Changes

Unfortunately not of the canter lead kind but still good. I found out that the horses are being put on night turnout which means they'll be going from getting around 6 hours outside to closer to 12 hours!!  I'm extremely excited, even though it means an increase in barn drama, and am really happy for my pony who I know will benefit from that extra time out.

On the other hand I had sort of a rough week this week. On Sunday I was able to get to the barn but I just lunged Katai at a walk since I was still under strict directions to allow her to walk only and not ride until Thursday. Katai was great and I was just sad that I didn't get to do more with her.

She had gained some weight and had a bit of belly after a full week off from when I was in WA for work. Ponies will be ponies :-)

The belly

Then I got to ride this guy!

Pretty good for a 4 year old

What was weird though is that I actually really enjoyed the ride. He's young and very tall and hasn't quite figured out his sea legs yet. He's sort of wobbly on his big long legs and even picking his feet is interesting sometimes. He's also a really good boy with huge movement except that's not necessarily something that I enjoy. It also took me awhile to figure him out because he's just not my sports car pony. I needed to give him more time to re-balance and I struggle enough with that with my pony. With a big leggy warmblood baby it was tough not riding him into the wall.

So lucky that I got to ride this talented guy

Poor guy was extremely tolerant though and is very amateur friendly despite only having been ridden by professionals prior to my rides on him.

Riding him though and enjoying the ride made me wonder what it would be like to own a horse rather than a pony. It was fun to think about "fitting in" and it was cool to see myself riding a large horse. I think part of it is that I've had some demoralizing rides with Katai recently. The show was tough and we really haven't had a good ride since then. First she was sassy, I think because she was stiff, sore, and out, and now she's on layup while she rests and recovers. In the end I can't even imagine having a second horse and of course Katai isn't going anywhere. I just think I needed to dream a little and take a break from thinking about my recent bad rides on my mare.

Also, big baby horse is a gelding and geldings are quiet and well behaved and have fewer opinions then mares, especially mare ponies, and especially chestnut mare ponies. He was simple and, to be completely honest, that was nice after some of Katai's recent moods.

Then I went home and promptly got really sick. I spent Monday and Tuesday resting and trying to fend off a really bad cold. While I was on my own layup I logged on to Facebook again, something I rarely do anymore, and realized that I hadn't checked in on my post on the Adult Pony Owning Support Group where I had shared my show photos. The post had blown up with over 200 likes and many amazing and supportive comments. That group is so extremely supportive and the comments were extraordinarily nice and complimentary of both myself and Katai. It was nice to see and was one great reminder of why I adore my girl. My motivation increased to ride and I was starting to get excited to get back on track with her again.

Wednesday I told myself I was going to get to the barn no matter what and then had to leave work early because I suddenly got really nauseous and lightheaded and spent the rest of the evening in my bathroom throwing up. Such is life.

Then Thursday started off rough but by the afternoon I was feeling really great and so I headed to the barn to ride my girl!! It was really hot and humid so I rode in the indoor where there was some shade. She did really well, she didn't want to walk and was a little sassy about it but by the end of the ride I got some amazing transitions within the trot and canter (which are normally really tough for her) and then called it since I didn't want to push her too hard after her time off. At first I was a little frustrated with her sassing at the walk but then I realized that after a week and a half off if the only attitude I get from my horse (and mare) is that she doesn't want to walk I'm way ahead of the curve.

I was really looking forward to another day at the barn today to do some more work but then ended up getting rescheduled on with a date I was looking forward to. Unfortunately said date went very wrong and I seriously think that I'm going to spend the rest of 2016 happily single. The worst part is that I would have really LOVED to have gone to the barn but I rescheduled to fit this in and then regretted it. Sometimes it's tough to juggle things in my personal life with ponies especially since I'd like to not be single for the rest of my life. At any rate, next time I prioritize the pony.

So, it's time to get back on track. I'm feeling motivated to ride and motivated to ride my girl not some other horse. I love her, no I adore her, and a few bad rides aren't going to throw us off track. This week I'm getting back on a 5 ride schedule and we're going to make things happen, specifically the things on our list of goals ;)

Layup

Clearly not Katai but that is my chiro :)

My amazing equine chiro texted me Friday morning with some information about Katai's appointment on Thursday. It sounds like she was very tense and out through her neck, lower back and haunches. It sounds like J needed to do a lot of muscle work with her just to get her to a point where she was able to adjust her without having an upset pony on her hands. Then she did adjust well but J wants her to have the week off and I'm more than happy to comply.

I felt like a bad horse owner and asked if it could be from the show or if it was something that had ben building up for awhile. She thinks that it could be some of both but did think that most of it was likely from the show which, although it doesn't make me feel great, at least then it wasn't something that was bad before the show that I didn't catch.

She's going to give me, and show me, some stretches and wants me to do more massage with her as well. I may also put her back on DMG since she never seemed to be muscle sore when I had her on that. Of course she wasn't showing then either but for how cheap that supplement is and how I know that she tends to be tense I think it might make sense.

