tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71958810285689725322024-03-28T23:29:36.885-04:00Lyrical EquineKathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11446230051948762357noreply@blogger.comBlogger287125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7195881028568972532.post-17324012998988032042024-03-19T06:00:00.022-04:002024-03-19T06:00:00.252-04:00This and thatInsert long list of work, life, etc etc reasons that I've sucked at blogging. But we'll skip all that and just do a bullet format list of what we have been doing lately.<div><br /></div><div>We've been doing things - not a lot of photos of <i>doing </i>said things, but I at least remembered to take a few pre-photos... <div><br /></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Horse Shows in the Park schooling day - Goggles bopped around the baby hunter ring and was super and rideable. He did try to take a bite out of the fake flowers and then pull one of those panic-and-forget-I-can-open-my-mouth moves and spin in a circle bucking like a bronc for a few seconds till he dropped the flowers. I dismounted and we had a mini sack out session with said flowers. He then went on to jump them just fine, but I didn't give him the option of taking a bite again.</li></ul><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAcioblNwZCNxr3lBiCuvi0nKRsfI8aGyBM_GcYir5AZ49nexztKDEiaeWc7rZdzKTMMCvCHPhvOzyRUfKJzv6DNBEZtVBCA-cTBQNG-Lw5i2Iu_CbccLONbbr00KV3dS3lx0ZEzsTa5PLRfsmde-9tmXLTH6JvyBgG8vvJnxLZpnfVCIH6xRF5FenUNgJ/s4032/PXL_20240315_184251797.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAcioblNwZCNxr3lBiCuvi0nKRsfI8aGyBM_GcYir5AZ49nexztKDEiaeWc7rZdzKTMMCvCHPhvOzyRUfKJzv6DNBEZtVBCA-cTBQNG-Lw5i2Iu_CbccLONbbr00KV3dS3lx0ZEzsTa5PLRfsmde-9tmXLTH6JvyBgG8vvJnxLZpnfVCIH6xRF5FenUNgJ/w400-h300/PXL_20240315_184251797.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grown up boy taking in the scene</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtnQFq5qRwfpS4lNSfGo0q3H0SmC0LiuXDN7g4A8i5F3-cNtL9uhw_BEj7PIRo062aVOVpOI1mbsv_8qem91fL_L5h8wP3d-pyUTVye8lkYyOQfLujouVknwpUIsjZxr1-jMoH3TBopaJqO4-C43lnDr0yz5GZKjMc8FQiqcMF0CyKZ7nRg5PjLyV_Z59i/s4032/PXL_20240315_182748520.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtnQFq5qRwfpS4lNSfGo0q3H0SmC0LiuXDN7g4A8i5F3-cNtL9uhw_BEj7PIRo062aVOVpOI1mbsv_8qem91fL_L5h8wP3d-pyUTVye8lkYyOQfLujouVknwpUIsjZxr1-jMoH3TBopaJqO4-C43lnDr0yz5GZKjMc8FQiqcMF0CyKZ7nRg5PjLyV_Z59i/w300-h400/PXL_20240315_182748520.MP.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"I feel like I'm in a tree..."</td></tr></tbody></table><ul><li>Trailer lesson with the cowboy. Honestly trailering has been a big burr in our joint side. I wanted the cowboy's take on it. It wasn't... magic.. and unfortunately he said there are "get tos" and "got tos" and said no more get tos until he was comfortable. I'm still mulling over that advice. At this point trailering deserves a whole long post of its own. </li></ul><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji5kqth4kxpLwQOJ_aWCCeeuL4D5q4S9w90Wtaynyc9i7Vaq90bNsvhYIau_bZMaDweAHiWBbD1YfhNFpLdw5D1rjwqt9QhbHBgNz_iHtz8RmQEaIRoL3xhaSd6O7UEWR83ceasOTLSibglZyj0WJZ3WrX6bEN4XR_1gu6QTKhtIcYw1J3XU3ssDkCODQD/s4032/PXL_20240315_194834328.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji5kqth4kxpLwQOJ_aWCCeeuL4D5q4S9w90Wtaynyc9i7Vaq90bNsvhYIau_bZMaDweAHiWBbD1YfhNFpLdw5D1rjwqt9QhbHBgNz_iHtz8RmQEaIRoL3xhaSd6O7UEWR83ceasOTLSibglZyj0WJZ3WrX6bEN4XR_1gu6QTKhtIcYw1J3XU3ssDkCODQD/w300-h400/PXL_20240315_194834328.MP.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Feelings. So MANY feelings. </td></tr></tbody></table><ul><li>Liver pool at the GY's. We had a lesson at JT's where we tackled the liver pool. I forget whether or not I wrote about that here, but he's been so DRAMA about the dang thing we decided he needed to just DO IT. He's done A LOT of standing around next to it and watching me tromp across it. He did it, but it came with some theatrics. I jumped on the opportunity to have another exposure when we showed up at the GY's to get his feets done and it was set up in the arena. He was a super good boy and hopped over it in hand enough that he started eventually realizing he could put a foot on the tarp and didn't need to launch. Also, both his farrier and I are really happy with him barefoot behind again, yay! </li></ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOUblo6doYcuetMDC3wk3eM1_wwRai6SItaX2X4MKP17ed8DD5mR18x6gY48mIzw5KwZtJ907TufCtgTwKtHiQh4ONiS3SazJ6mPBIKw8CZBixZkMMgK62bEBqdqvtbibpc2TzurB6kbogJYdoIfpwthIcbI38Uo505iJUTrQ7PQgd7Sh9GkNSmRbC0u2S/s4032/PXL_20240314_181230599.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOUblo6doYcuetMDC3wk3eM1_wwRai6SItaX2X4MKP17ed8DD5mR18x6gY48mIzw5KwZtJ907TufCtgTwKtHiQh4ONiS3SazJ6mPBIKw8CZBixZkMMgK62bEBqdqvtbibpc2TzurB6kbogJYdoIfpwthIcbI38Uo505iJUTrQ7PQgd7Sh9GkNSmRbC0u2S/w300-h400/PXL_20240314_181230599.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXNxQHD4yTykYColvXhGbVlUUqC-UhLCHWi4V_cGhOoyr18liXTdShgTkb85W3DKidSf7A-HJuVnYr1vA_4775RPrljONBqnU8LH_t1uxkI3olL1CcjD3rFIRpPQWSVgw-1RUc7z6dL0Y6mEf1vZ5gwgaOD4cCqY0YvFGz55JHeIJSpOMkN4-IMQdyVdAT/s4032/PXL_20240314_182136524.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXNxQHD4yTykYColvXhGbVlUUqC-UhLCHWi4V_cGhOoyr18liXTdShgTkb85W3DKidSf7A-HJuVnYr1vA_4775RPrljONBqnU8LH_t1uxkI3olL1CcjD3rFIRpPQWSVgw-1RUc7z6dL0Y6mEf1vZ5gwgaOD4cCqY0YvFGz55JHeIJSpOMkN4-IMQdyVdAT/w300-h400/PXL_20240314_182136524.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Herro!</td></tr></tbody></table><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>XC schooling at Sweet Dixie Monday morning. He trailered very quietly next to his friend and got off the trailer looking like all his brain cells were installed. We definitely got rained on. He historically has felt pretty negative about doing anything in the rain, so it was good to get this out of the way. He was a little head flingy to start, but got over it pretty quickly. As far as the actual schooling, he went in both waters with just a little bit of time dithering on the shores and popped over a handful of logs. He's now jumping in Ben's elevator XC bit and the little bit of extra brakes is perfect. </li></ul><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZy2g1bhBNiDgy2NtvxWJRk8hXQ2zL2VV8X26HhiyFDdwWmUHnOjwTFmZslxQcNricYSDwZMeYGTDovtJgYh0_w8AHwfM-QPJ0oF-7POWmiZY1fP-IpkTTd3M9Qfw8NQx23Kxz9K8nAwpCGgYjWzWVTaUcVM_e70oRhyUZIv6GCCcSSlT577EJGQ8K-tpE/s4032/PXL_20240318_122729924.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZy2g1bhBNiDgy2NtvxWJRk8hXQ2zL2VV8X26HhiyFDdwWmUHnOjwTFmZslxQcNricYSDwZMeYGTDovtJgYh0_w8AHwfM-QPJ0oF-7POWmiZY1fP-IpkTTd3M9Qfw8NQx23Kxz9K8nAwpCGgYjWzWVTaUcVM_e70oRhyUZIv6GCCcSSlT577EJGQ8K-tpE/w300-h400/PXL_20240318_122729924.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">See, very relaxed, right off the trailer LOL (and no he wasn't about to pee)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>And to finish, a random assortment of photos</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZVjCkHNK17tPhHklWs0el2zOTI5P0kX3dhoj0r6Pxhn0vAj3ZTOser7bH6G-34UebU4B5s7ui4ZSuRlO7bY2FtGx8zp-fywOmHI96XlX_q6PYVxzCq_MigwhiBGNRkS7ZEs6VrTEhTmpOhieaXmxmKsAYVWyJ3Lir1TE3_rwA3ECJKYGHsBtDtfL7EdH1/s840/Screenshot_20240318-133604~2.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="566" data-original-width="840" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZVjCkHNK17tPhHklWs0el2zOTI5P0kX3dhoj0r6Pxhn0vAj3ZTOser7bH6G-34UebU4B5s7ui4ZSuRlO7bY2FtGx8zp-fywOmHI96XlX_q6PYVxzCq_MigwhiBGNRkS7ZEs6VrTEhTmpOhieaXmxmKsAYVWyJ3Lir1TE3_rwA3ECJKYGHsBtDtfL7EdH1/w400-h270/Screenshot_20240318-133604~2.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ben is rocking the dad bod a bit too much right now </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7L8GE9e2_jpbMHFNppdZKK39P0RqvHAiQnqJJShyphenhyphenWtauBKLeU-8OLSJz2575wj_jmbt4vOTOQKZRKoDujjec75vrGXZ-Z_xPooX-KnrfzP7TduhaiKsLzJ42yFTeldsH3A6jnCDsYlyYz4oIRFdtPRElICWZTxDpubEKHXKjuPVeT7VuXyGl0jdvPCzuv/s2400/Screenshot_20240318-140308.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2400" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7L8GE9e2_jpbMHFNppdZKK39P0RqvHAiQnqJJShyphenhyphenWtauBKLeU-8OLSJz2575wj_jmbt4vOTOQKZRKoDujjec75vrGXZ-Z_xPooX-KnrfzP7TduhaiKsLzJ42yFTeldsH3A6jnCDsYlyYz4oIRFdtPRElICWZTxDpubEKHXKjuPVeT7VuXyGl0jdvPCzuv/w180-h400/Screenshot_20240318-140308.png" width="180" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Goggles fave activity is to hold the hose in his mouth and water board himself while vigorously flinging his head and soaking everything around him. I'm NOT allowed to hose his face, but he can fling water everywhere, thems the rules. </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG-OCLY95ia2VTAdUDbtUhiVrG1vrRYlnFjOcg7r66qj45XLXO5X-MEm3iB2zO8jR7Y699yLv09u1PNnwzQZtJnN9or6nQliRcV1PUTpYV4Kk6l_fxsMF5Mr0HdFYYqJ9N-pHoSoJ-e8K6YgPUUnNKGScrwKr7g5P2T1ObsI09B779lXTJH97NtIw_QB9A/s4032/PXL_20240316_180054714.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG-OCLY95ia2VTAdUDbtUhiVrG1vrRYlnFjOcg7r66qj45XLXO5X-MEm3iB2zO8jR7Y699yLv09u1PNnwzQZtJnN9or6nQliRcV1PUTpYV4Kk6l_fxsMF5Mr0HdFYYqJ9N-pHoSoJ-e8K6YgPUUnNKGScrwKr7g5P2T1ObsI09B779lXTJH97NtIw_QB9A/w400-h300/PXL_20240316_180054714.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dapples and dad bod</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_4pnT66ma2u_pWHS_46KomKurJ00p2jkLCv5vH6ffX7fOd2q7QnQ48beLIUwLlOcJTDAPGzkwZjK4qZJXG1KeKdqYKqqyt_TjIMrWFuHygX9dM1ZEakuOVFrhGE8TOzOsqD0Svl-0gz7rY1zRgl0apgTfFsl23uvwCXWEO4oxH7fXFtNmgWfQ5qO_CYnf/s4032/PXL_20240314_184331221.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_4pnT66ma2u_pWHS_46KomKurJ00p2jkLCv5vH6ffX7fOd2q7QnQ48beLIUwLlOcJTDAPGzkwZjK4qZJXG1KeKdqYKqqyt_TjIMrWFuHygX9dM1ZEakuOVFrhGE8TOzOsqD0Svl-0gz7rY1zRgl0apgTfFsl23uvwCXWEO4oxH7fXFtNmgWfQ5qO_CYnf/w300-h400/PXL_20240314_184331221.MP.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Goggles walking the fine line between enjoying the fan and causing chaos with his face and the fan while his feet were getting done</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL7C02pyAIssvKF2Q9GT9VSrPq4jU9peDVo0UCKuyRDBhby3uuaTOZVMqSCOUV1Vuz6KV7RSxS-V0X5rVIufQgp1KrZkAL-k0SiPqOrvmzO9aqragwiOQgmdoo2QV38tUK8s3D_m_t8Ur_ajiu0c27k1-y4xUe-a8m8c-QcrnXEkJ7JkHU2XOKqspvwHVG/s4032/PXL_20240313_193105625.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL7C02pyAIssvKF2Q9GT9VSrPq4jU9peDVo0UCKuyRDBhby3uuaTOZVMqSCOUV1Vuz6KV7RSxS-V0X5rVIufQgp1KrZkAL-k0SiPqOrvmzO9aqragwiOQgmdoo2QV38tUK8s3D_m_t8Ur_ajiu0c27k1-y4xUe-a8m8c-QcrnXEkJ7JkHU2XOKqspvwHVG/w400-h300/PXL_20240313_193105625.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We let the pigs till the garden this year, they were delighted</td></tr></tbody></table></div>Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11446230051948762357noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7195881028568972532.post-35693181579151929282024-03-11T10:51:00.003-04:002024-03-11T10:51:57.208-04:00February Wrap Up<p>Almost to the point where it seems silly to write a wrap up. But here we are. The first week of March was A WEEK. Neither one of them did enough work to make a chart make sense. Ben worked five times, Goggles eight. Hardly a program for either one. But such is life. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD9P9gkMXKqq-lflmn9xExGEfmkGrnd2BmHS5P0TsPDoS_6pdw-VMXJrWuGIPdSbCUOrx9fcE4hjXaYq1rN2yUl5IcVIJY7l-SJadiLyjs98IwrhOWi1hmWz8LNpnoyk7MOuH4KuqwB8bX9VVhivHCevzPQ8sQKQUDLDprUlD2_LETVDXOvYW0WH-h8sOj/s4032/PXL_20240303_224334621.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD9P9gkMXKqq-lflmn9xExGEfmkGrnd2BmHS5P0TsPDoS_6pdw-VMXJrWuGIPdSbCUOrx9fcE4hjXaYq1rN2yUl5IcVIJY7l-SJadiLyjs98IwrhOWi1hmWz8LNpnoyk7MOuH4KuqwB8bX9VVhivHCevzPQ8sQKQUDLDprUlD2_LETVDXOvYW0WH-h8sOj/w300-h400/PXL_20240303_224334621.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Such a vivid rainbow</td></tr></tbody></table><p><b>Ben: </b>kiddo worked roughly once a week and was a bit bored. He caused a lot of chaos in turnout, but, knock on wood, kept his shoes on for it. We started once weekly acupuncture for ulcers. My friend shared the points with me, and we're giving it a go. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU6YQUooASbdShG2fFpbF0EwE8GPq1bGipP1pzlZ7M6cem1ZoDvt3yi0ZXua3ck5h7sKYvuIjMfuZaC8JnODysbZTidbzxibAaPJQ06zClJmNdcHwwvwdcjs1fzQlNsgLXkmsQsYexvgOQDRwu5q_T55TmtXVbdl4_XYQBvuIUDUAb7abqgs0YI1qw8w5e/s4032/PXL_20240308_185209955.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU6YQUooASbdShG2fFpbF0EwE8GPq1bGipP1pzlZ7M6cem1ZoDvt3yi0ZXua3ck5h7sKYvuIjMfuZaC8JnODysbZTidbzxibAaPJQ06zClJmNdcHwwvwdcjs1fzQlNsgLXkmsQsYexvgOQDRwu5q_T55TmtXVbdl4_XYQBvuIUDUAb7abqgs0YI1qw8w5e/w300-h400/PXL_20240308_185209955.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">He loves his needles</td></tr></tbody></table><p>In exciting news for his boredom, a friend is coming out to ride him this week. Hopefully it will become a consistent thing. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT9sesHkaAezF-dB-28hFjePyH7ut6oX1B63VeGK4RWXbG58rMX4UXotOcKfEsCeVWfwxoFP2B1EoAJtzDetm_8b8dj_ABhe_DTI3ucU1rAYCmCYDoPWNXrj1VfxHTn4v9n7C2rsRoot6sCEHVrZwFJA20maGjIeK8GcWDgomIel2CpbV7QGLalQtRkrFe/s4032/PXL_20240303_233436164.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT9sesHkaAezF-dB-28hFjePyH7ut6oX1B63VeGK4RWXbG58rMX4UXotOcKfEsCeVWfwxoFP2B1EoAJtzDetm_8b8dj_ABhe_DTI3ucU1rAYCmCYDoPWNXrj1VfxHTn4v9n7C2rsRoot6sCEHVrZwFJA20maGjIeK8GcWDgomIel2CpbV7QGLalQtRkrFe/w400-h300/PXL_20240303_233436164.MP.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking pretty handsome in spite of the lack of work</td></tr></tbody></table><p><b>Goggles: </b>He had a bit of a busier month, but still only worked 8 times.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcN1ZXeSYDpRPZIeDLw7Na09Ht7T7KrSsh8u2PyE-NjB0g1J6LoeYfv8DoijhJpsZYELs7X0j_Rlf1waisG-E_qTy0ya5-9s49hMw4u4K22-3JDtdMOeWHGYZNLwJlQ7yvRX69PEIpsdD1PYvdrO3I6sPIIP9BMSN0GAT0-SzMWBJbEySoIg8ucEPZbrzQ/s4032/PXL_20240301_140029948.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcN1ZXeSYDpRPZIeDLw7Na09Ht7T7KrSsh8u2PyE-NjB0g1J6LoeYfv8DoijhJpsZYELs7X0j_Rlf1waisG-E_qTy0ya5-9s49hMw4u4K22-3JDtdMOeWHGYZNLwJlQ7yvRX69PEIpsdD1PYvdrO3I6sPIIP9BMSN0GAT0-SzMWBJbEySoIg8ucEPZbrzQ/w400-h300/PXL_20240301_140029948.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We did get our zen back though</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Following a slightly frustrating lesson that turned into a training ride and getting to watch Peter Gray teach Amanda and Hillary, I changed up my approach at the end of the month. As Peter Gray put it, short bursts of quality work. I started riding with a metronome in my pocket and being very exacting about his response to my leg and rein aids, mostly the ones that say get off your inside shoulder. Bend and tempo are the MOST IMPORTANT things. Lots of breaks and lots of praise, but he knows what is being asked, so 10% and then nothing more is no longer good enough. What do you know, this makes him much better overall and stops his squirreling around in the canter. </p><p>He was a super good boy for his solo Majestic trip! </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG4D9sxewhiDquuAGdq_gdSuwQR4nsN4ZFtfx0dugwIvZpiLXV6HacVbzcdjO4bbpprY0YlhrpwJHyIiRH538Y-IJpqwJzxE9UtnD2KQyhidSmac0Yu-VAta9b-WzqbHuhNiHGtfNnHQrJVlCs-oMgHyAwb45UcXBBsSMgk_Ive8iQNGXKjqn_hEZoIdxA/s414/YouCut_20240228_145225782_exported_170331~2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="256" data-original-width="414" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG4D9sxewhiDquuAGdq_gdSuwQR4nsN4ZFtfx0dugwIvZpiLXV6HacVbzcdjO4bbpprY0YlhrpwJHyIiRH538Y-IJpqwJzxE9UtnD2KQyhidSmac0Yu-VAta9b-WzqbHuhNiHGtfNnHQrJVlCs-oMgHyAwb45UcXBBsSMgk_Ive8iQNGXKjqn_hEZoIdxA/w400-h248/YouCut_20240228_145225782_exported_170331~2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There's a nice horse in there! </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ4Rzsus57I1xbCnxPTnBhMPWbuVVjJ_7a18HrLfGj92I4pdT0VT-Dhle1VBcCPC0yP6AbPZHQBIV2Bhf1RK9druk2-2jlYXd70OsHxrR_Err4n4pidl1S-5xd52ED9yUWu3e6wG_yu-4ocU9Rao8rh67HHFrfcU7KeeSSQ2hI_WS99RCyEF0PJWXK3v2i/s397/YouCut_20240228_145225782_exported_202797~2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="267" data-original-width="397" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ4Rzsus57I1xbCnxPTnBhMPWbuVVjJ_7a18HrLfGj92I4pdT0VT-Dhle1VBcCPC0yP6AbPZHQBIV2Bhf1RK9druk2-2jlYXd70OsHxrR_Err4n4pidl1S-5xd52ED9yUWu3e6wG_yu-4ocU9Rao8rh67HHFrfcU7KeeSSQ2hI_WS99RCyEF0PJWXK3v2i/w400-h269/YouCut_20240228_145225782_exported_202797~2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I am so proud of how casual he is about ditches. What a good boy. </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>My goal for March with both of them is to get back into more consistent work. Three times per week minimum ideally. And I'd like to take both of them out XC at least once each. Hopefully the rest of life will cooperate!</p>Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11446230051948762357noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7195881028568972532.post-30191600654432811472024-02-29T06:40:00.001-05:002024-02-29T06:40:11.060-05:00Unsupervised Goggles and I headed back to Majestic this week. As hard as I tried to line up a trailer buddy for him, horses gonna horse and friend's horse had an unexpected allergic reaction that set his skin on fire. So solo with half a tube of GG it was. Goggles loaded in about ten minutes and then started munching hay. I loaded my tack and then closed the escape doors. His face had a very certain look about how he felt about the fact that this wasn't one of those practice sessions where he got on, munched some hay, and got off again. <div><br /></div><div>He rode quietly though and unloaded <i>mostly</i> politely. Someone was weed eating in the distance but he <i>mostly </i>refrained from standing on me while trying to watch. It was a great test to school solo TBH. Hillary was awesome and volunteered to be our ground person in case of emergency. She also caught some video which was very much appreciated. </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJoSsqgNh4zS20o4K2608PutE-33TXYtu0erTja-ZQg8scVXRSNTu_iiGjMj27fbu0ZgYvSPOFMzgElkEd5Pm8DW28Ze_OoQFlMURcGFV1AB5-cGZepkOAwujS2pWrWQaIxyvzY8eBHTsZROi-UTNZTK47o-t4U4668uNPGDn_VPeD8p0F9afjllljUCXU/s848/YouCut_20240228_145225782_exported_60399.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="848" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJoSsqgNh4zS20o4K2608PutE-33TXYtu0erTja-ZQg8scVXRSNTu_iiGjMj27fbu0ZgYvSPOFMzgElkEd5Pm8DW28Ze_OoQFlMURcGFV1AB5-cGZepkOAwujS2pWrWQaIxyvzY8eBHTsZROi-UTNZTK47o-t4U4668uNPGDn_VPeD8p0F9afjllljUCXU/w400-h226/YouCut_20240228_145225782_exported_60399.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Whatta grown up kid walking on a loose rein</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVXrfby202b7bxk3anVquRJ7s2lLmBz86Od846YNZLAWra1egVj7btLu2pt6GDPGQHUDTHNRx79dgmf-YW-rZvGAJgGFuaXRVPLyEjGaOayR8mqqGY4qraco9lJBslY3WNyP_ojEUnNNw881_YiwRLV3QNqIxoACvytGgbgcI0jPn83lV88a_4plqv-RpU/s848/YouCut_20240228_145225782_exported_200764.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="848" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVXrfby202b7bxk3anVquRJ7s2lLmBz86Od846YNZLAWra1egVj7btLu2pt6GDPGQHUDTHNRx79dgmf-YW-rZvGAJgGFuaXRVPLyEjGaOayR8mqqGY4qraco9lJBslY3WNyP_ojEUnNNw881_YiwRLV3QNqIxoACvytGgbgcI0jPn83lV88a_4plqv-RpU/w400-h226/YouCut_20240228_145225782_exported_200764.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fancy prancy</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikimZJ4rsDyDd0_PL7HC6DYfIM9BvIO8seEBXjaoKyN-t7BYkVvf-gAlWlV4WTx7nXY08WgbEF8RV6yUZxO-VDneA-XOt8IozXdxF3hj2rFIXKTCh-Ihj9TSaL4QQIAO7KmTC8KCiXuHV9T37BLy_1MwO5opd_psLSCnbzPoAxRCEhFhlG-mlklb5-BaOc/s848/YouCut_20240228_145225782_exported_48932.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="848" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikimZJ4rsDyDd0_PL7HC6DYfIM9BvIO8seEBXjaoKyN-t7BYkVvf-gAlWlV4WTx7nXY08WgbEF8RV6yUZxO-VDneA-XOt8IozXdxF3hj2rFIXKTCh-Ihj9TSaL4QQIAO7KmTC8KCiXuHV9T37BLy_1MwO5opd_psLSCnbzPoAxRCEhFhlG-mlklb5-BaOc/w400-h226/YouCut_20240228_145225782_exported_48932.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wheeee!!!</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div>He was very, very focused on where the other horses were on the large property when we were walking, but once we started trotting and cantering he mostly focused on his feet. He wouldn't focus enough to look at the starter fences I tried to walk him up to though, so when we trotted at it, he was surprised. </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyi5IJZKEzfHKPEAtJJ7EjEDXtTg4-8x-ceDGFU7Rv4xamPQfIEmesagUr9bh5kS04BtIxMPofu6xKMxTLjbNXtzQ4Cl0zhvH1Nu1A3AAfxiImEsPvLm6Tv3vjq-qBcM-jaJBbRjwheOpr0FV8JcsN53fFRSSIwEIA_x91jQiSoZTlVeDMWPyUaf3hulKp/s848/YouCut_20240228_145225782_exported_26699.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="848" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyi5IJZKEzfHKPEAtJJ7EjEDXtTg4-8x-ceDGFU7Rv4xamPQfIEmesagUr9bh5kS04BtIxMPofu6xKMxTLjbNXtzQ4Cl0zhvH1Nu1A3AAfxiImEsPvLm6Tv3vjq-qBcM-jaJBbRjwheOpr0FV8JcsN53fFRSSIwEIA_x91jQiSoZTlVeDMWPyUaf3hulKp/w400-h226/YouCut_20240228_145225782_exported_26699.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oh no! I am surprised! </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMbHN0cu4zBDHU3y3W2k6BnIuyyUd5k06kZcMm_XcaQcTdZIneggFFZQ8FvUxBmE_IdnYXOVX8i4ScBpZWHdDywWnO8hgfi6g8GBzpuyY1qY_gF2nJbUyu329WzAduV7HuikUIjrTR6WaPC7TNab2D_hF-89t5kxDrzfL4ZOtsEvicJjZUDmT_Dch0VePz/s848/YouCut_20240228_145225782_exported_31933.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="848" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMbHN0cu4zBDHU3y3W2k6BnIuyyUd5k06kZcMm_XcaQcTdZIneggFFZQ8FvUxBmE_IdnYXOVX8i4ScBpZWHdDywWnO8hgfi6g8GBzpuyY1qY_gF2nJbUyu329WzAduV7HuikUIjrTR6WaPC7TNab2D_hF-89t5kxDrzfL4ZOtsEvicJjZUDmT_Dch0VePz/w400-h226/YouCut_20240228_145225782_exported_31933.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">????</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeuLTf-viCOZkYXwfgvcVmEXQ53W4a_jK9I9N4nFavtQqTdHtMLr1SpMHOSMhwiLwcvk66jhmPJ9vMB0oWzxlz6qxMJB5moM5uKuwuARfECR97PxtnfcZkL9_HQRGQA_3HgJetuUQNrQ3JAlrPWzlhCip2p5fIu78nNqkAxOh2tzXtGr-IMXWxMsPcDJUA/s345/YouCut_20240228_145225782_exported_41132~2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="223" data-original-width="345" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeuLTf-viCOZkYXwfgvcVmEXQ53W4a_jK9I9N4nFavtQqTdHtMLr1SpMHOSMhwiLwcvk66jhmPJ9vMB0oWzxlz6qxMJB5moM5uKuwuARfECR97PxtnfcZkL9_HQRGQA_3HgJetuUQNrQ3JAlrPWzlhCip2p5fIu78nNqkAxOh2tzXtGr-IMXWxMsPcDJUA/w400-h259/YouCut_20240228_145225782_exported_41132~2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oooh now I understand</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div>We popped a variety of starter fences and only had to straight line halt after one when he was downright rude. Otherwise we focused on the finesse between forward and taking over. He generally is very game which is a very good thing, but he still has to be rideable. Other than a glance at a natural log that is SUPER spooky, he was brave to everything.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP-AjbXSrsezJWfsyOPEvRiNX8HrGzHDnHMgJbfXwb1RJtia9fI2Qhyphenhyphen02ppaxG0usiOpJs60AU36PQSlp53eDBOgTi7Lps1dqEC_Z0MUF8DossjDBtch5vsJ9HSkIZFECMtzY-iBaiOkRN4PEwfNJt1wq3sCwstAEuFvfu-7eoJAEeZY9Jge0FDj0UARrx/s350/YouCut_20240228_145225782_exported_263030~2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="286" data-original-width="350" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP-AjbXSrsezJWfsyOPEvRiNX8HrGzHDnHMgJbfXwb1RJtia9fI2Qhyphenhyphen02ppaxG0usiOpJs60AU36PQSlp53eDBOgTi7Lps1dqEC_Z0MUF8DossjDBtch5vsJ9HSkIZFECMtzY-iBaiOkRN4PEwfNJt1wq3sCwstAEuFvfu-7eoJAEeZY9Jge0FDj0UARrx/w400-h326/YouCut_20240228_145225782_exported_263030~2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDtEWeyYhRBfv9ZmKFmaTnEFRv8vQHu2kndlZQiQE1xmatVF42F6sT9mvyPNZRzOtxHPpPJMicT7RIPh_pzictkWrtH-2aH1JSWkaBp5SUjjcvAcCM81em9CBvx3LwkR_Pw0GaB4b68B7HDmE3-bKdeteAdpvaC_xBYR72v9JVwoQC2NRK_fFe6gVdLL9j/s414/YouCut_20240228_145225782_exported_170331~2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="256" data-original-width="414" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDtEWeyYhRBfv9ZmKFmaTnEFRv8vQHu2kndlZQiQE1xmatVF42F6sT9mvyPNZRzOtxHPpPJMicT7RIPh_pzictkWrtH-2aH1JSWkaBp5SUjjcvAcCM81em9CBvx3LwkR_Pw0GaB4b68B7HDmE3-bKdeteAdpvaC_xBYR72v9JVwoQC2NRK_fFe6gVdLL9j/w400-h248/YouCut_20240228_145225782_exported_170331~2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>He hopped the baby ditches down in the far field and the actual big kid ditches at the top of the hill like they were NBD. </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxY_oWFjTK9E-s2kwRenGWxjSc6NS2uJNJBikcjVzNzWJ7FRWmVxj-JO7hCncUI8FpC5_3ZoQXiZnRLBZ8Ib6WT85O_PPLuwYcj5llAwpijki23qgVE4KJceCiAQLnSbaSUeKM5fdSg2VkgQAefV-xNUozwnFgjZuFFKCMCycSBRtm7gCMX7h4FxxmTYBf/s397/YouCut_20240228_145225782_exported_202797~2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="267" data-original-width="397" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxY_oWFjTK9E-s2kwRenGWxjSc6NS2uJNJBikcjVzNzWJ7FRWmVxj-JO7hCncUI8FpC5_3ZoQXiZnRLBZ8Ib6WT85O_PPLuwYcj5llAwpijki23qgVE4KJceCiAQLnSbaSUeKM5fdSg2VkgQAefV-xNUozwnFgjZuFFKCMCycSBRtm7gCMX7h4FxxmTYBf/w400-h269/YouCut_20240228_145225782_exported_202797~2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Baby ditch</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw2JdWd-nVEdTqR_Lh97ywUPQBI5RpiwCdMNlCbE7L5iikZr2POiXAvBVUCsKiIJiXX06B1llvUJYqxzhYgd1oHeGG-H3Ot-6F4RgXn5iFHtbww56nMLUEDJq6U64qTCktQXXKIDy2gnn8ZnA1ARMWnhCqqV4Ld5C4ddtrqVD2wop9o7AAQYIAPd4hvnZ2/s315/YouCut_20240228_145225782_exported_257030~2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="169" data-original-width="315" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw2JdWd-nVEdTqR_Lh97ywUPQBI5RpiwCdMNlCbE7L5iikZr2POiXAvBVUCsKiIJiXX06B1llvUJYqxzhYgd1oHeGG-H3Ot-6F4RgXn5iFHtbww56nMLUEDJq6U64qTCktQXXKIDy2gnn8ZnA1ARMWnhCqqV4Ld5C4ddtrqVD2wop9o7AAQYIAPd4hvnZ2/w400-h215/YouCut_20240228_145225782_exported_257030~2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Big kid ditch</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div>It took him a second, but he went into the water without a lead horse for the first time ever. Once his feet touched he had a bit of a baby moment, but he didn't dump me in the water, so all was well. We splashed around in there and did the up bank out as well. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicSNBkMMfY7RR_n8B7h-Kk9KivNY4PpgEkKhW_9utyn6Z3WwFQSM4dtV5v0C7N3mlp7bDRsbWpv2TkvYW7Hq_c8hKJzr0PVyIaN4QL0pwER7f0Was9ineWp8r6Z3FK4dfa3CTMXSsBZot6RXbUo0tySFthiNB637ovT1EsO5_-Z7b2zuWpXMGWh6Vs_oxr/s848/YouCut_20240228_145225782_exported_244497%20(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="848" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicSNBkMMfY7RR_n8B7h-Kk9KivNY4PpgEkKhW_9utyn6Z3WwFQSM4dtV5v0C7N3mlp7bDRsbWpv2TkvYW7Hq_c8hKJzr0PVyIaN4QL0pwER7f0Was9ineWp8r6Z3FK4dfa3CTMXSsBZot6RXbUo0tySFthiNB637ovT1EsO5_-Z7b2zuWpXMGWh6Vs_oxr/s320/YouCut_20240228_145225782_exported_244497%20(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizj-QUj45sjgrGejeNLUl6p5Gbo8U1XSyZg18P8GAXR9yG2t5rNzOqtyWoqIZHtccluHPupLsitZznd86ocLzf0bx6-2Ox4819Z9UZoNCUbVLtWNUup85oNf52BhQEJCduppYMWNpvXdw0wlHL0hamxi_CO90jGkE4XJMKkjO-9vSMemn5OD_JeTquKZD_/s848/YouCut_20240228_145225782_exported_244697.