Blenheim Spring Classic II - Day One

Windsor's first day of showing (in the States) was a great one (for him) and a long one (for me).

I was up at the crack of dawn for an early flight down to California.  It was the time of day where I'm only up if I'm a) still dancing or b) doing something for a horse.  :)

The flight was quick, and although the rental car process was not - I still made it to the show in time for his classes.

horrified I forgot to bring treats

Having never shown here - I'm a big fan of the grounds.  Grass everywhere (read: no dust) and the footing is lovely.  Most of the grass we show on at home is pretty gosh darn hard, and so far I'd have to say the footing here is really well maintained here...  The grounds also seem rather spectator friendly with ample shade and seating and places to enjoy the show.  Bonus points for a big Dressage show going on as well so I'm sneaking in some time to watch the super fancy ponies do their super fancy things. 

The report from earlier in the week was that he had schooled wonderfully, but since the show rings are on grass - there was no opportunity to take him for a spin in them and see how he felt about grass (or caulks, etc..).

Because of that, we opted to drop him into the 3' so that we didn't feel badly about adding a second division for extra experience.  That meant that N would take him in a (giant) Low 3' division, and the 3' Pre Greens.

This was (for sure) a good call.  He was calm, and confident in the ring, but still a bit.... jumpery to the fences themselves.. 

He was definitely a bit confused about the job description and what all was going on in the giant grass field - so much so that he didn't even see the first fence, and ended up with a stop before he even got started... (Monkey-covering-its-face-emoji). 

But after that bobble, he got to work and he started to figure things out a bit.  He slowed himself on takeoff, relaxed in the huge turns, and started to enjoy the show.

He was able to do all four rounds nearly back to back, and really looked like a total pro at the back gate and on the grounds.  Nothing phased him.  Not the kids running around, not the flags flapping in the wind, not the water pouring off the tent roof, not the garbage trucks, or wild horses, or anything.

His brain is sound - he just needs some time on the job.

(iPhone video still)

If you follow us on insta (@cfantonelli) I'm doing a better job of frequent updates... but I will try to blog often enough that I don't forget the (fun) details.

I managed two iPhone videos on the first day- his second round in the Lows, and his first Pre-Green round.

The Low Class:



His Pre-Green:


The Low division had almost 80 horses in each round, and even though they split it into two sections, we missed the ribbons (though clearly the round with a stop was a throw away..).  However, He managed a 3rd and an 8th in a pretty lovely Pre-Green Division of 14. 

I was (OBVIOUSLY) thrilled to have some satin to commemorate his first foray into Hunter Land and promptly took all the pictures and hung them proudly on the tack room wall.

We ended the day with smiles all around, excitement about what's to come and a slight sunburn on my forehead because I am not an adult and cannot keep my face covered...

He's a KEEPER!!!

T-minus NOW

Oops, it's showtime!

I've been beyond negligent in reporting on show prep.  But mostly it's looked something like this:

Good ride, good ride, good ride, GREAT RIDE!
(new saddle)
Good ride, horrid ride, good ride, SHOW!

The best at tiny jumps

Winds is officially in California and has schooled twice.  My reports are that he has been "perfect" and is jumping "great", only landing on a cross lead a couple of times.  (yay!).

Almost all of the show is on grass, which is pretty for pictures and feels tres fancy - but all the schooling is on sand and the show rings are closed for any prep work. 

From a competitive standpoint - I like it. I hate that Hunters get to school all-the-things before showing, but now that I'm staring at a new horse who's never seen a real Hunter Fence before - I'm wishing for the luxury of not only schooling the ring, but the jumps, an everything in-between.

So we still haven't ridden on grass, but in an attempt to increase experience without jumping the pants off of him, we dropped him down to 3' so he can do both an Open division and the Pre-Greens.

That way he gets a few extra rounds in before I take the reins on Friday and we have to deal with my own panic attacks and not just worry about the horse.

I am officially sunshine bound tomorrow morning at like 4am.  I land at 8:30 (in theory) and Windsy's classes start at 9:15.  hopefully I can get my bag, grab a rental car and get to the rings before I miss his rounds.

That's the plan anyway.

Oh, and we had super fun bloggy time with SprinklerBandit last week which was the last "good ride" in the show prep sequence.  We had breakfast sandwiches and barn time and most importantly - taco time all of which is fun and lovely, and means I actually got some new videos and pictures.

I'll let her do the real posting on that, since, well - she's really good at it and actually edits things, but I've stolen a few photos for the sake of not making your eyes bleed with a boring post.

SEE YOU IN CALI

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!

A Goodbye (or times when I am incapable of using my camera)

The Big Mare has moved on to a new home. 

To be honest, it all happened a little faster than I was ready for, but I know (or the rational part of my brain knows) that it is an ideal situation and it's for the best. 