Although I'm certainly not happy that she was out, I am glad that we have a diagnosis and with that I don't have to immediately start worrying about other causes. Over the past few days I've been thinking/worrying about ulcers. At this point I think I'm going to give her the week off and then pick back up riding and see how she's doing. I really hope it's not ulcers but I"m going to keep it in mind anyway.

J also commented that she'd gained some weight. I agree that she has but have been wondering if it's all in my head. We've had some amazing hay recently so I'm guessing she's just getting more calories than normal and now with no riding over the next week it'll be especially important to make sure she's not getting too much to eat. I'll be talking to my BM once I get back to see if she can reduce her portion a little.

I really miss my girl and I'm so happy that I'll be able to see her this weekend. During the next week while she has time off I'll be riding L's baby horse and will share updates with that soon!

Far Away

I've been in Spokane, WA since Monday for work. I had planned, based on our schedule, that I'd have lots of time to blog but that's not been the case. My co-worker from MN is here with me and is a huge foodie so we've been going out to dinner every evening and been onsite all day. However, we got done early but couldn't change our flights so we'll be here still but just working out of the hotel room which means I'll have lots of time. I'm planning a nice early run tomorrow and then will do some blogging in between work if I can.

In other news, my previous farrier (now referred to as Katai's Chiro), is able and willing to come out to the barn and will be there tomorrow to take care of my pony. I can't wait to hear what she finds and hope that whatever is going on is that she's out some where and not something more serious.

Apparently while I haven't had time to do much blogging I have had time to worry about my pony.

I'm also hoping that Katai will be ridable fairly quickly. I've been texting with another barn friend, who we'll call A, and she also has a young horse (one that did much better at the last show that Katai did) that she wants to get out and expose to the world. She came up with the brilliant idea of going to the local western fun shows that are $3 per class rather than $25 and around a little more rough and ready local crowd. She also has the means to trailer both of us there!

I'm toying with the idea of not signing up for this schooling show at the end of June and doing a few fun shows, back to back, instead. They'll cost $10-$20 instead of $95-$150 like the dressage shows will and I think will be even better to get her exposed to new environments. A also suggested taking both horses to a trail system and the beach! I've ridden past horses in the water at the beach in the Mississippi river but never Katai and it would be so much fun!

I haven't totally decided yet, I'm mainly waiting to see how she does at the next one to see if there's a large amount of progress or only a small amount before I decide.

In other news, H's pony has done so well at learning the ropes that after his second schooling show she has signed up for one of the big rated shows in our region at the end of June. I'd say that I'm jealous, and I maybe am just a little, but she has been taking dressage lessons for way longer than I have, her pony is 13 vs. 8, and he was well trained when she got him rather than her training him from scratch. Plus he's a gelding and not a sensitive mare demon. Mainly I'm just looking forward to being able to do the same thing with Katai, hopefully next year :)

Getting Out

For some reason it's like some sort of switch has turned on in my brain after the show and all of a sudden I feel really capable of making changes without involving other people. After watching this video  I realized that I really want to be able to get Katai outside and have her handle the terrain and just be able to be handled outside. Something about the calm, relaxed way that Elisa handles her thoroughbreds just really motivated me to get out and deal with Katai's behavior and start working on making it better.

I got Katai tacked up and ready to go and went out into a drizzle to do some good work. I decided to hop up to start off and jump down if I needed to. I schooled mounting and keeping her still for a little and then, once she was doing well there, I mounted up and she immediately lost her mind.

More on that later

At any rate, I dismounted and got her going forward around me in a circle. Then, once some of her brain was back in her head I started "ground riding" her with one arm over the saddle. She was doing pretty well until we got her near the trailers and then we lost it again so I started playing my version of the "Squeeze Game" and trying to get her to stop close to the trailer and making her work when she was moving away from it.

It worked really well and she caught on pretty quick and was standing between me and the trailer, facing it. So I ground rode her around the horse pens. It's a decent little trail ride and she did a great job.

Old me, would have just called it there but the new more motivated me hopped up and went to do the same thing actually riding my pony. Once I mounted up she got tense and naughty for a moment (again, more on this later) but I was able to ride her through it and soon we were walking in a relaxed manner back around the pens. I thought about hopping off before we had to ride past the trailers again but instead I stayed up and told her that I'd give her snacks (which she hasn't been getting at all) if she was good. She was! She walked right past and then halted and stood still while I dismounted so she got lots of orange snacks.

I was extremely proud of both of us, not only that we got out and did it but also that we did it on a slightly windy and rainy day when the other horses were pretty keyed up. It will be great practice for a show environment and I'm planning to do the same thing very soon.

Then today I rode her in the indoor and I had exactly the same fussy, bratty pony that I did last Friday right before the show. This time though I FINALLY put together that I think she's out somewhere either her ribs, pelvis or back. She is still really (as in literally traveling at a 45* angle) swinging her haunches to the left and when I dismounted I noticed that she's still got a bit of a twist in her tail when she walks which is really unusual for her.

