Perfect Transition vs Perfect Time

I've done the vast majority of Butterball's rehab at large in the eight acre field. It's got the best/firmest footing and a decent amount of shade. The small dressage arena is set up in the field and is on the flattest footing. But we've mostly stayed out of it to try to minimize tight turns.

I rode with a dressage trainer who explicitly said you should aim for the perfect transition/movement/whatever, no matter how long it took to be ready for that. He said that in tests obviously you had to do things when directed, but when you were schooling you should prioritize correct work over timely work. While this makes complete sense and is along the lines of "practice doesn't make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect", I do think there is some benefit to the rider to being forced to execute things at a certain point in space. Maybe this benefit comes mostly for us imperfect adult amateurs who would otherwise let the horse prance along merrily without much active riding until a few steps prior to when the transition is needed. Whereas professionals are constantly evaluating, correcting, asking for more and better. 

Wild pony at large, seeking shade 

For the past three weeks, during our last block of work, Butterball and I have been heading in to the dressage court. And ooooh boy does 40m feel short. And the distance between letters feels even shorter.

We've been working on our transitions within gaits doing one letter to another collected, then allowing forward between the next set, then collecting again. It is useful to start to instill some... promptness. But by only doing this for the last chunk of work, we're hopefully maintaining that relaxed swing that we got very good at when trotting unmeasurable loop-dee-loops in the pasture. When it comes to transitions between gaits, executing at the letter has also been useful. It gives me the cue to actually be relatively in control of where he is placing his feet and body in space. 

The horses love to knock over the letters since clearly they are hiding better grass than is available in the rest of the large pasture

And there is certainly something to be said for having the balance and push from behind to execute figures that are actually 20 meters and those that are smaller. Recalibrating my brain to 20m is also useful in that now I can add some freeform 10 and 20m figures in walk and trot into our warm up to help create more bend and softness than comes from larger figures. 

One of the interesting points of riding in the pasture (that funny enough Emma talked about while this post was in the draft phase, waiting to get published at a time that I had less to chat about re BB anniversary, August wrap up, Charlie's adventures etc) is that it does have some gentle slope to it at points. Gentle enough that I can use it either as an aid or a test - asking for the canter transition uphill obviously helps with the uphill balance, but can we get that same nice feel while travelling downhill too? Since we're in Florida we're really talking very, very mild slope, but it's enough to make a noticeable difference still. 

Also there's no rail to aid the straightness or cover up for unevenness in my body or aids. Frequently I'll pick a tree or other point and ride directly at that point, focusing on getting all of his body parts lined up. He's a bendy, wiggly pony and I have my own unevenness, so some straight lines are a definite must for us. While in some horses straight seems to invite a run away tempo, that really doesn't happen with us LOL. Focusing on correcting crookedness with leg aids and my own body is a great exercise in and of itself. The same dressage trainer who said that every transition should be perfect while schooling also at one point reprimanded his working student for trotting straight down the long side on a four year old "He's a BABY! You CAN'T go STRAIGHT for that long!" I'm still interpreting that comment as it applies to Butterball and I at this moment, but we really do seem to find a benefit from not letting the bend of the arena mask crookedness or overusing an inside rein to keep him round. 

Anyways, how's that for a Monday morning ramble. 

Sneak peak of where Charlie will be moving post inspection. Complete with fence that my husband and I helped install.

Charlie's Big Adventures

I recently recruited my husband to help me take Charlie on an adventure - meaning out of the field where he has been for the past four months. There are the two pony mares, their babies, and then one baby who has joined them in the past few weeks. I figured there was absolutely no way I could get Charlie through the gate on my own without letting the mares out as well. The mares are well aware that outside of the gate is heaven, aka a LOT of grass. So DH was armed with treats to distract them while I got Charlie through the gate. Turns out yielding to pressure in the field is distinctly different from yielding to pressure out in the big open world and when asked to step through a gate (where he was SO SURE he wasn't going to fit LOL). Fortunately DH was able to provide a little pressure on his rear end to aid. 

Takes his cue from the mares and picks on new "friend"

Once through the gate Charlie looked pretty shell shocked. But he just stood still while taking it in, contemplating what exactly had just occurred. I shoved a few blades of grass into his mouth a couple of times until he realized that he had just crossed over into the land of plenty. He happily ate for a bit, but did stay QUITE close to me. The personal space bubble we've been working on got massively smaller, but given that this was a new and stressful situation, I let him get away with it. 

Absolutely the most derpy, picture from safely within the field. No hands were on phones the first go round.  

We then practiced a teeny tiny circle away from the field before walking parallel to the fence line, working on still listening and being a good pony while everyone else was on the other side of the fence. He was pretty good about that, so we called it a success and went to put him back in. Again though he was uncertain about going through the gate until his dam nickered at him. Once she did that, he went on through and let me lead him a few steps forward so I could close the gate after us. As soon as I took the halter off, he went straight to mom to have a good nurse. Poor baby boy! 

Since then I've actually managed two more trips out on our own. The next time I visited him, I started with moving the poles that have been in his field the whole time. This prompted a bit of a pause and look and consider. 

I'm trying SO hard not to pull on him and instead to have him step forward from behind, but I might've screwed up a bit this go round

But then I gave him a minute and he thought

And thought

And did it like such a GOOD BOY. It's like he remembers the ask. I stayed in the same spot once he stopped to consider and didn't step forward again or pull again and he thought and thought and then stepped up. It's super interesting to see. 

