you could say it's getting serious

Guys, Doozy really came through for me this weekend -- with a few much-needed impressive experiences, plus more 'firsts' checked off the list. Including cantering! And jumping! (ish, lol)

ready for action!

The hard thing about not being in a consistent routine is that... it's hard to plan from one ride to the next. Doozy was fantastic for our previous ride (#13), but it was a bit unexpected, ya know? Like, I didn't even know if she'd be sound, first of all. 

And secondly didn't even really know what to expect just from a normal riding perspective, since... ya know, we have such limited experience. So I didn't really have a game plan. 

desperate times call for desperate measures: i set my helmet cam up on the arena wall to *hopefully* catch the action lol

That all changed for #14, tho. I was so excited about the good feeling I'd had from the previous ride. Plus, now we had this new saddle to try. So I wanted to be super prepared.

small wins: can take off jacket and drop on barrel, no shits given

This included bringing my helmet camera along to try to catch some footage, since we'd be alone again. It also included me stopping by the indoor on my way into the farm to set up a more intentional array of 'obstacles.'

can walk out

It was always really useful with Charlie to have physical landmarks strategically placed around the arena to help him focus and concentrate -- things like ground poles etc. And that's proving to be true for Doozy, too. In the absence of any external stimuli, she's happy to be completely consumed by a preoccupation with the exit LOL. 

can walk thru 9' poles!! and learn about straightness along the way, ahem... 
on a sad note: my footage missed all our trotting through these

So, I basically set up 4 main cardinal points: a series of ground poles spaced @ 9' on one long side, a ground pole between standards at the far end of the ring, a teensy cross rail on plastic risers on the other long side, and a barrel in the near end -- as something for us to circle around. 

crossing between standards = also fine
also did this at trot, not on film womp

And Doozy is definitely getting the idea. Actually, I suspect she might be more comfortable with various obstacles and landmarks vs just wide open blankness. Something to keep in mind... 

In any case, we spent a long time walking around warming up over all the various components (except the little X), all captured in the helmet cam. Sadly, I couldn't remember which light meant 'recording' and which meant 'standby,' so I kept periodically stopping to hit the camera's button, and tried to do all our riding stuff twice, so that hopefully we'd catch most of the important details. 

when your trot transition is actually a perfect walk to canter LOL

And, more or less, we did! Like, capturing Doozy's first "trot" transition above lol. Let's call that a work in progress haha. Basically, we both just sorta need to calibrate ourselves to each other. 

Tho I was pleased with myself for not reacting as rigidly as the first time she took off into canter instead of trot (as she did in #10). In fact, I considered actually riding it out a bit... Except, well, in the case of #10 we suspected she was cantering/trantering bc she was too uncomfortable to trot. And since I wasn't sure how sound she'd be on her second ride in a row for this #14, I didn't want to risk it and brought her right back to trot. Wherein, hallelujah, she was sound!

ok but we can actually trot!

And so we trotted and trotted, first mostly with figures and changes of direction. At one point, Doozy broke into canter again, and this time I did ride it out (in the longer video below around 4:10). I admit to being very defensive in my position -- as in, very high hands -- bc I'm definitely relying a bit on the running martingale to keep Doozy where I want her... 

But, eh, that's ok, right? I'm allowed to not be perfect, just like she is. We are learning together lol. And, in this imperfect, slightly improvisational way, we had our first little canter together! 

downside to helmet cam snapshots: serious blur, womp

Tho in our first break, I hit the camera button again, which unfortunately turned it onto standby whoops. So we missed the whole next little session of trotting, wherein we trotted the 3 ground poles, and did more work with the little pole between standards. 

link to super short video of doozy's first jompies!!!!

