All The Mares

                         
                         
Oh my goodness I've been bad at blogging this month. Last year it was my seasonal depression, this year it's just that I've been enjoying the fall weather, getting chores done, and enjoying some down time after all the travel this year.

I've worked my way back up to riding 4-5 times a week and had a couple of make up lessons so I think we're back on track. I had a couple of amazing rides last week and then a decent ride on Monday this week. Tuesday evening I had a lesson with Jane that was sort of meh. Honestly I think we're in for lots of meh rides and lessons right now since we're really starting to change things up for both Katai any myself.

Whole bunch of new lights in the arena <3

For my lesson we started with a square of turn on the haunches. I struggled with keeping the correct bend and Katai didn't want to stay in front of my leg. It's the first time we've done them beyond really just basically introducing them to her so we just need some more practice.

                            
                                                Now if only her owner could help her stay in balance and 
                                                     still change the bend so she doesn't trip and/or loose the big stride

Then we did some warm up at the trot with some leg yields. Despite originally feeling like we were NEVER going to be able to properly do a leg yield they're looking pretty sharp now :) They still need to be able to have a bit more angle when I ask and she doesn't love to cross over with one hind. Each time though that hind leg but that seems to change. I'm not sure if it's because she's fairly ambidextrous or if there's something else going on from a riding perspective.

Old vs. new stall fronts

After that we went right into canter and that's where the wheels fell off a bit. Recently Katai has been REALLY good. She still almost never has a tantrum but that evening she got as close as she has recently. She was really just very jazzed up and didn't want to stop cantering dammit! When I would cue for trot she'd take one trot step and then go right back to a canter and refuse to go back to trot. She wasn't a run away and was taking direction well but she just didn't want to change back to trot.

                       

Practicing our counter canter

We took our time with it and got a few good transitions in either direction but also something we need to work more on. After when Jane and I had a chance to debrief she mentioned that it's likely that we're just asking for so much more and changing how we're asking (we were asking her to keep her pole up more at the canter) that she just didn't quite understand and wanted to run.

New fencing being installed

Then we worked on trot a bit more and did a bunch of SI. That was fantastic and we're both really starting to get it. There were still more moments where she was sucked back and tight through her back than there have been but we had a few magical moments and I was able to identify part of the problem when we switched to the second direction.

Hot water!!!

Wednesday she had off and then I was going to ride today but she ended up having her feet trimmed. My previous farrier would just show up every 6 weeks, trim them without me there and then bill me or I'd keep track and leave him a check. This farrier, who's amazing and used to be president of our farrier society, really wants me there. I do actually appreciate that but unfortunately the last two times have been during the morning on busy work days. This morning I sort of somehow made it work with lots of phone meetings in the car but it's far from ideal. Also because of that since I just can't justify driving that distance twice in one day it meant that she won't be ridden (also ok since I'd rather give her a day off after a trim).

Also this is exactly what my farrier looks like, complete with mustache and tattoos.
He actually used to be a body builder and he's in his 70s now.
He's a really interesting guy and his son actually dances with a big dance company in NY.

Hopefully she won't be tender tomorrow and I'll be able to ride again!

Also, in other updates at least a couple of my friends are moving!!!!! I know that two of them gave their 30 day notice at the start of October so they'll be moving in on November 1st :) I'm so happy and can't wait to have more boarders at the barn. I haven't heard from the third person but at this point I still think she may be moving as well. All three of them have mares and it's all mares at the barn now so we'll be full up on sassy females.

The sad part is that I may need to consolidate my tack a bit.
Possibly having three saddle racks to myself isn't very fair ;)

Days of Our Rasps: Season 2

Farrier Drama

Yeah, at this point I don't have much else to post about but there have been updates in the farrier saga.

I had done some snooping and checked with a couple of friends who use the same farrier and as of the week prior to when he was scheduled to trim Katai he was still showing up. I did find out some other things that were going on with him in his personal life but injury or illness still wasn't completely off the table.

