Actual Riding Updates!!

Yes, that’s right and they’re positive :)

This whole social barn thing is really helping my motivation to ride. At the old barn I’d be the only one there, literally the only one on the property a good chunk of the time and so if Katai was at all anxious or spicy I’d lunge partially from a self-preservation perspective and partially just because I was anxious and didn’t have any reason to ride. It was tough always being alone.

Here there are always people around and there have been at least a few times when I’ve arrived at the barn with no motivation, thinking I’d just lunge, and then changed my mind when I got there because there were lots of other people riding. Part of it is that this barn has a recommendation (I won’t call it a rule because they’re flexible) of no lunging in the indoor when someone else is riding. They’re fine in the outdoor, because it's bigger, but if there are lots of other people riding I’d still prefer to ride rather than lunge since I still feel the risk of accident is higher. Mostly though it’s just that when my friends are tacking up to ride I’d prefer to tack up and ride with them!

That meant that this week when I went out on Monday I was still feeling like crap and thought I’d just groom and lunge and maybe work in hand outside a bit. When I got there though my friend M (who was the reason I moved here) was there and just finishing up grooming and there were lots of other people riding. I had decided I might ride and then I saw another friend drive up. When I asked she thought that she’d ride in the outdoor. I figured I’d see how Katai was, since she’d been a pill the previous few days, but she was so good and quiet in the barn that I decided to join my friend in the outdoor. I didn’t have a death wish though so I decided to lunge first. At first Katai was a little tight and spicy but she calmed down pretty quick and before I could second guess myself I led her over to the mounting block and hopped on.

Long story short she was SUPER good. She acted like she’d been riding in that outdoor her entire life. She wasn’t spooky even with some construction happening at a nearby pole building, or the foal that was being weaned running around in a neighboring paddock. We walked for a while so that I could make sure she was really tuned in and then did some trotting and finally cantered. I let her run into the canter and just kept it nice and forward and low key but with that being said she never put a foot wrong. The arena is huge so she had lots of room to navigate and not feel like she was losing her balance which I think helped. She fell into trot going right at one point and I wasn’t going to ask for more but she went back into canter and the transition was gorgeous and she was listening to me so I just went with it for another circle or two.

I kept the whole ride pretty short because the arena footing is way different than what she’s used to at this point and we’re still acclimating. I was so proud of her and stuffed her full of treats when I hopped off and then hand walked her to “cool down” for a while even though she wasn’t sweaty at all. I think that part of what was so different was that she was out there with a horse that she knows well. I’m ok with that being our method of helping her understand that the outdoor is a safe place though and plan to ride out there with friends as much as possible until the weather dictates that we only ride inside.

I’m up north at a cabin with my bf this weekend so probably no updates for a bit but I’m hoping to post more soon!

Settling In

You can juuuuust see a tiny white speck of a pony in this
but it was so pretty that I wanted to share.

The new barn is great, really fantastically great. The missing piece from many of the past barns for me has been the social piece. This place is finally everything and more that I could want from that perspective. The people are fantastic and every single time I’ve been out, no matter what time of the day or what day it is there are at least 3-4 people there grooming, riding, lunging, or in some way working with their horses. Most people ride their horse(s) on a regular basis, work with instructors, feed supplements, and just groom or lunge. Everyone is nice and positive and while there’s a lot of diversity from a horse care philosophy and/or training perspective everyone seems to get along really well. There are at least 4 people that board at this barn that I’ve either previously boarded with or knew through a friend and one of the people who is boarding here now boarded at both J’s and Jane’s with me.

There are certainly nice things about having the barn or arena to myself but it is just so much nicer to know that there will be other awesome people to talk to, learn from, compare notes with, and support and be supported by. It’s so motivating to me to go to the barn and then even if, like this past weekend, all I can manage to do is feed supplements I can also hang out and talk with other people, watch others ride, help grab a needed side rein, etc. and feel like the drive to the barn was more valuable than it would have been to just go feed supplements (even though that’s also very rewarding :)

Puppy was napping with me and then when I got up off the couch she got absorbed into the cushions.
You can see how disgusted she was about it lol

Katai also seems to be adjusting and figuring things out. I went out on Monday the day after she arrived and then again on Tuesday. She was definitely tired from dealing with figuring out the new herd dynamic. I missed a couple of days but went out again the following Saturday. Things were on track and going great but then I started to get sick. I was really hoping it would be just a few day thing but alas the cold kicked my butt a full 6.5ish days and I’m only feeling mostly better still more than a week now from when I first got sick hence why I’ve been so quiet!

I'm planning to post a review on my new grooming bag soon!

This past weekend though I was feeling up to getting to the barn and knew that I really needed to. The most unfortunate thing about Katai being on pasture board this winter is that she’s relying on me to feed supplements. I’m working to figure out a storage solution so that I can keep them at the barn (in a mouse proof way) so that others can help if I can’t make it out but I didn’t have that figured out prior to getting sick this time. Most of the time I should be able to make it out at least 5 days a week and it’s a little extra motivation to make it out there but I know there will be times when I can’t so I want to have a backup plan figured out. On Saturday she was not especially excited to see me and slowly walked away but then stood when I approached. She was unusually subdued but didn’t have a temp. She also wouldn’t eat her “grain” but I knew she’d been eating on the round bale all day and maybe just wasn’t hungry enough for the supplements to taste good. I was slightly concerned but figured I’d check on her the next day (knowing she’d have a lot of eyes on her between then and Sunday) and get someone involved if she wasn’t perking up by then.

On Sunday when I went to catch her it was immediately clear that, while she still maybe wasn’t feeling herself, she was feeling much less subdued. She actually ran from me! This pony has NEVER been tough to catch the entire time I’ve owned her even when she was feral at the beginning. At the most she’d just walk a couple of steps and then stand nervously. This is the only time I can ever remember her actually putting any effort into evading me. I walked her down and it didn’t take long but I still have a lot of congestion in my lungs so it was more work than I was looking for. When she eventually stood she was clearly unhappy to be caught but just didn’t want to run anymore. She was also super reactive. I realized pretty quick that it was because she hadn’t been getting her magnesium and made a plan to get her on a loading dose for a couple of days to catch up. She was also clearly in raging heat so she was interesting, to say the least, in the cross ties and wanted to kick at me when I picked her back feet. We survived that and I lunged her in the outdoor but she SCREAMED the entire time to a bunch of mares that are in a pasture near the outdoor who she’s never met before.

Seriously *headdesk*

At least she got her supplements, was sound, and had more energy so I could stop worrying about her being sick. Now I just need to feel better, get her back on her supplements (at least the magnesium) and work some energy off on the lunge and then hopefully by end of this week I’ll be able to fit in a ride or two before we leave for a cabin up north for the weekend!