The Move

I hate moving Katai. It’s stressful needing to load her when I know she’s not always good and each time it’s a different trailer and a different person waiting on us. I also really hate changing up Katai’s routine and stressing her out. However, there have been good things about moving as much as we have. She’s very flexible with herds of horses (kind of like kids who move around a lot and get used to going to a lot of different schools haha) and I’ve made a whole bunch of amazing horse friends.

I was doing a good job of keeping my stress to a minimum until Saturday morning. Luckily my new trainer (K) was trailering and was planning to be there around 10:45 which gave me some breathing room in the morning to get everything packed, get coffee, and not need to wake up horribly early. I still got to the barn quite early just to make sure I had enough time and got her stall packed up, picked up her extra supplements, and then cleared out my tack locker. I wish I had taken a picture of everything in my SmartCar because it was kind of like a puzzle to get everything to fit well.

K and her mum showed up right on time and I went to collect Katai. I’d been saying my goodbyes but one of the barn workers wanted to say goodbye to Katai before she left so after I caught her I brought her over to say bye to him. The trailer was luckily a three horse slant which I knew would leave ample room. However, it was a step up which she hasn’t been in for a while now and it had a tack space in the back so the entrance was a little tight. All in all though she loaded really well in about 20 minutes. She did pull back several times but I’m getting much better at some of my loading techniques and just kept her facing the trailer the whole time and made her comfortable place right at the entrance and/or inside the trailer. K and her mom were extremely patient and just let me do my thing which I really appreciated!

Once Katai was loaded I realized I’d left her turnout halter up by the gate so I hopped in my car and drove up to the upper barn to get it while they started out with the trailer. The trip ended up being smooth but there was a TON of traffic and especially semi traffic on one of our main three lane highways. I followed a decent distance behind and was really glad it wasn’t a day where I was driving the trailer.

Once we arrived I pulled her out and we brought her over to quarantine which is a roundpen with a shelter. She hung out getting her land legs back and then rolled. She still stresses enough about trailering that she sweats a decent amount and it was also a hot day which didn’t help. I made sure she found the water and K tossed her some hay including some alfalfa which she immediately started scarfing down. At that point I dropped off some of the stuff they needed like her supplements, put her fly mask on, paid K for trailering and then headed out to let her destress.

I headed home, grabbed some amazing vegan food from the Herbivorous Butcher and then spent the rest of my Saturday resting, re-organizing her stuff, and cleaning all of my tack which was sadly overdue for a cleaning. It will live at my apartment now until just before I move when I’ll move it into the new barn.

On Sunday I had planned to head out in the morning but I had a busy day planned already, so a small window to head out to the barn, and then woke up with a really sore and swollen finger which I quickly realized was infected. Bf and I headed to urgent care where I got instructions and some antibiotics and headed home. At that point it was too late to go to the barn so we did our other scheduled things and then I headed out to the barn around 4:00.

It was quickly apparent to me that I’d absolutely made the right decision in moving her closer. The drive felt easy and quick and I wasn’t already tired out by the time I got to the barn. Katai actually seemed pretty settled which I was really happy to see. She’d also been eating her grain foods and since they’re literally only vitamins they don’t taste amazing so sometimes if she’s stressed she won’t eat them. I groomed her really well and scratched all her itchy places. She was very happy to have me and sort of clingy so I spent quite a bit of time with her. Once she was all clean I put her fly mask back on, put her fly sheet on, fly lotion everywhere, and put her fly boots on so she was all armored up against the bugs. I left for a minute to put the stuff back in my car and when I walked back to say goodbye she gave me this sad little whinny that broke my heart. I’m so looking forward to having her so close and it will be great to use this quarantine time for bonding even if all I want right now is to ride my pony!

A Fun Sunday

Not that I don't always have a fun time on the weekend but today was sort of a nice, horse filled, day of doing just the things I wanted to do since my bf was doing the thing he loves (cars) all day.

Picture from my last ride, today I rode outside!

First off, I got Moshy mainly so that I could have a dog that could go do things with me. I adore Veggie but he just wasn't socialized well enough so while I can do the things I need to do with him it certainly isn't fun or always safe to bring him places and the barn tops the list of places he shouldn't go. With Moshy I not only chose a breed that I knew could be a fairly decent barn dog but I've also worked with her a ton to socialize her to all the things she'll see at a barn. The toughest has been horses since I got her during a really long cold winter and she was just too tiny to spend much time at the barn.

While she's really well socialized I've been a bit nervous to bring her back to the barn since if she wasn't good with the horses it would be tough to manage her there without just bringing her back home and with the drive out 50+ minutes it wouldn't be nice to have to just turn around and bring her home.

Then yesterday I got an invite from H to go watch her ride at a really nice local show that was close to my house. Right away I thought of bringing Moshy with me but I knew it wasn't the best idea to test how well she'd do around horses there for the first time in a few months so I decided to start at my barn. I knew it would be quiet since most Sunday mornings there are a lot of people at church or sleeping in and I went for it.

