The Driving Rein (or Dumbo's Magic Feather)

The photos from Milner (and insta) showed me consistently using a Driving Rein in my classes. 

Driving Rein (and a cute gray boy)

I had previously convinced myself that no one notices... but uhhh I guess that's not true :)

So, since everyone gets super-duper-bonus points for noticing my weird rein hold - I figure it deserves some explanation (as I understand it).

Use of a Driving Rein is something that I've done on and off over the years.

Up to this point, I had only ever used it in clinics and with a couple of my dressage trainers when I was (much) younger.  Bernie Traurig is known for having a major fondness for a Driving Rein, and even noted that with some young horses he would ride that way for a year to establish honest, true contact.

As a tool in clinics I've always seen it applied to discourage those of us who like to brace our hands or break our wrists (I'm guilty of both).

By bringing the rein in over the top of the hand, the only way to increase pressure on the rerun is to pull straight back with your shoulder and elbow. 

With a traditional grip (entering between the pinky and ring finger) a naughty rider can increase pressure by playing with their fingers (gasp) or bending their wrists (double gasp). 

You also have the option of bracing your hand down toward the wither (with a locked elbow) to give yourself some leverage against a heavy horse, or perhaps if trying to contain a bolting maniac (who would do that I wonder????).

My last couple of horses have given me reason to guard against sudden desires to bolt/spin/whatever - and that defensive mindset often leads me to stiffen my arm and brace in my hands - even when there is no bolt or misbehavior in sight.

The problem with this particular habit on a horse that doesn't bolt forward is that when I try to maintain a steady contact, I end up holding too much, not following the mouth and bottling a certain pretty Gray pony up in the corners (or in the last stride to a fence).

So, by flipping the rein and forcing my elbow to unlock, I keep a softer feel of the mouth and am forced to rely on straightening from my leg as well as pushing more sincerely to my half halts.

It's not a bad thing.

However, it can make the line on a crest release a bit silly...

For those of you who are trying to figure out how in the hell such a small adjustment can change how well you follow with your elbow or shoulder.. I encourage you to have a little National Velvet moment and find some baling twine, or ribbon or an extension cord to loop around your feet and hold like reins.

( I just spent a REALLY long time trying to find a picture or clip from that scene of the movie and am somewhat shocked I can't find one... am I the only one who remembers that?)

Anyway,

Hold the reins normally, and give yourself some contact.  Pretend you are trying to soften then mouth and see how much wiggling and breaking your wrists can do.

Then flip the reins, so they enter your hand between your thumb and forefinger, do the same thing and notice how all the movement has to come form the elbow. 

Ideally try this on an actual horse... but you know... most people aren't reading blogs while they are riding (are they?).

The Driving Rein also naturally lifts my contact a bit and helps me carry a higher line of contact/balance.  I might be overdoing this now - as there were a few moments in Canada where my hands were getting precariously close to my chin - but for now that's better than my preferred alternative of burying my hands and creating a stiff connection.

artificially raising the balance a bit... but..... I'll take it

So for now it's a helpful tool for me to break bad, defensive habits.  Already my softer elbow is translating to my traditional rein hold, but if I get in trouble I revert to bracing, so I'm still being required to use a Driving hold in the ring.  old habits die hard, but hopefully I'm on a path to improvement...

It's also making it easier for me to separate my hands if I need to offer some help landing a lead.  I don't know why it's easier than with a traditional rein - but maybe because my shoulder is already soft, I am more likely to utilize my hands separately in the air.

staying low, with contact on the right, releasing forward on the left

So, while it probably isn't a tool for everyone - there is a method to this particular madness for me - and it's likely to stick around for a little while until my panic buttons change a bit.

Training & Timing - when to make a change

For about a month (maybe a bit longer?) we've had Windsor working in a German Martingale that has been set to the loosest ring.

The original reasoning was that while he is *very* light in the bridle, he went from soft soft soft to grabbing the bit and having zero mouth in about .2 seconds. 

This was especially true in the lines - where we also weren't exactly eating up the ground (recall in Germany he was almost always on an add stride.. and they were baffled when we said that wouldn't fly in the US..)

Anyway, in an attempt to get him a bit softer, have some communication we fiddled around.

More bit just backed him off and made him super empty in the bridle - so that wasn't a great solution... but the German Martingale (not sure why I keep capitalizing that) had just enough added leverage to get some softness when we wanted it, but then be mostly neutral  when we didn't.

Anyway, so all the while, progress has been made both on getting up the lines, and holding leads, which was great.  One consistent point that we weren't really making progress on was getting Winds to really reach for the bridle.  There is also something weird about how he carries himself, so that when you are on him you think "wow gosh, he's so open and stretched through his topline! this is great"

But from the ground he's still at, or just behind the vertical.  I have literally never ridden a horse where the perceived carriage, and what you feel in your hand is so different from the ground. 

it's sneaky.

heart melt.

So last week, I had been thinking that perhaps the "weight" of the martingale was enough that Winds didn't really want to reach forward, so we took it off. 

And, whaddya know.  He happily stretched his frame a bit more, poked his nose to (or just in front of) the vertical and raised his whole balance a smidge. 

Over fences it was a different horse.

(he was also a bit... excited for the fences that day, but still... different horse)

We didn't drill him much, but every.single.fence. was good.  And he held every lead. And never landed cross once.

So. the German Martingale had gone from being a useful tool - to being inhibitive.

Which sparked a philosophical discussion in the barn as to how you identify that change as soon as possible. 

Obviously it was never my intent to keep him in the GM forever, but when do you assume the gimmick, (or whatever) has done it's job and is no longer needed?

On a horse like Windsor (who wasn't in need of brakes, or any restriction from a safety standpoint) perhaps we could have taken it off once a week.  But we didn't.  mostly because it didn't feel like it was restricting progress..

But it was.

Or rather - it was restricting information.  Because what a few rides without the martingale told us was that Winds was (much) happier and (much) more comfortable when he could pick his own balance and poke his nose a tad. 

