Take Time

Woosh! 2016 is here! That went by too fast! 

I’m going to do a short update because although quite a bit has been happening, it’s been all in tiny chunks; nothing huge or noteworthy.

Since moving to his new home, these things have happened:

• All the riding: 3-4 days a week, trail rides, training, you name it
• And then none of the riding: Christmas + January holidays = three weeks off
• Those minor legs wounds from the moving in party: taking longer to heal than first expected, but almost there now
• Developing a trait of stocking up when turned out 24/7 (!! Who does this??) because of too much time standing at the fence watching other horses eat. Yup. Copper thinks he’s Forever. Alone.
• Me freaking out over puffy legs even though he’s not lame and the swelling is not hot, but still trying different things like: rest, no rest, exercise on hard ground, exercise in the arena, poulticing, not poulticing, etc..
• Discovering that rest is bad, straight lines and gentling exercise, thumbs up!!
• Feeding horse almost everyday because said horse is spending too much time watching everyone else eat… I just …..(-_-)
• But on that note, enjoying the less fat pony! He’s really at a better weight right now, and he looks GOOD.
• Oh yeah, and this happened: a special photoshoot together. Enjoy!

See ya,

bonita

Moving Shenanigans & Settling In

Shenanigans > (greater than) Settling into new paddocks. That about says it all doesn’t it?
Sunday morning, out in the paddock…

- “Rawh! My treatz!” says Copper to Robbie, his best bud -

- “Oh-tay, we iz fwends agin… Wut you mean – Buh Beye? I dunna get it…” -

- “Oh, dis wut you mean… One of dese homen-beanz horse gobbling fingz.” -

- “Srsly – agin with de clicky fing? No… Won’t smile… Wanna eat.” -

- “Weh you goin’? …Mom! …Mom!! DON”T LEAVE ME!!! I DON’T NOE ANYONEZ HERH!!” -

- “Told ya not to go…. *insert smirk*” -

- “I didn’t noes fencez bit! Honest!” -

- “Hai… I iz glad you here…” -

- *omnomnomnom* -

So long story - everything was going really smoothly with our move...  Turns out, it didn’t quite stay that way!!  :O

We started by picking up the hire float, then fetching Copper in from the paddock.

I prepped him for travel with float boots and plaiting up his tail. Copper walked up the ramp, stopped – had a sniff and a look, then marched right on.

I was so relieved… I didn’t expect any trouble, I know he’s been well trained with floats being an ex-racer off the track, but counting it up – Copper hasn’t been out on a float in over four years!  So I was kind of wondering if he’d be easy or a bit tricky.

We got over to our new home in 45 minutes or so – and he travelled really well, no clopping or clattering around – just eating from his hay net.  I should take him out more often…  :P

He unloaded fine, we walked around and explored; said hello to new pony faces over the fences, and then walked every inch of his new boundary fences.  *phew!* That took a while – and less than half way through he was all: “Can we stahp? Bored now… I want munchies!”

Copper was looking fairly settled - still a bit stressed and anxious, but he wasn't pacing or anything. He was eating, drinking, pooping and peeing - very normal horse behaviour, so I went home to fetch a hose and come back to fill up his trough.


In the hour or so that I was gone the dingbat ran through a border fence between paddocks and ended up in the neighbour's paddock!!



He was okay, but had to be rescued by the neighbour. He ended up with some abrasions on the front of his hind cannons - right on the front/under his hocks.

There was also a minor cut that was a bit deep, it had a skin flap that I gently pulled back and flushed with a ton of betadine!

I bandaged the cut, I was hoping that would hold the skin flap on so it would reattach, but the bandage slipped down in the night and the skin flap was half attached, and half dried up when I came back out the next morning.  

I fully expected to see swelling and lameness, but he was actually pretty good. So I guess it’s all’s well that ends well – for that kind of incident it could have been a lot worse.

If it teaches him to respect the fence though, I guess that's good, because seriously horse!



Such a silly boy...

But he is all "Don't leave me!!" when I go down, so I do feel sorry for him.



He's uncharacteristically clingy...

He is fretting a bit, and won't go into the actual paddock to eat. He's just staying the lane way down the front which isn’t very large, and doesn’t have much grass at all.

I mean, it's not like he couldn't stand to lose a few (Let’s be real here - a lot!) kilos, but I don't want him to colic.

I have been visiting him twice a day – once in the morning, and once in the evening for the last three days; Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

On Wednesday morning, this happened:

Yep, first ride in new place… 

There’s not much to say about it, except he was a lot more rideable than what I’d been expecting!

With a little lunge (when he was trotting he exhaled the giant breath he’d been holding… Lol) and some lateral work at a walk, he was listening and felt quite relaxed when I hopped off 20 minutes later!

I was stoked – I feel like the work we’ve be doing towards learning how to relax even in tense moments has really been sinking in! He had all his marbles, but he was nice and forward – I was thinking that this would be a great competition frame of mind. ;)

It’s all groovy baby. 