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="848" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizj-QUj45sjgrGejeNLUl6p5Gbo8U1XSyZg18P8GAXR9yG2t5rNzOqtyWoqIZHtccluHPupLsitZznd86ocLzf0bx6-2Ox4819Z9UZoNCUbVLtWNUup85oNf52BhQEJCduppYMWNpvXdw0wlHL0hamxi_CO90jGkE4XJMKkjO-9vSMemn5OD_JeTquKZD_/s320/YouCut_20240228_145225782_exported_244697.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLMAmPWWTxd3VRX7Dj7s6vtxQoQpXyRVq35jvzj8xiFlxK6cxWW2R9YCuq-3Xy93CBtexvYJR27xKIFgYkBnrYrrRelWnCSKMnnd5r3ZBQCJPrgN2OxmZRjgpsArRAMlE8vu8SDcqnxie5qQspMabWmKK-N1xc8YghVyn_wg6765NxLaO1kYk9S8hDcMN5/s848/YouCut_20240228_145225782_exported_245397.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="848" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLMAmPWWTxd3VRX7Dj7s6vtxQoQpXyRVq35jvzj8xiFlxK6cxWW2R9YCuq-3Xy93CBtexvYJR27xKIFgYkBnrYrrRelWnCSKMnnd5r3ZBQCJPrgN2OxmZRjgpsArRAMlE8vu8SDcqnxie5qQspMabWmKK-N1xc8YghVyn_wg6765NxLaO1kYk9S8hDcMN5/s320/YouCut_20240228_145225782_exported_245397.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeaOCNEE5gMkmNUxjj7MEcgZ6hkAOSMoiLMbk2zSAYQXvGOU4YFuG5QLbvwCFUITfAB7JvbV-EPR6e8ZAcDa0DhVUbTWocVybGCEa0Dt45jtTzJBQDgk5xoBR-dWT5wyEbwAPh59XeyNpFw8CmwEZfhYXFPrY4WsKST2rnWNqk5JhEL4xRhQDcJgKEIBdw/s848/YouCut_20240228_145225782_exported_246297.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="848" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeaOCNEE5gMkmNUxjj7MEcgZ6hkAOSMoiLMbk2zSAYQXvGOU4YFuG5QLbvwCFUITfAB7JvbV-EPR6e8ZAcDa0DhVUbTWocVybGCEa0Dt45jtTzJBQDgk5xoBR-dWT5wyEbwAPh59XeyNpFw8CmwEZfhYXFPrY4WsKST2rnWNqk5JhEL4xRhQDcJgKEIBdw/s320/YouCut_20240228_145225782_exported_246297.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>We finished up on the banks. Down he was nice and casual, but up we had to do a few times until he popped up without a party after. We finished on two nice soft trips up and called it good there. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0OVRVBaCNLsFveEZwIPa2TLRxzukHH22A2_8Bz4bX4dNqLvLFpORsad1HKiymQH6_yZCInujTjs0yu7N-4N4VpALQTzSQU5uAIDdJri-cD24Vcykp54DvG6bSzxAvlnGmRbiD5-3NlLlAKAKuSELjTjWR2T4mmXzvsSkPiyEfypv29MsSJwohQ8KzQwRI/s848/YouCut_20240228_145225782_exported_287597.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="848" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0OVRVBaCNLsFveEZwIPa2TLRxzukHH22A2_8Bz4bX4dNqLvLFpORsad1HKiymQH6_yZCInujTjs0yu7N-4N4VpALQTzSQU5uAIDdJri-cD24Vcykp54DvG6bSzxAvlnGmRbiD5-3NlLlAKAKuSELjTjWR2T4mmXzvsSkPiyEfypv29MsSJwohQ8KzQwRI/w400-h226/YouCut_20240228_145225782_exported_287597.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgWydM0rNdzFjS_aTph11rolUQHJu-S2Y-pOt1P0v82VB4o03FRniqGr69d6HdELiAupsHnvxYsGliuPPLgQUU6PllkDczy-VRjYuXkTwMBGfp9mwKhDTiFw7c58e1H_F32aQZ2M1TWVz1GfIV_Wtvkr3J8Fvf_C-PKbnbJkdkiUTkm4K27180c1F-WpNW/s848/YouCut_20240228_145225782_exported_287963.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="848" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgWydM0rNdzFjS_aTph11rolUQHJu-S2Y-pOt1P0v82VB4o03FRniqGr69d6HdELiAupsHnvxYsGliuPPLgQUU6PllkDczy-VRjYuXkTwMBGfp9mwKhDTiFw7c58e1H_F32aQZ2M1TWVz1GfIV_Wtvkr3J8Fvf_C-PKbnbJkdkiUTkm4K27180c1F-WpNW/w400-h226/YouCut_20240228_145225782_exported_287963.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Didn't quite go with him enough here</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe2Lm9AN7hfM5WIltZKC2UpriSgLVfkC0YrESxsMl4O4NOUD1n14_MqKhmjkSwmnVbGw9NDjbfpOaz6lJSOtClanrULWaOqwidQj22BHFOa1NOlGB6M5wOewoL2u0S1HOtY21cTQdm0TN6IOK9tcjN6Z1L7r2q6qzKXQA_rUG2InYrtEeolk72k2UES-WW/s848/YouCut_20240228_145225782_exported_311296.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="848" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe2Lm9AN7hfM5WIltZKC2UpriSgLVfkC0YrESxsMl4O4NOUD1n14_MqKhmjkSwmnVbGw9NDjbfpOaz6lJSOtClanrULWaOqwidQj22BHFOa1NOlGB6M5wOewoL2u0S1HOtY21cTQdm0TN6IOK9tcjN6Z1L7r2q6qzKXQA_rUG2InYrtEeolk72k2UES-WW/w400-h226/YouCut_20240228_145225782_exported_311296.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Feeling him out there was awesome. He picked up where we left off pre ulcers, and he was fantastic. He functioned completely on his own and got more and more rideable as we jumped things. </div><div><br /></div><div>It's really interesting heading out without a coach. JT has given me so many tools to work with, it's a useful skill to practice applying them without her perfect timing. Also since that's what happens out on course at shows, its good to log a few miles of practice that way. I have to think for myself about things and occasionally I think <i>sometimes</i> it makes my reaction times a bit better because I'm not waiting and listening for the direction from her. This was especially true when managing him on the back side of fences. The flip side is that I'm positive I let him take a few more trips over one specific fence speeding up the last two strides and then taking a long spot than I should have. But it forced me to analyze what was happening and what tools I had to fix it. We came around once more and did a few walk trot transitions on the way to the fence and then I half halted two strides out and thought about landing and circling. And wouldn't you know it, he waited and jumped it really well. </div><div><br /></div><div>"Ride him like he's trained"</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tCYB4qPQtaA" width="320" youtube-src-id="tCYB4qPQtaA"></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11446230051948762357noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7195881028568972532.post-43099944001040422982024-02-22T06:00:00.001-05:002024-02-22T06:00:00.310-05:00Softer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After Goggles' <a href="https://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2024/01/needles-for-baby-horse.html" target="_blank">acupuncture appointment</a> we were assigned some homework - some manual therapy I could use to help supplement between appointments. The first step to let him know good things are coming, loosening up a few fascial connections, and getting him used to touch, is skin rolling. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzs6NieqHFUd95X2ubsoOFyncaI8xUFfQ7Z6qCWjd1OzseE7H09cbIHamC0GLOxbl7bQXrc-JpUyAAtM4lKim0D5rjjnTNmUICH0RiokMP1E25HSG-M-YtgpOF1QE48Q6tPt1xKBVyJISlgIgL3QIwP-copai1PNfY5hKlpv2_AGYppI0UvK8hqtFl05jF/s4032/PXL_20240127_131158668.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzs6NieqHFUd95X2ubsoOFyncaI8xUFfQ7Z6qCWjd1OzseE7H09cbIHamC0GLOxbl7bQXrc-JpUyAAtM4lKim0D5rjjnTNmUICH0RiokMP1E25HSG-M-YtgpOF1QE48Q6tPt1xKBVyJISlgIgL3QIwP-copai1PNfY5hKlpv2_AGYppI0UvK8hqtFl05jF/w300-h400/PXL_20240127_131158668.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Almost like a neck twitch, but a looser pinch, and continually moving</td></tr></tbody></table><br />This is done starting close to the poll and going all the way down to the shoulder on a few different planes. He quite likes it at this point and starts licking and chewing when I start doing this. He is most sensitive up near the poll which makes sense. <div><br /></div><div>Then we move on to the muscle releases. He is getting sooooo much better about letting me do these. He's really, really smart. At first I had to just kinda do it softly and stay back out of the way of his mouth. He never really tried to nail me, but definitely wanted to turn and nip when it was a little uncomfortable. I don't know if it is more and more comfortable or if he is learning the release is coming, but he barely turns towards me now. </div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVMRHpVQ9TKlmXr73aBiBvsygIOny4OgAAS_gtQnNHWfE1T4KtsJaEUK7RkOD35HyAbWGNwnCk1tlpsrN6NUN7hkAyWxHgBFm5tVxDkgcypJX-FCyyeZcqa5WeDOk9Y26umn3cElNZq8XHqNlT9HpztHqEBh5K3SINMuvMWMPHYbY-Oc6Q1H0zsAMulIUb/s4032/PXL_20240127_131206491.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVMRHpVQ9TKlmXr73aBiBvsygIOny4OgAAS_gtQnNHWfE1T4KtsJaEUK7RkOD35HyAbWGNwnCk1tlpsrN6NUN7hkAyWxHgBFm5tVxDkgcypJX-FCyyeZcqa5WeDOk9Y26umn3cElNZq8XHqNlT9HpztHqEBh5K3SINMuvMWMPHYbY-Oc6Q1H0zsAMulIUb/s320/PXL_20240127_131206491.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm5TaQJ9Ytyf5BB7BoMz60YbmlW3-H7Kd_3ff2nTokOgGuu7j8wZiXqw0u14FH3h-YQ8UqdEJc4K6IN1WbvamZ-d9W0fanrn9OyiFl9rvwNs0Ukphy161VFO007qnYI_Bw56XdJBA31ObRBWAsBiYcIkXJOBaUr_Re7FGqWKz7W41tFuym4fxB8edvMcK8/s4032/PXL_20240127_131251097.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm5TaQJ9Ytyf5BB7BoMz60YbmlW3-H7Kd_3ff2nTokOgGuu7j8wZiXqw0u14FH3h-YQ8UqdEJc4K6IN1WbvamZ-d9W0fanrn9OyiFl9rvwNs0Ukphy161VFO007qnYI_Bw56XdJBA31ObRBWAsBiYcIkXJOBaUr_Re7FGqWKz7W41tFuym4fxB8edvMcK8/s320/PXL_20240127_131251097.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Usually those two get some big sighs and releases. He got a great review at his second acupuncture appointment - she scanned him all over and only got a few areas to focus on. At the first appointment he was so uncomfortable she couldn't scan him at all. His poll also felt much better, which is definitely good news. She worked on his hindquarters a bit more and got some good stuff done there. </div><div><br /></div><div>Each time I start his manual therapy, he is much softer than the last. His brachiocephalicus is now loose from the get go rather than needing some time to soften and relax. Overall quite encouraging that we're on the right track. </div><div><br /></div><div>As we've gone back to a routine this week, we've been starting each day with the cowboy homework. This means patience on my part. We're hanging out for somewhere between 20 - 60 minutes, just hanging. </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTZ_NOK8LACXeFic8iK01Xsd3UFOMkoUob_qRyZHEqmyNIfInmwwwniz0WCMZMI5v8QGf34Cs86J0HMDIy-GNBBZYw3aFHwCDxGZQt6oyi6uhwdfhD1X5GGZswwxvlrI478mu3D2m4rAYU1A1oCrV7e8lcvg9ladZEUOmQDDB_coeY6VID10sBy06gC82n/s4032/PXL_20240221_153908964.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTZ_NOK8LACXeFic8iK01Xsd3UFOMkoUob_qRyZHEqmyNIfInmwwwniz0WCMZMI5v8QGf34Cs86J0HMDIy-GNBBZYw3aFHwCDxGZQt6oyi6uhwdfhD1X5GGZswwxvlrI478mu3D2m4rAYU1A1oCrV7e8lcvg9ladZEUOmQDDB_coeY6VID10sBy06gC82n/w400-h300/PXL_20240221_153908964.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Which is mostly him eating</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi66SxyiwgInhbC6lwj4UaTFEcaD46xkVL3HZKLKX4SoPrhzfcniJSGDpTtBS_lELtbiF9dxtiKVzUR_DWDfB69-gDv0npkzPZvQX4rRrqtj4-2dBKA1zEfyByzCfVCxU-VusfJFnmjta56VyuHjNn0EFASGV4WwVzoxYgQKRyiFfAOaMaOO-dKC_uaf8Hc/s4032/PXL_20240221_153548147.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi66SxyiwgInhbC6lwj4UaTFEcaD46xkVL3HZKLKX4SoPrhzfcniJSGDpTtBS_lELtbiF9dxtiKVzUR_DWDfB69-gDv0npkzPZvQX4rRrqtj4-2dBKA1zEfyByzCfVCxU-VusfJFnmjta56VyuHjNn0EFASGV4WwVzoxYgQKRyiFfAOaMaOO-dKC_uaf8Hc/w400-h300/PXL_20240221_153548147.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3FmUpa9dh0Np3IYxwarAqTwCqiTnpmry9IUGhtX5pR0MrdiUeAJHAt6Z8BkAuo75mL3ii2cgINcuHjl5aFfF3dXrZHoZrc_ILf8Ed8jm-UR2rlQNI_240NLXrnanNhft4LKvsiRO7Ufppy9pyWmNPl75xnE9RthVv0jKecZchGgJtfjUJHQnf1WCGWAkj/s4032/PXL_20240221_153550892.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3FmUpa9dh0Np3IYxwarAqTwCqiTnpmry9IUGhtX5pR0MrdiUeAJHAt6Z8BkAuo75mL3ii2cgINcuHjl5aFfF3dXrZHoZrc_ILf8Ed8jm-UR2rlQNI_240NLXrnanNhft4LKvsiRO7Ufppy9pyWmNPl75xnE9RthVv0jKecZchGgJtfjUJHQnf1WCGWAkj/w400-h300/PXL_20240221_153550892.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And me standing, using the dried poo pile as my marker to make sure I'm not migrating as he does</td></tr></tbody></table><br />But then at some point he comes and checks in with me. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnB979fAxCOk6msdjLGl3ToXWLVMPn6KXwItSubVL2QyiNDjHUnmFI2CojjR_uuZuDPDCfEzAy7xpZNtykUEey8AOx5dh-9SjovYl5KWqcvTnRCGR6sgDUYXtmDD9DQoHtKt5Wa4YniXm25JP9yxU1iePTyXw_cjDkPkjPVrsic11CnQga7qiS6KIOWeqQ/s4032/PXL_20240221_160733785.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnB979fAxCOk6msdjLGl3ToXWLVMPn6KXwItSubVL2QyiNDjHUnmFI2CojjR_uuZuDPDCfEzAy7xpZNtykUEey8AOx5dh-9SjovYl5KWqcvTnRCGR6sgDUYXtmDD9DQoHtKt5Wa4YniXm25JP9yxU1iePTyXw_cjDkPkjPVrsic11CnQga7qiS6KIOWeqQ/w300-h400/PXL_20240221_160733785.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And then takes a little nap</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>We did our first ride back yesterday after starting his ulcer treatment. He was great. A car drove by and he noticed it, but quickly returned to focusing on me. We kept it low key with lots of stretching and walk-trot and walk-halt transitions. We didn't canter yet, I wanted to just let him succeed at everything we did. <br /><div><br /></div></div>Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11446230051948762357noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7195881028568972532.post-10922863373686238322024-02-16T06:00:00.000-05:002024-02-16T06:00:00.375-05:00Hold me, I'm hurt<div>Alternate titles: There's our step back OR "My mom is an a**hole" - Goggles</div><div><br /></div>Goggles started out the year doing SO WELL, I joked that our one step back was coming soon. And oh boy did it ever, sort of like a fall off the landing, not just a step back. It started one day when we worked in hand at the front of the property. He started out grazing, but his eye wasn't quiet. And then, then, he basically exploded. It was actually less than in the spring when we had our sessions with <a href="https://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2023/06/cowboy-time.html" target="_blank">the cowboy</a>, in that I didn't struggle holding onto the line, but instead he threw in some straight up hi ho silver moves. While he wasn't rearing AT me, when I was holding the line on a LARGE horse who is standing straight up, it still kinda felt like he was rearing AT me. Eventually though, he found some quietness and tried to creep into my space to be consoled. I tic-tocked him out of my space again and eventually got a settled(ish) horse. But we basically had to start all over again as we walked back to the barn. <div><br /></div><div>A few days later, we went down to JT's. My schedule didn't line up with my friend's, so he was solo on the trailer. He is getting SO MUCH better with trailering, I figured it was about time to trial run. AND he did great! But by the time we got to the lesson? He was plumb out of spoons. </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiK86M2iLJo8aqdn-qvPGTTJv94TENce_H8SujixBweAGLx3chHudK8dZ4PsIZr28ceLA8FTY62PsZSKaU31NZ16yLE5OO5N-8VgnS9g1TloDKX25RovwBIwrkPKtercr5mjjhxP6hrsvAdSFHdigPEPWB-95dsYJZ7iZaPub-doPBmtWbdS8j2UY8t154R" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="853" data-original-width="1280" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiK86M2iLJo8aqdn-qvPGTTJv94TENce_H8SujixBweAGLx3chHudK8dZ4PsIZr28ceLA8FTY62PsZSKaU31NZ16yLE5OO5N-8VgnS9g1TloDKX25RovwBIwrkPKtercr5mjjhxP6hrsvAdSFHdigPEPWB-95dsYJZ7iZaPub-doPBmtWbdS8j2UY8t154R" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div>So we got a hot, reactive baby horse. He managed walk and trot, but was launching and bucking at the canter. Woooo boy. I did still get some good tidbits, a refined half halt, and a lecture on not pulling back any more the second they have halted (::hangs head:: that I needed that, but my adrenaline was high). But we quit before we even made it near a jump. </div><div><br /></div><div>Two days later, I plunked him back on the trailer, and we headed to the GY's to get his feet done. I was firm, but patient and kind with my half-halts and we did a lot of walk-halt-walk. He was actually REALLY good. Then we moved on to trot and I again was insistent that he focus on me, not the other horses, and we got some nice bendy work. Then we moved to canter. He started out with a smaller version of what he'd done at JT's, but I kicked him forward and then half-halted softly and he moved past it. We did several canter transitions each way and he was super. I popped off and told him what a good boy he was.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQou6d_LftWEKwZY50ESYqhoIGKf9ougnsYK78chIdq2MfLn1ZAQtqiV7n2cmRvDtN3tZHk7j-Ht9rhhX72qPpS36sImJ__z5Xzs6vj1-ncM0o826CKW45-zf0LZnFYc45mfEU1IQ-Sy2bUXbBStthj8XozaSStwnQzInoYoLUdcw40xh2jKow-9WMqK7c/s4032/PXL_20240205_145326907.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQou6d_LftWEKwZY50ESYqhoIGKf9ougnsYK78chIdq2MfLn1ZAQtqiV7n2cmRvDtN3tZHk7j-Ht9rhhX72qPpS36sImJ__z5Xzs6vj1-ncM0o826CKW45-zf0LZnFYc45mfEU1IQ-Sy2bUXbBStthj8XozaSStwnQzInoYoLUdcw40xh2jKow-9WMqK7c/w400-h300/PXL_20240205_145326907.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ben Ben wanting some attention</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Post hi ho silver rears, I had discussed with his barn owner, and she shared that he had struck at her husband while turning in one afternoon. I immediately called and scheduled a cowboy lesson at a time she could hang out and watch ASAP. <div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwrqXWFUA_QGUAsE4Q2J3m2Y7onRGYPmLIQqr7jY-8XFmW-O0G2rG9zDx7D0OpJ1JUvA-bObGkeqcvnaYxyiwkRHSZj5agA9CEnGmJnmP5ngLw08Wm78_YTAovevfMLi8sVnqk0hiswL6ZlBgcWcFJz_7g6O4L1-sIo91JO7ESBnawR76N51V8GN9cF80S/s4032/PXL_20240209_171359123.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwrqXWFUA_QGUAsE4Q2J3m2Y7onRGYPmLIQqr7jY-8XFmW-O0G2rG9zDx7D0OpJ1JUvA-bObGkeqcvnaYxyiwkRHSZj5agA9CEnGmJnmP5ngLw08Wm78_YTAovevfMLi8sVnqk0hiswL6ZlBgcWcFJz_7g6O4L1-sIo91JO7ESBnawR76N51V8GN9cF80S/w640-h480/PXL_20240209_171359123.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The anxiety is high</td></tr></tbody></table><div><div><br /></div><div>But a few days before the scheduled lesson and a few days after his trip to the GY's, he stopped eating breakfast. He still picked at hay, but he was essentially shouting at me "MY BELLY HURTS!!!" He had no way left to say it since I had ignored all of his other behavioral cues or chalked them up to herd bound anxiety that we needed to work through. This one was like a smack in the face though. I brought out gastrogard that morning, and he ate dinner like a champ. By turnout the next morning, post second dose, he wasn't doing the anxious mouth chomping that had crept in the past 1-2 weeks. </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcoqFzfWEsBBLe-1o8hXOBZFgtoNA6kiP2PnA8pxO0uUNKvcMEMuQ-8mUz7aQt_AF8sJ_pldCazPVc4VlrFS5V0opnwuhvqUNmxWQsgbT0XT2k6079KzyPfpc2S5zgQ7rxIS3Bf9rZAhfCOE3Q54LxfZMvb32tT67tJiZk5a_MlyHSTsUH1T73ovCfQtbc/s4032/PXL_20240214_193714834.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcoqFzfWEsBBLe-1o8hXOBZFgtoNA6kiP2PnA8pxO0uUNKvcMEMuQ-8mUz7aQt_AF8sJ_pldCazPVc4VlrFS5V0opnwuhvqUNmxWQsgbT0XT2k6079KzyPfpc2S5zgQ7rxIS3Bf9rZAhfCOE3Q54LxfZMvb32tT67tJiZk5a_MlyHSTsUH1T73ovCfQtbc/w640-h480/PXL_20240214_193714834.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And now we're back to this while we're grooming</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>We still did the cowboy lesson, but both the barn owner and I agreed that his behavior was already 1000% better than what it had been. She is amazing and started wracking her brain thinking of the first subtle cues she had seen. She had actually noticed him holding up a hind leg while eating a week or two prior. Not full on kicking at his belly, but holding it slightly up in the air. </div><div><br /></div><div>So we're getting gastrogard and life is good. I have my happy, relaxed baby horse back. We aren't doing any ridden work this week, we're just hanging out and working on our ground work homework from the cowboy. One thing he said stuck with me more than everything else "Why wouldn't they be focused on their buddies? Most people show up for an hour or two a day and spend the whole time telling them exactly how to behave." So we're hanging. With the boundaries established by the cowboy, not pulling at the end of the line, not coming in to my space, but learning to relax together. When he first stopped grazing today, he oriented pointing the herd in the pasture. But then he ate some more and oriented pointing me and took a nap. And that felt better than any trip around a jump course. </div><div><br /></div><div>I'm grateful he is continuing to put his trust in me even though I failed him miserably. Even when his stomach felt the worst, he was still walking up to me in the pasture, happy to see me. And since he isn't much for pressed treats, and I don't always remember to grab carrots from the house, I know it isn't just about food. </div></div>Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11446230051948762357noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7195881028568972532.post-47540078312473209052024-02-14T06:00:00.001-05:002024-02-14T06:00:00.433-05:00One year with Sense a GiantToday marks <a href="https://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2023/02/gogmagog.html" target="_blank">one whole year</a> of my first ever baby horse. He has been an incredibly rewarding partner, and we have both learned so much in the past year. <div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA0X3UEX03bu1hp6Lubkvc6-NNLBB_dcbcB901cvsCqFZfiGr468QFTe_r7C_yubkDF9oVECc2rbxzaIRwLuq3KBAKTLUI9vlylAQ4WVp2nzzayqmbMqBLtS4iNJfEYF7Q0JTYJ3KaqO0RY3XldNzA55cOEWHFYogWMcNWh5C6NP4Ix1zy6BNBQe2lEfKh/s1080/Screenshot_20230211-165937~3.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="845" data-original-width="1080" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA0X3UEX03bu1hp6Lubkvc6-NNLBB_dcbcB901cvsCqFZfiGr468QFTe_r7C_yubkDF9oVECc2rbxzaIRwLuq3KBAKTLUI9vlylAQ4WVp2nzzayqmbMqBLtS4iNJfEYF7Q0JTYJ3KaqO0RY3XldNzA55cOEWHFYogWMcNWh5C6NP4Ix1zy6BNBQe2lEfKh/w400-h313/Screenshot_20230211-165937~3.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Adoption picture in PA </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBJ0WnZUF0twCLAf3cqONVi4n73N11HQUBFoNyy60VmqvUtk4cHHZekNy1ojt_4ZpN7mvb6yqHUqNYcZwbEGkNjTckCIqozWJdYk4GiIZ70sHIvgqTTE-rfZqRSvO2HrCugyijuhrTfzVrbZGFDEPFUB9iSjPQvloWkjiUpR4nHuHgmlx_ytt5ENcO9C3c/s4032/PXL_20230211_192342375.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBJ0WnZUF0twCLAf3cqONVi4n73N11HQUBFoNyy60VmqvUtk4cHHZekNy1ojt_4ZpN7mvb6yqHUqNYcZwbEGkNjTckCIqozWJdYk4GiIZ70sHIvgqTTE-rfZqRSvO2HrCugyijuhrTfzVrbZGFDEPFUB9iSjPQvloWkjiUpR4nHuHgmlx_ytt5ENcO9C3c/w300-h400/PXL_20230211_192342375.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Arrival day - now that I know him I can see his eye wasn't just tired, but he wasn't feeling well from the travel either</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR1sRZgiNVEkWKCCku0flYTCWtqV5vHKZ4DfrLHWstZDP4yJAQbXK2ua8-pwtLNqfGUoPVRCJbm3KbkPbwv6Bz6CVYam8mFjXXUi5uwoZIVmm4PN8XYODWedaZaqlFIdZZeCgVESno9sCxstomnkR6stkafwUEIIrl61geUMzr7MJAzoIK2miEppGDybtd/s3280/PXL_20231009_205729936.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3280" data-original-width="2464" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR1sRZgiNVEkWKCCku0flYTCWtqV5vHKZ4DfrLHWstZDP4yJAQbXK2ua8-pwtLNqfGUoPVRCJbm3KbkPbwv6Bz6CVYam8mFjXXUi5uwoZIVmm4PN8XYODWedaZaqlFIdZZeCgVESno9sCxstomnkR6stkafwUEIIrl61geUMzr7MJAzoIK2miEppGDybtd/w300-h400/PXL_20231009_205729936.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">THAT'S a happy eye </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin6pt6fMQhJat5R_gpF0Kx-jhPLJzypEQEKKIoKnzvsP6FkIgqAKZOe7RMwMnvgywlAY9mdDXovqMHZPsZ2dZVl4ALK7Q3JE4t5TWckSuanHS1JXtmon2tu8gM34h-cLiClvlaVJSMYm7MIgjvjQsP-42XnnfbF9H43QkUvVy58nAb8x4nleu7F0tigwL8/s4032/PXL_20231211_213912385.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin6pt6fMQhJat5R_gpF0Kx-jhPLJzypEQEKKIoKnzvsP6FkIgqAKZOe7RMwMnvgywlAY9mdDXovqMHZPsZ2dZVl4ALK7Q3JE4t5TWckSuanHS1JXtmon2tu8gM34h-cLiClvlaVJSMYm7MIgjvjQsP-42XnnfbF9H43QkUvVy58nAb8x4nleu7F0tigwL8/w400-h300/PXL_20231211_213912385.MP.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And a whole hunk of a horse </td></tr></tbody></table><br />We have had quite a few adventures in the past year - his <a href="https://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2023/05/" target="_blank">first XC school</a> was WAYYYY more chaotic than I thought it would be, including body slamming his friend in the water. But his <a href="https://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2023/07/bragging-on-baby.html" target="_blank">second school</a>, he managed to eat a little bit of grass and function far away from Ms. GY's horse. And by the <a href="https://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2023/10/goggles-goes-cross-country-take-3.html" target="_blank">third time out</a> he knew his business was eating grass and JOMPING. <div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh16oRP3sK0ORzEN9uVTYeK008yuq75afh9hhZzlPQJpggoywqtSLzLrkdAxfn0H9BfNGH5hODnRbwJbidvq3JnmiewpGL_FcntEr-y9GTO6QIKY2dAOfp82wXwKpnv0dKdTXcAZgQuL1WiaTT3Ps6zIlReNYgs0Gaxg-0GVaZWIZnAMBgxA4mwuDBXxpzN/s848/VID-20231016-WA0003_exported_26610.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="848" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh16oRP3sK0ORzEN9uVTYeK008yuq75afh9hhZzlPQJpggoywqtSLzLrkdAxfn0H9BfNGH5hODnRbwJbidvq3JnmiewpGL_FcntEr-y9GTO6QIKY2dAOfp82wXwKpnv0dKdTXcAZgQuL1WiaTT3Ps6zIlReNYgs0Gaxg-0GVaZWIZnAMBgxA4mwuDBXxpzN/w400-h226/VID-20231016-WA0003_exported_26610.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYohYwOH4hK7etdHeJmHYiOIpHCPK-E1qBcY_RiJunCKs_UVWW38iNK4cWI4fhPDOTDsMjfLxTUXQkYayWWAvqQDPAkwPhiFIPlh2Zlj1Q1DUrSZZIGKPtKdDh_aWC9JQuzSCLJnSdn-F4f89NUWD0uIoDX2Ldiu5Lj4P3KiCt0Mydb1YZcayAmLXK_OU9/s848/VID-20231016-WA0003_exported_50620.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="848" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYohYwOH4hK7etdHeJmHYiOIpHCPK-E1qBcY_RiJunCKs_UVWW38iNK4cWI4fhPDOTDsMjfLxTUXQkYayWWAvqQDPAkwPhiFIPlh2Zlj1Q1DUrSZZIGKPtKdDh_aWC9JQuzSCLJnSdn-F4f89NUWD0uIoDX2Ldiu5Lj4P3KiCt0Mydb1YZcayAmLXK_OU9/w400-h226/VID-20231016-WA0003_exported_50620.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div><div><br /></div><div>He also went out and did poles and cross rails at his <a href="https://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2024/01/wow.html" target="_blank">first show with JT</a>. This was relatively quickly followed by his <a href="https://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2024/01/goggles-trip-to-dark-side.html" target="_blank">first show with me</a>. There, he exceeded absolutely all my expectations and was brave and rideable to our tiny cross rails and also functioned like a grown up horse in the warm up and at the show in general. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGFHJ5wZcXNaBX76V2qacLwK_2aMOBIbe4s05-OECuQrBeugWBUP-901584q6aZszwdQx4-xqxgwxzP-dk_Wd3tMLKhhHpnMAshZEZi09Nqg0Gd96vV8YqdJ1PdDAuHGRmdvbGkRQH7-m7FpGnMrD_uPj33zX7dc-r_uGMIlFmjlwjH04qMuGyBT4TEdVc/s398/PXL_20240113_141048854_exported_68593.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="248" data-original-width="398" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGFHJ5wZcXNaBX76V2qacLwK_2aMOBIbe4s05-OECuQrBeugWBUP-901584q6aZszwdQx4-xqxgwxzP-dk_Wd3tMLKhhHpnMAshZEZi09Nqg0Gd96vV8YqdJ1PdDAuHGRmdvbGkRQH7-m7FpGnMrD_uPj33zX7dc-r_uGMIlFmjlwjH04qMuGyBT4TEdVc/w400-h249/PXL_20240113_141048854_exported_68593.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div>After some bouncing back and forth between the GY's and JT's this year, he's settled at a farm all of his own in January. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf1ZdEzlMYTN3-ZM21FCk0A0pg4kr3p_pPQV9sZZ1Alcio4EXUt90DNK5FrB32otUTMmkC1SZdUr2CDV8y2cTBWRwMaFIquXNwkESB-lnBl_Sj6GfUvzkOBVqWnq0BAYlItMs0sgOINdMS__WGjeYdrjTAKbpZtJQBwvwnMPG90yF2No8MIaN1wBPQSsRU/s4032/PXL_20240202_135011200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf1ZdEzlMYTN3-ZM21FCk0A0pg4kr3p_pPQV9sZZ1Alcio4EXUt90DNK5FrB32otUTMmkC1SZdUr2CDV8y2cTBWRwMaFIquXNwkESB-lnBl_Sj6GfUvzkOBVqWnq0BAYlItMs0sgOINdMS__WGjeYdrjTAKbpZtJQBwvwnMPG90yF2No8MIaN1wBPQSsRU/w300-h400/PXL_20240202_135011200.