Long story short, it went really well! I walked her a bit around the parking area and then carried her over towards the fence of a pasture with two quiet horses in it. I didn't get too close and she barked a couple times but they weren't spooked and when I gently scolded her she gave it up and just watched, interested to see what they would do. I eventually worked my way up to the fence and she was still calm and quiet. After that she never barked again! I walked her all over, introduced her to the old mostly blind barn dog, held her near the cross ties while a friend was grooming their horse and carried her while I walked Katai back to the pasture after my ride.

During my ride she hung out in her carrier in my car with all the windows open (it was in the low 70s and overcast so she stayed nice and cool) and I'm pretty sure she just slept. If I do this often I may get a plastic crate to keep in the back of my car just so that she has a nice secure place to stay while I ride if needed. If it's warm, I could put her in the air conditioned lounge instead. She was just so, so good and it felt so validating after all the work I've done.

My ride was pretty decent as well. Katai had her mare panties in a bundle and didn't want to pony appropriately but she let me help her loosen up and then we got some decent work and some of the best shallow serpentines at the canter that we've done where she really sat back and carried vs. just running. More on how we got there in a different post though!

After Katai was put away I stuck around and let Moshy run around a bit more and talked to friends. I didn't want to go home for an hour or two and then leave for the show but I also didn't want to get there too early. Eventually we left for the 1+ hour drive to the show grounds. I stopped for lunch, gas, and coffee along the way and Moshy mostly napped or watched me drive.

Once we got to the show grounds I crossed my fingers that she would remember and not bark and she came through! I carried her at first and we found the barn with H in it. She thought Moshy was adorable, as did many other people who stopped me to meet her, and gave her some pets while she was getting ready. We got there about an hour early so we had a chance to chat and for Moshy to meet a few dogs which she was a total lady about.

Eventually H was ready and we headed out to the arena to watch. Moshy made more friends and then sat quietly on my lap in the bleachers watching H put down a really good test that she ended up winning a blue for. After that we chatted a bit more and then I headed home with a nice sleepy puppy who immediately got a bath since her mop self had picked up most of the nasty things on the barn floor at that point.

I had so much fun and it was so nice to have a well behaved companion that I didn't need to worry about come with me and do all the things. I'm planning to make bringing her to the barn a regular thing!

So sleepy

Rhythm: Lesson Recap 11/21

I had a great walk at the Frontenac state park with my family  on Thanksgiving :)

I still have so much catch up that I'm going to try to do. Again, sorry for the lack of blogs recently but life has been crazy. Especially since the end of October things have been looking up (other than my back) which is so nice.

Katai has been back to her normal self except that she feels like she's lost some strength which sort of sucks. I'm not sure if she's just that sensitive that any muscle soreness sets us back, or if this is normal, or if it's just that my expectations are growing faster than her strength is increasing. At any rate, Jane isn't at all concerned and again I'm so glad that I have an instructor that I really trust and who's been through all of this in the past.

At any rate, on Tuesday for my lesson we started out with a very stiff pony. Not only had I not been riding as much since my back was hurt but she was also horribly in heat with the additions of two geldings in the barn. Because of that we started off doing a bunch of walk and at the walk we did some turns on the forehand and lateral work. Then once we went to the trot it was all about the lateral work. We did some nose-to-the-wall leg yields as well as some from the center line to the wall. We also worked on shoulder in.

More puppy pictures!!! She's 8 weeks as of today :)

For the shoulder in we focused on helping me get the timing right to really get her inside leg under. That was partially helping to continue to educate me as a rider and partially setting us up for the canter later.

With all of the lateral work she really loosened up and started to move like her normal self but she never really worked into the HUGE trot that we've been getting recently. Finally we worked on the canter. Our goal was to really get her to step under with her right leg because she's definitely weaker on that leg. To set us up for that we worked on either doing shoulder in or counter bending her to activate that leg and then asking for the transition. Jane also had me ask her to come back to trot as soon as she lost the rhythm which was really tough for me to find. It's funny because I can get the rhythm at the trot but I have a tough time keeping her at the same rhythm sometimes and at the canter I just can't feel it.

Homework is for me to practice feeling/hearing the rhythm of the footfalls and to bring her back as soon as she looses the rhythm. I'm really looking forward to working on this! I feel like it's the next step and I feel like I really know now what I need to work on.

When the Well Runs Dry

I wanted to post a ride recap from last week just because it was an interesting ride but for some media I'll share some screenshots from this most recent lesson video and some comparison shots from the last couple of years.

I'm so, so happy with this (blurry) picture!!
I feel like you can really see both of our progress and I actually can't believe that's me

As mentioned in several blogs so far, my pony is a saint. Throughout all of this recent down time when she's been stuck in her stall from the cold or unable to move much in her pen because it's icy or when I've been out of town and unable to work with her, or my car was at the shop...

Photo from spring 2014

Photo from spring 2015

Photo from Spring 2016
I can't believe the changes we've both made recently!!

This past Saturday though, the pony's patience ran out. She was actually really good in the cross ties which is unusual when she's full of energy so I didn't really think anything of it. Then when I led her to the arena I started to notice that she was spooky and since that's really odd I realized that she might be feeling pretty tight and full of energy.