When he was being bridled more, he wasn't able to adjust properly and was popping off leads and whatever else...

Vet thought that was a good indication that something was up in his neck (facepalm) so Friday we took a looksee and, sure enough - found some arthritis in a couple spots - most notably C3/4.

After the ensuing rage blackout of "WTF we x-rayed that and it was clean sweet jesus does it ever end" (answer: no. no it doesn't).

I came around to (finally) understanding that the x-rays don't really show any degeneration on the transverse process, so we had to ultrasound (ugh) in order to see the inflammation that indicates it.

FACE PALM.

Anyway, so buddy boy got another couple injections (on the left side only) - and the more I thought about it, discomfort in his neck makes a lot of sense.

It explains his stiff direction

It explains why he wants to grab the bit and stiffen his neck in the lines

It explains why his RH is a bit tricky to gather up

It explains the rough landings/lead popping

It EXPLAINS ALL THE THINGS. 

So, from that perspective I guess I'm grateful that we had something straight forward to address that (hopefully) will benefit all of the things we have been chipping away at. 

I should have also taken a picture when he was under sedation because when he is totally relaxed his neck is SCREWED UP.  the muscling is so uneven from left to right it's absurd I couldn't see it before (or while I'm riding and staring at his little neck..). 

But - again, super consistent with the info from the gal who does bodywork said.  tightness indicating discomfort on his left side... tight nuchal ligament, tight pecs and left shoulder...

So I'm left with the residual guilt for a) schooling the tar out of him on some of these things (in which he just smiles and says "ok mom.  I'll try harder") that he really couldn't do anything about.

And also the residual guilt for not pulling the martingale sooner and starting this process more swiftly.

So.  I'll pose the question again - how stagnant is your setup? When's the last time you changed bits/boots/saddles/anything.  Is there anything in your regular tack you assume you still need but might not?

I'll hack him lightly tomorrow to see where we are, then I'm out of town and Trainer takes over for the week, but hopefully I'll squeak in a ride or two next week before he ships to Cali that weekend!

Big Sloppy Show Fail

So remember the other day when I was all "Ohhh boo hoo I won all the prizes but they don't really mean a thing"  and you guys were all like "SHUT UP JUST GETTING TO THE RING IS A SUCCESS."

Well, yeah.  As usual you are right and getting to the ring would have been a big giant success.  Technically I suppose we got to the ring, we just didn't totally get around the opening circle. 

(sigh).

In case you're all, "wait what? that doesn't sound like the big, glossy pretty Prairie we know.."

Well, it's not.  Her "Seattle is cold take me back to California" self has decided to REGROW a winter coat and that is literally the least of our issues.

First off - EARS. MY GOD.  Secondly, this is the most successful we were all day.  We won the blue ribbon for standing in our stall.

First off, it's cold.  Cold and rainy. There was hail at the show grounds yesterday for schooling which I've been told made life rather interesting for some of the green beans.  The downpours left the outdoor ring a tad sloppy, but not bad.  Though it OBLITERATED the lunging areas and also the back ring that doesn't really get used for this show, but we like to use as Prair's super secret not busy warm up area. 

So problem 1 - Prair doesn't like slippery ground.  It's fair.  Neither do it.  If I did I'd be good at ice skating and off dealing with the weird subjective judging and questionable rhinestones in that that expensive sport instead of the weird subjective judging and questionable use of rhinestones in this one. 

Given the temps dropped 20 degrees a lunge seemed prudent, but Prair freaked out, objected and fell before we could acquiesce to her request that she not-get-lunged. 

Great.  So now instead of just a fresh horse, there's a fresh (covered in mud) freaked out horse.  I'd say things were pretty much headed in the wrong direction right from the get go. 

When we did finally warm up, Prair immediately freaked out over the traffic in the warm up, but when we redirected to her quiet back ring, I knew we were screwed the minute my boot sank 6" in the super slick MUCK that was being passed off as footing.  (for the record that is not footing, it's a fraternity house mud wrestling pit, ask me how I know).

Prair (obviously) didn't quiet down in the slippery slop and we obviously couldn't jump her, so we gave up on warming up and just took her to the ring with the idea that if she was good, N would take her around, if she wasn't, we'd pull up and scratch.

So I pose a question to you all, can you even call it pulling up if you never get going? 

Cause whatever that's called - that's what we did.

Prair was a loon, and at that point I don't think there's much to be gained by asking her not freak out when she was already completely freaked out. 

So we scratched all the over fences meaning to come back for the flat (to at least school the ring), but then we missed the flat (why start on a positive streak now?) and that was the end of our day.

But that's horse showing right? Some days they just say no and it's up to us how to best deal with that.

In an attempt to get something interesting out of the day I went to put Prair's Ice Vibes on, but one of the "vibes" is busted and won't hold a charge.  So she just got iced... no vibe.  More fail.

Time for wine (don't judge) and a good night of sleep for both of us.

Tomorrow is another day.  Perhaps we will be redeemed.  At this point I'm just hoping she didn't do something stupid when she fell like break her pelvis, or knock her brain out of her head.

MARES. 

Spring Inaugural - Amateur Days

In sprite of my insipid mood and fury over the inevitable frustrations of showing in a subjective sport, the show rolled on.  

Friday all of the Equitation Divisions ran, leaving Sat and Sun for the Hunters and Derby.

I skipped the show on Friday, thinking that a) I don't actually need to drive to/from the fairgrounds (45 min) every day to sit like a hormonal bump on a log and throw tantrums about judging, and b) Since it was Half-Lease-Lady's first day of showing with Prair I thought she might appreciate said hormonal-bump-on-log not hovering directly over her the entire time.  

I know if I was leasing a horse I wouldn't want a hovering owner adding to my first day show jitters.  