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>His softness has been a work in progress this whole year. We're on the right track with his neck and getting him softer and bending through his neck and body, but his first reaction is still tension and bracing. On the other hand, he is BRAVE and wants so badly to do the job. </div><div><br /></div><div>I am learning SO MUCH on our journey together. I have never shaped a horse in this way before, and it is the coolest thing to work my hardest to provide him positive experiences to help him develop into a horse who loves his job and is confident about it. </div><div><br /></div><div>Here's to 2024 with Sense a Giant, I can't wait to see what adventures we go on this year!! <br /><div><div><br /></div></div></div></div>Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11446230051948762357noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7195881028568972532.post-34747707502238306432024-02-06T06:00:00.001-05:002024-02-06T06:00:00.156-05:00January Wrap Up<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmhLLAXynVR1AGF6FNGkqCNCBMMp9VIhNi4XB7Y81oo8drTaOuEJvnLdZezRvSTs92l1W2bR8HIrbGXwd2Vmg64IaSElyNxYVU9YGnrZu6C98WxDv6E_JhIXmBdRAe7syfMPaa_zhywwkr4UVFVxEyaR-OpPL6C3VpS68h21spnHBvxOLNf_ADbDOnOIuD/s4032/PXL_20240117_171201420.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmhLLAXynVR1AGF6FNGkqCNCBMMp9VIhNi4XB7Y81oo8drTaOuEJvnLdZezRvSTs92l1W2bR8HIrbGXwd2Vmg64IaSElyNxYVU9YGnrZu6C98WxDv6E_JhIXmBdRAe7syfMPaa_zhywwkr4UVFVxEyaR-OpPL6C3VpS68h21spnHBvxOLNf_ADbDOnOIuD/w300-h400/PXL_20240117_171201420.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div>This month I took a bit of a break from really trying to keep two horses progressing forward and focused mostly on Goggles. Ben chilled out some and mostly hung with his friends/caused chaos by harassing his friends. </div><div><br /></div><div>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Ground work, lunge, long line</span></b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<td style="border-bottom: solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt; border-top: none; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 172.3pt;" valign="top" width="230">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1 lunge<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<td style="border-bottom: solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt; border-top: none; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 155.7pt;" valign="top" width="208">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">0<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Flat rides</span></b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<td style="border-bottom: solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt; border-top: none; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 172.3pt;" valign="top" width="230">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">4<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<td style="border-bottom: solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt; border-top: none; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 155.7pt;" valign="top" width="208">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">9<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Conditioning rides</span></b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<td style="border-bottom: solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt; border-top: none; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 172.3pt;" valign="top" width="230">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1- 20 min trot, 3x2 min canter<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<td style="border-bottom: solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt; border-top: none; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 155.7pt;" valign="top" width="208">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">0<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">XC school</span></b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<td style="border-bottom: solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt; border-top: none; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 172.3pt;" valign="top" width="230">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Shows</span></b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">0<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<td style="border-bottom: solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #BFBFBF 1.0pt; border-top: none; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 155.7pt;" valign="top" width="208">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">HJ – warm up day and 3 x crossrail courses<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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</tbody></table></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Goggles: </b></div><div>January started with Goggles moving up to his new farm, much closer to me. This also made all of his rides my responsibility. I think we managed okay. We've spent the month working on decreasing his tether to the other horses by gradually venturing further and further from home on a cool down hack at the end of our rides. He's doing great with this, but still frets when they're far away in the field. He's also made huge strides with trailering with the help of my husband. We're not self-loading or totally relaxed still, but we are SO MUCH BETTER. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPDX1ZymtKyXcEmGWOtCc9CzMbTHDOjGw1t0N-H9sFDgNudKhdj_TlYliw-AHEEFDCKKB9bRCKa8px1Jyy90d2TmwHYuYwCD_VRDqcHHMooRGTi1vmOfZ-5HHr76SAOcBGmtC23m7Xcj_jZDxr3OOAgThCm_tu2yoUoiPfudGe3zOfxRMj3HQfrGOdxm2W/s4032/PXL_20240203_172837798.MP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPDX1ZymtKyXcEmGWOtCc9CzMbTHDOjGw1t0N-H9sFDgNudKhdj_TlYliw-AHEEFDCKKB9bRCKa8px1Jyy90d2TmwHYuYwCD_VRDqcHHMooRGTi1vmOfZ-5HHr76SAOcBGmtC23m7Xcj_jZDxr3OOAgThCm_tu2yoUoiPfudGe3zOfxRMj3HQfrGOdxm2W/w300-h400/PXL_20240203_172837798.MP.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div>And he had his first <a href="https://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2024/01/needles-for-baby-horse.html" target="_blank">acupuncture appointment</a> and got a GREAT review of how his neck was feeling from our favorite chiro vet. He's got another acupuncture session on Thursday. </div><div><br /></div><div>He also got out to our first under saddle show together and exceeded all my expectations by behaving like such a grown up horse. He was great in the ring too and showed just how brave he is by jumping cross rails with funky standards. </div><div><br /></div><div>We also had a cross country school and worked on softening his back over jumps by "riding him like he is trained". This was mentally hard for me, but we got there eventually. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Ben: </b>Not too much to report here, as said above, he's enjoying a bit of down time while I sort out finding my joy in horses and NOT having them feel like full time job number two. </div>Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11446230051948762357noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7195881028568972532.post-81955198736239508772024-01-31T06:42:00.002-05:002024-01-31T06:55:52.450-05:00Relationship ProblemsA while back, I shared the fact that Ben couldn't seem to keep from getting ingested by the GY's horses and consequently was unhappy in solo turnout. We've come up with the magic solution for that now- he goes out solo, next to friends, at night and seems pretty content, and then is with her horses for the day. Eliminating the morning in gate hang out pre breakfast means that he gets a nip mayyybe once a month. Totally tolerable and he is extremely happy with this set up. <div><br /></div><div>Now, now friends, Goggles is the problem. And he's the opposite problem. On the one hand he's never looked this relaxed:</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6PWvmv3UBuP0YsxDyNIz_L95cqmt2Qr2vFX3xdEm6BLRKwdcLFlFbN2bL9eoBeSGi9WRGpr9-rXyMR6UAJPu8LFkwubeG2cM2ptZ1kbGihhflpyl75Y6ZO6U6vGhmQ3TiD8INs2yMYsCFWUoda7Y5TmMdZy8jj0HMAq_uQZFbUg9ELizFsEfcS-E-WP1C/s4032/PXL_20240130_141151362.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6PWvmv3UBuP0YsxDyNIz_L95cqmt2Qr2vFX3xdEm6BLRKwdcLFlFbN2bL9eoBeSGi9WRGpr9-rXyMR6UAJPu8LFkwubeG2cM2ptZ1kbGihhflpyl75Y6ZO6U6vGhmQ3TiD8INs2yMYsCFWUoda7Y5TmMdZy8jj0HMAq_uQZFbUg9ELizFsEfcS-E-WP1C/s320/PXL_20240130_141151362.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Rl4S4-WaSsnOxQ0Gp6dBfjcpUHalmMZRMAndl8qSMB9dZi-Ng5mqKaRDP3SaDEzvUaRYIUK_WynoZ9Q_Goxp-ryxxm1WZTR0eD3CvEywqA6igsz6Z4FLWxRqMBl-3y_6GSu3REQ8X0hx3A16E5uZVz996CSXbruK8VbN68I3sQWrsjjk_vbgnyrCRUOF/s4032/PXL_20240130_141142079.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Rl4S4-WaSsnOxQ0Gp6dBfjcpUHalmMZRMAndl8qSMB9dZi-Ng5mqKaRDP3SaDEzvUaRYIUK_WynoZ9Q_Goxp-ryxxm1WZTR0eD3CvEywqA6igsz6Z4FLWxRqMBl-3y_6GSu3REQ8X0hx3A16E5uZVz996CSXbruK8VbN68I3sQWrsjjk_vbgnyrCRUOF/s320/PXL_20240130_141142079.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div>But on the other hand, he's also dropped weight in the past month since moving. His barn owner, who worked with Seminole to come up with a feeding plan for him before he even moved there, is ON IT. And she felt terrible when I pointed it out and compared her own pictures and came up with a whole plan. The plan involves more expense because it involves more food, completely makes sense. </div><div><br /></div><div>But we think part of his weight is also the fact that he paces his pasture fence during the day. He's next to her four horses, but that isn't good enough for him. With full disclosure of his <a href="https://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2023/10/ww-manners-young-grasshopper.html?m=1" target="_blank">prior behavior</a>, she turned her mini mare out with him. Well. He promptly turned around to aim both shod hooves at her and then started chasing. WTF dude. You cannot pine for friends and then try to kill your friend. </div><div><br /></div><div>We're starting him on a calming supplement, but I'm at a loss. He does not care about food. Where Ben or Yoshi could be tempted to chill with a nice pile of alfalfa, Goggles gives no shits. In fact, orchard is his favorite, but even that has little draw if his friends go to the far side of their field (always within his view). </div><div><br /></div><div>A friend has very generously offered a pony mare who she says 1. Probably won't let him kick her and 2. She doesn't care if he does. But then I'd be paying his extra expensive board and paying board for a third house. All fun activities would go out the window because that would be 100% of my horse budget. Plus I don't want him to actually hurt something. </div><div><br /></div><div>I'm working on making his tether longer in other ways: we explore further and further down the road off property after each ride and he's constantly going places on the trailer. He's getting better at both these things. When he's in his stall he doesn't care that much about where the rest of the horses are. But he cannot consistently settle in the pasture. There are definitely times where I come out and he is eating in the back, but there are plenty where he's right at the fence staring and/or pacing. </div><div><br /></div><div>Anyone got brilliant ideas that don't involve me boarding 3 horses? </div><div><br /></div><div>His current set up is in at night with an attached paddock and out during the day. His pasture is maybe an acre and and shares a fence with a two acre pasture that her four horses share. They can never go out of sight, the pastures are both just flat grass with no trees, but they can go to the far side of the field and that seems to be when he's most upset. </div>Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11446230051948762357noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7195881028568972532.post-32063696977826300722024-01-30T06:00:00.001-05:002024-01-30T06:00:00.331-05:00I hope that in the year to come you make mistakes<div>...Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You're doing things you've never done before, and more importantly, you're doing something." -Neil Gaiman</div><div><br /></div>Goggles and I had a dressage lesson with NDT last Wednesday. I wasn't sure if he was ready for a full lesson, but I figured what they hey, he is 5 now, she gives nice long walk breaks, and I could always stop early if he was done or overwhelmed. He loaded the best he ever has and we were on our way over to the GY's. NDT was a bit funny, I get the idea most of the folks she coaches are a bit more precious about their surroundings than I was. There was some screwing around with the sprinkler at the start of our ride and there were horses in paddocks on both sides. She protected us in the part of the ring away from the sprinkler until they were done messing with it. Meh. But the flip side was she was watching for his tension to go away. Now, I'm pretty sure the tension wasn't from the sprinkler, but it was an interesting metric to have. We walked until his walk was relaxed and swinging. Then we trotted and we trotted until his eye softened and he focused on me, not the surrounding horses. I don't think this approach would have worked even two months ago, he would have still needed his million walk-trot transitions because the tension would have manifested in quickness. But he actually wasn't running away with me at the trot, but he was tense through his back and neck. <div><br /></div><div>She had me counter bend him a little bit on the part of the circle where he wanted to fall out. She said bending interferes with turning. This helped keep me from pulling on my inside rein and letting him fall through his outside shoulder, which was pretty neat. When he reached down she actually had me lengthen my reins to him some. The alternative I had developed was leaning, so this was safer in case he tripped/did other unexpected things. Then shorten them right back up. When he popped up out of the contact, hands wide to keep an even contact. </div><div><br /></div><div>We did a little bit of canter, mostly her just watching us at this point, then we took a walk break. We added in some one loop serpentines and changes of rein with circles thrown in as well. He was still verrrrryyy focused on what was happening with horses around him (which in his defense wasn't just standing still, Mr. GY took his gelding into the pasture and was going for a hand gallop at this point). She said that was fine in the beginning, but he needed to focus on his job. I thought back to <a href="https://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2024/01/goggles-trip-to-dark-side.html" target="_blank">the show</a> where he was actually incredibly focused on me. Hm. So the jumps gave him something to think about. So we need to make dressage enough of a something to think about that he stops sight seeing. She and I both thought that was an interesting. Her immediate suggestion was ground poles scattered around to keep him engaged, but said she'd think on it more. </div><div><br /></div><div>During our ring figures, we focused on big bends through his neck and body to get him to release the base of his neck. She said in 6 months my goal can be those three loop serpentines that we worked on with Ben with true bend through the first two, then left bend through two, then right bend through two, then counter bend through two. I was tempted to give up to the right before I got him truly bending and allowing me to ride his left shoulder at the same time, but she kept me honest and held me to it. </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvoV5fcE1JA6S1jOeCAqYA_o37c4JqDV-Mir_qdKP9xkbhhcormzri_aZcjxYdyeXU_R9i730aOGNUwLmjjM7W8GBKZzgowU-3lhibbR_3jNjGgVS8GaROL9qbdIoZ-K20uYbS2THVQIPuNVAiU0m-AFscompF1yNyLF6zV3rzFZ59fHKyHFK_C81YqTjo/s4032/PXL_20240117_130758958.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvoV5fcE1JA6S1jOeCAqYA_o37c4JqDV-Mir_qdKP9xkbhhcormzri_aZcjxYdyeXU_R9i730aOGNUwLmjjM7W8GBKZzgowU-3lhibbR_3jNjGgVS8GaROL9qbdIoZ-K20uYbS2THVQIPuNVAiU0m-AFscompF1yNyLF6zV3rzFZ59fHKyHFK_C81YqTjo/w400-h300/PXL_20240117_130758958.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Goggles and one of his FOUR mares he shares a fenceline with and LOVES</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div>We then worked a bit more on the canter. He realllly wanted to throw his left shoulder out on part of the circle. NDT was confused until I let her in on the secret that that was the side of the circle we used to spin out on and exit the arena when I was trying to do right lead canter back in the spring. Then he was diving in on the next part. She again held us to the strong outside aids on the falling out part, but then wanted me to immediately shift and lift with the right rein, boot with the inside leg, and if he was still ignoring that, shove the right seat bone to the outside. She said that aid was "a bit rude" but he was being "a bit rude" in ignoring my lighter aids. We were pretty much out of Goggles at that point, so we didn't play too much with it, but I'm excited to work on that at home. </div><div><br /></div><div>She summarized our lesson by saying he was a lot of fun and extremely athletic, we just needed to channel his attention. Not bad feedback to hear! He spent about two minutes in one of Ms. GY's stalls and managed to knock a fan off the wall in that time. He backed away from it snorting, but returned about 0.2 seconds later to nose the other one. He definitely has a bit of that chaotic tendency in him. </div><div><br /></div><div>He loaded up SO WELL to go home. Ms. GY led him on and he just paused once and then walked smoothly on and let me close the butt bar. GOOD BOY! </div><div><br /></div><div>Monday we went adventuring again, this time to Majestic Oaks. His adventure pal was in the trailer already when he got on, and he loaded right up. </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdh0nXPtvSsxGMNCa011JXGZqjebY8UTJQF2ejELZsDpTM26ZvFIpDDic_hmseQmT9rfD9qVUEVa1LQ6AKsLprF2mrWMbmBoevRcwZuUDyWta2Xm7TyHTgOILY2kXcG8Gqyphn02ALbSp2dEQTXyRBeLOOXYSoPEMDxMmyXiRI3f5eAub1AfbQTVr0IOWQ/s1727/PXL_20240129_124045104.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1239" data-original-width="1727" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdh0nXPtvSsxGMNCa011JXGZqjebY8UTJQF2ejELZsDpTM26ZvFIpDDic_hmseQmT9rfD9qVUEVa1LQ6AKsLprF2mrWMbmBoevRcwZuUDyWta2Xm7TyHTgOILY2kXcG8Gqyphn02ALbSp2dEQTXyRBeLOOXYSoPEMDxMmyXiRI3f5eAub1AfbQTVr0IOWQ/w400-h288/PXL_20240129_124045104.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Both boys enjoying their preferred hay- alfalfa for his seasoned traveling companion and orchard for Goggles</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div>He mostly stood like an adult horse to get tacked up, and then warmed up politely too. He wanted to porpoise a bit when we cantered, but came back to earth pretty easily. </div><div><br /></div><div>We started jumping some of the entry fences after sniffing the particularly spooky logs between bushes. I was dismayed to find that the goal posts have shifted again. No longer is over/under/through the marker for a 100% grade. Now he needs to keep his back soft over the jumps (he was jumping so stiff legged behind that he scraped some bark off a natural tree jump), and he is not allowed to drag down and play afterwards. And because it isn't fair to let him play for ten strides and THEN tell him to cut it out, I must do it the stride he starts. Oh boy. No one ever said baby horses are easy though, so we worked on putting it all together. I said "I can't" to JT enough that even I was getting sick of hearing myself whining, but eventually we got there. </div><div><br /></div><div>It really helped when JT said "ride him like he is trained". Oh. Well then. If I ride him that way, he responds. Over the past year, we have created a horse that actually does understand leg and seat and voice and hand and behaves like he is trained (mostly). Huh. Set an expectation and he rises to meet it.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin_5jXQM1cMG9uri7-uKde1gmej86FU9r6v1H3S4KOF-BKpWP9vy6yCWrwLc70lIr2vi1EG6XYCCGlnsAnyHAXpF_IsMqfKH5xox3MS1p4KCfu1L3NvgRta8muYakqVAgDzHdrLagRBPXFA9DZg68BMjW3l-bczjwdFLyePGpPNK2UAMoSkX-gyKxiNsoJ/s4032/PXL_20240129_134431409.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin_5jXQM1cMG9uri7-uKde1gmej86FU9r6v1H3S4KOF-BKpWP9vy6yCWrwLc70lIr2vi1EG6XYCCGlnsAnyHAXpF_IsMqfKH5xox3MS1p4KCfu1L3NvgRta8muYakqVAgDzHdrLagRBPXFA9DZg68BMjW3l-bczjwdFLyePGpPNK2UAMoSkX-gyKxiNsoJ/w300-h400/PXL_20240129_134431409.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>He was a star at the banks. He went quietly down the bank like it was just a tiny step down, which it was. We did the slightly bigger one too and he casually stepped off that. Good boy! Ditches were NBD too. Water he stopped at a bit, but his fellow baby horse had gone ahead and then said absofuckinglutely NOT, so it might have been better if we'd just walked up to it ourselves. But he didn't jump into his trailer buddy who was the brave leader when he did enter, so that's major progress from just a few months ago when the water moving around his legs was shocking. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCFABR22wdDbjxrO6uBruFlH31AUVc_4TApv0E6Kt-AaHIfXN5bNVIkQAUg-jiTdhDuUJxVl1G1zi03Zhsy4gP4B8m54izEe1stAjapoGYFIKWcslzEnrQBaff76bFnEmvQIL-z0iwoAQAgpmmbypHq2WEPca-xayCa2e9Vs8L-UL7IzdDt0jwxbg2be-K/s4032/PXL_20240129_134427391.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCFABR22wdDbjxrO6uBruFlH31AUVc_4TApv0E6Kt-AaHIfXN5bNVIkQAUg-jiTdhDuUJxVl1G1zi03Zhsy4gP4B8m54izEe1stAjapoGYFIKWcslzEnrQBaff76bFnEmvQIL-z0iwoAQAgpmmbypHq2WEPca-xayCa2e9Vs8L-UL7IzdDt0jwxbg2be-K/w300-h400/PXL_20240129_134427391.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Overall two very successful outings. Even though he spent a lot of time staring into the distance at majestic, he also moseyed around on the buckle and didn't spook at anything. Well that's not actually 100% true, he spooked at something when I had just taken his bridle off and he very nearly ran me over. So that was fun. But fortunately I was being a good pony clubber and had his reins around his neck still, so he didn't get free for a frolic. Other than that though... He's just so much braver and more rideable each time we go, it makes me so delighted to think about even as I struggle with feeling like I can't actually ride him. </div>Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11446230051948762357noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7195881028568972532.post-82840408854849974982024-01-24T06:00:00.001-05:002024-01-24T06:00:00.142-05:00Liverpools and cones and trees, Oh My! <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZBQOQqTkx3mf65cbJAstQrOstnPKRTwGVSyiiFaPqWC4KqjUrWioeUFOVA-IBTcqPFjSAjYEalpSqnfRCOfp4uzv00DWgmI2ptZ0EQBQ1KNDv_bbY8g0y3OGC_5xmzypO6JhZe1i0VOJn73OvazaOb7blLL0-dmkVkpQWQ-hFescTRXz_RVmXpHqDeRot/s1874/original_43a0744a-e236-4018-9411-7210d16a5612_PXL_20240119_163818214.MP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1098" data-original-width="1874" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZBQOQqTkx3mf65cbJAstQrOstnPKRTwGVSyiiFaPqWC4KqjUrWioeUFOVA-IBTcqPFjSAjYEalpSqnfRCOfp4uzv00DWgmI2ptZ0EQBQ1KNDv_bbY8g0y3OGC_5xmzypO6JhZe1i0VOJn73OvazaOb7blLL0-dmkVkpQWQ-hFescTRXz_RVmXpHqDeRot/w400-h234/original_43a0744a-e236-4018-9411-7210d16a5612_PXL_20240119_163818214.MP.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Ben and Goggles went to JT's on Friday for lessons. They both much prefer travelling with a friend in the trailer. Goggles still took a minute to load, but once on he stayed on instead of doing the hokey pokey. <div><br /></div><div>Goggles went first when we got there. Before JT came out, we spent a while walking over spanish moss clumps and sticks because he's pretty concerned about those things. He really didn't care at all until the early fall when we taught him about cavaletti and small jumps and all of a sudden everything on the ground required a lot of thought. We're getting back to the point of being casual about those things though. </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHhWRBBAcdn6CnppvTihh-zMLF5CqVxpf61qwAnPpq8ooTcAHZhiJSAdmRoLEzSBLbmIhwHvfqDiCkIuOWTXRe7s3DuDtWhQZa8PTAWCcvN4-wkJLpnk4RviBomHUwluzNwmnlb08asgxZOHqLzlT3H6LhzRmd6Up8Q2wPyBCdFjTz4uidFxPsVU9WY7Jd/s4032/PXL_20240119_175608692.MP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHhWRBBAcdn6CnppvTihh-zMLF5CqVxpf61qwAnPpq8ooTcAHZhiJSAdmRoLEzSBLbmIhwHvfqDiCkIuOWTXRe7s3DuDtWhQZa8PTAWCcvN4-wkJLpnk4RviBomHUwluzNwmnlb08asgxZOHqLzlT3H6LhzRmd6Up8Q2wPyBCdFjTz4uidFxPsVU9WY7Jd/w300-h400/PXL_20240119_175608692.MP.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My view most of the time while "hacking" </td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div>When JT came out, we spent a while walking loops between the standards and her small round liverpool. He is extremely suspicious of the liverpools, but each time makes progress. This time he allllmooost touched it. Then we did a forced sniff of the jumps we were going to jump - traffic cones, Christmas tree, unicorns. He thought the tree was a bit suspect when the branches moved when the wind blew. We started jumping, focusing on <i>doing</i> after the jump. JT purposely put us over the crossrail headed towards the fence so I had to make a decision and a turn after. </div><div><br /></div><div>Then we added in the spookier jumps. The first time over the tree he thought about not, but was pretty easy to direct over it instead. We strung a few together and he was SO good. He was still screwing around after the jumps, especially if he'd made a big effort over it. I was trying so hard to give him a good release, but then needed to be quicker in the 2-3 strides after the fence getting my butt back in the saddle. JT instructed me to SIT DOWN and I whined back that I couldn't when he was yanking down that hard. She said the solution is to get my butt down before he starts playing. Ah, I do see. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NtfgV6BOKnc" width="320" youtube-src-id="NtfgV6BOKnc"></iframe></div><br /><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghyoF-4xa3niKZHwcb_3asXWNp5sG-ZQt6UyjWNxACHQZphWaCUgZQdUelnKeHGSn-ZWESTcuf6zk_aAI2JleAcjfVBLYvDbKMGEU93uOc3yTd4y822jJ3rFtbqQnUk4UCRmbULe5dtqnQxWWkWT2ReQIXTk2oFb8SGidNxbljwiFabqXIf45BUiU_w40G/s1280/received_914354229889270_exported_42000.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghyoF-4xa3niKZHwcb_3asXWNp5sG-ZQt6UyjWNxACHQZphWaCUgZQdUelnKeHGSn-ZWESTcuf6zk_aAI2JleAcjfVBLYvDbKMGEU93uOc3yTd4y822jJ3rFtbqQnUk4UCRmbULe5dtqnQxWWkWT2ReQIXTk2oFb8SGidNxbljwiFabqXIf45BUiU_w40G/w400-h225/received_914354229889270_exported_42000.