hello, Peta??

"Hello, Peta? I'd like to report a murder :( " -- Charlie, probably.

the poor, long suffering sir.....

 

yepppppers, i did it again

 

"how could you do this to me, tho??" -- charlie, definitely trying to hide how much he loves getting fussed over haha

 

still a handsome horse, tho, chuck!!

 

"i'll see myself out :( "

 

probably commiserating on the difficult life they lead LOL

 

unrelated. enjoy some gifs from volunteering at fair hill last weekend! here's a shot of the USEA Volunteer Program's first gold medal winner -- 2,000 recorded hours wow.
(my thoughts on this program remain unchanged, for those curious)

 

Sally Cousins & Wizard sailing through the Intermediate coffin complex

 

Laine Ashker & Call Him Paddy make easy work of the Prelim coffin

 

why go all the way to Paris when the Olympians are right in your back yard???
here's Boyd Martin & Joey Fiddlesticks on the Modified track

 

Caroline Pamukcu & HSH Sebastion wrapped up our day in the Training division

 

I'm doing a lot less volunteering this year now that I actually have a riding horse, omg haha. Ya know. The whole "Keep the Main Thing, the Main Thing" deal. But it's still fun to get out to my favorite venues once a month! 

Might actually be jussst enough to button up my bronze ranking (500 hours at recognized events) in the Volunteer Medal Program!! Gotta get that pin and certificate, yo.... lol....

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 ;) 

la niña strikes back!

I hinted about it in recent posts, but it's been DRY around these parts lately! Which isn't super unusual, I guess. Seems like we never get much rain from about June to August, with the exception of concentrated hit-or-miss T-cell storms.

welcome to Rain Watch 2024

This time of year was always the worst for Charlie -- a real balancing act between keeping him in some semblance of work, without beating his feet into the hard dry ground. 

always interesting watching the storms roll in from 9 floors up

Doozy doesn't seem to have the same sensitivities... Or at least, certainly not at our current level of work LOL! 

pictured: driving north to charles, looking west where it's raining near doozy

It's a good thing, too, bc one of the biggest challenges in moving barns after so long in one place is the resulting shakeup in my team of pros. Charlie's new farm is still within my original farrier's territory, but Doozy's is not. So my original farrier made a referral for us.

increased turnout + growing grass + daily rides = HOLY TOE GROWTH, BATMAN!
pic taken at 4wks 3 days since last shoeing

Tho I'm not sure we made the best first impression on the new guy either, whoops!! I had to cancel our first appointment at the last minute bc of jury duty... so by the time he first met the horse she was about a week past due (at 6wks when ideally she'd get done at 5wks). 

Guys. Pro tip: Any good professional will do a good professional job.... but it's still in our best interest to present the horse as clearly well cared for, maintained, and managed lol. Like, it's hard to take claims of high standards seriously when the horse looks like a hot mess, right?

playing with puddles

But ya know. This new guy did a very nice job, put very beautiful shoes on Doozy, and we scheduled our next appointment based on how her feet looked at that time --- which again, had been at 6wks. 

He has other clients at this farm, so we figured if Doozy could stretch to 6wks again I'd be able to get on the same cycle as those other clients -- a win win for everybody, right?

calling it right now: at some point this mare is probably gonna roll with me in some water lol

Meanwhile, Doozy's lifestyle has changed dramatically over the last month. She went from quarantine in a dry lot, with only very low intensity riding.... To overnight turnout in a large grassy field, with the addition of finally getting into regular daily work. 

Oh, and another unintended bonus from switching farms?? Doozy (and Charlie too, actually) got a significant upgrade in her daily nutrition -- at less cost to me. Crazy how some farms just have quality feed included in board like that, LOL(sigh).

possibly an ill-advised ride overall lol... sand all up in'er bits! and we pulled a shoe, womp

All this, plus Doozy's innate thoroughbred qualities mean that her toes have straight up jumped the shark.... At legit only 4wks and 3days, you could probably host the Miniature Winter Olympics off those ski slopes omg!

well well well, if it isn't the consequences of my own poor choices!

