Wishing for a white xmas!

Currently, it is raining and 32*, so though the weather is currently lame, there is hope for a white xmas! The forecast has been really back and forth this week, I guess the storm is unpredictable. At first they were saying it would snow Tuesday-Thursday and accumulate 9 inches. Then they said no snow, just rain. Now they are saying that we should expect about 7 inches between this evening and Saturday!

I rode Boomer yesterday and Monday and he did well both days. Monday, John came out to watch and see our improvement. Boomer was pretty good about everything we have been working on and nailed the right lead canter transition, but the couldn't seem to get the left lead. he just kept trotting faster. We had to take a little break and move to the other end of the arena, and then he nailed it in both directions. John was impressed that we were doing a walk-canter transition. I was impressed that a) he noticed and b) he knew the difference! After the ride I rasped his hooves a little and clipped his muzzle. I am going to try to make Monday the designated day for extra grooming maintenance. I figure that will help keep things from getting out of hand and will end up taking less time in the long run. His hooves are looking really good. His nail holes are almost all grown out already. I have stopped giving him a biotin hoof supplement because I am curious to see how good his hooves really are. He has never not had the supplement as far as I know and I wonder if it is unnecessary. So, we will see how that works in a few months.

Our ride Wednesday was pretty good as well. I lunged him for about 20 minutes first to see if that made any sort of difference. I think it did help with his excess energy. Boomer has always warmed up the same way, under saddle and on the lunge. He takes about 5-10 minutes to stretch and wake up, the he has a huge blow out of high energy for about 5-10 minutes, and then he is ready to work. So, when I got on, he just needed suppling and stretching rather than to blow out his energy. I don't mind riding him in a long warm up, but I was just curious what lunging would do. His cantering is continuing to improve, especially to the right. I set up 8 cones around a circle so that I had to steer between them and he did very well with slowing down and steering. I was very happy. I actually felt like he was slowing and balanced enough that I could sit back and count his hoof fall pattern with my seat. You know that nice slow one-two-three you feel in your seat as you are rocking your hips forward with each stride? Yeah, we got that!

Boomer is still a little resistant about bit contact and was really having a time of it, throwing his head above the bit. I ordered a full cheek french link snaffle to see if that would help. He (and other arabs) tend to have smaller mouths and lower palates and a traditional single jointed snaffle can really put a lot of pressure on the roof of the mouth. If that doesn't work I think I will have his teeth checked when the vet comes out for spring shots. I have also considered having a chiropractor out as he is just not getting over this stiffness issue on his left side. With all of the pulling back and flipping over he has done in the last year and a half, I wouldn't be surprised if he has some neck/poll stiffness. We do neck stretches during our ride. I make him stretch to the left and right and touch my boot for a few seconds on each side 2-3 times at the beginning of the ride and again whenever he starts to feel stiff. He has really started to understand that he has to stretch AND soften in order to get a release and he has started holding the stretch even after I release. I think he enjoys the stretch, especially to the right.

Less than 2 weeks until my first lesson! I had hoped to get in at least nine rides before then and it looks like I am well on my way to making that goal. I think that our canter has almost gotten to the point where it isn't completely embarrassing. It is at least becoming obvious that we are trying, for what thats worth! Leg yields continue to improve and straighten, with his hind end not trailing nearly as much. Our biggest problem is his resistance to the bit and carrying his head up high. We definitely get good quality work at the walk and usually at the trot, but about 30-40% of the ride he is high headed. I am looking forward to Karin's take on how to get him to round down. I have noticed that pushing him forward actually brings his head down, however counterintuitive that is!

So, lots to work on and lots to look forward to! Next year should be a good one!

Back to the english saddle!!!