Indeed she was, in fact when I climbed on she had such a hump in her back that I actually wondered if I was going to come off. Knock on wood she's never gotten me off so I was really hoping that Saturday wouldn't be the first day. Especially since it was -1 and I was so cold that I was almost in tears at one point when I just couldn't even bend my fingers and couldn't get them to warm up.

Really happy with that hind leg and the bend

I just focused on forward but she was so locked up that she kicked out at my leg and was making lots of sassy pony faces. She did calm down a bit though and eventually got her moving forward and stretching down and out into contact a bit. With Katai it's not even helpful to try to lunge when she's like this because she just tightens up her back and moves her legs even with side reins but on her back I was able to get her bending and stretching a bit.

Then she volunteered canter so I just went with it and that finally really helped relax her and I got lots of snorts. After getting some really nice work at the canter I got her going in the other direction and we did some trot and canter. This was her tougher side at the canter but she still worked really well. Finally we finished things up with some leg yields and I'm so proud at how they went! She's starting to understand her job and I'm starting to be more coordinated so we're finally working as a team.

The theme of the day, once she relaxed her back a bit and I didn't think she was going to flail/kick out/buck/rear was trying to get her to take the forward and down. She was getting pretty consistent in the contact but between the tension today, the lack of consistent work, and probably the change in bridles, she's having a little tougher time and has reverted to giraffing a bit but it won't take long and we'll be back.

I'm exciting to be able to ride more consistently again!

Updates and Down Time

We're still alive and things are swinging right along. Basically just more of the same from before actually which is good since the improvement is continuing right along.

I've been quiet for a few reasons. One is that my seasonal depression has been worse this year. I'm going to be getting myself a sun lamp since the vitamin D just doesn't seem to be cutting it anymore. That combined with the fact that I just don't have much to write about from a riding standpoint has meant that I just haven't been at all motivated to blog. Worse, it's been depressing to sit down to type a blog and just have all the same stuff to share. I also spent last week in WA for work. FLSA regulation changes are no joke people ;) I had a great trip and it was beautiful there. It increased my interest in finding a way to move out there!

After awhile writing about lessons (even though they've been amazing), training rides (which have mostly been amazing), and not much else gets old. I don't have a good place to ride outside and this weekend we're supposed to be getting our first winter storm. I still don't have a trailer so I can't sign up for any clinics or shows and since I live in the north our show season is completely done.

Not trying to depress anyone, it's just that I'm sort of stuck right now. This is ok with me, actually I think it's really good. I'm making so much progress with Jane that it's sort of like winter bootcamp :) It's mainly just that it's not very exciting to write about or probably to read about.

I do have a few things that I have in mind for the winter.

One of those is that Suzanne will be back in town teaching a couple of clinics at my previous barn over the winter. I think it would be a good, positive trip for Katai so I'm going to plan on that.

I also plan to do a good amount of shopping for Christmas and will be sharing my Christmas "hauls" as I get them, or as I "open" them.

Also, I'll be posting a year end, recap and goals for next year.

Otherwise though, for the time being I'm going to be taking a little blogging hiatus. It's just tough to have content to share that I'm excited about. My goal is to really work hard this winter and then do many shows/events next year to help Katai get comfortable with it. That will be way more interesting for everyone and I'll have more content to share.

In the meantime I've been posting more to Instagram so if you want to keep up with pony adventures feel free to follow me there @kataipony https://www.instagram.com/kataipony/

All the Changes

Just a quick catch up post for today!

So, I had mentioned that I had something exciting going on and that is that I'm officially dating someone. He's completely amazing :-) Seriously the best guy I've ever met much less had the honor to be in a relationship with.

I'm clearly spending lots of time with him but he also really supports my riding/horse time and tonight I was extremely happy to have him at the barn with me. He grabbed one quick phone picture and even though the lighting just isn't that good at the barn I think I can see improvement in both me and Katai. Best thing is that he doesn't know what he's looking for so this is a completely random picture, not the one great moment that we had or something!

We're improving I think!! 

It was amazing to have him there and he was very patient as I went through my routine and even walked with us while I cooled her out. I can't quite believe that I got this lucky.

Wavelength: Lesson Recap 9/13

Further proof that Bridget and Katai are on the same wavelength. T wrote a post on Tuesday about her lesson on Monday and my lesson on Tuesday (I hadn't read T's post before that lesson) was almost exactly the same.

Katai was wiggly, bendy, sucked back, and basically just being a naughty pony. Learning of course isn't in a straight line but she's been SOOO good this whole time since the move and recently with L as well that it just felt especially tough that she was so naughty. I guess I sort of figured that she was going to take a big step backwards once we started calling her on some of the small stuff she's doing but I didn't think we'd be back to tantrums.

We started off working on getting a good trot and actually got some REALLY nice trot. We also worked on leg yields and I easily did the best leg yields of my life, probably just because Jane doesn't realize how completely uneducated I am as a rider, just expected me to do them perfectly, and just kept telling me what I needed to do to get them perfect until I did.

It was an AMAZING feeling to get them right and the only reason Katai was able to do them was because of all of the work over the past week or so and based on the info that Jane's been sharing with me.

