vocabulary

I’ve continued to let all the thoughts, ideas, concepts, etc from Windurra camp marinate for the last couple weeks, rolling around in my head sorta like a lapidary machine. Ideally, eventually all the rough edges will grind down into smooth polished gems, right??

i spy with my little eye…. a red horse and her spotted pony friend!

A girl can only hope LOL… But for real, there are ~3 main concepts I’m prioritizing. Bc realistically, I can’t really walk and chew gum at the same time, so I sorta need to keep a relatively narrow focus at any given time. And also, even more realistically, some stuff will just have to wait until we’re farther along in the rehab.

there she is <3 <3

The first big concept is “Composure.” Also known as “not overthinking” and “not getting desperate.” The round pen practice I wrote about last week has been instrumental in implementing this idea, in giving us space and breathing room to get on the same page for a working session with minimal drama.

ooooh we got to share the ring with emotional support barbie dream horse v2.0

For whatever reason, whether it’s truly related or just kinda coincidental (Doozy is, after all, a mercurial changeable critter!), we’ve been basically explosion-free for all our rides since we started with the round pen. Like, the tension is still there, it’s always there, ya know? But we’ve been able to work with it and through it. 

working on square turns and, uh…, “straight” lines LOL — can you tell??

Which takes us to the next big concept we’ve been prioritizing: line of travel and shoulder control. For whatever reason, this is one of those evergreen focal points for me. And apparently one that I’m constantly forgetting and then rediscovering, over and over again.

composed biscuit

There’s something about being really intentional with our line of travel that has something close to a “magic fairy dust” effect on us. Probably bc it forces me to really plug all my aids in, seat and legs first, and ride both sides of the horse evenly from back to front. 

routine maintenance — pretty happy with how her feet are doing!

And goooo figure, Doozy likes being ridden like that LOL. Maybe she has actually read the textbook? 

her tootsie turds!! little rolls of magic cushion for under the leather pads

Part of why she’s been so tricky for me to ride is that it’s literally the riding that increases her tension. My aids increase tension. Touching the reins, using my leg, adjusting my seat — she is sensitive and reactive to all of these things and it is absurdly easy to end up feeling like she’s ping-pong-ing all over the place, bouncing off all the aids.

farrier has this cool epoxy-like stuff that can help secure the clips if the wall got a little crumbly

Except, simultaneously, she also wants and needs direction. As a somewhat insecure horse, she kinda wants me to hold her hand, tell her where to go, maintain a constant “I’m ok, you’re ok!” dialog. And in the absence of any clear direction, she will **absolutely** fill the void herself. Generally with poor choices haha.

she might actually love her farrier more than she loves me — look how serene she is!

Somehow, by focusing on the line of travel, riding back to front, we’re able to maintain the composure, keep the train on the proverbial tracks, and let Doozy settle on the aids, no muss no fuss.

anyway. chickens, bc they is a part of our life now haha

Bc it is only at this point that we can start on the next big concept — all those transitions between and within gait that were such a highlight from the camp sessions. Which, makes sense, right? Like, from an order of operations POV, the composure + riding forward back to front, on the aids, are necessary requirements for the quality of transitions we’re talking about, right?

ooooh and off to the super fancy indoor — complete with the most aggressively powerful fans i’ve ever seen

At least, that’s the way it seems to be working for us. 5* eventer Matt Brown was back again at the lovely local farm up the road from us, so naturally we signed up for another lesson. And somewhat humorously, I reintroduced ourselves to him by saying “We’re the ones with the unhinged flatwork!” and he was like, “Ohhhhh yea” haha. hahahahaha…. What a way to distinguish ourselves LOL…

i swear i don’t set out to intentionally take absurd pictures of my horse. it just always seems to happen like that haha

Except yay, we weren’t unhinged at all, and the lesson picked up exactly where I hoped it would — on that next big focal area of the transitions. Which is somewhat insane actually bc I swear to god I did not even mention wanting to work on that AT ALL. 

