July struggles...
- Where oh where has our horsey brain gone, oh where oh where could it be?? But we came up with a plan to get him back to his prior self that includes returning to full night turnout and then full turnout at the GY's, chiro, training rides, and gastrogard.
- Very sore back at our chiro appointment on the 8th... possibly related to saddle fit? In true horse style, the saddle that looks like it fits better (dressage saddle) is the one that made him sore.
- Thrush in right front and right hind foot. Cleared up with "today" mastitis treatment.
July successes...
- Being back under saddle AT ALL!
- On the 9th we had a FANTASTIC ride. Probably a combination of being back in my jump saddle, acquiescing and letting him be in the ring not the field, and starting Gastrogard.
- Front shoes back on! He was also negative to hoof testers all around on both front feet before getting the shoes back on. Thank you keratex and easy boots!
- Both saddles adjusted - channel made more narrow. But the dressage saddle still doesn't make him happy, sadly.
- Training rides with JT. In which she discovers he needs grids like woah. And likes to hold his breath and spook when leg is put on. But also says he is a NICE and scopey horse. And that training and even prelim shouldn't be a problem for him...
- Moving back to the GY's. I love JT and love her barn. So does Ben. But a 5 minute drive is... 9x better than a 45 minute drive. Especially in the summer. Especially when her barn is on the way to work so for miles driven it makes sense to go straight to work from JT's. My coworkers are probably grateful too.
15 rides, the majority of them being walk/trot hacks. 2 lessons, one of which was a train wreck, welcome back to jumping. The other, the very next day, went much more smoothly.
JT had a number of training rides while she had him for 9 days while I was out of town.
A name change... just made it official with USEA this morning, I'm going to compete him under his JC name of "This Way To Heaven". Ben'Jammin is a fantastic name, and he'll always be Ben. But I LOVE that he is a super fancy TB and would like him to be more easily recognized as a TB at shows. And that's a pretty excellent JC name.
Looking forward to August...
- Possibly a CT on 8/13, but more likely nothing show wise until 8/26 when we plan on going to a jumper schooling show
- Cross country schooling for the first time back since April!
- Decisions about where Ben will be living
- Hopefully continued forward progress as a big, brave trail pony!
ahhh so exciting to read more updates about actually riding and doing the things and making plans!! also agreed about showing under JC names... i'm the worst at naming animals so i'd rather not have to change anything (unless i guess if it was like a reeeally terrible JC name), plus it really is so nice to be able to put the horse's full history together and have him be searchable for past connections etc
ReplyDeleteExactly!! If his had been terrible I would've understood, some are really goofy for sure, but it's a really nice one.
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