So far I know it doesn't sound rough but then, after a walk break, when we went back to trot she had a few pony tantrums and she hasn't had any in a long time. I was already feeling a little like crap about that and then Jane said that we were going to work on canter. I've known that when we address canter the first time it would be a bit of a disaster. Our transitions have never been pretty and with her in tantrum mode I was concerned. Then between the new way we're working with her, my own ineptitude and crookedness, and her being in that mood it was very interesting.

To her credit she never bucked (even though bucking is more normal) and she didn't seem to get as tight and tense through her back but it was a hot mess. A really hot mess with her trantering, gaiting, throwing herself against the wall, etc. I was trying not to be too negative about it after and Jane just said, she's got some tension but we'll work on it, but for some reason I just felt really negative about the whole thing.

In fact, over the past couple of days I've been having a tough time with it. I'll deal, it's not a big surprise or anything, but it's just felt more negative than it should. I think it was more the return of the tantruming, wiggly, pony mess and the fact that she was threatening to rear than anything else. It's been MONTHS since she's done anything like that and after how good she's been it just seemed like a big backwards step.

Oh well, I have a pony and a mare and this is pretty much what I signed up for. I adore her even on her bad days even if it is frustrating :)

No Lesson: Recap

Really enjoying my new photo editing app!

 

Since my trainer was out of town for the holidays I didn’t have a lesson this past Sunday. I had given Katai almost a week off both because I thought she needed a more extended vacation and because I did. I didn’t want it to start feeling like work for either of us and planned to start back with consistently riding 5 days per week after Christmas.

So, the past Sunday I had my lesson and then on Saturday, since she had just had 5 days off, I followed my own advice and just lunged. She went really, really well! She was letting me determine her trot speed and stride length on the lunge but was defaulting to a nice slow trot on the lunge line. It really gave me something to think about because that means that if she’s racing around under a rider but not on the lunge I’ likely doing something with my body as I’m riding to cause her that tension. I’m not completely ruling out that she just has a more negative association of being ridden (no thanks to J) but I also made some plans to be more self-aware the next time I rode.

Cute pony is cute

On Sunday I decided to start out with a nice slow trot and just stick with it until I got it in each direction. I reminded myself to keep it simple and if she felt like she was going to explode or escalate I was going to get something good and then quit. She ended up being really good and starting out at that nice slow trot again but with a bit more tension and head flinging. I did discover something though! As she was flinging her head I remembered that she hadn’t done that in side reins (which are much lower than my hands but still) so I focused on taking that firm but steady feeling with my hands but staying really relaxed and it worked! She settled right into good work which is making me think that part of her rushing is that I’m not supporting her enough which is causing her to lose her balance.

She was still fairly tense but I got one great canter transition to the right and then called it quits. Not something I’d normally do since we never did canter to the left but I sensed an impending blow up and decided to quit while I was ahead. I’ll be interested to see if this strategy is helpful or not but I’m hopeful that it will help her feel more confident and thus, less argumentative.
 

This week my riding schedule will be Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday which will get me to my five rides. I plan on doing ground poles, another lunge session, and hopefully drill team!

Clinic Recap

As previously mentioned, Susanne Winslade http://susannewinslade.com/ was at my barn for a clinic from Friday last week through Tuesday this week. I was lucky enough to be able to audit (free so I took as much advantage of it as I could!) on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. On Saturday and Monday I only saw a rider or two but on Sunday I was able to stay and watch four riders including P who recently moved to this barn but who I boarded with at J’s barn.

 

She worked on very similar things to Jennifer Truett and there was a lot of consistency there. She worked a lot on stretching the horse and helping them carry themselves properly as well as working a lot on rider biomechanics. She did use some gadgets which surprised me a little since I think she was the first clinician that I’ve ever seen used them. She did use them “properly” in my mind which was to show the horse/rider a different way of going and then remove them. I also liked that she does lunge lessons since that’s also not something I see with a lot of clincians. She was very kindly and had a great sense of humor. She also asked people to share how they were feeling a lot which I think was helpful since sometimes you can’t tell if the rider has the same understanding as the clinician. I was especially excited to watch this clinic since L wants me to take a lesson with her next time she is at my barn which I think will be early next year.

 

Honestly I wasn’t as impressed as I hoped I’d be. It’s really odd for me to feel this way and normally I’m impressed by every clinician I’ve seen. It’s not that she wasn’t making changes in horses she worked with but I guess the information just seemed so similar to what I get from L that I’m not sure how I feel about paying x5 the amount for even a small amount of additional improvement. I was also surprised by a few things that left me feeling a little negative. The gadgets was one, I’d be comfortable using something with her there but not sure I could replicate it appropriately once she left. I also felt like sometimes she did too much of one thing and not enough of another. For example she had one rider “nose to the wall” leg yield around the entire, regulation size, arena twice in each direction at a walk which just seems like a lot of repetition of something that is new, difficult, and taxing to the horse.  She also had a rider use a wall to stop a horse from a walk, trot, and canter and did this several times in a row at each gait in each direction . I can see teaching the concept but the drilling seemed like a lot in a clinic setting. I’m really not trying to be critical, just slightly surprised at my own reaction to the clinic and trying to understand why I feel the way I do.

