The Heat is On

Both literally and figuratively! I’m sort of considering this one long off season right now so that we can get stronger and better and be back to showing next year and boy do we ever need it. Both of us are out of shape and a bit fluffier than I’d like (more so me than Katai). Unfortunately it’s also the hottest part of summer and I don’t deal with heat well so that adds some complication, however, I’ve been really solution focused recently so with that here are a few things we’re doing.

Fitness:
For me mostly I’m trying to just get more movement in every day. With my mental health struggles over the past year and being sick so much I went from decently fit to absolute couch potato. Picking back up running was just way too much to face right away so I’m trying to do smaller things like going for a walk on my work breaks. Just going to the barn more is helping since even doing simple tasks like grooming and lunging are better than sitting on the couch watching Netflix :) Even better is when I ride. I’ve also started to do core work outs on a regular basis. I’m hoping to get to a point where once it cools off I can get back into running this fall and then carry it through on the treadmill this winter.

For Katai I had a great step by step plan but then she blew that up when she decided to be a right twat about lunging and then about being ridden and then about lunging and riding. Instead of a couple of easy stretchy days with a slightly harder cardio day she ended up doing an hour ride, then a long mostly canter lunge, and then a 45 minute ride/lunge. Pony mares….

At any rate she got a few days off that turned into several days off with the heat. As soon as I’m not worried that I’ll get heat stroke again (I’ve already had it twice this year) I’ll be getting back to the step by step work outs.

Miss Puppy got stuck and couldn't turn around

Training:
There are a bunch of things that I’ve wanted to do but that I’ve been throwing up barriers about. One is the wash “stall” at this barn. It’s outdoors, near the house so that it can share hot water, and is a concrete slab with a wooden fence on three sides. I like this set up except the wooden fence is SUPER rotted and I absolutely guarantee you that if I tie Katai to it she’ll pull at least hard enough to take down part of the fence (since I can move it around without much effort). Since I can’t have that risk it’s meant that it’s really tough to spray her off or bathe her since she’s really water averse.

However, since it’s hot and she’s getting sweaty I’ve needed to spray her off and I’ve been working on getting her to just relax and not mind so much. She’s still not a huge fan but I’m now able to spray off every part of her while she stands still with her head down on a loose lead. It’s HUGE progress for us and I’m proud of both of us for sticking with it. The real test will come this week when I give her a full bath.

The other is riding outside. Part of the issue is that I’ve boarded places that didn’t have safe space to ride outside or safe trail access. Now that I have that I’ve been working this summer to get her comfortable riding outside. We were doing REALLY well and doing mini trail rides around the property and longer trail rides with a calm friend (the horse not the person since both of us riders have anxiety lol). In the midst of that I started acclimating her to her easy boot gloves since I did some research and found that I could actually use them in an arena setting!! I had been worried about the added bulk but it turns out that barrel racers use these and if they can do those sharp turns at speed it’s probably ok for me to occasionally ride my pony in the arena on 20 meter circles and straight at w/t/c.

I started acclimating her to them on a walking trail ride and then hand walking her in the arena. She had been super calm about riding and working outside (which was frankly kind of shocking after her past behavior) so then I planned a light ride outside. Amazingly there were a couple of people working on dressage at the lower arena so I “joined” them and brought her down there. She was slightly tight when I mounted but after some work on walking and halting she breathed out and was perfect. I planned another longer ride out there, not thinking much about it, and she had a total meltdown. I was proud of myself that I put my trainer hat on and we worked for about an hour mostly riding but with some ground work as well. I was very patient and giving except when she was trying to rear because that is just not allowed. She was REALLY wound up though so ending on a good note meant just getting a decent, but very tight, trot and then a walk that wasn’t jigging as much.

I lunged her the next day and she was still really up but better so I planned another outdoor ride. The day before I’d had food poisoning and still wasn’t feeling 100% but I was just planning on a nice easy ride doing some walk, a little trot, and focusing on relaxation. That was not what Katai had in mind. She had another melt down which resulted in 45 minutes of work some lunging and mostly riding. I also overdid it and then ended up with mild heat stroke for the second time this year :(

At any rate I still had my trainer hat on and we did make progress. That was last weekend and this past week with the heat I didn’t make it out a ton and when I did I was being conservative with my rides. I decided to ride in the indoor to see if she was still as reactive since that might point to pain or discomfort. She hasn’t been uclery and after the first bad ride I palpated her back and couldn’t get a reaction but I figured it was still a good check point. However, we had an excellent, relaxed, flowing ride in the indoor so I’m 100% sure that in the outdoor it’s behavior related. I did a light halter lunge down there a couple of days ago and she was nice and relaxed and much less spooky and reactive so fingers crossed we’re headed in the right direction. At least with the easy boots I’m able to work on this!

