On my way to the Breeders’ Cup :^)
Conformation photos of Selena. I’m very pleased to see improvements in her topline and neck.
July 22, 2009:
October 21, 2009
Thursday, 10/29/09
I could not get much done during my ride with Selena due to a lot of distractions at the barn. We mostly walked and did just a bit of trotting. It was practically not a blog-worthy ride :^P After our ride, I gave her a bath. While she was drying, I put two coolers on her and let her munch hay in her stall. The cheeky girl decided it was a great time to roll in her stall, right on the pee spot. Now I’m stuck with two stinky, shaving-encrusted coolers. Blech!
But Wizard’s ride was definitely blog-worthy! We took a walk on the trails with Mary the Morgan and her owner and Wizard was FANTASTIC. It was one of the best rides I’ve had on the trails with him. We rode for about an hour and I dismounted when we walked past the pigs but he stood like a perfect trail pony for me to remount for the rest of the ride. He got a little rambunctious when we were walking behind Mary for part of the ride but was sterling once he was on the lead. Was it the Ulcerguard? The rice bran? The senior feed? The schedule? The increased turnout? The alfalfa? The ground work? Who knows. Whatever it is, I need to keep it up.
Both horses got trimmed by the farrier. I kept Wizard’s shoes on and kept Selena barefoot. If I end up giving Wizard time off over the winter, he will get his shoes removed and Selena might need them if we increase her workload but both seem fine for now as is. And they both earned a week-long vacation while I go to California to watch their cousins run in the Breeders’ Cup.
Wednesday, 10/28/09
It was a delightful birthday filled with cupcakes and well-wishes from my friends and family. Since my “official” birthday dinner was a few days later, I went to the barn at night on Wednesday.
I tried a sheepskin half pad on Selena, coupled with my Thinline Ultra pad. I like how my saddle felt but I did not feel much of a difference in Selena. Our ride was so-so. Some nice moments of relaxation and rhythm, but we are still working toward the beginnings of impulsion and balance that we had a few rides back. I started the ride with a long walking warmup, followed by large circles at the trot. We did walk-trot-walk transitions on the circle, at 12, 3, 6, and 9 o’clock on the the circle. Selena was not doing quite as much stretching into the bit as she has in previous rides, but I was able to keep contact through the transitions. We worked on changes of direction on a figure 8 as well as serpentines. We then worked on working to forward to working trot. As a cooldown, we did a little shoulder-in at the walk and some stretchy circles at the trot.
Since my mom was at the barn with me, I enlisted her to take pictures of Wizard during our free-jumping session. We only did about 6 or 7 jumps. Wizard is becoming quite the pro at the routine and practically free jumps himself. I tried a cross rail and it seemed to center him and help him with his distances. With each effort, I could see him basculing and tucking his knees like a skilled jumper. Seeing his athletic potential is great motivation for me :^)
Monday, 10/26/09
Selena is a classy Thoroughbred mare. Tall, scopey, old-fashioned pedigree, and refined. Alibar’s old bits fit JR and Wizard with no problem but they are too big for Selena (see photo above). Alibar was more than a hand shorter than Selena but he wore a 5 1/4″ bit.
I did a little tinkering with bits and tried a 5″ loose ring snaffle and it fit her dainty mouth like a glove. Loose ring snaffles tend to run small since the holes at the end pose the danger of pinching the corners of a horse’s mouth, which means she can probably wear a smaller size in other varieties, like a D-ring.
The first thing I noticed when I rode her in the loose ring was that it felt even milder than my KK Ultra that I normally use. I think this will be a good thing for working on suppling and relaxation.
Our goal was to return to the lovely, huntery trot we had last week. I kept the patterns simple and worked on keeping my hands quiet and my weight secure. We worked on a large oval and did a lot of walk-trot-walk transitions, followed by serpentines and figure 8s. I was careful to ride to the very end of each end since Selena sometimes cuts corners when I am not paying attention.
At the end of each ride, I always ask her for a stretchy circle at the trot. This was the first time I could feel her “get it” and know that it was part of the cooling-down process.
I repeated Sunday’s session with Wizard: a little light longeing, followed by the beginnings of long-lining. He is getting better every day. He is still sticky to the right but developing the ability to work a distance away from me to the left. I ended the session with some free longeing- Wizard is so responsive at liberty and it is always fun to work with him.
Sunday, 10/25/09
Seems like everybody I know was watching TV tonight: football, baseball, Sunday night programs. After I left work, my first thought was the barn :^)
Wizard got a bucket of Alfa Supreme and a rice bran mash. He is loving the rice bran!