I was absentmindedly weighing options for how to present this conundrum to my brand new farrier, while strolling around in the immediate aftermath of one of the aforementioned T-cell storms. We'd just gotten like an inch of rain in about 30min, and yours truly thought it would be fun to play around with the puddles in our soggy outdoor ring. 

Ya know. On my long-toed creature, who's been living in more or less draught conditions for a few weeks. Do you see where this is going?

eh, she needed done anyway and the farrier was able to come out asap!

Yea. Uh, whoops? Poor Doozy made a good effort of the slop (esp considering it was her Ride 1 after a day off), but predictably got a bit bogged down and pulled a shoe. Womp womp.

fresh kicks!! new farrier has a plan, and i'll be curious how her feet develop over time, esp re: lateral symmetry given her conformation

Turns out, Charlie pulled a shoe too in the same thunderstorm (tho he did that by himself --- no stupid pilot errors involved there!). I guess if it rains hard enough after a long enough draught, just about anything can happen with those poor shoes.

charles got in on the fun too -- tossing one shoe a couple days before his farrier appt, and then another shoe AFTER OMG said appt. brosef, why tho!

Luckily both farriers have been super responsive and both horses were able to get reset without a lot of fanfare. Obvi Charlie will be sad sore and pitiful for a little while bc... Well. He's retired for a reason, right? 

my lame ass gelding's literal face after he chased Avi away from his fence-line girlfriend....

But ugh. Summer is my least favorite season for exactly these kinds of situations!! If you need us, we'll just be hiding out, biding our time and waiting for better conditions come Fall....

Well. Except for Charlie, who is clearly already living his #BestLife, sore feet be damned LOL

friday foto finish

Happy Friday, y'all!! It's been kinda interesting around these parts lately, but in like.... a really familiar and comfortable way that almost feels like.... settling in. 

barn mate snapped this epic misty morning shot!

It has probably been YEARS since I've ridden 5-6 days a week so consistently. But Doozy seems to absolutely flourish in this routine. And for reasons beyond my comprehension, it's been easier to stick to the schedule at the new place.

finally, new tall boots! Mondoni Whitehaven, ordered from Divoza

The daily riding, plus re-introducing my favorite riding apps (a metronome + interval timer that dings every 2min), have helped us rapidly develop a standard "package" for our sessions. 

Instead of just trying to keep a lid on things while existing through all three gaits in a more or less balanced posture.... Well, we're actually working on refining stuff now! Practicing transitions! Trotting figures for literal minutes on end. Cantering only when asked. **Half halting omg**

finally, a decent zipper too haha

And like. Don't get me wrong. Doozy still comes out a little wild sometimes. Esp on Ride 1 after a day off. But it feels like we've got mutually agreed upon parameters -- more of a shared vocabulary. 

ok ok so they're kinda knockoffs of the mountain horse boots... just ya know. $200 less lol, nbd

For months, the overwhelming feeling of riding this horse was just that.... everything felt so hard. And I do mean everything. But suddenly.... Idk, we're starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel LOL!

spectating lauren nicholson casually hopping around the P course at Hunt Club
good lord, tho, that grass looks thirsty!

Which, obvi, is a very welcome and reassuring feeling. Esp considering, we still aren't exactly doing anything truly ground breaking at the moment. But I honestly just get such a strong sense from the mare that, once she understands the game, once she knows the rules etc... all the rest will come fairly easily to her. So we keep plugging away!

doozy hackin about with her new friends <3

And almost without me quite realizing it, we hit kinda a big milestone this past week. For the first time probably since 2015 or 2016, I actually had three lessons omg in the span of about a week, give or take!!

our grass is getting a little desperate for rain, not gonna lie

I wrote about our clinic ride with Dom Schramm last week, and then this Sunday we made it over to dressage trainer C!! We've actually seen her a few times in recent memory, but I haven't written about it bc... ya know. It's still just the basics and without any videos or photos, ehh... It's all been said already haha, now we're just out doin it.

ooooh --- dooz out in the wild for a dressage lesson!

Still, tho, it's worth it for my obsessive documentarian self to at least capture that the lessons are happening. And this was a good one in that, there really aren't any big notes or takeaways other than "keep going!" 

legit such a pro at the trailer these days

Doozy was able to strut around showing off her new and metronome-improved trot rhythm, while politely acquiescing to small adjustments in bend and posture. Then the wheels fell off a little bit in canter --- but in that perfect "this is the work" kind of way where nobody (including the horse) got flustered or undone.

drive-by charles!!! whose grass has somehow managed to get more rain??