I rode in my hunt saddle (Crosby Prix Des Nations) today for the first time in months! It was simultaneously familiar and foreign. I have had my hunt saddle since I was about 11 or 12, so I haven't really ridden in vary many different styles of saddles and didn't really realize how much of a difference they could make in body position. The western saddle gives me a great deep seat, putting me back on my pockets and giving me a nice long leg that falls from the hip. However, all of the leather between me and the horse is noticeable, especially the stirrup fenders. I really only had the option of cuing with my spur as my calf didn't really have much impact. The hunt saddle, on the other hand, really pitches me forward into a traditional 'hunt seat'. My legs are inclined to be further forward, with less drop. Even when I sit deep, I am still sitting further forward in the saddle than is ideal. This probably has something to do with the fact that I have grown somewhat since I was 12. The upside to this saddle is that I can really use almost every part of my legs (except for the upper thigh which feels slightly hindered due to the forward body position). Also, it is so much lighter and makes tacking up so easy! It is so light that I can hold it on one arm and put the cooler on the horse with the other hand. Also, I can do that because I am awesome and an expert multi-tasker.

The ride itself was very good. It took me a little while (ahem, the whole hour) to get used to the english saddle again. But we continued working on the same stuff, relaxation, circles, bends, trotting, cantering, etc. His trotting was a little slow and unexciting today, so we pushed a little and I got some quality strides from him. We did more leg yields at the walk and those are getting much straighter. Another HUGE improvement was in the outside rein connection on the circle. I was really trying to get a good inside bend while pushing with my inside leg to keep the circle from falling in and I felt an amazing connection on the outside rein while his hips were tracking around at the same time. Hmmm... How to better describe that... It felt like he was bending with good connection in the front end, keeping up the shape of the circle, and his hind end was really working to push under and almost 'out' in order to keep the circle from collapsing. It was very awesome! Too bad I never have anyone to witness my rides! We did only a little canter work because I wasn't feeling super secure in the english saddle, but I got great, controlled, slower work in both directions right off the bat with no rushing, running, pulling, or other nonsense!

It looks like another big storm is headed our way this week, so tomorrow might be the last chance I get to ride for a few days, depending on driving conditions!

Happy holidays to everyone!!!

(enter clever title here)

I rode Boomer again today and it was hard to not expect him to be as good as he was on Wednesday. It seemed like he was a little resistant today and it took us about 30 minutes to warm up and settle in to the ride. He was bracing and tossing his head and would try and fly to the right and get off of our circle at a certain corner. He also thought about bucking once or twice at the canter. Though, I have to say, the ride ended well. After all of his shenanigans, I just gave up on slowing him down and trying to force him to relax and I just pushed him up into a fast trot and made him hold the speed while we worked on circles and figure 8's. After a while he just started to relax down and was ready to get to work. Like I said, it took about 30 minutes... but we got there! Actually, I think I got some of the best trot work out of him yet today. I was really encouraging him up get up into a faster trot without flinging his legs all over the place and racing around. I looked over in the side mirror and noticed that he was really pushing and using those hind legs and his butt muscles were positively rippling!!! I was VERY happy with seeing that! Our second effort at cantering went much better than the first.

After giving it some thought I wondered if he just had too much energy due to excess food. I have been giving him ~3 quarts of grain after I ride him and on Wednesday I added 2 scoops of Cool Calories 100 but did not decrease his grain. He doesn't need to gain any weight, but I am paranoid that he will lose weight being out on pasture. Plus, I want that shiny coat even in the winter! So, I will try next time giving him 2 quarts of grain with his two scoops of CC100. I would rather have him eating less grain anyway.

I have been selling some old horse stuff on eBay lately but there are a few pesky items that haven't sold, like a new rope halter, new travel head bumper, used tom thumb bit, and two used AP/CC baby pads. So, if anyone in blogland needs anything like that, just let me know!