 

I do think that I will take at least one lesson next time she is there since I think it would be good to ride with someone else and since we are in a much different place than the other people who I saw ride so will likely get very different advice that may feel more valuable when it is customized to what we need. Again, not saying that she’s not an amazing clinician just that I felt like I wasn’t surprised by anything she said. Ultimately probably a good thing but a very different clinic experience.

Actual Progress

We. Were. Superstars yesterday at my lesson!!! My pony was amazing and I only wish I had video or photo to show it and remember it. We were working a little more on proper contact and L was showing me how to take a more proper but still soft contact. I found out that I've been leaving holes which is, of course, confusing for my pony since she doesn't ever find out what's right. She just keeps looking for that hole and it's always in a different place at a different time and that frustrates her. This all makes perfect sense to me as I write it out now but until yesterday's lesson I just didn't quite understand the concept.

L couldn't stop raving after the lesson about how good she looked. She even said "I NEVER thought she could look that nice!". She commented that she never had moments of pony trot and her stride was lengthening out so well! We both were impressed with how quickly she went into work mode. Most of the time we spend almost 30 minutes of my 45 minute lesson getting her to do decent work but yesterday it only took us about 5 minutes to get her going really well and even her rough moments were just momentary losses of balance rather than tantrums.

                                  Look at those muscles she's getting in her shoulders!!!

I'm so completely pleased about how things went and it makes me feel like my goals are maybe actually attainable!!

All The Dramas

Thankfully I’ve not yet been involved in the barn drama partially, probably, because since I work in HR I’m pretty adept at conflict management/avoidance but also because I’ve been nothing but pleasant and complementary to the owners of the facility. Unfortunately it seems to be one of those cases where if you disagree you become the enemy and I’ve got very little tolerance for that.

 

If you remember I posted a while ago about how the owners and kicked a couple of people out and I was happy that they were being proactive about it. At that point I believe the grand total of people they had kicked out was three but I found out later that they’d kicked out two before I ever got there. Since I understood the reasoning and knew that two of the people were actually endangering other boarders and their horses I wasn’t concerned and as I said then, I was actually pleased that they were taking a tough stance on that sort of behavior. After that though they’ve kicked out two additional boarders through a whole host of drama including the hay debate.

 

Now I understand as well as anyone else that the barn needs to be operated like a business. They have to make sure that they know how much hay and grain is going out so they can account for that in their budget and if someone takes hay or grain without asking it’s stealing. However, in my mind if you work something out with the owners that while your horse is offsite at a show you can take the exact same amount of hay and grain that they would have been fed at the barn that should be ok! They are still probably saving bedding and labor of looking after your horse during that time so they should be ok with it. However, at this barn the owners got into a huge fight with a boarder that wanted to do just that and told her that she could purchase a bale of hay from them for $10 (our hay is normally between $5-$7 per bale). This wasn’t me, I wish I were showing but I’m not, but honestly I probably would have just bought the hay since in the grand scheme of things $10 isn’t that bad. It’s just left me with a really bad taste in my mouth that they treated someone who was asking for something so reasonable so badly. I can even see if to keep things neat they wanted her to buy a bale rather than take hay, which might be tough to keep track of, but charge a reduced rate since that horse would have eaten almost that much as part of regular board. Or charge reduced board that month since the horse isn’t staying at the facility for three days. Any of these things would make sense or at least having an adult conversation about it but instead everything just blew up and the boarder left over it. I honestly can’t say I blame her.

 

I’ve been waffling over a few things including the fact that other than two other people the barn is quickly becoming home to only western pleasure horses and the fact that the owners are adding all these rules that aren’t in the contract I signed. Just for an idea, because I think this type of thing is interesting, I live in an area that charges about $450-$1000 for stall board and $200-$350 for pasture board. At J’s place I paid $300 for pasture board which included hay overnight when horses were brought into a dry lot, grain twice per day, and someone who put on and took off Katai’s grazing muzzle every day (and the pastures were amazing and well-kept with almost no weeds). At this barn I pay $325 for pasture board with no hands on care, no grain, and hay just during the winter. I would be paying $650 for stall board which does include blanketing and grain twice per day as well as daily hand walking to semi private pens and full day turnout. However, it seems that amount does not pay for poop pick up on the way to and from the pastures. I’m the first one to clean up poop anywhere in the barn or arena both indoor and outdoor but when the walk from the pasture to the barn is almost a mile down a driveway and my horse poops in the grass half way there I just don’t know that I should feel like I should be required to go pick it up while she stands in cross ties. What are your opinions? Am I being a spoiled brat that it’s bothering me? Between that, the hay debate, some of the complaints I’ve heard from other boarders and the fact that I wouldn’t trust the barn manager to notice if my horse were injured (a pasture horse is currently in surgery that had a two inch diameter and four inch long branch lodged about three inches in right above his right eye. Another boarder noticed when she brought her horse in that it had happened and they could tell it had been several hours and they had to call the barn manager who lives on site and tell her) I’ve been seriously thinking about moving Katai again.