I have high hopes that I’ll be able to finish up addressing this major tantrum behavior over the next week as I have time and then we can go back to productive rides that slowly ramp up fitness!

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 :)

Hope

How Katai greeted me the day after all that work.
She was totally mugging for treats (spoiler alert, she got one :-) 

Sunday at the Hunter Pace was amazing. I had so much fun and I think that Katai did too. Taking home a ribbon was the icing on the cake but that isn’t what’s left me feeling like I’m on top of the world for the past few days, it’s that Katai wasn’t a monster to handle, didn’t lose her cool, and didn’t forget how to horse at this event.

I know that I’ve been a little negative about how the last schooling show went and I just want to be clear, that had nothing to do about our dressage score. I think that’s sort of funny and was very fair for how she rode. I do feel like it was an accomplishment that we stayed in the ring and I’m really not disappointed in how she was to ride. It was everything else.

Katai's satin. I used to have all my ribbons (4-H and other horses)
on this picture holder thingy but took everything down except what belongs to Katai

She was a monster to handle on the ground and nearly hurt me a few times. She so completely lost her marbles (didn’t even seem to know I was there) that I’ve just been unsure about how she’ll be to show in future.

It’s not like I think that she’ll never be able to show calmly. She is a very reasonable pony and exposure has really fixed most of the concerns I used to have. In fact, she used to lose it when I cross tied her in the barn and now she gets in the cross ties and pretty much falls asleep and doesn’t move her feet. I know it’s possible, it’s just that with the extent of her freak out at that schooling show I wasn’t sure how many YEARS it was going to take her to calm down and for showing to be fun. I’m just in this for the fun and the thought of dealing with her tantrums for any lengthy period of time was making me feel sick to my stomach.

However, on Sunday she was nearly foot perfect for a young horse. She did throw her shoulder into me a bit, she danced a bit when she was tied and had a couple of nervous poops. She didn’t want to stand still for me to mount and she jigged a bit when I first started riding. All of that is fine, it’s what I signed up for when I got a young horse and decided to start her myself. I didn’t sign up for a horse that was blindly striking out at me (she was so upset that she literally didn’t see me) or rearing into me, or rearing backwards into the wall in her stall at the schooling show. That’s terrifying and something I’m hoping to not repeat and the Hunter Pace on Sunday proved to me that it might not take YEARS for her to be a good pony, maybe just a few months or a year. That gives me so much hope :)

Act II: Show Recap 5/29

After a horrible night of sleep I woke up to my alarm at 5:30am and rolled out of bed. I put on my show clothes, made coffee and loaded myself into my car. I was running pretty early (nerves?) so I got to the barn earlier than planned at around 6:15am.

One of my other barn mates had arrived earlier and fed all three horses from our barn so Katai already had her grain and hay and was calmly eating. L got there right around me and we spent a little time getting our tack back out of our cars and in the isle. Of course, as soon as we got everything out it started to rain, first light and then fairly heavy. We were crossing our fingers that it would end by 7:30 when we planned to pull the horses out for some lunging/hand walking.

Luckily, almost on cue, the rain stopped and switched to some random spots of mist so we took that as a sign and got tacked up. Katai was decent in her stall and listened while I got her saddle on. She even snacked on her hay and drank some water while I was there. L finished first so she pulled her youngster (who was still quite calm) out and brought him to a back field to lunge. Since lunging isn't part of Katai's routine and it often just causes her to gallop and spin like a top, I elected to just walk her over to the cluster of show rings and into the midst of everything.

One of the quieter moments

On Saturday she had been quite calm, not sure if it was the relatively quieter environment or the Quietex, but on Sunday that wasn't the case. Pony was quite prancy, did some rearing and carrying on, and fussed in general. She was a little worried about umbrellas but mainly she just was high as a kite and didn't want to listen or pay attention to me.

