transitioning the sensitive horse to grass

I fondly refer to Charlie as the "King of the Dings." He is thoroughbred, through and through. Charlie is sensitive, thin-skinned, and vulnerable to any injury or illness (real or imaginary....). Like, the horse might literally swell up a little bit if you so much as shoot him a mean look lol. Nothing goes unnoticed by this big gentle brontosaurus!

Charlie living the #muzzlelyfe with his best buds Iggy & Elephant

You might remember the first week I owned him, he had a brief but forceful bout with colic. Luckily it was remedied quickly with some oral banamine, a hose-down, some handwalking, and the distraction of all those godforsaken biting flies (gosh but Charlie hates those flies tho).

At the time, I chalked the colic up to just the sheer volume of change the horse had experienced in a short period. Bc. Ya know. Just five weeks prior, he was literally running a race. Then he was suddenly an "Off Track" thoroughbred, after a years-long career, and found himself bummin around the OTTB adoption facility for a week or so. And then he came home with me to a busy bustling h/j barn located on the campus of a girls' private boarding school.

Lots and LOTS of change haha.

Iggy is low-key obsessed with Charlie haha, tho of course the feeling is mutual

In retrospect, I still believe that all to be true -- but now believe the pasture change at that time possibly played the headlining role in that whole episode. Because ever since then, I've found Charlie to be extremely sensitive to changes in pasture and grass. Especially spring grass.

This point was driven home last year at this exact same time, when Charlie kept coming in from the new fresh grass feeling crummy, lethargic, bloated and anywhere on the spectrum from "third trimester grass baby" to full blown colic.

Which makes sense, right? Like, most farms in my area aren't large enough to have horses out in the big pastures year round. So most utilize sacrifice paddocks with round bales in the winter time while the summer pastures rest.

This tends to work out pretty well for pasture management purposes, but it just means that there has to be this distinct period of transition from the hay to the grass.

lol he's almost like an overgrown foal

Most barns where I've worked (including where Isabel lived) have tried to make the transition as gentle and progressive as possible. Possibly even beyond what's necessary. Think: introducing horses to the grass first for just one hour. Then the next day, add another hour. And another day, another hour. And on and on until the horses have built up their tolerances to all that luscious spring sugar. The process generally takes about a week.

The downside to that approach tho is that it's a shit ton of work. Even for farms where the manager or primary staff live on site. Moving herds of horses in and out of fields can be a real chore. Especially when the horses are, uh, not very inclined to acquiesce. Which, most horses this time of year are definitely NOT haha.

True story: the time of year immediately before the horses are released to the grass is literally my absolute least favorite. The air is perfumed with all that fresh green growth. The horses are straight up over the hay, and just want #datgrass. So they're all irritable with each other, and meanwhile literally trying to climb the fence to get to the grass. It's prime season for some really nasty wounds and injuries, ya know? And, not coincidentally, also a difficult time to move the herd around in an orderly fashion.

meanwhile, the party doesn't stop just bc charlie came in from the pasture!

Considering Charlie's current barn has a bit of a, er, different staffing situation, that degree of extra work is just kinda untenable. Especially over a longer period like a week or so. Which means they end up transitioning the horses to grass in a slightly more *blunt* fashion. Usually, maybe a day or two with the horses getting a half day out. And then? Boom, straight to full days.

This honestly is not my preference. Were it up to me, I'd do it differently. But it's not up to me, and meanwhile Charlie is overall obscenely happy with life at this farm, so I roll with it.

he's got his room-side buffet haha

This year tho, I at least tried to hedge my bets a bit by putting Charlie in a muzzle for the first 5-7 days. And to be perfectly honest, I wasn't really sure how it would go. This horse straight up refuses to wear fly masks at all, even tho he HATES BUGS OMG. But he just takes the masks off. Masks with ears, without ears. Structured masks, soft stretchy masks. All of 'em.

So.... I just don't bother haha. Considering once summer arrives he'll be on nighttime turnout anyway, it's not really a big deal. It meant tho that I really wasn't sure how he'd feel about the muzzle. Luckily tho he actually wore it like a champ!

the best view is forward, always and forever

I just picked up one of those standard black nylon dealios for $15 from consignment and added some sheepskin around the ears (must protect poor Precious's delicate skin!!), and by all accounts he was a total gentleman about having it put on. And didn't lose it once over the course of his transition period! Good boy!

The couple days that I was there to grab him from the field myself, he was generally just out there grazing peacefully (like the pictures above), so clearly it wasn't too much of an impediment to his daily life. And the best part? The muzzle really helped limit and reduce his feelings of icky gassy bloated lethargy. Which, obvi, was the whole point.

