micro munchies

We are definitely into the dog days of summer now, oof! Hot, humid, interminable days… punctuated as often as not by violent little thunderstorms… 

Which, real talk, I won’t complain about the rain bc for once in recent memory we are STILL growing pasture grass into July. Doozy’s farm is apparently the opposite of our last place in that it seems to catch every passing storm — something I appreciate as a grass-loving TB owner!

baking in the early evening summer sun

Still, tho, we’re getting into that time of year — esp with the post-solstice coat change — when Doozy seems to start cultivating skin funk like it’s her job. No joke, I’ve never seen rain rot as bad as what Doozy gets — it grows on her like moss. 

She already had a bad case by the time I first met and bought her, but I had hoped that by last summer (after a year in my care), the improvements in nutrition, general health, and regular grooming would naturally help prevent another severe case. And, uh, I was wrong.

jealous of the ponies in the shade lol, but grateful for the outdoor breeze!

Doozy’s skin funk last year was so bad, I would 100% have judged the F out of her owner if… uh, ya know, it wasn’t *me.* Life lessons, y’all. I continue to learn them with horses — sometimes things aren’t what they appear. You can really try, and still kinda fail. It is what it is lol.

Anyway, tho, we’ve so far kept the funk at bay this summer with constant post-work rinses of diluted apple cider vinegar. No emergent signs yet, at least. Ask me again in two weeks tho lol, and we’ll really know the truth!

walkway wanderin <3

As it is, we’ve had a quiet week or so after all the fun and festivities of back to back schooling shows at Loch Moy and then Tranquillity, plus shipping out for weekly lessons. We skipped last week’s lesson bc of the heat index, and then had to bump yesterday bc we scheduled for exactly the same time as yet another little expected thunderstorm. 

waiting out yet another late day thunderstorm

Nbd, tho, Doozy continues to do quite nicely with our rides. Something about getting her out more often really suits her. Too much time spent at home (like over this past winter), and Doozy starts creating her own excitement among the everyday mundane routine lol. But now that she’s back in the swing of more frequent adventures, home life is pleasantly ho hum. Gotta love it lol.

celebrity horse sighting while jump judging with my mom @ fair hill!
super socks bcf, 19 years young, having a blast around the starter course <3

An unfortunate downside to the frequent rain showers tho is that we’re often stuck inside for our schooling, in the dusty stuffy airless indoor, bleh. No joke, I’d rather negotiate with terrorists than ride indoors… But our outdoor ring footing simply doesn’t hold up to any moisture whatsoever and mgmt understandably prefers it stay closed in poor conditions. 

These are the tradeoffs for being at a place that actually cares about the maintenance and upkeep of its facilities LOL. So we make do with what’s available in the conditions, nbd.

ooooh we played with little jompies too <3

The rides themselves have mostly continued exploring the concepts I wrote about two weeks ago — namely, the “riding the footsteps” exercise with a deep focus on utilizing lateral flexion (without totally sacrificing straightness) to improve speed and balance. It honestly feels like really productive work especially relating to preserving relaxation vs introducing tension. 

A quote I read recently has really stuck with me — and I’ve been marinating on its applications and relevance toward horse training ever since:

A word is not a relationship between sound and object, it’s an agreement between people.

Which, according to ChatGPT, is a modern paraphrase of a core idea stemming from Saussure (circa 1906–1911), who emphasized that language is a social contract, not a mirror of reality.

more farm walkies

In other words, my riding aids are essentially meaningless to Doozy if we haven’t already established an agreed upon definition. Doozy hasn’t read the text book, she can’t inherently know about the whole “inside leg to outside hand” thing, if she doesn’t already understand and accept individually those leg or hand aids, ya know? 

Like, sure, the prescribed and studied ‘best practice’ postures and methods are fairly universally accepted bc when done right, they set both horse and rider up for success. But I feel like sometimes it’s easy to miss that… for many horse and rider partnerships, we kinda have to start from a more fundamental place.

so good at selfies lol

Take, for example, this idea of getting Doozy to accept my leg aids. For the last few weeks, I’ve started every ride with establishing leg contact right away, regardless of how Doozy feels about it. (And lemme tell ya, Doozy feels about it.) With the idea that eventually she’ll just, ya know, get used to it. Accept it. Or something. 