I knew that it would be better if I just got on so that I could allow her to move forward. Only problem was getting on since she didn't want to stand by the mounting block for more than half a second. I just kept her moving, did some schooling and pats for standing for even a moment in that corner, and eventually got her to stand for a very brief period of time so that I could jump on.

Warmup - small dressage ring in the background

As soon as I got my second stirrup picked up I got her into a trot and had nothing to fault her for in the warmup. She was, again, really, really, really good! She was a little nervy about the horses running around in warmup (there were a bunch of kids on hunter/jumper ponies that were doing a lot of random canter shapes and coming up behind us) but really listened. She was forward and didn't have any tantrums and was evening listening to my half halts and slowing cues. We did some walk and trot and it was a huge success. I was riding right after L in the big ring, across from the warm up we were in, and my goal was to trot the whole time that L was riding so that she'd be quiet when we crossed over to the big ring.

I judged it as a huge success that I actually got her in the big ring since there was a LOT to look at over there. Then it became a bit rough. On Saturday Katai was fine with the closed up trailer that would serve as the judge's stand but I figured she'd have an issue with the open trailer with people in it. I was right and she slammed on the brakes as I went to pass it while we were still warming up outside the ring. I decided to pick my battle and looped her back around the other way. It paid off and I got her past in that direction but it still wasn't good and she was hot and upset. She started to spin and went to rear and I let the judge know that I was "ready" since I figured getting her in and moving was better than continuing to do loops at that point.

One of the good moments

Again I was proud that I actually got her in the ring and then we did our own version of the test including a shoulder in (or was it a haunches out) all the way to the halt at X where we did actually sort of halt. I sort of did a salute and then did a trot but sort of didn't make it to C. Whenever we were going away from the judge's trailer she was quite good but going towards it she was very reluctant and worried.

Another really nice moment - L's 4 year old in the background looking like an expert show horse

We did another sort of shoulder in thing, sideways to the final halt (which in test C is of course very close to the judge) and again, we actually halted, probably only because Katai wasn't willing to get any closer to that trailer.

Pretty square based on our trajectory!

It felt a bit like a disaster based on how well she'd done in the warmup but mainly I'm just glad that we pretty much got through the test, sans canter. L congratulated me and let me know that she was very proud and that I should be too. She said that we had moments of brilliance :)

At any rate I decided to scratch Intro A. We would have had to put Katai back in her stall for about an hour and then go back out there. I doubted that I could do it, plus I wanted to make this as positive and easy as possible and getting untacked and tacked again plus just trying to mount the fire breathing dragon just didn't seem possible at that point. What you can't see in these photos is that as soon as I dismounted after our test she quickly lathered up with sweat and was clearly at her limit.

I was reading for L's second test, Intro B, and we didn't have much time so we got both horses back to their stalls. At that point Katai's brain had completed the process of oozing out of her ears and she completely lost it in her stall.

Tantrum level Unicorn

She spent nearly the entire half hour we spent back at stabling on her hind legs. We think that she was so in heat that she NEEDED other horses and was trying to see over the partition. It was painful to stand there and, thankfully, while she can be a bit nuts she's also intelligent and very aware of herself so she never actually does anything stupid. Plus we knew that once I left she'd be better so I headed over to the small ring to wait for L and find someone with a test B for me to read from.

L had a REALLY good intro test B on her baby and we found out later that she scored a 65% with a couple of 8s and despite at least one 4. By that point her horse had lost his brain a little as well only for him it meant being tired and withdrawn. L and I brought him back to the barn, witnessed more craziness from Katai, and got our tests. I ended up with a 35.25% on my test which was very fair and accurate based on how Katai behaved.

The smily face shows me that we were crap this time and she gave us an accurate score but she has hope for us ;)

We quickly moved to load up and, based on how things went the previous day we loaded up L's horse first. He took about 10 minutes and then I walked Katai right in. I was really proud of her and despite all of her circling, screaming, calling, trying to run me over, rearing, rearing and flailing into me, and just generally loosing her crap, we got there and did what we meant to do.

We got back to the barn by around 10:30am so our show day was short and sweet (don't ask Katai cause I'm sure she'll have a different story). I went home and chilled the rest of the evening and was really glad that it was Memorial Day weekend so that I'd have another day off.