Hooray Improvement (and martingales)

Today's ride was awesome!!! I wish my camera was working properly (battery isn't holding a charge for long enough to take a video) so that I could show everyone the improvement over the last few rides! I don't know if it has just taken Boomer a few rides to get back into the swing of 'arena riding' or if wearing a martingale really made such a noticeable difference. To me, arena riding is basically back yard dressage. I don't have any formal dressage training yet, but I pretty much ask Boomer to bend, soften, have contact with the bit and work off my legs. When we trail ride, he gets a loose reins and as long as he goes where I point, he is allowed to be a horse and take care of us.

It seemed like every part of our ride was better. As we warmed up at the walk on a loose rein, he was very relaxed and wasn't looking suspiciously at anything. His bends and circles were good, he was offering frequently to stretch down into my hands. His leg yields are getting better, especially to the left. We mostly stayed on a large circle for the trot work and I worked on speeding up and slowing down using my seat, which he rocked at! He also showed great improvement with moving out on a circle. He used to spiral in because he was so heavy in the front and seemed dead to my inside leg asking him to make the circle bigger, but today he was able to move right off of my leg as soon as I asked. I think that wearing spurs has helped his lateral movement and responsiveness. He was bending well and accepting contact without tossing his head or banging the bit. We worked on the canter more and that is where I saw the biggest improvement. I kept him on the same big circle as the trot and he really seemed to balance better. There were a few moments when I felt like I needed to really open up my inside rein and pick him up, but mostly he was balanced. He was really slowing down more than he ever has before and he even started seeking contact and stretching down!!! I did encourage him to speed up in the canter with my seat for a few strides and then slow him back down to make sure that he understands that there are variable speeds that I can, and will, ask for. We did a few canter/walk transitions and those were much better. he felt lighter and didn't slam onto his forehand and throw his head up. He kept balanced and I kept a leg on him to keep him moving forward as he slowed down. After the canter work he was a little excited, but did well at more small trot circles, backing, sidepassing, etc.

I am super excited with how well our ride went! I think that the 'speed up and slow down' at the trot, plus focusing on cantering only on a circle were the main things that helped with the canter speed. I think that the martingale really helped with the head tossing and kept him from slamming his head up, bracing his neck, and falling forward. I don't think I'll use it very often, but I can see where it could really help us. I didn't use it to pull him down, he just didn't try to toss his head. I never felt him brace against it either, so I feel like we are using it safely and without depending on it or being forceful. I think it will be interesting to see how much of a difference it can make. Right now, it is hard to tell because Boomer has been adjusting back into the routine of 'arena work' and has been continually improving with every ride, so it is hard to tell what is natural progression and what is benefiting from the training tool.

After our ride I put Boomer under his cooler and let him relax a little. I worked on picking some scratches scabs off of his fetlocks. It rained a lot the last week he was in training and he had some scratches on his heels. I have been trying to loosen them as much as I can without water and today they have finally stated to fall off, so I spent some time cleaning up his legs. I also tried to give him his first candy cane. The barn has a tree up in the lounge with candy canes on it for the horses and I couldn't resist! I broke it into pieces and tried the force feeding technique, but he just kept making faces like I was trying to poison him! I tried 3 or 4 times, but he just kept looking offended and trying to spit it out. I ended up just giving him a horse cookie and eating the candy cane myself! My old horse, Fire, used to LOVE peppermints. I always kept a bag of the green ones in my locker and when he heard me unwrapping one he would start to nicker and bob his head up and down. The green mints are better than the red ones, maybe Boomer would like those better too!

I am really looking forward to our next ride and can't wait to see how much we improve before our first dressage lesson! T minus 21 days!

Back to being cold!

