How on earth is it already Memorial Day Weekend?? Time is flying, guys. Wow. In the past, we’ve often spent this long holiday weekend competing at Loch Moy’s starter trial… And a few barn mates are actually going.
I went in a different direction this year tho — we’re heading east instead to a super low key chill event close to where my mom lives. Should be a good pipe opener for Doozy (and me, let’s be real), so stay tuned for more. In the meantime, let’s enjoy a nice little foto finish to the week!
y’all know me, if i don’t get these pictures posted they’ll just overrun my poor clogged up iphone lol
and plus, who doesn’t love some photographic proof that doozy CAN be sane and sensible??
wellll….. ok haha. she isn’t ALWAYS sane and sensible at home either… her expression might say “I’m Innocent! Innocent Horses Don’t NEED to be Tied to the Post of Patience in Rope Halters!” but. ahem. innocent she is not.
ms thing was the victim of a fairly dramatic cross tie catastrophe, which included hitting the ceiling, falling on her butt, sadly wandering out onto the grass — dragging BOTH cross ties — then stepping on said crossties, which naturally popped up and smacked her right in the butt again, at which point mare Left The Premises (leaving 4” deep hoof prints in her wake….). #drama
but ya know…. shenanigans aside lol… she’s been more nice than naughty, including getting out into the hay fields with friends!
we’ve had some unbelievably gorgeous evenings — and the hay is growing like mad!
everybody wants to be out too, makes for fun company!
pictured: a view that does not suck
we’ve had so much rain lately too that the outdoor ring is too soggy for riding, but how can you spend an evening like this inside the dusty indoor??
much fun was had by all
and ya know… even on days when we ARE stuck inside to get our rides done, there’s still always the chance for little walkies around the paddock pathways to cool down
oooh and a couple more from Thornridge lol… here we are, chatting with the next generation
when suddenly, Doozy notices her FRIEND OMG lol… sigh…
no rest for the weary, bc it’s right back out again to our new local 5* coach’s family farm for lessons!
it’s kinda a bummer to ship out for lessons to a farm with such incredible facilities, only to be stuck inside bc of the rain… but c’est la vie — the remedial trotting lessons are worth it!
and doozy continues to be happy with her farm life — with her little group of pony mares reunited into one large pasture again — PLUS her favorite trail buddy introduced into the neighboring group! much love <3
and so it goes, amirite? we’re looking forward to the long weekend around here — hope you all are too!
So! With the mare settling into what seems like consistent soundness over the last ~3 weeks,* we decided to test the waters with a fun low-key outing to our most favoritest summer CT series!
(*Maybe it’s the Equioxx kicking in? Or the changes from the shoeing? Regardless, I’ll take it!)
d’aww, somebody is excited for breakfast <3
And boy oh boy, it was a day!!
Let’s start with the good: We did it, yay! The mare pulled through when it counted (sorta!), in what were, ahem, undeniably tricky conditions.
The bad: those conditions, oof. It rained about 2” overnight and everything was completely water logged, including the grass jumping rings.
The ugly: A whole contingent of barn mates entered the show too — which is awesome! — including 3 of Doozy’s current or former field mates. Doozy straight up melted down, and threw ALL her toys out the pram when she realized her friends were there. Which, natch, was just as we went up center line for dressage. She also never quite recovered from the shock and was legitimately a nightmare for the rest of the day. Fun!
being her sensible + polite self at the trailer, pre-meltdown
All these weeks months I’ve been stressing over her soundness and avowing that she’s such a cool horse, the horse that I want, the horse I’d do anything to keep sound! And whoops, here we are and she’s sound and I’m like, ‘wow ok maybe she kinda sucks* sometimes tho’ lololol….
(*Don’t worry, guys, I still love** her even if she was a straight up violent psychopath.)
((**I reserve the right to change my mind at any time tho!))
staring *directly* at the camera bc it was attached to OMG FRIEND
But ya know. In the grand scheme of things, it was always going to be a hard day. Bc Doozy is… not the super easiest horse, at least for me and my skills. But of all the days, of all the places to sorta get out there and shake the rust off — however rusty we may be — this was basically ideal.