Finally, I aimed Doozy at the tiny little X!! And she just... trotted right on over like the goodest girl! Even tho it didn't have any standards! Obvi we stopped for much petting and praise, plus a cookie, and I opted to cruise by the camera to hit the button and repeat again, just to make sure at least one attempt was captured. Bc media junkie #4lyfe, obvi lol

dramatic reenactment lol... whaddagoodgurrrrl

Lucky for me, the second attempt was what ended up captured on video --- and Doozy actually did a little jompy, ermagerd!, and cantered away!! Plus, naturally, cantered a little circle to finish before being absolutely praised to the high heavens <3

telling her she's wonderful

Obvi she got a cookie and we called it a day with that very nice effort. And I was just so so pleased with her! And, honestly, a bit relieved, too. There's been a significant amount of self doubt these last 2 months about my life choices haha. 

ok ok, i'm a sucker for casual candids

But this is the kind of routine I live for. Just small steady practice and a growing history of shared experiences. It's ok that I'm not perfect for all of it, that I can be just as reactive as she is. And it's ok to pick myself apart a little bit with videos like this, connecting how it feels with how it looks, so I know what I need to work on for myself and the horse next time.

full (ish) ride video

For example, I need to continue looking for moments of soft release in the contact. Doozy is not exactly super trustworthy in that regard yet -- and will exploit the release a bit. But I still need to keep giving her that chance, and that space, and she'll learn. 

our matching expressions haha... i swear we are both happy redheads!

It's actually pretty interesting, bc so far... Doozy isn't super subtle in her 'moments.' She kinda telegraphs them, but seems easily contained with just heightened contact and more intentional positioning on my end. Which means... using my whole body for turns, staying upright and tall in my position, and not letting my reins get long enough for my arms to do weird things lol.

happy 'n relaxed for the long walk home

Anyway, tho, I'm trying not to take anything for granted, but am legitimately excited about the work that lies ahead of us. Excited to finally start logging experiences that make the idea of "lessons" not feel so distant. 

First impressions of the trial saddle are good, too! Tho I'll reserve judgement until we're farther along in the trial --- to give Doozy a chance to protest if it starts bugging her, and give me time to hopefully get normal media (as in, not a blurry fish eye lens) to evaluate myself in it. 

tack tuesday v2.0

Local folks might already be versed in the greatness that is Maryland Saddlery. This small business has three locations across Maryland and Delaware, plus a robust website. 

Their inventory is entirely consignment and overstock items (particularly rider apparel), and their consignment crediting program is attractive enough that they do a brisk business with all sorts of local equestrians. Personally, I've been buying and selling through them for years. 

behold: an ancient Beval Stanford, clearly well loved (and used), 17.5 (4.5") medium tree. priced to sell

In particular, MD Saddlery's used saddle trial program is honestly my favorite. Staff is knowledgeable and helpful, and can assist you in browsing the racks if needed, or provide feedback on how you look in the saddle on a few of their in-store 'ponies' (tho they also have mirrors for this purpose too). 

Then you're allowed to take up to 3 saddles home for a free week long trial, after providing credit card information (no initial charge is applied). Not gonna lie, guys, I've enjoyed a pretty liberal use of this policy over the years --- including that one time in 2015 when they let me take home FIVE saddles to try lol. 

among many repairs on the saddle: new billets!

The most shocking thing to me in learning about saddle fit (and I say this as a decided amateur) is the huge difference between how a saddle looks at the store, vs how it looks on the actual animal. I guess trying to fit two distinct 3-dimensional objects together can be that way sometimes. 

So the trial program has been so so useful for me in giving me room to: 1) SIT in many, many saddles; 2) put those saddles on actual horses; and 3) determine what fits look decent enough to actually trial ride in, vs what fits are immediately rejected.

1. wow, i hoped it would look sittable (obvi), but that looks pretty freakin fitted!
2. i also suspect these panels are not original

There is honestly no immediate urgency in saddle shopping for Doozy, although I'm sensing that our borrowed Pessoa is maybe less than perfect. Plus, ya know, we expect Doozy to undergo significant physical changes and growth in the next year (assuming she doesn't get summarily dismissed before then....j/k, sorta). 

So I'm not super inclined to buy a really nice saddle. Like, ok, an argument can be made for buying with an eye toward resale value... But, eh, a lot of things would have to be really perfect for me to go that route --- including the horse haha. 

guys i swear she has a nice face haha, she's just always mid-expression when i take a pic!

As it is, I'm ready to start looking around. And found a nice old Beval Stanford on the racks with panels that seemed to be about the right shape (ie, FLAT), decent thigh blocks and geometry for me, and brand new billet straps. And it was comfortable to sit in on the in-store pony. 

