In Retrospect

Goals

I’m finally caught up enough to be able to talk about the ride I had Thursday! But first, I need to give a little context. This will be long so I don’t blame you if you skip it!

I think I’ve briefly described my current barn set up but I’m not sure I gave much detail and even I don’t want to go back and look it up so it’s getting explained again. Firstly, current barn is one of the less expensive barns I’ve boarded at especially within the last 4-5 years or so. The care and options available are amazing as is the location but the amenities are pretty scarce. When you first drive up the driveway (which is narrow and hilly – we’ll get to that later) you drive past pastures on either side and then paddocks and a parking space on the left. On the right, just after the house that my trainer, K, lives in is the indoor arena which is behind a 3 sided shelter with a grain room for the pasture and paddock horses. As you continue down the driveway you pass the hay barn on the left, more paddocks on the left and right, and one of the outdoor arenas on the right. Right after that is parking for the barn people and trailer parking on the right for all of the trailers.

All in all, it’s a bit of hike to take Katai from her stall to the indoor and I’ve been so proud of her steadiness as we walk through the dark and various terrain which can be muddy, snowy, slippery, frozen, rutted, etc. and past all of the potentially scary open buildings and farm bunnies which are everywhere and love to jump across the road in front of you in the dark. Secondly, for some reason the majority of the drama happens with the barn boarders and there are 1-2 people who board in the barn who are the cause of most of it (at least from my initial observation).

Also for context I’ve been doing SO WELL the past couple of months with getting to the barn regularly but this past week that’s fallen apart a little. I’m not overly disappointed and even left room for that in my December goals. It’s all because of holiday plans so it will calm down soon but it’s still disappointing. I had big plans to get back to 5-6 days a week the week of Christmas and even went out Christmas Eve morning but then on Christmas when I looked at the forecast they were predicting a crazy chain of winter weather. It was supposed to start with snow Wednesday evening, turn to rain through most of the day Thursday when the temps were going to be in the high 30s and 40s, and then turn back to snow in the later evening. Friday the temperature was supposed to drop below freezing, and then over the next few days we’re supposed to get more snow and then have a couple of extremely cold days with highs in the negatives.

Tack cleaning helper

This meant that my best chance to ride for at least a few days was to go out fairly early on Thursday. I’ve been working really hard over the past few months to not look for excuses or overthink going to the barn so I didn’t even worry much about the weather and just planned to go while I could. Luckily since it’s the week of Christmas work has been really quiet so I was able to get done a bit early. I wasn’t at all worried about the roads since it was so warm and they were absolutely fine. On my driveway up to the barn my car gave me a low traction warning but I figured it was a little slushy and nothing to worry about.

Nice dry pony. You can just see the one little wet spot. Also, ignore my horrible clipping lines.
It's almost time to clip again so I'll have a second chance at it lol.

However, everyone looked shocked and appalled that I was there. It was raining hard (and about 37*) and there was slush in the driveway but otherwise nbd really. Katai had her most waterproof blanket on with the neck rug and other than a small wet spot on either shoulder, where the water must have gotten between the neck rug and blanket, and a wet face she was perfectly dry. I had taken my tack home to clean it and was bringing it back so I was running between the car and the barn carrying armfuls of stuff. While I was carrying my saddle in one of the other boarders (one of the two drama causers who we’ll call NB) was acting especially shocked that I was there, and seemed even more concerned that I was planning to ride. Giving some context to this though, this same person had just the day before “tied” her gelding directly in front of Katai who was in crossties so that he could have touched her shoulder with his back end and then walked away while I was trying to ask her to move him forward a bit. She did eventually move him about 1’ forward but he just pulled loose and then wandered the barn while she followed him around tacking him up while telling him he was naughty. That same day she almost ran into people multiple times in the arena while riding.

You could say that I don’t have high confidence in her instincts.

She was insistent that it was REALLY slippery but all I’d encountered was slushiness which can be slippery but isn’t typically that bad so I let her know that I’d be careful and kept right on with my plans. We chatted a bit about the weather and then NB left and I got Katai tacked up while she ate in her stall. I took my time so that Katai could get plenty to eat and then covered her in a rain sheet since it was still pouring out and headed up to the arena. I was disappointed to find that not only was there a lot of slush and puddles, in the most compacted portions of the driveway there was skating-rink-like ice covered in water. Just about the worst case scenario slippery wise. We managed to avoid most of it through carefully choosing our path and only hit a couple more small slippery bits but in the dark and with how slippery it was we’re lucky that we both didn’t fall down in a pile.