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicbULCkxvh-wmX91MmEf_p-2Yu1hbBBW3phChuytu7-fO3H0TZU4Dm5toj72KNjVhNVZq6Etg1LtfUNrqArpMWRjyekn0L6dKHaL-f6eEe2IgpWsgVlvk4jfg4qB69YnFP2XWxnwYndJTe6wpOt34T-fSsRD-gZNwlhMNcvwOZp8rLaej8tSjskSrXBwPn/s942/received_914354229889270_exported_5400~2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="942" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicbULCkxvh-wmX91MmEf_p-2Yu1hbBBW3phChuytu7-fO3H0TZU4Dm5toj72KNjVhNVZq6Etg1LtfUNrqArpMWRjyekn0L6dKHaL-f6eEe2IgpWsgVlvk4jfg4qB69YnFP2XWxnwYndJTe6wpOt34T-fSsRD-gZNwlhMNcvwOZp8rLaej8tSjskSrXBwPn/w400-h306/received_914354229889270_exported_5400~2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkpaXptTbiGGH6mPqpBz2Lvo3Hnek00hlwQRg8qlnqVfprZ1AQXxytnA4eeCbnMt07iQuzGvYRQyPw5eVVWQ9HKkMUYx0huqQB4AaiF_2bjTgyCW7TH6CELI9iy3IchXjeQCuzIDFw9BdmroHcA1avO4k_-POJvZgR6crWUzZvGReemXg4PFJrQF1-9cpf/s209/received_781418117155099_exported_6900~2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="162" data-original-width="209" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkpaXptTbiGGH6mPqpBz2Lvo3Hnek00hlwQRg8qlnqVfprZ1AQXxytnA4eeCbnMt07iQuzGvYRQyPw5eVVWQ9HKkMUYx0huqQB4AaiF_2bjTgyCW7TH6CELI9iy3IchXjeQCuzIDFw9BdmroHcA1avO4k_-POJvZgR6crWUzZvGReemXg4PFJrQF1-9cpf/w400-h310/received_781418117155099_exported_6900~2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTQSGEc3mJY92lWcszAHzuSKx7ydyttLqTie0AgJ34MNQBqAkNfEM_f-iR4ma6myRdCQgx-owpyb-rKYUXMRT0_ohmXHBM5dNr7up4gERwdmbt8RkdhNvRgouu1KeWWSMGE607KGeclytKN6BylTRY6QV606IsPsbu7PGttg42uLgIgon5rOGl_U-B7fwC/s488/received_914354229889270_exported_8700~2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="380" data-original-width="488" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTQSGEc3mJY92lWcszAHzuSKx7ydyttLqTie0AgJ34MNQBqAkNfEM_f-iR4ma6myRdCQgx-owpyb-rKYUXMRT0_ohmXHBM5dNr7up4gERwdmbt8RkdhNvRgouu1KeWWSMGE607KGeclytKN6BylTRY6QV606IsPsbu7PGttg42uLgIgon5rOGl_U-B7fwC/w400-h311/received_914354229889270_exported_8700~2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11446230051948762357noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7195881028568972532.post-58083038716372989632024-01-22T06:00:00.001-05:002024-01-22T06:00:00.138-05:00Next on the AgendaSince we skipped a December Wrap Up in leiu of the 2023 Wrap Up, let's look ahead a bit to the spring season. I'm going to speak in very general terms because I added a whole unnecessary level of stress to my life for a week by deciding Goggles needed to be doing XX level by XX date. I had managed to NOT do that for the whole first year of having him, so I was about due for that, yes? <div><br /></div><div>Goals for this spring: </div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Get Goggles solid at loading and trailering. Unfortunately the increased frequency of trips from his new farm for farrier, chiro, lessons made for some back sliding, not forward progress as I'd hoped. He is more chill IN the trailer now, but has gotten a bit worse at loading. It makes my life VASTLY less complicated if he is a single person loader, so we're working towards that. My husband is on board and is definitely enjoying the process of thinking like a horse, so it is a pretty fun project. He's also providing the push to hook up the trailer, drive it to the farm, put the horse on it, and then NOT go anywhere. </li></ul><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvIsFoBBf_2SjFj5q7I772hNigkVffBNYH7PmcBcxZYiTz2tAgPlx2bW7UheB1Ivxpqsgrulkd-w2N84IAtu5FUoBWPshH4oD0O52V_SgHYulVbA5rRey2Tbq6r9aqIICJV_COU8q4ZfQBy0ml7Rvtnohypbyk8h3gEMykaRF5zQ8YYSBeta2_lpnxib5J/s4032/PXL_20240118_150740132.MP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvIsFoBBf_2SjFj5q7I772hNigkVffBNYH7PmcBcxZYiTz2tAgPlx2bW7UheB1Ivxpqsgrulkd-w2N84IAtu5FUoBWPshH4oD0O52V_SgHYulVbA5rRey2Tbq6r9aqIICJV_COU8q4ZfQBy0ml7Rvtnohypbyk8h3gEMykaRF5zQ8YYSBeta2_lpnxib5J/s320/PXL_20240118_150740132.MP.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Skeptical faces, we got 'em</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH2kG6SaALco98AMlFWtJ7qANl7FatH5mTg7DjKmp5Xey-yy3V0CjGrHHFkvr1Osfs35wgtFJ9sUe8_keJTUdASq_xvb-3ckd9PO11KPH7WmufRxg9-_kVx2WtqL6o718QOn2lRK2v6UplfImsPf4Z01nxVNrpr7KVCrhFL2ECCYS48FQQWYTeI-WlvvtD/s4032/PXL_20240118_151948703.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH2kG6SaALco98AMlFWtJ7qANl7FatH5mTg7DjKmp5Xey-yy3V0CjGrHHFkvr1Osfs35wgtFJ9sUe8_keJTUdASq_xvb-3ckd9PO11KPH7WmufRxg9-_kVx2WtqL6o718QOn2lRK2v6UplfImsPf4Z01nxVNrpr7KVCrhFL2ECCYS48FQQWYTeI-WlvvtD/s320/PXL_20240118_151948703.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Do SOMETHING with each horse each week, MOST weeks. Examples include dressage lesson, jump lesson, XC school, trailering Goggles to the GY's and going for a hack, hacking Goggles off property from our home barn. etc etc. When I had my frenzied week of backwards goal setting, I was trying to cram too many things into each week in order to be ready by a certain date. Doing things with two horses is already hitting my max enjoyment of horsey-ness and that kind of planning was pushing me over the edge into treating this like another full time job with the same level of enjoyment that goes with a job. Now, I do really enjoy my job, but it's still a job, y'know? And I don't want horses to feel that same way. So long as we are doing SOMETHING other than trot or canter circles at home, we're making forward progress, and that is all I'm looking for. He'll be ready when he's ready. (Not that trot and canter circles at home aren't beneficial, but y'know what I mean? Something other than our baseline creeping forward progress towards consistency in the bridle etc etc)</li><li>Take Ben Ben on at least two off property trail rides with a friend. I've given up on him ever being fun to solo trail ride, but Ms. GY and I had such a great time at San Felasco, I am making it a goal to do that at least twice more before the weather and yellow flies become unbearable in late May/early June. </li><li>Get Ben confident with down banks. I'm already putting half a check mark next to this one. We plan to do two more XC schools before his next show, but we've already made great progress towards restoring his confidence. </li></ul><div>That's it. That's all I'm putting down in writing. It's a short post. I do have a few shows marked on the calendar for Ben, but I feel like verbalizing my goal of AECs with him last year made it all the harder to take when our spring season fell apart. So these are my reasonable goals for both kids - focusing on trailer loading with Goggles, and two off property hacks with Ben, and then a weekly <i>thing</i> for both of them. If anyone decides to go lame, that's fine, we can adapt from there. And a lame Goggles could certainly still work on loading, so that one sticks no matter what! We'll reassess at the end of spring and see how it went. </div></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivNRK6bLNm_4NOOp6XyLybsMk5Iq4K3R58fKhCz0MEPQyux6BWLM4gUCoamNTtq-hXN0VJsIkJdA7xpbhnyZOljb_naqXbomJDSSy3WOGb8OC1U928T3-gU3iGgMYogLVqkW2Yp4quX6J-akPPyzMAddBXccwY4Av60GdP9n8Me36IPqZEP4o0fF3HyMe7/s6192/280-k12_2586_23rhw1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4128" data-original-width="6192" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivNRK6bLNm_4NOOp6XyLybsMk5Iq4K3R58fKhCz0MEPQyux6BWLM4gUCoamNTtq-hXN0VJsIkJdA7xpbhnyZOljb_naqXbomJDSSy3WOGb8OC1U928T3-gU3iGgMYogLVqkW2Yp4quX6J-akPPyzMAddBXccwY4Av60GdP9n8Me36IPqZEP4o0fF3HyMe7/w400-h266/280-k12_2586_23rhw1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Forever sprinkling the xpress foto package pics throughout posts... this isn't my fave because you can't see his face completely, but look at those knees! </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div>Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11446230051948762357noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7195881028568972532.post-92127955120594789422024-01-19T06:00:00.013-05:002024-01-20T07:46:30.917-05:00Finding The One<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuNzgkXP8WzMr4n4RfANt9uZrQZA6dRfiwNu1Ej7CX_3AjsHVy7moxVs4VsD1_vj93cGfwJLsl5VZb3gVjZ0lB9X4Z-pFvqZYmsGDR5LS1hqg6eLpAa7Rr4JoqTk9K1isUs9UtDlBecuXuDOUtSjY2X78zRp1NF-Hm8eT-7WNsH_tVB8zLajgmS519AUQw/s4032/PXL_20240108_210107773.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuNzgkXP8WzMr4n4RfANt9uZrQZA6dRfiwNu1Ej7CX_3AjsHVy7moxVs4VsD1_vj93cGfwJLsl5VZb3gVjZ0lB9X4Z-pFvqZYmsGDR5LS1hqg6eLpAa7Rr4JoqTk9K1isUs9UtDlBecuXuDOUtSjY2X78zRp1NF-Hm8eT-7WNsH_tVB8zLajgmS519AUQw/w400-h300/PXL_20240108_210107773.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Touch the car?!?! The chosen one, pre-oiling</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>I guess I have to keep the horse now since I purchased a saddle that fits him... </div><div><br /></div><div>Goggles and I have agreed to like a <a href="https://mysaddle.com/en/jumping/custom-monte-carlo-single-flap" target="_blank">Custom Monte Carlo</a>. This saga started way back over the summer when I decided I didn't like how my Forestier Boekelo sat on him. And after <a href="https://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2023/02/ben-tries-his-nose-at-abstract-art.html" target="_blank">all our drama </a>with getting the saddle to fit Ben, I was very reluctant to go with that brand again. Because they are foam paneled, each change takes 6 weeks to adjust and there are shipping costs as well as the cost of changing the panel. With this in mind, I tried out quite a few saddles from HighLine/FineLine tack. They were gracious and looked at pictures and listened to my feedback on each saddle before suggesting another. But the only thing that sat well on him was an Antares that made me feel incredibly unbalanced. Plus I live close to Ocala, the horse capital of the world, you'd, uh, think there would be options local to us. </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpolWNvyNJTDtuZhVEDRL3SjS9W1-WZ8Tog5MEn8Wc_dkrH4GAq3pLJFQ0xUe0R6WlcyzQ_doTx3hRMmvh9u9eC7u_RxSXhqXT398HpXS2TE9_eFqvZryxK4F2azsHlzykdmMrYTUU4igmL3J_ueeKYjJBDmTvWB_4i4Ytd0PbgJgkHop4Y0o4t-pwJe2b/s4032/PXL_20240118_163253628.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpolWNvyNJTDtuZhVEDRL3SjS9W1-WZ8Tog5MEn8Wc_dkrH4GAq3pLJFQ0xUe0R6WlcyzQ_doTx3hRMmvh9u9eC7u_RxSXhqXT398HpXS2TE9_eFqvZryxK4F2azsHlzykdmMrYTUU4igmL3J_ueeKYjJBDmTvWB_4i4Ytd0PbgJgkHop4Y0o4t-pwJe2b/s320/PXL_20240118_163253628.MP.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's a very nice looking saddle post-heavy oil, also super light weight. Flap is a +2 meaning it is a forward flap which is perfect for my leg length (longer upper leg than lower leg)</td></tr></tbody></table><br />After our <a href="https://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2023/12/bens-busy-week-with-saddle-saga-side.html?m=1" target="_blank">Tobias trial</a>, we had the Custom rep out to assess Goggles and me. She knows JT well and so she essentially set them on Goggles to make sure the fit was passable and then dropped off the three jump saddles she had for me to play. I was left with an 18" Envy, a older 17" Monte Carlo from a sponsored rider, and a brand new 17.5" Monte Carlo. The Envy is their new budget line. It was not my cup of tea, it just felt like it shoved my leg into the wrong position and then held it there. The 17" older Monte Carlo was too small for my leg, but I quite enjoyed the 17.5". I rode in it multiple times and jumped Ben in it. Both JT and I liked it, and it passed the tests from Frank Tobias and passed my own assessment of not sitting too close to his withers, laterally or dorsally, even without a half pad. I feel every bit as secure as in the Boekelo, evidenced by sticking with him no prob over some exuberant jumps over the weekend. It is wool flocked and has an adjustable tree so we will be able to continue to fit it to his back as he grows. <div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-WYIZp4DUG3U4ybQ2yFTGPPqjJJHdZDxS7C-PEc6ZKzJ7GtJdaVees3CxErN_w8pQYMAdyEhQLvs9K10e3t4bddTZp0w01REvqDpriGgBUT-EVcIFRPwswgCxxcCV24ROp8OC7X0ZClcC_ef8my8ZG0Up172r4bXngN-rbEPKO0vh2mmN-Yoq3iFYJl89/s570/PXL_20240113_141335872_exported_33165.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="410" data-original-width="570" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-WYIZp4DUG3U4ybQ2yFTGPPqjJJHdZDxS7C-PEc6ZKzJ7GtJdaVees3CxErN_w8pQYMAdyEhQLvs9K10e3t4bddTZp0w01REvqDpriGgBUT-EVcIFRPwswgCxxcCV24ROp8OC7X0ZClcC_ef8my8ZG0Up172r4bXngN-rbEPKO0vh2mmN-Yoq3iFYJl89/w400-h288/PXL_20240113_141335872_exported_33165.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sorry about my lack of release good sir, leg is stable though!</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div>The rep recommended buying a demo saddle rather than ordering brand new. She said because they are hand made, even made to the same specs it will feel different. Don't have to tell me twice lol. </div><div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKhKqEPoySHQPu1vBCbabtx4luK-wkqm1dJgl2LjGfXYITNBjezpsJNRw7bU-EBnL6O9CLnGsLZJDL3a1Futa2vf5JM4oVnlKC2VttSQJ37lJGymLng2CMHLJfvjxL9qEdpTeW6gTs6ZHxsYp5HjLfyEUgUqhlGNBPb2Upp7e_p8wy33_XQQ-h7tcm5T2c/s4032/PXL_20240118_163257613.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKhKqEPoySHQPu1vBCbabtx4luK-wkqm1dJgl2LjGfXYITNBjezpsJNRw7bU-EBnL6O9CLnGsLZJDL3a1Futa2vf5JM4oVnlKC2VttSQJ37lJGymLng2CMHLJfvjxL9qEdpTeW6gTs6ZHxsYp5HjLfyEUgUqhlGNBPb2Upp7e_p8wy33_XQQ-h7tcm5T2c/w240-h320/PXL_20240118_163257613.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Burgundy piping isn't what I would've chosen, but I don't hate it. And it is so subtle that you really have to be looking to see it. </td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><br /></div><div>Bonus is that even brand new, it was part of the demo sale, and was cheaper than my moderately used Forestiers were. The rep will come out and assess it every 6-12 months and make any needed changes. He got chiropracted on Wednesday and while his vet didn't assess the saddle on him, she did palpate his back and withers and didn't get any soreness in the area of the saddle. YAY! She also said his neck felt SO GOOD we didn't need to shockwave him!! He had good ROM and no pain in his neck even before adjustment. He was pretty locked and uneven in his pelvis and TL junction, especially on the right side, which might explain some of the right lead tail wringing and porpoising he has been doing lately. </div>Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11446230051948762357noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7195881028568972532.post-46162448478445242472024-01-15T06:00:00.022-05:002024-01-20T07:50:29.608-05:00Goggles' Trip to the Dark Side With the help of my husband, Goggles and I conquered the cross rail jumpers at the local hunter jumper schooling show this Friday and Saturday.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5sPYRZkQ_JZl7d20X1jDLxqnHpEgPhZtI6d4M2IiFC07VtP-2HWgsLdpkeNMSEI3eHUNL05KxlFBvZCH8ctTxGgfq_in_uTVwBmrQdDH-ZD5SmpNog-ccH7HSCSJRAW5EnOdkqzDihQ67oEsAgY8w0gXIi9jyrcKC25sWBoPdkTwru73bKVQcTxa1AKpN/s598/PXL_20240112_170607773_exported_10301.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="550" data-original-width="598" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5sPYRZkQ_JZl7d20X1jDLxqnHpEgPhZtI6d4M2IiFC07VtP-2HWgsLdpkeNMSEI3eHUNL05KxlFBvZCH8ctTxGgfq_in_uTVwBmrQdDH-ZD5SmpNog-ccH7HSCSJRAW5EnOdkqzDihQ67oEsAgY8w0gXIi9jyrcKC25sWBoPdkTwru73bKVQcTxa1AKpN/w400-h368/PXL_20240112_170607773_exported_10301.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>Friday we went and did the warm up. I had fairly low expectations and goals, exist in the ring, exist near other horses, and exist without running over people. We arrived a little bit before noon because that was when the weather looked best. We wandered around until we found the office and left Goggles on the trailer in the meantime. He seemed to actually have chilled out a little bit while standing on the trailer and unloaded politely. He let me tack him up as well without excessive dancing. </div><div><br /></div><div>Our timing in the jumper ring worked out quite well, and my husband didn't have to fight off any trainers to try to drop jumps. We were trotting around when a trainer came in. The jumps were about novice height still, and she timidly asked if I minded if she dropped a couple. I laughed and told her she was welcome to drop all of them because we certainly were not jumping what was set currently. Then her two pony kids came into the ring, and Goggles politely continued to do some walk trot while they walked and trotted as well. He eyed a standard with leaping dolphins on the sides of it a few times as we trotted by. I warmed him up over some of the cross rails and tiny 2 ft jumps. Then we walked again, and I let him sniff the dolphins closely before pointing him at the tiny oxer set between them. He popped right over without any hesitation. He also was not doing the bunny hopping he has tried out recently as a jump technique. I was trying my hardest to give him a nice release and stay off his back for the whole of whatever jump he took. He was even allowed to canter a few jumps after landing in canter. He was polite enough and together enough to canter one more jump before having to trot again. I was on him for maybe 30 minutes total and then got off, untacked and put him back on the trailer to head home. He loaded super on the way home and didn't need any encouragement at all.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qnD1Zboog1M" width="320" youtube-src-id="qnD1Zboog1M"></iframe></div><div><div><br /></div><div>Saturday morning posed a bit of a problem for me. The schedule that had been posted online when I registered for the show had classes starting at 8:00 a.m., but when I checked the schedule Friday evening it had the jumper ring starting at 9:30. I had to be to work by 11:00, so in spite of how close the show was, this really wasn't going to work. I called the number and chatted with a lady who was super sweet and told me to show up to the ring at 9:00 a.m. and see if they would let me go. We arrived around 8:00 a.m., and he stood tied while a horse lunged nearby with no fuss over it. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw29TfgT2THelDoqSJURiD3ufmEgWXN6b1uywx0MxslYjKqyfo6j-1nUCOilZ0CQrnqguwLJFAdBTsMlUILfIaJESlOpU9H7pgVI-dZ_sazfcP_tfvUDZfUwFE0ex24MS1JtplmNcFUr58ubA0XUx1ltvxuB3nZ9ti2VSP9ZQ0WNsAIwEE3IhQoQouUHID/s4032/PXL_20240113_130919840.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw29TfgT2THelDoqSJURiD3ufmEgWXN6b1uywx0MxslYjKqyfo6j-1nUCOilZ0CQrnqguwLJFAdBTsMlUILfIaJESlOpU9H7pgVI-dZ_sazfcP_tfvUDZfUwFE0ex24MS1JtplmNcFUr58ubA0XUx1ltvxuB3nZ9ti2VSP9ZQ0WNsAIwEE3IhQoQouUHID/s320/PXL_20240113_130919840.MP.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Then we got on and moseyed up to the covered arena since I had forgotten to introduce him to it on Friday. They had kicked everybody out to drag, but we could stand underneath the very edge of it and look around at the bleachers, which is what we did. His new barn owner and her daughter had come to cheer us on. She suggested perhaps we could go into the novice arena which is an outdoor grass arena where they hold the low level hunters. There was somebody in the judges box, and I asked and they said as long as I didn't jump things I was fine to go in. He very politely walked and trotted around. Although he was a bit spooky at somebody in a different judges box who was shuffling papers around. There were also some cows in the distance that caught his attention. Overall though, he felt amazing, and we cantered both directions. To the right he really wanted to buck, so we cantered a bit more in that direction kicking him forward to stop the porpoising that was happening.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD6sG6Va5m5_AyPiWppmonynxns0Hg1SFJNyfJ_oKvv_JuqR_sW2IkCJwBRWn3I6r3jlPQVdCID0R9CqTKOFZ6gOZg9SWvELTv-1-hGnNwBye5TdDk5WAufeN5l7pYULRsT1tX0b2cVPfpud1J1SRB-qyMhtiXJ8eev22XFPHAPzw0lIMF9LVMmF4v3_9D/s4032/PXL_20240113_140420241.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD6sG6Va5m5_AyPiWppmonynxns0Hg1SFJNyfJ_oKvv_JuqR_sW2IkCJwBRWn3I6r3jlPQVdCID0R9CqTKOFZ6gOZg9SWvELTv-1-hGnNwBye5TdDk5WAufeN5l7pYULRsT1tX0b2cVPfpud1J1SRB-qyMhtiXJ8eev22XFPHAPzw0lIMF9LVMmF4v3_9D/s320/PXL_20240113_140420241.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Then we headed back over to the jumper arena where somebody was flipping over the numbers set at the base of the jump, revealing the mysterious course. He also pointed out where the course maps were and said he just hadn't had a chance to hang them yet. I studied them for a little bit. There were three courses, two labeled with jump numbers and then the unlabeled "classic" course. From my (very) limited experience with jumper courses, they were pretty straight forward, mostly doing an inside, outside, inside line thing. Around 8:55 I asked them if I would be able to go in a little bit early and they said they absolutely were not ready. I resigned myself to just having a productive morning seeing the sights at the horse show, but around 9:05 they announced that there was a person who needed to go early who was going to go at 9:15 so people could walk until then and then clear the course. That's me. I'm that person! </div><div><br /></div><div>So at 9:15 we headed in and did the first two courses. He was super for both of them, gaining confidence as he went. Similarly, I was gaining faith in his ability to listen and let me move him around at the canter, so we did a bit more cantering. I had to come out and stare at the map for a bit before heading back in for the third course. He started to get a little rude after landing from the jumps during this course. Eventually I remembered JT's advice to half-halt once and mean it rather than continuing to mildly pull. Once I did that, he remembered his manners and stopped porpoising quite as much. </div><div><br /></div><div>The crossrail courses, and I think up until 2' or 2'3" were all optimum time, crossrails was set at 350 meters per minute. I obviously was not going for a specific time, but it turns out his mix of trotting and cantering put us right around the optimum time marks. We ended up with a first, second, and fourth. Not too bad for baby's second show! </div></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QmhZ94fORx8" width="320" youtube-src-id="QmhZ94fORx8"></iframe></div><br /><div>All three courses put together there. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8ZXILJmo_nh225yu9sVHNK-CqnPecwrBeWAFs4iMQaphVTcIVNZ9941Gqkpx9YlVcOMWpmFRPJd-jq2hMuE34tn5FJJZvgckR7yy5swL3yOLXCFm-F4espUeFoPz5cAgPMBWYWhv_rvhXipwXDK8L-DXCrdWNw_2cc74-Qm6iN88jqANWOyXXqkDidnrQ/s423/original_5be969bc-c393-4efd-aaf4-379493fea945_IMG_20240113_095657.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="423" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8ZXILJmo_nh225yu9sVHNK-CqnPecwrBeWAFs4iMQaphVTcIVNZ9941Gqkpx9YlVcOMWpmFRPJd-jq2hMuE34tn5FJJZvgckR7yy5swL3yOLXCFm-F4espUeFoPz5cAgPMBWYWhv_rvhXipwXDK8L-DXCrdWNw_2cc74-Qm6iN88jqANWOyXXqkDidnrQ/w400-h228/original_5be969bc-c393-4efd-aaf4-379493fea945_IMG_20240113_095657.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbFWfK1IqIH0NGBymOtPkeDbgp3BY429LeHcv1cdXtzEC3R_FA5QE2asCFeYNFQT3Fg9OHMSPwZ08F2XzCUOpq7aU61IHdowdwjJta9YIfrDOj457bG-n4ywCHxHpN6iuIxGcaBo-fPVlOjUrVRpZC0ZDvjakEvn-putlVtj296D-tS-KNKaLdPQtlbw7C/s800/IMG_20240113_095718.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbFWfK1IqIH0NGBymOtPkeDbgp3BY429LeHcv1cdXtzEC3R_FA5QE2asCFeYNFQT3Fg9OHMSPwZ08F2XzCUOpq7aU61IHdowdwjJta9YIfrDOj457bG-n4ywCHxHpN6iuIxGcaBo-fPVlOjUrVRpZC0ZDvjakEvn-putlVtj296D-tS-KNKaLdPQtlbw7C/w400-h225/IMG_20240113_095718.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhys8zvfT1_mfnHR4NIO-1NZqqbUJhq73o8LumynH1eCTlzVtzyO8R5ysRhTlabgHic4vja3iKLaXcoNGFviy22fd0zDjOTgPAEJOR-oO_ae8kpfL08EAIkJTHVuZUVemcrP1A2gywcKda6q9VZ0L6hpZ8Bho2cQp63WgXYdwYP_77WjBdJLU3p981fNlfY/s800/IMG_20240113_095705.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhys8zvfT1_mfnHR4NIO-1NZqqbUJhq73o8LumynH1eCTlzVtzyO8R5ysRhTlabgHic4vja3iKLaXcoNGFviy22fd0zDjOTgPAEJOR-oO_ae8kpfL08EAIkJTHVuZUVemcrP1A2gywcKda6q9VZ0L6hpZ8Bho2cQp63WgXYdwYP_77WjBdJLU3p981fNlfY/w400-h225/IMG_20240113_095705.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div>More important was how freaking GOOD he was. He remembered the dolphin standards on Saturday and didn't even register that they existed. He exceeded all my expectations and behaved like a whole grown up horse. Also his neck felt AMAZING after his acupuncture. <div><br /></div><div>Based on schooling the 2' jumps on Friday, he could have gone in and done that height just as easily as the cross rails. My friend who does these shows regularly graciously helped answer all my questions about the process and did ask if I was sure I wanted to enter the crossrails instead of ground poles with <a href="https://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2024/01/ww-profesh-pole-jumper.html" target="_blank">as exuberant as</a> he had been at Majestic. I told her I couldn't guarantee he wouldn't be just as wild, but I was pretty sure that ground poles to 2' would all get about the same reaction from him, and I think that was spot on. He's also LARGE, so the 2' jumps really don't register much when I see them from his back. </div><div><br /></div><div>I am so excited for the spring with this kid. He's just the best dude and improves SO MUCH every time he's out. He was a million times more grown up than when <a href="https://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2024/01/wow.html" target="_blank">JT rode him</a> at Majestic for his first outing. Even Friday to Saturday was a huge difference in his ability to focus on what he was doing, not on what was going on around him. It was almost like Saturday had so many different things happening that he realized he couldn't possibly monitor it all. He got loads of carrots and praise and then was returned to his field to hang with his fave mini mare. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3RpZeppp0JaWN0wAbPGGl3WI8O9Xu3JoSLDi624N9h1NCsTTapUd21n2hDoLmoIM1bMtMxarYgujLWMCsHoXkTsP24i1ThqK5dm77EuGE524ScVbOohaykWgz36jr9a3Um_y8BOLM2zJ4pDvsYyCckbN5dfQ4GUjuHoJ263zueBbgkkVRoFn4_LpqEk1u/s1300/img_1_1705321613952.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1300" data-original-width="1084" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3RpZeppp0JaWN0wAbPGGl3WI8O9Xu3JoSLDi624N9h1NCsTTapUd21n2hDoLmoIM1bMtMxarYgujLWMCsHoXkTsP24i1ThqK5dm77EuGE524ScVbOohaykWgz36jr9a3Um_y8BOLM2zJ4pDvsYyCckbN5dfQ4GUjuHoJ263zueBbgkkVRoFn4_LpqEk1u/w334-h400/img_1_1705321613952.jpg" width="334" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijgID866kNEwSfU6ZsGhC8IUWT2lNCQwyeAucIxLvVNGG4JBUcK24yIxvyOv7W_IhmnhGOyBRtSIj77PCbTb0gXzGY9KsIeumIUrYadXl3rDpH2J41P-vIFMKF1OJ-24hu9yaUP60N54sYPou_ID1jySVKi5-4H71ap5-lCYxH7wTt5Hhp6eAdYmaGjHKq/s1405/img_2_1705321626622.