See ya,
bonita

Wave Goodbye; We Are Off To A New Paddock

It is exciting and sort of scary, but definitely exciting – Copper and I are moving to a new equestrian complex this weekend.

We’ve been agisting at the same paddocks for over a decade, and it’s been great. The people and horses at our paddocks are fabulous – we all get along and have never really had any of that barn drama.

I’m going to miss them all.

Copper’s been running with his herd for years, and I know he’s going to miss his friends too.

I’m also going to miss the familiar, beautiful stretches of golden fields. But I have got to say – I’m so excited to move too.

And the whole reason we are moving?

We’re upgrading to a private, two horse paddock with all the facilities you could want for riding!

I’ve been waiting for this for years, and I’m so thrilled!

Still, saying goodbye to all this… 

   

It’s going to be sad.

In many ways…

… It’s the end of an era.

  

See ya,

bonita

Pics or it didn’t happen…

So this happened at 6 o’clock Monday morning – a ride!

He’s had two weeks off due to busyness and sickness on my part - lame, I know, but at least we are back in the saddle!

Predictably Copper was stiff, a little more unco than usual, and not a very soft ride for our first schooling session back but we still had a decent ride so I was super happy about that.

I dropped my stirrups for 10 minutes and did some no stirrup walk/trotting while circling and it really was some of the best circle work, in terms of consistent bend, that we’ve had in a while - despite the two weeks off.

I know why – it’s because my hips tend to contort on a circle, and my shoulders tip and twist and basically I make it super hard for Copper to actually work a circle correctly. I don’t know why this is – my theory is that it’s because I’ve spent so many years fighting my saddle for a correct position that the muscle memory is overtaking me and making me twist up like a pretzel.

But when I drop my stirrups something magical happens and my hips suddenly start sitting where they are supposed to be! My leg drops long to balance me, so my shoulders stay back, and basically everything suddenly works!! :O

Solution: lots of no stirrup work – particularly when riding circles. At least once, each rein, every ride. The plan is to retrain my muscles without stirrups and hopefully then be able to translate that back into the stirrups later on.

After that, I picked up my stirrups again and we had a nice as-good-as-can-be-expected trot and a decent canter on each lead.

I’m pleased that the spring sillies have gone away, and that I finally have a horse with a brain again. For about a month or so there it was like riding a four year old!

I would lunge him, and he’d be physically tired when I got up to ride him, but his brain would still be skittery, and he’d be “up” – ready to spook at the slightest thing.

It was the weirdest feeling – usually when a horse is physically tired, and Copper is like this – their brains usually calm right down. But with the spring sillies, I’d be pushing as hard as I can to keep him going, yet feeling like his brain was spinning it’s hamster wheel as fast as it could…

A very strange feeling!

So I’m very glad my pony-boy is feeling much more like himself again. Even if it was good practise working with a tense horse, I much prefer my steady Standie instead!

See ya,

bonita

One step at a time

Slowly we are pulling it together.

Our downwards transitions still suck. I need to half-halt more and keep my elbows soft and tucked by my side.

My legs are getting better, but I’m still struggling with keeping them underneath my hips.

While my core is stronger than it was, it needs to be even more stronger still. That helps me balance, and when I keep my abs switched on, so does Copper!

All that said – I’m so obsessed with this recent schooling video.

Our canter transition is awful because this is halfway through our ride, and he was tired from cantering twice before so he’s slopping along here, but it was still quiet which is a good improvement.

He’s bobbing his head about like a duck looking for food, but the connection is getting there and he’s definitely starting to look more uphill than before, and rounded too!

I love it!

I know I’m not just seeing his improvement, I am also feeling it too. For the first time ever, the other day he actually stepped under himself properly for a downwards transition from trot to walk. I felt him reach underneath himself with his right hind, and step into the walk from behind. He’s never done that before, and it felt sooo awesome! 

Just one step, but one step forwards, and we will get there one step at a time.

See ya,

bonita

Cute Pony is Cute & New Saddle

– Hmm…  Whas dis? Licorich? -

This thing happened since my last update: we found a like-new second hand dressage saddle that works for us both. It’s the Wintec 500 dressage saddle with CAIR panels, and an adjustable gullet system that I wanted, around about a year old. And it was in stellar condition, AND it came fully mounted!

I don’t know what pony fairy was floating around to dub me with such luck, but we basically got our new saddle three weeks after that post – mid July, and we have been riding in it ever since.

- Why iz YOU here so earlies? -

It’s certainly been different riding in a dressage saddle. In all my years riding, I have never actually had a dressage saddle, or ridden in one for any length of time.

As you can imagine, this makes all the dressage training I’ve been doing challenging in its own way, and riding in the new saddle has certainly opened my eyes to some new steps to take.