We just worked through it, and focused on helping Doozy find her balance. Trainer C wanted me to ride a little more off my thighs in canter -- which at first kinda worried Doozy, she didn't quite know what to do with that. But so long as I could stay soft (vs. rigid), it ended up helping. 

he's already cultivating new minions <3 <3 <3

Overall, Trainer C wants to see me get more weight into my lower legs and heel ("Feel as tho you could stand up at any moment"), and maybe move my seat far enough to the left that I feel off center --- since I actually trend toward sitting too far on the right side. This jives well with Dom's observation that I tip too much off the right side too. Not news, but still needs work!

meanwhile. what is it with cats wanting to stand on top of our feet lol

So that posture work continues to be my main focus in our solo rides, even as we keep up with all the same gymnastic and footwork practice. Tho -- big news! Our most recent practice session was actually in eager anticipation of the last of the 3 recent lessons --- the return of trainer Kelly!

oh hey look, it's **another** picture of poles on the floor!! WOW!

I rode with her somewhat consistently throughout 2022, before Charlie's hoof injury. She has an impressive resume in both upper level eventing and grand prix show jumping, all with the same horse who remains (I believe to this day) hale hearty and sound. My hope with her had been to get good coaching that was also empathetic to my protectiveness around Charlie, and she definitely fit the bill.

 

ha i tried a new arrangement too. turns out we aren't quite ready for straight lines tho

So ya know. Everything is different now... But the new place lets us bring in outside trainers, and she bases nearby! Perfect!! It's too early to get my hopes up, bc the logistics of "regular lessons" always prove more complicated than anybody expects... Plus ya know. Humans are humans and sustainable coaching relationships require good cultivation (on both sides). 

we love the big X's tho!

But Kelly's first session with us felt promising. We spent a lot of time catching up, and talking about what Doozy's done so far, etc, and then she basically observed while I put the mare through a typical flatwork session. I'd set up our standard exercises the night before as a practice run, since Doozy does so well with repetition, and everything was still in place the next day so we kinda just repeated all of it for Kelly.

and getting to be nonchalant about all the fill too

And guys, Doozy was on her A-Game for sure. Like, was lovely on the flat, still obvi green, but very game and pleasant in her pacing. And she was perfect to our little jumps!! 

Kelly made a few adjustments to my standard setup -- she encouraged me to set my takeoff pole at 7' instead of 9' if I'm planning to trot it, just to help Doozy not have to make a big move at the last minute if she does actually trot all the way in. To make this set up realistic for me when I'm on my own, she suggested using one of the jumps more toward the middle of the ring so that I could approach the jump from both the right and the left while always jumping it the same direction -- so the takeoff can be 7' and the landing can be 9'.

I will definitely adopt this method, tho also think the 9' takeoff was what we needed to first introduce this gymnastic, given how frantic and launch-y Doozy was post-Jenny Camp. The extra space gave us a little more room for forgiveness when she predictably rushed. She's over that, now, tho. So we can refine!

good girl, dooz <3 maybe one day i'll get video of our rides again!

It was a great session tho bc we got to the point where I'd usually call it -- after a couple nice reproducible efforts -- and Kelly said, yea ok but let's do a little more. And while Doozy remained lovely and game, she did make a couple little mistakes, which obvi meant that we had to keep repeating the exercise. 

But it was just like with the canter in our last dressage lesson with Trainer C. It wasn't a big deal. Nobody got flustered, including the horse. It was just one of those, "gotta work through it" educational moments. Doozy just had to figure out how to be patient to this shorter distance takeoff pole in order to have a comfortable clean pass over the vertical. That's.... literally the lesson lol. And she figured it out, good girl!

days are getting shorter tho!!

Also was a good reminder to me that, this is legit what the lessons are for. Having that ground person guide me (and reset the jumps when we clobber them lol) and push me for that extra effort needed for the breakthroughs. 

Here's hoping we can keep it up lol. Happy weekend, y'all!