After a few circles over the poles, we headed out the gate. I had to put my hand on his bum to encourage him through, but it was definitely less pressure than trip one. 

Quick study to learn about the goodness that lies on the other side of the fence

Mom was a bit concerned still, Charlie was not concerned at all this time

NOMS

We went farther away this time with a few circles and walking along the fence line parallel, about ten feet away. I always want to quit while I'm ahead though, and I think succeeded since he seemed to not be at all stressed by the distance this time. 

A few days later, we took another trip out of the field. He was quicker still with the gate. 

And immediately went to eating

I'd let him eat for a few bites then we'd walk a bit. We found something concerning though. 

Big 'ole color change of the ground at the limerock road

This must be a pony piglet thing. He was concerned about the road still, but very content to eat right by it. Butterball does the same thing. My TBs distinctly did not. 

So I gave him time and didn't actually even ask again, like the pole, but he volunteered to march over it after a minute. N of 1 working with foals, but I'm super impressed with his temperament so far. 

Hose triggered no cares

We looped a bit in the other direction where there's some plywood and a few other things on the ground. When he started staring at it, I tried Warwick Schiller's method of also looking to acknowledge that there was indeed something and I wasn't oblivious to his concern but continuing to take slow deep breaths to communicate to him that I wasn't anxious about the thing. He felt very baby and was dipping from side to side of me to peek at it and hiding behind my back. He wasn't standing on me or in my space, so I just let him do that while I kept breathing. Once he relaxed a little bit and seemed still, we turned away from it and he grazed a bit more before I put him back in. 

Back with BFF 

But still wanted to hang out and cuddle, he's so sweet

Herro! 

My equine vet BFF was telling me that many folks think that the stress of weaning may lead to developing anxiety behaviors. Essentially by separating mare and foal cold turkey we're teaching forced helplessness. Keep the baby and mare safe but apart until they give up on getting back together. I'm hoping with these little adventures I'll make that process just a tiny bit easier on both Charlie and mom. 

August Wrap Up

August was a month of splish splashing

	Butterball
Training rides	0
Lessons	0
Hacks	4 – 2 in hand, 2 under saddle
Flat rides	11 – 4 with equiband
Cavaletti or jumps @ home	1 walk poles
Conditioning rides	4 aquatred
XC school	0
Shows	0

 We trucked (slogged? sweated?) our way along through August, getting in every other day workouts, either his weekly splish splash or a tack ride. 

And on the last day of the month, he had his recheck ultrasound! The lesion is healed, mildly hyperechoic in the area with the scar tissue that has been laid down, so hopefully that will continue to realign as he works more and more. 

Moving forward we're increasing workload with 2 days on and 1 day off rather than the every other day schedule we've been following up until this point. His vet did emphasize stifle strengthening work, which means I'll be pulling the raised cavaletti back out. And in another 4-6 weeks we can start hopping crossrails. I'm hoping to make it back to JV and/or PW in September to get some eyes on us. 

As though mother nature could feel the resolution of this injury, we've had a couple hints of fall coolness recently, just a morning or evening here or there, but there is an end in sight! 

Charlie's inspection and weaning day is at the end of September, big changes coming in his world! And DH and I *may* be making the move to our property sooner rather than later, so potentially big changes on the horizon there. 

Two Years with The BEST Pony of All Time

Two years ago I took a leap of faith and followed my heart and bought a golden pony. There has not been a single day that I have regretted that decision. He is my best friend in horse form. I love everything about this creature. 

While this year has been a lot quieter than the prior one where we were feverishly prepping for our grand Kentucky adventure, every day is still a gift. He makes me smile when he's giving me his lovely, lofty trot and when he's trying to snag a snack every few feet. He's smart, clever, and altogether a GOOD BOY. 

As I talked about in this post, this kid is my lifetime partner. We'll set goals that make both of us happy. It's sure fun to look back on the fancy show pictures we've accumulated, but it's equally as fun to show up at the barn and sit in his stall and cuddle. 

Here's to many more anniversaries, Butterball. 

Still my all time favorite picture - the last XC fence and the culmination of all of our hard work to get to Kentucky and be ready to do our FIRST three day at such an iconic venue

And he still came out the next day and gave me his all to jump a beautiful clear round

Round is a Shape!

Butterball is thoroughly living up to his name right now as I've lamented. 

I rarely brush out his tail. We had some time to kill before his trim, so I did. It's so pretty.

His weight looks better from farther away

We did a little bit of pole work in the arena bareback then went for a snack hack on Monday 

Then Ms. GY invited us to join her and his buckskin BFF for a snack in the never grazed on yard of the rental 

The blackjack was up to his shoulders, he was the happiest hippo ever

He ate some and then walked through and made a circle and repeated. He's so funny. 

He's very good at gates. Not my doing, I think he just realized what the point was early on and is very accommodating. But when we went to leave the yard, he kept shoving the gate with his nose, over and over again. Very clear communication my dude. 

Proof we did do some work that day 

Recheck is on Monday. Until then we're building up our canter work, now doing 8 minutes work - 2 minutes rest - 8 minutes work - 2 minutes rest - 5 minutes work. I've been increasing that last work set a minute each time since my mini melt down last week over how to precisely increase his canter work in bite sized increments. We even cantered over a pole or two. Big stuff guys. I am excited that his return to full capacity is timing with the end of terrible melty weather.