Obvi it's not going to be as nice as Charlie's $2,000 French L'Apogee monoflap, lol... But ya know. Compromise is not a dirty word. I'm a practical gal, ya know?

picked up a dinky little half pad too -- it's thinner, squishier, and more flexible than charlie's sheepskin

Anyway. I brought the saddle home, tho also mentally bookmarked another nice old saddle, a Bruno Delgrange that was clearly of a higher quality construction, with a price to reflect, but whose leather was actually in worse shape. Plus the panels looked more swoop-y. 

Which, it's always a gamble just going with one saddle, bc what if you put it on and it's an immediate reject?? But, either thru luck or practice, the Beval looks about as good as I could have hoped for just sitting ungirthed and unpadded on the horse. 

and y'all know i'm a sucker for fun gadgetry, particularly hardware like stirrup irons lol... the 20% tent sale discount on top of the consignment pricing made these a no brainer, i'll let you know what i think!

We even pulled out the Pessoa to compare and contrast. 

My sense of the Pessoa is that it's concentrating too much pressure on the trapezius, with not enough contact and stability through the panels under the seat. This Beval at least looks like it could fix that - tho we'll have to see if it surfaces its own set of fit issues. 

legit the actual worst stirrup leathers, but i keep them bc they're worth more to me as spares vs trying to sell them

And, obvi, it's gotta work for ME. I'm maybe a bit of a heretic when it comes to saddle fit. Given the choice between a perfect fit for the rider OR the horse, I'll go with rider fit every time.** Mostly bc... In my experience as a decidedly amateur rider who has been described as having 'fragile balance,' I need to feel secure and solid in my saddle. 

From the horse's perspective, carrying a rider and saddle that are operating as a single unit together is maybe more comfortable than having a rider moving all over the place against the saddle, constantly shifting balance points. Idk, ymmv, but after getting massively burned in the whole Kent & Masters saga, I take rider fit pretty seriously now lol.

**Obvi caveat to say that if the fit is BAD for the horse as in causing pain, that's a no-go. I just mean like, generally imperfect - as most things in life kinda are....**

fortunately for us (?), i can be resourceful with getting media when the occasion calls for it! 

So. Our trial has officially commenced, somehow coinciding nicely with Doozy... actually maybe FINALLY (*knocking on wood*) starting to make strides as a riding horse. Coincidence? Who knows. We'll take it, tho. 

Stay tuned for more details on our first ride in the saddle --- including, omg, Doozy's first little cross rail jompies!!! And canters!!!! 

And in the meantime, do you have any tried 'n true criteria for evaluating a new saddle? A brand you always gravitate toward, or a fitter you trust above all others? Or do you just kinda wing it, like me, testing out whatever's on the tack store sales floor? 

normalized chaos

Doozy's been with us now for exactly two months, and it's been way more of an up-and-down process than I expected. Maybe I just like... forgot the early days with Charlie, or blocked them from memory? 

Or, possibly more likely, the conditions in which Mondeuse and I are trying to 'get going' are just very different. She's obviously a very different horse. Much more forward thinking --- which I want, even if it means I need to develop some new skills and techniques to accommodate. But also our environment is very different. 

Charlie lived inside the indoor arena at his first farm. The space between saying "Hello!" to Charlie, and actually getting to the riding place... could be measured in feet. Compare to about a quarter mile walk where we are now.

'what did you expect when you called me Doozy anyway?' -- mondeuse, chaos agent

And Doozy also just... Has some weird associations. I've already mentioned that she's... not totally on board with "arenas." Even walking in hand, she arrives, and basically immediately decides that, "yea ok but let's leave like, now."

The other night on our routine hand walk, I tried to wait her out... Like, it doesn't seem likely that she can get away from me, and I'm happy to take my time... But I dunno. Maybe I'm just not patient enough, bc... It honestly really didn't work, and I started worrying that we were only reinforcing the negative associations? I dunno lol. 

being such a good girl in the indoor! maybe next time i'll dust off the mirrors lol

Really, we just need to get under saddle and do things. Which, ya know, requires her to be sound. Last time I tried to do a purposeful under saddle ride (#10 for those keeping track at home) was about a week ago, and she was still pretty crippled - presumably from the recent abscess. Vet advised me to be more patient and give her another week or two... Which, sure, can do. 