At first I thought I'd leave it on for up to maybe 2 weeks just to be really safe.... But there was at least one day that by dinner time he was all alone up at the gate crying pitifully for someone to rescue him from his doomed plight. And... Ya know. He is a thoroughbred, and despite the dad bod he doesn't take much to get ribby.

and sometimes there are serious advantages to riding through a little rain <3

So I got us through the week where I had some post-grass plans (like schooling at Shawan!) where I wanted him to be on his A-Game, and then pulled the muzzle to allow him to finish the transition.

And? It all worked out! Aside from that first day they went on grass without my knowledge, so I hadn't left a note about the muzzle, he wasn't sickly at all through the transition to grass. And he was a good boy about the muzzle. Possibly if he had to wear it for any longer than a week or so, he'd learn how to take it off lol. But the one week period seemed to be just enough to get him over the hump without making him too too frustrated by his mouth cage lol.

My plan is to definitely repeat this process each spring, bc it really did seem to work for him. That whole "ounce of prevention is worth a pound of grass baby" thing, right? Prophylactics 4 lyfe, yo.

Has anyone else had to deal with helping their sensitive little drama queens deal with rapid seasonal changes? I know spring is a biggie for a lot of horses, but maybe preparing for fall or winter is more important for your horse? Or, if you get any say in how your horses' pastures or turnout is managed, how do you like to do it?

chuckles the chunkle

Meanwhile in Charlieland, things have been chuggin right along. After a couple days in a row of a bellyache when his herd first began transitioning to summer pasture, Charlie has since seemed to acclimate. Which, obviously, is a huge relief.

riley dog was rooting for boyd martin at this weekend's MCTA USEA event at Shawan Downs

Homeboy just loves his grass, and I was reluctant to muzzle him. So far tho he appears to have made the transition just fine. Maybe next year tho I'll plan to have a muzzle ready to go for those first couple days, since this farm has a slightly more, uh, blunt transition to grass than other barns I've been to.

But, oh my word do they have nice pastures. Charlie's grass right now is insane. Actually obscene. And there are two more fields, each bigger than the next, waiting for him as summer wears on. His life. It ain't bad!

we got to see a lot of him too while jump crewing!

Anyway tho, like I said, things have been moving right along. Charlie was feeling well enough to try a little flatwork by the end of last week. And he felt seriously good. Like, obvi let's be real here - he felt rusty and started off behind my leg and it took a couple canter laps in each directly to feel that "channel" opening in his back, wherein he rediscovered his trot afterward.

But after that? He was good to go. Plus, no real dinosaur moments even in his sticky stuckness behind my leg before the warm up. The bronto was lurking beneath the surface for sure, but he stayed agreeable enough that we were able to get through without any real throw downs.

And again, after we had that first canter, all systems were go. We kept that ride short and fluffy - lots of focusing on shapes and changes of direction. But also a pleasant little foray into counter canter as a way to reengage Charlie's hind end, and he did quite nicely!

He's better on his stronger right lead than his left - he actually pinned his ears and got upset on the left lead counter canter. But even after a stutter step break still picked the left lead back up again without urging. Good pony! I see counter canter as being a really great exercise for Charlie bc his canter is naturally very strong, and a better gait for accessing his balance and hind end strength vs the trot.

jimmie schramm's horse eclaire looks good too!

The second flat ride found him much more willing to go forward even just in trot, such that we didn't need that preliminary canter to open him up. And his trot right now.... feels good man, feels good. We may have been a little early on the schedule for doing his hocks, but he is very clearly feeling very good about it.

Really the only sticking point right now given our quiet last few weeks is his shoulders. In some ways he's a brilliant horse to steer bc he really honestly is very sensitive. The only caveat is.... Sometimes he's.... just, like, not. And flat work is where that becomes the most obvious.

When he's got places to be, people to see, it's as easy as shifting your hips to steer him. When you're endlessly circling the same ring again and again? Yea, uh, them shoulders just sorta have a mind of their own.

i won't bore you with another full course walk, but took pics of the combos and holy trinity of xc on this walk anyway. here we have the up bank combo, which walked in what felt to me like 1.5 strides. i didn't see it ridden tho.

I was very pleased with him anyway tho bc even tho our steering wasn't great, nor our straightness, he was finding a really easy "pushing" gear from behind.