I tacked Selena up in a surcingle and a bridle and did a longeing session with her. She was obedient but I don’t think she got a lot of training on the longe in her past. One of the reasons she did not get longed much is because she is so good under saddle :^)
After warming up at the walk, I asked for a trot in both directions. She broke into a canter several times and I gently corrected her and asked her to trot. We probably longed for about 15 minutes, including warmup and cooldown. Even though it is rarely needed for a horse like her, it is a good thing for horses to know how to go on a longe line, for training, rider fitness, and for veterinary evaluation.
Wizard looked like an old pro after working with Selena. I longed him very lightly (I’m trying hard not to stress his stifle) at the walk and trot. Then, we went back to our long-lining exercises. He already was more forward and bold to the left since our last session one day ago. To the right, he stopped once and pinned his ears- interesting! I coaxed him forward and we walked toward the gate to get a little forwardness and straightness. We halted twice and I heaped on the praise. He continues to be a quick and sensitive pupil.
Saturday, 10/24/09
A good day for ground work. I tacked Wizard up in his bridle and a surcingle and we did some ground work in the indoor arena. I started with a very light longeing session, walking for a few minutes, followed by about 7 times around at the trot in each direction. Then I fastened two long lines to his bit and introduced long lining to him.
I started by standing on his “good side” (his left) by his shoulder. The lines were held in my hands like reins. I asked him to walk on, just like we do on the longe line. His walk was a little wobbly because he was uncertain, but he seemed to catch on quickly. I asked for one turn and one halt, and praised profusely. Then, I tried the “bad” side (his right), which is the side on which he stops and spins on the longe line. He was very hesitant and reluctant to go forward but responded when I clucked him into a walk with my voice. I walked him along the wall so I could keep him straight. It will take a lot longer to work on the right, but it is an interesting glimpse into his personality to see that he is just as funny about his right on the longe line as he is in hand.
Here’s a photo of me long-lining JR this spring. Wizard will take a few more sessions before he can be this far away from me.
Thursday, 10/22/09
Just when you think bug season is over, your home state is attacked by swarms of Asian beetles. We’ve got the usual gnats that fly around in the warmest part of the fall days and this year, there are bunches of beetles bouncing around the barn as well.
I tacked up Wizard, dosed him with Ulcergard as an experiment, and went on a trail ride with Mary the Morgan and her owner. Wizard was antsy on the way out to the trail but walked quite nicely once we reached the trailhead. On the tight, winding trails, he quietly picked his way through the paths but when we got to the open, sandy, hilly trails, he bounced around anxiously. I carefully worked and worked on him and had him settled to my satisfaction.
When we reached the street where we cross and pass the pigs, I dismounted and let Mary take the lead. Mary was skittish but after two tries, she walked past. Wizard was perfect and never even turned a hair as we walked past them. A bit down the trail, I remounted and rode the rest of the way to the barn. Overall, Wizard was better than expected and it gave me hope. Was it the ulcer treatment? Was it the weather? Was it the time off? Only Wizard knows for sure.
Selena is quite a lady but not a lover of ladybugs. Or gnats. I took her for a short loop on the trails with Mary and she was obedient but definitely not pleased by the bugs. Her head was up and her expression was alert, as we were on new trails. I did not mind the alertness but her wiggling and twitching was a little more difficult to handle. From what I could tell, the ladybugs were bouncing off her rear end and the gnats were fluttering around her nose. But she continued her streak of being a smart and sensible trail horse. She just does not like the wildlife ;^)
I rinsed Selena off and gave Wizard a bath. I took a tip from the racetrack groom school and soaped and rinsed Wizard’s face with a bucket and sponge instead of a hose. It SOAKED me but he did not seem to mind as much as he does with the hose. More efficient, cleaner horse- win-win!
Wednesday, 10/21/09
You know those sunny, crisp, perfect fall days when you look out your office window and daydream about riding instead of being at work? I had the foresight to take a vacation day on one of those gorgeous days :^)
The barn manager is putting Wizard on a bit of Senior feed to help him pick up weight. He looks ok, but not as nice as he should look. He is a cribber, and he spends too much time cribbing while his paddock buddies munch out on his hay. To top it off, he is a slow eater and I still cannot rule out ulcers. I treated him with Ulcergard and it seemed to help, but I wonder if he is having issues with ulcers now/again. I picked up 40lbs of rice bran and I started him on a Panacur Powerpac. Selena was dewormed with a strongid wormer on Monday.
My mom visited the barn and took some photos of the ride. I tacked Selena up and started our ride outdoors. There were too many gnats and bugs and they were distracting for her so we relocated our operation to the indoor arena. The ride was just-ok, not great. Like Monday, I could not get the awesome effort out of Selena that I’ve been getting in recent rides. She was not her usual focused self and she was not as supple as she usually is- I’m still pretty sure it’s heat-cycle-related. We worked on a large circle at first and ended the ride with serpentines. We got one really nice canter depart to the left, but to the right, we did not get anything too exciting. No biggie, we all have good days and not-good days, right?