So we went out for another try more recently (#13, after a few low key 'sits' focusing on other things)... and.... Guys, it was good. It was exactly the ride I needed from her. 

obstacles!!! we did not do the x-rail, but did passes over the ground pole between standards at the far end

It checked a few boxes off the list:

First and foremost, it was the first time I used a 'normal' mounting block with zero assistance (I was alone, tho my friend down in the barn had a timer set for checking on me if need be lol). And she continued her trend of being shockingly excellent at this somewhat vulnerable and risky operation that, imo, a lot of people take for granted. 

Secondly, the ring was occupied when we arrived, with a person finishing up a ground work session who then left before we got on. And that was all ok too. To me, these are immense steps in establishing our independence, vs relying on favors, good will, or help to get our work done. 

Thirdly, this is the first ride where I felt like... we rode. Which might sound stupid bc I've had the horse for 2 months and have been sitting on her for as regularly as her soundness allowed... 

post-ride pic, but basically a reenactment of her being a very good girl at the mounting block

But ya know, most of those early rides were sorta feeling each other out, seeing what she'd do, how she'd be. Or like, all that hacking out we've done --- just letting her be peaceful in a group of nice horses without really messing with her. 

In this ride, tho, esp given the fuckery of trying to get stuff done with hand walking, I wanted to push a little more. Mostly me - be more accountable for steering, corners, figures, straightness. Making sure I'm actually telling Doozy how I want her to be. Pilot, not passenger, right?

guys she has the prettiest face, but is always like, mid-expression when i take a picture. always.

I also wanted Doozy to feel like she "worked" too. And, granted, I'm not convinced her soundness is 100% yet, but she was fine enough for a few sessions of trotting on good footing. And ya know, if that's not fine, that tells us something too, right? 

So anyway, it felt like tracking left was quieter for her this ride, tracking right she was a bit more shy of the wall. We walked and trotted over a bunch of ground poles, including two that were more or less in a line. Was a nice opportunity to get a better feel for how to ride her straight from the shoulders. 

I practiced more transitions too. Like, not much haha, just more. And it honestly felt like Doozy started to get the picture of, ya know, if we're trotting around, it's bc... I just want you to trot around. That's it, actually. 

Finally, she experienced a little more exposure to arena obstacles -- ground poles, standards, jumps, a barrel... None of it mattered. And she was totally comfortable going over a ground rail between two standards. Nice! 

T.T. presents a trial saddle, bc good girls get their own equipment, eventually

Honestly, it felt like a normal walk trot ride with a green horse. Felt like exactly the type of ride I know I can build from, if only we could just do this more. 

Most interesting little take away was that... I dismounted inside the ring after being satisfied with our accomplishments for the day, told her she was wonderful, loosened the girth and ran up the stirrups, all that... Then out we went for the quarter mile walk down to the barn. 

And here's what really reaffirmed some of my suspicions --- she was great for this walk. My sense is that she's really anticipatory of impending "work." After even an easy ride and dismount, she understood the "work" was over. But on our hand walks, she's never really sure. I see that as a fixable issue, but in the meantime, really wanna prioritize the riding haha. 

the angles on this pic are a bit skewed (like, you can't see her neck well lol), but she is really filling out!!

So. All good things. At least, on this day LOL. If she's teaching me one thing -- it's to just take each day as it comes. Tho... Well, our local consignment tack shop had their version of a "Little Tent Sale" this weekend, and I decided that maybe Doozy did deserve a few new purchases after all. Details to come!

wednesday wins

Happy midweek, y'all! It's been a bit quiet around here for horse things, since I'm catching up with other life stuff that got missed while I was down with ye olde 'rona virus recently, womp haha... 

barnyard perspectives with the red mare

But "quiet" doesn't mean non-existent, fortunately! Y'all might remember the somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but also kinda serious post I wrote about Doozy flunking her '30 day performance review.'

The gist was basically that... We're really going to need to see this horse be rideable from a soundness perspective sooner rather than later, and I put some specific numbers and metrics around what that'll mean to me by the time we get to around the 90 day milestone. 

oooooh barn hacks with a babysitter too!

And ya know. It takes two to tango, right? If for whatever reason, we get to 90 days and Doozy hasn't cleared those benchmarks... Well, it should NOT be for lack of trying on my part. 