I love this venue, the vibes are so positive and chill. Doozy has been here plenty for lessons plus a couple CTs last year. And sure, it’s kinda embarrassing to be among so many familiar faces like, “Yea I’ve had this horse for almost two years now and she’s still totally crazy and maybe kinda occasionally dangerous…!” But eh. Who cares, right?
hard to tell but the ring was pretty mucky after 2” of rain overnight
We know from last fall that Doozy can settle down and behave herself, we just kinda gotta work through the process again. I had really hoped to just keep the momentum going through the winter — with our Sharon White clinic, some eventing derbies at Loch Moy, a few other clinics or jumper / dressage schooling shows, and then bam! right back at it in March.
But ya know. Obviously none of that happened. And instead most of winter and spring have passed by quietly, with just a few little outings to show for it. C’est la vie!
why yes, it IS another picture of us walking around lol
Our most recent little outings, tho — lessons with the new local 5* trainer — have been paying dividends. We’ve mostly been working on what blogger Which_Chick referred to as “remedial trotting,” staying almost entirely on 20m circles and working on the finer points of shoulder control and micro-yielding in and out. And it’s working!
For our dressage warm up at this CT, I really focused on holding myself accountable and riding as if this test was the most important part of the day. As opposed to my normal habit of sorta shrugging off our suckery by dismissing the dressage bc “we’re here to jump!” No no, for Doozy, the flat work needs to be front and center, always.
ridiculous critter
The warm up wasn’t perfect, tho. Doozy definitely felt more tense than she’s been at home lately (like for instance, in that video y’all watched a couple weeks ago). And then of course she saw her friends on the way from the indoor to the show ring and… yea lol. All bets were off.
I’m still proud-ish-sorta of how I rode, tho. Like, sure, I did slip more into survival mode than I’d intended. But eh it’s going to take a lot of practice to keep riding strongly and intentionally even when the mare gets so fragile and tight.
The parts that went well, tho? Go figure, it’s the stuff we’ve been working on in the remedial trotting lessons! Sure, I kinda lose her shoulders toward the gate in our first trotting circle, but it’s not terrible, and not so bad that she was able to slip into canter. By and large, most of our circles stayed mostly on the tracks I intended (vs kinda just whipping the mare around the figure), and even our final center line turn was fine!
click to see full size
The transitions were fairly prompt too! This is the BN-B test, which calls for canter in the corner going into the short end, with right lead coming up first. Especially with Doozy’s BEST FRIEND IN THE WHOLE WORLD standing off in the distance from that corner, and given that the end of the ring is demarcated only by small little white poles, I had what felt like realistic concerns about unplanned ring exits.
But no, Doozy was fine! Stayed on the lines I rode her, stepped into canter when I asked, and actually the down transitions were more or less in the right spots too. So. Ya know. Cool, we executed the pattern. The relaxation and steadiness are absolutely worlds away from what I know they can be, obviously, but eh. For now I’ll take it.
we are both slightly surprised to have gotten to this point
And anyway, all hell broke loose basically immediately anyway. Doozy’s friend wandered off after we saluted at X, and the meltdown began in proper. Doozy screamed and skittered sideways like a crab and threatened to rear the whole walk back to the trailers.
We had a super short gap to jumping, so my plan was to pause at the trailer to change bridles, then get back on and go straight down to jump. The changing bridles thing… proved to be a mistake anyway, tho. I’ve been riding Doozy more in the hackamore lately and she’s been so quiet and steady and wonderful in it — including with the little bit of jumping we’ve been doing. But… In retrospect, I probably should have predicted that it’d be the wrong answer for when Doozy is in full blown tension mode, behind the leg with a tightly retracted neck. It wasn’t the end of the world, but the nathe would have been better I think.
she jumped the first 3 fences with basically just her front end, and kinda either bunny hopped or stepped over with the hind end, oops
Tho. Lol. Bridle choice was pretty far from front of mind for…. uhhhh, about the next hour lol. Bc Doozy was, again, not to put too fine a point on this, completely psychotic by now.
It was clear that I wouldn’t be able to get on again at the trailer after changing bridles, so instead I hand walked her down to the jumping area. With her screaming and dancing, and at one point rearing up and threatening to strike. I don’t **truly** believe she wanted to hurt me at any point, but she definitely was UNHAPPY with me being in charge. And plus. Whether she “means it” or not doesn’t really matter when the behavior is that dangerous. Sigh.
she got better as we went
The next hour kinda unfolded in much this way. We got into the warm up area, close enough to the other horses for Doozy to get distracted enough to rage eat some grass (but still far enough away to hopefully be as minimally disruptive as a screaming horse can be).