** The beautiful photos were taken by a friend who we used to board with at the last barn and who also takes lessons from L.

She also took this photo and her horse is the bay Arabian

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.

Badly Needed Update

On Saturday we had a fairly bad ride. I’m usually a glass half full sort of person and some good things came out of it but both Katai and I were feeling weak and floppy and having a tough time concentrating. When one teammate feels that way it’s one thing but when both do it’s a recipe for a bad ride. 

 

I could tell going into it that we weren’t firing on all cylinders so I kept it short and sweet. I worked on making nice 20 meter circles at the walk and trot and tried to slow her temp down again since it seems like she was getting quick, probably because I didn’t ride her consistently last week L, and by the end had her trot resembling something more dressage-ee. I also worked on her canter in both directions and this made her spaz out. When I’m working her all the time she remembers that canter is just another gait and one that is tiring but when I haven’t worked her in awhile it’s all about the CANTER and she just can’t help herself she wants to canter so bad. That was the pony I was dealing with on Saturday which meant that we had some of our worst transitions to date. I’m really ready for another lesson next Sunday so that L can help me sort this out!

 

Then on Sunday we did baby’s first real trail ride!! I’m lucky enough to live right down the road from a HUGE trail system but because it is right near a large metro area there are things/people on the trail that horses normally don’t have to deal with. Also, since I hadn’t been on these trails before I really had no idea how to even find them. On Saturday one of the other people who does chores (we’ll call her A) invited me on a trail ride and it was the perfect situation since the other person she was riding with could only walk.

 

Sunday ended up being really windy and there was a storm rolling in so I almost lost my nerve especially when people at the barn who found out it was going to be her first real trail ride were telling me that there was going to be a record number of bikes/rollerbladers/runners/dog walkers on the trail. However, I really, really, really want Katai to be a good trail pony and eventually I want to be able to go out there and do canter sets by our self. That’s going to take time and miles and since this was the perfect first trail ride opportunity I decided to buck up and do it.

 

A actually boards at the neighboring barn but rode partway out to babysit Katai back to the barn she boards at where the other trail rider was getting ready. Katai got to hang out in a strange place with strange horses and a pile of hay. Everyone fed her treats and she was certainly the center of attention but most importantly she was awesome!!! She never called, she didn’t get prancy, and she stood still and polite while we waited for the other rider to get tacked up and mounted. I climbed off for awhile and then when it was time to mount back up she stood still at a strange mounting block for me.

 

I was soooo proud!

 

Then it was time to tackle the trails but we had set it up perfectly for a young horse since A’s horse is a big, calm, experienced babysitter. To her credit Katai dealt with about 100 bikes without ever spooking and although she got a bit up at some rollerbladers and a bike pulling one of those kid trailers she never really had a big spook and certainly never thought of bolting. When we did turn around to head back the other horse we were out with freaked out briefly and she jumped a little but then calmed right back down. I actually rode her on the buckle for a large part of the ride back and she even took the lead briefly when the babysitter horse was concerned about some random branches that were down next to the trail. She really is a brave little toaster :-)

 

Unfortunately I didn’t get any pictures from our trail ride because I didn’t have any hands free to take pictures and I ended up not having a good place to put my phone. I recently upgraded to the iphone 6 plus and have no clue how I’m going to carry that with on rides. I could attach it to the saddle somewhere but then, of course, if we got separated I would be in trouble. I’m going to have to figure something out before we head out on the trail on our own.

 

On the way back A walked us to the driveway of our barn and Katai had been a little up, I think she was getting tired and had finally hit the point where all the stimulus was just getting to be too much. Then when we separated and A went back Katai lost it and got really prancy. I just handled it and didn’t get after her at all because she had been such a good girl. I was also proud that in the small tantrum that followed she never once tried to run into me or over me which is HUGE progress from even last year. I led her prancy self back to the barn where she had another small tantrum when I tied her up outside, near another horse. There was no way at that point that I would have trusted her in cross ties. It was tough for me to see her that way again since she used to be like that all the time and the progress that we’ve made just in these last few months has been so, so nice. However, she is still a baby in training if not in years, and I know that she will still have her moments.

 

I’m also feeling really confident about doing more trail riding with her since she just has such a nice, calm, brave mind. I’m hoping that we can do a few more walk only trail rides before we start going faster so that she doesn’t think it’s all about running.