So... sure, Doozy's foot is still sore from her recent giant abscess. But we can get a little creative in carefully and gently logging new and important adventures and experiences all the same, right?

the littlest loop that somehow still manages to check off a lot of good "hacking" boxes!
landmarks, ridden counter clockwise: sheep top right corner, stream bottom left corner

Like recently, when we "hacked out" under the careful supervision of a junior who volunteered to hand walk her horse around with us to 'baby sit.' 

Does Doozy need a baby sitter? Maybe not. Does she like it tho? Yep, she does. Is it nicer to log happy relaxed experiences right now? Yep, it is. 

artsy?? or just too sheepish to ask for a pic? you decide!

It's especially nice when we get to that little stream crossing at the bottom of the wooded section heading back to the barn (bottom left corner of the above map). Doozy has crossed the stream in hand with water in it, and has crossed the section under saddle when it was dried up (is a very small stream branch).

But she'd never successfully crossed it under saddle while water flowed through. Until, that is, this ride!! Good girl!!

just #sheepish things

And ya know, context, situation, circumstances... They all work together, right? I'd hand walked her over it with legit zero issues the day before -- after having not seen it at all for a few weeks. And now we had a nice calm horse leading the way. 

did i mention that it rained a bit during our recent starter trials -- great way to get all the little streams and such flowing again!

Doozy definitely wanted to go back to the barn, and understood that the shortest way home was over the little stream. And ya know, we were patient and let her sniff it out and think through her steps. And, ta da!, she did a little hop over it. Whaddagooodguurrrl!!!

omg look at these cute custom coasters created by one of our barn workers!

It was a really nice experience bc, from her perspective, a lot of nice things happened after she crossed the stream: 

First, obvi, going home, yay, her favorite! But second, she got a shit ton of praise for it, which she wasn't necessarily expecting. But definitely seemed to like. 

legit the actual cutest, i love them! will also *never* be used as coasters bc... too cute haha

That's the cool thing about her personality, too --- she seems really highly connective, highly sociable. Remember in the video I took when we first met her, when she both wanted to connect with the dog running around outside the round pen... but also wanted to join up with the handler conducting the round pen work. 

resident barnyard panther Icee took a mouse into Charlie's stall for a little light murder/torture

My hope is that if I can help her connect the dots between the work I'm asking her to do, and that really nice praise and reward, she'll have a big breakthrough about like... everything haha. 

But ya know. The whole 'sore foot' situation kinda works against me simultaneously --- if she instead connects anything we do with, 'wow that sucked bc my foot hurt!' then, ya know, that just makes everything harder. So as always, it's a balancing act. 

lol and then there are my fat house cats haha.... 

We have options, tho, right? I had thought to maybe keep the horse barefoot behind over the winter, if possible. But not at the expense of being able to cope with all the rocky pathways and driveways etc. So we'll see. 

In the meantime, we'll take the wins where we get them! Hope y'all are having a nice week too ;) 

fractional dimensions

It might not seem like there's much overlap between subjects, but I often draw from my background in mathematics in approaching and understanding training and development with horses. For example, with ideas like the 'least common denominator,' or 'irreducible complexity.' 

look at these ridiculous big boys (and spirit), hungry for breakfast but too silly to come down to the gate <3

The least common denominator is the smallest shared multiplier in a set of numbers -- the smallest possible "building block" that can be used to arrive at those numbers in combination. 

Irreducible complexity is the idea that a process has been condensed to its most fundamental elements - that it cannot be simplified any further and still function.

nothing comes between this one and her food

So when it comes to the whole process involved in your typical normal run-of-the-mill ride, I try to see and understand all the various component pieces at play. For example -- bringing the horse in from the field, if applicable. Grooming. Tacking. Getting to the ring or riding place, getting on. Actually conducting the ride (and all the various systems therein). Finishing, and reverse-engineering all the previous steps, etc.

different day, same story: professional hand grazer

In an ideal world, all those various steps are more or less independent from each other. Or at least, that's the ultimate goal, right? We want to establish each 'step' as its own confirmed skill, more or less. "Good citizenship."

Realistically, tho, little hiccups, disruptions, etc, in any step can bleed into and influence a ride.... You might remember that was kinda the big focus of Charlie's first little show --- the actual dressage tests were almost secondary. Our main goal was just to make it through each step in a new, more stressful environment (ie, the show), without any major issues.**

(**Like falling off at the mounting block, or the horse breaking away from the trailer.... Ya know, hiccups lol)

ooooh charlesaurus!