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1405" data-original-width="1084" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijgID866kNEwSfU6ZsGhC8IUWT2lNCQwyeAucIxLvVNGG4JBUcK24yIxvyOv7W_IhmnhGOyBRtSIj77PCbTb0gXzGY9KsIeumIUrYadXl3rDpH2J41P-vIFMKF1OJ-24hu9yaUP60N54sYPou_ID1jySVKi5-4H71ap5-lCYxH7wTt5Hhp6eAdYmaGjHKq/w309-h400/img_2_1705321626622.jpg" width="309" /></a></div><br /><div><br /><div><br /></div></div>Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11446230051948762357noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7195881028568972532.post-52172191830544718282024-01-12T06:00:00.001-05:002024-01-12T06:00:00.145-05:00Needles for the baby horseI set Ben and Goggles up for their coggins with one of our local vets and asked her to acupuncture Goggles. She had worked on my mare Leila for her neck pain and it seemed really beneficial, so I was eager to have her take a look at Goggles once he was up in her normal range. Plus establishing care for him with a local vet is always good. <div><br /></div><div>While we know Ben loves his needles (<a href="https://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2022/08/needle-adventures.html?m=1" target="_blank">Part 1</a> and <a href="https://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2022/12/bens-best-day-ever-and-some-mullings-on.html?m=1" target="_blank">Part 2</a>) and is actually signed up for another teaching lab in early February, I wasn't sure how Goggles would feel about them. I was positive he was not a candidate for the teaching lab regardless of how he felt about needles because you have to be relatively still and well behaved for FOUR hours and... That's not a Thing we do right now... </div><div><br /></div><div>But both Goggles and I were actually delighted. I love the vet, she's super practical about what acupuncture can and can't do and knows the studies, such as they are. She didn't truly acupuncture scan him to begin, just palpated. She said she felt like the more sensitive types get pissed if it hurts when you scan and then are defensive and less likely to let you treat. She did find substantial pain in his left poll and left mid-neck. He was also sore over his sacrum, but that she felt was more consistent with having a job now. Since this was the day after he cantered the circle of death multiple times, I totally agreed. </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRMeNm8e6uUkqzwfdrfLyVh0nE4Jf-S31s9z58vvyZu4LbHQ-iXhVPAWiZkTH_5LOsdni0CK9i-uheJHiXDhVYFBKbHNr7yDxHzhwC_h0Vb8FhvZS0yS_5zpfy7nbSWrLqA80YNQ00NFajLCOsh8zoGipJe6VxImxawJOCsYcUd5Bl7ZHpWcfuzOkrMn8M/s4032/PXL_20240111_150556491.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRMeNm8e6uUkqzwfdrfLyVh0nE4Jf-S31s9z58vvyZu4LbHQ-iXhVPAWiZkTH_5LOsdni0CK9i-uheJHiXDhVYFBKbHNr7yDxHzhwC_h0Vb8FhvZS0yS_5zpfy7nbSWrLqA80YNQ00NFajLCOsh8zoGipJe6VxImxawJOCsYcUd5Bl7ZHpWcfuzOkrMn8M/w300-h400/PXL_20240111_150556491.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Being a very Good Boy</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>Her tech was also fantastic and held him with just the right balance of entertaining him but not letting him step over the line to being rude. He was very reactive to one point on his left sacral area, so she kinda let that one go in order to focus on his neck. </div><div><br /></div><div>Once she had the points in she hooked up the electro acupuncture. I've never seen him be so still for so long. He truly zenned out on the low setting meant to cause serotonin release and calmness. </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLKVmnMhx3so5kyPmVppivhudxRbvu6eupxKhO2So4-PG_G6FRhP75I-hTwtx6lZDtCifmrL2EvQtTXAJ523HfE0nA4ObaiYjlFH4Fdv9gSjZPlSCygfuka-7LzvdzMqWRolJi7jC9eAZOyBOP-L5xoSUGOronz_vgx78iE0HA3aGzAmHzttE645FZmTeb/s4032/PXL_20240111_152435717.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLKVmnMhx3so5kyPmVppivhudxRbvu6eupxKhO2So4-PG_G6FRhP75I-hTwtx6lZDtCifmrL2EvQtTXAJ523HfE0nA4ObaiYjlFH4Fdv9gSjZPlSCygfuka-7LzvdzMqWRolJi7jC9eAZOyBOP-L5xoSUGOronz_vgx78iE0HA3aGzAmHzttE645FZmTeb/w400-h300/PXL_20240111_152435717.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ugh, as I look at this I can see a hint of ribs he's developed since the move. But look how good he's being with the electro! </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>Then she turned it up a bit to the pain relief level. He definitely felt it a little bit but then seemed to realize it was feeling good and he relaxed into it again. </div><div><br /></div><div>After the time was up for the needles, she showed me a few manual therapy things to do on his neck. Starting with skin rolling to get him used to being touched, then actually grabbing the brachiocephalicus muscle and pushing/lifting up mostly with the fingers in the area of the jugular groove, and doing the same with the muscle just in front of the scapula. She said he was a smart horse, he realized he felt so much better and immediately let us manipulate things that he had previously been guarding. While we were doing the manual therapy on his left brachio, he saw something in the distance and lifted his head, but had the strangest focal muscle spasm pass through, then did some big yawns and sighs. </div><div><br /></div><div>She wanted to see him again in 3-4 weeks, and then go to a roughly every 2 month schedule. He's due for his q3 month shockwave next week and he'll get adjusted then too. It seems like a whole lot for a young horse who still isn't doing much, but I truly think he's a special dude. We're also hoping as he builds muscle correctly we can back down on some of these things. But for now I'm so glad to have added acupuncture in, he was so good and got such instant relief from it. </div>Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11446230051948762357noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7195881028568972532.post-7966831666928915892024-01-11T06:00:00.001-05:002024-01-11T06:00:00.142-05:00On the right foot <b>Goggles part 1: </b>Goggles barely had 48 hours to settle in to his new home before I threw him on the trailer again to go over to the GY's to get his feet done. My farrier agreed to come up to our area to do Goggles and Ben together rather than needing to bring both of them down to JT's. I was SO grateful and wanted to make sure Goggles was on his best behavior. He loaded up pretty well again with just a little brush from the broom. He unloaded and was very all over the place. Once I got on him, he was PERFECT. He walked, trotted, and cantered, and was bending and supple and just lovely. I was thinking about this later - I gave him lots of direction under saddle and very little on the ground. I just want him to EXIST next to me, not on me, on the ground, but I am realizing at this point he has no idea how to do that. He needs direction. His idea of existing is looking around, occasionally running into me with his shoulder, and just generally pulling me towards things he wants to look at and/or eat. If I direct what we're doing, I think he is completely capable of stepping up, he just needs the direction. <div><div><br /></div><div>Even though he had worked, I still had a few doubts about his ability to stand for the farrier, so he got a bit of ace to make him more compliant. He got his feet done, then Ms. GY helped me get him back into the trailer, which again went smoothly. </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEkbc3RbtSZRAj7Q98SpSYaiwl_GUlFwphJ6cCTsLyfIRGTGIal87VV0LH3yiFaaJJsAzVd2L7OZbiSL0lzKLntsqT5ahjvhG_7x5Fv-61PmTb-DYMTUqmXesqZugtCV7-dX6NKS32AuZZSuLcjv6yVrKm4ExOU3Nt8WLQ69ZNagVmOV5Qn81dQLkClFRp/s4032/PXL_20240106_182020563.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEkbc3RbtSZRAj7Q98SpSYaiwl_GUlFwphJ6cCTsLyfIRGTGIal87VV0LH3yiFaaJJsAzVd2L7OZbiSL0lzKLntsqT5ahjvhG_7x5Fv-61PmTb-DYMTUqmXesqZugtCV7-dX6NKS32AuZZSuLcjv6yVrKm4ExOU3Nt8WLQ69ZNagVmOV5Qn81dQLkClFRp/w300-h400/PXL_20240106_182020563.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cross ties at his new farm</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div><b>Ben: </b>Ben and I had a jump lesson on the first Wednesday of the new year. It was his first time back over stadium fences since <a href="https://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2023/12/thoroughbred-transformation-expo-day-3.html" target="_blank">the Thoroughbred Expo</a>. JT and I joked we were going to be starting fresh with everything with him, so we kept things pretty little to start. However, Ben stepped right up and although he squirrelled around to her new fillers, he still went. He did wiggle his way through the triple as well, but did the one to the one in spite of that. She popped things up a little bit and he jumped around again, this time getting a bit lazy over the jump that had a Christmas tree for filler and the liver pool. We went to do just that line again and in spite of a lovely bouncy canter, he again knocked the rail on both. She swapped it out for the square ground rail, and I about died laughing when I felt him, mid-air, actually put in effort and quite nicely avoid tapping it. We also jumped the skinny gate that he had hard core spooked at while warming up. I put my "ride it like a wedge" into practice and rode it so positively with wide hands and he didn't even chip to the base of it, good boy! We've planned on another couple of jump lessons, a couple of XC schools, and at least one schooling jumper show. We still have a solid month+ before the next HT that fit with my schedule - February Ocala. </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOjXQrJpVXt0Gqyda2Z0FwJdi-BYPYhL3nTinH8fJp-MXeHWajanWPG06vOWBQtCONJH5qdH6WSHTU9mCiA9F3ZAecP_Su9h_weBMPxS_rSgfnlbt8f7YUsZS9k54LemlccSM4q1HZuJg1d51o0v_h4ykuZSlqNcR3D9JEWjmedSH287VXjrwxrm-FToin/s4032/PXL_20240105_184633758.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOjXQrJpVXt0Gqyda2Z0FwJdi-BYPYhL3nTinH8fJp-MXeHWajanWPG06vOWBQtCONJH5qdH6WSHTU9mCiA9F3ZAecP_Su9h_weBMPxS_rSgfnlbt8f7YUsZS9k54LemlccSM4q1HZuJg1d51o0v_h4ykuZSlqNcR3D9JEWjmedSH287VXjrwxrm-FToin/w300-h400/PXL_20240105_184633758.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Emotional reset, getting ponied by his BFF</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div>For our cross-country schooling this week we headed out to Sweet Dixie South, not a place that Ben and I have schooled before. It was a really, really cold morning for Florida, and Ben was pretty up because of it. We did some forward and back in warm up but probably not quite enough. He started out well though, feeling much more like his old confident self. Then we did the world's tiniest step down about a stride before water. He kind of dithered around at the top before going. We did it several more times until he felt more confident at it. Then we moved on to a training brush line, he ducked left both times on the first one, but it was understandable because there was a large weed growing straight up the front of the middle of the jump. We did have a run out at a novice corner, the second part of a combination a few jumps later. It was partly him seeing a dry patch of grass on the other side of the jump and partly me not getting him up enough so he was running down into my hand as we approached. Plus I think I still look at corners funny and ride them funny because of it. I just can't quite figure out the geometry. After we fixed that, we headed off to a different corner of the property and did a log with three or four strides to a down bank headed towards a lake. He did it with no hesitation. We also did the double banks at the water as well, kind of a interesting setup. You dropped down the first bank into water and then dropped down another bank into still more water. He again screwed around at the top of the first for a second. JT told me to tap him off of it, explaining that he almost dithers around at the top the bank and talks himself out of it. He's not that scared anymore. He just needs to go. We finished with the bank in and out of the ring. The top of the mound is grass, but you jump down one side into the footed arena. He did this without a second thought, good boy. Then we schooled the training and prelim questions on the top of the hill by the arena to finish. It's a pretty steep hill up and down, So the training log at the top is about beginner novice size and the prelim question is about novice, if not a little bit smaller. He did both of these great, we got it together to have his balance up the hill for a nice jump over both.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1AiZ1xZ2y32MhOrLab7NQ-puBIZ8ZJmAjbC8KCpyx7I8eesw1W6ZIr6QiW1o1Rv7fnvavvs-4-SGtqnjwT_q4J9m-u_ogphZ8aW7uWemimo7yQtFIjFi9xsFJoB4NGsOw4kDH2XhPCJTifLIse-DYJmUULFfcMEcrbM6PeVL56ldLzDxiTDnsqKPL7luj/s4032/PXL_20240108_132708266.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1AiZ1xZ2y32MhOrLab7NQ-puBIZ8ZJmAjbC8KCpyx7I8eesw1W6ZIr6QiW1o1Rv7fnvavvs-4-SGtqnjwT_q4J9m-u_ogphZ8aW7uWemimo7yQtFIjFi9xsFJoB4NGsOw4kDH2XhPCJTifLIse-DYJmUULFfcMEcrbM6PeVL56ldLzDxiTDnsqKPL7luj/w300-h400/PXL_20240108_132708266.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bald eagle in one of their oak trees, so beautiful</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div>Overall another deposit in the confidence bank for him. We're chipping away at the bank issue and are better each time. This was a new place and he went down both of the banks he questioned without too much freaking out. And he did several others without any questioning at all. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Goggles part 2: </b>It was Goggles turn to go with Ben on Wednesday this week. I loaded Ben up first and then headed down to get Goggles. He was really pretty good for the trailer. He paused halfway on several times, but then decided he would go all the way in. We ran into a bit of a hitch (that I had certainly seen coming) when it came to the butt bar. He knew I was headed around to close it and came out pretty quickly when I was near the back of the trailer. I snagged his lead and immediately put him right back on. He backed out again when I stepped around to do the bar, but slower this time. Right back in again, and repeat. I had a major zen moment when I realized Ben wasn't upset by this. I thought "well if this is what we do for the next four hours instead of lessoning, then this is the lesson we needed today". He backed out one more time before deciding to let me close him in. Good boy!!! Lots of treats and then I put up the ramp and closed the back doors. I had to stop to tie him because he turned his head around and put it over the top of the divider, so he lost the privilege of riding untied. </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia8yHRXXJDDjD-HkVll2JnMQJTuxWFysCNBxPQnzfarYZCO26P7sAyUsOR99U20F4Xrv9KdUeil8j6nLCCZZkwvgiGSyX7kTEsucJ3gmY6CRiQyQKpahaLDgPSfOFuaIG-m0UZAnGdI0v9abmDny93DCWlg7ZN-k_JDAQdTOqcbBsGNZgB3Kwe3GDURUDg/s4032/PXL_20240110_153944924.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia8yHRXXJDDjD-HkVll2JnMQJTuxWFysCNBxPQnzfarYZCO26P7sAyUsOR99U20F4Xrv9KdUeil8j6nLCCZZkwvgiGSyX7kTEsucJ3gmY6CRiQyQKpahaLDgPSfOFuaIG-m0UZAnGdI0v9abmDny93DCWlg7ZN-k_JDAQdTOqcbBsGNZgB3Kwe3GDURUDg/w300-h400/PXL_20240110_153944924.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ponies!!!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>He went first at JTs while Ben hung out. He had a bit of a conniption over the puddles all over the place, including making a choice to brain instead of flail when he realized there was in fact a lot of water already under his feet. </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAEak2n5NsfZJm9ZmMQ5AgNCN0t7C7EUW9epGCSWENMciahm0eqY_R07U0o1tG7ks7JBt7-86Q2F1yS3UOOwtrTc5duQzWStc-T3AGTJSPo5VqiI0-BT8npiawEOzCP46GghkLdrkv4X3X9eOGIK3X9Cl4ENG-aasONxc12BK46_Lak2dt0x1ZuQxVVVAL/s4032/PXL_20240110_175746866.MP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAEak2n5NsfZJm9ZmMQ5AgNCN0t7C7EUW9epGCSWENMciahm0eqY_R07U0o1tG7ks7JBt7-86Q2F1yS3UOOwtrTc5duQzWStc-T3AGTJSPo5VqiI0-BT8npiawEOzCP46GghkLdrkv4X3X9eOGIK3X9Cl4ENG-aasONxc12BK46_Lak2dt0x1ZuQxVVVAL/w300-h400/PXL_20240110_175746866.MP.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shiny puddle </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>He's tricky sometimes. He really wants to be a good boy and do the right thing. Therefore I try to give him time to process and make the right choices. But sometimes he is incredibly obstinate. After he'd considered the shiny puddle above for a bit, I asked him to walk forward into it. Head went up and ears went back. This is the moment I have to steel myself and tap him. So far he's always then given the correct answer. But it feels like poking the rattlesnake. I am always a bit on edge in those moments, waiting for when his response is to kick out or something even more delightful like rear. He would be a very easy horse to get talked into not pushing much. It's so interesting to me, observing both him and my own psychology. </div></div><div><br /></div><div>Once out in the field, we did a lot of walking circles around cross country jumps to give him something to do other than stare at the lone horses coming and going in the distance. Then we tackled the circle of death. First at the trot, then we cantered both directions successfully!!! I was joking that it feels like a resolution... I'll start tomorrow! If I skip this first jump, I will get him really truly straight and balanced and we'll start again. Ha. But we did it and it was really, really good for both of us. He only did really strange flailing things twice, both when he was getting pretty tired. His canter got so much better, and I don't think he tripped at all the whole lesson!!! </div><div><br /></div><div>He's going to a hunter jumper show this Friday-Saturday to do the jumper cross rails. There are three classes, so if we just do circles the first time in, maybe the second time we can jump the jumps. It will be tight getting it done before going to work, but priorities man... </div>Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11446230051948762357noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7195881028568972532.post-52450247881144677862024-01-03T06:49:00.000-05:002024-01-03T06:49:16.823-05:00WW: Profesh Pole JumperWhile I was sorely tempted by a leg salad picture that Lisa captured, I ended up going with the adorable picture instead. <div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGQ3F1KGEGf1hSqrcnqKoy1cica6BG-xkbhtfIvtYbDovj2LoipPcnEgsn3gZN3E1UkECW6zJhy68pwTz7PBlXYfTxDFre7oYSr9V8w24r8mO1X9GwLCk8sZ_CMbnWY0jPpeS132LHzgsErQX4ec_Pp6FSqzz4j3cNEgpSLgOFe-opjokTiYfqhYbM1NhU/s2048/9C4A7901_InPixio.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1465" data-original-width="2048" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGQ3F1KGEGf1hSqrcnqKoy1cica6BG-xkbhtfIvtYbDovj2LoipPcnEgsn3gZN3E1UkECW6zJhy68pwTz7PBlXYfTxDFre7oYSr9V8w24r8mO1X9GwLCk8sZ_CMbnWY0jPpeS132LHzgsErQX4ec_Pp6FSqzz4j3cNEgpSLgOFe-opjokTiYfqhYbM1NhU/w400-h286/9C4A7901_InPixio.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /><div><br /></div><div>https://madrenphotography.pixieset.com/majesticoaksjumpershow123123/groundpolesto2feet/ if you want to view the whole set of pictures that made me so glad I had handed the reins over to JT. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11446230051948762357noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7195881028568972532.post-91695421158111492862024-01-02T07:06:00.000-05:002024-01-02T07:06:06.788-05:00WOWGoggles moved to his new farm on Sunday. I tried to squeeze in as much as possible his last week with JT. JT did a few training rides on him, and then I took a lesson on Friday. My husband came down to film. Fortunately he was mostly looking at the camera and didn't appreciate quite how wild Goggles was. He was genuinely spooky at a few things and then also just really wanted to pay attention to anything but what we were doing. Keeping it real, he's a LARGE four year old with lots of opinions, and more than once I've thought about full training and fully waving my adult ammy card. But at the end of the day, he hasn't ever done anything truly rotten or unsittable. And I want to learn how to bring along a young horse. Plus I have great health insurance and am relatively under paid until you look at the fringe rate. So here we are. My husband pointed out the "obstinate" look on his face. Yeppppp, he can look truly a bit mule-ish sometimes. He's got opinions and wants to express them. But that confidence is also what keeps me hopeful that as long as we channel him properly he's going to want to do the job and have a lot more bravery to go with it compared to his older brother. <div><div><br /></div><div>Back to the lesson, he was very, very all over the place. Definitely a "squirrel!!!" kinda day. There was a horse tearing around nearby and shrieking. Then there was a child in the distance in the field (a child who he has seen many, many times before, but y'know). </div><div><br /></div><div>But we channelled it and ended on some really nice jumps. The first half of the lesson was walk trot transitions and circles to keep his attention focused. The canter work was... A lot... He was pretty resistant to going forward, and I was pretty resistant to tapping him with the whip. Not necessarily the best combo because JT also didn't want me shoving him with my seat to keep the canter. We got there eventually though. I settled for some shoulder taps and he acquiesced by not bucking. </div><div><br /></div><div>Then we added in trot poles, and he sorta kinda acted like he'd never seen them. We made circles over them until he was just trotting them, not launching. It also really helped his focus when I was directing him around over the poles rather than just generally asking him to please participate. Then we made loops over three tiny cross rails. If he landed and was a ding-a-ling, lift up and do a 10m circle. But it was a fine balance because he was being a bit conservative over the jump and therefore doing a weird bunny hop rather than a smooth jump. Treating it like a canter transition and grabbing mane helped smooth that out (but unfortunately isn't caught on video). We ended with actually cantering a cross rail, and he was super for that. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/80hHlh_1NrU" width="320" youtube-src-id="80hHlh_1NrU"></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Overall it was a hugely productive lesson, but so challenging physically and mentally for me. Big take aways:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Give him something to do if he's being a fruit loop - poles, transitions, changing circle direction and size</li><li>The running martingale I added today was... Much appreciated... As JT said, boundaries are much needed at this stage... </li><li>Be specific about where he is going and at what pace, I'm the one making the decisions</li><li>Go forward in the canter, but with leg or a tap, not shoving with my seat. Then he has to hold and carry himself. If he breaks pick it up again, I choose when we're stopping. </li></ul><div>Saturday we trialed the Custom jump saddle we've been riding in after it had a bit of flocking added. He was good, but very, very tired. Since he was not nearly as up, I was able to confidently push him a bit more forward over the jumps, so he was jumping a bit better. We did have a stop at the oxer cross rail, but we broke it down and ended up going over that confidently too. Good boy. </div></div></div><div><br /></div><div>Sunday I loaded him up bright and early to be at Majestic around 730. They were holding one of their schooling jumper shows, and JT had set the course. He loaded up pretty well and unloaded pretty well. I had pulled my ammy card out on this one and when JT offered to be there that morning, I answered with a resounding YES and asked if she would ride him please. She did ask that I toss him on the lunge to get any LARGE bucks out before she got on. I had him in his rope halter and offered the canter and buck option to him. He declined and opted to just trot very, very fast without moving his back. But he was still nicely responsive to walk and trot commands in spite of the obvious tension.</div><div><br /></div><div>He's so funny now, he knows his business going places... EAT GRASS!!! And he does so while still looking really pretty tense. But since eating grass involves his head down, not sticking straight up making him roughly 20 hands high, it is still definitely preferable. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDdf16qNob_B9ghOaPH6aD8f8UqjWzBZv8gKwogspkSuvq0PJjvVJz8ErFDkZYnYVR5xQnr-J0lahGYzRR1f9BgiP7GNu2-8ETi6OLqNWHFoGAoRIS8H9CTNyKQm_3jSrBibPWmWkEy8kp1vvbH-YjkxeI-tnm6Kpv19LQN3dDKhR1vzPC6TewTtORwfpb/s4032/PXL_20231231_124528014.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDdf16qNob_B9ghOaPH6aD8f8UqjWzBZv8gKwogspkSuvq0PJjvVJz8ErFDkZYnYVR5xQnr-J0lahGYzRR1f9BgiP7GNu2-8ETi6OLqNWHFoGAoRIS8H9CTNyKQm_3jSrBibPWmWkEy8kp1vvbH-YjkxeI-tnm6Kpv19LQN3dDKhR1vzPC6TewTtORwfpb/s320/PXL_20231231_124528014.MP.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>After his five minutes lunging on the rope line, he stood tied to the trailer without giving me any doubts about whether or not he'd still be there if I ducked into the tack room to grab things. Good boy! </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEjA_9ue4GK66acUFLhGDxsO-jXcGyZQb_NwncSfWoK_bEAhMYuY8L73CN1wxlPChMN3XVKeglHAWbWw52ZfZMNQdrmYMDBHU2WU_wilYPWM5LCNyJAmaKs9k5xdzZuqQAHl-VLfAE5KASo4Na3ab7h-KBWqVKysUOn9ZHD4acQewW__jP8gvsn3WFscPG/s4032/PXL_20231231_130046390.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEjA_9ue4GK66acUFLhGDxsO-jXcGyZQb_NwncSfWoK_bEAhMYuY8L73CN1wxlPChMN3XVKeglHAWbWw52ZfZMNQdrmYMDBHU2WU_wilYPWM5LCNyJAmaKs9k5xdzZuqQAHl-VLfAE5KASo4Na3ab7h-KBWqVKysUOn9ZHD4acQewW__jP8gvsn3WFscPG/w400-h300/PXL_20231231_130046390.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHhALDm0bOQ4nqfijL-oVRRDdVx92fCgivgl7ENRT8Q8vgZj7H3I9eM2NgPqA9SXwzxd5d7atXyvZRdqeln40CotYtzsTmLvhJIvI-IlOvcjaxMCejNEq7oSs9rXd7KNaTE7PPjb6fpAy0QQ8TKAEo55trdQBYXnjgM5e6U7yv2Wsv1XjnGzgn7QD_QgkP/s4032/PXL_20231231_130053261.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHhALDm0bOQ4nqfijL-oVRRDdVx92fCgivgl7ENRT8Q8vgZj7H3I9eM2NgPqA9SXwzxd5d7atXyvZRdqeln40CotYtzsTmLvhJIvI-IlOvcjaxMCejNEq7oSs9rXd7KNaTE7PPjb6fpAy0QQ8TKAEo55trdQBYXnjgM5e6U7yv2Wsv1XjnGzgn7QD_QgkP/w300-h400/PXL_20231231_130053261.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Still very tall</td></tr></tbody></table><br />JT arrived and we walked him over to the warm up arena. He got VERY TALL again, but was still mostly listening and not tromping on us. <div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipYhrm5qFMTOR13Ocvcdr09er_2SIFyXzbjGyk_cWGIIxZBs8rWQvJ8rxjnh42wAQR4LtoBeyPYepcBc3y90ozVYHnqKQKefkBM_2GiGA3sziRLSUUnJ1-B7WJLXrVhNXbmvikG4JzI7YTPJXbB2jRLEPNCOSABNOj8rAjiPlu2JZ6G4D3fmvL9uaQzrdK/s4032/PXL_20231231_131936122.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipYhrm5qFMTOR13Ocvcdr09er_2SIFyXzbjGyk_cWGIIxZBs8rWQvJ8rxjnh42wAQR4LtoBeyPYepcBc3y90ozVYHnqKQKefkBM_2GiGA3sziRLSUUnJ1-B7WJLXrVhNXbmvikG4JzI7YTPJXbB2jRLEPNCOSABNOj8rAjiPlu2JZ6G4D3fmvL9uaQzrdK/w300-h400/PXL_20231231_131936122.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div>Then they went into warm up. A couple of times he considered options other than politely trotting around, but when he hit the martingale he gave to the pressure and engaged his brain cells again. JT was calm and consistent asking for circles and transitions. He went HOLY SHIT what is that the first time she pointed him at a cross rail, but then went right over it after that. So in the ring they went to trot over the ground pole piles. He was a bit shocked by being asked to trot between the ZEBRAS but again listened and gained confidence as they trotted around. </div><div><br /></div><div>There was a whole passel of kiddos there on ponies to do crossrails, so we eyed the warm up arena again but then opted to jump right back into the ring and go trot and canter the tiny crossrails. He was SO GOOD! You can see in the video when he lost his cantering privileges after flailing over one, but he listened to the half halts and got to do his first two stride (which they radioed shouldn't have been put up for crossrails as she was halfway through the course). </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bATDUzUtGwI" width="320" youtube-src-id="bATDUzUtGwI"></iframe></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>Best of all, after they came out she asked him to face back towards the ring and hang and he stood there for about ten minutes with his head getting closer and closer to wither level. He stood tied while I untacked and sponged him off, and then he got on the trailer pretty well again. </div><div><br /></div><div>His big day wasn't done yet though, we drove up to his new digs about five minutes from my house. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMuuztvCKfsYStEQfsbXZ8zL0S8FUvHmW4nWX139WyeBT00KlDH-2KvYNFccIcCugONdz1OQdryTiuopaGOHz9Qwl1JF8Kqnfu3shYOsTh1_VudZT7F4EXKQkUhm2NSeDDfc5u8a4Vqgts4zkayjBXAVhotYhmqiCX_NsG6A96j6xBfzjyLSs43blcCdxQ/s4032/PXL_20231231_141421629.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMuuztvCKfsYStEQfsbXZ8zL0S8FUvHmW4nWX139WyeBT00KlDH-2KvYNFccIcCugONdz1OQdryTiuopaGOHz9Qwl1JF8Kqnfu3shYOsTh1_VudZT7F4EXKQkUhm2NSeDDfc5u8a4Vqgts4zkayjBXAVhotYhmqiCX_NsG6A96j6xBfzjyLSs43blcCdxQ/s320/PXL_20231231_141421629.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlAxS72RR9BfNexSwM7aOySKMDls4w5Gc3XMXUudtUD5gpHF23vzHYUVm-49mf5ygZK6EPtnK8MllHUdHekGzQzczogO6I9RMKJUdxoNSd7UaSfQyZbInCh0GoyYOBfdK4NbTKQucr33ozw8toGBB7jZqZBjhis40p11uuUEq8wC947eSQET_hvy3QAb69/s4032/PXL_20231231_141655302.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlAxS72RR9BfNexSwM7aOySKMDls4w5Gc3XMXUudtUD5gpHF23vzHYUVm-49mf5ygZK6EPtnK8MllHUdHekGzQzczogO6I9RMKJUdxoNSd7UaSfQyZbInCh0GoyYOBfdK4NbTKQucr33ozw8toGBB7jZqZBjhis40p11uuUEq8wC947eSQET_hvy3QAb69/s320/PXL_20231231_141655302.MP.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div>He explored the perimeter of his pasture first and then made friends with the mini mare and the 8 mo filly across the fence. </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4yfPhZxa-Onx6tRhZjCaEGPd9jDeleCZ0xa2fptF5P4eGgH4O2gX1ODlckRDUCp3POYoqOkgXhwaCDU-TjqQc08c94XbhY7gylqLltR7ElfkKaytiFFDSIZpEAIqMF5Zaf7XHkIC6qkhYoAYKv8XKA5B1fYeNwvFp5T-WvbTw4a5SpjKEeImREuh_3rV1/s4032/PXL_20231231_153556918.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4yfPhZxa-Onx6tRhZjCaEGPd9jDeleCZ0xa2fptF5P4eGgH4O2gX1ODlckRDUCp3POYoqOkgXhwaCDU-TjqQc08c94XbhY7gylqLltR7ElfkKaytiFFDSIZpEAIqMF5Zaf7XHkIC6qkhYoAYKv8XKA5B1fYeNwvFp5T-WvbTw4a5SpjKEeImREuh_3rV1/w400-h300/PXL_20231231_153556918.MP.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Love the baby mouth</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis7iRBEiNCDznTbarpfBh69PTjRXHBAxumKi_Sg2zZxUNBMgrFfl_8BneKtLpfH27vIII0qP5TxqU6-7UqSpWsx9YI8kheIjbTjXVmJFCKBUz8G2RS5vUft8CUdHmMtjfBUXElN70g8bkfUkgKA5H4SzOcUHjALY4a7E8GOswd5nW-qXqqWA2wkRgBcKiF/s4032/PXL_20231231_154210600.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis7iRBEiNCDznTbarpfBh69PTjRXHBAxumKi_Sg2zZxUNBMgrFfl_8BneKtLpfH27vIII0qP5TxqU6-7UqSpWsx9YI8kheIjbTjXVmJFCKBUz8G2RS5vUft8CUdHmMtjfBUXElN70g8bkfUkgKA5H4SzOcUHjALY4a7E8GOswd5nW-qXqqWA2wkRgBcKiF/w400-h300/PXL_20231231_154210600.MP.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Goggles is in LOVE with the mini mare</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>He settled in pretty well but has had some angst when they are far from him. And when the barn owner needed to bring hers in because of some electrical work, he decided to run for a while. She brought him in at my request, and he's now on stall board for the month rather than pasture board. We shall see if we succeed at throwing him back out in February. She's got lovely, large pastures with tons of shade, so if he could let go of a bit of his friends angst, I think he would be plenty happy out in the field. <br /><div><br /></div></div>Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11446230051948762357noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7195881028568972532.post-4145750052964866742024-01-01T06:00:00.006-05:002024-01-02T07:25:09.153-05:002023 Wrap Up<b>January: </b>Overall not the most fantastic month for us. Ben ended 2022 with a severe, mystery lameness that rapidly improved over a few days. We got right back to it after that week, but he was also <a href="http://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2023/01/looking-inside.html" target="_blank">diagnosed with ulcers</a> in the first week of January. We started a long chain fatty acid supplement (ResolvinEQ) along with a 28 day course of gastrogard. While we schooled well, both <a href="http://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2023/01/green-numbers.html" target="_blank">cross country</a> and <a href="http://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2023/01/confirmed.html" target="_blank">stadium</a>, our third training level event didn't go smoothly. We had a <a href="http://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2023/01/rocking-horse-winter-i-dressage-and.html" target="_blank">solid dressage test and clear stadium round</a> at Rocking Horse in the training rider, but then slipped into a solid oxer on <a href="http://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2023/01/rocking-horse-winter-i-cross-country.html" target="_blank">cross country</a>. We did regroup and finish the course, but with shaken confidence. <div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguIu-Tm7MF-eI5V0Moh9reA8cYn6BuwanLT1MrkFIkr-FVFB2BTsGrT24fdmO01DRLOjFMHw36bc6fuAosqAVaUA_1HJtmk3ILXdbWp5ZSmcJQxq2nZsi7M5DkbDQ8eRRxB5bf71O0ipv1sOrEl2JM1wzNJXfwGBOfxYDWdlwLPmMh-nqiKg0DQrAY4g/s4528/280-f6_7567_23rhw1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3016" data-original-width="4528" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguIu-Tm7MF-eI5V0Moh9reA8cYn6BuwanLT1MrkFIkr-FVFB2BTsGrT24fdmO01DRLOjFMHw36bc6fuAosqAVaUA_1HJtmk3ILXdbWp5ZSmcJQxq2nZsi7M5DkbDQ8eRRxB5bf71O0ipv1sOrEl2JM1wzNJXfwGBOfxYDWdlwLPmMh-nqiKg0DQrAY4g/w640-h426/280-f6_7567_23rhw1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Offending oxer on our second go at it </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigjI16_0ImS-Cn4xwoc0AK1J7OZwemaLm-zPaubOTAXCtKknWm2K7FycuCJODjSyGlXgc2GVucLqZ0Ku9uz7vbhsugD8Lbi6Q5M1jKPuiH1xF-qXqDKPXXTW-nULHU0HQO4XWVa-7lrFaMI2gSkAQSxiCx3PJ37ngGBhnRzBomaRMnBWM3NzNKCRCg-g/s4898/280-f4_6015_23rhw1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3265" data-original-width="4898" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigjI16_0ImS-Cn4xwoc0AK1J7OZwemaLm-zPaubOTAXCtKknWm2K7FycuCJODjSyGlXgc2GVucLqZ0Ku9uz7vbhsugD8Lbi6Q5M1jKPuiH1xF-qXqDKPXXTW-nULHU0HQO4XWVa-7lrFaMI2gSkAQSxiCx3PJ37ngGBhnRzBomaRMnBWM3NzNKCRCg-g/w640-h426/280-f4_6015_23rhw1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><b>February: </b>Ben and I put the pieces back together from our Rocking Horse scare. He got studs tapped, and we resolved not to go out cross country without them. We won our division at a schooling show with a much more confident cross country round. Ben also <a href="https://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2023/02/gogmagog.html?m=1" target="_blank">got a little brother</a> who quickly endeared himself to me and JT as quite possibly the best baby horse. <div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1LAd487s9MjESpozJiXdRU5Ur8qoYR3wBsJEInsfpwhoICPVMy5iDY_aX54KGsQUPCuh-4HXMmaarmD2vkgrItFouKQS5V-5vXISvlQPkX3OBNaCgOTh3iew4j1N5fdvF_MWUPJyW84PmfKyz2Vin_nT8F2wXWSwvE301Fx12afPfE0HhNSIFHmR2nw/s4032/PXL_20230212_221510914.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1LAd487s9MjESpozJiXdRU5Ur8qoYR3wBsJEInsfpwhoICPVMy5iDY_aX54KGsQUPCuh-4HXMmaarmD2vkgrItFouKQS5V-5vXISvlQPkX3OBNaCgOTh3iew4j1N5fdvF_MWUPJyW84PmfKyz2Vin_nT8F2wXWSwvE301Fx12afPfE0HhNSIFHmR2nw/w480-h640/PXL_20230212_221510914.MP.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNIamMUkZRYw9dnqg6s5ldR6NVZVUgHgULp5VLK758ubmfAtPs4es1oJzUY5Uo4lZ6raowoNXQQbrUqsOfjGD3TOgqEptan-i6K1dYDygHx1gC2m26sSseUyYioj918BfJ-aFyUktNjNfJy7zKl59YgCnRzDonkzkfQsagD_Et6oDAWSornG4rnTsY0ZQb/s4032/PXL_20230211_192455773.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNIamMUkZRYw9dnqg6s5ldR6NVZVUgHgULp5VLK758ubmfAtPs4es1oJzUY5Uo4lZ6raowoNXQQbrUqsOfjGD3TOgqEptan-i6K1dYDygHx1gC2m26sSseUyYioj918BfJ-aFyUktNjNfJy7zKl59YgCnRzDonkzkfQsagD_Et6oDAWSornG4rnTsY0ZQb/w400-h300/PXL_20230211_192455773.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What a bebe! </td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div><b>March: </b>Ben and I started the month with a<a href="https://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2023/03/reverse-order.html" target="_blank"> confident outing</a> at Rocking Horse where we tackled the <a href="https://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2023/03/ww-rocking-horse.html" target="_blank">same jump</a> we had slid into and made it to the other side on the first try this time. Unfortunately I also learned that Ben cannot <a href="https://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2023/03/calculated-retreat.html" target="_blank">tolerate leather pads with dental molding</a>. He spent the next two months recovering from some badly bruised feet </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAIBDGu-YFDeUA8Eg3GkANeWR1RZkwDj7DC5HpwHoAJK2znM_8Nt1agI25Ff_YUqpNl7hugv3wp9S4Qq1I3eWEDjBfS5x4dnJK6KE0HfzLb-g_VPqjra7wILKeD3Gdt3nFNpd9wOT-e73827L1k1LQhU7uHZ9PuVZx2i2VHUzHNBskyuTyifrMsR-qVg/s4528/3-23%20RH%20oxer.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3016" data-original-width="4528" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAIBDGu-YFDeUA8Eg3GkANeWR1RZkwDj7DC5HpwHoAJK2znM_8Nt1agI25Ff_YUqpNl7hugv3wp9S4Qq1I3eWEDjBfS5x4dnJK6KE0HfzLb-g_VPqjra7wILKeD3Gdt3nFNpd9wOT-e73827L1k1LQhU7uHZ9PuVZx2i2VHUzHNBskyuTyifrMsR-qVg/w640-h426/3-23%20RH%20oxer.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gotta buy the picture of our redemption</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>Goggles stepped up a bit while Ben was recovering and did some long lining and moved to the GY's where he worked on tying, bathing, <a href="https://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2023/03/ww-things-baby-horse-jumped.html" target="_blank">jumping solid jumps in hand</a>, and ponying on the trails. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYZOJJJdDn7DSeKPrQrZO_QXsL9OQuVmO9-JZ7XoS0-YDdKZbuTwdQWtWzzkz62zBScRSky0ljtwaYXBpnvjxiVb75DO_4Ok7QDQV6KP3yBm8T_tFddRaexiaRNPr-YythtSKTLXlaE6VtSRaBw7BouRE2Uo85_z_X7E8GEvCtjWJwwuUvvipDcLaQDg/s1600/IMG_20230401_110929.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYZOJJJdDn7DSeKPrQrZO_QXsL9OQuVmO9-JZ7XoS0-YDdKZbuTwdQWtWzzkz62zBScRSky0ljtwaYXBpnvjxiVb75DO_4Ok7QDQV6KP3yBm8T_tFddRaexiaRNPr-YythtSKTLXlaE6VtSRaBw7BouRE2Uo85_z_X7E8GEvCtjWJwwuUvvipDcLaQDg/w640-h480/IMG_20230401_110929.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><b>April: </b>Ben continued to suffer from sore feet this month. Consequently the rest of his body also became pretty uncomfortable. We took rads and switched farriers towards the end of the month. We did get out for one schooling when we thought he was on the upswing, but that ended up being false hope.</div><div> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5GITzCzctQ8PKwSEMRtGd1kVAYyhVh3A5bS6asypS_a2g71POVoMZ1BLEaAiBqpuTiTSnINVfc3VdC-qJv3_LNUW4mLbtwUWcD5AJEGTNLgvEPR9jv-liUHEZ3lRy8crVxpHm63jSRmRTx54PakjlmiEcoTbpvehX8Rgmj_7nLCPdpgqJe0a4U5ifJA/s1170/IMG_20230414_072919_175.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1170" data-original-width="1170" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5GITzCzctQ8PKwSEMRtGd1kVAYyhVh3A5bS6asypS_a2g71POVoMZ1BLEaAiBqpuTiTSnINVfc3VdC-qJv3_LNUW4mLbtwUWcD5AJEGTNLgvEPR9jv-liUHEZ3lRy8crVxpHm63jSRmRTx54PakjlmiEcoTbpvehX8Rgmj_7nLCPdpgqJe0a4U5ifJA/w640-h640/IMG_20230414_072919_175.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><b>May: </b>Goggles started doing some big boy horse things like trailering back to JT's for a few lessons. He also <a href="https://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2023/05/trailer-training.html" target="_blank">learned target training</a> and worked on being okay with being away from the other horses at home. Meanwhile Ben went through a couple different injections trying to sort out what was sore from compensating for his sore front feet. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>June: </b>Goggles had a ground work lesson <a href="https://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2023/06/cowboy-time.html" target="_blank">with the cowboy</a>. We then worked on using those principles on trailer loading. He spent the first half of the month on ground work and <a href="https://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2023/06/ww-goggles-goes-for-lunge.html" target="_blank">lunging</a> before I got back in the saddle again. Ben got put back to work under JT's tutelage. She emphasized SOFT through his ribcage and no bearing down into the hand at any point, but especially when he spooked. He also started to <a href="https://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2023/06/welcome-back-ben.html" target="_blank">rebuild his fitness</a>. </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQyw-I2oV8OnirGj54SpDq33Nk24nVzczLz8mS3ZH9mWmvp4ji9m3wkhpisguO0ylqWbqwqDh__WOL1b44yegtEFfwd14aYx6zeP2kebUGcYmn2CODlZBVI2xUl_gUE5HqUP-tbfRV5aprIyUmLgbdXAHhm8I6XXRClysR15F4FvJ_jYe-8uJqt9nwYV8F/s4032/PXL_20230622_172533580.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQyw-I2oV8OnirGj54SpDq33Nk24nVzczLz8mS3ZH9mWmvp4ji9m3wkhpisguO0ylqWbqwqDh__WOL1b44yegtEFfwd14aYx6zeP2kebUGcYmn2CODlZBVI2xUl_gUE5HqUP-tbfRV5aprIyUmLgbdXAHhm8I6XXRClysR15F4FvJ_jYe-8uJqt9nwYV8F/w480-h640/PXL_20230622_172533580.MP.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Continuing to be the best baby and going for a bareback hack in the rain.</td></tr></tbody></table><div><div><br /></div></div></div><div><b>July: </b>Goggles essentially got himself kicked out of the GY's by either kicking her horses or being eaten by them. So he moved down to JT's and for a few brief and glorious moments, we thought Ben and Goggles might be the <a href="https://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2023/07/ww-bffs.html" target="_blank">perfect turnout buddies.</a> They were not, however, after Goggles decided in one night to kick Ben many times. Other than kicking all his friends, Goggles continued to be the perfect baby and went out for a <a href="https://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2023/07/bragging-on-baby.html" target="_blank">second cross country field trip</a>. Ben continued his training rides and aquatredding to build his fitness. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>August: </b>Ben had a delightful return to the show ring with <a href="https://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2023/08/ben-is-back.html" target="_blank">two fun jumper rounds</a> at Majestic. He then took a brief hiatus while dealing with some <a href="https://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2023/08/hold-my-beer-ben.html" target="_blank">cellulitis</a>, but fortunately he recovered well from that. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAYHeyYOsKrIVfKOHv9opQHq9OXaXS0q6PQuGbtNJ6QyMeM99z-KLV05hE4mU3NmcY736dVpb-74y1RvC9n_rXt1Hz2M1aBIrIZc3A4xIoE6r17LT7YejNNvpXQenQUxp9LWMy-f5Co2lDd_CPP7Ry7YC65sWEwDC7vZhYCN_1uOZOB1q0tpYEUeDDY9RV/s354/received_809423600968674_exported_73733.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="243" data-original-width="354" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAYHeyYOsKrIVfKOHv9opQHq9OXaXS0q6PQuGbtNJ6QyMeM99z-KLV05hE4mU3NmcY736dVpb-74y1RvC9n_rXt1Hz2M1aBIrIZc3A4xIoE6r17LT7YejNNvpXQenQUxp9LWMy-f5Co2lDd_CPP7Ry7YC65sWEwDC7vZhYCN_1uOZOB1q0tpYEUeDDY9RV/w400-h275/received_809423600968674_exported_73733.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Goggles got super serious with his <a href="https://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2023/08/baby-horse-things.html" target="_blank">first real jump lesson</a>. He surprised me by being WAY less casual than he was over the logs I'd taken him over at the GY's. But still the best egg. <div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIgqAFbs6ruRdY3ia-UMzKu91zrRdUIZkLtXgXvLhewMEd5SayfznYp_IyojMsiIEoMgPaGEoJuTXuCLDZ8b010ubLDgx688HKleWesyPpd8lkbTvaeZhLIxRMkt22MFKSVRFlJ0xdunzt1EFimBXppWAUjmrF3l-J2mHjcwULISUtuWtSaq13cKtD-gzc/s1280/YouCut_20230828_195558006_exported_29099.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIgqAFbs6ruRdY3ia-UMzKu91zrRdUIZkLtXgXvLhewMEd5SayfznYp_IyojMsiIEoMgPaGEoJuTXuCLDZ8b010ubLDgx688HKleWesyPpd8lkbTvaeZhLIxRMkt22MFKSVRFlJ0xdunzt1EFimBXppWAUjmrF3l-J2mHjcwULISUtuWtSaq13cKtD-gzc/w640-h360/YouCut_20230828_195558006_exported_29099.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div></div><div><b>September: </b>This month marked Ben's return to being a for real event horse. We had a fun jump around <a href="https://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2023/09/pop-fun.html" target="_blank">a schooling show at the horse park</a>. I also realized I needed to maintain my stud holes if I wanted to be able to stud my horse. Goggles had a couple of <a href="https://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2023/09/jompies.html" target="_blank">under saddle jump schools with JT</a> and started showing his bravery and desire to do the job! Ben and I ended the month with our first away show ever together - <a href="https://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2023/10/stable-view-recap.html">novice at Stable View</a>. It was a mixed bag for stadium and dressage, but we ended with a confident, fun, clear XC trip. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>October: </b>Ben had some more practice in stadium, both with JT and me. He felt more confident each time out. Goggles went off property for a few hacks and for a <a href="https://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2023/10/goggles-goes-cross-country-take-3.html" target="_blank">XC field trip</a>. He was a super boy and again really seemed to want to do the job. He also <a href="https://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2023/10/ww-manners-young-grasshopper.html" target="_blank">got a friend</a> who didn't take any BS from him. </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjEuBcQ3aJ684tBpoPcyElD8Etu7SDwiZkUJ8dkld237_9gvp6fda38lPDSJobU00YmO32QUCtqU-guuZEtF50VWMjkiAmrDN_cy2LRNWoeN4K8n3VWEAV-dvqvTcigcGbCE7oYqtG-A4zgZ-8NEIEiwVW8fadNfMD3j70u6OVmMZLigg-zndZhTvIrRekx" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="226" data-original-width="399" height="362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjEuBcQ3aJ684tBpoPcyElD8Etu7SDwiZkUJ8dkld237_9gvp6fda38lPDSJobU00YmO32QUCtqU-guuZEtF50VWMjkiAmrDN_cy2LRNWoeN4K8n3VWEAV-dvqvTcigcGbCE7oYqtG-A4zgZ-8NEIEiwVW8fadNfMD3j70u6OVmMZLigg-zndZhTvIrRekx=w640-h362" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><b>November: </b>At the start of the month Ben and I moved back up to training level <a href="https://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2023/11/fall-rocking-horse-recap-cross-country.html" target="_blank">at Rocking Horse</a>, our old fave. We took another <a href="https://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2023/12/bens-busy-week-with-saddle-saga-side.html" target="_blank">field trip to Majestic</a> for more jumper practice, and he felt even better there. </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgk6paPsRiJ1ZbRE7L0vJvdlnLG2NcP5OrwxHeHk7IDF-fSSMooNC6oOmWAI6OTMhjAaLt9KHdGtAcIzntFR_5RDgkzERANsRcXVQQpiSxVnw1dzy7HEcyyMixjj9VBLIXjFmsTcXZCCZ-38nBxYj5l4mNkodOP14DFaO6wGgzuWxr1oWpkk8BkSuDp80r-" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="457" data-original-width="640" height="458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgk6paPsRiJ1ZbRE7L0vJvdlnLG2NcP5OrwxHeHk7IDF-fSSMooNC6oOmWAI6OTMhjAaLt9KHdGtAcIzntFR_5RDgkzERANsRcXVQQpiSxVnw1dzy7HEcyyMixjj9VBLIXjFmsTcXZCCZ-38nBxYj5l4mNkodOP14DFaO6wGgzuWxr1oWpkk8BkSuDp80r-=w640-h458" width="640" /></a></div>Goggles took some time off and got his neck shock waved and his HUGE fecal egg count dealt with. He came back feeling great and kept working on some of the finer points of baby horsing with JT and me. Both boys got their teeth done at the end of the month - Goggles had two incisors to extract and Ben had an overgrown/worn down situation that their dentist kept working to fix. We also started the long journey of finding a saddle for Goggles, somewhat unsuccessfully in November anyways. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2dqoppg5idaVKAT3J72rR4f40ilFSQAZmMQLCU5ypF2wdCJqwkcLBl4HDLdl-aDy9qlHN5cuhBtK0SoXDYDoKCyGAX1r_arvokIGmmkQ775hCkdCc_4LdvaJyZ7-cHBzoj3ZuVt3QUyJbnAxNv1W5vPIoTD-6fsdHRtSZVoG21rkVpM_A70eN9HjviVbh/s4032/PXL_20231201_132949509.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2dqoppg5idaVKAT3J72rR4f40ilFSQAZmMQLCU5ypF2wdCJqwkcLBl4HDLdl-aDy9qlHN5cuhBtK0SoXDYDoKCyGAX1r_arvokIGmmkQ775hCkdCc_4LdvaJyZ7-cHBzoj3ZuVt3QUyJbnAxNv1W5vPIoTD-6fsdHRtSZVoG21rkVpM_A70eN9HjviVbh/w300-h400/PXL_20231201_132949509.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div><b>December: </b></div><div>Ben and I started this month with our <a href="https://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2023/12/thoroughbred-transformation-expo-day-1.html" target="_blank">trip to the Thoroughbred Expo</a> which was overall a fantastic experience. We did have a hole to patch - a scary shadow on the down bank that completely blew his mind. The rest of the month was fairly quiet between a week of overnights and some rainy weather. Goggles finished up his month with a week of training rides then a wonderful first show experience <a href="https://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2024/01/wow.html" target="_blank">hopping over some poles</a> at Majestic. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIF73qjm9WzfsK9_Jwumug0N2tA1Rny2_mns4mENp_Hd3PCLZ_Ix1P-Jnw_UM7KwqUQZSHNDLlmX3W5yrc7VsUPY2aOgLrRsBPF8HZD1rrsfmv19zAQnNWQ7Vrv9sITDugBhjzweSKByPEATZ6EhhEeEyzelfBCoxaT4LocYydedtnFSaIn8w1NPMlvgqK/s4032/PXL_20231211_213912385.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIF73qjm9WzfsK9_Jwumug0N2tA1Rny2_mns4mENp_Hd3PCLZ_Ix1P-Jnw_UM7KwqUQZSHNDLlmX3W5yrc7VsUPY2aOgLrRsBPF8HZD1rrsfmv19zAQnNWQ7Vrv9sITDugBhjzweSKByPEATZ6EhhEeEyzelfBCoxaT4LocYydedtnFSaIn8w1NPMlvgqK/w640-h480/PXL_20231211_213912385.MP.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look, a whole horse!</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOqFM7mCuYkK8gPtr9GVkm76mvOZel7bnJUvZZBW1vKOSKk88tPBNte0xZN84TlCrkas9ajzf86762mUuxwVxvYUsq6pvMUbGWb71mSzqM4GTCveafcSfP0qFbAeQ30k6znDNAwlEuSh8cRV5kDEUZDmKQrB8irkaY33d9jItXrXA9bH4O-nx9aWfWpSsZ/s4032/PXL_20231215_195313265.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOqFM7mCuYkK8gPtr9GVkm76mvOZel7bnJUvZZBW1vKOSKk88tPBNte0xZN84TlCrkas9ajzf86762mUuxwVxvYUsq6pvMUbGWb71mSzqM4GTCveafcSfP0qFbAeQ30k6znDNAwlEuSh8cRV5kDEUZDmKQrB8irkaY33d9jItXrXA9bH4O-nx9aWfWpSsZ/w480-h640/PXL_20231215_195313265.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">But still a baby! </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie-2cll_QLNgeQkYjR-th7HCLEX_qHZh0p_6UZFblDRbNU3kOf-tagTZEcfY3U_2E0KhKX0C1B6aBWdIBJXH46FWQS4FLUIv0P7LNGEa9GBJdFwadTMP6dmriuSMM1WLoyb2CAhK6xyzqPoe0JmpxtzKXhwYydhGIcNA0WPXnHPX77RC4WM7ADlg8Gpdwc/s4032/PXL_20231224_231542343.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie-2cll_QLNgeQkYjR-th7HCLEX_qHZh0p_6UZFblDRbNU3kOf-tagTZEcfY3U_2E0KhKX0C1B6aBWdIBJXH46FWQS4FLUIv0P7LNGEa9GBJdFwadTMP6dmriuSMM1WLoyb2CAhK6xyzqPoe0JmpxtzKXhwYydhGIcNA0WPXnHPX77RC4WM7ADlg8Gpdwc/w480-h640/PXL_20231224_231542343.MP.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No Christmas post, so here's the embarrassing picture of the season</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0t_lCFJEkrDPxN_tVJBDYCiRkN-hHBkPsGeog7ddlAEGuppRem2ICm846IjYaL_bs0qkbspZXDvcU1Jb98Ume4V2vLlSk-C5e8vnYHncnOQUIN1l1EShm6Bm5z3d2jK4shIGUWTF1N-6Ox7POs_m5IUvlPpjlZ01uEs-ed3AVVIT9faCCwMaEP1Ukt39h/s4032/PXL_20231224_225214592.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0t_lCFJEkrDPxN_tVJBDYCiRkN-hHBkPsGeog7ddlAEGuppRem2ICm846IjYaL_bs0qkbspZXDvcU1Jb98Ume4V2vLlSk-C5e8vnYHncnOQUIN1l1EShm6Bm5z3d2jK4shIGUWTF1N-6Ox7POs_m5IUvlPpjlZ01uEs-ed3AVVIT9faCCwMaEP1Ukt39h/w480-h640/PXL_20231224_225214592.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Happy New Year! </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>2023 was a pretty excellent year for the two bay thoroughbreds and our little fam in general. We're looking forward to a few fun adventures in January, both with and without horses. </div><div><br /></div><div>I hope you all had wonderful holidays and start 2024 off well! </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRv7OF7YQX0oStxy-FM-bQyblVIA9XeW9Sj4hrASuGIdaMK-IYALpTnEGjzDpVl4BHgVg7rg1cRsjN27e0XftbcEOZWHY-b6pBguuBhjsKA8OlVx5lnNHdOF4PmIuCHj4gXUlkmb31ArznxhxRyL0xbi65GykGa1tPUiwdTkPMN0OQC_tKXkfwulYWS9lI/s444/PXL_20231212_214311975.MP~2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="444" data-original-width="406" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRv7OF7YQX0oStxy-FM-bQyblVIA9XeW9Sj4hrASuGIdaMK-IYALpTnEGjzDpVl4BHgVg7rg1cRsjN27e0XftbcEOZWHY-b6pBguuBhjsKA8OlVx5lnNHdOF4PmIuCHj4gXUlkmb31ArznxhxRyL0xbi65GykGa1tPUiwdTkPMN0OQC_tKXkfwulYWS9lI/w366-h400/PXL_20231212_214311975.MP~2.jpg" width="366" /></a></div><br />Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11446230051948762357noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7195881028568972532.post-71722178282094068362023-12-27T06:00:00.002-05:002023-12-27T08:57:57.580-05:00Stud UpdateBen and I have had a journey with studs together. Last January we had <a href="https://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2023/01/rocking-horse-winter-i-cross-country.html" target="_blank">an unfortunate slip into a MIM oxer</a> at Rocking Horse. We pieced together what happened and then <a href="https://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2023/02/ben-s-studs.html" target="_blank">got his confidence back with studs</a>. And they became a part of our XC routine <b>every time</b>. Then in September, I discovered that <a href="https://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2023/09/pop-fun.html" target="_blank">neglecting your stud holes</a> leads to non-functional stud holes. I embarked on a bit of a journey to figure out what method of maintenance led to the best results. Our competitors (all photos from Nunn Finer): <div><br /></div><div>1. Stud blanks - put in and taken out with an allen wrench</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjPQY9FWjwEonDVXn_zJKJS8La_toOUsMpMYqXF3e7PQ523b6nyBX28UB7DUQScufhfXva_8qjQm_y856q67oO_kzo91kHCYXt1iq6lPKHRPzdgi9g1ju0hL2bZh0mE5Ul6FVXP-S96fCt-cOGiIHJUwmdbFQRMXjrQB1C6flLPmo5jgijwkSZ-mq0VdWie" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjPQY9FWjwEonDVXn_zJKJS8La_toOUsMpMYqXF3e7PQ523b6nyBX28UB7DUQScufhfXva_8qjQm_y856q67oO_kzo91kHCYXt1iq6lPKHRPzdgi9g1ju0hL2bZh0mE5Ul6FVXP-S96fCt-cOGiIHJUwmdbFQRMXjrQB1C6flLPmo5jgijwkSZ-mq0VdWie" width="240" /></a></div>2. Rubber stud plugs - put in and taken out with pointy tool or horse shoe nail. <a href="https://fraidycateventing.blogspot.com/2023/09/my-practical-stud-kit.html" target="_blank">Emma</a> kindly sent me a sample of these to test out. </div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi95ehPhA4GrETtVtb_QIRI3BDrCV-ymmuUKK6GvD4CNTi6yg1TvxYDNs0cb1LgRR33AJJ-vCGLpCfFD8wgZTcp7mmYM4aH3peVjuVTzhwsQHjgXNAug_fJOF2HhC_IZ_YET6w2suZgxM0qGPFN6xTY0cDdMvvNZaDjFAg45wmOfvJnKf3ILN49DC6oyVLM" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi95ehPhA4GrETtVtb_QIRI3BDrCV-ymmuUKK6GvD4CNTi6yg1TvxYDNs0cb1LgRR33AJJ-vCGLpCfFD8wgZTcp7mmYM4aH3peVjuVTzhwsQHjgXNAug_fJOF2HhC_IZ_YET6w2suZgxM0qGPFN6xTY0cDdMvvNZaDjFAg45wmOfvJnKf3ILN49DC6oyVLM" width="240" /></a></div><br />3. Greased cotton plugs - put in and taken out with pointy tool or horse shoe nail</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEimnl7I2zhVKmVNR72JJV6VbyrBA5fCyPnUy1SsZSG1cpsltCjM7AgNzBWbIEsC_XR3rZIscP-viN5-0rOtssr53DBqmySTsbjOpr4kdJkbxLb1AJx1QFX_gQw1hqwQi9F6tD8RPijuzRX1ncc82ZfVmFG0C9u4Bm-U_ftyY88L25Tpft3jlStfHtmHoNww" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="409" data-original-width="300" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEimnl7I2zhVKmVNR72JJV6VbyrBA5fCyPnUy1SsZSG1cpsltCjM7AgNzBWbIEsC_XR3rZIscP-viN5-0rOtssr53DBqmySTsbjOpr4kdJkbxLb1AJx1QFX_gQw1hqwQi9F6tD8RPijuzRX1ncc82ZfVmFG0C9u4Bm-U_ftyY88L25Tpft3jlStfHtmHoNww" width="176" /></a></div><br /><br />To be fair, I haven't put any of these things to the <i>lengthy</i> test of <i>months </i>of benign neglect that my stud holes suffered before becoming non-functional in September. We've been out cross country every 3 weeks or so since then in one way or another. So YMMV depending on your footing conditions and frequency of use. </div><div><br /></div><div>The clear loser? The stud blanks. Ben has a currently non-functional left front medial stud hole because there is a blank rusted into place there. And I was <i>trying</i> to keep things functional. I would clean out the hole a day or two post use and then grease it with silicon grease and then put the blank in. But Florida is WET and the blank became one with the shoe around it. My husband might have been able to wrench it out, but Ben doesn't care nearly as much about his front studs, and the left front is the shoe he likes to lose, so I didn't want massive amounts of torque applied to one side of the shoe. So there it lies, still. If I had been around for the farrier appointment, I could have asked him to take it out while resetting the shoe, but I wasn't, and I didn't. </div><div><br /></div><div>The cotton plugs have worked well enough, but require some cleaning out before putting the stud in. Little bits of cotton like to work their way into the threads and then sit there, blocking the passage of the stud. The rubber plugs have been excellent and come out easily with shockingly little dirt around their edges that needs to get cleaned out. I will be ordering more of these for sure. </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdjl1nQhXbjKr2wjoqyaFhO0HZeS-xOdjyLUT1suAtnmmALxNyo0HKS2yQ13WUZJ3avKx_W5CnCACEfaP5IqTBpbezlIUImU5Uk_2iT12gJ5Ew7fW6hjT2e_DPUAOQXj8F6ldot-i9DOOkc5QZ2pxvL660ID8wijhIhcyFKnJ6dBnW4CRQ7waFZ787ejVA/s4032/PXL_20231222_131955005.