Just her poor little face was wet

Once we got to the arena I walked for a while and then lunged to get some of the excess energy I suspected Katai had out. I was right to do so and probably could have lunged a bit longer but once she was being civil and listening I mounted up. The goal was to work on walk and trot and really getting her round over her back and oozing forward into the contact. Since the canter has been a point of contention recently I didn’t even want to go there that night. The only problem is that we’ve been building strength and then I took time off. That meant that I have a strong, capable pony with lots of pent up energy. We started at the trot and she was clearly really trying to keep a lid on it and listen but had energy bursting out everywhere. We settled at first for a VERY forward, huge trot and my focus was just keeping the strides slow and pushing vs. being quick. That quickly devolved into a tense running pony though and then she transitioned to canter and quickly used that as an excuse to let out an upset buck and slam to a stop. This time I just sat there for a while until she let out a big breath and then took her back into a trot.

I realized quickly that we were just going to need to canter to help Katai find her hamsters so when she nicely transitioned, going to the right, again I just let her go. I wasn’t trying to tire her out or let her just canter around and wear herself out. I was really working on getting her bent around my inside leg, cantering slowly and politely, and doing as many different things in canter as we can right now which isn’t many. She was actually really, really, really good and listening. She was struggling to bend to the right but wasn’t fighting me on it, she just was struggling a bit. After a lot of canter she was finally breathing evenly and really listening so we went down to trot, crossed the arena, changed the bend, and I cued for a canter. She slammed into the transition so I brought her back and did it again and she transitioned so nice! She was already clearly tired and the left lead is her strong lead so we didn’t do nearly as much in that direction. She dropped to trot a couple of times so we got some more practice at the transition and we ended on a great note.

I hopped right off since we had clearly accomplished a lot and were both feeling good about things. Plus, I was conscious of the potential for the weather to get worse and there wasn’t anyone else around so I didn’t want to push things too far. We walked for a while and I stuffed her full of treats and eventually I tossed her rain sheet on again and we headed out.

I got the Eskadron bandage liners from my mom for
Christmas but she got a size too big so Katai is looking very european.

It was immediately a much more hairy trip and not long after we hit the driveway Katai ended up right in the middle of the iciest part of the road. It was dark out and I didn’t dare move from where I was. Luckily I had her on the lunge line so I just gave her all the space she needed and she skittered her way back to good footing. I was so relieved and so glad that she’s a sure footed pony but also felt really bad. I stuffed her full of more treats and then luckily we had a much less exciting walk the rest of the way to the barn.

I untacked her in her stall, groomed, and got things put away fairly quickly since I was getting more concerned about navigating the driveway in my tiny car. Once Katai was all tucked in with a fresh, warm, waterproof blanket and some extra alfalfa pellets I headed out to my car.

Both of us being derps after a great ride

With some momentum I made it up the first hill to the first parking area but the scariest part was still coming up. There is a fairly steep hill down on the way back out to the road and now I knew that it was glare ice. The driveway drops down steeply on either side so if I misjudged I’d end up in the ditch. I had planned to just coast straight down and not touch the brake or steering wheel unless I needed to. The only problem is that my SmartCar has the engine in the back so it’s heavier back there and as soon as I hit the ice the back of my car started to come around trying to beat the front down the hill. Luckily with this many years driving in icy conditions I reacted quickly and got it straightened out, kept the momentum up the next hill and out onto the quiet road. I took a bit of a chance and also kept my momentum out onto the slightly busier road since otherwise I likely would have drifted into a ditch and then the rest of the way was on busy roads that had been cleared of snow so were just wet.

In retrospect I maybe shouldn’t have chanced it but I’m so proud of myself that I just went and did the thing and didn’t overthink it. I guess I could use this as a lesson to listen to my fellow boarders and next time I may take it more seriously despite the general lack of trust I have in their horse keeping instincts. I’m also so proud of how well the ride ended up going especially with the canter that I got and the work that we did plus the strength that Katai is showing currently is also really encouraging and I can’t wait for this winter storm to be over so that I can get back to it!