Meanwhile, since we’ve been practicing this more intentional steering exercise — being thoughtful and deliberate about staying constantly on a well defined line of travel, down to the very footfall — I realized in our ride yesterday that actually, Doozy had nothing to say whatsoever about my leg contact. She just… went along quietly responsive. No bouncing off the leg, jigging or swishing her tail at the touching omg!

And it occurred to me that… ya know. Maybe I’ve kinda misunderstood the directive about Doozy “accepting the leg aid,” lol. Maybe it doesn’t matter so much that it’s touching her — rather, it matters that the touching means something, communicating a specific and understood thing. She accepts bc she understands. 

truly a hard life

Always good food for thought for me to remember to focus on what I’m trying to tell the mare, vs how the text book says my aids need to be applied. Eventually lol maybe the two things will be perfectly aligned… But, eh, not yet haha.

For now, it’s enough to sorta go through our paces and patterns and figures (and little jompies lol) with just this simple idea in mind. Lord knows I’m always on the hunt for easy ways to score quick wins when it feels too hot for “heavy work” lol…. Anyone else out there working on little micro tasks while trying to avoid melting in all this heat?

re: flower pots, or something

Happy Friday!! This past week was spent mostly dealing with the fallout from both ponies losing shoes. Nothing crazy or anything.... But a new twist in adjusting to managing horses at different locations. 

the legend himself <3 <3 
also... wow, my barn manager's phone takes wayyyy nicer photos than mine. hm.

Charlie continues in his infinite and unending quest to be just unsound enough to not get ridden (while still maintaining his carefree lifestyle of maximum turnout with his friends). He threw us through a loop when after throwing both front shoes (on different days), he was suddenly very very lame on his RH.

slowly splitting stuff up between farms. threw this kit together for charlie: vet wrap, cling wrap, elastikon, animalintex poultice pads, plastic hoof soaking bags, epsom salts, duct tape, flushing syringes, gloves, various types of gauze and cotton pads, left over metro from the last abscess, and a pill crusher

Luckily (??) it's just another abscess. This horse, I swear. His history is spotty enough that just managing him through a basic ailment can still drive me crazy, torturing myself about what choices to make. Turn him out / Keep him in? Wrap or no? 

farrier tried to dig it out a little, but couldn't get it to drain

And bc Charlie's timing is always so perfect, these choices were complicated by the impending rainfall expected from Tropical Storm Debby. 

guys. indoor wash stall + hot water = game changer for painless foot soaking!
(also yes i'm aware this is a suboptimal bucket lol, you work with what ya got!)

Finally, after much back and forth with his care team, we decided to continue turnout, tho added in soaking + a wrap after the farrier widened the defect trying to drain it. This meant some back and forth driving to Doozy's farm (a pleasant 25min cruise across the countryside) to organize supplies, something I've been willfully neglecting, not gonna lie. But we got it done.

post-soak. y'all have seen me wrap a hoof so many times, i didn't take pictures. refer to this post if you're curious how i do it. in this case, i added a poultice pad to facilitate drainage.
also --- guys, charlie has been barefoot behind for ~3 months and is doing way better than expected!

It helps that the barn family at Charlie's place is legit wonderful. The folks there are great, everybody loves all the horses, and I get updates constantly. The farm is also laid out in such a way that "turnout" isn't such a complicated thing as at the last place. 

next day wrap, with bonus drainage. just normal charlie things!

Like, sure, the last place had lovely paddocks around the barnyard. But horses were normally alone in them, there was no grass (and possibly not much hay thrown), and it was definitely *not normal* to the horses, who would have preferred to be with their friends out in the fields -- which were themselves quite far away. 

walking in thru the rain-induced foliage explosion for breakfast -- SOUND + wrap intact!

At this point in Charlie's physical condition, it's so nice to have such well managed grassy lots close in to the barn. It's a lot easier for him to stick to his normal routine even if his condition is a little compromised, like by the abscess. 

anyways. kittens.

He seems to be on the mend anyway, so we'll probably keep him wrapped and keep an eye on him for the next few days just to be sure. 

these critters have begging down to an art form

In the meantime, over in the Land of Dooz, things have been a bit quiet too. For all my big talk about riding every day, well... bc of the lost shoe and resulting soreness, we only logged two rides last week. Recall that Ride 1 of the week was playing with puddles in the soggy ring, resulting in said pulled shoe (d'oh...!). 

this critter tho <3 <3 <3 those donkey ears omg.
she's patiently waiting for her foliage to explode too, lol, pls thx & hurry up

That was Saturday, and she got the shoe reset early Monday morning. But was predictably a little sore on the foot when I returned that evening for an easy flat school. At first I got a little nervous bc we were slated to ride with Dom again this week... But then that got rescheduled anyway, so, eh, Doozy got another day off just to be sure.

lil Debby, bringing that drama to our skies!