In the meantime I was able to talk with Jane's farrier. He was reluctant because he assumed that my farrier had stopped showing up for a reason (of course) and unfortunately because I didn't know why he'd stopped showing up I didn't have anything to say. Jane talked to him though and he agreed to come out and trim Katai on Monday as long as Jane was able to be there. I'm a very professional and reliable person and Katai's good for her feet to be trimmed so I'm confident that he'll see that but I'll do whatever I need to at this point to get Katai's feet done. Even if that means having my trainer baby sit us.

Also, I'm really glad I actually have someone scheduled to trim but disappointed that the weekend is really off the table for riding at this point. It may not be for all horses at 9 weeks between trim cycles but Katai has a foot that's slightly clubbed and she grows a ton of heel which makes her more unstable. Luckily her breakover isn't bad, but it's like she's wearing high heels. With that, there's no way I'm going to risk riding her and asking for anything athletic. The fact that I know she may be doing that in her paddock makes me nervous and I'm going to be worried until she gets trimmed.

Really no new media so you got a roany butt shot that I took for the saddle fitter

This is also a good place to say that next time (if there is ever a next time) I'm going to be more aggressive in finding a different farrier so that it doesn't go this long. It was just so tough to know when to do when my, up until three weeks ago, very reliable farrier didn't show up for an appointment and didn't let me know why.

Then, this morning I finally got a text from my farrier. I put what he said together with what I know from my friends and let's just say that he hasn't been physically ill or injured AND it also had nothing to do with me or Katai. He let me know that the last few days(!?!) had gotten away from him and that he'd be able to come out on Monday. At this point I'm extremely frustrated with him AND I already have someone coming out who will hopefully be more reliable. I wrote a very polite and pleasant message back to him that I wanted to see how it went with the new farrier and I'd let him know if I wanted him to continue to trim Katai. At this point I don't believe I do but I also haven't even met the new farrier yet so we'll see plus I don't believe in burning bridges.

Fingers crossed that everything goes well with the new farrier on Monday and that Katai's able to be back to normal after. The nice thing about this farrier is that he's already coming out to the barn to trim Jane's horses (my previous farrier was just coming out for Katai) so he's already out there on a regular basis. Hopefully that means that there's an extra layer of reliability there :)

Poked and Prodded

Poor pony has ended up with quite the schedule this week. Surprisingly today was the vet so she got her teeth done, shots, and coggins pulled.

I say surprisingly because for some reason I had it in my head that tomorrow was the 8th so when I sat down this morning to pay bills and realized it was the 8th I had a minor heart attack. Made even worse when I looked at my watch and realized that it was 9:55 and the vet was scheduled for 10:00. Luckily I knew that there were at least 6 horses he was going to be seeing at the barn so I had a bit of time but I still rushed out the door and called Jane on the way to let her know I'd be late.

I ended up getting there at an ok time as he'd already done initial coggins and vaccines with most of the horses and Katai was the next on his list. He had a helper there with him and unfortunately Katai ended up ramming her into the door on the way out of her stall. Katai is never at her best when we change her routine so she and the helper had a little conversation on their way out of the barn and then while she stood for coggins pictures. She was dancing a bit and on her toes as she was led back to her stall but then stood like a rock for shots. The vet was clearly surprised after her earlier poor behavior and I giggled and told him that she was a champion at shots :)

From last time she got her teeth done.
Look what a fluffy baby she was then!

He gave her an initial dose of sedative and then went to do some exams with the other horses. She ended up being such a cheap drunk that he didn't need to give her anything else and she was very good for her float. I think this may only be her second time but she was way better than last time. I had meant to get her done every 2 years or so but forgot last spring when the vet was there that she was due and didn't remember until this past fall. I was a bit worried but also hadn't noticed any symptoms of a sore mouth so I decided, with Jane's support, to wait until this spring. The vet said she looked fine, just a couple sharp edges and one small ulcer. I'll definitely be sure to not wait so long next time but I was pleased that she wasn't worse.