I went out to ride again on Sunday and Boomer did very well. He was already improved from our ride on Friday. He was more supple and accepting of the bit. It amazes me how quickly he learns and adapts. We worked more on cantering. In the past, I just let him canter around a few laps in each direction on a loose rein and call it quits. He is to the point now that he has his balance and I can steer him just fine, but he hasn't slowed down any yet. So, we worked on a few exercises to help get him slowed down. First, I had him canter around the ring and drop to a trot for a circle at each end of the ring and at each side. The trot/canter transitions were keeping him excited, so I switched it and made him canter the circles and trot the rail. That was still too exciting, so we started doing walk-canter-walk-halt-back transitions. I threw in a circle at almost every letter (dressage arena letters) and that seemed to work pretty well. At times, he was anticipating the canter and was light up front with his nose up, other times he would not want to walk from the halt-back and was being lazy. The canter did seem more controlled, but not really slowing down yet. I think a few days of that drill will start to work.

I went out to ride today but Boomer had a big bite on his back and was pretty back sore around it, so I didn't ride. It was really cold, 18 and dropping, so I put on his blanket, gave him some grain and hay and called it a day!

I did speak to a lady, Karin, at the barn who is a Dressage instructor and we have made plans for me to have some lessons. She has her bronze and silver medals from USDF and has trained with olympic rider and an olympic coach. Our first day will be January 6th at 10 am. I am really excited. I spoke to her about my goals and I think she will really be able to help us. For the first lesson, I will not warm up first and then for the lessons after that, I can use her warm up drill and warm up on my own to get the most out of the lesson as possible. Also, we talked about my saddle options and I will start out in my western saddle. I get a deeper seat with the western saddle, but my hunt seat saddle gives me more free leg aids. Karin did offer to let me borrow a dressage saddle, so that might be interesting after a few lessons to try. She also talked about me riding one of her horses. She has a 20 year old gelding who is trained in the upper levels.

I am very excited to have this opportunity to train with such an experienced instructor. I really think that taking dressage lessons will help us in several ways. First, I think that dressage is a great cross-training tool for horses of any discipline, including distance riding. Second, I think that Boomer and I could really benefit from some more advanced classical training. We have the basics down, but we need help with things like drive, impulsion, correctness of transitions, and correcting the canter. We have some issues that really get me frustrated that I hope dressage an help with. Boomer tends to toss his nose into the air whenever I take contact with both reins (one rein at a time is OK), he also tends to get very heavy in the front on downward transitions. I hope that we can see some real improvement over the winter!

Before our lessons start, I want to make sure that I can ride as much as possible so that I come to her with the best horse I can. We have three weeks, so I hope to get in at least 9 rides before then! I also hope to ride at least 2-3 times between lessons so that we can progress as much as possible.

Heat Wave!!!

Phew! Todays high was 39! It felt amazing out! This next week is supposed to stay up around the 30-40 range for highs and 20-30 range for lows! Lucky for Boomer, this means a week with no blanket! I love that I have such a nice blanket for him when he needs it, but I really prefer for him to be without it as much as possible to keep the wear on his hair to a minimum.

The swelling on his leg is doing much better. He wasn't stiff on it at all today. I think the swelling should be down 100% with another 3-4 days.

I finally got to ride again since his leg is better! It was the first ride in a week, and the first indoor ride since he went to training, about 8 weeks ago! We were a little stiff and not as supple as I would have liked. He was carrying his head higher than he used to, and seemed a little confused by the rein contact (he gets ridden on a loose rein on the trail). We mostly walked and trotted, with only a little cantering. His canter is still WAY too fast and I'm sure it looks a little out of control, but I try to canter at least twice in each direction each time I ride. I'm sure that isn't enough, but I am taking it slow so that he can get used to his balance and hopefully will start to slow down on his own. At the walk and trot we worked on circles. Lots and lots of circles. One exercise I found in 101 Schooling Exercises for Horse and Rider was to make a group of 5 circles, one in the center and 4 around it. You start on the center circle and ride each of the four circles around it when you get to it. A variation would be to ride from top to bottom (three circles) then left to right (three circles). All of the changes in direction did start to help him get more flexion.