Which meant that saddling up for our first ride after three days off, and only 1 ride in the last five days was possibly a questionable affair haha -- especially since we were planning to hack out. With a tropical storm literally brewing across the skyline. No big deal, right? 

crazy how green everything got after even just a little bit of rain

Right. Bc omg guys, the more ya ride the horse, the more rideable she gets. The training holds. So despite a somewhat spotty week, the last month of consistent routine schooling did what it's supposed to do, and the mare was relaxed, confident and pleasant for our little hack!

doozy's tail almost looks full from this angle!

My friend texted me a meme the other day about a professor in a pottery class dividing his students into two groups. The first group would be graded solely on the quantity of pots they created over the semester -- to be measured by literally weighing the pile. Group 2 would be graded on just the quality of a single pot they chose as their representation. 

who can tell me what type of shrub this is?? these flowers are so gorgeous!

But by the end of the semester, the best quality pots were ultimately those created by Group 1, who had been focused on churning out pot after pot. Bc it turns out, when you do something often enough, you get better at it. Group 2, meanwhile, got a bit bogged down in the philosophical quest for perfection, stymied by their reluctance to be only "good enough."

obvi when presented with gigantic floral orbs, one must stop for photos!
also lol i slowed the speed of this gif down but doozy is still just such a busy horse haha

To my friend, this was a wonderful and empowering analogy for horsemanship and riding. To become 'great,' you have to first be 'good.' And to get 'good,' you maybe have to start with... something less than that. Let's say, 'neutral' or 'ok' or 'can more or less do the thing.'

Dante and Doozy make good trail buddies <3

Obvi I loved the pot**tery class analogy too, bc it matches well with my approach to horse training. I might not be the most skilled rider, or most technically proficient. And let's be real, some of my habits can actually be considered significant shortcomings... But consistent routine boring mundane practice goes a long way in closing those gaps. 

(**I also lol'd bc somebody recently misheard the mare's name and thought I called her "Doobie," which... obvi I joked that maybe THAT'S what she needs lol. So ya know. Maybe more pot is what we all need around here? jk jk haha, sorta!)

nbd, just stopping to smell the roses pot flowers <3

So ya know. Have a great weekend. Go ride your horse haha... Unless they're like Charlie, I guess LOL(sob), in which case, ya know. Hope you get to enjoy some quality time with them all the same ;) 

Printemps avec Mondeuse

It's been such an odd season with Doozy. She is a surprising horse for me in many many ways lol. And we've been going through a bit of a phase lately.

random ride last week in the jump ring during daylight!

For example, it was like we lost the ability to trot. Entirely. And it's not easy to pinpoint an exact reason, either.

nature walks to and from the ring = fun with friends!

She had more than a week off while I was in Cali after the dressage show -- which was itself kinda a stressful and weird ride in which she much preferred cantering to trotting. Then we immediately went to school the arena xc course at Loch Moy my first ride back. 

next up: solo survival in the dressage ring! the first (and hardest) of 3 forays into this ring in the last week

And after that? Trotting was for the birds. Boooring. Too slowwww. Only two speeds --- walk and GoFast! 

more nature walks, this time heading back up for ride #2 in the dressage ring this week.
fun fact, it must have been dinner time for the sheep bc the F*ing thing bum rushed us literally right after i snapped this picture! luckily nobody died, but sheesh c'mon sheep!

It didn't really seem to matter what ring we were in (even in the indoor), or whether we had company or not. And I tried a few different methods to address the issue. More or less determined that... Yea, it's mostly just a training issue on top of a horse who is perhaps inclined toward running anyway.

also our third ride in the jump ring this week!! asked for a photo bc omg trial saddle lol, more on that later

So ya know. Ok, cool. I kinda actually like finding opportunities to "pause" the progression -- or even hit rewind and go back to some basics. In this case, we canceled our planned dressage lesson, and I stepped back from higher pressure activities, and went back to high frequency / low intensity schooling sessions aimed at reinstalling our basic "wtc ride package."

she's clearly exhausted from so much mere existence lol

Just easy, short, no-muss-no-fuss rides where we only really trotted a circle or two at a time, and kept things reeeeally basic. Letting the canter happen when it was more or less balanced and polite, but that was about it. 

no rest for the weary tho -- i actually picked up two trial saddles, and so poor thing got ridden twice yesterday

And along the way, we've been taking advantage of longer days and mild weather to get more serious about riding in new and interesting locations. I've kinda let the indoor become my crutch, especially on days when I was thinking about wanting to do a "real ride."

again, asked for photos to start evaluating the saddles -- more later

But with stepping back the intensity... Well, that was less of an incentive for riding inside. Might as well get more exposure by exploring other areas! So this week we actually managed to get outside more often than in! 

got more than i bargained for tho when friend offered to snap video too! yes pls!!

