Loosey Goosey

This is what she felt like today

One thing that's been amazing to see at the new barn is how much the turnout is helping Katai stay fit and loose.

At the last couple of barns we were fighting a losing battle with her fitness. Two barns ago at least I had an outdoor and a bit of, albeit flat, outdoor space to ride in. At Janes, unless I could con someone into riding down the road with me or if I could work out with the neighbor to ride in the outdoor I had I could only ride in the indoor and both of those were tough to arrange.

On top of that at both of the last barns Katai's turnout was only in a small paddock. She could canter around a bit but it was flat and small and unless she was really motivated to run around there wasn't much real movement.

We win at selfies

Now I have all sorts of outdoor space to ride in even if I never went on the trails since just the space around the arena, near the barns, and down the driveway is safe and roomy for riding. We also have a nice large outdoor that Katai doesn't have meltdowns in (mostly thanks to S2) which helps as well.

Even better, Katai is in a huge pasture with other horses! She has two palomino friends, that look like twins, and another paint and they all get along really well. The pasture is huge and hilly just like how we kept our horses as I was growing up. Walking to the end to graze on it's own is a good workout and is really helping to keep her muscles loose and definitely adding some fitness. In addition she's been more careful about where she's putting her feet since she can't just drag them along like she could at the last barn.

Plus, S2 is really helping me to work with Katai on getting her to relax the blocked tension she has had. She's always gotten really tight through her shoulders if anything is going on that she's unsure about and also, I'm finding out now, has carried a lot of tension through her hips. Like me with my shoulders I think that she's just been that way for so long that she didn't even know there was a different way to do it until S2 came along and showed her.

I didn't get many pony pictures so her's another puppy picture

It's part of my homework to keep working with her on it but it's also clear how much she's already let go, or will let go if you ask correctly. Her stride, which was already much improved at Jane's, has gotten even more buoyant and loose and it's easier to keep her from getting locked up. I also have tools on the ground so that if she does lock up and threaten to rear I can dismount, address on the ground, and then remount and have a nice soft, loose pony which certainly wasn't the case before.

All of these things led to a really nice ride today where she was right with me, loose, relaxed, pushing from behind and really trying for the whole ride. She, of course, had the wrong answer to things sometimes but now when I ask again differently, or do a minor correction she just melts into it and keeps trying. It was an amazing ride and made watching the rest of the team leave for the show even more bitter sweet. Oh well, soon Katai will be on that trailer too!

New Barn Intro

I mentioned a few things about this barn previously but wanted to do a proper barn tour now that Katai has been successfully moved in.

The barn is in Western WI and about 50 minutes from where I live currently which has increased my drive by 15 minutes one way and half an hour round trip. The extra drive time sucks and I'm not looking forward to that piece but for all of the benefits I think it will still be worth it.

Outdoor Spaces First:

It was/is a working farm (corn and beans as well as producing hay and oats) complete with farm outbuildings and lots of property. The pastures are expansive, split between mares and geldings, and nice and hilly.  My only other reservation is how Katai will handle the grass but I'll get a grazing muzzle if I need to and I'm hoping that with the increased work load from last time she was on grass and all of the running up and down hills that she will be doing with her new pasture mates she won't turn into a pony tick.

Out the field road there is a way to get into an expansive trail system through other properties. It sounds like the owners of those pieces of land are more than happy to have horses riding through (around crops of course) and there are trails cut through the woods, around fields, through meadows, etc. These are exactly the type of trails that I grew up riding on and I am SO EXCITED to get to introduce Katai to proper trail riding.

There is also plenty of space to ride around the property itself including a long driveway and field road/paths around the barns. Even this is way more than we've had before and will be a good way for us to safely dip our toes into trail riding along with lots of potentially spooky things to look at which will be great for desensitization.

There is an outdoor sand, regulation sized, arena with white rails that I'm so excited to ride in and it sounds like they set up ground poles around the outdoor in the grass along the tree line and even a couple of jumps when the footing is dry and safe which will be fun to work on with Katai.

Indoor Areas:

There are two barns (upper and lower which is the main barn) and one overflow barn. Right now Katai is in the upper barn that just has stalls but I'm going to hopefully be able to move to the lower barn at some point. At any rate, both barns are ours to use.

The lower barn/main barn, has all of the grooming spaces including four wash stalls with heat lamps, tack lockers, saddle closets, lounge, and indoor arena. I should have my own tack locker (once things shake out) and get to use a saddle closet in this barn. Currently I'm in the fancy tack room so no complaints! Both barns are heated warmer than what we've had which is nice and the lower is kept closer to 40* during the winter which will be AMAZING. Both are bright and extremely well ventilated so that you wouldn't even know that horses live there.

Pretty sure she's punishing me for the move by blinking

The indoor is actually slightly smaller (shorter) than Jane's but has really nice footing that has some rubber in it. I really like it and Katai seems to as well so far.

Other Stuff:

Turnout times are similar to Jane's with the horses possibly staying out slightly longer during winter. They also go out more days including in snow and appropriate rain (unless it's really cold) which I love. Katai being able to have group turnout with grass during the day and friends to run with is going to be amazing for fitness, for her mind, and very likely for her sometimes ulcery tummy.  Hopefully the grass just doesn't cause any issues.

Tons of hay including alfalfa is also fed and it sounds like (and I observed when I was there) that horses eat their hay before their grain which speaks highly to the quality and palatability. There's also enough of it fed that they're eating constantly which will also be good for Katai's ulcery tummy.

The barn feeds a good ration balancer and will feed supplements. They have Barn Buddies which is great since my now more limited SmartPaks were no longer qualifying for free shipping and I hated paying for shipping on them every month.

The barn manager/owner (S2) lives on site and does some natural horsemanship training as well as being an accomplished dressage rider and competitor with her Silver Medal. She's currently showing Prix St. George. She is also able to give IV meds which is great just in case there's ever a colic situation that would call for it. Having met her and the other people who work at the barn I trust them completely with Katai's care. S2 runs a tight ship and has been showing for a long time so she has the infrastructure to do it well.

The large, fancy, show trailer

Blanket are put on and removed each day which is fantastic. They are also willing to mess with neck covers so I'm looking forward to having Katai fully body clipped next year.Also, my friend who rides her pony at 4th level currently boards there and helps with things like full body clips and will help with mane pulling if needed. I'm looking forward to potentially having her clip Katai with her MUCH nicer clipper next year so that Katai doesn't look moth eaten.

There are also a few big name clinicians who clinic there on a fairly regular basis including Ann Cizaldo which will be amazing both for auditing and riding opportunities.

I'm really hoping this is my last move for a long time. Maybe the last time until I'm able to afford my own property!