This arena is huge- 80x180! And it has mirrors! Lots of mirrors! Along one side, the mirrors are angled in at the bottom so that you can see your leg and the whole horse as you go by! I think my equitation is still fine, except at the canter, when I tense up. Though having those mirrors makes me realize how much work Boomer and I have to do! He really works in a hollow frame most of the time. I am considering taking some dressage lessons over the winter to see if we can get some feedback and help!

I felt like it was a good ride and a great starting point for our winter riding. I really hope to make some good progress this winter!

Also, Boomer seems to be maintaining his weight well on his reduced grain diet. He gets fed only when he gets worked, so today he got 2 pounds of grain and three flakes of hay. The barn also feeds when the weather is really bad, so for the last few days he has also gotten hay and 1 pound of grain daily. As much as I worry when it gets really cold, I am really liking the pasture turnout situation. I love that he can move around as much as he wants, I love that the two water tanks are heated, I love that he has a herd to interact with, I love that he can graze all day. I love the set up of the facility. The pasture has a feed shed with 20 individual stalls as well as a large feed room. I especially love how well adjusted, happy and calm all of the horses are. As I was catching Boomer today, another horse nearby laid down to nap. It really made me realize how relaxed these horses must be. The barn horses also all seem very happy. Overall, I am just pleased as punch with the new boarding facility! The three huge arenas and heated tack areas are nice too!

Winter goals

Winter is here for sure. It snowed Tuesday off and on and the highs will not get above freezing until the weekend, then back down into the twenties next week.

Once Boomer seems to be recovered from his kick I am going to get down to business with his winter riding. Obviously, I am too much of a sissy to ride outside if it is less than 40* out. So, I have been thinking of some good winter goals.

Boomer got his shoes off and is set for the winter. I hope to go to another endurance ride in late April or early May. So, from now until mid March I have lots of indoor riding time to keep us both in shape before we start legging up with trail rides in the spring.

Goal # 1: Ride at least 3 hours per week

Goal # 2: Get flying lead changes

Thats it. I know that is doable. Obviously, there are tons of things to do between here and there, but I need to have a real tangible goal for the winter, not just 'improve the canter'. I guess a good breakdown is to spend December getting the canter where I want it: under control with variable speeds and reliable steering. January will be a good time to start working on correct simple changes through the center of a figure-8 of any size. February we will work on starting to introduce the concept of flying changes. March, just keep practicing!

That should give me something to focus on and keep us from getting bored for the next few months while we are stuck inside! Most importantly, I don't want Boomer to lose his body condition over winter because he is looking really fit right now and I like it!

Confidence is the mastery of fear, not the absence of fear.

I recommend this article by Will Clinging.

I got an email from longridersgear.com (love them!) a few weeks ago with this article published in it and I meant to link it here a while ago when I was struggling with Boomer. Somehow I didn't get it published, but it has really proved to be an interesting read after all Boomer and I have gone through. I feel like we are really coming out on top of this whole situation. I think that I still have some anxiety about riding Boomer, but I also feel that my confidence grows daily.

Cute Cute Cute

No snow Monday morning, but it is getting closer! I went out to the barn to check on Boomer and found this:

AWWW!!!

He let me get close enough to sit down and feed him an apple. It was a very sweet moment! I think the high today was around 25* and it was pretty chilly! I brought Boomer up and was disappointed to see that the kick from Saturday had swollen a little. He walked sound but seemed a little stiff on it at the trot. I lunged him at a walk to help him stretch and also get used to the indoor arena (huge, by the way!).

I went by the vets office and picked up a tetanus shot and a tube of Bute paste. His last tetanus was in October of 2008 when he ripped his shoulder open.

I went out to the field and he walked up to meet me (the apples are working!). I was able to give him both the shot and 2g of Bute out in the field with just his lead over my arm. I am just continually impressed with his progression. Basic things are now just that, basic, to him. I remember dreading dewormer day or really anything that might set him off. Now, I can give him medications in the field without him moving away or even tossing his head.