And I think it's paying off, actually. Well. That, and riding daily lol. Turns out, routine consistency is a helluva drug lol. And just showing up every day to spend a little saddle time with Doozy has made a world of difference in getting us back into sync.

link to short video clip here

Tho it's interesting watching the video. Like obvi the point of the video, for me at least, was to see how I look in the trial saddle. Again, more on that in another post. 

somewhat shocked at doozy's relatively chill vibes this ride

But it's also pretty clear how quickly and completely I can revert to my deeply ingrained postural habits. Poor MP, she'd be so disappointed to see how I look lol!! Not that I'd made a ton of progress in the lessons, but you know what I mean.

like, we actually were able to trot normal circles without zipping off into canter every other step

Still tho... It's hard to argue with Doozy about this. Right now, she just goes better** when I ride her in my *me* sorta way. And right now, I care about just keeping us going, getting us consistent. The idea is always that we can refine the details later, I suppose, tho realistically it's getting pretty clear that change is hard haha!

(**The word "Better" here is honestly completely subjective... and maybe MP would argue with me about this too. Some folks would rather see a horse solidify posture, balance, contact FIRST, even if that means never trotting or cantering until the horse can do so "correctly." That is honestly not my personal philosophy. I'm not a purist. I'd much rather get out there and enjoy the ride --- preferably on a horse who is ALSO enjoying the ride. Better riders than me can get better results in both categories, sure, but this is my compromise!)

and in fact we actually cantered on purpose!! first time in this ring woot woot

So I dunno. We're having fun, tho. Doozy actually jumped a couple times this week too -- just a few very simple reps of trotting a little X and small vertical in the indoor one night, and then a more intentional full jump school in the outdoor jump ring later. 

kinda a weird shot but maybe helps give a sense for how the ring is sorta in some ways up above things with weird sight lines into various areas

That outdoor jump ring ride was the first time we could finally actually just.... trot around without her squirting up into canter at every opportunity. Honestly, it felt like I should capitalize on those chill vibes and reinforce the good behavior by finishing the ride with the flat work. 

also, not gonna lie, i was kinda so distracted by having a relatively quiet horse and getting video to watch later of the saddle, i wasn't really focusing much on my equitation or whatever. c'est la vie!

Buuuuuut... ehhhhhh jumping is FUN tho! So we went ahead and started jumping anyway, and yea she got a little faster and started wanting to canter everything. But whatever, right? It's my horse, I get to make the rules. So we cantered, and we jumped, and we actually cantered a couple jumps too! 

growing up i guess! also i *swear* this is my happy face lololol wtf emma

And then here she was in this ride, able to trot around again anyway! Actually able to do basically a completely normal ride in the dressage ring --- for the first time! 

So ya know. Sometimes there's a real advantage to just slowing things down, going back to the basics, keeping it simple. 

Doozy is such a funny horse bc the "hard" things seem to come most easily to her --- like jumping new and weird things in a crazy crowded schooling arena. It's just everything else that poses such a challenge, that is so hard. 

I like where things are at right now, tho. Feels like she trusts me and maybe honestly likes the job (esp the jompies part of it lol). And I suspect getting a saddle better fit to her delicate frame (but still nice enough that I don't keep pining for Charlie's dreamy french monoflap lol) might make a huge difference too. More to come on that situation soon!

nothing blooms 365 days a year

I heard this post's title as a quote in a recent audiobook* and instantly felt like... it was super relatable. The context was about struggling with adaption - and getting thrown off our mission when change happens. 

Which, ya know, feels like a pretty accurate allegory for the horse training journey!

*Emergent Strategies by adrienne maree brown if you're interested

"To Glory!"