Eventually I was able to climb aboard, and we loitered around the in gate watching the BN class go. I tried to get Doozy over to the warm up zone but the footing there was completely torn to shit, and Doozy’s agitation about going back to the trailers seemed stronger over there. So, eh, we stuck around the show ring while they reset the course to 2’3, and finally in a moment of quiet, with no other horses immediately around, I asked if I could just take her in to the ring.
finished strong, good mare!
It was funny, too, bc Doozy took a giant deep breath once inside the ring. Almost as if the ‘limbo’ of being out in the open loading zone was more stressful for her than being inside the contained ring where we do our work. Which… I honestly kinda expected the opposite from her, but hey, we’ll take it!
So… I picked up the trot and just jumped the course. Our first three fences were pretty squirrelly, with the mare kinda pogo-ing over them, all front end and no hind push. Which I’m attributing to the hackamore not really giving her the freedom she needed when we’re both riding so tight.
the last four fences were the best
Plus Doozy was maybe a little surprised to be jumping, and was possibly weighing her options at fence 2 and then definitely at fence 3 — a funny little off camber turn downhill past the in-gate. We made it over them, tho, and then over 4, which happened to be in the boggiest portion of the ring. Bc again, reminder, the footing was totally water logged.
It’s easy to watch the footage and think I should’ve let her go more forward. And, ya know, maybe I should have. But… with the footing being that unstable and the distances in that triple line animated above being a bit unforgiving… Idk, the last thing I wanted was to slide into a fence.
As it was, the last 4 jumps were set up to be a really nice confidence building finish. I think if the ground was better, it would have ridden 3-3, maybe 4-3. And I actually wondered for a moment if Doozy would do the 3 on the way out. But she fit in the 4, and then was her perfectly locked on self to the final end jump. Yay, good mare, you did it!
this was literally the easiest part of our day LOL, siiiiiiiigh
It’s so funny to me how the “hard” part of the day (the actual jumping test) is actually the easiest for Doozy. Like, I just knew that as soon as I could get her mind on jumping, she’d forget about her BEST FRIENDS OMG and focus. And that’s exactly what she did!
Well. Briefly, lol. Bc then she was a nutter going back up the hill toward the trailers, and a complete spastic pest at the trailer for getting untacked and sponged off. Tho luckily at this point one of her friends was parked nearby and just chilling, so I took Doozy and her feed pan full of forage over to that trailer to just calm down and rage eat for a bit before going home.
sweet* mare <3 (*pre-meltdown)
So ya know. It was a day lol. And we did the things, yay! And the training is sorta working, double yay! It’s just… all the everything else… that needs work. My hope is that repetition and exposure will do the trick. And in the meantime we’ll keep the actual ridden parts easy and accessible enough so that we can get around even in full blown meltdown mode.
Tho, uh, hopefully our next outing will involve fewer of Doozy’s BEST FRIENDS OMG so she can maybe focus a little better lol.
Happy Wednesday folks! It’s been a week around here, not gonna lie. Life outside of horses has been a bit consuming, so it felt like a good enough time to just let Doozy rest whatever was bugging her after Loch Moy while I did other things.
stabby jabby <3 <3 <3
Tho, naturally, we were already on the books for a visit with my favorite equine wellness professional, who has been treating horses in my care since the Isabel days.
finally learning to give in to the zonked-ness!
It’s funny bc I still remember her reaction the first time she met Charlie. Not that she said it out loud, but I could sense that she was maybe a little dubious about my choices in getting something so fresh off the track lol. This time around, tho, and obvi amost *ahem* 9 years later, she knows me and my horse keeping habits and is all aboard the Dooz-Cruise.
started with two here but she twitched one out
And Doozy is obviously a much easier treatment case anyway. Aside from the whole “absolutely indignant about all the stabbing!” thing. She only has 13 race starts under her belt, compared to Charlie’s 33. And consequently seems to have much less generalized wear and tear.
end of the line!
Tho naturally we spent a long time discussing all the highs and lows from this past winter, and my various theories in unpacking Doozy’s nagging complaints.
mare threw a bit of a tantrum about getting poked lol
Laura found a rib out right in almost the exact location of that squishy bump I’d seen appear under the saddle before we got it reflocked, and agreed that there was some generalized back soreness that tracked with our saddle fit issues.