In fact we had our best "medium" trot (quotes definitely intentional) to date, tho not bc it was a true lengthening. Not yet lol. But because he was really strong and pushing - yet still round. And most importantly? He showed a clear distinction in his trot upon reaching the corner.

Again, none of this is like... correct or anything. Rather, I'm just focusing on the fact that I straightened Charlie and put my leg on. Got a difference in him, a response. Then similarly got another equivalent response upon reaching the end of the diagonal. Small steps. But very very good steps, and we quit on that.

ditch to log walked like a careful balancing three strides. small ditch, big log.

Tho naturally as is our wont, we added a little hack ride on with Brita after the school. Nothing crazy bc now that summer is arriving, all the gates are closed again as herds transition back to the summer pastures. Plus, obvi, I don't want to get my new fanceh PS of Sweden fuzzy dressage boots all nasty from crossing streams haha.

But still. It's such a nice way to add another peaceful 20min on to a ride by just hacking along some fence lines with a buddy to cool down. Charlie, for his part, seemed to seriously enjoy it and was striding out in a bigger walk than I'm used to seeing in him. I'll take it!

water was quite nice - there was a 14 coop jump before hand, then the water was 15, then this small log was 16. also there was an unflagged water earlier on course before the up bank for dipping toes in should that be needed. 

For my final ride of the weekend, I wanted to get back to a little more of a conditioning focus. Brita and I had spent hours upon hours volunteering at MCTA's Shawan Downs event this past weekend, after which I walked their N course.

Lots of good stuff to see on the course, and many of the jumps actually belong to our own farm. But... There was still a lot to learn from the walk. Namely? Yea, I'm still not sure our conditioning is there yet. This course had one jump at the top of a steep rise, and another at the bottom of a steep drop.

The jump after the rise was a let up, but the jump after the drop was not. A strung out Charlie or strung out Emma could have issues at something like that lol.

oh yea. btw. chunky chuckles. i present to you: fat kid in a donut shop lol. his life does not suck

So I immediately went back to the barn and decided to tackle all of those wonderful new paths my barn mate showed me last week. And all the hills I've discovered from the Altitude Profile app. We were able to crisscross every which way through the woods, trotting hither and thither, catching every hill possible.

Charlie, for his part, was shockingly into it. Like, nobody is calling this horse "surefooted" -- but maybe these trots through the woods are just the ticket? He was really picking those clodhoppers up (even jumping the occasional branch or downed log!) and figuring out how to see both low hanging branches AND eroded out ruts in the ground as he went. I like it!

For my part, I mostly just held on and ducked when necessary. Constantly reminding him that we were just trotting, no need to run, and occasionally flicking off wayward caterpillars and spiders lol. Honestly, that was maybe the most fun I've had doing trot sets like... ever haha.

he knows it too <3

Then we emerged into the fields (after dismounting for a gate bc we are still #gategreen) and Charlie still had a TON of gas in the tank. So... we did some banks up and down into the water; casually trotted a ditch; then made our way into another field for a BN hanging log and N ramp. Both of which Charlie just.... loped right out of stride after locking on a few strides out. Yessss.

This horse, guys. It's crazy. I get myself so bent out of shape thinking how much effort the horse has to put into a jump... Meanwhile Charlie's just like, "Hey btw I'm 17h+ and bred from a heritage of incredible athleticism. Hold my beer."

I especially liked how after about 40min of trot sets and hacking, he felt really really really nicely balanced (and game!) for a couple jumps. That, to me, feels really instructional about how I have to plan out his schooling and workload. Plus obvi we're super lucky to happen to have ditches, banks, water, plus jumps, easily on hand for the casual school.

Hopefully we will have more time soon for a proper jump school. Personally my own happy place has been in the 2x weekly range for jumping. But I'm finding with Charlie, he's always the same horse no matter what. And even the 2x monthly schedule seems fine for him. So we'll see. More to come soon tho!

Do any of you find your normal routine shaking up a little bit with the onset of warmer weather? Whether that's by changing ground or newly available trails? Are you starting to do more conditioning now that the option is there? Or maybe ramping up in some other area? Or does your work look pretty much the same no matter the time of year?

WW - head gear

ugh..... stoopid fly mask... super duper stoopid muzzle..

*grumble grumble*

don't they realize i'm too pretty for this nonsense??

grrrr. 

ahh yess - this is much more my style :)

Thanks to Betty for the custom bonnet! 

If anybody is interested in beautiful handmade bonnets at very reasonable prices, I highly recommend Betty's Customs! Betty may also be known to some of you as Tracy's (from Fly on Over) mom :)

bettyscustoms {at} gmail {dot} com