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdjl1nQhXbjKr2wjoqyaFhO0HZeS-xOdjyLUT1suAtnmmALxNyo0HKS2yQ13WUZJ3avKx_W5CnCACEfaP5IqTBpbezlIUImU5Uk_2iT12gJ5Ew7fW6hjT2e_DPUAOQXj8F6ldot-i9DOOkc5QZ2pxvL660ID8wijhIhcyFKnJ6dBnW4CRQ7waFZ787ejVA/w300-h400/PXL_20231222_131955005.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My compact little kit</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div>After removing whatever device has been plugging the hole, the hole is cleaned with the pointy thing above.</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiMu16TDFN_xetul6Far07ua70HD6ZIHzU2qTQ3op6TmloBQeTm7wKEAr3Ln3_QMc_3znH1zLmRKm4HjiRcWcIe2vVwmWdKbPtc4t-j42W398ReCwipmTDykmqWQG36i-IYLLMUnE2b3ugIggaUBZf1HyIUSymA6ig-sb4c8-O9ZJUXaljAX9eg1fAMRY_r" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="509" data-original-width="768" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiMu16TDFN_xetul6Far07ua70HD6ZIHzU2qTQ3op6TmloBQeTm7wKEAr3Ln3_QMc_3znH1zLmRKm4HjiRcWcIe2vVwmWdKbPtc4t-j42W398ReCwipmTDykmqWQG36i-IYLLMUnE2b3ugIggaUBZf1HyIUSymA6ig-sb4c8-O9ZJUXaljAX9eg1fAMRY_r" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Then <a href="https://distalsteel.com/products/tap-holder?_pos=1&_sid=fe15dcbc7&_ss=r" target="_blank">this tap</a>, also a suggestion from Emma, and compressed air (be sure to avert face, close eyes and mouth) are used to finish the job. Studs are selected and put into place using zip tied wrench above. I borrowed a wrench from someone briefly at a show that was double headed with the two sizes you need for studs. But alas, I could not find this mythical creature for sale and was stuck zip tieing the two sizes together. Works <i>almost</i> as well. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_TqsAcSTx4xxLb1GOwxgEw8vj5gr_YqeWdaZMGRLWa_t34w6YpKBzOjYYfNBJ1xPVp8zciFHaq6xs0e6zrTXwBJghed99-bGEZc2qLuWgHEANemcizSd3ei12KIZ90e9RXmzUvr9fm52f1pVWSmWhW2xvYZMfsb1rAcqTK_1dHi11E3gv-YdjJuZ3f4Jz/s4032/PXL_20231222_132001156.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_TqsAcSTx4xxLb1GOwxgEw8vj5gr_YqeWdaZMGRLWa_t34w6YpKBzOjYYfNBJ1xPVp8zciFHaq6xs0e6zrTXwBJghed99-bGEZc2qLuWgHEANemcizSd3ei12KIZ90e9RXmzUvr9fm52f1pVWSmWhW2xvYZMfsb1rAcqTK_1dHi11E3gv-YdjJuZ3f4Jz/s320/PXL_20231222_132001156.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghQt8Z_yRJOG3p2AQmYlKu3oruSwSh5eY6D-b4Y980lMuG9bjtVENmwL6-H2pIpNTbCMHaWivBMEix_W07UfQOEsfl4n-QrLQypFnVSwRiqv69fYGUhQ7yzLV-2a7uUE6assvULMOJ9jG275LC8SouVB5HfR8pXNydmvcPqJAmMgHuniuLjuNyrsznGiFK/s4032/PXL_20231222_132042913.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghQt8Z_yRJOG3p2AQmYlKu3oruSwSh5eY6D-b4Y980lMuG9bjtVENmwL6-H2pIpNTbCMHaWivBMEix_W07UfQOEsfl4n-QrLQypFnVSwRiqv69fYGUhQ7yzLV-2a7uUE6assvULMOJ9jG275LC8SouVB5HfR8pXNydmvcPqJAmMgHuniuLjuNyrsznGiFK/s320/PXL_20231222_132042913.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div>Post-stud removal, the holes are plugged, and the studs are tossed in the metal dish</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4n7K7LoSt9Gy6qr28XjEnlgTA7r1XNTTq2_i_JadZgN_FnpjhYoxCNzzCTj3tPpkzlclTcKS1kG-LEtwSawMvMFmeOJGWIBSArduXZCVdZ2CL2TrEoacrppEJBITzcQOh6X52loQGG1NuAx9PvEPJho6s_c0WF5yFpj6TyA5dGOMxnfxd8pQrcuUMJGgT/s4032/PXL_20231222_133544498.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4n7K7LoSt9Gy6qr28XjEnlgTA7r1XNTTq2_i_JadZgN_FnpjhYoxCNzzCTj3tPpkzlclTcKS1kG-LEtwSawMvMFmeOJGWIBSArduXZCVdZ2CL2TrEoacrppEJBITzcQOh6X52loQGG1NuAx9PvEPJho6s_c0WF5yFpj6TyA5dGOMxnfxd8pQrcuUMJGgT/s320/PXL_20231222_133544498.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">7 studs, cause, y'know, that rusted in stud blank</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>Then once we're home, I use: <div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhBlgeqsE0jb7pH86Ud1x_ra3Tr16qMEaQJCzHmYRe5xP83tWWcAGBS4ThPik_CquglFcTTKlSwVH-Y1WyYmM11vBOEMFk_AwyirsqlZ6-Ul7TUUPxX3-8mcnrO_GvL-UEPGXjSTL2sIcCAamlKPd3-LyKjrcmq0tUEVCVlL9bjDE3PeJxBktnBcmlKYdup" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhBlgeqsE0jb7pH86Ud1x_ra3Tr16qMEaQJCzHmYRe5xP83tWWcAGBS4ThPik_CquglFcTTKlSwVH-Y1WyYmM11vBOEMFk_AwyirsqlZ6-Ul7TUUPxX3-8mcnrO_GvL-UEPGXjSTL2sIcCAamlKPd3-LyKjrcmq0tUEVCVlL9bjDE3PeJxBktnBcmlKYdup" width="240" /></a></div>To soak. They are then dried with a paper towel and plopped back in the dish to be taken back to the horse trailer for the next adventure. <br /><br /></div></div>Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11446230051948762357noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7195881028568972532.post-34305423754089748112023-12-23T05:54:00.005-05:002023-12-24T05:50:12.170-05:00True Courage<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhdLR9hFtslFCe2qfKwbG7zJUy_AfaM2i82E-MxvGStZT_NM6tceAJZyViO-oX9KaGEAR6bDic10hu02jUZ1PKVjOdXxc1w4d_Do-FOYEnhekdqMaTB2EcyoiraHihQGzJno2YrkRhwN1IS8f0Y_w2Kx6WauSr1bynxH91R5CqUBDfw2JCGVFrI6BbFTOep" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="1200" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhdLR9hFtslFCe2qfKwbG7zJUy_AfaM2i82E-MxvGStZT_NM6tceAJZyViO-oX9KaGEAR6bDic10hu02jUZ1PKVjOdXxc1w4d_Do-FOYEnhekdqMaTB2EcyoiraHihQGzJno2YrkRhwN1IS8f0Y_w2Kx6WauSr1bynxH91R5CqUBDfw2JCGVFrI6BbFTOep" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>Ben and my husband and I went to Majestic Oaks on Friday. I warmed up over the warm up jumps and then went out and did the training course. We had a couple of slighty sketch wiggly jumps and then he put in many more strides between the roll top and down bank, but he went. I swapped out the training line for the novice line to add in the second down bank on the property and then finished up the course with the modified table instead of the shared N/T table. The last half of the course felt great and like he had fully gotten back into the groove of things as opposed to the unconfident, nervous feeling he had <a href="https://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2023/12/on-therapists-couch.html" target="_blank">the whole time at FHP. </a></div><div><br /></div><div>My goal going out was two fold - I wanted to make sure that the next time we encountered a down bank on course, neither one of us had doubts about whether or not we were going down it. But I also wanted to get his confidence back up again. Mission accomplished on the second, and deposits made in the confidence bank on the first. </div><div><br /></div><div>After we finished the course, my husband looked at me and said "you didn't want to use the dirt I got?" and explained the reason he had borrowed a bucket from the trailer and scooped up some wet mud - to add a visual question to the down bank. It was another grey day, so there were no shadows to play with. Although the Majestic down bank is set up oriented east to west as well, so on a sunny day the shadows might be similar to the horse park. But my husband's aid worked just as well. I untacked Ben, threw him on the lunge, and then we headed back out to the first down bank. We all walked down it, with Ben pausing at the top and looking quite anxious before popping down. Repeat over and over again until he was dropping down and then immediately dropping his head to eat grass. Add some of the wet mud and we got a pause again and then a move a bit sideways so that he didn't contact it on landing. I had jumped down it before him and felt that ominous feeling when you're about to get crashed into by an 1100 pound animal from behind. Fortunately Ben's cautious nature also keeps him from bowling over humans, double edged sword I suppose. He would be so mortified if he had run into me, good boy. I walked him up to it from the down side and let him sniff the wet mud. Then we tried again. This time I kept him straighter and he jumped out past the edge of the mud. Okay, that works. </div><div><br /></div><div>We then moved on to the other down banks. My husband threw his jacket on the landing side of one. Ben jumped out past it. Good boy. Insert another crumble of a german horse muffin.</div><div><br /></div><div>Based on his response in hand, he went down the banks while we were on course not because he was confident in them, but because he knew he was supposed to and got what I was asking. What a dude. It is an interesting thought that most of Ben's life is doing things that he is afraid of. Which would make him truly courageous. </div><div><br /></div><div>The day was another deposit in the confidence bank. I plan to head out with Ms. GY and/or my husband once a week or so over the next few weeks to different venues in the area with the same plan, approach for the first time like we're on course, and the correct answer is to GO DOWN IT DUDE. But then revisit and break it down so that he truly becomes confident. Based on his <a href="https://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2023/10/stable-view-recap.html" target="_blank">XC trip</a> at Stable View, he CAN generalize, but I do think he is one of the 33% of horses who are near-sided and so he struggles with visual changes in the ground (he's never met a patch of dead grass he doesn't jump and/or squirt sideways to go around). If we give him enough positive experiences at slightly different questions, maybe he can stretch that generalization out even more broadly.</div>Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11446230051948762357noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7195881028568972532.post-61688489938609566502023-12-20T07:54:00.002-05:002023-12-20T11:53:22.582-05:00WW: Goggles (and a monkey)<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwMN3r9YvXxKMH8qXpRLDYt_uN485gzG8r3EoUDznCZzHjXdYoB3pbQeAoee9iVgMDtw9_ZTCasNqAz1YdTuRlcjd-Dsn2fZ2pbOAufRlNMmxzjb5KkkR4b31zkePzNjGS7gYUeYYPU4fS6ObuwR38R67ZQ0yopdPXPfYyJZgnlB12TQUEGAsEwmmv6MLP/s4032/PXL_20231219_183557437.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwMN3r9YvXxKMH8qXpRLDYt_uN485gzG8r3EoUDznCZzHjXdYoB3pbQeAoee9iVgMDtw9_ZTCasNqAz1YdTuRlcjd-Dsn2fZ2pbOAufRlNMmxzjb5KkkR4b31zkePzNjGS7gYUeYYPU4fS6ObuwR38R67ZQ0yopdPXPfYyJZgnlB12TQUEGAsEwmmv6MLP/w300-h400/PXL_20231219_183557437.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> Canoeing on the Withlacoochee and we saw a monkey. There are three species in Florida now (hooray invasives), but to my knowledge they'd been closer to Ocala in the Silver River area. They were released there in the 1930s on an island. Rumors say that the person who released them didn't know they could swim. Anyways, I guess they're spreading pretty far. When we paddled back by, crows were mobbing it. I wonder if it was stealing eggs or baby crows. </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />Anyways, back to horses. Goggles had some time off this week because he unfortunately decided he needs hind shoes to be comfy (my bank account is sad). So we hung out some and he ate grass/made a pest of himself.<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFgNi8Gx3VFh4PhvMQmYX1pp6MnXJz8VFXo2YAPbYXC-p9oBnxc4RzepNhaLWOQC7J_0X6DmJeX3PANK7BuK8ugndMgDhcKKjVjicnPiNqjFKBiZAZn-SOQoqQfyH1N5Em1-uY7LvVgSGBxyA8rO3KBIIsNIEerVmQRsPFTtEy0gnJ4m1-0MU9syDi4U-E/s3280/PXL_20231215_195156374.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3280" data-original-width="2464" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFgNi8Gx3VFh4PhvMQmYX1pp6MnXJz8VFXo2YAPbYXC-p9oBnxc4RzepNhaLWOQC7J_0X6DmJeX3PANK7BuK8ugndMgDhcKKjVjicnPiNqjFKBiZAZn-SOQoqQfyH1N5Em1-uY7LvVgSGBxyA8rO3KBIIsNIEerVmQRsPFTtEy0gnJ4m1-0MU9syDi4U-E/w300-h400/PXL_20231215_195156374.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitZFChMSxhc0k2HrmQb3cWR76lFvCNPPGbPh4HiTZxsefP4p5Z5_2-0Q6nzWKxvvIiEXY_CJNrY7tIScOP-qLL4AFEoejg4GlYz9X0Ve8KJxg8zHBg8lWJMUej8BiUoAY4oBpp2BbD1EXcSHppRGFjmNjjumG20_pjCHLVmF2RJ1e4I2O592j6V7IdFXtT/s3280/PXL_20231215_195158191.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3280" data-original-width="2464" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitZFChMSxhc0k2HrmQb3cWR76lFvCNPPGbPh4HiTZxsefP4p5Z5_2-0Q6nzWKxvvIiEXY_CJNrY7tIScOP-qLL4AFEoejg4GlYz9X0Ve8KJxg8zHBg8lWJMUej8BiUoAY4oBpp2BbD1EXcSHppRGFjmNjjumG20_pjCHLVmF2RJ1e4I2O592j6V7IdFXtT/w300-h400/PXL_20231215_195158191.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj54dhy66wgn0hV9QgVfI17YG5tPwOlUnLvmman87UgrNibSt1su5n0pgsLIOXD4dzZdI_4han2mGqFfvXnbFZd0-8APbq-PvSOMluo3EK_YaZ3c2sr7H1F6WBgCma30vtlvWJRqpw2z7zCgeb81HFlN08QHPtDKrS-0wXOS1WDOpFJIdAFDxv45UPyk5Af/s4032/PXL_20231215_195314908.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj54dhy66wgn0hV9QgVfI17YG5tPwOlUnLvmman87UgrNibSt1su5n0pgsLIOXD4dzZdI_4han2mGqFfvXnbFZd0-8APbq-PvSOMluo3EK_YaZ3c2sr7H1F6WBgCma30vtlvWJRqpw2z7zCgeb81HFlN08QHPtDKrS-0wXOS1WDOpFJIdAFDxv45UPyk5Af/w300-h400/PXL_20231215_195314908.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div><br /></div>And, much to both their delights, he met, and bit, <a href="https://breedrideevent.com/2023/12/18/poppin/" target="_blank">Presto</a></div><div><a href="https://breedrideevent.com/2023/12/18/poppin/" target="_blank"></a><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVZ0tnmTfzPtcQI99jYzxnAffOKS9u-fV3I17VoQMzXQlQiRMxFK6jVpIiUdKl8iHXYKePqQGfk7sUxnFW2xSUH3lguchYKQ43lGehHj2gd8OzRXfOhyJg8Jsy_wlsuMIE7sDmcezYDRCVGFk7BJq83-v6eUS00Pa00VNB3hw2Ugk0DgDBv0PT0ooGwfhO/s4032/PXL_20231215_200132011.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVZ0tnmTfzPtcQI99jYzxnAffOKS9u-fV3I17VoQMzXQlQiRMxFK6jVpIiUdKl8iHXYKePqQGfk7sUxnFW2xSUH3lguchYKQ43lGehHj2gd8OzRXfOhyJg8Jsy_wlsuMIE7sDmcezYDRCVGFk7BJq83-v6eUS00Pa00VNB3hw2Ugk0DgDBv0PT0ooGwfhO/w400-h300/PXL_20231215_200132011.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDK5G2tS4MGjrnSyx7ro9rVEl0bFrtQFWhNO-ZlZewumAAzxRxXmVl5ZW1QNVSEVOzNHp-Fo5f6wPvFiYxVxGLv2ZJQd5ZiI9gxi5RUcYaKgsTuMK_K0DC7SBgqg4Lr8vvQdoPtKbokff6SruxR3Zln9OSY7azeWQzjFh7oUd1qe_MIsGVbH-jYaV4JD7m/s4032/PXL_20231215_200150422.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDK5G2tS4MGjrnSyx7ro9rVEl0bFrtQFWhNO-ZlZewumAAzxRxXmVl5ZW1QNVSEVOzNHp-Fo5f6wPvFiYxVxGLv2ZJQd5ZiI9gxi5RUcYaKgsTuMK_K0DC7SBgqg4Lr8vvQdoPtKbokff6SruxR3Zln9OSY7azeWQzjFh7oUd1qe_MIsGVbH-jYaV4JD7m/s320/PXL_20231215_200150422.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIoJEehw4gpefZe1SxZGs3xmUVibrASQ51GTVFb4iVHasU2oFwS0eEXQMOTjsC5L644n6dD2e7AY2dfBz-6JziGrj4W5ubyHsBePJ5MPF6MLWTVvdwLLcIGt1upfxS-jl2ucJaC4qf5XtngvryTqvfoWJQpNDQNlmcQyJLOjjqhwsC032Yrt6iSIMvAEpu/s4032/PXL_20231215_200244622.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIoJEehw4gpefZe1SxZGs3xmUVibrASQ51GTVFb4iVHasU2oFwS0eEXQMOTjsC5L644n6dD2e7AY2dfBz-6JziGrj4W5ubyHsBePJ5MPF6MLWTVvdwLLcIGt1upfxS-jl2ucJaC4qf5XtngvryTqvfoWJQpNDQNlmcQyJLOjjqhwsC032Yrt6iSIMvAEpu/w300-h400/PXL_20231215_200244622.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"My turn to hold your face" - Goggles</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-tBn1C7bPbTHYaGDJYrmftA6yp-0Xs7GYvybrf39d2zY3D7dE41jrrpQJS4ACU7W2O1hmZu9Naus8k9UdvzDGEWUiUx4i3UdMFaJSqzZqyOxTkwsyM7Hmt3idFISrvuB2K2zMgDFY2XG0__GQ6YanfMo5e53Crhyphenhyphen5eGdOLVz43FxP9mx2t-WJy6sqf_oN/s4032/PXL_20231215_200319444.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-tBn1C7bPbTHYaGDJYrmftA6yp-0Xs7GYvybrf39d2zY3D7dE41jrrpQJS4ACU7W2O1hmZu9Naus8k9UdvzDGEWUiUx4i3UdMFaJSqzZqyOxTkwsyM7Hmt3idFISrvuB2K2zMgDFY2XG0__GQ6YanfMo5e53Crhyphenhyphen5eGdOLVz43FxP9mx2t-WJy6sqf_oN/w300-h400/PXL_20231215_200319444.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Now Presto's turn</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div>Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11446230051948762357noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7195881028568972532.post-88418324873995752492023-12-18T06:00:00.015-05:002023-12-23T05:55:06.237-05:00On the Therapist's CouchSaturday morning, Ben and I got to return to the <a href="https://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2023/12/thoroughbred-transformation-expo-short.html" target="_blank">bottomless pit of doom</a>. <div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEinvcXYdaXFAIJjiWFljf-EDsAxrlJN-5f-a2-Nsr8gRWyGoVYYZrAJkuxx9YfhXrItzjt1e2oVM9Rc33Gm4wMJ8OVEAYZvonLMILf18yqFNrqtpH1gn4yVl6yA0Z4LUpbsCH65UEbaxJC_3DwFOUrKQPo0GhR84LGL1KwdOFZATi0b_bz64S5LFQiS7T6M" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEinvcXYdaXFAIJjiWFljf-EDsAxrlJN-5f-a2-Nsr8gRWyGoVYYZrAJkuxx9YfhXrItzjt1e2oVM9Rc33Gm4wMJ8OVEAYZvonLMILf18yqFNrqtpH1gn4yVl6yA0Z4LUpbsCH65UEbaxJC_3DwFOUrKQPo0GhR84LGL1KwdOFZATi0b_bz64S5LFQiS7T6M=w400-h266" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Actual image of the landing side of the down bank</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div>We loaded up quite early to go to the POP schooling day at the horse park. Quite early for three reasons: repeat light from last weekend, less chaos in open schooling day, and weather. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuwnO5deaWN6KmP-iw9lSbo0fwgna-VTT9KO_VY_BRuVpQT2e3LlKA7KVutT_v3BQfHLmCB5j28G43TmCmSus3aGuCPslK2ICb_YkHGKmwc8xcqp_Q2v6tQuXnT1UDH7jMks6fVRc3Dhg5TYAXv9LFX3mtipCYzXn7l_peVAK-X3H9dXlU2QWSdd2JD4Lf/s2400/Screenshot_20231216-071603.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2400" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuwnO5deaWN6KmP-iw9lSbo0fwgna-VTT9KO_VY_BRuVpQT2e3LlKA7KVutT_v3BQfHLmCB5j28G43TmCmSus3aGuCPslK2ICb_YkHGKmwc8xcqp_Q2v6tQuXnT1UDH7jMks6fVRc3Dhg5TYAXv9LFX3mtipCYzXn7l_peVAK-X3H9dXlU2QWSdd2JD4Lf/w180-h400/Screenshot_20231216-071603.png" width="180" /></a></div><br /><div>Given the above weather, we didn't get to replicate the lighting conditions, but no matter, it was plenty scary for Ben. We headed straight over there to make sure we had the time to sort it out correctly. </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjUJFjeTD49ZHe9yHFFIVupsl0z9J3yS8iE-cfGOqm2ePTQfJdaesyxWEe3Rwy9mPtx3E3As1ZZ_rsspDMWjeMgeX7kzuU6qr6c1FEO6Q3sA0pYP8ue-3XVQIUiw1tOq-Gvn9DoGd-o91Kea5UFti6M-dQk4EPB3V72R2hrhUwQHHyWGC4jer2e7sQlqxjD" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="421" data-original-width="507" height="531" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjUJFjeTD49ZHe9yHFFIVupsl0z9J3yS8iE-cfGOqm2ePTQfJdaesyxWEe3Rwy9mPtx3E3As1ZZ_rsspDMWjeMgeX7kzuU6qr6c1FEO6Q3sA0pYP8ue-3XVQIUiw1tOq-Gvn9DoGd-o91Kea5UFti6M-dQk4EPB3V72R2hrhUwQHHyWGC4jer2e7sQlqxjD=w640-h531" width="640" /></a></div><br />The green is the slope up/down from the mound, the grey is the novice, blue is prelim, and black is the training line. First we did green to green and then the novice table after. I could feel him tense even just being up there though I gave him a clear route across. Then we did green to grey at a soft trot. He slammed on the brakes and tried going sideways and backwards. JT led him to the edge of it and then recruited her working student on a sales horse who is a bank mistress to come over and lead us down. He thought harder about going while following her, but still said no. She circled around 3-4 times until he finally decided she wasn't dying and so he could do it too. Then we trotted around and around and around until his hesitation was gone and he was starting to relax. Then we took a break so he could process and everyone else went and did a few things. </div><div><br /></div><div>When I picked the reins back up we did green to grey again to confirm it still wasn't shocking, then we did green to down the training one that we had gone up before. And repeat. Soft reins going down, but starting to move with a bit more purpose. I think we took another break and then headed from green to the ferocious training down. He stopped and I could feel his heart pounding still. Enter working student again and this time it only took two loops around before he followed her down. Then we put it all together, up the training bank and then down the training bank. Then we added in the brushy roll top after. The first time I was far too casual about the whole thing and we did the four strides in five and then had a flop of a jump over the roll top. The next time I still was too casual to the up, but got the four down. So we did it one more time, treating the up bank like a 3'6" vertical as JT said. It felt much better that way. </div><div><br /></div><div>I definitely had a hard time transitioning from so so soft and relaxed to creating the oomph that the up bank and roll top required and getting the striding done. But with JT's help, we got it sorted. </div><div><br /></div><div>We moved on to other things on the property, but added the bank set in one more time with no issue. He very unimpressively jumped a table down into the pit elsewhere on the property, so we had to repeat that. Overall he was definitely back to his former stare, chip, and squat. I found this quite frustrating because he had felt SO GOOD before the bank on the course last weekend. I knew the bank was going to be a thing, but I didn't realize it was going to translate to a knock to his confidence over everything else. </div><div><br /></div><div>We ended with the T/P/I ditches in a different part of the property. We tritty-trotted down to one and Ben acted like he had never in his life seen a ditch before. UGH!!! He went after a little bit of debating, and then we circled back and forth and back and forth over those until he was casual again. </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4-1-Rn49dTnSqqAaHi5LRNAWIqcRYRjZ4ta1lcx7wcHfKEFKJUN_o6LqVqT4eg0rAjWjFKxsJec7ZZSj3Sr85SO-lW7-jc5U9gJQzzNRygPbQfOmfNkep_LmTC1ZwQfaVyfSftLIi8XrAI8ZZMHWyB1cRsEcyhFYdkRPmwWLgYrIjwf1uwIg5wdp0QNe8/s1024/OIG%20(9).jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4-1-Rn49dTnSqqAaHi5LRNAWIqcRYRjZ4ta1lcx7wcHfKEFKJUN_o6LqVqT4eg0rAjWjFKxsJec7ZZSj3Sr85SO-lW7-jc5U9gJQzzNRygPbQfOmfNkep_LmTC1ZwQfaVyfSftLIi8XrAI8ZZMHWyB1cRsEcyhFYdkRPmwWLgYrIjwf1uwIg5wdp0QNe8/w400-h400/OIG%20(9).jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I was messaging JT after asking if I should have done anything differently. She said no, he was lacking confidence and we did a lot to restore it. She continued on to say "He's the sort of person who'd be on his therapists couch three days a week" which is the most true thing I've ever heard</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div>He even trailered like an idjit and sat so hard on the ramp while we were traveling that he bent the latch. WTF dude. He had a friend so was back in the straight load configuration, but he usually likes having a friend enough he doesn't freak out. But I could feel the trailer rocking on the drive down. He loosened up the screws for the latch into the frame, so it is not an at home job. I can't wait to find out how much that is going to cost to repair. The butt bar was up so it is just his height letting him slam enough of his butt over the bar to put this much pressure on the ramp itself. Horses, man. </div><div><br /></div><div>It seems it will work out well that my schedule doesn't line up with any January events. We can keep rebuilding confidence with frequent trips to school that month. </div>Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11446230051948762357noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7195881028568972532.post-31512163986369592902023-12-14T11:05:00.001-05:002023-12-14T11:05:29.502-05:00Dry, dry, dry <div><b>Ben Cross Country: </b>The Monday before the Thoroughbred Expo, we headed back to <a href="https://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2023/01/green-numbers.html" target="_blank">Magnolia Sands</a>. Ben acted like he had never left the property before and was very wowed by the grassy area full of new stadium jumps. To be fair to him, there were miniature Scottish highland cows, a donkey braying, baby horses cavorting, and two barking dogs all within the first 5 minutes of arrival with the dogs arriving just as I had his hind feet up to stud him. Once we got out to the field he was fantastic over the jumps. We had one very generous mess up at a wedge where he would have been well within his right to slip by it, but he looked out for me and went even with our crooked approach. In my defense the approach was somewhat crooked because he was spooking like crazy at a jump to the left hand side. In his defense, I knew the spook was coming and didn't change anything about my ride. Pretty cool that we're at the point where he is sometimes generous with me. We did the novice and training ditch wall and then the full BN/N coffin. We moved on to the water and did a jump in the water as well as two jumps at the water's edge, including a two stride line where the second jump was right at the edge. We returned to their incredibly spooky half coffin where the ditch is at the bottom of a large slope up and down. We definitely broke this down piece by piece last winter, so we went straight for the ditch to wedge. He went, but required a lot of encouragement. We did that a few more times to smooth it out and then did the up bank to a wedge and then down bank. </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJjhwKVhOtfkleU2b3ZZNti-OOJItObqIOca1wis_qaZLqqanvpunFXG6RNa0bYUB_XHg_7F_Aqua6im-JgUSX-8oHt5fYv43nBhKjrepfUuiB7CtfYJSFGcpjcfs3VU4-z209_YulXZ1Z8dYSx_bvTntB3KA6LinEmnfx4KTydQRAIA52purIRch_x_hL/s1280/YouCut_20230113_170506784_exported_79065.