Firstly, Copper lurves it. As much as a horse CAN love a saddle! The straight cut of the saddle flaps vs. the forward cut of the All Purpose has made a huge difference in the relaxation and forwardness of his shoulder movement.

I had only walked about ten strides in the saddle when we were first checking the fit before I announced to the saddle fitter that he loved it! His shoulders where moving so freely, and there was a lightness to his neck/whithers/shoulders that wasn’t there before.

It was like he was gliding over the ground!

- No… I donwanna pose for a “foto” – wut evah dat iz. Put dat silly clickin fing away! *pout* -

As far as it affects me – it’s all about finding a new centre. Because the dressage saddle actually facilitates correct rider balance and shoulder/hip/heel alignment, for the first time I’m really able to focus on balance, using my lower leg effectively and working much more efficiently with my seat.

It’s so exciting! It’s so painful!! My abs, calves and ankles start burning after about fifteen minutes and by the end of our half hour session, my muscles are so fatigued I am ready to be out of the saddle!  Ha!

Dressage riding = better than sit ups.

- Hai up der! -

I have to work a million times harder to keep myself in a correct position, but in between my bobbling about on his back, we are having some brilliant-I-can-taste-the-future-moments.

In bullet points not to bore you:

• I got the purest trot I’ve ever had from him at least twice now; a clean, golden, perfect, 1-2 beat with soft, through back. It was magical, and I wanted it to last forever!
• A walk that was a smooth and as rideable as butter. I can’t even – how do you describe that?
• Even his weakest gait – the canter, is much more forward, but at the same time, less zoom-y and unbalanced. Very good.
• When I fold at the base of my ribs, suck in my abs and switch them on, Copper relaxes his back and will connect stronger from back to front.
• When I turn my toes in, and allow my lower calf to hug his sides, I’m finding that my lower leg is stabilizing (wonders of wonders!).
• My position at the trot: I’m focusing really hard keeping my knees and lower legs ON his sides, and not letting them swing forwards and off. To help with this, I keep my abs on, the base of my rib cage soft and really try to keep my back soft, but straight. 
• Because of my ‘duck butt’, what feels like a rounded back, is actually a straight, soft back and Copper really responds to that softness in my back.

All this means that I feel like we are on a new track to improving. I’m able to use my seat more effectively in a rising trot now that my lower leg is stabilized, and because of that, his gait is becoming cleaner and more controlled.

This is very exciting for me and definitely a huge break through! I can’t wait to see how we get on from here. :D

See ya,

bonita

Saddle Fit Woes aka In Which I Need a New Saddle… D’Oh!

So I had the saddle fitter out to Copper the other day (a week and a half ago now? Gee, that went fast!) because of the way his saddle has been slipping around on me.

Basically the long and short of it is: the Wintec 500 All Purpose saddle fits him just fine. It does not fit me.

- The Random Hat sits on a fence -

I need to shorten my stirrups two holes from where they are at the moment so that my weight is keeping the saddle anchored in place as I rise to the trot/circle/go faster – as in canter –/etc. 

Ouch.  Yeah, I know I generally tend to ride long, but that is way short, and really my joints won’t like it. My ankles and knees tend to hurt if they are jammed up like that for a long time. Now from my reading I know I could potentially help this problem by purchasing some composite stirrups with a wider foot bed, but there’s also the problem of that pesky stirrup bar.

I know that’s the point of All Purpose saddles, to BE all purpose, but really, can’t I get one with the stirrup bars set back under the thigh, but with a shallower seat to get the best of both worlds??

Basically, if I want to keep pursuing dressage, I need a dressage saddle. I’m fighting with the positioning the AP shoves me into every time I ride. It’s messing with my leg position, which is messing with my seat and back. My saddle fitter told me I had a “duck butt”.  (-__-‘) Yay.

Now, to be fair, that’s partly my posture post-three babies and two c-sections. Yeah, that stuff really messes with your abs. My lower back is slightly sway because of that. So my butt is going to poke out more than is correct until I can get the abs strength back to correct my skeletal alignment.

So. There it is.

- Wanna to do moar of dis - 

Now, the conundrum remains – do I sell the AP to fund the dressage saddle? Or do I say goodbye to my ‘new camera fund’ and buy a second saddle?

A break down of my rides usually consists of 2/3 training in the arena, and 1/3 trail riding. Yes, I would totally use a dressage saddle on the trails because why not?

But the thing is, I like jumping. Even though I haven’t jumped in years because I’ve been pregnant/post-pregnancy, had a young, green horse – Joey for a year and a half instead of Copper, etc, I still want to be able to jump.

I can’t if I don’t keep the AP. Which also could probably use longer billets on it to help anchor the saddle in place. $120 odd dollars plus whatever I need for the new girth as well as a new dressage saddle. Fabulous.

So is anyone looking to sell a Wintec 500 dressage saddle with CAIR panels, an adjustable gullet system that is less than four years old?

Because I’m looking to buy.

See ya,

bonita