This thought process is helpful right now with Doozy, too -- and for a few reasons! Obvi, first off, she's still sore on that abscess foot and vet wants me to just be a little patient with her, since it was such a big abscess. Cool, no prob, we can work on other things!

Secondly, tho, it's also becoming clear that Doozy has some associations and triggers related to arenas that... definitely predate her time with me lol. Like, most horses are some degree of barn sour, esp when they're more green. But she really feels a certain sort of way about being inside vs outside a ring, any ring, and it'll take time to unpack that. 

his feet still hurt, but we enjoyed each other's company anyway

But in the meantime... I'm getting the sense that she's maybe a bit superstitious, highly associative. And as such, I don't want to lose sight of my ultimate goal of having a complete, confirmed riding horse who can do all the normal riding horse things more or less independent of environment, circumstance or potential 'triggers.' 

just a little loop around!

So my approach right now is to keep the scale fairly micro. Focus on one thing at a time -- the least common denominator. Reduce each process to its absolute simplest form. 

Like, Grooming - check, good girl. Done. Hand walking - can go here, can go there, can graze. Must always give to pressure. Can do laps to new and different places - good girl, done. 

next up, my other nqr horse!!

At least in this particular example, I'm finding it helpful to step up my own discipline too -- to be really really certain that I always know exactly what I'd like the horse to be doing, and am communicating that as clearly as I can.

Now that we're getting to know each other better, it feels like I need to be more proactive in keeping us on task. Like: walking laps in hand around the dressage ring -- Doozy straight up doesn't love this, gets a bit worked up, and will snort and try to whip around on the line. 

But.... lol... She will also stand there easily in hand if I lean over to grab a ground rail from outside the ring, and drag it into position so we can walk over it. 

she couldn't believe i'd wear denim in a borrowed saddle.....

On the face of it, these two behaviors seem a bit incongruent, right? Except what I'm finding out is that... the difference is my behavior. When we're just mindlessly walking laps or whatever, to Doozy that's basically the absence of any clear direction or occupying task. 

Esp compared to times when I need her to do a certain thing -- like when I'm opening or shutting a gate, turning on lights, picking manure out of the footing, or moving ground poles around. She's stellar for all that. So ya know, maybe it's on me to help keep us a little busier with interesting 'micro tasks' until such a time as we're sound enough for proper riding work.

easy pathway hacks #4lyfe

With that in mind, after a productive hand walk where I made sure to hold myself more accountable... Doozy went back into her stall while Charlie got his turn for a short 'n sweet walk about the farm! His feet are still sore but at least he walks sound now <3

legit just did a couple little laps, maybe took 7min total

Then, right back out with Mondeuse again, and this time with tack. This time focusing more on the fairly basic processes of.... getting on and off the horse. Doozy so far has been exceedingly good at mounting blocks, and the block down in our barn yard is particularly friendly. It's gigantic, super stable, basically a platform. Plus it's got a fence next to it, so the horse naturally just stays in a correct position. 

Dismounting is.... eh, not quite so good yet lol. She's clearly used to her jockeys or what have you just jumping off while she keeps motoring forever onward. It's not really a big deal, so I'm not making a big deal about it... But I am starting to communicate to her that, actually, standing is nice too. She won't know if I never tell her, right??

whadddagoooodgurrrrl!!!! such a champion!

For the actual meat of this little "ride," we basically just did a couple laps around the barn and outbuildings, going around in both directions. Past the feed shed where that scary pig lives... "Leaving" the barn yard from all the normal paths, and then "returning" again without rushing. 

And none of it was any sort of big deal. Which, obvi, it shouldn't be, lol. She's gone through exactly these same motions quite a few times already, and seems to know the drill. 

My hope is frequent low key practice on these 'micro' skills will help us avoid ever associating the little stuff with her bigger triggers --- like going into an arena lol. And, in this way, we can continue developing the shared vocabulary we'll need for me to keep her on task from the saddle too.

Or ya know, lol, maybe it's simpler than that haha. Maybe it's just nice to be able to get on and putz around a little bit on this new horse who is still kinda lame lol. And maybe that's enough in and of itself too, right?? Going through the motions one way or another --- and riding is still riding, no matter how boring LOL.