to his new turnout field which is roughly 20 acres. There's a catch pen at the bottom of it, which is great, as it was previously used for sorting cattle. He's going to be turned out daily with 3 other geldings and about 20 sheep! 

A photo from the real estate listing of one of the sheds. They are GIGANTIC.

I walked Riley up the hill so he could take everything in (Oh, I should mention he walked down the road landing heel-first and sound to his field, progress!) and un-clipped him at the shed and he wandered around with his turnout buddy. No shenanigans, no galloping, just two very happy horses. Phew.

View from Riley's field looking back to the barn (future xc course to be built in the field to the right of the barn in this photo). Not too shabby?

I'll try to take some better pictures this weekend. All of these fields have wide hacking lanes in between them as well as along the perimeter of each field. It could take you an hour to hack around the whole place (at least). While I'm eager for the ring to built, this is a perfect scenario for Riley's winter plan. Hacking, good footing, and lots of turnout with 12 hours of stall time a day to rest. I think we're going to like it here (and the plan is to stay for a very, very long time!) For reference, this parcel of land is located between Phillip Dutton's and Boyd's place!

I won't be out until Sunday, but I'm hoping to get lots done and still have time to saddle him up and go for a hack. Stay tuned!

*If I was ever in a position to take on another project horse, this place would be perfect.
**I'm not.
***Keep me away from CANTER MidAtlantic... I just found another AP Indy grand-baby for a steal.

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

Looking on the bright side

Riley is officially barefoot until further notice. After a frank conversation with my farrier he said, "if he was my horse this is what my plan of action would be" and we followed it. He came out, scolded Riley for pulling another shoe, was not devastated by the damage he did removing said shoe, and trimmed him all around. He did remark on what fantastic back feet he has. So that's something... which brings me to focus of this post. Looking on the bright side.

I am generally an optimistic individual. I have been known to cheer lead for those around me during hard times, I am excellent at seeking out silver linings and clinging to them as a source of hope when everything seems bleak. I've had a significant amount of diversity in my life and it's this characteristic that has helped me persevere. However, I am not immune to feeling sorry for myself and I definitely get the-whole-world-is-working-against-me-why-can't-I-get-a-break kind of feeling. Especially regarding Riley.

He's my first horse. I've waited 30 years (I took my first lesson when I was 4) to finally have a horse of my own and he's been more or less un-rideable since May. I didn't want to look at my Google calendar to confirm this, but I did yesterday and discovered that I've sat on him maybe 12 times since his PPE. The calendar is checkered with "lame", "almost sound", "NQR", "pulled shoe" notes. We've hardly made any progress due to all of these starts and stops and it's hard to see those around me (near and far) out having a great time on their horses who seemingly never have these issues! I know that 90% of this is out of my control, but it still makes me feel like a less than adequate horse owner. I question myself daily if I am actually doing everything I can to make sure that he'll improve.

Monday, when the farrier was there and my horse stood like a complete angel dozing off in the cross ties, I had a moment of self-awareness. I've been tunnel-visioned regarding his soundness and hoof issues which has blurred my thinking about him. I was so focused on not being able to ride and how my life wasn't fair and I forgot about all of the good things about him (not completely, they just weren't in the forefront of my mind). So with that in mind, I wanted to make a list of positive things about my horse, after all horse ownership is a lot more than just riding.

Riley's positive qualities:
*he's cute
*despite not being in steady work, he paints a nice picture conformationally
*he has terrific hind feet (hey, 2 out of 4 ain't bad!)
*he's a kind horse
*he's not spooky (he's no dead head either)
*he's a good role model (seriously, put a naughty horse out in the pasture with him)
*he's a good sport (if you're going to be my horse you have to be willing for me to do a lot of stupid things around you)
*he's a nice mover
*he's game (he's never said NO to anything I've asked of him -- okay, maybe the right lead canter)
*he's a great helper for young/green horses (ie, he doesn't get worked up when other horses are losing their minds)
*he loads like a champ
*he comes to me when I call him (I love this)
*he settles quickly
*he is friends with everyone (even though he gets a little beat up in the pasture)
*he loves going to new places
*he's tolerant (he's only ever thought about being naughty)
*he's easy to handle 98% of the time
*he's uncomplicated to ride
*he's willing (I've always said the most important quality about a horse is that they meet you half way)
*he's young (our journey has only just begun)

chowing down on his bute mix

**I'm sure there are more things I could add here, but I'm not sure a list of all the reasons my pony is the best make for good reading. I guess I've just been feeling really low about all of this lately. I've been hiding it a little, but honestly when he pulled that RF shoe on our gorgeous ride the other day I wanted to burst into tears. I felt so utterly defeated and no amount of talking me off the ledge was going to change that. But, after a day or so to reflect, I decided that I have to be proactive about his hoof health and start to look for positive things instead of feeling sorry for myself (which to be honest, is not a good look for me). I gave up all authority to my farrier who I trust implicitly and together we decided that barefoot was going to be the best thing as long as we could a.) keep him comfortable and b.) keep him in work (not necessarily for my agenda, but to keep circulation and to stimulate hoof growth) -- he simply said the hoof he will have 6 months ago will look and feel so different that it will be worth watching him gimp around for a little bit. He liked the idea of using boots (he has another sport horse client that swears by Cavallo boots) so I don't just have to stick to arena footing for work. I picked up some over the weekend (they were too big so I exchanged them) and he fitted them on Monday to make sure they fit perfect (and they did!). We'll start slowly as the boots take a little while to break in, so we'll keep the sessions around 20 minutes and I'll try to mix up the work. I think I'll do a little on the lunge line at first to let him get his bearings with the new footwear and then we'll start hacking around the property at the walk and build up from there. My short term hope is to get him comfortable enough without shoes before the ground hardens for winter.

A few comparison photos:

Fronts (I know, terrible comparison photos -- I'll get better ones) The top image is post-trim after he had his shoes pulled on July 7th. The bottom photo is pre-trim September 16th. Not tons of change here, but at least he doesn't have saucepans for feet anymore, slightly less flare to be seen, but I'll have to get better photos to truly decide that.

I see a lot of change here. Same order for photos as above. The angles of his hoof wall are much different and his heels are starting to look less contracted. It's crazy to think that he was standing so much on his heels before! The one this he has going for him is that he grows a good hoof wall! P's theory is to continue to bring back the toe, but obviously he has to go as slowly as the hoof tells him. I think they look much improved after just 2.5 months.

You know, the craziest thing about hoof problems is being patient. The progress and change comes so slightly and in such incremental amounts that you can make yourself crazy looking for it. I'm hoping that his soles will improve and I'm happy to hear suggestions for products that you guys like! We're using double strength Farrier's Formula and Venice Turpentine already.