let ‘er rip

Over the last couple weeks we’ve checked a whoooole bunch of routine maintenance and wellness tasks off the list. We’re about half way thru the month of ulcergaurd treatment, Doozy had her jump saddle reflocked — plus got a new dressage saddle on trial also fitted to her, and last week finally saw her favorite chiropractic / acupuncture guru.

#creepin on her friends

For me, personally, I try to stay proactive about this stuff… Especially with a horse as sensitive and reactive as Doozy. So most of that was already on the books before our trip to Waredaca earlier this month. After seeing what a tense mess we were in dressage warm up on that day, tho, I was extra eager to give the mare a proper ‘once-over’ via all the various specialists etc.

fan’s nice but the cookie bag is nicer

And it felt like a good ‘order of operations,’ too. She was about a week into the ulcergaurd treatment in time for the saddle fitter, and then immediately got a fresh bodywork treatment right after all the saddles were adjusted. Seemed like a nice all round reset, right?

acupuncture!

Right. Because… Ya know. Lol... It turns out that none of those things are in fact a substitute for training. While issues with gut health, saddle fit, or general body soreness can certainly hinder a horse’s ability to perform in a predictable and relaxed fashion… The absence of those issues does NOT guarantee that… suddenly the horse will go better lol.  

mare is so violent, she gets a very minimalist treatment — and even then we had to compromise. that lower left one should be up top with the other, one on either side of the spine. but mare said NO!, so it’s shifted further down the meridian

Because, ya know, Doozy is who she is lol. But by taking a wellness-first approach, theoretically I can have more confidence in ruling out physical problems and instead focus on the approach to training. 

More than once now in my two years with this horse, I’ve had to kinda step back from a certain training style because it seemed to be increasing tension in our rides vs promoting increased relaxation. And I’m wondering if we’re in maybe a similar place now.

things mare did not say no to: fun little narrow block jump with flower topper!

This past week I’ve tried to take a few steps back and simplify the terms somewhat. Dialing down the focus on contact, and instead focusing again on trying to find a forward balance in all our gaits and transitions. I’ve also really increased the amount of cantering we do. If Doozy is so hell bent on cantering, fine. Let’s go. 

pleasant little 21’ X to oxer!

She’s a thoroughbred, after all. She’s a natural born runner. Maybe constantly focusing on making her wait and holding her back is the root source of all her fizziness — like shaking up a soda bottle but never fully unscrewing the cap.

continuing to intermittently practice flat schools out in the grassy paddock

There could be a few advantages to this approach: 

- Let the mare work off some of her tension early in a ride, with less fussing and fighting

- Take advantage of all the cantering to really work on building strength and balance and adjustability in the gait — don’t just let her blast around for a few laps, make it work

- And therefore maybe resolve the issue of slipping into canter as an evasion

there was a VERY SUSPICIOUS water tub in the next paddock over, but we survived

Or ya know. Maybe instead I’ll just reinforce the mare’s tendency to constantly try to run off with me, while simultaneously making her fitter and less and less likely to tire haha. 

For now, tho, we’ve had a couple decent rides with this approach — including a couple dressage schools in the trial saddle, and a jump school too. That jump school actually started off really tense and hectic… But it finished with some really nicely balanced canter and tidy jumping efforts. So I’m hopeful.

the store was out of the Stress Free forage, so i grabbed a bag of the Safe Starch instead. it’s apparently less tasty lol

It’s an approach I want to try the next time we’re in a warm up ring too. At Waredaca, the mare was such a mess that we never even touched the canter in warm up (other than the various steps she slipped in while racing hither and yon in trot). My thought had been to try to avoid her getting too too dialed up before the test. But maybe that’s not quite right for her, and maybe giving her a little space to vent energy and tension will work better? Idk haha. We’ll see.

will still begrudgingly eat it tho lol

It feels like she really understands the individual elements of the job at this point, and the moments where everything clicks together are straight up magical. For now, tho, cracking the code on her tension / relaxation feels like the most pressing puzzle piece.