So I spent the day actually working and then formalizing the whole Nursery Plan for our house (we don't actually have a good room for a nursery, as our second bedroom is two flights of stairs removed from ours.  My charming father made a suggestion that we utilize the elevator as a nursery ((which we do actually have, since we anticipated that my grandmother would be living in the house..)), since he thinks it would just be neat-o to send the crib (and baby) to whatever floor of the house you were on.... )  Instead, I made the executive decision that we will be constructing a wall to enclose an alcove/corner thing that was a sort of home office area but could easily be a baby-space, and unlike the elevator, has windows. But I digress...

The report from the show grounds Friday was ambiguous at best.  I looked at results online in the evening and saw that Prair and HLL won the Eq on the flat (yay!) but showed no placings for the rounds over fences.. curious since there were like 8 in the division and everyone should (presumably) get a ribbon.  

When I finally got the full story, it sounded like Prair was a very anxious horse in the indoor, and there was an alignment of all things bad that resulted in a moderate crash during the first round of the Adult 3' Eq.  

They scratched the second round, headed outside and started just adding Low Hunter rounds to get in the ring and build up height.  they literally went in the 18", 2'3', 2'6" and 2'9" rounds and by the end both HLL and Prair were back on task and locked in.  They either won or placed second in all those classes, so I think the recovery was swift.  

Later that evening they returned to the indoor for a cool Equitation Challenge thingy.  They placed 2nd in their age bracket which moved them into the top 12 from all age divisions. Sounds like the judge just kept calling for things (lengthening of stride, counter canter, dropped stirrups, etc) and would pull you into the center of the ring when you screwed up.

Well, Prair had a fit about the indoor and wouldn't stop flipping her head, so they (sadly) got pulled first and then had the pleasure of standing in the middle of the indoor for 20 minutes while the class ran and Prair proceeded to wig out.  

Silver Lining?  A big, pretty NECK RIBBON for the effort.  

Pretty purple-ish for 12th place

Given the semi-disasters in the Indoor, everyone decided to change divisions and show the Low Adults at 2'9" outside for the weekend.   

That was a Good Decision.  

Everyone seemed happier and they totally kicked ass.  Over fences on Saturday they took a 1st and a 2nd, followed by a 1st Under Saddle.  Not a huge division (maybe 5 or 6?) but still some really nice horses, including one that we showed against down in Thermal and regularly beat us.  

Sunday they came right back with another 1st and 2nd over fences which claimed a Championship and saw our Barn-mate take reserve.  

Pretty Prair, her lovely Half Lease Lady, and their COOLER

This week it all happens again, except Pro Days start tomorrow at the crack of dawn.  Prair will have to face facts in the indoor and suck it up for the Large's and Pre-Greens again - hopefully we continue to see improvement!!

Good God

It's Wednesday?  I think?

I hope someone remembered to roll my trash cans to the street because lord knows I didn't...

The brain is fried.  It's dead, broken, twitching and otherwise dysfunctional.  Today it took me no less than twelve separate trips to my tack locker to collect everything I needed to ride

(note: usually it's trips top, first trip is groom box, helmet, gloves and saddle pad.  Second trip is saddle, horsey boots and treats for the pony.  Third trip is me changing into tall boots.  Prair's bridle and girth hang in the main office by our "tack stall")

Really it the extra trips were even more impressive when you consider that I don't even collect twelve things unless you count all boots and brushes separately... which was, in fact, part of my problem.

Anyway, that's a good indication of the week.  It also took me 2 hours to print 12 nametags because my printer broke, then I used the wrong Avery Template, then I just couldn't get the paper fed in correctly, etc. etc.

Time. For. Couch.

In other news, Prair has been a bit of a loon.  Not full lunatic, but just... difficult.  My arms and hands are officially aching from our ride, which I don't think is indicative of "relaxation."  Of course when we were both sweaty and tired and untacking she was all hugs and butter. 

This face sums it all up.

Gus is fine.  He is adorable and since he's growing a big, fuzzy, full bear suit he has that sweet smell of horse that super-groomed-show-ponies don't.

It's nice.

Weekend Clinic

My brain is in a bit of a fog - But whether that is due to long days hauling back and forth to a very exhausting clinic, or due to the fact that I just sprayed a majority of my house for fleas (gross and totally another issue altogether..) everything seems a bit jumbled. 

We had initially signed up for a two day clinic with our favorite outside trainer at a facility that was about 15 minutes from our barn.  I figured it'd be a great opportunity for some extra butt kicking without all the rigmarole of hauling all the way to her facility which is just over an hour away.

Best laid plans and all (wow, do I say that too much?) of course it was forecasted to be the rainiest weekend in Seattle ever and the clinic location only had an outdoor.  Ergo, we relocated to the trainer's home facility which has a gorgeous indoor, but would come with a big commute, in the rain that we were trying to avoid riding in.

The rain was truly hideous and had me at a crawl with the rig.  I think we averaged about 40mph the whole way which turned an already long drive into a painfully long drive, but oh well.  And of course there was no overnight stabling available so we'd be commuting both days (wah).

Prair even tolerated a bath to get all pretty for her outing and modeled her new cooler

She also made faces and demanded cookies

Logistics aside though, it was a very educational weekend.  Prair showed up to work both days and made it possible to really work on some detail stuff as opposed to spending $$ to get instruction on how to calm your dragon-mare-wolf down while the hellish rains drown out any other sound and your ears start to bleed from the dull noise...

We spent a majority of the time working on mobilizing the shoulder, relaxing our lateral work and trying to get Prairie to carry that relaxation into her work over fences. 

Almost immediately my spurs were taken away and my stirrups were raised which left me in a state of perched horror as I tried to figure out what muscles would stabilize my body and position without just death clamping knees. 

The phrase of the day for me was to "whisper" my aids and try to do everything as quietly as possible and still (barely) get a response.  This meant trying to execute out turns on the forehand (and haunch) in slow motion and not letting Prair go "oh I know this!!!" and then proceed to whip herself around. 

This was easier said than done, but exposed an important hole in our communication which is that I ask for something and Prairie goes "EEEEEEEEEeeeee, don't hit me don't hit me don't hit me, watch how fast I can get through this... eeeeEEEEEEE." 