So in the spirit of embracing that quote as a theme, let's recap recent happenings with my sweet sensitive firecracker, Mondeuse! And also, my own personal journey of ceding control and accepting my imperfections as a rider in order to (hopefully!) grow and develop.

it's a very pretty saddle. also.... a whole fuck ton more contact than this baby racehorse is quite ready to accept....

Basically, I feel like we're in a bit of an "ugly phase." But that it's also a normal and natural part of the process. But that I also kinda have to keep coaching my own self through it, pepping myself up, ya know?

i got a new crossbody Illumiseen belt/sash, since doozy already wears a martingale, plus my old LED breastplates are kinda on their way out... so far i'm quite happy with it! basically everybody at my farm has adopted some method of LED road safety, bc it just plain old makes a huge difference for drivers on the long twisty driveway

One big issue is that it costs me something to give up my own "ways" in order to follow along somebody else's training program. And in this case, MP has advised on saddle changes (more on that below), significant postural changes, and in our most recent lesson actually had me try a different pair of reins too. 

one of the fun parts of owning a mare now --- expanding the cast of characters on the blog!! Candee Kisses has been around for years, but now you all get more exposure to her extreme cuteness <3

These are all normal things, and in some cases - much needed things. But it also results in me feeling like I don't really have any tools left when the actual ride doesn't go well. 

I don't mind experimenting and changing things --- if it's improving the way the horse goes. In recent lessons, however, it almost feels like the horse is going worse. Like -- somehow, suddenly, we can't trot. Which makes it hard for me to stay committed to changes when I perceive that we're going backwards in training.

other new characters --- barn panther Icee......

Except, ya know.... Here's where the pep talks come in. Bc I'm pretty sure.... Riding is kinda just hard. And I'm pretty sure every single horse on the face of the planet will, at some point(s), experiment with whether resistance is an option. 

not gonna lie, he's slightly intimidating

And I need to not let my distrust of my own ability or skill when it comes to riding dressage stop me now. It's going to be a process. And actually, I can pretty clearly recall these same exact feelings of frustration from various points in my training journey with Isabel --- who was a hot sensitive redhead in her own right, but significantly more confident and self contained than Doozy.

christ those claws tho

So, we carry on with the lessons. And I endeavor to trust the process. 

accidentally step on him at your own risk!

In my last lesson recap post, recall we talked about working on transitions. I've played with that a few times in schooling (and also quite a bit with Charlie too), and feel like that will continue to be a go-to tool especially when I'm riding alone and feeling distrustful of myself. 

it has been "9" days since our last biting incident lol..... tho no blood was drawn. progress?

In our more recent lesson, we worked on lateral flexion. Basically --- never riding a straight line, *always* riding the bending line wherever we were, and trying not to get stuck on the wall -- but constantly riding the bend, and changing directions frequently. 

charles, rockin' Duke's (of Dark Jewel Designs custom browband fame) old sheet

This exercise was a little harder for us in the lesson itself, and I could actually feel Doozy's tension rising for much of it --- like we were sorta locked against each other. A feeling I, uh, hate.

But then, kinda suddenly out of nowhere, it was like the mare did a full body muscular exhale. And just went with it, walking beautifully, holding herself. After what felt like ages of intense concentration, patience, and discipline. For both of us --- which, not incidentally, is also a key in building both of our fitness for the work. 

and Mondeuse, rockin'.... Charles' old smartpak sheet haha bc she shredded her spare and her main sheet was soaked. this is why i always have like zillions of sheets lol. and omg, it *almost* fits her

So after sorta marinating on it a bit, I see more utility there. Especially as it was a super effective "tell" for my position -- if we're changing directions so frequently, doesn't give me much chance to get squirrelly and crooked in my position, know what I mean? So it'll be worth experimenting with in our solo schools. 

anyway. we'll be friends eventually, pal

Another thing I'll be experimenting with --- returning to riding primarily in jump tack. We tried one of MP's Custom dressage saddles, and it was LOVELY OMG. But also felt like... Doozy is straight up Not Ready, Ma'am for that much of me sitting down on her. Even in Isabel's old Bates dressage saddle, she feels a little more tense and spurt-y than what I'd expect. 

So I'm going to play around with spending more time in jump tack. And, yes, I'll admit it -- spending more time in my habitual safe half seat and floaty arms position. If that's what it takes to get our trot and canter reps in at this point, that's what I'll do. 

Maybe it'll slow down our development by not adhering strictly to one style of riding. But, eh, there's more than one goal here, right? Trust and consistency are also goals. And feeling confident to go forth and enjoy the ride is its own reward lol.