“i am immune to your sorcery!” — doozy, quite annoyed by the poking
She also observed that Doozy has a notably long “pain memory” — meaning that she continued to be protective and reactive to that spot even after the adjustment. This, to me, tracks with other aspects of Doozy’s personality — like her sensitivity to even having her hair *snipped with scissors OMG* back when I first got her.
lol not 2 seconds later
So that, to me, was another good reminder to always first consider pain as a potential source for any strange, unusual, or undesirable behaviors in the mare. Bc apparently trying to push her through pain could lead to long term problematic associations…
Which obvi is true of any horse. But y’all know how challenging it can be to parse out that slippery gray line between training and wellness issues.
overcome lol
Anyway. Relating to the NQRness, Laura advised that I should try to manufacture an opportunity to get my vet and Doozy in front of each other at the exact moment Doozy is presenting her lameness, since it seems to be a fleeting intermittent thing. Her idea was that we should do a nerve block to either confirm or rule out the foot as a source.
Tho, not long after, I observed some strange cracking around an old heel grab (from about 7ish weeks ago) that got me wondering….
chaaaaanging gears — that’s kinda ouchy looking, no? an old heel grab is growing out and seems to have split a bit?
I shot the picture off to my vet, who confirmed that Yes, in fact, that probably felt a bit tender and ouchy to the mare. She suggested a soaking protocol, and also that I check in with my farrier about it.
vet recommended hitting it with a solid soaker
The soaking protocol was…. Not gonna lie, kinda challenging. It’s a pretty intense powder that you mix into a solution and then soak for like… 40-60minutes. And guys, I’ve actually never tried to soak one of Doozy’s hooves before…
this product calls for 40-60 minutes of soaking, so i opted for a plastic sleeve
Charlie was always such a perfect gentleman (most of the time, lol), and would more or less acquiesce to standing in a bucket for however long I needed. Which, realistically, was usually just like 20min.
amazingly, it worked! held in place by a polo wrap and some elastikon
I wasn’t convinced I’d be able to keep Doozy reasonably civil for that long standing in a bucket… Plus I didn’t want to keep reintroducing more dirt and debris into the soaking solution. So I opted to try these crazy plastic sleeve type bags again.
everything stayed in place for a full 30min before the bag sprung a leak and drained
I’ve only tried this soaking method once before and didn’t have a lot of luck — the more fluid you put into the bag, the farther it collapses down onto the ground… Plus I had what felt like a realistic expectation that Doozy might, hm, lose her shit upon discovering a water balloon attached to her foot lol.
But it actually worked great! Doozy took a few moments to finally put her foot down into the bag and keep it there. Then I quickly wrapped on a polo and secured the bottom with elastikon. And Doozy made me so proud by not being particularly fazed while occasionally stepping around in the crossties, good mare!
hopefully it was enough to clean out any nastiness that got into the split
We had a nice long peaceful grooming session (omg the shedding is intense right now, tho omg) before the bag finally sprung a leak and drained at about the 30min mark. Not quiiiiiite as long as I wanted, but hopefully long enough.
farrier suggested using Farrier’s Fix for more routine care + maintenance
It honestly doesn’t really look all that terrible as far as hangnails go… And it’s nothing compared to Charlie’s gnarly heel grab injury from last year. So hopefully the soak cleared out any embedded funk, and we can just manage with topical treatments from here out.
i like that this stuff can get applied the entire hoof, including frog, heels and coronet band
Farrier suggested this Farrier’s Fix oil, which markets itself as a versatile cure-all treatment for whatever ails ya, or your horse’s hoof. I stayed away from the softer tissues immediately post-soak, since the Hoof Soak advised not to rinse afterward and I didn’t want to mix chemicals. But this will be our daily go-to for the heel bulbs, frog, sole and hoof wall going forward.
here’s a cat as a reward for looking at so many foot pictures LOL
Hopefully that’ll finally do the trick for getting Doozy totally back to full and consistent comfort!! Bc omg it’s already April, how on earth did that even happen??? We got stuff to DO, mare, c’mon!
So yea. If you need me, I’ll be fussing over my horse’s feet and hoping for a full return to riding asap. Wish us luck!
Back in May when it became apparent we'd be moving farms, I'm not gonna lie to y'all... I was a bit, hm. Nervous.
my sweet little wine grape <3
Probably not unlike a lot of you who have dealt with horses for years, lived through all manner of experiences, I felt reasonably confident and secure in my abilities and knowledge. I was surrounded by peers who have been shoulder to shoulder with me through all the ups and downs over the years.
really can't overstate how dry it got in june and july, these two ladies picked this paddock clean in just a few weeks
But it kinda struck me that... Ya know. Going into a new place, a new community that maybe wasn't so familiar with me, or my perception of myself... That it was realistic to expect folks to make first impressions based on what was presented to them.
but just a little rainfall (thanks Debbie!) and suddenly we're growing again!