This showed up early in our career together in her canter departs, leg yields and rein back.  Reared (not literally) it's head when we started over fences and Prair would RUSH through them.  And most recently is obvious in the tension she sometimes shows during her flying changes and in between fences of a line.  (especially In and Outs).

The idea being if I can quietly converse with Prair about where her body is and have her respond thoughtfully and without anxiety, then maybe I can start t take that level of communication into the things that Prair just blacks out and rushes through.

The next tool that we used (and I really liked) was the concept of focusing more on lateral flexion (bend) than on vertical flexion (in terms of collection) to soften the mare.  I'm not sure this "fits" on a traditional training progression but it was very effective for us.

I tend to try to constantly soften Prair by collecting her up and working her mouth to keep her from getting tense.  Of course, my own issues get in the way and I end up pick, pick, picking her to death instead of pushing her together and then softening. 

Also, I let the pick, pick, picking turn into a less and less powerful canter and after a while we're barely loping around with zero gas in the tank. 

SO - this idea of lateral flexion over "vertical" was interesting.  Instead of trying to compress her and "tip" her back on her butt - I focused on creating some bend through her neck, or even asking for some haunch in to get her to unlock and transfer her balance. 

Something about the "lateral" ask doesn't trigger my obsession to keep asking for more, more, more... So I was able to ask... and soften.  Ask... and soften.  And wouldn't you know it - the mare felt like butter.  She was patting the ground, slow to take off, soft when she landed and I felt like I could just loop her around however I wanted - no stress or strain attached.

When we put these tools together over some smaller courses I kept having to remind myself not to override the fence (not totally dissimilar to the placing pole-two strides-MONSTER JUMP exercise from last week) and when I did stay soft and not worry about landing our lead and not worry about my distance... we had lovely rides.  When I started working too hard, things deteriorated a bit.  Not exactly shocking, but very obvious. 

We came home exhausted, but no worse for the wear.  I definitely have a few lightbulbs to plug into our regular rides and some new muscles to work on in order to stabilize and support Prair the way I should...

All in all a good weekend!

Moral Victories

I've settled on classifying the schooling show as a moral victory.  For a number of reasons, but the primary one is that this show came just a few weeks off my "one year anniversary" with the Big Mare.

Technically, I bought Prair in December of 2011, but I didn't really have the opportunity to work with her regularly until we brought her home in April of 2012.  So this little schooling show is a nice milestone in what we've accomplished together over the course of a year together.

Prair and I also had our first (baby) show together in June of 2012, so we're not far off that year mark either.  All in all, I cannot believe how different an experience Sunday was for us.

Things that happened Sunday that make me feel like we're actually making progress:

1) Prairie walked on the trailer without pause, then proceeded to stand on the trailer for over an hour munching hay while I got organized for the day.

Bringing Prair home in 2012

It took about 15 minutes to get Prair loaded when we brought her home, and usually takes exactly 2 minutes to get her loaded now.  She isn't demonstrative, but she likes to pause on the ramp and sniff around before walking all the way on.  Also, once she's loaded, she's typically worried enough to ignore treats when offered.  She doesn't sweat or freak out, she is just.... distracted.  Having her walk straight on and stand happily is a nice progression.

2) NO SPOOKS at the show.

I should probably highlight this statement, animate it, bold it, whatever because it's huuuuuuuge.  When Prair first came home we regularly scooted across the outdoor, spooked inside, and came unglued in new environments. In fact I had plenty of rides where I convinced myself I would just walk and trot because I wanted to focus on my trot.  In point of fact this was just an excuse since the canter caused me severe anxiety and I avoided it unless the stars aligned or S made me.  I have never had anxiety about the canter in general so I think it developed by association since all of our scoots happened going into the canter or once we were cantering.  Ergo, I avoided.  Good ol' fashion coping mechanism.

So to have a full day of showing complete with umbrellas, ponchos, grandstands, and ponies going a million miles per hour without a full spook totally impresses me.  Sure, she was amped up in a (very) crowded warmup ring, but she kept her feet in the right place and never bolted, inverted or freaked out.  Prairie did give the "grandstand" a hairy eyeball a few times, but she actively worked and controlled herself both in warmup and big arenas.

You may recall at our first few Dressage schooling shows (at the same facility) we we a little less than.... contained/controlled/calm during our canter work and even excused ourselves from a test.

Sunday I was able to canter around the same arena with a loop in my rein. 

impersonating a freight train last year in the same arena...

We will also be attending a show where this epic spook happened in June of 2012...

3) Flying Changes!!

We managed to get around all three courses on Sunday with only one simple change.  The lone simple change was a byproduct of her harder direction and some super sketchy looking spectators lurking in the shadows (Prair was concerned).  Without the hard look we might have gotten a clean(ish) change but with the look I opted to bring her back to the trot.

The rest of the changes were mediocre.  Some were very late, but we got them.  New feature.  Who would have guessed.

4) Long Spots

Sunday, I mentally committed to not choking Prairie back to a lope and chipping all of our distances.  In an attempt to be "defensive" and not allow the mare to get unbalanced/panicky, I have gotten very (very, very) comfortable with a slow, underpowered, "manageable" canter (read: lope).

The result is that I am constantly holding her back to add extra strides (and then one more for good measure) which also means my giant 17h huge strided horse adds one (or two) in every line.  Aside from feeling like a nitwit when a 15h QH makes the strides and we don't, it's not correct or a good foundation to take all the RPM's out of Prair's engine.

So Sunday I decided no more and we went for it (actually S decided NO MORE and told us to go for it).  To my surprise, Prair didn't take advantage of me being soft or allowing a larger step and we moved up without drama.  When in doubt, I chose the longer distance and we survived without incident.

During our first course I erred on the side of "bold" and while we made all our strides and "moved out" nicely, we apparently also looked like we were galloping around the course.  I would defend my round slightly in saying that unlike previous shows where Prair has dragged me around at a gallop, this time we proactively motored around "at a gallop" with her in front of my leg and a softer rein.  (WIN).