Obviously, the 6 weeks of training had a lasting effect on Boomer. I'm not sure how horses think, but I really feel that what he learned there he has translated to his whole life outlook. John and I joked about it being a religious experience for him. He went there to help solve riding issues, but has come back a calmer, more tolerant horse all around.

Winter is here!

Brrr!!!! It is supposed to snow here soon! The highs this week might get above freezing and they lows are looking like single digits. I have never felt zero degrees before and I am a little nervous! I sure am glad I have an indoor arena to ride in and I'm betting Boomer is glad he has a blanket on these COLD nights!

Lots of updates!

First, we moved Boomer to a new barn when we came back from the endurance ride. The new place is about $45 more per month, but it has a number of perks. We left the last place because there wasn't really access to trails. There was a hay field we could ride in and woods that led to the roadway, but nowhere to really ride.

This new place has access to a trail system of about 5 miles on around 2000 acres. To get to the trail you have to ride about 3/4 of a mile down a gravel road. Boomer is now on a pasture with a small group. It is about 10 horses on 24 acres. They have a second 16 acre pasture that they rotate to occasionally. Right now it houses the 5-6 small cattle used in their lesson program. I am experimenting with a grain free diet for Boomer right now. I have been considering it for a while now, but at the last boarding place, it wasn't an option because of his paddock size (1/4 acre) and their hay ration (4 flakes per day). For now, Boomer has good pasture and when I ride he gets a pound of grain and 1-2 flakes of hay. I am continuing to evaluate his body condition and will not hesitate to supplement should he need it. I am considering supplementing with grain vs. supplementing with Cool Calories (99% fat, dried powder, works VERY well) in alfalfa pellets/cubes/beet pulp.

Since this is the first time I have had Boomer in such a large pasture I have been working on bribing him to come to meet me when I go catch him. I don't really like giving treats excessively as I have ridden and worked around spoiled, pushy, nippy horses and they are NOT a joy to be around. When I worked for the polo player, his wife would come out and hand feed BUCKETS of treats to 'her horse' over the weekend and it would take me all week to get that mare to stop assaulting me for treats. Really annoying. However, I do like to give Boomer carrots and apples when we travel and are out for long rides. On our endurance ride, I gave him little baby carrots at both vet holds and along the trailer ride home. In a situation like that where he is working so hard for me and it is important to keep his hydration up and guts moving, natural fruit treats are great! Treat digression aside, I have been bringing Boomer an apple every time I go to get him out of the pasture. My hope is that he will start coming to me when he sees me and I won't have to wander around a 24 acre pasture in January following his frozen tail for an hour before I can catch him. The other horses seem to understand this concept already and Boomer at least looked up and turned towards me last time I went out there.

I went for a ride on Saturday with a group of friends and I hauled the 5 minutes to the Kill Creek trail head so that I could easily meet my friends. We rode for over two hours and had a blast even though we about froze our fingers and toes off! The horses were all very good and Boomer really made me proud. He was great with things like water crossings, etc. and helped other horses cross challenges when needed! He was a little rushy when the horse(s) ahead of us would get too far away, but we did work on that and I saw some improvement. He and I did struggle with the correct distance behind the horse in front of us and it wasn't until he got kicked that he actually backed off. He really needed to learn that one on his own I guess. We really had fun and were out for over 2 hours, which I think ended up being about 8 miles or so.

The brakes on my trailer are in need of servicing and John and I spent some time this weekend trying to figure out why they are sticky and locking up. Seems like the electrical plug in the truck bed got moisture in it because the cover got broken off. This is causing the brakes to do a sort of 'all or nothing' thing so when I ease off the truck break, the trailer break just pops open and causes a jerk. Also, after reading the manuel, we realized that the breaks needed to be adjusted after the first 200 miles of driving. We estimate that it has about 1700 miles on it so far. So, once the weather clears *haha* John is going to replace my electrical outlet and adjust the brakes.