Then, on Wednesday she has a massage scheduled! It was supposed to happen on the 2nd but ended up being rescheduled for this week on the 12th.

Finally, on Thursday she's getting her feet trimmed. I was laughing with Jane that she'll be a whole new pony ;)

Vets and Farriers

*My post from yesterday has formatting issues that I'm having trouble fixing. I'm going to go back and get it fixed but I pulled it for now until I can.

It's the time of year for spring shots and of course this year I needed my Coggins by the first show (actually going to drop it off today so that I don't have to remember it next weekend) so Katai was seen by the vet last month. Because a mistake was made with paperwork processing I didn't get my paperwork until just last week (this happened to me last year too).

I looked it over when it got here and was surprised to see this.

Of course she had to roll and give herself these spots before her pictures. In the second photo you can tell that she's second guessing it though. Also, not a bad conformation shot in the first one ;)

It's not like I really know how old Katai is so I wouldn't be at all surprised if I got her age wrong but I've been pretty sure that she's 7-8 and not 9. First of all, these pictures in 2013 from about 6 months after I got her.

Look at how butt high she is here

She does not look like a 6 year old pony here. Maybe a 6 year old warmblood but not a 6 year old pony. I would have guessed 3-4 honestly between her physical and mental maturity. However, the vet was at the barn without me and no one at the barn remembers Katai's age so I can only imagine that he looked at her teeth. I know that teeth don't lie and honestly it doesn't really matter to me what her age is. She's as old as she is and she will get as old as she'll get, knowing her actual age doesn't change it.

However, I was so surprised that I looked back through her records to see if I could find any additional information and I found this.

Sorry it's blurry but it has her birthdate as 1/1/2008

There are three big vet clinics in the area. One is the very highly respected University of MN vet hospital. This is where most people send their horses for major surgery if they have the choice and it's just known, locally anyway, for it's amazing care. That is who this age came from and again, no one would have told the her age so they would have been aging her by her teeth. This would make her 8 this year which is closer to what I was thinking. The vet that saw her this spring is the other most respected vet in the area and is the other place that people will take horses for surgery or emergencies so I trust them as well.

Finally, I went back to the first Coggins I got on her (again from the clinic that just saw her this spring) and saw this. 

Another 1/1/2007 birthdate

I was at this appointment but I remember that he checked her teeth. I actually don't think that I ever really looked at this age and certainly don't remember it coming up but at the time I had two ponies and a dog being seen and Katai was a handful so I maybe just didn't retain it.

Either way, it really doesn't matter, I just think it's interesting and one of the reasons that I'd like to get a pony that's registered next time, just to take some of the guesswork out of it.

Then yesterday I had planned for the trimmer and was going to get off work a bit early to head to the barn when I got this.

Whatever her age is, she's really becoming a mature lady and that makes me very happy.

Sound Decisions: Lesson Recap 4/17

First of all I have to report that I still didn’t really work Katai 5 days this week. I started off strong with a walk ride on Monday because I had plans on Tuesday evening. Then on Wednesday I took Katai to the outdoor arena where she crazily lunged herself. On Thursday I had a great ride with no attitude where we accomplished a lot and then on Friday I went out to the barn because Katai was having her feet trimmed by the new farrier.

I love him!

It’s one of those "hindsight is always perfect" moments where I wonder why I didn’t switch farriers earlier. He and I laughed a bit at how it looked like she was standing on peg legs (gallows humor) and then he gave her a great, balanced, reasonable trim. I thought he might bring up shoeing her but he didn’t. I had my fingers crossed that she wouldn’t be too sore.

Katai's feet have been like B and now both are more like A.

On Saturday I went out to the barn mainly so that I could cancel with L if she was really bad and was extremely pleased (really that doesn’t even capture how ecstatic I was) when she was able to walk on concrete! I could tell that she was just slightly hesitant but compared to her last few trims it was a HUGE improvement. However, the farrier had changed her angles enough, especially on her right front, that I didn’t want to push her and risk injuring her. Instead she got pampered and then we went for a trail walk around the outdoor pastures and paddocks with a little hand grazing for good measure. It still felt productive since I’m hoping to start riding out her there again soon and she behaved really well.