Remember this cute move? It was nowhere to be seen Sunday. (thank god).

5) Eq

I'm glad to say that I'm consistently moving up the ranks in my Eq on the flat (and over fences for that matter).

When I first got Prairie I felt like I brand new rider.  Her movement was so much bigger and her body so much longer than anything I had ridden, I felt like I was flopping around like a sack of sloppy slop every ride.  (The Boy describes this look as "getting ridden" by your horse).

Not only have I become a much more effective Prairie Pilot, but I think I look significantly less flop-sloppy than I used to.  I'm sitting up, sinking into my heel and actually showing up for the ride.

This was helpful on Sunday during our twenty minute equitation class.  I don't know if the judge was bored or really couldn't figure out how to pin the class but holy lord it went on forever.  I'm not kidding when I say we sat the trot for 5 minutes.  Not a terrible thing (though I did think a few ladies were going to fall off) but I could feel both Prairie and myself starting to lose gas.  We had waited to do our courses until the end of the division which meant that we literally went out the back gate and circled back to the in-gate for our flat classes without pause.  tired.  (note to self, workout a little).

Aside from the sitting-trot-set-from-hell, we were asked to do both simple and flying changes of lead, and lengthen our stride in the trot.  Obvi Prairie aced this, but the immediate call for a HALT during the lengthening was mean.

Then the judge called for a canter depart.  Which we squeaked out, but would have warranted an embarrassing score at a Dressage show.  All in all, I felt a little discombobulated, exhausted and like Prairie's frame was getting longer and lower by the second.

I was shocked when we won the class, but I guess it was a nice little affirmation.  At least we pinned well in something.  We managed a 3rd in our HUS, which usually I'd be pleased with, but I really didn't think anyone else in the ring could match Prair's movement/way of going.  S noted that I let Prairie's poll get a little low at times, but her nose was always poked out.  Do you know how hard it is for me to let her do that?? Another moral victory of sorts...

Over fences my Eq is leagues ahead of where we've been.  I was thrilled to pin in the middle of the pack for our (one) Eq over fences course which was pretty fun.  It had a nice (insanely tight) rollback and a few fences with super long approaches that I usually psych myself out on.  When we jumped through our last line during that course I was literally grinning.  Prairie was right there for me and I felt totally locked on.  My leg was wrapped around her, my ass was out of the tack and Prair was soft and uphill waiting for me to move her up or hold her back.  Bliss.

Of course there were lots of little things to work on from the show and plenty of room for improvement as suggested by our placing.  But as far as "personal bests" it has to rank high.  It's so obvious to me how much better of a rider I am this year than last - and even more pronounced how much more relaxed and confident Prairie is.  I dare say she seems to enjoy being a Hunter, even if she's not a very good one yet.

On the Horizon, it's a short week at home before we head right back to the same facility on Thursday for their one "big" rated show of the year.  It's still only a C but it's the "exhibitor's choice" C show for our zone.  That means the jumps are fun, prizes are good (COOLERS) and there a pony only division not to be missed.  Prair is slated for the Pre-Greens and a 3' classic/derby thing with S, and for Pre-Adults and a 2'6" classic/derby thing with me.  It should be a really fun weekend, especially if Prair remembers to pack her manners again....

Weekend Work

While some excess celebration of a friend's engagement left me a little worse for wear, the weekend brought a couple very productive rides for the big mare.

Friday I had a lesson late in the afternoon and as I mentioned, S had set a full course outside and we were going to school it (come hell or high water).  Which, actually came in the form of unrelenting rainstorms and an immensely soggy ring (high water).  The showers lightened to a polite mist by the time I was legging up so we braved the weather and headed outside.

Prairie was a tweedle-monster from the get go.  She was spooking at birds, at wind, at rain, at... whatever. 

Of course this tantrum ramped up just as the seriously heavy rain returned which meant that there was no escaping to the shelter of the indoor without first resolving Prairie's antics. I also simultaneously realized that my beloved raincoat is no longer waterproof.  Oh, and those nice big vents on my GPA are less than ideal in a monsoon situation (soggy head).

But the mare. 

The mare was doing her best impression of "freak out at everything on show day" but at home.  Aside from the rain I was moderately intrigued by the "opportunity" for me to stay on and attempt to work through this little episode without completely relying on S (who was also braving the rain outside with us).

So, on I stayed - and did my best to start diffusing the powder keg that I was riding.  Between pathetic whimpers that were meant to garner sympathy from S, I focused on keeping Prairie super busy and working hard and also not just clamping down on the reins in an attempt to contain her.

I stayed on a very small circle at the "safe" end of the arena doing small figure-eights, shoulders-in/haunches-out and transitions.  Keeping her busy kept her brain moderately focused and also really helped prevent me from tensing up and wrangling her into relaxation. 

Slowly S asked us to broaden our circle and creep toward the scary end as we worked.  I felt Prair "pop" a few times attempting to scoot but I caught her shoulder, set her straight and focused on immediately releasing.  It was nice to have S there to tell me to soften because she was yelling "SOFTEN!" about 10 strides before my brain would have considered it safe to actually soften.

The result however, was that I avoided a tug-o-war and I think that we prevented the mare from escalating further.  Eventually I worked a small crossrail into our ever-growing-circle and managed to get some nice circles at the trot and canter over it.  Then we worked a line going toward the scary end, and eventually continuing to canter through and past the scary-horse-eating-end of the arena.

About an hour later I had a mostly soft (if not totally relaxed) horse who was cantering full courses and getting her changes. 

I did keep her canter very tiny and we were adding two strides in ever related distance, but I think it's what we needed to stay in control and not scooting about like a drama llama.

By the end of the ride I was exhausted, but really proud that I was able to work through the tantrum and get to some nice, productive work. 

Saturday was a day off for everyone, but Sunday I headed out to watch S's ride.  In theory we were going to repeat the coursework outside, but the continuing monsoons pushed us inside for some low cavaletti/crossrail work.