But ya know. The basics are the basics for a reason, and that’s right where Matt took us after establishing that we can in fact now trot around on the aids with composure. 

anyway. moving on. breakfast time at the OK Corral!

I don’t necessarily have a ton to write about the lesson itself, bc this isn’t really ground breaking or new information, but it’s exactly the type of supervised practice we’re looking for right now. He provided a really solid framework and guidance on integrating the practice for Doozy, and also suggested adding in yielding the hind quarters to both our in-hand and ridden sessions.

then, drum roll pls!!! back to one of our favorite haunts!!! 

Which, naturally set us up perfectly for Doozy’s grand return to our erstwhile regularly scheduled dressage lessons with Trainer C! Wherein we picked up on all these various threads to put together a lovely (and carefully measured) little w-t-c session with Doozy on her absolute best behavior.

there’s still a fair amount of recovery ahead of us, but it’s exciting to keep moving along!

It was like she knew exactly where we were, and why, and was honest to god happy for it. Happy to see Trainer C, happy to be working in a lesson where she already knows all the answers and can show us all how smart she is… Happy for the familiar routine.

the happiest biscuit to be doing activities again <3 <3

I swear, this horse loves going places and doing things. She gets so much confidence from routine outings that it can have a bit of a snowball effect, with rides at home getting better and more “boring” after she’s been out in the world lol. 

Even so, “composure” will be our vocabulary word-of-the-day for… the foreseeable future lol. But I’m hopeful that maybe, at last, after all this time, we’re finally developing a sort of rubric / methodology / repeatable framework for bringing some order to the chaos. Maybe. Haha…

spin class

Doozy’s recovery from the April Trashcan Incident continues to go as smoothly as any of us could reasonably hope. She’s been very sound, plus the leg has stabilized into normalcy since returning to regular turnout. 

anybody interested in a dozen variations of the same pic???

Building back up to “full work” has been a slow process so far, tho. I feel very tentative, and am especially reluctant to lay out any kind of time frame or expectation, esp re: being “ready” for jumps etc. 

welcome to our farm’s humble round pen. there is a strong history of horses jumping out of it LOL

Mostly because to be perfectly honest, it’s been very challenging to stick with the normal incremental, one-minute-at-a-time progressive plan. 

Where Doozy is concerned, if she can trot, she might as well canter! And where *I* am concerned, when I didn’t feel like cantering was a good or appropriate idea, I therefore concluded that attempting to “just trot” was equally unwise.

doozy is suspicious of the chickens

So we have followed a slightly unconventional path to this point — lots and lots and LOTS of long slow hacks and walking rides, then increasing the small bursts of activity (trot and canter alike) little bits at a time, with as minimal drama as possible.

not, uh, loving the way that saddle is shifting around up there
(in my defense, it’s a loose girth with a riser half pad doing what riser half pads do)

After recommendations from a few different (trusted / solicited / professional) corners, tho, last week we started integrating a little free lunging in the round pen. And it’s been super interesting! (To me, at least LOL…)

“in *my* defense, maybe i’d be quieter if you used quieter tack. just saying!” — doozy, opinionated

I’ve done little bits of ground work somewhat regularly with Doozy ever since bringing her home in 2023, tho with only a very little bit on the lunge. And even then, the purpose has always been communication, aid+response, pressure+release type work rather than just moving her out. 

signs of summer: sweaty soggy everything

And that’s the point of this round pen work too. I’m basically trying to simplify the equation, separate the signal from the noise, so that Doozy and I can communicate more clearly with less chaos and escalation. And, natch, while we’re at it, find a way to start the clock ticking like one would in a more ‘typical’ rehab plan.

another sign of summer: blargh

So far, the basic gist is: getting fully dressed to ride, but then going to the round pen first. We walk a lap or so together to start, during which Doozy is more or less free to stop and smell the roses, gaze longingly out the window, or whatever, ya know? No muss, no fuss. 

same shit, different day. different saddle too, tho!