 

Trust me, it’s the last thing I wanted to be considering at this point :-( I hate moving barns anyway and rebuilding all these friendships and I’m sure Katai would really like to not have to move and adjust again. There are some great people at this barn it just seems like I only see them about once a month. I honestly was thinking I’d just stay where I am but then I heard from a friend that the manager of a nearby barn that is dearly loved by the local dressage community was opening up a second barn. This is new barn is actually a location I’d toured when I was going to leave J’s initially but I didn’t like that manager who did really odd things and was known locally for being flaky when it came to things like turning horses out. Now that this new woman is taking over that facility I’d jump at the chance to board there. 

 

When I went to tour the barn they were having a spa day and they welcomed me in with open arms and a glass of wine (seriously, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven) and I got a tour of the new and improved facility. There is still some work to do before it is ready but they’re aiming to have it ready in about two weeks and it already looks amazing. The arena has been completely redone and she’s been working on footing daily. The pens are semi private, full day turnout, nice large stalls, and trails on the property that aren’t overwhelmed with bicycles, joggers, rollerblades, and poorly behaved dogs. It sounds like L will be teaching there probably but even if not, there are a couple of other dressage instructors. Plus it will be a truly mixed barn with other people who ride various forms of English (hunter, jumper, dressage, eventing, etc.), some people who drive their horses, and some western people. Plus they have an area for dogs to hang out on the property so that I can actually bring my puppy while I ride and he wouldn’t have to go back into his kennel :-)

 

If you can’t tell from the above I’m already fairly convinced but what do all of you think? What would you do in this situation? The care at the current barn is far from bad and actually Katai has been doing well. I’ve got friends there and so far have been getting along great with the owners. Is it worth the risk to move again in your opinion even with some of the big concerns I have about the current barn or would you just go ahead and move to the new barn with the manager/owner that so many people have said great things about?

I promise there will be more Katai centered posts soon!

So Beautiful

Look at how beautiful!

It's almost like it was custom made for her ;-)

I'm officially in love. It's comfy and puts me in a wonderful position. It's much easier to keep my leg in the right place and yet I'm not stuck in one spot. The leather is AMAZINGLY soft and luscious but there is still a little breaking in that needs to happen. This is actually the first new saddle I've ever owned so it's a new thing for me. 

Old saddle vs new. Don't get me wrong, I really have liked my current saddle for a lot of reasons but there are several things about it that I really don't like and I'm so glad that I bit the bullet and ordered a custom saddle, especially for the amazing price.

The detail on this saddle is amazing (the panels only look uneven in this picture). The piping is so even and nicely done! I'm honestly very, very impressed. I would buy another saddle from Heritage Custom Saddlery in a heart beat and I can't wait to ride again on Friday :-) 

Again, not great pictures but I'll get some soon!

Lesson Recap x2 and New Addition

So this is just a bit late which means it will be long. If you finish it I’ll send you a cupcake ;-)

 

My life has been so busy lately that I just don’t have time to do the things I want to be doing and after feeling like I was having a panic attack yesterday I’ve decided that needs to change. I’m not exactly sure how I am going to eke out more time with a full time job, long distance relationship, pony, applying for new jobs, running, etc. but I need to find some answer to the problem. Until I do these posts are going to be less frequent but I do want to make sure I am at least journaling my lessons.

 

Two Sunday’s ago my lesson turned out to be a bit rough. Katai’s whole world had been changed around since she was moved out to pasture and so that whole week she had been emotional and tougher to handle than normal. For the most part it was affecting her ground manners but she was leaving it at the door of the arena for rides, however, the pony that I started warming up on Sunday was an emotional wreck. Thanks to my recent change in thinking I was actually excited for the opportunity to show L what Katai is like at her worst because I knew that L could give me some great tools to use when this happens.

Again L was just so wonderful and started off by telling me not to antagonize her, start anything new, push her over the edge, or let her pick a fight with me. I really needed to hear the last since between having previous instructors try to get me to “make her do it right” “push her until she gives in” etc I have escalated the arguments that Katai starts. As I told L, she gets emotional and then I get emotional and we pick at each other until we both fall apart. Instead L just had me go back to basics, in this case a reasonable trot with Katai bent in the correct direction, and just expect her to do what I was asking but not punish her for not. As she said “It’s uncomfortable having your human posting at a different speed than you are trotting.” and every time that I focused on just riding properly while allowing Katai to do things right she would come around without too much of a blowup.

 

I did specifically ask for help with my canter transitions where Katai has been throwing her head in the air and L identified that I’ve been blocking her with my hands. She asked me to think of pushing the reins forward, she doesn’t want me to really do it but just to think it, as I’m asking for the transition so that she doesn’t feel blocked. This did immediately make things much better and although she did still throw her head we think that it’s more of a habit at this point and it was much less than before. 