Prair with S on Sunday

Prair was rad.  She was steady, balanced and responsive.  She went right to work and stayed focused for the whole ride.  It was really, really fun to watch.  I continue to marvel at how much I enjoy watching my horses work with other riders.  Growing up I never had anyone else on my horses and I couldn't quite figure out what the allure was of having other people ride/show your horse for you. 

But I totally get it now.  Not only do I still take pride in my horses when they are under someone else, I find it just as educational and entertaining to watch a work session with S up in the irons.  I also find shows just as nerve-wracking and stressful when I'm on the ground. 

It's weird.  But I enjoy it and its been a fun addition to my horsey experience.

This week I'm hoping the good trend continues.  I'm hauling out Wednesday for our offsite lesson and Sunday we have a fun little schooling show back at our favorite local park.  It will be a good one-day warm up for a super fun C show back at the same facility May 3rd-5th.

woo!

A New Plan for Pia

Last week I brought up the ongoing struggle to keep Pia happy, and I've been working hard with my support systems (this includes Supermom, friends, wine, vets and whiskey) for inspiration with regard of what to try next.

No one would claim that the move back to a traditional barn has been good for Pia.  She has some positive moments and seems to want to be a good girl, but her anxiety and stress just get the best of her (almost all of the time).

I pulled the trigger on the GastroGard and ordered a 28 day pack.  That was one of those moments where in my head I thought, "$30 isn't horrid.  That's not very expensive."  Then I did the math and thought that $1,000/month sounded a lot more horrid adn quite a bit more expensive. 

Just one more way my brain tricks me into spending money. $30 a day? how about $1.25 an hour? Now that's downright affordable...

Anyway,

The GastroGard is en route.  It should be here today, but it might still be buried in a snowdrift somewhere.

The other aspect of the plan - which was a much more difficult decision to make - is to move Pia away from my current barn.  The primary consideration is obviously her happiness/mental health, but a secondary consideration is that her bills are just way too high for a situation that doesn't work for her or me.

Turns out we have a fabulous option in a good long time friend - the very same who cared for and loved on Star at her facility for the last sixteen years.  I trust her knowledge and capabilities (obviously) and she even has a cute little mini-herdlette that Pia can run around with.

P did seem much happier out at Summer Camp - and I think a lot of that had to do with her socialization as well as the larger space to roam.  Hopefully this move with get her halfway back to that scenario at a fraction of the cost...

Anyway, I gave my 30 day notice for Pia over the weekend so there's no rush in moving her for a few weeks.  I also want to see firsthand what (if any) impact the GastroGard has on her so she won't be going anywhere until I can observe at least half of her dosing regiment.

I don't think I can permanently foist the mare on my friend, but it will be a good test scenario to see if a drastic change in environment is enough to alter her happy factor.  I'm excited to have a plan. And I'm also excited to relinquish some of the guilt in not being able to make it work where we are.  

Fingers Crossed.  

A seemingly much happier P-ster back at summer camp.

P stands for Patience

I've been on such a success high with P2 recently that I've been keeping one eye out for the totally-guaranteed-totally-humbling-horse-moment that is inevitably just around the corner. 

It has to be right? that's why we have horses and not robots? To keep us on our toes with obstacles be they physical or mental.. or totally ridiculous never seen before outbursts?

It's always something.

Nothing dramatic happened this weekend, but I got a healthy dose of humble pie with both girls that realistically brought me back into orbit with regard to expectations.

Prairie had a good schooling outing yesterday - but it lacked the "holy crap we're rockstars" feeling that I've been having so often with her.  In fact, I resisted the urge to smack her big giant beak several times.  She was a cow getting on the trailer, a cow tied to the trailer and a cow under saddle.  She was so braced during our jump school that I was bracing back and escalating our ride into a man vs. beast brace-off.  Which I can most assuredly say that Prairie won. 

My tension was encouraging her tension, which I responded to with more tension and by under-riding my fences.  In the span of 15 minutes we went from sorta-amped-up to a total disaster zone of trotting before each fence, me taking my leg off and pretty much slipping through every corner in an inverted ugly mess. 

Finally my frustration got the best of me and after running through a bending line like a standardbred I threw the reins, got off and gave her to S.

I still can't tell if that was a mature decision - to disengage, take a moment and regroup.

Or if I need to figure out how to do that without throwing the reins at my trainer.

I think the latter is preferable, but until I get there I'm pretty sure it was a good idea for me to get off for a minute and let S bring the mare back from outer space before I tried to work through a course again.

When I did get back on, it wasn't perfect, but I wasn't making things worse, either.  After a few minuets we ended with a nice soft course - and I gotta say, the last three fences were perfection.  Forward, soft, balanced, rhythmic, perfection.  

I'd like to say the struggle was worth those last three fences, but I'm not sure.  The last three fences were fabulously rewarding, but I hate, hate, hate fighting that hard for them. 

But Patience.  

Both in the ride, and in the bigger picture.  I need to regain my patience...

Those three fences gave me another glimpse into how incredibly unbeatable this horse is going to be in any ring when we are that relaxed.... But the ride in general reminded me how far away we are from that consistency. 

With regard to P1 - I got a second helping of humble pie.  The Vet was out Friday to check on everyone and do some bodywork and Pia was in rare form. Bucking, rearing, biting, having a fit in general...  Or rather, I'd like to say she was in rare form, but over the last month or so it's become more of the norm. 

And not a good norm.  I really respect my vet and she's been working with Pia through the entire Summer Camp adventure, so she knows this horse's ups and downs.  On Friday she was sugar coating a lot of observations but general conclusion was that having Pia back in a traditional barn isn't working out great.

Her body is doing well.  No signs of the pain or tension that existed back in 2011.. but the associated attitude and behavior is 100% out in full force. 