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJjhwKVhOtfkleU2b3ZZNti-OOJItObqIOca1wis_qaZLqqanvpunFXG6RNa0bYUB_XHg_7F_Aqua6im-JgUSX-8oHt5fYv43nBhKjrepfUuiB7CtfYJSFGcpjcfs3VU4-z209_YulXZ1Z8dYSx_bvTntB3KA6LinEmnfx4KTydQRAIA52purIRch_x_hL/w400-h225/YouCut_20230113_170506784_exported_79065.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Magnolia Sands - Jan 2023, no photos this go round</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div>Overall, a great, confidence building go. JT's working student observing remarked on the nice shape he makes over fences. More and more I'm looking at pictures and am just in awe of this horse I get to have as my partner. He seems like a horse way out of my price range at this point. Knocking furiously on wood, things are going so well with him. His feet are looking better and better too. There was a lot of crumbling at the end of the summer, but his farrier feels like next summer we're going to be in a much better situation. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Goggles Jump: </b></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcCzXxaGAgNaZxJ75CvGNbZcIFks0-0Kaqg9y1Mu7iNfDGk0YPJHREu9Ral7m6awoRTnOpzJLha8gcC0NrF3sbJ_PTqItF7tC60ucMmSCl-Eo4znvYJJgWoheyimof0WrT2vry4OW_OvmMbEuLywhspNen8cEWQM5i-SNU89zUTuCoPYdcyfFB2ybVfhxV/s4032/PXL_20231211_213713055.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcCzXxaGAgNaZxJ75CvGNbZcIFks0-0Kaqg9y1Mu7iNfDGk0YPJHREu9Ral7m6awoRTnOpzJLha8gcC0NrF3sbJ_PTqItF7tC60ucMmSCl-Eo4znvYJJgWoheyimof0WrT2vry4OW_OvmMbEuLywhspNen8cEWQM5i-SNU89zUTuCoPYdcyfFB2ybVfhxV/w400-h300/PXL_20231211_213713055.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Where did this whole adult horse come from?? </td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div>The next day was a jump lesson for Goggles in the morning. He was really super. The flat portion was a lot of getting him up off his right shoulder and then releasing the second he did did and then praising. When we moved on to jumping he was very exuberant. We spent a while trotting across rail back and forth. Similar to the attitude that keeps the last rail of the course up, things went better when I started pretending we were headed to another jump afterwards. This helped me get/keep ourselves together. Otherwise he was landing and partying and I was landing and... Something? Something not super productive, but it got a lot more productive once I started focusing on directing his exuberance somewhere.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6q0jwrlI4DNC0Y7hH_cbdwnytQp3VgPw2_g_FrG6_b5r9KT6Cw4gHqjKXC5IaP37jLjHq0-csKvs4R_WIvl4nLwL-0gJEc1eOOeF2oesXdW_sHaSB9Y5QTnzWu9gHyh3mLTN_tIBTwJrN7FJlffb3ZQffF2Rfg-agdJgaolQ7R_ZIvEvbPkkLzuPaAZEE/s4032/PXL_20231211_214329174.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6q0jwrlI4DNC0Y7hH_cbdwnytQp3VgPw2_g_FrG6_b5r9KT6Cw4gHqjKXC5IaP37jLjHq0-csKvs4R_WIvl4nLwL-0gJEc1eOOeF2oesXdW_sHaSB9Y5QTnzWu9gHyh3mLTN_tIBTwJrN7FJlffb3ZQffF2Rfg-agdJgaolQ7R_ZIvEvbPkkLzuPaAZEE/w300-h400/PXL_20231211_214329174.MP.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Getting broad across that chest too, sir</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div><b>Ben Dressage Pt 1: </b></div><div><br /></div><div>That same afternoon, Ben and I had a lesson with a dressage trainer at the GY's farm. She really liked Ben, which already biases me towards her. We mostly focused on test riding tips this go round, so I'm interested to get into the weeds of things more. I think she really wants to improve his canter - she had us playing a little bit with a "collected" canter and wanted me to work on developing three canters - the working, "collected", and extended. We have a much better extended than we do collected at this point. Asking for collection led to a lot of breaking to trot, but she said to just keep trying and keep the canter in my hips and leg position so he understands. She also recommended that at least for now I allow my reins to slip a tiny bit when we do the trot to walk. While it isn't really ideal and will be addressed eventually if we work on a true collected walk, this simply helps him keep his shoulders up and the motion forward for the time being.</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTJw7vEWc7ioyzyunikZZ4cb784s-QVIzKmyJKd4WQFaBhSeZtQ_4Aaw5E8-QKfNh3c0mONLMMmoYK5B5ONUDXOMfIMhomeaQB1X3CmTZX8tsRCetB63t3ON0Y_6nsbk-_FEoPdQsantCjsehm83QHqlcwAPZXdkcAwwD5-zLE0cDHRFvmboeYvI1Ojyrw/s4032/PXL_20231212_141417061.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTJw7vEWc7ioyzyunikZZ4cb784s-QVIzKmyJKd4WQFaBhSeZtQ_4Aaw5E8-QKfNh3c0mONLMMmoYK5B5ONUDXOMfIMhomeaQB1X3CmTZX8tsRCetB63t3ON0Y_6nsbk-_FEoPdQsantCjsehm83QHqlcwAPZXdkcAwwD5-zLE0cDHRFvmboeYvI1Ojyrw/w300-h400/PXL_20231212_141417061.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">When it gets cold out, she simply CANNOT face the world and covers her face with her paw, sometimes her tail as well</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div>As far as test riding tips, we worked on leg yields, simple change through the trot, and one loop canter serpentines. First level test three has leg yields off the rail to the center line that I was a bit fussed about. She recommended NOT keeping a huge inside bend through the corner of the short side before starting. Think about having him straight with the outside of his outside eye almost in view. Then give myself the full 12m (they start at V and P) to go straight and then exhale and start the lateral movement. The straightness through the corner made a HUGE difference. I told her I struggled with leg yielding left (and have on every horse...) and then the first one I tried to show her was probably the best leg yield left I have ever done. LOL. Sooo she couldn't help me a lot there since it was magically a really nice leg yield. </div><div><br /></div><div>The simple change through the trot she cautioned to do more half-halting. He does them like we're out in the jumper ring, so not as balanced and uphill as they want to see in the test. </div><div><br /></div><div>We also played with the one loop canter serpentines - keep the inside bend and even allow a little haunches in on the first half of the loop, then once you reach X, straighten and just allow them to head straight back to the next letter. She said it is technically a serpentine and riding it that way makes it a bit of a V on the second half, but no one notices or cares. This helped because in our right one loops, it has felt like he is diving/I am allowing him to fall through his left shoulder really badly once we reach X. </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY6scuE_64IIRzscb4S9YfiDIXicHUPRg8ci0dBdoDuoR_jzc0JgAA5DoQkSRJpITO0K7rn7o0xIf9K4Ks0vQy2affj8NwzWlTiomrynBbNI0sHLHL4fSI375UTi7W2JSRwGmEc1Nc2hadJ60l0Y6Y0G0cNYRjRdML7cyQQibibvtI2sQc1jo5ERs61WkY/s4032/PXL_20231206_203841864.MP.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY6scuE_64IIRzscb4S9YfiDIXicHUPRg8ci0dBdoDuoR_jzc0JgAA5DoQkSRJpITO0K7rn7o0xIf9K4Ks0vQy2affj8NwzWlTiomrynBbNI0sHLHL4fSI375UTi7W2JSRwGmEc1Nc2hadJ60l0Y6Y0G0cNYRjRdML7cyQQibibvtI2sQc1jo5ERs61WkY/w300-h400/PXL_20231206_203841864.MP.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Was absolutely WILD a few days later in the cold and wind</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGP2CuRHGQpw_7lyXlg3CeN8PUinwDm9taY6b262OPP-CwBsJ-iMCUsHN-qEKYDY_0CdibNlg7RFuCiWuNoSVyuAa00JuAbspv5x2bAEGZHpzhShDUmtVNYaZ-yjCqVIunVmBSvsYftj4UMphXaRWGLn3wQS4yaF5DgTgdhSmt4XUV2GIBaOW5wUDI0o4M/s4032/PXL_20231206_175502498.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGP2CuRHGQpw_7lyXlg3CeN8PUinwDm9taY6b262OPP-CwBsJ-iMCUsHN-qEKYDY_0CdibNlg7RFuCiWuNoSVyuAa00JuAbspv5x2bAEGZHpzhShDUmtVNYaZ-yjCqVIunVmBSvsYftj4UMphXaRWGLn3wQS4yaF5DgTgdhSmt4XUV2GIBaOW5wUDI0o4M/w300-h400/PXL_20231206_175502498.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In spite of cross tie impatience, was an absolute GEM on the same cold, windy day</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><b>Ben Dressage Pt 2: </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>We had another lesson on Tuesday. This one I told her I wanted to work on whatever holes she saw in our foundation. She watched us again for a while and then commented that he makes a beautiful snapshot, but she noticed some tension in the base of his neck and loss of balance every time we changed direction. She pinpointed that was mostly when he slipped behind was in the change of direction. We did several exercises, all with the same sort of focus. After a w/t/c warmup, she had us do a three loop serpentine. First we did it all with right bend, making sure the bend was true and I was kicking his shoulders into it with my inside leg forward. We did that twice and then switched to left bend. Then we switched to all counter bend. Partway through the first one of those she said "There, he actually let go and lifted his shoulders and gave". </div><div><br /></div><div>She's got a slightly different teaching style than I have historically loved - there is less riding each movement with you, giving in the second aids. Instead she watches, thinks, directs an exercise, and then discusses. My <a href="https://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2021/05/the-body-is-suspension-bridge.html" target="_blank">beloved dressage trainer</a> rode every stride with you, correcting, rewarding, essentially guiding each part of your body to shape the horse in the best way possible. But I often had a difficult time replicating that beautiful response on my own without his constant direction. I think NDT (New Dressage Trainer - I'm so original) will create results that are easier to replicate on my own, which is awesome. </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdsRW0CQx4KjoLXlnetPVSsQKN5e8Z0cQ2avb100a1pKWwHu2oZnJB5uOFl_EbHWMFofq-U0QOaSQ3iwonyhuVeceDlrxHYbR_7tdy4sIlgzl9lw5ME0189Ao-RkKaCsO1PDnRy55-B3K3zu0yGs2-aqOuATpx0RRtyA0gCUOH1aueDhsoei4yrdt67DOl/s4032/PXL_20231212_202139908.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdsRW0CQx4KjoLXlnetPVSsQKN5e8Z0cQ2avb100a1pKWwHu2oZnJB5uOFl_EbHWMFofq-U0QOaSQ3iwonyhuVeceDlrxHYbR_7tdy4sIlgzl9lw5ME0189Ao-RkKaCsO1PDnRy55-B3K3zu0yGs2-aqOuATpx0RRtyA0gCUOH1aueDhsoei4yrdt67DOl/w480-h640/PXL_20231212_202139908.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A rarely seen sulky Ben face - I dewormed him and he was SO offended and hurt </td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>We then moved this idea into leg yields. She said each part of his body needs to be accessible to me. We started leg yielding off the rail and then played a bit with a change of bend in the leg yield, essentially turning it slightly into half pass for a few strides. Then we would leg yield back towards the rail. This was helpful at the trot, but even more so at the canter. I had done canter leg yields with him before, but quarter line to rail, not rail to quarter line. She made me hold both of us accountable and the leg yield back to the rail had to be deliberate, NOT a falling through his outside shoulder. This exercise made a HUGE difference to his canter. He softened and suppled and didn't get any of the nasty lateral movement he can sometimes slip into. This is certainly an exercise I'm going to keep using. </div><div><br /></div><div>Finally we played with shoulder-in. Here again she held me accountable. MORE angle so his sternum (and mine) are actually angled in, especially tracking right. Then a deliberate return to straight before the corner. No just falling into the corner. I KNOW this. BUT I still treat him like I did over the summer - he's new at learning these movements, and I can do just a "baby" shoulder-in. NO. He's better than that if I hold him and myself accountable. </div><div><br /></div><div>She discussed that all the movements we did this lesson are with the bend, she distinguished them from movements in the opposite direction of bend (which are haunches in, true half pass, turn on the haunches). She said mostly these movements with the bend are tricks that are taught. She said they are helpful but don't give you the same suppling and push from behind that the movements opposite the bend do. She said that next time we will play with some of those. She did say that the opposite the bend movements can be very challenging so if I play with things and he starts to shut down or say no, we have done way too much and need to back off. He's definitely got a good work ethic, so I hope to never get to the point where he is saying NO. </div>Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11446230051948762357noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7195881028568972532.post-80635889492273445392023-12-13T06:00:00.021-05:002023-12-22T07:50:19.004-05:00Thoroughbred Transformation Expo - Day 3 and final thoughtsSaturday evening we got the tentative schedule for Sunday- stadium 930-1130 and then dressage 1-230. The stadium course was VERY straight forward. No related distances, the closest was a bending 9 stride line from 5-6. There was a roll back from 4-5, but plenty of space to make it a casual roll back. <div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Y1f_UqeQU_SVMr0RGP1aNS8Af0Vxwijo0DKMZhbuL_YduyckwKXohxkQtXVNacX0HJkLOGPd1K3HySYy9bMeLe_N9uxcpD9t31RoTzBKb2ZvdTV1Xn0DbUOaOSnulPWorccsiYreeCrMfyBZxdecvaEmJGVJLNO83LyDhKGjA6DisGLbol7jpagQOM77/s2686/original_799b31ad-1fde-45dd-b1b9-6bfc1c3f41ee_PXL_20231210_141046228.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2686" data-original-width="2395" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Y1f_UqeQU_SVMr0RGP1aNS8Af0Vxwijo0DKMZhbuL_YduyckwKXohxkQtXVNacX0HJkLOGPd1K3HySYy9bMeLe_N9uxcpD9t31RoTzBKb2ZvdTV1Xn0DbUOaOSnulPWorccsiYreeCrMfyBZxdecvaEmJGVJLNO83LyDhKGjA6DisGLbol7jpagQOM77/w356-h400/original_799b31ad-1fde-45dd-b1b9-6bfc1c3f41ee_PXL_20231210_141046228.jpg" width="356" /></a></div><br /><div>I did the hunter thing and walked him to the arena in his halter. When the first two novice horses had gone, I put on his bridle. I then rapidly found myself in an empty arena, I think there were a couple of scratches because there were supposed to be about 10 novice horses going. A bystander was kind enough to set an oxer for me. He knocked it the first time, but pulled out his measuring stick for the second go. Then we went in and did the thing. He tried to pull his Stable View move of acting like he'd never done this before, so I wacked him at the base of 1. After that he got himself together and it was pretty lovely. He spooked at 6 as we were headed to 8, so we pulled the last rail. I just didn't get him focused with his shoulders up quickly enough. Still, it felt like a confident, fun round. The kind person who had set jumps for us commented on what a lovely shape he made over the fences. Good boy, Ben. </div><div><br /></div><div>Then he got sponged and tied to the trailer to dry while I cleaned tack. He can't be trusted not to wallow when he's wet, and I had braided, so I wasn't interested in trying to fix rubbed braids full of shavings. After he was dry, he got to eat his lunch and chill in his stall for a little while. They posted dressage times and we went in the middle of the pack. </div><div><div><br /></div><div>He warmed up soft and lovely again. And then they started playing polo during the rider before me. I don't have a picture, but the polo fields are quite some distance away, but not far enough for the horses to not notice like crazy. He gawked a bit in warm up, but went back to work. But the warm-up ring was slightly further from the polo than the dressage arena. He balked and hopped some having to go into the arena area at all, and then was totally on fire the whole test. Our free walk straight up was not (the score was generous) - he made it 3/4 of the way of the first loop and then lifted his head and turned to stare straight over at the polo fields. Then he jigged during the second half of the loop, twice. Our canter depart was exuberant and our canter lengthening was really a hand gallop. But this did push us squarely into the category of MORE shown. And we actually ended up with a 68%; scores were markedly less consistent, but we did have a few 8s sprinkled in this time, including for the canter lengthening I called a hand gallop. I guess that is a good metric of what the judges actually want to see vs. what it feels like on his back! The 68% set us in 4th in the open division, sadly juuuussstt out of the prize money. But we got a pretty neck ribbon and gigantic wall ribbon for our trouble as well as a gift certificate to ACE. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_VUroafSZBo_CF-4sD0Xq0xxyXnq0dy0WCmwlN6-Q-V8ZGpJ1l4p54qWR4sk7_HBOeNIZKVO9ACojOF7x5F_eDfXE3KuL7-_II3v6UQQZeqH6txggdQV3pgCfIKJwPqoXXtF3JjcmKTLdljeLisngXrxpY6sT4mxniec-dyhOgJk8y6D9SfrL1kjJ_VKX/s4032/PXL_20231211_143041819.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_VUroafSZBo_CF-4sD0Xq0xxyXnq0dy0WCmwlN6-Q-V8ZGpJ1l4p54qWR4sk7_HBOeNIZKVO9ACojOF7x5F_eDfXE3KuL7-_II3v6UQQZeqH6txggdQV3pgCfIKJwPqoXXtF3JjcmKTLdljeLisngXrxpY6sT4mxniec-dyhOgJk8y6D9SfrL1kjJ_VKX/w480-h640/PXL_20231211_143041819.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW5pAHCUOGoP6U0F_bN229uUOhp3ig0AxxTa2D99eXUdlHwi_ammJfX3IA_OGeECnk1GgILMNRvhzIVfI01Jj_pAZtU08gkCzcavy2aKLKp0ZVbcIikp5Ko3du6vbBplg9PCDLy-z4wMq76tFqGyX76QNJAzoUqEwfHztC3Wq2SWDViz-eAeC3Zms9fx7w/s4032/PXL_20231211_143051198.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW5pAHCUOGoP6U0F_bN229uUOhp3ig0AxxTa2D99eXUdlHwi_ammJfX3IA_OGeECnk1GgILMNRvhzIVfI01Jj_pAZtU08gkCzcavy2aKLKp0ZVbcIikp5Ko3du6vbBplg9PCDLy-z4wMq76tFqGyX76QNJAzoUqEwfHztC3Wq2SWDViz-eAeC3Zms9fx7w/w480-h640/PXL_20231211_143051198.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>The dressage judges were encouraging and understanding of his tongue habit the whole weekend, and I am so grateful. We got some great feedback to take to our dressage lessons (YAY! Someone has been coming to the farm, I just am behind in writing!) and to move forward with. </div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOBhTO_0joyFlOVu8AKUWgcEu8DgaDh5D870iLnrdsX3JK3egFyZUH_Xnt3zqIR-dox6eUocVf-_SnetzXDiIvW8ma83-M6jxuC4RDprCHnTSmDxHUBecaoz7jfWhtsGzgAZOFOHlVQ8hxkb8TzyDnqJsldnYmvkgtViHnjVtEnuO_9PYdymzVN2m9HNz-/s4032/PXL_20231211_140655112.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOBhTO_0joyFlOVu8AKUWgcEu8DgaDh5D870iLnrdsX3JK3egFyZUH_Xnt3zqIR-dox6eUocVf-_SnetzXDiIvW8ma83-M6jxuC4RDprCHnTSmDxHUBecaoz7jfWhtsGzgAZOFOHlVQ8hxkb8TzyDnqJsldnYmvkgtViHnjVtEnuO_9PYdymzVN2m9HNz-/w400-h300/PXL_20231211_140655112.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Staged photo the next day since it was starting to drizzle as they were handing out ribbons on Sunday</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjbrl1Krz665s2Os9XRR6hvipBV_jF3OqgHoCWrMRwiuIH5341nyGN7ExUS1IWc_i334NAgcpybzQcrI9Bn57anIhy6SZlR5JWGOJ5Xzk1A9ToLpH2o_TmwxjcrDD1Q5VF3tRcBNPQ92InZ7xfRf_ypLt2chTuNmVYTORk0aV9-legve9DNoeQPl1fzO1i/s4032/PXL_20231211_140647305.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjbrl1Krz665s2Os9XRR6hvipBV_jF3OqgHoCWrMRwiuIH5341nyGN7ExUS1IWc_i334NAgcpybzQcrI9Bn57anIhy6SZlR5JWGOJ5Xzk1A9ToLpH2o_TmwxjcrDD1Q5VF3tRcBNPQ92InZ7xfRf_ypLt2chTuNmVYTORk0aV9-legve9DNoeQPl1fzO1i/w400-h300/PXL_20231211_140647305.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Overall, we had a great experience at the Thoroughbred Transformation Expo and, schedule allowing, I'll be back next year, potentially with both boys. It was a lot of fun to hang out and watch all the disciplines, especially the freestyle. They have great sponsors and prizes, and being able to win prize money is pretty awesome. One downside is that the levels are a bit limiting - ideally next year Ben would be solidly doing second level work and toying with the idea of modified, although let's be real, we'll never be too good for training level and they do offer 3'6" show jumping if we wanted to go that route. It was also run a lot more like a hunter show (I think) in that ride times were not necessarily available days before hand (we got Friday dressage times on Wednesday evening) and sometimes (ie show jumping part of eventing) you just got a general gist of when you might go. It was small enough though that this flowed pretty well and just required a bit of paying attention. Everyone was super friendly and helpful and it was great to meet a few more people with TBs. </div><div><br /></div></div>Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11446230051948762357noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7195881028568972532.post-49640172112154060462023-12-12T06:00:00.001-05:002023-12-23T05:55:15.132-05:00Thoroughbred Transformation Expo - a short day 2I would walk the course in photos like usual, but sadly we didn't get to do it all. He warmed up great, was jumping fantastically, had not done a single chip and squat, and then we got to the up and down bank, #8. <div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi09dv8wCYuTSCJkgyElbjR8aC5nLJkoTX7lwh58HOQTIwIO_cq4zDrwlG9qd_oEEB27eNrNeTEUxdQW44038pKQU5mpH3hCiSFHejMqksF4S-GKTI9YhSHpt3qomfSYHCDtlFTvXj3rmaQybJ1M99Bwi0jFJlYNMENYDWcmwxM_NeMuLwREKDXV0yK0p3V/s4032/PXL_20231208_153244493.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi09dv8wCYuTSCJkgyElbjR8aC5nLJkoTX7lwh58HOQTIwIO_cq4zDrwlG9qd_oEEB27eNrNeTEUxdQW44038pKQU5mpH3hCiSFHejMqksF4S-GKTI9YhSHpt3qomfSYHCDtlFTvXj3rmaQybJ1M99Bwi0jFJlYNMENYDWcmwxM_NeMuLwREKDXV0yK0p3V/s320/PXL_20231208_153244493.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBKoMGoVnL4zqiyOrNwhOPK9P35oxpSzemBuDTaGL1Glus9RpmZaumXuGl_hq0lwawok7Txrjo61qQTCcZYiEilbXexkjMpTC93ZJ5Idqk0VdvlssX7e46Icr9wtqKn47aQVpOteC80sOAidljUob85-vI_6lm7tHGrPZ-bw3T2vVp6I-qBc34oQD-SGpQ/s4032/PXL_20231208_153306331.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBKoMGoVnL4zqiyOrNwhOPK9P35oxpSzemBuDTaGL1Glus9RpmZaumXuGl_hq0lwawok7Txrjo61qQTCcZYiEilbXexkjMpTC93ZJ5Idqk0VdvlssX7e46Icr9wtqKn47aQVpOteC80sOAidljUob85-vI_6lm7tHGrPZ-bw3T2vVp6I-qBc34oQD-SGpQ/s320/PXL_20231208_153306331.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh476nCiEMQBjtTNFolGpnE_R8UsQkvPBDPasgOyEMdpE3u2ULuqlCjRtt26NSr_VhBnLF149G2_b2q3V21qoUUP_bMnlY_GQ1sekW4ujrWUpFt43xAZ9NzCHQ_pT11r8dwf-ueWho05zV0XA4s1CztVOrGJSFXmvNbhF1yAX3aUIRE8MmZEPWMK6nztd1L/s4032/PXL_20231208_153320489.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh476nCiEMQBjtTNFolGpnE_R8UsQkvPBDPasgOyEMdpE3u2ULuqlCjRtt26NSr_VhBnLF149G2_b2q3V21qoUUP_bMnlY_GQ1sekW4ujrWUpFt43xAZ9NzCHQ_pT11r8dwf-ueWho05zV0XA4s1CztVOrGJSFXmvNbhF1yAX3aUIRE8MmZEPWMK6nztd1L/s320/PXL_20231208_153320489.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>The up bank went fine. But the down bank landed in the shadow from the mound itself. And Ben thought he was jumping into a black hole and stopped. The judge in the chase cart let us school down another but then told me to "ride at it like your pants are on fire" and yelled at me that of course it wasn't going to work when I didn't do that strongly enough. The attempt led to him running backwards rapidly, which is really not great on a raised mound. It's also 100% not the way JT has us ride down banks. You don't need momentum to drop down a bank, so we do them in a super relaxed fashion, go off on a loose rein. According to her, and I believe it, this is how you keep them from doing dramatic launches. Sure, if I'd approached it with spurs DUG in the first time, we might've gotten off it, but after that riding it aggressively wasn't going to fix it. <div><br /></div><div>Sadly then, that is where our day ended. Unlike our run out <a href="https://lyricalequine.blogspot.com/2022/04/rocking-horse-part-3-cross-country.html?m=1" target="_blank">in April</a> our first year together, this was a legitimate fear. Dude had been DOING IT until that point. He knew his job and was out there doing what we've worked so hard to train him to do. This was just... A spooky horse, an amateur rider, and some tricky shadows. I was half bummed about our score and half bummed that we didn't get to play on the rest of the course! </div></div><div><br /></div><div>We spent the rest of the day just hanging out and watching. Ben is such a pleasant horse to hang out with, he's a bit like a golden retriever. I did tidy up his mane a bit as well to make Sunday's braiding job easier than Thursday's.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUByd6JPXxC8MvkCC1XHTOhqULCTkJxqm1JBUWNbzAH4Pr4Ww8BNqvlhU3NDiqIIcI4scCTVjsfMkulT4mbdRNEBwXHreJdmEVV2FuolXfxYM0nwIXeOuUc9ZFeC1Q7fsizNs2jT-9__iBQcONVKMNVPDKjyCgTXXgI3pc5VQKSbJt2CV94Zo3OxcJsifW/s4032/PXL_20231209_181929573.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUByd6JPXxC8MvkCC1XHTOhqULCTkJxqm1JBUWNbzAH4Pr4Ww8BNqvlhU3NDiqIIcI4scCTVjsfMkulT4mbdRNEBwXHreJdmEVV2FuolXfxYM0nwIXeOuUc9ZFeC1Q7fsizNs2jT-9__iBQcONVKMNVPDKjyCgTXXgI3pc5VQKSbJt2CV94Zo3OxcJsifW/w400-h300/PXL_20231209_181929573.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-G0mr7L9kHml8AOVCO7dujVdrS9wTfeCwKN4tesWLtk7vYwNUCg5s9IJmZ2FwuDiTXn8ziVrl-8nKpYOJrCy5WjdRKfRK6DSe4lhlQ0qFD1mcC96GAy1K1nKx4rkciRp4n-ohyF8LJ-xRxSFz0j2wR3YHdRXeCcLWw-N_A84qS4RMDRkUongml3yPFy0b/s4032/PXL_20231209_182611121.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-G0mr7L9kHml8AOVCO7dujVdrS9wTfeCwKN4tesWLtk7vYwNUCg5s9IJmZ2FwuDiTXn8ziVrl-8nKpYOJrCy5WjdRKfRK6DSe4lhlQ0qFD1mcC96GAy1K1nKx4rkciRp4n-ohyF8LJ-xRxSFz0j2wR3YHdRXeCcLWw-N_A84qS4RMDRkUongml3yPFy0b/w300-h400/PXL_20231209_182611121.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>I put Ben up and sat in the bleachers for the freestyles. There were some truly incredible performances. One fire fighter themed performance complete with fake smoke, rescuing a dog, pulling a stretcher, and jumping through a "ring of fire" (colored sparkly streamers around a small picture frame jump). Another drove and did flying changes and crossed a teeter totter and sliding plank that rolled forward (in a controlled fashion) as the horse stepped onto it. Overall incredibly impressive. I joked with JT that Goggles would do one next year that featured him as a barber. He's been doing some... Trimming of Waffles' forelock and tail (Sorry Libby!!). We're still not sure how Waffles is letting Goggles get this close...</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCLNV0HHSCVvMZbZ5glPsg2v5IEfMtNIB6UqTYz8DeDNPYWFttdae8UJe6EQ2uc6cdIugusujWEhnH4sycPgU_KaMKcC4cgajliykXSSxZT6b3tNRa0vG2dSMljPO6n725IZIGNsT2gBa_Bdgtnwa-J6KUaz7AMihafrcaInP8aY160Ul3oGVyng6ibn_V/s1800/received_261943013540399.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="1800" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCLNV0HHSCVvMZbZ5glPsg2v5IEfMtNIB6UqTYz8DeDNPYWFttdae8UJe6EQ2uc6cdIugusujWEhnH4sycPgU_KaMKcC4cgajliykXSSxZT6b3tNRa0vG2dSMljPO6n725IZIGNsT2gBa_Bdgtnwa-J6KUaz7AMihafrcaInP8aY160Ul3oGVyng6ibn_V/w400-h400/received_261943013540399.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div>Kathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11446230051948762357noreply@blogger.com4