 

Then, at my lesson last week Katai was totally amazing!! She was really following the contact down, working through her back, trying to find her balance etc. Where we weren’t pushing her two weeks ago because she was too emotional this past week we didn’t push because she was being sooooo good! L complemented her several times and was saying how nice she looked and she certainly felt amazing, like she went from green pony to dressage pony overnight. I was grinning ear to ear for pretty much the whole ride :-) Of course L also gave us more great stuff to work on and helped me identify that I’ve been dropping the outside rein which is letting her fall out. She also wants me to keep more of a dialogue going both verbally and through my contact. She said that “green horses need a constant conversation about what they are doing correctly and what they need to change.” and of course as soon as I did that correctly she relaxed even more and seemed to LOVE the bit. She encouraged me to talk more and reward Katai verbally because she pointed out how much Katai feeds off that praise and how much more relaxed she is when I’m talking to her.

That same day that I had the incredible lesson I picked up a new addition to my little family! His name is Wedge Antilles (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wedge_Antilles for none Star Wars Fans) and he is a 1 year old Italian Greyhound/Chihuahua cross. I got him from a friend of a friend who can’t care for him anymore and I’m amazed at how the stars aligned on this. I had DREAMED of getting an Italian Greyhound when I was growing up and even spent time with some people who owned them to see if I really did want that breed. I loved everything about them from their cat-like-ness, to their size, to their short coat, and most of all how much they love their people. I am just as totally in love with him as I would have hoped :-) It helps that he is just a REALLY good boy. He hasn’t had a single accident, comes when he’s called, sits when he’s told, and listens to the word no. This is especially amazing for a little dog so I’m very impressed. 

 Finally, my saddle is almost done!!!! The original estimate for a saddle from this company was 4-6 weeks which I was already impressed with. Then I completely redesigned the block and was told it would take a bit longer so I estimated 8 weeks so when I received an email yesterday after about 5.5 weeks that it was almost done I was amazed! I sent the balance of my payment this morning and will hopefully hear back, because of the time difference, tomorrow. I really can’t wait until I finally get my first custom saddle and can try it on my amazing dressage pony to make sure it fits. I’ll admit that I’m a bit nervous but based on all the positive reviews I don’t think I have anything to be nervous about :-)

Pasture Pony Weekend

The mares finally got moved out to the pasture and thanks to our amazing, resident, photographer I've got a couple of nice pictures of my pony :-)

Look at how white she looks!!

Katai is not happy with the grazing muzzle situation but she's just going to have to live with it since it's the only way to keep her from foundering on the pasture.

Her chaffing was WAY better yesterday otherwise I would have had the vet out today. I talked to a couple of people and they gave me some suggestions for how to avoid this in the future and I'm pretty sure that I'll have stock in Vaseline and Bag Balm soon. I'm so anxious to be able to ride my girl again and the plan is to ride tomorrow as long as she's feeling completely well so look for another update soon.

Pony Power

Last Sunday I went to see H’s lesson with Bill Solyntjes and I have to say he is incredible! I had heard such great things about him in the past and he really is such a calm, positive, knowledgeable expert on dressage that I’m a bit jealous that H has the opportunity to study with him. Her pony, we think he’s probably a Morgan, has amazing suspension at the trot however he was still struggling at the canter but at her lesson on Sunday she had a breakthrough which was amazing to see and I was so glad to be able to celebrate with her :-) I was also able to return the favor she did me last weekend and take a whole bunch of video of her ride.

 

I also got to meet another resident pony at Bill’s barn who is a 14 hand GRP. She is an amazing little character and is trained to I-1. Her owner was understandably so proud of her and we had a great talk about how incredible ponies are and how none of us would ever own anything else. 

 

Here's a video of her http://youtu.be/Znn6P6btRmw

The barn was bustling the entire time I was there with people tacking, untacking, and grooming/working with their horses. Everyone of them rides dressage at various, but mainly upper levels, and I have to admit that I’m a bit jealous about that too. Add to that the fact that H got to audit a Janet Foy clinic and I'm slowly turning green haha. Pretty much the only thing I miss from J’s barn was that there were ALWAYS multiple people riding and all of them rode dressage. It created such a wonderful atmosphere to be able to talk dressage and horses with like minded people as well as being able to look up to them and motivate me to make progress so I could ride that way. Now at my current barn, which I do really love, the majority of the riders are western and while there are 6-7 people there that are pretty serious about dressage my schedule never seems to put me at the barn the same time they’re there. The barn is also spread apart enough that even if there is someone else there I may never see them. Again, I’m not complaining since it is an amazing facility but I have to admit that I’m beginning to wish that I were located on the other side of the twin cities so that I could have the possibility of boarding at the barn H is at since it is such an amazing dressage barn and I'd love to be able to work with such an incredible dressage trainer.

 

As far as my pony goes, this week our weather has turned and we are back to barely getting above 50 degrees. I had to focus on some stuff at my apartment last night so I didn’t get a ride in but now tonight I rode again and Katai was really tense and rushy again. I'm proud to say though that we worked through it together as a team and got to a point where we were getting some decent work. It certainly wasn't the best she's been but it was a huge improvement over the start of the ride. I'm going to try to increase my rides to 4-5 per week and see if I can handle that addition to my schedule because I think it would be a huge benefit to both of us.

I'll leave you with a post bath picture of my pony. I had to document how white she was since it will be awhile before I see her like this again :) 

Fan Girl

So, I have to admit that I love watching horse vlogs on YouTube.