I eventually peel off toward the center of the pen, encouraging her to keep moving around for the first 5 or so minutes, including practicing a change or two of direction. The practice naturally being as much for me as for her — just figuring it out, together.

roughly 12min out of 16 in our session is spent doing exactly this. boring is our goal!

My interval timer app is programmed to chime after 5 minutes, and then every 2 minutes after that. So more or less, we do our low key wander for the first 5, then maybe more specifically active and continuous walking 2 minutes in each direction, and then it’s trot time!

“fucking chickens tho” — doozy, 100%

My whole goal here is “boring.” I want Doozy to be unhurried and unbothered. Just jog on around. And as such, I am trying to develop (and stick to) a consistent predictable sequence of the absolute minimum aid required to get a response, with a consistent pattern of escalation.

proof: she CAN jiggity jog around like a fat lazy school pony!!

So maybe it starts with a verbal cue — the same one I can use under saddle too — then maybe escalates to a kiss, then a cluck, then maybe tossing the end of the lunge rope onto the ground. And Doozy trots! Lazily!! And then usually breaks back to walk pretty quickly, omg!!

plenty to like in her more normal gait tho!!

And ya know, I let her LOL. Because actually, ymmv, but at this moment in time, I see more value in getting lots of repetitions in asking her to go forward, compared to how our rides have mostly been — ie, constantly trying to slow her down. 

As Sharon White would say, ‘no drama, just clarity!’

lol she practices her own forward and back transitions…

We keep that going for about 2 minutes, then walk quietly and calmly again for two minutes — changing directions etc. Then another 2min cycle of trot, followed by another 2min of walk. Always ending with an intentional active cycle of walk, bc again my whole purpose here is the relaxation first and foremost. 

baaaaaaasically the same thing, right??? hahaha…

We’ll probably increase the number of trot intervals in the round pen too, as well as maybe doing some light experimentation with side reins, but so far we’ve stuck with a simple session of about 15ish minutes, give or take, with 4min total of trot.

“brb, gotta go check on those chickens tho!”

After which, naturally, it’s time to ride!! We finish up with the round pen, then transition back out to the outdoor ring just like we would for any normal ride — with the free lunge serving hopefully as both a physical and mental warm up session. 

“CLUCK CLUCK, MOTHER FUCKERS!!!” — doozy, obsessed

And it’s been super interesting to see how Doozy feels after that. Like, her tension is deeply rooted and associative. This has been true for her since the day I brought her home: when she gets somewhere, she expects something to happen. So she gets to the outdoor and immediately anticipates. 

anyway. there’s a point to all this madness:: civilized trotting under saddle

But so far, so good — our rides so far using this new round-pen-integrated approach have been solid, with the mare able to accomplish another couple of 2min intervals at trot even while going large around the full ring. 

I don’t know why exactly she can suddenly maintain her gait after what is an undeniably basic ground work session. And who knows, maybe it isn’t the ground work at all but rather just a coincidence, the natural consequence of getting back into the habit, back in practice? 

“fiiiiine, i guess i can” ….. “but only if there are cookies involved!!” — doozy, negotiating

And sure, she still occasionally sneaks in some canter — but following our lesson with Matt, and also the conversation with Steph, I’ve let her just go with it. Large around the ring tho, rather than the small circles we worked on with Matt. Mostly bc.. Well.. Doozy can canter a very small circle, which… I’d rather not do a ton of at this moment in time. 

But also, more to the underlying point: forward is fine too.

rinse repeat, forever

Which, realistically, is mostly an issue of framing for me, and not the horse. On one hand, yes I want to be careful and conservative while moving Doozy thru this rehab phase. But ultimately the end goal is still to gallop across an open field on a soft contact, right?? 