First off, I'd like to thank (does this sound like an acceptance speech? I guess it does..) everyone who reached out to me or commented or mentioned Prair to someone or just gave me some general tid-bits about what the hell to do with a horse you want to keep safe forever, but is also a little too young to be put out to the not-so-proverbial pasture.

Honestly, it was really encouraging that I ended up with a few different offers - all of which I think would have ended up being great homes.  I don't know about you guys, but I regularly waffle between feeling like my horses are rockstars and if I blipped off the face of the earth tomorrow they'd be able to find wonderful homes - and the slightly more cynical concern that only idiots buy horses and no one in their right mind would ever willingly want one. 

(I think it's possible that both statements are actually true, but that's a separate discussion...)

Anyway, I had reached out to an old friend from Pony Club days.  We were actually pretty close when we were kids, but I hadn't been in touch beyond a few "likes" and comments on random Facebook posts for nearly 20 years.. so to say it had been a while is an understatement.

Life has been good to her and she's a successful pro (in Dressage Land) with a gorgeous family farm and a small breeding operation.  I figured she probably knew more about what I thought I was trying to do with Prairie than I did - so I asked if she had any suggestions on marketing a Broodmare, or who I should talk to. 

Her response was basically "Me, talk to me. I want her."

Then a few minutes later "I should probably ask my husband first..."

Then a few minutes later "We want her, when can we come see her."

In theory that's a pretty great string of messages to get. 

I sent her pictures, and videos, bad videos of me riding, better videos of pros riding, conformation shots from when she was out of shape, in shape, basically everything I had. 

And when, (two days later) it was time for them to come see the mare live and in person, she asked if it was ok to just bring the trailer with them since it was kind of a long drive.

And that's when it hit me that I was probably going to have to say goodbye to Prair before I really finished processing my choice about finding her a new home.

All went well, Prair was nervous as all get out (though I think that's because she was outside of her stall), and when she was a little reluctant to load, I just gave her some cookies and pets and told her it was ok, and she stepped right in like the lady she (usually) is. 

A worried, but well behaved eyeball..

I had an unreasonable amount of guilt about the fact that I wasn't there to help unload her and settle her in. 

I know that Prairie doesn't care. 

I know that she's in incredible hands. 

But part of me feels like my stewardship requires me to show her that nothing is scary and there are treats and pats and lots of good things waiting for her.

Instead, I went home, cried a little and ate some of my feelings (Vanilla Oreo Thins, ya'll.  Buy some.  Buy more than one package. Trust me). 

I got an immediate report that she unloaded quietly and settled in like a champ.  I even got reports over the next few days from my barn-mates (since some of us amateurs regularly get "assigned" equitation lunge-line lessons over at my friend's place).  They confirmed that Prair was being treated like a queen and loved on and adored. 

That quieted my mind a bit, but also made me a bit jealous. 

Like she's my horse, other people shouldn't be doting on her... that's my job. 

(It sort of felt like when you break up with someone and then you hear they are dating again right away? *I* did the breaking up, so in theory I'm fine, but somehow I'm still jilted by their ability to move on... wth is that about..)

Ugh, brains and emotions and horses... the worst combo ever....

Anyway, being an emotional mess, I forgot to take some of my equipment out of their trailer, so I had an excuse to go visit this past weekend and see for myself how everything was working out. 

Armed with her papers and passport in hand I pulled into a beautiful farm with a big, stone barn, flanked by lovely rolling pastures being enjoyed by horses in the early spring sun. 

Prair had been brought in so I could see her, she was standing (not totally) patiently in the cross ties all groomed up and waiting for treats... or work... or something.

I got a small nicked, which warmed my heart and we proceeded to chat about getting her bred, and did I sign over all the papers and what have you. 

Prair looked happy.  Her feet had already been trimmed and looked great - she was all shined up (even with her furry winter coat) and her eye looked soft and content with the new routine.

My favorite Beak.  (don't worry, chain NOT attached to cross ties...)

Being a total moron, I forgot (again) to grab my shit out of their trailer, so I guess I'll be back for another visit this week....

I feel like that stage 2 clinger who constantly "forgets" her watch, or scarf, or whatever at a Beau's house so she always has a reason to come back around... I swear to god I'm not doing it on purpose, but my subconscious might be hard at work.

Prair's life will be one of a happy Broody. They have their own stallion (who is lovely) and will likely the the daddy of a majority of her babies.  This year though, it'll be someone else, someone with a bit more name recognition - so that hopefully Baby can cover Prair's costs for a bit (and then some).

Every day I'm feeling a bit better about it - so I know that it was a good choice, and that she will get excellent care, and the fact that she'll be 10 miles down the road from our current barn means maybe I can stalk her (a little bit) especially once there are some babies on the ground......

So that's where we are.  I officially am back down to one horse (I deserve a medal I think), and Prair is in good, familiar hands. 

I just wish I was capable of actually taking the time to document days like these.  But somehow I never end up with good pictures on the days I say goodbye to my lovely beasts.