I'm not totally sure what this means.  My vet was calling into question what mental issues might be at hand and how fixable they may or may not be.  Physically Pia is looking great, her scratches are almost totally gone, her weight is good, fitness good, all of that checks out.  From a neurological perspective, I know this horse doesn't have Wobblers.  She's foot perfect in the arena and on the trail, and she's catty as all heck.  But with regard to aggression and unpredictability, she's escalating rapidly.

All last week she was heinous under saddle, but Saturday she was a peach.  Wednesday she was okay on the ground for me, but Friday she was kicking at my head and baring her teeth at everything. 

I'm just so saddened by the fact that P hasn't been able to transition back into the real world that I'm at a bit of a loss.  I'm coming to terms with the notion that she probably can't stay where she is, but I don't know where she will go.  Summer Camp might be a possibility - but only if she can go as a resident and not as a client.  We spent a ton of cash on that place and it's not a feasible retirement option.  Traditional retirement board might be an option but only if her demeanor steadily improves when she's there.  If she stays on the path she's on now I would be concerned about her safety and the safety of those around her. 

Anyway, it's early in the thought process.  I have definitely not really thought about permanent options for her since I've been so focused on giving her a chance where we are.  But I think it's time to evaluate options.  She's not enjoying her life, and certainly no one is enjoying working with her. 

Supermom raised the issue of potential ulcers which is something we are going to explore.  Her behavior is pretty consistent with the symptoms, but the follow-up question is what's causing them.. Her constant stress and anxiety? And if so, how do we resolve that?

Bah.  Lots of questions there.  I'm also trying to stay patient with Pia and allow a fair decision process.  On one hand I feel like I've been patient for the last (almost) 3 years.  On the other hand, I know that I tend to hit emotional walls and make wild decisions.  So far these decisions have been productive for Pia (and for me mentally), but we'll see. 

Oh Piasaur, you little enigma

2012 - The Year of the Mares.

2012 has been a wild ride.  Quite literally.  But it's been a pretty fun one, and I'm happy with where I'm at with both of the girls and what we've managed to check off our list this year.  Let's have a bit of a recap, shall we?

January

Admittedly, our wedding sorta ate up January (whoops).  But Prairie was still down at the barn I bought her at, and Pia was still at Summer Camp.
I trekked down to P2 a couple of times for some rides on my own, and even a few lessons before the wedding.

Pia was totally ignored, but totally furry and adorable for January.

February

February had a great visit to P1 where we rode in a cold sunshine on a mountain, took cool thermal images, saw her poor blown out abscess and saw where we still had work on her back to get her comfortable.

I nearly died from muscle soreness after a weekend of lessons with P2 wherein I learned how many more muscles it was going to take for me to stay attached to the saddle on that big girl and then we promptly flew off to Africa for our honeymoon.  Sorry ponies.

March

The girls were good.  P and I had fun at Summer Camp (still) and Prairie and I had more lessons.  I made arrangements to bring Prairie home in April which meant we needed a trailer.

So we found the deal of the century on a still new 2009 and brought it home.

Yummy

April

April was a huge month.  We brought Prairie home, bought a saddle, had sexy photos taken by Supermom, then took both the mares down to Oregon for some Mountain Trail fun and started to get a routine going... whew.

Supermom photos!

Both P's on a field trip

Pia rocking it

Hacking at home

May

May was fun. S and I took P2 and gelding to the park for a field trip.  P2 was reasonably brave and we managed to have a productive hack.  Good omens for a possible show season.
I got called out on using my inside rein (a lot) and my horrid, horrid wrists.  Both things I've always struggled with.

Prairie started playing with more ground pole exercises and S even ventured to see what she looked like in Hunter tack.  Pia went on night rides and found a new boyfriend.  I lost my totally inspiring grandmother and took off with the family to reconnect and relax.

field trip!

June

June started with another field trip for some schooling and trail rides.  Prairie had her biggest scoot ever and The Boy helpfully videoed all of it.  It was a good lesson in figuring out how much to trust the mare (at that point) and a great chance to practice our first dressage tests in a new location

Then we went to our first show where we rode Training 2 and Training 3.  We won our first (small) blue ribbon and managed to stay in the arena.  Something I wasn't totally sure we'd pull off.  Technically I excused myself from our second test, but that was a smart decision. 

I took Prairie over our first jump together and discovered a whole new world for us to explore.

I had some great rides on P out at Summer Camp and summer was off to a great start.

Oh yeah - and The Boy upped his Horse Husband skills which I decided to capture in a lovely pic of him from wine tasting... ;)

July

The fun continued.  Prairie and snagged a 10 at our second show together. Which might mean that we've peaked too soon. (whoops).

Prairie made it very clear that she preferred just rocket launching herself over fences, which would give us plenty of things to work on.

Supermom joined me for a trip to Summer Camp and P overcame her fears of llamas.

Also, Supermom got a killer shot of P out in front of the herd.  Pia finally has herself totally integrated into the group...

Finally I caved in and got Prairie her own Hunter Outfit and we went to a tiny little show where she dominated the groundpole and crossrail division.  Nothing like stealing ribbons from 5 year olds on ponies... (eeeesh)

Also, I finally took some trimming lessons from my vet and stumbled my way through my first trim on Prairie.  Thank god she has straight forward, solid hooves.

August

With Summer in full swing somehow I managed to ride both mares in one day, in spite of a 3 hour drive between the barns (extra daylight, what!)
Pia continued to be a star at Summer Camp and was cute as a button

Prairie and I had a... crappy show which resulted in a dismal 55% at FL1 but 62% on our first ride of FL2.  My comment said "brave riding" and at one point the judge actually shouted out to make sure I was ok.  I shouted back that I was. :)

I'm okaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy

We had more success over fences. The mare and I tackled a 3'9" vertical But S took her all the way to 4'.

Also, I had another great ride on Pia out at camp and made plans to bring her home (eventually).

September

September started out with an insane tack locker makeover to boost my spirits since the Big Mare was off.  We finally figured out that P2 was basically rein lame from holding herself funny to escape real work.

But we trudged on, and hit our first rated show as a pair which happened to be in Hunter Land.