And Doozy is actually a trained and capable horse at this point too. Chaotic and occasionally unhinged, obvi, but she does actually know things. So I’m feeling hopeful that we might finally be graduating to a more predictable (and measurable) phase of the rehab, finally able to track the minute markers and improve confidence around deciding when to go to the next step. 

Everything will be easier when she’s free to run and jump around like a lunatic haha, but for now it’s one light spin class at a time lol.

workin Charlie out

Fall is my favorite season for riding -- esp for hacking out! And I have approximately 8,000 random pictures taking up precious storage space on my phone so... brace yo'self for a whole bunch of scenic vistas awash in golden dusk!

picturesque <3

Tho, to be honest, there are only so many different ways to talk about walking a horse around a hayfield LOL. 

cruisin the "low" side of the hills -- there's a pic on the "high" side from a later ride below

We walked, it was pleasant, Doozy is the best. Yada yada yada. 

still haven't made it around the entire hay field

You get the picture. Literally, lots of pictures haha.....

hacking home during golden hour!

So instead, I'd rather write about a recent evening with our friend Charles. Tho ya know. I guess there are only so many ways to write about doing ground work with a retired neurotic thoroughbred too. 

a new day -- frosty morning waiting for the farrier!

So. Eh. Pick your post poison: a wordless Wednesday post of pretty pictures... Or a slightly wordier post about trying to help Charlie chill the F out. 

"that friggin cat is right behind me, isn't it" -- skeptical dooz

Anyway. The poor dude was probably pretty neglected after my weekend of running around before, during, and immediately after the Maryland 5*. I'd been to his farm plenty (it was the best most central location for staging supplies etc from various members of the party), but with limited attention for him. 

pictured: friggin cat lol

So I made it my business to stop by for some purposeful grooming the other night. And... Ugh. I'm glad I did, bc the horse was a certified pill.

we do love our barn kitties tho!

It was already dark when I arrived, and they're still on nighttime turnout. Not sure if this makes a difference for him -- maybe there are a lot of active animals in the surrounding woods this time of year? Maybe having limited sight out of the barn is triggering?

barn cat snoopervising while we wait for the vet for fall shots

I dunno. Regardless, I'd planned to just groom and love on him for a little bit.... But after observing him dancing around like a fool, bumping into the walls, whinnying piteously, and pooping prodigiously... 

artful grazing?

Well. I concluded that maybe this was the exact circumstance in which reinforcing our ground work practice would be beneficial. 

and another sunset hack!! this is the "high" side of the hills

And omg, it totally was!

missed the most spectacular light unfortunately, but the tree color is still pretty!

We've had quite a few practice sessions already since I last wrote about it. The horse remembers all the exercises but I haven't shied away from correcting any pushiness in him. And in particular, I've really focused on reinforcing boundaries about my space vs his space. Not perfectly, obvi, but in a way that he understands and is clear about. 

fall is 100% my favorite season for hacking

So it worked out that on this particular night, when he was really quite stressed and tense and basically beside himself (for reasons that are way beyond my understanding), he was still able to answer each little question I asked of him. 

anyway. sucralfate. do yo' thing!

And my only goal was to see if I could get him to relax a little bit. So I basically just praised the shit out of him for being so clever in getting everything so correct. And was very slow and deliberate and soft in my own positioning. This night was not a night of "boundaries" - but rather a session to reinforce, "yes, friend, you know this and are good at this and are the best boy."

the legend himself. looking... needy. sigh, charlie <3

And whadya know, after a little TOH / TOF practice, a little leading forward and backing up, a little sending and bringing back... all with lots of pets and praise... he lowered his head, softened his eyes, and yawned and licked and chewed and just.... chilled. 

Good boy, Charlie. That's all we want. Idk what his problem is, exactly, but we're a few days into the sucralfate treatment now so maybe that'll make a difference. Maybe swapping turnout from nights to days might help too? Idk. I'll keep ya posted tho!

And in the meantime, it's nice to know that this silly little ground work we're doing can at least help channel him when he's particularly pitiful!