Based on how sound she was I decided to go ahead with my lesson but to take things a little easy.

On Sunday she was just very, very slightly puffy right above her fetlock joint on her right front. You couldn’t see it but I know her legs really well and I could feel it. I mentioned it to L off the bat and she agreed that Katai was just very slightly hesitant on that leg. Because of that we did a lot of walk and then decided to try a little trot where L pronounced her "sounder than at the walk". Along with her new angles we’ve had a crazy temperature switch. Last week it was averaging in the mid 40s and this week it’s been averaging in the mid 70s. That’s a huge difference for the horses and they’ve all been sluggish and hot. On top of that we’ve been getting air pollutant warnings so L was having all of her students take it a little easy. With that in mind we did some trot work on shallow serpentines (I needed more work than Katai did) and after a few amazing accomplishments in each direction and lots of walk breaks we called it after about 30 minutes of a normally 45 minute lesson.

Making show plans...

Katai was an ANGEL the whole time. Even with the heat and everything else she had to be fussy about she just did exactly what we asked which made it an even better idea to quit early. She seriously gave me everything I asked for and never once said no which is such an amazing thing for this pony. I’m still walking on air today about how well this weekend went and I can’t wait to ride tomorrow!

The Breakup

With Katai's trimmer

It wasn’t something that I’ve wanted to do but when all the evidence started pointing in the same direction it was time to make a change.

I want to start off by saying that I have nothing against my trimmer. I know that she has had only the best interests of me and my pony in mind and is seriously the sweetest and most amazing person. However, it’s time to try something else with her feet.

 

When I first started working with the trimmer she was doing great things for Katai’s feet. Katai went from having some pretty severe hoof issues to starting to develop much more normal feet. However, for some reason around the time we moved to our current barn her feet started to have some issues. 

First she was sore after every trim. Normally for a few days but sometimes up to five or six. Her upright front right hoof also started to be more and more upright and even her front left hoof started to become more upright.

Then after her sore back feet and month off, which I’m still convinced wasn’t solely on my trimmer, people started to grumble. I heard from one of my trimmer’s other clients at the barn that she was thinking of changing farriers because she was starting to be concerned about her horse’s feet. I found out that many of my trimmer’s other clients’ horses had been sore after every trim so it wasn’t just Katai.

I was getting close to trying to find a different trimmer but wanted to give my trimmer one more chance. I’d been asking questions and sharing some feedback but I’m no expert so when I asked if my pony should still be sore after every trim she said that sometimes that happens or made an excuse based on the wet or hard ground and suggested that I give Katai bute. After buying the boots I was all set to give her another trim to see what happened but then, as I mentioned previously, Susanne said something when I rode with her.

 

Actually the very first thing Susanne did was call me over to look at Katai’s hooves. She commented that all four of her feet, but especially the fronts, were too upright and poorly trimmed she suggested that I speak with my trimmer, and also that I shoe her but that’s not a change I’m ready to make at this point. After my ride my BM came over and mentioned that she’d heard that Susanne had said something. I asked if she had any suggestions and she said to find a new trimmer and that was the last push I needed.

Yesterday I “broke up with” my trimmer. I’m going to use a different farrier at the barn who L’s other students also use. I’m sad but it really needed to be done. She was understandably upset and asked why I hadn’t given her any feedback. That upset me a little because I had been texting her after almost every trim letting her know that Katai was sore and either asking for her advice or if she had any ideas for how to make it better. I’m not a trimmer or a farrier, I can’t tell what’s going on, I can’t tell her to change an angle or make Katai’s heels shorter or longer, or anything. That’s why I have a trimmer. Without being able to tell her to trim “different” there wasn’t anything I could do so that’s why it’s time for a change.

Katai is sound and her feet aren’t wonky enough that I can’t ride, according to L and my BM, so the plan is to have the new farrier trim her next time and take some photos of her feet so that I can see the progress.

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.