What I've Been Doing

While I can't ride.

Can't ride might sound a little dramatic but it's where I'm at right now. I spent some time trying to find someone who could adjust a Prestige saddle tree in the area but wasn't able to locate anyone so I ended up mailing my saddle back to VTO which means that I won't get it back for awhile still. I have my back up saddle but it still doesn't fit, Katai still isn't happy, and because it keeps shifting around on her back it's causing me anxiety attacks. Literally, like I had to dismount and was in tears and almost threw up last time I rode. Jane even noticed how shaken I was and we've canceled lessons until my saddle gets back.

I'm dealing with my SAD which is manifesting a slightly different way this year with more anxiety. I've got the support I need but brains are funny sometimes and mine doesn't want to play along right now. The crazy winter storm that we got on Monday (12.5") didn't really help.

Yes, that snow pile is higher than the door of my car.
Thanks MN...

I'm planning lots of spa days for the pony, which are sorely needed, and I've already "pulled" her mane. I've also done some other things to prepare for having my saddle back, hopefully having decent weather, and feeling better including;

Media!
I don't know if you guys remember this little guy from last year but I didn't have him for long since he died a very crushing death by being stepped on by a horse. Pun totally intended.

Happy to have my little super hero back

I had gone back and forth about replacing it and decided to get a go pro but they're so expensive that I hadn't done it yet. In the end I got an Amazon gift card that basically covered the cost for the GenII Cube. These supposedly are better in low light so I picked up another one of these. I can't wait to use it to get more ride and lunging footage!

Homework:
Like a lot of other bloggers I've been watching the USEF Network videos of the Robert Dover clinic. It's amazing how good dressage is good dressage and how despite these riders being far and away more talented and further along than me and riding really fancy horses compared to Katai, I'm learning so much that I can apply to my rides with Katai.

Spa Days:
Katai desperately needs her back legs washed, I'd really like to wash her mane, and I want to braid the top and bottom of her mane to hopefully get it back to where it stays on one side of her neck. I also want to pick through and trim her tail and potentially trim her feather a bit to prepare for the mud that's to come.

Good puppies nicely play with their toys together.
Tough to tell from this picture but he's 9 pounds and she's 2 pounds.
He plays so gently with her!

Cleaning!
I haven't done it yet but I plan to pick up Windex this weekend and clean the arena mirrors! That way I'll be able to take way more mirror selfies ;)

Getting My Memberships:
So far I signed up for USEF and my group membership with the USDF through my GMO. I still need to get Katai registered with the USEF but I decided to wait until I get her coggins and can confirm that the vet clinic gets it right before I register her with the USEF under her show name vs. her barn name. I'm also tempted to register her with the NDPC so that I can potentially show at some NDPC qualifying shows. We have a couple in my area but they aren't shows that I can get to if I don't get a trailer so I may wait to make sure I get that accomplished this year before I register her

She did this herself while I was working from
home during the snow storm on Monday.

Lunging:
I'm not a huge fan of lunging but Katai needs to get some work since her turnout is slippery and she's otherwise in her stall. I'm hoping to do some free lunging and some more structured lunging.

Ground Work:
Katai is tricky since the ground work things that crop up otherwise don't tend to show themselves in her home environment. However, she has gotten a little bargy recently so I want to work with that. I can also work with the mounting block bareback and try to get her to stand nicely again. Currently we're at baby OTTB level for the mounting block and she's off to the races the moment my foot is in the stirrup.

Also making "healthy" banana bread

Bareback Rides: 
To be completely transparent I'm not sure if I'm up to this right now but I do want to try. At least walking her around bareback would be good for both of us if I can keep it together so we're going to take some baby steps and try it.

Puppy Time!
Not completely horse related but I do want Moshy to be good at the barn. With our extremely cold weather there was no way that I could take her but this next week is forecast to be much warmer. Plus I don't need her to hang out by herself while I ride so I plan to bring her to the barn most days. Tomorrow I even have a volunteer to hold her while I do spa things with Katai.