I had seen that slightly odd tail carriage when I lunged her after a few days off after the show but I figured she was just a little stiff or sore. Now, when she's still doing that I'm sure she has something going on either in her musculature or, more likely, needs chiro. I feel bad that I didn't put it together sooner but I'm also wondering now whether that effected her show day at all. Who knows, I have a feeling there was enough adrenaline that it wouldn't have effected her behavior much but I'm still curious. At any rate, I'm sure it explains her bad behavior more recently.

I've texted my previous farrier, the one that I fired :(, because she's great with chiro and I think that we agreed that I'd still have her do chiropractic but we'll see. Hopefully she'll be willing to come out while I'm out of town, or hopefully she'll just be willing to come out period...

Sore and Stuck: Lesson Recap 1/31

We had an interesting lesson on Sunday this week. Katai has been virtually tantrum free for the last few months but she came as close as she has at this lesson. She started off very stiff and reluctant to bend. In true amazing trainer fashion L didn’t get fussed at all and just worked us through it with lots of canter transitions to get her loosened up. Katai was calm but sucked back at that point which is unlike her. In fact she’s been fairly sucked back recently at both training rides and lessons.

 

Once she was loose enough we did some walk work and Katai tried a new tactic. She would freeze at the walk and absolutely refuse to go forward. I got to practice my pony club kick and then we’d push her into canter and make her work until she was listening. Then back to a walk and wash, rinse, repeat. After about 3-4 times she figured out that listening to my leg and going forward at the walk was much less work than being made to canter and with all the canter work she had done she was a little tired and sweaty so we ended the lesson.

 

This along with findings from both the massage/saddle fitter and the farrier/chiropractic appointment that she had today point to general muscle soreness/stiffness. Specifically in her lower (closer to her hip) back on the left hand side. Massage/saddle fitter thought it could be saddle fit and farrier/chiro thinks it’s just muscle fatigue. I had a long text conversation with my farrier/chiro and her recommendation is rest first and then to give her a chance to show us if it’s saddle fit or just a pulled muscle or tough stretch of work. 

 

Based on her recommendation we’re going to give Katai a quiet week. I’ve already messaged L and we are going to cancel my lesson. I’m going to hand walk Katai for 2-3 days, ride at only a walk for 2 days, and then go to walk, trot for a few days before doing much canter work. I’m going to keep track of any pain responses in her back and see if it’s getting better. I’m also going to include some stretching.

 

My chiro isn’t worried about her at all, she just thinks she’s getting used to moving herself properly and suggested lots of work having her use her back and some ground pole work to make sure she’s using herself correctly. I just want to make sure I’m not aggravating something and, like I told L, since we’re not training for the Olympics we have time to just let her relax and heal.

 

Tonight I did my first evening of hand walking. She was pretty stiff but after about 15 minutes of nice, relaxed hand walking she was loosening up and had a nice over reach at the walk.

 

On the drive home I was really thinking about this chart that the farrier/chiro sent and I have a thought. It looks like her lower left back – the muscle that helps her push with her left hind – and her right shoulder are both sore. I’m going to guess that between working on lengthenings and extra canter work I bet she pulled her back muscle and has now been compensating with her right shoulder at the trot. Just a theory but I think it’s maybe a good one.

On Hold

                                          How dressage makes Katai feel

Right now my lessons are on hold because L is in Sweden with a sick family member. While she is gone I’m doing the best I can on my own to continue to build Katai’s strength. We had a really wonderful ride on Saturday where everything just went perfectly. Katai was doing this nice forward, slow tempo, not rushy trot and was really getting the bend figured out. She felt strong, confident and was really understanding everything I asked her for. It was one of those rides where I really feel like she has it in her to be an amazing dressage horse.

 

Then on Monday we had a not as great ride where she refused to bend to the left and was much more rushy. I had noticed that the undermuscle on the right side of her neck seemed tight and slightly large so I’m wondering if she was bitten by another horse and maybe was a little stiff and sore. I still insisted but was a little more lenient about it than I have been because of that concern about her neck. I’ll see how she is during our ride tonight and if she is still just a stubborn we’ll have a good conversation about it J I know that we will have rides like this as she continues to gain needed strength since it’s hard and sometimes she’s probably sore and doesn’t think she should have to work like this without a good reason. 

 

On Friday I have chiropractic scheduled for her and I’m anxious to see how that goes. It will be her first time so I’m sure she’s going to be a little touchy about it but I really think it’s important since we are starting to ask so much more of her. My goal is to do this twice per year and then to add, hopefully, more frequent massage since that seems to be almost more important from a maintenance perspective. After her appointment this Friday she’ll get at least 3-4 days completely off and then I’m thinking that I’ll do a lunging day to make sure she is loose and comfortable before I ride again.