 

The same way that my generation is into blogging seems to be how teenagers are currently into vloging and for some reason I find them fun to watch. Something about watching someone else explain what’s in their grooming bag, or what their favorite polo wraps are is both enjoyable and educational and it is how I find a lot of my favorite tack.

 

Unfortunately most of the vlogs I watch are from people that live in either Europe or Australia so the tack they have available isn’t always available over here and since I love the look of European tack I normally fall in love with something only to realize that I could never afford shipping. Every once in awhile, however, I find something available in the states that I love and so when I found a Schockemohle halter at a tack store last weekend I had to get it for her.

 

Look at how cute she is!!

 

My two weaknesses are halters and saddle pads and although I’ve already got a couple of halters I didn’t have a breakaway halter so this will work perfectly to fill that spot. In these pictures I haven't put the leather crownpiece on yet.

 

Now I just need to find a way to get my hands on some of these…

More updates about my lesson today will be coming up soon!

Bad Blogger and End of March Review

I've been such a bad blogger recently! It is for a good reason though :-) 

One of my main goals for this year, that is both horses related and not, is to get a new job. I've wanted to live in a city for a long, long time and moving to the nearby metro area would mean that I will be much closer to the barn plus I should be able to increase my salary which would mean more ability to show and even small possibility that I could afford a horse trailer!

The reason that I've been quiet is that I've been interviewing both over the phone and in person. I've also been spending time each evening applying for positions which take away a good part of my evenings and it feels like when I'm not doing that I'm riding :-)

Chiro last Friday went really, really well. Katai was a little sweetheart and behaved really well even though I was sort of waiting for her to be a little brat. She only really needed to be adjusted in two or three places and even better, the chiro said her back felt AMAZING! She said she felt strong but soft and she complemented me on how I've been working her. I was really happy because I'm really conscious that not everyone rides smaller horses and want to make sure that my choice isn't negatively effecting my pony. This tells me that at least for now it is not.

I've only had one ride since then and she was good but slightly naughty, probably since she hadn't been ridden in a few days. Then I meant to ride tonight but for some reason it started snowing heavily so I wrote it off since it's a long drive :-(

So, now onto how our goals are going!

In Process Goals for Katai:

1. Increase fitness/strength/flexibility

 

- get chiropractic done at least three times in 2015 – Scheduling one for April 3rd

- get at least three massages in 2015

- start serious fitness training as soon as it's not slippery out to include canter sets

- cross train - add cavaletti by February and small jumps by the end of summer

- add more structured lunging - at least 3-4 times per month

2. Show Pony

- practice with show environments by trailering off property at least five times this year

- show in three dressage schooling shows with at least one at training level

- ride in one two clinics - can be any discipline

- perfect standing tied to the trailer

3. Dressage Skillz

- nicer canter transitions (no more ear pinning and less choppy trotting) by the end of March

- better bend at all gaits to the left

- more understanding of whip cues - not or ignore - by the middle of the year

 

- understand all three intro tests by the end of April

- begin trying or hoof at training level tests by the end of May

4. Miscellaneous  

- stay still for mounting – This has actually gone downhill

- gain trail riding experience both by ourselves and with others - get outside and ride trails at least 3-4 times per month

In Process Goals for Me:

1. Increase fitness/strength/flexibility

- find a good yoga class and go at least twice per month

- get regular massages to help with physical things

- run in at least one 5K by the end of April (providing I can find one and the weather isn't too horrible), one 10K by the end of June, and Ragnar (total of about 13 miles) again in the late summer

- lose 15 - 20 more pounds

2. Riding Goals

- learn to weight each seat bone as needed - default to even (I sit much more on the right)

- take regular lessons - at least once per month

- learn to keep my lower leg back on a regular basis

- practice a more proper arm position

- regain jumping skills :-)

- gain miles in the saddle

- ride different horses

3. Show Human

- put together at least one set of show clothes (schooling show appropriate)

- determine which schooling shows to attend and get signed up

- memorize intro tests by the end of May

- find transportation to shows

4. Miscellaneous 

- get a new job and move to a metro location (more on this in a future post)

- save up and purchase a saddle that fits both of us better – Picked one out!!

- Order the saddle by the end of June

- take more and better pictures and videos

- read and review a horse book every month – February Success!

- do a better job of journaling my riding in my blog

- make good turnout a habit (pretend I'm getting ready to ride for George Morris everyday lol)

I'm going to follow up on goals at the end of every month and be ready to adjust at that point, either add more or take some away.

Completed Goals

- continue with clipper desensitization

- perfect trailer loading – On this last barn move she hopped right in despite the wind blowing and the trailer being completely different than she's ever ridden in so I'm pretty confident in her trailering skills.

- get used to riding around other horses and busy warm up areas – Still get a little nervous when a horse goes past quickly but really does pretty well.

- listen to outside leg cues – 90% there in February

- get a halt that regularly lasts at least 20 seconds by the end of February

- find someone to take regular lessons with by the end of February

- renew my subscription to Dressage Today and read every article –Subscribed but haven't received any yet

- update the name of this blog (I promise it will be the last time)