Which... If you recall back to May... Included a horse and rider who couldn't realistically trot around a circle without a non-zero degree of chaos.
and then omg the two moved into a smaller but rested + luscious paddock!
Maybe in a way it was exactly the reality check I needed. Like. Yea ok, we are kind of ridiculous. But... Eh, I didn't buy Doozy to be perfect, or to go win all the horse show ribbons, or jump giant jumps. I bought her to learn with, to keep developing myself along with her.
knock me over with a feather, but the folks at this farm love mowing haha!
Moving farms kinda stripped away a lot of my crutches... But also maybe some of my mental blocks too. It won't surprise any of you to learn that I can seriously overthink even the most basic activity. Which ring should we ride in, what time will it be, who else will be there, what impact will that have on Doozy...
oooh. we also went to more dressage lessons <3 <3
I'd gotten maybe a little reliant on thinking we couldn't do certain things alone or without help from other riding buddies... That everything had to be curated and set up just right.
had to stop the presses tho bc #cat
And idk. Maybe there was some truth to that. Some of the more toxic qualities of the last place definitely created some unpleasant outcomes for my rides with Doozy.
shocker, did more simple gymnastics at home -- both solo and with trainer Kelly
But. Eh. Since moving to the new place, the entire paradigm has shifted... and also basically just simplified. The horse needs ridden. Ideally daily. So... Go do it.
until it's boring, amirite??
If I didn't want to be the eccentric new (and possibly over-horsed) boarder, for whom "trotting a circle" was questionable.... Well. Go practice and make it better. Every day.
ooooh we did add in that green panel jump top left too -- with no placing poles!!
And for fucks sake, get serious about getting REAL help --- lessons. Routine, regularly scheduled sessions with professionals who can provide that structure for me.
flashback to last Dom lesson -- jumping without placing poles haha srsly tho look how much stronger she's gotten behind!
And guys, Doozy is basically thriving. She's always been a trier. She's always "colored inside the lines," so to speak.
the schweetest critter
But idk. My approach these last couple months has basically been to remove all the pressure, and instead focus on just getting consistent and relaxed. And goooooo figure, it's resulting in... a relaxed horse who is consistently responsive.
cookies for a good girl <3
We legit aren't doing anything any different in terms of specific activities. If anything, we're doing **less** when it comes to stuff like jumping course work or cantering fences and what have you...
doozy's new friends kept her entertained while i was away in Seattle!
But idk. It feels nice. Feels easy, predictable, routine.
first ride back, after legit 10 days off, and we braved the great wide open to survey her #FutureLunch
Not gonna lie, for months last winter and this past spring, it took more effort than I was entirely willing to admit to swing a leg over every day. And not bc I don't enjoy the horse -- I definitely like her very much. But every ride was So. Hard. It felt like it took so much concentration, so much focus, so much more attention to little details in posture and tension... It was exhausting and kinda a demoralizing spotlight on my diminished skills.
lol and she pulled a shoe, WHOOPS. our companion was able to retrieve it for us tho!
The slightest loss of my balance wreaked allllll kinds of havoc. The mare didn't go straight, popped shoulders every which way, spurted off into canter at the slightest provocation.
And I had zero tools other than trying to just strongarm her into obedience. Which... is itself 100% a losing proposition. Y'all read the posts, saw the pictures, watched the videos. You know what I'm talking about LOL.
"you should throw a shoe too!!!" -- Doozy, for sure
But idk. It feels like we've turned a corner. Maybe it's just the natural byproduct of time spent together.... that whole pottery analogy thing I shared earlier this month... It might be, tho, that moving farms was just the shot in the arm we needed.
flat tire didn't slow this one down tho!
The move has kinda given me the space to back off from any goals or pressures around performance expectations etc while we settled in... while also giving me a fresh start at being and presenting myself in a new place. If that makes sense.
but, eh, looks like another few days out of service, womp womp!
Doozy and I went to our first few events together last spring in a somewhat slapdash (ahem) fashion. It was wonderful and invigorating and proved to myself that, yes! we can do this!
But I'm equally excited to put together a little fall season that maybe will have a slightly different feeling to it. Not bc we'd necessarily perform any better (obvi). But bc it just feels like we have so many more tools in place, and are on much more established footing.
Well. Ahem. If she can keep her shoes tied for more than 3wks!! Horses, amirite?