After the ride, I gave her a bath (yes, another bath! I’m determined to keep her reasonably clean) and let her graze as she dried off.
Monday, 10/19/09
After three windy, rainy, bone-chilling days, autumn is back. The sun is strong but the air is crisp. My favorite weather.
I took Wizard out on the trails in hand and Mary the Morgan and her owner rode with us. We were out for about 30 minutes and it was lovely. It was almost dark when we left and totally dark when we returned but both horses were very good.
I rode Selena for about 40 minutes. She was obedient but was not as loose in her topline as she has been in recent rides. She is going through a heat cycle so I think she will be back to her limber self in a few days. We warmed up at a walk, doing shallow serpentines and walking over four poles. As the ride progressed, Selena became more comfortable and her transitions improved. We did more work on a forward trot and back to a working trot. I also asked her to do a slow trot and she responded well. Her best work of the night was when we did a little shoulder-in at the walk- it was her best effort to date. Because I did not get her to completely loosen up her neck and topline, her canter-trot trantions were not quite as soft as they were in our last ride, but they were more accurate. After our ride, I cooled her out and we played with the pedestal. She learned to step up onto it in about 15 minutes, the same as Wizard. Her athleticism made it easy once she figured out what to do.
After eating his evening alfalfa, I free longed Wizard at a walk, trot, and canter in both directions and did a little more work on the pedestal. Last night, he sniffed the pedestal and gave a flehmen response and I clicked and gave him a treat. He repeated the behavior tonight and we turned it into a new trick :^) Once he was on the pedestal, he smiled (see photo above). Now he is a two-trick pony!
Saturday, 10/17/09
The rainy spell is not over yet! It was another chilly night at the barn. I put my quarter sheet on Selena and we rode indoors with Mary the Morgan for a little less than an hour. Some rides are shorter with more intense work and some rides are longer with more walk breaks.
Our barn is hosting a Parelli clinic over the weekend. There are a few of the Parelli obstacles in the arena, like a platform, a car wash, and a pedestal. After investigating the Parelli toys, we began the ride with our usual walking warmup, starting on a loose rein. When she felt loosened up, we began our trot work, stretching, accepting contact, and eventually asking for more impulsion. To get the motor working, I asked for the forward trot on the long sides and a working trot on the short sides, followed by walk-trot transitions. We rode a few figure 8s and serpentines. There were two poles set up next to each other like an equal (=) sign and we rode through them, focusing on straightness. There were also a few traffic cones set up in a line- we zigzagged through them- she has catlike agility and I could feel her gathering herself with each turn.
During one of our walk breaks, we practiced lateral work- leg yields, then shoulder-in. Selena was focused, forward and supple- we did three trot-canter transitions in each direction. With each ride, her canter work is improving- less rushed, more balanced. At the end of the ride, she was just barely breaking a sweat and she was steaming in the chilly night air. I cooled her out, and put her sheet back on, and put her to bed.
My goal with Wizard and JR was to teach them how to stand their front feet on a pedestal. They had never seen a *real* pedestal before. We have a flat wooden stand that is made of a packing skid with wood on the top. This drum-type pedestal was new to them. For safety, it had a rubber mat on the top.
I was not sure if Wizard would be comfortable enough to learn the behavior in one night but I mapped out a plan and gave it a shot. This is how we worked on the pedestal:
- Wizard sniffs the pedestal out of curiosity. Click, treat.
- Wizard paws the pedestal out of curiosity. Click, treat.
- Any forward motion toward the pedestal. Click, treat.
- I lifted his hoof and touched it to the pedestal. Click, treat.
- He lifted his hoof and put it on the pedestal. Click, treat.
*** Gave him a short break so he could process the information ***
- Lifted his foot on the pedestal and pet him as he held it on the pedestal. Click, treat.
- He stepped up and placed both feet on the pedestal. Click, treat, treat, treat, treat!
Once he was up there, he looked around and seemed quite pleased with the situation as if to say, “Hey! I’m 18 hands tall! This is cooool!” His dismount was graceful and he stepped back on when I asked and seemed eager to perform his new trick.
The whole thing took about 15 minutes, no halter, just a clicker, carrots, and my hands to guide the hoof on the pedestal the first few times.
JR picked up the behavior a little faster than Wizard. I think his combination of confidence, agility, and food-motivation worked in his favor.
And Mary the Morgan learned the Pedestal Trick in two clicks!
Mary on the Pedestal (taken by a camera phone)
Time for the circus. Or perhaps Tommie Turvey will take us on the road…