Priarie settled in well and had some big successes, along with some very frustrating moments (mostly in warm up).  But for her first real show with a lot of atmosphere I was thrilled.

A few weeks later we spent a weekend at Summer Camp with both mares and had a blast.  Pia was a stud and hopped over cavaletti without any halter/bridle/whatever.  Prairie had a few lessons in manners and grew up a little.

Our final show of the year was canceled due to wildfires and I caved in and got a jump saddle for the first time since 1996.

October

October was a slow and easy month.  Pia played with gymnastics out at Camp. And Prairie played with Gymnastics at home.  My saddle (!!!) finally arrived, and I remembered what sitting in a balanced seat felt like.

Prairie and made strides with our collection and balance and then lost it all.  But we got it back with some tight, technical courses in the indoor.
We found one final show to go to and Prairie was a star.  Our changes are still not there, but she was calm, balanced and adjustable through our courses.  We had our first ever HUS class without a blue ribbon (sad), but it was a great outing (without any pictures).

Also we ventured to Brass Ring Farm for a lesson and had a blast.

November

Prairie and I ventured out for our first trail ride together which was an unexpected success.

Also, Pia came home and that was fabulous as well.  The mares are cute together.

we spent a couple weeks of weeks on the ground with the red mare before getting back in the saddle and she has been a happy, relaxed girl for all of it.

Well.  Most of it.  Both the mares were crazy and impossible for a few days which nearly had me convinced they should be released in the wild.  But they recovered and so did my affection for them. 
My wonderful old pony Star finally moved on to greener pastures and I cried about it.  A lot.

Finally, Prairie and I had another field trip for a lesson and it feels like I'm finally getting a partnership with this mare going.  Just in time for the holidays to throw a wrench in our routine...

our respectable canter

December

A scattered riding schedule has made everything a little less regular than I would like, but it's been a fun few weeks with the ladies.  Pia totally outshone Prairie when I tried to ride them in the rain (Priarie protested loudly) and I remembered that P1 really has grown up a lot in the last 18 months.  I experimented with a Pelham in Prairie's mouth and found it to be a great once-a-week tool to push our collection and balance.

The Boy totally spoiled me with a new truck that I can use anytime I want to take the girls on trips.  So I did.  We got a fun field trip back to Summer Camp where we worked on hooves and the girls had a brief ground work session

When the Gerbils Come to Play

ger·bil [jur-buh l] noun

any of the numerous small burrowing rodents of the genus Gerbillus that infest the brains of Equines and cause irrational, erratic, often obnoxious behavior while under saddle. 

Gerbils.  I often picture them running around like stink in Prairie's brain - smashing into walls, each other, and whatever else is in her head.  When they are sleeping and quiet, all is well.  But when they wake up and start bouncing off each other like ping pong balls, no good can come of it.

Supermom found this video and we're both certain that it looks something like this:



I mean. It has to.  That has to be what's happening when her eye rolls back and she runs away from... nothing.

Damn Gerbils.

In other news our field trip back to Summer Camp was fabulous.  More on that later.

Raising Your GPA (Good P Average)

This weekend I discovered a new measurement tool for how my day at the barn goes - my GPA. 

Now unlike High School and College where my GPA floated somewhere north of 3.7 without much effort, the new GPA (Good P Average) falls somewhat lower, even when considering a perfect score is a 2.0 (two P's... so two possible points).

If a mare is great and happy and a pleasure to work with, she gets her full point.  A good ride but tough? .75.  Kind of a twit? somewhere between .25 and .50.  And of course totally god awful would earn a mare a big fat 0.0 on the day (and possibly a for sale sign). 

Now I get that I'm adding their scores (not really averaging), but I never said it was a perfect system. 

Saturday Prairie was a good girl, but a tough ride.  We tried to do some figure eights over a cavaletti in the indoor, but Prairie was all tweedley and got so damn freaked out by the 8" pole that we had to make it a bit more remedial before we found success.  But she finished on a good note and earned a solid .60 for the day.  When she wasn't anxious though, Prairie was very balanced and engaged in her canter.  Considering that we were back in a snaffle I appreciated that effort and focus.

Pia was a star for S, but got a little exuberant and wanted to crow hop around a bit so she finished with a .75. 

Grand total for the day?  1.35. 

Sunday however I came home with a rather dismal 1.0 GPA.  The morning started out gorgeous and we had every intention of taking the girls for a trail ride.  But by the time I got to the barn the clouds blew in and it was pouring buckets.  Since lessons were filling up the indoor we still rode outside but the slop encouraged us to stay at home instead of risking worse weather on the trail and the inevitable mud. 

I put Prairie back in the pelham and planned to do a quick 20 minute school, almost like a show warmup.  Hop on, walk a bit, pop some transitions.  Shoulder in each way.  Short canter tour and done.  No need to work too hard when the rain is coming down sideways. 

Prairie however had other plans.  She was nervous, fidgety and explosive.  I think she was just distracted and excited at the cold air/rain and looking for excuses but it was not enjoyable.  I tried diffusing with some of our magical halt/slow rein back stuff but every halt rendering her snorty and pawing.  And our rein back was rushed and anxious, or totally ignored and replaced with small bunny hops/threats to rear.

Not. Okay.

Meanwhile Pia was the cutest little squirrel imaginable.  She was soft, but attentive.  Both her ears and lower lip were floppy the whole time and she was perfectly happy to walk and trot around in the rain splashing through all the puddles. (she's still being ridden in a rope halter with two reins to the nose)

I finally got so fed up/freaked out with Prairie that S and I swapped beasties.  She tried to walk Prairie calmly (emphasis on tried) while I finished on a happy note with Miss Pia. 

Prairie really cemented her 0.0 score when walking her out to pasture was more of a kite flying exercise than anything else.  Pia on the other hand was super soft and very obedient with her leading exercises even with her anticipation of rejoining Prairie out in pasture.  So Pia carried the team with a 1.0.

The Good (albeit soggy) Sister (at least on Sunday)